Chaos Mode

CHAPTER 9—ANIMA

DARIUS lay in the tent, awake between two sleeping women as dawn approached. He hoped they wouldn’t regret this. Colene had a positive genius for solving problems, and an almost as strong negative genius for making new problems. Her simple solution to Nona’s problem was complicated and perhaps dangerous in its details.

First they had to conjure to the East Sea. Oria was part of the fractal reality of Julia, in which every planet was connected by invisibly thin filaments and the entire universe was a deviously connected mass. Colene’s mental image, culled from her research bank in her home Mode of Earth, showed an essentially two-dimensional pattern. Each planet was shaped like a six-legged bug, with the head pointed west, with the filaments entering it at the east and departing in many directions from the bumps called rads—radicals—on its surface. There were smaller rads between the larger ones, in descending subpatterns of increasing complexity. Here in the Julia Mode the pattern was three-dimensional, and the rads projected on four sides. The surface of a pristine planet was a complicated array, but inhabited worlds were broken down by the forces of weather and the depredations of man so that they came to resemble the home worlds known by Colene, Seqiro, Burgess, and himself.

To a degree. Nona was so accustomed to the filaments that she didn’t even notice them, but Darius did. From every rad filaments issued, and these formed marvelous recurring patterns that became visible at night. All through the sky the starlike networks showed. They fascinated him in their wondrous intricacy. His eye could trace a pattern through endless loops and whirls and curls, until the fineness of the detail defeated his vision. Not merely in the large sky; the near sky had similar, smaller patterns, right down to the very spot he lay, where the filaments remained, though the original rads had been removed. It was as if they were silent ghosts, forever marking the sites of their original bodies. He knew that there were invisibly small planets associated with these patterns, and that many of these tiny planets had populations of trees, animals, and people, much like Oria. Every one was a complete world, in scale, with its effects of gravity, season, and life self-similar. It would be hard to imagine a more remarkable universe than this, yet the locals took it all for granted.

It was this duplication and similarity of planets that Colene depended on to solve Nona’s problem. There would not be another woman exactly like Nona elsewhere, but there would be other women with similar attitudes and powers. They could indeed do as well with the world of Oria as Nona could, and probably better, because they would have the motive she lacked, and there would be a number of them. So it was a flash of inspiration to think of that. But what a job it would be to accomplish! It was quite within the realm of possibility that one or more of them would get killed in the process. That was the corollary to Colene’s bright notion.

But what could he do except play it through? If it succeeded, Nona would be able to rejoin them on the Virtual Mode, and that was good. His interest might be suspect, for Nona was as lovely a woman in form and personality as he had encountered. She had marvelous musical and magical abilities. It would be easy for any man to love her.

But it was Colene he loved, and were it not for her age and inner core of depression she would be ideal. Because she had intelligence, initiative, and courage, which could be awesome when they manifested, and she was hardly inferior in other qualities. Now she wanted to help Nona escape the emotional call of Oria, and that was generous of her. Nona was certainly an asset on the Virtual Mode, but Colene also saw her as a threat to Colene’s relationship with Darius; that was why he considered her attitude to be generous. There was also something to be said for keeping the group together, at least until they arrived at Darius’ home Mode. Thereafter—he did not know. Could the Virtual Mode continue, with Nona, Seqiro, and Burgess, after he and Colene got off? It would be a significant risk to free his anchor, because no one could know what the next anchor would be. But if he didn’t, it would leave them with no replacement anchor person, and a group too small to be the hive Burgess needed. So he had no answer for that, yet.

Now the dawn was brightening, and the filaments were fading. They were still there, of course, but invisible and imperceptible; his body passed through them without effect. Filaments of any size were intangible unless special magic was used to address them. Which was what they were about to do. They had to go to the main filament at the east pole of the planet, because that one led to larger planets, and thence to others the same size as Oria. They had to find one the same size, because otherwise the people would be larger or smaller than the natives of Oria, and would not be able to mesh well.

He got up, trying not to disturb the others, but both woke when he stirred. Each was so lovely in her way, Nona a radiant young woman of eighteen, Colene a pretty girl of fourteen. They stretched almost together, their breasts moving under their night tunics. Oh, how he wished he could—but he could not. Because the one who was old enough was not his, and the one who was his was not old enough. It was at times an exquisite torture. At times he really missed his life as Cyng of Hlahtar, with bouncy Ella so eager to warm his bed.

“I caught that, manface,” Colene said, forcing a cute frown.

“You couldn’t have. Seqiro—”

“With my own mind reading,” she said. “I’m getting better at it, you know.”

Was she bluffing? If she ever caught on how much he desired her, she would be almost irresistible, because she would have no conscience about her blandishments. She was too young, and she believed that that made her unappealing in his eyes, but it was not so. She was almost the ultimate in forbidden fruit.

“Gee, I am?” she asked, pleased.

She had to be guessing! He turned away, somewhat shaken. Colene laughed, well satisfied with herself.

“What is going on?” Nona asked her. Now it was Seqiro’s ambience conveying the communication to him; he did not need to be within earshot.

“He was thinking sexy thoughts,” Colene replied. “He has this deal with horseface, not to relay them, but I peeped on my own. He thinks you’re a beautiful woman, but you’re not his, and I’m a pretty girl, but I’m too young. When we both stretched just now, it just about drove him crazy, because of the way our breasts moved. He wished he was back in bed with bouncy Ella, in his own Mode, where the girls wear big diapers by day but can get pretty juicy by night.”

That could not be guessing! She had picked it up exactly.

“This is not right,” Nona said reprovingly. “You should not tease him, when he is trying to treat you correctly.”

“I don’t want to tease him, I want to love him! But he won’t touch me.”

