"Amazement!" Pso said. "There is a tangled skein, confusing to behold."
"Focus on one thread," Gale said.
"All are tangled," Osp said.
She tried another tack, knowing that the process was confusing at first. "Orient on me. How can you most rapidly get into me? Concentrate on those paths."
They obliged, and began to find the correct ones. "We acknowledge our debt to you," Pso said. But that was not the most direct path.
"You are beautiful, smart, and completely alluring," Osp said. "We beg you to indulge our humble passion."
That was the one. She got out of her chair and stripped. They got out of theirs, stripped, and overlapped in the one she had occupied. She sat on them, facing them, passing her legs between theirs on either side. She completed the connection, and kissed them each in turn. "It is that easy," she said. "Just follow the path that leads where you want to go in the next minute, discarding the others."
In the next hour she led though through more exercises, and they slowly gained competence. By the time they returned to Twins, they knew how to continue refining their new awareness. "Gratitude," Pso said sincerely.
"For the paths?"
"For that too," Osp agreed. They all laughed.
Gale bid them temporary parting and conjured herself back to Charm. It had been a pleasant excursion. She knew Havoc would be jealous of it, because he had not had the chance to get together with Vra and Arv. That made it even better. She thought again how she liked sex, and could indulge in it endlessly, but lacked the continuous need of it Havoc had. This was one difference between male and female Glamors. She was sure that Pso and Osp had not gotten together with Vra and Arv nearly as much as they wished. That was why they had been so ardent with Marionette and Gale.
She picked up Vila, who was entertaining herself with the plants while Marionette soundly slept. Marionette was thoroughly experienced sexually, but the Glamor Twins had pushed her limits and she needed to recover. Gale, as a Glamor, had far greater physical resources. She left a note for Marionette, and conjured Vila back to the Fungus culture dome. Vila was glad to have another session with the glowing fungus patch and its diverting patterns. It seemed that those patterns were telling a story in pictures that was compelling for more than just fungus young.
"I have found a planet for you," Gale sang to the Fungus Glamor. "It is far removed from your area, but it is also far superior for your needs. I recommend that you let Alga have the local planet, and take this alternate one."
"But we would not intrude in a foreign culture," Fungus sang in response. "We honor territories."
"This planet is in the Fish culture. It has substances that are poisonous to them, so they can't use it. But if you were to colonize it, neutralizing the poisons, and exporting the things they need, they would welcome you and support your presence within their culture. You would not need to socialize with them, merely provide the exports."
Fungus was cautious. "We must observe this planet."
"Provide a representative who can travel with me to inspect it."
"This is awkward. We do not conjure the way you do. We would need to use a space vessel."
"I might arrange for one," Gale said. "However, it would be piloted by two males who would desire close contact with me. My daughter would need further distraction."
"Glamors."
"Agreement."
There was melodic laughter. "Understanding. Fetch that ship."
Gale conjured Vila back to the Twins culture. She introduced Vila to Pso and Osp. The girl was obviously interested in these two supremely handsome men, and they with her.
"She is five years old," Gale murmured.
They nodded, respecting the off-limits nature of the pretty child. "Obscenity," Vila muttered, respecting nothing. They all laughed.
The Twins were glad to free a suitable ship. They provided a female who was good with children to entertain Vila while Gale joined them in a private chamber. There was no need for the captains to supervise directly while the ship traveled to Fungus.
"Captain." It was the ship's intercom.
"Expletive!" Pso swore, emulating Gale's mode of expression. They were of course naked and thoroughly entangled with Gale. The moment was not convenient.
"Communicate," Osp said briskly after clearing Gale's breast from his mouth.
"There is what appears to be another machines culture boat, similar to the one you reported in the Fish culture."
"Expletive!" Gale echoed. This was an overriding situation.
They disentangled, dressed, and put themselves in order. Then they went to the control cabin.
Arv was there, alone, tacitly signaling her unavailability for anything sexual. That was Gale's business, on this trip. She indicated the view screen.
There was the craft, seeming identical to the first. It was alert and already orienting on them. They were in a ship this time, and had far more firepower, but the boat would have superior maneuverability and be extremely difficult to take out by brute force. They were in trouble.
Real trouble. Gale's awareness of the near future paths showed a number that terminated in the destruction of the ship. This machines scout must have been sent to investigate the disappearance of the first, and was primed for action.
"Take evasive action immediately," Gale said tersely.
"From a scout boat?" Arv asked. "They fire on us, we'll blast them out of space."
"Osp," Gale snapped. He was co-captain of the fleet and of this ship.
"Take evasive action," he repeated immediately. He knew what Arv did not: that the scout could destroy the ship. He had been there, as she had not.
She did not argue further. The ship commenced random permutations.
The scout stalked them, as the other had their boat before. Gale knew it was no bluff.
"A machines boat can take a living culture space ship," Gale said. "It is 2.5 level technology. We dare not meet it directly. We must escape it, if we can."
"This ship can't loop neatly around a planetoid belt," Pso said.
"If there were a belt. Neither can we out-maneuver it in open space."
"I doubt we can outrun it," Osp said. "It would fire a beam up our tail."
"It is closing," Arv said. "Permission to fire on it?" She needed her co-captain's agreement.
"Useless," Pso said. "There's no air in it, no living thing to die."
"We're going to have to take a risk," Gale said.
Arv laughed bitterly. "If we sit still, we'll be destroyed. Now I see the paths."
"Precisely," Gale said. "We must use the paths. All of us. Fetch your sister and Warp."
In moments they appeared. "Hi, Ma," Warp said, then paused as she hit him with a telepathic barrage of information. "Got it." He turned to the female twins. "Girls, you'll work with me. I will enhance your near-future seeing ability."
"And I will work with you," Gale said to the male twins. "Osp, Arv, attune to our signals." They had not yet learned sufficient telepathy to make that reliable; verbal or hand signals would have to do.
"Best you do it directly," Osp said.
"Best Warp do it directly," Gale said tightly. "He has had space ship experience." She didn't add that he was also a stronger Glamor than she was, and could see the future paths farther and more accurately than she could.
Warp took the pilot's chair. In a moment he had familiarized himself with the controls. "Ready," he said.
Gale reached out to survey the future paths. She also read the minds of Pso and Osp as they did the same. She guided them telepathically with gentle nudges to the more productive paths. They glanced at her, started, realizing what she was doing, and accepted it. Warp was working similarly with the females.