Had he gone too far? He shut off the projection. “Regret if I tease you."
“Negation!” She turned to him. “Plea: to kiss you before it fades."
How could he refuse? “Granted."
She lay against him and kissed him. This time it was not emulation; she was truly passionate. She loved him with the echo of his own love for Gale. Then he felt her tears. She knew she could not keep this feeling.
“I never cried before,” Iva said as the tears evaporated and returned to her face as tiny clouds.
“Love is joy and pain."
“Agreement.” Then she added: “Swale has departed, but still I feel it."
“You learned that pattern from her."
“Of sex, yes. Of love, from you. Swale departed then, with regret. I do not understand why."
Because she did not want to love him as he loved Gale. That was a likely emotional conflict of interest. But Havoc decided not to explain that.
They got up and dressed. Havoc was about to say something supportive about love and its universality among the human kind.
Then Symbol screamed.
Havoc conjured himself to her side. She was peering down into the bassinet where Voila lay. “She's evaporating!” Symbol exclaimed.
Indeed, the top of the baby's head had dissipated into mist. Horrified, Havoc was for the moment helpless.
* * * *
Gale leaped up in alarm as Symbol screamed. The woman was normally unshakable; this had to be disaster. Symbol was staring into the bassinet. Even as Gale looked there, Havoc appeared beside them.
Their baby was dissolving into vapor.
“She's turning ifrit!” Weft exclaimed as she appeared.
But the process was already reversing. The vapor coalesced, and soon Voila's head was complete. She smiled at them. Iolo, the ifrit baby boy, hovered as a little cloud at the foot of the girl's bed.
“Observation,” Ivor said. “Humans can assume cloud form."
Gale looked at Havoc, then at Symbol. That was it: the baby had been in the process of joining her ifrit companion. She had hastily reversed the process when the commotion started. In fact, she had probably reversed it just before the commotion, having sensed it coming, but the process was slow.
“I was discussing it with Iva,” Havoc said. “I compared the feeling of love to the ability to become a cloud: you need to experience it to understand it."
“Conjecture,” Ini said. “The cloud ifrit relayed that comparison to the others, including little Iolo, who shared it with Voila. She decided to try it."
“And didn't know it was impossible,” Symbol said. “Apology for overreacting."
“Needless,” Gale and Havoc said together.
“Suggestion,” Ivor said as Iva walked toward them from the forest. “Allow her to proceed with the transformation. We can guide her through Iolo, once she starts."
Gale felt a surge of alarm and hope. “But is it safe?"
“She did reverse it just now,” Havoc reminded her.
Gale made a sudden decision. “Permission,” she told Voila. “Brief.” She augmented the words with strong clear thoughts. Telepathy made sonic communication unnecessary; the baby understood her perfectly.
I hope that's wise, Swale thought. She had rejoined Gale before Havoc finished with Iva, avoiding the love emotion.
Voila immediately resumed conversion. Her head dissolved into vapor, followed by the rest of her little body. Soon her nightie and diaper lay empty in the bassinet. She was all cloud.
The Iolo cloud lifted and floated toward the Voila cloud. He extended a tiny pseudopod of vapor and touched her. Then both clouds rose higher, floating out of the bassinet.
“She is intrigued,” Iva said. “We are in touch."
“You can communicate directly with Voila?” Gale asked, restraining her extreme nervousness.
“Indirectly,” Iva said. “She is touching Iolo, and we are touching Iolo. Clouds lack your telepathy, unfortunately.” She met Gale's gaze with a peculiar intensity.
I sent her love of you, Havoc thought.
Oh. “Keep her safe."
“May we do it too?” Weft asked. The other children were here as well, having been distracted by the more interesting phenomenon.
The other children could do it? “Not yet,” Gale said. “We must be sure of Voila first."
“Aww.” But she accepted it, knowing that it was a reasonable stipulation.
“Now return,” Gale said. This was the key: could Voila resume her natural form, after entirely dissolving and floating away?
The two small clouds floated slowly back to the bassinet. There was no wind; they had their own propulsion. They settled at either end of the bassinet and coalesced. In time they became Voila and Iolo, seemingly the same as before.
Gale reached in and picked Voila up, checking her mentally. She was the same! The baby nudged Gale's bosom, hungry. Gale bared a breast and nursed her.
Iolo, deprived of his companion, looked out of sorts. Symbol reached in and picked him up. He nuzzled her bosom, copying Voila. Symbol glanced at Gale, who made a trace nod. Symbol opened her shirt and let Iolo nurse. Probably he would not be able to assimilate human milk, or any physical substance, but the point was the parallel.
Voila sank into sleep after nursing, and Gale put her back in the bassinet. Iolo, seeing that, emulated it, and Symbol set him down beside Voila. Did ifrits sleep? Did it matter? The children were certainly getting along.
Gale turned to the children, who had been waiting with remarkable patience for them. The other three ifrits, Ilona, Igor, and Imre, were standing with them in solid form. “One hour. Then you're through with clouds for today. Be back here, solid.” She remained keenly uncertain about this weird transformation, but knew they would be trying it on their own if she did not let them do it while supervised.
