Firehand Part 19

"What?" Ross demanded incredulously. "That's not possible, Gordon. It's been millennia..."

"Dominionites always were almost fanatical when it came to keeping records and histories. That didn't change when they came back, and they started doing it so early that we were still historical figures at the time, albeit already moving well toward the legendary... Firehand, for example, though his accomplishments are realistically reported, is himself viewed as a sort of combination of Robin Hood and St. Michael the Archangel."

Eveleen broke into an open laugh at Ross's groan. "What about me?" she managed at last.

"You're Brunnhilde with a happy ending."

The woman made a face at him. "What of yourself, Healer O Ashean?"

"I am Merlin," he announced grandly, "except that I wave a scalpel and a bag of herbs instead of a wand."

"What about Luroc?" Ross asked quietly.

"A King Arthur whose Round Table never broke... Zanthor I Yoroc doesn't come attached to horns, tail, and cloven hooves, but otherwise you can guess how he's recalled and regarded."

The archeologist sat down on a folding chair, the only piece of furniture in the room, apart from the waiting bookcases. "I'm afraid we can expect to take some ribbing on account of our new-found notoriety."

He looked from one to the other of them, suddenly deadly serious. "It also means that we're now considered the Project's top team, its star troubleshooters. When we get sent out again, it'll be on something big, and it'll be tough-if you two are still willing to go on with this."

Eveleen Riordan shrugged, an odd-looking gesture in the formal, very feminine wedding suit. "I'm not interested in going back to teaching school. I have certain talents, and I think they were meant to be put to use."

"Ross?" the older man asked gently. "None of our past missions together have been easy, and those to come are likely to be worse still. If you want out, no one'll hold it against you. You've paid your dues. In spades."

Murdock's eyes fixed on the empty shelves but stared beyond them. The terror of the run downriver, the searing of his hand, the never-ending dread of exile when that derelict had taken off with them aboard, the deadening trap of Hawaika's past, the raw, still-bleeding misery of his renunciation of Dominion, of Sapphirehold... Aye, he had paid his dues.

A lot of others would have paid theirs if he had not.

His head turned once more. "I'm in, Gordon. I've got some pretty strange talents myself. Working for the Project seems like as good a way as any of putting them to use."

About the Authors

FOR OVER FIFTY years "one of the most distinguished living SF and fantasy writers" (Booklist) (Booklist), Andre Norton has been penning best-selling tales that earned her a unique place in the hearts and minds of readers. Honored as a Grand Master by both the Science Fiction Writers of America and the World Fantasy Convention, she has garnered millions of readers for her most famous series, the Witch World novels. These works and others, such as Imperial Lady Imperial Lady (with Susan Shwartz), (with Susan Shwartz), Dare to Go A-Hunting Dare to Go A-Hunting, and The Jekyll Legacy The Jekyll Legacy (with Robert Bloch), all Tor books, have made her "one of the most popular writers of our time" (with Robert Bloch), all Tor books, have made her "one of the most popular writers of our time" (Publishers Weekly) (Publishers Weekly). In addition to her novels, which number over forty works of SF and fantasy, she has recently created the Tales of Witch World Tales of Witch World. She lives in Winter Park, Florida.

P. M. Griffin has written a number of SF and fantasy novels, including Seakeep Seakeep from from Storms of Victory Storms of Victory and and Falcon Hope Falcon Hope from from Flight of Vengeance Flight of Vengeance, the first and second books of Witch World: The Turning Witch World: The Turning, and has contributed stories to two volumes in the Tales of the Witch World Tales of the Witch World series. She is also the author of the series. She is also the author of the Star Commandos Star Commandos adventure series. Her last collaboration with Andre Norton, adventure series. Her last collaboration with Andre Norton, Redline the Stars Redline the Stars, was published last year by Tor books. She lives in New York City.