"Yes, Constance."

A little girl came up behind her dad, sitting amid a pile of papers on his bed. He turned, and she hugged him. She put her cheek on his. "How long are you going to work?" She pouted.

"Daddy is very busy, honey."

Another flash.

The man screamed as he floated in an empty void. Erratic smells and sounds. Nothing made sense.

Another memory.

The little girl, lying in bed, her father placing a book on the night stand.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Constance."

"How come we don't have a secret handshake?" She looked up at him with big blue eyes.

He gave her a tender smile. "We do. do. I just haven't shown you yet." I just haven't shown you yet."

Another flash, another scream, and another memory.

"Honey! You forgot your briefcase!" You forgot your briefcase!"

The man ran back up the walkway, reaching for the case. But his wife held it from him. Playfully she grabbed his tie and pulled him in close. "You look s.e.xy in your new suit."

He gave her a quick kiss and a half smile. "Sorry about the meeting tonight."

"You are a great man, Robert. And great men must make great sacrifices." She straightened his tie. "And don't forget, we're in this thing together."

He gave her another kiss. "You always say that. I don't deserve you."

"I know." She winked.

"Daddy?"

The man crouched down. "What is it, honey?"

"You're gonna be at my party tomorrow, right?"

He smiled. "I haven't missed one yet."

She squeezed his neck, then looked up at her mother with an expectant look. The woman rolled her eyes, then obediently turned around. Grinning with satisfaction, the little girl clinched her hand into a fist, then swooped her pinkie like a J. Her dad did the same. Gently she pressed her tiny fist against her father's and whispered, "tap, tap, tap."

Another flash.

Robert Helm writhed in pain, as sensation after sensation flooded into his mind. But he held on to the memories. He could not let them go.

A light flashed in the rearview mirror. Robert reached up to adjust it. "Constance, put that flashlight down, honey. You can't flash that while I'm driving. It blinds me."

Rain pounded against the windshield.

"Robert! Look out!" his wife screamed. A large animal was standing in the road. Frantically, he twisted the wheel. The car careened out of control. his wife screamed. A large animal was standing in the road. Frantically, he twisted the wheel. The car careened out of control.

Darkness-- and a single heartbeat. The heartbeat began to fade, until it was so faint, I could barely hear it.

Somewhere off in the distance, the young girl's voice echoed. "Daddy? Are you awake? Daddy--? Daddy! Daddy! Wake up, Daddy! Daaaaaadddddddy!" Wake up, Daddy! Daaaaaadddddddy!"

All was silent.

The void surrounded me again, and in it, the mounting anger anger of Robert Helm, as fierce and dangerous as a cornered animal. And it was here-- that Gaza was born. The program probed him, and he was its teacher. But with each mistake there was pain. I watched as he created the strands, and then Vrin from them. I saw mountains rise, and rivers begin to flow. of Robert Helm, as fierce and dangerous as a cornered animal. And it was here-- that Gaza was born. The program probed him, and he was its teacher. But with each mistake there was pain. I watched as he created the strands, and then Vrin from them. I saw mountains rise, and rivers begin to flow.

Then I watched as he created the first inhabitant of Vrin, his wife. But she had no soul, and it only caused him pain to look at her. So he made a man, and sent the two off into Vrin.

I rose with him high above Vrin, and watched as he increased the speed of the simulation. A year was as a second, and the population of Vrin increased. Cities were built, civilizations formed. In silent amazement, I watched.

And then, something I did not expect, an error in the code. The simulations stopped obeying the program. And began rewriting it. Cities changed. Great structures were built. I watched as my beloved city of Oonaj grew and changed. The Eiffel, the Great Pyramid, the White House, all appeared in a flurry of human activity.

Then suddenly, everything stopped.

Gaza searched the code, and followed the strings-- but he could not unravel the mystery. This was not the Vrin he had created. These people were not the simulants he had prepared for this world. The ones he'd created all looked the same. But these each possessed a unique physical appearance.

