Imperium Tale

Part 1

The Beginning.

Gorgo stretched out a pseudopod. His vast bulk stretched for
light-millennia across the firmaverse, but at present he was
concentrating on a small wierhole which he had created with his
dabbling-probe.

He was curious.

He had not created this universe. He had come upon it in his wanderings
through space and dimension.

Gorgo was a creature who was neither here, nor there - neither when,
nor wier. Sometimes he enjambed a continuum, sometimes he burrowed
through it. The result was the same - complete destruction for any
sentient mortal life forms within range.

While the life-forms concerned were almost meaningless to Gorgo, he had
recently come upon another of his kind. Such meetings were infrequent,
but almost always resulted in a monstrous coupling which created
universes and time-dispersed continua in a boiling spangle of
alter-reality. Occasionally, they produced offspring, bubbling
half-grown out of the roiling maelstrom that trammelled across the
multiverse.

But Gorgo had been denied.

The Other had made a stipulation. Gorgo had to find his 'feeling self'
and produce evidence he was a creative, caring being, before the Other
would allow the mating.

Metaphorically 'panting' for a mating, Gorgo had no choice. The Creator
could return before he found his next opportunity, and he needed a row
of offspring lined up for him if he was to get a chance at
continuing.

Thus the dabbling-probe.

The probe was a means of manipulating at a
microscopic/micro-tempic/micro -dimensional level, with an
intra-interpretational frond that brushed instinctuality into the
combining elements.

Gorgo (to conjure up an understandable metaphor) lay on his side
doodling on the sand. (The fact that his 'side' constituted a
multidimensional, interstitial 'presence' is neither here nor when, and
that the 'sand' was a chrono-spatial disparation is similarly
superfluous for our purposes).

'What if I create some discreet, discrete, alter-actualities in the
interstices between mortal worlds?' he mused. Mortal worlds were
created by the Creator. Gorgo could not interfere with them by intent
(enjambment and burrowing were unintentional, but the Creator would
come down on him hard if he intentionally destroyed a mortal
miasma).

And so he started the task. Time quasi-passed as Gorgo worked. He
created the 'imperiums' - alter-existence environments with their own
instrumentalities. Due to his nature, the imperiums he created were
fundamentally disruptive and destructive. But Gorgo knew he would avoid
censure by engaging the frond, which ensured good and creative,
uplifting imperiums would be created in mirror form to counterbalance
his bent. Gorgo knew the secret of salvation was counterbalancing one's
bent. (if only we had learnt his wisdom).

And so!

The Imperiums were made. And the environment for Imperiums was created,
so more could grow.

Gorgo, with a stroke of his mighty enabling frond, spattered the
space/time continuum with putative Imperiums. How they might grow, how
they could grow, how they would grow, was open. When, where, and wier
they would grow was open!

And so the confundibulum was born.

And the Instrumentality gained a chance to exist!

*

Building the Quincunx

Tony put his cards on the table.

"I want you to build me a great Imperium, but there's one
problem"

"Limited budget!" grunted Baaaaarm, raising a scaly eyebrow.

"Yes" Tony was surprised "How did you guess?"

"Oooh, intuition, I suppose" Baaaarm sighed wearily.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So - what's your budget?"

"I'm not telling you! I know that old trick!"

Baaarm stood slowly, raising himself to his full height of 18 feet, his
combed head scraping the low ceiling of the hall, while the spurred
heels of his cock-like legs screeched across the stone floor. One of
his three-clawed talons slammed into the table, the central claw
digging into the plastiwood, gouging out a deep groove.

"LISTEN!" he emphasised gently "TELL ME YOUR BUDGET AND I'LL BUILD YOU
AN IMPERIUM - OTHERWISE??????sod off!" Baaaaarm sat again with a weary
smile, his chitinous buttocks scraping on the bench.

Tony was petrified, his very soul shivered. 'Shoot' he thought, 'this
guy could eat me'. As if reading Tony's mind, Baaarm's long tongue
flicked out an alarming length, licking across his scaly snout, and
lingering for a moment over the yellowed rows of razor teeth that
festooned his mouth.

'Should I tell him I've only got ten thrillion?' he pondered.

"What?" Baaaaarm asked.

Tony stared at him.

"Ten thrillion WHATs" Baaaaaarm insisted.

'Bugger' thought Tony.

"Erm , ten thrillion Gullions!" Tony gasped as Baaaaarm's sulphurous
breath began to get him down.

"Oh, that's Ok!" Baaaaarm relaxed "I thought you might want to palm off
some Pardots or Skandals."

"Sorry about the breath by the way" Baaaaaaarm added, smiling.

Tony left the temporal axis with relief. He'd got a deal, and
Baaaaaaarm came well-recommended. And the specs were good!

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaarm rubbed his claws together. 'Gullions' he chortled.
Tony had not known that the Slubber system had recently collapsed on
itself causing a galaxy-wide shortage of Gullions. 'Well' Baaaaarm
thought, in fairness, 'I'll build him one hell of an Imperium !'

*

In the planning stage, Baaaarm had explained to Tony that the
fundamental structure of an Imperium was built on a number of elements.
Placing his claw on the table, he pointed out to Tony that the
'threads' would exist around and between the major elements, which he
exemplified with his talons.

"I always like to follow nature" said Baaaaaarm, proudly gazing at his
handsome claw. So I propose a tricunx" He smiled knowingly.

Hesitating, Tony placed his hand on the table. Baaaarm drew back
startled.

"What in Gods' names is that!" he gasped in horror. He could not
believe what he saw. A soft-fleshed lump with five wiggly worms
spidering out of it. 'Uuuugh!' and they're all different lengths!' he
noticed with revulsion. His stomach was turning over.

"Five" said Tony. Tony had no real idea what he was talking about, but
knew that five must be better than three. He was puzzled as to why
Baaarm appeared to be writhing, orange sweat running down his scaly
breastplate.

"OK, OK!" Baaaaarm agreed "Now remove that thing!"

Tony had felt he had won better value, but he did not realise that
supporting a quincunx took far more energy than a tricunx. He would
live to rue this deal, but didn't know it at the time!

*

"Well there she is!" Baaaarm indicated proudly, waving all three of his
arms in an excessive display of pride. Tony had to agree. Firstly,
because one of the waving arms decided to land on his shoulders and
clutch him, the horny talons digging through his cloak and denting his
Golden epaulettes. Secondly, it was bloody brilliant!

"Bloody brilliant!" he breathed aloud. Baaaaaaarm swelled with pride.
Here was a client! Slipping a crystal flagon from his crotch-pouch, he
proffered it to Tony.

"Let's drink on the deal!" He gazed fondly at Tony, who quailed.
Finally Tony decided he had to take at least a sip, out of
politeness.

"Drop of this never did anyone any harm" were the last words he heard,
before coming round two days later.

