01. When the Changewinds Blow (15 page)

Zenchur shrugged. "Practically everything is possible, you know. If one little thing went differently, if your ancestors had arisen from different stock than they did, our whole race might have looked like mat. The houses, the land, everything was probably consistent with beings of his kind. They may even exist somewhere on an Outplane-there are far too many to know. They call it probability theory. Sorcerer's mathematics. Ask one sometime about it if you get the chance-and somehow I suspect you will meet one or more sooner or later. More to the point now is why you had this spell, this vision, and how."

She shrugged helplessly. "In my dreams-back home. The dreams always brought visions-I guess of this place-and always when it stormed. I guess even this far away and buried this deep a storm like that triggered it off again."

Zenchur rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then muttered to himself in the singsong tongue of the Akhbreed, "The Horned One, and a girl from the Outplane who is linked to storms. Of course! Why did I not think of this from the start? By the gods-what do I do now?" He paused a moment more, then sighed.

"All right," he said in English. "You saw the Chief Sorcerer of Malabar there. Did he seem to be aware of you? Did anyone give the slightest hint that they were aware of your presence? Any? Think! It is important!"

"It was like I was a ghost, not seen and not being able to say or do anything. I was just
there,
that's all. Besides, they were a little too busy to bother much with me."

"And you sensed no one else there? No other presence, or guiding force?"

She shook her head. "Nope. It just-
happened,
is all."

"Very well. That is some consolation, anyway. Just relax here. I must discuss this with Ladai." He walked over to the centauress who was relaxing by the pool. The distance between them and Sam was a good twenty feet or more but the cave made it fairly easy to hear everything in the mercenary's low conversation with his strange companion.

"I don't like this," Charley commented sourly. "I wish I could make out that language of theirs."

"Shhhh . . . ,"
Sam responded. When Charley seemed not inclined to shut up, her friend mouthed,
I can understand it.

And she could, just as she had understood the comments in the Akhbreed tongue that Zenchur had muttered to himself. She had not understood many of the conversations between Zenchur and Ladai before, since they had been in some other, less formal, tongue, but now the mercenary was using Akhbreed, the same language of Sam's dreams of the past, the language which, somehow, she instantly understood.

"We cannot go on with this," Zenchur told Ladai. "Our distrust for that horned bastard kept us neutral in this so far, but we no longer have that luxury. If we deliver her to Boolean it is more than possible that the entire rebellion will be crushed and Akhbreed dominance assured for another thousand years or more.
We-
you and I-will be the instruments of perpetuating this foulness! This I cannot accept!"

Ladai understood him, apparently used to him speaking in his native tongue when he was angry or upset, but she answered in their common speech and Sam could not make out any of it.

Zenchur nodded. "I agree. We cannot just kill them- Boolean would know and there would be no place to hide from his wrath, for one thing. And, no, I can't have either of us leaking the facts to others because that would destroy our reputations for never betraying a commission. We would be finished. Yet, somehow, they must die."

Again Ladai said something unintelligible.

"Yes," he responded, sounding somewhat pleased by whatever suggestion she'd given. "You're right. If they are placed in a position where they are certain to be exposed, and the odds are overwhelming, then what can we do? Besides, they are ignorant of all of this. If the name Klittichom should be spoken rather regularly it might well attract just the wrong attention on its own." He kissed her. "My dear, I believe we will have another of our honorable failures."

Charley thought the unintelligible scene a bit charming if very kinky, but Sam's expression told her that it was far more than that. Still, she knew better than to press it right now; if the odd couple's conversation could carry, so could any other.

Zenchur came back over to them, ever the friendly protector. "I will have to leave here for a while in order to make arrangements for mounts and the like to get us into Tubikosa, the capital city of this hub. Because of the changewind we will need up-to-date information on just what damage it did and where. I am a competent navigator but we will have to engage a trustworthy pilot who is also up-to-date. That means the city, although I detest it and had hoped we would not have to travel there. The changewind makes it essential that we do so. Ladai will stand guard and you will be all right. Take some time to look through the trunks and choose a selection that could fit in no more than two of the saddlebags in my tent. Um-you can both ride horses, can't you?"

