CHAPTER 1

DON

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Four locals have been recruited and equipped. They are

waiting for the signal to commence.

They are ignorant of their mission?

They believe they have missions, but none know the true

one. They have been given a cover story relevant to their

interests. By the time they realize that the cover story is

irrelevant, they should be ready for the truth.

Contraindications ?

One is an agent of a local government.

Why is this allowed?

The recruitment brought the response of this person. It

seemed worth trying. That one can be eliminated if neces-

sary. Such involvement might prove to be advantageous.

With the fate of a world at stake?

We do not know what will be most effective. It is no more

risky than the exclusion of such persons might be.

It remains a gamble.

Any course is a gamble.

True. Proceed.

2                  Piers Anthony

Acknowledged. I will start the first one through the

phasing tunnel.

Don Kestle pedaled down the road, watching nervously

for life. It was early dawn, and the sparrows were twittering

in the Australian Pines as they waited for the picnickers, but

nothing human was visible.

Now was the time. He shifted down to second, muttering

as the chain caught between gear-sprockets and spun

without effect. He still wasn't used to this multiple-speed

bicycle, and it seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.

He fiddled with the lever, and finally it caught.

He bucked the bike over the bank and into the unkempt

grass, moving as rapidly as he could. He winced as he saw

his thin tires going over formidable spreads of sandspur,

though he knew the stuff was harmless to him and his

equipment. That was because, as he understood it, he wasn't

really here.

Soon he hit the fine white dry sand. He braked, remem-

bering this time to use the hand levers instead of embar-

rassing himself by pedaling backwards, and dismounted

automatically. Actually it was quite possible to ride over the

sand, for it could not toss this bike—but anyone who

happened to see him doing that might suspect that some-

thing was funny. A bicycle tire normally lost traction and

support, skewing badly in such a situation.

In a moment the beach opened out to the sea: typical

palm-studded Florida coastline. Seagulls were already air-

borne, raucously calling out. A sign warned NO SWIM-

MING, for there were treacherous tidal currents here. That

was why Don had selected this spot and this time to make

his cycling debut; it was least likely to harbor prying eyes.

He had been given a place and a time to be there; his exact

schedule was his own business.

MERCYCLE                 3

The tide was out. Don walked his bicycle across the

beach until he reached the packed sand near the small

breaking waves. Myriad tiny shells formed a long low

hump, and he realized that early-rising collectors could

appear at any moment. Why hadn't he thought of that

before? Yet when else could he enter the water, clothed and

on a bicycle, by daylight? He simply had to risk it.

Beyond the shell ridge, the sand was wet and smooth. He

looked carefully, both ways, as if crossing a busy intersec-

tion. Was he hoping that there would be someone, so that he

would have to call it off?

No, he wanted to do it, Don reassured himself. In any

event, his timing was such that he could not spare the hours

an alternate approach would require. He had chosen dawn at

this beach, and now he was committed. He had been commit-

ted all along. It was just that—well, a bit hard to believe. Here

he was, a healthy impetuous fair-complexioned beginning

archaeologist with a bicycle—and a remarkable opportunity.

What could he do except grasp it, though he hardly compre-

hended it?

Don remounted and pushed down hard, driving his

machine forward into the flexing ocean. The waves surged

through the wheels, offering no more resistance than air. He

moved on, feeling the liquid against his legs as the force of

gentle wind. He didn't really need more power, but he

shifted into first anyway, bolstering his confidence. It

remained hard to believe that he was doing this.

The bottom dropped, and abruptly he was coasting down

into deeper water. Too fast for his taste. Now he did

backpedal, futilely. There was no coaster brake on this

machine!

The water rose up to his thighs, then his chest, then his

neck. Still he coasted down. In another instant it was up

4                   Piers Anthony

across his face, and then it closed over his head. Don did not

slow or float; he just kept going in.

He could see beneath, now. There was a rocky formation

here, perhaps formed of shell. He would have investigated

the local marine terrain more carefully, if only he had had

time. But the whole thing had been set up so rapidly that he

had barely had time to buy his bike before going through the

tunnel. Now here he—

He realized that he was holding his breath. He forced

himself to breathe, surprised in spite of himself that he still

could do it. He had tested it by plunging his head into a tub

of water, but somehow the surging sea water had restored

his doubt. He applied his handbrakes.

The bicycle glided to a halt. Don braced it upright by

spreading his legs, and rested in place for a moment with his

eyes closed. This way he could breathe freely, for he

couldn't see the surrounding water.

Don found himself cowering. He knew he was not

physically courageous, but this seemed to be an overreac-

tion. In a moment he realized why: it was the noise.

He had somehow imagined that the underwater realm was

silent. Instead it was noisier than the land. Some was

staccato sound, some was whistling, and some was like the

crackling of a hot frying pan. Grunts, clicks, flutters,

swishes, honks, rattling chains, cackling hens, childish

laughter, jackhammers, growls, knocking, whining, groan-

ing, mouse squeaks—it all merged into a semi-melodious

cacophony. He had no idea what was responsible for the

assault, but was sure that it couldn't all be inanimate. The

nearest commercial enterprise was twenty miles away!

Could fish talk? Probably he would soon find out. It

would be no more fantastic than the other recent develop-

ments of his life.

MERCYCLE                 5

He was way under the water, standing and breathing as if

it didn't exist. How had he gotten into this?

"Well, it all started about twenty three years ago when I

was b-bom,'' he said aloud, and laughed. He was not unduly

reflective, but he did stutter a bit under tension. So maybe it

wasn't really funny.

Don opened his eyes.

He was down under, all right. He could see clearly for

perhaps twenty feet. Beyond that was just bluegreen water-

color wash. Above him, eight or ten feet, was the restless

surface: little waves cruising toward ruin against the beach.

Beneath him was a green meadow of sea grass, sloping

irregularly down.

Now that he was stationary, he did not feel the water. He

waved his hands, and they met no more resistance than they

might have in air. It was warm here: about 88° Fahrenheit

according to the indicator clipped to his bicycle. The

temperature of subtropical coastal water in summer. He

would be able to work up a sweat very quickly—unless he

chose to descend to the deeper levels where the water got

cold. He did not choose to do so, yet. Anyway, he was

largely insulated from the water's temperature, as he was

from its density. That was all part of the miracle of his

situation.

A small fish swam toward him, evidently curious about

this weird intruder. Don didn't recognize the type; he was

no expert on marine biology. In fact he didn't know much

about anything to do with the ocean. It was probably a

nondescript trash fish, the kind that survived in these

increasingly polluted waters. This one looked harmless, but

of course even the deadliest killer shark was not harmful to

him now. He was really not in the water, but in an aspect of

reality that was just about 99.9% out of phase with what he

6                  Piers Anthony

saw about him. Thus the water had the effective density of

air.

In impulse, he grabbed at the fish as it nosed within reach.

His hand closed about its body—and passed through the

flesh as if it were liquid foam. The bones of his fingers

hooked into the bones of its skeleton without actually

snagging.

Don snatched his hand away. Equally startled, the fish

flexed its body and shot out of range. There had been a kind

of contact, but not one that either party cared to repeat. No

damage done, but it had been a weird experience.

It was one thing to contemplate a reality interaction of

one part in a thousand, intellectually. It was quite another to

tangle with a living skeleton.

Well, he had been warned. He couldn't stand around

gawking. He had a distance to travel. The coordinate meter

mounted beside the temperature gauge said 27°40'—82°45'.

He had fifteen hours to reach 2700'—83015/. He had been

told that a degree was sixty minutes, and a minute just about

a mile, depending on location and direction. This sounded to

his untrained ear like a mish-mash of temperature, time, and

distance muddled by an incomprehensible variable. It

seemed that he had about thirty miles west to go, and about

forty south, assuming that he had not become hopelessly

confused. The hypotenuse would be fifty miles, per the

three-four-five triangle ratio. Easy to make on a bicycle,

since it came to only three and a third miles per hour

average speed.

Of course he probably wouldn't be able to go straight.

What was his best immediate route?

He didn't want to remain in shallow water, for there

would be bathers and boaters and fishermen all along the

coast. His depth meter showed two fathoms. That would be

twelve feet from bike to surface. Entirely too little, for he

MERCYCLE                 7

must be as visible from above as those ripples were from

b<«ow. How would a boater react if he peered down and saw

a man bicycling blithely along under the water?

But deep water awed him, though he knew that pressure

was not a significant factor in this situation. Men could

withstand several atmospheres if they were careful, and he

had been told that there were no depths in the great Atlantic

Ocean capable of putting so much as two atmospheres on

him in his phased-out state. He could ignore pressure. All of

which somehow failed to ease the pressure on his worried

mind. This business just wasn't natural.

He would take a middle course. Say about a hundred feet,

or a bit shy of seventeen fathoms. He would stick to that

contour until he made his rendezvous.

Don pushed on the left pedal—somehow that was his

only comfortable starting position—and moved out. The

seagrass reached up with its long green leaves, obscuring his

view of the sloping floor. But his wheels passed through the

weeds, or the weeds through the wheels, and so did his

body. There was only a gentle stroking sensation that

affected him with an almost sexual intimacy as plant

collided with flesh. The grass might be no denser than the

water, but it was solid, not liquid, and that affected the

contact.

He didn't like it, this naked probing of his muscle and

gut, but there was nothing he could do about it. Except to

get out of this cloying patch of feelers.

At nine fathoms the grass did thin out and leave the

bottom exposed. It needed light, and the light was dimming.

Good enough. But this had a consequence for Don, too. Just

below the surface things had looked normal, for the limited

distance he could see. Now the color red was gone. It had

vanished somewhere between three and four fathoms, he

decided; he hadn't been paying proper attention. He had a

8

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

9

red bag on his bicycle that now looked orange-brown. The

effect was eerie and it alarmed him despite his awareness of

its cause.

"S-steady," he told himself. "The water absorbs the red

frequencies first. That's all there is to it. Next orange will

go, then yellow, then green. Finally it will be completely

dark." He found his heart pounding, and knew he had

succeeded only in bringing out another fear. He just didn't

feel safe in dark water.

He had somehow supposed that the ocean floor would be

sandy and even, just like a broad beach. Instead it was a

tangled mass of vegetation and shell—and much of the

latter was living. Sponges grew everywhere, all colors

(except red, now) and shapes and sizes. His wheels could

not avoid the myriad starfish and crablike creatures that

covered the bottom in places.

But at least he was getting his depth. The indicator

showed ten fathoms, then fifteen, then twenty. Down far

enough now to make headway toward the rendezvous.

But he had to go deeper, because the contour would have

taken him in the wrong direction. He had been naive about

that; if he tried to adhere strictly to a given depth, he would

be forced to detour ludicrously. The ocean bottom was not

even; there were ridges and channels, just as there were on

land.

The medley of mysterious sounds had continued, though

he had soon tuned most of it out. Now there was something

new. A more mechanical throbbing, very strong, pulsing

through the water. Growing. Like an approaching ship.

A ship! He was in the harbor channel for the commercial

ships using the port of Tampa. No wonder he had gotten his

depth so readily.

Don turned around and pedaled madly back the way he

had come. He had to get to shallow water before that ship

came through, churning the water with its deadly screws. He

co"4d be sucked in and cut into shreds.

Then he remembered. He was out of phase with the

world; nothing here could touch him. He had little to fear

from ships.

Still, he climbed out of the way. A ship was a mighty

solid artifact. The hull would be thick metal—perhaps solid

enough to interact with his bones and smash him up

anyway. After all, the bicycle's wheels interacted with the

ocean floor, supporting him nicely. Could he expect less of

metal?

The throbbing grew loud, then terrible. There was sound

throughout the sea, but the rest of it was natural. Now Don

appreciated the viewpoint of the fish, wary of the alien

monsters made by man, intruding into the heart of their

domain. But then it diminished. The ship had passed,

unseen—and he felt deviously humiliated. He had been

driven aside, in awe of the thing despite being a man. It was

not a fun sensation.

Don resumed his journey. He followed the channel

several miles, then pulled off it for a rest break. The

coordinate meter said he had traversed only about four

minutes of his fifty, and he was tiring already. He was

wearing himself down, and he had hardly started. Cross-

country underwater hiking was hardly the joy that travel on

land-pavement was.

Wouldn't it be nice if he had a motorcycle instead of this

pedaler. But that was out of the question; he had been told,

in that single compacted anonymous briefing, that a motor

would not function in the phase. So he had to provide his

own power, with a bicycle being the most efficient trans-

portation. He had accepted this because it made sense,

though he had never seen his informant.

Something flapped toward him. Don stiffened in place,

10                 Piers Anthony

ready to leap toward the bike. He felt a chill that was

certainly not of the water. The thing was flying, not

swimming! Not like a bird, but like a monstrous butterfly.

It was a small ray, a skate. A flattened fish with broad,

undulating, winglike fins. All quite normal, nothing to be

alarmed about.

But Don's emotion was not to be placated so simply. A

skate was a thing of inherent terror. Once as a child he had

been wading in the sea, and a skate had passed between him

and the shore. That hadn't frightened him unduly at the

time, for he had never seen one before and didn't even

realize that it was really alive. But afterwards friends had

spun him stories about the long stinging tail, poisonous, that

could stun a man so that he drowned. And about the

creature's cousins, the great manta rays, big as flying

saucers, that could sail up out of the water and smack down

from above. "You're lucky you got out in time!" they said,

blowing up the episode as boys did, inventing facts to fit.

Don had shrugged it off, not feeling easy about taking

credit for a bravery he knew he lacked. But the notion of the

skate grew on him, haunting him retrospectively. It entered

his dreams: standing knee-deep or even waist-deep in a

mighty ocean, the long small beach far away, seeing the

devilfish, being cut off from escape, horrified at the ap-

proach of the stinger but afraid to wade out farther into that

murky swirling unknown. But the ray came nearer, expand-

ing into immensity, and he had to retreat, and the sand gave

way under his feet, pitching him into the abyss, into cold

smothering darkness, where nothing could reach him except

the terrible stinger, and he woke gasping and crying.

For several nights it haunted him. Then it passed, being

no more than a childish fancy he knew was exaggerated. He

never had liked ocean water particularly—but since he

didn't live near the shore, this was no handicap. For fifteen

MERCYCLE                11

years the nightmare had lain quiescent, forgotten—until this

moment.

Of course the creature couldn't get at him now, any more

than it could have in the dream. Not when its body was

phased out, with respect to him, to that one thousandth of its

actual solidity. Or vice versa. Same thing. Let it pass right

through him. Let it feel the brushing of bones.

The skate veered, birdlike—then came back unexpect-

edly. It was aware of him. Without conscious volition Don

was on the bike and pedaling desperately, fleeing a specter

that was only partly real. The thing's flesh might be no more

than a ghost to him, but that very insubstantiality enhanced

the effect. The supernatural had manifested itself.

Adrenaline gave him strength. By the time he convinced

himself that the skate was gone, he was miles farther along.

He had never been overly bold, but this episode had

certainly given his schedule a boost.

Next time, however, he would force himself to break out

his camera and take a picture. He couldn't afford to run

from every imaginary threat.

He had lost track of the channel. The meter now read

eight fathoms. He had moved about three minutes west, and

would have to bear mainly south henceforth. But he could

use some deeper water, as patches of weed still got in his

way.

But deep water was not to be found. Sometimes it was

nine or ten fathoms, but then it would shrink to six. He had

to shift gears frequently to navigate the minor hills and dales

of this benthic terrain, for he was tired. The wind—really

the currents of the water—made significant difference.

Some spots were hot, others cool, without seeming pattern.

Some were darker, too, as if polluted, but this could have

been the effect of clouds cutting off the direct sunlight.

Don was tired of this. The novelty had worn off quite

12

Piers Anthony

quickly. His time in the water had acclimated him; what

could there be in the depths more annoying than this? He cut

due west again, knowing that there had to be a descent at

some point. The entire Gulf of Mexico couldn't remain

within ten fathoms.

His legs protested, but he kept on. Miles passed—and

gradually it did get deeper. When he hit fifteen fathoms he

turned south, for he was now almost precisely north of his

target area.

There was still enough glow for him to see by, which was

good, because he didn't want to use his precious headlamp

unnecessarily. Actually this objection was nonsensical, he

realized, because it had a generator that ran from his

pedaling power. But he was still having trouble overcoming

his lifelong certainties: such as the fact that one could use a

flashlight only so long before the battery gave out. Besides,

a light might attract larger creatures. He didn't care how

insubstantial they might be; he didn't want to meet them.

Don had thought it ridiculous to enter the water fifty

miles from his destination, and doubly so to do it alone.

What did he know about the ocean? But now he was able to

appreciate the rationale. He had a lot of mundane edges to

smooth before he could function efficiently in this medium.

Better to work it out by himself, and let the others do

likewise; then they would all three be broken in and ready

to function as a team, minus embarrassments. That was the

number he had guessed; each would have a relevant

specialty for the mission. Strangers, who would get along,

perforce.

Reassured, he stopped for lunch. Actually it was only

nine a.m. and he had been under the water about three hours.

But it seemed like noon, and he needed a pretext to rest.

There was a radio mounted within the frame of his

MERCYCLE                13

bicycle. It was not for news or entertainment, but for

communication with his companions, once he had some. He

didn't see the need for it, as sound crossed over perfectly

well. But of course there could be emergencies requiring

separation of a mile or two. The radios would not tune in the

various bands of civilization, he had been told; they were on

a special limited frequency. But they should reach as far as

necessary.

Idly, he turned the ON switch. There was no tuning dial

or set of station buttons; all he would get from this thing

would be an operative hum.

"Hello," a soft feminine voice said.

Surprised, Don didn't answer.

"Hello," she repeated. Still he was silent, having no idea

what to say, or whether he should speak.

"I know your set is on," the voice said. "I can hear the

sea-noises in the background."

Don switched off. There wasn't supposed to be anybody

on the line! Especially not a woman. Who was she, and

what did she want?

By the coordinates, he had come barely ten or twelve

miles. It was hard to figure, and not important enough to

warrant the necessary mental effort. Three or four miles an

hour, average. On land, the little distance he had gone, he

was sure his rate had been double or triple that. He could

have walked as fast, down here. And with less fatigue.

No, that was not true. He had to be honest with himself.

He was carrying considerable weight in the form of food

and clothing and related supplies. He even had a small tent.

Then there was the converter: portable plumbing. And

complex miniaturized equipment to keep the humidity

constant, or something. His instrumentation was formida-

ble, That coordinate meter was no two-bit toy, either. He

had not known that such things existed, and suspected their

MERCYCLE                15

14                 Piers Anthony

cost would have been well beyond his means. Regardless of

their miniaturization, they weighed a fair amount. His

bicycle weighed about forty pounds, and the other things

might total a similar amount. Half his own weight, all told.

He would have felt it, hiking, and would not have been able

to maintain any four miles an hour.

Naturally the bike was sluggish. Even the quintuple

gearing could not ameliorate weight and terrain and inde-

cision. Once he found a good, smooth, level stretch without

weeds or shells, he could make much better time.

Even so, he was on schedule. Fortunately he was in good

physical condition, and recovered quickly from exertion.

How good his mental state was he wasn't sure; small things

were setting him off unreasonably, and he was hearing

female voices on a closed-circuit radio.

He unpacked the concentrates, having trouble finding

what he wanted. These were supposed to be packages of

things that expanded into edibility when water was added.

He had a bulb of water: a transparent pint-sized container.

There was a second pint in reserve. After that he would have

to go to recycled fluid, a prospect he didn't relish.

There were a number of things about this business that

did not exactly turn him on. But two things had over-

whelmed his aversions: the money and the chance to be

involved in something significant. The mission, he had been

told, would be done within a month, and the pay matched

what he would have had from a year with a good job in his

specialty. And if he did not agree that it was a mission he

was proud to be associated with, that pay would double. The

money had been paid in advance, in full; there was no

question about that. So he had been willing to take the rest

on faith, and to put up with the awkward details. They were,

after all, necessary; he could not drink the water of the sea

because it was both salty and phased out, and he could not

eat the food of it either. He had to be self sufficient, except

for the supplies which would be found in depots along the

way.

Don inserted the syringe into the appropriate aperture of

his food-packet and squeezed. The wrapping inflated. The

principle was simple enough; he could have figured it out

for himself if he had not been told, and there were

instructions on the packets. He kneaded it, feeling the

content solidify squishily. He counted off one minute while

it set. His meal was ready.

He tore along the seam, exposing a pinkish mass. Cherry

flavored glop, guaranteed to contain all the essential nutri-

ents known to be required by man, plus a few good guesses.

Vitamins A, B, C; P and Q; X, Y, and Z? It looked like

pureed cow brains.

Don brought it cautiously to his nose and sniffed. Worse.

Had he done something wrong? This smelled as if he had

used urine as the liquid ingredient. He would never make his

mark as a chef!

He suppressed his unreasonable revulsion and took a bite.

After all, what could go wrong with a prepackaged meal?

He chewed.

He spat it out. The stuff was absolutely vile. It tasted like

rotten cheese laced with vinegar, and his stomach refused to

believe it was wholesome. He deposited the remains in the

converter, for even this must not be wasted.

Now he had sanitary needs. The hard labor of travel had

disturbed his digestion. Or was it the experience with the

foul glop? No, neither; it was the emotional strain of

traversing the ocean floor in this remarkable phase state. He

had practiced breathing in that tank of water, just after

tunneling through, so that he had known it was feasible. But

that had hardly prepared him for the psychological impact

of pedaling a bicycle under the heaving sea.

16

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

17

He had to admit that this was an interesting adventure,

even in its bad aspects. He knew already that he would not

be demanding double pay. He had not been told he would

like every aspect, just that it would be significant, and that

it was.

He wound up with a plastic bag of substance. He

hesitated, then reluctantly deposited it, too, in the converter.

This stuff was in phase with him, and there was not much

way to replace it; it must not be wasted. The unit would

process it all, powered by a spur from his pedaling crank

just below, reducing the solids to ash and filling another pint

container with potable water.

Water, water, everywhere—how odd that he should be

immersed in it, yet have to conserve it rigidly lest he

dehydrate. There was a dichotomy about this phaseout that

he wasn't clear about. The sea was like air to him, yet it

remained the sea to its denizens. Fish could and did swim

right through him and his bicycle without falling or gasping

for gill-fluid. So it wasn't air at all, merely water at one

one-thousandth effective density. So how was he able to

breathe it? That little matter had not, in the rush, been

clarified.

Don was no chemist, but he knew that H^O did not

convert to—what was it? N40? No, air wasn't that kind of

combination, it was just a mixture of gases. Anyway, the 0,

for oxygen, in H^O could not be asssimilated for respiration.

He knew that much. Water vapor wasn't breathable. Even

the fish had to sift their oxygen from the air dissolved in

water, not the water itself. Yet even if he could have

breathed the water, he would have been getting only one

thousandth of the oxygen it contained, or maybe one

five-hundredth what he was accustomed to. That was

extremely slim pickings.

He was wasting time. He had perhaps forty miles to go

yet—a good four or five hours even on a decent surface.

Twelve hours at his present rate. Which left him no time at

all to rest or sleep. He had to keep moving.

Maybe his contact was expecting him. Was he in radio

range? He flicked the radio switch.

"Now don't turn me off," the female voice said, "before

I—" But he had already done so.

Now as he rode he tried to analyze his motive. Why did

he object to hearing from a woman? So maybe she had

somehow tuned in on this private band; that did not make

her a criminal. She evidently had some notion where he

was. What harm would there be in talking to her?

He got under way and tuned out the scenery. Not that he

had paid much attention to it so far. What had he seen,

actually? Fish, sponges, a blur of water, the shift of digits on

the meters, and the irregular terrain of the sea floor.

Somehow the radio voice seemed one with the scenery.

Both needed to be tuned out. Yet he knew that this was

nonsensical. The scenery was already over-familiar, but the

woman was a stranger. Why wouldn't he talk to her?

He realized that he couldn't blame it on the secrecy of the

mission, because he knew no secrets yet, and was not

responsible for radio security. It was the fact that she had

caught him by surprise, and that she was a sweet-voiced

young woman. That voice conjured a mental image of an

attractive creature—the kind that paid no attention to a

studious loner like him. So he had tuned out immediately,

rather than get involved and risk the kind of put-down that

would inevitably come. It was a virtually involuntary reflex.

So now he understood it. That didn't change it. He was

afraid to talk to her.

He moved, he rested, he moved less, he rested more, he

ground on, he tried another meal—and quickly fed it into

18

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

19

the converter. It couldn't be his imagination! That food was

spoiled. Fortunately his appetite was meager.

Don woke from his travel-effort oblivion to see to his

dumbfounded joy that he had picked up on his schedule and

could afford an hour's break. So he propped his bike, lay

down on the strangely solid sand, and sank into a blissful

stupor until the alarm went off. The world outside his little

sphere became as unreal as it seemed.

Just so long as he didn't miss his rendezvous. He thought

of himself as a loner, but that was mainly with respect to

women. He had been alone more than enough, in this odd

region on this strange mission.

He made it. He was on 83° 15' west longitude already, and

bearing down on 27° north latitude. It was a few minutes

(time, not distance) before nine in the morning. Nothing was

visible, of course. It was dark above, and even with his

headlight on he could not see far enough to locate anything

much smaller than an active volcano. Water in his vicinity

might feel like air, but it still dampened vision in its normal

fashion. Except that the lamp restored full color, blessedly.

Even if he could have seen for miles, the problem of

pinpoint location would be similar to that in a dry-land

wilderness. His meter was not that precise.

As his watch showed the moment of scheduled contact,

Don stood still and listened. The ever-present noises of the

sea crowded in annoyingly. Sound: there was the key. Here

in the ocean, sound traveled at quadruple its speed in air,

and it carried much better. Light might damp out, and radar,

but sound was in its element here. Make a noise in the sea

and it would be heard.

Don heard. It was the faint beep-beep of a signal no

marine creature made—he hoped. It was Morse Code. And

it had an echo: the slower arrival of the impulse through the

air of the phase?

When it paused, he answered. He did not know Morse

himself, except as a typical pattern of dots and dashes, so he

merely sounded three blasts on his whistle. After a moment

the same signal was returned.

Contact had been made.

CHAPTER 2

CASPAR

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

The first three recruits have been sent through the phase

tunnel and the fourth alerted. The mission is proceeding as

designed.

Contraindications ?

The first recruit refuses to hold a radio dialogue. This

may indicate an intellectual problem that did not manifest

itself on the initial screening. He is otherwise normal, and

seems to be pursuing the mission in good faith. The second

recruit is more assertive, and may override this attitude or

incapacity in the first. This foible does not appear to pose a

threat to the mission.

There are always peculiarities of local situations. If this

is the extent in your case, you are well off. 5-12-5-16—9 has

a suicidal recruit.

That world may be lost!

Not necessarily. A suicidal person may be in a position to

understand the loss of a world.

And may not care.

22                 Piers Anthony                       ;

True. But what we offer does seem preferable to complete    ''.

destruction.                                              '•

"Caspar Brown, marine geologist," the man said. He

was short and fairly muscular, dark-haired and swarthy and

looked to be in his mid thirties.

"Don Kestle, archaeologist," Don responded. "Mi-

noan."

The bicycles drew together and the men reached across to

shake hands. Don was phenomenally relieved to feel solid

flesh again. He found himself liking Caspar, though he had

never met the man before. At this stage he liked anything

human. The specters of his loneliness had retreated immea-

surably.

"S-so you know about the ocean," Don said, finding

nothing better as conversation fodder at the moment. He had

never been much for initiating a relationship, and hoped

Caspar was better at it.

"Almost nothing."

"W-what?"

"I know almost nothing about the ocean," Caspar said,

"compared to what remains to be discovered. I can't even

identify half these fish noises I'm hearing. They're much

louder and clearer and more intricate than normal."

Don smiled weakly. "Oh. Yes."

"That's why I welcome this opportunity to explore,"

Caspar continued, warming.' 'This way we don't disturb the

marine creatures, so they don't hide or shut up. Think of it:  s

the entire ocean basin open to us without the problems of ,

clumsy diving suits, nitrogen narcosis, or the bends."

"N-nitrogen—?"

"You know. Rapture of the deep. Nitrogen dissolves in  ;

the blood because of the pressure, and this makes the diver  |

drunk. This can kill him faster than alcohol in a driver,  I

MERCYCLE                23

because it's himself at risk, not some innocent pedestrian.

So he comes up in a hurry, and that nitrogen bubbles out of

his blood like the fizz in fresh soda, blocking blood vessels

or lodging in joints and doubling him up like—''

"You're right," Don agreed quickly. "Nice not to have

to worry."

"Hey, have you eaten yet? I've been so excited just

looking around I haven't—"

"W-well, I—" Don was abashed to admit his problem

with the food, so he concealed it. "I haven't eaten, no."

Caspar was carrying the conversational ball, and that was a

relief. Don was happy to go along, letting his compliance

pass for social adequacy. Once he knew a person, it was

easier.

"Great." Caspar hauled out his packages and chose one.

"Steak flavor. Let's see whether it's close."

Don dug out a matching flavor from his pack, not

commenting. If Caspar could eat this stuff . . .

They squeezed the bulbs and the packages ballooned.

Caspar opened his first and took a bite. He chewed. ' 'Not

bad, considering," he said. "Not close, but not bad. Maybe

it would be closer if it didn't have the texture of paste.

Better than K-rations, anyway."

Don got a grip on his nerve and opened his own. The

same rotten odor wafted out.

"Hey, is your converter leaking?" Caspar inquired.

"Not that I know of. Why?" As if he didn't know!

"That smell. Something's foul. No offense."

Wordlessly Don held out his package.

Caspar sniffed, choked, and took it from him. In a

moment it was in the converter. "You got a bad one! Didn't

you know?"

"They're all like that, I thought. I was afraid—"

"They can't be! These things are sterile. Let me check."

MERCYCLE                25

Z4                 Piers Anthony

"B-be my guest."

Caspar checked. "What a mess! I can tell without having

to use the water. Did you actually eat that stuff?"

"One bite."

Caspar laughed readily. "You've got more grit than I

have. What a rotten deal! Have some of mine."

Don accepted it gratefully. Caspar's cherry glop tasted

like cherry, and his steak like steak. Texture was something

else, but this wasn't worth a quibble at this stage.

"H-how do you think it happened?" Don asked as his

hunger abated.

' 'Oh, accident, I'd say,'' Caspar decided.' 'You know the

government. Three left feet at the taxpayer's expense. We'll

share mine, and we'll both reload at the first supply depot.

No trouble, really."

The man certainly didn't get upset over trifles. But Don

wondered what kind of carelessness would be allowed to

imperil this unique, secret mission, not to mention his life.

For a man had to eat, and they could only assimilate food

that had been phased into this state.

"Is it a government operation?" Don asked. "I thought

maybe a private enterprise."

Caspar shrugged. "Could be. I wasn't told. But some-

body went to a pretty formidable expense to set us up with

some pretty fancy equipment. If it's not the government, it

must be a large corporation. This looks like a million dollar

operation to me, apart from what they're paying us. But

you're right: the big companies get criminally sloppy too. It

could be either. Let's hope their quality control is better on t

the other stuff."                                       t

That reminded Don about the female voice on his radio.

Had it been mistuned, so that it connected to someone not

with this mission? If so, he had been right to cut off contact,

though that was not why he had done it. Obviously that

person wasn't Caspar. Did she speak on both their radios, or

only his own? Or had he imagined it? Should he ask?

Yes, he should. "D-did you t-tum on your—?"

"Say, look at that!" Caspar cried.

Don looked around, alarmed. It was a monstrous fish,

three times the length of a man, with a snout like the blade

of a chain saw.

"Sawfish," Caspar exclaimed happily. "Isn't she a

beauty! I never saw one in these waters before. But then I

never rode a bike here before, either. My scuba gear must

have scared them away. What a difference that phase

makes. Not that I'm any ichthyologist."

"I thought sea-life was your specialty."

"No. The sea bottom. I can tell you something about rock

formations, saline diffusion, and sedimentary strata, but the

fauna I just pick up in passing. I know the sawfish scouts the

bottom—see, there she goes, poking around—and some-

times slashes up whole schools of fish with that snout, so as

to eat the pieces, but that's about all. Relative of the rays, I

believe."

That ugly chill returned. The fish was horizontally

flattened, with vaguely winglike fins. It did resemble a

skate, from the right angle.

"Y-you know, w-we aren't completely apart," Don said.

"The bones—they interact—"

"Oh, do they?" Caspar asked, as if this were an

interesting scientific sidelight. As of course it was, to him.

"I suppose they would, being rigid. There has to be some

interaction, or we would sink right through the ground,

wouldn't we? In fact, I'm surprised we don't; it isn't that

solid, normally. Sediment, you know."

The sawfish vanished, and Don was vastly relieved.

"You're right! If we intersect the real world by only a

thousandth, why don't we find the sand like muck? If

26                 Piers Anthony

anything, it's harder than it should be. My tires don't sink

into it at all. And how is it we can see and hear so well? I

should think—"

"I'm no nuclear physicist, either. I have no notion how

this field operates, if it is a field—but thank God for its

existence."

"Maybe it isn't exactly a field," Don said. He was glad

to get into something halfway technical, because it was grist

for conversation, and he was curious himself. ' 'Why should

we have to ride through that tunnel-thing—you did do

that?—to enter it, in that case? But if we were shunted into

another, well, dimension—"

"Could be." Caspar considered for a moment. "Maybe

one of the others will know. I'm just glad it works."

"Others? I thought this was a party of three."

"Oh? Maybe you're right. I wasn't told, just that there

would be more than one. I thought maybe four." Caspar

seemed to sidestep any potential disagreement, inoffen-

sively. "Do you happen to know his specialty?"

"Me? That official was so tight-lipped I was lucky to

leam more than my own name. And we're not supposed to

tell each other our last names, I think."

"Necessary security, I suppose," Caspar said. "I clean

forgot. Well, you just forget mine, and I'll forget yours. Did

you get to see anyone?''

"No, it was just an interviewer behind a screen. A voice,

really; it could almost have been a recording."

"Same here. I responded to this targeted ad on my

computer, and the pay and conditions—I was about ready

for a job change anyway. I still don't know what the mission

is, but I'm already glad I'm here." He glanced at Don.

"How'd you get into this project, anyway? No offense, but

archaeology is mostly landside, isn't it? Digging trenches

through old mounds, picking up bits of pottery, publishing

MERCYCLE                27

scholarly reports? There can't be much for you, under the

sea."

"That's a pretty simple view of it," Don said, glad to

have a question about his specialty. His reticence faded

when he was in his area of competence. "But maybe close

enough. The fact is, a great many archaeologists have

combed through those mounds and collected that pottery, on

land. They've reconstructed some fabulous history. If I

could only have been with Bibby at Dilmun ..." He

sighed, knowing that the other would not comprehend his

regret. No sense in getting into a lecture. "But I came too

late. Today the major horizon in archaeology is marine, and

the shallow waters have been pretty well exploited, too. No

one knows how thoroughly the Mediterranean Sea has been

ransacked. So that leaves deep water, and I guess you know

better than I do why that's been left alone."

"Pressure," Caspar said immediately. "One atmosphere

for every thirty four feet depth. A few thousand feet

down—ugh! But I was asking about you. I don't want to

seem more nosy than I am; I just think we'd better have

some idea why and how we were picked for this mission.

Because the sea is formidable, even phased out as we are;

make no mistake about that. The depths are a greater

challenge than the moon. So it figures that the most

qualified personnel would be used."

Don laughed, but it was forced. "I—I'm the least

qualified archaeologist around. My only claim to fame is

that I can read Minoan script, more or less—and there's

precious little of that hereabouts."

"I'm not the world's most notable marine geologist,

either," Caspar agreed. "Any major oil company has a

dozen that could give me lessons. But what I'm saying is

that for this project, they should have used the best, and they

could have, if they cared enough, because they evidently do

28                 Piers Anthony

have the money. Instead they placed little ads and hired

nonentities like us, and maybe we aren't quite even in our

specialties. You're—what was it?"

"Minoan. That's ancient Crete."

"And I specialize in marine impact craters. Want to know

what there're none of, here in the Florida shallows? If they

had taken us down to the coast of Colombia, as I had

hoped—" He shrugged.

"What's there?" Don asked.

"You don't know? No, I suppose that's no more obvious

to you than Crete is to me. That's where we believe the big

one splashed down: the meteor that so shook up the Earth's

system that it wiped out the dinosaurs."

"The extinction of the dinosaurs!" Don exclaimed.

"Right. But the site has about sixty five million years

worth of sediment covering it. So it will take an in

depth—no pun—investigation to confirm it, assuming we

can. But instead of sending me there, they sent me here.

We'd have to bike across the Puerto Rico Trench to reach it,

which is pointless and probably impossible. So either they

have some lesser crater in mind for me, or they don't care

whether I see a crater at all. I'm out of specialty, just as you

are. See what I mean?"

Don nodded soberly. "Maybe we're expendable."

"Maybe. Oh, I'm not paranoid about it. This phase thing

is such a breakthrough that I'd sell my watery soul for the

chance, and I think I mean that literally, to explore the ocean

floor at any depth, unfettered by cumbersome equipment—

that's the raw stuff of dreams. But why me? Why you?"

"I can't answer that," Don said. "All I can do is say how

I'm here. I wasn't the bright boy of my class, but I was in

the top quarter, with my main strength in deciphering. The

lucrative foundations passed me up, and anyway, I wanted

to go into new territory. Make a real breakthrough, some-

MERCYCLE                29

how. Too ambitious for my own good. The prof knew it, and

he made the contact. Swore me to secrecy, told me to buy

myself a good bicycle and ride it to the address he gave

me—well, that was two days ago, and here I am."

"You're single?"

"All the way single. My father died about five years ago,

and my mother always was sickly—no s-sense going into

that. I've got no special ties to this world. Maybe that's why

the ancient world fascinates me. You, too?"

"Pretty much. Auto accident when I was ten. Since then

the sea has seemed more like home than the city. So nobody

is going to be in a hurry to trace down our whereabouts. I

think I see a pattern developing. We must have had

qualifications we didn't realize."

"Must have," Don agreed. "But you know, it's growing

on me too. I don't know a thing about the sea, or even about

bicycles, but I do know that the major archaeological

horizon is right here. Not that I have the least bit of training

for it. I guess I just closed my mind to the notion of going

to the sea. But now that I'm in it—well, if I have to risk my

life using a new device, maybe it's worth it. All those

ancient hulks waiting to be discovered in deep water—"

"Sorry. No ancient hulk is in the ocean," Caspar said.

"Not the way you're thinking, anyway. Ever hear of the

teredo?"

"No."

"Otherwise known as the shipworm, though it isn't a

worm at all. It's a little clam that—"

"Oh, that. I had forgotten. It eats wood, so—"

"So pretty soon no ship is left. Modem metal hulks, yes;

ancient wood hulks, no."

"What a loss of archaeology," Don said, mortified. "I

could wring that clam's neck."

Piers Anthony

30

Caspar smiled. "Of course the ship's contents may

survive. Gold lasts forever underwater, and pottery—"

"Pottery! That's wonderful!" Don exclaimed.

For the first time Caspar showed annoyance. "I'm just

telling you what to expect."

"I wasn't being sarcastic. Pottery is a prime tool of

archaeology. It breaks and gets thrown away, and so it

remains for centuries or millennia, undisturbed, every shard

a key to the culture that made it. Who wants broken

pottery—except an archaeologist? There is hardly a finer

key to the activities of man through the ages."

Caspar gazed at him incredulously, or so it seemed in the

fading light of the headlamps, whose reservoirs were

running down now that the bikes were stationary. "It really

is true? You do collect broken plates and things? You value

them more than gold?"

"Yes! Gold is natural; it tells little unless it has been

worked. But pottery is inevitably the handiwork of man. Its

style is certain indication of a specific time and culture.

Show me a few pottery shards and let me check my

references, and I can tell you where and when they were

made, sometimes within five or ten miles and twenty years.

It may take time to do it, but the end is almost certain."

Gaspar raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay,

friend. If we find a wreck, I'll take the gold and you take the

broken plates. Fair enough?"

"I'll have the better bargain. You can't keep the gold, by

law, unless it's in international waters; but the shards could

make me famous."

"You archaeologists may be smarter than you look!"

"I should hope so."

Gaspar smiled. "Let's sack out. We've got a long ride

tomorrow, I fear."

"What's the position?"

MERCYCLE

31

"The coordinates for the next rendezvous? I thought you

had them."

"N-no. Only this one. The same one you had, it seems, so

we could meet."

Gaspar tapped his fingers on his coordinate meter. "What

a foul-up! They should have given one of us the next set."

Don's eyes were on Caspar's fingers, because he couldn't

meet the man's eyes. "I guess I should have asked. I just

assumed—" He paused. Next to the meter was the radio. He

had been about to ask Gaspar about that, when they had

been interrupted by the sawfish. "Maybe the—did you

check your radio?"

Gaspar snapped his fingers. ' 'That must be it. I just came

out here, gasping at the sea-floor and fish, never thinking of

that." He flicked his switch.

"Leave it on!" the female voice cried immediately.

Startled, Gaspar looked down. Unlike Don, he was not

dismayed, and he did not turn it off. "Who are you?"

Don kept silent, relieved to have the other man handle it.

Maybe he should have had more confidence in his own

judgment about both this and the bad glop, but he couldn't

change his nature.

"I'm Melanie. Your next contact. Why haven't you

answered before?"

"Sister, I just turned on my set for the first time! What

are your coordinates?"

"I'm not going to give you my coordinates if you're

going to be like that," she responded angrily.

"M-my fault," Don said, "I—I heard her voice, and

thought—no one told me it would be a woman."

Caspar looked at him, comprehending. Then his mouth

quirked. "Give with the numbers, girl," he said firmly to

the radio, "or I'll turn you off for the night. Understand?"

She didn't answer. Caspar reached for the switch.

32 Piers Anthony MERCYCLE 33

"Eighty one degrees, fifty minutes west longitude," she

said with a rush, as if she had seen him. "Twenty six

degrees, ten minutes north latitude."

"That's better," Gaspar said, winking at Don. "What's

the rendezvous time, Melanie?"

"Twenty four hours from now," she said. "You did

make it to the first rendezvous point?''

"Right. We're both here. Just wanted you to know who's

in charge. Don, turn yours on so we can all talk."

Don obeyed. Caspar had covered nicely for Don's prior

mismanagement of the radio, and he appreciated it. Why

hadn't he realized that the woman could be one of their

party? He had simply assumed without evidence that it was

to be three males. Maybe he just hadn't wanted to face the

prospect of working with a woman, especially a young one.

He wished he could do something about his shyness.

"A day," Gaspar said. "Ten miles an hour for twelve

hours, cumulative, and we can sleep as much as we want.

That's in the vicinity of Naples, Florida, you see."

Don hoisted up his nerve. "Are—are you—have you

gone through the tunnel already? You're in phase with us?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm still on land, but I'll come into

the water at the right time to meet you there."

"D-do you have the coordinates for the next one?"

"Yes, for all of them. I'm your coordinate girl. But I'm

allowed to tell only one rendezvous point at a time. You just

be thankful you've got company. I'm alone. That is, alone

in phase. It's weird."

"Wish you were here," Gaspar said generously.

"Did they tell you what the mission is?" Melanie asked

him.

"Nope. They told us no more than you. I answered an ad,

believe it or not, and they checked my references—which

were strictly average, and sent me out to get a bike. Same as

you, probably."

"Yes," she agreed.

"I think this secrecy kick is overdone."

"It certainly is," Melanie agreed. "I never even applied,

actually. But here I am."

"There must be some rationale," Don said. "I'm archae-

ological, you're geological, she's—"

"Hysterical," Melanie said.

"The next member is mechanical, I hope," Gaspar said.

"Suppose the phase equipment breaks down when we're a

mile under? Do you know how to fix it?"

"N-no." Don shuddered. "I wish you h-hadn't brought

that up."

"We're going to click out for about five minutes,

Melanie," Gaspar said. "Nothing personal. Man business."

Before she could protest, he turned his set off, gesturing

Don to do the same.

"Your stutter," Gaspar said then. "Does it affect your

decision-making ability in a crisis? I wouldn't ask if I didn't

suspect that my life may be subject to your ability to act, at

some point."

Don could appreciate why Gaspar had an undistinguished

employee record. He was too blunt about sensitive issues.

"N-no. Only the v-vocal cords. Only under stress."

"No offense. Ask me one now."

"Not n-necessary," Don said, embarrassed.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway. My friends—of which I have

surprisingly few—all tell me I'm nice but stubborn and

sometimes insensitive. The less tenable my position, the

worse I am. They say."

Don shrugged in the dark, not knowing the appropriate

response.

"So if it's something important, don't come out and tell

34                 Piers Anthony

me I'm crazy, because if I am I'll never admit it. Tell me

I'm reasonable, jolly me along—then maybe I'll change my

mind. That's what they say they do."

"Okay!" Don didn't laugh, because he suspected this

was no joke. Gaspar had given him fair warning.

They turned on their radios again. "Okay, Melanie,"

Gaspar said. "We're turning in now. No point in leaving the

sets on; might run 'em down, and anyway, all you'd hear

would be snoring."

"Oh," she said, sounding disappointed. "I suppose so. I

need to sleep too. I've been hyper about listening for the

contact, but now it's done. They do run down; you have to

keep the bike moving, for the radio, too. Check in the

morning, will you? I do get lonely."

Don felt sudden sympathy for her. She sounded like a

nice girl, and Gaspar was treating her rather callously. Did

he have something against women?

"Good enough," Gaspar said, clicking off again. Don

reluctantly followed suit. Now that the ice had been broken,

he would have liked to continue talking with Melanie. But

of course he would be meeting her tomorrow, and they

would be able to talk without the radio. If his nerve did not

disappear in the interim.

It was hard to sleep, though he was quite tired. Don had

never cycled such a distance before, and the muscles above

his knees were tense, and the rest of his body little better off.

The tiny ripples against his face that were all he could see

or feel of small fish swimming disturbed him by their

incongruity and made him gasp involuntarily. The temper-

ature bothered him as well; he was accustomed to a drop at

night, but here it still felt about 80°F.

"Are you as insomniac as I am?" Gaspar inquired after

a while.

"Dead tired and wide awake," Don agreed. "I'm afraid

MERCYCLE                35

I'll poop out tomorrow and miss the rendezvous, and that

doesn't soothe me much either."

"I was thinking about your inedible food. I said it was an

accident, but now it strikes me as a pretty funny mistake.

Now I wonder whether there are any other mistakes." He

paused, but Don offered no debate. "Tell me if this is

paranoid: we both have the same kind of food packs. They

should have come from the same batch. Could yours have

been deliberately spoiled?"

Don's jaw dropped. He was glad he could not be seen.

' 'That does seem farfetched. What would be the point?''

"To test us, maybe. See just how resourceful we are."

"Why should anyone care? We're just ordinary folk."

"White rats are selected to be absolutely ordinary. That's

the point. How would regular folk survive in a really

strange, isolated situation?"

"B-but that would be—be inhuman!"

"What do we really know of the motives of our em-

ployer?"

"B-but to just assume—"

"So it's paranoid."

"But m-maybe we should keep a good watch out," Don

said. He had been shaken by Caspar's conjecture; it had a

horrible kind of sense. If there were dangerous new condi-

tions to test with uncertain equipment, how would a

company get volunteers? Maybe exactly this way.

"That's my notion. I don't think it's the case, but there's

this ugly bit of doubt in my mind, and I thought I'd discuss

it with you in private before we join the lady."

"Th-thanks," Don said without irony.

After that he did drop off to sleep, as if the awful notion

had actually eased his mind. Maybe it merely gave his fears

something more tangible to chew on.

36

Piers Anthony

In the dark morning they ate again and moved out. They

gradually ascended, but the slope was generally slight and

Don found himself moving better than he had. Caspar's

presence seemed to give him strength; perhaps he had been

dissipating some of his energy in nervous tension, and now

was more relaxed. Or maybe it was that Caspar seemed to

have a knack for picking out the easiest route. That made

sense; the man was conversant with the sea, after all.

As the day ended, they were back in the offshore

shallows, having traveled a hundred and twenty miles in

about ten hours of actual riding time.

Now it was time to rendezvous with Melanie. Don felt his

muscles tightening. It had become excruciatingly important

to him that she match his nebulous mental image of her. He

might be riding hundreds of miles with her. Suppose—?

Caspar turned on his radio. "You there, Melanie?"

"Yes," she replied immediately. "Are you close?"

"Close and closing," Caspar said.

The next contact was upon them.

CHAPTER 3

«

MELANIE

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Situation developing. First recruit has discovered his

defective food supplies, and the second recruit conjectures

that this was an intentional lapse. They suspect that it is a

test of their survival skills. They are now linking with the

third recruit.

Each recruit has a liability?

Yes. The third recruit's liability is inherent; I did not need

to interfere with her situation.

This seems like a devious way to convert a world.

The direct approach has been known to fail.

Apology, Proxy; it is your show. Proceed as you see fit.

I have no assurance that this approach will work. Only

hope. Much depends on the interaction of the recruits, and

how they react when they leam the truth.

True.

They zeroed in on Melanie, proceeding from radio range

to voice range, until she came into sight. She was a figure in

a blouse and skirt, standing with a loaded bicycle.

37

38

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

39

A skirt, under the sea? But Don realized that his reaction

was mistaken; a skirt was as sensible as any other clothing,

here in this phased state.

As they came up, he saw that not only was she female,

she was quite attractively so. She was not voluptuous, but

was very nicely proportioned in a slender way. Her face was

framed by curls so perfect they could have been artificial,

and was as pretty as he had seen.

All of which meant that it would be almost impossible for

him to talk to her. This was exactly the kind of woman who

had no business noticing a man like him.

"Well, hello Melanie!" Caspar said without any diffi-

culty. "I'm Caspar, and this is Don."

"I recognize you by your voice," she said. She turned

her eyes on Don. They were as green as a painting of the

sea. "Hello, Don."

He tried. "H-h-hel—" He gave up the effort, chagrined.

She smiled. "Were you the one who kept cutting me

off?"

Don nodded, miserable.

"Because you were shy?"

He nodded again.

"That's a relief! It makes me a whole lot less nervous

about meeting you. I thought maybe you had a grudge."

"N-no!" Don protested.

"You're like me: single, unemployed, no prospects?"

"Y-yes." She had answered a question he had been too

timid to ask, while seeming to ask one. But Don was unable

to follow up on the conversational gambit.

"What's the coordinate for the next person?" Caspar

asked when a silence threatened to develop.

"Twenty four degrees north latitude, thirty minutes," she

said immediately. "Eighty one degrees, fifty minutes west

longitude. Twenty four hours from now."

"Key West," Caspar said. "We'll have to move right

along, but we can do it." He looked around. "That's just

about due south of here, but it should be easier riding

downhill. Why don't we coast out to deep water where it's

cooler? That way we'll make some distance, even if it isn't

directly toward Key West, and we can sleep when we can't

stay awake any more."

Melanie shrugged. "Why not? As long as you know how

to find the way. I memorized the coordinates, but I don't

have much of a notion what they mean."

Don was glad to agree. His earlier fear of the deeps

seemed irrelevant, now that he had company. Caspar would

not have made the suggestion if he had thought there was

any danger, and the man did know something about the

ocean.

"Of course we're a good distance from the edge of the

continental shelf," Caspar continued as he started moving.

Melanie fell in behind him, and Don followed her. It was

easier to hear him even at some distance, because of the

carrying capacity of the water. "Too far to get any real

depth. But we might make it forty or fifty fathoms. Extra

mileage but easier going. Worth it, I'd say."

That reminded Don of something. "Key West—how did

you figure that out? Do you have a map?'' He was able to

speak more readily to Caspar than to Melanie.

"I know the coordinates of places like that. Same way

you know types of pottery, I suppose. Nothing special."

"Oh." Stupid question.

"You know pottery?" Melanie asked.

"Y-yes. I-I'm an a-arch-archaeologist."

"I envy you. I have no training at all. I don't know why

they wanted me here."

Ahead, Caspar turned on his headlight. They followed

suit. The trend was down, and it did make the cycling easier,

40                 Piers Anthony

which was a relief. Melanie might be fresh, but Don wasn't.

The temperature did seem to be dropping.

She had spoken to him, and Don wanted to answer. But

it remained difficult. What could he say about her lack of

training?

Caspar saved him the trouble. "I'm a marine geologist,

and he's an archaeologist, but we're both out of our

specialties here, so we're essentially amateurs. We thought

we were selected for our skills, but that may not be the case.

Maybe we just happened to be available. Were you out of

work, Melanie?"

"Yes. But I didn't even apply. I just got a phone call

telling me that there was a job for me that would be

interesting and challenging and paid well. I was sus-

picious, but it did seem to be an opportunity, and the more

I learned about it, the more intriguing it seemed. So here I

am."

They rode twenty miles southwest before quitting. Don

felt ashamed for looking, but he admired Melanie's form

during much of that travel. It was easy to watch her, because

she was right ahead of him. He wondered why she had been

both out of work and unmarried. She should have been able

to get work as a receptionist readily enough, and any man

she smiled at would have been interested.

Gaspar called a halt at what he deemed to be a suitable

location. Then they broke out the rations, and Melanie

learned about Don's bad food and expressed sympathy, and

shared hers with him. She was very nice about it, not

prompting him to talk.

They took turns separating from the group in order to

handle natural functions. This was in one sense pointless, as

each person was self contained in this respect, but the

protocol of privacy seemed appropriate to accommodate the

MERCYCLE                41

Then they lay down beside their bicycles for sleep, in a

row of three, Melanie in the middle. Don lay awake for a

while, appreciating the proximity of the woman though he

knew her interest in him was purely that of mission

associate. Then he slept, for suddenly the night-period

passed.

They proceeded to a point seventy five miles west of Key

West, moving well. "To avoid the coral reefs," Gaspar

explained. "We'd have to cross them, otherwise, to get to

the rendezvous, and it's a populated area. No sense scaring

the fish there, either. Also, it's cooler and less cluttered here

in deeper water."

"You're the geologist," Melanie agreed.

Indeed, he was. Their depth had, in just the past few

miles, changed from forty fathoms to two hundred, and the

coasting had allowed Don to recover some strength in the

legs. He had seen the colors change from orange to green to

blue-black, and the headlights were now necessary at any

hour. The fish, too, had changed color, whether by the dim

"daylight" or the headlamps. First they were multicolored,

then two-tone—black above, light below—and finally sil-

very.

Camouflage, he decided. Near the surface all colors

showed, so color was used to merge with the throng. Farther

down only the silhouettes showed from below, so the

bottoms were light to fade into the bright surface, and

the tops dark to fade into the nether gloom when viewed

from above. In the truly dim light, color didn't matter

much.

But the crawling crustaceans had become bright in the

depth, and he saw no reason for that. Unless they used color

to identify themselves to each other, like women with pretty

42                  Piers Anthony

clothing. Maybe they were not easy for fish to eat, so did not

have to hide.

"However, we should keep alert," Gaspar said. "There

aren't many dangerous things on the Gulf side of Florida,

and you can't fall off the shelf. But here below the Keys

we'll hit deep water."

"I noticed," she said.

"I mean five hundred to a thousand fathoms—on the

order of a mile. We're still fairly high."

"D-dangerous things?" Don managed to inquire.

"Living things can't touch us, of course. But rough

terrain might."

They didn't talk any more, because now they were

climbing, gradually but steadily. Don shifted down to

second, then to first, and that gave him plenty of power.

Melanie had only three gears, and was struggling. Caspar,

who had just the one ratio, stopped.

"Tired?" Don called, surprised, for Caspar had seemed

indefatigable despite his lack of gearing. Don had survived

only because of those five speeds.

"Broken chain," Caspar said.

So it was. "Too bad," Don said. "But not calamitous.

You have a spare chain, don't you?"

"Do. But I want to save that for an emergency."

"This is an emergency. You can't ride without a chain."

"I'll fix this one."

"But that will take time. Better to use the spare, and fix

the other when there's nothing to do."

"No, I'll replace the rivet on this one."

"But you don't have t-tools."

"I have a pen knife and a screwdriver and a bicycle

wrench," Caspar said, taking out these articles and laying

them on the ground beside the propped bicycle. "Haven't

done this since 1 was a kid, but it's not complicated."

MER.CYCLE                 43

"B-but it's unnecessary."

Caspar ignored him and went to work on the chain.

Belatedly Don remembered the warning about stubborn-

ness. He had been arguing instead of thinking, and now he

was stuttering, and Caspar had tuned him out. His first

"but" had probably lost his cause, and he wasn't certain his

cause was right. Why not fix the chain now? They did have

time for that, and he needed a rest. The muscles of his legs

were stiff again.

He saw that Melanie was being more practical: she was

lying beside her bicycle, squeezing in all the rest for her legs

she could. Her skirt had slid up around her full thighs. Oh,

her limbs looked nice!

