“A note?”
He nodded and unfolded the paper, which was covered with a neat and florid handwriting. “We have no desire at this time to be the victims of a stringer vendetta,” he read. “The three children are alive, well, and unharmed, and are being brought near to the West Gate in Flux. We are willing to make a trade if it can be kept a private dealing between mutual interests.” He paused and looked at her. “They want to trade the kids for you.”
She sighed and nodded. “I figured that was what it was about. That’s why they had orders not to harm the children. They have Weiz blood in them, and those killers really couldn’t tell which ones were which. They were after me back at the house, but Verdugo and Vishnar screwed them up, so they took the kids they could get as a swap.”
“I had it pretty well figured that way all along,” he told her. “Now the question is what to do about it.”
“Just what do they propose?”
“A meet to talk out the details. Verdugo has this whole place bugged, but I took care of some of that. Just the two of us, in the courtyard down by the old wall an hour before first light. That’s about”—he looked at his watch—'”fifty-seven minutes from now.”
“Even with the guards and Verdugo’s spies all over we’d be sitting ducks out there!”
He nodded. “I know. That’s why you’re going to go and not me.”
“Huh? But I’m the one they want!”
“Right. Don’t worry—I’ll be there, every step of the way. It’s just that neither you nor they, I hope, will know it. Are you game?”
“I don’t see as I have much choice right now. They have a way for me to get out there unseen?”
“I have one. The women’s washroom is right down the hall. There’s a chair in there you can use to reach the window. I’ll have it rigged so it’s open. It’ll be about a three-meter drop to the ground outside, but you should be able to handle that. Keep down low below the shrubs and use them to make your way over to a dark spot at the old wall. Then just stay there until they contact you. Clear?”
“Yeah, but even if there’s no trouble, how’ll I get back
in?”
“Just walk back in through the side door. If anybody stops you, tell ’em you just went out for some air because you couldn’t sleep. They’ll suspect everything, but they won’t want to tell Verdugo you got out without them seeing in the first place. Got it?” She nodded.
“I’ll get going, then. Good luck.” He kissed her and left.
She gave him a good ten minutes to get himself positioned, then cautiously opened the door. The hallway was empty, and she walked down to the bathroom fairly confidently. It was a pretty natural thing, after all. She went in, found things as he’d told her—he’d gotten in and broken the lock, but not obviously, to the windows—and got out. The drop was a bad one, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She made it all the way to the wall with little trouble.
The big problem was waiting, knowing that eyes, both friendly and unfriendly, were on her and she could do nothing but sit. Thankfully, they didn’t keep her for long.
“You are Suzl,” whispered a very high, mousy soprano from behind and slightly above her. “Where is Matson?”
“Monitoring with stringer stuff,” she told the shadow woman. “Just like your friends are probably doing with you.”
The stranger thought for a moment. “Fair enough. No tricks, or the children are lost forever. Understand?”
“I understand.”
“All right. We will give you a set of string coordinates not too far into Flux. Follow them, and you’ll find a temporary new string leading to a small pocket. Bring two others if you like to safeguard you and to get the children safely home.”
“The children will be there?”
“One child will be produced and given over. You will be asked at that time to bind yourself to our will. When you do, a second child will be given over. When we go into the void, and are satisfied that there are no tricks, the third child will be sent in. This will be the only chance you have. If more than three appear, or there is an advance guard, the pocket will vanish and so will we.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow night. The pocket and string will appear at twenty-two hundred and vanish at four. You will be watched the whole way.” She gave the coordinates, which were technical and meaningless but were easy to remember. Matson would know.
Suzl was alone.
She made her way back after she was sure that was all, and was very surprised to face no challenge as she reen-tered her room. Matson was back in a few minutes.
“You heard?”
He nodded. “Two apparent Fluxgirls, both of whom supposedly work here. One had a nasty laser pistol, the other a night rifle. The big question is what we’re going to do with this.”
“I’m responsible for those kids,” she told him. “and, in a way, I’m responsible for their kidnapper as well. I expected this almost from the start. I knew from then that I’d have to go.”
“Uh huh. You know there’s no way I can send any kind of force out there without them knowing, and there’s no way you can fake that spell they’re gonna force on you. Weiz wants you to turn the tables on you and her. It’s going to be ugly.”
She sighed. “I’m used to it being ugly, remember? So she turns me into some kind of freak. I’ve been there before. She can’t get too bad—I’m also the wizard she needs to work that machine right.” She paused. “That’s something to think about, though. With me they’ll be able to call up big programs and project them. They can take care of anybody trying to get them without risking any of their own.”
“I know. And you know that everybody will be after you, including maybe family and friends. You may be shooting at them, and they may wind up shooting at you.”
“Yeah, well, sooner or later they’d find a wizard anyway. You know that. They got a nice thing for making deals. And the kids—well, I couldn’t bear the idea that we might be shooting at them.” She sighed. “Sure, I’m scared. I’ve never been really brave, but I’m going. I’m surprised you’re not trying to stop me.”
