The Big Meow - Diana Dueyn

“Strange, then, to find the two sets of characters together. We need to sit down and clarify what they mean, what relationship they have to one another – “

So abruptly that the noise made everyone in the room jump, a brassy she-ehhif’s voice burst out singing: “There’s no business… like show business… like no business I know – “

“Sorry, sorry!” Helen said as everyone, particularly Hwaith, stared at her. “That’s my room – “ She pulled her phone out of her bathrobe pocket, and the singing stopped. “Hello? Yes, good morning! No, not at all. – Well, this wouldn’t be the best moment. An hour from now would be better.” She glanced over at Rhiow: Rhiow waved her tail in assent. “…Yes, I needed to sleep in this morning a little, I don’t normally do such late nights! Not at parties, anyway.” That wicked smile popped out again, as if she was imagining the effect of the last line on whoever was on the other end of the phone. “…Really? That’s a lovely thought. Well, assuming they’re willing to back it up with some nice numbers in the contract. …Yes, that would be fine. …How about in the lobby? Perfect. In an hour, then. Thanks so much! Goodbye…”

Helen hung up. “I’m sorry,” Hwaith said, staring at the phone, “but that’s… unusual.”

“There are moments in our time when we wish it was unusual,” Rhiow said. “Enjoy the relative telephonic peace and quiet of your era while it lasts.”

“Paramount and MGM have been after Freddie already this morning,” Helen said. “I have two meetings before lunch… after which I’ll have some leisure to pump him, so very casually, for more information about Dagenham.”

“That sounds fine to me,” Rhiow said. “But the other thing that’s bothering me now is that Arhu found a charm working in that house this morning when we missed it last night. Assuming we did miss it.”

“I would have smelled anything like that a mile away,” Siffha’h said, and now it was her turn to bristle. “It’s something new.”

“Sif, please,” Rhiow said. “It’s just that its presence changes the context a little. An ehhif might stumble onto the mechanics of a charm by itself. But it also might have been given such a thing to use by a wizard.”

Everyone stared, particularly Aufwi. “What kind of wizard would–”

“An overshadowed one,” Arhu said with a growl.

Rhiow waved her tail in agreement. “We might be about to find ourselves dealing with something of the sort,” she said. “Which is why I want to make sure we’re careful about covering our own tracks when we go back there: leaving no traces of wizardry that we can’t avoid. And let’s take the idea a little further. That weird spot you found in the library…” She glanced at Hwaith and Urruah. “Cousins, could what we were seeing there not have been just some old remnant of a gate’s casual presence? Could it have been a portal that was purposely emplaced there by a wizard with minimal gate management experience, then later purposely removed again — and then someone attempted to cover up that it had ever been there at all?”

“Hence the weird way the residue looked,” Urruah said. His tail was lashing. “Could be. I wasn’t thinking that way at the time–” His tail lashed harder. “And you know what? I’m an idiot. I want another look at that right now –”

“Ruah –”

“Saash would have seen that right away –”

Rhiow reached up and cuffed him upside the nearest ear, though with the claws in. “Maybe she would, but she’s not here to ask. You are!” she said. “And I’m betting you’d have thought of that yourself pretty soon. So stop chastising yourself! And we’ll all go have a look… but not right this second.” She waited a few moments for Urruah to settle down again.

“So this list of dates,” Hwaith said. “If this is somebody’s appointment calendar we’re looking at – “

“I suspect it is,” Helen said, “though thinking about the kind of appointments that may be involved frankly gives me the creeps.” She pulled her phone out, put it on silent, and pocketed it again. “We need to decipher the dates and see what they point to. The Dark Lady seemed to be hinting at something that was supposed to happen soon, and my money says the dates on those pages are going to be germane.”

“’Ruah will work on it,” Rhiow said. “He’s best at working with ehhif symbology.”

“The Whisperer will be able to guide you in regards to how the Mayan and Azteca calendars were structured,” Helen said. “But just so you know: one way they organized dates was to group them in thirteen-day segments called trecena, and Tepeyollotl ruled one of those in particular. It was mazatl, the time of hunting one’s prey. If you see any references to that — ”

“Noted,” Urruah said. “I’ll see what I find.”

“You know a lot about this,” Siffha’h said.

Helen smiled. “I came late to my heritage,” she said, “but I made up for lost time when I got there. Meanwhile…” She stretched. “I’d better go get my meetings dealt with, and see what I can find out about Mr. Dagenham along the way. Where shall we meet later?”