Don returned his gaze to Caspar's bicycle, before he

started blushing or stuttering worse. He tried a new ap-

proach. "A chain shouldn't break like that. It must have

been defective, or—"

"Oh, it can happen. Stone tossed up—"

"Here?"

Caspar laughed. "Got me that time! Stone couldn't do

much unless it was phased in. But this is an old bike—I

never was one to waste money, even if Uncle Sam or

whoever pays the way. Ten dollars, third hand. Got to

expect some kinks."

Ten dollars! A junker would have charged that to haul

the thing away! Yet it was now loaded with what might

be a hundred thousand dollars worth of specialized

equipment. "S-so you don't think that anyone—" But it

sounded silly as he said it. How could anyone sabotage a

third-hand bicycle that hadn't yet been bought? And

what would be the point? It was obvious that it could

readily be fixed, so that was no real test of the man's

survival skills.

44                 Piers Anthony

He walked his own bike back to where Melanie lay,

wishing he had the courage to start a dialogue with her.

He turned around so that he would not be peering at her

legs when he lay down, though he wished he could do that

too.

"I heard," she said, though he had not spoken to her.

"What's this about something happening?"

Don managed to get his mouth going well enough

to explain about the possibility of sabotage. "But it was

just a conjecture," he hastened to say. "Probably

p-paranoia."

"I'm into paranoia," she said, surprising him.

"You are? Why?"

"Maybe some time I'll tell you. For now, just take my

word: I'm more diffident about people than you are, for

better reason."

"You?" He was incredulous.

"Oh, I shouldn't have said that. Let's change the sub-

ject."

"I—I can't find a subject."

She laughed, tiredly. "Then I'll find one. It's nice talking

to you, Don. So much better than waiting around for the

radio to sound, with a pile of books and packages of ugh-y

food."

He chuckled, surprised that he was now able to do that in

her presence. She was making him feel more at ease than he

had a right to be.

He glanced at Caspar. The chain was still off, and the

man was doing something with the little screwdriver

and pliers. It would be a while more before the job was

done.

"Y-you were just waiting?"

"For you, yes. Two days. But my life was much the same

before that, mostly alone. Books are great company, but I

MERCYCLE                45

would have enjoyed them more if I'd had live companions.

So when I took this job, hoping my life would change, and

then for two days it was just more of the same, well, I had

to do something."

"I-I can't believe you were alone!"

"I could make you believe, but I don't want to." She

rolled to her side and angled her head to face him. "You're

really interested, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"I'll try to explain. When I was just waiting for you, I

walked down to the beach."

"The beach?"

"In the early morning, when no one was around. I didn't

want anyone to see me, because of the phase."

"I know. I came into the water at dawn."

She laughed again. "Here I'm telling you something

that's not meant to be understood, and you're understand-

ing."

"I—uh—"

"Don't apologize! It's not meant to be understood, just

felt. But you feel it too, don't you?"

"Yes." This conversation was becoming odder and more

comfortable. He could lie here forever, talking with her like

this, his shyness ebbing.

"I enjoyed the beach," she continued. "It was raining.

Just a little cool. There was a stiff wind—I couldn't really

feel it, but I saw the sea-oats leaning. I just had to go out and

walk along the surf a way. Right near the edge of the water.

In my bare feet. Except there wasn't anything to feel, it's

just sort of neutral in phase, and I had to walk the bicycle

right along. You know—so I could breathe. That's one thing

that doesn't wind down when the bike stops moving: the

oxygen field. Lucky thing, or we'd never be able to rest or

sleep. Batteries, I guess, that recharge for that. I tried to

46 Piers Anthony

breathe away from the bike, and couldn't. I'm married to the

bike, now. We all are."

"Yes."

"So I had to pretend. I had the whole beach to myself

with only the gulls for company. They stood on the sand

racing the wind. I saw a horseshoe crab, and I tried to pick

it up—it was the first horseshoe crab I had ever seen."

"They're not crabs," Caspar said without looking up

from his work. That surprised Don; he had thought the man

had tuned them out. "They're related to the scorpions and

are the only living members of a large group of extinct

animals. They've survived unchanged for two hundred and

fifty million years."

"All the more wonderful to behold," Melanie said. "The

beach has a powerful internal significance for me that I've

never quite been able to understand. This one I experienced

was wonderfully dramatic. They all are. I never just have

seen a beach. It's a total experience. The sand under my

feet, warmth, wind, smells, sound, and motion. The beach

just is. And I am there walking along looking for seashells

and somehow I feel that I belong there. For the moment. It

feels like something I can always come back to. Something

almost unchanged in a sea of change."

Like the horseshoe crabs, Don thought. Unchanged since

the dinosaurs. Perhaps man, when he gazed upon the beach,

remembered his ancestor who fought the extraordinary

battle to free himself from the grip of the sea, and this was

that battleground.

' 'My life so easily slips into things and experiences with

labels," Melanie said. "But the beach somehow for me

always slips the compass of a label and asserts the primacy

of existence." She paused. "If that makes sense to you."

All he could say was "Yes." It wasn't just her perspec-

tive on the beach, it was the fact that she had presented it to

MERCYCLE                47

him as a fellow human being, as if he deserved to have this

insight. What a wonderful experience!

Caspar completed his repair, and they resumed riding.

The difference between a slight decline and a slight incline

was enormous, when they were pedaling it. But they could

not go down forever. Don had been pleased at how well he

was keeping up, but now he wondered whether there was

something wrong with his own bicycle. He pushed and

pushed on the pedals, but the machine moved slowly, and he

was out of breath doing a bare five or six miles per hour.

Melanie was struggling similarly.

Caspar abruptly stopped again. This time his rear wheel

was loose, so that it rubbed against the frame with every

revolution. Thank God! Don thought guiltily, offering no

argument about repairs. He dropped to the ground and let

life soak back into his deadened limbs.

Caspar was tough. If he was tired, it didn't show. Don

had never been partial to muscle, but would have settled for

several extra pounds of it for this trip.

Melanie dropped beside him, almost touching. Even

through his fatigue, he felt the thrill. "Talk to me, Don,"

she murmured.

This time he was able to perform. "You know, Caspar

and I are both only-survivors in our families. We think

that's because our employer selected for singleness. Maybe

they don't want people wondering where we are. In case—

you know. Uh, you said you're single, but otherwise—is it

the same with you?" He had even asked her a direct

personal question!

"Almost," she said. "My father died ten years ago. He

married late. My mother was thirty five when I was born. I

haven't seen her for a couple of years. So it's the same, I

48                 Piers Anthony

guess. I'm uncommitted. But I'd be uncommitted even if I

had a massive crowd of relatives."

"You keep saying that," Don protested. "But you're

such a lovely young woman—"

She looked at him.' 'I guess I'd better take the plunge and

show you. Get it over with at the outset. That's maybe better

than having it happen by chance, as it surely will other-

wise."

"Show me what?"

"Look at me, Don." She sat up.

He sat up too, uncertain what she had in mind. He tried to

keep his eyes from the firm inner thighs that her crossed

legs showed under the skirt, but that meant he was focusing

on her evocative bosom. He finally had to fix on her lovely

face.

Melanie put her hands to her head and slid her fingers in

under her perfect hair. She tugged—and her hair came off in

a mass. It was a wig—and beneath it she was completely

bald.

Don simply stared.

"I'm hairless," she said. "All over my body. My

eyebrows are glued on, and my eyelashes are fake. It's a

genetic defect, they think. No hair follicles." She lifted one

arm and pulled her blouse to the side to show her armpit. "I

don't shave there. No need to. No hair grows." She glanced

down. "Anywhere."

Don was stunned. She had abruptly converted from a

beautiful young woman to a bald mannequin. She now

looked like an alien creature from a science fiction movie.

Her green eyes shone out from the face on the billiard ball

head, as if this were a doll in the process of manufacture.

"So now you know," the mouth in the face said.

Don tried to say something positive, but could not speak

at all. Her beauty had been destroyed, and she had been

MERCYCLE                49

made ludicrous. It might as well have been a robot talking

to him.

Caspar righted his bicycle. "Ready to go," he said. "We

shouldn't use up the batteries unnecessarily." Then, after a

pause: "Oh."

"Oh," Melanie echoed tonelessly.

"I wasn't paying much attention when it counted, it

seems," Caspar said. "Disease? Radiation therapy?"

"Genetic, from birth," she said.

"Why show us?"

"Because Don was starting to like me."

He nodded. "Hair is superficial. We know it. Now all we

have to do is believe it."

Melanie put her wig back on, and pressed it carefully into

place. It was evident that it had some kind of adhesive, and

would not come loose unless subject to fair stress. She

resumed her former appearance. But now, to Don's eyes,

she looked like a bald doll with a hairpiece. She had set out

to disabuse him of his notions of her attractiveness, and had

succeeded. Evidently she didn't want to be liked ignorantly.

They resumed travel without further comment. The

coordinates were 24020/-82°30'. Forty minutes west of their

rendezvous, ten south. Depth was one hundred fathoms.

They must have been traveling well, indeed, downhill,

before starting the laborious climb. Don was amazed to

realize that they were now beyond their target, and he had

never been aware of their passing it. They had time, plenty

of time, thank the god of the sea.

They had climbed six hundred feet in the past two miles,

and it didn't look steep, but it was grueling on a bicycle.

Now he was glad for the continued struggle, because it gave

him something other to think about than Melanie's hair. She

had figured him exactly: he was getting to like her, because

she was pretty and she talked to him. And now his building

50                 Piers Anthony

illusion had been shattered. He should have known that

there would be something like this.

Twenty miles and seventy fathoms east and up, with a

break for another bicycle malfunction—this time Don's,

whose seat had come loose and twisted sideways—the way

abruptly became steep. Gaspar, in the lead, dismounted and

walked his bike up the slope. Don and Melanie were glad to

do the same; it was a relief to change the motion.

Suddenly Don saw a rough wall, almost overhanging.

Jagged white outcroppings and brown recesses made this a

formidable barrier, and it extended almost up to the surface

of the sea.

"This is it," Caspar said with satisfaction as they drew

beside him.

"But how can we pass?" Don asked. "What is it,

anyway?''

Caspar smiled. "Coral reef. Isn't she a beauty!"

Don, not wanting to admit that he had never seen a coral

reef before, and had had a mental picture of a rather pretty

plastered wall with brightly colored fish hovering near,

merely nodded. It looked ugly to him, because he couldn't

see how they were going to get across it. There might be a

hundred feet of climbing to do, scaling that treacherous

cliff—and how were they going to haul up the bicycles?

He glanced at Melanie, who had not spoken since her

revelation. Could she be likened to a coral reef? His mental

image suddenly disabused by the reality? Unfortunately, it

was the reality that counted.

They did not have to scale the reef. Caspar merely

showed the way east, coasting down the bumpy slope to

deeper water. This was why they had come this way: to go

around the reef instead of across it. Don was now increas-

ingly thankful for Caspar's knowledge of the geography of

the sea. When they struck reasonably level sand they picked

MERCYCLE                51

up speed. They went another ten miles before he called a

halt.

"We're within a dozen miles," Caspar said, breaking out

the rations. "I guess we'd better get inside the reefs, next

chance. Rendezvous is only a couple miles out of Key

West."

"Get inside the reefs?" Don asked, dismayed. "I thought

we already went around them."

"No, only part way. But this is a better place to cross

them, I think."

"Why is the rendezvous so close to civilization?" Don

mused. "Can this next person know even less about the

ocean than I do?"

Melanie remained silent, and Caspar discreetly avoided

the implication. ' 'The reefs are rough—literally. The edges

can cut like knives, and the wounds are slow to heal. It's no

place to learn to swim, or ride. So we'll have to guide him

through with kid gloves. He probably does know less than

you—now."

A left-footed compliment! ' 'So how do we get through?''

"Oh, the reefs are discontinuous. We'll use a channel and

get into shallow water. Have to watch out for boats, though;

we'll be plainly visible in twenty foot depth." He consid-

ered briefly. "In fact, as I recall, there's a lot of two fathom

water in the area. Twelve feet from wave to shell in mean

low water, which means barely six feet over our heads.

That's too much visibility."

Don agreed. He would now feel naked with that thin a

covering of water. He was tired, and wanted neither to admit

it nor to hold up progress, but here was a valid pretext to

wait. On the other hand, he was increasingly curious about

this close-to-land member of the expedition. If the man were

not knowledgeable about the marine world, why was he

needed at all?

52

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

53

But Melanie wasn't knowledgeable either. What was her

purpose here? Unless this really was a testing situation, a

maze for average white rats. How would those rats find their

way through? How well would they cooperate with each

other? He remembered reading about a test in which a rat

could get a pellet of food by striking a button. Then the

button was placed on the opposite side of the chamber from

the pellet dispenser. Then two rats were put in the same

chamber. When one punched the button, the other got the

pellet. That was testing something other than wit or me-

chanical dexterity. Could this be that sort of test?

They cut into the reef. This time Don observed the myriad

creatures of this specific locale, and the reef began to align

better with his former mental image. The elements were

there, just not quite the way he had pictured them. The fish

in the open waters had generally stayed clear of the odd

bicycle party, probably frightened by the lights and machin-

ery, so that he had ignored them with impunity. But this

stony wall was well populated. Yellow-eyed snakes peeped

from crevices, teeth showing beneath their nostrils, watch-

ing, waiting.

Beside him, Melanie seemed no more at ease. She tried to

keep as far from the reef as possible without separating from

the human party.

Caspar saw their glances. "Moray eels," he said. "No

danger to us, phased—but if we were diving, I'd never put

hand or foot near any of these holes. Most sea creatures are

basically shy, or even friendly, and some of the morays arc

too. But they can be vicious. I've seen one tackle an

octopus. The devilfish tried to hide, but the moray got hold

of a single tentacle and whirled around until that tentacle

twisted right off. Then it ate that one and got hold of

another."

"Why didn't you do something?" Don asked. He had no

love of octopi, which were another group of childhood

nightmares, but couldn't bear the thought of such cruelty.

"I did," Caspar admitted. "I don't like to interfere with

nature's ways, but I'm not partial to morays. Actually the

thing took off when I came near. Good decision; I would

have speared it."

"The-the octopus. Did you have to—kill it? With two

arms off—"

"Course not. Tentacles grow back. They're not like us,

that way."

"I guess not," Don agreed, looking again at the morays.

They might not be quite in his phase, but he would keep

clear of them regardless. Certainly there were prettier sights.

He spied zebra-striped fish, yellow and black (juvenile

black angelfish, Gaspar said), red fish with blue fins and

yellow tails (squirrelfish), purple ones with white speckles

(jewelfish), greenish ones with length-wise yellow

striping—or maybe vice versa (blue-striped grunt), and one

with a dark head, green tail, with two heavy black stripes

between (bluehead wrasse). Plus many others he didn't call

to Gaspar's attention, because he tended to resent the man's

seemingly encyclopedic nomenclature. Melanie seemed

similarly fascinated, now that they had gotten among the

pretty fish instead of the ugly eels.

"Good thing you didn't ask me any of the difficult

ones," Gaspar said. "There's stuff in these reefs I never

heard of, and probably fish no man has seen. New species

are discovered every year. I think there are some real

monsters hidden down inside."

But the surface of the coral reef was impressive enough.

They passed a section that looked like folded ribbon

(stinging coral-stay clear), and marveled at its convolutions.

Then the reef rounded away, and they pedaled through.

Melanie almost bumped into a large ugly green fish and

54                 Piers Anthony

shied away, still not completely used to the phaseout. But

that reminded Don of something.

"We ride on the bottom because that's inanimate," he

said. ' 'The living things are phased out. But aren't the coral

reefs made by living creatures? How come they are solid to

us, then?"

"They're in the phase world," Caspar said. "They're

part of the terrain. They may not be the same reefs we see,

but they're just like them. So we have to take them

seriously. Otherwise we could have ridden straight through

them, and saved ourselves a lot of trouble."

Of course that was true. Don was chagrined for not seeing

the obvious.

They climbed into the shallows, passing mounds and

ledges and even caves in the living coral. For here it was not

rocklike so much as plantlike, with myriad flower-shapes

blooming.

Caspar halted as the ground became too uneven to ride

over. "Isn't that a grand sight?" he asked rhetorically.

"They're related to the jellyfish, you know. And to the sea

anemones."

"What are?" Don asked, perplexed.

"The coral polyps. Their stony skeletons accumulate to

form the reef—in time. Temperature has to be around

seventy degrees Fahrenheit or better, and they have to have

something to build on near the surface, but within these

limits they do well enough. They strain plankton from the

water with their little tentacles—"

"Oh? I didn't see that," Melanie said, finally speaking.

Apparently her revelation of her condition had set her back

as much as it had Don, and she had withdrawn for a time.

Now she was returning, and maybe it was just as well.

"They do it at night, mostly," Caspar explained. "We're

MERCYCLE

55

seeing only a fraction of the fish that live on the reef; night

is the time for foraging."

"You certainly seem to know a lot about sea life,"

Melanie said. "Are you sure you're a geologist?"

Caspar laughed. "You have to know something about the

flora and fauna, if you want to stay out of trouble. Sharks,

electric eels, poisonous sponges, stinging jellyfish—this

world is beautiful, but it's dangerous too, unless you

understand it."

"I believe it," she said.

"And there are practical connections to my specialty,"

Caspar continued, gazing on the coral with a kind of bliss.

"I could mistake coral for a limestone rock formation, if I

didn't study both. Actually it is limestone—but you know

what I mean. It tells me about historical geology, too.

Because of the necessary conditions for the growth of coral.

If I spy a coral reef in cold water, and it's five hundred feet

below the surface—"

"Say!" Don exclaimed, catching on. "Then you know

that water was once seventy degrees warm, and that the land

was higher."

"Or the sea lower. Yes. There are hundreds of things like

that. Fossils in sediments, for example. They account for an

entire time scale extending. through many hundreds of

millions of years. Check the fossils and you know when that

material was laid down and what the conditions were."

"Like pottery shards!" Don said. "Each one typical of a

particular culture. Only your shards are bones and shells."

"You're right," Caspar agreed, smiling. "Now I under-

stand what you do. You're a paleontologist of the recent

past."

"Recent past! I wouldn't call several thousand years

exactly—''

"Geologically, anything less than a million years—"

Piers Anthony

56

"Maybe we'd better make our rendezvous," Melanie

suggested.

They moved on, drawing nearer to the surface. The water

inside the reef was barren in comparison: pellucid, with a

flat sandy bottom. Don did spy a number of swift-moving

little silvery fish scooting across the floor, and once

something gray and flat flounced away as his front tire

interacted with its bones.

Then they hit a field of tall grass—except that it wasn't

grass. Some was green and flat, some was green and round.

The stalks offered little effective resistance to the bicycles,

but Don still had the impression of forging through by sheer

muscle. It was amazing to what extent sight, not knowledge,

governed his reactions.

He glanced covertly at Melanie. She looked perfect: still

slender and feminine. Had she not shown him her bald

head . . .

Finally they came to the "patch" reefs that marked their

rendezvous. Between these little reeflets and the shore he

knew there was only more grass flat.

"Maybe if someone comes—a boat, I mean," Melanie

said, "we could lie down and be hidden by that grass."

Caspar nodded. "Smart girl. Keep your eye out for

suitable cover."

They drew up beside a great mound of coral, one of the

patches. All around it the sand was bare. "So much for my

smarts," Melanie said ruefully.

This section was as bald as her head, Don thought, and

wished he could get that matter out of his mind.

"Grass eaters," Caspar explained. "They graze, but

don't go far from their shelter. So they create this desert ring

by overgrazing."

"I would never have thought of that," she said. "But it's

MERCYCLE                57

obvious now that you've pointed it out. Penned barnyard

animals do the same."

"Yes, the absence of life can be evidence of life,"

Caspar agreed.

The two were getting along together, Don noted with

mixed feelings. He had talked with Caspar, and he had

talked with Melanie, but so far there had not been a lot of

interaction between Caspar and Melanie. Yet why shouldn't

there be? It was evident that Caspar, though surprised by her

hairlessness, had not really been put off by it. He had

broader horizons than Don did, and greater tolerance. Why

should Don be bothered by that?

"Rendezvous is at dusk," Caspar said. "To let him slip

into the water unobserved, probably. We're early, so we can

rest a while. Out of sight, if we can. Should be an overhang

or maybe a cave."

"Is it safe?" Melanie asked. "We aren't entirely invul-

nerable."

"Not much danger here, regardless," Caspar said confi-

dently. "Why would the little fishes use it, otherwise?" He

began pedaling slowly around the reeflet. The others,

disgruntled, followed.

There were several projecting ledges harboring brightly

colored fish who scattered as the bicycles encroached. Then

a large crevice developed, and they rode between sheer

coral walls. These overhung, and finally closed over the top,

and it was a cavern.

The area was too confined for riding, and the floor was

irregular. They dismounted and walked on inside, avoiding

contact with the sharp fringes. Don was reminded of the

cave paintings of Lascaux: the patchwork murals left by

Upper Paleolithic man some fifteen thousand years ago, and

one of the marvels of the archaeological world. Primitive

58                 Piers Anthony

man had not been as primitive as many today liked to

suppose.

But this was a sea-cavem, and its murals were natural.

Sponges bedecked its walls: black, brown, blue, green, red,

and white, in dabs and bulges and relief-carvings.

There was life here, all right. The smaller fish streaked

out as the men moved in, for their eyesight was keen enough

to spot the intrusion even though its substance was vacant.

One man-sized fish balked, however, hanging motionless in

the passage.

"Jewfish," Caspar remarked—and with the sound of his

voice the fish was gone. Sediment formed a cloud as the

creature shot past, and Don felt the powerful breeze of its

thrust. He appreciated another danger: just as a stiff wind

could blow a man down on land, a stiff current could do the

same here in the ocean. If his position happened to be

precarious, he would have to watch out for big fish. Their

bones could tug him if their breeze-current didn't.

"Looks good," Caspar said. "I'm bushed." He lay down

beside his bicycle and seemed to drop instantly to sleep.

Don was tired, but he lacked this talent. He could not let

go suddenly; he had to rest and watch, hoping that sleep

would steal upon him conveniently. It probably wasn't

worth it, for just a couple of hours.

"I envy him his sleep, but it's beyond me," Melanie said,

settling down to lean cautiously against a wall.

"Me too," Don agreed, doing the same. The real wall

might be jagged, but the phase wall wasn't, fortunately.

"You're not stuttering now."

"Maybe I'm too tired."

"Or maybe you know I'm no threat to you."

"I didn't say that." But it might be true. Before, there

had been the frightening prospect of social interaction

leading into romance.

MERCYCLE                59

"You didn't have to. Now you know why I read books.

They don't look at you."

"But people don't—I mean, they don't know—"

"/ know."

"Well, I read too. Mostly texts, but—"

"I read fiction, mostly. Once I fell asleep during a book,

and dreamed the author had come to autograph my copy, but

we couldn't find him a pen."

"You like signatures?" he asked, not certain she was

serious.

"Oh, yes, I have a whole collection of autographed

books, back home." She spoke with modest pride.

"Why? I think it's more important to relate to what the

author is trying to say, than to have his mark on a piece of

paper."

She was silent.

After a moment he asked, "You want to sleep? I didn't

mean to—"

"I heard you. I wasn't answering."

' "Wasn't what?"

"Maybe we'd better change the subject."

"Why?"

"You couldn't expect me to agree with you, could you?

I mean, I collect autographs, don't I? So what am I supposed

to say when you say you don't think they are very much?"

What was this? "You could have said you don't agree."

"I did."

"When?"

"When I didn't say anything. I think that should be

obvious."

"Obvious?"

"Well, you seem to use different conversational conven-

tions than I do, and it's unpleasant to talk to someone who

doesn't understand your silences."

60

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

61

"Why not just say what you mean? I have no idea what's

bothering you."

"No more than I did, when you kept cutting me off."

Oh. "I'm sorry about that. I just had this notion it was all

men on this circuit, and I thought something had gone

wrong, the way my food did. I would have answered if I had

realized."

"Well, then, I'll answer you now. I don't want to be

placed in the position of having to defend something I know

you don't like. I mean, if I answered you there would be all

kinds of emotional overtones in my voice, and that would be

embarrassing and painful."

"About autographsT' he demanded incredulously.

"Obviously you didn't mean to be offensive," she said,

sounding hurt.

"What do you mean, 'mean to be'? I wasn't offensive,

was I?"

"Well, I shouldn't have said anything about it."

"Now don't go clamming up on me again. One silence is

enough." He was feeling more confident, oddly.

"I was trying to hint that I didn't agree with you."

"About meaning being worth more than a signature?"

She was silent again.

"Oh come on!" he snapped. "What do you expect me to

say to a silence?"

"I've already told you why I don't want to talk about it

any more. You could at least have apologized for mention-

ing it again."

"Apologized?"

' 'What kind of unfeeling barbarian culture did you grow

up in, anyway?"

"Primitive cultures are not unfeeling!"

There was no answer.

"You're right," he said with frustration. "We do have

different conversational conventions." Sane and insane, he

was tempted to add.

And so they sat, leaning back against the spongy coral

wall, watching the little fish sidle in again. Don wondered

what had happened.

CHAPTER 4

^

ELEPH

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

AafM^?

Three recruits are in motion, with the fourth incipient. The

liability of the third has been established, with what impact is

uncertain. The group seems to be melding satisfactorily.

Such melding is a two-edged tool. If they unify against the

mission, it will be lost.

I mean to see that they react properly. They will not be

advised of the mission until the time is propitious.

And if that time does not manifest?

This group must be abolished and another assembled.

You are prepared to destroy them?

No.

Though the alternative is to lose their world?

I will abolish the group without invoking the mission.

The individual members will return to their prior lives.

And if you invoke the mission, and they oppose it?

Then we shall have a problem.

"There it is!" Caspar cried. "Right on time."

Don jolted awake. It was night, and the rendezvous was

63

64                 Piers Anthony

upon them. He had slept when he hadn't expected to, and it

seemed that Melanie had done the same.

They scrambled up and walked their bikes out to catch up

with Caspar, who was standing at the mouth of the cave.

Then, together, they advanced on the lone figure beyond.

The third man was Eleph: perhaps fifty, graying hair,

forbidding lined face. There was a tic in his right cheek that

Don recognized as a stress reaction similar to his own

stuttering. Don would have had some sympathy, but for the

cold manner of the man.

Caspar tried to make small talk, but Eleph cut him short.

He let it be known that he expected regulations to be

scrupulously honored. Obviously he was or had been

associated with the military; he would not bend, physically

or intellectually. There was an authoritative ring in his voice

that made even innocuous comments—of which he made

few—seem like commands. Yet he also telegraphed a

formidable uncertainty.

Don decided to stay clear of the man as much as possible.

Caspar, undaunted or merely stubborn, used another ap-

proach. "Look at that bicycle! How many speeds is that,

Eleph?"

Eleph frowned as if resenting the familiarity, though they

were on a first name basis by the rules. He must have

realized that it was impossible to be completely formal

while perched on a bicycle anyway. "Thirty six," he

replied gruffly.

Don thought he had misheard, but a closer look at the

machine convinced him otherwise. It had a thick rear axle,

a rear sprocket cluster, three chainwheels, and a derailleur at

each end of the chain. The triple gearshift levers augmented

the suggestion of a complex assortment of ratios. The

handlebars were turned down, not up or level, and were set

with all the devices Don had, plus a speedometer, horn, and

MERCYCLE                65

others whose functions Don didn't recognize. What para-

phernalia!

"Don here's an archaeologist," Caspar said. "I'm a

geologist. Melanie knows the coordinates for our various

encounters. How about you?"

Eleph hesitated, oddly. "Physicist."

"Oh—to study the effects of this phaseout field under

water?"

"Perhaps," Eleph vouchsafed no more.

It was shaping up to be a long journey, Don realized.

"Melanie, where next?" Caspar asked.

"Twenty five degrees, forty minutes north latitude," she

said. "Eighty degrees, ten minutes west longitude."

"Got it. Let's get deep."

Caspar led the way through the shallows, pedaling slowly

so that there was no danger of the others losing sight of his

lights. Eleph came next, then Melanie, and Don last. That

put the least experienced riders in the middle, out of trouble.

All four of them would have to douse their lights and halt

in place at any near approach of a boat. So far they were

lucky; the surface was undisturbed. Once they reached

deeper water there would be no problem unless they

encountered a submarine. That was hardly likely.

The barren back reef had come alive. Great numbers of

heart-shaped brown sea biscuits had appeared. Delicate,

translucent sea anemones flowered prettily. Fish patrolled,

searching for food; they shied away from the beams of light,

but not before betraying their numbers. Some were large;

Don recognized a narrow barracuda, one of the few fish he

knew by sight.

The outer coral reef had changed too. The polyps were in

bloom, flexing rhythmically, combing the water with their

tiny tentacles, just as Caspar had said they would. In one

way they were flowers; in another, tiny volcanoes; in yet

66                 Piers Anthony

another, transparent little octopi. What had seemed by day

to be forbidding rock was by night a living carpet.

Now Don observed the different kinds of coral in the reef.

Some was convoluted but rounded, like the folds of a—yes,

this had to be brain coral. From it rose orange-white spirals

of fine sticks: yet another kind of flower that Don was sure

was neither flower nor even plant. He swerved toward one,

reaching to touch it though he knew he couldn't. As his

hand passed through its faint resistance, the flower closed

and disappeared, withdrawing neatly into a narrow tube-

stem.

Yet there were dull parts, too. In some regions the coral

featured little or no life. It was as if tenement houses had

been built, used, and then deserted. But surely the landlords

hadn't raised the rent, here!

"Pollution is killing the reefs," Caspar remarked sourly.

"Also over-fishing, sponge harvesting, unrestrained me-

mento collecting, the whole bit. The sea life here isn't

nearly as thick as it used to be, and species are dying out.

But the average man doesn't see that, so he figures it's no

concern of his."

"They are wiping out species on land, too," Melanie

pointed out.

"You think that justifies it?" Caspar asked sharply.

"No! I think it's horrible. But I don't know how to stop

it."

"There are just too many people," he said. "As long as

there keep being more people, there'll be fewer animals. It's

that simple."

Don gazed at the barren sections of the reefs. Was it that

simple? He distrusted simple answers; the interactions of

life tended to be complex, with ramifications never fully

understood. Still, it was evident that something was going

wrong, here.

MERCYCLE                67

The moray eels were out foraging. One spied Don and

came at him, jaws open. Don shied away despite his lack of

real alarm, and it drifted back. Melanie, just ahead of him,

was veering similarly.

Then, remembering his own initial reactions, Don looked

ahead to see how Eleph was taking it. This was a wise

precaution, for Eleph reacted violently. Two eels were

investigating him, as if sniffing out the least secure rider.

Both Eleph's hands came off the handle bars to fend off

the seeming assault. The bicycle veered to the side and

crashed into the sand.

Don and Melanie hurried to help the man, but Eleph was

already on his feet. "The phase makes the predators

harmless," Don explained reassuringly. "All you can feel is

a little interaction in the bones."

"I am well aware of that!" And Eleph righted his

machine and remounted, leaving Don and Melanie to

exchange a glance.

Angry at the rebuff, Don let him go. For a physicist

specializing in this phase-field, Eleph had bad reflexes.

"And they say that pride goeth before a fall," Melanie

murmured.

Don had to smile. Then he seized the moment. ' 'Melanie,

whatever I said before, I'm sorry. I—"

"Another time," she said. But she smiled back at him.

Then they had to follow, orienting on the lights ahead.

Lobsterlike crustaceans were roving the floor, making

free travel difficult. Swimming fish were easy to pass, and

living bottom creatures, but inanimate obstructions could be

every bit as solid as they looked. When a living creature

obscured a rocky projection or hole, and the wheel of the

bicycle went through the living thing, it could have trouble

with the other. Successful navigation required a kind of

68

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

69

doublethink: an object's position and permanence, not its

appearance, determined its effect. More or less.

They coasted bumpily down past the outer reef and into

deeper water. But more trouble erupted.

A blue-green blob with darker splotches rose up from the

sand in the wake of a scuttling crab. Caspar's light speared

it—and suddenly the green became brighter as tentacles

waved. It was an octopus, a large one.

Caspar slowed, no doubt from curiosity. Don caught up,

while Melanie remained behind. But Eleph, in the middle,

didn't realize what they were doing or what was there. He

sped straight on—into the waving nest of mantle and

tentacles.

Ink billowed. Eleph screamed and veered out of control

again, covering his head. Meanwhile the octopus, who had

been traversed and left behind, turned brown and jetted for

safer water. Each party seemed as horrified by the encounter

as the other.

For a moment Don and Gaspar stared, watching the

accidental antagonists flee each other. Then a chuckle

started. Don wasn't sure who emitted the first choked peep,

but in a moment it grew into uncontrollable laughter. Both

men had to put their feet down and lean over the handlebars

to vent their mirth. It was a fine release of tension.

When at last they subsided, Don looked up to find Eleph

standing nearby, regarding them sourly. Melanie stood

behind him, her face straight. Abruptly the matter lost its

humor.

Caspar alleviated the awkwardness by proceeding imme-

diately to business. "We're deep enough now. Eleph, do

you have the instructions for our mission? We have been

told nothing."

"I do not," Eleph replied. The episode of the octopus had

not improved his social inclinations. "Perhaps the next

member of the party will have that information."

Don had thought there would be three members, and

Caspar had guessed four. Evidently there were five.

Caspar looked at Melanie. "How long hence?"

"Sixty hours," she replied. She had evidently known, but

had kept silent, as it seemed she was supposed to.

Caspar grimaced, and Don knew what he was thinking.

Another two days and three nights before they caught up to

the final member of their party and learned what this was all

about. Maybe.

"Well, let's find a comfortable spot to turn in," Caspar

said. "Maybe we'll find a mound of gold ingots to form into

a camping site."

"Gold?" Melanie asked.

' 'From sunken treasure ships. There are a number, here in

the channel between Florida and Cuba, and they haven't all

been found by a long shot. Whole fleets of Spanish galleons

carried the Inca and Aztec treasures to Spain, and storms

took a number of them down. That cargo is worth billions,

now."

"Maybe that's our mission," Don said. "To explore this

region and map the remaining treasure ships."

"I'd be disappointed if so," Caspar said.

"Yes," Melanie agreed. "We have to hope that some-

thing more than greed is responsible for us."

"We can best find out by getting on with the mission,"

Eleph said. That damped the dialogue.

Caspar led the way to the more level bottom and located

a peaceful hollow in the sand. There was no sign of gold.

This time they pitched their tents, which they had not

bothered to do before: one for Eleph, one for Melanie, and

one formed from Don and Caspar's combined canvas.

This really was more comfortable than sleeping in the

70                 Piers Anthony

open, though the difference was more apparent than real.

There was nothing to harm them in their phased state

anyway. But Don liked the feeling of being in a protected,

man-made place. Appearances were important to his emo-

tions. Which brought him back to the subject of Melanie.

Her appearance—

He shoved that thought aside. The emotions were too

complicated and confused. That business about the

autographs—where had he gone wrong? Suddenly he had

run afoul of her, and he didn't quite understand how it had

happened. So it was better to let it lie, for now.

"That wig," Caspar said.

So much for letting it lie! "You noticed it too," Don said

with gentle irony.

"I want to be candid with you, because it might make a

difference. Melanie is one attractive woman, and I'd be

interested in her. Except for that wig. If she meant to see

whom it fazed, she succeeded."

Fazed. A pun, since they were all phased? Evidently not.

"But there's more to a woman than hair," Don said,

arguing the other side.

"I know that. You know that. Everybody knows that. But

I have a thing about hair on a woman. I like it long and

flowing and smooth. I like to stroke it as I make love. My

first crush was on a long-haired girl, and I never got over it.

So when I first saw Melanie I saw a nice figure and a pretty

face, but the hair didn't turn me on. Too short and curly. But

hair can grow, so if she was otherwise all right, that could

come. But then she took off that wig, and I knew that her

hair would never grow. A wig won't do it, for me. The hair

has to be real, just as the breasts have to be real. I don't

claim this makes a lot of sense, but romance doesn't

necessarily make sense. Melanie is not on my horizon as

MERCYCLE                71

anything other than an associate or platonic friend, regard-

less of the other aspects of our association."

Don was troubled. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I can see you are shy with women. You

wouldn't want to go after one actively. You sure wouldn't

compete with another man for one. Well, maybe you don't

have the same hang-up as I do. In that case, I just want you

to know that there's no competition. If you can make it with

Melanie, I'll be your best man. The field is yours."

"B-but a woman can't just be p-parceled out!" Don

protested.

"There's a difference between parceling and non-

commitment. I think Melanie needs a man as much as you

need a woman. In fact I think you two might be just right for

each other. If you were with her, you'd keep her secret, and

she'd love you for it, and other men would wonder what she

saw in you, and she would never give them the time of day.

Ideal for you both, as I see it. I can see already that she's got

her quirks, but is one great catch of a woman. But

matchmaking's not my business. I'll stay out of it. Just so

you know that no way am I going to be with her. She lost

me when she lifted that wig, and she knows it. You are in

doubt. I mean, she doesn't know whether you can handle the

business of the hair. When you decide, that will be it. I

won't mention this again."

"Th-thanks," Don said. His emotions remained as con-

fused as ever. He knew that the best thing he could do was

to put all this out of his mind and let time show him the way

of his feelings and hers. He would just relax.

Yet sleep was slow, again. He told himself it was because

of his recent nap in the patch-coral cave, but he knew it was

more than that. There was a wrongness about this project,

and not just in spoiled rations or breaking bicycle chains or

undue secrecy. Caspar seemed to be the only one qualified

72                 Piers Anthony

to do anything or learn anything here. Don himself was a

misfit, as was Melanie—and what was a man like Eleph

doing here? Not a geologist, not a biologist, not even an

undersea archeologist—but a physicist! His specialty could

have little relevance here. A mysterious mission like this

was hardly needed to check out the performance of the

phase-shift under water—if that were really what Eleph was

here to do. The man wasn't young and strong, and certainly

not easy to get along with. He could only be a drag on the

party. At least Melanie wasn't a drag.

"It's Miami," Caspar said, startling him.

"Who?"

"Those coordinates. Offshore Miami. Must be another

inexperienced man."

Don shook his head ruefully. "I wish I had your talent for

identifying places like that! I can't make head or tail of

those coordinates."

"It's no talent. Just understanding of the basic principle.

The Earth is a globe, and it is tricky to identify places

without a global scale of reference. On land you can look for

roads and cities, but in the sea there are none. Think of it as

an orange, with lines marked. Some are circles going around

the globe, passing through the north and south poles. Those

are the meridians of longitude, starting with zero at Green-

wich, in London, England, as zero, and proceeding east and

west from it until they meet as 180 degrees in the middle of

the Pacific Ocean at the International Date Line. The others

are circles around the globe parallel to the equator; they get

smaller as they go north and south, but each is still a perfect

circle. Thus we have parallels of latitude. Since we happen

to be north of the equator and west of England, our

coordinates are in the neighborhood of twenty five degrees

north latitude and eighty degrees west longitude. Just keep

MERCYCLE                73

those figures in mind, and you'll know how far we go from

where we are now."

It began to register. "Twenty five and eighty," Don said.

"Right here. So Miami is—"

"Actually those particular coordinates would be about

ten miles east of Miami, and fifty miles south of it," Gaspar

said. "We're on the way there. I meant our neighborhood

on a global scale."

"Just as all of man's history and prehistory is recent, on

the geologic scale," Don said wryly. "Fifty miles is

pinpoint close."

"Yes. Our bicycle meters give us our immediate loca-

tions."

"Still, I'll remember those numbers. It will give me a

notion how far we are from Miami, and that's a location I

can understand. Southern tip of Florida."

"Well—"

"Approximately!" Don said quickly. "In geologic

terms."

"Approximately," Gaspar agreed, and Don knew he was

smiling.

Don returned to the matter of their next group member,

glad to have company in his misgivings. "What do you

think he is? An astronomer? An electrician? A—"

"Could be a paleontologist. Because I think I know

where we're heading, now. The Bahamas platform."

"What?"

"The Bahamas platform. Geologically, a most significant

region. It certainly made trouble for us in the past."

Don would have been less interested, had he not wanted

someone to talk to. "How could it make trouble? It is

whatever it is, and was what it was, wasn't it, before there

were geologists?"

"True, true. But trouble still, and a fascinating place to

74                 Piers Anthony

explore. You see, its existence was a major obstacle to

acceptance of the theory of plate tectonics."

"Of what?"

"Drifting continents."

"I've heard of that," Don said. "They're moving now,

aren't they? An inch a century?"

"Faster than that, even," Caspar agreed wryly.

"But I don't see why those little islands, the Bermudas—"

"Bahamas. The thesis was that all the continents were

once a super land mass called Pangaea. The convection

currents in the mantle of the earth broke up the land,

spreading the sea floor and shoving the new continents

outward. North and South America drifted—actually, they

were shoved—to their present location, and the Mid-

Atlantic ridge continued to widen as more and more lava

was forced up from below. But the Bahamas—"

"You talk as if the world is a bubbling pot of mush!"

"Close enough. The continents themselves float in the

lithosphere, and when something shoves, they have to

move. But slowly. We could match up the fractures,

showing how the fringes of the continental shelves fitted

together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. All except the

Bahamas platform. It was extra. There was no place for it in

the original Pangaea—yet there it was."

"So maybe the continents didn't drift, after all," Don

said. ' 'They must have stayed in the same place all the time.

Makes me feel more secure, I must admit."

"Ah, but they did drift. Too many lines of evidence point

too firmly to this, believe you me. All but that damned

platform. Where did it come from?"

"Where, indeed," Don muttered sleepily.

"They finally concluded that the great breakup of Pan-

gaea started right in this area. The earth split asunder, the

land shoved outward in mighty plates—and then the process

MERCYCLE                75

halted for maybe thirty million years, and the new basin

filled in with sediment. When the movement resumed, there

was the half-baked mass: the Bahamas platform. Most of it

is still under water, of course, but it trailed along with the

continent, and here it is. The site of the beginning of the

Atlantic Ocean as we know it." The man's voice shook with

excitement; this was one of the most important things on

Earth, literally, to him.

But Don wasn't a geologist. "Glory be," he mumbled.

"That's why I find this such a fascinating region. There

are real secrets buried in the platform strata."

But Don was drifting to a continental sleep. He dreamed

that he was standing with tremendous feet straddling Pan-

gaea, the Paul Bunyan of archaeologists. But then it

cracked, and he couldn't get his balance; the center couldn't

hold. The more he tried to bring the land together, the more

his very weight shoved it apart, making him do a continental

split. "Curse you, Bahama!" he cried.

CHAPTER 5

«

PACIFA

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Four members introduced, final one incipient. Progress

good. Group is melding. They are as much concerned with

interpersonal relations as with the mission, but unified in

their perplexity about it. The likelihood of success seems to

be increasing.

That is good. We have lost another world via the

straightforward approach. I/your experiment is effective,

we will try it on the remaining worlds.

But the outcome is far from assured. Human reactions are

devious and at times surprising.

How well we know!

Offshore Miami: the continental shelf was narrow here,

but they could not approach the teeming metropolis too

closely. The rendezvous was just outside the reefs, thirty

fathoms deep and sloping.

Caspar tooted on his whistle. The answer came immedi-

ately. Before they could get on their cycles the fifth member

of the party appeared, riding rapidly. Don noted the tumed-

77

78                 Piers Anthony

down handlebars and double derailleur mechanism first:

another ten-speed-or-more machine, perhaps an expensive

one.

"It's a woman," Caspar said.

Don and Melanie peered at the figure. It was female, but

neither buxom nor young.

She coasted up, turned smartly, and braked, like a skier at

the end of a competition run. "Pacifa," she said. Her hair

was verging on gray, obviously untinted under the hard

helmet.

The others introduced themselves.

"Well," Pacifa said briskly. "If I had known you would

be three handsome men and one pretty girl, I'd have sent my

daughter. But she's all shape and no mind and this is

business not pleasure, so we're stuck with each other for the

duration. Any problems with the bikes?''

They assumed that this was small talk, so demurred. Don

saw Melanie react at the reference to "pretty girl," but she

did not speak. He wasn't sure whether it was the first word

or the second that bothered her.

"No, I'm serious," Pacifa said with peppery dispatch.

"I'm your mechanic, in a couple of ways, and I can see

already that none of you except Gaspar knows the first thing

about cycles, and he doesn't know the second thing. Three

of you have insufficient and the fourth too much. Can't be

helped now, though. Who has the coordinates?"

"Twenty four degrees, fifteen minutes latitude," Melanie

said. "Eighty four degrees, fifty minutes longitute."

"But that's—" Don started, trying to figure it out.

"Right back the way we came," Melanie said. "Eleph

was at 24°30', and this is 24°15'."

"But farther along," Gaspar said. "In fact, offshore

northern Cuba."

"We're picking up a Cuban?" she asked.

MERCYCLE

79

"Unlikely," Gaspar said. "If there was supposed to be

another person, he should have joined us at the same place

Eleph did, not close by. Now I think we're complete. A

larger party would be unwieldy. So it's more likely the site

of our mission—or a supply depot." He sounded disap-

pointed. It seemed they were not going to the Bahamas

platform.

"Let's go," Pacifa said. She mounted and moved out

with such smoothness that the three were left standing.

Caspar filled the leadership gap again. ' 'Don, you catch

her and make her wait. Eleph, I saw a map in your pack.

Let's you and I check it and find out more specifically

where we're going, because Cuba just doesn't make sense to

me. Maybe there's something in the Gulf of Mexico I'm

missing."

Don took off. But Pacifa was already out of sight, lost in

the vague dark background wash that was the deep ocean at

dawn. There were not tire tracks, of course. It was hopeless.

"Fool woman," he muttered.

"Whistle for her," Melanie called. He hadn't realized

that she was following him, and indeed she wasn't very

close, but it was a good suggestion. He blew his whistle.

Pacifa answered at once, just a short distance to the side.

"Are you lost, young man?" she inquired solicitously as he

drew up to her.

"No. You are—were. Wait for the rest of us!"

"Why?"

"W-we have to operate as a p-party," he said, annoyed.

"I'm glad that's settled. Let's get on with it."

They returned to find Gaspar and Eleph poring over the

paper held before one headlight. Gaspar lifted his bike and

spun a wheel by hand when the headlight began to fade, to

keep the light bright. There were a number of sections of the

map, each overlapping the boundaries of the next, so that

80                 Piers Anthony

they could travel from one to another without interruption.

It looked to Don as if the entire Gulf of Mexico was

covered, and perhaps more.

Caspar looked up. "It's in an American explosives

dumping area," he said.

"A what?" Pacifa demanded. "That can't be right."

"It's the location Melanie gave us," Caspar said evenly.

"Got any other?"

"Do I understand correctly?" Eleph demanded. "Must

we venture into a munitions dump?"

"I have no knowledge of munitions dumps," Pacifa said.

"I don't know anything about undersea coordinates either.

It does seem strange, but if they want to keep our ultimate

destination secret, this is as good a waystation as any, I

suppose."

"That must be it," Don said. "For some reason they

don't want us to know our mission any sooner than we have

to. But it must be far enough away so we'll have to reload

on supplies." He would be glad to get good rations to

replace his bad ones; so far there had been plenty for the

others to share with him, but it made him feel as if he wasn't

carrying his own weight.

"But an explosives dump!" Caspar said.

"Can't hurt us," Don reminded him. "We're out of

phase."

"I'm not so sure about that. Our weight is still real, and

if we were to ride over an old live depth bomb—''

"They do not dump that way," Eleph said. "Those

weapons are sealed in."

"How do you know?"

Eleph hesitated. "I have had military experience."

So there was a military background, Don thought. That

explained the man's military bearing and attitude. But it still

didn't explain his presence here.

MERCYCLE                81

"Probably it was easier to dump supplies on a regular

run," Caspar said after a moment, evidently not wishing to

appear unduly negative. "But it's a good three hundred and

fifty miles from here. And if that's only half way to our

goal—"

"Our goal may be even farther," Don said. "Because

we've been riding back and forth with our initial supplies."

"Of which we still have plenty," Melanie said. "Even

sharing."

"Sharing?" Pacifa inquired alertly.

"Don's are bad," Melanie explained. "We don't know if

it's poor quality control or what."

"Or what?" Pacifa asked.

"Or intentional," Caspar said.

"Whatever for?" Pacifa demanded.

"We don't know," Don said.

"Regardless, it seems odd to start us far from the site of

our mission," Caspar said. "It's been bad enough, having

to ride all around just to assemble our party. Now to have to

go farther yet—"

"Maybe it's that crater off South America," Don sug-

gested. "The one with the dinosaurs."

Caspar brightened. "Could be. They could start us here,

so that no one could guess our destination from our initial

motions."

"But what's the point of secrecy?" Don asked. "If that

crater is sixty five million years old and has no military

value—"

"Never underestimate the secrecy of the military mind,"

Eleph said.

"Still, that's a thousand miles!" Caspar said.

"That's why we have our bicycles, isn't it?" Pacifa

asked.

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Piers Anthony

"A thousand miles!" Don said, horrified. "That'll take

weeks!"

"Days," Pacifa said. "What's wrong with that?"

Eleph regarded her with severity. "Madam, have you any

notion how far that is on a bicycle?''

"I ought to," she said, smiling. "I have traveled ten

thousand miles in the past year on this bicycle, and I didn't

ride much in winter."

The other four stared at her.

"That's my business, after all," she said. "Checking

touring paths for bicycle clubs. Terrain, hazards, accommo-

dations available along the way—I earn a few dollars a mile,

plus expenses, for doing what I like best. Being indepen-

dent."

Don didn't comment, and neither did the others. Who

wanted to be the first to inform an old lady that she was off

her rocker?

Eleph finally broke the silence. "This route takes us in an

unexpected direction."

Pacifa shrugged. "So?"

"It's more than we bargained on," Don said. "I thought

this mission—well, maybe down off the continental shelf to

investigate a sunken ship, not that I wanted to—"

"Or to check the configurations of the terrain beneath the

Gulf Stream," Caspar said. "And the Bahamas platform—"

"To field test the phasing apparatus," Eleph said.

"Which requires no great amount of travel, and is not

antipathetic to the other—"

"Or to see how well a group of strangers can get along

under the sea," Melanie said. "Male, female, young, old,

with different—"

"Fiddlesticks!" Pacifa snapped. "This tour will obvi-

ously give you all your chances to look at the bottom and

search for ships and test your equipment and get along

MERCYCLE                83

together or quarrel incessantly, whatever direction we go.

There must be something special at the end—something

more important than any of our separate little specialties.

The sooner we get there the sooner we find out what that

is."

She was making sense. "But food—water—we can't

survive indefinitely under the sea," Don said, feeling the

dread of the unknown.

"We certainly can," Eleph said, surprisingly. "These

concentrates we carry are pure nourishment. All we need is

water—and the recycling system insures the supply. The

only really crucial external commodity is oxygen, and the

diffusion field takes care of that."

"So there is a field," Caspar said. "I wondered. We

seem to be riding in an alternate realm, where there is

ground but no water and perhaps no air. What do you know

about it?"

"This is within the province of my specialty," Eleph

replied stiffly. ' 'The solid material, animate and inanimate,

with which we associate, has been shunted into an alternate

framework. That's what that 'phase tunnel' is: the shunting

device. That material, which includes our living bodies, will

remain in that state until reprocessed. But it is not feasible

to recycle oxygen, so within each bicycle is a generator

supported by batteries that creates a temporary partial phase,

permitting a certain interaction between frameworks. In this

manner oxygen is diffused in, and carbon dioxide is

rediffused out, enabling us to breathe."

That explanation relieved one of Don's main concerns.

But only one of them.

"My, my," Pacifa said. "If one of those generators

fails—"

"That is unlikely," Eleph said.

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Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

85

"But you said that Don's supplies are bad. Why not some

of the equipment too?''

Don found that question painfully on target.

"I am conversant with the mechanism," Eleph said,

"and should be able to repair most malfunctions."

Caspar whistled. "You must be some physicist."

' 'I'm sure each of us has his particular area of expertise."

Eleph's tone discouraged further comment.

Melanie, nevertheless, made one. "So carelessness or

poor quality control may have wiped out Don's food, but

anything else can be fixed."

"Precisely," Eleph agreed.

"I'll make a note," Don said. He rummaged in his pack

and brought out his pad of paper and pen. Melanie smiled

and Caspar laughed. Don appreciated that.

Pacifa was studying the map. "I see where we are and

where we are going. Now must we follow the exact route, or

do we have some leeway?"

"What difference does it make?" Eleph demanded.

"Now if we start out grouchy, we'll never get along,"

she snapped back.

Don had to turn away to hide a smile, and he caught

Caspar doing the same. Neither commented directly.

"Because if we do have leeway," Pacifa continued, "and

it seems we have to, because we're the ones who have to do

the job, whatever it is, and you can't ride a bike from some

fat-bottomed swivel chair—it seems to me that we ought to

get off the coral shelf and get down under the Gulf

Stream—it's going the wrong way for us, isn't it?—and

coast down around here into the Gulf of Mexico. We have

to get down there anyway, and according to this map it is

sixteen hundred fathoms deep at our depot—what's that in

real terms, Caspar?—and the drop-off doesn't get any—"

"About one and three quarter miles deep," Caspar said.

"Don't interrupt," Pacifa told him. Don exchanged a

glance with Melanie. "The drop-off doesn't get any easier

down beyond the Keys, from the look of this."

"No, it doesn't," Gaspar said. "But don't go thinking of

the continental slope as a sheer cliff. It may have cliffs and

canyons in it, and overall it represents a more formidable

climb than any mountain we know on the surface, but it is

a slope. We can manage it on the bicycles, if we watch

where we're going."

"You're the geologist," she said dubiously. She had

caught on to all their names and specialties astonishingly

quickly, but it was evident that she was as ignorant as the

others about the nature of the sea floor. "Let's slant down

it and be on our way."

Caspar shrugged, out of arguments. Pacifa suited action

to word, evidently being a person of action. This time Don

and Melanie fell in behind her, and Eleph followed them.

Gaspar, most familiar with the depths, was this time at the

rear.

They dropped down to two hundred feet, three hundred,

four hundred. The terrain became more even, though it was

hardly the smooth slope Don had pictured from Caspar's

description. Of course the man had not claimed it was

smooth, only that it was a slope. Only flat beds of sand

seemed smooth, and there weren't many of them here. They

reached a hundred fathoms, and Don gave up converting to

feet. It was easier to go along with his depth meter.

Pacifa abruptly slowed. In a moment Don saw why. A

tremendous and weird-looking fish was pacing her. It had a

vertical fin like that of a shark, but its head terminated in a

horizontal cleaver.

"Hammerhead shark," Gaspar murmured, coming up.

"Average size, maybe fifteen feet. The eyes and nostrils are

86                  Piers Anthony

at the edge of the spread, helping it to triangulate on prey.

Very efficient."

"A science fiction monster!" Pacifa exclaimed, shaken.

"Nothing to worry about," Eleph said, just as if he had

never been frightened by a marine creature.' 'Only one tenth

of one per cent of its mass can affect us, and vice versa."

The hammerhead looped gracefully, circling them. "You

know that,'' Pacifa said.' 'I know that. But does it know—''

The shark charged. All five people leaped for their lives.

The wide-flung nostrils and open mouth passed through the

party, stirring it further, feeling like a harsh gust of wind.

The tail caught Don, and he felt again that disquieting

interaction of substance.

They all looked at each other, tumbled

' 'Well, it is a man-eater,'' Caspar said, apologizing for them

all. "Our conditioned reflexes still govern us. That may be

dangerous, because they don't apply in this situation.

Maybe I'd better take the lead, now."

Pacifa, momentarily chastened, acquiesced.

Caspar moved ahead, and Don took the end spot, and

travel resumed. Don was privately satisfied to be following

Melanie again; his headlight played at intervals across her

well proportioned backside. He liked her body and her

personality. If only she didn't have that condition with the

hair!

At a hundred and fifty fathoms the dawn of the near-

surface had become the deepest blue-black of unearthly

night. It was cooler, too; the meter said the temperature had

dropped almost fifty degrees, and was now approaching

what he thought of as the freezing point.

The pace slowed as they navigated a devious stretch, and

Don took the opportunity to pull abreast of Eleph. "Should

we stop to put on heavier clothing?" he asked.

"The temperature is a function of the heat of the

MERCYCLE                87

converter, modified by very limited external factors, such as

the caloric content of the incoming oxygen," Eleph said

curtly.

"Limited, my foot!" Don said. "My meter says—"

"That meter is oriented on the oxygen, as a guide to

conditions in the other framework," Eleph said. "Surely

you are not cold."

Don was embarrassed to realize that he wasn't. All this

time he had been reacting to the meter, instead of reality.

Naturally he couldn't expect the bicycle temperature to be

controlled by that one-thousandth transfer across the phase.

