Wizardry - The Wizardry Quested Part 13

Neither sight nor smell mattered to Moira's body or the intelligence that animated it. Bathing was necessary for human health, so Moira bathed, fallowing barely remembered rituals gleamed from the dead brains of its other servants.

In the same way the body was fed, exercised and rested, cared for as a brood mare is cared for. Not for the sake of the body, but for the sake of what it would bear. Or more correctly, what would be torn from it at the proper time, since natural childbirth played no more role in the Enemy's plans than did a normal child.

Oblivious, unseeing and uncaring, Moira finished rubbing herself down and accepted the s.h.i.+ft and long, fur-lined black robe from her shambling attendant. Then she sat as the decaying creature tenderly but clumsily pulled on her boots.

Warmth is important to human health as well.

aOkay,a E. T. Tajikawa said, athere's part of your problem.a Jerry, Bal-Simba and Moira all crowded around the table. Jerry squinted at the glowing letters over the Tajmanian Devil's desk. Some of them were the conventional magic notation used for writing spells in the code compilers. Others were odd symbols he had never seen before. The result made no sense at all.

Squatting underneath was the demon the code fragment manifested.

It had a nasty sneer on its facea"or at least on its top, Jerry amended. The thing sat on six spindly legs like a demented version of a Lunar Lander. The main body was cylindrical and semi-transparent. Inside were vague outlines of something coiled into a long spiral. The top, where the face was, was a regular geometric solid, a dodecahedron, he realized after making a quick count of the edges on each surface.

aWhat the heck is it?a aIt's a virus,a Taj told him. aYou've got an infection in your system.a aHoly s.h.i.+t,a Jerry breathed. aBut how?a Taj just shrugged.

Jerry tore his eyes away from the demon and examined the spell more closely.

aDoes that make any sense to you?a Taj asked.

Jerry just shook his head. aFor one thing it's not entirely in standard magic notation. More than that, well, it just doesn't make a Tot of sense. What does it do?a aIt attaches itself to a spell and starts s.h.i.+fting instructions around or combining them.a Jerry bit his lower lip. There was something terribly wrong with this but he couldn't quite put his finger on what yet.

aCould it be a weapon?a aIf it is it's a p.i.s.s-poor one. The thing's not very destructive and it's hardly hidden at all. It doesn't poly-morph and if you know the sequence you can grep it out of any spell it's in.a Everyone was silent for a moment.

aThere's something not right about this,a Jerry said That appears to be an understatement,a Bal-Simba said mildly.

aNo, I mean there's something really wrong here. Something we're missing.a Moira c.o.c.ked her serpent-like head. aAnother of your premonitions?a aMore like a feeling, but yeah. That sort of thing.a Moira furrowed her scaly brow. She had been more intimately a.s.sociated with the programmers than Bal-Simba or any of the other wizards and she knew Jerry's knack for spotting problems even if he couldn't quite grasp the whole.

aYou've never had a virus here before?a Taj asked.

Jerry shook his head. aNow that it's happened I can see how it could, but no.a aHmm,a Bal-Simba said, staring at the glowing letters. aDo you think it is related?a aDirectly? No. But I suspect it's a manifestation of the same kind of underlying phenomenon. Sort of the fundamental particle of your problem.a aAnd it works by sticking stuff together,a Jerry said in an effort to forestall the inevitable. aLet me guess, you call this a glue-on, right?a Taj brightened. aHey, that's a good name for ita aMe and my big mouth,a Jerry muttered. aAnyway, it still doesn't explain who our enemy is.a aWhat about,a Taj said slowly, athe possibility that the glue-on arose naturally? It's not very complicated. Only about a dozen basic instructions.a aI suppose that's possible,a Jerry said equally slowly. aLike I say, we've never seen that. But we really haven't been here long.a aWhere do you suppose all these complicated magical phenomena come from?a aAround here that's like asking why the sky is blue. They just are.a aThe sky's blue for a reason,a Taj pointed out.

aIt's something we never really wondered about.a Taj smiled, looking more satanic than ever. aThose are the ones that get you in the worst trouble.a While Jerry chewed on that Taj went back to wandering about the room restlessly, looking at things without quite seeing them. He came to rest in front of Danny's magical fish tank and suddenly froze like a bird dog coming on point. The rainbow denizens of the tank were oblivious to him, but everyone else in the room was suddenly watching him intently.

aThose fish aren't natural, are they?a aNo, that's something Danny was working on for his son,a Jerry told him.

aDo they change?a he asked in a peculiar voice.

