"Wouldst wager on that, Trans?"

Translucent's face hardened. 'Thou dost desire it thus? Then wager me this: an I succeed, the leadership of this enterprise be mine for the duration."

"And if thou dost fail, domain o'er the watery East Pole be mine!" Purple said.

Translucent paused, evidently wary of such a risk. Then he nodded. "The East Pole," he agreed. "Now give me the apprentice."

"Take him, then," Purple said.

The floating face shimmered as if dissolving; then the liquid bubble expanded, almost filling the pa.s.sage. "Step in," the face said to Bane. "An thou prefer my company to his."

Bane knew what kind of treatment to expect from Purple! He did not like to remain a captive, but certainly Translucent was more civilized than his present captor. He stepped into the shimmering bubble.

The surface tension of the globe pressed against his face and form, then traveled around his body and snapped into place behind him. He was inside, and though it seemed like liquid, he had no trouble breathing.

Then the globe shimmered, and the scenery outside it was lost in the play of distortion. When the bubble firmed, the exterior had changed. Now it was a deep sea, with fish swimming and seaweed waving.

The globe dissolved, but there was no change; Bane still stood and breathed normally. The water surrounding him seemed illusory, though he knew it was not. Translucent's magic enabled him to survive.

"Come, we must talk," the Adept said, and walked along the floor of the sea, showing the way.

Bane followed him, knowing that he could no more escape the power of this Adept than he could the other. Translucent could cause the water to become unbreathable at any time, forcing Bane to try to swim for the surface before drowning, or could summon a water monster to consume him. True, Bane could use his own magic to protect himself-but how well would his spells work, when garbled through water? He would do best to treat Translucent with respect, at least until he knew what the man intended.

Translucent brought him to a bower in the water, a palatial cave guarded by a water dragon. Surprisingly comfortable stones were sculpted as chairs, and large fish hovered in the manner of servants. A mermaid brought a platter of sea delicacies: nutlike and fruitlike treats, and seaweed very like salad vegetables. They ate at leisure, and even had wine to drink; the fluid remained in its goblets despite the environment. Bane had never been here before, and he found it most interesting. Translucent had always been a somewhat shadowy figure to him, seldom partic.i.p.ating in the interactions of Adepts.

After the meal, the Adept got down to business. "Thou dost know my purpose be similar to that of the others who oppose thy father," he said. "Merely my means be other."

"What purpose be that?" Bane asked somewhat tightly.

'To reestablish contact with our brothers of Proton. We had always thought it theoretically possible, but hitherto no avenue had manifested."

"It be not much of an avenue," Bane pointed out. "I can exchange places with mine other self, carrying with me my knowledge and memories. I cannot carry anything physical."

"Messages alone suffice. Dost thou not grasp their importance, Bane?"

Now the Adept was calling him by name. The man was certainly being courteous, but as he had said, he was a member of the forces opposing the Blue Adept, and therefore hardly to be trusted. "What importance?"

'There be information existing only in Proton, that we of Phaze could use to increase our power. Likewise, some exists in Phaze, that the Citizens there require."

"What information?" This was new to him.

"When the frames separated, twenty years ago, the Oracle went to Proton, and the Book of Magic came to Phaze."

'The Book of Magic-that the Red Adept possesses?"

"The same. Dost think a mere troll could become Adept without it? The spells in that one volume be so apt that a common earth-borer, hardly human, be now, an he choose, the most powerful Adept of all. He supports Blue, who gave him the Book, and that makes Blue the strongest. Whoever possesses that Book holds the key to the governance of Phaze."

"Aye," Bane said. "But what would anyone of Proton want with it? Magic works not there."

'That be a matter of interpretation. What we call magic, they call science, and both be powerful tools. The formulae underlying the spells of the Book also underlie the scientific applications of the technology of Proton. If those spells be conveyed there-"

Now Bane grasped it. "Whoever has that information has a phenomenal advantage in his frame! Proton could have an Adept of science!"

"Aye. And whoever here in Phaze has access to the powers of the Oracle, called a computer there, can profit similarly- The combination can shift the balance of power."

"So if you other Adepts had such contact, you could force my father to retreat, and you would dominate Phaze."

"Aye, in time. But there be problems. The exchange of information be necessarily slow, perhaps one spell at a time, and must necessarily be through thee and thy opposite self. Without thy cooperation, nothing be feasible."

