And Eternity (41 page)

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!”

She waited, her tears flowing. There was no sign.

“I would have preferred to conceal this from you,” Gabriel said. “You cannot obtain God’s blessing, for He does not respond to any outside input. He is contemplating His own greatness, to the exclusion of all else.”

“How long has this been the case?” Orlene asked, numbed by the discovery.

“It is hard to say. It came on Him gradually. Perhaps a thousand years, for this end-stage. I have covered for Him as well as I could, but it has become increasingly difficult.”

“All my prayers, all the prayers of every mortal, He has heard none of them?”

“If He hears. He doesn’t care. No prayer has been directly granted in the past five hundred years, that I know of.”

“But I know that some have been answered!”

“My own powers are quite limited, but sometimes I have been able to effect cures or other beneficial occurrences.”

“You? In lieu of God?”

“Inadequate as that may be,” he agreed. “But more often I have been unable to act, and so the prayers of most mortals have been unanswered, even the most worthy ones. I note this with extreme regret. Yet, short of blowing my Horn, I am helpless. I am the most powerful of angels, but can never approach the power of the least of Incarnations. Only God can do what must be done, -yet He will not.”

“But the world may end, without His intercession!”

“No, I suspect it will merely be damned, as Satan assumes greater power. This is why it is so important for Luna to cast her vote. This will prevent Satan from achieving power by default. Then the Incarnations can choose another Officeholder, and we shall have an activist God.”

“But you support this God!”

“I have supported Him to the best of my ability throughout,” Gabriel agreed. “But I find I have a greater loyalty: to the Office itself, rather than to the Officeholder. I can now serve God best by letting the Office change hands. That will save the world. This God will never notice.” He made a wan smile. “So, instead of your baby, you have found truth. But perhaps the next God will grant your request.”

Orlene stared at him, appalled by the realization. It was now to her interest to facilitate the replacement of God! Satan had tried to persuade her to support the existing Officeholder, but she could prevail by doing the opposite. Never in all her life and death had she dreamed of such a thing, yet it made sense.

Jolie and Vita were similarly awed by the thought.

“What will happen to you?” Orlene asked, trying to bring her churning emotions into a semblance of order.

“I will serve whoever holds the Office, if He wishes my services. Otherwise, I do have another offer.”

“Another offer? You mean, some other Incarnation?”

“Satan.”

“How can you serve him after serving God?” she demanded, appalled.

“I am not a mortal, or a spirit,” he explained. “I am an angel. It is my nature to serve one power or another, loyally until dismissed. My present position is not my first, or, I think, my last. I will, of course, be sorry to see this tour end, but few things are eternal.”

“But Satan!”

“He is not truly evil. He is the Incarnation of Evil, which is another matter. He supervises the disposition of souls on which evil remains, but he himself is good. Did you know that he saved JHVH’s people from a persecution so severe that virtually none remained in Europe?”

“But there are millions of Jews in Europe!”

“Precisely. But without his intercession, there would have been almost none, and no Romani, either.”

“Gypsies!” Orlene exclaimed. “It was a Gypsy girl who took care of me when my mother had to leave me, and who arranged for my adoption by tourists! Now that girl’s father is an aspect of Fate! Do you mean to say that Satan-”

“It is not generally known today, or even among Incarnations, but it is true. Satan owed
JHVH
a favor, and when the occasion came to repay it, he did so in singular fashion. In fact, I would deem the current Incarnation of Evil to be the most effective Officeholder of that line, because he has not been corrupted by his power.’’

Orlene glanced in the direction of the Tenth Heaven. “As the Incarnation of Good has been corrupted by His power?”

“So it would seem. The power of an Incarnation is great indeed, but it is there to be used, not enjoyed. God came to the Office of Good with excellent credentials. I think perhaps they were too apt; as it turned out. He had little concept of mortal frailty. He simply did not understand human weakness, and in time lost what little interest He had had in it.”

“He tuned out,” Orlene said.

“He tuned out. It seems that He lacked sufficient evil in His being to relate to the evil in others, so could not properly address it. As a result, the mortal world was left increasingly to fend for itself, and is now in an unfortunate state. It grieves me to see this, but I cannot deny it.”

“It grieves me too,” Orlene said. “I thank you for explaining things to me. I see that my concern is trivial compared to yours, and I will leave now.”

“We each must follow our own paths,” Gabriel said. “You have been forthright in yours, and I in mine. I do not regret that they have crossed.” He extended his hand.

Surprised, she took it. Then she walked to the stairs.

What a surprise!
Vita thought as they descended.
God zonked out on His own Image, and the world going to Hell!

And God to be replaced, Jolie thought.
We exist in truly momentous times!

At the Fifth Heaven, Rita was waiting for them. “Did you talk to God?” she asked eagerly.

“I talked to God,” Orlene agreed. “But He did not respond.”

“Oh. They say that He hasn’t taken much of an interest in recent events. Maybe He’s ill.”

“Maybe,” Orlene agreed.

Mentally ill!
Vita thought.

They proceeded on down to First Heaven, and to the fringe. Now it was clear why the folk here in Limbo, and in the other Heavens-weren’t much interested in anything. The benign neglect extended from the top to the bottom.