Out of This World

Chapter Ten

“An interesting proposition,” Cahn said, in his most noncommittal tone. “And what sort of payment would you want for this service?”

“Why, ‘tis obvious, is’t not?” Raven asked, spreading his hands. “We wish your aid against Shadow.”

“Our aid?” Cahn grimaced. “Mister, we’re just ten men-ten people, rather.” One hand made a vague gesture in Prossie’s direction. “We’ve got a ship and weapons that don’t work here, and that might not work in your universe, either-so what difference will ten men make against a force that has already conquered a world?”

“You are part of the Imperial Fleet, are you not?” Raven asked. “Yours but a single ship in a vast armada, with the power to lay waste whole kingdoms in mere days?”

“Oh, sure,” Lieutenant Drummond said. “But the Imperial Fleet is there, and we’re here. We’re just the crew of one ship.”

“Besides,” Godwin added, “as the captain just said, the Fleet’s weapons are based on the same principles as the captain’s blaster that didn’t go off a few minutes ago. They won’t work here, and probably won’t work on your world, either. We’re disarmed-just like your wizard.”

Raven ignored Godwin and addressed Drummond. “You are the crew of a diplomatic vessel,” he pointed out, “sent as envoy, and empowered to make pact on behalf of your Emperor.”

Pel considered Godwin’s comments as Cahn said, “Our authority isn’t as broad as all that. We’re more a negotiating team than an embassy; anything we agreed to would have to be approved by higher authority, maybe by the Emperor Himself.”

“Indeed?”

Cahn nodded. “In fact, the main thing we were sent to negotiate was an exchange of ambassadors. We sure don’t have the power to declare war and send the entire Imperial Fleet through a warp to fight Shadow, if that’s what you were hoping for.”

“Raven,” Pel said, “there’s something here I don’t understand. If magic doesn’t work in the Empire, and the Imperial technology doesn’t work in your world, how can they fight?”

Raven blinked in surprise. “Friend Pel,” he said, “what mean you?”

“I mean,” Pel said, “how can Shadow do anything to the Galactic Empire if magic doesn’t work there? And how can the Empire do anything to Shadow?”

Raven turned to Valadrakul, who said, “A good point, sir. Howsoever, there is some magic that can effect its purpose in other realms, even while it cannot be conjured there. Consider the gateway spell that manifests in your own cellars-the magic lies entirely in our own world, and yet it functions both ways. Likewise, consider the magic of the mind that these good people call telepathy.” The wizard mispronounced the word, but as he gestured toward Prossie, Pel figured out what he meant. “It works not a whit here, and this maiden can no more hear your thoughts now than can any other.

Several people cast startled glances at Prossie or each other at this revelation. Valadrakul continued, unperturbed. “Yet from their own land, these mind-readers can know what others think in all our varied realms.”

Pel nodded. “Still doesn’t seem like Shadow’s about to conquer the Empire,” he said. “Or for that matter, that the Empire’s about to conquer Shadow. I mean, if each side’s major weapons don’t work in the other one’s worlds…”

“Ah, but Shadow’s greatest strength is of value in either realm!” Raven said, interrupting.

“Its creatures, you mean,” Prossie said.

“Exactly,” Raven said. “Its homunculi can live in the Empire, and fight there, as can those true humans who are base enough to choose slavery to Shadow over death in resistance.”

“The monsters died, though,” Prossie pointed out. “At least most of them. And the miniatures, too.”

“Gnomes,” Donald muttered.

“And which would you rather face,” Raven asked, “some misshapen thing brought from nightmare, or a well-drilled army? A beast, or a trained assassin?”

“Good point,” Cahn conceded.

“And Shadow can be persuasive,” Raven said. “Doubt me not, there are those among your own people who would yield willingly to its blandishments, and serve it of their own will. There were such among my own kin.”

At that, Stoddard growled-the first sound most of those present had heard from him. Squire Donald spat in disgust, and Pel heard Nancy gasp at the sight of that.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered to her. “It’ll come right out of the carpet.”

