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Muzzafar sat in a deep chair facing Teg at a slight angle on the other side of the serving table. There was a crouching sense of alertness in Muzzafar. He was prepared for violence.
Teg studied the man with interest. Muzzafar had revealed no real rank--only commander. Tall fellow with a wide, ruddy face and a big nose. The eyes were gray-green and had the trick of focusing just behind Teg's right shoulder when either of them spoke. Teg had known a spy once who did that.
"Well, well," Muzzafar said. "I've read and heard a great deal about you since coming here."
Teg continued to study him silently. Muzzafar's hair had been cropped close and there was a purple scar about three millimeters long across the scalp line above the left eye. He wore an open bush jacket of light green and matching trousers--not quite a uniform but there was a neatness about him that spoke of customary spit and polish. The shoes attested to this. Teg thought he probably could see his own reflection in their light brown surfaces if he bent close.
"Never expected to meet you personally, of course," Muzzafar said. "Consider it a great honor."
"I know very little about you except that you command a force from the Scattering," Teg said.
"Mmmmmph! Not much to know, really."
Once more, hunger pangs gripped Teg. His gaze went to the button beside the tube slot, which, he remembered, would summon a waiter. This was a place where humans did the work usually assigned to automata, an excuse for keeping a large force assembled at the ready.
Misinterpreting Teg's interest in the tube slot, Muzzafar said: "Please don't think of leaving. Having my own medic come in to take a look at you. Shouldn't be but a moment. Appreciate it if you'd wait quietly until he arrives."
"I was merely thinking of placing an order for some food," Teg said.
"Advise you to wait until the doctor's had his look-see. Stunners leave some nasty aftereffects."
"So you know about that."
"Know about the whole damned fiasco. You and your man Burzmali are a force to be reckoned with."
Before Teg could respond, the tube slot disgorged a tall man in a jacketed red singlesuit, a man so bone-skinny that his clothing gaped and flapped about him. The diamond tattoo of a Suk doctor had been burned into his high forehead but the mark was orange and not the customary black. The doctor's eyes were concealed by a glistening orange cover that hid their true color.
An addict of some kind? Teg wondered. There was no smell of the familiar narcotics around him, not even melange. There was a tart smell, though, almost like some fruit.
"There you are, Solitz!" Muzzafar said. He gestured at Teg. "Give him a good scan. Stunner hit him day before yesterday."
Solitz produced a recognizable Suk scanner, compact and fitting into one hand. Its probe field produced a low hum.
"So you're a Suk doctor," Teg said, looking pointedly at the orange brand on the forehead.
"Yes, Bashar. My training and conditioning are the finest in our ancient tradition."
"I've never seen the identifying mark in that color," Teg said.
The doctor passed his scanner around Teg's head. "The color of the tattoo makes no difference, Bashar. What is behind it is all that matters." He lowered the scanner to Teg's shoulders, then down across the body.
Teg waited for the humming to stop.
The doctor stood back and addressed Muzzafar: "He is quite fit, Field Marshal. Remarkably fit, considering his age, but he desperately needs sustenance."
"Yes... well, that's fine then, Solitz. Take care of that. The Bashar is our guest."
"I will order a meal suited to his needs," Solitz said. "Eat it slowly, Bashar." Solitz did a smart about-face that set his jacket and trousers flapping. The tube slot swallowed him.
"Field Marshal?" Teg asked.
"A revival of ancient titles in the Dur," Muzzafar said.
"The Dur?" Teg ventured.
"Stupid of me!" Muzzafar produced a small case from a side pocket of his jacket and extracted a thin folder. Teg recognized a holostat similar to one he had carried himself during his long service--pictures of home and family. Muzzafar placed the holostat on the table between them and tapped the control button.
The full-color image of a bushy green expanse of jungle came alive in miniature above the tabletop.
"Home," Muzzafar said. "Frame bush in the center there." A finger indicated a place in the projection. "First one that ever obeyed me. People laughed at me for choosing the first one that way and sticking with it."
Teg stared at the projection, aware of a deep sadness in Muzzafar's voice. The indicated bush was a spindly grouping of thin limbs with bright blue bulbs dangling from the tips.
Frame bush?
"Rather thin thing, I know," Muzzafar said, removing his pointing finger from the projection. "Not secure at all. Had to defend myself a few times in the first months with it. Grew rather fond of it, though. They respond to that, you know. It's the best home in all the deep valleys now, by the Eternal Rock of Dur!"
Muzzafar stared at Teg's puzzled expression. "Damn! You don't have frame bushes, of course. You must forgive my crashing ignorance. We've a great deal to teach each other, I think."
"You called that home," Teg said.
"Oh, yes. With proper direction, once they learn to obey, of course, a frame bush will grow itself into a magnificent residence. It only takes four or five standards."
Standards, Teg thought. So the Lost Ones still used the Standard Year.
The tube slot hissed and a young woman in a blue serving gown backed into the room towing a suspensor-buoyed hotpod, which she positioned near the table in front of Teg. Her clothing was of the type Teg had seen during his original inspection but the pleasantly round face she turned to him was unfamiliar. Her scalp had been depilated, leaving an expanse of prominent veins. Her eyes were watery blue and there was something cowed in her posture. She opened the hotpod and the spicy odors
of the food wafted across Teg's nostrils.
Teg was alerted but he sensed no immediate threat. He could see himself eating the food without ill effect.
The young woman put a row of dishes on to the table in front of him and arranged the eating implements neatly at one side.
"I've no snooper, but I'll taste the foods if you wish," Muzzafar said.
"Not necessary," Teg said. He knew this would raise questions but felt they would suspect him of being a Truthsayer. Teg's gaze locked onto the food. Without any conscious decision, he leaned forward and began eating. Familiar with Mentat-hunger, he was surprised at his own reactions. Using the brain in Mentat mode consumed calories at an alarming rate, but this was a new necessity driving him. He felt his own survival controlling his actions. This hunger went beyond anything of previous experience. The soup he had eaten with some caution at the house of the ruined man had not aroused such a demanding reaction.
The Suk doctor chose correctly, Teg thought. This food had been selected directly out of the scanner's summation.
The young woman kept bringing more dishes from hotpods ordered via the tube slot.
Teg had to get up in the middle of the meal and relieve himself in an adjoining washroom, conscious there of the hidden comeyes that were keeping him under surveillance. He knew by his physical reactions that his digestive system had speeded up to a new level of bodily necessity. When he returned to the table, he felt just as hungry as though he had not eaten.
The serving woman began to show signs of surprise and then alarm. Still, she kept bringing more food at his demand.
Muzzafar watched with growing amazement but said nothing.
Teg felt the supportive replacement of the food, the precise caloric adjustment that the Suk doctor had ordered. They obviously had not thought about quantity, though. The girl obeyed his demands in a kind of walking shock.
Muzzafar spoke finally. "Must say I've never before seen anyone eat that much at one sitting. Can't see how you do it. Nor why."
Teg sat back, satisfied at last, knowing he had aroused questions that could not be answered truthfully.
"A Mentat thing," Teg lied. "I've been through a very strenuous time."
"Amazing," Muzzafar said. He arose.
When Teg started to stand, Muzzafar gestured for him to remain. "No need. We've prepared quarters for you right next door. Safer not to move you yet."
