Virtual Mode

CHAPTER 10—CAPTAIN

SUDDENLY they were in a barren region. There seemed to be no life at all in this Mode, though the prior Mode was lush.

Darius looked at Provos. “Do you have any memory of this?”

“I have no memory of this,” she said, not answering so much as anticipating his coming response. “We do not remain here long.”

“Let’s move on, then,” he agreed.

They crossed into the next, and the next, but the barrenness continued. This seemed to be an entire segment of lifeless Modes, unlike any they had passed before. The ground was nothing but rock and sand; there was no water.

She could not remember their future as long as they kept crossing to new Modes. But suppose there was no resumption of living Modes within their walking range? Her memory of the future would do them no good; they would be dead.

“Provos, you may not remember the terrain,” he said carefully. “But can you remember your association with me? Do you know me from more than a few days in the future?”

“I remember you from a fortnight in the future,” she said. “Then it becomes confused.”

Two weeks. That suggested that it was safe to plow ahead, because they would not die in that time. Heartened, he did just that.

But the barren Modes continued for the course of half a day’s travel. The naked sun beat down, making an oven of the landscape. Darius became doubtful. Yet Provos seemed unconcerned, so he said nothing.

Then they spied a flash of a light to the side. It turned out to be a little signaler stuck in the sterile sand. Near it was an arrow pointing onward.

Evidently someone had been here before them. Since the Virtual Mode had not existed for a long time, this had to be recent. Could Colene have passed this way? No, her arrow should have been pointing back the way he had come.

They moved on. Now the sun was descending, so that they had to shield their faces from it as they proceeded westward. Several hours later they found another flashing signal, with its arrow. Then they found a path. It was just a thin layer of silvery material laid on the rock, disappearing as it crossed to the next Mode. But it wound on through the bleak crevices and dunes, going somewhere. It was dusk now, and they decided to camp, then follow the path in the morning.

Provos remembered no problems in the coming hours. With neither weather nor animals to contend with, this seemed reasonable. But there was also no shield against the chill of night. The stone had been burning hot, and it retained much of its heat, but the air was turning frigid. There was no wood from which to make a fire. His thin blanket was not enough to shield them from the intensity of the chill that was developing.

Provos looked around. Then she stooped to lift the end of the path. The material came up readily. She walked with it, bunching up a length. Of this she made a blanket. She signaled him to join her.

The path material turned out to have a good insulating property. Whether as tent or blanket, it held in the radiating heat of the stone and kept them warm.

By morning, even so, it was very cold, and the two of them were closely embraced, huddled under the path. Darius wished it could have been Colene with him, with her lovely little body and innocently seductive manner. But with the dawn came the heat of the sun, and soon the air was warming.

The reflective path remained cooler than the surrounding stone. They walked on it and were more comfortable than they had been the day before. Now they were obviously going somewhere. But who had set this up, and why?

The path was leading in the direction of the steepest change of Modes, which meant it was going toward an anchor. But probably not the right one. Darius had found his way first to Provos’ anchor Mode. Now they must be going to a third one, and they could not know what to expect of it.

Suddenly there was water. The land had been desert dry, but now there were lakes to the sides and vapors rising from the stone. Farther along there was life: thin, tenacious lichen coloring the rocks. But as they proceeded, this became more ambitious, until there was a general covering of primitive vegetation, and the appearance of insect life.

Then there was animal life. At first it was not far removed from the lakes, and was small, but it progressed rapidly. When man-sized reptiles appeared, Darius got nervous. But it was easy to avoid a predator by stepping across a Mode boundary. They just had to be careful not to walk directly into one, as there was no way to spot them ahead. They learned to count their paces, pause, and use his mirror tube before moving on. This slowed them, but seemed necessary.

The path became bolder, and the scenery more recent. There seemed to be no large predators in this section, so they put away the mirror tube and moved more rapidly, because night was coming again.

Suddenly they were in an enormous chamber. There was an extremely elegant young woman, obviously of high social standing. She turned and saw him.

“Darius!” she cried, and flung herself into his arms.

It was Colene! Thus suddenly they had come together.

“Beware,” she whispered into his ear before she kissed him.

But already a man was walking toward them. He had reddish hair and piercing black eyes under a metallic band resembling a crown, and wore a kingly robe.

“You must be Darius,” a voice said in Colene’s language. It came not from the man but what appeared to be a hanging ball.

“I am Darius,” he agreed as Colene relaxed enough to let him speak. Her whispered warning: what did it mean? That this was a hostile figure of some sort? Yet what could he do if it was?

“And your companion?” the ball asked.

Provos did not speak Colene’s language, and not a great deal of his own language. “She is Provos,” he said.

“This is not good,” Provos murmured in his language.

What was she beginning to remember? He knew it took a while for her to clarify her memories of a new Mode. Since her warning coincided with Colene’s, he knew he had to be very careful.

“I must talk with you,” the ball said. “Come with me.”

It seemed that it was the man who was really talking, as he was gesturing.

“Go with him,” Colene said. “I will see to your companion.”

Darius looked at Provos, but she seemed to be willing to go with Colene despite the barrier of speech. He nodded.

In a moment he was in a separate chamber with the man, evidently private. “I am Ddwng of the DoOon,” the ball said, still in Colene’s language. “I need your Chip.”

“The Chip that set up the Virtual Mode?” Darius asked, surprised. “It is not mine to give.”

“But you could lead me to it.”

“To my Mode, yes. But the Cyng of Pwer would not give it to you. Chips are valuable.”

“I know. If you lead me to your Mode, I will get it from your official.”

“Why do you want it?”

“We are confined to our Mode. The Chip will enable us to visit other Modes.”

Darius considered. He did not like this situation. Both Colene and Provos had expressed doubt. Why should this evidently powerful man be so eager to go to other Modes? Could he be a human version of the dragons, seeking to invade new territory to the disadvantage of the folk there?

But it might not be wise to turn him down flatly. “I will think about the matter.”

Ddwng frowned. “There are things you should know, as you think,” the ball said. “Colene will be withheld from you during that period.”

“Withheld?” Darius asked, dismayed. “But I entered the Virtual Mode only to fetch her!”

“Then your decision should be easy. I shall grant you ten days to decide. If you are negative, we shall sterilize Colene and make her a common concubine.”

Suddenly Darius understood how accurate the warnings were. Ddwng was holding Colene hostage to Darius’ performance! Surely there was no good motive there.

“In the interim, you shall perform an assignment,” the ball continued. “The manner in which you acquit yourself will determine your situation after your decision.”

Darius suspected that anything he could say would only complicate his situation. But there was one way he could improve his chances. “I will need the services of Provos.”

Ddwng hesitated, then concluded that a small concession was in order. What he wanted was Darius’ cooperation, not his antagonism. “She will join you.”

Then a servant appeared. His head was that of a sheep. The creature was waiting for Darius, so Darius got up and accompanied him from the room. They walked to a relatively tiny chamber. “Stand in there,” a nearby hanging ball said.

Darius stepped into the little chamber. A panel closed him in. The chamber shook. Then the panel opened.

A man stood outside, but not the same one. This one was fully human, and wore a rather handsome deep red uniform. He lifted his right hand, spreading his fingers. “Welcome aboard, Captain,” a ball said.

Darius shook his head. “You have mistaken me for someone else. I am here only to do an assignment for Ddwng of the DoOon.”

“This is true, sir,” the ball said, speaking for the man. “You are to complete a mission as Captain of this ship, the FTL Flay. I am your executive officer, Jjle.”

Darius stepped out of the little chamber. “But I know nothing of ships! I can’t even find the sail!”

Jjle smiled. “This ship has no sail, sir,” the ball said. “It is a destroyer-class thousand-light-year craft. I am competent to operate it, as I shall do at your command.”

“No sail?” Darius asked blankly.

“Sir, if you will permit the personal remark, I suspect you have come into this command rather suddenly. May I proffer a suggestion?”

“Yes, please, J-jlee! I have no idea what—”

“Allow me to show you to your quarters, where your nulls will acquaint you with the necessary background. When you emerge, no other member off the crew will know that this is new to you.”

This had the sound of good advice. “Yes, thank you.”

“The appropriate term is ‘affirmative’, sir. When we reach your quarters, tell me to ‘carry on’.”

“Affirmative,” Darius said.

They walked down a short squared-off metal hall to another door panel. “Your touch will key it open, sir.”

Darius touched the panel. It slid aside to reveal a chamber beyond.

