The Exotic Enchanter (21 page)

Part IV

I

"Well, Doc, I'm ready for your lecture!" Vaclav Polacek said as he strolled into the room. "If I'm gonna be coming and going between parallel universes, I gotta I bone up to be a good magician."

"It would help a lot, Votsy, if you could do something besides turn yourself into a werewolf every time there's trouble," Harold Shea muttered as he shifted in his chair.

"Gentlemen," interrupted the bushy-haired man behind the desk. "I'm in full agreement with Vaclav. It wouldn't hurt any of us to study the principles of 'magic' for they are, in reality, the physics of other universes. In my long stay in Faerie and the abortive trip to the
Furioso
, I believe I finally have a grasp of the measurable qualities of the fourth, fifth, and sixth dimensions. So, beginning tomorrow at this time, we shall commence daily discussions on the subject. There must be more method to our madness."

The man speaking was Reed Chalmers, once the director of the psychologists at the Garaden Institute, now in charge of the hush-hush, "Interplanar Project." He had recently returned from a rather protracted stay in several different, parallel universes. Gathered around him were the new director, Walter Bayard, and two psychologists, the outspoken Vaclav Polacek and Harold Shea. The fifth man in the room was the most unlikely member of the group, a police sergeant named Pete Brodsky.

"As you know," Chalmers continued, "ever since Harold here, proved that our—uh—'syllogismobile' actually works, we've been involved in a series of willy-nilly chases from one universe to another, often narrowly escaping with our lives."

"I can't say that I found my stay in Xanadu either unpleasant or dangerous," added a sleepy-eyed Bayard. "Boann's settling down okay."

"That's beside the point, Walter," answered Chalmers. "Although I must admit it was all my fault. I never should have dragged you, Polacek, and Brodsky into that affair in the first place. It's a perfect example of imperfect science. We have to be aware of the disturbance that our various disappearances have caused here at the Institute. That with the police is something we dare not repeat."

"No need to thank me, boys, for squaring things between you guys and the law," Brodsky said, smiling broadly.

"Very reassuring, Mr. Brodsky, but we shall not be calling upon you to get us out of any further scrapes with the law. From now on . . . pure science!"

"So, it's time we started minding our extra-dimensional P's and Q's, eh, Doc?" said Polacek.

Chalmers leaned forward in his chair. 'We've done enough playing swashbuckler . . . and I fear I must personally bear a large portion of the responsibility. But no more! Now we begin the application of serious and ordered scientific method. And since we're all back here safely in Ohio, there must be no more trips until we analyze the data we now possess."

"That's fine for you, Dr. Chalmers," Bayard said with annoyance, "you and Harold married dream girls you brought back from the land of Faerie. My Dumyazad was sent back to Xanadu quite without my consent. What about the rest of us?"

Shea remembered that Walter had actually been quite relieved when the houri, Dumyazad, was accidentally sent back to her world of origin and wondered what old Walter Bayard was really complaining about. He had brought back the stunning red-haired quasi-celt, Boann Ni Colum. Did he want two women at once?

"Seems to me, you guys have got something here that's too hot to handle," said Brodsky. "If word of this gets out, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is gonna want to go off to the world of his dreams. Like some land of magic carpet almost."

"Ahem," Chalmers cleared his throat meaningfully, "that is precisely the problem!" He turned to Bayara. "Walter, I'm not closing the door to the rest of you, I merely want a temporary halt to interdimensional travel. We re sitting on the greatest cosmological discovery in history. We must be very careful, until we are ready to publish our findings."

"I'll be as meticulous as you will," said Shea.

Chalmers stood up, resting his hands on his desk. "Then we all agree. No more trips will be made into parallel universes until further notice." He looked around the room and stared seriously into each man's eyes.

Polacek, who had stopped in a corner, resumed his pacing and opened his mouth to speak. Reed Chalmers neat the Czech to the punch and continued: "I want all of you, including Brodsky here, to prepare written reports on your recent—uh—experiences." There was a general groan from those present. "I want you to note every detail about the acts of magic you saw or experienced. We must leave no stone unturned. We must determine exactly what we have done to transport ourselves and others to parallel worlds. Our formulae must be refined and made more accurate."