“Back here makes most sense,” Rhiow said.

Off to one side a door opened, and a moment later Sheba and the Silent Man came through it. Sheba waved her tail in greeting at everyone and headed for the food dishes, but the Silent Man paused in the doorway, looking around at everybody a little oddly.

Did I hear music out here? Someone singing? It wasn’t the radio, either.

“I’m sorry,” Rhiow said, “yes, you did. That was Helen’s phone.”

Her phone. He looked at Helen. You have a telephone that you carry around?

She smiled and held it out to him. The Silent Man took it, turned it over in his hands, shook his head.“It’s fairly common where we come from,” she said.

And they can all play music like that?

“They can do all kinds of sounds,” Helen said.

The Silent Man raised his eyebrows. Amazing, he said, handing Helen back the phone. Merman just premiered in that show on Broadway. I thought it might have some staying power —

“You’d be right,” Urruah said. “That song pretty much became the national anthem of Hollywood.”

The Silent Man nodded, then turned toward Rhiow and gave her a strange look. I had some weird dreams last night, he said, looking from her to Hwaith.

“I can understand that you might have,” Rhiow said. “How are you feeling?”

He looked thoughtful. Better than usual. You had something to do with that, did you?

“I did,” Rhiow said. “I’m sorry to have interfered.”

The Silent Man stretched experimentally, then grinned – a most unusual expression to see on him, for there was no emotion associated with it besides pure pleasure. Blackie, he said, you interfere as much as you want.

Rhiow bowed her head to him, while wondering when and how she would be able to tell him what she’d found and what she had not been able to do. Meanwhile, he said, what’s our order of business for today?

‘Our,’ Urruah said silently to Rhiow. I like this ehhif more and more. Though I also keep getting more scared for him…

“I’ll fill you in, cousin,” Hwaith said.

“But in short, we’ll be going back to Dagenham’s this evening,” Urruah said. “There’s dirty work going on up there, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

The Silent Man nodded. I have some business to take care of today. In the meantime, my house is your house… and when you’re ready to move, let me know how I can help.

He headed back toward the kitchen, probably to start the first of the endless pots of coffee, and Hwaith went with him. “Cousins, I’m away,” Helen said. “Call me if you need me. I’ll be back after lunch with whatever news I can find.”

“Dai,” the People in the room said to her. Helen vanished.

“Let’s finish eating and be about our business,” Rhiow said. “Aufwi, I was going to ask you about the gate – “

“It’s acting up again,” he said, sounding almost resigned. “It jumped a quarter mile from its last location… and maybe with reason. Did you feel the little earthquake this morning?”

Rhiow shivered. “No. And maybe that troubles me more than feeling it would have. The thought that I might actually get used to such a thing — !” She licked her nose. “No matter – you and Hwaith and I should go look at it, since ‘Ruah is going to be busy with the data Arhu brought back.”

“What about us?” Siffha’h and Arhu said in ragged unison.

Rhiow spent a few moments considering her options before she answered… but they were limited. “Back to Dagenham’s,” she said. “But not both of you. Sif, your power levels make you stand out too much, and I’m starting to feel paranoid about our comings and goings there attracting too much attention…especially when we have to return tonight. And besides, I have something for which I’ll need you here. Arhu, go back to that room, get in touch with those documents and find out where they originated – then come straight back. And while you’re there, do me a favor. Refrain from the Eye at all costs.”

He stared at her. “Why? Why shouldn’t I – “

“I don’t know,” Rhiow said. “No one whispered it to me, if that’s what you’re asking. I simply have a feeling that it’d be wise for you to avoid using it any further today.”

Arhu looked at her oddly, and Rhiow prayed briefly that he wasn’t going to start up another of his trademark power struggles. But, “All right,” he said after a moment, and without any further ado he strolled out through the French doors and vanished.

“You’re thinking that if an overshadowed wizard is somehow involved with these ehhif who’re meeting secretly at Dagenham’s,” Urruah said, “that he or she might pick up on Arhu – “

Rhiow flicked an ear and wandered over to the French doors, looking out into the back yard. “Best to be safe,” she said. “There was no wizard there last night, I’m certain. A mind that uses the Speech regularly leaves an impress on its surroundings that lasts a little while: we didn’t note anything of the kind. And we’d have picked up on any use of wizardry around us at the party that wasn’t to do with our own group. But if that person plans to be there tonight – who knows, they might be ready to stop in early to prepare something for the evening.” Rhiow glanced up at the sky, rapidly lightening into dawn. “The earlier Arhu gets in there and out again with the information we need, the happier I’ll be.”

