important. Who is Ha'gel? What is the Shaqarava…?'
She broke off, gave a small, involuntary scream of surprise, then said sharply, 'Ma'el! What's wrong with you? What is happening to your face?'
The old man's features, which had been partly shaded by his cowl, were going through a fearful change. A latticework of fine lines had appeared and was spreading over his face, making it look like a picture executed by a craftsman in mosaic tiles. As they stared horrified the change continued; the tiny pieces of face dissolved one by one until the features reflected the sunlight as if they were made from clear, motionless water through which they could see to the inside surface of Ma'el's cowl. Sinead had transferred her hold to Declan's arm, and was gripping it so tightly that his fingers tingled because they were not getting their supply of blood.
'My apologies,' said Ma'el gently, his features returning to what they had been. 'For a moment I lost control so that without warning you saw me as other Taelons see me, and each other. You are both surprised but not, I believe, terrified by the sight. This pleases me greatly because it means that, in spite of me revealing my true appearance, you realize that I am still the person you have known. Is this so?'
Declan's mouth was too dry for it to form words, so he nodded. Sinead said, 'Yes, Ma'el, it is. B-but the Taelons I saw wore faces like yours…'
'Because,' he broke in to answer the question before she could ask it, 'I have discovered after many mistakes that your people find it more comfortable to look into eyes and at lips in a familiar, skin-covered face when they speak with me. Unless you request otherwise I shall continue with this practice.'
Sinead relaxed her grip on his arm and joined him in silence. Ma'el looked briefly at the sky, produced the chart, and spread it on the ground between them while he resumed speaking.
'Many of my secrets I have revealed to you,' he said, tapping the chart, 'beginning with this small and simple one. There was my hand light which lit the encampment on the first night we met, and later when Sinead used it to conjure a monster onto the Orla's mainsail and frighten off the Roman attackers. That, like the seamless joining of wood in the dead robber's cross, and the way in which I lightened my wagon so that it made the ship ride high in the water to escape the pirates in the Mediterranean. Each of you saw that happen and wondered about it, but made no mention of it to me or, indeed, anyone else.
'But now there are greater secrets,' he went on. 'You may call them magic or charms but I know them only as Taelon technology, which must be revealed to you. Not only that, you will be required to become skilled in then- use as I am or, because of your youth and the fast-acting precision of movement in your muscles, much better than I am. The lessons will be difficult in the extreme, their teaching will at times terrify you and open your minds in directions they may not want to go, and you will want to run screaming from what you see and the things I will ask you to do. But if that should occur, we will return to the old and slower ways of travel.'
'We won't be frightened…' Declan began, when Sinead gripped his arm tightly again.
'We might be frightened by your teachings,' she said in a serious voice, 'but we want to learn from you and we will not run away.'
Ma'el inclined his head. 'Good,' he said, 'but it is a possibility that should be considered.'
They exchanged looks which said that neither of them were considering that possibility, then Declan said, 'Ma'el, what do you want us to do first?'
'First,' he replied, looking at Sinead, 'I want you to move your possessions and those of Declan well clear of the wagon, after which I shall cause it and the pool to be buried under sand in case we should need it again soon, which we will not if you are apt pupils.'
He indicated the chart, glanced toward their horse and went on, 'That is a friendly and hardworking being who, although nonsapient, I have come to admire. I do not want it to starve here alone or to suffer in any other way. There is a camel train close by that is bound for the caravanserai. Please feed and untether the horse at once, then ride it to the caravan where you will arrange for it to be taken to your friend Bashir so that it can be cared for until the time comes when we might need it again. Sufficient gold will be provided to take care of its needs for the rest of its lifetime. Once these arrangements have been made through the caravan master, you will leave him without further explanation…'
'It will be a long, hot walk back here,' Declan protested, but it was as if Ma'el had not heard him.
'… You will conceal yourself from the sight of surface eyes,' he ended, 'until Sinead and I come for you. It would please me if you were to perform this task as a matter of urgency and without further delay or discussion…'
Without another word, Declan did exactly as he had been told. He had no trouble leaving the horse and making the arrangements for its future needs with the surprised caravan master, who had heard of Declan and had believed him long since dead. Apparently word of the epic battle fought by the men of the caravanserai and himself against overwhelming odds, albeit with the help of a fearsome djinn, had spread up and down the camel trails while losing nothing in the telling. But he had the greatest difficulty in making the man believe that he wanted the caravan to proceed without him and that he was to be left alone and on foot in the desert.
It was close to sunset when he heard a familiar high-pitched, hissing scream and looked up to see the large djinn dropping toward him like a stone. As it neared the ground, the blue fires that he had thought at first were blazing eyes brightened, the sound like the hissing of a thousand angry serpents increased and it slowed to alight gently on the ground. When the cloud of sand stirred up by its landing had subsided, through the partly transparent body of the djinn he could see the shapes of two seated figures, one of which stood up and turned toward him. An opening appeared suddenly in its flank and he saw that it was Sinead.
She had the. pallor of one who has recently undergone a frightening experience, but her face was split by a great smile of wonder as she waved him inside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Instead of looking at it in Ma'el's chart they were seeing a similar picture of the land surface through the large square of transparent material under their feet. When first they had begun rising into the heavens, Declan had tried to grip the edges of the smooth, deeply cushioned stool on which he sat lest he fall out of it and tumble to the distant ground, but by some act of the magic that Ma'el insisted was merely Taelon technology, the seat grew five soft, strong arms that encircled his waist and thighs and gave close support to the curve of his back to hold him steady. He watched the caravan he had met earlier shrink to a thin, dusty worm and then begin to slide to the edge of the transparent substance and out of his sight. In front of Ma'el's position there was another and much larger area of clarity that faced forward. The old man's hands were resting lightly on its surface while he moved them about in a succession of strange, arcane gestures.
'… We are now making the transition from high altitude to orbital flight,' Ma'el was saying, 'and will overfly the path we traveled from Hibernia to our recent location. I am sorry if a few of the words I use are strange, but soon their meaning and the actions and events to which they apply will become clear to you. Are either of you feeling mental distress?'
Sinead, who was staring at the unfolding surface in open-mouthed wonder, shook her head. Declan made a croaking sound the exact meaning of which was unclear even to himself. To hide the apprehension that must have been showing on his face, he turned his head to look inside the djinn which Ma'el called his short-range shuttle craft.
Like the one in the floor at his feet and that facing the old man, there were large, clear openings in the djinn's shell which made it possible to see outside in all directions except one which was shielded automatically no matter what their change of heading, Ma'el had explained, to keep their eyes and skin from being damaged by the sun. Curving beams supported the interior of the hull which seemed to be much larger on the inside than out. It was divided into three globular rooms whose outlines and dimensions were difficult to judge because their walls were also transparent. Grouped around their walls, ceilings, and floors were strange devices of unknown purpose that resembled glass and metal flowers, and larger objects that had the look of furniture. Trying to focus his eyes on some of them gave Declan an aching head so he returned his attention to the distant and more familiar ground that was hurrying past his feet.
He saw the fan of tiny rivers that was the delta of the Nile before the eastern Mediterranean opened out to reveal both the north coast of Africa and southern Italy. By bending forward and craning his head from side to side-
