of release, of the final flight into the Absolute. Instead, if
Pie was to be believed, his spirit had entered a place of lost souls, denied both flesh and revelation. What price understanding now, when the end of everything was limbo?
“Who is this Unbeheld?” Gentle said.
“Hapexamendios, the God of the Imajica.”
“Is He a God of this world too?”
“He was once. But He went out of the Fifth Dominion, through the other worlds, laying their divinities waste, until He reached the Place of Spirits. Then He drew a veil across that Dominion—”
“And became Unbeheld.”
“That’s what I was taught.”
The formality and plainness of Pie ‘oh’ pah’s account lent the story authority, but for all its elegance it was still a tale of gods and other worlds, very far from this dark room and the cold rain running on the glass.
“How do I know any of this is true?” Gentle said.
“You don’t, unless you see it with your own eyes,” Pie ‘oh’ pah replied. His voice when he said this was almost sultry. He spoke like a seducer.
“And how do I do that?”
“You must ask me direct questions, and I’ll try to answer them. I can’t reply to generalities.”
“All right, answer this: Can you take me to the Dominions?”
“That I can do.”
“I want to follow in the footsteps of Hapexamendios. Can we do that?”
“We can try.”
“I want to see the Unbeheld, Pie ‘oh’ pah. I want to know why Taylor and your children are in Purgatory. I want to understand why they’re suffering.”
There was no question in this speech, therefore no reply except the other’s quickening breath.
“Can you take us now?” Gentle said.
“If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want, Pie. Prove what you’ve said is true, or leave me alone forever.”
It was eighteen minutes to midnight when Jude got into her car to start her journey to Gentle’s house. It was an easy drive, with the roads so clear, and she was several times tempted to jump red lights, but the police were especially vigilant on this night, and any infringement might bring them out of hiding. Though she had no alcohol in her system, she was by no means sure it was innocent of alien influences. She therefore drove as cautiously as at noon, and it took fully fifteen minutes to reach the studio. When she did she found the upper windows dark. Had Gentle decided to drown his sorrows in a night of high life, she wondered, or was he already fast asleep? If the latter, she had news worth waking him for.
“There are some things you should understand before we leave,” Pie said, tying their wrists together, left to right, with a belt. “This is no easy journey, Gentle. This Dominion, the Fifth, is unreconciled, which means that getting to the Fourth involves risk. It’s not like crossing a bridge. Passing over requires considerable power. And if anything goes wrong, the consequences will be dire.”
“Tell me the worst.”
“In between the Reconciled Dominions and the Fifth is a state called the In Ovo. It’s an ether, in which things that have ventured from their worlds are imprisoned. Some of them are innocent. They’re there by accident. Some were dispatched there as a judgment. They’re lethal. I’m hoping we’ll pass through the In Ovo before any of them even notice we’re there. But if we were to become separated—”
“I get the picture. You’d better tighten that knot. It could still work loose.”
Pie bent to the task, with Gentle fumbling to help in the darkness.
“Let’s assume we get through the In Ovo,” Gentle said. “What’s on the other side?”
“The Fourth Dominion,” Pie replied. “If I’m accurate in my bearings, we’ll arrive near the city of Patashoqua.”
“And if not?”
“Who knows? The sea. A swamp.”
“Shit.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a good sense of direction. And there’s plenty of power between us. I couldn’t do this on my own. But together. . .”
“Is this the only way to cross over?”
“Not at all. There are a number of passing places here in the Fifth: stone circles, hidden away.’But most of them were created to carry travelers to some particular location. We want to go as free agents. Unseen, unsuspected.”