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might be no more effective and would certainly invite cooperative retaliation.
I by myself attract too much attention. I must have certain selected ilmeet
with me, to screen me and shield my magic from their notice as well as to
complete the three points of the triangle.
 Who are  they'? Merry asked.
Oak threw her a look as if to say, Haven't we wasted enough of an afternoon
here, and wouldn't you like to tour the Smithsonian with me, because that's
where I was heading when the Iranians threw us together, and maybe none of
them were named Omar Khayyam but still...
 The shetani. Olkeloki whispered it.  The shetani are the spirits who can
cross into our world. Not often, but when they do cross over they can work a
great deal of mischief and make much trouble. The ilmeet suffer from their
attentions because they do not know how to make them visible. I am not sure
most would believe even if they saw.
 Something bad has happened. There is a place where the wall between reality
and the Out Of has weakened and...
 Excuse me, said Merry,  but what's the  Out Of?'
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 It is where everything comes from. Everything has to come out of something,
and it is simplest to call it the Out Of. It is the place where nothing goes
in and everything comes out. An accident of some kind.
Men first came from the Out Of, the first men your Dr. Leakey studied in a
place not far from where I
live, a place called Olduvai Gorge. The Out Of lies a long but not unreachable
distance to the south of that ancient place. Men came out of it, and many
animals, and plants. Perhaps they were fleeing the shetani, very long ago. It
is a thought older than legends the laibon tell to their disciples. I do not
know if it is true.
 But the Out Of is real, and the shetani are real, and they will come through
the weakened place in irresistible numbers unless we can seal it up again.
 Irresistible numbers? Oak sipped at his drink.  What kind of numbers?
 Billions, who will be but the advance scouts for the armies waiting to
follow. They will overrun the earth. They will destroy mankind.
 You said spirits. Merry fingered her own glass.  Are you talking about
something like ghosts, or djinn?
 No. They are nothing like that. You have no knowledge of them, so you ilmeet
can recognize them only by their actions. A few ilmeet can see them, but they
are rare. Merry squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.
 Already they have begun to make serious mischief. I believe they have been
trying to get the two great ilmeet tribes to fight each other for many years
now. The shetani are naturally lazy. Why fight long and hard if they first can
get the ilmeet to weaken each other? I know the governments of the two great
tribes would not listen to laibon, so I have come here to find help of another
kind. He shook his head sadly.
 You ilmeet think you know everything there is to know, but much of the cosmos
remains a closed book to you. Your Einstein had the key to the Out Of but went
off in a different direction to work on his relativity theories. I think maybe
a shetani must have toyed with his equations. That would be like them.
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Oak coughed loudly, tried to smile across the table.  All very interesting,
I'm sure.
 How do we stop these shetani, Mr. Olkeloki? Merry leaned forward.  You said
you need our help. I'll be glad to help if I can. Oak examined the bottom of
his glass studiously.
 They must be confronted at the place where they seek to come through in the
greatest numbers. That is the only way to stop them. Get to the breakthrough
place and seal it permanently. This must be done immediately.
 By you? said Oak.
 Yes, by me, replied Mbatian Olkeloki.  I am not the only one who can do this
thing, but I am the most qualified.
 Where is this Out Of place? Merry wondered.  Where are these shetani coming
into our world from?
 The weak lines meet in a place just north of the Great Ruaha River, in a game
preserve that lies close by a park of the same name. This is a vast and
difficult to reach region that lies hundreds of miles to the south of
Maasailand.
She nodded.  That's in Tanzania, right? and before he could reply she
blinked, eyed the ceiling, and said in the same breath,  Doesn't it seem to
you guys that it's gotten dark in here?
Oak didn't follow her gaze. Maybe it was a little dimmer than when they'd come
in, and maybe it wasn't.
 Clouding up outside, or could be they turn down the lights between lunch and
dinner to save on their electric bill. No point in highlighting fancy decor if
there aren't any dining customers around to enjoy it.
Tanzania's in East Africa?
 On the Indian Ocean. Olkeloki traced outlines on the tabletop with a long
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brown finger.  South of
Kenya, north of Mozambique, east of the rest of the world.
 Local geography's more my style. I remember that the capital of Kenya is
Nairobi, but I'm afraid that's about it.
 That is more than most of your geographically ignorant people know, said
Olkeloki approvingly.
 South of Nairobi lies the Steppe, then the veldt and the forests. South we
must go to find the place where the shetani gather.
Oak spoke gently.  Not we, I think. I said I'd listen to your story. Now that
I have, it's time for me to leave. He reached toward his wallet, knowing
better but unwilling to abandon the old man.  If you need taxi fare back home,
wherever home is, I'll stake you up to five bucks.
 You are calling me a liar. Olkeloki's tone was even.  If this were my
country I would have to kill you.
He spoke without malice, as though still telling his story.
I will tell you a story, I will buy you a drink, I will kill you if you call
me a liar. Poor old guy, Oak mused.
 I guess I'm lucky this is Washington and not wherever you really call home.
 You are young. The young are impetuous. You wrap yourselves in self-assurance
to shield your mind from what it does not recognize.
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 I see; sort of like TV wrestling or Creole cooking without pepper. He looked
over at Merry.  How would you like to see my city? I know this town top to
foggy bottom. Might get you into one or two interesting places you won't find
on your tourist map. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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