Jerry frowned, remembering his earlier misgivings. aYeah. He made them so they'd change over time. They kinda mutate.a aBut they don't follow a pre-programmed pattern?a aI don't think so.a Taj turned back to the fish tank and stared fascinated.

aBingo!a he breathed softly. aOh, boy howdy!a aYou've found something?a aAlfie.a aHuh?a aAlfiea"A-Life, you know artificial life.a aWhat do you guys know about artificial life?a Jerry shrugged. aIt only got hot after we came here. We've been following the newsgroups on the net.a aIts a very rapidly developing field.a aAs good as its hype?a Taj snorted. aGet real. But they're still getting some interesting results, especially with evolutionary systems.a He paused. aWhat's more, I'll bet your enemy isn't 'someone', it's 'something'a"the mother of all artificial life programs.a Zombie army ants. The phrase flashed in Jerry's mind.

aMeaning the thing's not alive?a Taj shrugged. aDefine 'life' and I'll tell you. What it definitely means is that you've got stuff breeding out there.a aWait a minute, A-life has to have a purpose. There's a design.a Taj gave another of his satanic smiles. aTeleological reasoning. The A-life we're familiar with is designed originally because humans created it. But there's nothing that says there has to be a designer. If you've got the right conditions and the right precursors it could arise spontaneously.a He looked over at the fish tank aOffhand I'd say you have the right conditions here.

aFrom what you've told me, there's natural magic everywhere, but the spells didn't combine very well. So now you guys come along and develop your spell compiler that sticks little spells together and eventually these things pick up the trick.a aBut we didn't write anything like that,a Jerry protested.

aNot necessary that you do. This kind of genetic crossover has been known for a long time in bacteria and a couple of workers have produced it in artificial life programs.a He frowned. aSo then the question is, how much available resources do they have? You sort of indicated that magic is an infinite resource here, right?a aWell, not exactly. Some areas are more magical than others. There are dead zones all through the Wild Wood, for instance. And at times you can produce something like a magical drain effect and some resources become scarce. Wiz did that in his attack on the City of Night.a It was his turn to frown. aBut that kind of thing is rare. There's an awful lot of available magic out there.a Taj nodded. aMakes sense. If you're really resource constrained it's hard to get any kind of complex development. You get the equivalent of lichens and algae. If there's no constraint you lose a potent driver for evolution. But if there's a lot of resources before you hit the constraintsaa he shrugged.

aJeez,a Jerry muttered.

aOkay, now suppose that these things are out there, these little spells, competing for resources. It becomes survival of the fittest. The things that can grab the most resources and hold on to them best survive longest.a aAnd we started that?a Taj pursed his lips. aActually that probably pre-dates you. I suspect that's where this world's naturally occurring demons and such come from. What you added were code fragments that made it easier for pieces to combine.a aSo we are responsible.a aLaw of nature, man. You can't do just one thing. Anyway, eventually this proto-evolutionary process turns out our friend the glue-on.a He nodded toward the desktop where the virus sat. Jerry thought it didn't look like anyone's friend, but before he could say that, Taj was off again. aNow you throw in something like this recombinant virus and the things that survive are the ones that get reproduced.a He shrugged, aKind of like an artificial life version of Core Wars, only we're in the core.a He laughed. aEvolution in action. I'll bet by now there's a whole ecology out there.a aWonderful,a groaned Jerry.

aThat too,a Taj agreed, obviously having missed his tone. The big question is how high a lambda have you got?a aLambda?a aInformation mutability. If information is hard to change you stifle any kind of evolution. If it's too easy to change self-organization doesn't have a chance. There's a fairly narrow band where A-life is possible.a Jerry thought about that. He didn't like it, but it made sense. aWe know some areas are less magical than others. The whole place around the City of Night is an especially magically active zone. Plus there's a lot of leftover magic down there from the days of the Dark League.a aAnd we have kept scant watch there,a Bal-Simba rumbled. aMy fault, I am afraid.a aSo,a Taj said, athese things had the equivalent of a petri dish where they could grow and evolve. And now you've got something that's looking to spread out.a aWhy is it so hostile?a aBecause that's the way it evolved. Maybe it gives the thing an edge in surviving, maybe it's an accidental characteristic, like something it picked up along the way.a aPoint is, that it's out there and that's the most likely explanation for what's going on here.a Taj shook his head. aBoy, what the guys at the Santa Fe Inst.i.tute wouldn't give to see this.a aWhat we wouldn't give to see the last of it,a Jerry retorted aThe real question is how do we stop it?a aNow that,a said the Tajmanian Devil, ais going to take a little thought.a aMore strangeness, Lord.a Bal-Simba had had about all the strangeness he could stand in the last few weeks, but he forbore to say so to the chief Watcher. aWhat and where?a he asked.

