"You are staying with the mortal Senator, Luna, are you not? You are friendly with her?"
"Yes. I am her niece, approximately. She has been most kind."
"She is to be engaged in a certain procedural matter which may be awkward for Me. If you would simply ask her to step aside-"
"I can"t interfere in her political business!" Orlene protested.
Satan smiled warmly. "Please, do not misunderstand. I do not ask you to interfere, only to ask her to consider doing this small favor for you, so that you may help your baby, in accordance with My agreement with Nox. Surely Luna has no onus against your baby?"
I don"t see what"s so bad about that. Vita thought. Considering what she has to gain.
Just wait, Jolie thought grimly. You never encountered as smooth-talking a rascal as Satan!
I thought you loved him!
I do. But I also know him.
Orlene, almost overwhelmed by the offer, nevertheless didn"t trust it. "Of course not! But-"
"Just how serious is your interest in helping your baby? I do not ask you to succeed in making Luna step aside, only to make the request, which she may decline if she chooses. For this I am prepared to arrange for the return of your baby to you. You need have no fear of this aspect; you will have your baby immediately, and your arduous quest will be over."
Orlene, increasingly distressed, found herself in tears.
"Oh, Satan, for the sake of that love you profess for me, at least tell me the truth! I know this can be no simple matter, and I cannot decide on the basis of ignorance!"
Satan frowned. "Fair enough. I sought only to spare you details that might have distressed you. The whole truth is this: there is a critical issue coming up among the mortals, and Luna is to cast the key vote, deciding it. I will win by default if she does not vote."
"But what can this be?"
"It is the most important issue of our time. It will in effect decide the matter of which Incarnation shall wield the ultimate power. As you know, this is what I covet; for centuries My aspiration has been balked, but now at last it shall be decided."
"But how can Luna have any bearing on the power of Incarnations?"
"I see you do not yet understand. Very well, I shall be unconscionably direct. A number of folk have come to the conclusion that one of our number is not performing His Office as He should. There will therefore be a vote to decide whether that Office should be declared vacant, so that a replacement Incarnation may be elevated to do the job. The importance of this matter to mortals is such that the deciding vote is theirs. If they, by the unanimous tally of their representatives, agree that the Office is vacant, then the remaining Incarnations, by unanimous agreement, may put a new person in that Office. It is of course to My interest to see that this does not occur."
"They want to replace you?" Orlene asked, amazed.
Satan laughed. "Me? Of course not! I have been arguably the most active and effective of the current Incarnations! No, it is the other in question: the Incarnation of Good."
Orlene stared at him, unable to speak.
Did I hear right? Vita thought.
You did, Jolie replied. This is amazing! I knew, but had somehow forgotten. Now it comes back. They want to replace G.o.d!
"You see. G.o.d has simply not been responsive recently," Satan continued. "Since we antic.i.p.ate a formidable crisis-World War Three, to be specific, but there are also matters of overpopulation, exhaustion of mortal resources, global famine and disease and the like-we fear that humanity will be extinguished, and the world with it, in a few years, if action is not taken. Much of that action can be taken only with the acquiescence of all the Incarnations. So there is indeed a crisis."
Orlene found her voice. "How can you claim that G.o.d is-is not-"
"My dear, I am on the other side. I support the present G.o.d and want Him to remain in Office."
"But you are His ant.i.thesis! You oppose Him in all things!"
"Not exactly. I am compet.i.tive with Him. I rival Him for power. I wish to wrest dominance from Him."
"But you just said-"
"My dear, you are slow to appreciate the nuance. I agree with the other Incarnations that G.o.d is not doing His job. That has been My experience over the centuries. But I do not want Him replaced. I do not want His Office declared vacant. I have activated My minions among the mortals to oppose this declaration, and the decision in one leading nation is very close. In fact if Luna does not vote, it will be a tie, which will allow the prior position to stand, and therefore represent a defeat of the resolution, and G.o.d will not be replaced. So you can see that what I ask of you is not contrary to your belief or preference. I support the status quo, as do you."
