ppened. Her local Advisory Wizard had given her some hints on how to use lucid dreaming to her advantage, and had finally suggested that Nita keep a log of her dreams to refer to later. Nita had started doing this and had discovered that the dreams were getting easier to remember. Now she glanced down at the page and had a look at this morning s notes. Reading them brought the images and impressions up fresh in her mind again. Last night s dream had started with the sound of laughter, with kind of an edge to it. At first Nita had thought that the source of the laughter was her old adversary, the Lone Power, but the voice had been different. There was an edge of malice to this laughter, all right, but it was far less menacing than the Lone One had ever sounded in Nita s dealings with it, and far more ambivalent. And the voice was a woman s. Then a man s voice, very clear: I ve been waiting for you for a long time, he says. His voice is friendly. The timbre of the voice is young, but there s something behind it that sounds really old somehow. Nita closed her eyes, tried to remember something more about that moment than the voice. Light! There was a sense of radiance all around, and a big, vague murmuring at the edge of things, as if some kind of crowd scene was going on just out of Nita s range of vision. And there was barking, absolutely deafening barking. Nita had to smile at that, because she knew that bark extremely well. It was Kit s dog, Ponch, barking excitedly about something, which wasn t at all strange. What was strange was the absolute hugeness of the sound, in the darkness. The darkness, Nita thought, and shivered once as the image, which hadn t been clear this morning, suddenly presented itself. Record, she said to the manual, and sat back with her eyes closed. Space, with stars in it. Well, you would expect space to be dark. But slowly, slowly, some of the stars seemed to go faint, as if something filmy was getting between her and them, like a cloud, a creeping fog Slowly the dark fog had crept across Nita s field of vision. It swallowed the stars. Now that she was awake, the image gave her the creeps. Yet in the dream, somehow this hadn t been the case. She saw it happening; she was somehow not even surprised by it. In the dream, she knew what it meant, and its only effect on Nita had been to make her incredibly angry. She opened her eyes now, feeling a little flushed with the memory of the anger. Nita looked down at the manual, where the last line of the Speech, recording her last impression, was blinking quietly on and off, waiting for her to add anything further. She searched her memory, then shook her head. Nothing new was coming up for now. Close the entry, she said to the manual, and that last line stopped blinking. Nita shut the manual and reached out to pick up her sandwich and have another bite. It was frustrating to get these bits and pieces and not understand what they meant; but, eventually, when she got enough of them together, they would start to make some kind of sense. I just hope that it happens in time to be of some use. For sure, something s going to start happening shortly. The darkness had not felt very far away in time. I ll mention it to Tom when I have a chance. Meanwhile, there were plenty of other things to think about. That Martian project, for example, she thought as she finished her sandwich. She got up to go into the kitchen and get rid of the plate. Now that s going to be a whole lot of fun From outside the house came a splash and hiss as someone drove through the puddle that always collected at the end of the driveway in rainy weather. Nita glanced out the kitchen window and saw the car coming up the driveway. Daddy s a little early, she thought. It must have been quiet in the store this afternoon. But where is Dairine I thought she d be back by now… Nita ran some cold water from the tap into a measuring cup, filled up the water reservoir of the coffee-maker by the sink, put one of the premeasured coffee filters her dad favored into the top of the machine, and hit the ON switch. The coffeemaker started making the usual wheeze-and-gurgle noises. Outside, the car door slammed; a few moments later, shaking the rain out of his hair, Nita s dad came in a tall man, silver-haired, big-shouldered, and getting a little thick around the waist; he d been putting on a little weight these past few months. He was splattered with rain about the shoulders, and he was carrying a long paper package in his arms. Hi, sweetie. Hi, Daddy. Nita sniffed the air. Mums she said. She recognized that slightly musty scent before she saw the rust-and gold-colored flowers sticking out of the wide end of the package. Her dad nodded. We had a few left over this afternoon …No point leaving them in the store. I ll find a vase for them. He put the flowers down on the drain board, then peered into the sink. Good lord, what s that Lettuce, Nita said. Previously. I see what you mean, Nita s dad said. Well, that s my fault. I meant to make some salad last weekend, but it never happened. That shouldn t have gone bad so fast, though… You have to put the vegetables in the crisper, Daddy. It s too dry in the main part of the fridge, and probably too cold. Nita sighed. Speaking of which, I was talking to the fridge a little while ago… Her father gave her a cockeyed look. Nita had to laugh at the expression. You re going to tell me that the refrigerator has a problem of some kind Not a mechanical one, I take it. Uh, no. Her dad leaned against the counter, rubbing his face a little wearily. I still have