But it did make him wonder again just what the phase

world was. Didn't it have temperature or weather of its

own? Why couldn't they see it? They could feel it, because

that was what their tires rode across. Invisible mass?

There were fish about, but not many. Increasingly Don

felt alone, though Melanie's taillight remained in sight

ahead of him, and Eleph's ahead of hers, bumping over the

irregularities. Don thought he saw another shark feeding on

the bottom, and there were a number of unidentifiable

glows. But no vegetation at all, at this depth.

The path turned, until they were going southwest, parallel

to the reefs, not away from them. Then Don saw why: the

drop-off did become steep. Gaspar was making it easier by

descending on the bias.

But it wasn't easier. The roughness of the ground

increased. Large sponges, grotesquely shaped, loomed out

of the gloom to force detours. The land seemed formed into

irregular rocky ridges which had to be portaged across. No

erosion here to smooth things. Finally Caspar stopped,

letting the others catch up.

"This is messier than I figured," he said as they clustered

together, pooling their lights. "We're riding along an

88

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

89

outcropping—Oligocene deposits, I'd say—of rock, and it

probably parallels the coast for a hundred miles."

"Why not check the map?" Don asked.

"Map doesn't show it; too general. There are sharp limits

to what they can do by echo-sounding, anyway—which is

why we need people down here to do the job properly.

There's no erosion to speak of at this depth, so every jagged

break is as sharp as it ever was. From what I know of this

shelf, I'd guess this interruption isn't broad; two or three

miles should traverse it, crosswise. Then it's fairly easy

coasting on to the root. But here it's a rough two miles.

We're probably better off going straight across it, then

riding the trough—but we may have to go mountain style.

Who's game?"

Pacifa grinned. "Good idea. We have rope, pitons—"

"Rope and pitons!" Eleph exclaimed. "Madam, these

are not the Alps!"

"Nor the Himalayas," Caspar said. "They're worse, in

places. The greatest mountains on Earth are under the sea."

"Now don't exaggerate," Pacifa said.

"No exaggeration. The great mid-ocean ridge runs forty

thousand miles around the globe. The largest single moun-

tain of the world, Hawaii, is far larger than Everest, as an

entity. Just be thankful we're not trying to navigate a

fracture zone. As it is, we'll be seeing moon landscape and

Mars landscape before we're through."

"Goody," Pacifa said with almost girlish gusto. "What a

marvelous guided tour that would make. Moon and Mars

under the sea."

It occurred to Don that he'd like to meet her daughter—

the one who was all shape and no mind. Was her personality

like this? But of course he would go into a terminal

stuttering attack if he did encounter her, so the fancy was

pointless. Better to wrestle with the problem of Melanie's

hair. Melanie just might be attainable, if—

"Guided tour," Eleph muttered with disgust.

They unlimbered the rope. "Now we'll have to stay on

foot while we're tied," Caspar said. "I don't know what

effect a sharp rope-jerk would have on a rider. No sense

risking it."

"No sense at all," Pacifa agreed. "We're a long way

from the hospital."

"But we have to hold the bicycles," Don pointed out.

"How can we climb and hold on to ropes at the same

time?"

It turned out to be less of an obstacle than he had

supposed. Pacifa looped the rope firmly but not bindingly

about each person's waist and knotted it in place with quick

competence. This linked them securely without occupying

their hands. She connected the bicycles to short offshoots.

The hike would have been more convenient without the

bikes right at hand, but of course this was out of the

question; the oxygen went with the machines.

Cautiously they proceeded on down the continental slope.

A pass opened in the projecting ridge, and they made their

way through without difficulty. The steepness leveled off

into a smooth, steady, undemanding decline. For miles they

trekked downward when they could have been riding, their

lights spearing into drab mundane waters, reflecting from

harmless sponges and innocuous fish.

At last, embarrassed, Caspar called another halt.

"Wouldn't you know there'd be a break right when I geared

us up for a real climb!"

"Security before convenience, always," Eleph said with

his normal stiffness. Don was beginning to appreciate that

the man was fair, if taciturn. Caspar had erred on the safe

side, and that certainly was best.

90 Piers Anthony

"Might as well unhitch now and go on down," Caspar

said. "Should be no more trouble. 'Course we don't want to

get reckless. There is always the unexpected."

They unhitched. "I'm glad it wasn't bad," Melanie

confided as Don helped her. He had to agree.

Caspar led the way southwest, picking up speed—and

dropped out of sight.

It was a depression in the ocean floor resembling a

sinkhole. A spring of water issued from a hole at its base.

Caspar had held his seat, and the bicycle straddled the hole,

making his clothing billow up and out. "Must be a

freshwater well," he remarked. "I had forgotten they were

here."

No harm had been done, but the episode served as a sharp

reminder. This was unknown, largely uncharted terrain; no

one had ever mapped it in fine detail. Anything, geologi-

cally, could be here, and they would have no more warning

than that provided by their scant headlights.

They made it down safely. Hours had passed, and Don's

waterproof watch claimed it was afternoon. The depth was

380 fathoms: a scant half mile. It seemed like a hundred

miles, with the phenomenal weight of all that water pressing

down. The very fact that they could not feel that weight

made the experience vaguely surrealistic. This was indeed

an alien horizon.

They stopped and ate and rested, but were soon on their

way again, because it was cold when they stopped, whatever

Eleph might say about imagination. There was something

about the depths and gloom that chilled Don from the mind

outward.

Caspar led them another thirty miles in the next four

hours, then halted at a partial cave in a hillside. ' 'Let's camp

here," he suggested, knowing that no one was about to

argue. "We have had a good day."

MERCYCLE                91

"We have indeed, considering," Pacifa agreed, though

she looked as fresh as when she had started. "Suppose we

join our shelter-canvases together and make one big tent and

heat it?"

"Sounds good," Don agreed eagerly. "But—"

"Now I won't tolerate any sexual discrimination," she

said briskly. "I'm an experienced camper and I know more

than the rest of you combined about setting up. I'll prove

that right now."

And she did. Her nimble fingers fashioned the tent much

more efficiently than the others could have, even working

together. She also set up a separate minor tent for sanitary

purposes, a refinement the others had not thought of. That

eliminated the need to take individual hikes into the gloom.

She detached each person's converter from the bicycles and

carried them into that tent, since each person's ecological

balance depended on that recycling system. This amazed

Don, and evidently the others; they had not realized that this

could be done. She set four bicycles inside the tent, bracing

the walls, and the fifth beside the privy.

"Now you'll have to hold your breath to cross between

tents, because there'll be an oxygen shortage," she warned.

"But the one bike will provide for one person in the sanitary

tent. You will have to carry your own converter with you to

use; that can not safely be shared. Don will have to

contribute bad food packages to the other converters at the

same rate he borrows good food from the others, to keep the

approximate balance. Right, Eleph?"

"There is some oxygen in the alternate framework,"

Eleph said. "But this is insufficient without supplementa-

tion by the field, yes. And it is true that the converters must

remain virtually sealed systems."

Some oxygen in the other realm. Don wondered about

that, but couldn't quite formulate a specific question. What

92 Piers Anthony

kind of alternate was that? He wished he had a better notion.

Pacifa set the five converters in the main tent on "high."

The heat wafted through the tent as the accelerated chemical

composting proceeded within each unit, processing the

wastes of the day. It became a thoroughly pleasant place,

walling out the gloom, almost making this seem like a

chamber in some civilized city on land. Don felt his fatigue,

and tension melting away.

"But it will be necessary to relocate periodically," Eleph

warned. "The oxygen dissolved in sea water is limited,

particularly at this depth, and unless refreshed by current—"

"You're right!" Gaspar said, snapping his fingers. "I

should have thought of that. We could suffocate in our

sleep."

"I did think of it," Pacifa said imperturbably. "We are

camped in a slight but steady current that should provide

fresh oxygen as we need it. Now for supper." She took

the food packages from each supply except Don's, squeezed

water into them, and set the result on top of the center

converter. Its surface was now burning hot. In a few minutes

she served them a hot meal that seemed vastly superior to

what they had had before, even though it had to be the same

stuff. "Seasoning," she confided with a wink.

Don basked in the warm tent and ate his hot food. Yes,

the selection of personnel was starting to make sense. A

man did not live by archaeology alone; he required the

minimum comforts of life. Pacifa had provided them, and at

this moment he would not have traded her for anyone. Not

even her shapely daughter, even if his stutter did not exist.

That reminded him of Melanie. He was sitting beside her

in the tent, hip to hip, but it was as if she were far away.

"You've been quiet. How are you doing?"

She turned her face to him and smiled. "You are

interested?"

MERCYCLE                93

It became as if the two of them were alone. "Yes."

"I was imagining myself on land. While we were riding,

and now."

"While we were plunging to the dismal depths, risking

our very lives?" he demanded facetiously. One thing her

revelation of her condition had done for him was to distance

her enough emotionally to make her approachable socially.

This was not a paradox so much as an eddy-current; he

could talk with a woman who was not a romantic prospect,

just as he could talk with a man who was not a rival. "What

if something had happened?"

Caspar half-smiled and lay back comfortably. Pacifa had

eaten her serving quickly and was quietly cleaning up.

Eleph seemed to be falling asleep. It was Don's conversa-

tion to carry, if1ie chose.

"What could I have done if it had?" Melanie asked

reasonably. "I'd be better off far away."

He played the game, beginning to enjoy it. "Where did

you go? To the beach again?"

"No, this time I rode around town."

"Around town!" he exclaimed, evoking a small smile

from Pacifa. "In the daytime? Didn't people see you?"

"No. At least, not exactly."

He was beginning to see it himself: her riding her bike as

he had at the outset, on land. "This is a secret mission. If

you—"

"I couldn't stand being alone anymore!" she cried with

the edge of hysteria.

Don felt a wash of sympathy. He saw Gaspar nod, and

Pacifa paused for a moment. But still they stayed out of it,

letting Don talk to Melanie alone, as it were.

He had never held a dialogue like this before, and was

afraid he would muff it. At the same time, he was pro-

foundly grateful for it. He would try to calm her down, not

MERCYCLE

95

94                 Piers Anthony

merely because it might help her, but because it felt good to

be trying to help her. This was on one level a flight of fancy,

an escape from the emotional pressure of this fatigue and

mystery in a strange dark, cold place. But on another it was

personal truth.                                               ;

"I can't blame you," he said. "This whole project is ;

weird. What did you see?"

Her eyes were closed now, and she seemed to be truly in

her vision or memory. "I rode right along the downtown

streets." Now she sounded almost breathless, as if she were

active instead of passive. "Beside the cars, through crowds

of people, in the middle of the day. I obeyed all the traffic

signals and gave pedestrians the right of way. It was all so

ordinary I nearly cried."

"Like the beach," he said. "When you walked on the

sand and saw the seagulls in the wind. I didn't have the

nerve to go out among people. After being phased out, I

mean." Or before, really, he realized. He had always been

a stranger, as much when in the city as when in his home

neighborhood.

"I guess so, pretty much," she agreed. "But then I got so

hungry for some kind of interaction I—"

Because she too had always been alone: without family

support, and with that stark lack of hair making her a

freak—

He brought himself up short. "Yes," he said gently. "It's

hard to be alone." He was discovering that no artifice was

needed, just identification.

"I started breaking the rules," she confessed. "I'm

basically a social creature. I—I rode right through people, to

see what they'd do. And—"

This was getting too real. Don was afraid to ask, but

afraid not to. Was this truly invention, or had she done this

while waiting for the rendezvous? "And—?"

"And they never even noticed. Any more than the sea

did. No contact."

"Not even the bones?"

"I—I didn't know about that, then. There was a—but I

don't want to talk about that. It's too much like violation. I

meant there was no personality contact. They just shrugged

and apologized and went on. They—they never realized

what it was."

"Never realized they had had a ghost on a bicycle ride

through them? How could they miss it?"

"Well, I guess in a crowd you get banged quite a bit

anyway, so you don't notice things. Maybe you don't want

to. And all the world's a crowd, today. They never really

looked at me.''

"That's incredible."

"No it isn't," she said sadly. "When I thought about it,

just now, I realized that it was no different from the rest of

my life. Being alone, no matter how big the crowd, no

matter how different I think I am, no one notices. The mind,

the personality, I mean. All they notice is the other."

Now Pacifa spoke. "What other?"

For answer, Melanie swept her hands up and dragged off

her wig. "Just a little physical interaction," she continued.

"Like that gruesome meshing of bones, but no awareness of

what's inside, what's beyond the label, beyond the . . ."

There were tears now, flowing from the doll's eyes in the

doll's bare skull.

"Oh, my," Pacifa murmured.

Melanie seemed oblivious. "It reminds me of a song that

was popular before my time. I had it on a record. 'Nobody

loves me 'cause nobody knows me.' It was called 'Single

Girl.'" She hummed the tune.

She was feeling sorry for herself. But Don could not deny

she had reason. Those who blithely disparaged the state

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97

tended to be unfeeling louts, he felt. He had not liked his

own lonely first section of this mission, and that had been

for less than a day. Melanie had been isolated longer,

waiting. But for her, as it was for him, this was only an

episode in a life of similar isolation.

What could he tell her? Her problem was real, and it

would be hypocritical to pretend that it wasn't. Don found

himself tongue-tied, when he least wanted to be.

' 'May I?'' Pacifa inquired.

Don looked at her. She came to kneel before Melanie.

Melanie's eyes opened. "What?"

"I am one of those who does not know you," Pacifa said.

' 'How could I? I am new to this group. But perhaps I know

your type."

"My type?"

"And you do not know me. But this much can be

rectified. I can tell you in a few minutes what is relevant."

"N-now wait—" Don started.

Gaspar lifted a hand, signaling peace. Don took the hint

and was quiet.

"We are all of us alone, I think," Pacifa said. "That

seems to have been a requirement for this mission, which is

not the most comfortable thought. It may mean that we're

expendable. But it could mean instead that we are fragments

capable of uniting into a kind of family. Then none of us

would be alone."

Melanie's eyes widened, but she did not speak.

"About me," Pacifa continued. "I oversimplified. I

could not have sent my daughter here. I was once part of a

reasonably typical family. My husband was fifteen years

older than I and a good man. But he did not take care of

himself. He smoked—too much, drank—too much, ate fatty

foods, did not exercise, and had a high-stress job. He led, in

general, the conventional unhealthy lifestyle, and it took

him out with a heart attack at age sixty. I had taken a job

which absorbed my attention, and somehow had not seen his

demise coming. My daughter was beautiful, but she ran off

with an alcoholic who finally beat her to death. That I saw

coming, but she wouldn't listen. Had I my life to live over,

I would address both situations in time and save my family.

But I was wise way too late. I disavowed it all, their parts

and mine, and focused thereafter on a totally healthy

lifestyle, maintaining economic and emotional indepen-

dence. Yet satisfaction eluded me. I signed up for this

mission in the hope that it would offer me not only a

challenge but—" She paused.

"I understand," Melanie murmured.

"You are in a way like my daughter. I realize that this is

artificial, and there are no quick fixes—"

Melanie lifted her arms. The two embraced, awkwardly

but tightly.

Don closed his eyes. Why couldn't he have done some-

thing like that?

CHAPTER 6

MYSTERY

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Group is complete and melding is proceeding. There

should be further progress as they encounter the next group

challenge.

When will they learn the mission?

When melding is complete.

Do they know that one of them is an agent of a local

government?

The others do not know.

Or that you are a member of their group?

They do not know.

You run the risk of destroying the group and with it the

mission, when they learn.

Yes. I hope the risk is less than that of the direct

approach.

We hope so too. A world is at stake.

As they progressed, the differences between bicycles

became more obvious. Caspar was in the best physical

condition of the men, being muscular and accustomed to

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strenuous activity. Yet he seemed to tire the most rapidly.

Pacifa, a woman in her fifties, was indefatigable. Don and

Eleph and Melanie fell in between, with a slight advantage

going to Eleph. It had to be the bicycles.

Don watched, working it out. Caspar had a one-speed

machine without fixtures, apart from, those attached for the

phase trip. Up hills he panted; down hills he used the coaster

brake. When the way was steep, he had to walk because he

could not put out his feet to steady himself in emergencies

in the way the others could—not without sacrificing his

necessary braking power. Thus his muscle was inefficiently

employed, and it cost him.

Melanie had three speeds, and they seemed to help her a

lot. She was young and trim; her lack of weight surely

helped her keep the pace, because it took less work to haul

that weight upslope. But she was structured in the fashion of

a woman, not a man, and simply lacked the muscle mass to

do a lot.

Don himself had five speeds. Ordinarily he remained in

third or fourth gear, but on a sustained climb he shifted

down to second. A smooth decline allowed him to speed

along in fifth. The range seemed quite suitable, and he

had no complaints, though he certainly felt a day's travel.

He was hardening to it, as they all were, but he did wish the

sea floor was both smoother and more level.

Eleph, who was of Pacifa's generation, had all of thirty

six speeds. He seemed to use only a few—no more than Don

did, perhaps—but he could choose them precisely, and

could take advantage of the best ratio for any situation.

Those turned-down handlebars looked awkward, but they

caused the man to assume an efficient riding position: head

down, body hunched so as to reduce wind (water) resistance

and allow the most effective use of the leg muscles. The

whole body was positioned in line with the thrust of the

MERCYCLE               101

pedals: therein might lie the real key. Don tried to imitate

the position, though his higher handlebars forced his elbows

out awkwardly, and it did seem to help.

Pacifa's bicycle had only ten speeds, and the same

turned-down handlebars. She was no more muscular than

Melanie, and a generation older. Yet she moved effortlessly,

it seemed. What advantage did she have over Eleph?

The differences seemed small. Pacifa wore gloves, not

the dressy kind or heavy protective ones, but a kind of open

webbing with the fingers cut off. They seemed useless, a

pointless affectation. Until he noticed how sweaty his hands

became on the hard rubber grips. Her gloves removed^the

palms from the rubber—actually she had black tape

wrapped around the bars instead, for some reason—just

enough to ensure ventilation, and they also provided fric-

tion. That could count for a lot, after eight or ten hours of

arm-muscle twitchings. She had loops over her toes, fasten-

ing them to the pedals. This looked clumsy and dangerous

at first; what if she took an unexpected spill? But Don soon

saw that the straps did for her feet what the gloves did for

her hands. Furthermore, she could actually pull-up on the

pedals as well as push-down, using different muscles

while increasing power. As if that weren't enough, her

shoes were cleated, and seemed to have metal-reinforced

soles to protect her feet from battering. Don's own feet felt

as if someone had been hammering on them, the soreness

extending right into the bone.

Even so, it didn't seem to account for her stamina. She

was in good physical health, but so was Caspar. She wasn't

muscular, yet she seemed to have the endurance of a woman

twenty years younger. Don resolved to talk to her about it at

the next opportunity.

When that chance came, he was surprised. "Ankling,"

she said. "Cadence."

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"What-ling?"

"Ankling. That's half my secret. You men just push on

the balls of your feet; I use my ankles. Like this." She

positioned one foot in the stirrup. "At the top of the stroke,

my toe points up. As I complete the stroke, it angles down,

until at the bottom—''

"But that makes your ankle do all the work of pedaling,

instead of the large muscles,'' Don protested.

"No, the entire body participates. Ankling merely in-

creases the effectiveness of the stroke, letting me use every

muscle to advantage. You can't put the whole load on one

part of the leg and expect it to stand up."

Don tried it. "Seems awkward."

"For you, the first time, yes. But so is a baby's first meal

with a spoon. Here, let me raise your saddle; you can't

operate effectively unless your bike is adjusted to your

leg-length."

She loosened a bolt with her wrench and raised the seat

about an inch and a half.

"I can barely reach the pedals now!" Don protested,

trying it.

"Nonsense. Any change feels strange at first, even when

it's for the better. In the long run—"

"Maybe so. I'll practice ankling tomorrow, if I don't fall

over. But why didn't you tell me about it at the beginning?''

"Why didn't you tell me about hammerhead sharks?"

"That's not the same."

"It will do."

"I suppose we all have to leam by experience. But at

least they could have had us standardize on bicycles.

Experience won't change our problem of equipment. Poor

Caspar—''

"There will be adaptation equipment at the first supply

depot," she said with a smile.

"How do you know that?"

"We women are not so amiable as you men about the

finicky details. I put conditions on my participation in this

venture. I knew someone would foul up on the hardware, as

it seems they already have on your food."

"I never realized bicycles were that different," Don said

sheepishly.

"Oh, they are. Wait till you try a lightweight tourer,

instead of that milk wagon you're on now. Ten speeds,

rat-trap pedals—''

"Rattletrap pedals!"

"Rat-trap. Like this." She showed one of her pedals. Don

was amazed; with all his comparison of the bicycles, he had

not picked up on this detail. The thing was empty. There

were only two strips of metal paralleling the main bolt. It

did look like the jaws of a rat trap.

"Cuts weight, provides a better grip for the foot," she

explained. "The true racing pedals have saw-tooth edges for

real friction. But I'm not racing."

Don would never want to race her, however, "About

those ten gears. Eleph has—''

"Thirty six speeds. Talk about overkill! Trust the mili-

tary mind to squander resources. But it is a good machine,

for all his ignorance. Once he leams how to use it, he'll be

all right."

"Why is it you have only ten speeds, instead of—"

' 'Ten's all I need. The point of gearing is not to give you

different speeds, in the manner of a car, but to enable you to

maintain a suitable cycling rhythm. That's cadence. A

steady turning of the crank arm at constant revolutions. Find

what's most comfortable for you—say sixty turns a

minute—and stick to it. Your forward speed may vary, but

not your cadence. That way you'll last longer with less

fatigue."

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Don shook his head. "If I didn't see you standing there

all peppery while I'm beat, I'd figure it was quibbling."

"That's right." She started off to see about camping

arrangements.

"Uh, one other thing," he said, suddenly feeling awk-

ward. "Last night—what you did for Melanie—that was a

g-generous thing."

"Don't give me credit that isn't due," she snapped. "I

did it for me."

"For—?"

"Your turn will come, when you get over this nonsense

about appearances." She moved off.

Bemused, Don went about his own business.

They traveled a hundred miles a day, under the Gulf

Stream. However warm the water might be above, it

remained cold here, for they were in the region of deep-

water circulation. The cold current was opposite to that of

the warm one, giving them an effective tailwind. Though

only a thousandth of the water temperature affected him,

Don was very glad for the protective warmth of the

converter unit.

At the end of the first day of full bottom travel the depth

was over six hundred fathoms. At the end of the second day

it was one thousand fathoms. On the third day they reached

fourteen hundred fathoms and encountered the vast sedi-

mentary plains of the Gulf of Mexico. As far as their

headlamps would show, which was not any great distance,

the sea floor was flat and featureless except for spider-like

brittlestars and occasional sea cucumbers. Some few glass

sponges stuck up in clusters, and some fanlike sea fans.

Ugly two-foot-long fish, which Caspar identified as rat-

tailed grenadiers, scouted here and there, as well as spindly-

MERCYCLE               105

legged crustaceans. But the overall impression was that of a

desert.

A desert under water! Could this be the result of man's

pollution? Actually it was a swamp. Don imagined the muck

giving way beneath the weight of the bicycles, scant as the

effect might be with the phaseout. If they slowed, would the

thin tires sink?

The answer was no. The phase world's surface was hard.

Don mused again about that, without effect. The full nature

of that other realm remained a mystery.

On and on, for hours, unvarying. There was no danger

here, merely boredom. Yet this region was tiny compared to

the great abyssal plains of the main oceans, according to

Caspar. The Bearing Plain was supposedly about as large as

the entire Gulf of Mexico.

"Abysmal plains," Pacifa retorted to that statement.

"Not much for tourists here."

"You'll just have to bus them over this stretch," Caspar

said with a smile. The seat of his bike was higher now, and

the level terrain helped too, so that he was doing better.

"Impossible," Eleph said, taking him seriously. "No

motor will operate within the atmospheric conversion

field."

"Oh?" Don was interested. "I thought it was just

electricity that got fouled up."

"Ignition is required for a motor."

"How about a diesel?"

"That might operate, if allowance is made for continuous

oxygenation in the chambers. But the exhaust would foul

our limited environment very quickly and asphyxiate us.

The same is true for almost any flame. Human usage is the

reasonable maximum the infusion of oxygen can sustain."

"But our radios work," Melanie said. She too had her

seat higher, and was doing better, but Don thought the bike

106 Piers Anthony

was only a small part of the reason. For one thing, she was

no longer wearing her wig. She had packed it away, and was

going openly as she was. That had bothered Don at first, but

he discovered that after the first few hours it didn't matter.

She was herself.

"The radios are shielded," Eleph said. "The current they

use is minor."

"Still, if electricity does—" Don began.

"Of course electricity functions," Eleph said sharply. "I

never said it didn't. Our own nervous systems are electrical.

But the heavy-duty applications involved in a motor become

complex."

"So we use bicycles," Pacifa said. "They always did

make more sense than cars, anywhere, and are mighty

handy if you want to sneak up on something."

"Sneak up?" Eleph demanded, frowning.

"Cuba is a hostile foreign nation," she said. "Our

mission may be to circle it, spying out its secrets. We

couldn't do it if we made a lot of noise."

"I hope it's not that," Melanie said. "I don't want to spy

on anyone."

Don agreed. Exploration was fine, but not spying.

"We should know, when we are informed of our mis-

sion,' ' Eleph said.

"Aren't we getting close to that depot now?" Don asked.

"My meter says so."

"Close," Pacifa agreed. "The depot is right in these

flats, or we wouldn't be here at all. I've been watching for

dud shells, or whatever. How's the ankling?"

"Doesn't seem to help much."

"Oh, come on. Get your toes up, and don't push with the

middle of your foot. If you had proper gear, you wouldn' t be

able to do that. We'll have to lift your saddle a bit more.

MERCYCLE               107

Lean forward; get your weight where it belongs. You aren't

tricycling around the city block, you know.''

Indeed he wasn't. The resistive muck had sapped his

scant strength, though he knew that resistance was largely in

his imagination. Oh for a good long rest.

Melanie cycled close. "Mothers are like that," she said.

They rode on for another half hour. Pacifa pulled up to

talk with Caspar. Then the two called a halt.

"We're past the spot," she announced. "Anybody hear a

beacon?"

No one had. "A beacon is a visual indication, not a

sonic," Eleph muttered. "You must have misunderstood."

"It's supposed to be the same whistle we use to find each

other," Pacifa said. "But mechanically generated. Check it

yourself."

"Madam, I shall." Eleph led the way back, watching his

locator closely. There was a slight difference between units,

so that when Eleph's read exactly 84°50' west longitude,

Don's read 84°49', and the others varied similarly. That

represented a divergence of a mile, and the whistle was

limited to about a mile. No one on the surface, a mile and a

half above, could pick it up, theoretically. Don questioned

the validity of any claim that a sound could be completely

damped out by distance, but he wasn't going to question a

physicist on that. Perhaps the phase had something to do

with it.

They checked the exact coordinates as interpreted by

each of their meters, then circled the entire area at one mile

and two mile radii. There was no whistle, and no sign of the

depot.

"We appear to have inaccurate coordinates," Eleph said

gravely.

They knew what that meant. No supplies. It would be

impossible for them to find the depot without knowing its

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precise location, for the Gulf of Mexico was a thousand

miles across. An error of as little as twenty miles would

reduce their chances to sheerest accident.

"Cuba?" Don asked, remembering Pacifa's suspicion.

"If they knew—"

"They do not control these waters," Eleph said. "They

would have no clue to the location, even if they were aware

of the mission."

"Must be a simple mistake, then," Caspar said. "Mela-

nie, are you sure you remembered the coordinates cor-

rectly?"

"I'm sure," she said. "I wish I weren't."

"Mistakes of this nature are not made," Eleph insisted,

the tic in his cheek beginning to show again.

Pacifa began unpacking the tent sections. "If it isn't a

mistake, and no one took away the depot, it must be

deliberate. Do you really think we would be set up for

nothing?''

"Of course not!" Eleph said. "The depot is here,

somewhere. The coordinates must have suffered a change in

transmission."

"Hey, are you saying I—" Melanie demanded.

"No. I am saying that you must have been given the

wrong coordinates. Such information is routinely trans-

ferred from one office to another. Someone in the chain

must have changed it, to strand us here."

"Who?" Pacifa asked.

"A representative of anyone who wanted this mission to

fail."

Gaspar shook his head. "The simplest explanation is

most often correct, correct? These government bureaucra-

cies make a living from fouling things up. Some dolt put

spoiled food-powder in Don's pack and never checked it,

MERCYCLE               109

and another dolt must have misquoted the coordinates. No

mistake is too idiotic for a bureaucrat to make, especially

when lives are at stake. Remember all the boo-boos over the

years in the space program! Tying down delicate equipment

with baling wire, putting faulty wiring in an oxygen

chamber, sending up a manned mission when there were

icicles on the rockets—"

"Icicles?" Eleph asked.

"Remember when the Challenger exploded? Because the

cold had stiffened the 0-rings? That mistake cost seven

lives. And the Hubble orbiting telescope—two billion

dollars, and then they discovered they'd put in the wrong

shaped mirror."

Eleph frowned as if confused, but rallied in a moment.

"Those were isolated incidents in an operation of unparal-

leled complexity. Still, I fear that something of that nature is

the case here."

"We shall have to go backward to land—or forward to

the mission," Pacifa said. She had been working all along,

and now had the tents assembled and was starting on supper.

"We do have access to the location of the next depot,

fortunately."

"No certainty of that," Eleph muttered.

"For someone who's as pro-government as you are,

you're mighty suspicious!" she snapped at him.

The tic was rampaging now. "Madam, I am merely being

realistic. We are already short of food, and further

complications—"

"If this was an accident," Pacifa said evenly, "the next

depot may be all right. But if someone deliberately changed

the number, he could just as readily have changed all the

numbers. So we had better guess right."

"Maybe if we knew what the mission is, we could tell

110                Piers Anthony

whether it's an accident,'' Melanie said.' 'I mean, who cares

if we're just riding around? But if we're spying—"

"I don't see why anyone should try to abort undersea

geology," Caspar said.

"Or archaeology," Don said.

"Or a new kind of tourism," Pacifa said.

"Or a mere testing of equipment," Eleph said. "But—"

"But our specialties may be just a cover for what we're

really supposed to do," Pacifa concluded. "So we really

don't know and can't guess. But it occurs to me that our

smartest move, if this trouble is deliberate, might be to get

on with it in a hurry and catch them by surprise. They'll be

expecting us to turn back at this point, and if something is

going on under the ocean, that reprieve may be all they need

to cover it up."

"Precisely my sentiments," Eleph said.

"If those two agree, they must be right," Caspar said

with a smile.

"B-but if we don't find the s-second depot—"

"Then we'll simply blow the whistle," Pacifa said.

' 'Ride up on the nearest land and make a scene that'll bring

our bureaucrats scampering. They may have ignored Mel-

anie, in her vision, but I suspect that if we made a concerted

effort, we would not be ignored."

Melanie clapped her hands. "How beautifully simple!"

Indeed, Don liked the notion too. No one could hurt

them in their phased out state; they would be pedaling

ghosts. The fearful hullabaloo would publicize the whole

business. A drastic step, and not one to be taken short of

necessity—but still a realistic alternative that would ensure

prompt action. It would have to be prompt, if they ran out of

food.

And probably there was no conspiracy anyway. But then

MERCYCLE               111

he thought of one more thing. "B-but suppose no land is

near?"

"Well, let's find out," Pacifa said. "If there's nothing,

we'll just have to plan ahead. Save enough food to make it

to land. Melanie?"

"I'm not supposed to give out the new coordinates

until—"

"Until we're at the prior ones," Pacifa finished for her.

"As we are now. Satisfied?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Melanie agreed. "Twenty one

degrees, fifty north latitude, eighty nine degrees, thirty west

longitude."

"The Yucatan," Caspar said promptly. He showed the

relevant map segment. "North coast, about here."

Don stared. "Dzibilchaltun," he breathed.

The others looked at him.

"Dzibilchaltun," he repeated. "Fabulous ancient city of

the Mayans, and before. That's the area. I don't know it

from the coordinates, but I could never forget that spot on

the map."

"I thought you were a European archaeologist," Caspar

said, not unkindly.

"I am. I know almost nothing about the new world. But

who hasn't heard of Dzibilchaltun?"

"Who, indeed," Pacifa said wryly. It was obvious that

the name meant nothing to the others. "But at least it gives

you something to work on."

"Yes!" Don said. "Dzibilchaltun was contemporary

with the Minoan culture, though of course there was no

connection between them. Certainly I'll want to

compare—"

"Maybe we'd better save the exploration for when we get

there," Pacifa said. "We have a long hard ride on short

supplies. At least it is near land—quite near. Right now

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we'd better sleep." She served up reduced rations, and they

turned in.

But Don, as always when under stress, could not get the

rest he needed. The entire project had taken on new

meaning. He strove to remember what he had picked up

about the Mayan culture, but there were only incon-

sequential fragments. The Mayans had had what some

reckoned to be the world's finest calendar, and much

fine handiwork in metals and cloth, and superior art—

but what of their considerable history? Dzibilchaltun

dated from about 3000 B.C., as did the Minoan civilization,

but the Mayans hadn't built that city. They had come

later. That was all he could remember, if he had ever

known more. He had been too narrow a specialist, en-

grossed in the wonders of his own specialty, poring over the

language and script of the ancient Cretans until these

seemed almost as familiar to him as his own people. He had

neglected the other side of the ancient world almost com-

pletely. If only he had known of the opportunity that was

coming!

As he wrestled with his uncertainties and frustrations, an

unpleasant truth emerged. Pacifa was correct: their special-

ties were only a cover for their real mission, which had

nothing to do with anything they had studied. Otherwise

Caspar would have been sent to the Bahamas platform, and

Pacifa would have had a feasible tourist route to clarify.

There would have been a Mayan scholar along, instead of a

Minoan one. And Eleph—what was he doing, anyway? He

said he was a physicist, and that he knew how to repair the

breathing field, but probably that would never have to be put

to the test.

If Don and Caspar and Melanie and Pacifa were merely

along for appearances, with Eleph doing the dirty work—it   I

had to be dirty, with secrecy like this!—why had the   I

i

MERCYCLE               113

government bothered? There were no appearances on this

mile-deep tour.

The more he thought about it, the less he liked it.

Melanie was lying beside him. "You're not sleeping,

Don," she murmured. "And I don't suppose it's because of

frustrated passion for me."

He had to laugh, but it was forced. "I'd rather be honest,

and just admit that your hair has severely shaken my

romantic notions," he said. "But you're a good enough

person, Melanie, and—"

"Don't belabor it. What's really on your mind?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that we're penned in a

madhouse?"

"All the time," she agreed.

"I mean here/now. The group of us on this mission."

"Oh, you're not mad," she said. "Not really. I've seen

much worse."

"Worse than a militaristic physicist or a bike-toting

grandma?''

"He's not as bad as all that. And she's not a grandma.

Just—I do like her, Don. I do need her."

"Sorry. That business between you two—"

He broke off, but Melanie didn't respond.

"Hey, did I say something to—?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh, no," she said quickly. "I was just thinking. About

worse people. I knew some real characters at—at another

place. One woman was a farmer, slaughtering and butcher-

ing her own hogs—do you have any idea how much

blood—?"

"I don't care to," Don said quickly, not from squeamish-

ness, but because it was an oblique way to support her. She

was doing him the kindness of talking to him now, and he

wanted it to last a little longer.

114 Piers Anthony

"And once I met a couple of young men at a John Birch

meeting. I wore the wig, of course; they didn't know. One

had a gun collection—"

"John Birch?" Don demanded, surprised. "Isn't that the

far right group that—you went to—?"

"I do try to listen to everyone's viewpoint," she said

defensively. "When I get up the nerve to go out among

people. Anyway, he collected guns. About twenty rifles,

eight pistols, three submachine guns, and two bazookas,

with ammunition. He said he was a monarchist. He had a

bottle he'd picked up in Turkey, he said—full of enemy

eyeballs. Turkish enemies—I don't know where the eyes

came from originally, but they were awful. Maybe it was

some other country; I don't know whether I can believe him.

But those eyeballs certainly looked real. He talked about

impaling the Supreme Court justices on the front steps of

the Court Building, the slow way."

"Impalement!" Don exclaimed. "I didn't know there

were fast and slow ways."

"Neither did I. In fact, I didn't know what im-

palement was. But he explained. In detail. I think I got

sick."

"But how—?"

She was silent.

Don decided not to push the question. He was beginning

to remember how the Assyrians had done it. The sharp point

of a long stout pole was inserted in the subject's posterior,

and he was thereby hoisted into the air, his own weight

completing the impalement, in the course of agonizing

hours. Melanie had known worse people!

"I guess we're pretty well off, here, after all," he said.

"Yes. Despite all the doubt, it's sort of nice. In its way.

We're together, all of us, perforce. Holding hands, as it

were. I haven't felt that sort of thing in a long time."

r

MERCYCLE

115

He pondered briefly, and decided to take a plunge

"M-may I?" he asked.

She laughed. Then her hand came to him in the darkness,

and he took it.

Then, holding hands, they slept.

CHAPTER 7

^s

CREVASSE

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

The members of the group are coming to terms with

their situation. They realize that something is wrong,

and that it may be because of external malice, but have

resolved to proceed regardless. This is an excellent sign.

Are you sure of them now?

No. There remain too many complex currents. They are

for the moment united in a specific effort, but are not

melded. They need more time. Progress is being made, and

the young woman is forming attachments to two of the other

recruits. The outcome looks positive, but cannot be pre-

sumed. We need four attachments.

How will you achieve this?

I will continue putting challenges before them, as

planned. The next one is natural: a crevasse which will be

difficult to pass rapidly.

We hope you know what you 're doing.

I hope so too.

"Now we'll have to set up rationing/' Pacifa said.

"We're already short because of that spoilage. No trouble

117

118 Piers Anthony

stretching the food of four between five people; we each

have more than enough. But we have five hundred miles to

go with no refills, and that's a rough haul. We'll make it

because we have to, and because perhaps some other party

doesn't think we can—but we aren't going to enjoy it

much."

Don felt guilty, because it was the failure of his food

supply that intensified the squeeze. He knew it wasn't his

fault, yet it bothered him.

"Now I'll ration it out with strict impartiality," Pacifa

continued in her brisk way. "You will all carry your own,

but we shall do a count now. You'll get suspicious when

you get tired and hungry and short of sleep—and believe

me, you'll be all three!—and that's natural. So I want you to

check the count now, so we all know exactly how many

packages there are."

There were sixteen.

"Each package is supposed to be good for one meal,"

she continued.' 'At three meals a day for all five of us, that's

about one day. At our normal progress, we have five days

travel coming up." She paused, making sure they all

understood. "So we'll have to speed up. Our limit is food,

not strength. We've toughened up the past few days,

wanning up for this effort. We'll do it in two and a half

days. And we'll make the food stretch to cover that. Five

meals a day."

"Five meals a day!" Eleph exclaimed. "Madam, we

haven't enough for three, let alone—"

"Small ones, Eleph," she said. "Eat often, and you eat

less. You never get really hungry, so never have to com-

pensate. And your system processes the small amounts

efficiently. Especially when you're exercising."

Caspar caught on. "We'll split one package between the

MERCYCLE               119

five of us, each time. Five times a day, two and a half

days—and—"

"Almost," she said. "I believe we need more than that;

one quarter of a package at a time should be about right. So

we shall quarter them, making sixty four quarters in all. We

shall eat twenty five quarters a day, for two and a half days,

or a total of sixty two and a half quarters. That's nonsense,

of course; no one will eat half a quarter. But the point is, we

shall have a slight reserve, which we can dispense as

necessary. If one of us is required to do heavy work—" she

glanced at Caspar—"he will get an extra ration. We can not

safely assume that the way will be completely without

challenge."

"That's for sure!" Caspar agreed. "We'll have to climb

the continental shelf to reach the Yucatan peninsula, and

that in itself will be a formidable task. If there are any

obstructions—''

"Precisely," she agreed seriously. "We need that emer-

gency reserve. We all have some fatty reserves; we can put

out some energy without killing ourselves. But if we go too

slow, we can starve before getting there. Now let me brush

you up on riding technique. First, posture. Eleph, you ride

like an old woman—and even old women don't do that, if

they want to get anywhere. I ought to know.''

She went on to give them all the information she had

given Don before, while she adjusted saddles and handle-

bars and checked each bicycle quickly for problems. Eleph

and Caspar were shaking their heads dubiously, but Don

knew she was right.

"We must make two hundred miles a day," she contin-

ued. "Roughly fourteen miles per hour, average. That may

not sound like much, and it isn't—for me. It'll kill you, in

this terrain. But not quite as dead as hunger will. At least

120                Piers Anthony

you know what the deep sea is like, and won't stop to gawk

at the fish." She smiled briefly. "Are you ready?"

Of course they weren't, but there was no choice.

They rode, paced by Pacifa. Gaspar led, followed by

Eleph, then Melanie and Don. Pacifa changed positions,

riding parallel to each of the others in turn, making sure they

were all right. Her stamina was amazing; she really did have

far better ability than any of the others, in mis regard.

On the level it wasn't bad; the hunched posture did seem

to diminish the watery resistance. But then they crossed low

hills rising out of the abyssal sediment, and Don quickly felt

his leg muscles stiffen. As time passed, it got worse. From

knee to crotch, the great front muscles tightened into dull

pain. His breath came fast and sweat ran down his forehead

despite the minimum setting on the converter. He shifted

from fifth to fourth, and then to third; this eased the

immediate strain but increased his rate of pedaling. Just as

much energy was being drawn from his body, but in a

different manner, and his cadence was being sacrificed.

He saw that Melanie was having similar trouble. Fortu-

nately she had good legs, and she was keeping the pace. She

had a small advantage because her bald head presented less

resistance to the current-wind.

Don concentrated on the techniques Pacifa had described,

leaning forward to put his weight over the pedals instead of

into his posterior, utilizing his torso as well as his legs, and

ankling. The higher saddle no longer felt strange. He saw

the others doing the same, looking worse off than he felt.

That was gratifying. As the grueling pace robbed his leg

muscles of their capacity, these other actions did come to fill

the power vacuum, and he gained a second wind that was

much more durable than the first. He was moving!

But when they clocked 120 miles and stopped for the

fourth meal of the day and Don stepped off his bike, his

MERCYCLE               121

knees buckled and he sprawled ignominiously on the

ground. There was no gumption left. Gaspar and Eleph were

no better off. Melanie was standing as if both knees were in

casts, afraid to bend them at all.

Pacifa remained distressingly spry. "Eat hearty, folk,"

she said as she divided a package of fish-flavored glop.

"We'll be doing some riding, soon."

Don ate, and she was right: it was enough, for his hunger

was as small as his fatigue was large.

They struck the continental slope of the Yucatan Penin-

sula of Central America. In the space of ten miles they

climbed a thousand fathoms, and were still deeper than they

had been in the straits of Florida. A rise of one part in ten

was a killer. When it became steeper than that, they

dismounted and trudged, leaning on their machines for

support. No fourteen miles per hour here!

The terrible climb went on and on, dragging at the last

vestiges of bodily strength. Here even Pacifa suffered, for

she was a cyclist, not a hiker. But no one would give up, and

when at last the land leveled into the continental shelf, about

six hundred fathoms deep, four of them dropped without

eating into the troubled collapse of exhaustion. Only Pacifa

remained on her feet.

They had not made their mileage quota, but they were

well over the hump.

"Here, Gaspar, I'll give you some ease," Pacifa said. She

sat and took one of his legs and kneaded the muscle. He

sighed with dawning bliss.

"That looks good," Melanie said. "Trade?"

Don sat up and took one of her legs. He watched what

Pacifa was doing and tried to do the same to Melanie. She

smiled rapturously. His arms were merely tired, not knotted;

he was working with the part of his body that had some

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Piers Anthony

reserve energy. But even in his fatigue, he noticed how nice

her legs were. At any other time, he would not be able to

handle them like this without getting seriously distracted. Did

hair really matter? He could feel his doubt growing. A wig

could emulate hair, but what could emulate flesh like this?

But soon she insisted on taking her turn and doing his

legs. Her hands were marvelously healing. It was a won-

derful feeling which had nothing to do with sex; his legs

started to relax. If he had been bringing this feeling to her,

he had been doing right. Did her thoughts drift as his had?

"One thing really impressed me about taking birth

control pills," Melanie said as she kneaded. It was her way:

to embark on some remote subject that nevertheless related

in some manner to whatever was going on in the fore-

ground. It seemed that her thoughts did drift. "They

impaired my ability to follow abstract arguments. I had been

working my way through Henri Bergson's book Time and

Free Will. I don't know how the pills did it, but the results

were too obvious. The most direct was indirect: how much

more readily I could follow the arguments after I stopped

taking the pills. That kind of thing always brings to my mind

the specter of chemical control. A subtle, insidious thing.

Control of the higher faculties. Maybe it was all due to a

mild induced anemia or some such, but whatever it was, it

was most effective. It robbed me of my spark, or inner drive

or whatever, which was about all I had going for me."

Don's leg muscles were relaxing, but his mind was not.

Melanie was supposed to be a shy single girl. Why was she

taking birth control pills?

Why, indeed! Was he hopelessly naive? She had wanted

social interaction, and if she didn't remove her wig, a short-

term relationship was feasible. Sex could be quite short-term.

"I consider myself more a complete determinist than

Bergson is," she continued. "But my final conclusions

about free will are very close to his. To me it has always

MERCYCLE               123

seemed as if all these arguments are aspects of an inner

drive that is trying to assert itself. A drive toward higher

abstraction. Something I consider to be characteristically

human."

Don wondered what kind of a drive accounted for talking

about birth control pills while massaging a male compan-

ion's legs. He also wondered irrelevantly why she had

shown him and the others her bald state. The one could

almost be taken as an oblique sexual come-on, while the

other was the opposite. He had never heard of Bergson and

had not thought much about free will.

"Human beings greatly desire to be free,"^ Melanie

continued. ' 'But freedom as experienced by the self is not

the absence of prior determining experiences, but rather the

opportunity to act in accordance with one's innermost

drives. So that if one assumes that physical determinism is

all-pervasive—that the combination of one's past history

and one's physical reality completely determines one's

choices—even then there is no absence of freedom. Because

no matter how completely one's choices have been prede-

termined, there always remains complete inner freedom. I

can make any possible choice as long as I am willing to

suffer the consequences of my actions. If a person says 'I

can't do that' about anything it is physically possible for

him to do, he is saying in effect 'I am unwilling to suffer the

consequences of that action.'"

Don wondered morosely whether she thought that taking

birth control pills was an evasion of the consequences of her

actions. Here she was talking about freedom, but all he

could think of was what she was planning to do with that

freedom. Why had she been thinking about those pills, right

now?

Then it came together. Melanie was chained by her

circumstance: any man who saw her bald would be turned

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Piers Anthony

off. So whatever she might have done while on the pills was

not relevant, because it could not last. Now she was being

open about her liability, and taking the consequence. But

apart from that, she was a human being, and a lonely one,

like him.

He sat up. "I-I'm going to exert m-my free will," he said.

"And take the consequence." Then he caught her shoul-

ders, drew her in, and kissed her. He had been massaging

her legs, right up to the buttocks, and the buttocks too, but

that had been a necessary courtesy without special signifi-

cance. This was personal, and therefore more intimate.

She neither returned the kiss nor withdrew. She seemed

not quite surprised. "I shall have to think about this," she

said. Then she lay down beside him, taking his hand.

Whatever consequence there was was not apparent.

Except that it had shut her up. Perhaps that was just as well.

He had done what he had done, but he had perhaps surprised

himself more than her. In the darkness her baldness had not

been apparent. Could he have done it in daylight? Or was he

merely testing the waters, as it were, to see whether a

romance between them was possible?

If only that hair—

Don had forgotten, in the deep-sea interim, how much life

teemed in the shallows. He woke to find fish nibbling at him

curiously, or trying to, supposing that they had free will in

this matter. Starfish were easing through his territory.

But a good distance remained across the wide continental

shelf, and Pacifa gave them no time to lie about. She

allocated two and a half full food packages, making up for

the missed meal. "We'll make it," she said.

Don's muscles seemed to have coagulated during the

night, despite the massage. Every motion was agony.

Melanie looked drawn. Suddenly her decision made sense:

MERCYCLE               125

to make no commitment when she was dead tired. He

wasn't sure whether he had offered any commitment. The

kiss had somehow seemed appropriate after the pseudo-

intimacy of their handling of each other's legs. But it might

have been a mistake. Certainly it seemed remote, now.

He climbed aboard his bicycle and bore down on the

pedals, and lo! the machine moved. Melanie started off

similarly, somewhat unsteadily. The other men were no

better off. Grimly they followed the ever-sprightly Pacifa

across the sandy slopes, working the adhesions out of their

sinews.

They had overestimated the total distance by about a

hundred miles. The result was that they were slightly ahead

of schedule despite the slow climb. But their slowly

growing optimism was abruptly squelched.

Less than a hundred miles from the depot—they all

maintained the firm fiction that there was a depot—they

encountered a crevasse. It was not the scope of the Grand

Canyon, but it was quite enough to halt the five cyclists.

They verified the depth only by tying a package of tools

to a rope and letting it down until it bumped. The near wall

dropped into a plain below. How broad it was they could not

know; Caspar tried for a whistle-echo, but came to no

conclusion.

"What," Eleph demanded severely, "is a canyon doing

under the sea?"

"Mocking us," Melanie said dully.

Pacifa smiled through her frustration. She was tired too,

and the extra muscles the males carried were beginning to

tell in their favor. Melanie had the advantage of youth.

"Obviously there is a river on land. It continues as a

freshwater current for some distance over the shelf, cutting

away the ground."

"No such luck," Don said. "Fresh water is less dense

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Piers Anthony

than salt water, so it would tend to float. It takes a land river

to cut a canyon. No doubt it was a land river, in the ice age

when so much water was taken up by the glaciers that the

sea level dropped several hundred feet. This canyon must

have been carved then, then covered up when the sea level

rose again."

"I thought Caspar was the geologist," Pacifa said.

"Well, I run into such things archaeologically," Don

said.' 'Many of the old civilizations were shoreline cultures,

and some were buried by the slowly rising waters. In fact,

civilization itself had a hard go of it until about 3000 B.C.,

when the ocean level finally stabilized. How could you

maintain an advanced cultural exchange when your leading

seaports kept sinking under water? It was no coincidence

that the Minoans and Egyptians developed only when—"

"I hate to interrupt," Caspar said, "but we're talking

beside the point. We have to get across this detail of the

landscape, and a detour may be too long. Our food is almost

gone. Any ideas?"

"What about the map?" Pacifa asked. "Let's assess our

handicap. There may be a better place to cross."

"Our general map doesn't show it. Probably there was a

detailed map at the first depot, but—'' He shrugged.

"Better not gamble, then," she said. "We'll rope it."

She unlimbered the long cord. "Now we have a logistical

problem. We can get people down, and we can get bicycles

down, but both together is tough."

"Not at all," Eleph said. "The problem is physical, not

logistical. Merely rig a pulley and use one mounted rider as

counterweight for another."

"Pulley? Good idea if we had one!"

"Remove the tires from one bicycle. String the cord

through the rims."

Pacifa nodded. "Eleph, I hate to admit it, but you do have

MERCYCLE               127

something resembling a brain on you. We can even hitch a

loop to the pedals to serve as a brake. But how do we get

that bike down afterwards—and how do we get it up the

other side, to haul us up?"

"One problem at a time, woman," he said curtly. "We

need a suitable location."

"And we'll have to select a bike," she agreed. "Let's

see. The multiple-speeders are better constructed, but they

all have hand brakes. We need a coaster brake, and good

heavy construction."

Caspar had anticipated her. He was already unloading his

machine.

Eleph, meanwhile, scouted the canyon, riding perilously

close to the stony brink. "This will do," he called. "An

outcropping. We can suspend the bicycle over this, and rig

a trip-wire to drop it down afterwards."

"Is that safe?" Melanie asked, gazing at the brink with

dismay.

"Safe enough," Eleph replied.

Don had thought of Eleph as a grouchy desk scientist, but

now the man was displaying considerable practical finesse.

This challenge was evidently bringing out the best in him.

They rigged it. Caspar's stripped bike was tied to the rock

spur by the safety rope, and the rear wheel hung down

below. The cord fitted neatly within the bare rim, both ends

dropping down into the depths.

Pacifa, the lightest member of their party, went down

first, complete with her bicycle. Caspar and Don paid out

the line according to Eleph's terse instructions. Eleph

straddled the bike with his foot on one pedal, using the

coaster brake to prevent slippage. The whole procedure

looked awkward and dangerous, and it was—but it worked.

128 Piers Anthony

In a surprisingly short time Pacifa reached bottom and the

line went slack.

"No trouble," she called after a few minutes. "Smooth

and flat. Far wall's two hundred feet off. Little squid,

crayfish, sponges, and maybe a sea monster or two. Send

down the rest."

Eleph was the next. He and his bicycle were tied to the

upper loop, while Pacifa herself, below, served as the

counterweight. As Eleph went down, she came up. Braking

was hardly necessary, as there was only a twenty pound

differential. Don had not realized that Eleph was so light,

but part of it could be a difference in the bicycles and other

gear.

Then it was Melanie's turn. Pacifa served as the coun-

terweight again, because it had to be lighter than the one

who was descending. As it was, it was close; Melanie had

the fuller flesh of youth, but nothing more. In her case, it

was her heavier bicycle that made the difference.

After that Don went down. He mounted his bike and hung

on as he dangled over the seeming abyss, slowly rotating.

He tilted to the right, and automatically turned his front

wheel to compensate, though this was useless in the

circumstance. His second reaction was to haul on the

suspending rope, and this righted him promptly.

Down he went—and up came Pacifa from the murk,

burdened with extra items to increase the mass of the

counterweight. "Fancy meeting you here!" she called with

a cheery wave as she passed. "If you jump off and let me

drop, I'll never speak to you again."

Macabre humor. In a moment she disappeared above.

The descent slowed as he neared bottom. Melanie was

waiting for him. Don knew that Pacifa had come into sight

above, giving warning, so that Gaspar had applied the brake.

Then he touched down. His line did not go slack, for

MERCYCLE               129

Pacifa's counterweight maintained tension. "Okay!" he

called.

There was a jerk, and then the line did slacken. Pacifa had

grabbed hold of the pulley wheel, relieving the rope of most

of her weight, and Caspar had braked hard to hold her there.

Don unhooked quickly. "Off!" he shouted.

Slowly the loop moved up. Slowly Pacifa came down.

This was the dangerous part; if Gaspar slipped or if the

bicycle chain broke—don't even think it!—she would

plummet. She had confidence in her handiwork and in her

companions, and she had courage.

"Next time we'll have to use rocks for counterweights,"

she said, smiling. "Then we can send someone down with

every shift."

"We shall," Eleph agreed.

Pacifa gave a short laugh, but the notion made sense to

Don. What did she see wrong with it?

The rope slackened. "All right—get off," Gaspar called

from above. Pacifa unhooked.

Then the rope jerked upward, halted, and jerked again.

Gaspar was handing himself down, using both ropes.

No—he was tying the other end, for the doubled strand

would reach only half way.

Down he came, handing it along the single rope without

his bicycle. Don was amazed. Gaspar had nothing to

breathe!

Gaspar dropped the last few feet and jumped into Don's

field. He took a tremendous breath. He had been holding it!

"Cold out there," he exclaimed.

"Must be nice having muscle and wind like that," Eleph

remarked, a bit wistfully.

"Just conditioning," Caspar said. "A diver has to keep

in shape. I'd have been in trouble if I'd had to depend on my

worn-out legs! Got a counterweight?"

130                Piers Anthony

"Here," Pacifa said with a chuckle, indicating a rock.

"But that's phased out!" Don protested, suddenly real-

izing why she had found the matter humorous. ' 'I mean, we

are."

But Eleph was serious. "It still weighs the same," he

said. He brought out a tiny cylinder, opened it, and drew

forth an almost invisible fine thread. He strung this around

and within the open tire casing that had been removed from

Caspar's bicycle. Then he folded the tire about the rock and

tied it in place with the rope.

The others watched silently. Don could make no sense of

the procedure. The moment any pull was exerted on the

rope, the whole phased tire would slide through the un-

phased rock without significant effect. Only if the rock also

existed in the phase realm could it be used, and they had

encountered no loose fragments there.

"Will you two healthy specimens carry this over to the

hoist, please?" Eleph asked.

Don looked at Caspar. Pacifa hummed a merry tune.

Melanie looked studiously neutral.

Caspar shrugged. He walked to the rock, and Don

followed. Caspar took hold of the rope and yanked, one-

handed.

Then he looked down, surprised. "It resists!"

Don tried it. The stone did resist. It was heavy. He poked

his finger into it, and found only that whipped-cream

semi-solidity. He hauled on the rope again, hard—and the

stone budged.

