He propped himself up on one elbow to admire Karin beside him. She responded by snuggling closer, a wisp of straw-blond hair falling across her lightly freckled cheek. He leaned over and gave her a wake-up loss. A long, fingering wake-up kiss.

aHmm,a said Karin, stirring beneath him and kissing him back. Then her eyes popped open and she broke the clinch.

aGood morning, beautiful.a aWhat time is it?a she responded. aOh, I'm sorry Mick.a She gave him a quick Kiss. aI've got to go look after Stigi. I should have been down to the aerie long ago.a She threw the covers back and swung her long legs over the side of the bed, giving Mick a wonderful view of her trim, athletic back.

aOh,a said Mick, deflated in more ways than one. aI'll wait here for you then.a She turned to look at him and the view from that side was even better. aOh, come along. This won't take more than a few minutes.a She searched briefly on the floor before finding the chemise she had dropped there several hours before.

Yeah,a Mick said, abut Stigi doesn't like me. I think he's jealous.a He didn't add that the feeling was mutual Karin pulled on her flying breeches and cinched the buckle. aPooh. Stigi didn't dislike you. Besides, I'm sure he's forgotten all about you. Dragons aren't very smart, you know.a aYou don't have to be smart to dislike someone and that dragon doesn't like me.a aCome on, get dressed. I'll show you how wrong you are.a As he hunted up his clothing strewn about the floor Mick remembered how his ex-wife used to make jokes about being jealous of his F- 15. Mick was beginning to suspect that those jokes had been more pointed than he knew.

Wiz was dreaming of Moira. She was with him again and they were back in their chambers at the Wizards' Keep, all tangled together in the big bed with the feather comforter. Moira was in his arms and she was kissing him all over.

As she covered his body with warm, wet kisses Wiz smiled and groaned in his sleep. He knew it was a dream, but he didn't want to wake up from it, ever. It was so real, so vivid. He could not only see Moira and feel her moist tongue as it stroked his flesh, even the smells were real.

Especially the smells. In fact Moira smelled like she'd had spaghetti with a particularly aggressive marinara sauce. She reeked of garlic.

Something tickled his nose and he opened his eyes to sneeze. The first thing he realized was that Moira wasn't there. The second thing he realized was that the lobster was. In fact, the lobster was basting him with garlic b.u.t.ter.

Wiz let out a yell and rolled away from the lobster.

The noise woke Glandurg, who threw off his cloak and grabbed Blind Fury in a single motion. Unfortunately the cloak landed on Wiz so he was temporarily immobilized.

The dwarf sprang to his feet, brandished his weapon and charged.

aDie, vile crustacean!a he yelled, just as he stepped in the puddle of garlic b.u.t.ter and went flying. He landed flat on his back and the lobster vanished into the darkness.

aRun, you d.a.m.ned bug!a the dwarf yelled after the fleeing shadow. aYou'll taste my steel yet!a aMy, don't we smell delicious?a Malkin said as she came hurrying up. Wiz glared. aThere's a pool back that way,a she continued. aYou better wash that stuff off before something comes wandering by and decides you're good enough to eat.a aHmpfla said Wiz, and worked his way carefully to his feet.

The aerie was an enormous gloomy cavern that stank of dragon and reminded Mick irresistibly of the hangar deck of a medieval aircraft carrier. Men and women in the plain tunics of keepers and the leathers of riders bustled about caring for their charges. Occasionally the silence would be punctuated by the sc.r.a.pe of a manure shovel on rock, or the ba.s.s rumble of a dragon, but for the most part the place was quiet. Even the soft leather boots of the riders made no sound on the rocky floor.

aWhy do you keep it so dark?a Mick asked, thinking of the brightly lit hangars of his own experience.

The dragons prefer it,a Karin told him. aAnd keep your voice down. They don't like loud noises either.a They skirted three harnessed dragons on the great central floor of the aerie, keeping well clear of the powerful tails. Their riders stood by the dragons' heads petting and talking to the beasts. Mick noted the ready patrol was spotted so the dragons were well separated. Probably to keep the dragons from fighting, he decided.

