\def\elip{$\ldots$}\def\elipp{$\ldots\,\ldotp$}
\newcount\chapnum\chapnum=1
\def\chapter#1{\par\bigskip\centerline{\number\chapnum}\centerline{\it #1}
\medskip\advance\chapnum by 1}
% Author's note:  When I'm doing writing this, I'll go through the
%                 fiction of changing the names of the characters.
%                 But I find it easier to write about people I know
%                 than about people I don't.
%
\chapter{Andrew}

I was sitting in my chair, reading a mystery novel, Beethoven on the
stereo, when it happened.  I heard a hissing noise, saw a streak of light,
and she was there.

I sat bolt upright.  ``How the hell did you get here?'' I asked.

``There's a lot we have to discuss,'' she said.

``I can see that,'' I retorted.  ``How the hell did you get here?''

``Calm down,'' she urged.  ``It's probably a lot like what you think,
and a lot different.  We must talk, and quickly.  Let me set up shields.''
She gestured with her arms, tracing out an arc that quickly spread to
surround us with a sheet of light.  ``We're safe in here, at least for
a while.''

``Pam, I'm extraordinarilly terrified right now.  You're not helping
matters any.  In fact, you're what's terrifying me.  Can we do something
about this?  Please?'' I inquired calmly.

``Andrew, I'm from another planet.  There are a doz-- there were a dozen
scouts.  Two have been killed.  We must act quickly if your planet is
to be saved.''

``You know,'' I mused aloud, ``If I hadn't seen you materialize out of
nothing and create this shimmery thing I'd think you were kidding me.''

``Listen.  We can do what you call magic.  It's not magic, and I'll explain
it all to you sometime when we can afford to.  But we've met and decided
that you're the best Earthling to approach.  We need you, Andrew.  Earth
needs you.  You've got to trust me.''

``Of course I trust you.  I love you.  I don't understand you, but I'll
believe anything you say.''

``Thank you, Andrew.  Thank you.''  She stepped forward, and I stood and
gave her a brief hug.  Something big was happening, and I was somehow
going to be involved, but somehow none of that mattered at the moment.

``What do you want me to do?'' I asked.

``We must train you in the magic, so that you can help in the defense of
your planet.  You must learn to control the field that all matter
eminates.  You know it as Electromagnetism, as Gravity, and as the
Strong and Weak forces---''

I interupted her in awe.  ``You mean the Grand Unified Theory?  You're
going to teach me the GUT?''

``It's even more powerful than you suspect,'' she replied. ``Although
Earth seems to radiate a weaker field than Sental.''

``Sental.  Your home planet?''

``Yes.  Now sit down, and relax.  Good, you have music on.  That will
help.  This is too complicated for English.  I'm going to have to use
the magic to enter your mind directly.  OK?''

``Sure.  You're welcome in my head anytime you want to visit; you know
that.''  She laughed, even though my joke wasn't really that funny,
and sat on my lap.  She started to caress my temples, massaging my
head, until I fell asleep.

\chapter{Pam}

{\it 
There.  He's drifted off.  Sleep, Andrew, sleep.  You have the
potential.  You understand more than you know.  That's what drew me
to you in the first place.  Relax.  Calm.  That's right.  Relax.

Very good.  I'm going to go in now.  Stay calm.}  A tendril of my
consciousness slowly crept towards him.  Slowly merged with him.
{\it That's right, my beloved.  Oh, yes, you are very close.  You
know what you need now.  I was right --- you knew it all along.
You just couldn't use it.

No, Andrew, it isn't quite like that.  You've flipped a minus sign
again.  Yes, that's right.  See that integral?  Right, it vanishes
in the limit.  Your grasp was so close.   You will take to the magic.
You will do well.

Time is short.  I must withdraw.  You will sleep, and you will awaken
tomorrow morning far more powerful.  Use your knowledge well, my
own.  Help us save your people.}

\chapter{Andrew}

I woke up the next morning in my chair.  The Beethoven tape had long
since stopped.  Had it all been a dream?  No, there was something in
my mind that I never knew before.  It's --- it's the Magic.

