THE SEVEN IS THE NUMBER OF THE YOUNG LIGHT IT FORMS WHEN DARKNESS IS INCREASED BY ONE "...that's quite a story," Smith told Sophie Rosencruetz. "Why should I believe it?" "Because it's the truth," Sophie said. She took off her dark glasses, laid them on the breakfast table beside her steaming mug of coffee; took off her wig.... Smith gaped in astonishment. "The Mind-Police! So...this is some ruse on the part of the Sorceress Diana to penetrate my chymical art! Steal the secret of the Alkahest from me, will you?" He held his finger on the trigger of the sprayer, menacingly. "Stop!" Sophie held up her hand, palm open, fingers spread. "If I were a clone--where's my psionic mind-link? I'd be cut off from the group-mind! If I was a spy it would do Diana no good...and the unified field of the Theocracy is so terrible I know any renegade clone who breaks free from the group-mind never returns, tries to escape--is hunted down, usually dies at the hands of her own sisters...." She shuddered. If not for the disguise, it could've happened to her. Smith yet held the Alkahest sprayer as though about to dissolve her into a pool of slime, still not convinced: "If you are a spy you could've disengaged from the group-mind with the intent of rejoining it after you had all the information you wanted." Again he pointed the muzzle of the sprayer directly at her, prepared to fire. Excitedly, Sophie shouted, "If I were a spy, why would I unveil my disguise to you?" Smith lowered the Alkahest sprayer. "That's true...okay, Sophie...you and I are going to consult Ben...Miriam Benjamin, Farber's girlfriend. She has a magical Philosopher's Stone which can reveal happenings all over the Earth. We can find out where Farber is through her sorcery." Sophie put her wig and spectacles back on. She followed Smith out of his store.... There was a Wisdom-clone waiting on the corner. Smith turned, walked the opposite direction, Sophie trailing him. There was another of the Mind-Police on the opposite corner, her psionic amplifier glinting like a silver egg. "We're just going to have to contend with having our movements monitored," Smith said, leading Sophie past the second clone, suspicion in Wisdom's eyes, Sophie's twin. Smith and Sophie crossed to the opposite side of the street from the provocative Policewoman, almost looking herself like one of the prostitutes who shared the corner--but such dreams are the Police...a great beauty and a terror... She moved to catch up with them. "Where are you headed, citizens? And where are your IDs?" Smith handed her a card. Sophie realized that she didn't have one, even as the fallen angel crossly demanded to see it. But Smith was immediately ready with the Alkahest sprayer. He held it to Sophie's psionic transducer, pulled the trigger: In a moment, a flashing twinkling sparkling, there was an awful scream, and Wisdom stared about in wide-eyed wonder like a fetus that has just encountered the material world in dream, vision, or birth. She babbled incoherent words of thanks to her two saviors, then left the scene--perhaps for Atlantis or Albion. "Run!" Smith told Sophie. "When we blew the psionic amplifier--we'll probably bring every Raven within seven miles down on us! We've got to get to the t-tubes before that happens!" Sophie ran like the track star she was; Smith was middle-aged and out of shape, wheezed a lot; she had to slow down for him to keep pace with her--as they arrived at one of the city's hundreds of transit-tubes a flock of Ravens fell screaming from the skies. Some were carrying ray-guns, death-weapons that were met with the blast of Sophie's own stunning beamer, set to MAX FORCE and MAX DISPERSAL. Smith pulled out his Alkahest sprayer; began dissolving the Ravens in great dark storm clouds as they flew. More and more blackness fell from the skies, met by a spray of stinging solvent particles. As fast as they came the Ravens departed this world....Under the constant outspray of Universal Solvent, the entire horde of demon-things vanished. Like ashes dropping from the smoke of their sublimation, the salty parts of the Ravens, fine, dry, black powder, hit the floor, then burned through the glass, still containing the Universal Solvent in a bound form. The hole the dying Ravens made in the crystal floor was rimmed by Glauber's salt.... "Quickly!" Smith exclaimed to Sophie. "Into the t-tubes; we'll lose them now!" Sophie did not say anything. The door cycled open; propelled by anti-gravity Smith and Sophie rose from the shadows at the western edge of the great cathedral to a position above it. Like a newt Smith slipped from the great hollow cylinder of pellucid substance; Sophie followed, in her green blouse and emerald skirt looking like a salamander--she smiled a little at the irony. They approached a small house on a rain-tree shaded lawn; earth set into the transparent crystal like an island in the sky. Smith knocked on the door. A slim woman answered, brunette hair coiffed neatly on the top of her head but trailing off into a frizz at the bottom and sides. She was extremely tall; beauty belying the esper powers of a white witch. "Sophie--I'd like you to meet Ben," Smith said. "Miriam Benjamin, renowned alchemist and Fire-Child. Sophie Rosencruetz is Simon's twin...from another dimension. She needs our help; Simon and her both need our help. Sit down, Ben, this is going to be a long story...." # RETURN OF THE WIDOW TING Salamander and Togra descended onto a plain of low, rolling hills: the Stone-fields of Albion. Gnomes hoed between rows of what seemed to be petrified trees, mechanical gardeners chopping untiringly at the rock-weeds, pebbles and small rocks which sprouted up in competition