“We are in close proximity to the field,” Obie replied. “Anyone within approximately a hundred meters would have some knowledge of this. The closer you are, the more dichotomy you perceive. After about a hundred meters the perception of reality starts to become negligible. People would be aware that something was different, but wouldn’t be able to figure out what. Beyond a thousand meters the dissipation would become one with the master equation, and reality would adjust. I can, however, adjust or minimize this for your perceptions if you desire.”

“Absolutely not!” Zinder said sharply. “But you mean that everyone beyond a thousand meters of here would firmly believe she had always been a centaur and that there was a logical reason for it?”

“That is correct. The prime equations always remain in natural balance.”

“She’s coming in!” Ben called excitedly, breaking off the dialogue.

Zinder looked out and saw a shape flicker into the center of the disk. It flickered twice more, then solidified, and the field winked out. The mirror swung silently away overhead.

It was still Zetta Halib, recognizably. But where the woman had stood, the creature was Zetta now only down to the waist. There her yellow-brown skin melded into black hair, and the rest of her body was that of a full-grown mare of perhaps two years.

“Obie?” Yulin called, and the computer answered. “Obie, how long before she stabilizes? That is, how long before the centaur becomes permanent?”

“It’s permanent now, for her,” the computer told him. “If you mean how long it will take the prime equations to stabilize her new set, an hour or two at most. It is, after all, a minor disturbance.”

Zinder leaned over the rail and looked at her in amazement. It was clear that he had exceeded his wildest dreams.