The priest watched the smoke rise from the slowly creeping fire. Although he had stopped screaming, he felt that he was going to faint. He could not imagine a pain more intense than the one he now felt, but he knew it would not compare with what he would experience when the fire reached the nerves.
"Stop ringing, damn you!" Abdu said.
"I think they're looking for me," Carmody groaned. "They must have found the officers you knocked out. And they know I haven't left the hotel."
"Well, we'll just let them look. They can't get in here as long as the door's bolted."
Carmody hissed with pain, then said, "And what're you going to do afterward? They'll be waiting for you. Besides, they know this is Mrs. Fratt's room and she's not answering. Also that you are missing from your room. And that you haven't left the hotel. A check is made of everybody entering and leaving, you know."
Abdu frowned and glanced at the phone. He walked to the table and tore off a strip of tape. After securing this over Carmody's mouth, he went to the phone.
Carmody wanted to hear the conversation, but he could not. The fire had begun to feed on the wood under his toenail. He could hear nothing but his scream, confined within his mouth by the tape and shrilling higher and higher in his head. The pain had not caused his eyesight to dim, however, and he saw the first thin curl of smoke rise from the steel bolt of the door. Abdu did not see it, for his back was turned, and he was still talking over the phone.
A line appeared on the bolt, spread and flowed. The bolt separated into two pieces. At the same time, Abdu whirled, saw the smoke and the cloven bar, and his lips writhed in what must have been a curse.
The door swung on its pivots; Abdu raised his gun and fired. A round object flew into the room, bounced toward Abdu, and exploded into a dense cloud of yellow smoke that enveloped him. His body became a silhouette that reached shadow arms upward to clutch at his shadow throat. He fell forward. A second later, Kareenans wearing gas masks entered. One of them hastened to Carmody, and tried to pull the splint out of his toe, only to break off the charred piece. He rose and signaled to another, who produced a hypodermic and jabbed it into Carmody's arm. A few seconds later, blessed oblivion came to him.
He awoke in a strange bed. The pain in his toe and his face was gone. Tand was looking down at him. The relief and the unexpected sight of his friend caused him to burst into tears. Tand was not embarrassed, for Kareenan males wept as easily as terrestrial females. He smiled and patted Carmody's hand.
"You're all right now. You're in my house, safe and sound, for the moment, anyway. We kasered through the door and the bolt just in time. We were lucky. Apparently, Abdu did not discover what we were doing in time to kill you."
"Abdu was just knocked out?"
"Yes, he's alive and being interrogated now."
"He has said anything about any connection with Lieftin and Abog?"
"We used chalarocheil, and he's spilled everything. Abdu made arrangements through Lieftin to have you killed; it was Lieftin's men that tried to murder you outside Mrs. Kri's. However, we're sure that Lieftin not only did this independently of Abog but was careful to conceal his part in the plot against you from Abog. Abog would want to keep you alive, because he and Rilg are depending upon your help in talking Yess out of a universal Night.
"You, my dear friend, were caught in a mesh of crosswebs."
"Is Mrs. Fratt dead?"
"I'm afraid so. Abdu told us how she was killed."
Tand, seeing Carmody flinch, hastened to reassure him. "What else could you do?"
"I know you well enough to know what you're digging for," Carmody said. "You're wondering why I, a man who's passed the Night, would battle so savagely? Why I didn't continue to try to talk Mrs. Fratt out of torturing me when she was so obviously on the point of weakening?"
"That had occurred to me. But I understand why you allowed your will to survive to overcome you. A man who's gone through one Night is not 'perfect,' far from it. I've gone through many, and while I'm 'better' each time, I still have a long way to go. Besides, who am I to judge? I might well have done the same thing."
He paused, then said,"But there is one thing I don't understand. You have the power to dissociate your mind from pain. Why didn't you use that power?"
"I tried to," Carmody replied. "And, for the first time, I couldn't."
"Hmmm. I see."