Can I do it?  Can I make even a flash of light?  If I wave my hand
like {\it this}\elipp

Oh, my Lord.  I did it.  I did magic.  I created light.  I just changed
the fluxes just so and I created light.  Dearest God in Heaven, I
created light.

A swish of sound, a swirl of light, and she's back.  ``I see you've
been practicing.  Good.  We have much to do.  I must teach you to
attune.''

``Attune?'' I asked.  ``What do you mean, `attune?'\thinspace''

``Think of me,'' she answered.  ``Think of my name, think of my face,
think of my mind.  Attune to me.''

This all sounded crazy to me.  I knew she wanted to teach me something,
and I had some inkling of what, but I couldn't do what she wanted me to.

``Oh, never mind,'' she said.  ``Let's try something else.  Relax
again.''

``Are you going to sit on my lap again?'' I teased.

``Only if you want me to,'' she smiled.

``Hmmm\elipp That's very tempting, but it might distract me.''

{\it You're darn right it would distract you!}  I think I jumped out
of my seat --- that was Pam's voice; but {\bf her lips didn't move}!

``Uh\elip Pam?'' I queried quietly.

{\it Think it.  Don't say it.}

{\it Is this what you meant by ``attuning?''} I thought to her.  I had no idea
if it was right, but it was better than standing there like a fool.

{\it Yes.  I attuned to you.  Now I'm going to slowly draw out; and I want
you to follow me.  OK?}

{\it Well,} I replied, {it's certainly worth a try.  Let's go.}  I suddenly
became aware of her presence in my mind, and she started to slide away from
me.  I ran after her, in some sense, and suddenly realized that I was in
{\bf her} brain.  No --- not her brain, her mind.  Her consciousness.

And as that realization flashed through my brain, something else flashed
across my face.  I threw up my arm, trying to deflect whatever it was
before it hit Pam, and a loud explosion knocked us both to the floor.
Pam cast one of those shield spells around us, as I grabbed her and
tried to stand.  She pulled me back down atop her as another energy
missle missed me by centimetres and demolished my television set.

Pam rolled us over so that she could defend me better.  {\it Talk about
role reversals!}~I thought as another bolt came down right beside us.
Pam's shields seemed to be holding up, but there was no telling how
many more attacks there would be.

As I completed that thought, a massive globe of light drifted through the
wall.  Pam froze and stared at it dumbfounded.  I ``attuned'' to her and
discovered that she was paralyzed with terror --- there was no way that
her shields cuold save us from the imminent blast.

I held her close, kissed her, and started to pray.

\chapter{Pam}

I feel so guilty.  There I was, Sental Master of the First Order, faced
with a DeathSphere, and I panicked.  I shouldn't have survived.  My shields
would have been able to withstand a DeathSphere on Sental, but not on
Earth, with its weaker field.  I knew that I was doomed, and that my
irresponsibility had destroyed Andrew, Earth's only hope.  And, thus,
I was to blame for the loss of Earth.

But somehow Andrew teleported us.  He doesn't know how he did it; I
didn't even know it could be done.  And I, a Sental Master of the First
Order.  All Andrew remembers is that he ``willed us to be someplace
safe'' and we were.  I think it has something to do with using the
Gravity aspect to warp space and tear part of it off and glue it back
in someplace else, but I can't do it.

I mean, sure we can teleport when there's a person at the other end.
We simply become thought, and attune, and project oursleves.  But we
can't bring anyone or anything with us, and we have to choose a
person as our destination --- we can't simply try for ``someplace
safe.''

Andrew may be more powerful than we thought.  If he can do that on
Earth, imagine how powerful he'd be on Sental.  I wonder if there are
more like him on Earth.

Maybe that's why the DeathBringer wants this planet.

\chapter{DeathBringer}

Damn!

The fool female is quicker than I expected.  I must be more careful
next time.  I must watch better.

The DeathGlobe should have destroyed the male.  He must be destroyed.
He is the only one who can stop me from winning this planet.  From
destroying this planet.  The female must {\bf not} be allowed
to complete his training.

I just wish I had known she could teleport.

