by Pam Uphoff
"This is the latest update on Dr. Quicksilver's holographic model. The black line is the path of the Helios micro-universe. The little crumply looking things are the other universes, the tails are their backtrack. The cone is the currently predicted path of the Helios, and the spark is the One World."
"It's . . . probably going to miss, right?" That one had been formally introduced as Wsca "Wuh Scah." But outside of either formal occasions or cute nicknames the Oners treated the "W" in their weird coded names as silent. So he was "Scar" not "Whiskers." Neither of which fit his baby-face. A corporal, second to Sergeant Ohhe.
"Yes, but we don't know how far away is safe from their merge machinery. It's . . . we don't have a solid enough base of observation, to be able to say that they can't force a merge from a distance, if they want to. And if we can steer it far enough away that we don't have to worry about a spontaneous merge, we can sabotage their machinery and make sure they don't merge. But we don't really know how far 'far enough' is for spontaneous merges, either. We don't even know if there are such things. Maybe it only happens artificially."
One of the others, "Icks" for Ixpu, stuck his hand into the model. "It came close enough to that one to curve the path, but didn't merge."
"Yes, and it'll be closer to this X World, which will curve the path even further, unfortunately toward the One World. So we're going to be putting gates—hundred of gates—from Helios to this third X World down here."
"To counter it? Do the gates pull worlds closer?"
"We have observed, in the close Earth books, that gates between close parallels do. That's why we only visit them from outside, and even then rarely. Most worlds have gates going several directions, and we haven't seen a measurable change in the movements of any worlds."
"But you think hundreds all pulling the same direction will work?" Ohhe was looking worried.
"It's the only thing we can think of, to try."
They all four nodded. No levity in their expressions.
"Your government is taking preliminary action—all those suburb worlds that were suddenly approved—and prepositioning necessary supplies, moving some manufacturing capacity and so forth."
"I'm surprised there've been no leaks." Scar eyed him. "Are they prepping worlds that aren't suburbs?"
"Yes. I think they're aiming at forty worlds, with basic accommodations for almost seven billion people. A hundred settlements on each world, half a million households each."
"Oh. My. One." Scar sat down abruptly.
"It's not possible. But there may be enough that with immediate and continuing outside help, everyone who will move will survive."
"Oh. My. One."
They exchanged glances.
Ohhe cleared his throat. "We sort of hoped Rael was exaggerating when she said we were off to save the world. What are we doing?"
"You four specifically? While we're setting gates we tend towards oblivious. So you'll be shooting any predators that think we look edible, interrupting us if something comes up that makes it necessary for us to move, and making sure we remember to eat."
"We've got five utes, for transport. And you have shelter?"
"Yep. I bubbled a building, and lots of food, so we're good there. And while I expect to be too busy to hunt, if we have to kill animals getting too close, it's barbeque time." Xen looked over to where Rael and the new princess were meeting the witches. It didn't appear to be going well. "I just hope we don't start killing each other."
***
Rael summoned Bunny and headed for Q. "Dr. Quail Quicksilver, this is Beir Withione, usually called Bunny."
"Bunny? A pleasure to meet you. Call me Q." Q shook the girl's hand and turned to the witches. "We were working off a list of bird names that year, so we have Goldfinch, Jacana and Ibis for the Triad from the Rip Pyramid. And Demoiselle, Egret and Lapwing from the Mount Frost Pyramid."
Q eyed the witches. "Guys? Bunny and Rael. Do be polite."
Jacana, a strikingly good looking redhead, sniffed and ignored them. "You're only two years older than we are, Q, and you've not been properly trained in the Half Moon exercises. Why should we listen to you?"
"Because I'm the expert in dimensional work and you want to learn."
The gorgeous blonde, Lapwing, if Rael had them sorted right, nodded toward Rael. "And why is she here? Trying to get rid of the family disgrace, Quicksilver Rustledaut? Or does the Rip Crossing Pyramid waste their time and energy raising boys?"
Family disgrace? Xen? A disgrace?
Rael gave the witches her best giggle. "I'm no longer under the orders of a warmonger, so, sorry, no murders planned."