Erus, the head of the watchers, was a lean gray-haired man with a broken beak of a nose and fierce blue eyes. Years of stooping over a scrying crystal had left him with a permanent slouch.

aWhere is to the south, out over the Freshened Sea. As to whataa He shrugged. They travel in groups, and they seek darkness or clouds, but each day they range further north.a Bal-Simba grunted. aEnough of both at this time of the year, what with long nights and winter storms over the Freshened Sea. You say you have never encountered them before. What are they most like?a Erus hesitated. Like most of those in his line of work he disliked making guesses, but for him as for all of them guessing was part of the job. aLord, they appear to be ridden dragons, at least for the most part.a aFor the most part?a aThere are other things as well, but not so many. Mostly they seem to be dragons, but of an odd sort.a aOdd in what way?a aLike the rest of this thing's magica"cold.a He looked up at Bal-Simba. aLord, I have never seen anything like it. Nor have any of the other Watchers.a aWhat do you think they are doing?a aI cannot say with certainty, but it appears they are scouting, perhaps testing our defenses. At their present rate they will reach our lands ere long.a Bal-Simba considered. aThen best we seek these things out to see what they are. Order our patrols south again, but cautiously. And try to steer them to a small group they can meet in overwhelming strength.a aJerry tells me you have developed a weapon against our enemy,a Bal-Simba said without preamble as he walked into the programmers' work room.

aYep,a Taj said proudly. aIt's a lysing virus. Or maybe a self-reproducing restriction enzyme would be a better way to describe ita Jerry squinted at the code hanging above the desk Taj was using. aDescribing it in English would be better yeta aOkay,a Taj said. aBasically the problem is that this virus of the enemy's glues spells together, with some transcription errors. Then those new spells compete against each other in what amounts to a Core Wars tournament where only the fittest survive. Eventually the winners get big and nasty.a He gestured to the code. aWhat this virus does is exactly the opposite. It breaks spells into pieces at certain specific points, sort of makes them come unglued.a aWhat's going to prevent this thing from running wild and reducing every piece of code to rubble?a Tajikawa smiled, looking more satanic than ever. aIt won't affect a piece of code smaller than a certain size.a aWait a minute. How do you keep the anti-virus from mutating?a Again the satanic smile. aYou can't. It has to mutate if it's going to do its job because the sticky virus is going to mutate. But we can make sure it won't attack anything smaller than the limit. Here, take a look.a Jerry scanned the indicated portion of the code.

Taj reached past him and pointed to several sections of the listing. You will note that there is not a test in there for code size. Nor is it localized to one part of the program. It's more subtle than that.a Jerry nodded. aClever.a aAs far as we know there are no programs that big. None of yours anyway. It won't prevent things from forming, but it will limit their size and that will probably limit their power.a aProbably?a Taj shrugged. aTheoretically these things could become efficient enough to be pretty potent within that limit, but with the smaller code sizes the global minima tend to be in pretty steep wells on the state surface. Plus there are a lot of local minima to act as traps. A genetic algorithm might reach a minimum but it would be pretty much a random event. Like the monkeys at the typewriters trying to produce Shakespeare.a He frowned. aOf course there is a question of how many monkeys and typewriters we've got here.a He got a faraway look as he considered the problem.

aWill this thing leave us worse off?a asked Bal-Simba, who had understood perhaps a quarter of what Tajikawa had just said.