"Not to mention the fact that we've seldom gotten back to this universe without help from the locals," added Shea.

There was a murmur of agreement. Chalmers continued. "Vaclav, I'm putting you in charge of correlating our experiences with the magic, or more accurately, the physics of the various worlds we have visited . . . with my assistance and guidance, of course." The Czech beamed with obvious pleasure.

"Don't look so smug, Votsy," Shea admonished, "the only way we'll ever be able to trust you with magic is to make you an expert on the subject."

The Czech shot Harold a hostile glance as Reed Chalmers closed the meeting. "Ahem. Yes, well, then, I think that will be enough for today. And remember, gentlemen, be careful what you say, and no experimenting on your own."

Harold Shea stopped typing and leaned back in his chair. Two weeks had passed since Doc Chalmers had asked for the reports which he had still not finished. Of course, some of his experiences were months old. . . . His eyes drifted across the room to his wife, Belphebe, seated at a table in the den, busily fletching arrows for her bow. Not everybody, he thought to himself, can be married to a red-haired, freckle-faced huntress. The main problem with being married to a huntress from the woods of Faerie was that she was not too happy with the city life of a modern American psychologist.

He had solved part of the problem by moving out of his town house in the city. Together, they had picked out a lovely place in the woods at the edge of the city limits. It wasn't perfect. Their backyard was a giant cornfield. But oaks and maples bordered them on both sides.

Harold and Belphebe had made a pact: if it wasn't raining and the babysitter was available, they would sleep outside in the trees on even dates. Otherwise, she would join him in the bedroom. He looked out the window into the gray drizzle and smiled. It had rained every day since they moved in.

He stared down at the page in his typewriter, and his mind drifted back to mythological Ireland and his adventure with the Sidhe of Connacht. Harold's conversations with the Druid Miach in Tir na n-Og, in mythical Ireland had seemed to explain a lot.

The old man had, in effect, said that it was not possible to be released from a world without doing something to alter the pattern of that world. It appeared to be Harold Shea's personal geas. Was it his own? Or had it applied to all to those from the Institute who had traveled to another continuum? He made a mental note to discuss this concept with Doc Chalmers.

The clock in the hall chimed six, and Shea was startled to see Belphebe standing before him.

"Harold, darling, is it not time we were leaving for this place you call the theater? Sir Reed and Lady Florimar will be awaiting."

"What . . . ? Oh, of course, dear," answered Shea. "Just give me a minute to change. Is the sitter here? You
are
going to wear the long green dress, aren't you?"

"Voglinda is in her care, and I shall wear the dress if you insist," his wife said reluctantly.

"I insist!" After he had lost her favorite dress in the frozen wastes of the Finnish
Kalevala
, Belphebe had accepted his gifts of twentieth-century clothing only with persuasion. Tonight was a special occasion—the psychologists had been given complimentary tickets to a Shakespeare festival and Shea had picked out a lovely formal dress and matching high-heeled shoes for his wife.

"Then I drive!" she stated flatly.

He hesitated, "Uh . . . yes, dearest." Belphebe at the wheel of their Chevrolet was something that required nerves of steel. But she had agreed to wear the dress.

They arrived at the theater intact. At no time was Shea ever in fear for his life; the lightning reflexes of his wife served her well on the streets of the city, though the driver of the Ford they passed on the hill would probably never be the same again. . . .

The first act of
The Tempest
had come to an end, and now Harold stood in the crowded lobby talking to Reed Chalmers.

"Y'know, I hadn't really thought much about it before, but the world described in this play looks like a target for our explorations."

Chalmers frowned. "If it were based more on myth and legend, I should agree with you, but I do not believe it to be a systematic attainable universe. Shakespeare drew his material from a confusion of Greek and Roman mythology, sixteenth-century Italian pastoral drama, and God only knows what else."

"Think a minute, Doc! Spenser's
Faerie Queene
is the same sort of thing. It was based on Ariosto's
Orlando Furioso
, and we managed to travel to both places." Shea sensed that he had won his point and smiled. "A trip to Prospero's magical island shouldn't be difficult. It may be a Shakespearean romance, but it describes a valid parallel universe."