“Let me think about that,” Nona said. “You are solving my problem; I shall have to try to solve yours.”

Darius would have liked nothing better than to have this problem solved. But only time would make Colene old enough, years of time. How was he going to survive that? Colene did not like the idea of him being with any other woman, even one he was not serious about.

“You got that right!” Colene yelled from the tent.

This was going to get more difficult. Her limited telepathy was definitely getting less limited.

No, I relayed that thought, Seqiro thought. It was situational, not sexual.

That was a relief! At least he retained some privacy, if he wasn’t close to Colene.

But there was no sense dwelling in this, when there was an immediate problem to tackle. He and Nona, working together, could enable the group to travel along the filaments between planets. But that was only the beginning. They had to find one Oria’s size, with a human population, and the anima. There might be thousands of such worlds in Julia, but there were millions of planets the wrong size, and it would be easy to get lost in the maze of filaments. How could they efficiently locate an appropriate one?

Then he had it: Angus. Angus was their giant friend on Jupiter, the next larger world up the local filament. They had encountered him when they had been trapped in this Mode, and he had helped them to bring the anima. Perhaps he would help them again. Certainly he should have relevant advice.

Heartened, Darius went about his business. In due course they gathered together for the conjuration. It had taken time for Nona’s familiar to fly to the East Sea, to orient on a suitable spot. Darius could conjure only to a known or observed site; otherwise the risk of landing in a tree was too great. In a tree did not mean reclining on its foliage; it meant flesh overlapping with wood. That could be extremely awkward.

He invoked and moved the grouped icons, and abruptly the five of them were on the beach by the East Sea. Now they needed Nona’s magic, because the filament connected under the sea. The sea actually filled in the giant dimple on the east side of the planet, and was deepest at the connection. So Nona had to make an underwater breathing apparatus for them.

Soon Nona had done that. There was now a giant breathing bell, which would hold a supply of air for them all, constantly renewed by Nona’s magic. They changed into brief trunks, which Nona also made magically, and entered the water. Each wore heavy shaped weights on the feet, to keep them all on the bottom. Seqiro took the center under the bell. Nona rode on him, while Darius walked ahead, using a lead rope and halter to guide the horse. It looked much like their road show, except for the water.

Colene walked beside Burgess, to whom she related well, keeping a hand on one of his contact points so that he would remain current. He had his own air bell, because he was too low to use the main one. His gills were concealed under his canopy, and needed a relatively small amount of air, which then was wafted to the rear to provide some forward propulsion. He did not need the huge amount required for floating, because now he was floating in the water. His main propulsion was provided by his trunk, which could process water as readily as air or sand, but he had some difficulty maintaining his balance. So Colene was helping to anchor and steer him, as each jet of water sent him surging somewhat randomly ahead.

They made their way on down, losing track of the time, eating as they went. They took turns sleeping, with Nona first, on the horse. Then she exchanged with Darius. Then they both hauled Seqiro slowly along while he slept. Meanwhile Burgess gave Colene a ride, her weight bearing him down so that he could brace against the bottom and achieve better stability, and she slept. Then she hauled him along through the water while he slept. None of this was perfect or easy, but they managed.

At last they reached the depth and found the filament. It was simply a band of light moving up from the center of the dimple. When he looked closely, he saw that it was not really simple; it was fashioned of a tapestry of finer lines, which in turn were composed of vanishingly thin microfilaments. He knew that if he could magnify it, the lines would become yet finer in their definition, with no end to their diminishing intricacies. This fractal universe of Julia was a wonder in a number of ways.

They gathered together in a tight group, with Nona in the center on Seqiro, who was standing over Burgess. Burgess touched one of Nona’s feet with his trunk, while Colene and Darius took her hands. Then Nona invoked her ability to travel along the filament.

The wan light expanded. Suddenly they were sailing up through it, leaving the planet behind. Darius concentrated on the surroundings, trying to fathom their fascinating detail, but as before, he could catch only hints. The mosaic of the massed filaments was too devious to grasp in an instant, and the pattern was continuously changing.

They landed on Jupiter, the next larger planet, about eighteen times Oria’s diameter. They could see that they were on a mound, which was on a larger mound, in turn on a larger one, leading into the monstrous world. This was the spike of one of the larger rads at the north side of Jupiter. Here everything was in the larger scale, so that ants could be as long as Darius’ foot. But they would not have to deal with ants; they had a friend, here.

Angus! Seqiro called mentally. Nona is here.

They waited. Soon enough a giant man came flying across the variegate surface of the planet. This was Angus, the friend they had made during their prior stay in the Julia Mode.

He hovered near, and extended an enormous hand. They scrambled onto it, with the three humans guiding the horse, then lifting Burgess across, with the considerable aid of Seqiro’s coordination and temporary jolt of strength. Angus had to extend his other hand to hold them all comfortably.

Angus peered at them within his cupped hands. He spoke softly, almost in a whisper, so as not to overwhelm them with his sound, and Seqiro translated his words for their minds. “One of you has changed.”

“Provos has gone home, with her adopted son and granddaughter,” Nona explained. “Our new associate is Burgess, from the Shale Mode. He is the product of alternate evolution going back about five hundred million years.” She had learned this explanation from Colene.

Angus lifted, flying out across the tiered rads toward the main mass of Jupiter. Darius had been quite nervous the first time he had been carried like this, but he now had confidence in the giant’s competence and consideration, and was only moderately awed. “And why do I have the pleasure of your company again?” Angus asked.

“We have a problem, again, of course,” Nona said. She smiled. She had a marvelous smile, and its effect on the giant was apparent. “I would have liked to visit you anyway, Angus, but I needed a pretext.”

“I would accept you without a pretext, Nona.”

