Lawrence Watt-Evans - Out of This World

Cahn cocked an eyebrow at the black-clad foreigner. “And what might that be?” he asked.

“Our sorceress, Elani, has stolen Shadow’s gateway spell, and has opened our portal to Earth-and likewise, she can open a portal to your Empire, and thereby send you home.”

Prossie made a noise; Pel glanced at her, and she looked away.

“An interesting proposition,” Cahn said, in his most noncommittal tone. “And what sort of payment would you want for this service?”

“Why, ‘tis obvious, is’t not?” Raven asked, spreading his hands. “We wish your aid against Shadow.”

“Our aid?” Cahn grimaced. “Mister, we’re just ten men-ten people, rather.” One hand made a vague gesture in Prossie’s direction. “We’ve got a ship and weapons that don’t work here, and that might not work in your universe, either-so what difference will ten men make against a force that has already conquered a world?”

“You are part of the Imperial Fleet, are you not?” Raven asked. “Yours but a single ship in a vast armada, with the power to lay waste whole kingdoms in mere days?”

“Oh, sure,” Lieutenant Drummond said. “But the Imperial Fleet is there , and we’re here . We’re just the crew of one ship.”

“Besides,” Godwin added, “as the captain just said, the Fleet’s weapons are based on the same principles as the captain’s blaster that didn’t go off a few minutes ago. They won’t work here, and probably won’t work on your world, either. We’re disarmed-just like your wizard.”

Raven ignored Godwin and addressed Drummond. “You are the crew of a diplomatic vessel,” he pointed out, “sent as envoy, and empowered to make pact on behalf of your Emperor.”

Pel considered Godwin’s comments as Cahn said, “Our authority isn’t as broad as all that. We’re more a negotiating team than an embassy; anything we agreed to would have to be approved by higher authority, maybe by the Emperor Himself.”

“Indeed?”

Cahn nodded. “In fact, the main thing we were sent to negotiate was an exchange of ambassadors. We sure don’t have the power to declare war and send the entire Imperial Fleet through a warp to fight Shadow, if that’s what you were hoping for.”

“Raven,” Pel said, “there’s something here I don’t understand. If magic doesn’t work in the Empire, and the Imperial technology doesn’t work in your world, how can they fight?”

Raven blinked in surprise. “Friend Pel,” he said, “what mean you?”

“I mean ,” Pel said, “how can Shadow do anything to the Galactic Empire if magic doesn’t work there? And how can the Empire do anything to Shadow?”

Raven turned to Valadrakul, who said, “A good point, sir. Howsoever, there is some magic that can effect its purpose in other realms, even while it cannot be conjured there. Consider the gateway spell that manifests in your own cellars-the magic lies entirely in our own world, and yet it functions both ways. Likewise, consider the magic of the mind that these good people call telepathy.” The wizard mispronounced the word, but as he gestured toward Prossie, Pel figured out what he meant. “It works not a whit here, and this maiden can no more hear your thoughts now than can any other.

Several people cast startled glances at Prossie or each other at this revelation. Valadrakul continued, unperturbed. “Yet from their own land, these mind-readers can know what others think in all our varied realms.”

Pel nodded. “Still doesn’t seem like Shadow’s about to conquer the Empire,” he said. “Or for that matter, that the Empire’s about to conquer Shadow. I mean, if each side’s major weapons don’t work in the other one’s worlds…”

“Ah, but Shadow’s greatest strength is of value in either realm!” Raven said, interrupting.

“Its creatures, you mean,” Prossie said.

“Exactly,” Raven said. “Its homunculi can live in the Empire, and fight there, as can those true humans who are base enough to choose slavery to Shadow over death in resistance.”

“The monsters died, though,” Prossie pointed out. “At least most of them. And the miniatures, too.”

“Gnomes,” Donald muttered.

“And which would you rather face,” Raven asked, “some misshapen thing brought from nightmare, or a well-drilled army? A beast, or a trained assassin?”

“Good point,” Cahn conceded.

“And Shadow can be persuasive,” Raven said. “Doubt me not, there are those among your own people who would yield willingly to its blandishments, and serve it of their own will. There were such among my own kin.”

At that, Stoddard growled-the first sound most of those present had heard from him. Squire Donald spat in disgust, and Pel heard Nancy gasp at the sight of that.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered to her. “It’ll come right out of the carpet.”

Cahn nodded toward Raven. “I’m sure you’re right,” he said. “We’ve had trouble with spies and traitors before, and I doubt we’ve managed to breed the tendencies out of the human species in the last few years.” He grimaced. “And as Thorpe told you, we’ve already had problems with Shadow’s creatures infiltrating the Empire. Telepaths can spot them, or x-rays, but we only have four hundred telepaths out of thirteen billion citizens, and it’s not practical to march everyone past a fluoroscope. Furthermore, Shadow seems to be able to send in duplicates and replace genuine people, so that the checks can’t just be done once, they need to be repeated constantly. So we have spies among us, I’m certain.”

“I think we all agree that Shadow has to be stopped,” Drummond said. “The question is, how?”

“And your answer?” Donald demanded.

Drummond shrugged. “I don’t have one,” he said.

Cahn expanded upon that. “The Empire is preparing for war,” he said. “We’re stockpiling ships and weapons, and if ever Shadow attempts the open occupation of any part of Imperial space, it will find us ready to retaliate. We’ll blast any colonies we find right out of space. And we’re stepping up our security measures-of course, I couldn’t give you details, even if I knew them, for fear of compromising them. We’re doing everything we can to locate and stamp out any attempts at infiltration. When we find Shadow’s creatures, we kill them, immediately.”

“A noble effort, to be sure,” Raven said, with a note of sarcasm creeping into his voice, “but knowing that Shadow’s spies in your Emperor’s kitchens will be found and slain gives me no great hope for the liberation of Stormcrack Keep.”

“Nor Benton,” Donald added.

“Nor anywhere else in our world,” Valadrakul agreed.

“Hey,” Godwin protested. “Who appointed us your rescuers, anyway? We have our own homes to worry about, first!”

“And would your homes not be best served,” Raven demanded, “by encompassing the utter destruction of Shadow and all its creations, rather than nibbling away at its outer defenses?”

“Of course that would suit our long-term interests,” Cahn said. “And it’s just that, a long-term goal. As yet, we have no way to achieve it.” He gestured at Pel. “We’d hoped that these people could give us a weapon to use against Shadow, but I doubt that these super-bombs of theirs would work in your space.”

“You can’t get any anyway,” Pel pointed out.

Cahn drew his blaster, hefted it, pointed it at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, not even an audible click.

“Back home,” he said, “that would have blown a two-foot hole through the roof. Here, nothing. Our weapons don’t work here, and we don’t think they work in Shadow’s world, either.”