Unicorn Point (17 page)

Then she put in a call to Troubot One, using an access code that only the two of them knew. Troubot answered immediately; he was Nepe’s closest friend, and he knew he owed his consciousness to her. It had been her genius that had enabled him to hide while she emulated him and got him the placement with Citizen White. Once that was secure, they had exchanged places, and he had had an easy menial job.
 
Later, when Nepe had to hide, she had taken his place again, and he had hidden. Since he was no longer the object of a search, that was easy to do; he simply merged with unwilled machines, intercepting their orders and performing their tasks himself. He had excellent adaptive ability, having been constructed as an all-purpose servitor. His flaw had been in the brain: it was out of tolerance on the upside. In short, he was too smart and too independent. But neither as smart nor as independent as Nepe!

“Troubot, I must do something dangerous,” she informed him. “I will be of limited function for a while. You must watch me, and substitute for me if I get confused. There is great danger.”

“Let me do this dangerous task for you!” he pleaded. “I love you, and would not let you be hurt.”

“I love you too, Troubot.” She knew how that could be, too, because her father used Uncle Mach’s robot body in Proton. It was natural that she should emulate her mother, and love a machine, or the equivalent. It was hardly necessary to be in humanoid form in order to love! “But this thing I must do myself. Here is my update on current activities.”

“I can readily handle these,” he agreed. “But this danger—”

“I may be going somewhere,” she explained. “Another mind may use my body. I fear it is not safe to tell you more.
 
Just protect this one as you would me.”

“That I shall do,” he agreed. He sent a trace current that translated as emotion: concern, appreciation, loyalty.
 

“Thank you, Troubot,” she replied, sending a similar surge.

Then she braced herself for the supreme effort. What she contemplated had never been done before, but she believed it was possible. It was the only way to do what had to be done, so it had to be possible!

When she was as ready as she could be, she did another new thing: she contacted Flach without using the cover of their fathers’ contact. Flach! Flach!

His response was startled. Nepe! There be no cover!
 

This is an emergency, she returned. They know where you are. They are closing in. You can’t escape.
 

We have had wind of their approach. I must try to get away!

I have a plan.

If they capture me, they‘ll make me betray thee, and then they‘ll have us both.
 

I know, Flach. But they are not going to be fooled. That’s why I must save you. My hiding place is safe. We must exchange. You hide here; I will hide your body there.
 

But we can ne ‘er—

Yes we can! We are opposite selves. I know it!

But we be male and female!

Doesn‘t matter. My substance can assume either sex. Now do it, before they tune in and locate us this way.
 
Flach, realizing that crazy as this seemed, it was their only chance, agreed.

But first I must get to a private place, and warn my wolf-mates. They will help; they can be trusted.
 

I hope so. Nepe knew the names of the wolves; he had told her of the oath-friendships when they occurred. She gave him time to do what he needed.

It turned out to be more complicated than they had thought.
 
The oath-friends insisted on helping. They pointed out that it would be me next day before the Adept party arrived. They would go on a hunt, the four of them, and make their first kill. That would be their pretext for ranging far from the Pack. When they were far enough away, they would make a break for it, and the Adepts would not be able to catch them.
 
It would be dark, and the cover of night would help; the Adepts might even sleep through it.

Nepe had to agree that this was worth trying. If he could get free without having to exchange, it would save them a lot of trouble. She was afraid that the Adepts or the Citizens would tune in on their communications, but since they had never done this openly before, it might be that no one was checking now.

The wolves organized immediately. Kurrelgyre, pleased with their initiative, approved, and even suggested an appropriate region to hunt, where rabbits were plentiful this season. The four assumed wolf-forms and moved out together.
 
There were no communications for a time. Nepe knew that Flach was sparing her the dull details of a run through forest and fields, as well as protecting them both from discovery by keeping his contact limited. He would be in touch when something happened.

Just at dusk he called her. Nepe! I made a kill! I got a rabbit, all by myself. Sirel got another!
 

But you didn’t go to make a kill! she protested.
 

I didn ‘t expect to make a kill, he corrected her. But it be the pretext, and it be a significant thing in wolven terms. Now Sirel and I can assume our third syllables, and can commit to our first mating, and take the fourth.
 

Mating! Flach, you are too young!

Nay, wolves can do it sooner than human folk. It takes not, but be good experience. It would be abnormal for us to do it not as soon as possible. Of course the first mating be ne ‘er the one for later breeding; that partner be forbidden. It be a thing best arranged between oath-friends, which we be.
 

Nepe realized that Flach’s main protection was in his similarity to the other wolves of the Pack. The longer he could act like a wolf while ranging farther from the Pack, the better chance he might have to get away. Mate with her then, and get it over with! she thought ungraciously.
 

Nay, we mate not actually now. She be not in heat; she be too young for that.

Then don’t mate with her! Just keep moving out!
 

But we must needs commit. There be a ceremony. It must be done properly, so that the naming be legitimate.
 

Nepe was exasperated. Such a complication had never occurred to her, and in truth she was somewhat jealous of the manner his society allowed him to step into an adult emulation so young. But if there was any hope that this would enable him to win free on his own—

They went through their ceremony of Commitment. It was, it seemed, somewhat like a betrothal. When Sirel achieved her first heat, in perhaps two years, Barel would be the one she sought for her maiden mating. Other males would respect that, knowing she was pledged. Thus their initiation into full adult status would be mutual. Never again thereafter would they mate with each other; it would be a rite of passage, not a breeding or permanent association.

