Then Natasha called to someone beyond. His voice made the ether ripple magically; the pattern of it could be seen all around them, curling in strange wave patterns into diminishing spirals and out to infinity. The effect was weird and beautiful and hypnotic, both auditory and visual.
It's an aspect of the Llano, Jolie explained. The Llano is one of the only things that penetrates the Void. Gaea uses it to control the forces of nature, but she's not adept with chaos.
There came an answering call. The waves and spirals changed, assuming a new configuration. The restless tapestry of their convolutions became the walls of an austere chamber.
They faced a kindly, bearded man. "Thank You for answering, JHVH," Natasha said. "This is Gaea, the Incarnation of Nature."
"I have admired your work," JHVH said politely.
"And this is Orlene, her daughter. My stepdaughter, in the mortal host of another person."
"And Jolie too," JHVH remarked, glancing at them.
"Jolie too," Natasha agreed. "I asked Jolie to watch over Orlene in life, and when Orlene died, she felt responsible, and is helping her accomplish a task set by the Incarnation of Night."
"Ah, I have known Nox of old."
"Have I been named?" It was Nox, coalescing beside them. Her vague outline solidified, until she had the form of a stunningly beautiful woman. But she was in black and white, while the others were in full color.
That's weird! Vita thought.
"Nox has my baby," Orlene said. "He has a malady of the soul, which can be cured only by special things provided by each of the major Incarnations. I have obtained the agreements of six, and now must gain the last from God."
"I shall be happy to guide you to Heaven," JHVH said. "But I am curious about the involvement of the Incarnation of Night, who is not of your pantheon, any more than I am. I am not conversant with the politics of such interactions, but suspect this is rare."
"It is the first time in the current millennium I have done so," Nox said.
"I should think you would have a more important concern than the welfare of a single baby," JHVH said. "Such as the approaching termination of most mortal existence."
"I have no power over that. I do have power over the baby." As she spoke, the baby appeared in her arms. Nox opened her robe to expose one breast, and nursed him.
The three sharing the host reacted in different ways. Orlene felt an exquisite pang to see another woman nursing her baby, yet noted that the baby was being well cared for. Nox held him closely, with evident concern and even love, and Gaw-Two seemed quite comfortable with her. Orlene remembered how her own mother, here right now, had given her up; was this the way it felt? She wanted so much to go and take her baby back! She made an effort and buried her mixed emotions, lest she embarrass herself by breaking down in tears. Her thoughts, hitherto unguarded, abruptly became opaque to Jolie.
How can she nurse when she hasn't given birth? Vita thought, amazed. She had no awareness of the pang of separation Orlene felt, but was simply curious about the technical aspect.
She isn't human, Jolie replied. She can adapt herself to any form and function she chooses. But Jolie herself was amazed that Nox, the most aloof of Incarnations, should have chosen to do this, and indeed to be so open about it. There was no need for the baby to feed in the Afterlife; this was only to give him comfort. Why should Nox care? Or was Nox deliberately torturing Orlene? Was she trying to make Orlene do something foolish, and so forfeit the recovery of her baby which she had labored so hard to achieve?
Gaea looked at the Incarnation of Night. "Dreams may seem to the uninformed to be the stuff of chaos, but it is only ignorance that makes it seem so. Your realm mirrors ours, Nox; what is it you see that we do not?"
Nox merely smiled and faded out, still nursing Gaw.
"She is up to something," JHVH remarked. "But let us attend to the business at hand. I will guide you to Heaven, Orlene, though I will not enter it with you. Take My hand."
Orlene took his hand. Suddenly chaos was rushing past them. It was formless, yet seemed to suggest form; efforts to perceive it were frustrating, yet it was hard to ignore.
Ahead loomed a star. It expanded to a sun, and then to a globe of light which filled their vision. They came right up to the fringe, and the brilliance diminished with proximity. Beyond it lay a shining terrain.
"This is your Heaven," JHVH said. "Pass through the veil of light, and return to this point when you are finished. I will await you here."
"Thank you." Orlene floated through the veil.
