by Steven Brust
“If it were right, would he have to do the things he is doing? I’m not even talking about Ariel, now. I’m talking about what we saw the other day in the woods, where you were watching as we were. Is that an action that comes from a worthwhile plan?”
“How should I know what that proves? How can you claim to know? Because someone performs an evil action, does that mean it can’t be for a good cause?”
“Yes, that is exactly what it means,” said Lilith.
Satan shrugged. “What do you want from me?”
“Everything you have to offer.”
Satan snorted. Lilith continued, “You are known and trusted by many throughout Heaven. You may not know it, but word spread that you opposed the Plan at the same time as word spread of what the Plan was. You are now looked to by all those who mistrust it. Your support of us would mean a lot to them.”
Satan shifted in his chair and Studied Lilith. Then he turned toward the others. “Is this true? Am I really ‘looked to’ by angels I’ve never met?”
“Yes,” said Lucifer. Asmodai nodded.
Satan looked from one of them to the other, his brow furrowed. “That’s . . . interesting,” he said. “Beelzebub, what do you think?”
“ ’T amazes me not, milord.”
“I see.”
“So, will you speak, Lord Satan?” asked Lilith, watching him closely. “You’ve been standing in the middle—showing opposition, but refusing to take a stand. You probably thought to make a decision when you had to. Well, now you have to.”
“Because you forced it. That isn’t likely to make me feel well disposed toward your position.”
“I suppose,” said Lilith, “that you could say we forced it on you. I would say that events forced it on us.”
“Evasion,” said Satan.
“Truth,” responded Lilith.
“Satan,” said Lucifer suddenly.
“Yes?”
“It was my idea to use the Southern Hold.”
“Well?”
“It was the only place we could find that satisfied all the requirements—and that’s because it is your home. You have played a role in all this, merely by setting it off, that makes you central—and whether you wanted to be or not is beside the point.”
There was a brief silence, then Asmodai said, “They are waiting for us.”
Satan nodded. “I’ll let you know in two minutes. Leave now.”
They stood. “Let’s begin,” said Lucifer. “If he decides to speak, we’ll work him in. If not, we won’t.”
“I agree,” said Lilith. Asmodai nodded.
They bowed their heads to Satan and Beelzebub, then left the room.
Satan turned to Beelzebub.
“Well?”
“ ’Tis thy decision, milord.”
“That isn’t much help, old friend.”
Beelzebub scratched himself with his right hind leg.
“What will happen, Father?”
Yawch looked over at Yeshuah and shrugged. “I can’t say for sure. But we are sending thousands of armed angels with swords to stop them from organizing a rebellion. I can’t imagine our angels failing.”
“But what if they do?”
“Then we’ll do whatever we have to. We won’t hear anything for at least another fifteen days, unless someone thinks to speed up a messenger. There isn’t any point in worrying about it.
“Your attitude,” he continued, “seems to have changed in the last few days. It was you who urged me to do this, wasn’t it?”
Yeshuah nodded. “I know. I gave you reassurance when you needed it. Now I need it myself.”
“I understand. But don’t fret about it. Things will fall out as they do.”
“I wish you had sent me.”
“Now isn’t your time, Yeshuah. That will come later. Whatever happens at the Southern Hold, it won’t decide anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“That nothing final will come of it. At worst, it will be a setback. At best, we’ll have gained on them. But the leaders are too slippery to catch this way.”
“But the whole reason we did it was—”
“I know. But since then, I’ve come to realize that it is too much to expect of a thing like this. We’ll set them back, but we won’t stop them.”
Yeshuah stared at him. “But if it doesn’t stop them, it’ll make it worse! If we show what we’re willing to do, but don’t fully end the resistance, they will see us as tyrants, and that will feed the rebellion.”
Yaweh didn’t answer at once. When he did, his voice was low and gentle. “See us as tyrants, Yeshuah? We are tyrants. That was what was so hard for me to come to terms with. We don’t wish to be, but to do what we have to, we must tell, not ask. And to tell the angels to do something, we must be ready to back up our words with force.”
