they tell you?
Don't you know that the Satheri arranged to kill you first? They needed
a favorable death conjunction to bring you back to life; they got it--by
arranging an accident!"

Nema cried out in protest. "That's a lie!"

"Of course," Bork said mildly. "You always were on their side, little
sister. You were also usually a darned nuisance, fond as I was of you.
Come here."

He caught her and yanked a single hair out of her head. She screamed and
tried to claw him, then fought for the hair. Bork was immovable. He held
her off easily with one hand while the fingers of the other danced in
the air. He spoke what seemed to be a name, though it bore no
resemblance to Nema. She quieted, trembling.

"You'll find a broom near the entrance, little sister. Take it and go
back, to forget that Dave Hanson lives. You saw him die and were
dragged off with us and his body. You escaped before we reached our
hideaway. By the knot I tie in your true hair and by your secret name,
this I command."

She blinked slowly and looked around as Bork burned the knotted hair.
Her eyes swept past Bork and Dave without seeing them and centered on
the broom one man held out to her, without appearing to see him, either.
She seized the broom. A sob came to her throat. "The devil! The renegade
devil! He didn't have to kill Dave! He didn't--"

Her voice died away as she ran toward the clearing. Dave made no
protest. He suspected Bork was putting the spell on her for her own
good, and he agreed that she was better out of all this.

"Now where were we?" Bork asked. "Oh, yes, I was trying to convert you
and knowing I'd failed already. Of course, I don't know that they killed
you first--but those are their methods. Take it from me, I know. I was
the youngest Ser ever to be accepted for training as a Sather. They
wanted you, so they got you."

Dave considered it. It seemed as likely as anything else. "Why me?" he
asked.

"Because you can put back the sky. At least, the Satheri think so, and I
must admit that in some ways they are smarter than we."

Dave started to protest, but Bork cut him off.

"I know all about your big secret. You're not the engineer, whose true
name was longer. We know all that. Our pools are closer to perfection
than theirs, not being contaminated by city air, and we see more. But
there is a cycle of confirmation; if prophecy indicates a thing will
happen, it will happen--though not always as expected. The prophecy
fu