She turned away from the window. “Now,” she said. “Siffha’h.”

Sif sat down, her ears erect. She looked a little unnerved, for Rhiow didn’t often call her by her whole name.

Rhiow sat down with her. “There’s likely to be trouble tonight, but not just at Dagenham’s or wherever. After we finish our business, whether in that house or elsewhere, we may have to escape in a hurry: and the spot we escape to will undoubtedly be noticed. Aufwi’s gone off to check on the gate again, but in a while I’m going to consult with him and Hwaith about where else we might securely and secretly den up for a short time. But for the time being, we have to protect the Silent Man and Sheba and the other People who come here. We need to set in a barrier that won’t need further attention, that won’t be immediately obvious even to a wizard looking for it, and that will hold even if we’re under attack or have to escape uptime. You know what powering that kind of spell is going to take.”

Siffha’h licked her nose. “Lifeslice,” she said. “A few weeks’ worth of my life, at least.”

“Are you willing?”

“Are you kidding? I can do it upside down with my feet in the air.”

“I’m not asking how easily you could do it,” Rhiow said. “You know that paying the price can’t be deferred if you’re going to be returning uptime soon, which all of us will be. You’ll have to start paying it here and now, and it’ll decrease your power for the remainder of whatever time we spend back here. If you’re willing to make this expenditure, I need you to consult with the Whisperer and start structuring the spell immediately. You’ll need to leave it part-built in your mind and then finish and execute it when the situation demands. How about it?”

“I can do it,” Siffha’h said. “I’ll start now.”

“You are a queen among queens,” Rhiow said, and licked the kit’s ear. “Let me know when you’re done and I’ll look the structure over.”

Siffha’h headed off toward one of the spare rooms down the hall from the Silent Man’s bedroom. Rhiow glanced over at Urruah. “Shall we step out for a few minutes?”

They slipped outside into the back yard, where a few of the local felines were already starting to show up for the morning buffet. Rhiow and Urruah greeted them, then headed off into the shrubbery nearest the wall.

“Leaving no unnecessary traces of wizardry behind us, you said.” Urruah gave her a look as he sat down on the pine needles that had fallen under the shrubs on that side. “What exactly are you thinking?”

Rhiow tucked herself down on the needles and breathed in the clean dry scent for a few moments. “Well. If Arhu was right – and there’s another wizard involved in this, one who’s overshadowed – “

“We wouldn’t want them to catch sight of us and know we were in play.”

Rhiow had to drop her jaw a little. “It’s always hauissh with you, isn’t it.”

“What else is life,” Urruah said grandly, “but the Game?”

She gave him an ironic look. “Well, surely sex must fit into that worldview somewhere for you.”

Urruah put his whiskers forward. “But you told me to stop discussing the Sex-As-Hauissh paradigm, oh, moons ago now.”

There is no way I can win this, Rhiow thought. “Anyway, yes, I prefer that we stay well out of sight as long as we can. I’m just starting to fear now that we’ve already been seen and lost that advantage. I wish we’d detected that charm sooner.”

“If it wasn’t there, there’s nothing we could have done differently,” Urruah said. “And if it was there, then either it was very subtly done – which warns us of the caliber of opposition we’re dealing with – or it was very underpowered: which suggests that the charm might have been incorrectly built by someone who didn’t understand what they were doing, or ill-handled by someone who was badly instructed.” He paused to wash down the back of his shoulder for a moment, and then gazed off into space. “Either situation might be diagnostic. In any case, I want to look at the thing myself, and I also want to get out there and have another look at that former gate emplacement – if that’s in fact what it is.” Then he looked over at Rhiow again. “But somehow I think that’s not all of what you’re worried about.”

Rhiow’s tail was twitching, and not just at his perceptiveness. “’Ruah,” she said, “if this is the Game, then we’re playing it far deeper than any wizard has before. Deeper than maybe even the Powers have – otherwise why would the Whisperer’s fur be as ruffled as it is? We’re dealing with things from outside the normal physical and spiritual order of our worlds. The Lone One is trouble enough. But at least She’s our trouble. Who knows how power is constituted outside the One’s sheaf of universes? What goes on in other sheaves? Who rules them? Are they even ruled? Is there wizardry there? If so, how does it work?” She shivered. “And can ours compete?”