"Let me see that," Pacifa said, no longer laughing. She

repeated the experiment, while Caspar took her place at the

hoist-rope so that his bicycle would not crash down. Then:

"Eleph, you sphinx—what have you done?"

Melanie was smiling now, appreciating the interplay.

' 'Merely another facet of the phasing," Eleph said as if it

MERCYCLE               131

were unimportant. "This thread they gave me has been

passed only half way through the phasing tube, so represents

a compromise between the two frameworks. It interacts with

both, partially. It is a very dense, very strong alloy, I

understand, so that it can withstand the double load. See, it

does not penetrate the surface of the rock."

"But our own interaction with the sea is only one part in

a thousand," Caspar said. "If this is twice that, or one part

in five hundred—"

' 'It seems the phase does not operate in a linear manner,''

Eleph explained. "We are standing on another world, not

the Earth we know. This one is without an ocean and with

very little oxygen in the atmosphere. This half-phase thread,

if I may employ an inexact term, seems to occupy both

worlds, and to act in each with equivalent effect."

"I see," Caspar said thoughtfully. "Not one five-

hundredth, but one half. So we can use it to lift this rock."

"But the rock itself—" Don began, then reconsidered.

The rock was real. His notion that what he could not directly

touch was unreal—that was the fallacious concept.

"That thread must drag against you when you're carrying

it," Pacifa said shrewdly. "The friction of the water—"

"Normally this is minimal, for the wire is very fine,"

Eleph said. ' 'I also carry it so that the narrow side of the coil

is forward, decreasing the effect. However, I admit the

effect can be awkward when I encounter a solid object."

Caspar's mouth dropped open. "That little octopus—you

were knocked out of your saddle, when—''

Don remembered. So Eleph had not been reacting fool-

ishly when marine creatures approached. They really could

strike him, via that little spool of thread.

"Lord grant that I may walk a mile in the other fellow's

shoes before I ..." Caspar muttered, embarrassed.

They carried the rock and tied it to the dangling hoist

132                Piers Anthony

rope. They let go. The rock traveled upward at a moderate

pace. "If it jams now, we've lost a bike," Caspar said.

It didn't jam. Caspar's bicycle, rigged this last time as a

counterweight, came down. How the man had anchored it

firmly enough for a man's descent, while leaving it free to

be lowered like this, Don could not imagine.

Melanie's brow wrinkled. "If the bike is down here,

where's the pulley?" she asked.

Don stared up into the gloom. She was right: the bicycle

had been the pulley.

"I put a loop over the smoothest projection of the ledge

I could find," Caspar said. "And hoped that the lighter

weight of the bike wouldn't cause it to chafe too much.

Then I handed myself down. The rock-counterweight al-

lowed us to lower the bike slowly, instead of bringing it

crashing down. Thanks to Eleph."

"But Pacifa could have gone up again—"

"Ha!" Pacifa exclaimed.

Then Caspar jerked hard, so that the rock was pulled up

over the ledge. They stood back as it came crashing down.

It was expendable; Pacifa wasn't. Now he understood the

last of it. They had done a nice job of maneuvering.

Once this mission was over, Don wondered, would he

ever be able to swim without feeling as if he were flying?

To a swimmer, this entire hoist would have been unneces-

sary.

But a swimmer would never have been able to traverse

the mile-deep bottom, camping out among the living fish.

He would know the difference immediately.

Caspar carried his bicycle across the canyon, not bother-

ing to reassemble it until they knew their next move. Don

followed, expecting to find a stream of water down here,

until he reminded himself again that the whole atmosphere

MERCYCLE               t33

was water. The hazard of the cliff made it hard to credit,

emotionally.

"Here it is," Pacifa said. "Vertical cliff again. How do

we string the rope this time?"

"I have been thinking about that," Eleph said. "I hope

we can borrow from a principle of flotation. Caspar—how

do divers lift substantial objects from the bottom?"

"Shipboard winch, mostly. Or do you mean balloons?"

"I understood they used canopies similar to parachutes."

"Oh. Yes, the archaeologists have a system."

Don perked up. This was new to him. Of course the entire

field of underwater archaeology was new to him. That was

one of the incongruities of this assignment. Even had this

been near the island of Crete, he would not have been much

help in any practical way.

' "They fill these little parachutes with waste air from their

scuba rigs, and after a while the flotation is enough to lift

almost anything," Caspar said. "Pretty neat system, but

tricky, if the chute slips or tilts. A current could make

havoc."

"Hey, that's smart," Don said appreciatively. "Using

their bubbles to do the hard work. Trust an archaeologist to

figure that out."

"But we don't have bubbles," Pacifa said. "Just an

oxygenating field that doesn 't float. How can we use that?''

' 'By interfering with the carbon dioxide rediffusion, and

capturing the resultant accumulation."

Pacifa looked around. "Anybody understand that?"

"Sure," Caspar said.

"No," Don and Melanie said simultaneously.

"Oxygen filters in for us to breathe," Caspar said.

"Otherwise we would suffocate. The molecules are the

same, regardless which world we're in. The problem is

getting them across to us. But we have to get rid of the spent

134

Piers Anthony

air, too. The carbon dioxide. So that moves out while the

oxygen moves in, right, Eleph? Like scuba—"

"Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus," El-

eph said. "The principle differs, but for the sake of

analogy—''

"Fair exchange, no loss," Caspar said. "Actually, the

scuba isn't exactly self-contained either, because the bub-

bles do go free. But if we can save our own lost air, we

might fill balloons."

"Correct in essence," Eleph said. "We are not actually

inhaling air as we know it. We are inhaling oxygenated

nitrogen. The field—"

"Fill balloons," Pacifa said. "That much I follow. But A

Number One, we don't have any balloons. B Number Two,

how can we fill them when they're phased out? The bubbles

would pass right through, just as we pass through water and

fish. C Number Three—"

"Not if the balloons were filled with our air," Caspar

said. "Normal air would pass through, but not matching-

phase air."

"C Number Three," Pacifa repeated, "we've got to use

non-phased balloons, because only that kind can provide

any lifting power in natural water. Obviously our own air

won't lift us very high in a gaseous medium—which is what

natural water is to us. Mouth-blown balloons don't float in

air; only the helium or hydrogen-filled ones do that."

"Precisely, Madam. We have the enormous advantage of

being in a liquid medium. Tremendous flotation is available,

provided we are able to invoke it. Fortunately w(s came

prepared." He rummaged in his pack. "We do have

balloons, half-phased in the manner of the thread. They will

proffer similar resistance to water that a normal balloon

might to air."

Eleph brought out the balloons and passed them around.

MERCYCLE               135

Each member of the party began to blow. Soon each had a

hobbling sphere a foot or more in diameter.

"This is hard work," Don said. "And it feels funny. As

if I'm not really blowing."

"That's the water filling the shell, in the other world,"

Caspar explained. "It's passing right through your head to

squirt into the non-phase aspect of the balloon, that is a

vacuum there."

Don shook his head, not following the reasoning.

"They aren't floating," Pacifa pointed out. "In fact,

they're shrinking."

"Naturally. The carbon dioxide is phasing through, while

the nitrogen remains. You will observe a bubble of gas

trapped in the water of the other world, within the balloon."

"Yes, I see it," Don said, peering through the transparent

material.

"Now we shall have to squeeze out the water, that

corresponds to our nitrogen. Save only the bubble, and keep

the nozzle down, so the gas can't escape."

They did so, intrigued. They were actually witnessing the

operation of their breathing fields.

"Now refill the balloon, so that more carbon dioxide can

phase through."

Soon the trapped bubbles were larger.

"But what about the oxygen phasing through the other

way?" Don asked. "Wouldn't it balance and cancel the

effect?"

"No," Eleph said patiently. "Only the transfer of gas

from here to there, within the balloons, is significant. For

this limited purpose."

Don gave up trying to understand it all. It was hard

enough just to keep blowing.

It was a long job. Only a portion of the exhaled breath

was carbon dioxide, and only that portion they actually

136

Piers Anthony

breathed into the balloons could be used. Eleph had calcu-

lated that each person should be able to fill a balloon to

serviceable dimension in two hours, provided that all his

carbon dioxide was utilized. This proved to be impossible.

The phasing through normally occurred throughout the

volume of the breathing spheres, and the rate was adequate

for the need. The much smaller volume of the balloon

allowed only a portion of the field to operate. Thus it was

several hours before the balloons swelled into real instru-

ments of flotation, though each person worked on three

simultaneously.

In one way this was good, because they all got needed

rest for their legs. But their food supply was diminishing.

This balloon device had to work, now, or they would not

make it to the depot.

But finally the upward tug became strong, and they knew

that success was incipient.

"Keep the lift under control," Caspar warned. "We

don't want to float right to the top. When you're rising too

fast—and you'll tend to accelerate, because the balloons

will expand as pressure decreases—let a little gas out of

one. When you reach the brink, get hold and ease yourself

over onto ground." He showed the way by making the first

ascent.

It worked. Don was amazed at the hauling power of three

medium balloons. He watched Caspar go up, and then

Melanie. He felt guilty for looking up under her skirt, but

did so anyway. He had massaged those legs; they were nice

ones. But somehow this illicit peek was more evocative than

the direct handling had been.

When his turn came he puffed a last burst into his third

one and waited while it diffused into full strength. His front

wheel came up, then his rear, and he was waterbome.

MER.CYCLE                137

It seemed precarious, and he decided that he preferred the

rope and pulley method. What if a swordfish took a poke at

his balloons? They were vulnerable now. Or a shark, taking

an experimental bite.

But he had more immediate concerns. His rate of climb,

slow at first, was now swift. The balloons were ballooning

alarmingly. One atmosphere less pressure for every thirty-

three or thirty-four feet, and now he was above the rim, but

too far out.

Fortunately his problems had a common solution. Don

angled the snout of one balloon and let out a jet. This did

not provide the propulsion he had hoped for; the bubbles

rose toward the flexing surface of the sea, now so near.

But at last his ascent slowed, and he had to cut off the valve

lest he commence a descent that would speed up the same

way.

The last bubble passed through his hand as he tied off the

balloon. Then he breast-stroked his way across to the ledge,

tediously. He didn't have much leverage, because it was tike

paddling in air, but he didn't need much. He landed and

deflated his balloons, hating to see that hard-won gas

escape. But its job was done.

Eleph, the last to start up, had arrived before Don,

having managed his ascent better. The crevasse had been

navigated.

"Why didn't you tell us about this before we climbed

down?" Pacifa demanded of Eleph. "We could have

floated down, or even straight across. Much less effort."

"Horizontal travel is hazardous, because of the time

consumed," Eleph said. "A few seconds are reasonably

safe, but a few minutes multiply the opportunity for

inquisitive sea creatures to come. Descent is not recom-

mended, because of its accelerative nature."

138 Piers Anthony

"Hard bump at the bottom," Caspar agreed. "Can't let

out gas to stop it, going down."

Whatever the merits of the case, it had provided them

with a needed change of pace. It was now too late to

complete the trip to the depot this day, but they proceeded

with renewed vigor and optimism.

CHAPTER 8

^

CITY

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

The crevasse has been navigated in good order. Melding

is proceeding. The next three challenges may complete it.

These are natural or unnatural challenges?

Both. They are works of man, but of unusual nature. I

routed the travel to include them. It is not safe to interfere

any further with their supplies; they have no remaining

food, and will march onto land and give up the mission if

further denied.

This seems like unity of purpose.

Yes. That is why I am optimistic. They could have turned

back, but did not. This group is integrating, and I think will

become what we need.

We hope so. Two more worlds have been lost since we

last communed.

This one we shall save, I think.

As they lay in the joint tent at night, Melanie remained

uncommunicative, so Don entertained himself by sketching

Minoan symbols on his note pad, analyzing them for new

139

140 Piers Anthony

meanings. The writing had been largely deciphered, but

some obscure aspects remained, and these were his special

challenge. It occurred to him that it was a similar case

with Melanie; much of her was coming clear, especially

when she spoke so freely about her memories and impres-

sions, but some of her was opaque. He had kissed her,

perhaps surprising himself more than her, and she was

taking time to consider her reaction. The thing was, he

had done it while she was bald. His first shock at her

state had faded, and increasingly he was becoming

aware of her other traits. There was a lot about her that he

liked, both physical and mental. Maybe she thought he

was teasing her, but he wasn't; he was coming to terms with

her. He knew that if he could truly accept her bald, it would

be all right if she wore her wig again. But he was not yet

sure of his deepest feeling about that. So he focused on

symbols, as if their interpretation was also the key to

Melanie.

"May I inquire what you are doing?" It was Eleph, also

slow this night to sleep. Extreme fatigue did that; the body

had to unwind somewhat before it could relax enough for

sleep. His tone was carefully courteous, and Don was

flattered to realize that this was the first friendly overture

the man had made to any of the rest of them. So Don

explained.

"I do not mean to be offensive," Eleph said, and it was

evident that he was not used to being inoffensive. It was not

because he tried to be offensive, but that he was unschooled

in nonmilitary courtesy. "But I had understood that Cretan

writing has never been deciphered."

"So how can I read it?" Don asked rhetorically. "That's

a good question, and as with most good questions, the

answer is not simple."

Eleph actually smiled. "I appreciate a complex answer."

MERCYCLE               141

Amazing how simple it was to get along, once the effort

was made! Don liked talk about his specialty. "All right.

First, you have to understand that what we think of as

Cretan writing is fragmentary and inconclusive, and much

of it isn't Minoan. It's Greek."

"That's a fair start," Eleph agreed wryly.

"We call this 'Linear B.' It appears to date from the

Mycenaean occupation of Knossos, the latter half of the

fifteenth century B.C. This has been deciphered, but it turns

out to consist entirely of routine palace records. Inventories,

receipts, accounts. No chronicles of kings, no literature.

Thus it is of limited value to the historian."

"Linear," Eleph said thoughtfully. "Does this mean

that it was written along straight lines, like our own

script?"

"No. The name is to distinguish it from true hieroglyphic

writing, the little stylized pictures such as those used by the

Egyptians, where the word for 'man' is a stick-figure man,

and 'walk' is a pair of legs beside the man. Such picto-

gramic or ideogramic representation is cumbersome at best.

The linear form is much superior, because a few stylized

strokes replace the picture, as in the Babylonian cuneiform,

done entirely by wedge-shaped imprints on clay. Not only is

this faster, it is far more versatile."

"I can see that. But if your linear writing is not

Cretan—"

"I'm coming to that. 'Linear B' derives from 'Linear A,'

which in turn appears to be the true Minoan writing. But it

seems to be restricted to the Phaistos area of Crete, while

Linear B appears at Knossos, the capital. Linear A is largely

undeciphered; progress is being made, but there is no

uniformity of interpretation. So some would say it remains

obscure."

"I see. But what, then, do you read?"

142 Piers Anthony

"Well, Linear B, of course. But my real interest is in

Linear A. A number of characters are common to both, so

we do have a starting point. Many scholars have assumed

that because Linear B is cumbersome, omitting many

middle consonants among other things, that Linear A

can be no better. I believe, in contrast, that B was a bastard

offshoot used by the barbaric Mycenaean conquerors, there-

fore representing only a crude fragment of the potential of

the original. It is in Linear A that we shall find the real

literature of the Minoan culture—and indeed, we are finding

it."

"Do you have extensive manuscripts in Linear A?"

Don grimaced. "No. I theorize that the Mycenaeans

destroyed Minoan libraries and literature in their venge-

ful fury. No doubt most of it was on paper or parchment,

so it would bum, and King Theseus was a bookbumer.

Natural calamity was responsible for a great amount of

loss, too. But these things can't have eradicated it all.

Someday we'll excavate some official's private library, and

then—''

Eleph smiled. Don relaxed—and was abruptly asleep.

The final miles seemed like nothing. The depot was there,

exactly where indicated. The sonic signal was clear.

They pulled up and listened, tangibly relieved. Don had

not appreciated how worried he had been until he felt the

load depart. They would have food again.

He also felt the fatigue of three hard days' travel, as if it

had been stored for this occasion. What a journey they

had made, crossing the Gulf of Mexico on short rations!

That canyon had wiped out their schedule and their reserve,

and they had finished the last food package four hours

before.

As they paused, listening, Melanie moved next to him. ' 'I

MERCYCLE               143

am still thinking," she said. Then she caught his shirt and

drew him to her, and kissed him on the mouth. That was all.

It was enough.

They resumed their ride toward the depot, their feelings

toward each other intensifying with their relief from con-

cern about their supplies. It was as if there was a certain

charge of emotion which had to find a new object.

"Hey—isn't this your department, Don?" Caspar asked

suddenly. "Hard to tell, because of the sediment, but aren't

these buildings?''

Don looked, startled. He had been paying no attention to

his surroundings, just driving onward, and had been dis-

tracted by the sonic signal and then by Melanie. But now he

saw clearly that they were on the verge of a submerged

ruin—perhaps even a sunken city.

"Dizzy Choo-choo," Melanie said.

"Dzibilchaltun," Don corrected her, having to laugh.

"Yes, I suppose it has to be. No telling how much of that

fabulous city was drowned. The depot must be right in the

middle."

Now Eleph and Pacifa exchanged glances. "Don, tell us

about the city," she said.

"Glad to—what little I know. But first let's get on to the

depot. I just want to fill my belly and flop down."

"No, we shall have to wait," Eleph said. "I believe I

have read about Dzibilchaltun or some similar Mayan city.

Weren't there impressive sacrificial wells?"

"Sacrificial wells?" Melanie asked, frowning.

Caspar scratched his head. "I'm curious about that too.

But I'm with Don: let's nail down the supplies before we

gossip about past civilizations. We've missed one depot,

remember."

"Caspar," Pacifa said with motherly gentleness.

144 Piers Anthony

"Doesn't it seem providential that the depot is right here,

inside a famous old city?"

"It was obviously set up this way," Caspar said. "To

give the archaeologist a good crack at it. This must be Don's

mission."

"That is plausible," Eleph said. "As is no doubt in-

tended. But if exploration of this city is the object, why did

we have to travel underwater from Florida? Why wasn't a

Mayan specialist assigned? Why have there been so many

problems? They didn't have to route us across that crevasse.

I think we need to consider."

"But what is there to consider?" Caspar asked. "The

depot is here, we've found it, and we need it. This is the one

time nothing is wrong."

"That's what's odd," Eleph said meaningfully. Now

Don realized what the two were driving at.

' 'Don, is there anything about this city?'' Pacifa asked.

"Well, as you know, I'm out of my specialty. But I

understand that Dzibilchaltun is unique in the western

hemisphere. For one thing, it was large—probably the

largest city in the ancient world. For another, it's old:

continuously inhabited for about four thousand years, until

the Spanish Conquistadors destroyed the native culture. It

must have been a mighty seaport, and the pinnacle of the old

Mayan civilization. That's about all I know. I think the old

Mayan script has now been deciphered, but I'm not sure

there are texts relating to the history of the city."

"So it may be a mighty good place to visit," Pacifa

mused. "Especially underwater, where it presumably hasn't

been touched by looters."

"Oh, plenty of looting goes on under the sea," Caspar

said.

"Indeed it does," Don agreed. "The Mediterranean—"

MERCYCLE               145

"But why us?" Pacifa continued. "That sticks in my

craw. Do you think it's a trap, Eleph?"

"Perhaps. I seem to remember human sacrifices. But

there shouldn't be any Mayans here now."

"That was part of their religion," Don said. "But the

Mayans were basically peaceful. Mostly they sacrificed

precious objects. Golden artifacts, handicrafts, things like

that. I think it was the Aztecs who made a wholesale

business of human sacrifice. They were comparatively

recent and barbarian."

"The city may be a decoy," Eleph said. "It is hard to

believe that our real mission concerns the ancient Mayans.

Our government is generally more pragmatic."

"There's nothing wrong with surveying a Mayan city,"

Don said defensively.

"By a Minoan scholar?" Melanie asked. "And the rest

of us, who are really ignorant about archaeology?"

Don couldn't answer. It was making less sense.

"Could someone have substituted these coordinates and

planted a fake beeper to bring us in?" Pacifa asked.

"After entirely losing the first depot?" Eleph asked in

return. "That's unnecessarily circuitous, considering that

we surely weren't expected to make it here. And it doesn't

account for the selection of this unique spot."

"You're right again," Pacifa said, and it seemed to Don

that she had raised the point for the sake of having it refuted.

"It's so fouled up it must be the way the bureaucracy

planned it. A Minoan scholar sent to an old Mayan city.

They both begin with M, don't they?"

Don laughed and the others smiled. "That's reasonable.

The bureaucrats didn't know the difference. And I will want

to look at these ruins closely. I don't mind expanding my

horizons. Let's get on to the depot."

146

Piers Anthony

The others agreed, though with less enthusiasm. The

party rode on—cautiously.

The arrival was anticlimactic. The depot was there,

almost hidden by a mound of rubble that turned out not to

be real—to them. The phased-in supplies could and did

occupy the same region inhabited by real-world material. A

very neat hiding place for a foreign shore. No local

fishermen or incidental looters would have spotted it. Even

though they could not touch it, such a discovery could have

spread an alarm.

"That bothers me," Pacifa said. "But I don't know

why."

' 'There is no need for us to remain in the vicinity,'' Eleph

said. "We can ferry the supplies out to deeper water and

make our own depot, that no one knows about except us."

That they did, quickly, leaving only their surplus waste.

There were limits to what the converters could do once the

water was recycled, so they had to be emptied periodically.

Once safely clear of the city they pitched their joint tent and

ate ravenously and slept. The pressure was off, for the time

being.

Melanie slept beside Don, and held his hand, but said no

more about herself or their relationship. Evidently she was

still considering her response. That was just as well, as he

was still considering his feeling. If only she had hair!

"Okay, Melanie," Gaspar said after breakfast. "How

about the next coordinates?"

"Wait a minute!" Don cried before she could answer.

"I'm not leaving before I take a good look at this city!"

"You saw it yesterday, didn't you?"

"No. I had a passing glimpse of the cover. Now I want to

read the book.''

MERCYCLE               147

"That city is buried in silt," Pacifa pointed out. "The

cover is all you can see, so long as it's phased out."

"What about Eleph's thread and balloons?" Melanie

asked.

"These should not be expended spuriously," Eleph said.

Don saw his prize slipping away. The others just did not

understand archaeology.

"We don't actually know what our mission is," Gaspar

said thoughtfully. "From what Don says, this is a signifi-

cant location. Maybe we're supposed to investigate, lending

our skills to support his skills."

"That's not true," Eleph said.

"How do you know?" Pacifa inquired. "Did Melanie

give you the next coordinates?"

Melanie smiled at this teasing.

"No, of course not," Eleph said stiffly. "But the very

fact that there are further coordinates—"

"Are there?" Gaspar asked.

"You yourself were asking for them a moment ago."

"But I didn't get them—and now I wonder. This place is

beginning to make sense to me as a destination, and not just

archaeologically.''

Now Pacifa was interested. "How do you mean. Gas-

par?"

Then, oddly, Gaspar backed off. ' 'I'd rather think about

it some more. Why don't we let Don have his look? We're

ahead of schedule now, surely, and we can use the rest."

"Why don't we just find out?" Pacifa asked. "Melanie,

are there more coordinates?"

"Yes," Melanie said faintly, with an apologetic look at

Don.

"How many? You don't have to give the figures. Just tell

us how many numbers you have."

148 Piers Anthony

"I suppose that's all right," Melanie agreed uncertainly.

"Three."

"And are they near or far?"

"I-I think they're far."

"So maybe we'd better get on with it, in case we have

more trouble," Pacifa said.

But now it was Eleph who demurred. "We must be fair.

I suggest we give Don two days, since we may not return

once we go on. Possibly later there will be things important

to the rest of us, and the Golden Rule—"

Pacifa threw up her hands, literally. "They talk about

women changing their minds!"

"But it will be nice to relax," Melanie said. In that she

spoke for them all.

The city was huge. Don and Caspar rode for miles along

patterns suggesting wide boulevards and rubble-clogged

streets though their tires encountered only the rolling

sea-floor of the phase world. Everywhere they passed the

ruins of what might have been ancient monuments and

colossal buildings.

Don shook his head, amazed at the remaining grandeur.

"These may seem like mere wreckages to you, but to me

they're foundations. I'm beginning to see the structures they

supported. They're inherent. I—"

"No, I'm impressed too," Caspar said. "On a couple of

levels."

"You mean you're getting interested in archaeology?"

"No such luck. My interest is geological and practical."

"Geological?" Don asked, surprised. "Look at this: a

corbelled arch. See how the columns project sideways, with

a capstone across? Not a true arch; I don't think that was

known in the New World. What has this to do with

geology?"

MERCYCLE               149

"Think about it and you'll see."

Don shook his head, suspecting Caspar of mocking him.

"I am thinking about it. You can see how this is one of

several arches that formed a pattern. See those broken

columns there, and the mounds across this court. This silt

hides them, but obviously these were entrances to a royal

garden or amphitheater. Maybe an outrider to a palace.

Can't you visualize it rising around us, perhaps decorated

with splendid murals?"

"Oh, some," Gaspar said tolerantly. "But let me show

you my vision. We really are riding on a different world,

and why we can't see it bothers me more and more. Because

if these ruins were in our phase, we'd be able to walk on

them and bang into them. We thought only the life was

different, because it moves, but the buildings are different

too. This proves it. It's the first time we've been able to pass

through stone."

"No, there was that counterweight stone in the chasm,"

Don said. ' 'But I see what you mean. There never was any

question, was there? How can there be a city without life,

and how can there be life with no real air or water?''

"It wasn't obvious to me until I saw this city," Gaspar

said. "These worlds are awfully close. Remember how we

rode across the abyssal plain?"

"Sure. But that has nothing to do with—"

"No? How can you form a sedimentary flat—without

water? Without erosion and settling? And that canyon—if

water didn't cut it in this phase world, what did?"

Don was stunned. "You're right! Our world is water-

formed, and the phase world duplicates it. There has to be

water here. And air. We rode over those coral reefs, and

there wouldn't be any coral without—''

"So if there was water in our phase world, what

happened to it?" Gaspar asked. "And the life. Things

150 Piers Anthony

certainly changed, and not very long ago, geologically.

That's, convenient for us, but alarming."

"Yes." Don tried to visualize how a world might be

deprived of air and water in one quiet operation, with inert

nitrogen substituted for both, and could not. "H-how long

ago?"

"Within the past hundred thousand years, I'd say. But not

within the past six thousand."

"W-why not one year ago?"

"Because then this city would be in the phase world

too," Caspar said. "Assuming the history of this world was

as similar to our own as it seems. And this city dates from

4000 B.C.—six thousand years ago."

"Y-you're guessing! Y-you're no archaeologist."

"It wasn't built under water, was it?" Caspar demanded,

waiting for Don's reluctant nod. "It was built on land. No

earthquake sank it, or it would have been shaken apart,

instead of just weathered and buried, right? So the water

came in slowly—and that means the end nf the ice age. The

level didn't stabilize until about five thousand years ago, so

this must be older."

There it was: the obvious situation that Don's mind had

balked at. A fine city, six thousand years old. "B-but then

it c-can't be Dzi-Dzi—"

"No, of course not. This is a good twenty miles out from

the present shore, and Dzibilchaltun was onshore or inshore.

This city was submerged before the Mayans even appeared

in the Yucatan."

And Dzibilchaltun was now inshore, Don remembered.

The shoreline had changed, in effect pushing it inland. He

had gotten it reversed, thinking the ruins would be out under

the sea instead of inland, as the shore silted up. The

revelation was so vast that it threw him into a new mental

MERCYCLE               151

framework, and his stuttering stopped. "You're right! Who

could have built it?"

"You're the archaeologist. Pretty nice material for a

scholarly paper, eh?"

"But this must predate Egyptian and Sumerian civiliza-

tion! Nothing in the Old World has this level—"

"So?"

Don shook his head. It was not credible that the American

Indians could have built elegant cities before the Mesopo-

tamians. But how could he argue that fine point with a

skeptical geologist?

Pacifa had been sure there was something about this

region. She had been right. Don had been misled by his

blind assumption that this was Dzibilchaltun and his con-

fusion about his assignment, as a Minoan specialist, to a

Mayan region. A Mayan specialist would have known

instantly that this was not Dzibilchaltun, but would have

been no better off. In fact, there might be no archaeologist

in the world really qualified to excavate these phenomenal

ruins.

Nice material for a scholarly paper, yes. Schliemann had

discovered his Troy, Bibby his Dilmun, Mellaart his Catal

Huyuk. Would Don Kestle join these illustrious leaders?

No, that was a foolish dream. The credit belonged to

whoever had come across the city first—or to whoever

actually excavated it and unraveled its marvelous secrets.

Don was only a visitor, here to look and sigh.

Caspar was watching him. "What would you give to

bring a competent crew here, in the real world?"

"My soul."

Caspar nodded understandingly and moved on.

The street they were on became narrow and crooked. It

was as if they were entering a denser, older inner city. Large

structures remained, but they were set much closer together.

152 Piers Anthony

"Hey—steps," Caspar said.

He was right. Their street had become a walkway, with

twenty or thirty broad steps, each about thirty feet from side

to side, fashioned of—what? Fine marble? He could not tell

through the smothering sediment. They led up to the

remains of a labyrinthine palace. Don made out the shells of

what must have been spacious, shady courts, with elegantly

drained lavatories. The few standing columns were tapered

downwards, narrower at the base than the apex.

"Typical Minoan architecture," Don murmured profes-

sionally.

"What?" Caspar asked sharply.

"The hygienic sanitary facilities," Don explained. "The

Cretans were virtually alone in the ancient world in their

fastidious insistence on personal cleanliness. They had the

most sophisticated system of water supplies and drainage,

with pipes designed on correct hydraulic principles. See,

that's the fundament of a flush toilet, I'm sure, even through

the silt. The configuration—''

"What kind of architecture?" Caspar repeated.

"Minoan, of course. I've seen many examples of—"

Don stopped. "Minoan! What am I saying? Mayan! I

mean—"

"You sounded as if you knew, just as clearly as I know

metamorphic from igneous."

"Ridiculous! I'm just used to saying—" But he had to

stop again. "Damn it, these are Minoan configurations,

essentially. I don't care how crazy it is. This is my

specialty."

^ "I don't see that it's crazy," Caspar said. "When did

your Minoan civilization develop?"

"About three thousand B.C., or a little later. They

appeared suddenly; they must have had a high culture

MERCYCLE               153

before they came to Crete. But we have no tangible

evidence of them before; it's just conjecture."

"So let's say the waters encroached here after 4000

B.C.," Caspar continued carefully. "It was slow but sure.

So wherever they were, they had to move, and they didn't

like the barbarian mainland, so they went to Crete and set up

shop there."

Don stared at him. "You mean to suggest—they were

here? They crossed the Atlantic?" Don shook his head,

bemused. "Even if—no, they would have chosen a closer

island. Like Cuba."

"Too big. They wanted something the size of Crete."

"Jamaica, then. Why didn't they move to Jamaica?"

Caspar shrugged. "Got me there. But there must have

been some connection. Or could the architecture be coinci-

dental?"

"It must be," Don said. "Crete is six thousand miles

from here by water, and even today that's a fair piece. For

an Amerind canoe—"

' 'How about the other way, then? Maybe your Minoans

developed earlier than you think. Two thousand years

earlier. Maybe their main cities were submerged, so most of

them set up colonies elsewhere. They had ships, didn't

they? They could sail the oceans?"

' 'They were the leading maritime culture of the ancient

world," Don said warmly. "The Phoenicians developed

only after the Minoan civilization perished—and the early

Phoenicians were afraid to lose sight of land, because they

couldn't navigate by the stars. The Minoans were true

sea-voyagers."

"Just a moment. If the Minoans were so strong, what

brought them down? Maybe there's our real city-builder!"

"Two things," Don said. "There was the explosion of

154                Piers Anthony

the volcanic island of Thera, which devastated Crete,

leveled their palaces and probably wiped out their fleet. It

was one of the worst eruptions known to man, many times

as powerful as Krakatoa. It literally buried Crete in ash. But

that was not the end; they did rebuild. But they needed an

enormous supply of wood, for their ships and buildings, and

the rebuilding used it up at a faster rate. Their civilization

flourished even more after the eruption than before it, but in

the end they ran out of wood and had to leave the island.

Lesser cultures, with virgin forests, expanded to take their

place."

"Oh. Well, back to the sea. I still think there could have

been a connection. Didn't some guy cross from Egypt to

America in a reed craft?"

"That was Thor Heyerdahl. Yes, he reconstructed an

Egyptian papyrus vessel and crossed the Atlantic in

1970, demonstrating that it could have been done in ancient

times. He had a similar venture some years before, crossing

from South America to the Polynesian Islands. The Kon-

Tiki."

"Right. He discovered new species of fish and had an

adventure with a whale shark."

"But he knew what he was doing, or thought he knew.

Even so, it was an extremely risky business. The Egyptians

would hardly have set out voluntarily to cross the Atlantic in

a sinking reed craft."

"Maybe they didn't," Gaspar said. "Maybe they set out

to reach some port on the western coast of Africa, and were

stormblown toward America. The prevailing winds and

currents favor that, you know. If it's possible with a reed

craft, it's more than possible with a full-fledged Minoan

seaworthy ship."

"In four or five thousand B.C.? The Minoans can't have

had such good ships that far back." But Don was wonder-

MERCYCLE               155

ing, for it could have been the Palace of Knossos he

saw here, with its tremendous inner court and inter-

minable surrounding walls and passages and cubicles. The

court was oblong, about fifty feet across and a hundred long,

quite flat and completely walled in. Even through the rubble

he could make out the enormous complexity of the sur-

rounding corridors, stairs, terraces, and halls, that criss-

crossed and dead-ended and right-angled bewilderingly. A

stranger would soon have been lost within the living

building.

"What a maze," Caspar remarked.

"That's the point," Don said. "According to legend,

Theseus fought the bull-man, the Minotaur, within just such

a labyrinth. Then he needed help finding his way out. God,

I wish I could trench this."

"Do what to what?"

"Dig a trench. Excavate. The vast majority of artifacts

are well buried in silt. But if I could cut a trench through the

middle—"

"You can't do that," Gaspar said.

"I know. That's the frustrating thing about this phase-

out. My inability to interact with the substance of the world

when I need to. But if I could dig, I'd mark off the most

promising mound here, and excavate a narrow trench across

it, very carefully, and note the exact position of every

artifact I located. I'd make the sides exactly vertical and

smooth them off so I could observe the precise layering,

because there are apt to be a number of layers of

occupation—"

"You don't understand, Don! You can't do that here.

Even phased in. You can't dig a trench underwater. Not the

kind you want."

"Why not? Are there laws against it?"

"The law of nature. Start digging, and your trench will

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Piers Anthony

immediately fill in from the sides. Silt doesn't pack the way

dirt does on land; it's always partly in suspension. Touch it

and you stir up a cloud of stuff so that you can't see. You

get nowhere."

Don looked at him, appalled. "But how can an archae-

ologist excavate?"

"Not the way you do it on land. You have to suck up the

sludge, then let the water clear, and see what you have."

Don sighed. "It's unnatural."

"But I'll bet we can find you some artifacts right now."

"F-forget it," Don said with disgust. He had glimpsed

marvelous visions, but in the end he was impotent.

"I'm not joking. Consider: when you grab a fish, you feel

the bones, right? Because they're just a bit more rigid than

flesh. Well, what are your artifacts made from?"

"Anything is an artifact. Pottery, statuary—"

"Anything made of gold?"

"Yes, of course. Much of the finest Minoan handi-

work—''

"Gold has a density of about twenty-two times that of

water. You could almost pick it up through the phase,

couldn't you?"

"I suppose I could. But—"

' 'While this rock must be no more than four or five times

as dense as water. And the silt is little thicker. So—"

"So I could feel the gold under the silt!" Don exclaimed.

"Of course you couldn't actually move it. But you could

get a pretty good idea of its shape. That would help,

wouldn't it?"

"Yes!" Don cried.

"So why don't we get up a team of five tomorrow and

feel through a likely spot? Maybe we'll find something to

unriddle Atlantis."

MERCYCLE               157

"Why is it so important to explore this city?" Melanie

inquired when they got back together. She had spent her day

resting, and looked refreshed. "I heard you say it was six

thousand years old, but you can't really see it, under all that

mud. Or do anything, because of the phase. So it's all sort

of pointless, isn't it, holding up the party?"

For a moment Don was irritated. But he realized that it

was an honest question. How could she comprehend the

drive of archaeological zeal? It was not enough to claim that

a mountain had to be climbed merely because it was there;

a more rational answer was required. But Don's head was

spinning with the irrational notions forced upon him during

the day: a city with apparent Minoan affinities that predated

the known Minoan culture by a thousand years or more. A

mysterious alternate world. Earth's almost perfect duplicate,

except that it had lived and then died. Recently. Geologi-

cally. His mind still balked at such concepts. And she

wanted to know why he had to investigate this city! What

answer could he give her?

"Hey, are you doing it to me, now?" Melanie asked,

smiling. "The silent treatment?"

Don had to laugh, really appreciating for the first time the

kind of mood that dictated silence as the best answer. In a

year he might explain it all to her, if ever. Had she felt that

way about her autographs, that first time she had hit him

with a silence? If so, he had been a boor.

"Why do you collect autographs?" he asked.

"Uh-oh. You mean it's that way?"

He didn't answer.

"Well, all right, then. I guess I asked for it." She took a

breath. "As I remember, you said something to the effect

that you were more interested in what an author said, and

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Piers Anthony

that autographs and such were relatively unimportant. But

books are printed by a very mechanical process, and in such

a way that one must accept on simple faith that they are

written by any one particular person at all. Not that all books

are, of course. But we are used to dealing with particular

individuals, and it seems somehow proper that a book

should have been written by an individual. But if we

consider society to be a network of human relations, the

believability of the existence of an 'author' back there

somewhere becomes rather attenuated. Writing is in some

sense a form of sharing. We can all sit at the feet of and

listen to whomever we like. Sort of like the university

lectures in France. Some of the lecturers have small

audiences and some have very large audiences. There the

important thing is passing the exams at the end of the four

years or so of study, and attendance per se is not as

important as it is in the system here. But we all long to be

recognized for ourselves. To receive some token, however

small, of the uniqueness of the relation between ourselves

and the author. An autograph is one such token. It all seems

to be a striving for affection and attention. For recognition

of the uniqueness and value of the individual self. Readers

and reviews give recognition to an author, although the

relationship is sometimes painful. But authors in their turn

give recognition to readers. By writing, of course—but also

by standing still for pictures, smiling, saying things and

autographing. The relationship between an author and his

readers can be very much strained by the very large number

of the latter. So—"

"Enough!" Don exclaimed. "You've made your point, I

think. And I guess if it could be turned about, you've made

mine too. Because the books I read, archaeologically, are

the record of an entire culture, and the physical artifacts are

like personal autographs that some living hand has shaped

MERCYCLE               159

and used. When I study a city such as this one, even under

the mud, I am relating to living human beings of the past,

just as you relate to the author of a novel. That's very

important to me. I can never actually come to know them

better than this, though I long to. If I could actually visit that

past—"

"Yes, I understand!" she said warmly. "I suppose it is

the same. Now I see why you want to find a real artifact

tomorrow. And I hope you do. I'll help you look."

Did that mean she had completed her period of consid-

ering their relationship? What was his own conclusion about

"You know, if you could visit the past," she remarked,

"well, maybe it wouldn't mean so much."

She had surprised him again. "How can you say that? An

actual look at—"

"Because I did visit a writer once. Not settling for just an

autograph. If the parallel holds—"

"You-you visited the past, in effect?" He was intrigued.

They had had a breakthrough in mutual understanding; was

another on the way?

Then he thought: was that when she took the pills?

"I had been hinting to Mother now and then that I would

like to go on a trip," she said blithely. "Partly to make a

pilgrimage to the ocean—that was before I came to Miami

on my own—and partly to see something, some place,

besides home. I guess I just get the urge to travel a little,

every now and then. Maybe expecting to find something

better on the other side of the mountain. If I could afford it

I would travel around the world a few times, I am sure. But

the thing that most immediately precipitated my trip was

reading Shirley MacLaine's Don't Fall Off the Mountain.

Have you—?"

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Piers Anthony

"No, I never heard of it," Don said. Where did she dig

up these obscure books?

"Oh. Well, for one thing it made me jealous. For another

it is a tribute to the admissibility of a woman wandering

around on her own. The voices of conformity sound

strongly in my head, and to some extent I live in fear." She

paused again. "I shouldn't be saying this."

"I shouldn't be listening," Don said comfortably. "Go

on.

"I have always been somewhat of a disappointment to

my mother," she continued faintly. "I mean, not just

because of the hair. Because she always wanted someone

who was level headed. So I try to pretend to be. And quite

frankly it is a very painful pretense. Somehow I have

learned, rightly or wrongly, to keep silent on many kinds of

things."

Was he about to wish that she had kept silent on this?

Here he was getting jealous of someone she had visited

before he ever met her. But maybe that was a sign: why

should he feel that way, unless he cared about her?

"Anyway," she continued after a moment, "I went to

visit this writer. He'd published a couple of novels I liked,

and there'd been some correspondence. Nothing much—I

don't mean to make it sound like more than it is—just some

fan letters and a polite acknowledgment. I sent him clip-

pings, too. That sort of thing."

She valued an autograph as a personal touch. How did the

things she sent to the writer relate? Did they make the

personal touch mutual?

"So when I decided to meet him, one of my reasons was

simple curiosity. To see if he looked anything like my

mental picture of him. So I glued on my wig and went."

And she took pills, just in case. Damn her!

"And you know, he did," she said. "Close enough."

MERCYCLE               161

Don would have hit her with a silence, had he not already

been silent.

"Not that it made a great deal of difference. What he

looked like, I mean. At least I had a better image to orient

on when I thought of him. I have been meeting some people

in the flesh always, and some people always through the

medium of the written word, and the curiosity is about the

similarities or dissonances between the possible views."

"Now you're meeting people under the ocean."

"Yes. I like being with you, Don. I've thought about it,

and I like it. Even if it doesn't last." She met his gaze, and

smiled.

Suddenly Don regretted his silent objects. She wanted to

be with him! Had she brought her pills? But he couldn't say

that. "How did your visit go? W-with the writer?"

"Oh, it was nothing, really. That's why I used it as an

example. He'd come out with opinions—that's what writers

do, you know—and I'd be silent. You know."

"Yes." Good. He was still jealous of that writer, and

wished the man ill. Yet he remained quite curious about the

event.

"I talked with his wife, too. And I played with his little

girl. She was about four. She liked to climb. On people. I

thought he might invite me to stay to supper, but he didn't.

He was locked up in his family. So I took some pictures and

went home. It was raining."

So the writer had been married, with a child. Don had

visualized a lecherous bachelor. Now he felt ashamed. "I

see," he said, because he had to say something. A silence at

this point could give him away.

"So that's what I mean," Melanie said. "Really, that

writer was just another person, in person. I wouldn't have

known he had written those novels, just by meeting him. I

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MERCYCLE

163

can't say it was a disappointment. I mean, people are what

they are. But it wasn't exactly a revelation, either."

"So you think that if I traveled into the archaeological

past, it might be like that," Don said musingly. "Mundane.

I wonder."

Melanie nodded. Then she rummaged in her pack and

pulled out her wig. She put it on, working it carefully into

place and pressing it down so that it stayed.

"You look strange," Don said.

"Thank you."

Apparently she had made her point, and now was

satisfied to resume the illusion.

They settled into sleep.

"I'm no historian or archaeologist," Eleph said as he

walked his bicycle through the waist-deep silt of what Don

hoped was a temple storeroom. "But I seem to remember

something about a unique Indian tribe in North America,

racially and linguistically distinct from the norm, with a

legend of arrival from the east. Do you suppose they could

have—?"

"Oh, yes," Don said, sweeping his hand through the

slight resistance of the mud.' 'I remember now. The Yuchis.

They wound up in Oklahoma, I think. From Georgia. But

we can hardly rely on such scant evidence as legends. We'd

have to believe that some peoples descended from the sun,

and others from human miscegenation with animals."

"Well, the sun is the ultimate source of our life," Pacifa

said. "A legend could reflect this. And man, paleontologi-

cally, does derive from the animal."

"That's still a long way from making sense of our

expedition," Don said, and they laughed.

Eleph had wandered into another chamber. ' 'Don, would

you check this? Possibly a blade."

Don got over there, wading through waist-deep stone-

work, and Melanie followed him. She still looked odd in her

hair, as if it were a pointless affectation. There was no

question now: he could take it or leave it. It was Melanie

herself he cared about.

There was a blade: large and curved. It tapered into a

narrow stem, then expanded again. There was a swelling in

the middle. "That's a double axe!" Don exclaimed, hardly

believing it. "A golden decorated double axe!"

Eleph looked pleased. "That is significant, archaeologi-

cally?"

Don kept running his fingers through the hidden pattern,

his arms elbow-deep in the visible muck. "It's the labrys,

the double axe of Minoan Crete. Our word labyrinth derives

from it. It's one of the religious symbols."

"So this is a Minoan city," Caspar said.

Don shook his head. ' 'I told you, the first typical Minoan

palace was built after 2000 B.C. This predates it by two

millennia."

"But that architectural ability had to come from some-

where," Caspar said. "It didn't slowly evolve on Crete, you

said."

"Yes, it seems to have emerged full-blown on Crete,"

Don agreed. "But two thousand years—!"

"Perfectly mundane, I'm sure," Melanie murmured.

"Is this city really that old?" Eleph inquired. "Isn't this

one of the fracture zones? It could have subsided."

"Not really," Caspar said. "Continental drift seems to

be occurring in six major plates and a few minor ones, with

the midoceanic ridges and trenches marking the fringes. The

Puerto Rico and Cayman trenches represent one such fringe,

but it's relatively inactive now. That's several hundred

miles from here, anyway."

164 Piers Anthony

"But that's not far at all, geologically, is it?" Eleph

persisted.

"Far enough." It was a matter of opinion, and Caspar

was not about to give way. But Don recognized it as a

reasonable alternative: if subsidence rather than a rising

ocean level had submerged this city, the date of its demise

could be much more recent. That made a great deal more

sense, archaeologically.

Don and Eleph and Melanie spent some time searching

the storeroom for more objects of gold, but found only three

small cups. Only? They were fabulous too. They were very

thin, but had pictures on the sides in high relief. Don licked

his fingers repeatedly to make them tender, trying to pick up

every detail by touch. If only he were able to see! He was

tempted to ask for Eleph's threads and balloons, to haul this

up out of the muck and into view. But he didn't want to

disturb it; that could ruin its seeming authenticity when a

real archaeological crew came here.

The first cup had people marching in a procession around

the sides. One figure seemed to be carrying a lute, another

a small calf, and the others unidentifiable objects. The

second cup had the figure of a man and a tree and some

animals, perhaps cattle. The man seemed to be holding one

of the cattle by a rope tied to its back leg.

But it was the third cup that astonished Don. It had two

men performing acrobatics with bulls. Could Don's imagi-

nation be leading his fingers?

"Melanie, I want you to feel this," he said. He guided her

hand to the hidden cup. "Can you make out the embossed

picture?"

She concentrated. "One animal, a cow—no, bull. A man

being thrown from its back. Another man holding on to the

bull's horns. Something like that."

Confirmation! Their readings of the illustrations on the

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165

cups could be grossly mistaken, but even so, they repre-

sented stronger evidence of the city's association with the

Minoan culture. The ancient traders of Crete, or of the

culture preceding it, had crossed the Atlantic!

CHAPTER 9

^

GLOWCLOUD

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

AafM.??

The group has encountered the evidence of the lost city,

and begun to appreciate its nature. This has taken the

members a significant step toward melding, though they are

not aware of it.

What evidence is there for this?

They elected to delay two days to provide time to explore

it, though this exploration benefits only one of their spe-

cialties. They worked together in harmony, making discov-

eries cooperatively and discussing them. And they are

starting to care for each other on a personal basis.

How so?

The older and younger women are deepening a relation-

ship similar to that of mother and daughter. The young

woman and young man are developing a romantic attach-

ment.

They are having an affair?

No. But she put on her hair.

Proxy, you have lost us.

The young woman is bald. She has been rejected in the

167

168                Piers Anthony

past when this was discovered, so is introspective and tends

to be diffident about commitments beyond the superficial.

She removed her wig so as to cause any rejection by this

group to occur at the outset. When the group, and particu-

larly the man, accepted her, she restored the wig. It has

become cosmetic rather than substantive. She is now ready

to make a romantic commitment.

We must defer to your judgment in this respect. When will

you reveal the mission?

After the remaining two challenges have been navigated.

They are sufficiently remarkable to cause serious reflection

by the group. If it melds instead of breaking up, then it will

be ready to handle the reality.

We hope you are correct.

"Eighty-eight degrees west, fifteen degrees north, ap-

proximately," Melanie said.

Gaspar worked it out. "Gulf of Honduras."

"Closer to the trenches?" Eleph asked.

"Yes. Cayman. It projects southwest right into the

Honduras. In fact there's a valley in the comer there on

land, probably an extension. If we find any underwater

cities there, I'll consider subsidence."

A passing reference to a passing difference of opinion.

Yet it had a remarkable effect on Don as the party cycled on

around the Yucatan peninsula. Caspar was his friend, and

Eleph an annoyance—but it was Eleph who had made the

decisive suggestion that had given Don two days in the

ruins, and Eleph who had found the labrys and cups. Those

were perhaps the most significant New World artifacts ever,

and they would make Don famous when he finished this

mission and led a party to discover the city and them. Now

it was Eleph who was pursuing the archaeological proba-

MERCYCLE               169

bilities. Eleph was not only doing Don favors, he was

demonstrating the more resilient intellect.

No, that wasn't fair. Gaspar had worked out geological

prospects that were as significant as the archaeological ones.

Gaspar certainly had preoccupations of his own. Both men

were more important to Don's interests than he had thought

at first.

"Maybe we are after all heading down to that dinosaur

crater," Don said.

"Let me tell you, that would give me the same thrill you

just got," Gaspar said. "But it's still a long way there, and

I won't hope until I see its coordinates."

They decided to skirt the eastern Yucatan close to shore.

Gaspar said the typical depth of this region was five

hundred fathoms—three thousand feet, over half a mile—

extending almost to the brink of land. They could travel this

deep water safely, completely hidden from human percep-

tion. "But farther out it drops to twenty five hundred

fathoms," he cautioned.

"Two and a half miles!" Melanie exclaimed.

"That's nothing compared to the trench," Gaspar said,

checking the map. "It reaches a depth of over five miles.

But no point going way down, when we'll only have to

climb out again. Anyway, the sea floor's irregular. Used to

be a land bridge from Cuba to the Yucatan."

The others were glad to agree about keeping to moderate

depths. The climb from the abyssal plain to the continental

shelf had worn them out, and only the two-day exploration

of the city had allowed them to recover.

Even so, it wasn't easy. In places the continental slope

was so steep it resembled a cliff rising to their right, forcing

them not only to walk, but to rope themselves together, just

in case. Don knew that if they could only see it clearly, it

170                Piers Anthony

would be the most impressive mountain any of them had

experienced.

"That's the trouble," Pacifa remarked, affecting distress.

"Here I'm supposed to survey potential scenic routes—and

they aren't scenic. It doesn't do a tourist much good to know

that he's passing near the most remarkable view, only it's

invisible."

Don had grown accustomed to the continuing night of the

deeps, and to the ocean bottom animals. But there were

surprises yet. One day they bore down on a giant squid, who

was so startled that it emitted a cloud of glowing ink and

disappeared. That horrified Don, for some reason that he

decided was more instinctive than rational.

"Makes sense," Caspar said. "Where there's light,

darkness conceals, so the inkfish makes it dark. But where

it's dark, maybe light conceals."

"Pretty smart," Don agreed, shuddering as that ghostlike

nimbus drifted through him. Melanie closed her eyes so that

she couldn't see it, which was perhaps a better reaction.

"They are smart," Caspar said. "Cleverest animals in

the ocean."

"Except for the dolphins?" Pacifa asked.

"I wouldn't except the dolphins," Caspar said, getting

that stubborn tone again. It seemed harder than ever to avoid

this attitude. "Everybody talks about them, but what are

dolphins, really? Friendly mammals. Overrated."

"Don't they help ships?" Pacifa demanded. "Imitate

human sounds? Do tricks?"

"So do birds," Caspar said. "I don't despise the dolphin

or the other intelligent cetaceans. But I think we'd profit

more by studying the squid. He's more versatile, and as I

said, probably smarter."

"Well, we have a good chance now," Pacifa said. "Old

Glowcloud is back."

MERCYCLE               171

"I'm not surprised," Caspar said. "They're curious

creatures. See, his skin is green. I think that's his curiosity

color."

"Don't tell me they're chameleons!" Melanie said,

becoming interested.

"A chameleon is unworthy of the name, compared to

this. Here, I'll show you." Caspar rode up to the slowly

moving squid and waved his arms violently.

The mollusk turned white and jetted away, backwards.

The color shift was so sudden and complete that the other

four of them gaped. One moment the squid was green; the

next, pale watery white.

"How—?" Melanie asked, amazed.

"There isn't any light down here, normally," Eleph said.

"Why should it change color?"

"Squids are versatile," Caspar said with satisfaction.

"They inhabit all levels. Probably this one has fed in

surface waters at another season. And of course there are

some natural sources of light. Anyway, it has different color

pigments in tiny sacs all over its skin. Muscles attach to

elastic walls, opening these sacs, pulling them into star

shaped patches of color. There are several layers, so the

squid can blend colors like paints. Because the effect is

muscular, not chemical, it happens instantly, with every

change of mood. Hey, he's back again."

Tne squid was swimming tentacles-first, slowly flapping

broad fins near its rear. Don tried to conceal his automatic

apprehension. It was hard to tell how long the creature was

because Don didn't know where to measure from, but the

tentacles seemed to be twelve or fifteen feet from base to

tip. The body was now light green.

"Watch," Caspar cried, and charged it again.

"Don't tease it!" Melanie cried, her fear of the monster

becoming sympathy. But she was too late.

172 Piers Anthony

This time the squid did not blanch or retreat. Black stripes

flickered over its body. Its tentacles reached forward in a

mass and grabbed at Gaspar, who was of course untouched.

"Octopi are timid," Gaspar said. "But squid are bold,

and the larger they are, the fiercer. The biggest ones will

fight small whales. I'd never try this in real life."

It looked none too safe even in phase. Startled at the lack

of contact, the squid flashed black spots and grabbed again.

It brought one huge eye to bear, trying to comprehend this

thing that it could see but could not hold. It moved up and

opened its massive, horrible parrot beak to take a bite. When

this also failed, it turned reddish brown and waved its

tentacles angrily.

"It's furious," Melanie said. "Justifiably."

Gaspar laughed. Then the squid quit. It faded to a neutral

gray and jetted away smoothly, its long arms trailing

behind.

"See, he learns from experience, and controls his emo-

tions," Gaspar said with a certain pride. He had evidently

decided the creature was male. "He won't try to grab me

again, you can be sure."

But to Don it was macabre sport. Had they been on the

same plane of existence, the monster could have devoured

them all.

They rode on, but several hours later Glowcloud was

back. He checked each rider over, refusing to be dissuaded

by shouts or action. Don was irrationally terrified, and even

Pacifa looked quite uncomfortable as the tentacles passed

through her. But Eleph had the most reason to take evasive

action, because of his half-phased thread and balloons. If the

squid discovered these, he would have leverage, and would

surely use it.

Perhaps to forestall this, Melanie nerved herself and tried

to distract Glowcloud. "Hello, you gorgeous monster," she

MERCYCLE               173

said, trying to pet a tentacle. "How many colors can you

make, when you feel artistic?"

The squid's reactions were extraordinarily rapid, and his

manner disquietingly purposeful. He surely wanted to

understand the nature of these little intruders, so as to

consume them, and he intended to keep after them until he

had solved the riddle.

In fact, Glowcloud followed them. He would disappear

for hours, but always reappear, no matter how rapidly they

moved. His water-jetting mode of swimming was beauti-

fully effective, and he could—and did—swim rings around

them. Perhaps it was imagination, but the squid did seem to

prefer the company of Melanie, and she was definitely

warming to him. Was it because Glowcloud was hairless?

"Beauty and the beast," Pacifa remarked.

Melanie, flustered, demurred. "I'm no—"

"He's the beauty," Pacifa clarified with a smile. "Look

at that color."

"B-but you are too," Don added. Melanie seemed not to

hear.

"Good thing Glowcloud's not one of the large ones,"

Gaspar said merrily. ' 'They grow up to over fifty feet, with

tentacles over thirty feet, and maybe much larger yet."

"In horror magazines," Eleph muttered, again avoiding

the creature's advances.

"There's pretty good evidence," Gaspar insisted.

"Sperm whales like to eat squid, and tentacles over forty

feet long were found in a whale once. That squid must have

weighed over forty tons, alive. But even that's small

compared to the ones that get away."

