The Secret of Spring (9 page)

The Moon Maiden had enclosed a
photosynthegraph
with her first letter, revealing she was well grown and as pale as her namesake, yet every bit as lovely as any normal, green
Veganette
he had known. Lily was also a fine grown woman, but something about Moon Maiden caught his eye as never before. The human girl was, in essence, forbidden fruit, and he was sorely tempted.

It was more than her beauty that held such allure for him, however, for he found her letters as enticing as her form. More than once he found himself recalling the Elder's words to him about cross-pollination. But that was only foolish fancy. What matter how intelligent or pretty she was since they were light years apart?

Plant folk were not disposed to planet hopping, and even had he the unlimited
merrygolds
required for such a trip, other societies were not generally compatible with his kind. Most did not even recognize them as people. Herb recalled horror stories of past visitors who had actually uprooted saplings. It was nothing less than the murder of innocents, yet those who committed the acts claimed all ignorance of wrong doing, saying they had only "picked a few flowers."

Because they were protected by the code of Intergalactic Immunity, there had been no punishment for the heinous crime, but the government had made entry to Paradise difficult to obtain thereafter. A native had to vouch for any visitor that set foot on P#23 soil.

With the new restrictions in force, interest in the small sphere as a vacation spot soon waned, and the little planetoid eventually shrank from public notice. No one appeared to mind very much. The few offworlders that did venture
here,
did so mainly on business. The home grown atmosphere was tame for more adventurous travellers.

Moon Maiden was cut from a different vine, Herb was convinced. For one thing, she had studied all manner of plant life and respected it greatly. A pity more of her kind did not share her open-minded views. Not only was she extremely interested in hearing about Dr.
Gell
and the history of Paradise, but she urged Herb to reveal more about himself, as she thought he was "fascinating."

Lily had never told Herb he was fascinating. In fact, she was not the type of woman given to ready compliments. The nearest thing to flattery she had ever said was that he was "tall, green, and healthy." But that was so cliché, anyone could say that. "Fascinating." He liked that.

8

Kamalot

The planet wasn't always known as
Kamalot
, nor was it actually a planet, but a large meteorite of some hundreds of miles in diameter that had been trapped in orbit around
Tarnaria
, one of the obscure stars near the Cone Nebula.

A
pheric
generator had been placed in the core, making a breathable atmosphere. This was a device of enormous expense, and only a few large companies would go to such extremes for exploration, most still preferring more economical life suits or oxy bubbles. It was considered a waste of money and resources; therefore, no such company had done so. But the local
Tarnarian
government had.

It was their theory the meteorite would be useful as a combination observatory and military base, and they had stationed troops there for a short time. As closer moons were later made available, they discovered it was unnecessarily wasteful to maintain, and all in all, there wasn't that much to observe either. Eventually it was abandoned and placed on the market.

The
pheric
generator was left intact as the base wouldn't be worth much without it, and once installed, such units were virtually a part of the planet with all the underground connectors. The cost of removal was prohibitive. The new administration had all but given up hope of finding someone to appreciate the property's unique possibilities, when a very rich, eccentric magician made an offer that was ludicrously low. But it was an offer.

In order to erase the blot of the previous administration's foible, it was quickly and quietly sold to one Zygote, who was of unknown origin. In matters of that sort, in effect cash in hand, it was not prudent to pry too deeply. Doubtless he would put the base to good use.

Zygote set about using all the scientific and magical powers at his command to decorate his new home, and they were considerable. He was rather traditional in taste, and built a fine medieval castle for his home and headquarters, making it resplendent with tall towers and secret passages.

He landscaped the exterior with loving care, adding a forest here, a mountain there, and tied it all up with rocks and rills for a flawless fairy tale setting. Just the right sort of environment a magician could comfortably wave his wand over.

Zygote's planetoid was peopled with unusual beings, some from far planets, and some from imagination. He envisioned a world of his own where all were loyal subjects, ever ready to do his bidding at the drop of a spell. It might have been strange, odd, eerie, and even extravagant, but to Zygote it was simply "home."

Magic could take one only so far, he soon discovered. An undertaking of that magnitude also required a certain amount of hard, cold cash. Magically produced Planetary Payment notes were regrettably detectable. Every establishment was equipped with a Forgery Scanner for all incoming notes. Zygote had been forced to travel extensively, from planet to planet, plying his trade, and earning an honest living. A sorry lot for one of his talents.

Now it was there on
Kamalot
, in one of the high towers containing the library of his magical tomes, that Zygote sat gazing out the window, master of all he surveyed. There was a great deal he could not survey, of course, but that small deficiency was taken care of by the two large eyes set into the front gate of the castle walls overlooking the moat. No one could enter unseen, as that was the only access to the castle. The surrounding moat was filled with beasts and unpleasant spells that made it undesirable for swimming. Zygote felt ever so secure.

Now he thumbed thoughtfully through some of Gabriel's papers stolen from the late magician's files. Most of the files were protected by confidence spells and written in magical codes. Some were protected by curses as well. It was not an easy task to pry into another magician's private papers. He reflected for a moment on that challenge.

Once, Zygote had invoked a
counterspell
, thinking the code broken, only to have a vicious wasp fly through the tower window and attack with supernatural fury. Fortunately for him, he had been wearing a protective amulet, rendering the stings painless and impotent.

Another time, he almost had one seal broken when it suddenly burst into flame, destroying the entire document. He made a note to be far more careful in the future, or the valuable information he sought would disappear into smoke before his eyes.

