Chapter 4 — Biologists' Party

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~ 1 ~ "Okay, Yohanna, here’s what’s happening in my dealings with Cherokee: I've trucked all of the ersatz atomic bombs to him—one at a time, and each one neatly packaged—on the industrial side of the Keep. I think Cherokee plans to move them from there to his Quinceañera Beach stronghold. In return, he has transferred my first two-and-a-half-million-dollar payment from Arch to an overseas Home Construction account.” Leo steered his pickup truck onto the long gravel road going up to the Cliff Rancho and Victor’s bungalow, where he and Yohanna would join the biologists’ party which had been arranged by Hans and Victor.

“I went with Cherokee on a week-long bow-hunting excursion in the jungle before he showed me around Quinceañera Beach. On the hunt, we renewed the bond we’d formed in the military, and Cherokee bagged a jaguar. At the Beach, Cherokee introduced me as his trusted colleague to Witteric Hemming—the guy we know from the Histories as Marge Hemming’s henchman—and Cherokee explained to him our business relationship. Miss Hemming (That’s what she’s called at the Beach.) and Cherokee are now partners in the arms trade, and Witteric is Marge’s agent at the Beach, who’s nominally in charge in Cherokee’s absence.

“Leo, I admire you for having passed Cherokee’s personal test. A Shade Overlord is shrewd as well as very dangerous.”

“Well, anyway, now my face is accepted at Quinceañera Beach. Just as you’ve heard, Yohanna, the place is a classy lowlife resort surrounded by jungle. I suggested to Cherokee and Witteric that while Martin Knox is looking the other way, I could obtain resources for securely transporting one of the bombs to a remote site anywhere in the world, for a demonstration to their clients. Martin approved the plan, and that’s what I’m working on now.”

"I have been briefed about the Beach, Leo. When you spoke of Martin ‘looking the other way’, did you mean that Cherokee and Witteric think that Martin is allowing you to act on your own?"

“Yep; that's what Cherokee believes. And I think Witteric does, too. A few days ago, Witteric told me Cherokee is currently concerned with ‘other matters’ and he’ll be away for an indeterminate period of time. I don’t know what his absence means. Yohanna, Ricardo told me you have some news about this business, that I should hear from you firsthand. That's why I offered you a ride to the party."

"And that is my reason for accepting your offer, Leo. My news is this: My father has received an offer to act as negotiator for the bomb purchase by Cherokee’s Arab clients—both factions. The two factions do not trust each other, but they do trust my family." Yohanna had been asked by Rhoda not to tell Leo—for the present—about Cherokee’s attempt on Rhoda’s life.

Leo whistled. “I take it that Ricardo and Rhoda know about this offer."

"Yes. In fact, Rhoda was with me at luncheon with her when the offer was communicated to my mother—Edna. Not only were the Arabs present at the restaurant, but Capricia and her colleague Jerrod Cunningham were there also, in some sort of association with them."

"So you just happened to accidentally be there, Yohanna?"

“Leo, wherever Rhoda goes, events converge, as my mother says. Another person whom we know was present there, too: the 'bootlegger', Dominick Mazzatelli, who owned the stone cabin. Each party was there separately.”

"We've seen Dominick and Capricia at the Eyrie construction site, Yohanna. Actually, it was Mazzatelli’s nephew Nick who owned the cabin; we bought it from Nick."

"I believe, Leo, that the Soviet spies were surprised by observing my family’s involvement, which our actions at the restaurant revealed to them."

“Miss Hemming’s organization is talking with clients from India and China, too, Yohanna. Martin told me that’s good, for now, because General Smith wants bidding for the bombs to be a protracted process. That will allow an international political agreement to be reached for retrieving the live bombs without risking their falling into the hands of folks who would use them, and without exposing the event to the press before it’s over.”

“Yes; I understand. Leo, because the War Thing has a special need related to Quinceañera Beach, I am to become the personal representative of my father there. Our need is a Secret, and it is only partially understood. Regarding this Secret, we are concerned about a hidden armed force at Quinceañera Beach, consisting of members of what Rhoda calls Kane's temple guard. She thinks that the hidden force are somewhat independent of Cherokee's operation, although they are a part of it."

“I was aware of the armed force, Yohanna. There’s a fortification of some sort up on the Dark River that flows along the headland at the south end of the Beach. Cherokee told me he has reinforcements there that he calls his ‘troops’. We didn't visit it, but I guessed, from the nature of the dock facilities, that well over a hundred armed men are permanently stationed there in the jungle. I know enough about Cherokee’s operation to be sure that they have surface-to-air missiles and anti-tank weapons."

