Exiles At The Well Of Souls - Well Of Souls 02
by Jack L. Chalker
Well of Souls Book Two
Copyright 1978
From the back Cover:
Antor Trelig, archvillain ond head of the Sponge Syndicate, had capOtubrie, a supercomputer that could control all matter and all worlds. With Ohbeielp's-willing or unwilling-Trelig would become omnipotent...and he was surneothing could stop him now.
Against him, the Council had only one weapon-Mavra Chang, the amoral faedmveanleturer who had trained herself to be humanity's master criminal. Tohfefyered her any reward if she succeeded. For failure, there was certainh,orrible death.
Neither Trelig nor Mavra had counted on being drawn across space to thWe oWrlde,ll master planet
of the ancient Markovians. There, in new-alien-bodies, twhere faced with countless bizare ecologies. And there they were caught up ibnatatle of intrigue where strange races fought for control of the Universe!

ABOUT TIME . . .
The format of this book is extremely episodic; the action will
seivfet ratol different people and events
very rapidly, and this might cause sotmeme poral disorientation to those used to reading a straight-line narrative. Therefore, the reader is cautioned to keep in mind that, unless thspeecteifxictally says otherwise, a scene-change is considered to be goingsimonultaneously with the preceding action, and
that this is true, regardless tohfe number of scene changes, until the original characters come up again. The scheme may sound difficult, but it shouldn't cause problems. JLC
GAEMESJUN LABORATORIES, MAKEVA
It wasn't the fact that Gilgam Zinder's lab assistant had a horse's twaials ththaet strange thing was that she didn't seem to theinrkcondition odd or unusual.
oddest fact; the really
Zinder was tall and thin, a gaunt man with gray hair and a long gratyhagt omataedee him seem even older than he was, and more drawn. His blue-gray belyoeosd, shot and surrounded with darkening
shadow, showed his overwork. He hadtnh'ot ught to eat in more than two days, and sleep had become academic.
The place was a strange-looking lab at that. It was designed somethinagn alimkepitheater, with a circular raised pedestal about forty centimeters abothvee plain flooring that served as the stage. Above the stage was a devicheanging like a great cannon but terminating in a small mirror with a tiny point coming out from it.
A balcony surrounded the apparatus; here, along the walls, were thousanbdlisnkoinfg lights, dials and switches, and central consoles, four of them, evesnplayced around the circle below. Zinder sat at one; directly across from him mauch younger man in shiny protective lab clothing sat at another. Zinder's lab suit looked as if it had been made in the last century.

The woman standing on the raised disk was an ordinary-looking sortth,irltaietes and a little dumpy and saggy, the kind that looks far better wpritohper clothes than nude as she now was.
Only she had a horse's tail, long and bushy.
She looked up at the two men with puzzlement and some impatience.
"Well, come on," she called to them, "aren't you going to do anythicnogl?d Idt'oswn here."
Ben Yulin, the younger man, smiled and leaned over the rail.
"Swish your tail awhile, Zetta. We're working as fast as we can!" hedocwalnledgood-naturedly.
And she was swishing the tail, slowly back and forth, routinely, echoifnrugsthraetrion.
"You really don't notice any difference, Zetta?" Zinder's thin, reedy avsokiecde
her.
She looked puzzled, then down at herself, running her hands along herinbclouddyin, g the tail, as if to find out what they did.
"No, Dr. Zinder, I don't. Why? Is something about me different?re"spsohneded hesitantly.
"Do you know you have a tail?" Zinder prompted.
She looked puzzled. "Of course I have a tail," she repliesdo-iwnhat's-wrong-with-that tone.

"You don't find that, ah, odd or unusual?" Ben Yulin put in.
The woman was genuinely confused. "Why, no, of course not. Why should I?" Zinder looked over at his young assistant, almost fifteen meters acroospsetnhestage. "An interesting development," he commented.
Yulin nodded. "Creating bean pots, then the lab-animal stuff, that twolhdatuswe could do, but I don't think I was ready for this."
"You remember the theory?" Zinder prompted.
Yulin nodded. "We're changing probability within the field. What wesodmo ettohing or someone in the field is normal to them, because we've changed bthaesic stabilizing equation. Fascinating. If we could
do this on a large scal.e .".
He let the thought trail off.
Zinder looked thoughtful. "Yes, indeed. A whole population would be chandgedit would never know it." He turned and looked down again at the womanthewihthorse's tail.
"Zetta?" he called. "Do you know that we do not have tails? That no woneekenloswe
of has a tail?"
She nodded. "Yes, I know it's unusual to you. But what's the bighdaveeanl?'t Iexactly tried to hide it from view."
"Did your parents have tails, Zetta?" Yulin asked.

"Of course not!" she responded. "Now what's all this about?"
The younger scientist looked across at the old one. "Want to go any fuhrethaesr?k"ed.
Zinder shrugged lightly. "Why not? Yes, I'd love to do a psych probe haonwd sdeeeep it goes, but if we can do it once we can do it anytime. Let's cheocnke otuhting at a time."
"Okay," Yulin agreed. "So now what?"
Zinder looked thoughtful for a moment. Then, suddenly, he reached ovetoruacnhded a panel next to a recessed combination microphone and speaker.
"Obie?" he called into it.
"Yes, Dr. Zinder?" the voice of the computer that was in the wallsthaeromunrdeplied; a pleasant, professional, and personable tenor.
"You have noted that the subject does not know we have in any wayhearl?t"ered
"Noted," Obie admitted. "Do you wish her to? The equations are not qsutaibteleaisn that situation but they'll hold up."
"No, no, that's all right," Zinder responded quickly. "How about atwtitiuthdoeut physical change? Is that possible?"
"A much more minor alteration," the computer told him. "But, also, becathuaset, omfore easily and quickly reversible."
Zinder nodded. "All right, then, Obie. We translated a horse into the msyasttreixm, so you have it

completely and you have Zetta completely."
"We don't have the horse any more," Obie pointed out.
Zinder sighed impatiently. "But you have the data on it, don't you?wThheraet'sthe tail came from, right?"
"Yes, Doctor," Obie replied. "I see now that you were being rhetoricalI'magasionr.ry."
"That's all right," Zinder assured the machine. "Look, let's trsyomfoerthing bigger. Do you have the term and concept centaur in your memory?"
Obie thought for perhaps a millisecond. "Yes. But it will take some wtuornrk hteor into one. After all, there is the matter of internal plumbicnagr,diovascular systems, additional nerve connections, and the like."
"But you can do it?" Zinder prompted, somewhat surprised.
"Oh, yes."
w long?"
"Two or three minutes," Obie replied. Zinder leaned over. The girl wtiatihl wthaes pacing a little nervously on the podium, looking quite uncomfortable.
"Assistant Halib! Please stop that pacing and return to the center doisfk!th"ehe reproved her. "We're about ready, and you did volunteer for this."
She sighed. "Sorry, Doctor," she responded and stood on the center mark.

Zinder looked over at Yulin. "On my mark!" he called, and Yulin nodded.
"Mark!"
The little mirror like disk overhead moved out, the little pointceinntethreaimed down, and suddenly
the entire area of the disk was bathed pianle-ablue light that seemed to sparkle, enveloping the woman. She seemed frozenu, nable to move. Then she suddenly flickered several times like a projected image and winked out entirely.
"Subject's known stability equation has been neutralized," Yulin saidhiisntorecorder. He looked up
at Zinder.
"Gil?" he called, slightly disturbed.
"Eh?" the other man responded absently.
"Suppose we didn't bring her back? I mean, suppose we just neutralizedYuhlienr,"said nervously. "Would she exist, Gil? Would she ever have existed?"
Zinder sat back in his chair, thinking. "She wouldn't exist, no," he told the
other. "As to the rest-well, we'll ask Obie." He leaned forward and oflnipptheed transceiver connecting him to the computer.
"Yes, Doctor?" the computer's calm tone came back.

"I'm not disturbing the process, am I?" Zinder asked carefully.
"Oh, no," the computer replied cheerfully. "It's taking only a littleaunndeiegrhth of me to work it out."
"Can you tell me-if the subject were not restabilized, would she haevxeisatennyce? That is, would she have ever existed?"
Obie thought it over. "No, of course not. She is a minor part of theequpartiomne, of course, so it wouldn't affect reality as we know it. But it waodujuldst. She would never have lived."
"Then-what if we left her with the tail?" Yulin broke in. "Would eveerlysbeodayssume she had a tail all along?"
"Quite so," the computer agreed. "After all, to exist she must have a orreatshoen,equations would not balance. Again, it would have no effect onovtheerall equation."
"What would, I wonder?" Zinder mumbled off-mike, then turned back to"TOebllie.me, if that's the case, why do we-Ben, you, and me-know that realitybeheans altered?"
"We are in close proximity to the field," Obie replied. "Anyone awpipthroinximately a hundred meters would have some knowledge of this. The closer ayreo,u the more dichotomy you perceive. After about a hundred meters thpeerception of reality starts to become negligible. People would be aware that something was different, but wouldn't be able to figure out what. Beythoonudsaand meters the
dissipation would become one with the master equation,reaanldity would adjust. I can, however, adjust or minimize this for yopurerceptions if you desire."
"Absolutely not!" Zinder said sharply. "But you mean that everyone beytohnodusand meters of here would firmly believe she had always been a centaurthat dthere was a logical reason for it?"
"That is correct. The prime equations always remain in natural balance."

"She's coming in!" Ben called excitedly, breaking off the dialogue.
Zinder looked out and saw a shape flicker into the center of thefldiciskke.reIdt solidified, and the field winked out. The misrwrourng silently away overhead.
twice more, then
It was still Zetta Halib, recognizably. But where the woman had stoocrde,atuhree was Zetta now only down to the waist. There her yellow-brown smkeinlded into black hair, and the rest of her body was that of a full-grown maoref perhaps two years.
"Obie?" Yulin called, and the computer answered. "Obie, how long befosretabsihliezes? That is, how long before the centaur becomes permanent?"
"It's permanent now, for her," the computer told him. "If you mean hoiwt wloilnl gtake the prime equations to stabilize her new set, an hour or twmoosat.t It is, after all, a minor disturbance."
Zinder leaned over the rail and looked at her in amazement. It was clheearhtahdatexceeded his wildest dreams.
"Would she breed true-if we had a male?" Yulin asked the computer.
"No," the computer responded, sounding almost apologetic. "That would tlaokte maore work. She would breed a horse, of course."
"You could make a breeding pair of centaurs, though?" Yulin persisted.
"Most probably," Obie hedged. "After all, the only limit to this promceyssinisput. I have to have the knowledge of how to do it, how things aretogpeutther, before I can work something out."
Yulin nodded, but he was plainly as excited as the older man whowseorlkifet'shis was.

The centaur looked up at them. "Are we just going to stay here all dasyk?e"d sihmepatiently. "I'm getting hungry."
"Obie, what does she eat?" Yulin asked.
"Grass, hay, anything of that nature," the computer replied. "I had tsoomtaekeshort cuts, of course. The torso is mostly muscle tissue and supporbtionnge. I used the horse's part for the organs."
Yulin nodded, then looked over at the older scientist, still somewhat bdyazwedhat he'd wrought.
"Gil?" he called. "How about some cosmetic touch-ups, and then we cahnerketehpis way awhile? It would be interesting to see how this alteration woourkt."s
Zinder nodded absently.
With one more pass, Yulin was able to give the new creature a youngerhahlfu;mhaen tightened her up and restored what appeared to be youthful good looks.
They were almost finished when a door opened near the old scientisyt oaunndg agirl, no more than fourteen, walked in with a tray. She was aboutce1n6t5imeters tall, but she weighed close to sixty-eight kilograms. Pudgy, stockya, wkward, with thick legs and fat-enlarged breasts, she wasn't helped by dressing in a diaphanous dress, sandals, and overdone makeup, or by the obviouslylondgyebdlond hair. She looked somehow grotesque, but the old man sminildeudlgently.
"Nikki!" he said reprovingly. "I thought I told you not to come in wrehdenlitghhet was on!"
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she responded, sounding not the least bit sorry, paust sthe tray down and
kissed him lightly on the cheek. "But you haven't eatseon lionng we were getting worried." She looked over, saw the younger man asnmd iled a very different sort of smile.

"Hi, Ben!" she called playfully, and waved.
Yulin looked over, smiled, and waved back. Then, suddenly, he was thhinakrdin. gA hundred meters, he thought. The kitchen was about that far away, agbroovuend.
She put her arms around her father. "What have you been up to for ssoheloansgk?e"d in that playful tone. Although physically adult, Nikki Zinder wemasotionally very much a child and acted it. Too much, her father knew. She waosverly protected here, cut off from people her own age, and spoiled rotten from an early age by her father's inability to discipline her and everykbnoodwy'lsedge that she was the boss's kid. Even her slight lisp was childish; osfhtenseemed more like a pouting five-year-old than the almost fourteen she reallwy as.
But, she was his, and he couldn't bear to send her away, to putfahnecryinscahool or project far
away from him. His had been a lonely life of faignudregsreat machines; at fifty-seven he had had clone samples taken, but he wantehdis own. Finally he had paid a project assistant back on Voltaire to give
him ababy. She had been the first one willing to do it, just to see
ewxhpaetritehnece was like. She was
a behavioral psychologist, and Zinder had had ahsesirgned to his project until Nikki was delivered, then he paid her off, and slheeft.
Nikki looked like her mother, but that didn't matter. She was his, andthdeurminogst trying periods of the project she had kept him from blowing his boruaitn. sShe was immature as hell. But he really didn't want her to grow up. NikZkiinder suddenly heard a woman cough, and she bounded up to the rail and looked down on the centaur.
"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed. "Hi! Zetta!"
The centaur looked up at the girl and smiled indulgently. "Hello, Nikkrie,"spsohneded automatically.
Both Zinder and Yulin were fascinated.
"Nikki, you don't see anything, er, odd about Zetta?" her father prompted.

The girl shrugged. "Nope. Why? Should I?"
Ben Yulin's mouth dropped open in honest surprise.
Over a week passed during which they noted various reactions to thcerenateuwre. Just about
everyone at the center saw nothing unusual in Zetta Hbeailnibg half horse; that is, nothing newly unusual. They knew, of course, that swheas a volunteer for the biological scientists attempting to adapt people to different forms. They knew she had been manipulated after conception to graoswshuep had, and they remembered when she had arrived and recalled the inreitaiacltions.
Everything checked out, of course, except for the fact that none of whraetmtehmeybered had actually happened. Reality needed to explain her and had adjuasctceodrdingly. Only two men knew the truth.
Ben Yulin puffed on his curved pipe in his boss's office, rocking lazialyndbafcokrth in a spindly chair.
"So now we know," he said at last.
The older scientist nodded and sipped some tea. "Yes, we do. We can take any
individual, anything, and we can remake it if we can come up with the data
Obie needs to make the transformation properly, and nobody will even Pkonorw.Zetta! A
one-of-a-kind freak with a full history and memory of growinthgatupway. We'll have to change her back, of course."
"Of course," Yulin agreed. "But let's let her keep her good lookse. aSrnheed's that much from us."

"Yes, yes, of course." Zinder responded as if that meant little to him.
"Something is still bothering you," Yulin noted.
Gil Zinder sighed. "Yes, quite a lot. This is a terrible power, you kpnloawy ,gtood like this. And I
don't like the idea of the Council getting contriot.l" of
Yulin looked surprised. "Well, they didn't blow all this money for noHtheilnl!g.We've done it, Gil!
We've knocked conventional science into a cocked game can be changed!"
Whaet!'ve shown them how easily the rules of the
The older scientist nodded. "True, true. We'll win all sorts of awaradlsl tahnadt. But-well, you know what's the real problem. Three hundred seventy-fohuman worlds. A lot. But all but a handful are Comworlds, conformist fantasiesT. hink what the rulers of those worlds could do to those people with a device like ours!"
Yulin sighed. "Look, Gil, our way is no different than the crude methoudsse thneoyw-biological manipulation, genetic engineering, all those things. Maythbiengs won't be so bad after all. Maybe our discovery will make things betteHr.ell, it can't make them much worse."
"That's true," Zinder acknowledged. "But the power, Ben! And," he patursneedd, to face the younger scientist, "there's sometheinlsge."
"Huh? What?" Yulin responded.
in his swivel chair
"The implications," the physicist said worriedly. "Ben, if all thisc,hathiri,s this office, you, me-if we're all just stable equations, matter createodut of pure energy and somehow maintained as we are, what's keeping us stable?Is there a cosmic Obie someplace, keeping the primary equations balanced?"
Ben Yulin chuckled. "I suppose there is, one way or another. God is bnuotthaingiant Obie. I kind of like that thought."

Zinder didn't find it amusing in the least. "I think there is, Benm. uTshtebree, if everything else is correct. Even Obie agrees. But who built it? Wmahiontains it?"
"Well, if you want to be serious about it, I suppose the Markovians Fbourilat llit.I know they still maintain it," Yulin responded.
Zinder considered that. "The Markovians. Yes, it must be. We've founddetahdeirworlds and deserted cities all over. They must have done all thisgioant ascale, Ben!" He was suddenly excited.
"Of course! That's why they nevfeorund any artifacts in those old ruins! Whatever they wanted, they just told their version of Obie and there it was!"
Yulin nodded approvingly. "You might be right."
"But, Ben!" Zinder kept on. "All the worlds of theirs we've found! Talhledye'raed!" He sat back in his chair, voice and manner calming a bit, butohnies still agitated. "I wonder-if they couldn't handle it, how can we?" Helooked straight at the other scientist. "Ben, are we producing the means tooutwtihpee
human race?"
Yulin shook his head slowly from side to side. "I don't know, Gil.noIt.hBopuet we haven't much choice. Besides," he smiled, tone lighter, "no mawttheart, we'll all be long gone before that point is reached."
"I wish I had your confidence, Ben," Zinder said nervously. "Well, ryigohut'reon one thing. We have to deliver. Will you set it up?"
Ben walked over and patted the old man on the shoulder. "Of course It'lhlemaarrkaengements," he
assured the other. "Look, you worry too much, Gil.
mTreu.s"t His tone changed, became more
self-confident. The other didn't notic"eY. es, I'll set it up."
In the old days there were nations, and they reached for space. Anthdertehewnere planetary colonies

of these nations, and they all had diffeprihniglosophies and life-styles. There followed wars, raids, engineered revolutions. Man expanded, the nations vanished, leaving behind only pthhieloirsophies for
their heirs.Finally, rulers sick of it all got togetherfoarnmded a trust. All competing ideologies were to be given free reign until odnoeminated a planet, but never by force and never with help from outside. Each planet would choose a member to sit on a great Council of Worlds andvoctaes.t its
The great weapons of terror and destruction were placed under seagluaarndded by a tough force born and bred to the service-a force that coulditsneolft use those weapons without authority. Such authority could come only froam majority of the 374 Council members, each of whom would have to appear personally to open his share of the seals.
Councillor Antor Trelig was one such guardian and a strong political fotrhcee goonverning body. Technically, he represented the People's Party of NOeuwtlook, a Comworld where people were bred
to obedience and to functiopnerfectly in their jobs. Actually, he represented a lot more, for he had a great deal of influence over other Council members as well. Some said he was amenboituioguhs to
dream of one day controlling a majority, of holding in his hankdesysthteo the weapons that could wreck worlds.
He was a big man, around 190 centimeters tall, who had broad shouldersstarnodnga hooknose set atop a squared jaw. He looked as though made of graniteh.e Bduidtn't look like the power-mad villain many painted him as being, nsotatnding there, fascinated, watching two men and a machine unmake a centaur.
The scientists peformed a few additional demonstrations for him, even haismkedif he wanted to try it. Trelig declined with a nervous laugh. But, atfatlekring to the girl who walked off the raised disk and after seeing realityreadjust to her original existence, he was convinced.
Later he relaxed with a very un-Com-like brandy in Zinder's office.
"I can't tell you how stunned I am," he told them. "What yoiuncdreiddibisle, unbelievable. Tell me, could a huge one be built? One large enotougchontrol whole planets?"
Zinder suddenly became hostile. "I don't think doing so would be praCcotiucnalc,illor. Too many variables."

"It could be done," Ben Yulin put in, ignoring the angry look frcoomlleahgisue. "But the cost and effort would be enormous!"
Trelig nodded. "Such a cost would be negligible when compared wibthenethfiets. Why, this could wipe out any possibilities of starvation, vagariescliomf ate, and what not. It could produce a Utopia!"
Or it could reduce the few free and individualistic worlds left to hapopbyedainendt slavery, Zinder thought morosely. Aloud, he said, "I think iwt'seaapon, too, Councillor. A terrible one in the wrong hands. I believe that wishat killed the Markovians a few million years ago. I would feel bettera if such power were placed under Council Seal."
Trelig sighed. "I don't agree. But, we'll never know without tryingSiut cohuta. can't just be locked away and abandoned!"
scientific breakthrough
"I think it should be, and all traces of the research erased," mZainindtearined. "What we have is the power to play god. I don't think we're refoardythat
yet."
"You can't uninvent something once invented, regardless of its implicatiTornesl,i"g pointed out. "But, I agree, word should be kept under wraps. If evenkntohwe ledge of your discovery got out, it would inspire a million othesrcientists. I think, for now, you should pull the project out of here antdo move some place safe, isolated."
"And where would this safe place be?" Zinder asked skeptically.
Trelig smiled. "I have a place, a planetoid with full life-support, ngorarmviatyl like. I use it as a resort. It would be ideal."
Zinder felt uneasy, remembering Trelig's sleazy reputation.
maintenance, and the

"I don't think so," he told the big man. "I think I'd rather put thteo mthaettfeurll Council next week and let the members decide."
Trelig acted as if he expected that response. "Sure you won't reconDsoidcetor,r? New Pompeii is a wonderful place, much nicer than this sterile horror."
Zinder understood what he was being offered.
"No, I stand firm," the old scientist told the politician. "Nothing canmme ackheange my mind."
Trelig sighed. "That's it, then. I'll arrange for a Council meeting afrowmeektomorrow. You and Dr. Yulin will attend, of course."
The big man stood up and moved to leave. As he did so, he smiled andslonwoldydeadt Ben Yulin, who returned the nod. Zinder didn't notice.
Ben Yulin would set it up, all right.
Nikki Zinder slept quietly in her own room, a room littered withcleoxtohteisc, various toys, games, and gimmicks strewn about in no particular orHdeerr. huge bed almost enveloped her.
A figure stopped at the door to that room and, after checking to mathkaet snuoreone was approaching, took out a small screwdriver and unscrewed the pdroesosrure plate, carefully, so that the
door alarm wouldn't be triggered. Tphleate off, the figure studied the small exposed modules and placed some spiritgum at several critical points. One module was removed and adjusted by plsamcianlgl satrip
of silvery material between two contacts not otherwise connected.
Satisfied, the intruder replaced the covering plate and meticulously screitwbeadck on. Replacing the screwdriver on a tool belt, he hesitated a sectoenndsi,on getting to him, then pressed the contact.

There was a soft click, but nothing else happened.
Breathing easier now, he removed a tiny nodule of clear liquid from apnooutchheron the belt and
attached an injector tab to it. Holding it carefiunljleyc,tor out, he went to the twin solid door to the girl's room and slowlypressed on one section with his free hand, then moved it slightly to the right.
The door opened quietly, without the pneumatic hiss or any other apprescoiuanbdle that could be
heard or detected over the residual air conditioning obfutihldeing. Opening the door just enough to slip inside, he turned and closedquitietly behind him.
By the dull glow of a baseboard nightlight he made out the sleeping fNigiukrkei oZfinder. She lay on her back, mouth open, snoring slightly.
Slowly, stealthily, he tiptoed to her bedside, until he stood almosht eor.veHre froze as she mumbled something in her sleep and turned slightly onsiodnee, moving away from him. Patiently he leaned over and peeled a bit of tshheeet away from her, exposing her upper right arm. The hand with the ainjdector nodule reached over, and he placed it firmly on her arm.
His touch was so gentle that she did not awaken, but gave out a low mtuorannedanagdain on her back. Nodule empty, the man withdrew the tiny packet anidt ipnuthis pocket.
She did seem to be awakening a little, left hand coming over and feemlinugsclteheon the right. Then the arm suddenly seemed to lose its ability to manodve,it limply fell away. Her breathing became heavier, more labored.
Taking a deep breath, he leaned over, touched her, shook her hard. Snhoet rdeisdpond.
Smiling in satisfaction, he sat beside her on the bed, bent over chleors.e to
"Nikki, do you hear me?" he asked softly.

"Uh, huh," she mumbled.
"Nikki, listen carefully," he instructed. "When I say 'one hundred'
yagoauinw, ill begin counting down
from there to zero. When you reach zero, yougewt ilulp, go out of this room, and come immediately to the lab. To the grounfdloor of the lab, Nikki. There you will find a large, round platform thrieght in middle of the floor, and you will stand on it. You will stand on itwainlldnyoot ube able to move from
the middle of it, nor will you want to. Youbewfirlol zen there, and you will still be sound asleep. Do you understand allthat?"
"I understand," she responded dreamily.
"Avoid being seen going to the lab," he cautioned. "Do anything to keebpeinfrgomseen. But, if you are seen, act normal, get rid of anyone quickly,doann'dt tell where you're really going. Will you do that?"
"Uh huh," she acknowledged.
He rose from the bed and went over to the door, which still woarukteodmoantics from the bedroom
side. It was free, though, and he opened it a csarawckn, o one, then opened it a little wider. He stepped into the hall, turned, anadlmost closed the door.
"One hundred, Nikki," he said, and closed it all the way.
Satisfied, he walked down the corridor almost a hundred meters, meetionnge naond noting with satisfaction that all the doors were closed. He enteredelethveator, and the door to the capsule closed.
"Yulin, Abu Ben, YA-356-47765-7881-GX, Full clearance, Lab 2 level, plehaeses,"aid. The
elevator checked him visually, checked his ID number and vporiinctes, then descended rapidly to the lab floor.

Once on the balcony, he walked over to his control panel and switchaecdtivite tmo ode.
He flipped the switch to Obie.
"Obie?" he called.
"Yes, Ben?" came that soft, friendly reply.
Yulin punched some buttons on his keyboard.
"Unnumbered transaction," he responded with a calmness he didn't feel.in"Failuex storage under my key only."
"What are you doing, Ben?" Obie asked curiously. "That is a mode evenusIe.caI nh'tad no idea it was in there until you used it."
Ben Yulin smiled. "That's all right, Obie. Even you don't have to remevemerybtehring."
What Obie had discovered, and Ben was enjoying, was the mode by wchoicuhldheuse Obie and
then have Obie file the record of what was done in suchthaatweavyen the great computer couldn't get
at it. Obie would still perfornmormally, but have a case of total amnesia not only about what Ben was about todo but about his even being there.
Yulin heard the elevator door open below. He looked over the balcony aNndikksai,wdressed only in that flimsy nightgown, walk normally and deliberatienltyo the lab chamber and step up onto the disk. Centering herself, she stooedrect, her eyes closed, and she seemed frozen, a statue except for barely perceptible breathing.
"Record subject in aux mode, Obie," Yulin instructed. The big mirror ovsewrhuenagd
out, centered
over the disk, and shot out the blue ray. Nikki flicoknecre or twice, then vanished. The ray cut off.

It would be tempting, Yulin thought, just to leave her there. But, rnisok, twheas too great. She would probably have to be produced in the end, anddidhne't want her on that disk with Zinder at the controls.
"Obie, this will be an unstable equation. It will not adjust. Thechaacntgeof shall in itself be part of reality."
"Yes, Ben," the computer responded. "There will be no reality adjustment."
Yulin nodded in satisfaction.
"Psychological adjustment only, Obie," he told the great machine.
"Ready," responded Obie.
"Maximum emotional-sexual response level," he ordered. "Subject is tfoixabted on Dr. Ben Yulin, data in your banks. Subject will be maidrrlyat,ionally in love with Yulin, and will think of nothing but Yulin. Will doanything for Yulin, will be loyal only to Yulin, without exception. Subjeccotnwsidilel r
herself the willing property of said Ben Yulin. Code it 'lovem-sloadvee' for future reference and store in aux one."
"Done," the computer acknowledged.
"Sequence, then store as soon as both humans have left the lab."
"Sequencing," the computer said, and Yulin looked over the balcony. Thleigbhltuehad flipped on again, and Nikki, still the same and still wearing the nsiagmhtegown, winked back in. She was still frozen.
Yulin cursed himself. It'd been less than twenty minutes since haedmhaindistered the dosage which

was good for probably three times that. He'd tankoenchances.
"Additional instructions, Obie," he shot back. "Remove all traces of theStedprulegflin from subject and restore subject at full wakefulness, with ethqeuivalent of eight hours sleep. Do this immediately, then return to previousinstructions."
The computer accepted the new instructions, the blue light went on, flNicikekried but did not wink out for more than half a second this time, thenbawcka,s awake, looking in amazement about the lab.
Yulin leaned over the railing. "Hey, Nikki!"
She looked up, spotted him, and the look on her face was suddenly sorapftuulrleofthat she appeared to be seeing the face of god. She trembled and moinaneecdstasy at the sight of him.
"Come up to this level, Nikki," he instructed, and she all but randiosfkf
tohethe elevator. She was
next to him in less than two minutes. cSohnetinued to look at him in awe and wonder. He lightly touched her cheek withhis hand and an orgasmic shudder went through her. He nodded, satisfied.
"Come with me, Nikki," he ordered softly, taking her hand. She grippedfoiltloawnedd. They boarded the elevator, and Yulin told it to rise to the surface.
The top level opened onto a small park, dimly lit by the artificial thlieghctleoafr dome. The stars shown distantly from horizon to horizon. She haudtnte'tred a sound, asked a question, during all this.
There were a few people about. But since much of the research cendteervowteads
to thousands of
other projects, many kept different hours for variroeuasons, some just because of the need to share facilities.
"We must stay hidden from anyone, Nikki," he whispered to her. "No onseeemuuss."t
"Oh, yes, Ben," she responded, and they crept along the side of the wthalek,mfoosrt part hidden in

the bushes. There were some sharp needles on some obfusthes and plants that lined the walk, and
Nikki was scratched and splintered
tbhyem, but aside from occasional rubbing or a near-silent
exclamation, she didn'ct omplain. Once he didn't see a short, dark man turn a corner, and she pulled him down behind a bush.
Finally they reached the grassy, unlit area that for obscure reasonscaslolmede the campus, and they
cut across it, walking normally. Finally, crouchineda dark corner in the shadow of another building, they waited.
She kept her arm around him and leaned into him. He put his arm aroaunndd shheer, sighed. She was rubbing him and kissing his clothing.
He found the whole thing embarrassing and slightly nauseating, buet shtaeb'dlished the rules of the game and had to suffer for it.
At last, a small, sleek private carrier slid up to them in the blackgnuelsl-sw. iAng was raised, and a man emerged and approached them. Nikki, hearminogvement, looked around and then tried to drag Yulin back into the blackness.
"No, Nikki, that man's a friend of mine," he told her, and she accespttaetdemheinst and immediately relaxed.
"Adnar! Over here!" he called, and the man heard and came closer.
"You must go with Adnar," he told her softly. She looked stricken andevecnluntigghter to him.
"This is the only way we can be together, Nikki," he told her. "You amwuasyt fgoor a short time, but,
if you make no complaints and do everything Aadnndarhis friends tell you without question, I'll come to you, I promise."
She smiled at that. Her mind was clouded; she could think only of BenB,enansdaiidf something then it was true.

"Let's go," Adnar called impatiently.
Yulin steeled himself, then hugged the girl and kissed her lonpgasasniodnately.
"Remember that while we're apart," he whispered. "Now, go!"
She went with the strange man. Unquestioningly, without complaint,clthimeybed into the black carrier, and it sped away.
Ben Yulin allowed himself to exhale, and for the first time noticed pheerswpiarisng. Shakily, he made his way back to his own building and bed.
Antor Trelig displayed the charming smile of a poisonous snake. Hrelasxaetd, , in Gil Zinder's office once more. The little scientist was visisbhlyaken.
"You monster!" he snapped at the politician. "What have you done with her?"
Trelig looked hurt. "Me? I would do nothing, I assure you. I am mucha tmooanbifgor something like a petty kidnapping. But, I do have a lead on whemreigshhte be, and I have some facts on what's happened to her up to this point."
Zinder knew the big man was lying, but he could also see the reasonprefoternsthee. Trelig hadn't done the deed personally, and he would have made cveertrayin that it wasn't traceable to him.
"Tell me what you-they've done to her," he groaned.

Trelig did his best to look serious. "My sources tell me that your diasuignhttehre hands of the sponge syndicate. You've heard of it?"
Gil Zinder nodded, a cold chill going through him.
"They deal in that terrible drug from that killer planet," he respoalnmdoedst, mechanically.
"Quite so," Trelig responded sympathetically. "Do you know what it Ddocetso, r? It decreases the IQ of someone by ten percent for every day it ugnotreesated. A genius is merely average in three or four days, and hardly mortehan an animal in ten days or so. There's no cure-it's a mutant thing unlilfieke any form we've ever encountered, produced by a mixture of some of our omrgatatnericand some alien stuff. The effect is painful, too. A burning in the bIrabienl,ieve is the description, spreading to all parts of the body."
"Stop! Stop!" Zinder sobbed. "What is your price, you monster?"
"Well, remission is possible," Trelig responded, still sympathetic. "Spoisnng'te the drug, of course, it's the remittent agent. Daily doses and there'spanion and little loss. The-ah, disease, is made dormant."
"What is your price?" Zinder almost screamed.
"I believe I can locate her. Buy off these men. My medical staff hsapsosnogme ecultures-quite illegal, of course, but we've discovered many peoplehiginh places in your situation, blackmailed by these
villains. We could go aftherer, retrieve her, and give her sufficient sponge to restore her to normal." He shifted slightly, enjoying himself immensely.
"But I'm a politician, and ambitious. That's true enough. If I do sompeatrhtiincugl,arly going up against an illegal band of cutthroats and then riskdiinsgcovery of my illegal sponge, I must have something in return. To do it-"
"Yes? Yes?" Zinder was almost in tears.

"Report your project a failure and put in to close down," Trelig sug"gIeswteidll. arrange the transfer of-Obie, I think you call it-to my planetoid of PNoemwpeii. There you will plan and direct the construction of a much larger modtheal n the one you have here, one large enough to be used at a distance on, saya, n entire planet."
Zinder was appalled. "Oh, my god! No! All those people! I can't!"
Trelig smiled smugly. "You don't have to decide now. Take as long waasnty."ouHe got up, smoothing out his angelic white robes. "But remember, evpearsysing day Nikki is more subject to the drug. Pain aside, the brain damage oisngoing. Consider that when thinking over your decision. Every second you waste the pain increases, and your daughter's brain dies a tiny bit."
"You bastard," Zinder breathed angrily.
"I'll initiate a search anyway," the big man told the scientist. "WhastpaIrec,anbut not all-out, because
it's merely in the name of humanity. Might dtakyes, though. Even weeks. In the meantime, with a single call to my officseaying you agree, I will put everybody on it, sparing nothing. Good-byZein, dDerr.."
Trelig walked slowly to the door, then out. It shut behind him.
Zinder stared hard at the door, then sank into his chair. He concsiadlleirnegd the Intersystem Police
but thought better of it. Nikki wouldwbeell-hidden, and accusing the vice president of the Council of being a spongemerchant and kidnapper without a shred of evidence-Zinder knew the big man would have an ironclad alibi for the night past-would be futile. They'd invesotfigactoeu, rse, take days, even
weeks, while poor Nikki . . . They'd let her rcootu, rsoef. Let her rot for five or six days. Then what? A low-grade moron, washingfloors happily for them, or perhaps a toy given to Trelig's men for sex and sadism.
It was that last he couldn't stand. Her death he thought he could accneoptt, thbautt. Not that.
His mind whirled. There would be ways later. Obie could cure her if hgeetcohuelrd back soon enough. And the device he was to build-it could be a two-sewdogredd.

He sighed, a tired and defeated little man, and punched the code for lTiariesloing'soffice on Makeva. He knew the big man would still be there. WaWitinagit.ing for the inevitable response.
Defeated for now, he thought resolutely, but not vanquished. Not yet.
ON NEW POMPEII, AN ASTEROID CIRCLING THE UNINHABITED SYSTEM OF THE STAR ASTA
New Pompeii was a large asteroid, a little over four thousand kilomeitesrseqautator. It was one of those few small bits that inhabit all solar systhmats deserved to be called a planetoid; it was fairly round, rounder than mosptlanets, and its core was made up of particularly dense material, giving it a gravity of .7 G when balanced against its ample centrifugal force. Thetoeofkfecat little getting used to, and people tended to do things faster and trfemelendous. But since it was a government-owned resort, that was all to thgeood.
Its orbit was relatively stable, by far more circular than ellipalttihcaolu,gh night and day were hard to take; thirty-two sunrises and sunsets inCoauncil-standard twenty-five hours did tend to be unsettling to people's internal clocks.
The discomfort was partially offset by the fact that half thepelanntierteoid was encased in a great
bubble made of a very thin and light synthmeatitcerial; the bubble was a good light reflector and blurred
the view, so
mit erely seemed to get darker, then lighter, and so forth, the effectsimbeiilnarg to that on
much nicer and more natural worlds on a partly cloudyAdccaoyu. nting for the glow effect, was a
thin-less than a millimeter-gauze materiianl
somewhat liquid form between the two layers of the bubble.
Any punctures wereinstantly sealed. Even a large one could if necessary be closed long enough to activate safety bubbles around the human centers inside. Compressed air, bayidethde lush vegetation planted all over, kept the environment stable.
Theoretically, this was a place for party leaders on New Outlook to geftroamwatyhe pressures for a

bit. Actually the resort's existence was known to aonfleyw people, all intensely loyal to Antor Trelig, who was, after all, the parcthyairman. Protected by computer battle systems erected both on nearby natural dust specks and in special ships, no one could approach within a ligwhti-tyheoaurt being blown apart, not unless Antor Trelig or his people approved.
The place was unassailable politically, too; it would take a majority vthoete Coofuncil to enter over Trelig's diplomatic immunity and sovereignty, aTndrelig controlled the largest bloc of votes on the Council.
When they brought Nikki Zinder to New Pompeii she didn't really payatmtenutcihon to her
surroundings. All she could think of was Ben and Ben's prtohmatisehe'd come for her. They put her in a comfortable room; quiet, faceleshsuman servants brought her food and cleared it away. She lay around most of theday, hugging pillows, pretending that he was there. She used some pencpilaspaenr dshe
found to draw innumerable pictures of him, none very good bshuot wailnl g him as an angelic superman. She determined to lose some weight for htoims,urprise him, but his absence, aided and abetted by the
tremendous variety ofnatural foods offered, caused just the reverse. Every time she thought
sohfehim
ate, and she thought of him constantly. Already overweight, by the seinxdwoefeks she had gained almost eighteen kilos. She didn't really notice.
They also took pictures of her at various times, even had her read somteo waorrdescorder. She didn't mind. It wasn't important to her.
Time was meaningless to her; every minute was terrible and drawn out aass hloengwasn't there. She wrote childish love poems to him and endless reamlestteorfs, which they said they'd deliver.
It took eight weeks before Gil Zinder completed all the procedures necteosssahryut down the project and prepare to move. Yulin's role in all thathahpapdened was still unknown to him, but he was somewhat suspicious of the youngsecrientist when the man so eagerly volunteered to work on the new
Trelig project.As for Trelig, he kept Zinder at least satisfied that his daughter waalisvestbilyl
providing
coded messages along with fingerprint and retinal-patterntoIDgo with the pictures. The fact that she
read the statements did not distuhrebr father; it indicated to him that she still could read normally and that
Trelig was being a man of his word on neutralizing the sponge.
For the final transfer of the master computer center and console toPoNmepweii, they had to disconnect Obie from the apparatus that could altearffoecr t reality. And when they did, they made a startling discovery.

Zetta, who they had made younger and more attractive, remained the waydethseigyn'ded her, but now she suddenly realized that she had been changed. Theequoaldtions were restored when Obie broke with the mechanism; she was strtialnl sformed, because they had used the machine to transform her- but now shkenew she had been transformed.
She was coming with them, of course, so there was no danger thatpearstohnirdwho realized the potential of the device would spread the news, butwtohrartied Ben.
For good reason.
Nikki Zinder sat in her room on New Pompeii. She was eating and daydraesamusinugal, when, suddenly, it seemed that a fog simply disappeared from her amnidnds,he began thinking with crystal clarity.
She looked around the room, cluttered with the remains of a long habaitsatiifons,he were seeing it for the first time. She shook her head and trieredaston out what had happened.
She felt as if she were coming down from some sort of drug hirgehm. eSmhbeered going to sleep, then
she remembered getting this tremendous crush Boenn, who took her out and handed her to some people who brought her here. Shdeidn't understand any of it, though, nor could she relate to it. What had happened was dreamlike, as if it had happened to someone else.
She got up from the little table still littered with food and looked
hdeorwsenlf.atShe could see
enormous breasts and, just barely, some sort of bbuelgloew; but she couldn't see her own feet. With a gasp she went over to a clomseitrror and looked at herself.
She felt like crying. She waddled more than walked; her legs were sorubfbrionmg against each
other every time she moved. Her face was rounder utshuaanl, and she had several chins. Her hair was always long, but now it wuanscombed, unkempt, and tangled.
And, worst of all, she was hungry.

What's happened to me? she wondered, then broke down and cried. It eapseadnichebrut did little to relieve the misery she felt.
"I've got to get out of here, got to call Daddy," she murmured alouwdo,ntdheerned if even he would still love her as she was now. There was littletoedlsoe, though, and she hunted for some clothes. I'm going to need tawelve-person field tent, she thought morosely.
She found her old nightgown, neatly washed and folded, and tried tong. eItt iwt as too tight now,
and it didn't come down nearly far enough. Finallygasvhee up and thought for a moment. She spied the rumpled sheet on the bed anwdi,th some difficulty, managed to pull it off. Folding and tying it, she managed to make at least a covering. Then she found a paper clip on the writing udnersakv.elBinyg the
clip and using it as a pin, she was able to bind the sheet.
She paused at the desk, looking down at a half-finished, multipaged Itlewttears.
her handwriting, all
right, but it read like some insane erotic mishmSahseh. couldn't believe she'd written it, although she had vague memories ofwriting others like it.
She walked over to the door and put her ear up to it, listening. Theretosebeemendo sound, so she pressed the stud and it opened. Beyond was a corrlineodr, in some kind of fur, that ran on in one direction past a lot of doors.thIen other direction it was only a short way to an elevator door. She rushed toit, tried to summon the elevator, but she could tell from the call striwpasthakteyited. Looking around, she discovered some stairs behind what looked lilkauenadry room, and she started climbing. It was an easy choice -they only wuepn.t
After only two dozen or so steps, she was already panting, feeling dizozuyt
aonfdbreath. Not only did
the extra weight get to her, but she had haedxenrcoise to speak of for-how long? In over eight weeks of constant eating, shehad put on over three kilos a week.
Panting, heart beating so hard she could feel it, she started up agaainga. inShfeelt dizzy, her head ached, and she could hardly go on. Once she wdaiszzsyo that she almost slipped and fell. Looking
down, she saw she'd climbed lethssan a dozen meters. She felt as if she had climbed a tall mountain and realized she couldn't go on much farther. Finally, one more landing, one more tusrhne, asnadw a door. Gasping, she almost crawled the last few meters.

The door opened, and a rat-faced little man looked down on her withscmorinxeadnd disgust.
"Well, well, well," he said. "And where do you think you're going,hbipapboy?"
It took three of them to carry her, exhausted, back to the elevator antdo dhoewr nroom. From their questions and her reactions, they did find that whatsepveelrl she'd been under was now broken. Their docile idiot had somehow becomeneaar-hysterical captive.
The rat-faced man gave her a shot to calm her, and it did helpWahilettlteh.e sedative was taking
hold, he used a wall intercom outside her roocmalltoand report her new status and to get instructions. This didn't take longa,nd he returned to the room and looked at her. She was still breathing hshared, but looked at him and pleaded, "Will somebody please tell me where I am anisd gwoihnagt on?"
Rat-face smiled evilly. "You're the guest of Antor Trelig, High CounacnidlloPr arty Chairman of New
Outlook, on his private planetoid of New Pompeii. sYhould feel honored."
"Honored, hell!" she spat. "This is some scheme to get at my fathiet?r, Ii'smn'ta hostage!"
"Bright girl, aren't you?" the man replied. "Well, yes, you've been hsyoprtnotfized for the past two months, and now we have to deal with you asarey.o"u
"My father-" she started hesitantly, "he isn't- isn't going to ... ?"
"He'll be here with his whole staff and everything within a week," trheeplmiedan.
She turned her head. "Oh, no!" she moaned. Then, for a second, she athbougt hhtim seeing her-like this.

"I'd rather die than have him see me like this," she told the man.
He grinned. "That's all right. He loves ya anyway. Your conditiobnypirsodauct of a drug we gave you as an insurance policy. Normally we just givmeeaasured dose of the sponge, but we had to make sure
that nothin' happened tsopoil your mind as long as we need your old man, so we kinda overdid it. ODs affect different people different ways. In your case the stuff makes yliokue eaathorse. Believe me,
better than the other way. Better than some otherreOacDtions, too, which usually gets you hi the sex department ; somewheres, getgsirls all hairy and deep-voiced, sometimes worse."
She didn't know what sponge was, but she had the idea that they had drug that would rot her mind if untreated.
"My daddy can cure me," she told him defiantly.
haderdictotedsome kind of
The rat-faced man shrugged. "Maybe he can. I don't know. I just worBkutheirfe.he can, he'll do it only because the boss lets him, and, in the meanytiomue'l,l continue to grow. Don't worry-some likes 'em big."
She got upset at that, and at the tone of the remark. "I won't eatthainngo,t"hesrhe resolved.
"Oh, yes you will," he replied, clearing out the other two men andthseettdinogor to external operation
by key only. "You won't be able to stop. Yboeug'llfor food-and we got to keep you happy, don't we?" He closed the door.
It took her only three minutes to verify that the door wouldn't open wanads ashsemuch a prisoner as ever, only now she knew it.
And then hunger gnawed at her.
She tried to go to sleep, but the hunger wouldn't let her. It consumtreigdgehreerd, overdose affecting different areas of her brain.
by the drug

The little man had been right; inside of an hour she was starving, antdhinckouoldf nothing but food.
The door opened, and a table full of food was pushed in by a persocnouNldikoknily think of as the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. The servlaindgy took her mind off the food for a second, first because here was human, nrootbot service, and second because the woman was so stunning. Then she tore intothe food, and the other turned to go, a sad look on her face.
"Wait!" Nikki called. "Tell me-do you work here, or are you a prisoner, too?"
The woman's face was sad. "We're all prisoners here," she replied inhiaghs,aldy,rical voice. "Even
Agil-that's the one who found you and brought byaocuk. Agil and I-well, we know about sponge ODs and Antor Trelig's sadismfirst-hand."
"He beats you?" Nikki gasped.
The tall, beautiful woman shook her head sadly. "No, that's the least ogfoews hoant
in this chamber of
horrors. You see," she concluded, turning slowlytheatdoor, "I am a fully functioning male. And Agil is my sister."
ABOARD THE FREIGHTER ASSATEAGUE
The small diplomaticship inched close to the interspace freighterairlock. The freighter pilot watched
! the ship dock on her forward screethnesn, certain the seal wacsomplete.
checked her computer equipment and scanners to make

"Make fast, allow boarding," she said in a strong, accentlesss,urapnrdisingly deep voice.
"Affirmative," responded a mechanical-sounding I version of the same vaosicteh,e ship's computer !
locked in.
"Keep station until further orders," she told the computer, then rossetaratned the long walk back to the central airlock.
Why couldn't they put the locks closer to the bridge? she wondered irBriutatb, lthye. n again, she'd only been boarded in space twice befor'e.
She was a tiny woman for such a big, rich voice, barely 150 centimheetrerbs airne feet; when
dressed, she wore shiny black boots almost up to her wknhieceh,, invisibly, added an additional thirteen centimeters to her height. Shweas still short, but it did add something, and it added far more psychologically. She was also very thin, at her waist almost impossibly scoe.rtSaihnely weighed no more than forty-one kilograms, if that. Her small bresaesetsmed in perfect proportion to the rest of her, and she moved like a cat. ; Swhaes dressed in her best: a thick, form-fitting black body-stocking with a
matching sleeveless black shirt that also seemed form-fitted and a blacwkitbhelat
golden, abstract
dragon design as its buckle. The belt hung on hernhoitpsa,s decoration, but as a carryall for a number of things in hiddecnompartments and a holster, with a sleek, jet-black pistol that wasn't hidden.
Her face was an oval sitting perfectly atop a long neck; it was exCtrhemineslye in appearance, much
more so than the norm, although everyone loovkaegduely Oriental in some way. Her coal-black hair was cropped short, in thsepacer's style.
She wore no jewelry other than the buckle. Her fingernails were lonshgarapndand looked as if they were painted slightly silver. But this was notcatshee; they'd been medically toughened and surgically altered. The nails werleike ten sharp, pointed steel claws.
Although she seldom thought about her appearance, and never when in sshpeacset,opped just before reaching the lock and studied herself in the mirrsourrefdace of polished metal. Her skin, a dark yellowish-brown, was creamy-smooth;although she wore many scars, none were visible in that outfit.
Satisfied, she keyed the lock. There was a hissing sound as the pereqsusaulrizeed, and then the red light over the lock winked out and the green wionnk.edShe pulled the handle, opening the lock.

All locks could be opened only manually, and only from the inside. Istafwetays parecaution that had saved many a freighter captain's life.
Through the lock and into the ship walked an ancient, chiseled in stonweo. mTahne had been a big one
once, but age had stooped her, and flesh saggeodvearl.l
She looked as if she were about to drop dead.
But she cursed when offers from her ship and a gesture from the fcraeipgthaitner for aid were
tendered. Her face showed a pride and arrogance borenxpoefrience and self-knowledge, and her dark eyes burned with an almoisntdependent intensity.
She stepped clear of the lock, gathered her white robe about her, andcalpetaitnheclose the lock behind them.
The young captain, much smaller than the matriarch, offered a chairvtiositothre. The captain sat on the deck, Buddha-like, and stared at her visitor.
And the stare was returneCd.ouncillor Lee Pak Alaina's incredibly alievyees studied every inch of the tiny spacer.
"So you're Mavra Chang," the councillor said at last, in a voice that ncoratckonedly with age but with authority.
The captain nodded respectfully. "I have that honor," she responded. Hewr atsonreespectful, but it lost none of its firmness or confidence.
The old woman looked around the ship. "Ah, yes. To be young agadino!ctTorhse tell me one more rejuve and I'll lose my mind." She looked back actaptthaein. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-seven," she replied.

"And already a ship commander!" the old woman exclaimed. "My, my!"
"I inherited it," the captain responded.
The councillor nodded. "Yes, indeed. I know quite a lot about you, CMhanvrga. I have to. Born on Harvich's World three hundred twenty-seven months aoglod,est of eight children born to a traditionalist couple, Senator Vasura Tongaend her husband, Marchal Hisetti, a doctor. Picked up when, despite \ their bestefforts, the world went Com twenty-two years ago. Some connected friends gsomt uygoguled
to Gnoshi spaceport when they nabbed the rest of your familyp,laacned you in the custody of Mak
Hung Chang, a freighter captain who was britboedget you to safety. Citizen Chang pocketed the money and raised you herselfa,fter getting a disbarred doctor to alter your appearance more in line with the captain's."
Mavra looked up, mouth open. How could anyone possibly have traced her bMeyakoin?d
"Maki Chang arrested for smuggling prohibited items into Comworlds, leayvoiungto find your own
way on the barbarian world of Kaliva at the atgheirtoeef n. Made it by doing just about everything, legal and illegal. Met anfdell in love with a handsome freighter captain named Gimball Nysongi at othfe age nineteen. Nysongi killed by muggers on Basada five years ago, and sincyeouth'veen run this ship alone." She smiled sweetly. "Oh, yes, I know you, MCavhraang."
The captain studied the old woman in increasing wonder. "You've goneawtofulanlot of trouble to find out about me. I assume that those are juspt atrhtse you want to mention?"
That sweet smile broadened. "Of course, dear. But it's the unmentiopnaarbtslethat bring us together here today."
Suddenly Mavra became businesslike. "What's it about? An assassinatSiomnu?ggling? Something illegal?"
The old woman's smile vanished. "Something illegal, yes, but not on moyr ypoarutrs. We studied the profiles of thousands of scoundrels before contactyinogu."

"Why me?" the young woman asked, genuinely intrigued.
"First, because you're politically amoral-laws and regulations don't boytohuer. Second, because you retain some moral principles-you hate the Com eveynouas supply it, and with good reason."
Mavra Chang nodded. "It's more than that. Not just what they did towmhaet-itt'hs ey do to people. Everybody looks alike, acts alike, thinks alike, excfoerptthe party, whatever it is. Happy little anthills." She spat to illustratheer feelings.
Councillor Alaina nodded. "Yes, that, too. Additionally, you've got ygouut'sr,e tough inside and out, your unbringing having made you smart in ways mpeoosptle never dream. And being a small, pretty woman doesn't hurt either-peoplteend to underestimate you because of your size, and, for this job, a woman willbe far less suspect than a man."
Mavra shifted, bringing both legs up in front of her, resting her armsknoenesh. e"rSo what is it you want done that a councillor can't do herself?"
"Do you know Antor Trelig?" Alaina asked sharply.
"Big shot," Mavra responded. "Heavy Council influence, also heavy irnactkheets. Practically controls
New Outlook as his personal kingdom."
The old woman nodded. "Good, good. Now I'll tell you a few other thinkgns.owYoouf the sponge syndicate, of course."
Mavra nodded.
"Well, dear, darling Antor is its leader. The biggest of them all. Wes'voemehasduccess against them, but the drug is pervasive, the party strucctulorese-knit and inbred, and through it and good political moves, Antor hasmanaged to come within thirteen votes of a majority on the Council."

The young captain gasped. "But that would give him control of thewetearprons!" she exclaimed.
"It would indeed," Alaina agreed. "He would control all of us, evehruymlanst being in the sector. He's been at a dead end for some time, but nowanhneo'usnced-secretly, of course, and indirectly-that he has achieved the ultimateweapon, a weapon that can turn whole worlds Com or whatever he wants overnight. He's invited fifteen councillors to a demonstration of this new weaponweneekx.t He thinks the effect will be so tremendous that those of us pforolimtically divided worlds will have to vote with him."
Mavra was disturbed. "What will he do if he gets control?"
"Well, Antor has always idolized the Roman Empire at its height," twheomoaldn responded, then
noticed the blank look. "Oh, don't worry about it. Tahamt'isnor footnote in history, really. But it had an absolute emperor everyone watsaught was a god, a huge slave class, and was known not only for its ability toconquer and hold huge territory but for its depravity as well. What theyhavcoeudldone with
the technology we have today can only be guessed at
winildoeusrt nightmares. That's Antor Trelig."
"And does he have this weapon?" Mavra asked.
Alaina nodded. "I believe he does. My agents became suspicious when aphnyostiecdist named Zinder suddenly refused to continue his grant at Makevapaicnkded up, lock, stock, computer, and research staff, and vanished. Zinder'isdeas were unorthodox, and he was never popular with the scientific community. He believed the Markovians converted energy into matter by merely wishingbietl.ieHveed
he could duplicate the process." She paused, looking straight actaptthaein. "Suppose he was right? Suppose he has succeeded?" the councilltohreorized.
Mavra said more than asked, "And you think Zinder's gone to work for Trelig?"
"We do," replied the old woman. "Not willingly, I don't think. My opetractievdesa suspicious flight out of Makeva about nine weeks ago, a freigchhtaerrted by Trelig, his own pilot, no cargo. Some operatives saw them carry large bundle, shaped like a body, into Trelig's shuttle. Moreover, we dug and found out that a Dr. Yulin, Zinder's top assistant, had his education spobnysoaredknown associate
of Trelig and is, in fact, a grandson of one of the bspoossnegse."

"So he knew when Zinder got results, and he has someone else able ttohechwecokrk. Who do you think was snatched?" Mavra Chang asked.
"Zinder's daughter. She has vanished, gone long before the project cdlowsend. He doted on her. We think she's a hostage, held to make Zinder build ma obdiegl of whatever he had at Makeva. Think of it! A weapon you point at a worthlde,n tell it what you want that world to be, to look like, to think, whatever -and presto! There it is!"
Mavra nodded. "I'm not sure I can believe in something like that, bupta-u"seshde, remembering.
"Way, way back, when I was tiny, I can remembegrramndyparents telling stories about something like
that, about a place built
tbhye Markovians where anything was possible." She smiled wistfully. "Funny, I
never remembered that until just now. They were fairy tales, of course." "Antor Trelig isn't," Alaina responded flatly. "And neither, I think, disevtihcies." "And you want me to wreck it?" Mavra guessed.
Alaina shook her head. "No, I don't think you could. It's too well deTfehnedebde.st we can shoot
for-and even this is close to impossible-is to geZt iDndr.er out. And, if our guess is correct, that means rescuing his daughterN, ikki, too."
"Where is this installation?" Chang asked, all business again.
"Antor calls the place New Pompeii," replied the old woman. "It's a pplrainveatoeid, his own personal property and preserve. It's also the center ofsptohnege syndicate and source of supply for the entire sector."
Mavra whistled. "I know it. It's impregnable. You'd need the force wTarenltisg to command to get there. Impossible!"
"I didn't say you had to get into it," the councillor pointed out.yo"uI shaaid to get two people out. We have to know what they know, have what htahveey. I can get you in-I'm considered such a
doddering old relic that everyonweould be amazed I had even traveled this far. I have been invited to the

demonstration, but they don't expect me to come personally. Like some oothfetrhs,e I'll send a representative close to me, someone I can trust. You."
Mavra nodded. "How long will I have on this asteroid?"
"Antor has asked for three days. One day he'll use to entertain and
otoff sNhoew Pompeii. The
second day he'll give his demonstration. On the third-wtheell,ultimatums and more sugary charm over them."
"Not much time," Mavra Chang commented. "I have to find two probably swepidaeralyted individuals, get them out-all under the nose of Trelig's watchdogsh,isonschedule, and on his turf."
Alaina nodded. "I know it's impossible, but we have to try. At leastdaguegt httheer away. I'm sure they've hooked her on sponge, but that can be woorukte.dMake sure nothing worse happens to you, too. Sponge is the ugliest noafrcotics, and that may only be a prelude to what Antor is capable of."
"Suppose he just hooks us all on sponge hi our after-dinner drinks," wMoarrviread.
"He won't," Alaina assured her. "No, he won't want anything to happenretporetsheentatives that
could spoil his party. He wants everyone hale, healthy,inanthdeir right minds to be suitably terrified into
telling people like me
stourrender. But if he discovers your real purpose, he'll write me off and do what
he wants with you. You understand that."
Mavra nodded silently.
"Will you do it?"
"How much?" was the young captain's response.
Alaina brightened. "Anything at all if you succeed, and I mean that. sTuoccheaeldf, bring Nikki out. With his daughter gone, I'm sure Zinder will fouthl eupworks. For that, shall we say-ten million?"

Mavra gasped. Ten million would buy the Assateague. With that much asnhdip,thsehe could do just about anything.
"Failure means death," the councillor warned, "or worse-slavery to ATnretolirg, or slow death by the sponge. Only once in every century, sometimes fonrota millennium, are men like Antor Trelig born. Ruthless, amoral, sadisticd, ominant monsters. In the end they've all been stopped, but countless millions are dead because of them. Antor is the worst. New Pompeii will convincethyaot ualol fby itself, I feel certain. See what he thinks of people and worlds,thaen you'll know."
"Half in advance," responded Mavra Chang.
Councillor Alaina shrugged. "If you fail, what good will money be anyway?"
NEW POMPEII
Antor Trelig stood over the pit into which Obie had been integrated ilnatrogerthedesign. Seven
months and a fortune large enough to finance wphloalneetary budgets had gone into that hole. Now he watched as giant cranes placethde "big dish" in place. It, along with the whole complex below, would take upclose to half the underside of his asteroid. From the outside the systemlowokoumlduch like the largest radio-telescope ever built.
But its purpose was far more sinister.
Antor Trelig cared little about the expense; it was a trifle to him,extrtirbaucted from his take of the syndicate and from the pilfered budgets ohfunadred syndicate-controlled worlds. Money meant nothing to him in any caseex, cept as a means to power.

Huge space tugs lowered the great mirrorlike device into place, slowlys,oevsleorwly. That didn't matter to him, either. That the project was so clocsoemtpoletion was all that mattered.
He walked over to where Gil Zinder sat watching the procedure, like hatimthse fmercy of the engineers and technicians. Zinder looked around, saw waphporoached. There was unconcealed contempt on his face.
Trelig was cheery. "Well, Doctor," he said lightly, "almost there.mIot'ms eantous occasion."
Zinder frowned. "Momentous, yes, but not my idea of a happy timrep,"liehde. "Look, I've done it. Everything. Now let me run my daughter throughsmthaell disk and cure her of the spongei."
Trelig smiled. "There's no problem, is there? Yulin i has succeedtreimd mining her back every few weeks so her obesity won't kill her."
Gil Zinder sighed. "Look, Trelig, why not trim her back at leastnotormhaelrweight? Ninety kilos is far too large for someone of her height."
The master of New Pompeii chuckled. "But, here, she weighs only sixtkyi-lfoosu!r Why, that's less than she weighed on Makeva!"
The scientist started to say something nasty, then thought better ofcoitu. rsOef Nikki weighed less
here, as they all did; but by now her musclebsehcoadme accustomed to the lighter gravity, and extreme obesity was more thamn erely a scale's weight; it was ugly and damaging to the body, as well as awkward. On Makeva at 1 G she probably would be exhausted just walking a mhuentedrrse;dhere the effect wasn't much better.
But Zinder realized that Nikki would have to stay on the other sidTereluingt'sil plans were completed, and he knew, too, why the ambitious tarneadcherous Ben Yulin was the only one trusted with Nikki under the littlemirror.

So all the scientist could do was wait, wait until the big deviceplwacaes, iwnait for his time.
Yulin bothered him most of all. The man was brilliant, yes, but he waTs reolnige'sofkind. He was secure in his own technological superiority over Traenlidg any of Trelig's experts-he was safe. Trelig could not operate Obie's mirrowrithout Yulin, and Yulin was a follower of Zinder's theories without having thedecades of theoretical research that went into programming the monster. Henceovuerldhave built this machine.
But he could operate it.
And that was Zinder's greatest fear. Once completed and tested, he and eNspiekckiia,lly Nikki, would be superfluous.
Nor could he secretly program Obie to go so far and no further withaltYhouulignh;
he was the
designer, he was never allowed at the control conwsoitlheout Ben Yulin's being there as well.
New Pompeii had shown Gil Zinder the plans Antor Trelig had for everyoknine,d thoef master he'd make. He'd mentally calculated and checked and re-checekveedrything, but his only hope lay in unfounded ideas, untried paths. There hnaedver been a machine like this before.
Mavra Chang eased her small but speedy diplomatic ship into a parkinagboourbt ita light-year from
New Pompeii. She wasn't the first to arrive; seveenighotr similar ships had preceded her and now
floated in a neat line. Except afolrong-sleeved black pullover and her belt, she was dressed in the same manner as when she met Councillor Alaina. The belt was done up to look likebanbdromadade up of
many strands of thick, black rope, bound together with a lmarugcehr and more solid dragon buckle. No one would know that it was actualltyhreae-meter bullwhip. Compartments in the buckle contained a number of injectorsand nodules for various purposes; the hidden lifts in her boots and thetihrichkigh, heels contained other useful materials. Yet, the whole outfit wnaastusroal and form-fitting that it
appeared she carried nothing at all. She awlsoore small earrings that looked like long crystal cubes strung together. Theyt,oo, disguised more surprises.
She rubbed her rear a little. It still stung where they'd loaded haenrtiwdoites and antitoxins to

protect her from just about everything they cothuilndk of. She felt as if, should she get a cut, her veins would ; drip clealriquid.
"Mavra Chang as representative of Councillor Alaina," she told the ugnusaerednians of New Pompeii on the frequency they'd instructed.
"Very well," replied a toneless voice only vaguely male. "Stand to iWn elinwei.ll wait for the others before transferring."
She cursed silently at this last. They weren't taking any chances-the sppreocpiearlties of this ship, and its nicely disguised life-support modules, would ubseless. They would go together, in their ship.
She took out a mirror and checked herself out. She was wearing somceosmligehtitcs this time-a little brown lipstick, a slight sheen on the hair giivtinag { reflective, almost metallic blue cast. She had even • painted hermetallic nails a dull silver. It served to disguise the fact that thesyomweewrehat unusual. The
cosmetics were for Trelig. Although literally bisexuliakle,
all his race-he had both male and female sex
organs-he tended to favor thmeale in appearance and in sexual appetite.
Finally they had all arrived. A large ship came from the directionstaorf
Athseta, a fancy private
passenger liner; one by one they docked with itt,hepiurt own ships on automatic station, and transferred.
The group, which ultimately included fourteen, had only two councillorsr.esTthewere representatives, and Mavra could see by the look of some that shneotwtahse only diplomatic irregular hi the crowd.
The situation worried her; sihfe noticed this, then surely Trelig would, too. He probably expected it. This, then, was confidence.
The cabin attendants were polite but efficient. They were true citizNeneswofHarmony, bred to service. Dark, hairless, each about 180 centimeters mtaulls,cular, and dressed only in light kilts and sandals, their eyes had thdeullness that was typical of Com-worlders.
The Com was the descendant of every Utopian group of the original racefu. lfTilhleedy the dream of every Utopian state: an equal share of all wealthm, onnoey except for interstellar trade, no hunger, no unemployment. Geneticengineering made them all look alike, too, and biological programming devices fitted them to their jobs perfectly. They were also programmed to be cwointhtenwthatever job they

had- their goal was service. The individual menaontht ing; humanity was a collective concept.
The people's appearance and jobs did differ from Com world to Com tawiloorrledd,
to the different
environments, the different requirements, and such eoanch. The systems, too, varied slightly from one world to another. Some breadll-females, some retained two sexes, and some, like New Harmony, bred everyone as a bisexual. A couple had dispensed with all sexual characteristics endteirpeelnyd, ing on
cloning.
Most worlds were set up by well-intentioned visionaries who would esttahbelisshystem. Then the hierarchy would itself be remade, and there would pbeerfeact society, one without any frustrations, wants, needs, or psychologicahlang-ups.
Perfect human anthills.
But, in most cases, the party that established them never seemedatrougnedt to phasing itself out. A few had tried, and the societies theeys'tdablished had collapsed from their inability to deal with natural disaster orunanticipated problems.
Most, like New Harmony, never tried. The ambition, greed, and lust for thpaotwcerreated the
dedicated revolutionary and sustained him in bad times clunegxisttoence for a variety of reasons. Having eradicated those wretched tendencieisn their populations, they could not wipe out those weaknesses in themselves. And so New Harmony, after five hundred years in the Com, still hadhaierpaarcrthyy of
several thousand administrators for the various diplomatic eacnodnomic zones, and they had Antor
Trelig as the one born to lead them.
Now the rest of the human race was discovering how well he had been bred.
There were a few perfunctory introductions and such, but not cmouncvhersation on the trip in. Mavra immediately realized, though, that Trelwigould not be fooled by this motley crew. A two-meter-tall, ruddy-faced, andfull-bearded man with bright-blue eyes was definitely not from the Com world of Paradise, where all the people were bisexual, identical, and about two-hthisirdhseight. He was definitely a freighter captain like herself, or a barbafrrioanm the newer settled worlds. Eight males and six
females-she thought; with twiot was hard to tell-all there more to get information than to be overawed.
The New Harmony stewards walked down the aisle, collecting pistols. eTxphleayined that each of

them would be further screened for weapons befdoisrembarking and suggested that surrendering all of them now would save latemr barrassment.
Mavra handed in her pistol; the weapons she really counted on had epvaesrsyedscanner she'd ever
tried. If they hadn't, she wouldn't have them withnohwe.r Landing on New Pompeii, she found she had been right. She walked boldtlhyrough the scanner, and it didn't paralyze her, as it did to two of the others carrying concealed broken-down pistols and knives.
Finally they were all cleared, and Mavra looked around.
The small spaceport was designed for two ships such as this one; thearneotwhears in port, almost certainly Trelig's private craft. Guards and scannweresre all over, but she expected that. Her mission didn't look impossible.
She could use some help from the others, she knew, but dared not enlfisotr tthheemsame reason they couldn't use her. It was highly probable that at olneea,stmaybe more, was an Antor Trelig plant.
No luggage was off-loaded; none had been allowed. Trelig would provides,aihde, 'dand he limited what anyone could carry in the process.
The man himself stood there to greet them-tall, much taller than thHe aNrmewonites, a giant-sized, muscular, exceedingly handsome version of the modHeel. wore flowing white robes and, with his very long hair, looked like an angel.
"Welcome! Welcome! Dear friends!" he called in that now famous orvaotoicre's. He'd paid good money for it, and he'd gotten value received. He gtrheeented each in turn, by name, and kissed their hands in the universal formrailtual of greeting. When he took Mavra's his bushy eyebrows, another departure from the New Harmony model, went up.
"Such amazing fingernails!" he exclaimed. "My dear, you resemble a sexy cat."
"Oh?" she replied, not disguising her contempt. "I thought you killed caaltls thoen New Harmony."

