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"Sloosh has told us about that," Deyv said.
"Yes? Anyway, I wasn't as terrified or as surprised as she seemed to think I would be. We witches have our own knowledge. Though, to tell the truth, it wasn't so much knowledge as speculation which depended upon doom-tales we'd heard from the savages. Especially the Yawtl.
"And why should I care? I'd be dead long before the last sleep-times of Earth came. But then The
Shemibob said that perhaps there might be a way of avoiding the cataclysm. The density of the everincreasing amount of matter twists space itself. And this could result in gateways to another world. Or perhaps many other worlds.
"I didn't understand this completely. I had to take her word for it. But she didn't seem to be lying just to pass the time."
"Tell her that we Archkerri have similar theories about that," Sloosh said.
"You Archkerri have theories about everything," Feersh said. "Some of them are bound to be right I asked her if she knew of any doors to these other worlds where perhaps the universe was not contracting but was young, expanding. She said that there could be one in her land, out in the crystals. It was a strange fearful phenomenon, the reason why The Wasteland is sometimes called The Bright
Abomination.
"But if the phenomenon was what she thought it was, it wasn't as yet a route to another world. She had tried to enter it but had failed. Perhaps, in time, it would be penetrable. Then again, perhaps it would never be. And even if it should be, it might only be to another world like ours, one that is dying."
Hoozisst said, "A likely tale! What I think is that The Shemibob made up the whole thing. She did that so people would hear about it and come to her land hoping to get through this door to that other world.
Then she'd have more slaves."
"How could anybody outside The Wasteland hear about it?" Feersh said. "I was the only one ever to escape from it."
"No, you weren't," Sloosh buzzed. "There were others."
"See?" the Yawtl said. "She lets a slave get away now and then so that they can spread lying stories to entice others to her. Undoubtedly, she allowed you to escape."
Feersh looked angry. "Really? With some of her treasures?"
The Yawtl shrugged. "She has plenty to spare—according to you."
"The story of her great trove of ancient devices is true. So why shouldn't the other story be true?"
"A true story makes you willing to believe the next story, which is a big lie."
"Enough of this," Sloosh said. "You still haven't told us why you wanted the soul eggs. Aside from the fact they had to be the eggs of people who had a certain character."
"The Shemibob knows what it is that makes a person near-immortal. If she could be captured and then tortured, she would reveal the secret. Ordinary means might not make her talk, but she has things which could force the truth from any being.
"And once one was near-immortal, one could find a way to get to another world. Then one could live forever, barring accident, murder, or suicide. When the new world became old and was about to die, one could again escape through a gateway. And so on."
"By one, you mean you," Hoozisst said.
She glared. "I'm willing to share. Anyway, I'm too old to venture into her land again. Even if I were young enough, I couldn't do it by myself. I should have tried it while I was still able, but I didn't think of it then. I was busy with many things, though mostly trying to survive. Then I captured three tharakorm after I decided that my House was too vulnerable. I got slaves, and I had my children so that one could inherit.
"And then I thought about how death was approaching, and I conceived the idea of how I could keep from dying and perhaps live as long as The Shemibob. So I set a Yawtl to stealing certain eggs. He was to lead their owners here. If they were smart and tough enough to get this far—that far, rather—then they might be able to do what I wanted.
"When I captured them, I treated them well. I told them that they must get to The Wasteland and then they must somehow get The Shemibob's secrets. They didn't go alone; they were usually in groups of five or six. If they succeeded, then I would return their eggs. And I would let them go with me through the gateway."
"That was nice of you," Hoozisst said, sneering. "What was to keep them from staying there, once they were near-immortal? Oh, I see ... their eggs!"
The Archkerri said, "But why didn't you moor your tharakorm near The Wasteland? You could then have gotten your candidates there, and they wouldn't have had to travel so far. The Shemibob's land is near the other end of the land mass. From the mooring place to there is a very long way and full of many dangers."
After Hoozisst translated, Feersh said, "Do you think I'm stupid? I did just that in the begi
"Intelligent enough to outsmart you, hag!" Hoozisst said.
"You could never have done it, if you hadn't had the dumb luck to steal a plant-man's crystal. The Yawtl make good thieves, but they are too greedy to be trusted. Anyway, I would move on from time to time to get new groups after an area had been cleared of candidates. As for the great distances to be covered, I suggested that the candidates find young tharakorm and float with the winds toward The Wasteland. Or that they get to the shore and sail on the ocean."
"If s a desperate scheme, and I suspect that all your candidates have failed—so far," Sloosh said. "But if you moved so much, how would they find you if they did succeed?"
"They would wait in The Wasteland until I got there."
"But by then they would have discovered that they didn't need their eggs," Sloosh said. "That is one more flaw."
Deyv said, "They would never be able to abandon their eggs forever!"
"You have much to learn yet."
"You're out of your mind," Vana said.
The witch said, "After I'd sent you on your mission, I would have put your eggs back on here. But you ruined that. However, now you know where they are. You can come back and get them after you've completed your mission."
Deyv and Vana looked at each other. Did she really believe that they were going to venture into the monster's territory? Now that they knew the location of their, soul eggs?
Hoozisst was of a different mind.
"Once I have the powers of The Shemibob, I'll send people after my egg. They can risk the dangers.
They won't run out on me, since I'll do as you did, hag. I'll hold their eggs until they get back. And, as an extra incentive, I'll promise them one or two of The Shemibob's former possessions."
He was indeed stupid and avaricious.
Sloosh must have read the expression on Deyv's and Vana's faces. He said, "From what I know of The
Shemibob's powers, I would suspect that anyone who had access to them could make their own eggs."
Startled, Deyv said, "Do you really think so?"
The witch asked for a translation. It seemed to amaze her, too. "That never occurred to me! Then—oh,
Shkanshuk! Then ... those I sent, if they succeeded, would never return to me! No, it can't be! It's unthinkable!"
"I just thought it," the Archkerri said. "But perhaps the sapients you sent out are not so sapient."
"I wouldn't want to be in your robe if you found out that one of them was now ruling The Wasteland,"
Vana said.
Feersh became even paler.