Universe Twister - Keith Laumer [196]
The silence was total. Lafayette slumped against the wall. "Great," he muttered. "Pound some more. Yell a lot. All that will do is convince Wizner Hiz you're just what he claims—if anyone can hear you, which is doubtful. That wood's as hard as armor plate." He sat on the bed, rubbing his bruised fists. "And he's probably right. Thallathlone is obviously some kind of offbeat plane of existence, not a regular parallel continuum. Maybe it's on some kind of diagonal with the serial universes Central controls. Maybe people like me have accidentally wound up here before, just the way I did; maybe there's some kind of probability fault line you can slip through . . ."
He lay back with a sigh. The ray of sunlight from above made a bright spot on the dark, polished floor. The perfume of Sisli still lingered in the air.
"Maybe a lot of things," he murmured. "Maybe I'd better get some sleep. Maybe I'll be able to think better then . . ."
6
The dream was a pleasant one: he was lying on the bank of a river, under the spreading branches of a sycamore, with Daphne beside him, murmuring to him in a soft and loving voice.
. . . try, please, for me . . . you can do it, I know you can do it . . .
"Try what?" Lafayette said genially, and moved to put his arm about her shoulders. But somehow she was gone now; he was alone under the tree . . . and the light had faded. He was in darkness, still hearing her call, faint, as from a great distance:
. . . just for me, my Tazlo . . . please try . . . please . . .
"Daphne? Where are you?" He rose, groping in the pitch darkness. "Where did you go?"
Come to me . . . come . . . you can if you try . . . try . . . try . . . try . . .
"Certainly—but where are you? Daphne?"
Try, Tazlo! You are trying! I can feel you trying! Like this! You see? Hold your mind this way . . . and move like this . . .
He felt ephemeral hands touch his mind. He felt the lattice work of thought turned gently, aligned, steered. There was a gentle tugging, as if a cotton thread pulled at him. He moved forward, listening, listening to her voice. Cobwebs brushed his face, dragged back over his body, through his body . . .
Cool, fresh air around him, filled with a soft, rustling sound. He smelled green, growing things; he opened his eyes, saw the twinkle of stars through the filigree of foliage above, saw lights that gleamed through leaves, saw—
"Sisli!" he blurted. "How . . . what—"
She was in his arms. "Tazlo—my Tazlo—I knew you could do it! I knew!"
He turned, looked at the corrugated surface of shaggy bark behind him. He ran his hand over it, feeling the solidity of it, the denseness.
"Well, what do you know," he said wonderingly. "I walked through a wall."
Chapter Six
1
Wizner Hiz was still scowling; but even Vugli had taken Sisli's side—and Lafayette's.
"You were the one that set up the test, Wizner Hiz," Hinky shrugged. "Don't complain when he passes it."
"Come along, Tazlo," Sisli said with a toss of her head. "The party is about to begin."
Lafayette hesitated, looking out along the yard-thick branch with the shiny path worn along its upper surface, leading toward the lighted dancing pavilion. "What happens," he inquired, "if you slip?"
"Why should you slip?" Sisli walked out a few feet, stood on one toe and pirouetted, spreading her white wings just enough to make a sighing sound and stir the leaves around her.
"I've got a broken wing, remember?" O'Leary improvised. "I've got an idea: why don't we stay here, and just sort of listen in from a distance?"
"Silly boy." She caught his hand, led him out on the precarious path. "Just close your eyes and I'll lead you," she said with an impish smile. "I think you just want to be babied," she added.
"Let's go," Vugli said, jostling past Lafayette, almost sending him from the