"Dave, I think you were right about keeping the horse. This walking everywhere is simply unacceptable." Alvar and Chandra had just returned to the lab after their latest expedition. Ahead of them on the walkway, a manual sewing machine floated down the steps and into her bedroom alcove. Chandra carried several bolts of cloth and a bag of sewing supplies, while her escort toted a large, rolled-up rug behind her.

Dave swivelled in the desk chair to face them. He smiled at Alvar's longsuffering-husband impression, and at Chandra's self-satisfied march. At least one of them was having a good day. Then he frowned, curious. "I thought you were going to get curtains," he said.

Chandra happily informed him, "We did. We got all the materials I'll need. I worked in a textile mill for twelve years, so I picked up a few sewing tips. I'm going to make my own."

"Oh. Okay." He watched as Alvar unrolled the rug in the middle of the alcove and then left the woman to her self-appointed task. The master joined him at the desk.

"How's the research going?" asked Alvar. "After you teach me to drive, I want to know how to operate a computer, too."

Dave sighed. "Not great," he admitted. "There's no sign of them. New York's sewer system has been around a long time, so we know they should have showed up somewhere in there. If they've lost their memories like Miss Kolinsky did, who knows where they could have gone? Balthazar never mentioned seeing his past self, or future self, or whatever; but then, he's not all that big on volunteering information anyway. It'd be kind of weird if he had seen them, or even Miss Kolinsky, what with possible paradoxes and all. I'm really not sure what to look for now."

"Have you tried hospital records, or any kind of medical records, for amnesia cases?"

"Yeah, I thought of that. No luck."

"Hmm." Alvar sat on his bed and pondered while Dave continued his fruitless search through New York City history. At last, not altogether pleased with his own suggestion, he offered, "Maybe we don't need to find them."

Dave turned away from the monitor to face the bed. He wasn't pleased, either. "You're not giving up, are you?" he challenged.

Alvar shook his head. "No. That's not what I'm saying. I was just thinking about the second instance, when the wormhole returned the person it took before. Maybe, if another one manifests, it will return our lost people to us, no matter where they are. All we know for sure is that they can't come back via the tunnels."

"But the place is the same on both sides of the bridge," Dave pointed out. "At least it was for Miss Kolinsky. It's just the time that changed. We need to know where to look, so we can correspond to their location here."

"And how are we going to find that out?"

Dave threw his hands up. "I have no idea. Send her back with a note, maybe? Have her find them and bring them to a certain spot?"

"You're assuming a lot, Dave. In no particular order..." Alvar ticked off the points. "First, that the direction of travel will be what we want. Second, that she'll be able to find them and convince them to come with her. Third, that she'll be willing to help us at all. Fourth, that you really are responsible for the wormholes. Fifth, that you can learn to create and control them. And sixth, that something unforeseen won't crop up as a result of our meddling and cut them off from us for good."

"They're already cut off," Dave retorted. "For all we know, we may never see them again. We have to do something."

"Even if we haven't the faintest idea what that something is?"

"Well, why don't we start at the beginning? Let's see if we can recreate a wormhole."

The first issue to be decided was the test location. They discussed it over dinner. Alvar suggested the lab, but Dave firmly rejected that idea. "I've got a lot of really expensive equipment in here," he explained. "I don't want to take the chance of losing it, especially since it's not even mine."

"Where, then?"

"Outside, I think. Hardly anyone uses this street, being a dead end under a bridge ramp and all."

Alvar considered. "That might work. We'd better do this during night hours only, though."

"Yeah, I think you're right. Looks like we're all going to be working night shift for a while."

Chandra didn't think much of that idea. "'All'?" she repeated. "What's this 'all'? Why should I help you? I don't even want the missing sorcerers to come back."

Dave didn't know how to respond to that, but Alvar did. "You'll help because we're not giving you a choice," he growled. "We need both of you if this is going to have any chance of succeeding. What you want is irrelevant."

She shot him a glare that should have signaled pure hatred. That was what Alvar expected, but it wasn't what he got. There was resentment there, yes, but also something else, something he couldn't identify. That bothered him. He pretended he hadn't noticed.

The woman's voice turned icy. "So I'm to be used as a pawn again, I see. First Horvath, now you. How does that make you any better than us Morganians?"

Alvar responded in kind. "I've never made any claim to nobility. I do what I think is necessary. You'd better hope that Balthazar does come back, because he's sure to be more merciful to you than I will be if he doesn't."

To the men's amazement, then, she smiled. "Master Alvar, you're a worthy adversary, someone who, on a personal level, I can actually respect. I won't challenge you again."

Thus began the sorcerers' new project. The trio worked together night and day, sharing ideas, drawing upon each other's strengths, and generally getting to know one another better.

Chandra still wasn't permitted to leave the lab without supervision, but she earned enough trust to move about freely inside. The only stipulation was that she stay away from the computer and from Dave's coil controls.

Dave taught his master's master what the older man wanted to know: how to drive, and how to use modern equipment like microwaves and computers. In return, Alvar continued the apprentice's interrupted sorcerer training in Balthazar's stead.