aNo.a aThen we will do it.a He paused. aHow long will it take for this thing to work?a aIt starts as soon as we tell it to execute,a Taj said. It will start here and then spread like the original virus did.a aWait a minute,a Jerry said, ahow long will it take to affect what's in the City of Night?a aThat's a ways from here right?a aAnd it's protected by some kind of magic barrier.a aOh, the barrier shouldn't be a problem. Eventually it will diffuse through or be carried through by an infected spell.a aHow long,a Jerry asked slowly, ais eventually?a aFermi numbers, around ten years.a Bal-Simba looked at him. aWhat kind of numbers?a aFermi numbers. You know, within an order of magnitude.a aIn other words,a Jerry added, ait could happen in anywhere from one year to a century.a He shook his head, aBut even a year is way too long.a aWell, if you're closer it would strike faster. If you're right next to this thing when you invoke the program it would get it right away.a Jerry sighed. aOkay then. We're going to have to get in there to make this work.a aThat will not be easy,a Bal-Simba told him.

aWiz and the others did it.a aI am afraid that way is blocked now,a Bal-Simba told him. aWe cannot walk the Wizards Way and the city is ever-more-strongly guarded by the Enemy's non-living servants.a There's another problem,a Taj pointed out. aThis thing's likely to react to your presence, right?a aI would call that an understatement,a rumbled Bal-Simba.

aWell, understand, its going to take the lysing virus a while to work on anything that's fairly complicated. If this thing has developed something like an immune system to keep it from being taken over by the compet.i.tion, it may take a few hours, or even days.a He caught the others' expressions. aToo long, huh?a aFor the main enemy, way too long. The first thing it will try to do is eat our luncha"and us with it. We can't wait hours, we need to knock it down immediately.a aHow inorganic,a Taj sighed. aAll right, let's go back and take it from first principles again.a They took special care to find a secure resting place that evening. Malkin seemed abstracted all through the dinner meal, but she didn't say anything until they were finished.

aI have been thinking about what you said, about the monsters getting more dangerous as we come closer to our goal,a she said to Wiz as they cleaned the last of the dinner dishes.

aAnd?a aHave the monsters been getting more dangerous?a Wiz thought about it. aNo, not really.a aAnd have we encountered greater numbers of them?a An ugly little p.r.i.c.kle of his neck hair told Wiz he wasn't going to like where this was going. aNo,a he admitted.

aThen,a Malkin asked, aare we sure we are getting closer to our goal?a aWell, the seeker says we're going in the right direction.a Malkin just looked at him.

aI'm really beginning to wonder about that seeker,a Danny said. aI know this place is big but we should be at least a little closer to Moira than when we started.a aMaybe it's been getting brighter so slowly we didn't notice,a Wiz suggested.

Malkin reached out and tapped his shoulder. aThe glow only extends out to this smudge on your right breast. That's where it was yesterday and the day before.a aAre you sure?a aTrust me. In my profession you notice these things. You always hold the crystal in the same place, straight out from your breastbone to the length of the cord around your neck.a Wiz thought about that. Then he looked down at the crystal. Then he thought about it some more. Not very pleasant thoughts.

aLet's see something.a aEmac.a Instantly a two-foot-high demon with a big bald head, flapping ears, gla.s.ses and a green eyeshade appeared before him.

a?,a said the little demon.

abackslash list find_moira exe.a The creature took a quill pen from behind one enormous ear and began to scribble fiery letters in the air. Wiz and his fellow adventurers were soon bathed in warm yellow light from the golden letters hanging before them.

aWait a minute!a Danny said almost as soon as the Emac finished writing. aThat doesn't look right.a He pointed with his staff at a section of the code.

aIt's not,a Wiz said sourly. aNeither is that,a he added as his staff jabbed out, athat or that.a aThe spell's been sabotaged!a aWho?a demanded Glandurg. aWho has played such a foul trick upon us?a aIf I had to guess, I'd say the Enemy,a Wiz said. aOkay folks, gather around, it's conference time.a The party sat down on a convenient patch of rocks and all of them looked at Wiz expectantly. aWell,a he said to break the silence, awhat are our options?a No one wanted to mention the obvious one: Give up, try to make their way to the surface and wait for rescue.

aDwarves can find their way underground,a Danny suggested. aPerhaps Glandurg can guide us?a aI would have to know where we were going,a the dwarf said shortly. aImpractical.a aBesides,a Malkin said, ahe tends to get lost.a aSlander,a hissed the dwarf.

aOkay, settle down, people. The important thing is it won't worka Glandurg and Malkin glared at each other but obeyed.

aWhat about re-casting the seeker spell?a Malkin asked after a minute.

