by Pam Uphoff
:: Ooo! Cryptozoology! My dad hates it when I look up stuff like that. :: Voyr poked at the cylinder. It ignored her.
:: And the little twisters? :: Arno looked at a fast spinning cone shape.
:: Cones. Those are what we use to make the permanent gates. Two for each gate. ::
Looking around there were more and more things. Arno pulled back to see more things, a crumpled sheet of semi-transparent paper. And another. They were all over the place. He pulled back further, no they clumped . . .
:: Those are worlds. Look more closely at one. Yes, that one caught your eye. That’s the One World, your home. See the threads? Those are the permanent gates. ::
:: One each going to those worlds, then more going elsewhere. Hub worlds. ::
:: Right, now slow down. Look at this world over here. ::
:: It’s . . . dull . . . ::
:: A Barren World. Very little life, cyanobacteria, mostly. Photosynthesizing away for half a billion years, proper algae and so forth have had perhaps a hundred million years, so the atmosphere is breathable. And the world is safe to experiment on. Now, first I find a cone, and then grab a bubble. I bump the cone to slow it down. The slower it goes, the stronger it’ll grab on. To a point. If it’s stopped spinning altogether it can’t form a gate. ::
Arno watched as Master Xen mentally hauled the slowly spinning cone over to the Barren World. Turned it and the cone’s base leaped into contact.
:: Now I take another cone . . . ::
Arno spotted one, and grabbed a bubble. Bumped it against the cone and got knocked back.
:: Just tap it a few times, sending it this way while you do. A little harder. That’s the range of rotation you want, now turn it, so the tail twists with the tail of mine . . . :: Master Xen stopped talking as the cones’ tails twisted together and the base of his leaped at him.
“Open your eyes. Don’t move.”
Arno blinked at the spinning white whirlpool inches from his knees. “Holy One!” He scooted back away from it and stood up.
The other kids crowded around.
Yrno shook his head. “Arno . . . it’s really a pity you’re such a late developing powerless little weenie. Because otherwise you’d be scaring the One hell out of me.”
Arno frowned. There was a faint breeze coming from the whirlpool, chilly and dusty. “So . . . you just jump through blind?”
Master Xen chuckled. “Got a camera on your comm? Try it. Or a mirror. One of my students taught me that trick. Made me feel like an idiot after all these years of shielding so hard I gave myself a horrible headache, trying to see through.”
The cam function showed a barren reddish landscape . . . Smooth rocks and sandy patches, riffled and shedding dust to the wind.
Arno grinned and stepped through.
Everyone followed.
The world was amazingly, totally, barren.
“No land plants at all. The difference between a Barren World and an Algae world is in the ocean. The Algae Worlds have a lot more diversity, multicellular algaes, primitive animals—worms, sponges, and such. Barren worlds haven’t reached multicellular yet. Much. There’s a lot of argument about the boundary. Dead Worlds, ditto. They don’t have breathable air—but some do have early sulfur eating bacteria, and even some photosynthesis. Nature’s too messy for clean categories. It’s a lumpy, uneven continuum.” Master Xen grinned suddenly. “Congratulations. I think by next year you’re going to need lessons from Q, not me.”
***
“I’m going to shower and dress for our last dinner here. See you guys in an hour.” Ryol waved airily and bounced down the girl’s hallway, to her room.
And out her window. She dropped to the ground and waved to the other girls.
They circled the building to the boys’ side, the library side with higher windows. She stood on tiptoes to peek in one that was dark. All of the Priests and Princesses were across the big room, Unvu leaning over the table toward Diuc, who was leaning back gracefully while she filed her fingernails.
Ryol ducked back down and trotted around to the front of the building, and found Arno, Jay, Or What, and Yrno clustered at the little corridor. One of them had taken down the illusion on this side. The inside illusion blurred their view a bit, but One Unvu’s voice was clear.
“They’ve learned enough. Now it’s time for Wolfson to die.”
Ytry crossed his arms. “That’s very short-sighted and unwise.”
