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"Weshall enlighten you," the Divine replied through Li's mouth. "But any
benefits therefrom will be short-lived. When we finish consuming this man's
flesh, one of you will be next."
"Take Youn Suu," Festina said. "She's bioengineered... all kinds of yummy
extra vitamins."
"Bitch," I murmured (with a smile).
"I prefer the term 'bad cop,' " Festina said.
"You're wrong thinking we sabotaged the Ascension." Li's head had composed
itself into a smug expression as smug as anyone could be while clumps of gray
fuzz snacked on his cheeks. "We are the ultimate result of that process. We,"
said the Divine, "are what you would call Uplifted Fuentes."
"I've seen Uplifted Fuentes," Festina replied. "They look like purple jelly."
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"Impostors!" the Divine howled. "Lying, deceitful frauds!"
"Why?"
"They claim we are not truly elevated!" Li's head made a snorting sound that
might have been a laugh or a sniffle. "You saw what we can do how we drew your
companion to us. You'll experience the same power soon enough. Even if you
run, we shall drag you back by force of will and munch with delight on your
bones. But the Jelly Ones... they whisper... we shut them out, but they
whisper... they say we are pitiful craven things who never really rose at
all."
"Gee," said Festina, "how could they think that?"
I gave her a warning look. The Divinewere craven things whining snivelers
without enlightenment but like Bamar demons who could be fooled by Ugly
Screaming Stink-names, the gray spores shouldn't be underestimated just
because they seemed like buffoons. This moss had real powers: telekinesis and
who knew what else. Their mentality might be deficient (perhaps just degraded
with age), but they were still deadly. Just ask Ambassador Li.
"The Jelly Ones don't understand you," I said. "They're cruel to torment you
with their whispering. Do they do it often?"
"They never stop. Never! When they get close enough, we destroy them... but
mostly they stay out of range and plague us with taunts. They say they could
help if only we'd let them. Liars! We don't need their help."
"I'll bet you hold others at bay too," I said. "Other creatures besides the
Jelly Ones."
"Oh yes, many others. We have millions of enemies millions and millions! All
of them hateful and jealous. But we kill them if they get too close."
"What about the settlers?" Festina asked. "The Unity. The Greenstriders. They
lived here for years, and you didn't eat them."
"We are the Divine!" they shrieked through Li's mouth. "Do we squander our
strength on lesser beings when we must conserve power to fight greater
enemies?"
"Ah," said Festina, under her breath. "The bastards have limited energy."
"Besides," the Divine continued, "why should we exert ourselves when microbes
do the job for us? In time, the microbes turn all invaders to smoke. Then the
newcomers cease to be annoyances."
"You're on good terms with the EMP clouds?" Festina asked.
"The clouds are beneath our contempt... but they know their place. At one
time, they tried to steal our treasure, but "
"Treasure?"Festina and I repeated in unison.
"Our blessing. Our inheritance."
"O Splendid Ones," I said, "perhaps you should explain what that means. We
wish to comprehend your true greatness."
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"We're glad to do so," the Divine replied. "Too long have we been
misunderstood. Listen, and be amazed."
As the Divine began to speak, Ubatu laid me on the floor. That might just
have meant she was resting her arms why hold me during a potentially lengthy
diatribe, when she might need all her strength later? but I was still troubled
by her action. Ubatu hadn't been carrying me out of courtesy or compassion; it
was something to do with Ifa-Vodun. She saw me as the vessel of a particularly
powerful loa. I'd thought she wanted to keep her hands on me and perhaps win
favor with the Balrog through displays of worshipful servitude.
But now Ubatu had met the Divine. And now she'd set me down. I couldn't help
wondering if she'd decided the Divine would be more susceptible to her
pandering than the Balrog had been. They certainly seemed better candidates
for being manipulated: powerful, but not very bright. If Ubatu abased herself
before the Divine if she offered to be their priestess they might be gullible
enough to accept.
Especially if she could prove her loyalty. Perhaps by offering Festina and me
as sacrifices. And betraying the secret that I harbored the Divine's enemies:
Balrog spores. If Ubatu had been capable of speech, she might have already
blurted out the truth. As it was, she'd have to bide her time: wait for some
kind of opening that would let her catch the Divine's attention before Festina
and I could stop her.
Or not. I might be inventing ulterior motives where none existed. Ubatu could
simply be resting her arms. I wished I could still read her life force, but my
sixth sense had lost its reach. I had to fall back on my natural five senses,
keeping a close eye on Ubatu to make sure she did nothing treacherous while
the Divine talked.
Meanwhile, Festina took up a position leaning directly on the curtain of
blackness across the room's entrance. If the energy field lost its solidity
for the slightest instant, she'd fall into the outer corridor and perhaps
beyond the Divine's clutches. Putting her weight on the blackness might also
force the Divine to expend energy maintaining the curtain's impenetrability.
If the gray spores had limited resources of power, why not compel them to use
as much energy as possible?
I found it difficult to believe the Divine were as mighty as they claimed.
They reminded me of a grandiose jungle tribe, hiding from modern society,
claiming to be masters of the world but living on lizards and insects. If we
could make them overextend themselves, we might find a way to avoid being
eaten like Li. But first, we had to listen to them pontificate.
"Long, long ago," the Divine said through Li's half-eaten lips, "we were
technicians at this station. The ones who readied it for Stage Two of the
Ascension. We didexactly what we were told. Exactly! We followed the
scientists' directions to the letter."
"Fine, we got the message," Festina said. "You just followed orders, and you
weren't the ones who screwed up. What happened?"
"The Ascension happened!" The Divine apparently liked to shriek. This
particular yell sounded more breathy than those previous; I wondered if the
spores had started snacking on Li's lungs. "It happened just as predicted.
First, the microbes pulled apart our bodies. Then, the energy projectors in
this station activated themselves. It wasglorious."
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