Pascale's Wager: Homelands of Heaven

by Anthony Bartlett

  He was fairly certain Gaius and Emmanuelle would be at the dance plaza. So many people went there on the second day of Doblepoble, and the Sports Monitoring Colony generally liked to be present, getting a chance to check on their protégés. Milton and Dante would be there, as well as colleagues like Kanna, Amala and Ivan, the usual inductee crew. He grabbed a tram and as he got near the end of the Avenue he could already feel the vibrations from the huge crowd clapping and stamping in unison. He jumped off and turned toward the plaza and then for certain he heard them, with the squeal and thump of the amplified music and the roar of the dancers as they came to the end of a set. The numbers of people were growing at every step, all looking a little wasted and disheveled from their twenty four hours of partying. Within a few hours most of them would be heading home to sleep it all off. Only a few hardy souls would stay the extra night to experience a further expansion of soul. Right now he knew it would be a challenge to get people to listen, but he had to try.

  The plaza was accessed through corner openings in a great balustrade overlooking it on all sides. The whole arena was surrounded by banks of plane trees and a giant red top on a soaring ring of pylons was stretched over the middle. The atmosphere under the tent was of huge merriment and enthusiasm, with people throwing themselves with abandon into the movement of the dance. Jonas ran along the balustrade, feeling momentarily helpless facing the throng of swaying bodies. There were thousands of people whirling before him and a thin pall of dust hung over the whole scene. He could hardly recognize anyone but he cast around on either side hoping to find someone nearer to hand. A couple of dozen yards along he thought he made out a familiar figure among the crowd of spectators. It was Pandit, sitting on the wall, clapping and wagging his head like a mechanical doll.

  “Pandit, Pandit, you have to come with me. Something has happened. It demands your immediate attention.”

  Pandit continued to smile and nod in a beatific fashion, as if Jonas had said something deeply inspired. Jonas decided it was useless to press him further. He clambered up on the wall, keenly scanning the great crowd. Another large-scale formation dance had just begun, involving long opposing lines ducking under each other’s arms, working their way progressively from one end to the other, accompanied all the while by the skirl of fiddles and beat of drums. His eyes were straining. Suddenly he saw Emmanuelle bending under an archway of arms, her blonde hair tousled and her gown tied up in a knot around her legs. He jumped down off the balustrade and dashed into the plaza. Weaving among bystanders, he ran to the point where he had seen her, scanning all the time the hot press of bodies as it surged back and forth.

  “Hey, is that you, Jonas? Get in here! Looks like you're in need of fun!”

  It was Dante, directly opposite him, shouting at him and holding out his hand from the line. Jonas didn’t hesitate but grasped the offered palm firmly and pulled as hard as he could, toppling Dante out on top of him.

  “What the…! Are you crazy?” Dante struggled to his feet. “Did no one ever teach you to dance?”

  “I’m not here to dance. I’ve just driven from the Shuttle Port. A rocket ship arrived this morning with two Northerners and no guides aboard.”

  Jonas could see Dante working hard to make sense of what he’d heard, against the sweet pulse of pleasure beating in his veins. This was not about having fun at Doblepoble. It was serious.

  “What’s that you’re saying? Makes no sense!”

  Just then Emmanuelle came into view about half a dozen dancers down the line. He started waving and beckoning to her furiously. Surprisingly she quickly shook herself loose and gracefully dodged her way along the chain of dancers.

  “What’s up Jonas? What are you doing to Dante? Looks like he’s not enjoying it very much!”

  She spoke breathlessly but Jonas was relieved she seemed more or less in her right mind. He repeated his news, adding that he had left the newcomers in the accommodation at the Baths. Emmanuelle let loose with one of her bell-like laughs.

  “What are you talking about? You must have taken bad Tremo last night. New inductees are not due for at least a couple of days, and Brutus and Fyodor are their guides. No Northerners could possibly fly the shuttle here by themselves. ”

  “The fact is they did, and I don’t do hallucinates. I heard the sonic boom and went back in the car and found them. There are two Northerners at the Shuttle Port named Poll and Cal and the only initiation they’re getting is from the crazy lady at the Agora.”

