Part 12 (1/2)

He propped himself up on one elbow to admire Karin beside him. She responded by snuggling closer, a wisp of straw-blond hair falling across her lightly freckled cheek. He leaned over and gave her a wake-up loss. A long, fingering wake-up kiss.

aHmm,a said Karin, stirring beneath him and kissing him back. Then her eyes popped open and she broke the clinch.

aGood morning, beautiful.a aWhat time is it?a she responded. aOh, I'm sorry Mick.a She gave him a quick Kiss. aI've got to go look after Stigi. I should have been down to the aerie long ago.a She threw the covers back and swung her long legs over the side of the bed, giving Mick a wonderful view of her trim, athletic back.

aOh,a said Mick, deflated in more ways than one. aI'll wait here for you then.a She turned to look at him and the view from that side was even better. aOh, come along. This won't take more than a few minutes.a She searched briefly on the floor before finding the chemise she had dropped there several hours before.

Yeah,a Mick said, abut Stigi doesn't like me. I think he's jealous.a He didn't add that the feeling was mutual Karin pulled on her flying breeches and cinched the buckle. aPooh. Stigi didn't dislike you. Besides, I'm sure he's forgotten all about you. Dragons aren't very smart, you know.a aYou don't have to be smart to dislike someone and that dragon doesn't like me.a aCome on, get dressed. I'll show you how wrong you are.a As he hunted up his clothing strewn about the floor Mick remembered how his ex-wife used to make jokes about being jealous of his F- 15. Mick was beginning to suspect that those jokes had been more pointed than he knew.

Wiz was dreaming of Moira. She was with him again and they were back in their chambers at the Wizards' Keep, all tangled together in the big bed with the feather comforter. Moira was in his arms and she was kissing him all over.

As she covered his body with warm, wet kisses Wiz smiled and groaned in his sleep. He knew it was a dream, but he didn't want to wake up from it, ever. It was so real, so vivid. He could not only see Moira and feel her moist tongue as it stroked his flesh, even the smells were real.

Especially the smells. In fact Moira smelled like she'd had spaghetti with a particularly aggressive marinara sauce. She reeked of garlic.

Something tickled his nose and he opened his eyes to sneeze. The first thing he realized was that Moira wasn't there. The second thing he realized was that the lobster was. In fact, the lobster was basting him with garlic b.u.t.ter.

Wiz let out a yell and rolled away from the lobster.

The noise woke Glandurg, who threw off his cloak and grabbed Blind Fury in a single motion. Unfortunately the cloak landed on Wiz so he was temporarily immobilized.

The dwarf sprang to his feet, brandished his weapon and charged.

aDie, vile crustacean!a he yelled, just as he stepped in the puddle of garlic b.u.t.ter and went flying. He landed flat on his back and the lobster vanished into the darkness.

aRun, you d.a.m.ned bug!a the dwarf yelled after the fleeing shadow. aYou'll taste my steel yet!a aMy, don't we smell delicious?a Malkin said as she came hurrying up. Wiz glared. aThere's a pool back that way,a she continued. aYou better wash that stuff off before something comes wandering by and decides you're good enough to eat.a aHmpfla said Wiz, and worked his way carefully to his feet.

The aerie was an enormous gloomy cavern that stank of dragon and reminded Mick irresistibly of the hangar deck of a medieval aircraft carrier. Men and women in the plain tunics of keepers and the leathers of riders bustled about caring for their charges. Occasionally the silence would be punctuated by the sc.r.a.pe of a manure shovel on rock, or the ba.s.s rumble of a dragon, but for the most part the place was quiet. Even the soft leather boots of the riders made no sound on the rocky floor.

aWhy do you keep it so dark?a Mick asked, thinking of the brightly lit hangars of his own experience.

The dragons prefer it,a Karin told him. aAnd keep your voice down. They don't like loud noises either.a They skirted three harnessed dragons on the great central floor of the aerie, keeping well clear of the powerful tails. Their riders stood by the dragons' heads petting and talking to the beasts. Mick noted the ready patrol was spotted so the dragons were well separated. Probably to keep the dragons from fighting, he decided.

