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He is the God of the Hebrews. Jolie replied. Once the God of all, but his power has declined with the
ascent of newer religions, such as Christianity.
But I thought it was the same God!
In theory, perhaps-but in practice, no. The Christians have become a different and more aggressive tribe.
Then why does he help us?
He has become tolerant in his age, and I understand that Satan once did him a favor.
Vita made a thought of laughter. I wonder if Satan was trying to corrupt JHVH, the same as he does
everyone else! I don't think it worked.
Orlene stood at the edge of Heaven, uncertain where to proceed. She stood on a white cloudbank, which
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merged with others, the landscape resembling a giant mattress. The inhabitants of Heaven stood around,
faintly glowing. They looked bored.
Orlene approached the nearest. This was an old woman who looked much the way she must have in life
before she died. "Excuse me-how do I find God?"
"Live better than you did," the woman replied, uninterested.
"Oh, I'm not dead, exactly. I mean, I'm just visiting, in a mortal host. I have to see God."
"Well, God isn't here in Limbo! We are the imperfect souls, just barely good enough to qualify. We have
evil in us and cannot proceed to the more pleasant aspects of Heaven until we expunge it."
"How do you do that?"
"I'm not sure, and not very curious."
"Can you tell me some path to follow that perhaps leads to God?"
The woman shrugged. "Why should I bother?"
I don't think this biddy's going to make fast progress! Vita thought.
Perhaps you should use your magic, Jolie suggested.
Orlene brightened. The moment she oriented, the glows of the souls in Heaven changed. Now some
were brighter than others. But none seemed bright enough.
Why not just yell? Vita thought.
Orlene considered, then tried it. "Please, anybody!" she called. "I am a visitor here, and I need guidance.
Will anyone help me to go in the direction of God?"
There was no reaction. The souls in Limbo just weren't interested.
Then a new one appeared. This was a young woman who looked somewhat worn, but she glowed
brightly. "Hello. I am Rita."
I like that name! Vita thought. And she's young, like me!
"I am Orlene. Are you coming in answer to-"
"Did you save a baby?" she asked.
"I lost my baby," Orlene said. "I am trying to recover him."
"No-a baby in a Dumpster. Newborn."
Orlene gazed at her more closely. "Why, yes! The Incarnation of Death told me to-but I couldn't-"
"I am his mother."
"Oh! You mean you died, Rita? That's why-"
"Not exactly. I had to work-I had taken all my vacation time, and I had used a slim-spell to hide my
pregnancy-but I would have lost my job at the restaurant if they knew. So I brought the baby with me
and hid him in the Dumpster, where nobody would suspect, so I could run out and tend to him. I knew
the collection schedule, see, so I could move him before they came. But I pushed it too hard, being back
on my feet all day so soon after, and I hemorrhaged, and they didn't know and I didn't tell, so as not to
lose my job-and, well, I lost my life instead. I was in Heaven before I knew, and couldn't get back-and
what could I have done as a ghost, anyway? I knew my baby would die, and oh, how that hurt-"
"Oh, I know, don't I know!" Orlene said, putting her arms around the young woman as she choked up.
"All I could do was watch. But then you came, and you took him, and brought him to the hospital, so he
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lived, after all, and now he's been adopted by a nice couple, and he's much better off than I could ever-I
mean, even if I had lived-"
"Yes. I was adopted too. I never knew my natural parents until after I died."
"So I owe you a debt of thanks I thought I could never repay! I can't go to the highest levels, because of
the sin of having the baby out of wedlock, but I can take you most of the way."
"You didn't marry?" Orlene asked.
"Well, we were going to, you know, but he had to get through college first-and then when I learned I
was-"
"He disappeared," Orlene finished, and Rita nodded tearfully. "And for that you have sin on your soul."
"Yes. I never had much sin before, but I loved him so much, I really thought-"
"I think we need new definitions," Orlene muttered.
"I'm glad I saved your baby. I didn't realize that I would ever meet you."
Rita brightened. "Come, I must show you the way! I'm so glad to be able to do this!"
They followed the young woman. There were stairs at some places where the cloud banks intersected,
spiraling up to the higher levels, and they climbed these. "Half way up was a guardian angel, a
forbidding figure with solid, birdlike wings furled behind. "What is this?" he demanded gruffly.
"This is Orlene," Rita said. "She has come to see God."
"Get out of here!" the angel snapped, barring the way.
"But she has important business!"
"I don't care what she claims! She has no clearance for this ascent. Now vacate, before I lay an
Atonement on you both!" He raised his fist.
Orlene lifted her hand, intercepting his. Her glow brightened. The angel froze in place.
She's doing it again! Vita thought. I bet she really could have used that magic in life, instead of just
seeing whether anyone's right for anyone else.
Jolie did not respond. She wasn't sure whether this was a newly discovered talent or a newly developed
one. Certainly there had been no hint of it before that moment in Hell. She didn't understand it, so was
disquieted by it. Could Nox have done something else to Orlene, without her knowledge? If so, to what
would it lead? Jolie had no confidence at all in the motives of the Incarnation of Night: she remembered
too well that episode of Orlene's maleness.
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."
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