\chapter{Andrew}

So there we were, still clutched together, lying on a grassy hill
in the middle of noplace.  Pam was still paralyzed, and I was shaking
like a leaf.  Neither extreme was particularly good.

I decided to try some good old Earth magic.  I held her close to me.
I ran my fingers through her hair.  I mumbled comforting pronouns:
``Now, now \elip\ there, there\elipp''  I kissed her lightly on the
cheek.  I caressed her forehead with my lips.  I dried her eyes.

She slowly began to quiver, as I slowly regained equillibrium.
``I'm a Sental Master of the First Degree,'' she whispered.  ``And
I nearly blew it.  I almost got us killed.''

``That's OK.  I still love you,'' I replied.  ``Sental Master or
pretty Earthling, I don't care.''

``We should have died back there.  We should have died.  Where are we?''

``I don't know.  Someplace safe.  At least, that's what I asked for.''

``That's what you asked for?  Huh?''

``I don't know what happened.  I attuned to you, and you were a
Jell-O-brain, and I just prayed that we'd teleport to someplace
safe.  And we did.''

``My God --- you teleported us?  You {\bf teleported} us?!?
You TELEPORTED us!?!''  She was getting hysterical.

``Was that a bad thing to do?'' I asked meekly.

``You teleported us,'' she whispered.  ``That hasn't been done by
anyone in five hundred generations of Sental.  And you did it within
one day of learning the magic.  On Earth.  Two people.

``My God.''  She sat up, and stayed there in stunned silence.  I just
looked at her, afraid to speak, afraid to move.

And then, suddenly, more afraid to do neither.  I saw the beginnings
of a swish-and-swirl, as I had come to call the Sental teleportation.
Then another, and another, until a good eight glimmers appeared.  I
grabbed Pam and tried to form a shield like I had seen her do --- but
the shield formed {\bf outside} the incoming shapes.

Eight very solemn faces formed.  Eight very solemn faces frowned.

Pam looked up at them.  ``Oh, no,'' she breathed.  ``Charles---''

``I'm sorry,'' said the tallest. ``We are now only nine.''

\chapter{Pam}

George had phrased it tactfully, I'm sure, but all I heard was ``Charles
is dead.''

Dead!

Charles, the first one to sense the presence of the DeathBringer on this
planet.  Charles, the only one with the courage to defy the Sental Council
and marry an Earthling.  Charles, dead.

Dead!

I swore then and there that I would destroy the DeathBringer.  It could
hide, it could strike furtively, but I would hunt it down and destroy
it.  The DeathBringer would soon find itself

Dead!

\chapter{DeathBringer}

The female thinks she will destroy me.

No, my dear, the DeathBringer destroys.

The DeathBringer destroys whomever it wants, wherever it wants,
whenever it wants.

The DeathBringer destroyed your Charles.  Charles was a threat,
and had to die.

The DeathBringer is not sorry.

The DeathBringer will destroy your Andrew.  Andrew is a threat,
and will die.

The DeathBringer is not sorry.

The DeathBringer will destroy this planet.  It is not a threat,
it does not have to die.

But it will.  Hahahaha!!!!!

The DeathBringer is not sorry.

\chapter{Andrew}

So these were the Sental scouts.  All Masters of the First Order.
Twelve at the beginning, and now three dead.

Pam is one of them.  She would have been next, if that weapon had
succeeded.

Who is behind this?  Why?

``Does he know?'' asked the tall one, the one who told Pam about
Charles.

``Some.  Not all,'' she replied quietly.  I caught a glimmer of her
thoughts.  {\it He was a good man, God.  How could you allow the
DeathBringer to do this?}

``Do you know about the DeathBringer, Andrew?'' he asked me.  I
shook my head ``no,''

``Sit down,'' he said, indicating a place on the hill.  ``Your shields
will protect us all, I think.

``The DeathBringer is what you would call a demon.  It has no soul,
and it lives only to destroy.  We think it has come to destroy your
planet.

``We have come to prevent this.  Your people are basically good, and
will discover the magic very soon.  If the DeathBringer doesn't kill
them all first.

