aReally something. Pretty ambitious, isn't it?a aWe have to stay on the leading edge. I'm sorry I don't recognize your company name. Are you a distributor or a VAR?a aUh, we're kinda a technology partner. Actually I was hoping to meet someone here. E.T. Tajikawa.a aOh, is he with our West Coast sales office?a aUh, not exactly. Your software people know him.a aYou wait right here and I'll go see.a With that she turned and dived into the crowd. Jerry made to follow her but before he could take a step, a large man in a suit stepped in front of him and stuck out his hand.

aPerry Jacobs,a he boomed, avice-president of sales.a It was both a greeting and a challenge and Jerry was acutely aware of how little he fit with the business-suited crowd swarming around them.

Jerry smiled brightly. aCantraf colgain esper jokake jon,a he mumbled, as if it meant something.

aGlad you're enjoying it,a the other boomed. aHere let me give you one of my cards.a Jerry extended one of his. aMeeper gleeble ranamuck shusur.a aYeah, I've gone through a pack of them, too,a Jacobs boomed.

Meanwhile, Bal-Simba was enjoying himself, in a bemused sort of way. The singer, a Judy Garland impersonator, was taking advantage of his size and appearance by playing off him, flirting with him as he sang, flicking him with his silk scarf and vamping outrageously. When the number ended the singer blew Bal-Simba a kiss and scampered offstage. That was the cue for the band to take a break, and for the first time in several minutes Bal-Simba could hear himself think.

aI said, quite a show isn't it,a said a voice at his elbow.

The wizard turned and saw a small man in a bad toupee standing beside him.

aIt is indeed,a Bal-Simba agreed, which seemed safe enough.

aThey're going all out,a his new acquaintance said. They missed the top of the IPO cycle, their quarterlies are off and if this doesn't fly big they're probably going to have to gobble up a couple of startups with good stories to save their offering.a Bal-Simba nodded sagely.

The man extended his hand. aPeter Saperstein, of the Saperstein Group. You know, the Saperstein Technology Letter.a Bal-Simba nodded again.

aSo, who are you here for?a Bal-Simba took the first name he could think of. aIBM.a aThat's not what it says on your badge,a Saperstein shot back.

Bal-Simba realized he had blundered.

aYou weren't supposed to say that, were you?a If there was one thing the big wizard knew it was when to keep his mouth shut. So he just smiled slightly at his new acquaintance.

aLook,a Saperstein went on, aI know you can't say anything, non-D and all that, but just let me lay a scenario on you.a aI cannot stop you.a aFirst off, it's gotta be big if you're here under a cover name.a Saperstein thumped the big wizard on his chest where his badge was pinned. aYour badge doesn't say IBM. But it does say 'wizard,' so you're obviously in software development and you sure as h.e.l.l don't work on the AS400 if you're walking around dressed like that So you gotta be blue-sky and if you're here, that means edutainment and that,a Saperstein concluded triumphantly, ameans a partnership arrangement with Mauve.a aThat is a great deal of speculation,a Bal-Simba said mildly. Anyone who knew him would have recognized the reproof in his voice, but Saperstein didn't know him and wouldn't have wanted to spoil a hot story even if he had.

Saperstein craned to look through a random rift in the crowd. aExcuse me, I gotta go talk to someone.a Bal-Simba nodded, not realizing he had not only made his acquaintance's evening, but saved Mauve Technology as well.

aa unique market position with the possibility for strong leverage of our technology through the channel,a Jacobs was saying.

Jerry nodded and smiled. So far he'd managed to keep from revealing his ignorance, but it was getting harder. For one thing, since the band had quit playing he'd actually had to talk to Jacobs. For another, Jacobs was angling hard for some kind of commitment. Since Jerry still didn't have the faintest idea what the company did he couldn't agree to anything without giving himself away.

aWell,a Jerry began, ayou nave to understand our position vis-a-vis the market.a aExcuse me.a Jerry found himself shouldered aside by a small middle-aged man in an expensive suit and cheap toupee. aPeter Saperstein, of the Saperstein Group. You know, the Saperstein Technology Letter?

