Sunday December 12, 2004
Book 6: Resident Mad Scientist — Part III: Life's a Beach

Transcript

NARRATOR: Aboard the Ob'enn ship Cloak of Untrammeled Dignity, whose five hundred thousand cubic kilometers provide a standing guarantee of superior firepower and dignity untrammeled:

SYCOPHANT: Revered Sir, our pawn on Ystre has been assassinated.

KING: By whom?  Is this an effort to thwart us directly, or just a local inconvenience?

SYCOPHANT: It's... curious, Your Grace.  We lifted some security system footage, and it appears as if this Primate Principio was involved personally.

KING: Personally?  You mean that meddling human was there?

SYCOPHANT: Indeed, Majesty.  And he was killed, along with one of the other sophonts who addressed us, an amorph.

KING: This is good news.  I'll sleep well knowing that opponent has been dispatched, even if it sets us back a few years on Ystre.

SYCOPHANT: With Rhadamanthine reverence, Lord, I would not counsel sleep just yet.

KING: Okay, you've crossed a line when I need a thesaurus to follow your flattery.  Out with it.

SYCOPHANT: Op-Int believes that the Primate Principio was actually a mercenary in the employ of the Rogue.

KING: To what purpose?

SYCOPHANT: That's the question they've all been asking themselves.  They want more information.

KING: No...  They want permission to go get more information...  Which means they suspect that the answer lies outside their budgeted sphere of operations.

SYCOPHANT: Prudent Master, your

KING: *interrupting* Oh, cut that out.  I'll fund Op-Int's little research project.

KING: 'Rhadamanthine.'

Four hells and wet fur.

We've trouble enough with our own gods without going and borrowing words from somebody else's.