Cahn nodded toward Raven. “I’m sure you’re right,” he said. “We’ve had trouble with spies and traitors before, and I doubt we’ve managed to breed the tendencies out of the human species in the last few years.” He grimaced. “And as Thorpe told you, we’ve already had problems with Shadow’s creatures infiltrating the Empire. Telepaths can spot them, or x-rays, but we only have four hundred telepaths out of thirteen billion citizens, and it’s not practical to march everyone past a fluoroscope. Furthermore, Shadow seems to be able to send in duplicates and replace genuine people, so that the checks can’t just be done once, they need to be repeated constantly. So we have spies among us, I’m certain.”

“I think we all agree that Shadow has to be stopped,” Drummond said. “The question is, how?”

“And your answer?” Donald demanded.

Drummond shrugged. “I don’t have one,” he said.

Cahn expanded upon that. “The Empire is preparing for war,” he said. “We’re stockpiling ships and weapons, and if ever Shadow attempts the open occupation of any part of Imperial space, it will find us ready to retaliate. We’ll blast any colonies we find right out of space. And we’re stepping up our security measures-of course, I couldn’t give you details, even if I knew them, for fear of compromising them. We’re doing everything we can to locate and stamp out any attempts at infiltration. When we find Shadow’s creatures, we kill them, immediately.”

“A noble effort, to be sure,” Raven said, with a note of sarcasm creeping into his voice, “but knowing that Shadow’s spies in your Emperor’s kitchens will be found and slain gives me no great hope for the liberation of Stormcrack Keep.”

“Nor Benton,” Donald added.

“Nor anywhere else in our world,” Valadrakul agreed.

“Hey,” Godwin protested. “Who appointed us your rescuers, anyway? We have our own homes to worry about, first!”

“And would your homes not be best served,” Raven demanded, “by encompassing the utter destruction of Shadow and all its creations, rather than nibbling away at its outer defenses?”

“Of course that would suit our long-term interests,” Cahn said. “And it’s just that, a long-term goal. As yet, we have no way to achieve it.” He gestured at Pel. “We’d hoped that these people could give us a weapon to use against Shadow, but I doubt that these super-bombs of theirs would work in your space.”

“You can’t get any anyway,” Pel pointed out.

Cahn drew his blaster, hefted it, pointed it at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, not even an audible click.

“Back home,” he said, “that would have blown a two-foot hole through the roof. Here, nothing. Our weapons don’t work here, and we don’t think they work in Shadow’s world, either.”

“Nor do they,” Raven acknowledged. “We’ve tested them.”

For a moment nobody spoke; Pel took them all to be absorbing the implications. Among other things, it was an admission that Raven’s people had visited the Empire, and had obtained weapons there.

But they hadn’t done so openly.

“Well, then,” Cahn said finally, “what do you want us to do, when our weapons won’t work?”

“Some weapons work everywhere,” Raven said, his hand dropping to the hilt of his sword. “Your Empire has great resources, thousands upon thousands of men and machines-you spoke of a populace numbered thirteen billions. Could you not make swords as easily as those… those things you carry? Could not your armies march ‘gainst Shadow, as did those of Stormcrack Keep in my youth?”

“And where are those armies of your youth now?” Cahn demanded. “Why should we send our people to be slaughtered by that thing’s magic?”

Raven frowned, and shifted his weight to his other foot before replying, “And what of your science? What of other weapons? We know that what you bear will not function, but have you no other armaments? We know little of what will or will not serve, in any of our three worlds; there may well be weapons known to you, and unknown to Shadow, that would serve as well in our world as your own. We know not whether this world’s mighty bombs can destroy Shadow’s fortress; mayhap they can, mayhap they cannot. Perhaps your magicians, your science- wielders, can discover ways to shield against Shadow’s spells; perhaps the men of your world are not as susceptible to those spells as are mine. Dare we not venture the attempt?”

“I’ll order the pizza,” Nancy whispered in Pel’s ear. “I figure five large pies.”

He nodded, and she slipped away.

“I’m sure,” Cahn said, “that when the Empire has had time to prepare, we will make an attempt. The Emperor doesn’t want Shadow there any more than you do, but there’s no point in throwing away resources in a premature attack.”

“So you wait, and wait-seven years, now, since first Shadow showed its hand in your realm?”