Karin took something that looked like an iron rake from a rack and hefted a leather sack from the row of similar sacks beneath it.

aCurrying iron,a she explained. aStigi likes to have his back scratched.a aDo you do this every day?a aUnless I am ill or we are in the field. Contact helps build the bond between dragon and rider. Now, walk to the outside, away from the stalls. Dragons prefer those who are familiar to them.a aHow long will this take?a aOh, not long, love. A day-tenth or so. Then I shall be free for the rest of the day.a She gave him a sultry look past lowered eyelashes. aI've made arrangements with my squadron leader.a She led him along the far edge of the chamber, past the shallow caves that served as stalls for the dragons.

aWe're almost here,a Karin told him. aI'm sure Stigi has forgotten all about you. You'll see.a They stopped in front of a stall no different from any other. Dragon tack hung next to the entrance, clean, oiled and ready for instant use. From within came the sound of gentle snoringa”loud gentle snoring. Through the gloom Mick could see the dragon curled up like an enormous house cat.

aOh, Stigi,a Karin called gently.

At the sound of his rider's voice, the dragon stirred lazily and opened one eye. Then he saw Mick. His head jerked erect so fast it slammed into the roof of the stall and he let out a roar that made the cavern ring. Alarmed, other dragons took up the challenge until the place echoed and re-echoed with the steam whistle bellows of upset dragons.

aHe remembers you,a Karin shouted over the chaos.

PART III: QUEEN OF THE NIGHT.

EIGHTEEN - LIFE AS WE WISH WE DIDN'T KNOW IT.

aSo anywayaa Charlie leaned back against the bar and gestured expansively. There I was at fifteen thousand feet. Nothing between me and the ground but an air mattress.a The walls might be hung with squadron banners, old riding leathers, weapons and bits of dragon harness. The floor might be stone, the ceiling hewn beams and the leather-clad men and women dragon riders, but it was still a pilot's meeting place and Charlie fit right in, international orange flight suit and all.

Two or three of the dragon riders were gathered around him at the bar, listening intently. Several more were scattered around at the tables paying half attention. Off in the corner Mick and Karin were enjoying each other's company.

aDid he really do all these things?a Karin whispered.

They're flying stories,a Mick whispered in her ear, pausing to nibble a bit on the lobe. aYou know the difference between a fairy tale and a flying story? A fairy tale starts 'Once upon a timea' and a flying story starts 'No s.h.i.+t, this really happened.

Karin turned to grin at him. The move deprived Mick of an earlobe but the tradeoff wasn't that bad. aWe have a similar saying. He does it well, though.a The room exploded in laughter as Charlie reached the punch line.

aOh, he's entertaining,a Mick said quietly.

aBut you don't like him?a aLet's say our styles are different. We have another saying. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots. Charlie's one of the, ah, boldest pilots I've ever met.a aHe is not young either,a Karin pointed out.

aHe's lucky then. But luck runs out, especially if you push ita The programmers' workroom was as warm and cheery as the tavern, but there were only two inhabitants. Moira had long since excused herself and now only Taj and Jerry remained. Jerry was hoa.r.s.e from talking and beginning to fade around the edges, but Taj was as eager and alert as a beagle on the trail of a rabbit. There were no less than eight ascreensa hanging above Jerry's desk, most tiled with several windows, as Jerry led Tajikawa through the basics of the magic compiler and how to write software for magic. Taj already had a pile of scrolls beside him to read later and he was pus.h.i.+ng Jerry hard on subtle points of the system.

aWell, then there's this for example.a Taj pointed to a section of the compiler code written in glowing letters in thin air. aIt's in here but you don't seem to use ft.a aOh, that's an indeterminate instruction,a Jerry told him. aYou've heard of the DWIM instruction, Do What I Mean? That's kinda an 'IDAIDWP.'a Taj c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. aIda id wip?a aI'll Do As I d.a.m.n Well Please. You can't be sure what it will do from one time to the nexta aCute, but why'd you write it that way?a aWe didn't. Remember, the bottom layer of the compiler, the elements we built the rest of it from, are tiny spells that exist here naturally. But we only use a subset of what's available. Some we don't use because they're redundant, as far as we can tell. But some of them, like this one, don't produce reliable results. We think it's something a.n.a.logous to a quantum uncertainty effect operating on a gross levela He pointed to the fiery letters again. aThis one was particularly tricky. Most of the time it works consistently, which is why it made it into a beta of the compiler. But about one time in a hundred it does something else. Which is why we didn't use it.a aHave you got a list of those things?a Taj asked.

