“First of all, McGill must be on hand.”
I almost groaned aloud. I’d had all kinds of fantasies about slipping out to take a piss and never coming back. After all, I’d done great work. I’d been called upon to know something, but then dodged and given them something else to chew on. That both made me look like a smart hero, and got me out of trouble in one deft stroke.
More importantly, I had to get back to reviving Etta. It was the only thing I really cared about. The rest of this… well… it was kind of boring.
“Secondly,” Drusus continued, “we’re going to have to come up with a way to play this new facet. This new tidbit of knowledge. Can we use it to gain leverage over the governor? Can we sway her judgment by whispering about it in one of her… ears?”
“I don’t see how,” began the xeno, but I’d stopped listening. I’d spied the snack trays, see, and I walked over to them and helped myself. Once my jaws were moving, I pretty much went deaf.
“—McGill? McGill!”
“Huh? Oh… sorry, Praetor, sir. I guess I got distracted.”
“Of course you did. Please, share your views with us.”
My eyes slid from Drusus to Wurtenburger, then to the disgusted-looking xeno-lady.
“Uh…” I said.
Wurtenburger had a fist pressed into his cheek. That meant he was as bored as I was. The xeno was pissed, and she was standing stiffly. That indicated she’d just said something she thought was important, but Drusus wasn’t buying whatever it was she’d said.
I quickly shaped my response based on these assumptions.
“Well sir,” I said, “I will bow to the expert in this case. I think this nice xeno-lady knows her stuff.”
The xeno looked surprised and slightly pleased, but Drusus frowned faintly.
“You really think we should create a gift for the young Mogwa?” he asked. “You really think Nox will appreciate something like a human fidget-toy?”
I blinked maybe three times as I absorbed this. The plain truth was I thought I’d just heard the dumbest idea of my very long lifetime.
“Hmm… well, maybe it would work with some modifications.”
The xeno’s faint smile slipped, drooping at the corners.
“Like what?” Drusus asked.
“The Mogwa… they don’t really play. Not ever. They don’t even understand the concept, as far as I know. I’d say that such a gift would baffle one of their kind.”
“What then?” the xeno snapped. “What do you suggest, with your vast knowledge of the topic?”
“I like your idea of a gift. A demonstration of appreciation might be appreciated in turn. But I’d say we have to give her something she’d understand—maybe a demonstration of slave-love is in order.”
They both stared at me for a few seconds, so I explained the concept. The Mogwa thought quite a lot of themselves. Frequently, they took any form of self-sacrifice on the part of a human as a demonstration of slavering loyalty and devotion. This was even true when to anyone else it would have been obvious that the person performing the act was just trying to evade a dreadful fate.
I explained this at length, and I ended with my best line. “To the Mogwa, see—it’s all about them. They’re the center of the universe, and we’re less than insects. They’d rather see a dozen planet Earths perish in nuclear fires than stub one of their numerous toes. That’s not out of malice, however—not exactly. They assume everyone else wants the same thing—even a slave race like us.”
After that, the xeno people and the officers fell to bickering. In the end, Drusus won out. He’d decided that my approach was the best one offered—although he hadn’t indicated yet how he was going to implement my idea.
After another ninety minutes of hot air filled the room, Drusus finally called for a welcome break. I snuck out and headed for the elevators immediately.
I almost made it off the floor, but it wasn’t to be. Someone passed by me in the hallway, and they recognized me.
“McGill?”
Taking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly, I turned around. It was Station Chief Dross, the lady I’d worked for briefly down at the docks. I was kind of surprised to see her, as most of the dock area had been destroyed in the attacks from Green World. Somehow, she’d escaped all that.
Despite what I would arguably call good fortune on her part, Chief Dross didn’t look all that happy. She was bewildered and freaked out, if I had to guess by her expression.
After a second of staring and gaping at her, I figured it out. She was new to visiting with the top brass of Central. She was just a civilian government stooge, after all. She was out of her element. She was tough as nails on the docks, but a mouse on floor four-ninety of the tallest building on Earth.
“Uh… Chief Dross? What are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same question. I thought you were a centurion from the legions.”
“I am that.”
She looked me up and down, and I could tell she didn’t believe me. I had to be the only person under the rank of primus on this floor.
“Never mind, then. Sorry to bother you, McGill.”
That was my chance, and I almost took it. I could turn and stomp away, but I felt a bit sorry for her. After all, I’d help destroy her ships, her friends and her office—all that stuff.
“Uh… Chief? You going to talk to the brass? Are you part of the briefing?”
“That’s right. I wasn’t on the docks when the attacks hit initially, but I’m still a witness. They want me to give them a
