Rings of the Masters 3 - Warriors of the Storm by Jack L. Chalker

Author:Jack L. Chalker [Chalker, Jack L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-12-16T19:41:45+00:00

7. THE ETERNAL TESTS OF THE MOTHER

AT THE END OF NINE AND A HALF WEEKS, MANKA Warlock felt as if she'd done as much as she could.

To properly complete the group's training she needed more than the poor simulations that Star Eagle had managed to conjure up, she needed to be in the field where she would be no more experienced than the rest of them. There was no practical way, however, to take everyone down to the surface for a few days and bring them back; each time someone was inserted into the world or withdrawn from it, they ran the risk of detection no matter what the safeguards and timing. Silent Woman's very presence had suggested one thing to her, though, which she carried out and imposed during the last two weeks. She worked out a series of codes involving finger snaps and clicks made with the mouth that could convey basic information, and then imposed a rule of absolute silence. Everything was by gesture and sign, with even the audibles used only when necessary. It was difficult at the start for all except Silent Woman, but after two weeks they hardly needed speech to function efficiently.

It was Vulture finally who emerged from isolation. "We are as ready as we can be," she told Hawks. "I'm still a bit nervous about the Indrus women, who are tough enough but perhaps still too civilized, and the two from Espiritu Luzon, who have done well but who I'm not sure I want to depend on in a crisis and may have to. But we can go no further here."

Hawks nodded. "All right, then. Are you really sure you need so many of us, though? Even at this stage it looks like we are committing a large number to unknown risk for no purpose except covering you."

"I need covering," she assured him. "We all do. In the end, this caper might be as intricate as Janipur's. The only way to know is to go in and find out. Do we have the duplicate ring?"

Hawks nodded. "It's the same size, shape, weight, and general composition as the Janipur ring, and we have placed on its face the consistent design taken from your mindprinted memories of the carvings on the truth-bearer's charms and staff. It's to scale and in the same style, but there is no way to know for certain if it's able to fool anyone until the two are physically compared. We've made a housing for it inside a bone charm so it looks like a single piece. We'll show you how to get it apart. Don't lose it, or you're going to have to come all the way back for a new one."

"I'll take good care of it. Anything else you want to say to them before we go ahead with the mindprinting?"

"We'll cover the details when it's done. Good luck."

"We'll need it," Vulture responded.

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