Suddenly the vehicle lurched forward. Bane almost leaped out of his seat, but this time padded straps appeared and restrained him.
He peered out the forward gla.s.s. The terrain was coming toward him, as though he were riding a horse. "This-this be a wagon!" he exclaimed. "It moves by itself!"
"Yes, it is a machine, like your body, but not as intelligent as yours."
"A machine," he repeated, a.s.similating the concept. "Like a golem, or an enchanted object."
"I think your world is as alien to this one as is mine," she said.
"My world is natural. This be the alien one."
"With that, too, I can agree." She glanced at him. "Where would you travel, Bane?"
"I-I hadn"t thought. I mean, I had expected to circle in the forest, seeking to intercept mine other self. But now I know not."
"The forest remains there, for him," she reminded him. "I can circle if you wish." And she guided the vehicle into a broad loop.
"No, I have other thoughts, now. I think he would not have remained in the glade. There be dangers." He peered out again. "The night be closing rapidly. He would seek shelter."
"Would he know where to find it?"
That question did not ease Bane"s mind. "I fear not. He could follow the path, but it forks, and the one fork goes to the Unicorn Demesnes, while the other- Oh, I hope he took that one not!"
"Where does it go?"
"To the swamp, where there be monsters. Of course, if they took him for me they would stay clear." He brightened. "The clothing marks me as of the Blue De-menses."
"Clothing?"
"Yes. We wear clothing there. So-"
"But he is of Proton," she pointed out. "Would he wear clothing?"
Bane"s heart sank. "Nay, I fear not. But if he followed that path naked-" He shuddered.
"If he should follow it, and wear his clothing so he was not harmed, where would he finish?" Agape asked.
"It goes to an old empty crater the ogres used. But we cleaned them out. Sometimes Fleta and I would go there to play." He smiled privately.
"Who is Fleta? A girl-companion?"
He laughed. "Companion, yes; girl, no. Tell me not thou"rt jealous of her, Agape!"
"I am your companion, and I am not a girl," Agape said. "Am I permitted to be jealous?"
He mulled that over. "I suppose there be a parallel, after all. Fleta and I were very close, as children, though I have seen not much of her recently. Thou mayst be jealous if thou dost wish." He smiled.
"Thank you."
Suddenly he realized something. "I have reverted to mine own mode of speech! I should have talked to thee- to you not thus!"
"Please, Bane, do not change your speech for me. I like it as it is. I know what it is to be in a strange society."
"But if others realize mine origin, there could be trouble." He was also embarra.s.sed to think that it had probably happened because he had been distracted by her voluptuous body.
"I will not tell others," she promised.
He believed her. He had no magic here, but he had a sense about people, and he liked her. "Then let"s find mine other self."
"Of course."
"But let"s a.s.sume he followed the correct path. That would take him to the Herd, and they would recognize him with or without clothing, and bear him home to the Blue Demesnes."
"The herd?"
"The local unicorn herd. They be all oath-friends with Neysa, and Neysa is oath-friend to my father Stile, so none would e"er do me harm. They would believe that Mach is me, under some hostile spell, so would take him home right away."
"And home is these blue demesnes? Where are they?"
"North of the herd demesnes. In Phaze every type of creature of any significance has its own region, called its demesnes, and so do the Adepts, the leading magicians. Of course there be a number of unicorn herds, just as there be many werewolf packs, but the important ones to us be the oath-friends."
"Wolves too?"
"It all dates back to when my father made the Oath of Friendship with Neysa, so powerful it embraced all the members of the Herd and the Pack too. Because I be the child of Stile, I can safely go anywhere in those demesnes, because no unicorn or werewolf would harm me, and no lesser creature would dare to, for fear of the Herd and the Pack. So Mach will be safe."
"If he took that path," she said.
"He has to have taken that path!" he said vehemently. "Otherwise-"
"Surely he took it," she agreed.
"So we can go to the Blue Demesnes, and find hij there," he concluded.
"And these are north of here?"
"Should be northeast of here."
"But-"
"They be north of the Herd, but the Herd be east of the glade where we exchanged ident.i.ties. That glade coincides with Mach"s room in the dome; that be why I was able to locate him there, and finally to achieve rapport with him. Since the two geographies be identical, I can find the spot here by taking the same route I would there." He peered again into the darkening gloom. "I hope."
"There should be a map," she said.
"A map?"
"A map of Proton. All planets have maps." She touched b.u.t.tons, and a screen illuminated. Soon the map appeared.
Bane stared at it. "That be Phaze!" he exclaimed.
"It says it is Proton," she said. "See, here is our city, Hardom, with our vehicle location glowing." She pointed to the blinking spark of light on the map.
"That be the Harpy Demesnes!" he said. "Right above the Purple Mountains."
"Harpy Demesnes? Was the city named after the harpies?"