"Something in me cut the wires," the priest said. "It's obvious why. I felt, or the unconscious part of me felt, that I should suffer because of what I'd done to Mrs. Fratt and her son. It wasn't a logical feeling, because my pain wasn't going to alter Mrs. Fratt's situation or feelings or mine, either. But the unconscious has its own logic, as you well know."
He wiggled his big toe. "No pain."
"It'll hurt after the anesthetic wears off. But you should be able to control the pain after that. Unless you are still determined to inflict remorse on yourself."
"I don't think so."
He sat up. He was a little weak and shaky, and, surprisingly, hungry.
"I'd like to eat. What time is it?"
"You're due to see Yess in an hour. Think you can make it?"
"I'll be fine. Now, what are you going to do about Abog and Rilg?"
"That depends on Yess. It's a very complicated situation. It'll take time to figure out what to do and then put a plan into effect. And time is what we lack. By the way, we haven't located Lieftin yet."
Carmody got out of bed. By the time he had eaten, bathed and dressed, he felt his old self again.
Tand was delighted. "I wanted you to look your best when you met your son," he said. "Our son, rather, although I feel that you are actually much more the Father than the rest of us."
"Will the others be there?"
"Not now. Let's go. It'll take longer than usual to get there because of the crowds."
Tand was wrong. Only a few people were on the streets, and these were not as noisy or active as usual.
"I've never seen this before," he said. "It must be the worry about Yess' decision. People must be staying home, watching TV in case Yess makes an announcement."
The car drove around to the rear of the enormous temple, a side Carmody had not seen. It lacked the portico with its caryatids and had very few carvings in the niches. Tand parked the car near the entrance and led Carmody to a little door at the southwest corner of the building. A squad of sentinels saluted him, and an officer opened the door for them with a large key that hung on a silver chain from his broad belt.
Beyond the door was a small waiting room with a few tables and chairs and a number of Kareenan and non-Kareenan magazines, books, and record spools. The only other door led to another room which housed the lower end of a narrow staircase of quartz steps and a small graviton cage. This was at the bottom of a shaft carved out of the stone.
Tand and Carmody got into the cage; Tand pressed the start button and the button marked with the ideograph for seven. "I won't go in with you," he said. "Obviously, you won't have to be introduced, even if protocol normally requires it. He's seen your photo. Besides, who else could you be?"
Carmody felt nervous. The cage stopped. Tand swung its gate out, and they stepped into another small anteroom. He fitted a key into the lock of the oval door and turned it. Then he drew a similar key from his beltbag and gave it to Carmody.
"Every Father has one of these."
Carmody hesitated. Tand said, "Go on in. Yess should be in the room beyond the next one. I'll go down below to wait for you."
Carmody nodded and stepped through. He was in a much larger room, lit only by a small lamp. Red drapes covered the wall; a light green carpet, very thick and soft, covered the floor. Although there were no windows, cool air moved past his slightly damp skin. At the opposite wall was another oval door, half-open.
"Come in," said a deep baritone voice in Kareenan.
Carmody entered an even larger room. This had walls covered with light green plaster. Several murals, depicting events fr
om Kareenan mythology, were painted on the walls. The furniture was simple: a table of glossy black wood, several lightly constructed but comfortable-looking chairs, and a bed in a niche. There was also a viewphone, a large TV set, and a tall narrow bookcase of the same glossy wood. The table held recording spools, several books, stationery, and an old-fashioned fountain pen made of polished stone with white and green veins.
Yess was standing by the table. He was a tall man; Carmody's head came no higher than his chest. His superbly muscled body was naked. His black hair looked Terrestrial, but a closer inspection showed a slightly Kareenan featheriness. His face was handsome and also Kareenan, but Carmody felt his throat closing when he saw Mary's features reflected in those of Yess. His ears were like a wolf's; his teeth were a very faint blue. But he had five toes.
A pang welled up in Carmody, drove up through his chest, forced a sob from him, and sprang out as tears. He began weeping violently, and he stumbled to Yess and embraced him. Yess was also weeping.
