exclaimed. He faced the screen:
"Enter: A door to the outside opens in the cave wall. Execute."
Immediately a door opened where there had been none before. Could it really be that easy? Grundy took a step toward it.
But now print appeared on the screen. UNFORTU- NATELY, THE EXIT IS GUARDED BY FEROCIOUS LIFE-EATING
PLANTS, it showed.
Grundy stopped still. Now the passage was wreathed by horrendous green plants that had large cup-shaped leaves that drooled bright sap. Tendrils cast about, as if seeking something to clutch. Some of the leaf-cups seemed to have teeth.
"I don't think we want to walk there," Chester said, shuddering.
"I wish we had some Agent Orange!" Grundy mut- tered. "That would wilt those plants right off the wall!"
"Why not?" Bink asked. "All you have to do is Enter it."
So he did! Grundy faced the screen again. "Enter: We find Agent Orange before us! Execute."
Agent Orange appeared before them.
BUT AGENT ORANGE HAS THE SAME EFFECT ON ANIMALS
AS ON PLANTS, the screen printed.
"Can that be true?" Chester asked, concerned. "If we use it on those plants and then walk through, we'll be destroying ourselves."
"If it wasn't true before, it is now," Bink said. "It seems that neither side can reverse the reality of the other, but can modify what the other has. We don't dare use Agent Orange now."
Grundy agreed. He wasn't sure what counted as ani- mals, but it certainly included Snortimer, and probably Chester and Grundy himself, and might even include Bink.
"We'll have to try a new ploy," he decided. "One that can't be reversed like that."
"When I was in Mundania," Bink said thoughtfully, "I found that in some regions they required a document to let a person travel. It was called a passport. I wonder whether that would work here?"
"How does it work?" Grundy asked.
"It's a little book, and you write in it where you're going, and they check it to make sure you really go there."
"That wouldn't work quite the same in Xanth," Chester remarked.
"No, it wouldn't," Bink agreed.
Grundy thought about that. Obviously a device to facil- itate going somewhere would do it magically in Xanth, and unmagically in Mundania. If they had a magic book that conducted them outside—
"Enter," he told the screen. "The travelers find four passports, one for each of them."
Four small books appeared. Bink picked them up and passed them around. Grundy could hardly hold his, as it weighed half as much as he did.
Bink carefully wrote in his: Gap Chasm. The others followed his example. Since no destination had been spo- ken, they hoped the Pewter wouldn't catch on.
Then they saw the print on the screen: RED TAPE PRE- VENTS THE USE OF THE PASSPORTS.
Now they saw the red tape. Festoons of it were floating down from the ceiling. Streamers settled about them, and soon they were buried in the stuff. It didn't hurt them; it merely entangled them so that they could hardly move. It was difficult even to see their passports, because of the crisscrossing strands of ribbon.
"Evidently Pewter has learned something about Mun- dania," Bink muttered, disgruntled.
They struggled to free themselves of the tape. The stuff tore readily, but by the time they got it all clear, the pass- ports had been lost in the shuffle.
"Let's find another passage out," Chester said. "One
too broad to be blocked by plants."
"Enter," Grundy said. "They find a broad, clean pas- sage, clear of plants and all other barriers. Execute."
The passage manifested on the other side. Of course this one led further into the mountain, but it was broad
and nice.
But the screen printed: THEY HEAR AN AWFUL ROAR,
AND REALIZE THAT A FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON IS COMING DOWN IT.
The ensuing roar was indeed awful! "We can't go up
that passage!" Grundy said.
"Unless we find a way to deal with the dragon," Bulk
pointed out.
"What would scare off a dragon?" Grundy asked.
"A basilisk," Chester said.
Good idea! "Enter," Grundy said. "A basilisk walks up the passage toward
"Enter: A door to the outside opens in the cave wall. Execute."
Immediately a door opened where there had been none before. Could it really be that easy? Grundy took a step toward it.
But now print appeared on the screen. UNFORTU- NATELY, THE EXIT IS GUARDED BY FEROCIOUS LIFE-EATING
PLANTS, it showed.
Grundy stopped still. Now the passage was wreathed by horrendous green plants that had large cup-shaped leaves that drooled bright sap. Tendrils cast about, as if seeking something to clutch. Some of the leaf-cups seemed to have teeth.
"I don't think we want to walk there," Chester said, shuddering.
"I wish we had some Agent Orange!" Grundy mut- tered. "That would wilt those plants right off the wall!"
"Why not?" Bink asked. "All you have to do is Enter it."
So he did! Grundy faced the screen again. "Enter: We find Agent Orange before us! Execute."
Agent Orange appeared before them.
BUT AGENT ORANGE HAS THE SAME EFFECT ON ANIMALS
AS ON PLANTS, the screen printed.
"Can that be true?" Chester asked, concerned. "If we use it on those plants and then walk through, we'll be destroying ourselves."
"If it wasn't true before, it is now," Bink said. "It seems that neither side can reverse the reality of the other, but can modify what the other has. We don't dare use Agent Orange now."
Grundy agreed. He wasn't sure what counted as ani- mals, but it certainly included Snortimer, and probably Chester and Grundy himself, and might even include Bink.
"We'll have to try a new ploy," he decided. "One that can't be reversed like that."
"When I was in Mundania," Bink said thoughtfully, "I found that in some regions they required a document to let a person travel. It was called a passport. I wonder whether that would work here?"
"How does it work?" Grundy asked.
"It's a little book, and you write in it where you're going, and they check it to make sure you really go there."
"That wouldn't work quite the same in Xanth," Chester remarked.
"No, it wouldn't," Bink agreed.
Grundy thought about that. Obviously a device to facil- itate going somewhere would do it magically in Xanth, and unmagically in Mundania. If they had a magic book that conducted them outside—
"Enter," he told the screen. "The travelers find four passports, one for each of them."
Four small books appeared. Bink picked them up and passed them around. Grundy could hardly hold his, as it weighed half as much as he did.
Bink carefully wrote in his: Gap Chasm. The others followed his example. Since no destination had been spo- ken, they hoped the Pewter wouldn't catch on.
Then they saw the print on the screen: RED TAPE PRE- VENTS THE USE OF THE PASSPORTS.
Now they saw the red tape. Festoons of it were floating down from the ceiling. Streamers settled about them, and soon they were buried in the stuff. It didn't hurt them; it merely entangled them so that they could hardly move. It was difficult even to see their passports, because of the crisscrossing strands of ribbon.
"Evidently Pewter has learned something about Mun- dania," Bink muttered, disgruntled.
They struggled to free themselves of the tape. The stuff tore readily, but by the time they got it all clear, the pass- ports had been lost in the shuffle.
"Let's find another passage out," Chester said. "One
too broad to be blocked by plants."
"Enter," Grundy said. "They find a broad, clean pas- sage, clear of plants and all other barriers. Execute."
The passage manifested on the other side. Of course this one led further into the mountain, but it was broad
and nice.
But the screen printed: THEY HEAR AN AWFUL ROAR,
AND REALIZE THAT A FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON IS COMING DOWN IT.
The ensuing roar was indeed awful! "We can't go up
that passage!" Grundy said.
"Unless we find a way to deal with the dragon," Bulk
pointed out.
"What would scare off a dragon?" Grundy asked.
"A basilisk," Chester said.
Good idea! "Enter," Grundy said. "A basilisk walks up the passage toward
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