“I look forward to serving with you, sir,” Jjle said.

“Uh, yes. Uh, carry on.”

The man lifted his hand again, fingers splayed. Then he turned smartly and departed.

Darius stepped into the chamber. The panel closed behind him. How he had come from the palace on the ground to this “space” ship he did not know, but it was actually no stranger than stepping through Mode boundaries.

The chamber was opulent. Lush carpeting covered the floor, and fine murals were on the walls. Three odd statues lined one side. Near the ceiling were ornate cabinets set into the corners. There was a huge picture window overlooking a lovely placid river valley. This was definitely not where he had been! But neither was it on the water.

Then he saw a statue move. It was breathing.

He looked more closely. The bodies of the figures were human, but the heads resembled those of cats. One body was evidently male, for it was of masculine proportions and had a codpiece fitted obviously into his shorts; another was female, with full breasts and hips distending her tight dress; the one between them seemed to be neuter.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The male stepped forward marginally. “We are your nulls, Captain Darius,” a ball he hadn’t noticed before said. “We are of the Feline persuasion. I am Tom.”

The neuter figure stepped forward. “I am Cat.” The pitch and intonation differed, though it was still the ball speaking.

Then the female: “I am Pussy.” This time the tone was sultry.

“Nulls?”

“Nulls are subhuman servants. We exist to serve you in any capacity you desire.”

Darius pondered that, not knowing what to make of it.

“Your attention, sir,” the ball said in a neutral voice. “A person is beyond the panel.”

“Who?”

“The woman Provos.”

“Let her in,” he said, relieved.

The panel opened. Provos stepped through. She seemed to take this reunion for granted, remembering their future association. “I presume you interceded to bring me here,” she said.

“I interceded to bring you here,” he repeated, because that was the dialogue she remembered.

She turned to the three Feline nulls. “It is pleasant to commence our association, Tom, Cat, and Pussy,” she said.

She spoke in Darius’ language, which the folk here did not seem to know. So he translated.

The three were startled. Darius was sympathetic. “Provos is a woman of special ways,” he said.

“These folk are to be trusted,” Provos advised him. “You will get to know them while I clean up and retire.” She walked across the room to a panel set in the wall, and tapped on it. It didn’t open.

“Uh, obey her touch as you would mine,” Darius said to the panel. It opened, and Provos stepped inside another tiny chamber. The panel closed after her.

Darius addressed the Felines. “I would like to sit down and get to know you.”

Immediately, Tom walked to another panel. It opened, and from it slid an oblong board. The board puffed out and became a chair. Tom set it down before Darius.

Darius sat in it. “Make yourselves comfortable,” he said.

The three got down on the floor before him and curled up rather in the manner of cats, their limbs tucked under them, their heads up, watching him. This was all right for Tom and Cat, but it caused Pussy to show such a generous cleavage that it was distracting.

“Pussy, get yourself a chair,” he said. “I will talk with you.”

She rose and produced a chair. She sat on it in the human manner, crossing her legs somewhat loosely. Her skirt was not long enough for this maneuver, so that the whole of her inner thighs was now visible for his inspection. She wore no diaper. Indeed, she seemed to wear no panties either.

He decided to try to ignore this, lest he seem too fussy. “Pussy, please clarify for me what it is the three of you are expected to do for me.”

“We exist to serve you in any capacity you desire,” the sultry voice of the ball said. The cat-woman’s thighs spread a bit more.

“Yes, so you said before. But what capacities do you expect me to desire of you?”

“Information, body attendance, sex,” she said via the ball, confirming the message her legs had been sending.

“Information is the one I desire now. How did you come to be the way you are?”

“We are androids, manufactured in the factory from re-constituted human genetic material. We have no souls. Our heads are modified to conform to several animal patterns, though we retain the ability to perceive and communicate as humans do. As a class we are the nulls; as a subclass we are the Felines, male, neuter, and female. Our only pleasure comes from being of significant service to our human masters, and we must perform at least one such service each day or suffer.”

Evidently this was a set speech for the edification of ignorants like himself. Darius appreciated it. “You are performing such a service to me by giving me this information?”

“Yes,” she agreed eagerly.

“What happens to a null who fails to perform such a service?”

“On the first day we suffer emotional pain. On the second, physical pain. On the third we die.”

The DoOon did not treat his servants gently! “Suppose I just tell you that I need no services, and to relax?”

“The nature of acceptable services is listed and programmed,” the ball said in her voice. “We can not deviate. If you wish some service which is not programmed, you must arrange it by having us reprogrammed on a temporary basis.”

“Suppose I do not need a service, but another human being does. May I have you do it, abating your need?”

“No,” she said sadly. The ball seemed to be fading out of awareness.

The neuter null lifted a hand, evidently a signal for attention. “Speak, Cat,” Darius said.

“Pussy’s answer is incomplete. We are differentiated by type as well as by sex. Tom is strong and capable of violence at your behest; he will defend you against attack, even by a human being. Pussy is sympathetic and versed in the arts of gentleness, massage, seduction, and sexual performance. I lack either nature, but am the most objective and intelligent of your Felines. I am capable of interpreting your commands and questions and verifying your actual intent when you mis-speak yourself or are vague. Accordingly I advise you that while Pussy’s response is technically correct, there are ways to circumvent this restriction.”

“Then I should be talking with you, rather than Pussy,” Darius said, interested.

“We would not presume to say that,” the ball said for Cat.

Darius faced Pussy. “Should I be talking with Cat instead of you?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Pussy. I will talk with him, if this will not hurt your feelings.”

She looked confused. “He means kindness. Pussy,” Cat said to her. “He appreciates what you have done so far.”

“Oh, thank you!” she said, relieved. As always, it was the ball that spoke, but the distinction had become meaningless; it was her voice, and her thought.

Cat faced Darius. “This was an example. When you said ‘if’ this would not hurt her feelings, she was not sure whether they should be hurt, which would mean she had in some way failed you. I provided the reassurance you intended. If I interpret your intent incorrectly, or if you prefer that I not do this, advise me and I will desist.”

Darius was fascinated by this information. It was apparent that these servants could indeed be useful. “How may I circumvent the restriction against assigning a service to another person?”

“One way would be to volunteer to do a service yourself for that person, begin it, then have one of us complete it for you. You are free to make commitments in ways we are not.”

Darius nodded. “You serve me because you serve the Captain?”

“We serve you because we have been assigned to you. An officer of the Navy normally keeps his own nulls to serve him wherever he is employed. If you wish other nulls, we can be exchanged. But for the duration we are loyal to you, not the officer, and you may trust us always to serve your interest to the best of our understanding and ability.”

Provos emerged from the cleaning chamber, looking refreshed. She glanced at Darius. “You need more sleep and rest than you get this night,” she said reprovingly in his language. “At least have them give you a nourishment pill.”

“I will show you to a bedchamber,” Darius said, rising. He walked toward her, having no idea where it was or whether it existed. He looked back. “Pussy, please complete this task for me, and see that Provos is as comfortable as I would make her.”

Pussy jumped up, her breasts bouncing. “It is this way,” she said, almost purring as she led Provos to another panel and through to another chamber.

“Thank you, Darius,” Provos said, familiar with this protocol from her memory.

He settled down with the remaining two Felines. He realized that he was hungry. “Nourishment pill?”

“Immediately,” Tom said, and rose to fetch a tablet.

Darius accepted the pill, and gazed at it. “This will feed me?”

“Yes. You may order a conventional meal if you prefer.”

“No, I’ll try this.” If Provos remembered it as satisfactory, it probably was. He popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it with saliva.

He was no longer hungry. Evidently this was something like magic. That made it acceptable. He returned to business. “The executive officer called me ‘sir’. Why did he do this, and why don’t you?”

“ ‘Sir’ is a token of respect given by a human to one of a higher rank in the Navy,” Cat said. “We are not human, so lack the status to show respect. One must possess sufficient status to have his token of respect be worthy.”

“Pussy has performed a service for me, and you are performing one now. If it is not convenient for me to find a service for Tom to do, how can I avoid causing him distress?”

“His distress has no force against your convenience. You may ignore it.”

“It would cause me distress to cause any of you needless distress.”

“Then I can suggest tasks which would not cause you inconvenience.”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything you desire which would be awkward or inconvenient for you to achieve at present by your own action?”

“I’d like to be with Colene!” Darius said before he thought.

“This is a human person?”

“This is a human person I came to be with. But Ddwng has separated us, pending a mission I must complete for him. I don’t want to do a mission, I want to take Colene home with me. But I think this is beyond your capacity to remedy.”

