Then Deerie went quietly to a darkened show chamber where a dull holo was being played. She sat on the floor in back and watched as if mesmerized. With luck, she would never be found, and both of them would be spared a horrible ordeal. She was there before the second period ended, so that when the onus changed and Tan/Handy started looking, there would be nothing to see.
But moments after the third period commenced, a shape loomed in the entrance to the chamber. It was Handy—and he seemed to know exactly where he was going and what he was looking for. He must have been watching her all along, anticipating this ploy of hers!
He paused long enough to let his eyes adjust to the gloom. Then he made his way toward her. Should she scream? But he might be searching all the chambers this way, trying to make her identify herself by reacting; she had better keep quiet and hope he passed on by. If he did, then she was on her way to winning.
He did not. His face was contorted; Agape could not guess what thoughts Tan had put into Handy’s mind, but it was evident that they had driven the man beyond reason. “I will scream!” Agape cried.
Deerie opened her mouth—but Handy’s hand clapped down on it, stifling her.
“I will bite!” Agape said. But already the man was pulling the woman over, coming down on her, crushing her; she was too disoriented to pay further attention to Agape’s thoughts.
But one thing Agape had put into her mind before paid off: Deerie’s knee came up, aiming for the man’s groin. The blow would have been devastating if ft had connected, a definite game winner. But it only struck his outer thigh; he had been on guard against it. Trust a man to know how to rape better than a woman knew how to defend against it! Handy pressed Deerie down flat on her back on the floor, his hand still stifling her, one of his knees wedged between her legs so that she could not clamp her legs together. Her effort to knee him had only put her leg out of position, giving him this opening. “I will strike him with my free hands!” Agape cried des perately. “I will poke out his eyes! I will hurt him until he stops!” But Deerie was beyond that; terrified, she was retreating into an emotional shell, becoming passive. In fact, she was close to losing consciousness.
“A message for you!” Handy gasped, evidently coached by persistent if meaningless (to him) thoughts. “I owe you this, alien mare!”
“Fight him! Fight him!” Agape cried. “Roll, struggle, bite/resist!”
But Deerie did not. The man positioned himself and began his thrust. The pain began—and Deerie passed out. There was screaming.
The screen went dark. The input from the actress had ended with her consciousness. Agape found herself gasping, her throat raw; she was the one screaming. She was also melting; her lower section was puddling on the floor. Truly, she had been violated.
She had lost the fall and the match, in the worst possible way. Citizen Tan had had his vengeance, on her personally and on Citizen Blue for opposing the Contrary Citizens Agape let go, dissolving the rest of the way. In a moment she too was unconscious.
15 - Sirelmoba
The days on the undersea isle would have been completely delightful, had it not been for their awareness that a great decision was in the making, and that it was going against the Adept Stile and the animals who supported him. Sirelmoba romped with Barelmosi in wolf and human forms, hunting and gathering and eating and sleeping and attempting to mate. They had been unable to complete the last, because she was too young for her first heat, but the urge for it came in cycles and she knew that in due course those cycles would intensify until completion became feasible. Of course once they suc ceeded, that would be the last of that, because she would enter on her adult stage and would seek a mate elsewhere; her Commitment to Barel, and his to her, would be done. So she was not sorry that they couldn’t do it yet, because the trying and failing was a delightful process rife with mystery and hope. Success would end the mystery and promise, and end that aspect of their relationship, and that would have its sadness. So perhaps they were not trying too hard, after all. Actually they were able to go through the motions in human form, but that had no significance; only wolf form counted. Bitches often did it with human men just for sport; sometimes they were even able to fool the men into believing that they were human women. It was a good test of their ability to emulate the conventions as well as the body of that species. They always had a good laugh when the men finally caught on. Sometimes the men laughed too.
The sieges were set up, and the Translucent Adept made a spell that enabled them to see the action as a magic image over the isle. They watched the harpies beat the bats, thanks to the valiant final action of Phoebe. They knew she didn’t really want to win, but had to try her best as a matter of honor, and she had done that and brought the victory she deplored. They had seen the ‘corns beat the ogres thanks to the stratagem of Barel’s dam Fleta, and that was highly grat ifying. Barel had been so proud of her! But meanwhile came the news of the similar contests in Proton-frame. Nepe kept Barel informed, and some of it was very bad. Nepe’s rovot granddam—grandbitch?—no, grand mother— sometimes she got the various terms confused!—had dueled against the Adept—no, the Citizen Purple, riding dragons, and in the end gone down. It really hadn’t been fair, because they were Purple’s dragons; naturally they had seen to his victory. Then Nepe’s rovot friend Troubot had climbed the glass mountain, throwing water bombs at the lovely bitch Tsetse—oh what fun!—and won the siege. After that Barel had used the bit of magic he was allowed to fashion water balls, and they had re-enacted it, throwing balls at each other in trees. Sirel wondered whether her human form would ever approach the lushness of Tsetse’s. Unicorns could assume other forms, and make of them what they wished, so they were always powerful or esthetic or whatever else the ‘corn wanted, but werewolves were more limited because both their forms were natural. It was similar with the vampire bats. So she would just have to make do with what she had, and hope for the best.
Then had come the contest between Nepe’s mother Agape and the awful Tan Adept—Tan Citizen—wherein they had to make efforts to mate in much the fashion Sirel and Barel had. But there were differences. For one thing. Agape was per manently mated to Nepe’s father Bane, so didn’t want to do it with Tan. For another, it was a contest, with one wishing to mate and the other opposed, and so they had to negotiate. Barel and Sirel both found this process fascinating. But be cause there was no heat—it seemed that human beings had some other and less certain mechanism for breeding—nothing had come of it at first. But then at the end Agape must have come into heat after all—perhaps because she was really an alien creature—and Tan had come at her like any male who winded an available female in heat, and done it. In truth, it hadn’t looked like very much fun for Agape, perhaps because in acceding to it she lost the siege.
So now the enemy side had won two of the three Proton conflicts. That meant they got the Oracle and the service of Mach or Bane to use it in connection with the Book of Magic in Phaze. There was only one chance to stop them, and that was to have Stile’s side win the final siege in Phaze. Then the enemy would not have access to the Book, and would not be able to make the powerful magic that would enable them to prevail in their frame.
And that was why the wolves had to win against the goblins! They were the last good hope.