What's this about a joint game venture with IBM's European division?a aWhere the h.e.l.l did you hear that?a Jacobs demanded Saperstein shrugged. aAround. So mere is something to it?a aNo. I mean, I can't comment even if it was true.a aWhen are you going to make the announcement? Not at the show, is it? So that means sometime in the next quarter, right?a aI can't say.a aA little further out then.a aUh,a Jerry said, aif you gentlemen will excuse meaa But neither was paying any attention.

He was heaving a sigh of relief when someone touched his arm. It was the woman in the blue suit.

aI checked with the software people. They say Mr. Tajikawa isn't here.a aOh, well thanks anyway.a She smiled a thoroughly professional smile. aDon't mention it. If there's anything else I can doaa and with that she was lost in the crowd.

The band had struck up again and aJudy Garlanda was back on the stage, flirting with Bal-Simba as he swung into his first number. Jerry collected his friend and they made for the door.

aForgive me,a Bal-Simba said when they were out in the corridor and could talk in normal tones again, abut is there something peculiar about that woman?a aFor starters, it's a man.a aAh,a Bal-Simba said mildly, aI see,a and seemed to lose interest. Jerry thought about trying to explain and then realized that to Bal-Simba a female impersonator was probably the least peculiar thing he seen had all day.

Moira was waiting for them where they had left her. aWell?a she asked.

aNo sign of him. We're going to have to look elsewhere.a He frowned. aThis isn't a real good strategy to find Taj anyway.a aWhat would you suggest then?a Jerry had pulled out his exhibitor book and was thumbing through it in search of inspiration.

aLook, there are a couple of more companies on the hospitality suite list that Taj has a special relationship with. We can call them and see if they know where he is. It'll take some calling around to track them down, but it will be faster than trying to hit all these exhibits.a He closed the book and looked up. aMeantime, we can't stay here. Too public. Let's get a few blocks away from the casinos and find a place where Moira can hole up and rest for a few hours while we hit a pay phone. It's getting late enough for that.a aMy Lady?a Bal-Simba asked.

The dragon nodded aForgive me, My Lords, but this body is not as strong as it looks.a aWe understand,a Bal-Simba said gently.

aYeah,a Jerry added 'The last time I was here I would have collapsed if I'd done half as much walking as we have already.a aThen lead on,a Bal-Simba said. Jerry picked a direction and led them off away from the maze of casinos and neon.

Just a few blocks from the downtown casino district the scene changed radically. From bright lights and constant bustle it became a run-down area of progressively cheaper motels and shabby buildings. The character of the people on the streets changed as well. In the next several blocks Bal-Simba's appearance got them a number of interesting business propositionsa"both buying and selling.

Bal-Simba and Moira didn't know enough to see it as unusual, but Jerry was getting progressively more nervous. At six feet three and well over two hundred pounds he was the least physically impressive member of the trio, but even so he did not like the looks of the neighborhood. aThere's a mini-mart down the block,a he said finally. aIt should have a pay phone.a A small sign informed them that the pay phones were inside.

aWait here. I'll see what we can find out.a He paused and looked at Bal-Simba. aNo, you come with me. Moira, you wait here.a The dragon settled down in a parking s.p.a.ce and Jerry and Bal-Simba went into the mini-mart In the event it took longer than Jerry had expected. The hotels were overworked and the switchboards were glacial. Even when he did find where the companies were staying, the phone would ring forever before someone answered it and it would take somewhat longer to find anyone who knew the Tajmanian Devil and could tell Jerry that he wasn't there. Jerry kept pumping in quarters, but it was slow.

Meanwhile, things were quiet outside and Fluffy was exhausted. So Moira lay down in the parking s.p.a.ce and drifted off to sleep.

Fluffy was big enough to fill up the parking s.p.a.ce, but down on all fours he wasn't visible over the cars on either side. Incautiously the dragon let his tail trail out behind him, making him longer than the parking s.p.a.ce.

If Moira had thought about it she would have tucked the tail back around Fluffy's body. But she was dead beat from all the walking, ill from the effects of being a magical creature in a non-magical world, and generally not thinking very well. All she wanted to do was to curl herself into a little ball of misery and let the body relax.

Moira wasn't the only one who felt that way. The couple in the Mini-Winnie had driven straight through from Los Angeles and the driver wasn't as awake as he might have been. Besides, he was distracted by the simmering argument with his wife over finding a campground. As a result he didn't see the thing lying in the parking lot until it was too late.

The motor home ran over the dozing dragon's tail and all h.e.l.l broke loose.

