Observer seemed a little startled by Jackie's reaction. "Er ... well, no not exactly ... I mean ... Look, I didn't mean we shouldn't try, I just meant we couldn't win. That's all."

"And what use it that sort of attitude? We'll have to think of a way we can win, and do it. Running around like headless chickens and shouting 'The End Is Nigh!' won't get us anywhere." Jackie was satisfied to see Observer suitably abashed.

"So, why is Parity so powerful?"

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Alf frowned. "Basically, what you're saying is that we go up against Parity and try to outgun him? That sounds a bit like an 'I can't think of anything else so we'll do this' kind of plan to me.

"I also don't like the sound of going toe to toe with one of the most powerful mages the world has ever seen when I can't even beat you at tennis."

Apex lit a cigar for something to gesticulate with. "Look, it's not as if it's going to be just you. I'll be channeling Observer's resources as well as my own into your defences. There is no way Parity's reserves can equal that sort of power. And your own reservoir is unparalleled. Unparalleled!"

"Apex, it's not just that (although I have enough reservations to fill a whole train) but it's the method you propose to use to draw him out. Using Observer as bait sounds rather like offering your leg to a shark and hoping it won't take the rest."

"Ah, but that's the point! Parity won't be able to resist Observer's brain! Trading in the slightly shop-soiled secondary cortex he's living in now (no offense intended) for the latest in super conducting quantum effect neural networks will be just what he needs for his plans of world domination! And there'd be none of the drawbacks that Observer suffers, since Parity was a master of material magic."

"It all sounds a bit dangerous to me. I mean, if Parity actually does get hold of Observer's brain ... what then?"

"We will have lost, irrevocably. The levels of concentration Parity could maintain would allow almost infinite control of the entire planet. And the first thing he would do would be to kill us, his only real threat. I know I would.

"But you have to take risks in this business, and it's the only way we can draw out the demon. Besides," Apex made an expansive gesture, "what can go wrong? It'll be like 'The Three Toreadors'!"

"Musketeers, Apex. 'The Three Musketeers'."

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Jackie's ears perked up. "You said it was a stored resource? Like a battery?" Observer nodded warily. "Well, your powers and those of Alf and Apex are self-renewing so couldn't we get Parity to run himself down?"

"You may have a point there ... if we tricked him into throwing spells away for long enough, we might be able to wear him down. We'd have to be careful though not to allow Parity a clear shot or he could wipe out all our defenses with one massive discharge..."

Apex chose that moment to send a projection. His head and shoulders hovered over the parchments which littered the table. "Observer, could you come to the Great Hall please? Oh, and Miss Cartwright as well I suppose. Thankyou." The image vanished again.

Observer could see Jackie winding up for a good shout. "Now don't blow your top! Apex can be a little short with those without magical talents who aren't immediately useful to him. But he'll be pleased as Punch with your idea. Just you wait."

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"And when I moved my hands, the flames moved in sympathy. Quite so. Magic is just a matter of imposing your will upon the environment. Part of the difficulty of Metaspace is thinking of enough metaphors to manipulate everything. It helps to have an active imagination."

"Surely for most things you can just posit the entity itself?"

"That depends on the entity or action. If you have never really flown under your own power, it is difficult to imagine it.

"Ah, Observer. I'm glad you could join us. Finally."

"Sire. I was guiding Miss Cartwright."

"Would a map not have been sufficient? You can read, can't you my dear?"

"Apex, leave her alone."

"Sire, I feel you should treat Miss Cartwright with a little more respect. We have information which may be invaluable in our campaign, and she herself conceived of something capable of advancing our cause to a successful conclusion."

"I suppose you've been reading in the Atlantean room, haven't you? I wrote three quarters of the texts in that room and I personally recovered the ancient records from the ruins of Atlantis. I doubt very much whether anything either you, Observer, or the estimable Miss Cartwright could contribute would advance our cause to any sort of conclusion, let alone a successful one."

Observer was about to reply, but momentarily flickered like a badly adjusted TV picture. "My apologies Miss Cartwright; Alf; I fear my military masters require me to attend them." Addressing Apex, it said "You would do well, sire, to remember that respect is something earned rather than demanded." It bowed, then shrank to a scintillating dot which hung in the air before seeming to rush off into some distant fourth dimension.

