Piers Anthony: Unicorn Point

They mulled that over. They knew that he would not hesitate to torture the child, and that all he had to do was gradually heat the bottle. Like the spineless creatures they were, they capitulated.

“Put me through to her,” Blue said.

“Do it, Oracle.”

“Contact is established,” the Oracle reported.

“Nepe,” Blue said.

The child’s head looked up. “Grandpa Blue!”

“We had hoped to have you returned to us at this time. Instead Citizen Purple has elected to use you as his contact with the frame of Phaze. I believe it would be best if you cooperated with him.”

“You mean you can’t get me out?” she asked.

“Not at present.”

She seemed ready to cry. “I’ll do it. Grandpa. But I’ll escape if I can.”

“Enough, Oracle,” Purple said, and the hologram faded out. “I believe that concludes our business.” He walked out, with Tan following, leaving them to their chagrin. Now the obvious thing to do was to use Nepe to get the key formulae from the Book of Magic in Phaze and begin aggrandizing his fortune. Wealth was the way to destroy Blue’s power. But that would take time, and Blue might well have some nasty tricks left; after all, Mach and Bane were now working on Blue’s side. So he would surprise them again, and take Blue out now, a different way. With luck, he would have it done before Translucent recovered consciousness, making his coup complete.

He had made a study of the capacities of the child Nepe, anticipating his need to capture her and hold her prisoner. She was more versatile than most people appreciated. She could assume virtually any form, her substance ranging from liquid of a chosen color to metallic. It took her time to do it, ranging from several hours for a new form to less than an hour for a familiar one. Once she assumed a form, it was stable as long as she chose, while she remained conscious. When she slept, she dissolved into a puddle, exactly as her alien mother did. But she was not identical to her mother; she had robotic ancestry too, and therefore was able to emulate the nature of a machine. That was why she had managed to remain hidden so long; she had fooled them all by masquerading as Troubot and doing an excellent job in the robot’s speciality.

Now he had to assume that the child might wait her opportunity, melt down, ooze through a crack, and form into something so remarkable that no right-thinking person would suspect. What would that be? And because he had thought about this a great deal, before capturing her, he had the answer. He knew what she would do, if she had the opportunity. He never let her out of the bottle. There was air there, valved in under pressure so she could not flow through the tube; if she tried it, she would merely encounter an otherwise sealed tank. Food was put in by an alert robot. She could not escape until she was given greater freedom—such as that required to allow her to assume some more useful form and be interrogated. The enemy would assume that he would waste no time in making use of her ability to contact Phaze, now that her grandfather had told her to.

Instead he brought out a metal sheathing. It looked like the base of a wheeled robot servitor, the kind that transported supplies from one station to another. He sat on its stool and closed it around himself, so that only his top portion pro jected. From chest upward he was a solid living man; below he was like a wheeled robot. The wheels worked; a motor controlled by his toes propelled the device forward. Of course most of the effect was lost, because his voluminous purple cloak covered everything from neck to floor; it looked as if he were walking, if one did not inspect him too closely. Now he put out a prepared bulletin, in such a way that it appeared to be unintentional. “... don’t find her, every serf will be fired with prejudice by morning! What happened to the safeguards?” It seemed to be an internal command that leaked outside his offices.

He made sure he was unobserved, and trundled out in his getup. Once clear of his offices, he made a direct approach to Blue’s offices.

No one challenged him, of course; he was a Citizen. But news of his progress preceded him, for when he arrived at Citizen Blue’s door, Blue was out to meet him. “Further mischief. Purple?” Blue inquired tightly.

Purple’s eyes flicked up and across, as if checking for something. “We are observed,” he said, his voice deliber ately tight.

“Of course. Speak your piece.”

His voice tightened further. “It must be private.”

“I have nothing private to exchange with you.”

Purple’s hand brushed across his cloak, drawing it up just enough for the metallic base to show. “Quickly, before they know!” he squeaked.

Blue saw the base. He of course knew of the leaked report that suggested Nepe had escaped. What form could she assume that would get her free unchallenged? That of Citizen Purple! But she would have to ride on a mobile machine, to provide mass and height, and cover it over with the cloak. A daring venture indeed!

Blue opened the door panel and let Purple roll in. Inside, the female humanoid robot and the robot son stood. Damn! He had hoped to nab them all at once, the alien and turncoat Tania too. Well, there were the main three, and of course the alien maid Agnes; the others could be covered when they turned up.

“Citizen Purple—in here?” Sheen asked, startled.

“I suspect not,” Blue said.

“Is it private?” Purple asked tightly.

“Yes,” Blue assured him.

He looked at Mach. “Do you not know me. Uncle?”

“Uncle’?” the robot asked, not getting it. Purple rubbed his cheek, causing the waxy coating on it to crease. He lifted his cloak, showing them all the metal base. He seemed to be human only in the top third. “Nepe!” Sheen exclaimed, astonished. “You look so real!”

“Where’s Mother?” he asked, hoping for one extra bit of information before he acted.

“She’s with Tania,” Mach said. “Getting some information on—”

“No!” the maid cried, entering the room. “That is not my grandchild!”

Purple looked at her. “What?”

Now Mach turned grim. “If you don’t know that Nessie is Agape’s elder portion—what we would call her mother—then you are not Nepe. Which means that—“ Purple activated the lethargy box. This was a special one, with simultaneous settings for Blue, Agape, Agnes and Ta nia, and special modified settings to nullify the two robots. Abruptly all four in the room were without volition.

“Remain here; do not communicate or attempt to leave,” he said curtly. “When a call comes from Nepe, you. Blue, will answer it and assure her that you are all right. You will say nothing of your situation.” He brought out the box and set it on a counter; they would be unable to approach it. Such a simple, neat device, but so hard to overcome, like a wicker thumb-lock.

Then he departed, closing the panel behind him. It might be days before any of Blue’s allies caught on to Blue’s situation; they would assume that he was deep in plans for resisting the increasing power of the Contrary Citizens. Any who did approach would be quietly taken out by Purple’s watching minions. With luck, by the time Blue got free, it would be academic: Purple would have consolidated his power, and it would be too late for any preventive tricks. The problem with folk like Blue was that they were too trusting and scrupulous. That was why they had let Purple in without properly verifying his nature. They had not anticipated such a cunning ploy. If only the fool maid from Moeba had not caught on, and forced his immediate action, he might have had Agape and Tania too! Agnes was Agape’s parent half? How had his researches overlooked that? It explained much of the child Nepe’s rapid progress in form changing, when she had at one point seemed retarded: she had had expert training from the start. Blue had been cunning too, and it would have been foolhardy to leave him free to work further mischief.