Yeshuah’s eyes were wide, his lips parted. Yaweh continued, calmly, almost in a monotone. “That is what I had to confront, Yeshuah. I had to either abandon the Plan entirely or become a tyrant. What else could it be? You urged me to attack the rebellious ones, thinking it would end the rebellion. Now I tell you that it won’t. But if it did, would that make me any less a tyrant? I am choosing not to allow them to do what they want.”
He looked at the floor. “No, this will be only the start, unless we are very lucky. And I don’t want you to have any part in it.” He looked up, staring directly into Yeshuah’s eyes.
“But when it comes time for the final match, I promise you’ll be there.”
“Thank you, Father,” said Yeshuah, his voice barely audible.
“You don’t have to thank me; it isn’t your happiness I’m thinking of. You are the symbol of the unity of Heaven. As such, it has to be you who delivers the final blow to show that the unity of Heaven is superior to the disunity.”
“I see. Father?”
“Yes?”
“I’ve become worried about Raphael. She seems unhappy about what we’re doing.”
“I know. But don’t worry about Raphael. When it comes time, she’ll be with us.”
“Will she?”
“Yes. She doesn’t like what we’re doing, but she is more firmly behind the Plan than anyone else, excepting, perhaps, Abdiel. When a choice must be made, she’ll never support Satan.”
“I hope you’re right, Father.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve known her from the beginning.”
Yeshuah nodded. Then he said, “I wish we could see what was going on there.”
Yaweh shrugged, then he cocked his head to the side. “Perhaps we can, at that,” he said.
“What do you mean, Father?”
“I’ve never tried it this far between Waves, but it’s worth the attempt. Watch.”
Yaweh closed his eyes, then opened them suddenly. In the air before them, a soft blue glow began. Then it grew until it became a cloudy image. This solidified, and slowly the Southern Hold appeared.
“This is easier than I’d have thought,” said Yaweh. “But I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold it long.”
“How are you doing it?”
“My own illiaster. I can’t really explain.”
“But you can find anyone you want that way!”
“I can’t find angels, only places. I suppose it comes from being part of Heaven. But let us watch.”
Yeshuah nodded, his eyes fastened eagerly on the angels before him. The scene slowly closed in. They saw someone in a gold cloak standing in a high window of the Southern Hold.
Before the throne, the Seraphim gasped, and all eyes turned to the scene. Then, faintly at first but with increasing strength, Lucifer’s voice came into the room, as if he were speaking from the vision itself.
“. . . which is, in fact, the Plan. It is not my intention to claim that the Plan is somehow wrong in conception—I approve of its goals as much as anyone. But you should be aware of the cost and decide for yourselves—is it worth it?
“That is why you have been gathered here. Wh
en I saw the Lord Yaweh and heard him speak before you and your brethren, I saw that he wished to subjugate you to his will, and this I oppose. It is you who will take the risks of the Plan; it is you who should decide whether or not it will be executed.
“As to what we will do, should you decide that it isn’t something you wish for, I don’t know. The Lord Satan has thoughts on this that he would share with us. Please listen to him.”
Lucifer bowed and left the window. Satan walked forward.
Abdiel stood in the crowd and watched. He decided that Lucifer hadn’t impressed him. On the other hand, he noticed, he now read doubt on faces that before hadn’t had any. He thought of what would happen to him if the Plan were discredited, and he shuddered.
So, for greater reason than he had had before, he had to do something. When? Not yet, he decided. He’d wait. His chance would come. It always did.
He concentrated on the glowing ball of light in his middle. Yaweh could do it; Lucifer could too; therefore he, Abdiel, could do it. And he would have to, soon.
So that’s the way the wind is blowing, Mephistopheles decided. How interesting; they’ve finally decided to commit themselves. He didn’t know whether to be pleased, amused, excited, or worried. It was clear that the situation called for something.