They ran to the center of the field and started in. She knew they were telepathically linking to their ifrit opposites, able to read their technique, following their slow conversions. Voila had demonstrated that it was possible, surprising them all; now the others were determined to do it.
“Amazement,” Havoc murmured.
“Our children keep surprising us,” she said. That was a fair understatement, this time. They were becoming conscious clouds!
“We are pleased that the children are relating well,” Iva said. “We have not before encountered an animal species capable of cloud formation."
“We assume this is because you are Glamors,” Ivor said. “We understand most animals, but not Glamors."
Gale glanced at Havoc, who tackled it. “On our native world of Charm, all creatures and plants can do many kinds of magic within their Chroma zones, as is the case here. A few become Glamors, who can do magic anywhere, regardless of Chroma. Because we are not limited to our Chroma zones, our power is far more comprehensive, and we are able to take it farther. Telepathy and teleportation are parts of it. We are also largely invulnerable to physical damage, and have special powers of perception and sex.” He glanced across the field toward the children. “And, it seems, cloud formation."
However, the children seemed to be having trouble. The ifrits were changing, but the humans were not. They were eager, but the transformation was not occurring. What Voila had accomplished so readily seemed to be more of a challenge for the older ones.
“They are too accustomed to solid form,” Ivor said. “They are unable to release it."
Gale was relieved. It would be far easier to keep track on one child with such an ability to change, than four. She knew the children would be disappointed, but they hardly appreciated the enormity of such a thing.
But she had to let them have their hour, so she tried to distract herself. “The analogy of a fabled ancient computer has been used,” she said. “Is this really the way it is in cloud form?"
“Imperfect,” Ivor said. “But not irrelevant. Our substance functions best when properly spaced. In natural cloud form we can sense, assi
milate, and understand. We are unable to do very much of this in solid form, and marvel that you do."
Havoc nodded. “Our physical forms have evolved for a long time. They are complete in themselves. Just as we can't change into clouds and function, you can't suddenly make solid forms with the infinitely fine detail necessary to live fully, let alone achieve sapience."
“Conjecture,” Iva said. “We are able to emulate sapience by utilizing liaison with our cloud form. Could you achieve sapient cloud form if you maintained telepathic connection with one of your number in solid form?"
“Doubt,” Havoc said. “If our children are already too set in solidity to change, surely it is well beyond adult capacity."
Gale was glad to agree. “We do well enough in our present forms; we do not need to borrow yours."
“Unfortunate,” Ivor said. “In cloud form you could truly discover our full nature."
Gale shrugged. “That may be a necessary sacrifice."
“Observe Warp,” Symbol murmured.
They looked. Warp was floating, as he had always done. Now he was fuzzing a bit, as if developing a coating of mist. Was he discovering how to make the change? Gale wasn't sure whether to hope for his success or failure.
But after a time Warp settled back to the ground wholly solid, defeated. He was in tears.
Gale got up, sending a thought. Here, Warp.
He appeared in her lifted arms. She stepped back to recover her balance; his arrival had been with a thunk, as he was not yet perfect on teleportation. That was why she had stood. He buried his face in her shoulder while she held him comfortingly close and patted his back.
Weft appeared. “No fair,” she said. “He's getting cuddled."
Havoc beckoned her, and she jumped to his arms without passing through the intervening space.
“Hey!” Flame protested.
Symbol took her. Theoretically there were no favorites, but there did seem to be associations.
The three ifrit children considered that, finding themselves abruptly left out. “Take them,” Gale murmured to Iva. “They are learning human ways."
Iva glanced at Igor, and he walked to her, and she picked him up. Ilona went to Ivor. That left Imre.
“Here,” Aura said. He went to her, and she held him. Their colors did not match, as she was blue and he was red, but the correspondence was that she was a woman. Apart from Symbol with Flame, the women held male children and the men held female children.
“Not everything works the first time,” Gale said. “Voila showed that a human being can become a cloud, and resume normal form. I suspect the other children can do it too, if they can just figure out how."
“Ours are trying to show them,” Ivor said. “But it seems that what works for ifrits does not necessarily work for humans."
“Voila found the key, whatever it is,” Gale agreed.
Warp lifted his head. “Make her show us!"
Gale smiled. “Dear, I can't make her do anything. She's a Glamor."
“We shouldn'ta made her one!"
“Then no one would know how to become a cloud."
He considered that. “Make her want to."
Havoc laughed. “He's got you, Gale. You can do that."
“Not necessarily. Voila has a cute little mind of her own, and she anticipates me."
“'Cause she sees what's next,” Weft said. “Maybe that's why she knew how to turn cloud."
“Precognition is not the same as ability,” Havoc reminded her.
Flame chimed in, from Symbol's embrace. “She sees what's next, and does it. If we could see, we could do."
Havoc nodded. “That may be it. How is it that you three can't precog too?"
All three children frowned with concentration, and the three little ifrits did the same. “We don't know,” Weft said. “We just can't."
“Specialization is one thing,” Havoc said. “Adults do it too. But all Glamors can do what other Glamors can, when they try."
“Can you precog?” Weft demanded.
