at led into the interior. Kit and Nita glanced at each other, walked toward that opening. Inside, it wasn t as dark as it had seemed on first glance. For one thing, the dome that topped off the building wasn t solid stone, or if it was, it wasn t any thicker than half an inch or so like the thickness of an eggshell compared to its size. Sunlight filtered through it in a soft, vague shimmer of pink, gold, cream, and white, all mingled together. That light fell on something inside, a structure all by itself in the center of the naos, which was circular like the pedestal and columns that contained it. It was another pedestal, of only three great, broad, shallow, concentric steps, with six long, curved, stone benches arranged around it. On the pedestal sat a huge blocky chair, exceedingly simple, made of blocks of squared-off and polished creamy stone a back slab, two side slabs, and a horizontal slab between them. It s kind of like the one in the Lincoln Memorial, Nita thought. Except except that sitting with her legs curled up under her in that great chair, and leaning on one arm of it, with her chin in her hand, looking at them with an expression of ineffable boredom, was an Alaalid woman of staggering beauty. Mahogany-skinned, she wore a loose white sleeveless tunic over a long, loose white skirt. She had a long and perfect face, striking red-and-gold-streaked hair that tumbled down around her on all sides, and eyes that shone like orange amber with the sun behind it. Kit and Nita came to a standstill and simply looked at her for a moment. Ponch, between them, regarded the woman sitting in the chair, and let out one long, low growl. Then, rather to Nita s surprise, he fell silent and sat down. Nita looked at Ponch hurriedly to see what was the matter…if the Lone One was doing anything to him. But Ponch was simply looking at It, with his head tilted slightly to one side and a thoughtful expression on his face. Fairest and Fallen… Kit said. Yes, yes, greeting and defiance, thank you very much. I really wish you people would come up with something else to say, the Lone Power said. Her voice was as beautiful as her face, but it had an edge to it. Nita stood there, wondering what in the world to say next. So nice of you to drop by, the Lone One said. You re a nice change from the school groups and the mothers with bored toddlers. But don t just stand there glaring at me, Esemeli said, and she waved a languid hand at the bench nearest to where they were standing. Go on, sit down. That s what they re there for. I m a tourist attraction. Nita glanced at Kit and then sat down. Do a lot of people come and visit you here Kit said, sitting down beside Nita. Not that many, the Lone Power said, leaning on one elbow. Of those who do, most think I m some kind of live entertainment meant to follow that little multimedia show they ve got in the valley. A few of them…a very few…realize what I really am, and have the sense to be scared. But most of them never make it past vague interest. It s been too long since they ve had any real trouble in this world. I can see how that would bother you, Kit said. The Lone Power s smile was slow and grim. Nita had to shiver at it, for she had never seen a look of such malice on any Alaalid face. Well, I do try to keep my sense of proportion about me, It said. Earth, for example; there ve been some changes there. Tell us about it, Kit said. But I wouldn t call them changes for the better. There speaks a typical, shortsighted human being, the Lone Power said. Things always get a lot worse before they get better. You d know that if you took the long view of the worlds. But you can t help yourselves; you re stuck in time. Those of us who just visit Time but live in Eternity see things a lot differently. It sighed and sat back in Its chair. Look, can we put that aside for the moment Sure, Nita said, as long as it s to tell us exactly what you re doing here. I m doing what I don t have any choice but to do! It said. Which is to sit around in the Relegate s Naos. I m the Relegate! I ve been relegated. Left over, dumped, thrown out of the running. Into this. It waved a hand around at the beautiful warm stone, the polished floor, the exquisite, shell-like dome. Nita looked over at Kit. Ponch yawned and lay down on the floor. The Lone One gave him an exquisitely dirty look. See that It said. That s the kind of respect I command these days. Nine-tenths of the people here don t even begin to understand the import of the events that left me sitting here. They ve even given me a sweet little name: Esemeli, the Daughter of the Daughter of Light. She made a face. Well, you were, once, Nita said. Don t patronize me. I was the Star of the Morning! the Lone Power shouted. I was a Power among Powers. I was what quasars are a watered-down version of; the light of me denatured space when I had cause to turn it loose! Daughter of the daughter of… She made an annoyed gesture and muttered off into silence. And now it comes to this, Esemeli said after a moment, that you two come along and I have to ask you to She rubbed her face with one hand. Nita and Kit waited, but nothing further seemed to be forthcoming. Finally, Nita said, You have to ask us to what You know what s wrong here, It said. Something s missing. They made it impossible for themselves to achieve it. But they re not a whole species without it…not really. She smiled. And the funny thing is, I even warned them of what they were doing. But none of them believed me. Well, maybe one. Esemeli s expression darkened. Then the look passed. But they