After Leo had steered his pickup truck onto the drive to Ricardo’s Cliff Rancho and Victor's bungalow, Yohanna lightly touched his hand on the steering wheel. "Leo, the Clan Secret at Quinceañera is my problem, and the military and political aspects are yours; I’ve talked with Antonia about it, warning her."

“Antonia has a good understanding of what’s going on; her work keeps her in touch with Martin, to whom I report. Yohanna, Ricardo asked that you and I get here early today so he can talk to us at the Cliff Rancho about Quinceañera Beach before the party. We can hike up to the Rancho from Vic’s place.”

“Is Ricardo not coming to the party?”

“He’s not. Ricardo says it’s a ‘biologists only’ event, although Rhoda will be there.”

Victor and Hans had planned the party at Victor’s new home to be like those once held by the biologists every month or two. All of those who had been present at the last party had promised to come—even Lisa Su.

~ 2 ~ Esther and Het had come separately to the party. Esther had been surprised when Victor himself had invited her. “It’s going to be at my up-slope bungalow,” he had said. She recalled her conversation with Victor and Het over their Tuesday-night take-out and beer meal over a year earlier. They had discussed the strange events at the stone cabin party, and Het had talked about his job offer from Mortimer Kane. Victor had shown a political understanding then that neither she nor Het had suspected of him, knowing of his total lack of ambition to use political knowledge to his own advantage.

The reference to his “up-slope bungalow”, had caused her to infer that he had come into the inheritance about which she had recently learned from her mother.

Following Victor's directions, Esther drove up the twisting gravel road to his place, and when the “up-slope bungalow” came into view after she had made the last turn, she saw on the slope above it a dwelling set into the high rock. At once, she knew that the upper dwelling was Ricardo’s Cliff Rancho, where Hans lived with Ricardo. And, glimpsing a trail on a ridge above the Cliff Rancho, she knew that it was a national forest horseback riding and hiking trail about which she had heard.

Because recruiting Victor for the Circle was on Esther’s agenda, she had come early to scout things out. As she was parking, she saw only Leo’s old, once-red Ford pickup truck.

Bridget met Esther at the door. “Esther Rosen, you and I need to get better acquainted; I’m Bridget Lamb.” Esther was surprised to feel a surge of jealousy over Victor.

For a moment, the two women stood still on the bungalow’s threshold, each examining the other and taking in everything which was to be learned by it. Then a sudden flickering beyond Esther’s shoulder caught Bridget’s attention, and she broke eye contact. Then she gestured to Esther to turn around and look at the view behind her. After turning, Esther saw only her Porsche and the last portion of the road up which she had just driven, with the hazy suburban valley stretching out below. She saw nothing of the Wildland which Bridget was seeing, about which Hans had recently spoken to her and Victor. The Wildland’s air was clear and its light was bright, shining on the veranda and illuminating Esther. Esther was looking around and seeing nothing which might have diverted Bridget’s attention. She was unaware of the clear light falling upon her.

“What did you see, Bridget?” Esther was annoyed, thinking that Bridget might be “putting her on”. Esmeralda had told her that Bridget was a natural actress who enjoyed deceitfully playing with people.

“I was just wondering, Esther: Do you like horses? We have two here. They’re down there in the pasture.”

Esther saw the horses then, and she became aware of their scent.

“I’m teaching Victor to ride. He loves trees, as you know, Esther, but he’s getting comfortable with horses very slowly.”

Leo came around the corner and leaped up the stairs to greet Esther, just as Evelyn and Eugene were arriving in Eugene’s car. Evelyn had accepted a ride to the party with Eugene, telling herself that the party was for old times’ sake. Now, Esther and Leo ran down the stairs to greet the two of them, beginning a revival of past camaraderie among them. Bridget saw Victor and Hans hiking down the path to join the others, and she heard the sound of another approaching vehicle: Rhoda’s.

~ 3 ~ Bridget slipped away and ran lightly up the stairs to the little low-ceilinged dormer room of the bungalow. Opening the dormer’s double windows to let the room’s heat out and a cool breeze from the Wildland in, she thought that she had never imagined such a thing as this hidden Wildland. She watched the gathering throng of biologists below, who were talking loudly with the excitement of being together again. Then more cars arrived, and, as Victor and Hans passed around bottles of beer from the ice chests on Leo’s truck, people gathered around the truck and Rhoda’s Karmann Ghia next to it.