``We came to seek out the Earthlings who we felt would most easily
master the magic.  We have been here for twenty of your years.  The
DeathBringer came about fifteen years ago.  We have seen its effects.

``The DeathBringer wants to precipitate the third World War.''

I sat there, unbelieving, yet believing.  Uncomprehending, yet understanding.
I sought out Pam's mind.  {\it All this is true?} I asked.

{\it Yes,} she replied.  {\it I didn't want to tell you just yet.  I wanted
to protect you.  I love you.}  She looked towards me, then lowered her
eyes.  I moved over to her and took her hand.  {\it I love you, too,}
I whispered.  She looked in my eyes and smiled, fleetingly.

``Master of the Council,'' gasped a short woman near us.  We all spun to
look at her as her face turned literally grey and she collapsed.  She
tried to scream, but all that came out was a gurgled cry.  Her face
sunk into her head and her eyelids squeezed shut with pain.  She convulsed
for a few seconds, then, mercifully, her body went limp.

\chapter{DeathBringer}

Another Sental is dead.  The DeathBringer rejoices in her pain and her
anguish.  The DeathBringer is pleased by her friends' sorrow.

The DeathBringer has done well.

\chapter{Pam}

{\it Pam\elipp} I felt his terror tugging at me.  {\it Is that---}
I took his head between my hands and turned it away from the shrunken,
distorted figure on the ground.  Took him in my arms and held him
tight.  But no one turned my head away from Sarah's corpse.  I felt
the anger draw tighter in my abdomen.  {\it That's four deaths now,
DeathBringer.  Four friends whose deaths are on your hands.}

``Andrew,'' called the Master, ``The DeathBringer is in the shield with
us!  Open the shield and let it out!''  The glimmering hemisphere in the
sky glistened and faded, leaving nine people and a body.  And a demon.

``Pam,'' Andrew whispered in my ear.  ``I realize that now may not be the
most appropriate time to ask, but --- would you marry me?''

I looked around at the assembled Sental Council.  The one that must rule
on any Sental marriage to an Earthling.  The one that decreed that it
would never rule in favour of one.

The Council had refused to permit George to marry his loved one.  Mary
had been her name.  They had loved each other, but she never knew that
he was an extraterrestrial.  He had come to the Council; begged, pleaded,
all to no avail.

George and Mary had eloped.  The Council was furious with George, but
couldn't afford to expel him.  He was persona non grata for years, even
after Mary's death.

That had been the first time the DeathBringer had struck on Earth.  The
same way he had just cut down Sarah.  Drawing off the life force, drinking
it in, sucking it out of his victim.  {\it Make that five friends,
DeathBringer,} I thought.  Mary was a good person, too.  She didn't
deserve what she had gotten.  She never even knew\elipp

I looked around at the assembled Sental Council.  The one that was
even now regarding Andrew and me.  I caught flashes of discussion between
them, but I couldn't make out the content.  But I could guess.

{\it George, what would you do?  If you had to do it again?}

I stood, looked Andrew straight in the eyes.  ``Esteemed members of the
Sental Council, I ask your permission to marry this citizen of the Earth.
I am aware of your decree, and will abide by your judgement.  I merely
ask that you consider the unusual circumstances involved here before
arbitrarily applying an outdated policy.''

Silence fell on the field.  The Master of the Council 
lifted his arm and pointed at me.

``Thus may the decision of the Sental Council be known,'' he shouted.

\chapter{Andrew}

He was going to kill her.

I was certain of it.  Lightening started to crackle along the length of
his arm as he developed a glow around the rest of his body.  The other
members of the Council looked somber.  Pam took a step forward, towards
him, trembling ever so slightly.  {\it Don't interfere, whatever happens,}
she had told me.  So I stood still.

A bright flash arced across the air between the man they called the Master
and Pam.  She was surrounded by the same glow he was.  Suddenly my mind
clicked into action and I realized: {\bf the Master was the
DeathBringer}!!!  I leapt up, shouting ``No!'' but two of the other
Council members held me back.  Could the DeathBringer be a coalition?