It occurred to him to wonder if Yaweh would do anything about this. Well, if he did, it wouldn’t be pleasant.
He looked up at the window and saw Satan emerge. So, he decided, the Lord Satan is committed too. Or is he?
Mephistopheles decided that if there was trouble, the lake would be the safest place to be; he began moving toward it.
Satan stood at the window, his cloak bright at his back, his emerald clearly visible upon his breast. He surveyed the angels before him in their thousands. He tried to guess what they were thinking. He saw that he had their attention, at least. Most of the faces he could see held doubt and confusion. So Lucifer had shaken them some, anyway.
He cleared his throat. The sound seemed to carry for leagues. He licked his lips.
“Brothers,” he said, his voice soft and even. “I have been asked what we ought to do. This is difficult for me, because I’m not certain myself.
“I was asked, when the Plan was first being considered, to take on the task of making sure each of you did his job. That is, I was to report to the Lord Yaweh the names of those angels who failed, or were delinquent in their duties, and devise means to remedy their actions.
“At first I accepted this. But as I began to think more and more of what it would be like, I wondered if it were really right that such a thing be done. Why should I ask someone to risk himself if he chose not to? Who gave me this right? The more I thought, the less pleased I became. At last, I resolved that it would be someone else who did this, that I could not take this role. If I must have a task, I would work on the Plan as others do.
“I never had the chance to speak with the Lord Yaweh. By the time I decided, things had gone too far, and his rage was too great to allow him to speak to me. Well, so it was.
“But this does not mean that I counsel anyone else to oppose the Plan. I see it as a benefit to all of Heaven, and I see no reason to try to build anger at it. If any of you, however, do oppose it, I would say that you should not go forth hostile toward the Lord Yaweh. Rather, speak to him, or to those whose role it is to assign you your task, and explain why you do not favor this Plan. Why should we subject ourselves to threats we create when we live in a world with threats enough from that which is outside of Heaven?
“If this fails, then, if you are prepared for the results of your actions, refuse to engage in helping the Plan. I warn you that the results of this may be severe, but, above all, you must be honest with yourselves.
“Do not go forth from here armed as for war. Remember that even if we do not accept the Lord Yaweh’s claims, we all owe him much, as the first of the Firstborn, and I would not see him opposed by force.
“That is all I have to tell you. Thank you for listening to me.”
“Stay where you are, coward and villain!”
Abdiel’s voice came thundering up from the crowd and was as loud as Satan’s own. Satan stood, stunned, and began looking around the crowd for the source.
“I said remain there,” the voice continued, “and hear the truth, along with those whom you wish to take in with your lies and your half-truths. Who would have thought to hear such words spoken, and so soon after our Lord has brought us together in the greatest happiness we could have known!”
Satan spotted him at last, and, before them all, gnashed his teeth in rage and frustration. Beelzebub was suddenly next to him, looking down, but too far away to act.
Far off, near the lake, someone else recognized the voice. His eyes narrowed to slits, and his mouth drew up into a grim smile. Mephistopheles began working his way toward the voice.
“Abdiel,” he muttered to himself. “Your time has come.”
“You have defied Yaweh, from whom our lives flow, and you lead these others to do the same. How dare you! He from whom we are all sprung may yet forgive you and those who have listened to you if you will fall, now, upon your faces, and ask his forgiveness. Pray to him, and it may not be too late. Refuse, and the wrath of Yaweh will descend upon you!”
By this time, Satan had recovered somewhat. He remained where he was and looked at Abdiel. “It is very interesting, Abdiel, that you find life to be so important that you ask these angels to sacrifice theirs to the one who, you claim, created it. If life is so important to you, I challenge you to explain the death of Ariel! Remember, I saw—”
“Don’t tell me what you saw, false one! I have seen the Lord Yaweh, and I have seen Yeshuah! I have seen you, trying to stir the minds of the angels against them, and now you wish to turn my arguments into paths of your own choosing, to further confound the faithful. Why do you not speak of why you defy the wishes of your creator?”