Looking from the window, Bridget was seeing clearly both the world of the present in which the biologists were gathered below, and a strange world dominated by a giant tree and lit by another sunlight. Victor would know what kind of tree it was, if he were able to see it, too. For Bridget, the two views subsisted together in easy harmony—two worlds in the same place. She felt a pleasing wonder in the familiar strangeness of having her attention completely divided and completely whole in two realities. She had been told about such things by Judith: “In the Workshop, Bridget, a Maker can divide his or her attention among many facets of a Device while fabricating it. I’ve experienced this a few times, and while it was happening, it seemed natural.”

Bridget had asked Judith more than once, “Is all of this stuff really true?”

There was a soft knock at the door, which Bridget had left ajar. The door opened farther, and Evelyn entered.

Evelyn had attended Bridget’s wedding to Victor, which had been held in the courtyard of the Guild’s San Antonio complex which was home to Victor’s birth parents, Judith and Emil Ottokar. Victor’s heart parents, Rebecca and Felix Epstein, had awkwardly attended the event. Evelyn’s parents, Sandra and Carl (Klaus) Schroder, also lived in the courtyard complex, and Bridget had learned that Klaus was Judith’s brother. Evelyn had told Bridget that she and Victor held Head family status in the Clan because Victor was Judith’s son, but Bridget and Victor had resolved not to move to Texas, even though Victor realized that he would have access there to Home Ranch’s relic forests. Victor had decided to enter carefully, if at all, into Clan affairs.

Evelyn entered the room slowly, looking around cautiously. “Oh, Bridget! …I’m sorry! I hope I haven’t disturbed you. Victor told me this room was empty. I thought I heard a breeze coming down the stairs—even though it’s a still day—with the voices of shorebirds in it, so I had to investigate.” Evelyn went to Bridget and gently hugged her. She had liked Bridget very much when they had become briefly acquainted at her wedding. Sandra had whispered to her daughter, “Evelyn, poor Bridget has two Jewish mothers-in-law to contend with: Rebecca and me.”

Bridget took Evelyn’s hand and wordlessly drew her to the open window. Standing there beside Bridget, looking out, Evelyn said, “I see it, too.”

“Do you understand what it is?”

“Bridget, it must be the primitive Gardenland that Hans has told me about.”

“He told Victor and me something like that, too. He said it was really a Wildland, but I don’t know what the difference is. Neither of us much believed him.”

“Can you always see it from this room, Bridget?”

“No. And I saw it for the first time when I met Esther at the front door. She didn’t see it, even though its light was shining on her.”

“Poor Esther! Once, we were pretty good friends.”

“Victor has told me a little more about you, Evelyn. He said that among the biologists, you’re ‘the shorebird lady’ who loves her birds as much as he loves his trees. Are you really that fascinated by shorebirds?”

“Yes; it’s a funny kind of love affair isn’t it, Bridget?”

“Well, yes. Shorebirds are odd things to love. And I’d thought at first that Victor was only pretending about his feeling for trees. Up here at our bungalow, I’ve revived my girlhood enjoyment of horses, but I think it’s not the same thing as your feeling. You don’t use your shorebirds, and Victor doesn’t use his trees, in the way that I use my horses by riding them. And my horses have become companions of a sort, but I think I wouldn’t love them much if we didn’t have that riding relationship.”

The two women looked out over Thorismund’s Wildland again. Evelyn said, “I’m learning to be a Goth Maker, Bridget, and I’m doing some Maker work now. So is Hans, but I don’t know what he’s told you and Victor about it.”

“Victor and I don’t have any experience in things like that. But my Victor’s birth mother—your Aunt Judith—has told me a lot about what she learned from Ottilie Krüger. Judith told me she and Ottilie were ‘girls together’. I don’t know that I’d like Fraulein Krüger very much.”

“Well, Bridget, Rhoda Knox is like an American edition of Ottilie Krüger.”

“Oh! I do like Rhoda; she’s really good with horses. Evelyn, the light that comes from this Wildland is so strange!”

“Rhoda told me the light of Thorismund’s Wildland is the Light of the Airs, which is the kind of light that’s in a Workshop. Now that I’m seeing it, I do have a sense of it is a Workshop kind of light. The light of the Workshop I work in is clinical—like in a medical operating room—but this Light is so majestic! And this breeze seems to be a part of it. …Do you know what I’m trying to say?”

“I think maybe I do, Evelyn. It’s like the new and better light you come to see someone in one day.”

“Bridget, did you once see Victor in the light of a special day like that?”