“Seven years, yes,” Cahn agreed. “But we haven’t been waiting idly-if we had, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”

“Not idle, perhaps, yet you wait,” Raven insisted. “And I fear that when at last the Empire sees fit to strike, I’ll be long in my grave, and our councils lost. Then even if Shadow falls, my people will be but yielding one tyrant for another.”

“You’re saying the Empire’s no better than Shadow?” Cahn asked, his tone threatening.

Raven held up his hands. “Nay, I said it not,” he said. “’Tis certain that your Emperor George cannot help but be preferable to the horrors of Shadow. But is there no other way? Are my people never to return to their own ways, their own rulers?”

“Watch how you talk about the Emperor,” Godwin growled.

“His Imperial Majesty George the Eighth generally doesn’t interfere much in the lives of his subjects,” Cahn said, with enforced calm. “You people will probably have all your own little lords back, if that’s what you want-it’s just they’ll be subject to the Empire.”

Raven turned up his palms. “And you do not see why we are dissatisfied with that?”

“I see it,” Cahn said, his voice hard. “I just don’t see why it’s any of my business.”

“Ah, Captain,” Raven said, suddenly changing manner from supplicant to salesman, “that brings us back whence we began. I can take you home to your own world; in exchange, I ask that you aid us against Shadow.”

“It’s a circle, all right,” Cahn agreed, “because I don’t see what we can do.”

“Isn’t there any way you can defeat Shadow, other than a full-scale war?” Pel asked.

Cahn turned to him. “For example?” he asked.

“Well, Shadow’s a magician, right? I mean, underneath? Couldn’t someone kill him somehow? Wouldn’t that do it?”

“Shadow might have been human once,” Raven said. “I doubt it still is.”

“But could it be killed?”

Raven turned to Valadrakul, who turned up open palms. “Who knows?” he said.

“Well, maybe if someone tried, that would solve the whole problem,” Pel suggested. “You know, like if someone had assassinated Hitler in 1938 maybe we wouldn’t have had to fight World War II.”

Fourteen pairs of eyes stared at him in utter incomprehension. Ted, in his recliner, giggled again; Amy was looking about the room, from face to face, while Susan was watching Raven. Nancy was in the kitchen, and Pel realized he didn’t know where Rachel was; she had disappeared.

Probably got bored, he thought to himself. This must all be way over her head.

“Sir,” Valadrakul said, “I know nothing of this Hitler, nor any World War, but yes, an we could slay Shadow, we would need no war.”

“Well, can we slay Shadow?”

Valadrakul turned up a palm again. “Who knows?” he asked again.

“Well, where does Shadow get its power?” Pel asked. “Is there some magic ring we can throw into a volcano or something?”

Stoddard glanced at Raven, who glanced at Valadrakul, but most of those present simply stared at Pel.

“You know, like in The Lord of the Rings or something,” Pel said.

“Friend Pel,” Raven said, speaking gently, “what are you saying? Once before, you spoke of this; we know not what you mean.”

“You aren’t making sense, Mr. Brown,” Cahn said.

“It’s a book,” Pel explained. “Three books, I mean, by J.R.R. Tolkien. There’s this hobbit, see, who finds a magic ring that’s the key to the Dark Lord’s power, and he throws it into a volcano and melts it, and then the Dark Lord doesn’t have any power.”

“Nonsense,” Valadrakul declared. “What fool of a sorcerer would put all his power in a single talisman? And Shadow uses no talismans at all; Shadow is at the heart of a great mystical matrix, a web of arcane potency built up over centuries. What would such as that need with wands and rings and baubles?”

“I certainly never heard of any such tale as you describe,” Cahn added.

“I’ve heard of it,” Susan interjected, “but I never read it.”

“What’s a hobbit?” one of the crewmen-Cartwright, Pel thought it was-asked.

“An imaginary little person,” Pel explained.

“Like a spriggan?” Cartwright suggested.

“I don’t know,” Pel replied. “What’s a spriggan?”

“Like in the stories,” Cartwright said. “You know, like Plunkett’s stuff.”

“Who’s Plunkett?” Ted asked.

