John Varley - Wizard

When Chris awoke, the Crians were accepting the hospitality of the Hyperionite breakfast table. Chris joined them, and the difference between the Titanides of Crius and of Hyperion was immediately obvious. While Valiha was based on the frame of a Percheron, the Crians were more like Shetland ponies. He could actually see eye to eye with the tallest of them. They presented the same riot of color as their Hyperion cousins, however. One had a pelt that was a passable tartan.

None spoke English-it being a skill infrequently useful in Crius-but Valiha introduced him around and translated a few polite greetings. He took an immediate liking to one white-skinned female, and from her shy smiles he felt the interest was mutual. Her name was Siilihi (Locrihypolydian Duet) Hymn. Had she possessed two fewer legs, he would have been extremely attracted.

Gaby went into Cirocco's tent to tell her of the request. There was a loud moan, and Siilihi looked away from Chris, embarrassed. The other Crian Titanides stirred restlessly. Chris was suddenly furious at the Wizard. What a demeaning thing it was for such beautiful people to have to come begging to that miserable drunk!

He wished he could perform the Wizard's function. If anyone ever deserved to have a lovely baby, it was Siilihi. He wondered if, when he saw Gaea again, she would consider making him a Wizard so he could help these people. He was sure he could handle the responsibility better than Cirocco had done.

It sounded like such a fine idea, in fact, that he wanted to get started on it right away. The first step was frontal fertilization, so he reached for Siilihi and saw her eyes go wide.

He returned to consciousness stretched out on Valiha's back. His jaw hurt. When he tried to sit up, he found it impossible. He was strapped down, and his hands were tied in front of him.

"I'm better," he announced to the sky. Valiha turned around and looked down at him.

"He says he's better," she called. He heard changes in the cadence of hooves. Soon Robin and Gaby were flanking him, looking down.

"I wish I could think of a cheap way to test that," Gaby said. "The last time we cut you loose, you attacked Robin. You've been a real pain in the ass."

"I remember it," Chris said tonelessly.

"Will you shut your stupid mouth?" Robin growled at Gaby. Gaby looked surprised, then nodded.

"If you think you can handle it, yeah, I will."

"Then get out of here. I'll take the responsibility." Gaby rode off, and Robin told Valiha to stop while she cut the ropes that bound Chris. He sat up, rubbing his wrists and working his jaw. It had been a short attack and not a very deep one. Still, he had had time to insult the Crian delegation, take a swing at Cirocco in front of the Titanides, and make amorous advances to Robin after he had convinced them he was better. For his troubles he had picked up a black eye from Cirocco and a kick in the balls and a sore lip from Robin. Apparently his miraculous luck didn't work against Wizards and witches. He shifted on Valiha's back, and it hurt.

"Listen," he said. "All I can say is I'm sorry, inadequate as it is. And thanks for not killing me."

"There's no need, and I wish I could have been ... done less. But you are getting better; you rushed me. And now I know what rape must be like."

He winced. And he had thought he could be friends with this woman. He felt the black depression beginning to descend.

"Did I say something wrong?" He looked at her, wondering if she could possibly be kidding, but there was only concern on her face.

"I ... maybe I see," she said. "You must believe me when I say I had not thought being accused of rape would shame a man. I can see that you are, but you needn't be. I don't hold you responsible.

"What I meant was that I now see how it can be so traditionally feared by my sisters. It was frightening to come even that close. Even knowing that you would not do me great injury. If I'm making things worse, just tell me to shut up."

"No, you're not," he said. "I tricked you the last time. How do you know I'm not tricking you now?"

"You tricked Gaby," Robin said, "I would have kept you bound. And I don't know how I know. But I do."

"How did you know that I wouldn't hurt you, beyond the-" he found it hard to go on, but forced himself-"beyond the normal hurts of a rape, that is. How did you know I wouldn't beat you or mutilate or kill you?"

"Was I wrong?"

"No. No, I do terrible things, but I've never been murderous. I'll pick a fight, but only to remove someone who's annoying me. After I knock them down I forget about them completely. I've assaulted women. I even raped one once. But that's just-or so I've been told-just normal sex urge with all the social conscience short-circuited. I have never gone into homicidal rages or derived pleasure from the act of hurting someone, even at my worst. But that's not to say that in the course of getting my way I won't hurt someone, hurt them badly."

"I thought it was something like that."

There was more he had to say, the most difficult of all.

"It has occurred to me," he said, "that if we both were stricken at the same time ... you know, in a rather unlikely circumstance, I suppose, with no one around to protect you or restrain me ... that I might ... without meaning to, but unable to stop myself... ." He could not finish, try as he might.

"I thought of that," she said casually. "As soon as it was clear to me what your problem was, the possibility arose. I decided to risk it, or I wouldn't be here. As you say, the chance is remote." She reached across and briefly pressed his hand. "What I want you to understand is that I don't hold you responsible. Not you. I can make that distinction."

Chris looked at her for a long time and gradually felt some of the weight lifting. He ventured a smile, and she smiled back.

Their destination now was once again the central vertical cable. In Crius it was thirty-five kilometers north of Ophion. To everyone's surprise, upon arrival Cirocco invited them to accompany her. Sooner or later they would notice that the expedition always stopped in the middle of a region, and there was no need to conceal the visit with Crius from anyone.

The Titanides would not go. The whole idea made them visibly uneasy. They remained in the sunlight while Cirocco led the three humans into the forest of titanic columns where the unwinding cable strands emerged from the ground. At what must have been the center was the entrance to a stairway. It was a transparent building, vaguely like a cathedral but nothing so imposing as the monuments at the hub.

The stairs went down in a spiral defined by the unseen central strand of the central cable. The corridor was wide enough to accommodate twenty people abreast, and fifty meters high. They did not need lanterns since the ceiling was festooned with flying creatures that glowed with a ruddy orange light.

Chris thought Cirocco must have been joking when she said the stairs went down for five kilometers. It turned out to be literally true. Even in one-quarter gravity one doesn't climb that many steps without resting on the way. But it did come to an end. He was in better shape than he had thought. Aside from some soreness in his calves Chris felt fine.

They emerged in a cavern that was less than he had expected. This was Crius, after all, and though he was only a subordinate God, Chris still remembered the bizarre grandeur of Gaea's quarters.

Crius was an underworld God, a troglodyte who had never seen the light of day and never would. His domain smelled of sour chemicals and the wastes of a billion creatures, thrummed with the beating of subterranean hearts. He was a working God, an engineer to Gaea's executive, a God who worked in the grease that kept things moving.

They stood on a flat surface rimming an hourglass-shaped crystalline structure reaching floor to ceiling. The cavern was 200 meters in diameter, with passages opening east and west.