Izmo shrugged. “Without him Disco is nearly toothless, and we can take over, dominate the Multiverse. Right now might be a bit premature, though. Only one of the children has opened a gate and formed corridors.”
Unvu scowled at him. “And he’s not Of the One. We need to get him away from Wolfson, while he’s at least still loyal to the Empire. You heard Wolfson, Dr. Quicksilver can train him, now.”
Teal snickered. “Shall we pick lots, see who gets to do the deed?”
“I will take care of this.” Diuc sniffed. “It’s what I’m trained to do, after all.”
“You’re too threatening, Diuc.” Jaum bounced a bit. “I’d do a much better job of imitating Rael.” She gave a horribly fake giggle.
Teal sniffed. “Rael’s going back to Paris after dinner, something about an early morning meeting. I could do it tonight, I’m good at illusions.”
Ryol grabbed her brother and hauled him away from the corridor. "We have to save him!"
Jay huffed out a breath. "Maybe they were using 'kill him' as a metaphor?"
Lala shook her head. She was pale, wide-eyed. "No. It sounded like one of them is going to seduce him and kill him while he's . . ."
Ryol bit her lip. "We could warn Master Xen . . . That's not treason against the One, is it?"
Even Yrno squirmed at that. "How about an emergency? Distract them, so they miss the opportunity?"
Arno shook his head. "It would have to involve all six of them. Aunt Rael . . . "
Jay shook his head. "She's not in on it. Diuc said she'd move in as soon as Rael was through the gate."
Arno cleared his throat. "The Comet Fall tradition of distraction via Wine-induced orgy comes to mind."
They all gawped at him.
Ryol tapped an impatient foot. "We don't have any wine at all, let alone that Joy Juice stuff. And anyway, the three guys are priests. Eunuchs."
Arno smiled. "There's a bottle of that wine in the horses' first aid kit. The guys joke about dosing geldings. Apparently it, umm, enables . . . "
Jay grinned. "Well then, go get it. Let's see. Or What, you've got the best mental shield. Very innocent. When we get back after dinner, hang back a bit and drip some in the coffee urn. They always sit around with coffee in the evenings."
“I’ll get the wine after dinner.” Arno swallowed. It’s not treason.
***
Or What sauntered over to the book shelves and started scanning them.
Rael walked in with Ytry. Unvu was right behind them.
Lala looked nervously at them, fumbled and dropped a book, reached for it, abandoned the effort, and scooted back toward her room.
It was beautifully done.
Every adult in the room turned and frowned after her.
As they turned back, Ryol leaned over and scooped up Lala's book. Not being careful about her skirt.
Rael cleared her throat. "Ryol, the Princess school will teach you how to do that properly. You are way too young to be trying it yourself."
By which time, Or had lifted the lid of the coffee urn, dumped the little jar, replaced the lid and casually strolled away.
Diuc snorted. “Much too obvious.” She walked over to the wet bar and poured her usual half cup of coffee into a delicate china cup. She spooned in sugar and cream, and walked to her usual spot at the corner table.
Ryol felt her face warming. "Aunt Rael, we had a question, umm, could you come outside with us, it's umm . . . Private . . ."
The other kids drifted toward the door.
Rael followed them ou
t the doors. "If I didn't know better I'd think you lot were plotting something . . ."
She raised an eyebrow as the rest of the gang trotted in from the side.
Arno started. "We are trying to undo a plot. We overheard them planning to use an illusion of you to seduce Master Xen, and kill him while he's, umm, distracted. We, umm, we, umm."
"Oh. One. Damn. Those. Idiots."
"We have a plan." Ryol bit a knuckle, and continued, slowly. "We thought if they were embarrassed, off balance, they'd head home without doing anything."
"Yeah, but how are you going to . . . "
Yrno had checked around the corner. "Operation Wine is underway. They all have coffee.”
Rael closed her eyes. "Operation Wine? Not that wine!" She stepped around to the window and took a peek. "One! Right. Let's go warn Xen to be on the lookout for illusions and murder. And maybe we'll grab a midnight snack in the kitchen. Because you kids are not going back in there."