"From the sperm whales?" Eleph demanded. "How can

you judge what the whale doesn't catch?"

"Maybe they tell squid stories," Melanie suggested.

"By the sucker marks," Gaspar said. "You see the

MERCYCLE               175

174                Piers Anthony

suckers on Glowcloud, here? All down his arms? Well,

when a whale goes after a big squid, that squid fights, and

his suckers make imprints on the whale's hide. A fifty footer

leaves scars four inches across. But some sperm whales

have been caught with scars eighteen inches across."

"Talk of the kraken!" Pacifa exclaimed, awed.

"They do tell stories," Melanie said, tittering. '"Hey,

Joe, you should have seen the sucker that got away!'"

"If the ratio holds true," Eleph said, "eighteen inch

suckers would indicate a squid over two hundred feet long,

massing over a thousand tons. That would be the largest

creature ever to inhabit our world."

Caspar shrugged. "The ocean has secrets yet."

All of which did not make them feel easier about Glow-

cloud. But the squid was gone again, rocketing smoothly

into the murk. Any notion any of them might have had about

clumsiness of such creatures had been abolished. Octopi

might be awkward and slow when traveling, but squid were

sleek and fast.

They rode on down a narrowing valley, breathing hard.

"I can't catch my breath," Pacifa complained. "Eleph,

will you check the field generator on my bike?"

They stopped, and Eleph checked. Don also felt out of

breath, and Caspar's chest was pumping. Melanie's bosom

was heaving in a manner Don would have found interesting

at another time.

"The field is in order," Eleph said. "But I must

admit—"

"Uh-oh," Gaspar said. "I know. We're in a valley that's

low on oxygen. Some of these exist in the ocean, if the

water doesn't circulate enough. See—almost no life around

here. Turn and go back in a hurry."

They retreated with alacrity, but the breathing did not

improve. Even if there were more oxygen in the water, the

field would take time to phase it through.

"Up!" Gaspar said. "Got to get out of the trough, into

richer water."

"The map shows a steep rise to your west, as I remem-

ber," Melanie said, trying to help.

"Thanks!" Caspar bore west immediately. "The rest of

you—keep alert for Glowcloud. Where he is, there's oxy-

gen, sure."

They found the rise, but it was too steep to climb. Pacifa

reeled visibly, the first sign of physical weakness she had

shown, and Eleph was almost collapsed over his handlebars.

Don felt like lying down and sleeping, and knew he dared

not.

"Glowcloud—where are you?" Melanie gasped.

Gaspar found a discontinuity in the impassible face of the

cliff, and scrambled up, hauling his bicycle along. The

others followed, helping each other up. This was mountain

climbing, for the path was narrow and the walls bare. Still

there was little life.

On they slogged. When Melanie seemed about to fall, just

ahead of him, Don simply put the top of his head against her

rear and pushed, and she made it to the next ledge. This was

no place for niceties. He lost track of the others, concen-

trating on getting himself and Melanie to the higher ground.

A tentacle passed through his face. Don blinked—then

shouted. "Glowcloud! Glowcloud! He's here!" Indeed, it

was almost as though the giant squid were trying to pull

Melanie upward. They struggled a few more feet, until their

heads were buried within the body of the monster, and

collapsed. Oxygen!

When they resumed the climb they were roped again.

This time there was no question of the necessity; a misstep

176

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

177

could mean a fall of hundreds of feet. Where the way

became narrow, they anchored front and rear while the

middle proceeded. Caspar was the front, Pacifa the rear,

with Eleph, Melanie and Don not ashamed to admit their

incompetence in the center.

And it was not so bad. Much of the climb was gentle, and

some was downhill, for the continental slope was by no

means regular. They were neither rushed nor hungry now,

and they had become experienced at this sort of thing. Just

so long as there was some current in the water, and some

animal life.

"I heard that," Melanie said during one of their pauses

for anchorage. "You think I'm beautiful?"

It took Don a moment to orient. She was referring to the

"Beauty and the Beast" exchange. "Yes."

"Physically?"

"Th-that too."

She looked startled, but pleased.

Then it was time to move the anchor along.

At the next stop Don looked around. "Where's Glow-

cloud? Never thought I'd miss the sight of his ugly beak,

but—"

"We're changing depth pretty rapidly," Caspar said.

"Few creatures can handle substantial and rapid pressure

differentials. We aren't being subjected to them, phased out,

or we'd be in real trouble. By the time he adjusts, we'll be

gone again."

"Too bad," Melanie said. "But not worth going back

down into that deadly valley!"

Near the top—fifty fathoms—Caspar gave a cry. "Hey!

There's a cave."

There was. "We need a safe place to spend the night,"

Pacifa said. "Let's check it out. I don't want to roll off any

ledges in my sleep."

Her given reason was spurious; she had no fear of ledges.

She merely liked to explore. But so did the others. They

were all adventurers, now that they had the means.

They moved in cautiously, Don staying close to Melanie,

or perhaps the other way around. There was no concern

about wildlife, of course, except to make sure that it was

present, but a gap in the floor would be every bit as

hazardous to them as to land dwellers in a land cave. They

remained roped.

The passage wound about, going first up, then down. The

floor was irregular, so that they would have to walk. Then

the way opened into a large cavem.

"Stalactites!" Don exclaimed. "This was once a land

cave!"

' 'Why not?'' Caspar called back. "You said yourself that

the water receded this far during the ice age, and I agree."

"Stalactites," Eleph repeated. "They hang from the

top?"

"And stalagmites rise from the floor," Don said. "Re-

member it mnemonically: C for ceiling, G for ground.

Stalac, stalag."

"Strange they have not dissolved away," Eleph said.

"They may, in time. They must have been millions of

years in the forming, while the sea has been here for only a

few thousand."

' 'Was the sea level down for millions of years?''

"Well, no, but this cave could have been sealed off with

air in it."

"Maybe cave men used it," Pacifa said half facetiously.

"They cut this passage in, little dreaming that the sea would

return."

"I'm not sure the Amerinds used caves," Don said.

"Certainly, they did not paint on the walls the way the

Reindeer People did in Europe."

178 Piers Anthony MERCYCLE 179

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Well, they—" He stopped. "You know, I don't know!

Maybe they did, at that."

"If habitable caves were available, they would have been

stupid not to utilize them," Eleph said. "Man is not

stupid."

"Man's an idiot," Pacifa retorted. "Look at what he's

doing to the world!"

"I can only draw a parallel to the European situation,"

Don said. "Certainly caves were used there, from time to

time—but not by all men, and seldom by civilized ones.

There is evidence that many of the caves that were used,

were not used for residence."

"What else would a cave be used for?" Eleph asked.

"Storage?" He seemed to be fascinated by this region,

though he evidently knew little about it.

"Religion. Or some similar ceremony. The golden age of

stone age man was probably the Magdalenian culture, about

fifteen thousand years ago. They hunted reindeer and other

animals during the ice age, and used sympathetic magic to

help overcome these creatures. They painted pictures of

them on the walls and ceilings of deep grottoes, some of the

finest naturalistic art ever rendered. But then the glaciers

receded, the reindeer migrated north, and the Magdalenians

declined."

"The glaciers," Caspar said. "That was an ice age

culture."

"You haven't been paying attention," Pacifa said.

"Very much an ice age culture," Don said sadly. "In

some ways man's civilization was shaped by the ice. It gave

him a real hurdle to overcome, for it overran his choicest

residential areas and reshaped the land. To survive he had to

develop clothing—"

"And that killed him," Melanie said. "It stopped the sun

from striking his skin, and Neanderthal man was wiped out

by rickets, the Vitamin D deficiency disease."

Don stopped short. "Where did you hear that?"

"I read it somewhere. Isn't that what you were saying?"

"No. It may have been Cro-Magnon man who developed

civilization as we know it, and he wore clothing too. We can

assess its approximate coverage by noting the places where

our own bodies lack heavy hair. We have light hair all over

our bodies, of course. Possibly his skin was lighter, so that

he could adapt better to the scant sunshine of the northern

latitudes, but that alone could hardly have wiped out

Neanderthal. He lived in the tropics as well, after all."

"Ah, well," she said with cute resignation. "But then

what happened to Neanderthal man?"

"We're still not sure. He overlapped modem man by

eighty thousand years or so, so it seems unlikely that he was

conquered. There is evidence that Neanderthal was truly

robust, physically, capable of feats that our champions can't

match today. He had the same braincase and tools as

Cro-Magnon. But it may have been his diet."

"No Vitamin D enriched milk?"

Don had to laugh. "Vitamin D isn't even a vitamin! No,

he seems to have become a vegetarian, perhaps living on

fruits and nuts. He may have driven Cro-Magnon man out of

the good forests and forced him to become a scavenger,

taking the leavings of hunting animals. Finally modem man

became a hunter himself, his system adjusting with diffi-

culty to the wholesale consumption of flesh. Then the

climate changed and the dense forests shrank—and Nean-

derthal man was starved out, because he could not eat the

foods of the savanna. It may be that he had never developed

truly organized hunting techniques, and it was too late for

him to change. When modem man did, he started hunting

game species of animals to extinction—and perhaps used

180                Piers Anthony

those same techniques on his longtime rival Neanderthal,

exterminating him at last. Cro-Magnon man was better

equipped to survive, being less specialized. It's a common

theme, paleontologically.''

"You mean we're murderers?" Melanie asked, dis-

tressed.

"As Cain slew Abel, perhaps. It's all conjecture."

"But the glaciers," Caspar said again. "There's the

connection."

"Between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man?" Don

asked.

' 'No, between the Minoans and the Mayans. Your finest

cave culture was the result of the ice age. Well, the ice age

was worldwide. Why couldn't there have been fine cave

cultures over here in the Americas, too?"

"And when the world warmed up," Melanie added

eagerly, "and the waters rose, those cultures didn't just

expire, they went elsewhere. Maybe they kept their civili-

zation alive for thousands of years, building great cities,

until—"

"Hunter-gatherer societies do not build cities," Don said,

laughing. "How many reindeer do you see roaming the

streets of New York?"

"Well, small cities, then," she said. "Villages, maybe.

Rome was not built in a —"

"Something strange ahead," Eleph said, and they broke

off. This spared Don the onus of debating against more

amateur theories of civilization.

Strange it was. A horizontal sheet of something crossed

the entire top of the next cavern, cutting it off. The

demarcation was so level and regular that it had to be

artificial. A sheet of clear plastic?

"That's the surface!" Caspar cried, laughing.

"At forty five fathoms?" Eleph demanded.

MERCYCLE               181

"An air pocket. Come on, we can ride up out of the water

for a change."

But they couldn't. The surface was twenty feet above

their heads, and the cavern walls were vertical. They could

only look.

"Do you suppose there are cave paintings remaining in

the dry portion?" Eleph asked.

"I doubt it," Don said. "But I'd sure like to look."

"We're wasting time," Caspar said. "Let's find a place

to set up our tents."

This callousness to archaeological potential irritated Don,

but he knew Caspar was right. The man wasn't really

uninterested; he merely wasn't going to worry about reach-

ing an inaccessible spot. He was being practical.

"Perhaps if we used the balloons," Eleph murmured.

"Yes!" Don agreed. It was becoming difficult to dislike

the man.

Caspar and Pacifa set up camp, anchoring the tents to the

rising spires of old stalagmites. Don and Melanie and Eleph

blew up balloons, waiting for them to achieve sufficient

flotation. Working together, they inflated six balloons in

somewhat over an hour, and hitched them to Don's bicycle.

In time Don lurched to the surface and whipped his lamp

around.

There was nothing. The walls were completely natural.

A small blind fish nosed up. "Get out of here!" Don

shouted, bashing through it with one fist.

But the disappointment was minor, compared to what had

been discovered before. As they settled down for the night,

Melanie took his hand again. "But suppose you found a girl

with real hair?'' she murmured.

"What is hair?" he asked rhetorically. "It's just dead

cells. It's superficial. I can take it or leave it, now."

"Can you? I think you should meet such a girl, and see."

182

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

183

He laughed. "Here?"

"Well, after the mission. Then you'll know."

She didn't want to be hurt. He understood that. He knew

that if he met a pretty girl in the regular world he would be

tongue-tied anyway. Part of the appeal of Melanie was that

he had seen her shorn, and gotten to know her without

romantic pressure, and now there could be romance, if she

wanted it. Evidently she did want it, if she could only be

sure of him. He had accepted her without hair, but that was

only half way there. He had to show that he would not

change his mind when he encountered a woman with body

and hair. That he did not see her as a Neanderthal, to be

discarded in favor of Modem. So it was necessary to play it

through. Once she saw him with anyone else, she would

know that hair had nothing to do with it, anymore.

In the morning they completed their preparations and

moved out, single file. Don hated to leave this cave without

exploring it more thoroughly, for the discussion of the

evening before had taken hold of his fancy. Suppose man

had lived here? This cave was three hundred feet below the

present surface of the ocean. Its entrance could have been

exposed only when the water was low enough—if, indeed,

someone had not cut the passage into it, as Pacifa had

suggested. Ludicrous, yet not impossible. Either way, that

would have been 15,000 years ago, at the height of the ice

age—the same time as the European Reindeer culture. A

fantastic notion, but tempting.

Yet hardly more fantastic than the idea of a mighty city

off the coast of the Yucatan, dating back perhaps six

thousand years and containing Minoan artificats. But with

the sea washing off any pictures that might have been on the

walls, and the fish consuming any bones, and the sediment

covering whatever remained, this quest was hopeless. If

only he had the facilities to investigate thoroughly!

Don sighed. That was the nature of archaeology. The

breakthroughs were wonderful, but most of it came to

nothing significant. Some other man would have to discover

the wonders of pre-Mayan cave cultures, if any were to be

found.

The trip along the continental shallows was more difficult

than Don had anticipated. While the Yucatan was hardly a

modem center of commerce, it was populated. Small boats

plied its waters, fishing and hauling. Several times the

cyclists had to hide, to prevent possible discovery. But the

shelf here was so narrow that they had either to remain quite

close to shore, or negotiate the descending slope to rejoin

Glowcloud and perhaps the valley of death.

It was hot. Maybe the ambient temperature was governed

mainly by the converter and the nitrogen atmosphere of the

phase world, but when Earth was warm, Don was warm.

Their terrain was not smooth, and he sweated steadily with

the exercise. So did Melanie; her blouse was plastered to her

skin. He knew she would not appreciate him staring, so he

tried not to. Hair? Who cared about hair!

The problem was that the mountainous inland features

were duplicated near the water, forcing repeated gear-

shifting and portages, with occasional use of the safety rope.

At one point they actually had to cross overland in order to

avoid an ocean canyon that would have forced an unrea-

sonably long detour.

But they made it in good order to the third depot. There

was plenty of food there, and spare wheels for their

bicycles—most of which did not fit, since it had been

presumed they would be in the better ten-speed machines

that had supposedly been waiting at the first depot.

"Eighteen degrees, thirty minutes north latitude," Mel-

Piers Anthony

184

anie said. "Seventy eight degrees, ten minutes west longi-

tude."

"I don't know coordinates, but I know that's toward

Cuba," Pacifa snorted.

"Maybe," Caspar said, sounding disappointed. "It's not

toward South America, for sure. Let me work it out.

Eighteen, nineteen—no, that's Jamaica. Northern coast, I

think."

"Port Royal!" Don exclaimed. "We're going to see Port

Royal!"

"That doesn't sound like a stone age culture, or even an

old Mayan city," Pacifa said.

"It isn't. Port Royal was an English town of the seven-

teenth century, notorious for its illicit trade and rich living.

It suddenly sank beneath the sea, around 1690 I think. Its

enemies thought it was divine retribution. But for my

purpose a quick burial is much better than a slow decline,

because all the common artifacts of daily existence re-

main."

"You archaeologists are ghoulish," Melanie said, smil-

ing.

"I remember the story," Gaspar said. "That's a legiti-

mate case of subsidence along the fault. It does happen. But

wasn't Port Royal on the south of the island? We're going

to the north of it."

"I don't remember," Don said, disappointed. "The New

World just isn't my specialty. You're probably right."

"It's as if whoever set this up is teasing you," Melanie

remarked. "Sending you close to something really impor-

tant to you, then turning away."

"What would be the point of teasing us?" Caspar asked.

"I don't know. I don't understand what's going on at

all."

"You and the rest of us," Pacifa agreed.

MERCYCLE               185

"The spot is very near the trench, isn't it?" Eleph asked.

"It may be several thousand fathoms down. What could be

so important there?"

"Maybe an eight-thousand-year-old pre-Minoan city,"

Caspar said with half a smile. "Complete with television

sets."

Don did not deign to respond.

They proceeded. The great Cayman trench coincided

almost exactly with the Honduras shoreline in this region,

forcing them to hew to an even narrower margin than

before. Here they could not avoid a canyon, so they used

rope and balloons in combination and followed it down . . .

and down.

"Just how far did the waters recede during the ice age?"

Pacifa demanded.

"Three hundred feet," Don said. "Four hundred at the

most."

"Do you realize that we are down to two hundred

fathoms? Twelve hundred feet, and no sign of the end?"

"I can't explain it," Don said.

"Fortunately I can," Caspar said. "You were right about

the cutaway on the Yucatan shelf. But the really large

canyons are below that level. Some go right to the ocean

floor, three miles deep."

' 'How can they be formed, with the water always there?''

Pacifa asked.

"Turbidity currents. A function of that same sediment

you see all over the ocean floor. The large rivers deposit a

lot of silt, and a lot remains suspended in the water.

Periodically it builds up to the point where it must come

down, especially when the motion of the river is lost within

the mass of the sea. So it overturns, and the loaded water

drops. That forms some pretty formidable currents—up to

forty miles per hour. With that sort of motion, you can cut

186                Piers Anthony

canyons anywhere. They still have trouble with undersea

cables getting snapped that way. Any natural tremor can set

off a mud slide, and once it starts, it's like an avalanche.

That has a similar effect."

"Ocean currents and mud slides cut this?" Pacifa asked,

gesturing about. "This is like the Grand Canyon!"

"Makes you respect mud, doesn't it," Caspar said,

smiling. "We'd better move on, because even in our

phased-out state we could be in trouble if some such action

occurred around us."

There was no argument, though Don was sure they would

have to wait years for a mudslide. Why take any more of a

risk than they had to? And suppose their passage did set off

such a slide? He tried to suppress his nervousness.

They rode and hauled and climbed vigorously, searching

for safer waters. But it was more than a hundred miles

before there was room to diverge freely from the trench's

edge. Even then there was not much improvement, because

the sea floor became mountainous. Progress was slow.

"Maybe we should just drop down to the center of the

trench," Pacifa suggested.

"I wouldn't," Caspar said. "The trench is not your

ordinary innocent sea floor. Remember what I said about the

Bahamas platform?"

"No."

' 'How it filled in at the beginning of the great continental

crackup? Well, the Puerto Rico-Cayman trench runs right

under it, cutting off the bottom part. That makes it espe-

cially hazardous for us."

"You talked about the trench, but not about any plat-

form," Pacifa said.

Melanie broke in. "You weren't there, Pacifa. That was

just before you joined the party."

"Now wait a minute," Don protested. "Why should a

MERCYCLE               187

crack in the platform or under it or whatever—why should

that be bad for us? Worse than any other crack, I mean?"

"Because the great trenches of the ocean are not just

cracks. They are stress points of the globe. They are where

the spreading ocean floor pushes down under the land mass,

because it has nowhere else to go. They are in motion,

swallowing mountains. Such regions are deep and jagged,

and always the raw material for volcanism and earth-

quakes."

"Volcanoes and earthquakes," Melanie said morosely.

"And I thought this trip might be fun."

"I just don't see that," Pacifa argued. "A volcano is an

eruption of lava and ash, while an earthquake is a shaking of

the ground. This is just some ground going slowly down,

you say. Maybe an inch a century?"

"I can't go into the whole of sea-floor spreading right

now," Caspar said, exasperated.

"You don't need to. I know about the magma coming up

and pushing apart the sea floor and continents. There is

surely some violence there! But why should there be

earthquakes and volcanoes here at the other end?''

"Because when the leading edge of one plate collides

with another above a certain speed, one plunges under the

other to make room. It descends into the asthenosphere—

that is, deep down—and is destroyed by pressure and heat.

That impact and that action are responsible for both the

local quakes and the local volcanoes."

"You are beginning to make sense," Pacifa admitted.

"Does that mean we'll get sucked into the crevice if we

aren't careful?"

Caspar smiled. "Unlikely. These are the processes of

many millions of years. Sea floor spreading occurs at the

rate of a few inches per year, average."

"Inches a year," she said. "That's certainly faster than

188                Piers Anthony

an inch a century. But you made it sound like a ravening

maw."

"It is, geologically. A few inches is plenty, when you

consider the masses of the material involved. The Caribbean

is a twisted area, and the heart of that twist is that trench,

because it is at right angles to the nominal direction of

spreading. I think one of the Pacific plates has crossed over

the continent and ridden sideways across the Atlantic plate.

Now it's coming up against the Bahamas platform, which is

a considerable mouthful even for this process. We don't

know what we'll find down there."

"You really want to see it, don't you," Melanie said.

"Not as much as I want to see the dinosaur crater. But

yes, the whole ocean is interesting, and this especially so."

"Just as Don wants to excavate New Atlantis on the

Yucatan," Caspar agreed. "But I don't want to travel the

length of this crevasse. Better to make our next depot, then

make forays from there at our convenience."

"So you won't be tempted to stop at every sexy outcrop-

ping on the way," Pacifa said. "I know the problem. All

right, why not travel the rim to the next depot? Then we'll

see."

"You are assuming that simple exploration is our mis-

sion," Eleph said. "I remind you that we do not yet know

what we are getting into."

Pacifa nodded. "Good, grim point. Well, let's travel."

Easier said than done. The rim of Cayman was knifelike

in places, with an overhang on one side and a precipice on

the other, and cut into segments by transverse cracks yards

or miles across. The rope and pulley were too tedious, so

they kept the balloons inflated just under the necessary

amount of air needed for full flotation, and added to them

when a bad section had to be traversed. This was tedious, as

the balloons had to be dragged at other times, making

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progress extremely slow. But the terrain was so jagged they

had to take what precautions they could.

One section was terraced like a contour farm, the indi-

vidual ridges seeming to continue indefinitely. They de-

flated the balloons and cycled along the broadest ledge,

making better time. Here too there were cracks, but most

were less than a yard across, and negotiable. Occasional

breaks in the wall gave access to the more regular ocean

floor beyond the trench—but that was such a wilderness of

crosshatched ridges that they stayed on the terrace. It was

somber and impressive and rather peaceful.

That peace was suddenly to end.

CHAPTER 10

«

DECOY

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

The party is approaching the next challenge. It is inte-

grating well. I believe it will accept the mission.

Why not acquaint it with the mission now, in that case?

Because it will be more certain after the last two challenges.

I do not wish to risk loss by premature presentation.

They still are not aware that one of them is a local

government spy and another is an agent from another

world?

They do not know. I will acquaint them with this

information when the challenges are done. Then they should

be ready for it.

Yet if they are ready now, and you delay, you risk the

interference of some outside factor.

I believe this is a risk that must be taken. It seems slight

at the moment.

Even a slight risk is unwise, if it is unnecessary.

I deem the risk of rejection at this point to be greater than

the risk of random interference.

That is your assessment to make. Continue.

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*   *   *

"What's that?" Melanie cried, alarmed.

They all looked. A light was coming through the water,

floating over the abyss.

"That couldn't be Glowcloud," Pacifa said.

It was huge and bright, reminding Don of a Cyclops: a

giant with a single glowing eye in its forehead. Fantasy,  )

surely—but whatever was coming was surely trouble.       |

"That's not natural," Caspar said. "That's—"          [

"A submarine!" Eleph cried. "Douse the lights!"       [

In a moment the five bicycle lamps were off. Now they

could make out the big machine's outline: a monstrous

barrel with small bulging ports and large fins. It was

absolutely silent.

"Why no sound of engines?" Pacifa inquired from the

darkness.

"Don't talk!" Eleph cried with dismay.

Too late. As they spoke, the great headlight rotated,

orienting on the sound. The machine's listening devices

were sophisticated, evidently distinguishing their faint

noises from the background cacophony.

Don threw himself down and hauled his bicycle after him,

seeking the cover of the nearest stone. Where was it? If only

he had made a note before turning off his light!

The sub's beam swept near, splashing across the jagged

rock and highlighting two stages of the terrace wall. Don

saw to his relief that he was sheltered behind an upthrusting

ledge, and was hidden from the sub. Melanie was almost

behind him, similarly sheltered. Caspar and Pacifa were not

in sight, so must also have found concealment. But Eleph—

Eleph stood frozen, and the beam had already picked him

out. Don cursed the man's ineptitude—then saw that Eleph

was stranded on a narrow platform. He could not move

without falling into the trench. It was the luck of the draw.

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"Who are you?" Eleph shouted suddenly. "You're not

native to these waters!"

Why was he calling attention to himself? Don was

tempted to run over and haul the man back out of the light.

But how could he manage it on his bicycle? That pause gave

him time to realize the foolishness of such a gesture. He

could only expose himself. And the sub could not actually

harm Eleph, considering the phase.

"So you have found me!" Eleph continued, doing

something with his bicycle. "But I'm going to lose you!"

Then he pedaled on.

Now Don saw that Eleph had unhitched the safety rope.

He was going off by himself!

That was it, of course. Eleph had been spotted, and knew

it. He had nothing to lose, and might find out something that

would help the others, while they stayed hidden. He was

serving as a decoy, so that the main party could escape

undiscovered. He had spoken aloud to cover Pacifa's

blunder; the sub oriented on sound, and knew that someone

was there.

This must be a foreign sub; an American one would not

have been sneaking about silently. No—perhaps it was a

bathyscaphe, a research diver, checking for life in the

trench, quiet so as neither to disturb the fish nor to foul its

own auditory receptors with mechanical noise. But Eleph

had said it wasn't native, and Don had a feeling the man

would not make a mistake about such a thing. Not with his

military background.

Whatever the truth, Eleph had demonstrated intelligence

and courage in a crisis, and perhaps self-sacrifice. How

could they know the intention of that submarine? If it

represented a foreign power, it might seek to eliminate

anyone who saw it. It would have trouble doing anything

194                Piers Anthony

directly to a man who was phased out, but if it managed to

shove him into the trench, that would do it.

The spotlight followed the moving man, the sub gliding

smoothly after, still silent. The decoy was working.

They waited for several minutes. Then Caspar stood up.

Don saw the glow of light from the man's covered lamp,

and felt the tug of the rope. That was what Eleph had been

doing: detaching himself from the rope, so he could travel

alone. Don stood himself, and carefully walked his bike

over.

The four of them met by that faint glow. Gaspar pointed

back the way they had come, one finger limned against the

headlight. Away from the sub.

They moved, quietly. Gaspar seemed to have a good

memory for the terrain, for he proceeded with greater

confidence in the dark than Don could have.

They diverged from the rim of the canyon at the first

opportunity, climbing to the upper levels and thence

through a mountain pass. Only when they were well clear of

the great trench, concealed by myriad and labyrinthine

projecting stones, did they stop to confer.

There were no recriminations. They all understood what

Eleph had done. They had let him do it because there was no

better choice. The less the enemy sub knew, assuming that

it was hostile, the better off they were. They had to preserve

their privacy for the sake of their as yet unknown mission.

Perhaps it concerned—submarines.

"Suppose we split," Caspar said. "Each look for him

alone, keeping out of sight. He'll slip the sub all right; it

can't touch him and can't possibly follow where he can go.

But he'll probably lose himself in the process, and we can't

use the whistle while the sub is near. So we'll have to locate

him visually. Rough job."

"What about the radio?" Don asked. "We're all on the

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same private circuit—" He stopped, appalled. "The radio!

Can the sub intercept it?"

"I don't think so," Caspar said. "We're transmitting in

the phase world, and it shouldn't cross over."

"Light crosses over," Don said. "Sound crosses over.

How can we be sure the radio doesn't?"

"Good question," Melanie agreed.

"Eleph's the only one who can answer that," Caspar

said.

"And he's maintaining radio silence," Pacifa said, snap-

ping off her radio. The others jumped to do the same.

Now they were cut off from their missing member. If

anything happened to him, such as a fall into the chasm,

they might never be able even to verify it. They had not

been using the radios much, once all of them were together,

but had known that they could not get truly separated as

long as the radios were functional. Now Don felt a bit

naked.

"What is a foreign sub doing here?" Pacifa asked.

"When we know that," Caspar replied slowly, "we may

know our mission. That's a deep-diver." He paused. "Now

suppose we meet here in four hours? We can't afford to get

permanently separated."

Don and Pacifa agreed, but Melanie looked doubtful.

Caspar glanced at her. ' 'No offense, Mel, but maybe you

shouldn't go alone. Why don't you go with Don?" She

nodded gratefully. The notion of being separated in the

deeps evidently appalled her. She might have been emo-

tionally isolated all of her life, but this was a rather special

physical isolation. She lacked both the muscle of the men

and the expertise of Pacifa, and with radio silence she would

be even more alone.

They split up. Caspar took the trench, because he was

most familiar with its hazards. Pacifa took the encircling

196                Piers Anthony

approach, because she could make the best time. She would

be trying to intersect the trench ahead of Eleph, and work

back. If Caspar and Pacifa met, they would know that Eleph

was not on the terraces. Don and Melanie took the mazelike

periphery.

Four hours deadline: in his present toughened condition,

Don might have done eighty miles in that time, on a decent

level surface. But he would have to reserve half his time for

the return, and the surface was anything but decent. His

effective range—the most distant spot he could check—was

probably about twenty miles. He would use up much of that

winding about the interminable projections. It didn't matter;

he wasn't going anywhere, he was searching for a lost man.

But with Melanie along, they could double the width of

the search path. They could ride parallel, keeping each other

in sight while extending their range. That would help not

only in effectiveness, but because they were keeping each

other company. Because Don didn't like the notion of being

alone in this dangerous murky region either. It was indeed

lonely, being alone. He understood the ocean much better

than when he had first entered it, but its dark immensity still

cowed him when he became aware of it. He was aware now.

". . . when I was in college," Melanie was saying.

Don realized that she had been speaking, and he hadn't

been hearing. She must have started quietly, really talking to

herself, when they were at a farther separation, and then he

picked it up when they veered closer to each other. So he

listened. He doubted that the sub could pick up on this, if it

were even in the vicinity; only because he had become

accustomed to picking a human voice out of the constant

background noises was he able to hear her at all.

"I liked my favorite very much," Melanie continued

equably. "Mostly he just listened. Most of the time he just

looked as if he were going to sleep. I guess he wanted me

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to start thinking aloud about some of the important things in

my then-current life. He would just prod me now and then.

After a while I noticed that he seemed to give quite a number

of compliments. Sometimes they were strange. One day he

said that I had erected one of the most formidable barriers

around myself that he had encountered in all his years of

practice. In fact that was my favorite of all his compliments."

"That was no compliment!" Don snorted. "He just

wanted to seduce you."

' 'What?'' She seemed confused.

' 'That dumb writer you visited. Telling you about barri-

ers. That was just his 1-line."

She choked and made strangled sounds. It dawned on

Don that she was suppressing laughter.

"It's not funny," he said. "A man like that—you didn't

tell him about your hair, did you? So—"

"That was my psychiatrist," she said. "Long before I

visited the—''

Oops! Don felt his face burning. He had gulped his foot

to his knee that time.

"You're jealous," Melanie said.

"I—I—" Damn that stutter! He couldn't get anything

out.

"I'm thrilled and flattered," she said, sounding pleased.

"I don't think anyone was ever jealous on my account

before. You really do care."

"Of course I care!" he snapped. "Y-you visiting

s-strange men, and taking p-pills, and—"

"Pills? I never—"

"B-birth control pills. You told me—"

She laughed again.' 'Oh, that. Don, I only took those pills

because my mother insisted. Just as she insisted about the

psychiatrists. While I was in college. She wanted me to be

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a normal, extroverted girl. Not to be afraid of foolish little

things. Like pregnancy."

"Your mother!"

"She was pretty domineering, in her fashion."

"But that's white slavery. To make you—"

"Oh, Don! I took the pills. That was all. The only thing

they ever did for me was to foul up my analytical ability. As

soon as I got out on my own, I dropped them. It seemed

pointless to waste the money any more. Even with the pills,

I could analyze things to that extent."

He had definitely blown it. "I—I'm sorry. I a-apolo-

gize."

"Oh, don't be! I'm reveling in the feeling. You know me

as I am, Don. Words I never quite know whether to believe,

but jealousy I believe."

Then maybe his miscue hadn't been as bad as it could

have been. "Okay."

"You know, Don, I've been thinking. It seems to me that

I was told that the radio has no crossover. Otherwise we'd

be getting Earth broadcasts, interference, and—"

"So the sub can't intercept!" Don said, hugely relieved.

"And since we had our radios on before, and the sub didn't

seem to know about us until it spied Eleph, probably it

wasn't following any radio signal. But why isn't Eleph

talking, then? He knows more about the equipment than we

do."

"I don't know. Maybe he turned his radio off automati-

cally, as we did, before thinking it through, and then forgot

to turn it on again."

"Him? He'd be the first to remember it."

"Or he might be hurt."

"Hurt too bad even to talk?"

"I don't want to guess," she said.

"Well, we have to find him. Where do you think he is?"

MERCYCLE               199

"Maybe we should think like a fifty-year-old conserva-

tive physicist with a military background," she suggested.

"Where would he go?"

Don thought. "Into a cave!" he exclaimed. "He showed

real interest in that Yucatan coastal cave. I'll bet it wasn't

for the archaeological or geological prospects, but because

it served as a secure retreat. Agoraphobia, not

claustrophobia—fear of the heights."

"That's acrophobia," she said. "I know, because I've

got it too. A little."

"I mean fear of the open spaces," he said.

"Are there caves, here? There can't be any erosion as we

know it. How would caves form?"

"Only a geologist knows for sure. Maybe a freshwater

spring could do it. I don't know. But if there's one, that's

where he'll be, maybe. For one thing, the sub couldn't

follow him there."

"We'll just have to look," she agreed. "For cave

openings."

"Urn."

They rode on, looking for cave openings, but saw none.

There were fish here, but not many, and they seemed to be

blind. The cousins of the starfish were far more common,

and snails and clams were abundant.

This was mountainous country, and the constant steep

climbing and fierce coasting were wearing. A man could

readily lose himself here, and it would certainly be hazard-

ous for a submarine to maneuver too close to these jagged

rocks.

They searched for another twenty minutes, looking care-

fully into every recess, but it was apparent that they were

needles looking for another in a haystack. The ground was

too rough; there could be a hundred caves, and they could

miss them all unless they dropped a wheel into one. They

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needed an overview, and even then, the opacity of the water

would severely restrict their scope.

"At least we know the sub probably didn't keep him in

sight, once he decided to shake it," Melanie said.

A shape loomed near, long and oval and glowing slightly.

"Speak of the devil!" Don cried, throwing himself to the

ground. Melanie peeped and did the same.

But even as he barked his shins, Don realized that it was

a huge squid, some twenty feet long. As if they didn't have

troubles enough!

The squid glided up, light green in the beam of light Don

angled at it. Its monstrous eye contemplated him. "Go

away!" he cried.

The squid jetted in a circle around them.

"It's Glowcloud!" Melanie cried. "He must have been

trailing us all the time, and finally homed in." She stood,

lifting her hands to the creature. The squid extended a

tentacle. That was identification enough; obviously Glow-

cloud remembered.

"Well, at least it's not the sub."

"What determination," Melanie said, her hands playing

a game of touch and dodge with the tentacle. "It must be

almost impossible to locate anything in this expanse, as

we've been discovering."

"Trust Glowcloud," Don said. "He always did know

how to find us, as long as we're in his depth. Hey!"

"What?" She was almost shaking hands with the tenta-

cle. "You're not getting jealous of a squid, now, are you?"

"I just thought, maybe Glowcloud can find Eleph."

"Oh, Don, now you're dreaming! A mollusk? He may be

cute, but—"

Cute? This twenty foot monster with ten tentacles and a

huge hard beak? How her attitude had changed! "Worth a

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201

try, anyway. Caspar said they're the smartest creatures in

the sea. Glowcloud!"

The squid rotated gracefully to bring the eye to bear on

him. Probably he was reacting to the sharpness of the sound.

"Where's Eleph? Eleph! Take us to Eleph. Eleph!"

"Eleph!" Melanie echoed with less conviction.

The squid circled twice more in a climbing spiral, then

shot off at a tangent.

"Do you really think—?" Melanie asked. "I mean, he is

a wild creature, and can't be expected to—"

"No. But what better chance do we have?"

"Well, we can't follow where he's going, so we'd better

keep looking."

They kept looking, with no better success than before.

Ten minutes later Glowcloud was back. "Hey, did you

find Eleph?'' Don asked facetiously. Yet he did wonder: the

squid certainly seemed responsive. Was it possible that

Glowcloud understood their need—or cared?

The squid jetted slowly north, low enough for them to

follow. They did so, knowing that one search pattern was as

good as another, in this water wilderness. If ...

But they didn't find Eleph. Eleph found them. "Don!"

Glowcloud looped around them, then took off after a

careless fish.

The bicycles almost collided, for Eleph was riding

crookedly. "Eleph!" Don cried. "I thought you were lost."

"How could I be lost, with the coordinates plainly visible

on the meter?" Eleph asked sourly. "I was merely doubling

back to rejoin the company. Why didn't you wait?"

"Why didn't you call, once you were alone? We

assumed—''

Eleph looked embarrassed. "There was a slight mishap in

transit." He indicated his radio.

Piers Anthony

202

"Small mishap!" Don exclaimed. "The whole thing's

stove in! And you—you're—"

"I was in too much of a hurry," Eleph admitted, glancing

down at his red-stained shirt. "I took a fall."

Some fall! The man's forbidding front had deceived Don,

but only for a moment. Eleph's left arm was tucked inside

his shirt, and blood soaked the entire length of it. A bruise

showed on his cheek, and his trousers were torn. He must

have rolled over, with a jagged spike of rock smashing both

arm and radio.

The pain had to be phenomenal. Don was no expert in

medicine, but his first-aid briefing had familiarized him

with the general nature of a compound fracture. One surely

rested inside that shirt. Yet Eleph had roused himself and

ridden on, one-handed, actively mastering his destiny. Don

had not suspected that the man had that kind of courage. It '

was a thing he admired tremendously, and it transformed his

attitude toward Eleph. Yet nothing in the man's manner

suggested that he sought sympathy, so Don didn't proffer it,

verbally.

But Melanie did. "You poor man! You're all bruised."

"It happens," Eleph said.

"We broke up to search for you," Don explained. "We

agreed to meet again in four hours. More than two to go,

still. Pacifa has the—the medication."

"Excellent."

"Are you all right, Eleph?" Melanie asked. "Why is

your hand out of sight?" Evidently she hadn't caught on to

the extent of it, yet.

"Scratches and bruises," Eleph told her firmly. "Do not

concern yourself further, my dear."

Don, to his own surprise, was suddenly overwhelmed.

Eleph had such courage in adversity, yet was no more

expressive than he had been at the outset. This was another

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silent person, whose speech and overt actions only partly

reflected his true passions. He was familiar in an illuminat-

ing, deja vu fashion, yet completely strange. Don had

wronged him grievously by thinking him to be a stuffed

shirt, and now he couldn't even apologize without alerting

Melanie to the extent of the problem. If Eleph preferred to

keep it private, Don had to honor it. But he had to express

himself somehow, because he was really not the silent type,

just shy in new situations.

So Don held out his hand. It seemed inane, but his

conscience refused to stand aside. One token handshake had

to say it all.

Eleph understood. He let go of his handlebar—and the

wheel flopped sideways, almost dumping him. Don jumped

to support him—and banged the injured arm. Eleph winced,

and a small strangled cry escaped him.

White-faced and red-faced, respectively, Eleph and Don

shook hands. Then they rode on, Melanie leading the way.

Depot #4 was tremendous. "There's enough here to last

us a year," Pacifa said. "We must have arrived at our major

base of operations."

So it seemed. Another set of coordinates was waiting—

19°30'N, 77°0'W—but that location was so close it was

obviously an offshoot from this site.

They repacked their supplies and rested for a day, only

scouting the immediate vicinity. "These are bad," Pacifa

said, indicating one box ofglop packages. "See, the serial

matches that on Don's old supply." She was right. But there

were twenty good boxes as well.

They held a business meeting. "This has to be it,"

Caspar said. "The next are Melanie's last set of coordi-

nates, and they're close—within sixty miles, as the fish

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MERCYCLE

205

swims. Maybe we should come at the site cautiously. After

all, if it is all this secret—"

"And with an enemy craft patrolling the vicinity," Eleph

said. "We must consider the possibility that we did not lose

that submarine. If it realized that Glowcloud was accompa-

nying us, and oriented on the squid—"

"If it's tracing anybody, it's Eleph," Pacifa said. "The

sub never saw the rest of us."

"We think it never saw us," Caspar corrected her.

She sighed. "You have a suspicious mind, but you're

right. We can't take the chance. How about this, then: you

and Eleph decoy Glowcloud south, while Don and Melanie

and I maintain radio silence and sneak a peek at whatever is

there? We'll meet back here when we can."

' 'But that's giving them the risk while we take the prize,''

Don protested.

"We're not going to steal it, Don," Pacifa said. "We're

a group. We'll finish this mission together. But we are

learning caution."

"Actually Caspar and I would be running no risk we

haven't run all along," Eleph said. "While you have no

idea what awaits you."

Don could not argue with that.

"Also," Caspar said, "the sides of that trench can be

steep, and Eleph can't climb. So he can't go anyway."

Which clinched it. Pacifa had doused Eleph with a pain

killer from her supplies and supervised the resetting of his

arm, no simple task for the squeamish. She had to rummage

in all their packs to obtain material for splint and bandage.

Don knew it would be weeks before the member healed, and

a fair length of time before the man recovered from his loss

of blood. The trench was certainly no place for the

wounded. Not until they knew there was a safe route there,

and what their mission was.

"Actually, I could go with Eleph," Don said.

"No need," Caspar said easily. "It isn't as if it's a chore.

In fact, I'd like to see Jamaica and Port Royal. We can loop

clear around the island, and the sub'll think we have a

rendezvous there, if it's tracking Eleph. We'll even take

pictures."

For a moment Don was jealous. He, the archaeologist,

should be going to Port Royal. But the others all seemed

satisfied with the arrangement, so he stifled his ire. He knew

it was a device to make it easier for Eleph and keep him out

of danger.

Eleph distributed his supply of balloons among them, in

case they had an emergency requiring flotation. Don put

three in his pack. They would exert some drag, but they just

might be his lifeline in a crisis.

Caspar and Eleph packed up and departed, Caspar

leading the way so as to pick out the easiest route. They

moved slowly, for Eleph, stiff though his lip might be, was

obviously not up to strenuous activity.

Pacifa made them wait four hours before they set out

toward the final coordinates. "Just in case," she said. "We

don't know exactly how far toward the surface Glowcloud

can come right now, or how far he ranges while we're out

of reach. We want to be sure El and Gas pick him up before

we go down. We need our decoy in order."

There was a great deal of light rope in stock, and they

packed several thousand extra feet, knowing they would

need it for the canyons. Don did not feel easy about this trip,

but didn't care to admit it. He wished that they could have

gone as a full group, instead of fragmented. Odd that he

should be so glum, when they were so near their destination.

They moved north, directly into the trench. Almost

immediately they had to break out the rope, tying a length

to a spur of rock, climbing down it, and leaving it there for

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207

the return trip. A submarine might discover it, but that risk

seemed small, in this craggy wilderness, and they might

have to return in a hurry. Without the ropes, they might have

to ride a hundred miles out of their way—if any alternate

avenues were even available.

It was a fear-of-heights nightmare. In the first five miles

they descended a thousand fathoms. The site wasn't close at

all, in terms of their effort! Then the ground evened out

somewhat, and they rode down irregular slopes another five

hundred fathoms.

The scenery was breathtaking, not pleasantly. Bare rock

projected everywhere, forming overhanging cliffs, with rifts

packed with boulders. Barnacles studded the surfaces,

combing the water with their little nets, and sponges bulged

wherever they chose: black unenterprising masses. There

was little of the beauty of the coral reef, here.

But, aided by Pacifa's energy and expertise, they covered

sixty miles in one day. Sixty horizontally, plus three

vertically, and not directly toward their objective. They

were now in the center of the Cayman trench proper: as

grim a region as Don cared to experience. Fortunately there

were steady currents of well oxygenated water, so breathing

was no problem.

"About ten miles to go," Pacifa said. "Let's hold it until

morning. That spot is about twenty five miles south of the

coast of Cuba, and that's too close. We may need our

strength."

Don agreed. The closer they got, the less he liked it.

Geographically and politically, this was a dangerous region.

And what was it they were supposed to find? All would

soon be known, but he feared that it might better remain

unknown. Certainly it wasn't any archaeological structure,

this deep.

Melanie smiled at him as they settled for a meal. "I'm

worried too,'' she murmured.

"Melanie—" he started, drawing her hand in toward

him.

She shook her head. "Not yet, Don. We must tackle our

mission. That's what we're here for."

After a few hours rest, they resumed the quest. Now they

were exceedingly careful, watching for anything at all. But

there was nothing except the rocky, slanting, evil bottom of

the trench.

"Half a mile," Pacifa whispered. She was nervous too,

though she contained it well.

Suddenly they were struck by a current of warmth. They

stared at one another. "Am I going batty, or are you?"

Pacifa inquired.

Don squinted at his temperature gauge. "Eighty de-

grees!" he exclaimed. "Our converters can't account for

that! Where does it come from?"

"Only two reasonable guesses. A hot spring, or a nuclear

reactor."

"A nuclear reactor!" Melanie exclaimed, horrified.

Don choked. ' 'H-how do you—I mean, would they send

us out like this to investigate a h-hot spring?"

That needed no answer. "This close to Cuba," Pacifa

murmured. "A nuclear plant. Thermal pollution—but no

one would notice, this far down. But what's it doing?"

"Nuclear subs," Don said, working it out. "Like the one

we saw. Their port of Cienfuegos is just a decoy. The real

stuff is here. Maybe hardened missile sites, too. They're not

making the same mistake they made before, putting bases in

sight of spyplane overflights."

"But things are peaceful now!" Melanie protested.

"There are a number of nuclear powers," Don reminded

her. "Any one of them could be doing this, secretly."

208                Piers Anthony

"Now it all makes sense," Pacifa agreed. "And I wish it

didn't."

"Y-yes." Don felt very tired. "B-but we'd b-better make

sure. Get p-pictures."

"Afraid so. We're the spy-plane, this time. A group of

folk no one would ever suspect of undertaking a mission

like this, in a fashion no one would ever dream. Riding

bicycles under the sea!" She shook her head. "We have to

nail it down with absolute proof."

"But what about radiation?" Melanie asked.

"I think I was trying not to think about that. There's sure

to be radioactive wastes. That may affect us. Maybe already

have.''

' 'N-not if we s-stay in the c-cold water?'' Don asked with

wan hope.

"Why should it be restricted to the warm? No need to

shield, down here. They could saturate the entire area."

"B-but their own p-personnel! They wouldn't—"

"Probably automated."

"Even the s-subs?"

She considered. "You're right. That doesn't make sense.

If they had completely automated submarines, they

wouldn't need a base. Not this close, anyway. It's men that

need all the attention, not machines or supplies. And if

they're manned subs, there's got to be radiation shielding.

Actually, they can't let too much escape, because those rays

pass through water even more readily than we do, and you

bet Uncle Sam has telltales to pick it up. Especially around

here! So probably it's all safe. Nothing but thermal pollu-

tion."

Don nodded. He wasn't really reassured, but realized that

if there was radiation, and if the phase didn't nullify it, the

three of them had no way to escape it except to run for home

immediately—and might already have received a lethal

MERCYCLE               209

dose. Unless the phase protected them from this, too. Better

to pretend that the threat did not exist, and accomplish the

mission regardless.

"Still, I can see why nonentities were selected for this

mission," Melanie said. "We're expendable."

"We don't know that there's r-radiation," Don reminded

her ineffectively.

"What's it going to do to me anyway—make my hair fall

out?"

Neither Don nor Pacifa saw fit to respond to that.

They turned their bikes and pedaled upstream, grimly

tracing the moving water to its source. Their mission no

longer seemed as intriguing as before.

They did not have far to go. The water issued from a vent

in the rock.

They stared at it. "I wish Gaspar were here," Pacifa said.

"I just can't tell whether that's natural or manmade."

"Natural," Don said.

"Oh, that's right! You're an archaeologist. You should

have had practice. Perhaps they wanted you for that reason:

your specialty didn't matter, just your general background.

But suppose someone went all-out to make it seem natural.

Could you still call it?"

"N-not outside of a laboratory," Don admitted. "You

think they're trying to h-hide the p-plant?"

"Maybe." But then she changed her tack. "Seems like

an awful lot of trouble, though. Think of the job of

construction! And to make a naturalistic outlet aperture like

this, when chances are no one will ever see it—do you

suppose we're wrong?"

"No atomic plant?" Melanie asked, brightening.

"It could be an artesian well, couldn't it? A hot spring?"

"Then maybe there's weird life around it," Melanie said.

"Things that live only in permanent deep hot wells."

210                Piers Anthony

Don looked. There were encrustations on the rock, and

odd natural tubes clustering around the vent, but he had no

idea how to classify them, or whether they were alive or

dead.

"It didn't make sense the first time round," Pacifa said.

"But my female intuition says that there's something fishy

here. Suppose we just look around, and if we don't find

anything else, we'll bring in the geologist and the physicist

to tell us for sure about hot springs and nuclear outflows.

Obviously our full party is equipped for this mission; we

just happen to be the wrong part of it."

Don agreed, moderately relieved. Pacifa had a sharp

mind, and he preferred not to have to argue anything with

her unless it was directly in his area of competence. The

other two would certainly be equipped to settle the matter.

If only that sub hadn't spotted Eleph, forcing their decoy

ploy!

They rode on, and abruptly left the warm water. The

near-freezing cold of the normal deeps was a shock even

though it was more apparent than real, considering the

protective environment of phase and field. But soon they

were back in the warmth, in a current that spread across and

upward, gradually cooling but remaining much warmer than

the normal water.

Three quarters of a mile from the assigned coordinates,

on their way back toward their original destination, they saw

a fish. That was not in itself unusual; though fish were much

less common at this depth than at the surface, they remained

present. But this was a strange one.

"It has legs!" Pacifa cried, astonished.

They oriented their lights on it, but the strange fish moved

out of sight, stirring up a cloud of silt. "Downward pointing

fins, I think, to stilt over the bottom muck," Don said. "We

saw that on the abyssal flats."

MERCYCLE               211

' 'Uh-uh! Do you think I don't know the difference? I saw

real lizard legs."

"There it is again!" Melanie cried, catching the fish with

her beam.

"Look," Pacifa said. "You can see the articulation of the

bones as it walks. But it's a fish, with fishtail and fish gills.

Not an amphibian muck-wallower at the edge of land."

Don peered more closely at the elusive creature. He had

to agree.

"I'm no naturalist," Pacifa said. "But this is odd."

"Prehistoric," Don agreed, thinking of ancient life.

' 'Premammalian.''

"No doubt," she said dryly. "But what I mean, Don, is

how can a normal cold water fish survive within hot water,

legs or no?'"

"And fresh water!" Melanie cried. "It can't be salt,

coming from the ground!"

"It could, if it's from a nuclear plant," Pacifa said.

"Regular ocean water, run through sluices for cooling the

equipment."

"Wouldn't the heat evaporate it?" Don asked. "The salt

would solidify and gum the works." But he wasn't sure;

they probably had ways to handle that sort of thing. Maybe

a series of cooling stages, with special sealed-in fluids for

the really hot parts. It was probably elementary, for a

nuclear power specialist.

Pacifa wasn't sure of her thesis either. "Fish living in this

water would not have evolved here, if it's artificial. They

couldn't just move from cold to hot. Not in just a few

months or years. Or from salt to fresh. These barriers are

very strong to sea life, I understand."

"Caspar will know," Melanie said.

"You think this fish means the springs are natural?" Don

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MERCYCLE

213

asked, hardly daring to hope. "But maybe they stocked the

region with laboratory breeds. To fool us."

"Decoy fish," Melanie suggested.

"If this is f-fresh," Don said, arguing a case he hoped

would be refuted, "why doesn't it look different? Without

the salt—"

"Salt in solution is transparent, isn't it?" Pacifa asked.

"You can't see far in any kind of water, because of the

refraction."

Don lacked the information to refute her, though he

remained doubtful. "If this is what we're supposed to

investigate, why isn't one of our number a biologist? Or

chemist?"

"I think someone spotted the thermal flow," she said.

"They must have ways to chart such things. Vaguely, at

least. Maybe their echosoundings are affected by the tem-

perature of the water. So they had to send in a team to

verify—''

"But that doesn't explain me," Melanie said. "I know

less than anyone."

"Cover," Pacifa said. "Same as me. They could have

trained Gaspar or Eleph how to repair a bike or pitch a tent,

after all. But by adding us and extending the route to take in

that city of yours—who would suspect the real mission?"

"It's ironic that the least qualified members of our group

were the ones to come here," Melanie said.

"Just Eleph's bad luck to be spotted by that sub. But

don't forget the two of them will see it; we're just doing the

preliminary scouting, and finding a route Eleph can navi-

gate, while they decoy the pursuit, if there is any. But we

still aren't quite at the coordinates. Maybe it's something

completely different."

Don shrugged. Melanie spread her hands. They went on.

They were not, after all, quite at the base of the trench. A

new canyon developed, a mere fifty feet deep where they

intersected it but possessed of a strong current that seemed

to be seeking deeper recesses. They were so close to the

specified location that they could not avoid this gap; their

objective well might lie within it.

Another descent placed them on the rough but ridable

floor, with an uncomfortably stiff wind-current at their

backs. As they progressed, the walls rose higher and drew

nearer at either side. The narrow valley curved and recurved

like a monster snake, and the breeze accelerated. Don and

Melanie no longer pedaled; they coasted, blown -along,

hands nervously near the brake levers.

They rounded another turn. Here the canyon narrowed

into a crevice only a few feet across: treacherous terrain for

swift-moving bicycles. But Don abruptly forgot that con-

cern.

Melanie made a sound halfway between awe and disbe-

lief.

Straddling the crevice was an ancient ship. Intact.

CHAPTER 11

SHIP

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Doubtful. Mischance struck, and the success of the

mission is now in peril.

Details.

A submarine associated with the final challenge hap-

pened to come upon the party, and one member of the party

was not in a position to conceal himself. So he acted as

decoy, leading it away from the others. This diversion was

successful, but in the process he fell and broke his arm, and

was unable to continue immediately. As a result the party

split into two, and one section proceeded to the next

challenge. But that fraction of the party may not be

sufficiently competent to handle the challenge appropri-

ately.

There is danger?

Not physical. But with the full group not present, the

challenge may have a divisive instead of a unifying effect.

Therein is the peril to the mission.

But the mission is not yet lost?

Not yet lost. Indeed, it is possible that melding has pro-

215

216

Piers Anthony

ceeded far enough so that this hurdle will be overcome. But

the issue is in doubt.

Even a failure can have its benefit. We may team from it

a better way to approach the next world.

But a success could offer more of that benefit, as well as

salvaging this world.

True. Handle it as you must. Proxy.

They stared at the ship. Not only was it intact, it seemed

to be in perfect condition. And it was ancient.

"But the teredo—" Don protested, his belief unwilling to

take hold lest it be dashed. "The destructive worm. There

can 'tbe—"

"But this is fresh water, isn't it?" Melanie asked. "So

the clam can't live here ..."

"That must be it," Pacifa agreed. "Since we all see it,

this can't be a mirage or hallucination, so it must be a

genuine wreck. But what a strange one! I never saw a ship

like that before."

While they spoke, the larger import was filtering into

Don's consciousness. This was no Spanish galleon. This

was a beaked craft, curiously high in the prow, about fifteen

feet across, with a single mast broken off about ten feet up.

That was about all he could make out, for they were

approaching it endwise. Even so, his pulses were racing. It

might have been Roman, but wasn't; Greek, but wasn't;

Phoenician ... no. Certainly not Egyptian. By elimina-

tion, it had to be—Minoan.

Minoan. A ship of the isle of Crete, at the time of its

greatness. Right in Don's specialty. He could not imagine a

brighter dream of discovery.

"Right at the coordinates," Melanie said. "This is our

mission. What a relief!"

"No accident," Pacifa said. "Our party has an Old

MERCYCLE               217

World archaeologist. And this is Old World, isn't it, Don?"

"Yes," he answered absently as they braked.

"But what's it doing here'1." Melanie asked.

They came to a stop almost under the hulk, where its base

formed a crude triangle with the canyon, leaving five or six

feet for the water to pass below.

