"My presence would inhibit them. They want to be alone together, after—what happened."
"That is one reason you must join them. They must not yield to that distraction during the battle.
You will be traveling off-planet."
"Again? Confusion."
"Necessary. Because you are a nexus."
"I don't think Flame can carry two of us."
"Agreement. Father will take you."
"Havoc! Voila, he's your father, and I'm younger than you are, but when it comes to distractions, we would be worse than Flame and Fifth."
Voila smiled. "Known. He likes you better than any other mistress of the moment. You will have a bit of time before the onset of the engagement. I'm sure you will make it count."
"I would love to be with Havoc! But surely he has more important things to do in the hours of the crisis."
"Negation. As I make the turn, Weft will take your place and walk back with me in your semblance. You will join Havoc elsewhere. He will explain."
Opaline opened her mouth—and found herself in Havoc's arms. He kissed her open mouth. "Delight, Opaline."
She kissed him back, avidly. There was, as so many woman said, something about him. "Is there time?" she whispered.
"Affirmation."
He lowered himself to the ground by floating down, carrying her with him. Their clothes evaporated. Then he was firmly inside her, still kissing her. He jetted, and she followed immediately, hungrily sharing his orgasm.
"Oh, Havoc!" she exclaimed as they blissfully faded.
"Ditto, Opaline." He drew her up against him so that he could kiss her breasts.
"Question: Voila said I would go off-planet with you and Flame and Fifth. She said you would explain."
He paused. "How can I explain when my mouth is full?" He put it back on her left breast, taking in the nipple and much of the surrounding tissue.
"Havoc!"
He paused again. "You're worse than my old schoolmarm in Village Trifle," he complained.
"You ate her breasts?"
He laughed. "You still lock on to a subject like a bulldog. How can I savor your lovely body when you insist on my talking?"
"Savor it in a way that leaves your mouth free."
He sighed. Then he sat up, lifted her with that incredible strength, and set her on his lap with her back against him. His penis came up between her thighs like the stem of a cut sapling. His hands took hold of her breasts, kneading them expertly.
He kissed her left ear. "Rafal can shift between alternate realities, as Voila informed you."
Opaline reached down to grasp his penis; she couldn't help it. But it was true than this position allowed him to talk. "She did. But how does this relate to your taking me off-planet?"
"Some of the tracks will show the planet being blasted apart by machines bombs. Fifth will need to select better tracks for our purpose. You will confirm his judgment."
"But if it is destroyed, what of all the people on it? Oak, Weft, Voila, Pot, Kettle—what of them? Not all of them are invulnerable Glamors."
"Precisely. Proper selection is essential, and no one on-planet can do it if they have been nullified by the blast. So it will be up to you who watch from a safe distance. Fortunately Fifth has had some prior practice."
She was appalled. "But I haven't! I don't know anything about it! How could I second guess him? With the world at stake?"
"Necessary" he said. "Voila and Idyll have studied the situation in the intermediate future, and determined that you are the key nexus here. I'm sure you will do your best."
"This is crazy!" she said. "I am completely unqualified. You need a competent person, surely a Glamor."
"We need you. The paths have spoken."
Opaline realized that this was what Voila had meant when she said Opaline was a nexus. She had to help Fifth save Charm. She was not qualified, yet she knew that the future paths were to be trusted.
"Let me ponder," she said.
"You have three minutes remaining."
"Then I will make them count," she said, remembering Voila's remark about that. She spread her legs, took his member in both hands, bent it into a resilient U shape, and jammed it into her vagina. It sprang straight, thrusting inside her. She bounced, clenching, evoking its eruption. She climaxed again, pulsing around it, while he continued to squeeze her breasts.
"You will carry my ikon," he said. Now she saw the little tree figure lying on the ground beside them. She did not question how it had gotten there; she picked it up and held it tightly in her left hand.
Then they separated, cleaned up, dressed, and went to rendezvous with Flame and Fifth.
Who seemed to have been up to similar exercises, barely separated in time.
Opaline kissed Fifth. "It seems we are to work together."
"It seems," he agreed. "I discovered that there was after all reason to keep me alive."
"That too," Flame agreed, evidently familiar with Voila's words. They all laughed. It was clear that Flame and Fifth had made up and were a solid couple again. Opaline was pleased.
"Ready?" Havoc asked.
"Ready, Havoc," Flame replied.
Havoc put a hand on Opaline's arm, and Flame did the same for Fifth. Then they were floating in a chamber, weightless.
"Question?" Opaline asked, grabbing on to a bar set in the ceiling. She felt as if she were falling, and this made her stomach roil.
"Derelict space station," Flame explained. "Orbiting Vivid and Void, parallel to Charm and Counter Charm, which are seen from inside their orbits. We have pressurized this chamber. Regret that gravity is not feasible; we would have to accelerate it or spin it. Acceleration would move it away from where we want it, and call attention to it.
Spinning would make the view seem to turn around the ship. So we must float."
"I may need a bag," Opaline said.
Flame flicked her hand. A bag appeared. Opaline took it. So far her breakfast was staying in place, but she was glad to have another place for it if it come up and out.
"Situation," Havoc said. "We have two screens. This one is a straight window showing the planets Charm and Counter Charm. The other is an illusion replicating the scene by the farmhouse. Warp is broadcasting it for our information."
They looked. The two planets were showing in all their volcanic colors in the left window, seeming stationary but actually slowly shifting as they orbited each other.
In the right window was a picture of Oak's farmhouse, the raised pool, and the people around it. Pot and Kettle were recognizable, and Warp, and Rafal in the pool. And Opaline, as represented by Weft.
"I hate it when she emulates me," Opaline said.
None of the others commented. Opaline realized that each was in an awkward position. Flame had emulated her for the killing sequence, so neither she nor Fifth cared to comment. And Weft was Havoc's daughter. What if he had sex with Opaline, only to discover she was really his daughter?
"Withdrawn," Opaline said.
"Warp is projecting a map of the machines space fleet," Flame said. "They will be arriving via myriad wormholes the machines have surveyed in to put them in range of our worlds. The Coalition space fleet will engage them there. This will be inconclusive, because near-future seeing will counter the greater numbers of the machines.
There will be individual 'dogfights,' but defensive measures protect all ships, making 'kills' difficult."
"However," Havoc said, "this is where Oak comes in. Warp and Weft will give him coordinates to attack individual ships. Most are protected, but we are bypassing some of the protections and will take over some. This will be mischief for the machines."
"But this is merely background," Flame said. "The real attack will be by four ships wormholing in close to the planets, a suicide mission. They will seek to crash into the planets, setting off the explosives they carry, which will blow the planets apart. This is the attack we must stop."