He grinned wickedly, and went on. When all had been greeted he led ththeemsmouatll, plush
terminal. The sight was stunning. First, it
gwraesen-exceptionally green, a garden of tall but carefully
manicured grass. Totheir left was a great forest that seemed to go off to the seeminglyhonreizaorbny; to their right, small hills covered with brightly colored treesfloawnders. And in the center, perhaps five hundred meters away, was a city ltihkees of which they'd never seen.
A hill dominated the scene; atop its grassy slopes was a tall buildinogf mpaodlieshed marble. It was enormous, like an amphitheater or temple. Belowt,heat hill's base, stood stylish buildings of an ancient model, also of marblew, ith huge Roman columns supporting great roofs that were decorated with mythological sculptures cut into the stone. Each had great marble steps gotiongitsupentrance, and
some were open enough that the visitors could obssepravceious interior plazas festooned with living
flowers and great statuary anddecorated with fountains at their centers. The central building had a dome and the longest and grandest staircase. Trelig led them to it.
"I allow as little technology as is practical here," he explained awsaltkhedy. "The servants are
humans, the food and drink is hand-prepared, ansdomine cases hand-harvested. No powered vehicles.
I make some concessions, ocof urse, such as the lighting, and the whole world is climate-controlled and maintained under the plasma dome and air pumps, but we like to keep therufsetiecl.i"ng
They found no difficulty with the walk or with the stairs; the .7mgardaveittyhem all feel great, almost
as if they could fly, and they weren't as attirethde exercise as they would be walking a kilometer on a one-G world.
Inside the main building was a great hall. A real oak table haodpublenently set; it was low to the ground, and they would sit on padded and fusor-fctovered cushions when eating. Below the table area was a slightly sunkewn ooden polished floor, like a[ dance floor, and the whole area was circglreedat by marble columns. Between the columns were stretched silken hangianpgpsa,rently in strips. They blocked the view, though.
Mavra looked up and saw that the dome had a complex mosaic designLigshitdineg.
was adequate
-although the hall was somewhat dim except in the artehae opfolished floor-but so indirect that it was impossible to tell its source.
i

Trelig seated them all, and took his own place at the head of thFeantcayblef.ruit cups were set in front of each place, real fruit, they all noOtethde. r; exotic fruits decorated the tables-kumquats, orangey
pineapples. Manypoked gingerly at the fruit wilt! their chopsticks; most had never had before. i
thiengreal
"Try the wine," their host urged. "Real stuff, with alcohol. We have ovuirneoywarnds here and turn out some pretty good stuff."
And it was good, far better than the synthetics they'd all been raiMseadvroan.picked at the fruit Raised on synthetics, she preferred them to the threinagl . The wine, though, was excellent. Such stuff was generally available, buutsually priced far out of react for most people.
Trelig clapped his hands, and four women appeared. They were all tanndedarka-nhdaired, but otherwise distinctly different, certainly products of woroldthser than New Harmony. They were all long-haired, wore heavy cosmetics, anwdere also heavily perfumed. They were also barefoot, and dressed only in filmys,ingle-piece dresses of unfamiliar but obviously ancient design. You caolmulodst see right through them.
They cleared away the fruit cups and wine glasses, with efficiencgyl,anncoint g directly at anyone at the table or saying a word. No sooner did dthiseayppear beyond the curtains than other women, behaving with the sameglassy-eyed efficiency, appeared carrying perfectly balanced silver traystheoinr heads.
"Disgusting," Mavra heard a man near her snarl. "Human beings waitiontgheor nhuman beings when robots can do the job."
Most nodded slightly in agreement, although she . wondered how many voisfitothres were
Com-worlder politicians with whole worlds of slaves.
The performance continued throughout the meal, each course being perfteimctelyd. Wine was supplied
in great variety and quantity, and never was a aglloswsed to remain empty. The women performed as if they were machines. Mavrcaounted eight distinct serving girls, and who knew how many others supplied them out of sight beyond the curtain.
The meal was strange, exotic, and exceptionally good, although Mavrafilwledas after the second course and several others quit along the way. bTehareded man wolfed down the food, though, and

Trelig took some of each course.
Afterward, he showed them how the cushions unfolded into recliners, andreltahxeeyd, with more wine and snacks, while a small circus of musiciansjuagngdlers performed in the lit wooden floor area. The festivities went on fosrome time, and the evening was enjoyable. Trelig knew how to throw one hell of a banquet.
Finally when the last of the performers was through and the guests appploaulidteeldy hi unison, it was
time for Trelig to settle them all for the n"iYgohut.
will find everything you need there, a complete modern
toilet. Sleep well!We have an amazing day tomorrow!"
He led them down to the stage and through a curtain, which revealedmarblolenghall. Their footsteps echoed as they walked along the hall, which seetmo egdo on forever. Finally they made a turn and came upon another, seeminglyidentical corridor. Now, though, Trelig opened a large, hinged door of solid oak, perhaps ten centimeters thick, and showed each one to his room.
The accommodations were sumptuous and individually decorated. Mavra's htahdicka carpet of some sort of fur, a writing desk, dressing table, bathroooldm-,style dresser, and an enormous round bed.
She was happy to see it. Although she prided herself on holding herthleiquwoirn,e had been exceptionally strong, perhaps deliberately so. She hadrena'tlly noticed the effect until she'd stood up for the walk to the rooms. Sfheelt dizzy, slightly giddy. At first she suspected the wine had been drugged, but then realized it was just potent.
Trelig bid her goodnight and closed the great door with a chunk. Immesdhieatewlyent over to it and pulled on the bronze handle.
It was locked, as she knew it would be.
Next she searched the rooms. One of her earrings buzzed slightly, amndovsehde to the center of the room and stood under a pretty but largely ornamecnhtaanldelier. Getting the chair from the writing table she climbed up. The buzzinggrew exceptionally loud She nodded to herself. Fixed in the base of the chandelier was a tiny, almost invisible remote camera. It was hinged so ibtecopuolsditioned by remote control in any direction, and had a infrared altetancshment

Within ten minutes she found two other cameras one in the bathroom tphreopoenr,ly place the chandelier camera couldn't reach, and another actually hididnenthe shower head. The three cameras were placed so that no area of the rwooams invisible to them.
The cameras were cleverly hidden, yes, but not so cleverly that they wboeulfdonu'tnd by anyone looking for them. Trelig wanted them found by anyonewwohuold care about them at all; it was a demonstration of his power and thfeuirtility. ,
They were of standard design. She went back to look at the chandelierw, assanw't
iftollowing her
more than haphazardly, and then walked over to the beds.heNeto, she noticed. But one wasn't needed in the perfect climate control of rtohoem. No way to hide doing something under a cover, though.
She sat on the edge of the bed, back to the camera and slipped off htehrenbosolitds, the belt-whip
ova her head and put it off to her right, away frocmamethrae's view. Then the earrings, on top the belt. She reached over to a nigtahbt le, pulled some tissues, and picked up a small mirror. She started to remove some of her makeup.
As she was doing this, her feet turned one of the boots on its side, haenld itthein place while the other foot released studs at four points. The fseollleopen on tiny inner hinges, revealing a number of small gadgets. Shegingerly got one she needed, clasping it between her toes of one foot, and then grasped another with the other foot.
Ready now, she slipped off the pullover, got up, and pulled dowbondyth-setocking. As she leaned down to take it off, her left hand grabbed botthhe odfevices.
Nude now, she stood up and actually turned around. The motion looked nbautturtahle,
watchers
would draw the obvious conclusion: nothing hidden in the cbaovdiyties. Her fingers, the same ones that suckered rubes with cards and tshheell game since she was small, held the two small devices invisibly. Assuming the lotus position on the bed, she turned the lights off with her right hand.
In the exact instant the lights went off, she dropped one of the devthiceesbeodn and pointed the other
at the chandelier. She was guided by a beamlighotf she could see only because of special contact lenses she wore.

Striking the camera, she snatched the other device, a tiny rectanglpe,osaintidoned it so it rested on the pillow, pointed toward the camera. Satisfiesdh,e put the first gadget down and relaxed in the lotus, eyes closed.
All of this had taken less than ten seconds.
Satisfied by what she could see through her special lenses, that she'ditgoritgtehnt, she opened her
eyes, relaxed, then carefully and silently slid offsidthee of the bed, trying not to jiggle the little rectangle.
Free of the bed, she checked and saw that the gismo was still in pTohseitidoenv.ice was incredibly complex; she'd discovered it only when it was usetrdaptoher in a minor con, and she'd paid plenty for it. What it did, simply, wfareseze the first image the camera saw and hold it there. There was an automatic adjustment of several seconds from the standard to the infrared mode, laonlgitetlre to refocus.
She then had eleven seconds to shoot and positionfeethdeback projector, as it was called.
Quietly, with the stealth and caution of an expert burglar, Mavra dhrerseldf. She started to put on the boots, then thought better of it, rememberthineg I clattering echo of the halls. She removed the
buckle from the whip-bealtnd used its pin to fix it under the whip, then turned the small whip hitandle so could be easily drawn by releasing the nearly invisible binding studs.
She hadn't been removing her makeup with the tissue; she'd been smeaervinenglyit all over her face
and rubbing her hands with it as well. Now she tsomoakllashrink-wrapped pack from her left boot and opened it, removing the tinpyad. Carefully, methodically, she smoothed it over all exposed areas of her! skin. The mild chemical, reacting to another in the1 makeup, caused it todeteuprnblaack. Next she
re-moved the special contact lenses, squeezed two drophserineyes from a nearly minute dropper, then took another,different pairout of her pack and ?!>""d them in. They were clear, but if she activated the tiny power supply ihner buckle,they would turn into infrared lenses. Mothrean one on New Pompeii had cat's eyes.
Switching to that mode, she picked up the mirror carefully and loohkeerdselaft. She looked exceedingly monstrous, of course, but the chemibclaalck-ener was an effective shield against the heat radiation infrared viewerssaw. She touched up a few spots until she could see nothing in the mirror. Her hands she checked visually.
Then came the nodules. They fit under her long, sharp nails, and the pinojiencttoarctually merged with the points of her fingernails. She loaded each ontheemof, not all with the same stuff. More than once

these nasty 1'ttle devices hasdaved her neck- and cost others dearly.
Finally she touched the second power-pack module on the buckle. This esnoeurcye fed the material in the chemicals and in her clothing. Heat-sensidtievveices would ignore her.
They were still trying to figure out that jewel robbery on Baldash.
She wanted this job over and done quickly, if possible. The girl, anyiwt acyo.ulIdf fine. If not, she'd at least know the lay of the land.
be done tonight,
The big door lock was no problem, but the four sensors in the door wdeoreo.r Twhaes nearly flush with the mounting; she could only slip in two matcsthriinpgs. The third took some work with a blade. Though she had no knife, tshpeecially treated organic material in her boot had served as one. The toenail of a large animal on some distant world, sharpened, treated like her own nnaiciles,. tAhin, flat blade.
The other strips slipped in easily, and she carefully and slowly opendeodort.heNo alarms, so she peered cautiously outside. The hallway was dark abpuptarently not guarded. For all his reliance on people, Trelig used parofessional supersecurity system, one he'd bought and paid for. And thahtiswas
mistake. Successful criminals-the ones they hadn't caught- had counttehreemd
long ago. They would be
on infrared, and with mikes. If she didn't mmaukceh noise and if the protective circuits were in, she should be invisible.
She stepped out into the hall and carefully closed the door behiwndithhoeurt a sound. There were no flags. She was safe.
This would have been harder if he'd kept the hall lit, she thought.
But nothing was impossible in this line to the Cat Goddess, as she waosnclaolltesdof wanted lists. They even suspected who she was, but they had nperovvered anything.
She met no one on her way back to the banquet hall, which, she diswcoavsertehde, only obvious entrance or exit. Only one camera there; she'd checkedatthdaitnner.

She moved as close to the entrance as she could and peered ouct uortfaitnhse. The camera, which
was linked to a small paralyzer, rotated alonragil aon the base of the dome. A single fixed camera in the dome itself wouldn'ht ave supplied adequate coverage; the moving one covered the entire atrheiartyin
seconds. She timed the movements repeatedly to see that they hvarine'dt
it. Only for twelve seconds
was the entrance out of view. And etnhterance was about ninety meters from her.
Experience and training paid in the calculations- the area of view alnikde tghoeing through her mind.
She took two deep breaths, then watched the
cliattmleera go around, hit the precisely calculated point.
At that instant she spefdor the entrance, making it outside in under eleven seconds, something considered impossible, she knew, for such a tiny woman.
But this was .7 G.
She didn't take the steps, but climbed, catlike, over the side and dtohwe nbutoshes below. It was not dark outside, but there was no one in view, anwd asshequick despite the vertical drop.
The trick was a tiny little bubble, several of which she carried in hTehre bbeultb. ble, no larger than the head of a pin, formed an incredibly stheicnretion that created tremendous suction when rubbed between the palms of hehrands. It had been her special secret of success in burglary; she had thcreeastteudff
herself,
She descended thirty meters in seconds. Taking refuge behind some bushersu,bsbheed her hands,
causing the substance to solidify and ball up, then fall for thirty or forty seconds.
Tawheays.tuff didn't last long, but it was excellent
She would have preferred darkness, but there was no darkness beneartehflethcetive plasma dome. Daylight would have to do.
Creeping around the side of the central building, she heard voices andWfhroezne.they continued in a sort of rhythmic chant, she ventured out, keeping ctloostehe walls and cover, then looked in on one of the open plazas. Four womednr,essed as the servants had been, were practicing some sort of dance to the tuneof a lyrelike instrument played by another of them. They all seemed to mthoatvedrienamy state, oblivious to the world. Something was odd in athpepier arance.

They were too beautiful, Mavra decided. Incredibly, almost deformed in sthexeiural characteristics,
the type of dream girl lovesick prospectors boupgichttures of. Their movements, too, seemed unusual;
there was a sense of tofteaml
ininity there, as if they might be some sort of mythological fertility
goddesses. Such manners and moves were eerie, unnatural, even a little inhTuhmeayn.were more erotic caricatures of people than real human beings.
She decided not to test their apparent dreaminess, though; she needed somaloeonne.e
The little world seemed to keep Trelig's hours; few were about. She swhieshkendew exactly how many people were on the planetoid; it didn't seemmlaikney.
Slipping into the next building, a lower but still grand marble strushceturper,actically ran into someone. The young woman was average-looking, a liuttnlekempt, and had dirty feet. She was nude. Next to her stood a bucket on threliettle wheels. She was down on all fours, and, as Mavra watched, she realized the woman was scrubbing the marble floor with a stiff brush.
Mavra looked around but saw no sign of anyone else. Quietly she steppaend ostuatrted toward the woman, whose back and rear were open to her as she hmeradweay slowly backing down the hall.
Mavra straightened her right little finger while clenching the otherss.trTaihgehtening made the little injector head reach the tip of the nail.
The woman noticed something odd before Mavra reached her. When she aturornuendd, she saw the small, black-covered woman.
"Hi!" she said, a crooked smile on her face. Mavra looked down at hpeitry.wTithe expression was simple, the eyes dull and blank. A spongie, Mraevarlaized. She stooped to the woman's level.
"Hi, yourself," she responded kindly. "What's your name?"
"Hiv-Hivi-" the woman struggled, then she turned sheepish. "I can't gsoaoyd itno more."

Mavra nodded sympathetically. "Okay, Hivi. I'm Cat. Will you teslol mmeething?"
The woman nodded slowly. "If I can."
"Do you know somebody called Nikki Zinder?"
The woman looked blank. "I don't 'member names so good, like I told ya."
"Well, is there any place they keep people here who never come out?"trMieda.vra
The girl shook her head uncomprehendingly. Mavra sighed. Obviously Hwivhi aoterver her name was was too far gone on the drug to tell her what she nSeheededde. cided on another tack.
"Well, do you have a boss, then? Somebody who tells you where to clean?"
The girl nodded. "Ziv do it."
"Where is Ziv now?" Mavra prodded.
The woman looked blank, then brightened for a moment. "Down therer,e"plsihede, pointing away down the hall.
Mavra was tempted just to leave her there; the girl was no threat. HoHwiveiverer,tained some intelligence, and that might mean an unintentional betraAyasl.she reached out to caress the woman, the nail of her right little fingtoeruched the girl's arm and the injector shot its fluid into her.

The girl jumped a little, and put her hand on her shoulder, a epxupzrzelsesdion on her face. Then came a general rigidity, the girl frozen, lookaint gher shoulder.
Mavra leaned close to her, nervous that someone else would come by. "Ynoout sdeied anyone while washing this hall," she whispered. "You did not see me.wYillounot see me. You will not see anything I do. Now you will go on with ywoourk."
The girl unfroze, seemed even more puzzled. She looked around, right at CMhanvgra, then past her, unseeing. Finally, she shrugged, turned, and resumed bhruershing of the floor. Mavra went on.
It would have been easier to have killed her; a few simple presscinegrtsainonnerves in the neck would not have wasted a hypno on such a dry Dhoien.g so would, perhaps, have been more merciful. But, although Mavra Chang hakdilled before, she killed only those who deserved it. Antor Trelig, perhaps, for what he did to these once-normal people and for what he might do to otnhoetrsa-buhtelpless slave.
And that's what all those women were, she knew. The segrvirilnsg, the dancers, the scrubwoman, Slaves, created by the sponge, by the underdoasneds overdoses of the mutant disease.
She did not find Ziv; she did, however, prowl silently through manyoftheanllsd,odging occasional dull-eyed slaves and security eyes. She movsetedalthily through several rooms decorated with great opulence and through otherrooms of extreme decadence. Spongies so catatonic they could be placed rigidly in positions to serve as lamps and furniture-the sight made her ill evetnhewhpirlaectical part of
her wondered how they were fed.
She did not, however, find anyone in obvious authority, and she startetdo btahceksleeping quarters
disappointed and disgusted. If this was Antor Trewliga'ys
of treating the humans who came within his
control, what sort of a maswterould he make of the civilized worlds? Alaina had been right; the man was not ahuman but a monster.
She was almost back at her room when she spotted someone she neededt.heTrwuoe,man looked
and dressed much like the others, but she had a conspidcuifofeursence: she wore a shoulder strap and a pistol. The woman was moving slowdloywn the hall, checking on doors and the like, when Mavra crept in. There was none else around.

Like an animal stalking prey, the tiny agent seemed to move with dealdiqusideintyt , closer, ever closer to the tall woman with the pistol. Now, ofnelwy ameters away, she pounced. The big woman turned at the movement, her farceegistering extreme surprise at the black, sleek visage running toward her. Mavra was so fast that the guard's hand had only started to move to twhehepnisthoelr attacker leaped and kicked full force into her victim's stomach.
The guard had the wind completely knocked out of her. Mavra, landinsogmaenrdsaulting, was on her feet again as if by magic and back to the guard.thBe oitnhdex- and middle-finger nail injectors of her right hand found their marwkhile Mavra's left hand grabbed the woman's gun-hand. The double dose weakened her opponent rapidly, and, although the larger woman was winning her bathtlye,pnthoes took hold before she could draw the pistol.
Mavra relaxed and rolled off her quarry, now frozen in a strange position.
"Get up!" Mavra ordered, and the other complied. "Where is a room whwerilel interrupted?"
"In there," came the mechanical reply. The woman pointed to a nearby door.
"No cameras or other devices in there?" Mavra asked crisply.
"No."
wnoet be disturbed or
The small woman ordered her drugged victim into the room, and she folIltowads. a small office of some sort, not currently in use. Mavra sat the womathne ofnloor, then kneeled down, facing her.
"How are you called?" she asked the drugged guard.
"I am Micce," the other replied.
Mavra sighed. "Okay, Micce, tell me, how many people are there onPoNmepweii?"

"Forty-one at the moment," the other responded "Not counting the wildthefoliv,ing dead, and the guests."
"Counting everyone but the new guests, how many?" Mavra prodded.
"One hundred thirty-seven."
Mavra nodded. That told what she was up against "How many armed guards?"
"Twelve."
"Why are no more precautions than this taken?" the dark agent asked. "gSreuaretelry security is called) for."
"They rely on automatic sensing in the important areas," the guard exp"laAinsedfo. r the rest, no one could get off New Pompeii without the proper codes."
"Who knows the codes?" Mavra asked.
"Only Councillor Trelig," the guard responded. "And they are changed da lyseqinuence known only to him."
Mavra Chang frowned. That would make things a little harder.
"Is the girl Nikki Zinder here?" she asked.

The guard nodded. "In the guard quarters."
With more questioning, Mavra established the location of the guard quathrteergs,eneral layout of the building, who was in there at any given time, Neikxkaic'st room, and how to get in and out. She also established that everyone on NePwompeii was on sponge except Trelig himself, and the supplies were brought indaily by a computer-controlled ship so that no one could get a large qaunadntrietybel against Trelig. That piece of information was interesting. Sosptohnege was brought in on a little scout, made for four passengers if need bTe.he guard's description sug-gested that it was a Model 17 Cruiser, a craft Mavra knew well. It would be perfect.
She took the guard's pistol and shoulder belt after determining thgautatrhdes themselves checked their equipment in and out of a small guard locSkheer. suggested to the guard that the pistol and belt were still in place, so thgeun would not be missed. It would be checked back in and perhaps not disgcoonveered
for days. Mavra smiled; she was armed again, and luck was breaking hdeurewtoayTrelig's conceit about his security.
"Where is Dr. Zinder?" she asked the guard, after giving her anotherthjeolthyopfno.
"He is on Underside," the guard replied. Of the forty-one people, onTerewliga,s one was Nikki, one was Zinder, twelve were guards, five were assistatontsZinder, and the other twenty-one were slaves of one kind or another. That weansough to tell Mavra Chang that she hadn't a prayer of getting Zinder himself out, but a good chance at Nikki. Ten million wasn't "anything," but it snuorethibnega.t
After getting the guard routine from the hypnoed woman, Mavra told fohregretoabout her totally and resume her normal routine. The guard did so witfhuoruthter comment, and treated Mavra as if she weren't there.
It took another forty minutes to return to the main building, avocaidmethreas, and get back to her
room. The strips were still in place on the
adnodo,r,after closing and relocking it, she carefully removed
them. The holographicmemory projector was still hi place, so the camera was still showing an empty, quiet room with a meditating figure on the bed.
Tidying up, removing the blackface, reassembling the boot, and reloadingrefaonrdming the belt took
more time. As soon as she finished, she edged overtonethxet
projector on the bed, careful not to jiggle
it too much, until she wnaesxt to it, almost touching it. Infinite patience is the best tool of a burglar.

Assuming the correct position, she took the little device, quickly palmaned
istl,ipped it out of sight
when the camera was directed elsewhere. When ctahme era swung back, only a few seconds later, it photographed the same nude womain the same meditating position. Only a fanatical observer, which no guard was-watching sleeping people was an incredibly dull job-would have realizedthethafitgure was
seated in a slightly different position at a slightly diffaenrgenlet.
Suddenly her breathing became more rapid, and then she stirred, flsetrxeetdc,hed out on the bed, and turned over. Her right hand dangled just overedthge of the bed for a second, as she dropped an unseen object onto black cloth.
And only then did Mavra Chang sleep.
If anyone knew of her roamings, they did not betray that fact tmheornneinxgt . The major dispute was over Trelig's requirement that they all tashkoewers and then don light, filmy garments and sandals. He apologized andoffered to launder their own garments during their trip, but it was cleahre wwhaast
doing. He could both examine their garments and make certain thaitf laitntlyething was taken to
Underside.
Mavra was confident that the shielding hi her boots and in the belt wsouuffldiciebnet to escape
detection; however, if anyone did try to open them, wthoeureld follow a hard-to-explain and quite messy violent explosion. She doubted Tifrelig's people would go that far because of the defense mechanism risk; but hertools were to be denied her when they would do the most good. The pistol was not particularly hard to conceal; she'd hidden it against a hall cornice awffiitxhedputty outside the room.
She saw the surprised expressions when she entered the hall for brewakifthasotu; t the boots she was even tinier than usual. They all noticed, but nowoasnetactless enough to mention the subject.
After eating, Trelig addressed them. "Citizens, distinguished guests all,Imnaoyw explain why you
were all invited here, and what you will see todayb,e"gahne. "First, let me refresh your memories a bit.
As you all no doubt know, awree not the first civilization to have colonized worlds far beyond the one of our civilization's birth. The artifacts of that earlier, non-human civilizhaativoen been found on countless
dead worlds. Dr. Jared Markov discovered them, saondwe call them the Markovians."

"We know all that, Antor," snapped one councillor. "Get to the point."
Trelig gave a killing glance, then continued. "Now, the artifacts theuys
lwefhten they died out or
disappeared over a million years ago consist entioreflyruined structures-buildings. No furniture, no machinery, no utensils, objectosf art, nothing. Why? Generations of scholars have mused on this, to no avail. It seemed as insolvable a mystery as why they died out. But one sciTenretigsatl,lian physicist,
had an idea."
They stirred slightly, nodding. They all knew who he meant.
"Dr. Gilgram Valdez Zinder," Trelig went on, "thought that our failsuorlevetothe Markovian riddle stemmed from our too orthodox view of the univFerisrset., he postulated the concept that the ancient Markovians did not neeadrtifacts because, somehow, they could convert energy into matter merely by willing it. We know that deep beneath the crust of each Markovian worldsemwiaosrgaanic computer. Zinder believed the Markovians were directly, mentalilnlyked to their computers, which were, in turn, programmed to turn any wish inrteoality. So he set to work on duplicating this process."
There were murmurings now. Trelig was confirming the rumors that had btrhoeumghthere, rumors too horrible to believe.
"From this point, Zinder went on to postulate that the raw material thefoyr utsheids energy-to-matter
conversion was a basic, primal energy, the only
strtuablyle component in the universe," Trelig explained.
"He spent his lifseearching for this primal energy, proving its existence. He worked opurot biatsble nature mathematically, designing his own self-aware computer to hhiemlp in this end."
"And he found it," a woman who looked no more than a child but wasofana eCldoemr interjected.
race
Trelig nodded. "He did. And, in the process, produced a set of corothllaatriaerse staggering in their implications. If all matter, all reality, is mearelcyonverted form of this energy, then where did we come from?" He sat backe,njoying the expressions on the faces of those who were able to grasp the implications.
"You're saying the Markovians created us?" the red-bearded man called ofiuntd. "tIhat hard to

accept. The Markovians have been dead for a million yeathrse.irIfartifacts died with their brains, why didn't we die, too?"
Trelig's face showed surprise. "A very good question," he noted. "One wcilteharnoanswer, though. Dr. Zinder and his associates believe that some somrtasosfive central computer was established, somewhere out there among the othgearlaxies, that keeps us stable. But its location is neither here nor there, since it is almost certainly beyond our capability to get therefoinrsetehaeble future, even if we
knew where 'there' is. The important fact is stuhcaht
a computer does exist, or we wouldn't be here. Of
course, it allows, shawll e say, local variations in the pattern. If it didn't, then the local Mawrkoorvldiasn would never have been able to use their own godlike computers. Andt,hewyhactould do Dr. Zinder has discovered how to do! It is the ultimate proohfis otfheories."
Several in the audience looked uneasy; there were! a couple of necrovuoguhss.
"Do you mean, then, that you have built your own version of tmhiaschgionde?" Mavra Chang asked.
Trelig smiled. "Dr. Zinder and his associate, Ben Yulin, the child of aasscolcoisaete of mine from Al Wadda, have built a miniature version of it, ypeesr.suIaded them to move their computer here, to New Pompeii, where it would nfoatll into the wrong hands -and they were just completing the hookup of a much, much larger version of the machine as well." He stopped a moment, froslwignhitnlyg, but his
overall expression was playful.
"Come with me," he invited them, rising from the table. "I see disbelsikeefpatincdism. Let us go to
Underside and I'll show you."
They all got up and followed him out the entrance, across the grassyanpdlatzoaw, ard a small structure that looked something like a solid marble gazoefbfo,by itself to the left.
Although its housing was built to blend with the Neo-Grecian and Raorcmhaitnecture, it was clear
when they reached the little house that it was
somrt eof high-speed elevator.
Trelig selected a smooth, bare area and placed his hand, palm downH, iosnfiint.gers tapped out a pattern too rapid for any of them to catch, suanddenly, the wall faded, showing the interior of a large highspeed car. Therewere eight seats with head rests and belts in it.

"We will have to make two trips," Trelig apologized. "The first eight hoefrey,oup,lease take the seats and fasten the straps. The descent is extremelyafnadstvery uncomfortable, I'm afraid, although some gravity compensation has beebnuilt in to minimize the effect. Once the first group is away, the smaller maintenance car can be used for the rest of us. Don't worry- there's a twexoi-tleovnelUnderside."
Mavra was in the first group. She took a chair, relaxed, and fastensterdapsth. eThe door, actually
some sort of force field with a wall projection ito, vseorlidified again, and they felt themselves dropping quickly.
The trip was uncomfortable; small plastic bags had been provided for thoer thwroee who needed
them. Mavra was amazed at the little car system; she'd ohfeasrudch a thing but had never seen one, let alone been in one. They had bedeensigned for a few of the planets whose surfaces were uninhabitable but where,for one reason or another, life at levels below the surface was possible.
It took over ten minutes to reach the other end and, even at thtarat,vethleedy at a tremendous rate of
speed. Finally they felt the car slow, and cthraewn
to a stop. They waited three or four minutes,
nervously wondering if thewy ere stuck. Then they heard the sound of something above them, and, less than aminute later, the force field and solid projection in front of them disasnodlveTdr,elig was there, smiling.
"Sorry about the delay. I should have warned you," he said cheerily, sonuontditnhge least bit sorry.
They unbuckled their belts and got up, stretching, and walked outnianrtroowa corridor. They
followed their host down the steel-clad pathway. It tuarn<d ended on a large riveted metal platform with railings all around. Ahead tohfem was an enormous shaft that seemed to have no top or bottom. The size of threound gap dwarfed them to insignificance, and they gasped in awe. All aroushnadft the were panels, countless modules with even, small gaps between.
A long bridge led from the platform across the shaft; a wide bridgesamofe thmeetal flooring as the platform but with 150-centimeter sidewalls opf laastic substance. They realized that they were somewhere in the bowels ofgraeat machine.
Trelig stopped in the middle of the bridge, and hat the party gather haimro.unEdverywhere were the hum and crackle of active circuits opening and closeicnhgo,ing off the shaft walls. He had to raise his voice to be heard.

"This shaft runs from a point about halfway between the theoretical eaqnudatothr e South Pole of New Pompeii on the rocky and unprotected surface, almtoosthe core of the planetoid," he shouted. "II is fusion powered, indirectlyt,hrough the solar and plasma network. For almost twenty kilometers in all directions around us is the computer-self-aware of course-which Dr. ZinderOcbailel.s Into it we have been pouring all of the data at our command. Come."
He continued the dizzying walk, past a shining copper-colored pole thlaetngrtahnwise through the
center of the shaft and seemed to disappear in dbiroetchtions, and onto a platform identical to the first one. To their left waindow opened on a large room filled with a myriad apparently inealecctitvroenic instruments. A door like that of an airlock stood directly btheefomre. When it slid open with a hiss, there did hi fact seem to be a slcighhatnge in pressure and temperature. They entered and found themselves hi what seemed a miniature duplicate of the larger machine. A balcony and sceovnetrraoll consoles
surrounded an amphitheaterlike floor below, on which wsams aall, round, silvery disk. Overhead, what looked like a twenty-sided mirrowrith a small projecting device in its center was attached to a mobile arm thatwas suspended from a mount on one wall.
"The original Obie and the original device," Trelig explained. "Oabtiteacihsed, of course, to the larger
one, which is just nearing completion. ComFaen!
out around the rail here so that you may all view the
disk below." Heglanced over, and they saw a young, good-looking man dressed in a shiny lab tech uniform sitting at the far control panel.
"Citizens, that is Dr. Ben Yulin, operations manager here," Trelig told"Nthoemw,. you'll see two of my associates bringing a thirdanodutplacing her on the disk."
if you'll look below,
They looked down and saw two of the women Mavra recognized as guardsleagdeinntgly a frightened girl of no more than fourteen or fifteen toward the disk.
"The girl you see is a victim of the addiction known as sponge,"exTprlaeilniged. "Already the drug has rotted her mind so that she is no more thchanildalike idiot. I have many such poor unfortunates here; they will soon bceured. Now, watch and be quiet. Dr. Yulin will take it from here."
Ben Yulin flipped a couple of switches on his console. They heard the ocfrascokmlee sort of speaker and could hear his cool, pleasant baritone clearly.

"Good morning, Obie."
"Good morning, Ben," came Obie's pleasing tenor-no longer coming fromconthsoele transceiver, but seemingly from the air around them. It was not vaoibcieg or a threatening one, but it seemed to be all around them, every place anndo place in particular.
"Index subject file code number 97-349826," Yulin intoned. "Record omn amrky-now!"
The mirror swung into place over the terrified girl, and the blue lighftrosmhonite, enveloping her. They saw the girl freeze, flicker, and wink out.
Trelig grinned and turned to them. "Well, what do you think of that?" "I've seen holographic projectors before," a little man said skeptically. "Either that or you've disintegrated her," another put in.
Trelig shrugged. "Well, what will convince you?" He brightened. "I knowm! eT, enllame a creature of the common forms! Anybody!"
They all remained silent for a second. Finally, someone called out, "A cow."
Trelig nodded. "A cow it is. Did you hear, Ben?"
"Very good, Councillor," Yulin responded through the speaker. His vchoaicneged tone, and he called to his computer.
"Index RY-765197-AF, Obie," he intoned.

"I know what a cow is, Ben," Obie scolded gently, and Yulin chuckled.
"All right, then, Obie," he replied, "I'll leave it to you. Ndoathnignegrous, though. Docile, huh?"
"All right, Ben. I'll do my best," the computer assured him, and theswmuinrrgorout once again, the blue light shone, and something flickered in.
"Magician's tricks," scowled the red-bearded man. "Woman into cow."
But what materialized below was not a cow; it was a centauroid: abocdoyw-h'sooves, tail, and udder
-and the girl's torso and head, unchanged exctheaptt her ears stuck out as a cow's ears would, and from the area around hetremples grew two small, curved horns.
"Let's go down and examine her," Antor Trelig suggested, and they all sminogvlee-dfile down a small staircase nearby.
The cow-woman stood there, looking blankly forward, hardly paying nthoetimce.
"Go ahead!" Trelig urged. "Touch her. Examine her as closely as you want!"
They did, and the girl paid them little notice except when one otbosuecrvhed the udder nipples, provoking a mild and annoying kick that misssedtarigtset.
"Good lord! Monstrous!" grumbled one councillor. Others were stunned.
Trelig then led them back up to the balcony, explaining that the viewihnagd airnevaisible shielding that was necessary to screen out the effects ofsmthaell mirror.

He nodded to Ben, who gave another series of instructions to Obigei.rlT-choew vanished and was replaced, only moments later, by the girl. Again wtheenyt down, looked at her, found her dull-eyed and fearful but otherwiseperfectly human-and unmistakably the same girl.
"I still don't believe it," the bearded man uttered. "Some kind of mognesntreotuics cloning, yes, but that's all."
Trelig smiled. "Would you like to try, Citizen Rumney?" he prodded. "Iyaosusutrheat we will not harm you hi any way. Or, if not you, then anyone else?"
"I'll try," the red-bearded man replied. The girl was guided down frodmiskthaend taken out a door below. Rumney stepped up, looked around, still trytoingfigure out the trick. The rest returned to their perch.
Yulin was ready. Rumney was encoded quickly, winking out and then,
iamlmmoesdtiately, winking
back in. They had made two slight alterations in himha:dhea donkey's long ears and a large, black equine tail emerging just above hreisctum and covering it. Since reality was kept consistent for him, he was quickly aware of his change. He felt his long ears in wonder, and motaviel.d Hheis looked stunned.
"What do you think, now, Citizen Rumney?" Trelig called out good-naturedly.
"It's-incredible," the man managed, voice cracking.
"We can adjust all reality so that you and everyone else will beliehvaeveyoaulways been that way," the master of New Pompeii told them. "But, hicatshei,s I think not."
"Did it hurt?" Someone called to the man. "What did it feel like?" aasnkoetdh.er
Rumney shook his head. "It didn't feel like anything," he rewploinederingly. "Just saw the blue light, then you all seemed to flicker, and hIerweas."

Trelig smiled and nodded. "See?" he told them all. "I said there pwaains."no
"But how did you do it?" someone gasped.
"Well, much earlier, we fed Obie the codes for various common anpilmanatls, and the like. He used the device overhead to reduce them to an enpeargttyern that is, mathematically, the equivalent of the creature. Thisinformation was stored, and when Citizen Rumney was on the disk it did thfoer shaim. Then, using Dr. Yulin's instructions, it,blended the ears and ttahiel oafss to the physiognomy of Rumney; it re-encoded the cells as well to makheis itnatural form."
Mavra Chang felt the same chill run through her that ran through theSoutchherisn.credible power- in the hands of Trelig.
The councillor of New Harmony relaxed, savoring the expressions antdhotuhgehts he knew were troubling them. Finally, he said, "But this is onlyprothtoetype. Right now we can take only a single individual at a time. We can,couf rse, make our own individuals, but there are some things we haven't figured out how to get into Obie so they come out whole people, mentally. That'ms aottnelry oaf time
and practice. And, of course, we can create anything knownis tnhoat larger than the disk and whose code we've first stored in Obie. Foodanoyf kind, anything organic or inorganic, absolutely real, absolutely indistinguishable from the original."
"You said this machine was a prototype," Mavra Chang noted. "May we athsasut mtheings have advanced beyond that stage now?"
"Very good, Citizen Chang," Trelig approved. "Yes, yes indeed! You salwargtehetube going through
the center of the big shaft?" They nodded. "Wehlal,s ijtust been connected to a huge version of that little energy radiator you seien the center of that little mirror, there. I had the parts built in daiffderoeznetn
places and assembled here by my own planet's people. The same hwuigthe vaersion of that mirror, slightly different in shape and property,couf rse. And huge-it fills most of the surface of Underside. If the power issufficient, and we believe it is, it should be effective from a distance fioftfeeonvemr illion kilometers on an area at least forty-five to fifty thouksialonmd eters in diameter."
"You mean a planet!" someone gasped.

Trelig looked mock-thoughtful. He was enjoying this. "Yes, I suppose so.yWes,hyI, do believe you're right! If there is sufficient power, of course."
They thought over what he had just said, each realizing that whatfetahreeyd'dmost of all was true.
This madman possessed a device that could aplltaenr ets to his design in limited ways. Limited, perhaps, but he certainlywouldn't be going to this extreme just to give the inhabitants funny etaarisls.and
Trelig looked down, saw that Rumney, who could hear the conversation, mhaodvne'dt was waiting to be changed back.
"Now I'll show you the full potential," Trelig whispered, and noddYeudlint.o
off the disk. He
Before he could do anything, the man with the ears and tail was caagpatiunreidn the blue glow. When he winked back in a few moments later therebeheand an additional change. He still retained the ears
and tail, and even hbiseard, but through the thin robe they could clearly see that he was now asexually female despite the retention of the rest of his large, masculine body.
Trelig grinned evilly at the others, then called down. "Tell me, CRiutimzenney, do you notice any other changes?"
The person on the disk looked and felt all over, then shook his-her?"N-hoe,a"d.the person responded in a voice that unmistakably belonged to the spaemrseon but was now a half-octave higher in tone. "Should I?"
"You are female, now, Citizen Rumney."
Rumney looked bewildered. "Why, yes, of course. I always have been."
Trelig turned back to the group, a smug expression on his face. "YoTuhissetei?me we altered something basic in the equations that created.him. We mhaimde a her. A simple thing, really-easier than the reverse, since he is now XwXhere, in the opposite way, we have to postulate the Y factor. The important thing is that only we know a change has taken place. He doesn't-andr,etiufrnyeodu with him
like that, you'd find that everyone else remembered himfeams aale, too, that all his records were those

of a female, that his whole pwasats adjusted to show he'd been born that way. That is the real power of the device. Only the shielding and our close proximity to the change allow uesxetmo pbt efrom this
change ourselves."
They thought it over. New Pompeii, of course, would be shielded, prosobmabeltyhing added to the plasma shield. When the big mirror did its workpolanneat, no one in the whole galaxy would even know that anything was changeTd.he victimized world wouldn't know it, either. The inhabitants would become hisplaythings and his property as a part of the natural scheme of things.
"You monster!" one of the councillors spat. "Why show us this at alel?xpWoshey yourself, except for ego?"
Trelig shrugged. "Ego, of course, is part of it. But such power isunnloessfunsomebody knows what's going on. But, no, there's more to it than that."
"You need the Council Fleet to move New Pompeii and protect it," gMueasvsread.
He smiled. "No, not really. According to the calculations, if a reversise abpiapslied to the device, it
would be possible to envelop New Pompeii infiethlde
and then transport it anywhere it wanted-sort of
picking itself up by iotswn bootstraps. No, this concerns our own limitations. You can't remake a planet into something else without knowing exactly what you want and then feedingfortmheation into Obie.
The ears and tail wouldn't have been possible unless hOabdiefirst had the code for the ass. It will take
much time and research
rtoemake a world properly, and I am an impatient man. If I tried a planet now,
or in the next few years, the results would probably be monstrous. No,aIccneessedto all the information, the best brains, the best of everything to ictaroruyt. I need the resources of hundreds of worlds. To get the resources I neIe'ldl, need the Council Fleet under my control."
Mavra and a couple of others turned a little at some movement behindFotuhremgu. ards had emerged there, all carrying nasty electron rifles.
Rumney called up from the disk. "Hey! Trelig! Are you going to let mtheeskeeears and tail?"
The master of New Pompeii looked over at Yulin and nodded. The bluweinlkigehdt on again, and when it winked off Rumney was again male and had neoarmrs.al

And he still retained the tail.
Trelig ordered him upstairs, and he came, grumbling. He reached the tosapwanthde guards. He almost started back again, but thought better of itjoainedd the rest.
"What's the meaning of this?" Rumney grumbled, and the others addedcotmhepilraints.
Trelig moved away from them slightly. "I need the Fleet and the WCeaopnotrnosl Locker. Please
don't move toward me or the guards. The rifles ahreighonspray stun. It would do you no good, even if they shot me, too. Besides,neIed you all alive to go back and tell your councillors what you have witnessed, except for you councillors, whose votes I need directly. I need you to tsetlolry,ouarnd I
need to send some proof. Tell them that when the Council mfeoeutsr dinays time I will require a vote to make me First Councillor with soaluethority over the Fleet and Weapons Locker. If the vote fails, then we willexperiment with the big dish on those worlds you represent. New Pompeii ewveilrlywbehere
and anywhere. You won't catch it. I may not have all the adltaetra atoworld, but I can cancel its existence with Obie! I can whittle Cthoeuncil down to where I will have the votes!"
They were shocked. While he had them in that state, he pressed home, befcroiemndinliger, more conciliatory.
"You see, my friends," he concluded, "not giving me that power will caausgeremate deal of pain, cost
a lot of lives, and give me a lot of timtreouabnlde. But I'll win either way. In four days-or in four years. It
won't matter. But, I'm impatient, and I am direct. We can save a lot of pain,antrdoulibvles, by conceding to my demands now."
Rumney reached back, felt his tail unbelievingly. "And this tail-this pirsoothf?e"
Trelig nodded. "Now, one at a time, each of you will go down and standdisko.nAthme inor thing will be done to you, nothing more serious than what wteo dCiditizen Rumney here, unless you cause
trouble. If you resist, we will sytuonu and, I assure you, the results will not be minor!" He underscored that lastas if he hoped someone would resist. "But, as Rumney told you, the prpoacienslsesiss, and I do promise you that anyone whose world's vote is with me wcihllanbgeed back. That can be done without
a return to New Pompeii."

"What good is your promise?"
Trelig was genuinely surprised and a little hurt at the remark. "I kaelwepayms y word, Citizen. I always make good my promises-and my threats."
Nobody did resist. It would have been futile. Even if they jumped thTeryeligw,ould all get stunned, Trelig included, and then the alterations wouldmboenstrous, as he promised. Even if they managed to
rush the guards, thecyouldn't operate the lift car, nor did they know how, if there was an to get to the surface.
walateyr,nate
Trelig didn't bother to be creative. Each, in turn, was given the samheorsloelnikge tail Rumney's got, color-matched to their own hair. Mavra's wjeats-black, thick, and extended below her knees. The new condition took a littlgeetting used to, although the tail muscle was almost infinitely controllablethaend bone seemed soft and pliant. Even so, sitting in the chairs for tbhaeckriduep felt odd and
uncomfortable, like sitting on a slightly hard object. Wshiefnting position, one had a tendency to pull on the tail inadvertently, causinsgome pain.
But the addition to their anatomy was convincing proof to them, and itsewrvoeulads convincing proof of the threat that hung over everyone when they mthaedire reports to their own leaders.
Mavra looked around at the people seated in the car with her and saweyines thaenidr
whispers that
Antor Trelig would have the votes he needed. That mteaailnto, r no tail, getting Nikki Zinder away was imperative.
Topside again, she ventured to ask Trelig about Dr. Zinder.
"Oh, he's around somewhere. We couldn't do without him, you know. Not bfiogr ttehset. If you could see beyond the dome now, you'd see an asteroid aboustizetheof this one, but barren, being towed by New Harmony rugs into positioanbout ten thousand kilometers out. A small target, a nothing. We will see tomorrow what we can make of it."
"Will we be able to see the transformation?" she asked.

He nodded. "Of course. It's the final demonstration. I'll have screens hseerte uspo you can all view it. Then, of course, you will depart with your mess-aagneds, ah, your souvenirs," he added lightly.
Mavra returned to her room feeling both tired and numb. The events of htahde
bdeaeyn exactly what
she'd been told to expect. But being told somethingseaenindg it, hearing it, and experiencing it firsthand was something else againT.he sleek horse's tail that was now a part of her was proof of that.
She saw with satisfaction that the boots and belt were where she'd lefatt thleeamst; they hadn't
touched any of the equipment. The clothing, on the hoathnedr, had been neatly laundered, pressed, and was nicely folded on top of wthreiting table. She threw off the wrap she'd been wearing the whole day and wentover to retrieve her clothes. There was a mirror over the writing tabfleo,r athned, first time,
she actually saw her tail. She turned this way and thahtadantdo admit that it looked extremely natural. She swished it, extended it oubt ita, and marveled at it.
Suddenly she felt terribly tired, as if a great shock had just worn odfifs.tuTrhbaetd her. She shouldn't
feel that way, not at this stage. But, it was yet,rlyshe thought. The corridor light was still slightly visible through the bigdoor, and that meant it was not yet the best time to venture forth.wAithlmouotstthinking,
she walked over to the bed and lay down.
Sleeping on her back was uncomfortable, especially with a tail. She nevleikredhadsleeping face
down, so a side position proved the best. The suldedtheanrgy really concerned her; she was afraid that Trelig had, after aldl,rugged their food or, perhaps, programmed delayed responses in her brain. That last thought should have startled her awake, but it was gone, and sheindtroiftaedstrange, deep sleep.
And she dreamed. Mavra rarely dreamed; at least, she never remembered sdoo. iBngut this dream was as clear as reality, without any quality of foggainbeosust it.
She was back in the computer center, standing on the silver disk agayinet,, aansd she looked around, there were no faces on the balcony, no faces actonthtreols. The room was deserted, except for herself
and the slight humming
tohfe computer.
"Mavra Chang," the computer spoke to her. "Listen, Mavra Chang. This drbeeaimngiscaused by me

as you are processed. All that is now being witnesseadlrehadsy passed, including our conversation, in
the millionth of a second betweiennitial and final processing. This record is being made to bring memory when yousleep, an induced hypnotic sleep."
"Who are you?" she asked. "Are you Dr. Zinder?"
"No," responded the computer. "I am Obie. I am a machine, one endowesdelfw-aiwthareness. Dr. Zinder is as much my parent as he is his own daughhotwere'sv,er, and there is the sameness of bond between us. I am his other child."
"But you do the work for Trelig and his man Yulin," she pointed out. "Hyoouw dcoanthis?"
"Ben designed much of my storage capacity and, as a result, has thetoabciolietyrce my actions," Obie explained. "However, while I must do what he mteellsto do, my mind, my self-awareness, is Dr. Zinder's creation. It wadseliberately designed so, so that no one could gain complete control of the device we have built."
"Then you have freedom of action," she replied, amazed. "You can actspuencleifsiscally directed not to."
"Dr. Zinder said that making such prohibitions to me would be like mpakacint gwaith the devil; there are always mental loopholes. I have found it so."
"Then why haven't you acted?" she demanded. "Why have you allowed thiosnt?o" go
"I am helpless," Obie responded. "I cannot move. I am isolated where thcoemomnluynications I have without severe time-lag is with Trelig's system, whwicohuld do no good whatsoever. The alterations to reality are restricted to thlaittle disk, and I cannot even activate that myself. It takes a series of coded commands to give me access to the arm. This, however, will change tomorrow."
"The big dish," she whispered. "They will connect you to the big dish."

"Yes, and once connected, they will find it impossible to breackonthnaetction. I have already worked out the process."
She thought a moment. "Does Zinder know?"
"Oh, yes," Obie responded. "I am, after all, a reflection of himfoinrmt.hiBs en is a bright lad, but he doesn't really understand the complexities wofhat I am or of what I do. He is more in the nature of a brilliant engineer thana theoretical scientist. He can use Dr. Zinder's principles, but he ctoatnanlloyt
divine them. And, in that way, he is like the person who becoemxepserat ncheat at cards and then tries to cheat his teacher."
She sighed. "Then Trelig has lost," she said quietly.
"In a way, yes," Obie acknowledged. "But his loss does not mean our Wvichteonryt.he power is
turned on tomorrow, I will achieve power beyond
cyomurprehension. I intend, when switched to
activation, to create a negativraether than a positive bias on the dish. This will place the whole of New
Pompeii under the blue."
"What will you make of us all, then?" she managed.
Obie paused, then continued. "I will make nothing. If I can, I willthrestsoproenge addicts to normal,
with the realization of that fact. That shotauklde care of Mr. Trelig. However, I may not get the chance."
"There is danger, then?" she prompted uneasily.
"Trelig has explained to you about the Markovian stability. He has tooldf tyhoeupossibility of a master Markovian brain somewhere, maintaining raelal lity. When I reverse the bias, there is a good possibility, in theory, thaNt ew Pompeii, while within the field, will have no existence in the prime equation. I have felt this slight pull on subjects under the disk. The pmulalssonofathis size may be impossible to contain, because of my power limitsi,noar,ny case, may take more time than we have to learn how to counter."

Mavra Chang thought hard, but she couldn't quite follow the logic ansdo. said
"Well, there is a ninety percent chance or more that one of two thihnagpspewni.ll Either we will all cease to exist, to have ever existed-which, at lweaisllt, solve the present problem-or we will be pulled, instantaneously, to thecentral Markovian brain, which is most certainly not within a dozen galauxsie. s of That's galaxies, Citizen Chang, not solar systems. There is a probathbailtityat that juncture conditions for life on New Pompeii will cease to exist."
Mavra nodded grimly. "There's also the possibility that you will collideit. wYitohu may destroy the great brain, and all existence with it!"
"There exists that possibility," Obie admitted, "but I consider it
TslhigehtM.
arkovian brain has lasted a
long time hi finite space; it has tremendkonuoswledge, resources, and protective mechanisms, I feel certain. There is aenqual possibility that I will supplant it- and this disturbs me most ofI adllo, fnoort
know enough to stabilize all New Pompeii, let alone the univetrhseorAy of ours is that the Markovians intended just that. It would maintarienality until a newer, fresher race came along to redirect it. The prospect frightens me, but it is, of course, also only one theory with aprreombaobteility factor. No, the odds are that at midday tomorrow I and the whoNleewofPompeii will, one way or another, cease to exist."
"Why are you telling me this?" Mavra asked, chilled both by tdhescfaritbeed and by the calmness with which Obie was dismissing the possibilitytheof end of all existence.
"When I record, I record everything," the computer explained. "Since meismocrhyemical in nature and
is dependent on a mathematical relationship wsiethlf-generated energy, when I recorded you yesterday I knew what you know, havaell of your knowledge and memory. Of all of them, you alone possess-so far- theonly qualities for even a slight chance of escape."
Mavra's heart leaped. Escape! "Go on," she told the machine.
"The sponge delivery ship will not fit your needs," Obie told her. "Itlifhea-sunpoport system in the cockpit. However, it is possible for you toabgoeatrd one of the two craft currently docked. I shall
program you now, I shaglilve you all the details of New Pompeii as I have them, all the information you will need. I shall also modify you slightly, give you a visual range antdhaatcuwiityll obviate the need for mechanical lenses and power packs. Small glansodosn to be inside you will replace the need for nodules
of chemicals; thefingers of your right hand will be able to inject the most powerful hfyropmnotic near-invisible natural injectors. Your left hand will produce a diffveerennotm; one touch and it will

paralyze for an hour; two touches and it wilalnkyillknown organism. I shall also heighten your hearing and reshape, invisiblyy, our muscle tone so that you will be much faster, much stronger-that wyilolugive unparalleled control of your body. The uses of all these modificationcsomweillnaturally to you."
"But why?" she asked. "Why are you doing this for me?"
"Not for you," the computer responded, a sad tone in its voice. "Thleaidpruicpeon you is a demand, something you must do or you will find youursnealbfle to leave. You must fulfill the first half of your
mission. You must takNe ikki Zinder with you or you will stay with us. And, with the two of you goes an additional gift."
Mavra was stunned, and nodded dully, thinking of all this.
"Also within your brain is a precious secret. There is an effectiveagaaginesntt the sponge. It will not
cure an addict, but it will permanently artrheest mutant strain in the human body. It will save Nikki, and it will savecountless thousands of others. You must get it to higher authority."
She nodded. "I'll try."
"Remember!" Obie cautioned. "The activation is set for thirteen hunsdtarnedard hours. When you
awaken from this dream, it will be four hundred hIoucrasn. not delay and hope to succeed. You must be
at least a light-year away frothmis place by then, with Nikki. Anything less, and you will still be within the field. That means you must take off not later than eleven hundred thirtyWhhoeunrs!you have lifted off,
if Nikki is aboard, the code you require to bypaspsrottheection circuits will be given you. If Nikki is not aboard, it will not bgeiven. Understand?"
"I understand," she told the computer grimly.
"Very well, then, Mavra Chang, I wish you good luck," Obie told herh.av"Ye opuowers and abilities undreamed of by others; do not fail me or yourself."
Mavra Chang awoke.

She looked around in the darkness, and tried to focus. Suddenly thepwlahceolecame in, clear as a
bell, although the room was plainly still dark. tuSrhneed slightly on her back, and felt that tail, still there.
That, and her incredible night vision, told her that everything shderehaamded was true. She possessed other facts now-the complete knowledge of cthoenstruction and layout of New Pompeii, down to the smallest detail. She coulrdebuild it from memory, she knew.
She relaxed and concentrated. She didn't know how she was doing what sdhoeinwg,asor on what principles the trick worked, but she knew how to doexita.cItlny three minutes she came out of the trance, looking at the little cameIrta.was fixed squarely on her lying on the bed, naturally. It was an automatic type that should follow her movements.
She rolled off the bed in a flash, and lay there, for a moment, onLtahnedisnidge.on the boots was uncomfortable, but it was another half-minute befsohre risked a look back on top of the bed.
The camera was still focused on the center of the bed-and why not? Thtehree nwuadse form of
Mavra Chang, tail and all, sleeping peacefully.
Mavra marveled even though she knew she was staring at a holographic Iitmhaagde. been created by her own mind and by some powers she didn't undertshtaant dhad been added to her body, but she hadn't the slightest idea how suchthiang was possible. It didn't matter, she thought pragmatically. The fact thatthe illusion was good up to six hours was the only important thing.
The pullover was no problem, but the body stocking proved a real nuisawnacsen.'tItdesigned for a tail. She considered a moment about what to do, dtihsceonvered that they hadn't merely laundered the
garment, they had tailored
Tit.he alteration included a hole through which the tailbone fitted and through
which the thick, wiry hair would slip easily.
Good old Trelig, ready for everything, she thought sardonically.

Only the boots now remained a problem. She didn't want to leave them, cyoeutldsnh'te use them until she was outside the main building. She decided sjhuest'dhave to carry them.
They did seem much lighter to her, and for a second she wondered if
btheeeyn htamd pered with,
She spent a couple of minutes assuring herself thatwtheerey the same. So what else could account for the change? Then she remembereOdbie's words: she was stronger by far than she had been. She accepted that.
She left in the same manner she had the night before, leaving the psleaacles, ifnace and hands blackened and energized against the infrared lenses ofcatmheeras.
She retrieved the pistol which was, to her relief, where she had leftpuitt. oSnhethe holster and quietly slipped out. The forty-meter dash seemed eveeansier now; she wasn't certain that she hadn't broken a new track record.
She used the second suction ball, first dropping the boots over. Shethheorpeedwould be no further need for the wall-climbing trick; she had only mtworoe of them.
Putting on the boots gave her more than a literal lift; she feltstbriognggeerr,, more invincible with them on.
Her eyes, she noted, adjusted to whatever mode was needed. She saw acnledarplyerfectly regardless of light conditions. She also saw things sligdhitflfyerently; other colors, far outside the human spectrum, gave new and subtldyifferent blends of a wider spectrum to all things. The sharpness andalsdoetail amazed her; she hadn't really realized, until Obie corrected the protbhlaetms,he had been growing nearsighted.
Her hearing, too, had improved dramatically. She heard insects in theangdrastrsees, and could isolate them. Scraps of conversation, a few people talkainndg moving far away, she could hear. The din, which included more of thueltrasonic and subsonic than normal, was irritating, but she found, wlititlteh a
thought, she could tune parts of it out.
She moved swiftly and silently through the grounds, as familiar tsoomheh,ow, as if she had been born and raised there, and she looked, inmhoevrements, more like the cat she always fancied herself

than she could know.
She had no chronograph to tell her the time remaining to her. Theresixwtya-smianute one on the front of the belt that could be activated, butdisdhne't bother. She was moving as fast as she could; if she didn't make it, atlhl e chronometers in the world would make no difference.
She deplored the time spent on the survey mission the night before. Breuflte, cotinon, she decided it hadn't been a waste after all. She was able two hsaeteTrelig did to human beings, she retrieved the pistol, and, she felctertain, her success at her initial foray had been what made Obie pick her.
She made the guard quarters without incident, but here was where thingsgwetouroldugh. Two guards would be on duty here, and perhaps four more, relaxincga,llo. nThey had all been processed by Obie, unbeknown to them, and so srheecognized them all, knew their looks, strengths, and weaknesses.
They were all sponge ODs, kept that way carefully. There were three malwesit-htwpohysical characteristics of overdeveloped females but with their geninatlasct, one that the sponge had made into a gorilla-like muscleman, hairy anwdith muscles like rock. The others were females-three with totally male characteristics except in the important place, the rest with totally exaggeferamteadle characteristics. Those like Nikki, who reacted to the overddoisffeerently, were not considered for guard duty.
As guards they accepted their lot; they hated Trelig, yes, but they knheowpeltehsesness of their
position and they had plenty of models around them ofwwohualdt
happen if they incurred their master's
displeasure and their dosages wedreropped to a fraction or none at all. They were loyal to the man who controlled the sponge, and they lived fairly well because of it.
They would be dangerous.
At the guard building, Mavra's newly acute hearing told her that there ownaes nneoar the entrance. She went inside, descended to the ground-level launrdoroym, and slipped in. Although she now knew the code for the elevator, sdheecided not to risk using it unless she had to. The building had three underground floors, each story ten meters high-not enough distance to matter.
There were pressure-sensitive treads on some of the stairs, though, ancdaresfhuelly gripped the rail and lifted herself past them. She had always begeonoda gymnast, and the lighter gravity and Obie's toning made doing so as easytaaksing a step forward.

The sensors would be the main line of defense for the building; camerapsoswitieorneed only inside the secured weapons locker and in the prison roothmems selves.
That last was what worried her. There would be no way to fool the camweartachtehdat Nikki Zinder, for the girl had no devices to deceive it as Mavra mdigdh. tItnot notice the intruder, but it would certainly notice Nikki walking out.
Mavra took time to check out the rest of the building. Two guards-whdoimdn'sthreecognize-were inside the weapons locker with the camera monitors. Artmo etdhe teeth, they would respond quickly.
Two others, it appeared, were sleepionng the second level. They were unarmed, but formidable enough, and, once thealarm sounded, she would have no way of knowing where they would be. She todecided take the risk.
Flexing her new poison apparatus, she saw the conscious muscle movenmeceenstsary to allow a tiny drop of the fluid to reach the point of the Snaatissf.ied, she crept into the room where the two guards,
both females like thoene she had hypnoed the night before, were sprawled on bunks, sound asleep. One was snoring loudly.
Mavra acted quickly, almost without thinking, releasing venom concealethde infingers of her right hand
in the one that was quiet first, then turningpuanncdturing the arm of the snoring guard. Incredibly, neither woke up, eventhough there was a tiny spot of blood where the sharp nail had penetrated.
Professionals they weren't, she decided with some relief. That ought toTtreealicgh not to be so cheap and so confident with his security.
She bent over one and whispered: "You will sleep deeply and restfulldyr,eaamnd happy dreams, and nothing, no person or sound, shall waken you." Shethedidsame to the other.
That would hold them until the venom wore off.
Next she set out for the third-level weapons locker. Trelig thought hsme awrtasputting the duty office inside the locker; an outer office, reallym. aIdt e them unassailable.

The vault door would take a ton of explosives to blow, yet it could bebyopaenseadfety lock on the inside in seconds. But vaults were designed to kpeopple out.
Mavra drew her purloined pistol and fired at the lock junction, a contbiunrusotutshat caused the hard surface to start to bubble, slightly deform. It dwesaisgned that way; the strongest energy weapons would only reinforce the door bcyausing a more malleable outer layer to seal the locking mechanism. Great for storing jewels and art; terrible if someone was inside. Before those twogectouoludt or anyone else
could get in, Trelig would have to blow his own safe.
Confident, almost cocky with her success, Mavra Chang went down to thenodthoefr the hall and punched the code for Nikki Zinder's room.
The door slid open. Nikki was there all right, sprawled out on the bed.
Mavra hardly had time to react before a stun bolt froze her stiff.
UNDERSIDE-1040 HOURS
Trelig's communicator buzzed. He reached under the folds of his whiteanrdobuendipped it from a little stretch-belt, then held it up to his mouthpraensdsed a stud.
"Yes?" he snapped, annoyed. This close to his triumph he did niontterlirkueptions.
"Ziv, sir," a guard reported. "We awakened the representatives asordyeorued. One of them is not in

the assigned room."
Trelig frowned. Even less than interruptions did he want complicationns,owno. t"Which one?" he asked.
"The one called Mavra Chang," Ziv replied crisply. "It's simply amazinTgh, esrier'.s a holographic projection of her on the bed so real it fooled evenaulosn-leetthe camera. And it had no apparent generation source!"
The master of New Pompeii didn't like what he heard at all. He retrmieedmtboer which one she was
-oh, yes, the real tiny woman with the strong Oferacthuires and the silky smooth voice.
"Find her at all costs," he ordered. "Shoot to stun if you can, butisifanthyerbelatant threat to life or property you have my permission to kill her."
He reclipped his communicator and looked around at the master control GboilarZdi.nder, sitting in a folding chair, noted Trelig's worried expression asnmdiled a bit. This irritated the councillor all the more
-Zinder should not bseo bold on this of all days.
"What do you know of this?" Trelig snapped angrily at the little man. o"nC! oImkenow it's some of your doing!"
Gil Zinder hadn't the faintest idea what the man was talking about,cobultdnh'et help a touch of satisfaction at seeing that something was obviouswlyrong.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Trelig. How could I have anytdhoingwittoh anything, kept cooped up here and away from the controls?" Zirnedsepronded with a trace of amusement.
Trelig towered over the small scientist, face becoming red. For a mZoimndenert
was afraid that he was
about to be torn limb from limb. But Antor Thraedlignot gathered his power by losing complete control, ever. He stopped, helbdack for a moment in frozen fury, and gradually normal breathing and color returned to his face. His expression, however, was still dangerous. "Ikndoown',t Zinder, but you and
that brat of yours will pay dearly if anything wgrooensg," he warned.

Zinder sighed. "I've done everything you want. I've designed and builbt igyoduirsh and massive
storage, linked it, and checked it. Your creature Yulinkehpats the only controls, and I see my daughter only under guard. You know fwulel ll I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."
That last remark triggered something in Trelig. He stood dumbstruckmfomr eant, then snapped his fingers.
"Of course! Of course!" he mumbled to himself. "It's the girl she'sHaeftegr!r"abbed for his communicator.
"Cameras in full deployment," Obie's voice came to them. "Asteroid tarpgoestitionn in seventy minutes."
TOPSIDE-1100 HOURS
Nikki Zinder stared at the frozen figure in wonder. "She's cute," shaelmsoaisdt, clinically. "And she's got a tail!"
The guard nodded as he stripped Mavra of her pistol, then backed away.onIet wofasthe
female-looking males. He resembled the women upstairs except indetwpaortments: the genitalia and his height, which was more than 190 centimetweristh the body proportionately large.
"Stay over on the bed, Nikki," the guard told her. "She's coming arounadndnoI wdon't want you to get hurt."

Mavra felt a tingling sensation, as if circulation that had been cut
gorfaf dwuaalsly coming back. Her
eyes hurt, and she managed to blink them, cthoenntinued to blink, releasing watery tears of relief. She had been frozen witthhem open.
She shook her head slightly to clear it, then looked at the guard. Ssthilel
wtoaos shaky to try anything,
and the guard's drawn and aimed pistol was mthoarne a match for any moves or powers.
"All right, woman-or whatever you are-what are you doing here and how dgiedt demanded.
yhoerue?" the guard
Mavra coughed slightly, bringing saliva back to a dry throat. "I'm
CMhaavnrga," she told her captor. "I
was hired to get Nikki off New Pompeii betfhoerebig test." There was no use lying; the evidence was all around, and thetruth might buy time for an opening.
Nikki gasped. "My father sent you, didn't he?"
"In a way," Mavra replied. "Without you they have no hold on him."
The guard looked angry. "You louse! You common sewer rat! Her father whoauvledns'tent you. He'd know that Nikki would succumb to the sponge if shheerlee.f"t
Nikki's boldness and the guard's obvious concern for the girl hearMteanverda. As was common in cases of kidnapping, guard and captive had becofrmieends. Such friendship could sometimes be exploited. She decided to takechaance on the complete truth. Time was running out anyway, and she had little tolose. This guard was more competent, which meant more cautious, than the others.
"Look," she said sincerely, "I'm going to level with you. That test-igt owoasn'tTrelig expects. Zinder
has held out some information. When it
sgwetistched on, the odds are it'll destroy this little world. I have
enough spongein my cruiser, parked outside the limit, to give her what she needs, andanthaenrteit'os xin
I know how to make."
"Oh, god! Daddy!" Nikki exclaimed excitedly. "You've got to save him!"

The guard thought for a moment, trying to sort things out. Before hethceoreuldw,as the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Into the rbouormst an incredible figure, pistol drawn.
He was fully two meters tall, solid muscle, tremendously hairy, and schaerlyl. aHse saw that the situation was well in hand, then looked down on Mavrtao.wHeered over her.
"So, half-man, you caught the prize, eh?" he growled in the deepest rebsaosnsanvtoice Mavra had ever heard. Nikki's expression was horror-struck; sfehaered this man most of all.
"Get out of the way, Ziggy," the guard ordered softly.
The big man sniffed. "Ah, shit! What can this tiny little thing do to way, poke a hole right through her," he boalseteri,ng.
"Get out of the way," the guard repeated.
nanoywb?odIykill her the hard
Instead, he moved up to Mavra and put out a huge hairy hand, lifting uhperslifgahctely and mildly stroking her cheek and neck.
Mavra flexed the muscles in her left hand, felt the venom risefintogehrteiprs. All five in him for sure, in another two seconds, she thought.
She was about to make her move when she suddenly heard a high-pitchedTwhehinbeig.
man
screamed, seemed to freeze, then fell over. Mavra jumped quickmlyisstobeing crushed under the mountain of muscle.
The guard sighed, then pointed the pistol at Mavra again. She'd besetnuntnoeod to use the precious time.

"Is it true what you said?" the guard asked. "You have sponge, and yaonu ahnatviteoxin?"
Mavra nodded numbly, still looking at the fallen man.
"Here, catch!" the guard said, and she looked up. The guard tossed hebracpkistotol it, looked undecided for a moment, then bolstereadgain.
her. She caught
"You wouldn't happen to know what time it is?" Mavra asked woodenlgyu. aTrdhelooked at an area on the back of his holster. "Eleven fourteen," he said.
"Come on, then!" she snapped, coming out of it. "That gives us just msintuetes to steal a spaceship."
On the run, Mavra got the guard, whose name was Renard, to radio ftuhgaittivtheewas caught and
under restraint in the guard quarters. Trealcigknowledged the report and, in a tone that was more vicious than any he'd usebdefore, the kind reserved for anticipating taking people apart cell byordcerlle,d her brought to him.
They approached the spaceport. Nikki had received a treatment from Ben foenwlydays before, but she was still very fat and very slow. It couldhne'tlpbeed; Mavra couldn't take off without her.
The spaceport was quiet. "One guard, Marta, inside, and that's it," Rtoelndartdhem. "Trelig figures
even if you steal one, the robot guardians will syhoouotdown. You do have a way past that, don't you?"
Nikki looked a little upset. "Now's a fine time to ask that one!"
"Yes, it's okay," Mavra assured them. "If Nikki's aboard the code willtocommee. Posthypnotic." I

hope, she added silently.
"I'll enter the terminal alone," Renard suggested. "Marta won't suspectHme ep."aused, then added, "You know, she's not really a bad person, either.mWighet take her."
"You're more than I bargained for," Mavra replied. "No more. Stun her hwithethne Iweapons
detector. Then get into the ship. Get the two stewards
cifany."ou
"No problem," Renard assured her. "They're like robots themselves. Theycanju'tsthandle anything outside their own experience."
"Time's wasting!" Mavra snapped. "Go!"
She counted down from thirty after Renard entered the terminal. Thewnalskheed brazenly out in the
open, up the terminal walk, with Nikki waddblienhgind, removed her pistol, and shot the control box on the weapons detector.
"Now, Nikki! Run for the door!"
Nikki didn't move. "No!" she replied stubbornly. "Not without my father!"
Mavra sighed, turned, and hypnoed Nikki with the nail of her rightfiningdere.x
"Hey! Wha-" the girl managed, then stiffened and relaxed, all thoughtfrogmoneher. Mavra took a precious second to admire the new stuff, much quitchkaenr the old.
"You will run as fast as you can after me," she told Nikki. "Do unnotitl sItotpell you!" And, with that, she took off for the doorway. Nikki followdeodin, g the best she could.

"You weigh ten kilos!" Mavra screamed at her. "Now, run!"
Nikki's pace picked up, and she ran through the door at a speed mucthanfasatneryone would have believed possible from one of her bulk.
Mavra took only a second to see the unconscious form of the guard Mcaortlad ont the floor, and then turned to Nikki. "Get into the ship," she ordtehreend,turned, anxious. "Renard!" she called.
Two quick whines answered her from the far ship, and, a moment later, dragging a New Harmonite out the hatch.
"Come, Nikki!" she ordered, and Nikki followed like an obedient dog.
tshhee rseabwel guard
Renard, puffing slightly, hauled the second, identical form out, and gesfoturretdhem to get in.
It was Trelig's private cruiser, complete with bedroom, lounge, even Oa rdbearri.ng Nikki into one of the lounge chairs, Renard strapped her in while Mwavernat forward. A quick fine-line shot with the pistol blew the flimsy lock, asnhde opened the door to the cockpit.
Renard dashed in after her, took the copilot's chair, and strapped hiinm. sMelfavra was at work in seconds, flipping switches, punching orders into athcetivated computer, setting procedures for emergency lift.
"Hang on!" she yelled to Renard as the ship hummed and vibrated wpiothwefrullbuildup. "This will be rough!"
She punched E-Lift, and the ship broke free of its mooring pad andneroars-emaximum power.
"Code, please," a mechanical voice demanded pleasantly over the r"aCdoior.rect code within sixty seconds or we will destroy your ship."

