Phaze Doubt

Astonished, Flach stared at her. “Thou wast hiding in there, and we saw thee not?” But as he said it, he knew it could not be; she could have been only three years old when they left the cave. If she had hidden, it would have been arranged by her parents. Was she a throwback, one who had turned out a vampire bat instead of a bat head, her two forms separate instead of properly merged in the animal head way? That might account for it; now they used her as a messenger.

“I was kept apart,” Weva said. “By the time I was of age to school, thou was gone. But now I be thine age, and glad to meet thee at last- Willst come with me?”

“For a day? Dost mean here, or there?”

“A day here,” she said. “Four and a half months there.”

“What o’ my friends?”

“Only thou must come,” she said firmly. “Can they wait not one day for thee?”

“Aye, we can,” Sirel said, tugging at Alien’s arm to draw his attention away from Weva. She was frankly jealous, evidently realizing that his interest in her had been in the absence of a girl of his own species. Now one had shown up.

“This summons needs must be answered,” Flach said. “I will go with thee, and return in a day. outside time.” The Hectare was with the group, listening, but unconcerned; their truce covered everything, and only when they departed the pole permanently would it end. Then, of course, the BEM would report, and the chase would be on. But they had been careful not to mention the next mission to it.

Weva resumed bat form, and Flach followed her to the Pole. She flew down into it, and he jumped in after her.

Inside, he stood for a moment, letting his eyes adjust. Then he started walking down the spiral tunnel.

In a moment there was a growl of a wolf. Flach looked, his eyes adjusting. It was a full wolf, a nearly grown bitch, but not Sirel, who remained outside. He used his magic to assume wolf form, because he had learned that the splash of magic did not extend outside the caves; the time differential seemed to damp it out so that the Purple Adept would not be able to pick it up. “Who dost thou be?” he growled, for he had known of no werewolf here either.

“Thou dost know me not?” she inquired archly.

“I have seen thee ne’er before,” he replied, irritated. “Me-thought none but animal heads came to these caves.”

“Thou thought correctly,” she growled, amused.

She was teasing him, but not in a way he could quite fathom. He walked on down the spiral with her, not deigning to comment further. Eli would surely explain why these creatures had been hidden from him and Alien and Sirel, who would have been as interested as he in their presence.

“I must leave thee now, but the rovot will guide thee,” Weva said.

“Rovot?” he asked, surprised again. But she was gone.

Well, there were robots here; they took care of most of the menial chores and new construction. He turned the body over to Nepe, who hardened it into the aspect of a humanoid robot.

They came to the first nether chamber. There stood the other robot, and it was not a maintenance machine, but a humanoid specimen, of masculine gender. This was another surprise, because there had been no such machine in evidence in the three years they had lived here, and they thought they had come to know every member of the community. Obviously they had missed a lot.

“Who are you?” Nepe asked.

“I have a name,” the robot said. “But that is an approximation for convenience, and need not be employed.”

Which was a typical robot answer. “Are you self-willed?”

“I am.”

“Why didn’t I see you before?”

“That answer will be known in due course.”

Another robotoid response! Nepe walked on with it, toward the chamber where Eli normally stayed.

“I must separate from you now,” the robot said. “But a man will await you.”

The robot departed down a side tunnel. Nepe walked on, taking the opportunity to shift to her straight human form—and soon encountered a boy.

She stopped and stared. This was a full, complete, man-headed human being! Which was absolutely unlikely, here.

“Who are you?” she asked gamely.

“I am called Beman, but that tells only part of my story,” the young man said.

Nepe studied him frankly. He was a handsome youth, about her own age, with curly reddish hair and eyes that seemed almost to echo that color. She would have liked him better if less perplexed about his appearance here, though.

“How did you come here?” she asked.

“I was made here,” he replied.

“Oh—you’re an android!”

“Not exactly.” Like the others, he seemed amused.

“How many of you are there in this game?” she demanded suspiciously.

“As many as there are in yours.”

She walked with him, not satisfied with this answer. Something odd was going on, and evidently Eli and the animal heads were in on it. But what was the point, when they knew she had a mission to save the planet?

“I must leave you now,” Beman said. “But there will be one to make everything clear.”

“Thanks just oodles,” she said sarcastically.