Feline Wizards - To Visit The Queen Part 7

The blast of fire rose up around them, pressing in.

ah.e.l.lo,a said a high clear voice, awhatas this?a All the Peopleas heads jerked up. He could plainly see them, and had waded halfway into the circle already, waist-high in the ahedgea of firea"a young ehhif, in shorts and a white s.h.i.+rt and a short dark coat, and he was looking at them, and the circle, in astonishment. Whatas he doing in here, how can he be in here, get him out!! was Rhiowas first thought. But there was no time. The spell was already blazing with Siffhaahas blast of power, and they were all vanis.h.i.+ng together, the People, the spell-circle, the ehhif boya"

There was no way to stop it, any more than an ehhif would have been able to get out of a moving vehicle at high speed. The pressure built. There was a cry from the boy, lost in a roar of sound which Rhiow couldnat understand. Then everything began to shakea"and that she understood too well. Unauthorized ingress into a timeslide or worldgating, she thought, the whole spell comes apart and flings everyone in it into not-time or not-s.p.a.ce. Iau, not like this, why must it end like this -- !

The pressure increased unbearably: Rhiow lost all sense of herself. So much for this life, was her last thought.

But it was not. What seemed a long time later, Rhiow found herself lying on the concrete floor of the unused platform beneath Tower Hill Underground station: and near her was the boundary of the timeslide spell, all the virtue drained out of it. The others lay about in the positions they had held in the spella"and sitting down by them, his knees drawn up against his chest, trembling, was the young ehhif, looking at his surroundings, and the People, in terror.

Rhiow got up, slowly, feeling as if one of the big draft horses of the 1874 streets had been jumping all over her. Next to her, Urruah was pus.h.i.+ng himself up onto his feet, where he just managed to stand, wobbling, and look at the ehhif boy.

The boy wet his lips and croaked, aKitty kitty?a Urruah looked at Arhu, who was awake as well, and getting up. aAnother problem,a Urruah said.

Rhiow was forced to agree ...

SIX.

The argument which life seemed lately to have been becoming, now broke out again with unusual vehemence in the next few minutes: and it would have gone on for much longer, Rhiow thought, had there not been a young ehhif gazing in astonishment at the sight of five cats all apparently staring silently at one another with their tails las.h.i.+ng.

Auhlae was not very pleased with Urruah. aYou didnat make the timeslide exclusive!a aWhy should I have made it exclusive?!a Urruah said, aggrieved. aNo one was going to be able to see us, and the spell was told to sort for transit times which wouldnat endanger any being which came alonga"a aVhai,a Rhiow said. aUrruah, the language was pretty vague. You know how literal spells are!a aRhi, what was the point when no one should have been able to see we were there, or the spella"a He hissed softly. aSorry. Sorry. But Rhia"a He looked over at the young ehhif. aEhhif canat see wizardry, as a rule. What is he? Is he a wizard? If so, why does he look so panicked? Or is he someone whoas about to be called to the Art, but hasnat been given the Oath yet? Are we supposed to induct him somehow?a aThe Powers forfend,a Rhiow muttered. aThatas hardly our job. We had enough trouble that way with Arhu.a But then she smiled slightly. aAnd a certain other party ... a aWas that who you were thinking of going to for help with the mummy problem?a Urruah said.

aThe very same. Itall have to wait a little longer now.a aYou may as well go take care of it,a Urruah said, abecause whatever else we might have had planned for this timeslide, this business has ruined it.a He flirted his tail at the young ehhif. The slideas half-deranged: itas going to take another half-day at least to put it back the way it ought to be.a aWell, all right. But meantime we canat sit here ignoring him. And lend Auhlae a paw, for Iauas sake: she looks terrible. And call Huff: head better know about this sooner rather than later.a aRight.a Rhiow walked over to the boy and sat down in front of him, tucking her tail in around her feet and trying to radiate calm instead of what she felt, which was complete confusion and terror. aYoung human,a she said to him in the Speech, aplease donat be afraid.a aIam not,a he said. He had a narrow, intelligent face, and he was holding it very still, despite what was going on inside him, and how young he was. He could hardly be more than fifteen.

aGood. Thereas no need to be, though youare in a strange place, and something which must seem very odd has just happened to you. Whatas your name?a aArtie,a he said.

aArtie. Iam Rhiow. These others lying and sitting around here are friends of mine: weall get you introduced to them shortly. Would you tell me what you think just happened to you?a aI saw a circle of light in the street,a he said. aA circle of fire. But it didnat look like fire.a aIt wasnat,a Rhiow said. aIt was wizardry.a aYou mean magic?a the boy said, his eyes widening.

aYou could call it that. But not the kind of magic which is just one of your people making it look like something has vanished. True magic: wizardry.a aThen it is real,a he whispered. aMy uncle said it might be.a aYour uncleas wise,a Rhiow said, wondering in the meantime if there was yet another wizard about to be involved in this business, and in a way, hoping not: there were already more than enough complications to this intervention. aBut, Artie, you should understand that most humans, most ehhif as we call them, canat see wizardry and donat know that it exists.a aI saw it, though ... a aYes,a Arhu said, coming up beside Rhiow and sitting down to look at the boy. aHeas a key ... a Rhiow glanced over at him. aTo what?a aI donat know. But Theyave sent him,a Arhu said. The Powers. I saw him, while Odin and I were flying.a aThe Powers? What Powers?a Artie said.

aThatas going to take some explaining,a Rhiow said. aMeanwhile, Artie, we have to get you back where you belong as quickly as we cana"a aIam not going,a he said. aI want to see where this is first!a Rhiow and Arhu glanced at each other. aI donat think weare going to be able to help it,a Arhu said. aAnd, Rhi, you canat just toss him back where he came from. Why would They send him if he wasnat going to be some use? Weave got to keep him.a aWhere?a Rhiow said, a little desperately. aWhere will he sleep? What will he eat?a She wondered if this was how an ehhif felt when one of their young turned up on the doorstep with a kitten-Person in their arms.

aWeall work something out,a Arhu said, with a confidence that Rhiow definitely didnat feel.