Ryol took a peek. “Ytry is fanning himself . . .Teal . . . Eww! That was gross. She stuck her tongue in his mouth.”
Arno snickered. “And he knocked her flat. Serves her right."
Gior elbowed in for a peek. Withdrew, wide-eyed. “I can’t tell if Diuc and Unvu are fighting . . . or not.
Even Yrno stepped away. "That wine is really, really impressive. But watching old wrinkled people do it is not one of my vices. Good thing you got Rael out of there. It evened things out nicely."
Rael winced. "When are they going to try to kill Xen?"
Lala swallowed, dug a toe into the grass.
"As soon as you leave." Jay glanced back at the doors.
"Looks like I’d better stay until they leave. And warn Xen.” Rael turned and eyed them. “So if you knew what they were up to, why didn't you tell us?"
Ryol answered. "We're With the One. They’re Priests. Even distracting them like this is probably treason."
Rael looked down at her, exasperation all over her face. "And loyalty to the One comes before common sense? I really doubt any of them are under orders to kill Xen. Of course, Princesses are expected to think for themselves. Unfortunately, in this case. I . . . think we’ll just see if your distraction works, and we can just pretend we didn’t notice a thing."
***
They wound up sitting around Master Xen's living room. He had a full service kitchen fab, so they all got their favorite drinks and snacks. He laughed at their method of derailing a conspiracy, and told them about the Wine of the Gods.
"See, when the three Gods moved to that valley, way out where no one else lived, the God of War grew grapes and made wine. The Goddess of Health and Fertility grew a herb garden, and the God of Travelers ran an Inn. With no customers at all, at first. But the lost and wandering tend to find themselves at his door. So ages ago, a deposed Tyrant Wizard wandered in and settled down. Then the witches and mages found their way there, and settled. And that was the start of the village of Ash.
"So, a few generations later, The Goddess of Health and Fertility was chatting with the God of War in his winery. Over a couple of glasses of wine. They were worried about how few trained magic users were left in the world. And they drank enough that helping things along started to sound like a good idea. I rather think they must have dared each other. And gotten even drunker. Because they put every single healing and fertility spell they knew of into a keg of wine. Spells to select for magical abilities. To drop or repair defective genes, and avoid identical chromosomes. Added aphrodisiac spells. And they probably made up a few spells on the fly. While drunk. They made a von neumann's assembler so big you can almost see it with the naked eye. And that means that a few drops in another bottle of wine, and the whole bottle becomes just as potent as the original."
A quick flash of teeth. "I have no idea how it will behave with coffee, but we all had wine with dinner, so they've got alcohol in their blood stream to help power it. Rael, warn the priests that one of the healing spells they put in there was specifically designed to regress cells to the embryonic stem cell stage and regrow testicles. Your eunuch priests won't be eunuchs much longer."
Rael snorted, stuffed her knuckles in her mouth, and managed to stifle hysterical laughter. "Ytry. Two hundred years old. Puberty. Oh. My. One. Did he really deserve that?"
Gior sniffed. “He said it was short-sighted and unwise. Period. He didn’t try to stop them, or warn anyone.”
“Therefore he deserved it?” Master Xen grinned. "Oh, and the Princesses may get pregnant. And for once, it won't be my fault."
"Xen! The priests couldn't possibly be fertile so soon! They have to do all that stem cell and regrowth, first, surely?"
"Umm, wouldn't count on it. We never have figured out all the spells in that wine. A fast conversion of some cells to stem cells and then splitting into sperm would explain a whole lot." He sat down beside Rael and looped an arm around her shoulders. Eyed the kids. "You're a tricky bunch aren't you? I like that in a kid. Welcome to the family."
Ryol leaned and hugged him. Got the big zing.
“You’re not too bad for a Biodad.”
Chapter Thirty-seven
First day of high school
La Playa High School was large and pretentious. Doing a good job of not showing its age.