Who is that guy? Vita asked. How come he knows his way here when the Incarnations don't?
He is the God of the Hebrews. Jolie replied. Once the God of all, but his power has declined with the ascent of newer religions, such as Christianity.
But I thought it was the same God!
In theory, perhaps—but in practice, no. The Christians have become a different and more aggressive tribe.
Then why does he help us?
He has become tolerant in his age, and I understand that Satan once did him a favor.
Vita made a thought of laughter. I wonder if Satan was trying to corrupt JHVH, the same as he does everyone else! I don't think it worked.
Orlene stood at the edge of Heaven, uncertain where to proceed. She stood on a white cloudbank, which merged with others, the landscape resembling a giant mattress. The inhabitants of Heaven stood around, faintly glowing. They looked bored.
Orlene approached the nearest. This was an old woman who looked much the way she must have in life before she died. "Excuse me—how do I find God?"
"Live better than you did," the woman replied, uninterested.
"Oh, I'm not dead, exactly. I mean, I'm just visiting, in a mortal host. I have to see God."
"Well, God isn't here in Limbo! We are the imperfect souls, just barely good enough to qualify. We have evil in us and cannot proceed to the more pleasant aspects of Heaven until we expunge it."
"How do you do that?"
"I'm not sure, and not very curious."
"Can you tell me some path to follow that perhaps leads to God?"
The woman shrugged. "Why should I bother?"
I don't think this biddy's going to make fast progress! Vita thought.
Perhaps you should use your magic, Jolie suggested.
Orlene brightened. The moment she oriented, the glows of the souls in Heaven changed. Now some were brighter than others. But none seemed bright enough.
Why not just yell? Vita thought.
Orlene considered, then tried it. "Please, anybody!" she called. "I am a visitor here, and I need guidance. Will anyone help me to go in the direction of God?"
There was no reaction. The souls in Limbo just weren't interested.
Then a new one appeared. This was a young woman who looked somewhat worn, but she glowed brightly. "Hello. I am Rita."
I like that name! Vita thought. And she's young, like me!
"I am Orlene. Are you coming in answer to—"
"Did you save a baby?" she asked.
"I lost my baby," Orlene said. "I am trying to recover him."
"No—a baby in a Dumpster. Newborn."
Orlene gazed at her more closely. "Why, yes! The Incarnation of Death told me to—but I couldn't—"
"I am his mother."
"Oh! You mean you died, Rita? That's why—"
"Not exactly. I had to work—I had taken all my vacation time, and I had used a slim-spell to hide my pregnancy—but I would have lost my job at the restaurant if they knew. So I brought the baby with me and hid him in the Dumpster, where nobody would suspect, so I could run out and tend to him. I knew the collection schedule, see, so I could move him before they came. But I pushed it too hard, being back on my feet all day so soon after, and I hemorrhaged, and they didn't know and I didn't tell, so as not to lose my job—and, well, I lost my life instead. I was in Heaven before I knew, and couldn't get back—and what could I have done as a ghost, anyway? I knew my baby woul
d die, and oh, how that hurt—"
"Oh, I know, don't I know!" Orlene said, putting her arms around the young woman as she choked up.
"All I could do was watch. But then you came, and you took him, and brought him to the hospital, so he lived, after all, and now he's been adopted by a nice couple, and he's much better off than I could ever—I mean, even if I had lived—"
"Yes. I was adopted too. I never knew my natural parents until after I died."
"So I owe you a debt of thanks I thought I could never repay! I can't go to the highest levels, because of the sin of having the baby out of wedlock, but I can take you most of the way."
"You didn't marry?" Orlene asked.
"Well, we were going to, you know, but he had to get through college first—and then when I learned I was—"
"He disappeared," Orlene finished, and Rita nodded tearfully. "And for that you have sin on your soul."
"Yes. I never had much sin before, but I loved him so much, I really thought—"
"I think we need new definitions," Orlene muttered.
"I'm glad I saved your baby. I didn't realize that I would ever meet you."
Rita brightened. "Come, I must show you the way! I'm so glad to be able to do this!"