"But if there is to be ruin-"
"Ah yes, we must not forget that. Action certainly must be taken. A new G.o.d would surely take it, and perhaps succeed in averting disaster. But if there is no new G.o.d, and the present inaction continues, the remaining Incarnations will have in the end to turn to the most effective remaining prospect. That, of course, is the Incarnation of Evil."
"You-You support G.o.d-because you think this will bring you ultimate power?"
"Now at last you have it. My dear. That is the essence of My motive. Certainly I will act to avert the crisis; the mortal realm will survive. But the power will be Mine."
"I just can"t believe-G.o.d cannot be so-"
"And if you will merely express that same support to Luna, and encourage her to sit out that key vote, I will call Nox and she will return your baby to you now. I think this is a generous offer.""
Oriene stood still, trying to come to terms with this. Satan urging her to support G.o.d-and offering what amounted to a handsome bribe to that end! Her entire quest could be completed this moment, merely by agreeing.
"I think," she said at last, "that you know more of this than I do. If you believe that my plea to Luna will be effective, then it may be. If you believe that this would give you ultimate power, then it must be. Therefore I must not do this. I must trust in Luna"s judgment, trust in her to do what is right, even though it runs contrary to my instincts."
"Even though it costs you your baby?" Satan asked softly.
Oriene squeezed her eyes closed, trying to dam back her tears. "How can I weigh my baby-against the welfare of the world? I do want my baby, but not at such a price. I must do what I believe is right, even though it pains me, even though I am uncertain what is right."
"Are you sure?" Satan looked grim.
"No, I am the least certain ghost in the world! But I think this is the way it must be."
"Then it shall be Nox"s way," Satan murmured. "Her way?"
"We made a deal, she and I. She would support My way, by yielding the baby, if I could make it work. I would support her way, if I failed. I have failed to Tempt you, so must honor the bargain I made."
"But what is that bargain?"
"If the Office of Good is declared vacant, there will be a nomination and voting by the remaining major Incarnations. Nox can neither nominate nor vote in that, because she is not of the forces of Day. But now she can act through Me. I will support her candidate."
"Who-"
Satan shook his head. "Nox is excellent at secrets. I must keep hers, until the time, lest the others marshal against it. No other is privileged to know her will."
"Her will has made endless mischief for me!" Oriene flared.
"So it seems. It may be that you would prefer to have the deal I proffered, instead of the alternative." He paused, but Oriene did not change her tormented mind. "But your options are not exhausted. What I proffered was a deal to shortcut your quest to My profit. You may still earn My curse, if you choose, and try to save your baby as you have planned."
"Oh," Oriene said, nonplussed. "I had forgotten, or thought you would no longer honor that."
"I honor every deal I make," Satan said. "Do Me My service, and I will guarantee your curse."
"Then I will do your service," she said. "What is it?"
"There is a new client who is uncooperative, as evil souls tend to be. I wish you to obtain his cooperation."
"But I know nothing of d.a.m.ned souls!" she protested.
"I believe you do know this one. His name is Kane."
Good G.o.d! Vita thought.
"Please refrain from using such language here. Vita," Satan said. "You must be aware it is out of place."
"We-We did kill him?" Oriene asked, disturbed anew.
"Technically, he killed himself. You were not truly at fault, and very little sin attaches to any of the four of you who were involved. He did, after all, initiate the sequence, and it was your right to defend the host. I will say that I regard your method as ingenious, however; seldom is a person killed by a story."
"I suppose we could try," Oriene said. "He can"t kill us here, can he? I mean. Vita"s body?"
"You will remain in the privileged pa.s.sage, where no harm can come to you. Do not leave it, for a mortal host may not enter h.e.l.l proper. You will only talk to him, and persuade him to cooperate."
"What do you want from him?"
"The names of all the women he killed. There are, I believe, a fair number."
"You do not know them?"
"Oriene, h.e.l.l receives many thousands of souls every day! We process them in as well as we can, but we cannot pay close attention to all the details. In any event, the majority, of the women probably did not come to h.e.l.l, so we cannot interrogate them. The information must come from the ones we do have: the murderers."
"But what good can that information do? The girls arc already dead, and the murderer is already suffering!"
"But not as appropriately as he should be. Each d.a.m.ned soul should suffer the Atonements of his victims, according to the ancient convention. I cannot set these up until I have the ident.i.ties of the women. With those, I can subpoena the records from Purgatory, and proper Atonement can begin."