The light around Pam subsided, and she was very much alive.  She was also
decked from head to toe in white.  I shook my head and looked again, but
she was unmistakably wearing a bridal gown.  The Master turned to me and
cocked his head.  ``I'm sorry,'' he said sarcastically, ``I didn't
realize you'd object.  We can change our decision, if you'd like.''

``That's quite all right,'' I said.  ``I'll just have to accept your
decision, I suppose.''

``No, really, we try to be as accomodating to inferior species as
possible,'' he replied.  But he couldn't keep as straight face much
longer.

``And we appreciate it,'' I said.  ``At least, I hope that Pam is
as accomodating as you imply.''

That did it.  The tension was broken, and we all laughed.  Then we
remembered the corpse lying on the ground behind us, and we turned to
bury her.  The air was heavy with symbolism --- the funeral for the
woman called Sarah and the wedding of Pam and myself --- but I didn't
really want to think about it.

\chapter{Pam}

We buried Sarah there on the hill where the DeathBringer had slayed her.
It must have seemed incongruous --- I was standing there with my wedding
gown fluttering in the breeze as we dug the grave for one of my closest
friends in two worlds.  No one said anything the whole time, and when it
was over we all walked off in silence.

After about an hour, the Master broke the silence.  ``We have interred
Sarah, and we will continue to mourn her,'' he said.  ``But there is a
crisis here.  The DeathBringer is making his move, and we must set our
grief aside for now and return to the fight.  Pamela, Andrew, it is time
for you to take your vows.''

``Um, sir, if you don't mind, I'd like this to be in accordance with
Earth law --- you know, to make it official,'' Andrew said.  The Master
smiled.

``Of course, Andrew,'' he said.  ``We wouldn't have it any other way.
Teleport us to Nevada.''  I couldn't tell if he was being silly,
sarcastic, or serious.  You can never tell about him.  That's probably
why he's Master of the Council.

In any event, Andrew merely nodded.  Suddenly the grass was gone and we
were surrounded by desert.  ``Oworformedyou knsorg ow Asaid.racDin
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\tquicfore we went to
sleep last night.  No one had tried to breach the s, dCwhile we slept.

Pam awoke and turned fig
.  She kissed me gently, and passed a thought
to me.  {\it I'm pregnant,} she mind-whispered.  {\it Twins.}

I lay there, stunned.  {\it You're kidding me,} I sent back.  {\it How
do you know?}

In response, she drew me deep into her mind.  Replaying all the events of
last night from a perspective I had never considered.  And there were
two events that stood out from all the oit asu --- tw arernceptions.  {\it A
boy and a girl,} she said.

{\it What have we done?} I thought to myself.  {\it We're trying to stop
the DeathBringer from destroying the Earth and we take time off to get
married and have a few kids?  On the other hand, I wouldn't trade this
moment for anything in the world.}

I looked at her, lying there,?}
zd.  S�back at me, and I realized that
given other circumstances, I'd be a very lucky man.

Then I decided: even with the current set � ircumstances, I was a
very lucky man.
ing thapter{Pam}

I knew it was too good to last.

There we were, Andrew and I.  Not Earthling and Sental; not aged
 ntice and
First Order Master; not pawns in the greatest power play ever seen on his
planet; just -aisbaGeorid wife.

And I was pregnant.  I took Andrew's mind by the hand, as it were, and
led him down and showt pam the children.  He learned to attune to them,
and we lay in each other's arms, ignoring the crisis around us.

Well, ignoring it for as long as we could.  The Council sta fig
=to 
materialize around our bed, and we quickly tried to reach some semblanceerst�normalcyould s

George was the first to speak.  ``We have new information about the
DeathBringer,'' he said.r ``It is not good.''

``Shouldn't we have a shield?'' Andrew asked.  ``We don't want it to
hear us.''

``It is no matter,'' said George.  ``The DeathBringer is one of us.''

I slowly regarded George, then each e.
iher members of the Council.
I knew all of them very well, and I couldn't imagine any of them being
the DeathBringer.

``There's really nothing we can do, given that knowledge,'' George added.
``I just thought you should be warned.''  I thankt pam, and the Council
slowly faded out.

\chapte]ondrew}




\end

