World's End

Page 127

. . . want of me? Please . . . give me more information."

It is all she can do, imprisoned in the Transfer's eye.

I try to focus my own addled thoughts, afraid that I will lose her-- "I'm . . . I'm here on Number Four, at a place called Fire Lake. I need help. Something gets into my head all the time, and . . ."

Rambling! Stop it! "I'm a sibyl, Moon! Someone infected me, the woman who sees me now for you. She wasn't meant to be a sibyl... she's out of her mind." I swallow painfully. "And I think ... I think I am too. I'm trapped here, I can't get help from anyone else. Tell me how you control the Transfer!

Every time I hear a question--"

"A sibyl. . . ." Song's voice reaches out to me, but it is Moon who fills the words with compassion. "Don't be afraid of the infection, BZ. It doesn't have to make you insane. Fear of it can be your worst enemy. I know you ... I know that--" Song's hands twitch--"that the finest, gentlest, kindest man I ever met must have been meant for this. That you must have been chosen, somehow. . . ." Song takes a deep breath. "It's difficult

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163

JOAN D. VINGE

for everyone, at first. Complete understanding . . .

complete control of the process takes many months.

But I can give you enough to help you. There are word formulas for the channeling of stimuli, patterns that become a part of your thought processes in time, like--"

she breaks off, as the sibyl mind searches for a meaningful analogy, "the adhani discipline practiced on

Kharemough."

"Really? I practice that--"

"Use it, then. It will help you concentrate. But there are key words you need to make a part of it.

You know that there is a kind of ritual to the formal sibyl Transfer; it starts with the word input. No other questions need to be recognized. Learn to block casual questions by concentrating on the word stop."

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"Stop?" I say, incredulous. "That's all?"

"Yes. It's very simple; it has to be. But there's much more . . ." Her own words flow easily now, a clear stream.

I gaze into her eyes as I repeat every phrase, seeing

Song's face but knowing Moon's heart and mind lie behind it. The knowledge helps me focus on her words;

I am afraid to lose even one in the clamoring wilderness