“Yes; in a way. I experienced the insight—in an ordinary desert breeze—that I’d be able to love him because there’s something solid in him to love. I hadn’t found much that was solid in the men before him; each of them had been just a habit that I didn’t want to give up.”

“I think I know what you mean. I know that kind of struggle, anyway.”

“Are you still in a struggle?”

“I shouldn’t have driven up here with Eugene!”

“Victor has told me about him, too. He said you and Eugene have a suspended engagement. Evelyn, you don’t have to drive back with him; you can sleep in this room tonight and I’ll drive you back in the morning.”

“Probably I could just leave early with someone else.”

“But then you wouldn’t get to listen to your shorebirds, Evelyn. I can hear them too, now, in the breeze. But I think their song is meant for you to enjoy, not me.”

“Where did you get the idea that it’s meant for me, Bridget?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m pregnant; I’m changing in a way that I like. I think maybe I’ve captured this Gardenland’s light just for you.”

~ 4 ~ Beer and bull were flowing again in the first party held by the biologists since the night of the last stone cabin party. On the stone cabin site, the Eyrie was now nearly complete.

In the party’s early glow, many of the biologists were reminiscing about the past. Het, Esther, Victor and Rhoda were standing around together, Rhoda cradling her beer and displaying her Miss Innocence look. Esther found that face startlingly different from the face of Rhoda-the-instructor who had taught them about Calipers in Herbert’s Workshop. Their Maker lessons from Rhoda had become less frequent as Esther and Het had gained more experience working under Herbert’s supervision. To Esther, it seemed that tonight Rhoda had melted from herself into another person who was sweet, open—and gullible. Esther was startled to recall that her father, Isaac, had been like that at parties: Relaxed and open to all, but committing to nothing. Esther knew that she herself was always intense and alert. In fact, she had come to the party with the aim of nudging some people toward the influence of the Circle—Victor, especially.

Het, who was in his own typical party mood, sensed Rhoda’s openness as an opportunity to indulge in the bombast that he enjoyed so much. “Tell me, Rhoda,” he said, after a generous gulp of beer, “isn’t all of that chant mumbo jumbo just old code for activating the tools that the old Goths made, or maybe discovered in the wreck of an alien spaceship?”

“Het, have you made any new Devices while working with Herbert?” Rhoda asked.

Het hesitated. “…Esther and I are just working on old Devices. Herbert starts any new ones that we need. I’ve watched him at it; it’s just the same as working on them, but I’ll admit Calipers are cool, and I feel a bit like a god when I’m working with them.”

“You feel like that whenever you open your mouth,” Victor declared bluntly. Het laughed and raised his beer to Victor. The interaction was typical of those between Het and Victor. But Victor, after he had spoken, had begun to feel that Het had been talking loudly in an attempt to convince himself of something.

Victor watched Evelyn drift into the group, and recalled that she, too, had Goth Workshop experience, and personal experience with Het.

Het lunged out with a different question—one which he and Scott had discussed and had left unresolved. "So, Rhoda, what’s the meaning of that Aviation Week article’s statement that the Greased Lightning uses analog computation to do whatever it was that upset my dear, kind mother?"

“Do you mean as distinguished from digital computation, Het?” Rhoda looked thoughtfully at her nearly-full bottle of beer which she was swinging like a pendulum between her thumb and forefinger.”

“Analog is your word. I’m talking about what you mean, not what I know or don’t know about computers.”

“Okay, Het. I asked only because I thought that Scott, as a mathematician, might have passed on to you an understanding of the distinction between analog and digital computation—at the theoretical level, of course.”

Esther rolled her eyes, thinking that Rhoda was kicking a log downhill—at Het. Did he see it coming? Esther had read the article, too, and she had wondered briefly what was meant by analog computation. Evelyn glanced at Esther, her look suggesting that she (Evelyn) had missed a step in the conversation. Esther explained, “Rhoda allowed an interview with a reporter from an aviation trade magazine called Aviation Week. Het showed the article to me, and I read that the Greased Lightning uses analog computation to perform electronic cloaking, becoming invisible to radar.”

Victor asked, “Is it some Goth Makers’ thing? Do Makers compute with analogs while mortals compute with digits?” He waved his fingers at Het, who laughed and downed another slug of beer. Victor continued, “We should ask Scott—who’s around here somewhere—about his opinion of digital computation.” After a moment, he asked, “Rhoda, are you implying that digital computation is wanting, in comparison to analog computation—whatever the difference is between them?”

