them, and they began to glow. ' Aide!' she chanted, dancing about them. 'The Mayombreros have infected you. I can lift the spell, but it will be expensive.'
The major sighed with resignation. 'What will you take in exchange?'
'From you? Perhaps a cookpot. A piece of fine jewelry…' She looked at the ring on his finger and then at the watch on his wrist. 'This will do very well.'
The major grinned craftily. 'I don't think so. You take my watch, muck up my time sense with a spell.'
'We are your friends.'
'That's what the last guys said. Listen. I'll give you money-'
And in the depths of Gaming Central, Elmo smiled. 'I think you can forget Alphonse, dear. The good major just volunteered.' His finger crept near the microphone. His wife restrained him.
'Not quite yet. We have to give him a chance.'
S. J. Waters leaned over. 'Major, this might not be the best idea, sir.'
'This is another trap, dammit! It's some sort of associative magic.' Clavell dug into his pack and brought out a handful of pretty golden squares: disinte grating jewelry that glimmered in the sunlight like a handful of rainbows. He held them out to Mamissa. 'Look,' he said earnestly. 'Beautiful, aren't they? Much more valuable to my people-'
Her eyes flamed.
Elmo grinned. 'Now?'
Doris nodded sweetly. 'Yes, dear. You can possess him.'
Elmo switched on the microphone. 'Attention, Major-'
The major's eyes widened. He scotched at his ear.
Mamissa spat at the major's feet and moved on to Prez, exchanging a pinch of dust from a purse at her waist for a golden Zulu armband.
Elmo said, 'Clavell, you have just made a major error. Unfortunately, it is not one which you can remedy. In five minutes, during the middle of the Mami Wata ceremony, you are going to become possessed. At my command you will seize a weapon, anything handy, and begin killing the other Gamers. If you kill three before they kill you, you will emerge from the possession unharmed. You are not to discriminate between members of your own team and members of other teams. The person nearest you. If we judge that you are bypassing your own teammates, we will diminish your hit points and kill you out of the Game. Nod if you understand.'
The major gulped and nodded.
'Very good.'
A ghostly shadow peeled away from Alphonse as the Mami Wata priestess dusted him.
'You may relax,' the voice whispered in his ear. 'the gods have changed their minds.'
The priestess had taken his Boulder opal belt buckle! But he was glad he hadn't haggled. Only a fool would enter a Game without trade goods; he had more. He'd get Saray's gift back at the end of the Game.
There were other things to concern himself about or, perhaps, rejoice in. The gods were about to put some kitticombotty on the good major's ass.
14
'Now the crowd is seized by the call of the mermaid… Will all survive, or will the mermaid keep one woman for herself?' — Gert Chesi, Voodoo, 1979
The women stood at the edge of the marshy water, weaving back and forth, moaning softly. Acacia, naked to the waist, wove with the best of them. She had been given a headdress like the one crowning Mamissa Kokoe, with a fish tail protruding from the back.
She had no particular aversion to nudity: she was not a prude, nor was she an exhibitionist, at least where bare-breasted exhibitions were concerned. She was much more likely to get into the spirit of the thing if she stopped thinking of herself as an anthropologist on acid, and just stepped into the heart of the Game.
The music vibrated in her bones. The marsh tossed and foamed itself into waves and tide pools. Easy to forget that this was merely a free-form rooftop swimming pool. To Panthesilea, the Warrior-woman within her, it seemed the doorway into an ocean as deep and unknowable as the night.
The women around her moaned and swooned as the waves whipped into a frenzy. The sky rippled with dark, fire-fringed clouds. As they coiled, pulses of thunder shuddered through the air.
She sneaked a look back at the others. The men were gathered at the edge of the water in a great semicircle. It was kind of nice to have them completely left out of things, for a change.
Then the waters parted, waves rearing up like glass walls. She was looking right down into the center of the lake bed.
All of the women began to scream hysterically, Acacia's shriek the loudest of all. A voice in her ear said, 'You have been possessed. Please walk forward…'
In Gaming Central, El coaxed a young woman through a complex pantomime. She wore a body stocking laced with sensors that registered every shift in position. All reference data was fed by it into the main banks. There it was overlaid with the Virtual effects that changed her from a young woman into… something very different.
In front of her was a hologram of Acacia Garcia. Next to El was another young woman, this one coached by Doris. 'Come on, put your hips into it. Possessed, not repressed. That's better…'
The actors played off the holograms, and the Gamers in turn responded, in a feedback loop that was one vital aspect of the DreamTime phenomenon, a blend of technologies that made total emotional immersion not only possible, but damn near unavoidable…
Acacia walked slowly forward. To her left, Tammi stepped gingerly into the lake bed, but Twan hung back, watching the proceedings suspiciously. One nervous thumb rubbed the hilt of her sword.
Acacia took another step.
The waves rippled, shifting almost shyly. Now, for just an instant, she could see a greenish-blue feminine form, legs fused into a broad, fleshy, muscular tail. It was only just beyond her reach now. If Acacia looked around, she felt uneasy: the walls of churning water stood far above her head, held back by magic alone.
The mermaid beckoned, its fingers waving her forward And the waves collapsed upon her.
Captain Cipher, half-naked and shrunken into himself, saw Acacia vanish into the waves. A moment later Tammi was gone, and then the other women.
Those ashore waved their hands and shouted deliriously. Several fainted.
Trevor Stone waded forward, waist deep in the waves. 'Prez!' he screamed.'Quick. I think the menfolk are set up for a rescue.'
'Right! Ah there's her hand!' It projected up from the waves, and waved forlornly. Captain Cipher called, 'Mouser! Rope!' and the Thief obeyed instantly. They tied a lifeline together. Cipher anchored it to Prez Coolidge and edged down toward the water.
The first to die was Appelion, Troglodyke Warrior.
He didn't even see the major come up behind him, swinging his sword. His head was cloven from his shoulders in an instant. There were screams, and the others fell back.
'Keep him away from the beach!' Alphonse called out. Instantly, the Adventurers formed a protective barrier between the major and the entranced women.
' Crom!' Mary-em yelled. She popped a button on her telescoping staff, and it expanded to ready position. 'He's possessed!'
Half of their best Magic Users were in the water. Black Elk tried anyway. A stream of sparks erupted from his fingertips, but Clavell didn't even blink. His sword glowed with power.
'Demon's work!' Black Elk shouted, scuttling back.
'Top Nun, can you help?' Mouser started the request, but didn't have time to finish. Clavell swung at them