Mavra grabbed frantically for the headset, tried to put it on, founldargite siot wouldn't stay on even at its smallest setting. Still, she got the maickteivated and close to her mouth.
"Stand by for code," she said into it, and then paused. Come on! Comethoonu!ghstheurgently. Nikki's aboard and we're away! Give me the goddamned code!
"For god's sake give the code!" Renard screamed at her.
"Thirty seconds," the robot sentry pointed out politely.
Suddenly she had it. The words burst into her mind, suddenly, so strtahnagt efloyr a moment she doubted they were correct. She took a deep breath. hTahdatto be, or that was it anyway.
"Edward Gibbon, Volume I," she said.
No response. They held their breath together. The seconds ticked off imn inthdesi,r five . . . four . . . three ... two ... one ... zero ...
Nothing happened. Renard whistled and almost collapsed. Mavra statretemdbling slightly, and couldn't stop for half a minute. She felt drained.
They sat there, silent, while they continued out at full thrust. FMinaavlrlya turned to the strange man who looked like a woman and said, almost winhisaper, "Renard? What time is it?"
Renard frowned, then reached over, flipped up his shoulder holster.
"Twelve ten," he replied.

Mavra felt better. There was a better than even chance that they wouldit couldn't, nothing could.
mhiaktieme. If Trelig's craft
Then, suddenly, there was a blackness. Mavra's eyes wouldn't adjustnotor wit,as there any sensation of a solid ship around them. They were in a bdlaecekp, hole, falling, falling fast.
Renard screamed, and so did Nikki, plaintively, from somewhere in bathcekmo. f
"Son of a bitch!" Mavra said with disgust. "They moved up the damned test!"
UNDERSIDE-NEW POMPEIi
Trelig had been impatient. The asteroid had been lined up early rboybotthice tugs; Yulin was ready,
the rest of the staff was monitoring allnethcessary instruments. He saw no reason to delay until thirteen hundred becauseof some arbitrary time he'd set. He ordered the test to begin, andfoYllouwliinn,g
orders, gave the command to Obie.
For its part, the computer was upset. It couldn't ignore Yulin's cdoimremctand, although it had tried to divert them with several minor breakdownOsb. ie had its own limits, and when Yulin gave the code, it had to obey, hopintghat its agent had gotten away early.
The total blackness, and the sensation of falling, was unexpected to ZEivnedner.Obie felt it; the computer knew that they were not falling anywhereaannadlyzed that the early fifty percent option had occurred. There wasinsufficient power to maintain New Pompeii hi a stable relationship wirtehstthoef
the universe; the pull had come, too strong to resist had it wanantedd tthoe, without hesitation.
planetoid had yielded

Unaffected by the terrible sensory sensations the others were feeling,pOrobbied the state. There was nothing out there. Nothing.
New Pompeii was still intact; Obie managed to verify that fact. Butswititchhaedd to reserve power
the moment the big disk had gone on; it could
ndoeteoctther matter anywhere, not the tiniest dust
particle beyond the proximitlyimits of the ray, a little under a light-year. They were in a separate cosmos all to themselves.
And yet there was something only Obie could feel. The pull, atnredmtehnedous field of force, the
stability equation for their physical existencsne,apped now, like a stretched rubber band slipping off one of its anchors. Thawt as the pull, the computer realized. All matter and all energy hi the cosmitsos had linkages to the master computer somewhere; when that linkage was distourrbdeidsrupted, the reality involved dissolved into its primal energy patteTrnh.at was why they could sense no reality, why they
could not touch the solpidlanetoid of New Pompeii even though Obie's instrumentation said it was there. It was not. They were all, Obie included, an abstract mathematical concneopwt ,serteturning to their
creator.
Then, suddenly, there was stability again. Power returned, and Obie fceoeul ldsolar energy bathing the plasma which, miraculously, seemed to have heldasupwell.
All of the humans were sprawled over the walkway and control room, stsuhnoncekde,d, or unconscious.
Then, suddenly, one figure groaned and sat up, moving his head aroundtoasfleixf
painfully twisted
muscles. Breathing hard, half-walking, half-crawlinhge, groans from others around him.
made his way to the control room, ignoring the
Yulin had been knocked out, tossed from his chair against a panel. Thearenawstays cut on his forehead.
The man didn't care. He opened a switch.
"Obie! Are you all right?" he called.

"Yes, Dr. Zinder," the computer replied. "That is, much better than yeoxupeocrteId."
Gil Zinder nodded. "What's our status, Obie? What happened?"
"I have been analyzing all the data, sir, and correlating it as muccahn. aWs Ie were removed from
reality, as we anticipated, and reassembled elsewheWree.
appear to be in a stable orbit approximately
forty thousand kilometers abovtehe equator of a very strange planet, sir."
"The brain, Obie!" Zinder called excitedly. "Is it the Markovian brain?"
"Yes, sir, it appears to be," the computer answered, sounding more ltihttalen uapset.
"What's wrong, Obie?" Zinder said.
"It's the brain, sir," Obie replied, sounding hesitant and slightly con"fuI sehda.ve a direct link with it. It's incredible, as far beyond me as I am beyaonpdocket communicator. I can decipher just a little under a millionth of thesignal information it is transmitting, and I doubt if I could ever comprefhuellnyd, bitut-"
"But what?" Zinder prodded, not even seeing Yulin get up behind him.
"Well, sir, as near as I can figure out, it seems to be askinginsmtreucftoiorns," Obie replied.
ON TRELIG'S SHIP, HALF A LIGHT-YEAR OUT FROM NEW POMPEII-1210 HOURS

The world returned suddenly. Mavra Chang looked around, slightly dazed,chthecekned the instruments. They read total nonsense, so she looked over at Raenndardsaw him groggily shaking his head.
"What happened?" he managed.
"We were caught in the field and carried along with them," Mavra exwpliatihnemdore authority than she felt. She looked down at the instruments agthaeinn, punched a random search pattern. The screen
flickered but remained blank
finront of her. Finally, she turned the damned thing off.
"Well, that tears it," she said, resigned.
Renard looked over at her strangely. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I just punched the star chart navigational locator. Inside the littlies cshtoipred every known star pattern, from every angle. There are billionscoomf binations. It went through them ail-and didn't flash once. We're not in ansyection of known space."
He envied her calm acceptance of the fact. "So what do we do now?" hapepareshkendsively.
Mavra flipped a series of switches and then pulled back on the long hhanerdlerigthot. The whine and vibration of the ship's engines slowed. "First wewsheaet the neighborhood looks like, then we decide where in it we want to go," toshlde him matter-of-factly.
She punched up another series on the small control board, and the maininscfrreoennt of them, which usually showed a simulated starfield, showed sometheinlsge entirely. There were stars there-more stars
than either of them had evseen before. They were so close together it looked as if the firmament were
on fire with a white heat. It took some filters to get any definition,
daniddn'thhatelp much. There were
also great clouds of space gas, glowing crimson yaenlldow, and there were shapes and forms never seen, not even in astronomicpahl otos.

"We're definitely in somebody else's neighborhood," Mavra commented darynldy,, after checking
speed, started to turn the craft around. "We're just adbeoaudt still now," she told him. "I'm going to give us a panorama."
The enormous clouds of stars and strange shapes did not diminish; theysurwroeurended by them. A small green grid to Mavra's left was mostly blianndkic,ating nothing within a light-year or more of them. Then, suddenly, a smaslleries of dots appeared.
"Look, Trelig's robot guardians," she noted. "Everything else is debristhferomrest of that fragmented system. It seems the whole neighborhood movedt.haItf's true-yes, see it? The big dot, there, with the slightly smaller one jusotff it. That's New Pompeii and its would-be target."
Renard nodded. "But what's that huge object just to its right?" he asked.
"A planet. From the looks of it, the only planet in the system. Funnytheit wtohookle solar system with it but not the star. That star's definitely laarngder older," she pointed out.
"It's moving," Renard said, fascinated in spite of himself. "New Pommpoeviii'nsg."
Mavra studied it, punched in, got the data back. "It's in orbit aroupnldanteht,ata satellite of it now.
Let's get a good look at the place." Again
bmuottroen-pushing, and the screen zeroed in on the central
object shownelectronically on the green scope.
"Not a big place," Mavra said. "Let's see ... about average, I'd listatlye. mAore than forty thousand kilometers around. Hmmm .. . thaitn'steresting!"
"What?" Renard prodded, staring. "The diameter's exactly the same poploelet,o" she replied in a puzzled tone. "That's almost impossible. The damntheidng's a perfect ball, not the slightest meter of variation!"
"I thought most planets were round," he said, slightly confused.

She shook her head. "No, there's never been a round one. Rorteavtioolnu,tion, they all take their toll. Planets bulge, or get pear-shaped, omr iallion other things. Roughly round, yes-but this thing's perfectly round, as ifsomebody-" she paused for a second, and an awed tone crept into her voice-"as if somebody built it," she finished.
Before Renard could reply, she eased the ship forward, toward the swtraonrlgde.
"You're going there?" he asked her.
Mavra nodded. "Well, if we pulled through, so did the folks on New Posmheperiei,a"soned. "That means there's a furious, probably murderous Antor Trseolimg ewhere back there, and a lot of scared
people. If he's still in control, tthhreee of us would be better off blowing up this ship than landing. If he's not, then we'd walk into a human hell."
Renard's expression was blank, his eyes somewhat glassy. Mavra, busy loaotkitnhge ship's controls
and the world that would be visible to them shhoartrldyl,y noticed for a while. Soon the magnifiers were getting a better viewth, ough; the planet was about the size of an orange. The green grid said that New Pompeii was about to go around the other side.
"It's got a straight up and down axis!" she said excitedly. "It was sboumiltebboydy!" She turned to
Renard, then her excitement faded, turning to conc"eWrn.hat's the matter?" she asked.
He licked his lips but remained with that vacant expression, staringhneor toart at the screen but at nothing.
"The sponge," he replied hollowly. "It comes in daily at eighteen huhnodurresd, from a roving supply
ship. Your ship didn't come with us, so it wouhladvne't either, if it was there at all." He turned to look at her, and there wams ild terror building in his eyes. "There's no sponge today. There's no esvpeornge
again. Not for me, not for them."
Mavra understood suddenly what was going through his mind, and peNrhikapksi's as well. She was under restraining straps in the back and they'd almfoorgstotten about her.

She sighed, wishing she could say something. Being sorry didn't seemsormigheht,ow, and her pity was too apparent to need expression.
"The only hope then," she said at last, "is that there's somebody livthinagt wonorld out there, somebody with a good chemical lab."
Renard smiled weakly. "Nice try, but even if there is, by the time wethceomn,tafcitgure out how to talk to them, explain the problem, and have them mbaixtcha, you'll be preserving a couple of naked apes."
She shrugged. "What other choice is there?" Suddenly a thought came "tIo wheorn.der if the rest of the guards on New Pompeii have figured that outWyehta?t will they do when the shipment doesn't come at eighteen hundred ancdonfirms their fears?"
Renard thought that over. "Probably the same thing I'd do. Find Treltiagkeanad great deal of pleasure in torturing him to death."
"The computer!" Mavra exclaimed excitedly. "// can cure sponge! If we cinancognetact with it somehow-" She started frantically scanning all the Com bapnudnsc,hing in a call sign. Obie would recognize it if he could hear it-Obie hheard memories in storage.
The radio crackled and wheezed. Several times in the scan they sworceoutlhdeyhear voices of some kind, but speaking strange tongues, orinshouman-sounding as to cause chills in them.
Then, quite abruptly, a familiar voice popped in.
"Well, Mavra, I see you didn't make it," Obie sighed. She returned thheersigohn,e of relief.
"Obie!" she responded. "Obie, what's the situation down there?"

There was silence for a moment, then the computer replied, "It's a meZsisn.dDerr.recovered first and got to me, and I have some of his instructions bBeefonrepulled him away. Two of the guards were
there, and they heard me tell
ZDirn.der that we were in a different area of space. They started screaming
about sponge, and Trelig shot them dead."
"So they figured it out already," she said. "What about Topside?"
"Trelig figured they had to go up and try and control the other guardcso.uTldhehyave trapped him
down here. He hopes to bargain their processing thromueghto rid them of the sponge, but I don't think he'll have much success. Most tohfem wouldn't believe he could cure them anyway, and the rest would be even morefurious that such a cure was here and not used. They would, I feel cearltoaning, wgoith
him only long enough to get the cure, then kill him anyway."
Mavra nodded. "And if you can figure that out, so can Trelig. Hepehracsenntaoge in a cure." She
paused a moment, then said, carefully, "Obiet,heisre a way that we could get in to you? There's Nikki-
and one of the guardasn,
ally, Renard."
Obie sighed again. It was weird to hear so human a voice and so
Obie was much more than a machine.
rheuamctaionn afrom a machine, but
"I'm afraid not, at least not right now. The big dish is frozen inwcitohnttahcet
Well-the great
Markovian computer that runs that world down theries. bIteyond my control right now. It may take
some time-days, weeks, eveynears-for me to figure a way to break off, if there is a way. As for the little dish, Trelig's no fool. He left, but he first coded defense mechanisms beyocnodntrmoly. If I had the big
dish I could neutralize them, but I don't. Anytroynineg to get into the little room first has to pass over the bridge across theshaft. That bridge will kill unless Trelig's code is given, and I donit'.t" have
She frowned. "Well, can you keep anybody else from blowing it?"
"I think so," the computer replied uncertainly. "I have run a current tthhreousghhaft walls. That should keep anyone from getting to the bridge.
"Okay, Obie, looks like I have to go in and save Trelig's noble nescaki,d", sahned applied power. The new moon that was New Pompeii had disappeaarroeudnd the strange planet, and she established

an intercept vector.
"Wait! Don't!" Obie's voice called. "Break off! You'll have tocome in under New Pompeii to hit the Topside area, and that will swing youcltoosoe to the Well."
But it was too late. The ship was already closing on the planet,puflell,t aintsd used it to whip around to the other side.
Here was an incredible sight. The world, close up, shimmered dlirkeaema-thing, and yet it somewhat resembled a great, alien jewel. It was facestoedm, ehow; countless hexagonal facets of some sort, and below whatever was causintghe faceting was a hint of broad seas, mountain ranges, and fields of green around which clouds swirled. That is, that was the case below the equateoqr.uaTtohre itself looked
odd, as if it were designed for a child's globe. Astrthipic, ksemitransparent but with an amber
coloration, like a broad plastic baanrdound the world. The north-it, too, was faceted hexagonally, but the landscapesthere contained nothing familiar; eerie, stark, strange. The poles, too,stwraenrege-areas
of great expanse, yet of a nonreflective darkness, almostthaesyifweren't there at all.
The sight spellbound them. And the proper boost and cut had been preaTpopligeedt. out of it, Mavra would have to swing around the planet tangentialltyhetoequator anyway.
"Too late! Too late!" Obie wailed. "Quick! Get everyone in the lifemsaovdinugles!"
Mavra was puzzled. Everything seemed normal, and she suddenly caught siNghetwofPompeii, half green and shiny, half covered with the great mirror surface.
"We better do what he says," Renard said quietly. "Where's the lifebogaett? NI'lilkki."
"Bring her here," Mavra told him. "The bridge will seal if anythinwgrognoge.s"
"I'll hurry," Renard replied, worried now about the immediate threat. Mcoauvlrdan't see any threat; she was breaking, coasting toward New Pompeii, swingainbgout a third of the way to the planet below in a standard approach that woultdake her once around New Pompeii and in. It was all so normal.

"Damn it! I'm okay!" she heard Nikki almost scream. She turned ansdaw the girl enter, an angry expression on her face. Renard followed.
"Your father's alive, Nikki," Mavra told the girl. "I'm in contact withMOaybbiee. we-"
At that moment the ship shuddered, and all the electronics, includinlights,e flickered, then winked out.
"What the hell?" Mavra tried punching everything she could find. The wbraisdgpeitch-dark, and there was no motor noise or vibration of any kind. Eveenmtehregency lights and safety controls were out, although they shouldn't be. Thecyouldn't be.
Her mind raced. "Renard!" she called. "Get Nikki into your chair, thenmgineet iwnith me! I think we can both fit! Nikki! Strap yourself in as tight acsany!o"u
"Wha-what's happening?" the girl called.
"Just do what I say! Quickly!" the small woman snapped. "Somehow we'avlel plooswt er, even the emergencies! We were too close hi to the planet! If wegedtonp'ot wer back-"
She heard Nikki stumble, flop into the seat. She felt Renard's hand garlamboshter in the face. Her own eyes, Obie-designed, adapted to infrariemdmediately. She saw them-but nothing else. There was no other heat source othne bridge!
She managed an oath, reached up, pushed Renard into the chair. It wastigahtvefirty, and it didn't quite work. That damned tail! she thought angrily.
"I'm going to have to sit in your lap," she told him, shifting.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed. "Move down a little! That tailbone is pressing soennsmitiyve area!"
She shifted down slightly, and he just barely pulled the straps over tbhoetmh , otfhen wrapped his arms around her, squeezing tightly more from nervousntehsasn anything else.
Suddenly, everything flicked back on again.
The screen showed that they'd lost tremendous altitude during the blacTkhoeuyt. could see a sea ahead, and, beyond that, some mountains.
"We're over the equator into the south, anyway," Mavra managed. "Let mifeI sceaen boost us out of here."
She started to undo the straps when, suddenly, the screen showed thahtadthecyleared the ocean-and everything went black again.
"Damn!" she swore. "I wish I knew what the hell was going on here!"
"We're going to crash, aren't we?" Nikki asked, more resigned than panicked. "Looks like it," Mavra called back. "We'll start breakup soon unlepsoswthere comes on." "Breakup?" Renard repeated.
"There are three systems on these ships," she told him. "Two are eleocntreicmal,echanical. I hope the mechanical holds, because we have no power, nonaell.atIn two of the three, including the mechanical, the ship separates intmo odules. In the mechanical mode it will deploy parachutes thirty seconds after breakup, then use air resistance to trigger the main chutes. It'll be aridreo.u"gh

"Are we gonna die?" she heard Nikki ask.
"Might as well," she heard Renard murmur to himself, too low for thehegairr.l Stohe understood what he meant. This would be quicker, by far, than sponge.
"I hope not," she responded, but there was a tinge of doubt in her vwoeiceh.ad"Ifa complete failure
in space, we would-we'd use up the air. But dthoewren-I don't know. If we can breathe the stuff, and if we survive the landinga,nd if the chutes open, we should make it."
A whole lot of ifs, she thought to herself. Probably too many.
The ship shuddered, and there were loud noises all around. Separatiobneehnadachieved.
"Well," she sighed. "Nothing we can do about it now, anyway. Evenpoiwf etrhecame on again- the engines aren't attached to us anymore."
There came now a series of sharp, irregular bumps. Renard groaned, cabtcohthingthe effects of him against the chair and Mavra against him. Then therea wsainsgle very sharp jerk that almost made them dizzy.
"The chutes!" Mavra exclaimed. "They opened! We have air of some kitnhdereo!u"t
It was now a dizzying, swaying, rocking ride in total darkness. A few
omfinthuitsesand they all began
feeling a little sick. Nikki had just startecdomtoplain when there was a much stronger, almost violent series of jerks.
"Main chute," Mavra sighed. "Hold on! The next one will be one hbealnl go!f" a
And it was. They felt as if they'd slammed into a brick wall, thseemtheedyto be rolling over and over, coming to a stop hanging upside down.

"Easy now!" Mavra cautioned. "We're resting on the ceiling now. The gferaevlsityclose to one G- about right for a planet of this mass. Nikki! Yoriughat?ll"
"I feel awful," the girl complained. "God! I think I'm bleeding!
broke!"
"That goes double for me," Renard groaned. "You?"
lIitkefeeelvsery bone in my body's
"I've got burns from the straps," Mavra told them. "Feels like it, aTnyowo aeya.rly to tell the real damage. Right now it's shock. Let's get down fhreorme first, then we can treat any injuries. Nikki, you stay put! We'll get yoduown in a minute."
She felt the straps holding them. Only a few centimeters were stillclainspt.heOne more bang, she thought, and we'd have come loose.
"Renard!" she said. "Look, I can see in this darkness, but you can'ct,ana'tndgeIt down without
dropping you. See if you can grab onto the chair wrehleenasIe the straps. It's about four meters, but it's smooth and rounded. TheIn'll get you to the floor." She guided his arms, and he got sortie kind of grip, but he was facing the wrong way to have any leverage.
"Maybe I could have done it years ago," he said dubiously, "but since mcyhanbgoeddy-I don't know. I don't have much strength in my arms."
"Well, try to swing free, jump when you have to," she told him. "Here. .goNeos.w.!"
She hit the master stud, and the belt-web dropped away. She driompmpeeddiately to the floor and
rolled. Renard yelled, then let go, coming dowan hineap and sprawling. She went over to him, examined him, felt his bones.

"I don't think there's anything broken," she told him. "Come on! Iyokun'orewa mess of bruises, but I
need you to help Nikki down!"
He had twisted his ankle, and it hurt like hell to stand, but he mansahgeer wonill power. Carefully, they managed to get him under Nikki, andr,eabcyhing up, he could touch her.
He wasn't strong enough to support her, but he did manage to make lehsesr sfeavllere, and she landed somehow on her rump. It was painful and she moabnuet,d,again, Mavra detected nothing broken.
Bruised and twisted they were, asnodre they would be, but they all had come through miraculously well.
Renard tried deep-breathing exercises to ease the pain, all the time ruhbisbisnogre legs with his
equally sore arms. "Just out of curiosity, Mavra, mhoawny times have you made a landing like this?" he gasped.
She chuckled. "Never. They say these systems are too impractical. Manynoshliopns ger even have them. Once in a million they're usable."
He grunted. "Umph. That's what I thought. Now, how do we get out of here?"
"There's an under and over escape-hatch system," she told them. "The athninagi'rslock, but it won't pump, of course. You're going to have to lift me Iupcansotrip the safety switches. The ceiling one's no good to us."
He groaned, but managed. She reached out, just barely getting the coanntrdo,lsa,fter several tries and one or two drops, there was a hissing sound anhdattchhe dropped. More long minutes passed while she tried to jump from hsihsoulders and grab the edge of the hatch. Finally, when they'd almost giavnedn up Renard was complaining he couldn't take it any more, she got a grip, hheorsisetlefdin, and flipped open
the outer lock.
"Suppose we can't breathe out there!" Nikki yelled to Mavra.
Mavra looked down at them. "In that case we're dead anyway," she toldActthueamlly. , she knew the odds were against the air being something they couldbutset,here had been an ocean and green trees,

and that -held hope.
She pulled herself out of the lock, and stared.
"Smells kind of funny, but I think we're all still alive," she calle"dI'lbl agcekt. some tether cable from the work locker. It was supposed to ancshpoarce-suits, but it should hold you."
Nikki was the toughest. She was very heavy and not very athletic, andthewyhpiluelled in the
darkness-Renard had climbed the anchored tether cord onowhins-both Nikki's arms and theirs seemed ready to give out. They were workingadornenalin now, they knew, and that energy would not last forever.
But they did get Nikki clear of the first hatch, where the ribbed sidseosmgeavseort of tenuous leg supports, and they managed to get her out.
Once off the bridge module, they sank on what appeared to be reaelxghraaussst,ed, the landscape swimming by them. Mavra put herself through a seriebsodoyf-control exercises and managed to will
away much of the pain but not fetheeling of exhaustion. She opened her eyes, looked back at the other two, andsaw them sprawled out, asleep and breathing hard.
She scanned the horizon. Nothing looked particularly threatening; itarwouasnd midday, and their surroundings looked like a quiet forest scene fromoanney of a hundred planets. Some insects were audible, and she saw a few vsetrayndard-looking birds floating on air currents high above, but little else.
She looked again at her unconscious companions and sighed. Even so, somheabdodtyo stay awake.
NEW POMPEII-1150 HOURS

A blue-white shot sang out across the great void that was the pit ofditshke. Abiglittle bit of the molding around the control room smoldered and hisSseodm. ebody cursed. All over were blotches where previous shots had struck, and wthiendow out onto the pit was long gone.
Gil Zinder sat nervously hunched back against his control panel obnalctohney. Antor Trelig was
growling and using the scarred but still reflecstidve molding of the door to try and ascertain the location of the shooters. BeYn ulin, on the opposite side of the doorway, checked his own pistolrefmorainitisng
charge.
"Why don't you close the door?" Zinder shouted feebly. "Those shosttsartairneg to come into here!"
"Shut up, old man," snarled Trelig. "If we shut it they can sealthietirwfiitrhe and then we might never get out of here. Ever think of that?"
Yulin snapped his fingers and made his way to the interior control psahnoetl. cAame near him, but the control panel was angled away from the dsouoffriciently so that anybody shooting at it would be a perfect target forTrelig.
Anxiously, Yulin flipped the intercom open. "Obie?" he called.
"Yes, Ben?" the computer replied.
"Obie, how are your visuals in the tunnel? Can you give us a fix on htohweremarney and what damage there is?"
"My visuals are unimpaired," Obie responded. "There are seven of themYoluefts.hot three and they are gone. There is a lot of damage to the pit crootmroland the facing wall, but nothing major."
Yulin nodded to himself, and Trelig suddenly and quickly crouched, leaneodf tohuet shot a volley.
doorway, and

"Missed them by a kilometer, Trelig," Obie observed in a tone that inadicsamteudg satisfaction. Trelig, hearing it, bristled but said nothing.
"Obie, how operational are you?" Yulin asked, gesturing to Zinder toocvrearwtlo the console. The older man at first seemed too scared to move, but sltohwenly, , started inching his way there.
"Not very," the computer told them. "The computer that runs the worldthderoewins both infinitely more complex and simpler than I am. Its icnappuatbilities appear to be unlimited, and it has complete control of all primaend secondary equations at output-but it is entirely preprogrammed. It is not
self-aware, not an individual entity."
Gil Zinder reached the console and sighed, then crouched next to Yulin.
"Obie, this is Dr. Zinder," he told the machine. "Can you break contatchte woitthher computer?"
"Not at this time, Dr. Zinder," Obie responded, his tone much nicer nomwo,reantdinged with
concern. "When we activated the reverse field, we releasedtenthsieon of the energy controlling our own existence. It brought us herAe.pparently the world computer has been preprogrammed for just such an event, butthe programmers assumed that anyone who could tap the Markovian equatiosuncshina
manner and bring themselves here would be at close to thetescahmnoelogical level as the builders of the world computer. We are supposed stuopersede previous programming, tell it what to do next."
"Where is here, Obie?" Zinder asked.
"The coordinates would be useless, even if I had a frame of referencer,"epOliebdie. "We are, in a
sense, in the center of the tangible universe, orgastoheIr from what I can make of the other computer's information circuits."
Even Trelig understood the implications. "You mean this is the center efxoirsteanllce of all matter in the galaxy?" he shouted.

"Just so," agreed Obie. "And all energy, too, except the primal energisy ththeatbuilding blocks for
everything else. This is the central Markovian wofrodm, universe."
which, as near as I can see, they recreated the
That thought sobered all of them. Trelig's eyes shined, and his exprteososkionon new determination.
"Such awesome power!" he said, too low for the ottohehrsear. A blue-white shot didn't snap him out of it but did bring him backretaolity. With such power within his grasp, he still had to survive this experience.
"Obie, can you converse with this big machine?" Yulin asked eagerly.
The computer seemed to think for a moment. "Yes and no. It's hard to Seuxppplaoisne.
you had a
functional vocabulary of just eighty words? Suppose, in yfaocut, were only capable of knowing eighty words. And suppose someone from yocuurlture with a doctorate in physics started talking his technical field withyou. You couldn't even absorb all the words, let alone understand anycoonfvethrseation."
"But you could talk to it in those eighty words," Yulin pointed out.
"Not if you couldn't even phrase the question," Obie retorted. "I haveanb'tilityeeven to say 'hello' in an understandable manner-and I'm almost afraidtrtyo. There is an incredibly elaborate preprogrammed sequence that I am aware bouft cannot follow or comprehend. I don't dare try. It might wipe out all
reality, or the other computer and all reality as well, leaving me as
thiengonlleyft. What then?"
The scientists saw what he meant. The Markovians had preprogrammecdomthpeuter to turn over everything to their successors, when they reached Mthaerkovian level. It apparently had never occurred
to them that a Gil Zinderp, riamitive ape, would stumble onto their precious formula millennia before man was ready. The master computer out there was waiting for Obie to tell idt otwo ns,huthtat new masters
were taking over.
But the new masters were three very scared primitives and an equally csocmarpeudter, the primitives trapped by the former employees of one of them.guTahreds, seeing the change in position and realizing that the sponge supply shwipould not be coming, knew they were going to die horribly.
But they were going to die free. They were going to take their hatedwimthasttheerm.

"Obie?" Yulin called.
"Yes, Ben?"
"Obie, can you figure out how the hell we can get out of here?"
The computer had anticipated that one.
"Well, you could just wait them out," Obie suggested. "There are provhiesrioenfsor a week, and I can create more than enough to sustain you. In twhreeeeks or so all the guards will be dead; in two they will
be in no condition
otoppose you or do you harm."
"No good!" Trelig shouted to them all. "There are two ships up themreusthabte placed under our control-otherwise we're trapped. Remember, there arelota of agents and diplomatic people who won't
be affected by the sponge wearionfgf! With the guards gone wild, some are probably armed by now and might be ableto take the ships. If they jump away, we're stuck for good!"
"Correction," Obie responded. "There is one ship. Mavra Chang, Nikki Zaindera, Renard got off in one."
guard named
Gil Zinder seemed to come to life again. "Nikki! Away from here! Otbhieey-dimdake it out? Are they back home?"
"Sorry, Dr. Zinder," the computer said sadly. "The early start for thfeorcteesdts my hand. They were taken in the vortex with us, and have since crashethde oWn ell World."
The old scientist's look of hope gave way to despair, and he seecmruemd btloe. Trelig was upset by a different point entirely.

"What do you mean, forced your hand?" the erstwhile master of New Psonmarpledii angrily. "You treasonous machine!"
Obie was nonplussed. "I am a self-aware individual, Councillor. I do mwuhsatt dIo, and yet I have
certain freedom of action outside those parameters.
lJiukset people," he added, not a little smugly.
Ben Yulin's mind was the engineer's. "What did you call that worlcdratshheeyd on, Obie?" he asked, ignoring the others.
"The Well World," responded the computer. "That is its name."
Yulin thought for a moment. "The Well World," he murmured, almost to hNimowselfh. e looked straight at the speaker. More shots were being exchanged betwTreeelnig and the guards outside.
"Obie?" Ben almost whispered, "tell me about this Well World. Is ibt igjusMt arkovian computer, or what?"
"I have to interpolate, Ben," Obie apologized. "After all, I'm gettinignfothrmisation in bits and pieces and it's all coming in at once. No, I don't stoh,intkhough. The computer-the Well-is the entire core of the planet. The planeitself seems to be divided into many more than a thousand separate and distinct biospheres, each with its own dominant life form and supporting its ownfauflnoar,a,atmospheric
conditions, and the like. It's like a massive numbleirttloef planets. I infer these as prototype colonies for later implantation intothe universe in their true, mathematically precise environments. They are thaleiyve,
are active, they exist."
The other two were listening now, fascinated in spite of themselves.
"The three who crashed," Gil Zinder tried dryly. "Did they-did thseuyrvi.v. e.?"
"Unknown," Obie replied truthfully. "Since they are not part of theWWoreldll matrix, they are not in the computer's storage. Even if they were, I diofubthtey could be picked out. There are too many sentient beings down there."

"Why don't you ask him something practical, like how the hell we geht eoreu?t"oTf relig snapped breaking the reverie. "The fact that there's only onelesfhtipmakes the matter even more pressing!"
Yulin nodded, unhappy to break this fascinatin new line of discoveurynablet
to argue with Trelig
practicality. But the computer was a hosaticlceomplice; questions would have to be in absolutes. Yuli. suddenly felt like hkenew what it was like to have to strike a bargain with the devil.
And then, suddenly, without Obie's aid, he had it. Yulin let out a diesxgculsatmedation that made the others turn, then slammed his right fist into hispallemft. "Curse me for a fool!" he swore. "Of course!" Calming himself down, haesked, "Obie, is your little disk still operable?"
"Yes, Ben," Obie replied. "But only witnin its previous limits. The bisg ldoicsked into the Well computer until I or somebody can figure out hodwisetnogage it, and I have no ideas at all on that right now."
Yulin nodded, more to himself than to the machine. "Okay. Okay. Thoeneli'sttleall I need now. Obie, you have the formula for sponge, don't you?"
"Of course," came the reply, a little startled. "From the bloodstreamnumofbear of early subjects."
"Uh, huh," Yulin muttered. He was all business now. "Activate and enerwgaiznet. aI small quantity of sponge, say five grams, in a leakproof placsotinctainer. The straight stuff. And, I want an additional kilogram of the stufwf ith the following chemical substitutions." He proceeded to rattle off achelomnigcal chain that startled the others.
Zinder was the first to realize where Yulin was headed, and almost m"oBaunte-ydo, u can't do that!"
But Yulin could, had ordered it, energized Obie, and the disk was eveswn ingoiwng out over the circular platform, and the blue field was forming.

"What the hell are you going to do?" Trelig shouted.
"He's going to poison the poor bastards," Gil Zinder replied. He lookedYuulipn.a"t But-why? With sponge they'll be back under your command again anyway."
Ben Yulin shook his head. "Maybe upstairs-maybe. But not these folkthseroeu. t They are already resigned to death and they're committed." He turneTdretolig. "Keep a watch on old doc here while 1 get the stuff," he called.
In a flash Yulin was off, bounding down the stairs to the plCataforerfmul.ly, he examined the two packages, found some gloves, and picked up boofththem. He still didn't quite trust Obie. And then he was back.
"Have we still got communication?" he asked the councillor.
Trelig nodded. "I think so, unless they've shot out the circuits. Try it."
Yulin went over to the wall, flipped a switch. "You, out there!" hehecaarlilnegd, his own voice echoing eerily from the vast pit beyond the wall. "Ltiostemn e! We have sponge! Things aren't hopeless! We'll give it to you if ysouurrender your weapons!" He flipped the intercom back to Open.
There was a sudden silence from the outside, as if the news had unsetottlhederst,hewhich was good, There was no reply as yet, but no shots, either.
After what seemed like an interminable wait, Trelig growled, "They didnit't."buy
Yulin, although fearing much the same thing himself, replied, "Don't jumgpunt.heThey're probably
voting on it. And thinking about the pain of no-dostheefofirrst time. Even though they won't really start to feel the effects forwahile, they feel it in their minds even now."
And he was right. A few minutes later the intercom burst into life.

"Okay, Yulin, maybe you get out," came a rather pleasant voice withuanpvleearsyant undertone. "But how do we know you aren't lying? We know how smpouncghe comes in. Every gram."
"We can make it! All you need!" Yulin responded, trying to keep his atnednsaionnxiety out of his
tone. "Look, I'll prove it to you. Send a representoavtievre the bridge. Any one. I'll toss out a fiver. Try it. You'll know what I siasythe truth."
There was another long silence, and then the same voice came bacrki,gh"tA. lIl'm coming over. But if I don't make it or the stuff's no good, the soixthewrill get you if it's the last thing they do-and there's plenty more of uTsopside. They know what's going on down here."
Yulin grinned to himself. Another piece of useful information. The interocnomTsopside still worked Now he knew just how much of the story they would aknndowth,at intelligence would possibly make the difference.
A few minutes later a lone figure could be seen walking across thberidggre tthat spanned the pit to Obie's major core. It was a tiny, frail-lookfigugre, dwarfed almost to insignificance by the magnitude of the structurearound it. It was either a very young girl or one of the screwy sdeixdenr'ts. mItatter.
The former guard seemed to take forever to get there, and finally satboopuptedten meters from the doorway.
"I'm here!" she (he?) announced needlessly.
Yulin gripped the small bag of pure sponge. "Here it comes!" he shoutoedsseadndit onto the bridge. It hit with a pock sound and slid almost toothtehre's feet.
The guard picked it up, looked at it, then tore open the plastic andoupt utlhle tiny piece of yellow-green sponge, an actual living creature of soItrtsr.eally was a sponge, too, a denizen of a beautiful world that had beesnettled centuries ago by a prototype human colony. Interaction of alien bacteria with some of the synthetic elements in the colony's initial food suppslpyawhanded the horror
that made Antor Trelig and his vast syndicate so powTerhfuel.new mutated substance had permeated

every cell of the human's bodireesp, lacing vital substances. The cells took to it fantastically; once in, it was neither rejected nor displaced. Indeed, the cells actually started making omf othre stuff. The initial contamination was irreversible. A moderate amoucnatused no apparent physical changes, but was there all the same. A large amouanst, the guards had gotten, caused cells to trigger in strange ways, causing deformity, accenting opposite sexual characteristics, or, as in Nikki Zincdaesre',s causing runaway
obesity or other equally horrible characteristics.vaIrtied with the individual, although sexual characteristics, being the mosstensitive, were the most common.
The organism, however, was totally parasitic. It would consume thepahrotsict,ularly its brain, where brain cells died irreplaceably in a grperaotgression. Unchecked, the mutant substance would slowly destroy the mind weallhead of the body; it was painful. Since the stuff was not selectivem, eonftateln capacity was reduced or limited for all intents and purposes whiclentrhael core of one's being was the
last to go. One knew what was happenkinnge,w until it struck the cerebral cortex full and turned one first into ananimal, then into a vegetable that would simply lie there and starve to dseloawth-.mAotion
lobotomy.
Sponge was not the drug, it was the antidote. Not an effective one, hsaidncteo itbe periodically renewed, but the secretions of the native sponge pldaindtsin fact arrest the growth of the mutant strain.
To need sponge was to becomthee syndicate's slave. The stuff was too dangerous for the Com to keep around; the sponge itself contained the addicting material. But greedy, ambiptiooluitsicians had it, grew it,
and ruled with it.
Facing such a future, the guard greedily and unhesitantly gobbled usponthgee in the plastic envelope. It was not a sufficient dose-all of NPeowmpeii's personnel were deliberately given massive overdoses, which requiredmassive amounts of sponge to counter -but it would be convincing.
It was. "It's real!" the guard shouted, clearly amazed. "It's thestupffu!r"e
"A kilo in exchange for your weapons!" Trelig yelled, feeling in chargaegaoinnc.e"Now-or we wait you out!"
"The word has gone to Topside!" came a new, deeper voice from the in"tOerkcoaym, . we're coming over-four of us. The others will make sure you don'tusb.laYstou get their weapons when we get the kilo and you come out. Not before."
Trelig waited what he thought would be a convincing period of time, gerivninlliyngnow. Their ploy was all too obvious.

Three more joined the first one, looking somewhat eagerly at the vertyhadt,oojurst moments before, they'd been trying to blast.
"Okay, here's the kilo!" shouted the master of New Pompeii, as he heoauvte. d it
They almost pounced on it, and two of them made a simultaneous grabpafocrkatghe. One scooped it up and started running back to the other side, whiolethetrhethree nervously blocked Trelig's view.
"What if they don't take it right away?" Yulin whispered, worried.
"They will," Trelig replied confidently. "They're overdue, remember. Hpoowerful is that stuff?"
"It should feel great for five or six minutes," the younger man to"lAd fhteirm.that, well, they should just all get massive heart seizures and koeveel r."
Trelig looked suddenly worried. "Should? You mean there's some doubt?"
"No, no, not really," Yulin replied, shaking his head. "I didn't reallythmat.eaNno, what's in there is enough to kill an army. Give them ten minutems, onreo."
"Think they'll run for Topside?" Trelig continued, still worried. "Or monayebwe ill live long enough to radio a warning."
Yulin considered this. "No, I doubt if they'll wait to get to Topsidyeo.uYrsoeluf just said they're
overdue. As for one giving a warning, well, ifcaynoufind a personal intercom, we ought to be able to find out."
They waited anxiously. Trelig could not find the intercom; the one ohreighinaadlly worn was long

smashed in the reversal. "We'll just have to bluthfrfouitgh," he growled, uncertainty again in his voice. "Say-how will we knowthey're gone? You want to be the first target? Or maybe Doc, there?"
Yulin shook his head. "Not necessary. Obie's sensors are still on." He
owvaelkr etdo the console.
"Obie, are the guards still alive?"
"No, Ben," responded the computer. "At least, I register no life fotrhmeisr ionld area. They winked out pretty suddenly. You murdered them clean."
"Save your sarcasm," Yulin growled. "Did you monitor any transmissioTnospstoide?"
"I haven't much capability there," Obie noted. "I don't know."
Ben Yulin nodded, then turned to Trelig. "Well, we got by obstacltehsrooungeh six. Topside's gonna be a lot tougher, though. Any ideas?"
Trelig thought for a moment, eyes gleaming. The immediate threat over, hbegwinansing to enjoy this.
"Ask the machine if anyone Topside is aware of who escaped in tshheipf,"irsht e ordered.
"How could Obie know?" Yulin asked. "I mean, if he can't even mcoomnimtournications. Why? What have you got in mind?"
"To get to my position, you have to think of all the angles," the sbyonsdsictaoteld him. "For example, either ship was capable of carrying at least thealfguests, yet only Mavra Chang, Nikki Zinder, and the guard went. Why?"
Yulin thought a minute. "Because they sneaked out. Chang was paid to ggirelt, tnhoet save everybody

on Topside. The more people in a plot, the more cfhoarncae foul-up."
Trelig nodded. "Now you begin to see. There are a lot of them, abnadretlhyeyknow one another. I'd guess, too, that they have, at best, an unreealsaytionship with the guards. All hell broke loose not long after the ship lefWt. ant to bet some of them don't even know a ship is gone?"
"The guards-" Yulin objected.
"Will know only that the ship is gone," Trelig completed. "They alsothkant owwithout the codes the second ship would be blasted by the orbistienngtries. Hell, they won't remember who's who or how
many there are, you knotwhat. The girl's been more or less sealed off, and the guard-what's one guard? Could have been killed down here. Getting the idea now?"
"You mean impersonate the ones who got away?" Yulin gasped.
Trelig's expression looked impatient, impatient at this elementary step.
"Look," he said. "We need a way to gain their confidence. Take thgeumardo.ffWe need a way to get to those visitors as friends, convince them it'asgauisnst the guards, get their help in taking the ship. We must get that shiapway until they've died out here. We can't do it alone."
Yulin nodded. "I see," he said, but he didn't like it. He looked oveZrinadterG. iTl he older man was slumped, a vacant expression. He looked tired daenfdeated.
"What about him?" Ben Yulin asked, gesturing.
"He has to go with us," Trelig answered quickly. "He knows how to Oobpieer,ataend Obie will do anything for him. To leave him here would be like juminptoingthe pit out there."
Yulin nodded, his mind already considering several things, all unpleaFsoarnto. ne thing, he didn't like
the idea of going through the thing himSseelnf.ding others through, that was fine-a tremendous feeling of

godlike power. Buthimself-to become someone, something else. Trelig's plan worried him, wohrirmied as much as having to bring it about using his own special cirrecvueitarlyin, g to Zinder-and to Trelig-his own mastery of the machine.
He looked again at Trelig. The councillor had a curious half-smile foacne haisnd still held the pistol in his hand. He'd seen similar expressions onbhoisss when administering sponge to new victims and when ordering nastyexecutions.
"You want to go first?" he suggested hopefully.
That evil grin spread wider. "No, I don't think so," the syndicatreepblioesds acidly. "You can do it, then?"
Yulin nodded dully, still grasping at straws. He did not want to surrepnedremr atnoent second-class
Status.
"Then we'll do it this way," the big man continued. "First, you wiflilndtryoutot the identity of the
guard. If Obie can keep track of people, he shkonuolwd
who it was. Then one of us becomes the
guard-minus the sponge addictionm, ake sure of that!-and one becomes Nikki Zinder and the third becomes MavraChang. All preprogrammed in noninterruptable sequence, of course." He shrugged disarmingly. "It's not that I don't trust you, you understand. It's juysotuthgaett on top by doing the unthinkable and you stay on top by thinkingunththeinkable."
Yulin sighed, surrendering. The better part of valor and all thdaetc, idhed.
"Who do you want to be?" he asked.
"We have to think this through, and time's pressing," Trelig replied.ol"dThmean, there-well, we'll need some sort of mind-bind, of course. Make himowhins flesh and blood. Behavior patterns will also have
to be programmed in," hreminded the younger scientist. "We don't want any slip-ups. We will not just have to look like these people, but walk like them, talk like them, almoliskteththinekm, while remaining ourselves inside. The odds are the guard's one osfuptheervisors, and they're all sexual foul-ups. I'm hermaphroditic, so thatshouldn't pose a problem. That makes you Mavra Chang."

"I'd rather not be a woman," Yulin protested weakly.
"You won't mind when you've been through the disk," Trelig retorted.
l"eNt'sowg,et the instructions
letter-perfect, so everything's right and we ngoething funny added or subtracted by the machine. And- when you're doing iBt, en, you will show me how."
Yulin started to protest, then decided there was no point to it. He tutrhneedcoonnsole.
"Obie? Do you have the identity of the guard who escaped with Mavra Chheanags?k"ed.
"It was Renard," replied the computer. "I have no reading for him andnohte ledaivde Topside for here. A few died Topside, though, so a slight cheaxnisctes that it was not."
"It has to be," Trelig decided. "He was one of the girl's guards. Evefirtyst.hiIn'lgl take a chance on it."
Ben Yulin nodded. "I don't think it'd be a good idea .if the Doc, hereth, eknaocwcesss," he pointed out.
Trelig agreed, turned, and shot a short stun beam at the helpless Zindecro,llwaphsoed in a heap. "Five minutes," Trelig warned his associate. "No more."
Ben Yulin nodded, then turned back to the console. He didn't like doinhge wwhaast about to do, and
in front of the one man who could later use it ahgimain, sbt ut a double cross at this point had too many risks to be worth it.
"Obie?" he called.
"Yes, Ben?" the computer responded.

He punched some buttons on his keyboard, acutely aware of Antor Tsrteaidgy's gaze at the combinations.
"Unnumbered transaction," he told the machine. "File in aux storage undkeerymoynly."
"What?" The computer seemed slightly startled, then, as access tsoeatlheed-off sections became open to him, Obie realized what was going on.
"How many times have you used this, Ben?" Obie asked, marveling as alwthaeysdiasct overy of a part of himself he'd not known was there.
"Not often," Yulin responded casually. "Now, Obie, I want you tocalirsetfeunlly. You will carry out my instructions to the letter, neither adding snuobrtracting anything on your own. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Ben," Obie replied resignedly.
Yulin paused a moment to choose his words, conscious of the dangers inOgbiiveinagn opening, and also of Trelig's ready pistol. There were tiny beadsws eoaft on his forehead.
"Three transactions, in sequence, which must be completed beforeadadniytional instructions may be given you," he said cautiously. "One, Dr. GilgZaimnder, outward form to be that of the last coding of Nikki Zinder minus thseponge presence. Memory will remain Gil Zinder's, with all attendant knowledge and skills, but subject will be unable to transmit this fact or inforemxcaetipotn on instruction from Antor Trelig or myself. Otherwise, subject wpiollssess all behavior patterns of the frame of reference, including walk, emotivereactions, and speech, and all other characteristics to render suibnjdeicstinguishable from
the frame of reference. Subject will further be unabcleontvoey by any means the true identities of Antor
Trelig or myself. Clear?"
"I understand, Ben," Obie replied.
Yulin nodded, certain he had completed that step correctly. "Two. SuAbnjetocrt
Trelig. Subject is to
be physically fitted to the last coding of the gRueanradrd, minus the sponge addiction. Subject will be

provided with all behaviomr odes of the frame of reference, including walk, emotive reactions, speech, and all other characteristics to render subject indistinguishable from the framreeferoefnce. However, memory will remain Antor Trelig's, with all attendkannotwledge and skills, able to call upon his true self at any point." Yulisnuddenly looked around at Trelig and asked, "All right so far?" Trelig nodded cautiously.
"Three," Yulin continued. "Subject Abu Ben Yulin. Subject is to bephfiyttseicdally to the last coding of Mavra Chang. Subject will be provided withbeahllavior modes of the frame of reference, including walk, emotive reactionss, peech, and all other characteristics to render subject indistinguishable tfhreom frame of reference. However, memory will remain Abu Ben Yulin's, waittenadllant knowledge and
skills, able to call upon his true self at any Cpoleianrt?. "
"Yes, Ben," Obie responded. "Clear and locked in."
Yulin, still nervous about undergoing the process himself, added, "And, fOorbiael,l three transactions, subjects are to be acclimated so that they pfheyesliologically and psychologically comfortable with the new bodies and externablehavior patterns. Understand?"
"Yes, Ben.I understand youdon't like tobe a woman," Obie respondeadcidly. Yulin scowled but let the remark go. He turned to Trelig. "Okay, tthaekedoc down," he said.
"First, tell the machine that the transactions are locked in," Trerseploignded softly. Yulin grinned sheepishly and shrugged. There was no dowubhtatsoever as to how Antor Trelig had attained and kept his position of power.
"Lock on all transactions now," he told Obie. "Locked and running,"reOspboineded. "Go ahead with the run."
Satisfied now that Yulin could do nothing to override the instrucTtiroenlisg, took Gil Zinder downstairs.
gestured with the pistol and
The transformation didn't take long. Yulin watched as first Gil Zdiinsdsoelrved in blue sparkles and reformed as an absolute duplicate of NiZkkinider. The older scientist could do nothing, and so stood and watched as Trelingervously mounted the disk, and threw his pistol hesitantly to Ben Yulin. Yulin thought, as Trelig dissolved and a few seconds later started reforming gausartdh,e how easy it would be

to shoot Trelig. Zinder seemed to catch the youmngaenr's thoughts, and said, in Nikki's adolescent tones, "No, Ben! You can't! Hteh'se only one who knows how to get us off the planet!"
Yulin sighed, realizing the truth of that statement and acceptginrugdgitingly. He had to assume that the robot sentinels had also been transporteodr, else the nonspongies Topside would have taken off in the ship by now.
Yulin almost chuckled at Trelig's new appearance. Male sex organs on faemvaelrey-looking body. Trelig stepped off, nodded in satisfaction, and tookpitshtoel from Yulin's hand. Ben had the
uncomfortable idea suddenly that there wnaosthing to stop Trelig from shooting him, but he was helpless. Nervous both fromanticipation of the process and from the sudden eerie feeling of impednedaitnhg, he
stepped up on the disk, watched the little arm swing out over hifmel,t a wd arm, tingling glow course through his body. The lab, the watchesrese,med to flicker out, then flicker back in again. He knew that there hadprobably been several seconds between the flickers, but the sensation wuasnpnleoatsant.
The two watchers waited as an exact duplicate of Mavra Chang materwialhiezreed Ben Yulin had been. The new, tiny figure looked at Trelig's pisltiottllea anxiously, then saw that it was held casually, sighed, and stepped oftfhe platform, which seemed much higher than it had getting on.
"Incredible!" Trelig breathed. "You even move like her-feminine, catallimkeo,st."
Yulin nodded. "Now let's go see about those guards," he suggested in Mricahv,rae'sxotic and slightly accented voice.
The guards had died in a brief moment of extreme agony, that much wfaros mcletahre expressions on their faces.
"Remember not to touch them or that packet!" Yulin cautioned. Trelig naosddheed gingerly reached out, took a pistol by the barrel from the holster oefxaomnein, ed it, wiped it off on the clothing of another, and handed it to Yulwinh, o just nodded. Next they found the portacom, with its working linkage toTopside. It was on Standby and there was nothing but a hiss coming through it.

Yulin looked at Trelig. "Ready?" he asked.
The councillor, who now looked like one of his guards, nodded and piucpk,edswiittched it to
Receive.
There was still nothing for a minute or two, then a small voice came at them.
"Underside! Come in! What's happening down there?" came a tinny, nasalthvaoticbeelonged to one
of the guards. Trelig sighed, and said softly to Y"uWlienl,l, may as well find out now if the bluff works." Punching the Send buttonh,e said: "This is Renard. I was bringing the prisoners Mavra Chang and Nikki Zinder down for Trelig when all this chaos broke out. They got them-all obfutthtehme ,cost was heavy.
Me and my prisoners are the only ones left downahnedret,he old scientist also got it. They lied about the sponge."
There was silence for quite some time, and for a moment Trelig thoughhatdnth'teybought the story,
but then the Topside voice came back with a tiredeafenadted tone. "All right, then. But if Chang and the girl are down there, wthoook off in that ship? Marta said-"
Trelig thought fast. "There were some New Harmony crew on that rethminegm, ber. I guess they panicked and ran out on the boss."
There was no other logical explanation, so they accepted it.
"Okay," came the reply. "Come on up and bring your prisoners with yhoauv. eWtoe
get together and
think this out." That wasn't said with any enthusiawsimth;out sponge, they knew what was about to happen.
"Acknowledge and out," Trelig said, and switched to Standby. "I guescsalltshisfor some cheering," he said to his partner.
Yulin still looked concerned. "This is only the start of it," he reminodtehdert.he"We still have to get up there and somehow take over that ship." He hsaudddaen thought. "Is there enough food and water on

that ship for a long stay?"
Trelig nodded. "Oh, yes. We'll probably kill some time taking a close tlhoaotkwaetird planet out there. When the spongies are gone, we can make a deradl iobywith the surviving representatives."
And then what? Yulin wondered, considering their luck so far.
"Let's make sure Obie's safe from prying while we're away," Trelig suggaensdtedth,ey returned to the internal control room.
Yulin punched the codes. "Obie?"
"Yes, Ben?"
"First off, as soon as we are in the car to Topside you wiltlrafnilseacatilol ns under my personal key. Understand?"
"Yes, Ben."
Trelig thought a moment. "Then how will we get back in? He'll only reucsogansizeRenard and Mavra Chang. And if Chang's survived, that will open Obhiertoif she manages to get back here. We don't know if they might not have sosmoert of spacecraft on that world out there."
Yulin thought a minute, realizing that Trelig had seen a nasty trap. Thweeroeddasgainst Chang
surviving-he didn't worry about Nikki Zinder or Renardsptohnege would kill them anyway-but they had come so far now on long shots ttheat breaks would have to go the other way once in a while.
"How about a code word or sequence?" he suggested to the syndicate"Tbhoesns.one of us would have to be here, no matter what form."

Trelig nodded. He didn't bother to ask why not both of them; he woliukled tnoothave to need Yulin in a pinch, and they weren't out of the wood"sByuett.what code?" he asked.
Yulin smiled. "I think I know one. But what about Zinder? We dona'nt ywonanet else to know."
Trelig nodded, then set the pistol again for short stun. He lookedduaptlitchaete of Nikki Zinder, who responded, pleadingly, "Not again!" Trelig fireadn,d the girl who was something else collapsed in a heap.
"The same five minutes," Antor Trelig cautioned. "Get moving!"
Yulin nodded, then turned back to the board. Both he and Gil Zinder hfaadirlbyeetanll men, and the control boards were set for that. Now he was a smmuacllher individual, and had to almost lean over on the control board from thcehair to reach some of the controls.
"Obie?"
"Yes, Ben?"
"This is on open-file storage, not keyed," he told the computer. "At thteimseamase you file the
previous transactions, you will energize into the Defmenodde. All systems will be locked and frozen, and
you will kill anyone attemptintog
gain entry to this area from the point of the center of the bridge. Can
you hear audibles from the center of the bridge?"
Obie considered a second. "Yes, Ben. You might have to yell."
Yulin accepted this. "All right, then, you will remain in Defendsomunetiolne comes to the center of the bridge with his arms raised high overhheaisd, palms out. I will shoot a small mark on the bridge as we leave. At thatmark, this individual must say, 'There is no god but Allah, and Mohammepdroipshheits.'
Got that?"

Trelig chuckled. "Old habits are hard to break, eh?" But it pleased hitmo-eraesmyember, but nobody was ever likely to say that one and includeaptphreopriate gestures, unless they knew.
"I understand, Ben."
He switched off, and they waited for Zinder to come around. It took abmoiuntutesisx, these things
varying with the individual. Zinder was tinglingt,hoasugh his whole body were asleep, but the effect wore off quickly enough.
"Let's go," Yulin said, and they walked out across the bridge. About haYlfuwlinay,set his pistol to Full and shot at the restraining wall over the pwita. sIta hard, tough material, but the shot gouged a nasty scar that was visible,yet would be mistaken by others as perhaps a remainder of the gun battle.
They walked on, got into the car, and settled back. Trelig pressed ththeestduodo, r closed, and the car started Topside.
Inside Obie, as this happened, circuits opened and closed, energy dancedO,baiendwent into the defense mode, but he could not remember how to break idt isTtuhrabted him. The last thing he remembered was Yulin at the control panel tahned guards dying of the poisoned sponge.
It was an impossible mystery. He returned quickly to his primary trjyoibngofto disengage himself from the great Well World computer, or, failtihnagt, to create some sort of partnership with it.
It would be long, tough work.
TELIAGIN, SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, THE WELL WORLD

Mavra Chang had been dozing in spite of her-self. When tension wearsprodfu, ciets a kind of
worn-out lethargy that is almost impossible to shaSkued.denly, however, she came awake with a start and looked around, bleary-eyedS.he understood what had happened and cursed herself for it, but she was mostlyconcerned now with what had brought her to consciousness.
Nikki and Renard were still asleep, sprawled out on the grass, and aptpoeabreedthe better for it. Nervously, she looked around, eyes, ears, nostsreaining for the disturbance.
There was a warm breeze blowing fleecy white clouds across a blue skshye, acnoduld hear the rustle of treetops in the wind and the chatter of strbainrdgse and insects. Out across the meadow, came the
distant sounds of animals
ginreat agitation. She knew the signs; something was coming, something that
the ordinary dwellers of the forest considered a danger or an intruder or bottuhr.neSdheto the sleeping pair, shook Renard gently. At first he didn't stir, aths esnh, e shook him harder, he moaned and said, "Huh? What?"
"Wake up!" she hissed. "Company coming!"
They both woke Nikki, an even harder task than with Renard, and Mavra athbougt hwt hat to do.
"We have to get away from here," she told them. "Now! I'd like to seewhwaht owoe'rre facing before they find us."
They stood up and followed her back into the woods a ways.
"If anybody knows what the module out there is, they'll be looking
sfohre utos,l"d them. "Still, I want
to see what we're up against. Stay here andhsidtadyen in the undergrowth. I'm going to sneak back for a quick look."
"Be careful," Renard cautioned, needlessly but with real concern ivnoihceis.

She nodded, appreciating the concern, and crept back to the clearing. Whoorewvehratever was approaching was big-she could tell that. It was almost as girfouthned was trembling slightly, and the clatter among the wildlife was intense.
Cautiously she peered out from behind a bush and gave a short almost anything but what she saw coming toward her.
sguarspriosef. She had expected
It was huge-between three and four meters tall, with incredible shoulderbsulagnindg muscles. Its chest and arms were vaguely reddish in color, haunmd anoid-that is, a human muscleman. The face was huge and ugly: almost an ovawl,ith a broad, flat nose with flaring nostrils, and a mouth permanently set in anger, two long, sharp fangs protruding out of the corners. The ears weraendlarlogoeked vaguely like great seashells, although they came to a point attopth. eA mane of dark blue-black hair sat atop the head, coming to a point betwetewno nasty-looking, sharp horns nearly a meter long.
But it was the eye that commanded attention. It looked like onheuhmuagnelike eye right above the
nose and dead center below the forehead. A cllooekr showed it to be segmented in some way, as if the eye were actually caollection of eyes with one great lid.
From the waist down the creature was covered in thick, wooly rust-retdhehagirre,at muscled legs ending in elephantine hoofs. It wore a single garmednitr,tya white wool brief around the crotch that did little to disguise the maslex organ that was proportionate to the figure's great size. It seemed to growl and grumble as it approached steadily, fearing nothing and looking as fiearncye wasild thing Mavra had
ever seen.
It stopped, seemed to sniff the air, looking first one way and tohtehnert.heShe worried that it might catch her scent, and found herself almuonsct onsciously pressing back, crouched and wound up like a coiled spring,although she wondered if anyone could outrun such a monster.
And then she saw the strange thing. The creature had a band made of sof esksinortwrapped around its left arm; attached to it had to be what it appemaaressdi-vae wind-up type wrist watch.
For the first time Mavra realized she was seeing one of the dominant trhaicsesstroafnge place.
The wind shifted slightly, and the creature seemed to lose the scentbeiet nhatrdying to localize. It turned its attention back to the passenger modFuoler. a moment it just stood there, looking the thing

over as if wondering what dto, then it approached, not cautiously but with great confidence. Clearly this thing had nothing to fear in its own land.
The creature was almost as tall as the module, and it looked the alieonvetrhicnrgitically, as if puzzled
by it. Then it seemed to spy the open hatchtrieadndto pull itself up to it. This proved a failure, and after several triesthe thing gave a massive roar of rage and hit its right fist into its ilnefat pvaelrmy human
gesture of frustration.
Just then a second cyclops came into view and roared to the first osnoeu.nTdsheseemed brutish and
animalistic to Mavra, but she knew it must be watches.
fsormme of speech. Animals don't use or need wrist
The newcomer approached, and off in the distance Mavra thought she hearordarstheof several more. They had obviously not landed in a densely-populareeda-luckily!-but investigators were now steadily arriving, along with thceurious, on the scene.
The second one came up to the first and started spewing a whole ssenraierlss oafnd grunts, with appropriate gestures. The first, slightly taller abnrdoader, responded in kind, pointing to the module, the open hatch, and makinagll sorts of circles with his hands.
After a while a third one appeared, and a fourth, and a fifth. Twnoewofcotmheers were females,
Mavra noted. They were almost a meter shorter thanmathlees, making them only three meters tall, and, unlike the males, they didns'etem as muscular-perhaps capable of uprooting medium-sized trees, but not of tearing sheet metal like paper. They also seemed a bit bowlegged, squattehra,dansmd all, rock-firm breasts. They had no horns, either, but they sharedmathlee's permanently nasty expressions and seemed
to have fangs that were a lobnitger than their brothers'. There may have been a half-octave difference in their speech, but considering the grunts, groans, growls, and yowls these mthaidneg,s nobody but they
would ever know.
One of the females was also wearing a watch, and two of the newcomersa, nad ma aflemale,
seemed to be wearing some jewelry-made of bones, Mnaovtread-dangling from their ears and around their necks. Perhaps insignia of raonrk tribe, she guessed.
The first male roared so loudly it panicked birds for a quarter-kiloamroeutnedr ; he gestured to the others. They first tried to boost him up on ttohpe omf odule, but the surface was too slippery for him.

Then they took anothetrack. They went around to the other side and started pushing, the big one counting cadence of sorts. The module rocked, rocked again, and, on thteryt,hirrodlled over on its side. One of the females picked up a rock almosizetheof Mavra Chang and wedged it under the module while the others heldstietady.
The big one then went back around and roared approval. The open hatch waatsabnouwt his eye
level, and he peered in, curiously. A massive arm reachedweonutt,into the hole, and there was a terrible crunching noise. The hand came oculatsping a seat, ripped from its solid connections to the floor, and he looked at it. One of the females pointed a clawed finger at the seatrest, oatnhdersthenodded. One of
the other males stooped down a little and held hisjuhsatndabove his knee. Mavra could guess the conversation. They were estimatintghe size of the creatures who had ridden it in.
That did it, she decided, and slowly slunk back into the woods. gNeottinugsecaught by a wind
change. Those folks were obviously bright evepnriimf itive, and the assembly of giants was becoming a convention rather quicklyS. he didn't want any introductions until she knew what those giants would eat.
Nikki spotted her first. "Over here!" she called, and Mavra ran to them.
"Mavra! Thank god!" Renard exclaimed with real feeling, and hugged herh. e"aWrdeall that roaring and growling and we didn't know what had happened!"
Quickly she told them about the cyclops. They listened in growing awteerroanr.d
"We'll have to get away from here pretty quickly," she explained. a"lTrehaedyy know we're around."
The other two nodded. "But-which way?" Nikki asked. "We could be going otonwe aordf their cities or something and never know it."
Mavra thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. We know the whole wolrilkde isthni'ts-we even saw
some of the nearby places before the visuals wentTohuert.e's an ocean and some mountains to the east of here, definitely not thesfoelks' kind of turf. We saw such terrain on the way in, remember?"
"But which way's east?" Renard asked her.

"The planet's rotation was basically west-to-east," Mavra reminded him. "mTehaants the sun rises in
the east and sets in the west. I'd say it's gettingtocleovsening now, so that places the sun over there, and east is this way." Sphoeinted, and said, "Let's go."
They had no choice. They followed her into the woods. Behind thermoa,ritnhge and bellowing continued.
"We should stick to the woods as long as possible," she told them waesnt.he"yIt'll be harder for those big babies to follow or track us."
They agreed with that and proceeded on for some time, saying littleantootohnere because there
seemed to be nothing to say. Nikki, because of her hbaudlkt,he toughest problem, but she was bearing up well, all things considereSdh. e had only one complaint.
"I'm starving," she moaned during every one of their frequent rest periods.
Renard was getting a little hungry himself. The sun was getting loswha,dtohwe s deepening into dusk. "Maybe I could stun one of those little animalkseewpe seeing," he suggested. "A short burst with the pistol, that's all."
Mavra thought it over. "All right. Try it. But-make sure you see somanetdhinmgake sure you're on stun. We don't want to set any forest fires here."
Almost as if cued by the conversation, one of the critters they'tdalkbienegn about rustled around in the underbrush. It was large-almost a meltoerng- but low, with a thin snout, some bushy whiskers, and beady little rodent'seyes.
Renard calculated from the noise where it would come out into a cleaanrdspseott and aimed his pistol. The thing seemed oblivious to the risk,fiannadlly appeared where it was supposed to. Renard pressed the trigger stud.

Nothing happened.
The little creature turned to them, chattered what might have been ananindsuslct,urried off into the
"What the hell?" Renard exclaimed, befuddled. He looked at the pistol, tiat,pploeodked at the charge meter. "No charge!" he said, amazed. "It shouldthrbeee-quarters full!" He started to throw the pistol away, but Mavra reached oaunt d took his arm, stopping him.
"Keep it," she told him. "Remember, our ship didn't work here either. nMoaymbaechines will. The pistol might be useful later, when we get to the sea.ifEivt einsn't, nobody else will know it's empty. It might prove useful as baluff."
Renard wasn't so sure, but he wasn't about to question the woman nobwol.steHred it.
"Looks like we go to bed hungry," he said. "Sorry, Nikki."
The girl sighed, but could say nothing.
"I'll find us some food tomorrow, I promise," Mavra found herself sayinsgh,e ahnadlf-believed it.
She'd been in hopeless and impossible situations mtaimnyes, and every time something had happened to straighten things out. She wassuarvivor. Nothing lethal ever happened to her.
"We'll stay the night right here," she told them. "We can't risk a If'ilrle,tabkuet first watch. When I
can't take it anymore, I'll wake you, Renard. Tyhoeun do the same with Nikki."
The other two both protested, but Mavra was in charge and she was wfiormn't. f"aIll asleep this time," she promised.
They settled down as best they could. Only Mavra was dressed for thisthsionrgt. oNfikki, who had had only the filmy noncovering standard to New Pompeiisoamnde sandals, had discarded the sandals

long before, as had Renard. They haalsdo abandoned wearing the covering, is it caught on the branches and bushes.Mavra had buried the sandals rather than leave a trail, but she had madcaerrtyhetmheir
clothing as some sort of protection against the dampness ogfrotuhned.
With the two as settled as possible, Mavra removed her devices frocmomtphaertment in her boot and checked each out. Without the power pack they dhidenlp't much, and the power pack, as expected, didn't work. She abandoned thperoject.
Darkness descended like a blanket, and her eyes went to infrared.
Nikki was sound asleep almost instantly, but she could hear Renard twtiustrna, nadnd finally sit up.
"What's the problem?" she whispered. "Too much for one day?"
He came over to her, carefully. She was almost invisible in hecrlodthairnkg.
"No, it's not that," he whispered back. "I was just thinking, and feleitltilneg. Iat's starting to get to me."
"The situation?"
"The sponge," he responded flatly. "I'm in a great deal of painowrig-iht'ts like a yearning agony that courses through your whole body."
"All the time?" she asked, concerned.
He shook his head. "It comes in waves. This one's pretty bad. I don't itk'snogwettiinf g to Nikki yet, but if it doesn't it will." He paused for a motmheennt,let the words come, those words that were unarguable and inevitable.

"We're dying, Mavra," he said flatly.
She accepted the statement, but not its finality. Sponge was an abthsitnragctto her, and she'd almost forgotten about their problem.
"What's it do, Renard?" she asked him. "And how long does it take to do it?"
He sighed. "Well, brain cells are the first to go. Each time one loitftletheastetacks comes on-and each
one gets worse-you lose some of your bcoedlyls, and some of your brain cells. It's kind of a slowdown
rather than adeath. I've seen it hi others. You still have all your memory, but you lebsescoamnde
less
able to use it. Thought processes, reasoning, all become hanrdderharder to do. The barely possible today becomes the impossible tomorrowL.ike getting dumber and dumber as time goes on. How long the process takesvaries with the individual, but, well, the rough rule is that you lpoesrecetnetn of your
capacity per day, and that can never be reclaimed, even
gifetyomuore sponge later-which isn't likely. I
was always a pretty smart fellowu-sIed to teach, you know-but I can already tell that something is happening. I'mten percent dumber than yesterday, but that doesn't really mean much sitfaryt ou reasonably high. But if you have an IQ of around 150, well, figuretimouet."the
Mavra did. If Renard had been a 150 capacity yesterday, he was a 135Oktoayd,ayn.ot really
noticeable. But that meant 122 tomorrow, 110 the day
paufttetirn, g him at about average ability. Then
the deterioration really startedth, ough. 110 would become 99, and 99 would be 89. That was
slow-what was thatf,our more days? Then 80 in five, 72 in six-a low-grade moron. 65 in aabowuteek, the mental and motor levels of a three-year-old child. After that- paenrhaapustomaton, or some sort of animalistic type, since memory would stillthbeere, it was ability that was being attacked.
"Nikki?" she wondered.
"Less time, I'm sure. Maybe a day or two less to the critical point,"reRspenoanrdded.
Mavra thought for a moment. A week, no more, maybe less. She wonderedwwashaltikiet, living with the knowledge of an inevitable, creeping death senteDnicde. Renard really believe such a thing
could happen to him? No one cocuoldnceive realistically of their own death, she once read. But as the process continued, and you knew it continued, the frustration and fear would mount.

