"My mental clock must be out of sync, I’m exhausted."

David twitched a nod. "You’ve been Portalling hither and thither. How many hours is it since you last had a meal?"

"Uh, breakfast on the lawn was... ages ago."

The assembled Cáirneach nodded ruefully. "When you first start this lifestyle, you’ll find food and sleep are in short supply. We’ll get you a sandwich, then go to the meeting. We’ve got an amphitheatre now, you know. We liked the ambience."

Will shook his head. "Only because we want to impress an outsider. If you weren’t with Silver, we wouldn’t have let you in if you had a pair of Harlequins breaking down the door for you. And you won’t catch me saying that anywhere in the other place."

A few young blonde tourists pointed at the group. At least, they had to be tourists. Locals wore rather more. Jake saw one looking at him and wondered if he could lose the group, including a scowling Stella, for a bit. Tom beamed hugely.

"Hello," he said in what Jake suspected was perfect Greek, but still sounded to him like American English, "can I help you?"

"Yes, smiled one of the women in what was actually English. "You can raise your hands."

There was a vague murmur of "Sisters!" And several Cáirneach vanished. Jake turned to see what they’d done- and yelped again.

It wasn’t the best escape plan Silver could come up with, but there was nothing else to be tried. Except that as she reached down for the pouch at her belt, she realised that the Sister must have taken her Portal sticks. Anyway, it wasn’t as though she could see to set a Portal up, or even jump Sreen.

Theoretically, the Unity could track any of its parts no matter where, so Silver, much to her seething fury, had to set her store on a rescue bid by the people who’d... killed her husband? Sometimes she remembered flashes, a knife going in, but she was the one holding the knife. And her husband suddenly towered over her. That wasn’t right, but a hole opened deep in her mind - don’t think about it - and sucked the image away.

"Soon be there," said Sreen brightly.

"Captured by the psycho-bimbos from Hell. Cool."

There were variations of the theme of "shut up, Jake."

Jake blinked. "That you, Silver?"

"Can I get back to you on that one? Why are you chained to a table?"

"I dunno. I kinda wanted ones of those leather couches, you know? The ones where there’s this little switch and it massages you an’ stuff-"

"Yeah," sighed a Cáirneach, "definitely Silver’s."

"Ta, Will."

"Don’t worry, Mr Andes," a voice purred, but failed to remind Jake of Jenn. "I’m sure something can be arranged. There are a number of novices would be delighted to make your further acquaintance."

"Have you cleared it with Adwen?" asked Silver. "If someone would like to clear away the rejects?"

A number of tertiary Sisters took the men away, leaving Silver, Watson and Stella. A secondary Sister peered at them.

"We have a Cáirneach, a Unity and an Independent, all plotting together. I wonder why? Silver and the Cáirneach are both from Earth, of course, but what’s the Unity’s interest?"

Watson slipped her chains- their chains, thought Silver, remember she’s not a person in her own right- and matched the Sister’s gaze.

"If we told you, you’d never believe us. Tell me, how is the Sisterhood? We don’t see as much of you as we used to."

"You will. We’ve had other fish to fry."

"No, you haven’t." Stella shook her head. "You don’t even bother with the Knights anymore, so it’s just the Unity that’s a threat to you. And if they haven’t seen you around."

Silver wished she could get a hold of the situation. Strangely, the rescue had yet to show up. The Unity was nothing if not efficient, and it wouldn’t dare leave a part of itself in Sisterhood hands. The more she thought about it, the more she realised the Unity might have a point. Everyone was getting weaker. Thinking about it, no Knight had been hunted down for a long time, and Sisters were getting fewer. She wished she could talk to Stella alone, tell her these fears and see if they were founded, or just another trick of the Unity’s.

"We will not discuss weakness." The Sister was perfectly secure in her arrogance. Silver opened her mouth, and did something very stupid.

"I want to see Mater. I want to see your leader."

The Sister gawped, her serenity abruptly broken. Stella closed her eyes, expecting retribution, and Watson merely looked at Silver as though she’d finally cracked.

"Have you any idea of the blasphemy? Nobody can see the Great Mother. Only the Prime, and that through a mirror."

"Bit of a Gorgon, is she?" Watson relaxed, the Unity having realised that Silver was deliberately provoking the Sister, who for her part had gone a strange purple colour. With a hiss, she stormed out. "Please, God, say she’s gone to grab a mirror."

Stella squeaked. "What the hell are you doing?"

Quickly, Watson and Silver filled her in on their conclusions. Stella bit her lip.

"I shouldn’t be telling you this, but a Harlequin trashed the bell. You know, the one from Du Cray?"

Watson blinked. "Useful. And it supports our theory."

Silver sighed. "But surely to God we can’t fight the Harlequins! Even working together."

"Are you an the Unity working together?"

"No! We’re just... working in the same direction."

"Ah." Stella nodded sympathetically. Silver’s history with the Unity was fairly well-known.

There was a sound, the Sisterhood equivalent of a fanfare, but it held unpleasant harmonics that made the mind ache. Silver remembered the knife going in for a second, then a woman entered, her aged face perfectly serene. A prime Sister, one of only five in existence. Rumoured to be immortal, or at least not so subject to the caprices of Time. Before her, two lesser Sisters held a long flat object covered in a silken cloth.

"Silver," said the Prime, "Long have we waited for you to come to us. You will see today what we are, and in time you will join us."

Watson looked almost interested. "Of course, the witch girl is a scientist. We thought you would have an interest in her."

"I for one have been content to wait in patience. All things will be."

"One of your reports from the future? You’ll have to do better than that."

Silver gritted her teeth. "I’m not here for a job interview. I need to know if you can still see the future."

"There is no such thing as ‘the’ future, only lots of potential."

"But you feel confident enough to predict I’ll become a Sister?"

Watson nodded. "The best way of predicting the future is to be it. And now-"

"We’ll save you!" Jake and the other men burst through a connecting door, a pair of furious novices in their wake. Then, a large navy-blue Portal opening and spilling out Unity, diverted attention. Watson wordlessly crossed to join them, and they tried making a grab for everyone else. Silver was snatched out of the way, and away from the mirror, by Jake, and told him in broad Anglo-Saxon exactly how unwelcome his rescue attempt was. Stella, guessing her intention, grabbed the mirror, found it curiously light, and scampered round to join them, picking up Silver’s Portal sticks on the way. Mercifully, it opened rather faster than usual, so Jake, Stella and the mirror got through, before Silver’s arm was grabbed by one of the Unity. Furious with life in particular and everyone in it in general, Silver threw her attacker over her shoulder, into the Portal, then stepped through.

Nobody noticed.

© Naomi 'Ni' Claydon 2000. No copying without permission.