Darius knew that was true. Nona had won him with her special playing of her hammer dulcimer, before, and he had been loyal to her since. Darius also knew that the giant’s help would be invaluable, and that Angus would give it gladly.

“We did bring the anima to Oria,” Nona said. “I had no wish to be queen there, so left with my friends, to travel the Virtual Mode. But a mind predator attacked Colene, and we had to exit through this anchor. Then I discovered that my world was in chaos. Now I must try to help it, to alleviate the grief I brought to it. I need to find women of the anima, from an established anima world, to go to Oria and govern it until the new generation emerges.”

“Ah, I had not thought of that,” Angus said. “You wish to have competent help in governing.”

“No, I wish to return to the Virtual Mode, having no taste for governance, or for marriage and children as yet. I wish to explore, while I have my youth and magic. But I must see to my world’s welfare first.”

He nodded as he came to land beside his giant house. “This is not a suitable world, being both animus and somewhat large. I presume you desire one of the same size as yours.”

“Yes. There should be several such worlds. If you could take us to one of those, it would greatly facilitate my mission.”

“I will gladly take you there. But I fear your disappointment.” He entered his house, then set his hands at his giant table so that they could get off.

“They will not help me?”

“They may be willing, but unable. Their magic will derive from their own worlds, and perhaps will not apply to yours.”

“But your magic worked on Oria,” Nona reminded him. “Theirs should also.”

“Jupiter is a world in the direct line of descent to Oria,” Angus said. “The animus travels in that direction, so seems to have force throughout. But the worlds which are equivalent to yours spring from three different rads, and are parallel, not senior. Also, the anima flows oppositely, and may not obey any similar rule. That may make a difference.”

Nona evidently hadn’t thought of that. “Can we verify that?” she asked, concerned.

“Only by trying. Perhaps it will be all right, because they are parallel.”

“I hope so. Even if the magic of those women derives from their own world, perhaps it will carry across to Oria. They may not be drawing on Oria’s power, but may be much the same.”

“This is possible.” Darius wasn’t certain whether Angus was trying to ease her worry, having warned her of the possibility of failure, or really believed in the chance.

“We would like to go immediately,” Nona said. “My world is in pain, and I wish to alleviate it as quickly as I can.”

“I fear there will be no painless answer,” Angus said. “But your notion may indeed diminish the pain.”

“It was Colene’s notion,” Nona said.

Angus turned his gaze on Colene, who was standing with Burgess, her hand on a contact point. “Ah, the science maiden,” he said, extending his littlest finger to chuck her under the chin. Darius was afraid she would react negatively, because she did have some odd ideas about the proper interactions between men and women, but she actually put her chin forward to touch the tip of his finger. It was evident that she liked the giant. “The intelligent one.”

“The depressive one,” Colene said, but she was pleased.

“The traits can go together,” Angus said sadly. “One pursues the pursuits of the mind when the pursuits of the heart are lacking.”

Darius realized that the giant, for all his formidable powers of magic, was lonely. He could surely find a woman if he chose, but perhaps was choosy. Darius understood about that.

“If I were your size, they would not be lacking,” Nona said. She was actually flirting with Angus! Perhaps that was because during their prior visit here the giant had told them a story, and shown it in illusion-vision, about a man of his world, named Earle, and his impossible love for a woman of the next larger world, named Kara. It had been a charming and perhaps not entirely fanciful legend.

“Surely so,” Angus agreed. “But circumstance has destined that we both be adventurous in other ways.”

“Yes.” She blew him a kiss. Darius, accustomed to Nona’s completely nonseductive ordinary manner, was almost jealous, seeing how she could be when she chose.

“Oh, you are, are you?” Colene demanded, turning to him with a frown.

“I shall have to do something about that telepathy of yours,” Darius muttered. “Still, I didn’t see you turning away your chin when Angus chucked you.”

“Yeah? Find yourself a woman his size, and you can flirt with her all you want.”

“I will take you,” Angus said to Nona. “Do you wish to go alone, or together?”

“Together,” Nona said. “I would feel inadequate alone.”

Angus put his hands down again, and they climbed on. Then he took them out and up, flying rapidly across the monstrous countryside. He was huge, but so was his planet, and despite his velocity the journey took some time. They relaxed, having a meal and even snoozing, secure in the gentle hands.

In due course Angus came to a rad which looked identical to the one by which they had arrived at Jupiter. That was not surprising; only its position on the planet distinguished it. He mounted the filament, and they were back in the speeding light of the alternate realm of patterns. Their movement seemed faster than when Nona had brought them, and perhaps it was, being proportional to the scale of the giant.

Then they were in the sea, protected by Angus’ magic, which was as strong and versatile as Nona’s. It was clear why there had been no revolution on Oria before Nona brought the anima; the men of the animus had had overwhelming force of magic. But if women with that same magic were brought in, then there should soon be peace again, perforce.

Angus bounced out of his landing place in the dimple of the East Sea and reached the surface. He did not bother to swim; he simply rose up into the air and flew above the sea, letting the water drip away from his body. The five of them cupped within his hands were not wet at all. This was certainly the way to travel!

“Now before we approach a community, we must formulate a plan,” Angus said. “I suspect it will be better if I do not appear, at first. So I will clothe myself in an illusion of nothing.” At which point he disappeared, and the rest of them with him; Darius could not even see his own body. It was as if he were a ghost floating high in the air, alone.

“Yeah, a plan, for sure,” Colene agreed from empty space nearby. “Here we’ve been zooming along, and we never thought how to present the case. Maybe just have Nona walk up to the town hall or whatever and talk to the headman?”

“There will be no headman, if it’s anima,” Darius pointed out. “And maybe no headwoman either, if it just happened. This could be another world of chaos.”