Glares switched between Q and Rael.
Bunny rolled her eyes, and looked at the little packs the witches had brought. "So, are you guys traveling light, or do you have everything you own in bubbles?"
Lapwing rolled her eyes. "Don't be absurd. We have everything we need, not being spoiled little City Girls."
Jacana snorted. "Well, at least the new meat is fairly good looking."
"And of course, if you 'accidentally' kill one of them . . . " Q showed her teeth. "Answer will kick you out of the pyramid. She doesn't put up with Black Widows. None of these men are remotely related to Eldon or Heso. So get your rape retaliation reflexes under control. After all, you have your children, no reason to ever have sex again."
Jacana glowered. "It doesn't work like that."
"Then deal with it without hurting anyone else."
"Fine for you to say." Lapwing grabbed her two cases. "You weren't raped by a goat."
Rael paused and . . . decided to not ask.
Quicksilver raised an eyebrow. "Load your stuff and yourselves into the utes and we'll get underway . . . unless you'd rather run home to Answer and say you didn't give a damn about saving a world. I'll open the final gate." She turned and walked off . . . sat down cross legged.
"Good plan." Rael grinned at the other six witches. "This'll be really interesting, we'll have to compare notes on magic."
That got her six dubious looks.
Lapwing raised her nose and marched off to the nearest ute. Tossed her bag in the back and sat in the back seat.
Jacana added her bag and climbed into the front passenger seat. Glowered as Rael took the wheel.
She grinned at them. "So, you two are the Mean Girls of the group? This should be fun!"
Lapwing looked her up and down. "I've always wondered how a scrawny, giggling idiot with a pointy nose managed to catch Xen."
Jacana nodded. "And the haircut. Do you just attack your head with sheep shears? And why are you laughing!"
"Because I was worried I might have trouble being nice . . . but it looks like I won't even have to try." Rael spotted Q standing up and talking to Ohhe.
Xen was doing something to absolutely nothing, and stuck a pair of poles in the ground to mark what might be a circle showing somewhat less barren lands than these.
Q and Xen walked into nothing. Rael started the engine and followed the other utes through the gate.
Grass and sand, a few slabs of rocks breaking the soil here and there . . . A faint patterning in the grass and low shrubs. Square corners . . .
"Well, they did say an X World. I guess there must be underlying foundations or roads under fourteen or fifteen centuries of nature doing its best to take back over." Rael watched Xen stroll back to the utes.
"We'll camp on that barren hill, and start opening gates all along the slope on this side, then switch areas tomorrow." Xen swung up into the back of Ohhe's ute and sat beside Egret, a very pretty blue-eyed brunette, and behind Ibis—black hair and green eyes.
Q walked over to Scar's ute and sat behind Bunny.
Ux had Goldfinch, an appropriate name, with her amber eyes, dark red auburn hair . . . One damn it all, every single one of these witches is a looker.
Icks had the spectacular dark-haired, dark-eyed, deeply-tan Demoiselle all to himself and didn't seem to mind at all.
Jacana looked o
ver at Rael. "Oh, too bad! Looks like Ibis and Egret are going to nab your boyfriend."
Rael giggled. "Oh, we'll see about that."
***
"That looks amazingly boring."
Xen grinned and looked over at the men guarding the two triads of witches. "Open your shields carefully and check out how much power they're handling."
Ux elbowed Icks. "I'll bet Goldfinch's group is better than Demi's"
"Five rials on Demi."
Xen shook his head and looked over at Ohhe. "Do they bet on everything?"
"Yep." Ohhe pointed uphill, and the pair trotted off. "They don't actually pay each other. They keep score with various embarrassing consequences whenever either of them gets a hundred rials ahead."
Ohhe shook his head. "And while spilling a drink on Agni was amusing . . . Well, after that Urfa put his foot down and told them nothing involving a live person."
Scar snickered. "Then he added, 'Or dead' so it's mostly been quieter since."