  Emmanuelle recognized Cal’s name and her jaw dropped.

  “Look, I don’t know where you’re getting this from but you have to stop. You’re seriously freaking me out!”

  “I know, I know, you have to believe me. I saw the shuttle on the tarmac and I drove the two of them in my car. I can tell you they are both highly unusual people. It’s like they’re somehow in charge. If we don’t get them initiated very soon we won’t know how to deal with them at all.”

  Emmanuelle and Dante finally grasped that Jonas was serious. Something must have happened and whatever it was he not going to stop until they responded. Dante struggled to organize his thoughts.

  "OK, OK so we need a plan. What are we going to do?”

  Emmanuelle said, “Let’s go get Gaius. He should be in on this. I think he’s still at the fountains.”

  No one had a better idea and they all headed out of the dance plaza, along the smooth flag roads lined with Roman pines, to the great plaza of the fountains. They passed among the ornamental marble and the pools of dimpled water, asking people still lounging there if anyone had seen Gaius. It did not take long to locate him stretched out inside a frothing marble extravaganza. It was an allegory with stone naiads, animals and personifications, all encased in an inverted liquid vase. The group shouted urgently through the waterfall and after a couple of attempts Gaius emerged looking displeased.

  “What on earth are you yelling about?”

  Emmanuelle told him what Jonas had said, adding, “He really doesn’t seem to be tripping. If Northerners have arrived without guides we definitely need a response.”

  Gaius grabbed his robe draped on a wall. “How the hell could that happen? If it’s true, and not some ridiculous prank, I’d say it’s what used to be called a crime. Like stealing government property. It makes these individuals criminals.”

  Dante agreed. “Yeah, that crossed my mind too. Perhaps Magus should be in on this.”

  The mention of the obscure official of Heavenly Security had the effect of making everyone focus sharply. Jonas objected.

  “That, I think, is the wrong way. It's jumping to conclusions, and anyway what these two individuals did is quite extraordinary. I would say they are like us, exceptional cases chosen for immortality. Only they just did the choosing themselves. If anything we should go to extra trouble to integrate them, not hand them over to Magus.” He glanced at Emmanuelle, “What do you say?”

  She furrowed her brow. “I think that involving Magus at this point would have him snooping around the whole induction process, and we certainly don’t want that. Besides one of these Northerners is called Cal and that’s the name of someone just selected, the sister of Danny, the swimmer. The guides were due to bring her, along with the friend chosen by Charlize. If this Cal is the same person then she already has official status.”

  Gaius said, “On the other hand she could be an imposter. And that’s one more crime to add to the list. We need to get Danny right away, to make a positive ID.”

  “Of course, but if she is the same person then we really could go ahead. She’s already been selected and it would be unheard of to initiate without the other person. We always do it in twos.”

  The solution seemed to pose the least disruption. The group agreed Emmanuelle would look for Danny, while Jonas and Dante grabbed Pandit. Gaius would round up any of the others who were used to helping Pandit with the ritual. They would meet up at the junction of the Sacred Way and be at the Baths by late nightfall.

&nb
sp; As they all left Gaius turned to a figure hidden inside the fountain, waving. "Later, Roland. Got to go.”

  2. NOCTURNAL

  Poll had entered the Agora through the gate opposite the baths. He wandered around among the flower-covered pergolas, the satin couches, the food barrows and the mysterious summer houses and pavilions. He found a knife next to a stand with some oranges and a melon. Cutting open an orange he put it to his mouth, tasting the first fresh fruit of his life. He tore away the peel and greedily devoured the segments. He sliced the melon and bit into its cool crispy flesh. Wiping the knife on his sleeve he used it to hack away at the therm-suit hanging from his waist. After some fierce stabbing and slashing he cut most of the top part free and tied the remaining strips off around his middle. He stood there in his undershirt like one of the pioneers he’d first seen in the sunshine photo, wearing their rough working clothes. He felt like a pioneer himself. Everything before him, the incredible beauty, the lavish luxury, it was all the same thing as the ice world, just its hidden face, a sneering far side of the moon. But, at the same time, he understood that Cal was exactly right. He could learn from these people, and that would be his task. If he was going to do something different, if he was going to be his own kind of pioneer, he would have to know all the secrets of this world.