Havoc paused. “Got me there,” he admitted.
Pleased with her spot victory, Weft kissed him on the neck. She wasn't yet big enough to reach for more effective territory without floating, but she would surely achieve it soon enough.
Got all of you, Swale thought.
Gale had not thought about it this way before, but this could be significant. How could Voila have a talent no other Glamor shared? That was not the Glamor way.
“If she can do one unique thing,” Ini said, “she may be able to do another."
“Nonsense,” Futility said, surprising them all. “The rest of you could precog if you just got the trick of it. You're probably doing it already, without knowing it."
From out of the mouths of babes ... The succubus had never had a lot of use for that woman.
Gale thought of the way she and Havoc emulated the warnings of the dragon seeds. How could they—or the seeds—know a mistake, without possessing an element of precognition? Clairvoyance might account for it, but the seeds had seemed to know the future to a degree. They couldn't define it, but knew it. Voila's talent could be similar.
“Let's ponder today, and try again tomorrow,” Havoc said.
“Okay,” Weft agreed, as if he had been speaking to her alone.
“We'll meet again tomorrow,” Gale said to Ivor as she set Warp in the table. Warp, recovered, promptly floated down to rejoin the other children.
The ifrit children disengaged and dissolved into clouds, including tiny Iolo, who really hadn't been sleeping. Then Ivor and Iva followed and floated away. Gale felt they had had quite enough experience for a single day.
Evidently the children agreed, because they ate supper, cleaned up, and went to sleep with minimal fussing. Gale got several uninterrupted hours with Havoc. After satisfying his normal passion, with Swale's help, because of her distraction, she lay beside him and talked.
“Question: can the children become clouds, and is it wise if they do?"
“Privacy."
His mind was closed. He surely had a serious concern, as did she. “Where?"
“Home."
A really serious concern. “Briefly,” she agreed.
They held hands and transported themselves between worlds, to their crater mountain retreat, used only intermittently the past year.
They landed on their bed, still naked from their lovemaking. Now she was aware of his tension, evoked by her question. “Speak."
“The children must not become clouds. We must find a way to divert any such effort."
I will check with Ennui and Aspect, Swale thought, politely getting out of the way.
Gale hardly noticed. “But I already told them they could try it tomorrow, and you agreed."
“We were with the ifrits. I had to conceal my disquiet. They are alien creatures; we do not know their real motives."
“And so you let me go ahead and set it up—and now I have to renege?” she asked sharply.
“You should have known not to set it up."
“How—with you encouraging it?"
“Common sense."
She was irked. “You started it. You were making out with Iva, discussing how humans could become clouds."
“I had to, to mask my concern."
“You didn't have to have sex with her!"
“You told me to."
“And you were all too willing. She's got a shape; that's all that counts, isn't it, for a man?"
“What one ifrit knows, they all know. I couldn't hold back without betraying my real thought."
“So you sent her your great orgasm."
“And my love for you."
Gale was hurt. “That's not supposed to be for others!"
That made him pause. “Apology."
“Apology, hell! You shouldn't have done it!"
Symbol appeared. She was in tears. “Please. I can't stand it when you fight. I love you both."
That made them both pause. Symbol was a tough, ex
perienced woman; Gale had never seen her cry.
“Apology,” Gale said, feeling her own tears. “I withdraw my jealousy."
“I withdraw my accusation,” Havoc said, similarly chastened. “It was unreasonable to expect you to doubt me."
“Gratitude,” Symbol said.
But now, with their quarrel abated, other questions occurred. “How came you here?” Havoc demanded of Symbol.
“And who is watching the children?” Gale added.
“The Red Glamor brought me, and returned to watch the children. She will keep them asleep for the duration."
“So our private dialogue is Glamor business?” Havoc asked sharply.
“The ifrits are Glamor business,” Symbol replied. “It is too important to risk by internal strife."
So they had acted to break it up. Perhaps that was just as well. “Have the Glamors thought about the risk of allowing our children to become clouds?” Gale asked her.
“Answer: you know we can't stop them from trying, so we'd better encourage them to do it while we watch. Then if they fail, we won't be to blame."
“And if they do it, and something goes wrong?"
“We have to see that it doesn't."
“How?"
“By developing better precog,” Havoc said.
That was so obvious in sudden retrospect that she kissed him. “Can we?"
“Conjecture: by studying Voila?"
The children would study her to learn cloud formation. The adults could study her to learn precognition. It made perfect madcap sense. Thrilled with the idea, she decided to share her pleasure with Havoc. “I must reluctantly satisfy your burgeoning male passion again."
“Don't forget me when you return to Counter Charm,” Symbol said, discreetly leaving the chamber.
He was always pleased when she expressed interest in sex with him, however obscurely. “Your turn,” he murmured as he embraced her.
“My turn,” she agreed, and proceeded to address him and work herself into a fine climax, which she broadcast to him.
Weft appeared beside their bed. “Will you two cut out the mushy stuff?” she demanded. “We're trying to sleep."
They laughed as the child disappeared. “The little mischief tracks our minds for unwonted pleasure,” Havoc said.