He looked over at where Urruah was trying to b.u.mp the groggy Auhlae up into something like a sitting position. As he did, Huff and Fhrio came rus.h.i.+ng in.

aAuhlae, Auhlaea"a Huff cried. He ran to her and began to wash her ear. It was astonis.h.i.+ng how fast Huff could move when he wanted to, or how tender and pitiful a sight he made despite his huge size. Rhiow turned away, and found herself looking at Fhrio, who was staring at Urruah as he backed away and let Huff take care of Auhlae. Fhrio was bristling.

Oh dear, Rhiow thought. This is going to bring them to blows sooner or later ... aArtie,a she said. aWill you be all right here for a little while? No other ehhif will come here: this is a secret place, for reasons Iall explain to you in a while. But right now there are some things I need to attend to.a aAll right,a Artie said. aWhatas your name, puss?a aRhiow.a aReeoooowww,a Artie said.

aNot too bad,a she said. aItas a Scots accent, isnat it? Weall work on that. Itas one of the better ones for Ailurin.a Rhiow walked off a little way, then sat down again and put her ears forward, listening. Whisperer ...

She heard the purr that told her the Silent One was listening.

We need help of a specific kind. Thereas no time for me to visit the Old Downside just now. Will you tell the Serpentas Child that his afatherasa friends need to talk to him? And will you guide him to us?

A purr of agreement: then silence.

Rhiow got up and headed over to Urruah, who was already walking toward her. aRuah,a she said, ado me a favor. Let me see the spell that Hwallis showed you.a He half-closed his eyes. aHere.a Rhiow half-closed hers as well, and let her whiskers brush close to Urruahas. A second or so later she could see what he saw, the Egyptian characters strung out in a line, but with gaps here and there where Hwallis had inferred that material was missing. Rhiow looked at the characters in her mind with a wizardas eye, letting them rearrange themselves into a long broken pattern in the graphical version of the Speech.

aItas a spell all right,a she said, opening her eyes. aWhat an odd one, though. A lot of missing pieces. None of the power parameters are all that large, either ... what there are of them.a aIf there were meant to be thousands of these spells in the same place, all acting together,a Urruah said, athey wouldnat have to be all that strong, individually.a aNo,a Rhiow said, abut still ... If a lot of little spells are gathered together to be used for some purpose, there still does have to be a master spell, one which invokes the whole aggregate of power and nominates specifically what itas supposed to be used for. Otherwise all the little apacketsa of power just fire off any old way, or seep away uncontrolled. No, I think Hwallis is right. Weall get busy on finding this, if thereas any way it can be found here and now. Meanwhile, Ruah, do what you can about the timeslide: weave got to get at that acontaminateda timeline and get a date for the a.s.sa.s.sination that we can trust. Get Fhrio to help you if you can.a aIad sooner be helped by aa"a aUrruah,a Rhiow said. aHe is not just a fellow wizard, but a gate technician of some skill. He might see something that you miss, under the pressure of speed. We canat afford to forego his help ... or alienate him by not asking for that help in an area where heas gifted. Just you handle it.a He glared at her ... then waved his tail, reluctantly acknowledging the necessity, and walked off.

Rhiow breathed out and watched him go. This kind of thing was difficult for him, but they had no choice right now. Fhrio was a problem as well, but one that Rhiow couldnat settle. The kind of behavior he routinely exhibited toward his own team would have caused Rhiow to box one of her own team membersa ears to ribbons, if they had tried it. However, Huffas management style was clearly a lot less a.s.sertive than Rhiowas ... and she had no right to try to impose her own style on his team. But oh, the inclination ...

She sighed and just closed her eyes for a moment, wis.h.i.+ng there were time to lie down and have a nap. When she opened her eyes again, Huff was heading over toward her. aSheas all right,a he said to Rhiow, very relieved.

aOf course Iam all right,a Auhlae said, sounding just slightly cross as she came up behind him. aThe shock of the transit just hit me hard for a moment, thatas all. Iam not made of fluff.a aNo, I never said you were ... a He head-b.u.mped her, and Auhlae threw him an affectionate look, though the b.u.mp bade fair to knock her over again.

aWell,a Huff said, when he had straightened up again, awhatas the situation?a aOur young ehhif is in fairly good shape,a Rhiow said, casting a glance over at where Artie still sat up against the platform wall, now with his legs stretched out in front of him, watching Urruah talking to Fhrio, and the two of them poking at various parts of the timeslide. aBut weare going to have to keep him with us for a while. Arhu says heas required somehow for the solution of our problem.a Auhlae blinked at that. aIs he sure?a aYes. Apparently he got a glimpse of him while he and Odin were off on their jaunt.a aNow thereas a new one,a Huff said. aWell, weall have to work out somewhere to keep him.a aArhu is confident that thatall be handled,a Rhiow said dryly. aSo weall refer all inquiries to him. Meanwhile, have a closer look at thisa"a She put one paw down on the floor and began pulling it along, so that a tracery of pale fire followed it, awriting outa the partial spell which Urruah had shown her. Huff and Auhlae bent their heads down, looking at it.