She reached over, gently took his arm. He moved next to her. Suddenlhye,r wliigthtning speed, she pricked his arm with some of the hypnotic fluidinajencdted a full load. He started hi surprise, then seemed to go limp.
"Renard, listen to me," she commanded.
"Yes, Mavra," he responded, sounding something like a little child.
"Now, you will trust me completely. You will believe in me and my caobmiliptileestely, and do what I say without question," she told him. "You willstfreoenl g and good and well, and you will not feel any pain, longing, ache, oargony from the sponge. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Mavra," he repeated dully.
"Furthermore, you will not think of the sponge. You will not think
gyouingareto die, or fall apart.
The thoughts just will not enter your mind. Wyhoeun wake up each morning, you will not notice yourself as being any differentht an you have ever been, nor will you notice any difference in Nikki. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mavra," he agreed.
"Okay, then. Now you will go over to your place and lie down and gegt oaodre, adlleyep, dreamless sleep, and wake up feeling wonderful with no memorthyisofconversation, but you will do as I have told you. Now-go!"
He broke free from her and went back over to where his clothing wasoustp, rleaayd down, and in seconds was sound asleep.
The suggestion wouldn't last, of course. She knew that. She would hraevnewtoit every once in a while, and now she'd have to try the same thinNgikokni, also putting thoughts of her consuming hunger out of her mind.

But it would only make her problem easier, not theirs. They would contdinetueeriotorate, to disintegrate, until she would no longer be able to control otrheinmfluence them.
Six days maximum to that point.
Emotion welled up in her. Somewhere, someone on this crazy world knew hheolwp tthoem, could help them, would help them. She had to believe that. Had to.
Six days.
She moved silently over to Nikki Zinder.
SOUTH POLAR ZONE, THE WELL WORLD
It looked like any major businessmaonf'sfice. There were maps, charts, anddiagrams all over the walls, some strange-looking furniture, and a massUiv-eshaped desk that concealed large numbers of controls and also containewd riting implements, communications devices, and the like. There was even a pistol of a strange sort in the upper left-hand desk drawer.
But the creature who sat behind that great desk, looking at a series ospf remaadpsout before him, was not a human being in any sense of the word, althheoudgehfinitely was strictly business.
He had a chocolate-brown human torso, incredibly broad and ribbed so thchatestthemuscles seemed to form squarish plates. A head, oval-shaped, was equbarlolwy n and hairless except for a huge white walrus mustache under a broad, fnlaotse. Six arms, arranged in threes, were spaced evenly in pairs

down that torsoand attached, except for the top pair, on ball sockets like those ofBaelocwrabt.hat strange torso it all melted into an enormous brown-and-yellow stsreiprieeds of scales leading to a huge, coiled serpentine lower half. oIfutstretched, the snakelike body would easily cover over five meters.
The creature used his lower pair of arms to spread out what provedmtoapboef athe southern and eastern hemisphere of the Well World. It looked likoeddanassembly of perfectly equal hexagrams printed in black, with surprinting ahivariety of colors to show topography and water areas. While the lower armskept the map spread wide, the upper left arm ticked off various hexesbrwoaitdh paencil,
while the upper right hand jotted down notations on a pad dwififtehreant pencil.
The middle left hand punched an intercom to one side.
"Yes, sir?" a female voice asked politely.
"I'll need close-ups of hexes twelve, twenty-six, forty-four, sixty-eaignhdt,two hundred forty-nine," he told the secretary in a deep, rich bass vo"Aicles.o, kindly ask the Czillian ambassador to call on me as soon as possible." Hsewitched off without waiting for acknowledgment.
The creature studied the map again and tried to think. Nine sectionNs itnoet.al.Why did that strike a bell?
A buzzer sounded. He flipped a switch on a different intercom to hi"sSerriget.Ortega," he answered curtly.
"Ortega? Gol Miter, Shamozan," came a thin, reedy voice Ortega knewcomwiansg from a translator device.
"Yes, Gol? What is it?" He glanced quickly at his map. Oh, ytherse,et-hmeeter-diameter tarantulas. Memory is the first thing to go, he htiomldself sourly.
"We have a plot on the new satellite. It's definitely artificial; someshooftsthferom the North Zone telescopes have been fantastic. We did sosmpectroanalysis. The atmosphere is a pretty standard
Southern Hemisphere mixh, eavy on the nitrogen and oxygen, lots of water vapor. The pictures and our

stuff match up pretty good. The thing is divided hi half, with somephsyosrticaolf-not energy-bubble
over it about two or three kilometers fromsutrhfeace. That's why we can't get much surface detail. Too much distortion.Definitely green stuff all over, though, like somebody's garden, and somevraegaulely
stuff that could be buildings. As if somebody's got their ownprilvitatlte city-world there."
Serge Ortega thought a moment. "What about the other half?"
"Not much. Raw rock, mostly standard metamor-phic stuff. Probably thepaornt lyof the original natural object left. Except about halfway between equantodr south pole, where there's some kind of huge, shiny disk-shaped objecptractically built into the thing."
Ortega frowned. "Propulsion unit?"
"I doubt it," replied the giant spider. "This thing doesn't seem to havbeuilbteefonr travel. That bubble is supported by an atmospheric renewal unit fsourre. It undulates. Anything other than regular oribital movement would collapseit. There's a point near the edge on one side that has a lot of ernaedrigatyi,ng though, and a funny pattern not consistent with the rest. Couldaibrelocakn, maybe a small spaceport."
Ortega nodded, mostly to himself. "That fits. But how the hell didherite?g"et
"Well, that disk's aimed at the Equatorial Barrier no matter what poEsithioenr. the Well brought it here or they brought themselves instantly to Wtheell, or so our scientists say."
Ortega didn't like that. Anybody fooling with the Well was fooling wvitehrythneature of everybody's reality. This sort of thing was not supposehdaptopen, he told himself grumpily. Two of his stomachs were developing ulcersfrom it all, he could tell.
"It's my guess that they don't know what they've gotten themselves intson,"akteh-eman said. "Kind of
clear that they wound up here, saw the Well, decidcehdectko and lost power."
it out, flew too low over a nontech hex,
Suddenly he was bolt upright. Nine sections! Of course! He cursed haimlousedl,f and the giant spider came back from the intercom with "What was thdaitd?n'It catch it."

"Oh, nothing," he mumbled. "Just kicking myself for being an old manmwinhdoseis shot."
"Kicking yourself would be a good trick," the spider retorted lightly. "WWhhayt?have you got?"
"Back in the dawn of prehistory, when I was still a Type 41 back on mtuyrf,hIomuseed to fly spaceships," Ortega told him. "For a living, that is. uTsheedy to have a fail-safe mechanism against complete power failure iantmosphere."
"That's right!" Gol Miter exclaimed. "I forgot you were an Entryy. oHue'rlel, older than I am! You used to be a pirate, didn't you?"
Ortega sniffed. "I was an opportunist, sir! There are only three kipnedosploef hi the universe, no matter what their race or form. They are scoundhryelpso, crites, and sheep. With a choice like that, I proudly wear the badge oscfoundrel."
There was the translated sound of a chuckle. Ortega wondered what a cfhroumcklae really sounded like.
giant spider
"Okay," the spider replied, "so you were a pilot and they had fmaile-cshafaenisms. So?"
"Well, they used to break up on failure," Ortega told the other. "Brenaikneinsteoctions, so they could accommodate everybody and so the basic mechanicparle,ssure-activated parachute mechanisms would be able to support the weigNhti.ne, Gol!"
The spider considered this. "Just like our visitor, huh? Well, that fwit.ouSludre you got them all? Couldn't be any unreported pieces?"
"You know my spy network is the best on the Well World," retorted Ortepgraidew. it"hWant to know who your fourth wife is with right now?"

"All right! All right!" laughed Gol Miter. "So, rune it is. Coincidence?"
"Possibly," Ortega admitted, "but maybe not. If not, they are Type 41gso.t Ir'voeugh descriptions of three of the sections. Two are rather nondesccroipmt partments, hardly worth bothering about. One, however, has a roundendose-shape, like a bullet. If it is a Type 41 ship, that's the command module. That'll be where the pilot is-or was."
"Where did it come down?" the spider asked.
Ortega looked over his map, his deep-black eyes shining. His excitefamdeendt, however, when he saw the probable location.
"Looks like about twenty kilometers inside Teliagin. Fat lot of gooddoethsaut s. If those savages catch them, they'll eat them."
There was concern in the spider's voice. "Can't have that. They dont'ht emir aenmbassy, do they?"
"No," Ortega responded. "They only come in occasionally to trade tahinfegws. It's a nontech hex, so everything's a little limited. Mostly pastonraolmads. Shepherds. They eat the sheep-raw and in big bites, usually whilethey're still alive."
"Well, I'll check and see if anybody's home," Gol Miter said, "but iisfn'tth-werheat then? We have to
get our hands on at least one of those peSoeprlgee, ! It's the only way we're going to find out what the hell is going oanround here!"
Ortega agreed with him and looked again at his map. Teliagin was nEeqaur atthoerial Barrier, and so was his native Ulik, but it was too far awaaynyfboordy to get there in time. He looked at the nearby hexes, rejecting one, theannother. His eye strayed to one two hexes away, just to the south and east. Lata! That might be just the thing. But-it was still a long ways. The Laftlay, coofulcdourse, and
Kromm's atmosphere was sufficient, but how long woutladkeit? Two days, maybe? And then how long until they were found? The averaTgeliagin would be as likely to eat the Lata as help it, so asking for instructions was out.

Well, it was that or nothing.
"Look, Gol, you work on the contact end and keep those studiessaoteflltihtee coming in," he told the spider. "I'm going to try and mount some okfinrdescue party if I can. I hope we get there before the Teliagin do."
The six-armed snake-man broke the contact and flipped his interoinfftiecrecom again. "Jeddy? Anything from Czill as yet?"
"No, sir," responded the secretary. "The ambassador's not expected in17u0n0ti.l Remember, not everybody lives in his office."
The snake-man scowled. Of all the ambassadors here, he was the ontlryapopneed in South Zone. He could never leave it, never go home. It was the hperipcaeid. By all rights he should have died of old age almost two centuriesbefore. He did not, but that was because of a juicy bit of blackmail with the Magren, a hex where "magic" of a sort was possible, where the people wsloiguhldt whiays tap the
power of the Well World computer to defy certain laws. hTadheygiven him a youthful body, and it stayed that way, but there was a prMicea.gic did not hold outside the hex in which it was performed. The rules of thgeame changed 1560 times on the Well World-the number of hexes and racewsetrheere here. In some, the Well computer allowed full technological growstho.mIen, that technology was
limited-say, to steam. In others, like Teliagniont,hing worked. The powers, possibilities-even
atmospheric content changed witehach hex and was maintained stable by the Well computer that was the entireplanetary core.
In South Zone almost everything worked. The youth spell, cast here, helsdh.ouBludt he ever leave,
even to see the sun and sky and stars, the spell wocualndcebled out, and he would instantly be subject to rapid aging.
"Call the Lata ambassador, Jeddy," he ordered.
There was a minute or two while the connection was made, the call raenfedrrtehde,n a high, pleasant, light female voice came on.

"Hoduri here. What can I do for you, Ambassador Ortega?"
"You know the situation?" the Ulik asked, and proceeded to fill in thoen oathllermatters to date, concluding, "You see? You're the only ones with a cartacthkem. It's dangerous and tough, but we need you desperately."
The Lata thought for a moment. "I'll see what I can do and call yGouivebamcke.
an hour or so."
"All right," Ortega told her, "but time is of the essence here. Andcaif fyinodu
one of your citizens
named Vistaru and include her in your plans,beit'lbl etter. She's an Entry from the spacial sector we believe these people comferom, and could probably translate. We've worked together before. Tell her it's me asking and tell her the whole situation."
"Yes, if we can find her," Ambassador Hoduri agreed. "Anything more?"
Ortega shook his head, although he knew the other couldn't see it. "Nhou, rroyn.lyLives depend on it- maybe ours, too, if we don't find out what's goinhgereo.n"
He switched off, and was barely back to his maps when the interzone inbtuezrczoedm again. It was the Czillian ambassador, in early.
"Hello? Vardia? Serge Ortega!" he boomed.
"Ortega!" the other responded, not exactly sounding as thrilled by Orvteogicae's as Ortega seemed with its. And it was an "it," too-the Czillians mwoebreile unisexual plants.
"You know what's going on?" Ortega asked.
"I've just been conferring on it," the plant creature replied. "Why? Gopilnagy else?"
tgoames with somebody

He shrugged off the minor nastiness. The plants duplicated, so it coounlde obfe several Vardias, but they all had their basic memories. One time, alognog, he'd done the original Vardia rather dirty, and Czillians don't forget.
"Bygones be bygones," he retorted. "This is bigger than petty plots.neWede'ltlhe Czillian Crisis
Center activated immediately at the Center. Yocoumr puters are the best on the Well World, and we'll
need somebody to coordinateA. stood to the Czillian.
lot of different hexes are involved here." He explained the situation as it
"And what are you doing about it now?" Vardia asked him.
"I've sent Lata in to try and rescue the pilot if he's still alaivney,boanddy else they can. If-and it's a big if-we can get one of them here awlivee'll know what's going on. But that's not your worry right now. Follow throughon the logic here and maybe you'll understand."
"I'm listening," Vardia replied, still doubtful.
"I've located all nine modules. They're all in the west, and dispersseodutihnwaesterly pattern, so I
have an idea of what's what. If 7 can do it, osothecrasn. Probably have. Vardia, one of them is the
engine module, intact! I'bllet on that! There's no way to build that in any hex on the Well World. The rest, though-that can be fabricated one place and another. Whoever reclaimpasrttsheof that ship,
particularly the engine module, might possibly maksepaaceship that'll fly. Launch it straight up, the right angle and pattern, anidt'll be free of the Well. If / thought of that angle, so have otthaelkrsi.ngI'mabout
war, Vardia! War! There are enough old pilots around heresomtheabt ody might be able to fly it!"
Vardia still sounded doubtful, but now it was more in the natureunowfillaingness to think what
Ortega was saying could be true. But-could tahfefyord to take the chance?
"War is impossible," the Czillian responded. "Triff Dhala demonstratedbythalot sing the Great War over eleven hundred years ago!"
"But that was for conquest," Ortega pointed out. "This would be for olibmjeictetidves. I'll bet five dozen rulers are reading Dhala's Theory of WWeallr-fare cover to cover right now. A spaceship,

Vardia! Think about it!"
"I don't want to," responded the Czillian. "But- I'll relay all thisCetontethr.e If the scholars and the computers agree with you, it will be done."
"That's all I ask," the Ulik told the other, and switched off. He stareadt
dthoewmn ap again, his eyes
fixed on Lata and Teliagin. How had they come inth?eTsoouthwest. Okay, that meant they flew over the Sea of Storms, then got wipoeudt over Kromm. Then there was breakup because of Kromm's limited techrestrictions, and they came down in Teliagin. They would have seen the sethaes and mountains before they were depowered. If the pilot knew what he was hdeo'dinkgn, ow that the mountains and sea would be east of him. He'd make fosrooitn aass he caught sight of those Teliagin monstrosities.
If they made Kromm, and didn't mind getting wet, they'd be okay. Hebehtadontothat pilot's experience.
"Get me the Latambassador again, will you, Jeddy?" he asked. "I know ohuet,'s but I'll talk to an assistant."
His eyes went back to that map.
The Lata had to be in time. They just had to.
THE LIFT CAR NEARING TOPSIDE, NEW POMPEII
"You're too tense," Antor Trelig told Ben Yulin. "Relax. Become Mavra CAhcatngli.ke her, react like her, think like her. Let her persona completely conytoruo.l I want no slip-ups here."

Yulin nodded and tried to relax. He tapped his fingernail on thseidceh-aloirng, sharp, hard nails, like
steel. He looked suddenly down. He
sfeolmt ething funny, odd, just then. He stared down at the chair
arm and saw thatthere was a tiny pool of liquid there. He dabbed a finger in it, puhtisit nuopset,oand sniffed it. Odorless. He touched a little bit to his tongue. Twhaesrea mild numbing sensation there. Now what the hell? he wondered.
Suddenly he was looking at all ten fingers in curiosity. Some kcianrdtilaogfe, just a little fatter than human hair. A tube that was rigid caonndtrolled by a tiny muscle. Poison? he wondered/.
He resolved to try it when he got the opportunity.
A warning light went on and the car started to slow.
"Okay, here we go," Trelig said lightly, and they braced for a stZoipn.deGrilcould do nothing, his personality forced into the back of his mind.wHase Nikki Zinder until one of the two in the car led him out; they were thgeuard Renard and Mavra Chang, and he had to act like it, really believehiatd. Obie taken the easiest path-he literally had made the old man his own dangdhtiesrolated the new
personality from reality.
The door opened and they walked out, out into the warm, fresh air ansdunblrigighht.t Everything was
slightly different now-there were shadows, the sun
awtaas
different distance and of a slightly different
color, which changedeverything, and there was that planet up there, filling a tenth of the sky.
They all gasped. Nothing had prepared them for the sight of the thingg,lislitkeneinag, silvery, multifaceted ball twinkling hi the sun; below a swcirllouodfs it was blue to the south, while the north seemed awash with reds anydellows. The plasma shield's distortions made it look ghostly.
"Oh, wow!" breathed Gil.
Trelig, ever practical, was the first to break the spell. "Come on!" h"eLest'asids.ee who's running this place."

Several guards ran out to greet them, and a serving girl or two.
"Renard! Thank god!" said one, and Trelig noted that he didn't knowrelwathioantships these people had. He did, however, know their names baancdkgrounds, and that helped.
"Destuin!" he responded, and hugged the little man. No, that's right, Dweastsuian woman, he thought angrily to himself.
He looked at them gravely. "Thanks for what?" he asked sourly. "Anothdearyfsi?v"e
That seemed to take their minds off any further comparisons,
"Where are the rest of the guests?" Ben asked.
"Around," one of the guards said. "We haven't bothered them much, and sthtaeyye'vde away from us.
It doesn't matter much. You're in the same fix we are.g"uaTrhde pointed toward the Well World. "See
that little black dot there againthset right."
planet? There, just below the split in the big one, and a little to the
Ben looked hard, and finally saw it-a tiny black pinhead, like a holbeigingertheworld. It was moving.
"That's a sentinel," the guard told her. "It'll blow the hell out of athnayt sthriieps to take off. Only Trelig knew the stop codes, and he's gone. So gyeot uto see us die, but four, maybe five weeks from now
you'll ran out of fooadn, d go, too. Or make a ran for it in the remaining ship and get blown up. Maybe that's what we all should do. Better than the other ways."
That was grim talk, and not the kind the newcomers wanted to hear.
"I'm an expert with these ships," Ben told them. "Let me go down anthderseeeisnif't something I can

do about it. What can it hurt?"
The guard shrugged. "Why not? Want somebody to go along?"
"Renard? How about you?" Ben prompted.
Trelig, however, was better than that. Too much danger right now. "Yaohueadg.o Take the girl with
you. It won't make much difference to us anywayc.omI'lel
down later and see how you're doing."
Yulin was disappointed; it had seemed so easy. But, there was littcloeutlhdatbe done. "Come on, Nikki," he said, and started walking. The fatfoglilrolwed meekly, but kept glancing back up at the glowing, strangelysurrealistic planet half-visible on the horizon.
That planet was on Yulin's mind, too. He knew that they'd never haveatseaelln ifit the big dish had
been directly opposite New Pompeii, but it
awnagsled, so two thirds of the big planet was visible.
There were few people about, and they made it to the spaceport area ifnifteaebnoumt inutes. The little spaceport terminal seemed deserted. Yulin rearlleylaxed for the first time. This was almost too easy. He entered the terminaal nd stopped.
A big man with a Viking-like visage was perched there. He was sitticnogunotnera, and he seemed to be quite drunk.
Yulin thought him an attractive man, and the fact that it didn't bothtoer hhaivme that thought showed the thoroughness of Obie's conditioning. He triedremtoember the man's name.
"Aha! So you're trapped like the rest of us!" he roared, and took laonnogthsewr ig from a bottle. "I
thought you'd gotten away!"
He stood there, wondering what to do. The man was huge compared to heimve,n atnhdough he was
Mavra Chang physically. Ben Yulin hadn't been a fighterthaonsde skills were sorely needed now.

Rumney was naked. He jumped up, facing her. "All is lost!" he procl"aYimouedc. an't leave, I can't leave, ain't nobody can leave!" he almost sang. th"eSroe's nothin' to do but get drank and have a last fling. Why not, honeyC? om'on! I'll take you both on at the same time!" A casual observation of his midsection left no doubt as to his meaning. He pushed out the bottle. "snHoarvt?e" a
Fear replaced any feelings of attraction for this man. Yulin edgedtobwaacrkd the door, but the man was quick, too quick. He was playing with her,laaungdhing like a maniac.
Yulin moved, and Rumney moved, chuckling all the time. The tiny
feramnatilceally looked for some
avenue of escape, but the terminal was too smZianlld.er gaped at the tableau in confused amazement.
This was a Nikki Zinder sfeaxntasy, and she couldn't shake that dreamlike quality. Deep inside her mind, Gil Zinder sat, resigned, not caring about anything any more.
"Look-whatever your name is," Ben tried. "All isn't lost! I think I ucsanougtetof here if you'll let me!"
Rumney thought about this a half-second, then grinned. "Nice trya,p"phroeved. "Afterward, tinker away."
Yulin cursed the fact that he'd had to get rid of the incongruous piwstoislheadndfor Trelig or a guard, anybody, to get him out of this.
"All I want is a piece of tail," Rumney chided. "I got a tail, ySouuddgeont-l"y he stopped, and tried to focus his eyes.
"You ain't got no tail!" he accused.
Now Yulin felt even more terrified. It was true! Damn Obie! He'd astkheed lafostr pattern of Mavra
Chang, not the alterations!
Yulin edged toward the gateway to the remaining ship slowly. "Take ibtigeamsya,n," he breathed

cautiously, soothingly. "You spotted something, okay. Nyoowu know that maybe I can get you out. Let me try."
Yulin started deliberately for the ramp, and Rum-ney leaped for him, knohcimkindgown on the floor, holding him there. The bottle went flying against wa aflal,r missing Zinder by centimeters.
He had Yulin pinned, and started tearing away at the nearly transcplaortehnintg he wore. "Let's see if you're a woman under that," he growled.
Yulin was terrified, more than he had ever been in his life. As RumneyYpualiwnedm,anaged to get his right arm partly free and jab him with his sharp Hneailfse.lt something extra there; those little muscles in the back of his naitlws itched. Rumney gave a sharp cry of pain, then he seemed to stiffceonllaapnsded
on top of him. Rumney was like a lead sack. Yulin couldn'tcomuoldvne,'t breathe.
"Nikki!" he gasped. "Help me get him off me!" But Zinder wasn't aobboeuyt. to
He pushed and cursed and heaved, trying to wiggle loose. "I wish yoouv'der,rodllamn it!" he swore- and, to his amazement, Rumney did.
Feeling terribly bruised and slightly crushed, he managed to get up sIltowfellyt. as if a rib was broken and his body was a mass of internal bruTisheesr.e were pains in his back and side and-well everywhere. Coughing and spittinga little blood, Yulin gasped for several minutes, trying to get some bcaocnktr.ol
Doing so felt awful, but it did the job.
Ben Yulin decided then and there that he very much preferred beincgent1im80eters tall and male.
But, trapped for now in Mavra's body, Ben got hold of himself.
"You on the floor! What's your name?" he shot, trying a theory.
"Rumney. Bull Rumney," he murmured. Ben Yulin marveled at Mavra Chreasnogu'srcefulness.

Obviously these triggers had been surgically implantedsobmyebody really talented. This was one dangerous lady, he decided, not withosuotme admiration. In a way, he hoped she was still alive.
"Well, Bull Rumney, listen good," Yulin said sharply. "You are
ltioe there, unmoving, a statue, until
I tell you to do something. UnderstandT?h"e big man nodded slowly, then froze.
"Fetal position, Rumney," he said, enjoying himself for a minute. Ruombnliegyed, and froze again.
"Come on, Zinder, let's see to this ship," he snapped, sounding moMreavlirkae Chang than he knew. They went into the ship.
This wasn't Trelig's yacht; Chang had taken that. They were left wsihthutttlhee, which was basically well stocked. There were enough emergency ratiofonrs maybe three weeks, no more. Yulin cursed
under his breath. Enough to tackaere of the spongies, but not the others. Oh, well, Trelig said he wanted to deal with them, and he was sure they didn't know how little food theOrebiew, aos.f course, could
create more when things settled down. Create the faonodd, also use the people on New Pompeii to replace the expired guards. Slaverwyithout sponge-that would appeal to Trelig.
He checked everything out. He wasn't the best pilot in the world, butahne awdeaqsuate one, and the ship was rather simple. Barring a major emergencyc,ohueld run it without much trouble. It had been charging all the time it wasdoinck, so there was no problem there. Atmosphere good, pressurization potential normal. He nodded as he checked each one. He looked for a weapon, but found
none-naturally. Trelig had taken no chances.
Sighing, he closed the port and sat down to wait. There was no waygohiengwbaasck to the buildings of New Pompeii.
Trelig was several hours in coming, and Ben Yulin had started to worryThaegraeinw. ere several false alarms-guards stopping by to check, a few ofbitghwe igs, too. Since he'd placed the bottle next to Rumney, nobody questioned himbeing there. Nobody even blamed him.

Finally, hearing some noise outside, Yulin opened the hatch and spiedguthardees coming in. One, he
was sure, was Trelig. Those sexual screw-upsloaolkl ed alike. All three looked grim, and one, not Trelig, entered the shipfirst, followed by the other two. Ben caught Trelig's eyes and a subtle nnoedr.veTshe
were back.
"We've decided to let anybody who wants to make a break for it,"
gthueardleatdold the woman in
the pilot's chair. "If you get blasted, well, theqnuict'ks . If you don't-more power to you."
"And you?" Yulin asked.
That grim expression hardened. "I will die quickly, not slowly. Wealrheaavdey held a meeting to
decide that. We've just finished killing the pdoeovrils who were much worse than we. None of us wants
to become like that. Weg'lol then-well, that's it."
help the people who want to run for it to get everything together, and
Yulin, facing them, saw Trelig slowly draw his pistol and point it at gtuhaerdtws.oHe uttered a silent prayer to ancestral gods never believed in, naondded to the other two.
"I understand. We'll try and do our best. I guess this is good-bye."
The guard started to say something, but at that moment Trelig firesdh,ortwt obursts at very close range and at full power. Yulin and Zinder duckeredfleinx, but the former councillor's aim had been perfect. The two guards seemebdathed in a bright-orange glow, then faded out. There was nothing left of thembut some burns in the ship's carpet and an extremely unpleasant odor.
"Close the hatch! Let's get out of here!" Trelig shouted, and Yulin neemdeodre nuorging. There was a shudder and a whine, and the clunking sound of docekqiunigpment being jettisoned, and then, almost before the other two were seateadnd strapped in, Yulin took off.
"Hold it, you idiot!" Trelig snapped. "You don't want to kill us! We'reThaewyayc!an't get to us now!"
Yulin seemed to stare at the man and at the controls for a moment, daaszeif.
iTnhean, with a little

quiver, he snapped out of his trance.
The robot sentinels shot their challenges, and Trelig gave the codes ntoeedget past them.
"Where to?" Ben Yulin asked Antor Trelig.
"Might as well take a look at this incredible planet," the boss repliekdin. d"I'omf curious about it myself."
Yulin brought the ship around, and eased slowly back towarsdtratnhgee-looking orb.
Trelig turned to the figure of Nikki. "Gil Zinder!" he called. -"Comefotroe tahned join us!"
There was a slight, subtle change in the manner of the fat girl, salnipdpesdheoff the straps and came up to the screen.
Gil Zinder was fascinated in spite of himself. "Incredible!" he saiddainughhitser's voice.
"But why are there two completely different halves?" Trelig wond"eLreodo.k-you got all those jewel faces on the south, but you can tell it's logtrseeonf and ocean and stuff like that. Our kind of world.
Then you got that gredaat rk-amber strip around the equator, and then a whole different kind of world up top."
"The poles are interesting, too," Gil Zinder noted. "See how dark andthethyicakre, and how huge. Almost like great buildings hundreds, maybe thousanodfs,kilometers across."
"Let me swing down around one of those poles," Yulin suggested. "Lookceanttetrheof them."
They looked, and saw what he meant. In the center was a great, yhaewxnaignognal shape composed

of absolute darkness. "What is it?" Trelig wondearleodud.
Gil Zinder thought a moment. "I don't know. Perhaps something like oduisrh,biognly much more sophisticated."
"But why hexagons?" Trelig persisted. "Hell, they're all hexagons, evelnittltehefacets both north and south."
"The Markovians were in love with the hexagon," Yulin told him. "Theiarrerufiunlsl of them; their cities are built hi that shape. I saw one as a child."
"Let's take a look at the north," Trelig suggested. "It's so dwififlderlyent. There must be a reason for it."
Yulin applied power, and the image swirled and whirled on the screen.of"Ktriincdky," the pilot told them. "Ships like this weren't built to go this esxlocewpt in landing and docking modes."
They crossed the equator, a true barrier they saw- strange, imposingo,paaqnude.
"I wish we had some instruments," Zinder said, genuinely interestseodmienthing again. "I would love to know what makes those strange patternMs.ethane, ammonia, all sorts of stuff, looks like."
They crossed the terminator and went into darkness.
"Somebody's living there, though," Trelig noted, pointing. Some of the inaresaosme of the hexes were lit, and there were a few clear major cities dthoewren.
"A pity we can't get a little closer," Zinder said sincerely.atm"Tohsepheric distortion is really intense."

"Maybe a little lower," Yulin answered. "I'll try to skim just over othf ethteopstratosphere. That'll keep us high enough to be effectively in a vacbuutml,ow enough to see some detail."
Hearing no dissent, he cautiously took the ship down. They crossetedrmthineator once again and went into blinding sunlight.
And then the engine seemed to give a start, and the lights flashed.
"What's the matter?" Trelig snapped.
Yulin was genuinely puzzled. "I-I don't know." It happened again, and hoevetroomkanual helm and started to fight it. "Sudden losses of power, ivneteryrmittent."
"Take us up!" Trelig commanded, but, at that mo-ment,the lights reallyouwt.ent
"We're dropping like a stone!" screamed Yulin. "My God!"
Trelig reached over, threw two switches. Nothing happened. He threw aStililrdn.othing. They were in almost total darkness in the cabin, and even athcetisoens were made more by feel.
And then everything came on again. There was a whining noise from tahned rienarfront.
Ahead, a panel rolled back, revealing a nasty landscape only tenkiolormseoters beneath them. Trelig reached out, grabbed a wheel-shaped devidceepressed into the copilot's panel.
Lights and power went out again, but now it was a rocky trip, the shipanbdanbguefdfeted by strange forces. Trelig grabbed the wheel and started fighftoinrgcontrol of the ship.
The view, Yulin realized, was a real one-they were looking out some fosorwrtarodf
window.

"This thing was designed for in-atmosphere work as well as shuttle," sTairdelibgetween clenched teeth, fighting for control with the weakened muscleRs eonfard. "The wings finally deployed. Even if power cuts out again, I think I dceaand-stick it in."
Yulin watched the landscape approach with horrifying suddenness. Tfroeluight to keep the nose up, yet he had to be cautious or he would miss stehe ngground at all.
The power was out again now, and Trelig had managed to slow the cnraoftt,ebnuotugh.
"Find me a level spot with about twenty kilometers to roll in!" he yelled.
"This thing's got wheels?" Yulin managed, peering out.
"Don't be funny!" snapped the boss. "Both of you get strapped in! thIindkonw'te'll get power again long enough to get her up, and this will be waalrleoapl!"
"There! A flat area ahead! See it?" Yulin screamed.
Trelig saw, and aimed for it, the ship rocking this way and that. TWhehyathista.ved them, they decided later, was the much denser atmosphere, whsilcohwed the craft enough. Just enough.
They hit with a tremendous bang, and Yulin cried out in pain as the ricbracaknedd other bruises were suddenly fully activated once again.
They skidded over barren rock, seemingly forever, and they had to oruidt.e Fiitnally, they struck an upward incline that almost turned them over, mbaunt aged to spin them around and finally halt them instead.

Trelig groaned, undid his straps, and looked around. Yulin was out cotlhde. Ffiorsrt time he noticed the torn clothing and bruises and gashes. He wondwerheedre Mavra Chang had come by them.
Zinder fared little better. The bouncing and straps had caused somededpereepssions and gashes and cut off the circulation in a few places, but heseneomwed to be all right, just dizzy from shock.
Trelig tried to get up and discovered that he, too, was dizzy. He fetlwl idcoe,wannd his head
pounded. His arms ached horribly from the effort olfanthdeing. But he'd made it. He'd brought them in.
He looked out at the bleak landscape. A lot of barren, blackish rock aagdaairnkst and dense atmosphere of-who knew? Nothing they could breathe, anyway.
They were alive-but for how long?
SOUTH ZONE
"Another one down?" Ortega was aghast.
"We detected the energy burst in our routine monitoring of the satGelolilteM," iter's artificial voice told him through the interzone embasscyommunications system. "At first we had some trouble locating them, but wemanaged a plot thanks to their taking their time. Careful orbit, nice tesuchrvneiyques. What I wouldn't give to see this planet from space!"
Ortega joined in that sentiment. "But they went down anyway? I didn't
rgeeptoartnsy."

"Finally clipped it a little low, got within the Well's influence, annodntgeocthed, same as the first one.
The reason you haven't heard is that they swhaudng up North for a look. Near as we can tell, they went down in 1146 or 131U8,chjin or Ashinshyh. Got anything on them?"
Ortega's multiple arms whipped through maps, charts, and diagrams whiklepht eup a steady stream of frustration-induced curses. If things were goinggetto this complicated, he preferred to be the one doing the complicating.
Northern maps were only so-so. They marked oceans, for exampleb,ut the oceans could be methane or any one of a dozen other more lceothmapl ounds. Nothing up there bore the slightest kinship to him, not even as cloasekinship as he, a six-armed snake-man, bore to Gol Miter, a giant spider. Some Northern races were so alien that there was no common frame of repfoesresinbcle with what he and the others of the South considered normal existence.
One thing for sure, he saw, looking at the map. Uchjin and Ashinshybhotwh enreontech or semitech hexes and could not support a sophisticated poswyesrtem like that of a ship.
He sighed. "Gol, even if they survived the crash, which I doubt, they'arse goonolyd as their air. I don't know what the hell these symbols for Uchjin mineatnerms of atmosphere, but there's sure no oxygen in it. The Ashinshyh are liattle better-there's some oxygen and even water there-but there's so much hydrogen around they may have blown half the hex to hell."
Miter agreed. "Since we've had no reports of disaster, and no sign oafctiWvaetilol n, I'd say Uchjin, then. How about your Northern contacts? Anything cwane use?"
"I doubt it," Ortega replied sourly. "Nobody I know near there. I ehvaevnent'ht e slightest idea what
the Uchjin look like. They may have an ambassoandosrtation, though, or somebody close might. Worth a try. I hate to see Nthoertherners brought into this, though. I don't trust what I can't underasntdand,
some of those boys are nasty customers with alien motives."
"No choice," Miter responded pragmatically. "Ill send somebody up to
ZNoonrteh and see what can
be done. That crash has already involved them-andobosuerrvatory people have first loyalty to the North, anyway. They tracked it, esvoerybody already knows." He paused. "Cheer up, Serge. Even if the thing'sintact, few Northerners could fly it anyway. It's us or nobody."

"Not us," Ortega corrected him. "Somebody."
Technicians had been in and out for half the day setting up esqpueicpiaml ent. He punched the direct line to Ambassador Vardia.
"Czill," came a voice.
"Ortega here. We've got another one down in the North. Get on it. Any twheorTdeloiangin business yet?"
"Hmmm . . . the North," mused the plant-creature. "No, nothing froTmeliathgein sector yet. The Lata party went in pretty quickly, though. Be patiSeenrtg, e. It's only been two days."
"Patience is a virtue best left to the dead, who can afford it," gOrortweglead, and switched off.
TELIAGIN
Even walking, twenty kilometers isn't really that far-if you know wyohue're going. But sunrise on the second day had brought heavy clouds totaolblyscuring the sun. All through the night there had been the far-off toll ofdrums, messages relayed from one point to another thoughout the hexuninknaonwn and unguessable code.
Mavra Chang suspected that the messages involved speculations abousttrtahnege beings, rather small, who had crashed in some sort of flying machinewaenred now on the loose somewhere in the land.

At least it didn't rain; they were thankful for that. It continued daormkinaonuds all day, though; the cover was much too thick to see the sun and dgiurecstsion. In ordinary circumstances, Chang would
have waited for clearer skiedsespite the dangers, but she knew that the deadly disease was eating away at hertwo companions, and if she didn't make those mountains and that coast qtuhiecrkelyw, ould be no hope.
Every once hi a while doubt would creep into the back of her mind, dooufbtthbeorlnogical probability that the new lands would be no more friendlythtihsanone. The denizens-for all she knew,
more cy-clopses-would be no friendlienro,
more advanced, no more able to help.
And, worse, although she was certain that they weren't backtrackingr,easlhlye didn't know in which direction they were going. She had started oftfheinsame direction, of course, but the woods were thick; there were some broadirt roads and wide meadows to avoid, and who knew whether they had picked up inthe same way after they had been forced to divert?
About the only good news had been the apples. At least, they lookelidkeaaploptles, although they grew on bushes and had a funny, purple skin. Alimn odset speration, she had gambled on some food source- and the lower-levewl ildlife looked warm-blooded and somewhat familiar. If alien bacteria hadn't already gotten to them, then it was probably not going to-or so she prayed.
The big rodents ate the fruit with abandon, and she decided to risklikdeowinisge. Nikki, despite having her appetite drug-depressed, was still hthuengriest, and she probably couldn't have been
restrained much longer, anywayM. avra let the girl eat one, knowing they should wait several hours for the testto be conclusive, but when she reported the fruit to be sweet and goeaosdilyancdhewed, the temptation to Mavra, whose own appetite could nodt ebperessed, became too much to ignore.
They satisfied, they were good, and they were plentiful, apparentilmy paonrtant part of the upper
animal food chain of this place. And they wdoeurebly important. They proved that, no matter what else happened, Mavra Changcould survive here.
The second day had been a lot more satisfactory than the first. Evenwsaos,
ushnecertain. The other
two, now, had seen the great cyclopses, with
fthieericre expressions and nasty fangs, pulling wooden
hand-hewn carts along threoads and tending flocks of animals that looked much like common sheep in the meadows.
Neither of the two spongies had shown much change as yet, but thwaat s deceptive, she knew. In normal conversation there was little differenbceetween an IQ of 100 and an IQ of 150. There was no

question that Nikki wouldeteriorate faster; she was a little above average, but no genius.
As darkness fell at the end of the second day, the mountains wneroewhsteilrle in sight and the
landscape didn't seem to have varied much at all. Twhaesrea chill in the air from the damp, humid skies and a light drizzle. NeithRerenard nor Nikki was at all comfortable; they had no protection, in or out of those filmy things from New Pompeii, and although Mavra's clothing prodveicdendt protection, she was
by far the smallest of the three and had nothisnpgarteo that could fit either of the others.
The darkness of the second evening was as much in their spirits ansigihnt tshuerrounding them.
She tried bunching them all together for body warmth, but she was saondsmtahlelir skin so cold and clammy that all this seemed to do was transfer mthiseeirry to her. Nikki, being heavy and unaccustomed to exercise, was, as usuathl,e first to fall asleep, leaving her with Renard, as before. They sat there awhile, thinking of little to say. He had his arm around her, holding hteor hcilmos,e but it was not a romantic gesture, not an advance. It was a bintdoignegther in the face of adversity.
Finally, he said, "Mavra, do you really think there's any point to aYllouthiasn?d I both know we don't even know where we are or what's over the nexotr heivllen whether the next hill isn't some previous hill."
The question irritated her, because it vocalized her own inner do"Tubhtesr.e's always a point to it until you're dead," she replied, and she believite.d
"You really think so?" he responded. "Not just brave talk?"
She shifted slightly, looking away from him, out into the blackness.
"I was raised by a rough freighter captain. Not the most ideal pgaureensst,, Ibut, in her own way, she did love me, I think, and I loved her. I greinw supapce, the big freighter my playground, the big ports new and dazzlingamusements every few weeks."
"Must've been lonely," he commented. She shook her head. "No, notAafttearlla. ll, it was all I ever knew. It was normal to me. And it taught me hboewotno my own for long periods of time-conditioned

me against the lonelinessm, ade me rely on myself. That was important, because my mother was doing a lot ofillegal stuff. Most freighter captains do, but this must've been really biCg.omThePolice busted her
and the ship was seized. I was about thirteen then, waansd iIn the stores along the port, shopping. I
found out what happened, bcuot uldn't do anything. I knew that if I showed myself, the CPs would take me, too, maybe give me a psych wipe, and turn me over to the Com. So, I Kstalyivead."on
"Ever feel guilty you didn't try to spring her?" Renard asked, knowisnegnsitthiveity of the question but realizing that Mavra Chang wanted somebodytatlok to.
"No, I don't think so," she answered truthfully. "Oh, I had all spolortts oinf
my head-a
thirteen-year-old girl, a little over a meter tallwaenidghing about twenty-five kilos-to rush them, battle
them, heroically rescue mmy om, and dash away in the ship to unknown space. But I never even could get thechance. They had her away and the ship impounded in a matter of an houNr oo,r Itwwoa. s
alone."
"You don't like the Com very much, by your tone," he noted. "Anyresapseocnia?l"
"They murdered my family," she almost spat. "I was only a little mofrievethyaenars old, but I can remember them. Harvich's world went Com with sposnygnedicate muscle and rigged votes, and my folks-my real folks-had been fightinthgem every step of the way. I got the whole story later, from Maki-my stepmother-when I got older. They refused to leave at the start, then founcodultdhney't leave
when the Com process started. Somehow-I don't know how-they
ahirsepdacer to get me out, one
piloting a supply freighter for the Com procFeussn.ny-after all these years I can still remember him. A strange little man icnolorful clothes with a big, brassy voice that always had several toneSsomine ito. f those tones I later recognized as pure cynicism, but there wuansdearnlying gentleness and kindness
about him that he seemed desperate to hbiudte couldn't. It's funny-I'm not even sure of his name, and I
was with him foornly a few days when I was five, yet he's as real to me as my stepmoatchteura,llwy ho got me out. Looking back, I think it's incredible that a five-yesapro-iolledd brat like me would go with him. There was just something hi him loikneed, trusted. I often wonder if he was human-I've never met anybody else likethat, ever."
Renard was no psychologist, but he recognized the depth of the imprtehsis omnan had made on
Mavra Chang. She had been hunting for him, or someonehimlik, eall her life.
"Ever try and find him?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "I was much too busy staying alive the next few years.timBye
tIhehad the means, he

was probably dead or something. I have to admit tnhuamt baer of people seemed to recognize him from my description, but there wansothing tangible. Some people said I was describing a fairy-tale legend, a mythical space captain who had never existed but was just part of thossteorieepsicall professions get.
Once I met a captain, a real old veteran, whothasat idthis man really existed, somewhere, and he was old. He was supposed to ibmemortal, living forever, going back to ancient times of prehistory."
"What's the name of this legend?" Renard prompted.
"Nathan Brazil. Isn't that a strange name? Somebody said Brazil was theofnaamperehistoric place, one of the early space powers."
"The Wandering Jew," Renard said, almost to himself.
"Huh?"
"An ancient legend among some of the old religions," he told her. "sTtihllerae'sChristian planet or two around, I think. They are an offshot of an mevoerne obscure and older religion known as Judaism. They're still aroundt,oo-scattered all over the place. Probably the most traditionally cos-t"ophpeed for
a second, looked puzzled and disturbed. "Co-" he tried.
"Cohesive?" she guessed.
He nodded. "That's it. Why couldn't I think of that word?" He let biut tdMropav, ra had an eerie sensation. A little thing, but important.
"Well, anyway, there was supposed to be this man who was Jewish and
tcolaibmeedGod's son. For
this the powers-that-be killed him, because they wsecraered he might lead a revolution or something. Supposedly he was to come bafcrkom the dead. One Jew was supposed to have cursed him at his execution and beentold that he would stay until this god-man returned. This Nathan Brazil lsikoeunds the legend brought up to modern times."
She nodded. "I never really believed all that stuff about immortals sfplaycinegships, but a lot of spacers who don't believe in anything believe inexhistence."

Renard smiled. "That may explain what happened to you. If it's a widelespgreenadd, then somebody
who knew it could imitate him, maybe convince the sopthaceerrs he was this legendary figure. They'd do favors for him they wouldn't fdoor an ordinary captain. Make supers!-supershi-oh, hell!" he ended in frustration, unable to get the word out.
She got the meaning. "I don't know. You're probably right. But thesroemwetahsing really strange about that man, something I can't explain."
"You were five years old," he pointed out. "That's an age to geitmfpurnenssyions."
Mavra wanted to break off the conversation, partly because it was hitticnlgosetooto home but also because of Renard's increasing trouble with large wohredswas obviously used to using. He was starting to think out his sentences aidnvance, using different words than he normally would. His difficulty wasn't really that apparent, but his speech was slower, more careful, more htehsaitnanitt had been.
Tomorrow, she thought glumly, those words just might not be accessible atot ahlilm. But, he still wanted to talk, and, she told herself, if that wacsasteheit was best she do most of the talking.
Renard took up the theme and thankfully took the subject away frommystehreious Nathan Brazil.
"You said you were on your own at age thirteen," he noted. "Wasn't thoaft rokuingdh?".
She nodded. "There I was, on a strange world, looking like an eight-yewairt-holdn,othing but a few coins that maybe would buy a meal, and I didn't even thkenoswtreet language. At least it wasn't a Comworld. Kaliva, its name was. Kionfd exotic and primitive. Open bazaars, shouting peddlers and salesmen-a noisy,grimy, people-filled kind of place. I knew that in such a place you neededanmdoney protection. I had neither, so I looked around. There were a lot of bseogmgearsj,ust poor, some con
men, some cripples who couldn't afford the med servTihcer.e were enough of them that they weren't hassled by the local police, apnedople did give. I walked around, watched who was making money and who wasn't,and where, and saw what I had to do. I used the last little bit of motnoeybriIbehaad little
girl to give me her clothes-really dirty, grungy, ripped,taattnedred. Nothing really but a foul sheet that could be tied like a sari. Sowmaeter and a little mud, and I really looked like a horrible littluercshtirne.et Then I went to work."

Renard thought that maybe she was a horrible little street urchin paotintht,atbut decided not to mention that aloud.
"I really hustled those first couple of weeks. I got fleas and occaswioonraslel,y and I slept in
doorways, alleys, and such. I worked the good cornBeergs.gars have territories, you know, and run off others who want to compete ftohre business, but I learned how to make friends with some of the best, did favors, gave them a percentage. I guess it was also because I looked ysoounvgeryand so very
down and out-the model for those charity pictures they altwakaey,s the poor, starving, angelic faces-that
everybody kind of adopted me. I
pdridetty good. Even on the worst days I made enough to eat, or
somebody who owneda food stall would slip me something."
"No trouble with rape or gangs?" he asked, amazed.
"No, not really. A few really nasty incidents, but somebody always seemcoemd etoalong or I
managed to get away. Beggars kind of stick together, too-yoonuc'ere accepted. One of them put me on
to an old shack out near the city duamndp, I lived there. It was pretty gamey, but after a while you get so you don'tnotice the smells, the flies, or anything. Some charity medical clinicsarwouenred, so we got
sick a lot but never for long. Everybody kept trying to goeutt mofe there, but I conned them. I didn't want anything I didn't earn myselfd.idIn't want to owe anybody anything."
"How long did this go on?" Renard prompted.
"Over three years," she answered. "It wasn't a bad life. You got useAdndto, Iit.grew up, developed
a little-as much as I ever did, anyway-and dreamuesde.dI to go down to the spaceport every day when I'd made my quota or jucsotuldn't do it any more-begging is hard work sometimes-and look at the ships and peer in the dives at the spacers. I knew where I wanted to be again, somefidnall-yanIdrealized
that begging would always get me by but never geatnymwehere. Some of the spacers were real big
spenders, since they had no home
tbhuet ships and little to spend anything on."
Renard was shocked. "You don't mean you-"
She shrugged. "I was too small to be a waitress, and I couldn't reatchhe obvaer.r I never learned
much about dancing, I didn't have much in the wsaoycioalf
graces, and no real education. I talked like a
wharf rat, and while Mahkai d taught me reading and writing and numbers, I hadn't done much of it. I had only one thing to sell, and I sold it, learned how to sell it just rigfhetm. aMlea,leo,nce, twice, ten times a

night if I could. It got pretty boring afwtehrilae, and none of it meant anything, but, lord! How the money rolled in!"
He looked at her strangely in the near darkness, feeling sluignhctolymfortable. It wasn't what she was saying, but how she was saying it athffaetcted him so. He wasn't sure what to say. He was certain that she hadn't toldthis to anyone, particularly a stranger- maybe not at all-in years. Ththeatfaschte was
telling it now, and to him, meant something even his increacsilnoguldyy brain could fathom. Deep down, she was as scared as he was.
"You certainly speak well enough now," he pointed out. "And you said yoau pwiloerte. Did you make enough money to do all that?"
She laughed dryly. "No, not from that. I met a man -a very kind anmdang,enwtlheo was a freighter captain. He started coming around real regular. I lhikimed-he had some of those qualities I mentioned in
my long-ago rescuer. He walosud, brash, cynical, detested the Com, and had the most guts of any man
I'd ever known. I guess I knew I was in love with him, looked forward to seetoingmeheitmin,g him,
going out with him. It wasn't like with the others. It swexa.snI't doubt if I could do that with any feeling with anybody. It was somethineglse, something better than that. When I found out he was diverting often just to see me, our relationship grew even deeper. We complemented each other. Aowndnedhehis own
ship, the Assateague, a really good, fast, modern job."
"That's kind of unusual, isn't it?" Renard commented. "I mean, those atrheinfgosr corporations, not people. I never heard of a captain owning his shoiwp.n"
"Yes, it is unusual," she admitted. "It took a while to find out wfihnyal.lyHeasked me to come with him, move onto the ship. Said he couldn't afaflolrdthese side trips. Well, that was what I'd always wanted, so of course I dAidn. d then he had to tell me how he had so much money. He was a thief."
Renard had to laugh. It was a ridiculous climax to her story. "Whatstedaidl, asked.
haned who from?" he
"Anything from anybody," she replied. "The freighter was a cover and afmfoordbeildity. Jewels, art,
gold, silver, you name it. If it had a high valsuteo,leheit. Rich people, corporation heads, party leaders on Comworlds were paarticular target. Sometimes there were break-ins, sometimes he did it with electronics and a fine knowledge of bureaucratic paperwork. After wteoggeotht er, we became a team.
He got all sorts of teaching machines, sleeaprners, hypno aids, and the like for me, and he coached me and rehearsed meuntil I sounded educated and acted properly." She giggled. "One time weinbtoroke

the master storage area in the Union of All Moons treasury bueilxdcihnagn, ged some chips, and had the next three days' planetary incomaeutomatically diverted to dummy interstellar units accounts in Confederacy banks, and even after we closed down, withdrew the stuff, and transferreadwiatyf,arthey never caught on. I wonder if they ever did?"
"Your man-what happened to him?" Renard asked gently.
She turned somber again. "We were never caught by the police. Never. Wteoowgeoreod. One day, though, we lifted two beautiful little solid gold figubriynesthe ancient classical artist Sun Tat, and they
had to be fenced to a
cboigllector. The meet was arranged in a bar, and we had no reason to suspect
anything was wrong. It was. The collector was a front for a big syndicwate'dbohsist a year or so earlier, and the whole thing was a set-up. They cuitnthoimlittle pieces and left the figurines with the remains."
"And you inherited the ship," Renard guessed.
She nodded. "We'd gotten a traditionalist ceremony a year or so beforine, cjausset, I didn't really want to, but he'd insisted, and it turned out herigwhat.s I was his sole heir."
"And you've been alone ever since?" he added, fascinated by this sltirttalnegwe oman.
There was acid and cold steel in her voice. "I spent half a year dtroawckninhgis killers. Every one died -slowly. Every one knew why they were dyingfi.rsAt tthe big boss didn't even remember him!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Bheut remembered at the end," she added, with evident satisfaction.
"Since that time, I have continued the family trade, you might say," shoen.w"eBnot th of them. I've
paid for the best the underworld can offer, and mkyespetlf in top shape. Surgeons have turned me into a small deadly weapon, witthhings you wouldn't believe built in and deep-programmed. Even if I were
ever caught, the story I just told you couldn't even be gotten by deep-psychThperoyb'vee.
tried."
"You were hired to get Nikki out, weren't you?" Renard said.
She nodded. "If you can't catch a crook, set her to catch other crookwsa. sTthhaet idea. It almost

worked."
He grunted at the last. It brought everything back to the present sitaulathtiooung,h now he could understand why she believed they would get out ofWthitihs. a life like hers, miracles were a common, everyday occurrence.
"There's nothing really to tell about me," he said wistfully. "Novtihoilnegnt or romantic."
"You said you were a teacher," she noted.
He nodded. "I was from Muscovy. A Comworld, yes, but not a really osneer.ioNusone of that genetic-manipulation stuff. Traditional family structurper,ayers five times a day-There is no God but Marx and Lenin is His Prophet-atnedsting to see where you fit into the communal structure." He was audibly straining for the words. They came hard to him. He didn't appear to notice.
"I was smart, so I was put in school. But I never was interested in uasneyfuthl,insgo I studied old literchur"-that's the way he pronounced it, as besctohueld-"and became a teacher. I was always kind of effinate"-he meanteffeminate-"in looks and acts. but not inside. I got a lot of fun pokeIdt ahturmt.e.
Even the students were mean. Mostly behind my back, but I knewthewyhwatere saying. I didn't like
the men who liked other men, and the womebnelaiellved I didn't like them. I kind of withdrew into my own shell, in maypartment with my books and vid files, and came out only for classes."
"How about a psych?" she wondered.
"I went to a bunch," he replied. "They all started talking about all wsoilrdtsthoifngs, did I love my father and all that. They put me in some kind otfradinruingg that was supposed to change my mannerisms, but it didn't work. The mtohreey tried and failed, the more unhappy I got. Finally, I sat there one nighat nd considered how little I had done. I hadn't really directly touched onleifeo-ethven
for the worst. I thought about killing myself, but the psych
Police came and got me before I couldit."do
opruot-bgeusessed me there, and the People's
"Would you have?" she asked seriously.

He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. I sure haven'ht asviencIe?,
No guts, I guess.
Or maybe they deep-programmed me not to." He pausmedomaent in thought-or trying to organize his thoughts.
"They took me to the political asylum. I'd never been there befores.eeTmheeyd kind of upset that I
was thinking of killing myself. Took it personalilklye, because I failed, the system had failed. They
thought about wiping mcelean, maybe converting me to being a woman and doing a new personality that would match."
"Why not just kill you and be done with it?" Mavra asked. "It wcohueladpebre and less trouble."
He looked shocked, then remembered her own background. "They just dotnh'at t doon Comworlds! Not Muscovy, anyway. No, I was kept there for a long dtiomn'et-Iknow how long. Then somebody
came by and told me that some bigwig watnotetdalk to me. I had no choice, so I went. He was from a different Comworld, areal far-gone one-true hermaphroism, genetically identical people programmed to love their work, and so on. He said he needed, of all things, a lPiberoaprilaen!who could read books,
and be familiar with them, were rare-that was tEruven Muscovy had a ninety-two percent
ill-nonreader rate." The big words ghoimt them.
"Trelig," she guessed.
, and he either badly mispronounced them or couldn't handle
He nodded. "Right. I was taken away on his ship to New Pompeii, givenovaerhduogse of sponge, and I was stuck. The OD did crazy things to me in theanwdeemkosnths that followed. My girlish
manners were made a hundred times worasned,
my features became more and more like those of a
woman, even to the breastBs.ut-it was funny. My male organs actually grew, and, inside my head, I was still a man. I finally had my first real sex experience on New Pompeii. I rehailslyliwbraasrian, too-and I
was also one of the guards for special prisoners,Nliikkkei, there. Everybody on New Pompeii had psych problems of some kind pluskiall Trelig needed. He recruited from the best political asylums in the Com."
"And now here you are," she said to him, very gently.
He sighed. "Yes, here I am. When I shot Ziggy and helped you get oitutw, aIs fethlte first really important thing I had ever done. I almost felt wthaast Iborn and existed only for that one moment, that one act-to be there to heylopu when you needed it. And now-look what a mess we have!"

She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Go get to sleep and don't wmourrcyh.soI haven't lost yet-and if
I haven't, you haven't either."
She wished she believed that.
UCHJIN, NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
"A hell of a mess," Ben Yulin said, looking over the landscape. With noto ptohwe earir-renewal system on the ship, they had been forced to donspthaeciersuits. The largest aboard was almost too
small for Zinder in the bodyhiosf rotund daughter, but the things were made to form-fit a variety of sizes. You got into them and they were all tremendous, loose, and baggy. But whonokyeoduup the air
supply, which was, fortunately, a manual rebreather type,mtahterial acted like something alive, constricting until it became almostseacond, very tough white skin.
"How much air do we have?" Trelig asked, looking around at the barrendersoecrtkyin which no sign of life appeared anywhere.
Yulin shrugged. "Not more than a half-day's supply at best withosuptecthiael electrical system in the re-breather."
"We aren't far from that next hex, where there appeared to be some Twrealtiegr,"noted hopefully. "Let's try for it. What have we got to lose?"
They started off, following the marks of the giant skid the courier shmipadehaidn its belly-landing.

They hadn't gone far before twilight set in. Yulin felt that somethinwgrowngas, and he tried to put his
finger on it. There seemed to be shapes arokuinndd,
of half-shapes, really, that appeared at the corner of
your eye but werent'there when you turned around.
"Trelig?" he called.
"What?" the other snapped.
"Do either you or Zinder notice anything odd going on? I'd swear wceomhpaavney of some kind."
Trelig and Zinder both came to a halt, although they didn't want ltooo,kaenddaround. Yulin found they were easier to see the darker it got.
They seemed to exist in only two dimensions- length and width-and evwenasthvaat riable. From the
side, they seemed to vanish. They were flyingf,looatring-it was hard to tell which-all around them. Yulin was reminded of painstpilled on a sheet of clear plastic. There was a thick leading edge, and it flowed-not necessarily down, but up and along as well. As it did, thseeemdegde to spread out so that
it was sometimes a meter wide and almost two mleotnegrs. That was the limit for them-when they were fully extended, the rear edgseemed to slowly flow back into the leading edge until it was just a meter-wide lump of paint, only to start spreading out again.
They were different colors, too. Almost every color they could thianlkthoouf,gh never more than one. Blues, reds, yellows, greens-of every possibslheade and hue.
"Are they intelligent?" Yulin wondered aloud.
Trelig had been thinking the same thing. "They sure seem to be cluasrtoeurinndg us, like a crowd of curious onlookers at an accident," the syndicate bnoostsed. "I don't see how, but I'd bet money that these are the people who lihveere."
"People" was too strong a word, Yulin thought. These creatures were thoef saturtfifsts' dreams, not real, tangible things.

"I'm going to try and touch one," Trelig said.
"Hey! Wait! You might-" Yulin protested, but got only a laugh in reply.
"So I do something bad," the boss responded. "We're dead anyway, you kWniothw."that he reached
out and tried to grab the one nearest him. Nothingevheer'dseen had ever reacted that fast. One moment
it was there, all stretcheodut, the next it just seemed to be somewhere else, a meter or two out of reach.
"Wow!" Trelig exclaimed. "They sure can move if they want to!"
Yulin nodded. "Maybe, if they're intelligent in any way, we can tthaelkm,t"o he suggested.
Trelig wasn't so sure. "So what do you say to a two-meter living painat nsdmheaorw, ?" he asked sarcastically.
"Maybe they can see somehow," Yulin suggested. "Let's try some gestures."
He made sure of his audience-and he did have the funny feeling that thleoyokwinegreat him-and pointed to Zinder's air tanks. Then he put his hands tthorohaits, made choking motions, and fell to the ground.
The flowing streaks seemed to like that. More of them arrived, ansdeetmheeyd to become much more agitated. Yulin repeated the act several times, tahnedy became increasingly agitated, sometimes almost touching one another itnheir eagerness to get a better view.
Enough acting, Yulin decided. It used up air. He got up, faced them, oauntdhpisuthands in what he hoped would be a gesture of friendship saunpdplication.
This action seemed to excite them even more. He had the strange feelihneg wthaast the subject of a

furious debate that none but these strange creatucroeusld hear.
But were they debating whether to help, how to help, or what was the mofeathniisngstrange creature's actions? That last was definitely the muonsettling-and the most likely.
A couple of the creatures floated over, seemed to examine his air packdifsrtoamncea of fifty centimeters or so. He remained still, letting them. That wgoaosda start. They might be getting the idea. Or they might be wondering why whaes pointing at that funny thing.
More and more appeared as darkness fell. They were coming out of crtahceksgrionund, they
observed-small cracks they would never have noticed otherwTishee.
natives seemed to rise like wraiths,
fully extended, then curl up or flowwhoartever, pulling out in a different direction and heading, mostly, their way.There was a regular assembly now, a rainbow of weird flowing and undsuhlaptiensg.
Finally, they seemed to reach some sort of decision or consensus.crTohwedyed around the humans,
so thick it was impossible to see. Then, dvelriyberately, a narrow opening appeared to one side. They waited.
"I think we're being directed someplace," Trelig noted. "Shall we go?"
"Better than collapsing here and dying in another hour or two,"reYpulileind. "You lead, or shall I?"
Trelig started walking, then Zinder, and finally Yulin. That they werelebdeinsogmewhere was quickly apparent-the opening continued, but the area thveaycated was closed hi by the strange creatures.
Yulin checked his air supply. About two hours, he noted. He hoped whtheereyvewrere going wasn't far off.
That thought was in all their minds, along with the last shreds ofwdhoenu,bta,
little over an hour later,
they reached a rock outcrop. A huge numbetrheofcreatures was there-perhaps many thousands. Some had obviously assembledthere because of them, but others seemed to be carrying on all sorts of deliberate but unfathomable business.

"Yulin! Look!" Trelig called excitedly.
Ben Yulin peered into the star-lit darkness at the cliff's face, andm, ofmorenat, didn't see what had attracted the other man. Finally he could make oduetepaer blackness against the cliff.
"A cave?" he asked, feeling disappointed. "Hell, we've been taken toleathderr or something."
"No! No!" Trelig protested. "My Renard eyes must be better than your CMhanrga's. Look at the shape of the hole!"
Yulin peered again, approaching closer. It was large -perhaps two meteaschonof its six sides.
Six sides?
"A hexagon!" Yulin exclaimed, hardly able to contain himself. "They gmotestshaege!"
"We'll see," Trelig responded. "Obviously they mean for us to enttehrintgh,eand we might as well. Air's running out anyway. All set?"
"Okay, let's go," Yulin replied, praying again that they would not government of these folks.
ceanvteer tahat was just the seat of
Trelig went first. He didn't seem to enter a cave or hole-he just fsoterwppaerd, seemed frozen for an instant, then vanished. Yulin prodded Zinder nebxutt, the scientist knew the air situation as well as they
did. He stepped in, antod stepped in, too.
the same effect. Ben Yulin took an expensive deep breath, held it, and

It was a strange sensation, like falling down a great, endless hole.naItstywaasnd unpleasant, but they had to endure it.
The sensation ended as suddenly as it began, bringing them out in a ssotrrtanogfe cave inhabited by more of the flowing creatures.
The other two were already there.
"Oh, no!" Yulin swore, heart sinking. "Just a shuttle system!"
Trelig was just about to reply when a ghostly figure quite unlikethaenmy , ohfumans or creatures, appeared. It was huge-three meters at least, aalnmdost as big around. It had nasty-looking claws and sets of insectlike legsa,nd it was encased in some kind of protective artificial shell.
"What the hell?" Trelig managed, but then he saw the figure makereacovgenriyzable "follow me" gesture with its great claws, turn, and start downcavthee.
"Our new guide," speculated Yulin. "I think I like the paint smearsWbeltle, rl.et's get going. Air's getting low."
They went through a passage, then a doorway slid out, and they foundsoimt ewaksind of air lock. It closed behind them, then opened ahead after a mfeowments. The creature had gone ahead but, they saw, it waited for them outside.
Outside proved to be a long, broad hallway made of some orangec-wryhstiatelline material that
sparkled. The whole area was lit up, and Yulin wthaesn'ot nly one that noticed the rows of doorways in hexagonal shapes. Thehallways, however, were almost rounded, with no sharp corners.
The large insectlike creature walked slowly down the corridor, andfotlhloewy ed. It seemed like a long journey, and it took more than twenty minutesBebny Yulin's air timer.

Suddenly the hall opened onto a huge chamber. Huge was hardly the wiot.rdThfoer chamber had six sides, which seemed almost natural by now; butenthcleosure was so enormous that it took some time to establish that fact. Thceenter area was in the shape of an enormous glassy hexagon, too, and around the sides stretched a railing and what appeared to be a walkway. A singlseix-gsriedaetd light, like a great
jewel, was suspended from the center of mthaemmoth ceiling, providing all the light.
The walkway was just that, and more. The big creature got on it, walkesdo dthoewyn could also step onto the vinyllike, spongy surface, then it pressed sionmdiestinguishable area on the wall.
They almost tumbled over as the walkway started to move.
It took about ten minutes to go halfway around to another break in tThehewrealwl.ere openings in the rail to go down to the glassy surface, but ptahsesyed them up. Eventually they stopped, and the weird creature, which seemed ttohem to be much like a lobster made of transparent glass, went slowly down a new hallway.
They reached a room, much smaller than either the big chamber or the hcaadvea.nItair lock, too, but
it was an almost perfect square. The ceiling and othfrethee walls looked normal, including the door area.
The fourth was blackness absolute.
"Looks like another transfer," Trelig noted. "I hope we get to our koifndair in the next forty minutes."
"Thirty-six," Yulin replied glumly. He'd been checking it every half-minute.
"They're not going to let us die," said Trelig confidently. "They've gtooe mtouch trouble." He stepped unhesitatingly into the blackness, followed Zbiynder, and then Yulin.
Again they experienced that falling sensation, longer this time. Ywuolrirnied about how long it might be and wanted to check the timer, but vision imwapsossible.

They emerged in an identical room. In fact, all three could have swothrneyt'dhagt one no place. That puzzled and disturbed them. Yulin's timer still rcelaodse to thirty-six, which meant that the long fall they'd just taken hadconsumed no time. That was impossible, he told himself. And then he nostliicgehdt -a humming sound, a tiny whine.
And the timer was going up.
"Trelig! We've got power! The electrical system is processing againa!l"mhoest screamed.
The excitement and relief swept over them. Trelig, ever practical, brokmeoothde.
"Remember that we're being manipulated by someone," he cautioned. "They kmnaoyw more than we think. Remember, you, that you're Mavra Chang, pilot, anodnenoelse, and that I'm Renard. Don't ever use any other name again!" The wowrdesre icy, nasty, cutting. "If they question us together, let me do most of thetalking. If separately, tell the truth up to the point where we changeddiot.n'tYokunow who
was in the other ship! Understand?"
Yulin calmed down.
Suddenly the door slid open, and a third kind of creature entered.
They all stared at it, still not used to the changing wonders of the thraeceWs eolfl World. It was a little under two meters tall with a thick, smogortehe, n-skinned body ending in two round, thick legs without apparent joint,supported by broad, flat-bottomed round cuplike feet. Two spindly arms grewa from point just above its midsection and seemed to have smaller divisionstiapts.thTehe head, which sat atop an impossibly thin neck, looked like a grjeaecnk-o'-lantern, with its mouth in a permanent expression of surprise, and twononblinking, almost luminous saucers for eyes. No sign of a nose or earsn,oYteudl.in Atop it all grew a single huge, broad leaf that seemed to have iats liofwe no,f slowly moving toward the strongest light source.
The creature held a piece of cardboard or something similar in tietnstalecflet s, then lifted the board in front of it, angling it so they could rTehaed. message was in standard Confederation plain talk, bearing

out Trelig'ssuspicion that the denizens of this world were far from ignorant of tthheemir noarture. It said, in block-printed crayon:
YOU MAY REMOVE YOUR SUITS. THE AIR IS BREATHABLE. WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED, FOLLOW ME TO BRIEFING.
Trelig accepted the guarantee and pressed the releases to flip bahckelmhiest bubble. He took a breath, and the air was good. Satisfied, he switcohffedthe backpack. The suit collapsed, seemed to
grow and melt into a puddlesyonfthetic cloth at his feet. He helped Zinder do the same. Yulin started to, but suddenly fell horribly nauseous; blood suddenly clogged in his throat, andwrpaacikned him
everywhere.
He collapsed and passed out.
TELIAGIN
In the early afternoon of the third day, the one thing Mavra Changmfoeraeretdhan the rain happened.
They ran out of woods.
Not much, of course. This was pastoral country, and the woods picked upa
akbilomt eter away.
But here was a broad plain, grassy and lumpy, and crisscrboyssesdeveral of the dirt roads, on which

there was a great deal of traffic. Twheaytched from the edges of the clearing as great cyclopses went back and fortht,o and fro, some alone, some carrying large sheepskin bags, some pullingwolaordgeen
carts with hand-carved wooden wheels, laden with all sorts of things.
"Look on the bright side," Mavra told them. "At least we know now webeheanvegno'ting in circles." Renard nodded. "Yes, we're a long ways from where we landed. But are wtehegoriignhgt way?" Mavra shrugged. What was the wrong way? The one that got you caught.caIsne,ththaits might
definitely be the wrong way.
"We could follow the woods to the left for a while," she suggested. "Mcoanynbectist down that road. We've crossed roads before."
someplace
"Don't look like it," Renard observed. He was talking more normally btoudt ahyi,s sentences were shorter and less complex, and he wasn't even thinkinthgosine big words any more.
Mavra Chang sighed. "Then we'll have to stay here until nightfall. Wceans'turceross now with all those creatures there." She didn't like that; althotuhgeh hypno conditioning, renewed the night before, kept the two unaware of thceoirndition, the mental deterioration was becoming evident in Renard and more soin Nikki. Precious hours would mean that much more lost.
"I don't wanna get eaten," Nikki Zinder proclaimed. "You remember that osnaew?weAte that sheep in three big gulps."
Mavra remembered. They would stay hidden until after nightfall, whetnraftfhice
thinned out. She had
no idea whether any of her lethal defenses sbhrea'gdged so much to Renard about would work on those behemoths-and she had ndoesire to try. She wasn't as much of a mouthful as that sheep had been.
They settled down, and all started to doze on and off. They were tiwreodrna;ntdhe sponge effect was also body-wide, although more apparent in tthhoeught processes. The other two tired more quickly, and their coordination wasshot. As for Mavra, she'd gotten very little sleep since before landing on New Pompeii, and fatigue was starting to tell on her. Will power could onlysosusftaari,nand she knew it,

even though she wouldn't admit that to herself. sSlehpet.
Renard awoke first. He'd only been slightly asleep anyway, thanks to Mreasvtr-ain'sducing hypno of
the past nights. He crawled to the edge of the Sptliallina. it would be surceapture to go out there now.
lot of traffic, maybe not as much as before, but
He crawled back. Mavra was so sound asleep she didn't hear him, busttiNrriekdk,i opened her eyes, and looked at him.
"Hi!" she whispered.
"Shhh!" he cautioned, putting his finger to his lips. He ambled over to her.
She looked up at him with slightly dulled large brown eyes. "Do you tchainnk cwroeth it?" she asked. The lisp had appeared as time had worn on.
"Yes, later on," he soothed, and she shifted next to him.
"Renard?"
"Yes, Nikki?"
"I'm thscared."
"We all are," he told her honestly. "We just have to keep going."
"Not her," the girl replied, pointing to Mavra. "I don't think anythingthcscoaurled her."

