CHAPTER I

ENCOUNTER ON A LONELY ROAD

If a worshipped idol has power, it shall always emanate from
the eyes or the navel, except for gotems, in which case see
Vol. XCVIH.

—The Book of Rules, XCLV, 194(d)

IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES; IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES.

In point of fact, Husaquahr had been blessed now with
good government—as good as it was going to get, any-
way—and peace for several years.

In other words, it was pretty damned dull in Husa-
quahr.

Oh, there were the usual quotient of crimes, magic
spells, occasional irritating geases, and a number of black-
art wizards and witches lurking about, and the general
population was oppressed by a ruling class of one sort or
another as usual, but it was minor, petty stuff. There'd
be no great new warrior kings to fear and celebrate in
song and story through the generations, no wondrous bat-
tles, the tales of which would thrill the newer generations
for centuries, no epic quests or bold adventures that would
make this a time to look back on. Since the defeat and
subsequent exile of the Dark Baron and the dispersement
of his armies, even those who were most evil in Husa-
quahr seemed willing to compromise with the good and
just have a comfortable old time.

The rider on the black horse was almost invisible in
the dusk, wearing as he was a tight black body stocking,

2         VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

black belt, and worn riding boots. He was a small man,
both short and slight, and wore only a small dagger for
his defense. He looked elfin, although he was of totally
human blood, and somewhat boyish; yet any who looked
into his cold, penetrating eyes knew both fear and respect.
They were dark eyes, as black as his garb, and they were
very old eyes as well. They said to one and all that this
was a dangerous man and not ever to be taken lightly.

It had been seven years since he'd stood with the greats
and fought with the best of this world the forces of evil
and darkness brought forth from Hell itself by the Dark
Baron. He had killed many men then and a few since, but

never without cause.

It was cool in Husaquahr right now; the gods of the

north wind breathed down deeply this year into the south-
ern lands and refused to take their rest, even as the days
grew longer. He pulled his cloak a bit more tightly about
him to ward off the stinging fingers of wind and saw in
the waning light of the setting sun the signs of an
approaching stormfront. There was no question as to what
sort of front it might be—soon snow would be all that
would be possible out here. It was already far too late for
snow, but someone had forgotten to tell the snow that

this was so.

Only an idiot would be out in wastes like this with

weather like that coming on, he told himself sourly. There
seemed little hope that he could outrun the storm, less
hope that there was any place along this route where he
could find shelter for the night or the storm's duration,
and it was much too far to turn back to the last settlement.
He knew what was behind him; what was ahead certainly
offered more hope, since he was ignorant of the details,
although perhaps not anything better.

He had taken this ancient road primarily to avoid
uncomfortable pursuit. A slight smile came to his face and
he reached down to his belt and into a small pouch
and brought forth a giant emerald, as large as a lemon
and alight with an inner green fire. He would have given

JACK L. CHALKER                  3

it back, having proved his point and met the challenge,
but the priests of Baathazar weren't the sort to be for-
giving just for that. He had no use for the thing—he had
long ago amassed more money than he knew what to do
with and he had the most powerful friends and allies in
all the world to bail him out if need be.

Necessity had made him a thief; but once he'd chosen
his profession, he'd been bound by the Rules concerning
thieves, and the occupation had both shaped and gotten
along famously with his personality. He was a thief, and
he'd always be one—the greatest thief in all Husaquahr,
perhaps the world. The profession was the grandest one
offered someone of no means and little magic, for each
theft was a challenge, each caper a unique puzzle to be
solved. The more impossible it was, the more he was
drawn to it as a fly to honey. He had stolen this, the jewel
in the navel of the great idol Baathazar, in full view of
ten thousand pilgrims and half a dozen high priests with
great powers of wizardry. It had been easy—but only in
retrospect. He was quite certain, without being egotisti-
cal, that no one else could have pulled it off.

Still, he would have returned it to them—sent them a
note telling them where to find it, perhaps involving them
having to lower themselves to a great indignity to get it;

but they would have retrieved it. What was the point?
The thing was worthless to him now.

They had not, however, a true appreciation of his skill
and, yes, his integrity as well. They didn't really care if
they got the stone back, so long as they got the "dese-
crator" of their sacred idol. It wasn't even much of a god,
as these things went—one of those left over from the bad
old days, supported by a decreasing number of followers.

That, more than anything, was what had made them
bad-tempered fanatics. Priests used to all that power now
had to undergo a lot of belt-tightening, and they didn't
tike it one little bit. He was a handy person to take all
that frustration out on. In a way, he'd known it from the
start and had taken steps to counter it, steps which included

4         VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

this escape route. The one thing he hadn't counted on,
though, was snow.

It began soon and quickly built up into an uncomfort-
able blinding world of white flakes. Within minutes he
was no longer certain that he was still on the road, or in
which direction he was going, and he knew he'd have to
stop soon or perish. This was no weather nor fit place in
which to be stuck, whether man or beast. His horse was
already complaining and it had no place to go, either.

Chance would not save him now, nor all his skills, and
he knew it. Only magic would get him out of a fix like
this, and he had very little that really mattered. He wished,
at least, he had some power to dry up the snow or conjure
a nice inn with good ale and a warm fire. Damn it, he
wasn't even dressed for this weather!

At the thought, the jewel in the pouch seemed to hum
and throb, slowly at first, but with a building force that
could no longer be dismissed as mere imagination. He
stopped in the midst of the storm and removed it once
more, noting its unnatural fire and glow.

Why did a god have a navel to begin with? He won-
dered about that idly, knowing that he was trying to take
his mind off his impending doom. He stared deeply into
the jewel's throbbing fire, and suddenly it seemed to him
as if the wind were calmed and the storm silenced. There
was, all at once, a deathly hush about him and his mount,
and he knew in a moment that he was not imagining things.
This was indeed magic, dark magic of the blackest sort,
the kind of magic that he would never touch in any other
case but this. He didn't know whether or not he'd sell
his soul to live—he frankly wasn't certain it was still his
to sell—but it was better than the alternative.

He hopped down off his horse and looked around.
There was still near total darkness; yet where he stood
no wind blew and no snow fell. There was, in fact, an
unnatural warmth which was already melting the snow
that had fallen upon the ground on which he stood, turning
it to mud.

JACK L. CHALKER                    5

He placed the stone on the ground and drew a penta-
gram around it v/ith his dagger. It wasn't a very large
pentagram, but that which he expected to occupy it would
fit one the size of the head of a needle if need be. He
stepped out of the pentagram and then closed it.

"Ali right, green fire," he called aloud to the thing, "if
indeed you are a gateway to elsewhere, then I hear your
call. Whoever is bound to you should come through, so
that we may discuss things."

There was a sudden hissing from the stone, which flared
into extraordinary brightness, and then the sound of
escaping steam as a thin plume of smoke rose from it until
it was perhaps shoulder-high. The steam, which gave off
an uncomfortable heat in spite of the raging snowstorm
all about him, widened into a turnip shape, expanding to
fill the entire area. When it contacted the boundaries of
his crude pentagram, it ceased growing and instead solid-
ified.

The demon who showed up was something of a turnip
itself.

It seemed to be all face, a comical, Humpty-Dumpty
sort of thing whose waist was its mouth, above which sat
two huge oval eyes. The head rose into a point, at the
top of which was just a shock of purple hair. Below, the
thing sat on two huge clawed feet, but seemed to have
no legs to speak of. Its arms, coming out of its body just
below that tremendous mouth, were short and stubby
things of misshapen crimson, ending in long and mottled
hands with great black claws at the fingertips. It looked
around, spotted him, opened its mouth, and licked its lips
with an enormous black tongue. The inside of the mouth
was lined with more teeth than a shark's, all pointed and
sharp, and beyond those teeth seemed to be a bottomless
hole.

This, then, was the source of the priests' powers and
the reason why they were nearly frantic to get back the
stone.

"You're not one of those mealy-mouthed priests," the

6         VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

demon croaked in a voice so deep and reverberant that
it moved the very air. "That means that either their silly
faith is overthrown or you're a pretty damned good thief."

"The latter. Sir Demon," the little man responded,
bowing slightly. "I could not resist the challenge, although,
to be sure, I had no idea I was stealing more than a great

gem."

"All great gems have demons assigned to them. You
should know that. Otherwise, where do you think all those
curses came from?"

"Good point," he admitted. "However, this, I suspect,
is a different sort of gem."

"In a way," the demon agreed. "I can certainly see that
you've mucked up your getaway. This is no curiosity call."

"Quite right, sir. I need a service, it is true, if the price
be not too high."

The demon studied him. "What could you offer me,
thief? Those in your profession tend to wind up with us
anyway, so your soul isn't much of a deal. Still, you never
know. What's your name?"

"I am Macore of the Shadowlands," the thief replied.

"Macore, huh? Seems like I heard the name. Hold on
a moment while I check."

Instantly the demon vanished, leaving Macore alone
once more. No, not quite alone—from the center of the
pentagram came forth the lush sounds of massed violins
playing a rather pleasant if monotonous melody. It was
very nice at first; but as time wore on and both he and
his horse began to get very impatient, the strains of the
music began to irritate him.

Suddenly the music stopped. Just as abruptly the demon
was back. "Sorry to keep you on hold so long, but his
Satanic Majesty's filing system is lousy. We have so many
customers and prospects these days that he really should
automate it, but that would make it too easy for us." His
voice took on a mocking tone. "It's supposed to be Hell,
remember that!" He sighed, and the sound of it went right
through the little thief.

JACK L. CHALKER                     7

"Still," the demon continued, "I did find the file.
Thought your name was familiar, too. One of the minor
demon princes got sent all the way down to the dungpits
a while ago and he ain't stopped wallowing in more than
just dung, if you know what I mean. All the time, this
self-pitying wail about how he was gonna deliver this world
on a silver platter and got cashiered instead of rewarded
for it. What's he expect, anyway? It's Hell, after all."

Macore thought a moment. "His name wouldn't be
Hiccarph, would it?"

"Yeah. That's the one. So it is the same Macore. Okay,
that simplifies everything. What do you wish, thief?"

This was suspiciously too cooperative. "And what is
the price?"

"First you tell me what you want, then I'll quote you
the going rates. That's simple enough. You keep it simple,
I'll keep it cheap. Fair enough?"

"I can ask for no more," Macore responded. Already
the temptation was there to ask for whatever he wished,
to go for it all, but he knew that this was the trap of
demonic bargains. He had no intention of delivering him-
self totally, now and forever, as a slave to this creature.
"Naturally, I wish safety and security from this storm and
from my pursuers. Of course, I mean this in the way that
I am thinking it, without loopholes or various things I did
not think of when requesting it."

The demon nodded. "All right. What else?"

"That is it," the thief told the creature. "That is all I
want from you."

The demon sounded slightly disappointed. "Nothing
more? Great wealth may I bestow upon you. I could make
you irresistible to women of any sort. I could give you
immunity from all spells, or give you many of the powers
now reserved for wizards who must suffer to gain what
I offer."

"Suffer now or suffer later," Macore responded. "That
is of no concern to me." He admitted to himself that the
sex appeal was quite tempting, but he had never really

8          VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

had much trouble in that direction. "I have all the wealth
I need—I steal for the sport of it. Women and I get along
quite well without demonic spells. I have great protections
against much of the spells of this world, and I have enough
magic to get along. No, I'll seek the price for what I asked
and no more."

"You are hardly in a position to bargain," the demon

pointed out.

"Nor are you," the thief responded confidently. "I know
enough of the laws of magic to know that one such as
you has but one door into the world, and your door is
obviously that gem. Were I to die here, that gem might
well be lost in this wilderness for generations, perhaps
forever. You would then have no outlet to relieve your
own tedious existence in Hell. My passing over to your
plane is not nearly as terrifying to me as your being cut
off over there is to you, and I know this. Now, quote me
fairly."

The demon spat. "Bah! Ones like you are pains in the
ass! However, I'll quote you fairly. You actually desire
three things, then. You wish to survive and again take up
your life. You wish to elude your pursuers. And you wish
it straight, with no tricks or loopholes. Very well. For
your miserable life, you must agree to give this stone at
the first opportunity to one who can and will make use
of it. Agreed?"

"That is simple enough. Agreed."

"For security against the priests and their followers,
you must accept a mark that I will place upon you, so
that all of Hell shall know that you have dealt with me
and will recognize you at once."

He was a bit nervous at that. A demon "mark" could
be anything from a small scar or birthmark to something
quite extreme and quite hideous. "I will not agree unless
I know the nature of the mark."

The demon didn't like that. "The priests will know your
identity and they will hunt you down eventually. I promise

JACK L. CMALKER                  9

only no physical deformity or infirmity. Take it or leave
it."

He sighed, knowing that he'd gotten as much out of
the demon as he could expect, and knowing, too, that the
demon was right. He had struck at the core of the priests'
cozy racket and stolen the base of their power. They
would never rest until they got him, unless called off by
supernatural means more powerful than any in Husa-
quahr. "All right—agreed."

"Finally, you can see the potential for traps and loop-
holes in the first two agreements. I could turn you into
one of the faerie, an unpleasant sort of one, or make you
a lover of other men, or perhaps a plain woman, or thou-
sands of other possibilities. To gain it gently and without
loopholes, I require that you freely accept a geas from
me, one which you will not know but will be compelled
to carry out."

"I must know the nature of that geas, demon," the
thief told him. "I would rather you changed me into a
monster than perhaps to kill a friend."

"Admirable. However, you must understand that any
geas of which you have knowledge will be readable by
wizards, and that is unacceptable. No, even this much
will be taken from you if you accept. I will go this far.
The geas is a single task, it involves no one's death or in
fact even harm to anyone, friend or stranger, nor will it
in any way alter the social, political, or military fabric of
Husaquahr as it stands. The consequences do not, in fact,
really affect Husaquahr at all. There is risk to the task,
but none that you are not up to facing."
"You wish me to steal something, then."
"Sort of. The task is that, although you do not actually
have to steal the object, you must reach it. That is all I
can tell you, for anything more might render the geas
useless."

"It does not sound too bad. Will I know at some point
what the geas was?"

"You will know—when it is done."

10

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 11

"Then I will accept."

"Done!" cried the demon.

Macore was slightly disappointed. "No blood contract?
No terrible oaths?"

"Don't be ridiculous. We save that sort of stuff for the
psychos and fanatics. Your word is bond, as is mine. I
return now to my dwelling place and expect to find at
least one new sucker very soon, as per our agreement."

"But—our bargain! How will I survive the wastes in
this storm? And what mark have you placed upon me?"

The demon chuckled, not only at the question but at
the fact that Macore had already had all memory of the
third bargain and geas wiped from his mind. "As for the
first," it said, "the storm has already abated, and the town
of Locantz is but a half-hour's gentle ride in the slush.
You will be able to see the lights of it when I leave. Just
head for them. As for the second—no shadow or reflec-
tion shall you cast, no matter how polished the mirror or
bright the light. That should actually come in handy to
one like you. I will take my leave now."

Macore felt more than a little relieved, but he was a
bit suspicious. "Now that the bargain is done, can you
tell me, before you leave, Sir Demon, if that town was
there at the start of this business?"

"Of course it was. Fun's fun, after all...." And with
that, it vanished, and a sudden cold blast of air hit him.
He had been perspiring from Hell's heat—not that Hell
was actually flames, but there was some strong reaction,
some sort of friction, created when one from the nether-
world projected into this—and now it seemed to turn into
tiny icicles as he stood there. He erased the pentagram
and picked up the gem, which was still quite warm to the
touch, and placed it back in his pouch, then climbed quickly
back upon his horse and looked around, finding the lights
of the town in a moment. He kicked his mount forward,
anxious to reach an inn and a warm fire.

No shadow and no reflection. Not a bad mark, as these
things went, and, as the demon said, possibly quite useful.

He'd have to find some convenient explanation for it,
though, as it was going to be a bit obvious to his friends.
A curse, perhaps, for stealing the gem in the first place.
That sounded right. Considering what the demon could
have done, it seemed a small price to pay. Perhaps in the
town just ahead he could fulfill his end of the bargain and
get rid of the damned stone. He certainly wanted no more
of it or Squatty Bigmouth, either. He had had enough
adventure to last awhile, he told himself. Perhaps it was
time to take a little time off and see some of those old
friends again.

Terindell, he thought longingly. / shall visit the great
old wizard at Terindell. He suddenly very much longed
to see the place, although he hadn't given it a thought in
over five years. He did not, however, wonder why.

CHAPTER 2

THE TROUBLE WITH GODHOOD

Barbarians may make effective monarchs, but will be unable
to reconcile their civilised duties with their inner natures.

—Rules, VI, 257(a)

THE TWO WOMEN COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE DIFFERENT

in appearance. One was small, dark, and incredibly volup-
tuous, almost in a state of undress, more of her body
covered by her long brown hair than her clothing; the
other was tall, chunky, with short hair and a stem face,
dressed in leather jerkin, trousers, and slick black boots.
The contrast was only accentuated by the fact that the
one in leather had a toad on her head.

12

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"Oh, Djonne!" the looker wailed. "Things just haven't
been the same in Raven's Lair since little Alee fell into
the giant dough mixer while competing in the Grand Husa-
quahrian Bake-Off!"

"I know, dear," the tall one in leather consoled. "Just
think of my poor Hanar here, turned into a toad just
because he left out one little teensy clause in his contract
with the demon!"

"Hmph\ You think you have problems? I mean, if Alee
had just stayed dead instead of returning as a spirit to this
house, that might have made it bearable! Now, though—
it's dough, dough, dough, all over the place. You can't
sit or walk without stepping in it; and, if you manage for
any length of time, she throws it at you. It's gooey and
sticky and hell to get out of pile carpeting!"

"Not to mention those creepy cannibals stalking the
place," the one with the toad responded.

"Wark.1" croaked the toad perched atop her head.

"Oh, don't you worry, dahling Hanar," the big woman
consoled it. "They've only eaten humans so far. You're
safe as long as you remain a toad."

The small pretty woman sighed. "Yes. They were
reformed cannibals who had been strict vegetarians for
years, but they liked the taste of poor Alee so much while
judging the contest that they can't rest until they've sam-
pled the rest of the family!"

"It was silly to enter the bread after the—ah, acci-
dent," Djonne told her friend. "I mean—it was that which

turned them on."

"But what were we to do? Without the money from
the Bake-Off we would have lost the house, the toadstool
groves—everything that makes life worth living! And we
won, too! If only Master Gwelfin can duplicate the taste,
without having to throw people into the mixing batters,
we'll be richer than any in the land!" She paused. "Per-
haps it wasn't Alee after all. Perhaps it was the forty-day-
old dried mermaid's scales...."

13

JACK L. CHALKER

"Oh, enough of this, Moosha!" Djonne cried. "What's
done is done!"

"You know they say I pushed her in! Always coming
around, asking questions! They say that's why Alee's come
back with her abominable doughballs!"

"I know, I know. It's true the top rung of the ladder
over the vat was sawed almost through, but I know you
weren't the one."

The pretty Moosha stopped and stared. "You do?
Why?"

"Because during the only time when the rung could
have been sawed through, I know you were making it
with your brother Mischa. I—saw you."

"You were peeking into windows again?" Moosha was
aghast.

"It's a hobby. Besides, I know you were only trying
to console your brother because of his curse."

That sobered Moosha. "Yes, yes! That was it! How
horrible to have to go through life with a curse like that.
You see, someone started to play music outside, and the
only way to save him was to involve him so much that
he could not hear it."

"Compulsive tap dancing is a horrible thing," Djonne
agreed.

"Particularly when there were taps in the room but no
shoes!" Moosha responded. "Think of the pain\ Besides—
it was safe. I knew even then that I was pregnant!"

"What! But—who? You're so chaste that the two-
headed dragon went after you a few months ago!" Djonne
paused. "Oh, my! It's not..."

"Yes—he caught me. We've been having an affair ever
since. Little did I guess that I had enough fairy blood in
me to make something else happen!" She sighed. "Bowser
has been so jealous."

"Your dogT

"No, silly—my horse."

"Will it be a dragon or a human?"

"Who can say? Oh, Djonne! I'm so alone and afraid!

14

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Haunted, stalked by cannibals, pregnant by a dragon! To
whom can I turn?"

Djonne got up, came over, and hugged her. "Moosha,
I made a sacred oath when Hanar got turned into a toad
that I would love no other man and I have kept that oath.
But you I love, my darling Moosha, and I always have
loved you."

They embraced and kissed. At that moment there was
the sound of smashing glass. The couple broke and stared
into the darkness in panic.

"It's them\ The cannibals! They've found me at last!
Oh, what will we do?" Moosha cried.

"There's no way out!" the other told her. "We must
make our stand here for better or worse!"

"Oh, Djonne!"

"Oh, Moosha!"

"Work!" said the toad.

All went dark. There was sudden, stunned silence.

And then the audience rose to its feet and clapped and
cheered so loudly and so long that it seemed like the very
theater would collapse.

High in the royal box, two giant figures, looking like
massive statues, sat and watched impassively. Both were
easily ten feet tall and as white as the purest marble, with
matching white hair and white robes. Now and then,
though, the curious onlooker could see one or another of
the pair stir and know that indeed these were great statues
come to life. One was a woman of tremendous proportions
and radiant, idealized beauty; the other was a man with
the face of a stem yet achingly handsome man and the
body of all men's dreams.

They stood suddenly. As the cast came out for their
final bows and stared at the great figures in awe, the entire
theater fell silent. Then the goddess gave a smile of favor
and a nod to the company, and the audience gave an
audible sigh of pleasure and relief. As the two gods turned
and left the box, the roaring cheers started again.

"You did quite well, my love," the Goddess Eve said

15

JACK L. CHALKER

to her companion. "I could tell what torture you were
going through."

"I never liked this god business much anyway. You
know that," the God Adam responded sourly. "But when
it makes me sit through that maudlin soap opera..."

"Come, come!" she consoled. 'This is only every two
years!"

"Well, that's part of it. I mean, they left a hundred
more threads dangling this time than they did before. It
never ends. And we have two years until the next chapter,
while they play the cities and the boondocks!"

"Oh, come! Come! It gives the peasants something to
talk about during the interim. As for us—well, it is one
of the obligations we have in exchange for running things."

"Huh'. I don't see old Ruddygore showing up at these
premieres, and he's now Chairman of the Council of Thir-
teen."

"He probably writes them. I have heard it said that he
has an entire group over on Earth doing nothing but tape-
recording daytime serials for him. Still, it's over now. We
can become ourselves once more and not have any further
ceremonial appearances until the temple rites on Mid-
Day."

"Yeah. Three whole days. Not long enough to go any-
where or do anything, except get cooped up in that ivory
tower of a castle."

They reached and entered a small dressing room that
was strictly out of bounds to anyone, even theater staff,
on nights like this. There the Goddess used a now familiar
spell to change them both back into their human selves
once more.

They were still both quite attractive and quite large.
Joe de Oro was six feet six and two hundred and seventy
pounds of pure muscle. Tiana was just a half inch shorter
than he and proportioned accordingly. Both were actually
classified as barbarians under the complex Rules that gov-
erned this strange world. In human form they tended to
dress minimally in rough-cut furs and preferred going

16

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

barefoot. Although they still bore a striking, if less perfect,
resemblance to the God and Goddess whose nude statues
were everywhere, no one ever made the association when
they walked the streets as ordinary folk. The resemblance
was occasionally noted, but only that. Part of the reason
was a spell, of course, that prevented anyone from making
the logic leap, a spell put on by the whole of the Thirteen
and thus literally unseeable and unbreakable, despite the
powerful wizards who roamed the land, but another part
was the fact that they were imposing but, quite certainly,
humans; with black hair, brown eyes, and bronze, weath-
ered complexions, they hadn't the supernatural aura of
gods.

Nor, of course, were they gods, although the majority
of the people of the nations of Husaquahr thought they
were. The evil Kaladon had kidnapped and bewitched
Tiana and made her into the Goddess in a plot to take
control of the whole of Husaquahr. Joe and others, includ-
ing, ironically, his sworn enemy the Dark Baron, had dis-
posed of Kaladon, but the old wizard had been clever
enough to spread the power about among some of the
others of the Thirteen who lived in Husaquahr. They found
the legitimacy that their roles as anointed high priests and
priestesses of the new cult gave them quite satisfying.
Neither Tiana nor Joe liked the deal, but they were not
really offered another one. Even a good wizard like Rud-
dygore had found this new religion a culturally unifying
force and supported its continuance. To be sure, it made
the emergence of another Dark Baron quite unlikely.

"I'm just plain bored, that's all," Joe grumped. "I mean,
I was always on the move, always going someplace else.
I wasn't forced into trucking—I chose it for its freedom,
such as it was. Over here, they held out the idea that,
once I did a few things for them, I'd be free to roam and
see this crazy place. Instead, what do I find? I'm a damned
god who has to wait an hour just so he can ride his horse
out without getting stuck in traffic!"

"Do you regret it, then?" she asked him. "It was I who

JACK L. CHALKER                 17

had no choice, not you. You know that you still don't
have to do it. You could walk out now, and we'd find
some stand-in to pretend to be you during public cere-
monies."

He grew irritated. "Oh, come on—you know better
than that. I knew the price coming in, or at least I thought
I did. Sure, I'd like to go roaming around and finding
adventure, but not alone. Without you, it just wouldn't
be any fun. It's just, well—so damned boring'. Worst of
all, there's really no end to it. All this luxury and power
is okay, I guess, but even gods need a vacation once in
a while."

"We can't do much right now, I suppose, but let us
talk to Ruddygore. He is due in near the end of the week,
anyway. Let us take some time off and go down to the
island and get away from it all. Discuss it with him there.
He always seems to know when something has to be fixed
and how to fix it."

"Yeah, well, maybe. He hasn't been exactly chummy
lately, either. Just ducks in and out every once in a while
with a new script to fit something or other he and the
Council are doing. I guess that's the other problem. We're
the only two friends we got. None of the old gang stops
by anymore, not even Marge, and it's been years since
we heard from Macore or even Grogha and Houma. No
battles, no adventures, no big travels, and no social friends.
Who can be comfortable being friends with two folks who
are worshipped by a few million people?"

"I know. Something must be done. I will admit that on
more than one of these occasions I have had the urge to
say something silly or screw up the ceremonies. The cost,
however, would be great to us both, and very unpleasant,
as you know. Ruddygore chairs the Council, but he could
neither contain nor control them if we messed up their
little racket."

He sighed. "Well, I guess the island's as good as any
for a little relaxation, anyway. It's the full moon on the
sixteenth through the eighteenth, you know."

18

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

19

She nodded. "I know."

The full moon was quite important to both of them.
Joe had long ago become the rarest oftransmuters, a pure
were, condemned on the nights of the full moon to turn
into whatever animal or fairy or other nonvegetative crea-
ture was nearest. Nor was he alone in this curse. It was
inevitable that sooner or later, if only in the intensity of
their lovemaking, Tiana would come to be bitten and also
get the curse. She had known this before and had accepted

it.

In point of fact, what Joe had originally seen as a ter-
rible affliction now provided both of them with their only
diversion. They had the power and authority pretty much
to arrange what they wanted to be, and they had been a
lot of things—human, animal, and fairy. It also meant
that as the fairies feared only iron, they feared only silver,
and Tiana, whose magical powers were quite strong, had
learned first of all the spell for transmuting silver into
some other substance when it was too close to her or to

Joe.

She reached over, took his hand, and squeezed it, smil-
ing. It was surprising to both of them, but without magic,
at least as far as either knew, after all this time they were
still very much in love with each other and very devoted
as well. It was strange, really, but they both still felt like
honey mooners. Even stranger was how so nearly perfect
a love could still leave them both unhappy.

"Perhaps it would be different if we could have chil-
dren," she said softly.

"Forget that!" he snapped. "You and I know that must

never happen!"

There was, in fact, a curse that went down through
her family, a curse levied perhaps a thousand years before
on the females of her line. It was said that one of her
distant ancestors was a great and powerful sorceress. The
details were unknown beyond that point, except that this
sorceress in some manner either made a bargain or attained
a powerful curse that she would never die. Instead, she

would die at childbirth with her firstborn girl, and her soul
would then enter the body of the newbom, and so the
cycle would continue forever. It was, of course, roughly
even odds, boy or girl baby, but that was a pretty severe
step to take. Joe wasn't at all certain about the soul busi-
ness, but he knew that Tiana's mother had indeed died
in childbirth while giving birth to Tiana. She had always
thought the curse a local one on her own mother, and
while she was convinced she had her mother's soul inside
her, Tiana had not at the time realized just how continuous
this was. Now, with the records of Castle Morikay, her
ancestral home, at her disposal and more time than she
liked to have, she found just how far back the curse went.

Both of them did want children, but there seemed no
safe way to get them. Her love was strong enough that
she was willing to take the risk for him, but his love was
strong enough that he would in no way allow it, no matter
what his desires.

There were, of course, magical ways of determining
the sex of a child; but when dealing with a curse as ancient
and as powerful as this, such spells could not be depended
upon.

"I think it's clear enough to leave now," he told her.
She got up and put on her fur cape, and the two of them
quickly left the room and walked down toward the stable
area. It had mostly cleared out by the time they got there,
and there was no trouble finding their horses.

He still felt a lot of tension and frustration within him
and had no desire to go quickly back to the castle that
dominated the city. "I feel like getting rip-roaring drunk
and maybe taking apart a bar," he growled.

She laughed. "Count me in! Lead on!" They galloped
off down the street to find a likely victim.

The riches of Castle Terindell were legend, but few
tried to gain them, for Terindell was the home of Rud-
dy gore, his current name of his more than three thousand
identifiable ones, and Ruddygore was the Chairman of the

20

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Council of Thirteen, the strongest of the strongest among
wizards. The great vaults below were made of solid iron,
enough to kill any of the fairy folk, save the dwarves,
with nothing else added. For humans and dwarves, who
had no such weakness, there were other traps, both
mechanical and sorcerous. None who had ever tried for
those vaults had ever been seen or heard from again.

Still, more had tried since the war than had ever tried
before, and some of them were the very best. Ruddygore
believed that it was the peace and quiet in the land that
caused the increase. He well understood that, to a master
burglar, the challenge was irresistible. There were things
in those vaults, however, that no human or fairy should
ever have, things even he wished he did not have to have,
and the penalty had to be severe and permanent for that
reason alone. He almost never went down there himself,
except to check that none had indeed been successful and
to reinforce the spells and traps.

The thief's name was Jurgash, and he considered him-
self, as did all good thieves, the finest at his craft in the
world. Also like all great thieves, he was very rich and
also knowledgeable in the magical arts. Unlike most, he
was also a powerful practitioner of those arts, although
he used that power, other than for gratification and amuse-
ment, only to combat such power in his objectives.

Like almost all the great thieves, too, he was a small,
wiry, slightly built man, in the peak of physical condition.
He had entered Terindell through the front gate, in the
guise of a man who had been set upon and robbed on the
road and who needed help. He was a convincing liar, so
much so that he often believed his own lies while he was
telling them.

Ruddygore, as he well knew, was not at home, nor was
his adept and very dangerous companion, Poquah the
Imir. This had left mostly the staff, which were a few
humans, some elves, and various and sundry other crea-
tures—even one ogre, Gorodo, the trainer of the wizard's
small but powerful private army. Jurgash dealt mostly

JACK L. CHALKER                  2.

with the elves though, as he expected, and they hac
believed every word of his story, fed him a fine meal, anc
put him up for the night in a luxurious guest suite. In fact
he had the virtual run of the place for the night, which
was even better than he had hoped, although it showed
just how dangerous the vaults might be. If the old and
powerful wizard could in fact leave his castle in such
gullible hands, then all that was truly worthwhile was so
well guarded he believed none could get to it.

The door down to those vaults looked deceivingly sim-
ple, with a huge basic key lock that any amateur could
pick. Of course, that was how it should be. The first traps
would not be on the outside of such an entry, but just
inside. The only advantage he had as a thief was the
knowledge that Ruddygore himself had to go down there
once in a while, so there was a way around every trick
and trap, every spell and danger, if he could spot them
all in the proper order and solve their riddles.

An experienced hand with a probe revealed the first
one right away. The big wooden door, in fact, was not
locked at all, and any attempt to fiddle with the lock
mechanism meant instant activation of alarms. Examining
the door carefully, he saw that it was, in fact, not a normal
door at all. The hinges, for example, were false. The door,
in point of fact, appeared hinged in some way from the
bottom. Try and pick that lock and the entire door, built
of heavy wood and probably reinforced with iron or lead,
would suddenly and quickly fall outward, crushing the
would-be thief like a rat in a trap.

He had his kit with him; from it he took a small handle
that was actually a magnet. He placed the handle as far
up on the door as he could and then, holding his breath,
he pulled gently. The door, which was clearly iron-cored,
gave, coming forward as he pulled. He stopped as soon
as he dared and examined the small, dark area he had
revealed. As he had suspected, there were two alarms,
one mechanical and one magical. The mechanical one,
nothing more than a pull-string, proved easy to bypass,

22

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

but the spell was enormously complex and took some
time to understand and build onto enough to bypass its
trigger.

Removing his door block, he continued to pull down
until he was satisfied that there were no more traps, at
least on the door. No alarms that he could sense were
sounding, and he felt reasonably satisfied that he was safe.
He carefully stepped inside, then used his handle once
more to pull the door back up to its closed position. He
was now totally in the dark, and knew he would have to
risk some light. He brought forth a small torch and lighted
it with his flint, not wishing to try any spells in this place
until he could see just what he was dealing with.

The torch flickered and then burst into life, and the
thief gasped. In front of him was a great hole, a bottomless
pit of blackness. The floor did continue, but it was a good
twenty feet to the other side, and no ladder, rope, or other
way to bridge the chasm was evident. He shifted his sight
to the magical bands and saw a criss-crossing network of
complex red and blue strands across the whole of the
chasm. He realized quite suddenly that the spell was so
complexly woven that it would take hours to unravel
enough even to guess its nature. He ignored that as
impractical; instead, he looked for loose ends and found
none. The spell was a complete one, then, not an inter-
active type wherein he or another intruder would provide
the additional mathematics to enact its horrors.

He wondered, in fact, about that chasm. Nothing in
his research indicated that Ruddygore ever brought with
him a great bridge or ladder, and he could hardly see the
huge fat man going hand over hand on a rope. Clearly
one could cross this without apparatus, but to do so would
have required at least one loose end in that spell to which
a small solidifying spell could be tied, sufficient to allow
someone simply to walk across on thin air. This was a
spell of concealment or revealment, then, not a true trap
in and of itself. That meant that either it hid something

23

JACK L. CHALKER

that was actually there or showed something that was not
there.

Could the chasm be false? He gingerly tested, and found
his foot going down off the edge without finding any sup-
port. No, at least some sort of depression was there. But
if the chasm was real, how did Ruddygore cross it? By
added spell? If so, what was the purpose of this one? He
doubted the added spell anyway; it was somewhat com-
plicated, and he had many timings from his spies and paid
informants. Ruddygore went in and rarely spent more
than fifteen minutes inside; the longest time known was
just over half an hour, which included the time going to
and coming back from the vaults. He did not cast and
uncast spells in that period of time.

Could the spell, then, conceal a bridge? One could not
simply cast for it—that would break that fine spell there
and send up an alarm, at the very least, and perhaps
something fatal. A bridge, then—but perhaps a bridge
that did not start at the edge and was barely wide enough
for one of Ruddygore's bulk? Anyone testing the edge
would find space, but if he knew where the bridge was,
he could just blithely step across it.

But where would such a bridge be? On one side or the
other, certainly, and not anywhere in the middle. Rud-
dygore would not risk a misstep, nor make it so complex
that he couldn't get anywhere here in a hurry. But which
side? If Jurgash were the wily wizard, he'd have that
bridge on one side and a very ugly surprise on the other.
There was no way to test it without possibly triggering an
alarm, so the only solution here had to do with psychol-
ogy. Ruddygore was right-handed; right-handed people
tended to move to the right, which would place the bridge
on the right-hand side. However, the wizard would know
that this was an elementary trick.

Taking a deep breath, Jurgash the thief picked up his
bag, sighted the left, ran to the edge and jumped off into
what seemed to be open space.

He came down hard on a stone surface and fell forward,

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

24

skinning his hand and knee. His kit flew forward out of
his hands, but hit some sort of stop and halted. He felt
the thrill of confidence, although it still looked to him as
if he now sat on thin air. He reached over and retrieved
his kit, then got carefully to his feet, feeling a surge of
exhilaration and confidence. Not easy, no, but this was
a challenge worthy of him for certain!

He did not, of course, fall for the gap further on in the
bridge; it was almost inevitable, and only an amateur or
a fool would be so thrilled at solving the bridge that they

would not expect it.

At the other end, things changed once more. A tunnel
made a sharp turn and then led to a deep descending
stairway. The steps were of stone, but obviously could
not be trusted and had to be examined one by one. Several
proved to be booby-trapped, but the trap he appreciated
the most was the invisible wall that moved down when
one skipped over an obviously booby-trapped step, set-
ting him up for a very close shave. He barely missed it,

and redoubled his caution.

So far, most of the traps were mechanical. Fine, effec-
tive puzzles, but far below Ruddygore's skill as a wizard.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, though, he
turned back around and saw that the whole series of forty
stone steps were now ablaze with ribbons of red, yellow,
and blue magic, tied in complex patterns. He immediately
guessed the purpose—the same traps were there, but now
all of them were reassigned, perhaps even reversed. Going
up would be a totally new challenge. Still, it told him
something more, something which sobered him a great
deal. He had passed the point of no return, the place at
which the amateur would either be discouraged or easily
fooled. Anyone getting this far would be a pro of the
highest order. When a defender started blocking exits it
meant that the thief must now win or die. He already now
knew too much of the defensive system to be allowed to

live.

He, however, had no intention of going back out.

JACK L. CHALKER

25

Everyone knew that Ruddygore had in his vaults the magic
lamp that granted wishes; it had been stolen once by the
Dark Baron and then back from him, and had been used
in plain sight. It would wish him out of here safely with
whatever loot he wanted.

The tunnel had no more evident traps for about ten
feet, although it still angled down, but then it emptied into
a small chamber that was lined with mirrors. There seemed
no way out—there were three reflections of him in front,
two more on each side. The floor was still solid stone,
with no signs of magic, and the ceiling was also featureless
stone and a good fifteen feet up. Clearly, then, one of the
mirrors was itself an illusion of a mirror, or was in some
way hinged and trapped.

He stood there, in the center of the room, contem-
plating the new puzzle, when suddenly a ghostly, rever-
berant voice spoke to him. It was Ruddygore.

"You are to be congratulated, thief, for getting this far,"
the voice said. "Now you stand, however, in the primary
trap, the one that cannot be passed by any other than
myself. For the record, you are now twenty-six feet from
the vault doors, and there are seven doors there, six of
which, when opened, contain horrors more terrible than
you can ever imagine, and only one of which contains
what you seek. Don't worry. This is the end for you."

He knew that the voice was part of an activation spell
now, and that in fact Ruddygore had no knowledge that
he was here. It was a generic taunt, meant to discourage
and unnerve.

"If you wish to halt things now, I give you ten seconds
to turn and walk back through the tunnel to the base of
the stairs. There you will find a recording of the one spell
that will allow you to pass easily upward and back out
into the castle. It will also, of course, turn you into an
.ogre and make you my absolute slave forever afterward,
but that's the price you pay for staying alive. Fail to take
this and you will die, and your soul will be consumed by
these mirrors and used to feed their powers."

26        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

He looked frantically around. Ten seconds! He would
not be panicked, but he knew enough not to take the threat
lightly. He had triggered a spell for sure, and it was certain
not to be a bluff. But how had the spell been triggered?
With a sinking feeling, he thought he knew. The mirrors.
The spell was triggered if they reflected any form but
Ruddygore's!

He stared in horror at the mirrors, then watched as his
own reflections seemed to take on a life of their own, then
step out of the mirrors and come toward him, daggers
drawn.

They were upon him before he could even take the
offer to be an ogre.

CHAPTER3

OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES

Neither friendships nor relations shall be anything but sub-
ordinate to one's true nature as established by these Rules.
—Rules, III, 27(c)

THE FACT THAT THROCKMORTON P. RUDDYGORE LOVED

to travel by ship was well known, so his arrival at the
island castle retreat in a sleek racing yacht was not unusual.
The fact that the lake in which the castle sat had only one
outlet, the Khafdis River, which was not navigable made
it a bit more unusual. Ruddygore's ships did not travel in
conventional places or along conventional paths.

Lake Ktahr was broad and enormous, although quite
shallow in places. From no point on Wolf Island, even
the highest tower of its castle, could any land be seen

JACK L. CHALKER                  27

beyond the waters, which made it ideal for Joe and Tiana.
Beyond its cliffside castle and outbuildings, the island was
still wild, although no wolves were known to be there.
The island had received its name ages before because of
a peculiar, wolflike prominence jutting out from the high
cliffs. The vegetation was lush, the climate generally warm,
and there were a few small white sand beaches accessible
by steep trails from the high island floor.

Once, not long ago, this place of secluded beauty had
been the center of Husaquahr's evil and the site of an
epic battle between Ruddygore and its previous owner,
the Dark Baron, Esmilio Boquillas. The castle itself had
been expropriated by the couple regarded by many as
gods and had been redone and staffed with Ruddygore's
loyal servants, or "employees" as he always called them—
mostly elves and other fairy folk whom he trusted over
humans.

It was a bright, warm, sunny day when Ruddygore
arrived, and Joe and Tiana went down to meet him per-
sonally at the only anchorage on the island, a mile or so
from the castle itself. No matter how many times they
saw him, the old sorcerer made an impressive sight.

Ruddygore was not merely tall—almost as tall as they
were—but he was big, and with his long white hair and
flowing white beard he looked very much like what the
real Santa Claus should look like, complete with a rough,
reddish complexion. Although he'd been known, in pri-
vate moments, to dress quite informally, he was now
dressed in his normal public attire—striped pants, morn-
ing coat, formal shirt with vest, bow tie, and top hat. He
seemed not to notice the heat and humidity.

Ruddygore, of course, was not his real name. He had,
it seemed, thousands of them, and probably more that
were still not traceable to him. He was quite old—thou-
sands of years old at the very least—and his past made
up a considerable body of both Husaquahrian history and
legend. To know a great sorcerer's true name was to have
some magical power over him, and it had been so long

28

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 29

since his own name was uttered by anyone or anything
that it was said that even he had forgotten it.

His comical name and appearance belied his tremen-
dous power, which was the strongest known in this world
where magic ruled—at least the strongest known human.
In addition, he had one other skill, one piece of infor-
mation no other wizard knew, and one which gave him a
decided edge in a world where magic worked and tech-
nology was virtually unknown. He alone knew how to
cross the Sea of Dreams between his own world and Earth,
and he alone was privy to the secrets of technology that

Earth had.

He came down the gangplank like some great king,
clutching his cane with the golden dragon on its hilt, but
he warmly shook Joe's hand and hugged and kissed Tiana
with evident real affection. "How good you both look!"
he said enthusiastically in his great booming voice. "It's
good to be back home and among friends once more.
Come—let us go up to the castle. Poquah will see to our

things."

Poquah was the thin adept ofRuddygore's, an Imir, or

warrior elf, by birth and training. His race had but one
innate power, but it served them well. No one, not even
their closest friends, even noticed their existence unless
they wanted to be noticed. It was often spooky or even
irritating to have him seemingly pop up from nowhere and
vanish just as quickly, but it was very handy for a warrior.
Like humans, though, any powers of wizardry had to
be learned by hard study and apprenticeship, and he was
the first known of his race to have both the talent and the

desire.

Ruddygore's great bulk looked unmanageable, but the
old man was really quite spry. He mounted the horse
they'd brought for him with a single easy motion and
managed to look both comfortable and, considering his
garb, ridiculous at one and the same time. The couple
mounted their own horses, and they started off up the

winding, switchbacked trail to the top and then to the
castle.

"I can tell that something is amiss with you," Rud-
dygore noted as they rode. "Excuse my prying, but are
you two having—difficulties?"

"Not in that way," Joe responded. "Frankly, we're just
bored to death and sick and tired of all this."

"With your support, we are the richest and most pow-
erful in all this world," Tiana added, "yet we are no more
free than the lowest serf in the fields."

"Well, everyone's trapped in one way or another,"
Ruddygore replied. "No one is ever really free to do what-
ever he or she wishes, I fear. Still, if one has to be trapped,
it's far better to be trapped at the top of the heap than at
the bottom. Believe me, any of the peasants putting in
eighty-hour weeks and going home to a mud-and-straw
hut would trade places with you in a minute. It is, how-
ever, both ironic and unfortunate that the higher one
climbs, the less freedom and more responsibility one finds.
In that sense I am no more free than either of you."

"But you are," Joe retorted. "I know you're busy and
have little time, but you can occasionally manage a break,
a vacation, and you can do it on another world, where
no one knows your identity or powers."

Ruddygore thought about it a moment. "Well, that's
not really true. When I'm on Earth I manage mostly to
get away for an evening here or there, but in general I'm
quite busy. What happens there affects what happens here,
as strange as that sounds. I'm not going to explain it to
you, since it's somewhat mystical and technical, but let's
just say that the greater Hell's power on Earth at any
given time, the greater its power here."

"And how is Hell doing over there?" Tiana asked him,
only half serious.

"Quite well," he responded. "Better than here, which
worries me a great deal. The threat of nuclear war grows
greater each day, while crime runs rampant. The human
genius for killing other humans has developed whole new

30

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 31

and massive ways of waging war without Armageddon,
but that won't last forever. Repression and terrorism are
up all over, and the true measure of Hell's success, the
amount of fear injected into the daily lives of the most
inconsequential of people, regardless of nation or ideol-
ogy, is way up. The tides this causes in the Sea of Dreams
are large and dark, and they are washing up on our shores
as well. I do my best to build the dikes to keep it from
engulfing us, but I fear it is a battle that cannot be won
for long. The effect is not as strong the other way, alas—
our defeat of the Dark Baron lowered tensions somewhat
on Earth, but not nearly enough. They are back even now
to their prewar levels."

That was depressing, but not something they either
understood or could do anything about. Joe said, "Well,
I don't want evil or another war or anything like that,
because it would kill too many people, but frankly I'd do
almost anything to relieve this boredom. We need a break,
Ruddygore." He sighed. "You know, I felt sorry for Marge,
but the fact is she's getting to see this place while I'm
stuck on a damned false throne as some kind of monu-
ment. We can't even really enjoy this place. We're due
back in only four days. That's just not enough."

"Don't feel sorry for Marge—ever!" Ruddygore
admonished him. "She's really happy for the first time in
her life."

"You've seen her, then?"

He nodded. "Yes, about a year and a halfback. She's
still much the same, but she's fully accepted and adjusted
to her faerie* nature now and she seems to be fully enjoy-
ing life. The fairy folk have a far greater joy in life, even
the smallest and most ordinary things, because, while
ageless, they are no less mortal than we, but unlike us,
if they die before the Last Trump is sounded, they die the

'Faerie refers to the heritage, magic nature, power, and "realm" of fairies
in general; it has a connotation of that which is withdrawn from human ken.
Fairy refers in more specific manner to individuals, races, traits, and abilities
of the fairy folk; its connotation is more that of a normal, day-to-day existence.

real death. It makes them appreciate things more and
cherish every moment. It's one reason why fairy folk in
the main seem childlike, although you know that they
aren't."

"You make the threat of true death seem like an asset,"
Tiana noted.

"Oh, no! It just makes the outlook different, that's all.
You see, deep down, no human really believes that he or
she can die until it happens. The fairies, whose power is
partly based upon belief, know the truth of that and its
finality. Because of that, you either go nuts or you live
every moment of life to the fullest. Whole races of fairy
folk have gone in both directions." He paused a moment,
then continued.

"However, as to your holiday problem, we might be
able to solve it. I agree that you need a break, if only
because of the boredom. Both of your natures are free-
spirited, and that's part of the problem. Me, I could use
a little boredom now and then. Let me think on the prob-
lem for a day or so. Perhaps we could invent a new hol-
iday, one in which the two of you would supposedly go
back to Heaven for a few weeks or something. I've never
really been comfortable with this idiotic theology, but it
has been convenient in many ways and it's no sillier than
ninety-nine percent of the religions and cults in this world
or on Earth. So long as it emphasizes Heavenly values
and virtues, it doesn't serve Hell's ends, and that's more
than can be said for most of them."

They arrived at the castle, where elfin grooms took
their horses, and they entered and went to the Great Hall.
They settled down in comfortable, fur-covered chairs, and
a servant brought them a tray of delicacies, and another
brought drinks. Ruddygore, still formally attired but with
hat taken, settled back and looked somewhat relaxed.

"I can tell that you have been arguing over children
again," he said casually.

They both jumped. "What!" Tiana cried. "How did you
know?" She had visions of spies all over the place.

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

32

"Because it's something that would happen if boredom
weighed heavily upon you. I know you both too well."
"Well, it's out of the question," Joe growled.
"Why?" the wizard asked him. "Oh, I agree when it
comes to Tiana, but you're both weres. You can become
each other. The genes would be the same."

"You mean me have the baby?" Joe was aghast.
"Certainly. Oh, at thirty-six hours a month I fear the
pregnancy would be about fifteen or sixteen years to term,
but what of it? A simple spell would continue you every
were-period until it happened, although you'd have to
make certain that you did in fact become Tiana each time
or heaven knows what you'd give birth to in the end, but
it's possible."

Joe shook his head in wonder. "No, I don't think so."
"Well, perhaps there are other ways. We'll see."
"It is the first night of the full moon tonight," Tiana
reminded him.

"Oh, yes—I know. Don't mind me. I'm here for a brief
rest and to do some studying anyway. Something is up.
I can smell it. Something that I feel both here and on
Earth, and that means something big. I want to find it and
nip it in the bud before it bites all of us."

Macore was a small man dressed in a dark gray tunic
with an integral hood. The hood, of course, was down
now, in the bright daylight and in the company of familiar
friends, and revealing a darkly handsome man with an
angular face, always clean-shaven, and a nose perhaps a
bit too big but of which he was inordinately proud.

He was not surprised to find Ruddygore away, although
his usually reliable sources told him that the old boy was
due back almost any time now. Macore was one of the
few who knew where Ruddygore went on these frequent
and sometimes long business trips, although he'd never
been to Earth, and all he knew about it was what he'd
learned from associating with Joe and Marge in the old
days.

JACK L. CHALKER                 33

The old days, he thought sadly, sitting in a small recep-
tion hall and picking at the fine meal Durin, Ruddygore's
elfin master chef, had prepared for him. How quickly the
time passed, he reflected, and how much older he felt.
Not that he wasn't physically as good as he ever was, but
now more of that speed and quickness came from spells
and elixirs, dearly bought, instead of through natural
training, as it had been not too many years ago.

He wondered, sitting here, why he felt so depressed.
Things were not, after all, that bad, and he really had no
complaints. The life of a thief was a lonely one, but he
had chosen it, rather than being forced into it. Those who
were forced into it were amateurs and tended to remain
so. He had only sympathy for them. He, now, was dif-
ferent. He was rich, he was famous—or infamous,
depending on who heard the name and under what cir-
cumstances—and he had the friendship of the head of the
Council and the two demigods who dominated life, par-
ticularly in the area of the river. Few had ever caught him
and none had ever held him; he was getting into his middle
forties now, pretty old for any sort of thief.

He loved a good roll in the hay with a willing wench,
but there was no end of those, and he wished no lasting
commitments to anyone. To make such a commitment
was to make him eternally vulnerable. He was, in fact,
at the top of his profession and he had achieved everything
in his wildest dreams—plus a lot more.

And that, of course, was the root of the problem. When
one has broken into dark towers ruled by witches and
ancient gods and stolen their treasures, picking the
unpickable locks and breaking the unbreakable spells, what
was there left for him? He could, he reflected, do no better
than to equal himself in the future, and one of these days
even he would make afatal mistake, borne of carelessness
or age. No human being was perfect. It was this knowl-
edge—that he should quit now, while well ahead, or inev-
itably die—that was eating at him. He was the gambler
who was now ten thousand ahead, able to support himself

34        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

forever, who knew that if he played long enough he'd lose
it all, but could not stop playing because, really, he didn't

want to do anything else.

And what challenges were left? What had not he or
one of his colleagues never failed to crack that was worth

cracking?

With a start, he thought of one. One right below him,

in fact, and the best guarded of the lot. He could recite
the names of two or three dozens of the finest who had
tried it. He'd never seen them again,and probably would
not, in this life. It had never occurred to him to steal from
Ruddygore. Mooch off him, certainly, and use his name
and political influence where it was advantageous—but
steal from him? The man was the most responsible for
elevating him from petty con man and minor crook to the

king of thieves he now was.

But did he have to steal—or merely solve the problem?
He dwelt on the idea that evening as he put away his
things and made ready for bed. He looked at his shaving
gear and then stared into the mirror and scowled. Nothing,
no reflection at all, stared back. It was as if he were
invisible; yet, of course, he was solid and real. He'd been
cutting himself shaving for several weeks and still hadn't
really gotten it right. He would grow a beard and to hell
with it, except that trimming a beard was just as difficult.
It hadn't seemed much of a curse, and it really wasn't,
considering the alternatives, but that demon sure had one
hell of a nasty sense of humor.

He'd traded the jewel off quickly, as agreed, to a young
and ambitious black magician with some useful spells to
trade. He hoped the kid thought fast. He kind of suspected
that the other part of the deal, that the priests not catch
up with him, had been handled by them blaming whoever
had the gem. If so, the twerp better grow up real fast.

Throughout the next day the problem of Ruddygore's
vaults haunted him, and he really had the urge to give it
a try. He milked the staff for all the relevant details, which
weren't much, but helped more than they knew, and

JACK L. CHALKER                 35

mapped out a rough idea of what was down there. Nat-
urally, there'd be mechanical traps, and ones with fixed
spells—those were rather simple. He didn't fear those,
although they'd be formidable indeed, so much as he feared
electrical traps—the one kind of guard that no thief in
this world would expect or understand. They had used a
few such in the war, and of them all the ones he feared
most were those which transmitted and those which took
a code to turn off.

With a start, he realized that energy was energy, whether
it was magical or electrical. One of the spells he'd gotten
from the young black magician was in fact an energy-
damping spell, although of course the fellow hadn't seen
it that way.

He decided to give it a try. What the hell. This would
surely make him the king of thieves if he did it; if he
didn't, at least he wouldn't have to worry about his future
careers.

CHAPTER 4

INVITATION TO DANGER

There is no piiule so complex that it cannot be solved.

—Motto of the Thieves' Guild of Husaquahr

NONE IN THE LONG AND VARIED HISTORY OF HUSAQUAHR

had ever seen Throckmorton P. Ruddygore move this fast
or be this angry. He had spent four days on the island
recovering and relaxing from his unknown ordeals, then
had headed off for his great castle Terindell in Marque-

36

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

wood as Joe and Tiana ruefully headed back to their own
duties elsewhere.

As usual, Ruddygore always checked the seals, and
when he discovered that no less than three attempts on
the vault seemed to have been made in his absence, a
new record, and one of them by Macore, he blew up. Of
course, the staff was only guessing at this—they knew
that all three had entered, two who thought they were
surreptitious and Macore through the front gate—and that
none had emerged again, but none could be absolutely
certain that the vaults had been the cause of it.

Ruddygore was certain, taking only a cursory glance
at the front door of the vaults and taking a reading from
the memory in the wood. "How dare they!" he stormed
to Poquah. "Particularly Macore! Well, they all got what
they deserved. Let's go down and see what damage is
done."

What had taken hours for the greatest of thieves to
figure out Ruddygore did in a quick series of motions, so
automatic that one would not have even guessed the traps
were there. He pulled down the door, stepped in, went
immediately over the bridge that seemed not to be there,
then down the stairs, rapidly, skipping just the right steps
and ducking at just the right points. Poquah, who knew
the route as well as his master, did likewise, at least until
the hall of mirrors. The mirrors would attack anyone with-
out Ruddygore's full reflection in all of them, so the sor-
cerer had to wait a moment there until Poquah was with
him and under his protection. He took the opportunity to
read the walls, and found signs of two thieves gone to
Hell in there between checks. Poquah was the only one
of faerie, other than the dwarves, who would not be
instantly killed by the iron in the vault, and that was only
because of a spell that interacted with Ruddygore only
when Ruddygore was present.

Two thieves. That worried him. Two, not three—and
neither of the two were familiar.

"I don't like this, Poquah," he muttered darkly. "It is

37

JACK L. CHALKER

absolutely impossible for any, be they human or fairy, to
pass this point unless with me. Even a false visage won't
do it, since the mirror sees and recognizes such spells.
About the only type of creature capable of passing through
here would be some sort of vampire, and Macore is not
one of those. Well, come on. Let's see just how far he
got."

The Imir walked before him now and through the cen-
ter mirror as if it wasn't there, as indeed it was not. It
was an illusion, reflecting the others. An immediate bright,
searing light hit them, hot and intense, but there was no
sign of any remains or essence to show that anything had
ended its life here.

"Definitely no vampiric spirit," Poquah noted. "It would
have been destroyed at this point."

Ruddygore again took the lead, pressing the keystone
in the wall that was invisible in the brightness of the light
to ordinary eyes, insuring that the spring-loaded, stake-
filled walls beyond would not close on them. Down another
few stairs and around a curve, they broke through a com-
plex sonic pattern that was impossible to avoid and well
above the threshold of even an animal's hearing. The sor-
cerer went up to a small wooden box, flipped it down to
reveal a numeric keypad, then pressed a nine digit com-
bination that prevented the alarm box from going off,
triggering all sorts of signals above and even nastier traps
below.

They entered the main chamber and faced the seven
identical doors, like those to bank vaults. Each had dif-
ferent and complex spells and locks on them, and there
was no way to tell which one was real and which were
the decoys.

Ruddygore and Poquah stood there, puzzled. Still none
of the signs showed any trace of a recent visitor. This
wasn't unusual if one just passed through, but death
imprinted the inanimate objects surrounding it with a spe-
cific and retrievable set of signals.

"Clearly, either Macore did not come down here, or

38

JACK L. CHALKER                  39

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

he succeeded in entering the vault," Poquah noted in his

dry, flat tone.

"No, if Macore had succeeded in getting all the way,
he'd have returned upstairs, either to prevent any sus-
picion from coming his way or simply to taunt me about
his feat in breaking my elaborate system," Ruddygore

responded.

The Imir walked over to the second door from the right
and examined its spells and locks. "Nevertheless, some-
one not only was here but managed to choose the correct
vault. It is an amazingly skillful job, but the seals have
certainly been tampered with."

Ruddygore strode quickly over, looked, and saw that
it was true. He frowned worriedly, not liking this at all.
"Not even the Dark Baron and his demon prince suc-
ceeded in breaking into these vaults. I don't care who it
was, Macore is simply not this good. This is serious indeed,
Poquah. I smell the hand of Hell in all of this, for only
they would know enough of these vaults to bring someone

this far."

"Still, the doors are scrambled randomly every few
hours. How could even Hell know the correct one at that

particular moment?"                 .

"I don't know. But all these attempts by all these mas-
ter thieves in the last couple of years, which I'd foolishly
taken as just chance and the wages of being famous in
dull times, I now suspect is more than that."

It would have taken the best of wizards many hours
to unwork any of the spells on any of the doors, which
were at the heart of the final security system. The true
vault shuffled magically between the doors randomly, but
at least once an hour; none could undo the spells and pick
the locks in less than two, not even a member of the
Council itself, which meant that even someone who got
this far would be forever picking the lock to what would

be the wrong door.

