"Let her," whispered his ghostly lover. "What she does not know about, she cannot stop. And you know she would never consent to what we are planning."
"I should never have let her see my database," Mort agreed. "Then she would never have known of the dangers of pregnancy here, or been so avid to stop it from happening."
"No one can stop it," Molly reminded him. "It happens to all newbies, the instinct to procreate in the face of death or mana dehydration is a natural part of being human."
"True, and it's already happened, all the newbies are pregnant – or dead."
"What, you mean that dragon lover of hers you told me about? I thought there was some difference of opinion on that."
Mort shrugged. "It comes to the same thing. If she's not dead she might just as well be, as far as we're concerned. But the fact remains. If D.J. knew what we were up to, she would do all she could to prevent it."
"Why? We are not newbies."
Mort grinned mirthlessly. "No, we're doing this with full knowledge. But that wouldn't dissuade her. After all, we'll be as much at risk with this as the rawest newcomer. Fortunately, she still thinks our secret's just about getting me back to normal. She hasn't been able to make the leap to why."
"She may not have to," the ghost pointed out. "Even without her interference, it is by no means certain that our plan will succeed."
Mort slumped slightly. "Yes," he admitted. "I was hoping for more time, but D.J.'s plainly fit to travel. And we can't justify a delay without confessing why we want one. Are you sure I won't be cured enough by the time we have to leave to gorge?"
"No," said the ghost, "but it certainly looks that way, unless you can lead the others astray."
Mort shook his head. "The mission is too important to delay just for us," he said. "And I gave my word to help them as best I could."
"I know, and I agree. But we will keep trying, Mort. Maybe there will be time. And if not, there is still Plan B."
"There is?" Mort asked. "What is it?"
"I will let you know when and if it is needed," said the ghost, mysteriously.
Mort could elicit nothing more from her beyond that. He went back to watching the perimeter of the camp. They were supposedly on watch, after all.
"There is nothing out there," Molly told him, on the strength of her more reliable spirit sight.
"I'm on watch," the Morpher said stubbornly. "That means I have to look anyway."
"Suit yourself. Though it is a sad waste of time that we could be spending working on your cure."
"I know," said Mort. "And no one regrets that more than I do."
His cure, while providing little benefit to the ghost other than the mana she drew away from him, was quite pleasurable as far as he was concerned.
A minor Op-blinking occurred.
Sun Jul 6 00:49:53 2003
Linking Enabled