Grandmother and Grandfather graduated from here. Both Mother and Aunt Rael a generation later.
Arno trotted up the wide front steps, painfully aware of how much smaller he was than nearly everyone here.
Magically, I’m probably both stronger and better trained than anyone here. I’ll have to be subtle and careful, and use as little magic as possible. And none at all in class.
He followed the map he’d downloaded and found his first class.
Algebra. Should be easy. And then General Science. I hope that’s not boring.
He stopped abruptly and looked up at the taller boy who’d stepped in his path.
“We don’t like Monsters here.”
Well, here’s my first problem. Hopefully this is the only class I’ll have with him. But there will be others. And I need to not escalate any confrontations.
Arno sighed. “That’s pretty tepid. Why don’t you try Wolfson’s Withione Bastard Monsters? You know, get it all out there in one big fat insu . . . oh wait, better drop the Withione. Then it’s a nice big insult.”
“Are you making fun of me? I’ll bet you hate your Biofather.”
Arno blinked. “No . . . actually I like him.”
“What kind of a traitor are you?” The big boy was starting to glow, to take down his shields.
Ah! Not using any Magic, just showing it. This I can do.
Arno dropped his shield. The bully stepped back looking shocked.
Arno snapped his shield back up.
“Boys!” An authoritative female voice. “Sit down, away from each other.”
“You better hope this is the only class I have with you.” The lout growled and headed for the back row.
Arno slipped into a seat that was fairly central.
Life is going to be interesting. Because I have a lot of power and the Fallen use magic in ways the Oners have never considered.
. . . I might have as much power as Master Xen, when I grow up.
What an odd thought. But I have the potential.
If I dare.
“I dare.”
Excerpt from an upcoming release
The twist of a powered gate scrapped over Xen’s nerves. A boot to his ribs and he rolled . . . fell and hit immediately.
Long grass, lumpy ground. Hard and dusty. He rolled flat on his back and tried to look all around. Nothing but grass. Unmown, a foot high with seed heads reaching up higher. So all he really knew was that there was nothing within a foot or so of him.
Xen’s arms twitched, then rose jerkily to his chest. Pain, deep. Healing spell . . . no power behind it. Wine . . . He couldn't see his usual bubble . . . on his orange clad arm . . . “Dammit. What the hell just happened? I can sort of remember .
. . parts of it. Maybe tomorrow my head’ll stop hurting . . . And my chest . . . And if that rustling is something trying to sneak up on me . . .”
He rolled on to his stomach, shoved to his knees and lurched stiffly to his feet. Twenty feet away a furry head and yellow eyes lifted brief above the tall meadow grasses. The wolf charged, leapt . . .
The simple push spell . . . didn’t.
Xen barely got his hands up in time to grab the wolf’s throat and hold his teeth inches away while the wolf brought up his hind legs and raked down Xen’s thigh as he twisted to get his more critical parts out of danger.
Xen got a good one handed grip and got the other hand around to grab the wolf by the scruff of his neck and turn him even further. Then he could be safely strangled.
As the wolf sagged, Xen tossed him to the side.
And sagged back to his knees. Hands to his chest, not quite daring to touch, sharp surface pain. Much more worrisome, interior pain, his heart beat thumping irregularly in his ears.
He forced himself to take sort-of-fast, sort-of-shallow breaths while he tried to assess the danger.
Meadow. The tallest grass was winter-killed-brown. About right for northern hemisphere early winter. So I wasn't unconscious for long. Days at the worst, not weeks or months.
A warm dry breeze wafted past, redolent of . . . dust.
Unless the grass is summer-dried-brown. In which case I've lost six months of time.
There were trees a few hundred feet away, to the right. Dropping down to what might be a stream. There were hills visible in the distance beyond. All around, lows hills, grasslands with scattered trees, mountains or clouds very far . . . that way.
Xen glanced at the sun, nearly over head.
“Give it a couple of hours, then I’ll know which way is which . . . “
He caught the faint hoarse gasps, from his left. The wolf.