Esther was amazed by Victor’s apparent insight into the hidden interaction between Het and Rhoda. She, herself, was in the dark regarding anything which may have been meant by either of them, but she sensed that Rhoda had started something which was aimed at Het. Victor knew that Het had become fascinated recently by cybernetics, the ideas of which were capable of being modeled on a large digital computer such as the one installed recently at the University, for faculty use. Het had been telling Victor that the stands of Joshua trees which Victor loved and studied were just a cybernetic system of cybernetic sub-systems.

Evelyn, picking up something of the moment’s mood, saw an opportunity to make a dig at Het. She regretted it, however, as soon as she had said, “Het, are you still a cold-blooded Darwinist?”

“What kind of a stupid question is that?”

Evelyn had to defend herself now. ...“Well, Professor…maybe gods have an analog hand in making nature. If that’s true, then Darwin’s idea of evolution through minute random variations that he offered up to his god—Natural Selection—might be only a degenerate digital case of analog variations. So digital thinking and computation might play only a small part in the common descent of organisms.” Wow! I made up that crap on the spur of the moment. Not bad, ‘Evie’. Evelyn sipped a little beer, then glanced at Esther and winked.

While this conversation had been taking place, a group of younger biologists had gathered around at a respectful distance to overhear the esoteric wisdom spilling from the mouths of their seniors in the local biological community. Although they were making little sense of it, they followed the emotional ebb and flow like small children listening to adults.

Cooper’s ears pricked up when the Greased Lightning was mentioned. His brother was the communications engineer for General Smith, and Esther had asked him, at the stone cabin party, to find out from his brother about the aircraft on which Rhoda had flown Het’s mother. Cooper wanted to say something important about it—mostly to impress Lisa Su, to whom he had just brought a bottle of beer. Like Lisa, he was majoring in neurophysiology. Like the others near him, he was not following the conversation, and he did not want to look like a fool to Lisa. He glanced at her, wanting to ask her out.

She had allowed him to bring a bottle of beer to her, and she had bestowed on him an encouraging smile of thanks. But then Cooper saw Lisa aiming a deadly stare at Het. Startled, he recalled her screaming flight from the stone cabin. He felt, for an instant, that she might actually have the power of the evil eye, and the thought of a date with her vanished from his mind.

While Cooper slipped away, Esther was looking with interest at Het, who—with his beer bottle in his mouth—was struggling in rage not to choke on Evelyn’s imitation of his own bombast. Esther knew that Het had been hit by Rhoda’s log.

A number of others in the group were, like Esther, struggling to stifle their laughter at Evelyn’s imitation of Het’s style. The actress in Evelyn had nailed the part. Esther, watching the others, saw Cooper’s back as he fled the scene. Cooper was, because of his brother’s position and his own friendly relationship with Lisa Su, on the list of those whom Esther wished to nudge toward the Circle.

After Het had regained some self-control, managing to say, “Shit, Evie,” and stalk away to find a more suitable conversation, Esther’s impulse was to follow Cooper. Then, looking in the direction in which he had been going, she was arrested by Lisa Su’s changing facial expression: Focused hatred followed by wicked satisfaction which then vanished into Lisa’s usual pertness.

Esther remained where she was. She saw Rhoda taking a small, satisfied sip of beer while maintaining her Miss Innocence face, which invited Victor to say, “There’s enough ambiguity in what I’ve heard in the past few minutes, to require a lifetime of unraveling. Seriously Evelyn, speaking biologically, did you mean by gods’ ‘analog hands’, something like: The gill arches that function in both respiration and filter feeding in some chordate worms’ world, were ready-made by those ‘hands’ to serve adequately as jaws when the worms began to ingest larger plankton, thus allowing them to escape the limitations of being filter-feeders?”

“Like Dr. Sedgwick’s favorite explanation for a rapid evolutionary change? I guess I did mean that, Victor. I was really just trying to sound like Het, flying on the breeze of bullshit having a tincture of truth which nobody but Dr. Bombast himself can smell.”

Victor grinned. “So now we can stand around and jaw and drink our beer, unlike our chordate progenitors.”

Esther blinked, understanding that Victor and Evelyn had made some technical sense of all of this, which she had missed. She truly wanted to know what it was that Rhoda had meant, which was capable of stirring up everyone so. As Het had begun talking, Esther had uneasily agreed with him about Makers’ chants being codes. She knew that Het managed to continue avoiding belief in the reality of the invisible gods, but Esther was no longer able to do the same. “Rhoda,” she asked, “did you mean something special by ‘analog’?”