“I wish we could tell just by looking,” Colene said. “But I guess a farmstead is a farmstead, no matter who has the magic. We need to talk with someone.”

Nona considered. He could tell not by sight, which was vacant, but by her thought. Then she came to a tentative conclusion. “Perhaps Darius and I should approach the leader of a village, or a castle, with Seqiro. Colene can wait with Burgess in the forest nearby, with Angus, and should there be trouble, they can decide what to do.”

“Seems good to me,” Colene said. “I can connect some with Angus, mentally, so we can be coordinated. Maybe we should stay out of sight until Seqiro sends a signal. If there are women ready to volunteer, they still need to be prepared for Burgess and Angus.”

So Angus came to land in a forest glade between a village and a castle built around a suitably sized rad. The terrain of this world seemed very similar to that of Oria, making it parallel in every visible respect. Darius wondered whether there was any cache of giant musical instruments, as there was near the anchor on Oria. That depended on whether the giants of Jupiter had colonized this world, millennia ago, and been unable to use their instruments when succeeding generations grew smaller to accommodate the scale of the planet. Certainly it was possible. It seemed that all the Julia universe had been colonized by the species of man, originating from one world. No one knew which world that had been. The legend Angus had told suggested that it was Oria, but there could be similar legends identifying other worlds scattered throughout this universe. However, the fact that the anchor was on Oria, and its people were the same size as those of other Modes, suggested that Oria could be the origin. Men might have crossed to it via some other Virtual Mode, too long ago for contemporary memory. All the other animals, and the plants, might have crossed the same way, brought by man.

“Yeah, like Adam and Eve,” Colene said as they became visible. “The Garden of Eden might have been on some other Mode, and the first man and woman came here with a Noah’s Ark full of goodies, I mean animals and seeds galore, to be fruitful and multiply across a new universe.”

“Unless man evolved in Julia, and crossed from here to the other Modes,” Darius suggested.

“It sure is a bigger framework than we know,” she agreed. “Back on Earth, they think Earth is all there is. I’d like to take one of their scientists and give him a taste of the Virtual Mode!”

Soon the three set out, in a reduced version of the traveling show: Darius wearing a blue tunic, leading Seqiro, with Nona riding, her tunic red. This was an innocuous group that should be able to pass muster as either me servant of an animus man leading his master’s horse and mistress, or an anima woman with her horse and husband. Darius was armed with a theow club, which he as an animus servant might carry more for show than for use. Not all men had magic, on an animus world; only the firstborn and firstborn descendants of firstborns. Just as it would be the lastborns of the lastborns who had the most magic, on an anima world. The pattern of magic became confusion to Darius, and he never had figured out exactly how it worked.

At least there were no barricades. Seqiro explored the minds of the inhabitants as the three approached the village, orienting more rapidly because they were quite similar to those he had encountered on Oria. Almost immediately he had the answer: These are animus.

“Then there is no point in proceeding farther,” Nona said with regret. “We do not want more animus on Oria. In fact, we do not want them even to know that Oria has changed, lest they get mischievous ideas.”

Seqiro started to turn, to go back the way they had come without entering the village. But at that point someone came out from the village, hailing them. “You folk lost?” a man in blue called. “Who you looking for?”

“We changed our minds,” Darius replied. He had to be the spokesman here, being male. “We have decided not to visit this village.”

“Where are you from?” the man asked.

“A far village,” Darius said, not wishing to misrepresent their situation, but also not wishing to give it away.

“Have you checked in with the despots? You have to know you can’t just come through here on your own without despot approval.”

“We had better do that, then,” Darius said, feeling uncomfortable.

“I will lead you to the castle,” the man said.

“There is no need; we can see it from here.”

“I insist. It is my job to inform the despots of anything that happens in the village.”

Worse yet! Darius had forgotten how tightly the despots of Oria had controlled things, when they had been in power.

Now a blackbird altered course and flew toward them. That is a despot familiar, Seqiro thought. I can stun it.

“I think you had better,” Darius said. Then, to the man: “We have decided not to check in with the despots after all. We will simply go away and not disturb your village.”

“You are acting suspiciously,” the man said. He started to raise his right hand.

Stop him! Seqiro’s thought came. Grabbing his club, Darius leaped for the man. He saw the bird falling out of the sky as Seqiro stunned it.

But the man had a club of his own. He lifted it to parry Darius’ blow, and it was quickly apparent that he knew more about its effective use than Darius did.

Then the man leaped up into the air—and didn’t come down. His arms and legs flailed ineffectively, unable to gain purchase against the air.

Darius stepped back, realizing that Nona had used her magic to lift the man up. But she would not be able to hold him that way long, because magic did take energy.

The man dropped into a bush. He scrambled up and fled, having had enough. Darius felt fear, and knew that Seqiro was assisting the man on his way. Nona was breathing hard, but was all right. They retreated up the road, leaving the village behind.

“We did not handle that smoothly,” Darius remarked, trying to smile.

“At least we learned what we needed to,” Nona said. “This world has nothing for us.”

They rounded a turn in the road, about to cut back into the forest to rejoin the rest of their party. But a black-clad man was riding a horse at a gallop toward them, evidently having been alerted. Probably there had been more than one familiar, and a party had been sent out to intercept the suspicious strangers before the first familiar had been stunned. This was trouble.

“Oh, he’ll have magic matching mine!” Nona exclaimed. “I don’t know what to do!”

“Try a fireball,” Darius suggested, hurrying back to take Seqiro’s lead again.

She tried, but he felt her failure. “I can’t do it, here. It just doesn’t work.”

Darius realized that the Virtual Mode had limits which did not perfectly match those of any one of its component anchor Modes. So Nona was actually a better magician there than in her home Mode, while being restricted on other Modes, just as he was. Some day he would like to know exactly what the rules were. They surely had a sensible pattern, if only he could fathom it.