froze their species nature in place when they made their Choice; they walled it away from any possible assault. Either from me or from other sources. Meaning good ones, Nita thought. And you can t do anything to them, either. I couldn t do anything to them a hundred thousand years ago, It said, just barely annoyed. You saw it! They made their Choice and rejected me in about fifteen minutes. It happens…but I don t often get invited to stick around afterward. I saw what they did to themselves…or failed to do. Afterward, I couldn t do anything but sit here and wait for help to arrive. And you re finally here. You took long enough, by the way. Can we get on with this They looked at each other. Before we ask you what we should get on with, Kit said, tell us why we should believe anything you say! After everything we ve been through with you Atomic explosions, Nita said. Stars going nova or snuffed out. Being chased all over two different Manhattans by you and your homemade monsters! Nearly being eaten by sharks, Kit said. Losing Nita s mom. The Lone Power actually looked bored, and waved one hand in a Spare-me gesture. You ve been through all that, It said. I admit it. But not with me. Listen. It sounded more annoyed as It saw the glance Kit threw Nita. Why are you going to give me trouble about this It s not just in your world that there have been changes. I ve had my share of them. Huge ones…which you were deeply involved in, you and your sister. How is she, by the way Grounded, Nita said. You should count yourself lucky. Otherwise, she d be here instead of us, and she d have fried you to a crisp already, just on general principles. No, I doubt that, the Lone One said. For one thing, she s well off her peak power by now, and dealing with all kinds of trouble secondary to that. For another thing, she wouldn t have been sent here. She wouldn t have been the beginning of the answer to the Alaalids problem. Whereas you two are… unfortunately for me. They would send me someone with whom I have so much history. It looked disgusted. Just common pettiness, that s all it is with Them… Nita threw Kit a glance. The Lone One sat there for a moment, drumming Its fingers on the arm of Its severely plain throne. You know how the shift in me happened, a while ago, the Lone One said. You two and Dairine were simply party to a change of nature that the Powers That Be and just about all of creation had been pushing on me for aeons…slowly wearing me down until the last big push came. You just happened to be part of the breakthrough, part of the point of the spear. Because you live in Time, it looks to you like that was a thing that happened then and was over with, whereas outside of Time, the event both happened aeons ago and is still happening. It gave them a look, seeing their expressions. Sorry, even the Speech doesn t have some of the syntax needed to talk about this kind of thing. Or it does, but since you re still stuck inside Time, you can t parse it…Anyway, I did tell you at the time that there would be shadows of me around for a long, long while, doing what they ve always done. That s part of the nature of time in physical universes; it helps things persist. The Lone One looked resigned. We shadows all partake of the nature of the Power that casts us, but in different degrees, according to the local lighting. Some are darker, more aggressive than others…fighting the final realization of the shift, trying to make it take as long as possible. It smiled slightly. The one that went after your mother, for example: That one was pretty proactive, or maybe I should say abreactive. Others have been less effective. Like the one of you who came after our buddy Darryl a few months ago, Kit said. The Lone One waved Its hand again, looking annoyed this time. When it comes right down to it, there s not a lot you can do to someone like that, a creature the One s using as a direct power conduit, It said. They tend to be too contaminated with innocence, anyway. Assaulting them is like beating your head against the wall. I d have thought that fragment of myself would have been smarter to cut its losses and go after an easier target. It laughed a little breath of laughter. Small loss. That s not my problem. No, Kit said. Your problem is that you re stuck here. The Lone One looked more annoyed than before. Yes, It said, you would notice that. And doubtless it s going to amuse you all out of proportion that I m going to ask for your help in getting out of here. Nita s eyes widened. Oh, sure, she said, we turn you loose and you go manifest on some other planet and make their lives miserable… Esemeli gave Nita a look that suggested she needed her brain augmented. I m already everywhere, the Lone One said. I don t have to go anyplace. What you need to get through your heads is that this particular manifestation has had its turn to do its job, and has failed. I offered the Alaalids their Choice, and they turned me down. And that was that. There s a little more to it than that, Neets! Kit said silently. I believe you. But don t interrupt It! It s on a roll; It might drop something useful… I mean, look around you! the Lone One said. Does this look like a place where I ve been particularly successful It actually sounded aggrieved, which could have made Nita burst out laughing had she not had the creeps about this whole situation. And then, the Lone Power said, to add insult to injury, when they realized I was stuck here, they built me this place so I d have somewhere to stay! They felt sorry for me. For just a moment Its eyes held a