And Eternity

  "I'm ready," she said, emerging. But he was already on his way, and she had to run to catch up. She didn't dare ask where they were going.

  In the yard the death-steed Mortis was grazing. Oh, look at that! Vita thought. As with many girls of her age, she was thrilled by the notion of a horse, any horse.

  Thanatos glanced at his deathwatch. He turned and put his hands at Orlene's sides. He lifted, and the horse came up and stood before them, so that Thanatos could set her on. Then Thanatos mounted behind her, putting one arm around her in an impersonal way to keep her secure.

  The horse took off. There was no wind, no tilt, but suddenly they were riding upward through the sky, leaving the city below. Ooooo! Vita squealed in awed delight.

  "Mortis likes you too," Thanatos remarked.

  You can hear me?

  "I hear your soul, Vita."

  I like this too, Jolie thought.

  "Women do," he agreed.

  They peered down to see fluffy cotton-ball clouds below. Mortis was galloping on air, moving far faster than any mortal animal could. On occasion his hooves kicked up divots of cloud dust, which dissolved behind them. The scene was beautiful, with the morning beams of the sun spearing out from the east, lighting the near sides of the clouds.

  I begin to get a notion what Luna sees in Death, if he takes her on rides like this! Vita thought.

  "On occasion," Thanatos agreed.

  Then the steed was moving down to another city. They had no idea where it was; the speed and magic had been such that it could be anywhere. They had departed at dawn, local time; here it was afternoon.

  They landed on a city street amidst traffic. Orlene flinched as a car charged toward them—but it passed right through them as if they were ghosts. Yet of course they were not ghosts, exactly; Vita's body was alive and solid, so that meant that Thanatos and Mortis had to be solid, too, to lift and carry her as they had.

  Magic, Jolie reminded her.

  "True," Thanatos agreed. "Mortals can neither perceive nor affect us unless we wish it."

  The horse walked across the street and into a solid wall. They passed through the wall and into a lighted factory region at the base of a megabuilding. "This man is about to die of a rare internal electrical imbalance," Thanatos said, dismounting and approaching one of the workers. Sure enough, the man paused before his equipment, and fell back, looking startled.

  Thanatos stepped in and reached out to the man—but not to help support him. His hand passed into the man's body without resistance and out again, holding the man's soul. The soul came out in a translucent skein, mottled by black patches and white, distorting out of shape. The body sank to the floor, its eyes staring as if still startled.

  "But you never gave him a chance!" Orlene protested.

  "He might have recovered had you not swept out his soul!"

  "He would have endured until I took his soul, but not for recovery. I acted promptly so as to spare him unnecessary pain. When a soul is in balance, a person can not die until it is removed, no matter how hopeless the physical case." As he spoke he was folding the soul like so much gossamer, until it was wadded into a ball, which he placed in a little bag.

  He returned to Mortis and mounted. The horse walked back through the wall, then galloped into the air again. "How can you just take lives, all day?" Orlene asked. "It is a necessary part of human existence," he replied seriously. "Without death there could soon be no new life. The old must be cleared away for the new. Even as it is, we are threatened with overpopulation."

  Orlene was silent. She hadn't thought of it that way. Soon they came down in another city, somewhere in the world. Mortis halted at a Dumpster similar to the one they had hidden in when fleeing Vita's pimp, so long ago.

  "Your turn, Orlene," he said abruptly.

  "What?"

  "Within that Dumpster is a newborn infant who will die within hours if unattended. No mortal knows of his presence except his mother, who is beyond compassion in this respect, having such serious difficulties of her own as to be unable to return. My attention is not necessary, as the baby is unsullied and will go to Heaven, but to avoid subjecting him to avoidable agony as the next load of garbage is dumped, crushing him, I am interceding. You are looking for a blank soul; this one is close enough. Climb in and take it."