Fluffy jerked up with a roar of pain and rage. Moira was slow to regain control of the body so, for the first critical seconds, the dragon reacted out of instinct.

Unfortunately the dragons instinct was to lash out at his tormentor. Fluffy's tail slammed into the side of the motor home again and again, caving in some of the thin aluminum paneling and rocking the vehicle so violently it teetered on the brink of overturning.

Moira quickly discovered she didn't have as much control over the dragon as she thought, especially when the dragon was frightened or angry. Although dragons are physically tough, the young ones are more vulnerable psychologically. In general they do not take well to new experiences and they are somewhat skittish in strange circ.u.mstances. Fluffy had been a pampered pet almost all his life.

Again and again the dragon lashed the motorhome with its tail while the occupants screamed and Moira tried desperately to regain control.

Jerry and Bal-Simba came running out of the store into a scene of complete and utter chaos. There was already a small crowd gathered at a safe distance and almost as soon as they stepped out of the store the first police car arrived, quickly followed by two others. The lights and sirens did nothing to calm the hysterical dragon.

Shotguns at the ready the officers advanced to the rescue.

By this time Moira had gained partial control and Fluffy lay panting on the pavement.

Jerry held his breath. If they could just get the situation calmed down, then maybea An odd corner of his brain wondered what it would cost to bail out a dragon.

He never had the chance to find out.

The cops were understandably nervous. Even lying down, a dragon looks dangerous and there were a lot of civilians around to protect. When Moira suddenly heaved the dragons body back on his feet the logical conclusion was that it was getting ready to attack, especially since the dragon's open mouth was treating the cops to a spectacular display of fangs.

One of the cops with a clear shot pumped a load of buckshot into Fluffy at close range.

This was a spectacularly bad idea. The shot was #6, enough to drop a deer or a man in their tracks, but only enough to sting the scaled hide of a dragon.

The results were equally spectacular. With another steamwhistle roar, Fluffy went berserk, charging directly at the police officers closing in. Two more rounds of buckshot did nothing to stop him. A lash of the scaled tail and the policemen went flying like tenpins. A few of the spectators applauded, it being that kind of neighborhood.

aGet animal control. We need a tranquilizer gun,a one of the officers yelled into his microphone.

aTranquilizer, h.e.l.l!a one of the other cops shouted. aWe need a G.o.dd.a.m.n tank.a One of the officers, with more courage than tactical sense pulled her police cruiser into the parking lot to block the dragon's escape. Fluffy stopped, hissed in breath, drew back his head and for the first time in his life, breathed flames.

It wasn't much of a blast by dragon standards, weak and low temperature, but the gout of yellow fire did quite a nice job of igniting the police car. The officer bailed out the driver's door as the opposite side of the car erupted in fire.

aAct inconspicuous,a Jerry hissed aUs they can arrest.a Bal-Simba leaned nonchalantly against the side of the building. The effect wasn't exactly inconspicuous, but it wasn't that out of place either.

The best thing Moira could think of was to get out of there. Since that accorded perfectly with the dragon's instincts, she had no trouble commanding the body to run. Moira put her head down and galloped straight at the crowd.

One spectator decided this was the Las Vegas version of the running of the bulls and stepped in front of her waving a jacket with a red lining like a bullfighter's cape. For his pains he got thrown nearly ten feet by a quick toss of the dragon's head. No one else seemed disposed to follow, not even the police.

Jerry nodded to Bal-Simba and the two of them drifted off around the other side of the building. Once they were out of sight they ran after the disappearing dragon.

They found Moira in an alley a block and a half away, leaning against a fence, her sides heaving.

aAre you all right?a Jerry asked.