Yess released himself and sat Carmody down in a chair. He slid open a drawer of the table and took out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes.
"I've looked forward for a long time to this," he said. "Yet I know that it is going to be difficult. We are strangers, and no matter how much we come to know each other, I'm afraid that there will always be a certain barrier between us."
For the first time in his life, Carmody found it difficult to talk. What could he say?
"As you can see, Father," Yess went on, "I am half-Terrestrial, truly your son. And that, by the way, is one of our arguments about the universality of Boontism. Once restricted to this planet, Boontism is destined to spread throughout the universe. Its destiny became manifest the moment I was conceived by an extra-Kareenan mother and Father. Boonta accomplished this for a very specific purpose."
Carmody, feeling better, smiled. "You certainly have one of my characteristics: directness. And I am certain also that you have another: aggressiveness. I can't say I'm altogether happy about the last, though."
Yess smiled, and he sat down in the chair on the other side of the table.
"I'll come to the point then. A question. Why did you, who went through the mystical mating with Boonta, become a convert to another religion? I would have thought that you would be so overwhelmed with a sense of the truth of Boonta and with the experiences of the Night, that you could not have done otherwise than worship Boonta."
"Others, notably my superiors of the Church, have asked me that same question," Carmody replied. "Perhaps; if I'd stayed on Kareen, I might have become a Boontist. But I sincerely believe that a Something -- Destiny, Fate, or God -- a term I prefer -- directed me otherwise. While under observation at Hopkins, I went through an experience, fully as mystical and convincing as anything that happened here. I became convinced, and nothing has happened since then to unconvince me, that the faith I chose was the one for me."
Yess' voice was pleasant, but he was watching Carmody's face very intently.
"You think, then, that Boonta is a false deity?"
"Not at all. Rather, I should say that She is the manifestation the Creator takes on Kareen. She is another aspect. At least, I like to think that. But I really do not know, nor do I think I shall ever be certain. My own Church has made no official declaration, and it may be a long time before it does."
"I am not the least uncertain," Yess said. He reached into the drawer and took out a small bottle and a package.
"The wine is Kareenan; the cigarettes, Terrestrial. I enjoy both. And when I do, I think of my origin. I am no longer Yess, god of Kareen only. I am Yess, the god of all planets."
He spoke matter-of-factly.
"You really believe that?"
"I know."
"Then there's no use arguing," Carmody said. "Not that I intended to do so, anyway. But I'll be frank. I did come here to try to dissuade you from taking a particular step. I --"
"I know why you're here. Your Church has sent you to give me the same arguments that Rilg presented. Rilg, by the way, although he may not know it, is an Algulist. I've been aware of it for a long time, but I've done nothing about it because I never, or rarely, interfere in governmental affairs. Besides, almost all politicians on this planet -- and probably on others -- are Algulists. Consciously or unconsciously."
"Then you've made up your mind?"
"Last year. I don't intend to make the announcement until the last moment, however. If the people have too much time to think about it, they may revolt.
"Of course, I can't blame them too much. Too many of them know, deep inside them, that they won't make it through the Night. But the time is past for coddling the self-deceivers. If they are truly Algulists behind their facade of Yess worship, they must find out."
"But what about the children?" Carmody said. He knew his face was getting red and that Yess was aware of his anger.
"Life is a spendthrift. Life is a struggle. Some make it; some don't. Boonta gives, but she doesn't take back. She allows things to happen as they happen."
Carmody sat silent, overwhelmed with the knowledge that nothing he could say would turn Yess aside.
"After the Night is over and we have reorganized," Yess was saying, "we shall go into an intensive campaign of extra-Kareenan proselytizing. I intend to visit other planets myself."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Carmody said. "If you're assassinated by some religious fanatic on another planet, you'll be discredited."
"Not so. Another Yess will appear. That a Yess can be killed will no more invalidate his divinity than the killing of Christ did His."