They followed the young woman. There were stairs at some places where the cloud banks intersected, spiraling up to the higher levels, and they climbed these. "Half way up was a guardian angel, a forbidding figure with solid, birdlike wings furled behind. "What is this?" he demanded gruffly.
"This is Orlene," Rita said. "She has come to see God."
"Get out of here!" the angel snapped, barring the way.
"But she has important business!"
"I don't care what she claims! She has no clearance for this ascent. Now vacate, before I lay an Atonement on you both!" He raised his fist.
Orlene lifted her hand, intercepting his. Her glow brightened. The angel froze in place.
She's doing it again! Vita thought. I bet she really could have used that magic in life, instead of just seeing whether anyone's right for anyone else.
Jolie did not respond. She wasn't sure whether this was a newly discovered talent or a newly developed one. Certainly there had been no hint of it before that moment in Hell. She didn't understand it, so was disquieted by it. Could Nox have done something else to Orlene, without her knowledge? If so, to what would it lead? Jolie had no confidence at all in the motives of the Incarnation of Night: she remembered too well that episode of Orlene's maleness.
They passed the still angel and went on up to the next level—where they were similarly challenged by an angel who seemed more like a bureaucratic thug than any spirit of goodness. Orlene touched him as she had the first, and he was similarly nullified. In this manner they ascended several levels. "This is as high as I can go," Rita said. "We've passed Limbo, and the Moon, and Venus, and the Sphere of the Sun. This is the Fifth Heaven, which is the Sphere of Mars, with the idle warrior spirits. I'm not a warrior, of course; I'm in a different part of the level, for those who tried to fight discrimination. There are five more Heavens, and in the Tenth Heaven you'll find God."
"Perhaps you can show me farther," Orlene said. "Let's see."
They ascended to the Sixth Heaven, where the Righteous Rulers dwelt. The guardian angel on duty tried to bar them, as the others had, but with no better success. Orlene's new power triumphed.
In the Ninth Heaven they encountered resistance of another nature. "Greetings, girls. I am the Angel Gabriel. I will deal with you."
They gazed at Gabriel. He looked exactly like a man, in contrast to the guardian angels, who had sported anything from two to six wings each. That argued for his legitimacy: he felt no need for affectation.
"I am Orlene, visiting in mortal host. I have come to talk with God."
"So I understand. You have generated some disruption here. We do not encourage mortal visits, and we admit to a certain prejudice against brides of Satan."
"Please let me pass," Orlene said. "I will depart with my friends as soon as my business with God is done."
"God is distracted at the moment. Perhaps I can settle your business instead."
Orlene, growing impatient, sought to brush past him, but Gabriel gently barred her. She tried to use the glow to immobilize him, but it had no effect.
"Such magic can not affect Seraphim or above," Gabriel said. "Now that you have made proof of it, perhaps you will reconsider my offer."
He's legitimate, Jolie thought. Better talk with him.
"All right," Orlene said, disgruntled.
Gabriel made a gesture as of drawing a curtain around them. The stairs faded out, and they were in a compact office. Gabriel sat behind a square desk, checking a scroll.
"I see you have been to six major Incarnations and obtained commitments from them all," Gabriel remarked.
"Yes. I need only a blessing from God and I can recover my baby from the Incarnation of Night. Then I can relax, my mission accomplished."
Gabriel gazed at her with what seemed like more than ordinary interest. "You expect to retire thereafter to Heaven, taking no further interest in worldly things?"
Orlene had to smile. "More likely Hell, because of the disruption I have caused to Incarnations during my quest."
"You do not, then, regard yourself as perfect."
She laughed. "Hardly! I knew when I committed suicide that I placed my soul in peril, and I have not improved my balance since."
"Yet I have the impression that you seek to criticize God, who is by definition perfect."
"Even that!" she agreed ruefully. "In my mind I have indeed criticized God, and I know that is sinful. But in my heart I know that I must do what I must do, without heeding the cost to my own poor soul. I have encountered errors of application which only God can correct, and I do mean to bring them to His attention. I have just learned—" She broke off, fearing that she had no right to continue.
