Milamber’s research into the special aspects of rift energies would be added to the Assembly’s archives when completed Like other projects he had read of in the archives, research into rifts had shown what Milamber took to be a grievous flaw in most of his brother magicians’ work. In general, projects were not carried through to completion, showing a lack of thoroughness. Once the procedure to establish rifts safely had been developed, further research into their nature had been halted.
Continuing, he dictated: “What is lacking in the concept of control is the ability to select the terminus of contact, the ability to ‘target’ the rift. It has been shown by the appearance of the ship carrying Fanatha on the shores of Crydee, on the world of Midkemia, that a certain affinity between a newly forming rift and an existing one is probable. However, as shown by further testing, this affinity is limited, such limits being as yet not fully understood. While there is increased probability of a second rift appearing within a regional proximity to the first, it is by no means a certainty.”
When the scribe was caught up, Milamber added, “Also, there is a question of why rifts show certain inconsistencies. Size appears relative to the energy employed in their formation, but other characteristics seem without pattern. Some rifts are single direction”—Milamber had lost several valuable devices discovering this fact—“while others allow movement in two directions. And then there are ‘bonded pairs,’ two single-direction rifts that appear simultaneously, both allowing one-way travel between origin and terminus. Though they may appear miles apart, they are related—”
Milamber’s narration was interrupted by the sound of the chimes announcing the arrival of someone from the Assembly. He dismissed his scribe and made his way to the pattern room. As he walked, he mused on the real reason for his submersion in research over the last two months. He was avoiding the decision he must soon make, whether or not to return to the Shinzawai estate for Katala.
Milamber knew there was a chance she had become the wife of another, for their separation had been nearly five years, and she would have no reason to think he’d ever be returning. But time and training had done nothing to dull his feelings toward her. As he reached the transporting room with its tiled pattern, he made his decision: tomorrow he would go to see her.
As he entered the room, he saw Hochopepa step off the pattern in the tile floor. “Ah,” said the plump magician, “there you are. Since it has been two weeks since I last saw you, I decided to pay a visit.”
“I am glad to see you I have been deeply involved in study and could do with a short respite.”
They walked from the room into one of the several gardens nearby Hochopepa said, “I have been meaning to ask you: what is the significance of the pattern you chose? I don’t recognize it.”
Milamber said, “It is a stylized recreation of a pattern I once saw in a fountain. Three dolphins.”
“Dolphins?”
Milamber explained about the Midkemian sea mammals, while they seated themselves upon cushions between a pair of dwarf fruit trees.
“Why the dolphins from that fountain?”
“I don’t know. A compulsion, perhaps. Also, when I underwent my final testing on the tower, I saw something that didn’t register for a month or two after.”
“What does one have to do with the other?”
“In the representation of the final challenge to the Stranger, do you remember a single brown-robed magician, who bent the rift to keep Kelewan from entering the Enemy’s universe?”
Hochopepa looked thoughtful. “I can’t say as I do, Milamber. But then the spell used to create that image affects each of us differently. If you compare visions with others, you’ll discover a great deal of variation. But at the time of the Stranger, we were all black robes. Who could this odd brown-robed magician be?”
Milamber said, “A man I have met, years ago.”
“Impossible. That scene took place centuries ago.”
Milamber smiled and said, “Nevertheless, I have met him. I made my pattern of three dolphins as something of a commemorative to our meeting.”
“How very strange. There has been some speculation on time travel, which would have to be the answer in this case, unless your barbaric mind played false with you upon the tower.” He said the last with a smile.
Milamber clapped his hands, and a servant arrived with a platter of refreshments. The servant, Netoha, at one time had been hadonra for the family that resided there previously. Milamber had found him while securing someone to plant the varieties of vegetation he wanted in his gardens. The man was bold enough to approach, something that singled him out from the common Tsurani. Unable to find the work he was trained for since the demise of his employer’s estate, Netoha had scratched out a meager living over the years. Milamber had taken him on as much out of sympathy as out of any real need. He had quickly made himself useful in a hundred ways the young magician had never dreamed of, and the relationship was mutually satisfactory.
Hochopepa took the offered sweets and drink “I have come to tell you some news. There is to be an Imperial Festival in two months’ time, with games. Will you come?”