“Well, it’s not a Makers’ term, is it? If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool materialist, as Evelyn has suggested that Het is, then you falsely believe that the meaning of any statement and the function of any organism can be reduced to a very long string of zeros and ones being interpreted by the processor of a mechanical device—and can be no more than that.”

Esther wondered if her words were Ricardo’s.

“Yeah,” said Victor. “That’s just about the meaning of Het’s new cybernetics. I think I’ll lay that on him.” He began to look around for Het.

Evelyn touched his arm. “Victor, didn’t you ask Rhoda what analog means?”

Bridget appeared at Victor’s side, confusing him by saying with exaggerated false jealousy, “Evelyn, how dare you touch my man!”

Esther was reminded of the pang of genuine jealousy which she had felt earlier in the day when she had met Bridget at Victor’s door.

Evelyn chuckled. “Oh, Bridget,” she said, “I thought my credit was good for one touch.”

“Well, it’s zero touches now!” Bridget had arrived in time to hear Rhoda saying something about ones and zeros. The biologists around them were confused now, about Victor’s relationship with Bridget. They had never before seen her, and most of them had guessed that she must be another smart biologist from somewhere else.

Rhoda smiled at Bridget. “That’s right, Bridget. We move in little bouts of analog awareness launched by the making gods. We repurpose them and finish them off.” Rhoda and Esther departed in opposite directions, and the show was over—for the moment.

Before the party had begun, Bridget had said to Victor, “Please don’t break up anyone's conversation to introduce me, Victor. I’m not the hostess, and I’ve already talked with Evelyn and Esther. I’ll just make my way around, talking with people who are free.” Now she asked him, “What was that all about?”

“Beats me.”

“Don’t try to explain it, then, but my impression is that Rhoda came out ahead. …Who’s that guy over there by himself, looking uncomfortable?”

“That’s Scott. He’s the mathematician I’ve mentioned, who works with Het. He’s gay and most of the people here are straight, and I think he doesn’t personally like the ones here who aren’t straight.”

“Well, since I’m the invisible hostess, I’ll take it upon myself to make him feel comfortable here in our home.”

~ ~ ~

Eugene was sensing that Evelyn had somehow slipped away, when Lisa Su handed to him a note from Evelyn: "Eugene, I’ll see you at the shop Monday. Going back with a girlfriend. Thanks for the ride up here. Evelyn". As Lisa walked away, Eugene returned to fishing talk with Leo and Het.

Het read the note over Eugene's shoulder. "If you want to tick off Evelyn, Eugene, call her ‘Evie’."

"Did you call her that tonight?"

"Yeah; I did. Are you still engaged to her?"

"She hasn't returned the ring."

"Do you think I should apologize?” Het smirked.

“Maybe; I'll ask her."

“Has Esther slipped away? Evie probably drove off with her.” Het knew that Esther was merely out of sight.

Leo asked, "Het, did you once have something going with Evelyn?”

"It's no secret that we dated a little. Eugene, you know about it, don’t you?"

"I was around, but Evelyn and I just talked about birds. She’s remarkably skilled at identifying the different shorebirds.”

Het shrugged. Leo said, ”I identified the tide pool fish for her, that some of her birds fed on when the fish got stranded by a large wave surge. I got an acknowledgment for it in her thesis.”

Their conversation drifted back to fishing, and Leo asked idly, “Have either of you ever tried surf fishing in a place called Quinceañera Beach in Mexico?” Both Het and Eugene answered that they had not, but a flicker in his face betrayed Eugene’s lie as he quickly suggested some places in Maine with which all of them might be familiar.

Time went by, and Esther had failed to find anyone at the party who could be brought even one step into the Circle. Sipping a little beer, she found her eyes resting on Yohanna. Does she have a soft side? The last serious conversation between Esther and Yohanna had taken place more than a year earlier, or maybe it was two years. The conversation had taken place in the Student Union, at the time of Leo’s confession to having been hired by Rhoda’s father to keep an eye on his daughter. Eugene had arrived and Evelyn had announced that they were engaged, then she and Eugene had left together. Then I left, going off to tell Victor what had happened. How stupid of me! I should have stayed to find out what Leo and Yohanna were up to. But what was I thinking then, except that Het had played some bad joke on all of us in the cabin? …Was he in deep with Rhoda?

Esther saw that Yohanna was alone for a moment, looking out over the valley from the edge of the patio. Esther was unable to think of a black woman as a rival, but it was important for her to please Herbert in the line of duty, and a report even of small talk with Yohanna would be valuable, whatever came of it in the end. “Yohanna, do you know if Disneyland can be seen from here?”