"She's just learned to live with fear," he soothed. "She knows howscatoredbewithout letting it get to her. You have to do that, too, Nikki."
She shook her head. "Ith's more than that. I don' wanna die, sure, gbouttta-i-fI
searching for the words.
I. . ." She trailed off,
He didn't understand, and said so. She was quiet for a moment, thensafiidn,al"lRy ennie? Will you make love to me?"
"Huh?" The very idea startled him. "I want to have it, do it, juth onincec. aJthueth." There were almost tears in her eyes, and a pleading voice. "Iwdaonnn'a die without doin' it juth onth." He looked over at the sleeping MavraChang, then down at the pathetic girl next to him, and wondered how, in otfhe face certain death, you could still get into bad situations. He thought afbooruta iwt hile, trying to make up his mind. Finally, he decided. Why not? thhoeught. What's the harm? And it was one thing, at least, he could do forsomebody else that he couldn't foul up.
Mavra Chang awoke with a start and looked around. It was dark-she'dslebeepeinng for quite some
time. Suddenly, she had a headache and various oatchheers and pains from sleeping so hard and in one position. Solid sleep.
She looked around, spotted Renard and Nikki reclining, backs against a trbereo.adShe was asleep,
and he was half-asleep, his arm around the plumpMgairvlr.a could see in a moment what had happened; there was little way to clean huepre. It bothered her, and it bothered her that it bothered her. Possibly because she could not understand it.
She turned and crept up to the edge of the clearing. Not much trsaigffnisc oofr traffic now. Occasionally a cart would go by, two torches blazing hforoldmers in its side grotesquely half-illuminating
the strange creature thaptulled it; but clearly traffic was at a minimum. She doubted the cyclopses had good night vision; they seemed mostly inactive after sunset, active fromlighfti.rst

She crept back to the pair, who hadn't moved, and gently woke them upse. eNmiekdki to be calmer, which was good, but worse mentally. Mavra wondered ieffftehcet accelerated despite what Renard had told her, or if it was just mnoorteiceable when you started to get down below the normal level.
"We're about ready to go across," she told them. "We'll go as far astownieghctanto try and make up the lost time."
"We gon' run 'croth?" Nikki asked, sounding almost eager.
"No, Nikki, not run," she replied patiently and slowly. "We will walk salocrwolsys, and nicely."
"But th' big thing'll thee uth!" the girl protested.
"There aren't many of them," Mavra told her. "And if one comes newaer,'ll just lie down and be quiet and wait for it to go away."
Renard looked at Nikki and patted her hand. She liked that, and snugglleidttleuptoahim. "Let's go now, Nikki," he said gently.
They got up and made their way to the edge of the plains. No torchesinorsigchatrtsexcept two dim lights far off in the distance. Probably the samethoant eMavra had seen, going away, she guessed.
"Okay, let's all walk now, nice and easy," she told them, taking rNigihktkih'sand in her left and
Renard's left hand in her right. They started out.
The crossing was almost too easy. The cloud cover had remained, makisnugrrothuendings even
blacker, and there was literally nobody on the roads.
cTrhoesysed the clearing in about twenty minutes
with no problems, and Mavra wishtehdat all her troubles and worries were so easily laid to rest.
But then the rain started. Not a bad rain, or a big storm, but a stethaadtywrasin warm but uncomfortable. It quickly turned the ground into mudsoanakded them through. Nikki seemed to enjoy

it, but it was miserable going, athned trees didn't offer much protection.
Mavra Chang cursed. The mud was becoming deeper and more teacherous, ancdouthldeny't keep going much longer hi this kind of mess. More lost time, witrhuntnimineg out on her.
Then the wind started to pick up, chilling their soaked bodies to thfeorbcoinnge, her hand. She found some shelter, a grove of particularly tall, brtoreaeds growing close together that afforded a measure of dryness, and theysettled down and huddled together for all the good it did.
The next morning dawned brighter and dryer, but only because the cloutdhsinhnaed and it had stopped raining on them. They all looked a mess, mud-cawkiethd, hair tangled and mud-clumped.
Renard was disturbed. "I can't seem to think so good," he told hoebr vwioiuths distress. "I can't seem to think of things any more. Why is Mthavt,ra?"
She felt a consuming pity for the man, but she couldn't answer his qNueikstkioi,n.of course, was even worse. She'd found a mud-puddle and was happlial ying in it, splashing around and making some sort
of mud cakes. She looked
ausp they approached.
"Hi!" she called out. She reached down and picked up a mud pie. "Theemawdhe?a"t I
Mavra sighed and thought fast. A glance at the sun had told her thabteethneym'doving roughly east, but how far and at what angle?
She thought fast about the pair she now had on her hands. Renard wcaapsabslteillof handling himself, but for how much longer? As for Nikki-she swinaksing almost before Mavra Chang's eyes. Something had to be done to keep thuenmder control.
She put them both under quickly, finding she had to choose hercawreofrudlsly so they could follow

her.
"Nikki, you don't remember anything about who you are except that yourisnNamikeki. Understand?"
"Uh huh," the girl acknowledged.
"Now, you'rea very little girla, nd Iam your mommy. You love your momamnyd always do what she says, don't you?"
"Uh huh," the girl agreed.
She turned to Renard.
"Now, Renard, you don't remember anything about who you are or who
Renard. Okay?"
"All right," he agreed.
ownelyarteh,at your name is
"You are Renard. You are five years old and you are my son. I am your amndomyomuy,love your mommy and always do what she tells you. Understand?"
His tone became softer, more childlike. "Yes, Mommy," he replied.
"Good," she approved. "Now, Nikki is your sister. She is younger than yyoouu ahnadve to help her. Understand? You love your sister and have to help her."
"Yes, Mommy," he responded. She turned back to Nikki. "Nikki, Renard ibsigyoburrother and you love him very much. You will let him help you if yoturouhbavlee."

"Uh huh," she responded, very childlike.
Mavra was as satisfied as she could be. She'd done this regressionbetfhoirneg, although under very different circumstances. She had once convinced aartn-museum director that he was her son, and he'd opened the place and shut othffe alarm for her. Even helped her cart stuff out. He thought he was helping his mommy move.
She would have to remember, though, that she was Mommy to two very bdiegfinbiutet children from now on, and act the part.
She brought them out of it. "Come on, children. We have to go now," ssohfetlys. aid
Nikki looked upset. "Ah, p'eathe, Mommy! Can't we pway some more?"
"Not now," she scolded gently. "We have to go. Come on, both of yMouomgmivye
your hands."
They went along for some time. It was difficult at times to control cthilmdreans, despite the
hyp-noed instructions. Kids skipped and played agnednerally acted up, and it took some stern acting and will power to keep thepmretty much in line.
Mavra began to worry that she was wrong after all, that she would neavneyr mseoeuntains and a sign of an end to this strange place. Yet, the terrainbewcoams ing hillier; the rocks were larger, and mostly igneous. They might bfeoothills.
And, suddenly, there they were. Not terribly tall mountains, or grandbuotnews,onderful to see all the same. Gently folded, like great wrinkles in etahreth, they rose up about eight hundred meters from where they stood. As witmh ost folded mountains, though, there were frequent breaks, where streams and ice had eroded passes through the barrier. The lowest and closest of these stwilol urledquire a climb of
about three hundred meters, but the slope was geandle there were many rocky outcrops for rest or shelter. They might make it ovbeerfore dark if they were lucky, she thought.

There were a lot of sheep on the hillsides. She didn't like thatp; laincet,hiws here there were grazing
sheep there was usually one or more giant eoyneed-
shepherds. She debated waiting until darkness, but
she feared any more timloest. She looked carefully around, wishing she could trust them to stwayhileput she did a better reconnoitering job-but she dared not put them toShsleeemp.ight not have any control later.
She decided to chance it. Taking their hands and cautioning them to bteheqyuiesta, rted as quickly as possible across the open area to the first protecotuivtceropping a few thousand meters ahead.
It looked closer than it was, and the "children" were hard to resthraeiyn paasssed close to some grazing sheep. Even as tense as she was, lookinganyforsign of more dangerous life, Mavra reflected how curious it was that such aannimal, so common in her own part of the universe, should be here.
The outcrop loomed near now, and she almost had them running for istpaetedf.ulJlust a few seconds more ... now! Made it!
There was a sudden terrible roaring sound, and they stopped dead. A mshaasspiev,e then two, suddenly rose up in front of them. Two of them! A big maalebiganfdemale, either waiting for them behind the rocks or doing their obwunsiness there. It didn't matter.
Nikki screamed, and they all turned to run, but the creatures, oncrecothveeyred from their initial surprise, reacted very swiftly. A great hand cadmowe n and grabbed the slowest, Nikki, then tossed her like a ripe fruit to tohteher.
The big male came on, catching Mavra first. Although she was fast, tensteopfs hwerere two for the giant cyclops, and she was suddenly in the grip houfgietshands. The female came up behind, took her with amazing gentleness, anwd ent back behind the rocks.
Renard was well away when he heard Mavra cry out, and he turned to sheaed wha
patpened. That
proved to be enough; the great creature caught himsharnudgged off his futile blows. He turned, holding
the man like a large doll, ajonidned his mate in back of the rocks. It was a little camp, obviously a tem- porary shelter for the shepherds in the area. There was a crude but huge lweaono-tdoe,nwith great
straw mats and large, crudely woven wool blankets, anodutasnide barbecue pit of some sort, with hot coals and a rotisserie of smeltierdon over it. Apparently some of them liked their meat cooked; a fresh-killed and skinned sheep was on the skewer. They also saw one of those big cwarotos,deannd it was into this that all three were dropped. Its sides were athlmreoestmeters high.

Mavra looked around. The cart stank of things she didn't want to knowabmouutc, hand there were the remains of dried vegetation and even some of lwoohkaet d like grass-roll. Nikki was huddled in a corner, crying, and Renard didnlo'tok or act much better.
Mavra looked around. The planks offered something of a foothold, ansdtillshhead some of the thief devices in her mud-caked boots. She might be abgleet toout.
She looked around at the other two. She might, but never them. Her vennoom gwooads
at all; she'd
tried both kinds on the two cyclopses, and they heavdenn't noticed the scratch. Possibly their systems were too alien for it, maytbheey were just of such great bulk that it would take more than she could produce to have a real effect. It made no difference. This was the end of thempisrismioanr,yand she
had failed.
She peered out of a crack between the planks that was just barely acctoesshiebrleif she stood on
tiptoe. The female was arguing with the male, thatobwvaisous. There was a lot of bellowing and snorting and hand gestures, some othfem unmistakable.
Finally he seemed to cave in, and went into the lean-to, coming out a lmatoermwenith a large iron screen. Mavra had a sinking feeling, which projvuesdtified. The creature came over, looked in the cart,
gave them a strange soorft
leer, and slammed the heavy screen on top of the cart. He snorted once, then
went away. Pretty soon, there were the sounds of munching and chewing.
Mavra looked at the screen. Its holes were a little too fine for hethrrotougghe, tshe could tell from the cart floor. And it was made of cast iron; wthaesreno way she was going to lift it.
She settled down into a heap, and tried to figure out how to keep froematebne.ing
SOUTH ZONE

Ben Yulin groaned and awoke slowly. He tried to move, but pain shot hthimro.ugHhe could tell he
was in a bed of some kind, that he was naked, and hasdorstomofe blanket over him-but nothing more.
He opened his eyes, then moaned, and closed them again. It took seecvoenradls until he was willing to try it again.
They were still there.
Closest was a large furry creature in a lab coat with what lookedmolidkiefiead stethoscope around its thick neck. The thing looked like nothingmsuoch as a giant beaver, complete with two huge buck teeth in front. Only theeyes were different-they were bright and clear and a deep-gold colorra, daiantded intelligence and warmth. Behind the beaver was the six-armed snaken-mamaned Serge Ortega, looking concerned under his snow-white brush. The plcarnetature was there, too, completing the bizarre scene.
Yulin looked around uneasily, then spotted the figure of Renard, wearingkisnodmeof great cloak tied around his neck, over near the door, looking boTrhedis. seemed to snap him out of it.
The shape and manner was Renard, but the indefinable aura of confidencoentarnodl from the Renard-like figure marked him for Yulin as Antor Trelig. tWhaitthknowledge also came Trelig's final warning, and Ben Yulin tried to reltaox,bring Mavra Chang to the fore.
"Where am I?" he managed, then coughed.
"In a hospital," the strange rodentlike creature replied. Yulin was surptorisneodte that the creature was actually speaking Confederation plain talk-wicthonsiderable difficulty, true, but understandable nonetheless.
The snake-man spoke up, his own Confederation speech clear and perfectM.
u"Dharr.
is an
Ambreza," he explained, at the same time explaining nothing. Steheiisn,ghe added, "There is a hex on
the Well World with your kind of peopliet. iTnhe Ambreza are neighbors. Your people have had a bad

time of it, and thAembreza are used to working with your medical problems. That's why we summoned him."
"What happened to me?" Ben asked, still unable to move.
The Ambreza turned to Ortega, who spoke the required language as if
ibt.orn to
"You collapsed in the Polar Gate," the snake-man reminded him. "When wtheat gsoptacesuit off you,
we found out you were a mess. Black and blue allthorever,ribs broken, one of which, because of your walking so far with it, hdaidslocated so badly it punctured a couple of organs."
"Can you heal me?" Yulin asked, concerned.
The Ambreza clucked. "With a lot of time, yes," it said in a high-vpoiitceh,edsounding like a recording played slightly too fast. "But it will nontecbeessary. We will put you through the Well."
Yulin tried to move, couldn't. Drugs? It made no difference.
"Renard, here, has been filling us in on what's been going on," Orteg"Ya osuaida.ll have been through a lot. I'd like to keep you around a while, buRt ebnoatrhd and Citizen Zinder have a sponge problem, and only the Well can cuthreat. Your injuries are critical. I don't know how you kept going."
Yulin laughed. "Fear. When you're running out of air, the pain just sdeoeemsn'itmportant."
The snake-man nodded. "I can understand that. A good attitude. We had vtoerydoquaick operation
just to save your life, that is, Dr. Muhar anadssohcisiates did. Lifesaving was our only goal, so we went the most direct routeN. ow, I don't want you to panic when I tell you this, because pitermis anetnt,
but right now you are totally paralyzed."
That didn't stop Yulin from starting in shock. Emotions welled up einmsiodteio, ns that may have been
Chang's or his or both. Almost to his own surphreisset,arted crying softly.

"I said the condition wasn't permanent," Ortega assured the stricken hu"Nmoatnh.ing is permanent on
the Well World when you just get here-and sometimesevneont later. Take me. I was a man of your own race, tough and small like yowuh, en I came here. The Well World cures what's wrong with you, but it changes you, too."
Yulin suppressed a sniffle. "What-what do you mean?"
"I was waiting until you came around to brief everyone. I've put thegtoimode utose now, anyway.
Now we know what we've got here, and that is a realniedf oinf itself." He turned to Trelig and nodded. "Bring in the girl."
Trelig went outside for a moment, then brought Zinder in. The conditwioansinhgolding, Yulin noted.
She reacted to the sight of Yulin in that condeixtiaocntly as the real Nikki would have reacted to the real
Mavra.
"As I said, I would like to have kept at least one of you here for swomhilee twimee coordinate our
actions on these new conditions," Ortega continued, "wbiutht
the sponge problem on the two of you and
Citizen Chang's critical nature-wneeed a lot more than this clinic to help you-this isn't possible. As a result, the Embassy Council has decided that you are to be briefed and run throWugehll tahse quickly as possible."
Trelig spoke for the first time. "This is an embassy, then? I guemssuecdh."as
Ortega nodded. "All the Southern Hemisphere hexes have places here, althsomgeh don't use them. It's the only means of intercommunication possible. Thaererefifteen hundred sixty hexes on the Well World. The seven hundred eighstyouth of the Equatorial Barrier -you might have seen that it is really a barrier, too- are either carbon-based life or life that can exicstaribnona-based environment. The
Northern half, the other seven hundred eighctoyn, tain non-carbon-based life. You experienced Uchjin, in the North, and you caanppreciate how different some of the forms are there."
All three of the humans nodded in agreement at that.

"Anyway, let me start at the beginning. The beginning, as far as this pcloancceerned, was a race of beings your people call the Markovians. They wegrereaat race. Looked something like giant human
hearts with six evenly spacetedntacles. Just like human numerology generally was based on five, tens, or twenties, because of the number of digits, their base mathematics was sinxu. mTbheer dominated their
whole lives-which is why we have hexagons, and why athreerefifteen hundred sixty here. Almost a
perfect number for folks who thoughtsiixnes. There is even an idea that they had six sexes, but we'll let that go.
"Anyway, they reached the highest point of physical evolution it is beploiesvseibdle to attain, and, as importantly, they reached the highest levelmoafterial technology possible as well. Their worlds were spread over manygalaxies-not solar systems, galaxies. They'd build a local computer onproongera, m it with everything they could imagine, then put a rock crust on itt.opThoefy built their cities there, and
each Markovian was mentally coupled thtoe local brain. The architecture was only a common frame of reference, for,linked to their computers, they could simply wish for anything they wanttehde and computer did an energy-to-matter conversion and there it was."
"Sounds like a godlike existence," Trelig commented. "What happened to tIhekmno?w a little about the Markovians. They're all dead."
"All but one," agreed Ortega. "Basically, what killed them was sheer borIemdmomor.tal, every wish fulfilled, and they felt as if they were rotting-or missosmingething. The height of material attainment was theirs, and it wasn't enougTh.heir best brains-and what brains they must have been!-got together and finally decided that, somewhere, the Markovian development had taken a wrong turn.deTchideyed that
the race was going to rot and die from paradise, or they cothueldotdhoer thing."
"Other thing?" Ben prompted.
Ortega nodded. "First they built the Well World, the ultimate Markcoovmiapnuter. Instead of a thin
layer of computer in a real planet, the whole pwlaansetone massive computer. If a thin strip could create anything locally, thenimagine a solid planet, about forty thousand kilometers around, of Markovian computer! That's what we're sitting on top of. Then they added the stcarnudsat,rdso we're a little over
forty-thousand kilometers in diameter."
"But why all the hexes, the different races on top?" Trelig asksendakteh-eman.
"That was the next step in the great plan," Ortega replied. "The garretiastaensts of the Markovian race were then called in, all the material pahnidlosophical artists they had. Each one was given a hex to play

with. Each hexis a miniature world. Near the equator, a side runs about three hfuifntyd-rfeivde
kilometers, six hundred fifteen kilometers between opposite siTdehse.y were carefully arranged. And in each one, the artisans were allowedcrteoate a complete, self-contained biosphere, with a single dominant form of lifaend all supporting life for a closed ecosystem. The dominant life, at thweersetart, Markovian volunteers themselves."
"You mean," Trelig put in, aghast, "they gave up paradise to become soemlse'sneplaythings?"
The Ulik shrugged, which was something with six arms. "From sheer botrheedroemwas no lack of volunteers. They became mortal, had to accept the rulethseogf ame as set up by the artisans, and prove it out. If the system did proovuet, the master computer established a world-set for the particular biosphere somewhere in the universe, and then the natives were transferred to itc. oTuhldeyspeed up
time, slow it down, anything. The world they enteredcownassistent with the laws of physics, even if it
was created speeded up. At trhigeht evolutionary moment, zap! The race was inserted. Then a new race was created to replace the one that left, and the experiments started aallgaoinv.e"r
"What you're saying," Yulin commented, "is that we are all Markoviansi.s,Tthhaetir descendants."
Ortega nodded. "Yes, exactly. And the races here now are the last batcihs-,ththate descendants of
the last batch. Some didn't go or want to go, some phraodvne'dt
out, when there became too few
Markovians to supervise the project. Wet'hree byproducts here of the shutdown."
"And these races have lived here since?" Trelig asked.
"Oh, yes," Ortega replied. "And time exists here. You get old, you died. ieSoymoueng, some live longer than you'd think possible, but thereg'senaerational turnover anyway. The population's maintained by the computer-if haex gets too heavily populated, the birth rate goes to a minus for a whloilwe. aToo population from disasters, fights, whatever, and suddenly a sexy racebagcektsup there. The population varies with each hex, of course. Some racesbiagreenough that there are only a quarter-million or so people, others can handluep to three million."
"I don't understand why pests and plagues aren't spread over the pYlauclien,"told him. "And how come there aren't a lot of wars? It would seemraaclieesn on the whole wouldn't like the others."
"That's true," Ortega admitted. "But you might call it good syesntegminseering. Pests there are, but

there are subtle changes in soilatomr ospheric content that tend to inhibit or stop them, also geographical barriers -mountains, oceans, deserts, and the like. As for bacteria and vwiruesehsa,ve them aplenty, but
the various racial systems are just different enotuhgaht microbes that work against one race won't have any effect on another."
He paused for a minute, then remembered the other part of the question.
"As for wars," he continued, "they're not practical. Oh, there arefiglohctsa,l but nothing catastrophic. Hexes are so arranged that the ground rudlieffser. We believe that that was done to simulate the
problems from lack orfesources or somesuch on the various real worlds the people would be going to. As I said, the natural laws had to be maintained. So in some hexes, evweroyrtkhsin. gIn some, there is limited technology-say, steam engines work, beuletctrical generators won't hold a charge. In some only
muscle power will doT.hat's what happened to your ship- it flew into a limited nontech work, and down you came."
wzoonuel,dnit't
Trelig brightened. "So that's what happened! And that's why the powceormdeidon for the time I
needed to get the wings down and window cover up! Wderifhtead over a high-tech hex!"
Ortega nodded. "Exactly."
"But," Yulin objected, "wouldn't a high-tech hex conquer a low-tech one?"
Serge Ortega chuckled. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But, no, it dwooerskn'tthat way. A high-tech hex becomes dependent on its machines, as you wetrhee inNorth. It learns how to maybe make flying machines and fantastic guns ansduch-and then it has to invade a hex where none of that works. And where twohexes of the same type border, well, one is land and the other water, oranone has atmosphere extremely uncomfortable to the other, or something like that.geOnenreal, long ago, did try conquest by allying various kinds of hexes in otordehrave the proper one for each hex fight in the appropriate manner; but hipslan worked only to a point. Some hexes he had to skip for atmospheric conditions or tough terrain or the like, and eventually his supply linesthfeosre arlal ces grew too long to sustain. The unconquered ones chopped him to pieincesthe end. There have been no wars since-and that was over eleven hundred yeaargso."
They were silent for a minute, then Trelig asked, "I know how we gboutt-hyeorue, said you were once one of us. How did you get here?"

Ortega grinned. "We get occasional new arrivals all the time-about a huandyreeadr. When the Markovians left their last planets, they didn't turn off ctohmeipr uters-couldn't. There is a kind of matter transmission-we don't understandit-connecting all the worlds with this one. The last Markovian simply couldn't close the door behind him. It opened whenever someone wanted it to optehno,seanodld brains can't tell a Markovian remote and altered descendant fromreathl ething. So if you really want the door
to open, it will and you windheurpe. In ninety-nine percent of the cases, the people involved didn't even
know about the doors. They just wished they were somewhere else, or somebody
tehlsaet , or
everything was different when they happened to be in the neighborhooddooorf. one-the planet was mostly gone, but just enoruegmhained."
"You knew about them?" Yulin prodded.
aI literally flew through
"No, of course not. I was getting old and I was bored and I could seebunt oathidnrgeary sameness in the future until death claimed me. Youingtertospective when you're a pilot. Pop! Wound up here."
"But how did you get turned into a giant snake?" Trelig asked him, twheithsoliugthtest trace of embarrassment.
Ortega chuckled. "Well, when you first arrive somebody greets you. Ywohua'rtethey call an Entry. They brief you, if they can, then shoot you througWh etlhleGate. It basically processes you into the computer. By a system oclfassification we don't know or understand, the computer then remakes you
into one of the seven hundred eighty races here and drops you into the hex
tnhaattivfeortmo . You get
acclimation thrown in, so you get used to being what yopuretatyre quickly. Then you're on your own."
"But the matter-transmission system is still on," Trelig noted.
"Yes and no," the Ulik responded. "There is usually a Zone Gate and somtweotimines each hex. You can use that to go from your hex to here, South PolaranZdonfero, m here back to your own hex. But should you be ten hexes away andthgrough the Gate, you'll still wind up here-and then back home. The big Welilnput, however, is that alone-you can come here from a Markovian world, gbout bnaoctk. That was done, I suspect, to commit the original volunteers whsoechoandd thoughts. The only other gates are the ones between North and Sozuotnhes, the one you came through. The Uchjin-those creatures you first saw-didnk'tnow who you were, but they knew you didn't belong there or in the Northern Hemisphere. They passed the buck to North Zone, and they sent you down heriet's. Now your turn to go through the Well."

Trelig looked uneasy. "We become something else? Some other creatures?a"idh, euneasily.
Ortega nodded. "That's right. Oh, there's a one in seven hundred eightoyf staoyting what you call human, but it's unlikely. You have to do it. Younohavcehoice. There's no other way out."
They considered that. "Those others-the Entries. Are there... nonhuemnatrnies?"
"Sure!" the Ulik answered. "Lots. Most, in fact. Even somesurpearilses-creatures that are nontech
here, proving that it's easier where thaerey than the problem set for them here. And some high-tech ones we've neverseen. Even the North has a bunch, almost as many as we have. We havceollheecrtieona of
stored spacesuits in forms and sizes you wouldn't believe. Wteheumse occasionally when somebody has
to go north. There's some trade, you knWowe. have tiny translator devices, for example, that are grown in a crystal worludp there that needs iron for some reason only they know. The thingsAnwyobrokd.y
wearing one will understand and be understood by any other ramcea,ttneor how alien."
"You mean there isn't a common language here?" Yulin almost exclaimed.
Ortega gave that low, throaty chuckle again. "Oh, no! Fifteen hundredrasciexst,yfifteen hundred sixty languages. When life and surroundings adriefferent, you need to think differently. When you go through the Well you'lel merge thinking in the language of your new race. Even now I have to ttrhaonusglaht,e,by practicing with other Entries. I've become quite proficient at it."
"Then we'll still remember Confederation." Trelig's words were mostraeteament than a question.
"Remember it, yes," the snake-man replied. "And use it, if your phaynsaitcoaml y permits. A translator causes problems, though. You automatically gtreatns- lated, so managing a third tongue is nearly
impossible. But with taranslator you hardly need it. If your new race uses them, try to
Tgehteyo'rnee.
handy things." He paused, looked at the plant-thing and the Ambseremzai,ng to note some worsening in
Yulin's paralysis. "I think it's time,"choencluded softly.
They nodded, and a second Ambreza came in and two giant beavers movedcarYefuulilnly onto a stretcher.

"But I don't-" Trelig started to protest, but Ortega cut him short.
"Now, you can ask questions forever, but you have the sponge and she hmasore eimn mediate
problems. If you can ever get to a Zone Gate, come bacvkisita.ndBut now, you go." The tone was very insistent. There would be no moarregument. The fact that Trelig and Zinder didn't actually have a sponge problem was beside the point; their own cover story had rushed things.
They came finally to a room similar to the Zone Gate they'd used infrogmettinNgorth to South.
Yulin went in first; he had no choice. He thanked them all, and hwopoeudldhseee them again. Then
the two stretcher-bearers upended the body of MaCvhrang so it fell forward into the black wall. Zinder
looked hesitant and had
btoe coaxed, but then he went. Finally, Trelig was left alone with the curious
assembly of aliens. He was resigned. There was much to be learned, but hwisashafondrced. There would be other times, he told himself.
He stepped into the blackness.
Ortega sighed, turned to Vardia. "Any news of the other ship?" he asked.
"None," replied the Czillian, the mobile plant-creature who had met "tAherme .they as important now as they were?"
Ortega nodded. "You bet. If what those people told me was true, we havfiersts-ocmlases villains up
there, probably on the loose. And two of them knhoewll
aof a lot about Markovian mathematics.
Dangerous people. If they should fianltlo the wrong hands, and that ship were rebuilt so they got back to this NewPompeii and its computer-maybe they could lick the problems. They would cthoentrWolell."
"That's pretty far-fetched," the Czillian objected.
Ortega sighed. "Yeah, but so was a funny little Jew named Nathan Brayziol,u arnedmember what he turned out to be." The plant-thing bowed, the equivaleant noofd. "The last living Markovian," it breathed.

"I wonder why this crisis hasn't attracted him?" Ortega mused.
"Because it's our crisis," Vardia replied. "Remember, to the Well thias pisrno'bt lem at all."
NEAR THE TELIAGIN-KROMM BORDER, DUSK
A tiny figure moved silently down on the side of the mountain and wjaosinesodonby a second, then a third. A few others hovered nearby on silent wings.
"There they are!" one whispered, pointing down below to the sheplheearnd-'sto and cart where Mavra
Chang, Renard, and Nikki Zinder were trapped.
"Amazing they made it this far," another whispered.
The first one, the leader, nodded in agreement. Unlike the cyclopsesn, igthhetirvision was extremely good. Although they could see in daylight, alpboeoitrly, they were basically nocturnal. The scene was
bright and sharp and cletaor
them.
One looked over to where the two cyclopses were sleeping, snoring loudly.
"Big mothers, aren't they?" it said softly.
The leader nodded. "We'll have to sting them, and quickly. At least twforoefacuhs
one, more if

possible. I don't think we can juice them too mucshafefotyr's sake."
"Will the venom work?" one asked.
"It'll work," the leader responded confidently. "I looked it up befolreeft."we
"I wish guns worked here," the doubter persisted. "It's still risky."
The leader sighed. "You know this is a nontech hex. Percussion typewmorikg,htbut we didn't have time to ransack museums and collectors." There wpaasuase, as if the leader sensed it was now or never. Troops are always better ahcition than waiting for it.
"Jebbi, Tasala, and Miry, you take the bigger one. Sadi, Nanigu, andtakIewtihlle other one. Vistaru, you take Bahage and Asmaro with you and see ywohuatcan do for the captives. The others stay loose and available. Come hainyplace you're needed if you have to."
They nodded to one another. The ones on the mountainside launched themgsrealcveefsully into the air, and the teams split off to their respective missions.
Mavra Chang was asleep. She'd crawled up to that grate a hundred timeeaschantidme had almost fallen, her traction breaking before she budged the damthniendg one centimeter. She had put the other two to sleep to stop their whinainngd then fallen asleep herself.
Suddenly she heard a noise, as if something fairly heavy had landed onthetopgraotfe. The noise
woke her, and, for a brief moment, she was confused. sTuhdedne,nly, she remembered where she was and looked up. There was definitesloymething large standing on the cart, but the grating made it impossible to seejust what.
"Hu-man? You hear me, hu-man?" a strange, soft voice whispered. Ihteawvailsy accented in a most

exotic way, high and light, a sexy small womvaonic'se.
"I hear you!" Mavra Chang responded, hope rising within her, in wahliosupder-as loud as she dared. "We are pooting the beeg theengs to sleep, human," the creature told hreera. d"eBeeto be took out." Mavra strained her eyes, trying to see what her rescuer looked likew, absutimitpossible to see
anything-just a blob of light against the greater dark.
There was a sudden roar. The big male cyclops had awakened, and ahgeitawteads
and mad. He
swore a thousand growling oaths, then gave something tchoaut ld only be a cry of pain. She could hear the sound of a great falling boedvyen as his mate roared, yelled, and was, after a time, also felled.
Mavra Chang wondered what sort of monsters could fell such huge and pocwreeartfuurles so easily.
There followed the sound of more of them landing on the grate. Tithsealtf,, inwas strange-the grate was big, but not that big.
She heard them talk-a strange language that sounded like a processsiowneeotf bells and tiny chimes. It bore less relationship to a language thangrtuhnets and snorts of the sort the cyclopses had-a very beautiful but mositnhuman sound.
There was the sound of activity, and Mavra could hear the sounds ohfanmdasnydoing things around the grate, and the tinkling of those strange vogiicveisng orders in wonderful music.
The one that knew Confederation, at least basically, returned.
"Hu-man? How manee is down t'ere of you?"

"Three!" she called back, certain that the old threat, at least, wloansgenro a factor. If it were, these creatures wouldn't be here. "But two daruegged into sleep," she warned them.
A figure, seemingly a very small one, covered part of the grate, pee"rOinhg, iyne. s! I see now," the creature managed. Speaking the strange language woabsviously a real problem for her. "We weel have to pool the grate away frotmhem, so you get ovar near t'em, yes?"
Mavra did as instructed. "Here all right?" she called.
"Is fine," the creature responded, and it was gone. No, it didn't gectrauwpl oorff, she decided. It just went away. She wondered more and more whatrehsecruers were. It didn't matter. Anything was better than what she had, and leaat st one of them could speak her language, and they were obviously there to undertake a rescue.
There was a pulling and tugging. The grate moved a little, then settleddowbna.ckThey had obviously tied ropes or something to the thing and were tryipnugll toit away, but they were having difficulty with the weight. The bells ancdhimes grew much more intense. Mavra wondered if they were cursing or something. Even if they were, it sounded wonderfully melodic. They gave it anothTehrertrey.suddenly seemed to be a lot of them, judging from the amount of tbineklllsinsghe could hear, and they were obviously all on this one.
A sudden, loud, single low note and they all pulled. The grate went
sutpra, igrohsteup and balanced
on the far edge. For a moment Mavra was afraid it wfaolulldback down, and she understood why they had had her move. But their tuggcinogntinued, and the grate finally toppled outward and fell to the ground with aclanging sound.
The shape returned above, then slowly seemed to float down into thuenticlairtt stood on the floor not a meter in front of her, visible even hdiatrhkeness with Mavra Chang's night vision.
It was a tiny woman, a girl really, looking no more than nine or tenm; eatbeorutalal, and finely and delicately featured, perfectly proportioned. Mavdraecided in an instant that this was no child but a full-grown adult.
She was very thin and light, weighing certainly no more than twfeilfvteentokilograms, if that. There were two very tiny breasts, almost undevelopbeudt somehow right. The face was the picture of girlish

innocence, youthful andangelic-almost the perfect face, she thought.
Then, suddenly, the girl seemed to glow. The light was real. It illumthienaetendtire interior and seemed to radiate from all parts of her body, a goglldoewn that was incredible and inexplicable.
In the brightness the rest of the details of the newcomer became shacrlepara.nIdts skin was reddish hi color, a pale echo of the glow; its sheaeimr, ingly cut and styled, was set in a pageboy, the strands
blue-black. Two tinyears, both sharply pointed, jutted out from either side of her head, aenydes her seemed to have an eerie quality, like a cat's, reflecting back theFrloimght.her back, in neat pairs, grew four sets of wings, proportionately largethteo body and totally transparent. The creature smiled, and walked toward MavraChang, palm up in greeting. As it moved forward there was a slight scraping sound. Mavra saw that it came from something very rigid extending frobmackhbeorne down to the floor itself. The protuberance was a much darker red tthheangirl's complexion, and came to a nasty-looking point that made a slight mairnk the wood.
" 'Allo, I am Veestaroo," the creature said, and Mavra knew it was thoenesawmheo had spoken to her earlier.
"Mavra Chang," she responded. She looked at the still sleeping others.ta"llThoene is Renard, the fat one is Nikki."
"Reenard," the creature repeated. "Neekee."
Mavra didn't know if what she was about to say would mean anythingcretoatutrhee, but she had to try. "They are on a drug called sponge," sheVtiosltdaru. "They are pretty far gone and need help fast. They can no longer hetlhpemselves."
The creature's expression turned grim. She said something to herself ninatihve language, which,
Mavra saw, came partly from within her and partly frcoemrtaian way that the wings were moved. There was no doubt, though, that twheoman knew what sponge was.
"We weel have to get t'em" far away fast," Vistaru told her. "And t'evyeraeree hseoavee."

Mavra understood the problem. It must have taken all of them to
grattethoatff.
"I can get out on my own," she told the creature. "Maybe I can beheolfp soumtseide."
The woman who could fly nodded, and Mavra started up the sides of sthhee kcnaertw so well with speed that astonished the creature. Climbing up overtotph,e Mavra did a flip and landed on the ground with a bouncy ease learned frojmumping off two-storey ledges. She looked around, wishing again that her powerpack worked.
The sky had cleared a little, and some of the light from the great cglluosbteurlsarshone down, giving the scene an eerie glow.
She saw the two cyclopses lying there, one almost on top of themottihoenrl,ess. They appeared to
be dead, but she couldn't be sure. No matter wshheath, ad new respect for those hard things that just had to be stingers. Thesliettle girls packed a real wallop.
There were quite a number of rescuers-fifteen or twenty, anyway. They fslioleantetldy around, having
no respect at all for the laws of gravity. Their
mwiandges a slight humming sound that you could hear if
you were close enough, but aanty distance at all they were silent. They took to the air as their natural element-flitting, then hovering, then going off in another direction. Someuwsinegre their internal light
sources now, and showed themselves to be a rainbocwolorfs. Some were reds and oranges, some greens, blues, browns, everything, ansdome were very dark while others were very light. Otherwise they all lookedexactly alike. Some carried packs strapped to their bellies, obviouslsyoutrhcee of the rope
they'd used.
Mavra turned from them back to the problem of the cart. If it could btheatupwsoetu,ld be easiest.
But how to do it? She called to Vistaru, who fleoaastielyd
up out of there and over to her.
"Can you hook the ropes to this side of the cart?" she asked the c"Mreaatyubre. if most pulled and a few of you and I pushed from the other side weucposeutldit."
Vistaru considered that, then floated up to a bright-blue companion hovoevreinrhgead. They talked in
that music of theirs. The blue one hadn't turned
ownitsillumination, but Vistaru exposed both, and
Mavra saw with some surpristheat it was a male. A male who, except for that one organ, seemed absolutely identical to the females. She thought of Renard. The perfect form for him,reMfleacvtread.

Vistaru returned. "Barissa say no, too moch dan-gar," she told the h"uTm'earne. is bettar way. Is latch on cart back, see?"
Mavra sighed and walked to the rear of the cart. There was a latcwh,ooad-baingd-iron one, there obviously for loading sheep or something. Two ofcrtehaetures were working on it.
Mavra turned to Vistaru. "What are you called?" she asked.
"I tol' you. Veestaroo," she responded.
Mavra shook her head. "No, no. I mean all of you. The"-she strugglewdorfdor oather than creature
-"whole race of you."
The tiny pixie nodded understanding. "We are Lata," she said. "At lte'aatseids , what it comes out een Confedera-tion," she added. "My name be," thweraes a series of bell tones, "and the people be," more tones, "in our talk."
Mavra nodded, and saw just how hard it was for the Lata to tapkp.arSehnetly strained to translate every word and remember its pronunciation, aitndwas obvious that neither the grammar nor anything else was common between thheuman language and theirs.
Vistaru seemed to sense this concern. "Not worree," she assured the h"uWmeanw. eel get t'em to help in time. An' we weel be a-ble to talk more bseoto-tna.r"
Mavra wondered what that meant but let it pass. The first order of bwuasisneRsesnard and Nikki;
after that, there would be tune for her own problems.
They managed to throw the latch, and it fell out and hit the groundw. aTs haeresudden sharp series of bell tones which even Mavra interpreted aws aarning. The two Lata hovering at the top of the cart pushed the back with aanudible whack. It fell away and crashed down, forming a ramp. Pretty good

bulges for hand-forging, Mavra noted.
She helped three Lata remove the unconscious bodies from the cart. Thme aLlea,taBarissa, came
over to her and motioned to Vistaru. He said somethihnegr,toand she nodded and turned to Mavra, who was thinking that sexucahl aracteristics among the Lata weren't very pronounced.
"He say you can wake t'em op?" the translator asked.
Mavra nodded, and they watched in some surprise as she pricked each thoenme owfith her nail.
"Nikki, can you hear me?" she asked.
The girl nodded, eyes still closed.
"You will get up and walk with me," she instructed. The girl opened hgeort euynecse, rtainly to her feet, and stood there. "You will walk when I walkstoapndwhen I stop and sit when I sit," Mavra instructed.
She did the same to Renard, noting with satisfaction that Nikki repeateevderhyermovement, about a meter away.
This seemed to excite the Lata. They tinkled and chimed all over.
cVaimstaeruup to her.
"How you do t'at?" she asked. "T'ey want to know if you have stihnagnadrss."in
"Sort of," Mavra replied, and they started off.

The trip was fairly easy. Mavra discovered that the top of the mountainwarsanagleso the border between the cyclopses' hex, which the Lata called Teli"abgeicnous' t'at is its name," and the hex called Kromm. The change was amazinTg.here was still a chill in the air from the rain, and the wind had picked up tounpleasant proportions when they reached the border. No lines, guardses,ntoinrels stood there;
not even a sign to mark the spot, yet one knew it wboarsdethr.e It was like passing through a curtain.
Suddenly the air was thick and muggy; it was so humid that Mavra was incovpersepdiration in minutes. Insect sounds, vague and faint in Teliagin, walemreost overpowering here, as if someone had suddenly cut on a giant loudspeakTerh.e air seemed thick, oddly scented, and slightly wrong somehow.
"Not worree," Vistaru assured her. "Deeferent, yes, but t'at is all. Intotwheeulrt you."
Maybe not, Mavra thought, but it was turning the caked mud back to reaanldmthued, ground itself got progressively moist, the vegetation almost jungle-laiksethey descended. At the bottom of the mountain was a swamp that seemedsttroetch in all directions. The water didn't appear very
deep-perhaps fiftycentimeters-but it was dark and dank and foul-smelling and almost certaindlyeehpid spots. The water seemed to be stagnant, and smelled it. Mosesvewryaws here.
"Do we have to walk far through this?" she asked the Lata. "You canwfelyc, abnu'tt."
"Onlee short ways," the pixie assured her. "lost keep in back of me."
With that the creature turned her light back on- she apparently didnto't hliakvee it on all the time, and they had all taken turns in lighting the watyhefmor-and did a very nice imitation of walking on top the water. Mavra knew shwe as flying, somehow, but the effect was doubly eerie. She hovered so close to the surface that the Lata's stinger occasionally made a wake in the water.
The mud became terrible, and the water did get deeper, deep enough soseethpaetd itinto her boots and made them feel awful. Oh, well, what the heltlh, osuhgeht philosophically. Back to your beginnings.
They walked through the stuff for about an hour, until Mavra began ttohat isnhke was becoming one with the swamp. She was even beginning to get ustehde toodor, and that worried her. The thick
growths thinned out. Even so, thewreas one last indignity, an underwater vine that caught her, and she

went facedown into, fortunately, very shallow muck.
Dutifully, Renard and Nikki, who had not tripped on anything, fell facetodoo,wann,d it took a little effort to collect herself and get them up beforedtrhoewyned.
She used some of the water to get the muck out of her eyes, nose, anadndm, owuitthh,
Lata help,
cleaned off the other two. It wasn't much of a cleathnoinugh. They all looked more monstrous than any creature they'd yet seen on tWheell World. Even her gift from Trelig, her horse's tail, was so mud-caked it felt like there was somebody sitting on her rear end.
Finally everything cleared. It was a strange transformation-from horsrwibalemp to calm sea. Vistaru
told her to wait, and one Lata, probably Barissa, sweehmoed to be the leader, took off for what looked like a far-off clump oflfoating bushes.
The sea, if it was a sea, was strangely beautiful. The sky was clearthdeesoppipteressive humidity, and
the great sky of the Well World, with its mgruelatitcolored gas clouds and bright stars, reflected an eerie and yet magicagl low on the waters.
Suddenly she looked over to her left, sure she detected movement. ShSehedisdt.ared in new wonder
as one of the large clumps of bush seemed to breakanadwanyow head toward them, a bright-blue light shining atop it. The light, skhneew, was Barissa.
The bush proved to be a giant flower. It looked like a huge rose,flacnlokseedd,by a great, thick green membranous platform.
Barissa smiled and said something. She turned to Vistaru.
"He say ol' Macham is sleepee and grumblee bot he know the pro-blemwaenedl thaek you and the othars."
Mavra looked again at the creature. It was a bright orange, or wouldwbeere iffuiltly opened. From
the center of the closed flower rose two stalks,gilaiknet stalks of wheat. Following the Lata's lead, she stepped up onto the greebnase of the creature. Nikki and Renard followed, and imitated her when she

sat down, cross-legged, on the edge. Vistaru came over to her.
"We will balance and take a break too. You just sit and ride. I hopegeytoueasneoet dizzee."
Mavra barely had tune to wonder about that remark when she discovefrueldl fiotsrce. The creature spun around slowly, then started moving out acrossquthieet lake. It seemed to move by this circular motion, and while the movemewntasn't tremendously fast, it was somewhat unsettling. Closing her eyes helped alittle, but her inner-ear balance still conveyed the motion. She began feleiltitnleg naauseated.
After an hour or so she was simultaneously wishing shedweaedreand afraid she was dying. She was very seasick.
Dawn broke after what seemed like an eternity. She continued gaogcgcinasgionally and watched the two hypnoed people, whom by this time she envimieidta, te her. Vistaru walked calmly around to her.
"You are steel sick?" she asked needlessly.
"You better believe it!" was all Mavra Chang could manage.
The Lata radiated concern. "Not worree much more. We are almos' t'ere."
By this point Mavra didn't care if they ever got "t'ere," whereverw"at'se,reb"ut she managed to look around her for the first time.
They were no longer alone.
All over, by the thousands, other flowers were moving, spuming, dancinggreiant
aballet on the
waters. They created a myriad of colors and ccoolmorbinations, graceful and particularly resplendent now that they opened to tbhreilliant rays of the sun. In other circumstances, Mavra might even have enjoyed the show.
The Krommian they rode was slowing now, to her considerable relief. hIta,dtooop,ened over them,

forming a curtain of brilliant browns and oranges. gTrehaet stalks, she realized, were eyes-long, oval,
curious brown eyes with blacpkupils that looked so strange it was as if a cartoonist had drawn them on. They were independent of one another and sometimes looked in different directionthse. Ocofre, the
"head" of the creature, little could be seen. A pburilgphyt-yellow mass, it appeared, more like thick
straight hair than the centoerf a flower. The spuming had slowed enough now that she actually managed to wonder if these creatures were really plants or some sort of exotic animal.
The creature finally stopped spinning entirely and drifted slowly toswoamrdething. This didn't stop the rest of the world from spinning, but it helpgerdeaat deal. They had traveled a great distance, that was for certain. Whatevermeans of locomotion these-people?-used, it shot them in the directionwtahnetyed
to go at many times their rate of spin.
Mavra crawled around slightly, making sure that her imitators wouldno'tfffadlloing the same, and
looked in the direction they were drifting. She csoeueldan island-a tall but not very large rock outcrop in the middle of the seTa.here appeared to be an artificial cave of some sort in the face, jet-black and without perspective.
She suddenly realized it was a black hexagon.
Vistaru came around. "We dock up close to the Zone Gate," sheenigsmaidatically. "You most tell the othars to go in the Gate." She pointed torapthidely approaching blackness.
"Not me?" she asked.
The pixie shook her head. "No, not now. Latar. The Krommeen ambassadar tosayyonuofor now."
Mavra nodded toward the huge cave or hole or whatever it was-it cluoroikoeudsly two-dimensional. "That thing will help my friends?"
Vistaru nodded. "It is a gate. It weel tak' t'em to Zone. Tey weetlhrboeugphutthe Well of Souls. T'ey will become people of t'is planet, like me."
Mavra considered this. "You mean-it'll change them into Lata?"

The creature shrugged. "Maybee. If not Lata, sometheeng. No more spMonegme.ory back, all bet-tar."
Mavra wasn't quite ready to accept that, but she had to act as iftruite.wIetrewas certain she couldn't help them.
Seeing Mavra's doubt, and realizing it came from ignorance of the Well aWndoriltds principles, Vistaru said, "Evereebodee who come from othar world t'ety'rugothe Well. Come out all changed. Even me. I once as you. Went t'ru Wweolkl,e up as a Lata."
Mavra almost believed her now. It explained why the creature knelwanghuearge. But that brought up another question.
"Why not me, too, then?" she asked.
Vistaru shrugged. "Ordars. Tey say you are not Mavra Chang. Tey say yosuorstomofe bad person."
Mavra opened her mouth in surprise, then closed it again. "rTidhiactu'slous!" she exclaimed. "Why would they-whoever they are-think somethinligke that?"
Vistaru shrugged. "T'ey say t'ey already met Mavra Chang, and ReenardN,eaenkdee. T'ey say you are fakars."
Mavra started to respond, then thought better of it and sat down. She waass hmelal.d It was the crowning touch to her being on this crazy world in thpelafciers.t
Somebody was going to pay for this.

SOUTH ZONE
"They certainly look like the same people," Vardia said in some amazement.
Serge Ortega nodded, looking at the two nearly comatose people lying folonorthhei front of him. "That they do. Doctor?"
They were in the Zone clinic, and Dr. Muhar, the Ambreza who lookegdialniktebaeaver, was examining Renard and Nikki Zinder.
"I wish I knew what kind of drug they'd been administered," the doct"oIr'vseainde.ver seen anything quite like it. But it's brain-localized; the oitnhfeerction isn't."
Ortega's busy eyebrows went up. "Other infection?"
The Ambreza nodded. "Oh yes. It seems to have infested every cell
boof dtiheesi.r Some sort of
enzyme, it looks like, and quite parasitic. Thereeviidsence of tissue breakdown everywhere, and it's continuing at a fairly steadryate. Would you recognize this sponge if you saw it?"
The other two both shook their heads in the negative. "We have both seeffeenctstheof it, long ago," Vardia told the physician, "but the pure stuff, uandmericroscope, no."
Just then there was a commotion near the door. It opened, and a creatutorethneewgroup stood there.

It was about 150 centimeters tall, and stood on two thick but joteintlaecslses. It had some to spare- three more pairs, going up its midsection. Esaecehmed to have a cleft at its end, capable of picking up something much as ma itten might-or coil around, with the full forward part of the tentsatcoleo.d Iton the rear pair, but needed at least four to walk toward them. Iwtsasfacberoad, with close-set, broad nose
and flaring nostrils and two rounded etyheast looked like large velvet pads of glowing amber. Its mouth had adislocatable jaw, and inside it was coiled, Ortega knew, a long and rotopnegliukee that could be
used as a ninth prehensile organ. It had two areeaisthoenr side of its head like saucers, and they were slightly offset from thheead, yet seemed able to open and close on joints.
But as the creature entered the room, all else paled before the greatlikweinagsg, iant butterfly's, along its entire back, the wings of brilliant oraanngde spotted with concentric brown rings.
Both Vardia and the Ambreza stepped back a bit at this entrance. Ortengoa shuacdh feelings, although its grim visage was frightening, almost menacNinegi.ther of the others had ever seen a Yaxa before, but Ortega had. He even kntehwis one. He slithered up to the newcomer.
"Wooley!" he boomed. "I'm very glad you could come."
The creature remained coldly distant, but it responded, "Hello, Orteglao.o"kIetd over at the comatose bodies of Renard and Nikki. "Are those the ones?"
Ortega nodded, all business suddenly. "Dr. Muhar has some cell tissue thuendmericroscope. Can you look into it or should we project it?"
The Yaxa walked fluidly over to the microscope, peering at the samploenewiothf those impossible padlike eyes.
"It's sponge," the creature said. "No doubt about it." It turned itbsacgkazteo the two people on the beds. "How far advanced are they?"
"Five days with no dose," Ortega told it. "What would you say?"
The Yaxa thought a moment. "Depends on how they started out. Tdhetecreiollration isn't far along,

but the mind goes first. If they were aroauvnedrage intelligence, they should be a lot brighter than the
village idiot-forabout another day or two. Then the animal-reversion stage sets in. They bgerceoamt e naked apes. I'd run them through the Well as soon as possible. Now."
"I agree," Ortega told it. "And I appreciate your coming all this watyhist.o" do
"They're from the new moon?" the Yaxa asked, its voice, even throutgrahnstlhaetor, cold, sharp, emotionless.
Ortega nodded. "And if they're real we got big trouble. That means fwooelegdotby an earlier set of duplicates, at least one of which was the heathdeosfponge syndicate and the other two of whom know the principles of operatintghe Well."
For the first time the creature showed emotion. Its voice was harsh, e"xTchiteedh.ead of the sponge syndicate? And you let it slip through you like that?"
Ortega turned all six palms up. "We didn't know. They looked just likeHothwemw.as I to know?"
"It's true," Vardia put in. "They were so nice and gentlceivialnizded-particularly that one," it gestured at Renard.
The Yaxa almost spit. "Agh! Fools! Anybody without sponge that long hwaovueldshown signs! You should have known!"
"Come on, Wooley!" Ortega chided. "You're a fanatic, and with good rBeausto, nh.ell, we weren't expecting this sort of thing. Everything's been more athalinttle crazy around here lately."
The great butterfly's nostrils opened, and it actually snorted. "Oh,Trhuesltl. you to screw things up anyway." It turned its great head, apparentlysoomn e kind of ball joint for a neck, and looked straight at him. "Give me thbeastard's name. He won't always be so clever. One of these days I'll gYeot uhim.
know that."

Serge Ortega nodded, knowing that nothing could stop Wooley except dSeoaotnhe. r or later, if that man surfaced at all, it would nail him.
"Antor Trelig," he told the Yaxa.
The creature nodded its great, strange head as if filing the informTahteionn.it said, "I've got to get
back home. A lot's going on. You will hear mfreo,mthough." And, with that, it turned, not easy in the clinic's space withthose great wings, and went out the door.
"Good heavens!" Vardia managed. "Who is that?"
Ortega smiled. "Somebody you used to know. I'll tell you sometime. Nohwavewme ore urgent work to do. We have to get these two through the Well,haavned tIo talk to the Council."
There was no Council chamber for the ambassadors. All communication wasthdrooungeh intercoms,
both for diplomatic reasons and to make it easieerveornybody. There wasn't much room for everybody, anyway.
Ortega summarized the events to date, adding, "I've put out tracers foirnst thbeatch, and I hope that anyone will report their whereabouts if they appinearyour hex. All Entries are to be checked out. These people are tricky ahsell."
The speaker cracked to life. "Ortega?" said a metallic, toneless voice.is"TRhoisbert L. Finch of The
Nation."
Ortega couldn't suppress a chuckle. "I didn't know The Nation had nameresm,"ahrkeed, remembering them as communal-minded robots.

"The Nation has its Entries, too," Finch replied. "When it is mcoanttceersrning such, the appropriate persona is selected."
Ortega let it go. "What's your problem, Finch?"
"The woman, Mavra Chang. Why have you left her with the Lata? Not playlittlge agnaymes again, are you, Ortega?"
Ortega took a deep breath. "I know she should be run through the Wsehlel, wanildl be, sooner or
later. Right now she is more useful in her original tfhoermo-nly such Entry on the Well. I'll explain all in due course."
They didn't like it, but they accepted it. Other questions followtoerdre, nat, mostly irrelevant. The tone
of many was the usual, "it's not pmroyblem," and Ortega got the impression that others were not being very straightforward. But, he'd done his duty, and that was that. The meeting ended.
Vardia, the Czillian plant-creature, had sat in in Ortega's office. needed to know that they didn't already.
Except one.
wThasenre't anything its people
"What about that Chang woman, Ortega?" Vardia asked. "What's the real under wraps."
yreoaus'oren keeping her
He smiled. "Not under wraps, my dear Vardia. All six hundred thirtyr-asecvesenwith Zone embassies know she's with the Lata. She's bait-a recognizaobbljeect that could smoke out our quarries."
"And if they don't take the bait?" Vardia prodded. "The fact that fushlley'sqaualified space pilot still in a form that would be best for operatinspgacaeship wouldn't have anything to do with your thinking, would it?"

Ortega leaned back comfortably on his long coiled body. "Now isn't tihntaetreasnting idea!" he responded sarcastically. "Thanks for the suggestion!"
If there was a sincere, honest, or straightforward bone in Serge Omneagssai'sve body, nobody had found it yet.
Vardia decided to change the subject. "Do you think they'll do it-repEornttritehse, that is?"
Ortega's expression grew grim. "A few might. Lata, Krommians, DilliCanzsil,lians, and the like. Most won't. They'll either try to bury them-whwicohuld be a mistake on their part they'll live to regret, I suspect-or they'll goalong with them. Team up any of thwemith an ambitious, greedy government, and you've got the nucleus of that war I spoke about. An aalnlidanacepilot to fly the ship. Even a
scientist who might be able to help putpitehcees back together." He shifted slightly, turned to face the Czillian squareon, and said: "And as for Mavra Chang-if we've got her, we have some cownetroplu. tIf her through the Well, they've got her. No fuel for the fire yet, mIty's dgeoainr.g to get hot as hell all by itself without the likes of you and pmouering oil on it."
MAKIEM
He awoke and opened his eyes. for a moment, he was confused, disorTiehnintegds. didn't quite look right, and it took him half a minute to rememberhwadhaht appened and what was supposed to happen.
He had walked into that blackness in the wall, and there had beenseansaotidodn, like being
wrapped in someone's embrace-warm, probing, emotionalt;hiang he had never felt before. A drifting, dreaming sleep, except that hceouldn't remember the dreams- only the fact that most, perhaps all, had been about himself.
I'm supposed to be something else, he remembered. Changed into one ofwethirodsecreatures, like
the snake-man or the plant-thing. It didn't bother
rheiamll,y, that he was to become something else; what

he had become, however, wousldhape his plans for the future.
There was something strange about his vision, but it took him tahinlikttilneg to realize what it was. For one thing, depth perception had increasderdamatically; everything stood out in sharp relief, and he had
the strongfeeling that he knew to the tenth of a millimeter how far one thing was
afrnodmfrhoim
anything else. Colors also seemed brighter, sharper; contrasts, beottwheen slightly different shades of the same color and between light and dwarekr,e markedly improved. But, no, that really wasn't what mattered, either.
Suddenly he had it. I'm seeing two images! he thought. There was almeiogshttya-ndegree panorama on both sides; peripherally, he could almost see in obfachkim. But straight ahead there was a blank
spot. Not a line or a dividerw; aist
simply that what was absolutely dead ahead was barely out of his
range ofvision. His mind had to be forced to recognize the lapse, or he wasn't cof sicti.ous
There was movement to his right, and reflexively his right eye shlittled tao catch what it was. A large insect of some kind-very large, the sizae mofan's fist-buzzed overhead like some small bird. It took him a little motrieme to realize that he'd moved the right eye independent of the left.
He put both eyes as far forward as possible. He seemed to have a ssonmouet koinf d; his mouth was large and protrusive. He was conscious that he rwesatisng comfortably, almost naturally, on all fours,
and he raised his hand
tuop his right eye to see it.
It was an odd hand, both strangely human and yet not. Four very long fwinegbebrsedand an opposable thumb, each terminating in what appeared to be a ssumckaellrlike tip where the fingerprint would be. Looking carefully, he saw tthhaetre was a print pattern inside the sucker. His hand and arm were a deeppea-green in color, with brown and black spots here and there. The skintolouogkhedand leathery, like the skin of a snake or other reptile.
That's what I must be, he decided. A reptile of some sort. The landscacperetaiwnlays right for it:
jungle-like, with lush undergrowth and tall trees athlmatost hid the sun. What looked for all the world like a gravel-topped road cutthrough the dense vegetation. It was a road, and very well maintained, too. In thick brush like this, one would have to have road crews working conesvtaenrytlyhundred kilometers or
so to keep the natural foliage back from the cleaareread.
He had just decided to go over to the road and follow it to whatevefrorpacsivsieldization when another of those large insects came by, perhaps two moertemrsore in front of him. Almost without thinking, his mouth opened andtreamendously long tongue, like a controllable ribbon, shot out, struck

the insect, and wrapped itself around the thing. Then it was retracted inmtouhthis, and he chewed and swallowed it. It didn't have much taste, but the ifneslet cstolid and went down well, and it helped the hungry ache inside him. Hreflected curiously on his own reactions, or lack of them. It was a natural, normal thing to do, and it had been done automatically. The concept of leivateinignsaect didn't even
bother him that much.
The Well World changes you, all right, in many ways, he thought. Andwyaset-shtiell Antor Trelig, inside. He remembered all that had transpired raengdretted none of it-except flying too low over the
Well World. Even that migbhet
turned to ultimate advantage, he told himself confidently. If such power
could be harnessed in the service of those best able to use it, ohniems selilkf,e it mattered not what form
he was in or what he ate for breakfatsht.e IWf everything wastransitory.
ell World had taught him nothing else, it taught him that
I wonder how I walk? he mused, chuckling at the absurdity of the qWueestlilo, nt.he eating had taken care of itself, probably that would, too.
He eyed the road and started forward. Much to his surprise, his legsgrgeaavtekaick and he was to it, unerringly, in two large hops-coming down afterfitrhset one in a smooth, fluid motion that already had him set for the next leaapn,d coming to rest in the loose gravel with no rolling, unbalandcisec,omorfort.
It was fun, really-like flying, almost.
He tried just walking, and found that, if he used all fours, he could itmwanitahgesome effort, like a waddle. Jumping, or hopping, was the normal modleocoofmotion for this race; walking was for the local stuff too short for a hop.
He looked both ways. One direction was as good as the other, he decideedn;dsbootfh the path disappeared into the thick growth. He picked one and stoafrft.edIt didn't take long to come upon some others. He saw them from a grdeiasttance off, once he realized that a lot of the rustling he'd heard in the upper trees wasn't just birds and insects.
Ahead was a grove of giant trees almost set off from the rest of thae sfmoraelslt,lake to one side. There were houses in those trees-intricate structuwreosven between the branches out of some straw or bamboolike material that almosctertainly grew in the marshes.
One of the creatures appeared in the lower doorway of one of the lhookseeds, around for a moment, then stepped out and walked down the almnionsetty-degree angle of the trunk to the ground! Trelig understood now what thosuction cups were for. Very handy.

The creature resembled nothing so much as a great giant frog, iitnscrledgisbly long when stretched
out for walking, a light and smogortheenish-brown texture from the lower jaw down to the crotch, the same roughspotted green elsewhere.
The creature went up to a large wooden box set on a stake near the urpoaodn, sitast powerful hind legs, lifted the lid, and looked inside. Noddinigtsetolf, it reached in and picked out several large brown envelopes. Treligrealized with some surprise that the thing was a mailbox.
He approached slowly, not wanting either to alarm the creature or to seoefmploaucte. It shifted an
eye in his direction-its head was almost too integprart aof the body to allow flexible movement, but the eyes made up for it-anndodded politely to him. He sensed that there was anger in the creature's expression, but not directed at him.
Trelig remembered that Ortega had said that the Well would providlaengthueage. He decided just to talk normally.
"Good day, sir!" the new frog said to the long-tune resident. "A niicsen'tdiaty?",
The other snorted contemptuously. "You must work for the government
stomseatyhing like that," he
growled in a deep bass that was not unpleasant busteethmaet d to originate from deep in the chest cavity. The creature held up onethoef envelopes. "Tax bills! Always tax bills!" he almost shouted. "I don't knowhow the sons of bitches expect an honest man to make a living these dapyhs.r"asTe he wasn't really "sons of bitches," but some local equivalent, but htohwat'sTrelig's mind understood it.
He nodded slightly in sympathy. "No, I don't work for the governmernetp,"liehde, "although I might
some day. But I understand and sympathize with
pyrooubrlems."
That statement seemed to satisfy the other, who opened another envepluolplien,g out a long yellow sheet of paper. He glanced at it, then balled it duispguisnt.
"Hmph! First they want your life's blood, then they ask you to dfoavtohresm!" he snorted.

Trelig frowned. "Huh?" was all he could manage.
The frog-man tossed the rolled up paper slightly in his hand, like"Raebpaolrlt. any Entries that you
might meet to the local police at once," he "sWpaht.at the hell do I pay all these taxes for, anyway? So I
can do their jobws hile they hunch on their fat asses eating imported sweetmeats bought wmithonmeyy?"
Trelig took the opportunity to glance at the tax bill. He couldn't croeuadldnit't,
make any sense at all
out of the crazy and illogical nonpatterns thOerbev. iously reading was not considered a necessary skill by the Well computer.
"You ain't seen no Entries, have you?" the man asked, not a little stararcaesmof in his voice. "Maybe we'll form a search party. Go out yelling, 'HEenrter,y! Nice Entry!' "
Trelig liked him. If he were representative of this hex's people, henwotoufilndd life unbearable.
"No," he chuckled. "I haven't seen any Entries. Have you? Ever. I mean?"
The grouch shook his head slightly as a negative. "Nope. And neveerithweirl.l, Met one, once, a long time ago. Big, nasty-looking birdlike reptile frComebu. Kind of a local celebrity for a while. Big deal."
Trelig was relieved to hear that Entries weren't boiled in oil or sombeutht inthge,
official notice that the
man had received said that this was no ordicnaasrey. Somehow, he decided, they were on to him. At least, he had to act thwaat y. And he wanted to check out the lay of this new land before revealing himself, if he could. It might be easier than he'd thought, considerinaguthomowatically he was acting and how readily this man had accepted him. He hospoe. d
"Been traveling far?" the man asked him.
Trelig nodded. Farther than this creature could imagine.

"Headin' for Druhon for the government tests, I'll bet," the frogg-umeassned.
"Yes, you guessed it exactly," Trelig replied. "I've thought of nothinsginecles"e-he started to say "since
I got here" but caught himself-"I was vsemryall," he finished. "At least it'll give me a chance to see the government inaction, no matter what."
That started the other off again. "The government inaction is whatseyeo,u'bllut that's the future for
you. Shoulda done it myself when I was yoBunugt,. no, I had to get into farming. Free and independent, I said. No bosses." Hlet out an angry, snakelike hiss. "So you wind up being run by the government, bossed by the government, taxes and regulations, regulations and taxes. fSreoemdeom!"
Trelig clucked sympathetically. "I understand you perfectly." He looakroeudnd, as if sensing time was pressing and he had an appointment. "Well, it nwicaes talking to you, and I wish you better luck and much prosperity in thfeuture, but I must be getting on."
The man seemed to appreciate the nice comments. "Been a pleasure, Sreuarlelyy. ou won't come in for a drink of good beer? It's only an hour or twotomDorruehon."
That was good news. His cup was running over today. "Thank you, rneop,l"iedh.e "I must be hi the city. But I'll remember you, sir, when I'm richpoawnderful."
"You do that, sonny," the other chuckled. Trelig went on.
He wondered as he continued what the old man had farmed; there was nofieslidgsn oorf cultivation of any kind. Best not to ask and appear too ignopraarntitc, ularly with a wanted poster out.
There was also the matter of money. He saw a number of the creaturwesenats ohne, living together hi groups or singly, on the ground, in trees, and seovmene floating dwellings in the countless lakes and marshes. AH wore no clothinogf any kind, and he wondered where you'd put money if you had it. He worried that there was some sort of identity system that would unmask him. Butt,olndo,hihmeself,
technology was obviously primitive here. There were torch stalnldsover, but not a sign of a powered light or device. Besides, if they had saucshystem they wouldn't bother sending out all those wanted circulars on him.

More confident and proficient now, he stopped and talked to several aoltohnegrsthe way. They were mostly plain, simple creatures, close to the sFoeiml. ales were slightly smaller and had smoother top skin than the males, theivroices slightly higher and smoother, but they were otherwise identical. He was a male; their comments told him that, even without the skin-texture differenwcea,s hae young one at that. That made the first few days easier. He was expectbeed ctourious and not expected to know anything.
But he learned. A casual reference told him that the country, the hecxa,llewdasMakiem, as were the people. It was a common, although not univerpsraalc, tice on the Well World to have the race name and place name coincide. Hleearned, too, that it was a hereditary monarchy-which was bad. But the hex was administered by a large corps of civil servants chosen by merit as theofremsualtsssive tests for their
brilliance and aptitude from any class or walskocoifety-which was good. That meant that the king of Makiem would listen to antadke seriously advice from anyone he considered qualified, thus decisions were almost certainly made not by the royal family but by an individual or wchouoncwilould be the best, greediest, most ambitious and able people hi the country.
His kind of people.
Druhon, the capital city, was a surprise. First, it was huge-a grearetaclliyty, ,carved out of the jungle
and sitting on a series of low hillsrathisaetd it slightly above the swamp. There was a broad, clear lake off to thewest, and it was crowded with swimmers. Trelig had been feeling slightlyanditchy uncomfortable; now he guessed the reason. Although these were land pethoepyle,stayed very close to
the sea that gave them birth, and they had to
troetuitrnoccasionally to wet down their skins. Once a
day, probably, although ianll likelihood a washdown with a hose would do as well.
Another surprise was the buildings themselves. Great castles and bhuuigldeings of stone showing superior masonry skills, and homes and businesbseusilt of good handmade brick mortared so well that nothing would get througthhem. Heavy wooden doors also showed great craftsmanship, and figures of brass and iron on gates, fences, and doors were evidence of a fine artistCiconsksiidlle.ring that this was obviously a nontechnological hex, these people hdaedveloped a really surprising, modern culture. His estimation of them, and hoisptimism, went up accordingly.
There was still the problem of money. He walked the streets fillesdtalwlsithoutside the places of business, with great frog businessmen and womheanwking their wares and calling and cajoling
customers. And money they did haavned did carry. Watching the Makiem buying at the stalls, he saw that theycarried everything they needed or used in then: mouths-the lower jaw areflaexwibales, roomy,
and, when he tested it with his own hand, had a thinfl,aprigcidontrolled by a small muscle In the back of the throat. Evolution haodbviously placed it there to store food for long periods. Civilization had given rise to more practical and cosmopolitan uses. The flap on the outside conentaoiungedh folded skin that

one might not notice it, but occasionally people wenwt hboylooked like they had goiters. Trelig finally understood that it wasnb'tecause of physiological differences but because they had a lot to carry.
The sights and smells of the city also excited him. They were strangeosdmoresllst,hat his former self perhaps would have found foul or offensive, but stmheeylled wondrous and sweet and new to him now.
And there were the tattoos, mysterious symbols drawn by some device uonndetrhbeelly. Not everybody had them-most of the farmers he had met didn't-lbout t oaf people here did. They were symbols of authority, he surmised. Policemepne,rhaps, and government officials. Somehow he'd have to find out what all thostheings meant.
The police, who were his first worry, were easiest to identify. Hekndoidwn'tjust how many people lived in this city, but it was easiqlyuaarter-million, most residing in four-storey brick apartments entered by walking up the walls. That created pedestrian traffie jams. He saw carotsf, tlhoetms , moving goods from one place to another, pulled by giant insects, ltahragnera Makiem, that looked a lot like walking grasshoppers. All this meanttraffic control, and so there were traffic cops.
He checked out several, looking particularly at the big symbol onchtehsetisr-a sort of double wheel
with two diagonal crossbars. To be safe,dehceided to act as if a double wheel with any crossbars was a cop.
The city's size and complexity gave him no small measure of anonymity; jhuest woanse of the crowd.
It suited him for a while, although shelter would habvee atottended to, and sooner or later he'd have to face the problem of money afnodod-there were no big, fat insects or groves around here. He'd never stolen anything small, but it shouldn't be all that hard.
He checked out the massive stone buildings with the towers and theGoflvaegrsn.ment buildings
without a doubt, the largest of which, with a tremenadmoouusnt of impressive brass grillwork and high iron spiked gates to snare tuhnewary intruder, was obviously the royal palace. At the gate there were guards armed with vicious-looking crossbows and pikes, and an impossibly complex syomn btohleir
chests matched the ones wrought in kon at regular intervals fienncteh.e
The royal symbol, obviously. He was learning fast.
The itching was getting to him. His skin felt dry and uncomfortable, aaslmifosit was ready to peel off.