aLook at this name that keeps popping up,a Huff said after a moment. aIn a few places. Different formsa"but itas the same personality thatas meant. The aBright Serpenta.a aItas not the aOld Serpenta, though,a Auhlae said, looking curiously down the length of the spell. aThat would be written differently, wouldnat it.a aYes,a said Huff. aAnd here, the aGreat s.h.i.+ning Lizarda. And another name still. aSebeka.a a aThe one who binds togethera?a Auhlae said. aWould that be it?a aI think so.a Huff sat down to look at it a little more closely. aWell, itas interesting, but as spells go itas long on nouns and short on verbs. Or more specific routines like power-expenditure instructions ... a aPower,a Rhiow said, ayes ... a She glanced back over toward the timeslide. Siffhaah had stood up just long enough to drag herself out of the pattern, while Urruah was starting work on it: then she had flopped down again, and was lying on her side. aIs she all right?a aOh, I think so.a Auhlae looked over her shoulder.

aIall check,a Huff said, and got up to head over that way.

aI just ... Donat think Iam trying to intrude, please, but I worry about her a little,a Rhiow said. aShe seems to push herself very hard.a aYes,a Auhlae said, ashe does.a She sighed. aShe came to us very young. Just after her Ordeal, it was. She never said much about the details: well, as you know, thatas not information one asks abouta"itas offered, or not, the way you would treat the question of how many lives along someone is. Finally she decided she wanted to work with us, and she settled in. But she was always ... a Auhlae broke off for a moment, thinking, her tail twitching. Then she said, aThere was always a sense that there was something still unfinished, Ordeal or not. Something she was still looking for ... and it drove her. It drives her still ... and all this unfocused energy of hers jumps out and abitesa people, sometimes. Or makes her bite them herself ... a Rhiow sighed. aThe aunfinished businessa theme turns up often enough,a she said. aIt happened to me, for example.a aAnd did you find what you were looking for?a aI think so,a Rhiow said, athough, Auhlae, to tell you the truth, sometimes even when you have what you were looking for, you can get confused because it doesnat look anything like the images you got yourself used to when you were still looking.a She put her whiskers forward. aWell, thatas another dayas problem ... we have enough of our own at the moment.a aYouare right there, cousin,a Auhlae said, and sighed once more. aLet me go see if the child needs anything. She tends to give off her power in these big bursts, and then needs a lot of time to recuperate. I keep telling her she should pace herself, but does she listen ... ?a aI know the problem,a Rhiow said.

Auhlae went off to tend to Siffhaah, and Rhiow stood up and had a good stretch and went to the young ehhif: Arhu came along behind her, and behind him, Urruah. aAre you all right, Artie?a Rhiow said.

aIam rather hungry,a he said, very woefully. aI was on my way to get a bun for lunch when I saw you.a aWell, Iall get you something,a Rhiow said.

aWhere?a Arhu said. aYouare going to have to steal.a aNo. Well, not exactly.a Rhiow sighed. aArtie, would you like a sandwich?a aA what?a aNever mind,a Rhiow said. aDo you like cheese?a aYes.a aIall get you a pizza.a aFrom where?a Arhu said.

aHey, bring me one too,a Urruah said.

Rhiow gave him a look. aGet your own pizza. I have enough problems. Are you and Fhrio in agreement about the timeslide?a aHeas looking at it for the moment,a Urruah said. aThe idea of him catching something in the spelling that I missed seems to appeal to him.a She put her whiskers forward at him. aNow who says youare all good looks and no brain?a she said. aIall be back in a little.a Rhiow trotted over to where Auhlae was lying by Siffhaah. aAuhlae, whereas one of the gates that is functioning? I need to run an errand.a aBack up the stairs the way we came,a Auhlae said, adown the hallway and turn left to the access for the northbound Circle Line train. Itas down off the left-hand end of the platform.a aGreat. Right back,a said Rhiow.

Sidled, she followed Auhlaeas instructions and made her way up to the Circle Line platform, past the unnoticing travelers waiting for the Tube train, and down the stairs at the very end of the platform. The gateas tracery was very visible: some other wizard pa.s.sing through had just used it, she saw from the status-and-log weft, for a transit to Vladivostok via Chur. She reached into the control weave, got her claws into the spatial location webbing, and wove its hyperstrings together until they matched the string-coordinate qualities of the roof of her apartment building.

Normally Rhiow preferred not to do gatings of this kind: they were wasteful of energy, when you could walk. But at the moment, walking was out of the question, and everything seemed to be happening at once, and she couldnat spare the time. Rhiow pulled the control weave taut, watching as the scene within its oval boundaries snapped into place. Gray gravel, ventilators sticking up ...

Rhiow locked the gate coordinates in place, set it for selective nonpatency except for her own return, and jumped through: came down on the gravel. Hurriedly she sidled, then trotted over to the square shape which was the outlet for the buildingas fire stairs. The door was locked from the inside.

She walked through it, feeding the atoms of her body past the atoms of the door, and ran down the stairs a couple of flights: then walked through a second door, the one which led to the hallway where her apartmentas front door was. Rhiow galloped down the hall, and walked through one last door, her own.

There was no sign of Iaehh, which was just as well. Rhiow ran over to the refrigerator, did a very small-scale skywalk up to the handle of the freezer, and put one paw through it, pulling hard. No good. She sat up on her haunches, put both forefeet through, and pulled again. This time the freezer door came open, almost knocking her down. She ducked sideways out of the reach of the swinging door and looked inside. Thank you, Iau, she thought, for there were about five pizzas stacked up in there. Hmm. Pepperoni ... not for a first-timer. Meatball ... no. Pieces might fall off in transit. Plain with extra cheese ...

Her mouth was watering as she levitated the pizza out of the freezer down onto the counter. Itas been too long since I had pizza, Rhiow thought; but the hunger in Artieas eyes suggested to Rhiow that it was going to be a while longer. She first did a small wizardry which would release the catch of the microwave oven and push the door back: then, while that was working, she spoke to the coefficient of friction at the end of the pizza box where the glue was, then levitated the box up on its side and shook. The pizza slid neatly out onto the rotating tray in the oven.

