he Supreme Lord's immense power enter his mind and
begin work. What he'd experienced in the Vision was only a shadow of
this reality, but it had prepared him as nothing had prepared Kranath.
Despite what he could only think of as having his innermost mind
forcibly stretched, then stuffed to near-capacity before being
stretched again into what felt like hyperdimensions, he was in
absolutely no pain. Instead, he felt . . .

Exaltation.

He'd been made into what a number of humans and Traiti would be in
time. That he could know such glory while others were still so
restricted was something that was, with his new knowledge, as
inevitable as it was regrettable. Yet, since it was inevitable, his
regret was of necessity dispassionate. Others would achieve this
state, and he would greet them with joy. In the millennia before then,
he had a job to do, helping to guide this galaxy's intelligences as
those who went before had intended.

He felt an amusement like Kranath's, but this time it was his own.
Humans had established the Empire and thought themselves and their
vitality supreme; but the Traiti supplied the gods, the subtle
guidance. And, he now realized, the Irschchans provided--or rather,
would provide--ritual to bring those together. The cloudcats, the only
race to remember the Others who went before as a vital part of their
history, were the observers and reporters. None of them yet knew their
parts of the whole, or could be allowed to know until they reached
maturity.

For them it would be a natural process. He was the last to be forced
to his full potential, to complete the Circle of Lords. He could see
now how he'd been quite literally molded, as Kranath had said, from the
moment of his conception--and he'd had a mostly-pleasant life. Since
he could understand and appreciate the necessity, he could feel no
resentment at the manipulation. It was as inevitable, historically, as
the Traiti war itself.

Now he had almost total free will, but his mental patterns were long
established. He would use his new powers as he had been intended to.

Chapter X

Hovan didn't feel much except fatigue and hunger as the time for
Steve's Transformation neared. He'd held vigil for the full day,
without sleep or food, and he felt the effects.

It would be over soon, he thought tiredly. The Lords had promised an
honorable peace, so he believed it would come about, though he couldn't
imagine how. But it still d