The only one who could undo the spells in sufficiently
fast time to get into the right one was the maker of the

spell, and it still took Ruddygore better than ten minutes.
He rarely visited the vaults, or even checked them. He
only checked to the last point where the thief was
destroyed.

The spell undone, he had effectively frozen the vault
shift and now took a great key from his waistcoat pocket
and placed it in the lock, then turned it in an elaborate
series of moves. The lock was, in fact, a nine number
combination lock, and it had to be done just right, includ-
ing removing the key before attempting to open the door.
He did so, then pulled up on the handle and the great
metal door swung away.

The vast treasure trove of Ruddygore's went back for
what seemed to be miles, but he didn't try and walk the
corridors and check every little thing. It was all keyed to
him and to a personal inventory spell, and it took him
almost no time at all to determine that the only things
missing were fifty-one pounds of gold—real, not fairy,
although the fairy gold would have been a better prize—
and one of his American Express cards. The gold one,
naturally.

There was, of course, only one way to get someone
and that much gold back out, and he immediately walked
far back along the corridors of the vault until he came to
the Lamp. He was more than a little surprised to find it
still there.

The Lamp of Lakash had been formed in the earliest
days of Creation by the great powers who created the
world. It looked, in fact, the way it should have—an
ancient oil lamp that had once reminded Joe of an antique
gravy boat with a top on it, sitting atop a rounded stand.
It was originally designed as a fudge factor by the early
Creators, since it could, within some strong limitations,
violate or alter the laws of science and magic and grant
a wish. Hell had made a stab for it, and it had been lost
in the turmoil for eons afterward, even existing at various
times on Earth as well as here, and giving rise to both
worlds' legends of magic wishing lamps and genies. Rud-

40

JACK L. CHALKER                 41

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

dygore picked up the lamp and rubbed it gently, trying to
remain calm and mark his words well while he held it.
No matter what legend said, none were entitled to more
than one free wish on the Lamp. Make two and, while
the second was granted, the wisher changed places with
the genie, becoming the slave of the Lamp in place of the
one now there. Ruddygore had no desire to pay the price
he would have to pay if he, even inadvertently, made a
wish.

When it had been recovered by Joe and Marge, it had
contained Dacaro, the evil wizard and former pupil of
Ruddygore's, who had taken refuge in it against the demon
prince Hiccarph.

The genie of the Lamp appeared, and Ruddygore sighed
as he saw who it was.

"It's not my fault!" Macore the genie protested.

"I should have known," Ruddygore said disgustedly.
"First tell me why you did it, then how."

"The why of it I only now fully understand," Macore
replied, and proceeded to tell the story of the gem, the
snowstorm, and the demon. Now that he had completed
the geas the demon had laid upon him, he remembered
all the details.

"So, anyway," Macore continued, "I was set up to do
it. I had lots of information from the demon—he ducked
down You Know Where and talked to Hiccarph, who, it
seems, is currently shoveling shit and hating it. With the
information he planted, added to my knowledge of you
and my own skills, I did it. I can tell you, it wasn't easy,
even with that."

"I can see getting to the mirrors. Many have done so.
But how did you get past them?"

"Simple. The mark the demon laid on me was to have
no shadow or reflection. The mirrors saw nothing. I, of
course, saw the mirrors and deduced the gimmick, so that
meant you had to have something to kill vampires beyond.
Way back when, I lifted one of those pairs of sunglasses
you had made for Marge, on the idea that it might come

in handy, so I put 'em on and saw the keystone plain as
day."

"But the sonic alarm—that's battery-powered! Earth
technology! How did you come up with the combination?"

"I didn't. The young punk of a black wizard I traded
the gem to gave me several spells in return, one of which
was a blocking spell. Allowed me to go through spells
that only activated when you broke their web because it
kept the spell's energy lines intact as you passed through
them. I figured that spells are just energy, and so is an
alarm system, so I cast the spell several times, including
there, as a precaution. I broke the sonic beams, sure—I
didn't know about them until you just told me—but the
spell kept the signal from being transmitted back to your
box."

Ruddygore nodded gravely. What happened when the
sonic beams were broken was that a simple transmitter
was interrupted, causing it to send a strong signal to the
alarm box. Macore's spell simply kept the current stable
even when he passed through, so the box received no
wrong signal. "And how did you guess the correct door
anA pick it in so short a time?"

"Oh, I'll admit that took me the better part of a day,
and I damned near died of thirst and starvation taking all
that time, even with my supply kit. I sensed the movement
and figured out the gimmick, so the first problem was
deciding on how to figure out which door held the vault
at any given moment. You have a lot of fairy gold in here
and every decent thief who's any sort of a pro has a diving
spell for fairy gold. The iron in the doors was a big prob-
lem, but I've practiced at finding an ounce or less in some
dutchess' necklace, so with several tons to work with
even the iron couldn't block it out. Once I figured that
part, I had to work on undoing the spells on the door, and
that took damned near forever. Eight, maybe ten hours
at least. It was hard to know just how much time had
passed. Picking the combination was a piece of cake—

42

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

it's my job, after all, and these are commercial vault doors,
even if they are antiques."

By this time Poquah had joined them, and was listening
intently. "I can follow this far," the Imir commented, "but
I cannot understand how you could pick the lock and
know that the vault would be beyond when you opened
it."

Macore laughed. "See? That's how thieves make their
living. Even the best wizards think like wizards, not like
thieves. You see, once I figured out that the thing moved
around every hour or so, it didn't matter which door I
cracked'. All I had to do was crack it but leave the key
inside the lock and then sit back and wait until my spell
for the gold detected that the true vault was behind the
door I'd already opened. Then I just took the key out,
opened the door, and walked in. Simple."

"Simple," Ruddygore repeated glumly. "Yes, when you
had Hell's knowledge of the map of the place, a good
knowledge of my habits and electronics, and when you
cast no reflection and have all the right spells to counter
these things! This is far more serious than simple robbery
and escape. This was plotted and planned by Hell, with
the plot coming from Hell's highest level and through
official channels. When the Demons saw that they had
you in their power, they set it all up, having failed with
their own thieves. The young black magician certainly
was expecting you, and was certainly told just what spells
to provide you. So, come—give us all the bad news. You
are the genie; hence, you made two wishes."

Macore sighed. "You're not gonna like this...."

Macore had rubbed the Lamp, and a rather surprised
Dacaro, still darkly handsome and in the black leather
uniform of the Baron's forces, had appeared. As a prac-
ticed wizard, it was quickly clear to Dacaro that the thief
who'd freed him was not wholly himself.

"I must make my wishes to free myself of the geas,"
Macore told him, somewhat woodenly.

JACK L.CHALKER                 43

"I am bound to obey you, as you are to obey whoever
sent you, but if you can, will you first tell me of what has
happened since I was imprisoned in the Lamp?"

Macore nodded, and proceeded to tell the wizard how
the Dark Baron had lost the battle, both on the battlefield
and in wizardly combat with Ruddygore, causing an uneasy
stalemate. He told of the return of Tiana, the unmasking
of Boquillas, the great turnabout that Ruddygore had
played on the Baron and his demon ally, the great face-
down, and how Hiccarph had been yanked back to Hell
while Boquillas had been stripped of his powers and even-
tually exiled to Earth after he helped defeat Kaladon and
then tried to double-cross everyone.

Dacaro listened intently, but only when Macore had
finished did he ask, "So who sends you now to this place,
thief?"

"I am sent by Hell, by commandment of a demon whose
name I know not."

"Very well, then. I am more than weary of the djinn.
What a poor, miserable rattrap of a place, inhabited only
by magical creatures who can do nothing but magic yet
to whom nothing is real without mortal wish! It was, how-
ever, an education in magic that might prove more than
useful, so discharge your geas and command me and the
Lamp."

"First, I wish that no wizard of Council rank, be they
on the Council or not, shall be able to cross the Sea of
Dreams to Earth until bidden to do so by name by a wizard
of such rank on Earth."

"It is done," Dacaro intoned.

"I also wish that when you are human again you be
transported to the presence ofEsmilio Boquillas on Earth,
and be bound to his service, to materialize only when he
is alone and unwatched, along with as much true gold as
you can carry with you, stating the words 'Hutsut Ralston
on the rillorah' when you are ready to go."

"Done!" Dacaro cried, and suddenly became solid flesh
once again. Macore, looking as if he were awakening from

44

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CMALKER 45

some sort of sleep, faded into insubstantiality and found
himself drawn to the Lamp and pulled into it. He knew
no more, until Ruddygore called him out.

"I should have guessed as much." Ruddygore sighed.

"I do not understand why he didn't simply wish the
Lamp over there if he had this much latitude," Poquah
noted.

"No, he really couldn't. Neither Boquillas nor Dacaro
can use the Lamp, and he knew we'd be able to trace it
through the djinn, anyway. The Lamp was more danger
than asset to him. For the same reason, he took no fairy
gold, since its atomic weight and structure varies enough
that it might not be accepted on Earth as real. However,
the real gold he took will net him a rather large sum, I
would say, sold judiciously. Also, thanks to some prior
wishes and some strong limitations, the Lamp is of far
less effectiveness there than here. It takes one of our
world now to do much with it, and even then the Rules
governing its use on Earth are extremely restrictive since
the Compact limiting direct conflict between Heaven and
Hell to mortal intermediaries."

"But what can Boquillas be up to?" Poquah wondered.
"He has no power, and is, after all, on Earth."

"Yes. On Earth, thanks to my muddle-headed com-
passion. On Earth, where Hell's real battles are waged,
no holds barred. No, he has no power himself, but he has
vast knowledge, perhaps nearly equal to my own, of magic
and its usage—and now he has a sorcerer powerful enough
to use that knowledge."

"Surely that will not avail him much on Earth! The
Rules do not apply there!"

"Ah, but magic does work there, as you should know,
my friend. It has simply been forgotten by most and disbe-
lieved by the vast majority of people intelligent and ded-
icated enough to use it. And, you are right—there are no
Rules there. I would never have sent Boquillas there if
he had even a hair of his power, or if there were any

formidable professional wizards still living and operating
there. Now, though—he has found the way. And this time
with Hell's full cooperation and blessing!"

He sighed. "And the worst part is, I can no longer even
get over there to stop him."

She was a creature of the night and the fairy light and
she loved it. She had been across the length and breadth
of Husaquahr, and she had been the consort of kings and
wizards, rogues, thieves, pirates, and mercenaries, and
had to a degree shared their adventures. For one so tiny
and delicate, she was a creature of great power, both
known and unknown to mortals and other fairies.

She did not choose this life or this existence. It was
forced upon her, as it was forced upon her sisters who
were born to it. But she had not been born to it; she was
a changeling, a human who had become a fairy when taken
to the land where faerie power still held sway, and while
she was totally what she now was, she was also the one
she had been.

She was four feet ten inches tall, with a skin that was
a soft burnt orange. She was humanoid, but not human.
Her fingers, far too long for a woman's, ended in clawlike
nails; so, too, her toes, and all digits both fingers and toes
were webbed. She had a cute, sensuous face with enor-
mous, sad, dark eyes and a playful, sensuous mouth,
flanked by short, thick, blue-black hair shaped something
like a pageboy with bangs over her forehead. From either
side of her head protruded erect, shell-like pointed ears.
Her body matched her face, and was both sensuous and
perfectly proportioned.

But the most striking feature was the wings, sinister
and batlike but somehow less threatening in deep crimson
than in demonic black, although from the back the wings
were a deep purple. They were not merely attached to
her but seemed almost woven into and between her arms
and body, so that, if an arm moved out or forward, the

46

JACK L. CHALKER                 47

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

membranes fluttered and acted something like a natural
cape, when not extended for flight.

She was of the race of Kauri, an all-female race with
a very special place in the interrelated and complementary
nationhood of faerie, a race numbering only a bit over
three hundred, one of the most ancient and most primal
of faerie types. They all looked exactly alike, but by a
faerie sense of reading what was truly important about an
individual as easily as humans might notice superficial
surface features and blemishes, they all knew just who
each was at all times.

To the Kauri, the whole world was magic and they
alone were born just to enjoy it. In the sanctuary of their
home at Mohr Jerahl, they flew and played tag and acted
like small, uninhibited children without any self-control,
having not a care in the world. Part of their job was remov-
ing from men, both human and otherwise, the heaviest
emotional burdens inside the men's souls. They took it
within themselves and fed off it, but they also acquired
in this way more than they could consume. To cleanse
themselves fully, they had to return quite often to Mohr
Jerahl, where the Earth Mother who bore them lived in
the heart of volcanic fires and could cleanse in those fires
the stains they had removed from the souls of others.

Marge had often reflected how ironic it was that her
Kauri powers grew enormously the more of that guilt and
fear and loneliness she ate, yet the less fun it was when
she had too much. She had returned to Mohr Jerahl only
the previous night from a trip to the north, where she had
participated in an ancient and colorful barbarian rite. When
a chief or warlord married, there were three days of cel-
ebration, feasting, dancing, and all the rest, but on the
wedding eve it was traditional for a Kauri to visit and
service the groom, to take away that which might harm
the relationship and make his soul pure for the wedding.
While this involved, among other things, incredible sex,
the Kauri even took away the guilt. Nor was there much
in this case—there was a male race which was the coun-
terpart of the Kauri, the Zamir, and they, too, were hired
to service the bride.

Marge had always wanted to meet a Zamir, but she'd
discovered long ago that it was simply not possible. Even
when brought face to face, Zamir and Kauri could neither
see, hear, nor feel one another, or in any way sense one
another's presence. Each was nonexistent to the other—
although not to everyone else.

Marge was unique in several ways other than being the
only known changeling among the Kauri. She was from
another world; she had vast experiences beyond the com-
prehension of a Kauri; and she was highly educated. She
was also, of course, the only Kauri, and probably the only
one of the fairy folk, to have a west Texas accent.

The barbarian wedding had taken its toll on her, and
she was glad to be back at Mohr Jerahl and to have dipped
into the fires of the Earth Mother and be cleansed once
more. She was prepared to remain quite a while now and
just relax and play.

She was content, really, with her lot in life, and the
most important thing was that she had learned the faerie
way of not looking ahead or anticipating, but living each
moment to the full and making the best of whatever the
situation was. She had meant to visit Joe, Tiana, and old
Ruddygore; she still intended to do so, but she did not
plan nor have any sense of time as humans did and she
simply hadn't gotten around to it. Time was measured by
day and night and nothing else; she had no idea how long
it had been, except that it didn't seem very long at all.

It was, then, with some surprise that she received a
summons to return to the Earth Mother only one night
after coming "home," as she thought of Mohr Jerahl. The
summons was internal, and it was obligatory. The Earth
Mother was rather direct and, well, earthy; subtle was
not something she understood.

Marge flew in toward the small hissing spatter cone in
the center of Mohr Jerahl and unhesitatingly flew into its

48

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

crater, oblivious of the heat and of the red bubbling lava.
Instantly, she was one with the Earth Mother.

"I come in answer to your call, my Mother," she said,
projecting her thoughts into the swirling mass of reds,
oranges, and blacks.

"You bet your ass you do," the Earth Mother responded
curtly. "A problem has come up which resulted in a request
for you specifically. You've been out quite a while and
I'm generally inclined to ignore such requests, but this
one seems different."

Marge didn't really feel like going back into the world
right now either, but she had no choice in the matter and
said nothing.

"It appears that the forces of Hell are once more on
the march, not in the old army sense, but in the way they
are most effective," the Earth Mother told her. "As a rule,
we're neutral in such matters, but this is an unusual sit-
uation. It involves the Dark Baron and others whom you
know well."

She was startled. "But the Dark Baron is not in this
world any longer!"

"That's true—but his influence pervades the world still,
for his darker employer is not limited to merely one world
or one place. This appears to be something so big it involves
both worlds, and as one of both worlds it has been
requested that you join the company formed to counter
the evil. How do you feel about it?"

"The third adventure," she responded, suddenly
remembering. "Oh, yes, my Mother. I will go."

"If I decide it, you'll go. I am hesitant. There are no
signs or signals I can read on the course and outcome of
this, since it involves Earth. There is great danger and
possibly death in this. There is a great possibility that you
will have to go to Earth to get this resolved."

"To EarthF'

"Yes. And if you do, it will not be as you were but as
a Kauri you will go. Your powers are sufficient to mask
you from ordinary folk, but none with the sight, including

JACK L. CHALKER                   49

those from this world, will be fooled. Worse, Earth is a
place terribly in need of Kauri, so the pressures on you
will be enormous to help all that you find, and you must
resist this. There is no way while there to cleanse yourself.
Half of Earth is made of iron, which means it will be
uncomfortable at the very least, and while there are spells
to protect you, they offer only a very limited protection.
It will be arranged so that you can handle small amounts
without more than slight discomfort; but if you are injured

by iron, it cannot be healed, and if you are killed, it will
be the true death."

"I'm not afraid of that. I longed for the true death once,
and was only saved by providence from taking my own
life. All that I have done since has been the only truly

happy time in my life. If the bill must be paid for that,
then it must."

"Good girl! I'm proud of you! Very well. You will go
to Castle Terindell, arriving on the night of the new moon,
and from that point you will be-in the hands ofRuddygore
and his company. Just remember at all times that you are
Kauri. Your will is strong. Control yourself and place the
mission above all else." The Earth Mother hesitated a

moment. "If you don't come back, I'm going to be really
pissed off."

It was the closest thing to affection the Earth Mother
had ever said to her, and she was touched.

"As a Kauri, I would not want to do anything to cause
you anguish."

"Go, then! Before I change my mind!"
And, with that, she found herself flung from the top
of the volcano back out into the open night air.

The moon was a thin crescent in the sky, telling her

she had but three days to make the castle. It would not
be difficult.

JACK L. CHALKER                 51

CHAPTER 5

A LONG-EXPECTED REUNION

The Council is absolute in all matters of adjusting or supple~
menting the Rules. Council members may not like or be allied
with one another unless they so choose, but must be civil
when meeting in session. This Rule should not be taken as a

constraint against assassinations.

—Rules, II, 77(a)

IT WAS A SOMBER PARTY, BUT, NEVERTHELESS, THROCK-

morton P. Ruddygore was a good host. There was gourmet
food of every kind, fine wines and even champagnes, and
the best accommodations. It was, in fact, a historical
meeting at Castle Terindell; short of the convention of the
Brotherhood, it was the first time anyone in living memory
could recall that all thirteen members of the Council were

in the same place at the same time.

Of course, they and a few others knew of the one other
time, when these same men and women faced down the
Dark Baron in his castle and stripped him of his mem-
bership and his powers, but this sort of gathering was

unprecedented.

There was Ruddygore, of course, now Chairman of the

Council and host to the gathering, still taking some delight
in showing off his priceless collection of pink flamingos
and plaster-of-paris statues gleaned from Earth; and the
lovely and two-faced queen of the witches, Esmerada,
who'd only survived the Baron by switching sides. Here,
too, was Fajera, the huge black-robed figure from the
continent of Murri far to the south of Husaquahr, and the

scholarly Docondian, the lean and dangerous Sargash,
the ancient gray-robed Mathala, and all the others—the
thirteen most powerful men and women of their world,
and, perhaps, of any world.

Joe and Tiana, too, were there, along with many others
both human and of the faerie. All had great power in the
world of one sort or another.

Of all those invited. Marge was the last to arrive, cir-
cling the great castle and remembering all that had hap-
pened to her since arriving here. She took a turn over the
great River of Dancing Gods which here joined with the
Rossignol and widened into the greatest moving body of
water any had ever known, yet still a thousand miles from
its mouth. It was nostalgia and the beauty of the scene
that made her hesitate; she no longer could even under-
stand shyness or other social inhibitions.

Finally she dipped down, flying over the moat and
outer castle and then into one of the brightly lighted win-
dows fronting on the reception.

"Ah! A Kauri!" someone commented. "The old boy
spares nothing."

Joe was polishing off a glass of good dark ale when he
heard the comment, and he turned and saw her. It was
impossible for him to know if this was just any Kauri or
Marge—they all looked absolutely identical—but she
spotted him, smiled, and winked, and he felt pretty cer-
tain. Tiana had always been uncomfortable with Marge
around, but she knew better than to be anything but calm
and gracious now.

Joe walked over to her, towering over the tiny fairy
form. "Hello, Marge," he said a bit uncertainly. "It's been
a long time."

For the first time Marge realized that it must have been
a long time. Although Joe was still strong and in the best
of shape, she noticed now a few gray hairs among the
black and a certain etching of lines in the face. It shocked
her a bit, since she was coming from a place where time

52

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

53

meant nothing and the only close friends she had never

aged.

"Hi, Joe. I guess it has been long. You lose track of
time after a while. You're still looking good, though."

"I'm getting bored and lazy," he told her. "You got the
best of the deal, believe me." He paused a moment. "I'm
sort of surprised to see you here, to tell the truth. The
old man asked for you specifically?"

She grinned. "He couldn't help it. The Rules guaran-
teed three adventures, and we've only had two. But if
this involves Earth, it's something the two of us are best
able to handle anyway."

"Maybe," he responded hesitantly. He still had trouble
reconciling her fairy nature with anything practical. The
Kauri were enormously powerful but only in defense.
None could so much as stick out a foot to trip someone
or slap a face or stick a pin in somebody's rear. Not that
they had to, so great were their defensive powers, but
those powers defended only them, not anyone they might
be with.

"Do you know the details of this?" she asked him.

"Not much. Ruddygore's supposed to brief everyone
at a meeting here tonight. All I know is that Dacaro's free
because of some demon and he and a fortune in gold have
gone to Boquillas on Earth. The Baron has as much
knowledge of magic as Ruddygore, and Dacaro has the
power and strength to use it. Imagine that team set loose
on Earth with no scruples. Hell's help, and a population
that doesn't even really believe in magic."

She nodded, but said nothing, just looking around at
the assembled dignitaries. "Looks like a rogue's gallery,
if I ever saw one, right here. Two-thirds of the people
here are more in Hell's grasp than Boquillas."

And she wasn't wrong in that. The fact was, the ruling
powers were a mixed bag of personalities and many, if
not most, were magicians of the blackest sort—the kind
of folk who'd cheerfully torture small children and kill and
maim whole populations of innocents without losing a

moment's sleep. It was thought that no one, not even
Ruddygore, could reach such a height of power and posi-
tion without a driving egocentrism that surpassed all nor-
mal human understanding.

In fact, the only thing any of the Council really feared
was that Heaven and Hell would come together for the
final conflict, the Armageddon that would settle forever
the fate of all the universes. Until then, unless they were
careless, as Tiana's father had been, or upset the balance
of power among the wizards, as Boquillas had tried to
do, they were incredibly powerful and nearly as immortal
as, and far less vulnerable than, the fairy folk. It was a
Heavenly attack they feared, which would end their power
and perhaps bring them the true death, and so the more
evil they were, the more they feared the final conflict.
They liked things just the way they were and wanted the
due bill as far down the road as possible.

Those who were not wizards generally stuck to them-
selves, feeling somewhat uncomfortable around such true
power, and bided their time until Ruddygore was ready
for them.

He entered with a flourish, in full flowing robes of
sparkling gold, and was instantly the center of attention,
greeting everyone with friendly informality and the usual
banalities and acting for all the world as if this were a
happy and well-planned occasion. It was only when he
got to Marge that the act seemed to slip a bit.

"I'm quite happy to see you. Marge. I hope this won't
interfere with your new life too much."

"Don't worry," she responded lightly. "Every once in
a while it's good to have an adventure."

He winked and was off again on the rounds of the room.
Finally winding up at the pastry tray, he took seven or
eight and a half-bottle of vintage champagne and settled
down in his big, plush, oak chair, which he'd cleverly
managed to place on a slight riser near one end of the
room, so that it not only gave him a total view of the
occupants but also somewhat resembled a throne. Every-

54

JACK L. CHALKER                    55

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

one quieted down rather quickly as it was noticed that he
was now simply sitting there and examining them thor-
oughly. In a minute or so, there was silence.

"Most of you know the reason we're here already,"
the big sorcerer said at last, "although perhaps not all the
details. We are faced with a minor crisis and a major
decision and we'd better get to it. This is an informal
party, not a formal Council meeting, and I hope to gain
a consensus rather than force through any record votes."

That was clever, Tiana thought. It meant that they
might well vote to go against Hell, while being able to
deny that they were on Ruddygore's side later on if things
went wrong.

"You all are the ranking wizards of this world of ours,
such as it is," Ruddygore continued, "and the leaders of
some of the most powerful of fairy races who still have
some membership on Earth. Also here are some with long
records of service against the Baron and whose help we
might need, depending on what is decided."

He paused a moment and took a drink of the cham-
pagne, then went on.

"Now, as you all know, Esmilio Boquillas was sen-
tenced to a total loss of power by the Council, and that
sentence was carried out in accordance with the Rules.
When, afterward, he continued to present a threat to us,
the Rules called for a duel to the death with him; but, as
we had stripped him of his powers, this would have been
murder. As you also know, the Rules specifically forbid
that sort of thing when a ranking wizard is rendered pow-
erless by an action of the Council. This left me no choice
but to exile him to Earth, feeling that there, where tech-
nology rules and there are no really major ranking magi-
cians, he'd no longer be any threat to us. As it turned
out, this was a mistake, but it was a mistake made because
of mandated Rules. In other words, we are responsible,
as Rule makers, and so we have both the authority and
the ethical imperative to act in this matter. What we must

decide first is whether or not we have the duty to do so
and the will."

"Perhaps you'd better first give us your idea of what
he's up to," the witch queen Esmerada suggested.

"Well, I have no clear ideas on that. We now know
that he retains some sort of organization here, on this
side, and that he can somehow reach them, perhaps
through Hell and perhaps through magical means. This
matter of the Lamp was carefully planned down to the
smallest detail, and it had to have been planned from this
side, if only because a number of traps in my vault cham-
bers have been changed since anyone was in there who
survived. Someone recruited top thieves and somehow
forced them or convinced them to try, and each one had
some sort of spell or charm that fed data back to a master
wizard here. They all failed, but the information got out,
and each one got farther than the last. The fact that the
Baron still has powerful allies even in Husaquahr, along
with a means of communication, means that he is a direct
threat. The fact that his ally must be a wizard of the top
rank makes it our concern directly."

They didn't like that, none of them. The implication
was clear that one of the very wizards in the room was
in fact in league with the Dark Baron.

"Still, what concern is that of the Council?" the dark
wizard Fajera asked. "Boquillas is powerless and cannot
cross the Sea of Dreams any more than we can, wish or
no wish. What damage he will do is on Earth, which is
outside our province."

"Perhaps not," the huge wizard responded. "First of
all, Boquillas now has a wizard close to top rank, if not
equal to us, at his beck and call, and the Baron retains
his tremendous knowledge of magic and spells. This is a
two-pronged attack, but it is not aimed necessarily at
Armageddon on Earth, although that might well be its
result. Earth is well nigh defenseless against our kind of
power as we are against that of Earth. Were it just Earth,
I wouldn't have called this meeting, but it's not. The work-

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

56

ings of Hell set up great storms across the Sea of Dreams,
and those storms are lashing out at the breakwaters of
our own world. Hell is doing so well, in fact, that Earth
is in an incredible mess. It will take very little to push
down our barriers so that the evil washes once more into
our lands and lives, but even that is not a real concern.

"The real concern," he added, with menace in his voice,
"is that this is being waged on both fronts with Hell's
cooperation. Armageddon is but a single decision away
on Earth. So far they have resisted all pressures and prov-
ocations, but it might not take much to tip the balance."

"But the Baron would be as unlikely as any of us to
cause it!" the fat Careska protested. "He has as much to
lose as we, particularly now that he has access to some
power to protect himself!"

"Perhaps, but you forget that our Baron is an idealist
and easily swayed," Ruddygore responded. "I assure you
that the injustices of Earth make us look like a chorus of
angels in the earliest Garden. He and his allies here might
well be fooled into thinking the objective is more limited.
He is also, of course, a failure, an agent of Hell who totally
failed at his objectives and caused great embarrassment
and trouble to the powers that be down there. This is a
way to rehabilitate himself, get back in their good graces.
Certainly Hell is not going to press for the final battle
unless it thinks it can win, and the signs are now quite
favorable for it. It doesn't matter—the danger is there
and it is real, and we, by our actions and our Rules, set
it up. The only thing that remains is what we do about it.
We can wash our hands of it and do nothing, in which
case our nice little system is doomed to crack and fall,
and armies will again march and destroy—and we might
turn around and find Armageddon at any moment. Or we
can act now, preemptively. I say we can't take the chance
nor shirk our responsibilities. I say act and now! What

say you?"

There was dead silence for a moment, although each

57

JACK L. CHALKER

of the wizards seemed to sink deeply into thought and
occasionally make side glances at the others.

"I take your silence for consent. The next question is
what to do about it."

A regal-looking but ancient dwarf none had even noticed
spoke up in a deep, rumbling voice. "Go over there and
kill the bastard. He is mortal now."

Ruddygore nodded. "Thank you. King Ewedol, for
saying the unspeakable. I concur. Boquillas alone is a
defenseless human being. He must be killed, and without
mercy. Without him, Dacaro will be formidable but man-
ageable as he will not have that vast store of knowledge
and experience the Baron brings. With Boquillas dead, I
will once again be freed to cross the Sea of Dreams and
deal with that slimy little bastard personally."

"So whom are you going to send over there to do the
deed?" the red-robed Sargash asked him. "It is one thing
to say that you will kill him, but he is certain to be better
protected than your vault! Those from here will remain
bound by the Rules, while his Earthly allies and demonic
friends will not, and none may be wizards of the top rank."

"Quite true," the Council leader agreed. "I am aware
of the problems. I am also aware that any we send will
be known as soon as they arrive, if not before. For that
reason, the Company I shall form for this task will be
done entirely by me. Some of its members will be obvious
to any here, but some will not."

"Why not just take your damned Lamp and wish him
dead?" the dwarf king growled.

"A good question. The Lamp is old, and of limited
effectiveness, although it is still quite powerful. Unfor-
tunately, its reach will not extend across the Sea of Dreams
in either direction. To be used against someone or some-
thing on Earth, it must be on Earth, and that presents
even greater problems, as it really wasn't designed for
there. On Earth it is erratic, unpredictable, and very lim-
ited. To be useful at all there, the Lamp would have to
be no more than a few feet from the object of the wish.

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

58

Did you not all wonder why Dacaro didn't just take the
Lamp? It's because the thing can no longer travel by its
own power across the Sea of Dreams, and to carry it over
the Sea would have put him at risk to my own powers
and agents." He looked around. "Are we agreed, then?"
Again there was dead silence, which pleased the big

sorcerer.

"All right, then. In the meantime, I intend to find and

stop the wizard on our side and put an end to him—or
her. This person is no less dangerous to us and the future
than was Boquillas, and will remain no less dangerous,
even if we deal with the Baron. I do not intend any more
loose ends. Had Hell not interfered, I would have crushed
the Baron on the castle walls. Hell will not save this
person this time!"

By the next evening, all had left to return to their own
domains, leaving only Joe, Tiana, and Marge as outsiders
in Castle Terindell. Ruddygore had spent the day seeing
the others off and consulting with the rulers of the fairy
races who had also been present, the latter because he
feared their use as hostages or pawns by the Baron. He
seemed well satisfied.

Now, in far less formal company, they sat around the
same great room with its walls filled, floor to ceiling, with
the red-bound volumes of the Books of Rules, waiting for
the signal to go. Poquah joined them, as silent and impas-
sive as usual. The Imir was a wizard probably equal in
strength and power to Dacaro, but he was of the faerie.
In an otherwise equal contest between him and a human
wizard, however, he would lose. That was the way of

magic.

Ruddygore entered, looking tired and drawn, but he

seemed far more relaxed with just Joe, Tiana, Marge, and
Poquah about. "It's been a difficult time," he told them
wearily. "Still, it's nothing compared to the tasks laid out
to accomplish. This will be far trickier than outwitting an

JACK L. CHALKER                    59

army or even fighting a demon, which you might have to
do."

"When do we leave?" Tiana asked him.

"W? do not," the wizard replied. "The Company must
be carefully balanced, using a number of complex factors.
Certainly it is necessary that Joe and Marge go, as they
are originally from Earth. They know how to cope there,
and will not be taken aback by the cultures and technology
there. Also, at last report the Baron was in the United
States, which makes it even more imperative. Unfortu-
nately, the Baron knows this as well as I do, and Joe, you
will never be an invisible sort. Remember, too, that the
Baron knows of your were nature. He will know how to
kill you and he'll not make any mistakes on that score
again."

Joe nodded. "I'm ready for that. He still has to fear
every living thing during the three nights of the full moon
while I'm there, and if he has to steal that much gold for
a bankroll, he can't arm everybody working for him with
silver bullets."

"I agree. But that suspicion factor will make it triply
difficult to get to him during those periods. Still, it's a
massive psychological factor. He'll never hide so well that
he won't quake in terror at every fly on the wall or spider
in the woodwork."

"Yeah, but what about Marge? I mean, she's pretty
much of a standout in the good old U. S. of A. Very few
girls there have wings, for example."

Ruddygore grinned and looked knowingly at Marge. "I
gather you have never actually sampled the joys of Kauri."

Joe flushed and Tiana gave a real hard look to both
him and to the wizard. "Of course not!" the big man
growled.

"Then you don't know that the Kauri work their magic
by appearing to their—client—not as themselves, but as
the idealized woman of his dreams. They do not change,
but to everyone else they appear to be someone else, and
they can do this at will. Right, Marge?"

60        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"That's about it. That's what makes this sound like

fun."

"Well, it isn't!" Ruddygore snapped back. "This is
deadly and serious. The odds are very much against any
of you surviving, let alone accomplishing this mission."

She shrugged. "One thing at a time."

Ruddygore sighed, accepting her faerie outlook because
it was useless to change it. "There are, of course, a few
problems with you. Marge. For one thing, none of the
fairy folk photograph at all. Any of the Baron's agents
who takes a photograph of you, or looks at a video image,
will not see you and will immediately know that you're
one of their quarry. For another, your guise is transparent
to any wizard or anyone else with very strong second
sight. Fortunately, few have the sight on Earth and many
of them only have it when they're drunk or on some drug
or other. But Dacaro will certainly not be fooled for an
instant, and we can assume Boquillas has made provision
by this time not to be fooled, either. And don't ever forget
that both know you, Boquillas in particular, and know
the powers and limits of Kauri."

"I understand. Don't worry. The Kauri are nothing'if
not careful about such things."

"Well, it only takes one slip and the tremendous power
you'll feel over there, as you are, may blind you to your
dangers and limitations. I can give you, and Poquah as
well, spells to protect you against the routine iron of Earth,
but it is only limited protection and iron will still bum,
scar, and even kill if it penetrates your skins. So much
contains iron there that you'll have to be on constant

guard."

Joe's eyebrows rose and he looked at the Imir. "You're

coming, too?"

"I am a wizard of considerable strength who has spent
some time on Earth," Poquah replied calmly. "My powers
are more than sufficient for concealment and will also aid,
I suspect, in locating and penetrating the plot. I am just

61

JACK L. CHALKER

below the power threshold established by the wish. Why?
Do you object?"

Joe remembered the Imir's courage and dedication in
their previous bouts with the Baron. "No, of course not.
Glad to have you."

"I assume that what goes for Joe goes for me as well,"
said Tiana, feeling left out.

Ruddygore sighed. "No, my dear, I'm afraid it doesn't.
You can't go."

She stood up angrily, a very formidable sight. "I am
going!"

"You cannot. Even if we could find some way to fake
the Goddess's departure for what might prove a great
length of time, and even if we could convince the Council
to allow the risk of your not getting back, it still won't
work."

"I was born here, yes, but I was raised and educated
in Europe! I am as much of Earth as these two!"

"Not quite, but, yes, I'll grant you that you would be
a valuable addition; but, you see, it just isn't possible.
The wish Dacaro used against wizards blocks power, not
skill. You are over the wizard threshold, my dear. You
are too powerful. The wish prevents you, not I."

She looked at Joe, stricken, and Joe looked back with
equal anguish. In more than five years they'd been an
inseparable team. "Then I won't go, either," Joe said flatly.

The anger and frustration seemed to subside in Tiana.
"Yes you will, my love," she responded with a wistful
sigh. "You must. Not only is this far bigger than just the
two of us, but I think the Rules and your own nature
command it. If you could go, and did not, it would eat at
you forever. If none of them came back, you would not
be able to live with yourself, wondering. I could not stand
to see that happen to you. You will go."

Joe still looked uncertain. "We'll see," he muttered
under his breath.

"There is a gray area here that must be addressed,"
Ruddygore told them. "The Rules apply here, and they

62        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

apply to all of us, but they do not apply to Earth. That
means we won't need an unwieldy seven or more for our
company, but it also means that Marge will remain a Kauri,
bound by Kauri rules as well as her own nature, and the
same for the others. This is also true, to a degree, for
Dacaro and Boquillas, particularly when interacting with
ones from here. I would not be too concerned about it,
though. It certainly will not be Marge who takes on Dacaro

in the end."

"Yeah, well, that's the point, isn't it?" Joe snapped. "I

mean, you're gonna drop us over there cold, at which
time we somehow have to find out where in a country
three thousand miles wide and two hundred million strong
they're hiding, then take on a super-powerful wizard with
no wizard to match, all without being picked up and locked
away in some looney bin by the cops. It's crazy!"

"Actually, it's more like two hundred and fifty million
people," the wizard replied casually, "but I think we can
narrow down the odds a bit. I am not without resources
and an organization of my own there, although I will admit
it's weaker in the United States than in Europe. You will
have help, anyway, and money—as much as you need.
I admit, however, to not having a good plan on how to
face down Dacaro. That is why I think you and Marge
should take a preliminary trip down the River of Dancing
Gods. I think we should have a consultation with the
Oracle of Mylox, which will accomplish two purposes.
First, it will tell us if this deed is possible. That much of
a straight answer we can expect, anyway. Beyond this,
we might or might not learn more. Oracles are always
right but they aren't very dependable and are always

obscure."

Joe looked at Tiana, then at Marge. "Oh, great. Just

where is this Oracle, anyway? I never heard of him."

"Oh, he's quite famous, but, alas, a bit expensive and
somewhat inconvenient to reach. He lives on a small trop-
ical island about a hundred miles or so due south of the

63

JACK L. CHALKER

river's mouth, and it's difficult to get to and often difficult
to return from."

"If it's that bad, I could fly down alone," Marge offered.

"No," Ruddygore replied, "that won't do. For one thing,
it's too far out for you to fly without a rest stop. The sea's
rough from the bottom of the continent to there, and the
only bit of rock is quite hostile. More compelling, how-
ever, is that the Oracle's predictions are only truly reliable
when requested by a mortal, not one of fairy blood. Some-
one must go who is not of the fairy races and who is also
going on the expedition. I think that pretty well singles
out Joe as things stand now."

"There is more to it than that," Tiana noted. "You said
there were two reasons, and I suspect I know the second.
Joe is bait."

Ruddygore nodded. "I'm afraid so. Whether one of
those in this room last night is in league with Boquillas
or whether it's someone of rank not on the Council is
irrelevant. The Baron knew who would be sent against
him from the moment he put this plan into operation. The
fact that Macore was chosen to do the deed tells us that
whoever we're dealing with on this side knows us rather
well. There were spies on you, probably from the moment
Macore freed Dacaro, Joe, and once they see you heading
south, it will be no puzzle at all to them where you're
going and why. Sooner or later they will make an attempt
at you both, and then we'll either have our villain revealed
or we will be able to trace the attackers. You must appear
in every way to be alone, but they will not be the only
ones keeping a sharp eye on you. When they strike, help
will not be far."

"Then I will at least go with them to the Oracle!" Tiana
proclaimed.

"No, my dear, you will not, even if you must be pre-
vented by spell from doing so. I have been forced into an
agreement with the Council that both of you shall not be
put simultaneously at risk. Don't worry. Joe can take care

64

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

65

of himself, and you will be reunited before the Company
leaves for Earth."

"Yeah, sure." Joe sighed, secretly relieved at this. He
wouldn't like to have her there to be used as a threat
against him in a fight, he knew. "Don't worry. Hell, maybe
the Oracle will tell us it's a waste of time."

Ruddygore stood up and looked at them, grim-faced.
"If so, a darkness, will fall over this land which will make
us yearn for death or even Armageddon, to gain some
release."

CHAPTER 6

NOSTALGIA TRIP

Anyone bound by these Rules of magic and behavior shall
remain bound to them, even if in a plane where the Rules do
not apply in and of themselves. This Rule is mandatory until
death. After death, it is optional.

—Rules, III, 106(d)

TIANA WAS WORRIED, BUT SHE HAD HER DUTIES AND SHE

was stuck with them, and so she reluctantly returned to
Castle Morikay, there to prepare for the opening of the
vitally important Lavender Festival, after a long and tear-
ful farewell to Joe. He, at least, knew that some of those
tears were less from separation than from a desire to
chuck it all and go with them, no matter what. It was
clear, not only to the two of them, but to Ruddygore as
well, that the demigod situation simply could not be tol-
erated much longer. Something had to be done to get rid
of the need for that.

Poquah best knew and understood Ruddygore's Earthly
organization and he also knew Earth. He was, therefore,
sent on ahead to set things up and ease the transition of
the others when they arrived. The Imir believed with Rud-
dygore that the faster this was done the better, and so the
preliminary detective work and evaluation was under his
direction.

He hoped that the rest of the Company might be deter-
mined by what the Oracle had to say, although, if not, he
had a few ideas in reserve. What he did not like was too
much delay. He had no idea what grandiose scheme had
been hatched by his old enemy, but he did not under-
estimate him.

So it was that Joe and Marge were pretty much alone
as they walked down the long path from Castle Terindell
on the bluff to the small dock just down from the junction
of the river Rossignol with the great Dancing Gods. Marge
needed no baggage, of course, but did wear a belt hung
loosely on her hips which supported a small leather case.
In it were two pairs of the sleek but gogglelike sunglasses
Ruddygore had ordered made for her long ago so that she
could remain awake and alert in daylight. Even with them,
her daylight vision was quite poor, since her eyes were
those of a nocturnal creature, but at least she could func-
tion and not become comatose.

Joe, too, traveled light, although not quite that light.
It was now spring, and they were heading south into sub-
tropical and even tropical climes, so he felt little need for
heavy furs and boots, preferring to stick to his ornate
sword belt, which held his great magic sword in a snug
but easily reached scabbard, and a simple brown loin
cloth. With his long, straight, black hair and reddish brown
skin, he looked very much like an idealized version of his
Apache ancestors.

He stopped and looked over and down at Marge.
"Seems like old times again, doesn't it?"

She smiled. "Yeah, it does that, all right. I still can't
help thinking like a target, though. I heard of these ora-

66

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

67

cles, and even if any of 'em can really predict anything,
you never can figure 'em out until it's too late, anyway,
so what good are they?"

"Well, the old boy seems to think that this will be
different. Anyway, it feels good just to have a little action
again. I've been bored to death."

The boat was a small luxury sailing vessel that could
operate well both in shallow and deep waters. Ruddygore
had described the captain as an old water rat, but they
weren't prepared to be greeted by a creature who stood
nearly six feet tall and looked for all the world like a giant
brown rat with broad, flat feet and tiny humanlike hands.
The giant rat wore a blue and red jacket on which epaulets
had been sewn at the shoulders; in between its huge
rodent's ears perched a small sailor's cap with polished
bill. If the thing weren't so imposing, and if it didn't smell,
close up, like twenty gallons of stagnant water, it would
look almost comical, Joe thought.

Marge whispered, "He's a Pahadur. Be polite."

"He's not of the faerie, is he?" Joe whispered back.

"No. Just one of the several hundred nonhuman races
around."

Joe could only feel upset at his shock and his ignorance.
He'd seen a number of nonhuman races, and even fought
a few, but his real knowledge of most of this world and
its creatures was abysmally poor. For all the perspective
Morikay and Wolf Island provided, he might as well have
been in Philadelphia.

The captain had a gritty, rasping, unpleasant voice that
came from somewhere far beyond the snout, deep in the
throat.

"Welcome aboard the Piebald Hippogryph\" he said.
"I'm Captain Ely." He stuck out a small, gray-pink, tal-
oned hand.

Joe took it without hesitation. He wasn't used to shak-
ing hands with giant talking rats, but he'd been several
years now in the social and diplomatic circuit. "Glad to
meet you."

"I'm glad the ship's not named the Bounty," Marge
mumbled.

"Is this your ship. Captain?" Joe asked, either not hear-
ing or ignoring the comment.

"No, it's actually owned by a bunch of little old ladies
who had to invest their quilting money in a tax shelter,
but for all intents andpurposes it's mine. We run charters
to various points up and down the river system. You don't
get luxury like this on the average vessel," Biy bragged.

And, in fact, he wasn't kidding. There was far more
room below than either of them would believe—two very
well-appointed staterooms with large beds with feather
mattresses and a dining and lounge area off of which was
a well-designed galley. The area was presided over by a
very beautiful young woman whom Ely introduced as
Audra. Only the fact that not only Audra's eyes were
green, but her skin and hair as well, suggested that she
was something other than human.

"I can see your question, and it's a common one," she
told them without it having to be spoken. "I am a wood
nymph. I had just lost my tree in a fire and had switched
to another when they came to lumber the area. I was in
hibernation at the time and wasn't marked or registered,
so they took the new tree and used it in building this
boat."

"You mean you're stuck, attached to this boat?" Marge
asked, a bit taken aback by the comment.

"Oh, yes, at least until it is totally destroyed. I don't
mind. At least it gives me some chance to see the world
and earn my keep, and I meet a lot of interesting people.
It could have been worse. I mean, they could have used
only half of the tree."

Marge shuddered. The idea of severed limbs appearing
all over the place was unnerving.

Biy took them back topside. "She literally lives inside
the ship itself, or in its timbers," he told them. "Makes
it easy, considering the limited crew's quarters, and real
convenient. She's happy, and we get free maid service.

68

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

69

Only trouble is, she's a lousy cook, since she just sits up
here and takes in the sun for a couple of hours and gulps
down some water. She tries following recipes; but if you've
never eaten food, how the hell can you ever leam how
to do it right?"

"You won't need much on my score," Marge told him.
"I eat fruit and take juices now and then, maybe even
some wine, but nothing else."

"Well / eat, and a lot," Joe noted. "However, I'll take
your advice and do my own cooking, if Audra will let me
in the galley for it."

"Oh, sure. She's used to it. She'll stand there and take
all sorts of notes trying to figure it out. Ah! Here's our
pilot!"

The face and form of yet another pretty young woman
appeared; she was holding onto the side of the ship, appar-
ently just back from a swim. When she hauled herself
aboard, though, and sat on the rail, a long, fishlike tail,
cream-colored like her skin, extended down from her waist.
Joe had seen mermaids before in Husaquahr, but never
this close up. He had always imagined the tails as dark
and scaly.

"Tura, meet our passengers," Biy called to the mermaid.

"Hi! Glad to know you!"

There were introductions around, and Joe began to
wonder just what sort of cruise this was going to be.
Certainly he was glad that Tiana was off at Morikay. What
would she say on discovering that he was to be in close
quarters for several days with a Kauri, a wood nymph,
and a mermaid, with his only competition a giant rat?
Mermaids, he knew, were always female, but mated solely
with human men—but only at one time in the year and
for the duration of getting pregnant.

This, then, was the crew of the Piebald Hippogryph.

"Anything to report, luv, before we get under way?"
Biy asked the mermaid.

"No, it's pretty clear. Steer forty degrees to the main
channel, then follow it. There was a herd of wild hippo-

campus grazing on the river bottom about nine leagues
south, just off the main channel, but I wouldn't worry
about them."

Biy looked at his two passengers. "Very well, then.
Any luggage or other gear to be stowed?"

"We're clear," Joe told him. "We tend to travel light."

"Very well, then. It's a pretty easy trip going down-
river. The current's strong and gets stronger from here
south, and I use the sails more as a brake than as power.
We'll run until dusk every day, then tie up at a settlement,
if it's convenient, or along the shore, if it's not. Barring
bad weather or unforeseen accidents, we should hit Mar-
ahbar in about ten days."

They mostly got out of the way as the mermaid again
went over the side and Biy cast off the lines fore and aft,
then went leisurely to the large wheel located in the rear.
As he said, he didn't even bother to set any sail at this
point, although it was clear from the look of a forward
line that something or someone was pulling the ship away
from the dock and pointing it in the right direction.

As soon as they got into the main channel of the Ros-
signol, the line went suddenly slack, and Tura hauled
herself back aboard, looking a little winded. She glanced
over, saw Joe and Marge sitting on deck, and smiled.

"In main ports they have trained hippocampus to do
the tug work, but out here it's just little old me," the
mermaid said, between deep breaths.

She didn't look that strong, but Joe reminded himself
not to underestimate a mermaid's strength or power in
the water again.

Tura was well accustomed to moving along the ship,
using the rails and other projections. She sat down near
them and stretched out her long tail. "Fish out of water,"
she commented apologetically.

"You stay on board when not working?" Marge asked
her.

"Sometimes, yes. Everybody thinks of us as related

70

JACK L. CHALKER                    71

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

to the fish, but we're air-breathing mammals, just as

humans are."

"But don't you—dry out—after a while?" the Kauri

asked.

"Oh, sure. Don't you? But this is skin, not fish. I've
got layers of protection underneath it that you don't, so
I don't have to worry about water temperatures and the
like, at least not much, but the skin's the same. I'm pretty
awkward out of the water, but there's no harm in it any
more than with Joe, say. Worst problem up here in bright
sunlight is that it's so bright I don't see as well."

Marge, who had her goggles on, chuckled. "I know
what you mean. Maybe you ought to get a pair of these
made. Without them, I'm totally blind and out like a light

up here in the day."

"Say! What are you, anyway? I don't think I ever saw
somebody of your race before."

"I'm a Kauri."

The mermaid stared at Marge, then looked at Joe, and
gave a knowing smirk. "Oh...."

"Hey! It's not that way!" Joe protested. "We're old
friends and partners, that's all."

The mermaid looked startled. "Why not?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Why not that way? You one of them muscle boys who
only likes other muscle boys or something?"

Joe flushed. "Of course not! I'm happily married!"

Realizing that the mermaid would never let Joe off her
hook and that he was incapable of getting off it gracefully
himself. Marge intervened. "I'm a changeling. We're from
the same place and knew each other before I changed."

Tura sighed, and Marge knew that she'd put it down
as a case of fate stepping between two old lovers. Wrong,
of course, but unrequited love was a more convenient
explanation than the truth.

They were now well past Castle Terindell and out into
the River of Dancing Gods. The Rossignol and the Danc-
ing Gods met rather gently, but did not immediately mix.

It was fascinating to see the difference in coloration as
the two rivers flowed side by side without any barrier
between them except speed and density. When these finally
equaled out, perhaps a few miles south of the junction,
there was a gradual merging into one body.

Marge yawned as the sun took its toll on her. Finally
she said, "I'm going to go down and get some rest. Con-
sidering everything, I think it'll be a good idea if I keep
my usual schedule for this trip. Somebody with good night
vision should be awake while we're tied up."

He nodded. "Go ahead." In point of fact, he thought,
it was a very good idea all around. He wondered if the
crew had been told anything about the possible dangers,
and, if so, just how much of a fight they would put up.
He decided not to press the question now, but to ease
into it. Marge went below, and he and the mermaid just
sat there and enjoyed the nice day for a while.

"I hear a lot of birds," Tura said suddenly, frowning.
"I can't see them, but my hearing and sonar are pretty
good, even up here. It seems as if they're staying directly
over the ship."

He looked up and around, only now aware of it as well.
The birds were pretty high up and both overhead and a
bit behind, but they were only dark shapes at this distance
and under these conditions. "Do you have a telescope or
something?" he asked her. "I'd like to know what kind
of birds those are." He was suddenly quite tense. If those
were ravens...

"Sound like eagles to me," Tura said. "Funny that they'd
be around these parts."

He relaxed a bit. "That's okay. I think that they and
we have a mutual friend."

In about an hour they came upon a herd of wild hip-
pocampuses, whose horselike heads and forequarters
blended into huge, mermaidlike tails. They were far larger
than horses, and they looked meaner than hippopota-
muses, despite colors ranging from pale blue to passionate

72

JACK L. CHALKER                   73

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

pink. It didn't look as if it would take too many of them
to sink the small ship, and that worried Joe.

"Oh, don't worry so much," Tura chided him. "They're
peaceful vegetarians living in the shallows and feeding off
bottom plants much of the time. The only problem we
ever have with them is a stampede, when they'll panic
and instinctively head for deep water. It mostly happens
during sudden thunderstorms, and the weather's clear and
sunny."

"Yeah, just the same I—"

At that moment, a tremendous explosion seemed to go
off right over the herd of more than thirty of the huge
creatures. There was no flash or blast or any other sign
of its cause, but the tremendous boom it created was so
strong it could be felt as well as heard.

The great animals panicked, launching themselves
straight toward the boat in a strange mixture of gallop
and smooth, almost snakelike motion. Except for the fact
that they all seemed to be rushing straight for the Piebald
Hippogryph, however, no two were moving exactly alike
or in a predictable manner, and all were making low-
pitched, grunting sounds that filled the air.

Ely had been taken as much by surprise as had the
hippocampuses by the explosion, but he acted almost
instantaneously, bringing the ship around hard and point-
ing it, it seemed for a moment, directly at the oncoming
stampede. Then the bow came around some more, and
not only Ely's hands and feet but even his long tail seemed
to be working one control or another. There was no time
to unfurl sail and try and get past them; instead, what he
appeared to do was somehow put on the brakes and stop
dead in the water.

It was a long swim to shore, and Joe braced himself
for the crash.

Ely had done all he could with the ship; holding the
wheel and rudder fast, his tail snaked into a small locker
and picked up some small objects with the skill of a ten-
tacle. The huge creatures were now almost upon them,

and it seemed inevitable that they would strike the Hip-
pogryph and overwhelm it, crushing at least the bow.

Ely had been smoking a long, thin cigar, and now coolly
touched it to the objects he'd snaked from the locker. The
tail then hurled whatever it was forward with great strength,
then immediately returned to the locker for more.

A series of small, staccato explosions went off between
the ship and the hippocampuses. They weren't in the same
league as the great noise that had stampeded the herd,
but from the viewpoint of the animals they went off right
in front of them. The tail tossed another smoking bundle,
and again the rat-a-tat-tat of the explosions came. Joe
had hit the deck and was clinging to a rail for dear life;

he felt the ship suddenly shudder and heave and knew it
was all over.

There was great splashing about, water washing over
the side and onto the decks, and more violent thumps. It
seemed as if the Hippogryph was being flung in all direc-
tions at the same time, but suddenly things calmed down,
and the noises and splashes receded.

It was about half a minute before Joe realized that he
was still on deck and that the ship was still afloat.

"Ely's the best captain on the river, that's for sure,"
Tura said calmly.

Slowly, the big man picked himself up off the deck and
looked around. There seemed no sign of the terrible horde.
All was calm and bright once more. "Wha—where'd they
go?"

"Into deep water, but they won't stay there long," Ely's
strange, rasping voice responded from the rear. "That's
why, as soon as I get us straightened out and back where
I'm sure of my markings, we're gonna drop sail and run
like mad. Having survived 'em on the way out, I sure
don't want to be sunk by them on the way back in!"

Joe was confused, and looked to the mermaid for help.

"He brought us about and dropped the centerboard,
among other things, bringing us to a temporary halt and
aiming us in at the stampede. That made us a smaller

74

JACK L.CHALKER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

75

target," Tura explained. "It wouldn't stop us for long, but
it was enough to allow him to break out and toss some
fireworks we keep on board right in front of them, and
that turned them just enough. A couple of them grazed
us, but I won't know the real damage until I get a chance
to go down and take a look."

Joe looked around. All was peaceful once more,
although he could see some debris sticking up from the
side of the ship near the bow. There was no question that
they had indeed been hit, and his respect for Ely's abil-
ities, no matter what his appearance and manner, went
up enormously.

He stared at the far horizon, where the shore was barely
visible, and said, "You know, there was something very
fishy about that stampede."

"No, they're mammals, too."

He gave her a sharp look of disgust. "It's not bad
enough I have to put up with one Marge, now I got two,"
he mumbled. Louder he said, "No, I mean the explosion.
We have to face facts here. There was no natural cause
for that explosion, and it's timing was perfect. Somebody
waited for us to come by and then blew it, hoping we'd
be trampled—and it almost worked."

They were soon well past the danger area, and Tura
was able to go over the side and check things out. Audra
had already merged with the wood and reported no dam-
age to her areas, but she could sense only that part of the
ship made up of wood from her own tree. Certainly they
were not taking on water, which was a relief.

"You know," Ely commented, coming back on deck,
"that girl of yours can sleep through anything. If they'd
split us open, she'd have gone down with the ship."

"It wouldn't matter," Joe told him. "As long as she
wasn't hurt, she's as comfortable in water as anywhere
else, or so I'm told. Otherwise fairies that fragile would
all be dead. Still, somebody's out to get us, that's for
sure."

Tura suddenly broke through the surface and leaped

up to grab the rail, then hauled herself aboard. "Not too
bad," she told them. "Some outer planking is pretty messed
up, but the inner hull's sound. The only puncture is a few
inches above the waterline and it's not very serious."

"We'll make Harmatuu tonight," the captain responded.
"If we're lucky, we can get her patched enough there to
take us all the way." He paused for a moment. "It might
take a couple of days, though. Sorry, sir."

Joe thought it over. "I'm not too broke up over the
delays, but I'm not sure—well, maybe I'm just suspi-
cious. Captain, is there any other town where we could
make repairs other than Harmatuu?"

"Not safely. The next town south with a shipwright big
enough to work on the Hippogryph is better than two
days sail. Why?"

"Well, a stampede's a good threat, but not really a
killer. The odds are that whoever started it was aiming at
damage rather than anything else. If it sunk or killed us
all the better, but damage is all he could count on."

Ely thought it over. "A trap, then? You think they wait
for you in Harmatuu?"

"I think I'd better think that."

"Well, she's not handling very well, and I'd hate to try
her for any length of time under full sail, but if we take
it slow and mostly drift down with the current we could
skip the town and continue south."

Joe went over to the rail and looked out at the broad
river, whose multicolored patterns showed deeps and
shallows and which seemed now so serene. "No," he
decided. "First of all, this isn't your fight. If we continue
on down, crippled, it means we'll be easy to stop and
maybe be sunk next time. If they strike, let it be soon,
and on land, at a place where we're expecting it. Make
for Harmatuu, Captain. I'd rather face a horde of sword-
wielding demons than mysterious explosions from on
high."

76

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

77

It was well after dark when they reached the small
town on the Marquewood side of the river, which meant,
at least, that they were still theoretically in friendly ter-
ritory. It wasn't much of a town—a small docking facility,
a main street, and two parallel streets were about it. It
was actually just a place for local farms to bring their
produce down to ships and pick up supplies ordered from
elsewhere; it wouldn't really exist even for that if Marque-
wood's road system reached this area of the country.

However, because it was halfway along a deserted
stretch of the river, there was enough minor barge repair
business to maintain a small repair yard. It was, of course,
closed when they got there, but it was hardly a problem
finding someone with authority in a town this size, and
Ely was soon able to make arrangements, with suitable
extra payments, for a quick fix. The fact that his charter
was Ruddygore's made a big difference in Marquewood,
which both loved and feared their most illustrious resi-
dent. Biy was rather evasive about whether or not the
sorcerer was actually aboard, and that helped matters
more.