  He started to walk back along the road beside the Baths, returning to the end courtyard and his room. He wanted to apologize to Cal and tell her he had come round to seeing things her way. He would explain his idea of a new kind of pioneer and invite her to be one. They had gone through so much together, they should not stop now. Back there on the icefield when she rescued him he had been overwhelmed by awe and love for her. But they had been children then and everything had happened to them as children. This other world here was for grown-ups and was made by grown-ups. They would both have to grow up too, and fast, if they were to make a difference. He would show her the problem, and they’d seek its solution together, just like back in the Sector. He turned into the courtyard, a strip of torn therm-suit trailing behind him, eager to talk to his friend.

  When he entered the hallway Poll saw a table just inside set with bread, cheese, olives and a flask of water. He guessed that the woman without a name had gone to the Agora ahead of him and returned with food, somehow not crossing his path. He grabbed a loaf and a round of the cheese and walked directly across the floor to Cal’s room. Then he hesitated. Her door was closed, so perhaps she was asleep. It also struck him that she'd probably showered, and might have taken up the offer of robes Jonas had mentioned. Suddenly he lost his conviction. She could be reacting to all this quite differently. If so he didn’t want to deal with it now when his own thoughts were just beginning to take form. He turned away disconsolate, his wave of energy ebbing to reveal its undertow of anger and frustration.

  He propped the bread under his arm and grabbed the flask, shambled back to his room and closed the door after him. Sitting on his couch he gorged himself on the bread and cheese until it was all gone, washing it down with large gulps of water. After he had finished he stripped off the remainder of his therm-suit and lay back. He stared at the ceiling, at its ancient beams and plaster, wondering vaguely when Jonas would return. He closed his eyes and almost at once he was asleep.

  He dreamed he was again in the ice world, inside his TEP. He was lying on his bed and his Mom was sitting at the table, crying. She was saying something about his Dad, which he couldn’t figure out. He started kicking with his feet and before he knew it his boots had connected with the big strong thermal wall of the TEP, puncturing a hole right through it. However, instead of the deadly cold air flooding in there were only golden light and a warm soft breeze. Suddenly he was crying too, sobbing from the heart because his father could not experience the warmth of the sun.

  And then came a knocking at the door. He awoke in thick darkness with the tears still in his throat.

  ***

  “Poll, please come out into the hallway. It’s Jonas. I have returned with the Initiation party and we need to clear up some details before we can proceed.”

  Poll fought back the terrible feeling inside him. He knew that the moment had come. He had to will himself to surrender to whatever they had planned, in order somehow to bring the warm sunshine to the Teppers, to all like his father who had never known anything like it.

  “Hold on, I’m coming.”

  He swung his legs off the couch. Groping on the floor he found the remnants of his therm-suit. Because of its tattered state and the darkness he couldn’t separate one end from another. He gave up and in his undershirt and long johns he groped his way in the direction of Jonas’ voice. He got to the door and jerked it open. At once his eyes were met by dancing firelight from numerous oil lamps and a patchwork of faces and bodies he didn’t know. Jonas stepped forward and took his hand. “Come,” he said, “there is someone here who must be the first to greet both you and Cal.”

  He was led through the crowd to the middle of the hallway where Cal was standing. She was dressed in the organdie robes that everyone else appeared to be wearing. For a moment he was shocked, not so much by her semi-nakedness but how it seemed she had never dressed any other way. He was taken aback at how the robes showed off her graceful body in a wholly easy fashion. He suddenly felt how stupid he must look in his clumsy underwear. But any thoughts about himself were abruptly interrupted when he saw the person Jonas wanted them to meet. It was Liz who was led forward, also clothed in the familiar robes but rumpled and bundled around her in a disheveled fashion. But more than anything it was her face that riveted Poll. She had somehow become so much older, by an age, he would have said. It was not lines or wrinkles: her face and skin were as smooth as they’d ever been. There was a cast in the eyes, a set to the mouth, which at once marked her off as belonging to something else, something that had been around long before she was born.