Karin took something that looked like an iron rake from a rack and hefted a leather sack from the row of similar sacks beneath it.

aCurrying iron,a she explained. aStigi likes to have his back scratched.a aDo you do this every day?a aUnless I am ill or we are in the field. Contact helps build the bond between dragon and rider. Now, walk to the outside, away from the stalls. Dragons prefer those who are familiar to them.a aHow long will this take?a aOh, not long, love. A day-tenth or so. Then I shall be free for the rest of the day.a She gave him a sultry look past lowered eyelashes. aI've made arrangements with my squadron leader.a She led him along the far edge of the chamber, past the shallow caves that served as stalls for the dragons.

aWe're almost here,a Karin told him. aI'm sure Stigi has forgotten all about you. You'll see.a They stopped in front of a stall no different from any other. Dragon tack hung next to the entrance, clean, oiled and ready for instant use. From within came the sound of gentle snoringa"loud gentle snoring. Through the gloom Mick could see the dragon curled up like an enormous house cat.

aOh, Stigi,a Karin called gently.

At the sound of his rider's voice, the dragon stirred lazily and opened one eye. Then he saw Mick. His head jerked erect so fast it slammed into the roof of the stall and he let out a roar that made the cavern ring. Alarmed, other dragons took up the challenge until the place echoed and re-echoed with the steam whistle bellows of upset dragons.

aHe remembers you,a Karin shouted over the chaos.

PART III: QUEEN OF THE NIGHT.

EIGHTEEN - LIFE AS WE WISH WE DIDN'T KNOW IT.

aSo anywayaa Charlie leaned back against the bar and gestured expansively. There I was at fifteen thousand feet. Nothing between me and the ground but an air mattress.a The walls might be hung with squadron banners, old riding leathers, weapons and bits of dragon harness. The floor might be stone, the ceiling hewn beams and the leather-clad men and women dragon riders, but it was still a pilot's meeting place and Charlie fit right in, international orange flight suit and all.

Two or three of the dragon riders were gathered around him at the bar, listening intently. Several more were scattered around at the tables paying half attention. Off in the corner Mick and Karin were enjoying each other's company.

aDid he really do all these things?a Karin whispered.

They're flying stories,a Mick whispered in her ear, pausing to nibble a bit on the lobe. aYou know the difference between a fairy tale and a flying story? A fairy tale starts 'Once upon a timea' and a flying story starts 'No s.h.i.t, this really happened.

Karin turned to grin at him. The move deprived Mick of an earlobe but the tradeoff wasn't that bad. aWe have a similar saying. He does it well, though.a The room exploded in laughter as Charlie reached the punch line.

aOh, he's entertaining,a Mick said quietly.

aBut you don't like him?a aLet's say our styles are different. We have another saying. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots. Charlie's one of the, ah, boldest pilots I've ever met.a aHe is not young either,a Karin pointed out.

aHe's lucky then. But luck runs out, especially if you push ita The programmers' workroom was as warm and cheery as the tavern, but there were only two inhabitants. Moira had long since excused herself and now only Taj and Jerry remained. Jerry was hoa.r.s.e from talking and beginning to fade around the edges, but Taj was as eager and alert as a beagle on the trail of a rabbit. There were no less than eight ascreensa hanging above Jerry's desk, most tiled with several windows, as Jerry led Tajikawa through the basics of the magic compiler and how to write software for magic. Taj already had a pile of scrolls beside him to read later and he was pushing Jerry hard on subtle points of the system.

aWell, then there's this for example.a Taj pointed to a section of the compiler code written in glowing letters in thin air. aIt's in here but you don't seem to use ft.a aOh, that's an indeterminate instruction,a Jerry told him. aYou've heard of the DWIM instruction, Do What I Mean? That's kinda an 'IDAIDWP.'a Taj c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. aIda id wip?a aI'll Do As I d.a.m.n Well Please. You can't be sure what it will do from one time to the nexta aCute, but why'd you write it that way?a aWe didn't. Remember, the bottom layer of the compiler, the elements we built the rest of it from, are tiny spells that exist here naturally. But we only use a subset of what's available. Some we don't use because they're redundant, as far as we can tell. But some of them, like this one, don't produce reliable results. We think it's something a.n.a.logous to a quantum uncertainty effect operating on a gross levela He pointed to the fiery letters again. aThis one was particularly tricky. Most of the time it works consistently, which is why it made it into a beta of the compiler. But about one time in a hundred it does something else. Which is why we didn't use it.a aHave you got a list of those things?a Taj asked.

