“I—I really hadn’t realized it, even though I’ve been through there for years.”
“Uh huh. And most of them are baby factories, putting out an average of a dozen kids each in twenty years or so. Some more. Now add to that their culture. Every man’s technically in the army. The whole nation can be mobilized in a day if need be, and if all the phones work. Their regular army’s a quarter of a million and that’s bad enough, but the reserves still train and drill and are pretty good themselves. Army service is required, so they all had active duty. They rent out whole divisions as mercenaries to other Anchors and Fluxlands to blood them. See?”
“Go on.”
“Well, so they got twelve projectors and thirty, forty wizards. Hell, I bet we could get a hundred female wizards alone who’d go against ’em, all world-class and with lots of training, and we could easily match their probable two forward divisions, maybe ten thousand men. Projectors or not, we could probably wipe ’em clean. Not without cost, considering those projectors, but we’d win. So what would New Eden do? Sit back, wait for half a year until they had more projectors, then send out thirty more wizards and another two divisions. Maybe wait a year and send out twenty-six projectors, sixty wizards, and a hundred thousand troops. They gain a bit, but we stalemate them. They wait another year—and so on. They lose men, but one fellow can make seven girls pregnant in seven days. Meanwhile, their untouched population base, industrial base, research and development base, transportation base, and the like keep growing. See?”
“Then they’re—unbeatable,” Dell responded. “My God!”
“Uh uh. I thought so, until I checked in with the stringer headquarters in Logh Center and talked to a bunch of folks about what to do. You remember—when I went to send a message to Cass and the girls.”
“Yeah, I remember. So that’s what took so long!”
“Well, anyway, they were coming to the same conclusions and weren’t all that upset to see the projector stolen, either. We knew the raiders were too uneducated, too wild to be able to really handle it, and the fact that all but Habib were women implied it was more than just wildness but some kind of anti-New Eden thing. They needed some technology experts fast, and there were only three sources. New Eden was out, obviously, and they weren’t the sort to come to the Guild, so that left the third. Coydt van Haas’s elusive research Fluxland that Sligh tapped as well. We’ve been looking for it ever since Coydt died, but we never found it. Traces, some, and bits here and there, and occasional folks who knew somebody who knew somebody from there, but nothing else. With a projector, we figured that if these raiders didn’t know exactly where it was, the van Haas people would find them. Unfortunately, the latter happened first, so we still don’t know where it is. That’s what we were trailing them for.”
“What good would they do in all this?” Sondra asked, fascinated now. Her father wasn’t disappointing her.
“Well, somebody up in the Two-Six Gap, within the last year, managed to launch a couple of things clear out of this world and into space. Just like a military powder rocket, only big and strong enough to carry beyond the atmosphere. We monitored it, but by the time anybody got there all traces had been erased. We have to assume they weren’t just throwing stones out there. Any rocket or other vehicle that can go that far and hit where it’s aimed is not just transportation, either. Pack it with explosives, launch it from Flux, and make it hit anywhere you want. Space is a real big place and it takes a hell of a lot of speed to get something out there. Considering that, hitting any place you want inside New Eden would be child’s play.”
Sondra gave a low whistle. “And that’s what they have? A projector and these rockets?”
“Well, they have a projector, and they have folks there who know about those rockets or whatever they are. Spirit mentioned the Seven. Where else would they hide out to plot something new except at Coydt’s old place? So, since they didn’t give us the keys to Coydt’s front door, we’ll have to make sure they win. And make sure those bad ones down there have to bring up the rockets. To make them use the rockets, we first have to crush the initial thrust of New Eden and its projectors. It’s those projectors Coydt’s folks are coveting, anyway. I’d bet my last cigar on it. Crush New Eden, grab those projectors, and they’ve neutralized the Guild and any masses of wizards. No competition, no threat, and they get all the goodies in the bag.”
Sondra nodded. “So at last this goofy expedition of ours makes sense. All right, I have the basics now. Just what do you plan to do?”