He lay, stinking in a pool of his own filth, gazing around at the most
magnificent Imperium he had ever seen. 'Mine all mine!' he mused.

Tony, new Lord of the Imperium and Prime Lord of the Instrumentality,
staggered up, and set to work. He needed to get his new Imperium up and
running!

*

Part 2

Trouble on't Threads!

Lord Tony of the Imperium, Prime Lord of the Instrumentality, burst
into the control room, his purple cloak flying behind him, his gold
breastplate gleaming in the bright lights.

"Emily!" He exclaimed "You called me! What's wrong?"

Lady Emily, Controller of the Threads, was sitting at a large console,
staring deep into a misty, glowing screen, where motes of colour danced
and wove. Her practiced hands were flying over the console, pressing
buttons, adjusting small levers and calling instructions to some of the
Lords who were already deployed.

Emily was dressed in regulation silver top and shorts, with
thigh-length silver boots. She wore the controller's cap, a silver
helmet, with a fin-like projection running down the crown. Her dark
hair peeped from the helmet and framed her perfect face, which was
currently wearing a worried frown.

Tony pressed closely to better view the situation playing itself out on
the big crystal. He liked pressing closely to better view the situation
playing itself out on the big crystal when Emily was on duty, but would
never admit that to himself.

"Oooh Tony" Emily protested, "I think your dirk is popping out!"

Tony looked down. She was right! Embarrassed, Tony hastily shoved his
silver dirk back into the leg sheath in his Imperium high boots.
'Improperly dressed' he thought.

"A thousand apologies, Lady Emily, I crave your forgiveness". This was
standard apology level 1, and perfectly adequate between work
colleagues.

"Granted" Emily gave forgiveness smile level 1. "But look Tony!"

In one corner of the screen, a red cloud was pulsating. Around it was a
nimbus of orange and yellows. For now, the rest of the screen was slow
blue.

"How's the quincunx?"

Emily switched views, showing the five elements of the thread
foundations. Each glowed steady blue. Tony sighed with relief

"That's reassuring" he murmured. "The fail-safes are holding stability
for now"

He may have spoken too soon. One of the elements gave a slight flicker,
and began to alternate to yellow.

"Emily!" Tony barked. Emily switched back to the detail view. An angry
red buzz filled half the screen. Somewhere an alarm signal began to
sound repeatedly.

The Lady Emily turned her lovely face to Tony. "This is serious Tony! I
haven't seen it like this since that?????"

Tony nodded "don't remind me!"

"Now, what status do we have?"

"The Seven Lords are supposed to be on standby, but I can't contact all
of them. I've drafted in some of the more experienced Minor
Lords!"

"Good!" Tony knew he could rely on the Lady Emily. "Avatars?"

"Not yet, Tony, you know how they can turn negative if someone spots
them"

"Hmm, I'll leave it to your judgement. Duties?"

"I've got the Ladies Li and Belaine on insertion of calm rationality"
Tony nodded 'good choice!' he thought.

"And Lord Galt on blunt but fatherly advice"

"Excellent! And the rest?"

"General mopping up, you know, the 'now, now, let's not?.' stuff"

"Ok , Emily, looks like you've got it covered"

"For now, Tony. For now" Emily gave a worried but confident quirky
smile.

'She's a brave girl' Tony thought.

The door burst open. The Lord Andrew burst in, silver breastplate
gleaming. "I was out in the database commending when I heard the
rumbles - how can I help?"

'That's Lord Andrew' thought Tony 'always there and straight to the
point'

Emily did not hesitate. "Be 'wise uncle'- no-nonsense!" She
commanded.

"Right, I'm going out there!" Lord Andrew headed for the portal.

"Good man!" Tony called, and Andrew gave a 'firm but loyal' smile over
his shoulder as he slipped into the force field and disappeared.

*

Time could be controlled in Imperium Centrum. Once in the threads,
however, The Lords could easily be drawn in to normal time by the
enmeshments of the stuttering mortals, but this was all part of the
job.

Since the start of this era, they'd only had one 'mortality'. One of
the Minor Lords, Guff, who'd seemed quite satisfactory at the start,
had gone native, causing trouble with abuse, sarcasm, and general
nastiness, all of which individually were cause for major disciplinary
action and a bar to entry to the High echelons of the Instrumentality.
For the multiple abuses, he had been expelled. But he had secretly
taken his cloak, tinkering with its powers so now he would slip,
invisible, through the threads. He could not be pinpointed, but the
trails of glowing oranges and the occasional red often betrayed his
presence amongst the participating mortals.

But it had been quiet for a while, what had caused this reaction?

*

"Holding quiet for the moment!" Emily reported brightly.

'What a girl' Tony thought.

He remembered the day he'd recruited her. Little did she think she'd
become part of the Instrumentality when she'd applied for a seemingly
innocent job as a website editor:-

"Good morning" The dark-haired girl exclaimed brightly. She was
smartly-dressed and cheerful.

"Please take a seat" Tony's avatar asked, and nodded to the avatars of
two Minor Lords who had accompanied him on this manifestation probe.
The girl, Emily, had proved to be ideal for the job advertised, and
behind the spoken words, the two Minor Lords probed her spirit and
innermost soul to check her out.

"Well, I think I'm satisfied!" Tony exclaimed as he got the mental
thumbs up from the two Lords. 'She'll do!' - the cheerful message
flashed in his third eye.

At the appropriate time, and after careful scrutiny by the ruling
echelons and Major families, Emily had been granted entry to the
Instrumentality and was now Vice-Major Lord, Controller of the Threads.
In due course she could well graduate to the Ruling echelons - this was
a fast-growing Imperium!

Tony looked forward to that, as the Major Lady's regulation dress was a
very skimpy little gold number.

*

The mortal manifestation of the Imperium took several guises. A
literary website, the John Lewis department stores, and more recently a
manifestational spur as 'Starbucks'. The Imperium itself hung in its
own 'alter-existence', growing and thriving with the mortal support and
mental energies flowing. There were other Imperiums. The Lords could
sense them. It seemed there could be no direct contact, as each had its
own alter-existence and it was impossible to bridge through a mortal
world into another Imperium. In this mortal world, they had identified
the Argos chain of stores as a manifestation of a fairly simple,
harmless, Imperium. Of more concern was the 'Four by Four' Imperium,
which had managed to create a super-avatar known as 'Clarkson'.

They had sensed some attacks on their website from a rival supposedly
for dyslexic writers, and were in a tussle to get the rights for an
exceptionally well-written novel about fish by the author Francis
Johns.

Tony had long suspected that the fallen Lord Guff had fled to this less
discerning imperium and was hoping to worm his way into their
instrumentality by doing some 'dirty work' for them.

*

Emily was on her break. Things were holding steady.

"Here, you deserve this!" Tony put down a mug of warm ambrosia.