  "But I can't do that!" Orlene protested. "You are with me, sharing my power for this event by my extension. Do with him as you saw me do with the last case, and the soul will come out for you." Orlene waited a moment, flustered. "But—"

  "I understood that you wished above all else to recover and cure your own baby," Thanatos said emotionlessly. "This is the way to obtain one of the seven elements required. How serious is your quest?"

  Tight-lipped, Orlene got down and approached the Dumpster. Now they heard it: a faint mewling from within. They climbed up and peered in.

  The baby was there, half swathed in dirty rags, grease and blood splotched over his body, short dark hair matted to the tiny skull. "Oh, my God!" Orlene breathed numbly.

  So little! Vita thought. I never realized how small they were. His ankle is no bigger around than my thumb!

  Orlene reached forth with a shaking hand to take the soul. Her teeth were clenched.

  No! Vita thought. Don't kill him!

  She has to, Jolie thought. It would be cruel to let him suffocate in garbage, or to die slowly of exposure.

  Thanatos is right: it is an act of mercy to take this innocent soul now.

  But he's just an eensy baby! He never did anything to anyone! He shouldn't be killed, he should be held and cuddled and nursed and everything!

  Those are not his options, Jolie returned, realizing that they were in effect Orlene's inner voices, her conscience debating while she hesitated. It is wrong, we know, but the world is not governed by right, it is governed by circumstances, and all we can do is alleviate the most egregious cases. Sometimes the choice is between evils.

  You must be good at that! Vita shot back.

  "That's not fair!" Orlene protested. "She's not evil, she's—"

  Oh, damn, I'm sorry! Vita thought with genuine contrition. I didn't mean that, Jolie. It's just that I never was into killing, and this poor baby—

  I know, don't I know! Jolie replied. I died before I had a baby of my own, and then when I came to watch Orlene, it was like—

  I guess we better stop; I don't think we're helping.

  Jolie had to agree. This was Orlene's decision, hard as it was. Thanatos had given her a cruel lesson in death and souls!

  Orlene reached again for the baby. He took a ragged breath and cried a little louder, as if aware that death was upon him.

  "I can't!" Orlene cried. "Oh, I just can't!" She put both hands down and picked up the baby and held him close.

  Jolie and Vita maintained thought silence, not knowing what would come of this. Probably she had forfeited the soul she so needed; Thanatos would take it himself and put the dead baby back. But how else could she have reacted this woman who had already lost her own baby and died herself because of it? What Thanatos had inflicted on her had been more than cruel, it had been diabolic. Jolie knew it was not her place to judge him, but she could not accept this thing he had done.

  Orlene climbed out of the Dumpster, managing to bring the baby along. She came to stand before Thanatos as he sat on Mortis. She held the baby protectively. "Maybe I have no right to ask this, but if there is any way to save this baby, I've got to do it," she said, the tears coming. "I'm a mother, not a killer."

  "That is not your baby," Thanatos said. "You can gain nothing by interceding."

  "I know. I expect nothing. Please."

  "But you can salvage the soul, for your purpose."

  "I cannot, though I lose my own baby. Please."

  "I ask you again to consider just how serious you are about your quest for your own baby. If you will not do what is necessary—"

  "Oh, Thanatos, I would give my own soul to save my baby, if it were only clean
enough instead of hopelessly soiled! But I cannot sacrifice this innocent one to my purpose! This baby should have his chance to live and to make his own decisions about good and evil as he grows. I am grief-stricken over the loss of my own, but I cannot help mine by denying this one his chance. I beg you, I beg you—spare him, if you possibly can!"

  The death's head nodded. "I can, to a degree. Mount." He extended a bone hand.

  Orlene grasped it, holding the baby close with her other arm. Her weight diminished and she was moved effortlessly to the front of the great horse.

  A short gallop through the air and buildings brought them to a hospital. "Take him there," Thanatos said, lifting her down.

  Orlene walked into the hospital. She approached the front desk. "I found this newborn baby in a garbage dump," she said. "Please take care of him and arrange for his adoption." She held out the baby.

  A nurse appeared and took the baby. "You will have to make a statement," she said. "Where he was found, what time—"

  "I can't do that," Orlene said, turning away.

