My deepest gratitude goes to the large number of friends who have supported me and my family throughout the adversities of this very difficult year when unexpected trips added to scheduled trips put me on the road for more than half the year, and behind schedule the rest of the time.

If it weren't for Katie Filipowicz, former editor of Zeor Forum, and her incredible dedication in proofreading without her reading glasses, this book would not be finished yet.

I need to thank Kerry Schaefer for taking over editing and distributing the Sime/Gen fanzine Ambrov Zeor, and Cheryl Gloger for taking on the Sime/Gen fanzine Zeor Forum, and Karen Litman, editor of the Sime/Gen fanzine Companion in Zeor for keeping the mail from stacking up over my head this year.

Those who read and commented on this manuscript deserve battle ribbons and decorations: Anne Pinzow, executive editor of Ambrov Zeor, heroic taper of Doctor Who–the television program which inspired this trilogy along with Andre Norton's Star Rangers—and staunch personal friend of my family; Kerry Schaefer, a writer of considerable insight; my daughter Gail, a stringent critic; and Katie Filipowicz, who sacrificed the chance to read the whole novel at once in order to comment chapter by chapter.

And then there are all those who supplied the support necessary to keep going through the most frustrating of times: my husband Salomon, who definitely wins the Purple Heart and several awards of valor; my daughters, Gail and Debbie, who have had to get along without "Ma!" for long periods through some of their toughest high-school years; my father, who accepts me when I need accepting; and my dearest friends, Anne Pinzow, Katie Filipowicz, and Roberta Mendelson. Roberta has read and commented on the Dushau to good effect. She, Anne, and Katie have all pitched in to teach my daughters the graces and skills, spending many hours doing what I could not when I could not.

Yet another invaluable group has been the dear friends scattered about the country, who have written or called me with news of new vampire novels or other items of good cheer, or who have shown me their manuscripts. Sometimes I really need a "good read." I expect some of these gems to turn up on the' stands soon.

There is one other source of inspiration for this trilogy that I'd like to recommend you read: John Brunner's novel titled Polymath, which is about the ecology of colonizing planets.

I learned about kinesiology from Kelly and Polly Freas at Maplecon, in Ottawa, Canada, in 1984. I do hope readers of this book will look up this technique and try it out. It's real.

And, of course, I must acknowledge the contribution that John Nathan Turner and all the other creators of the television show, Doctor Who, have inadvertently made to this project. The use of Zen and other philosophies within an adventure format, the confrontation with such issues as what holds the universe together, the difference between good and evil, and the essence of companionship make this apparently trivial children's show into a literary classic.

I'd like to offer my gratitude to James Frost, my editor at Questar, for his patience and faith.

And there is no way to repay such wonderful people as Andre Norton, who wrote Star Rangers; Katherine Kurtz, who didn't really intend to read DUSHAU at all, but did, Jean Lorrah my sometimes co-author, who never does less than her best and won't let me slack off, either; Jean Airey, who showed me depths of The Doctor I'd never have found by myself, and Marion Zimmer Bradley—who is just plain magic.

These and many other sources of energy, including the Ineffable, have made this book possible.

To comment on this or any of my other novels (I do read and ponder every comment) or for information about current availability of novels in my Dushau, Kren, or Sime/Gen Universes, and/or information on the various Sime/Gen fanzines, send a self-addressed stamped envelop with your specific request to:

AMBROV ZEOR

Dept. D-3

Box 290

Monsey, NY, 10952

LAWS OF SYMMETRY, PARITY, AND POLARITY

TENTH OBSERVATION OF SHOSHUNRI

"The Law of Parity requires that some energies, when Inverted, remain symmetrically unchanged. Others, however, change sign. It is incumbent upon the Incarnate to assess this property correctly for each energy dealt with."

SECOND OBSERVATION OF SHOSHUNRI

"Polarization is the Law of Nature which reveals the essence of Completion, for as the positive pole generates the negative, or as victory generates defeat, and the profane generates the sacred, or the group generates the individual, so does identity, the sum of many generations, generate its own adversary, and so does the Observed generate the Observer. Destroy one pole, and the remaining one will regenerate its opposite, to complete itself."

THIRD OBSERVATION OF SHOSHUNRI

"The Laws of Nature are .symmetric around a central axis of reflection. He who travels that axis reaches Completion."

From: Purpose and Method by: Shoshunri, Observing Priest of Aliom

JINDIGAR'S OLIAT

ProtectorReceptor

femalemale Venlagar

Eithlarin(Zannesu)

(Trinarvil)

Center Jindigar

FormulatorInreachEmulator

femalemale Zannesufemale

Darllanyu(Venlagar) Llistyien

Outreach Krinata

FUNCTIONS OF OLIAT OFFICES

Inreach: holds the pattern of intensities of the linkages.

Protector: resonates to all factors balancing an ecology and understands the protective strategies appropriate in a particular environment and uses them to protect the Oliat.

Formulator: perceives the underlying patterns that connect the balanced forces; can extrapolate results of an imbalance. Relates data to formulate patterns and find meaning.

Emulator: grasps the inwardness of a species or system while the Protector deals with the outwardnesses. The Emulator can bring a species' self-perception inside the Oliat so that understanding is on an unconscious level.

Receptor: reacts to incoming signals, thus causing the whole Oliat to respond to changes in the balances around them.

Outreach: the output portal for the Oliat as a whole or for the Center. The Outreach is the only Officer able to speak aloud.

The Outreach may speak for the whole Oliat as if it were one mind, or for the Center alone.

Center: synthesizes all data into a clear picture of the environment, the individuals, and all the relationships between them. It is the Center's responsibility to bring the Officers of the Oliat closer to Completion through the exercise of accurate observation.