"What have you got?" Tony had a large glass of cloudy pale yellow
liquid.

"I don't know the name. It's new. One of the mortals dropped in a crate
for us to try. It's interesting - kind of 'furry' taste is the best way
I can describe it - but it keeps you on the ball!"

"You didn't want manna?" He added.

"No, Tony, I'm watching my figure!"

'Wow' Tony thought to himself 'so is everybody else!' Catching himself,
he dropped his hand to his dirk to check it wasn't protruding again.
Temptation sure was a difficult thing to avoid!

"What's causing this, Emily?"

Emily considered. "Well, Lord, there's been a flood of new mortals just
recently"

"In itself, that shouldn't be a problem" Tony mused "we've always
managed in the past to assimilate them"

"Don't forget we were younger then - we now have a considerable body of
older members who don't like the new kids running around the cosy
corners they've set up"

"But the place is free to all!" Tony protested.

"Well, the oldies have got some fixed ideas, and resent change. The
newcomers can be noisy!" Emily added "but there are groups of them
having a great time. Some older members won't join in and start to
grumble"

"Will it work out in time?" Tony asked

"I guess" Emily agreed "but perhaps we could structure something to
control assimilation"

"Control!" Tony flinched "I don't like that Emily - not at all!"

"Well, advise and guide" Emily corrected herself, "but in a formal way.
We owe it to both the new people and the oldies alike"

"But why this flare-up" Tony shook his head.

"I detect the hand of Guff here!"

Tony was surprised "I didn't know you??."

"I know most things, Lord" Emily blushed shyly.

'Gods! I hope not' Tony thought to himself.

A shrill alarm rang out, and the coffee-shop rumbled on its platform,
shaking slightly.

Tony and Emily gazed at each other in horror. "The quincunx!" She
gasped.

*

The deputy controller was distraught, the screen glowed red and the
quincunx stability monitor was flashing orange. Emily raced in, giving
the ritual handover greeting, and took control.

"Damage report" barked Tony

"One sector totally blown! Major confrontation, personal abuse,
emotional accusations! - Spreading waves of discontent amongst normally
stable members. Migration from other threads is unbalancing this
element, and this will get worse as word spreads. We need to move fast!
If this spreads to the other elements, we could loose the
quincunx!"

"That serious?" Tony was grim.

"Almost back to square one"

"What can we do?"

"The avatars"

Tony gulped "Go on"

"Formal order?" Emily prompted.

Tony nodded, flipping his Instrumentality link, speaking the command
words into the database.

A beep on Emily's link confirmed the order. Emily's hands danced over
the keys. Tony could only admire her skill as she sent avatars
scurrying about, calming, diverting people away to other threads,
starting interesting new threads and maintaining them, keeping the
audience captured.

As the seconds ticked, the red faded slightly, turning to orange. Then,
another flare up!

"Another attack!"

For ten crucial minutes, Tony sweated as the foundation of his Imperial
segment hung in the balance.

Then "It's OK!" Red flickered to orange, then to yellow "they've backed
off!"

"Thank Gods!" Tony breathed "Start tidying up, and back those avatars
out of there before people cotton on. Emily's fingers flew.

"She's tired out" Tony thought after a couple of hours. He flicked his
link on and called Andrew. "Are you free to get up here and spell the
Lady Emily?"

In no time, Lord Andrew was managing the console. His style was
different from Emily's. He was underpinning and rebuilding as he went.
'What a team I've got' thought Tony.

The alarm hooted!

Tony wearily dragged himself to the console. Andrew was
struggling.

"It's a new attack - a new contender - personal abuse, emotion!" it's
too much. The screen was flaring red again.

Emily ran in "stay in there Andrew!" she commanded as he began to rise
with the approved greeting. "I'll take the spare console".

In no time, Emily was working with Andrew, patching, holding, calming.
But the screen glowed red.

"We can't hold this!" Andrew yelled. Tony put a hand on his shoulder to
calm him.

"This is Guff's work!" Emily too was beginning to panic.

"Somebody switch off that damn alarm!" Tony shouted.

The alarm stopped. Tony looked back to the screen as both Andrew and
Emily gasped.

The screens were slow blue, calm, tranquil, motes buzzing lazily
about.

"What is it? Is it real?" Tony breathed.

"It's real enough" confirmed Andrew. "A brand-new mortal just walked in
and breathed calm and common sense. Everything stopped. Damn! They just
fixed it themselves", he turned, gazing at Tony with wonder in his
eyes.

"Guff's off in another thread, stirring!" warned Emily as faint yellows
popped up. "Nothing serious, though" she sighed in relief as she moved
a few of the remaining avatars to divert him. He would spot them soon
enough, but she would change their forms quickly to keep him
engaged.

The three Lords stared at the blue screen. "We can learn from these
ordinary mortals" Tony proclaimed. "They have some amazing
virtues!"

"Fancy an Ambrosia, Emily?" Tony asked.

"Don't mind if I do!" Emily smiled.

"No, you first!" Tony invited. She walked ahead of him in her tight
silver shorts.

Tony grinned as he followed her.

*******************************************************************

Part 3

The Imperium Incident

The Imperium had been happily quiet for several interludes.

Lord Tony of the Imperium, Prime Lord of the Instrumentality relaxed in
the Imperium Central Coffee Shop, which also served as the nexus of the
'Starbucks' spur. Gazing at the pale yellow, cloudy liquid in his
glass, he thought 'this stuff grows on you, I should ask that mortal
for a few more crates'.

Outside of Tony's ken, a shadow was growing over the Imperium.
"Lady Emily, please look at this!" the Lady Tess held out her
logiscreen to Emily, Lady of the Imperium, and Controller of the
Threads. Emily was dressed in a fetching little gold number, which Tess
really admired. The Lady Emily had earned her elevation to the Ruling
elite following her performance during the recent major problems on the
threads.

"Gods!" Emily gasped "what does this mean, Tess?"

"It's a major incursion into our alter-existence!" Lady Tess
exclaimed.

Emily craned forward. She could see the dark purple of their
alter-existence filling the screen. The quincunx sat in the centre,
five blue artefacts. Around them crackled the threads. All seemed
normal. But then Emily began to make out a shadow, creeping from the
bottom left-hand corner. It looked like a pincer-shaped cloud. It had
already spread around two of the quincunx elements, and was clouding
two more. At the focus of the pincer-shape, like a nut in a nutcracker,
was the fifth element, the prize!"

"How did you get this view, Tess?" Lady Emily was amazed - her own
screens gave no similar information. True, a couple of the threads had
been very quiet for some time, two others were slow, and even the
'general' thread was not crackling like it used to. The threads had
changed!!!

Emily realised that Tess was explaining "Well, Lady, I did a little
work on my logiscreen to combine different views and highlight
delta-differences in a hyper-logistic sense."