There was a small inn with a bar-restaurant and four
sleeping rooms upstairs, two of which were taken. Joe
took one of the spares and Biy the other; Tura pulled out
a wonderful wheelchairlike contraption and had no trou-
ble getting around town, but decided to stay in the river
itself; and Marge, after hearing about all that had hap-
pened and understanding the dangers, decided it would
be better for her to stay outdoors. Kauri-style. Audra, of
course, had to stay with the ship, which was fine as well,
since it guaranteed a friendly person on board at all times,
especially during the repair phase. It would be very dif-
ficult for anyone or anything to sneak on board, and just
as difficult to leave any ugly surprises there.

There was a small square in the middle of Main Street,
with a huge marble statue before which was a flame-lighted
altar. It was a statue of two enormous figures, one male,

one female, perfect in physical form, much overendowed
sexually, and quite naked.

"It doesn't look much like either of you," Marge noted
critically.

Joe flushed. "Come on! I'm embarrassed enough about
this sort of thing as it is. I mean, look at this! Offerings!"

"Well, take heart. Your feet are almost black from the
flame and the heads and shoulders of you both are covered
with bird droppings. At least they aren't all that religious
around here."

"I don't know whether to be grateful or insulted by
that," Joe grumped.

There wasn't much else to do, so they joined Tura and
Biy at the inn. Tura wore a black pullover sweater and
had a blanket wrapped around her lower part; it was dif-
ficult, although not impossible, to tell that she was in fact
a mermaid and not simply a pretty paraplegic.

Marge drifted away from them and they soon lost sight
other in the small but loud gathering in the bar. Biy proved
that his eating habits were fairly disgusting as his form
might suggest, but he was quickly through his meal. "I'm
going to turn in," he told them. "I want to be there first
thing tomorrow to make sure everything's done just so.
I've asked around, though. The other two rooms upstairs
are taken by folks who are regulars through here. One's
a farm-implements salesman and the other's a mate on a
barge on layover here. Strangers stick out in a town like
this, so maybe we're home free. Still, watch it anyway."

"I will," Joe assured him, and the strange ratlike crea-
ture left.

Joe found Tura both charming and interesting, even if
she did eat everything raw. He found that the three ship-
mates knew that they were on a potentially dangerous
mission and what the ultimate destination was, but that
they didn't know anything about Joe or Marge personally.

Tura talked about the life and attitudes of her race and
its ways, with some wistfulness. She was, it seemed, more
at home in the ocean than in the rivers, and she was here

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VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

and doing what she was doing basically because she had
been exiled.

"My people all belong to clans, which are more than
that—they are distinct tribes, with their own coloration
and markings. You can't change your clan—you are what
you are. But if you don't go along with whatever the clan
leaders demand, you risk banishment. Our territories are
sacred and are tightly controlled. All who use them must
do so with the approval of the clan, and, of course, clans
often fight over territory with each other. I simply grew
sick and tired of it. I just couldn't do what they ordered."

"So you disobeyed and they threw you out?"

"It was more than disobedience, really, I—I refused to
kill someone they ordered me to kill."

Joe was shocked. "They actually do that?"

"All the time. Usually it's killing someone randomly
from another tribe that killed one of us, either accidentally
or on purpose; but sometimes it's land-people who won't
pay tribute or show the leaders proper respect. It doesn't
take many of us to sink a ship, you know."

Joe just shook his head in wonder. Somehow, he had
never thought of mermaids as being like the Mafia. He
could see the racket, though. He'd been a truck driver,
after all, and not everything and everyone that he'd worked
with during his career had been legal and aboveboard.
There were routes and cargoes where protection had to
be paid, and territories that were reserved for certain
companies and owners. Here everything of importance
moved along the great river system and across the broad
ocean, and the ones who controlled their territories would
indeed have enormous power.

He felt sorry for Tura. Because she'd been banished,
she couldn't go home or she'd be killed, but the other
clans had different colors and markings and wouldn't
accept or trust her. She was an outcast from her own
kind, in her own way as torn from her world as he'd been
from his.

She liked the land—a forest had the same mystery and

79

JACK L. CHALKER

romance for her that the bottom of the sea would for
him—but she needed to be near water much of the time.
She was good for extended periods, but eventually her
skin would dry out and crack or break out painfully if not
fully immersed for quite some time. The sun also caused
discolorations after a while that carried the threat of skin
cancer.

"I've always wanted to go up to a mountaintop," she
told him, "and feel the cool snow and look down on the
world. It's silly, I know, but it's something of a dream."
"It's not silly," he assured her. "Not at all."
The place had thinned out, and it was clearly near
closing time, which was still early in a place like this.
"Come on," he said. "I'll walk you back to the ship."
She smiled and nodded, then suddenly shook her head.
"Ugh! I think I overdid the drinking. I never drink, much,
and I feel—dizzy."

He was concerned. "Are you gonna be all right? I
mean—tonight?"

"I—maybe not. I don't know. I guess I have to, though."
"No, no. You can stay here. It's a fairly large room."
She looked over at the wooden stairway leading up.
"I don't think I could manage that, at least not in my
condition."

Joe grinned, got up, went around to her, and picked
her up. She was heavy, but she was no Tiana. By this
time, only the proprietor was in the place, and he paid
no notice at all.

He got into the room, put her down on the bed, then
went back down to get her wheelchair. As he was going
back, the proprietor called to him.

"Your finny lady's got a load on, huh?"
Joe shrugged. "That's about the size of it."
The man reached under the bar and took out two small
corked bottles. "This one is for the lady. You sleep nice
but you don't get sick and you don't have much of a
headache in the morning. The other's a little good-night
drink for you—on the house."

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VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

81

Joe noted which was which, then nodded. "Thanks."

"Any friend of Ruddygore is a special guest here."

Joe went back up to the room and stowed the wheel-
chair to one side. She was lying there, looking through
the pictures in a small book that was on the nightstand.
Joe knew by the cover photo that it was the biography of
J. Millard Harrilot, the founder of the largest chain of inns
in Marquewood. Joe hadn't noticed that even this little
one was part of the chain until he saw the ubiquitous
paperback.

At least all the beds were king-size in Harrilot inns,
and never did Joe need that more than now.

He sat down, took the bottles, and uncorked them.
"The barkeep says this stuff will give you a good night's
sleep with no hangover," he told her. He sniffed it. It
smelled like cherry brandy. His smelled much more pun-
gent and powerful, with a trace of anise.

She smiled, and they touched bottles. "To the moun-
tains!" he said, smiling.

"To a good day," she responded, and they both drank.

The stuff was smooth but strong going down. He went
over and blew out the light and returned to bed. Suddenly,
he felt a little dizzy, too.

"Hmph! Must have been a real kick in that," he com-
mented and lay down.

Almost immediately he felt as if he were floating—not
awake, but not asleep, either. It was an odd but euphoric
dreamlike state and it felt far too good to fight.

Tura, too, lapsed quickly into the same sort of state,
and they lay there, eyes closed, hardly aware of anything,
and particularly not aware of the door to their room open-
ing and a black shape entering.

The newcomer quickly examined the two of them for
spells and curses. Tura had a few minor charms, probably
purchased from some river wizard, but was essentially
clean. Joe was not quite as clean, however. Not only did
he have a lot of strong magical protections bearing Rud-
dygore's unmistakable stamp, but there was something

else there, too, something infinitely complex and dark.
The man carried within him an incredibly powerful curse,
one that was of the blood. The stranger hadn't expected
that, but couldn't divine its exact nature.

He was himself an enormously powerful wizard, but
it hardly seemed worth it to undo all of Joe's protections
methodically. With the potion they had both taken, it was
far easier just to go around them.

He could do little about the Kauri and even less with
the nymph, and Ely didn't matter all that much in this,
but these two he could affect now. He knew better than
to challenge the big man directly with some sort of armed
force; he had a charmed sword, and that curse looked as
if it gave him some strong measure of protection as well
as cursing him. Well, he had lives to spare—when the
time came.

For now, a little monkey-wrench was in order, nothing
more. Something to keep them off-balance until the time
was right.

The potion would do most of the work. A!) he needed
to add were a few more practical "suggestions."

JACK L. CHALKER

83

CHAPTER 7

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS

The following shall be taken as the only legitimate purposes
for messages from beyond the grave: (a) warnings; (b) proph-
ecies; (c) curses; (d) related grave matters. Ail other motives

should be suspected.

—Rules, CVI, 201(b)

"IT'S A GOOD THING I STAYED UP PAST SUNRISE," MARGE

told Ely as they walked back to the inn from the boatyard.
"I really can't believe this. How could it have happened?"

"Deliberately, you can be sure," the ratlike creature
responded. "It had to be right in the inn. There's no evi-
dence that either of them left that night."

They approached the inn at a brisk clip. "The inn is
still closed to the public?"

"Oh, yes. I had enough influence to handle that, which
is a very good thing, as you'll see."

They entered through the rear door, walked past the
small kitchen and into the main tavern area, and then
froze.

Joe had apparently moved all of the furniture back from
the center of the serving floor and set up several cushions.
He sat there now, stark naked, an equally but more nat-
urally naked Tura on his lap, and the two were alternately
laughing, giggling, and making out like newlyweds. They
seemed oblivious to the newcomers, occasionally break-
ing and feeding each other small morsels, mostly bread
and fruit bits.

82

Marge, who did some of this sort of thing as a business,
was nonetheless disgusted by the display. She cleared her
throat several times, and, when that produced no reac-
tion, she said, rather loudly, "AHEM!"

They both turned, big grins on their faces, and looked
at the two interlopers. "Oh, hi!" Tura called with a giggle.

"Joe! What the hell happenedto you?" Marge demanded
to know.

Joe had a puzzled expression and then looked at Tura.
"Who's Joe?" he asked her, and she shrugged.

Marge frowned. "You are! And you're Tura. Don't you
remember your own names?"

"I never heard of no Joe," the big man responded.
"You?"

The mermaid shook her head. "Nope. And who's that
other one you said?"

"See?" Biy whispered. "Bewitched for sure. Both of
'em."

Marge nodded. "I wish I could see the spell, but in
daylight and with these glasses on I'm as spell-blind as
you are. Joe's pretty well protected against spells, though.
I smell a potion in this." She turned her attention back
to the unlikely pair. "So if you're not Joe and Tura, what
are your names?" she asked them.

"I dunno," Joe responded, then looked at Tura. "You?"
The mermaid shook her head, but it was clear that this
lack didn't bother them in the least.

It took quite a while for Marge to get the whole story
out of them, what there was of it. Clearly neither of them
had any memory whatsoever of their past or their iden-
tities, nor did they wonder about this or even care about
it. They had awakened together upstairs in a bed and it
was like being born at that moment. They had no idea
where they were, or why, and no interest in such things.
They only had eyes for one another. They were passion-
ately, madly in love, and the center of the universe was
the other one and absolutely everything else was irrele-
vant. In point of fact, it hadn't even occurred to them

84

JACK L. CHALKER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

85

that Tura had a fish-like tail while he had legs; it seemed
the most natural thing in the world for them.

"Definitely a whale of a love potion," Marge told Ely.
"I'm something of an expert in these things. It's tied to
an uninhibitor of some kind. It's a really primal potion,
too. Joe doesn't even know he's naked, or care. I doubt
if either one of them knows the difference between good

or evil, for that matter."

"So they are in some ways like small children," the

captain replied. "But what are we going to do? The ship's
repairs are minor and will be completed by late this eve-
ning. We can sail tomorrow—but with them like this...."

Marge thought a moment. "If they were slipped a
Mickey, the odds are it was done here after everybody
else left. It would have taken a small gang to have gotten
them both upstairs when they were out, and I don't think
it's that elaborate, or we'd have noticed something. That
leaves the one man who was here for certain last night.

Where's the proprietor?"

"Still asleep, I think. His daughter runs the breakfast
part and she was the one who discovered them—like

that—and awakened me."

She thought for a moment. "I'm a lot weaker in the
day, but I might be able to manage enough for this. Do
you have a way to contact Ruddygore in an emergency?"

"I have some pigeons aboard, yes."

"Well, send him a message now—this morning. It
shouldn't take more than half a day, considering how little
distance we've traveled. Tell him basically what happened
and request his help or an antidote, then meet me back

here."

"All right, but what then? I mean, he's an awfully big

man for us to handle, if he doesn't want to be handled,
and Tura's no lightweight—most of that tail is pure mus-
cle."

"I know. We'll cross that bridge later. Get that message

off. I'm going to find out why and at whose order this
was done and, hopefully, find out the potion."

She left him and walked to the back, meeting up with
a thin, nervous-looking girl of sixteen or so. "You the
innkeeper's daughter?"

The girl nodded.

"Where is your father now?"

"In back—but he's sleeping. He doesn't like to be
disturbed at this hour."

"I think maybe we should wake him, don't you? Or
don't you want to open today? Suppose they decide it
would be fun to smash chairs and bottles?"

The girl nodded, looking both scared and glum, and
led the Kauri back to a large wooden door. Marge looked
up at her. "Your mother in there, too?"

"No. My mom died a few years back."

"Uh-huh. No brothers or sisters?"

"No."

"Is this door unlocked?"

"Certainly. Why should it be otherwise?"

"Well, I'll wake up your old man. You just go back and
keep our two lovers happy and make sure they stay put
inside the inn."

"I don't think he—"

"Just do it, girl!"

This was more than the innkeeper's daughter could
handle, and she left.

Marge gently turned the knob and entered a hallway.
At the end was a stairway going down to the cellar, and
she realized that they lived down there with the potables
and other stored items. That was perfect for her.

She lighted no light, although it was very dark at the
bottom. All this suited her just fine. The walls were stone,
it was somewhat cool, and there seemed no sign of a
window. Taking a chance, she removed the goggles and
found, to her relief, that the cellar blocked out the radia-
tion that would affect her. In fact, in a place this dark and
this well insulated, it was almost like being in night, and
she felt her powers grow to near normal.

Most of the cellar was still devoted to storage, but one

86

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

area had been divided into three small rooms. It was pretty
clear which one held the proprietor; he snored like a
dragon.

Although her motivation was different, she automati-
cally drew on her powers as needed, taking in the impres-
sions from the sleeper beyond the wall and using them
without even thinking about it.

The Kauri's power over men was great, in part because
it drew upon the man to supply what was necessary and
most appropriate. She opened the thin door to the pro-
prietor's bedroom and saw him instantly, sleeping sprawled
across a bed much like the ones upstairs. He was an
unassuming, dark, chubby man with a close-cropped beard
and thin mustache.

"Wake up," she said softly, but it was no request or
timid attempt. It was a command with fairy power behind
it.

The man stirred, shifted, then frowned, and opened
his eyes. She reached up and found a candle, then willed
the energy to flow from her to it. The candle flickered
into life, lighting up the entire small room. He saw her in
an instant, and his mouth dropped. "Umora?"

"Yes, my darling," she responded, knowing that he was
seeing not a Kauri but the image of his dead wife, not as
she was but as he remembered her.

He yawned and sat up. "But—you should be at peace
now! I did what you asked of me." He paused a moment.
"You are not like you were. You are beautiful and radiant
once more."

"I have not returned before, my love, for it is generally
forbidden. I was sent back because I was told you had
committed a grave evil. Are you saying you did it in my
name? For me?"

"But—you were here! Cold from the grave! I saw you!"
He shuddered.

So that was it. "Someone made you believe it was me,
but it was not. You were fooled by a very evil one, my
darling. Who was it?"

87

JACK L. CHALKER

He shook his head, trying to take it all in. She could
see he was struggling, but she presented the preferable
vision of reality, even if the false one. Bit by bit, he told
her the tale.

She—or one who'd looked like her—had come to him
in the early morning, as she did now. But that one was
not beautiful as she now was; no, she'd been only a
terrible shadow of her former self, a recognizable but
horrible corpse, partly decomposed. She—his wife's
corpse—had told him that her soul was trapped and could
not go on, held by one who was the Master of the Dead.
The Master had sent her to request a small task of any
who came, and had agreed that, if he performed that task,
she would find eternal peace. Her voice and horrible ap-
pearance had haunted him and filled him with pity. When
she'd piteously complained of the cold and the worms,
he could do no more than follow orders. To free his be-
loved wife from such a fate, he would have committed
mass murder; this was merely to slip a potion, which he'd
been assured was not lethal, to a couple of strangers.

"Who gave you the potions?" she asked him.

"You—she—did. Left them here."

"Then you never saw this Master of the Dead?"

"I—well, sort of. He was here, last night. Where I
don't know, but he was here. I was to leave the keys
available and then come down here. I did, but not all the
way. I heard him moving about and heard him mount the
stairs. When he came out, I peeked through the eyehole
in back—you remember when and why we put that in."

She nodded and let him continue. Best not to get trapped
into details she couldn't possibly know. This thing had its
limits, and she was no mind reader. Irritated, she realized
that she hadn't asked, nor did she know, his name.

"All I can say is that he was a big man, dressed all in
black robes. His face I didn't see, or any particular fea-
tures. Just a large man dressed in full robes and hood of
solid black, that's all."

88

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"It was definitely a man, then, my love? No woman
or another sort of creature or fairy?"

"No—it was a man. A wizard for sure. He went out
the front door, and I checked; all was quiet, so I just came
down and went to sleep." He hesitated a moment. "Those
two were a strange pair, even for an inn. What did the
potion do?"

"You will see. I must go now, but do not feel guilty.
You did what you thought you had to do for my sake.
Other powers far greater than me will deal with this Mas-
ter, and I will return to the peace and joy I left. Good-
bye, my darling."

The candle winked out, and for a while he just sat there
on the side of the bed in the dark shaking his head and
looking very guilty indeed. She had become as nothing
to him, and she was able to exit and climb back up the
stairs without his even noticing that anyone was opening
and closing the doors. She hesitated, almost forgetting to
replace the goggles, but did so just in time.

The daughter was waiting hesitantly in the hallway near
the door.

"Your father was not awakened by me," she told the
girl. "Don't worry. He may be up shortly and acting a
little strange, but don't be afraid for him." She then walked
past the girl and back to the inn proper.

The Master of the Dead.... An animated corpse of the
innkeeper's wife.... This was power indeed, but at least
the bastard lived up to his name. Her thoughts went back
to the male wizards on the Council. She found she wouldn't
put it past any one of them, Ruddygore excepted.

One thing was certain, though. She and Joe had cer-
tainly underestimated their foe here in Husaquahr,
expecting as they did more of a frontal attack or at least
a good stab in the back, with her as the more vulnerable
target. With this one simple gesture, the enemy had halted
this expedition at its beginning, with minimal exposure,
and taken out the best sword in the bargain.

The two were still there, but not for long, it appeared.

89

JACK L. CHALKER

"I am water," Tura said, "and you are Earth. I feel like
an early morning swim."

Joe got up, then scooped up the mermaid as if she were
a feather. "Anything you want, you get." He started for
the door, which was locked; when it didn't move at his
prod, he stood back and kicked it hard. The lock splin-
tered and the double doors swung open, one hanging by
only a part of a hinge.

Word, of course, had gotten around the little town
already that morning, so they were more curiosities than
shocks to those who were already out on the streets. Joe
went to the center of the street, looked up and down, and
spotted the mast of the ship at the far end, and headed
for it. Tura lay in his arms, giggling and laughing all the
while.

Marge took flight, knowing she couldn't stop it and
just determined to shadow them and, if need be, beat them
to the river. There was nothing she could do; anyway,
they were going pretty much where she wanted them.

They reached the bank and then went out on a small
pier. Joe didn't stop, walking right off the end with Tura
still in his arms and hitting the water with a big splash.
For a moment Marge felt fear, wondering if Joe could
swim; but as she flew over them she found that he seemed
to swim quite well, although not nearly as well as Tura.

There was little she could do except hope they'd play
and stay nearby. She looked around and saw the eagles
circling lazily in the air high above, then headed up toward
them. It was quite an ordeal and she was extremely tired
and weakened by the sunlight, but she was determined
to make it.

Fortunately, one of the eagles noticed her, sensed her
weakness, and descended to her level.

"What brings you to us. Kauri?" the eagle asked some-
what menacingly. In many cases, eagles were not adverse
to attacking fairies if they appeared weak and out of their
element.

She was banking on them being on the same side. "If

90

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

you please, great lord of the skies, we need to contract
the wizard Ruddygore at once and it was hoped by me
that one of such grace and mastery could aid in this."

"What's the problem? Were you attacked while we
roosted?"

Quickly, Marge sketched in the problem and pointed
out the swimmers far below.

The eagle snorted. "Surface grubs," it murmured deri-
sively. "Wait here, if you can, on these currents. I'll have
to take this to a higher-up."

With that, the eagle climbed. He related the story to
the second level above, which in turn relayed it to the
third, which finally dispatched someone to the highest
eagle in the bureaucratic and physical pyramid. Marge
only hoped that the message didn't get garbled in the
translation.

Finally the word came back down, and the lowest eagle
approached her once more. "You sent the pigeon this
morning with this news?"

"As much as we knew at the time. Not the details I
gave you."

"Well, we can beat the pigeon if we have to. Get on
below, and we'll take it from here. You should hear some-
thing in a couple of hours at most. How are you going to
keep them handy, though?"

"We'll think of something," Marge replied, more in
hope than with any concrete idea. She wearily descended
and looked for the pair of potion-induced lovers. They
were on the bank, in very shallow water and mud, and
both of them were apparently dismembering and eating a
live fish.

She found Biy looking over the repair work, which did
indeed seem more inconvenient than serious, and sent
him to the inn for Joe's sword. She was determined to
try every trick available to her to get Joe under control,
but she badly needed some rest. It was going to be a busy
evening.

Finally, she went down to the galley and saw Audra.

91

JACK L.CHALKER

"Have you any booze on board other than the usual ale
kegs?" she asked the nymph.

"Yeah, I think we have some." The nymph rummaged
around to the resounding sound of hammers and saws,
then brought up two bottles of what looked to be decent
wine. "This do?"

"Maybe," Marge said hopefully. "Just keep them handy
while I make a quick visit to the village apothecary shop."

"Yeah, okay, I—yeowF The nymph jumped a foot and
whirled around, looking very angry. "Those bastards just
goosed me in the deck planking!"

The fact that the apothecary was a small room in the
back of the public stables was not encouraging, but Marge
looked around anyway in hopes something could be done,
at least temporarily. When, after a while, no one seemed
to notice her, she called out, "Hello! Anybody here?"

A strange head suddenly popped up from below the
double-doors leading to the apothecary storage room. She
jumped, startled, then stared, not sure if she was looking
at a fairy or a human face. It was round and rosy-cheeked,
surrounded by snow white hair the thickness and consis-
tency of sheep's wool, with a bulbous nose and tiny,
squinting eyes. "Yes, my dear?" the stranger asked, in a
voice that sounded like a very old man speaking falsetto.
He seemed to have difficulty with his vision, and certainly
did not see her clearly, judging by where he was looking.

"Over here," she told him. "You the apothecary?"

"Oh, my yes! Phineas T. Harbottle, at your service,
m'um. What seems to be the problem?"

"I have a male, six feet six and all muscle, who's been
slipped a love potion that apparently also has induced
amnesia. He's cavorting around naked in the mud with a
mermaid, who got the same stuff."

"Well, at least it's mutual," Harbottle commented. "Last
few times I've had to deal with such potions, the devotion
was strictly one-sided. Makes for a messy thing, you
know."

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VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"I've sent off a message for help to Terindell, but I
need something to keep them under control until that
help arrives."

"Oh—slip 'em a Mickey, huh?"

"Well, it worked to get them into this mess. Say! How
do you know the term 'Mickey' anyway?"

"Oh, I know all the great Irishmen, Mr. Michael Finn
in particular. We do some business around here with some
emigre leprechauns, you see, and they love to tell stories.
Unfortunately, they love to tell the same stories. I'm afraid
I'm the only one they can pin down who'll still listen to
them. Only the Americans believe in 'em anymore, you
see—the Irish are far too practical these days—and it's
far too fast a culture in America for them. Also, it seems,
these Americans who think of themselves as Irish are ten
times more Irish than the Irish, so the little people tend
to wind up coming over here."

Marge decided not to go into her own origins right then.
"Can you help me?"

The strange little man scratched his head. "Well, I don't
know. You don't happen to know which potion, do you,
or have a residual sample from the bottle?"

"The bottles were gone when the couple was discov-
ered, and with them the brand name."

"Well, describe the symptoms—fully."

She did so, sparing no detail.

Harbottle just listened, and when he was up-to-date he
said, "It has to be a very old formula. I haven't heard of
this combination in—must be seven, eight hundred years,
at least. You've a very old-fashioned wizard here, or he's
got one devil of a cellar. Still, wait a few moments and
I'll see what I can do."

He seemed to disappear again behind the dutch door.
She wasn't tall enough to see much of what was inside,
but he must not have been too tall himself to vanish so
completely from sight—from sight, but not hearing; the
noises that began coming out of the stall were incredible.

It began with the simple clinking of glass and then the

93

JACK L. CHALKER

sound of mortar and pestle, but soon all sorts of things
started happening. Once it sounded as if a whole barnyard
was in there, and once a huge cloud of foul-smelling purple
smoke arose from the floor and she heard Harbottle say,
"Oops! Oh, dear!"

Finally the strange head popped up again, and a chubby
arm held up a vial of a swirling orange liquid that seemed
to smoke a little. "I had to compromise a few ingredients,"
he told her, "because some of the better stuff just isn't
made anymore. Here—take it."

She reached up and took it; she found it warm but not
too hot to hold. She sniffed it, and turned up her nose.
"Phew\ Smells awful!"

"Tastes worse," Harbottle assured her. "That's one of
the Rules, you know. Poisons and potions all taste won-
derful, while treatments and antidotes taste like mil-
dewed, broiled swampwater. You should feel lucky. Many
of them are far fouler than that one, and are nearly impos-
sible to administer."

"It's going to be a good trick just administering this
stuff. How much should I give to them and what will it
do?"

"Damned if I know, actually. I'd say divide it roughly
equally and get them each to drink as much of it as pos-
sible. The more they get inside them, the more complete
the results will be. And because of the substitutions, there
may be some odd side effects, or it might not be totally
effective. He has a wife and magic sword you say?"

"Yes. I have the sword, anyway."

"The wife would also be handy. However, the sword
has its own life and identity, and it can aid its owner in
many ways. If he takes it, the sword will at least weaken
the spells that may go along with the potion. There may
also be physical side effects because of the cross-racial
nature of the romance, as it were, but most should be
temporary."

"Urn—thanks a lot. Any ideas on how I get them to
drink this?"

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JACK L. CHALKER                 95

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"You came for a Mickey and I gave you a treatment.
I can't be expected to come up with everything."

She was grateful to the strange little man, no matter
what, and she suddenly became acutely aware of just how
distant she'd become from the real world. "I—I'm afraid
I haven't anything to pay with right now."

"Oh, that's all right—I'll just put it on Ruddygore's
tab. If you see him, however, you might remind him that
I haven't seen a payment in almost a hundred and seventy-
eight years, and I could use a bit. I've been building a
cyclotron in the basement bit by bit by mail order and I'd
really like to get module number 1068."

She stared at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"A cyclotron. It's a device for shooting atoms—"

"I know what it is. I just never expected to hear of one
in Husaquahr, let alone the power to run it."

"Oh, one problem at a time. I'll work on the power
later. Right now it's so nice and long and complex it's sort
of a work of art. Well, good luck."

Marge was feeling a bit dizzy. "Yeah—thanks." And,
with that, she walked back out of the stable and into the
morning sun.

Biy lured the potioned pair onto the ship with an offer
of food and a very large bed, which they took. The ratlike
captain seemed confident that he and some locals could
contain the pair should they emerge, and urged Marge to
get some sleep. There was no chance right now to get
them to take the potion, nor any plan to do so, so the
captain assured her that he and Audra would work on the
problem while she slept. If they were lucky, or smart, it
was possible they'd come up with something.

Dead tired and knowing she'd gone about as far as she
could. Marge went to the other cabin and went to sleep.

Marge awoke to the smell of fresh paint and a general
quiet, and she didn't know whether this was a good thing
or not. She quickly left the stateroom, entered the galley,
and found Audra there.

"Hi!" the nymph greeted her. "Well, things should start
popping around here soon, I guess."

"How's that?"

"We managed to keep our lovers pretty well happy
here, with a few minor incidents—old Ruddygore's not
going to like the town's damage bill, I'm afraid—and then
this real creepy guy and this strange-looking girl came
down a couple of hours ago with a note from Ruddygore.
They zinged 'em cold with a wave of the hand and then
examined them real careful, you know? Then the guy
looked at the stuff you brought and said it might work,
might not. Anyway, they're waiting up on deck for you
now before trying anything."

"And our lovers?"

"Still out cold in the other cabin." She walked out from
behind the counter; as she approached the left cabin door,
it opened for her. It was pretty clear what parts of the
ship were, in a way, parts of Audra.

With the sun down. Marge's fairy sight and powers
were at their full potential. Both Joe and Tura were out
cold, as advertised, and kept that way by a strong local
spell that was easy to see. Below it, their bodies seemed
to have a reddish-brown glow of a kind she had never
seen before. This, then, was the potion. Below that, she
quickly sorted out the older spells and Joe's curse and
noted, with some amusement, that Tura now had deep
and complex black spell bands as well. Sometime during
the day, Joe had bitten her for sure.

Interlaced, though, were newer bands that bore a far
different signature than any of the others. These, then,
were what the Master of the Dead had added, and what
were, in fact, the greatest potential threat to undoing the
harm.

Nodding to herself, she went back out and up on deck.

Biy was there, looking pretty tired. He'd had a very
busy day that had started early, and she felt sorry for him.
With him were the pair that Audra had told her about,
dressed in long, black cloaks and hoods. For a moment

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she wondered if she could trust a mere note. The Master
of the Dead had been described as looking not too dis-
similar to the larger one.

They turned and put down their hoods when they heard
her, and she gasped. "Tiana! Macore!" The larger one
she'd thought of as being the Master of the Dead had been
Joe's wife.

Both were grim-faced, but managed smiles at seeing
her.

Marge stared at Macore. "I thought you were stuck in
the land of the djinn for the duration."

"No, the old boy has some other uses for the Lamp,"
the thief replied. "And some other uses for me, too, I'm
afraid. I'm gonna be his meat for a while, until we solve
this whole business or I die in the attempt."

Marge turned to Tiana, who towered over her. "I—I'm
sorry this happened."

"Something like this had to." The big woman sighed.
"I am afraid this world is not safe when one goes adven-
turing. When word came, I could not be restrained."

"Ruddygore suspects that this is a trap to draw him
into a compromising position—a fight on the enemy's
timing, terms, and turf," Macore explained. "He'd rather
pick his own point for a showdown."

"I can understand why Tiana's here, but why you?"

"Because I'm a thief—and a damned good one."

"How's that again?"

"Look, the potion's bad enough. Why lay that crap on
them as well except to lock them in, antidote or not. This
Master of the Dead had to know that a potion's not nec-
essarily permanent, so he tied it to some spells there, and
five will get you fifty that what they mean are booby traps.
Undo 'em any way but perfect and they'll reach out and
get you and maybe everybody else in the immediate vicin-
ity. Tiana's got the power, and I'm pretty good at traps."

Marge nodded, feeling relieved. At least she wasn't
going to have to go through this alone. "So when do we
start, and what do we do first?"

"You do not have to do anything, dear," Tiana told
her. "You have been more than enough help this day. It
is for me and demon-brain here to take."

"I'll stay," the Kauri told them. "I've got very good
defenses and I'm not as easily affected by spells as humans
are; also, this is partly a spell of passion, on which I'm
something of an expert."

"All right, then. On your own head be it," the big
woman replied. "Let's go down and take a look at our
sleeping beauties."

Biy opted out of the session, not only because he wasn't
being paid to take risks like this, but also because he was
too tired to do anyone any good. Still, that left the three
of them very crowded in the cabin with the two sleeping
beauties.

"She is quite pretty," Tiana noted. "What sort of person
is she—normally?"

"She seemed nice enough," Marge told her, "but I really
didn't have much of a chance to get to know her. There
was something inside her, though, something melancholy,
that I sensed. She was not happy."

"I ask because Joe was in fact attracted to her, and
without any spells or mermaid tricks. Joe is simply one
of those men who loves women. All women. If she also
had a sad story to tell, it would get to him. Even as
insulated as we have been these past years, I have seen
it happen before."

Marge looked at Tiana strangely. "You mean he cheats?
And you know it?"

Tiana shrugged. "So do I—and he does not know it."
She sighed. "Well, let us get to work."

Like surgeons studying a wound before operating, the
three examined all of the newer spells. That was the only
real advantage they had—that each spell cast by anyone
bore a distinct signature. It could be disguised, but no
two wizards' spells were ever exactly alike—like finger-
prints. The spells, then, could be sorted out—but not
necessarily deciphered.

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VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

99

It took some time to fix both the start and the end of
the complex colored bands of the spells, but this was
absolutely necessary to dissolving them. Once the route
was traced, they could begin. Fortunately, the wizard had
not wanted to spend a great deal of time inside the inn
room and had come with the spells prepared. As he could
not know who the partner would be, the spells were essen-
tially identical except for sexual identity diacriticals, and
this meant that if one were solved, the other could also
be. More difficult would be further down, where the spells
reached out to both of them with common threads. The
spell had to be unraveled in the exact same order as it
had been cast. Anything else would do no good and would
simply backfire on the unraveler.

It was easy going at first, but then they ran into a knot
of finely woven yellow and red threads crisscrossing in
all directions. The first trap. Tiana looked at the little
thief. "Macore?"

"Oh, it's a boomerang spell, all right," the little man
responded thoughtfully. He followed beyond the trap to
the next junction. "The trouble is that he's got something
innocuous running across something nasty, using the same
color and pattern. We have to get only the continuing
threads of the spell and none of the obscuring one."

"The progression seems obvious enough. Six to twelve
to twenty-four, with the last making a right turn at the
junction."

"Ah, but that's what he wants you to see. But, here—
six strands become twelve become seventy-two straight
on, then back to twelve beyond the next junction. That's
also symmetry. I'd go straight. The odds are he's much
more concerned with the spell than the trap. In any event,
I'd go for the more complex pattern as being the spell
itself in this case."

"All right. Here goes." Tiana concentrated and dis-
solved the threads running through the junction and into
a braided pattern. Nothing happened, so she continued

on to the next junction, then took the turn again to go
back to the six.

Marge could do nothing but watch their operation. She
could follow it, but not the complexity of the spell removal
that Tiana was doing, and she certainly had a great deal
of respect for Macore, who seemed to think like a thief all
the time. It took about an hour to follow the pattern all
the way down, and then they shifted to Tura. Macore had
guessed right on the matching spells as well; this Master
of the Dead had been in a hurry. Even so, he was a real
pro.

It was. Marge understood, something like unknitting a
complex quilt with little bomb triggers set to go off if you
lost the thread. Soon, though, there remained only the
simple binding spell connecting the pair, and both Tiana
and Macore grew confident and more relaxed. They were
almost done when suddenly a snakelike coil of pure energy
leaped out and engulfed everyone in the room.

"We really blew that one," Tiana sang, in a lusty oper-
atic soprano.

Macore and Marge both looked at her and then at each
other.

"We have a real comedian here," Macore sang, in a
low tenor that was slightly off-key.

"It sounds like grand opera," Marge sang to them.

Audra suddenly came through the door singing, "Would
anyone like some wine—and cheese?"

"Oh, this is terrible, terrible, terrible!" Tiana sang.

The others chorused back, "Terrible, terrible, terrible!"

The spell's simple bands were still connecting them
and clearly visible, and Tiana, putting a finger to her lips
for silence, proceeded to unravel each of them in turn
and roll the thing back to the two unconscious forms. It
was not much of a spell as these traps went; more a
thumbing of the nose at the one who sought to undo the
Master's work.

Being careful not to make the same mistake twice,
since a trap sprung more than once became more and

100

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

more complex and, after a while, became impossible to
unravel, she removed the last of the spell.

Macore let out a deep breath and turned to Audra. "I'll
have that drink now, lass." He beamed. "Ah! No more
singing!"

"I thought you had a lovely voice," the wood nymph
told him.

Macore beamed. "We'll have to talk this over later, my
dear. Business first." He turned back to Tiana. "Now
we've still got that stupid potion to deal with."

She nodded, but, before she could say anything else,
Marge put in, "The alchemist said that the sword might
help, and that each should get an equal dose of the anti-
dote."

"Let us try it," the big woman said. "Can you get the
sword?"

"I can't touch it. You know that. Macore? It's next
door in my cabin."

Macore nodded, smiled, and blew a kiss to Audra, then
went out and was quickly back with the sword. It had
begun to hum discordantly when Macore had picked it
up, but now, in the room with Joe, it seemed to give off
a small but pleasant electronic sort of whine. Tiana took
it, placed it in Joe's hand, and closed his hand around the
hilt. The sword began to hum a strange tune, which star-
tled them. Marge frowned, then said, "I think it's some-
thing by Ferlin Husky."

"Huh?" Tiana asked her, looking confused.

"Don't worry about it. It knows it's home."

Macore looked at them. "Can we force that vile brew
down them while they're out without choking them or
losing it?"

"We will see. Bring it here," Tiana commanded. Audra
exited and returned with the bottle, which was still smok-
ing slightly. With Macore's help, they propped up Joe's
upper torso enough to get his head only slightly leaned
back. His mouth, fortunately, was somewhat open. Hold-
ing the head and mouth, Tiana poured just a little from

JACK L. CHALKER                101

the bottle into his mouth and held it closed. Joe coughed,
but didn't otherwise react.

The glow around his body diminished slightly.

It was a slow and somewhat messy business, using it
bit by bit until the glow seemed to vanish completely. The
rest they tried with Tura, whose mouth was closed and
had to be pried open, but eventually it worked. It was,
however, a good thing that Tiana was so big and strong
herself. Marge reflected.

At last, the potion was gone, and they stood back.
"Time now to wake them up." Tiana sighed, sounding
tired. She removed her spell quickly, and they waited.
When nothing happened after a little while, the big woman
said, in a loud voice, "Joe! Wake up!"

Joe's eyes opened, but they were vacant and staring.

It was the same with Tura. No matter what, they could
get no reactions out of them at all.

"What's wrong with them?" Macore asked, irritably.
"Did we blow something or what?"

"I don't think so," Marge responded. "But, you see,
I can feel and see emotions. They are tangible things to
me. There's nothing there. No feeling at all."

"Joe—sit up in bed!" Tiana commanded, and the big
man did as instructed, staring vacantly ahead.

"I was afraid of this," the big woman said hesitantly.
"When I saw the reactions, I knew. We have been wasting
our time, my friends. Now we know what the Master of
the Dead took away in those two little potion bottles."

"You mean—he took their essences? Their souls?"
Marge breathed, shocked.

Tiana nodded. "I fear so."

"But—they were animated lovers, playful innocents
today!"

"It was the spell," Macore told her. "They were playful
lovers, yes, but they were simpletons, too. It was a mask,
an act, to deceive us while the Master made a clean get-
away. So much for Ruddygore's plotting. All we've got

102

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

here now are two animated corpses that will dance a jig
if we tell 'em to but don't have a thought in their heads."

Marge threw up her hands in disgust. "Oh, great! Now
what do we do?"

"We must track the bastard to his lair and reclaim them,"
Tiana said determinedly.

"Oh, sure," Macore agreed sarcastically. "That should
be a snap."

CHAPTER 8

SOUL SURVIVORS

All castle and fortification wells in disuse for more than three
centuries are declared as homes for monsters.

—Rules, LXXI, 207(c)

A DETAILED MAP OF THE REGION AROUND THE TOWN WAS

spread out on the galley table as they gathered around to
try and figure out where their quarry might be. Macore
was certain that this Master of the Dead had to have a
base not far from the town itself, because the wizard was
able to take some time to research the innkeeper and his
personal life in order to get a hold on him; also the Master
might have determined where they would stay, but would
have no way of knowing what day or week they would
set off on their journey. He also obviously had to have
access to the local graveyards in order to pull his animated
corpse routine, assuming it was, indeed, no illusion.

"I'd say south," Ely commented, looking at the map.
"And certainly on this side of the river. North of here are
some rolling hills and plains that are good farm country

JACK L. CHALKER                103

but not much on concealment. Old Harbottle has consid-
erable power, and all the folks around here know and
trust him, and he's seen no strangers with this kind of
power. Now, look—about twenty miles south of here starts
a swamp and marsh area that extends for the next sixty
miles downriver and inland a good twenty-five."

"The Holimau Swamp," Macore said. "Everybody in
these parts is scared stiff of it."

"Exactly," the captain agreed. "Makes it the perfect
place to hide out if you've got real power and still want
to be close enough to sneak into town, maybe transformed
as a bird or animal as need be. I know the region pretty
well. I have some relations from that part of the country."

It was the first time Marge realized just what kind of
place somebody who resembled a giant bipedal rat would
find most comfortable.

"Any ideas?" Tiana prompted him.

"Well, there are a lot of old structures and ancient ruins
in there, mostly reclaimed by the swamp, but I'd guess
he's using one of them. He's human, I think, and likes
his comforts. He could have ravens or some other birds
as his spotters, but he had to get into town from there,
I'll bet, and fairly quickly. That limits it to just five pos-
sible spots where it's easy enough to get in and out quickly
but far enough in to stay concealed. They'll have to be
checked out, somehow, tomorrow, maybe by the eagles,
if they're willing to do it."

Marge looked it over. "Why wait? Just mark the places
on there. I can fly, and I have power and some advantage
in the dark."

They all stared at her. Finally Tiana said, "All right—
if you're certain. But be very cautious. He's bound to be
expecting us sooner or later, and if he captures your soul,
which is faerie in nature, your body will become nothing
but stone, an ornament for his door, subject to damage,
wear, and breakage which would be permanent, even if
you were sometime freed."

Marge's eyebrows rose. "I didn't know that—but I'll

104

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

be careful." And, with the marked map, she was off to
the south.

Flying a thousand feet above the treetops and following
the bends of the great river. Marge was struck, as always,
by the great beauty of the night world.

Once over the swamp, she headed inland, descending
and taking out the map, looking for whatever landmarks
she could find and trying to judge distances from a height.
She found the first two—cold, forbidding places over-
grown and almost invisible, if not looked for specifi-
cally—with little trouble, but quickly dismissed them as
lost to everyone, even the Master of the Dead.

The swamp was alive, not only with plants but with a
tremendous variety of animals and insects; but, while some
seemed threatening and some downright scary, they really
didn't bother her too much. Creatures of the night knew
how to survive in the night.

The third place she did not find, in spite of being certain
of her location. It had apparently been so reclaimed that
it had ceased to exist. The fourth was in remarkably good
repair, and gave off emanations of great power, but this
power was not human nor was it faerie—it was something
far stronger and older and, well, evil. Whatever it was,
though, was wedded to the building and the swamp, and
would not be likely to trouble itself with the affairs of
their tiny ship, no matter what its mission.

The fifth, however, was another matter—an ancient
keep of some kind, partially overgrown but showing signs
of much recent activity. The short trails to and from it
had clearly been recently cut and well maintained since,
and it sat on a small island. The water there was quite
shallow; far too shallow for the Hippogryph, but not too
shallow to permit a small, flat-bottomed boat from being
poled in and out to deeper water, where something better
might await, hidden from sight. The boat—really nothing
more than a raft—was there and securely tied to a tree.

The place itself was dark, but she sensed a fire some-

JACK L. CHALKER                105

where within, and felt ^.presence there, a human presence
but one not to be trifled with. It was also, oddly, somewhat
familiar, but she couldn't place it, nor did she expect to.
There were other presences, too—but of a different sort.
The place was well guarded, both inside and out, by fig-
ures that appeared human from a distance but gave off
no sense of warmth or life at all.

The dead guarded the Master of the Dead.

He had been here some time, that was clear. How
long it would be impossible for anyone but him to tell,
but certainly it was long enough to have captured the
souls of the newly dead and dying. She wondered how
many of the family, friends and associates of those
who lived in the region he had under his complete con-
trol? How many were being blackmailed with the souls
and corpses of their deceased loved ones?

This was a wizard with a hell of a skill, and it gave
him increasing temporal power. As Ruddygore's skill in
traveling between here and Earth gave him power and
knowledge, so the ease with which the Master bottled up
the souls of his victims gave him a different and darker,
but no less powerful, domain.

It was, however, pretty boring company.

She swung back around and headed for the ship, after
scouting the most likely approaches and methods of
reaching the place. Without a raft, it would be a bitch
getting into there, and if they got one from the town or
built one, it would certainly telegraph everything.

She had been gone several hours, and it would be dawn
in perhaps two more. She felt as if she'd already put in
a good night.

She circled the ship, then landed on the afterdeck. It
was oddly quiet, and she grew immediately suspicious.
Surely after all this, they would have posted a guard, she
thought, and slept in shifts.

"Hello!" she called out. "Is anybody here?" She walked
around to the bow and back again, seeing no one and
finding no lights. Carefully, she opened the double-doors

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VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

leading below and latched them open, so she could have
some sort of getaway. She did not go all the way down,
however, instead using her powers to sense what life there
was.

Nothing. She registered no life below at all. That was
particularly odd, since, even though both female and a
fairy, she still should have gotten something from Audra,
who could not leave the ship.

Suddenly the cabin doors slammed open and a host of
horrible-looking creatures burst out. They were loath-
some, grotesque versions of human beings, bodies with
skin hanging and parts of skull and bone protruding,
dressed in decaying rags. She quickly discovered, how-
ever, that zombies could move damned fast.

She turned, but tripped on the top step; by the time
she'd scrambled back up, the leading one was almost on
top of her. She pushed off into the air and felt a cold, dry,
horrible hand grab her right foot. Twisting in the air, she
felt resistance suddenly cease and she was up and away,
just avoiding the outstretched arms of the rest of the ter-
rible creatures.

She was five hundred feet in the air before she looked
back and saw, to her disgust, the zombie hand still clutch-
ing her foot. It had been in such poor condition that she
had managed to wrench it loose with her twist.

She felt horrified and repulsed by it, but actually crossed
two-thirds of the river before daring to land on a small
island and pry the grisly thing off with sticks. She then
jumped into the river to remove any last traces of the
horror from her body.

Finally feeling a little cleaner, she rose back into the
air and headed south once more. Later she would have
the luxury of screaming, crying, and maybe fainting; now
she had to be clearheaded and absolutely perfect.

It was clear what had happened. Knowing that they
would soon come for him, the Master of the Dead had
decided to jump the gun. It was possible that he com-
manded Joe and Tura to do it, for those with the souls

had the power—or perhaps they were merely over-
whelmed. At any rate, it must have happened shortly after
she'd left. She thanked providence that she had insisted
on going out that evening; the Master had obviously
counted on their deciding on a morning search.

The fun and games were over. The Master had ceased
toying with them and now had all but one of them in his
power, that was clear, including the two who represented
a strong and Council-backed theocracy. In a sense, he'd
been shrewd with his fun, gambling a little that all of his
antics would not attract someone truly able to challenge
his power and so gathering even more into his net. Now
he had not just the voyagers, but Tiana and Macore as
well.

She knew she was racing against time. Within a half
hour of sunrise it would be clear to the eagles that some-
thing was wrong and they would investigate. Within an
hour after that, they would be reporting to Ruddygore on
the one hand and launching their own search on the other.
She doubted that the Master would remain at the swamp
base much longer than he had to; he had accomplished
his mission in spades. Not only would any expedition to
Earth now not contain those most threatening to Boquil-
las, but he had under his complete control the bodies of
the demigod and demigoddess. If he were a member of
the Council, he would have wrested temporal control from
Ruddygore without a wizard's battle and he would be
supported by the other members, as long as he kept them
comfortable and protected. If he were not a Council mem-
ber, he was in a good position to make a deal with them,
no matter what Ruddygore might say.

But the rule and the religion would take on a far
darker coloration under him. Ruddygore had been right
to worry; with the Baron and Dacaro doing something
terrible on Earth and the Master assuming control here,
Hell might well be in the driver's seat, no matter what
the outcome of Armageddon was supposed to be accord-
ing to the script.

T

108

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 109

She was certain he would return first to his redoubt.
If he'd lived there a fair amount of time, as she surmised,
he wasn't going to leave without checking under the bed
to see if he'd left anything, particularly anything incrim-
inating.

Still, she wasn't sure what she could do. She was no
match for a wizard of his powers and she knew very
little about the process he was using. She knew, of
course, that souls could indeed be extracted and cap-
tured in sealed vessels, such as bottles, but she also had
been taught that such rituals were complex, fairly long,
and involved invoking a particular kind of demon. The
Master had apparently no need for any of this; he'd
taken, by the innkeeper's account, no more than a few
minutes to do his dirty work to Joe and Tura, and cer-
tainly seemed to have moved fast in the case of the rest
of them. Tiana, in particular, was untrained and undis-
ciplined, but had a lot of raw power and a lot of pro-
tection, yet he'd apparently taken her as easily as he
had the others.

She circled in and dropped to nearly treetop level,
slowing and checking the most obvious route in and out.
Obviously she had missed them being moved south only
by a freak of perfect timing—on the Master's part. Entirely
too much was going that bastard's way so far, she decided
angrily.

She thought she spotted something, then dipped down
and perched in a tree. Yes—there it was. A sleek yacht
even larger and more luxurious than the Piebald Hippo-
gryph, well-concealed under a lot of brush and natural
camouflage. She decided to have a look, and cautiously
drifted down until she was on deck. There seemed to be
no one aboard, but that was by no means certain, con-
sidering the nature of the enemy's troops.

Someone had been here, though, and recently. She
could see the fresh breaks in the vines on which the con-
cealing camouflage was hung, including some fresh enough
to be still oozing their acidic sap. They had brought them

in, where they'd been met by the raft, probably. Someone
had gone aboard, possibly to check for last-minute read-
iness, then had continued on, back to the swamp base.
Hanging on the stem of the ship, held by pulleys, was a
small, sleek little sailboat that might well be the lifeboat.
It showed signs of use, and, in fact, was still dripping
water.

When you had zombies to row if there was no breeze,
or you didn't want to be noticed, you could go twenty
miles up the coast very nicely in that thing.

The central cabin of the yacht was large enough to
have portholes above the deck, and she looked in. It was
pitch dark, of course, but that didn't bother her.

They were all there, just sitting around a central table
as if about to eat dinner; only none were moving, or even
doing more than blinking and breathing. Joe, Tiana, Tura,
Macore—even Biy. In the center of the table was a life-
sized statue of a woman of unnatural beauty, formed in
travertine marble. With a shock she realized that it was
Audra.

Joe, she saw, was wearing his sword, and the others
seemed armed as well. She guessed the trap. The Master
needed no zombies to guard them; they would guard them-
selves. They did not think, however, and so would be
quite literal in their orders. They would not have curiosity
and would not be likely to investigate strange noises out-
side.

She went to the rail and looked down, praying that
there were no fearsome creatures below to attack her.
Then she jumped and slipped into the water and swam
underneath the craft.

The Master had cut it close. There were only two
feet or so of draft between the ship and the bottom at
this point, although it deepened quickly only fifteen yards
or so in back. It was chosen for maximum concealment
from ground and air and a quick getaway, but that wasn't
what she was looking for. She spotted what she hoped
was it, cursing the fact that somebody born and raised

110

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

in west Texas knew very little about boats of any kind,
and then came back up and landed on the deck. There
was a forward hatch with several clamps, and she undid
them, not without difficulty, for her strength wasn't all
that great, and then she swung the hatch cover open,
praying to the Earth Mother that no corpses leaped out
at her.

They didn't, and she went down and into the blackness.
She was instantly relieved to find some water down there,
and began quickly searching for its source. This was, or
had been, a smuggler's craft, and it had some very effi-
cient means of scuttling in a hurry if need be.

The valve wheels and clamps were iron, and it took
her several minutes to find something of wood so she
could manipulate them from a distance. Once the stick
broke and she actually had to leave and find another; but
eventually she managed to turn the rusty wheels enough
to open the valves much further than they should have
been. Water was not entering in torrents, but enough was
coming in, she hoped, to sink this boat two feet in the
swamp mud.

She flew out, knowing she could do no more, and closed
the hatch, refastening the wooden pegs that secured it.
She could only hope that she had opened the ports enough
to sink the ship, yet not wide enough to attract attention.
There was a gurgling sound below, but it was quite faint
through the hatch cover.

She heard someone coming, the sound of pole hitting
water and the creak of timbers, and rose up into the trees
to see. Suddenly she was worried that her timing had been
off; if so, the Master would be able to take his ship out
into the main channel, but it would then sink like a stone
in twenty or more feet of water, drowning those aboard.

It was not the Master, however, but some of his
zombies, carrying neatly stacked boxes sealed with ropes.
She felt great relief at seeing the horrible creatures, for
it meant the Master was still up at the redoubt and that,
perhaps, he was making his first mistake. He would not

JACK L. CHALKER                111

risk taking any of his captives if he were forced to use
the small boat, and even that would be slow and con-
spicuous. She suspected that, come morning, it was
going to get very hot for the mysterious stealer of souls
around here.

She decided to go up to his fort and see what other
mischief she could accomplish to slow him down. Kauri
were not ones for revenge or other petty emotions, but
this guy deserved all she could do to him.

A false dawn was already permeating even this remote
place, and she knew that very soon her powers would
begin to wane and she'd be forced to wear the glasses,
putting her at a great disadvantage. Still, she had to see
what she could and do what she was able to foul the wizard
up. Dawn would also mean the start of the process to nab
him.

Torches had been lighted now from the small raft land-
ing to the trail up to the ancient building, the light flick-
ering ghostlike against the moss and lichen-covered walls.
The corpses guarding the way seemed now almost to fade
into the swamp growths themselves, although they made
no real effort at concealment. She flew over them and
checked in the window openings of the stone structure
which was three-tiered with three squares atop each other,
each slightly smaller than the one below. At one time,
this had probably been a temple. To whom or what, she
preferred not to know.

She was surprised to find, in the large lower chamber,
what looked like living men and women working, packing
up and stacking boxes. She realized with a start that their
silence and their mechanical movements indicated that
they were of the living dead. Scattered around the walls
were numerous statues of various kinds of rock, like a
museum exhibit to the races of faerie in this region.

There seemed little she could do here, but she had a
thought about the raft. The odds were that of the four
zombies riding it out, two at least would remain on board
the yacht to stow the stuff while the others brought it

112

JACK L.CHALKER                113

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

back for the next load. The lack of the raft wouldn't stop
the Master, but it sure as hell would slow him down even
more.

She couldn't carry much of anything and fly, and she
didn't weigh an awful lot, but there was something to be
said for speed and momentum, and she was too deter-
mined to be repelled by what she was thinking of doing.

She waited until the raft was away from the yacht,
perhaps midway back to the redoubt, and saw that there
were two of the creatures polling from either side. She
arose high in the air, came down as fast as she could and
still maintain control, then struck one of the zombies in
the back with her feet.

The collision unbalanced her for a moment and she
fought to stop a tumble before she hit something, but the
animated corpse had fallen face first into the swamp.

Something told the other one it was under attack, but
it really didn't have the ability to figure out by whom or
what, nor how or why. She managed to pull the same trick
on it without any real additional danger. There was a price
to be paid for using automated labor, she thought with
satisfaction.

One of them picked itself up from the ooze and started
doggedly toward the raft, which was now hung up against
a clump of vines. As the first rays of the sun broke over
the River of Dancing Gods, it was making a determined
effort to get back up on the raft. Putting on her goggles,
feeling her strength ebb a bit and her powers wane, she
continued the rather easy job of knocking the thing back
off.

Suddenly there was a great disturbance in the water,
and she turned and saw a huge number of the walking
dead treading forward through the swamp, carrying boxes.
These were more than she could handle, although she had
an idea to make for the first one or two and have the
others trip over that one.

She rose up and then dived on them; but as she
approached, she felt a sudden numbing paralysis. Incred-

ibly, she seemed to stop in mid-dive, just a few feet above
the heads of the army of the dead, and remain suspended
there, unable to move.

Behind the zombies with the cartons came the living
dead, carrying a large, dark, figure, hooded and robed,
in a raised sedan chair. The zombies continued on, but
the ones with the chair did not. From the folds of the
cloak a hand gestured, and she felt herself gently lowered
and moved forward, almost in front of the figure.

Inside the hood were two glowing eyes that seemed to
have their own inner luminescence. Although it should
have been clear, no face, no other details, could be seen.

"Well, the set is now complete," a voice said from
under that hood, a voice that seemed somehow familiar.
She had met this man, heard that voice, somewhere
before—but she couldn't place it, nor was it one she knew
she would be expected to recognize. Someone she'd met,
but not someone she knew.

"You will make a fine addition to my sculpture garden,
my dear," he commented with self-assured good humor.
He was clearly pleased with himself. "Perhaps I'll place
you on one side of the walk entrance and the wood nymph
on the other. Yes, that would be pleasant indeed."

She found that she could speak. "The Earth Mother's
strength is beyond any human's," she warned him. "You
will incur her wrath at this."

"Probably, but she really can't do much so long as
you're not dead, and you won't be dead, just bottled up
for a time."

She trembled at this, both in anger and fear, knowing
that his confidence was not misplaced. He knew the Rules
and the ways of all the faerie, that was for sure.

"Come. We will go to my ship together, and I will
reunite you with your friends."

She floated just ahead of him as the marchers continued
on toward the yacht, frustrated that she could do nothing
and feeling even more frustrated that her efforts hadn't
counted for much against a really major wizard. Hell, even

114

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 115

if the ship had sunk by now, he could probably refloat it
with a wave of his hand.

But there were some things even a wizard had prob-
lems with. As the yacht came into view, it was clearly
down and on its side, settled in the mud. Worse, because
it had rolled slightly on its side it had pulled down much
of the camouflage that concealed it from both ground and
aerial surveillance. Overhead there was the loud screech-
ing of birds that might have been eagles; certainly there
was a strength and urgency to their cries. Marge felt some-
what better. Even if the Master of the Dead could easily
refloat it, he didn't dare sail such a conspicuous barge,
now that there was a strong chance it was known to his
enemies. For the first time, things were going against him,
and it gave her a feeling of real accomplishment. She had
nothing to lose by taunting him.

"So what do you do now, hot shot?" she jibed. "You
can still take it on the lam, but your boxes and your
zombies won't move so easily."

The Master stood up in his sedan chair, shaking with
anger as he stared at the crippled craft. "You did this!"

"Serves you right for buying a smuggler's craft. I think
maybe you'd better decide what you can carry with you
and get out of here, unless you're ready right now for a
face-down with Ruddygore. I assure you he's ready for
you. The whole point of this was to draw you out!"

Now, from the direction of the river, they could hear
a chant that could only mean oarsmen working at great
speed.

"0-re-um! Row, rum! 0-re-um! Row, rum!"

"Ruddygore loves a grand entrance," she told him.
"After all, he knows he's not going to catch you unless
you want to fight."

The Master of the Dead seemed to hesitate, as if weigh-
ing his alternatives. Finally he said, "All right, then! Rud-
dygore's day is coming, but it will be at a time and place
of my choosing, not here and now."

"0-re-um! Row, rum! 0-re-um! Row-rum!" It sounded
much closer now.

"I'll grant you a round, but only a round," the Master
continued. "You will yet grace my garden walk, and your
friends will slavishly clean and protect your image by my
commands! I will not forget you. Changeling! I grant you
your temporary freedom now. Have your companions and
welcome. They will not be good company!"

Suddenly the force holding her in the air ceased, and
she plunged into the water. When she came up, she found
the zombies still standing there, like some inanimate stat-
ues. The sedan chair, however, was empty.

