Xone Of Contention Read Free

programmed. What exactly did you do?”
    “Well, 1 whistled Like this.” He made a voiced whistle.
    The picture wavered and became three dimensional. Breanna's lips pursed. "That's magic, all right; it just enhanced my sight.”
    “You mean your site?”
    She smiled. “That too. maybe. I mean, suddenly I see you rounded instead of flat. Am I the same to you?”
    “Yes. But you're still just a head and shoulders. I can't see your rounded portions, though I'd like to.”
    She flashed another smile, appreciating the implied humorous compliment. “For sure. That's all there is of me in the Leaf. I mean, how could the real me be here?”
    “I don't know. The real me seems to be here, though that seems impossible.”
    “For sure. We'll have to patch that glitch. But you don't seem bad for a Mundane.”
    “Well. I hope I'm not bad even if my marriage is patchy.” He hadn't meant to say that; he was a little unsettled.
    “Too bad you're not in Xanth. Marriages are forever, there.”
    “I know. My friend Dug went to Xanth and met Kim there, and they have a happy marriage.”
    Breanna's eyes widened. “You know Dug and Kim Mundane?”
    "Sure. I'm in business with them. I was the one who first put Dug onto Xanth. The Xanth game. I mean; I didn't know he'd actually cross over.”
    “Yeah, he was in the Companions game. I wish I could have been a Companion ”
    “Oh? Why weren't you?”
    “I was too young then, only nine. Anyway, the Black Wave had just come into Xanth then; we didn't know our way around. Sherlock went with Dug and found a good place by Ogre Chobee for us to settle in. So I guess I can't complain. But it sure sounds like fun.”
    “It sure does.” he agreed. “Well, if I'm ever in Xanth, you can be my Companion and show me around.” He felt a trace of guilt as he spoke, because he was flirting with this cute girl, and as a married man he shouldn't.
    “I can. That's great!”
    “Only I can't get into Xanth,” he said with regret. “Dug and Kim go there only when invited. There was some kind of trial. Something about a big bird, I think.”
    “Roxanne Roc,” Breanna agreed. “She won. She's just about the most important bird in Xanth now, except for the Simurgh. That's another great moment of history I missed. Bleep. I'd sure like to be in on a Great Moment. Well, I did get to go to Jenny's wedding.” Then her picture paused, orienting on him with wild surmise. “Say—maybe we can do each other some good. Maybe you can visit Xanth, and I can be your Companion and show you around, and maybe that will be a great adventure and accomplish something nice, like patching up your marriage.”
    Edsel realized that Breanna was a creature of dreams. But her enthusiasm was contagious. “I'd like that. But I don't see how.”
    “I just got this wonderful wild notion. Here we are talking in the Interface. If we could stretch it a little farther, and exchange places, then maybe you'd be in Xanth and I'd be in Mundania. I wouldn't mind visiting it though I sure wouldn't want to stay.” Then she reconsidered. “Well, maybe not you and me changing places, exactly. Maybe I could switch with your wife, and you could switch with my boyfriend Justin.”
    “Justin?”
    “Justin Tree. He used to be a tree—well, he was a man first, then a tree, then we met. and now we're betrothed but we can't marry because I'm too young. We can't even smooch much, because I'm not supposed to know the Adult Conspiracy. I hate that! I mean, what's the point in making him convert early to a young man—he took some youth elixir— if we can't do anything? It's driving me crazy.”
    “I think I know the feeling,” Edsel said, though he hardly understood all of what she was saying.
    “So maybe if Justin and I could switch with you folk, and get into Mundania for a while, where there's not much enforcement of the Conspiracy, we could at least go from necking to petting. And you folk could do whatever you wanted, in Xanth, and your