Kirlian Quest Read Online Free Page B

preparing to flip out another card. The first had done very well. But Smallbore stopped him.
    ::What is this set of pictures that you use?::
    He hadn't intended to go into that yet, but decided to answer honestly.
    /It is called the Cluster Tarot. The roots of it date back some three thousand Sol years (as you know, we use this alien measurement of time because the conquerors imposed it on our whole galaxy, along with much of the rest of their dubious system of measurements) to educational pictures made by an obscure cult. Sibling Paul of Sol revised the deck and popularized it among Galactic species. The cards have changed many times in form and meaning, but have persisted to this day, owing largely to the continuing influence of the Temples of Tarot, which in certain periods have been very pervasive. Normally a Tarot cube is used, showing images on each of six faces, but individual cards have been used as emblems for many cultures. Spaceships are still designed along these lines, falling into five broad types after the five suits, resembling Wands, Cups, Swords, Disks, and Atoms. The Milky Way Society of Hosts used the card of Temperance, an entity transferring fluid from one vessel to another—/
    ::Transfer!::
    /Yes. They used to supervise matters relating to it, caring for both hosts and the vacant bodies of Transferees. Because they used to use only Kirlian-vacant bodies as hosts, you see./
    ::Zombies! Ugh!::
    /It certainly seems primitive today! But Kirlian science, like other sciences, had to progress from primitive origins. After control of the body passed to the host, regardless of the strength of the visiting aura, the Society's power faded. There is no longer any such thing as involuntary hosting, so no creature need worry. This Quad-point host of mine can assume control any time, but since he earns his living by serving as host, he would not do so unless extreme circumstances warranted. But that is off the point. Other Tarot images occur elsewhere. The Queen of Energy—the Thirteen of Wands—remains the symbol for Galaxy Andromeda. That is the chained lady, about to be consumed by a monster of the sea. Since she is of the Suit of Fire, this is a hideous fate indeed./
    ::I've seen that! I did not know it derived from Tarot!::
    /Actually it derives from pre-Tarot Solarian mythology. It—/
    ::Show me another card.:: She was a child; her attention-span was short.
    This time Herald sorted through the pack and selected a particular card. Sometimes Tarot worked best by seemingly random examples, but in the critical areas he preferred to choose his symbols. He flipped it down. It showed a Quadpoint male doing tricks with colored rocks.
    ::A magician!:: A picture instantly recognizable to any child of the Cluster, whatever species might be represented.
    /You are correct again, chip of Metamorphic!/
    ::I may be young, but I'm not stupid. I know I don't know enough about this image. Who is this magician? Is he you? Are you going to do a trick?::
    Very intelligent child! Such a pity she could not survive. /I am the magician, at the moment, and I am going to do my trick. This is how I earn my fee./ Herald extended his tong and touched her nearest tread.
    The child reacted. ::What is this? Suddenly I feel so good!::
    /I have lent you my aura, Smallbore. I am Herald the Healer, and this is the way I heal./
    ::Oh, I... I never knew this... this... what is this aura? I feel it, yet I do not comprehend it.::
    /The nature of the aura is cumbersome to explain, Smallbore./
    ::No more cumbersome than knocking out in ignorance, Healer!::
    How eager the young mind was, once given the taste of health and knowledge! /Perhaps, not. The aura, according to Zlqx of ¢, who authored the earliest surviving study, is a composite para-electronic complex that—/
    ::You confuse me already!::
    He had been afraid of that. She was a bright child, but nevertheless a child, lacking the background for technicalities beyond her