Part 12 (2/2)

”That is sad,” she said. ”I wish I could help.”

”Comth with me,” Unpun said.

”I will sit beside you and hold your hand,” she said, doing so. ”But I can't-”

”Comth with me!” the zombie repeated. ”You are a nize woman. I like your touch.”

”But Unpun, I can't-”

”Yeth you can!” Now the zombie was echoing Justin's response to him. ”Your touch gives me strength.” Indeed, he was speaking better now. ”Come with me to Ptero! I can handle it then.”

Ida looked at Justin, startled. ”Do you suppose-?” Her moon paused momentarily in its...o...b..t, similarly surprised.

Justin was as startled as she was. Everyone knew that Ptero was the one place Ida could not go. But was it true? ”We just a.s.sumed,” he said. ”But where was the proof? Unpun needs your company.” The zombie clearly believed it was possible. He did not know of the limitation on her talent. Maybe she could go to her moon.

”But Ptero orbits me,” she said. ”How can I go?”

”It is only the soul that travels,” Justin said. ”Your soul can go, while your body remains here, just as ours do.”

”Come with me,” Unpun repeated.

”I believe-I believe I will,” Princess Ida said, her smile radiant. It illuminated the little moon, banis.h.i.+ng the last of its clouds. ”I have always wanted to visit my worlds, but never thought-”

”Doubt is death,” Justin said. ”We'll all three go. Lie between us, and hold our hands.” He spoke as positively as he could, because he wanted Ida to have this chance to do what she had always wanted. As long as Unpun believed she could, she could. They had to seize the moment.

Ida moved another cot between them, and lay on it. The moon adjusted its...o...b..t so that it would not bang into the bed. They held hands. ”Now orient on Ptero,” she said. ”After sniffing the bottle. You will be disoriented at first, but when you see Ptero you will know where to go.” She pa.s.sed the bottle to Justin, who sniffed once and lay back.

He found himself riding out of his body. In a moment he saw the other two doing the same. They were both rather shapeless. ”This way,” he called. ”Take my hand.” They were holding hands in their bodies, but not with their souls.

The other two vapors floated toward him, extending pseudopodia. Justin extended his own and realized that it was the branch of a tree; he had unthinkingly reverted to that form. He revised it to man form, caught Ida's hand, and she caught Unpun's with her other extremity. Both of them were starting to shape into images of their physical selves.

”Oh, this is weird,” the Ida form said voicelessly. ”I never did it before, myself.”

Justin saw the moon of Ptero orbiting the reclining head of the physical Princess Ida. ”This way,” he said, and urged them toward it. Travel was mostly a matter of thought, in this condition.

”We must make ourselves small,” Ida said.

Oh. Yes. Of course. Justin focused on small. Now the moon began to grow, becoming a world. It was no longer cute or shy; it was significant. They were flying toward it, and the closer they got, the larger it loomed. Then it seemed that they were falling toward it. The fall accelerated as the world of Ptero loomed huge.

”We need to slow!” Justin said, alarmed.

”Just focus,” Ida said.

They focused, and their descent slowed. They came to land on a level plain surrounded by faint haze.

”Oh, this is wonderful!” Ida exclaimed. ”Just the way others have described it to me!”

”Blue haze?” Justin inquired dubiously.

”That indicates cold north,” she said. ”South is red-hot.”

Justin looked the other way, and saw that the haze in that direction was indeed reddish.

”What's the green?” Unpun asked. His slight impediment of speech had entirely disappeared; maybe it was an effect of soul travel. Justin had not realized until this trip that zombies even had souls. Breanna would have chided him severely for that ignorance.

”That is To,” Ida said. ”That is, the Future. West. And East is From, the Past. It is such a beautiful system.”

”But surely when one proceeds any distance, the mists will lose their effect,” Justin said. ”For example, if one goes north, he will be entirely in blue haze.”

”You are being reasonable,” Ida said. ”This is not a reasonable world. I am told that the colors hold regardless of location. Furthermore, age changes as folk move east or west. This may make travel awkward.”

”Is this physical or chronological age?”

”Chronological. That usually means physical as well, though I can't be sure how it will affect your appearance. I hope your destination is within your range.”

”I don't know.” Justin had not thought of this aspect. He turned to Unpun. ”Exactly where is Punny?”

”I can't-” the zombie began. But Ida took his hand, and he reconsidered. ”She is in the Pun-kin Patch of a Comic Strip. I can't possibly go there.”

”Because of your age, or because of the humor?”

”The humor. It must be within my age range, because Punny was no older than I, and she got there.”

”Well, then, Ida and I will go, and then return here for you,” Justin said.

”Is that wise?” Ida asked, puzzled. Her moon looked puzzled too; Justin realized that it had accompanied her here. He would have to think about the significance of a moon appearing on the surface of itself, but not until he was not standing on it.

”Oh, yes,” he said, for he had something in mind.

”Yes,” Unpun said.

”Then it is surely all right,” she agreed. That made it so, for Unpun did not know this aspect of her talent.

”Now we shall need to get there,” Justin said. ”It is in walking distance?”

”No,” Unpun said.

”Is there some way to gain transport?”

”Yes,” Ida said. ”I understand that visitors to Ptero normally arrive in Centaur country, and may gain the help of centaurs by trading favors.”

”Favors?”

”It is a barter system.”

”But what do we have to barter?”

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