Emily was lost. She nodded confidently, using the number 2 leadership
nod she had learned at Lord-School.

"I see!" she lied "continue".

The Lady Tess was encouraged. From previous experience of Emily, she
did not rate her technical skills, but that Lord-School must be
something special!

" Well, I fettled this little doohickey and adjusted the twargle-screw
and got a macrocomposite infundiamental extrusion of the time-life
universe!"

Tess looked triumphant. 'Had she finished?' thought Emily. She waited,
counting the regulation Lord-count.

Obviously she had.

"Tess!"

The Lady Tess looked up, knowing that Lady Emily had considered deeply
and weighed much in the balance before coming to a conclusion.

"This is a matter for Lord Tony!"

*

Tony listened closely.

"Ratings on the consumed elements have fallen drastically" Tess
explained.

"Stats!" Barked Tony.

"To date, 452 and 635 posts"

"Total?" Tony asked in disbelief.

Tess glanced at Emily, who had flushed. She knew Emily would feel
guilty about not spotting this herself. But secretly she thought 'this
could be my chance!' Taking a quick look at Emily, she replied:-

"Yes"

"Well, go on!" Emily commanded in a strained tone.

"OK, on the others, 6,950 and 2,195"

"But ?.." Tony protested "that's so low!"

"Yes" Tess jumped in without the prescribed courtesy. Making a ritual
obeisance with a nod of her head, she continued "that's because the
'General' thread has 26, 906 posts!"

"Jeez!" Tony slapped his palm to his head. "Why didn't we know
this?"

Before Emily could stop her, it slipped out:-

"Accountants - have you got any accountants?"

Tony hit the roof.

"Gods!" he exclaimed. "What is this? Emily - get me one of those ? you
know?drinks!"

Emily knew that, now she was a Lady of the Ruling echelon, Tony had no
right to speak to her in such a fashion. She knew, but her shame at not
spotting this terrible trend made her accept. She was glad for an
excuse to leave.

Scuttling attractively along the corridors of Imperium Central, Emily
went in search of that stuff for Tony. 'God' she muttered. She never
knew what it was called. 'Pale yellow, cloudy ?.er ?.furry!" she yelled
at the startled server.

"Lord Tony" Tess respectfully continued, "accountants tell you what is
going on in your business"

"We are an Instrumentality!" Tony declared.

"Nevertheless" Tess persisted "you need management accounts"

"What the ?.." Tony restrained himself. "Er, how could that
help?"

"Well, you're not covering all the exits, you are open to competitive
attack, your ruling echelons need information to help in their decision
making!"

Tony blinked as Emily returned with his drink. "Thanks, Em" he forgot
his manners as he gulped at the cloudy yellow liquid. "Gods, that's
better!"

"What's been said?" Emily enquired innocently, thinking 'I'll get this
bitch'

"Oh, you wouldn't understand!" Tony said, between mouthfuls, little
knowing the hurt he was causing, and the potential trouble he was
storing up (Men! When will they ever learn?)

The Lady Emily assumed 'haughty stare No 1'

Sensing trouble, Tony changed tack.

"Well, apparently, we need accountants - that is according to
Tess!"

"Excellent, I agree!" Lady Emily knew when to feint.

Tony looked at the Lady Emily in surprise. This girl still had the
capacity to amaze!

"So" Tony looked at her with new respect "do you think you could take
this on board and come up with an urgent recommendation to fend of this
attack"

"Ulp!" Emily hesitated. 'Hang on' she thought, 'this means I get to
sort this clever bitch out'

"Consider it done, Tony!" The Lady Emily smiled.

"That's my girl!" he forgot himself again.

Lady Tess ritually ignored the remark with the appropriate
gesture.

*

The Lady Emily, Lord of the Instrumentality, Controller of the Threads,
was worried. Her perfect face, framed by the dark hair that peeked from
her gold, crested, helmet, signified that with a troubled frown.

She had seven days to save the Imperium!

'And sort out the Lady Tess' she snarled, attractively.

As Emily entered the Lady Tess's rooms, Tess laid aside the quilt she
was working on. It was a curious thing. The material was infinitely
dark, and the stitching seemed to consist of silver-blue threads of
light, with tiny beads spread out along them.

"What's that?" Emily asked, curious despite herself.

"Oh, I thought a trans-existential stealth cloak might come in handy,
Lady"

Emily was stunned. 'What the hell did she mean?' She paused for a few
moments.

"For what purpose?" She asked calmly.

"Why" Tess spoke impetuously "So you can cross into the Imperium that
is attacking us, find the cause and stop it" Tess stopped,
breathless.

Emily was silent for a long time. Her lovely face was calm and
impassive. Tess gazed up at her thinking 'I wish I looked like that -
but then - I do have the brains!'

Eventually Emily spoke.

"And why should I do that, Tess dear?" she asked sweetly.

Tess was astonished.

"Because it's the ONLY WAY" she blurted.

Once those magyk words were spoken, the die was cast. Emily was locked
into the plot that Tess had created. Unless she could construct a new
sub-plot or a radical alternative, she had no choice but to follow the
inevitable path laid out before her. 'That bloody bitch!' Emily thought
'she's history!'

"Yes, thank you my dear" Emily said pleasantly "Finish it off will you,
I can't wait to be on my way"

Tess was impressed, and that cold, steely stare that bored into her
convinced her that Lady Emily was already focused on her deadly task.
What a woman!

*

"Tony" wheedled Emily "do I really have to go? The threads need me,
especially at this time. I could let Tess go - she's clever with her
hands"

"What!" Lord Tony, Prime Lord of the Instrumentality, looked up from
his glass. Emily thought he looked a wee bit hazy.

"No, no! She's too valuable. She's recalibrating all our screens so we
get better views and updates. And she's doing a personal project for me
on the introduction of accountants"

"What" Emily was taken aback "I didn't know that!"

"Aaah!" Lord Tony put a finger unsteadily to his lips "you don't have
to know everything, little Em, you just have to look lovely!"

The lady Emily could not believe what she was hearing. She stood up, to
full height.

"Lord Tony" she proclaimed loudly "I hereby issue a formal preliminary
personal complaint about that remark and your present behaviour."

This was serious!

Tony gazed blearily down into the pale yellow fluid. He could still
taste the fur on his lips.

"This is supposed to be non-alcoholic!" He exclaimed, realising his
condition.

"That bloody mortal! I'll?."

The Lady Emily took his glass and dashed it down. Shards scattered
across the floor, and a spreading puddle of liquid seethed across the
stone, smoking faintly.
Imperiously, she called server.

"Bring antis!" She commanded

"But milady, antis is restricted, only ?"

"GET ANTIS!" Emily's 'command' voice riveted the hapless server.

All around, people were looking.

"HIGH ORDER SECURITY!" she barked.