The sight of the undead horde still there unnerved her,
though; she had no idea how far the Master had fled or
whether he was sticking around to see if perhaps he could
surprise Ruddygore. She took off immediately and went
out to the river to greet and brief the great wizard.

The source of the chanting was a large galley, all right;

but even as she cleared the trees, she saw that it was
already well past the only possible landing to enter this
area and continuing south at a steady pace.

Ruddygore had not yet arrived. Without knowing it,
she'd bluffed the wizard out!

She grew suddenly paranoid. Just how far had she
bluffed the man, and was he now on the run or waiting
to see how bad the damage was? If he had remained
anywhere nearby, it wouldn't take him much longer than
it had taken her to discover that the Marines weren't
landing after all.

She decided to play it safe, at least initially, and flew
up to intercept the eagles.

The great birds, she discovered, were merely hunting
breakfast in the river and still hadn't much idea that any-
thing was wrong. There were no clear signs of violence
aboard the Hippogryph, after all, and it was still far too
early to expect the humans on board to be up and about.

She quickly pinpointed the danger spots and filled them
in on the situation. While Ruddygore was absolutely

116

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

opposed to the introduction of Earth technology into
Husaquahr, he was not above using it himself whenever
it would give him an unfair advantage. The chief of the
eagles had a small, battery-operated device around his
neck; through a chain of such devices, his voice could
reach all the way to Terindell.

The great leader was imposing, fully the largest bird
she had ever seen, but he was not one for her to fear.
After all, if you couldn't trust an eagle scout leader, who
could you trust in this world?

"We have failed to contact Ruddygore directly," the
great bird told her. "There was some serious trouble far
to the west that drew him. A feint, I suspect, but it causes
a few problems. It may be another day, perhaps two,
before we can get him here. There is a force with two
fairly strong wizards at our disposal on a ship not far from
here, but it may take two or three hours for them to get
here and get in the area."

She thought for a moment, still too charged up to feel
tired. "We can't afford to wait. If the Master is still any-
where nearby and sees that Ruddygore isn't here, he'll
return and remove their souls at the very least."

"You are certain he did not already take them?"

"He was too confident and in no particular hurry. But
he might well return for them at any time. I must go back
and find them before he gets his chance. Signal the force
to come in, but we can't afford to give the Master the
hours."

"What makes you think you can find them. Kauri?"

"I believe I can—smell—them. That's the best I can
come to it. It's best done in the dark, when I have my
full powers, but I think I can find them. There are only
a few places they might be. Just give me cover if you
can."

"It will be done. Go."

She headed first for the yacht, the most likely place.
She was a bit upset to find that her friends had toppled
over, but relieved to see that, at least from her vantage

JACKL.CHALKER                117

point, Audra hadn't broken, nor was there any sign of
blood or other injuries. However, with the Master's con-
trol gone, they were no longer a threat to her, which
counted for much. Still, they would starve or otherwise
die of a number of things if she didn't restore them soon.

She was none too confident that she really could smell
out captive souls, but she knew that the zombies gave off
no real emotive life-force sensations. She was betting that
the souls would.

The boat, however, proved barren. The next step was
the unnerving one of flying low over the zombie army,
still holding boxes high over their heads in a frozen
processional. Again, she could not sense what she sought
and she began to fear that the souls were undetectable to
her.

In a littie over an hour, she'd methodically traced the
trail back to the ancient redoubt. She had no desire to go
poking around inside; the Master had shown himself pos-
sessed of a ghoulish sense of humor and a love of booby
traps. She perched on a tree limb and tried to think it out.

Think the way Macore would think, she told herself.
So far, beyond the obvious, she'd been looking in the
places where she would hide them.

Suppose now, just for a moment, that he never had
any intention of taking the souls with him. He would have
to be dependent on the ship to move any cargo, and the
chase would be on, no matter whether his pursuers knew
who and what they were looking for or not. Counting the
zombies and his living dead assistants, he'd have far to
much to carry with him while traveling by spell. What
sneakier place to leave them than right here, where he
knew their location and could return after the heat was
off?

But that posed another problem. The redoubt, trapped
and guarded or not, was sure to be eventually vanquished
and searched almost stone by stone, by a force including
wizards powerful enough to detect such things. That meant
no hidden panels in the walls or the like. Oh, there might

118

JACK L. CHALKER                119

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

well be; but even if there were such things, they'd be poor
hiding places.

Where, then? She took off and slowly circled the place,
keeping fairly low and trying to be careful not to fly into
any low-lying branches, mosses, and vines. Someplace
secure and protected, but not a part of the building itself.

The second time around, she began carefully to study
the ground. She had seen from the yacht the kind of cam-
ouflage the Master liked, and now she looked for signs
of it.

And she found it—a matlike covering well in back of
the main building and so well done that one could walk
right over it and not know anything was beneath. Only
the telltale outline of regular yellowing of dead vines and
leaves had given it away, and even then it was only because
she was specifically looking for it, and the darkness of
the swamp had aided her limited day-eyesight.

She removed the matting with a great deal of effort
that exhausted her. The thing was heavy. Still, she man-
aged to uncover enough to see that it hid the remains of
an ancient well that must have once served the site in its
glory days. She looked back at the old ruins and judged
the distance at about three hundred feet. Not bad at all
if you have a zombie army. A horizontal tunnel leading
from beneath the redoubt to the well itself would have
been easy, and would also have provided a slick emer-
gency exit.

She could not, however, do any more. The telltale
yellow and orange bands dimly perceived deep within the
well told her that the cache might be there; but, if so, it
was well guarded, both by spell and perhaps by entities
of some kind. All she could do was keep a watch on it,
and wait for Ruddygore's wizards. She hoped they were
good ones.

The wizards sent with the force shadowing the party
were not what anyone expected. Their names, they said,
were Agie and Magie, and they were identical twins. They

were also in every sense of the word little old ladies with
high-pitched, tremulous voices and thick gray hair, nei-
ther taller than Marge. They doddered and twittered about
like two elderly grandmothers on a picnic and were very
hard to take seriously, particularly since each of them had
the annoying habit of repeating some of what the other
had just said.

Captain Kolos was an officer in the Marquewood mili-
tia directly attached to the river defense forces. He looked,
sounded, and acted like a professional military man, but
he treated the two little old ladies with some deference
and respect.

Marge was now feeling dead tired, but she wouldn't
miss this for the world. "You mean those two are going
to tackle whatever's in the well?"

"Don't sell them short. I admit they are—uh—eccen-
tric, but no more than a fat old man running around these
parts in a top hat and silly-looking clothes."

"Good point," she agreed. She watched as the two
doddered over to the well, which had now been com-
pletely exposed by the troops, and seemed to study it.
Marge and Kolos went over to them.

"What do you think?" the officer asked them.

One of them turned and put a finger to her lips, then
turned back, as the two continued to circle the opening.
Finally they nodded to each other and came together.

"A dirty set of spells," one said.

"A dirty set," the other agreed.

"But can you remove them?" the captain asked.

"Oh, yes. In fact, we've already done most of it."

"Done most of it," the other agreed.

"Well—can we get in?"

The nearer one nodded. "Yes, you can go in. However,
I'm afraid that if you do, you'll have to clear away an
obstacle."

"Clear away an obstacle," said the other.

"Huh?"

"There is a guardian held by the only remaining spell.

120

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Once we remove it, it will be instantly freed. You must
remove it to go down."

"You must remove it," the other emphasized with a
nod.

"It is mortal? It can be killed?"

"Oh, yes. But it is quite large, and you will not meet
it directly with swords or arrows. The only way to be
certain is to bum it out."

"Bum it out," said the other.

The officer thought about it. "Well, if we do that, and
the souls are in fact down there, won't we risk damaging
or harming them?"

"That is a risk. If the souls are freed by melting the
cork or glass, then they will not return to the body but
will pass on. Fairy souls will become disembodied spirits,
doomed to wander."

"Doomed to wander," agreed her sister.

Marge thought a moment, then said, "Why not use
electricity?"

They all stared at her. "It is a natural phenomenon,
not something that can be used like a sword or tar pot,"
the captain noted.

"Perhaps it can, if the kind wizards here can help.
Copper is one of the best conductors of electricity. If we
can get a large amount of copper wire, then a fierce thun-
derstorm overhead, we might be able to get the lightning
to strike the wire." She suddenly stopped. "No, forget it.
The thing isn't going to sit still with copper wire shot into
it while we wait for a strike."

"Oh, I think this can be arranged," Agie said calmly.

"Yes, this can be arranged," her sister agreed.

What they finally settled on was a mesh net made of
copper and connected by a pure copper lead to the highest
point on the old ruins. The net was quite nicely woven
and even somewhat flexible, primarily because it was
transmuted from some of the Master's camouflage netting
by the sisters.

When all was ready, the troops were positioned around

121

JACK L. CHALKER

the well, but not too close, and the sisters simply stood
there, a bit to one side, eyes closed, hands linked. Almost
immediately, it grew darker and there was a sudden chill
in the air. Above, where there had been a nearly clear
sky, clouds swirled in a frenzy of agitation, looking almost
like paint in water. Then the very ground began to shake
and tremble with the fearsome sound of thunder. Light-
ning licked from the clouds to the ground and danced in
pencil-streams just above the treetops. Suddenly, Marge
saw, one of the sisters took her mind off the storm and
threw a basic nulling spell back into the well.

Almost immediately there was a roar like the sound of
a rogue elephant, and from the well suddenly sprouted
great squidlike tentacles, waving around and lashing out
both at the air and at the ground around. The troopers
tensed as a sudden violent rainstorm struck, but the sisters
and the troops held their ground.

The creature in the well pushed upward, clearly striv-
ing now to get out, and the copper mesh lifted as the start
of the body emerged, revealing two gigantic and evil-
looking but unnaturally human eyes.

Suddenly there was an enormous flash and a bolt came
from the terrible storm and struck the rod atop the ancient
ruin. The charge was enormous, and was instantly carried
along the line to the mesh.

The creature was suddenly thrashing about in agony,
engulfed in a swirl of crawling electrical energy. It flashed
and flailed against the mesh, but this only got it more
snarled in the thing.

A second great bolt struck the rod and led to the crea-
ture, and this time there was a horrible smell of burning
flesh mixed with the strong scent of ozone. Now yet
another bolt struck, and another, and the great squidlike
creature leaped up from the well until its massive body
was clear and rolled on the ground. They retreated before
it, but while the tentacles continued to lash out, and it
continued to hop around, one look at the eyes and the

122

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

senseless motions told them it was in its death convul-
sions.

Now the troopers poured spears and arrows into the
creature; as soon as the rain stopped, brave teams with
buckets of foul-smelling liquid ran out, trying not to get
trapped in the death-throes, and threw the contents of
those buckets onto the creature wherever they could.

At least a dozen buckets were unloaded before the
thrashing of a tentacle killed one man and wounded
another, and Captain Kolos signaled for a halt and nodded
to bowmen, who lit flame-tipped arrows and shot them
into the mass.

The creature burst into flame, and for more than a half
an hour they watched as it continued to bum and seemed
almost to melt down, until, finally, it was nothing more
than a bubbling mass.

The two sisters looked very tired, but also smug and
satisfied.

"It's clean now, in the spell and creature sense of the
word," Agie told them. "You may go down now."

"Yes, go down now," Magie echoed.

It took another hour to explore the three hundred yards
or so of the tunnel, and to find the cache hidden in a small
chamber off to one side, almost in the center of the tunnel.
The opening had a simple door, obviously rather recently
installed, and a lock that didn't take much force to break.
It was made primarily to keep the pet watch-squid from
fooling around with the merchandise.

Inside the chamber, lighted by torches and lanterns,
they gasped at the contents. There were cartons upon
cartons of bottles, each marked with a symbol code with
some sort of crayon.

"It will take forever to figure out who these all are,"
Marge said, feeling hope fade. "How will we ever break
the code?"

There was a box that hadn't been sealed or labeled
yet, and Kolos looked at it, reached in, and removed a
bottle. "Well, maybe it won't be impossible. These bottles

123

JACK L. CHALKER

seem to have labels with names on them, although a few
have been screwed up. Looks like some water got into
here today. See?" He took them out one at a time. "This
one says Lucas something or something Lucas. This one
says Jones. These two have been water-smeared. Kaz
something on this one, and something 'berg' on this other.
With any luck we might get many of them matched. It's
a good bet that most are dead, anyway, so we're just
freeing them, but I hope we can find the ones for those
six living assistants out there. They may know just who
this fellow is."

There was a small group of bottles off by themselves
on the floor near the door. Marge went over and saw that
the water, or humidity, or whatever had caused the labels
to drop off, but the corks, at least, looked new. She ner-
vously reached down, picked up the labels, and handed
them to the captain. "What names are these?" she asked
him.

He looked at them. "Joe O," he read, "T of M, Cap,
MM, MCR, and WDNYM," he read. "Not very helpful."

"Well, it is and it isn't," she responded, her heart sink-
ing. "I think I can take a guess at them. Joe is the big
barbarian and my old partner. T of M is probably Tiana
ofMorikay, Cap is Captain Ely, MM is perhaps 'mermaid,'
MCR is Macore, and the last probably stands for 'wood
nymph.' Captain, I'm afraid that those bottles contain the
souls of my company."

He looked at them, then at the labels. "Which is which?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. The labels had fallen off,
and apparently our opening the door caused enough of a
breeze to mix them all up. We know which bottles, but
not who's in what!"

CHAPTER 9

MIXED DOUBLES

Anything that can go wrong will. It's more fun that way.
—Sayings of Murphitus, ancient Husaquahrian philosopher

THEY ASSEMBLED THE FIVE BODIES AND ONE STATUE IN

the cabin of the Piebald Hippogryph, and the six bottles
were set on the table in front of them. Agie and Magie,
although very tired and looking very frail, had consented
to advise on the restoration, but they really could help
only with the technical procedures.

"One soul is identical to another in the pure state,"
Agie told them. "Only when it is mated with the body
does it become distinctively individual, although, of course,
it contains the coded information on memory and such,
which will reorganize the brain when it enters. The trouble
is, we can't tell one from another unless they're in bodies
and can tell us for themselves."

"Unless they can tell us," Magie agreed.

Marge and Kolos both frowned. "So," the Kauri said,
"it's strictly luck in this case, and the odds of getting them
all right are impossible." She had a sudden thought/'What
if they are wrong? Can't you unmix them when we know
who's who?"

"Oh, my, no," Agie said worriedly. "Once the soul and
the body mate, we know of no way to undo them except
through the same sort of process that caused this in the
first place, and that requires a demon and a very serious
bargain."

124

JACK L. CHALKER                125

"Very serious," Magie repeated ominously.

"What about transmutations, then?" Marge suggested,
trying to figure a way out of this. "I mean, I've seen people
changed into animals and vice versa."

"People into animals, yes," Agie replied. "That's no
problem. But people into other people—that is different.
One can take on the appearance of another, but it is all
illusion. Sorry—it's the Rules, you know."

"It's the Rules," Magie echoed.

Marge knew about the Rules all too well, but she wasn't
ready to give up yet. "When Joe and I first came here
from Earth, Ruddygore did something to change our
appearance. That didn't mean much to me in the end,
because I was a changeling, but Joe didn't look much like
the man you see here."

"Oh, yes, but, you see, that was in the process of
binding you to the Rules. Even then—was not a demon
directly involved?"

She nodded. "I'm afraid so," she responded. "I'd for-
gotten."

"Then your only hope is for Ruddygore to call in some
of his debts and get a demon to help them again, if Hell
will do so. If the demons are directly involved in this plot,
they will not be likely to help in any case."

"Not at all likely," Magie agreed.

Marge turned to Kolos. "You've reached Ruddygore?"

He nodded. "The problem was relayed to him. He said,
in effect, that he was reasonably satisfied with the out-
come and not to bother him unless either this Master
struck again or you'd seen the Oracle. He seemed to
regard this problem as a minor matter, I'm afraid."

Marge whistled. "It won't be minor to them. Still, that
sounds like a go-ahead to me. We certainly can't keep
them like this.

"Can we do it one at a time? At least we'll have a
chance that way to get some right," she suggested, know-
ing she was clutching at straws.

"Oh, they'll be out cold for a day or so," Agie told

126

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 127

her. "It takes more time to write information in than to
remove it and erase it, particularly if it's going into a
different body. Don't worry, though. The longer they're
in a new body, the more they'll adjust to it. Hormones
and such, you know, and the animal parts of the brain
and all that."

"Hormones and animals," Magie repeated, sounding a
little eager.

"You mean—if they're in new bodies long enough,
they will become so wedded to them they won't want
their old selves back?" Even Kolos was shocked at the
idea.

"How—long before this happens?" Marge asked hes-
itantly.

"Oh, it varies tremendously. A few days with some, a
few weeks with others, even longer with some—depends
on the personality."

"It depends," Magie added for emphasis.

Marge looked at the bottles, then at the reclining bod-
ies. "Well, it has to be done. They can't do anything as
they are. At least, Audra's won't be a worry. That's a
fairy soul."

"Makes no difference," Agie told her. "A soul's a soul
to this sort of thing."

"A soul's a soul," Magie agreed.

Marge took a deep breath. "Well, let's get this over
with."

The process turned out to be something of an anti-
climax. A spell was placed on the cabin interior blocking
exit by literally anything, so that the souls could not escape
and perhaps find refuge in that zombie army still frozen
out there. The four inside the room who already had souls
were safe; given a choice, they were assured, freed souls
always went for vacant bodies, if such were handy. Only
when there was no alternative present was there a chance
of possession.

Agie stepped forward, took the first bottle, asked for
a corkscrew, found one at the rather nicely stocked small

bar, and opened the first bottle as if opening a bottle of
wine.

Literally nothing could be seen, even on the fairy bands,
but Marge felt a sudden added presence in the room, a
presence very much alive and with an overwhelming feel-
ing of confusion. It seemed to fly about the room, then
settle on the forms and then sink into one, almost as if
the body had absorbed it. Marge sensed that it had entered
Joe's body.

One by one the process was repeated, with nearly iden-
tical results. It was interesting to note that none of the
first five had gone to the pretty statue of the nymph Audra;

all had gone into the still living bodies. That left Audra's
form for number six, whoever or whatever it was. Marge
hoped that it was in fact the nymph, and that at least a
small percentage were correct from the start. Unfortu-
nately, here, as on Earth, she knew that Murphy's Law
seemed supreme even over the Rules.

Audra's statue shimmered, then changed color, and the
rock seemed to fade into a pleasant green complexion.
For the first time in almost a day, her leg was down and
her body in a totally relaxed position, with a peaceful
expression of sleep replacing the slightly surprised look
she'd had frozen onto her.

"Well, that went well," Agie said, satisfied. "I don't
believe we will be needed anymore. Captain. Oh—this
process has effectively divorced the nymph from her boat,
by the way. She should be independent, at least until and
unless she mates with another tree."

"Can the bullshit and let's blow this joint," Magie said
suddenly. "I need a belt."

And, with that, the two ambled out.

Marge took the opportunity to sleep the rest of the day,
knowing that the sleepers wouldn't awaken any time soon,
perhaps not until late in the next day, and knowing, too,
that Kolos's crew was busy both at pumping out the water
to refloat the yacht and going over everything with a fine-

128       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

tooth comb for any clues to the one who'd bought or
chartered her.

By the time Marge awoke, somewhat after sundown,
the ship had been refloated and was actually underway
back up the river to the small town from whence they'd
come.

Marge allowed Captain Kolos to take advantage of her,
and in so doing she fed and renewed her strength. She
had a strong feeling she'd need it when those folks finally
woke up.

Through the next day, the troops came to several con-
clusions: first, that there was nothing clearly identifiable
with any specific individual aboard the Master's ship itself;

and, second, he had both good and expensive taste. They
would trace the registry, of course, but it would have been
through so many blinds that the actual identity of the
Master might not be known by even the one who even-
tually turned it over to him. It would take many long days
just to catalog the boxes taken from the swamp redoubt,
and weeks before anything concrete could be gotten from
them.

They had been told that the longer it took for the res-
torees to awaken, the more likely it was that they had
been badly mixed up. When night fell for the second time
and none had yet awakened. Marge and the others feared
the worst.

About two hours after nightfall, Joe stirred, rolled
slightly, then opened his eyes, and looked very confused.
Suddenly he got up to a sitting position, looked around,
and saw Marge sitting there. Just from the expression and
the carriage. Marge had a sinking feeling.

"Hi," Joe said, in a soft, effeminate voice.

Oh, boy.', she thought, her heart sinking. "Which one
are you?"

"Why, I'm Audra, of course. Who did you think I was?"

Marge pointed, directing Audra's eyes to the end of
the sleeping figures. Eyes followed, and the former nymph

JACK L. CHALKER                129

gasped. "If that's me, then who am /?" She looked down
at her body, then stood up and kept staring. "Oh, oh, o/i!"

"I'll explain it all when the others wake up," Marge
told her. "That'll save time and maybe my sanity. You
won't be the only one."

After a while, Audra seemed to be able to think about
other things and came over and sat in a chair at the table.
It was really strange to see that huge, muscular figure
swiveling its hips and walking almost daintily.

Finally, though, Marge got the story. She had been gone
barely half an hour when the Master's forces came. There
must have been many of them, but Audra saw only the
Master of the Dead, who'd apparently been nearby much
of the evening. Marge suspected that he moved when he
did because he saw her take off; he was worried about
her destination, and also concerned that he was going to
lose his prey one by one. It had been simple, and quick.
Biy had been taken while asleep topside; Macore when
he went on deck for some air. Then the Master himself
had burst into the cabin below, where Audra and Tiana
had been talking, and had held up his hand before the big
woman had been able to do anything at all to counter him
and all had gone blank—until the awakening here, on the
ship.

Tura suddenly stirred, opened her eyes, and sat up,
wide-eyed. "It is a wizard!" she screamed. "It is the enemy!
Take—"

Suddenly she seemed to realize that this was some-
where else, and she saw the pair at the table. "Joe! Marge!
Thank heaven! What... what has happened? Why do you
stare?"

The accent was unmistakable, slightly Germanic.
"Tiana, I presume," Marge said disgustedly. "Take hold
and prepare yourself for a big shock."

Tiana took it quite well, certainly. She took her own
metamorphosis into mermaid, in fact, far more matter-of-
factly than she accepted the very swishy and effeminate
Joe.

130

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

131

One by one they awakened, and a pattern emerged.
Macore and Biy had changed bodies; Tiana and Tura had
changed bodies, and Audra and Joe had changed bodies.
The sight of the beautiful but delicate nymph walking and
talking like a—well, a male truckdriver—was almost as
incongruous as the reverse.

Tiana stared at the nymph. "Joe? You mean I am now

married to a nymphV

"Yeah, I got the same problem being one," Joe grumped.
"Oh, I don't think it's so bad," Audra commented. "It's

the first time I've ever been able to see myself, and I

wasn't bad at all, if I do say so."

Macore's tail knocked over an empty chair. "You think

you got problems!"

"What's wrong with that body?" Ely demanded angrily.
"It's a hell of a lot more versatile and tough than this."

They all started talking and yelling and complaining at
the same moment and it took some time with Marge yell-
ing at the top of her lungs to settle them down. Even so,
they kept getting each other confused, and that took con-
tinual correction and adjustment.

Finally, Marge was able to send for food for them, since
they were all starving and also tremendously thirsty—the
wine was going fast—and then to explain to them the
events that had brought them to this point and the news
about their present conditions.

"I'm convinced that Ruddygore can unmix you all,"
Marge told them, "but he seems tied up at the moment.
One thing is clear—he won't talk with us again until and
unless we see the Oracle, and the longer you all stay that
way, the worse it will be. That means we should proceed
downriver with all speed and get to the Oracle as fast as

possible."

"I agree," Biy added. "However, this will take some
getting used to for all of us. I still have hands and feet
and I can still sail anything that floats. For organizational
purposes, I suggest that certain duties are essential. We
need a pilot, and Tura is no longer able to do the job as

fully as it can be done. That means you. Madam—" He
gestured to Tiana "—must do the water work while under
Tura's direction. Tura knows how to handle the boat;

she'll be able to spell me, allowing us to travel both day
and night, if we have adequate river conditions and reports.
We will stop only for supplies, and just long enough to
take them aboard, providing we need no more repairs.
Marge, you will have to fly ahead to make these prepa-
rations and do some night time lookout work as well."

It sounded reasonable. "What about me?" Macore
asked.

"I will find a lot of work for you to practice in that
body. I know that body and its capabilities well. Everyone
will do his or her part, because we all have a strong stake
in getting this done and over with. Audra, you're going
to have a hard time getting used to that body and that
freedom, but we'll find uses for you. No one knows every
inch of the ship better than you."

"That leaves me," Joe noted. "What can / do in this
body?"

"Somebody," replied the captain, who was still the
captain no matter what body he wore, "has to do the
cleaning and cooking."

Joe looked horrified.

"When do you intend to get underway. Captain?" Marge
asked him.

"As soon as we can reprovision the entire ship. I trust
neither water nor wine nor anything else. Not a moment
longer, though. If things start going our way, which I tend
to doubt, we could easily make three hundred miles a day.
That will put us in Marahbar in four days, perhaps five,
depending on weather and currents. From there it is a
day's sail over open ocean to the island we must reach.
Hopefully, Ruddygore will reach us upon our return to
Marahbar. If not, sailing upriver is far slower than sailing
down. Four days down is easily thirteen days back, with
optimum conditions."

That was almost three weeks, not counting the time

132

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

spent on the island. Marge noted. And that was if every-
thing was perfect.

The first two days and nights were slower than expected,
as they tried to ease their way into their new tasks. Tiana,
in particular, was critical to Biy in spotting ever-changing
hazards, and while she took to the water as if bom a
mermaid, thanks to instinctual skills and reflexes that came
with the body, she had a lot to leam about hazards, and
particularly what was and was not important to the cap-
tain.

Biy, for his part, seemed more than mollified despite
his body switch. Before, he was simply getting paid a big
bonus to deliver his passengers; now he was told that, by
the laws of Marquewood, the Master's former yacht,
after it was tracked down and registry cleared, belonged
to the victims of the man who had owned it. The others
quickly agreed to give their shares to him in exchange for
limited use. Biy stood, in a few weeks, to become a very
wealthy, independent businessman.

Late in the morning of the third day, however, the wind
picked up radically and began blowing almost due north,
making progress nearly impossible; soon after the skies
darkened and they were in the midst of a strong and ter-
rible storm that forced Biy to put in along a sheltered part
of the riverbank and wait it out. Marge suspected more
foul play, but Biy dismissed it. "These storms are not
uncommon this time of year," he told her. "The trouble
is, they can last a long time as they sweep in from the
ocean and across the flood plain and then strike these
mountains."

Tiana, for her part, seemed to be relishing her new
freedom after more than five years as a pampered symbol
and believed a mermaid's tail was a very small price to
pay for it. The rain and wind hardly bothered her. Marge
had been both careful and curious in talking to each of
them, looking for how things were or were not changing.
Certainly, the first day or so, they had all gone crazy

133

JACK L.CHALKER

addressing each other by the wrong names, but that seemed
to have quickly passed as the personalities inside the bod-
ies tended to dominate.

"It is most interesting," Tiana told her. "My wizard's
powers are way down from what they were, yet my new
abilities, particularly the sonar, are amazing. I have also
been looking at myself and the others, and have discov-
ered some very strange things."

The storm tossed and battered the small boat in spite
of the shelter. "Like what?" Marge asked, a bit nervous
at this acceptance.

"Curses. The were curse remained with the body, as
I suspected, as it is a physical curse, which means that
I, Tura, and Audra now have it, but not Joe. On the other
hand, some other curses, such as my own curse of death
in childbirth, are also basically physical, although linked
to the metaphysical. It seems to have remained with my
old body as well."

For Tura's part, she was relishing the fact that she was
human and that she had legs. "I was an outcast to my
people," she told Marge, "and now I can walk, freely, on
dry land!"

"You don't miss the water world?" Marge asked her.

"It's odd, but I don't. I keep dreaming of—moun-
tains."

Macore now managed to get around without being
clumsy, and had even begun to practice a bit with the
prehensile tail, but he still clearly called his form his "rat
suit" and had no use for it as a permanent thing.

The storm dragged on for three more days, and it seemed
that, each time they slept and then awoke again, the vic-
tims of the Master seemed more and more at ease with
what they were, although the two most extreme cases,
Joe and Audra, were unmistakably mismatched.

Joe, however, found that, rain or not, he needed to lie
out on deck at least a few hours a day. The nymph needed
water and light and very little else to survive.

"How do you feel, Joe?" Marge asked him.

134

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"I'm going nuts," he complained. "I've been turned
from a king into a slave at one swipe of a spell. Everybody
demands I do all the cooking for them on their different
schedules, then they complain about what I cook and how
I cook it—as if I wanted to eat it. Food just sort of, well,
turns my stomach or whatever's in there. Then it's always
change the beds, clean and polish the insides, dump the
garbage. It's boring, demanding, and it never ends!"

"Welcome to the wonderful world of being a house-
wife," she commented. "I did it for years, you know.
Maybe this will give you an appreciation of what the peo-
ple who do the work have to go through."

"Yeah, I guess, but it's a pain anyway. Poor Irving's
having an identity crisis as bad as ours, too. The sword
can't decide if Audra or me is really me. If it comes to a
fight, I hope it picks Audra, though. That sword has a life
of its own in a swordfight so it won't be a slaughter, but
I couldn't even lift it."

"You'd have more trouble than that. Irving is of an
iron alloy. It would kill you. Still, more is troubling you
than that. I can sense it."

"Yeah, well, it's the dreams and funny feelings."

"How's that?"

"A wood nymph's half plant, half teenager, it seems.
Something inside keeps nibbling at my brain, keeps telling
me not to fight, to let go. I can handle it okay, but every
night it gets just a little bit stronger. I found myself day-
dreaming today, looking at Audra over there in my body
and getting slightly turned on, for instance. I only really
cried twice in my life before, but now I seem to bawl at
every little thing that goes wrong. And when Macore told
that crazy joke of his, I got the giggles and couldn't stop.
The giggles'. I've swapped with Tiana as a were, and even
you, and never felt anything like this."

She sighed. "Poor Joe. The trouble is really that you've
become a fairy and a nymph. The races of faerie are more
primal, more elemental than humans or other thinking
races. We don't have as much self-control, and we tend

JACK L. CHALKER                135

to experience everything larger than life. It's in our nature.
I should know! And nymphs are seductresses not known
for clear thinking or intellectual abilities. It's not like
humans, who leam. It's more instinct, a way you have to
be. We can only make do and hope that Ruddygore will
bail you out in the end, as usual."

"Yeah. Why is he so insistent about our seeing this
Oracle, anyway? And what's more important than us?"

She shrugged. "Maybe a lot. I have an idea that he
spends a good deal of his time fighting evil on a plane we
can't see or imagine, and in that kind of fight we're sort
of secondary. You know what's not far over the cliff walls
on the other side over there?"

"Huh?"

"The Valley of Decision, where we first turned back
the Dark Baron."

"Huh. I'll be damned."

"When we're underway again, we'll be passing the
Zhafqua which leads to Morikay, and then the Khafdis
which begins in Lake Ktahr. It's our own recent history
we're passing through. Keep that in mind."

"I'll try," he assured her. "But this storm better break
soon, or by the time we get through this I may not be
able to fight off going nymph anymore."

There were still light showers, but the wind had shifted
and Biy decided to get underway. The resumption of the
journey brightened all their spirits and, as they proceeded
south, the weather brightened. Just before sunset, the sun
briefly appeared, just to give them a beautiful sunset, and
things looked up once more. The ship had weathered the
storm far better than the inhabitants, and they were no
more than two days from Marahbar.

"We'll have to stop at the port," Biy told them, "not
only because we're low on provisions but also because
I'll have to get the proper clearances and briefings for the
ocean hop. There are a lot of nasty things out there in the
ocean just waiting for small boats, and there's no sheltered
harbor, if we run into another of these blows."

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

136

"How long will this take?" Marge asked him.

"Not long, I hope, if the news and weather are good.
Macore and I have been working on some fundamentals,
since, due to the description and portrait on my master's
license, he will have to impersonate me."

"It shouldn't cause much of a problem," Macore assured
her. "I've gotten pretty used to this body now, and I've
always been good at conning people. Bly'11 be right there,
and I've got enough of what's required to get by."

"I hope that the rest of you will remain aboard," the
captain said to the others as they gathered on the deck.
"However, if it is necessary for any reason to get off, or
interact with any workers or officials, play the part your
looks demand. We wish no complications with officials
over who's who and what's what. Be who others think
you are, no matter what."

For Joe, every day since he'd reawakened in this strange
fairy body had been something of a nightmare, and the
days mostly boredom and frustration. As Marge had said,
the situation wasn't as much being someone else, even a
female wood nymph, as it was the compulsive nature of
the faerie as a group. His mind and memory were still
pretty sharp, but the fact was that a wood nymph didn't
need and wasn't designed, as it were, for such a mind and
memory. The fairies, as a rule, were born with all the
attributes, basic skills and aptitudes, and everything else
needed to become what they were supposed to be; behav-
ior was preordained and could not be changed. Most fairy
folk, then, learned what they needed or wanted to learn

and that was that.

Now he was at war with that nature, and it was a war

he couldn't possibly win. Just as a cat was a cat first,
and, in fact, Marge was Kauri first and Marge second, so
he had no choice about being a wood nymph. If the right
stimuli were present he'd have to act and react as a wood
nymph would, no matter what he thought or how much

he detested it.

JACK L. CHALKER                137

The worst part was that Audra didn't face his problem.
She was human now, and humans didn't have instinctive
and compulsive behavior patterns. She was the sum total
of her experience—and that was as a wood nymph. The
fact that she was now big and strong and male didn't make
much difference to her; it simply meant a change in tech-
nique and the fact that she no longer had to be fearful of
others or apprehensive about her safety. She was also
now freed from her attachment to a specific place, although
Marge, who knew the laws of such fairies, assured him
that this was a protective device and not truly a compul-
sion. If he didn't consciously wish to do it, he could retain
his independence, such as it was.

He had decided to remain strictly aboard while in the
port, although he was dying to see one of the great City-
States. He was physically weak, and, unlike Marge, was
totally defenseless in terms of powers, and yet he was a
nymph and would behave like a nymph. He'd never been
really scared of much of anything before, either on Earth
or in Husaquahr, but he was scared now, almost fright-
ened to death.

After Macore and Biy went ashore, the others grew
restless, with the bright lights and noise of a massive and
living cosmopolitan city crisscrossed with a network of
canals and levees. Marge had already gone, almost at
nightfall, assuring them she'd be back in a couple of hours
at worst, and Audra and Tura really couldn't be talked
out of it by Tiana. For the former nymph, it was her first
and perhaps only, chance to see what a big city was like;

Tura wanted to walk around and find what it was like to
be a human rather than a mermaid in such surroundings.
That meant that Tiana was more or less forced to figure
out the big wheelchair, since she didn't really trust those
two on their own out there.

Joe normally slept at night, but he fought sleep much
of the time now, and the sun of the past two days had
given him a lot of reserve energy. He still kept below, and
it wasn't until boredom, curiosity, and apprehension at

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

138

hearing nothing topside caused him to emerge and look
around nervously. When he found no one else aboard, he
nearly went into a panic. He felt suddenly very alone and
very vulnerable. There was activity all around this twenty-
four-hour port, with dockworkers, stevedores, and all
sorts of others doing their jobs.

A young man, dressed as a dockworker of some sort
and apparently on a break, saw the small figure and walked
over to the side of the Hippogryph. "Hello!" he called,
sounding friendly. "What sort are you?"

Suddenly Joe felt a tremendous rush through his whole
body, and from that instant he was no longer in any way
in control. He found himself walking sexily over to the
rail near the gangplank and smiling sweetly at the man.
"I'm a nymph," the pale green girl said in a soft and sexy

voice.

"Is that right? What's your name?"
"My name is—call me Joey," the nymph said.

It was nearly morning and there was much conster-
nation on the afterdeck of the Piebald Hippogryph.

"How could you be so stupid?" Marge demanded to
know, sounding angry as hell.

"Look, what was I gonna do, huh?" Tiana responded,
sounding angry herself. "I'm going to stop somebody intent
on going who's six-six and two-sixty, all muscle? And I
had my own problems, remember!"

Macore and Biy tried to make some peace between
them and finally got the whole story. It was apparent now
that Audra had no intention of returning to the ship; by
midway through the first bar, she'd excused herself to go
to the bathroom and that had been that. Once Tiana and
Tura had determined that the former nymph was gone,
and not apparently a victim of foul play, they decided to
return to the ship and confer before notifying the author-
ities. It was, after all, a city of almost a million inhabitants
and not familiar to either.

The bigger surprise was Tura. They'd gotten back to

JACK L. CHALKER

139

the docks, and Tura had lifted Tiana from the wheelchair
and carried her aboard, but then she went back, suppos-
edly for the chair. Instead she'd looked back and said,
"I'm sorry—but I have the chance to climb mountains
and no one is going to take that away from me," and
walked away, taking the wheelchair with her.

"I doubt if Tura intended or even thought about it,"
Biy said defensively, "but when Audra did it and it was
clear how nearly impossible it would be to find even some-
body that imposing, the impulse was irresistible."

Marge had a sudden thought. "What about Joe? He
was left here all alone!" She made for the cabins below
and found the form of the small, light-green nymph lying
face up on one of the beds, eyes open and staring.

When Joe had no reaction to her entry, she had a sud-
den fear that he had been attacked again somehow by the
enemy, although the body was certainly still living flesh.
When Joe moved a little, she relaxed, but needed no spe-
cial powers to realize that something was radically wrong.

"Joe? You all right?"

The figure sighed, then seemed to come at least par-
tially to life. "I'm not really sure, Marge. It took control
of me tonight. For an hour, I became Joey the Nymph,
with all that implies, and I enjoyed every minute of it and
I want more of it, lots of it."

She was shocked. "Who?"

"Nobody special, except for the hour. Oh, don't go
rushing off trying to find some cad. I discovered I do have
some powers, but they're directed to only one end and I
used them. I couldn't help it. I was worse than Audra
ever was, at least to me. I wasn't a thinking person any-
more—I was a primal force with an irrepressible need."

"Joe, you've got to keep fighting it. Okay, it happened
and maybe it'll happen again, but you've got to hold on
to what's really you in there. It will only be permanent if
you let it."

"It's coming after my mind now, Marge. It wants to

140       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

get rid of all that gets in the way, to push it back or wipe
it out." He sighed. "What was the yelling about on deck?"

Marge felt suddenly very uncomfortable. This was not
the time for such news, but there was no way to conceal
it, either. She swallowed hard and told him.

He just nodded fatalistically. "Well, that's it, then.
They've committed no crimes. They can't be hunted down
legally or charged with anything or brought back against
their will, and Audra, at least, is so naive she'll be in thrall
to somebody with power by tomorrow if she isn't already.
Face it—the Master's won."

"I won't give up, no matter what you say! And don't
you dare give up on me, either! Ruddygore has tremen-
dous powers and can traffic with whatever powers he
needs to!"

"Ruddygore's got more problems than us now," Joe
responded dejectedly. "With no demigod or goddess to
trot out, he can't fake it for long without the Council
finding out. Once they do, they'll oust him from the lead-
ership and start running things their own way."

"Well I, for one, am not going to give up and I'm going
to fight you for your own sake as well! Things have looked
pretty dark for us before and we've always pulled it out!"
She turned and walked out, actually feeling as confident
as she spoke. Things just couldn't end this way! They
wouldn't dare\

She told the others about Joe, and Biy sighed. "Well,
my charter is still to get you to the Oracle. There's a tide
in just under two hours. We either take it or we face
another stormfront moving in that might keep us bottled
up for a couple of days. I'll do what you say, since you're
the boss, but if what you say is true below I wouldn't like
to have Joe stay around here."

"Sail, then. We'll leave messages. I just wish there was
something we could use to get the cops looking for those
two!" She had a thought. "Did Audra take Irving?"

Tiana sighed. "No. Weapons scare her. And forget about
the wheelchair. Macore found it two blocks away."

141

JACK L. CHALKER

"Hmmm... what about rape? That'll get 'em."
"One look at Audra, even in that body, and they'll

laugh it away."

Marge suddenly grinned. "I know! And it will stand up

to psychic examination, too! Warn them that they've got

two werewolves loose in the city!"

CHAPTER I 0

OBLIQUITY SPLIT

When chronicling great adventures, the chronicler should take
pains to use words that even the most educated of readers
must look up. This may make your chronicle very slow, if not
impossible, to read, but it will be critically acclaimed through-
out the land, for none will wish to admit that they didn't
understand and relish every word. Instead, they will use the
comfort with such phraseology as a litmus test for intellectual
equality. No one may ever really read you, but all will be
forced to purchase a copy of the chronicle to convince others
that they did, and your brilliance and intellect will be per-
manently unquestioned.

—The Romantic Saga Writer's Manual of Style, Marahbar

"I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS SUCH AN UNTRAV-

eled route if this Oracle is as hot as Ruddygore thinks he
is," Macore said to Biy as they passed beyond sight of
land and picked up a stiff breeze.

"Oh, he makes it just hard enough to get to him that
you really must want to," Biy replied. "Being removed
like this means you have to have some money and/or
influence to make it, and that keeps the common folk
away. He also charges two arms and four legs for the

142

JACK L. CHALKER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

143

service—in advance—which also tends to keep traffic

down."

"I thought the best oracles were ascetics," the thief in

the ratlike body noted. "All the ones I've seen are."

"Were they reliable?"

"Um—no, not really."

"See? I've never been out this way before, but I'm
told that he started out like the others, but slowly dis-
covered that it just wasn't required. Now he lives like a
prince on his own little island kingdom and has done so
since he discovered somewhat by accident that asceticism

wasn't necessary."

The sail billowed in the breeze; while the ship rolled
and rocked in somewhat choppy seas, it made good prog-
ress. Biy was determined to make the island before night-
fall.

"What's so dangerous about night on this route?"

Macore asked him.

"Well, there are occasional krakens and other giant
creatures out here, and we have to pass close to the home

of a race of nocturnal sirens."

"Sirens? They sing and lure ships to the rock?"

"Oh, no, that's another kind. These are fire sirens. Wail
like banshees and the sound sets your ship aflame."

Macore let the subject drop.

Marge was asleep below, and Tiana went down to see
Joe. She had been warned by Biy that this area was hostile
to mermaids of her markings, and she decided to forgo
any chance at ocean swimming for now. She wanted to
see Joe anyway. She made no real use of the rails that
Tura had put in to get about better; she felt no loss of
dignity crawling across the floor, pulling herself with her
two arms. The hands, although human-looking, were
webbed; spread out, they provided traction and even some

suction.

"Hello, Joe," she said as cheerily as she could, hauling

herself up and settling comfortably in a chair.
"They finally got me, Ti," he sighed.

"Me, too," she reminded him.

"No, not really. If anything, you're better off. You're
still damned good looking and strong, you've got the mer-
maid's powers, and you're free now to wander. Maybe
slowed a little on land, but you're self-sufficient and most
of Husaquahr is on the rivers anyway. A mermaid who's
also a were should do great."

"Marge has done pretty well in a body as pretty as
yours," Tiana noted. "Even if the worst happened, it is
not the end of the world."

"It's death, Ti! Death for me, anyway. Kauris are com-
plicated. They have to be in lots of different cultures'
company, they can fly, and they have great defenses.
Nymphs are the least common denominator. They're built
for sex and seduction and nothing else. I can take any
man, no matter how celibate or faithful. Every once in a
while, it all clicks, and then I deposit the issue in a tree
and wait until a new nymph forms. With no real need to
eat or have any of the other needs, and limited to maybe
half a mile from the host tree, the only thing a nymph
does when no man's around is make out with other nymphs
and take the seed from trees to plant more trees and
extend the forests. That's really what they're for—to keep
the forests pruned, planted, and nurtured, and it's some-
thing that's needed in this world—but it's all they do\
And they do it all by instinct. They need just enough
brains to talk to humans and maybe communicate warn-
ings to them as well, but their kind of life, alone and stuck
in the wilds with no real needs, means that the more
stupid, dull, and ignorant they are, the better off they are.
They're fairies too, remember. They don't die unless their
tree suffers some terrible tragedy so quick they can't dis-
engage, like sawing or burning down Audra's. It's forever,
Ti!"

She thought about it, trying to think of what to say in
response. "You are certain this is true? How?"

"I just know. It's built into the genes or whatever fairies

144

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

have in place of them. I know the whole bit—now that
I've broken the ice, so to speak, and let it take control."

"You speak of 'it.' What is 'it'?"

"This body, of course! It's—well, sort of like a machine.
No, it is a machine. That's really what fairy folk are—
living machines designed to keep order in the world. That's
why they couldn't continue to live on Earth, once the
machines took over. Some did what they were supposed
to do, and others undid what they were compelled to do
faster than they could do it."

She thought about it. "Perhaps that is why Ruddygore
is so intent on keeping the machine out of here, while not
adverse to using it himself, yes? He has nothing against
machines, but knows that, if they come here, the fairy
folk have no place else to go."

Joe nodded. "I think so. It explains a lot, anyway."

"But you can exist without being stuck to a tree in a
forest."

"Well, Joe de Oro, in this body, can, and the body
knows it. That means that Joe's in the way, you see. Joe
would also go nuts doing a wood nymph's job. That means
Joe's got to go. Ti, the brain's part of the body! Every
hour I lose a little something. First it wasn't much, and
that was only when I was asleep, but now it's going on
awake or asleep, and I think it will just get faster and
faster when I do rest. That's what's really driving me nuts.
I know things are going and I don't even know what! I
can't!" Suddenly Joe burst into tears and cried for a long
time. Finally he sobbed, "See? I can't even control myself
this much anymore!"

"I think it has a long way to go, considering this con-
versation," the mermaid noted. Still, Joe was certainly
telling the truth. His speech was softer, gentler, and very
feminine in tone now, where before the change it had been
hard. Joe got up and walked over to where there were
some tissues to dry his eyes, and she saw that he now
had a natural gait better than any she'd ever had. Finally,
she had only one thing to fall back on.

r

145

JACK L. CHALKER

"Joe?" she asked hesitantly. "Do you still love me?
Even as I am?"

That stopped him for a moment. "Yes. Of course I do."
It was said with some surprise in his tone, as if he hadn't
really thought about it.

"Then hold on to that! Fight it! We are near the end
of this road! Fight it not for your sake, but for mine!"

"Ti—I—" he began, but was suddenly sobbing once
again.

The island was a small and probably extinct volcano,
covered at the bottom with lush vegetation. It wasn't hard
to find the Oracle's place on it; the island wasn't that big,
and a marble palace, which Marge later would compare
to pictures of the Taj Mahal set into the mountainside,
was hard to miss. It was also just inland from the only
decent anchorage.

A whole crowd of dark brown nymphs greeted them
with joy and giggles and surrounded the party when they
came ashore in the ship's dinghy. Two female centaurs
had hitched themselves to a large coach, which could
accommodate them all, and off they went. It was a little
unnerving to be riding inside with no driver, but the cen-
taurs knew their business.

"I wonder if he allows any other males on the island
except as guests?" Biy mused aloud.

"Would you?" Macore came back.

"I just thought of a hitch in this," Marge noted hesi-
tantly. "This only works with mortals, as I remember, and
Joe's no longer one of them."

"But both Tiana and I are," Macore reminded her.
"And I, at least am going along if this misbegotten expe-
dition ever gets started."

Tiana looked over at Joe, who seemed uncomfortable.
"What's the matter now, my poor Joe?"

"Those field nymphs. I felt—right at home. All I could
think about when they were around was looking and act-
ing prettier and sexier than they were."

146

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"Almost over now, Joe," Marge consoled, as they pulled
up to the great palace and stopped. They got out, and
marble steps stretched up as far as they could see.

"Just go on up," one of the centauresses said to them.
"He's always in, and he's expecting you."

Tiana looked at the steps and gulped. "I had enough
trouble getting in this coach. There's no way I will make
it up those stairs."

The other centauress laughed. "Oh, don't worry. See
over there, by the waterfall? The water turns a wheel that
eventually turns a belt that will take you up. You can all
use it if you want. I wish we could."

The belt was slow but it had small wooden clamps that
served to support them. It did take you up, but at a very
slow rate. Tiana, not being very mobile on land, and the
others, now being rather small, were carried by the belt;

only Marge chose not to take it. The sun had not yet set,
but Marge had her goggles on and could easily fly the
distance.

Once up, they walked and Tiana crawled to the front
door, which was open, and then went inside.

There were golden fountains, rich tapestries, and plush
carpeting all over the place. It was, in fact, fancier than
Castle Morikay, and they were impressed.

"Well," Marge said, "anybody who makes enough
money to afford all this surely must have something on
the ball!"

A far door opened and a pudgy man of medium height
emerged wearing a brown satin robe. He looked like a
stereotypical monk, in fact, complete with rosy cheeks
and a prominent bald spot. He smiled at them and said,

"Oh, hello! I'm glad you're all here.
Just relax a moment and I'll send for beer."

"Nothing for me, thanks," Marge replied. "Anybody
else?" They all shook their heads in the negative.

JACK L. CHALKER                147

"Oh, I know you needed nothing this time.
It's just the Rules I must speak in rhyme.
I'm the Oracle of Mylox, you see,
And a poet is something I'll never be."

"You're the Oracle?" Tiana said disbelievingly. "Uh—
sorry. You're just not what I expected, that's all."

"You are not what I expected either.
Fahadur, nymph, mermaid, and thief are

neither

A big barbarian strong and manly
Unless a reasonable facsimile thereof is

handy?"

Joe seemed ready to burst into tears at that; while Tiana
calmed him. Marge and Biy explained to the Oracle what
had happened. He nodded with kind understanding,
although Macore muttered, "If he's so omniscient, why
do we have to tell him this?"

The Oracle heard him, and tried to explain.

"The future is closed to an oracle, too.
I can no more see next year than you.
But when questions I'm asked by those who

come,

I have the power to answer some.
This power's much higher than me, you see,
I'm only the medium through which you'll be
Hearing from a power even wizards can't know
A power, I'm sure, which comes not from

below."

Macore considered it. "In other words, if someone asks
you a question, he gets an answer from Heaven itself?"

"Not an answer, no, I'm sorry.
Heaven talks not to me, don't worry.
I have a gift with which I'm able
To tap into the great cosmic babble
Where past and future all are one
And find the clues before I'm done.

148       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Alas, such heavenly cosmic tines
Are far too great for human minds.
You'll get the truth now, don't fret!
Making sense of it you do not get."

"Hmmm... that explains a lot," Macore said aloud,
although he added of nothing to himself. "Well, okay, so
through you we can tap the cosmic mind and get rela-
tionships that apply to us. What about direct questions,
though? Any ideas on how we start with this? Do you
need a trance or something?"

"/ can give you no suggestions,
But some have gotten answers to questions.
The power's an automatic thing with me.
We can start right now if the rest agree."

Marge stepped forward. "I think we ought to, and just
get it over with. I know the questions Ruddygore wanted
posed, and I'm sure we'll add some. I guess, for safety's
sake, we'll have to get Captain Biy to pose them, though.
By a crazy twist of fate he's the only human being among
us."

"Fairies get no good answers, it's true,
But any mortal among you will do.
Fahadur, mermaid, human all three
Can get some decent results from me.
Please step outside before we begin.
It's something I need to start my discipline."

They went out onto the porch and saw that the tre-
mendous number of nymphs who'd greeted them at the
dock, joined by countless others, were all gathered there
at the bottom of the great stair. The Oracle smiled and
then gestured, and the nymphs began to chant.

"Oracle! Oracle! You're the greatest!
With your verse you satiate us!
You're so wonderful, just divine.
Your wondrous talents always shine!

JACK L. CHALKER                  149

Go, Oracle! Go, Oracle, Rah! Rah! Rah!
Go, baby! Go, baby! Cha! Cha! Cha!"

He turned sheepishly to his visitors.

"/ know it's false, not worth a cent,
But all great artists need encouragement."

With that, they went back inside and the oracle took
the usual lotus position on the floor in front of the big
fountain.

"All right, then," Macore said, feeling even more skep-
tical, "let's get this over and done with. I want to know
if there is in fact a dangerous evil now facing Earth from
Boquillas and Dacaro."

The Oracle closed his eyes, seemed to concentrate for
a moment, then said,

"The Armageddon bell rings clear
Should the evil ones appear
To the millions and with one breath
Give to the west the kiss of death."

Suddenly he snapped out of it, looked around, and
smiled.

"Hopefully you got some news.
I remember not my own muse."

"We got it, all right," Marge told him, "and it isn't

good."

"Yeah, but what's it mean7" Macore asked.
Marge shrugged. "I don't know if we can figure out

the specifics yet, but it's clear that Ruddygore was right.

It's Armageddon if they aren't stopped."

"If they can be stopped," Macore responded worriedly.
"The prophecy said if, not when," she reminded him.

"That means there are two probabilities and we're the

150

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

other one. You seem to know the questions, Macore.
Keep going. You're doing fine!"

"Okay, Oracle, then I ask this. Who will be needed to
stop them?"

Again the monkish man closed his eyes for a moment,
then got the message and delivered it.

"The two who came must go once more
To the place from which they tore
Their lives but not their inner souls.
To this the thief must burrow through holes
To set the treasure before those who wish
While the demons are stopped by a pickled

fish.

For when evil wishes upon a star
It makes no difference where you are.
With Peter Pan's glow and swords below
It must grant the wish or Earth will blow."

"Whew!" Marge sighed. "That's a lot. Well, at least
part of it is clear."

"Clear as mud," Macore responded.

"The two are obviously Joe and me. You, obviously,
are the thief," Marge pointed out.

"Yeah, okay, I'll buy that. But where do we get the
pickled fish? And it seems like I'm supposed to steal
something but give some treasure away. What treasure?
And who or what is a Peter Pan? It may all be true, but
it makes no sense."

"I know who Peter Pan is, but it doesn't help, believe
me. Maybe it will make sense to Ruddygore," Marge said.

"Yeah, well, maybe. It might also make sense to us
when we see Earth blow—firsthand. I'd say that meant
fire, or disaster, or war."

"Yes. The last war. And something they're going to do
will cause it." Marge sighed. "We need more information,
but we're not getting it here. I think, though, we ought
to ask a couple of personal questions about our own sit-
uation. Considering those lines, I'd say they're critical."

Macore nodded and turned back to the Oracle. "Okay,

JACK L. CHALKER                151

time for a personal question. Is there any way, other than
trafficking with demons, to get back into our old bodies,
and will we?"

The Oracle again closed his eyes. Marge wondered
what his mind must be like if it touched, even grazed,
Heaven for only an instant.

"Physical bodies matter not;

Souls are real and what you got.
All can find the way back home,
But only those that did not roam."

Marge gasped. "Poor Joe!" she sighed. "And we
obviously need him."

"Well, good news for us, anyway. Cap," Macore com-
mented. "Marge? Anything else you want to ask?"

'Wo more questions will I call.
Your deposit's run out and that's all,"

said the Oracle.

"Well, that's it, then." Marge sighed. "I guess we should
be heading back. You know the itinerary. Captain. What
happens now?"

The captain finished writing down the prophecies in a
small notebook, then put away his pencil. "We go back.
There's a good chance we can still beat that storm and be
in before two in the morning if we leave now. We're to return
to Marahbar and check into the Hotel Windjammerjust up
on the riverfront and wait. Ruddygore will either meet us
or send for us there. That's all I know. Then I get paid, and
maybe I get my old body back—if we both still want it that
way. I'm getting somewhat used to this."

"Same here, but I think we're not well suited for our
respective businesses. Cap. Let's be off."

They thanked the Oracle, who responded with some
bad and innocuous verse and then clapped his hands. A
huge, muscular satyr, the first male of any sort they'd
seen other than the Oracle himself, appeared, bowed to

152

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

the monkish prognosticator, then came over to them. "I
will assist you in getting back to your ship," he rumbled.
"I understand one of you has problems with stairs."

They went back and found Tiana and Joe, who seemed
to have recovered a bit. Both looked almost awestruck
at the sight of the satyr, and Joe had to be physically
restrained.

"No problem," the satyr commented, and picked up
Joe and Tiana, one under each arm, and began the walk
down the stairs.

Marge flew along, seeing Joe's agony but knowing it
was all for the best. "You're the first male anything we've
seen other than the big man himself," she noted. "Did we
just miss the males or am I right?"

"Oh, you're right," the satyr growled. "He doesn't like
males around very long, that's true. It's just that he needs
me. You see, my actual name is Porange Chilver."

She shrugged in midair. "So?"

"Think of what insanity he would endure if he ever
accidentally ended a sentence in 'orange' or 'silver,'" the
satyr commented.

The coach was waiting below, and the creature almost
threw in the two he carried and immediately bade fare-
well. "Best I get away fast or that nymph will have to be
knocked cold," he noted, and he was indeed away fast.

It required all of them to hold Joe down, but the cen-
tauress team was off in a flash and they headed back to
the dock.

While still going along the broad avenue leading to and
from the Oracle's mansion, Joe suddenly went wide-eyed,
then swooned and fainted. They checked and saw signs
of life, but all were clearly worried.

"He's burning up, like a fever," Tiana commented.
"His head feels as if it's on fire."

Marge looked at the small figure and felt concern. "The
inside is as bad as the outside. The fairy blood is telling.
He's fighting it like hell, but I'm afraid we're losing him."

JACK L. CHALKER

153

They beat the storm into port, but the wind was way
up and it began to rain heavily while they were still on
their way to the hotel. It was an old, low, sprawling struc-
ture several miles downriver from the port, but it was
certainly first class in every way. That was one thing about
working for Throckmorton P. Ruddygore; he might get
you killed or changed into a toad, but everything was
always first class.

The suites were actually duplexes around a small pri-
vate courtyard and pool, which suited Tiana quite well.
She had been out of the water too long; if she didn't get
a good immersion, and not merely from a rainstorm, she
could find herself with peeling skin and a painful skin
condition. She was, of course, reluctant to leave Joe, who
was still out, but Marge assured her that she'd keep watch.

The attendants at the Windjammer had certainly seen
everything before; they took Joe in on a baggage cart
without so much as a comment, although they did offer
to fetch a healer with some expertise in fairy ailments,
which was accepted.

The one who arrived in the hour before sunrise was a
rather severe-looking middle-aged woman who told them
that she was Auruga of the Western Wastes. She had much
experience with the fairy folk and with nymphs, but she
was now retired and working for the Witches Anti-
Defamation League.

She listened to a general account of what had hap-
pened, performed an examination and a series of rituals,
then told Marge, "There's nothing really that can be done.
Whoever inhabits this body is mandated to be a wood
nymph and nothing else. The body's housecleaning now,
as it were. When she awakens, she'll have no memory,
no curiosity, and no will or capacity to leam anything
beyond what it takes to be a better wood nymph. She'll
know everything about what nymphs do, because that's
part of her nature, and that will be that. Sorry."

"Then—Joe's essentially dead?" Marge couldn't believe
it.

154

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"More or less. Oh, when the Final Judgment comes,
assuming the body lives that long, the information and
personality might be restored, but not until then."

"But, damn it, I became one of the faerie and it never

happened to me!"

"That's because you're a more complex organism doing
a more complex job. Many of the fairy races are smarter
than people in their given areas. It neither hurt nor inter-
fered with your function to retain your old self. Nymphs
are among the simplest forms of fairy folk. They serve a
function, nothing else. Best thing for her would be to take
her to a nice forest and leave her. She'll mate with a tree
and be happy and never know the difference."