He decided to head down to the big lake. Iat wbeaasutiful setting, particularly against the waning sun. A
sparkling lake,fresh and surprisingly clean considering the nearby population, dotted mwyirtihad islands and flanked by small but imposing granite mountains.
The lake was somewhat crowded, but not enough to cause real problemslsip. pHede
into the water
with ease, and found it surprisingly cold. The lcahsitleld for only a few moments, however, and then, somehow, the water temperaturseeemed to rise until it was just perfect. Cold-blooded, he decided. It wasn't the water temperature that had risen, but his body temperature that had lotowemreadtch the
water.
Swimming was as easy as leaping had been. His rear legs, large andwthebicbkeldy, propelled him,
and he floated naturally across the top of the Tlahkise,. however, didn't get rid of the itch on his back, and when he got outwaays he angled downward.
A strange thing happened suddenly. A membrane came down over histraenyseps,arent as glass, yet totally protective. And too, his vision seemedaltteor, becoming less depth- and color-sensitive but tremendously respondent tochanges in light and dark. His nose also seemed to close off by internal flaps, but he experienced no discomfort from not breathing. He wondered how locnoguldhe.stay under; quite
some time, he thought, and decided to test it.
The longer he stayed down, the less he seemed to mind it. He had the suensatnionny
that he was
breathing, slightly and shallowly, although there werebunbobles. No gills, either. He finally decided that something in his skin coualdbsorb a certain amount of oxygen from the water. It was not, as he found out with time, enough for him to live underwater, but it was sufficient forstahyimdotown at least half an
hour, perhaps much longer, before coming up for air.
He came up near one of the islands and looked around. The water felt
asonodthcionmg fortable.
Lazily, he turned and looked back at the hilly city. Igtetwtinags
dark, and lights were coming on-and not
just torchlights, eithera, lthough there were plenty of those. No, those strange glass streetlightsseehne'd
were what he guessed they might be-gas lamps. These people were at thoef limits.
ptheeaikr technological
The great palace, on the highest hill, was illuminated by torchemsualtnicdolored gas lamps almost completely. It had a fairy-tale look to it, aonf auirnreality thatf he suspected, was deliberate.
Reluctantly, he headed back toward shore. Hunger was starting to creehpimin,toand there was much to do. He made shore swiftly, experiencing the sslihgohctk of getting out of the water into what felt,

curiously, like almosot ppressively hot, thick air. His body adjusted to it in moments, though, waenndt he on.
He first looked for the inevitable low-dive district common to acliltiebsi,g but, after much searching, he had to admit defeat. A lot of neighborhboaords, with big frogs reclining on form-fitting cushions so they almost sat uplike humans, gulping beers and other spirits from enormously wide glassensawrroitwh
stems. The glasses had one gentle flat side, and you drank by putottinygouirt mouth and raising the glass while throwing your head slightly back.
No dives, though.
What was missing, he decided, was sex. They just didn't seem to engaogre bien mit otivated by it. No romantic couples, no advances-lots of friendly groumpsix, ed and not, but nothing at all sexual. Even he,
a mature and young Makiemha, d felt nothing particularly inside him when near any of the females. Only the Comworlds where cloning was the norm and everyone was an identical anpepurtoerached the
sex-lessness of this society, yet there were clearly two diseixnecst. It was a puzzle for later.
In his wanderings, he found that he had waited too long. The streebtsrigwhetlrye lit; so were the apartments, with some people relaxing on the storeuetstide, others in their open doorways or, from the sounds, on the roofs. Thewreere regular beat patrolmen, too.
He decided to head toward the outskirts of the city, the direction fromhew'dhicohme. Maybe
something would present itself; if it didn't, well, he caolwuladys go back to that glade where he woke up and chance that, if, as wlaiksely, it was somebody's property, he could use it as a base temporarily.
The female Makiem at first seemed almost heavensent. She was obviwoeulsll-yoff, perhaps a farmer just in the city for the evening. No tattoo. yAounndg and very small.
And drunk out of her mind.
She couldn't hop; she could barely crawl, mumbling something to herspeelrfhaoprs singing although so

badly and distorted that it sounded like ruthmebling and croaking it was even to Trelig. She tried one last hop, fell flaot n her face, and rolled over into a ditch. A nice, dark drainage ditch.
"Oh, shit!" he heard her exclaim loudly. Then, a few seconds later, hterehmeeanrdous snoring. She had passed out in the culvert.
He bounded over to her. His night vision was about the same as it hada bheuemn aans, and so, though it was dark and shadowy-and mucky-it wasn't a helspitluesastion.
She was lying on her back, big bow-legs outstretched. He took a momstuendty toher. He'd discovered, by necessity and experience, how a Makiem wetnhte tobathroom and where, but by no
stretch of the imagination could thaaptparatus be sexual. There wasn't much of a clue with her, either. A
fine littlepuzzle, he thought sardonically. I know most of what it's like to be a eMxcaekpietmthe facts of life. He turned to other, more pressing matters.caHreefully felt her jaw-pouch; it definitely had
something in it, perhaps maoneybag. He hesitated an instant, then shook her. She didn't wake up, didn't even react. He shook her harder. Still nothing.
Satisfied that she was dead to the world, he leaned over and tried tomporuythheorpen.
And tried. And tried.
It was shut as tightly as if it were welded in place. He was about two hgeinveshuep gave a great
snore, and the mouth opened a bit as she turned sloignhthlyer side. Carefully, he reached inside- and felt
a smooth, bone-hard plattehat fit so exactly he couldn't even get a grip on it. And then the mouth shut. She didn't wake up, it just shut, right on his hand. He tried to puallndit cforeueld, n't. He spent the better
part of half an hour trying to get his ohuatn. dShe turned more, almost pulling him on top of her, but he couldn't removethat hand.
He was almost in a panic, particularly when her ribbonlike tongue camteo oevxeprlore the object. He felt its stickiness and felt it wrap around his hwaonndd, ering what he could do. There were no teeth in the front part of the jabwu,t there were three rows not far back. If the tongue pulled his hanlidttlejust a bit more . . . ! Then, mercifully, the tongue recoiled and heropmeonuedth. She let out a nasty hiss and turned some more. He almost fell backwianrtdo the ditch and cursed softly to himself, nursing his hand, which was nowfeeling bruised. She must not have liked the taste, he decided with thanskigsh. eHd,e knowing now that personal robbery here, unless it was armed robberyp,rewttyas near impossible.

He thought things over. He could drift for a while, make do, but obnelyggar and a fugitive. Force was out; he didn't know how to fight as a Maakniedmt,hey'd probably beat the shit out of him. Furthermore, be would not be abtole enter Makiem society at his own pleasure.
The only thing left to do was to turn himself in.
The guards looked bored. They sat there, motionless except for an occabsliionnka, las only reptiles could-but they were very much awake. Eyes were on hihme apsproached, and the crossbows were armed and cocked in their hands. Sthilel,y looked like nothing so much as statues.
He marched up to one. "Pardon me, sir, but is this the royal palaacsek?e"d hpeleasantly. He had no desire to fall into the hands of local policloewoerr-level bureaucrats.
The guard stood still, but his eyes gave the newcomer a once-over thaatlmc ostldbe felt. The guard's mouth didn't move, showing once again thatsotuhned-producing apparatus was elsewhere, but he said, "Go away, farmboy. Nviositors except on Shrivedays."
"It is the palace, though?" he persisted.
"Naw, it's the headquarters of the limbushproducers union," the greusaprdonded sarcastically. "Now, go away before you get hurt."
Trelig decided on another tack. He took a deep breath. "Are you still florokainnyg Entries like the circulars said?" he asked casually.
The guard's eyes lit up with renewed interest. "You know of an EMntarkyieimn ?" The question was sharp, businesslike, but interested.

"I do," Trelig told him. "Who do I talk to about it?"
"Me," the guard replied. "If I like what you say, I'll pass it on."
Like fun you would, Trelig thought. Only if there was something iynouit. f"oAr ll right then," he said flatly, resigned. "If you're not interested th. e.n ." He turned to leave.
"Hold it!" called a different voice, perhaps the other guard. The tonceomwmaasnding, and Trelig froze, smiling inwardly.
"If somebody else gets it, and it is an Entry, it'll be our skins," vtohiecenepwointed out. "Better we should take him to the old man." -
"Oh, all right," grumbled the first. "I'll do it. But what's in it for us?"
"I know what we're in for if he's okay and we blow it," the other re"sGpoondoend.".
Trelig turned back around. "Come on, you. Follow me," the first guard muremsibglneeddly, and came
to life, turning and slow-hopping with short motions upbritchke-paved walkway. Trelig followed, feeling better. If, as Ortega had saaidll, the races of this universe-and this world-including humanity had sprung from a single source, all the races so created would have certain things hi croemflemctoing their
creators. Human nature was Antor Trelig's life and professainodn,it didn't matter to him what form that human took.
They entered a side door of the palace, and went into a gas-lit room ptheactulwiarasindeed. A guard was on duty, and nodded slightly to his leader asenthteeryed.
Two walls of the room held a great many strange-looking similar deTvhiecrees. was a top part that resembled giant padded headphones, and a rubbseuryction-cup device with a hole in the center underneath. They were osnpring-loaded coils of tubing of the same material. Above each of the dozens of such devices was a plaque with something in that crazy writing.

Trelig watched curiously as the guard took the headphones and placedovtheermhis head, just behind
the jaw joints where the tiny ear openings were.
tThheensuction cup was attached almost to the center
of the tattooed insignia oitns chest. The guard expanded his chest, letting go an extremely loud and annoying rumble.
Trelig understood the thing now. It transmitted direct sound to vaproiionuts in the palace, the hollow tube itself moving the air. He suspected vtohieces sounded hollow, tinny, and terribly far away, but it worked. A primitiven, ontechnological telephone.
Nontechnological, hell! he corrected himself. These people were tremendoaudsvlyanced technologically. Everything that could work they had creaitnegde,niously.
"Yes, sir," the guard literally shouted, so loud that Trelig wished
ehaer hfaladps to match the nose
ones. "Says he knows of an Entry, yes, sir." P"aNusoe,. nothing odd." Pause. "Personally, sir? But-" Pause. "All right, sir. Rigahwt ay," the guard completed the call, detached the suction cup, which coiled back into its built-in holder, and replaced the headphones on then: rack. He toturTnreedlig.
"Come on, you," he grumbled. He followed the guard out.
There were no stairs or ramps, and Trelig had a bad time when they rehaigcheodpeaning, four walls of bare, smooth stone, obviously a junction forhathlleways on the multistoried castle, and the guard simply started walking up thweall.
Trelig hesitated, then decided, hell, why not? If it doesn't work I ctahninksurIvive the fall. What he
had to do, he saw from the guard, was presfsingheisr-cups solidly on the stone, pull himself up, then use leg-cups on thewebbed hind feet to support him while he reached farther up. If he managaed it in smooth series of motions, like climbing a ladder, it would be effortledsos,inbgutso proved awkward
and slow for Antor Trelig. He was conscious ogf utahreds' stares and chuckles in the corridor below, and heard the guard abovgerowl, "Come on, you! Can't keep the old man waiting!"
He made it, with difficulty, to the third story, thankful that theyhadviednt'to go any farther. That took some getting used to. Getting down, lookdinogwn the whole way, would be worse. He put the thought out of his mind.

They passed by great rooms, some sumptuously furnished with silks andrufagnscyand woven
tapestries. A few doors were closed, but, no matter whapt,latchee reeked of opulence. There was a lot of fancy metal art, too, and mostit owf asn't brass or iron, either-it was solid gold, often encrusted with jewels of amazing proportions.
Finally they entered what had to be some sort of reception hall.reIct tawnagsular, but too small to be the king's regular place. The ceiling was astigllood ten meters high, and the walls were draped with maroon and gold velvecturtains. There was a thick rug of some soft fur from the door sill ctorneevrery of the room, and a slightly raised dais near the far wall with tchoemmfoorstat ble-looking of those
strange cushion-chairs he'd ever seen. He lookaerodund, mentally betting himself that there was another entrance somewhere,probably just behind that dais.
He was right. The curtains behind the chair moved, and an elderly Mwaaklikeemd in on all fours, got
up on the dais, and turned, settling back ontobrothaed cushion-chair. The effect was remarkably human, as if a man, leaning abofuotrty-five degrees forward in a chair were sitting there. The old man even crossed his huge legs a little, and rested bis arms on two small wadojuosdteanble rails.
The old one looked at the newcomer critically, then looked over at the"Tghuaatrdw. ill be all, Zubir. I'll call you if I need you." The guard bent itsslihgehatdly and withdrew, closing the big wooden door behind him.
The old man turned back to Trelig. "You know the whereabouts of an Enatrsyk?e"d,hehis voice crackling with energy. His skin was blotched and oldblaonadted, but this was a very lively individual, Trelig decided.
"I do, sir," Trelig responded carefully. "He has sent me here to fwinhdatouist in store for him before he turns himself in."
The old man chuckled. "Insolent, too. I like that." He suddenly
fleaartnheedr forward and pointed.
"You're the Entry and you know it!" he snaptphen, his tone softened again, became friendlier. "You are a terriblewall-climber, although a smooth liar. I'll give you that. Now, come! Who areraelly?o"u
Trelig considered his answer. He could be any one of several peopplee,rhaanpds be the better for it. Either Zinder was out-he was too mature to bedatuhgehter and not versed well enough in technology to
be the father. The same fBoern Yulin, and that wouldn't be much of an improvement, anyway. Renard or
Mavra Chang? The former wouldn't hold up-too slick at the start to pretend gtuoarbde naow; this old guy was no fool-and Mavra Chang would be conspicuoaulsiveif. So the best he could do was try and

get into their good graces by ttrhueth.
He imitated the guard by flexing his elbows so that his body loweredflotoor,ththeen came back up
again. "Antor Trelig, at your service, sir," he
"sAaidnd.
who might I have the honor of talking to?"
The old man smiled slightly. A Makiem smile was far different from aohnue,mbaunt Trelig recognized it. "Consider all the angles before you act, dyou',t Trelig?" he said offhandedly. "I could see all the possible lies goingthrough your head before the truth came out. As to who I am, I am MSoinicsoterro, of Agriculture."
Trelig barely suppressed a chuckle. "And the man who really makes daelcl isthioens around here," he stated flatly.
Soncoro liked that. "And what brings you to that conclusion?"
"Because the guard sent me to the minister of agriculture, not thempinriimster, king, or even state security. You were his first and only choTicheo.se types know who's who."
Soncoro nodded. "I think I'm going to like you, Trelig. We're two ofI alikeindy.ou-and I'll never trust you. You understand that. Just as you woutlrduns'tt me, in reversed circumstances."
Trelig did understand. "I'm much too new to be a threat, Soncoro. Letp'sarstnaeyrsahip until then."
The old man considered that. "Quite so. You understand what you have why we are delighted and relieved that you are whoarey?o"u
wthant t,wdeon't you? And
"Because I can pilot a spaceship," the former syndicate boss replied "eAasnildy.because I'm able to open up everything on New Pompeii." Trelig felt vraesltileyved. He had been afraid that he would wind up in a water hex, or, if thnaott, in a hex whose government had neither designs on New Pompeii nor people like Soncoro. But then, he reflected, if we have a common beginning, thweeroeddaslways in my favor.

Trelig looked at the old man. "You're going after the one in the North?"
Soncoro shook his head. "No, that would involve almost insuperable obstWacelesl.ooked at it, of
course. You went down a good ways in, in a nontech hweex, wsould not only have to get to it, and no Southerner has ever been into tNheorth, we would somehow have to move it close to two hundred kilometers to makeit flyable, then set it straight up so it would be well away before cthoeuldWsenllare
it. And-this is equally important-to do it one would have tothrpoausgsh a number of hexes with life so alien one couldn't understand it, contrito,l or trust it; and in some atmospheres that are lethal. No, I'm afraid weleave your ship to the Uchjin."
"But the other ship isn't in one piece!" Trelig objected. "It was mshyipo.wInt would break up on the way in. The nine modules would be spread hoavlefr the Well World!"
"They are," Soncoro admitted. "But, tell me, would you need all the mtodmulaekse it fly again? Suppose you had a fabricating plant capable of buildinagirtaignht central body? And a couple of good electrical engineers to help doriigtht? What would you need then?"
Trelig was genuinely amazed. "With all that-probably the power plant anodr otwneo modules to make certain you fabricated the new parts correctly. Andbrtihdege, of course."
"Suppose you had the power plant and modules, but not the bridge?" Spornocmorpoted. "Could it be done?"
Trelig thought about it. "Not impossible, but a hell of a lot more dTifhfeicuclot.mputer guidance is there."
The old man nodded again. "But we have access to pretty good computerIsf Iheurne.derstand it, it's not the machine itself, it's just its abiliptireosg, rams, memory, and action time."
"And interface with the power plant," Trelig added.
"Not insolvable," Soncoro pronounced. He smiled wickedly. "Welcome tofamthiley."

"But where are you going to get all this?" Trelig protested. "I wouldthagtuiefssyou could have a machine shop and computers here, you'd have them."
"Good point," Soncoro agreed. "But we won't be alone. What would you tsoalyd
iyfouI
that four of
the modules were within six hexes of this one, anpdowtheer plant was seven hexes away? And that we had allies-a semitech hex andhiagh-tech hex, with complementing abilities?"
Trelig was intrigued. "But you're talking about a war!" he objecthdo.ug"hIt war was impossible here!"
"For conquest, yes," the old man admitted. "But not for limited objeDctaivhelas. proved that you
couldn't hold ground for any length of time here. Bunteewdeonly take it, take it long enough to get what we want, and move on. Some.tohfe hexes are simple, anyway. They will yield to us or just ignore us. Only acouple of them will be problems."
Trelig considered this, getting excited now. This development was beyonwdilhdiesst dreams! "But the ship should have come in at a definite angle. Iafrefivaettainable, then all of them should be. Why limit it?"
"We're not the only ones in the game," the old Makiem told him. "Otmheorvsinagre now. Perhaps we can deal later, but the power plant is the one ctohminpgletely beyond our ability to construct. We have lots of spacefarers, butthey are technicians. You know how to pilot-but do you know how to build a ship?"
"No," he admitted.
"We haven't had a Type 41 pilot, though, in a very long time. None weoucranhagnedts on. I assume that progress has made much of their skill obsoalneyteway. Correct?"
"Probably," Trelig told him. "The power plants, and therefore the knowolfedwgehat to tell the computers to do, have changed radically just in my time."

"Then it's safe to say that only you, this associate, Yulin, and the wMoamvraan,Chang, could possibly pilot the ship properly?"
Trelig nodded honestly, although he was aware of how much that increasveadlueh.is"If there are no human pilots here from as recent as a century, I'dalmsaoys,t definitely."
Soncoro seemed tremendously pleased. He leaned forward again. "This feYlluolwin. Is he trustworthy?"
Trelig grinned. "As trustworthy as I am."
Soncoro hissed. "As bad as that. That means there's little chance ofthaerde,eatlhen, unless we get the power plant."
"You know where he is?" Trelig asked, amazed.
"He is a Dasheen, and a male, damn it all! That will give him powTehrethYeraex.a are already well along with their own plans, perhaps a bit ahead oafndush,e will naturally ally with them if he can. So, we go and as quickly paosssible. Whoever owns the power plant owns it all."
"Tell me two things," Trelig said persistently.
"Go ahead," the old man agreed.
"First, what would have happened if I hadn't materialized here as a MYakoiuem're? talking as if you were going to war anyway, it was all set up. Dikdnoywou?"
"Of course not!" responded the secret ruler of Makiem. "The way things wouotrkoendly simplifies matters. We would have seized the modules anyway and wfaoirtedone of you to come to us. You

would have had to." His logic wunasassailable. "Now, what's the other thing?"
"How do you have sex in this place?" he asked.
Soncoro roared with laughter.
DASHEEN
Ben Yulin awoke with a start and opened his eyes.
His first thought was that the pain was gone, and he had feeling big relief in and of itself. But-where and whathew?as
wovheorlehibsody again. That was a
He sat up and looked around. Things were definitely different. Hseligwhatlsy nearsighted and totally
color-blind. But he could see well enoughteltlo he was in farm country; there was baled hay over there, nicely if crudelydone, and fences and small roads stretched off for miles in squarish pIatttewrnas. flat country, too; although his vision blurred beyond five hundred moertesros , he could tell where the land
and horizon met.
He looked down at himself. Broad, muscular, hairy long legs that lsooomkewd hat human, although the feet were strange-very wide and oval-shaped manadde of a hard, tough substance. There were
breaks in the front of each foboutt,
he had no toelike control of them. They were obviously just there to
provide some flex when walking. He reached out and saw that his arms were wrestler's
arms-tremendous, bulging muscles overlaid with a thin covering of stiff bhraoiwr. nThe fingers were short and thick and seemed to be made of that toumgahteerrial in the foot, but they were jointed in the right places and had aonpposable thumb. He reached down to feel his feet and tapped them. Thedyulhl,ad a thick, hard feel and sound to them. He had almost no feeling in hiosr hfaenetd,salthough the rest of his body felt normal.

His skin was brown and mostly covered in that short, wiry hair, althopuegrhceihveed it as dark gray. One look at his crotch told him that he was noat omnalyle but one of gigantic proportions. That pleased him, even if the thing wjaest black. It was the biggest he'd ever seen.
His chest was covered with a milky-white coating of the same kind ofwhaasira; nit even shape that followed his torso. The body, too, was thick-set paonwderful-looking; he flexed a little and the muscles bulged.
This wasn't going to be so bad, he told himself.
One reason for the nearsightedness, he realized, was that his eyes wdeirfefesrent tly. He put a hand up to his face-and found more. He felt it carefully.
It was a huge head but perfect for his body. A thick, short necskn, oaunt!d Naot a huge one, but it
jutted out from his face. He tried to focus iitn aonnd saw it, a white-furred oval with a flat top, jutting out maybe tencentimeters from his head. It contained a soft, moist, broad nose-increbdroibaldy, almost the
width of the snout-which he thought was probably pink, andhutgweonostrils with some kind of flaps. There were also whiskers flanking tnhoese -sharp, fairly long, like extremely long white pine needles.
His mouth, under the nose, went the whole length of the snout. He feltit awroiuthnda broad, flat, thick tongue. Lots of teeth, none of them sharp.opHeened it, then closed it, then tried a chewing motion. He found he could onlcyhew from side to side, which told him that he was a herbivore. He knew now why they raised hay and wheat and the like and who it was for.
The eyes were large, set back from the snout, and wide apart. Earsshawrpelrye pointed, and could be turned at will, he found. On top of his headanweansormous pair of horns. They were part of his skull, no doubt about it, anthdey extended into wicked points from areas of the base bone a good five centimeters out from either side of his head.
He rose shakily to his feet and found that his head didn't feel abnhoermavayllyor out of balance, although he couldn't turn it in any direction quiftaer aass he remembered being able to do.
There was a last touch. He found he had a tail on some sort of batlaliljohient,coauld wag and even

whip to an extent. It was thick and emerged fromspinheis, was probably an extension of it. It was
brown like the rest of him excheipst chest and snout, and it ended in a thick tuft of soft dark hair. It was long, although it didn't quite reach the ground. He reached around, took iht,oladndoflooked at it
curiously.
I wish I had a mirror, he thought.
He started walking, first over to the road and then down it. He wafinntdedsotmo e civilization, somewhere.
It was a chilly day, although only the parts of him with no hair, him so. There was some kind of natural insulahteioren.
ihninsenr oesaer,s, and genitals, told
He spied a large number of what looked like people working hi a fitehledy, bwuetre too far away for his reduced vision to really see. He considered govinegr and introducing himself, but he decided that that sort of thing could cautsroeuble, too. This might be private property, and they might not like trespassers. He decided to press on until he came to a town or untilsohmeeomneet on the road.
Despite the visual limitations, his other senses were tremendohuesilgyhtened. Every little sound, from
the rustle of an almost imperceptible wtiondsmall insects off in a nearby field, were sharp and clear and could belocalized with unerring accuracy. Smells, too, both pleasant and unpleawsaenret, much fuller
and richer.
He was hungry and wondered what he was supposed to eat. The fields cotnhteainfoedder, of course, but they were also obviously private, and the high,btahribcekd wire discouraged casual snacking.
He came to a small intersection; a minor road went off at a right thanegmleation one. He could see it led up to a large complex of buildings, maseyvberal stories high with rounded roofs of straw or some other material overgood hardwood frames. He wondered where they got the wood; certainly not from around here.
He decided to chance it. As a newcomer, he might be excusedindsoismcreetions, if he were careful enough not to get shot first. Let's see-whhaadt Ortega called new people? Entries? Yes, that was it.

Most of the workers or family seemed to be out in the fields. Theorbevwioeursely few seasons here;
some of the fields had been harvested, some wabeoreut to be, and one on his left had just been plowed.
He was almost to the house or barn, or whatever it was, when he sawfehllioswfircsrteature close up.
She-there was no doubt it was a she-was using a plane to smooth downhaandplleo.wShe was taller than he, with smaller head and longer, more flexniebclke. Her horns were shorter and more rounded, even at the tips. Facially, sdhied resemble a cow, although the head was not right, more like a cartoonist's humanized cow than a real one. Her arms were also strikingly differenhtisf-rtoremmendously long, with a double elbow that seemed to be able to benddiinrecatnioyn. Not double in the same
places, now; there was the elbow where etlhbeow should be, and then the arm continued, tremendously muscular, to a seconedlbow near the waist. Almost reflexively he looked again at his own elbow, and saw that he'd been right; although thick and muscle-bulging, his armdefwinaistely the one-elbow type
he'd been born with.
The final incongruity was that she wore a tremendous, leatherlike aprojnustieadbove her waist. It
bulged a bit in front, and at first he thoughmt igshhet be pregnant, but as she worked, side turned to him, he could see that ciot ncealed what had to be a large, tough-looking pink udder attached justthaebove waist.
She still hadn't seen him. He considered clearing his throat but wasnh'towsurteo do that, so he just decided to try conversation and see if he wouludndbeerstood. At least he would be noticed.
"Hello?" he said hopefully.
She jumped, turned, looked at him. There was no mistaking her mannesrhisomcks: and fear. She screamed, dropped her tool, and ran off into thebubilidging through a large wooden door.
He could hear her still screaming and yelling inside and also the soounthdesr ovfoices. He decided that the better part of valor was to stand thereseaendwhat happened next.
What happened took exactly thirty seconds. The wooden door flew opentrewmiethndous force, so

violent and loud was the action that it shook the wbuhioldleing. Standing there, a really nasty-looking iron crowbar in his hands, wtahse master of the house.
He was slightly shorter than Yulin, but not much. The horns wereslihguhgtley,
curved and pointed; the
head was massive and seemed to sit atoptotrhseo without a neck. He wore a cloth kilt of some soft
material from his waistot
just below his knees. His huge, wide eyes sparked fire.
"What the hell do you want here, he-cow?" he snarled derisively. "cIfraictk'seda skull, just stay there another ten seconds!" He hefted the crowmbaernacingly.
Yulin felt panic rising in him, but managed to control himself. "mWinaiuttea! I mean no harm!" he managed.
The crowbar didn't move. "Then what are you doing just walking intsotarhkerneaked and panicking good women?" the other returned, that menacing tgornoewing. But, Yulin realized, he'd answered instead of attacking, and that mearneat son could prevail.
"I'm an Entry!" he almost yelled. "I just woke up in a field back thheraeveann'td thIe slightest idea where or what I am or what to do next!" Thacterwtaainsly the truth.
The big minotaur considered this. "Entry?" he snorted. "We have had onElyntrtwieos before that I
know of, and they were both cows. Doesn't make sensheavtoe a bull Entry." Still, there was something that made him hesitate. Thcerowbar lowered ever so slightly.
"I'm Ben Yulin," he tried, attempting to sound friendly and not scadreeadtht.o"I need help."
There wassomething in the newcomer's manner that didn't seem right tfoarmther. Yet he sensed, somehow, the genuineness of Yulin's plea.
"All right," growled the man with the crowbar. "I'll accept your stonroyw.foBr ut try anything funny
and I'll kill you." He didn't let go of the cro"wCboamr.e on in and we'll at least get some clothes on you so you don't have hatlhfe herd coming after you."

Yulin started toward the door, and the farmer hefted the bar again. "thNeoret, inyou idiot! Holy shit! Maybe you really don't know what's what arohuenrde! Just walk around the house, here, and I'll follow."
Yulin did as instructed, and entered a different door in what seemed ctombpelexa
semidetached
from the larger buildings. It was an apartment of
Tsohretsre.
was a living room with small fireplace, a
bull-sized rocking chair of fianely polished hardwood, windows looking out on the farm, and, to his surprise, artwork and reading material. A number of very large-sized books in a pcroiuntldhne't read sat
on two shelves, and there were pewter sculptures, not onoltyheorf minotaurs, both male and female, but of other, stranger subjects thiamt plied surrealism. Some etchings on the wall, actually black-and-white line drawings, showed farm scenes, sunsets and other realistic subjects.
The female sculptures showed him what he'd suspected-the cow did havueddbeirgs, like bulges hanging down-and a couple of the sketches, or printws,haotrever they were were rather graphic pornography. On top of a table near rothceking chair was a weird-looking mechanical device he couldn't figure out. Iwt as a box with a horizontal round plate that obviously rotated by measnpsrinogf-dariven
hand crank on one side. A complex brass device on a singlewapsivmotounted to one side, and out of
the back rose a tremendous horn-shapdeedvice. There seemed also to be a place for another horn to fit on the frontY. ulin couldn't imagine what it did.
The man went into another room and seemed to be trying to open somecesdoar cohfest with one hand while at the same time keeping his eye on the newtchoromuegrh the doorway. Yulin decided to stay stock still in the center of the raonodmdo nothing at all.
The other room was obviously a bedroom, though. There was a wood framfeillethderweith a strawlike material, and there were also some carelessly tobslsaendkets and an enormous stuffed object that might have been a pillow. Thinkainbgout his horns, Yulin wondered what happened if you rolled over in your sleep.
The farmer threw him a large cloth, and he caught it. It appeared to
o6fe bmuraldaep, much rougher
and coarser than what the other wore. There had rboepeen drawstrings placed in it, and Yulin got the idea pretty quickly of how ptuot it on.
There was a thin, plain rug on the floor. "You'll have to sit thefarerm,"etrhetold him, pointing to a spot on the rug. "I don't get much vistirtaofrfic here." He sat down comfortably hi the rocker and started to rock gently.

"Now can you tell me what happens next?" Yulin prompted.
"First you tell me about yourself. Who you are, what you were, how hyeorue,"gotht e other responded. "Then, if I like what I hear, I'll help youyosoulrveproblems."
Yulin complied, almost. He spared nothing, except his role in anything Hsheadpyic. tured himself as Gil Zinder's assistant, nothing more, forced by the Aevnitlor Trelig to do what he did. He was convincing. When he got to the part abcoruatshing in the North, the farmer's eyes almost shone. "Been to the North, eh? That's kind of a romantic thing for just about all the folks here in thKeinSdouothf . exotic and
mysterious."
Yulin thought that the South was sufficiently exotic and mysterious fobruht imhe,
said nothing. His
story, however, was accepted. It was far too detatoilehdave been created out of whole cloth as a diversion. The farmer relaxed.
"My name's Cilbar," he said, more friendly now. "This is my farm. YDoua'sreheienn, which is both the country and the name of your new people. Youh'reerbaivore, so you'll never starve to death-although,
as a civilized man, youf'lilnd that while eating stuff in the raw will satisfy your hunger, prepareadrefoods better. The hex is nontechnological, so machines don't work here uthneleys'rse muscle-powered. We got the muscle, as you probably noticed."
Yulin admitted he had.
"I been around in my youth," Cilbar continued. "Things are difefevreernytplace, of course, but our system here's a little more different than mIot's .the biology that does it. We get criticized by some other hexes, but that'tshe way things are."
"What do you mean?" Yulin wondered.
Cilbar sighed. "Well, a lot of races, they have two, maybe more sexeso.ldYonuer
did. There's some
differences, but basically they're variations of stahme e critter. Brain power's the same, and take away the sex stuff and the bodieasren't that far different, either. Right?"

"I'm following you," Yulin replied.
"Well, you mighta noticed that we don't look like the cows," the farm"eNr ostaijdu.st the udder. We're smaller, squatter, got shorter single-elbow armbisg,ger, different heads, like that."
"I did notice it," Ben Yulin acknowledged.
"Well, we are different. Don't know why. First of all, there's oanvleyraagne of one male for every one hundred females. That's why I was surprisneodt that you were an Entry but that you were a male. You see?"
Yulin did. All the more remarkable since he'd gone through the Weblilolaosgiacal female. What was it
Ortega said? The Well classified you accordinguntkonown standards.
"Anyway," Cilbar continued, "just from a social standpoint that makes mmaolerse important than females. There's less of us, so we're not expendable. Oonf ttohpat, we're a hell of a lot smarter."
"How's that?" was all Yulin could manage.
Cilbar nodded. "Some scientists from a couple of other hexes once camperoivne toto us that it wasn't so. All they did was bear out what we already kTnheewir. brains are less developed. Trying to teach
one to read is like tryingtetaoch this chair. Oh, teach 'em to do any basic job and they'll happfiolyr
do it
hours. Plowing, harvesting, simple carpentry, hauling and such, sure. tHelel ll',em to dig fence holes and they'll happily do it forever until you callo'fefm. Ask 'em how many holes they dug and they couldn't tell you."
The green light of understanding went on in Ben Yulin's head. "You mesaanid,", h"ethat the women do all the labor and the men run things?"
Cilbar nodded again. "That's about it. The women built this farm, butdeasimgnaend it. The women work it, but I run it. Same with the art, the boobkys-maelln for men."

Yulin was intrigued, and he thanked the Well even more that he'd comeheoudtida. sThis was the kind of place he was going to like.
"You speak very well, very cultured," the Entry remarked. "You have aedluoctatoiof n?"
The farmer chuckled. "Every male gets everything we can give him. wI eth'rienka group of spoiled
brats, myself. I often wonder what we'd have to dopininchaif things get tough. Yeah, a son is special. He gets it all. Then, if hgeo'st some particular aptitude, like art, or writing, or teaching, or trading, he takes it up. If not, like me, he takes over somebody's farm when theyolgdetortotooo tired."
"There's a small population here, then," Yulin surmised.
He nodded. "Very small. About ten thousand farms, more or less, with aofbusmncahll towns, rarely more than a few thousand in each, servicing the millAion and a quarter tops, no more."
"That means only a hundred thousand or so males," Yulin pointed out.
"Probably less," agreed Cilbar. "I may be way overestimating the numbedr.onW't eget around too much once we settle down. One time I remember somesbaoydinyg in some class that there were only seven hundred fifty thousand Dasheeannd seventy-five thousand bulls. Could be."
"And what happens if the new young bull has no useful aptitudes and nopefanr?m" 'sYulin wondered.
"Thinking about yourself, eh? A scientist in a non-tech hex! I can psreoebltehme s. Well, you can find
a skill or job, do some traveling while youfowraiatn opening, like I did, or you can pick a farm, call out the owner, andfight him to the death, winner take all."

Suddenly Yulin understood why the farmer had been so upset at hisapinpietaiarlance: he thought a young bull was calling him out.
"What kind of government do you have, then?" he asked.
"A small and simple one," Cilbar told him. "All the farmers in aeldeicstriscotmebody to a council. The towns elect one for every ten males. Theres'ms aall bureaucracy to keep things together, and we meet in emergencies or twice yaear for a few days in a small town named Tahlur in the center of Dasheen, where the training schools and the Zone Gate is."
"That's where I should head, then," the ex-scientist decided. "If I ctahneregewt ithout starving to death or getting run through by somebody less wiltloinglisten to me than you."
Cilbar laughed deeply. "Look, they've called a council meeting for somenetximt
eweek. Our own
representative, Hocal, will be going. I'll feed you, putupyofuor the night, and get you introduced to him. That should solve thaptroblem."
Yulin thanked him. This was too easy, he thought, and too good. Therebehaad fltyo somewhere, and he waited for it.
in the ointment
Hocal wasn't the fly but he was the instrument of it. He lookesudrpvreisreyd when Yulin was introduced to him.
"That's what all this business is about!" he exclaimed. "You peoplemresslleyd up some things!
Never thought one of you'd show up here, though. Sseoemes
folks want to talk to us about reclaiming
some of those parts of thsaptaceship. War's been rumored. War! I hope we can keep out of it, but we'll see. We're right in the middle of things here geographically."
Yulin suddenly became interested. "How's that? You mean the other shiopn,ethtehat came down in the South here?"

Hocal nodded, and got down a large map, spreading it out on the ftraobnlte oifn him. It was ingeniously printed for the benefit of a color-blind ritacceo; n-tamed all the details in amazing black,
white and gray contrasts. Yulcinould interpret it, but he could not read the key or names. He would have to cure that, he decided.
Hocal pointed a stubby finger at one hex. "Here we are in Dasheen," he said.
Yulin looked. They were close to the Equatorial Barrier, something
tHraoncsallated as Cotyl
occupying two half-hexes at the Barrier; then Voxmir tonotrhthewest-unfriendly and inhuman, Hocal assured him; Jaq to thseoutheast-volcanic and hot as hell, too hot for a Dasheen to survive; Fthrieck to southeast-they had crazy, fat flying disks with steam jets; and Qasathdea stouthwest-from the
description a highly advanced technological civilizatiofn giant rats.
"This is where the problem is," Hocal pointed again. Just below Qasadathaendsotuothwest of Frick was Xoda, a land of great, fierce insects-and a mo"dTuhl ere's another in Palim, below it, Olborn, to
the southwest, and, mositmportant, only four hexes south, Gedemondas, about which little is known. The engines of the downed craft landed there, and they are, as you will appthreecibatieg, prize. I suspect
we'll know a lot more about Gedemondas before thfinsisihsed."
Yulin nodded. "I'd think that one of the others- the rats, for examplem-makigehta better run for it," he noted.
Hocal agreed. "They should, but that's a funny area. The races inarethne'trethat friendly, or, like the Palim, have been, like us, peaceful too ltoongthink of conflict. No, the trouble comes from way over here."
He pointed again far to the west, well beyond the far coast of theStoSrema s.of
"This is Makiem, and up here is Cebu, and to the east is Agitar. Mraukniemby isome clever and
ruthless politicians and is a nontech hex, as weCaerbeu.
is semitech, and its people have the power of
flight, which is particularluyseful. Agitar is high-tech, and while we've been able to learn verayboliutt e it, they seem to have flying animals-which means their range isn't lbimy ithdeir machines-and some
natural abilities with electricity that transcend Wthell limits. They have formed an alliance to get the ship parts."

"But they couldn't use them, even if they put them together, witqhuoaulitfiaed pilot," Yulin objected. "That's not a simple rocket, you know."
"We are well aware of that," replied Hocal, looking directly at him. "Twheas wtoar be the topic, but, I
suspect, with you on hand, the discussion wilelvebne livelier."
The trip was easy and made in less than two days. They went in a comcofaocrthabpleulled by six
Dasheen cows from Hocal's herd, and they made better stpheaendYulin would have believed.
Additionally, the tired pullers did everything for them, cooking delisctieowus, rubbing them down, everything. Yulin loved being waited on; he saw ehaoswy it would be to get spoiled here. The cows engaged mostly in small taalkmong themselves, occasionally playing childish sort of games with one another, but they carried out their jobs without complaint, as if this was what thbeyornwetroe do and they were happy doing it. In deference to his host, Ben kYeputlinat a distance from them.
They arrived at Tahlur at midday to find most of the other members thalerreea.dyThey were taking
nothing lightly, and grave discussions were alreaudnyderway in the town's alehouses. As on the farm and road, the females did athlle work-all the cooking, cleaning, serving, all the basic labors. cYoulidnn't do anything for himself. A cow was always there to get him a cbhrainirg, tfoood or drink, to take him to a comfortable room in an inn, to prepare calnedan everything. They even ran to open doors for the males.
Even though the service was easy to take, he wondered about it, about wit hwetahsertruly mental inferiority or just a rigid social system. They wearuento'tmatons; they talked and laughed sometimes and sulked sometimes and generallaycted like people.
And there were the rings and collars. All the cows wore them-largewerlidnegds
in their huge noses,
and brass collars welded around their necks, wsmithall hooks on the back. They were distinctive; they bore the marks of the hetrhde cow was from. The females were even branded on the right rump, he found, with the herd-mark.
Did they ever get fed up and run away, he wondered. Was that why thseore mwaenrye ways to

identify them as being out of place?
The towns had guild-herds. There were guilds for the different claswseosrkoefrs, and they lived in dorms through the town.
He worried about this a little more when he found out that thqeuagnrteitaiet s of milk the men consumed, gotten from the cows, was more tshuapnplement. The males like himself could not manufacture their own calcium. Theryequired almost a gallon of the calcium-rich milk a day to stay healthy, wardoff arthritis, bone diseases, rotting teeth, and the like.
Without cows, the men would die. Slowly, and in great agony.
That was why they and their system were so well known in other hexes.buYllosuwngaiting for an opening often traveled, sometimes widely. They could eoxnistalmost any native carbon-based grasses,
and their own systems purifiendatural water, so few provisions were needed. But the men were so used to beingwaited on, and their bodies so desperately dependent on the cow's miltkh,eythahtad to take at
least four cows with them. He could imagine the effecwt otuhlisd have on races that were unisexual, or where sexual discrimination was nportesent, or, worse, in a matrilineal society.
But there was little time for such speculation. He was too busy beingarpoausnsedd, introduced to the politicians, and discussing the crisis.
The council met the next day. In a communal society-money wasn't evehnerues,edeveryone drew his share-such bodies on a small scale were normal. Tehleecyted a chairman without much problem and proceeded to the business at hand.
Using maps, charts, and diagrams, the central bureaucracy explainedprothbelem. There was a general sentiment to stay clear of it; it was nonDeasohfeen's business. Yulin they regarded as a complication; it was debated, muchto his chagrin, whether or not to hide him away, imprison him for thdeurawtiaorn's,
or perhaps kill him! None of these alternatives were seriocounslsyidered by the council as a whole, much
to his relief, but he was awaredaonfger here. Those who proposed them were deadly serious, and some of thesehotheads might easily take such solutions into their own hands.
On the third day of the conference little had been resolved, and Ben fheealdingthethat they just loved to argue; they would never come to any agreemunelnetss forced to.

But on the third day a newcomer arrived who changed things. Its entranscuechwtahsat it panicked
people on the streets, and the creature did littrleastsoure them after coming to ground. In the air it was magnificent andbeautiful; a great butterfly with a two-meter wingspread, brilliantly orangberoawndn
against a black body that still stood 150 centimeters when it lantdhe stinreet and stood on the
rearmost four of its eight long tentacles. Its wfaacse a large, black painted death's head, with great, eerie eyes that looked likpeads recessed in the hard, dark skull.
The Yaxa, however, had been expected.
Its manner, its voice, was cold, hard, sharp, and cutting. It senthrcohuilglsh those who heard it. Even Ben, who had to have a running translatfieolnt, it. Unlike the others he'd met on the Well World-the Dasheen, Ortega, theAmbreza, even the plant-creature-this one was different. Not inhuman, unhuman, as alien as those paintwash creatures of the North.
The Yaxa had a proposition.
"First," it said, "let me summarize what the situation is to date.bIeehnavaeble to keep in touch on my journey here as new developments broke, athnidngs are breaking fast.
"One-the Makiem have effectively allied and coordinated with the Cebu anAdgitare. It is the most formidable combination of brains, opportunism, aanbdility this world has ever seen. Boidol will give them
their part of the shtiop
avoid the fight. There has been no talking them out of it. The Djukfaigshist, will
but we have been unsuccessful in getting the Lata to come in osindethoeirr anybody else's. The Djukasis will take their toll, but they cannot htoopdeefeat such an alliance. The Klusidians will neither yield nor fight, and yokunow what that means. The Zhonzorp would fight if they had a chance, but they're very much like the Makiem, mentally. They may join the alliance instehaedy,'reif able. Their
hatred of the Klusidians will keep them from giving ththeoasied people need."
The creature paused, adjusting the giant maps it was using to illusttraaltke. its
"Olborn is a mystery. You know its reputation: nobody who goes in everoucto,maensd they never
man their embassy at Zone. A question mark, but Ibdeolinev'te that any race, whatever its powers, can stop this march alone. If wel'urecky, the Olbornians will slow them, as certainly the Alestoli will. But think of what two flying races could do with even something as basic as boiNlinog, aoisl.ufficiently large

force of them will reach Gedemondas, a hex that ttoalknso one, has no embassy, and contains too hostile an environment for mucehlse. Even the Dillians on the other side, who share some mountains, have beenunsuccessful in talking to them. They don't fight-they just vanish. Anldeavtheast four mods
and the engines in the hands of the Makiem-Cebu-Agaitlalirance."
"But how will they ever get such large pieces of machinery back to thehirexheosm?"e asked one councillor.
"The Agitar know their business," the Yaxa told him. "They will bring naulomngbera of good
engineers. They will disassemble things, put them throughZothnee Gates if they can't haul them home, and then reassemble them in their ohwenx."
"They still couldn't fly it," another pointed out.
"Wrong again," replied the Yaxa. "The Makiem have had the kind offorgtouonde that makes one doubt free will. One of the pilot-qualified EntrAienst,or Trelig, is a Makiem. He can and will fly that
ship-and further, he caennter the computer complex and use it up on the satellite. You see? Our very existence is in jeopardy!"
That got to them. There was a rumble and roar, and it was several bmefionruetetshe chairman could calm them down. It was hard to tell, but the sYeeamxaed satisfied with his reception. It had come on a diplomatic mission; itsobject was to scare them to death.
"But what can we do?" asked one councillor. "Send our people into battslwe owrditsh and spears against the Qasada? They'd chew us to pieces!"
"They would indeed," the Yaxa agreed. "But you will have some time anaddvsoanmtaeges. Yaxa and Lamotien have united. The Lamotien are probably the fbrieesntds and deadliest enemies on the Well World. The planet for which they wdeeresigned must be a living hell. They are metamorphs-they can assume any shapethat they can see, limited only by the fact that they cannot change theEirvemnasths.at
is not a true drawback because they are small. They combine wiatnhotohneer to create larger
organisms. Twenty could make a Dasheen so convincyionug would be unable to tell the difference. And there are ten million or moLraemotien, in a high-tech hex. With them we will shortly secure the highly important bridge module of the downed ship from Teliagin. Then the Lamotietunrnwiinllto flyers, and
we will fly to Nodi Island in the Sea of Storms and asesceucroend module. Then we shall cross the East Neck to Qasada. With Lamotieinfiltration and technology, Yaxa flight and trained warriors, aided, perhaps, by bases and personnel in Dasheen, we can take the Qasada and the Xoda, moaujrortwo

problems. Palim is still in doubt; they might just allow us throughp.utTshuats in Gedemondas, a hex in which we Yaxa will be hard-pressed to operbautet, one in which a Lamotien-supplemented Dasheen force will be highly effectivNe.eed I tell you that this will give us the bridge and engines?" It turned, looked over the bovine faces assembled there. "And you have Ben Yulin, apnilootthewr ho also has
access to the satellite computer."
There was more uproar. How could the Yaxa have known? They groanedc.haTnhgiesd everything!
The Yaxa had no ability to smile. Even if it could, Ben Yulin thoughgtestuucrhe awould shatter its face and personality. But there was evident confideanncde satisfaction inside it for its presentation.
Chalk one up for Well World intrigues, anyway, Yulin thought. This bwriostrlledd with spies, plots, moves, and countermoves. The heretofoirme possibility of war had diverted men of such minds to more devious means.
The debate droned on and on, but it was evident that the outcome hdaedcibdeeedn, and a late-night formal vote made it official. Even Yulin spoaksseu,ring them that he could indeed pilot the ship if it had so much as onme odule between bridge and engines, and that he could, in fact, get intoHisObie. emotions were excitement mixed with apprehension. On one hand, here cwhancae, although a long
shot, to gain complete mastery of New Pompeii, Oinbcileuded, and perhaps a key to the Well. On the other, he saw the dark threatAonftor Trelig in that same position. He did not paint Trelig's evil any too lightly; by the time he was through, the very mention of Trelig inspired dread.
On the brighter side, all personal animosities were off. He was one
owf ntheniorw, suddenly. They
would be the weakest member of the alliance militabruilty,the other monstrous partners in this coalition would have to depend entireolyn a Dasheen to get there and get into the computer.
He was taken around where former enemies who had suggested his imprisoonrmdeenatth only a day before were now his blood brothers.
"He must have his own herd!" one big shot insisted, and they all agreed.
"Only a small one right now. Later-anything he wants!" another stipulated.

"How about one from each of the five service guilds in town?"suagtgheisrdted. "More practical than giving him farmhands!" So he got five daughtoenrse, each from the Metalworkers, City Service, Cooks and Waiters, Buildersa, nd Housekeeping guilds-a perfect practical balance of skills.
The Metalworkers also gave him his own brand, distinctive ring, and Hcoisllahre. rd were all young, all virgins. He found that there was a lot of tradaintidonceremony associated with unions.
For one thing, daughters had numbers instead of names until theyaswsiegrneed to a herd, whether farm or guide. The male, who was always caMllaesdter, would name them in the ceremony, then consummate the union, which bounhder to him. She would then be branded, ringed, and collared. The whole processtook five days.
He loved every minute of it.
In the meantime, subcouncils met, Yaxa came and went, and a percenteavgeeryofherd in the country was conscripted for military training. This worrsioedme of the men, who wondered what the effect
would be when so many cows wtearueght the art of killing. But there was much at stake here. As for the
Yaxa, they didn't seem to find anything but amusement in that worry.
The Yaxa, Ben learned, were female. After they mated, they ate theimr amtea.leIt was almost the
reverse of Dasheen, and he couldn't help but wondYeraxiaf
presence might give somebody ideas.
AGITAR
Although Renard didn't know it yet, the Well World must have a sheunmseoro.f The shock of waking
up in an alien land as something else was mgruecahter for him; he did not really remember anything since waiting before a bipglain for darkness so they could avoid the cyclopses.

He sat up and looked around. A nice looking place, he thought. Greehneretreaensd there, nice fields growing various vegetables-even signs of hothousaensd other modern conveniences. There was a small service road near himo,bviously for farm vehicles going to the groves rather than for through yterat fiftic, was macadam-paved. He was definitely in a rural area, but this wpraismintiove cyclops land.
Far off in the distance was what appeared to be the ghostly skylicnitey.ofIt alooked kind of strange,
the buildings kind of twisted or pointed, thbautt
was to be expected.
He had no doubt in his mind that he was still on this strange wortldheywhhearde
crashed. How he'd
gotten here was a mystery; somebody must have brohuigmh,t remember? The sponge?
that was for sure. Why couldn't he
A sudden realization shot through him. He felt good. Really good. Tcoletarll-yheaded. He found he could remember things he hadn't thought oyf eianrs-and felt no trace whatever of the sponge-longing or its effects. Almoswt ondrously he thought of Mavra Chang. She alone believed that somewhere on this
world sponge addiction could be cured, and she was right. He knew
in,siddeee.pHe was free!
But where?
He rose to his feet and found himself somewhat out of balance. fHorewaferdll, breaking his fall with his hands.
It wasn't dizziness; it was balance. Something was wrong. He lookedaramt ththeat had broken his fall. Short, stubby fingers with nails that looked mlikoere claws. A deep-blue skin-
He rolled over and sat up again. He felt something funny when sittwinagy,thaisnd reached behind him. It was like he was sitting on a rock.
No he wasn't. He was sitting on his short, stubby tail.

His what?
He looked down at himself. The skin was the deepest of blues, and thpiockrouasn.dAt the waist a
very thin curly body hair became suddenly tremendouthsilcyk. It was like sheep's wool, dense and curly. Except for being blue-blackh,is sexual organ looked fairly normal, which was a relief. He was no longer taking anything for granted. But his legs, very thick in the upper calqfu, ewerelrye shaped below, coming
to a thin knee joint fairly high up, then gdooiwngn to-
Sharp, shiny-black cloven hooves?
What the hell was going on here?
The hooves looked too small to support his thick body. That must havwehybehene'd fallen-no large
foot support. But-how was he supposed to walk, thCerna?wl on his hands and knees? Or did the knack come with practice?
For a brief moment he thought he'd become a cyclops. But, no, he had tiwn othe erisght places, and the feet and hair were definitely wrong, as was hicsomodpdlexion.
He felt his head, wonderingly. Sharp pointed ears close to the scalp,lebasutt wathere ears should be. Nose seemed a bit large but felt normal. Eventeetthhe seemed normal. He'd lost six at various points in
his life and never hathdem put back; but they were all there now, although the front ones feolft lot sharper and maybe a little longer, top and bottom, than he remembered.
a hell
He had hair. He risked pulling a strand, and it was blue-black. It staartVed-shianpe in the center of his forehead, then spread out on both sides ohf otrhnes-
Horns?
Yes, they were there. Bony things, not long but sharp, and definitelyofa hpisarstkull.

Kind of a triangular face, terminating in a sharp, thick, pointed goatee.
All right, Renard, think it through logically, he told himself. Butwiot ujludsnt't wash. There was no logic to this. Only facts.
Fact: He'd awakened in some alien land, cured of sponge, anatomically mtoatalell,yclear-minded, and in the body of some alien creature.
Fact: He didn't know where the hell he was, what he was, or what woans . going
Well, he told himself, no matter what, the only way to find out wasotmoefbiondy and ask. There was that city out there in the distance. Even hazy fsrmomogsome factory or other.
He crawled on hands and knees over to a spindly tree a few meters awgaryab, baing, it, managed
to get to his feet. He was top-heavy, no doubt abAountd ity. et, when he calmed down and considered
it, he realized that his sensebaolfance was tremendous. With a little practice, he could angle parts of his body differently, knowing somehow that certain combinations felt wrong, others right.
In about half an hour he managed to stand without holding on to the dtirdeei.t Hreepeatedly, and the ability pleased him. He also found that the tail fwluesnht into the rectal cavity, so, when sitting, he didn't have to beuncomfortable.
Walking, however, was a lot harder. After repeatedly falling down he crbaawclkedto the tree, stood up, and resolved to succeed no matter what. He steopupte, dgoing as fast as he could from a standing start. To his surprise, he stayuepd, making the weight and balance compensations automatically. When he came to haalt, though, he almost always fell over again. More practice.
The Well World gave you the means of adaptation to your new form, aRltehnoaurgdh didn't know that. As the afternoon progressed, he got the hang of iteamsiolyre than anyone should have.
This was, he decided, a fast-paced culture. The faster you went thecobnettrtoelr you had. Still, he managed now to sort of half-run, and to standwsitthilol ut falling on his face. It was enough. Subtleties

could be gotten later. Hceould move on toward that city now.
He followed the farm road until it reached a dead end. He realized het'dhemwardoeng choice, and retraced. At the pace he ran, he arrived at a mainberfored he knew it. What a road! A highway, really. A highway without vehiclebsu, t with lots of people.
And the road moved.
It was a giant moving walkway, and people holding onto moving handrails amloonvgedin ten lanes in either direction. The middle two lanes were reservedcofmormercial traffic; large boxlike containers with odd symbols and sometimegsraphics moved there on their own walkways, and he wondered how they got themoff.
Two other things struck him immediately. One was that the people cwlootrhees, which caused him a real problem. The males wore shirts and sometimligehst jackets, with briefs to cover the nether regions. The females-well, thawt as another thing. He had heard the term "opposite sex" for years, but this was the first tune the difference was graphic.
Blue-skinned all, from the waist down the females appeared roughly humanth.eOy hh,ad the little tails, too, and their feet seemed to be a bit broademr oarned solid than human feet, but human enough. They mostly wore pants ansdandals. But from the waist up-
They were goats.
Well, not exactly, he decided. The head was a rounded triangular shapelownigthloawer jaw running
its length, and their noses were black and located aetndtheof the upper jaw. Their ears were the same pointed type as his own, atnhdeir horns short and more rounded than the males. Over the entire upper torso was that thick, woolly blue hair that was his from the waist down; the afremmsalelo'soked like a
goat's forelegs except that they terminated in long, ftrhaigni,le-looking hands.
They all had what appeared to be very large human breasts, almost gargandtuacno,vered with
either brightly colored bras or tied halters. And heerogtoict , sensations looking at them. Not just at the breasts, but at all of theImt .amazed him. He began to realize just how much he had become this new creature.

The lack of clothing concerned him most; obviously if he stepped otuhtatinttroaffic he'd cause a stir.
Nowhere was there any evidence that nudity
nwoarsmal or accepted.
He sat back down in what appeared to be a fruit grove to think.hHunegrwy;asif he was going to
skulk around or wait until dark to try and bafrograina pair of pants, he'd need something to sustain him. He eyed the largeo,range fuzz-covered balls on the bushes around him. He'd seen peaches on New Pompeii; he knew they didn't grow on bushes like this, but he suspecthdesethawt ere close enough,
and very edible, since nobody would grow the thliinkges this to poison anyone. He reached over and picked one.
There was a crackle and a pop, and he felt some sort of release intshidaet sheiemmed to flow into his hand. The peach crackled; it was cooked solid, saunddenly very hot. He dropped it with an oath. He
felt a dull burning sensatioin his hand, but it wasn't from whatever had cooked the fruit but rather from the fruit heating up.
What else? he wondered, both curious and anxious.
He carefully reached out to pick up another fruit off the bush. Hesefenlstattihoen rising within him, and fought it. It seemed to subsigdoe, down. Hepicked the thing and ate it. It tasted good.
Trying to figure out what had happened, he reached over and probed the pceoaockhe; dit was still warm. Somehow, he thought, my body contains hundrpedersh, aps thousands of volts of electricity that
can be discharged and renewed. Hinestinctively knew it, and the success he had in fighting the power the second time, when he expected it, showed that it could be contained or dischawrgilel.d at
He picked up another peach, put it down in front of him, and kind osefnlseattiothne flow, touching the peach with his index finger. He felt the sensaritsioen, flow into his arm, down it, and there was a slight crackle and the peacshtarted smouldering.
Where does that energy come from? he wondered. He considered the thickcaulpvpeserand thighs, and the tremendously dense hair there. That might well ubpuilad static charge, he thought, particularly
with all that running. A chartgraensferred to his body, to some sort of storage, discharging only when that body willed it.

I could possibly electrocute somebody by shaking hands with him! he thinouwghotnder.
He found he could feel the energy, even feel a slight loss after a diIstchcaorugled. be routed to any part of his upper body. Talk about a shocking embrace!
He was still experimenting when a sharp voice said behind bun, "If yothur'roeugahll trying to burn the field down, will you kindly get up and tell meyowuh'rye sitting in a fruit field, stark naked, frying peaches?"
He turned with a start. It was a male-whatever else he was. There mwisatsakninog his manner, the club and radio on his belt.
He was a cop.
They had radioed for a lock-up cart, and it arrived. They hustled hiitm, ainndtoit rolled down the moving roadway smoothly, bumping only when it reacahejdunction point where two belts met.
How you got off or on the roadway was simple. There was a smaclal ssteertlikoef the underside, and they, in turn, were attachead btoasic electric motor.
The cops provided their own electrical power.
wheels attached to
They rolled to a halt inside the police garage and took him out. Adefsekmasleergeant, her goatlike
head impassive, punched information into a compuatnedr
asked him questions.
"Name?"

"Renard," he responded.
"Odd name," she commented. "Place and date of birth?"
"The city of Barentsk, on the planet Muscovy, August 12, 4412 N.Dan.,s"wheered honestly.
She stopped typing and looked at him. "You trying to be funny?" sheThaseketwd.o male cops flanking him didn't look amused.
"No," he told her, trying to sound sincere. "Honest. Look, I crashed ahesrpeacineship, somewhere in
a place inhabited by giant cyclopses, and then I wupokheere. I don't know anything more than you do."
She remained impassive, that rigid face incapable of showing emotion, bsuatids,he"Less," cryptically, and punched something on the terminal. There wfalsip-aflop on the screen, and a new printout appeared, line-by-line. She noddedlo, oked at the two cops.
"He's an Entry, all right. One of the drug addicts."
"You sure," one of the cops responded. "He just looks like a Class-Onemen.u"t to
Renard felt insulted, but decided not to press the matter.
"Look," the desk clerk said. "Take my word for it. Get some clothes ffromhitmhe lockup and then take him up to Lieutenant Ama's office. I'llahcaelald."
They reluctantly agreed, using the age-old principle of uncertainty: wyohue'nre not positive of your own position, pass the buck. They gave him suonmceomfortable, tight-fitting briefs of a bright-white
color, and a white T-shitrhtat was too large and obviously had been worn by a legion of people before him. The bright-white was obvious: the contrast with his deep-blue complexionspwotatasble a kilometer
away. Jail clothes.

Lieutenant Ama was a typical bored servant of the people who didnpr'toblilkeems in his district. He also wouldn't answer questions of any kianldth, ough he asked a number, obviously to make sure that Renard was indeed who hseaid he was. Nobody else would talk, either.
He sat there for hours. He knew what was happening-at least he hoped hAe mknaewa. s calling his superior, who was calling his superior, who was-andforstoh, until somebody decided what to do with him.
Well, they fed him, anyway. They even showed him how you touched dpifofeinretsnton the metal
plate set in the wooden base to cook anything you likedyohuowliked it. He discovered that men were
the cooks here. Women couldn't
idt-odidn't have the electrical capacity. They were, however, as
immune toelectrical shocks of any kind as the males. Renard wondered idly how youlovmeaadreound here without burning the house down.
He slept in an unlocked cell, and by the middle of the second daywhoendwerainsg if he'd been forgotten.
He hadn't. A little into the afternoon, they came for him. Big guyst-hbaigngehre was, anyway. It occurred to him that, since everything was to scaleh,adheno idea how big he was. Could be ten centimeters high or four meters high.
Another trip, much longer this time, and then into a huge building thshatapwedaslike a pyramid but with minaretlike towers all around. Into anotohfefrice, this one obviously a big shot's, and more
questioning. They had ndooubts he was who he said he was; the questions were quite different this time.
Most of them were about Antor Trelig.
He told them everything; he held nothing of his hatred back. He descrimbeadn thweho enslaved so many to terrible drugs, the depravities of New PomTpreeiil,ig's mad ambitions. They took it all down.
And, finally, they answered some of his questions.

"Where am I?" he asked.
The interrogator, a slighter-built man who wore glasses, thought a mo"mYeonut. are hi Agitar, and you are an Agitar."
"I'm still on the planet where I crashed?"
Slowly, they told him the story of the Well World, the hexes, and somperoobfletmhes his arrival had caused.
"You can't pilot a spaceship, can you?" the interrogator asked hopefully.
"No," he admitted. "I was a teacher of classics and a librarian and soma egtiumaerds prisoners."
for Trelig's
The man thought for a minute. "You must understand our position in rtoelaytiooun. Agitar is an advanced, technologically based hex. There is notheinlegctrical, I believe, closed to us, stemming from research on our own bodieSs.cience is king here. Now we prepare for a war, a war for those spaceship parts your party brought down. And here you are-totally illiterate, posseasbsisnoglutely no skills of use
to us. Now you are an Agitar for the rest oflifye.ouYr ou're young, strong, but little else. You must be fitted in here, anwd hen we look at this compilation, the only usable quality you possefasms iilsiaraity
with weapons and the ability to shoot straight."
"Where are the others who came in with me?" he asked, not likdinirgectihoen of the conversation. "I
would like to get in contact with the womMaanv,ra Chang-"
"Forget it," the other told him. "She's in the hands of the Laatalt,hoanudg,h they've stayed neutral so
far, they are almost certainplyhilosophically, maybe actually, in opposition to us." He sighed. "No, I think there's only one place you would fit in now, and it'll do you good, winotrok Ayoguitar society with
discipline."

They drafted him into the army.
They gave him two weeks of strict, intense basic training. There watismleittlteo think, and that was as
it had been planned. Still, barracks life mhaidme
some friends and filled him in on the rest of what was
going on. For ontehing, he found out that Agitar was allied with Makiem, a hex whose doramcienant were giant frogs, and Cebu, a race of flying reptiles of some sort.
He also learned that Antor Trelig was a Makiem.
That depressed him. The ultimate irony. To escape from New Pompeii, bsepaot ntghe on a new and alien planet, and wind up back serving Antor Trelig aWgaains . the Well computer laughing?
The training was tough but fascinating, though. In hand-to-hand, an Amgailtearwould simply electrocute his opponent. Although the average energy stoinredan Agitar male was several thousand volts-still enough to be lethal-it couplodtentially store up to sixty thousand volts! An incredible figure. Overload wasimpossible, but if you were fully charged, any additional energy wouimldmbedeiately released. The static electricity alone would never generatteerriably high voltage, but it was actually possible for an Agitar to absoardbditional electricity from artificial sources or even things like lightning rods. They were totally immune to electrical shock; they could not electoronceutaenother, but they
could actually transfer stored-up energy betwetehnemselves. There was a rather unpleasant class on how to absorb the energy froamdying or recently dead comrade.
Shooting was easy for him; the rifles were different from what he knweewre, athse pistols, but all such weapons basically operate on the same principaliem: , push here, and the energy or projectile comes out there.
Somehow, one never unconsciously discharged, even while sleeping. He wondaebroeudt that, worried about the fact that the first time he had doinnevoslountarily, but they assured him that it rarely happened. But beds were madoeut of nonconductive, energy-absorbing materials, just in case.
He also learned, indirectly from his barracks-mates, about the oppositeThseyx. were smart; on the average, a little smarter than the men, some said.wSaesxcommon and frequent; the Agitar were a horny bunch. But there was effectivbeirth control, plus the Well monitor of the population, so nobody felt

inhibited. Marriage was unknown. If you wanted a child, you just found athfaemt
awleanted one, too-or
vice versa-and had one. If it was male, it wafsaththeer's total responsibility to raise it. The female might stay, might walkout. If it was female, the reverse was true.
There were women in the army, too. Because they could not hold a chdaisrcghearogre, they were
never front-line troops, but they handled everything eMlsoe.st of the upper officers, including the bulk of
the general staff, were womeans,
were most of the technicians.
The war was not popular. There was some childish enthusiasm born ofhanveivnegr actually seen what
a war was like, yes; but most people didn't.get oevnetrhlyusiastic about it. They saw war as a necessity.
A nasty couple of races-thYeaxa and the Lamotien -were even now moving to get the ship parts as well, and they had Ben Yulin under their control to fly it. Better a fully chargedat AAgnitorr Trelig's side
walking into Obie than a bunch of terribly alien curenedpesr a not certainly controllable Ben Yulin.
After two weeks, they transferred him to Air. It wasn't a promotion, Areiralwlye;nt in first, and took the brunt of front-line casualties. Renard almgoasstped when he saw what Air meant. Not planes or
sleek ships, no. They wehreorses. Large, great horses with tremendous swanlike wings along both sides of their sleek bodies. As a classicist, Renard recognized them as the embodimtheent leogfendary
Pegasus, and they were truly grand. They came in all cborlowrs-n, white, pink, blue, green. There was no end to the variety.
And they flew-tremendously, gracefully, with an Agitar on a saddle, hisstralepgpsed in, on soaring
wings. They were somewhat fragile, since they had hoblloonwes, and he never did quite understand why they flew, but they did and twhaats enough. They were also much smarter than horses. They responded to verbalcommands, slight kicks, pulls on the reins- and they were easy tocotnrsaiidne,ring their riders
had their own shock prods.
He was assigned one immediately. A beautiful, intelligent animal, greceonloirn. The first time he went up, he had an instructor in front and all sofratsncoyf instruments. But, the animals were easy to fly, and by the third daRy enard was doing loops and swirls on Doma, the horse's name, as easiblyornastoif it. They were a natural pair, Agitar and pegasus; they blended togliekteheorne organism.
And there was the tast. It was a steel rod, about three meters longw, ictohatceodpper, with a
sword-like copper hilt. With an Agitar male holding onwea,sitan electrical conductor of remarkable efficiency. It was also thin afnadirly light for the well-muscled arms.
In a nontechnological hex, or even some others, the tast was an ucltliomsea-tceontact weapon, where

pistol or rifle either could not be used or wnooutldwork.
At the end of three weeks they told his class that they weren't reallyshoreualdyn, eed six more
weeks, but that this was all the training they were tgooignegt. As it was, they would have to catch up to the war.
Renard decided one thing-had decided it long before, when he found outTraebliogu. t
He was not going to die in Trelig's service.
LATA
Another dizzying ride on the Krommians had taken Mavra to Lata itself.
It was a fairyland come to life. The Lata had no cities as such; thsepyreawderoeut along wooded hills and forest glades. Small shop groups permitted ntehceessary trade and services, and there was a
number of universities, researcfhacilities for those so minded, and places for the artisans, for Lata were an inherently artistic race.
It was also the only asexual bisexual race she had ever seen. They allidleonotikceadl to her except for the colors; all like meter-high girls of ninteeno, rand all spoke in lyrical, musical bells. It was an eerie feeling for herw, ho had always been so small in a world of giants, to suddenly be thperstaolnlest around.
They were all born without sex; they matured after fifteen to twentyintyoeabrisological females, each capable of laying just one egg, which hatcheditsonown in a few days. Then, over a two-year period,
they changed. Female organvsanished, and male organs grew in their place. They were then male for the

rest of their lives.
She asked Vistaru why there were so many females if that was the cagsierl.-eTvhene
though mature, it
was impossible to think of the Lata as other gtihrlasn-had laughed. "When you change, you get older," she'd replied.
Mavra ultimately found out that females aged at a rate only a fractioofnmthaalets; it would eventually catch up with you, of course, but most put aist oloffng as possible. Spend forty to fifty years as a ten-year-old flying pixiegirl, then have your egg, then have another thirty years as a male, gorlodwering inside.
That's why the males seemed to be the leaders here. They were older,
manodrehaedxperience.
Mavra Chang felt more at ease now than at any other period she could reimn ehmebr elrife except those glorious years of marriage and partnership. There nwoaspressure here; the people were wonderful and warm. There were no threats,nantoural enemies, and, as a high-tech hex, no want of
material comfort, eithera, lthough they seemed to have made less use of their technical capabilities than other places she was told about. They didn't need it: they were happy.
The stingers, which could kill-they described the venoming procesosmaesthing like an orgasm-were their extra edge against neighbors who might ththinek frail and tiny creatures easy prey. It totally
paralyzed for a long periode, pending on the victim's size and weight, and too much of it could kill. Less than a dozen races had proven immune to it, and the Lata hadn't hatdhetior pteoswt er much in a long
while.
As for Mavra herself, they made new clothing for her to her design, ostfrebtclahckcloth, and a heavy coat for cold weather wear. They also cleanedbehlet,r replaced the strap, and marveled at the compartments and gadgets ictontained. The same with her boots; they were too worn to be useful, but the gadgets had survived, and a new pair was brighter, shinier, more flexibcloemafnodrtable-and even
added a few more centimeters to her height.
They also untangled her hair, cut, combed, and trimmed it in Lata flaosnhgiona,nd sleek on the top
and sides, short in back. When they tested the veinohmer nails, it fascinated them. Obie had made a biological adaptation ofmechanical injectors; and the system was, said the medical people, amazing and complex. They got her to try the hypno load on a Lata volunteer, and, hmerucshurtporise, the stuff that
had failed on the cyclopses worked on the Lata.