aHard to do. We could write a new spell easily enough, but we need something like a lock of Moira's hair to focus the spell.a He sighed. aIf Moira's personality were still with her body we could work something up to seek that, but otherwise we've got to have something intimately connected with her.a aHer cloak,a June said from her place beside Danny. aLike mine.a aSimilarity isn't good enough I'm afraid.a aFrom the same cloth. Made at the same time.a With a pang Wiz remembered the long summer afternoons when Moira and June had sat together under a rose bower at Wizards' Keep, sewing the matching cloaks for the coming winter and watching Ian and Caitlin romp among the rose bushes. Sometimes they had worked together, with a cloak stretched across their knees as they sat side by side or across from each other.

aWait a minute! You both worked on Moira's cloak, didn't you?a June nodded.

aDid you ever p.r.i.c.k your finger while you worked and get blood on the cloak?a A hesitation and then another nod.

aJackpot! Okay, we can do this then.a Everyone looked at him. aDNA,a he explained. aIf June got blood on the cloak her DNA is still on there.a aWashed it,a June said defensively.

aI'm sure you didn't get it all out. We can home on your DNA.a'

Danny grinned. aYeah, and because it's uniquely hers it will stand out almost as strongly as a true name.a Then his face fell. aWait a minute. How are you going to make it sensitive enough to find June's blood on Moira's cloak with June standing right here?a aI've got a way to make a spell directional, like an antenna. As long as June's not in the beam, her presence won't interfere.a aLet's get to it, then.a In the event it took several hours to produce and check the spell. Part of that was because Wiz and Danny took good care to armor the code against tampering and to sprinkle alarms throughout the program to warn of attempted subversion. Part of it was the usual quota of unexpected problems and glitches. Part of it was simply that it's harder to work sitting on rocks in a cave than it is in your own workroom. So while Glandurg fidgeted, Malkin watched and June did whatever June did, the pair turned out a new spell.

The only real difficulty came in drawing a sample of June's blood for comparison. June was so eager to hero she slashed a four-inch gash in her arm and Wiz and Danny had to break off preparing the spell to give her first aid.

Finally they held up the finished product and commanded it to find Moira. Almost instantly the pointer lit up and swung around, pointing almost back the way they had come.

aWonderful,'' Danny said glumly. aWe have been going in the wrong direction.a Wiz ached to get going in the new direction but common sense prevailed. aIn the morning. Let's get a good night's rest and then we'll head out. And this time we'll be heading for Moira.a Honesty compelled him to admit that what they'd actually be heading for was Moira's cloak. There was no guarantee Moira would still be with it. He tried very hard to push that thought out of his mind.

They moved out the next morning in good order and somber spirits. Once again Malkin led the way and Wiz followed, staff at the ready. His senses were alert but his mind was elsewhere. Malkin was right. The defenses of this place didn't make any sense in the real world. They made sense in terms of a fantasy role-playing game, but there weren't any fantasy role-playing games here. The only people in this World now who knew about such things were Danny, Jerry and himself. There had been Craig and Mikey, two computer crackers who had come to this World and hooked up with the forces of primal chaos. But Craig was dead and Mikey was a mindless husk held under tight guard at the Wizards' Keep. So where had the idea come from?

d.a.m.n, he thought for about the thousandth time, I wish we knew what we are fighting.

aWell,a E.T. Tajikawa said, athere's your weapon.a On the table sat a golden globe about the size of a softball.

aBehold the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch,a Taj said with a sweeping gesture. aIt's what you might call an anti-takeover devicea"a poison pill.a aYou intend to poison the Enemy?a Bal-Simba asked.

aActually we're going to hand him a retrovirus and he's going to do a number on himself.a Both Bal-Simba and Jerry waited for him to continue.

aIt started with those indeterminate instructions, the ones you call I'll Do As I d.a.m.n Well Please, IDAIDWP.a His audience looked apprehensive. aGo on,a the big wizard said slowly.a aOkay, first I divided them into two categories: Regular IDAIDWP and FU-IDAIDWP.a aFoo ida id wip?a Jerry asked.