"Other than the clown makeup and wig on the statue of the Prophet Emre?" Ohhe rubbed his arm. "After they washed it off, Isakson—the Martial Arts trainer at Versalle—gave them a . . . lesson they remembered at least until the casts were off."
"They still swear it wasn't them. I wondered about Ra'd, myself."
"Nah. It was too funny. Ra'd doesn't do funny."
"He's pretty good at disrespect, though." Wsca broke off to stare at a clump of brush. A touch of magic and bushes shook as something smallish scampered away.
"True." Ohhe sounded a bit absent-minded, scanning the brush nearby.
Xen raised his eyebrows. Sounds like a lot of changes around Versalle. And it sounds like I should meet this young man of Nighthawk's again, and give him a good look over, over-protective father style. "Doesn't do funny" sounds off.
But today I have other duties.
Xen eyed the setup. The two triads were a couple hundred feet apart, Egret's down hill of Goldfinch's. Q was sitting cross-legged in between.
"Not many animals." Ohhe eyed the hillcrest. "They really fucked this place up."
"And why are there so many X Worlds right around here?" Scar—like the rest—had his eyes and most of his attention out away from the group.
Well trained guards.
"This band is worlds that split from Earth Prime due to a nuclear war. There's a spectrum running from minimal damage all the way through completely lifeless. The One World is one of the moderately damaged worlds. They drift around a bit, mingle. The One World is currently edging through an area of badly damaged worlds."
Xen pulled a bubble off his arm and opened it. Pig and Barracuda leaped out, tails wagging, noses up, eyes and ears alert. "Good dogs, these are friends. Be on guard for dangerous animals, and don't bother the witches."
Bunny snickered and held out her hand to be sniffed. "I don't think they understood all of that."
"They did. They understand a lot more than ordinary dogs."
Rael rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me—genetic engineering."
"Yep. Not of them; their parents and half their grandparents are the original Hell Hounds. Fourteen century old experiments from Earth. They're very smart."
"And large." Ohhe eyed Pig. "Boxer? Maybe?"
"Half, plus Great Dane and sheepdog. Barracuda's three quarters Great Dane and a quarter sheepdog."
"One!" Rael giggled. "I hadn't realized they were so large . . . umm . . . has anyone taken up with Disco about the great dog escape, and specifically why nearly all the bitches are having puppies?"
Xen snickered. "You mean the Hell Hounds missed some? See, both the horses and the dogs were getting the newest experimental genes, twenty years after the Tellies—including your Prophets—were created. They can do some interesting magic, and well, they're still dogs and do dog things. Including medical spells. And manipulating hormones is definitely one of their natural talents."
"Medical spells . . . So spayed bitches are regrowing everything. But the puppies . . . "
"I really ought to find the time to study the phenomenon. I think the first proto-ovaries must ovulate quickly, and the proto-uterus implants right from the start of regrowth. I suspect the spayed bitches are whelping a few weeks behind the others."
Rael shook her head. "Everyone's complaining about 'mutt puppies' being worthless."
Xen thought that over. "I'm a little surprised the dog breeds survived on the One World, what with Europe and North America being so thoroughly nuked."
Rael sniffed. "South America and Australia were barely touched, and most of Africa . . . well, the southern tip got nuked pretty good. But the Europeans and Mericans got around and took their dogs with them."
"I see. Well, you'll find the half-Hell Hounds to be intelligent and trainable, but rarely magic. They made excellent police dogs."
"Even the half chihuahua pups?"
Xen started laughing. "Please tell me there aren't any dachshunds involved."
Rael thumped him, fighting to keep a straight face. "Not that I've heard of, Thank the One!"
Bunny was looking around. "Sorry, no sticks to throw for you."
Barracuda's ears perked up and she looked at Xen.
"After the witches are done working," he promised. "Right now, guard. I'm going to help Q."
The dogs galloped off in a wide circuit around the two triads. Xen sat down near Q and sank into a meditative state as he opened his awareness to the inbetween. Electric blue liquid, fizzing with bubbles. Crumpled sheets that were the membranes, entire universes his brain interpreted as paper wads. Listened for Q . . .