"Impudent machine. Well, we will have to formulate our strategies without it for the moment. Now, Alf ..."

"Apex, why don't we hear what Jackie has to say? It could be valuable, you know."

"No, Mr du Plex. I will not waste my time on the whinings of the magically ignorant in these matters. Please leave the room Miss Cartwright."

Alf went to Jackie and guided her towards the door. "You'd better do as he says Jackie. He's right that we need to plan, and he is in no mood to be reasoned with. I've already tried on another matter."

"But Alf, it's important! The thing that's possessing you ..."

"I know Jackie. It worries me too, but Apex has a plan to beat it."

"No, Alf, that's not what I meant! All this time it's been using magic, and ..."

"Yes, Jackie, and we're going to use magic to fight back." He hugged her and gently kissed her forehead. "You'd better go now."

"Alf! Will you listen to me? Alf!" She tried to force her way back in as he closed the door, but it was no good. The door shut and she heard a clunk as he threw the bolt, followed by his receding footsteps. "Oh Alf, I hope you know what you're doing."

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"Yes. That way we can see the lines of magical power along with their approximate source in the mundane world." Apex placed small spots of light within the model and drew vibrant lines between them. "See how this phalanx is reinforced by the defensive mages to the rear of the formation?"

"I think so. But this is a major confrontation - the defense of Tibet, you said?" Apex nodded. "Whereas ours will be a comparatively simple conflict. There will be very little room for confusion, so won't that give Parity an advantage? If he can see that you and Observer are supplementing my own reserves won't he be able to target you individually?"

"If he realises what the lines represent, then possibly. But you must remember that this concept of higher dimensions was never used in Atlantis. They had an advanced geometry and arithmetic, but little else. Symbolic manipulation was unknown, so the idea of 'degree' in an equation and all that that implies never surfaced. If you'll pardon the pun. So I think the risk negligible."

"Parity is not the only one who is going to have trouble thinking in four dimensions, Apex. My own mathematical perceptions are very limited."

"Well, we'll have to do something about that then, won't we?"

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"Jackie!" She knew that voice! The way it made her shiver was very distinctive. But where had it come from? No, not behind her. "Jackie?" There it was again! She looked around her, but there was still nobody there.

"Observer?" No answer. She must have imagined it. She hoped the next room she found was a bedroom. What she needed now was sleep. Her overtired mind was playing tricks on her.

"Jackie? It's me, Observer!"

"Observer? Where are you?" Jackie felt a little foolish speaking to thin air.

"Jackie, I'm not there. I'm talking to your mind direct. I can't afford the concentration to send an image right now, but we must talk.

"Listen, you were right about Parity's reserves. Alf, me and Apex are going up against Parity face to face in Metaspace but we don't stand a chance unless Parity's resources are depleted first. And I know how you can do it."

"Why don't you tell Apex? Or I'm sure Alf would listen..." She wasn't sure about that though, not after the way he'd got rid of her in the Great Hall. In fact, it was Alf's fault she was here now. Men! At least you knew where you were with computers.

"Apex won't listen to me anymore, and Alf is completely under his spell. It's all up to you.

"Here's what you have to do..."

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"Excellent, Mr du Plex! A first rate shot!"

Alf smiled tiredly. "I'm glad you think so. This business of thinking at right angles to reality is very exhausting."

"And your mind is young, still adaptable. Imagine how much harder it will be for our adversary!" Apex' eyes lost focus, or focussed some where else, and he seemed to be listening to something.

"Yes of course Observer, do come in." A glowing cube formed beside Apex, then slid before him. Observer stepped past and the cube slid after again, losing its radiance and disappearing as it did so.

Observer's baroque armour was magnificent, but could not conceal the intricate crystalline structure which formed its reservoir. The painfully sharp edges spoke of phenomenal focus.

"Sire; Alf; how goes the plotting?"

"Well, Observer. We should be ready to face the enemy very soon. We must speak of your place in the design."

"Yes sire, and I must speak to you about what Jackie and I uncovered in the Atlantean Room."

Apex smiled. "Oh, you persuaded Miss Cartwright to help you read the books, did you? I trust you found it worth the wait?"

"Sire? Did we not speak of this in the Great Hall? Was I not about to defend your dismissal of Jackie's competence in obtaining this information when I was forced to attend the warmongers? Do you not remember?" Expressions of perplexity and anger fought it out for Observer's features.