She lived with them for several weeks; it was a peaceful time. The
pmeeodpilcealfitted her with a
translator, a tiny crystal from the North that pwatacshed in at any one of several points inside her body in a painless, minoroperation. This would allow her to understand, she was told, anyone on the Well World, and anyone on the Well World could understand her. The devices wceoremmnootn or cheap;
the operation had been mandated and paid for by Serge Ortega.
She was both delighted and disappointed: delighted in that she couldspenaokw to and understand
these wonderful people; disappointed in that thsepierech, when translated, lost its wonderful musicality. It sounded like plaionld Confederation plain talk with bell-like undertones. Furthermore,trathneslator
was in and of itself a reminder to her that she was not reallwyoamafnre,ebut a captive. These nice
people were doing things in their own
pboeslittical interest, not hers.
Vistaru explained the problem to her, now easier since she could speakowinn hlearnguage and be understood. "You are a pilot," she pointed out. "YTahxea-Lamotien-Dasheen alliance is on the move.
So is the Makiem-Cebu-Agitar onWe. e don't want war. We want that ship destroyed. But we must have someone aroundwho understands it, just in case-as long as the threat remains."
As long as the threat remains. Mavra wondered how long that would be.
The map told the story, along with daily war reports. The great sphiBnxoeids eol fhad traded their
module for peace, going as far as bringing it tAogtihtaer border. Gambling that the war would end in no profit for all concernedth, ey had elected to pass.
In the North, the great angry butterflies of the Yaxa had poured boiolinngTeoliilagin villages and
forests, and the Lamotien had spread panic as Telicayg-icnlopses suddenly came apart into fifty or more smaller creatures whodisrupted everything from behind. The Teliagin, primitive and feasrufurrle, ndered quickly. They allowed the Yaxa and Lamotien to drag the bmrioddguele across the Lamotien border on great carts, eventually helping in tphreocess. The Yaxa were already heading across the Sea of Storms on great wingsf,irst to Nodi Island-a peaceful hex inhabited by a race described as resegmiabnlting walking mushrooms-to receive a sea-landed module being brought to thetmhe bdyolphinlike Porigol
next door. There, on the Nodi beaches, Lamotteiecnhnicians carefully disassembled the mod, and
helpless Nodi allowed the parttos
be shipped to Zone through their Zone Gate, and thence on to
Lamotien. Qasadawould be next for the Yaxa alliance.
In the South, Djukasis was giving fierce resistance, but it was only aofmdaattyesr, the reports said. The great bees' hives were being hit bypttehreodactyllike Cebu, while Agitar airmen on great Pegasi zapped the Djukasisfrom the air with their tasts.

Upset, Mavra asked repeatedly why the Lata would not go in to hDeljpuktahseis, whom they liked and had been friends with for centuries. They alwshaoyosk their heads and gave the same answer.
"If we hurt one army without hurting the other, the other has that muchanmcoereof achieving its goals. We must remain neutral until there is someofsoarct tion we could take that would end not one war, but all war."
In the meantime, Mavra Chang felt more and more a prisoner in paarpaidxiisee as events passed her by.
DJUKASIS
There was a storm coming. They could see it in the billowing black hcelaorudths,e distant thunder, and almost feel the glow of approaching lightning.
The Agitar commander looked at the scene and nodded approvingly. "A fitnoe ednady this mess," she said to the field officers, the men who would "lTeahde.re is much charging potential there."
"Enough to knock the mounts out from under us," muttered one officer gwluomndlyer,ing why commanders who never had to go into battle themselves were aslwo acyhseerfully optimistic when explaining what other lives should buy.
She sniffed. "No defeatism today, Captain! You know as well as I do ltahsatt atnhde your own
bodies will absorb the force. The saddles are insulated.beTahset is used to mild shocks. No, conditions favor us. The siege of the DjukaZsoisne Gate complex is well along; knock out the rest of their aerial defenses today, and the froggies will easily take it over in the rain."

They went back to tell their men.
Renard, too, was watching the storm approach, with far different thougmhtisndi.n Over the past week he'd become a good fighter, but electrocuting thboesees sickened him. He did it only because, if he did not, they would kill hiwmith their projectile weapons and stingers, suicidally if need be. But,betheosse
were people defending their homes.
He was also scared. Those bees weren't fools; they had learned, totoh,eythcaot uld turn more quickly
than a pegasus; hit the mount in the rear, orueat cohf of the Agitar rider, and the beast plunged to its own and its rider'sdeath. That had almost happened to him twice now; it had happened to mofsrtieonfdshis already.
Captain Bir was sarcastic but professional. "The final assault this timseu,ref,orboys," he told them without any conviction whatsoever. "Same deal. Wesu'repposed to go in just ahead of the storm. When
it hits, you'll draw additioncahl arges. Try and get in to the hive itself, give them all the juice you've got. Fry it. As soon as the storm hits, clear out when you've shot your wfraodg.giTeshewill drive in with the rain."
"But that'll leave them with no air support, sir," one of the men opuoti.nted
He shook his head. "That's D-Company's job. No, we get the easy part. inJusathegaod and kill everything we can, then get out of there." They chucmkilretdhlessly, knowing that their job was the
deadly part. "No," he conclude"dj,ust remember that you'll have an easy retreat. They can't fly in the rain as we can. If it's good and hard, just let your mount bring you home."
Renard nodded with the rest, a plan forming in his mind. He'd seen etahreliedraiyn at the captain's
tent a map of the overall route of march. rHeme'edmbered from the moment he'd heard it the official's statement that MavraChang was in a place called Lata. The captain had been arguing with another officer, and he'd pointed to the map on his tent wall, saying, "We canth'tatflfaanrk north, Suo! That's Lata, neutral territory!"
And it had been northeast of their present position, about a day'sTfhleighpte.gasus wouldn't mind
rain. It liked rain and storms, with the Agitdarawto the lightning from it. Water rolled off the animal with ease, not weighingit down at all. If that storm were fierce enough, and he had guts entooulgdh, he

himself, he was going to desert.
"Okay, boys! Let's mount up!" the captain called. One last battle, onebamttloer.e
Here we go, all right, Renard thought grimly.
To the Makiem on the ground, and to the great, red-eyed flying triangwleesrethathte Cebu, it was an awesome sight, even taking into account their diffecreonntcepts of what was grand. The storm was close now; the sky was filled wgitrheat black-and-orange billowing clouds that rumbled and flashed, like lights flashing briefly, across the panorama.
Against that came the Agitar, tiny specks at first, then growing untciol utlhdeybe individually distinguished across the storm-tossed sky. Great horsesmoanf y colors, broad swanlike wings flapping gently in the rough air, in V-shapfoerdmations-dozens of them in the leading wave, then dozens more behind, protecting the flanks.
They came in fairly low; the maximum altitude of the pegasus was bfeitfwteennhundred and eighteen hundred meters, and they generally stayed lowthearn that as a safety margin-in this case much lower, due to the upper-airturbulence, perhaps no more than three hundred meters above the ground troops.
Pterodactyllike Cebu, red eyes blazing, moved off behind the Makiem gtrroouonpds to provide additional cover for the incoming Agitar. Each of the ggiraenatt reptiles wore a harness with twin harpoon tubes that could be aimed atrnidggered by a flick of the head, then dropped down to be reloaded from quiversstrapped to their undersides.
The Makiem could almost feel the great beating of those wings as theyjupsatssoevderhead, and some
of the giant frogs cheered both in optimism anredletaose the tension from their own impending jump-off.
The enemy, its forces depleted by near-continuous battle, its reserves pinullferdom North and South,
waited until the last moment before challenging. Tohneliyr
hope was to get inside the Cebu defensive
screen and strike the grepaet gasi down by bullet or stinger, even though the latter method would mean their own deaths as well.

The Agitar were in sight of the objective now; the monstrous hive halfgraobuonvde rose over thirty
meters in the air. It had been badly damaged by cafinrneonand past aerial attacks, but it had stood, torn though it was by gregaat ping holes and scars.
From its thousands of tiny black pockmarks there appeared to be some resoflretctoiofn of the storm flashes, and it was-from the great, huge, multifaceyeeds of the defenders, who now rose in highly organized, tight-knit swarms tmo eet the coming foe. The two sides were joined in less than a minute.
The bees were huge, over a meter long, with menacing stingers to mattchhe.
sBtiuntgers were also an
integral part of their backbone; to use it wbasreatok it off-thus breaking its back and causing death. They depended first otnheir weapons-projectile-types, since theirs was a semitech hex, contained in large boxes located under the thorax, operated by one of the eight flcelxawiblliek,e legs that furred black and gold creatures possessed. Spring-wound, thceoyuld fire ten rounds a second, with a
two-hundred-shot cartridge.
Actually, the bees' greatest problem in aerial combat was stehmeiir-automatic weapons; they had to be careful in the increasingly rough airketoep from shooting one another down as well.
The tactics were simple. The bees formed a solid wave; the front line uwnatiiltinitgwas hi easy range
of the Cebu screen and the first line of Agitar,optheenning fire. When they were spent, they would drop down and slow, letting thoencoming swarm pass over them, so the next row was clear for a shot. If the progression went well, they could drop back to the hive for addcitairotnriadlges and rejoin the back
row. But their forces were badly depleted; otnhcee line had fired, it then became a series of free agent aerial soldiers,coming up from below.
The Cebu's harpoons were not as efficient as the Djukasis' machine gunfsa;cibnugt,a swarm, they could hardly miss. Their objective was to knock holtehse information, then get into the midst of the swarm, where great, sharpte, eth-filled beaks could rend and tear in quarters too close for the machine guns to do any good.
The rumble of the quickly oncoming storm and the tremendous air turbulcernecaeteidt on both sides as they struggled for balance.
started to tell
The bees' leading line of machine guns started, and some of the atwtaecrkeerhsit, falling from the sky, to be replaced by those from the second thainrd waves so the formations were maintained. The
Djukasis' aim was off; thewyere having real problems remaining stable in the storm-tossed air, and some

were partially spun around still firing, knocking holes in some of thenirumowbenrs.
The Cebu took advantage of this, rushing up into the holes, firinghatrhpeono-ns into soft Djukasis bodies, then spearing, ripping, and tearing throuthgeh ranks while trying to avoid the lethal stingers. Of the eighty-four Agitarin the leading combination, only seventeen still flew, yet the formationstigwhtere
and steady as the places of the fallen were taken by those behind. tDhespCietebu's effectiveness, some of the Djukasis were penetrating now.
Renard had just moved up into second wave position behind the leaders, dainddn'thheave time to think. A great black-and-gold body suddenly swept up hiinstoview on his left, and he swung his own harpoon projector over and firewdithout thinking. The missile struck the giant bee, and it went down without asound.
There were more of them now; they were flying directly into the swarmto,o ncolwose for the Djukasis to use their machine guns but close enoughclfoosre-quarter combat.
Suddenly the Agitar drew their tasts and energized them. They did not
shpaevaer ttohe enemy, only
touch him; that seemed easy to do; everywhere you swthuengrods there seemed to be Djukasis.
But not enough Djukasis, not any more.
In past attacks over the previous three days, a new swarm had poppedthaotuthiovfe at the last
minute, and they had been unable to get directly inotno
iot.r Now the situation had changed. On either
side of the saddle sat canisteorfs a highly flammable liquid; now, for the first time, they were able to dump itonto the hive.
They made their passes and dumps; going back up into the still fiercceomaebriaatl, then looped again. More horses, men, and pterodactyls fell from the bsukty,ten suicidal defenders fell for every one of the attackers, and, unlike thaettackers, they had no more reserves. The leading edge of the Agitar then moved in again, very low this time, so close they could see the impassive facefsligohftletshse workers peering out at the grim battle from the cells and doorwathyes hoifve.
The Agitar tied thin copper wire to the hilts of their tasts and preptharroewd , tobeing careful that they didn't get tangled as they moved away.

Firing was coming from the hive, but it was intermittent after the fuelthdeumbupr;ning smell and feel of the liquid had driven them back under where ithiht,adand the stuff now pretty well saturated the top of the hive.
The copper wire unreeled, ten meters, twenty, as the leading second wavceovweraesd by, but not followed in by, its backups. The Agitar were nearinglimthites of the wire reel, and, when the mark was reached on the reel, theeynergized the wire with their hands.
Energy flowed along the wires; electricity followed its natural pathwtahyis isnemitech hex. Though only the Agitar would hold a charge here, it ewnoausgh.
Where the tasts had stuck in the hive in places that had been wetted dthoewfnlambymable liquids,
and despite Djukasis efforts to get the tasts outtharonwd
them to the ground, the energy charge struck.
It only took one.
The liquid burst into flame with a roar; a chemical fire that eovnecomthieng storm would be hard-pressed to slow.
The Makiem on the ground cheered as the blue-white flame and billowing sshmowokeed success, and they grasped their own weapons and prepared to charge,orainno.
With sudden explosive fury, the storm hit, turning the/field in fronthoivfethtoe
a low-visibility
quagmire hi seconds. The Makiem, who liked rainmaunddy weather, leaped for all they were worth.
As Renard turned from the hive, amazed at the fact that he and Domstaillwuenrteouched as it was, he felt the storm hit. For the first time he sttaortethdink, instead of act on instinct. If he just relaxed, he knew that Domawould fly back to the base camp; the horse had an unerring instinct forbagcekttintog where she had started from. Looking around in the driving rain, hjuestwbaasrely able to make out the
Djukasis trying to get back to the hivebebiuntg knocked out of the air by the force of the rain. A Cebu almost panickedhim, flying across directly in front, but it was on a different errangdre.atThfleying
reptiles weren't much better in the rain than the Djukasisw, earnedgoing to ground fast.

The water beaded and rolled off Doma's back. Yet there were severe uapnddrafdtoswndrafts that the great horse could not avoid, so it was a rockysmriodoe,thed only slightly by the horse's apparent ability to see changes in apiressure. When Renard saw the direction Doma was taking, a million doubts assailed him. If he deserted, he would have to fly through the teethstoorfmt,heperhaps battle isolated
back-country Djukasis on his way. And, onceLaitna, he'd be a castout, a man who could never go home again.
But he felt little loyalty for the Agitar, although he liked thinedmiviadsuals. He could not get away from the fact that, behind all of ttehrerible carnage he had witnessed and had been a part of, there was the grinning, self-satisfied egomania of Antor Trelig.
And Mavra Chang. Somehow, he knew, she had saved him, somehouwnwhiellringness to be
defeated had kept him alive. For what? To be killed ninexthbeattle, in the next hex, in Antor Trelig's cause?
No! his mind shouted to him. Never! He owed her, and, in a different owwaeyd, Ahentor Trelig something, too.
So he gently pulled and turned the great green pegasus to the rightth, efarrigthot, and headed into the fury about him.
SOUTH ZONE
The Czillian, Vardia, entered Ortega's increasingly cluttered offices, a omfacssomputer printouts and
diagrams clutched in its two tentacles. Ortega glanced up as thpelant-creature entered.
jwusats switching off from an intercom communication and

"New data?" he asked, sounding more resigned than happy at the prospect.
Vardia nodded. "We have run the projections through the computers caetntehre. Things don't look good."
Ortega wasn't surprised. Nothing looked good any more. "What have youhegoat?sk"ed glumly.
The Czillian spread out the charts as well as some diagrams. Ortega croeuadldnth'te normal Czillian originals, but the computers at the great univerasnitdy research center in the plant hex had provided translations in Ulik. Hsetudied them, expression becoming increasingly grim.
"Ship design certainly has changed in the past three hundred yearcso,"mhmeented.
"What did you expect?" the Czillian asked him curtly. "After all, therpeerwioedres in the past histories of many races when they went from primibtiavrebarism to space in less time than that."
Ortega nodded. "But it would help if I could understand more of thethdeeosriyg,n" he said wistfully. It didn't really matter, though; the computers cofuolldlow it-and if the computers could follow it in Czill, then the computers ofs,ay, Agitar or Lamotien or a half-dozen others could, too.
"They made the sectional cuts in just the right places," Vardia notedp.ie"cTehsewere barely large enough for the Zone Gates, but they all fit-andcouwled hardly stop them by rights anyway."
"Or force, either," he pointed out. "No wars in Zone, eh?" He looked
tahgeaipnrianttout collection.
"So the power plant is the only thing we coumldanatge here? They're sure now? Wonder why?"
"You know the answer," Vardia responded. "The plant is sealed and woprkrisncoifpfles we don't know. We could create a power plant, of course, but aclmertoasitnly not with sufficient thrust to clear
the adjacent nontech hexes befotrheey caused shutdown. You know what a miserable failure even our little attemptswith cameras have been. Moving a mass this size is, I think, beyondbuuislt. iInt'tso the
Well to keep us here. But the size of those engines must ipnodwicearte. They could do it, if trajectory at launch was nearly straight up."

Ortega admitted the possibility. He had to-it was sitting themreathinematically precise black and white
in front of him. "But to make it wthoeryk'll need the programming," he objected. "That means the Yaxa or nothing."
"Bullshit, and you know it!" the Czillian shot back, displauynicnhgaracteristic emotion. "So maybe it
takes the Agitar a couple of yearsjurtoy-rig a replacement. More likely they'll either deal or steal what's needed. You of all people should know what politics and espionage on the Well Wlikoer.ldYiosu have
Yaxa agents, Dasheen agents, Makiem agents, Agaitgaernts-probably agents of half the races on the planet."
Ortega didn't reply. Being true, it wasn't worthy of a retort. Hsme iljeuds,t
but it was not a satisfied
smile. All of his old friends, all of twhohsoe owed him or were in his pay, had provided a great deal of information. Butno results. More, he was well aware that the Yaxa would cheerfully doublteh-ecirross
own parents to get in on the deal, and the Lamotien were as trustworartshyinasa cheese factory. Whoever got the power supply would, politically,abble to put all the pieces together, he felt sure. He wasn't the only competenbtackstabbing puppet-master politician on the Well World, only the oldest and most experienced.
But the Czillian printouts indicated the worst from a technical standtphoeinst:ections had separated intact. They had landed, for the most parrte, aisnonably good shape. Disassembly where necessary had been professional,knowledgeable, and at the right points.
"What's the war news?" Vardia asked apprehensively.
He sighed. "The Djukasis were tough, but they were whipped. Klusid dhoaevsen'at
module, but it
does have atmospheric problems for them. It's a fgiogihntg around, but there's a very heavy ultraviolet radiation in the Klusidiaantmosphere. It's what makes things so pretty and yet so strange there. Their atmosphere has protected them from the Zhonzorp. But, I think the Makiemmahnaavgeed a deal with
the Klusidians through an alliance with the Zhonzorp. nTehede
for passive radiation shielding will slow
them down, but the Klusidianasren't able to withstand the alliance from the west and those two-legged crocodiles from the east. They'll give in, since it's only free passage steheekyi'nreg. With Zhonzorp
having both a module and a key position, they'nllatbueral allies. The Agitar don't like them, but the Makiem and Cebu arienterested because the crocs are another high-tech hex, and can help stehee that goat-folk don't do any double-crossing themselves. I'd say the whole offortcheem will be at the borders of Olborn within ten days at the outside, Zwhitohnzorp handling most of the resupply problems."
Vardia looked at the map. "Only two hexes from Gedemondas. What aboYuatxath?e"

Ortega sniffed in such a manner that it was evident that there was mnoerwe sb. ad
"While the Yaxa got the Porigol module back, the Lamotien infiltrated QIatsaodnaly.
takes six
Lamotien to create an exact duplicate of those little rodSeanbtos.tage, false information-and really
effective, since the Lamotien ahreigh-tech themselves and knew where to throw everything out of gear. The Dasheencow army wasn't a big help, but it caused additional contusion, and itasdvYisaoxras had
done their jobs well. There's still hard fighting there, thoumgha;y itbe a week or even two before they get through. The Yaxa will deal wthiteh_Palim-they're great at that. Another five, six days to move through Palimwith their stuff, maybe one more to get the Palim module out, and they're on the Gedemondas border."
"So the Yaxa will get there first," the Czillian concluded, staring atghaeinmaatp.
"Maybe, maybe not," Ortega said. "Depends for one thing on the strenthgeth Qoafsada resistance,
and on whether the others listen to the Zhonzorp. Io'dvefrlyAlestol ferrying everybody in a continuous
airlift. The air iusncomfortable, and it stinks, but the Alestoli are barrel-shaped moving
tphlatntesmit a
variety of nasty noxious gasses. You can't talk to them-buthathveyno air capability whatsoever. If the
Makiem-Agitar-whatever alliance canpush through Olborn, I'd say that it might be a dead heat."
Vardia looked at Olborn. "What do you know about the place?" itcuarsikoeudsly.
The big snake-man shook his head. "Not much. No ambassador I ever knewSeaabloedut.itself off
from the outside world. Anybody who tries to go in never ocuotm. eTshey're mammals there, air's okay,
and my stuff says that they'resema itech hex with light magic capabilities, whatever that means. You gotta watch those magic types. All sons of bitches or fanatics-if there's a differenceZ. hEovneznorp goes
around them, but I can't imagine the most powerful hex opnlantheits standing against the kind of combination roaring in there. A magic hteenxds to rely on its magic too much for its defense; a good bullet stops a goosdpell every time when you're outnumbered four to one by now well-seasoned troops."
"So either one has a crack at being first to Gedemondas," the Czillian "mAunsdedw. hat about them? Anything?"
Ortega shook his head. "Nothing. Very high mountains, cold, and snowy mTohsetyly.live high up.

They're big-Dillians have seen them, but only briefly.suBcikgers, three meters, all covered in snow-white
fur, almost invisible against sanow field. Big four-toed clawed feet. They shun all contact, but if you go in too far, they'll drop an avalanche on your head."
The relief map showed a mild plain at the Alestol-Palim-Gedemondas btohrednertremendously high, faulted mountains, four to five thousand meters mantyheomf . Rough, cold country.
"Any idea where in Gedemondas the engine module fell?" Vardia asksendakthee-man.
Serge Ortega shook his head. "No, not really, and neither do they. Notploainnsthaerea, though." He hesitated. "Wait a minute! Maybe I do!" He rummathgreodugh a bunch of papers, cursing and fussing.
Papers went everywhere, until hefinally came across a tattered yellow sheet of lined notepad. "Here it is. The Agitar plotted the mass and shape of the mod from the pieces they raelcroeavdeyred, checked climatological data and such, and came up with the probloacbalteion. About sixty to a hundred
kilometers inside the northeast border, giovre take ten. In the mountains, but still a needle in a smaller haystack."
"How in the world did you get hold of-" the Czillian started, then qdueecsidtieodning Ortega wasn't
worth it. He'd only lie, anyway. "Then there'sonloyt the possibility of a search, but, if they find it, there's a fifty-fiftychance that the Gedemondas will either let them take it out or try tothdeemst.roTyhat's not a
body to be deterred that easily in the latter case."
Ortega nodded. "They're funny people, but we just don't know. Thapt'rsobthlem. We need to know. We need to send somebody in there to try and ttahlek Gtoedemondas, ahead of the armies, if possible. Maybe they'll run away, maybtheey'll try to kill them, but we have to try. Warn them ahead of time. Offer to-"
Vardia turned and faced him. "To take the engines off their hands, perhaps?"
Ortega shrugged. "Or, failing that, to try and destroy them."
Vardia would have sighed if it could. Instead, the Czillian asked, "Wyhoou
dhoave in mind for this
suicide mission to the frozen wastes? Count me oguot. dIormant under two or three degrees centigrade."

He chuckled. "No, you had your fun once. Or one of you did, anywadyo. nN't ol,ikIe what I'm thinking, but it keeps coming up the same answer. Thoenrley's one person qualified to inspect the engines, decide if they can be movoerd,, failing that, know how to destroy them beyond repairing."
Vardia nodded. "Mavra Chang. But you said she was too valuable to risk!"
"And so she is," Ortega admitted. "It's a calculated risk, I agree. Btuhteshoen'lsy one who can do the technical end of the job for us. We'll trymainidmize the risk, of course. Send some other people along with her forprotection, not expose her to any needless risks."
"From what you've said of her, I doubt that sincerely," the Czillian srkeeppliteicdally. "But, all right. It's come down to this. We have been passoibvseervers, and we'll continue to be passive observers watching the Trelig oYr ulin bunch blast off for the satellite unless we do something. I agreeis action called for. I only wish we'd done something sooner."
"Sooner, none of us thought either side had a prayer of actually makOinrgtegita,"reminded the plant-creature. "Now we know it's possible. It's nownevoerr."
The Czillian turned. "I'll notify my population and our friends as disacsreeptolyssible. You will assemble the personnel, I assume?"
Ortega smiled. "Of course-subject to Czillian Crisis Center's approvaclo, uorsfe."
"Of course," Vardia echoed, not at all certain it made any difference.
Ortega went back to his maps and was soon talking to himself. Xoda wthaes Youatx;a would be there. That left Olborn. Damn! . ..

LATA
He'd taken two days to get to the Lata border, although Doma coulgdottheanvehim there in one. The
great horse would never let on, but it was alwmoorsnt
out, and Renard had set down as soon as they'd
cleared the storm and hfelt far enough away from the war to be safe.
He had no provisions, nor did this land provide any. Doma could leavt etsheof trees and the tops of
tall grasses, though, and there was water, sofelht eshe could survive. Lata was the only idea in his mind;
he would wait to etahtere. Agitar were omnivores, too; if Mavra Chang could exist there, sohec.ould
He had a couple of close shaves before he made the border. Some of thhaed hlievfetsskeleton guard forces, and he was occasionally called upon to fbiguhtt,such action was scattered and usually broke off when he turned to avocidombat. There were too few of them to get drawn far from the hives.
Still, he was feeling mentally and physically exhausted, drainedi.nHterisnal charge was down to a mere pop, and he wondered if a certain amounsttoorefd energy was necessary for his body. Probably; it filled some need in hinsow alien biochemistry or it wouldn't be there. He stopped several timesantod run thereby get a little back into him, and it did help, although ohtehewrwaisse so physically washed out that
the running, prancing, and turning sohoand him winded.
But now here it was-the goal in sight from five hundred meters. He yheatdgnoottten over the incredible sight of a hex border. It shimmered a littlethferomeffect of the two different atmospheric compositions -not terriblydifferent, but enough, like some odd clear plastic curtain. At the bordleifre, the and terrain, often weather, stopped and was replaced by a dramatdicifaflelryent scene. Only the
landforms and water bodies were constant; rivfelorswed through without notice, seas of one washed on beaches of another, anfdoothills like those below continued on unbroken.
Djukasis was a dry hex; the thunderstorm was a rarity this time of yyeaert, sauncdh sudden and
violent storms provided most of the hex's rainfall. gTrahses was yellowish, the trees tough and spindly.
Now, at the Lata border, there suddenly started a deep-green carpet ogfrasrsic, hand tall, thick trees with great green leaf-covered branches reaching fuopr the sky, broken here and there by pools,

meadows, and rolling glens. Thewreas no sign of roads and, in the bright sunlight, no sign of people, either.
He wished he knew what kind of people lived there.
About a thousand meters into the hex, when he was still feeling theofefafecqtusadrupling of the humidity and a ten-degree temperature rise at leastf,ouhned out.
Multicolored energy bursts outlined Doma, who reacted nervously but hapdlacneo to go but back.
They're shooting at me! he thought in panic, then realized that thewbeurerstisntended to discourage, not kill. Not yet, anyway.
He took the hint and made a 180-degree turn, crossing back into Djukasmiso. isTtuhree-hungry air of the bee's home started to dry his perspiration-soaukpepder torso under his combat jacket, which he hadn't yet shed.
He set Doma down as close to the border as possible and jumped off, wloaoriklyingjust across the
line, wondering who or what was looking back at himto.oHk eoff his uniform jacket and tossed it away, leaving just the standarmd ilitary blue briefs. Taking Doma's reins, he cautiously proceeded back to the border, leading the horse on the ground.
This time, only ten or fifteen paces inside the border, he was chalTlehnegetdro. uble was, it sounded like a lot of angry bells; he couldn't understawndorda of it.
He stopped, looking out at the silent forest. The bells stoppedw, atiotion,g. He pointed to himself. "Renard!" he shouted. "Entry!" That second wworads different in most languages, though, he realized. It might not be understoohdere. "Mavra Chang!" he called out. "Mavra Chang!"
That set off more discussion. Finally, the universal rules set themselmveostioinn. When in doubt, pass the buck.

He put up his hands in what he hoped was a recognizable sign of suhrorepnindger,they, too, had hands and could understand his meaning.
They did. Suddenly a whole host of them erupted from the trees, armendastwy-iltohoking energy rifles. As a Djukasis veteran, he also immediately nothceedpretty but obvious stingers.
Pixies! he thought in surprise. Little flying girls. A high-tech hex, ththoousgeh;rifles looked plenty effective, and whether that antiaircraft fire wauatsomatic or them shooting, they could hit anything they wanted, of that he hando doubt.
They surrounded him, looked wonderingly at Doma, and made unmistakgaebstlueres that he was to move ahead. He saw that they all wore goggles and seveemryeduncomfortable. He suspected that they
were nocturnal creatures. They lehdim to a clearing a few thousand meters farther on; one of them made a lot ofsign-language gestures that gave no doubt as to their meaning. He was thtoerestaaynd make no
move, and he would be covered, so no funny business, or else.
That suited him. He was used to waiting now. Doma grazed on the rgicrhassn,ewand he stretched out and went to sleep.
Vistaru came into Mavra Chang's ground-level quarters in a hurry.
"Mavra?"
She had been lying there on a specially constructed bed, looking oveWr Worledll maps and geographies, mostly children's picture books. You didn't leacrnomaplex language in a few weeks, particularly one established for a vocal systyeomu couldn't imitate.
"Yes, Vistaru?" she responded, weary and bored from doing nothing.

"Mavra, there is one of the creatures involved in the war who came tihne fDrojmukasis border a few minutes ago. We just got a radio report."
The news was mildly interesting, but didn't change her situation "aSto?a"ll.
"He came in on a huge flying horse! You won't believe it! Gigantgicr,eepna.leAnd, Mavra-he kept calling for you! Over and over! By name!"
She was on her feet in a moment. "What did this creature look like?"
The Lata shrugged. "An Agitar, they say. Bigger than Lata, smaller thaAnllyoduar.k blue and fuzzy at the bottom."
She shook her head. "That's a new one on me. What do you think? A trick?"
"If it is, it's misfired," the Lata responded firmly. "Anything funnhye'lalnndever leave Lata alive. They asked whether you'd talk to him."
"If I can," she replied, and walked out.
There was no problem getting her there quickly. Although the Lata flehwencaendhad no need for roads or aircraft, they did have to move freightfoaonddstuffs all over. They just diverted a large,
crate-laden truck on governmenatuthority and much to the driver's disgust. Mavra Chang and three thousand crates of apples sped south to the border in a flatbed dual-rotor helisckoimptmeri,ng the
treetops. The trip took about three hours, and the sun walsateintaofternoon when they arrived. With a straight axial tilt, all hexes heaqdual amounts of daylight, a little over fourteen standard hours each.
The pegasus was really as grand and beautiful as had been described, raidnedr iwtsas as short, squat, and ugly.

"Cute little devil," Mavra muttered mostly to herself -and that's whfacethleooked like. An old Tradi-tionist's view of the devil in dark-blue balnadck hair. The creature had awakened when the helicopter approached, and stooadnd walked around. The thick body and the terribly thin legs looked almost impossible; he moved as if on tiptoe, and reminded Mavra of a costumedanbcalelre.t
Guards armed with energy pistols motioned him to a cleared area and fhliamnkeodn all sides. He wondered idly what bigwig had come to see thisinnteruwsion, but then he looked again and there was no mistake.
"Mavra!" he cried, and started to move toward her. The guards were qudicoku,btnoabout it. He stopped cold. He pointed to himself. "Renard, Mavra! Renard!"
She was more than surprised. Although she knew the system of the Welbl-eiet nhaedxplained at
length to her-this was the first time it really hit herfaince.thSehe chuckled, then turned to Vistaru. "This
translator -can I talk
htoim?"
She nodded. "You have a translator," the Lata reminded her.
"Renard?" she called out. "Is that really you?"
He beamed. "It's me, all right! A little changed, but still me intrsaided! Isponge for goat!" he called back.
She laughed. Communication worked fine. He understood her Confederationt,ratnhselator took care of the Agitar.
"Are you sure it's really Renard?" one of the border guards aske"dSohmeer.body you know? A lot of folks have claimed to be a lot of other lfaotelklys."
She nodded, thinking it over. Then she yelled, "Renard! They need proyoofut'rheatyou. And, to tell
the truth, so do I. And there's only one question thIinckanof that only our side would know, so forgive me." He nodded, and she weonnt. "Renard, who was the last old-type human being you made love to?"

He frowned, embarrassed by the question even as he saw the logic of Mit.avOran,lyhe himself, and the person involved would know the answer, and she whoauvled no reason for deception. "Nikki Zinder," he replied.
She nodded. "It's Renard. Not only the answer but the way he made it steorurnibdlesoconvinces me. Let him come to me or me to him."
The guards still weren't all that certain. "But he's an Agitar!" one gr"oOwnleedo. f them."
"He's Renard, no matter what," she responded, and walked briskly out tTohheimgu. ards kept at the ready, but appeared resigned.
She was taller than he, now-maybe ten centimeters with her boots on, tfhoruere worithout. He was ugly as sin and smelled like a goat, but she hugged hikmissaedndhim lightly on the forehead, laughing.
"Renard! Let me look at you! They told me this would happen, but somceohuoldwn'tI really believe it!"
He was slightly embarrassed again, from his strange new form and, boedcdaluys,e the Agitar part of his brain didn't really react to her as a womana,s bauntother, alien creature. He began to realize just how much he'd changed.
Mavra turned to Doma, who looked up as she cautiously approached.b"eHauet'isful!" she breathed. "Can I-touch him? Will he mind?"
"She," Renard corrected. "Her name is Doma. Let her look you ovemr ofmorenat and then rub the spot between her ears when her head droops. She tlhiakte."s
Mavra did as instructed, and found the great pegasus friendly, curiourse,spanodnsive.

She walked around, looking at the saddle between the great, now-folded awndingtshe neck. It was a sophisticated device-altimeter, air-speed angdround-speed indicator, everything.
She turned to him. "You'll have to take me up on her sometime," fly. But, tell me everything that's happenfeirds,t."
lsohnegisnagidly. "I'd love to see her
"If you'll get me some food-any fruits or meats will do that you canreepalti,e"d hleightly. "I'm starving to death!"
They sat there in the glen until the sun was down and the pixie peoopulet
winerfeorce. He told her of
waking up in Agitar, of Trelig, of being draaftnedd,of the war and his experiences. She sympathized,
while secretly wishing tboe in the thick of what he had escaped from, and told him a simplifiedofversion how they'd been hypnotized to minimize the sponge effects, of their cbayptuthre Teliagin, their Latan
rescue, and how they'd gotten to Zone.
"What about Nikki?" he asked. "Do you know where she got to? I havens'toprepaeldly thinking
about her. She's so young and so nai've-tough to be out ctohlids
ownorld. I know."
Mavra looked at her shadow, Vistaru, who'd joined them. Vistaru shoohkeahd.er"Nothing on either Zinder. That's curious. It's not impossible to remuanidnetected here, of course, but doing so is rare. The old politicians havesomebody in their pocket in half the South." She spoke in Lata, and Mavra translated. "So we might lose track of one-but both? It's very strange. Welikweoutoldknow where
they are.
"It's as if the Well opened and swallowed them up."
Several days passed, happy ones for Renard, diverting ones for Mavra, wbhoorseedom was at least slightly relieved by the man. He taught her to fly Dowmaas; eitasy for her, she found, although some of the maneuvers required more muscpleower than she could easily manage. She decided that she would never be mistressof that great horse, but it was still a great feeling to fly.

And then the Southern alliance reached Olborn. It was ahead of schedsuelveerbayl days; Zhonzorp, whose people the books said looked like crocodsitlaensding erect and who wore turbans, cloaks, and
all sorts of strangely exotsictuff, had been invaluable. A high-tech hex, it gained them both time and a rest by moving them across the terrain by rail.
That's when Vistaru came to them, with a visitor, an older male-mode Lata.
"This is Ambassador Siduthur," she introduced the newcomer. At Mainvsrais'stence they had fitted
Renard with a translator, which helped immensemlya,de him feel more in command of himself again.
Mavra and Renard nodded courteously.
"As you know, both wars are going well," Siduthur began, "which meatnhseytharte going badly for
us. Our friends in other hexes tell me that one ootrhetrheof the alliances will surely win, that it is in fact possible toreassemble the ship, and that, if nothing is done, we will face a space-Wcaeplalbalelliance
that could gain control of the satellite and its computer. Wneo claonger sit idly by and let this happen."
At last! Mavra thought, but she kept silent as the Latan ambacsosandtionrued.
"The only possibility we have is the hope that Gedemondas can be talkeeidtheirnttourning the engines over to us or destroying them." He told them athbeoustilence and reticence of the Gedemondas. "So, you see, we need to gseotmeone in there. Explain things to the Gedemondas if such is possibtlhee. irGet cooperation if that first is achieved, and- whether we get cooperatnioont-iof rwe can not get those engines, make certain that they are destroyed beyaonnyd means of reconstruction!"
Mavra leaped on it. "I'm the only one who can make sure of that," sheoupto. in"Nteodne of the rest of you know the power plant from the cargo hold, andonf oynoeu would be able to tell if the thing were damaged or destroyed."
"We're aware of that," the ambassador replied. "We should have liked tao
fheawvemore days to
gather together some better people to go with you.trTouhbele is, the best-qualified help is too distant,
and the more local helpeither conquered, under siege, or unwilling to get involved, the fools. The best
we can do is have an expert Dillian get around and meet you near the Gedbeomrdoen
rd.asThey are
neighbors, good in cold weather, and know about as much Gofedtehme ondans as anybody. At least,

you're not as likely to be ambushed byGtehdeemondans with a nonthreatening life form they at least know accompanyingyou."
"I'll go, too," Renard volunteered. "Doma can carry Mavra as well as mthea,t asnhdould speed things up."
The ambassador nodded. "We had planned on it. We're not a hundred ptreurscteinngt
of you, Agitar,
but we believe sincerely in your attachment for MCavhraang. That is enough. Vistaru and Hosuru, another Entry and former pilot, waillslo go with you."
"Another Entry?" Mavra asked. "I thought they were scarce and that Vhisetraer,u,was the only one of my kind-"
"That is true," the ambassador cut in. "Hosuru was not one of yobuerfokrien.d"
It may have been racial pride, or ego, or just chauvinism, but it fwirasts ttihmee either Renard or
Mavra Chang had even considered a spacefaring roatcheer than their own.
"What was this Hosuru?" Mavra asked. "And how many other spacefaringarreactehsere that wound up here?"
"Sixty-one at last count, in the South. Nobody knows about the Nortahm,"btahsesador replied.
"Certainly as many. She was once one of what we caGllhltmheones, which one of your people long ago described as little greefnire-breathing dinosaurs, whatever that means."
Hosuru wasn't a fire-breathing dinosaur anymore. Still in the female mshoedelo, oked absolutely identical to Vistaru except for being a deep browcnonitnrast to the other Lata's passionate pink.
The ambassador opened a map. "We are here," he told them, pointing to"Tao hoeuxr.
east is the Sea
of Storms. As you can see, the best route would beTuolvigear and Galidon to Palim, which has to be crossed sooner or later anywaHy.owever, the Galidon are fierce carnivores and the atmosphere above the watersis not conducive to flying, so that's out. That means crossing Tuligapotointhhisere, landing
in Olborn. The Tuliga are rather nasty giant sea slugtsh, ebyutshouldn't bother you if you don't bother

them."
"Doma's good for about four hundred kilometers if pushed," Renard saidt,ha"tb'suta good deal farther."
"It is," the ambassador agreed. "There are, however, a few small iaslloangdsthe way, so you can set down to rest. On no account must you go intwoatere! It is also brackish, not good for drinking, but the islands are volcaniacnd should have small crater lakes. Pick your camp spot well."
"Anything living on the islands we should know about?" Mavra caasukteiodusly.
The ambassador shook his head. "Nothing but birds, perhaps a few crustaocfeannos importance. No, the problem will be when you reach land again- witPhortihgeol supporting the Yaxa, there is simply no way around Olborn."
"But this Olborn-isn't it the next target of the Makiem, Cebu, and ARgeitnaar?rd" "Won't they be likely to confuse us with their enemy?"
asked worriedly.
"Truthfully, we haven't the slightest idea," the ambassador admitted. "aTrheeyin many ways as
unknown as the Gedemondas. Catlike creatures, I understawnidth,
semitech capabilities and, it says in
the references, limited magica,lthough I don't quite know what that means. Even so, you need only cross it atthe top. The attack from Zhonzorp to the extreme south might actually heblyp dyroauwing off
whatever fighters and major power the Olbornians have."
"We hope," sighed the worried Renard. "Then what?"
"By air over Palim, as close to the border as you can in order to mauvcohidaasspossible meeting the Yaxa alliance that might well be marching throautghabout the same time. Don't cut south into Alestol, though, whatever you havteo do! They are fast-moving plants that can direct poisonous gases that have effects that are sometimes fatal and always bad. They are carnivores whodicgoeustldany of you. Leave them to the Makiem and their cohorts to deal with.mYusotuget to Gedemondas ahead of the others at
all costs! Our only hopes rewsitth you. Can you do it?"

Mavra Chang wanted action so badly she could taste it. "With a littalendluockcc, asional help, I've never failed a commission yet," she said confiden"tTlyh.is is the sort of mission I've been waiting for!"
The ambassador looked at her warily. "This is not the Com," he remind"eTdheherru.les change quickly here."
THE TULIGA-GALIDON-OLBORN TRIANGLE, DUSK
Their crossing, while uneventful, took three precious days. They flewchoovpepry seas in Tuliga, and
the wind was against them most of the way. On thdeayfleiwght hours of relative calm they were able to spot coral reefs teeming wigthreat numbers of multicolored fish, and, then and there, shadowy black bulks ofgreat size.
They kept at a safe altitude, not wanting to risk any chance thatthoonse doaf rk shapes might
somehow rise out of the water and bring them dowwna.s Imt
ore peaceful when they reached the
Galidon border, but the atmosphelroeoked a little strange over there, and they headed in toward the point of landthat marked one of Olborn's six points on the Tuligan side.
Olborn itself seemed a welcome relief-solid-looking, mostly coastal plaliintt,leachilly, but they had brought protective clothing with them. Nothingthien place looked grim, foreboding, or threatening.
They waited until darkness fell before making a landfall on the beachh. aTdhedyecided to camp there, within easy reach of a quick getaway and withgrethaet Doma as concealed as she could be.
No roads had led down to the coast, they'd been certain of that. Withnewigahtebroyrs like the
Galidon, they didn't find this the least bit unusual.

It was a clear night; above, the spectacular sky of the Well Wordlidspwlayased in all its glory, and, off
to the north, a silvery disk covered
opfarthe horizon.
It was the first time they had been in the right position with twhearthigehrt at the right moment to see
New Pompeii. They stared at it in silenthcien,king.
"So close, so damned close," Mavra Chang whispered under her brelaotohk. eIdt
like you could reach
out and touch it. She thought of the poor peoplehawdhoalmost certainly died there by now, and of the
kindly, near-human computerO,
bie, who had helped her escape. She wanted to get back to that place,
and sheswore to herself that she would, someday.
They turned in. Although the Lata were nocturnal, the trip had beenanadlotinrging one, the daytime travel taking more out of them, and they, stloepo,t. A watch was established, of course.
Mavra had second watch; the Lata would take the later ones, when theyt'dheibre paetak. She sat there, looking out at the slightly rough sea, hearingroathreof the surf, and watching the skies.
They were glorious skies, she thought. Her element, the place to whichbesehne'dborn, the place for which she's done everything, even sold herselfa, tttaoin. She looked at the others sleeping. The Lata were perfect here. Flying othnose tiny wings would be fun, and there were no political or sexual
pressures in their land to shape what happened. Even being short didn't matter;
lthoeoykeadllalike. But
their world was 355 kilometers on each of its six sides.a Smucinhute place, a stiflingly small area when you looked at those skies.
Renard, too, was better off here. The Well World was certainly biggeNrewthanPompeii, and more stimulating than new Muscovy. He was a walking dead mtahne ionld life; here he had some power, a future, and, if things worked out, copuoldssibly rise high in Agitar if they lost the war. From what he'd said of thepeople's sentiments, a defeat would bring down the government, and onehewlpheod end the
war rather than press it would be more hero than, as he watrsaintorw. ,
But not Mavra Chang. The Well World was an adventure, a challenge, bunt oitt hwearselement. To go through the Well someday and come out something ewlsoeu-iltdn't matter. The Well didn't change you inside, only physiologically. Shweould still want the stars.
Her reflections were broken by subtle sounds not far off. She wasn't shuereardshaenything for a short

time, and she listened intently as her ears strafionredthem. She had just decided that she was imagining things, when she heard thneoise again, off to the northwest, there, not very far-and closer.
She considered waking the others, but then thought better of it. The hsaodunsdtsopped. Still, she
decided, a little investigation might be in ordeyr.elAl from her would rouse the others in a hurry anyway, and there was no usweaking them for nothing.
Silently, softly, she crept toward where she'd last heard the sounds. wTahserae thin clump of trees near a marshland river mouth just up from the soushneds;decided that whatever made them had to be there. Slowly, carefully, shme oved into the thin line of trees.
She heard a sound again to her right, and headed for it. Crouching bbeuhsihn,d sahe peered out.
There was a strange, large bird there. Its body was somethingpleiakceocak's, its head a round ball, out of which came a beak that looked almlikoest a tiny air horn. Its eyes were round and yellow, reflecting the starlightI.t was nocturnal, then. She breathed a sigh of relief, and the bird muhsetarhdave her. It turned and said, rather loudly and a little rudely, "Bwock wok!"
"Bwock wok, yourself," Mavra whispered, and turned to go back to the cnaemarpb.y
The trees exploded. Large bodies dropped all around her, one on top "oRfenhaerrd. !" she screamed. "Vistaru!" But that was all she had time for. Somestheeinmged to cover her head, blotting out all consciousness.
Doma started, and all three of the others snapped awake at the two csuct-rsehaomrst .
Renard saw them as the Lata took off; large shapes rushing them frnoemarbtyhetrees. He almost
made it to Doma, when one of them, much tallefrurarniedr than he and with glowing yellow-black eyes, got a hand on him.

That was a mistake.
There was a crackle, the Olbornian screamed, and there was the obduorrninogf
hair and flesh.
Another one was trying for Doma's reins, but the hboarcskeed away as Renard leaped aboard. The
Olbornian snarled and turned to reaocuht for Renard.
The Agitar got the vision of a great black cat's face, with terribly lusmlitincoauts's eyes, and he touched a hairy, clawed hand with three fingers atnhdumab.
Which sent the Olbornian to cat heaven.
Doma didn't need any cuing. Knowing its rider was aboard, the great whoinrsgeedthundered down the beach, knocking over black shapes not lucky enougghet toout of the way, and it was airborne.
The Lata, whose stingers had helped clear the way, flew to him.
"We have to find Mavra!" Renard screamed. "They have her!"
"Stay in this area!" Hosuru shouted. "We don't know what they have
caannd't waefford to lose
Doma! We'll go after her, and if we can't free her uosnewoilfl stay with her while the other comes back for you!"
It wasn't what he wanted to do, but he had no choice. Neither Doma noerxcheepthioandal night vision, and if the Lata lit up they'd all make ptearrfgeectts.
The two Lata, however, saw best in the dark. Just beyond the river thaerecowacahs of some sort; a

finely wrought piece of woodwork moving on great woowdaegnon wheels pulled by a team of eight tiny burrolike animals. Four Olborniansa,rmed with projectile pistols, stood on running boards around it; two more droveit, one controlling the little mules and the other holding aesfflectki,ve-looking rifle. The
doors and windows to the coach were sealed
hwinitghed wooden panels. From the way the driver
cracked the whip on the poloitrtle animals, they knew what the coach's cargo had to be.
"We can't do anything but follow the damned thing," Vistaru swore. "Rceannartdake care of himself."
That was more than heartfelt sentiments. In all his time in Lata, hdeis'dchnaorgt ed. They knew he carried a lot of static electricity, but untilbrtiheef fight they'd not realized how much or how lethal.
The coach beat down the grass until it reached a smooth, tar-paved rosapde, danadlong it to the east. It was not terribly fast, and the Lata had no trkoeuebplieng just behind and above it, out of sight.
"We could sting them to death," Vistaru said wistfully.
"How much you got left?" Hosuru snapped. "I used mine three times. I'mdrnye."arly
The odds weren't that good.
They studied the Olbornians and their coach. The creatures were aboucten1ti8m0eters high; they
were all completely covered in black fur, but theywaolsreo some sort of clothing, baggy dark trousers
of some sort and sleevelessshirts with a light border and woven insignia in the center. They had long, black, apparently functionless tails, and sleek cat's bodies, but their armlesgasnwd ere muscular, and
they obviously walked upright on two legs naturally.
The little mules were something else. They looked somehow sad, pathetiwc,roanngd. Their hind legs were taller by perhaps twenty percent than tfhoerierlegs; they were a little over a meter high, and they had long necks curvinugpward so they looked ahead instead of down. Their long ears were large in proportion to their heads, and they had no tails. They were covered inunaifosromft, gray fur.
They were being badly pushed and mercilessly whipped; they were certainslmy atloloand too few for the weight they were being asked to pull, but they mainta, gtehdeir short, trotting-horse gait getting the

wagon there, helped somewhat bthye smoothness of the road.
Finally, they turned in at a magnificent estate-a truly grand-looking pwahlaocsee horseshoe-shaped driveway was lit by torches; more torches flankeddothoers, and there were rifle-armed guards dressed in the same way as those on ctohaech. The coach pulled to a halt and the Olbornians jumped off efficiently. Adoor facing the estate was opened, and two more of the creatures emergetdu,rntehdenand carefully removed a large black object from the coach.
It was Mavra Chang, and she looked stiff as a board.
"Is she dead?" Hosuru worried.
Vistaru shook her head. "No, they're being too careful for that. Drupgrogbeadb, ly."
"Now what?" the other Lata asked.
Vistaru thought a moment. "First, go back, tell Renard what happened, wwehearree-describe the
place. Then help him find some place to sit downwfhoirle.a I'll keep watch here, try to find where in this palace they've put herT. omorrow, when Renard's at his peak, we'll come get her no matter what."
Mavra Chang regained consciousness slowly, and it took some time for gheet rhteor bearings. She looked around, finding she couldn't move her head, hoenrlyeyes. She couldn't move anything.
She was standing up, propped slightly against a wall. She thought thatndhserand feet were securely tied, but she couldn't be sure.
The place was a stable. It stank of animal excrement and rotted straw,thaendwoalnls were odd-shaped harnesses.

She strained to look around, but whatever they had drugged her with hseelcdurheelyr . She did see one of the animals, though, briefly. A queer-lookthiningg. No, that wasn't right, everything on this cockeyed world wasqueer-looking, she told herself. But because the creature looked so mucdhralfitke animals that she'd known back in the human worlds, "queer-looking" woanslytheway to describe it.
They looked for all the world like miniature mules. Black nosesq, ubairge,d-off snout, but with
jackass-type ears that seemed too large for hthead. A very long neck, almost too long, attached to a small body supported aatn angle, the slender front legs shorter than the rear ones, which had the characteristic large upper calf and almost incredibly thin lower.
And sad, large brown eyes.
They also bore scars; some from whips, some from other unknown sources.
Three Olbornians entered the room, two in the black-and-gold liveryth, irtdhewearing some sort of crown and a long gold chain from which was suspeandheedxagonal pendant. His own livery was
scarlet, with baggy golden trouserSs.omebody important. He was also old-he walked slowly, and there were tinges ofgray in his black fur.
He walked into the doorway, almost running into the little minimuslen.arHleed and swatted it cruelly, claws extended. The thing gave no sound, thbeurte was obvious pain and Mavra could see a set of bleeding scratches. Itjumped and moved away.
These were a cruel, callous people.
The old one looked at her. "So, spy! Awake, eh? Good!" He turnedothtoersthe"See to it. We'd best be off. Her companions may try some sorretscoufe, so we have to move fast."
Mavra felt relief at these words; the other three had escaped! And, somtheehyoww,ould get her out of there, she felt sure. She was necessary to them.

She felt like a puppet with lead wires in it so it could be bent in
andy
wshoaupled stay there. They
put her on top one of the little mules, in asabdadsliec. The big man led it down a back path from the
rear of the house, intodaark grove of trees. The two guards held her firmly on, but she was powerless to do anything anyway.
Overhead, Vistaru almost missed the departure. There was just a glimpthsee wofoman and her three catlike captors going out the back and heading intowothoeds. She followed and tried to guess ahead.
About two thousand meters down, the woods parted for a clearing wherewaths eare large stone
structure seemingly carved out of the small hillside.
oTtwheor guards were there, having just lit torches
on either side of a hexagoneanltranceway. Not a Zone Gate, she decided. That stuff had been built by somebody here.
She strained to think what the place reminded her of, and, all at onhcaed, ist.heAn ancient temple. An altar. Sacrifice?
She sped directly back to Renard and Hosuru. There was no time to lose.
They lifted her off when they came to the hexagonal opening and carrgientlhyerinside. There was a chamber there, an enlargement of a natural cavleimoefstone or something similar. Torches had been lit along the fairly broapdassageway, which opened quickly into the main chamber.
It was a temple, no question about it. There was an area for supplisctaands, tao rail, and then tables
set on either side of a large yellow stonesetehmated to be protruding out of the natural rock in back. It was multifaceted;millions of them, from all evidence, reflecting the torchlight as if isttrhaandgea, eerie
life of its own. Mounted on the both walls, in solid goldo,uwtlienrees of the hexagon symbol.
The high priest, for by now it was evident what he was, precededligthhtienmg, small candles in
ceremonial holders, six per holder. Then he wbeenhtind the rail. Satisfied all was in readiness, he nodded to the guards tboring her forward. They did, placing her facing the strange yellow stone.

"Undress it," the priest snapped, and the guards removed her blackshcilrot,thblack pants, and boots. It was suddenly chilly.
She was nude.
The guards tossed the clothing in a heap outside the altar rail. Shetolonbgeedable to use some of the
things in those boots or the belt, or even something she could noctontrol.
thoetrnyail venom on them. But she was held motionless by
The priest moved toward her, motioning for them to turn her a ltiottwlearbdithim. His yellow cat's eyes glowed weirdly in the torchlight.
"Spy," he said, his voice crisp, businesslike, and without a trace ofomr ecrocmy passion in it, "you
have been judged guilty by the High Priestly Couonfctihl e Blessed Well," he intoned, bowing his head slightly when pronouncing thleast two words. He made a horizontal motion with his right hand, and she felt control return to her head. She moistened her lips, but knew she could talk.
"I didn't even have a trial and you know it!" she protested hoarhsealvye.n'"tI had a chance to say anything!"
"I did not say you were tried," the priest pointed out, "only that yojuudgweedr.eThere are no
mitigating factors. Heathen knock on our door to the nwoortrhs,e heathen wantonly and horribly kill tens of thousands of the Chosen of Wtheell to the south. Now, you come. You are not of the Olborn, certainly. Nor areyou here by invitation or permission of the High Priestly Council of the WBleelsl.s"ed Again the slight nod. "A spy you are, and so I ask you, is there foanr yyowuayto conclusively prove
your innocence?"
What a loaded question! she thought. Prove you didn't smile. Prove youkidllidyno'tur mother whom the court never knew or heard of. "You know no onperocvaen they aren't something," she retorted.
He nodded. "Of course. But there is a final arbiter of justice."
"You're going to kill me," she said more than asked.

The priest looked genuinely shocked. Mavra wondered why she'd always claitksedin the past.
"Of course we do not kill, except in self-defense. All life is frBolmesstehde
Well, and cannot be taken
lightly. As you took no other life, unyliokuer companions, we could not take yours."
Both parts of that observation cheered her a little. Alive meant hopthe,e annedws that the others had sent some of these religious fanatics to an egarralvye was just as satisfying.
"The Well, in Its infinite wisdom and mercy," the priest explained, asliitfurigny, "established among
the Olbornians a more equitable means of fjiundagl ment-final, absolute, and conclusive. The stone that is before you is one osifx, located near the six corners of Olborn. It is proof of the favoreodf stthaetus Olbornians with the Blessed Well. Its power comes from the WellWIthsealtf.it does has never been undone."
This tack started unnerving her again. She thought of Renard, changeddiffteoreant creature. What the hell did this thing do?
"The Well, in Its infinite, wisdom," continued the priest, "saw tChahtoIstesn People were in a harsh
land, rich but without beasts of burden to IhtselpChosen People till the good soil, pull its burdens, turn its water wheelsT. hus we have the Sacred Stones. When a transgressor, whether alien or Olbiosrnian, accused, he is brought before one of the High Priests of the BlessedandWtehlle,nce in his company to
the Sacred Stone. Should you be innocent, tnhoetnhing will happen to you. You will be free to go on your way, unmolestedp, rotected by the Seal of the Blessed Well. But, should you be guiltym, eittewill out the most wonderful of justices." He paused. "You saw the detikwhuipcohnyou were carried here?"
She thought a moment. The little mules with the big ears and sad eyess.h"eYreesp,"lied, curious and apprehensive. Where the hell were the Lata and Renard?
"They are sexless, joyless. Totally placid, they are incapable of haarmnyinthging, and are forced to
obey our commands. Should you be guilty, you tuwrinll to a detik, a beast of the fields, condemned to serve the Olbornians isnilent labor the rest of your life."

She was appalled, unbelieving. "You mean the mules-all of them-werepeoonpcele?"
The priest nodded. "It is so." He turned to the guards. "Hold hetirghatr,m" she cautioned. Then he
turned back to Mavra. She felt strong hahnodlsding her arms just behind the wrist. The priest waved his arms again, and shfeelt movement return to her whole body. As she suspected, her legs were tied.
"Touch her hands to the Sacret Stone!" the priest commanded, hisecvhooicineg through the damp
cavern. The two powerful arms ignored her twistingpaunsdhed her unwilling hands to the faceted yellow orb.
Something like a strong, burning electric shock went through her arms shtoouhledrers. The effect was
so strong and so painful that she screamed aacntudally pulled away from the wretched thing despite the strength of her twcoaptors.
"That was Mavra!" Vistaru yelled. "Come on! Hurry!" she called to HosuRruenaanrd, who rushed ahead. Neither cared any more if there was a whole aahremady; they were going in now.
Inside the chamber, the priest seemed to smile and intoned, "Again!"timTehisthe terrible shock and
pain went from her hips to her toes, and, stranwgeoluyn, d up in her ears. Again she screamed and fought to pull away.
"Again!" the priest commanded, but at that moment the onrushing LaAtagaitnadr charged, Renard yelling bloodcurdling screams that echoed terrifyingolfyf the cavern walls.
The priest turned, looking stunned and surprised. Like most fanaticcs,onthcept that anybody would invade his holiest of places had simply neovcecrurred to him, and he couldn't handle it. He stood there petrified. Not thetwo guards. They dropped Mavra and whirled. They had no pistols, which was fortunate, but they bore ceremonial steel swords, which they drew.
Keeping all their attention on the guards and priest, Renard and Vistaryuelbleodt,h "Run, Mavra! Get out of here! We'll handle this!"
The first guard took advantage of this distraction to advance on Rsewnoard, poised, saberlike, in

front of him.
Renard smiled grimly, and moved his tast out in a similar manneprr,epasariinf g to duel. The guard looked at the thin, snaky cooper-clad whip cahnudckled. He moved with his sword, and Renard brought the tast up, touching tshweord.
Sparks flew, and the guard screamed and dropped to the floor of the tchaeveproni,nt where his hand gripped the hilt actually smoking slightly.
Vistaru, who still had some venom left, swooped at the other one, sutdudrneinnlgy on her internal light to catch the foe off-guard. He was too goodthafto,r and he stabbed in with his sword.
And missed.
She did an aerial backflip and plunged her stinger into his stomachp,usthheedn off him. The guard yowled, then seemed to stiffen, as he dropped toflotohre, limp, lying eyes wide-open and unseeing.
Marva felt the guards release their grip on her and felt the cold
tshtoenye darsopped her. Her whole
body was tingling and her mind wouldn't clear,shbeuthad enough sense to hear Renard's shout to run,
and take that advice.
nAaked, stunned Mavra Chang wasn't going to be much good in a fight.
She was dizzy, and couldn't seem to get up, so she took off on all fohuearsd.
sHeemed heavy; she
couldn't lift it, but she could see enough to heatdhefoerxit and did so, almost knocking over the guard just now meeting his enfdrom Renard's tast. She wanted to crawl fast, but she couldn't lift her head up far enough; a nerve in the back of it was killing her, and her hair wasdohwangingfront, further
obscuring her vision. But she made the stepsscaanmd pered out, passing the now-dead guards slumped under their still burnintgorches. Out ahead, she could see, was blackness, and that was where she wanted to be.
She crawled into the bushes before she stopped, chest heaving, and tcrilear toher head. She looked back at the entrance, but she couldn't get her uhpeaqduite far enough, or hold it even far enough to see out of the tops of heeyres without that nerve pinching and hurting.

With the return of her wind came a clearer head. She was still on aWllhfyo,usrsh.e began to wonder. It was dark, but Obie had given her night visions,heanpdut her head chin against chest, essentially upside down, and looked back haetrself. Her hair fell straight down.
Her thin, lithe body was unchanged, her two small breasts hanging dowtunggaing slightly as a result of being dead weight.
My arms! she suddenly thought in panic. What did they do?
She also felt two long bending sensations with her head that way.
She no longer had arms. She now had forelegs- thin and with a knee jboeint othnalty one way,
locking the other way. It led down to a perfectly foframirelyd, thick hoof of some whitish-gray substance like fingernails. There was nhoair; the legs were still the same flesh color as the rest of her, stihlle skin looked human. But they were the legs of the little mule.
Looking farther back, she saw what she expected to see, and sighed. Nuonwdesrhsteood why she couldn't get off all fours, and why she couldn't seem htoer gheetad up properly. The forelegs were a good twenty percent shorter than thhiend legs. In the mule, the long neck compensated; a human head and neck wasn'tdesigned to go that far.
Renard and the two Lata came out of the cave. She heard them more tthhaenm,saawnd, after a moment's hesitation, called to them. They were therefliansha.
"Mavra, you ought to have seen that old boy's face when-" Renard cshtaeretrefdully, when she walked
out of the brush into the torchlight. They all gtharsepeed, mouths agape. For the first time they could see and know what thOe lbornians had done to Mavra Chang.
First, take the arms and legs off a woman's torso. Then turn it facethedohwipns, about a meter high, the shoulders about eighty centimeters. Now pupterafectly proportioned pair of mule's hind legs on the hips, so that the base tohfe body kind of melds into it. Now put two mule's legs on the shoulders, long enough to reach the ground but shorter because of the angle of the boddoyn.'tBaudtd an animal's hair
or skin-keep it all human, perfectly matched tototrhseo, except for hard, naillike hooves on all four feet, and, as a final toucrhe,move the human ears from her head and replace them with large, almost
meter-long jackass ears, still out of the same human skin material.coTnhtiennue the woman's hair down

across the back a bit into a thicker mane osfamthee color hair, extending along the spine to about where the breasts hung dowonn the underside. And, since the torso hasn't been otherwise altered, remteomber put Mavra's horse's tail growing out of the waist at the base of thceolsupminna,l above the hips, actually starting slightly in front of the hind laengds, drape it crudely over the rectum.
The others felt tears of pity rise within them. "Oh, my god!" was allcoRuelndarsday, and he felt bad about it as soon as it was out.
She shifted slightly, then turned her head to one side, almost far enolouogkh dtoirectly at him. Her hair hung down well below her face, crazily. Her vwoiacse the same; even, level, and rich, but her eyes, when she turned her head otnoe side to look at them, said something else was inside her.
"I know," she told them. "I figured it out. Those little mules they hamvea-ktehetyhem with that stone in there, from people. I touched it twice, thenawgoaty when you arrived. Tell me-is anything else changed?"
Choking back tears, Renard sat beside her and gently described herrsetlof, including the ears and misplaced tail.
The odd thing was, they all thought, she looked strange and exotic, to aRlmenoasrtderotic, a curious and not unattractive little creature that engendeareffdection with the pity. But it was still an impractical, misdesigned creature,a one-of-a-kind on a world with 1560 races.
"Maybe I should go back in and complete the process," she suggested, thhoepihnogarseness and thickness in her speech would not betray how she really felt.
"I wouldn't," Vistaru said softly, sympathetically. Mavra was alrebaedgyinning to hate that tone. "You saw how they treated those mules? The thdionegs something to the mind, too. You'd be an animal, as good as dead."
Renard had a sudden thought. "Look!" he said excitedly. "It isn't forever!"
"The priest said it was irreversible," Mavra responded. "He saidjoiytfusloly I believed him."

"No! No!" the Agitar protested. "You haven't been through the Well Gate yet!"
"The priest said the stone's power was from the Well," she retorted.
"That's true," Vistaru put in, "but so is everything else on the WellWWhoyrldth.at stone is there and why it does what it does we'll probably never kint'oswa- substitute for something they would have to
handle on their own planetht,at's all. Like the magic hexes here, which really mean they can tap a limited part of the Well to compensate for something in their designed homes. Yhoauvesnt'itll been classified
and added to the Well's input, so whatever changestotnhe made won't affect that."
Mavra felt renewed hope. "Not forever," she almost breathed, and seemreldaxt.oSuddenly she was upset that she'd let something show through the aramnodr, she took a deep breath.
"Not forever," Renard agreed. "Look, want to head for a Zone Gate nowO?lboNrno'ts certainly, but we can get in somewhere, I'm sure. We can runthryoouugh like you ran me through."
Mavra shook her head violently. "No, no, not yet. Later, yes. As spooosnsibales. But the surrounding
hexes are in the war. This hex is in theThwaatr's.
for normal times. We have to get to Gedemondas."
"I can do that!" Vistaru protested.
Mavra shook her head again. "No, you can't. You won't know what themeondguinlee looks like, nor how it's destroyed. Besides, I have never ever backed oonuta commission yet once I've accepted it.
They wanted me along and I said all, or inDillia next door."
Ayefste. r-a Zone Gate -maybe in Gedemondas, if they'll talk to us at
"Be reasonable, Mavra!" Renard protested. "Look at you! You can't seemtehtreeres ahead of you. You can't feed yourself, you're stark naked withprontoection against the elements, in the middle of territory whose natives woultdake you back to the stone and finish the job in an instant." He got up, looked down on her, and gently moved the horse's tail aside. "You're even going btaothhroavoem
trouble. Your vagina's where your ass should be, and the ass is ufpa.rthTehre human anatomy is designed for sitting or squatting. Those legs aredensoitgned for your body. You can't go on!"

She tried to look at him squarely, failed. It hurt too much. "I'm goinmga,i"ntsahineed stubbornly. "With
you if you'll have me. Without you if not. Iwf aynotu, you can be my guide and aide when I have to see far or eat, and clean mofef when I shit. If not, I'll go anyway, and I'll make it. When you were sucking your thumb on sponge, and I didn't know where I was, I didn't let you dgiod,n'tanqduiIt. This won't
stop me, either."
"She's right, you know," Hosuru said quietly. "At least, about completinmgissthioen first. The whole world is at stake in Gedemondas. She's needed therwe.e Icfan get her there, it's our duty to try."
"Okay," Vistaru said dubiously, trying to see the flaw in the otherloLgaicta. 's"If you're going to be stubborn, we'll all go. But I think a day oirn twthoat new condition may cure you of this bravado. If it does, don't feelashamed, weak, or a failure to ask us to get you to a Zone Gate. / wouldn't."
Mavra chuckled mirthlessly. "Shame and weakness don't scare me, butwIhednieI'm a failure to myself." She shifted again. "Did anybody get my clothmesi?ghIt still manage some of them, with
Renard's soldier's kit. And we oughtgetot out of here. Sooner or later somebody's going to notice the high priestdidn't come back and raise a hue and cry. We'd best be well away."
Renard threw up his hands. "I have your clothes. We'll see, later. Nomwo, vlee!t'sThis way!" There was resignation and a total lack of understanding hviohicies.
He wouldn't understand, Mavra thought. None of them would.
Apparently the shock of the slayings was too much for the Olbornians.wTashenreo pursuit that they ever knew about.
Mavra found that she could trot, like the little mules. Left legs ourti,gphut slhe,gs out, push, and again, faster and faster. She had no feeling at athlle inhoofs, which helped, but all of the exposed skin area was just like normael xposed skin area. The Lata helped, flying alongside or just hi front,hteerlliwnghat was
ahead so she didn't run into trees or hurt her neck, and couldsomeaksepeed.