In due course the two other wolves were willing to bear witness that a Commitment had occurred. Flach could now adopt Si as his final syllable, and Sirel could adopt Ba as hers. Thus they were Bareisi and Sirelba, each with another syllable to be inserted third when their kills were recognized by the Pack. Oath-friends and first mates—it was a significant occasion for them both. Henceforth they would be considered borderline adult, though some leeway for growing would be allowed. In the frame of Proton, the equivalent would be called adolescence.

But we must needs carry our kills back to the Pack, Flach thought. Otherwise

No! Nepe protested. You must get far away!
 

Then Flach saw a dragon flying, pursuing what appeared to be a great circle around the region where the Pack was camped. This was not normal behavior for a dragon; obviously it was acting as an agent for the Adepts. Any wolf who strayed too far would be a target of suspicion.
 
Nepe was ready to throw things at walls, but she had to concede that normal wolf behavior was in order. They had to head home to the Pack.

Darkness closed before they reached it. This was a decent pretext to halt and camp. Flach and Sirelba shared their rabbits with the other two, saving the pelts and skeletons for evidence. Then the four settled down to sleep.
 
But by morning the Adept party was at the wolf camp.
 
Nepe learned this when Mach sent the message; they had moved quickly in order to prevent any wolves from departing.
 
Flach could not return.

He explained this to the others. “Then we will help thee flee,” Sirelba growled in wolf talk. “We will lead the pursuit astray so that thou canst get free.”

But it would take more than that. Flach knew the powers of his father, and realized that no simple diversion would suffice. They would all four shortly be captive.
 

Now we must exchange, Nepe said with regret.
 

Now we must needs exchange, Flach agreed. We shall assume human form, for I doubt thou canst be a wolf.
 

Flach concentrated and sang a spell of exchange. Nepe simply willed herself into Phaze and into his body. They had never tried this before, but both knew how their fathers did it; they had tuned in on the patterns of magic and concentration many times, and knew them well. They imitated those patterns.

Nepe suffered vertigo. Then she stumbled and almost fell.
 
She was in human form, standing under a tree in the company of three other children of her age. All were clothed, and so was she; that started her, until she realized that it was the way of Phaze. One was a lovely dark-haired girl; another was a tawny-haired girl; and the third was a shaggy brown-haired boy. The first girl would be Sirelba, the second Terel, and the boy Forel.

“I am Nepe,” she said as she recovered her equilibrium.
 

“We know, “ Sirelba said. “But we shall call thee Bareisi, that thy nature be not betrayed in speech. What be thy ruse for escape?”

Nepe gazed around, still awed by her success. This really was Phaze! “Are we private?”

“Aye. We be beyond the range of yon dragon, and we can sniff hostile magic when it intrudes. But we know not how long before the net closes. Needs must we act soon, ere the magic come.”

Nepe knew that the three were oath-friends to Flach, and that they would never betray him. But she had a reservation.
 
“You know that Flach—I mean Bareisi—was never one of your kind. Can your Oaths of Friendship be binding?”

“They be binding,” the girl assured her. “Species matters not. Many o’ this Pack be oath-friend to Neysa Unicorn.”

“And your Commitment—how can it be honored if you help Bareisi get away, and he hides elsewhere and you never see him again?”

“I will wait till he come to me,” Sirelba said simply. “An he can, he will come. An he can not, I will seek him.”

“What if he is dead?”

“I will avenge him.”

“As will we,” Terel said. “As he would for us.”

Nepe was impressed. “How do you feel about him? I mean, I know you made an oath, but you must have some private impressions.”

“I love him,” Sirelba said. “Ne’er could we be lifemates, because we be counted as from the same packlet; we must breed outside it. So I glean o’ him what I can: first mating. An he die ere it be done, our other oath-friend Forel will do it. An I die, Terel will fill for me. But I would die for him regardless. He be the best male o’ my generation I know, though he be not true wolf.”

“But I am not he. What of me?”

“Thou dost be his other self. We help thee as we help him. Canst thou save his body from capture?”

“I hope so. But I will need your closest cooperation.”

“Thou willst have it. What—“

Sirelba paused, and the other two reacted similarly. “The net!” Forel whispered.

“Stay close!” Nepe said. “I must do magic, and I’ve never done it before!” Then she chanted:

0 Fog and 0 Smoke

The curse o’ Proton-frame—

Pollution invoke

That we may play a game!

Immediately there was a stirring in the air, as of a storm forming. It was working! She had known it should, but feared it would not. There was no storm; instead it was more like a dust devil stirred up by a gust across a dry plain. The effect expanded rapidly, rising to cloud the sky and spreading to include the small group.

“Drop to the ground!” Nepe cried. “Breathe through the turf! Keep your eyes closed until it thins!” She made an example by flinging herself down and burrowing her face into the ground.

The others stood for a moment bemused. Then the swirling black vapors caught them, and they broke into paroxysms of coughing. Suddenly they understood: this was poison! They got down and sought the filtration of the natural soil, while the foul cloud washed over them.

It took some time for the awful fog to thin. Finally Nepe sat up. Her eyes were bleary and her breathing labored, but she could handle it, having known what to expect. “It will ease gradually,” she gasped. “Now we must arrange our escape.”

Forel roused himself. “But the net!” He coughed, then recovered. “They watch!”

She smiled. “Not any more. I made a spell of magic pollution; we experience only the peripheral effects.”