They couldn't bring themselves to do that; but with
the witch's visit, all hope was really gone, not only for

Joe but for the mission.

Joe had still not awakened by early the next evening
when Ruddy gore arrived. He usually liked a flourish, but
in this case he came secretly, in a plain brown robe and
hood. Somehow he seemed to think that this effectively
disguised his massive nearly four hundred pound frame
and huge white beard. Without a transformation spell,
Ruddygore could never be in any way inconspicuous, let

alone incognito.

His usual jovial mood was gone, though. Things had
not been going well for him, either, and he seemed less
concerned with Joe's plight than with the contents of the

Oracle's verses.

"Do you understand any more than we do?" Macore

asked him.

"No, not much, but it's pretty clear the direction we
must take. Things have gotten pretty nasty here, but the
Earth threat still takes first priority, because, if it goes,
we go. The two are connected in more ways than one, I

fear."

"You mean our friend in black?"

"Indeed. I am no longer head of the Council. Because
of his trick with the bodies and souls, which is quite good

155

JACK L. CHALKER

I might add, he's effectively destabilized the religion we
set up and, as such, turned the Council into acting on its
own to preserve their domains and interests. He has made
deals with a sufficient number of them to keep them pretty
much out of the fray and he's already beginning to capi-
talize on it. He is coming out of the northwest of Hype-
boreya with a legion of the living dead who are his slavish
and unkillable troops. They're not invincible, but every
casualty they inflict on the defenders becomes another of
their own number. A few wizards are nervous about him,
but he's working entirely within the Rules and playing
very good politics with his equals. Nobody knows how
strong he really is, so they are loathe to challenge him
and quick to make deals. Of course, he doesn't know how
strong he is, either, or he would have waited for me."

Macore sighed. "So it's all falling apart again. Get rid
of one Dark Baron and you get a Master of the Dead."

"Well, it's pretty much the rules of the game, isn't it?
Evil loses battles but never wars. I've been going crazy
trying to organize and devise a defensive strategy against
him. It's been difficult because he is as good a politician
as sorcerer, and because he seems to have armies of the
dead planted all over the place. We brought up massed
dragons and stopped them at the River of Sighs, but another
force of the same simply came marching out of the Misty
Mountains to the south. No place is safe from him, but
he stays in the background and relies on his anonymity
to protect him from a direct challenge. It's frustrating."

"But I can't see how he could connect with this Earth
business," Marge put in. "I mean, if Earth goes, he goes,
too, right? So why this?"

"I doubt if he really understands the stakes on Earth.
He made a deal, that's what. He would stop you from
interfering in our enemy's affairs, and in exchange he was
given access to ancient spells so foul and yet so powerful
he could march on Husaquahr. If he were truly convinced
that Armageddon was the result of the Baron's actions,
I don't think he would have gone along, but they've conned

156

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

him as he cons others here. I am fascinated by the fact
that you found him familiar, though. Marge."

"We've met—I know that. Years ago. Maybe when I
first came here. That's all I can say for sure."

"Hmmm... although I've never met him in this incar-
nation, I, too, have the feeling that I know him and he
knows me, perhaps well," the wizard commented. "He
certainly knows a good deal of how I think and he knows
almost precisely the strengths and limits of my power.
There is something familiar about the signature on his
spells, but it is remote and hidden from me. It's been too
long, and the level of sophistication is quite a bit higher.
In some ways he reminds me of Dacaro in the old days,
but we know where Dacaro is, and that's now been con-
firmed by the Oracle." The big man sighed. "Well, I sup-
pose there's nothing we can do until we take out the
greater threat. We've learned all we can up to now."

"How can we?" Marge asked him, sounding pained.
"I've been trying to tell you since you arrived that Joe's
gone—hopeless. Mostly by luck, the switch is perma-
nent! A brainless wood nymph's no help—you heard the
prophecy!"

Ruddygore allowed himself a smile and reached into
his robe. "Nothing is permanent except the true death
and Armageddon," he said softly, taking from some pocket
within his robe the Lamp of Lakash.

"The Lamp! Of course!" Marge exclaimed excitedly.
"If it can send Dacaro to Earth, it certainly can restore
Joe!"

"We have some limits and must take some care in its
use, though," the wizard warned. "First of all, it will grant
no fairy wish—only mortal ones—but it's still a trap for
fairy folk as for humans. In other words. Marge, you're
disqualified on several grounds—and so am I, on different
grounds. Macore, it would grant your wish—but stuff you
back in the Lamp, so we don't want that."

"Who's in there now?" Marge asked him.

"A fellow named Jinner, appropriately enough. He was

157

JACK L.CHALKER

in a spot of trouble a while back and begged me to bail
him out. I did, but warned him that I would call in the
price, and I did to free Macore. Don't worry—he's an
aspiring magician and he's always desired to visit the land
of the djinn—and he'll not be in too long. There are others
I wouldn't mind filing away in there, and I'll pick one
when I'm about to put it back in storage. Don't worry
about that now. First, Captain, take the Lamp and wish
yourself and Macore restored."

Biy took it, and for a second there was a real gleam in
his eye. Then it was gone, and he sighed. "Forgive me,
but temptation with it is a rather inevitable thing. Frankly,
sir, had you not been present I might be too weak to
resist."

"Don't worry—you can't succumb," Ruddygore told
him. "I cast that spell before I handed the thing to you.
Now—do it."

Biy thought for a moment. "I wish—that my soul was
once again in the body into which it was bom, and that
the occupant of that body occupy the one I do now."

From somewhere a man's voice seemed to cry, "Done!"

There was no evident action, but the ratlike creature
asked, "Did I say it right?"

"I'd say you did," the wizard responded, "considering
you're back. Macore—the Lamp, please. All you can do
is wind up back in it."

The little thief looked sheepish, then handed back the
Lamp.

"Now I need to perform a slight ritual to check on a
few things," Ruddygore told them, and shut his eyes as
if concentrating. He did not move or even seem to breathe
for what seemed like several minutes.

"But the prophecy said the others wouldn't get their
bodies back," Macore reminded Marge in a whisper.

She nodded. "Let's see."

Suddenly Ruddygore's eyes opened, and his expres-
sion was grim. "I'm afraid the prophecy is correct, too.
I find no evidence that either body is still alive. Either

158

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

the Master found them or something untoward happened
to both. I fear the former, alas. The Master would be
anxious to make certain that our demigod and demi-
goddess could not reappear with full powers and so turn
the Council back against him out of fear of me."

"Can't you just wish them replacement bodies that look
the same?" Macore asked.

"Well, not really. I can turn them into lizards, yes, but
I can't quite recreate them as they were—a fact that, I
might tell you, they will not find tragic. Go awaken Tiana
and get her in here. I'm going to give her the options,
since she's the only one left right now with a clear right
to a wish."

"The first priority is to save Joe," Tiana told them
firmly. "All else matters little."

"Only the Lamp can convert, or reconvert, fairy to
mortal," Ruddygore told her. "I can perhaps do something
with you by using ordinary magic, but Joe will require a
wish all his own. You will need to cascade, or string
together, a series of related desires to form a complete
wish we can use to accomplish our result. While we think
on its wording, let's talk about you and what you wish
that I might do for you."

"You know enough to know that I wish to go with
them," she replied. "And I know enough of the Rules to
know that it is in my best interest to remain as I am, as
inconvenient as that would be."

They all looked at her, then at Ruddygore, puzzled by
her statement.

"Tiana is simply stating a fact of mermaid lore. If a
mortal man makes love to a mermaid he will always be
in love with that mermaid. He might still go off and marry
and have great affection for others, but he'll still be in
love with that mermaid."

She nodded. "Yes, that is it."

The old wizard thought for a moment. "You know,
while I was on holiday in Chicago a few weeks ago I took

JACK L. CHALKER                159

in a cinema that concerned a mermaid. I am a sucker for
books and pictures on the fantastic, as you might under-
stand. It gives me an idea. It has to be physiological and
hold together, so it won't be quite as simple as the cinema
might have it, but I think I can work a spell that will help
using that idea. Indeed, I had already guessed this and
worked it out on my way here."

They all stared at him expectantly.

"Of course, we can't send you over to Earth as you
are. It would be too conspicuous and too limiting. We
can't not make you the mermaid because of our Rules
and your desires. Admittedly, the Oracle made no mention
of you, but it didn't mention Poquah, either. Now, what
this spell will do is basically give you legs when you are
totally and completely dry and upon solid land. It will
take several hours to take effect completely, and if you
get wet or are surrounded by water below, it will reverse
itself—and very quickly. There will be drawbacks, because
you will remain a mermaid. You must immerse yourself
at least once a day, perhaps before going to sleep, or it
will become very painful. Also, the inner bone and mus-
cular structure will not be well-adapted to walking, so you
will have to walk slowly and will also still feel some pain,
which will grow greater the more you're on them. You'll
still be best off in a wheelchair or on crutches, but you
will look human. Is this acceptable?"

"Of course. I'm no worse off than now and actually
far better, no matter what the limits."

"Very well. You'll still have the webbing, and you'll
still have the constitution of a mermaid, her powers, and
other limitations, so be careful to observe them strictly.
I'm also going to change your complexion, as I understand
that your present clan has you marked for death. I'm going
to give you a chocolate brown complexion, not only
because it will allow you to pass as a human better on
Earth but also because it matches no known mermaid
clan here and as such will confuse the hell out of them."

"Sounds good. I don't mind."

160       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"Well, / have a question or two," Marge put in. "First
of all, how come she was too strong a wizard to pass over
before but she isn't now? And second, why the hell would
anybody take a vacation in Chicago?"

Ruddygore chuckled. "As to the first, mermaids are
covered by a different volume of the Rules, and that
supercedes, and limits, her powers. She still has power,
but it's limited and redirected to specifics. That will allow
her to escape the barrier. She's now under the limiting
threshold of power. As to Chicago—did you know they
actually produce all those wonderful pink flamingos in
one large factory near Chicago?"

"Oh" was all Marge could manage.

"We will take care of me later," Tiana said impatiently.

"Let us see to Joe."

They went over to the door leading into the far bed-
room, and Marge, who got there first, let out a gasp and
then shouted, "He's gone! And the door's wide open!"

She and Macore rushed out to the patio and looked
around. There were the sights and sounds of a lot of
activity, but no Joe and no way to tell where he'd gone.

"He's wandering around here now as an air-headed
nymph!" Marge exclaimed. "And going entirely on
instinct!" She looked around. "At least there aren't any

trees around here."

"But there are lots of men around, and that's what a
nymph does when she's not in her tree," Tiana puffed,
hauling herself out onto the patio.

Ruddygore thought a moment. "Well, I wouldn't be
too upset. We know he's not far, so he's well within range
of the Lamp if we act now, no matter if he's physically
present or not. I'd say we'd better do this quickly, though,
just in case he wanders away and gets out of range."

Tiana accepted his assistance into a patio chair, and
then he gave her the Lamp. "Consider well your word-
ing," the sorcerer warned. "Whatever it is, you're stuck
with it and so's he."

161

JACK L. CHALKER

She thought frantically, then said, "I cannot put it into
the right words! I cannot be sure'"

Marge decided to help out in the spirit of emergency.
"How about this, then? You say that we can't word it
properly enough to make him look like he did, but maybe
we can. What about wishing his original body back, the
one he had before he became a barbarian? As I remember
he wasn't that bad looking, just a little old."

"Yes, yes! That's a sure thing!" Ruddygore cried. "I
should have thought of it. Tiana, try something like this:

I wish that Joe was no longer of the faerie, but mortal
once more, and in the body he had when he was twenty,
but with his full memories, mind, and personality restored
as it was the day he became a fairy. Can you remember
that and do it exactly? Be cautious. Don't clearly end the
sentence until it's all there."

Tiana looked at him with interest. "So, if it is all about
one person, I can string together as much as aH that?"

"You can. Just be precise."

"All right, then. Uh—does not the genie have to appear,
or something like that?"

"Oh, no. If you rub the Lamp, he's compelled to, but
why bother him now? Plenty of time for introductions
later on. Just hold it and look at it and wish. Do it now—
before we might lose Joe!"

She took a deep breath. "Uh—I wish that Joe should
be no longer a nymph but a mortal man once more, and
that he be in the body he had when he was twenty, and
that he has the mind, personality, and memories he did
before he became one of the fairy folk, and that he be in
the peak of physical condition and the ideal lover for my
mermaid body and will make love to me this night. There!"

"Done!" came a voice from the Lamp.

Marge looked at Tiana. "You added a little bit there."

The mermaid shrugged. "There was no extra cost for
the call," she noted, and handed the Lamp back to
Ruddygore.

Far off on the other side of the hotel could be heard

162

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

the sounds of men yelling and screaming. It sounded like
a real fight was going on.

"I have a suspicion that it worked," Throckmorton P.
Ruddygore said.

CHAPTER

RETURN TO EARTH

From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives forever;

That dead men rise up never;

That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

—Algernon Charles Swinburne

THEY HAD COME OVER ON A FERRYBOAT AND NOW THEY

returned on what looked like a miniature May flower. All
sails were set, of course, and out of the gunwales great
oars protruded and pushed the ship on. Whoever or what-
ever rowed below was something none of them wanted
to see, and, indeed, all but the deck and upper cabins
were closed to them. Inside quarters were quite cramped,
but well-stocked with food, water, wines, and the rest of
the best. Macore had one small beaten-looking Earth-type
suitcase which he'd gotten from Ruddygore, and they had
brought Irving, but otherwise they were going over cold.
The sorcerer had promised that all they would need they
would get at the other end.

There was also a small medical kit, with which Tiana

JACK L. CHALKEK

163

continued to treat Joe. He had a number of bruises, what
looked like a black eye, and several superficial but painful
cuts.

"Damn it, ouchi" he started to say when she dabbed
a particularly painful small cut. "At least you could have
wished me to appear immediately in front of you!"

Tiana couldn't suppress a smile. The idea of a party
of businessmen all seduced by a voluptuous nymph sud-
denly finding that nymph turning into a tall, dark, husky-
looking man was pretty funny, considering how easily
he'd managed to overcome mutual confusion, then mutual
embarrassment and outrage, and fight his way out of there.
Only slightly worse was the wound to his pride in having
to march down to the front desk stark naked and demand
to know if a Kauri and a mermaid were staying there, and
angrily get into another fight when they hesitated to tell
him.

Better for him was the fact that he had no memory of
anything after being taken by the Master and no memory
of the nymph experience at all. It hadn't been intended
that way, but that had been the way the wish had been
worded. He accepted the story, of course, because they
were all there and confirmed it, and it certainly explained
the changes in him; but if either Marge or Tiana said what
a cute, sexy nymph he'd been one more time, he was
going to slug somebody.

He really didn't look all that different. At six two he
was a bit shorter than his barbarian form, but still a tall
man; and at a fairly muscular two twenty, he was actually
in pretty good shape. He looked a bit more Mexican and
a bit less Amerindian than he had, and certainly his body
was no longer the Mr. Universe machine it had been before,
but he really wasn't changed radically. He'd been in good
shape when he was twenty, after all. He'd been in the
Marines at the time. Sexually, though, he was enor-
mous—far better endowed than he had been at twenty,
the size disproportionately large for the body. Tiana had
many strings on her wish.

164       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Now dry, Tiana looked remarkably different, although
it wasn't hard to see that there were unusual things about
her. She was still tall; but without the flipperlike fins, she
was closer to five ten than over six feet. She was thin and
quite shapely, with very long, straight, black hair reaching
down almost to her waist. While only her coloration was
changed, she would now be perceived as a young black
woman by the America to which they traveled. Although
she knew French, German, and, of course, her native
tongue from Husaquahr, Ruddygore had to use a spell to
give her a working knowledge of English. It was more
than adequate, but she still had to translate from one of
her other tongues, so it came out a bit garbled at times
and without good pronunciation. Macore had the same
spell and the same problem, but he had a genius for lan-
guages and was certain he'd pick it up quickly when actu-
ally using it. Marge and Joe, of course, needed no language
help, although it was difficult for them sometimes to
remember which language they were speaking, English
or the Husaquahrian commercial language they normally
used, and both found they had to concentrate or they
would slip quickly out of English.

Joe surveyed the close quarters, still in a rotten mood.
"At least he could have given us a bigger ship. What the
hell is this thing, anyway?"

"Ruddygore said it was a scale replica of a Spanish
galleon built for some pageant in Spain," Marge told him.
"He picked it up when it was just about junked and headed
for rot."

"Scale is right!" He got up, stretched, and flexed his
muscles. "Not all I was used to. Ti, are you up to a walk
around the deck?"

"Of course," she responded. "Let us go out and see
what sort of strange place this Sea of Dreams truly is."

She clearly had some problems walking, a little of it a
balance problem but much of it simply legs supported by
bones and muscle not really designed to bear the weight
of a body.

JACK L. CHALKER

165

He helped her down the small stairs to the main deck,
and they walked forward and to the rail. It was quite dark,
and there was no sign of moon or stars. For a while, they
stared out into the void.

"I think I hear voices," she commented. "And noises
like great machines. I look down and see little flashes,
like meteors below."

"You've been across once more than I have," Joe noted.
"I wonder just what's out there?"

"Ruddygore once said it was the mind of God. I wonder
if it's true?"

They stood there a while longer, staring out into the
void they knew was not a void. Finally Tiana asked, "Joe?
Do you still love me?"

He put his arm around her and squeezed. "Why do
you ask? You know I do."
"Even though I've changed?"

"I've changed, too. I'm not the ideal barbarian any-
more."

"You look beautiful to me. I was just... wondering."
"Wondering what?"

"If it is proper to make love amid the mind of God."
He looked at her, then pulled her to him and kissed
her. "I can't think of a more appropriate place," he replied.

Ruddygore's ships always "made port" on Earth in the
early morning hours, and in remote and mostly uninhab-
ited locations, because they were, after all, rather con-
spicuous. The Company didn't really know where they
were being set down, nor did it really matter. Poquah
knew, and was supposed to be waiting for them with sup-
plies and information.

Wherever it was, it was warm, clear, and dry, and
certainly remote—the stars had faded in as they had
entered the Earth's plane of reality and they were stun-
ning, without much of any interference from nearby lights
or cities.

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

166

Marge stared out at the darkness and sighed. "Well,

we're home."

"Yeah," Joe responded, a little disbelievingly. "Home.

Well I'll be damned. You know, I never expected to be
here again. Oh, I know I talked about it and belly ached
about it in the old days, but I never really did."

"Me, neither," Marge replied. "If you remember, I had
already decided to leave it for good before I knew there

was another place to go."

"Umph. Be interesting sometime to find out what hap-
pened after we left. I don't mean who's president or where
the Marines have landed this time—I mean about that
night. I always wondered—are we dead? Did they pick
up our bodies off that super slab and scrape up the truck,
or did we just sort of disappear into nothing?"

"You joined the legion of those who vanish forever
every day," a familiar voice said behind them. They turned
and saw Poquah standing there. The Imir looked rather
funny to them, dressed as he was in a black button-down
shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, and Stetson. As usual, they
had not heard him come aboard. Imirs were only noticed
when they wanted to be, which made them occasionally
irritating friends but terrible enemies. "I assume it is just

the two of you?"

"No—oh, I guess you hadn't had a chance to be told.

We have two others, at Ruddygore's direction," Marge

told him.

He looked up at the upper cabin in time to see Macore

appear, followed by Tiana.

"I can see there have been some changes made," the
Imir noted. "I had not expected him to get out of the
Lamp for a century or so, and I do not know the lady,
except that she is a mermaid with some land adaptation
spells and is from a clan I have never heard of before."

"That's Tiana," Joe told him. "It's a long story. You
might have noticed that I've changed, too."

"All human barbarians look alike to me," the Imir
responded calmly. "As for the long story, it is interesting,

JACK L. CHALKER                 167

I am sure, but irrelevant. We must be on the move. This
ship cannot remain here."

A small gangplank extended from the side, but it didn't
have much of a downward slope. The ship was still not
quite in Earthly space, nor were they until they got off.
Marge tested her flying and found it as normal as usual;

Joe helped Tiana get down, as she was still unused to her
weak legs, and Macore brought up the rear, lugging the
suitcase he'd been given by the wizard.

A queer-looking vehicle awaited them, motor running.
"Just what the hell is thatT' Joe wanted to know.

"A coach which has no horses!" Macore said, awe-
struck. "How convenient!"

"It is called a mini-van, and it will comfortably seat us
all," Poquah told him. "Joe—do you think you could drive
this? I need to test your driving skills after so long a hiatus,
and it is difficult to run into too much out here."

"Yeah, I think I can. I might be rough and rusty for a
few miles, but I'll bet I can get back into it real fast. After
all, I drove bigger rigs than this for more than fifteen
years."

They got in, discovering that the van had three rows
of seats and was more than big enough to accommodate
them all comfortably. Poquah took the front passenger
seat, since he had to navigate.

Joe spent some time adjusting things, then pulled out
and promptly stalled. "Damn! Rustier than I thought," he
mumbled, slightly embarrassed. He finally got it in gear;

although his shifting and clutching were fairly jerky, he
really did seem to get it back quickly.

"On the other hand, once you are a skilled rider, you
don't get yourself so bumped up," Macore noted, mostly
to himself. He was the only one among them who'd never
been on Earth before.

They pulled onto an interstate that was mostly deserted,
and Poquah directed him to proceed east.

"Hey!" Marge shouted excitedly. "This is old I-10! We're
in Texas!"

168

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"Yes, we are south and west of Midland," the Imir told
her.

"Well I'll be damned! This is where we came in!"

"It is convenient in that it meets all the requirements.
We'll be staying in a motel this evening, still south of the
city, and we'll prepare to remain there at least one day.
I will have to go out and get some suitable clothing and
other things for you all. The small amount of clothing I
have for Joe will obviously not fit, and I did not expect
the other two of you. You, Kauri, will have to keep in
mind that you must keep your powers of disguise constant
at all times. And do remember not to fly while you are
in danger of being seen doing so. Even if they do not see
you as a Kauri, these Earth folk might get a bit upset at
seeing a young woman suddenly rise off into the air."

"Don't worry," she assured him. "Protection and
defense are built into me. Joe's the only one without dan-
ger, though. Ti needs water and she takes some time to
get land-adapted again; and, if I remember, Macore has
a little problem, too."

The thief nodded. "I don't reflect or cast shadows. It's
a pain in the ass for shaving—if that is still a problem.
By the gods! How fast does this thing goT

"Then do not shave. If you can manage some growth,
it will help disguise you. Our quarry knows you, remem-
ber. The fairy folk do not reflect, either, which can cause
problems. Kauri, no matter what the spell, and our shad-
ows are often inconsistent. As for speed, Joe is proceeding
at seventy right now and probably should slow down. We
cannot afford a police check right now, I wouldn't think."

"What you're saying is that a group portrait of us would
be rather odd," Tiana put in. "Joe and I would show up,
and perhaps two distorted shadows. Handy if you're a
bank robber."

"Oh, really?" Macore responded, forgetting for a
moment his frightened grip on the seat and the speed at
which the surroundings were going past and sounding
very interested in this new world. Poquah gave him a

169

JACK L. CHALKER

withering look. The little thief shrugged innocently. "Hey—
it's only professional curiosity."

By the time they'd exited the interstate and began driv-
ing up to Midland, the sun was coming up. "I'm going to
stick with the goggles for now," Marge told them. "I guess
we'll all be in and ready to sleep in another hour or two."

Poquah had selected a motel that had only one story
but was rather large and spread out, so that none of them
would have to go through a lobby to get in and out. Right
now, they were neither dressed nor in any condition to
meet the west Texas public. The Imir, however, did have
to arrange for another room, but he had no problem get-
ting one that adjoined and had an interconnecting door.
He did seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time
in the office, though, arid they grew concerned. The sun
was up now, and they felt quite conspicuous. Finally he
returned and handed Joe one key and Macore the other.

"Any problems?" Joe asked him.

"No. It is the same everywhere I go in this insane
country. Everyone seems to believe I am someone named
Nimoy, or occasionally someone named Spock." They
drove off, following his directions, and reached the two
rooms. Quickly and nervously, they made their way from
the van into the rooms. Macore still had on his gray jerkin
and boots, which were a bit out of place here, but Joe
and Tiana were literally without a stitch.

"I informed the woman at the desk that you had just
flown in and were dead tired, and not to give you any
disturbance or perform any maid service today," Poquah
told them, "but you never know with these places. Keep
all the locks and chains on, and put out the 'Do Not
Disturb' signs. Problems might develop before we could
correct them with spells, and we do not need problems
right now."

"Small bathtubs." Tiana sniffed. "Still, I suppose this
will do."

"It will have to. I will return later on." The Imir looked
at his wrist, which sported a fancy digital watch. "It is

170

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

171

now almost seven-thirty. I shall return by three this after-
noon with what is needed and the information to brief
you. Until then, I suggest that you get some rest. We will
keep to a nocturnal schedule for the time being, both for
security's sake and until you get accustomed to acting on
your own in this environment."

Macore was in the other room, looking around. He had
a childish joy in the light switches and spent a couple of
minutes just turning them on and off. He was even more
delighted with the small air-conditioning console. To be
told about such things academically was one thing; actu-
ally to see them was something else. Macore's world was
a world of magic, demons, and spells which he took entirely
for granted. This was truly a Husaquahrian child's magical
dream.

"Shall I bring something to eat or drink before I go
into the city?" the Imir asked them.

"No, we had plenty on the boat," Joe replied. "You
might bring something back when you return, though."

"I'll do what I can," the Imir assured them, and left.

Macore, in the other room, went over to the television
and stared at it. "This is a window of some kind?"

Marge laughed. "That's TV. Look—I'll show you."
She switched it on, suddenly aware that her position was
the direct opposite of her early life in Husaquahr. There
she learned the language by spell and was illiterate. Now
Macore was in that spot, although at the moment it didn't
seem to bother him.

He was fascinated by the images on the television and
had to be assured that they could not see him. The major
networks all had their morning news shows on, and some
of the cable channels were showing things like Wheeler
and Wollsey "B" pictures from the thirties, while the sports
channel was showing the curling finals on tape delay from
Halifax. There were several apparently all-religious chan-
nels, and four other channels were showing different epi-
sodes of Gilligan's Island.

"Same old junk," Marge commented sourly.

"Oh, I kind of like it," the little thief commented. "Par-
ticularly the ones with the little short fellow and the fat
one on the island."

"Yeah," Marge told him. "Wait till you've seen the
same rerun half a dozen times!"

"Huh? You mean they are not acting companies all
performing this as we watch?"

"I'll explain film and tape to you later," she said tiredly.
"I'm going to sleep."

"So am I," Joe called from the other room. The sound
of water filling a tub almost drowned him out. He was a
bit distressed to discover that from now on, his wife would
have to sleep nights in the bathtub. It simply hadn't
occurred to him in all this.

Macore bade them a good rest and closed the door
between. It wasn't completely soundproofed, but Marge
told him that it wouldn't bother her a bit if he kept the
TV on, although he'd best do it softly to avoid waking
Joe. "Okay—great!" he responded. "I caught a nap on
the way over, and I'm not very tired right now."

She removed the goggles and was soon comatose. From
the other room came snores louder than Macore's tele-
vision. He just sat there, curled up in front of it, watching
one thing after the other, often changing channels.

Poquah's hefty tip seemed to keep the maids away;

but close on to noon, Macore, who was still sitting there,
got irritated when the same episode of Gilligan's Island
he'd just watched on one channel began on another and
he turned the dial. He caught a slight glimpse of something
as he turned it, then frowned, stopped, turned it back,
and stared at the screen.

He pressed his face right up to it, then stood back.
"Oh, my god!" he breathed. There was no mistake. There
couldn't be that much of a mistake.

It was some sort of talk show or forum, and apparently
it was before a huge live audience. He wouldn't have even
noticed it—he'd found seven minutes of David Hartman
intolerable and could take about forty seconds of Jim

172

JACK L. CHALKER                173

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Bakker—and this, certainly, was the same format. The
speaker seemed to be some kind of preacher, and he was
dressed in a finely tailored, dark blue suit, had short hair,
and wore round, apparently rimless glasses; but still he
knew that face, which had been looking into his only a
few weeks before.

Dacaro had sure as hell come a long way on Earth in
only a few weeks!

"What are these little round things?" Joe asked. "Potato
puffs?"

"They are supposedly chicken," Poquah informed him.
"You dip them in the little sauce cups, I'm told." He
rummaged in the two bags, took out another wrapped
package, then handed it to Tiana, who was still very much
a mermaid but slowly drying out.

"That's all right," Tiana assured him, unwrapping the
package and finding two raw whole fish and a package of
raw shrimp still in the shell. "They probably won't taste
like much, but they'll probably be better than whatever
it is you gave Joe to eat."

Poquah walked over to the connecting double-doors,
opened them, then peered in. Marge, of course, was still
out cold, and Macore was now curled up, sound asleep
in front of the television which was still on. The Imir
decided not to awaken them, but went in and turned off
the set, then returned to Joe and Tiana and quietly shut
the doors again. "Forgive me, but I simply cannot abide
that drivel. It has made the civilized part of this world
into a mass of illiterate morons." He paused a moment,
then added, "Of course, it also appeals to those already
in that condition as well, no matter what their origins."

Joe managed to polish off two Big Macs, the nuggets,
and a lot more that Poquah had brought along. He was
still hungry, but it would do. His only complaint was that
the Imir had brought no coffee; the in-room stuff the motel
provided was hardly worth the name even on Earth.

Still, Poquah was anxious to get down to his business.
"You have the text of the prophecies, I hope?"

"Well, we weren't exactly there for them, and we didn't
exactly have pockets," Joe replied. "Macore's got the
text, though. You got some clothes for us?"

"Yes. I had to guess on the lady, of course, but I think
it will do until she can find some of her own more to her
liking." He had, of course, taken the measurements of all
three mortals before leaving, so he was actually dead on.
He either had a keen eye or an uncanny ability to know
just what was required, although he did leave it practical.

Joe's outfit was pretty much an upsized version of what
Poquah was wearing—jeans, boots, a flannel shirt, and
even socks and underwear, two items of clothing he'd not
really been used to wearing for many years. For Tiana,
Poquah had selected equally practical clothing—but with
women's undergarments, of course, even a bra if she
wanted one—and with a long woman's yellow T-shirt. "I
decided that you would find boots more problem than
asset, so I found you some sandals. I regret the higher
heel but they don't seem to come any other way here. I
know you will probably wish to remain barefoot most of
the time, but there are establishments all over that will
not admit you without shoes."

Her lower body had already split but was still more
fishlike than human, giving her a really unusual appear-
ance. "I am sure they will be fine," she assured him. "I
will try them as soon as I can."

"I procured a very comfortable motorized wheelchair
that folds rather nicely," Poquah told her proudly, "and I
also found a pair of ingenious folding aluminum crutches
for when that is more practical. I think that will take care
of your needs."

He was emotionless and officious, but she was touched.
"You are very kind. It is more than I expected," she told
him sincerely.

Poquah went out and came back with a small object,
which he gave to Joe. The big man removed the top of

174

JACK L.CHALKER                175

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

the box and found a wallet, and inside were a number of
major credit cards in the name of "Joseph Romero." He
looked at Poquah. "That me?"

"Yes. We established the accounts after closing out the
stolen one for Ruddygore. They are good, and the best
part is that the bill will not have to be paid by you. Do
not, I pray, abuse them, though. They are for business
and survival. When you return to Husaquahr, none of you
will be allowed to take anything from this world with you,
anyway."

"Yeah, well I—hey! This is a Class-G chauffeur's
license!" Joe exclaimed, then frowned. "But it doesn't
have my picture!"

"Not necessary in that state, which is why we chose
it. The particulars are a bit off, but I doubt if anyone will
really notice."

"You want me to drive a rig, then?"

"Yes. You'll find the permits in order, and we've used
a few spells to make it impervious to inspectors. I am
having it modified somewhat today but the company we
are dealing with here is quite interested in money and
assures me that my modification will be ready tomorrow."

"All five of us are gonna fit in a cab?" Joe said dubiously.

"It won't be necessary. You'll see."

The sound of the conversation apparently awakened
Macore, who came through the doors and into the other
room, not exactly wide awake but definitely excited.
"Sorry I fell asleep," he apologized needlessly. "Man! I
wanted so bad to wake somebody up earlier! I saw him!"

"Who?" Tiana asked, puzzled. They all turned to look
at the little thief.

"Dacaro! That's who!"

"Dacaro!" Joe exclaimed. "Here?"

"No—on the TV thing in there! He was on a show.
You know, on one of those religious channels."

Poquah seemed suddenly very interested. "Indeed? Are
you certain?"

"Yeah, sure—I'm not gonna forget him any time soon!

Oh, he was wearing one of those funny suits it seems like
they make men wear here, and he had short hair and,
believe it or not, pink eyeglasses, but it was him. His
voice, too. Silky smooth, you know? His English is per-
fect—at least, it's not much different from what the other
TV people speak—but he's some speaker. Really stirring
up the crowds. You could feel the emotion right through
the TV."

The Imir frowned. "I had not expected him to get so
far so soon. I thought we had weeks, perhaps even months
or a year. This changes everything. On national television
within a month of his arrival! Oh, my!"

"You act like you expected it sooner or later," Joe
noted. "You know where he is, then?"

"Of course. It's been rather easy to find both him and
the Baron; they are not exactly engaged in secretive activ-
ity." He paused for a moment, as if making a decision,
then said, "I was going to wait until Marge was up, but
I suppose this can be done twice."

Macore came in, sat on a comer of Tiana's bed, then
got up again fast. "That's wet\" he complained, then sat
down on the floor. They were all ears.

When the Baron had been exiled from Husaquahr,
Macore explained, he'd been sent first to the center of
Ruddygore's Earth operations, which was in Basel, Switz-
erland. He had remained there for more than three months,
getting to know the new world in which he'd found himself
and checking out his place in it. He had been very com-
fortable, living in a villa owned by Ruddygore just across
the Rhine in France, and had spent the first month doing
nothing but reading everything in French, German, and
English that he could get his hands on. He needed no
spells or courses in language or literacy; he proved himself
unexpectedly adept at both. The Demon Prince with whom
he'd made his alliances in Husaquahr had been a good
teacher and supplier of certain books and reading mate-
rials from Earth.

He was, of course, a genius with a finely tuned ana-

176

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

lytical mind; he had been the best theoretician of magic
in the history of Husaquahr, far beyond anyone else, no
matter what their power. Being stripped of his powers had
not made him any less brilliant or knowledgeable.

He spent another six weeks or so on a sort of European
grand tour, using a liberal stipend from Ruddygore's com-
pany, visiting Rome and much of Germany, France, and
England, using falsified Swiss papers that looked genuine
enough to stand almost any challenge. Ruddygore's Euro-
pean organization even got them in his own name.

Agents reported him both fascinated by the wonders
of technology and appalled by the contrasts such tech-
nology created. Still, it was hard to pin down just what
real interests he had, since he was fascinated by the ide-
ologies and tensions of the modem world with its omni-
present threat of nuclear holocaust and with the imbalances
of wealth, yet he was also apparently fascinated by com-
puters, space science, and technology, and even the mis-
fits and oddballs of society.

The computer, though, had particularly fascinated him;

as he was getting warnings that his funds were going to
dry up if he didn't decide to do something useful, he
enrolled first in a quick and intensive course in how to
type, then in a London computer school. For all of its
inanities, magic was mathematical and he seemed to find
in computer programming the same sort of relationship.
He dropped the year-long course after only three months,
not because he had lost interest but because he had already
progressed, not only beyond the brightest pupil at the
school, but beyond the brightest instructors as well.

And then, quite suddenly, he informed his benefactors
that he no longer required any of their help or support
and that he had obtained sufficient funds to live on. They
were baffled by this, but, a few days later, Esmilio Boquil-
las vanished from their surveillance and they found no
sign of him for almost three years.

Exactly what he was doing at that time was a mystery,
although he seemed to have spent some time with English

JACK L. CHALKER                177

and Welsh mystics, mostly cult and lunatic-fringe people,
the sort of professional characters that Britain seemed to
grow best in all the world. Then he came to the United
States, partly to the south, then to the San Francisco-San
Jose, California, area, where he emerged once again in
public view—very public view—as a faith healer.
"He's a whatT' Joe asked incredulously.
"A faith healer. It appears now that he spent some time
looking for Earth individuals with some of the magical
talents. There are some—more than you would think—
but most have no knowledge of their abilities and thus
are undetected even by themselves. Others, when the
powers come out involuntarily, believe they have had pro-
found religious experiences, or been involved with alien
civilizations, or things like that. He wanted people with
sufficient power to handle at least minimal spells, but they
had to be people who really believed they could do sor-
cery—hence his interest in cults, witches, and the like.
Apparently he discovered one woman at some Satanist
group in southern California who had some real powers.
A hostess of a television collection of old horror movies,
I believe, who went under the stage name of—pardon—
Shockarilla, I think it was. He was at that time employed
as a programmer in the San Francisco area, but abruptly
both she and he resigned their positions and she went to
join him. Soon after, they began doing guest appearances
at local churches of no real denomination—there are quite
a number of rather bizarre yet still mainstream churches
in the area—and their reputation for truly curing really
caught on."

"The old boy's very charismatic," Joe admitted. "A lot
of folks carry off that faith-healing business with no real
chance at success—just people believing so hard they
sometimes cure themselves. Just enough of 'em to keep
'em going and keep their credibility up. But the Baron,
now—if he had somebody with the power, he could really
do it, couldn't he? I mean, restore a lost limb, make blind
eyes see, all that."

178

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"He could indeed, as you well know. There really aren't
any physicians in Husaquahr as such; the healers are
magicians who specialize in healing potions and spells.
Boquillas is a genius with a photographic memory, who
might well know just about every spell ever written down;

and those he couldn't remember, his fine mathematical
mind could create," Poquah admitted.

Joe sat back against the headboard, looking a little
dazed. "A guy who could really do healing miracles—he
could write his own ticket! They'd flock to him to be
cured! And if he told them they had to stand on their
heads and recite 'Mary had a little lamb' three times back-
wards for the cure to work, they'd do it! Oh, man!"

"And it would not take much of an additional string
on those healing spells to make them devoted wor-
shipers," Tiana added. "They would already be most of
the way there, out of sheer gratitude and physical proof."

"That is the way of it," the Imir admitted, "although I
am not certain that his female adept really has the ability
to do much more, even with the spells he supplies."

"And that's where Dacaro comes in, I bet," Macore
put in. "If you already have a good scam going, then
sticking in a world-class wizard at the right moment is
the smart thing to do."

"The computers," Joe said, still thinking of the impli-
cations. "I just can't figure—or can I? I don't know much
about computers, and I don't know just how easy to get
they are, but I'll bet you he's got one hell of a computer
somewhere that's not only got all the spells but all the
formulas to make whatever he wants. Maybe he's rigged
one back where he used to work. I know the dispatcher
before we left always had a computer terminal in front of
him, and so did the one when we arrived at the other end,
and both were connected to the same computer someplace
over the phone."

"I fear it is far easier than that today," the Imir told
him. "Today you can purchase a computer with enormous
memory and power for about half the price of an auto-

179

JACK L. CHALKER

mobile, as rugged as a typewriter and not much larger. If
he had enough capacity to store his programs, he would
need no more space than it takes for that television set
over there. And, of course, spells here are mathematically
quite different from spells where we come from. The com-
puter would automatically be able to translate one com-
plex spell into another. The only thing he did not have
was someone with sufficient power and training actually
to cast complex spells. Now he does."

"What did he want the gold for, then?" Macore asked
Poquah. "I mean, it sounds as if he's got a hell of a scam
running just where he is."

"He required it, apparently, to purchase a large block
of land in a very rugged section of northern California. It
was owned by a lumber company that was stopped by
the actions of some nature lovers from doing any more
tree cutting in the whole area. They were faced with hav-
ing it taken over by the government and were happy to
sell it for what Boquillas could offer upfront, particularly
in gold. He and his lady friend incorporated a nonprofit
religious foundation to own it—a very easy task in Cal-
ifornia, it seems. They are, of course, the head of that
foundation. Although the land is heavily restricted from
any public access, he apparently mollified the nature
organization and guaranteed preservation of the land.
Everyone is delighted with him, even the country, for
while he pays no taxes as a religious institution and retreat,
they would have received none from the government con-
demnation, either—and now they receive substantial con-
tributions to public welfare. The Baron is also a good
politician."

"Yeah, okay, so he's got a cult, a following, and a little
kingdom of his own. So far I can follow that. But what
goes with Dacaro on television?"

"The Baron is quite—in English I believe the slang
word is 'slick'—with his theology. It is particularly insipid,
bland, and nondenominational. Although he's associated
himself up to now primarily with offshoots of Christian

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JACK L. CHALKER                181

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

religions, he seldom if ever mentions anything beyond
'God' and 'the Lord.' His charm or charisma, as some
call it, is sufficient that almost every authentic pastor he
meets seems not only charmed by him but convinced that
his theology and theirs is a near-perfect match. He knows
the truth of oratory—it is not what you say but how you
say it that counts for everything. Consider just how little
a politician actually says, as compared to what his or her
listeners believe about that politician. And because so
many of the sincere and legitimate broadcasting preachers
here are so affluent and so conspicuous in their success
that they are the target of many attacks by cynics and
government, they are likely to rally around any preacher
they feel is being persecuted, even if that individual is
clearly a fraud. The Baron's Open Path movement has
already been the target of many such attacks, which has
won him notoriety beyond California and a great deal of
sympathy from those who see themselves, wrongly, in
him."

Macore nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, it's always that
way. You get some sincere people with good ideas making
a real go at it and the con artists and the charlatans aren't
far behind."

"You should know," Poquah responded acidly.

Macore grinned sheepishly. "Hey! I only go for the
rewards! I don't want the end of the world!"

The Imir frowned. "What is this about the end of the
world?"

Macore repeated to him the first verse of the oracle.

"Then it is Armageddon at the end! I wonder what
those sincere men and women of religion who defend him
would say if they knew?"

"They always used to tell us the end was close at hand,"
Joe noted. "I don't know if they believed it, but somehow
I don't think they'd be surprised if it came. I knew a
preacher once, one of the hellfire-and-brimstone types,
who dropped dead right in the pulpit while preaching a
sermon. Heart attack. It wasn't instant, but they said that,

just before he died, he didn't look sad or angry or upset—
more like disappointed it was just him."

"Hmmm... well, give me the second prophecy, then,
thief, and we will see if we can put the two together."

"Yeah, sure. It's lousy poetry." He recited the longer,
more complex verse on how to avert the doom.

"The early part is clear enough," the Imir noted, "and
now you three are here, so we've gone that far. Unfor-
tunately, the rest is still unclear to me. The way to solve
the problem is there—but unless we can solve the proph-
ecy itself, we will not know the way. Still, this is not a
one-sided conflict, or it would be unnecessary. The indi-
cations are there that Heaven will aid us as Hell is aiding
the Baron."

"You mean angels for the demons and like that?" Joe
was interested in the prospect.

"No. It never works that way, particularly not here.
Providence will guide the elements we need into place for
us. If we take those elements and then apply them in the
pattern established by the verse, we will win. If we do
not, then the Baron will win and we will all die."

"Whew!" Macore said nervously. "It sounds like it's
real easy for them and nearly impossible for us. We get
one right way to play the hand, and a crazy poem as our
only clue, and they get a stacked deck!"

"Evil wins out much of the time because it is so easy,"
Poquah noted. "Good wins because it is earned and
deserves to. That is the test, don't you see? Every once
in a while an individual or group must face the ultimate
evil. A test, as it were. This time it is we who are chosen
to do so. Heaven and Hell are betting on our outcome.
If we prevail, we prove that good is still superior to evil
and the stronger of the two. If we lose, then we prove
that the time for Armageddon is indeed nigh."

Macore looked at the faces of the others in the room.
"Who? UsT

JACK L.CHALKER                 183

CHAPTER I 2

PROVIDENCE, GHOSTS,
AND PETER PAN

Those who insist on living in the past have no future.

—Message found in a Chinese fortune cookie

ALTHOUGH THEY TRIED TO TALK MARGE OUT OF IT, SHE

would not be restrained from going out that evening and
visiting some of the old places where she'd lived much
of her life. She was quite confident of herself and won
out when she argued that she'd better find out now if she
couldn't fool the people of her old world when it would
just be an incident and not a deadly blunder.

In fact, it was useful to allow them all out for a while
in Earth society, if only to get accustomed to a new and
different world. Joe and Tiana, who was now human-
appearing once more, decided on some evening shopping
to fill out their wardrobes; Poquah took Macore in tow,
although the little thief somewhat protested, to get him
oriented to the basic rules of survival on Earth. Macore,
after all, had never seen a stoplight, didn't know from
which direction traffic came in this world, and had to get
used to this funny worthless paper being treated as if it
were something of value.

For Marge, it was a matter of flying over the area and
seeing how much had changed and how much had stayed
the same over the years. She had been bom and raised
in the area and knew it and the nearby town of Odessa
like the back of her hand. It did, of course, look different

182

from the air, and the sights, sounds, and even odors seemed
more chaotic, more irritating, than she remembered. This
was the true Texas, though; flat and dry, with an economy
based on oil, gas, and cows, now pretty much in that
order.

Her grammar and high school were still there, but they'd
torn down the old junior high and the neighborhood in
which she'd been born and raised seemed less tranquil
and dirtier than she remembered it.

The feelings and the sensations of the people below
were almost overpowering to her. If this place was typical
of Earth, the amount of misery, guilt, and anger radiating
from the relatively peaceful city below would keep a thou-
sand Kauris busy for the next century. She would have
no trouble feeding here; indeed, the problem would be
not taking on such a load that it weighed her down and
made her ponderous and depressed, for she could not
cleanse herself of any excess.

Her thoughts turned to Roger, and she couldn't help
wondering if her ex-husband still lived in the same mobile
home and the same trailer park outside of town. He wasn't
given to taking chances or doing anything without being
forced to—she had even had to propose to him—so it
was quite likely. She circled around and headed south-
west.

She landed just outside the trailer park and took on
the guise of her old self. She'd been plain and rather
unattractive most of her adult life, or so at least she had
always thought, and she took a little time to adjust the
image here and there. A bit more of a bust, tight clothing
that was well-styled, a nice hairdo, good makeup, that
sort of thing. It was very easy to do—she just wished it,
and saw it in her mind's eye, and it was so. It was all
illusion, but of a broadcasting sort. Any who saw her,
even if she didn't know they were there, would see her
as she intended to be seen. Only changelings, ones with
the power, and those of fairy blood could see, hear, and
know her as she really was. The Kauri were somewhat

184

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

185

like method actresses, who literally became their parts,
yet never lost touch with their true natures.

If indeed he still lived in the old place, he'd bought a
new pickup, but that was to be expected. She stood there,
looking at the place, and the memories came back, both
the good and the painful ones. All of a sudden she didn't
really understand why she had come here or what she
expected to see. All the real love and affection had gone
out of this relationship long before she'd taken that long
walk to nowhere up the interstate, and she certainly nei-
ther wanted, nor was it possible, to have a resumption of
their relationship. The Kauri nature, which was her nature,
made that impossible. Or was it, perhaps, some inner
desire for revenge? Kauris were generally above all that,
or so she'd thought; they sought revenge only for things
done to themselves or their sisters, and she had been
someone else back then. The place was lighted, though,
and from the windows came the blaring sound of baseball
play-by-play.

Suddenly the door banged open and Roger came out,
a beer in one hand and a plastic trash bag in the other,
dressed in shorts and T-shirt. He'd grown much older in
the few years separating them; his hair seemed flecked
with gray, his muscular body had gone somewhat to flab,
and he had a definite potbelly. He opened a trash can over
to one side, stuffed the bag in, closed it again, then turned
and caught sight of her. He smiled first, as if acknowl-
edging a neighbor, then frowned; his mouth dropped. "My
lord. Marge! Is that yo«?"

She sighed. "Hello, Roger," she said.

He came over to her, still disbelieving his senses. "Good
God Almighty! Where'n hell you been all this while?"

"Away. Other places. Places I never even knew
existed."

"Well, wherever it was, it sure as hell was good for
you! Jesus! You look as fme as the day we got married!"
He paused a moment. "You want to come in and sit a
while?"

Without really replying, she followed him into the trailer,
still not really knowing what she was going to do or why.
This had already gone much further than she'd intended.

The place was a mess, with stuff all over. A small color
TV in the combined living and dining room blared into
the darkness and there were lots of empty beer bottles
around. Aside from being messy as hell and from the very
well-worn upholstery she remembered as new or nearly
so, it looked pretty much the same.

Roger seemed a little at a loss but also happy. She
could read the deep guilt within him that her reappearance
had brought to the surface once more, although it was
never very deeply suppressed. "Can I get you a beer or
a pop or something?"

"No, nothing, thanks." She took a seat in the old chair
she'd bought years ago at a flea market in Odessa. It had
always been her favorite chair. He turned a kitchen chair
around and sat on it, just looking at her for a while. Finally
he asked, "Why'd you come back. Marge?"

"I really don't know, Roger. I was just coming through
this way for the first time since—well, since—and I just
wanted to see how you were making out. I can't stay very
long. I'm meeting some people in Midland in a little while."

He seemed crestfallen at that, and for the first time she
realized that he had really thought, or at least hoped, that
she had come back to him. She felt suddenly very awk-
ward, and the situation seemed more wrong than before.

"What sort of people? What you been doin' all this
time, anyway?"

"Oh, I've been pretty much of a free spirit," she
responded evasively. "I travel light and make enough to
get by and see to all my needs." She decided to change
the subject. "I see that you didn't remarry."

"Oh, after you left I played the superstud for a while,
I guess, and even had a girl or two live here now and
again, but didn't none of 'em hold a candle to you. Marge,
and that's God's honest truth. The ones with the bodies
didn't have no brains, and the ones with the brains had

186

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 187

better sense than to take up with me. After three days
we found out we didn't have nothing to talk about. Jesus!
I missed you. Marge!"

"I didn't miss you, Roger," she said coldly.

That hit him where it hurt, but he was too happy to
see her to get mad. Instead he asked, "If that's true, why
didn't you just keep goin' past this little piss-ant piece of
nowhere?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know. Curiosity, mostly,
I think, and maybe some nostalgia. I had some good times
here, at the start, before it got all bad."

He stared straight into her eyes. "And now you're a
whore, huh? A traveling whore that ain't got nothing to
her name. Is that what the girl I married's become? A
damned whore. A damned college-educated whore!" His
anger was now masking his guilt, and doing a very good
job of it. He would either break into violent action, or,
she sensed, he would break into pieces. Although he
couldn't see it or sense it, her Kauri wings were spread
wide now, not for flight but as sensory organs. And sud-
denly she knew why she'd been impelled to come here,
and what she had to do. So much guilt, anger, hurt, and
pain. There was an illness in Roger that could only even-
tually destroy, perhaps others first and then, fast or slow,
Roger himself. It was her function, and her power, to
treat such things.

The wings spread wide, and she held him suspended
in her powers. She kicked off imaginary shoes, and then
began to shed imaginary clothing.

Joe had become worried at the sight and sound of an
approaching thunderstorm. They tried to hail several taxis,
but discovered that the white drivers seemed to ignore
them. Some things still hadn't changed. Finally one
dropped off a fare near the entrance to the mall and proved
to be driven by an elderly black man, and he invited them
in.

They had no luck. The storm hit, suddenly bathing the

cab in a torrent of water. The sound of the storm beating
on the taxi's roof masked the sound of ripping jeans as
Tiana's spell was negated and her lower half was restored
to its natural form. It had not been necessary actually to
be out in the storm; she was literally surrounded by water
and that was all it took. Tiana had a strange mixture of
relief at being comfortable again and anxiety at her current
condition; Joe had only the anxiety to deal with.

They finally pulled into the motel and directed the driver
to their room. When they got there, the storm had already
abated and, in fact, was almost over, no help to Tiana.

"Let me open the door first," Joe said hurriedly. "My
wife has real bad arthritis and this storm's left her unable
to walk."

"Okay," the driver said, sounding friendly and con-
cerned. "Want me to help?"

"Oh, no! I can handle it." Joe got out and opened the
door with his key, propping it wide with a chair, then
quickly returned. The cabbie was getting out and making
for the trunk, which held most of their boxes. Joe looked
at Tiana, who shrugged, and waited for the trunk to open,
then quickly scooped her up, took her out, bumping her
head in the process, and carried her quickly into the motel
room. Their beds, of course, were still unmade, and he
put her on one and she quickly pulled the covers up an
appropriate length and sat up, watching them.

The driver was in a moment later with about half the
packages. He seemed a bit surprised to see her already
in bed, but he didn't comment. He and Joe went out to
get the rest of the stuff. "Just set it here. I'll get it in,"
he told the cabbie.

The old man did it, then stood there, scratching his
head for a minute, and it was clear that he'd seen, or
thought he'd seen, something odd when Joe carried her
in. He started to say something, then thought better of
it, and accepted his fare and a sizable tip. He said good-
bye, got into his cab, and slowly drove off, thinking, /
been working too hard. Even if there was such things as

188

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L.CHALKER 189

that they wouldn't be in this country. And they sure as
hell wouldn't be black.

Joe returned and took the chair away, closing the door.
"Close," he muttered. "Too close."

"I suppose I should not have come after all," Tiana
moped. "I am far more of a burden here than any help.
And this is dry country! What will happen when we get
to places where this happens all the time?"

He came over, sat on the bed beside her, put his arm
around her, and kissed her. "We've all got our problems.
/ need you here. Leaving you alone back in Husaquahr
with that Master-of-lhe-Dead creep still on the loose would
have worried me so much I couldn't have thought straight
here anyway."

"I was also pretty upset tonight, not just with the taxis,
but with some of the places and people. Nothing was
restricted or segregated or anything like that, but I still
often felt hostility here and there. And for no reason!"

He chuckled. "Honey, don't you worry about that stuff.
I know you're second class in these parts, but don't think
all that was directed at you. There's a class around here
down at the bottom real far below whites, blacks, Mex-
icans, and anybody else. That's Indian—and I'm it."

Roger had not seen her come, and he was sleeping
peacefully when she left, so she walked back out after
turning off the lights and turning off the TV. It was late,
later than she'd expected to be here, but still early enough
to see a bit more. She was certainly no longer hungry,
and would not be perhaps for several days, but she knew
she'd lifted two burdens tonight and buried her last per-
sonal ghost as well.

There was no one apparently around, so she flew into
the night, circled one last time around the trailer park,
and headed back toward Midland.

There were several thunderstorms in the area and she
grew worried about Tiana. She knew she should go back
immediately, but she was overly full and needed to work

some of it off, changing it to energy, or she might be nasty
or mean as hell when she didn't intend to be.

The storms attracted her childish inner nature. There
was nothing quite like a west Texas thunderstorm in late
spring, one whose violence and power was enormous but
whose boundaries one could see from a great distance.
She had been in awe of them as a girl and in fear of them
as an adult in a trailer park, but she'd never before seen
them with fairy eyes, in which their power was tangible
and somewhat mystical.

Now the lightning was no threat to one who swam in
volcanic fires, and the tremendous updrafts and down-
drafts were like a super roller coaster. She knew that she
could be slammed to the ground, but she was confident
of her abilities to recover before that time. For now, she
played at dodging the lightning bolts and rode the violence
she could not merely sense but see, and it worked of? a
lot of excess energy.

It was while doing this that she suddenly had a strong
stabbing sensation. It was brief, and not painful, more as
if some great invisible lance vibrated through her mid-
section. Play stopped, and she tried to find the sensation
once again. She knew it, although she had never expected
to sense it on Earth, and particularly not here, so close
to home.

It was a universal, racial call for help. It was the sen-
sation you got when a fairy was hurt and needed help—
not just Kauri, any kind.

With two or three of her sisters, it would have taken
no time at all to locate the source, even in the storm; but,
although the storm passed quickly, it took her the better
part of an hour to find that strong pulsing vibration once
again, and even longer to be able to hold onto it and follow
it down. It was not a strong signal, which could mean
many things, one of which was that one of faerie was
dying.

She came down, at last, on the grimy tar and cinder
roof of a building, now awash in deep puddles. Her only

190

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

191

thought was that perhaps something terrible had hap-
pened to Poquah, but the Imir would be easy to spot up
here on this roof, and it definitely was coming from on
the roof rather than inside the building.

She extended her wings and followed the signal's inten-
sity, weak even here, to its source. There was nothing
evident on the roof at all, and she grew puzzled, when
suddenly she heard a tiny sound from over near the roof
edge. She walked over and saw the creature, so small that
at first she'd taken the glow to be just reflection on a
puddle.

It was the figure of a slender, athletic-looking girl, almost
snow white in color but with very short blond hair. From
her back extended a set of proportionately large trans-
parent wings, like those of a dragonfly, and she had the
shell-like, pointed ears of most fairy folk. She was nude,
as were virtually all the flying kinds, and. Marge saw, her
body gave off a weak but definite self-luminescence that
seemed to pulse with regularity.

She was also perhaps four inches from head to foot.

There were many such creatures in Husaquahr, includ-
ing a fair number in Mohr Jerahl, but they were usually
as territorial as wood nymphs. Unless this one had stowed
away on the ship coming over, there was no way to explain
finding a pixie on an urban rooftop.

The tiny creature stirred, then managed to open her
eyes and bring herself to a sitting position. She was
instantly aware that she had company and looked up at
Marge in surprise. Her voice was as tiny as she was, and,
like that of all pixies, was pitched far too high for human
ears, so that only the overtones could be heard as a high,
ringing sound by those with good hearing, like children.
Marge, of course, could hear it fine, although there were
the usual city noises and the rumblings of the storms in
the distance that made her bend low to catch it all.

"So what da hell are yow?" asked the pixie, in what
sounded like fluent Brooklynese. "And wud'dya starin'
at, anyways?"

"I'm a Kauri. I heard your distress cry and came to
help if I could."

"A what? Man, oh man! Dey grow deir fairies as big
and mean as deir thunderstorms in dis sucking state of
Texas!"

Suddenly Marge was struck by a memory chord: with
Peter Pan's glow.... "Of course!" she muttered to her-
self. "Tinker Bell!"

"Don't give me none ofdat Tinker Bell shit!" the pixie
retorted angrily. "Ain't been no end of grief since dat
Limey wrote dat play da foist time!"

"You're—a native of Earth, then?"

"Sure! Bom 'n bred in Prospect Pock. Dat's in Brook-
lyn, you know."

"I would never have guessed."

"Been dere since da Limeys shot up da place. Made a
mess, but we couldn't complain. Because ofdat dey left
it as a pock. Prob'ly da only big slice o' green left around
dere."

"I've never been there, but I'm more interested in how
you happened to wind up here."

"Yeah, well, I ain't too sure on dat, neither. Pact is, I
was dumb, dat's all. I mean, dere ain't no place worth
livin' outside o' Brooklyn, 'cept maybe New Yawk and
dey even mug da fairies dere dese days. Dat's why most
of us up and left a long time ago. Me'n a few udders, we
stayed on. I mean, if you can't live in Brooklyn, why live
at all?"

"But you left."

"Obviously! I din't have no choice. Dey been takin'
little bits and pieces of da pock for yeahs and yeahs, and
finally it just got so dere was no way to live no more. We
need flowers 'n trees 'n all, and 'cause it's so urban, like,
the stuff'd die no matter what we did 'less the city came
in and helped out. So dey cut the pocks budget again and
again until dere was nothin' really left 'cept for trimmin'
the battle monument. Dey sent clods out wit' no feelin'
for growin' tings, you know? Not only did dey not do da

192

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

job, dey screwed the place up so much it'll take yeahs to
get it goin' again. I was da last—maybe da last fairy in
Brooklyn.