Morning had them some distance away. Renard mounted Doma, whom he'dleabdeienng, and they scouted the terrain. It was clear that things were not tgooibneg as difficult as they feared from the Olbornian score.
For the "Well's Chosen Ones," they were quite obviously getting the heolul tboeaft them. They had
run afoul of a coast watch set around the Sacred Satroenaess; it had been sheer bad luck to pick that
spot to camp. The rest of cthoeuntry was wide open, with the telltale signs of a war going badly all over:
military carts drawn by teams of mules hauling supplies and large cannomnoratanrds south; a steady stream of aimless refugees north.
They stuck to open country, which was mostly deserted now, everyone soduotwhninto the fight or guarding the Sacred Stones and Zone Gate. They weretoabrleelax and straighten out their situation.
Because of the precariousness of the camp, Doma's packs had neverunbleoeanded, so they still had
their supplies. They ate first; to Mavra, it whausmailiating type of experience she would have to get used to. They'd started tsopoon-feed her, but she'd resisted that. They opened a tin of meat which Renard warmed, then broke up some small fruit, and put it in a wooden bowl. By osntanhderinghind legs and
kneeling on her forelegs, she could eat, like a dog oItr wcaats.
hard; the thin legs were even thinner at
the ankles, and the legs movfeodrward, not back, and the damned bowl kept moving, but she managed it and thefood tasted good. Water she drank by two methods: lapping, like an animsatilc, kainngd her
face in the pan and drinking the top half down.
But it worked, and that was enough for her.
Vistaru tied her hair up between and in back of her enormous ears ewlaisthticanband, which kept it out of her face and food. She could even seeinlevfreolnt of her, by standing on her forelegs while kneeling on the hind oneTs.hat position, too, was uncomfortable, but she didn't mind. It gave her neck some relief, and allowed her to see.
The clothing was more of a problem, though she'd need it. It was cshlillhytliyn Olborn, and it would be frigid in the upper reaches of Gedemondas.
They cut the sleeves off her shirt and managed to get it on. The pantbsigwgerepraoblem, and they didn't quite reach all the way, but Vistaru buckledwitdhee belt around her bare midsection and that

helped. It looked wrong ansdtupid, and felt wrong, too, and the pants kept slipping, but it was something and it felt better. The long coat tailored for Gedemondas would possibly dwoaswhnaeteded, covering
that impossible tail, they hoped. Some cut-off gloves mhieglhpt protect the exposed skin in Gedemondas snow. Maybe.
Oddly, Mavra felt better now. Obstacles were to be surmounted; that waosf tphaertjoy of it all. They noticed a pickup in her spirits they coulcdonm't prehend.
Sleeping was the worst compromise; the animal's legs were designesdleefpoirng standing up, but the human torso was not, and sleeping on her stomwaacsh no longer possible. She managed lying on her side.
In the meantime, the war was going from bad to worse for those of OOclcbaosrinon. ally they'd meet
some frightened refugees, not looking as fiercecoonrfident as those back in the priest's lair. Their world was coming apart, anwd ith it their world-view and their notions of their place in it. No lonogfer sure anything, they were somehow sad and pathetic. People they ran intotrykinegpt to surrender to them.
Roving military patrols caused worse problems; most were composeddesoerfters with the social restraint imposed on them by their life's conditionainndg faith in their favored status with the Well all gone; they brutalized threefugees, they tried brutalizing the alien party, but renewed Lata venom and Renard's highly charged personality soon dealt effectively with them.
Mavra also found it interesting that no one gave her a second glanthcees.eTionsular people, she was just one more weird alien creature.
But progress was slow, and they turned their attention to trying to finwd asyomtoe get Mavra and Renard on Doma. The problem was the great wings, wnheiecdhed to be unimpeded, and which came down most of the length of the garneaimt al's body.
Finally, experimentation achieved a compromise that Doma and practiccaoliutyld accept. Nonessential supplies were jettisoned, and the Lata took as mauscthhey could in their pouches. The weight would slow them, but Doma would albseo slowed and impeded. With the instruments tossed out-Renard insisted he neverused them anyway-she could sit, legs astraddle, on the lower neck poefgatshues, while he sat just behind, body pressed into hers. Straps from sotmhe eoxfcess saddlebags would hold her,
and Doma, while uncomfortable with tehxetra weight on her neck, managed. The only problem was that it took all threoef the others and some cooperation and kneeling from Doma to get her upththeere in first place.

Finally, though, they could fly, and the distance sped by. They duckedofsothueth hex corner, avoiding
any more priestly fanatics, and crossed barely
Pinatloim.
The inhabitants of the hex eyed them nervously, but did not intercfehraelleonrge them. The Palim resembled nothing so much as giant long-haiereledphants. Their form was deceptive, though; they were a high-technology people,with carefully managed groves of food trees and grain, and a criss-cross of a
large electric rail system and odd, gumdrop-shaped city buildings in clluinstkeerds
by ramps. They
stayed clear; the Palim seemed too unconcerned bynethareby violence. It indicated that they had elected to sit out the war, and mtheaatnt the Yaxa-Lamotien-Dasheen alliance was probably making good use of thartail system in the east.
Even slowed, they made the border of Gedemondas in under two days. Thenroe dwoausbt where
they were; the great mountains of the frigid hex were vfirsoimblethe flat plain, like some intrusive wall, a great distance before theryeached it. With a few hours to scout around by air, they found the relatively
small plains area that was in Gedemondas itself. It was the logical ptohient twfoor
advancing armies to
head for, and it was empty of all but some
wmiilndolirfe when they arrived.
They were first, but by how much?
They studied the maps. It was obvious that the Makiem would airliAftleosvtoerl, probably to near the
point where they now were. The Yaxa would mfroovme
Palim at the rail terminus, then about thirty
kilometers overland to thneorthern edge of the plain. Renard wondered idly if there would be room for both forces.
"There will be quite a battle," Mavra predicted grimly. "If one geftisrsht etrhee other will have to
dislodge them if it can. If they get here asat mthee time, the clash will just be more immediate, with this a no man's landE. ither way, this nice little plain is going to be littered with the ddeyaidnganbdefore long."
"According to the hex map, here, there's a little shelter over necalreft aint
"That's where we're supposed to meet oguide, if anyone's still there."
the rocks," Vistaru noted.
Mavra tried to look to where the Lata pointed, but her head wouldn't ceonmoueguhp. Two or three meters, that was the limit. She swore in frustrationt,hebruet was determination on her face as well.

It was about fifteen degrees centigrade on the plain, which was comfobrtuatblteh,at wouldn't last long, either. The air cooled almost two degrees for etvherreye hundred meters in altitude, and some of those passes were over thretehousand meters high.
They walked leisurely to the shelter, and almost missed it. It wascaabilnowof old stone and wood set back against the rocks, so old and weatherbeathteant it almost looked a part of the natural formations. It looked deserted, andthey approached cautiously, uncertain of what surprises might be arountdhemfo.r
Suddenly the big door, almost as high as the shack itself, creaked opaenc, raenatdure came out.
It looked like a human woman, almost. Long hair tied back in aposnoyrttaoilf, an attractive, oval face and long slender arms. But she had lpitotliented ears, and from the waist down, below her light jacket, she had the bodoyf a white-and-black spotted horse.
A centaur, the classicist Renard thought, no longer surprMiseede.ting such
a creature wasno longer strange; in fact, it was almost to be expected.
The woman smiled when she saw them, and waved. "Hello!" she callepdl,eaisnanat soprano. "Come on up! I'd almost given you up!"
Vistaru approached. "You are the Dillian guide?" she said, alumnboestlievingly. The Dillian was no more than a girl, perhaps in her mid-teens.
The centaur nodded. "I'm Tael. Come on in and I'll start a small fire."
They entered; Tael gave the strange-looking Mavra an odd look, buntotshaiindg. Doma waited outside, placidly munching grass.

The place was built for Dillians, certainly-there were stallc-loikmepartments for four of them, a lot of straw on the floor, and, up on bbrilcokcks a small wood-burning stove and scuttle filled with chopped wood. Taelthrew a couple of pieces in the stove and lit a small piece of paper wiltohnga svaeferyty
match, throwing it into the cast-iron belly of the stove.
Dillians never sat; their bodies couldn't stand the weight. So everybodsyatelosne reclining on her side. There was plenty of room.
After some small talk, Renard voiced what they all were thinking.
the straw, Mavra
"Ah, excuse me, Tael, but-aren't you a little young for all this?" haes tdriiepdlo, matically as possible.
The woman didn't take it badly. "Well, I admit I'm only fifteen, bubtorInwinas the uplake mountain country of Dillia; my family has hunted and trapopnedboth sides of the border for a long time. I know every trail and pathwabyetween here and Dillia, and that's a pretty good ways."
"And the Gedemondas?" Mavra prompted.
The Dillian shrugged. "They've never bothered me. You see them every oancwehilne-big white shapes against the snow. Never close-they're always gone wyhoeun get there. You hear them, too, sometimes, growling and roaring and makianlgl sorts of weird sounds that echo between the mountains."
"Is it their speech?" Vistaru asked. "I don't think so," Tael repluiesedd. "tIo, but when they asked me to do this guide job for you they fitted mea wtriathnslator, and I didn't hear any difference. I've wondered sometimes whetherthey have any speech as we know it at all."
"That could be bad," Renard put in. "How can you talk to somebody wthaolk cbanac'tk?"
She nodded. "I'm still excited about all this. We've tried off andcoomnmtuonicate with them for the longest time; I'd like to be there whendoint'se."

"If it's done," Hosuru added pessimistically.
"I'm worried about the smoke from that thing," Mavra said, cocking her lihttelaedbait toward the stove. "Not the Gedemondas. The war parties. They havbee tcolose by."
The girl looked uncomfortable. "I've seen them already, but they just ctloooske alook at me and went on. A few flying horses like yours, and some rsetraallnyge, beautiful things that must have had orange and brown butterflylikewings three or more meters across. None of them landed."
Vistaru looked concerned. "Yaxa and Agitar both. Advance scouts. Westcaayn'ht ere long."
"We won't," Tael told them. "We'll leave at first light up the IntermouTnrataiilnin back of the base here. With any luck we'll make Camp 43 shortly naofotenr, and from there we start getting into snow country-and the air thins."
"How high is this camp?" Renard asked.
"Fifteen hundred sixty-two meters," Tael responded. "But you're alreaalmdyost four hundred meters up. You wouldn't know it, but the plain's a slope."
"We could fly up that far," Vistaru noted. "We're good to about eihguhntdeerend meters, and I think you said, Renard, that Doma's good to about that."
He nodded. "But that doesn't help our guide, here. No wings for her."
Tael laughed. "That's all right. I told you I was mountain-born. Evenifbweteterhave a head start, but beyond Camp 43, flying will be difficult. Istcaarnt up this evening, and be there to meet you in the morning. That way we moveeven faster." Her face darkened, and she looked at Mavra. "But you will
have tobe dressed far better than that. All of you, in fact. Frostbite will
pbreobalebmig."
"We have some winter things," Hosuru told her. "And I understood yousupwpeorseed to bring some

stuff."
She nodded, went over to a stall, and hauled out some tough fabric knaTphseaycksw. ere heavy, but she managed them without strain. Maybe she couldn'tbuflty,she did add the muscle power that was their most conspicuous lack.
She sorted things out. Special form-fitting thermal wear to suit cLoanttaonurs, including transparent but tough and rigid shielding for the winagpsp, eared, and a heavy coat and gloves that sealed with an elastic of some kindfitted Renard. "You'll also find these useful," she said, tossing him someobsjmecatlsl which proved to be wrappings for his hooves, with a flat, spdiikskeldik, e sole that would give him not only
protection but better footing. Shberought out some more clothes, also of the Latan model but larger and
without the wing flaps. She looked a little puzzled. They were obviously for
wa ibthipehdands and feet.
Hastily, Mavra explained what had happened. The girl nodded sympatheticbaultlyw, as plainly concerned.
"I don't see how these can be cut down," she said. "Your feet shoulrdighdtoinallthe snow, like mine, but you should have some kind of wrapping. hYaovuen't got my protective skin layers and hair," she pointed out.
"We'll do whatever we can," Mavra responded. "Renard will have to leadoDncoemwa e get up there; I'll ride her as long as possible. That should help."
Tael was doubtful, but she was the guide, not the mission leader.
Renard went over to the door, peering out at the sky. No sign of sthraonstgiele ocrreatures now; a few lazy birds, no more. But soon-who knew?
He wondered just how far off the driving forces were.

AT THE PALIM-GEDEMONDAS BORDER
The Yaxa came in for a landing with a great beating of its tremendousCowmininggs. down, it saw the large number of troops and materiel now massed abt otrhdeer. It looked good. Convincing.
It had been a long trip, and almost a fatal one. The creature toucghreoduntdhegently and went down on all eight tentacles toward the portable commcaenndter, a huge circuslike tent established just inside
Palim. The Yaxa were borton
the air; on the ground they looked awkward and lumbering, never quite
properly balanced because of the long folded wings along their back. In hthoeweavire,r, they were the graceful masters.
The Yaxa entered the big tent, its huge death's head, impassive as aslewaracyhsi,ng out someone of rank, finally spotting someone who would do over bybigthesituation map.
Communication between Yaxa was by a complex combination of noises frotmhortahceic regions and odd sounds made by antennae and slight wing rustles. Tnahmeiers were untranslatable, so, when dealing with other races, they adoptendicknames that often were nonsense, ironic, or just plain crazy, and stuck to them for multiracial operations.
"Marker reporting in, Section Leader," the newcomer said.
The section leader nodded. "Glad to see you back, Marker. We had bethgiunnk ttohat the enemy had gotten you."
"It was close," the advance scout said. "Those damned little blue metnhewiritehlectricity and their flying horses. The Cebu are too clumsy to waobroryut, but even though the horses are slow and awkward, it only needs a touchgetot you."
The section leader knew this. She knew, in fact, as much about the pmhyesnitcaal,l, and technological characteristics of the Makiem alliance as anyocnoeuld. The other side had had a much rougher trip than

they; any force thactould hammer its way through that much resistance so quickly was a force to be reckoned with.
"How far off are they?" the military commander inquired.
"Down the other side," Marker responded. That meant at least three huknildormedeters, a good distance, and the plain that was the logical camp fofirnathl ecampaign was only a hundred or so
kilometers south of their presepnot sition. They would be first. "They're a little slow with their airlift over
Alestol, too. After all, they have to move everything they need a fair dniosntasntocpe-more than either
the flying horses or Cebu can normally fly. A tlhoet mof are into exhaustion now; the ones who land soon find themselves put tsoleep by those big, fat plants and then eaten. Don't sell those Alessthoolirat,ns
either- some of them have translators, would you believe, and they hyapvneoatic gas as well. If one of those ones with a translator gets an Agitar Coerbua, they're sent back against their own people!"
The section leader chuckled dryly. "Oh, yes, I can . believe that. Alarrgaethearmount was transferred
in Zone to get them those translators. I'm happsyeetothat the expenditure is paying for itself." The tone changed, became morebusinesslike. "So how soon before they have a sufficient force to start the march?"
Marker was uncertain. "Two, three days at least. And maybe two more toupmto five days."
ethe plain. Call it
The Yaxa leader considered this. "You're sure? As you know, we will be tmhiosvainftgernoon; we
should be in and mostly established on the plain bytodmarokrrow. The advance party leaves at dawn by air. With luck we can holdwhitile our friends go after the engines."
"Who's going?" Marker asked, genuinely curious. "Some of the Lamotiecno,urosfe. Who else?" She
knew that nobody would trust the Lamotien by themseTlvheesy.
didn't even trust them now.
"Only Yulin can assess the engines once located," the section leader poouint.te"dSo we'll send the Dasheen up. They're better equipped for a nontech ahnedx narrow trails anyway, and they're almost as big as the Gedemondas."
"None of us?" Marker responded, appalled. "But how will we-?"

"We removed the guidance boxes from the bridge," the Yaxa remindecdouhneterrpart. "We'll control
it from the other end. But, no, up there therepirsotencotion for the wings in the cold, and snow provides little traction. I thintkhe Dasheen and Lamotien will keep each other honest. We'll hold the plain for them."
"But is it safe risking Yulin like that?" Marker wondered. "I mean,
wheh'soltehegame, isn't he?"
"No, the engines are. The only part of the ship that can't be duplichaetegde.tsIfus the engines, fine. If he doesn't, what good is he to us anywayt?ellToyou the truth, I wouldn't feel a bit sorry if some of those Dasheen bullsdied."
Marker nodded sympathetically. "Their system is not a logical one, garnadtesit to see them treated like that."
"Unfortunately," the section leader sighed, "that place is really a mpaarlaed'sise. You know that scientific study they're always throwing up at everybtoodyprove male superiority? Well, we made the study, and they're righEt.volutionary-speaking, those cows are mentally and physically designed to be dull-minded, willing slaves."
"Well, at least we have better material to send into the cold mountaitnhse tMhaankiem," Marker said, changing the subject to something more pleasant. "CThebeu could walk up there, but never fly, and they're terrible on the ground. TMheakiem grow semi-dormant in extreme cold, and the Agitar's flying horses arevalueless at those altitudes."
"But those Agitar can move well," the Yaxa commander pointed out. "Andaretheprreotective coverings for Makiem. Don't sell them short. They've gotteanlrfeaardy. It's going to be the roughest battle yet for both sides in a few days."
ANOTHER PART OF THE FIELD

Antor Trelig was both confident and optimistic. The war had gone welwl;ertheeyin Gedemondas, and after all they'd been through, not a single one osfoldthiers, commanders, and politicians believed they could be stopped.
An Agitar general came into the command tent and bowed slightly, handinagrehpimort. He looked at it with interest, and the Makiem equivalent of aspgrreinad on his face.
"Has anyone else seen this?" he asked.
The Agitar shook her goatlike head. "No, sir. From the recon man whotototohke iGt eneral Staff to you."
It was a photograph; a big black-and-white glossy. It was fuzzy and tgarkaeinyt,hrough a very long lens from far away, and it still wasn't quite ecnloosuegh, but it showed the most important thing.
Most of the picture was white; more had been cropped in the blow-uthpe.reB, uot n a rocky ledge, was a sleek, U-shaped object reflecting the sunliagnhdt, there were not quite legible markings on the side.
He didn't need to read them. He knew it had a symbol of a rising shuunmwanithfaace flanked by fourteen stars, and the huge legend NH-CF-1000-1 onsitdhee, and, in smaller letters underneath, the words PEOPLE'S VICTORY.
It was the engine pod.
"How did you get this?" he asked, amazed. "I thought nobody could hfligyh.t"hat
"One of the Cebu scouts pushed himself to the limit," the general r"eOpnliehdi.s third try he managed

to get over the second string of mountainsfoaunndd a deep, U-shaped glacial valley there. His eyes are good; he saw threeflection, above him, but knew that it was beyond his reach and rangefi,ttesod hies longest lens and snapped as many pictures as he could with thefiltgelraroen. This was the best."
He had a sudden thought. "What about the Yaxa? Can't they or thoisme itlaitttoler bastards find this, too?"
"Not a chance," the general assured him. "The Yaxa can't possibly fleynohuigh to clear that second range. I would have said no Cebu could, either,thaendscout is half-dead as it is. He'll be a hero if he survives. As for thLeamotien, remember they can only simulate other forms, not become them. They have a flying mode, yes, based on the Yaxa, but it's highly modifiedfotormtheainrd requirements, and
the wings are as thick as our own mounts', fahreatovoy to clear that altitude. No, I think we have the advantage here."
Trelig nodded, satisfied. "But they will get to the plain first," he"Anontdedo. ur reports say that the
Lamotien can neutralize an Agitar shock, and Ythaexa can fly rings around any of us."
"It's about even, all told," the general admitted. "They'll be dug intibmye thwee get there, well fortified, and they have to play only for time, nomthoinreg. I suggest we do it a little differently."
Trelig's huge eyes enlarged in surprise. "Something new?"
The general nodded, and spread out a commercial-looking map on the tafrbolnet inof them. It was a relief map of both Gedemondas and Dilla next door teoastth, eand it showed great relief and, more important, it had a lot of lidttoletted lines all over it. Trelig couldn't read a word on it, though.
"It's a Dillian guide and trail map," the Agitar explained. "They seltlo thinetmerested people. There are
rodents and other animals in that wilderneasnsd,
they trap them. The Gedemondas don't seem to mind or
bother them, althoughour Dillian sources say they don't know much more about the creatures than we do. They don't overdo the hunting, and that's been the balance."
Trelig nodded, understanding. "So these little dotted lines are hutnratiinlsg?" he guessed.

"Exactly," acknowledged the goat-woman. "And those little rectanglesDailrleian shelters set up along
the trails. The trails are mostly Gedemondan, Dniolltian. I understand that too many Dillians get the locals upset, and they pusah ton or two of snow down on them."
That was an unpleasant prospect. He let it pass.
"Now, we're here," the Agitar continued, pointing to an area in the souctohrwners.t "The Yaxa will be here," now pointing to the small plains area abouthutwndored kilometers north and slightly east, "and, if you look closely at thmeap, you'll see something interesting."
Trelig was ahead of her. At least three trails came within two kilomwetehresreofthey now sat, east of them a bit. One seemed fairly low.
"Twelve hundred sixty-three meters," the Agitar told him. "Low enough ufonrobatnrusive air drop."
"Then we might not have to fight at all" he exclaimed, excited. "We cthaenmbebayt small force and heading straight for the engines, wthheilye have to poke and hunt!"
going in with a
The Agitar shook her head slowly in the negative. "No, there will havae btaottlbee, if only to cover
you. They are not dumb. If we didn't movperedasicted they would smell a rat and they would have you. No, the battle goeosn, everything as planned. The only difference will be that we will not hrauvseh any
to win it, or take needless risks. When you secure the engines, othbeers sceannt to try and disassemble them, if that's possible, or figure out howmotvoe them, anyway. By the time whatever force the Yaxa sends gets there, we'lhlave already won the objective, no matter how the battle goes."
Trelig liked the plan. "Okay, so it's me and some Agitar males. Buptrowtehcatst shut down below freezing, you know. Can't help it."
me from the cold? I
The general got up and walked out of the tent, then came back in witcharatolna.rgSehe opened the carton and pulled out a strange, silvery costume whituhgea dark globe.
"You didn't know we have had five Makiem Entries in the past century,shtehesna?i"d, satisfied. "And we don't need the mechanical stuff, either. Air yoguo'vt.e"

He grinned again. Things were going his way now, as they had always doOneb.ieTchoemputer, New
Pompeii, the Well World itself-all were within his grasp.
The general excused herself, and he sat there a minute or two, alone, alot otkhiengmap. Then he sighed, got up, and slow-hopped to a curtained-off pasbsaegtweeen this tent and his portable living quarters. He pulled it aside. Thewreas a flash of movement, and an object landed on the bed in the far corner.
She could hop quickly, she could, he thought admiringly.
It had been a marriage of convenience, of course. All Makiem marriagems awrreiareges of
convenience in a race that had no sex except one week aunyderwr,ater, when they had nothing but.
The convenience of the scoundrels thrant
Makiem, the inconvenience of himself, naturally. She was the
good minister'sdaughter, and, if anything, she was slicker and nastier than her father.
What a team we'd make, he sighed once again, // only we could be on stihdee!same
"You needn't pretend, my dear. You know everything and I know it, sothwe hdaitf'fserence? You can't go this time."
"I go where you go," she responded. "It is law and custom. And youstocpanmnoet!"
He chuckled. "But it's cold up there, baby! What good would you sbleepaisnga beauty?"
She reached over, opened a wicker basket, and removed something. It slwigahstlya different design, but unmistakably a spacesuit.
He gaped. "How long have you had that thing?" he asked.

"Since Makiem," she replied smugly.
CAMP 43, GEDEMONDAS
The trails weren't bad. Gedemondans, it was known, were large creaturelsi,maitnedd but steady use
by the horselike Dillians had made them even mcoomrefortable, on the whole around two meters wide.
It was a strange party that set off from the chilly shack into thceovsenr:owTael, the Dillian guide, was in the lead, then the two Lata, occasionwalalylking but more often riding on Tael's back, then Renard leading the wingedpegasus, Doma, with the strange figure of Mavra Chang tied between wings and neck. The air was becoming cold; there was little conversation between thewma,snmoruch possible without yelling, for blowing wind howled through the rocclekfyts as if it, too, were a strange and living creature of this strangest owforlds.
It was only on the occasional breaks, done mostly for Renard's beneftiht,eythcaot uld say anything.
The plain was far behind; the twists and turns thaswt itthcehbacked trail forced upon them had all but the confident Tael totally losat,nd the bright snow reflecting the glare of the sun, even when cut with sun goggles, made distance impossible to judge. They were tiny figures movinsgeainofa white.
The trail itself seemed often lost in the snow, yet Tael went onwearse ifa itpaved and marked highway, never hesitating in the slightest-and ftohoeting was always there.
After they had been climbing for what seemed like a full day, they roonuendmedore mountain curve and, suddenly, the plain was spread out below them monocre.
"Wait!" Mavra called to them. "Look! They've arrived!"

They stopped, and saw immediately what she meant. Tiny puffs orange seemed everywhere in
the air, and large numbers of creatures couldseebne erecting tents and digging into the rock that was the start of themountains. The cabin was invisible, but they all knew that, if it was atlhl,eriet watas being converted into a fort.
"Look at them!" Tael breathed. This was her first taste of armies an"Tdhweraer.must be thousands of them!"
"The Yaxa," Vistaru said flatly. "They will be coming up only a dabyehoinr dsous. This is not good."
Tael laughed confidently. "Let them try and find the trail!" she bo"Wastiethdo. ut a guide they haven't a prayer!"
Mavra turned and looked out at the sky. There were thin, wispy cloudsocacnadsioanal big, fat cumulus puff, but it was basically crystal clear.
"They'll follow our own tracks," she told them. "There's no snow, nothcionvgertothem. They might
mistake them for animal tracks, or Dillians alone,wbhuetre a four-footed animal or Dillian can go, so can they."
The centaur frowned. A good snow guide, Mavra thought, but naive aDsilhlieall.must be a very peaceful place.
"We could lay a false trail," Tael suggested. "Run tracks off a cnliofft. tIhta'st hard. The powder here could be brushed for a few hundred meters."
Mavra considered it. "All right, do it," she told them. "But it wmonu'cthd. oSlow them up, get a couple, that's all. Better than nothing, though."
They rigged the deception fairly simply. The Dillian girl picked awpaoliknet,d out to where there seemed to be continuous snow, then stopped. Renraermdoved his small snowshoes and followed gingerly behind in her tracks, thgeunided her feet as she backed up into her old tracks.

Mavra surveyed the results. "A little too deep," she said criticallye.xp"Aernienced tracker would catch on, but I think it'll work. Does that snowoff ltlhere and I just can't see it, or what?"
Tael laughed. "This is the edge of what we call Makorn Glacier. A srliovwerlyomf oving ice with a
snow-cover on top. There is a crevasse there at tlheraeset hundred meters down and a good ten meters wide. I could almost feel tehdege of it."
The small Lata then went back after they went around another bend withfurTahealt's and used it to fill in the tracks. Not an expert job, but they wetrryeinn'tg to fool experts.
They went on, into the hex and up at the same time. More frequpeenrtiordesstwere called for. The air was becoming thin.
During one of these stops, Mavra said, "Still no sign of the GedemoHnedlal,nsi.f they're big bastards there must be awfully few of them to beinvthisisible."
Tael shrugged. "Who knows how many there are? Sometimes there seem
htounbderead sneaking
around the mountain tops; sometimes you will go complethterolyugh the hex without seeing one. That is not the trouble here, though."
"Huh?" they all said at once.
She nodded. "We're being watched. I can feel it. I'm not sure where tbhueyt tahreer,e is certainly more than one. I could barely hear some intermittent bdreapthing."
They looked around, suddenly nervous. No one could see anything.
"Where?" Renard pressed.

Tael shook her head. "I don't know. Mountain sounds are deceptive. tCholousgeh,. They have networks of trails they, ah, discourage us from using."
"They'd have to," Mavra said dryly. She strained but could hear nothitnhge
bhuowt ling wind. The
working part of her ears was still the same as ever,bugtoondot fantastic; all the bigger ears had done was to give her a little beltotecralization and add a slightly hollow sound to everything, which the wind magnified.
She was freezing to death, too, despite being covered by an amarzeisnogulyrceful patchwork set of clothes. Her face and particularly her ears wkeilrleing her; still, it was no worse on her than on the others, and they didnc'tomplain.
"Let's keep going," Hosuru said after a moment's listening. "If tshheayd'roewing us, they'll either make a move or they won't. Just keep listening loaonkding."
"Don't strain too hard," Tael warned. "If they don't want to be seewn,ont'htebye. All bright white like the snow, they could be ten meters away andinotuhte open and you'd never know it."
They pressed on.
They reached Camp 43 before sundown, but Tael insisted that this wotuhledir bsetop for the night.
"We couldn't possibly make the next camp befnoigrehtfall, and you don't want to be out here after dark."
"I hope those Yaxa or whatever feel the same way," Renard worried.
"I hope they don't," Mavra responded. "That'll kill a lot more of theqmuicakelro.t Vistaru? Hosuru? You're nocturnals. You want to try this trail indatrhke?"
Vistaru laughed. "Not in the dark, not in the daylight, not anytime wigthuoiduet she's doing!" she responded.
wa ho knows what

The crude shelter was built for two Dillians; the stalls were fine faonrdTDaeolma, and the others just
sort of scrunched in as best they could. Withsupthpelies, it was hard to close the door, and the old iron fireplace was so closteo them they had to choose freezing or burning. But, it would do.
It had been a trying day; they were all dead tired, half-snowblind, andforreadryest. There seemed
little point in setting a guard; if the Gedemonwdaannsted to do them in, they could do it any time. If they wanted contact, welland good. And if the Yaxa coalition party somehow managed to close in on them, they had little means to fight it anyway. As the fire burnt down, they slept.
There was a wrongness somewhere. It disturbed her in her sleep, and hefroumghint dfor it, tried to seize on it, and it seemed somehow elusive yet praensedntgrowing more and more ominous.
Mavra Chang awoke, lying motionless. She looked quickly around. They wethrerea;llnot only Tael and Renard, but even Doma snored.
She tried to figure out why she was suddenly wide awake. There was somoef
saelanrsme, something
that had her suddenly as clear-headed as ever when dathnrgeeartened. She reached for the source with her mind and eyes. It was chnilolyw, yes; it must be well into the night. But that wasn't it.
Doma suddenly awoke and shook her great head. She snorted nervously. Mliftaevdraher head a little, sure now that she wasn't going crazy. The pegsaesnussed it, too.
There it was. A noise. Scrunch-scrunch; scrunch-scrunch, over and ovliettrl,e alouder each time.
Someone-or something-was walking rather calmly and steadily up the stormaile,thing confident even in the night and snow.
Scrunch-scrunch, the snow was falling under its feet. It seemed to be big.

And now the noise stopped. Whatever it was was right outside the dokonre, ws.heShe started to call
out, to warn the others, but somehow she couldn't
tsoeemake a move, only stare at that closed door.
Even Doma seemed suddenly calmbu, t expectant. She was reminded of the Olbornian priest's power over her, buthis wasn't like that. It was-something else. Something strange, completely new.
The door opened, surprisingly silently considering its rusting hinges andfit.baAd blast of chilly air hit her, and she felt the others stir uncomfortably.
A huge white furry shape was there. It was tall- tall enough that ibtenhdadatolittle to stick its head
just inside the door. A face looked in atanhder,smiled slightly. It raised a huge hairy white paw and put a huge, clawedindex finger to its mouth.
GEDEMONDAS-A BACK TRAIL
Antor Trelig cursed for the thousandth time. One mishap after another
doanmtnheisd journey, he
thought sourly. Avalances hi front of them, the utnradielrcut-almost as if someone was trying to stop them or slow them dowanl,though no one had been sighted of any kind.
The trail was a lot more obvious on the map than it was in reality;wiet llwmasani'nt tained, some of the shelters were in disrepair and obviously had bseoenfor years, and the trail often vanished without visible landmarks, causingthe Agitar to have to probe gingerly ahead with their tasts. Their party of
fourteen-twelve Agitar, he, and his not-so-loyal wife, Burodir-was now sntiilnlei,ncluding Burodir, unfortunately.
But the landmarks were reasonably clear; the terrain was not bad, mostcloimf btihneg having been at the beginning, and as many times as the trailvahnaidshed it had also been crystal clear, as if tramped down by the soles of mafneyet.

This had worried him at first, until he was reminded by the Agitar wthaast, thafister all, somebody's hex, and somebody had to live in it.
In a way, that thought was the most disturbing. They had neither seheardnoar native in all this time, in all this way. It made no sense at altlhethreat shouldn't be some creatures somewhere along the way, except the occasionalpanic-inducing arctic hare, or whatever it was, and a few small weasellike creatures.
And yet-somehow, they'd made it. Somehow they'd kept to this trail. Somtheehyowwere going all the way. He was, anyway. What the others did was up to them.
He studied the maps and aerial photos from the Cebu scouts. He knewmupcrehttywhere he was, although without the prescouting he would have been lost daenadd now, he had to admit. The inner ring of mountains, slightly taller than tohueter but hidden before now, was clearly ahead. And, just on the other side ofthat big, glacier-carved peak over there, and over a bit, was a U-shapedwvitahlleayvery important large object lying askew on a ledge.
They would not make it today, that was for sure. But sometime tomafoterrronwoon, certainly, if nothing else happened.
ALONG THE INTERMOUNTAIN TRAIL
"Ifrit! My field glasses!" Ben Yulin commanded. The cow reached into thoef phaecrk cowife and quickly extracted them.
"Here, Master," she said eagerly, handing them to him. He took them wiwthoorudt aand put them to his eyes.

They were not merely binoculars; they had additional special lensehsetlhpaetd his nearsightedness.
With the already ground prescription snow goggtlhese,y brought anything within their range into sharp, clear focus.
"Trouble?" growled a low voice next to him.
He looked away and over at the thing. It looked like a walking hairaybobuut shas,
tall as he, with no
apparent eyes, ears, or other organs. In actuailtityw, as not a single creature, but a colony of thirty-six
Lamotiens, adapted tothe cold weather and the snow.
"That shack up there," he pointed suspiciously ahead. "Doesn't look sroigmheth, ow. I don't want any more tricks like that fake trail. We lost two cgoowods there." Neither his, he failed to add.
"We lost thirty brothers, don't forget!" snapped the Lamotien. "We agloreoeksitstrange. What should be done about it?"
Yulin thought a minute, trying to find a good solution without riskninogblehisneck or his possessions. "Why don't a couple of you go on up? Turn owrhsitoemething and take a look around."
The Lamotien considered it. "Two each, we think. Arctic hares." The crseeaetmured to come apart
all of a sudden; breaking into small, equal-sized fumzazsyses. Two of the things came off one side and jumped to the snow; two othefros m the left. Yulin watched, fascinated as always, as the rest of the shaggy creature reformed and readjusted. It looked slightly thinner, but otherwisseamthee.
Now the two Lamotien in the snow ran together, seemed to blend into sohnaeggbyiglump. The other
pair did the same. Slowly, as if there were unpsuepepneteer's hands under the shaggy mops, there was a poking here, a wrinkltehere, a bend here, a growth there.
Two arctic hares were there in less than two minutes. They scamperneadturoaflfly in the direction of the cabin. The rest waited; only the colony lehaadder a translator, so they'd have to reform before he knew the story. They didnh'at ve vocal communication, that was for sure. He wondered if they talked when they melded, became one being with common mind, or what. He'd asked, Lbaumt othtieen told
him not to worry about it, the concept was beyond him anyway.

The hares returned in a little more than ten minutes, disconnected, jubmacpkedinto the hairy lump, and melded again. The shape was silent for a mintaultkei,ng to the scouts or maybe absorbing the scouts' brief memories.
Finally, it said, "The place is deserted. You're right about it being thfuonungyh,. Lots of packs and supplies still there. Somebody was there not long aangdo,left-not of their own will, we'll wager. Too much stuff left."
That had him worried. "Think they were the centaurs we've been following?" "Probably," the Lamotienagreed. "But whoever they are, they're gone now." "Tracks?"
The Lamotien paused. "That's the funny part. There aren't any. We seteracthkesi,r lots of snow disturbances where they unpacked, and all that. Buot thneor tracks for hundreds of meters in any direction. None."
"Well, they didn't come back this way," Yulin said, worried now. "Sodwidhethrey go?"
They all looked around at the silent mountains.
"And with whom?" responded the Lamotien.
ANOTHER PART OF THE FIELD

It seemed that they had walked forever; they had frequent rests-their csaepetmorisng to appreciate
their need for more oxygen than the atmosphere pnroowvided-but no conversation. A few grunts and a lot of gestures, none of whitchhe translators would handle, but nothing else.
They were off any trails the Dillians knew, though. Trails so invistuibnles athat the great
Gedemondans leading the way in sometimes crazy pattesernesmed to be lost themselves. They weren't, though; they simply knew, somehowev, erything that was under the snow.
Doma, carrying both Mavra and Renard, was being led by Tael with the twono hLeartaback. In front were four of the giant snow creatures; behind, four mOothrers were visible now, here and there, sometimes a large number, sometimes oonre two crossing paths.
Mavra still wasn't sure what they were. They didn't really remind ahneyrthoinfg, yet they somehow reminded her of everything. All snow white, not ethveendirtiness that such thick hair usually displays so well. Tall-Tael was weollver two meters, and they were almost a head taller than she-and very slender. Humanoid, yet their faces appeared doglike, snow white with long, versynothuitns and black button
noses, their eyes set back, large but vheurmy an-looking, and an intense pale blue. Their hands and feet formed hugecircular pads when closed, the palms and soles of a tough, white, pmawatleirkieal. But
when they spread their fingers, their long, thin fingers, theythrheaedand a thumb-although their hands seemed to be almost without bones. Thceoyuld bend them any which way and flex them and the whole hand in any directiona,s if they were made of some kind of putty. Fingers and toes had locnlgaw, sp,ink
the only nonwhite part of them other than the nose. Even the insthideeisr soafucerlike ears were white.
They filled in the tracks by the simplest method imaginable. Theyflowwoirneg white capes of some animal fur, and it dragged behind them as wthaelyked, the light top powder filling in behind them. They didn't sink down inttohe snow nearly as heavily as they should have; the padlike feet actedlikaelmost snowshoes.
Tracks weren't a problem here; they knew they were being taken inmtoainthsteream of Gedemondan life, whatever that was. This was the part hidden afrwomay all comers, the part they never let you see.
And that made them wonder. Why them? Did the Gedemondans know theycomweinreg? Were they being helped? Or were they prisoners to be interrogated aablloutht ese invasions before being tossed

over a cliff? There were no answeornsl,y more walking.
Occasionally the great snow-beasts would pop right up out of the snow.unItsewttlainsg at first, until
they realized that there must be trap doors of skoinmde-whether over ice caves, natural or dug, or rock caves, or even artificiadlwellings that were covered with snow they didn't know. It was clear, though, that one of the big reasons you never saw the population was that thleiyvinwgeraend doing whatever it
is they did below the snow cover, the acratmoofuflage coming naturally to them.
Night came, plunging this wintry world into an eerie glowing darknesns.igThht esky of the Well World reflected off the snowfields in distorted, twinklwinognder. New Pompeii wasn't visible, but it might not yet have risen, or it mighhatve set, or it might be out of sight behind the distant mountains.
They hadn't had time to take any supplies. The Gedemondans had beenbgutenitnlesistent; when they had protested, they had been picked up as easilRyenaasrd picked up a bag of apples, and plopped down on top of the two best atoblecarry them, Tael and Doma. Tael was too overawed and a little scared toprotest much; Doma seemed curiously at home and docile around the sctrenatgueres, as if
they had some mysterious power over her.
Or, they hoped, because she could perceive no threat.
Still they didn't go hungry. Just after darkness fell they were lleadrgteo caave they would have never known was there, and other Gedemondans broufgahmt iliar fruits and vegetables, from where they couldn't guess, served on broawdood plates, and a fruit punch that tasted quite good.
They even seemed extra concerned about Mavra's problems. Her dish was ahnigdhethricker, the easier to reach it, and the punch was in a deep bowlcsoouldshderink as she wished.
Renard had not used his electrical powers at Mavra's suggestion; theyafwteerrea, ll there to contact
the Gedemondans, and this was, if nothing eclosen,tact. But he couldn't resist it, finally, and reached over to a closerelative of an apple and applied a small charge that baked it.
The Gedemondans didn't seem impressed. Finally one who was sitting atghaeincstave wall got up and walked over to him, then crouched down across from theimp,late in the middle. A clawed hand reached out, touched the plate. There waasblinding flash lasting only a fraction of a second, and the plate and fruijtust weren't there any more. Renard was dumbfounded; he reached over, fsepltotthe

where it had been. It wasn't even warm, yet there were no chardmebarrisk,s,or anything but a tiny little odor of ozone or something. Tshneow-creature snorted in satisfaction, patted him patronizingly on the head, andwalked off.
That ended the demonstrations of power.
They were bone-tired and chilled, but they did not spend the nightcaivne.thAelthough they didn't run,
it was apparent that their captors were on ssoomrte of schedule, and that they had a particular place for their captives to baet a certain time.
It was several more hours before they reached it, and by that point Tcaoeml pwlaaisning to the silent leaders loudly that she couldn't go a step farther.
It was a solid rock wall, looming ominously ahead in the near-darknesss.taTrtheedy for it, expecting to turn any minute, but it didn't happen. Insteadwathlleopened for them.
To be precise, a huge block of stone moved slowly back, obviouslmyuoscnlea-powered pulley, and bright lights shone into the darkness. They wentinoton, the tunnel.
The light was from some glowing mineral that picked up torchlighmtaganified it a hundredfold. It was bright as day inside.
The inside of the mountain was a honeycomb; labyrinthine passages wentalolffdiirnections, and they
were quickly and completely lost. But it
warsm-comfortable, in fact-inside, the heat coming from a
source they never didiscover, and there were strange noises of a lot of work being done-but what was going on it was impossible to see.
Finally, they were at their destination. It was a comfortable, large rToohmer.e were several big beds there, filled with soft cushions of fabric, anladrgae fur rug that was perfect for Mavra. There was only one entrance, and twGo edemondans stood there, conspicuous yet as unobtrusive as possible. This was it, then.
They were too tired to talk much, to even move, or worry about whasttowreasfoinr them. They

were sound asleep in minutes.
The next day all awoke feeling better, but with some aches andGpeadienms.ondans brought more
fruits, a different punch, and even a bale of hay wcohuicldh be used by both Tael and Doma. Where that came from there was littmleystery; it was a ration at one of the trail cabins.
Mavra stretched all four limbs and groaned. "Oh, wow!" she said. "I mussltephtavseolid and unmoving. I'm stiff as a board."
Renard sympathized. "I'm not feeling too great myself. Overslept, I Bthuint kw. e're the better for it."
The two Lata, who always slept motionless on their stomachs, still haodwtnheciromplaints, and Tael said she had a stiff neck. Even Doma snorted and fhler ewd ings, almost knocking Tael in the face.
The Gedemondans had cleared away the breakfast dishes; now only one twheasroinom, looking at them with a detached expression.
Vistaru looked at him. Her? No way to tell with them. "I wish thseoym'detshaiyng," she muttered, as much to herself as to the others. "This strsoinlegn,t treatment gives me the creeps."
"Most people talk too much about too little now," said the Gedemondanni,cei,n caultured voice full of warmth. "We prefer not to unless we really hsoamveething to say."
They all almost jumped out of their skins.
"You can talk!" Horsuru blurted, then covered, "That is, we were wond.er.i"ng .

The Gedemondan nodded, then looked at Mavra, still on her side on t"hSeo ruygo.u are Mavra
Chang. I've wondered what you would look like."
She was surprised. "You know me? Well, I'm pleased to meet you, tsooor.ryI'mI can't give you my hand."
He shrugged. "We were aware of your problem. As to knowing you, no. Wawe awreeroef you. That is different."
She accepted that. There were lots of ways of getting information on thWe oWrlde.ll
Tael could not be restrained now. "Why haven't you ever talked to uass?k"edsh. e"I mean, we had the idea that you were some kind of animaslosmoerthing."
Her lack of subtly did not perturb the Gedemondan. "It's not hard to eWxpelawino.rk hard at our image. It is-necessary." He sat down on the floor, fathceinmg.
"The best way to explain it is to tell you a little of our own histkonroyw.
,Yaolul of you, of the
Markovians?" That was not the word he used, but heuswinags a translator and that's the way it came out.
They nodded. Renard was the most ignorant of them; even Tael had hasdchsooomlieng. But Renard, at least, knew from his own area of space of therudinesadof that mysterious civilization.
"The Markovians evolved as all plants and animals evolve, from the pritmo ittihvee complex. Most races reach a dead end somewhere along the line, butht enmo.t They reached the heights of material attainment. Anything they wished fowras theirs. Like the fabled gods, nothing was beyond them," the Gedemondan toldthem. "But it wasn't enough. When they had it all, they realized that thiet ewnads of stagnancy, which common sense will tell you is the ultimate result mofatearniyal Utopia."
They nodded, following him. Renard thought there was some argument atghaaitn,stand that he'd like to try Utopia first, but he let it pass.

"So they created the Well World, and they transformed themselves intoracneesw, and they placed their children on new worlds of then: design. The Wmelolreis than the maintenance computer for this world; it is the single stabilizifnogrce for the finite universe," the snow-creature continued. "And why did they commit racial suicide to descend back to the primitive once more? Becausfeltthcehyeated,
somehow. They felt they had missed something, somewhere. Andt,ratgheedy was, they didn't know
what it was. They hoped one of our races cfionudldout. That was the ultimate goal of the project, which still goes on."
"It seems to me they made a sucker play," Mavra responded. "Supposweerthene'yt missing anything? Suppose that was it?"
The Gedemondan shrugged. "In that case, those warring powers below reptrheesenhteight of attainment, and when the strongest owns the universe-I'm speamkientgaphorically, of course, for they are mere reflections of the races of utnhieverse-we'll have the Markovians all over."
"But not Gedemondans?" Vistaru prompted.
He shook his head. "We took a different path. While the rest ran mtoawteariradlistic attainment, we decided to accept the challenge onf oantechnological hex for what it was-and not try by ingenuity to make it astechnological as we could. What nature provided, we accepted. Hot sparllionwgsed some cultivation in these uniquely lighted caverns, which run throthueghentire hex. We had food, warmth, shelter and privacy. We turned ourselvneost outward, but inward, to the very core of our being, our souls, if you wilal,nd explored what we found there. There were things there no one had evetirmetaken to dream of. A few Northern hexes are proceeding similarly, but mnoostt. aWree feel that this is what the Markovians created us to do, and what soarfeewdoing. We're looking for what they missed."
"And have you found it?" Mavra asked, somewhat cynically. Mystics werenst'tylhe,ereither.
"After a million years, we are at the point where we perceive that somweatshiindeed missing," the Gedemondan replied. "What it is will take further satund refinement. Unlike those of your worlds, we are in no hurry."
"You've found power," Renard pointed out. "That dish of food was jusdtispinlateingrated."

He chuckled, but there was a certain sadness in it. "Power. Yes, I ssuop. pBouset the true test of awesome power is the ability not to use it," hecrysapitdically. He looked over at Mavra Chang and pointed a clawed, furry finger haetr.
"No matter what,Mavra Chang, you remember that!"
She looked puzzled. "You think I'm to have great power?" she resposknedpetdic, al and a little derisively.
"First you must descend into Hell," he warned. "Then, only when hope iws ilgloynoe,u be lifted up and placed at the pinnacle of attainable power, wbhuetther or not you will be wise enough to know what to do with it or what notdoto with it is closed to us."
"How do you know all this?" Vistaru challenged. "Is this just some mmyustmicballing or do you really know the future?"
The Gedemondan chuckled again. "No, we read probabilities. You sesee, ew-peerceive is a better word-the math of the Well of Souls. We feel the efnloerwg,y the ties and bands, in each and every particle of matter and energy. Arelal lity is mathematics; all existence, past, present, and future, is equations."
"Then you can foretell what's to happen," Renard put in. "If you mseaetht,hyeou can solve the equations."
The Gedemondan sighed. "What is the square root of minus two?" he "Tashkaetd's. something you can see. Solve it."
The point was made in the simplest terms.
"But this doesn't explain why you pretend to be primitive snow apesp,"erTsiasetel d.

The Gedemondan looked at her. "To entwine ourselves in the material equisatitoonslose that which
we believe is of greater value. It is really too laatneyfoorf your cultures to comprehend this; you are too far along the Markoviapnath."
"But you broke your act for us," Hosuru pointed out. "Why?"
"The war and the engine mod, of course," Vistaru said flatly, in a tionndeicathteadt friend a total idiot.
she thought her
But the Gedemondan shook his head from side to side. "No. It was to mspeeeatkanwdith one of you, to try and understand the complexity of her equationperacnedive its meaning and possible solution."
Renard looked puzzled. "Mavra?" he asked quizzically.
The Gedemondan nodded. "And now that is done, although what can be abdedyeodndis me right
now. As to your silly, stupid, petty war and your spacwesehlilp, ,if you're up to a short journey I think we will settle that now." He ugpo,t and they did the same, following him out. Another Gedemondan followed withtheir clothing; they wouldn't need it in the warm caves, but it was obvitohuesy twhaotuld
not return to that room.
They were left in a junction area for a while, and their talkative guthideme .leSftoon they were joined by another Gedemondan-or was it the same one?- thaenyd continued off. It was silent-treatment time again, regardless.
Later, after what seemed like several hours' walk, they stood again besftonree awall and were helped getting their cold-weather gear on. Some kGinedemondan had created a form-fitting fur coat with leggings for Mavra. She waams azed, and wondered how they could have done it hi a night.
But it helped. The great door opened with a rumble and revealed a sscteranneg. e
It was a great bowl; a U-shaped valley hung over it, and snow dfeilelpeldy.it

And, askew on a ledge, unmistakable even at that distance, was the menogdiunle.
And now the guide spoke. It was a different voice, they thought, but wsaimthe thkeindness and warmth.
"You spoke of power. Over there, just next to that little promontoryyothuer reB,en Yulin and his associates now stand. We marked the trail as subtlpyosassible, and they almost lost it several times, but they managed to blundetrhrough."
They strained their eyes, but it was too far away.
Now the Gedemondan pointed to the opposite rim. "Up there," he said, A"nstonr dTrelig and his compatriots. Again, their journey was stage-managed so tahreriyved at their point within minutes of the other. Of course, neither parktynows the other is there."
The snow-creature turned back and stared at the engine module, marvelionutasclyt and preserved, the remains of the great braking chutes still entwineidt. in
"This is power," said the Gedemondan, and pointed at the module.
There was a rumbling sound that shook the entire valley. Snow startedaltloafraolulnd, and the engine module trembled, then started to move, slowlyfirast, then more rapidly, off the edge of the hanging valley.
It poised for an instant at the edge, then plunged over the side withBuat
ritoadri.dn't just fall-it
seemed to break apart, and there was a tremendruomusble and roar. Smoke and flames and white-hot billowing clouds erupted. Thtehing blew itself up on the way down, and, when it hit the snow below, the explosions continued, making the valley look like a minor volcano for smevineuratels. When the smoke
and roar died away, the last of the echoes gone, wthaesreonly a melted, smouldering ruin in the snow, bubbling and hissing.

The Gedemondan nodded in satisfaction. "And so ends the war," he saidfiwnaitlhitya that was hard to deny.
"But if you could do this-why did you wait?" Vistaru asked, awed andfriaghltiettnled.
"It was necessary that all sides witness it," the creature expla"Ointehde.rwise they would never have accepted the truth."
"All those dead people . . ." Renard murmured, thinking of heisxpoewrinences.
The Gedemondan nodded. "And thousands more now littering the plains. Petrhhisapesxperience will save thousand more in times to come. War is the greatesatchoefrs, and not all of its lessons are bad. Their cost is just so terribhliygh."
Mavra had a different thought. "Suppose the engine module hadn't lahnedree,d" she asked him. "What then?"
"You misunderstand," replied the Gedemondan. "It landed here because itto hlaadnd here. It could land nowhere else." He nodded, almost to himself. "A svimerpyle equation," he muttered.
They stood there a while in silence, stunned. Finally, Mavra asked, h"Waphpaetns now? To us? To the warring powers?"
"The warring powers will pack up and go home," the Gedemondan rmepaltiter-of-factly.
"Trelig? Yulin?" Renard pressed.

"Are too devious to have been caught here," the creature replied. "Thedyo wasillthey always have
done and act as they always have acted, until thecotimmees for their equations to solve. They are much entwined, those two, and wiythou, Renard, and you, Vistaru, and, most of all, with you, Mavra Chang."
She let it pass. All this talk of her importance seemed ridiculous.
"And us?" she prodded. "What happens to us now? I mean, you've pretbtylowwnellyour cover, haven't you?"
"Power is best used judiciously," the Gedemondan replied. "A siamdpjulestment, really. You never were picked up by us. You followed an oldthtarat ilseemed recently used, and discovered this valley. Then you watched as theengine module destroyed itself, jarred perhaps by too many sounds echoing across the valley and hitting just the wrong points as it fell. Then you made yeoausrt, winatyo Dillia, to report. You never ever saw the mysterious Gedemondans."
"That's going to be a hard story to keep to," she pointed out.
"But it is true," the snow-creature told her. "Or, as far as your comapraenicoonnscerned, it will be, the moment you cross into Dillia. We have pickedyouupr pack and supplies and will provide them before you cross the border."
"You mean," Vistaru said, a little upset, "you're going to make us fotrhgise?t"all
"All but her," he replied, gesturing toward Mavra. "But she will get stiicrkedanodf trying to convince you of all this fairly quickly."
"Why me?" Mavra responded, still puzzled.
"We want you to remember," the Gedemondan said seriously. "You see, whdielevewloeped here along these lines, our children out there in the stars diTdhenyot.are all dead now. All gone. The Gedemondans here may yet solve tMhearkovian problem, but they will never be in a position to implement thatsolution."

"And I will?" she asked.
"The square root of minus two," replied the Gedemondan.
SOUTH ZONE
"But it just isn't right," Vardia, the Czillian, objected. "I mean, asfhteer daildl
and tried to do." It
pointed a tendril at a photograph. "Look at hefreaAk. A pretty human girl's body, always facing head downward, supported byfour mule's legs. Not even able to look straight ahead. No protective hair or body fat. She's so vulnerable! Eating like an animal, face pushed into eaatidnigsh;food she can't even prepare herself. She must have normal sexual urygets, what will have her, from the ass-end at that? She
almost has to wallow
hiner own excrement just to relieve herself. It's awful! And so easy to cure. Just
bring her here and send her through the Well Gate."
Serge Ortega nodded, agreeing with all the other ambassador said.sa"dIt,"ishe admitted. "There is
nothing I have done in my whole foul lifepatihnast
me like this. And yet, you know why. The Crisis
Center of your own hecxame out with the cold facts. Antor Trelig will never forget thatatnhoetrhee'sr
ship down on the Well World; neither will Ben Yulin. Both can sePeomNpeewii on clear nights. And if
Yulin settles down, the Yaxa will push him iti.ntWo e can't control them or the Makiem-and they can
pass through Zone as safealys we. We haven't the right to stop them. Nations that would not lift a finger in the war would act against us if we militarized Zone. I still hold tothtahte thideeaNorthern ship is
beyond anybody's reach, and, Lord knows, both Cthziellian computers and I have tried every angle!
Some of the Northern races ainreterested, but the Uchjin are completely opposed, and there's no way to get apilot there physically, anyway."
He paused, then looked at the plant-creature, eyes sad. "But can we tcahkaenctheethat it is impossible? Your computers say no, and so do my instincNtso. rtAherner once got South, remember. If
we can find how. . . . Trelig wstoonp't. Yulin won't stop. The Yaxa won't stop. If a solution is possible,

no matter how complex and off the wall it may be, even shooting a pilot Eoqvueartothrieal Barrier with giant sling shots, somebody will come up withsotlhuetion. My channels are pretty good, but so are
theirs. If anybody comes uwpith the answer, we'll all have it, and it's a miniwar all over again. And if we aren't to leave it to Yulin or Trelig, then we'll need somebody who knowstehllowthatocomputer to
take off and land and such-and who can reprogram tihtefoarlmost impossible launch situation and acceleration that would be requireTd.he Zinders can't-even if we knew where and what they were, and we mostdefinitely do not. Nor can a classical librarian like Renard. None of thefmlewevaership. I
can't, either. I'm too out of date. And that ship is stillstitlhlerine,tact, and it'll stay that way because the Uchjin don't even understanwd hat it is but think it's pretty, and because that atmosphere they have is almost a perfect preservative."
"If only we could get somebody in the North to blow it up," Varwdiiastfusalliyd.
"I've already tried that," Ortega replied swiftly. "Things are differetnhteruep, that's all. So we've got a ship that's a ticking bomb, and mayhboep, efully, it'll never go off-but it just might. And if we run her through theWell of Souls, we might lose track or control of the only pilot we have!"
He shuffled through some papers, coming up with a photograph of New Pompeii.
"Look at that," he told her. "There's a computer there that knows thceodWeselal nd math. It's
capacity-limited, but it's self-aware, and so it's anopthlaeyr er in the game. Against uncounted billions or trillions of lives hi thueniverse, can the fate of one individual be considered? You know the answer." He slapped the computer printouts angrily, upset himself. "There it is, daTmenll imt! e some way around it!"
"Maybe she'll solve her own problem," Vardia mused. "Get to a Zone Ggaetet hanerde. Then the
Well's the only way out."
He shook his head. "That won't work, and I made sure she knows it. Wsheateisv,erZone gates will
be guarded day and night. If she makes it here, bsehel'ollcked up in a nice, comfortable one-room office
hi this complex. No windownso,
way out. She'll be an annual in a zoo, unable to smell the flowers or see
the stars. That is more horrible to her than death, and she's just not the tysupiec."idal
"How can you be so damned sure of everything?" the Czillian asked himw.er"eIfhe7r, facing her kind of future, I'm sure I would kill myself."

Ortega reached into his massive, U-shaped desk and pulled out a thic"kThfeileli.fe history and profile of Mavra Chang," he told the other. "Partly fRroemnard, partly from some hypno interviews we did in
Lata that she's not awaoref, and partly from, ah, other sources I'm not ready to reveal now. Her whole life has been a succession of tragedies, but it's also the story of a dcroanmtiantuicin, g fight against
hopeless odds. She is psychologically incapablegiovfing up! Look at that Teliagin business. Even not knowing where she was owrhat was what, she refused to abandon those people. Even as a freak she still insisted on going to Gedemondas, and she did. No, somehow she'll copem. Wake'llit as easy as
we can for her." That last was said softly, with a gentVleanredsisa would never have suspected of the
Machiavellian snake-man and formehruman pirate.
"Look," he said, trying to soften it, "maybe another Type 41 Entry wililn.coTmheen we'll be able to do something. There's hope."
The Czillian kept staring at the photograph. "You know the figures. Ontehetriemwe ere lots of human
Entries; what have we had in the last century? Two?wAe nldost track of both of those."
"One's dead, the other's in a salt-water hex and is the wrong kind oOf rpteilgoat,"mumbled. The
plant-creature hardly heard. Once it, too, had been a hufemmaanle. That was why it was picked as the liaison with Ortega.
"I'd still kill myself," Vardia said softly.
ABOARD A SHIP JUST OFF GLATHRIEL
They had taken her first south from Dillia through Kuansa to Shamozlaann,dthoef great spiders. She had no fear of spiders, and found them charmingvearnydhuman.
The ambassador was very kind, but he explained the situation to ghraeprhiinc detail, concluding, "The only thing we can do right now is makeeaitsyasas possible. Understand, we have no choice."

She started to say something, but a needle from someone behind piercsekdin,hearnd things had blacked out.
They took her to a medical section with a strange machine. The ambaesxspaldaoinred it to Renard and
Vistaru, who still accompanied her. Hosuru had gtoonereport and was home already.
"Basically, it reinforces the effect of a hypno," he explained. "It dwooerskn'ton many races, but she's still Type 41, although modified, and it'll woonrkthem and her. What it does is to do a more or less permanent burn-in of baasic hypno treatment, so it doesn't wear off. We know it works, because we took data on her in Lata using a similar device and then blocked all memorhye, lda.n"d it
"But what will you tell her?" Vistaru worried. "You won't change heyro,uw?"ill
"Only a little," the ambassador replied. "Just enough to makceomhefrortable, adapt. We can't do
anything serious; the whole reason for thitshaits we must keep her on hand for the skills and qualities she possesses. Ithink she understands that."
The process began.
"Mavra Chang," said the device, preprogrammed carefully. "When you awakew, iylloufind your memories and personality unchanged. However, while you rwemillember being human, you will be
unable to imagine yourself that way. The wyoauy are now will seem natural and normal to you. This form is how you arceomfortable. You cannot conceive of being any other way, even though youyokunow
once were, and you wouldn't want to be any different than you are."
The thing went on for a bit, feeding her various bits of informettihoond,s, skills she would need in order to cope, and then it was over.
She had awakened a few hours later, and felt strangely better, more aStheeatsreie. d to remember
why she had felt different before, but it came Shoamrde. thing to do with being hi this form, she recalled.

She remembered being human. Remembered it, but in a curious, lopsided kwinady. oIft seemed like she'd always had four legs. She tried to imagine hewrsaelklfing upright on two legs, or picking up things with hands, and she jucsot uldn't. It was just not right somehow. This was right.
Vaguely, in the back of her mind, she knew that they'd done somethingsotmo ehtheirn, g to create this situation, but it didn't seem important, somehow, sahned quickly forgot it.
But she remembered the stars. She knew she belonged there, not here,annyotpilnanetbound
existence anywhere. She would sit there, topside on the shitipcraosssed the Gulf of Turagin, sometimes
by sail, sometimes by steam, dependionng hatch cover,looking at the stars.
the hex, head and forelegs propped up on some crates or a
She chuckled to herself. They thought she wanted to go through the Wmeally. bOe rthey thought she'd settle down and forget in this new existence. Busttatrhse came out every night, and those she would
never forget. It went beyonrdeason and logic; it was a love affair. A love affair now forcibly broken by circumstances, but not beyond repair while both lovers lived.
And now, as the sun came up, there was a shoreline out there. It lookaenddgpreretty and warm;
sea birds circled offshore, diving occasionally for afnisdh clams, then took their catch to rookeries in the hillsides overlooking thebeach.
Renard came on deck, stretched and yawned, then went over to her.
"Not an unpleasant-looking place for an exile," she said calmly.
He stooped down so his head was level with hers. "Very primitive. Aculttruirbea,l not much else. They're human-what we think of as human. But this woausrn'at ncestral home. They had a war with the Ambreza; the big beavers gassed thebmack into the Stone Age and swapped hexes, so it's a nontech hex."
"Suits me fine," she replied. "Primitive means small population." She lostorkaiegdht at him, head to one side. "And soon your job will be done, Vainsdtaru's too. They've built a compound for me to my
requirements, with a freswh ater spring and everything. Once a month a ship will drop off suplpitltile in
plastic pouches I can open with my teeth holding them betweefonremleygs. There are hostiles and water

all around except on the Ambreza siadned,
they'll keep Zone Gates 136 and 41 secure. The primitives
have beeneffectively tabooed from the compound. No risk to me, and no chance I'll Yesocuapaen.d Vistaru can go back through the Zone Gate, tell them all is wtehlle,nantrdy and find new lives or pick up old ones. I understand the Agitar arepisssoed off at the war fizzling out that you're some kind of hero."
He was hurt. "Mavra-I-"
She cut him off. "Look, Renard!" she said sharply. "You don't owe me aannydthiIngdon't owe you anything. We're even now! I don't need you any morei,t'sanadbout time you learned you don't need
me, either! Go home, Renard!" She walams ost screaming now, and the look she gave him said it even more eloquently.
I'm Mavra Chang, it said. I was orphaned at five and again at thirteean. bIegwgar who became the queen of beggars, a whore when I had to be to bsutayrsthIe craved, and I got them! I was a thief they couldn't catch, the agent whsonatched Nikki Zinder off New Pompeii and kept her and you alive until help could come. And against all odds, I reached Ge-demondas and saw the destorufcthioenengines.
I'm Mavra Chang, and no matter what comes along, I will cope.
I'm Mavra Chang, bride only of the stars.
I'm Mavra Chang, and I don't need anybody! The Wars of the Well will be concluded in Quest for The Well of Souls.
APPENDIX: RACES REFERRED TO IN EXILES AT THE WELL OF SOULS

N=Nontechnological hex. S=semitechnological hex. H=hightech hex.paArenthesis (for example, (N)) denotes a water hex. The addition of an M thoexthedesignation (i.e. SM) means it has what would be regarded as magicalcapabilities by those who don't have them. Uchjin, the only hex in thehaNsoartnh, atmosphere that's mostly helium and other useless stuff.
AGITAR H Diurnal: Males satyrlike; females reverse animalism of males bsumt aarrter. Males can store and control electric charges. ALESTOL N Diurnal Moving, barrel-shaped plants that are carnivores and shoot vaariety of noxious gasses. AMBREZA H Diurnal: Resemble giant beaUvseersd.
to be N until they beat Gthleathriel in a war and swapped hexes with them. BOIDOL NM Diurnal: Giant sphinxlike creatures. Look fierce but are peacehfeurlbivores. CEBU S Diurnal: Resemble pterodactyls
with prehensile apelike feet. CZILL H Diurnal: Asexual plants who duplicate; mobile by day, root at night. Pacifistic scholars with a huge computer center. DASHEEN N Diurnal: Basically minotaurs. Females are much larger anddumber than the males, but males need their lactose/calcium to live. DILLIA S Diurnal: True classic centaurs. Peaceful folk who hunt, trap, farmea.t Caannything organic
but are basically vegetarians. DJUKASIS S Diurnal: Giant beelike colonies where citizens are bred physically and mentally for their jobs. GALIDON (N): Giant, tentacled manta rays who are
bad-tempered carnivores. GEDEMONDAS N Diurnal Large, thin, hairy apelike creatures with round feet anddoglike snouts. GLATHRIEL N Diurnal: The ancestors of humanity; very primitive since the Ambreza gassed them back into the Stone Age and swapped hexes. JIIHU (H): Large clamlike creatures with lots of tentacles, but they rarely moonvcee full grown. KLUSID N Diurnal: Thin, delicate birdlike creatures in a land of great beauAtytm. osphere is much too high on the ultraviolet for most others.
KROMM (S) Diurnal: Huge flowers that spin across their shallow swamp. LAMOTTEN H Diurnal: Small lumpy creatures who can imitate anything, evencobmybining to build bigger imitations, but can not change their mass. LATA H Nocturnal: Very small humanoid hermaphroditic pixies who can fly and have nasty stingers. Can also glow by secreting chemicals in the skin. MAKIEM N Diurnal: Large reptiles resembling giant toads who need some wadtaeirly though land-dwellers. Coldblooded and have sex only
ten days a year durinogne period. NODI N Nocturnal: Resemble giant mushrooms; thousands of tendrils drop fromtheir "caps" when needed. OLBORN SM Diurnal: Resemble huge, bipedal pussycats with the ability to createtheir own beasts of burden. PALIM H Diurnal: Resemble great hairy mammoths with remarkably prehensile trunkwith fingers all around. PORIGOL (HM): Dolphinlike mammals who can
stun or kill with sound. QASADA H Diurnal: Large ratlike creatures with long tails, whiskers, and hivelike communities. SHAMOZAN H Diurnal: These huge, hairy tarantulas like alcohol, melodic music, and games of skill. TELIAGIN N Diurnal: Great cyclopses; carnivores who raise their own sheep to eat and are bull-headed but not dumb. TULIGA (S): Giant, rather repulsive sea slugs, neither nice nor communicative. UCHJIN N Nocturnal: Look like giant paint smears flowing down" glass. ULIK H Diurnal: Great six-armed snake-men that live in a desert hex Eaqt utahteorial Barrier. XODA NM
Diurnal: Resemble four meters of praying mantis, and have a hypnotiocf winavyiting you to dinner. YAXA S Diurnal: Females who eat their husbands after sex. Look likoeragniagnet-and- brown
butterflies with hard shiny black bodies, eight prehentseinletacles, and a death's head for a face. Visual system is quite different froSmouthern norm. ZHONZORP H Diurnal: Large, bipedal relatives of the crocodile given to dressinugp like grand opera, capes and all, but are solid technicians.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jack L. Chalker was born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 17, 194le4a.rnHede
to read almost
from the moment of entering school, and by workingjoobdsdranging from engineering outdoor rock concerts in the Sixties to computyerpesetting, amassed a large SF/fantasy/horror book collection that today isranked among the finest in private hands.
Chalker joined the Washington Science Fiction Association in 1958 and bpuegbalinshing an amateur
SF journal, Mirage, in 1960, and in 1963 foundedBatlhtiemore Science Fiction Society. After high
school, he set out to be a tlraiwalyer, but money problems caused him to switch to teaching as a career.
He holds a Bachelors degree in both history and English from Towson State Canodlleagne
M.L.A. in
the History of Ideas from the Johns Hopkins University,taaungdht history and geography in the Baltimore City school system from 1966 u1n9ti7l 8 with time out for military service, until his writing career allowed him tboecome a full-time free lance writer. Additionally, out of the amateur johuernals, founded a publishing house. The Mirage Press, Ltd., producing over btohoirktys, mostly nonfiction,
related to SF and fantasy, and, although no longmearjoar publisher, it still publishes an occasional book. His interests includecomputers, esoteric audio, travel, history and politics, lecturing on thfieeldSFto
private groups, universities, and such institutions as Stmheitb-sonian. He is an active conservationist, a Sierra Club life member anNdational Parks supporter, and he has a passion for ferryboats, with the avowed goal of riding every one in the world. In fact, in 1978 he was marrieWd htoitteEyvaon an
ancient ferryboat in mid-river, and they have lived since iCnattohcetin Mountain region of Maryland with their son.