aEff you ida id wip,a Taj corrected. aWhat you might call IDAIDWP with an att.i.tude. Anyway, I rolled the FU-IDAIDWPs into the nastiest package I could dream up, added some interface code to make it easy for the Enemy to absorb and wrapped it in the prettiest package I could find.a He gestured. aViola.a aThat's voila.a Taj gave him his satanic grin. aNot the way I play it.a Taj looked at Jerry. aOkay, you say this thing's instinct is to absorb whatever's tossed at it.a aWell, humans that attack it, anyway.a aClose enough. Essentially what this thing does is to insert a sequence with a bunch of indeterminate instructions into the thing's code. You feed it to The Blob out there and the critter self-destructs.a aNasty,a Jerry said. aI like it.a He paused. aWhat's the downside?a Taj pursed his lips. aWell, there is one tiring that might be a problem. It's got to be absorbed all at once so we've got to get pretty close to make it worka aHow close?a aFor immediate effect? About hand grenade range.a For a minute no one said anything. aSo we've got to jump down this thing's throat, right?a Taj shrugged. aIf you want it to work right away and if you want to be sure you get the main bad guya No one said anything. There's another problem,a Taj added helpfully. This things been bred to learn quick. If you don't make it the first time it will be a whole lot harder the next time.a He paused and looked hard at them. aBasically I'd say we've got one shot at this.a Another pause. aI believe,a said Bal-Simba, athis is what Charlie would call a sporty proposition.a

NINETEEN - OPERATIONAL PLAN.

With the weapon came the stirrings of a plan. Soon the Wizards' Keep was abuzz with preparations. Since the Watchers were still unable to establish communication with Wiz and his party, the first order of business was to combine an attack on the Enemy with a rescue operation. In his or her own way everyone readied themselves for what was to come.

aSo this is what the enemy stronghold looks like?a Kuznetsov asked Jerry as they walked down the stonewalled tunnel.

aSomething like this. Only smaller and not as neat.a The Russian sized up the s.p.a.ce with the professional interest of an engineer who had been given the job of building the placea"or a sapper who had the job of blowing it up.

Kuznetsov had wanted to see what the abattlefielda would look like. The closest thing Jerry could come up with was the cellars and storerooms under the Wizards' Keep. It wasn't that close to the tunnels beneath the City of Night, but Kuznetsov a.s.sured him it would help.

aNow there're a lot more levels and twists and turns,a Jerry added as Kuznetsov knelt down to examine the way the stones fit. He produced a knife and scratched at the s.p.a.ce between the rocks, held the sc.r.a.pings to his nose and sniffed them.

aBut just this mortar? No concrete?a Jerry thought for an instant. aI've never seen concrete in this World.a Kuznetsov grunted, stood up, and then said something quickly to Vasily. The other Russian nodded and set off down the tunnel.

aAnd these lamps.a Kuznetsov indicated the magic glow light that floated above their head. This is standard illumination?a aYeah. What's Vasily doing?a aWe are seeing how close enemy can get before we see him. This is very important in urban combat.a aThis isn't exactly a city.a Kuznetsov grinned. aI believe your saying is 'Close enough for government work.' a He looked down the tunnel and motioned to his partner. Peering out past the edges of the light, Jerry couldn't see him, but apparently Kuznetsov could.

aNow he comes back hiding behind cover and in shadows,a Kuznetsov said without taking his eyes off the tunnel. aThe way an enemy would approach.a By straining his eyes Jerry thought he could detect an occasional flicker of movement down the corridor. Finally, when Vasily was almost on them he caught a glimpse of him sidling along a wall and whipping into an open storeroom.

aHe's really good.a aHe was a specialist,a Kuznetsov said, and smiled as if he had made a joke.

There was an explosion of Russian from the storeroom and Vasily came charging out with no attempt to hide.

He pointed back to the room and spat out something long and complicated in Russian.

Kuznetsov whistled. aDa shto ve gavorete?a aPo Pravda!a Vasily confirmed.

aWhat was that about?' Jerry asked.

The Russian looked at Jerry strangely. aLet us say we just discovered that our paths have crossed before, indirectly. You might even say that you are the ones who got us started in our present line of work.a He waved away Jerry's frown. aNever mind. It was another time and another country.a The Russians were silent as they climbed the stairs from the cellar. They declined Jerry's offer of a warming drink.

aComrade Major, do you realize what this means?a Vasily hissed in Russian as soon as Jerry turned the corner.

aIt means we have solved another mystery my friend. Now we know how the computer disappeared from the airplane.a Kuznetsov sighed and grinned. aIt takes you back, does it not, to the days when the world was young, our hearts were pure and there was no problem in human relations which could not be solved by the application of sufficient quant.i.ties of high explosive?a He sighed once more. aLife was so much simpler then.a aComplexity?a Bal-Simba echoed in bewilderment.