aThe indeterminate instructions? Some of them. Mostly we didn't bother. Why?a aI want to play with them a little.a aBe careful. Some of those things are d.a.m.n dangerous and we don't know all the dangerous ones. Why mess with them?a aBecause,a the Tajmanian Devil said, ayou learn the most about a system by observing it when it becomes unstable.a aYeah, well just remember that around here when the system becomes unstable you can get caught in a system crash. It nearly happened to us once and it wasn't fun.a He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. aLook, I'm about done in. How about we continue this tomorrow?

aYou go on. I want to go on with this stuff a little.a Jerry hesitated. aWhat did you have in mind?a aI was thinking I'd just take the docs and dive right in.a Jerry frowned aThat's not a real good idea. Danny tried that when he first got here and ended up stuck in a DO loop.a aSo? That happens.a Jerry shook his head. aYou don't understand. When I say he got stuck in a DO loop, I mean he got stuck In a DO loop, repeating the same action over and over. Someone like had to get him out of it.a Taj looked serious. aI take your point. But I still want to keep going.a The big programmer considered. aProbably the best thing to do is start you out with some simple little nothing spells so you can get the feel of things. He glanced around and spotted some pieces of wood on Wiz's desk. aWait a minute, here's something.a He picked up a stack of slats with writing on them and handed them to Taj. aStudy these and the docs tonight and we'll take a crack at them tomorrow.''

The Tajmanian Devil looked at the strips of wood and c.o.c.ked a quizzical eyebrow.

aThis is a spell one of the wizards wrote. Only there's something wrong with it and it doesn't work. It's pretty harmless stuff, it just brightens and dims the lights, but it will give you some practice with the tool kit and the language.a aSounds good. Where shall I work?a aYou can use Wiz's desk. Tomorrow I'll get you in on his system. When you've got that problem spotted, I've got a couple of other things around here. But don't try to do anything tonight on your own. Remember, this stuffs dangerous.a It was June who heard it first. They were picking their way down a straight section of tunnel when Danny's wife hissed and suddenly her knife was in her hand.

aWhat?a Wiz asked over his shoulder.

aShut up!a Danny commanded. Everyone froze. aI hear something down that way.a aWhat?a aI don't know. Shut up and let me listen, will you?a Instinctively the group had arrayed itself facing the side tunnel. There was a faint sc.r.a.pe as Malkin's rapier cleared its scabbard. Glandurg strode to the front, hand on the hilt of Blind Fury.

aLight exe!a Wiz commanded and a globe of blue light sprang from his fingertips. He gestured and the witch fight began to float down the side tunnel toward the source of the sound.

At first there was nothing to see. The tunnel was empty as far as the globe's light reached. But no, there was somethinga For an instant Wiz thought the tunnel was carpeted in brown-and-gray fur. Then he realized the carpet was writhing as if alive. As the ma.s.s moved out into the light he saw that it was an army of rats, packed shoulder to shoulder and climbing over each other in their eagerness to get at the humans.

aRats! Danny yelled and he and Wiz raised their staffs simultaneously.

alightning rapidfire exe!a Lightning bolts flashed and scythed through the charging ma.s.s, slaying hundreds, but the rats closed ranks and came on. Their eyes glowed feral red in the magic light.

Wiz gestured to the floor and the earth shook, bringing dust and clods of dirt down on the party. A chasm opened before the oncoming army. The rats took no notice and kept coming. Row after row of them disappeared into the crack in the earth, but others leapt across, some of them pushing off from the backs of their fellows as they tumbled into the pit.

With a flash of steel that nearly took Wiz's nose off, Glandurg drew Blind Fury and waded into the survivors. The blade's curse kept him from hitting the rats he aimed at, but it didn't matter. No matter where he struck there were rats aplenty.

Malkin stepped forward and lashed out with her rapier, skewering rat after rat. When she had three or four writhing on her blade she flicked it back toward the ma.s.s of rats, sending her victims twisting through the air and back into the horde.