With an effort Moira raised the dragon's drooping headaI am sorry, My Lord I could not control this body.a Jerry looked back at the glow from the burning police car. aWell, thank G.o.d no one was killed. Now come on.a They made their way down the alley and paused in the shadows at the next cross street until there were no cars coming. Then the two men and the dragon sprinted across the street and into the next alley. They did it twice more before they ran out of alley at the blank rear wall of an apartment building.

aI take it we are not yet out of danger,a Bal-Simba said as they made their way back to the mouth of the alley.

aThey'll be searching the whole city for us and we're not exactly going to be hard to spot. We can't keep walking around, not with the cops looking for Moira.a aIs there someplace we can hide?a aWell, we could stash her among the life-size animated dinosaurs in the Las Vegas Museum of Natural History, but we'd have to get her there first.a Jerry frowned. Then his frown cleared and he looked past Bal-Simba out of the mouth of the alley.

aWait a minute. I think I see the answer to our problem.a The guy at the truck rental place was remarkably uninterested in his customers. All he wanted was a driver's license and a cash deposit. Fortunately Jerry's California license hadn't expired yet. Gotta find some way to get that renewed, he thought.

aJust make sure you bring it back clean,a the clerk said dubiously, eyeing the dragon.

aDon't worry, she's housebroken,a Jerry a.s.sured him. Moira only sniffed.

In just a few minutes the contract was signed, Moira was loaded into the back of a twenty-four-foot truck with the slogan aLand of Enchantmenta and a picture of New Mexico scenery painted on the side.

aWell, that's one less problem anyway,a Jerry said, as he watched a police car cruise by in the opposite direction.

aNow what?a asked Bal-Simba, who was hunched down on the pa.s.senger's side.

Jerry glanced at the time display in front of a bank. aIt's too late to do much tonight. We'll have to get some sleep and try again in the morning.a aAt least this place has many inns,a Bal-Simba said as he looked at the row of neon signs stretching away before them.

aForget it. You can't get a hotel room in this town this week for love or money.a He paused. aWell, maybe for love, but you've got to rent it by the hour and, come to think of it, that's for money too.a Bal-Simba looked at him. aI take it that is not practicala aMost working girls don't like threesomes and if we try to bring a dragon into the scenea"well, yeah it's not practicala The watch commander for the police department was having a hard night as well. Except he knew where he was going to be spending most of it.

Take over,a he said to his sergeant as he picked up his hat. aI'm going to the scene.a aWhat do you want me to do about this thing in the meantime?a his sergeant asked.

aNothing. We're not doing anything until I debrief those officers and find out just exactly what the h.e.l.l we're dealing with here.a The watch commander knew his men and he trusted thema"within broad limits. However, whatever this was pretty clearly went beyond those limits. Obviously something had happened at that mini-market, but equally obviously there was some sort of failure of communication. He was not about to put out an APB for a mythical creature until he'd had a good long talk with the officers and the witnesses.

In the event that proved more difficult than he had antic.i.p.ated. No one in the crowd would admit to seeing anything, the clerk in the mini-mart could suddenly only communicate in an obscure dialect of Farsi and the tourists in the Mini-Winnie were still hysterical. The physical evidence was impressive enough, what with the burned-out police car and the scorched and dented motorhome, not to mention the sc.r.a.pes and bruises on the officers who had been knocked around. The testimony of the officers was more equivocal. None of them really liked the idea of what they had seen, or thought they had seen, so they were very careful in their descriptions. The watch commander collected numerous statements about the poor light in the parking lot, the stress of the encounter, the lack of a good view and such. But of the nine officers present not one of them used the word adragon.a It was nearly dawn when the watch commander decided that the official story was going to be that someone had a large alligator that was causing trouble. That's the way it went down on the blotter and incident report where the media would see it. Privately and unofficially he pa.s.sed the word to the next watch commander and left it to him to pa.s.s the word privately and unofficially to his officers. It wasn't the first time that the official version and the truth had differed significantly in this town.

Jerry, Bal-Simba and Moira spent a miserable night parked in a patch of desert a few miles out of town. Moira slept in the back of the truck, Jerry curled up in some old moving pads underneath and Bal-Simba tried to sleep in the cab. Moira was too sick to sleep well and the others were too uncomfortable. The November desert at night is bone-chillingly cold and Jerry kept thinking about scorpions.

Wiz and the other humans awoke that morning stiff and sore from another night sleeping on the rocks. At least the humans awoke stiff and sore. Glandurg seemed as relaxed and fresh as ever.

Fresh was definitely something the rest of the party wasn't. Wiz wondered why dungeon-delving games never said anything about what the partic.i.p.ants smelled like after a couple of days of hard work and no baths.

After a quick breakfast of vegetable porridge everyone crowded around Wiz while he checked the locator crystal aIt says we go off this way,a Wiz told the others.

aHow close are we?a Malkin asked.