"A storm-blown stray—what else?" Pacifa said. "What

matters is that it's here—and so are we. No nuclear plot, no

radiation. All we have to do is help Don study it."

Don hardly heard them. He was in a private rapture,

gazing at the ship. A virtually complete, preserved ship of

one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world. This

could be anything up to four thousand years old: a phenom-

enal bonanza for archaeology. A set-group of functioning

Minoan equipment. If the teredo hadn't been able to rifle it,

who else could have?

"So now we know what they spotted," Pacifa said. "An

old Roman ship."

"Minoan," Don said. "Notice, it is carvel, not clinker

built, and the configuration of the—''

"And the fresh water preserved it. How old would you

say it is, Don?"

"Between 3,500 and 4,000 years, perhaps even more. We

should be able to date it more precisely once we really

check it over. And later, with laboratory verification of the

wood—" He was talking as if the matter were routine, when

actually his mind was partially numb. This was the find of

the century!

"How can you check it?" Pacifa asked.

"Why, climb aboard and—uh-oh!" He had forgotten the

phase again. He couldn't touch this exquisite ship!

Melanie rode slowly to it and lifted her hand, evidently

finding it difficult to believe that so remarkable an object

218

Piers Anthony

could be a ghost. She was just able to reach the keel. She

froze in place, the current blowing out her skirt. "Don!"

"Might as well ride through it, if we can get up there,"

Don said, disappointed.' 'Maybe we can see inside the hold.

It's certainly not a total loss."

"It certainly isn't," Melanie said. "Don, come here."

This time he picked up on her tone. He pedaled over. The

ship loomed above, seeming absolutely solid. He could not

resist reaching up to put his hand through its hull, as she

had.

His hand banged.

He stared at his finger, then up at the ship. Unbelievingly

he extended one digit to touch the wood. It met a hard

surface. "It's here'." he exclaimed.

"And it shouldn't be," Pacifa said, coming to test it

herself. "Because, according to Caspar, this phase world

was denuded at least six thousand years ago, and this ship

isn't that old. According to you. And you should know your

business. But here it is."

"But the sunken city wasn't—isn't—here!" Don pro-

tested. "How can—?"

' 'Makes you suspect something is wrong with our the-

ory," she said.

"Terribly wrong!" Don's head was spinning again.

"Unless this ship is older. Surely ships preceded the city, or

it could not have been built. Unless the Minoan culture

originated here. But then the ruins would be solid for us

too." Nothing seemed to make sense.

"At any rate," she said, "it does suggest that this warm

fresh water is natural. A nuclear plant would date from no

more than a generation past, not several thousand years.

Unless someone planted this ship to make us think—?"

"In both phases?" Don demanded. "If they could do

MERCYCLE               219

that, they wouldn't be mucking about in the deep trench!

They'd have conquered us long ago."

"Who says they want to conquer us?" Melanie asked.

"We don't know anything about them."

"True, we don't," Pacifa said. "We'll have to accept the

phase aspect as definitive. Which puts it right back in the

archaeological pot. Obviously you're here to check it out. If

it is genuine, it's highly significant archaeologically. If it

isn't, it's significant scientifically, and politically. And I'll

be someone who wants very much to know."

"Well, let's get on with it!" Don cried, his excitement

growing as his shock abated. The ship might have been here

for thousands of years, but it seemed as if it would vanish in

a minute if he didn't get busy.

The tight hull curved up to the deck, about twenty feet

above the ground, overhanging the three of them. Pacifa

assessed the situation in a fashion only an objective non-

archaeologist could. She noted the manner the ship was

supported by the impinging crevice walls, checking the

contacts with her hands.

"It's secure," she reported. "The this-world and that-

world ships are identical. Except that the one in our phase

sits a little lower, and its sides are stove in a bit."

"There's no water to support it," Don said. "We're just

lucky it was so well jammed in that not even the removal of

the water in the phase world could drop it far. I'm surprised

it didn't collapse entirely, in those thousands of years."

"That is strange," she said. "Though I suppose with no

spoilage—even so, steady pressure should have warped the

wood." She paused. "Wood? Don, do you realize that this

phase ship isn 't wood?''

"Isn't wood?" Don asked absently, still staring upward

with awe as the current tugged at his body.

MERCYCLE               221

220                Piers Anthony

"Feels like stone. The same stuff we've been riding

over."

Don remembered the touch. This had bothered him

before, about the landscape. But wood? "That makes no

sense at all! This is a wooden ship; it wouldn't have floated

if it was stone."

"It has to make sense," she said. "Everything does. We

just haven't unriddled it yet. But it does grow intriguing. I'd

like to know too why we don't see anything in the phase

world, though we're ninety-nine-point-nine percent in it."

"I think that's because it has less in it," Melanie said.

"Its rocks are all bare or absent, while Earth's are covered

with silt and life. So we see that outermost layer. We might

see the things of the other phase if they didn't exist also in

the regular world."

"Feel that hull," Pacifa said. "Isn't that a good inch

lower than it looks? The phase hull extends beyond the real

hull."

Don felt. "I—I can see it now. I—it must have been

psy—psycho—mental blindness. Not believing—"

"I know what you mean," Melanie said. "We're so used

to seeing Earthly things that something completely outside

that framework disappears, even if it's in plain sight.

Subjective. It's powerful." She tapped her wig. "But I'm

going to start looking at phase objects from now on, even if

it gives me a headache."

Meanwhile, Pacifa wheeled her bike a short distance

upcurrent, propped it solidly, and hitched a rope to its frame.

Then she swung a length up over the projecting bow and

pulled it taut. "I'll haul you up as much as I can, and

Melanie can help."

Don was so eager to board the ship that the problem of

hurdling the hull seemed academic. He tied the other end of

the rope to his own bicycle, balancing the weight as well as

he could.

Pacifa hauled on the rope, and so did Melanie. There was

no pulley, so this was inefficient, but the rope did slide, and

he went up.

"Heave!" Pacifa gasped, and the two heaved together,

drawing him up another notch. It was hard work, even with

the three of them cooperating, but there was only about

fifteen feet of actual rising to do, and he was able to put his

feet against the side of the ship and walk on it, to an extent,

as if rappelling. Or at least to brace his feet near the top,

while the bicycle banged him. He nudged the prow and

caught hold before his strength gave out. Now he could have

used Caspar's muscle! The bike dangled on the rope,

jerking up as his weight came off.

Don held his breath and swung his feet up. He scrambled

over the edge and landed on the deck. He stretched back far

enough to catch the bicycle, bringing it and its atmosphere

back to his lungs. He had had much recent practice in

similar maneuvers, descending into the Cayman trench. But

going up was three times as hard as going down.

The deck was firm, though his feet stood about two

inches below the visible level. The settling of the phase

ship, obviously. Disconcerting, but a useful reminder that

what he saw was not necessarily what he felt. The planks

were tight. The support strong. This was a well made ship,

in both worlds.

He turned and looked down. He waved at the two women

who were looking up. "I'm fine," he said. "But I'll be

going into the interior of the ship, so you might as well take

a rest. I'll report every so often, if you're interested."

"I want to explore some," Melanie said. "I'll go on

down the cleft a way and see where it leads, and how far the

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MERCYCLE

223

fresh water extends. I can't get lost, here. Pacifa can stay in

touch with you."

"But to go alone—"

'T ve got to leam to do it sometime,'' she said. She rolled

her bicycle under the ship and moved on beyond.

He realized that she was disciplining herself to eliminate

her own weaknesses. This was as good a place and time as

any, since she had nothing to do. If it built up her

confidence, good.

"Get to work," Pacifa told him. "I'll pitch a tent."

Don tried to absorb it all at once, greedy for information.

The timbers of the hull were mortised together with preci-

sion, and the whole was extremely well insulated with what

appeared to be tar. No doubt it had been on the outside too,

but the current had washed it away. The Romans, later, had

even impregnated their ships with lead, for protection

against such things as the teredo; but this ship predated such

sophistication. There were portholes along the sides for

oars—ten or twelve pairs. Later the Cretans were to

distinguish between war galleys and merchant ships, with

the former carrying oars and the latter only sails. This

particular ship was evidently a compromise between the two

developing types, lacking the cargo space of the fat wind-

driven vessels, but also lacking the sleek power of the

warships. Not that the Minoans ever had been much for war;

peace was their normal course.

The hatch to the interior had what seemed to be a

watertight covering, so that storm waves could not swamp

this ship unless a hole had been bashed in. But the

hatchcover had been removed; it lay to the side, and his

hand passed through it. Near the stem stood several cages,

built into the deck. Those would have been for pigeons,

those invaluable aids to ancient navigation.

Don took a deep breath. This was Minoan, all right!

There were markings on the base of the mast and on the

inside of the bulwarks: script "Linear A," the writing of the

Cretan heyday. These were mainly cautions about the care

of the equipment, as nearly as he could tell without more

careful analysis. Probably marked by the manufacturers and

of course ignored by the illiterate crewmen.

The ship was about seventy five feet long, and fifteen

wide across the mid-deck: in the middle range for seagoing

craft of the period. And it was seagoing, despite the oars; in

all its appointments and arrangements it spoke of the long

haul.

"What do you see?" Pacifa called from the ground.

Don was jolted out of his preoccupation. He flashed his

light around again, organizing his thoughts for a coherent

reply—and saw a mermaid.

She had just floated up out of the open hatch. Her hair

hung about her in a dark cloud, and her black eyes were

piercing in a pale face. She had two splendid breasts, a

narrow waist, and overlapping scales that gleamed irrides-

cently from naval to flukes. She carried a small, dim lantern

that highlighted her remarkable characteristics.

"S-splendid!" Don breathed idiotically.

"Say, are you all right?" Pacifa called.

The mermaid spun around at that, orienting on the sound

of the voice. But immediately she returned to Don, shielding

her eyes against his bright beam.

She was real! On top of all the other incredible develop-

ments, this fish-girl was alive!

"Don, answer me!" Pacifa called more urgently.

But he couldn't answer. That dazzling female torso, so

abruptly phased into piscine anatomy. That fantasy amal-

gam of woman and fish. If the mermaid were genuine, what

was she doing here, four miles down, far below normal light

and warmth? It was nonsensical.

224                Piers Anthony

Which meant that he was having a vision. Too much or

too little oxygen must have saturated his field, affecting his

brain. He wasn't sure which way led to hallucination.

"Knock once if you can hear me," Pacifa called.

Numbly, Don knocked his heel against the deck.

The mermaid turned, lithe and sleek as any living fish,

and swam rapidly away from him. Her tail worked power-

fully, so that she used her hands only for course corrections.

Her luxuriant hair streamed behind her as she disappeared

over the rail.

Now Don was able to speak. "Splendid!" he repeated.

After a moment Pacifa spoke again, hardly loud enough.

"Don—did you see that?"

"I—I—yes!"

"I declare, I thought for a moment it was my idiotic

daughter, reincarnated as a sylph. Until that tail—"

"I—I thought it was—brain damage," Don admitted,

walking his bike across the deck to peer down at her. He

didn't know whether to be relieved for the state of his brain,

or apprehensive for the state of reality. A live mermaid!

"You realize, of course, that this is ridiculous," Pacifa

said matter-of-factly. "The real mermaids were dugongs—

and you'd never find any of those down here! They're air

breathers."

"B-but she didn't have g-gills," Don pointed out.

"Yes, of course. She's mammalian. You must have

noticed."

Don had noticed.

"Here's my speculation," Pacifa said. "See what you

make of it. A bathyscaphe was photographing this region of

the trench, looking for geological features of stray foreign

fusion plants, and it caught one shot of this preserved

sunken ship with a mermaid on deck. Later the analysts

went over the material and called their experts, and the

MERCYCLE               225

archaeologist said 'That's a 1723 B.C. Minoan craft of the

Zilch II class from the shipworks of King Tut-Tut!' and

the artist said 'That's a statue of a mermaid by the hand of

Artisan Smut-smut!' and the archaeologist said 'Impossible,

you dolt, the Minoans didn't make any statues of mermaids

that year!" and the artist said 'Oh, yeah? Then it must be a

real mermaid, stupid!' and the psychiatrist said 'Tut, smut,

calm down, boys, what you need is another picture.' But the

next time the bathyscaphe stopped at that station, the

mermaid was gone. And the artist said 'See, it's all your

fault! You didn't believe in her!' and the archaeologist

slugged him."

"Archaeologists don't slug people!" Don protested,

laughing.

"So they packed up a bicycle party with a nonslugging

Minoan scholar on board, but they didn't want to prejudice

the case by mentioning the mermaid ..."

Don had to smile. "Must be. We had no idea what to

expect! But what do we do now?"

"Maybe it's time to break radio silence."

"Yes. We've found what we were sent for, obviously."

"Then again, we don't know that either ship or mermaid

are genuine. Maybe we should make quite sure before we

say much. If we make a wrong report—"

"Somebody might slug us! I'd like nothing better than to

stay here and study this ship in detail," Don said fervently.

"But we have to rendezvous with the others, or contact

them by radio, so they won't—"

"Yes," she said thoughtfully. "But if we'd reported as

we went along, we'd have had them depth-bombing the

trench for that atomic plant. There are still enough incon-

gruities so that we know we have only part of the story.

We've kept our noses clean so far by being cautious; let's

hang on a little longer."

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MERCYCLE

227

"I agree. But still—"

"Look, Don. You're the expert, here. I could prowl

around this ship for the rest of the year and never find out

anything worth knowing. So I'm expendable, as far as this

part goes. I could go back—"

"Alone?"

"Don't look so horrified! I'm no tender violet. I can

rejoin the others faster by myself than with company."

Surely that was the truth. Don thought ruefully. "But

Melanie—"

Pacifa nodded. "It would be difficult at best to get her up

there with you, though you will be able to let yourself down

by the rope when you're through. I'd better take her back

with me. You should be safe here, and you won't be going

anywhere soon."

"That's for sure! I could stay here a year and never notice

the time. The things I can learn here—"

"And maybe it's best if she doesn't see that mermaid,

right now. All that hair, you know."

Don hadn't thought of that. "It could be awkward, yes.

That mermaid is not of our phase; still—"

"All right, we must act with dispatch. Let's compromise:

you can turn on your radio and keep company with Melanie

that way, while she and I travel back. We'll have quite a

climb to make, even with the ropes in place. Just don't give

away any details on this situation. There's no danger of

Glowcloud zeroing in on you here—not in this hot fresh-

water. But anything you broadcast just might be intercepted

by parties unknown. Not worth the risk of giving away

anything of substance. Meanwhile I'll tell Melanie not to

mention me, so no one knows where we are, and when we

get back we'll acquaint the other two with what we know so

far. If Gaspar or Eleph tunes in, you just pretend I'm here

with you."

"But-

' 'Because we're really not sure that that sub can't pick up

our radios. It may know we're here, but it doesn't know

what we're doing or where we're going. Best to play it

safe."

Don mulled this over. He did not like the deception

entailed, but there seemed to be considerable merit in her

caution. There was indeed so much they didn't know!

Meanwhile, he could study the ship with complete freedom

and without distraction, and Melanie on the radio would be

a comfortable hedge against the specters of isolation. It

would only be for a while, after all, until the entire group

returned here, or he returned to the base camp to rejoin

them.

Still, he argued. "Yet with the phase—there's been no

evidence that there's any other party on our radio circuit."

"Do you think we're the only ones ever to go through the

tunnel? They could easily have a man sitting just this side,

monitoring everything we say. They'd be fools not to."

"Oh." Ever the practical mind! "But what if the mer-

maid comes back?"

"For God's sake, don't blab on the radio about that!

Caspar would think you're crazy, and Melanie would be

insanely jealous."

"Melanie jealous of a mermaid?"

"Imagine Melanie in the husky arms of a handsome

triton."

"Triton?"

"Merman. Man with a fish tail. Picture him kissing her

and running his slippery hands over her torso—"

"The bastard!"

"See? And you're not in love with her."

"W-what?"

"You wanted to know about jealousy, didn't you?"

228

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

229

"N-not that much!"

' 'Well, if that mermaid comes back, study her too. We have

to ascertain the truth, and that's part of it. Just don't talk about

it on the air, because another misunderstanding—"

"That sub might fire torpedoes!"

"Or something. All through your nice Minoan artifact.

Want to gamble that men like Eleph aren't running this

show?"

Men like Eleph. How cunningly she planted her barbs.

This one was misdirected, for Eleph was a fine man under

his crust. But no, Don didn't want to gamble on the

militaristic mind, and there was surely one in that mystery

submarine. Silence was a mandatory virtue, here.

It was done with dispatch. Soon Pacifa and Melanie were

on their way back, leaving Don at the ship. They had never

pitched their tent; the appearance of the mermaid had given

them reason to change plans immediately.

Don explored the ship plank by plank. This was not as

easy as he had expected. He could not leave his bicycle; he

needed its field to breathe, and its light to see. There was not

enough oxygen in the water inside the ship for his purpose.

He had to haul himself topside regularly, lest he be

asphyxiated. He could not conserve oxygen by sitting still,

because the bike had to be in motion for the generator lamp

to function more than a few seconds. In addition, he took a

surprise tumble over a heavy beam that crossed the hold. It

was invisible until he concentrated; it existed only in the

phase world. He decided that it had been placed deliber-

ately, to brace the ship against the outside pressure of the

canyon walls, and it felt like metal. Which meant that

someone had been here, in phase, before him—a lot less

than four thousand years ago. Highly significant—but that

was one thing he was not going to discuss on the radio.

There were no amphorae, those large two-handled point-

bottomed jars used for the transport of grains and liquids in

ancient times. Ordinary folk wondered why big jars should

be pointed at their bases, so they could not stand up; the

reason was that those points were wedged into pegboards,

so that they were firmly planted and could not be dislodged

by the heaving of the ship. Only a few pottery sherds

remained, the kind that were so valuable archaeologically

for the identification of cultures—when there was no chance

to save the complete urns.

But far in the stem, in a nook in the galley section, stood

a greater treasure: two intact pithoi, the monstrous ornate

wide-mouthed storage jars typical of the Minoan society.

Each had eight small handles, hardly large enough for a

fingerhold, arranged around the top and near the base. No

doubt these eyelets had held rope, so that the jars could be

securely anchored as the ship heaved. But the rope itself had

long since dissolved away.

Don peered inside, but could not bring his headlamp to

bear conveniently. His hand passed through the jar without

effect. They existed only in the other world: another

frustrating dichotomy.

What had happened to the cargo? A ship this size might

have had a capacity of several hundred tons, and carried a

thousand amphorae. All the sherds remaining could not

account for more than a dozen. They would not have been

washed out when the ship sank, for the hull remained tight.

In fact, the ship should not have sunk. Yet here it was, with

a phase-world beam supporting it.

Was it a plant, after all? A manufactured artifact, placed

within the past few years or months? All his experience with

Minoan artifacts told him no, that the ship was genuine—

but these logical incongruities were weighing heavily.

230                Piers Anthony

"You've been quiet too long," Melanie said on the radio.

"Don, what are you up to?"

"I'm short of oxygen, I think," he said. This was true

enough. As he spoke, he remembered what Pacifa had said

of Melanie, indirectly: And you're not in love with her. That

spoke volumes! But it wasn't necessarily true.

"Well, get yourself into a better current," she said, her

concern coming through. Yes, she was perhaps in love with

him, but that did not mean that he did not return the feeling.

Why had Pacifa suggested otherwise?

He hauled himself up to the main deck again, short of

breath. He was glad he had some physical justification for

his discomfort, because with every discovery he made, his

intellectual certainties took another battering. It was becom-

ing difficult not to blab something on the radio that would

give away more than was wise.

On the deck, walking the bike for oxygen and light, Don

blinked. The mermaid was back.

CHAPTER 12

«

SPLENDID

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Complicated. Dissension is occurring, and I fear that this

is going to be difficult. The mission is in peril. I cannot

make a proper report at this time.

Still dizzy from his interior explorations and the effort of

getting himself and the bicycle clear of the hatch, Don

nevertheless had the presence of mind to snap off the radio.

"Splendid!" he exclaimed. There really seemed to be no

better name for her, considering her attributes. That cloud of

hair surrounding her head in the water . . .

She retreated with a graceful flexing of torso and tail. Her

natural swimming motions only accented the flair of her

wide hips. Don realized that she was afraid of him. That

gave him confidence. He was as strange to her as she was to

him!

The remaining mysteries of the Minoan ship could wait

for a bit. Right now there was the living mystery of the

mermaid.

He studied her carefully. She was beautiful, from hair to

231

232

Piers Anthony

waist; he could imagine no more perfect attributes in the

female of the species. Her breasts in particular stood out,

being full-bodied and supported by the water so that there

was absolutely no sag. "Splendid," he said once more.

Actually, her nether portion was beautiful too. The

smooth green scales began as her narrow waist expanded

into what would have been a remarkable derriere of a

normal woman. From there her body tapered into a strong,

sleek tail, with only a suggestion of thighs near the origin.

Why had she returned, if she feared him? Where had she

come from, really? She was mammalian, not piscene; there

were no gill slits in her neck, and he could see her handsome

chest expanding and contracting as she breathed.

Yes, breathed. Through her nose and mouth.

Was she phased?

No, for she swam. She had to be breathing water.

Okay, he thought. Accept her as she is. And find out

WHAT she is.

"Come here. Splendid," he said. "Let's talk."

She heard him. But she seemed not to understand. She

hovered off the edge of the deck, beyond his reach, and

surveyed him nervously. At least she did not swim away,

this time.

"Are you as curious about me as I am about you?" he

asked her, pleased to note that he had no stutter. "Is that

why you're h-here?" Oops.

She surveyed him a moment longer, then upended attrac-

tively and swam swiftly to the ground.

"Don't go away!" he cried. "I won't hurt you. I only

want to know—"

But in a moment she was back, carrying something flat.

It was a slate, like those once used for school lessons.

ENGLISH? she wrote.

"American!" he exclaimed. "You do understand!"

MERCYCLE               233

Then, again, he wondered whether his mind had been

affected. Fresh water under the sea; a preserved Minoan

ship; a mermaid—who comprehended his own language.

The stuff of dreams!

WHY DO YOU COME? she wrote.

And to her, he was the stuff of dreams! "I'm an

archaeologist," he said.

Her eyes widened, I, TOO, she wrote.

A mermaid archaeologist? How far could credulity be

stretched?

More and more, this reeked of a setup. Someone had been

expecting him. Yet the problems of technique and motive

remained. Who could do such a thing—and who would

bother?

Which suggested again that the principle error lay within

his own brain.

National security be damned, if that was what it was! If

he was inventing all this, talking about his delusion could

not hurt anyone but himself. If it wasn't all in his mind, the

others needed to know. He needed to discuss it with

someone.

He turned on the radio. "Melanie?"

There was a pause, and he thought she wasn't going to

answer, but then she did. "Don, I wish you wouldn't just cut

off in the middle—I mean, I'm afraid that you're hurt or—"

"Melanie, something came up."

Abruptly she expressed concern. "Are you all right? Say

you're all right, Don!"

"Yes. I hope so- I—" But what could he say now?

RADIO, Splendid wrote. WHO?

"That's Melanie," Don explained. "I—"

"What?" Melanie asked.

"I—I'm all confused." Lame apology for what Melanie

could hardly understand. But with the mermaid right here,

234                Piers Anthony

what was he to do? "I'm not sure I'm quite sane at the

moment. Too little oxygen—though I have enough now."

"I knew I shouldn't have left you alone! But you can tide

through, Don. As soon as—" Then she evidently realized

that she was breaking the rule herself, because she was

supposed to pretend that Pacifa was with him.

Her voice was reassuring, because it was so familiar. But

Splendid remained before him, observing and listening. It

was evident that she understood the nature of the radio, and

heard it. Don's headlamp had faded, so he saw her by her

own lantern. Of the equipment that required power, the light

went first, then the radio, and finally the battery-operated

oxygenation field. He lifted the front of the bicycle and spun

the wheel with his hand, to keep the radio going.

"Listen, Melanie," he said urgently. "I—when you're

alone, do you ever see things? That don't make sense?"

"You're hallucinating? Oh, Don—"

WIFE? Splendid inquired on her slate.

"No, I'm single!" Don said. Then, to the radio: "I mean,

Melanie, I'm not alone, exactly, and—" But how could he

explain, without saying too much? He had made a bad

tactical mistake, calling Melanie in the presence of the

mermaid. "I'm—I'm just not sure I—1 think the sea is—"

"You're seeing things, you mean? And you're not sure

whether they're real?"

Splendid things—and they looked completely real.

' 'Well, I—that is—Melanie, suppose I met another archae-

ologist?"

"In the sea?"

"Yes. Right here. In the trench."

"Another archaeologist—under the sea?" She was hav-

ing understandable trouble with this.

"I'm trying not to say anything, until we—we muddle

this through. Let's make it hypothetical. If I met—"

MERCYCLE               235

"Would you be seeing things?" she finished. "Not

necessarily. There could be another party with the same

mission. That makes as much sense as a sub with an

eavesdropping radio. More bicycles starting from another

point."

"Not on a bicycle," he said, eyeing Splendid's tail. The

mermaid, catching on to the problem, flipped a fluke.

' 'Well, I suppose they could walk. It would he slower, but

the phase would still—"

"Not phased." Fortunately?

"That submarine!" she exclaimed. "You mean it's ours?

With archaeologists aboard? And they can't get out to check

what's at the coordinates, while you can, so—"

"Not exactly. The sub's not here."

Melanie paused. "What are you trying to tell me, Don?"

"I'm trying not to tell you! It's just that I—"

"Oh, forget all the secrecy! I'm not going to blab. Tell

me."

"Well, all right. I'm where you left me, only there's a

mermaid here."

"A what?"

"A mermaid. A woman with the tail of a fish. She's

hovering about fifteen feet away, and she's an archaeolo-

gist."

"Don, are you serious?"

"Afraid so," he said dubiously.

"You didn't fall and hit your head or something?"

"That's why I'm talking to you. It seems so crazy I

hardly believe it myself, but here she is."

"Right there? Physically?"

"Completely." Splendid laughed silently, her breasts

heaving. "Except for the phase, of course."

"Can she talk?"

"No, I don't think so. At least she hasn't, so far."

MERCYCLE               237

Piers Anthony

236

"Then how do you know she's an archaeologist?"

"She wrote it. With slate and chalk, or the equivalent."

"In English?"

"Yes."

There was a short silence.' 'Don, I hate to disappoint you.

But I do think you're cracking up. Maybe you'd better talk

to—to Pacifa." She was trying, belatedly, to pretend that

Pacifa was with him.

"I did. She saw Splendid too."

"She what?"

"Saw Splendid. The mermaid, I mean. While you were

exploring."

"What do you call it?"

"I don't know her real name."

"Splendid?"

"Well, I—"

"What's so splendid about her?" Melanie demanded.

"She—" Don looked nervously around, hesitant to

mention breasts and knowing that hair would be disaster.

His eye caught that of the mermaid, who was smiling above

her splendors, her hair spreading out like a cape. That made

it worse. But it gave him the inspiration of desperation.

"Maybe you can talk to her!"

"Oh, now she talks!" Melanie said coolly.

"Through me, I mean. I'll read you what she writes."

"Don, this is—" Then she reconsidered. "All right. Ask

her how she breathes."

He looked at Splendid, but she was already writing.

Obviously she had grasped enough of the situation to

participate, and her fear had dissipated. How could anyone

be afraid of a man as bumbling as he was proving to be?

OUR LUNGS ARE ADAPTED TO ABSORB OXYGEN

FROM WATER.

Don read it off to Melanie.

She did not sound convinced. "Where did she leam

English?"

I STUDIED IT WHEN YOUNG.

"Don," Melanie said. "I can't keep ahead of your

subconscious invention. These answers prove nothing."

Splendid frowned. It seemed that she did not appreciate

being doubted.

"Melanie, she's really here! I'm not inventing this. I

hope. Ask her something I can't answer."

"What color is George Washington's white horse?" she

inquired sarcastically. "Look—did she study any other

languages? Where is she from, anyhow?"

FROM CHINA. STUDIED SPANISH, GERMAN.

From China! Now he realized that part of what he had

taken to be mer-features were actually the oriental cast,

especially the eyes. He remembered that the orientals had

adapted to the rough climate of their region with slightly

different patterns of the distribution of fat, and flatter faces.

These might also help in the rigors of the deep sea. They in

no way diminished Splendid's beauty.

"Well, now," Melanie said. "It happens I know some

German. Do you, Don?"

"No. Nothing except nein."

"And that's probably a number to you."

"No, I—"

Melanie fired off a paragraph in what sounded to Don's

untrained ear like German. He was amazed: he had had no

idea she knew any foreign language.

Splendid blushed. Splendidly. Then she looked angry.

"What did you say to her?" Don demanded.

Melanie sounded smug. "If I told you, you'd know. I

want her answer, not yours."

"She's blushing. I didn't know mermaids could blush."

238                Piers Anthony

"They're female, aren't they?" Melanie inquired with

satisfaction.

Now Splendid was writing furiously.

"I can't read her answer to you," Don said. "It's

German, I think."

"That's all right," Melanie said. "Just spell it out. I'll

copy down the letters and read it here. Then we'll know."

"Know what she says? Or that I'm not imagining—?"

"Yes."

Don sighed and began spelling out letters. "D-A-S

M-A-D-C-H-E-N ..." When he had spelled out the

slateful. Splendid erased the tablet and started over. The

transcription seemed interminable, because Don wasn't

familiar with the alphabet, which had some funny squiggles,

and had to read or describe each letter with extraordinary

care. For example, there were two dots over the A in

MADCHEN. The nipples of breasts? "... D-E-M A-B-

0-R-T. H-A-B-E-N S-I-E V-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-E-N?"

"You bitch!" Melanie exclaimed.

"What?" Don asked, startled.

"Not you, dope. Her. With the splendid bosom."

"You mean you b-believe in her now?"

For an answer, Melanie let out another torrent of German.

Her fury was manifest. This was an aspect of her Don had

not encountered before. But this time Splendid merely

turned her back, not deigning to respond. Don noticed that

she had buttocks shaped under her scales, and there was a

stronger suggestion of bifurcation, rear-view.

And he realized something else: the mermaid resembled

a Cretan court lady, with her terraced skirts (scales) and

generously open bodice. That was one reason she had been

so appealing to him at first glance. A Minoan ship, with a

Minoan lady? That sense of visiting the past . . .

"Well, what does she say?" Melanie demanded. There

MERCYCLE               239

was a sharpness in her voice that he had not heard before, in

all their long conversations. It did not become her.

"Nothing. She's just facing away. I think she's ignoring

you."

"Of all the nerve!" Melanie cried, and clicked off.

Now Splendid turned to face him. There was a new look

of confidence on her face. She had evidently had the best of

it, despite the initial setback. It no longer seemed so strange

to be talking to a mermaid on an ancient ship, in the depths

of the deepest trench in the Atlantic Ocean. "What were

you two sayingT'

WOMAN TALK, she wrote noncommittally. HOW DID

YOU COME HERE?

How much could he afford to tell her? He hardly knew

her! On the other hand, how could he leam about her, if he

didn't exchange information? She was a tough bargainer. "I

rode my bicycle. How about you?"

She looked at his bike, and her eyebrow lifted as she

noted the way the tires sank beneath the visible deck when

he rode it, picking up oxygen and recharging his headlamp.

Then she looked at his feet as he stopped, for they also sank.

Some of her confidence dissipated. She had to admit he

resembled a ghost in this respect.

WE ARE AN EXPERIMENTAL COLONY, ADAPTED

TO LIVE UNDER PRESSURE IN WATER. HOW DO

YOU SURVIVE THIS?

So she was willing to trade information. "I'm phased into

another framework," Don said, making sure his radio was

off. "I'm not subject to pressure, and the water's like air.

You say you're adapted. You mean you were bom on land?

With—with legs?"

YES. I STILL HAVE LEG BONES, FUSED AT THE

BASE ONLY. FOR FLEXIBILITY. She rotated her nether

portion, switching her tail. It was remarkably supple, and

240                Piers Anthony

the motion reminded him vaguely of a hula dance. It

certainly accentuated her anatomy provocatively. HOW

CAN I PERCEIVE YOU, IF YOU ARE NOT HERE?

"Well, I am here—in a way. I am of this world. But I'm

not very solid, as far as this world goes, right now. Here, I'll

show you." He walked his bicycle toward her.

Splendid backed off, then reconsidered and propelled

herself forward by means of little swimming motions that

accentuated her various attributes intriguingly. She put out

a hand to touch his.

The two hands passed through each other with that odd

temporary meshing of bones. Splendid's mouth opened, and

she catapulted herself backward with a grand flip of her tail.

"It's just the phase," Don said reassuringly. "I'm not a

ghost." Then he remembered to ask his question. "If you're

Chinese, why are you here? In the Western hemisphere?"

WE NEED TO MATCH THE PRESSURE OF JUPIT-

ER'S ATMOSPHERE. THIS IS ONE STAGE. BUT FIRST

WE MUST HAVE WARMTH AND FRESH WATER,

AND THERE IS NONE THIS DEEP NEAR CHINA. CAN

YOU SURVIVE ANYWHERE?

Jupiter's atmosphere! Were the Chinese planning a col-

ony there? Don had no idea whether the pressure of four

miles of water on Earth came anywhere near approximating

that of the atmosphere on monster Jupiter; it probably

depended on how deep in that atmosphere they went. It did

seem reasonable that what could be adapted to survive in the

one medium, could also be adapted to survive in the other.

A fish tail here; wings, there?

"Pretty much," he said, answering her question. "But it

has its limitations. I can't do anything much in the real

world, and I can't leave my bicycle. And I have to keep

moving around, to pick up oxygen, unless there's a good

current." Was this too much information? American rela-

MERCYCLE               241

dons with China varied through the years, and changed as

the administrations of either country changed. No, she

couldn't use the information against him, because she

couldn't touch him. He had told her nothing that wouldn't

be evident if she watched him for any length of time. ' 'And

are you studying this ship?"

It turned out that she was. She was part of a mer-colony

whose main object was mere survival at this depth. Pressure

per se was not the greatest hurdle to overcome, for anyone

could live at any depth provided there was a life support

system and no sudden or extreme pressure flux. But it was

a convenient starting place, and much had to be learned

about the long-term complications of such existence before

the sophisticated aspects of alternate-medium colonization

could be explored. Later there would be other adaptations,

to compensate for the cold, and the methane atmosphere,

and turbulence of liquid Jupiter. Meanwhile, the hot fresh

water enabled the human beings to survive naked without

osmotic dehydration—and also preserved remarkable arti-

facts, such as this ship. That was an unplanned bonanza! So

Splendid, an amateur archaeologist, had expected, before

being selected for this experimental mer-colony, to special-

ize in one of the pre-Columbian American Indian cultures

and to trace the connections between it and the prehistoric

Mongolian cultures from which the Amerinds derived. She

had given up her first dream to realize the second: man-

kind's exploration of a really new world. Now she was

making herself useful by returning to her first specialty,

recording the ship's anomalies to the best of her abilities.

She knew little of Minoan culture, to her regret, but did

recognize this as an Old World vessel of considerable

antiquity. She had cleaned up much of the interior and had

taken all but two of the unbroken pithoi jars to her village

for transshipment to China by submarine.

242

Piers Anthony

"But that's plundering!" Don protested. "The relic

should be preserved intact!"

WE DID NOT EXPECT ANY OTHER PARTY TO

HAVE ACCESS TO IT, she explained contritely. WE

DARE NOT REMOVE THE WOOD, FOR IT MIGHT

DISINTEGRATE ON LAND. BUT THE AMPHORAE

ARE GOING TO OUR BEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL MU-

SEUMS. THERE ALL THE PEOPLE WILL SEE AND

LEARN AND BENEFIT, INSTEAD OF ONLY THOSE

FEW WHO DWELL IN THE DEPTH OF THE SEA.

What could he say? The Chinese were perhaps the most

culturally aware people in the world; they would not be

hawking invaluable ancient relics on the streets. The deep

reaches of international waters were open to any party for

salvage—anyone who could manage to reach them. It

would be a criminal waste not to recover as much of the ship

and its contents as possible.

"I'm sorry," Don said after a bit. "You're right. Except

about the amphorae. They're pithoi—wide-mouthed, flat-

bottomed jars. But I don't think it's fair to remove every-

thing before I have a chance to study it. This entire ship

represents an artifact of my specialty, Minoan Crete."

Splendid drifted toward him excitedly. She opened her

mouth as if to speak, but no sound came. Obviously she had

once talked, and still tried to do it when she forgot herself.

Probably her vocal cords had been exchanged for some

liquid filtering device. But he needed no words to grasp

what was on her mind.

"Yes. That's why I'm here. I—"

But it wasn't that simple. Splendid tried to take his hand,

and failed. But this time she did not recoil. She beckoned to

him as she swam across the deck.

Perplexed, Don followed, walking his bicycle. She dived

down into the hold, but he balked at the access hole, fearing

MERCYCLE               243

that there was not yet enough oxygen. The water changed

slowly, here. But he did crank up his light and shine it down

inside so that he could watch her.

She passed through the cross-timber as if it did not exist,

which was true for her, then drew up to the two remaining

pithoi, and reached inside one. There was something there.

She lifted it and carried it back, breathing rapidly.

Don realized as she angled up through the hatch that she,

too, suffered from lack of oxygen. Her chest was heaving

strenuously. This was impressive for an irrelevant reason, as

he tried to remind himself.

As she recovered her breath in the fresh water topside,

she offered him the object she had taken from the jar. It

seemed to be a flake of stone, rectangular and flat.

"Sorry—the phase won't let me touch it," Don said

regretfully. He passed his hand through it by way of

illustration.

Disappointed, she held it up so that he could see the face

of it. It was a tablet of some sort: clay, not stone. At least it

had a ceramic coating. He cranked up his light again and

flashed the beam across the surface.

There was writing on it! Don recognized the typical

configuration of Minoan Linear A or B: the lines, boxes,

and slashes. It was an ancient manuscript!

He had thought that the discovery of the ship was the

ultimate in his career desire. Now he knew he had been too

conservative. A document relating to the ship and its

business, perhaps dated, putting things into context—it was

probably the A script, considering the age of the ship. Ideal!

Smiling, Splendid turned the tablet away.

"Wait!" Don cried. "I can read it!"

She wrote on her own tablet. BUT I CAN'T.

"You don't understand! I can read some of the Minoan

244

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

245

signs—but you have to hold it up, because I can't touch the

tablet myself. I need your cooperation!"

She nodded affirmatively, her hair flaring in the trace

currents the action made, but did not expose the face of the

tablet.

"What do you want?" he demanded, frustrated.

She wrote: IT MUST BE SHARED.

"You mean you want to know what it says? 1 certainly

don't object to that."

TRANSLATE ALOUD.

"But that's a long, tedious task! Nobody can decipher

such a document at a mere glance! When I said I could read

it, I meant—given time. A day, a week, perhaps more,

depending on the clarity and dialect. There'll probably be

many symbols I can't make out at all, so the narrative will

be fragmentary."

She nodded as she wrote. BOTH JARS ARE FILLED

WITH SIMILAR TABLETS—ALL DIFFERENT.

It was like being informed of victory in a million dollar

sweepstakes. A sizable cache of narrative Minoan Linear A!

His single glance had told him that this was no list of

accounts; he could recognize numbers instantly, and this

contained few. It was text!

But she had a stiff price. "That will take months," he

exclaimed with mixed concern, intrigue, and greed. It didn't

seem feasible to commit himself to such a long period of

shared labor, that would certainly be complicated by in-

volved explanations of nuances. He didn't know when

Pacifa and the others would return to cut it short.

On the other hand, this might be his only chance to really

study the tablets. That was an opportunity it was inconceiv-

able to squander. He did need her assistance, and it would

not be exactly boring, considering her body and exposure.

Too bad he couldn't touch her.

Touch her? What was he thinking of? What of Melanie,

with whom he was developing a significant relationship.

Why should he be distracted by a creature who was both out

of phase and of a different, if newly-created, species? It was

nonsensical.

Yet those breasts, that hair . . .

So he was a voyeur. As was any man who watched what

was paraded on television or motion pictures. Just so long as

he didn't confuse the vision with the reality. Meanwhile, he

had a vital job to do, that he might never be able to do at

another time.

"All right," he said at last. "I've got to see those tablets.

You handle the hardware; I'll translate. Aloud."

She clapped her hands noiselessly and dived down the

hatch with marvelous grace. Her tail now seemed to be a

natural part of a lovely creature.

Splendid had not exaggerated about the number of

tablets. It took some time to bring them all up, and she was

breathless and tired. She had been holding her breath while

working in the hold, to avoid the oxygen-depleted water

there, but that hardly added to her comfort. Don became

concerned, watching her game struggle. She was doing her

part, certainly.

How fortunate that the tablets had been in the last

remaining pithoi. No, not fortune, but design, for the huge

jars were normally used for liquids and grains, not ceramics.

Splendid must have found the tablets elsewhere in the ship,

and hidden them. Why? Surely not in the hope that a

phased-out American archaeologist would ride up on a

bicycle.

Now the tablets were all present, and minor reservations

were forgotten in the excitement of incipient discovery.

Already he could see that there were numerical designations

in the comers of each tablet, probably representing dates

246

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247

and order. That suggested a single coherent narrative

spanning the tablets as if they were pages of a book.

Nothing like this had been found on Crete itself, as far as he

knew.

Splendid put her hands over the nearest, warningly.

"Okay, okay!" Don said. "Aloud. I was just getting

organized. See those symbols in the comers? The simplest

ones are in the upper left, here. These are numbers. These

four little lines 1111 stand for the number four. The Minoans

didn't have separate signs for each, as we do, but they did

use the decimal system. This has to be a serious document,

and this is page four. The first thing to do is put them in

order."

Comprehension lighted her face, and he was reassured

that she really did have serious archaeological interest. She

soon located the little sun-circle ° that stood for number one,

then the stacked circles °o that were two, and the'_' that was

three. The first four pages were intact.

Their luck could not hold forever. Tablet number 5 was

missing, as was number 11, of an original total of twelve or

more. Even so, Don was gratified that the all-important

opening tablet was present, because he saw that it contained

some truly remarkable material: lines of symbols in differ-

ent scripts.

"Another Rosetta Stone!" he exclaimed. "Column One

is Linear A; Two looks like Ugaritic, and Three is Sumerian

cuneiform!"

DO YOU READ THEM ALL? Splendid inquired,

amazed.

Don laughed. "N-not really. But I have studied many

ancient forms of writing in the course of my attempts to

decipher Minoan, so I am familiar with a number of the

common symbols. See, here's a column of Egyptian hiero-

glyphs, too, but they aren't as important as the Linear A

here. See this insect-form? We can trace it right along ..."

Because the text was extensive, consistent, and straight-

forward, and because he was aided immeasurably by the

key-code of parallel languages, Don found the text much

easier to decipher then he had feared. There were still a

number of terms he didn't recognize, as the tabulation was

representative rather than comprehensive, but the context

made many of them clear, and his own knowledge of

Minoan culture offered hints for the remainder. This was a

narrative like none other known of this culture. He could not

vouch for place names, but was sure his general rendition

was reasonably accurate. Splendid turned out to be far more

help than hindrance, industriously running down word-

repetition and offering alert conjectures for unintelligible

symbols.

They had a story—and what a story it was!

CHAPTER 13

^

MINOS

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Remains difficult. Two members of the group have

developed a suspicion, and are trying to verify it. One is

holding me captive, and I am unable to tell of the mission

for fear it will only be misunderstood. I must wait for the

assembly of the remainder of the group, and hope I can then

persuade it. The final two challenges have become passe.

Then it will be better to abort the mission. We can recover

you—

No! There remains some hope. I will remain with it. I am

convinced this method can be effective. I must see it

through.

Your insistence may cost you your life.

And it may salvage this world!

It remains your prerogative. Signal us at need.

You who peruse this printed clay, I charge you by the

name of the Great Earth Mother, and by the Sacred Leaf

of the Tree of Life, and most particularly by our common

bond of scholarship: honor the foible of a kindred spirit.

249

250

Piers Anthony

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251

Grant to me the favor I ask herein, or relegate this

manuscript unread to that place from which you recov-

ered it, that one after you may honor it instead.

Don exchanged glances with Splendid as they shared this

opening injunction. "Can we be bound by that?"

She thought for a moment, then wrote: BY EARTH

MOTHER, NO. BY TREE OF LIFE, NO.

"But by 'our common bond of scholarship'? He really

covers everything!"

WHAT IS HIS SPECIFIC REQUEST?

Don glanced ahead at the partly blocked out text. "He

doesn't seem to say, here. Maybe he's saving it for the

end." He moved toward the final tablet, but Splendid swam

to block him. Their bodies passed through each other with

a complete meshing of skeletons: hip against hip, rib against

rib, skull against skull. His open eyes stared through the fog

of her brain. It was as close as he would ever be to a woman,

but he did not find the experience exhilarating.

Splendid emerged from his back with a startled expres-

sion, but quickly recovered and flashed around him to the

tablets. She covered the last with her tail, so that he could

not see the script.

"But you asked—" Don said, still assimilating impres-

sions from their momentary merger. Had he actually felt her

living heart beating?

She shook her head, recovering her slate, and explained:

HE WANTS US TO DECIDE FIRST.

"Yes, certainly. But we can't commit ourselves blindly,

whatever his conventions may have been. Maybe he wants

us to commit ritual suicide so we can't pass on the secret.

Considering how long he's been dead himself—"

NO. HE WANTS IT KNOWN. ONLY A SCHOLAR

COULD READ EVEN ENOUGH TO RETURN THE

TABLETS TO THE SEA.

"That's the point! An illiterate is not bound. He can do

anything he wants with the manuscript, but he'll never know

what it says. A scholar must either return it unread, or bind

himself to an unspecified commitment. Which may be to

forget that he ever read it."

AN UNSCRUPULOUS SCHOLAR WOULD IGNORE

THE STIPULATION. HE IS ADDRESSING THE PER-

SON OF INTEGRITY. WHY SHOULD HE COMMIT

ONLY THAT ONE TO SILENCE OR DEATH?

Don began to see it. "Only a really honest man

would—" He paused as she wrote emphatically on the slate.

PERSON.

Oh. She objected to usage which seemed to exclude her.

Melanie would have approved that sentiment! "Only a

really honest person would comprehend certain niceties.

Would understand the necessity of doing—whatever is

requested. And he'd have to read the full manuscript first, to

get the background. But maybe the thing is difficult, so he

has to be committed first, and not depend on his own first

reactions."

Splendid nodded agreement.

"I really don't care what the price is," Don said. "I must

find out what this manuscript says. Now more than ever."

I AGREE IF YOU DO.

Don sighed. "I agree to our Minoan's terms. I hope I

don't regret it."

I am Pi-ja-se-me, appraiser for Minos by vocation,

antiquarian by avocation. To me it has fallen to record the

termination of civilization.

Surely no parchment can survive the eons until man-

kind recovers the cultural level of the Thalassocracy,

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52                Piers Anthony

even were that document not to reside beneath the restless

turbulence of this phenomenal and distant ocean. There-

fore I have fashioned this stylus and this tablet of clay,

and I shall fire it well in the hearth of the ship's galley

until it has the permanence of fine pottery. A tedious task,

but I have nothing if not time, until the wine runs out.

I append here a glossary of signs, that my manuscript

may be intelligible for the eye of whatever national who

at length recovers it. I regret I can do no more, but I am

not expert in all the myriad written variants of the world,

even had I the space to render them here. Perhaps even

this token is wasted, for who but the gods can say what

shall arise from the depths of the unknowable future. Yet

must I essay it.

Our merchant fleet of five fine ships was bearing south

after engaging in profitable trading with the Megalithic

cities of the far west as we knew it. We exchanged pithoi

of fine Cretan olive oil for equal measure of their special

stone pigments. Our sophisticated gold ornaments for

their rare ores. The Megalithics seem less cultured than

we, but this is deceptive; their knowledge is confined

largely to their priesthood, and they are unexcelled

builders and astronomers. In fact, I suspect their culture

goes back farther than ours, for some of their most

impressive monuments are ancient by our standards, and

we still could learn from them were their priestly hierar-

chy less canny about the disposition of their arts. But I

diverge; it is the wine. Yet must I imbibe what offers, or

thirst interminably. This salty sea . . .

It was at [indecipherable place name—north coast of

Iberia?] that Admiral Su-ri-mo and I first had word. We

had been at sea five months, and I was eager to return to

villa and concubine. My villa: none quite like it on all

[Thera], though never was I a wealthy man. Situated high

on the side of the holy mountain, provided with fiercely

hot water by duct from the sacred spring: few in all our

empire possess rights to such overflow, but I, as royal

antiquarian/appraiser was favored by the priesthood. I do

not mean to exalt my own importance, which is not great;

I seek only to explain in part the kindly favoritism

extended to me by a monarch who values cultural studies.

All about my residence perched the artifacts of my life's

collection: ancient identification seals of baked clay from

[Anatolia—Turkey]; faience from the orient, distinct

from ours; a fine flint dagger from a burial mound in

[Arabia]; and of course many varieties of decorative

pottery, each representative of a vanished culture. For

years my concubine, otherwise a very fine woman if a

trifle tight about the waist-ring, was jealous of the

attentions I paid these objects, not understanding how a

man could see as much value in a discolored sherd as in

a living woman. In truth, I was at times grateful for that

jealousy, for it prompted her to ever-greater imagination

in her calling.

Don could not restrain a smile at this point. Splendid,

after due consideration, decided to smile too. How little

some things changed!

This amount of translation had taken two days. But it was

time well spent, and the remainder promised to move more

rapidly as the last difficult symbols yielded their meanings.

It seems I cannot hew precisely to my theme; my mind

insists upon revisiting those things that were dear to me.

Must I then ramble, however pointlessly, and hope to

cover the essence in whatever fashion I can manage.

The omens were ill. The sky turned drab, and the

sunset was like a stifled inferno. A hideous odor suffused

54                Piers Anthony

the air. Yet there was no storm. We put into a local port

and made inquiries, and received a story brought by

runners, of a disaster unlike any known.

Neither Admiral Su-ri-mo nor I believed it at first. We

supposed Greek enemies had spread the foul story in an

effort to dismay us and force us to divulge our technical

secrets. But within a few days one of our own ships hailed

us and confirmed the disaster in all its awfulness.

Terrible fire and storm had ravaged all Crete. Our cities

had been destroyed by waves taller than the mast of this

ship, our crops buried under a thick mass of choking hot

dust. Of our mighty fleet, the finest ever to rule the

[Mediterranean] sea, only that fraction at sea and far from

home escaped. The land itself, buried in noxious mud,

was unlivable.

Now those far-flung ships were summoned home. Our

people needed them for migration to unspoiled lands, lest

our power be dissipated entirely. Vain hope! The strength

of our civilization lies not in our ships, but in the extreme

fertility of our land, the density of our great timber

forests, and the unexcelled craftsmanship of our artisans.

We must rebuild our palaces, as we have in the past, if we

are to maintain any portion of our national well-being.

"But what of our own fair city?" I cried. "Our isle is

not Crete, our homeland is not Knossos. Surely we, at

least escaped the holocaust?"

"Your city is no more," our informant said. "We

sailed by it, checking all our cities. The fire consumed

[Thera] utterly. Not even the island remains, merely a

burnt shell."

Still we could not believe. But if we went home to

verify this horror directly, and it were true, we would

become subject to this makeshift government and have to

give over our fine ships to the transport of women and

MERCYCLE               255

cattle, and our treasures to usurping tyrants. No way to

salvage our culture, this! Yet if we did not go back, and

this report were false, what then of our loyalty?

The Admiral and I discussed the matter at length, the

crushing hand of calamity gripping us both. We professed

not to believe, we reassured each other repeatedly, but at

the root we withered. At length we decided to detach two

ships, who would return to ascertain the truth, while the

remainder stayed clear. One ship at least would come

back to us to make report. This was a cumbersome

procedure, but it seemed the best strategy, given our

divided belief.

I remained aboard one of the three. I would have gone

home, but Su-ri-mo chose to keep me with the bulk of the

merchandise, for only I knew its precise value and the

details of its inventory.

For a time we continued to travel the coast of the

[Atlantic] ocean as if seeking more trade, though we had

little remaining for barter. At night we found safe

anchorage and sent the men ashore to gather driftwood

and make a fire to cook the main meal. The crewmen

would grind grain and bake the morrow's bread over the

embers, and the wine would circulate. They slept on

the sand, the smoke from banked fires driving off the

nocturnal pests. The Admiral and I had to remain aboard

our respective ships, guarding the cargo, for not all the

impressed hands were trustworthy. I made do with

the ship's galley, learning by scorching my fingers on the

inadequate hearth. How I envied the landed crew, and

how I cursed my isolation here! Yet it would seem that

the Great Earth Mother destined this, for now I have need

of this hearth.

Time hung heavy as we awaited confirmation of the

fate of our land. The men shaved each other with the few

56                Piers Anthony

precious iron blades available, with much cursing and

scraping of skin. Perhaps not all of the cuts were

accidental. They wagered interminably. I completed the

inventory of cargo of all three ships, and started it over,

for want of other diversion.

Winter came, harsh in these hinterlands, and it was

impossible to continue at sea in the treacherous weather

and waters. We docked at [another Megalithic city?],

paying an exorbitant harbor tax. Now at last I could

depart ship, for our wares were secure. But it was scant

improvement. This was no Knossos.

Knossos! I had visited there often, in my official

capacities, and though I would not have cared to reside in

that crush, it was a splendor. Four and five stories high,

with the magnificent reception hall on the second girt by

the massive, artful pillars—would you believe it, I have

seen pillars elsewhere that actually contract toward the

apex, making the entire structure appear inverted. Any

refined eye must readily perceive that a decorative

column must expand toward the apex—which shows

little aesthetic hope, for example, for the [Mycenaeans—

Greeks].

But this Megalithic port: the houses were all separate,

none possessing even a second story, and all without

proper sanitary facilities. These people hardly believed in

bathing, and the odor inside became appalling. Their men

were thick-bodied, wearing waist-clasps only to support

their rude garments. They even had the effrontery to

remark on our own style, calling our narrow waists

unnatural. Unnatural! How could I ever forget my pride

when I donned the metal belt of adulthood at the age of

ten, wearing it to preserve that aesthetic slendemess of

torso that so befits the physically fit. I wear it to this day,

and no man of this expedition can lay claim to a smaller

MERCYCLE               257

or more manlier waist than I, despite the fact that my

gaming days are long past. To watch Island-bom Cretans

laying aside their clasps of honor and allowing their

bodies to grow gross with dissipation—that is unnatural!

Yet I must admit they had some cause. The semi-

savage women of this town were alluring in their very

primitiveness. If a man must put aside his belt in order to

enjoy the favors of such—well, I would not do it myself,

but I can not entirely blame the younger males who never

had relations with a competent concubine. It was a long,

bitter winter, and the women were warm-bodied.

I did find some solace. Not far distant was one of their

great monuments, not of stone, unfortunately, but still

impressive in wood. Impressive architecturally, that is to

say; to my way of thinking, the man is far more important

than any monument, and needs no wood or stone to

bolster his glory. He is the ideal. Hence we have few

actual monuments in [Keftiu] or any of the islands. For

foreigners seldom comprehend. There, again, is the

distinction between the civilized and the pseudo-

civilized. Consider, if you will, the extremes of the

[Egyptians]. Yet, in fairness, I must say that the Mega-

lithics do put their edifices to marvelous uses, and I

understand their astronomical data are the most precise in

the world. It is always a folly to take too narrow a view.

Even clumsy cultures have their points.

I found a number of significant artifacts about the

premises. Enough to satisfy me that the Megalithics have,

indeed, had a long history, and may even have declined

from prior greatness. Of course I have no absolute way to

date any given sherd of pottery, but I believe it is safe to

assume that those excavated from deep in the ground are

of greater antiquity than those near the surface. I was

extremely fortunate in discovering a clay seal in good

58                Piers Anthony

condition that I suspect is several hundred years old. That

is especially gratifying, because of the symbolism of my

own seal. As a matter of information, I shall imprint it

here. [Imprint of an oval scene, a representation of a

pottery sherd, on which is a mazelike pattern.] Note the

design on the sherd: it is a precise duplicate of an actual

decoration on a sherd I recovered from a cave on the

[Syrian] coast. But the linkage between seal and design is

more than this. I have reason to believe that this particular

pottery design is itself emulative of the pattern on a

fabric, perhaps a hanging tapestry. And that, in turn, the

design was imprinted on the fabric by a large clay seal. So

the complete symbolism on my own seal, of which I am

justly proud, is that it completes the circle. It is a seal

bearing a representation of a design copied from a

tapestry imprinted by a similar seal! I suspect that this

was, in fact, the original purpose of seals, and that only

later did they evolve into personal signatures. Whatever

the truth, I believe my own seal captures a portion of it.