“Oh. Hello, Esther. It is especially lovely and clear up here tonight. It seems that you and I have not had an opportunity to just talk together in years.”

As Yohanna turned to face Esther, the patio’s lights suddenly illuminated her eyes, which were looking right into Esther’s. The full force of Yohanna’s magnificent, sparkling dark eyes was intensely beguiling, drawing her in, and Esther found herself rushing in like a river while fighting fiercely to shake off the spell before she hurtled over the brink of falling in love with Yohanna! She managed somehow to scrabble back mentally to her high ground. “Never underestimate your opponents, Esther.” Did that advice come from my father, or from Rabbi Cohen? How true it is! Esther moved a step to one side, escaping the face-to-face encounter.

“Yohanna, you recently gave a nice witchdoctor’s gift to Esmeralda. Don’t you think I’m entitled to one, too?”

“Have I nearly knocked you over the edge just now?”

Wow! “You have, dear.” Esther felt much as she had in the moment of meeting the Friend. Despite her easy manner, she knew that her body was nearly at the point of shaking with excitement. Herbert would be interested.

“Please accept my apology, Esther dear. Have you a particular gift in mind? Surely you do not desire a mirror like Esmeralda’s.”

“I would like a perfume to both attract the man I want to attract, and send him away when I want him to go.”

“Oh, that is possible. Do you carry with you a phial of your perfume?”

“Yes, of course, Yohanna.”

“May I hold it in my hand?”

Esther removed a phial from her purse and placed it in Yohanna’s hand. It was very expensive perfume. Yohanna opened the phial and thoughtfully breathed in the scent. Then she closed it and said, “Let us step out of the light, just a few paces down this path which goes to the stables.” Once they were sufficiently remote from the party, Yohanna stopped and looked at Esther. “As you have been receiving Maker lessons, this will not seem so very strange to you. Witchdoctors’ practices are similar to those of Makers, although we do not use Workshops and that sort of thing. Now, apply a small amount of your perfume to your finger, and allow the phial to remain open.” Yohanna stepped one pace away from Esther, then chanted something which sounded to Esther somewhat similar to a Maker’s Chant. Then Yohanna clapped her hands a few times in the manner of a person shooing away a stray cat. “There! Just as in a Workshop, the gods do all of the work. Keep this phial, Esther, and add a drop from it to your next phial of perfume. In that way, you can maintain the charm for as long as you like.”

“Thank you, Yohanna. Are there any warnings on the label?”

“We do not keep inscriptions for the Design of charms, Esther. Those were lost ages ago. Most often, they work as you intend for them to, in conformation with the Ethical Force—which is rather broad and is two-edged, as I am sure that you have learned.”

“Herbert says that there are many loopholes through which a Device can work effectively.”

“Does he say that? Makers have opinions about many things. I was taught that a loophole implies only that the Niche in which the Device is used is much larger than one may have thought it to be.”

“So, Yohanna, if the Niche is larger than the user’s lifetime, then the loophole is real to the user.”

“Your logic is correct, Esther, if the user’s life terminates in death."

"Doesn’t it?"

"I believe, Esther, that Hamlet asked that same question.”

"I doubt that Herbert reads Shakespeare, Yohanna."

~ 5 ~ “Have you two been off scheming?” asked someone’s voice.

“Yes, we have been,” replied Yohanna. “Perhaps the ladies will throw the next party.”

“Where will it be held?”

Esther answered, “At my place.”

After the absence of Esther and Yohanna had been noticed, people had begun prowling anxiously around the edges of the patio, looking for them. Upon their return, Esther’s words and Yohanna’s smile had brought life back to the party. No one knew who it was who had asked the question about scheming.

In fact, it was Bridget who had asked the question. She had been talking with Scott for a very long time. Scott had been reluctant to come to the party, and he had told Hans that he would think about it. Hans, in his eagerness for Scott to be there, had then asked Het to try twisting Scott’s arm. “Scott’s skin is too thin, Het,” he had said. “He doesn’t quite believe that no one will give him flack for being gay, and he doesn’t understand how grateful everyone is to him for being such a big help to us—especially you.”

Het had dropped by Scott’s place. “Hey, Scott,” he had said, “I’m going to the party, too, so I’ll pick you up. I’ve got a late meeting with Mort, so I can’t cut out early, which means we’ll probably get there late. And the party’s going to be a big bore, so we’ll leave early.”

Liar. Scott had scowled. “So bring a friend to keep you from boredom.”

“You’re my friend; I’m going with you, Scott.”

