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irregularities in a region administered by his son.
Zelyert laughed, softly.  You re correct there, but he is a deadly enemy. He
will be after you.
As if he were not already, thought Dainyl.  Wasn t that the point of sending
me, sir? The diligent, not-mat-bright submarshal with heavy shields and not
too much else?
greater sense of amusement.  Your Talent may not be what it could be, Dainyl,
but the diligent exterior masks an observant interior. Do you wish to continue
this ... investigation?
 I cannot see much of an alternative, sir. There s little enough evidence of
what Brekylt intends or even what his intentions are. I believe they re
harmful to the Myrmi-dons and the Duarchy, but there s no real proof of that.
Even if I stopped now, he d remain an enemy. The only way out of the mess is
through it.
 Spoken like a true Myrmidon. Zelyert rose.  I look forward to seeing what
comes of your efforts. He paused.  I m certain you know this, but I would
suggest you not place any great trust in any officers in the east.
Dainyl stood.  Yes, sir. He meant to place no great trust in any senior
Myrmidon officers or High Alectors anywhere.
21
The greatest fault of those an alector gov-erns is their failure to see
themselves as they are. An alec-tor cannot allow himself the luxury of
self-deception, whatever the possible rationale or cause. Most alectors
understand this, and it is reinforced by our codes and our institutions, and
those who do not are less worthy than the steers whose lives we direct, for we
should know better.
Yet true self-knowledge is rare indeed among steers, for their actions and
their self-identity are inseparably inter-twined. A steer will rationalize
himself into believing an action that is against his own self-interest is for
his good and the good of others in order to maintain his self-image. He will
avoid actions to improve himself and his self-image, merely to maintain the
image he holds of himself.
ror mis reason, an mc^ioi wnu uiu.->l auuumnu activi-ties and programs that
affect the well-being of the self-deluding masses comprising flawed alectors
and the vast majority of steers cannot ever assume that those masses will
understand what is truly in their self-interest. Therefore, do not ever rely
upon those who are governed to understand the rationale for the decisions that
must be made and implemented.
At the same time, a conscientious alector must resist the temptation to behave
arrogantly, to declare by word or action that there is no reason to explain
one s decisions and actions. For there are those few who do understand. Also,
despite their self-delusion, all but the most ignorant of the masses can
appreciate the effort and the thought behind a well-presented explanation,
even one with which they do not agree.
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Arrogance is always the downfall of those in power, even of alectors, and even
the most self-deluded of the masses will rejoice to see an arrogant
administrator brought low....
Views of the Highest
Illustra
W.T. 1513
22
Dainyl had not even attempted to return to Myrmidon headquarters on Tridi
evening, but went straight home. He and Lystrana had enjoyed dinner and then
retired to their chambers. While they had discussed Dainyl s adventures,
neither could add much insight to what he had experienced, and, eventually,
they slept.
Quattri morning, well before dawn, found Dainyl standing before the Table in
the Hall of Justice. He d actu
**.ij wxj^j^v* uii/ iv/115 wait Hum iuo nvjud^ iu uic nan, aim was glad he d
arrived before the Highest had appeared.
He smiled wryly, then stepped onto the Table, wearing his flying jacket, but
carrying nothing. He concentrated, letting himself drop downward ...
... into the darkness, seeking the orange-yellow loca-tor of Lysia, his senses
alert for any trace of the purplish arms or anything else untoward.
In the endless yet equally close distance, he could per-ceive the
orange-yellow, but the locator seemed to be tinged with certain overshades
of... pinkish purple, overlaid with silver. None of the other locators had
such overshades, he realized, but as he focused on the locator wedge that was
Lysia, the overshades vanished.
He extended a line of Talent toward the locator.
As he did, he sensed, seemingly flanking him, but out-side the deep-purpled
darkness of the translation tube, blackness pure blackness within which
flashed an globe of amber-golden-green.
For a moment, he just tried to sense the greenish Tal-ent, for it had to be
something of the ancient soarers, their system of portals and mirrors, but the
green van-ished, although the deeper blackness did not. But had the green
vanished? Or was that deeper blackness shaded with green ?
He felt colder, chill, and dropped his explorations of whatever he might have
sensed, concentrating on Talent-linking with the Table at Lysia.
The yellow-orange rushed toward him, and he flashed through the silver
barrier, unseen shards spraying out from him.
A single step sufficed for him to gain his balance on the Table. His entire
uniform was covered with a thin layer of frost, one that did not turn to mist
or sublime away immediately, so that he was cloaked in a personal fog for
several moments.
His Talent-senses indicated that the chamber was empty, but his hand still
sought the butt of his sidearm,
even as he reinforced his shields. The doorway to the hid-den chamber that
adjoined most of the Table chambers slid open. Dainyl stepped forward and off
the Table.
The recorder who stood in the opening of the usually hidden doorway smiled, an
expression both humorous and ironic.  Rather an impressive entrance,
Submarshal, if chilling. The doorway closed behind her, leaving the two
alectors alone in the chamber.
 Just chilling, replied Dainyl. A female recorder? He hadn t realized that
there were any.
 Your shields are also impressive. You will pardon me if I do not attempt to
test them. The recorder was slen-der, a good head shorter than Dainyl, and
wore dark green trousers and tunic, unadorned, although the tunic was
short-sleeved. Her boots were black, and her eyes were green, unusual for an
alector.
 I d prefer that you didn t, Dainyl replied.
 A rather unfortunate series of events has occurred fol-lowing a number of
your translations, Submarshal.
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Dainyl shrugged.  That may be. The results were not of my choosing. I would
have preferred totally unevent-ful translations. He continued to study the
recorder.
 Asulet suggested the same. The recorder grinned.  By the way, I m Sulerya.
I m his daughter.
Dainyl was npt surprised that the senior alector in Lyterna had placed his
daughter well, but Asulet had never mentioned her.  Might I ask why you seem
more cordial than your peers?
 Isn t it obvious? I was the first, and for a time, the only female recorder.
Total nepotism. My father insisted on it. Since he doesn t insist often, and
since he is, in fact, effectively the duarch of Lyterna, no one wanted to
cross him.
Sulerya s words and feelings rang totally true to Dainyl.
His shields still up, he decided to press.  You know that Brekylt and Alcyna [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]