Fleta raced for the trees. Then she stopped, and changed to hummingbird form, and Mach climbed a twisted tree and hid as well as he could in the foliage. The harpies flapped close and peered about, calling out curses, but could not locate the fugitives. Frustrated, they departed, for they too were getting chilled.
Mach descended, and Fleta joined him in human form. "But they will alert the goblins," she said. "And from the goblins we cannot hide thus."
"We'll just have to move as far as we can, so they don't know where we are," Mach said. "In a direction they don't expect."
They moved southwest. Fleta showed the way in bird form, and Mach charged along as rapidly as he could. When they came to a clifflike formation that would have taken time to skirt, Mach managed to conjure some rope, and used it to swing himself down, drawing on a skill developed for the Game. In this manner they made good progress, hoping to get beyond the range the goblins would search.
They succeeded. By nightfall they were painfully tired, but there was no evidence of pursuit. They snatched fruits to eat and found some soft ferns to sleep on.
"And now it be tomorrow," Fleta murmured, snuggling in close.
"What?"
"When I did say 'Let's do it again,' thou didst reply 'Tomorrow,' " she reminded him.
"Oh." Mach was so tired that this had entirely slipped his mind.
Then she laughed, and slept. She had indeed been teasing him. It remained largely a game to her. "But if you try that tease tomorrowŢ he muttered as he faded out.
But in the morning the goblins were casting closer, knowing that the prey was somewhere in the vicinity. Mach and Fleta hardly got moving before they were spied.
Fleta changed to unicorn form and Mach jumped on her back. She galloped past the goblins and on down and out of the mountains at a rate the goblins could not match. But as they emerged on the southern plain beyond the mountains, the goblins were not far behind. A broad wave of them advanced, preventing any possible cutback to cover.
Then ahead a new shape appeared. "Oh, no!" Mach breathed. "A dragon!" He remembered that in Proton the dome-city of Dradom was in this region. That meant this would be the Dragon Demesnes in Phaze. If there was one thing worse than goblins-
Fleta slowed, wary of the dragon. It was a huge fire-breather; they could tell by the plume of smoke drifting up from it. The monster was winged, so it would be able to go after them in the air; they could not avoid it or outrun it. The only escape would be straight back the way they came-and there the goblins waited, in a giant cup-shaped formation. The goblins obviously believed that the quarry would choose to turn back and be captured, rather than proceed forward and be toasted and eaten.
But Mach knew that though he might be spared, the goblins had no such intent for Fleta. She would be raped and/or eaten by the army of little monsters. He couldn't allow that.
"Let me try magic," he said to her furry ear as she slowed her running. She twitched the ear, acknowledging.
Mach concentrated, humming a tune to build up his magic. He was gradually getting the hang of it. Music, concentration, and a firm notion of exactly what he wanted-these were the important elements. That firm notion was perhaps the most vital part of it; he had to really want it, subconsciously as well as consciously. Thus his effort to conjure a comb for the harpy misfired, because it was a minor matter to him, while his spell to generate his own potency had worked, because he had really known he needed it. The sung rhyme mostly triggered the magic, somewhat the way one told a computer to "execute." He had to be sure everything was right before he sang the rhyme; any sloppiness ruined the result.
The dragon was getting close. It was licking its giant chops. Fleta fluted nervously-and that gave him another idea. "Play a tune!" he cried to her. "I'll sing to it, when I cast the spell!"
She played. She was worried, but her music, as always, was lovely. He listened for a moment, enjoying it, getting the feel of it, trying to attune himself to it to the maximum. Then he sang: "Make our flight be out of sight!"
Fleta vanished. Mach found himself riding along above the plain. She was still there, but she was entirely invisible. He glanced at himself, and found nothing. He was invisible too. This time the spell had really worked!
"We're completely invisible," he told her. "I suppose we can be heard and smelled, so we'd better shy away from the dragon, but no one can track us by sight. I think."
She swerved, and the dragon did not. The dragon seemed confused, its head swinging this way and that as it peered about, trying to spot the prey it had seen a moment before. The wind was from the west, carrying their scent east, so Fleta swerved to run east. But her hooves kicked up sand, so she slowed to a walk. Now they were truly invisible.
They walked sedately away from both dragon and goblins. They circled back to the mountains, recovering the protection of the trees at the base. Mach did not dare dismount lest he lose track of Fleta, or she of him, so he continued to ride. But at this pace it was no strain on her.
In the afternoon they came to the river that emerged from the range. "This must be the one the dragon is in, upstream," Mach said. "Maybe we can spend the night here, since no one can see us."
Fleta fluted agreement. "If we get separated, make some music and I'll come to you," he said, walking to a tree for some fruit.
But there was no danger of her getting lost. In a moment he felt her hand in his. She had changed back to girl form, invisibly, and rejoined him.
As they settled down for the night, she whispered, "Is tomorrow here yet?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" he said, and grabbed her.
It was a strange and wonderful thing, doing it invisibly. The first time he kissed her, he got a mouthful of hair; then she turned her head to bring her lips into play, giggling. It occurred to Mach that he should neutralize the spell, which he presumed he could do merely by making up a rhyme to that effect, but the invisibility was so convenient for foiling the pursuit that he decided to leave it in place.