"Now, what was I supposed to do? Go live in Joisy,
for cryin' out loud? So I says, 'Gimlet old goil, you either
gotta get planted forever in dear old Brooklyn or make it
over to da udder side somehow.' Now, dere's only six
places dat even used to be ways over and out, you know?
One's in da Swiss Alps, one's in China, one's in da Ama-
zon, one's in da deserts of Australia, one's somewheres
between da Nile 'n da Congo, and one's someplace in
Texas. Maybe I got da right spot, since you're here and
I don't even ever hear of your kind before, but maybe
I'm wrong. That Texas accent of yours is somethin' else."

"Your accent's pretty thick itself," Marge noted.

"What accent? I ain't got no accent. You must t'ink
I'm from New Yawk or maybe da Bronx. Dey got accents!"

"Out here, you're the one with the accent and you
better hadn't forget it. What happened to you, anyway?
Are you hurt?"

"Got a bruised wing is all. I ain't gonna be able to fly
noplace for a day or two but I'H be okay. Two hundred
yeahs of dodgin' storms wit' no sweat at all, and I run
into dat baby here and lose my traction! It just tore me
loose and spun me around and I come to here. I been t'ru
almost as bad but never woist."

"Lucky it did happen, if you're not seriously hurt. I'm
with a group from the other side. We're over here doing
work, but one of our party can get you over there if he
wants to."

"Is he one o' us?"

"Yes, but don't count on that meaning anything. Still,
I have a suspicion that you're going to have to be with
us a while if you're going over at all. I sense another hand
bringing you to us at this time. Come on—you game for
a little ride?"

The pixie looked disgustedly around the roof. "Well,
I sure could use a better neighborhood."

193

JACK L.CHALKER

*     *     *

"And now the company numbers six," Poquah noted.
The Imir seemed far more relaxed than previously and
much more self-confident. He even seemed slightly better
disposed toward Macore, making the rest of them wonder
if the little thief had slipped the elf something when they
were out. "Providence will send us the seventh in due
course. Then it will be up to us to finish this matter."

"I thought the Rules didn't apply here," Joe noted. "I
mean, why do we need seven?"

"The Rules in general do not apply, except to us per-
sonally of course," the Imir continued. "But seven is a
mystical number with some power, as you must know.
Seven would be good, even if we are not limited to that
number."

"It can be at the crap tables, yeah, but you can crap
out with that same seven, too," the pixie added.

"Is that so unlike life?" the Imir asked.

The pixie was standing on the top of the television set
eyeing Poquah critically. She wasn't used to seeing other
fairy races any more than the humans of Earth were. "He
looks like Leonard Nimoy," she commented.

"Too short," Marge responded in a whisper.

"I should know from short?"

It was a good point, well beyond argument. Poquah,
if he heard the exchange, ignored it, but turned to the
pixie. "You understand that there will be no transportation
until, and unless, we complete our mission? All travels
have stopped until then."

"Yeah, I get it. I ain't got nothin' better to do anyways,
so I might as well string along. Besoides, if dis really is
de end of de woild t'ing, what's the difference anyhow?"

"I admire practicality," the Imir commented.

Joe and Macore looked blank as they found themselves
cut out of the pixie's end of the conversation. Tiana, to
her surprise, discovered that she could hear the pixie,
although the accent was bad enough she couldn't make
a lot of sense out of the dialogue.

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JACK L. CHALKER                195

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

With all of them now present, though, Poquah thought
that this was a good time for a general briefing, and they
sat around Joe's room and listened to him.

"It was expected that we would eventually have to
transport a number of people and equipment, and we did
not wish to be dependent on motels and other such public
places. As a result, we had shipped here a purchase Mas-
ter Ruddygore made some time ago for his own personal
convenience when in this country. It is a masterpiece of
comfort and practicality and is very well disguised. It will
serve not only as accommodations but as a mobile head-
quarters."

"This why you need a truck driver?" Joe asked him.

"Yes. I, too, am capable of driving it in a pinch, but I
would rather not do so unless there is some compelling
reason for it. I am comfortable with its operation but not
comfortable on and around the highways of this place. It
will be quite effective, with the van, in which I am much
more comfortable, being used for local transport when
needed."

"Why go from here, though?" Marge asked him. "I
assume our destination is California."

"It is indeed. However, as the pixie told you, this is
the only safe and secure landing spot in North America
with an access to good roads and modem conveniences,
for a variety of complex reasons not worth going into
right now. Also, the truck is on record with a real inter-
state trucking line, and so any checks run on it will show
that it is legitimate and has reason to be in the areas it
will be. This is more credible if we actually make a run
from some distant point.

"We will be entering a hostile area in more ways than
one. The Baron already has a substantial following,
including many of the wealthy and influential. Politicians
and corporate presidents get as gravely ill as the common
folk, after all, and as desperate. It is a mistake to think
of this as a month-old operation that began with Dacaro's
arrival. It is not. The Baron has been building this up for

over two and a half years now, and that is a lot of time
in a media-oriented society."

"I understand the dangers from the Baron and his lack-
eys," Tiana said, "but you seem to indicate it's not as
simple as all that."

"It is not. In addition to his followers and supporters,
public and private, he has been very good to a county
that is economically one of the most depressed in the West
since the logging boom ended. A lot of money is being
dropped there—enough so that, even with his backers,
he needed the gold from the Master's vaults to pay off
the balance of his mortgage. He has, however, adopted
a clever, even fiendish, method of assuming control. His
substantial following that is on and around the land all
registered to vote, and those politicians who did not accept
his authority were then recalled and thrown from office,
to be replaced with the Baron's people. His cult controls
the political levers of the towns nearest his holdings, and
some of county government as well."

"Surely he can't be that pervasive," Marge said dis-
believingly. "I mean, maybe it's not a heavily populated
county, but it hasn't been a long time, either."

"There is opposition, yes, but this technique has worked
before with other religious cults and it works now. It is a
flaw in the American system which can be exploited by
ones with the following and resources to do so. Local
governments control power, water, sewage, police, fire,
and all the other services people depend on. They set the
tax standards and the tax rates. An irate citizen might
have his well inspected and condemned by the county,
making his land worthless. There is condemnation and
eminent domain. A business picketed by and not patron-
ized by a large mass of people will fail. It is immoral,
unethical, and absolutely legal. He is doing nothing that
others have not accomplished before him, only he is doing
it far faster and far more efficiently. The Baron does his
homework well and he is brilliant and analytical. The
attempt at foreclosing on him was our doing, of course,

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JACK L. CHALKER                197

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

and our last legal gasp, as it were, although he'll be tied
up in court for years."

Joe couldn't help smiling in admiration. "So your folks
put the squeeze on him and he paid off with gold stolen
from Ruddygore's own vaults. He must have loved that
touch." He paused a moment. "Lord! Is this man incred-
ible!"

The pixie, following all this, looked around the room.
"And a group of bums like dose in dis room is gonna take
on and beat dis guy? You're all nutsV

The Imir repeated the comment verbatim for the ben-
efit of the humans, who only nodded somewhat in agree-
ment. Poquah, however, was not about to grant the point.

"We are not as insane as we might seem, madam," he
replied. "First, the magic powers that Boquillas depends
upon and which awe his followers and associates are noth-
ing strange to us, nor are we without some such powers
ourselves. Second, be reminded that Boquillas himself
has great knowledge but no powers of his own—those
were stripped from him. The rest around him, with one
exception, are Earth psychics of limited abilities and almost
no training. I could dispense with them one on one without
even straining, and probably even Marge could do so if
they tried anything against her. No, Dacaro is the only
real threat, the only one we cannot match. Remove Dacaro
and we, not they, have the balance of power."

"Yeah, but that's the trick, isn't it?" Joe noted. "I mean,
Ruddygore could take him out, and so could most real
powerful wizards, but he's blocked any of them from com-
ing. He is, on Earth, what Ruddygore or one of the Coun-
cil would be in Husaquahr. The most powerful with no
real competition."

"Let us assume, for the moment, that we could take
out Dacaro," Marge put in. "It still isn't any piece of cake.
Sure, we'd have the power, assuming old gloomy here
survives the battle, but there's more kinds of power than
magic. What are we talking about? A hundred people? A
thousand? Ten thousand?"

"I fear your last estimate is closer to the mark," Poquah
told them.

"Okay—ten thousand, plus a government in his hip
pocket, right? The cops with their guns, the followers
with who knows what? And demons—the verse said
something about demons, too. Even Ruddygore had to
run from a demon and got pretty banged up in the process
if I remember." She looked over at the little thief. "You've
been pretty silent on this, Macore. I'd expect you to be
the first one to object to all this."

The thief shrugged. "There's a plan. He knows most
of it, I know most of it, and you all don't know any of it.
It isn't perfect, but it's good, very good. Some little details
we have yet to figure out, but they'll come. Look—forget
Dacaro for now. Otherwise, it's the same kind of problems
I face all the time as a master thief. We have to case the
joint, as it were, until we know all its ins-and-outs and all
its little quirks and traps. In the end, it's a puzzle, just as
Ruddygore's vault was a puzzle. Before we act, I'm going
to solve most of that puzzle." He looked sheepishly at
Poquah. "W? are going to solve most of that puzzle. You
never get a hundred percent solution, but that's what makes
a master thief different from a puzzle fan—or a dead thief.
A little improvisation as you go. We're being handed the
elements; we'll put 'em together. See, that was why Rud-
dygore was so insistent that we get to the Oracle."

"But we do not understand the messages," Tiana
pointed out.

"I think we will, now that I've seen our pixie and had
the rhyme explained to me, but that wasn't the point. See,
what the Oracle told us was that this was a test, as Poquah
said. It's not the inevitable end, just a possible end of the
world. The big point of the Oracle's verse was that this
was a puzzle that could be solved. I think we can do it.
We've beaten the Baron twice before."

"Yeah, with Ruddygore," Joe commented sourly. "Not
on our own. Seems to me that Dacaro made mincemeat
of all of us all by himself."

r

198

JACK L. CHALK.ER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

199

"No!" said Poquah sharply. "You and Marge got the
idea for escaping from the demon with the Lamp and made
it happen. It was Macore who freed you from Esmerada's
prisons, and Joe who managed, with Marge's help, to
figure a way to escape from the Baron's prisons and con-
tact us. It was Joe's quick thinking that ruined the Baron's
takeover plans for Morikay. We have beaten the Baron
before when he had full powers—and that meant the Mas-
ter to finish him off. Now he is without powers even we
possess. His brilliance remains, but so do the basic ele-
ments that defeated him in the past, his overconfidence
and his arrogance. I have no knowledge of the future, but
in the end I will wager that his personality is the key to
his undoing."

"Well." Joe sighed. "You're betting all our lives on it."
"And all the lives in both this world and the other,"
Marge added.

CHAPTER I 3

OF POWER, PRIMITIVES, AND PARTIAL
PLANNING

If I had heard that as many devils would set on me in Worms
as there are tiles on the roofs, I should nonetheless have
ridden there.

—Martin Luther

THE TRUCK WAS EVERYTHING POQUAH HAD SAID IT WAS

and more. Outside, it looked like any other transconti-
nental eighteen-wheeler, complete with a sleeper in the
cab, and it was the latest in large truck technology. The

ubiquitous CB radio, however, had an additional channel
that was not a broadcast channel at all, but rode the power
lines back from the cab to the trailer and served as an
effective two-way intercom which would override any
signals the radio was receiving or putting out.

Anyone who opened the back of the trailer and looked
inside would see a large number of stacked cartons of
nicely labeled products. Indeed, you could take down a
box at random and open it and remove its contents—if
you liked tacky plaster statues and pink flamingoes, that
is. The truck appeared packed all the way to the back,
but it was not. The effect was not created by any wizard's
spell, to tip off anyone who might have the power, but
by a classy stage magician's device that was purely
mechanical and purely mathematics and physics, but it
was convincing and effective.

One entered or left the soundproofed inner sanctum
only by a concealed trapdoor with small steps that came
down from the bottom or from an emergency exit reached
by ladder through the top. Neither was obvious, even
when staring straight at them.

Once inside, even though it was a crawl for them all
to get underneath, there was an air-conditioned and effec-
tive small apartment, with a master bedroom and asso-
ciated smaller bedroom with bunk beds, and a combined
living and dining room area with kitchenette and minor
conveniences, including a refrigerator and a microwave.
Water was supplied by a tank on top and was the only
thing that needed refilling at regular intervals. The power
source was self-contained and apparently did not need
refilling or maintenance, but it was not obvious and they
did not inquire much about it. Joe guessed it was nuclear,
and he really didn't want to know for sure.

The trailer had the logo of Maximillian Express on it,
which was a well-known and quite standard cross-country
hauler. The logo was bannerlike, gold on blue and rec-
tangular, and proved to be an ingenious one-way mirror.
Those inside could see out as if it were dark glass, but it

200

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

201

looked like painted metal to anyone outside, even right
up close—and it was high enough to discourage anyone
getting that close.

All iron and steel sources had been replaced, shielded,
or covered. The larder was well stocked, and everything
worked. There was one addition of which Poquah was
particularly proud. It was over near the smaller bedroom
entrance, but had a full view of the main area. It was, in
effect, a long but thin marble bathtub, although it had
only an interconnection to an outside fixture for a water
source.

"I realized that Tiana would have unique needs," the
Imir explained. "We cannot, of course, carry that much
water, but with a length of hose and the small hand-cranked
pump we have aboard we can fill it from any tap or even
a river, lake, or stream. It empties onto the roadway, as,
I fear, does the water closet."

"I think it is wonderful!" Tiana cried, and kissed the
Imir. Poquah, looking both embarrassed and uncomfort-
able, turned to Joe.

"Do you think you can drive it?"

"Oh, sure. It's easier than what I'm used to and that
was pretty good. Give me ten miles and I'll take it down
an alley with two inches clearance."

"Very well. All of the permits have been secured, and
the weight has been calculated to match the manifest and
be within ali legal limits."

"They still on that stupid fifty-five speed limit?"

"I'm afraid so, but you have detection devices there
and much of our travel will be through areas of light
enforcement. Just don't get carried away. I will follow in
the van, matching your speed. Communicate with me by
radio only when you must, as there is no way to know
who is listening. I prefer, when we are going, that one of
the two ladies ride in the cab, so that there will always
be reports of a male and a female up there. Anyone inside
the trailer should enter or exit only when cleared to do
so by the driver over the intercom. Macore will ride with

me in the van, and we will share the facilities inside.
Clear?"

Marge saluted. "Clear, man capitan\ Let us march or
die!"

At approximately nine o'clock in the evening, with
everything including the route and plan squared away,
they left the motel for the last time and Joe pulled the rig
out onto the highway.

It was far easier than the van, he found, almost as if
he'd never quit driving. There was some special set of
reflexes you developed as a trucker that never seemed to
fade, like riding a bicycle. Through double clutching and
sixteen gears, what was a complex mystery to most driv-
ers was second nature to him.

It occurred to him that the first part of the journey was
almost a ritual completion of the run he'd been on when
Ruddygore had intervened, westbound late at night on
1-10 heading toward El Paso—only this time he'd make
it, and beyond.

He tried to determine just where that mysterious cutoff
was, but he couldn't do it. This country all looked alike,
even more so at night, and he was well past the point before
he finally gave up. Somewhere along here, too, he was
supposed to have smashed up and died in the wreck. He
still didn't know if the accident had been allowed to hap-
pen, or, if not, just what had happened to his old truck.

Joe stopped once just outside El Paso while he and
Macore went into a carryout place that was open all night
and bought some dinner for themselves and Poquah, whose
diet was not that far off from that of humans'. Inside the
trailer, it was a matter of thawing, but not cooking, some
fish and other such stuff for Tiana. Gimlet seemed per-
fectly happy gorging on some jar honey, which would last
her a year at her size and weight, and Marge took only
occasional fruit juices, having eaten well of the stuff only
Kauris consumed and needing no more for a while.

It was, of course, pretty boring, but that was only to
be expected. At least Tiana, dried out, could ride for a

202

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

203

time with Joe, and Marge then took advantage of the view
if nothing else when the mermaid grew tired or had a need
for water. Gimlet had little desire to come out, even though
she was able to ride almost anywhere, keeping to her
instinctual requirement to stay very close to her food
supply.

They made good time and Joe really enjoyed it; but,
at about an hour after sunrise, he made for a truck-stop
lot, pulled in a little away from any other trucks, and
decided to call it a day—or night, as the case might be.
Marge was already asleep, and those who ate normal food
used the truck-stop restaurant. Tiana went, too, finding
that she had no trouble with salads. Although cooked food
didn't really appeal to her, she had decided to eat with
them occasionally, just for the company. There was noth-
ing in her constitution that prevented cooked food from
going down and doing the job; it was just that she had
somewhat the same reaction to it that her companions did
to seeing her eat a raw fish, head and all.

Joe took advantage of the trucker's store to buy himself
a new hat, not much different from the trucker's hat he'd
had made for him in the days back in Husaquahr—only
a bit better quality.

It was difficult for him to explain his childlike joy at
sitting there at what was basically a boring and tiring job
hour after hour, particularly since he, himself, hardly had
such glee when he'd climbed into rigs for a living and
pushed them from Nowhere to Anywhere without even
really seeing or enjoying the places in between, but it was
a simple thing to him. He'd been an adventurer, a warrior,
and even something of a god, but always there was a
dispatcher there controlling his movements and sched-
uling his appointments. Even though he was still on
assignment, here he was, behind the wheel, with no worry
about load limits or schedules or bills that had to be paid,
a somewhat free knight of the road, the way all the songs
said it was and the way it never was before.

They went up 1-25 and then over 1-40, not because it

was quicker but because, while a bit out of the way, it
avoided most of the major cities and also much of the
congestion. They had no problems and, from all appear-
ances, were little noticed by anyone at all, let alone any-
one hostile to them. There was something of a sweat at
what Joe called Arizona Customs and Immigration, the
inspection station where all trucks had to stop and have
their permits checked and stand an agricultural inspec-
tion, but the dummy load and the rear seals helped get
them through with no problems. As with customs between
countries, very few trucks had their cargoes fully
inspected; to do so would create a bottleneck forty miles
long.

California was tougher and nastier at their inspection,
even stopping all private cars, but when they opened a
few of the boxes and saw the contents they were more
than satisfied that no dangerous insects were lurking inside,
or could stand to live with forty thousand plaster Buddhas
and nine thousand lawn jockeys, which were among the
more outstanding items on the cargo manifest.

They had no problems keeping Tiana's tub full and
reasonably fresh, although they had traveled through
mostly very dry country. There had been one thunder-
storm, but she had been in the tub at the time and so it
didn't matter that the land adaptation was cancelled. It
wasn't this part of the ride that worried Joe. Now, how-
ever, they made a slight jog south to 1-5, then proceeded
due north. The Baron's holdings were in the northern part
of California, above San Francisco and above the wine
country, more in the land of the redwoods, but it was a
marine climate, perennially shrouded in fog and mist and
quite wet the year around—and particularly so in the
middle of spring.

Although Ruddygore's organization on Earth was based
in Europe, it had some connections and much in the way
of assets in the United States. Poquah regularly phoned
north to teams of private detectives employed to work
with and provide much information to them before they

204

JACK L. CHALKER                  205

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

arrived—and, hopefully, to provide backup, when and if
needed.

"A tremendous amount of work is going on inside the
compound," he told them. "Trucks and skilled workmen
have been going in and out all the time, and the Baron
has a substantial amount of free labor in his resident fol-
lowers, who appear to live mostly in tent cities in clearings
created by the old logging operations."

"If he only had a castle, he'd feel right at home," Joe
remarked. "I mean, here are his serfs toiling for him while
his heart bleeds for them."

"He has his castle—of sorts," Poquah said, pulling out
a small packet of photographs. "These were taken at great
risk by operatives with special equipment." The photo-
graphs showed various views of a huge old Victorian-
style mansion surrounded by redwood trees and some-
what shrouded in mist. The house, nonetheless, was
impressive.

"Where in hell did he find that 7' Marge asked.

"It was there, although not in that good shape, when
he bought the land two and a half years ago," the Imir
replied. "There is still a great demand for redwood, but
there was always money in the logging business—quite
a lot if you imagine the house when new. It was built by
and for one of the early California lumber barons, a man
named Stockman Mills, before the turn of the century. It
has, however, a tragic history. He was killed in a logging
accident while out looking over his operations—by acci-
dent, it was claimed, although it was suspected that it was
actually murder by a rival baron. His new bride, a San
Francisco society matron, and he hadn't even moved in
yet when it happened, and she never did move in, although
she paid to keep the house up for many years. It was
finally sold to a large lumber conglomerate who used it
as a base of operations; then later it was sublet to the
government for something called the Civilian Conserva-
tion Corps, I believe. It then fell into disuse and disrepair

until a large number of young people discovered it in the
sixties and founded a commune of some kind there."

"I think I know the type," Marge remarked.

"They seemed to have repaired the house and kept it
up. Indeed, they seemed to have a good deal of money
for it—enough so that eventually they attracted attention.
It was found they were engaged in the growing of some
narcotic or the other, and it was broken up years ago.
Until the Baron purchased the land, it was boarded up
and again, I assume, falling apart, but people seem to
have known how to build houses in those days. We don't
know its interior configuration now; but when it was built,
it had a deep cellar and a total of twenty-four rooms on
top. We know the Baron installed running water and indoor
plumbing, but it is not connected to the county system
and so must be by well and septic tank. It had no electric
when the Baron purchased it, but if you see these trailers
and that odd operation over to the side and in the back
of the house, you'll see that he now has his own small
generating station, sufficient for his needs. He may have
been spoiled in the past few years, but one suspects he
does not need a fully electrified home, considering his
background."

"Electricity again," Macore muttered. "I like what it
can do here, but I hate to see it involved in a problem. I
had a hell of a time with that one electrical alarm in Rud-
dygore's vault."

The Imir looked up at the thief. "How, indeed, did you
get around that one?"

"Spells are nothing but energy in a controlled field, and
so is electricity. They're used, controlled, generated,
transmitted, and the like in totally different ways, but
they're really two sides of the same coin. I just treated
the electrical current as if it were a spell and diverted it.
Even / have enough power to do that."

It was obvious that Poquah had never thought of it that
way—and, in fact, neither had Marge. If electricity could
be treated as a particular kind of spell energy, and if spells

206        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

traveled along electrical lines.... There was something
there, but neither could yet see it.

The Baron had spent much time with his magical
knowledge and his powerful computers. What problems
had he posed to those computers, and what had the com-
puters solved for him? What, in fact, could a mind like
Boquillas come up with if, instead of laboriously having
to work out each complex mathematical formula for a
spell by hand, he could do so with the speed and ease of

a computer?

"Now that we are getting close, there is something else
I'd better tell you," the Imir added. "We are not the first
party hostile to him to go to his lair, and we are not the
first to wish to do him harm. Some, including some of
our detectives, have become his strongest converts, par-
ticularly in the last month. Others have simply vanished."

That sobered them. Up until now, it had been some-
thing of an adventure, an exotic or nostalgic visit to new
places, depending on which of the band you were. Now
the fun was coming to an end. Now they were coming
close to their old and treacherous foes, and, unlike the
experience on the River of Dancing Gods, they could not
even bluff a backup by a higher power.

"It's only three days until the full moon," Tiana
reminded them. "We must make allowances for other
strange powers as well."

"Oh, yes—the were business," Poquah said, nodding.
"That's mostly a physical spell, I thought, yet it persists."

Joe sighed. "It's a long story, even though you heard
most of it, but when I wasn't myself and the original
mermaid wasn't herself I bit her, and it carried over.
Since—well, I've been bitten again. Let's leave it at that."
He seemed a bit embarrassed by that, and was surprised

at Poquah's response.

"For our purposes, it will be a very handy thing. The
Baron's followers, who call themselves the Elect, have
among them two groups that are a potential nonmagical
danger. One group, called the Elders, is an elite all-male

JACK L. CHALKER                  207

security force. Most are or have been violent criminals,
or combat soldiers, or law officers, and all are tough,
nasty, and ruthless. They are his security force and they
are quite good at what they do. The other group, the
Ministering Angels, is under the command of his nominal
wife and actual adept, the former Lynn Syzmanski, usu-
ally now called the Baroness by their followers."

"That's the former horror movie hostess?" Joe asked.

"Indeed. She began with pornographic movies, had
aspirations to be a real star, but never made it past the
late movie. A self-administered spell provided by the Baron
has restored her to her youthful prime. Her Ministering
Angels are her stunning supporting cast now, but don't
underestimate them. Beneath their beauty, they have been
given body-building and other extensive training, and have
learned every deadly art, including all of the martial arts.
They are many things, but to us they are deceptive and
quite effective bodyguards for the top echelon. Even stark
naked, it is said that they could defeat professional combat
troops. I repeat: Do not underestimate them. They are
designed to be underestimated—until it is too late."

"Neat system," Marge noted. "The guys guard the
property and external dangers; the girls guard the people."

"Yes," the Imir agreed. "So, you see, being a were is
not necessarily a liability. We have timed this well enough
so that both you, Joe, and you, Tiana, will be able to do
some infiltrating more effectively than anyone else. And,
of course, you are impervious to anything except silver,
which includes the sort of bullets they use here."

Joe nodded. "I figured as much. That saved me from
the Baron once before, remember."

"Yes, I do remember. Only do not be complacent. Rest
assured that the Baron remembers quite well, too. He
expects you, and has a particular score to settle with you,
so don't get too cocky. Let him be the one with the over-
confidence."

"We'll remember," Joe assured him. "Now what's our

208        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

first move? We'll be in his backyard tomorrow night, unless
you want me to keep going today."

"No, that will not be necessary. We need immediate
facts and a layout. I need to know what that manor house
looks like now, and I need to know what has been added
or subtracted since. Tomorrow, we will split up into tem-
porary teams. Marge, you and Gimlet can fly and both of
you have exceptional night vision. You will take Gimlet
with you and do a general flyover, getting an idea of the
terrain and the situation within. If you are undetected and
in the clear, then Gimlet is well suited actually to enter
the house and check it out."

"Dis goi's a big shot wizard and you t'ink he won't
know me?" The pixie sounded worried.

"He will not expect a pixie in particular. You don't
reflect or trip optical alarms, and your hearing is more
than adequate to avoid sonic alarms. You can see spells,
even if you can't read them at his level, and avoid them.
No risks—see what you can see and get back out to
Marge."

"Yeah. Easy fer you to say, hot shot. And wudd'l you
be doing while we got our necks stuck in it?"

"Macore and I will be checking with our operatives.
Joe—you and Tiana will have a different mission. You'll
be traveling a bit, and can leave early if you're up to it.
We have located a long-time resident of that commune I
spoke of, living just over the county line. We want to
know what changes they might have made—particularly
hidden areas, which would be logical for ones in their
business to create."

"Yeah, I see," Macore put in, his professional thief's
mind working. "They were doing something illegal and
they had to be always afraid that the law would sneak up
on them, so they had to think of all the ways and guard
against them. They'd know the lay of the land pretty
good."

"Just as interesting," Poquah responded, "is how the

JACK L. CHALKER                 209

law managed to get inside in spite of all that forethought
and catch them with incriminating goods."

"I am a little concerned about going so far," Tiana said.
"If it is as wet a climate as is indicated, I might well be
unable to use the adaptation at all, or I might change at
any moment."

The Imir shrugged. "Believe me, if this person even
noticed it at all, she would think it an asset."

The place clearly had once been a church, in older,
better times. It now was a pale shadow of itself, with
paint peeling off its stucco walls and obvious gaps where
parts of the exterior had split, fallen, and splintered to
the ground. There was no cross atop the small steeple
anymore, nor any other signs of its former life in the dingy
small town that had been bypassed by all the highways
and by life itself.

A hand-painted, crude sign over the entrance read; THE

NEO-PRIMITIVE HAWAIIAN CHURCH.

Tiana had worn one of her overly long dresses and was
using the wheelchair, although she still had her legs for
now. The dampness was already creeping in, and it was
only a question of time until the air struck the inner ridges
of the coastal range and was lifted high enough to give
up its moisture.

Joe stared blankly at the door as he helped Tiana out
of the van. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"Knock?" she suggested.

He did, but there was no response. Finally he decided
just to open the door, an old wooden two-part barrier that
formed an entry arch. It opened, and he helped Tiana up
the steps and then back into the chair, and they went
inside.

It seemed foggier inside than out, with a thick mist
curling around the floor of the old structure, but the mist
was definitely not of natural origin. The air was thick with
an incredible mixture of incense scents as well. The whole
of the interior appeared to have been cleared of pews and

210

JACK L. CHALKER                211

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

other structures and thickly woven straw matting had been
placed over the entire floor. On all sides were enormous
images of Hawaiian gods and totems, some quite realistic,
others very crudely painted and decorated in garish colors.
Ahead was the altar, upon which stood a gigantic and
very impressive wooden carving of a Hawaiian deity,
flanked by others in descending order of size and, pos-
sibly, rank. In front of the deity was a sculpted horizontal
redwood platform, decorated with flowered garlands, and
on it, stretched out, was the still figure of a dark-skinned
female body, stark naked except for a lei and flowers in
her black hair. Somewhere, from cheap speakers, Hawaiian
chants came forth in a monotonous drum-accompanied
performance. The needle definitely needed cleaning or
changing.

Both of them were shocked and thought much the same
thing. Tiana looked up at Joe. "Do you think she is a
sacrifice?"

"I—I don't know."

"Joe—I'm changing. The rain must be here."

"Just sit tight. I'm going to see if she's still alive." He
approached slowly, warily. He would not have been at all
surprised to find a horde of Polynesian savages suddenly
rise from the thick mist of the floors and attack him with
spears.

He walked up to the altar and heard Tiana's wheelchair
follow close, the same tenseness in her as in himself. He
looked down at the girl and was relieved to see a very
slight rise and fall, indicating breathing. She was certainly
of Polynesian ancestry from her looks, but not as young
as she'd appeared from a distance—perhaps early thir-
ties. It was hard to tell.

He stood there a moment, wondering what to do, when
her eyes opened and she looked up and saw him standing
there. Suddenly she sat up and swiveled around so she
was sitting, facing them, and she smiled. "Oh, hi!" she
said.

Joe was so taken aback that he was at a loss for words

for a moment. Finally he managed, "Uh—I'm sorry if we
disturbed you."

"Oh, you didn't disturb me. I always meditate for two
hours after dinner. It helps clear the head and combats
food allergies. I'm Mahalo McMahon. And you are?"

"Uh—I'm Joe Romero, and this is my wife Tiana."

The mist covered the wheelchair up to the spokes,
further masking any sign of fins, already difficult to see
in the eerie light of the old church.

"You folks here for the services, just passing through
and got curious, or are you something else?"

"Something else," he told her.

She suddenly froze up. "We don't talk to narcs. You
caused us enough trouble."

"We're not narcs. We don't care about that at all. We
are interested if you were one of the folks who used to
live at the Mills place, though."

She looked suspiciously at the two of them. "You're
not wearing yellow, but I don't talk to Pathies no matter
what."

"What has yellow to do with them?" Tiana asked her.

"They all wear something yellow. I don't think it means
anything, just a uniform or something, you know."

They filed that one away under useful things Poquah
forgot to mention and got on with it.

"If that's your attitude, I think we can be friendly. You
see, we knew the Baron long ago. This isn't the first time
he's tried to become powerful and subjugate lots of peo-
ple."

"Lots of people don't like him, but he's got real power.
If you're for real, you're not long for this world."

"We are for real," Tiana assured her. "The Baron once
commanded armies with a demon as an ally, and still we
defeated him. We know who and what he is and how he
does what he does."

Mahalo McMahon was unconvinced. "You sound Ger-
man, and you, big boy, sound like a truck driver with too

212

JACK L. CHALKER                213

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

much education. Where the hell could he have com-
manded armies? He ain't old enough to have been a Nazi."

"Not in Europe," Joe told her. "Not anyplace you've
ever heard of. He's from a different place—than here. So
are we."

"Yeah? Like where?"

Joe heard a noise behind him, turned, and saw that
Tiana was removing her dress. When she finished, she
said, "Joe—pick me up so she can see me."

He was hesitant. "You're sure?"

"Just do it."

He went down to her, not feeling good about this, as
McMahon, still nude except for flowers and lei, watched
in a mixture of suspicion and fascination.

Joe lifted Tiana up, and there was no mistaking what
sort of creature she was. The eyes of the woman on the
altar went wide, and her mouth dropped a bit.

"From a place where races like mine live," said Tiana.
"From a place that took in the fairies when they were run
off this world. From a place where good and evil men do
battle with sorcery and with swords. Can you accept that?"
Joe put her back down into the chair.

For a few moments Mahalo McMahon said nothing.
Then, finally, she whispered, "Wow! Like in Dungeons
and Dragons." She thought for a moment, then said, a
little more confidently, "Okay, I believe you, at least for
tonight. Tomorrow I'll decide if you got a real bad disease
or if this was the best hash I ever smoked, but for now
I'll believe you. All right, Conan, what do you want to
know?"

Once she got into the spirit of the thing, Mahalo
McMahon was a wealth of information, not only on the
house and grounds but also on the True Path itself, although
this information was often punctuated with digressions on
just about anything.

That night she was alone in her little church, testing
out what she called the atmosphere, but usually there
were between half a dozen and a dozen regulars, most,

like her, "forcibly removed from agriculture," and a cou-
ple who were very young and had a nostalgia thing for
the days of communes. All were women, some with small
children, and the church seemed to be something of a
feminist commune. They'd picked it because the Hawaiian
religions were generally close to nature, and also because
she had read that no woman was ever sacrificed to a
volcano—only men. Of course, women in the old Hawaiian
culture were strictly subordinate; that was why it was the
"Neo-Primitive" church. As a church with a physical
building, they generally avoided taxes and had a certain
freedom in what they did.

As for the Baron, she thought of him as a "creepy kind
of preacher; you know, like Jim Jones used to be," but
handsome and charming on TV or in the few early times
before he'd sealed himself off from all but the media,
which he carefully controlled. His cultist group, which
perhaps numbered several thousand, was totally dedi-
cated and quite dangerous and ruthless, but beyond his
small domain, she thought he was overestimated.

"In two or three years he might be powerful enough
to influence some votes in the legislature or go national,
but right now, even as these things go in the West, he's
strictly small potatoes," she assured them. "Now, that
don't mean that he's not strong—that new preacher he's
got is supposed to be dynamite—but just that his strength
don't even extend to outside the county, like here. Folks
around here don't like or trust him, and there's enough
people and towns in this county that he won't find it as
easy to take over."

Finally, there was some time for her to satisfy her own
curiosity. "This place you come from—this somewhere
else? It's like in the books, huh? Dragons and unicorns
and all that?"

"Yes, all that," Tiana assured her. "But no machines,
no electricity, none of the modern conveniences. It sounds
romantic, but actually can be quite dull, or quite danger-

214

JACK L. CHALKER                   215

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

ous, or back-breaking work, depending on who and where
you are."

"Yeah, well, ain't that just like anyplace else?" She
paused a moment. "If you get by the Baron and go back,
can you take passengers?"

"Not really," Joe told her. "It's not up to us or anything
we control. But if anybody would like it over there, I
think you might. I'll put in a good word for you, but don't
get your hopes up."

That seemed to satisfy her, and they left the little church
and walked into a cold, damp, misty rain. They got into
the van and started off.

"Joe—I like her. She seems more of Husaquahr than
of Earth."

He chuckled. "Maybe, but I'd like to see her when
she's straight first. If she's ever straight."

"Uh—it is still early and it is not far to the ocean, is
it?"

"About ten miles. Why?"

"If we are about to go full into the Baron's lair, I would
like one chance to swim in the ocean. I do not know if I
will get another chance."

"You're thinking of the 'pickled fish' line." He tried to
sound casual, but he'd been thinking of it as well and he
couldn't see a good outcome. "It's pretty messy out—
the ocean will be choppy and the shoreline around here
is pretty rough with sharp rocks and the like."

"Joe—it is this body's natural element. I will be all
right."

He hesitated, weighing anxiety now versus never hear-
ing the end of this later, and finally gave in. When they
came out on US-101, he went down a bit and then took a
road toward the sea.

The weather was bad enough, and his concern over
Tiana real enough, that he never gave a thought that the
two small headlights far in back of him might be following

him.

*   *   *

The compound was smaller than even the smallest of
landed estates in Husaquahr, but it was fairly large never-
theless. With Gimlet riding in her pouch, peering out at
the terrain below. Marge did as complete a survey of the
place as she could.

Poquah had certainly overestimated the number of per-
manent followers, at least those on the land. Although it
was impossible really to tell, with the wetness driving
most indoors, she doubted if more than seven or eight
hundred actually lived in the tents that dotted the clear-
ings, and certainly no more than a thousand. That was
certainly bad enough, but it was no legion. In a sense, it
was comforting, since it was a large enough group that
most were likely strangers to one another, while it was
small enough to keep track of.

There were not only guards and patrols, but spells as
well on this land. She had no trouble in diverting them
around her, but they clearly were effective against ordi-
nary Earth people, causing tremendous disorientation. You
could break into the place with little trouble, but you'd
wander around and never find your way out again. It was
clever and effective—the Elders and their dogs would
certainly find you after awhile.

The great mansion looked less impressive in person
than in pictures. Clearly the place needed painting, and
there were still rough patches on the roof and even some
broken windows just boarded up on the upper floors. This
was indeed the very early stages of the Baron's plans,
and what money and resources he had were obviously
going into other efforts.

There were two large trailers with noisy electrical gen-
erators, one powering lights around the grounds and some
remote security outposts, the other leading to the house
itself. Some plumbing and other work had been done; an
old outside well was now capped and had a complex of
pipes leading from it into the house. Marge guessed that
there were two wells, one there and one probably under

216

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JACK L.CHALKER

217

the old kitchen itself, but there was no way to be sure
without going in there.

It was certain that the house was a place of magic—
dark, powerful magic. Both Marge and Gimlet felt it as
well as saw it, and for the Kauri it was the strongest sense
of pure evil since she'd come face to face with the Demon
Prince Hiccarph himself. It was not a feeling the pixie
was accustomed to at all, and certainly not one she enjoyed.

"You expect me to go in dereV

"I think you'll be safe, if you're careful," Marge assured
her. "I'd do it myself, but I suspect that there are defenses
in there for Kauris. He knows I'll be one of those coming,
and he knows me pretty well. These spells will be designed
against those ofHusaquahr; you're of Earth, and he won't
be expecting that. If you feel anything demonic, get out
of there fast though. Those demons won't have trouble
with the Earth-born, and that's both of us."

Marge found a window high up on the third floor that
had been weakly repaired and set down on a sill in front
of it.

"Looks like it could be a trap for flying folks," the
pixie said worriedly. "Dat opening's just big enough for
somebody like me."

"That's why I think it's safe. He'll be expecting some-
body more my size, and it might be rigged so if the opening
were enlarged it would trigger a trap, but not otherwise.
You've got power and speed and guts. Go on."

"I beg to dispute," the pixie responded worriedly, but
she went to the opening and peered in.

It looked deserted, and, surprisingly, appeared to have
no spells. There were bat droppings around the place, but
nobody was home right at this hour. Taking a deep breath,
Gimlet crawled through and inspected the room.

At first she thought it was a dead end; there seemed
no way out and it was certainly unused, perhaps since
the original owners, but then she found an old dumb-
waiter. It effectively blocked the shaft, as, perhaps, it was
intended to do, but pixies, as Marge said, had some power

to compensate for their size. She flew in, then excreted
a small bit of a shiny, powdery substance, and the dumb-
waiter rose slowly, just enough to allow for a gap beneath.

The shaft proved to go all the way to the basement,
although Gimlet was in no mood to experiment more than
she had to. The doors to the dumbwaiter were all shut,
of course, but since at least one had to have been opened
in order to raise the little car to its blocking position on
the third floor, she managed to find one, right at ground
level, that slid back a bit with what little weight she could
put on it. She decided to risk leaving it open for a quick
getaway. The gap was small enough that it probably
wouldn't be noticed anyway, and the place was drafty as
it was.

Methodically, she began to explore the house.

Joe had spent some time going over the information
and drawings McMahon had provided; but as the time
wore on, he just settled back, listening to a country station
on the radio, and began to snooze.

Suddenly he awoke with a start as both doors to the
van were jerked open with force. He started to make a
move, but the two men, one at each door, had pretty large
guns.

"Just step out of the van and make no funny moves,"
the one closest to him warned. Both were dressed in dark
business suits soaked through from the rain, but both also
had on yellow shirts and yellow ties.

He did as instructed. "All right, boys. What's this all
about? I have about twenty bucks you're welcome to but,
other than that and the van, there's not much here."

The other man slid into the van and picked up the
drawings and diagrams, looked them over, then stuck them
in his suit coat.

"Don't be funny," the first man said. "We're not rob-
bers, and I think you know it. Now, where's your lady
friend?"

218

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

219

Joe gestured in the direction of the pounding surf. "Out
there. She had a sudden urge for a swim."

The man struck him—hard. "Don't be funny, I said!
What do you take us for, anyway?"

"I take you for the Baron's men. I take you for what
he calls his Elders. A little out of your jurisdiction, aren't
you?"

"Aw, skip it," said the other. "She's a cripple and won't
be hard to find. Even if we don't, what's she gonna do
on her own out hereT'

Being covered by the other one, the first was cocky,
and stuck his pistol almost up Joe's nose. "Listen, smart
guy. We ask, you answer. If we like your answer, you
might live through this. If we don't, you're gonna be pretty
sore."

"I've been pretty sore before, but asking questions is
free."

They didn't like his attitude, but they were here on
business first. Joe longed for his old, perfect body now,
which could have disarmed and made mincemeat out of
both of them in a series of moves, but he decided not to
risk anything until he also found out a little.

"Okay, big guy—why were you pressing that bubble-
brain back there?"

"We wanted good directions to the beach and some
pineapple."

The man hit him again. The other said, "You have a
lot of plans about the castle here. What were you trying
to do?"

"Find out all I could about your happy little heaven."

That was better. "Why?" the first one asked. "Who
are you working for?"

Joe thought fast. "The Sierra Club," he told them.

That brought both of them up short. "The Sierra Club?"

"Your boss made a deal to get the land and keep it out
of the hands of the government. Now he's moving in
hordes of people, generators, lots of equipment—we think
he violated his agreement. We think he's preparing to

make so many changes he'll damage the land beyond repair.
Since you've refused to let us in, we're getting information
where we can. And that's the truth."

The first man stared past Joe to the second. "What do
you think?"

"I think we ought to take him in and let the Master
talk to him."

"Yeah, I—"

Joe moved with sudden swiftness against the first man.
He was not in the condition that he once was, but he
knew all the moves and he wasn't in bad shape. He was
not about to desert Tiana and be hauled before Dacaro
or Boquillas right now.

Both he and the man outside the van went down, and
the gun flew into the darkness. Ignoring the man down,
he turned and kicked the van door hard before the first
man could react, catching his arm between the door and
the post. He then flung the door open and pulled the man
from the van violently, adrenaline and mental training
replacing what he'd lost.

The gunman recovered, though, and was no pushover,
suddenly coming to life and pushing Joe off, then launch-
ing himself on the big man. They struggled and fought for
what seemed several minutes, but finally Joe seemed to
prevail.

There were three sharp explosions, and Joe felt terri-
ble, tearing pain in his back. The first man had found his
pistol and had panicked. Joe cried out in agony and released
his own opponent, then rolled onto the ground.

The first man helped the second man up, and they
looked at Joe. "What'U we do now?"

"Get back to the castle and report. We can ditch the
van on the way so his lady friend can't find it, even if she
can drive."

"What about him?"

"Forget about him. Can't you see with your own eyes?
He's dead."

JACK L.CHALKER                 221

CHAPTER I 4

INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR

... For I well believe
Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know...

—William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part I

IT WAS A BRIGHT AND SUNNY MORNING, ATYPICALLY

warm and clear for this part of the country in this season
of the year. Poquah wished to take full advantage of it,
but he first had to arrange for a car to be sent over by
some of the detectives on retainer.

It had been well after six when one of the special trou-
ble numbers had rung and the call had been relayed to
the Imir. He knew something had happened when Joe and
Marge had failed to return or call in the previous evening
and he already had people out at McMahon's place check-
ing on things. What they had discovered had not been
encouraging. McMahon had apparently not returned from
the church and there was no sign of her anywhere. The
tape recorder was still on and the small fog machines were
still hissing and overheating, although long out of the
chemicals that made them go, but of the high priestess of
the Neo-Primitives there was no sign.

The Imir was relieved, then, when he heard Joe's voice
on the line.

"Yeah, three shots right in the back at point-blank range.
Really screwed up my shirt. I'll tell you, that were stuff
really paid off for me last night. Good thing they weren't
using silver bullets, anyway. I figured the best thing to do

220

was to play dead, though—the shock knocked me out for
a couple of minutes, and when I came to I had the choice
of lying there or killing them. I figured I was better dead.
No sense in the Baron learning that somebody got up
after taking those kinds of slugs. He'd know in a minute
it was me."

"I agree. But why did you take so long to call?"
"Hell, Poquah! It was the middle of nowhere, and I
still had to wait for Tiana, although she was nearby and
saw most of it. I cleaned off as best I could, but a guy
walking or hitchhiking up the road with a blood-stained
back would be about as obvious as a mermaid jumping
up on a pier and making a phone call. It took some time,
and I still feel really conspicuous here."

"I will be down to pick you up as soon as possible."
It was about a fifty minute drive along less than perfect
roads, but Poquah had no trouble finding the spot and
picking Joe up by the side of the road. The Imir had
brought along clean clothes, which Joe needed badly, and
the big man changed while they went back to pick up
Tiana. She was glad to see them, although almost reluc-
tant to leave the sea. She alone had not suffered at all
during the period.

"They didn't make us, so they must have had the church
staked out," Joe told him. "What I can't figure out is why
they let her loose in the first place if she was a threat to
them."

"She probably wasn't," Poquah replied. "At least, they
did not believe she had any information that couldn't be
gleaned elsewhere. They allowed her to be bait unknow-
ingly, I suspect, since she's an obvious source for anyone
looking into the Baron's affairs. That is why her abduction
now worries me. If it was just after you left, then we
might weep for her but not worry very much, since they
might simply have decided that she was of no further use.
However, if they went back for her after their encounter
with you, then they wanted to pump her for information

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VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

on you, and, as I gather from your preliminary account,
she knows quite a bit."

"It was the only way to get her to open up," Tiana
explained. "It did not seem much of a risk."

"Yeah, considering she was higher than a kite at the

time," Joe added.

"Most would dismiss her story, but Dacaro and the
Baron will not. We must assume that they will put the
Elders' account together with hers and come up with
the correct assumptions. They will assume that it was
you, Joe, and that means they will not assume that you
are dead, and they will also now assume that Marge is
here as well. We must accelerate our timetable, even
though the evidence shows that the Baron is not yet as
strong as we believed. There is not only increasing danger
to us, but also the danger that he will accelerate whatever
plans he has in operation. I want you both to get a good
night's sleep because you'll have to be ready to go while
it's still light. Tonight is the first night of the full moon;

if we lose it, we lose one opportunity."

"So you want us to go in tonight?"

"Yes. This will be an exploratory foray at ground level,
but it may give us the last few pieces of the puzzle. Late
this afternoon, if the weather holds, I'd like to go into
town and pick some likely prospects. I spotted the van,
off the road a few miles ahead. But since it will be rec-
ognized now, we'll leave it and stick to this car. We can
always pick it up later, if we need it."

"The demonic force behind all this resides below,"
Poquah told them in a briefing before they were to go into
town. "Gimlet and even Marge felt it and knew that it
was there, although it does seem somewhat under control
by the proper spells and restrictions. Do not under-
estimate it."

"Still only one demon, though," Tiana remarked. "Can

it be Hiccarph again?"

"It is doubtful. The demotion seemed plain, and they

wouldn't trust a known blunderer and insubordinate on
an Earth project. It will be one of the majors, though—
count on that. We will have to find some way to deal with
it. I am still not clear why they need it this close to the
Earthly plane of existence. Dacaro has more than enough
power for this sort of operation." He thought a moment.
"Unless Dacaro himself is being prepared merely as a
conduit through which the demonic power can flow. Yes,
that must be it, but what could the Baron have dreamed
up that would require that much raw power?"

"Great, so we got a demon in the cellar—" Joe began,
but Poquah cut him off.

"No, beneath the cellar and not quite in this plane of
reality, but real enough."

"So, all right, that gives us still more of a blank. Did
Gimlet get down to the cellar at all?"

"No, the tremendous force of evil made her quite nat-
urally too afraid to do so. The first floor, however, has
been redone so that there is a single long room along the
left side, here, terminating in a standard altar and having
a few hundred folding chairs. This is obviously the chapel
where they conduct services for the locals. On the other
side, there is a large and comfortably furnished reception
room and in back of that is the kitchen. On the second
floor is a suite of offices, still in the unfinished stages,
used by Dacaro and the Baroness, and also headquarters
and quarters for the chief Elders and the heads of the
Ministering Angels. The third floor is only partially used,
apparently as communal quarters for more of the enforce-
ment personnel, and is partly sealed off. The fourth floor
is boarded up and not used at all."

"Hmmm..." Tiana studied the drawings made from
Gimlet's observations. "So where are the Baron's offices?"

"In the cellar, we must assume. The Baron and Bar-
oness use the master bedroom on the second floor, while
Dacaro is currently sleeping in a small area behind the
altar downstairs until they finish up his own complex. The
exterior is well patrolled by the Elders; the interior has

224

JACK L. CHALKER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

225

a Ministering Angel or two in each of the rooms. Gimlet
says that all of the Angels are totally enslaved by spells,
and are specifically assigned to a task—a room, a person,
and so on. The Elders have more freedom and individu-
ality and less clearly defined tasks, but are no less bound.
She also states that there is a lot of equipment of various
sorts piled up all over the place, and that technicians seem
to be working there day and night. Just what's up, though,
is unclear, although I have some suspicions. Come. Let's

go into town."

"Aren't you afraid they'll recognize me?" Joe asked

him.

"It is unlikely that those Elders will be around, and I
wouldn't worry about them in any event. The Baron, if
he doesn't already know, will know soon enough."

The day remained fairly clear and warm, giving Tiana
some help, and the three drove the car from the old indus-
try siding where the truck was parked and into the town.

It was in fact a quite attractive little place, not very
large but with all the requisites—a general store, a small
cafe, a couple of tiny old churches, a sheriff's office—
but no jail—a gas station, a tiny branch bank, a Wards
catalog store, and nine places selling redwood burl. There
were mostly pickups parked diagonally up and down the
lone main street, but not a lot of people or traffic. The
place looked unnaturally, antiseptically clean, though, and,
while the people they did see were all dressed pretty nor-
mally for this place and the time of the year, almost all
of them seemed to have something yellow on—a shirt, a
skirt, or perhaps a kerchief. Even Joe, Tiana, and Poquah
wore yellow shirts this time; in Stockman Mills, even
those who weren't members of the True Path found it
better to show solidarity.

It looked peaceful, orderly, and friendly enough, but
there was something intangible in the air that they could

nonetheless all feel.

"You can almost smell the fear," Tiana remarked.

Poquah nodded. "It is a strong stench, like being in
one of the towns after the Baron's soldiers had taken it."

"But—can't all those legitimate religious figures smell
it, too?" Joe asked him. "I mean, here was Dacaro guest-
preaching on some guy's TV show a few days ago, and
you tell me he's gotten support."

"People see what they wish to see," the Imir responded.
"In just recent Earth history, we find Hitler the social
reformer, Pol Pot the democratic liberator of Cambodia,
and Khomeni the democratic liberal. In this very state,
they hailed the Reverend Jones as a liberal reformer and
even appointed him to government office. Humans are
very much oriented to the surface, rather than what is
within, both here and back home."

"But he can't fool all of the people all of the time,"
Joe noted. "Eventually he has to come out into the open."

"Perhaps. Probably. They all did, didn't they? But how
much innocent blood was spilled to stop the cancers that
should have been obvious? How many dead, maimed,
and ruined in Husaquahr to block the Baron's visions of
social reform? That is why we must stop him here and
now, while the toll is still relatively small."

The plans and the passwords were set. Tonight, a few
more people would attend the services.

Shortly after dark, Marge joined them. She had no need
for transformations and disguises, being well able to man-
ufacture her own. In fact, she just wanted to test things
out a bit while it was easier to escape, and went into the
general store on the pretext of buying a small can of orange
juice. She used pretty much the same appearance she'd
worn back in Texas, but without makeup and wearing
plain-looking clothes. It was an easy, natural illusion to
maintain, although she decided to forgo glasses as a fol-
lower of a faith healer.

"Peace be unto you, sister," said the young, clean-cut-
looking man behind the counter who was dressed all in
yellow.

"And to you, brother," she responded, having been

226

JACK L. CHALKER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

227

briefed on the conventions they used. There weren't many;

the Baron wanted loyalty and he really didn't want to
work at a wholesale transformation of individual person-
alities—yet. She got the juice, gave him some coins, and,
smiling, left the store. It was both easy—and disturbing.
There had been a small TV camera of the kind usual in
store security on them at all times, and, since no one had
challenged her, they were going to have a real problem if
and when they reviewed that tape, for she'd neither show
up on it visually or vocally. Of course, the store would
also be eighty cents short for the day. Her money was as
illusory as her appearance.

She would have to avoid close interaction with others
where such cameras were likely to be, and alter her
appearance and clothing each time. She walked down the
street, smiling and nodding to those she met, and walked
past the small church at one end of town. It was unusual
for a town this small to have two churches, although they
both were clearly closed, possibly from lack of interest.
The one church, an old Protestant one, was being fixed
up, possibly to handle overflow, but this one was left
vacant, although it did look cared for. The old, weathered
sign out front read: ST. DIONYSIUS ROMAN CATHOLIC

CHURCH.

Curious, she walked up the path and saw someone
tending to what appeared to be a small garden on the side
of the tiny church building. He was humming a tune and
seemed to be in fairly good spirits, although it was rather
odd to be tending a garden after dark, all things consid-
ered. He was dressed all in black; for a moment she wasn't
certain he wasn't some kind of specter, a trap of the Bar-
on's. This was, after all, enemy territory in spades.

The man heard her, or sensed something, turned, looked
over at her, and an expression of total amazement was
on his face. It was a kindly face, with rimless glasses,
rosy cheeks, and blue eyes. He was perhaps fifty, graying,
and looking far more weathered than his years. He was

also, by his dress and collar, a priest, and by his manner
and his odor, quite drunk.

"Faith! What sort of fairy vision is this?" he managed,
using a not very authentic-sounding Irish brogue.

She was certain that her illusory powers were on and
fully working, so she decided he was just being pleasant.
"You are a priest? Here?"

"Aye, that I am. And what, pray tell, might you be,
all orange and with crimson wings?"

That settled it! The man could see through her disguise!
For some reason, her illusory projection, which could fool
whole cities, had no effect on this man. "You can see me
with wings?"

"Aye, sure I can! Are ya some demon from the heath-
ens yonder come to close me down at last?"

"I'm no demon. Father. They are my enemies as much
as yours."

He stood up and waved the trowel. "Then let's have
at the beggars!"

She tried to quiet him and finally managed it. "It won't
work—that way. This evil is the kind you preach about,
and that your liberal theologians claim doesn't even exist."

He sank back down and sat on the grass. "Used to
preach about, you mean. Hasn't been anybody come to
these services in months." He sighed, and tears welled
up in his eyes. "It never was much of a congregation,
understand—just twenty or thirty people—but adequate
for an old man who couldn't get along in the big city
churches after bein' an army chaplain for twenty-five
years." He reached into his coat for a flask, opened it,
took a good slug, then carefully recapped it and put it
back. "Now there's none that come, even for baptism.
He took the whole of the Church of the Woods on the
other side of town, too, including Bob Moody, the pastor."

"I'm surprised he didn't come directly for you. A Cath-
olic priest on his side would have been something inter-
esting."

"No. He wants no deaths, not even accidents, around

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JACK L. CHALKER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

229

here. It might attract attention. He hoped that, without a
church, my superiors would simply declare this and me
a loss and send me away, but I've no place to go and no
place to stay except here, and I have my army pension,
so I'm officially retired anyway. He can't have me, for I
know him for what he is and who he represents, and he
wants me nowhere near his little compound." He hic-
cupped and then looked sheepish, but continued. "You
see, his master knows I've performed exorcisms." He
sighed, and took another slug from the flask. "I don't
know why I stay, but that's just the way it's been. Too
old or too stubborn, I guess."

She was certainly interested now, even though the man
was becoming increasingly drunk. She doubted if he could
stand up right now, yet, oddly, the more he drank the less
accent he had and his conversation remained lucid.

Exorcisms! Few even in his own church, let alone oth-
ers, still believed in it at all. If he had not only a belief
in demons but knowledge of how to control or send them
back, that was in itself magic of a very high art. It was
too bad he was so pickled now that he was starting to
lean to one side. Clearly it wouldn't be more than a few
minutes before he passed out completely. She thought he
was out cold now, but suddenly he perked up.

"It's my fate to be ground into the ground here and
now," he wailed, stifling a sob. "Do you know what my
name is? Francis Xavier O'Grady. I had it legally changed
because I was in awe of Barry Fitzgerald." He raised the
flask unsteadily. "Here's to old Barry, the greatest priest
of all times!"

"Then you're not really Irish?"

"No, actually I was born Casimir Wyczalek. In those
days, in Boston, you didn't have priests named Casimir
Wyczalek, and nobody would confess to a priest whose
name they could neither spell nor pronounce. So I had it
legally changed—and they went and elected a Polish
Pope!" He broke down in deep sobs.

"Uh—Father, about those exorcisms. Were they real?"

He stopped for a moment and nodded. "Indeed. Other-
wise I would never have tried, in spite of all those George-
town psychiatrists saying as how it was because their
mothers talked mean to them when they were still in the
womb. But devils can be controlled. Their power is lim-
ited, lass, to those who fear or worship them. With the
right words and the right symbols and with God's power,
they can be stopped." He tried to get up, but couldn't
quite manage it. She went over and offered him a hand,
although she was far shorter and much slighter than he.

He took it, but did not rise. "Such a strange hand," he
said, marveling. "There is an unnatural warmth and power
in you. I can feel it, but I do not feel the evil such power
usually accompanies. Are you an angel, then?"

"I'm no angel, but I am of the fairy folk. The Baron
is a man of great evil who came from our world to this
when he failed there. We—what is that little pin in your
lapel?" It was a strange, abstract design of some gold or
gold-plated material.

"Why, 'tis the fish, the ancient symbol of Christianity.
Surely you should know that."

She felt an eerie shock, the same sort of shock she felt
when she'd discovered the injured Gimlet on the Midland
rooftop.

While the demons are stopped by a pickled fish....

"I must go now," she told him. "Will you be all right?"
"Aye, I'll be fine, don't worry. As fine as you can be

when you're alone in the seat of Hell on Earth."

"You are not alone. Father," she told him. "In fact,

some time tomorrow you can expect a visit from other

friends."

The True Path leaders didn't want the identifying marks
too attractive or too distinctive; the believers should seem
just average-looking people going up to the services. Ordi-
nary nonbelievers who tried to walk in were caught by

230

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

the spell; that had been what had frustrated the detectives.
Still, none of the believers had spells themselves, or at
least not spells of any similarity not otherwise accounted
for, so the way through the spell had to be physical. If
so, Joe and Tiana, as weres, were home free. Marge would
not go in as a parishioner, but would instead join the
throng after flying over the barrier.