"Impossible! There be no harpies in Proton." But then he reconsidered. "Still, that does sound like har as in harpy, and since it be a dome-Har-dome. Hardom. I wonder." He focused on the other points of the map. "Down here be the Mound Folk of Phaze-and here be Moudom! And here, farther to the east, be the demesnes of the Gnomes-and here be Gnodom! They do match!"
"It really is a map of Phaze? This seems remarkable, if there has been no contact between the frames."
"Maybe not. Up until twenty years ago, the frames were more closely connected. There was a curtain that some folk could cross. My father crossed it, to woo my mother. How long ago were these cities named?"
She touched another b.u.t.ton. "It says three hundred years ago, for most."
"Then that"s it! They were named when Phaze and Proton were one, before they separated, and long before that separation became complete. The original settlers knew they were the same!"
"This is very interesting," she said. "My own planet has only one aspect."
"That"s probably the case with most-you call them planets?"
"The satellites of other stars, far away."
He was distracted for a moment. "How far away be thine?"
"About fifty light years."
He shook his head. "That means naught to me."
She smiled. "Magic means nothing to me, but I accept your information on it."
He returned the smile. "I question not thy word, Agape. And thou art not a human being?"
"I am not. I a.s.sume this form so that I may partic.i.p.ate without offense in this human society."
"Just as Fleta a.s.sumed human form to play with me," he said. "I have no trouble with that."
"I am most pleased that you do not. Though my form in its natural state does not resemble yours, my protoplasm is similar and my emotions similar too. I wish to be your friend."
"Thou art my friend, Agape. Thou art helping me greatly."
"I am pleased to do so. Do you wish me to program this vehicle for the Blue Demesnes?"
"Program it?"
"To give it a directive that will guide it there without further guidance from us," she explained.
"But there be no Blue Demesnes here! Just the spot where they be in Phaze."
"The map shows a location t.i.tled "Blue,"" she said. "Does this coincide?"
He looked. "It does! But how could that be? Sure I be that the Blue Demesnes have been there not for three hundred years!"
"I do not know; I have been only briefly on this planet."
"Well, go ahead and send the machine there. This is not much different from magic."
She operated the b.u.t.tons. The vehicle turned, a.s.suming the new course, and accelerated.
It was full night now, but no stars showed; the gloom masked whatever light might have tried to shine through. The vehicle"s front lamp shone forward, showing nothing but sand rushing past. This seemingly mindless progress made Bane nervous, so he averted his gaze.
That brought Agape into view. "How long will it take to reach the Blue Demesnes?" he asked.
She touched another b.u.t.ton. "About fifteen minutes. The vehicle is very fast."
"Fifteen minutes to accomplish a trip that would require a horse two hours!" he exclaimed.
"s.p.a.ce travel is much faster."
That reminded him of her origin. In the dim light of the interior of the vehicle she looked completely human, and beautiful. Her hair framed her face with the color of a pale sunset, and her eyes seemed preternaturally deep. "Thou really art alien?" he asked, finding this hard to believe.
"Completely," she agreed. "In physical form."
"Thou art the loveliest woman I have seen!"
"That is because I have shaped myself to be what your kind considers attractive. You would not find me so, in my natural state."
"Canst thou a.s.sume thy natural state now?"
"I can. But I think I would prefer not to. Your machine self perceived me in that state, and was not repulsed, but you are human, and I want to attract you, not repulse you."
"Why dost thou care how I react to you? If thou art as different as thou sayst, I must appear to be a monster to thee."
"Oh, no, Bane!" she protested. "You are a fine figure of your species, to me. I would like to be your girlfriend."
"Just because mine other self helped thee?"
"I like him well for that, but now I know you better, and I like you better. You are more alive."
"How could an alien creature be a-a girlfriend to me?"
"I was hoping you would be able to show me that."
He shook his head, still having trouble reconciling her words with her appearance. She was infernally beautiful, and he liked her personality; it really did not seem alien. "Methinks I could show a real woman. But an alien might understand not at all."
She leaned close to him. "Please, Bane, I want very much to learn! I will do anything you suggest."
Still that nagging doubt. "Why dost thou want to learn? The human means of a.s.sociation and-and the rest should not concern a completely different creature."
"My species is amoebic," she said. "Your kind calls our world Moeba. We have had no experience with the pairing of s.e.xes. We pair any with any, as we choose. But we observe that most other species of the galaxy are twin-s.e.xed, and this appears to confer an advantage in evolution, so that they achieved technology and s.p.a.ce before we did, and now we are dependent on them for interplanetary trade and travel between the stars. We can learn whatever they teach us, so now we are constructing our own ships of s.p.a.ce, but we believe we should also master their secret of evolution. This is one reason I have come to the Planet of Proton. To learn about the s.e.xes. I have a.s.sumed the female form because it is relatively pa.s.sive; I believe I can learn better this way. But learn I must, so I can report to my kind and they can judge whether this is a feasible course."