But right now they had a pressing problem, and he had no better idea what to do than Nona did. Colene liked to type him as a leader, but he really wasn’t; she was the leader. When things got difficult, sometimes he figured out a good course, and sometimes he just blundered through. Colene thought of him as the King of Laughter, as if he had executive power and was happy, but his power was more like that of a public servant, and happiness was not really its essence. Distributing joy had its down side. He really was no adventurer by choice.

Meanwhile the black-cloaked horseman was charging toward them, and now he heard another set of hoofbeats from the village: another despot. They were trapped.

Oh, for pity’s sake! Colene’s thought came. Let me handle it.

Darius was glad to agree, and so was Nona. Both of them let Seqiro bring Colene’s mind into theirs, so that she could for the moment act for them.

The first despot arrived, his horse coming to a halt with a spray of pebbles from the road. He was a saturnine man with a scar on his forehead. “Who are you, theows?” he demanded roughly.

“We don’t have to answer to you,” Darius said for Colene. It was an odd experience, letting his mouth speak her words. “We are on a mission for my master, who brooks no interference.”

The despot scowled. Suddenly Darius was lifted into the air, magically. “Identify your master, or he will lose you.”

Then the despot rose into the air. His jaw dropped; he was not doing it himself. Colene had made Nona do it. “Does your master care to lose you too, scarface?” his mouth inquired belligerently.

Both men dropped abruptly, as the despot oriented his power on himself to counter the outside force. That meant that Darius was free. He reached for his club, but was abruptly frozen in place. He was able to move only his eyes, and maintain his balance so he wouldn’t fall.

“What goes?” the other despot called, arriving on his horse. He must be the one now controlling Darius.

“These theows have magic,” the first replied. “I think we have a foreign despot here in disguise. His tongue is too insolent to belong to a theow.”

“Then he’s not protected by the covenant,” the second said. “We don’t have to treat him fairly unless he identifies himself. He forfeits his rights.”

Colene had only gotten them into deeper trouble! Darius knew that Nona could not hope to prevail against two despots. Darius himself could do nothing; he remained frozen by the despot’s magic.

“Then let’s take his things,” the first despot said. “I’ll take that excellent horse.” He grabbed Seqiro’s halter.

“And I’ll take this excellent woman,” the second despot said. He grabbed for Nona, who screamed and sailed up into the air herself.

“That’s not this man’s doing,” the second despot said, astonished. “I have him covered. That has to be the woman herself! We have an amazon here!”

“These strangers must be from another world,” the first despot agreed. “This is several times as remarkable as we thought.”

“Well, she’s one lovely creature, and I want her,” the second despot said. “You hold her while I rape her.”

“I’ll take over the man,” the first despot said. “You hold her yourself.”

Darius felt a subtle change, and knew that the magic freezing him in place was now wielded by a different despot. Meanwhile Nona screamed again, discovering her magic canceled by that of the second despot. That man now grabbed her ankle and hauled her down physically.

Then a burst of terrible fear smote them all. Seqiro had sent out the strongest possible emotion. Both despots fell back, mistaking the fear for their own, not understanding it. Nona, released for the moment, descended slowly back to the horse. Darius, similarly released, quickly brought out his three icons, activated them, put one arm against Nona’s leg and Seqiro’s side, and moved the icons from Here to There.

But as he did so, both despots grabbed for Darius and Nona. The wrenching came, and the three were back in the forest glade—and so were the two black-clad men.

“Oh, no!” Colene cried. “The despots came too! And Angus is off in the sky.”

The freeze clamped on again. Darius couldn’t act, even to move the icons. He saw that Nona was fighting off the second despot again, his magic canceling hers, making the combat physical. Darius knew that the scene had changed but not the situation: the two despots had too much magic.

Then the first despot grunted and fell. Darius was freed. He saw Burgess moving his trunk to cover the other despot. A stone flew out, striking the second despot on the head. Burgess was taking both men out!

“Okay, conjure us all out of here, Darius,” Colene said. “We want to lose these despots before they wake up.”

“No, better to conjure the despots out,” Darius said.

“Say, yeah! Do it.”

He brought out two blank human icons. He took a hair from the head of each despot and stuck it onto an icon. He touched each icon to the mouth of each despot, to get saliva, and in the process picked up some breath too. Then he activated the icons, and designated Here and There. He moved the two icons, and the two despots disappeared.

“Great!” Colene said. “Where’d you send them?”

“Back to their castle,” he said, indicating the castle, whose topmost turret was just visible through foliage.

“But you haven’t been there, so you don’t have it perfectly zeroed in.”

“Correct; they may arrive imperfectly zeroed in. Such as in the moat. It may be uncomfortable.”

She laughed. “That’s right! We don’t care if they get bruised in transit. They sure won’t mess with us again.”

Darius nodded. “However, this has been a chancy endeavor. If Burgess hadn’t taken those despots out, we could have been in real trouble.”

“Such as some of us getting raped or killed,” Colene agreed. “And never making it back to Oria or the anchor. Yeah, when I saw what happened, I told Burgess to let ‘em have it in the heads. They never expected that kind of attack. We’re going to have to plan the next planet for less bungling. We sort of did this one by the seat of our pants, and that’s no good against despots with magic.”

“At least it reminds us how bad the despots of Oria were,” Nona said. “I thought that chaos was worse than rule by the despots, but now I think it isn’t.”

There was a sound, and the ground shuddered. Then Angus appeared, literally: he had landed while invisible, then stopped the illusion of nothing so that they could see him. “I gather this is the wrong world,” he said.

“Way wrong,” Colene agreed. “But we have a couple to go yet.”