“Well, first, sexy-legs here isn’t fit to try any physical transformations on himself at the moment, so he gets on a horse with a bunch of messages and he rides until he reaches one of our friendlies. Then he hitches a ride to Guildhall and gives those messages to the general staff there and sees their wizards abut getting that spell removed. Dell, they’ll explain the rest to you when the time comes, and although you aren’t a stringer, you’re the son and the grandson of stringers, so they’ll let you in on the finish. Jeff and the rest of the brood, too.”
“And me?” Sondra asked him.
“You, Daughter, have a more complicated mission that’ll take some time to explain, but it’s one of the reasons I particularly wanted you along without the immediate family.”
“Uh—Granddad?” Dell put in. “You know they’ll have to turn you into a girl.”
He shrugged. “I always had a fondness for the ladies,” he responded, puffing on his cigar. “And I sure as hell been a lot worse at one time or another.” He paused, then grew more serious. “Listen, you two. Now that Morgaine’s out of the way, we can really prepare. I’m sorry after all this we have so little time, but this caper’s gonna be so dangerous that it’ll take a lot of work—fast—and be more dangerous than Spirit’s noble effort.”
A lone figure on a large black horse made its way out of the void and onto the semi-distinct apron of the Fluxland whose name he didn’t even know. He knew he was expected; although he couldn’t do anything about it, even false wizards could see Flux activation, and he knew the projector had put a monitor there, waiting for him.
The other side wasn’t long in coming. Just two figures, one a naked, blond Eve on a somewhat-symbolic white horse; the other a larger, more garish figure with heavy makeup, red hair that looked like a wig but was not, and dressed in gold and crimson that revealed a less-than-desirable figure beneath. The pair stopped just inside the shield, the Eve making no comment or even looking curious.
“Well, damn me if it isn’t Chua Gabaye!” he exclaimed, although he didn’t really sound so surprised. “And who’s the other one who came with you? Tongloss?”
“Ming, darling! Ming Tokiabi! We’re the last ones, you know. And you’re something of a last of your kind, too. We’ve never met before, I don’t believe, but we have so much in common in our pasts. You will never know how absolutely delighted I am to have you in this position!”
“What’s your beef, Gabaye? I saved your ample ass back at Gate Four. You were all set to join the little furball zombie brigade.”
“You and that little twit who saved me condemned me to forty-seven long additional years of boredom, darling! This is the most fun I’ve had in simply ages!”
“If that’s your complaint, I can end it all for you right here,” he suggested helpfully.
She smiled sweetly at him. “Oh, my, no! Not now! Not when it’s getting a wee bit interesting again.”
“Let’s get this over with,” he said impatiently. “How do I know that’s Spirit?”
Chua looked shocked. “Would I lie to you?” She stopped for a moment. “How silly! Of course I would! But, darling, suppose it isn’t? What in the world could you do about it? Conjure up a transparent dragon? How absolutely frightening! Or, perhaps, bind me with those cute little strings of yours?”
“Personally, nothing,” he admitted. “However, I assume that this area is being monitored using the projector, and for something like this I expect Suzl on the other end. Somehow, I don’t think Suzl wants Spirit in this any more than I do. Not at this stage and in that condition. And I have a few little surprises I’d rather not discuss until I need them. So, prove to me that this is an honest swap.”
Chua turned and merely glanced casually at the Eve. Intelligence and awareness of it all seemed to flow into the woman like liquid into a bottle, and she looked at the scene with bright, intelligent eyes and realized what was going on. “Dad! Don’t do it! Not for her!”
“I’m not doing it for her, I’m doing it for you—partly,” he assured her. “Don’t worry, honey. They aren’t gonna mess with my mind. They need me to show ’em how to beat New Eden.”
“You know how to beat New Eden?” Gabaye asked, seemingly honestly.
“I’ve got a pretty good idea. It’s an interesting challenge, anyway. Spirit, I want to know the name of the chief gardener in New Pericles.”
She looked surprised. “Why, Bruton.”
“O.K., it’s you. Can you check yourself over, make sure Chua, here, hasn’t left any little traps to go off later?”
Spirit did a check. “I think it’s just the binding spell,” she told him. “But—Dad, why? You know Suzl wouldn’t have harmed me.”
“Honey, if we don’t beat New Eden we’ll all get measured for heels and fancy panty-hose anyway, even Madam Glamor, here. That’s first priority. Everything else can wait until then. Now, the only folks who have a shot are these people. I got four months maximum to turn ’em from amateurs into professionals.”
