'Do you?'
Neko smiled the way his namesake might over a captured mouse. 'Major William Randall and his tragic wife, Angelica. Beverly Park. Zip and the Hooligans. The fire at Everett Community College. Ice Eyes Estios. Teresa.'
Kham furrowed his brow at the list of names. He couldn't make sense of them or see any connections, but the elf obviously did; Dodger's eyes were narrowed into slits and his expression was hard and sour as an unripe fruit.
'Enow!'' Dodger threw himself out of his chair and stalked across the room. He stopped at the wall and, after a moment, glared over his shoulder at Neko. 'You are a most curious cat, Neko-«z«.'
'No argument,' the catboy said with a grin. 'So satisfy that curiosity and tell us how can an elf be born before any elves are born?''
Dodger returned slowly to his chair and stood looking down at it as if struggling with whether he should sit or not. In the end, he did, though not so casually as when he first arrived. Speaking softly and slowly, he said, 'I am a spike baby, born at a time and in a place where the mana was stronger for a while. Elven genes express when the mana level is high enough. At certain times, and in certain places, the level was high enough for the genes to activate. 'Tis not such a great mystery. There are others like me. The records of such temporary resurgences of magic exist.' 'In dark corners,' Neko said. Dodger shrugged. 'Perhaps 'tis as you say. I did nothing to hide such facts. What matter is it? Those events are decades old; spike babies are a phenomena of no import, for we live in the Sixth World and elves are common now, their existence notable but not noteworthy. You act as if you hold some dark and terrible secret over me. Pray, what is the point of this tiresome exercise? Surely this is no bout of unbridled and pointless curiosity.'
Kham snorted. 'Might be. Ya never know with the catboy.'
'Poor bluff, Sir Tusk. I have seen from your face that you are innocent of much of your companion's doings, yet you have come with him. Hitherto you have always sought your own interests before those of others, and I have had no indication that your inclinations have altered. Thus, you are aligned with him in this invasion of privacy.
'We have run the shadows together, Sir Tusk. I turn to you to sidestep the inscrutability of your companion. What would you have of me? For the sake of our former fellowship, have done with this fencing. Strike home and be done!'
Kham wasn't sure how much of the elf's theatrical speech was real and how much show, but something in the appeal touched him as honest. The elf was really uncomfortable about the topic. Kham liked that. It was nice to see the elf squirming for a change.
'So, how old are ya?'
'I remember the broadcast about the fall of the Empire State Building in the New York City earthquake,' Dodger said quietly.
'Drek! Dat was nearly fifty years ago. Ya look like a teenager.'
' 'Tis the way elves are made.'
'Ya ever gonna get old?'
'Each day I grow older.'
'Drek, ya weaselly elf! Ya know what I mean.'
'Ease off, Kham,' Neko said softly. 'We have no
need to insult Dodger, no matter how evasive he is.
You understand that one cannot always speak plainly,
don't you?' He turned to Dodger. 'You are under
constraints in this matter, are you not?'' 'Believe as you must,' the elf replied. 'Oh, I shall,' Neko assured him. 'Laverty is an
elf like you.'
'In truth, you have seen him. You know he is.' 'I meant something more specific,' Neko said
coolly. 'Laverty is older than you. Is he another spike baby?'
Dodger inclined his head in a sign of affirmation.
Neko poked again. 'Surely the mana spikes would have been noticed if they had occurred before the general return of magic.'
'If they had been common,' Dodger agreed. 'But they are, or I should say, were not. Spikes are transient phenomena, short-lived. They come into existence as the mana rises, and vanish as it falls. At those times magical effects certainly occurred. Some things not generally possible until the dawn of this new age did happen. Not often, and certainly not everywhere. And, indeed, 'tis true that some spike-resultant phenomena were noticed, and reported, but the events and beings were dismissed as the fantasies of tabloid journalism.'
'Such a casual discussion of history suggests an intimate knowledge.'
'Or merely an interest in older matters,' Dodger remarked offhandedly.
'Perhaps. But your easy acceptance of mana spikes compels my belief in them and I think I would have no trouble confirming the previous existence of spikes. I find the concept fascinating. Their existence requires a flow of magic, because each spike would, perforce, have a rising and falling component. Each an up and a down that has happened more than once.' 'I said nothing of repetitive spikes.' 'No, but you did say there were many spikes. They need not occur in the same place or over some definite period of time to suggest a repetitive nature to the overall phenomenon of spikes. Tides rise and fall but reach different levels, and tides are very cyclic. Your description of spikes makes me think of tides, of a repetitive element to the presence of mana. Cycles, perhaps. Have you heard of Ehran the Scribe's cycle theory?'
Without a pause, Dodger said, 'I have said nothing of cycles.'
'You have referred to a return of magic and a resurgence of mana. More than once. Those words refer to repetition, and strongly imply a waxing and a waning.'
Dodger turned away to stare out the window. 'I am no expert on magic.'
'But you know one,' Neko said, smiling at the elfs back.
'I am not conversant with cycles or magic, but I do know enough to warn you that digging into this matter is unhealthy.' Dodger faced them. 'Leave it alone.' 'A threat?'
'A warning. Such activity will bring you to the attention of certain persons…' 'Elves?'
'Persons, Sir Cat. Persons who will take your curiosity ill. The proverbs, even in your country, tell of the results of undue curiosity.''
Dodger might be trying to hide it, but Kham guessed that the decker's 'persons' were indeed elves, elves who were already hiding certain other secrets, elves who went around digging up fragging big crystals covered with carvings. Well, those elves didn't have to
know that he and the catboy were on to them until it was too late for them to do anything about it. But right now, the attention of elves, any elves, was undesirable. Knowledge about elves, however, was a valuable commodity, and the catboy was persistently pursuing that knowledge.
'Is Urdli one of these persons?' Neko asked nonchalantly.
Dodger started at the mention of the name that meant nothing to Kham. 'How do you know that name?'
'Good research. Connections. A collection of coincidences that must, perforce, be more than coincidences. Let us say that I put together a glimpsed face, a certain ruthlessness, memories of such ruthlessness shown in certain operations involving an elf of color, your own connection to this matter, and your previous connections to another matter.'
Head spinning, Kham was beginning to be glad the catboy was on his side.
Dodger sighed. 'All this in the name of idle curiosity, Sir Cat?'
'Hardly idle.'
'Yeah,' Kham agreed. 'We got our reasons.'
' Tis likely. I hope they are good enough for the risks you run.'
'Run risks before,' Kham said. 'It's what runners do.'
' Tis true. Too true.'
'How old is Urdli?' Neko asked.
Dodger stared at the catboy for a long time before deciding on his answer. ' 'Twould be fair to say he is well beyond his youth.'