If it wasn't so annoying, he could almost admire the late Gabriel's efforts to protect his secrets so zealously; it was hard to properly appreciate such steps when one was dodging balls of fire, hosts of ghosts, and tar and feathers. Gabriel had been a cunning old devil despite his angelic namesake. In fact, Zygote was sorry that the ornery cuss had rebuffed his offer of friendship and cooperation. He was truly sorry that the man had died rather than yield. Because he really did respect what Gabriel had done.

Zygote had fallen upon news of Gabriel's work by a stroke of sheer luck. When attending the last New Landers Magicians and Medical Doctors conference, Gabriel had been so secretive about his
projects,
he had inadvertently piqued Zygote's interest. If it was that good, it had to be profitable. He had tried to worm his way into the good doctor's graces, but to no avail.

While rabbit's feet and four leaf clovers were all well and good, a well concealed microphone in Gabriel's lab had yielded a far better harvest than expected. It was in that way he had detected that the doctor's daughter,
Spring
, was somehow connected with the vital information he sought.

Unfortunately, Gabriel discovered the technical device, and that tipped his hand. He managed to spirit her off the planet before Zygote had a chance at her. He regretted not using a magical device instead, a spy spider, for instance. But no, that fool Elton had installed the microphone without his instructions, and it was too dangerous to go back.

Too bad Gabriel was no longer around to lend assistance, but that heavy-handed female he hired had gotten carried away with her duties. Then Elton had finished the job. He was young, and the young always grew impatient. Now he was attempting to make up for his blunder by tracking down Gabriel's elusive daughter to return her for interrogation.

Zygote had made it clear he would brook no violence in her case. If the key to the information was as he had surmised from pieces of broken codes, it might be the most pleasant interrogation he had ever conducted.

Zygote ceased his reverie and bent once more to the task of removing the troublesome spells, cursing anew as a three-headed snake slithered across the floor toward him. He took off all three heads with one quick slice of his enchanted sword. Preparation. That was the key to a magician's long life. Smiling, he replaced the sword in its scabbard as the snake puffed into smoke and disappeared.

His smile was replaced by an expression of surprise as he felt a sprinkle of wetness. A sudden storm brewing? He glanced to the window but no rain was blowing in. The sun was shining as brightly as it always did unless he decreed otherwise with a rain spell.

He looked upward, then brought out a kerchief and wiped some sticky residue from his eyelid. He held the cloth beneath his nose and sniffed. Really-Gabriel had pressed the boundaries of good taste this time. Zygote pulled an umbrella from beneath the table and sighed as he opened it above his head. There was nothing to do but wait out the shower of bird dung.

9

Discovery

Spring paced the floor of her small room awaiting
Iolanthe's
return. She had another letter to send and knew the lightship had landed. There wouldn't be another one for three months, so timing was critical. It went on alternate cycles of coming every other week for three months, then skipping three.

She had been lucky to have timed her first inquiry on the frequent cycle because it allowed her to have answers quickly. It was vitally important that
Iolanthe
smuggle this last one out.

Spring had decided to visit Herb of P#23 in three months when the ship returned. That would give him time to prepare for their meeting and for her to plan her departure so that Zygote would be none the wiser.

She had pushed her luck by remaining in one place for so long. Now that her father was gone, for all she knew Zygote might have found clues to her hideaway among Gabriel's papers. That wasn't too likely, as he had been so intent on strict secrecy, but there was nothing more she could accomplish by staying on with the gentle Companions of New Moon now.

It was time to be getting on with her plan of revenge. Zygote had been spared her wrath far too long. There was not a moment of the day that she did not feel the bitterness of her father's loss. Zygote must be made to suffer as she was suffering. It wasn't much to live for, but it would have to do.

Yet,
Spring
did not feel right plotting such mayhem among the peaceful people of New Moon. They had granted her refuge when she was in need, and in return she had defied their rules and betrayed their trust. Now she was corrupting poor little
Iolanthe
by having her post letters to the outside. And she must do it again one last time. It was necessary the letter to Herb get to that lightship.

By mid-afternoon
Spring
began to worry in earnest. Where could
Iolanthe
be? It was not like the girl to be absent for so long. Spring began to have premonitions of disaster, but tried to push them aside. Nerves were her worst enemy. If she began to worry about her safety she would never get the job done. Poking around in the small pouch of crystals, she brought out a polished white moonstone. She must calm down.

It was not until the dinner hour that
Iolanthe
entered, carrying a tray of fresh bread and vegetable chowder. She seemed distraught.

"Where have you been?" Spring exclaimed accusingly. "I was frantic. I was afraid the lightship would leave before you posted my letter." She pulled it from her pocket and thrust it at
Iolanthe
.

The girl took the letter and sat down beside
Spring
at the small table. "Oh, Lady. What a day this has been. Usually, we only have supplies from the ship unless there is a Pledge."

"Pledge? Oh, you mean a new Companion?" Spring said.

"Yes, but-"
Iolanthe
sighed.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" Spring asked worriedly.

"Yes and no. There was a man, a visitor."

"A man?" Spring said in surprise. "I understood no men were allowed to enter the Companion's sanctuary?"

"Yes, that is so. Companion Alma explained and explained to the captain of the lightship that it is not permitted, but the visitor was a very important, rich person and he kept insisting. Still, Companion Alma refused. She did agree, however, to meet with him at the
lightport
where the supplies are unloaded."