“Just bring me my beer, Het.”

At the party, Het had been, of course, elsewhere.

Bridget had introduced herself to Scott and had told him frankly about her activity on the campus in recent years. She knew many of the people who were in Scott’s social group, and she had been able soon to make Scott feel that she and he were both outsiders at the party. The two of them had gotten along well. Bridget had asked, “Scott, since most of the biologists are new to me, will you tell me if all of ‘the old gang’ are here?”

“I’m sure I was invited only to make the group complete, Esther. You know Hans: He thinks like a German. But one person is missing who was at the last party. She went to it with me.”

“What’s her name?” The flicker on Bridget’s face, of Esmeralda-like interest in intrigue, had drawn Scott even more comfortably into their conversation.

“Isabel Tavares. She’s a mathematician, too.”

“Oh. Was she invited to today’s party?”

“I hardly think so; she’s not on the campus anymore. Didn’t you see the guest list?”

“It’s Victor’s party.”

They had talked about Esmeralda, and Bridget had said, “Scott, any stories that you’ve heard about her are more than true. I know, because she and I were partners—in crime.”

Bridget had discovered that a good many people had places on Scott’s very large ‘social map’—as he called it. “I like to know where I am, so I gather information,” he had told Bridget, and she had been able to fill out or to correct his information about a number of people. She had felt certain, however, that Scott was not telling her everything, just as she was not telling him everything that she knew. She had not told him about Isabel Tavares’ correspondence with Hans. In fact, Bridget had quickly dismissed her as a subject of conversation by telling Scott that Isabel was a lesbian whom she did not know personally. Scott had been interested in the information that professor Dixon Bolt’s wife—the politician—was gay, and Bridget had proceeded to share with him everything which she had learned from Esmeralda that might be of interest to him.

Although they had been comfortable sharing campus gossip, Bridget and Scott had avoided mentioning the ominous relationship between the Circle and the Clan which permeated the party’s air. Scott’s understanding of that relationship was only as a competition between Arch Company and Knox Aviation for extremely valuable military secrets.

Sitting in a dark corner of the patio, Bridget and Scott had witnessed Esther’s odd encounter with Yohanna, and Bridget had known what was going on between the two women, the Air flowing from the Wildland seeming to enhance her senses and her understanding. And, although Scott’s perceptions had not been enhanced, the sight of Esther and Yohanna slipping away together had increased the intensity of his apprehension about the relationship between Arch and Knox.

Scott’s anxiety had been deepened by the sight of people crowding toward the path. These curious young graduate students had become aware of conflicting conspiracies among the biologists, which seemed somehow related to Arch and Knox, and they saw Esther and Yohanna as likely ringleaders of the two mysterious sides. Then Het, Eugene, Hans and Victor had joined the group, and Scott had experienced their crowding close to him as that of a mob coming against him. When Yohanna and Esther had appeared in the patio’s light, returning from the dark path, Scott had exclaimed to Bridget, “What have those two conspirators been up to; I’d like to know!” He had immediately regretted his outburst.

“Oh, I would, too, Scott,” Bridget had exclaimed at once, trying to revive the gossipy tone of their conversation. She had felt the fear in his voice. She had stood up, calling out loudly over the party’s din, “Have you two been off scheming?”

Soon the cheerful party atmosphere had revived. Scott was thinking that Bridget might be a spy for Esmeralda, and he reflected that even Arlo was careful to remain on good terms with the Dean of Students.

Everyone had assumed that Rhoda and Yohanna would stay overnight at the Cliff Rancho with Ricardo and Hans, but the two ladies departed together in Rhoda’s Karmann Ghia. Eugene drove back alone, and no one saw Evelyn depart. Leo offered to give Scott a ride, and since Scott knew that Isabel trusted Leo, he accepted. He was happy to snub Het, who was still drinking and spouting bombastically as he discussed meta time and neurophysiology with Hans and a few graduate students, including Cooper and Lisa.

Het left last, after spending some time looking for Scott. Downing his last beer, Het had recalled that he still needed Scott for his project. Then, when Victor had returned from settling the horses, he had found Het hanging around in the parking area.

“Have you seen Scott, Vic? I gave him a ride up here.”

“He left with Leo. The light from the stable gave me a glimpse of him in Leo’s truck as they passed.”

“Thanks. I just wanted to be sure he hadn’t gone off to sit on a rock in the dark.” The asshole. Well, I’ll let him play his games, or whatever it takes to keep him going.

~ 6 ~ Evelyn accepted Bridget’s offer of the dormer room for the night.