“It is,” Cat agreed. “But we can provide you with partial satisfaction with no more effort on your part than you choose to exert.”

“Then do it.”

Tom got up. He touched a section of the wall opposite Darius, and the mural became a scene of an office so realistic that there seemed to be a window between the two chambers. A null with the head of a dog sat at a desk.

The Canine glanced at them and spoke in an incomprehensible language.

“Speak English, Bitch,” Tom snapped.

“What do you want, Tom?” she inquired. It was probably a ball speaking for her, but since the sound came through the window it made no difference.

“Information, by order of Captain Darius of the Flay,” Tom said curtly.

“I will give you Dog.” She touched a button. The picture changed. Now there was another office, with what appeared to be a neuter Canine. “What information, Tom?” it asked.

“The present location and accessibility of the human Colene, visitor to this Mode.”

Dog touched buttons of his own. He studied what might have been a screen they could not see. “The human Colene is the present consort of the Emperor Ddwng. As such she is accessible only by his leave.”

Darius was stunned. Consort?

“The Captain requests that leave,” Tom said.

“This may require some delay.”

Cat glanced at Darius. “We’ll wait,” Darius said.

“Proceed,” Cat said.

The picture changed again. Now it showed a woman with the head of a pig. “Tom, why do you seek this contact?” she asked.

“I speak for Captain Darius, Sow. He does not answer to you.”

Darius appreciated the imperious attitude Tom was showing. That was about the way he felt. It seemed appropriate that the bureaucracy should be represented by swine.

A male pig-head appeared. “By order of our master Ddwng, Darius will answer to the Swine,” he snorted. His tone was arrogant in the masculine fashion.

“Boar, Darius wishes contact with Colene, with whom he has had prior connection. Screen contact will do on an interim basis.”

A third Swine appeared, evidently the neuter. “This may be granted. But there is information I must impart first.”

Tom glanced at Darius again. Darius nodded—

“Impart it, Pig.”

“Colene’s present status is nominal. She is not subject to present sexual use by the Emperor, but is required to present herself and comport herself as his consort. This is a compatible existence, and her status is one to incite the envy of all women. If Darius fails to accommodate Ddwng in the required manner at the deadline, Colene’s ovaries will be removed for the genetic bank and she will be given as a full-human concubine, to whatever officer is selected. Should she resist, she will be lobotomized to the degree necessary to make her docile. She has not been informed of this.”

Darius felt faint. He had known that pressure would be brought to bear on him, to make him help Ddwng obtain the Chip. Sterilization of Colene had already been threatened. But he had not realized how ruthless the full course would be. Colene was hostage to his cooperation—and he seemed to have no way to fight it.

“And should Darius do the Emperor’s will?” Tom inquired.

“Colene will be restored to him whole, and they will be given their freedom, either as ranking persons within the Empire or to travel to another Mode.”

What choice did he have? Yet a person who would make this kind of threat and back it up would probably also break his word. It might be pointless to agree. At least he had ten days to think about it.

“Message received,” Tom“ said. ”May Darius now see Colene?”

The screen changed again. Suddenly Colene was there, in her ornate gown, sparkling hair and bracelets. She was beautiful in her vibrant youth. No one would know from her appearance that she was suicidal, and she had surely kept the secret.

She saw him. “Darius!” she exclaimed, stepping toward him.

Unable to help himself, he stepped toward her too. They met at the screen/wall between them, the images of their hands touching the cold surface. They tried to kiss, but again it was only images meeting.

“I asked to be with you,” he said.

“We’re not even in the same stellar system,” she replied. “I’m still on Earth, and you’re on an FTL ship crossing the galaxy.”

“Ddwng wants me to lead him to the Chip.”

“Don’t do it!” she exclaimed. “He wants to conquer the other Modes too!”

“But if I do not—”

“We won’t be allowed together,” she finished. “I know that, Darius. But we owe something to our realities. We can’t let them be despoiled. I love you, and I want to be with you, but not this way.” Her face shone with tears. “If you find a way to escape, don’t wait for me. Just get gone!”

“Colene, I love you too, and I curse the moment I failed to bring you with me. There are other ways—we don’t have to marry—I found a woman who can—we can love, if—”

“Prima,” she agreed. “I understand. It is good. It’s not what I first dreamed of, but I love you so, I don’t care. But not—you know. Not this way.”

“Not this way,” he agreed.

“They’re not cutting us off,” she said, surprised.

“Because the more we see of each other, the more we will be willing to sacrifice for each other,” he said.

“Yes. So I guess we’d better quit now.” Her tears were streaming down her face. “But it’s been great, Darius!”

“It is not over!” he protested. “It can’t be over! I went to the Virtual Mode only for you!”

“My life is nothing. It’s complete. But you—thank you for stepping into my life, Darius, however briefly. You made it all worthwhile.”

She turned away. He did the same. What irony, to seem so close, yet be so far! To exchange vows of love, yet to have to deny the realization of them.

He became aware of the three Felines. Pussy had rejoined the group.

He stepped into her and embraced her. She was completely soft and responsive. He buried his face in her furry hair and let himself hurt.

“You may take me in your bedroom, or here, as you wish,” she murmured.

She misunderstood the nature of his emotion. “Another time,” he said. “I have much still to learn here.” Then he disengaged, resumed his chair, and organized his thoughts.

He looked at Tom. “That was a significant service,” he said. “Now you may retire; I will not need you until morning.”

Tom walked to a niche, lay on the floor, curled up, and put his head down. In a moment he was asleep.

“You also,” he said to Pussy. She selected another nook and curled up similarly, showing firm upper thigh. Apparently it was simply her nature to display her body.

“From you I need more information,” he said to Cat. “What does ‘FTL’ mean?”

“It stands for ‘faster than light’,” it explained. “This ship, for example, is the FTL Flay, capable of traveling a great deal faster than the velocity of light through a vacuum. It is proceeding at that rate to the site of your mission, and will arrive in approximately fifty hours’ travel time.”

“I am from a culture where the velocity of light does not matter. Translate that into something I can follow.”

“If you walked entirely around the globe of Earth, you would travel about twenty-five thousand miles, as this language has it. If you completed that circuit seven or eight times, you would cover the distance light travels in a single second. The spans between stars are such that we prefer to measure them in multiples of the amount light travels in a year. This ship traverses a thousand light-years each hour, so its destination is fifty thousand light-years from Earth, or about halfway across the galaxy.”

Darius found that the translated version was not much more intelligible than the original. “So we are now an enormous distance from Earth, and going farther away.”

“That is correct. But we shall return as readily as we go.”

“What is the mission I am to accomplish?”

“A monster is rampaging on a colony planet, and the natives are unable to dispatch it. You will do that.”

With magic, Darius knew he could set a monster back. But magic had not worked for him in any of the Modes beyond the region of his own.

Still, he should test it. He removed his pack and brought out his golem-figure of himself. “To the far corner of this chamber,” he murmured, and made the figure jump.

Nothing happened. There was not even a tug in his stomach. Magic was not operative here.

Darius sighed. He was in effect a man without special power. “I am not skilled in this.”

“It is not necessary that you be so.” The Felines seemed to have no interest in his peculiar action with the figurine; evidently his business was his business, unless he made it theirs. “You will have merely to give the necessary directives. Nulls will assume the risk and complete the job.”

“So I’m a figurehead,” he said.

“No, nulls have no initiative in such respects,” it reassured him. “A ranking human being must be in charge of the operation.”

“But any human could do it, even a complete ignoramus.”

“Yes.”

“So why did Ddwng bother to send me? Just to get me out of the way for a while?”

“I can not speak for the motives of the Emperor, but it seems reasonable that he has several reasons. He may wish to give you time and experience so that you can come to the conclusion that it is best to accede to his wishes. He may wish to keep you away from Colene. He may wish to prevent you from departing via your Virtual Mode. He may wish to keep you out of mischief without imprisoning you. And he may wish to discover how competent an officer you have the potential of being, in the event that you are converted to his cause. This mission accomplishes these things.”

The reasoning was formidable. “I think I had better do as good a job as I can, until I decide what I will do.”

“That seems appropriate,” it agreed.

“What is known about this monster?”

“It seems to be a beast set on wanton destruction. It sets fire to villages, floods pastures, and fouls food supplies. No one has seen it, but its presence is manifest.”

“Why don’t they lock doors and set guards?”

