moment. Then it dissipated.
Agape stared at him. Then she took one of his hands and squeezed it. The hand was flesh, not plastic! “You are alive,” she breathed.
“Aye, filly!” he agreed. “Now canst thou tell me more o’ the truce Mach made with Translucent? Fain would I have stayed with my love in the other frame, but not at the price of destruction for all.”
“Destruction for all?” she echoed blankly.
“In our contact, he told me that our exchange made an imbalance that needs must be abated. So he sought me, though he loved thee and wished ne’er to be apart from thee.”
She looked again at the plain. Could it be?
“Where are we?” she asked.
He laughed. “Where thou hast always been, mare! In Phaze, of course.”
“In Phaze?” she repeated.
“Aye. Surely thou dost not mistake this for Proton frame!”
Suddenly she realized that this could be yet another trick of the Contrary Citizens. Citizen White had attempted to fool Bane into thinking he was back in Phaze, by putting him—and Agape—into a setting resembling Phaze, and emulating the magical effects. But he had caught on, because his magic did not operate quite as usual, and the vampire-actors had not correctly identified one of the vampires he named. Then Citizen Purple had hunted them in a setting resembling the Purple Mountains of Phaze, but stocked with robots in the forms of dragons and such. The Citizens were very good at emulations, as their narrow escape from the pseudo-Citizen Blue and Sheen had shown. “Are you sure this is Phaze?” she asked. “Not another trick?”
He smiled. “I know my living body from Mach’s robot body, without doubt,” he said. “There be no question in my mind.” Then he glanced sharply at her. “But thee, my lovely animal friend—why dost thou ask this?” He was living flesh, certainly. But was he Bane?
“Please—do some magic,” she said. “Just to be sure.”
“Gladly, Fleta!” He made an expansive gesture, then sang: “Bring me fare, for the unicorn mare!” A basket of oats appeared: feed for a horse—or a unicorn. Certainly it was magic—or a clever illusion.
“I am not the unicorn,” she said abruptly.
He smiled. “Thou canst hardly fool me, Fleta! I have known thee long, and sometimes intimately. Who art thou, if not my friend?”
“I am Agape.”
He stared at her. “Be thou joking, mare?”
“I am your lover in Phaze. We are hiding from the Contrary Citizens until I can get offplanet and return safely to my home world, Moeba. I don’t want to go, but the Citizens want to use me as a hostage against you, so I must flee.”
He considered for a moment. Then he asked: “Exactly where were we hiding?”
She started to answer, then stopped. If this was another pretend-Phaze, then he was not Bane, and he was asking not to verify her identity, but to find out where the two of them were. If she told, the Citizens would immediately pounce and take them both captive, and this time they might be unable to win free. “Ask some other question,” she said.
“Thou dost doubt me?” he asked, surprised.
“You are doubting me.”
He smiled. “Aye. Then tell me aught that Mach could not have told Fleta.”
She launched into a detailed description of their recent history before the final hiding: the brownie-baking game, the sex in the gelatin, the rendition of You Never Can Tell and their pursuit by the minions of the Contrary Citizens.
“Enough!” he exclaimed. “I be satisfied! Thou art my love! But how came thee here?”
“I am Agape,” she agreed. “But how do I know I am in Phaze, or whether you are Bane?”
“But I am flesh, here, in my natural body!”
“Many human folk are flesh, in Proton as well as in Phaze.”
“But I conjured feed for thee!” Then he looked embarrassed. “Which thou canst not eat. Unless thou canst change as Fleta can?”
That might be a valid test! Agape concentrated, trying to change form. She could
Agape stared at him. Then she took one of his hands and squeezed it. The hand was flesh, not plastic! “You are alive,” she breathed.
“Aye, filly!” he agreed. “Now canst thou tell me more o’ the truce Mach made with Translucent? Fain would I have stayed with my love in the other frame, but not at the price of destruction for all.”
“Destruction for all?” she echoed blankly.
“In our contact, he told me that our exchange made an imbalance that needs must be abated. So he sought me, though he loved thee and wished ne’er to be apart from thee.”
She looked again at the plain. Could it be?
“Where are we?” she asked.
He laughed. “Where thou hast always been, mare! In Phaze, of course.”
“In Phaze?” she repeated.
“Aye. Surely thou dost not mistake this for Proton frame!”
Suddenly she realized that this could be yet another trick of the Contrary Citizens. Citizen White had attempted to fool Bane into thinking he was back in Phaze, by putting him—and Agape—into a setting resembling Phaze, and emulating the magical effects. But he had caught on, because his magic did not operate quite as usual, and the vampire-actors had not correctly identified one of the vampires he named. Then Citizen Purple had hunted them in a setting resembling the Purple Mountains of Phaze, but stocked with robots in the forms of dragons and such. The Citizens were very good at emulations, as their narrow escape from the pseudo-Citizen Blue and Sheen had shown. “Are you sure this is Phaze?” she asked. “Not another trick?”
He smiled. “I know my living body from Mach’s robot body, without doubt,” he said. “There be no question in my mind.” Then he glanced sharply at her. “But thee, my lovely animal friend—why dost thou ask this?” He was living flesh, certainly. But was he Bane?
“Please—do some magic,” she said. “Just to be sure.”
“Gladly, Fleta!” He made an expansive gesture, then sang: “Bring me fare, for the unicorn mare!” A basket of oats appeared: feed for a horse—or a unicorn. Certainly it was magic—or a clever illusion.
“I am not the unicorn,” she said abruptly.
He smiled. “Thou canst hardly fool me, Fleta! I have known thee long, and sometimes intimately. Who art thou, if not my friend?”
“I am Agape.”
He stared at her. “Be thou joking, mare?”
“I am your lover in Phaze. We are hiding from the Contrary Citizens until I can get offplanet and return safely to my home world, Moeba. I don’t want to go, but the Citizens want to use me as a hostage against you, so I must flee.”
He considered for a moment. Then he asked: “Exactly where were we hiding?”
She started to answer, then stopped. If this was another pretend-Phaze, then he was not Bane, and he was asking not to verify her identity, but to find out where the two of them were. If she told, the Citizens would immediately pounce and take them both captive, and this time they might be unable to win free. “Ask some other question,” she said.
“Thou dost doubt me?” he asked, surprised.
“You are doubting me.”
He smiled. “Aye. Then tell me aught that Mach could not have told Fleta.”
She launched into a detailed description of their recent history before the final hiding: the brownie-baking game, the sex in the gelatin, the rendition of You Never Can Tell and their pursuit by the minions of the Contrary Citizens.
“Enough!” he exclaimed. “I be satisfied! Thou art my love! But how came thee here?”
“I am Agape,” she agreed. “But how do I know I am in Phaze, or whether you are Bane?”
“But I am flesh, here, in my natural body!”
“Many human folk are flesh, in Proton as well as in Phaze.”
“But I conjured feed for thee!” Then he looked embarrassed. “Which thou canst not eat. Unless thou canst change as Fleta can?”
That might be a valid test! Agape concentrated, trying to change form. She could
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