He shook his head. "You have nothing I need or want, apart from information about your fantastic adventures, and I think you would not charge for that."
"You have to want something," Colene said. "Do you mind if I read your mind?"
"That daunts me. Can I prevent you?"
"Sure. By saying no. Anyway, minds are complicated, and I'm new at it. Seqiro's help makes a big difference. You have to think hard, or vocalize, for me to get it. But if you cooperate, and run through all the things you'd really like, maybe I can find something we can provide."
"Are you not afraid of what a man might think when confronted by three lovely young women?"
Colene glanced to either side, at her companions. "We're sort of used to it by now. It's my mind I don't want read."
"As you wish, then. Read my mind."
Burgess felt Colene concentrate. Buttressed by Seqiro, she oriented on Amos Forell's mind. At the surface was exactly what he had implied: pictures of three lovely young women in somewhat less clothing than they were wearing. But close beneath was his real passion: biology. He was fascinated by living processes, and followed all the latest discoveries in the technical journals. It was his fondest dream some day to discover an animal or plant unknown to science, that might then be named after himself. But he lacked the resources to mount an expedition to any obscure corner of the planet, so it was no more than a dream.
"Got it," Colene said. "Suppose we help you find a weird new bug?"
"It is true that about half the unknown species are thought to be beetles," Forell said. "But at the rate the rain forests are being depleted, they'll be gone before I get there."
"In your own backyard," Colene said. "Or ours; Burgess can help. You know where my house is; come over after school."
"I do want to see Burgess," he agreed. "But the chance of finding any undiscovered species' locally is remote. I will be there." He brought out his wallet. "But in the interim, here is what cash I have on me."
Colene accepted several ten-dollar bills and assorted coinage. "Thanks, Amos," she said. "We'll repay you soon, one way or another."
"I think the story of your adventures in hyperspace will have to do."
"That's free," Colene said.
They left the school and returned to the car. The mental contact faded as Seqiro's attention focused on the group in the yard. What has happened?
Darius mentally reviewed the DoOon Mode sequence and the ensuing trek across the Virtual Mode to Earth. "It took the mind predator about the same time to locate Colene as you did," Darius concluded aloud. "Pussy and Burgess were able to shield her somewhat, but we need something better if we are to venture on the Virtual Mode again."
I am unable to sense the mind predator directly. It seems similarly unable to sense me.
"We believe it orients on dolor. That is why it fixes on Colene, the vessel of dolor."
"It must require dolor the way you require joy," Cat said. "Ordinary people are soon depleted, but Colene is a renewing source."
"That must be it!" Darius exclaimed. "It feeds on dolor, and needs a constant source. What makes her wrong for my use makes her right for it."
"Suppose it got her," Tom asked. "Would it deplete her of dolor, leaving only her joy?"
Darius considered. "If it is a form of my magic, I fear not. When I deplete a woman of joy, she will soon die if it is not returned. Even too low a level is dangerous. That is why it is rare for a Cyng of Hlahtar to keep a wife more than a year; he doesn't want to kill her. That is also why he must have a mistress; his wife cannot accept his touch as pleasure. I sought a renewing font of joy, but found a renewing font of dolor. I fear Colene would die if stripped of her dolor."
"But she can be your mistress," Cat said.
"Yes. But I want her as my wife throughout."
That has always been clear, Seqiro thought.
"So your problem is dual," Cat said. "You need to get her safely past the mind predator, and then find a way to draw joy from her without killing her."
"Exactly."
"And the only renewable font of joy you have found is Nona," Tom said sadly.
"Whom you love," Darius said.
"My emotion has no relevance."
"That is where you are wrong. It matters to Nona. I think that is why she does not wish to be my wife. It matters to me too, as I will not take a woman who does not wish to be used in that manner."
"I will be removed from your scene when the Chip is delivered," Tom said.