Rhiow ran her wizardry backwards and shut the microwave door: then jumped down to the counter and stared at the controls. You have to be a rocket scientist to run these things, she thought, annoyed, trying to work out which control pad to push. Finally she succeeded in programming in five minutesa run on ahigha, and started the microwave going: then took a moment to take the empty pizza box and push it down into a briefly opened pocket in s.p.a.cetime, off in a corner of the kitchen. She would empty the pocket out and get rid of the box later.

The air started to fill with a very appetizing smell indeed. Rhiowas mouth watered more earnestly. The only bad thing about this, she thought, is that heas going to notice itas gone. I think. Iaehh could be slightly vague about the contents of the freezer: he and Hhuha had had some pretty heated discussions on the subject. Either way ... Iam going to have to replace it with one of the same kind as soon as I can. One more thing to think about ...

The oven dinged. Rhiow ran her wizardry again, forward this time, and levitated the pizza out into the air again. It was tricky: the thing was no longer solid, but kept trying to flop over in one direction or another.

Rhiow stood there for a moment considering her options. She might be sidled, but the pizza could not be, not while she was handling it either directly or with a wizardry. She was not going to walk back down the apartmentas hall, invisible, with a visible pizza floating along behind her. Logistics ... she thought.

Oh vhai. She walked through the air over to the gla.s.s doors that opened on the terrace, the pizza trailing along obediently behind her, and straight out into the air to one side of the apartment. Let the neighbors think they saw a levitating pizza, she thought rebelliously ... If any of them are even looking. With the pizza in tow, Rhiow skywalked up to the roof of the building, and back through the worldgate, which she shut down behind her and left in standby configuration.

That only left the Tube station to deal with. Rhiow went down the stairs, then hung an immediate left and walked straight through the wall, trying to keep the directions back to the abandoned platform straight in her head. She took a few false turns, but finally found where she wanted to be: and had the satisfaction of seeing young Artieas mouth drop open as she walked straight through a wall not far from him, the pizza floating along behind her.

She put it carefully down on the floor. aItas fairly clean here,a she said: asorry I couldnat bring a plate. Here, just pull it apart with your hands. Watch out, itas still hot.a Artie pulled his first slice off, bit it tentatively: finished it immediately and pulled off another. aGood,a Rhiow said, and went over to Urruah, who was lying nearby. aNow then. Whatas next?a He looked at the pizza.

aDonat even think about it,a Rhiow said. aI went to a lot of trouble over that. Howas he doing?a She glanced over toward Fhrio and the timeslide.

aHow would I know? Iall wait until he tells me. He might genuinely be in the middle of something I donat want to disturb.a Or I might just not want to get my head bitten off.

Rhiow put one ear forward and one back, a wry expression. aIs Siffhaah all right, did Auhlae say?a aRecovering,a Urruah said. aSheas just exhausted after doing two big power feeds close togethera"and apparently the fact that something knocked us asidewaysa affected her too: she tried to force us through anyway, and so she took the brunt of what hit us.a His tail thumped on the concrete. aShe tries real hard. Itas not like she has to prove anything to anyone ... a aI know,a Rhiow said. aIf she onlya"a aWhatas that?a Siffhaah said suddenly from the other side of the platform, pus.h.i.+ng herself up again. aSomethingas cominga"a Everyone looked up in alarm. Mostly they did it just in time to see the air in the middle of the platform stretch and sheen like pulled plastic wrap, then peel apart.

A dinosaur stepped out.

A casual viewer could have been forgiven for mistaking it for a dinosaur, at any rate. It stood about six feet high at the shoulder, and its long neck arched up another couple of feet to terminate in a long, lean, toothy muzzle: a pair of well-made and delicate forelegs with six claws each were folded decorously in front of the creatureas chest. It stood mostly upright on its long-clawed hind legs, and a tail about five feet long lashed out behind it, helping it keep its balance. The shadowy lighting down here did not show off to best advantage the subtly patterned hide patched in red and orange: but somehow the small golden eye found the light, and kept it.

The London team stared at this apparition in astonishment: the saurian bowed to them gracefully, bobbing forward and back. aI am on errantry,a it said in a soft hissing voice, aand I greet you.a aYouare well met on the errand,a Huff said, still very wide-eyed. aRhiow, is this the help you said you were sending for?a aIndeed so. Ith, let me make you known to the London team.a She strolled over and took him around, making the introductions. Huff and Auhlae recovered their composure quickly: Fhrio, caught in the middle of doing something technical to the timeslide, simply stood for some moments with his mouth hanging open. Siffhaah gazed at Ith too, and spoke to him politely enough when introduced, but Rhiow couldnat help noticing her expression ... a peculiar look of half-recognition, as if she had seen him before sometime, but couldnat place where.

Finally she brought Ith over to Artie. aAnd this is our apeta ehhif,a Rhiow said, with some amus.e.m.e.nt. aArtie, this is Ith.a aOh, rather,a said Artie, very impressed indeed. aAre you a Thunder Lizard?a Ith dropped his lower jaw and flickered his long blunt tongue slightly in what Rhiow had come to recognize as a smile. aI have not thundered at anything very recently,a he said, abut in the past I have occasionally done so.a He crouched down on his back legs next to Arhu, who leaned against him companionably. aYour summons was opportune,a Ith said to Rhiow, afor I was thinking of coming to see you anyway. The master gate matrices in the Old Downside, the ones which service Grand Central and many other gating complexes have been showing signs of strain, these last few days. Gatings have not been progressing as they normally do.a aItas not just strain,a Arhu said. aLet me show youa"a For a few seconds they were silent together. It was not vision, Rhiow thought, but rather something to do with their old history together: they had been in one anotheras minds in extremely harrowing circ.u.mstances, involving their jointly completed Ordeals, and there were times when the communication between them seemed so complete and effortless that Rhiow wondered whether some kind of permanent connection between them had been wrought by the anguish and triumph theyad shared.