“Edward Plunkett, the writer,” Cartwright said, turning to look at Ted.

“Never heard of him,” Ted said.

“Neither did I,” Pel added.

“Of course not,” Cahn said. “He’s from our universe, not yours. He wrote picture books, died a couple of years ago.”

“Well, I guess we all know things the others don’t,” Pel agreed.

“Like what that thing is,” said Peabody, emboldened by Cartwright’s comments. He pointed at the stereo.

“It’s a stereo,” Pel said. “It plays music.”

“Like a melodion?” Peabody asked.

“I don’t think so,” Pel said. “Wasn’t that some Victorian thing?”

“Boy, has this conversation degenerated!” Ted called out to no one in particular. “From saving three different universes to sound equipment!”

“Indeed,” Raven said, with a sour glance at Ted, “I must agree. We were discussing whether a way might be found to slay Shadow, without first defeating it in battle.”

“I don’t know of any,” Cahn replied.

“I don’t know anything about it,” Pel said.

“Ah,” Valadrakul said, “but you know much it does not.”

Most eyes turned toward the wizard, Raven’s among them.

“What mean you?” he asked.

“I mean that these gentlemen know many things that we cannot imagine, my lord-these tales of Messieurs Tolkien and Plunkett, an example. Who knows but that they do have a way to slay Shadow, but know it not?”

“But if we don’t know we know it, what good does it do?” Pel asked.

“Perhaps,” Valadrakul suggested, holding up a finger, “if men of all three worlds were to gather in ours, and together study the situation, a solution might be found.”

Captain Cahn looked around thoughtfully.

“You may have a point, uh… wizard,” he said. “If we all studied Shadow in your world.”

“Yeah, and he may not have a point,” Pel said. “Listen, I didn’t ask for all you people to come here; I didn’t ask anyone to put that thing in my basement. I’ve tried to be helpful, but I’m not going anywhere or studying anything. That’s up to you guys.”

“Well, I think I’d be willing to chance a visit to wherever these people are based,” Cahn said. “I’ve already risked visiting one alien universe; I don’t mind passing through another on the way home, and seeing what we can do there.” He looked around at his crew. “This would be purely voluntary, men; if you’d rather stay here and wait until rescue comes, that’s fine. Or if you want to go back to the ship and see about getting her airborne…”

“Oh, no,” Amy said, interrupting.

Everyone turned to her, and Pel realized that she had hardly said a word throughout the entire meeting.

“Nobody’s going near that ship,” she said. “It’s on my land, and nobody’s messing with it.”

“But, madam…” Cahn began.

“No, Captain!” she said, loudly. “I don’t know what’s going on, really I don’t-I’ve listened to all this, and I have no idea how much of it is for real, if any of it is, and if it’s not I don’t know which of you are in on the gag and which aren’t, but whatever the truth is, nobody here, not one of you, is going to set foot on my land or inside that ship until I do know exactly what’s going on! And maybe not then!”

“My lady,” Valadrakul said, “everything said here today is purest truth, I swear by the Goddess.”

“I don’t believe that,” Amy replied.

“What part don’t you believe?” Cahn asked.

Amy looked around uncertainly. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not sure I believe any of it!”

“My lady,” Valadrakul said, “we can easily prove to you the reality of our native world; ‘tis but a few steps to take you there, along the passage, down the stairs, and across the cellars. A step through the wall, and you can see our world with your own eyes.”

“Oh, no,” Amy said. “I didn’t ask for any ship to fall in my back yard any more than this person wanted a space warp in his basement.” She waved at Pel.

Raven turned his attention to Ted, who held up his hands. “Oh, no,” he said. “I’m not like Ms. Jewell there; I do know what to believe, and I don’t believe a word of any of this. I’m enjoying the show, really I am-it’s a pretty good story-but I don’t for a minute think any of it is real. I suspect I’m asleep and dreaming the whole thing, I really do, but if that’s not it then all of you must be crazy. And I’m not letting any escaped lunatics take me anywhere, thank you!”

Cahn turned to Nancy, who stood in the kitchen doorway.

“Don’t look at me,” she said.