The true faithful donned yellow robes before going in,
which was handy, since a were transformation didn't
include clothing and might have been embarrassing. There
was no way to time the change accurately, and no sure
way that Joe and Marge would keep together without
merely changing into each other, which wouldn't have
been much help, so they just donned the robes Poquah
had procured and then joined the throng near sunset.
Although they had a password system, neither expected
to be with or know the other until it was all over; inside,
they would be strictly on their own.

Joe tried to angle himself so he stood along the side of
the path near where a couple of men roughly his size were
talking, but he knew the folly of trying to get what he
wanted at random on a curse like this from bitter expe-
rience. The men, it turned out, were waiting for their
wives, and Joe found himself, not for the first time, turned
into a woman by virtue of perhaps three seconds and five
inches. He didn't mind that so much—he'd had it happen
often enough he almost expected it—but the woman had
been a good five inches shorter than he, and now the
robe, which had been deliberately tailored a bit short on
him, was baggy and dragged on the ground. She was also
fat and not at all in good physical shape, which made the
long trek into the compound and up to the mansion a real
effort. He had no trouble in distancing himself from the
real person whose body he now perfectly imitated.

It grew damp and chilly in these parts at night, too,
and most people had on their clothes and shoes under
their robes. Because of the problems involved, he found

JACK L. CHALKER                231

himself barefoot and wearing only the robe, and that only
increased his misery.

Still, he made it, and found himself in a sea of yellow.
The grounds in front of the house had been fully lighted
by the perimeter lamps, and the big front porch was also
all bright. Before the front door was a lectern, and on
either side of the porch and on slim poles in the back were
loudspeakers. It was clearly the only way these people
could be accommodated.

Whatever the physical mark was that got you in, it was
on the body, for he'd had no problems. Now he just took
a position about halfway back and waited for it all to
begin. For such a large throng, there was little or no
talking and much meditation. He liked it that way, boring
as it was. He didn't want to have to get friendly with
anyone and make any slips here.

Finally the front door opened and a darkly handsome
man in a yellow suit walked out, flanked by four beautiful
yellow-robed women: his Ministering Angels. Even here
he wasn't taking any chances.

Dacaro appeared very sleek and very Earth modern,
but otherwise he hadn't changed a bit. He looked out at
the crowd and seemed to smile cockily at the power rep-
resented there. Then, after a moment, he began to speak.

"Peace be unto you, my brothers and sisters following
the True Path." His voice was the same silky, mellow
voice it had been so long before, but his English was
flawless and about as devoid of accent as any could get.
He might have been from Kansas or Nebraska.

"And to you and all the Lord's works," responded the
crowd reverently.

"Brothers and sisters, we meet here tonight at a crucial
turning point in our divine mission," he continued. "You
are the leaders who will not only see the great revolution
we will make, but will lead it and guide it in our Lord's
name." His voice began rising now, and he took on a really
good preacher's tone.

"You have seen the hand of the Lord in how far we've

232

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

come in so short a time. Less than three years ago we
were unheard of. Then the Master came, with the power
of the Lord in his hands and mind, and walked among
many of you and healed you of what science could not.
He cured your cancers, made sick hearts healthy, and
even regrew and restored limbs that had been severed
from you, or made useless. This was his sign to you, and
those of you who understood came to him to serve!
Together, we have built this place. Together, we are build-
ing the capital of a new tomorrow for ourselves and our
children and our children's children!"

There were many spontaneous "Amens" and other such
comments from the crowd.

"Together, we will reform this wicked land, where the
rich live off the sweat of the poor and consider unem-
ployment of nine percent to be just fine and ten percent
below the poverty level to be acceptable. Where none
can walk down the streets of a major city at night without
fear, and probably not without being mugged or raped or
shot. Our courts are courts of law but seldom of justice.
In much of our land the color of your skin or the nation
of your ancestry determines what job you can get or who
you can marry or where you can live. The conservative
churches preach that affluence is divine will and poverty
is punishment, and want to limit even more any freedom
of action. The liberal churches fund faroff violent revo-
lutions and argue whether God and the devil really exist."

His voice dropped again to a conversational tone. "And
so we must play by the old rules. We must pretend to be
like them, self-righteous hypocrites who, like the ancient
Pharisees, are so sure of their own infallability that they
allow no freedom, allow no divergence from their views,
and build million-dollar temples, not to God, but to them-
selves, while the evils of the world proliferate.

"Well, we're going to put a stop to that.

"If affluence is the mark of divine will, we must first
be affluent. I know the sacrifices that you all have made—
that we all have made—to come this far, but we can only

JACK L. CHALKER                233

give so much. They smile and they chuckle at us and they
call us a 'cult'—just another crazy California cult. But
two nights from tonight, at about this time, right here on
this porch, we will show them who is on God's side. Most
of the equipment is already installed. Tomorrow we will
work like beavers to establish the rest. It has cost almost
all of our resources, but it won't matter.

"Two nights from tonight, over there to one side, will
sit a trailer with a giant electronic dish. And from that
dish, what goes on here will be beamed to twenty million
homes across the country, live by satellite. The Blessed
Art Thou network, which reaches all those homes, has
reacted to our persecutions by granting us four solid hours.
Those four hours will revolutionize the world! At the end
of that time, we shall have our money and we shall be,
in one sweep, a national force and movement!" His voice
began to rise once more. "The power of God through me
will reach out through that dish and flow into space and
down into the living rooms of America. All who see shall
become in one night our sisters and brothers.

"And it is only the beginning! Within months, we will
have our own channel, available free and live to all, and
broadcasting continuously. We will sweep this nation—
and we will sweep the old clean, and with the new we

will then bring the entire world to the glories of God's
true kingdom!"

There was much joy and applause at this. Joe joined
in, secretly wondering just what in the world the man was
talking about. He'd seen the religious channels now and
again. Sometimes they were interesting, sometimes dull,
but they hardly had the kind of effect Dacaro was not
only talking about but basically guaranteeing. Money,
sure—put some slick show-business personalities on for
an hour's telethon to buy cough medicine for giraffes with
sore throats and you'd haul in a million bucks. But real
conversions? A national movement in one night? What
the hell was he talking about?

The services went on for another two hours, sometimes

234       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

with Dacaro, sometimes with others, including the Bar-
oness herself, looking very much the radiant pom queen
she once had been, despite the unflattering robe.

The theology seemed remarkably bland in some ways.
Not once was Christ, or Allah, or any other specific deity
even mentioned, only God or the Lord and the Devil, of
course. The believers here were the holy people, the ones
chosen by God to cleanse and sweep the nation and the
world. Anything done in the name of the True Path was
holy, including, although this was never spelled out, lying,
cheating, stealing, or anything else. Even murder, Joe
thought, remembering the previous night.

Anything done with, or between, the Elect, as they
were called, was holy as well. Apparently this included
sex of any kind, since "the Lord's beautiful gift of animal
nature" was alluded to. It certainly wasn't the kind of
message that would make the Blessed Art Thou network
donate four hours of its time, but this was the Elect speak-
ing to the Elect from a very secure area. It certainly wasn't
the message Dacaro preached as a guest on the show
Macore had caught, nor was it likely to be the message
he broadcast two nights hence. This was the real stuff.

The Baron did not put in an appearance and apparently
rarely did so. He was, however, the One True Prophet of
God, sent by God to Earth to remove all of the old false,
mistaken, and perverted messages that came before, and
give the true will of God to the world. A return to the
Garden of Eden was promised, and to imitate Eden was
the goal of them all; for, once they joined the Elect, all
their past sins were forgiven and even original sin was

washed away.

It was still not any different at its core from a thousand
other California—and other—cults, and Joe couldn't see
how it could do much better than the more successful of
the rest. Many had become quite large, quite rich, and
even respectable, but none had ever really attained the
kind of power Dacaro was talking about. It was easy to
dismiss his promises on that alone, if it hadn't been for

the fact that Dacaro was a master sorcerer, backed and
supported by the greatest mind in sorcery of two worlds.

Dacaro had been right about one thing—they'd come
very far very fast. It was hard to believe that it was only
a Lunar month since the man who now made these bold
claims had been a prisoner in a magic Lamp in Ruddy-
gore's vaults and had never heard of television and sat-
ellites and even business suits.

Many remained after the service, but Joe, damp and
cold, decided to leave with the early crowd. He felt a
great deal of relief at not tripping over his own robe, and
even more when he exited the compound perimeter with-
out challenge. There was still the chance that someone
might mistake him for the woman he'd twinned, and he
wanted security and safety, if at all possible, and quickly.

Almost at the town, he hung back a bit, then went off
into the woods toward the prearranged but out-of-the-way
meeting place. It had been decided to rendezvous there
to be met by Poquah and taken to transportation, rather
than risk a pickup in town, just in case one of them ran
into trouble.

Joe was the first to arrive, and had enough time to
begin to worry that perhaps the others had indeed run
into trouble. Finally there was a crackling in the brush,
and he took refuge behind a tree.

"Forty gross of pink flamingos," whispered an unfa-
miliar voice. He sighed and whispered back, "Thirty-six
gross of Buddhas with clock in stomach," and stepped
out.

"Oh, nuts, it's a woman again," said the unfamiliar
newcomer. She was small, slightly built, certainly no more
than fourteen or fifteen, and her robe was much too big.

"Yeah, what else? Murphy's Law—whatever can go
wrong will go wrong. I assume that's you, Ti?"

"Yes, it's me. You know, it's nice to have secure legs
and no pain, but I'd really forgotten what it was like to
feel the damp and chill."

More sounds, another newcomer, and this one had a

236

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

robe that fitted. Still, the passwords were exchanged and
Marge relaxed and became her Kauri self once more.

She eagerly told them about her encounter with Father
O'Grady, and hoped that it meant what she thought it did.
Tiana seemed slightly disappointed to discover that she
really didn't figure in the rhyme at all, but it was still
heartening to find the elements coming together.

"Well, as Macore says, we now have the puzzle in
place," Marge noted. "The trick is to solve it in just the
right order."

"That is less a trick than it seems," Poquah said, sud-
denly appearing in the midst of them and making them all
jump. He had one hell of a power when he cared to use
it.

"Damn! Don't do that!" Joe gulped, catching his breath.
"I assume you heard Marge's story?"

"Indeed, yes. A practiced demonologist improbably
and implausibly set down incur midst, just when we need
one. This is the hand that Providence has now specifically
provided us. Come—let us go back to the trailer and
compare notes on tonight. Perhaps, with the help of our
thief, we can now assemble our plan and perhaps under-
stand theirs."

Macore listened with intense concentration as each of
the three told what he or she had seen and heard and
about Father O'Grady as well. Then he thought long and
hard and made notes in a small notebook he'd bought,
occasionally asking esoteric-sounding questions on things
like computers and television transmissions.

Finally he said, "Okay, I think I got what they're going
to try. Let me float it past you and see if there's anything
fundamentally wrong with my thinking."

"Shoot," Joe invited him.

"Okay, now as I understand it, we've got a demonic
presence, at least Hiccarph grade, plugged into the house.
Right? And we've got a world-class sorcerer in Dacaro
sort of as a bridge between the demon and audience. Now

JACK L. CHALKER                237

remember my trick with the electric gadget in Ruddy-
gore's vault? Put them together and it's obvious."

"I'm afraid it is not obvious to me," Tiana told him,
and the others nodded.

He sighed. "You're real suckers, you know that? You
gotta think like them to get inside them. Okay, at its heart,

its lowest common denominator, what's a spell? Energy,
right?"

"I'm with you so far," Marge said. "Go on."
"So where does the energy for a spell come from? It
doesn't come from nowhere—it comes from the energy
that's all around us. Heat, light, you name it. We convert
a tiny part of that into another form, like that microwave
oven over there or the TV. We do it by sheer will, by a
talent or power we're born with to varying degrees, and
they do it with transformers and all that other mechanical
stuff, but it's all the same in the end. Now, you undo a
spell basically by converting the spell energy back into
its original form. Got me?"

"You make it sound so simple," Tiana said acidly.
"Well, no matter, that's what happens. You want a
doctor's thesis or something with three syllables or less?
Okay, now this might not be a hundred percent right, or
even close, but it's as right as what I just said about spells.
This television thing. It takes light energy from what's
reflected off its source and turns it into some other kind
of energy in the camera. Then it's sent in little jiggles to
this sender, which changes it again and shoots it up to
this man-made moon. Am I right so far?"

"An oversimplification, but, yes," Poquah agreed.
"So, it gets bounced back down to any receiver that's
tuned to it, changed back into its previous form, then
back into the form before that, and finally, in the TV,
changes back to light that hits the viewer. Never mind if
that's really right, the point is energy at the source is
transformed just like a spell and directed by machines
until it not only hits someplace else but can be infinitely
duplicated—and exactly duplicated—at every receiver

238       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

and finally at every TV that turns to that channel. Don't
you see that's what he's gonna do? He's gonna broadcast
a spell that'll take on anybody who tunes in, even for a

minute!"

"It's not possible," Poquah objected. "For one thing,

the energy is quite weak when received, compared to what

is transmitted."

"Oh, yeah? But the signal, the mathematics of energy,

is still complete and intact. So how do they get it back to

strength for all those TVs?"

"They—they amplify it at the receiver and again at the

set," Poquah responded, and for the first time he seemed
to betray some emotion. "Good heavens! It's so insane

it just might work!"

"It's going to have to be a pretty simple spell," Marge

noted, "if he's going to get them in the middle of changing

channels."

"Two spells, then, overlaid," Tiana suggested. "One

so brief that it might take hold in a single second and have
but a single command—stop and watch. And a second,
a long and complex spell that would deliver those viewers
to the Baron's hands. An instant conversion which might
also compel them to call in. Once identified, the Elect
would be sent out to give them all the instructions, the-
ology, and orders. If what Macore suggests is really pos-
sible, they could even get follow-up spells one by one

over the telephone."

Joe shivered, although he now felt warm and dry. "So

that's where he gets his figure. All those cable viewers
switching around randomly during the four-hour time slot;

hit 'em for a second and you got them. Maybe not twenty
million, but over a million sure, maybe lots more. Lots
of money immediately, the conversions of family mem-
bers and friends later—maybe even by just calling them

to the phone. Wow! It's a hell of a plot!"

"But such a spell would have to take into account line
fluctuations, differing power levels, and means of trans-
forming the energy, all sorts of things," Poquah noted,

239

JACK L. CHALKER

trying to find a way to prove they were wrong. "A spell
that could automatically adjust to that would be so infi-
nitely complex that no human mind could grasp the fig-
ures, let alone play with them to get it right."

"Computers," Joe reminded him. "First Boquillas
learned computers. Then he researched cults. I bet he had
the idea from the first time he ever watched TV back in
the first days in Switzerland. He studied computers,
knowing that only they could do this kind of math—and
even then he'd have to program them himself. They don't
come with Wizardcalc."

"He must have worked it all out with his usual math-
ematical precision," Marge added. "He came here because
this place is most tolerant of religions and most tolerant
even of aberrant ones. You said he traveled through the
south, where the most famous television preachers are
located, then came here and got a job in the computer
industry. That must have given him a computer big and
powerful enough to solve his final problems."

"Yeah, but he couldn't practice the spells. He got his
local power, the Satanist, but he needed more. He needed
Dacaro and he needed to block Ruddygore to make it all
work, so he went to his old allies in Hell to get their
cooperation. I'm sure he wasn't any too popular down
there, but this plan probably knocked their little demonic
socks off," Joe agreed. "They were the bridge between
home and here. Hell decided on this Master of the Dead
and got him all the best magic spells in exchange for a
little help—never mind what it's for, old boy—it doesn't
concern Husaquahr, only Earth. You can have Husa-
quahr. It would never even cross his mind that, if they
take Earth, it means the final battle and the end of both
worlds."

"So now we have it," the Imir said cautiously. "The
total picture. We know exactly what they are going to do,
and how, and when, and even where. We now also have
all the elements of our own puzzle guide—the Oracle's

240

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

rhyme—in place. We will talk to this priest tomorrow
when he's sobered up—if he ever sobers up. Macore?"

"Marge? Or Gimlet? What about this porch? Is it solid
or does it have a crawlspace underneath?" the thief asked.

Marge looked at the pixie, who shrugged.

"Joe—didn't your Hawaiian priestess say something
about trapdoors rigged in the porch?"

"Uh—yeah. Come to think of it, she did. I'd forgot-
ten."

"All right, then. I've got a potential solution to the
puzzle, but it's gonna be pretty damned hard on some
folks, I'm afraid."

They all leaned eagerly forward. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you. Even when it's happening, I can't tell
you, because it's possible, even likely, that it will require
some of you to get caught. Poquah, I'll need a way around
that barrier spell."

"That is not too difficult. It will be even easier if we
can examine both of our were friends here while still
weres and find the point of commonality."

It turned out that the only thing the two bodies seemed
to have in common that could not be explained as normal
was a small polyp inside the left armpit. Poquah was sat-
isfied. "Behold the sign of the true Elect," he told them.
"A very nice touch. Who would notice?" He turned to
Macore. "It is not even truly sorcerous in nature, only in
origin. It will be rather simple to give you one, even right
now."

"Okay, then do it," Macore said. "Tomorrow, I'm going
to have to ask you to erase any knowledge or memory of
my very existence in this world from Joe and Tiana's
minds."

"Huh? Why?" Joe wanted to know.

"I told you—no clues. If they catch you, the less they
know the better. As for why not do the same to the fairy
folk, it's because their minds can't be as easily dissected
by Pathies as yours, and also because it's damned near

JACK L. CHALKER

241

impossible to do on you all without it being noticed, or
am I wrong?"

"That is correct," Poquah agreed.

"Wait a minute," Tiana put in. "Do you mean that only
you will know this plan in full? And if anything happens
to you, the plan fails?"

"No. Poquah already knows the added elements you
don't, although I'm gonna have to explain it all to him to
show him how it puts itself together. I think he'll deal
quickly with any fairy folk to avoid any chance of them
using their power against him. Why not? He only needs
to keep you all on ice until he broadcasts and then it won't
make any difference."

"You are certain you can get in there?" the Imir asked
him.

"Why not? I got into Ruddygore's vaults. Compared
to that, this is a piece of cake."

"You are sure this will work?" Marge asked worriedly.
"Of course not. Nothing's ever a hundred percent. But
it all fits in and clicks with the people we have and the
rhyme we got, not to mention the other information we've
acquired. I do, however, have one backup, if it all falls
down. It's not a sure thing, either, and it's sure not part
of the Oracle's script; but since I got the idea from Dacaro,
it should work."

"From Dacaroi" Marge exclaimed.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. I doubt if I'll need it.
The important thing is this—you're all gonna have spe-
cific jobs to do. Every one of you. They'll all be danger-
ous, but so will mine. I usually work solo, but the Baron's
expecting a mob and some specific characters as well,
and we have to provide them. Sorry about that, but that's
why some of you might get caught. If so, don't worry
what happens to you, so long as you don't go and get
yourselves killed. Given a choice, surrender. Either we'll
bail you out or it won't matter anyway."

"Sounds like a cheery thought," Marge noted. "Still,
you don't think they don't know about the porch and the

242

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

243

trapdoors, do you, Macore? I mean, they'll probably have
people under there and run the dogs through and every-
thing."

"Yeah, they probably will, on Monday night. But I
won't be there on Monday night." He clapped his hands
together in anticipation. "We'll all start this tomorrow
night," he told them, then looked over at the pixie.
"Gimlet, old goil, I don't even understand the contraption,
but can you type?"

CHAPTER I 5

ONE HELL OF A MESS

It did not last: the Devil howling, "Ho!
Let Einstein be!" restored the status quo.

—Sir John Collings Squire

"YOU REMEMBER NOTHING OF LAST NIGHT, FATHER?"

Joe asked, a little frustrated and wondering whether he,
the priest, or Marge was crazy.

"No, I'm afraid I—well, I was in no shape to remember
things last night, I fear. It's the pressure of all this going
on around me."

The priest that Joe and Poquah faced was quite a dif-
ferent sort of person from the one Marge chanced on the
previous evening. He was tall, military in his bearing, and
quite cold sober.

"You're not Irish, though, in spite of your name?"

The priest sighed. "No, I'm not, although I don't know
how you know that. It was one of the stupider things I
did in my youth. I'm afraid that I've always had a taste

for the grape, or worse, but I never could really handle
it. I was on the wagon for years, went through AA, and
was a fine example—until this business happened here."

"We are here, we hope, to end this business. Father,"
Poquah said. "If what we've heard is true, we may need
your help to do so. We have battled this evil man before
and won when all others had been defeated. We know

him and respect, rather than fear him—but this is our
gravest challenge."

"What do you need done, then?"
"You have, we understand, performed exorcisms?"
The priest sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately, those were
mostly in my off-the-wagon days. I have some memory
of the subjects, but little memory of the actual exorcisms.

Those for whom I performed them seemed comforted and
pleased."

It was becoming increasingly clear to both of them that
Father O'Grady was really two people, one drunk and
one sober. The drunk saw Fairies as they were and had
at least one foot in the supernatural world, while the sober

one was the coldly rational and somewhat distant intel-
lectual they faced.

"Tell me, Father—do you believe in the Devil?" Joe
asked. "I mean it, I'm not just kidding around."

The priest thought a moment. "Yes, son, I believe in
the Devil and in Hell. I've been partly there. I was in
Vietnam for quite a long time, and I was later in Beirut.
I've also stood in the preserved remains of concentration
camps in Germany, where you can still feel the evil. I
believe that God exists and I have come face-to-face with

evil, and so I have no choice but to believe in the Devil
as well."

Joe nodded. "The Devil's here, Father—and not in an

abstract sense. He's over there, in that compound, in that
old house."

"The Baron has opened a pathway between Hell and
the house," the Imir added. "It is there and it is real
and tangible. He draws his power from it. The Baron and

244       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Dacaro are evil men. Dacaro has more sheer temporal
power than the Baron, but it is the Baron's intellect and
will which guide him. Something monstrous is going to
be loosed tomorrow night. We are going to attempt to stop
it from happening, even at the cost of our lives. We will
attempt it with or without you, but we need your help,
your expertise."

"But you can't even get in!"

"We can get in—any time we wish. The trick isn't
getting in, it's accomplishing what we must accomplish.
The Baron fears us so much that the Elders attempted to
kill my companion here the other night, using pistols. It
may require violent action, even killing some of them,
but it must be done."

Oddly, the priest seemed more fascinated than put off
by this. It was very clear that he was so afraid of the True
Path and so disgusted with it that he would leap at striking
a blow against it, and his combat experience certainly
didn't hurt. Chaplains didn't fight, but bullets never
respected their rank or position.

"Assuming we could get in at all, what would you have
me do? You're not talking about some demented man who
is, or thinks he is, possessed by spirits. I admit I'm having
trouble even accepting the idea, but you are saying that
there is a demon, evil incarnate, in there. That's not an
exorcism."

"It isn't exorcism that we need," the Imir told him,
"nor could it be very effective in any case. Somewhere
in the cellar of that old house is the gateway, the way
through. We need to get into that cellar, which also con-
tains the Baron's offices, find that gateway, and seal it
shut. Cut it off or contain it. Even Hell is constrained by
laws and agreements that it made. But it will take no
simple pentagram drawn in chalk. There is too much power
there for that."

Father O'Grady thought for a moment. "What is needed,
then, is a Seal of Solomon. It resembles the Star of David,
but in addition has various legends and symbols written

JACK L. CHALKER                245

in the created triangles. Activated by the proper liturgy,
it is supposed to prevail against the Devil himself."

"Then that's what we must do. Seal it off. Once sealed,
how much trouble would it be to undo it?" Poquah asked
him.

"I've never done any of this, but I've read up on it. If
properly done, it could not be broken from either side.
That gateway would be closed, the Seal set within the
very Earth itself and guarded by the power of God. Even
broken or erased, it would exist."

"Then that is what we need. I'm not minimizing the
risks for the impossibility of the task, though, Father. We
may well have to fight our way in there. We may face
forces beyond our control. And, if we do make it and
locate the place and even seal it, we may not be able to
get back out again, for it will do nothing to those, some
with power themselves, who will be after us."

"Are you trying to talk me out of it?" The priest sighed.
"You realize, gentlemen, that you would be thrown out
of here or be taken out to the nearest asylum under normal
circumstances. Had I not seen this power of evil you
speak about in operation here, I would not even have
given you the time of day. They've left me here as a poor,
old, retired drunk of a priest, not only to be a permanent
bad example, but also because they felt I would eventually
pack up and leave. I'm angry and I'm frustrated. I haven't
felt this way since I stood in front of the Marines' demol-
ished barracks in Beirut and helped them haul out the
bodies of more than two hundred fine young men. When
you meet and look into the eyes of fanatical young men
who are perfectly willing to drive a truck full of explosives
into a place and detonate it, even though they, too, will
die, all because some so-called religious leader, for his
own ends, told them God wanted them to do so, and you
turn around, in your own small, peaceful village here in
the United States, and see the same look and the same
devotion on those who once were your friends and neigh-

246

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 247

bors..." He paused a moment, trying to force down his

fury.

Finally he said, "Gentlemen, I still think this is mad-
ness, but perhaps even my death or disappearance will
cause some ripples elsewhere. I have no family, my friends
are my enemies, and I have no future. Perhaps I am driven
by this to be as deluded as that fanatic who drove that
truck into the barracks. And yet—I will go with you. I
must believe that God has placed me here for some rea-
son, in this situation. When do we go?"

"Tonight, Father," Joe told him. "That's when you'll
also get a few new lessons in the supernatural."

The little church seemed the ideal place to meet at
sundown, and Joe and Poquah left and went back to their
car. Both were preoccupied with the coming night's work
and got in without even thinking about it. Suddenly they
froze as someone's head came up in the back seat, and
both whirled and halted themselves only at the last

moment.

"Mahalo McMahon!" Joe exclaimed. "What the hell is

thisT'

She was still wearing the flowers and the lei and nothing

else.

"Hi ya, Conan! Geez, I'm sorry I scared you like that,
but there didn't seem to be any other way. They're all
over the place."

Joe looked at Poquah, who checked her out for spells.
She had one, but it wasn't in the nature of a controlling
threat. She was definitely not working involuntarily for
the Baron, although that didn't mean she wasn't working
for him freely.

Poquah started the car, and they drove off, not toward
the trailer but just around, while they evaluated what she
said. Poquah had the power to know truth from fiction.

"It was real late, y'know, long after you left. I got some
more of that good stuff out and started to refill the pipe
when they suddenly came busting in the front door. I

mean, geez, I was alone in there! Luckily I got lots of
exits out of there, since you never know who or what's
gonna come around to maybe bust you. I rolled back and
hit the trip that dropped me under the altar and really put
me under the church, you know what I mean? Well, I'm
scared to move, like maybe they got the whole place
surrounded, you know? So I wait there and I hear 'em
walking all over and like that; finally I hear this woman's
voice say, 'We could be here all night in this cold and
rain,' and this guy's voice says, 'Yeah, but she can't get
away.' So she says, 'We don't have time to waste on
turning over every slab in this joint. Put a watch on her
house and her friends and let's go.' And then she pauses
and adds, 'Mahalo McMahon, I am the Baroness de
Boquillas! If you are within the sound of my voice, as
you are now, so will you remain, until you come to me
along the True Path.' And all of a sudden I get kind of
tingly, you know, and then I hear 'em leave."

She'd huddled there under the church for hours, then
managed to sneak out, avoiding the two men set to watch
the place, but she was cold and stark naked. Her house
and the houses other friends were all covered—she spot-
ted the watchers, but there was no way around them—
and so she'd spent a cold and miserable night in an old
woodshed. In the morning, she had the idea to steal some
wash off somebody's line so she could at least get out of
there—a sari from a sheet or something—and she had
the opportunity, but she could not do it.

"I mean, like, it's creepy, but I can't stand the thought
of putting anything on. Nothin' but these flowers, anyway.
I got to admit I never much liked wearing any more clothes
than I had to, but this is different. The idea of putting
something on is like—well, like the idea of eating shit or
something."

"It is a conditional curse," Poquah told her. "The Bar-
oness is the Baroness because she has some power and
the intellect to use it. If she had been patient and well
practiced, she would have searched for something con-

248

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS 249

JACK L. CHALKER

taining your body cells and summoned you to appear, but
they don't seem to be that concerned with you. Lacking
that and the power of a Dacaro, she could only cast a
simple, elemental curse. You would either have to live as
a wild animal, be locked up in an institution for compul-
sive nudity, or come to her. You appear to have come to

the same conclusion yourself."

"Yeah, well, what else could I do? I mean, I'm starv-
ing I don't know how those deer and bears do it. So,
anyway, this morning they loaded up this pickup with
crates of apples and oranges and stuff like that, and I saw
that the guy driving was one of them, so I managed to
sneak into the back of the truck, figuring I could eat on
them. He got in and drove off up here, so I ate a few
apples and had to kind of tag along for the ride. When he
stopped for the stop sign back there, just before coming
into town here, I jumped out and ran for the woods. I
was just trying to figure out what to do next when I saw
you two drive up, and I recognized Conan, here, so I
figure, what the hell, I'll try for something and I sneaked
into the back of the car and that's it." She paused a moment.
"You know, it's funny. These flowers are still fresh, too.

Should'a dried out yesterday."

"She's telling the truth," Poquah told Joe, turning the
car around and heading back toward the trailer.

"Yeah, but what are we going to do with her?"

"I've given her spell a cursory once-over, and I find it
very much the Baron's trademark in these things. It's
simple, but it would take a great deal of time for me to
undo. Conditionals, in particular, usually have bad little
traps for those undoing them. No problem, if I had two
or three hours to spare, but I do not."

"Hey! You can't leave me stuck like this!" she pro-
tested.

"All in good time. Stuck for a while, that's all. Get her

into the trailer. I'll drive up and park the car, then work

back down to you."

Tiana was the only one awake there when they got in,

and was startled to see the self-styled Neo-Primitive
Hawaiian priestess and equally fascinated by her story.
As for McMahon, she wasted no time in going through
much of the fruits and vegetables she could find, although
she did not touch meat. Only then was she relaxed enough
to look over and really appreciate the hideout in plain
sight, and she was impressed.

It took Poquah a good half hour to return, but this was
mostly because he wanted no signs around the trailer that
it just wasn't parked there until needed. Nobody ever
looked twice at trailers like this, which was the beauty of
the thing, although lots of cars parked around it would
certainly draw immediate attention.

"We will be active tonight," Poquah told them, when
at last he felt safe enough to enter, "but we cannot fully
spring our trap until tomorrow, almost at the last moment.
You will just have to trust that Master Ruddygore has
mapped this out and knows what he is doing."

"He has always come through in the end for us," Tiana
noted.

"Yeah—after getting us in trouble in the first place,"
Joe grumped.

"This is the second night of the full moon," the Imir
reminded them. "Now that we know how to bypass their
security spells, we don't require one of them for you two.
We can arrange our own pattern to our advantage."

"Sounds good to me," Joe noted.

"Anybody mind telling me what you're talking about?"
Mahalo put in.

"Our part of the operation tonight is to sneak into the
Baron's compound, seal off the doorway to Hell he's cre-
ated, and then do what damage we can to him, his trans-
mission equipment—anything. Getting in is no problem.
Getting to the objective will be a terrible problem. Getting
out—well, we must depend on others to allow that."

"It's a bigger organization than it looks," Joe explained
to the newcomer. "A lot more than just us here." Actually,

250       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

he had only Poquah's word for that, but he felt pretty
certain it was true. "Each of us has a job to do."

Mahalo looked at them and frowned. "Now, wait a
minute. You, Spock, are the only guy here who can cure
me of this curse, right? And you're going in there
tonight?"

"Yes. You can remain here until it is finished. It is safe
here, and if anything happens to us, you will be looked
after by others."

"And can these others lift this thing?"

"No. But they'll eventually be able to get in touch with
someone who can."

"Uh-uh. I'm not going to stay cooped up in here and
then have a lot of strange guys have me at their mercy.
If you go, I go."

"I'm afraid there is no real provision in the plans for
you. Besides, it is likely we will get caught, even if we
succeed."

"Then you need me all the more. I know that house.
I lived there for six years. There's passages, entrances,
and exits in there I bet even the Baron hasn't found yet."
She paused a moment. "Hey, look—you guys think you're
gonna win, right? I mean, caught or not, if it all comes
together, the Baron's finished? The cavalry can march in
and rescue the widows and orphans?"

"I believe I understand your question. Yes. The most
important thing to do is to get the mission accomplished
tonight. That may get us killed, or it may not. If we suc-
ceed, the next most important thing is not to get killed,
even if it means surrendering. Once our missions are
accomplished, it's up to others to see it through."

"Okay. I'll take care of the not-getting-killed part. You
take care of the job. Just make sure the cavalry remem-
bers this captive when it comes, huh?" She frowned and
stared at Poquah for a moment, then reached out and
pushed back his hair on one side. "You got real weird
ears. I knew there was something funny about you. You
some kind of warrior elf or something?"

JACK L. CHALKER

251

"Why, yes, in fact I am. How did you know that?"
"Geez, I'm not ignorant! I read Tolkien twelve times!"

Father O'Grady was sober, and therefore not quite
prepared for the assembled crew. He also, it seemed,
could not penetrate Marge's illusion as a sober man, but
she could drop the illusion for him. He crossed himself
when he saw his first Kauri without a haze of booze, but
he was certainly convinced. He wore one of his black
suits, but he'd removed the white collar and also added
lamp black to his face and hands. He had been in hostile
territory before and he knew his business.

A little more unsettling for him than seeing a Kauri
was seeing Mahalo McMahon, undressed as she was. The
only thing more unsettling than one Mahalo McMahon
was two Mahalo McMahons, which is what they got. It
had not been intentional, but at sundown Mahalo, inside
the trailer, had been a fraction closer to Tiana than the
woman detective Poquah had arranged for. Tiana was not
completely put off by the turn of events; McMahon was
in superior physical condition, it seemed, in spite of all
the junk she smoked. If anything, it was Mahalo who was
a bit taken aback by the change, which suddenly gave her
a near twin sister. The flowers, of course, had not dupli-
cated, but the curse had, until sunup at least. Tiana was
forcibly as naked as Mahalo.

This time, Joe had been luckier. The man he'd dupli-
cated was about his size and build and in fine shape. He
was also a black man; Poquah had thought it convenient
for a night operation, as he needed no lamp black at all.

Although unclothed, both Mahalo and Tiana could carry
guns, and Poquah gave them small but deadly hand guns.
McMahon was a bit nervous about it, but she decided to
take it anyway. Tiana was just as bad a shot, but felt
better with some reassurance. Joe, outfitted in camou-
flage fatigues, carried a semiautomatic rifle and, in a sheath,
the great sword Irving, which hummed softly in antici-
pation of battle. It had been a long time. Poquah preferred

252

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

the dagger and the short sword. His job was more to
counter or cast spells than to fight; if he needed to, he
wanted it to be fast and quiet, with no iron in the weapons.

Gimlet, it seemed, was involved in another operation
entirely complementing theirs, and had vanished. Marge
would fly lookout for them until they entered, then hang
loose to create diversions when needed outside the place.
Mahalo was the guide; Joe and Tiana were to guard against
physical threats, and Poquah against those of sorcery.
Once O'Grady sealed the opening, they would try and
find the Baron, if they could, or get out fast, if they could
not. A small force of agents paid for the purpose waited,
heavily armed and ready, on the opposite side of the hold-
ings, but were not to try anything until they either heard
shots from the mansion or got the go-ahead from Marge.
If the Baron was upstairs in his bed, and all were fast
asleep, he would be beyond Joe's reach, and so there was
no sense in waking him, Dacaro, or the followers in the
tents if it could be avoided.

As they were set to go in, Joe looked over at Tiana
and whispered, "You remember all that stuff I said about
being bored and wanting adventure? If I ever say anything
like that again, drive a silver stake through my heart or
something." She smiled, kissed him, and they were off.

Mahalo brought them to the house by a route so com-
plex they couldn't even follow it, but it seemed to be one
designed by somebody—an escape route, it appeared,
well planned, only enacted in reverse. Because of its use
of the terrain and even a couple of small streams, it was
quite effective in masking their movements and always
providing both cover and a measure of isolation from the
settled areas. It was a good route; so good, in fact, that
when an informer had given it to the narcs in exchange
for probation later, the narcs had used it quite effectively
to sneak up on and surround the house.

There were heavy patrols, usually with Dobermans,
but the dogs could not be let loose except under the tight
control of their Elder masters, since Dobermans had real

JACK L. CHALKER                  253

trouble figuring out friend from foe and were color blind.
Several times men with dogs came quite close to them,
but, with Marge's warnings from above and a few very
casual little spells from Poquah, they seemed either to
lose interest or charge off, pulling their masters in other
directions.

Joe and the others finally emerged about twenty feet
from the house, but then they were stopped for a while.
There were nasty-looking guards everywhere, all armed
with weapons and looking very much like soldiers on
guard duty. The floodlights, too, remained on, leaving any

approach to the house open, well lighted, and within sight
of a guard or patrol.

Poquah seemed more concerned for some reason that
there was the sound of dogs underneath the front porch,
and a clear indication that they were just about living
there. He dismissed that worry almost immediately. Any
thief who couldn't get around mere vicious guard dogs
wouldn't have lasted long anyway.

"Wait here. I will be back," the Imir instructed them,
and pulled his dagger. He seemed to vanish, worrying
both O'Grady and Mahalo.

"Where'd he go?" she whispered to Joe.
"He's like that. Just hold on."

They waited tensely for several minutes, and then the
warrior elf was back in their midst. "Of the three secret
entrances you describe, they have found two of them," he
told McMahon. "The third is well concealed, but may or
may not open, and probably not without noise. The gen-
erators should mask it for most, but there are two Elders
there whom we cannot get around. Forgive me. Father, but
I haven't time to freeze them, solve their own spells, or turn
them into toads. Joe—we need silence on this. You come
with me. I'll need you to get rid of the bodies."

It was over very quickly. From nowhere, the Imir
appeared and with perfect timing cut one's throat using
his short sword. When the other turned around and froze
for a moment before giving the alarm, he, too, suddenly

254

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

had a blade in his throat. Joe came out, keeping low, and
quickly dragged the bodies into the brush. Using magic,
Poquah was able to undo the two bolts that held the small
panel on from inside, and he slid it away. It did creak,
but no one came running, so the generators had done their
masking job.

Now, quickly, at Marge's commands from the treetops
just above, they darted one by one across the open space
to the rectangular hole, a tight squeeze for all except
Poquah. Joe brought up the rear, and got stuck for a
moment. They pulled him in finally, just as a birdlike song
carried a warning that someone was coming. Poquah
reached back up and pulled the plate on, securing it again
by the bolts. It would be an unlikely means of exit, once
the guards were found missing.

They all wound up in a small area not much better than
a crawlspace, but one no one would have expected was
there. McMahon had explained that her friends had actu-
ally built up the floor in what was then the dining room
above so that this passage could exist. There were no
entrances from above; it was assumed that these would
not be very practical in a raid, anyway. It led to an opening
behind the woodpile in the cellar, which was just where
they wanted to be.

They could feel the evil presence in the crawlway. Even
Joe and Mahalo, who had no real power, seemed to sense
it; to O'Grady, it was nearly overpowering. The priest had
almost had a sense of being in a dream through all this,
of being a detached third party who didn't quite believe
what he was saying or doing, or even if he was doing
God's work. Now, though, in the presence of that terrible
power, all doubts fled. This was indeed the enemy, the
same enemy he had felt in war, the same enemy he had
felt standing in the center ofBuchenwald, the same enemy
whose presence nearly overpowered him at the ruins of
the Marines' compound in Beirut. There was no longer
any doubt. Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. God the Father,

JACK L. CHALKER                255

God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, be with me and make
me up to this task!

Poquah pushed out the panel as best he could and
cautiously peered out. This part of the cellar, this room,
was lighted with but a single bare bulb, but it was suffi-
cient. It appeared to be used as a storeroom, with all sorts
of junk around. There was no spell inside the room, but
there was one, a good one, on the door. Poquah let them
all come out, quietly, while he studied the spell and pre-
pared to disengage it. He had expected it; in fact, looking
at the spell, he had expected worse.

Still, it took him about twenty minutes to get it off,
twenty minutes in which almost certainly the guards had
been discovered missing, and perhaps their bodies found.
There would be, most certainly, an alert all over the place,
but that was also expected. The plan had been entirely
directed at getting them in, and it had done so. Getting
them out was left to improvisation—with, it was hoped,
a little divertive help from their friends outside.

Once the spell was off the door, they cautiously opened
it. It led into a main chamber that was rather well lighted,
although by a combination of fluorescent lights rigged up
overhead and some quite nonelectrical, large, free-standing
candles. It was clear what the room was for, and there
was no guessing the spot in the center.

The old stone floor had been carefully cleaned and
scrubbed, and then, on top, an elaborate set of painted
signs and symbols had been laid in some sort of shiny
gold substance. The whole design was flanked by a pen-
tagram painted in a solid white that seemed raised, as if
to distance it from the stone; at each point of the penta-
gram there was a huge and ornate free-standing candle-
stick with an enormous candle, lighted and burning. It
was an awesome and frightening sight, and one that left
no doubt that it was the source of the evil of this place.

"No one, but no one, is to break that pentagram or
touch those candles," Poquah warned. "Any breach, and

256

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

257

the demon will be free to come out—and nothing can
save us. Father?"

The priest suddenly felt the urge for a very strong
drink—no, a lot of very strong drinks. He had been under
fire, had shrapnel wounds, and had gone through a lot,
but this was the first time he was scared before, rather
than after, the danger. Still, shaking like a leaf, he removed
a small box of children's colored chalk and began to draw
an elaborate design on the floor outside of the pentagram.
When he was through, he looked at it and shook his head.
"It's crude, and there's barely enough room in here to get
the entire pentagram inside the center of the Seal of Sol-
omon."

"We'll use builder's line, then," Poquah told him,
reaching into his small pack. The line was thick and pre-
chalked, and when laid out straight—using pieces of junk
as weights and the crude Seal, which at the moment looked
exactly like a Star of David, two triangles superimposed,
one upside down—was a general guide to clear the
candlesticks. It still didn't look impressive, but it was
correct. The angles were all equal and the sides were
straight. With red chalk, the priest then drew in various
characters in what might have been Hebrew along each
inner wall of the design.

Something went click! in back of them, and they all
turned. What had appeared a solid stone wall now was
shown to be an impressive mirrorlike device that perfectly
reflected the wall to its right and did not appear to reflect
any inhabitants in the room. With lighting now on in back
of the mirror, the rest of the room became clear.

"That is very impressive," remarked Dacaro. "Don't
you agree. Baron?"

"I do indeed," replied a familiar voice. "Oh, please
don't move! I see you all bringing up your weapons. The
shield is quite bullet proof, I assure you, where we stand.
If you look to the left and the right of us, you will see
figures with weapons of their own, and they will shoot
without thinking, I fear, at any sign of hostile action. Their

bullets have an iron and silver content, I might mention,
so please don't try anything. They are quite expensive
and difficult to come by."

Joe looked at Poquah, who shrugged. "What can we
do?"

"Drop all your weapons where they are and line up
against that far wall there," Dacaro ordered them.
"Quickly, please. And don't disturb the candles or the
pentagram. It would be unpleasant for us, but even worse
for you and the whole world if anything did, as I'm sure
you understand."

They did as instructed, feeling helpless and frustrated.
Joe, hands up and standing next to Father O'Grady, whis-
pered out of the corner of his mouth, "Can't you say your
liturgy now? You drew the damned thing."

"No. There's one symbol missing. They let us get this
close just to toy with us."

"Now, don't think of anything rash," Dacaro told them.
"There are only two exits—this way and the way you
came in. I assure you that the way you came isn't much
use anymore."

"You did know about that entrance," Joe said accus-
ingly. "You left it deliberately untouched so we'd be sure
to take it!"

"Very astute. We figured what the game was when we
saw you talking with O'Grady, and that seemed the easiest
solution. We were curious to see if it could be done, and,
if so, how. The Seal is quite impressive. It will make
effective blackmail against our friend down there when
he decides to get too ambitious. As you might expect, we
are not totally in accord with his aims," the Baron said
calmly. "Now, we are sliding back a portion of the panel
near you. Poquah—you first. Ah. Now you. Father. Yes,
that's fine. And now the two lovely ladies, one after the
other. And, last but not least, you, Joe."

Joe did as instructed and found that merely being "cov-
ered" wasn't the word for it. The room on the other side
of the mirror of illusion, which Poquah had not detected,

258

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER

259

since it was a variation of an illusionist's apparatus and
not magical in the real sense, was fully as large as the
other. Covering them with semiautomatic rifles were five
of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, all wearing
high-heeled leather boots, gold tassels hanging from a
chainlike belt hung on their hips, and not much else. Each
rifle was on a different one of them. By the way the women
held them and the looks on their faces, there was no
question that they would shoot and shoot straight, if given
even the slightest provocation.

The Baron wore slippers and a pair of lounging paja-
mas; Dacaro had on a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, and
regular slip-on moccasins.

Esmilio Boquillas was still the same, the sort of man
who continued to improve in attractiveness and magne-
tism as he grew older. He looked tan and fit, despite
spending little apparent time outdoors, and much as Joe
remembered him. "You haven't changed a lot. Baron,"
he noted.

"Why, thank you, Joe. You have changed, certainly. I
assume this is a convenient form you took for this oper-
ation. And the ladies—I assume that one of these is the
lovely Tiana and the one with the flowers in her hair is
Mahalo McMahon. I am quite impressed, Ms. McMahon.
We had dismissed you as a drug-brained airhead. No, no,
Poquah! Don't pull that vanishing act on us! Your friends
will die immediately, and it won't work on us anyway."

"You are still very sharp for one who was stripped of
his powers," the Imir noted coldly.

"There is an almost infinite variety of kinds of power,
Poquah. I was stripped of only one of them."

"Do you want to call me out, Imir?" Dacaro asked,
almost taunting the elf. "Want to go head-to-head down
here after they've gone upstairs?"

"It is quite tempting," Poquah admitted, "but I per-
ceive us as being close to equal in power and experience,
and you have the advantage of the Baron's newest spells.
I assume that the Lamp would never have permitted me

through if I were able to be even your equal. Such a duel
is pointless."

Dacaro grinned, but Joe thought he detected some sign
of relief behind that confident exterior. The only time the
old adept had ever faced power head-to-head that Joe
knew of, he'd run—back into the Lamp. "Seems to me
that fellow you left behind in Husaquahr would have been
a better overall wizard for you. Baron," he said dryly.
Dacaro gave him a withering stare, but the Baron held
him back.

"That's probably true overall, but unfortunately Sugasto
wasn't in the Lamp, which was the only way to get anyone
here and block pursuit."

"Sugasto! So that's why he seemed so familiar!" Joe
remembered Sugasto, briefly. The ancient adept who'd
stolen the Lamp more than a thousand years ago and had
wound up imprisoned in it for all that time by his own
greed. "The last I remember of Sugasto, he was stuck in
the body of a horse going downriver with Dacaro."

"He managed to make himself known to me. He was
in intensive training at my northern retreat as one of my
adepts when we had our unfortunate defeat. He's quite
talented, though, and very ambitious—as you'd expect
from spending a thousand years among the djinn. Dacaro,
though, is good enough, and he's bound by the Lamp to
my service."

"It wouldn't matter about the wish. Baron," Dacaro
assured him. "What more could I want than I'm getting
now? And I could never come up with those spells or this
whole plan. You know that."

"Yes, I do, Dacaro. However, it is getting very late
and we have a busy time tomorrow, as you might all know.
I hadn't known who exactly would appear, although I
certainly expected Joe and Poquah, so we'll have to put
off any final arrangements until tomorrow. We have pre-
pared a secure set of storage areas for you all until then."

Poquah was led off with Dacaro and his beautiful but
deadly Ministering Angel, and placed in an iron cage sus-

260

JACK L. CHALKER

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

261

pended from the cellar ceiling. He had some immunity to
iron, but being suspended completely enclosed and sur-
rounded by it made him weak as a kitten.

No matter what the obvious differences, the Baron was
not about to be fooled by any were tricks again, so he
ordered both Mahalo McMahons and Joe, who was
stripped naked as were the others not already nude,
imprisoned together in what appeared to be some kind of
a large vault. Everything in it had been moved out, but
its walls were sheer metal. There was a small ventilation
area near the top, but it wasn't even large enough for a
pixie to get through. It wouldn't kill them, but, weres or
not, Joe and Tiana weren't about to escape from the thing.

That left O'Grady, who was feeling frustrated and
humiliated, standing there stark naked and covered by
beautiful women with nasty rifles. "Take him upstairs and
lock him in a secure room," the Baron ordered. "And—
give him three or four bottles from the liquor cabinet. Our
friendly lush will take himself out of the game, I think."

"I'm still a little uneasy," Dacaro noted. "That Kauri's
got to be around someplace, and she's got real power until
dawn."

"So what? Why do you think I made certain that all
the household guards were women? Kauris have no power
over women, and they have no power over you or me,
thanks to our own protective spells. I expect she's hov-
ering about right outside now, or perhaps perched atop
the building." He suddenly brightened. "Why, yes! I believe
we can come up with a spell for that." He walked back,
past the iron cage and the vault. In his small office, he
switched on the light. He sat down in his office chair and
turned on his computer, then played with it for about five
minutes. Dacaro saw a lot of numbers, then watched as
the screen transformed itself into a multicolored pattern
of enormous complexity. "There!" said the Baron. "Think
you can cast that on the house in a couple of minutes?"

"Yeah, I think so, but I don't understand it."

"If she is either on the house or touches it while this

is in force, she'll stick to it like glue. She and no one
else—it's attuned to Kauris only, and she's probably the
only one on Earth. Do it and then go to bed. Tomorrow
is a big day, and some time this morning we'll pick her
stuck and comatose body off the house and take care of
her, too."

"I'll do it, but I still smell something else going on.
Even if they had that seal in place, they wouldn't have
stopped us, just slowed us down. And I'll bet you a for-
tune that only the fairy folk in this mob know what else
is going on—and we can't selectively drag it out of them
before they die."

"I know. We'll have to be on alert, but cast that spell
first—now. It will give us one less thing to worry about,
and we can deal with the rest comfortably, knowing it's
our only problem."

Joe and the two women had had a miserable night, but
they managed to drift into sleep off and on, huddled
together for warmth in the cold and antiseptic vault. They
were even more miserable when they awoke, however,
hungry, thirsty, stiff, and, as Mahalo pointed out, with no
place to go to the bathroom.

Joe began to suspect they'd been forgotten, but finally
the vault door opened and both Dacaro and the Baron
were there, looking very dapper in suits, ties, and patent
leather shoes. With them was a tall and strikingly beautiful
blond bombshell, dressed quite well but not too reveal-
ingly. Joe guessed that she would change later, hooking
on sex appeal those that Dacaro couldn't.

"Good afternoon," the Baron said cheerfully. "May I
introduce the Baroness de Boquillas?"

Joe had the sudden urge to rush them, but he knew it
was futile. Dacaro had the power to stop him with a wave
of the hand, and behind them were the Ministering Angels,
now wearing nice powder blue robes but otherwise just
as well armed and determined. He remembered Poquah's
command that they were to stay alive at any cost and

262

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

hope that whatever was being worked by others was going
to save them.

Boquillas pointed to Mahalo McMahon. "That one is
yours, my dear. I'm sure we can make her into a won-
derful Ministering Angel."

The woman smiled evilly and beckoned to the Polyne-
sian to come out. "Perhaps so. If not, we can always give
her as a gift to old fang-mouth in there," the Baroness
said. "Come." It was said simply, but there was no ques-
tion that it had the force of a spell behind it from Mahalo's
look and her instant obedience.

The Baron snapped his fingers, and two Ministering
Angels appeared with handcuffs and leggings. "I had these
prepared a week or two ago, just in case," Boquillas told
Joe and Tiana. "They are ordinary, but are silver-plated.
I would not suggest struggling in them, because they will
cause permanent damage, even to you."

Dacaro took them and fastened the cuffs on behind
their backs, then snapped on the leg irons, which were
essentially handcuffs for the feet. Even the handcuffs were
really manacles, with a few inches of chain—enough to
allow some movement, but hardly very much. Neither of
them was likely to hit anyone or run very fast, that was
for sure.

Joe looked up at the iron cage and saw it was empty.
"What did you do with Poquah?"

Dacaro grinned. "Wish I could take you up and show
you the upstairs entrance hall. Got two beautiful marble
statues up there, facing each other. One's a nude of an
elf warrior, the other's a beautiful female winged fairy
creature. Got 'em cheap, too."

Joe struggled in his rage but to no avail. Finally he
calmed down. "So you got Marge, too, huh? So where's
the souls?"

"For all the good it will do you, the only thing Dacaro
had available were two of Father O'Grady's used whiskey
bottles," the wizard said, chuckling.

263

JACK L. CHALKER

"How can one man be so despicable?" Tiana wanted
to know.

The Baron looked at Joe. "Follow me into my little
office, Joe. I wish to speak with you alone for a moment."
He saw the alarm on Dacaro and the Angels, but quieted
them. "It's all right. Tiana's out here with you, and he's
quite encumbered. Come."

With some difficulty, Joe managed to follow him, then
stood there while the Baron closed the door. Joe just
stared at him for a moment. "Just what kind of a creature
are you, anyway. Baron? How can a man be so charmingly
evil without showing signs of total insanity?"

"I appreciate the vote of confidence in my sanity,"
Boquillas replied, sitting on a comer of his desk. "You
see, Joe, all my life has been devoted to mathematics. It
sounds dull and ridiculous, but it's really the most prac-
tical of all things because everything is mathematics. Not
just spells, not just dry and abstract formulae, but real.
You are mathematics, Joe, and so am I. The beauty of a
leaf, the falling rain—all mathematics. That's how spells
work—by altering the mathematics in some way to achieve
a new balance. The more I studied, the more I looked at
the world, the more I realized that there was but a single
great random factor that kept human society from also
being mathematically balanced. Human societies—all of
them—were somehow structured in a nonlogical, non-
mathematical way. That's the true punishment of original
sin, you see. Eve, in perfection, was not perfect. She
made a single irrational, illogical decision, and Adam went
along with it. Don't you see, Joe? This all-wise, all-
knowing, all-powerful, omnipotent Creator blew it. Adam
and Eve were both imperfect from the start, yet they were
regarded as perfect creations.

"And that, of course, was Satan's point of view. Either
the Creator intended perfection and failed, or he wanted
all this misery to happen and is therefore punishing human
beings for no reason at all except his own perverse plea-
sure. He created Satan and the others, too, don't forget.

264

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L.CHALKER

265

It is a terrifying vision to a mathematician, yet the con-
clusion is inescapable on the face of it. The Creator is
insane! We have a root random variable at the core of
our being that comes from that insanity."

"Ever think your problem was in thinking of Him as
human, as natural? That maybe He's so far beyond any-
thing we can comprehend that He's beyond our under-
standing at all?"

"I considered it, but it is actually an irrelevant point.
What isn't mathematically balanced is insanity. Such a
being is, therefore, insane, and I refuse to be a party to
serving one who is not the heart of all logic and mathe-
matics."

"And the Devil is?"

"Well, the Devil's got his own problems, I admit, con-
sidering the record; but taking the long view, Satan's fight
is my fight because he is battling the Creator, and for the
same reasons. Look at this world! I thought ours was bad,
but it pales by comparison to the Creator's chosen and
personally created own! The world is a madhouse in which
the bulk of the population at any time is in slavery or
subjugation, starving or in other miseries, and Hell is
allowed to run roughshod while all the good and saintly
of this world are killed. A world that worships martyrdom
above all else, that equates good with dying for a good
cause, is a world that is so mad it is unbelievable. Out of
this, I have the means to create a single, worldwide, math-
ematically balanced society. I have the tools. I might well
fail; if I do, the world will be destroyed. But if that hap-
pens, it will be because it deserves to happen. Better to
end it than to bring into being generations yet to be born
to suffer all the more!"

"I'm no priest. Baron, or theologian. I can't give you
the answers, if there are the kind of answers either of us
will understand. All I understand is that, by the proph-
ecies of the Oracle ofMylox, your plan will lead to Arma-
geddon, unless it is stopped, and I think these people

should have the right to blow themselves up without your
interference."

Esmilio Boquillas smiled wanly. "Joe, what can I do
with you? I like you, but you and I will always be enemies.
Marge and Poquah are in two whiskey bottles on my
bedroom mantel. On Tuesday our drunken priest may go
his own way—I'll even have some of his superiors under
my control. He is headed for the madhouse and we both
know it. He is no threat. But you are a threat. Something
watches over you, Joe. Something protects you. I can't
put my hand on it or find it, but it's true. All the others,
including Tiana, I can handle, but you always seem some-
how to slip out of every total and absolute trap that is
laid and cross me up."

"What do you plan to do with Tiana?"

"I will remove her from that odd mermaid's body that
Sugasto somehow stuck her with and place her soul in
the body of one of the Angels. That will rid me of the
were curse, and restore the undisciplined power that the
mermaid condition suppresses. She will be under my con-
trol, but a good mate for Dacaro."

"You mean your surrogate and life insurance. You don't
trust Dacaro, once this is too far along, anymore than I
would. She's stronger than he is—if she's fed the spells."

"Exactly. But, you see, Joe, I can't do the same for
you. No matter where I stuck your soul, somehow it
would go wrong for me. If I transformed you into a mon-
key or a toad and removed all your memory, it would
somehow be brought back. I stab you through the heart,
my men shoot you three times in the back with a .44
Magnum, and here you stand, healthy as a horse. You
were even a horse yourself once, and that didn't stop
you."

"So if you're going to kill me, let's get it over with.
One of those silver bullets ought to do it."

"That would be quick, easy, and relatively painless.
I'll certainly give you thatoption. Quick and painless, or
very drawn out and very ugly. It is your choice."

266

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Dacaro rightly pointed out that your actions wouldn't
stop us, just badly inconvenience us. There's something
else afoot, something more serious and permanent going
on, and I want to know what it is. I want the text of what
the Oracle told you, and I want to know your interpre-
tation. You know what I'm doing here. Somehow, you've
all figured it out. I want to know what counters are being
taken by others."

Joe chuckled. "I don't know them. Baron. They
wouldn't tell me or Ti and you understand why. A wave
of Dacaro's hand and I'd spin my guts. What little I did
know was erased by a spell so complicated it would be
tomorrow morning before you could solve it and then
dismantle it."

"I don't have any proof of that, Joe. All right—-we'll
go the hard way."

It proved to be a big cellar. Joe was suspended in a
small room with a high ceiling, the chain of his hand
manacles secured by iron bolts to an overhead beam, so
he dangled in the air. It was painful and somewhat diz-
zying at the same time.

Beneath him, perhaps three feet below, was a small
tub in which had been placed a very large number of nasty-
looking snakes. They were not, however, ordinary snakes,
but ones modified by spell.

"The snakes' venom is a compound of silver nitrate,"
the Baron explained. "It is almost five now, and sundown
is at six thirty-three today. No one will disturb you, Joe,
but at sundown the only thing close is going to be those
snakes. You'll turn into one of them and drop, as you did
with the rats in my old dungeon. They cannot climb beyond
the slanted screen barrier, so neither will you. If they
don't bite you repeatedly when you drop in, they will all
bite when you change back at dawn after a thrilling eve-
ning as a snake. Angels will be armed with silver bullets
outside the door, and someone will keep an eye on you

JACK L. CHftLKER                267

from time to time. If you get any good ideas, just yell the
information and someone will shoot you, if it's of value
to us. Otherwise, the snake pit. Believe me, Joe—the
door cannot be opened from this side, and there are no
windows or other exits big enough to admit anything of
value or to use as an escape. No matter what, they'll
shoot you, in whatever form, if you try that." He sighed.
"Good-bye, Joe. I go to my destiny. Too bad you couldn't
come along."

