The Second Randall Garrett Megapack. Randall Garrett

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СКАЧАТЬ Venus had brought him back from New York, and he wasn’t at all sure that he could leave it. In the normal sense of the word, the place had neither exits nor entrances. The only way of getting in or out of the place was via the Veils of Heaven—matter transmitters, not something supernatural, he realized now.

      As far as Forrester knew, they still worked. But the Gods could generate a Veil anywhere, at any time. Forrester, as a demi-God, could only will one into existence on sufferance; he could only work the matter-transmitting Veils if the Gods permitted him to do so. If they didn’t, he was trapped.

      Well, he told himself, there was one way to find out.

      He walked over to the wall and stood a few feet away from it, concentrating in the way he had been taught. He was still slower at it than the Gods themselves, and hadn’t developed the knack of forming a Veil as he walked toward the place where he wanted it to be, as they had.

      But he knew he could do it—if he was still allowed to.

      Minutes went by.

      Then, as the blue sheet of neural energy flickered into being, Forrester slumped in sudden relief. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

      The Veil was there—but was it what he hoped, or a trick? Possibly he could focus the other terminal where he wanted it, but there was also the chance that the Gods had set the thing up so that, when he stepped through, he would be standing in the Court of the Gods facing a tribunal for which he was totally unprepared.

      It would be just like the Pantheon, he thought, to pull a lousy trick like that.

      But there was no point in dithering. If death was to be his fate, that would be that. He could do nothing at all by sitting in his room and waiting for them to come and get him.

      He focused the exit terminal in Diana’s apartment. There was no way of knowing whether the focus worked or not until he stepped through.

      He opened his eyes and walked into the Veil.

      He felt almost disappointed when he looked around him. He had steeled himself to do great battle with the Gods—and, instead, he was where he had wanted to be, in Diana’s apartment.

      She was standing with her back to him, and Forrester didn’t make a sound, not wanting to startle the Goddess. She was totally unclad, her glorious body shining in the light of the room, her blue-black hair unbound and falling halfway down her gently curved back. But she must have heard him somehow, for she turned, and for half a second she stood facing him.

      Forrester did not move. He couldn’t even breathe.

      Every magnificent curve was highlighted in a frozen tableau.

      Then there was a sudden flash of white, and she was clad in a clinging chiton which, Forrester saw, served only to remind one of what one had recently seen. It worked very well, although Forrester did not think he had any need for an aid to his memory.

      “My goodness!” Diana said. “You shouldn’t surprise a girl like that! I mean, you really gave me a shock, kid!”

      Forrester took his first breath. “Well,” he said, “I could be dishonest, not to mention ungallant, and tell you I was sorry.”

      “But?” Diana said.

      “Being of sound mind and sound body, I’m a long way from being sorry.”

      And Diana dropped her eyes and blushed.

      Forrester could barely believe it.

      But it did show a part of the Goddess’s personality that was entirely new to him. He was sure that any of the Gods or Goddesses could sense when a Veil of Heaven was forming near them, and get prepared before it was well enough developed to allow for passage. But Diana—who was, after all, one of the traditionally virgin Goddesses, like Pallas Athena—had chosen to pretend surprise.

      Forrester had a further hunch, too. He thought she might have deliberately vanished her chiton only a second or so before he entered. And that put a different—and a very interesting—face on things.

      Not to mention, he thought, an entire figure.

      But he didn’t say anything. That wasn’t his main business in Diana’s apartment. Instead, he watched her smile briskly and say: “Well, you’re here, anyhow, kid, and I guess that’s enough for me. Want a drink? I could whip up some nectar—and maybe an ambrosia sandwich?”

      “I’ll take the drink,” Forrester said. “I’m not really hungry, thanks.”

      Diana held out her hands, fingers curved inward, and a crys­tal cup of clear, golden liquid appeared in each—matter transmission, of course, not magic. She handed one over to Forrester, who took it and looked the Goddess straight in the eyes.

      “Thanks,” he said. “Diana, I’ve got some questions to ask you, and I hope I’ll get the answers.”

      She touched the rim of her cup to his. Her voice was very soft, but she didn’t hesitate in the least. “I’ll answer any questions I have to. Sit down.”

      They found chairs along the walls of the room and sat facing one another. Forrester took a sip of his drink, settled back, and tried to think where to begin. Well, God or no God, Zeus had the key to that one. He had said it years ago, and it had passed almost into legend:

      “Begin at the beginning, go on until you reach the end, and then stop.”

      Very well, Forrester thought. He cleared his throat. Diana looked at him inquiringly.

      “I don’t know how far into the noose I’m putting my head with this one, Diana,” he said. “But I trust you—and I’ve got to ask somebody.”

      “Go ahead,” she said quietly.

      “First question. The original Dionysus is dead, isn’t he?”

      She paused for a moment before answering. “Yes, he is.”

      “And I was scheduled to take his place.”

      “That’s right.”

      “As a full God,” Forrester said.

      Diana nodded.

      There was a little silence.

      “Diana,” Forrester said, “what are the Gods?”

      She got up and crossed to the window. Looking out, she said: “Before I answer that, I want you to tell me what you think we are.”

      “Men and women,” he said. “More or less human, like myself. Except you’ve somehow managed to get so far ahead of any kind of science Earth knows that, even today, your effects can only be explained as ‘magic’ or ‘miracle.’”

      “How could we get that far ahead of you?”

      Forrester took a leap in the dark to the only conclusion he could see. “You’re not from Earth,” he said. “You’re from another planet.” The words sounded strange in his own ears—but Diana didn’t even act surprised.

      “That’s СКАЧАТЬ