“They do, but the monster is extremely cunning about locks, and can stun guards.”

Darius pondered that. “What are the natives like?”

“They are similar in outline and manner to Earthly snails, but larger. They are reasonably intelligent and capable, but slow.”

That surprised Darius. He had assumed that the natives were human, with a culture distinct from that of the colonists. Snails? This was a far land indeed!

He continued to question Cat, learning more about the various aspects of this Mode. It seemed that there were many intelligent creatures in what was called the galaxy, but that the humans had become dominant and now governed and exploited all of it they wished. They had risen to dominance thousands of years before, because of their ability to make ships that traveled faster than light, to nullify the effects of gravity, and to make weapons that could kill individual creatures or destroy entire planets.

But when they had sought to invade other Modes, the dominant cultures of those had taken action. The humans in most Modes were isolated on their home planet, causing trouble only to the creatures there; only in this Mode had they mastered the elusive secrets of super-science that enabled them to spread out and molest the larger galaxy. The creatures of other Modes had an ancient compact which prevented them from committing genocide in any single Mode. So they isolated this Mode by sterilizing the adjacent Modes and barring any contact from beyond. So it had been for a thousand years.

That explained what he and Provos had seen on the way here. “But then how did this come to be an anchor Mode for our Virtual Mode?”

“We can only conjecture,” Cat said. “The lives of empires are long, but the lives of individual creatures are short. Some creature must have become careless, and not been watching when your Virtual Mode was instituted. In fact, the possession of a Chip by human beings in any Mode constitutes a violation of the proscription. It seems likely that in due course this error will be corrected, and human beings will be confined again, to either their conquered Mode or their individual world in other Modes.”

“Unless Ddwng succeeds in getting his hands on the Chip in my Mode first,” Darius said. “Then he will spread his minions across many Modes in a hurry, making it impossible to isolate them without doing enormous damage to innocent creatures.”

“This I suspect is the strategy,” Cat agreed.

“I see why he wants my Chip.” Darius was careful not to mention that it was only one of many in his Mode, evidently a forgotten horde. “But why is he giving me ten days to make up my mind? Surely time is of the essence.”

“Ddwng is competent, and comes from a lineage of competent emperors. He is surely doing what is most advantageous to his purpose, considering all factors. It may be that the risks of forcing the issue rapidly are worse than those of giving you time, despite the danger of having the error discovered. Perhaps it is unlikely that the error will be noted until the Chip begins to be exploited. But it seems that the Emperor is not willing to risk too much time, as he has set the limit.”

That reminded Darius of the threat against Colene. Evidently Ddwng didn’t know that she was suicidal, so that he was unlikely to get any long servitude from her if she didn’t like it. But the nature of the threat was perplexing. “Why have her ovaries cut out? There are surely more painful tortures that would not disfigure her.”

“She would not be disfigured,” it said. “The surgery would be painless. Torture is done not by mutilation, but by infliction of harmless pain.”

“Harmless pain! How can that be?”

Cat got up and went to another panel. It opened, and from it, it took a small disk. “This is a pain control. It is attuned to you, so that it will not affect you. But it will cause discomfort in any other person, whether human or null, within its range, to whatever degree you choose. This dial sets the level.”

“Harmless pain?” Darius repeated.

“You may demonstrate it on me if you wish. However I must caution you that if you do not wish to render me unconscious, do not turn it to the highest range.”

“Demonstrate it on you? I have no wish to hurt you, and what would it prove? Demonstrate it on me.”

“This is a thing I may not do, for I think you do not understand what you are asking.”

“Set it at the minimum level, and show me how to turn it on. And how to detune it so that it affects me as well as you.”

“This setting will detune it,” Cat said. “This is the minimum level.” It moved the dial. “This activates it.”

Darius touched the detune setting. Then he turned it on.

Abruptly he experienced an ugly feeling. It was as if he were just coming down with a fever: a malaise not yet incapacitating, but a harbinger of worse to come.

He looked at Cat, who seemed unaffected. “You feel it too?”

“Yes. But I am accustomed to it.”

Darius moved the dial. The discomfort increased. His body began to shake, and sweat appeared on his skin. His breathing became irregular. “You feel this?”

“Yes.” The Feline did look a bit uncomfortable, but not nearly as much so as Darius felt.

He nudged it up farther. It felt as if he were walking into a furnace which was heating his bones, causing them to swell. and split. Yet he was only three notches up, on a scale of ten.

He turned it off. “It is effective,” he agreed. “And I do seem to feel no aftereffect. I can see that this would be effective for discipline. But that leaves my question: why do surgery on Colene?”

“That is a prerequisite to demoting her to servant status,” Cat said. “Humans, unlike nulls, are capable of reproduction. On colony planets they still do it naturally; on the more civilized worlds they do it via the birth banks. Once her valuable human eggs are safe, she can be treated in any manner. This is expected to cause you distress.”

“It does,” Darius said. “I don’t want any part of her removed, and I want to be with her myself. But surely there are many human women in this Mode; why take the eggs from Colene?”

“The human genetic pool has been highly refined and modified,” it said. “As you can see by the manner that we nulls have been crafted from the leftover parts of it. No human suffers from genetic maladies; none grow fat or weak or are stupid. All live long lives by primitive standards, and enjoy health throughout. But the genetic pool has become inbred, and the rate of population increase is declining. Fewer eggs are viable. It seems that primitive vigor has been sacrificed along with primitive liabilities. New genetic input is needed, to broaden the base and invigorate the pool. Colene represents an excellent source of that input, being young, intelligent, and healthy. It is unfortunate that the other woman, Provos, is beyond the age of similar harvest.”

Darius was horrified anew. “So they aren’t going to let her escape with her ovaries. But then why should I cooperate? Ddwng’s word means nothing.”

“That is not true. The Emperor’s word is always good. It would be beneath him to make any false statement. There is reason for you to cooperate: if you provide the Chip that enables Ddwng to transcend Modes, he will be able to bring in other women with their genes, and will have no need of Colene’s genes. He will release you both as promised, together with Provos and the horse.”

“The what?”

“Colene has a horse. You were not aware?”

“I was not aware,” Darius said, surprised. “I thought she came alone.”

“No, she preferred to ride, so she brought her horse. He was loaded with supplies for them both.”

Darius did not know what to make of this. Colene had had no horse! How had she gotten one? She wouldn’t have stolen it. However, she was welcome to it, as far as he was concerned. A horse could be a useful animal when properly trained, and evidently this one was.

It was coming clear why Ddwng was giving Darius time to think about his decision. The more he learned, the more futile it seemed to try to oppose the Emperor. He still didn’t like the notion of letting a conqueror loose among the Modes, but he feared increasingly that if he did not cooperate, Colene would suffer immediately, and then increasing pressure would be brought to bear until he capitulated. Darius did not consider himself to be a brave man; if he were put in pain from the pain dial, he would be in serious trouble. Ddwng had surely known that Darius would discover this. There was probably more to learn, which was not good news.

“I think I had better retire,” he said. “I seem to have used up half the night already.”

“True. Do you wish for a sleep ray, or for Pussy’s company?”

“Neither, thanks. Let me just clean up and turn in.”

“As you wish.” Cat settled to the floor, but did not sleep; it was alert for any other directives.

Darius stepped into the cleaning chamber he had seen Provos use. He got out of his clothes. Light flashed. That seemed to be it; he was clean. He picked up his clothes and discovered that they were clean too. Probably he had not had to remove them. But since he did not intend to sleep in them, it didn’t matter. He bundled them up and stepped back out.

“My bedroom?” he inquired.

Cat jumped up. “Here.” It indicated another panel.

Darius entered, and found a chamber with an excellent bed. He suspected that only the Captain rated such accommodations. That was all right; he was ready for this. He dumped his clothing into a shelf-niche and lay down naked.

But before he slept he remembered his screen contact with Colene. How lovely she had been! He had not chosen her for beauty, if he had chosen her at all; somehow he had just gradually discovered that she was the one he wanted to be with. She had been kind to him in her Mode, but it was more than that.

How had she come by a horse?

And—how had she known about Prima?

He remembered now: he had been telling her that he had found a suitable woman to marry, so that that part of his search was over. It freed him to love Colene. Colene had said she understood, and she had named Prima. But he had not mentioned that name this time, and he could not have mentioned it before, because he had not encountered Prima before embarking on the Virtual Mode. Somehow Colene had learned the name and what it signified.