Chandra offered her own teaching tips, as well. "I know we're on opposite sides," she said. "I just can't help myself. I never got to finish with Drake, so you'll have to do instead." They hadn't heard anything about Drake since that night.

"Excuse me," Alvar interjected. "I don't recall asking for your help, Miss Kolinsky. I'm quite capable of teaching a student on my own."

"Jealous?" she retorted. "Get over it." At his furious scowl, she continued. "Look, I'm not implying that you're less than qualified. I know you're in charge. Give me a break here, will you? I'm bored. What else have I got to do?"

"Well, okay," Dave replied when Alvar didn't answer. "You realize, though, that you're giving me even more of an advantage, learning about Morganian methods and ways of thinking."

She grimaced. "As far as I know, I'm the only Morganian left. You've already got me at a disadvantage. What more do I have to lose? It's not like I can even demonstrate the spells, either, since I don't have my ring. As far as I'm concerned, we've called a truce. I'm just trying to teach someone how to use his talents as well as he can. That's what teachers do."

Beside her, Alvar added, "And that's what a clever Morganian does, too. Make the enemy indebted to you, and you've just upped your chances of survival if it comes to a fight."

Chandra acknowledged his observation with a grin. "Yes, that too."

Outside, they started by testing the limits of the Morganian's energy disruption field. It wasn't large, only a few feet in diameter, but it was so far impenetrable. For her own protection, Chandra's arms had been encased in the concrete of one of the sturdy bridge supports–Dave's work, since this was beyond Alvar's power–to keep her in place on the slim chance that their goal would be accomplished. Alvar began by lobbing plasma bolts at her, in measured increments of strength and speed and size. Nothing got past her natural shield.

"I could fall asleep right here," she taunted him. "Try harder, why don't you?"

Annoyed in spite of himself, he hurled the most powerful bolt he could conjure, hard and fast. She just yawned. Alvar shook his head. "I give up," he conceded. "Dave, your turn."

The Prime Merlinian fared no better. "All right," he finally concluded. "You're immune to plasma bolts, no matter how strong they are. That's one form of energy we can cross off the list of possibilities, then. Pure force isn't going to cause the space-time disruption we're looking for."

Alvar agreed. "Of course not. That's not what caused it before, so we have no reason to believe it would be sufficient now. This is just to find out the strength and stability of the dead zone. What we've determined is that Miss Kolinsky isn't the variable factor here. You are, Dave. It's not even dependent on sorcerer power; it's just her natural sorcerer ability, like your affinity for physics."

"And yours for medicine?"

"Yes. That's how we find most of our recruits, by looking for people with unusual abilities, or those who are more adept than one would expect. Most such people are just gifted humans...er, civilians, but a few really are sorcerers, or will be, once they get a ring and proper training."

Chandra interrupted. "Enough with the preschool lessons," she remarked. "Have you forgotten about me over here? If we're done playing with ball lightning, how about letting me out of this pillar? It's not exactly comfortable, you know."

Alvar gave her a smile that was almost evil. "Good," he told her. "Maybe we should leave you there for the rest of the night. It might help your attitude."

"And what's wrong with my attitude?"

"You said you wouldn't challenge me again, remember?"

"Oh, come on, Alvar. I was just trying to help. You know how it goes; clinical detachment is never as strong as an effort you make when you put your heart into it."

He turned away from her, muttering again. "You manipulative little..."

Now it was Dave's turn to interrupt. "She's right, Alvar. That's what's missing. I need to put my heart into my efforts. From what we've discovered so far, it's going to take a lot of heart. Trouble is, the only way it happened before was...well, not anything I want to repeat."

"Ahem," their prisoner reminded them again. "Let me out now? Please?"

Dave flicked a hand in her direction without even thinking about it. The concrete released her arms, and she stepped quickly away from the pillar before the Merlinian could change his mind. The three of them went back inside.

"Well, we could try artificial stimulation," the physician suggested. "A person's body undergoes certain changes under stress. We can duplicate some of those changes with hormone injections. We'd start small, like with the plasma bolts, and increase the dosage a little at a time until we either get a reaction or it becomes too dangerous to continue."

Dave had his doubts. "I don't know about that," he said. "It sounds awfully risky. I don't like taking drugs anyway–needles make me nervous."

"If you prefer, I can make you relive one of the relevant times. That would probably work, but you'd have to go through the emotional trauma all over again. That, plus you'd still be in that memory when and if a new wormhole does open. You'd be incapacitated. You wouldn't be able to respond, or even to know that it's there. It's your choice."

"I don't like either one."

"Can we do a combination?" asked Chandra. "Use a light trance along with lower doses of the chemicals. Add some environmental effects, and that just might be enough."

Alvar looked to his potential subject for approval.

Dave shrugged unhappily. "It's worth a shot."

The following night, Alvar had the materials he needed. Two chairs had been brought outside for his companions, both of whom would have to be lashed to pillars for protection. Dave's treatment and its expected effects would render him incapable of standing, and Chandra's confinement had to be Alvar's work instead.

Dave sat first. At the older sorcerer's request, he wore shorts, though he was allowed a long coat to keep the chill of night away. Thick coated wire bound his upper body to the concrete bridge support behind his chair, snug but yielding in the same way as a vehicle's seat belt would be.