  "But you must! It is a crime to—"

  Mortis walked through the wall. Thanatos reached down. Orlene caught his hand and was set back on the horse.

  The nurse stared, holding the baby. "She disappeared!" she exclaimed. "She just disappeared!"

  "Sometimes they come like that," the girl at the desk said. "So there is no legal claim on the baby. We'll take care of him."

  "Yes, we'll take good care of him," the nurse said. Mortis leaped, passing through the ceiling, through the various chambers of the hospital, and on out the roof. Orlene, her effort done, sank into renewed grief. Jolie understood the temptation that had been on her: to try to keep the baby herself. She had resisted that, but it hurt. You did right! she thought.

  You did right. Vita echoed. "Yes, you did right," Thanatos said. "I will save an otherwise lost soul for you, from a baby whose situation is not subject to salvage, and deliver it to you when you have obtained the artifacts you require from the other Incarnations. You are worthy, in my estimation."

  You mean this thing was a test? Vita thought, outraged.

  "A soul is infinitely precious," Thanatos replied, unperturbed. "I would not yield one to a person who failed to appreciate its value, not merely as a convenience for a purpose, but as an entity in itself. This was a necessary determination. Orlene refused to do what she believed was wrong, even to achieve the thing she most desired."

  But did you have to make her hurt so? Jolie demanded. Knowing that she had lost her own baby?

  "The ultimate proof of character is not lightly achieved. A lesser proof would have been valueless. Incarnations do not deal in valueless matters."

  The understatement of the century! Jolie realized that Thanatos had been correct in his action, however cruel it had seemed. Orlene had won her soul not by taking what was proffered without conscience, but by maintaining her standards of decency and compassion despite the seeming cost.

  I think maybe I learned something. Vita thought. I couldn't've done it myself.

  Jolie wasn't sure she could have, either. We thank you, Thanatos, for this hard lesson, she thought. "You are welcome, Jolie," he replied. Mortis landed back in Luna's yard. Orlene got down. "I, too, thank you, Thanatos," she said. "I will try to get the other things I need."

  "We are not yet finished," Thanatos said, dismounting.

  He accompanied her into the house.

  "I don't think I understand," Orlene said. Thanatos took a seat on the same couch that Judge Scott had used the night before. Jolie was glad that they had thought to return to pick up Vita's scattered clothing before sleeping! "The shifting of the course of a life cannot be accomplished by a single Incarnation unilaterally," he said.

  "A life is too important for that. In my early days in Office I sometimes declined to take the souls that were due. I once saved a drowning man, for example, instead of allowing him to die. I learned later that both Chronos and Fate had had to make adjustments to accommodate my action. They had not spoken of it to me, making allowance for my inexperience in Office. Now I am more careful, just as other Incarnations are careful of my prerogatives. Orlene, you will have to present your case for the baby you saved to Fate, so that she can decide whether to alter his thread of life."

  "But Fate is—"

  "Your natural grandmother," he said.

  "My what!"

  Thanatos paused. "I apologize. I see you did not know."

  I did not tell her, Jolie thought. I thought it best to let her follow her quest without the complication of that knowledge.

  "My natural grandmother!" Orlene repeated, dazed. "That may complicate the picture," Thanatos said. "Nevertheless, it was at your instigation that that baby's thread of life was rerouted, and it is your responsibility to obtain the authorization for it. Jolie will be able to guide you to the Incarnation of Fate, of course."

  "I will do it," Orlene agreed. "I agree it is my responsibility." But she remained shaken by the revelation of her ancestry.

  "You should also check with Chronos."

  "The Incarnation of Time? Why?"

  "In order to fit this special session into my schedule, I borrowed time. This has actually been a rerun of time I am spending in my normal duties, so that I have not sacrificed them or been rushed. Chronos is tolerant of such occasional borrowings on my part, but it would be better if you approached him and explained directly."

  "I need to see him anyway, to get a grain of sand," Orlene agreed. "I shall do that forthwith."