And so it was that they made their way east to the large river that cut through the mountains from the north, and along its shore until they reached the wooden towers of the Brown Demesnes.
9. Game
Bane found himself in the apartment, with Agape back to her jelly state. He must have been unconscious, and she still was. Obviously the technicians of Proton had the means to knock a robot out and to knock out an entity of Moeba, and when the charade had been exposed, these means had been used. He discovered that his chewed finger had been restored; someone had done some work on him, perhaps replacing that unit.
He decided to wake Agape, if he could. He didn't like the present situation, and wanted to escape it, but would not make the attempt without her. He reached for her, but hesitated to touch that semiliquid form. It was not that it repulsed him, but that he was afraid he might do her some damage.
"Agape," he said. "Can you hear me? Wake!"
She did not stir. Perhaps she could not hear, with no ears at present. Surely she could not see, with no eyes.
He extended one finger and touched the protoplasm. It was not actually liquid; it had a translucent skin. His touch depressed a spot, that returned when he withdrew. It was like poking a water bag. Still she did not stir.
He tried again, this time pushing her surface with his whole hand. The substance proved to be infinitely malleable, giving way wherever he applied pressure, resettling in whatever new configuration was convenient, and slowly returning to its original state when allowed to. But it did not animate itself.
Finally he took hold with both hands and hauled. The form stretched out like flaccid taffy, and the form elongated. He continued to haul, and the end of it came over the edge of the bed. Finally the rest of the mass slid down, and the substance resumed a more globular form. Bane let go, and the mass sank down on the floor at the foot of the bed, the portion that remained on the bed sliding along to merge with the main mass. Now the body of it was on the floor.
Bane didn't li
ke the notion of her getting dirty, so he tried to put the mass back on the bed. He put his arms around it and lifted, but only portions came up; most of it simply slid through his grasp and resettled below. He tried again, sliding his arms more carefully underneath; then the center came up and the protoplasm to either side flowed down, leaving him with a thinning strand that would not stay on the bed.
He pondered, then fetched a sheet from the bed, put it on the floor, and half rolled, half shoved the protoplasm onto the sheet. Then he caught up the corners of the sheet, making a bundle. He lifted this up to the bed and set it down. But as he swung the mass over, his feet could not follow; he lost his balance and fell facefirst onto the jelly.
Now it stirred. Bane tried to lift himself free, but the protoplasm spread out beyond the range of his hands, squeezed flat by his weight, and wherever he tried to set his palm, he was squishing more of the stuff. Meanwhile it was animating more actively, trying to form into the human shape but prevented by his presence on it.
Bane rolled, squashing one side of the mass but freeing the other side. He made it to the surface of the bed, but some of the protoplasm was carried along with him, half covering him. He waited, and the arms, legs, torso and head of Agape formed, beside him and over him.
She lifted her head, on which the hair was still sprouting, and looked down at him. "You are becoming most affectionate!" she remarked.
"I was trying to wake thee," he said lamely.
"I think you succeeded." She smiled. "I thought perhaps you were trying to show me how sex is performed."
Bane smiled, though he was embarrassed. "If Fleta had said that, I would know she was teasing me; she has that kind of humor. But I think thou art serious."
"Yes. But I would like to know your Fleta."
"Thou dost resemble her in that thou canst change thy shape, and thou art not human. But I fear thou canst never meet her."
"Still, if you are now ready to show me-"
"I woke thee because I think we were rendered unconscious and returned to this chamber. I think we be prisoners, and I like that not. I want to get away from here."
"You are correct. I did not sleep deliberately; I was looking at Citizen White, and then you were handling me."
"I don't know enough about this frame to operate all its mechanisms. But with thy help, perhaps-"
"You would have gone alone, had you known more?"
"Nay! I intend not to leave thee, Agape! So I had to wake thee anyway."
"I think I knew that, Bane. But I have never wished to impede you."
"Let's see if we can get out of here. Canst thou work the locks?"
"I'll try." Agape got up, walked to the exit panel, and touched it. It did not open. "No, they have attuned it to answer to some other signal. I lack the means to make it respond."
"I be not surprised," he said.
They used the food machine to get a meal. Bane paused at it. "This be a different machine! See, it has a colorless bar painted across it; the other had a white bar."
"The dust has a different flavor," Agape agreed.
"You can taste the dust?"
"When I sleep, I do not absorb the dust, because I taste it and reject it," she explained. "I absorb only what is nourishing." She then went protoplasmic and absorbed her nutribev, while Bane pondered their situation.
So they had been moved. Was it just to another suite, or farther? There seemed to be no way to know.
After they had eaten and caught up on routine functions, such as combing hair and trying unsuccessfully to get information from the video screen, they heard someone at the exit panel. The aperture opened and a serf appeared. It was an attractive young woman. "Foreman will see you now," she announced.
They seemed to have no choice. They followed the serf out. She led them to a chamber with chairs and a desk. An older male serf sat at the desk.
