Two To The Fifth Read Online Free PDF Page B

Ant.”
    “Bleep,” the ant said, as ungracious as the first. “Thought I had you.” It stood aside.
    But there was another ant. It seemed that ants came not single-spy, but in battalions. “Not so fast, ruffian,” this one said. “I am going to keep after you until you quit. I will never give over.”
    And what ant word was this describing? Cyrus got belatedly smart and sifted through his vocabulary data bank, checking through definitions for words ending in ant. There it was. “Persist Ant.”
    “You're a real spoilsport, know that?” the ant complained, standing aside.
    The next one was ready. “I am fully acquainted with your recent history, and know how to handle you, invader. Begone.”
    Fully acquainted, knowledgeable. He sifted again. “Convers ant.”
    “You're no fun at all,” the ant griped, standing aside.
    Then next ant was a squalling baby. Cyrus got it right away. “Inf Ant.” The squalling increased, but the ant moved aside.
    But the ants had just begun to fight. Another blocked his way. The mental energy was making Cyrus hot; he was getting sweaty. He looked for a cloth to wipe his forehead, but of course there was none.
    “I can fix that,” the ant said. “No sweat. Just depart.”
    No sweat? That was an odd phrase, since ants didn't sweat anyway. Which gave it away. “Antiperspir Ant.”
    “We are going to have to make a judgment here,” the next ant said. “You have no—”
    “Adjudic ant.”
    The next ant spit in disgust. “Go—”
    “Expector Ant.”
    He continued on through Miscre, Disinfect, Mendic, Contest, Merch, Eleph, Inform, Flagr, Claim, and Consult. At last the last of them had been identified, and he was through the ant farm. The second Challenge was done.
    Now he faced a barren waste. Dust was everywhere. It covered the ground, the cacti, the stones, even the resting animals. There was a dust-covered path wending its way onward through rocks and rills, the latter looking disgusted about the situation.
    Cyrus paused. Was this all? Surely it couldn't be as easy as merely following the path to wherever it led. Yet what else was there to do?
    He stepped onto the path. Dust billowed up in small clouds, settling on his legs and feet. Messy but harmless.
    Then there was a stirring in the distance. A big dust cloud was whirling toward him, spreading so much dust that everything behind it was obscured. It came right up to him, and then he was in the middle of it, choking on it, unable to see anything. It was a small dust storm.
    He stepped back. Then things cleared; he was technically outside the scene, which remained obscure.
    This, then, was the Challenge: to follow the path through the scene—when he was unable to see anything. He might put on goggles, if he had them, to protect his eyes, and a mask to filter the air he breathed, but there would be no way to fathom the path. He was sure he would have to follow the path exactly, or he wouldn't find its end.
    He pondered. First, he knew that there had to be some way through, if he could just figure it out. Second, something was stirring up the dust; if he could nullify that, he should be all right. What could it be, and how could he deal with it? It looked like a small dust storm.
    He remembered something. “Dusty!” he exclaimed.
    The whirlwind coalesced into a small female devil. She was pretty in a dusty outfit, with little horns. “That's Dusti,” she said, “Get it right, dummy.”
    “Oh! I took you for someone else.”
    “My little brother Dusty, of course. He has no ambition, I do. That's why I'm here.”
    “Your purpose is to prevent me from crossing, by stirring up so much dust I can't see my way.”
    She eyed him sidelong. Somehow that glance made her seem fuller bodied than before. “You're pretty smart for a querent.”
    “So I have to figure out how to nullify you so I can get through.”
    “Duh.”
    “There has to be something here that will enable me to accomplish that.”
    “You know, you're