Immediately, the coffee shop emptied.

Tony gazed at her in admiration. This was why she'd been admitted to
the ruling echelon - she was one awesome babe when roused!

Emily forced Tony to consume the antis. He gulped them down, gagging on
their bulk, but persevering. In no time he was stone cold sober
again.

"Lady Emily!" Tony stood, noble, steady and impressive, gold
breastplate glinting.

'Gods! I'm in for a right bollocking' Emily thought sweetly.

"For services to the Imperium, I award you the 'Enid Blyton Star, First
Class'"

Emily was gobsmacked! The highest honour for a female Lord! Then she
pulled herself together.

"Praise the Imperium and bless the Instrumentality, I am honoured and
humbled! I shall serve well and dutifully, I shall do what must be done
without protest" This was the ritual response.

"Now what were you saying?" Tony enquired as he settled back in his
seat with a mug of steaming Java provided by the server.

"Er, nothing!" Emily could say nothing now, given the vow she had
made.

'Shit!' she thought. Then, glancing at her watch 'Only six-and-a-half
days to save the Imperium!'

*

"Sorry, I don't understand" the Lady Emily admitted.

She walked forward as the old man ushered her into the narrow
passageway

"I am a bit slow?"

"Yes, breathed the old man, gazing fixedly ahead and slightly down. But
you really do have a lovely??"

He realised his danger.

"?personality" he finished.

Emily relaxed. He was quite a nice old man after all, not the
'lecherous old git' The Lady Jane had described.

"I need to know how to get across to another alter-existence, into
another Imperium, find the cause of our problems, solve it and get
back. And I only have six days!" she wailed.

"The answer's simple!" declared the old man, whose name was Ganph. "Sit
down, loosen you robe, and listen to me!"

Emily listened.

Emily looked at her watch.

Emily listened

Emily looked at her watch.

Emily listened

"Have you finished?" she asked Ganph.

He nodded.

"Yes, my Lady, I believe you are fully prepared for your task, ready
for any obstacles, shielded by knowledge; by clever tricks I have
passed on to you, and your resolve is stiffened by the magykal
wierdings I have informed you of!" Ganph looked smug. He was beaming.
He sat back, admiring the Lady.

"Errm"

Ganph leaned forward, both for a better view, and for the words of
wisdom he expected from this great Lady's lips.

"Could you go through it again, or better still write it down?" Emily
smiled endearingly at him.

"Ganph!" Ganph went purple, eyes bulging. Then he regained his
composure.

"Certainly, My Lady" He smiled through gritted teeth.

"Would you like a small libation?" He asked.

"Errm" Emily hesitated. 'What the hell was he on about?'

"Maybe"

Ganph produced two silver cups. Pouring a pale yellow liquid from a
crystal flask, he proffered one to Emily.

"My Lady?"

Emily gazed into the cup. With the first sniff, she recognised the
liquid.

"My Lady?" Ganph was puzzled.

Emily's eyes focused on him. Then, slowly, deliberately, she downed the
cup in one draft! 'Mmmm, fuzzy!' She thought.

They got on fine after that, chuckling and laughing as Ganph kept
breaking the nib on his pencil.

Before Emily left, she bestowed a gentle kiss on Ganph's grizzled
cheek, and left unsteadily, clutching a wrinkled piece of paper covered
in squiggles.

Only five days to save the Imperium!

*

Steve looked into Emily's lovely face.

"Sure you're OK, dear" He asked solicitously.

"Oh, don't ask!" She said, popping another anti into her perfect
mouth.

"But why did you want to see me, Steve?"

"Well, Em, I just got back from holiday?."

"Anywhere nice?" asked Emily absently.

"Look, never mind that, I came to ??."

"I went to Bognor once" mused Emily "It was open, but you couldn't
tell"

"Emily!" Steve's tone was sharp "concentrate! You've got five days to
save the Imperium!"

"Erm, about four-and-seven-eighths now" Emily confirmed.

"Glad to see you're still on the ball!" breathed Steve
gratefully.

Steve secretly admired Emily. He had told her this once, and she'd
simply replied 'that's impossible now'. Steve never knew why.

"I'm coming with you!" Steve declared.

Emily could not believe it. But she gazed into his eyes and saw he was
serious.

With Steve to lean on, she could do anything!

Remembering her position, she kept cool.

'I'll have to get that bitch Tess to do another cloak today' she
thought, gleefully.

"OK! We start tomorrow!"

That would leave only four days to save the Imperium!

******

Emily was frightened - she was glad she had Steve with her.

"OK, Steve?" She asked.

"Fine, Emily" Steve had the second cloak and was adjusting the
controls.

"Tess has done a good job!"

Emily felt a stab of emotion - that bitch!

"The stitching could be a little neater" she commented, fastening her
own cloak and powering it up.

Steve chuckled "always the perfectionist, eh, Emily?"

"Ready to go, Steve?"

The two approached the commingling skein, the area of their Imperium
where the rogue Imperium was gradually interweaving its fabric with
theirs.

"So! Tess says we just enter the skein using the standard transfer
mode, with our cloaks powered and they will translate us directly into
the other Imperium"

"Yes" Emily snapped "I know all that - I simply asked if you were
ready!"

Steve wisely kept silent, simply nodding to signal readiness.

"Good" said Emily - let's go!"

*

The special transfer was weird. They were used to the normal mode
between the elements of the quincunx and the miasmic integrity that
formed the substance of their own Imperium. But this was something new
- a tingling, uncomfortable feeling as if all the atoms in their bodies
were swapping places! Emily swayed slightly. Steve moved away quickly
"No touching!" he reminded. His voice sounded as if he were
underwater.

"I know that very well" Emily burbled sharply.

Their cloaks were pulsing light, and Emily and Steve seemed to be
suspended between familiar surroundings and an altogether different
scene with a sparkly barrier separating them from it.

They stepped forward. The tingling sensation increased painfully and
then they were through!

*

"It's like the Nile!" Emily exclaimed.

Steve could not work out if Emily was having an aberration, or singing
a song to keep her spirits up.

"Are you OK, Emily?" he asked solicitously.

"What!" Emily focussed on him "Oh, sorry, Steve!" She felt she had to
explain.

"When I was mortal?" she began. Steve's interest rose - he had never
been a mortal. Being a Lord in the slums of Glasgow had sometimes been
unusual but he'd survived it.

"The boats used to moor alongside each other, sometimes seven abreast"
Emily was saying. Steve's eyes glazed in secret thought. "to get to the
bank, you walked through these other boats - the doors were in the same
place..."

Steve was scouting around. Everything seemed blurred but there was
nothing unusual to be seen.

"Every boat was different - one smelt of spices, with oriental
decoration, another was all stainless steel and glass, another was
almost Victorian - all mahogany and brass"

Steve felt there was something strange happening here, and decided to
interrupt Emily.