It had not been Colene directly with whom he talked, but an image. With magic, images could be false. Surely that was true in this super-science realm. Yet Colene’s ways had rung true. She had wept when she told him they must part, and she had reacted in other authentic ways. She was suicidal; she would not have told Ddwng that, because she told no one. Only Darius himself, and then only when she loved him. This time she had said that her life was complete, and he knew too well what that meant. Complete because she intended to end it. When she lost him. That had to be Colene! A false image would have tried to capitulate; she had done the opposite. Had she begged him to do it, he might have yielded; she had begged him not to. That rang true.

But the name. Colene could not know of Prima. Yet how could a false image know it either? No one should know it, not even Provos. He had not mentioned her to Provos. Or had he? He had used the mirror tube Prima had devised; perhaps he had after all mentioned its origin. Or Provos could have remembered the name from some remark he would make in the future. And Provos had been with Colene for a while.

Yes, it was possible, he realized. Provos must have told her. Colene would naturally have asked about him, and Provos would have told what she remembered for future conversations. So the little mystery was solved. Relieved, he slept.

HE must have slept longer than intended, because he had the impression that too much time had passed. But he woke refreshed.

He got up and looked for his clothes. But they were gone. “Pussy!” he called.

Immediately, she appeared, and he realized that he had in his haste spoken the wrong name. He had wanted Tom, the male. Now he was sitting naked on the bed, and the voluptuous female Feline was gazing at him expectantly. “May I be of service now?” she asked.

“Yes. Fetch me my clothes.”

She touched a panel, and out came a glittering robe. She proffered it.

“That’s not mine,” he protested.

“It is the Captain’s robe,” she explained. “It would be amiss for you to go about the ship out of uniform.”

Darius acquiesced to the inevitable. “Very well. Carry on.”

He meant for her to depart, so he could dress. Instead she proceeded to dress him. Well, she did know what she was doing, and he did not. She had to perform her daily service, and he hoped this counted.

Did it? He realized that he had better be sure, lest he cause inadvertent mischief by assuming too much. “Does this acquit you of your daily service, Pussy?”

“No. This is routine. I must do more for you than this.” She smiled, inhaling, and her breasts swelled, making the fabric of her dress turn translucent in that region. The signal was clear enough.

So much for that. “I think you know that I love the human woman Colene. I do not have sexual interest in others at this time.”

“But I am not a woman!” she protested happily. “I am a null. There is no conflict with your woman.”

“No conflict? Colene comes from a culture where men and women are supposed to be true to each other during their association. She would not appreciate my doing anything with you.”

“Then you must explain to her. It is quite normal. Married couples use their nulls all the time. It eases the stress of monogamy and provides variety. A null is much more accommodating than a spouse, because a null has no pride and no rights.”

No pride and no rights. Darius had been coming to like the nulls, but now he realized that the culture that fostered them had a brutal disregard of human pride and rights, and had to be condemned. If he cooperated with Ddwng, he would be facilitating the spread of that system to other Modes, like a loathsome disease.

But it would not be expedient to express his doubt to her. She would only take it as rejection, and therefore some defect in the quality of her service. “Perhaps another time,” he said gently. “I have much to learn of the ways of the DoOon, and must get to it.”

“Yes,” she said, disappointed.

Provos was in the main chamber, with a meal set up for them both. She remembered the time of his awakening, of course. “This is an interesting society,” she remarked. “But I am sorry you are giving them the Chip.”

“I am?” he asked, startled.

“I understand that is what you must do to be united with your young woman, and I appreciate your desire, but I wish there had been some other way. Or is there some factor in the past which changes the effect of your action?”

“No, there is not,” he said. She remembered that he was going to agree to Ddwng’s demand! He had hoped that her knowledge of the future would enable him to do the opposite. Apparently he was to discover no such device.

The meal was catered by Pussy, eager as always to be of any possible service. But how was he going to find daily services for her other than the ones she expected?

Provos glanced at the buxom Feline woman. “I also fear that Colene will not understand your sexual use of this creature,” she said. “I suspect she will be hurt, considering that you will so soon be rejoined. It would seem to be a virtue in a man to be able to wait a few days.”

He was going to do that? Provos was a good woman who spoke her mind plainly, and it was not possible to argue with her. She was not condemning him, merely voicing her disapproval. But in the light of his determination not to use Pussy in this manner, this was a distressing revelation.

Provos was speaking in Darius’ language, which he thought the translator balls did not understand. But now Pussy perked up. “Oh, thank you, Darius!” she exclaimed. Then, to Provos: “When?”

“Before he kills the monster,” the old woman replied.

So he was going to succeed in his mission, though he knew so little about it. Actually he would give the order and a minion would dispatch the monster, giving Darius the credit. No genuine accomplishment there!

He made no comment. He realized that the folk of this Mode, however loyal they might seem to Darius, were all minions of Ddwng and would report to him. Darius could afford to say nothing of his true thoughts—especially since it seemed that his course was already plotted.

DARIUS went out to see to the operation of the ship. It was indeed traveling rapidly through the night sky; the simulation—he found it more comfortable to think of it as a magic picture—showed stars passing by at the rate of one or two close ones each minute. The executive officer, Jjle, with his Caprine nulls saw to the routine; in fact, Buck was seeing to it, with authority delegated by his master, and Doe was keeping track of the internal operations of the ship. Goat was at the communications center, coordinating with the planet of destination and with other FTL ships in the area; it seemed that it was important that no two ships pass too close to each other, because of harmonics of hypershift. Darius made no pretense of understanding the technical details; this was obviously a smoothly functioning system.

“We shall rendezvous with Planet Yils in twenty-three hours, sir,” Jjle informed him. “Have you any directives?”

“Carry on,” Darius replied.

The exec nodded without trace of a smile. Darius completed the tour of the ship, gradually becoming comfortable with it and his position in it. He was a figurehead, true—but it seemed that all captains were figureheads, normally.

He repaired to the ship’s library, which was merely a chamber with screens in contact with a number of planets in the galaxy, and with the help of Cat and the resident Ovine neuter, Sheep, he learned as much as he could assimilate about the colony on Planet Yils. The first human mission had come there approximately a thousand years before—all times were scaled to the Earthly measurements, because this was a human Empire—and settlement had proceeded. There had been a lively export of “escargots” for wealthy cuisine, until someone had noticed that the big snails were intelligent. Technically they qualified for sapient-species recognition and protection. But the Empire had never been much for technicalities, so the export continued on a muted basis. The natives were placid folk who did not hold grudges, so there was no fuss.

Now, however, the marauding was becoming an embarrassment. The actual value of the damage was not great, but the seeming inability of the colonists to stop it reflected adversely on the Empire. There was also the suspicion that the natives might be finally developing notions of objection to human rule, and of course that had to be emphatically squelched. It was necessary not only to stop the monster, but to ascertain exactly how it had come on the scene and what had enabled it to operate so long without being stopped. The suggestion of mind-blasting was especially sensitive. The Empire had overwhelming superiority in conventional weapons of all types, but something that could stun a mind without physical contact was alarming.

Darius retired to his quarters and pondered. This just might prove to be a more difficult mission than had been suggested. Was it possible that Ddwng really was providing him with a challenge that would prove his mettle one way or the other? Mind-stunning, if done by intelligent creatures who were organized, could prove to be a threat to more than just a single colony.

Then why assign the mission to an ignorant outsider? It wasn’t to get rid of him, because Ddwng wanted him to survive to show the way to his home Mode and the Chip there. Darius was not a conspirator by nature, but he had a certain notion of the ways in which people of doubtful loyalty could be tested. They could be provided with the opportunity to do some secret wrong. Believing they were unobserved, they usually revealed their basic natures.

Suppose Ddwng hesitated to trust himself to the Virtual Mode with only Darius as a guide? The Emperor would not be able to take any of his loyal minions along unless he remained in constant contact with them, which would be awkward. How well Darius knew! That meant he would have to trust Darius and his companions of the Virtual Mode. After requiring Darius’ cooperation by threatening the young woman he loved. That would seem chancy indeed!

But if Darius turned out to be trustworthy, the risk became feasible. If Darius’ nature was honest, then his word, once given, was good. That might well be more important to Ddwng than the outcome of the mission on Planet Yils. That ten-day deadline might be as much for Ddwng as for Darius: time to study the visitor to this Mode, to come to a conclusion about him.

