“You don't believe it?”

“I neither believe it nor disbelieve it. The book first appeared after the ansible on Lusitania had been destroyed. Therefore it is probable that the book did not originate there, and if it didn't originate there then it's fiction. That seems particularly likely because it's signed 'Speaker for the Dead,' which is the same name signed to the Hive Queen and the Hegemon, which are thousands of years old. Someone was obviously trying to capitalize on the reverence people feel toward those ancient works.”

“I believe the Life of Human is true.”

“That's your privilege, Qing-jao. But why do you believe it?”

Because it sounded true when she read it. Could she say that to Father? Yes, she could say anything. “Because when I read it I felt that it must be true.”

“I see.”

“Now you know that I'm foolish.”

“On the contrary. I know that you are wise. When you hear a true story, there is a part of you that responds to it regardless of art, regardless of evidence. Let it be clumsily told and you will still love the tale, if you love truth. Let it be the most obvious fabrication and you will still believe whatever truth is in it, because you cannot deny truth no matter how shabbily it is dressed.”

“Then how is it that you don't believe the Life of Human?”

“I spoke unclearly. We are using two different meanings of the words truth and belief. You believe that the story is true, because you responded to it from that sense of truth deep within you. But that sense of truth does not respond to a story's factuality– to whether it literally depicts a real event in the real world. Your inner sense of truth responds to a story's causality– to whether it faithfully shows the way the universe functions, the way the gods work their will among human beings.”

Qing-jao thought for only a moment, then nodded her understanding. “So the Life of Human may be universally true, but specifically false.”

“Yes,” said Han Fei-tzu. “You can read the book and gain great wisdom from it, because it is true. But is that book an accurate representation of the pequeninos themselves? One can hardly believe that– a mammaloid species that turns into a tree when it dies? Beautiful as poetry. Ludicrous as science.”

“But can you know that, either, Father?”

“I can't be sure, no. Nature has done many strange things, and there is a chance that the Life of Human is genuine and true. Thus I neither believe it nor disbelieve it. I hold it in abeyance. I wait. Yet while I'm waiting, I don't expect Congress to treat Lusitania as if it were populated by the fanciful creatures from the Life of Human. For all we know, the pequeninos may be deadly dangerous to us. They are aliens.”

“Ramen.”

“In the story. But raman or varelse, we do not know what they are. The fleet carries the Little Doctor because it might be necessary to save mankind from unspeakable peril. It is not up to us to decide whether or not it should be used– Congress will decide. It is not up to us to decide whether it should have been sent– Congress has sent it. And it is certainly not up to us to decide whether it should exist– the gods have decreed that such a thing is possible and can exist.”

“So Demosthenes was right. The M.D. Device is with the fleet.”

“Yes.”

“And the government files that Demosthenes published– they were genuine.”

"Yes.:

“But Father– you joined many others in claiming that they were forgeries.”

“Just as the gods speak only to a chosen few, so the secrets of the rulers must be known only to those who will use the knowledge properly. Demosthenes was giving powerful secrets to people who were not fit to use them wisely, and so for the good of the people those secrets had to be withdrawn. The only way to retrieve a secret, once it is known, is to replace it with a lie; then the knowledge of the truth is once again your secret.”

“You're telling me that Demosthenes is not a liar, and Congress is.”

“I'm telling you that Demosthenes is the enemy of the gods. A wise ruler would never have sent the Lusitania Fleet without giving it the possibility of responding to any circumstance. But Demosthenes has used his knowledge that the Little Doctor is with the fleet in order to try to force Congress to withdraw the fleet. Thus he wishes to take power out of the hands of those whom the gods have ordained to rule humankind. What would happen to the people if they rejected the rulers given them by the gods?”

“Chaos and suffering,” said Qing-jao. History was full of times of chaos and suffering, until the gods sent strong rulers and institutions to keep order.

“So Demosthenes told the truth about the Little Doctor. Did you think the enemies of the gods could never speak the truth? I wish it were so. It would make them much easier to identify.”

“If we can lie in the service of the gods, what other crimes can we commit?”

“What is a crime?”

“An act that's against the law.”

“What law?”

“I see– Congress makes the law, so the law is whatever Congress says. But Congress is composed of men and women, who may do good and evil.”

“Now you're nearer the truth. We can't do crimes in the service of Congress, because Congress makes the laws. But if Congress ever became evil, then in obeying them we might also be doing evil. That is a matter of conscience. However, if that happened, Congress would surely lose the mandate of heaven. And we, the godspoken, don't have to wait and wonder about the mandate of heaven, as others do. If Congress ever loses the mandate of the gods, we will know at once.”

“So you lied for Congress because Congress had the mandate of heaven.”

“And therefore I knew that to help them keep their secret was the will of the gods for the good of the people.”

Qing-jao had never thought of Congress in quite this way before. All the history books she had studied showed Congress as the great unifier of humanity, and according to the schoolbooks, all its acts were noble. Now, though, she understood that some of its actions might not seem good. Yet that didn't necessarily mean that they were not good. “I must learn from the gods, then, whether the will of Congress is also their will,” she said.

“Will you do that?” asked Han Fei-tzu. “Will you obey the will of Congress, even when it might seem wrong, as long as Congress has the mandate of heaven?”

“Are you asking for my oath?”

“I am.”

“Then yes, I will obey, as long as they have the mandate of heaven.”

“I had to have that oath from you to satisfy the security requirements of Congress,” he said. “I couldn't have given you your task without it.” He cleared his throat. “But now I ask you for another oath.”

“I'll give it if I can.”

“This oath is from– it arises from great love. Han Qing-jao, will you serve the gods in all things, in all ways, throughout your life?”

“Oh, Father, we need no oath for this. Haven't the gods chosen me already, and led me with their voice?”

“Nevertheless I ask you for this oath.”

“Always, in all things, in all ways, I will serve the gods.”

To her surprise, Father knelt before her and took her hands in his. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “You have lifted from my heart the heaviest burden that was ever laid there.”

“How did I do this, Father?”

“Before your mother died, she asked me for my promise. She said that since her entire character was expressed by her devotion to the gods, the only way I could help you to know her was to teach you also to serve the gods. All my life I have still been afraid that I might fail, that you might turn away from the gods. That you might come to hate them. Or that you might not be worthy of their voice.”

This struck Qing-jao to the heart. She was always conscious of her deep unworthiness before the gods, of her filthiness in their sight– even when they weren't requiring her to watch or trace woodgrain lines. Only now did she learn what was at stake: her mother's love for her.