"Emily!" He barked, using command tone 3b (respectful but insistent, to
an equal).

Emily shook her head "Sorry Steve, I was drifting off there - it must
be the effects of the cloak"

Her smile was so sweet that Steve's heart crumpled - how could he stay
cross with such a delicious babe!

"Time to switch them off, then, I guess!" They de-powered the
cloaks.

Immediately their surroundings jumped into focus, sharp and clear. The
walls were stainless steel and glass blocks projected from the floor at
comfortable seat height.

"Oh good!" Emily plonked her lovely bottom down in relief - she felt
drained. Steve swayed slightly as a he took in the sight. "We made it!
Bit of a change from all that wood and brass."

"Steve" Emily spoke sternly. "We are here to do a job, not to admire
the scenery!"

Steve thought this was a little unjust in the circumstances, but
decided to change the subject.

"So, what next?"

Emily fumbled in her tunic. Steve leaned forward, intent. Emily pulled
out a crumpled piece of paper.

"Now!" She said, with the air of a bossy child "let's see what to
do!"

Steve sat down next to Emily and they gazed at the paper Ganph had
written for her. It was finely written in a distinct, careful hand. The
text was coherent and complete, neatly laid out and indexed, with small
boxes illustrating various runes and spell chants highlighted in the
text. It was a work of art!

"Gods" Steve breathed "this Ganph fellow gave you very good directions
- with this kind of support we can't go far wrong! What does it
mean?"

"Buggered if I remember, Steve!" The Lady Emily licked her lips as if
in remembrance of some lost pleasure.

Before Steve could react, a deep voice came from behind them

"Don't worry; it wouldn't help you even if you could understand it. I'm
afraid Ganph is an old pal of mine"

Steve turned in horror.

In the doorway stood a short figure, resplendent in a magnificent
uniform. He wore a gold braided cap and epaulettes. Fine crimson
beading ran around the pockets and down the sides of a formal kilt. The
sporran was studded in diamonds.

"Who are you?" Steve demanded.

Emily had not turned round. She had already guessed who the man was.
"Lord Guff!" she exclaimed.

"Very good, Lady Emily! You are of course, correct"

'Ganph must have told him everything!' Emily thought.

Steve's hand shot out to the activator on his cloak. The field
shimmered slightly and then there was a fizzing sound. A moment later,
Steve was pulling the cloak off as small wisps of smoke rose from the
threads.

"The Lady Tess, who I presume built your cloaks, was always very
clever" Guff smiled "I taught her a lot, but maybe not everything.
Better give me your cloak, Lady Emily, before there's another accident"
An assistant came forward to take her cloak.

Emily hesitated.

"You see, I switched on an anti-cloaking device here after you arrived
- there is no escape!" Guff smirked.

Emily surrendered her cloak.

"And now" Guff continued "I know who the Lady Emily is of course, but
you, Sir?"

Steve blushed. He had completely forgotten the rules of good behaviour.
Even though this man was their enemy, he bore the universal Lord-signs
and was probably of greater rank than either of them. Also, this was
his Imperium!

He stammered a formal apology, adding "I am the Lord Steve,
Vice-Controller of the Quincunx"

"Thank you" Guff nodded "I am, as the Lady guessed, the Lord Guff,
Controller of Development for this, the Yxz Imperium"

'So our intelligence was right', Emily thought - 'this is the notorious
'dyslexic Imperium'!'

"Now" the Lord Guff spoke "I have things to attend to! My Assistant
here will take care of you. As honoured guests of rank you are free to
do as you will here, with certain exceptions that he will explain. He
will show you your quarters and provide anything you need. I suggest
that you should eat first, as the cloaks take a lot of energy from the
body"

Steve did indeed feel weak, but did not want to admit it to this
man.

However the Lady Emily had no such reservation. "I'm starving!" she
declared "lead on!"

Guff smiled - he liked this girl's pluck! As the Assistant led her and
Steve away, he realised he quite liked some other things about her,
too!

Turning, he disappeared through a nearby Mandelson-port.

*

They entered the Servery. Steve and Emily sat at a table and waited, as
Guff's Assistant hovered nervously.

"Where are the servers?" Emily asked in a puzzled tone.

The Assistant looked uncomfortable.

"Er, My Lady, this is a democratic Imperium"

Emily was sure this was a contradiction in terms, and her disbelieving
look caused the Assistant further embarrassment.

"Er, harrumph, My Lady, here at Yzx we feel that some gestures of
equality help to, er smooth things along?." his words trailed
off.

Steve was shocked. This was too much - 'democratic' and now 'equality'.
How could such a place exist without a full and forceful chain of
command? They'd be useless in an emergency!

Emily caught his look. "It's Ok, Steve. Let's try it. It'll be a bit
like being mortal again, I guess" she giggled.

They followed the Assistant to a counter, where a line of people were
queuing.

"What's this?" asked Steve. Emily shushed him and led him to the end of
the line. They waited meekly for about two seconds, until a
lower-ranking woman in front of them turned, jaw dropping. Flushed with
embarrassment as she noted the insignia of rank and the beautiful
gold-clad Royal Lady, she hastily ushered the two ahead of her.

In no time at all, they were at the head of the queue.

"What's the point of all that?" Steve asked, bemused.

The Assistant nodded, still rather embarrassed. "Well, it is their
right to allow you ahead of them in deference to your rank, but only if
they wish. This enhances their dignity and they feel fulfilled and
proud.

This was true enough - Steve could see the people in the queue behind
them were beaming with righteous smirks and whispering excitedly.

Emily gave a tiny nod of thanks to those in the line, and spontaneous
applause broke out.

"Ah, My Lady!" The Assistant's eyes were shining "you have the soul of
a true democrat"

"What did you do?" Steve was totally puzzled.

"Never mind!" Emily replied sharply. Then, apropos of nothing, she
added "It's quite nice here, isn't it?"

The Assistant followed them to a table, carrying their meals. He placed
their trays in front of them and leaned forward confidentially. "Lady,
May I inform you about the Lord Guff?"

"Certainly" Emily confirmed, very curious. She motioned the Assistant
to sit.

"You see, when Lord Guff first came to us, he told us how he's had
problems in another Imperium"

"Ours" Emily said.

The Assistant nodded "I gathered as much, My Lady"

He continued "It seems Lord Guff reacted badly to certain changes-
there were so many new things happening, and Lord Guff likes
tradition."

"He seems much nicer than they told me" Emily volunteered. Steve was
surprised.

"Oh, he's really a fine man!" exclaimed the Assistant.

"Oh, sure" Steve could bear no more of this "This little rat is
attacking our Imperium, holding us hostage and I'm supposed to believe
he's a fine man!"

The Assistant turned his face, eyes lowered.