Darius was a Cyng, a man of inherent power. He had never had the need to deal in anything other than the truth, and hardly cared to demean himself by doing so now. But he had never before been faced with such a difficult choice. Should he save the woman he loved by pledging to enable a conqueror to ravage other Modes? That would represent a loss of honor. But if the alternative was to lose Colene—

Well, he still had most of nine days to make the decision. Or did he? Could this span of time be another kind of test? A person who waited until the end to make the pledge surely was doing it only as a last resort. One who made it at the outset might simply be saying it as a matter of convenience, without sincerity. The sincere man would take time to study the situation and think it through, then make his decision in timely fashion.

Provos believed he would make the pledge. But she could not know what was in his heart, and neither could Ddwng. A liar and a truth-teller would say the same thing, to get his way. But in a situation of challenge and decision, the reactions of the two would probably differ. Ddwng and his minions had surely had a great deal of experience in judging how the two differed.

But a single episode was not enough. It was necessary to know a person as well as possible, and to judge whether his decision was consistent with the pattern of his personality. Even if a person made a commitment with sincerity, he could not be trusted if it was not in accord with his nature. Men did not always know their own wills.

Darius realized that he had probably been under observation throughout, waking and sleeping, and would be for the duration of this venture. It didn’t matter; he had been too busy getting his bearings to act in any way atypical of himself. But now that he realized this, it did matter. He could not form a pattern of action consistent with one decision, then decide the other way.

But he hadn’t made his decision! How could he be consistent with an unknown?

Provos had given him the key to that. He would have to comport himself in a manner consistent with a decision to accede to Ddwng’s demand. If he then did so, it would be trusted. If he did not, then the pattern would be inconsistent—but that would not matter, because an inconsistent pattern was similar to a negative one, for Ddwng’s purpose. Either would mean that it was not safe to enter the Virtual Mode with him.

Was the choice truly between Colene and the welfare of the Modes? He would have to search for some compromise. But meanwhile he would assume that he was going to agree to give Ddwng the Chip. He did love Colene, and this was the only likely way to save her.

He looked up. There were the three Felines, not watching him, but alert for any required service. Cat had been of service today; the other two had not. He had to do something about that.

“Tom, try to enable me to see Colene again,” he said.

Tom jumped to manipulate the screen. This time he quickly got through to the Swine. However far the ship was from Earth, it seemed to entail no delay in communication.

But the bureaucracy would not be rushed. Tom had to go through the litany of requests and clarifications. Finally a man with the seeming head of a horse appeared on the screen. “The Lady Colene is not accessible at the moment,” Stallion said.

“Why not?” Tom demanded.

“Because she is riding her horse.”

Darius was surprised. A horse had been mentioned, and it had slipped his mind. She was allowed to ride it? But of course they wouldn’t let her ride it into the Virtual Mode. She must have ridden it all the way to this Mode, to prevent it from being lost in the intervening Modes.

“Stick with it,” Darius said. “She won’t ride forever, and when she’s done she will be available.” He did want to see Colene again, but that was not all of it; he wanted to be sure that Tom had enough of a challenge even if he failed to get Colene so that it counted as a full service.

Meanwhile, what should Darius do? His research and his thinking had fatigued him more than he realized, but it was too early to go for his night’s sleep. He wanted to maintain a regular sleeping schedule if he could. He wasn’t hungry yet. And he hadn’t figured out a service for Pussy.

“What can you do for me?” he asked her with mock exasperation. “That requires no thought on my part?”

She inhaled.

“What else?” he asked quickly.

“I can give you a relaxing massage.”

He considered that. He liked it. “Agreed.”

“On your bed,” she purred, guiding him to his bedchamber. He let her do it. She was probably very good at this, and his body did feel tight.

Before he knew it, she had pulled off his robe. But of course it wouldn’t be good to crumple the Captain’s uniform. He lay face down on the bed.

She was good at it. She kneaded his shoulders, and the tension melted away from the muscles there. She stroked his back, and it relaxed. She massaged his calves, and they felt like new. She worked on his thighs, and they were invigorated.

Then she started in on his buttocks. He had been sitting for much of the time he had been on the ship, and there was tenseness to be released here too. But as her hands reached around and inside, a new kind of tension developed. Embarrassed, he lay still and did not say anything.

Until she turned him over. “Uh, no,” he said, resisting.

“But I have to do the other side, or my service is not complete,” she explained, sounding hurt.

He was stuck. He turned over, revealing his erection. She had surely seen similar before. He closed his eyes.

“Oh, what a beautiful member!” she exclaimed, delighted.

She did his chest muscles with similar finesse, and his stomach. Then she got on the bed, straddling him, her thighs outside his. He opened his eyes and saw that she was naked; she was evidently able to doff her tight dress in a single fluid motion. She leaned forward, her breasts descending invitingly toward him. She was trying to seduce him.

All he had to do was tell her no. But if he did, what would that indicate about his impending decision to cooperate with Ddwng? And if he refused her offerings, then told Ddwng yes, and Ddwng considered his maladaptation to the customs of this culture, and concluded that he could not be trusted, what then of Colene? Pussy was nice, but she was meaningless; she would be exactly as nice in exactly this way to any man she was required to serve. It was Colene who counted. He could not risk anything to imperil Colene’s welfare.

The safest thing to do was nothing.

Pussy took that as assent. She lay on him full length, sliding up enough to kiss him with her feline mouth. It was a human mouth; it only looked feline. All of her cat features were more suggestive than actual, as if she had had just enough cosmetic surgery to lend the effect.

His resolve to be passive dissolved. His arms closed around her body. His hands stroked the sleekness of the small of her back, and below. Her posterior was as marvelous to touch as to see. Then they were turning over, his eagerness taking charge. She was intended for this use, and—

The wall became a window screen. Colene stood there, as if right beside the bed, staring down. Everything was visible. She blinked.

Darius froze in place. The call! How could he have forgotten the call! Tom had kept at it, finally completed it, and put it right through to Darius, where he happened to be at the moment. In the middle of a sexual act with another woman.

“I guess you’re busy right now,” Colene said, turning away. The screen faded and became the wall.

Pussy looked at him, concerned. “Have I done wrong?”

“No.” She had been true to her nature.

“She was not supposed to see?”

“I was not supposed to be doing it.” An understatement!

“I will tell her what I did!” Pussy said, tears starting down her face as she sat up. “You did not tell me yes! I have done you a disservice, my master!”

What could he say? What was the penalty for a disservice? He feared it was formidable. He was already in critical trouble with Colene, and no apology by a null would make that right. What would be the point in punishing Pussy?

“You were not at fault,” he said. “I let you do what I wanted you to do. I did not know Colene would see, but if I had done it without her seeing, I would have been deceiving her. The fault was mine, either way.”

“You must not take the blame for me!” she protested. “I have done you a disservice, and I must pay. I am so sorry to have done this to you. I wanted only—”

“Enough!” He spoke more forcefully than he had intended, startling her. “You have done me no disservice. I have done myself the disservice. But if you feel you had any share in it, I will require two services of you tomorrow, and thereafter the matter shall be forgotten.”

She had to think about that a moment. “You want my service tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course. Not necessarily of this type, but a service. Or two. Be ready.”

“Oh, yes, my master! I will be ready! But now—”

“Dress me. Now I shall eat.”

She hastened to oblige. They emerged to the main chamber, and she hurried to fetch food.

Provos was there. She had evidently been walking around the ship, knowing her way by memory, and the members of the crew tolerated her as a guest of the Captain. “Something happened?” she inquired.

“So to speak.” He knew what she thought he had done, and she was not far off. He came close to her, needing the illusion of privacy. “Provos, do you remember what the penalty is for a null who does a disservice?”

“Why, of course. The null is destroyed immediately. It is unfortunate, because no null ever does such a thing intentionally, but it seems that some mistakes are not allowed. Why do you ask?”

“I had a concern that one might have made such a mistake.”

“No, not that I remember. The nulls of this ship are very competent.”

“I am glad to know that.” He was indeed! Pussy had been offering her death, to try to spare him embarrassment. He had managed to avoid that as much by luck as intent. His luck had been opposite with Colene. He knew it would be useless to try to call her back.

And all because he had allowed his passion to get out of control. He had indeed done himself a disservice.

THE following day he had to worry about the two services from Pussy, as well as the single ones from Tom and Cat. So he did the obvious: he asked Cat.

“You do not wish to make sexual use of Pussy?” Cat inquired.

“I do and I don’t. She is an attractive and innocent creature. But Colene would not understand.”

“Colene already does not understand.”