with the large trees; these Stone trees were actually living things--in Albion, the Stone grows wild. At the center of the field a huge sprayer rotated, casting vital spirits upon the land. A spectrum of colors surrounded each droplet of liquid. Where the haze struck the trees their branches quivered. Clusters of Philosopher's Stones like saffron grapes hung from their branches, absorbing the liquid vitality. The magical Stones enlarged and divided while the Stone flowers surrounding them writhed, the mica petals rippling like the sheets of an aurora. A glowing fog of vitality drifted across the electrified fence, enveloped the riders on their ponies. The animals sped to a gallop while their riders shivered uncontrollably. "Here." Togra passed Salamander a piece of translucent gum. "This is the the glutinum mundi--the glue which binds matter and spirit together; it will absorb excess vital fluids from your bloodstream...." The resilient crystals were easy to chew, softening, melting away in their mouths. The taste was a bitter, salty tang which lingered on their tongues. They both felt still, calm, tranquil, lost track of time. When they finally passed the last of the Stone fields the sun was setting on the ocean. Their mounts stepped briskly across the beach, their quick, lively steps being in part due to lingering vitality. They continued along the shore until they came to a secluded bay: At its center a Chinese junk was anchored. A rowboat dropped from the side of the ship; its crew were pirates. At its helm stood a lady: tall, thin, wrapped in silk embroidered with dragons. The pirates dragged the boat up onto the beach. The widow Ting stepped out of it, approached--she was still beautiful, but she was young, not old. Salamander felt lust burning within him; Farber felt the same lust, seeing Ting from a great distance, as though at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Sometimes he thought he was still Farber; sometimes he was the Salamander; the Two were growing into One: like mercury and sulfur fusing into black mercuric sulfide, raven black, a Unity was springing up in the heart of the man. "I have the herb you seek." Ting held up a small pouch. "And we have your price." Togra untied a heavy burlap bag in which a fortune in Stones were stored--gold was valueless since Newton's discovery of the Stone; the Stone itself was the medium of exchange. Togra placed the magical Stones at the feet of the lady pirate. Ting inspected the Stones, like lumps of saffron wax. "These are beautiful. I can perform much magic with these." She handed the pouch of Azot to Togra. "For bringing these fine mystical Stones to me I will offer you a space aboard my ship to perform your dimension-spanning magic...." With Togra at his side Farber climbed into the rowboat. Once onboard the ship Ting took Farber and Togra to the forecastle. Several large windows at the front allowed them a splendid view of the ocean. Farber touched one: The surface was the same pellucid texture as the vitriol of Phoenix. "You will make the change in this little alchemical laboratory," Ting told Farber, handing the Salamander a pipe--long, slender, with a tiny bowl. As Salamander drew on it the drug released the spirit of Farber once more; he drew another time, handed it to Togra. "Come with me." He exhaled a mouthful of smoke with each word. "You have loved me in this world--come along with me, to mine." "I can't--" "Don't say cannot," Ting scolded her. "What he says is perfectly possible." "I shouldn't--" "Why? Because the Troglodyte kings all disapprove of mind-altering drugs? Make an exception," Ting said, a cold fire glowing in her eyes. While Togra hesitated Farber took a second draw on the pipe. "No. I have my own life here, with the Troglodytes--and other loves." Salamander felt jealous for an instant; then Farber remembered Diana; in love of Ben he inhaled deeply and the dragons on Ting's clothing writhed. The walls of the ship melted, leaving Simon suspended over the ocean....A few feet away the dragons still writhed, even though their mistress had faded away--like something from a corpse-world. In spite of her youth. The two dragons fell into the ocean. One bit the other's tail, which in turn clamped onto the attacking dragon to form a circle which revolved ever faster; like the opening of an iris a space opened up--the other world, Farber's home. A path appeared at the rim of the circle, stretched out to Farber, slid under him, continued on into the distance. At the threshold of the portal an invisible barrier separated him from his goal. He hammered his fists against it, but to no avail. Then he recognized the place: the artificial lake outside Phoenix: he could tell by the slow movements of the surface of the reservoir--like living gelatin, like magnetic fluid. Next he saw himself; completely stoned on the ungodly potion he had stolen from Smith...he tripped over a tree root, fell into the lake. Farber witnessed his own funeral, saw his casket being lowered into the earth. Then he found himself in darkness--the darkness of the Void. The darkness was warm, electric, vital, dim red flickerings like the awareness of a fetus in its mother's womb. There were ominous rumblings, as of a beating heart. Farber was borne out of that Void of Awareness into the arid desert outside Phoenix. The Fire-Children were all gathered on the desert before the Salamander, wearing masks intricately carved with the shapes of wolves, bears, coyotes, snakes, other brutal animals. Musicians played flute and drum slowly while a man danced at the center of the circle... # End of file Press RIGHT ARROW (#6 key) of the numeric keypad to load the next file.