Alas, no one else appreciates this meaning, yet it sustains

me now. I speculate endlessly: in my collection is a seal

recovered from a mound in [Anatolia], that I once toured

with a [Hittite] scholar. Our own Cretan origins, accord-

ing to legend, are there. Certainly there are similar bulls

there, and similar plants, and I saw the ruin of an ancient

city there that was very like one of our own. Foreigners

consider our palaces to be mazes in their complexity—

and there in [Anatolia] are maze patterns. Yet in opposi-

tion I must say that our legends also speak of a seafaring

tradition extending very far back and covering an even

wider scope than at present, so that our ancestors could

have traveled by ship from much farther ports than

[Anatolia]. How dearly would I like to know the answer!

MERCYCLE               259

*   *   *

Don pushed away the tablets, and naturally his hands

passed through them instead. "I like that man!" he ex-

claimed. "He's a real archaeologist!"

Splendid looked thoughtful. HE IS MUCH LIKE YOU,

she wrote.

Flattered and embarrassed, Don changed the subject.

"I've hardly been aware of time! Do you realize we've used

up two more days? But at the rate this is accelerating, we'll

finish it tomorrow. This is obviously the mission for which

I was sent, and it's the greatest experience of my life. And

you are making it possible, you gorgeous creature."

She smiled, touched her hand to her lips, and put it to his

mouth.

Don, fatigued from his strenuous intellectual labors and

intoxicated by the combination of Minoan revelation

and lack of sleep, was moved. Splendid had kissed him! He

had spoken to her with the camaraderie of their intense

recent intellectual association, without stuttering, and she

had responded. How things had changed! "Watch that," he

told her facetiously. "Old Pi-ja-se-me relaxed with his

jealous concubine after a hard stint of business."

Splendid smiled again and opened her arms invitingly to

him.

"God, no!" he exclaimed, shocked now. "You're—

I'm—I was joking. I mean, the phase—"

She drifted up to him and put her arms about him, barely

touching. He could feel that fringe contact of flesh through

flesh, and it was very like the feather-gentle caress of a real

woman. Her face came up to his, and he could not resist

meeting her lips. It was like kissing a wisp of fog, yet it had

considerable impact on him.

Don backed away, guiltily. ' 'What are you trying to do?''

She only shook her head, still smiling.

260 Piers Anthony MER.CYCLE 261

Don turned away. What would she be doing, except

playing with a man she knew could not touch her? Both

because of the phase, and because she was a mermaid. Was

that why mermaids had such fascination for men, mytho-

logically? Because, anatomically, they were genuinely un-

obtainable?

Still, he was tired and he did envy Pi-ja his jealous

concubine. Who could say what he might do, given the

ability actually to touch a female like Splendid?

When he turned again, she was gone. Nothing excep-

tional about that; she departed regularly to fetch food and

take care of natural calls. However she performed them. She

would return, as decorative and helpful as ever. She had left

the remaining tablets face down on the deck, so he could not

cheat; this remained a business association, with safeguards.

Jealous concubine. That reminded him of Melanie, per-

haps unkindly. He had been severely distracted these past

few days, but down below his consciousness he had not

forgotten her, or Pacifa's remark about her. Melanie loved

him? How would he feel about Melanie in the arms of a

virile merman, or even merely alone with one for several

days, unchaperoned?

It was time to check in with her. He turned on the radio.

"How are you doing, Melanie?" he inquired, not sure her

set was even on. It had been off the other times he had tried

calling her.

She was waiting for him this time, however, her hand

evidently on a figurative detonator. "Why don't you go

make out with your paramour, instead of wasting my

time?"

Taken aback because this so baldly reflected the lasciv-

ious thoughts he had just entertained, Don could only

stutter. "I—I—"

"I, by God, am a human being," Melanie informed him

wrathfully. "A female only to the extent I choose to be."

She couldn't know about Splendid's seeming invitation!

The radio had not been on for any dialogue for four days.

What had set her off, aside from that tiff with the mermaid?

What else but jealousy! Hell had no fury. Yet it was

baseless, because Splendid simply was not obtainable, and

he understood that on both the intellectual and emotional

levels. What good was the most impressive body known—

and Splendid had that—when it might as well have been an

untouchable hologram? Melanie, in contrast, was real for

him, and not merely physically. He had to reassure her

about that.

- "Melanie, you don't un-understand—" he started lamely.

"I am quite certain that you have conscious control over

the specifically male aspect of your life—sexual inter-

course—but I am much less certain that you have much

conscious awareness of your internal myths concerning

sexual roles."

She certainly wasn't tongue-tied! But what was this about

having sex? She knew the phase made that impossible. "I

d-don't know what you're t-talking about," he said, never-

theless feeling guilty. Suppose it had been possible? What

would he have gotten into—bad choice of words—then?

"You mean you haven't tried the balloons yet? How

considerate of you." Her tone was cutting.

"B-balloons?"

"Oh, you're impossible!" She clicked off.

Don shook his head. She was furious, all right. But what

was responsible? This seemed like more than mere irritation

because of his necessary association with another woman.

Then he began to see. The balloons were about the only

way the phase world could interact with the real world,

since they were half-phased. Gas trapped in the balloons

262 Piers Anthony

made them rigid in both frameworks. If they were put on the

fingers like gloves, they would make it possible to handle

something, and to feel it fairly firmly. Even human flesh. A

balloon was a lot like a condom.

In his naivete he had never thought of this in connection

with Splendid. Obviously Melanie had. Maybe she did have

grounds for jealousy.

Yet that could not be the whole of it. Even if Melanie

assumed that he, as a man, would take whatever offered—

why should she think that Splendid would offer? The

mermaid had a community of her own kind. Her interest

here was archaeological, and it was genuine, as was his.

Don had a question for Splendid when she returned:

"What did you tell Melanie, that made her so mad?"

The mermaid shook her head negatively. She wasn't

telling.

"Uh-uh," Don said. "Y-you tell me, or I'll s-stop

translating!" It was a bluff, for he knew nothing could keep

him away from the tablets after he'd had a few hours of

sleep. But it was important to unravel this personal matter

too.

Splendid elected to yield to the threat, though he doubted

that she took it seriously. She took up her slate. ONLY

WHAT SHE ASKED.

"Then what did she ask?"

There was just a hint of that blush. HOW WE DO IT.

Um, yes. How did mermaids reproduce, etc.? There

simply seemed to be no apparatus in the nether section of

her body. "And what did you t-tell her?"

THAT I WOULD SHOW YOU.

Brother! Every day of his radio silence must have been

new evidence to Melanie that Splendid was, well, showing.

And that he was using the balloons in a new way.

"I—I wish you would apologize to her. She's furious!"

MERCYCLE               263

Now Splendid looked stubborn, with a heightening of the

blush. I HAVE NOT YET SHOWN.

"You don't need to show!" he yelled. "Melanie's

jealous because she thinks—never mind. Just tell her what

we've really been doing. She refuses to believe me."

SHE WOULD NOT BELIEVE ME EITHER.

Probably true. But it was necessary to make the effort.

"Look, Splendid, this—she—I—it's important."

The mermaid cocked her head, evidently catching on.

YOU LOVE HER?

"I—I—yes, I guess I do."

SHE KNOWS WE CANNOT TOUCH?

"There might be a way."

She nodded. I WILL TELL HER.

Don felt a wash of relief. "Thank you! I—" He gave up

trying to express himself, and turned on the radio.

It was no use. Melanie's radio remained off. It might

remain that way for some time.

He sighed. She would just have to stay mad for as long as

it took. At worst, until they got together again, and commu-

nication between them could not be cut off.

Right now he had to sleep.

Our two vessels never returned. By spring we were

assured the story was accurate, and we had a fair notion

what had occurred. I have seen volcanic action upon

occasion, and know how devastating such blasts from the

deep earth can be. I also know that the fumeroles and hot

springs that made our islet warm and fertile had to stem

from similar forces. It was surely a volcanic eruption near

or at [Thera], and the fire and stone from it, and the waves

it made in the sea, and the dust and gases of its murderous

exhalations, that ravaged our world and brought our very

civilization to its knees.

264 Piers Anthony

But that is the lesser of two mysteries. The greater is

not how, but why. Surely our priests were well aware of

the propensities of the mighty Bull of the Earth, and

surely they propitiated it regularly and generously. Every

sacrifice, every spectacle of bull-leaping, every intoned

prayer—all these tokens, and indeed our cultural outlook,

have been dedicated to the pacification of that shuddering

Power. Had we been remiss in our worship, then might

such retribution have been justified. But I am certain that

we were not; the rites were maintained faithfully right up

until the moment of the holocaust. Why, then, did the

monster turn on us?

I have no answer. I must instead face the reality, as

Admiral Su-ri-mo and I faced it then. What should we do

with our treasures, so laboriously acquired? They became

meaningless when our homeland ended. Our king was

dead, our homes destroyed. The barbarians who had

seized titular power in our misfortune were not worthy of

our allegiance. We should not, could not, go home. But

neither could we endure another winter in a pagan city. It

was necessary to get our men away from such influences,

lest we lose our identity along with our culture and our

wealth.

After much consideration we plotted course for [Af-

rica]. Because many of our men on all three ships had

become corrupted by the life among the Megalithics, and

were almost openly rebellious, we were forced to voyage

far out to sea, planning to make landfall only in the direst

emergency. For this reason we loaded our holds with a

tremendous volume of supplies, though we had to sacri-

fice the goods for which we had already traded. What use

were ores and pigments, now?

Yet even to me, the sheer volume of wine and grain

seemed excessive. I tried to caution Su-ri-mo, but he

MERCYCLE               265

assured me that [Africa] was farther distant than I

realized, and that we needed a good margin in case of

delays. We would be traveling shorthanded, for we could

not hope to recruit enough oarsmen to fill the seats of the

defectors. But with good winds it would not matter as

much. One sail is worth all the oarsmen, when the wind

is right.

Thus I bowed to his judgment, for he was much

experienced on the sea and the responsibility was his.

Certainly I had little cause for misgiving on this score,

since too much food is far less burdensome than too

little.

For a month we journeyed south, impeded by adverse

winds and contrary currents. It seemed that our store of

misfortune had not yet been expended. Discipline among

the men, never good since the disaster, became ragged,

for they sought surcease from the toil of rowing through

still seas and wished to return to the pleasures of the city.

Also, they did not like such a long period out of sight of

any land. But the Admiral held firm, and after several

troublemakers had been quartered the noise subsided

somewhat. I was glad that harsh measures had not been

required. We remained far out to sea, however, for fear of

mutiny should the men catch sight of land and know their

bearings.

Still, I knew that navigation entirely by sunstone was

precarious, and I feared the Admiral himself lacked

precise knowledge of our whereabouts. Yet he seemed

assured, even confident. First I supposed this was a false

front, so as not to show weakness before the crew; then I

suspected that he was deluded. But in no wise did he play

the role of delusion, apart from this foolhardy westward

drifting. I am a fair judge of men, necessarily, and I knew

the Admiral well. Gradually it came upon me that he had

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267

a destination—and that it was not [Africa]. I braced him

one day when I caught him privately during a routine

inspection of my ship.

"Admiral, I must know the truth if I am to function

effecively," I said with some asperity.

He attempted to evade. "Do you doubt my bearings?"

"Not at all, except as they pertain to [Africa]. Our

homeland is gone; what use are secrets now?''

He understood my reference. "Yes," he said slowly.

"There is no proper home for us in [Africa]. It is the far

port we voyage to."

"It is forbidden!" I cried, shocked by this bald

confirmation of my dark suspicion.

He was unmoved. "As you have so eloquently pointed

out: what are secrets, what are prohibitions, when we

have no one to answer to? It is for us to carry the news,

and to make a new life for ourselves. Surely we can not

do so among the savage Greeks or land-hugging Canaan-

ites."

"[Atlantis]!" I breathed, uttering the forbidden name.

"Atlantis!" Don repeated, as amazed and excited as

ancient Pi-ja-se-me had been. The fabulous continent intro-

duced to historic mythology by Plato, who had it from

Solon, who had it from an Egyptian priest. The story had

been that Atlantis, a rich and powerful and happy island

continent, had suddenly sunk in a day and a night. It

had been most generally supposed by scholars that Atlantis

had in fact been Minoan Crete, ravaged by the phenomenal

eruption ofThera in the fifteenth century B.C. The ignorant

had spun grandiose stories of a continent in the Atlantic

Ocean, for which no justification was offered. Of course

Plato had said that Atlantis perished nine thousand years

before his time, and was ten times the size of any ruins

found at Thera, but this was readily explained by postulating

an error in translation of one decimal place. That brought

the capital city of Atlantis right down to the size of the

settlement on Thera—Pi-ja's home city—and the time lapse

to nine hundred years, which was a close match to the

geological record of the eruption. Thus Don had hardly

concerned himself with the legend of Atlantis, knowing it to

be extrapolation from a clerical error. True, Plato had placed

it beyond the Pillars of Hercules. But that was standard

practice for the Greeks, who were too familiar with the

Aegean to accept such mysteries there.

Now it seemed that the Atlantis legend predated Thera.

Don went over the symbol on the tablet again and again,

trying to discover whether he had misinterpreted, but it

stood firm as the best guess. If the concept were not

Atlantis, it was similar. To Pi-ja, as with the later Plato,

Atlantis was a tremendous island across the great ocean.

Yet who would know the source of the legend better than

the Minoans, the foremost seafaring people of the ancient

world? If they had had a legend of Atlantis, that land must

have existed!

Actually the eruption of Thera had not ended Minoan

civilization. They had suffered terribly, but soon enough

had reasserted themselves and driven off the marauding

Greeks and gone on to greater heights. Their power had not

faded until they depleted the natural resources of their

island, and had to shift their bases elsewhere. But the

eruption had been remembered. Thera had been something

like four times as great an explosion as the later Krakatoa.

Surely the gods had never spoken with greater authority

than that! So the Cretan captain, far distant, had misjudged

the situation, understandably. Many others had done the

same.

Abruptly a new conjecture opened like a fragrant flower.

Piers Anthony

268

It had not been Atlantis that sank, but Thera—the major

European contact. The Minoans had kept the secret, and

only their limited reports at their home base had leaked out.

So the legend had funneled through that blasted aperture

and emerged distorted, for the Greeks and Egyptians had not

known the whole truth. Their contact with the news and

goods of Atlantis had been shut off, so they assumed that it

was dead. All the civilized world had accepted that.

Atlantis still existed—and now Don knew where it was.

CHAPTER 14

ATLANTIS

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Acknowledging.

Status?

Dismal. I dare not tell the truth for fear of sacrificing the

mission, yet I cannot prevail otherwise. I think I can

accomplish it only by the intercession of one member of the

party, and I am unable to contact that one. I must bide my

time, and hope.

Then terminate it.

No. Not until all hope is gone. Sufficient time must come

for the one to be ready. Then if I can manage contact, I can

still succeed.

In view of the risk, we feel that greater judgment than

yours should be invoked. Obtain our acquiescence before

presenting the mission to your group.

I will do so.

"Atlantis," Su-ri-mo agreed. "It is at least a civilized

port."

A few days later a terrible storm formed, and for two

days we rode before it, and two more within it, hardly

knowing day from night. All our hatches and oar-ports

were sealed, lest we be swamped; we rode blindly.

269

70                Piers Anthony

Just when the winds were worst, they abruptly abated,

and we sailed serene in sunshine. But the Admiral

allowed no relaxation, and drove us all on all three ships

to batten down even more firmly than before, with no sail

and every oar-port closed. The men thought him moon-

struck, and even I had my doubts—but suddenly a

frightening wall of cloud swept over the horizon, and

almost before we could fetch down our heads and cling to

the beams the wind struck again, fully as fiercely as

before. It was another storm—blowing from the other

direction!

Surely this ocean was cursed by the gods, to have such

incredible storms. How was it that the first storm had not

crashed headlong into the second, and so dissipated both?

But the gods are not limited by such considerations; they

do as pleases them, and it was evident that our presence

here did not please them. For three more days we

cowered before the awful wind, the huge waves striking

our ship as if to sunder it in twain. The crewmen prayed

valiantly to one god or another, but the elements seemed

almost beyond the control of divinity.

When at last the weather eased, we were alone and

completely lost. Our sail was in useless shreds, our mast

stripped bare. The admiral's ship was gone, as was the

third vessel; we could not ascertain their fate. We

ourselves were helpless before the currents of the sea, for

our oars had all been broken off.

The ship's captain supervised repairs, but there was no

new tackle to mount and no new sail. Our hull at least was

tight, for our own guild of shipwrights at Thera was ever

the finest, and after bailing out the bilge and the wash

from the storm waves we floated as high as we had

before. We had a fair supply of food and wine, because of

the staples the Admiral had laid in for the voyage to

MERCYCLE               271

Atlantis, though we seemed unlikely to arrive there now.

And of course we fished.

Now fish is fit for kings, but seawater is not. As for

imbibing the discolored juices of crushed fish in lieu of

water, and drinking bilge salvaged from rain—well, then

we really appreciated the hardships of existing on a

derelict. I suspect that had we had good Cretan wine we

might have endured even so without complaint, but what

filled our supply jars was Megalithic Mash, as the cynical

crewmen put it.

The captain of our ship consulted with me, as I was

now the ranking remaining officer of the fleet, but I could

tell him nothing. It was not that I chose to preserve the

secret of our destination from him; it was that it was

pointless to tantalize him with it when we had no hope of

achieving it. Even had I said it, no one had the bearing of

Atlantis. Only the Admiral had that.

On we drifted, ever father from our homeland, for the

seas were moving west. Illness broke out among the

crewmen, and we had no proper physician to attend to it.

I suffered pains in my own bones, at times so pervasive

that I lay in my cabin unable to move, seeking to alleviate

my discomfort by consuming bad wine and dreaming of

diversions of the past. I saw in my mind a gallery of our

sprightly island ladies, with their long gaily colored skirts

tiered with five and six bands of flouncing, bright

bracelets on their wrists and ankles, their puffed sleeves

and lush breasts standing behind thin gauze, their elabo-

rate jeweled headdresses over curly black hair, a snake-

like strand bobbing in front of each ear, large dark-etched

eyes—ah, ah! Who can lay claim to knowledge of beauty,

who has not gazed on such as these!

At other times it seemed I was traveling down a street

in my palanquin, passing well-kept houses flush with the

72                Piers Anthony

edge of the pavement, their windows filled with taut oiled

parchment panes. I would enter one, my slaves waiting

outside. The sweet smell ofcooking-smoke tantalized my

nostrils, and I knew that a fine repast was in the making.

I would sit on a red cushion on a fine stone bench in the

pale blue chamber, awaiting invitation to the central

patio. I do not know whose house it was; not my own.

Just an average domicile in a better neighborhood.

Perhaps that was the point of vision: its reassuring

suggestion that such houses and such neighborhoods still

existed, when I feared they did not. The life I had known

lingered wistfully within me.

Sometimes I recovered enough to sit on the open deck,

and then my gaze fixed on the steady waves and I

dreamed of the sea-ancestry of our culture. If our origins

lay in Anatolia, yet we had been sea-faring before

achieving fair Crete and fairer Thera—could these leg-

ends be reconciled? As I now analyzed them, two

thousand years ago we were part of an empire of all the

seas, whose ports touched on every shore. But slowly the

waters rose and those fabulous ancient cities were

drowned, and lacking the means to hold back the waters

the empire fragmented, leaving pieces of itself scattered

across the world like broken pottery sherds. One fragment

became the Megalithics, another the Kingdom of Melu-

hha, yet others Egypt, Makan, Ubaid, and Dilmun. Even

farther spread were the enclaves in southern Africa and

eastward beyond the farthest reaches of the Sumerian

trade routes—and of course Atlantis. Crete was only a

minor refuge, then. Or so I conjecture, making allowance

for the inflation of our own importance in our legends.

I myself have visited a number of the old sites that

produced such material as obsidian, that volcanic glass

once so valuable for tools and weapons. Now we prefer

MERCYCLE               273

bronze, of course, and iron when we can obtain it. But

still the extent of that old empire is suggested by the ores

it mined and the technologies it disseminated. If I could

go back to leam the full history of that golden age of ...

At this point the first missing tablet manifested. Damn!

Any loss from the narrative was painful, but when the

discussion was on ancient history as seen by an ancient

scholar, what a loss!

Disgruntled by the insuperable interruption of the story,

Don took a break. Splendid was glad to relax, too; she had

been making notes on small waterproof sheets, recording

this for her community.

Don turned on the radio by force of habit, but Melanie

still would not answer. Splendid noticing, smiled.

Don's frustration at the double balking by tablet and

woman abruptly focused on what was available. "What are

you laughing at?" he demanded.

The mermaid was unperturbed. WHY NOT LET ME

SHOW YOU, she wrote. WHILE THE MINOAN DRIFTS

AND FRETS.

"Show me what?" Then he remembered: how mermaids

reproduced. She was teasing him, secure in the barrier of

phase. Or was she trying to tempt him into some sexual

attempt, that had to fail embarrassingly? Revenge for what

Melanie had said to her?

That reminded him of what Melanie had said about the

balloons. All this time, he could have handled the Minoan

tablets himself! Instead he had had to bargain with the

mermaid, and compromise, translating only in her presence.

That had not been a bad experience, actually, but he cursed

himself for not thinking of the balloons before. Now she

was cocksure, and his frustration found a way of expression.

He brought out one of the balloons. It was very fine and

274

Piers Anthony

flexible, and felt as if he were moving it through the

resistance of water. As he was, now that it was no longer

balled up. He stretched it carefully over his clumped and

stiffened fingers, clamping it in place with his thumb.

Hardly a perfect glove, but serviceable.

"Come here. Splendid," he said.

She swam forward with enticing undulations, ready to

play the futile game. She expected him to make a pass,

literally: a sweep of his hand through her body without

contact.

He poked her left breast with the gloved fingers. Her flesh

was firm and resilient, a genuine delight to poke. Splendid

was laughing silently, enjoying her invulnerability.

Then she realized that the touch was real. With one

phenomenal thrust of her flukes she shot straight up a good

two fathoms.

Don's pique dissipated, but he maintained a straight face.

"Please do show me how," he suggested as she leveled out

and peered down.

She touched her breast herself as if verifying what had

happened. Now it seemed she was not so eager. She looked

at the sheath on his hand, realizing that it did not have to be

restricted to a finger. Her bluff had been called.

"While the Minoan drifts and frets," Don added encour-

agingly.

Splendid glanced westward, as if debating whether to flee

back to her village. He would not be able to pursue swiftly

enough to keep her in sight, because of the difficulty of

getting off the ship with his bicycle or out of the chasm the

ship was in. Even on the level she could lose him, merely by

swimming upward until gone.

"If you go home, I shall continue translating on my

own," he said.

MERCYCLE               275

That got to her. She was as eager as he to read that

manuscript. Now he had possession.

Then she dived purposefully for the tablets. She was

going to carry them away!

"No you don't!" he cried, diving for them himself.

They collided. This time flesh and bone passed through

flesh and bone as before, but the balloon-glove got hung up

against her torso just where flesh merged into scales. Don

tried to yank back his hand, but his arm actually passed

through her abdomen, leaving the hand at her rear, and he

goosed her royally. Her mouth opened in an outraged 0 as

she jackknifed, inadvertently showing him a bottom that

resolved the long-standing question of "how." It was all

there in normal human order when the legs folded clear and

the scales parted.

Don had to roll away, finally managing to disengage, and

go back to his bicycle for a breath of air. Splendid used the

opportunity to pick up two of the tablets. Don, now aware of

her liability, charged back balloon-first and tickled her

under one raised arm, just where the breast began.

She shrieked silently, squirming away, and dropped the

tablets to the deck. One cracked apart.

Appalled, they both broke off hostilities and stared. The

damage was not total, as the tablet had split into two major

portions rather than shattering. But had it not been buoyed

by the water it would have been another matter. The look on

Splendid's face showed that she was as chagrined about the

accident as he.

She recovered her slate and wrote. I WILL NOT GO. I

WILL MAKE IT RIGHT WITH YOUR FRIEND.

Don merely nodded, putting away his balloon. Too bad it

had taken this near disaster to straighten them both out. Yet

now he realized that this was the first time he had had an

interaction like this with a woman; his shyness had not

276 Piers Anthony

gotten in the way. Ordinarily the mere thought of poking,

grabbing, or goosing a woman would have made him flee,

stutter-bound.

Splendid wrote a treatise in German, and Don spelled it

out over the unresponsive radio. He didn't inquire what

it said, and he had no evidence Melanie was listening, but it

was the best he could do. He planned to broadcast it again

in a few hours, and then yet again, until she picked it up.

They returned to the manuscript, picking up the text after

the missing tablet.

. . . snake. Certainly we have many legends, and the

serpent, as an aspect of the earth, is commonly wor-

shipped in Crete. I use that term advisedly. Actually we

worship no animals, as that is a practice for barbarians.

We merely use them as adjuncts of the ritual in the

worship of that divinity we may not approach directly.

Yet this is difficult to justify to foreigners, and I have

fallen out of the habit of trying. I myself have offered

incense before the altar of the lovely Snake Goddess. And

our regard for the bull as another aspect of that same

Earth Spirit is too well established to warrant repetition

here. Yet there are elements that do not entirely jibe, and

the legend is in many ways alien to our comprehension.

I shall present it here only in summary:

Three thousand years ago—they are specific, as they

possess a marvelously accurate calendar, but I round it off

for convenience—there was an upright priest king who

was identified with the Bull God for his strength and

determination. No woman could resist him, and thus he

attracted the romantic attention even of his sister, identi-

fied with the Bird God. She it was who nursed him when

he was stricken ill as his penance for neglecting the Snake

God, and in this case the Bird prevailed and she cured

MERCYCLE               277

him. He was so joyous to be well again that he celebrated

for forty days—some say four hundred. A ritual figure,

subject to interpretation. She then tempted him with

wine, making him intoxicated, and disguised himself so

that he did not know her, and thereby seduced him. When

he recovered equilibrium and realized what he had done,

he built a great pyre and threw himself on it, ascending to

the Heaven of the Bulls. But she endured alone and in due

course gave birth to the Feathered Bull: a creature at once

ferocious in animal aspect while well-favored in human

aspect. He was both beast and god, but at the same time

a man, with mannish appetites. This entity in due course

became king, and set out to rule all the world of men.

He discovered how to grow plants, how to sail a ship, and

how to work with metal. His reign was long and glorious,

extending over all the islands of the world and all the

lands bordering on the sea. But in his old age, when he

was five hundred years old—perhaps fifty, allowing for

the rituality of figures—he became savage, for he was

simultaneously a child of incest and miscegenation. He

attempted to destroy what he had wrought, and at last his

subjects had to confine him in a massive temple. For

many years they fed him sacrifices of living flesh, but

then they neglected him, and slowly he weakened. When

he expired, the earth shuddered and groaned with the rage

of a bull, and the sky whipped itself into a tremendous

storm signifying the rage of the birds, and the sea came

up in the rage of the Snake of the Water and inundated all

the great cities of that kingdom, which was the original

Atlantis. It fell apart and was no more.

That, at any rate, is the legend. I have heard it in many

variants, but all agree in essence. How strikingly it

concurs with ours of the ancient sea-empire! Elements do

seem contradictory, such as the father of the Feathered

278                Piers Anthony

Bull becoming intoxicated by wine, when plant

cultivation—surely including that of the vine—was dis-

covered only later by his son. And I question the capacity

of his subjects to imprison this powerful, god-imbued,

man-bull-bird, however old he became. But as I noted

before, legends of this nature must be taken allegorically,

and the seeming errors analyzed for the more subtle truths

they hint. What intrigues me primarily is the presence of

the bull, for I have found no evidence of this animal

existing in contemporary Atlantis.

"So they made it Atlantis after all!" Don said, satisfied.

"I rather thought they would."

BUT THEY WERE ADRIFT AND LOST, Splendid

protested.

"Haven't you figured out where Atlantis is? The winds

and currents naturally carried the ship there—which has to

be the way the Minoans discovered it in the first place."

Her face lighted. AMERICA!

"Certainly. It meets all the criteria. It is far across the sea

to the west, beyond the Pillars of Hercules; it is larger than

all of the Mediterranean lands combined—as far as they

could tell, anyway, since they could not get around it either

to the north or south; and it possessed great wealth and high

civilization. Probably it was the major remnant of that

worldwide maritime culture both legends speak of—a

culture in its prime about 4000 B.C., before the celebrated

Rood, But by 1500 B.C. only the Minoans maintained

contact, as far as we or they knew. The Megalithics had

declined and were no longer a significant maritime empire,

despite their residence all along the European Atlantic coast.

The several highly advanced cultures around the Arabian

peninsula and India—Dilmun, Makan, and Meluhha, of

which we have archaeological record—were blocked from

MERCYCLE               279

it by the huge mass of Africa. The Chinese—your

civilization—were balked by the sheer immensity of the

Pacific. When the Cretan contact was severed by the

eruption of Thera, it didn't destroy the Minoan culture, but

did end that contact with Atlantis. Atlantis became a myth."

BUT WHAT REALLY DESTROYED THE ORIGINAL

MARITIME EMPIRE? she was writing.

"The rising of the seas, of course. The melting ice of the

glaciers of the ice age caused the water to cover much of the

prior shoreline. The worldwide legends of the great flood

may derive from—"

THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE DESTROYED CIVILIZA-

TION. IT WAS VERY SLOW IN TERMS OF MAN'S

HISTORY.

Don hesitated. "I suppose not. Certainly we owe much

more to the ice age than it can ever have cost us, for the

Magdelanean cave art culture derived from ice-age condi-

tions. In fact, I'm sure those reindeer people migrated to the

Near-East when conditions changed, building cities in

Anatolia like Catal Huyuk of 6500 B.C. in which the cave

motifs were transferred to house walls and ceramics, and

metalworking first developed. But remember, two and a half

thousand years elapsed between that civilization of 4000

B.C. and Pi-ja's time. It could have atrophied, as all

civilizations have well within that span, and the rising

waters then covered up most of its architecture, leaving little

evidence but legends. After all, consider how knowledge of

the Minoan culture itself was lost for millennia, surviving

only in that passing reference to Atlantis and such things as

the Theseus legend."

She considered. YES, I SEE IT NOW. AND THE

MAYAN LEGEND OF QUETZALCOATL, THE FEATH-

ERED SERPENT.

280

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

281

Don was electrified. "The feathered serpenti In Ameri-

can legend?"

She looked askance. YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH

THIS FAMOUS STORY?

"I—I've concentrated pretty much on Crete," Don

admitted. "I guess I have heard of it, but I'm hazy on the

details."

She provided them, and his wonder grew. The American

Indian legend, common in many languages and variants in

both north and south continents, told how the goddess

Coatlicue gathered white feathers, placing them in her

bosom; but she swallowed one and thereby became preg-

nant. She gave birth to Quetzalcoati, whose name was a

combination of Quetzal, a special green-feathered bird; Co,

a snake; and Atl, water. Thus he represented air, earth, and

water, and was a complex symbol of man's condition and

possibilities. He was the Feathered Serpent.

Quetzalcoati grew up tall, robust, handsome, and

bearded. He loved all living things, and would not kill a bear

or pick a flower. Then an enemy showed him his image in

a distorting mirror, and he saw himself as wasted away.

He was shocked, and went into seclusion so that his people

would not see him. But then his enemy dressed him

well, painted his face, and gave him a fine turquoise mask,

making him appear so handsome that he had to celebrate.

He was then tempted with wine: first just a sip, then more,

until he became intoxicated. His sister Quetzalpetlati was

similarly tempted into inebriation, and in this carefree state

the two indulged in an act of incest. Later, in remorse,

Quetzalcoati immolated himself on his own funeral pyre.

"That derives from this legend on the tablet!" Don

exclaimed. "The symbolism, the elements of illness and

incest—only the bull has been eliminated!"

Splendid nodded, eyes bright.

"And the bull—that carried on through the Minoan

culture," Don continued, seeing whole sections of the

puzzle fall into place. "The Greek legend of Theseus—it

derives from the same source! According to it. King Minos

controlled the seas, but his wife became enamored of a bull,

and finally concealed herself inside a wooden cow in order

to couple with the bull. Then she gave birth to the Minotaur,

a man with the head of a bull, who fed on human flesh. He

was confined to the Labyrinth—the Greeks' notion of the

complex Minoan palace, in whose center court the bull-

leapers performed. But the Greeks transferred his hero-

properties to their prince Theseus, who slew him. The

mythic lineage is plain, now. A forbidden sexual act that

spawns a man-creature with godlike properties who finally

dies ignominiously, in both the Mayan and Minoan/Greek

versions."

AND SO WE VERIFY ATLANTIS, she wrote.

"And the ancient sea empire," Don agreed. "It explains

so much. Like that fabulous sunken Yucatan city, that Pi-ja

apparently didn't know about—and the later Dzibilchaltun,

whose source of culture was such a mystery."

Then he had to explain about that, for of course Splendid

hadn't known of the submerged city. She knew about

Dzibilchaltun, though, and was fascinated by the apparent

connection.

At last they returned to the manuscript. New horizons had

opened, and Don was in a hurry to assimilate the remainder,

for the rest of his group was overdue to return. He would

have been more concerned about what was delaying them,

had he not been so distracted by the Minoan manuscript.

I conjecture this: our bull and snake honoring ancestors

of many thousands of years past emerged from the

coastline of Anatolia, becoming a great seafaring nation.

B2                Piers Anthony

Soon they spread even to Atlantis, perhaps under some

great king whose birth was clouded: illegitimate, possi-

bly, the result of covert incest. Thus his identification as

the anomaly of the feathered bull. The wealth to be

derived from wide-spread trade would account for this

basic initiative, and there would be a powerful civilizing

effect wherever this trade touched, as there has been in

the case of our own missions about the Aegean and other

islands and peninsulas. The case of the Greek tribes may

seem hopeless, but even there there are signs of promise.

But under poor kings even the soundest empire becomes

weak, and there may have been extensive natural catas-

trophes. Again, as we know from bitter experience. So the

empire that spawned all the present cultures of the world

at length passed, and was almost forgotten.

But I could discourse interminably on the ways and

legends of these people. It must suffice to establish that

they differ in many ways from our own culture, but not so

completely that we would not accommodate. And that is

the problem. For if we adapt too amicably to their

customs, and marry their women, and become absorbed

in their culture—then we shall surely lose their own

identity. We were not spared the holocaust of our island,

we did not survive the ferocity of the ocean storm, we did

not endure the mutiny of the hungry crew merely for this!

So I did what I had learned with such difficulty when

the captain died at sea, and I assumed once more the

leadership of our remaining group. There was some

strenuous resistance, but I performed as necessary, even

to distasteful bloodshed, and we won free and set sail by

night. Northward across the round sea, bearing toward the

place we understood there was a colony of kinsmen. If we

could join these, our situation would be better.

MERCYCLE               283

"Don! Don!"

Don jumped, startled. It was as if Pi-ja-se-me had called

to him directly! But it was the radio, which he had left on in

the hope that Melanie would respond to one of the Ger-

manic spelling broadcasts.

"I'm h-here," he said, reorienting. "What—?"

"Don, return instantly! And be careful! I cannot—"

There was a click, and Don was unable to get further

response. The other radio was off.

Splendid was evidently annoyed by this abrupt interrup-

tion of the Minoan narrative. HER VOICE HAS

CHANGED.

"That's not Melanie! It's Eleph! And something's

wrong. He's not one to play games—" He paused. "He

doesn't even have a radio, now. He must have been using

Caspar's, or one of the others. And someone must have

stopped him. Why?"

THERE MUST BE TROUBLE IN YOUR PARTY.

"Yes! I should have been suspicious about this long radio

silence. I have to get back. When Eleph cries for help—"

But again he paused. "The translation! I may never have

another chance. I can't go without finishing that!"

I CANNOT GO WITH YOU, Splendid wrote. THE

COLD AND THE SALT AND THE PREDATORS OF

THE MARINE—

"And Pi-ja's request! I agreed to honor it—but I don't

know what it is. But if I keep Eleph waiting—I know I can't

afford to waste any time!" Don was not a man of decisive

action in a crisis; he felt himself falling apart. What should

he do?

Splendid looked at him compassionately while her hand

printed her message. COMPROMISE. PROMISE TO

SPEAK WELL OF US TO YOUR PEOPLE, AND I WILL

HELP YOU RETURN SWIFTLY.

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"You can't help me! The phase—"

But she was still writing. THE OLD WOMAN TOOK

AWAY YOUR ROPES. WE CAN SHOW YOU A BET-

TER ROUTE.

Don was aghast. "Pacifa wouldn't take away the lines! I

need them to climb out of this trench! The cliffs—"

"She did, you know," Melanie said suddenly on the

radio. "She told me we might need the rope, and it seemed

to make sense at the time. I never thought—''

"Melanie! Where have you—?"

"Something is wrong," she said. "Nobody else has used

the radio since we split into two parties. Except you and me.

And now Eleph. I—''

"You refused to t-talk to me!"

"I was in a jealous snit. Because—well, never mind. I

thought the radio silence was just to keep from alerting the

sub to the locations of the others. But Eleph wasn't fooling.

I can tell."

"Why didn't you say something before? I never

realized—"

"And interrupt your charming relationship with that

fishwife? You can go to hell for all I care! But not Eleph.

You've got to go back!"

Don caught a movement, and turned to see Splendid

swimming swiftly away. "Wait!" he cried. "I agree to your

compromise! I—"

Then he saw that her tablet was filled with writing. He

moved over to read it.

"What compromise?" Melanie demanded.

"The mer-people will show me a fast route back to the

depot, if I agree to speak for them when I get back. I really

don't know much about them—"

"Don't you?"

"I think they're afraid of the U.S. reaction to their

presence here. You know, the depth-bomb psychology.

They mean no harm; they're practicing for colonization of

Jupiter. But Splendid just took off. She left a message—"

"Well, read it!"

Don read aloud: IT WILL TAKE ABOUT AN HOUR

TO GET THE INFORMATION FROM OUR PERIME-

TER GUARD. I WILL RETURN WITH A MAP YOU

CAN COPY. MEANWHILE, TRANSLATE THE END OF

THE NARRATIVE. YOU CAN KEEP BOTH PROMISES.

"Two promises?"

"Melanie, the author of the tablets made a condition for

anyone who reads them. Splendid and I have been translat-

ing the whole time. Didn't she explain that in the German?"

"Yes," Melanie admitted. "She also said you goosed

her."

"Well, she deserved it! And if you don't stop being so

cynical, I'll goose you, first chance. I tell you, we never—"

"That's three promises," Melanie muttered.

"So you know you don't have reason to—"

"Well—"

"Melanie, I love you! I—"

She was evidently startled. "But—"

"But Splendid has a glorious head of hair. So I've been

exposed to that, now. And I know. So if you—''

"If you repeat that when we get together again, I'll say it

too. But that's personal. Right now you have to get on that

translation."

"Yes. I—I'll see you soon, Melanie. I hope. Then—"

"Then," she agreed. She clicked off. He knew this was

to guarantee him the undistracted time he needed.

Don pored over the remaining tablets, picking out those

symbols he could read easily so as to get a rough gist before

settling down to the final one. He was pegging in meanings

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with a facility that amazed him. He could almost read the

text straight, now!

Pi-ja, it seemed, had directed the ship north toward the

American Gulf coast, searching for the settlement whose

descendants would be known as the Yuchi Indians. But

another storm, or perhaps an arm of the Gulf Stream, carried

them east and south, at last brushing the north shore of

Cuba. There his men jumped overboard and swam for shore,

for what reason Don wasn't clear. But Pi-ja-se-me seemed

to be an extraordinarily capable and hard-nosed leader,

despite his literary background. He had invented magic to

cow the superstitious, and perhaps had over-done it. But he

was suffering again from debilitating illness, possibly nu-

tritional deficiency symptoms.

At any rate, only one loyal slave remained. The two

attempted to sail the ship, but lacked the ability to do more

than keep it clear of the shoals. It was in poor condition,

with its repairs haphazard after the hurricane that had sunk

the other two ships, and a tattered partial sail on the stripped

mast was all they could muster. Mostly it drifted, while Pi-ja

wrote his long memoirs, baking each finished tablet in the

galley hearth. Apparently the ship passed all around Cuba

and between it and the island of Haiti, losing its mast in

another storm, and was progressing back toward the Yu-

catan when Pi-ja called a halt. His augurs had identified this

particular spot as most propitious for his purpose. He had

his slave bail water into the ship, already half swamped by

the storm, until it sank. The implication was that ship and

passengers went down together.

Then the final passage:

I have considered carefully the destruction of my own

world. We were a prosperous, carefree people, much

given to pleasure, but we knew our gods and took them

seriously. I remain satisfied that in no way did we renege

on our rituals prior to the calamity. In fact our religious

exercises had become more detailed as our wealth and

power waxed, and many more youths of either sex were

sacrificed in the bull-leapings than had been done in prior

centuries. Almost every year we had a champion who

performed so well as to complete the leap uninjured and

in perfect form. Had the Earth Mother chosen to rebuke

us, she should have done it long ago, before our faith and

technique were perfect. Almost, it seems, our very

closeness to our subject was our undoing, for the farther

away any given city was from Thera, the less it suffered.

So I am forced to a conclusion that counters the faith of

my lifetime: Our Gods do not care. Our worship was

vain, not because the object was false, as it demonstrably

was not, but because of our conceit that anything we

might offer could have any conceivable ameliorating

effect on that arrogant Power. We are as ants before the

hoof of the bull: neither our love nor our hate can miti-

gate the weight and placement of that deadly tread. We

were fools ever to think otherwise, and we have paid the

ultimate price.

Oh, scholar, honor then my charge: Build not on the

flank of the Bull. Delude not yourself about the propen-

sities of the Beast, by whatever guise it manifests.

Imagine not that you can propitiate it by dances or

offerings or prayer, lest that monster heave without

reason or warning and destroy all that you have wrought.

CHAPTER 15

^

CRISIS

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8; Attention.

[No answer.]

StofM.??

[No answer.]

Don looked up. Splendid was back. He had continued

translating aloud, from habit and for Melanie's benefit (if

she tuned in), and knew that the mermaid had heard enough.

' 'Do you know,'' Melanie said after a moment,' 'we have

already built on the flank of the bull. We call it the Bomb."

Don nodded, though she could not see him. "It's a bigger

bull than that. Nuclear power has enormous advantages and

equivalent liabilities. But it's only one facet of the danger to

our species and world. We are overrunning the planet,

enslaving or destroying all other species. The climate is

changing, deserts are being made, the sea is dying. Maybe

we are the bull, this time. The world is too small for us. But

we have no way to get off. Nowhere to go."

EXCEPT TO GO TO JUPITER, Splendid wrote.

"Maybe so," Don agreed after reading her words to

Melanie. "I'll do what I can—for Eleph and Jupiter." Yet

he suffered a background doubt. Could this be all of it? Just

289

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to come here and read the Minoan warning? Meet the

mermaid? These things somehow seemed incidental to

whatever mission might have been set up. Who had set it

up? And what had gone wrong? Why had Pacifa seemingly

arranged to isolate him here, by taking the ropes and not

returning? Where was Caspar, and why was he maintaining

radio silence in the face of this situation?

Pi-ja's story might be over, but Don's wasn't. And it

might not have any happier ending. Key pieces were

missing.

Splendid swam to the edge of the deck, then hovered,

waiting for him to let himself down. By the time he was

ready to ride from the ship, she had another message:

ONE STRANGE THING. WE FOUND TRACES IN

THE SHIP. NO BONES, BUT METAL BELTS AND

JEWELRY. IT SEEMED TO US THAT THE ARTIFACTS

NEAR THE CACHE OF TABLETS WERE FEMALE.

For a moment Don was stunned. Then he shook it off.

"That narrative was written by a man."

She paused to write again. THERE IS TROUBLE IN

YOUR CAMP. WE DON'T KNOW THE MOTIVES OF

THE OTHERS, BUT TRUST YOU.

"Well, thanks. Splendid. But I have no idea what's going

on."

YES, YOU ARE INNOCENT.

That, it seemed, was his prime recommendation.

Splendid swam ahead, and he followed, riding rapidly

across the rocky floor of the sea. She led him down the

trench below the ship, then up out of the canyon by a

winding path and onto a broad plain. In a surprisingly short

time they arrived at the mer-colony.

The artifacts were not impressive. A cluster of cylindrical

tanks evidently deposited by submarine and camouflaged so

as to be difficult to spot from above. Several vertical nets,

perhaps intended to strain fish out of the moving

current—or possibly a kind of defense, as there weren't

many fish in this freshwater enclave. And the mer-people

themselves: seven or eight women and about a dozen men.

All were well proportioned, the women running to large

breasts, the men to powerful chests. Don realized that this

might not be a matter of mammary or muscle. They

probably needed extraordinary lung capacity to make use of

the meager oxygen in the water, and a padding of fat to

protect their vital organs, accounting for their notable

attributes. The men had no visible genitals, but did have a

kind of codpiece effect in the arrangement of their scales.

Streamlining, of course.

Then he saw the submarine. Similar to the one they had

encountered before. Don felt an apprehensive chill. It was

coming clear how the mer-people had known about the

status of the ropes. The sub had indeed kept track of the

party. Had it found a way to mess up the other members,

perhaps taking them captive one by one? Was this a trap for

one more? "They have a sub," he murmured to Melanie.

Splendid tried to reassure him. WE KNOW YOU SAW

ONE OF OUR PERIMETER GUARDS. THE MACHINE

IS HERE TO HELP YOU. ONLY 'IT CAN LEAD THE

WAY OUT OF THE TRENCH. TRUST US AS WE

TRUST YOU.

Well put! Of course they had submarines; how else could

this colony be supplied! It was now to the interest of the

Chinese to assist him—or to kill him. If Caspar or Pacifa

had gotten away and could not be stopped, then only Don or

Melanie could speak in favor of this mer-project. But his

intuition told him that these folk were not hostile to his

mission; they were coincidental to it. Splendid seemed like

a fine creature. He had to trust them. They only wanted to

be left alone to complete their project. He hoped.

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Then he realized what Splendid meant. "Oh—to hitch a

ride!" For the submarine could go where the mer-people

couldn't, into the cold salt water. The cliffs of the trench

would be no barrier to it.

Splendid laughed in her silent way, then looked thought-

ful. The other mer-people did not understand English; at

least they did not react. Had Splendid told them about the

phase?

THE GLOVE—Splendid wrote.

"The balloons. Of course. If I can have a handhold, and

carry my bike too—''

"Is that safe?" Melanie asked. "I was always warned

against hitching rides on trucks—with a bike, I mean."

"Safer than climbing those cliffs without anchored ropes!

The sub could cut my time in half!"

"But if it dropped you—"

"I'd smash. I wish you hadn't brought that up, Melanie.

But I have to trust them. And I do. Just from knowing

Splendid, I'm convinced they're—"

"Oh?" Melanie interjected with a certain emphasis. He'd

have to stop mentioning the mermaid!

"I wish I could stay and really study their c-culture," he

said a bit lamely. "There are mermen here too, you know.

Tritons. It's a whole v-village."

"So I gather." She seemed mollified.

HERE ARE CHARTS, Splendid wrote. THEY WILL

HELP YOU. CAN YOU CARRY THEM? COPYING

WOULD TAKE A LONG TIME.

' 'Can you fold them tight and put them in a small packet?

I could carry that wrapped in a balloon."

"So you did use a balloon," Melanie said accusingly.

"N-not the way you th-think!"

"N-no?" she mimicked. "Just how do you think I think?

And you were'being so upset about my being on the pill!"

Splendid, meanwhile, went to one of the mermen to

explain, using sign language Don could not follow. The

man's face was expressive. First he nodded agreeably. Then

his brow furrowed. Then he looked angry.

"Uh-oh," Don murmured to Melanie. "I think that triton

she's talking to is her mate, and now he has a notion about

the balloon too."

"Serves you right," Melanie said gleefully. "Hey, mer-

man! Let me tell you about—"

Don hastily snapped off the radio. As if he didn't have

problems enough! Melanie might be teasing him, since

Splendid had already explained things, but such words

could be dangerous.

Soon the job was done, despite the glower of the

muscular triton. Don was glad to see the sub lift, so that he

could tie on firmly to the rail at its base.

Splendid waved good-bye, one breast heaving in unison

with her arm, as sub, bike, and man rose into the sea. Don

didn't wave back, as he had to hang on and the triton still

looked extremely ugly.

The journey itself was almost disappointing. The subma-

rine lifted high, so that the opacity of sea water closed in and

fogged out sight of land. Don soon lost his bearings, and had

to depend on the changing coordinates on his meter. His

head brushed the bottom of the sub, and passed through it,

reminding him distressingly how slight his support was. If

even one balloon gave way—but of course it wouldn't.

He looked ahead, but there was only the great light

spearing out, now and then impaling stray fish. That made

Don wonder where Glowcloud was. He missed the giant

mollusk.

He had underestimated the capacity of the sub. It plowed

through the water at phenomenal velocity, though with

almost no sound. It felt like fifty miles an hour, but was

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probably closer to twenty five. The Chinese had to know

more about the construction of such machines than the other

nations suspected. He was glad that he saw no evidence of

missile or torpedo ports. He wanted to believe this was a

peaceful project.

In just two hours they glided to land in the shallows just

north of Jamaica. They had agreed to stand by for two days

in case he needed more help. A slate was provided for

messages. It turned out that the sub had not been able to tune

in on the phase radio; their communications had been

private all along. But it could pick up the sounds of their

travel, so had known their whereabouts. It was amazing the

cooperation Splendid had been able to arrange. "An apple

a day keeps the depth bombs away," Don muttered a bit

cynically.

He disengaged, took down his balloons, used them to tie

the charts low on the bike frame, and pedaled through the

base of the sub. His fully-phased upper section encountered

only trace resistance, and the balloons and charts were now

below the sub, experiencing only the drag of the water. He

was curious about something. Yes! Regular human beings

were manning the sub, not tritons. Their faces turned to him

in amazement as he waved and coasted out the far side.

Now, abruptly, he was nervous. What had happened to

Eleph? What were Gaspar and/or Pacifa up to?

He stopped after a couple of miles, waiting silently to see

whether the sub was trailing him. Meanwhile he used the

balloon-gloves to fumble open the package of charts. It

made an uncomfortable resistance as he rode, because the

charts were of the same phase as the water. But they were

remarkably detailed, much better than the maps they had

been using. The colony must have supervised a really

thorough survey.

Two routes were marked through the complex trench

terrain, calculated to avoid cliffs of more than six foot

elevation. Either would have cut many hours off his

journey.

As it was, he would arrive less than four hours after

Eleph's terse call, instead of fifty. That was very good.

The sub did not seem to be following. Reassured, Don

resumed his ride, centering on the depot coordinates. He

slowed again when within a mile. Eleph must have had good

reason for advising caution, before that abrupt cutoff. Yet

Gaspar and Pacifa were nice people, under their sometimes

crusty exteriors. Why should either make trouble?

But when he moved quietly to the depot, there was only

one figure there. "Melanie!"

"Don! How—?"

"The mer-folk gave me a lift, so I'm back much sooner."

She waited for him to draw close, then stepped into his

embrace. "I'm sorry I was so bitchy," she said. "This

business—''

"That mermaid—there really wasn't—"

"I know. I was so lonely for you, and then when I had

you on the radio, all I did was quarrel with you. I've never

been in—I mean, I don't know how to handle emotion

like—"

"I have a notion," he said. He hugged her tight.

Then they kissed. Maybe it was the excitement of his fast,

unusual trip back, or maybe the heightened emotions of

their argument, or maybe just her. It was like the discovery

of the Minoan Manuscript.

But there was pressing business. "What's been happen-

ing? Where are the others?"

"I don't know. I don't think Gaspar and Eleph ever came

back here, and Pacifa must have gone to join them. She told

me to wait here while she checked around, and then she was

gone. I've been going crazy, worrying."

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"Do you think their radio silence means anything?"

"It must. But what?"

"I don't think it has anything much to do with the

mer-colony," he said. "They seem innocent."

"How would you know?" she asked sharply.

He spread his hands. "I guess I don't."

"Well, I believe it. They helped you return here in record

time, and that's a monstrous relief to me. And your splendid

fishwife—with nerve like hers, why should she bother lying

to an innocent like you?"

"But if it's something else—some other crisis—why the

radio silence? I mean, if someone got hurt, they'd call for

help."

"I don't know," Melanie said, frustrated. "But there

certainly is something, and it has to involve Pacifa, because

she deliberately stranded you there at the ship, she thought.

Maybe Caspar is in on it too. So Eleph tried to warn us."

"But Pacifa is a good person! She wouldn't—"

She laughed somewhat bitterly. "Men of any age aren't

very smart about women of any age. Women aren't dumb

about women. Though how I managed to fall for that

business about taking up the ropes—"

"But if all of you were planning to come back, then the

ropes would have been placed again."

"Only that evidently wasn't the plan. I'd have had to do

it alone, and I'm not competent. I was isolated too, except

for the radio, and I didn't dare blab my suspicions there."

"So what do you think—?"

"I think Pacifa had a mission from the start, and

separating us had something to do with it, and now she's

completing it—and we'd better find out what it is and stop

her, before—"

He nodded. "All we can do is look for them—carefully."

She looked at his bicycle. "What is that?"

"Oh, the mer-folk gave me some charts of the area, so I

can find my way around. They were going to show me the

best routes, but then they gave me the lift on their sub, but

I took the charts anyway, because they know something's

wrong and want to help. They said I would need them. I—I

made a deal. They're just testing how adaption works under

pressure, so they can adapt people for colonizing Jupiter.

Now that their presence here is known, they want America

to know that's all there is to it. I promised to do my best

to—"

"Yes, of course. Let's take a look."

He used the balloon-gloves and opened the charts again.

They were indeed detailed; they were contour maps with

special sites marked, such as the mer-colony, the Minoan

ship, and the extent of the freshwater region. Also the

supply depot.

"They didn't need to follow us," Melanie said. "They

knew where we were going, all the time."

"And they didn't interfere," Melanie said. "Unless that

other depot—?"

"We didn't see any evidence that anything had ever been

there," he reminded her. "I think that was our own

fouiup—I mean, whoever set up this mission."

"Yes. We still don't know who hired us, or for what."

She peered more closely. "What's that?" She poked her

finger through the chart without touching it.

He looked. "Two dots. Not far from here, by bike.

Another supply depot?''

"That's not the depot symbol."

Now he saw something else. "Look—there's one dot at

the ship. And one here. Where we have been."

"Those dots are people! One for you. One for me. And

two others."

"Where's the fifth?" he asked.

298 Piers Anthony

They looked, but could not find a fifth dot. "They

marked every member of our party by location, and kept it

right up to date," she said. "But one of us is missing."

"Eleph?"

"He couldn't have been alone, because he didn't have a

good radio. And someone cut him off. So he must be one of

the two."

"Then that's where I have to go. Since I'm two days

faster than anyone expects, my arrival may be a surprise.

Maybe I can leam from him just what's going on."

"I'm coming too!" she said.

"But there may be danger."

"What safety is there in being alone? I've had more than

enough of it, these past two days."

"Glad to have you with me," he agreed.

They set off for the two dots, radios remaining off Don

wasn't sure whether to be glad for the murky water; it

prevented him from seeing far ahead, but also shielded him

from the view of others. He took care to make no noise as

they approached the place marked, and hooded his light. But

he had to have some light to see, as the site was low enough

to be dark.

He gestured to Melanie to stay back. Then he moved

directly to the dots.

A tent was there, pitched onto a slope as if to allow for

drainage. Don felt about himself—then realized with a

shock that he was actually searching for some kind of

weapon! What would he do with a weapon? If he had a gun,

he wouldn't know at whom to point it, and wouldn't have

the nerve to shoot it. He was just here to find out what was

going on.

Still, if Caspar were in on it—the man was powerful and

stubborn, and experienced under the water. Don was very

poorly equipped to tangle—

MERCYCLE               299

This was ridiculous! Don nerved himself and hailed the

tent. "Hello!"

There was no response. But he saw the wheel of a

bicycle. Eleph's, by the look of it.

"Eleph!" he cried, going in.

Eleph was there—but he was unconscious. Don tried to

shake the man awake, but had no success. Apparently he

had been drugged.

There was no sign of the other person. Who had done

this? Had Eleph been left here to die? No, the tent had been

carefully pitched, open on both ends to channel the gentle

current through, providing oxygen. Food packages and

water were in easy reach. When Eleph woke, he would have

no trouble getting along. He had merely been put out of the

way for a few hours. Just as Pacifa had tried to isolate Don

and Melanie.

Don cast about for an antidote, but realized that without

specific knowledge of the drug used, it would be dangerous

for him to tamper. Pacifa had had something that lasted for

about four hours; she had used it to put Eleph out, so that

they could set his arm. This was probably the same. The

man seemed to be resting comfortably.

