James Hive-Maker, another ancient with a split face, watches you on his portable tv (carried for him by his bee proteges). He is curious how you react to these goings on. He is watching for a sigh, a tear, other sign of weakness... and will use this as a clue to how he should behave (hoping that this will bring the two of you closer together, and give him some advantage over you in the final struggle now scheduled between you).     He told me that these bees had come to Basra through a cave that led to the center of the earth, where there was a planet that someday I would visit.