More Than Fire

"The flea was just one of what he called his `visitations.' That is, the figures of beings and things from the supernatural. Though sometimes he spoke of them as visitors from other worlds."

Anana said, "Sometimes he called them emanations from the unknown worlds."

"From whom did you hear this?" Kickaha said.

"I heard it directly from Blake. As you know, after Red Orc made the universe of Earth and the universe of Earth's twin, he forbade any Lords to visit them. But some did go there, and I was one of them. I've told you that I've been on Earth One several times, though I didn't mention all the times and places I've been there. When I was living in London, a fascinating though disgusting place, I was disguised as a wealthy French noblewoman. Since I collected some of the best of the primitive art of Earthmen, I went to see Blake. I purchased some engravings and tempera sketches from him but asked him not to tell anyone I'd done so. There didn't seem to be the slightest chance that Red Orc would hear about it, but I wasn't taking any risks."

"And you didn't tell me about this?" Kickaha said.

"You know how it happened that I didn't. Let's hear no more of that."

"All right," he said. "But how could Blake have known anything of the Thoan worlds?"

Clifton opened his mouth to say something, but she spoke first.

"We Thoan who know about Blake have wondered that, too. Our theory is that Blake was a mystic who somehow tuned in, you might say, to a knowledge of the people inhabiting the other universes. He had a sensitivity, perhaps neural, perhaps from a seventh sense we know nothing about. No other Earth person has ever had it. At least, we haven't heard of his like, though there is a theory that some Earth mystics and perhaps some insane Earth people. .."

"No theories unless they're absolutely relevant," Kickaha said.

Anana said, "We just don't know. But somehow Blake received some what should I call them? visions? intimations?-of the artificial pocket universes. Perhaps of the original Thoan universe, or of that universe that some say preceded the Thoan's. In any event, it couldn't have been coincidence that he knew the exact names of many Lords and some of the situations and events in which they played their parts.

"But his, ah, psychic receptions of them were distorted and fragmentary. And he used them as part of his personal mythology and mingled Christian mythology with them. The mixture was Blakean, highly imaginative and shaped by his own beliefs. Blake was a freak, though of a high order."

Kickaha said, "Very well. Anyway, what he saw as the flea's ghost was the scaly man we saw in that curious tomb. No Thoan knew about the scaly man, yet Blake saw him."

"Obviously."

"Remarkable!"

"All universes and everything in them are remarkable," Anana said. "Some more than others," Kickaha replied.

He pointed at the ring. "What about that, Clifton? How'd you get it?" "And how did you get into the Thoan worlds?" she said.

Clifton shook his head. "That is the strangest thing that's ever happened to an Earthman."

"I doubt it's any stranger than how I happened to get to the World of Tiers," Kickaha said.

"I have some ability at drawing," Clifton said. "Mr. Blake's description of the flea's ghost so intrigued me that I drew a sketch of it. I showed it to a friend, George Pew. Like me, he had been a child of the streets, a cutpurse who also was a catchfart for a jeweler named Robert Scarborough."

Kickaha said, "Catchfart?"

"A footboy," Anana said. "A footboy was a servant who closely followed his master when he was out on the street."

Clifton said, "Pew showed the sketch to his employer, Mr. Scarborough, though he did not mention its source. Mr. Scarborough was so taken up with the sketch that he told a customer, a wealthy Scots nobleman, Lord Riven, about it. Lord Riven was very intrigued and ordered that a ring based on the sketch be made for him. It was done, but it was never delivered because it was stolen."

Clifton paused to hold up the ring to look at it. Then he said, "My friend Pew was one of the gang that stole it. He gave it to me to hide because his employer suspected him. I didn't really want to have anything to do with it, though to be truthful, I did consider plans to obtain permanent possession of it. I was at that time not as honest as the rich people would wish me to be, and you might not be if you had been me."

"We're not judges," Kickaha said.

"Pew had told me that only he knew he'd given me the ring for safekeeping. But Pew was killed while fleeing the constables. Thus, I considered the ring to be my property. But I did not plan to sell it until much time had passed. The constabulary had a good description of it; it was dangerous to try to sell it.

"And then, one fine summer day, that event happened that resulted in my being propelled willy-nilly into these other worlds and resulted in my being confined in this pit. Though just what Red Orc plans for me, for us, I don't know."

Thunder, amplified by the deep chasm, rumbled in the distance. With the sudde

He said, "We'll hear the rest of your story later, Clifton. We've got to get out of this hole."

Anana did not have to ask him why they had to vacate the pit. She knew what a big downpour in this chasm would do.

Kickaha had considered using the beamers to make a forty-five-degree cha

Kickaha gave his orders. The two men stood side by side, their faces close to the north side of the pit. Anana, who was very strong and agile, climbed up onto them and stood with one foot on Kickaha's right shoulder and one foot on Clifton's left shoulder. By now, Eleth had recovered enough to join them in their effort. The lightest in the group and very athletic, she had no difficulty climbing up until she was on Anana's shoulders. The thin rope taken from Kickaha's backpack was coiled around Eleth's waist. A few seconds later, she called down.

"The edge is just too slippery for me to get a hold."

"What do you see?" he said. "Anything that might hold a grappling hook?"

"Nothing at all!" Eleth sounded desperate. A bellow of thunder and the ca

After Anana had come down, she said, "What were you going to say?"

Eleth's reply was again shattered by thunder and lightning. A few raindrops fell on them. Then she shouted, "I saw a torrent of water pouring down the mountainsides! We're all going to drown!"

"Maybe," Kickaha said, gri

He sounded more hopeful than he felt.

"Red Orc wouldn't put us here just so we could drown!" Eleth shrilled.

"Why not?" Anana said.

"Besides," Kickaha said, "he may have overlooked the possibility of flash floods. He may have picked this place out but not been around when it rained."

By then, a darkness not as black as midnight but blacker than the last gasp of dusk filled the pit. The wind was stronger and colder, though it was not in its full rage. Suddenly, a heavy rain fell upon them. Whips of lightning exploded near them. A few minutes later, water spilled over the edges of the pit. The water rose to Kickaha's ankles.

Eleth cried, "Elyttria of the Silver Arrows, save us!"

A wave of cold water crashed into the pit and knocked all of them down. Before they could struggle to their feet, a second and larger one fell on them. And then a third wave, the edge of the flood, cataracted into the pit.