"Low, Toal," I said. "What—"
The Dominant said, "Planetary Ordinance 104: Criminal aliens shall not speak to fallen Maggiese females."
"Can't you do anything but gibber Ordinances?" I yelled. "Toal only gave me some water. If you—"
Leather bands snapped around my wrists. The guards tied me to rings in the wall. The Dominant strapped a harness under my jaw and across the top of my head. I tried to talk, but all that came past my clenched teeth was, "Effhyu hink hyu kun—" and I stopped.
Someone called, "Criminal Minimum Betty Toal!"
Toal left the room between her guards. She returned, in not more than fifteen minutes, alone. She wore loose white coveralls stamped, "Recessive—Alien Status." As she passed me, her teeth flashed in a glad and grateful smile.
V: FIVEDAY AFTERNOON
About two hours past noon of Planet Maggie's twenty-seven hour day, a man called, "Criminal Alien Ube Kinlock!"
Surrounded by guards, I stiffly walked into an auditorium with a high, peaked ceiling supported by heavy wooden beams. A few spectators sat in rows of wooden benches. Tall windows stood open, and mechanisms with rotating blades fanned the air, but the room was stifling. Toothies chased each other across the beams.