Still the rats came on. Now a dozen or more of them were scrabbling up Glandurg as if he were a ladder, seeking c.h.i.n.ks in his armor. Danny and June were laying about, he with his staff and she with her knife. But for every rat they struck down three more charged in.

Glandurg and Malkin were in front so Wiz couldn't get a clear shot. He danced back and forth, trying to find an opening for a lightning bolt. Then suddenly he had a better idea. He raised his staff and began to chant.

The oncoming wave of rats convulsed, stopped and then turned tail and ran squealing. As quickly as the tunnel had filled with rats it was empty, save for the corpses and a few survivors locked in combat with the humans.

Three or four rats were still clinging to Glandurg, including one with its teeth buried in his cheek. Without wincing the dwarf reached up and jerked the rat free. Then he held the squealing creature up before his face and glared at it. With a single quick motion Glandurg bit the rat who had bitten him back, taking off the animal's head with a single chomp. He spat the head out and tossed the corpse away.

aImpudent pest,a he muttered.

aOutasight,a Danny breathed. aSay, do you listen to Ozzie Osburne?a The dwarf only scowled. For once Wiz was glad Glandurg was on their side.

Malkin was breathing heavily and bleeding from several bites on her arms and legs. aWhat did you do?a aJamming spell,a Wiz panted. aI figured those things were being driven by magic, so I interfered with any magic in the area. Once the spell was broken the rats panicked.a aNice trick,a the tall thief said as she resheathed her rapier. She looked at the bites on her sword arm. aPity you didn't think of it sooner.a aI'll try to do better the next time,a Wiz said without a trace of irony. aMeanwhile people, let's get out of here. All that magic is likely to attract more trouble.a Several hundred yards and dozens of twists and turns later, the party found a cul-de-sac where they felt safe enough to rest and treat their wounds. June had some of Moira's salve in her pack and she applied it to everyone's rat bites. Even Glandurg consented to have his wounds smeared with the pungent brown ointment The sharp, minty smell and the plain little pot from Moira's stillroom brought a lump to Wiz's throat. He noticed that even as she treated their wounds June didn't turn her back on the tunnel entrance.

aAny idea where we are?a Wiz asked Danny.

aLost,a the younger man said as he fished into his tunic for the magic compa.s.s. He looked down at the glowing disk aI don't know where we are, but what we're after is off that way.a aAny sign of anything else?a Danny squinted at the detector. aNot that I can pick up. This whole area's lousy with magic, but none of it seems immediately hostile.a He dropped the talisman back on his chest. aThis thing's getting less effective because of all the magical interference. Pretty soon it's not going to work at all.a That was unwelcome but not unexpected so Wiz didn't reply. aOkay, spread out. Danny you take the lead this time. And look out for those side tunnels.a aRemember,a Charlie told Malus for about the hundredth time, athat baby's fragile.a aFear not, My Lord,a the apple-cheeked wizard a.s.sured him. aWe will be as gentle with it as a queen cat with her kits.a aI mean, I've put that baby into places it was hard to get out of, but this is ridiculous.a aIt has posed a bit of a problem,a Malus admitted, abut I believe we have solved it to everyone's satisfaction.a They rounded the corner of the hall in time to see an apprentice wizard moving several of blocks of stone. He was walking backward holding a wand and the blocks were bobbing along behind him like ducklings behind their mother.

Charlie stopped dead at the sight. aWhat's holding those rocks up? Skyhooks?a aThat is not what we call the spell,a said Malus.

Charlie's eyes followed the line of floating stones across the courtyard. aYou could put a bunch of helicopter pilots out of work with that.a The doors of the great hall were large enough to accommodate a cavalry dragon, but the creature would have to stoop and bend to get through. Charlie's biplane couldn't stoop and bend, so a team of workmen and a couple of wizards had spent the better part of two days taking off the doors and removing stones to expand the opening.

aWe're ready, Lord,a one of the workmen said as he came over to join them.

aAll tight,a Charlie said. aLet me get into the c.o.c.kpit and you put your guys on the lower wing. I'll take the brakes off and you can push it out.a aThen what, Lord?a asked the foreman.

Charlie looked around the stone-walled court and sighed. Then I guess she'll just sit there on gate guard. No other use for her here,a he added sadly.

