Or might mean he'd foreseen the visitor would either be or bring a solution. In that case, Medart thought, he was likely to be disappointed—though Medart intended to do his best. He snorted to himself. He'd gotten the challenge he wanted, all right—gotten it in spades, and very possibly more of one than he could handle.
As he'd told Captain Chavvorth, though, he'd have to try to meet even such an impossible-seeming challenge. He had no idea at the moment how he'd meet it, but he was sure it'd have to be something unconventional. He was positive that this universe's people were every bit as competent as the ones at home; they'd have done all the conventional things as well as he could. Probably better, since this was their universe and they knew how it worked.
Chavvorth interrupted his train of thought. "If you will key the lock, sir?"
"Right." Medart placed his hand against the door's lock-plate, keying it to his palm-print. The two entered when the door slid open; Medart immediately went to the service panel for a fresh cup of coffee. "Want some more chovas?"
"No, thank you. A cup of Blue Ginger, perhaps?"
"You got it." Medart entered the appropriate order, took the steaming cup when it appeared, and handed it to the Traiti, then took his own seat. "You said you'd start teaching me magic. I know better than to tell a teacher how to teach, but I have a feeling I'm going to need something I wasn't wearing when Ranger Ariel summoned me. So I think I'd better learn that summoning spell first."
Chavvorth looked uncomfortable, but shook his head. "Such a summoning is dangerous even for an experienced magician—far too dangerous for a novice, particularly one who is also a Ranger. No, I will not teach you that spell. But I will attempt to summon this object myself, if you will describe it."
Medart frowned. He wasn't used to having his requests refused, even for his own safety—a Ranger was presumed to be able to evaluate risks and take only necessary ones. On the other hand, he didn't know enough about magic to make such an evaluation accurately, and his first attempt at using it had injured an Imperial officer … so maybe he'd better accept the refusal gracefully. "All right, Captain. But if it's that dangerous, I'd hesitate to risk an IBC's captain, either. Don't you have any magical specialists?"
"Yes, of course. Next to Ranger Ariel, Major Treschler is our most accomplished magician, and he has been successful with summonings."
"Get him to do it, then. I may be able to do better than a description of what I need, though—I'd better be, or there won't be any point in getting it. Emperor Barton, do your records include twentieth-century entertainment tapes?"