Part 13 (2/2)

”Very kind of you, I'm sure,” he said. ”Still, it may take me a while. You'll keep the tea water hot, won't you? And perhaps save me a sandwich?”

The white star shone steadily. Except for the wind sighing among the rocks, it was very quiet.

”Here I come, then,” said Brother Anatoly, and resumed his interrupted journey.

Minds still linked, Elizabeth and Creyn returned from their latest metapsychic range of Ocala Island. But instead of disengaging, they waited, hands lightly clasped across the oak table, to see if the thing would happen again. They were both turned toward the western windows. The sky beyond the balcony railing was now an extravagant blaze of stars, barely challenged by the high-riding moon.

Creyn said: It manifests.

Elizabeth said: Yes. Just like the other two times. Perhaps a bit more leisurely in the coalescence. More sure of itself.

Creyn said: It is a simulacrum isn't it?

Elizabeth said, Pray G.o.d yes friend. Let us attempt a finer a.n.a.lysis.

A silhouette was materializing outside, blotting out the stars.

It was the figure of a tall human male, apparently no more than seven metres away from them on the other side of the leaded window panes. Their linked fa.r.s.ense concentrated into a lancetprobe and explored with superlative delicacy. Were there actual molecules present-or was the thing merely a psychocreative simulacrum, a projected image no more substantial than the holograms of a Tri-D or the ”sendings” broadcast by the Tanu and Firvulag? The probe was defeated by an aetheric phenomenon more subtle than a mental screen, a dynamic field manifestation unfamiliar to Elizabeth, more absorptive than reflective.

Creyn said: He's bluffing. He must be.

Elizabeth said: Psychological warfare. Softening up before the real confrontation d.a.m.n him.

The man on the balcony wore a dark and glistening garment with a diagonal fastening, virtually skintight from neck to toe.

Obscure embellishments, apparently of a technical nature, studded it in the region of the collarbone and the groin. The neck and head were bare and the curly hair stood out oddly from the scalp, almost like tendrils. The man's features were unmistakable and he seemed to be looking at them.

To make certain that he heard, Elizabeth spoke on the distance-spanning intimate mode: Why not communicate with us Marc instead of playing games?

The image was not quite motionless. The hair stirred and one corner of the mouth lifted by a millimetre. Tonight, unlike on the previous two visitations, the body was haloed in a faintly luminescent complex of mechanical gadgetry; around the head was a brighter nimbus of half-visible components and a hint of great flex-lines and cables trailing off into the night sky.

Creyn said: Obviously the cerebroenergetic apparatus is again fully operational.

Elizabeth said: They must have been tinkering with it the first two tries. Or perhaps his injuries forced him to utilize unfamiliar neural circuitsDid the head nod, ever so fractionally?

Can you hear us on shortrange conversational Marc?

The smile broadened.

Elizabeth said: Well that's a relief. We're quite tired out from spying on you and your children and Aiken and Nodonn's invaders and the Firvulag. It's been a very wearying thirty-six hours ... We missed you last night. Were you too engrossed in watching the Great Duel to bother visiting us? ... Whom were you cheering for? It was quite a setback for your bewildering offspring but no doubt they'll come up with a new scheme in due course ... What do they really want in Europe Marc?

It's obvious they have a deeper motive than simply snipping the paternal ap.r.o.nstrings and seeking their fortune on barbarian sh.o.r.es. I can't see you coming hotfoot after them for anything as mundane as that ... Your preparations must be nearly complete for the voyage by now. Even with the sigma-fields erected over the Kyllikki we can tell you've managed to stow a remarkable quant.i.ty of materiel aboard her ... Will you set sail soon? ... Quite a lot of mysterious whispering on the intimate mode wafting up from Africa during the last few weeks.

What do you suppose the children are up to? ...

The eyes of the phantom, sunken in deep orbits, blinked slowly. His quirked smile had faded.

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