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door. Marge went over and saw that the water, or humidity, or whatever had
caused the labels
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least, looked new. She ner-
vously reached down, picked up the labels, and handed them to the captain.
"What names are these?" she asked him.
He looked at them. "Joe O," he read, "T of M, Cap, MM, MCR, and WDNYM," he
read. "Not very helpful."
"Well, it is and it isn't," she responded, her heart sink-
ing. "I think I can take a guess at them. Joe is the big barbarian and my old
partner. T of M is probably Tiana ofMorikay, Cap is Captain Ely, MM is perhaps
'mermaid,'
MCR is Macore, and the last probably stands for 'wood nymph.' Captain, I'm
afraid that those bottles contain the souls of my company."
He looked at them, then at the labels. "Which is which?"
"I haven't the slightest idea. The labels had fallen off, and apparently our
opening the door caused enough of a breeze to mix them all up. We know which
bottles, but not who's in what!"
CHAPTER 9
MIXED DOUBLES
Anything that can go wrong will. It's more fun that way.
 Sayings of Murphitus, ancient Husaquahrian philosopher
THEY ASSEMBLED THE FIVE BODIES AND ONE STATUE IN
the cabin of the Piebald Hippogryph, and the six bottles were set on the table
in front of them. Agie and Magie, although very tired and looking very frail,
had consented to advise on the restoration, but they really could help only
with the technical procedures.
"One soul is identical to another in the pure state,"
Agie told them. "Only when it is mated with the body does it become
distinctively individual, although, of course, it contains the coded
information on memory and such, which will reorganize the brain when it
enters. The trouble is, we can't tell one from another unless they're in
bodies and can tell us for themselves."
"Unless they can tell us," Magie agreed.
Marge and Kolos both frowned. "So," the Kauri said, "it's strictly luck in
this case, and the odds of getting them all right are impossible." She had a
sudden thought/'What if they are wrong? Can't you unmix them when we know
who's who?"
"Oh, my, no," Agie said worriedly. "Once the soul and the body mate, we know
of no way to undo them except through the same sort of process that caused
this in the first place, and that requires a demon and a very serious
bargain."
124
JACK L. CHALKER 125
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"Very serious," Magie repeated ominously.
"What about transmutations, then?" Marge suggested, trying to figure a way out
of this. "I mean, I've seen people changed into animals and vice versa."
"People into animals, yes," Agie replied. "That's no problem. But people into
other people that is different.
One can take on the appearance of another, but it is all illusion. Sorry it's
the Rules, you know."
"It's the Rules," Magie echoed.
Marge knew about the Rules all too well, but she wasn't ready to give up yet.
"When Joe and I first came here from Earth, Ruddygore did something to change
our appearance. That didn't mean much to me in the end, because I was a
changeling, but Joe didn't look much like the man you see here."
"Oh, yes, but, you see, that was in the process of binding you to the Rules.
Even then was not a demon directly involved?"
She nodded. "I'm afraid so," she responded. "I'd for-
gotten."
"Then your only hope is for Ruddygore to call in some of his debts and get a
demon to help them again, if Hell will do so. If the demons are directly
involved in this plot, they will not be likely to help in any case."
"Not at all likely," Magie agreed. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]