“All too true! Still, my feeling for Colene is such that I prefer not to be guilty of what disturbs her, even if it is too late for such restraint. I punish myself by denying myself that which I foolishly desired.” It was, he knew, a pointless gesture, but the hurt he had done Colene was gnawing at him, and this was the only way he could think of to ameliorate it even slightly.

“As you prefer. There is another alternative. On rare occasions, at the master’s discretion, services may be postponed, pending greater service at a later time. You are about to undertake a mission with some risk. You can require Pussy to join you on that mission, as a bodyguard.”

“A bodyguard! Is she good at that?”

“No, violence is against her nature. Tom will be with you, of course; he is adapted for violence. It would be a stressful thing for her, worthy of several services.”

“I don’t want to put her under stress!”

“She is already under stress.”

As with Colene, he was damned either way. “I’ll do it.”

Darius did some more thinking about the possible nature of the monster. It seemed unlikely to him that even the most intelligent snail could do the type of mischief described. That suggested that the monster was human. That in turn suggested that something more than incidental vandalism was involved. Perhaps Ddwng knew it.

He discussed it with Jjle, without speaking of his suspicion. “What is the standard way to deal with a problem like this?” He had learned the answer from Cat, but he had a reason to clear this with the exec.

“Locate the troublemaker with a fair degree of certainty and bomb the region,” Jjle replied.

“But doesn’t that kill many innocent folk along with the guilty one?”

“It does. But since the normal trouble is terrorism or incipient rebellion against the Empire, and the penalty is known, this is an effective mechanism. Few loyal creatures would seek to shield a guilty one.”

“I will do it in another manner. I will not bomb the region; I will enter it myself and try to nullify the monster. I intend to kill no innocent folk, either human or native.”

“I do not recommend this,” the exec said, alarmed.

“Neither do my Felines,” Darius said with a smile. “They are unanimous against it. But I believe it is my authority to handle this mission as I choose.”

Jjle gazed at him with a certain wary appreciation. “That is correct, Captain. But I must insist that you be appropriately protected.”

“I will take Tom and Pussy as bodyguards, carrying weapons.”

“A female null? This is irregular.”

“But my prerogative.”

“True, sir.” There was a slight emphasis on the “sir,” a nuance of disapproval. “But two nulls is not sufficient protection. You will require shielding.”

“Armor?”

“It could be called that. It will shield you from both physical and environmental threats.”

“Agreed. The three of us will be so protected.”

He returned to his chambers, knowing that a message would be sent to Ddwng, and that the Emperor would confirm Darius’ authority, because Ddwng wanted to learn more about him. None of the members of this ship owed allegiance to Darius, only to the Emperor. All thought him foolish and perhaps crazy, but they had to go along with him as long as Ddwng did. They feared he might only get himself killed.

But Provos had remembered him killing the monster, so the success of his mission was not in doubt, merely the manner of its accomplishment. Of course Provos had been in error about his having sex with Pussy, but only because she had made the reasonable assumption about his session in the bedroom. Provos did not know the literal future, only that part of it she was to learn. Darius had been caught in compromise. Anyone would have drawn a similar conclusion. Especially Colene. And he was in effect guilty. But however Colene now felt about him, he still loved her, and the thought of her being sterilized and lobotomized was intolerable. He had to save her.

So if Ddwng wanted to discover Darius’ nature, this would provide a clear indication. He would accomplish this mission in his own style. But he still had not decided whether to accede to Ddwng’s demand for the Chip. If he could find a way to save Colene without giving up the Chip, he would do so. Just as he hoped to find a way to nullify the monster without hurting anyone.

“Tell me about shielding,” he said to Cat.

“It is an electronic armament which prevents any fast-moving missiles from touching the wearer,” Cat replied. “It also intercepts any radiation or sonics which would be harmful. Only officers of the Empire are allowed to utilize it.”

“Or those designated by such officers.” Darius was catching on to the rules of the Empire.

“True.”

“Do you think it will intercept the mind-stunning attack of the monster?”

“It should, as there surely is some physical aspect of this. True mental transmission between minds is unknown; all claims of such have been investigated and debunked. But it seems indiscreet to expose yourself to it.”

“It seems indiscreet to me not to,” Darius said. “Tom and Pussy and I will go after the monster protected in this manner.”

Cat was silent. That was his indication of disagreement so strong as to be a possible disservice if voiced. No null could afford to call its master a fool.

THE Flay arrived at Planet Yils on schedule. There was no fanfare; it simply took up what Jjle described as an orbit, and Darius stepped into the transfer chamber with his two Feline bodyguards. Tom was confident; Pussy was nervous. Tom carried what was called a laser rifle, and Pussy the pain dial. She had to bear a weapon for this type of service to count, though she seemed afraid of it.

The shields they wore were invisible. They were generated by small boxes carried in pockets. Darius knew the power of magic, but distrusted the power of super-science, so tested the shields by having his Felines make mock attacks against each other and himself. They could make contact with each other, but the moment any motion became swift enough to harm a person, the shields cushioned it and slowed it down to safe range. The faster the motion, the greater the cushioning effect, until it became quite uncushionlike. When Darius, emboldened by slower maneuvers, attempted to strike Tom with a stick, the stick seemed to smack into a wall, and it broke in half. Thrown stones bounced off harmlessly. A direct charge at Pussy resulted in both of them bouncing back, cushioned by their shields so that neither was hurt.

This did seem to be about as good as magic. But would it really be effective against the monster? Darius had a nagging doubt.

They met the commandant of the colony, an old human man in an Empire robe. “It struck again six hours ago,” he announced. His language was unfamiliar, but Darius now carried a translation ball which worked both ways. “We have set up a cordon, and believe we have it isolated. Unfortunately a number of colonists reside in that sector.”

“We are not going to bomb the sector,” Darius said.

“You have a way to point-spot the monster?” the commandant asked, relieved.

“We are going to search for it ourselves.”

“But it can stun human minds!”

“We are shielded.”

The commandant looked doubtful. “I would not wish to seem critical of Navy equipment, but unless your shields are more potent than ours, they will not be effective. This seems almost to be a case of—something unknown.”

So maybe it was direct mind contact! The commandant didn’t want to name it as such, fearing ridicule for believing what was supposedly supernatural, but he was hinting. “I have had some experience of this type,” Darius said, understating the case. Receiving and amplifying and broadcasting mental power was his specialty of magic. If by any chance the monster’s power related, Darius might be uniquely equipped to handle it. He had tested sympathetic magic here and found it to be inoperative, but perhaps mental magic would work. Certainly the two were different, because even in his own Mode, few folk possessed the power of multiplying feeling, while anyone could do ordinary magic.

Could this be coincidence? Colene had arrived at this Mode before him, perhaps because of his delay when he returned Prima to his own Mode. Ddwng had surely questioned her. She could have told him what she knew of Darius’ power of magic, which the Emperor well might have interpreted as supernatural mental power. By the definitions of this culture, that was what it was. Darius had not been aware of any mental interactions with the folk of this Mode, but it was possible that though most were deaf to the transfer of joy, some few might be receptive.

Ddwng was evidently no ignorant functionary. He had given Darius a mission that might exploit his particular talent, if it were operative here. Ddwng might be extremely interested in knowing the status of that talent.

Darius decided to assume that this was a good connection and that he could be effective in dealing with the monster. He let his peculiar awareness extend, seeking a mind that was in some fashion similar to his own. A mind that could transfer joy—or other emotion. Or simply the deadly absence of emotion that was unconsciousness.

In a moment he found it. To his perception it was a nucleus of malignancy. Something was hating.

Darius had not had occasion to magnify or broadcast hate. There just was no market for it. But the principle was the same as for joy. He could transfer it without affecting himself. If there were no suitable recipients, the emotion would be lost—but that was a suitable way to deal with hate.

All this happened in a moment. Meanwhile, he was answering: “It shall be known soon enough.” Then he set forth with his Felines into the cordoned region.

Most of it was native. The Yils came out to meet them. They were indeed like snails with the body mass of men or greater, and slow moving. One had positioned itself to be in the main aisle they were following. Did it want a dialogue?

Darius stopped before it. “What is your concern?” he inquired.

The snail wiggled feelers. “You are the Empire Captain come to abolish the menace?” the translator ball inquired.

“I am.”

“This mischief is not of our doing.”

“But is it of your toleration?” Darius inquired sharply.

“It is known that we have no power to inhibit human beings from doing what they choose.”

“Such as exporting your citizens as cuisine?”

“This is a concern.”

“I will ask the Emperor that this be stopped. But the power is his, not mine.”