:: There. That world. ::
Xen focused where she was looking, the sheet towering over them, translucent, so close he had looked through it without seeing it. He tried to draw back, to focus close and see the whole thing.
To see how simple it was, how small compared to other membranes. A tiny splinter, wrenched out of place. He let his perception sink in, dive down and spot the melted ruins of Helios.
::Yes this place. :: He held it in his mind and felt Egret's triad aim a cone at his spot . . . he felt the tail stretch, saw the gate open. He shifted a bit and reached for Goldfinch's Triad . . . another cone, another gate. He shifted . . . Again and again.
:: Very useful, Xen, but we need to move, to spread out the gates. ::
Xen nodded and eased far enough out of the inbetween to see the ground he was sitting on. To get up and walk south with the witches . . . then sit and see that he could still feel the Helios membrane and serve to guide the gate locations there, spreading them well out . . . moving again . . . Was that Rael leading him along? . . . more gates . . .
And a hard poke. "Enough! You guys are all showing signs of serious drain. Snap out of it or I'll kick you."
Xen shook his head and blinked up at Rael. "Umm?"
"Drink this!"
A cold frosty bottle of sugar and salt. Heaven. He listened to Rael talking to Q . . . and then Q prodding the witches. Finished the boost. We need to import this stuff by the case, I didn't think about it. But I guess Rael did. He pried his eyes open and looked around, Q was sitting on a rock drinking, Rael and Bunny were handing out bottles . . . They must have a stash on one of the utes. The witches were sitting around . . . but everyone looked all right.
He looked the other way. An almost orderly array of gates. He tried to count and his eyes crossed. "Right. Tomorrow we'll time it and stop sooner. Maybe do two short sessions, morning and afternoon." He finished the boost and laid down flat to soak up energy, power, from sunshine, heat, and the pull of gravity. Pig laid down beside him, and Barracuda pranced up, looking hopeful.
"I know, I know. I promised a frisbee. Just wait a minute."
Her ears pricked at something behind him. She leaped over him and bolted up the hill. Xen groaned and rolled over, pushed himself up . . . "Wolves. Crap."
"Should we shoot them?"
"Only if they start looking hungry."
Bunny scurried up, "But your dog'
s attacking them . . . Oh." Her voice trailed off as 'Cuda play-bowed and jumped around, trying to get the wolves to play.
"Barracuda is a party girl. And if she doesn't get eaten, I'll be at risk of yet another litter of puppies . . . Oops!"
The biggest wolf's ruff bristled and it leaped at Cuda. Who spun and jumped to the side with unnatural speed.
The whole pack attacked and Barracuda fled.
Xen sighed. "All right, try shooting a couple and see if the rest will go away."
The gunshots attracted the pack's attention. And while some stopped to sniff the fallen wolves, a dozen charged on toward the noisy animals just standing there looking like an easy dinner to the naïve beasts. Xen waved and Cuda dodged to the side, giving the Oners a clear field of fire. Two fled across the hill, the rest died.
Ohhe walked up to the nearest . . . "Damn those are big critters. I wonder what they live on?"
"Seems like a pack like that would have to be bringing down large prey. I wonder what survived a war that killed all the people?"
"Umm . . . do you know where we are, geographically speaking?"
"Europe. Spain, was the old term. The Helaos concentrate in North America, so we're avoiding it." Xen leaned to pet a distraught Barracuda, ears down and tail between her legs. "Poor puppy, nobody loves you."
"I thought gates tended to stay close, you know, same place on a different world?"
Xen snorted. "Close as within a couple of thousand miles. Which might be the other reason for being four gates away, not that Q couldn't force a big move in one step, but why give her yet another chance to show off?"
"Big brothers are a pain in the ass." Q walked up and shook her head at all the wolves. "Well . . . perhaps this time my brother wasn't completely wrong to think we needed some people along to pay attention to the real world while we were working."
The witches gathered. Egret shrugged. "Nasty raggedy thin coats, it must be warm here most of the time. Maybe you should bury them so they don't start stinking. Xen? I believe you said something about a building?"