Ith looked up, then, and said, aYou have been having a busy time.a He clenched his claws together, interlacing them. aAnd now this business of the Longest Winter. Very interesting indeed.a He looked up over at the London team. aThat was what killed my people in the ancient days,a he said to Huff. aThe Lone One, the Old Serpent, brought that fate down on us when we made our first Choice as a species. It said if we accepted Its gift, we would rule the Earth so long as the Sun shone on it. And so we did: until the blow fell burning from the sky, and the dust and the smoke of its impact rose up and hid the sun. It killed all my ancestors except the very few who, by accident or by grace of the Powers, managed to find their way into the Old Downside and take refuge in the caves there, down where the catenaries spring up from their ultimate power source. There we lived for ages, and there the Lone One ruled us, saying that someday It would lead us up into the Sun again, and we would conquer all the puny creatures that lived there and take the Earth for our own once more.a He smiled, showing most of his teeth. aWell, they conquered us instead, to our great good: and my people lost their old false Father, and gained a new one. Mostly due to my brother, my father here.a He glanced down at Arhu. Arhu looked away, and purred.

aBut the thought of the Winter has not been far from my mind, or my peopleas,a Ith said to Rhiow. aIt is a charged subject for us, as charged in its way as humankindas old story that you told me about the apple and the garden: and there is a serpent in that story too, though I am afraid it is not the Bright one Who is a shape I wear these days sometimes, or Who wears mea"whichever. In any case, we are eager that the Winter should not come back, from whatever cause ... for if it returns to the upper world, that will eventually affect the Old Downside as well. Since we have no guarantees from the Powers that this fate would never befall us again, I thought that we might seek to put guarantees of our own in place.a aYou could get caught up in that kind of thing to the exclusion of everything else,a Auhlae said, aif you werenat careful ... a aOh, indeed. We know well enough that every race dies,a Ith said. aThat alone has become obvious enough from studying other speciesa history. Entropy is running ... a The young-old, wise eyes looked a little tired already. aWe cannot stop it. But this does not mean we need instantly to enter into a suicide pact with the Universe. We may forestall the event as long as possible ... indeed the Powers would prefer that we do.a aGetting familiar with Them, are you?a Urruah said.

aNo less than you,a Ith said mildly. aYour good friend, Saash of the unending itch, now herself walks the floor of Heaven about the Oneas business, and the depths of reality echo to the thumping when she sits down to scratch. And she thought of herself as anothing speciala. I am nothing special either, but I am also Father of my people now, and so I find myself chatting often enough with my peopleas Grandparents as I try to make some sense out of this terrible ma.s.s of data Theyave wished on me, and try to claw it into some shape which our new wizards will be able to handle.a aNew wizards already?a said Arhu.

aThey are hatching out even as we speak,a Ith said. aSome seem to have been trying to be born for a long time ... some say they have tried many times, but were always killed in the ongoing hethhhiiihhh.a Rhiow blinked at the word: the Speech said holocaust in her ear, but there were even more terrible implications in the word, speaking of a people who for many generations had simply been born to be killed, almost all new hatchlings being destined to feed the chosen warriors of the Lone Poweras planned army.

aNow, though,a Ith said, athere are more than twenty already. Our latency period is fairly short, and besides, there is the time difference between the Upworld and the Downside to consider. We are, in any case, making up for much lost time, which is a good thing, considering the importance of the gates we guard. The Downside will be alive with wizardry before very long, and all the better for it: it is not good for a world to go unmanaged. But our awizardas manuala is still in its early stages, and I have been kept very busy trying to codify it.a aI would have thought it would have just appeared,a Urruah said. aAs if it had always been there, now that your peopleas Choice is properly made. I mean, the informationas all in the Speech after all ... so your people wonat have trouble understanding ita"a aYes, but first thereas the question of what information a wizard of our People will routinely have access to,a Ith said, aand what theyall have to ask for authorization from Higher Up to geta"a aI would have thought the Powers would make that distinction themselves.a aNo,a Ith said. aWea"upper-level field operativesa"are given more autonomy than you might suspect. Surprising amounts of it.a He opened his mouth to grin slightly, the amiable saurian smile that showed all those teeth. aThe Powersa att.i.tude is plainly, aYouare living in this universe: why would you be so dumb as to pull down the ceiling of the cavern on yourself? Be cautious running the placea"but take what risks you think need to be taken.a And does it not say in the Estivations, aI shall walk Your worlds as You do, as if they are mine ... for so indeed they area? -- So I find I must make these decisionsa"the Powers apparently feeling that one from inside a native apsychologya will be best fitted to understand wizardryas best implementation for that psychology. Then thereas the matter of how Seniors and Advisories will be chosen, and a very basic one, how the wizardry itself will manifest to my people. Weave had all kinds of different modalitiesa"voices heard, visions seena"but theyave been haphazard, and Iave been told that we should try to keep it to one or two modalities for the whole species, so that legend and tradition regarding their handling will have time to build up around them. At least we donat have to try to keep wizardry secret, the way the poor ehhif do. My wizardly children will lead normal lives ... as far as any wizardas life can be considered normal.a aYouare getting pretty organized,a Arhu said.