I watched as Gaza retreated high into the mountains to build his fortress, then sped forward as the history of Vrin washed over me like a controlled river. I requested information, and it came out of the rushing torrent for me to a.n.a.lyze. I wanted to know if there was an event where Gaza had tried to effect time again. There was one, but it hadn't worked. He could no longer alter Vrin at that level.

Again I sped forward. I desired to know by what means Gaza would destroy Vrin, but the computer did not understand the inquiry. So I changed the search criteria and requested options for shutting Vrin down. The computer ran the request, but did not give a result. According to the computer, a similar request had been made before, and rather than show me the result, it ran the logged event.

I saw Gaza in his fortress, in the same room I had been in. Only now, in the center of the room, was a circle of stones. Gaza stood in the midst of the rocks. Methodically he began to build a structure out of the web, a large metal platform with a hole in its center.

He ran to the side of the platform, and looked off the edge at a hovering monitor. It showed a cross section of a three dimensional wire diagram, a schematic of Vrin-- but I could not see all of it from my position. By the force of my will, I merged into the information on the monitor and instantly every path and every circuit was knowable to me. At once I understood it. I knew every implication of the structure Gaza was creating, and I knew why he was creating it around The Circle of Ghosts. The Circle was the key. It could save Vrin. Or it could destroy it.

Everything I had previously understood about Vrin flip-flopped in my mind. The magic leaking into Vrin from The Circle was not separate and foreign, as I had thought. Everything in Vrin was made made from it. The computer was molding and shaping the energy according to the will of the ten coma patients; creating, in essence, a bottle. What Arganis called magic, was nothing more than unused energy. And The Circle was nothing more than the opening to the bottle. --But now it was letting more than energy in. It had let Kric'tu in. There was life outside the bottle, life which now had access to Vrin. from it. The computer was molding and shaping the energy according to the will of the ten coma patients; creating, in essence, a bottle. What Arganis called magic, was nothing more than unused energy. And The Circle was nothing more than the opening to the bottle. --But now it was letting more than energy in. It had let Kric'tu in. There was life outside the bottle, life which now had access to Vrin.

Gaza could have made his device with only one function, to explode and destroy Vrin, but curiously, he had not. There was a second use: the device could also implode and seal the opening, but not before sucking all of the untamed energy from Vrin. He intended to save Vrin, if if he could find his wife and daughter. he could find his wife and daughter.

But that was impossible now. Or was it? Gaza knew Kric'tu had killed the woman and child, but he said it was a lie. Could his real wife and daughter be alive and well in Vrin? If they were, and if he found them, then he would save Vrin. But if they weren't, I would have to close The Circle myself.

I knew what I had to do.

I couldn't close my eyes, because I had no eyes. So I wiped the imagery from my mind and began making the vocal harmonic for travel as Arganis had taught me. It was faint, but enough. The void filled with a ghostlike mist. I continued with the note until three glowing figures materialized within the fog. Activating the energy with the harmonic, separated the energy being controlled by the computer, from the untamed energy.

I asked the energy to bring me toward the three figures, and it responded to my desire, just as the threads had done when I was Sam' Dejal. The figures grew closer, but, which one was me? I sensed a current in the energy and let it take hold of me. It brought me closer, and closer, until...

Air rushed into my lungs and I dropped the event cell. Arganis grabbed me and helped me to a chair. "Get him a drink, Gadson!" Footsteps trailed off as I opened my eyes. Arganis was wearing a broad smile. "You have journeyed to an undiscovered country, my friend!"

"I have to get to The Circle." My voice was weak.

"What did you see?"

"Gaza, in The Circle, building a structure. We must get to him before he completes it."

Arganis opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again.

"I'm sorry but your questions will have to wait."

"I understand. We will help in any way we can."

"Thank you, Arganis. You are a faithful friend."

The wizard's features beamed with pride.

"We will need the help of the G.o.ds."