'That's why Purple was trying to pressure me into working with him! To make me carry spells and things back and forth between the frames, so he could increase his power."

"Aye. And make no mistake, Bane, I want the same. I merely oppose Purple's method, not his design. And of course I prefer to have that added power for myself."

"But it be to my interest to use that power for my father! And the Book of Magic be in the hand of our supporter, Red. How canst thou think I would give such power to thee?"

Translucent smiled. "That be why special mechanisms be necessary. Purple thought to coerce thee; I prefer to persuade thee."

"How canst thou hope to persuade me to act against the interest of my father?"

"It seems, to save thy life, I have made a wager that I can do that thing."

That set Bane back. It was true; he would have been dead, had not Translucent intervened. He did owe the man something.

Or did he? The Adepts could be devious; suppose they had set it up to make him seem to be beholden to Translucent? Purple could have made the threats, knowing Translucent was waiting to step in at the last moment. In that case, Bane would be doubly the fool to cooperate.

"I trust thee not," he said.

"And why not, Bane?"

Bane explained his suspicion. "Canst thou deny it?" he demanded.

Translucent smiled. "Aye, I can."

"With truth?"

Translucent looked about. "I do deny it," he said gravely.

There was a ripple in the water and in the sea-floor, spreading out from the Adept. It pa.s.sed through Bane himself.

Bane watched the ripple's progress, amazed. "That be the splash!" he exclaimed.

"Aye."

Bane spread his hands. 'Then must I believe thee, Translucent. I apologize for my suspicion."

"Be not concerned about that," Translucent said. "I saved thee because I knew that all of us would lose, an Purple vented his malice on thee. I had to act for the benefit of all. My persuasion be not in the form of any debt thou mightst feel toward me, but in the form of common sense. Thou must agree that it be proper and best to do this; then will all be well."

Bane regrouped his thoughts. This man had spoken truth-that could not be disbelieved, for the splash could not be feigned-but he remained an Adverse Adept. 'To do it for thee-instead of for my father? I see no common sense in that!"

'Thou must appreciate the larger picture. I suppose thou canst not be convinced that thy father's side might be wrong-"

'True," Bane agreed grimly.

"But thou canst appreciate the practicalities of the situation. Like it or not, some you value be hostage."

"Fleta escaped!"

"But what of those in Proton? Hast thou no interest there, in either thine other self or any other party?"

Shrewd guess! "Aye," Bane agreed. 'There be captives there."

"Whether or not we approve of such tactics, we must deal with what exists, not with what we like. If someone there be held hostage against thy performance, thou canst not be free no matter what occurs in Phaze. And if thine other self be in the power of one like Citizen Purple, thou canst not exchange into Proton without going back into his power. In fact, thou wouldst have to return to the Purple Adept to overlap the location of thine other self."

Bane nodded. "I'm not free at all," he agreed.

"Therefore it behooves thee to cooperate, at least until thou canst discover the situation there. An I tell Purple thou hast changed thy mind, he will let thee return to his Demesnes without molestation. Otherwise, thou canst not do so."

"But Mach might escape, and free Agape-" Bane broke off, realizing that he had said more than he should have.

"Aye, he might, and come to exchange with thee in the Blue Demesnes, and victory would be thine. But dost thou care to take the chance, when by cooperating with me, at least for a time, thou canst be sure no harm will come to any?"

Bane realized that the Adept was making a disturbing amount of sense. As long as the situation in Proton was in doubt, he should not take any chances he didn't have to.

"Let me think about it," he said.

"Welcome to, Bane. There be no urgency here, now that thy friend be free. Go home to thy Blue Demesnes, and summon me when thou dost choose."

"Thou art letting me go?" Bane asked, hardly daring to believe it.

"I told thee: I believe logic, not coercion, will bring thy cooperation. Go talk to thy father, tell him all, and do as he advises thee. He and I have ne'er been close, yet do we respect each other's discretion, and mayhap we can work to mutual benefit."

Bane considered. This seemed too easy, but the lure of finally getting home with his full story of Proton was great. Once he did that, he could look for Fleta, to be sure she had made it safely back to her Herd. "Then that shall I do," he said.

Translucent made a beckoning gesture, and a mermaid swam up. "Conduct Apprentice Bane to sh.o.r.e, and give him this token of safe pa.s.sage from my Demesnes," he said. He reached out and caught a small fish from the water, giving it to her.