He exited and the door closed with an unnerving final-
ity. He twisted slowly, his arms aching like hell, and all
he could think was. Damn you, Poquah! Your cavalry
better come in time!

CHAPTER I 6

SPELLING OUT THE BIG BROADCAST

And, as that Theban monster that proposed
Her riddle, ana him who solved it not devoured;

That once found out and solved, for grief and spite
Cast herself headlong from th' Ismenian steep,
So strook with dread and anguish fell the Fiend...

—Milton

GIMLET ONLY SUCCEEDED IN HER MISSION BECAUSE

Dacaro was paranoid enough that he wanted no one, not
even Ministering Angels under his spell, to be in his small
office when he worked. Being a wizard, no one had even
bothered to investigate when occasional sounds of typing
had issued from the office after he'd gone to eat. She was

268

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

pretty well satisfied; she just hoped she hadn't misspelled
anything.

After completing that part, she was on her own in the
big house. She didn't worry about the guards, since any
pixie that could remain unnoticed in Brooklyn had no
worry about being unnoticed here. She was aware that
she alone held a real advantage; unless the other team
was captured and had talked or had been asked the right
questions, not a single one of the enemy even knew she
existed.

It was late in the afternoon when she completed the
task and was satisfied, though she moved on out to see
what else she could do. She was met almost immediately
by the two marble statues newly placed in the hall, and
she had no question in her mind, considering what Joe
and Tiana had told her, that these were no artist's copies
and that the team below had met with failure.

She checked in all the rooms up and down the hall,
including those with the enforcement arms in them, and
even the Baron's bedroom, but found no one else familiar
until the last door, more a closet really. She almost skipped
it, but slipped under the sill by flattening herself and found
Father O'Grady inside. There were several whiskey bot-
tles around, and the priest, stark naked, was sitting there
looking forlorn in a comer.

Something seemed to attract his attention, though, and
he looked up and saw her. His expression became instantly
friendly and childlike. "If only you could hear me," she
sighed.

"But, faith, I hear ye fine, little fairy," the priest
responded in a whisper.

She was startled. Certainly he wasn't hearing on the
usual level. The only thing she could figure was that this
guy had real wizard's power—but only when he was drunk.

"Tell me what happened," she asked him.

"They caught us, that was all. They were layin' for us
all the time. They aren't sure they can control their beas-

JACK L. CHALKER                269

tie, y'see, and they wanted me to show 'em how. I drew
it all but one small character. 'Tis a shame indeed."

"Listen—if I can get you out of here, do you think
you could get down dere somehow and finish it?"

He thought a moment. "How? They've got their dam-
nable security in every room and in every hall."

She thought a moment. "Dat's downstairs. Hey—lis-
ten. Do ya t'ink you could shimmy down a long rope in
your condition?"

He got up unsteadily. "To vanquish the foe I would
shimmy 'til it hurt!"

She flew to the lock, then seemed to back her tiny
rump into it. There was a little glow when she left, and
he was croggled by the idea. "Pixie dust!" he breathed.
"Uh—it's your excrement ?"

She stood in midair and shrugged. "Dem fairy stories
was for kids. What can I say about the real t'ing?"

He went over and tried the door. It slid open noise-
lessly and he peered cautiously outside. "Coast clear. Lead
on!"

"Yeah, well, wait'U you see de dumbwaiter."

"Almost sundown," Dacaro said. "It's a big night. In
an hour and a half we'll own a little part of this world."
He and the Baron walked onto the porch and looked out
at the grounds and the equipment. New temporary lighting
had been installed just to flood the front porch, and over
to their left sat the great satellite dish on its trailer, wires
going to a separate truck trailer with the control room in
it. The three cameras were in place, and being checked
by their technicians, which were provided by the cable
network. A thousand folding chairs were set out behind
them on the lawn. Tonight those who attended would wear
no yellow robes, but their finest and fanciest clothing, and
look damned respectable, as did those within the house.

The night was atypically clear and relatively warm.
Dacaro, thanks to the Baron's computer, had arranged it
that way.

270

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

A fancy lectern with a banner over it reading TRUE
PATH CRUSADE was set up in front, and the microphone
was in place and could be detached so Dacaro could walk
out from behind it if necessary. Two boom mikes, out of
camera frame, supplemented it, and all were tied together
in the base of the lectern by a mass of switching and other
electronic gear that almost filled it.

The Baron intended that he and the Baroness would
watch the proceedings from chairs in the front row center
of the audience; Dacaro had to carry the talkathon ball,
of course. He would have assistance, but he'd be on as
part of it for the entire time, and, by doing so, act as a
carrier for the more subliminal but vitally more important
spells being transmitted at the same time. Dacaro, or even
himself in his prime, would have been incapable of broad-
casting that steady level of power for more than a few
minutes, but Dacaro merely had to be on. The power
would come from below.

Boquillas took a moment to appreciate his own bril-
liance. The sun would be down in a moment, and that
would finally be the end of Joe. He had beaten them all,
including Ruddygore's best, and he'd killed, imprisoned,
or enslaved all those who had cost him dearly in the past.
This was indeed a night to remember.

Gimlet had gone ahead of the priest, who had a very
tight fit and was also very tight. Moving the panel in the
basement back just enough to get through, she looked
over the place. As she expected, it was empty—no, it
wasn't. Two of the Ministering Angels with their nasty
rifles stood near a small door over to one side. She knew
they would have to be taken out before the priest made
it down this far.

She lowered her glow to the minimum and shot from
the opening. In a flash, she was hovering over the two
guards, one on each side of the door. They hadn't noticed
her, obviously. Now, she flew back and forth over each
in turn and a twinkling substance settled down and came

271

JACK L. CHALKER

to rest in each of the guard's hair. They did not seem to
notice, but odd smiles suddenly crept out on their faces
and they seemed to relax a bit. One giggled.

It was a bit noisier when the priest got down and pushed
the door all the way back. He hardly made it, feet first,
out of the opening, and only his condition kept him from
feeling the pain.

He looked around, saw the two Angels, and froze.
They looked at him, started giggling uncontrollably, and
began pointing and gesturing, but the last thing they seemed
to want to do was shoot him.

He felt suddenly a bit insulted. "What's with them?"

"I peed on dem. Dey're pixilated, y'know. Forget 'em."
They both looked through the glass, which was darkly
transparent from this side, and saw only the deserted
entry point with the candles burning. The priest stared.

"They didn't even erase what I drew!" he said. "The
Seal's intact!" He turned excitedly. "Quickly—find me a
piece of chalk. Red's best, but any will do."

She went off and looked through Boquillas's office.
The pack they'd taken from the priest was still there, and
she shed a tiny bit of her essence on it and it levitated
out and followed her to the priest, who took it and smiled.
"I'll finish the Seal," he told her. "You go see if you can
help some of the others."

Gimlet turned and looked at the hysterical guards. "I
wonder what dey're guardin'?" she muttered, and flew to
the door. One of the laughing and giggling guards oblig-
ingly opened it for her.

She flew immediately to Joe, knowing he could see but
not hear her. He seemed happy to see her, or anybody,
but puzzled. Suddenly, through his pain-wracked mind,
he managed to say, "Stay with me! Sit on me if you have
to! Sit on me until..."

It was six thirty-three, and he suddenly found himself
free and falling through the air, and barely had the pres-
ence of mind to pull up. The move was instinctive; he
was now an exact twin of Gimlet, and had aU of her

272        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

instincts, drives, powers, and limitations. Everything but
her accent.

"What's happening?" he asked her.

"Gee—dis is neat," Gimlet commented. "Been a long
toime since I had a sister."

"Can the comedy—you know what happened, and
thanks for arriving in time. Close, though." He sighed.
"It's always so damned close."

"I freed da priest. He's drunk as a skunk but he's in
dere now finishin' up da drawing or whatever." They
quickly exchanged what information they had.

"I'd say let 'em go ahead with the show for now," he
told her. "We can't do anything about it. Let's try and
free any we can. I know where the souls of the fairies are
kept—the Baron told me."

They used the dumbwaiter route up and out into the
second floor. Thanks to Gimlet's room by room search
earlier, she knew exactly where the bedroom was.

Joe looked around, enjoying how effortlessly gravity
seemed not to exist for him. It was as easy to go at any
speed in any direction as it was to walk it. The only trouble
was, everything looked so huge.

The bottles were just sitting there on the mantel of the
bedroom fireplace, but they were a good case in point.
He and Gimlet were both no more than four inches high—
not more than half the height of the whiskey bottles. Both
had corks in them apparently from old wine bottles, but
Joe found himself able to stand comfortably on the cork.

"Can't we just uncork 'em here and hope for da best?"
Gimlet asked hopefully. "I mean, dey're fairy souls."

"They could still wander and never find their bodies,"
he replied. "Our best bet would be to uncork them next
to the statues."

She sighed. "Well, I guess we can manage it, but after
dis, we're both gonna be too pooped out to do any more."

He found out that she wasn't speaking metaphorically,
either. Still, once the stuff was on the bottles—as opposed
to the corks—Joe found he could lift his as if it were

JACK L, CHALKER                273

attached to his tiny body by ropes. Even the empty bottles
were terribly heavy, but barely manageable.

They had just gotten the bottles to the door when the
Baroness walked in to the room. They both froze, the
bottles as high as they could maintain them. Joe thanked
Providence that they liked high ceilings at the turn of the
century.

The lady of the manor was not alone, but was followed
by two Ministering Angels, neither as yet out of their
apparently normal household uniform of high boots, tas-
sels, jewelry, and nothing else. Neither was armed, and
they helped the Baroness undress and get newly fixed up,
then brushed her hair and checked her makeup.

"Gimlet!" Joe whispered, although his voice, like hers,
wasn't within the realm of normal human hearing. "One
of them is Mahalo!"

Mahalo McMahon finished brushing the Baroness's hair.
"Thank you, Mahalo," the lady of the manor said. "Tiana,
bring me the Chanel from the cabinet over there."

"At once. Mistress," the other answered and went to
get it.

Joe stared at the other woman. If that was where they'd
put Tiana, they'd never chosen a more different body for
her. The woman was small, almost petite, with one hell
of an athletic body and small, firm breasts. She was tanned
and had a playfully cute kind of face, set off by long,
straight, light brown hair.

"I can't hold dis much longer," Gimlet noted. "Let's
try'n sneak outta da room wit' dese t'ings before dey kill
us. Dey're bewitched. We need the Imir."

She was right, of course. Slowly, carefully, and ner-
vously, they each made their way down and out the door.
No one was in the hall, but there were the sounds of loud
voices downstairs, perhaps a small crowd, and some other
voices from rooms down the hall. This had to be fast.

"Which one's which?" Gimlet wanted to know. "Best
we put dem next to each statue."

"No matter what, we'll probably get the wrong ones,"

274

JACK L. CHALKER                275

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Joe muttered. "All we can do is trust to the luck that's
got us this far." He wasn't sure about Marge, but he had
a feeling that Poquah in a Kauri body would hardly be a
thrilling love goddess.

They set their bottles down and, as Gimlet warned,
neither had much reserve. The corks moved a bit, but
wouldn't come all the way out. Each of them grabbed
what they could and tugged.

Joe's came suddenly free with a force that almost
knocked him down the stairs. Gimlet's came a few sec-
onds later. Then they held their breaths. Both souls had
gone into the bodies nearest them, but which was which?

It took about a minute, a very nervous minute when
it seemed as if someone was going to come by at any
moment, before the fixtures turned back into living,
breathing beings. Marge, for one, looked puzzled, but
seemed to realize quickly the position and danger she was
in.

Joe flew down to Marge's shoulder. "Is that you. Marge?
Or did we mix it up again?"

"Joe?" she whispered. "Is that really youT'

"Until sunup, anyway. Come on—we got to move it.
They're going on the air in maybe a half hour, forty min-
utes. We got to be away."

Poquah looked less surprised, and there was no ques-
tion that, this time, things had worked out right. At least
they'd had a fifty-fifty chance for them. "Where are the
others?" the Imir whispered.

"The Baroness is in there with Mahalo and another we
think is Tiana, soul-transferred. O'Grady's drunk but he's
down in the demon's room with his chalk."

"Are they alone?"

"Yes. But we can get them later!"

"Is either woman armed?"

"Not that I saw, but we don't have the time!"

"Yes we do," Poquah said and walked boldly into the
bedroom. Marge decided she might as well follow, although

there was almost nothing she could do to help, and the
pixies joined in as well.

The Baroness was being worked on by the two women
and looking into her mirror. Although four creatures
entered, there was nothing reflected in it except the three
humans and the door, although suddenly the Baroness
noted that it had suddenly closed on them. She turned,
as did the two others, and gaped at the duo she saw. She
didn't even notice the pixies.

"You!" she called out. "How—"

The two Angels immediately stepped in front of their
mistress and took up fighting positions.

Poquah put out his hand and from it issued a series of
sparkling yellow bands. They wrapped around the two
Angels and held them. The Angels moved meekly out of
the way.

The Imir looked at her and his eyes seemed aflame.
"Now you will know what it feels like to be on the other
end of such sorcery," he said darkly.

A bit later, the Baroness, with no memory of the inci-
dent, walked out the door, summoned two blue-robed
Angels, and went downstairs to greet her guests. Poquah
took the time to lift the rather basic spells placed on Mahalo
and Tiana. The Baroness was crude with spells, lacking
finesse, although she got the results she wanted.

"Oh, wow!" said Mahalo McMahon. "I guess the cav-
alry arrived, huh?"

"No, not quite," Poquah told her, "but it is close. Some
of us must see to Father O'Grady. The rest of you should
clear out—now. Dacaro's down greeting guests—I can
feel him—so we can't go that way. Gimlet, you got
O'Grady down there somehow. Can you show me how?"

"Yeah, sure. You'll fit a lot better dan he did."

"I can go out the window, if he's lifted that damned
sticky spell," Marge told them. "You want me to fly out
and get a raid in here."

"No!" Poquah said sharply. "We must not interfere.
The broadcast must go on as scheduled!"

276

JACK L. CHALKER                277

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

"Huh?" they all managed.

"You'll see. Kauri, I'll open the window here and you
fly out. Don't touch the exterior and you should be all
right. Just take a good perch in a tree someplace and watch
what happens."

Tiana looked at the two pixies. "Joe? Is one of those
you?" she managed, chuckling.

He nodded and waved.

"You don't look much like a fish either, honey," Mahalo
noted. "They put you in a new package."

"I wonder what they did with the poor girl whose body
this was and who is now a mermaid?"

"Impossible to know, at least until dawn," Poquah
pointed out. "She would be a were, remember. We must
go. O'Grady may well need help and a lot depends on
him."

"Hey! What about us? How do we get out?" Mahalo
wanted to know.

"You don't. Too many people, lights, guards, and spells
about. You'll have to stay here until it's finished."

"We will miss whatever fun you have planned!" Tiana
objected. "It is not fair!"

"No choice. I haven't time to give you a spell effective
enough to get you by."

"But what if the Baron returns?"

"He'll have far too much on his mind to come to the
bedroom," the Imir promised. "If he does, he'll find two
servile Ministering Angels. Just act the part and remember
that he doesn't have as much power as you do, Tiana."

She frowned. "That spell you put on the Baroness—
what did it do?"

"Gave her a case of what Master Ruddygore once called
Beavercleaveritus. She'll be so sickeningly sweet and good
you'll want to throw up. She can't do anything even
remotely bad. Maybe you'll see. They'll take it for an act
downstairs until it's too late, but she's out of it. Now—
I must go."

With that he opened the door a bit—and seemed to

vanish. The pixies followed in the air, keeping close to
the ceiling where possible.

A couple of other Angels were in the hall and should
have seen Poquah, but appeared not to notice him, even
giving way without a second glance when he passed. It
was the first time Joe had been able to see Poquah when
he was in this phase, and it was fascinating. It would not,
however, get him past Dacaro or into the cellar, whose
entrance was much too public from the first floor.

The old dumbwaiter, however, served one more time.

Until now, there had been nothing from the pentagram,
but now that O'Grady had completed it, after fifteen tries,
and started to say the words that would activate it, some-
thing happened.

It was at first just a feeling, a presence growing some-
how in the midst of the five-sided figure, but the sensation
of overpowering evil was beyond anything he had ever
experienced, even beyond belief.

If he had been the least bit sober, it would have stopped
him completely. Even so, he stumbled over some of the
words and had to back up. He did not want to look ahead
as he prayed, did not want to see what was forming there,
but he did, and the figure he saw was beyond words to
describe. Raw power it was, at once the most horrible
and loathsome thing he'd seen and also one of the grand-
est. It was a sight far worse than his nightmares, a vision
so terrifying there was an intense feeling to stop this work
and fall down and worship the thing.

"Stop, priest!" the thing thundered, its voice the voice
of a million Auschwitz camps and billions of innocent
dead. "I will crush you if you continue!"

Suddenly the panel in the back rolled back and Poquah
entered. The two pixies tried, but could not penetrate the
force of evil there. Through the one-way glass, they could
see the priest and Poquah clearly, but only a shimmering
shape in the center of the pentagram.

"It can't get at you. Father!" Poquah yelled to the

278       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

kneeling naked figure. "It can't cross that pentagram and
those candle sticks! Seal this one bastard away from this
place it profanes!"

The demon prince roared defiance, but turned toward
Poquah. "Silence, elf shit! You are not your master, and
even him could I devour, if I chose!"

The change of focus took some of the pressure off
O'Grady, who continued. That and the booze gave him
barely enough insulation to finish the long and complex
passage. He was still amazed he remembered it. It had
been years since he'd studied it, and the text almost seemed
to be coming from—somewhere else.

Suddenly his spirit soared, and he stood up and grinned
at the terror beyond description. "Begone, ye demon!
Your better has bested you! In the name of the Lord God,
Creator of the Universe, this place is sealed!"

Suddenly the demon howled, and where the strings
were, forming the Seal, was now a mass of fire forming
the great seal and spelling out letters. Slowly, the six lines
began to converge on their center at the pentagram.

"It's shrinking'." a shaken Joe managed from behind
the screen. "Well, I'll be damned!"

"Probably!" roared the creature, but it was definitely
in agony. It, too, seemed to be shrinking, losing substance
and power. The lines of fire continued their march, pass-
ing the candlesticks and consuming them in a nearly elec-
trical fire, then consuming the pentagram itself, which
was no longer needed.

There was a sudden burst of pure bright light that
seemed to blind them, and then all was still and quiet
except for the buzz from the untouched fluorescent light
fixture. On the floor, the great Seal of Solomon was etched
into the very stone itself, about the size of the inner area
of the pentagram. The aura of evil, the terror that the
room had held, was gone. It just felt suddenly cold and
damp down there.

"Well, I'll be—darned," Father O'Grady said. "The
thing actually worked! Praise be to God!" He turned to

JACK L. CHALKER

279

Poquah. "This calls for a drink!" he proclaimed and col-
lapsed on the floor.

The Imir rushed to him and checked him, and the two
pixies flew in immediately to see for themselves.

"Passed out cold," the Imir told them. "Might as well
leave him here and make him comfortable. Right now this
is the safest place in the area."

"You do that," said Joe. "You still won't tell us a damned
thing, so Gimlet and I are going to go up and watch the
show."

"Be careful," the Imir warned. "Dacaro is still dan-
gerous as hell; there are no guarantees our plans will
work, and that audience and most of the people in this
house are still the enemy."

"We'll remember. Just call if you need us."

"You can do no more. Now—go. It's almost time. I
can feel Dacaro's spell reaching down to connect with his
nibs in here at this moment, and I'll have to give him a
reasonable facsimile of a connection so he feels secure.
Not that he could do anything but go through with it,
anyway."

The Baron and Baroness had taken their seats and the
last checks were in. Dacaro brought his script up to the
lectern, although it was a scant ten pages of giant-sized
double-spaced type, just enough for the introduction. He'd
wing it after that.

The connection to below felt a bit odd, but he put it
down to nervous excitement. This night was everything—
and more—that he ever dreamed when he'd decided on
the black side of the arts.

The Baroness leaned over and whispered to the Baron,
"Golly gee whillikers! I'm so excited I"

He sighed. "Enough of that, my dear. We are secure.
Just look pretty and watch the show. I don't know what's
gotten into you, anyway."

"Oh, okay, honey. But, golly\ Everybody looks so nicer

He stared at her for a moment and a hint of suspicion

280

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

281

crossed his mind, but he finally dismissed it as just excite-
ment. He didn't feel himself tonight, either, although he
put it down to tiredness and pressure. Even though this
was a big moment for him, he still wished it was all over
and done with. There! The recorded gospel music was
already going out! They were on the air!

A ghostly, disembodied voice that was actually pre-
taped said, "The Blessed Art Thou Network proudly pre-
sents, from Stockman Mills, California, live, the Reverend
Richard Dacaro and the True Path Crusade for the Lord!"

There was a lot of applause. As that was going on, the
pixies spotted Marge back in the trees and went to her.

"Everything squared away?" the Kauri asked.

"Okay below," Gimlet responded. "Ain't nothin' goin'
out of here tonight 'cept what we're seeing now."

"Yeah, I'm real curious as to this other part. What did
they have planned? An air strike?" Joe wondered. "I mean,
they're still on top. Their gimmick just won't fly tonight."

"Oh, I got an idea. My feet are still sore," the real pixie
said.

"Your feet?"

"From typing dose extra lines in da script."

The applause died down, and Dacaro, looking really
splendid, began. As had been anticipated, he was more
than a little nervous at this, despite his earlier hour-long
stint, and so he kept pretty close to his script.

"Brothers and sisters," he began, "we welcome the
rest of you across this great land of ours to our glorious
crusade. Here, in this natural setting, we can feel the
presence of God around us, and I hope some of that com-
municates to those of you out there."

He went on leading a group prayer, then launched into
his keynote sermon. It was a typical sort of nondenomi-
national sermon, except that it wasn't very long.

"We must rid our beautiful nation, one nation indivi-
sible, of those elements that corrupt our young. We declare
war tonight on the evil that spreads over this land! Why,
in this very spot, in the midst of God's most wondrous

nature, at one time not long ago they grew the noxious
weed that rots the minds and steals the souls of our young!
Well, we have liberated this land for God, and they shall
not have it back!"

There was great applause, and Marge commented,
"He's really pretty good. I almost feel like phoning in a
donation myself."

"Brothers and sisters here and across this great nation,
we can here, now, today, make a start at a true revolution
for our country! Not one that will burn or loot or pillage,
but one based on God and scripture, one that drives the
evil drugs and pornography and booze and filth from our
land and our young! I wish all of you out there could see,
could feel, could know what this country would be like if
we were in charge!"

"DONE!" cried a voice that went over the micro-
phones and out to the satellites.

Dacaro stopped, as if it were the voice of God, but he
had no choice in the matter and no time really to reflect
on it. He grew suddenly transparent, and seemed to be
sucked as if by a vacuum cleaner into the lectern itself.
But the podium was not deserted, for in a simultaneous
reversal another oozed out and solidified, a huge man in
formal clothes and top hat with a big white beard.

Both Marge's and Joe's jaws dropped. Finally Marge
managed, "The Lamp! Macore hid the Lamp in the
podium!"

The crowd, however, hardly noticed Ruddygore up
there. They were, as were at least a million people tuning
in across the country, in a state of absolute shock and
horror, for the Lamp had granted Dacaro's unintended
wish.

They knew exactly what the country would be like if
the True Path were in charge.

It broke through spells, and it broke through all manner
of faith and belief. It just was. Down there, some people
were so nauseated they were throwing up all over their
nice clean suits.

282

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALK.ER

283

Ruddygore had seemed dazed for a moment, but now
he suddenly seemed to see the lights and the cameras
and he brightened like a small child discovering a new
toy. He grabbed the microphone and began singing, "/
am the very model of a modern Major General...."

A technician had had the presence of mind to shut
down transmission, but there were still all those people
out there. Ruddygore continued to sing.

Joe looked forward and grew alarmed. "Boquillas has
split!" He looked at the other two. "You check this side
of the crowd, and you. Gimlet, check the other. I'm going
back into the house. He may try some sort of slicker
getaway there, and Tiana's trapped in there!"

He did not try to see or make contact with Ruddygore,
who was just standing there for a while like a joyous Santa
having the time of his life, but went up and flew in the
bedroom's open window.

The two women were still there, listening to the com-
motion but not yet fully understanding it.

Joe suddenly realized he couldn't communicate directly
with either one. Or—could he? Tiana had the power, she
might barely be able to make him out in the fairy speech.

"Ti!" he cried, going right up to her. "Dacaro's gone
and Ruddygore's here, but the Baron's escaped!"

She looked at him strangely for a moment, then seemed
to hear. "Okay. If I get it, the Baron's escaped but we
won. Come on, Mahalo! If he goes anywhere he'll head
for that exit-laden basement of yours!"

There were people screaming and running all about,
but they ignored them and pushed their way through, to
be ignored in turn. The cellar door was definitely ajar,
and first Mahalo, who was the larger, and then Tiana made
it, Joe flying right on top.

Joe looked over and saw the reclining priest, but no
Poquah. He must have left to get to Ruddygore. There
was, however, someone in the Baron's small office, rum-
maging around for something.

Tiana walked boldly to the open door and saw Boquillas

just sitting there in his office chair in front of his computer
looking dazed and confused. It was unlike him, but she
knew he wouldn't go quietly.

"You're done. Baron," she said. "We've taken you
again."

He looked up at her and seemed very confused and
disoriented, and then he got up and looked at the pair of
crossed sabers mounted on the wall. In a single motion
he grabbed one and wrenched it free of its mount.

Joe had been ignored and did a fast survey of the office.
He found that Irving was in fact still in its scabbard by
the side of Boquillas's desk.

"Irving! To the woman and fight as if it were me!" he
commanded.

The sword suddenly shot from its scabbard and went
right through the computer terminal. It caught them all
by surprise, but Tiana grabbed it by reflex and felt its heft
and balance. "All right. Baron, this was meant to be,"
she said. "I will step outside, but not stand aside."

The Baron stared at her a moment, then reached up
and took the other saber down, so that he had one in each
hand. He then walked tiredly out of the office and faced
the woman with the broadsword. "I will leave now," he
said woodenly.

Tiana did not have the size and strength she was used
to, but Irving was not merely a broadsword but a semi-
living creature with a mind and powers of its own. It could
not help her strength, but it needed little skill or direction
to be effective, for it was forged with dwarf magic in the
fires under the mountains.

She thought about that. "Baron, if you will throw one
of those sabers down at my feet I will give you a fair fight.
Otherwise, I kill you where you stand."

"Ti! No!" Joe screamed. "He's a monster with nothing
more to lose! Kill him now!" He ached to be the one with
the sword instead of her. He owed Boquillas one.

The Baron knelt down and slid the saber over to Tiana.
She reached down, picked it up, then put down Irving.

284

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

The Baron did not take advantage of her at this, and let
her start the fight.

There was the sudden clang of steel against steel, but
the Baron seemed to be fighting without any will or reserve
left. In seconds, Tiana had pressed him to the wall and
then methodically disarmed him, although she was unused
to her new body and he had by far the advantage in size
and reach. He stared at her, showing no fear, only res-
ignation. "You must kill me," he told her, sounding very
tired indeed.

Tiana paused a moment, then lowered her saber and
shook her head. "I cannot kill this poor, miserable wretch
like this." She half turned away from him in disgust. "Let
Ruddygore deal with him."

At that moment a shot rang out and reverberated
through the cellar. She was shocked and stunned for a
moment, then turned to see the Baron slowly sinking to
the floor, a bloody wound in his chest. She looked over
near the stairs and saw Mahalo McMahon there, holding
one of the rifles abandoned by the pixilated guards. She
looked a little shocked and stunned herself. "I—I couldn't
help it. I saw it there and was covering you, and you
turned away and he made a move for the sword and I
just—shot, that's all." She dropped the rifle and seemed
to be more than a little bit in shock herself.

Poquah suddenly came down the stairs in a rush. "You
must all get out of here quickly!" he shouted. "The audi-
ence has become a mob and they have set fire to the
mansion! Stand away from the far wall and Marge will
set off a charge that will blow the old door off, spells and
all!"

Tiana went over and checked the Baron. "He is still
alive!" She looked around and saw the limp, naked body
of Father O'Grady on the other side of the glass. "Mahalo!
Snap out of it! You are no murderer yet! See if you can
get O'Grady on his feet and help him when they blow up
the door! Poquah! I will need help with the Baron!"

The Imir looked at the bloodstained form and frowned,

JACK L. CHALKER                285

as if debating whether to help the Baron or not, but finally
he said, "You go help the other get the priest out. I will
use a spell to levitate that carrion out after you."

At that moment there was a tremendous explosion inside
the room in which Joe had been held captive and strung
up. He flew to Poquah. "The snakes! There are venomous
snakes in that room!"

The Imir ran over, threw the door open, and looked
around. "They are there, but they are all dead. They could
not survive their own mutated venom when Dacaro's
influence was removed. Come! There is a hole in here
that even our Master could fit through—but hurry! I can
see smoke from here and it is getting very, very warm!"

The two women were able to get O'Grady to a more
or less standing position, but he was definitely still not of
this or any other world except perhaps his own. With one
on each arm, they managed with several slips to get him
into the room where hands from outside could help ease
the women's burden.

Smoke now filled the cellar area, and flames began to
be seen along the ceiling, helped by the sudden blowing
open of the door. Poquah finished his spells and, very
slowly, the Baron's limp form lifted a few inches off the
floor and followed the Imir to the room and then to the
door itself. Joe shot out into the open air, stopped, then
turned to watch.

Ruddygore and a number of stem-faced men helped
lift the Baron out the rest of the way just as the ceiling
fell in with a crash and a roar. They barely made it back
to the well area before the flames shot for a moment
straight through the opening and into the light as if from
a flamethrower.

The unfamiliar men took Boquillas's limp form and
hustled it away with a speed and professionalism that was
impressive; the rest stood there for a while, watching the
old mansion go up like a flaming torch, until the heat,
which grew hot enough to begin to ripple the paint on the
generator trailers and melt the big satellite dish, became

286

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

so great that they were forced to turn and walk back into
the cool woods. Fire sirens sounded in the distance, but
they would be useful only in keeping the conflagration to
what it was already consuming and prevent, if they were
lucky, a major forest fire.

Tiana, in fact, voiced that fear to Ruddygore, but he
was unconcerned. "I managed a spell sufficient to keep
the fire contained within its current boundaries, which
will last until the inevitable rains rush in. I wouldn't worry
so much. I personally wouldn't be upset if it consumed
that entire stupid town, but I would not like to lose those
redwoods."

The whole forest was a madhouse, with crowds ranging
from the virtually undressed to the formally dressed run-
ning every which way in panic. Elder, Ministering Angel,
Elect, technicians, special guests—all were the same now.
The True Path was in ashes, and would not be followed
again by any who were there or by any watching the initial
broadcast.

Ruddygore's organization was quite prepared for them,
although the agents had not known exactly what would
happen until it did. A few small vans awaited the wizard's
party, and they were guided through and quickly whisked
away. There was even an ambulance to receive the Baron,
although it had not been thought at the time that he might
be the one to make use of it.

Even so, it took some wizard's spells and over an hour
to clear the town and the county.

CHAPTER I 7

EXPLANATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

Evil monsters must be killed more than once. The more evil
the monster, the more times it must die before it is sent to
Hell or oblivion.

—Rules, XIV, 303(a)

"LET'S GO BACK TO THE ORACLE'S VERSE ONCE AGAIN

and you'll see my thinking on all this," Throckmorton P.
Ruddygore said, relaxing in a hotel suite in San Francisco
and facing the company.

"The first three lines obviously meant Joe and Marge,"
he continued, sipping champagne between comments.
"The 'thief part undoubtedly meant Macore, although I
was hesitant to let an absolute greenhorn on Earth. He
seems to have adapted well, though."

"If you consider a fanatic addiction to Gilligan 's Island
adapting, then I guess you're right," Marge agreed.

"Well, if it wasn't an addictive thing, I suppose it
wouldn't have run that long. At any rate, it was clear that
the thief, Macore, had to go under something—it appeared
to be underground, though it turned out to be under the
porch and up through a trapdoor, but that difference was
minor. I could not, of course, understand the 'pickled
fish' reference, and thought it might refer to Tiana, par-
ticularly since conditions barring her were removed by
that body switch, so I raised no objections to her going,
despite the obvious inconvenience."

287

288

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

289

"I, too, thought it was me, although I did not like the
reference to being 'pickled,'" Tiana agreed.

The wizard nodded and wolfed down a croissant. "This
left me with a few questions that needed to be resolved
here—the pixie business, for example. The real problem
was that we had to give a treasure freely to the villains
and Macore had to sneak it in. What sort of treasure? It
seemed obvious from the fact that the word 'wish' was
used three times in the verse that it had to be the Lamp.
I, of course, was more hesitant to have Macore transport
it here, particularly with the risk that it would fall into
the Baron's hands—one chance at it and he might have
been able to wish his powers back—but clearly its pres-
ence was mandated. I told Macore to inform no one except
Poquah that it was even here, and to use it or otherwise
risk it only if he felt the meaning of the verse was perfectly
clear in his own mind."

"You put a lot of trust in Macore, considering the vault
episode," Joe noted.

"But that was at least part of it! His explanation of
how he solved all of the fatal traps of my vaults, which
no one, not even the Baron, had been able to do, con-
vinced me that no one else could adequately solve the
riddle of the verse and put it all together. He is rather—
limited—in many things, but in the solution of real puz-
zles with genuine dangers he is a genius. He looked every-
thing over, assembled all his information, put it against
the basic puzzle—the verse—and the true puzzle—how
to stop the Baron and Dacaro—and he did it! The use of
our pixie friend here to type that extra sentence, that very
clever and direct wish, into Dacaro's script while it was
still in the typewriter was absolute genius."

"Just where is Macore, anyway?" Marge asked. "We
haven't seen him since the night we all went into the
house."

"After waiting and planting the Lamp, masking it in a
metallic box that looked like it connected to all that other
apparatus inside the lectern, he got away and fast. Poquah

had arranged for memories of him to be erased from Joe
and Tiana, so it was unlikely that the Baron or Dacaro
knew he was part of the group. If they'd seen him, they
might have put two and two together. If they'd caught
him, there was no way to keep him from being forced to
spill the whole plot. As soon as he was out, we got him
well away, although he really did want to be in on things
at the end. I understand he is enjoying Disneyland enor-
mously. If he's not in jail, he will join us later, when we
fly back to Texas for our return voyage."

"How'd he get past those dogs?" Joe asked. "They just
about lived under that porch."

"But they were still just dogs. Macore is a professional
thief. He runs into guard dogs all the time. I don't know
the exact method, and whether he used a spell or drugs
or a combination, but anyone who couldn't be stopped
by the traps in my vault would hardly be concerned with
four Dobermans."

"What I can't figure out is how you got there," Marge
said. "I mean, didn't the wish Macore made bar you from
crossing?"

"It did indeed—only I didn't come that way. Think
back to the hotel in Marahbar, and remember that, after
you all left to come on the voyage here, Macore lingered
a few moments. I had already prearranged this with Jin-
ner, who was in the Lamp, so I simply made a wish and
changed places with Jinner. At that point I resided not in
Husaquahr but in the land of the djinn. I traveled nowhere,
including across the Sea of Dreams. The land of the djinn
is contiguous only with the location of the Lamp. Thus,
the Lamp crossed, not me, and when Dacaro made his
unintended wish, having had his own quota of wishes
fulfilled, he both freed and replaced me. I was here, but
I had not violated the barrier. Before we return, with the
aid of associates here and in my own way, I will deal with
Mr. Dacaro."

"I understand you're some kind of wizard and all that,"

290       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Mahalo McMahon interjected. "You gonna kill him or turn
him into a toad or what?"

"I think everyone is better off not knowing," he
responded carefully. "It is a most unpleasant business,
you understand, for he's a rascal but no worse than many
in Husaquahr—or here, for that matter. He cannot, how-
ever, be left on Earth with his power, nor can I trust him
under any conditions back home, which is almost cer-
tainly a real mess right now. I can only assure you that
you will never see or hear from him again unless you wind
up in Hell."

That seemed definite enough. "I still do not understand
why you just did not have someone make the wishes and
come out at the start of all this," Tiana commented.

"I couldn't afford to. Oh, Macore and Poquah had
instructions to get me out of there if things went sour, but
otherwise I was better off hidden. If I were on Earth,
Dacaro would have known it, would have felt the power.
And, so long as they had the demon prince Astaroth with
them, I could not have defeated them, and this time I had
no place to run."

"What about the Baron?" Joe asked.

"The Baron suffered enormous damage to his spinal
column and had a great loss of blood, some internally.
He's being kept alive now only on a life-support machine
at a private hospital under my control. He has never
regained consciousness and may not."

"Then why not just pull the plug and be done with
him?" Tiana wanted to know.

"There are some questions I wish to ask him. Most
particularly I wish to ask him just what spell he worked
out that enabled Dacaro so quickly and efficiently to
remove souls from bodies and imprison them, or switch
them around. It is a routine task for any competent sor-
cerer, but it involves demons and much ceremony and
preparation and usually takes several hours. He not only
did it in what appears to be minutes, but did it without
the aid of a demon or any ritual, almost like changing

JACK L. CHALKER

291

coats. It was something Boquillas did not work out here—
clearly this was the price our friend Sugasto, the Master
of the Dead, got for going after you—but something his
fine mind had worked out while still in Husaquahr. Sugasto
apparently was given access to the Baron's private files
of proprietary spells, of which this is the most sophisti-
cated, and he is using them."

"Even if the Baron regains consciousness, why should
he tell you?" Tiana wanted to know. "He seemed only to
want to die after this defeat. He hardly fought me at all,
although he is a skilled swordsman and might well have
won. He has no reason to tell you."

"It's very doubtful he ever will be able to tell, but if
he can, there are things that might be offered. If he dies,
his torment in Hell will far exceed anything the usual evil
one would get, for he failed Hell over and over again. If
I have the formula, there is a way out. You remember,
Joe, what happened to your mind when you became a
wood nymph?"

"I've been told," he responded imtatedly. "I don't
remember it for sure."

"Oh, I see!" Tiana exclaimed. "You can offer to use
his own process to place him in the body of such a nymph.
Eventually, perhaps quickly, his entire memory and per-
sonality would be suppressed and he would become the
creature of instinct Joe almost did. But he would put off
punishment until Judgment, if he was lucky and found a
nice tree, and he could argue his own case then based on
his idealism."

"Very good," Ruddygore replied, nodding. "It is a price
I believe he would be willing to pay. And if I know the

process, I can make things very uncomfortable for
Sugasto,"

"I—I guess I shouldn't have shot him," Mahalo said
sadly. "I'm real sorry, but, like, it seemed like the only
thing to do at the time."

"So when do we go home?" Marge asked the wizard.
"And who all goes?"

292

JACK L. CHALKER                 293

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

Ruddygore looked around the room. "Ms. McMahon—
is it your wish to go with us? I promise you that, once
over, you may never return, and it's not the romantic
place you might think. It's full of war and death and it
has no televisions, transistor radios, electric lights, cen-
tral heating, or air conditioning; and I'm afraid it's going
to be even more of a mess, now that Sugasto's had a
month without me to consolidate his position. It will not
be an easy road, and, as Marge can attest, you cannot
even tell now what might happen to you or what you might

become."

"I been thinking a lot about that," the former cult
priestess said, "and I got to admit it's kind of scary. But
then I think of what I done with my life here and what's
been goin' on. I mean, I never was much good at school
and I dropped out when I was real young and became a
hippie. I've never really had any other life. I'm still a
hippie when everybody I knew or was close to is over
forty, in jail, or a has-been hippie in a time of tanning
booths and polyester suits. I don't know if this place you
come from is really better or worse or not, but, you see,
it's different. When going's better than staying, it's better
to go, I guess."

"Fair enough. We owe you that much, I think. And we
owe you more than that. Gimlet. In fact, we owe the whole

game to you."

"Well, it ain't Brooklyn, but if you gois is like most of
da folks dere, I think I'll get along okay."

"Marge?"

"I'm ready. I was always out of place here, and I'm
even more out of place here now. I burned my last bridge
on this trip. I'll go tomorrow."

Ruddygore nodded. "What about you, Joe? And you,
Tiana? Neither of you look the way you used to, and you
aren't likely to. And, of course, Sugasto is there, and
there'll be a big fight."

Joe squeezed Tiana's hand. "I didn't think we had a
choice, but we're certainly going back. Oh, I admit I

wouldn't mind a vacation here once in a while, but I kind
of like it back there, even with all the crazy stuff. And
since Ti and I aren't gods anymore, maybe we can finally
get a chance to see some of the place and be ourselves.
As for Sugasto—well, we beat the Baron and the demons
of Hell, didn't we? Now that I know who I'm facing and
just what's what, Sugasto seems like a pantywaist."

"There is always a Sugasto." Ruddygore sighed.
"Always another evil threat, always more evil armies with
new variations on the march. Peace is very transitory in
either world, but particularly so in Husaquahr." He paused
a moment and lighted a cigar. "I'm afraid it's in the Rules."

"Thanks to Ti's quick thinking, I've still got Irving,
and the poor thing hasn't had a whole hell of a lot of use,"
Joe noted. "Actually, Ti's got more of a change than I
have. What about it?"

She looked at Joe, then at the others. "I admit it is
taking some real adjustment being so much smaller, but
this body is in excellent shape and is not so bad. I have
the power still, and I will be a were again before long, I
think."

"You'll go back under the Rules," the wizard reminded
her. "This body is more suited to a courtesan or enter-
tainer or something like that than a barbarian priestess or
warrior."

She shrugged. "I have been that and a mermaid and a
goddess. Perhaps it is time for some variety. I am of Husa-
quahr. I wish to go home."

Ruddygore sighed again. "Well, that settles it, then. In
one week, we'll take one of the company jets from Oak-
land to Midland, and the next night we'll leave. Poquah
will remain here for a while, checking on the Baron's
condition and aiding with sorcery if he can, but that will
be that. I, of course, must return as soon as we use the
Lamp to clear the barrier. Otherwise, I'd have to continue
using the inconvenient method to go between, which I
would find very irritating. There's still a villain to track
down and beat, and I don't think he'll be any easier than

294        VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

this one was." He paused a moment. "I visited Father
O'Grady last evening. He was straight and sober, and
there was a real fire in his eyes. I'm not sure if he'll ever
believe his memories or believe that the fairies helped,
but he's got his faith back, that's for sure."

"He isn't the only one," Marge noted. "I looked at the
papers the last couple of days. It's still big news what
happened out there, but they're already explaining away
its effects. I bet a hundred Ph.D.s in psychiatry, psy-
chology, and sociology will be awarded for explaining
away the mass hallucinations and hysteria we caused
across the country and proving clearly and scientifically
why what they thought they saw, heard, and felt just
couldn't be real."

Ruddygore chuckled. "However, the churches of the
nation will have record turnouts this Sunday, I bet. I don't
know how many were actually watching the abbreviated
broadcast, but I understand the Reverend Pike, who heads
the Blessed Art Thou network, is taking a year off and
sticking all his money into missions to feed the poor in
Latin America. As for the rest—boy! Have they got reli-
gion!" He roared with laughter.

Joe seemed not to hear. "Well, if we've got a week,
then I've got one favor to ask you. It's a personal one,
but it's important to me. I might need the help of your
detectives, though."

"Ask away, Joe," the wizard replied. "I suspect it's a
last bridge of your own, is it not?"

"More or less," he admitted. "You know I have to go—
if I can find him."

They all looked at the two with puzzled expressions.

"How old would he be now, Joe?" Ruddygore asked.

"Eleven—no, twelve. Oh, hell, he probably doesn't
even remember me!"

"Still, I understand what must be done. Okay, Joe. Get
a plane and charge it all to the accounts. Just be sure to
be back in Midland in a week. I'll give you the name of

JACK L. CHALKER                  295

the hotel. And I've already anticipated you in the other
regard. You'll find the report in my briefcase over there."
Tiana now understood, as did Marge. "Do you wish
me to go with you, Joe?" Ti asked him.

"No, not this time. This is one thing I have to do
myself."

"I tell you, I am certain," Tiana whispered to Ruddy-
gore. "For five days now we have lived together, and she
is not who she says she is. At first I put it down as her
odd life or my cultural differences, but any woman her
age who has to read the directions in a box of tampons
is not someone born and raised in this world. Finally, I
could stand it no longer, and I asked her if she was sure
she wanted to leave her new lover, Brian, back in Cali-
fornia for this new world, because she was hot for him
when we spoke back in her temple. She answered that it
was only a passing thing. A passing thing! She mentioned
no lover by any name to us back there. This whoever or
whatever pretending to be Mahalo McMahon is not!"

"I know," Ruddygore responded softly. "I wasn't—
quite—truthful with you all in San Francisco. Poquah
removed all the spells from the Baron in order to see to
his condition and to see if magical healing could help. It
could and it did, but as a side-effect it freed the bound
spirit inside. You see, the Baron was always a cautious
man, a paranoid with good reason to be. When Joe, Marge,
and Dacaro were in his clutches, he sent the demon Hic-
carph instead of dealing with them himself. He must have
brooded all night about his capture of the lot of you. Too
easy, and if you succeeded, too inconsequential to his
long-range plans, but he had no real way of finding out
what else was going on, because none of you knew. As
a cautious man, he would never even consider that I would
risk the Lamp, let alone myself."
She gasped. "You mean—"
"Yes. After leaving Joe over the snake pit—a touch
I'm afraid he could not really avoid because he, like us,

296

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

was still bound by the Rules personally even here—he
sought out McMahon and, through this process and prob-
ably with the aid of the demon himself, so that not even
Dacaro would know, he switched bodies with Mahalo. He
even added the Ministering Angel spell, although there
was certainly a way to break it. The demon then cast a
spell on Mahalo that made her act, and perhaps believe,
she was the Baron. It would not have held up in the long
term, but for that crowded and confused few hours it was
simple. If anything went wrong, Mahalo was commanded
to allow herself to be killed. When you couldn't do it, the
Baron shot her. He is a very good actor, after all, and I
doubt if he counted on this long a delay."

"Then—Mahalo is the Baron? He expects to be taken
back across so he can link up with Sugasto?"

"That's right. And once we are aboard ship and off
across the Sea of Dreams, we will have a little session,
the Baron and I, and I will learn what I must, because
I've had the time to analyze his protective spells and solve
them. He will have no defense. And then I'm going to
send him on, with no memory of our little chat and a few
additional spells. I'm going to let him lead me right to
Sugasto. He will serve a new master, for once, and he
will serve me well, until I send him to Hell."

She stared at Ruddygore, but could find nothing else
to say. Her thoughts went to the other victim instead.
"Poor Mahalo, then."

"No, she was lucky. The Baron failed to kill her,
although the shot was true, a last little touch of divine
Providence, I think. We'll find her a body, perhaps among
the evil or condemned, that's twenty years younger and
perhaps with more beauty than she had. I can do what
they can, even now—just not as quickly or as easily. By
the end of the voyage, I'll know their way, and how to
undo it as well. Sugasto will not be easy to fell, but he's
in for a horrible shock, nevertheless—and a number of
conniving and faithless Council members as well, don't

JACK L. CHALKER                 297

you worry. We've beaten the ultimate evil itself this time.
The Rules almost mandate a happy ending."

"I wonder much about that 'almost,'" she said, think-
ing of Joe.

It was well after dark, and the neighborhood, so crappy
looking by day, looked even more sinister and fearsome
by night. It had the smell of garbage about it mixed with
the sulfurous air from the nearby refineries, and there was
trash all over the place. Here and there among the blocks
of rowhouses, flanking long, narrow streets better suited
to horses than cars, were places deserted, abandoned,
boarded up, and covered with graffiti.

The government and the times had changed, but it still
looked like home to him. Legions of the unemployed,
uneducated, and dispossessed of society, many because
of their dark-skinned heritage were locked in ghetto neigh-
borhoods like this, forgotten and ignored except by the
dope dealers and the welfare agencies.

The slum was a self-perpetuating environment, each
generation breeding the next at the bottom of the ladder
because there was no clear way out for most of them.
The environment was in itself an evil as tangible as any
bred by sorcery and demons, and it worked its evil well.
In its own way, this place, and the places like it in urban
centers across America, were also openings to Hell, ones
not so easily plugged up by a Seal of Solomon.

There was no real way to get to the boy at home without
all sorts of a fuss, and his mother's current live-in was,
according to the reports, a real nasty sort whose business
was extortion and whose business associates were always
around. He didn't have time to chance seeking him going
to and from school; Irving wasn't exactly known for
showing up very much in any event. That left now, when
he was usually hanging out on the street with a gang of
punks who had already gone to hell and were seeking to
increase their numbers.

He turned a comer and saw them, sitting around the

298

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

299

front steps, radios blaring, just as the detectives had said
they would be. He even knew who they were by name
and photograph, and what some of the older ones were
as well. The three older teens—Aivy, Clarence, and
Charlie—would be the problem, showing off for the
younger ones.

They sat there and eyed his approach as jewelers eyed
diamonds at the start of an appraisal. He went up to them,
stopped, and eyed them coldly. He was under no illusions,
but he'd taken better punks than these.

"You lookin' for something, Geronimo?" Clarence
asked snidely. All three of the bigger ones got up, leaving
the younger foursome seated, all eyes and snickering
smiles. "Hey, my man! I'm talkin' to you!"

"I'm looking for a boy named Irving de Oro," he
responded, aware that the other two were slowly going
to either side of him and slightly in back. The reports said
they all carried knives but no guns on the street. He hoped
the reports were correct. He looked at one of the younger
boys on the steps and pointed. "You him?"

"What's it to ya, slick?" the boy answered back.

"We ain't used to suckers comin' by after dark in our
territory," Clarence said coldly. "When one do, he dance
to our tune and answer our question. You da fuzz or
something?"

"I'm a something," Joe responded coolly. "I'm some-
thing that's gonna have to have real self-control to keep
from killing all three of you if you don't take off in the
next five seconds." He tensed, knowing where each was
and judging their relative speed and positions. Out of the
comer of one eye he saw Alvy's knife come out, and it
was a real pig sticker, too. "Then, again, maybe if I just
take that knife away and cut that dude's balls off it'll make
you think a little."

"Kill that sucker!" Clarence ordered, sharp and angry,
and they moved, but Joe moved much faster, so fast it
was almost a blur. He reeled and grabbed Alvy's knife
arm and, as they watched, actually lifted the husky teen

by that arm. There was a crack and then Aivy was tossed
into Charlie, who was just making his move. The two
bodies collided, and Aivy pushed Charlie down and the
second boy's head hit the street with a real nasty sound.
Clarence was suddenly backed up only by four suddenly
scared kids of twelve and under and he looked nervous.
He glanced over at the foursome and screamed, "Get 'im!
Get 'im!"

The four froze, mouths open, as they watched the
stranger demolish their heroes like some kind of super-
man.

Realizing he wasn't going to get much help, Clarence
started to back off. "Hey, man! Keep it cool! We just
kiddin'!"

Joe slowly revealed Alvy's knife in his right hand. "I'm
not," he responded coldly. Clarence's eyes bugged, and
his right hand went into his jacket pocket and there was
no mistaking the threat. The leader did in fact have a gun.
"Use that—even let that hand get in there, and you'll die
here," the big man warned. "You got two choices, punk.
You take that jacket off nice and slow and then get out
of here or you go for that gun." He heard the four younger
boys stir and get ready to run. "You boys stay where you
are! I don't want to hurt anybody if I can help it, and not
any of you, unless you give me cause!"

Clarence took that as an opening and went for the gun.
The knife seemed to fly from Joe's hand as if launched
by a rocket and penetrated the boy's side all the way. He
gasped in pain and fell backward, trying to reach the knife
and screaming, "You stab me! You stab me, you son of
a bitch! Help! Get me a doctor!"

The kids took that as a cue to run, and in their own
territory they would have had no trouble in vanishing,
but he had two advantages. He only wanted one of them,
and this had been his old neighborhood, too.

The small boy ducked into a nearly invisible passage- ^
way between two blocks of rowhouses and ran down the
narrow cement walkway and into the alley behind as if

300       VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

the devil was chasing him. Dogs started barking all over
the place, but, true to the neighborhood's nature, nobody
came out to interfere or see what the commotion was
about. Joe was certain, though, that someone was even
now calling the cops.

The boy made the alleyway and turned right—and sud-
denly felt himself held in an incredibly strong grip. He
struggled in fear but could not break the hold.

"Irv! Calm down and shut up! I'm your father!" Joe
yelled.

"You ain't! You ain't! My father's dead!"

"I'm not dead and neither are your friends out there if
they get to a hospital! Now stop this and calm down. I
been through a lot just to see you and by God I'm gonna
see you!"

The boy stopped struggling and looked up at the
stranger. There was suddenly some doubt in his mind,
and you could see the wheels turning in his head. "You
really my old man?"

"No, I'm your father. There's more of me in you, it
seems, than your mother. Look at me and think of when
you look in a mirror." He moved over to where some light
from a house shed a little light on the alley.

"You is him! I seen your picture once."

They could hear the sound of sirens now. "Let's go
where we can talk without company," Joe suggested. The
boy looked hesitant, but he was still both too scared and
too curious to run now. They made their way to a well
lighted street about four blocks back and got into Joe's
car. He started it and drove out toward the airport.

The kid hadn't had much of a life, that was for sure.
The bastard his wife had left him for had walked out on
her when Joe's payments stopped and it became clear,
because no body was found in or near the wrecked truck,
that the insurance companies and union weren't going to
pay off.

She had never wanted nor liked the child; she'd kept
him only because it would hurt Joe more for her to do

JACK L. CHALKER

301

so, and because it would bring her in more money in child
support. He had vigorously contested custody, of course,
but the judge had proclaimed that a child was better off
with his mother and particularly if the father was an inter-
state truck driver. She had denied him any visitation rights,
although he was fully entitled to them. Courts didn't do
much about enforcing the father's rights in child custody
cases, although there were now laws protecting the wife's
rights under the same agreement.

She'd wound up on welfare, taking on menial jobs when
she could, and she'd vented her frustrations and hatred
of Joe on the kid. Lately he'd been hooking school more
than attending it, and taking to the streets with the big
guys. Twice the school had flagged him as a potential
child abuse victim, but he'd clammed up when pressed;

and when they talked to his Mom, she was all sweetness
and light—and then she beat the living hell out of him
after they were gone.

She'd taken a succession of men into the house at
various times as live-in lovers, but none had been too
thrilled about the kid being around, either. Irving was
already learning the street business as a lookout for
Clarence's robberies of comer stores and other such places
across town, and he'd been picked up once and was now
on probation.

She'd told him that his father had deserted them, but
he'd always known that it wasn't true. In fact, Irving had
a somewhat idealized vision of his father, but his father
was dead someplace out west in Texas, and he'd had no
hope that the kind, gentle man who'd doted on him and
played with him and took him all sorts of places when
they lived in a nice neighborhood long ago would ever
return.

"I didn't die, Irv," he said gently. "Your Mom wouldn't
let me see you or talk to you. I sent you all sorts of
presents and letters, but I guess she never let you see
them."

The boy was close to tears but didn't want to show

302

VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS

JACK L. CHALKER

303

weakness. "No. She say you never once even asked for
me—but I know it was a lie."

"It was. I thought a lot about you. I hoped, one day,
to come back and see you, but until now I haven't been
able to. I've been away. Far away in another land. This
is the first time, maybe the only time, they let me come
back."

The boy looked at him. "You was somethin' else with
them dudes! I never saw nobody could move that fast!"

"You have to, where I'm living now."

"You—you ain't stayin', then." The same twelve-year-
old who not an hour earlier had been scared to death of
this man now already seemed stricken at the thought that
this was just a visit. "You say—the only time."

He nodded. "I'm afraid so." He felt suddenly very
angry. Damn it\ he told himself. / can't leave him here!
I can't consign my only son to Hell! "Irv—this is sudden,
and you have to take a lot on trust from me. If you want,
you can come with me. Right now—it has to be now. No
going home, no saying good-bye, no leaving notes or pick-
ing up favorite things. Right now."

The boy hesitated. "Where?"

"To someplace far away. Someplace where nobody we
know will ever find us. Someplace—magical."

The boy looked up at his father, trying to decide what
to do. It wasn't much of an existence, but it had some
good points and was the only one he'd ever known.

"This place—it like in South America or Africa or
something?"

Joe shook his head and smiled slightly. "No, it's much
farther than that. It's a place with good guys and bad guys
and other stuff, too. The fairy-tale kind of stuff. Witches
and wizards and strange kind of creatures. Dragons and
unicorns and other things." He decided not to mention
the fact that there was also no television. Why risk losing
the war?

"Ain't no such place. You just connin' me?"

"No con. There is such a place, always has been, and

that's where I wound up. If it's not at least that, I'll get
you back. Deal?"

The boy still hesitated, wondering if this strange man
who seemed really to be his father wasn't cracked in the
head and escaped from some looney bin someplace. And
then he thought ofAIvy and Charlie and Clarence. They'd
heal up, sooner or later, and they'd remember who that
big dude was looking for.

"Well, I guess I should," Irving said nervously. "At
least I'll see if you really nuts or not."

"That has nothing to do with where we're going. You're
sure? It's now or never. I can drop you back near your
home, or you come now."

"I'll come."

Joe let out a blood-curdling war whoop that would have
awakened his ancestors. He stepped on it and made the
exit for rental car return at the airport in record time.
"Okay, son! We're off and running now!" he almost yelled.
"We got dragons to slay and damsels to save and whole
armies of bad guys to face down with guts and a magic
sword! We got wizards and witches and zombies and elves
and we got the magic'"

Irving stared at his father, and for a fleeting second he
almost believed the words.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JACK L. CHALKER was bom in Norfolk, Virginia, on
December 17, 1944, but was raised and has spent
most of his life in Baltimore, Maryland. He learned
to read almost from the moment of entering school,
and by working odd jobs amassed a large book col-
lection by the time he was in junior high school, a
collection now too large for containment in his quar-
ters. Science fiction, history, and geography all fas-
cinated him early on, interests that continue.

Chalker joined the Washington Science Fiction
Association in 1958 and began publishing an ama-
teur SF journal. Mirage, in 1960. After high school
he decided to be a trial lawyer, but money problems
and the lack of a firm caused him to switch to teach-
ing. He holds bachelor degrees in history and Eng-
lish, and an M.L.A. from Johns Hopkins University.
He taught history and geography in the Baltimore
public schools between 1966 and 1978, and now
makes his living as a freelance writer. Additionally,
out of the amateur journals he founded a publishing
house. The Mirage Press, Ltd., devoted to nonfic-
tion and bibliographic works on science fiction and
fantasy. This company has produced more than
twenty books in the last nine years. His hobbies
include esoteric audio, travel, working on science-
fiction convention committees, and guest lecturing
on SF to institutions such as the Smithsonian. He
is an active conservationist and National Parks sup-
porter, and he has an intense love of ferryboats,
with the avowed goal of riding every ferry in the
world. In fact, in 1978 he was married to Eva Whit-
ley on an ancient ferryboat in mid-river. They live
in the Catoctin Mountain region of western Mary-
land with their son David.