“But at least we have ascertained that folk from a parallel world will be able to wield their magic on yours.”

“How do we know that?” Nona asked.

“If your own magic works here, theirs should work there. We have established the principle of transfer of magic between parallel planets.”

Nona nodded, surprised. He was right.

They climbed onto Angus’ hands, and he bore them invisibly away. It was a great comfort having him along.

They returned to the East Sea and used the filament to return to Jupiter. Then Angus carried them on around another quarter of the planet to the next parallel rad. Before they used it, Angus had to eat and sleep, because he had been doing all the work of transport and was tiring. He lay down in a low tent he made, and they took turns mounting guard through the night. The Jupiter night was the same length as the Oria night, just as its surface gravity was the same, thanks to the magical nature of the Julia Mode.

They discussed plans for the next planet. They concluded that this time they would simply observe, and if they saw black and white tunics in castles and blue and red tunics in the villages, they would assume it was an animus world. But just to be sure that the colors hadn’t changed, they would try to catch at least one man or woman in the act of magic. Failing that, they would investigate a village, with a preplanned conjuration route out. No confrontations with magic-wielding men, if they could possibly avoid them.

In the morning they traveled the filament to the world. Angus settled gently down near a village, invisible, and they remained in his hands and watched. The people wore blue and red tunics, and there was no evidence of magic. Then a black-tunicked man rode in, and floated out of his saddle when he dismounted. The blues and reds deferred to him.

They departed quietly. This was another animus world.

In due course they reached the fourth world—and it too was animus. Only Oria had changed, thanks to Nona’s effort.

“Now what?” Colene inquired, dispirited. “I thought I had such a great idea!”

“There are other worlds,” Angus said.

“But they won’t be similar to Oria, will they? They’ll be all different sizes, with different sized people, and maybe if they aren’t parallel, the magic won’t cross over.”

“We have only to take Nona there and see whether her magic works,” Darius said. “Perhaps we can find one that is close to Oria in size.”

“Certainly,” Angus agreed. He took them to a larger planet on a filament from a smaller rad. It too was animus. He went to a smaller one, and it was animus. “It seems that most of the satellites of Jupiter are animus, Jupiter being an animus world,” he said.

“But Nona can’t be the only one who ever brought the anima,” Colene said.

“Surely not,” Angus agreed. “In time, most of the worlds will become anima. But the pattern of change differs. The animus comes to all worlds at once, while the anima comes slowly, world by world. It seems to have been not unduly long since the animus came, so relatively few worlds have reverted to anima. You are the ninth of the ninth generation, therefore the first woman of your world with magic. On other worlds it may require more generations for a woman to achieve magic, and many of those women may be killed before they succeed. Perhaps on some of the worlds nearer the primary world the process takes fewer generations, but it would be very difficult for us to search beyond the environs of Jupiter, and the magic might not transfer. I think our best chance remains with Jupiter. There are many satellite worlds, and eventually we should find one that is anima.”

“Actually, we found one before,” Colene said. “When we first came to meet you. But it was tiny.”

“Size is a problem,” he agreed.

They continued to search—and the next world was anima. “Glory be!” Colene breathed, watching a red-clad woman summon a familiar to her.

But there was a problem: this was a larger world, and its people were larger. Their typical person was a head taller than those of Oria of the same sex. Their women were half a head taller than Darius. This would hardly pass unnoticed on Oria.

Then Colene had another notion. “Look, people vary, right? I mean, I’m five feet, small for the women of my world, but within the normal range. There must be small women here, maybe like tall women on Oria, who could pass well enough. And maybe some size will help, making them regal.”

It seemed to make sense.

They decided to try the woman-man-horse approach again, this time going to a castle where red tunics dominated. But they rehearsed carefully, and Darius had his icons and conjure site ready for quick use. They would conjure out the moment there was a threat. If they were unable, Colene, Burgess, and Angus would come in after them. Angus could, if necessary, lift the roof off the castle and pull them out by hand. His magic was the same as theirs, but he was so much larger that his powers of levitation had much greater effect.

Darius led Seqiro up to the castle. Huge men in blue challenged him at the entrance.

“I bring a woman from another world, who asks an unusual favor,” he said.

“Is she anima?”

“Yes.”

“Then bring her in.”

No verification? But probably that would be the province of the mistress of the castle.

Nona floated off the horse’s back and landed neatly on her feet. “May my companions enter too?” she asked.

“As you wish.” For here an amazon’s word governed. Nona walked on in, and Darius followed, leading Seqiro. The castle was large, being in proportion to the planet and people; he felt dwarfed. There was a stable to the side, with horses larger than Seqiro, but not by much; Seqiro was a very large horse to begin with. Nona indicated that she wanted her horse with her, and there was no protest.

They were met by a giant, regal woman in a palatial anteroom. In addition to her red tunic she wore a red crown. She was direct. “How did you come here?”

“We flew in, invisible, then walked to the castle,” Nona said.

“From what world do you come?”

“We call it Oria. It is on a filament from another rad of Jupiter. It is smaller than yours.”

“Why is the horse so valuable you kept him with you?”

“He has special magic that greatly facilitates communication.”

“Demonstrate this.”

Nona and Darius stood silent. Seqiro spoke for himself. I am Seqiro. I am from another Mode, which is a separate reality from Julia. My kind is telepathic.

The queen’s mouth remained closed. Turn and touch the wall, she thought.

Seqiro turned and touched the wall with his nose.

“Is the man also special?” the queen asked.

“Yes,” Nona said, then hesitated.

She is not hostile, nor will she violate hospitality, Seqiro thought. She has royal honor, needing no subterfuge.

“This is true,” the queen said. Seqiro had evidently shared his thought with the woman. “You must have had experience with the men of animus, whose honor is suspect. You may safely answer the question.”