  “Liz!” cried Cal, starting toward her to embrace her.

  At once a man strode out and blocked her. “Please step back and allow us a moment.” Then turning to Charlize the man said, “Do you recognize these people and if so could you tell us who they are?”

  Charlize looked at the man and at Cal and Poll. She was both puzzled and annoyed. “Yes, Gaius, this is Cal, Danny’s sister. We were told she was coming. But the other one is Poll, and it was supposed to be Esh. Why’s she not here? I didn’t invite him, he was always making…” And her voice trailed off.

  Jonas broke in. “So that’s settled. This is Cal, an official inductee and the other person, Poll, is her companion. We can go ahead and initiate.”

  Gaius was not put off that easily. “Wait, she didn’t finish. She was going to say something.”

  Everyone turned back toward Charlize. She had been told very little on the way to the Baths, beyond that there were new arrivals who for some reason needed identifying. Emmanuelle had tracked her down at the Fairy House and asked her where Danny was, but Danny had left with Eboni hours ago and she didn’t know where. Charlize had stayed on with Colette and had become progressively intimate with both her and Lara. By the time Emmanuelle found her everything had reached a state of calm and she was ready simply to sleep. But because Danny’s trail had gone cold Emmanuelle insisted she come along instead, and it seemed so urgent it was impossible to refuse. Now when faced with Poll she had a good idea why. He was a known trouble-maker and she remembered he had recently got together with Cal. Very likely he had done something to mess up the arrangements and take her friend’s place on the shuttle. As this was dawning on her she became more and more angry. At the same time, Cal was looking at her in a perfectly happy way. Danny’s sister was clearly OK with Poll being there. So Charlize checked herself, despite her anger. She felt wary about being the one to ruin things; after all, they were all in Heaven now. In the end what she said came out lamely.

  “Poll, he’s, he’s Cal’s boyfriend, but he was always making …objections to what the professors said.”

  “You mean he�
�s disruptive. And then he stole a ride in the shuttle.”

  “That’s not what she said and you know it, Gaius,” Emmanuelle intervened decisively. “It means he’s an independent thinker, and we surely have no objection to that, do we?”

  She addressed Cal and Poll, “Please excuse me if I consult a moment with my colleagues.” Grabbing Gaius and Jonas by the arms she marched them out of earshot. She hissed, “You heard what Charlize said: Poll is Cal’s boyfriend. They’re an item, so he’s a natural for Initiation. The only thing out of place is they hijacked the shuttle, but isn't that what young love is all about? Just because it never happened before doesn't mean we can't be open to it, at least once. Meantime the longer we stand here arguing the less and less integrating the whole experience is bound to be, for them, and for everyone. If there are any loose ends we can deal with them later, but I vote we begin Initiation at once.”

  At this point it sounded a powerful argument. In the hallowed precincts of the ancient baths it seemed sacrilegious to be even debating the issue. Gaius felt the pressure of the moment and grudgingly relented. "OK, but I don’t trust that Poll guy. I’ll be watching him like a hawk!”

  “Fine, fine. Plenty of time for that. Right now I’ll tell Pandit.”

  Emmanuelle turned back to the crowd of Immortals standing around Cal and Poll, all looking toward her for the next move. They had been rounded up by Gaius and driven here in various cars, knowing only that their services were required at short notice. The guttering light from the lamps showed their faces bleary and dazed, arriving from Doblepoble for an unprecedented eleventh-hour Initiation. Pandit stood in their midst, trying to retain his beatific smile here in the temple where he was high priest. He struggled to clear his mind. As Emmanuelle called out, “Pandit, let the Initiation begin!” he blinked at her. Then he thrust his head back a couple of times and clapped his hands.