That evening Wiz called another council of war. aOkay people, you know we're running low on food?a Nods all the way around. The dried vegetables, fruit and grains that const.i.tuted this world's airon rationsa were easy to carry, but there was still a limit to how much they had brought with them.

aWell, on the theory that we'd have to head back, at least to replenish our supplies, I ran some tests this afternoon.a Tests?a Danny asked.

Wiz grinned but there was no humor in it. aI'm developing a nasty, suspicious nature down here. I wanted to make sure we could walk the Wizard's Way with no trouble.a aI take it there was trouble?a Malkin asked dryly.

aIn spades. I can't open the way. It's closed. Blocked by some kind of magical jamming.a Everyone was quiet for a moment.

aSo we can't go back?a Danny asked at last.

aLooks not.a This smells like a trap,a Danny said. aLike we've been lured in.a aLured?a asked Glandurg. aWe have had to fight every step of the way. Only the power of Blind Fury has brought us this far.a That wasn't the way Wiz remembered it, but he didn't object.

This reminds me of Shiara's tale of the cursed tomb that took her sight and magic,'' Malkin said quietly. That was a trap too, but the trap was cloaked by a series of other traps designed to eliminate those who were not clever and possessed of strong magic.''

There was silence while they all considered the possibilities. June moved closer to Danny and he slipped his arm around her shoulders.

aSo what do we do about it?a Danny asked finally.

aWell,a Wiz said slowly, aWe can't go back.a He looked around the group, hoping someone would dispute the point, but no one did aSo we've got to go forward against this thing.a aSeems to me we've got just one chance,a Danny said at last.

aWhat?a The young programmer flicked a tight little smile. aWe're gonna have to be a whole lot tougher than the thing that set this trap in the first place.a aYes!a roared Glandurg and brandished Blind Fury aloft. The gesture drove the sword into the tunnel roof, knocking a liberal shower of fine, choking dirt down on them all.

Spitting, sneezing and brushing dirt out of their eyes, the other members of the group glared at the dwarf. He grinned sheepishly and carefully returned the sword to its scabbard.

aThis stuffs trickier than I thought,a E.T. Tajikawa said when Jerry broke to refill his tea mug. For the last two days he had been working his way systematically through the compiler and development system, coming back to Malus' light dimming spell from time to time.

aIt has its peculiarities,a the big programmer agreed as he ambled over to look at Taj's work aWhat's the problem?a Taj grinned sheepishly. aProbably really simple because I can't find it. The listing looks fine.a For an instant Jerry wondered if Taj was really as good as his reputation. aWell,a he asked carefully, ahow does it fail?a aThat's the nasty part. It's apparently an intermittent because I can't get it to fail at all.a Jerry leaned over Taj's shoulder and peered closely at the program, running down the instructions. That's funny. I don't see anything there that would cause an intermittent.a aYou mean you don't know what's wrong with it?a aWell, no,a Jerry admitted. aWiz was working on it whena well anyway. Let's see.a A quick command and Jerry executed the program. The lights in the workroom brightened promptly.

aThat's real weird.a aYou mean it isn't me?a aNo. That's what it's supposed to do. Except Malus said it didn't work.a aI think,a Taj said slowly, amaybe we'd better have a talk with this Malus character.a Jerry hesitated. Of all the problems they faced, a sticky light switch spell was far and away the least important. But Taj was quivering like a bird dog and the truth was that Jerry wasn't getting anywhere with what he was doing. What the heck? he thought, we might learn something.

They found Malus in the Wizards' Day Room, digesting lunch and talking to a few of his fellow wizards. Winter sun filtered weakly though the large diamond-paned windows and a small fire in the carved stone fireplace took the chill off the air. Magic provided most of the heat and light but the fire and windows added warmth and coziness.

aMalus, could you try this spell again?a aCertainly, My Lord,a the wizard said, getting up from his chair. aHave you found the problem?a aI'm not sure. I want to see you do it.a aVery well.a Malus picked up the wooden strips, arranged them on a small table and then spoke the command.

Instead of brightening, the magic glow lamps in the Day Room flickered, dimmed, brightened and then dropped to a febrile glimmer.

Jerry and Taj looked at each other in the sudden gloom.

aLet me try,a Jerry said.

