Small Gods Read online

Page 44

 

  “Come on, then,” said Urn.

  “Come on what?”

  “We can rush the steps and save him!”

  “Theres more of them than there are of us,” said Simony.

  “Well, havent there always been? Theres not mag?ically more of them than there are of us just because theyve got Brutha, are there?”

  Simony grabbed his arm.

  “Think logically, will you?” he said. “Youre a phi?losopher, arent you? Look at the crowd!”

  Urn looked at the crowd.

  “Well?”

  “They dont like it,. ” Simon turned. “Look, Bruthas going to die anyway. But this way itll mean something. People dont understand, really under?stand, about the shape of the universe and all that stuff, but theyll remember what Vorbis did to a man. Right? We can make Bruthas death a symbol for peo?ple, dont you see?”

  Urn stared at the distant figure of Brutha. It was naked, except for a loin-cloth.

  “A symbol?” he said. His throat was dry.

  “It has to be. ”

  He remembered Didactylos saying the world was a funny place. And, he thought distantly, it really was. Here people were about to roast someone to death, but theyd left his loin-cloth on, out of respectability. You had to laugh. Otherwise youd go mad.

  “You know,” he said, turning to Simony. “Now I know Vorbis is evil. He burned my city. Well, the Tsorteans do it sometimes, and we burn theirs. Its just war. Its all part of history. And he lies and cheats and claws power for himself, and lots of people do that, too. But do you know whats special? Do you know what it is?”

  “Of course,” said Simony. "Its what hes doing to-

  “Its what hes done to you. ”

  “What?”

  “He turns other people into copies of himself. ”

  Simonys grip was like a vice. “Youre saying Im like him?”

  “Once you said youd cut him down,” said Urn. "Now youre thinking like him . . .

  “So we rush them, then?” said Simony. “Im sure of-maybe four hundred on our side. So I give the signal and a few hundred of us attack thousands of them? And he dies anyway and we die too? What difference does that make?”

  Urns face was gray with horror now.

  “You mean you dont know?” he said.

  Some of the crowd looked round curiously at him.

  “You dont know?” he said.

  The sky was blue. The sun wasnt high enough yet to turn it into Omnias normal copper bowl.

  Brutha turned his head again, towards the sun. It was about a width above the horizon, although if Didactyloss theories about the speed of light were correct, it was really setting, thousands of years in the future.

  It was eclipsed by the head of Vorbis.

  “Hot yet, Brutha?” said the deacon.

  “Warm. ”

  “It will get warmer. ”

  There was a disturbance in the crowd. Someone was shouting. Vorbis ignored it.

  “Nothing you want to say?” he said. “Cant you manage even a curse? Not even a curse?”

  “You never heard Om,” said Brutha. “You never believed. You never, ever heard his voice. All you heard were the echoes inside your own mind. ”

  “Really? But I am the Cenobiarch and you are going to burn for treachery and heresy,” said Vorbis. “So much for Om, perhaps?”

  “There will be justice,” said Brutha. “If there is no justice, there is nothing. ”

  He was aware of a small voice in his head, too faint yet to distinguish words.

  “Justice?” said Vorbis. The idea seemed to enrage him. He spun around to the crowd of bishops. “Did you hear him? There will be justice? Om has judged! Through me! This is justice!”

  There was a speck in the sun now, speeding toward the Citadel. And the little voice was saying left left left up up left right a bit up left-The mass of metal under him was getting uncomfortably hot.

  “He comes now,” said Brutha.

  Vorbis waved his hand to the great facade of the temple. “Men built this. We built this,” he said. “And what did Om do? Om comes? Let him come! Let him judge between us!”

  “He comes now,” Brutha repeated. “The God. ”

  People looked apprehensively upward. There was that moment, just one moment, when the world holds its breath and against all experience waits for a miracle.

  -up left now, when I say three, one, two, THREE-

  “Vorbis?” croaked Brutha.

  “What?” snapped the deacon.

  “Youre going to die. ”

  It was hardly a whisper, but it bounced off the bronze doors and carried across the Place . . .

  It made people uneasy, although they couldnt quite say why.

  The eagle sped across the square, so low that people ducked. Then it cleared the roof of the temple and curved away towards the mountains. The watchers relaxed. It was only an eagle. For a moment there, just for a moment . . .

  No one saw the tiny speck, tumbling down from the sky.

  Dont put your faith in gods. But you can believe in turtles.

  A feeling of rushing wind in Bruthas mind, and a voice . . .

  -obuggerbuggerbuggerhelpaarghnoNoNoAarghBuggerNONOAARGH-

  Even Vorbis got a grip of himself. There had been just a moment, when hed seen the eagle-but, no . . .

  He extended his arms and smiled beatifically at the sky.

  “Im sorry,” said Brutha.

  One or two people, who had been watching Vorbis closely, said later that there was just time for his expression to change before two pounds of tortoise, traveling at three meters a second, hit him between the eyes.

  It was a revelation.

  And that does something to people watching. For a start, they believe with all their heart.

  Brutha was aware of feet running up the steps, and hands pulling at the chains.