aOrder is a wonderful thing,a Ith said, awhen it flows from the roots of a matter rather than being imposed from the top down. And organization usually follows, yes ... but not so much so that I canat slip out for a pastrami sandwich every now and then.a He grinned at Arhu. aAnd we should try to meet soon in that regard: Iave found a good place up on Eighty-Sixth between First and Second. Meanwhile, though, I have other business in hand. They tell me you need me,a he said to Rhiow. aAnd to my peopleas Stepmother, I can only say, aTell me what you need, and itas yours.a a Rhiow put her whiskers forward.

aMeanwhile,a Ith said, turning his head sideways and giving Artie one of those peculiar looks of his, like a very large bird eyeing a very large worm, ais there any more of that pizza?a Rhiow laughed. aNo! Get your own. Thereas probably a fairly decent pizza place not too close from where youare getting your pastrami.a aNo,a Ith said, aI would say Eighty-Sixth is something of a desert as regards pizza. Now if you go a little further uptowna"a aDonat!a Rhiow said. He and Arhu looked at her, startled. aJust donat,a she said wearily. aLater. Later I will go and look for pizza with you. If thereas still a reality left on Earth that involves pizza.a aAll right,a Ith said. aBack to the subject. While involved in the codification, I have been eagerly searching for a spell which would prevent a second Winteras fall. Now I see and hear from your interview with Hwallis that there is, or was such a thing. The Whisperer does not know of it, though: or if She did, it is lost.a aHow would She lose anything?a Siffhaah said.

aI do not know. But let us see the spell again, what you have of it.a Rhiow showed it to Ith where she had it laid out on the floor. He looked at it for a few moments, and then chuckled, a deep clicking noise in his throat. aYes,a he said, athere is a piece of my name, and another piece. And the Bright Serpentas name, which I would have thought was a new thing: but now it seems it is old, and existed from ancient times. Another piece of information lost, or submerged under formerly more aggressive archetypes. And see herea"a he put one claw down on one symbol of the spell, which flared briefly brighter in response. aYes, this is the Ophidian Word in one of its new variants: my people are certainly involveda"either the memory of our old tragedy, or the prophecy of our later intervention against repet.i.tions of it. And here is the symbol for the Winter, and the indicator for the conditional branches of the target designation spell. There are definitely pieces missing: and thisa"a he tapped another symbola"aseems to indicate how many. Five other major parts. The master structure is hexagonal.a He sat back, looking satisfied. aThat makes perfect sense, for the Universe has a broadly hexagonal bent: things tend to come in sixes.a He flexed his claws, giving a little extra wiggle to the sixth claw on each forelimb. aParticle arrays, hyperstring structuresa"a Arhu looked accusingly at Rhiow. aI thought you told me everything came in fives.a aNot everything,a Rhiow said, in slight desperation. aThings to do with gates.a Ith looked at her with a c.o.c.keyed expression, a sidewise look that had reminded Rhiow more than once of a robin looking at a worm. aPossibly we have a paired underlying symmetry here,a he said. aDual symmetries of sixes and fives, conjoined at the functional level as elevens? The even and the odd ... a aOr the like and the unlike,a Urruah said, interested. aBut together, they make a prime ... a Rhiow rolled her eyes. Since coming into his own, Ith sometimes went off into mathematical conjectures which completely lost hera"a side-effect, she thought, of coming of a species which was only now discovering abstract reasoning for its own sake, after having spent so many millennia in the darkness, thinking about nothing but survival and food. It was perhaps some side-gift of his wizardry: or, like Urruahas never-ending fondness for food and ohara, it might just be a hobby. Either way, it tended to make her head hurt.

aIth, youare going to have to take it up with the Powers that Be,a Rhiow said, abecause I havenat the faintest idea. Right now we need someone to help us look for that spell, for the other parts of it, and to get them welded together. We may need it very badly in a very short time.a aThen I will come and do that for you,a Ith said. aI will search everywhere I can think of. The Museum here first, as you say: and then the Museum in New York as well, and elsewhere, if I must.a Arhu glanced up, looking a little uneasy. aI donat know if I like the idea of taking the Father of his People away from them just now,a he said. aThis could be a dangerous time ... a Ith looked at him with mild surprise. aDo fathers not go out to find food and protect their young, sometimes? The important thing is to come back afterwards ... Besides, events in one universe spread to others, sooner or later. By acting now, perhaps I save myself the need to act more desperately later ... a aThat may or may not be,a Huff said, abut in any case, itas still very good of you to come and help us. I mean ... a He sounded slightly fl.u.s.tered. aWe are, after all, People ... and you are, after all ... a aA snake?a Ith dropped his jaw amiably. aWell, People have in the past taken a certain amount of interest in the welfare of another peopleas universe: mine. We could have been left to die in the dark, or to live out our lives as slaves, under the Lone Poweras influence. But others risked themselves for us. Perhaps there is no apaybacka: but paying forward is certainly an option open to us ... So let us not speak of it any more.a He rocked a little on his haunches, reaching back in mind again to the interview with Wallis which Arhu had shown him, and looking down at the fragmentary spell again. a aA person of Powera,a said Ith, amust enact the spell. Does that mean, perhaps, a Person? One of your People? Or could it be just any wizard?a aIt depends if they call themselves persons or not, I suppose,a Rhiow said. aIth, your guess is as good as mine ... But I think weare going to need the rest of the spell before we can draw any conclusions about that.a aWell enough, then: I will go.a aI want to go too!a Artie said suddenly, jumping up. aI havenat seen any magic practically since I got here. I want to see some more!a Rhiow glanced at Ith, about to object: then she stopped herself. Cousin, if you can take charge of him for a while, it would take a worry off our minds. Heas at the wrong end of time, and itas not good for an ehhif to know too much about its own future without preparation ... for which weave had no time. The Museum will be a controllable environment, one not too strange to him ...