"Not necessarily." Darius looked at the Feline. "Suppose you went with Nona to her home Mode of Julia. What would happen to the rest of your trio?"
"It would be destroyed," Cat said.
"Is that because you can't function as separate individuals, or because Ddwng doesn't allow it?"
"It is not allowed," Cat said.
Now Darius looked at Cat. "When you deliver the Chip to Ddwng, what will be your fate thereafter?"
Cat considered. "Our trio might be reassigned to another master or mistress."
"Considering how much you will know about the Virtual Mode and the Chip, wouldn't you be assigned to Ddwng himself, for your expertise?"
"No. He prefers the Swine."
"Rather than allow that knowledge to be available to others, wouldn't he simply have you destroyed?"
"That is his right."
"So you face the prospect of dying after your mission has been fulfilled."
Cat nodded. "Yes. That is the most likely course."
"You must fulfill your mission," Darius said. "I understand that. But would you save Tom and Pussy if you could?"
"Yes."
Darius looked at Tom again. "So you might as well stay with Nona, wherever she goes."
Tom was surprised. "But what of Pussy?"
"I could take her as my nominal wife for a year, drawing her joy, and then retire her in my Mode. I believe she could find a normal man once she recovers. She is quite attractive physically, and her docile nature would appeal. It would be better than being destroyed."
Tom looked at Cat. "This is a reasonable course," Cat said. "I alone need die."
Darius nodded. "I am glad we have this understanding. I would save you, too, Cat, if I could, but I think I cannot."
"That is true."
"In fact I wish I could save Doe and her trio, but I cannot. I fear they and the Human nulls are all doomed."
"This is likely. Nulls are not retained after their usefulness diminishes."
"Do you have feelings about this?" Darius asked.
"Intellectually I do," Cat said. "I believe that Ddwng's reign is not beneficial to DoOon, and will not be beneficial to the other Modes he invades."
"Colene would say it sucks," Darius agreed. "But I appreciate your position. You must complete your mission. But are you obliged to go farther than that?"
"Yes. I must do my utmost to safeguard my ultimate master, Ddwng. My opinion of his nature is irrelevant."
"But you understand that others in our party lack that particular commitment."
"I understand also that you will not seek to undermine the success of my mission," Cat said. "You wear the chain."
"And Doe wears my chain. She loves me, and is bound to me. You may feel that the obligations are all hers, but they affect me too. I will not lightly let her be betrayed, though I do not love her." He turned to Tom. "And Nona will not lightly let you be destroyed, though she does not love you. Colene will not let Pussy be destroyed. In our frames, love is not a one-way commitment. It brings return obligations."
"But I do not seek to bind Nona!" Tom protested.
"You have nevertheless done so, to a degree. My point is that should she ask you to remain with her, rather than returning to DoOon with your trio, you have the option to accept."
Tom looked at Cat. "Do I?" he asked in wonder.
"Yes. The likely destruction of our trio generates this option."
Tom remained amazed. He had never thought of leaving his trio.
/> Cat was bemused. "There is something devious in your mind, Darius, but I am unable to fathom it."
"Be assured that I will deliver the Chip to you as agreed, and enable you to bring it to the DoOon Mode. Ddwng will have it."
"I am so assured. But now you seem satisfied to do it, and that I do not understand."
"Then I will clarify this aspect. It is that I believe the Chip will destroy Ddwng, so the Modes will be rid of him."
"I must not take a dangerous or flawed Chip to him."
"The Chip will be perfect. It is Ddwng who is imperfect. That will destroy him."
Cat shook its head. "This smells of treachery."
"The treachery lies in delivering the Chip. If you wish to save Ddwng, you should remain with us and not deliver it."
"That I will not do."
"I understand. You must complete your mission, just as I must complete mine."
There was the sound of the vehicle drawing nigh to the house. The women were returning. There was something interesting in their minds.