"For goodness sake, Steve, have some manners, you do yourself no
credit" Emily hissed quietly at him.

"Please go on" she smiled at the Assistant.

"Oh, well, the Lord Guff spoke up at Council against the changes and
made some unwise remarks in the quincunx. The other Lords, most of the
Instrumentality in fact, could only see the dark side of his reaction.
There was a movement to expel Lord Guff, but realising how deeply he
had been ensnared by the mortals, he left before any action was
taken."

"Hang on!" Emily had a puzzled frown. If he's so nice, why does he go
around causing trouble in our Imperium and being nasty?"

"Oh" the Assistant smiled indulgently "I think you misunderstand him,
My Lady, it's just his sense of humour - he is Scottish, you
know!"

Steve nodded knowingly. He could understand that. There was more to
this Guff than met the eye!

Emily looked thoughtful. "I suppose he's quite cuddly, really!"

Even the Assistant was surprised.

*

While the Assistant was exceptionally courteous and friendly and they
were free to roam about, certain things were clear. They were not
allowed to enter the control nexus, or any of the rapidly-growing
commingling skeins.

He had been firm "No, you will not see Lord Guff until tomorrow, Lady
and Sir" and had left them in their quarters.

Emily sat with Steve "By tomorrow, I'll only have three days to save
the Imperium!" she wailed.

*****

The Lord Guff entered Emily's room after knocking politely. He was such
a nice man, Emily thought.

"Good morning My Lady, I think we have some serious business to
discuss"

"Oh yes" Emily's lovely mouth pursed into a pout. 'Only two and a half
days to save the Imperium' she reminded herself.

"Let's get down to it!" she declared.

Guff smiled.

*

Steve was worried. He hadn't seen Emily since yesterday. She had been
locked away with that Guff fellow. He was curious, angry, and also, he
realised, jealous! There was something?. Steve remembered the way Emily
had looked at Guff, and the soft look on his face. This was not the
cynical trouble-maker that had been described.

The outer door slammed. Emily burst in.

Steve had never seen her like this. Her eyes were bright, she looked
gorgeous - she glowed!

"Where have you been? What have you been doing?"

Emily spoke "It's OK Steve, it's OK!"

"What do you mean, OK?" Steve was angry; he came forward and grabbed
Emily by the shoulders, shaking her.

"Get your hands off me, Sir!" Emily's tone was cold, commanding and
imperial.

Steve realised what he had done. He let go of Emily and began a ritual
apology.

"Never mind that!" she snapped "just sit down and bloody listen!"

Steve sat.

"Number one: Guff has agreed to withdraw from the attack on Xyz!"

Steve gasped, and began to speak, but Emily continued.

"I had to agree to give him the rights to the Francis Johns 'fish'
book, but that really is only a small concession"

Steve privately thought Emily was underestimating the value of a talent
such as Francis Johns, whose draft of 'They Stole my Face' had been
riveting!

"Number two: we have to feed certain coordinates into our nexus in
order for this to be mutually achieved"

Steve was about to protest - It was a trick! A way to get to the heart
of their defences!

Emily gave him no chance to protest.

"As we only have one cloak, you will go first with the coordinates and
proceed immediately. This is a direct Imperial order" Emily
barked.

"What about you?"

Emily looked confused for a moment "er, Tess will have to re-charge the
cloak and send it back on its own for me - I am sure she can find a
way"

"Oh, yes, she is very?"

Emily cut Steve off with a motion of her hand. "Yes, yes, we all know
how clever she is. Now Listen!" She spoke very carefully.

"You have to start the process as soon as possible. You must trust me.
It will take a full day for the process to reverse so there is little
time to spare. Guff is already putting the Yxz nexus into full reverse,
but it cannot be triggered until we do our bit, OK?"

This time she waited for him to speak. He pulled himself up straight
and put his personal feelings aside, as he remembered his duty - what a
girl!

"Understood, My Lady! But may I suggest one change?"

"You must go first Steve"

"Yes I know. I want to come back to fetch you"

"But the cloak?"

"Tess will just have to work her fingers to the bone all night to make
another for tomorrow"

Emily smiled a small smile "Mmm, a nice little treat for Tess"

She made up her mind "OK Steve - do that - after all it makes little
difference"

*

They made their way to the commingling skein. Guff's Assistant brought
Steve the functioning cloak.

"The Lord Guff has disabled the anti-cloaking device, My Lady" he
declared.

Emily stepped forward as Steve donned the cloak and switched on the
device. She handed him a sealed scroll and a package.

"Give these to Lord Tony as soon as you arrive"

Was that a catch in her voice? Steve thought.

"Goodbye Steve" - amazingly she kissed him on the cheek, a feather's
brush of softness and a waft of delicate scent and it was over.

"Go now!" Emily said kindly "Now! This minute"

Steve stepped towards the barrier, which had moved substantially
further into the fabric of Xyz.

He gave one glance back. "Until tomorrow!" he said boldly.

"Yes" Emily whispered "tomorrow" She looked down, and Steve's last view
of her was her beautiful face framed in two wings of dark hair, a sad
expression in her perfect eyes.

Then he was gone.

*

Tony was incandescent with rage "You left her, Steve, you left
her!"

Steve tried to utter his excuses, but Tony stormed off.

Tess found Tony in his quarters, slurping yellow liquid greedily from a
pot.

"I thought you'd?.."

"Private stock" Tony snarled.

Eventually, Lady Tess coaxed Tony into putting his drink down, and
slowly began to recite the message Steve had brought.

"Lady Emily gave Lord Steve a direct order. He could do nothing
else"

Tony sullenly nodded acceptance but continued to stare down.

"She asked us to proceed immediately to save the Imperium, Lord. This
is more important than you, me or even dearest Emily!" Tony looked up -
what was that tone in her voice?

Tess carried on "I have to make another cloak, and you have to start
the de-mingling process from our side - urgently! I have examined the
coordinates from Lord Guff, and they are indeed what they purport to
be. Emily only made a couple of mistakes writing them down, but
fortunately I can correct that" Tess smiled smugly.

"Good girl" said Tony, forgetting himself.

"There was also a package?" Tony questioned

"Oh it says only to be opened precisely at noon tomorrow, just before
Steve goes to fetch her.

"OK" Tony nodded, pulling himself together. Better get on with it then.
After taking an anti, he hurried off, and before long he and Steve were
staring down into the screen, where the cloud seemed now almost to
engulf the whole quincunx.

They waited for many hours, and gradually, oh so gradually, Tony
detected a change.

Steve had been convinced all along that Guff was deceiving them. He had
tried to caution Tony, but Tony's desperate need to get Emily back, and
Tess's reassurances had driven him on, carrying out Emily's
instructions.

Steve went over to Tess, who was looking fraught and busily
constructing the fine webwork which was building the cloak.

"Tess" he enquired.