"Next you'll be telling me that planets do have their own local saviors, good enough in their own way but only temporary substitutes until the oversavior comes along -- you."
"Exactly," Yess replied. "It's the evolution of the divine. Just as the New Testament was added to the Old Testament to make a new book, and as the Book of Mormon and the Koran and the Keys to Science and Health were sequels to the Bible, so another Book will come into being and supersede all of them.
"I am dictating the Book of Light. It will be finished presently. In it is a compressed history of Boonta and her peoples. It also presents in organized and authentic form the tenets of our religion. And it does what no other scriptures have ever dared. It makes a detailed prophecy of things to come. This is not given in vague symbolic form, so that a thousand different interpretations are possible. It is clear and specific.
"When this Book is translated into the many tongues of the galaxies and made available everywhere, it will be our greatest missionary."
Yess looked across the table into Carmody's eyes, and Carmody felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. It was the aura, though much attenuated, that he had felt when he went into the Temple with the other Fathers for the birth of Yess -- when Boonta had made Her presence known.
Abruptly, the feeling stopped. Yess rose and said, "I will see you, Father."
Carmody stood up also. "Am I free to make your decision known?"
"No. You will say nothing of it."
Yess strode around the table, embraced Carmody and kissed him. "Do not grieve, Father. There are things beyond your understanding. You must accept them, just as you accepted the things of the Night and my conception by a creature of your mind."
"I would like to do so," Carmody replied. "But I cannot accept needless suffering and death."
"They are not needless. Boonta be with you."
"And God with you -- son."
Tand greeted the priest as he entered the waiting room on the ground floor. "How did it go, John? How do you feel?"
"Downcast. And troubled. I feel somewhat like an actor who has walked onto the stage only to find himself in the wrong theater and the wrong play."
"You've completed your mission. Why don't you go home?"
"I don't know why, but I can't. Something tells me I have unfinished business here. Perhaps it's to find out the truth, if that's possible. I'll tell you one thing. Yess' the
ory of one universal savior disturbs me very much. Are divine truths revealed little by little as sentients become ready for them? And is Yess about to reveal one, a valid one?"
Carmody went home and to bed. He slept until late in the morning, an event rare for him. When he went down to the hotel dining room for breakfast, he found it empty of all non-Kareenans except for a number of Terrestrial converts to Boontism. He ate a sad breakfast alone. Just before he finished, he was interrupted by a priest of Boonta.
Carmody looked up at the green robes and peacocktail-like headdress, and it was a few seconds before he recognized Skelder.
Carmody stood up and joyfully threw his arms around him. It was an indication of the change in the once dour and withdrawn priest that he responded as eagerly.
"I wanted to see you before the Night started," Skelder said. "After that, who knows?"
"There's no need for me to ask if you still think you made the right choice?" Carmody said.
"No. I'm perfectly happy about my decision. Never regretted it. And you?"
"Same here. Well, shall we sit down and talk?"
"I'd like to," Skelder said, "but I must be at the Temple. Yess is going to make the announcement at noon, you know."
"No, I didn't. What then?"
"What happens is in the hands of Boonta. Tand told me that you know much about events behind the scenes. So, you must know that we wouldn't be surprised if Rilg tried to keep Yess from making the public announcement. Not that he'd dare lay hands on Yess -- officially, anyway. But he could try to cut off the electrical power or jam the broadcast."
"He must be desperate."
"He is. Well, I must be off. Oh, yes, Tand said that Lieftin is still at large. And he must be desperate, too. The last ship has left, he can't get off. However, he may expect to be put to Sleep during the Night and so escape its effects. We think he'll try whatever he has planned before the broadcast. Maybe that is what Rilg is hoping for."
Skelder said good-type and left in a swirl of long green robes. Carmody signed the government credit slip for his breakfast and went out into the street. He was unaccompanied, since there no longer seemed any reason to guard him. Many people were in the streets. They stood silently on the corners by the large public TV screens, evidently awaiting Yess. Many had removed their masks.