“We will speak of that, then. You forget, Abdiel, that I, too, am of the Firstborn. I know what our debt to Yaweh is, and I know what its limits are. Since you force the issue, I will say this: it was no conscious act of Yaweh that brought life to Heaven. It may have been an act of his, without thought or deliberation, and we do owe him a debt, but—”
“Oh, miscreant angel!” cried Abdiel. “I fear you are lost. You will be cast out from Heaven for this treason against your creator. But what of these others? Will you continue to delude them, and so lead them to follow you to your doom?”
“I lead no one,” said Satan. “And as for the rest. . . .”
“He’s debating with him!” said Lilith.
“So?” said Asmodai. “He has to answer those claims, doesn’t he?
She shook her head. “He’s making his arguments legitimate merely by discussing them. He’s—Lucifer? What are you doing?”
“My own form of debate,” said Lucifer. In his hand, his wand was glowing bright red. He was walking toward the window.
“No!” said Lilith. “If you destroy him, you give his arguments that much more weight.”
“Wait,” said Asmodai. “You don’t want to debate, and you won’t let us kill him. What do you want?”
“He must be silenced, but not killed. He must be cut off, so he can’t be listened to. If Satan won’t do it, I—I’ll show you what I’ll do!”
She walked toward the window. Lucifer walked behind her, still holding his wand.
“If you fail,” he said, “I won’t.”
“Harut!”
“Yeah, honey?”
“Do you know how they’re doing that trick of talking so loud?”
“No idea. Why?”
“Then you’ll have to go for me. Can you find the Southern Hold if I point you at it?”
“Sure.”
“Good. Get there and warn Satan. There are angels marching toward us—armed angels. They’ll be here in minutes.”
“I’ll hurry.”
Mephistopheles slipped through the angels as if h
e were water, sliding in and out, all but unnoticed. Closer and closer, but not quite there. He had no weapon, but needed none. His hands itched for Abdiel’s throat. At every step, an image of Ariel appeared before his eyes.
The sound of Abdiel’s voice came to him as from a great distance, though he was nearly to him now. He saw a ring of angels and knew that they were watching Abdiel. He moved past them.
Lilith stepped up beside Satan and opened her mouth, at the same time moving to push him aside. Behind her, Lucifer raised his wand and took aim at Abdiel. Asmodai held his hand on Lucifer’s shoulder.
Suddenly he tightened his grip. “No!” he said, whispering.
Lucifer turned. “What—? Oh!”
Then Lilith saw it. Then Satan, in mid-sentence, stopped and looked.
Over a small hill, angels were running, swords flashing in their arms.
The four of them stood in stunned silence, then Lilith turned to Lucifer and cried, “Get him! Quickly!”
Lucifer turned back, then he howled with rage. Abdiel was nowhere to be seen.
Zaphkiel calmly led his Thrones into the angels nearest him. His sword swung, almost slowly, and the angel in front of him cried as it cut into his side, and a sickly orange glow came from the wound. Without slowing, Zaphkiel swung again, and another angel fell, holding his head and screaming. Behind him, two hundred Thrones entered the fray, and the sound of screams spread in an ever-growing circle around them.
Michael started swinging his great sword well before he reached the angels in front of him. They fell back from the golden-hued blade and ran. They tripped over each other, and many lay sprawled on the ground.
Behind him, the Virtues came, likewise swinging swords in wide arcs. Angels on the ground were trampled beneath their feet. As panic spread, the moans of the injured filled the ears of those nearby, with distant screams for accompaniment.
“Father! Do you see? They are being put to flight!”
“Yes, I see. But remember, this is only a beginning. I—wait.”
“Yes, Father?”
Yaweh frowned for a moment, looking around at the shocked faces of the Seraphim, then said, “All of you, get out! Return in an hour. You have no need to see this.”