trouble with this idea of inanimate objects being able to think and have emotions. Not emotions the way we have them, Nita said. Ways they want things to be…and a reaction when they re not. And as for inanimate…They re just not alive the way we are. She shrugged. Just call this life not as we know it, if it helps. But it is life as you know it. I just have better equipment to detect it with, Nita said. I talk to it and it talks back. It d be rude not to answer, after that. Anyway, Daddy, it s weird to hear you say you have a problem with this! You talk to your plants all the time. In the shop and here. You should hear yourself out in the garden. At that, her dad looked nonplussed. But even the scientists say it s good to talk to plants. It s the frequency of the sound waves or something. That s like saying that telling someone you love them is good just because of the sound waves, Nita said. If you were from Mars and you didn t know how important knowing people loved you was, you might think it was the sound waves, too. Don t you feel how the plants like it when you talk to them They do grow better, her dad said after a moment. Liking…I don t know. Give me a while to get used to the idea. What s the fridge s problem It hates being empty. A fridge s nature is to have things in it for people to eat! But there s hardly anything in it half the week, and that makes it sad. Nita gave her dad a stern look. Not to mention that it makes me sad, when I get home from school. We need to get more stuff on Fridays! Well, okay. But at least Uh-oh, said a little voice. Nita s dad glanced up, and both of them looked around. What he said. It s Spot, said Nita. What s the matter with him I don t know, Nita said. He s been doing that every now and then since I got home. Where is he I don t know. I looked for him before, but I couldn t see him. Dairine can probably tell us when she gets back. So, Daddy, about the shopping… Okay, her father said. Your mom was such an expert at judging what we needed right down to Friday afternoon. Maybe I didn t pay enough attention. You probably did, though. Uh, no, Nita said, but I saw her do it often enough that I can imitate what she did until I start understanding the rules myself. Fine, her dad said. That s your job now, then. Let me get out of my work clothes and we ll go out as soon as Dairine gets back. Uh-oh, said that small voice again. Uh-oh. Uh-oh! What is it with him Nita s father said, looking around in confusion. He sounds like he s having a guilt attack. Wherever he is… The uh-oh-ing stopped short. Nita s dad looked into the dining room and spied something. Hey, wait, I see where he is, he said, and went to the corner behind the dining room table. There was a little cupboard and pantry area there, set into the wall, and one of the lower cupboard s doors was partly open. Nita s dad looked into it. What s the matter with you, fella Uh-oh, said Spot s voice, much smaller still. Come on, Nita s dad said, let s have a look at you. He reached down into the bottom of the cupboard, in among the unpolished silver and the big serving plates, and brought out the little laptop computer. It had been undergoing some changes recently, what Dairine referred to as an upgrade. In this case, upgrading seemed to involve getting smaller and cooler looking, so that a computer that had once been fairly big and heavy was now not much bigger than a large paperback book in a dark silvery case. Spot, however, had equipment that no other laptop had, as far as Nita knew not just sentience but (at least sometimes) legs. These all ten of them, silvery and with two ball-and-socket joints each now popped out and wiggled and rowed and made helpless circles in the air while Nita s dad held Spot up, blowing a little dislodged cupboard dust off the top of him. Some of that stuff in there needs to be polished, her dad said. It s all brown. Never mind. You got a problem, big guy It was surprising how much expression a closed computer case could seem to have, at least as far as Spot was concerned. He managed to look not only nervous but embarrassed. Not me, Spot said. Well, who then Uh-oh, Spot said again. Nita could immediately think of one reason why Spot might not want to go into detail. She was reluctant to say anything: It wasn t her style to go out of her way to get her little sister into trouble. Besides, since when does she need my help for that All right, Nita s father said, sounding resigned. What s Dairine done now Despite her best intentions, Nita had to grin, though she turned away a little so that it wouldn t be too obvious. Come on, buddy, Nita s father said. You know we re on her side. Give. Spot s little legs revolved faster and faster in their ball-and-socket joints, as if he were trying to rev up to takeoff speed. Spot, her dad said, come on, it s all right. Don t get all With a pop! and a little implosion of air that made the dining room window curtains swing inward, Spot vanished. Nita s dad looked at his empty hands, then looked over at Nita and dusted his palms. Now where d he go Nita shook her head. No idea. I haven t seen him do that before. Usually I don t see him coming or going, either, Nita said. But he can do that kind of stuff if he wants to. He s got a lot of the manual in him; wizardry is his operating system, and Spot can probably use it for function calls I ve never even thought about. She went into the kitchen and got her backpack off the counter, bringing it into the dining room and dropping it on the table. He and Dairine aren t usually far apart for long, though. When she comes