"Never been on one in my life," Sam responded, " 'cept the pony rides at the fair when I was little. But I'll make do."

"I'm a pretty good horsewoman," Charley told him. "We'll have to teach Sam what she needs to know."

Zenchur shrugged. "Very well. I will secure a particularly gentle horse for Sam, a first rider type. Now-farewell." And, with that, he walked to the cave entrance and was gone.

"I don't like that," Sam muttered, almost to herself. "Come on-let's go look through the trunks."

Charley frowned. "But it's okay. He's gone, and she don't speak English."

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm not about to make the same mistake he did. Come on."

They walked into the tent and Sam stood there for a minute or so, as Charley watched in frustration. Then Sam peered out of the tent flap and looked back. "It's okay," she whispered, "so long as we keep our voices down. She's still just lyin' there playin' with her reflection in the water." Quickly she told Charley of the conversation in low tones.

"Damn! What the hell do we do
now? I
mean, if you're new on a horse you're a sittin' duck and you know it. All he has to do is get one that's got a mean streak or is easily spooked and it can look real natural. Horse bolts or panics, you fall and break your neck, and he's off the hook, right? And I'm all alone and stuck here as witness to the terrible accident." Charley sighed. "But how come you understood him at all?"

"Lucky break. He don't speak it like I know it but it was close enough. Sort'a like hearin' an English fanner instead of American. It's the same language I heard in my dreams and I understood it then. I guess I still do. Maybe I can talk it, too, but I ain't gonna try until I hav'ta give away the fact I know it. Couldn't make out Ladai's speech for nothin', though."

Charley sighed. "Well, that's a break, sort of, for what it's worth. Too bad we can't talk to Ladai. I know they're partners and all, but she seems so sweet and understanding. . . ."'

"Bullshit! She was givin' him the ideas on how to knock us off without gettin' caught at it.
Look,
I was out there talkin' to Zenchur long before you got there. The guy's
weird.
Got some sort'a guilt complex or somethin'. His family's rich-maybe nobles, I dunno. Lots of money and power, though, that they got partly from the sweat of labor by the nonhumans. He got to know and like some of 'em, found out they was regular folks and all, and got a real heavy conscience. When he could he just ran away rather than keep livin' under that system. Tried to live with some of the other races but they didn't trust him none, run him out. He was on the run when he nearly died and got rescued by the-whatchamacallit?-horse people?"

"Centaurs."

"Yeah, that's right. They took him in 'cause they can look deep inside you and read your feelin's. Not your mind, but whether you're happy or sad, in love or whatever, that kind of shit. They just know, somehow, who their friends are. He lived with 'em a long time and just real flipped out. Went native. Ladai-she ain't his business partner. She's his wife."

"Wow!
Kinkee
..."

"You bet. He thinks he's one of
them.
They believe in that reincarnation stuff, and he thinks he's one of them horse types reborn by accident or whatever as a human. He believes it so strong I think she believes it, too. She's got a few screws loose herself 'cause she went for him in a big way, too, but their marriage wasn't all that popular with her folks or tribe or whatever it is. So they got kicked out, and they been workin' the dirty job and mercenary racket all over ever since. So now they got in over their head and they're gonna try and shake it so's they can get back to ignorin' the world and its problems. And I'm what they gotta shake."

Charley sat down on top of the trunk and tried to think. "So what can we do? We stay with them, we're dead. We sneak out , and, like, we're alone and friendless in some crazy worfd where we don't know a damned thing and where I can't even speak nobody's language, we don't know the rules, and everybody wants our heads."

"Yeah, well, maybe so, but I got to figure we got a better chance on our own, small as it is, than we do stickin' with
this
pair. At least we're Akhbreed-the bosses-and we're in a land of Akhbreed where I can probably get by in the language and we won't get tossed out or strung up 'cause we ain't got four legs or six arms or whatever. Trouble is, our disguises ain't gonna help much if these two know about them. Damn it!"