Arganis looked surprised. "You still have a connection with them?"

"I know of at least one who is willing to help." I pictured her beautiful face in my mind, and called out to her. "Kitaya?"

"Yes, Jason, I am here."

"I'm going to need your help."

"Yes, Jason, I'm here."

That was weird. "What just happened?" "What just happened?"

"I-- couldn't hear you for a second."

"--Okay, listen, I know how Gaza is going to destroy Vrin. I need you to get the gun I gave to Armadon and then come to me quickly. Can you do this?"

"Yes. I will be there shortly."

"Thank you. I'll see you soon."

The connection dropped and I looked at Arganis. "Kitaya will bring us to The Circle. Do you have a dozen men you can trust?"

"Yes."

"Please get them quickly."

"Gadson." He took the drink from the man. "a.s.semble twelve of our best fighters and bring them here as quickly as you can."

"Yes, sir!" Gadson turned and ran up the cellar stairs.

"This is it." I took a drink from the wooden cup, then set it firmly down on the table. "Are you ready to go head to head with the creator of Vrin?"

He looked uncertain. "I hope you know what you doing."

I nodded slowly. "I hope so too, my friend. I hope so too."

Arganis and his twelve men, Kitaya and I, simultaneously materialized on the outskirts of The Circle of Ghosts. Looming far above us, was the ma.s.sive hulk of Armadon. He He was not about to be left behind. was not about to be left behind.

In the distance an immense metal structure, resembling a large oil drilling rig, surrounded The Circle of Ghosts. Upon it, a tiny figure could be seen.

Kitaya raised her hand, and the air began to howl. "Look." She pointed. Streams of red currents beat against an invisible wall of force. "The power will not work in there, Gaza is influencing the strands."

"All of them?" Armadon's voice boomed. of them?" Armadon's voice boomed.

She looked at him and nodded. "His mental abilities must be greater than all of us combined."

"No," I said. He knows the program. He probably wrote a little piece of code to hold this area in place. It's not a problem, hopefully it will give him a false sense of security." I started walking. "Come on."

No one questioned my answer, and together we approached the border. Upon stepping inside, the wind ceased-- and I swear I could smell apple pie.

We traveled across the hot sand toward the ominous alien architecture. As we approached, bursts of energy caused the landscape to warp and bend. As though reality itself was being altered. I turned to see Arganis' men trudging behind us. They looked resolute, but I sensed their uneasiness. When I reached the foot of the enormous structure, Kitaya came up beside me, Together we began climbing the stairs. Armadon lumbered behind.

Suddenly there came a blood curdling scream. I whipped around to see one of Arganis' men lying on the ground clutching at his hand. Some of his fingers were missing! "There appears to be some kind of invisible defense wall!" Arganis said, kneeling next to the man.

"NO!" The voice of Gaza vibrated from the structure. "No simulants allowed! Just the thief!"

I looked at Arganis.

"I understand," he said. "We will wait here."

Armadon stepped down and placed his ma.s.sive hand on the squirming man, until the agony on his face dissipated, and the man lay still.

I acknowledged his act of mercy with a firm nod. And again faced the structure. "Let's go have a talk with Gaza."

I continued trudging up the steps, with Kitaya and Armadon close behind, the steel creaking loudly under our feet. Upon reaching the top, we found Gaza standing on the far end, staring out at the horizon. Cautiously, we approached.

"Did you bring my property?" He kept his back to us.

"I have it right here."

"Bring it."

I moved forward, and motioned to Kitaya to move around and flank him.

"See." He pointed toward the distant army encampment. "The horde of Kric' tu gathers, because I blocked their entrance into Vrin. He knows the end is near."

"Why doesn't he strike?"

"Because I have not yet started the sequence."

"What if you find your wife and daughter are not here?"

"Then there is no use for Vrin. Is there?" His voice dripped with disdain.

"You don't have to do this. Why don't you just leave?"