“The man is also from another Mode. He has conjuration magic unlike ours. We depend on it to extricate us, should we encounter danger.”

The queen turned to Darius. “Demonstrate.”

He brought out his own icon, invoked it, and conjured himself to the other side of the chamber.

The queen faced Nona. “What is the favor you ask?”

“To bring some of your smaller anima women to my world, which became anima only a month ago and as yet lacks women with magic. It is in a state of chaos, and needs governing.”

“I believe we can arrange this,” the queen said. For the first time, she smiled. “Now we shall exchange introductions, and you and your friends will share our hospitality.”

“I am Nona, the ninth of the ninth,” Nona said. “I brought the anima to our world of Oria.”

“Ah, you are the one,” the queen said. “Your powers must then be great indeed. And your man?”

“He is Darius, a friend. The horse is Seqiro, also a friend.”

The queen nodded. “I am Hyacinth, governess of this province.” She paused, then, with exquisite timing, added one caveat: “But what will you offer in return for this service?”

“In return?” Nona asked blankly.

“You ask us to give up a number of our women, with their powers of magic. What do you give in exchange, of equivalent value?”

“I thought that the women would consider it a privilege,” Nona said, taken aback.

“Perhaps. But I shall not be going, and I do not do something for nothing.”

Darius realized that the queen’s businesslike approach had been deceptive. She was not a despot who tried to take by force what she wanted, but neither was she a generous spirit. She expected quid pro quo. It made sense.

“What did you have in mind?” Nona asked, shaken.

Hyacinth frowned professionally. “Perhaps your man of strange magic. We could find uses for him here.”

Nona was appalled. “But I could not—I have no right—”

The queen shrugged. “The horse, then. That mind-talk magic is impressive.”

Get Colene, Darius thought to Seqiro. But he had forgotten that in Julia the horse’s telepathic range was limited. Colene was out of range. They would have to get through this by themselves.

“The horse is not mine to give,” Nona said.

“That is unfortunate.” The queen made a tiny gesture with one hand. Men wearing black tunics approached.

Nona turned a frozen face to Darius, She believed they were being betrayed.

No. I would stun the queen if that happened. This is merely hospitality.

The horse had to know. They waited.

The lead man bowed to Nona. “If it please you, Lady Nona, I will conduct you to your suite. Do you wish to have the man with you, or separately ensconced?”

Again, Nona was set back. But Darius, casting about for an appropriate course of action, had an answer. If the queen is to be trusted, we should bring in the others. Colene or Angus should know how to proceed.

Gratefully, Nona turned to the queen and voiced her request. “We are actually a party of six. May we bring in our companions to join us in dialogue with you?”

“Of course,” Hyacinth said. “Who and where are they?”

“They would not reveal themselves to strangers. But if you send someone out with us, we will go to fetch them.”

“I will go with you myself,” the queen said.

They exited the castle, the queen walking serenely beside Seqiro. She evidently did not stand on ceremony when interested in something. Nevertheless, she had remarkable poise.

Hyacinth’s glance dropped down to touch him. “Thank you, Darius.”

And she was amazingly swift to catch on to the way of telepathy.

“It is my business to make rapid assessments,” she said.

Soon they came into range, and Seqiro acquainted the others of the situation. Whereupon the huge shape of Angus appeared, floating above the trees, with Colene and Burgess in his hand. He came to land before them, and introductions proceeded.

“You wear green,” the queen noted, gazing at Angus.

“I am a visitor to this fair world.” Green was the color of visitors whose status was not defined. “I could wear black if I chose, but I suspect this would be meaningless here.” For here black indicated the men of theow status.

“Green becomes you,” the queen agreed. “I presume that you of the animus have no interest in acquiring this world.”

“None,” he agreed. “My interest is only in facilitating the interest of Nona of Oria.”

“I fear our castle is insufficient to accommodate you, unless you are able to change your size.”

“I can change the size of inanimate things, but not myself,” he replied. “But have no concern, Queen Hyacinth. I will remain aloof until my friends need me again.”

“You represent the transport of women to Oria?”

“This is so.”

“Will you accede to showing yourself to our population, that they may this once in their lives appreciate what lies beyond our world?”

He squinted a huge eye at her. “And what will you offer in return?”

She laughed. “What did you have in mind?”

“Let me suggest alternatives. It is possible that Nona will deal with you, and you will have the franchise for recruiting small women of your realm and neighboring realms, making what deals please you with other castles, and I will appear in my full size to take these women in my hands and convey them along the filaments to Oria, together with my friends, including the magic man and magic horse, making as many trips as are required. Or it may be that I will convey Nona and her party to the adjacent queendom to see whether they are more amenable to such an agreement, in which case they would have the franchise and if any of your women wish to go to Oria, you will negotiate with that other realm. This seems reasonable to me; does it seem so to you?”

The queen nodded. “It is a pleasure to bargain with the animus.”

Darius realized that Angus had neatly countered the queen’s demand for something of significant value, by threatening to take Nona’s business elsewhere.

Colene thought of it, Seqiro thought.

It did have the flavor of Colene’s nature. Nona had been ineffective, as had Darius himself, but Colene’s sharp intelligence and aggressive nature had found the key. Nona was lovely and nice and talented, but Colene had survival skills they needed. This kept being demonstrated in small or significant ways. If only she lacked her two great liabilities of youth and depression!

They climbed onto Angus’ hands, and Darius helped Queen Hyacinth up. It was an honorary gesture; she made herself light enough so as almost to float, and he guided her. On this world men served women in all ways, and the protocol reflected it.