"You may call me Foreman," the serf said. "The Citizen wishes you to understand your position. You, Bane, have demonstrated that contact between the two frames is possible, and that information can be exchanged. The Citizen wishes to establish regular contact with his opposite number in Phaze. He is prepared to make it worth your while to facilitate this contact."
"I have no contact!" Bane protested. "I have been trying to find my way back, and have been unable."
"The Citizen will help you to find your way. All you have to do is explain how you made the exchange with the robot to reach this frame, and how you propose to return."
"Bane," Agape murmured. "He says it is a male Citizen. We were in the power of a female Citizen."
"You are not where you were," Foreman said. "You were transferred to the estate of another interested Citizen. The identity of that Citizen is not your concern."
"But this is kidnaping!" Agape protested. "We are members of the Experimental Project! We should not be held here!"
"You will be returned to that project after you have satisfied the Citizen," Foreman said. "I suggest that you cooperate to the maximum extent."
"Why should I cooperate with thee?" Bane demanded. "If thou hadst not interfered, I would have been home by now!"
"That is why you were intercepted," Foreman said. "The Citizen could not allow you to return before making use of your unique ability. For twenty years there has been no contact between the frames; now there can be. This is more important than your private concern; the welfare of the frames can be affected by the restoration of communication."
"But what good would it be, if Mach and I be the only two who can exchange places? Thou canst not have trade or any dialogue not filtered through this body; I would have to carry any message of thine to any person there."
"That would suffice," Foreman said. "The Citizen misses the old days of free contact; he wants to know how his opposite number is doing in Phaze, and catch up on the general history, and provide similar information. There can be nothing tangible, but that need be no bar to social contact."
Bane was not well versed in the technology of Proton, but he had a fair notion of people. He could tell that this serf was not giving him the whole story. Therefore he balked. "I see not the need for such contact. The frames have gone their separate ways for a score years; they can continue."
"Still, the Citizen would like to have this contact, and as I said, he is willing to make it worth your while to humor him. It is always best to humor a Citizen."
"Citizens mean naught to me!" Bane said hotly.
But Agape drew on his arm. "I have not been on Proton long myself, Bane," she said. "But I know it is terrible trouble to go against a Citizen. I beg you, do not antagonize this one."
Bane recognized the sensible voice of caution. Still, he knew something was false here. What should he do?
"What do you most want in life?" Foreman inquired.
"To go home," Bane answered immediately. But he wondered whether it was still that important to him.
"You can go home. Only show us how you do it."
Again there was an aspect of insincerity in the man. What would happen to Mach when he returned to this body and this frame? Surely the Citizen would not just let him return to the Experimental Project. Still, the Citizen could not make them exchange again if they didn't want to, so there did not seem to be a serious risk. "I think I'll wait awhile."
"You bargain for something? Do not try the Citizen's patience."
"Bane, if the Citizen will help you return-" Agape said.
Still it was too pat. Bane remembered how his father Stile dealt with Adverse Adepts whose power paralleled his own. Once those Adepts had tried to kill him, and had killed his other self. There was always a tension in the air when one of those encountered Stile now, and Bane visualized them as dragons who longed to attack, but were restrained by the knowledge that Stile was stronger and had allies who were dangerous to dragons. Yet the words were always courteous; the enmity was muted. One thing was sure: Stile never trusted an Adverse Adept. Bane did not trust this anonymous Citizen either.
"I be not bargaining," he said. "I just want to deal not."
"If you do not, as you put it, deal, you will be unlikely to return at all."
"Bane-" Agape said urgently.
Foreman glanced at her. "What is this amoeba to you?"
"My friend!" Bane snapped. "Sneer not at her!"
"Your friend," Foreman said thoughtfully. "Then she can be included. Whatever you want for her, she will have."
"Her freedom!"
"Of course. Show us how you communicate with Phaze."
"Bane, you do not know how bad the enmity of a Citizen is," Agape said, distressed. "Before I came to Proton, I knew that no serf must ever oppose any Citizen. It can be immediate expulsion from the planet, or even-"
"Finish your sentence," Foreman told her mildly. Bane realized that this was a kind of threat.
"Death," Agape whispered.
Foreman returned his attention to Bane. "The Citizen has been gentle with you because he knows you are not conversant with our culture. The alien speaks truly. Don't push your luck."
Bane felt little but contempt for the Citizen and his minion. But it did seem best to temporize. "Maybe-a game," he said.
"What?"
"Do not folk settle things here by playing games? Let me play a game with the Citizen, and if I win, Agape and I go free immediately, and if he wins I'll show him how I make contact with Phaze."
The serf seemed to swell up. "You offer such a deal to the Citizen? No serf has the temerity!"
"I be not a serf," Bane said. "I be an apprentice Adept."
"Here you are a serf-and you are in danger of becoming less even than that. I strongly suggest that you reconsider, before-"
A voice cut in, emerging from a grille on the desk. "I will make that wager."
Foreman's face froze. "Sir."
"Conduct our guests to the Game Annex."
"Yes, sir." The foreman stood with alacrity. "Follow me." He walked quickly from the room.
"Citizens like to gamble," Agape whispered. "It is notorious throughout the galaxy! But I never imagined-"
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