“Yeah,” Nita said, “I noticed.” Thirty minutes or so ago, when they’d built the wizardry to transit the group to the Moon, it had gone together in record time, and had left no one even slightly tired—unusual for a fairly complex spell. Nita’s first reaction had been exhilaration. But then she’d started feeling uneasy, as if something she’d always been used to paying full price for was now suddenly on sale. What if it’s actually a sign that the thing you’re buying is about to go permanently out of stock?
“Well, we’re going to need that extra power, because things are already happening out there,” S’reee said. “The effects of the unnatural expansion are spreading fast.” She looked across the crater at the jumble of bubbles of air. They were splitting and moving around, bumping into each other and merging, as wizards got together to lay their plans. “There are already pockets of space where wizardry isn’t working, and it’s only a matter of time before those pockets start occurring here. About half these people are heading off-planet, following various leads toward ways to stop the expansion. The rest will head back home to try to keep things running steadily for as long as we can. We’re going to be spread pretty thin.” She sounded wistful. “I don’t suppose you’re going to be staying?”
“No,” Nita said, “we’re outward-bound, in two different directions. Right now we just wanted to check in and see what people up here were doing.”
“It’s all in your manuals,” S’reee said. “Check those to see if anything comes up that has any bearing on what you’re about to do.”
Kit turned to Darryl. “What about you?” Kit said. “You gonna sit tight?”
Darryl nodded. “I’m too new at this,” he said. “I’ve got lots of power, but I’m not real sure what to do with it yet.” He hesitated a little. “Or how to fit it in with being an autistic: a lot of adjusting to do, still. Might be smart for me to be careful for the moment. Anyway, S’reee’s taken me under her fin. I’ll be OK.”
“You’d be OK anyway,” Nita said. “But yeah, she’s full of good advice.” Privately, Nita was pleased, for the thought had occurred to her that the Earth might be safer if this one of its precious few abdals stayed home.
When she looked back at Darryl, though, he was eyeing her a little strangely. “Listen, though,” he said. “I saw something the other day, just when I was waking up.”
“Lucid dreaming?” Nita said. It was one of a number of techniques that visionary wizards used to more clearly hear what the universe was trying to tell them.
“Not like that,” Darryl said. “I just get these hints, you know? Like something whispering in my ear. So far it’s turned out to be smart for me to pay attention. But I don’t think this hint was for me.”
“Why? Do you get ‘wrong numbers’?” Nita said. “I get them sometimes.”
Darryl shook his head. “First time,” he said.
Nita found that interesting, in an uncomfortable way. “What did you see?”
“Bugs,” Darryl said. “Giant bugs.”
Kit and Nita looked at each other. “Like him?” Nita said, nodding past S’reee. Over that way, Sker’ret and Filif were deep in discussion of something or other.
Darrell gazed over at Sker’ret for a moment. “No, not really. He’s a nice guy; you can feel it from here. These bugs—” He shivered. “I don’t know where they are, but running into them wouldn’t be fun. Our ‘old friend’ owns them, body and soul. They’re deadly. And I think if you hang around where they are, somebody’s going to get killed.”
“No problem,” Kit said. “If we see any giant bugs, we’ll give them a miss.”
Nita swallowed. “Now,” she said to Darryl, “you’re going to tell us a way to beat this, right?”
Darryl’s expression was stricken. “Don’t know for sure that there is one,” he said. “Like I said, it was just a hint. It felt like someone could have said more… and wasn’t saying.”
“Okay,” Nita said. “Thanks. We’ll keep our eyes open.”
She looked around again, out toward the center of the crater, where hundreds more wizards were milling around. “Ronan?” she said.
“Yeah,” Ronan said, and glanced over at Kit. “We should get started. Where’s your adjunct talent?”
Kit looked around, then ducked to look under S’reee. “Playing with rocks, as usual,” he said. “Hey, Ponch!”
Moondust flew up in a cloud as Ponch ran underneath S’reee to Kit. I’m here!
“Let’s go hunting.”
Oh boy!
“You going to be here later?” Kit said to Darryl.
“I’ll be one of the last ones out,” Darryl said. “Somebody has to clean up all the footprints when we’re done.”
Nita squeezed his shoulder. “Later,” she said, and went off to where Dairine and Roshaun were deep in conversation and, to judge by their expressions, having one more disagreement. As Nita bounced over, they looked up at her almost in relief.
“You heading out now?” she said.
“Yeah,” Dairine said. “Roshaun’s carrying his subsidized portal; we’ll use that. We’re going back to his place on Wellakh first.”
“All right,” Nita said. “Message me when you’re done there. But meantime, listen—”
“Yeah, I’ll be careful,” Dairine said. She turned away.
Nita took her sister gently by the arm, turned her back toward her. “Dair,” she said. “Giant bugs.”
“Huh?” Dairine turned to glance over at Sker’ret.
“Not cute bugs. Nasty ones,” Nita said. “Darryl says they’re bad news, and some of us are probably going to run into them. If you do, avoid them. Understand?”
Dairine gave her a dry look. “With all this extra power we’ve suddenly got, I think can handle it.”
Nita let out an annoyed breath and turned to Roshaun. “I’m not kidding,” she said. “Watch your backs, okay?”
“We will do nothing obviously foolhardy,” Roshaun said. “But under the circumstances, no situation any of us goes into is likely to lack its dangers.” He looked down at Nita from that regal height of his, an effect still somewhat altered by the big floppy T-shirt he hadn’t changed out of yet.
“Yeah,” Nita said. “I know.” She glanced at Dairine. “Take care of yourself.”
“You, too,” Dairine said. She hesitated, and then she came over and gave Nita a hug.
Nita hugged her back, then pushed her away, trying to make it look casual. S’reee was now talking to Filif and Sker’ret; Nita turned back to them. “What about you guys?”
“We’ll go with you and Kit and Ronan,” Sker’ret said.
“Great. Let’s move out…”
Kit stood just past the boundary of S’reee’s force field, having detached his own; inside it, beside him, Ponch was gazing upslope. At first Kit thought Ponch had seen someone coming, but then realized that it was the setting Earth that held his dog’s attention. Ponch was staring at the world the way he might watch a tree after he’d seen a squirrel go up it.
“What?” Kit said. “What’s the matter?”
It’s small, Ponch said. I never thought it was small before.
Kit nodded. “That’s the way the astronauts saw it,” he said. “Like a little thing. Fragile. I never thought the world was small until I saw it that way myself. It surprises everybody when they see their own world that way for the first time, all by itself in the dark.” Kit looked curiously at Ponch. “But you’ve been here before.”
I didn’t notice it then, Ponch said. Now I do.
He sounded concerned. “It’s okay,” Kit said. “It’s a point-of-view thing. You get used to it.”