“The Piper, the Master, the One Who Waits,” Jay said, “and Warren Bansa who was my father’s friend and colleague. This is getting weird.”
Dubhe stuck his head out the window of the cab. “What did you folks want the train for, anyhow?”
Virginia Tallent had lived too long in Virtu to be surprised by a talking monkey. “To go to Mount Meru.”
“I think you’d better come aboard,” Jay said slowly. “I’m not sure we should talk about stuff like this in the open. B.B., I’m going to take our guests to the club car. Call me if I’m needed.”
“Right, Jay.” There was a chuffing of steam, then a long, drawn out wail. “All aboard!”
In the club car, they ate the appropriate sandwiches and told each other of their various missions. Drum and Alice expressed some wonder at Dubhe and, especially, at Mizar, but the unusual is usual in Virtu and soon they were talking as if a dog made of spare parts and a monkey who had missed a branch were part of their usual social rounds.
“Markon’s suspicions certainly seem well-grounded,” Virginia said, when all the stories were finished. “Myths and legends are wending their way toward a new shape of some sort. Perhaps an ending for Virtu and its people.”
“Legends say that the One Who Waits will be present at the end or the change of Virtu,” Jay reminded her. “I think the greater threat is to the Verite. For some reason, the ones on High Meru have decided to try and annex it. That would change Virtu, but it would end the Verite— at least as we know it.”
“And our part in this?” Alice said.
“I’m not sure,” Jay admitted. “I have my mission from the Lord of Entropy to fulfill. You want to find your father. The question is, do we want to team up?”
“I think that would be wise ” Drum said. “Alice and I know very little of this aspect of Virtu, but we’re great at getting in where we’re not wanted and finding out other people’s secrets. You and your people know Virtu, as does Virginia. We’ll all do better together.”
“And if we need to split up at some point,” Virginia added, “we can still do so.”
“And afterwards?” Jay said. “I’m really worried about this offspring of Earthma’s that’s draining Markon’s site.”
“So am I,” Virginia said softly. “I’d give anything to destroy it before it can destroy Markon.”
Alice nodded. “Count me in.”
“And me,” said Drum. “I may not be a theologian, but the implications of Death under the thumb of a dominant goddess aren’t good. It seems like potential for some big trouble.”
“No offense,” Dubhe interrupted, “but one crisis at a time. Does anyone have any idea what we should do when we get off the train at Mount Meru? I’ve never been there, but all the tales agree that Mount Meru is many-tiered.”
Jay shrugged. “I don’t know what we’ll do and we don’t have enough information to plan. Let’s figure that out when we get there. How long, B.B.?”
“Long enough for you folks to check out my armory,” the train suggested. “J. D. never planned on getting off the train, but he came prepared if he had to.”
“Good,” Jay said. “Where is it?”
“One car back from where you are. See how easy I make things for you?”
The train’s laughter followed them as they stepped into the armory. Virginia and Drum fell to taking inventory, asking each member of the group what weapons they could handle and issuing appropriate gear.
“It’s kind of strange, us meeting again this way,” Jay said somewhat shyly to Alice.
“I know,” she answered, studying her right foot, “and finding out that our dads knew each other. Is this what they mean by fate?”
“I’ve always been a believer in free will, myself, but it sure seems like it.”
“Yeah, to me, too.”
“Your mom must be really worried about Ambry to let you come out here looking for him.”
“She is, but she knew that I wouldn’t stay home by the fire while she went out alone.”
“But she let you go out alone.”
“I’m not alone. I’ve got Drum. And mom’s a scientist; her practical side knows that it’s best to let experts do what they’re trained for.”
“Yeah. I wonder what would have happened to me if my dad had kept the bargain he made with the Lord of Deep Fields.”
“You wouldn’t be who you are now,” Alice said practically. “Your dad had a point when he said that living makes you appreciate things. Deep Fields would have been interesting in a kind of creepy way, but I don’t think you would have been really human if you had grown up there—not even if you were living.”
Jay nodded. “Spare parts all around would be weird. I guess I am glad that Dad did what he did. I appreciate having the chance to make a choice on my own.”
They stood silently, awkward despite a mutual feeling of liking. In the background, Virginia and Drum worked on outfitting Dubhe with a CF pistol.
“Jay?” Alice said after a time. “Can you really cross the interface between Virtu and Verite without needing a transfer couch?”
“Uh-huh. I don’t know how, though.”
“Ever since you mentioned it earlier, I’d wanted to ask—”
They were interrupted by a screeching howl from the Brass Babboon.
“Mount Meru on the horizon, lads and lassies! Come take a glimpse before I start the smoke and fireworks to cover your arrival.”
They hurried to windows. Beneath a preternaturally bright sun, Mount Meru loomed in splendid isolation on a rolling plain, casting sharp shadows. Snow capped its highest reaches, the lofty perches where the Highest Three were said to hold dominion. At first glance, the mountain appeared uninhabited, but as the Brass Babboon rushed closer, they could catch glimpses of motion on the slopes and about the base.
“I… remember this… place,” Mizar growled, trembling. “Bright light and much… pain. Falling for… ever.”
“Want to stay with B.B.?” Jay asked, kneeling next to the tattered hound.
“Want to bite them!” Mizar answered.
“That’s decisive enough,” Drum said. He handed Jay a small pack. “This contains some basics—a knife, some rope, pair of binoculars, a first aid kit. Everyone except Virginia is better qualified with hand weapons. Remember, these CF pistols aren’t like guns in virtventures. They’ll run out of ammo.”
Jay nodded thanks and strapped on his gear. He noticed that Alice was doing the same, once again seeming rather androgynous. Virginia was tight-lipped and quiet—no wonder—her lover was dying under the treachery of a goddess and she had come to that goddess’s doorstep. In many ways, she—more than any of them—understood the risks they were taking, for she alone had met and spoken with a manifestation of one of the Highest Three.
“I’ll be slowing in the curve and then setting off the smoke and fire,” the Brass Babboon announced, “then clearing out. I’ve cycled through here a time or two before. If you’re fast and get to cover, any observers won’t think twice.”
“I hope,” Dubhe muttered.
“Slowing…” the Brass Babboon announced.
The passengers gathered by the doors. A barrage of fireworks and smoke bombs erupted. Jay’s eyes were streaming; he heard several of the others cough.
“Slowing…”
There was nothing to do but wait. The Brass Babboon would open the doors at the optimal moment. More fireworks, these the kind that whistled and burst into multipetaled blossoms.
“I hope he doesn’t get everyone on Meru watching us,” Alice said softly.
“Too late now,” Drum said. “Get ready to jump, kid.”
“Slowing… Opening the doors in three. One, two, three!”
The ground was still moving, no longer appearing like a velvet carpet now that they were about to jump. Virginia went without hesitation, dropped, rolled lithely. Drum was out almost as quickly.