She looked up "I'm busy Steve"

"You worked with Guff when he was here at Xyz?"

Tess stopped. She looked up at Steve warily.

"A bit"

"He taught you all about the cloaks and the anti-cloaking device didn't
he?"

"Yes" Tess replied without thinking, then becoming very flustered as
she realised what she might have revealed. "well, maybe not all".

But Steve knew the truth now.

There was a cry from Tony. Steve hurried over. It was all over! 'Tess
is on Guff's side', he thought, why else would she try to maroon
us?

But Tony was beaming "Look!" he cried "Look!"

Slowly but surely, the cloud was retreating at an increasing rate. It
would take time, but it was working. Spacial distortions rippled
through the fabric of the Imperium, and strange noises could be heard.
Tony bent to his task, holding together the fabric, patching,
strengthening the Xyz side of the separating commingled areas. His
indicators showed Guff was doing the same on the other side.

"Oh Emily, you star" he breathed quietly to himself "I can't wait to
get you back"

Tess sewed furiously. Steve was scowling, still suspicious.

*

It had been a long night. Tess's eyes were bleary, but the new cloak
was nearly finished. Tony was slumped over the console, which now
showed clear areas of blue across the face of the screen.

Steve had gone off to his chamber to sleep. He feared he had
permanently lost favour with Tony because of Emily and the atmosphere
between them was strained and unpleasant.

A server entered, bearing mugs of strong ambrosia-spice latte and
snacks. Tess woke Tony gently. Once woken, he supped the liquid
greedily and gobbled down some food. Tess, too, found the refreshment
very welcome.

"Thankyou" Tony addressed the server "that was an excellent
initiative!"

"Lady Emily's orders, Sir"

"What?"

"To keep an eye on you, Sir"

A fresh wave of painful emotion washed through Tony. "Emily!" he
breathed.

Tess was frowning.

*

It was noon. Steve had arrived wearing the cloak and ready to go. He
and Tony treated each other warily.

"I should go myself"

"You know you can't" Steve said. It was the Imperial regulation that
even Tony had bound himself to. "I'll bring her back!"

Tony looked hard at Steve "You'd better!"

"Where's that note?" Steve looked at Tess.

Tess pointed to the console, where the small package sat.

Tony began to fumble with the package, then stopped.

"What in Gods' names am I doing? Just go and get her Steve!" Then he
grew angry. He dropped the partly opened package. "Go now, Steve, go
now"

Then added quietly:-

"And if you don't bring her back, don't bother to come back
yourself!"

With this stinging remark, Tony turned on his heel and strode
away.

Steve grabbed the new cloak from Tess and rushed off.

Tess moved over to the console and picked up the package Tony had
dropped, opened it and began to read. At first, Tess was amazed.
Slowly, a broad smile spread across her face.

"Yesssss!" she breathed, clasping the small object from the package in
her hand

*

Steve reached the area where the commingling skein had been before.
Desperately, he searched the corridors, expecting to see the barrier
round every corner. But search as he would, he could not find it.

Disconsolately, Steve returned to the nexus. Tess was grinning happily.
As he entered the room, she forced herself to look serious.

"My Lord! Read this letter!" Tess instructed "It explains
everything"

*

Tony returned to find Steve sitting, staring vacantly at Emily's
letter.

He blazed with anger, raising his fist and striding towards Steve with
a murderous look on his face.

Tess came between them. Tony could not shake her off. She clung to him,
shrieking. Eventually Tony made sense of the words.

"It's not Steve's fault! She planned this deliberately!"

Eventually Tony listened to Tess's explanation.

"Lady Emily decided to stay in the Yxz Imperium, Tony, she sent you her
Imperial seal"

She pushed the heavy gold ring into Tony's reluctant palm. He stared
down at it, uncomprehending.

"The de-mingling process was much quicker than she told us, the
Imperiums are nearly separated now, and there are no commingled areas.
She tricked us!"

"Why?"

A small flicker of glee passed over Tess's face, unnoticed by the two
men.

"She's staying with Guff!"

"What do you mean, 'staying'?"

"Well" Tess hesitated "she likes him - well, actually she fancies him.
He is a very attractive man you know!"

Both men looked somewhat amazed.

"She did seem quite close to him" Steve observed.

Tony looked at Steve sharply.

"But she has done it to save the Imperium!" Tess cried. Much as it hurt
her to praise Emily, she wanted to close this thing down and get on
with her own plans, now Emily was gone.

"She says that Guff became amenable to her - she got to him. She made
him see the error of his ways and talked him round. He is not a bad
man; he was just bitter, lonely and resentful after being cast out of
Xyz. Emily has changed all that, but she has to stay with him to keep
him on the straight and narrow. She has sacrificed her own future to
save us!"

'There' Tess thought 'that should do it!'

Tony's face took on a dreamy look. "She was a Saint!"

Tess happily noted the past tense.

"I loved her!" This was a bit too much for Tess, who busied herself at
the console.

"So did I!" Steve was crying.

'Men!' thought Tess

Tony looked into Steve's pain-filled eyes and his anger and resentment
died. The two men embraced, bound together again in the deep sorrow of
Emily's departure.

"We're separating!" Tess called, pointing at the screen. Sure enough,
the last tip of the shadow was clearing the Xyz Imperium, the quincunx
was intact and healthy.
As the three stared at the screen, the Imperium began to shake, and
high tearing noises ripped through the air. The two Imperiums were
finally separating like two ancient sailing ships pulling their topmost
spars apart after a collision.

'Now!' Tess thought.

"Should I take over Emily's duties for now" Tess asked sweetly.

Tony mumbled agreement.

"Will you confirm that as an official order, My Lord" Tess activated
the prepared voice document. Tony spoke confirmation into his
Instrumentality link.

'Yesssss!' whispered Tess quietly, slipping Emily's seal onto her
finger with a look of utmost glee.

The two men were oblivious, staring into a future without Emily.
Nothing could be worse than this!

Tess, newly-promoted Lady of the Imperium, and Controller of the
Threads, hummed happily. Just wait until those accountants got to work,
she'd have them all in the palm of her hand! Oh - and she'd have to get
a new gold outfit. That would be nice.

*****

Gorgo was delighted!

His imperiums - alter-existence environments with their own
instrumentalities - were flourishing. The intra-interpretational frond
had done its work! The fundamentally disruptive and destructive imperia
he created were not only counterbalanced by the 'good' ones created by
the frond but were themselves being converted to goodness by the beings
who inhabited them.

And, best of all - the Other had signalled a willingness to mate!

Gorgo (in a metaphorical sense) whistled as he combed his hair in front
of the mirror, getting ready for the big date. In a real sense, his
actions were destroying millions of planets and creating tens of
thousands of new stars.

But, of course, in the wider scheme of things, none of this mattered a
jot!

The End

? John F Griffiths 2002
.