mess than usual. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night.
“I had it out with June,” he said dully.
Wiz put down the sheaf of papers. “Is she going back?”
Danny snorted. “Fuck no. That silly little bitch is determined to stay
here and get herself killed.” He growled in frustration and slammed his
fist down on the desk. “Goddamn her and her stubbornness.”
“I’m really sorry, man. I could ask Moira to talk to her.”
“What for? She won’t listen. She just rocks back and forth and shuts out
the world.”
Wiz couldn’t think of anything to say. When he had come to this World
Danny had been a self-centered twerp who did what he wanted and didn’t
care about anyone. Now he had others to worry about and he was having to
make hard choices. Wiz could sympathize. He’d had a fair measure of
twerphood in his makeup when he first met Moira. But there wasn’t anything
he could do to make the choice easier.
“She’s sending Ian back with Shauna,” Danny said finally. “That’s
something anyway.”
“But she won’t go?”
Danny bit his lip. “It’s real simple. Where I go she goes. And I’ve got to
be here.”
“Hey look, you could handle some of this stuff from the Capital.”
“Bullshit,” Danny said without heat. “The only place I can do any good is
here.”
“But the risk . . .”
“Moira’s staying here, isn’t she?” He looked up at Wiz with a ghost of a
smile. “Besides, I want a World for my kid to grow up in.” He looked down.
“Shit. I left my notebook back in my room. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Danny brushed past Jerry as he went out.
“What was that all about?” Jerry asked after Danny disappeared down the
hall.
“I think,” Wiz said wonderingly, “that was Danny growing up.”
By the time Danny got back Wiz and Jerry were hip-deep in trying to find
something to make the algorithm work faster. By noon they considered and
rejected at least four approaches.
Outside the computer center the Mousehole was abuzz with activity as
nearly everyone else got ready to leave. Guardsmen, servants and wizards
went back and forth in the hall carrying boxes, bags and piles of
clothing. They finally took a break when Moira came in to discuss details
of the move.
“You know,” Jerry said as he pushed back his chair, “I could think a lot
better if I didn’t feel like I had a target painted on my back.”
“Well, we’re stuck with it,” Danny said angrily. “We gotta stay and if
they find us we can’t fight. All we can do is hope we can get outta here
in time.”
“Wait a minute,” Wiz said slowly. “Maybe there is something we can do.”
“Like what?”
“Protection spells. Really heavy-duty protection spells. You know, like
force fields in the science fiction movies.”
Danny’s eyes lit up. “Hey, cool!”
“Do you think that would work?” Jerry asked.
“It might. At least it would be better than nothing.”
“Such spells are powerful magic that stands out strongly,” Moira said
dubiously.
“They stand out strongly in your World,” Wiz said. “But magical senses
don’t work as well here. Besides, Craig and Mikey don’t use magical
detectors the way your people do.”
“We hope,” Moira corrected. “And in any event, where do you propose to get
the time to create such a spell?”
“Oh, I’ve got most of the groundwork done already,” Wiz said. “I’ve been
working on it off and on ever since I was rescued from the City of Night.
Believe me, there is nothing like being nearly killed a dozen times over
to make you think about ways to protect yourself.”
“Voila!” Wiz proclaimed and placed five rings on the table like a handful
of jacks.
“They look like something out of a Crackerjack box,” Danny said dubiously.
“Well, as a matter of fact . . .” Wiz began. “Never mind. It isn’t what
they look like, it is what they do.”
“They are certainly charged with magic,” Moira said, eyeing the pile of
trinkets. “Even in this place they have powerful auras.”
“They’ve got more than that,” Wiz said smugly. “This is a truly tasty