Wiz looked back down at the crystal and frowned. aStill a ways to go.a Danny looked down at the glowing object in Wiz's hand aIt doesn't seem any brighter than it was when we started. Shouldn't it get brighter as we get closer?a aWe still have some distance to cover. These caverns are big.a aAre you sure this thing knows where it's going?a Danny grumbled.

aIt's set to home in on Moira,a Wiz replied with more confidence than he felt. He was developing a nagging suspicion about where the magical compa.s.s was leading them. Either these caverns were much bigger than he remembered them or they were being taken on the scenic route. Considering all the stuff they'd run into so far that was a distinct possibility.

Or maybe there's just a lot more stuff down here, he thought as the party moved along a tunnel as wide as a four-lane highway. I wonder how you estimate the monsters per square kilometer in a dungeon. Or should that be per cubic kilometer because the place has so many levels it's really three dimensional?

The air was getting more humid as they went along. At first there was a nasty, cold clamminess that seemed to ding to them. Then it got warmer until all the humans were sticky with sweat Finally, after two more turnings into smaller tunnels they were surrounded by a thick, warm mist.

aI hear water up ahead,a Malkin said softly. Wiz nodded and took a better grasp on his staff.

Suddenly the tunnel opened out into a cavern. The far wall and the ceiling alike were lost in billows of mist. The sound of trickling, splashing water was loud before them.

They paused while Danny surveyed the area with his magic detector.

aNo sign of anything,a he said at last. aWhatever's up ahead of us is natural, not magic.a aNatural hot springs,a Wiz said. With a gesture he increased the intensity of the light from the magical globe and the party stepped into the cave.

They looked around and gasped.

Brightly colored flowstone had congealed like melted candle wax in opalescent patterns. The fog and mist made the place look like a Hollywood soundstage.

aIt's beautiful,a Danny said softly. June said nothing, but clung open-mouthed to Danny's arm, staring wide-eyed like a child on Christmas morning.

aQuite something,a Malkin said. Wiz looked back and saw her standing arms akimbo and feet spread. She was also eyeing the scene as if she was trying to figure out how to take the place home with her. Wiz decided that where Malkin was concerned, larceny was the sincerest form of flattery.

aStay close people,a Wiz admonished. aJust because there's no magic in here doesn't mean there's nothing dangerous.a The room was not as big as it had seemed, being much longer than it was wide. The tunnel they had entered from angled in on the long side and in perhaps fifty paces they were across the room.

aHere's your hot spring,a Malkin said, gesturing at a place where the water trickled out of the rock wall. From there it ran along the floor of the cavern and gathered in a series of pools before disappearing through a crack in the floor.

Danny mopped his sweaty brow on his wet sleeve. aWhew, this place is like a sauna.a aYeah,a Wiz said slowly. aOr a hot tub. Come on, let's see how hot it really is.a The water at the seep was scalding, but by three pools down it had cooled until it was just barely tolerable. Wiz stuck his finger in and nodded.

aAre you thinking what I think you're thinking?a Danny asked.

Wiz just gestured at the pool. aLooks big enough.a aRight,a Danny said, dropping his pack and staff and stripping off his outer tunic. Wiz and the other humans followed suit.

Glandurg eyed the water with distaste. aAnother of your mortal customs, eh? Fear not. I'll guard the door while you pollute yon stream.a With that he turned his back and disappeared into the steamy fog.

They kept their shirts on for modesty's sake, but tie thin fabric clung to their bodies as soon as it got wet and the result was more like a wet T-shirt contest than swimming suits. The pool wasn't even waist deep, but the four lowered themselves into the steaming water with much aoohinga and aaahinga and made themselves comfortable on the smooth flowstone of the bottom.

For several minutes no one said anything, letting the heat and warmth soak into their bodies.

aFirst time I've even been on a quest with a hot tub,a Danny said at last.

Wiz sighed deeply and relaxed further into the steaming water. aCivilized though.a Malkin ducked under the water and came up with her long dark hair streaming behind her. She was the picture of ease but Wiz noticed she never strayed more than a foot from her rapier. She shook her head vigorously to clear her eyes, splashing everyone else with droplets flung off from her raven hair.

aJerry told me that in your world you have such things built into your dwellings,a the thief said. aNow I see why.a aWe ought to put one of these in at the Wizards' Keep,a Danny suggested.