A worried expression came to Chalmers' face as he glanced furtively from side to side. "That, I fear, is exactly what worries me, Harold. In spite of my protestations, I'm sure it would be possible. Ever since the
Furioso
, Vaclav's been dropping little hints. I think he might be up to something. Did you notice what he's wearing tonight?"

"Is he here?" asked Shea.

"Indeed! Sitting two rows behind you. He looks like . . . uh . . . a fourteenth-century Italian courtier. We must have a talk with him."

Shea nodded in agreement.

Polacek had found his dream girl in the world of
Orlando Furioso
, all right. True to form, however, the Czech had found two of them. And one of them had a jealous innkeeper for a husband.

Just then the lights dimmed, and Florimel and Belphebe appeared before them, stunning in their strapless gowns. The matter of Vaclav Polacek and his medieval garb would have to wait.

When they had reached their seats, Shea turned to look at the audience. Almost directly behind him, dressed in a gaudy orange silk jacket with puffy brown shoulder pads, sat the Czech. Vaclav noticed him, nodded, and smiled. Harold was not sure he liked that smile.

The play resumed, and Shea allowed himself to become immersed in the trials and tribulations of the shipwrecked king of Naples. Alonso was just saying "Prithee peace" for the second time, when the hairs on the back of Shea's neck began to tingle.

Belphebe tugged at his arm and whispered, "My, how this play doth excite me."

Harold began to worry. The play wasn't that exciting, and he had felt this way before . . . Vaclav! Shea craned his neck to get a look at Polacek, but even as he turned, around him began to fade to a foggy gray. Desperately, he grabbed Belphebe's hand and—

Pmf!

Harold and Belphebe plopped to the ground in a field of green grass.

"'Oof!" remarked Belphebe. Shea looked around. They wore in a broad green field surrounded by low, tree-covered hills. A fresh breeze whispered past. He shook his head in disbelief. The characters had just been talking about this place in the play.

"Shea! Belphebe!" a distressed voice cried out behind them, "what are you guys doing here? I—I had no Idea . . ."

Harold climbed to his feet. There, sprawled in the grass, was Vaclav Polacek in his ludicrous costume.

"Votsy, for two cents I'd—" Shea bellowed, with murder in his eyes. "You've dragged us into the play!" He started ominously toward the Czech, clenching his fists.

"Honest, Harold, I didn't mean to bring you two along." Polacek tried to scramble to his feet but Shea was on him in a flash, and the unfortunate Czech was wrestled to the ground.

"Guk, you're choging me!" gurgled Polacek.

"If you possessed even half a brain!" raged Shea, "you'd have trouble . . ."

Belphebe intervened, pulling her husband back, "Vaclav, Harold! Stop this foolishness. Have you not better things to do than fight among yourselves?"

The Czech sat up, rubbing his neck. "I really meant to come alone, honest!"

"It's that damn magicostatic charge," fumed Shea. "Belphebe and I are heavily charged. When you transported yourself here, you pulled us along with you. Doc Chalmers is lucky he wasn't sitting as close to you as we were."

Polacek picked up a book he had dropped, brushed himself off, and stood up, regarding Shea with a cautious gaze.

"So what's the big idea, Votsy?" Shea continued. "You know the Doc doesn't want us doing this till he's got it perfected."

"Look, I just figured I'd jump in here, grab the old man's daughter and some of his magic books, and beat it back to Ohio. It was no big deal!"

"Now that's a hell of a fine plan!" Shea said in disgust. "Prospero is one powerful magician, and he's got invisible spirits to help him. Besides which, didn't you think it might be a tad immoral to just kidnap someone? Just how did you propose to kidnap his daughter and steal his library anyway?"

"Hey, gimme some credit, will ya? While you guys were writing reports, I've been busy studying this magic business pretty seriously." Polacek held up the book. "This here is the Doc's latest symbolic magic textbook." He thumbed through a couple pages. "And I can still read the symbols even though we're in this continuum."

"That's all well and good, Votsy, but that book is full of untried theory as far as this place is concerned," grumbled Shea.

"All right, already," answered Vaclav, "how's about I send you and the Mrs. back to Ohio?" He began flipping pages.

Harold recalled the geas laid upon him in the world of Irish myth—the requirement that he change things in this world before returning to his own and sighed. "It's no good, Votsy. We have to alter this place before we can leave."