aComplexity,a Taj repeated with a satanic grin. The weakness of all centralized systems is that they cannot handle complexity beyond a certain level.a aAnd you are certain of this?a He spread his hands. aIt's inherent in the state equations. If we wanna give this boy indigestion we start by giving him a nervous breakdown.a aWhat in the world are you doing?a Jerry asked as he walked into the workroom.

aOrigami,a Taj said cheerfully. aGreat way to relax.a Jerry looked over the collection of cranes and other creatures scattered over the benchtop.

aParchment's kind of scarce. We can't waste it on stuff like that.a aOh, it's not a waste,a Taj said cheerfully. Then he held up his latest creation. aSee, here's a dragon.a Jerry looked past the long-necked shape at the litter of parchment sc.r.a.ps on the table. aIt's still not a very good use for parchment.a Taj smiled evilly. aWanna bet?a The rhythmic sc.r.a.pe-sc.r.a.pe-sc.r.a.pe told Gilligan that Vasily was sharpening something. When he got close he saw it wasn't a knife or a sword. It was a small shovel with a two-foot handle. An entrenching tool in fact aWhere'd you find that?a aCastle smith made it for me,a the Russian told him. He laid the stone aside and sighted down the shovel blade, turning it slightly so the light struck the edge. aAlmost ready now.a aGoing to dig your way out of trouble?a In a single cat-like motion Vasily twisted and hurled the entrenching tool overhand. It flew end-over-end and buried itself in a post twenty feet away with a tw.a.n.g. The shovel stuck there with its handle vibrating from the force of the impact.

aGood for digging, too,a The Russian said. Then he walked over and wrenched the blade out of the timber.

Gilligan nodded. aWhere's Kuznetsov?a Vasily inspected the edge of the blade critically. aWith the big wizard,a he said without looking up.

Gilligan himself had spent a good part of the time trying to figure out how he could get into the battle. As a pilot with nearly two thousand hours in Air Force fighters he felt supremely confident. Unfortunately, riding a dragon takes a different skill set than flying an F-15.

Besides which, the dragons didn't like him. Every time he entered the aerie he was greeted by growls and roars from the monsters. Gilligan suspected that Stigi had been talking. Karin said that was impossible, but Gilligan knew better.

Of course planning was the major form of preparation.

aIt is in our favor that nothing has tried strongly to breach the physical barriers,a Bal-Simba told the group a.s.sembled in his work room. aThe Enemy has not had the opportunity to learn how to defend against it.a aIt seems to have put up defenses enough,a Dragon Leader remarked as he studied the magical map showing the known patrol routes from the City of Night aWe think that's more reflex than planning,a Jerry said aIf you'll notice these tracks pretty much match the Dark League's patrolling when they controlled the city. But circ.u.mstances have changed and that leaves holes here,a he said as he stabbed a finger onto the map, ahere and especially to the south.a aWhat's more, they're not flying smart,a Gilligan said, aat least not from what the Watchers have seen.a aWe have not been allowed to test these fliers yet.a There was a note of reproach in Dragon Leader's voice.

aThat will come soon enough,a Bal-Simba told him. aMeanwhile we do not want to, ah, 'tip our fingers.' a aThat's tip our hand,a Jerry corrected aYeah, we want them dumb when we hit them.a Bal-Simba caught his air group commander's expression. aNever fear, you will have the opportunity to test them very soon, but under controlled conditions.a aMeanwhile,a Jerry said, athe basic plan for the main attack will be to lure him out over the Freshened Sea with a dummy strike and then hit from another direction.a aBakka Valley,a Gilligan said.

Kuznetsov nodded. aKoyuechno. We spoof them to show themselves and then the second wave eliminates them.a Dragon Leader nodded aWe can expect most of their air power to be drawn north, but that still leaves their ground defenses plus whatever they hold back for point defense.a aWell, there's a trick we used on the second Schweinfurt raid,a Charlie said.

Gilligan did a quick calculation and gave Charlie a hard look.

The older man caught it. aOkay,a he amended. aSomeone used it when the Eighth hit Schweinfurt the second time.a Dragon Leader ignored the byplay. There is still the problem of the inner defenses.a aWe may just have to fight our way through those,a Bal-Simba said. aExpensive, I know.a aMaybe we can come up with something as we go along,a Jerry added.

Dragon Leader looked thoughtfully at the map.