Apex and Alf both looked puzzled, but Apex was the first to speak. "Observer, what are you talking about? I would no more dismiss Miss Cartwright's views than I would my own! I think something is very wrong here. Quickly, what is this information which you obtained?"

"Briefly sire, it appears that Parity founded the Temple of Psychic Communion for worship of the Others. He then siphoned off the magical energy he obtained from that entity along the ley system to be stored in the geomagnetic deposit beneath his house.

"The part which concerned us most is that you built your own house on the same spot, and that Parity seems to have accessed his cache during the operation in the Spirit Room. So..."

"So he has been casting magics about us whilst we thought him without resource." Apex lapsed into a brooding silence.

Alf looked worried. "Doesn't this make your idea of confrontation all the more dangerous? Would we be better gathering our strength for a little longer, maybe enlisting other aid?"

Apex snapped out of his reverie and fixed Alf with his intense stare which was made yet more disconcerting in four dimensions. "On the contrary, Mr du Plex. It is all the more imperative that we strike with as much speed as possible. You must learn ablative spells. Hence we may encourage Parity to discharge his resource with the minimum damage to our own psyches." Observer sighed with relief that his master had thought of this aspect without prompting. "Then we must strike.

"Observer, do you know where Miss Cartwright is?"

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"I'm sorry, Jackie, but I've told you I can't affect material objects. All I can do for you is observe your progress and give you directions. You've nearly broken the lock now though."

Giving another shove, Jackie nearly fell head over heels down the stairs which started right behind the suddenly open door. "Are you sure it's down here? It's awfully dark."

"There's a torch and tinderbox just to your left."

She fumbled fruitlessly with the clumsy firemaker. "Oh, if only I had some matches! What am I thinking of? Of course I've got some matches!" Ruefully, she struck one of them and put the flame to the torch. "How far down do I have to go down? These steps look very treacherous." Jackie thought they looked to be made of granite and must have seen a great deal of use, since the centre of each tread was worn almost to the point where it was level with the next step down.

"If you stay near the wall they won't be quite so worn. The room you're looking for is about thirty yards ahead of you."

Jackie tentatively took a step, and another. How old were these stairs? For granite to wear to this extent... As she crept down the slope she saw the doorway loom to her left. Gratefully she stepped onto the more sure footing it offered. She felt some relief there was no need to go any further down the stairwell. Looking from her safer position, she could see no end in sight. "I wonder why Apex hasn't fitted rails down here. I've seen them on all the other staircases. You'd think he never came down here."

"He doesn't. I mean, not very often. These transport spells are not his main interest. There's a sconce near the door where you can put the torch."

Jackie did so and looked around her in wonder. "Wow! A real sorceror's workshop! What does this do?"

"DON'T TOUCH IT! Er ... Apex hasn't fathomed everything in the room and doesn't want anything disturbed."

"Oh. So, where's the teleporter?"

"Sorry? Ah, yes. It's that star shaped thing in the middle. Just stand in the centre." Jackie dutifully did so. "Now hold your hands above your head and turn thrice widdershins." Jackie looked in confusion into thin air.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Er ... well, it doesn't really matter. Just say something that you believe will carry you to the Temple."

"Oh, right." Jackie grinned and closed her eyes. She clicked her heels together three times and said "There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home..."

The air around her began to shimmer and Jackie's image started to lose substance, to fade, to disappear...

"Huh. People today. No respect..." And the voice faded

Alf ran in through the archway and ran to the pentacle. He looked frantically around, from the torch guttering on the wall to the apparent heat haze above the magical symbol. "Jackie! Where are you?"

Apex walked through the arch at a more sedate pace. "Apex! She was here! I can feel her! Where has she gone?"

The ancient magician was mumbling to himself. "Fascinating. I wonder how he kept this passage hidden for all those millenia?"

Alf ran up and shook Apex by the shoulders. "Apex! Where is she?"

Apex came back to himself. "Alf, I'm sorry, but I don't know. She's gone. Parity seems to have kidnapped her somehow and he has shielded her from prying eyes. We can't do anything for her I'm afraid.

"However, if what she and Observer uncovered is correct, we are all in terrible danger. I suspect that Parity is using Jackie to bolster his resources. If we are to forestall him, then we must fight him now!"

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