Valadrakul addressed Susan and said, with a slight bow, “That leaves you, my lady.”

“I’m not interested,” Susan said, shaking her head. “Not at all. I saw enough of war when I was a little girl.”

“Well, then,” Raven said, “’twould seem we have none of Earth who would join us.”

“What about those people you contacted telepathically?” Pel asked. “Would any of them want to help?”

Cahn turned to Prossie, who leaned her head back and started counting them off on her fingers.

“Well,” she said, “there was Carleton Miletti. Every time we tried to contact him he was doing something dangerous, like driving a groundcar at very high speed, so we didn’t force a contact for fear of distracting him and getting him killed, and he never responded to our presence.”

“Doesn’t sound promising,” Pel commented.

“There was Angela Thompson-she’s three years old. I don’t think she’d be much help. A very sweet little girl, though; she called us Mr. Nobody.”

Nancy smiled.

“There was a man named Ray Aldridge who claimed to be a… a psychic,” Prossie said. “He claimed to read minds and see the future, but we think he was lying. We never found any evidence of any real parapsychic abilities.”

“Still,” Pel said, “he might do.”

Prossie looked up at Pel. “I suppose so,” she said. “He lives in a place called California; is that anywhere near here?”

“No,” Pel admitted.

“We could phone him, though, and ask him to fly out,” Amy suggested.

“Phone?” Squire Donald looked about in polite puzzlement.

“Fly?” Raven turned toward Amy.

“You have aircraft?” Cahn asked, startled.

“Of course we do,” Pel said. “Ms. Thorpe, did you get an address for him?”

Prossie shook her head. “No,” she said, “but he lives in… in Oakville, maybe? Oakmont?”

“Oakland?” Ted suggested.

“That could be it,” Prossie agreed.

“Big town,” Ted remarked.

“Who else?” Pel asked.

“Well, Oram Blaisdell,” Prossie said. “But he’s an old man, and his neighbors think he’s crazy.”

“Where is he?”

“Tessenti? Something like that.”

“Tessenti?”

“Tessenti, Tennessity, something-I don’t remember.”

“Tennessee?” Amy suggested.

“That’s it, yes,” Prossie said, thankfully.

“Any others?”

“One old woman who died,” Prossie said. “She was in a place called Alice Springs-I’m pretty sure that wasn’t anywhere near here.”

“It’s in Australia, I think,” Pel said.

“And that’s almost all that we even got names for,” Prossie said. “There was one more, I think-a girl in another country, who sometimes spoke another language instead of English. Her name was Gwyneth something, I think.”

“Sounds Welsh,” Nancy remarked.

“That was the other language, yes,” Prossie agreed. “She was about fifteen, I think.”

“Not much help,” Pel said.

“None of them are,” Susan agreed.

“Where does this Carleton Miletti live?” Pel asked.

“I don’t know,” Prossie said. “We never got a strong enough contact to read any place names.”

“Damn. Well, this Aldridge-you said he’s out in Oakland, California? And he’s a psychic advisor?” Pel began walking toward the kitchen as he spoke.

“Uh… something like that,” Prossie agreed.

“Fine.” Pel reached around the kitchen door and picked up the phone receiver; he said, “Just a minute.” Then he stepped around the corner and pulled the phone book from the shelf.

“Nancy,” he said, thumbing through the black-bordered pages at the front of the directory, “do you know the area code for Oakland?”

“No,” she said, unhappily. “Area codes are page 29, though.”

“Got it, I think.” He dialed (415) 555-1212.

The motley collection in the other room waited silently while Pel spoke on the phone; a moment later he appeared in the kitchen doorway and announced, “Unlisted. Seems stupid for a psychic to have an unlisted number, but he does.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want you to phone him unless you’re psychic yourself, and can guess the number,” Ted remarked, grinning. Nobody laughed.

“What about the one in Tennessee?” Amy suggested.

“Oram Blaisdell,” Prossie said.

“Yeah,” Pel said. “What about him?”

Prossie shook her head. “He probably doesn’t even have one of those telephone things,” she said. “Besides, he’s a crazy old man. He thought we were angels talking to him.”