  "However, in fairness, I must advise you that your interview with Chronos will not be easy."

  Jolie remembered the key thing about the Incarnation of Time: he lived backwards. That complicated things for every person who interacted with him, mortal or immortal!

  "I will do what I must," Orlene said.

  "I think you do not yet grasp the nature of the problem. Not only does time reverse in his residence, he is a man you knew in life."

  "I knew him? But how could that be? I've only been dead for a few months! How long has he had the Office?"

  "That depends on perspective. By my reckoning, it has been perhaps twenty-five years; I had not thought to verify the precise length of his tenure. By his reckoning, it might be as little as two years."

  "Either way, then, I cannot have known him!"

  "I believe his given name was Norton."

  Orlene stiffened. "Oh, no!"

  Thanatos stood. "It is not my concern how you may handle your interview with another Incarnation. Certainly I do not wish to interfere in their activities that do not relate to my proper business. But you seem to be uniquely related to or involved with more than one Incarnation, in which number I am included because of my interest in your aunt Luna, so I have brought this matter up to you. I bid you good prospects."

  "My aunt...?"

  "I think I have made another error," he said.

  That, too, is true, Jolie thought. Maybe I should have told you all of it at the outset, but—

  "But I was in no condition," Orlene said.

  Yes. Then the business with Nox—

  Orlene, shaken again, walked to him. "I appreciate your information, Thanatos." Then she lifted her face and kissed him on his lipless mouth. The expressionless skull face managed to look startled.

  Two days later Luna returned. "I trust you were not bored, being here alone?"

  Jolie was back in charge. "By no means, thank you. We have been tutoring Vita, and getting to know Muir and Griffith and Grissel, and looking at your wonderful pictures, and we had visits by Judge Scott and Thanatos."

  "The moon moth and griffins seldom have company they appreciate; I'm sure they have been most pleased. I am glad you like my paintings; I really have little time to paint now, but on occasion I still do it, to relax. As for Roque, he is a good man," Luna said, with an oblique smile that suggested that she well understood that situation. "Thanatos is a good Incarnation." Jolie wasn't certain how she meant that
, knowing that Luna had been Thanatos' mortal lover for well over a decade.

  "We are grateful for your generosity in allowing us to stay here during your absence," Jolie said. "Now I think we should find some other lodging, so that—"

  Luna looked seriously at her. "I would not think of it. You, Jolie, are a good friend and incidental liaison with the enemy. Orlene is family. Vita is the daughter of my employee and friend Vera, whose situation is still clarifying. It behooves me to facilitate your various interests. I understand that you, Jolie, are now also doing an observation of the Judge as a prospect for an Incarnation."

  She was really current! "Yes. But it would help if I know which Incarnation was the most likely prospect. The Offices are so different—"

  "We do not feel free to advertise that at this stage. But we do need candidates who might be acceptable to all of the Incarnations."

  "But Satan will not agree to any completely good man!"

  "And the others will not agree to any completely bad man," Luna agreed. "Therefore our most likely prospects will be compromises—people with both good and evil. In truth, the current Incarnations are similar compromises, brought about by chance and circumstance, doing the best they can. But we distrust chance, and wish to upgrade prospects, with no affront intended toward any current parties."

  In other words, she wasn't letting any secrets slip. Jolie was increasingly curious about this matter. She tried once more. "When we were with Thanatos, we thought he was acting cruelly, but it turned out that he was merely clarifying the gravity of the matter of taking a soul for any purpose other than its own. We conclude that he is doing a good job. Yet he must have had a lot of evil on his soul, to encounter his predecessor, because Thanatos normally goes after only those souls that are in balance between good and evil."

  "True. He was in balance, with as much evil as good. So was I, when we met; we compared notes. He has been doing a good job, and surely changing his balance slowly positive, and I hope my own is similarly changing. Certainly it is possible for such folk to perform well. But if there were a better system of selection, we might guarantee that future Incarnations will be better prepared for their Offices."