“We thank you, Captain.” The snail withdrew into its shell, clearing the aisle ahead.

Pussy lifted a hand. Darius nodded, giving her leave to speak. “Why should you do anything for the natives?”

“Because they are feeling creatures, and deserve sympathetic treatment.”

“This is an odd concept.”

“You deserve it too.”

“That is odder yet.”

Darius smiled, not arguing the case. He tuned in on the bolus of hate, walking that way. “I suspect your weapons will not be effective,” he told them both. “But have them ready. Should I fall unconscious, kill whatever creature is before us. It may be a human being.”

They nodded. They were responsive to his will.

The snails did not use houses; their shells were sufficient. They had many slick paths through their cultivated sections; the paths branched and rebranched, becoming smaller, like the structure of trees. It was evident that there was no centralized feeding system; each snail had its own patch to graze. It seemed to be a live-and-let-live society. Unfortunately the human conquerors did not have a similar philosophy. Now they wanted to break into other Modes, so as to get new genes to revivify their stock, so they could maintain and expand their Empire. His sympathy was with whatever power had decided to confine this Empire to this one Mode.

But if he told Ddwng no, what then? Destruction for Colene, if torture of her did not make him yield. Then probably torture of him. And in the end, if he died without yielding, Ddwng would still be able to set out on the Virtual Mode and perhaps find Darius’ Mode and the Chip. He was an anchor person; he should be able to sense the right direction the same way Darius and Provos did, and as Colene surely had. He merely wanted to avoid the serious risks of traveling alone into unknown territory. But he could take them if he chose. What would defiance accomplish, in the end?

They were coming close to the source of the hate. But there seemed only to be a snail snoozing at the end of its pathlet, having grazed its fill. It was withdrawn into its shell.

But hiding behind that shell was a human child. “I see you,” Darius said.

The child stood, and the nucleus of hate shifted with his body. This was the monster: a boy of perhaps seven years. No wonder he had escaped detection! He was just an ordinary gamin, a neglected urchin, probably stealing food to survive. But his mind was an absolute horror.

“In the name of the Empire, I am come to bring you to justice,” Darius said, observing the ritual. “Yield, and you will not be killed.”

Both Felines looked at Darius, evidently suspecting that he had gotten severely confused. A little human boy? Hardly a monster!

For answer, the boy unleashed his fury. It struck Darius—and was rebroadcast outward. He was unaffected. But he had learned something: the boy could direct his power. He did not strike at every mind within his range. Harnessed, this could probably be useful to the Empire.

“Yield, and perhaps you will be granted a good life in return for the use of your power on behalf of the Empire,” Darius said.

He sensed the lad’s understanding. But there was no trust there. The boy hated his own kind. He must have been rejected, cast out, orphaned. There was something strange and vulnerable about his mind, as if it had been weakened, not strengthened, and in its distress had channeled most of its force to this incubus of hate. So great was that destructive force that it could overwhelm even a “deaf” mind, such as those of this Mode. But the hammer that could shatter a stone could not do the same with a sponge or a rubber ball. The boy could not prevail against Darius.

The lad seemed shaken by the failure of his attack on Darius. But his little face was set in a grimace of hate which echoed that of his mind. He had no intention of yielding to the Empire. But Darius tried again. “I have the means to destroy you. I ask you to yield and save yourself.”

Apparently it was a lost cause. The mind-monster would not or could not be reasonable. He would have to be stunned and taken in; perhaps the Empire super-scientists could do something with him, or at least confine him so that he could not do physical damage, such as torching granaries.

“Dial him, Pussy,” Darius said.

The Feline lifted the dial and turned it on. Level Three discomfort struck Darius. He had never reset the device! It was tuned to him as well as to others. The Felines expected to be affected, and were prepared to endure it in order to accomplish the mission. It would surely be far more potent against the boy than against them.

Indeed, the boy felt it. He staggered as if physically struck. Then he sent a jolt of hate directly at Pussy.

Pussy collapsed with a little meow of pain. She could not ward off the power.

The boy staggered forward and snatched the dial from her hand. He touched the detune switch, then turned the dial up to maximum.

He had not understood the dial well enough. All he had done was to restore Darius’ exemption—and hit himself with the maximum degree of pain. He collapsed.

Darius stepped forward and took the dial from the boy’s flaccid hand. He turned the dial down to zero.

But it was too late. Pussy, already unconscious, was unaffected. Tom, caught by the dial, was now sprawled on the ground. And the boy was dead.

Darius had after all killed the monster. And, in his own judgment, bungled the mission.

BACK on the Flay with his staggering minions, Darius was the object of covert stares of awe. “The monster took out your bodyguards, sir—and you killed it alone?” Jjle inquired. “Without a weapon?”

“Not exactly. It was the pain dial that killed him. His mind was more vulnerable to it than others. But my success was chance as much as design.”

“As you say, sir.” But the awe remained.

When he reached his chambers, the wall-screen was on. There was Colene, in her preternatural beauty. “Oh, Darius—you’re all right!” she cried.

He was taken aback. “You are speaking to me?”

“Of course I’m speaking to you! I love you!”

She couldn’t have forgiven him! “And I love you. But—”

“I know your culture’s different. You can’t be expected to—I understand that—and anyway, you’re a man. Oh, Darius, please give Ddwng the Chip! It’s the only way we can be together!”

“Colene, I want to be with you more than anything. But if I—”

“It’ll be all right! Honest it will! He’ll let us go, if—please, Darius!”

Why had she turned about so completely? She should be furious with him, yet she was urging him to betray their Modes so that she could be with him. He would have to think about this.

“I will consider,” he told her.

“Please,” she repeated, and faded out.

Darius sat in the chair and considered. He thought of the monster/boy, so recently dead. He thought of Provos, who had said he would kill the monster, and who had also said he would agree to commit to Ddwng. He thought of Colene.

He had offered the boy the chance for a kind of amnesty: fair treatment and a chance to serve the Empire, if he turned his talent to the welfare of the Empire. He knew Ddwng would have honored that, because it made sense. Instead the boy had attacked him—and destroyed himself in the process. Utter folly.

There was no doubt that Ddwng had power over Darius and Colene. He could make them happy together, or keep them apart, or torture them or kill them or let them go. He was no fool. If Darius tried to cross him, Darius would be destroyed. But if he cooperated, he would be rewarded. He was to the Emperor as the monster/boy was to Darius himself. What was his choice?

Provos said he would accede. Colene had begged him to. He didn’t like it, but it did seem to be his only practical choice.

“Get me the Emperor,” he told Cat. The two other Felines were recuperating from their ordeal.

In a moment Ddwng was on the screen. He must have been waiting for this.

“I have destroyed the monster,” Darius said to the Emperor. “I promised the natives I would seek to end the exploitation of their kind as food. I am requesting—”

“The word of a minion of the Empire is good. That exploitation shall cease forthwith.”

That was certainly swift! Darius had promised only to ask, and here he had succeeded in changing Empire policy. But that was the minor issue. He braced himself for the major one.

“Today I am in your Mode, sir, in your power,” Darius said. “In my Mode the power will be ours. I will guide you there, but the Chip is not mine to give. I will introduce you to the Cyng of Pwer, who may elect instead to kill you. You must let Colene and her horse and Provos and me into the Virtual Mode and we shall do you no harm there. This is the deal I proffer.”

“Agreed.”

Darius stared at the man. “No bargaining? You will risk yourself this way?”

“You are a man of honor. You will advise me of the appropriate manner to approach your official. It is enough.”

“A man of honor? How can you know that?”

“It is not only your words and actions we have watched. We know the physical and brain-wave patterns of deceit. You have at times withheld information, but you have not given false information. You are to be trusted, and after I possess the Chip you will be given a ranking position in the Empire, if you wish it.”

“You can not trust a person whose cooperation has been obtained under duress.”

“That depends on the man. Now relax, Captain Darius; your mission has been accomplished, and you will return to Earth.” Ddwng faded out.

So it was done. Darius did not feel uplifted. He had done it to save Colene.

Colene. What were her feelings toward him now? She had seen him with Pussy, then called him back to plead his acquiescence to the demand of the Emperor. She did not know the threat against herself. What could account for the change?

Was there a threat against him too, which she knew about? But if she was angry with him, she could simply let it happen. Instead she had said she loved him and wanted to be with him.

Maybe she really did understand. But maybe she was doing what was expedient now, and there would be a reckoning later. After they were free of the DoOon. If they got free.