This time the spell worked perfectly.

aThat doesn't makeaa aWait a minute!a Taj cut him off. aDo you each have physically separate copies of the compiler or are they all just instantations of the same compiler?a Jerry looked at him. aI don't know. I never thought about it.a aMight be interesting to find out,a Taj said.

aMy Lord,a Jerry said to the little wizard, awill you list out the compiler for me?a It was Malus' turn to frown. aVery well. aEmac.a Instantly a little demon with a green eyeshade popped into existence. Jerry noticed it was rounder than the ones he was used to. In fact it looked a lot like Malus himself.

a?a the demon said.

alist compiler exe,a Malus p.r.o.nounced, and the demon removed a quill pen from behind a large bat-like ear and began to scribble lines of fiery letters in the air.

The compiler was big and took a while. By now several other wizards, had gathered around to watch.

aShall I list out the libraries and include files as well, My Lord?a Malus asked when the Emac at last completed its task.

aNo, this is fine for now,a Jerry told him. aEmac.a he commanded, and proceeded to order the demon to list out the compiler again. Taj watched closely, but aside from the fact that Malus' Emac wrote in letters of golden fire and Jerry's preferred electric blue he couldn't see any difference.

aNow,a he said, as the second demon finished.

aEmac.a The blue fire superimposed itself on the yellow. Suddenly several sections of the code stood out in brilliant green.

aYour version of the spell compiler. It's different.a Jerry checked the changed sections against Malus' spell. aYour spell didn't work because something messed with your copy of the compiler. The program was fine but the tool was broken.a aBut, My Lord, I can a.s.sure you I have done nothing to change it!a aI believe you,a Jerry said. And, he didn't add aloud, that's what scares me.

A quick check of the other wizards present in the day room showed that two of them had compilers which had suffered minor changes, but none so great as Malus'.

aI wonder how many other broken copies of the compiler are loose around the castle? Or broken anything else?a Jerry said as the last wizard in the group checked out clean. aI think we'd better start a sweep of the software.a aYou go ahead,a Taj told him. aI've got some stuff I want to check up on.a Jerry was so engrossed in the problem he only nodded, forgetting his objections to Taj going out on his own.

aWell,a Jerry said tiredly a few hours later, awe were lucky. So far we've only turned up a half-dozen infected programs.a He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. aMaybe more than lucky. We didn't exactly build the spells to be virus-proof but we were real conservative in our design. There's an error-correcting code built into every spell and if the check sums and such don't match it won't execute. Plus the critical stuff uses triple redundancy.a aI noticed,a Taj said. aIs there any pattern to what's been attacked?a aNot that I can find. There's a lot of stuff here that's been nibbled around the edges but aside from Malus' copy of the compiler nothing else serious is really broken. d.a.m.n! I wish Wiz and Danny were here.a aNeed some more insights, eh?a aThat's part of it. But now I'm going to have to go through and design anti-virus software to protect every spell we've got. It would be easier if there were three of us doing it.a Taj looked at the changed code again. aWho's writing these puppies?a Jerry shrugged. aIf I had to guess I'd say it's our enemy in the City of Night.a aSeems kind of piddly for a deliberate attack. Are you sure none of your students worked these up?a Jerry shook his head. aYou don't understand how seriously these people take magic. This isn't like a bunch of bored high school lads or out-of-work Bulgarians. Everyone here respects magic too much to do something like this for the h.e.l.l or it.a Taj looked skeptical. aThis thing came from somewhere.a aYeah,a Jerry said. aAnd that's what worries me. One more thing that worries me.a Moira rose dripping from the bath. The water streamed off, making little rivulets between her shoulder-blades and b.r.e.a.s.t.s, splitting at her swelling belly and dripping off her spa.r.s.e orange thatch of pubic hair. She stepped out onto the tiled floor and a skeletal hand offered her a towel.

She accepted it without noticing either her attendant's appearance or smell. In life the zombie maid had been a harem attendant for a mighty wizard of the Dark League. She had died on the surface when her master's palace collapsed and had lain there until the new master of the City of Night had claimed her. Even in this cold land, decay had set in while she lay dead on the surface and now that she was often in the steamy atmosphere of the bath her rotting flesh seethed with maggots.