Consider it done.

aWell, Ith,a Rhiow said out loud, aif you take Artie with you, he can help you look for the spell, while you keep him invisible. You should have fun with that,a Rhiow said to Artie.

aYouare going to keep walking into things, though ... so be warned.a aI will bring him gladly,a said Ith. aArtie, are you willing?a aI should say so!a aAll right, Artie,a Rhiow said, awho are you staying with in London?a aMy uncle and aunt,a he said, suddenly looking rather concerned. aThey were expecting me back for teatime ... a aWell,a Urruah said, aif we can get the timeslide to work properly, thereall be no problem returning him to just a few seconds before or after we found him, or he found us.a And if we canat get the slide to work properly ... then shortly it wonat matter one way or the other ...

Rhiow made a face at the thought. And what happens to us then? she thought. We become refugees to some other timeline that hasnat been ruined. If we can find any such. And Artie will share the same fate ...

No, she thought. No need to give up just yet. Thereas a lot more work to be done ...

aVery well,a Ith said, and stood up. aArtie, prepare yourself: we will go to the British Museum, and walk invisible among the displays. Or perhapsa"a and that little golden eye glinteda"alate tonight, when none but the night watchmen are about, perhaps one of them will look into the Prehistoric Saloon and wonder if he saw one of the displays move, and wink its eye ... a He winked, and Artie burst out laughing as he dusted himself off, which was about all the preparation he could do. aIth, you wouldnat,a Rhiow said, trying to sound severe. Ith seemed to have picked up some of Arhuas taste for mischief along with the taste for deli food. Unfortunately it was difficult to scold someone who was so old and grave, and at the same time so young, and whose wickednesses were of such a small and genteel sort.

aPerhaps I would not,a Ith said, bowing to Rhiow. She put her whiskers forward at the phrasing. aIn any case, I will take care of him,a Ith said. aIf nothing else, when he needs to rest, I can take him to the Old Downside, where he will see all the athunder lizardsa his heart desires.a aHow are your people doing?a Urruah said. aSettling in nicely?a aThey love the life under the sky,a Ith said. aFor some of them, it is as if the old life in the caves never happened. And truly, for some of them, it is better that way. For others ... they remember, and they look up at the Sun and rejoice.a aHave there been any problems with our own People?a Rhiow said. The only other intelligent species populating that ancient ancestor-dimension of Earth were the Great Cats of whom Felis domesticus and its many cousins were the descendants: sabertooths and dire-lions, who had taken refuge in that paradisial otherworld many ages before.

aOh, no,a Ith said mildly, and flexed his claws. aNone that have been serious. They were unsure whether we were predators or prey, at first. They are sure now.a He grinned, showing all those very sharp teeth.

Rhiow chuckled. aGet out of here,a she said. aAnd go well. Artie, be nice to him. He bites.a aHe wouldnat bite me,a said Artie.

aNo, I would not,a Ith said. aArtie, come stand by me. Now watch, and take care; when the air tears, it does so raggedly, and the boundaries between here and there are sharpa"a They stepped into the air together and were gone: the tear in it healed up behind them.

Huff stared after them. aHow does he do that?a he said. aThere wasnat even any noise from the displacement of the air.a Rhiow shook her head. aIn some ways, heas become a gate himself,a she said. aOtherwise ... I donat understand it. Ask Her. Meanwhilea"what about that timeslide?a It took several more hours to get it working to both Urruahas and Fhrioas liking. Rhiow tried to catch a nap while this was going on, but her anxiety kept waking her up, so that when Urruah finally came to rouse her, she was awake anyway.

aIs the slide ready?a Rhiow said, stretching fore and aft.

aAs far as I can tell. For all Fhrioas rotten temper,a he added very softly, aheas a good gating tech, and thereas nothing wrong with his understanding of timeslide spells. He rearranged some subroutines Iad thought looked pretty good, and I have to admit that now they look better.a aAnnoyed?a Rhiow said.

aMe? Nothing wrong with me that a pizza wonat cure,a Urruah said. a ... And the end of this job. We can jump again in fifteen or twenty minutes. Fhrio is doing the last fine-tuning: Siffhaah says sheas ready to go again, and Auhlae concurs.a aGood.a She glanced around. aWhere are they?a aTheyave gone off to relieve themselves first. Huff went off too, just for a snack of something.a aRight.a They went over together to look at the timeslide. Rhiow walked around it thoughtfully, trying to see what Fhrio had done. He was sitting, gazing at the whole structure with his eyes half-shut, a little unfocused: a technique Rhiow used herself, sometimes, to see the one bit of a spell or a routine that was out of place.

She stopped at one point and looked to see where a whole group of subroutines had been added, a thick tangle of interwoven branchings in the ahedgea. There were numerous calls on spatial locations which were not far from this one, as far as Rhiow could tell, and all of which were in this time. aWhat are these?a Rhiow said curiously.