"Okay, Burgess," Colene said as they approached. "We need to find a rare bug. I read somewhere that maybe half the species of life on Earth have not been discovered, so I figure there must be some unknowns around here. I think you can find one, if Nona and Seqiro help you."
Burgess was not sure how this could be. He could identify the nature of the material that passed through his system, but he did not know which of that was known and unknown to the human kind.
"Right, Burg," Colene said. "Nona doesn't know either. But Amos does. I figure you can fix on something, and Nona can make an illusion image of it, and Amos can decide whether it is known. Seqiro will link you all together for the survey." She looked around, mentally. "You can do that, can't you, horseface?"
I can, girlface.
"So we got us a plan. We'll find Amos his bug, and earn our keep. That will take care of us for now." She paused. "Now if I could only figure out how to get me across the Virtual Mode without getting eaten by the mind predator."
They oriented on bugs. Burgess sucked in many small creatures along with the nutrients of the air, and normally assimilated them. Now Nona coordinated with him, as she had in the explosive plankton Modes, and generated illusion pictures of the bugs that others could see. They appeared just above his carapace. Her power was strengthened by the presence of Seqiro's mind, which linked her to her magic home Mode. They practiced, trying to get the sharpest possible pictures in the shortest time. There were, Burgess discovered, a great many tiny creatures in the air and on the ground, so it would take time to check them all.
"That's great," Colene said. They could all tell that her dolor was less when she was actively engaged in something. But whatever she did soon passed, so that effect could not be depended on to help her cross the Virtual Mode. "Can you sort them so you don't show the same bug twice?"
That set them back. They had to recognize a bug to tell whether they had seen it before, and that took time. But it was true that they were seeing the same ones over and over, with only occasionally a new one. They needed a way to eliminate the repeats before processing them.
Amos Forell appeared. That meant that time had passed while they wrestled with the problem. "Hey, Amos," Colene called. "Come into our house so we can kiss you."
"I did not come here for anything like that," the man said, smiling.
"It's a joke," Colene said. "We just want to show off what we made with magic and muscle." But her mental image was of a human hand with two of its fingers crossed. Burgess wasn't sure what that meant.
So Forell stepped into the structure, out of sight of the neighbors. Colene flung her arms around nun and planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth. "I lied," she said.
"I suspected," he said.
Then Nona kissed him also, and Pussy. "You can't fool us," Colene said. "We can read your mind. You like getting kissed by wild girls."
"I trust you won't bruit that about," Forell said ruefully. "It would wreak havoc with discipline in my classroom."
"And every girl in your classes would like to kiss you," Colene said. "But you never give any of them the time of day, no matter how much they hint."
"Or how much flesh they show," he agreed. "I do believe that ninth-grade girls are better endowed than they were a generation ago."
"It's the pesticides in the air," Colene said. "They mimic female hormones, and make us mature faster."
He looked at her with feigned surprise. "Did you actually pay attention in class?"
"Some," Colene confessed, looking down as if embarrassed.
Burgess found this to be a fascinating insight into the human species and culture. They were doing what was termed flirting with each other. The man did like the girl, and the girl did like the man, but their situation was such that neither could ever allow that to be generally known. Only now, in the ambiance of Seqiro's mind, was it being expressed openly. Nona and Pussy were similarly intrigued by Forell. He was, Burgess had learned, a handsome, intelligent, and decent man: exactly the kind teenage girls got crushes on.
"Now let me see Burgess," Forell said.
"He's right here, Amos." Colene showed him toward Burgess.
Forell sat on the ground so as to place his eyes at the level of Burgess' optic stalks. "How are you doing, bug-eyed monster?"
Very well, thanks to this man. Seqiro relayed the thought to the man's mind immediately.
"I am glad of it. Also glad to see you again. You have had adventures I'd give anything to share."
Now they should show Forell the pictures. Perhaps he could discover how to eliminate the duplications, and how to tell which ones were new.
"You have pictures? I didn't see a camera."