"That never gets past the first one?" she asked sharply.
"That is not always the case. Sometimes they make it through a number before entering a closed loop."
"If I had any say in the matter, I"d get that fixed!" she cried. "I agree that they ought to do penance, but this only leads to bureaucratic gridlock! n.o.body benefits!"
"Agreed. At such time as I have the final say, I shall make that little reform."
She sighed. "Show me the man. I"ll do what little I can."
"Gladly. He is in the chamber nearest to this one, along the privileged pa.s.sage. If you succeed in making him cooperate, I will know it, and I will reserve My curse for your use when the time comes. You may proceed directly down the pa.s.sage to the other chamber, where you will be home back to Purgatory. You will not have to face Me again."
She looked at him, uncertain of his slant. Then she turned and exited.
The chamber was right there-and within it was Kane, still in his clothing, lying on his stomach, blood flowing from his groin. Evidently he had bled to death, but here there was no relief of unconsciousness, and he had to suffer consciously.
You know, Jolie told the story. Vita reminded them. Should she take over for this?
"No, it is my favor I am seeking," Oriene said. "I must do it. But I confess to having little notion how."
The man heard her. His head lifted. He grimaced. "Who are you? Another bad woman, come to torment me?"
"I think you are already in sufficient torment," Oriene said. "But it is true that I am a.s.sociated with one you thought to make your victim. Do you remember the last one?"
"The black b.i.t.c.h? How could I forget! Look what she did to me!" He squinted at her. "But you aren"t that one. I don"t remember you."
"I was with her, in spirit, with two others. We told you the story of Lorelie. We were the ones who orchestrated your demise. The living host-girl could not have done it alone."
"For sure!" he agreed, wincing as his exclamation triggered more pain from the knife embedded in his flesh. "I killed a dozen before her, and none ever came close to getting away, let alone killing me."
"It was time to stop you," Orlene said. The man bothered her, and his condition; she knew he deserved it, but she hated seeing the pain.
"Maybe. Now take off; I don"t need any more wh.o.r.es to laugh at me. I"m sorry I didn"t get rid of all of you."
"I am here to ask you to cooperate with Satan. He needs the names of the women you killed."
Kane laughed, wincing as he did so. "Go ram this knife up yourself, you d.a.m.ned s.l.u.t! I know what happens when Satan gets those names! Think I want to suffer for the wh.o.r.es? I"d rather leave this knife in me!" But after a pained pause, he qualified that. "Gak, it hurts, though!"
"Gak?"
"We can"t say the G word here; didn"t you know? Now get out; I won"t give you that last laugh."
"But you can"t progress, you can"t be absolved of your sins, if you don"t do this," Orlene argued. "You will be locked at this initial stage, forever suffering the knife. Surely you can"t want that!"
"I"m stuck-ha-ha-with it!" he gasped. "It"s better than giving those b.i.t.c.hes the satisfaction. Let them work out their own sins; Gak knows they deserve to!"
He was certainly recalcitrant. Orlene did not know what else to say.
What about Laurie? Jolie thought. She"s the one woman he worships. If she asked him Say, yeah." Vita agreed. Do you think she could be down here too? I mean, she must"ve wh.o.r.ed just to survive, and she would"ve come back for him if she"d lived, so- "Let"s ask," Orlene said. She returned to Satan"s door and knocked.
Again the door went up in flame. Satan stood within. "You have completed your a.s.signment already?"
"I may be making progress. I need to know whether a certain woman is here in h.e.l.l."
Satan snapped his fingers. Immediately Ozymandias stood beside him. "Her name?" Satan asked.
"Laurel. I don"t know her last name."
Ozymandias frowned. "That narrows it to about half a million. We could line them up for your inspection."
Describe her from his memory, Jolie thought. She made a mental picture of the madonna figure she had seen in Kane"s mind.
"She is pretty-beautiful, really, even at age fifteen," Orlene said. "Perhaps not so when she died. Hair waistlength, dark, brown verging on black, figure slender, not p.r.o.nounced. Eyes brown. She may have had to go into prost.i.tution to survive when she ran away from home."