hint of the kind of balked fury that Nita was used to seeing in the Lone Power. This faded, but what it faded into was a glint of nasty amusement that, though much less intense than the first expression, still looked natural on Its face. The joke, though, is that the Alaalids missed something when they made their Choice, It said. What s even funnier is that they brought it on themselves. And you noticed it, didn t you It looked at Nita. Yeah, she said after a moment. I spent some time feeling around for this world s kernel, its heart. And I can t find it. It s been hidden a lot more securely than they usually are…and besides, there s something else that s not right about it. Something s missing. You are smart for a mortal sometimes, the Lone One said. It s a real pity you won t see things my way: We could do well together. Nita bristled. Well, it doesn t matter. I offered the Alaalids eternal life, as usual. Unfortunately, they were smart enough not to buy into that one. Esemeli glanced briefly upward in annoyance. And they realized that since they were physical beings, they were going to need time to move through, as well. So they also didn t make the mistake of trying to shut entropy out of their world-system entirely. A shame…I ve had endless fun with the species that ve tried that approach. Literally endless. The Lone One smiled. Nita shivered. But then they tried to do an end run around me, instead. They worked a wizardry on their world s kernel, the purpose being to freeze or lock down the other, lesser side effects of entropy, besides mere timeflow, everywhere in this whole pocket of space-time. And you can t do that. Why not Because one of those lesser side effects, on the macrocosmic level, is change, the Lone One said. They didn t foresee the consequences to themselves. Did I say, You can t do that I meant, you can, but it s stupid. And after they set that wizardry into their kernel, it was too late for them to do anything about it. There s some room for small, personal change…just. But as for the big changes that every species needs to go through every now and then, to avoid stagnating and just dying away those are all shut away from them. They can t evolve. And you ve seen what their world s become as a result! It hardly even counts as a world anymore. It s a theme park. They ve turned it into Nice Land. Kit gave the Lone One a dry look. You wouldn t have a lot of time for nice, of course. So forgive me if I think your opinion s a little biased. It gave Kit an annoyed look. All right, so I m ambivalent, the Lone One said. But isn t ambivalence preferable to pure evil Kit considered that one for a moment. See You re buying it already, the Lone One said. I was getting bored with absolute evil, anyway. I find that you can do a lot more damage with ambivalence…and it s not as easily detectable from a distance, not anywhere near as memorable. Pure evil sticks out the way pure anything sticks out in a world full of mixtures and melanges and shades of gray. Ambivalence can be discounted, or explained away, or mistaken for confusion or a mind not completely made up yet. Sometimes it really is… Kit said. Oh, sure. But how often The rest of the time, in humans, it s usually more about the refusal to make a choice. People are eager to excuse it, though. Ambivalence is seen as a sign of maturity, whereas actually taking a stance on one side or another is easy to describe as simplistic…or juvenile. It smiled that nasty, sarcastic smile again. Nita looked at It and asked herself, as she had been doing about once every ten seconds during this conversation, how likely the Lone One was to be telling the truth at any given moment. Yet it really did go through some kind of transformation at the end of Dairine s Ordeal, she thought. Other Powers told us It has the chance to be otherwise now. I m getting bored with absolute evil could that be the beginning of a change Whether it is or not, it s still important to be careful! Let me get this straight, Nita said, You re telling us that in some ways, entropy would have been at the root of that big species-wide change. And when they froze it, or locked it down, they locked you in. Esemeli looked at Nita with those ironic golden eyes and smiled. Nita shivered again. The point is, It said after a moment, these people don t need to be physical anymore. They ve passed all the tests and dealt with all the issues that rise out of the life that spirit lives when trapped inside matter. The Lone Power made little whoop-de-do circles in the air with one shapely finger. In fact, they passed them quite a long time ago. So they ve long been ready for the next thing… whatever that turns out to mean for them. But they re as locked in now as I am. Alaalu needs to be made unsafe again. Once that happens, they can move on. To what How should I know the Lone One said, Its tone suddenly shifting enough so that she sounded grumpy. With what they did to local space-time, I can t look far enough ahead to see any more. You did see once, though, Kit said. That was before they set their Choice in stone, It said. They would have evolved, and become glorious and wise and powerful and all the rest of it, blah, blah, blah. It waved one hand in annoyance. And now, who knows what ll happen, after they ve kept themselves from their destiny for so long But nothing s going to happen if they don t take the kiddie gate off this part of space-time and give themselves a chance to fall down stairs like any other species. They re not going to do that, Kit said. You re a veritable fount of observation