The mermaid swam up to Bane, and smiled. She was a half-person, of course, but her upper half was as delightfully human as any man could wish. Her hair was as green as seaweed, billowing out behind as she moved, and her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s needed no external support because of the buoyancy of the water. But human interest ended at roughly the waistline, where the scales began. They were tidy scales, of course, tinted the same hue as her hair, but her nether portion could never be mistaken for anything other than a fish. That destroyed the better part of her appeal, for him.

He followed her out of the cave and through the water. He walked along a path that traversed the sea floor, while she swam above it. When the path ascended toward the surface, she halted, handed him the fish, and kissed him on the right ear. She pointed up, and waited while he made his way up and out.

As he broke the surface, the spell that had been on him abated, and he breathed air instead of water. Still waist-deep in the water, he turned to peer down and wave at her. He thought he saw her wave back, but it was hard to be sure.

Then he moved the rest of the way out, carrying the fish. There was a large serpent guarding the land-path; he showed it the fish, and it slithered away, letting him pa.s.s unchallenged. The Translucent Adept seemed to be as good as his word.

Bane's clothing was completely dry, despite his recent immersion. He walked up the path, proceeding east. He knew that he was at the western coast of Phaze, not far from the West Pole; he had a long way to go to reach the Blue Demesnes. There would be no problem, of course; he would simply conjure himself there. He had not dared to try that, when in the Adverse Demesnes but now that he was free, it was feasible.

But he hesitated. He could go-but what of Mach, and Agape in Proton? What would his father, Stile, say to the news that he was in love with an alien creature of the other frame?

Love? Could that be true?

He thought of all the females he had known in Phaze, human and werewolf and vampire and other. He had liked a number of them, and some had been excellent playmates. Suchevane . . .

But none of them had moved into his awareness in the manner Agape had. She was more truly alien than any of them physically, and yet perhaps more truly human too, in her personality. He had not known her long, as his life went, but their acquaintance had been intense.

He wanted to be with her again. He wanted to share more experience with her, whether it was simply a walk down a hall or a talk about other frames or other planets. To be with her by day and by night, just to know she was beside him. She could be in human form, or in protoplasmic form; it hardly mattered. Just so long as it was her.

Was that love? He didn't know. He simply knew that he wanted to go back to Proton, because she was there.

And he could do so, by returning voluntarily to the Translucent Adept. If he returned to his father, and told of this. . .

Bane shook his head, in deep doubt. He was not at all sure how Stile would react to this. Did he really want

to go home and find out?

13 - Agape

Agape waited till the lights dimmed for night, then dissolved. But she did not sleep; she spread herself out deliberately thin, so that she could flow beneath the heavy gla.s.s barrier that formed the front of the cell. The connection was supposed to be hermetically tight, but the floor was not precisely even, so there was not a perfect fit. The crevice was only a fraction of a centimeter, but she could navigate it.

She did so. Then she formed herself, outside the cell, into the likeness of one of the attending serfs she had studied for this purpose. She walked down the hall toward the nearest maintenance service outlet, and tapped the pattern Mach had told her to.

For a moment nothing happened. Then a floor-cleaner trundled toward her, its brushes working. She got out of its way, but it stopped beside her. "Follow me," its speaker said. Then it resumed its work.

She followed it down the hall and into a maintenance closet. The door panel closed on them, and it was dark.

"How came you by that code?" a speaker inquired at the level of her head.

"Mach gave it to me," she said nervously.

"Why?"

"He said you would help me escape from here."

"What else?"

"He said to trust the machines."

The panel opened. Now a mobile food dispenser was there. Its top access port opened, revealing a large empty tank within it. "Enter," its grille said.

She put her hands and head into its hopper and melted them so that they flowed down inside. Then she melted the rest of her body, setting up a siphon so that all of it could flow in. Finally she drew in the remaining ma.s.s of herself, and settled into the tank.

The lid closed. The food machine moved. She formed an ear so that she could hear anything that might be said to her, and attuned herself to the motion, so that she had some notion where they were going.

They went down the pa.s.sage toward a service ramp. But before the machine could exit on this ramp, a serf approached. "Hey, foodmach-wait a minute," the serf said.

The unit halted. "This unit is out of service," its grille said.