Startled, the other three all looked at him. “But Mother said…” Imp began.

“If he faked the pictures, couldn't he have faked that transmission, too?” the Skyler asked her.

Geste stared at Bredon, but said nothing. The corners of his mouth twitched, however, and Bredon knew he was thinking hard, and was pleased with the results.

The two women, after staring at each other speechlessly for a few seconds, turned to stare at Geste, waiting for his response.

“Could he be faking it?” Imp demanded.

“I think,” the Trickster said at last, “that we had better check for ourselves that Thaddeus does have captives, that he hasn't killed them already, before we agree to anything."

“How can we do that, if Thaddeus is faking all the transmissions out of Fortress Holding?"

“We'll demand to see the captives in person, in the flesh."

“He won't allow that,” the Skyler said derisively.

“Why not?” Geste asked. “If he doesn't, what is he afraid of?"

The Skyler hesitated, then answered, “He won't trust us inside his fortress. We might sabotage the place, somehow."

“He can take precautions. Or he can bring the prisoners out."

“He won't bring them out; we might rescue them."

“Then he'll have to let us in. If he doesn't, then we'll fight him. All we want is proof that they're still alive."

The Skyler studied the Trickster's face. “You're up to something, Geste,” she said. “I know you are, and Thaddeus will know it, too."

“My reputation,” he said with a mock sigh, addressing himself to Bredon. “No one ever trusts me!"

“That's right, and Thaddeus won't, either,” the Skyler said.

“But he'll let us in anyway,” Geste said with a smile, “because he's absolutely certain that he's smarter than I am, and able to counter whatever scheme I might have."

“Then you do have a scheme!” Imp exclaimed.

Geste smiled again, wryly. “Not really,” he said.

After a pause he added, “At least, not yet."

Chapter Twenty-One

“'…I, Hsin of the River, will grant you a wish. Anything you desire shall be yours!’ And he gestured grandly at the surrounding magnificence.

"Thedor blinked in surprise.

"'I want to go home,’ he said uncertainly.

"'Of course,’ said Hsin. ‘My creatures will carry you from this house, and from this island, and see you safely home. That is not enough; I had intended to do that much in any case. What else would you have?'

"Thedor thought for a moment, and then he said, ‘My friends will not believe me when I tell this tale. Can you give me some token to show that I do not lie?'

"'Again, you ask too little,’ Hsin said. ‘I tell you that my creatures will escort you to your village, in plain sight of all. Furthermore, if you return here, you will always be welcome in the House of Fifty Peacocks, and although you may not see me, my familiar spirits will always be ready to speak to you, and to testify to whoever may accompany you as to the truth of what you say. Now, what more would you have of me?'

"Overwhelmed, Thedor thought long and hard, and then said, ‘My grandfather, whom I loved, died last year. Could you bring his spirit to speak to me, so that I might thank him for the wisdom he taught me, and tell him how much I miss him?'

"At this, Hsin was overcome with emotion. When he could speak again, he said, ‘Death is hard, is it not, little one? Alas, even I cannot bring back the dead, unless I have studied their souls while they still lived. Is there nothing you would have for yourself?'

"'I can think of nothing,’ Thedor said.

"'Then go in peace,’ Hsin replied, ‘and I will have spirits watch over you and keep you safe from all harm, for as long as you shall live…"

– from the tales of Atheron the Storyteller

The image of Thaddeus, bright against the gathering dusk, stared at Geste in outraged disbelief. “You want what?” it demanded.

“Look, Thaddeus,” Geste answered calmly, “we know that you've had Aulden there for wakes now. You could be showing us recordings, or simulations, or androids, or pseudoclones, or even the original bodies with the brains rebuilt. We need to know that these are really who you say they are, and there is nothing you can transmit that can't be faked. We need to see these people, talk to them, feel them, maybe run gene scans and neuropattern tests with our own equipment.” Geste shrugged. “I don't think we're being unreasonable at all. You're asking us to surrender ourselves to you in exchange for the lives of our friends; well, we want to check your credit, so to speak, and make certain that you actually have those lives and haven't already destroyed them. You couldn't buy a ship back on Terra without a credit check, and you can't here, either."

“If you think I'm bringing them out where you can get at them with one of your sleight-of-hand maneuvers, Geste, you've gone mad."

The Trickster remained cool. “Then let us in,” he said.

“So you can sabotage my fortress?"

“Take whatever precautions you like."

Thaddeus paused, considering, and then asked, in a far calmer tone, “You'd submit to a search and give up all your equipment?"

“Everything that's not built in, anyway. And we might want some of it back to run tests with."

“You'd have no objection to suppressor fields?"

“I'd welcome them, Thaddeus; you couldn't run a simulation under full suppression."

“How do you know that I won't just keep you all here?"

“You want our equipment and our help, and we'll leave orders for an all-out attack if we aren't out after a certain time-say, second sunrise tomorrow."

This was a bluff, of course, since Imp had sabotaged the weapons systems, but Thaddeus had no way of knowing that.

Thaddeus nodded.

“All right,” he said. “Come along, then, all of you. I'll have everything ready in, oh, three hours, and you'll be out again within thirty hours. Fair enough?"

“That's fine."

“I'll send a floater to bring you in."

“Fine."

Thaddeus smiled almost pleasantly. “I'll see you then.” His image flicked out of existence, leaving the drifting terrace lights and the fading glow in the west.

“There,” Geste said, turning to the others. “We have three hours to come up with something."

“Geste, can't you shut up? He might be listening,” Imp said.

“I'm not going,” the Skyler announced suddenly, before Geste could answer Imp's complaint. Startled, the others all turned to her.

“I'm not going,” she repeated. “It's crazy. I'm not giving up the Skyland for anybody, not Thaddeus or Aulden or you two, and I'm not going to walk into a trap, either. Three hours! He could do anything in three hours!"

“But, Skyler…” Imp began.

“You shut up!” the Skyler said, almost spitting at her in sudden rage. “You went and pulled the plug on us! We might have caught him off-guard and stopped him, but you wrecked it all! I did my share, I brought you here with all those infernal machines you rigged up, and then you ruined everything!” She turned her attention to the Trickster. “I've gone as far as I intend to, Geste. I'm sorry, I know you mean well, but I can't do any more. I'll wait here until you come out-if you come out-but that's all. I'm not coming in. If Thaddeus wins, I'm sorry, but I'll survive. It won't last forever."

“I'm sorry, too,” Geste replied. “But I understand."

For an awkward moment the three immortals stood facing each other, while Bredon sat to one side, watching uncomfortably. Then Imp turned to face Geste, pointedly giving the Skyler no further attention, and said, “All right, we have three hours-what do we do?"

“I wish I knew,” the Trickster said, as the Skyler turned and marched away in the direction of her private wing of the house. Lights and music sprang up before her.