aThe indeterminate instructions? Some of them. Mostly we didn't bother. Why?a aI want to play with them a little.a aBe careful. Some of those things are d.a.m.n dangerous and we don't know all the dangerous ones. Why mess with them?a aBecause,a the Tajmanian Devil said, ayou learn the most about a system by observing it when it becomes unstable.a aYeah, well just remember that around here when the system becomes unstable you can get caught in a system crash. It nearly happened to us once and it wasn't fun.a He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. aLook, I'm about done in. How about we continue this tomorrow?

aYou go on. I want to go on with this stuff a little.a Jerry hesitated. aWhat did you have in mind?a aI was thinking I'd just take the docs and dive right in.a Jerry frowned aThat's not a real good idea. Danny tried that when he first got here and ended up stuck in a DO loop.a aSo? That happens.a Jerry shook his head. aYou don't understand. When I say he got stuck in a DO loop, I mean he got stuck In a DO loop, repeating the same action over and over. Someone like had to get him out of it.a Taj looked serious. aI take your point. But I still want to keep going.a The big programmer considered. aProbably the best thing to do is start you out with some simple little nothing spells so you can get the feel of things. He glanced around and spotted some pieces of wood on Wiz's desk. aWait a minute, here's something.a He picked up a stack of slats with writing on them and handed them to Taj. aStudy these and the docs tonight and we'll take a crack at them tomorrow.''

The Tajmanian Devil looked at the strips of wood and c.o.c.ked a quizzical eyebrow.

aThis is a spell one of the wizards wrote. Only there's something wrong with it and it doesn't work. It's pretty harmless stuff, it just brightens and dims the lights, but it will give you some practice with the tool kit and the language.a aSounds good. Where shall I work?a aYou can use Wiz's desk. Tomorrow I'll get you in on his system. When you've got that problem spotted, I've got a couple of other things around here. But don't try to do anything tonight on your own. Remember, this stuffs dangerous.a It was June who heard it first. They were picking their way down a straight section of tunnel when Danny's wife hissed and suddenly her knife was in her hand.

aWhat?a Wiz asked over his shoulder.

aShut up!a Danny commanded. Everyone froze. aI hear something down that way.a aWhat?a aI don't know. Shut up and let me listen, will you?a Instinctively the group had arrayed itself facing the side tunnel. There was a faint sc.r.a.pe as Malkin's rapier cleared its scabbard. Glandurg strode to the front, hand on the hilt of Blind Fury.

aLight exe!a Wiz commanded and a globe of blue light sprang from his fingertips. He gestured and the witch fight began to float down the side tunnel toward the source of the sound.

At first there was nothing to see. The tunnel was empty as far as the globe's light reached. But no, there was somethinga For an instant Wiz thought the tunnel was carpeted in brown-and-gray fur. Then he realized the carpet was writhing as if alive. As the ma.s.s moved out into the light he saw that it was an army of rats, packed shoulder to shoulder and climbing over each other in their eagerness to get at the humans.

aRats! Danny yelled and he and Wiz raised their staffs simultaneously.

alightning rapidfire exe!a Lightning bolts flashed and scythed through the charging ma.s.s, slaying hundreds, but the rats closed ranks and came on. Their eyes glowed feral red in the magic light.

Wiz gestured to the floor and the earth shook, bringing dust and clods of dirt down on the party. A chasm opened before the oncoming army. The rats took no notice and kept coming. Row after row of them disappeared into the crack in the earth, but others leapt across, some of them pus.h.i.+ng off from the backs of their fellows as they tumbled into the pit.

With a flash of steel that nearly took Wiz's nose off, Glandurg drew Blind Fury and waded into the survivors. The blade's curse kept him from hitting the rats he aimed at, but it didn't matter. No matter where he struck there were rats aplenty.

Malkin stepped forward and lashed out with her rapier, skewering rat after rat. When she had three or four writhing on her blade she flicked it back toward the ma.s.s of rats, sending her victims twisting through the air and back into the horde.

Still the rats came on. Now a dozen or more of them were scrabbling up Glandurg as if he were a ladder, seeking c.h.i.n.ks in his armor. Danny and June were laying about, he with his staff and she with her knife. But for every rat they struck down three more charged in.

Glandurg and Malkin were in front so Wiz couldn't get a clear shot. He danced back and forth, trying to find an opening for a lightning bolt. Then suddenly he had a better idea. He raised his staff and began to chant.