“Mr. Brown,” Cahn said, “it was a good idea, but forget it. None of the original contactees are going to be any help. It’ll be up to my crew and myself to lend whatever aid we can, in exchange for transport home; we won’t drag you innocent civilians into it.”

“Sir?” Soorn said, uneasily.

Cahn turned.

“Sir,” Soorn said, “speaking purely for myself, I would prefer… well, you said that this was voluntary?”

“Yes, spaceman?”

“Sir, I’m afraid I must decline to volunteer. I’d prefer to wait here and hope for rescue. This world doesn’t seem all that bad-I mean, dangerous. I’d rather stay here and wait than risk going into some fairyland where this Shadow thing is all-powerful.”

Cahn stared at him, and Soorn, after a moment of awkward silence, added, “I saw some of what they found on Lambda Ceti IV, sir. I’m not going.”

“All right,” Cahn said, “I said it was voluntary, and it is. You can stay here, and fend for yourself.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You can’t stay here,” Nancy protested. “I’m sorry, but not in my house you don’t. I don’t know anything about you!”

Soorn looked at her unhappily. “I can find someplace, then, can’t I?”

“Maybe a hotel?” Susan said.

“Do you have any money?” Pel asked.

Soorn shook his head.

“Lad,” Raven said, “Shadow is powerful, and nominal ruler of all the world, but it’s not all- powerful. Come with us, and see for yourself! Lend your arm to a worthy battle!”

Soorn looked at him and said nothing.

“Come and take a look,” Donald coaxed. “See for yourself! And should our land not please you, our wizards can see you safe home to your Empire, while those who would brave it may stay and fight.”

Soorn glanced at Cahn, then at Nancy; neither of them gave any sign of yielding.

“You, too, mistress,” Donald said, leaning forward and making a beckoning gesture to Amy. “And you,” adding Susan, “come and see our realm! See what it is we wish to save! Then perhaps you’ll think more kindly of us. All of you, come and take a look, and if you be not pleased, ‘tis but a moment’s work to step back through the gate to the cellars here-or should Elani wish it, to the Empire whence most of you came!”

“I could do that?” Amy said. “Just step through and take a look around, and step right back?”

“Why not?” Donald asked, with an expansive gesture.

“Then I’d know whether it was real,” Amy said.

Donald nodded.

Pel glanced at Nancy. “Y’know, I think I’d like to take a quick look, too,” he said. “I’ve always loved fantasy stories, and ever since that gnome first turned up-I mean, it’s scary, but I’d like to take a look.”

“You people are all crazy,” Nancy said. “Especially you, Pel.”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud, Nancy!” Ted said. “Let’s all go see just what sort of dream-world I’ve come up with!”

“Nancy, think of it, seriously-a world where magic is real,” Pel said.

“Black magic,” Nancy retorted.

“Not all of it,” Pel replied. “That gnome-you’d like seeing him.”

“Ha.”

“Well, I’m going to go look,” Pel said, annoyed. “For one thing, as Amy said, how else will we ever be sure this is all real?”

“Are you going to take a camera?” Nancy asked. “And take pictures or something?”

“Sure, why not?” Pel said.

She glared at him, and then turned to Raven and demanded, “Are you sure we can step right back?”

“Oh, yes, my lady,” he said. “Have we not done so, my comrades and I?”

“You’re coming?” Pel asked.

“If you go, I’m going, too,” she said. “To keep an eye on you.”

“What about Rachel?”

Nancy hesitated. “She’s upstairs playing,” she said. “But we’ll bring her, too. Maybe she’ll like seeing those gnomes you talked about.”

“She’ll want to tell everyone at school about it,” Pel said, smiling.

“They’ll never believe a word,” Nancy retorted. “Not even Jenny would buy a story like that, even if it’s true. Which I’m still not entirely convinced of.”

Pel shrugged. “You’re probably right,” he said.

“Then you’ll come?” Raven said. “Perchance even a quick glance will tell you somewhat, and some thought may strike you that would serve our cause.”

“Not likely,” Pel said.

The doorbell rang, and Nancy’s hand flew to her mouth.

“The pizza,” she said.

Small feet pattered down the stairs as Rachel ran to answer the door.