“But—where do I go now?”
“Dell and Sondra will meet you when you get out a little ways and explain things. Don’t be too shocked by Dell’s appearance. He hasn’t gotten over it himself, yet. A little gift from our friend, here.”
Chua smiled sweetly again. “I do hope he tries to untangle that one. Whoever does will be simply gorgeous!”
Spirit stared at him. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. Trust me this time, like you usually do. Go on, now. I’ve got work to do.”
She hesitated a moment more, then kicked her heels in and rode through the shield and off into the void.
“You sound almost as if you wanted to do this,” Gabaye noted suspiciously.
“There are three factions on this world able to do big things. I represent one of them. You represent another. New Eden is our common enemy in this. Me, I’d rather knock them over than be sitting around one day and suddenly grow big breasts and have an urgent desire to wash the walls.”
“You realize, of course, that we can’t permit you in here—as you are. I’m afraid it would not only lead to all sorts of problems but also give you a big advantage.”
“I figured as much. Suzl, if you’re listening in, I’m willing to play ball on your side, but there are a lot of protective spells on me I can’t possibly understand and I don’t think Chua, here, has figured out either, although she’s been trying for five minutes. My form’s another matter. I had those spells tripped. I know the score in there.”
Chua looked thoughtful. “Let’s see. . . . What sort of a girl should you be? Not an Eve, certainly. Perhaps an Ayesha. Really learn how the other half is forced to live.”
“You could do it,” he agreed, “but if you want me to lead this new army and work with them and train them, that body’ll be more harm than help. I’ll need a more authoritative figure than that. How about Sondra?”
“But I don’t know your Sondra, darling!”
“Suzl does. What about it, Suzl? Can’t you see the imposing figure of Sondra training and leading these troops? Besides, I always thought that if I was a woman I’d want to look like Sondra.”
Chua started to open her mouth, but the spell came through the grid and then rose up and engulfed the figure on the horse, although not the horse and saddle itself. When it subsided, the big man was gone, but in his place was the equally imposing visage of his older daughter, in black stringer outfit including hat and boots, dark skin, silver hair. Only Matson’s pistols remained as they were, and the gunbelt now hung a bit too much on the hips. Unhesitatingly, the new Matson urged the big black horse forward and crossed to the Fluxland.
“Now, that wasn’t bad at all,” said Matson in a new, low, almost sultry feminine voice that still contained the same Matson accent and tonalities. “Lead on!” the new woman said. “And along the way I’ll want the answers to some big questions.”
13
COMMON AND UNCOMMON ENEMIES
When the familiar figure came into view, Morgaine could only think, My God! They caught Sondra! She started to rush up to her, but something stopped her. Something here was not quite right. Sondra was clearly no prisoner, although she looked herself and not like one of Suzl’s wizards, and there was something slightly wrong in the carriage and the mannerisms. Besides, when did Sondra take up smoking cigars?
She wondered if this were some sort of trick. Were they perhaps creating a duplicate Sondra to replace the real one?
Chua Gabaye pointed, and she and “Sondra” walked towards and then into Suzl’s main tent. Although they had the power here to build castles and cities, they had not done so. Suzl didn’t want the people to get too comfortable too quickly, and she also knew that they would eventually have to move.
Matson was genuinely shocked with the primitiveness of it all, and even more shocked to see poor Suzl. She looked a lot like Morgaine had, of course, but the blindness, an affliction only seen in strictly closed Anchors before, was evident. Suzl also looked very tired, and not at all the voluptuous vision she was supposed to be. The electronic voice, which always shocked everybody, made the scene if anything even more unreal.
“Hello, Matson.”
“Suzl. Thanks for the use of Sondra’s form.” The voice was a bit lower than Sondra’s and definitely had a different edge to it. It sounded, in fact, like Matson’s voice, only one half-octave up. Still, to those who hadn’t known him, the figure seemed more like one of feminine strength than masculine transformed. This figure moved like a woman, sat like a woman, and seemed quite comfortable with the form. The figure was commanding, but unless you knew the facts you would swear that Matson had been born that way.