'There's always a time-slippage factor to consider,' Hochstader said. 'Delicate business. You don't want to meet yourself coming the other way.'
Max 2 grunted. 'Well, anyway, I'm ready.'
'Do you have the money?'
'In the study. This way, and keep your voices down. Andrea's a light sleeper.'
Max, the first Max, was beyond being stunned, and the name hit his mind with a dull thud. Numbly, he followed the other two through the dark house.
In the study, Hochstader nodded with satisfaction at the contents of the attache case Max 2 held open. Gold coins gleamed in the lamplight. 'Good. All here, I presume.'
'One hundred troy ounces,' Max 2 assured him, 'as you specified.'
'Fine.' Hochstader looked over at Max 1 and chuckled. 'Hasn't it sunk in yet?'
'So this is how you collect your fees?' Max 1 said through clenched teeth.
'Is this a newcomer?' Max 2 wanted to know.
'You got it,' Jeremy said. 'In gold. Paper's not good for butt-wiping. Funny serial numbers in different worlds.'
'We're going to swap worlds,' Max 2 told his double. 'It's that simple.'
'Swap… worlds,' Max 1 repeated mechanically.
'You still have the one-bedroom apartment near the university, right?'
'Max,' Hochstader said, a bit exasperated, 'don't you realize who this is? It's you! A you that could have been if you'd had a bit more luck. Look around. Great house, isn't ii? In this universe, you're a resounding, unqualified success.' He turned to the other Max. 'Right?'
Max 2 nodded. 'Right. And I have Andrea. In this world, we were married. I have my own agency. Dumbrowsky Taylor Burke. Most of our accounts are blue chip, strictly top drawer.'
Max 1 rubbed his temples and sat down heavily in a green leather armchair. 'None of this,' he said in a lost little voice, 'makes any sense.'
'He's just a little freaked,' Hochstader said, strolling over to the bookshelves. 'He'll come around.'
'But why?' Max 1 blurted, looking up at his double. 'Why would you want to trade places with me?'
'The grass is always greener,' Hochstader murmured, running a finger along a shelf of leatherbound volumes. 'Like I said, Max. People always want something different.' He angled one book out from the shelf. 'You have any porno here?'
'It's a long story,' Max 2 said, 'but let's say I need a change. The pressure, the obligations… going into business for yourself isn't the easiest thing in the world. I'm not sorry I did it, but it's wearing kind of thin. Frankly, I'm bored with my life. But it would be all new to you.'
'But how could you leave Andrea? Or is she going with you?'
'No, she stays.' Max 2 seated himself on the matching sofa. 'Look, you have to realize that I've been with Andrea ten years. A lot can happen to a relationship in that time, let alone a marriage. I need a change. I need freedom. I'd give anything in the world to be in your shoes. You're free, no strings, no obligations. You can do what you want. Live in a garret, write poetry-anything.'
'But Andrea…'
'I've had Andrea,' Max 2 said forcefully. His tone was more than a little bitter. 'You've been pining away for her for ten years, or so Hochstader tells me. I want to be free of her.'
Hochstader walked over and stood between the twins. 'You two had better swap clothes.' From somewhere upstairs came the sound of running water. 'Quickly, too, I'd say.'
Max 2 rose. 'Right,' he said, and undid his robe.
Max 1 looked at Hochstader, then at his doppelganger. 'No,' he said firmly. 'I'm not going through with it.'
Max 2 wheeled on Hochstader. 'You said it was all arranged.'
'Oh, he's just a little zoned out,' Hochstader said. 'He'll come around.'
'No,' Max said, thumping the armrest with a fist. 'This is insanity. I won't do it.'
Max 2 stood with arms akimbo, glaring at Hochstader. 'We had a deal!'
Hochstader sighed. 'Yes, we did.' He withdrew a strange weapon from his overcoat pocket. 'And I'm afraid I can't let you queer it, Max.'
Max 1 looked at the gun pointed at him. It was fairly conventional at the grip and trigger end, but the business end terminated in a bell-shaped flange made of fine woven gold wire. ,
'What the hell's that?' he asked, paling.
'A pocket de-tuner. We're an anomaly in this universe. All it takes is a little tweaking to send either of us spinning out of it. That's what this thing does, but it has the accuracy of a blunderbuss. Watch.'
Hochstader aimed the thing at a lamp on a table in a far corner. Max heard a faint high-pitched whine. Both lamp and table promptly ceased to exist, along with a geometrically precise ellipsoidal section of oak paneling on the wall. 'Oops. Sorry about that,' he said to Max 2. 'The field shape needs adjusting.'
'Forget it,' Max 2 said.
Max 1 shot to his feet. 'Where's they go?'
'No way to tell with this baby,' Hochstader said. 'Some backwater universe, probably. I usually use this thing for getting rid of trash. It also comes in handy for settling arguments.' Hochstader swung the gun around to Max 1 again. 'Feel a sudden urge for a fresh change of clothes?'
'Uh, yeah,' Max 1 said, taking off his denim jacket. 'Now that you mention it…'
Hochstader said to Max 2, 'Or I could just zap him.'
'No!' Max 2 said. 'No need. You'll make the switch, right?'
'Do I have a choice?' Max 1 asked.
'No,' Jeremy Hochstader said. 'Make it quick, guys. I have to get moving.'
CHAPTER TEN
'I THOUGHT YOU SAID you knew where the party was.' Cleve Dalton peered down a long, deserted corridor.
'Thought I did.'
'Apparently you don't.'
'Apparently I misunderstood. I was sure Gene said Arcadia.'
'Well, we looked into Arcadia.'
'I wonder if he meant Arctogaea, or said it and I misheard.'
Thaxton said, 'Damned if I can keep all these aspect names straight.'
'They're aren't very many that have names.'
'Oh? Isn't there a book somewhere that names them all and notes their various characteristics?'
'Yes, the Book of the Castle, in several volumes. But I was talking about names everyone's familiar with.'
'I see.' Thaxton looked about. 'Well, where is this Arcto-something?'
'Arctogaea. It's in another part of the castle. East wing of the keep, I think. That seems a long way to go, though.'
'Why don't we try it? The walk won't kill us.'
Dalton gave the matter some thought before saying, 'Maybe they chose it because Linda could work especially good magic in it.'
'Sounds reasonable.'
Dalton nodded. 'Yeah. On the other hand… '
'Up to you, old man. Confound this bloody maze.'
'I sometimes get lost myself, after all this time. Okay, let's check out Arctogaea.'
They walked back the way they had come. The halls were deserted, silent. The high stone walls led on and on, corridor after corridor, room after room. Castle Perilous was a daunting maze to all but the most seasoned
