[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
mean, really want. Long-term."
Joe thought a minute, then leaned over and hugged Tiana.
"I want a goddess."
She seemed delighted and excited, and grabbed and hugged and kissed him all
over again.
Ruddygore smiled. "A slight modification is in order, then.
There will have to be one, anyway, to explain Kaladon's de-
mise. You sent him to his Heavenly reward, that's all."
"She sure did," Joe noted.
256
DEMONS OF THE DANCING GODS
"Goddesses do not have consorts, of course, and I think Joe ill fits the role
of high priest. Therefore, we'll reaffirm some old-fashioned values and
virtues. The Goddess shall have her
God. You certainly look the pan, Joe."
"Hey! Wait a minute! You mean there's gonna be a million marble statues of me
in the nude?"
Ruddygore laughed. "And why not? When they see the attributes of both of you,
you will be the sex idols of Husa-
quahr."
"But I have no godlike power, and Tiana can't use hers,"
he pointed out. "And you're expecting us to rule a country directly and a
church that goes out who knows how far?"
Page 178
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"There will be little trouble there. First of all, your new high priest will
handle the mundane magical chores and advice, accompanied by his faithful band
of adepts and hangers-on.
And, because the potential for this is so fascinating, there will be a backup.
A simple microcomputer, I think, with a number of hard disks, should hold the
basics. With some nice color graphics, of course, so you can see the spells
and how they're formed when you punch them up. I'll bring one back when I
drop off Esmilio."
"But how will you plug it in?" Joe asked him. "And isn't that violating your
own ideas on technology?"
Ruddygore winked. "The power source will be a new type of battery tapping a
magical source. As you know, sometimes cheating on one's principles is
necessary. Without doing so, we would now all be dead, at the mercy of the
Baron's armies."
Ruddygore turned to Marge, whose expression was solemn.
"Don't look so glum, my dear!"
"Nothing in that bag of yours for me, is there, Mr. Wizard?"
she responded sadly.
"Soon the inns will open, the shows will restart, and all will begin anew," he
told her. "You are Kauri, Marge, and
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%...ds%202%20-%20Demons%20of%20the%
20Dancing.txt (220 of 222) [1/19/03 4:26:46 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20The%20Dancing%20G
ods%202%20-%20Demons%20of%20the%20Dancing.txt that is a great responsibility,
but also an important one. Fly,"
Marge, into the night skies! Play! Sing! Dance! The whole new world is at your
feet, and you are truly-free to enjoy it!"
She smiled and got up and walked over to them. "I'll miss you all terribly,
though."
"But you can return any time, and there is always time for you," Joe told her.
"Always."
257
JACK L CHALKER
They hugged and kissed, and then Marge left. Going down a hall and seeing an
open door, she walked in and climbed up on the window. The sun was bright, and
she lowered her gog-
gles to keep the sleep away, then leaped out into the cool sky.
Back in the apartment, Joe sighed. "Will we ever see her again for real, I
wonder?" He leaned over to Tiana and kissed her. "I know and I'm sorry, but we
were pretty close."
She kissed him back. "I understand."
Ruddygore grinned broadly and got up. "Well, Poquah, it's about time we saw
what they've done to our old home. But we'll be back, children, rather
quickly. Until then, don't worry about any problems coming about. Everybody
here will obey every order the Goddess gives." He sighed, yawned, stretched,
and made for the door, then turned back to the couple.
"Don't worry about not seeing Marge again," he told them.
"The Rules still hold."
Tiana looked puzzled, but Joe smiled softly, and that smile turned into a big
grin.
"Yeah, that's right, isn't it? We've got at least one more great adventure
left, haven't we?"
"Oh, yes, yes. At least," agreed Throckmorton P. Ruddy-
gore.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JACK L. CHALKER was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on De-
cember 17, 1944, but was raised and has spent most of his life in Baltimore,
Maryland. He learned to read almost from the moment of entering school, and by
Page 179
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
working odd jobs amassed a large book collection by the time he was in junior
high school, a collection now too large for containment in his quarters.
Science fiction, history, and geography all fascinated him early on, interests
that continue.
Chalker joined the Washington Science Fiction Asso-
ciation in 1958 and began publishing an amateur SF journal, Mirage, in 1960.
After high school he decided to be a trial lawyer, but money problems and the
lack of a firm caused him to switch to teaching. He holds bachelor degrees in
history and English, and an M.L.A. from Johns Hopkins
University. He taught history and geography in the Balti-
more public schools between 1966 and 1978, and now makes
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%...ds%202%20-%20Demons%20of%20the%
20Dancing.txt (221 of 222) [1/19/03 4:26:46 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20The%20Dancing%20G
ods%202%20-%20Demons%20of%20the%20Dancing.txt his living as a freelance
writer. Additionally, out of the amateur journals he founded a publishing
house. The Mirage
Press, Ltd., devoted to nonfiction and bibliographic works on science fiction
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]