back, he will, too. Did she have a late day today Nita s dad said. Choir practice, I think, Nita said. No, wait, that was yesterday. She should be home any minute. Nita s dad nodded. Any coffee left from this morning I threw it out when I left for school, Nita said. You know what it tastes like when you leave it all day. I just made you some fresh. Thanks. Her dad headed into the kitchen. As he did, the front doorbell rang. It s probably the newspaper guy, Nita s dad said. He collects around now. Get that, will you, honey Sure, Daddy. Nita went to the front door and opened it. Instead of the Newsday guy, Nita found Tom Swale standing there a tall man in his mid-thirties, dark-haired, good-looking, and one of the Senior Wizards for the New York metropolitan area. He was bundled up in a bright red ski parka and dripping slightly from the rain. Hi, Nita. I saw the car in the driveway. Is your dad around Uh, yeah, come on in. You need money, Nita said her dad from the kitchen. Not for Tom, Daddy, Nita said. He s free. She led Tom into the dining room and took his coat as he slipped out of it, hanging it over the back of one of the chairs. Her dad looked around the kitchen door, slightly surprised. Harry, Tom said, I m sorry to turn up unannounced like this. Is Dairine around Uh, not at the moment. Nita s dad suddenly looked a little pale and Nita wondered whether her dad was thinking back to the last time the local Senior Wizard had turned up on their doorstep asking for Dairine. It s whatever Dairine s done, isn t it Tom s rueful expression suggested that he understood what was going through Nita s dad s head. Well, yes. I wouldn t say it was on the scale of previous transgressions. But there s something she needs to take some correction on. At that, Nita s dad looked somewhat relieved. A daily occurrence, he said, if not hourly. Tom, come on in, have a cup of something, and tell me about it. Thanks. They headed past Nita into the kitchen. By the way, you any good with vanishing computers Nita s dad said. Please. I have enough trouble with them when they re visible, Tom said, giving Nita a wink in passing. Nita took this as a signal that she was meant to be elsewhere, so she went into the living room, picked up the extension phone, and dialed. When Kit picked up the phone this time, the noise in the background was more muted. Talked to the TV, huh Nita said. At length, Kit said. It seems to have worked for the moment. Yeah, Nita said, I had to sweet-talk the fridge a little myself just now. You re getting good at that, Kit said. Used to be you had more trouble with machines. Nita shrugged. Experience she said. Maybe I m changing specialties. Or maybe yours is rubbing off. Look, don t ask me. She lowered her voice. I was going to say that if the noise is still too much for you over there, maybe you want to find an excuse to come over here for a while. It may not be any quieter, but it s gonna be more interesting. Why What s happening I don t know, but Nita heard something then: a voice, higher than hers, younger than hers, coming up the driveway and singing, more or less to the tune of the chorus of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, Two weeks! Two weeks! I get two weeks off now, hurray, hurray Oh, boy, Nita said. Here it comes! The back door opened. Two weeks! Two Uh. There was a soft bang! as something materialized in the kitchen without being too careful about air displacement. Uh-oh, Spot s voice said, sounding panic-stricken. Both of you stay right where you are, Nita s dad said. Nita choked down her laughter. Can t miss this, gotta go! she whispered, and hung up. Dealing with Unforeseen Circumstances CAREFULLY, INTENDING TO SEEM neither too sneaky nor too enthusiastic about it, Nita made her way into the dining room and sat down very quietly at the end of the dining room table, where she could just see into the kitchen. Her dad and Tom were leaning against the kitchen counter, coffee cups in hand, looking at a suddenly very subdued Dairine. I ll give you three guesses, Tom said, why I m here. Dairine leaned against the opposite counter and brushed her red bangs out of her eyes in a way that was meant to look casual, but to Nita s practiced eye, the act was failing miserably. Dairine was freaked. And Spot knows, too, I ll bet, Tom said, which is why he s so skittish all of a sudden. Dairine, you know that as a responsible wizard you have an obligation to tell the people who re still helping you manage your life about what s going on with you…and when you re intending to embark on some course of action that is going to affect them. Uh, yeah, well, I was about to In some cases that information should really reach your family before you embark on the course of action, wouldn t you say Assuming that you want to stay in a good relationship with the Powers That Be. Which right now seems increasingly unlikely. Nita saw Dairine go so pale that her freckles looked about four shades darker than usual. Tom put out his hand, and as if from the empty air, his wizard s manual fell into it. It was a manual larger than Nita s, nearly the size of a phone book but as one of the supervisory wizards for this part of the East Coast, he had a lot more people, places, and things to look after in the course of his practice than Nita did. Let me read you my copy of a message that doubtless will have reached you via Spot not too long ago, Tom said, looking over his manual at Dairine as he opened the book and paged through it. And which is doubtless why poor Spot is having a crisis of the nerves. To: D. Cal