Don went out and signaled Melanie in. He explained the

situation. ' 'One of them must have drugged him, after he

called me. That was about five hours ago, so the drug should

be wearing off soon."

"They never expected you back this fast," she said. "Or

that you'd have a chart that gave you this location. So he

must have been drugged to prevent him from taking off

while the other person went on some errand. This is our

chance to do something."

"Yes, but do what? By the time he wakes, the other will

be back."

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"Unless we wake him sooner." She knelt by Eleph and

patted his face.

"That won't work. I shook him, and—"

"He's coming to!" she exclaimed. "Come on, get him

up on his feet. Time is critical."

Don obeyed. He hauled on Eleph, forgetting about the

man's arm, while Melanie helped from the other side. They

got him into a sitting position. Eleph groaned and opened

his eyes.

Slowly he recognized Don. He smiled. "Get me to my

feet," he said with difficulty. "That will make it wear off

more rapidly. My head is spinning—it seems like only hours

since I called you."

"It was," Melanie said. "What happened, Eleph?"

But the man was holding his breath to keep from crying

out with pain as they struggled to get him up. It was

complicated because of the confined space and the three

bikes and the man's injury. But soon they were tramping

back and forth between parked bicycles.

"Who drugged you?" Don asked.

"Caspar. But do not blame him. He was trying to give

Pacifa time."

"What did I tell you!" Melanie exclaimed. "What's she

up to? Is it the mer-colony?''

"He doesn't know about that yet," Don reminded her.

Eleph winced, but not from physical pain. "I am sorry,

Don. I do know. I have not been candid with you."

"That is the understatement of the mission," Gaspar said

behind them.

Don whirled around, inadvertently yanking Eleph. If he

had had any notion of catching anyone unawares, the

initiative had now been reversed. Gaspar was unencum-

bered, while Don and Melanie had to support Eleph. Not

that either would have been any match for the man,

physically, under any circumstances.

"What are you talking about?" Melanie demanded.

"Why did you drug this man?" Don asked almost at the

same time. "Why have you been keeping radio silence,

when the sub couldn't intercept it?"

"We had reason," Caspar said, maintaining a distance of

about six feet. ' 'Pacifa and I knew something was up. Both

of you were straight, obviously. But we suspected that

Eleph wasn't what he seemed. So we arranged to isolate

him."

"So Pacifa is in on it," Melanie said. "And she's fooled

Gaspar."

"Why did Pacifa remove my return ropes?" Don de-

manded. "The two of you have been acting a lot more

suspiciously than Eleph ever did!"

"She had to be sure you stayed put, until we had a chance

to work this thing out," Gaspar said evenly. "We would

have preferred to have Melanie stay with you at the ship, but

the mermaid complicated that, so Pacifa brought her back."

"Work what thing out?" Don was getting angry now..

"The fact that Eleph represents a foreign universe."

"What?" Don and Melanie said together. Don wasn't

sure which of them was more vehement.

"Not exactly foreign," Eleph said. "And not inimical."

"Will you tell the truth now?" Caspar asked him.

"I must have appropriate clearance. Give me my com-

municator."

Gaspar shook his head. "And let you call in an alien

strike? No way."

Don could hardly believe this. Eleph was some kind of

agent?

"Where's Pacifa?" Melanie inquired urgently.

Don realized that this was relevant. Pacifa had every

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reason to be here, and her absence was as ominous as

Eleph's admission.

"I know," Eleph said, looking at his watch. "She

departed twelve hours ago for your home base on land. We

have to stop her!"

"You can't stop her," Caspar said. "You could never

keep up with her, let alone make up that hundred mile head

start. None of us could."

Don thought of the waiting Chinese submarine. He could

catch her—if he had to. But he was hardly going to advertise

that to Caspar now! "Why is she doing that?"

' 'Because someone has to notify our government that our

world is being infiltrated by alien agents."

Don would have laughed had he not been so concerned.

"You sound the way I thought Eleph did, once! And Pacifa

was the one always talking about Cuba. But now you're

both accusing Eleph! What evidence do you have—for

anything?"

"This," Caspar said. He brought out a small object. "Do

you recognize it?''

"A locket," Melanie said. "Eleph's; he wears it on a

chain around his neck."

"But it's phased," Caspar finished. "Otherwise I could

hardly handle it like this, could I! He has had it all along."

"A phased locket," Melanie said. "Of course it is; it

went through the tunnel with him. What's wrong with

that?"

"Watch." Caspar touched a finger to the little locket, and

it sprang open. "Merely a ruse, you see. A tiny transceiver,

not the kind we carry. Do you know what it is tuned to?"

No one answered. Caspar turned it on.

'Wo, I'm afraid that won't work," a woman's voice was

saying faintly. ' 'They have electronic guards. If I try to

phase through, the alarm will sound.''

"But there is a world at stake!" a gruff man's voice

responded. "You have to get through!"

' "There are a million worlds at stake,'' she retorted. * 'Do

you mean to risk them all for the sake of this one?"

There was a pause. ' 'Sorry, I'm overtired. Near the end of

my shift, and we lost three more during it. Very well, you 're

on the spot. Better your way. Off.''

There was another pause. Then: "Proxy 5-12-5-16-12:

Attention.''

' 'Acknowledging.''

"Status?"

' 'Extreme doubt. They have sought to imprison me.''

' 'But your mission was going well!''

' 'This was illusory. I now realize that they were playing

me along, hoping to capture my technology. They refuse to

heed my message.''

"Then we must terminate your mission."

"I'm afraid this is the case. I regret my failure."

"Stand by for recovery.''

There was another pause. Then another call for a proxy,

by a different number.

Caspar clicked it off. "That goes on continuously," he

said. "That's the net that Eleph is on. Always different,

always the same. Crisis to crisis. Worlds blowing up. A real

alien invasion. If they don't subvert a world, they destroy

it."

"No!" Eleph cried. "That's not it at all!"

Don looked at him, appalled. "The city! The ship! You

set this all up! Why—?"

"Something we'd all like to know," Caspar said. "But

he won't talk."

"Now, wait, give Eleph a chance," Melanie protested.

"He said he would explain, if he gets clearance."

"Tell me how you make contact," Caspar said.

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"Let me sit down," Eleph said. "I am not in good form

at the moment."

"Of course," Melanie said solicitously. She and Don

helped him get comfortable.

"I am of Earth," Eleph said. "I am human, and of this

culture. You can verify this by the language: it is the same

on my communicator. But not this Earth. I have come to

save your world. That is all I can tell you, without

clearance."

"You are not getting your hands on this radio!" Gaspar

said.

"Maybe you can answer for him," Melanie suggested.

"For the clearance."

Caspar was surprised. "Eleph?"

Eleph nodded. "It will have to do. It is difficult to

distinguish individual voices on this circuit. Turn it on, and

when you hear this world's number, acknowledge."

"Number?"

"Proxy 5-12-5-16-8. I am the proxy for this alternate

world, which is one of twenty in this frame."

"What's that number again?"

"Perhaps the mnemonic will help. If you number the

alphabet, with the letter A' being the number one, and B

number two, and so on, it spells out ELEPH. 5-12-5-

16-8."

"Got it," Gaspar said. "And how do I report?"

"You will be asked for your status. Then simply say that

you request permission to clarify the mission for the locals.

It will be granted. Then I can tell you."

"If you know it will be granted," Melanie asked, "why

not simply tell us now?''

"We have to coordinate. Central must know the status of

each mission constantly, especially when one is in trouble."

Caspar shrugged and turned on the special radio.

"... political situation here is deteriorating, and I'll

need central guidance, if I haven't blown it already. The

president will not be moved on this issue, and unless I reveal

myself—"

"No! You know that is out of the question, in this

situation.''

"But there is a diminishing chance that—"

"OVERRIDE!" a man's voice cut in. "I have failed. The

alternate faction has launched a full strike.''

"Phase out!"

"No. It was my miscalculation. I must remain. Just put a

prohibition for all remaining—''

There was a ghastly sound that abruptly cut off. Eleph

winced.

In a moment the first man's voice resumed. "GENERAL

OVERRIDE: Option fifty twenty one demonstrated ineffec-

tive. Proxy lost. Prohibition for that course for all alternates

within—" Unintelligible gabble followed. Then the man

resumed normal transmission. "Attention, 16-19. Word

from Central: appeal to his vanity. Do you require detail?"

"Not yet. Off."

Gaspar looked at the others. "This can continue for-

ever!"

"No; they check each proxy frequently," Eleph said.

Sure enough, a few minutes later the number came.

Proxy 5-12-5-16-8: Attention.

Caspar jumped. "Acknowledging."

Status?

"Permission to inform locals of mission."

"16-8, why have you not acknowledged recent calls?"

"The locals made me captive," Gaspar said with a

straight face. "Now I must explain the mission if I am to

have further access to this radio."

Do so. We shall call again. Off.

306                Piers Anthony

Caspar looked at Eleph, who nodded. "The essence is

simple," he said. "There are a seemingly infinite number of

alternate worlds, the adjacent ones very similar to each

other. But a considerable number of them face a life-

destroying threat. It is a particular type of meteor that—''

"A calcium meteor?" Gaspar asked.

"Why yes. It—"

"It grazes the atmosphere and fragments, interacting with

the water of the planet, forming calcium oxide. Not too

much damage to the physical features, if it powders thinly

enough, other than crusting them. But most or even all of

the water could be gone."

"What are you talking about?" Don asked.

"The phase world," Gaspar said. "I've thought about

that quite a bit. It's just like ours, only without water,

therefore without life. If a meteor with a dark shell

came, the telescopes could miss it until too late, and we

couldn't stop it anyway. We don't have the technology to

intercept something that massive and fast. But there's one

thing I can't figure. That world should be buried in ash,

especially in the ocean basins. Miles deep, perhaps. That's

obviously not the case here. Calcium oxide is fierce stuff.

Touch it and you're burned."

"The ash is there," Eleph said. "The phase takes care of

that, too. The ashes are phased out, leaving only the stripped

world for us to relate to."

"The phase," Gaspar agreed. "Of course. And the

weight of that ash prevents the sea-floor from rebounding,

so it still matches our world almost exactly."

"I thought you were against him," Melanie said to

Gaspar.

"I just want to know the truth," Gaspar replied evenly.

"He brought us on this wild chase. There has to be a

reason."

MERCYCLE               307

"You mean you're the one who set this up?" Don asked,

surprised.

"I am," Eleph said. "This is another world facing the

disaster of the comet. But this is not the normal type of

collision, such as generated the waves of extinctions includ-

ing those of the dinosaurs. This is a fluke that will

extinguish all life on Earth. Indeed it has done so, on

countless worlds, and is proceeding to others."

"Wait," Don said. \'If it has already happened, where

it's going to, then we're out of danger, right?"

"Not so. The worlds differ slightly in time as well as

substance. The meteor has already struck some, is striking

others, and will strike the rest, in this sector of the spread.

We know this, because we are seeing it happen. It is my

mission to warn your world of this threat, so that it can

expend its effort and resources to save itself."

"Why not just tell our leaders?" Caspar asked. "Why go

through this convoluted business of exploring under the

ocean? We aren't significant people! We can't do anything

about it."

"That is the crux," Eleph said. "We have been trying,

literally, to save worlds, with a poor record for success. The

true leaders of the world are generally inaccessible, both

physically and intellectually. In America, a man cannot

simply walk into the president's office and tell him to

change his policies to save the world. The same is true in

other parts of the world. Since considerable short-term

sacrifice is required, even if the politician understood the

need, he would be unlikely to act, because his first concern

is the security of his office. We did try this route, and got

nowhere, as our ongoing reports from other worlds demon-

strates."

"Well, then, why not be more direct?" Melanie asked. "I

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mean, if you have the technology, land in the capital city in

a shining space ship, or something."

"I can answer that," Gaspar said, smiling. "Such a ship

would get blasted out of the air before it landed."

"It has happened," Eleph said. "We have also tried

sending messages to key figures. So far these have either

been ineffective, or have destabilized the political situation

so that mischief results."

"Such as nuclear warfare!" Don exclaimed, remember-

ing part of the radio sequence of reports.

"Precisely," Eleph said. "While such events are not the

disasters they may seem, in view of the coming total

destruction by another cause, they do represent failures of

our policy. It is our purpose to save worlds, not to hasten

their destruction. So I am trying a completely different

route. I am attempting to demonstrate the reality of the

alternate world framework to a select group of ordinary

residents of this world. If I can convince them, then they

may be able to convince their world. That is, you can

convince yours. Your world may listen to you, when it

would not listen to me."

"But what has archaeology to do with this?" Don

demanded.

"You, as an archaeologist, are able to appreciate the

reality of the knowledge I was able to draw on, from my

contact with the larger framework of worlds. I routed the

party to the Yucatan ruins, and then to the Minoan ship. You

know how the phase works, and that the information it

provides is genuine, not cobbled together. You believe.

Also, you are in a better position to understand the cultures

of other worlds that are not virtually identical to this one."

"But I have no power to influence anyone!" Don

protested.

"Yes you do. You can convince Gaspar."

"But Gaspar can't influence anyone either!"

"Yes he can," Eleph said. "He is an agent of your

government. They will give his report credence. Especially

when he shows them the ruins and the ship, and you

publicize your interpretation of the manuscript. When the

four of you together speak in a way that I could not. They

will see that the government takes my message seriously. In

that may be the salvation of your world."

Melanie was aghast. "What a roundabout route!"

"Yes," Eleph said. "I knew you would reject it if you

didn't leam much of it yourselves. So I specified the

coordinates, and arranged other challenges whose purpose

was to make you interact and leam to rely on each other and

to trust each other. This process we call melding. It seemed

to be working—until it abruptly went wrong."

"It was working," Melanie murmured, glancing sidelong

at Don.

"But there are holes in it," Gaspar said.

"Holes?" Don asked. "You didn't see that ship!"

"I didn't need to. Consider this, Don: if the calcium

meteor destroyed all the water and wiped out life and in the

process even leveled those ruins off Yucatan so that we

could walk right through them—why did it leave your ship?

That wooden vessel would have been completely destroyed,

and certainly no documents would have survived."

Don was stricken. That was true!

"The ruins were not destroyed by the meteor," Eleph

said. "That world was further advanced archaeologically

than this one. Both ruins and ship were excavated. But for

this purpose, we arranged to have a similar ship phased back

in from a third world, complete, to match the one here. The

ship is genuine—but the one in the phase world is not from

this world. It is merely a prop to enable you to explore the

real one. The manuscript is genuine too, as you can tell."

310 Piers Anthony

Eleph paused, looking tired. "Now if you can satisfy

Gaspar of that, we may yet recover this mission and save

your world. You are the key, Don; it depends on you."

Don looked around. He was convinced. But how could he

satisfy the others?

MISSION

Caspar frowned. "If what you say is true, we must

cooperate with you to save our world."

Eleph nodded. "This is the case."

Now Don remembered how Eleph had hesitated when

they had discussed governmental foul-ups, including the

exploding shuttle and the wrong-shaped mirrors on the

telescope. Eleph had not known of these episodes—because

he was not from this world! His world would have had

different episodes.

"But first we have to believe you," Caspar said. "And

I'm not sure I do. There are too many oddities. Such as the

mermaid Pacifa described."

"Splendid," Don said. "She helped me translate the

tablets."

"And he goosed her," Melanie said.

"What's a mermaid doing there?"

"They are Chinese," Don said. "Learning how to

colonize Jupiter. The sub is theirs—bringing supplies,

protecting them. They mean no harm to us, and should be

left alone."

"How do you know?" Caspar asked.

Don shrugged. "I have no reason to doubt. They helped

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me get here quickly. They could have dropped me and killed

me, if they wanted to stop me. I did get to know Splendid

somewhat, and I believe she's sincere."

"But the chances of their being right there by that

ship—"

"That was not coincidence," Eleph said. "The freshwa-

ter outflow is ideal for both the colony and the ship, and

they were interested in the ship anyway. And Jupiter is part

of the answer."

"Answer?"

"The mer-colony was to be the last challenge for this

group, before you learned of the mission. Once you saw that

it is possible for man to adapt for residence on another

planet, and understood how much can be done when there is

dedication. Then, I believed, you would be ready to grasp

the greatest of all: the saving of your world."

"How can it be saved?" Melanie asked.

"Any living things that are to be saved will have to

depart Earth, and it is not possible to build enough space-

ships for the whole population of human beings, animals,

and plants. But Jupiter could serve as a substantial base for

adapted creatures. Ordinary ocean denizens could be

adapted more readily. They could be ferried there by the

shipful."

"Couldn't everyone be put through the phase tunnel to a

safe alternate?" Melanie asked.

' 'No. The phasing is an extremely limited resource, to be

used only for those who are trying to save worlds. I was the

only one to cross to this world, with my equipment for the

recruits."

"Why not simply blow up the meteor?" Gaspar asked.

"That is another possibility. But it would require a

phenomenal unified effort, because your technology is

barely at the ftecessary level. It would be better to transfer

as many people, animals, and plants to other sites as

possible, in case that is not effective." Eleph took a breath.

"The point is, your world can surely be saved—if it makes

a concerted effort. But first your leaders must believe in the

necessity, and organize the effort."

"And other worlds have not made that effort?" Gaspar

asked.

"They have not. So the worlds are being lost."

"Because they don't believe," Don said.

"Or don't choose to," Melanie said. "I read about a girl,

once. She was grabbed in a shopping center and hauled into

a car, and no one objected. Later she managed to get away,

and ran screaming down the highway, half naked, and no

one stopped to help. Two days later they found her raped

and strangled body in a ditch. She was ten years old."

There was a silence. What better comment was there on

the nature of man? Knowledge of trouble was not enough.

There had to be leadership. Would I have stopped to help?

Don asked himself, and did not know the answer.

"Nobody will stop to save a world," Melanie said.

"How much time—before the meteor?" Gaspar asked.

"For this world, ten years."

"It couldn't be done in that time, even if everybody

believed and acted," Gaspar said.

"It could—with technological advice from more ad-

vanced worlds. But it will be extremely close."

Gaspar shook his head. "I can't say I believe you, Eleph.

But I don't think I can take the chance. Will you talk to my

superiors if I take you to them? Will you open your

communications to them? Show your technology to our

experts?''

"Yes, if the rest of this party will speak for my sincerity

and tell what you have seen."

"Then we'd better intercept Pacifa before she reaches

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Florida and makes a report that brings a force to arrest or

destroy us," Caspar said. "We thought that you were

working with the Chinese subs to establish a base here to

compromise American interests. You won't be able to

persuade anybody of your mission, once she reports that and

they send a military force to take out the colony."

"No!" Don cried. "That's what the mer-folk are afraid

of. I promised them—"

"How well I know," Eleph said. "My whole effort was

to persuade the four of you first, so that you would help me

to persuade your world. Other approaches are failing, but I

hoped that this personal approach would provide me that

necessary channel. I need exactly the right key to alert the

right people in the right way. Then it becomes possible."

"It's an odd device," Caspar said. "I agree with your

radio contacts there."

"Well, it worked for me," Melanie said. "I believe

Eleph, because I've come to know him. If you hadn't been

so paranoid—''

Caspar smiled. "I was infiltrated into this mission

because my superiors were paranoid."

"I can intercept Pacifa," Don said. "The sub will help

me, and I can get to the tunnel she used before she does, and

stop her." Then he hesitated. "It is still there?"

"Yes," Eleph said. "It is a single unit, left there for our

return."

Melanie was perplexed. "Now wait. I can see how you

handled the interviews and all, with your fuzzed-up voice.

You could have taken your tunnel-generating unit to Don

and then to Caspar and then to me. But you were the fourth

person through. How did you get it to Pacifa?"

Eleph smiled. ' 'I wished to conceal my nature, in case of

suspicion, until the group had proper chance to meld. That

was evidently' ineffective, as my present situation demon-

strates. So I went to Pacifa and sent her through with

instructions to practice her phase technique, until the

designated time for rendezvous several days later. Then I

went through myself and rode down the highway to my own

coordinates. It was a simple ploy."

"Which Pacifa saw through, when she reflected on it,"

Caspar said. "So she knew the tunnel was still there."

Eleph nodded. "She is an intelligent woman. I deeply

regret—" He did not finish.

Caspar smiled. ' 'She likes you too, Eleph. She was sorry

to learn of your alien involvement. But her first loyalty is to

her own world."

"Which I am trying to save."

"I'll have to load up on supplies, though," Don said. "I

don't want to be caught hungry."

They went as a group to the depot. "Your direct route is

to cut east of Cuba, while Pacifa circles it to the west,"

Caspar said. "She won't go to the Yucatan, but will ride up

into the Cuban coastal water if she has to. Once she

intersects our prior route north of Cuba, she'll be sure other

destination. Unless that sub takes you to the Bahamas

platform, you'll still have trouble beating her there."

"I'll do what I can," Don said.

"And your bike may fail. Your rear wheel is warped."

"Yours is no better," Don said.

"Mine is available," Eleph said. "It should not be

difficult to adjust it to you."

Don considered the offer. "I'd feel more comfortable on

my own bike. Thirty six speeds would just confuse me."

"Now you're being stubborn," Melanie said. "I'll bet

Eleph's bicycle weighs half yours, and so does Pacifa's.

You're an idiot if you race her using your old rattletrap."

Don had to concede the merit of the case. "Okay. Eleph's

bike."

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Eleph instructed Don on the proper use of the various

mechanisms, while Caspar selected and loaded supplies.

They set the seat and handlebars and adjusted the pedal

straps. The taped metal in lieu of handgrips was disquieting,

as was the narrow saddle, and it all felt ludicrously

off-center, forcing him to hunch way over. The toe straps

made him fear for his equilibrium should he need to put out

a foot suddenly, and the reversed handles seemed impossi-

ble to use effectively. The entire machine felt strange, with

everything not quite where it should be and with a different

feel to the action. How was he going to steer this thing, let

alone ride it? He regretted allowing himself to be brow-

beaten into the change.

But before he could formulate an effective resistance, he

was on his way. Once the bike was in motion, it seemed to

make much more sense. He was able to ride, and that was

what counted. He concentrated on cadence and ankling and

shifting gears and guiding it with his hands set in near the

stem, so he wouldn't have to lean over quite so far. He

practiced pulling up on the pedals as well as pushing down,

a trick impossible without these toestraps.

It seemed he had only started, but he looked up to find

himself already at the submarine. He slid two fingers over

each brake lever and coasted to a beautiful stop, even

remembering to disengage his feet from the straps in time.

He was becoming a pro! The feel of this bicycle was

growing on him.

There was a language difficulty, compounded by the

phase. Don tried to explain that he needed a ride across the

trench and as far around the island of Cuba as possible.

They did pick him up and move—only to deliver him

instead to the mer-colony.

Don simmered while the tritons stared at him contemp-

tuously. He was trying to save the colony too, as well as to

save the world, if only they would comprehend.

In due course Splendid appeared, swimming in from

elsewhere. She must have been at the ship, making further

notes from the tablets. She had been picking up on the

Minoan Linear A, evidently having a ready mind for

interpretation. He had been wrong to see her as mainly a

creature of myth and sex appeal.

Don explained the present-day situation to her, stressing

the need for speed. Pacifa had a one day start on him, and

she could travel faster, but his route would cut the distance

almost in half. If Pacifa averaged two hundred miles per

day, she would reach the base in nine or ten days. If Don

averaged a hundred and fifty a day, he could do it in seven

or eight, and just catch her. If the trench didn't stop him.

OUR MACHINES ARE NOT PERMITTED BEYOND

THE ENVIRONS OF THE TRENCHES, she wrote. ESPE-

CIALLY NOT NORTH OF CUBA, WHERE AMERICAN

PATROLS ARE HEAVY.

This made sense. Relations between America and China

were chronically mixed, with minor thaws and re-freezes

occurring periodically. A Chinese submarine there would be

asking for an Incident.

Yet his need was urgent. "If I don't catch that woman,

the Americans will learn about your colony, which she

thinks is part of a conspiracy to build a military base of

some bad sort within ready range of the continent. My

situation turns out to have only coincidental connection to

yours, and I hope to avoid mention of your presence here, or

to clarify its beneficial nature if it must be told. I know she

will be persuaded, but I must catch her before she reaches

the base in Florida and gives an alarm that could be very bad

for you."

Splendid conferred with the mers. Don reminded himself

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that these were carefully selected and modified and trained

people, but somehow his errant eyes kept centering on the

women, with their phenomenal breasts and clouds of hair

around their heads. Superficial characteristics, perhaps the

largess of the same surgery that had formed their tails and

modified their lungs and metabolism, but impressive re-

gardless. The eye of the human male was fashioned to lock

onto such things, and it was hard to resist this imperative. In

all the time he had worked closely with Splendid, he had

never become inured to the sight of her. Melanie's jealousy

had been justified to that extent.

But a woman was more than body, and a man's interest

was in the long run governed by more than that. Splendid

had in her fashion proved to Don that such a body, even had

it been fully human through to the feet, was not what he

sought for a permanent association. It wasn't that Splendid's

mind was bad, for it was excellent; it was that the peculiar-

ities of Melanie's personality were a better match for the

peculiarities of Don's own.

So why hadn't he said that to Melanie? Well, he would do

so, the first chance he had. He had his good radio installed

on Eleph's bicycle, and it was a private circuit.

Splendid swam toward him. YOU ARE CORRECT, she

wrote. WE MUST ASSIST YOU DESPITE THE DAN-

GER. THE SUB WILL TAKE YOU TO THE THOU-

SAND FATHOM DEPTH IN THE OLD BAHAMAS

CHANNEL, HERE.

She showed him on the map. It was well around Cuba,

about a third of the way along his route, and beyond the

trench. From there the channel was comparatively level all

the way up to Florida. That might well cut his time in half,

and provide him an ample margin.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, giving her a misty kiss that made

the jealous triton clench his fist. "That'll do it."

So the sub-lift resumed, though the mers were uneasy. It

seemed that the danger from foreign military patrols was

formidable, there in the Windward Passage between Cuba

and Haiti. But the colony's supply route came through there,

along the entire length of the Puerto Rico trench, so Don

suspected that their apprehension was exaggerated. Splen-

did might trust him, but the others did not.

For an hour he passed through the nebulous reaches of the

middle ocean levels. It was dull and hypnotic, and he was

tired, and he nodded off to sleep astride his bicycle.

Melanie stood before him, trim and pretty. She removed

her blouse, showing her bra, and then opened the bra to

reveal her breasts. "How do these compare to the fish-

wife's?" she asked.

"Not as large," he said. "But that's not the point. I—"

"Then how does this compare?" she asked, drawing

down her skirt and stepping out of it.

"Well, her, uh, she—the scales of her tail cover—but the

point is—"

"She can't exactly spread her legs."

"The body doesn't matter!" he exclaimed. "I mean, not

that much. She has hair, you have legs. The point is, you

have all your hang-ups, and I have mine, and they make a

good fit. The—the bodies—any two bodies fit, when you

come down to it, but any two personalities don't mesh. I like

you when you're sweet, and I like you when you're angry,

and if we were two hands of cards, I think we'd make a

winning combination. Maybe that's not exactly commit-

ment, but it's a solid base for it, and if you agree I'd like to

try it."

"Well, here is my body. Try it."

"That too. But I mean love. Marriage. The long term.

Whatever I'm doing, Lwant you with me. Your body—oh,

yes, I'll take it with or without the wig, and it'll be great.

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But your convoluted, elliptical, deviously logical mind—

that's what I love."

"Is that a proposal, Don?"

"Yes! Marry, me, Melanie, after we save the world."

"After we save the world," she agreed.

"Is that an elliptical yes?" he asked, excited.

"An elliptical yes," she agreed.

That shocked him awake. He was still riding beneath the

submarine. "Damn it! I was dreaming!"

"No you weren't," she retorted.

He glanced down. His radio was on! He must have done

that in his sleep. "You mean I was talking in my sleep?"

"You mean you didn't mean it?"

"I meant it! If I said what I dreamed I said."

"You said the mesh of personalities was more important

than the mesh of bodies. I gather there was some body-

meshing going on."

' 'Not yet. But if you care to repeat what you did there,

outside my dream—"

She laughed. "With or without the wig?"

"Yes!"

"Then it seems we have a date."

"Date, hell! We have an engagement."

"That, too," she agreed.

His radio was fading. It lasted only a few minutes when

he wasn't riding. He reached down to spin the wheel,

cranking it up again. "Oh, Melanie, why couldn't we have

had this dialogue when we were together?"

"My, you are eager to mesh!"

"That, too." They laughed together, and it was great.

Maybe their physical separation had enabled him to be

bolder. He hadn't stuttered at all. The luck of his dream, and

of the radio being on—

No, they had to be linked. He had unconsciously turned it

on, and gone into his fancy—and she had joined it and

accepted. He had been able to do in partial reality what had

balked him in reality, and then it had turned real, and now

it was wonderful.

He was jolted by a sudden change of course. He grabbed

onto his bike and fought to maintain equilibrium. "Hoo!"

he exclaimed.

"What's happening?" Melanie cried faintly, for he was

no longer spinning the wheel.

He grabbed it and turned it vigorously. "The sub is

maneuvering wildly! It's going down. I'm straining at my

balloon-moorings."

"But why?"

"Wish I knew!"

But in a moment he figured it out: the sub had passed

close to the American naval base at Guantanamo, an action

which begged for trouble. There had been no choice,

because the trench passed that region. So an American sub

had fired first, asking no questions.

Then a shark-shape swam in from behind, following the

sub unerringly, and he understood. A homing torpedo. The

threat of this region had not been exaggerated!

A smaller fish shot out of one of the sub's ports and

moved to intercept the torpedo. There was an immense

explosion.

Don was not directly affected, because of the phase. But

the sound was deafening, and the bucking of the sub seemed

about to tear him and his bicycle loose. It seemed that the

sub was not defenseless.

"Don! Don!" Melanie cried desperately.

"I'm here," he gasped. "Torpedo—they stopped it—but

we're going down."

Now the vibration of the sub's motor was gone, and the

machine was drifting as if dead. Don wondered why, since

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it hadn't been hit Then he realized that this was part of its  |

defensive strategy. Whoever had fired that torpedo would

record the blast, spot the descending hulk, and maybe

assume that the job had been done and move on. If they

were tuning in on the faint motor, that was gone, with the

obvious implication.

Don hoped the ruse worked. What would happen to him

if the sub were blown up? He was attached to it, and even

with the phase he doubted that he could survive that kind of

shock. This whole business was his fault, too; the sub was

trying to do him a favor, and had gotten into real trouble.

No other torpedo came. The sub kept dropping. The radio

was silent, and he didn't dare spin the wheel for fear that the

motion or the sound of the radio would be picked up by the

enemy. He hated to have Melanie worry, but stillness was

necessary now.

Down, down. This was a deep-diver; it could handle the

depths of the trench, as perhaps the attacking sub could not.

Probably it would go all the way to the bottom and lie there

until it seemed safe to resume. Hours later, or even days.

In which case Don's mission was doomed.

But there was a much more immediate and personal

danger. His bike was firmly tied to the bottom rails. If the

sub struck the ocean floor, the balloon fastenings would

transmit its entire weight to the bike beneath, crushingly.

Don himself could walk through the sub and escape, but

what good would that be without his bike?

Feverishly Don tried to untie the knotted balloons. But

they were under the stress of his own weight and that of the

bicycle, and would not budge. Two loose balloons were in

his hands, so that he could also hold on directly, but he

could free those hands only by putting his full weight on the

bike.

Then he had a second and worse realization: the sub was

sinking at moderate speed, its fall restrained by the resis-

tance of the water and its own calculated buoyancy. If he let

go, he would fall at his own rate, as if through air, and

smash to death below. He couldn't afford to desert the

submarine!

He was trapped. His choice was between dooms: crushing

or smashing. And he had no idea how soon. The murk

blocked any sight of what was below.

He put his hand to the wheel to recharge the radio, so that

he could tell Melanie. She might have a clearer head in this

emergency, and figure out his best course. But the enemy

sub might still be watching, with sonar or radar or whatever

sophisticated devices it possessed, and his activity could

still bring ruin. He had to remain silent, so that he wouldn't

inadvertently endanger the friendly sub more than he

already had.

Don knew he was on his own, for this crisis.

Then, as if his brain clicked into a new mode, he knew

what to do. He took out his pencil and pried at the balloon

anchoring the front of his bicycle to the rail. The graphite

snapped off, but slowly he worked the taut knot loose, until

it gave way and snapped free. The front wheel sagged,

forcing him to support it by hand, with his other balloon-

gloved hand clenched over the rail. Now he really appreci-

ated the extreme lightness of the bike; it was no trouble to

hold.

The second bike balloon was too much for him to untie

this way, so he got out his penknife, hooked his elbow over

the rail with balloon-padding, and hooked both feet into the

chassis of the bike. Then, laboriously he cut the balloon. It

parted with extreme reluctance, because of its half-phased

condition, but finally the rear wheel also hung loose.

Now he carried the entire bicycle on his legs, hanging

onto the rail with left hand and right elbow. But he could not

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rest. He let go with his left hand and brought it down to his

mouth. He used his teeth to wrench off the glove. His small

packet of maps was tucked inside that same balloon; he

hoped they would be legible after taking this beating. He

cupped both balloons under his elbow, his sole support, and

got ready to tackle the last connection, his right hand still

gloved. The sub might be drifting relatively slowly through

water, but his own weight was excruciating, because his full

weight was hanging by that one arm.

The ocean floor came into view. Don snapped at his right

hand with his teeth. He bit painfully into his own fingers,

cursing the awkwardness of his position, but the balloon

refused to come.

There was no time! Don let go, dropped the last eight

feet, hauled the bike up over his head as a kind of

counterbalance to break his fall, and landed running.

The sub came down on top of him. Its substance could not

touch him or the bike, but it caught his balloon-hand with a

glancing blow and shoved it down irresistibly. Don was

felled as if clubbed, but momentum carried him forward. He

spun free of the bike and rolled.

In a moment the world settled. AU was still.

Don took stock. He was lying under and within the

resting sub, but his outstretched gloved hand lay just

outside. He had made it.

He got up, pulled off the glove, dropped the balloons to

the ground and walked back through the sub to carry out his

bike. "Thanks for the lift," he told the crew. "I know you

did the best you could, and risked your lives on my account.

Now I'll do the best I can. So long." He felt a bit like a

carefree hero, dismissing severe wounds with cheer.

But maybe the others saw him that way too. A couple of

them waved back as he walked on.

Three balloons and the maps were lost, pinned some-

where under the sub. He picked up the fourth, rolled it into

a tight ball, attached a length of string, and pocketed it. If he

had any further trouble with the real world, he would dangle

the balloon behind him. Better that than getting himself

crushed or knocked around.

He checked his position. North latitude 20°30'; west

longitude 73° even, approximately. Now he could have used

the maps! But his recollection showed his position as north

of Haiti and east of his projected route. The sub had gone far

astray during its evasive action, not that he blamed it. The

Chinese were lucky to have survived.

Now he had a doubt about his prior conjecture. Who had

really fired that torpedo? An American submarine—or some

other? He hoped American, because that would be less of a

threat to him.

The depth was twenty two hundred fathoms, or about two

and a half miles. He wished the sub hadn't sunk so far; he

would be exhausted long before he made it to the shallows,

but there was no choice.

Fortunately he had a fair notion of his route, even without

the maps. All he had to do was follow the Puerto Rico

trench west until it branched into the Old Bahama Channel,

then bear north along the Santaren Channel until he reached

the vicinity of Florida. Most of that would be between 250

and 450 fathoms—deep enough to keep well out of sight,

shallow enough to keep him out of serious trouble with the

terrain. He hoped. If he had to surmount a cliff, he would

inflate the balloon. It would take a long time to fill it full

enough, and he hoped it wouldn't burst, but it was better

than nothing.

Time, time! That was his constant enemy, now. The sub

had helped him on his way, but not enough. His easy

interception of Pacifa had become chancy.

He rode on. He was learning to respect this bicycle. The

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narrow seat had grown uncomfortable for sitting upright

during the sub ride, but for serious pedaling it was superior,

because it did not interfere with his thighs the way a broad

seat would have. He was making better time with less effort

than normal. There was a gear ratio to accommodate his

slightest whim, and this did save him energy. And it was a

much lighter machine; even fully loaded, it moved along

more readily than his old one ever had. No wonder Eleph

had kept up so well, even after his injury.

Where could Eleph have gotten it? Not from a regular

shop! Perhaps not from Earth at all. From another alternate?

Was he riding a machine from another universe?

That intrigued Don deviously. His mind seemed to be

racing right along with his pedals, and he moved at quite

respectable velocity. What would it be like to visit an

alternate world?

"Don."

He jumped. His radio had recharged, and Melanie was

paging him. How could he have forgotten her?

"Here, Mel. Sorry I damped out. Someone fired a

torpedo at the sub, and it had to drop and play dead. I lost

the maps, but I'm on my way now. It'll be close, but I think

I can still intercept Pacifa."

"Oh, Don, I'm so relieved! I was afraid—"

"So was I, for some moments there. But I squeaked

through. It's wonderful to have your company!"

"I'll stay with you all the way. Maybe I can help you by

checking our maps, if you get lost."

"That will be nice."

Then he saw light. How could that be, this deep? Was it

a beam from a sub, and if so, which one?

Then he saw it more clearly. "Glowcloud!" he cried.

But it was not Glowcloud. It was a monster, so large that

he could see only 'a small section of any given tentacle at

one time in the haze of water. The thing had to be a hundred

feet long!

"Are you sure?" Melanie asked. "You're a long way

from here."

Don snapped off his headlamp and swerved aside, hoping

the squid had not noticed him. Glowcloud he knew and

could get along with, he was even company of a sort.

"You're right; it's another squid, a huge one. I'm steering

clear."

But the giant mollusk's curiosity had been aroused. It

changed colors in rapid sequence and put forth the great

tentacles to investigate. Don could see them because they

glowed in the gloom. He pedaled desperately, trying to

avoid their snakelike approach. If one snagged on the

balloon—

The bicycle dropped into a hole, and Don took a spill as

he came to a stop. His arms bashed into rock, and he pulled

up his legs to disengage them from the bicycle. He pushed

off, as he had from the dropping sub—and plummeted into

the blackness, finding no ground.

He flung out his arms, catching hold of a smooth rim of

rock, breaking his fall. But the slope was convex, providing

no purchase, and his hands slid down. He dropped upright

into an aperture like a well.

He landed hard. It had felt like a drop of ten feet, his

hands scraping all the way, and his right foot had twisted as

he landed. Now the pain was starting. He was in real

trouble.

Actually, the squid had been no threat. He should not

have reacted so precipitously. Had the balloon snagged on a

tentacle, it might have alarmed the squid as much as Don.

Now, through his folly of riding blind, he had gotten himself

into a hole, literally.

He tried to climb out, but the sides were almost slick. He

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felt the breeze of flowing water; this was another small

freshwater spring, and the constant current had worn off all

the rough edges, reaming out the vertical tunnel. Below him,

by the feel, it curved and continued on down. No escape that

way!

"Don! What's happening?" Melanie called from above.

Don looked up to see the faint glow of the passing squid,

obscured by something over the hole. The bicycle! It must

have straddled the aperture—about six feet out of reach. The

rope was on it, looped and securely fastened. He could not

haul himself up.

"I'm in a hole!" he called back. "I can't reach the bike.

The radio will fade out in a moment."

"Oh, Don!" she cried despairingly. Her voice was

already fading.

A tentacle reached down, searching for him. Don ducked

away, avoiding it—and ran out of breath. He was standing

at the fringe of the oxygenation field, and had to count

himself lucky that the straight section of the hole had been

no deeper. He could have suffocated immediately.

He swept his hand through the groping tentacle. "It's

your fault, sucker!" he said angrily.

He tried to climb again, this time bracing his feet against

the opposite wall. Pain flared in his right ankle, forcing him

to desist. That injury was worse than he had thought.

The balloon tugged at its string, borne upward by the

current. Of course! he could blow up the balloon and let it

haul him up out of here. It would take time, but it was sure.

And if the squid annoyed him thereafter, he could let the

balloon go as a decoy, leading the monster in a futile chase

upward.

He hauled the package in and opened it. He exhaled with

vigor, inflating the balloon. Of course there was no real lift

yet, as his breath was mere water in the real world. He had

to wait for the carbon dioxide to phase through.

Gradually the balloon shrank—but no bubble formed. He

gave it another lungful, and another. Still nothing. The gas

was going somewhere, but not into the balloon of the other

phase. Was there a leak?

But he should be able to feel little bubbles escaping, in

that case. There were none. What was wrong?

"I'm a fool!" he exclaimed as another tentacle felt

through him. "Carbon dioxide is compressible! At this

pressure, it must liquefy!"

His emergency lifting balloon was useless in deep water.

He couldn't even use it as a decoy.

Don swept his hand through the tentacle again, furiously.

This time the member withdrew.

Then the weight of despair bore down on him. Don sank

down—but gasped for air and had to stand again, his ankle

hurting. He couldn't even give up gracefully!

The squid was gone and his radio was dead and he was

alone. He felt dizzy; the steady current was washing his

oxygen up and away, even as that current renewed the

supply.

It wasn't only his mission that was drifting away while he

languished here; it was his own life. He had no food or

water on him. It was on the bicycle. In time he would grow

too tired or sleepy to stand, and then he would suffocate.

Unless he chose to end it sooner by diving down into the

airless lower tunnel.

He thought of Melanie. They had been on the verge of

such joy, having discovered each other. Now their love

would be lost, along with the world. Damn!

And the story of the Minoan ship—would that be told,

now? Splendid knew it, but Pacifa's report might get the

mer-colony wiped out too. Everything he cared about—and

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he did care about Splendid and her people—was doomed.

Somehow these things seemed almost worse than the

destruction of the world, because they were more immedi-

ate.

He woke, and realized after the fact that he could sleep

standing up. But his ankle was swollen and hurting, and he

was increasingly thirsty.

What was one ankle, compared to life? All he had to do

was grit his teeth and brake against that wall and shove

himself up and out.

He tried it. Pain overwhelmed him, and he fell hard. He

gasped again for oxygen, struggling upright on one foot.

He could not do it. Perhaps eventually he would have

what it took. Eleph certainly did. The kind of physical

determination that took no note of pain or frailty. Don

admired it enormously, but he was made of different and

inferior stuff. He could not just walk into that amount of

agony, though his world hung in the balance. He would pass

out from the pain first, and be lost. And with him, the world.

When the meteor came, and the world was not ready.

Build not on the flank of the bull ...

Good advice! But add this to it: trust not in a weakling,

lest he fall in a hole and not climb out.

Eleph had done everything he could. He had phased

through to this world with his limited equipment, and set up

the mission and almost made it work. But for the bad break

of Caspar's suspicion, he would have persuaded them, and

they would be on the way to saving the world. Now he

depended on Don, and Don was failing him.

For that matter, the Minoan scholar Pi-ja-se-me had done

everything he could, and also failed because of the inade-

quacy of others. So at last he had resigned himself to his fate

and left his message for the future.

If only he could'get out of this hole and ride to intercept

Pacifa! Yet at this stage, even that was a lost hope. He had

lost hours here, and it had already been a close thing; he was

probably already too late. Even if not, how could he ride

well, with his right ankle unable to sustain any significant

weight? And if he could ride, by maybe fixing some kind of

splint to brace his ankle and staying on a level route—how

could he find that route, without his maps?

Well, maybe he had a map, in the form of his depth meter.

The thousand fathom contour was a reasonably straight line

passing north of the entire Greater Antilles chain, only

recurving well up the channel. He could cut due south to

intercept it, then stay right on it, and his route would be

level all the way, by definition. Any mindless lout could

follow that route, ankle or no.

Maybe it wasn't lost quite yet. Pacifa, expecting no

pursuit, might not be rushing; she didn't want to blunder

carelessly into any holes either. So he might yet catch her at

his slower pace. Certainly it was worth trying. If she turned

on her radio to check with Caspar, he might tell her to wait

for Don. So it remained possible to save the world, barely.

Except for one thing.

Don Kestle, genius world saver, who couldn't lift his

posterior from a hole in the ground to save his life, let alone

the world.

He drifted into a daze. Insufficient oxygen, or maybe

nitrogen narcosis, because it was almost pleasant. He really

didn't know anything about either condition. This was what

it felt like to die.

"So it has come to this at last for you too," Pi-ja-se-me

said.

Don was not surprised to find the Cretan scholar with

him, or to hear him speaking intelligibly. "Yes. But I am

neither as bold nor resourceful as you. I simply fell in a

hole."

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"We all fall, eventually. Are you hallucinating? I did, at

the end."

"I must be. But I can think of no person I would rather

meet in a hallucination than you."

"Thank you, Don-kes-tle. Have you prayed to your

God?"

"No. I don't believe in that sort of miracle. If I can't

figure out how to save myself, then maybe I deserve to

die."

"I agree. The Gods care nothing for our convenience. But

is there a way to save yourself?"

"Well, if the sides of this hole weren't so smooth, I could

climb out. Or if I had something to stand on, I could reach

or jump to catch hold of my bike. Or if someone found me,

and let down a rope I could use. It is really a simple thing,

getting out."

"That glove you used to handle the mermaid—could that

help?"

Don brought out the balloon. ' 'If I had something to grab

with it, yes. But I don't." He jammed it back into his

pocket.

' 'I am sorry, my friend. I would help you if I could, but

words are all I have."

"I would help you too, Pi-ja, if I could. Let me shake

your hand."

The man looked confused. "Do what?"

"It is a simple clasping of right hands. By this we signal

our appreciation of each other, and our agreement."

Pi-ja nodded. He extended his hand. Don took it.

Then Don thought of something else. "There were

female things by your tablets, jewelry, but you mentioned

no woman on the ship."

"Of course. They were mementos of my lovely concu-

bine. She had her odd ways, and was jealous, but I loved

her, and I kept the things she gave me always close. They

were a comfort in my time alone."

Such an obvious explanation! Why hadn't he thought of

it himself?

He was awakened again by a tentacle passing through his

face. He had lost another two hours, according to the

glowing hands of his watch. Not that it mattere.d, since he

couldn't go anywhere anyway. Old long-arms was back

again, making a second round investigation after several

hours. Damned mollusk curiosity!

The tip of the tentacle hung up momentarily on the

useless balloon wadded into Don's pocket.

Don-kes! The glove!

Don snatched the limp rubber out and cupped it in the

palm of his hand. Then he clapped that hand to the dangling

tentacle, squeezing tightly. He put his other hand over the

first, locking it in place.

The squid felt it. The giant limb yanked up—and Don

hung on, coming up with it.

His head cracked into the bicycle. Involuntarily he let

go—and grabbed the crossbar of the bike. His feet dropped,

but he had hold of what he needed.

He saw the startled squid jetting high and away, flashing

colors. "Get lost, monster!" he called after it. "Thanks for

the lift!"

He heaved up his feet, getting them onto the bike. He

fought his way to the side, crawling to land. Then he pulled

the bike after him.

He mounted it and pushed off. His right foot hurt, but he

could pedal with his left. Inertia kept him moving. So it was

possible. But it would be better with a splint, so he could use

both feet.

But you are free. Perhaps your concubine can help.

"Melanie," he said, as the radio recharged. "I'm out."

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"Oh, Don! I was so worried! All this time with no word

from you—''

' 'But my right ankle is hurt. I have to fix that before I can

go on. I don't suppose Pacifa has opened radio contact?"

"No, nothing from her."

He came to a stop and dismounted. Pacifa would have

been expert at this, but he was clumsy. How was a splint

made? Or could he just somehow fasten something to his

knee, to push at the pedal? He had to be quick about it,

whatever it was.

There was another light. "Go away, squid," he said.

What is that? There was never a ship like that!

Then he realized that it wasn't squid glow. It was

artificial light. A submarine!

Ah, now I have the concept from your mind. What a

strange world you have, Don-kes-tle!

Had the Chinese sub come to take him the rest of the

way? In that case, the mission had been saved.

But as the think loomed closer, he saw the markings on its

tower. It was American!

Ordinarily this would have been good news, but right

now it was bad news. The Chinese sub understood his

situation, but the American sub did not. It might think he

was some kind of enemy agent. Better to let it pass without

noticing him. It had no reason to suspect his presence here;

it was only the luck of his fall into the hole that had

prevented him from being far away.

Your friend may be your enemy?

"What's happening, Don?" Melanie asked.

A beam of light speared out from the sub, orienting on the

sound. It must have heard his prior dialogue, and come to

investigate; now it had him" pinpointed. In a moment the

light illuminated him, making him avert his gaze from its

brilliance. Beyond, the sub settled slowly to the ground, and

into it, as nearly as he could tell. The sea-floor here was

evidently a bit lower than in the phase world, or mushier

because of the sediment. He hadn't noticed, but since he

automatically attuned to what was in the phase world, now,

that wasn't surprising.

Pointless to try to hide, now. "American sub," he said.

"Probably the one that fired the torpedo. It must be casting

around for the other, to be sure it's dead."

"But they mustn't fight!" Melanie exclaimed.

"I'll try to talk to it." He waved into the blinding light.

"Hi! My name is Don Kestle and I'm American?"

The light dropped to cover his feet. There was a metallic

squawk. Then a bubble formed on the front deck and

something poked out of it. Don couldn't make out any

further detail because of the light.

Beware!

Something shot through the water at him. It was past him

before he realized what it was: a harpoon. A spear with a

line attached. This was evidently a dual-purpose sub, with

torpedoes and fish-spearing equipment. It would normally

be used to nab specimens for study: when the fired spear

lodged, the line pulled it and the fish back.

"They're firing spears at me!" he told Melanie.

Either the sub wasn't equipped to receive and interpret

his words, or it didn't believe him. It thought him a

hallucination or strange creature, and it was going to spear

him, pull him in, and examine him. That shoot-first men-

tality was in evidence again.

"What's the matter with them?" she demanded.

"I guess they don't understand men riding bicycles on

the floor of the ocean."

He could not be hurt by the spears, but this wasn't helping

him communicate. How could he get the sub to stop and

listen, as the Chinese sub did?

336

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

337

You must surprise it.

Don threw himself to the side as a second harpoon was

fired. He wasn't quite fast enough, and it passed through his

shoulder.

"That does it!" he said. He picked up his bike, got on it,

winced as his right foot hit the pedal, and started moving.

He got up speed, then turned to charge the submarine. He

rode right into it.

Then he was passing through its nether portion. Because

it was sitting several feet lower than his phase surface, he

was passing through its second level of compartments. In

fact he seemed to be traversing the crew's quarters.

Amazing! Can you talk to them?

Maybe this was what he needed! He turned off his radio,

so that there would not be confusion. "Hey, fellows!" he

cried, stopping his bike and gesturing.

There were several crewmen there. Their eyes bugged as

they saw him among them. "What the hell is this?" one

burly sailor demanded, jumping off his bunk.

"I'm Don Kestle," Don said quickly. "I'm sort of like

a—a hologram. You can't touch me. But I need your help."

"Get the Officer of the Day!" the man said over his

shoulder. Then he came to lay his hand on Don's shoulder.

It passed through. "You're a damned ghost!"

Then what am I?

"A hologram," Don repeated. "I'm not really here. But

listen to me! I need a lift to Florida, or—" But he knew it

would be no good trying to tell them about the end of the

world. He got off the bike, waiting.

In what must have been record time, an officer appeared.

"It's the same manifestation that was outside!" he ex-

claimed.

This is the man you want. Address himforthrightly. Show

no doubt, Don-kes-tle. Take the initiative.

"I hailed you and you fired harpoons at me!" Don

retorted angrily. "What kind of trigger-happy idiots are

you? Now listen to me: I have a vital mission. I must get to

Florida immediately. You can help me."

The officer looked as if he wanted to freak out, but could

not afford to do so in front of the men. "Identify yourself!"

he snapped.

"I'm Don Kestle, archaeologist. I—"

"Prove it."

He is recovering the initiative. Do not let him!

Don realized that he could hardly expect to be taken on

faith. Any papers he had might be forged, and they couldn't

be handled by the officer anyway. But he had a bright idea.

He dived into his pack and pulled out his notepad and

pen. "Photograph this and fax it to the American Archae-

ological Association," he said, quickly printing out the

equivalent of a sentence in Minoan Linear A. It incorporated

some of the new signs whose meaning he had had to glean

from the context. "Tell them to contact Dr. Evans Green

immediately. He's the leading contemporary Minoan

scholar. This is a matter of life and death."

The officer looked as if he would have preferred to throw

Don in the brig. But he elected to play it cool. "Camera,"

he snapped.

Got him.

By the time they had the camera set up, Don had written

enough of a message in Linear A to make any competent

Minoan scholar's jaw drop. If such a scholar was reached in

time. If he believed. It was a gamble, but the best he could

think of at the moment.

They photographed the pages of the notepad. Then they

waited while the picture was sent to Naval headquarters, and

that office attempted to contact the archaeological associa-

tion. If this failed, Don knew that he would have no chance

338

Piers Anthony

MERCYCLE

339

to intercept Pacifa; he had lost too much time, and still

couldn't move well with his injured ankle. The fate of the

world really did lie in the balance.

But the officer was concerned with something more

immediate. "What is your connection to the Chinese

submarine?"

Trouble! Should he tell, or refuse? The one could result in

torpedoes in the mer-colony; the other torpedoing his

mission.

Demur. He can not make you say what you do not wish.

"I am not free to say."

The officer frowned. But since it was evident that Don

could depart the same way he had come—through the

hull—he did not push the matter.

Suddenly the word came back: ' 'Can you contact Caspar

Brown?" the officer asked, after reading the message.

Who was a government agent! "Yes!" They had checked

far enough to verify that they had a man on the job.

Don turned on the radio; there would be power enough

for a few sentences. "Melanie, I'm in the sub. Is Caspar

there?"

"Here," Caspar's voice came back immediately.

"Talk to the man here." Then Don lifted his bicycle and

spun the wheel by hand, so as to keep the radio going.

Caspar's identification was evidently good, because soon

the officer turned his attention back to Don. ' 'We will take

you back to your base near Jamaica."

"But I have to go to Florida!" Don protested.

"No. That has been taken care of."

Then Don realized that he had missed the obvious. The

moment Caspar had gotten in touch, Pacifa's message had

become inoperative. Whatever Caspar had decided, the

government was acting on.

You have won the day, Don-kes-tle.

But Don wasn't clear what Caspar had decided. The

dialogue had not gone that far.

They let Don tie onto the sub with his remaining balloon.

It was a precarious perch, but it held, and in due course he

was back with Caspar, Eleph, and Melanie.

"Oh, Don!" Melanie cried, hugging him. "You got

through!"

Your concubine is lovely.

"Yes, in a way. But what did Caspar—?"

"Eleph kept talking to him, and now he's satisfied that

this needs a formal investigation. We will all have to testify,

but I think they are going to take Eleph seriously."

"So his mission to save Earth is a success," Don said,

starting to be relieved.

"It probably is. And the mer-colony is safe. We're going

to need that adaptation technique to get our own people to

Jupiter. We'll be cooperating with China."

"I'm glad."

"In fact, it looks as if we've done about as much as we

can, here," she continued; "After we testify, we'll be free

to go."

"Togo?"

"On our honeymoon. Where would you most like to

visit?"

Remember our agreement, Don-kes-tle. We squeezed

hands, and I helped you as I was able.

Don laughed. "To Minoan Crete!"

"That's what I thought. Eleph says it's possible, if we

join the mission."

"The mission?"

"To save other planets. Now that we're melded. A

close-knit group. Pacifa's part of it. She didn't like having

to blow the whistle on Eleph; she likes him, and she loves

340                Piers Anthony

exploring. So we know she'll be with us. We were supposed

to convince each other that the threat to our world was real,

and go as a unit to convince the authorities. That was

Eleph's notion, and maybe it seems farfetched, but they're

going to try it on other worlds now. Eleph has talked with

the proxies on his radio. But Caspar is shortcutting that, so

we won't need to spend much time here. There are a lot of

worlds still in doubt, and more knowledgeable folk are

needed to phase into them and convince them of the danger.

Caspar has decided to go, and I want to, if you—"

"Yes!" The thrill of the notion was second only to that

of his rapport with Melanie. "But what's this about—"

"The worlds are separated in time as well as phase, but

their cultures are similar. The languages. So there are

futuristic ones, and ancient ones, and there is one where the

Minoans—where your fabulous underwater city is above

water and thriving—it's a lot like what your tablets

described—"

And I am there, my friend. The culture of those who are

now saving worlds derives from mine, and from that of

Atlantis. From a world where the ships were not lost, and

the broader empire was restored, and grew to dominate

nature in much the way I see yours has. Those people never

forgot to be wary of the Bull! Help me as you are able. I

desperately want to return to my concubine.

Don intended to. He hoped he wasn't merely suffering

from a lingering hallucination. But it was too much to

assimilate all at once. So he cut it short. He kissed Melanie.

She was ardent. Then she drew back, as if uncertain

whether to laugh or snap. "Concubine?"