  And then a voice:

  I. He is Mine.

  The Great God rose over the Temple, billowing and changing as the belief of thousands of people flowed into him. There were shapes there, of eagle-headed men, and bulls, and golden horns, but they tangled and flamed and fused into one another.

  Four bolts of fire whirred out of the cloud and burst the chains holding Brutha.

  II. He Is Cenobiarch And Prophet of Prophets.

  The voice of theophany rumbled off the distant mountains.

  III. Do I Hear Any Objections? No? Good.

  The cloud had by now condensed into a shimmering golden figure, as tall as the Temple. It leaned down until its face was a few feet away from Brutha, and in a whisper that boomed across the Place said:

  IV. Dont Worry. This Is Just The Start. You and Me, Kid! People Are Going To Find Out What Wailing and Gnashing Of Teeth Really Is.

  Another shaft of flame shot out and struck the Temple doors. They slammed shut, and then the white-hot bronze melted, erasing the commandments of the centuries.

  V. What Shall It Be, Prophet?

  Brutha stood up, unsteadily. Urn supported him by one arm, and Simony by the other.

  “Mm?” he said, muzzily.

  VI. Your Commandments?

  “I thought they were supposed to come from you,” said Brutha. "I dont know if I can think of any . . .

  The world waited.

  “How about `Think for Yourself?” said Urn, staring in horrified fascination at the manifestation.

  “No,” said Simony. “Try something like `Social Cohesiveness is the Key to Progress. ”

  “Cant say it rolls off the tongue,” said Urn.

  “If I can be of any help,” said Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah, from the crowd, “something of benefit to the convenience food industry would be very welcome. ”

  “Not killing people. We could do with one like that,” said someone else.

  “Itd be a good start,” said Urn.

  They looked at the Chosen One. He shook himself free of their grip and stood alon
e, swaying a little.

  “No-oo,” said Brutha. “No. I thought like that once, but it wouldnt. Not really. ”

  Now, he said. Only now. Just one point in history. Not tomorrow, not next month, itll always be too late unless its now.

  They stared at him.

  “Come on,” said Simony. “Whats wrong with it? You cant argue with it. ”

  “Its hard to explain,” said Brutha. “But I think its got something to do with how people should behave. I think . . . you should do things because theyre right. Not because gods say so. They might say something different another time. ”

  VII. I Like One About Not Killing, said Om, from far above.

  VIII. Its Got A Good Ring To It. Hurry Up, Ive Got Some Smiting To Do.

  “You see?” said Brutha. “No. No smiting. No commandments unless you obey them too. ”

  Om thumped on the roof of the Temple.

  IX. You Order Me? Here? NOW? ME?

  “No. I ask. ”

  X. Thats Worse Than Ordering!

  “Everything works both ways. ”

  Om thumped his Temple again. A wall caved in. That part of the crowd that hadnt managed to stampede from the Place redoubled its efforts.

  XI. There Must Be Punishment! Otherwise There Will Be No Order!

  ` No.

  XII. I Do Not Need You! I Have Believers Enough Now!

  “But only through me. And, perhaps, not for long. It will all happen again. Its happened before. It happens all the time. Thats why gods die. They never believe in people. But you have a chance. All you need to do is . . . believe. ”

  XIII. What? Listen To Stupid Prayers? Watch Over Small Children? Make It Rain?

  “Sometimes. Not always. It could be a bargain. ”

  XIV. BARGAIN! I dont Bargain! Not With Humans!

  “Bargain now,” said Brutha. “While you have the chance. Or one day youll have to bargain with Simony, or someone like him. Or Urn, or someone like him. ”

  XV. I Could Destroy You Utterly.

  “Yes. I am entirely in your power. ”

  XVI. I Could Crush You Like An Egg!

  “Yes. ”

  Om paused.

  Then he said: XVII. You Cant Use Weakness As A Weapon.

  “Its the only one Ive got. ”

  XVIII. Why Should I Yield, Then?

  “Not yield. Bargain. Deal with me in weakness. Or one day youll have to bargain with someone in a position of strength. The world changes. ”

  XIX. Hah! You Want A Constitutional Religion?

  “Why not? The other sort didnt work. ”

  Om leaned on the Temple, his temper subsiding.

  Chap. II v. l. Very Well, Then. But Only For A Time. A grin spread across the enormous, smoking face. For One Hundred Years, Yes?

  “And after a hundred years?”

  II. We Shall See.

  “Agreed. ”

  A finger the length of a tree unfolded, descended, touched Brutha.

  III. You Have A Persuasive Way. You Will Need It. A Fleet Approaches.

  “Ephebians?” said Simony.

  IV. And Tsorteans. And Djelibeybians. And Klatchians. Every Free Country Along The Coast. To Stamp Out Omnia For Good. Or Bad.

  “You dont have many friends, do you?” said Urn.

  “Even I dont like us much, and I am us,” said Simony. He looked up at the god.

  “Will you help?”

  V. You Dont Even Believe In Me!

  “Yes, but Im a practical man. ”

  VI. And Brave, Too, To Declare Atheism Before Your God.

  “This doesnt change anything, you know!” said Simony. “Dont think you can get round me by existing! ”