"Do we get to kiss you every time you say something stupid?" Nona inquired.
"No. I don't want to be kissed to death. My wife would not understand."
"Awww," Colene, Nona, and Pussy said together, keyed by the shared thought. Burgess enjoyed this continuing flirtation because they did; it was not possible to avoid the ambient mood. Darius, Tom, and Cat were enjoying it also, and remaining silent so that it could continue. Darius especially appreciated feeling Colene happy; she so seldom was. She really had had a crush on Forell, a year before, and loved having him treat her like a woman instead of a schoolgirl. She loved calling him by his first name without offending him. Such things buoyed her immensely.
Burgess oriented on a bug, and Nona projected its picture. Forell stared. "Illusion! I forgot you could do that. Lovely."
"Thank you," Nona said, adding the semblance of a blush to her face.
He glanced at her. "I was speaking of the image." But he paused, for Nona was truly lovely, with or without illusion. At the moment she was kneeling beside Burgess, and leaning slightly forward so that the upper portion of her flesh-covered chest showed. Burgess knew from the prior reactions of Darius and Tom that this was an extremely compelling view. "All right: you got me on that one. But I remain impressed by your magic. We don't see very much of that here."
"You don't see any of that here," Colene said, frowning as she glanced at Nona's chest. But she couldn't hold the frown. "Magic, I mean."
"That, too," Forell agreed.
It seemed to Burgess that this dialogue did not make complete sense, but that didn't matter. They were all having a good time.
"Here's the problem," Colene said. "They can make pictures of the bugs, but none of us knows which are old and which are new to science. Also, how do they eliminate the repeats, so as to show you new ones each time?"
Forell shook his head. "That is a task for a computer database. I'm afraid magic can't address it."
"The hell it can't, Amos! Let's bring a computer out here and tie it into the system."
"Colene, magic and science don't mix."
"Why not?"
Forell paused. "What would we do with a computer out here?"
"Set it up with a camera and feed the images into the database. Check them against t
he known bugs. When we get a mismatch, maybe we've got it."
He shook his head. "Photograph illusion images?"
"Why not, Amos?"
He reconsidered. "I suppose if we can see them, so can a camera. Very well, that might work. As for eliminating repetitions—if Nona can fathom the sorting and filtering mechanism of the computer, and teach it to Burgess, that might be effective. It seems just crazy enough to work."
"Got it," Colene said. She kissed him on the cheek.
"I will fetch a computer system," Forell said. "You will have to set it up, as I can't return until school is done tomorrow."
"Can do," Colene said. "See you tomorrow, Amos."
He smiled. "Tomorrow, Colene." He departed.
"He is amused by you," Darius remarked.
"So?"
"I am not conversant with that ploy, 'so?'"
"It means what's your point? Of course Amos is amused by me. He also finds me innocently sexy. If Nona and Pussy weren't here, I could impress him a whole lot more."
"That is fortunate for me."
"That's the trouble with you," she grumped. "I can't make you jealous."
"Not while I can read your mind."
She relapsed into dolor. "I wish I could be innocently sexy. But that's forever gone."
"It was nice to see you happy, for a time."
"I can't manage it for very long."
The day was getting late. They decided that Darius and Colene would join her parents for the evening meal, and the others would share a magical meal in the yard.
"Tomorrow," Colene announced, "we set up the computer. And I'll go see about getting Mom better medicine. Because Amos won't be here with the machine until later. We have lots to do."
It had, nevertheless, been a good day. Burgess was satisfied.
SIX
Julia
Tom woke early, as he normally did. It took him a moment to orient, for the woman beside him was not Pussy but Nona. Pussy slept beside Colene, and Cat beside Burgess.
Darius had suggested that they break up the trio so that two of them could remain with the party, and Cat alone would face recycling once their mission was done. That required considerable emotional adjustment, for trios normally never separated. But perhaps it did make sense.