“No. I’m sorry to sound so cold—I’m not—but I have to see it through. Right now they’re safe but immobile and weak. Sooner or later New Eden will find them, and with their knowledge of the thing they’ll figure a way to get it back. They need a wizard to keep them from falling into New Eden’s hands. I wish it could be somebody else— you’ve done more than your share over the years-—but it’s not possible.”
“I know.”
He got up, and so did she, and he gave her a hug and a kiss. “Act normal tomorrow. We’ll move into Flux as soon as the family gets sorted out here. No mention to anybody, not even close relatives. Some of them will go off half-cocked and queer everything. You, me, and the two that will go with you will be all who know.”
She looked surprised. “You’re not coming?”
“No. I’m a false wizard and I’d be an impediment out there. We want the best—just in case. I think they’ll keep their word, but, if not, we have to be ready. Now—get what sleep you can. We’ve got a long, hard day tomorrow.” And, with that, he left.
She sat there, not at all tired now. She was thirsty, and took a sip of tepid water from the pitcher on the small vanity, then lay back down on the bed and tried to relax. By this time tomorrow, she’d probably be some kind of monster again. Again, that was the key. She’d been there before, under binding spells, when it was all hopeless. Freak, monster, then Fluxwife.
Consciousness slowly faded, and she felt as if she were falling, falling into some deep, soft void without end. There were voices, and whispers, all around her, but she could barely make them out and it didn’t seem to matter.
And she dreamed.
There had been flashing lights and a crackling sound, and she had felt suddenly dizzy and confused. She looked around to get her bearings and saw that she was safe in Freehold, the old familiar surroundings seeming to reassure her nervousness. She walked up towards the big house and found many girls there. It seemed—odd, somehow. They were all Fluxgirls. Lots of them. Not the kind found in New Eden now, either; these were the old style, tiny and with enormous proportions. Even stranger, while they all had on makeup and jewelry, they were all stark naked except for wearing open-toed high-heeled shoes with heels so high it seemed they had to fall off them when they walked, but they didn’t. They all had tattoos on their rumps as well, but she found she couldn’t read any of them.
One of them approached her and squealed, “Oh, Suzl! isn’t it wonderful! Now all of World, Flux and Anchor, is New Eden!”
With a shock she realized that it was Sondra speaking, reverted to Fluxgirl and even more extreme than before. She looked around further, even more confused, and finally recognized some of the others although much of the recognition appeared to be intuitive. Why, Cassie was here, and even Spirit and Morgaine had become Fluxgirls! And there were her daughters, and even her granddaughters.
“But where are the men?” she cried.
“Oh, when God judged World just now, He found them unworthy and changed them all to Fluxgirls as well,” someone explained. “After all, one man may service many girls, and many girls may serve one man.”
She looked around, horrified at what she was seeing. Then, out of the door to the house came a tall, handsome man in black. Verdugo! It was Verdugo! And he looked down at all of them in satisfaction, a leering look of absolute power and triumph on his face.
They rushed not only to do his bidding, but to anticipate it, and she found herself acting the same. Now she realized that she looked like the rest of the girls, and all that had gone before was already fading into incomprehension. She wanted to serve him, too. She wanted to be a slave, forever, as all the world would be slaves to these men in black, and their children and grandchildren unto eternity. She suddenly thought that was wonderful. . . .
She awoke with a start to find light streaming through the window, although it was still early. Sweat covered her body, and she lay there, suddenly wide awake, trembling. Oh, no, you sons of bitches! she thought, pure hatred and revulsion in her mind. I’ll turn the world to monsters before I’ll allow you that future!
The clan began arriving almost with the dawn, and it kept arriving most of the day. Matson was outraged that so many had come. That the parents of the kids would be there he’d expected, since he knew how he’d feel in their place, but the number of men and women, young and old, arriving from various points including Freehold made a small army. Most of them were hung up at the border. As soon as Matson realized what he was in for in spite of his instructions, he got Verdugo to slap on controls and allow in only specific people.
Sondra came, looking as she had so long ago—tall, dark-skinned, and beautiful, with shimmering silver hair, dressed all in black. It was not her old stringer’s outfit, though, but shiny leather. She made an impressive sight, and evoked some debate among the Fluxgirls working the inn, many of whom had never seen a woman of such size, beauty, and self-confidence in their lives. All would need a good therapy session before this was over.
Sondra was sympathetic to her father’s irritation. “But, Dad, what was I supposed to do? Somehow force a hundred angry wizards to stay back on the farm when there’re kids of theirs at stake?”
“Well, we’ll have to sneak out by them, with New Eden connivance,” he grumbled. “This just isn’t how it’s going to work out. In the meantime, go out and see if you can explain it to them.”
It was Verdugo, also taken aback by the horde on his doorstep, who offered solutions, but only at a price. “I want to know just what you’re planning,” he told Matson. “No holding back. I understand where your interests lie, and you understand mine, but both of us will have to cooperate for either to do much good.”