As I passed out of the main hall and headed along the back hallway which would take me to any of a number of stairs, a fellow in black leathers and various pieces of rusty and shiny chain emerged from a corridor to my right, halted, and stared at me. His hair was of an orange Mohawk cut and there were several silver rings in his left ear near what looked like an electrical outlet of some sort.

“Merlin?” he said. “You okay?”

“For the moment,” I replied as I drew nearer, trying to place him, there in the dimness.

“Martin!” I said. “You're... changed.”

He chuckled.

“I'm just back from a very interesting shadow,” he said. “Spent over a year there-one of those places where time runs like hell.”

“I'd judge-just guessing-that it was high-tech, urban....”

“Right.”

“I thought you were a country boy.”

“I got over it. Now I know why my dad likes cities and noise.”

“You a musician, too?”

“Some. Different sounds, though. You going to be at dinner?”

“I was planning on it. As soon as I get cleaned up and changed.”

“See you there, then. We've a lot, of things to talk about.”

“Sure thing, Cousin.”

He clasped my shoulder and released it as I passed. His grip was still strong.

I walked on. Before I'd gone very far, I felt the beginning of a Trump contact. I halted and reached quickly, figuring it was Coral wanting to return. Instead, my eyes met those of Mandor, who smiled faintly.

“Ah, very good,” he said. “You are alone and apparently safe.”

As things came clearer I saw that Fiona was standing beside him, standing very close as a matter of fact.

“I'm okay,” I said. “I'm back in Amber. You all right?”

“Intact,” he said, looking past me, though there was not much to see beyond wall and a bit of tapestry. “Would you care to come through?” I asked.

“I'd love to see Amber,” he replied. “But that pleasure will have to await another occasion. We are somewhat occupied at the moment.”

“You've discovered the cause of the disturbances?” I asked.

He glanced at Fiona, then back at me.

“Yes and no,” he said. “We've some interesting leads but no certainty at the moment.”

“Uh, what can I do for you then?” I asked.

Fiona extended her index finger and suddenly became much clearer. I realized that she must have reached out and touched my Trump for better contact.

“We've had an encounter with a manifestation of that machine you built,” she said. “Ghostwheel.”

“Yes?” I said.

“You're right, it's sentient-social AI as well as technical.”

“I was already certain it could pass the Turing test.”

“Oh, no doubt about that,” she responded, “since by definition the Turing test requires a machine capable of lying to people and misleading them.”

“What are you getting at, Fiona?” I asked.

“It's not just social AI. It's downright antisocial,” she replied. “I think your machine is crazy.”

“What did it do?” I asked. “Attack you?”

“No, nothing physical. It's wacky and mendacious and insulting, and we're too busy to go into details right now. I'm not saying it couldn't get nasty, though. I don't know. We just wanted to warn you not to trust it.”

I smiled.

“That's it? End of message?” I said.

“For now,” she answered, lowering her finger and growing dim.

I shifted my gaze to Mandor and was about to explain that I had built a host of safeguards into the thing, so that not just anybody could access it. Mainly, though, I wanted to tell him about Jurt. But our communication was suddenly severed, as I felt another presence reaching toward me.

I was intrigued by the sensation. I had occasionally wondered what would occur if someone tried for a Trump contact when I was already in touch with someone else via a Trump. Would it turn into a conference call? Would someone get a busy signal? Would it put the other party on hold? I'd doubted I'd ever find out, though. It just seemed statistically unlikely. However...

“Merlin, baby. I'm okay.”

“Luke!”

Mandor and Fiona were definitely gone. “I'm really okay now, Merle.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, as soon as I started coming down I switched to a fast lane. In this shadow it's been several days since I've seen you.”

He was wearing sunglasses and green swim trunks. He was seated at a small table beside a swimming pool in the shade of a great umbrella, the remains of a large lunch spread before. him. A lady in a blue bikini dived into the pool and passed from my line of sight.

“Well, I'm glad to hear about that and—”

“So what happened to me, anyhow? I remember you said something about someone slipping me some acid when I was a prisoner back at the Keep. Is that how it went?”

“It seems very likely.”

“I guess that's what happens when you drink the water,” he mused. “Okay. What's been going on while I've been out of it?”

Knowing how much to tell him was always a problem. So, “Where do we stand?” I asked.

“Oh. That,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I've had a chance to do a lot of thinking,” he replied, “and I'm going to call it quits. Honor has been satisfied. It's pointless to keep pushing this thing against everybody else. But I'm not about to put myself in Random's hands for a kangaroo trial. Now it's your turn: Where do I stand so far as Amber's concerned? Should I be looking over my shoulder?”

“Nobody's said anything yet, one way or the other. But Random is out of town now and I just got back myself. '' I haven't really had a chance to learn what the others' feelings might be on this thing.”

He removed his sunglasses and studied me. “The fact that Random's out of town...”

“No, I know he's not after you,” I said, “because he's in Kash—” `and I tried to stop it just a syllable too late.

“Kashfa?”

“So I understand.”

“What the hell's he doing there? Amber was never interested in the place before.”

“There's been a... death,” I explained. “Some kind of shake-up going on.”

“Ha!” Luke remarked. “That bastard finally bought it. Good! But... Hey! Why's Amber moving in so suddenlike, huh?”

“Don't know,” I said.

He chuckled. “Rhetorical question,” he said. “I can see what's going on. I've got to admit Random's got style. Listen, when you find out who he puts on the throne let me know, will you? I like to keep abreast of doings in the old hometown.”

“Oh, sure,” I said, trying unsuccessfully to determine whether such information could be harmful. It would become public knowledge very soon, if it wasn't already.

“So what else is going on? That other person who was Vinta Bayle..?”

“Gone,” I said. “I don't know where.”

“Very strange,” he mused. “I don't think we've seen the last of her. She was Gail, too. I'm sure. Let me know if she comes back, will you?”

“Okay. You want to ask her out again?”

He shrugged, then smiled. “I could think of worse ways to spend some time.”

“You're lucky she didn't try to take you out, literally.”

“I'm not so sure she would've,” he replied. “We always got along pretty well. Anyhow, none of this is the main reason I called...”

I nodded, having already guessed as much.

“How's my mother doing?” he asked.

“Hasn't stirred,” I answered. “She's safe.”

“That's something,” he said. “You know, it's kind of undignified for a queen to be in that position. A coatrack. Jeez!”

“I agree,” I agreed. “But what's the alternative?”

“Well, I'd sort of like to... get her freed,” he said.

“What'll it take?”

“You raise a very thorny issue,” I stated.

“I sort of figured that.”

“I've a strong feeling she's the one behind this revenge business, Luke, that she's the one who put you up to going after everybody. Like with that bomb. Like encouraging you to set up that private army with modern weapons, to use against Amber. Like trying for a hit on me every spring. Like—”