Charley looked suddenly horror-struck. "Sam! I-I couldn't kill them! Even if I thought we could get away with it, and they're pros, I just
couldn't!"

It was Sam's turn to sigh. "Yeah, I know. I mean, maybe if he was in the
act
of try in' to kill me and I had a gun or somethin' maybe I could, but not cold."

"Not at all! I just don't think I could kill another human being, or even one with a horse's body."

"Then we're gonna hav'ta run from them all the time, too. That's just the way it's gotta be."

"Yeah, but-where to? We can't run forever without gettin' in real trouble and you know it. This ain't Texas or Denver, you know."

"I know. The only thing we got is that we know the names of both the one who wants us live and the one who wants me dead." She suddenly stopped, an idea coming into her head. "Say! It's crazy but it don't cost nothin'!"

"Huh? What?"

"Well-Zenchur said that if he could get us and maybe him, too, say in' the name of Old Horny that somehow that crud would hear his name and maybe find us."

"Yeah. I remember him tellin' us not to even
talk
about that

guy."

"Uh-huh. Don't you see? Maybe it works for the other one, too. The green guy. Zenchur called him Boolean. Maybe if we say it enough times he'll hear us and figure somethin's wrong."

Charley shrugged. "Makes as much sense as anything else has so far."

"Well, let's give it a try. Just over and over while we go through the trunks and do the packin' and all."

"And if he don't hear us and do something?"

"Then we get the hell out of here tonight. Grab what food and water we can and just go. If he's got the horses we'll use 'em, I guess. If not, it's on foot."

Charley got up and opened her trunk, then looked into it. "I dunno even what I should
wear,
let alone pack."

"Well, I got a look at that Malabar and that's supposed to be the next Akhbreed kingdom to this one, so I know kind'a what they wear. You ain't gonna like it, though."

"Huh? What'd'ya mean?"

"Well, you ever see pictures of them strict Moslem countries on TV or in school? It ain't that bad, but it's bad enough. Lemme look through your trunk. I bet there's a couple of outfits right there someplace. Yeah-here's one down here. Thought so."

"Oh,
no!"

"Just try it on and start chantin' 'Boolean' over and over. I'll show you how it goes on."

5

The Road to Tubikosa

The chanting of the name didn't seem to have much effect except to bore both of them fairly quickly. The outfits Sam picked for Charley quickly took over the latter's attention. They were basically one-piece outfits, kind of like Indian saris, but they were made of some very thin, ultra-light material that conformed well to the body's shape and were tied off at the waist to bring it into shape there. The wrap started below the arms leaving the shoulders bare but went down almost to the ground and, without slitting or pleating, gave little play. You could walk in it fairly well and there was enough stretch in the material to allow comfortable sitting so long as you didn't cross your legs, but it would be hell if she had to run for it. Still, it was relatively easy to get on and the fasteners, while snug, were carefully and invisibly built in with the material somehow adjusting to whatever body shape it needed.

It felt like fine silk, but was so lightweight it was almost like having nothing on more formidable than a negligee, although when you tried to move in a way it wasn't designed to let you, it won. The stuff was
tough,
which was somewhat reassuring. The material was plain, but the three in the trunk were lavender, crimson, and emerald green and were quite attractive. There was also a long, wispy black transparent scarf, more gossamer than anything, that was worn on the head and tied off under the chin. "I think that's important," Sam told her. "At least, the women I saw in that-vision--all had then-heads covered. 'Course, their dresses were plainer material- mostly cotton, I think-and the scarfs more the usual type, but I think this is what we got that'll be okay. Beats the other type which were kind'a Mother Hubbard dresses all to hell, anyways."

"The sandals, I suppose?"

"Most all the women had bare feet where I saw, but I didn't see inside that castle or any of the higher class people 'cept the wizard and some soldiers so I can't really tell. Up to you but I'd pack the sandals til we needed 'em for protection. You slip. and fall in that outfit and you'll hav'ta be helped back up."