Angus lifted and flew to the castle, where there was now a fine array of people, the red and blue tunics in the foreground, the black and white ones behind. Angus came down on his feet before the rad on which the castle was built, and put his hands out to the castle, so that the party could enter without ever climbing the hill. It was an impressive minor show.

The rest of the day passed in festivities at the castle. Darius knew that Queen Hyacinth was sending her minions out, alerting other queendoms to the situation. It would require a few days to assemble the women, and meanwhile their small group would suffer the castle hospitality. He remembered how seduction, rape, and theft had been the order of the night at the despot castle on Oria, when he had first been there. He wasn’t sure whether it was a better quality of ruler here, or that women simply were less interested in such activities, but there was nothing of that nature now. He shared a suite with Nona and Colene, while Burgess and Seqiro were in the stable, by their own choice; less was expected of animals, and it was close enough so that all of them remained in the ambience of telepathy. Angus snoozed invisibly in the glade, making periodic appearances to awe the natives.

In due course it was done. Forty-nine diminutive maidens, their magic intact, assembled at the castle, ready to travel to Oria to be the queens of its various regions. The smallest woman was Nona’s size; the others were larger, but still could pass for tall natives. They understood that not all the folk would welcome them, particularly the deposed despots, but they planned to work together at first, securing each kingdom, leaving one of their number there, and going on to the next. They were experienced in the system of the anima, and knew how to govern men. The women of Oria would support them, knowing that this occupation was for the benefit of the following generation. Soon enough the world would be secure and at peace. Certainly these governesses would be far more effective than Nona could ever have been alone.

Angus began the job of ferrying them across. Now the core party had to split, temporarily. Seqiro and Nona went with the first group of seven women, to enable them to communicate with the women of Oria, for the languages were not the same. The first job would be to establish a basis for translation. Nona would explain that these women had come to govern the world and see to the protection of the girls of Oria who would assume power as they matured. They would secure Nona’s village and adjacent castle, and Angus would bring the other women there.

Of course the telepathy stopped when the first group departed. But the understanding had been worked out, and Darius, Colene, and Burgess needed only hand signals to indicate their wishes. Burgess had become a creature of some attention; the folk liked to see him float and hurl stones. They brought him baskets of fruit to consume.

On the second trip, Burgess went with seven women. They had learned how to communicate with him, though it was rudimentary compared to what Colene, buttressed by Seqiro, could do. That left Darius alone with Colene for the night, and naturally she tried to seduce him, and as usual he declined. They could converse well enough, because of her developing telepathy, and of course they did know some words of each other’s languages. He hoped she did not know how infernally tempting her offers were.

I love knowing that, she thought smugly.

He made as if to spank her. She countered his bluff by baring her bottom. The sight was electrifying, because in his Mode women wore huge diapers to conceal their posterior contours. He turned away, lest he lose more than the game. She laughed and hugged him from behind. A stranger would never have realized that she was not a vessel of joy.

You give me joy, Darius.

But it was not the same. A transient emotion could not compare to a permanently joyful nature. That had been their problem throughout. If only this vessel of dolor were not the woman he loved!

I know I shouldn’t tease you, Darius. If you want to be with one of the local women tonight, I will understand.

Yes. And Colene would slice her wrists until he returned to her.

Touché!

But some day he would have that cute piece of flesh. Then he would make up for all the blocked temptation she had put him through.

Why wait?

This time he didn’t threaten her. He kissed her. That ended her teasing. For a while.

On the following day three more groups departed. Then two on the third day. On the next to last trip, one woman returned, bringing a report of the proceedings on Oria: verification that the enterprise was legitimate. Queen Hyacinth had made sure to confirm it, as a smart manager should. The reporting woman took the final trip out, satisfied to remain on Oria, and Darius and Colene went too. There was a date to have regular contact between the worlds at monthly intervals; more women might wish to go. But for now, it was done.

Darius and Colene stood on Angus’ hand and made formal bows of parting to the queen. They knew that Hyacinth had made the most of this opportunity, and gained prestige in a global sense. Her people had also been treated to the remarkable sight of a giant from Jupiter. They knew that such folk existed, but seldom was it shown so directly. Hundreds of the local large folk waved farewell.

Then Angus ascended and flew east. Most of the time of these trips was spent crossing the surfaces of the planets: this one, Oria, and Jupiter. But Angus was now thoroughly familiar with the route, and covered it efficiently.

“So are you sad to leave all these big, talented women behind?” Colene asked Darius teasingly. She was a head shorter than any of them, though the same size as they in proportion to her home world. It had been a mind-numbing experience to be among so many women whose magical abilities matched Nona’s, and many of them were quite young and attractive. But of course he wouldn’t say that to Colene.

“Yeah, sure you wouldn’t,” she said sourly. “But I guess it sort of puts Nona in perspective, eh?”

It sort of did. If he ever wanted to retire with a magical woman, this was the place to do it. However, he amended his thought before Colene could react, he had no wish for such a retirement, and in any event, he was needed in his own Mode.

They rode the filament, and the amazons were just as thrilled and awed as anyone else. None of them had expected to make such a journey in her life, until this sudden opportunity had appeared. What was the point, when most of the worlds were animus, as well as being the wrong size?

They crossed the enormous surface of Jupiter, and the amazons were impressed again. Then onto the other filament, and finally across Oria to their starting point.

The local region had already been pacified. The black and white cloaks were properly subservient and the barricades were down. Tall red-tunicked women were using their magic to generate food and other supplies, and to make quick repairs. Life was already visibly better.

They reached the castle. There they were reunited with Nona, Seqiro, and Burgess, who were being treated as royally here as they had been on the amazon world. Things were looking very good, and Nona seemed much happier.

The mission here had been accomplished, and enough time had passed so that it should be safe to return to the Virtual Mode. Colene was eager to resume their journey. So was he.