Fhrio glanced up. aI found myself wondering,a he said, awhether we were sending a lion to kill a mouse ... I mean, by looking for our pastlings one at a time by tracing specific accesses one at a time. I thought, since the ehhif here have support systems that are supposed to be picking up their lost and sick people from the City area, at least ... why donat we let it work for us? So this set of routines visits every ehhif-hospital in the Greater London area, and scans it for a few seconds for anyone in that facility who wasnat born within the last hundred years. If it finds anyone like that, it picks them up and brings them along with us, in stasis. Then we get back here and a.n.a.lyze their temporal tendencies in situ, with the gate to help, if we can get the online gate logs to cooperate.a Rhiow looked the construction over. It was elegant, compact, and looked like it ought to work ... but many constructs of this kind looked like they should, and the only way you could find out was by testing them live. aFhrio,a she said, aIt is handsome-looking, and beautifully made. Letas run it and see what it does.a She paced around to the other side of the timeslide, checked her name in pa.s.sing, then leapt into the circle and looked thoughtfully at the other sets of coordinates stacked up in the routines to be examined: mostly derived from microtransits of the malfunctioning gate. aIf Siffhaah can push us through to all of these,a Rhiow said, aweare going to be in great shape.a aI hoped youad think so,a Fhrio said. And he looked over at Urruah, and bared his teeth in amus.e.m.e.nt. aPity you werenat smart enough to manage something like this, aoh expert onea. Even your own team leader admits it.a Urruah blinked and opened his mouth.

aUrruah,a Rhiow said softly, awould you excuse us?a His eyes went wide. aUh, sure,a he said.

He went away with great speed, Rhiow didnat know where: nor did she care at the moment. aAll right, Fhrio,a Rhiow said. aIam tired of hearing it in the background, or unsaid. Get on with it and say what you have to say.a He stared at her, his ears back. aI donat like him around here,a Fhrio said after a moment. aOr the other one. There are too many toms around here as it is. Huff and I have about worked things out. Weare all right together, if not precisely in-pride. But those two! Him, with his big b.a.l.l.s hanging out, leering at Auhlae. And him, with his little b.a.l.l.s hanging out, just a furry little bundle of drool and hope and hormones, leering at Siffhaah. They both give me the pip ... and the sooner theyare out of here the better Iall like it.a aWell,a Rhiow said, and nearly bit her tongue, she could think of so many things to say, and so few of them appropriate. aThank you for letting me know. In Urruahas case, heas always been one for appreciating the queens, though in Auhlaeas case, he knows sheas mated and happily so, and youare completely mistaken about his intentions toward her. If you donat believe another wizard telling you so, then youall have to go have it out with him ... after I finish with you. For the second time, that is, after I extract from your hide the price of calling the competence of one of my teammates into question, and for suggesting that I might agree with you in your a.s.sessment. And as for Arhu, whatever business he has with Siffhaah is theirs to determine, not yours or mine: sheas her own queen now, no matter what your opinions on the matter may be. What you think of that stance is your business ... but if you meddle with a young wizard under my protection, I will shred your hide myself, and see if you have the nerve to do anything about it. So beware how you conduct yourself.a Fhrio stared at her as if she had suddenly appeared out of the air from another planet. aMeanwhile,a Rhiow said, aI intend to do my job to the best of my ability, no matter how pointlessly annoying I find you. You seem to be doing your job ... marginally. But if you canat manage your reactions to my team a little more completely, Iall require Huff to remove you from this intervention ... which is within my rights as leader of a senior gating team sent on consultation. Then weall bring in as a replacement someone less talented, perhaps, but a little more committed to not damaging the other wizards whom the Powers have sent to save this situation ... and, entirely incidentally, you. Now take yourself away until Huff comes back, and be glad Iave left your ears where Iau put them, instead of so far down your throat theyall make b.u.mps in your tail.a He stared at her without a word, and after a long moment he turned away.

Rhiow sat down and licked her nose four times in a row, feeling hot under her fur: furious with herself, furious with Fhrio, and just generally very upset. She was bristling, and her claws itched, and she was mortified. I hate being this way, she thought. I hate having to be this way. I hate having to pull rank. Oh, Iau, did I do wrong?

The Queen was silent on this subject, as on so many others. Rhiow breathed out and tried to get control of herself again. She was so busy concentrating on this that she didnat notice when Siffhaah came in and jumped into the circle beside her.

aI said, are you all right?a Siffhaah said.

aOh. I will be shortly,a Rhiow said. aThanks for checking.a Siffhaah had straightened up and was now staring across the platform. Rhiow glanced that way to see what was there. It was Arhu. He was staring back. For a long few moments it held: then, to Rhiowas surprise, it was Arhu who lowered his eyes first and looked away.

Rhiow jumped out of the circle and meandered over to where Arhu was, and sat down by him, and started composure-was.h.i.+ng with a vengeance. Under cover of this, she said very quietly to Arhu, a little exasperated, aWhat is it with you two?a aShe hates me,a Arhu said.

Urruah reappeared, sat down beside them, and started to wash as well. aBut she has no reason to,a Rhiow said.

aShe seems to think she does.a Rhiow blinked at that. aHow do you know?a aI see it.a Urruah glanced up briefly at that. aThis is new,a he said.

aIam seeing a lot of things since I went flying with Odin,a Arhu said. aItas as if seeing a new way to See has made some kind of difference. Itas happening more often, for one thing.a aSo what did you See about her?a aItas nothing specific. In fact, once I tried to See, on purpose, anda"a He shrugged his tail. aJust nothing. Like she was blocking me somehow.a aHow would she do that?a Urruah said, mystified. aI wouldnat have thought there was any way to block vision.a aI wonder if shead discuss it,a Rhiow said.

aOh, try that by all means,a Urruah said. aBut bring a new pair of ears.a Rhiow sighed. It would have to wait. Auhlae jumped back up onto the platform, followed by Huff. aAre we ready?a Huff said.

aAbsolutely,a said Rhiow, and got up to meet him by the timeslide. aI take it our first priority is the pastlingsa"sweeping them up, if we can, and confining them all safe in one place.a aThatas Fhrioas plan,a said Huff. aWhere is he?a aHere, Huff,a said Fhrio, and came up from the end of the platform to join them.

aArhu? Urruah? Letas go,a said Huff.

They paced over and leapt into the timeslide-circle, taking their positions. Siffhaah put herself down on the power point and glanced up at Fhrio.