Behind the pillar was a small table with Alvar's equipment. He moved the patient's coat away from one leg, then rubbed a spot just below the outside hem of Dave's shorts with a moist, pungent pad of gauze. It left a large yellowish spot on his skin. Alvar disappeared for a second, then came back into Dave's field of vision, holding up a syringe filled with clear liquid.

"Ready?" asked the master.

Dave gulped. "No, not really," he choked out. "You sure this is going to work?"

Alvar smiled. "Not at all. Hold still." He bent down and administered the shot. When he straightened, the smile was gone. "It will take a few minutes to start working. You may feel lightheaded or dizzy, maybe have blurred vision, headache, or pain at the injection site. Your heart will be racing very soon. Just try to relax. I'm right here." He looked across at the witness to their activity. "I need to get Miss Kolinsky set up, but I'll be right back."

Chandra's chair was set against the next bridge support. She stood beside it, waiting. Alvar gave her a peace offering. "Before you sit down, would you like to adjust the atmosphere?" he asked. He held out her ring in his open palm.

"You mean you trust me now?" Her surprise overrode her skepticism, but she took the ring without hesitation.

"No. This is only temporary. You're still a Morganian, after all. I'll expect it back after we're finished." What he didn't tell her was that her willingness to give it up again would be a factor in his decision to let her use it more often. By the appraising look on her face, though, he guessed that he didn't have to say it. She already suspected. To reinforce that suspicion, he added, "Don't try anything dirty. I'm keeping a close eye on you."

She grinned mischievously. "The closer, the better." Her smile broadened at his discomfiture. With upraised hands then, she swept the air all around them. The space under the bridge ramp filled with dark clouds, rolling outward and upward to form an enclosed cavern not dissimilar to that from which they'd escaped not so very long ago. An irregular line of fire marked where clouds met the ground, and every pillar sported a hovering fiery globe near the swirling gray ceiling. Rumbles of thunder echoed within the newly created room.

Alvar nodded in approval. "One final touch," he declared. He turned slowly, his red ring aglow, until the walls of clouds crackled with blue flashes in a reasonable imitation of lightning. The sorcerer trio was now in the eye of a storm.

Chandra sat, and the padded wires wrapped themselves around her. She took a deep breath. "I'm ready," she announced.

Alvar returned to Dave, who was feeling decidedly unwell. "I feel sick," the younger man said.

"It's a start," replied the master. He placed a hand on either side of Dave's forehead and gently tilted his head back to rest against the pillar. The hands moved to cover his eyes. In the blackness, Dave felt himself beginning to go numb, until his mind was the only reality left to him. Anxiety built like the rumble of the thunder around him, flashes of fear like blue lightning. Soft words spoke to him in a tongue he didn't know, words that his ears couldn't hear, and they brought forth a horror he'd forgotten. He screamed his anguish..

The ripple wasn't entirely unexpected this time, but it was just as terrifying as before. Chandra tried, unsuccessfully, to bite back a scream. She writhed helplessly in her bonds, trying to get away from it, until she noticed that it was not exerting a pull. She sat and stared in confusion.

Three ghostly figures appeared as if from murky water. Two were quite distinct–a man and a woman–but the third remained vague and somewhat apart from them. It seemed to be falling, but never moving down.

"What is that?" Alvar had seen them, too.

Dave opened his eyes an instant before the doorway roared into being. All of them saw the floodlit world on the other side, a world of trees and river and a few bronzed, barely-clad men fishing near the shore.

The ghost couple drifted closer, and the scene shifted rapidly. More trees, pathways through the forest, and the world settled on a tiny, primitive village. Horvath and Veronica were there.

They were in pain. Both were holding their heads; staring, as it seemed, through the doorway to their likenesses on the other side, their faces scrunched up in agony.

The ghosts echoed the pain. Both they and their counterparts were drawn to the portal, but something was holding them back. The specters focused on the vague, endlessly falling shape behind them.

Alvar stared in disbelief. His ring was telling him something, and he had no doubt it was true. "Balthazar," he whispered.

The doorway lost stability. It collapsed. The world beyond it was gone, and the three ghostly figures soon faded away in its wake.

Alvar freed his companions absently. Chandra joined him by Dave's chair, where he stood with a supporting hand on the Merlinian's shoulder. He told them his new discovery. "That third figure, the one apart from the others, was Balthazar, or some aspect of him. He isn't there in the past with the other two. I don't think he's anywhere, yet. That's why I can't get a lock on his location. He must still be traveling through space-time. We don't know when, or if, he'll ever reach the end. Until he does, the others are stuck where they are." That speed bump had obviously caused more disruption than anyone had thought.

Dave was still reeling from the test. Slowly, he wondered aloud, "Speaking of anywhere, that place we saw doesn't look like New York, not even in 1946. Where are they?"

Chandra shook her head. "It doesn't matter where they are, apparently, but I think they're still in New York. The other people and buildings we saw, though...they're from sometime long before my birthday. The question isn't 'where are they?' The question to ask is 'when?'"