"That the other Incarnations seek to replace God," Gabriel finished for her. "Set your mind at ease about that: this is not your doing. Satan has from time immemorial coveted the power and glory of the highest office, and once again sees what he takes to be an opportunity to forward his suit. I negotiated with him some centuries back, and we agreed to a challenge involving your grandmother, Niobe, now an Aspect of the Incarnation of Fate."
"My grandmother!" Orlene exclaimed.
"The challenge was of this nature: I designated the individual, whose influence could be critical to world events. If he could not corrupt that person, or her child or grandchild, in such a way as to enable him to take power, then he would forever abate his effort. I would say that he has not succeeded in corrupting Niobe, or her daughter Orb, who now holds the Office of the Incarnation of Nature. One generation remains, in which there are two representatives: Luna and yourself. When you died, your onus abated. Now only Luna remains. Satan's effort to corrupt her or neutralize her has been ceaseless, for she is his last chance. The final showdown is now close, and much attention focuses on it."
Orlene nodded. "I had not known that this was the result of a deal between you and Satan! He tried to Tempt me to influence Luna, so that she would sit out the big vote."
"Of course. The fact that you are here now indicates that you turned him down."
"Yes. I want my baby more than anything—but not at the expense of the world! So I must talk to God and obtain His blessing, and then I can recover my baby without wronging others."
"I am afraid you will be disappointed."
"I have not come this far only to be balked!" she flared. "Only let me talk to Him, and I will not bother you again!"
"There is something you must understand about God. He no longer talks to supplicants."
"I can't accept that. Just let me see Him!" she pleaded.
"I really think you would be better off to let this go. Your baby seems to be in competent hands."
"I have no idea why Nox got into this!" Orlene said. "But I can't just let her take
my baby with impunity!"
"I agree that it is a curious matter. Ordinarily she has no interest in the affairs of mortals or Incarnations, other than their dreams. It seems that she selected your baby by no coincidence. She evidently has some interest in you."
"I don't care what her interest is! If she thought I wouldn't do everything I could to recover my baby, she was mistaken! Now let me talk to God!"
"It is with regret I do this. He is the Tenth Heaven. Do what you must do." He gestured, and the office disappeared.
She faced an enormous pattern of light, roughly globular in outline. She stared, trying to fathom that grand radiance. Slowly she discerned a great halo. Framed within it was a second, brighter halo. Framed within that was a third, blindingly brilliant halo. Within that was an infinitely detailed and beautiful face, whose effulgence transcended all mortal understanding. This was the Face of God.
Orlene fell to her knees and raised her hands in the position of prayer. "Oh, my Lord God!" she cried. "I have worshipped You since childhood! I have tried always to do right by Your definition! Now I come to You, a supplicant, to beg only for Your blessing for my child. Please, God, grant me that!"
She waited, but there was no answer. The phenomenal face of God showed no reaction.
Somewhat out of sorts, she repeated her request. God still ignored her. It was as if He hadn't heard.
Orlene began to understand what others had hinted. It was hard to get God's attention.
But she had not come all this way just to be ignored. "Listen to me, my Lord!" she cried. "Your enemies are gathering. Satan seeks to displace You. The Incarnations are making ready to replace You! You must act to stop that! You must take an interest in the affairs of the world!"
The huge face stared straight ahead. Now she was able to make out the spherical curves of the three halos. God's face was reflected there, triply, each surface showing a different aspect. God was contemplating Himself!
"And the world is going to Hell!" she cried, getting desperate. "Satan hopes to assume Your power, in the face of Your inaction. You must stop him, for the sake of all!"
God's narcissistic contemplation continued without interruption.
"And World War Three is coming! In five years all mortality will be in peril. Only You can act to prevent this, or someone wielding the power that should be Yours. Don't leave it to Gabriel, for he will only be displaced by the Incarnation of Evil! I beg of you. God, give me a sign. I will give up my baby, if only You will take some interest in the world before it is too late! Give me a sign that You understand!"