You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resis- tance.
“You must live by your own words; you must offer your Ad- versary Belial no resistance. In my realm his power is not here; he is not here. What is here is a sport in a cage at a public zoo. We feed it and give it water and atmosphere and the right temper- ature; we try to make the thing as comfortable as possible. In my realm we do not kill. There is, here, no great and terrible day, nor will there ever be. Stay in my realm or make my realm your realm, but spare Belial; spare everyone. And then you will not have to cry, and the tears will, as you promised, be wiped away.
Emmanuel said, “You are Christ.”
Laughing, Zina said, “No, I am not.”
“You quote him.” ‘Even the devil can cite Scripture.’
Around them groups of people appeared, in light, summery clothing. Men in their shirtsleeves, women in frocks. And, he saw, all the children.
“The fairy queen,” he said. “You beguile me. You lead me from the path with sparks of light, dancing, singing, and the sound of bells; always the sound of bells.”
“The bells are blown by the wind,” Zina said. “And the wind speaks the truth. Always. The desert wind. You know that; I have watched you listen to the wind. The bells are the music of the wind; listen to them.”
He heard, then, the fairy bells. They echoed distantly; many bells, small ones, not church bells but the bells of magic.
It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
“I cannot, myself, produce that sound,” he said to Zina. “How is it done?”
“By wakefulness,” Zina said. “The bell-sounds wake you up. They rouse you from sleep. You roused Herb Asher from his sleep by a crude introjection; I awaken by means of beauty.”
Gentle spring wind blew about them, the vapors of her realm.
The Divine Invasion
CHAPTER 13
To himself Emmanuel said, I am being poisoned. The vapors of her realm poison me and vitiate my will.
“You are wrong,” Zina said.
“I feel less strong.”
“You feel less indignation. Let’s go and get Herb Asher. I want him with us. I will narrow down the area of our game; I will arrange it especially for him.”
“In what way?”
“We will contest for him,” Zina said. “Come.” She beckoned to the boy to follow her.
———————-
In the cocktail lounge Herb Asher sat with a glass of Scotch and water in front of him. He had been waiting an hour but the evening entertainment had not begun. The cocktail lounge was filled with people. Constant noise assailed his ears. But, for him, this was worth it, despite the rather large cover charge.
Rybys, across from him, said, “I just don’t understand what you see in her.”
“She’s going to go a long way,” Herb said, “if she gets any kind of a break at all.” He wondered if record company scouts came here to the Golden Hind. I hope so, he said to him- self.
“I’d like to leave. I don’t feel well. Could we go?”
“I’d prefer not to.”
Rybys sipped at her tall mixed drink fitfully. “So much noise,” she said, her voice virtually inaudible.
He looked at his watch. “It’s almost nine. Her first set is at nine.”
“Who is she?” Rybys said.
“She’s a new young singer,” Herb Asher said. “She’s adapted the lute books of John Dowland for-”
“Who’s John Dowland? I never heard of him.”
“Late-sixteenth-century England. Linda Fox has modernized his lute songs; he was the first composer to write for solo voice; before that four or more people sang . . . the old madrigal form. I can’t explain it; you have to hear her.”
“If she’s so good, why isn’t she on TV?” Rybys said.
Herb said, “She will be.”
Lights on the stage began to glow. Three musicians leaped up onto it and began fussing with the audio system. Each had in his possession a vibrolute.
A hand touched Herb Asher on the shoulder. “Hi.”
Glancing up he saw a young woman whom he did not know. But, he thought, she seems to know me. “I’m sorry-” he began.
“May we sit down?” The woman, pretty, wearing a floral print top and jeans, a mail-pouch purse over her shoulder, drew a chair back and seated herself beside Herb Asher. ‘Sit down, Manny,” she said to a small boy who stood awkwardly near the table. What a beautiful child, Herb Asher thought. How did he get in here? There aren’t supposed to be any minors in here.
“Are these friends of yours?” Rybys said.
The pretty, dark-haired young woman said, “Herb hasn’t seen me since college. How are you, Herb? Don’t you recognize me?” She held out her hand to him, and, reflexively, he took it. And then, as he shook her hand, he remembered her. They had been in school together, in a poly-sci course.
“Zina,” he said, delighted. “Zina Pallas.”
“This is my little brother,” Zina said, motioning the boy to sit 154
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down. “Manny. Manny Pallas.” To Rybys she said. “Herb hasn’t changed a bit. I knew it was him when I saw him. You’re here to see Linda Fox? I’ve never heard her; they say she’s real good.”
“Very good,” Herb said, pleased at her support.
“Hello, Mr. Asher,” the boy said.
“Glad to meet you, Manny.” He shook hands with the boy. “This is my wife, Rybys.”
“So you two are married,” Zina said. “Mind if I smoke?” She lit a cigarette. “I keep trying to quit but when I quit I start eating a lot and get as fat as a pig.”
“Is your purse genuine leather?” Rybys said, interested.
“Yes.” Zina passed it over to her.
“I’ve never seen a leather purse before,” Rybys said.
“There she is,” Herb Asher said. Linda Fox had appeared on the stage; the audience clapped.
“She looks like a pizza waitress,” Rybys said.
Zina, taking her purse back, said, “If she’s going to make it big she’s going to have to lose some weight. I mean, she looks all right, but-”
“What is this thing you have about weight?” Herb Asher said, irritated.
The boy, Manny, spoke up. “Herbert, Herbert.”
“Yes?” He bent to hear.
“Remember,” the boy said.
Puzzled, he started to say Remember what? but then Linda Fox took hold of the microphone, half shut her eyes, and began to sing. She had a round face, and almost a double chin, but her skin was fair, and, most important to him of all, she had long eyelashes that flickered as she sang-they fascinated him and he sat spellbound. Linda wore an extremely low-cut gown and even from where he sat he could see the outline of her nipples; she had on no bra.
Shall I sue? shall I seek for grace?
Shall I pray? shall I prove?
Shall I strive to a heavenly joy
With an earthly love?
Audibly, Rybys said, “I hate that song. I have heard her before.”
Several people hissed at her to be quiet.
“Not by her, though,” Rybys said. “She isn’t even original. That song- She piped down, but she was not happy.
When the song ended, and the audience had begun to clap, Herb Asher said to his wife, “You never heard ‘Shall I Sue’ before. Nobody else sings it but Linda Fox.”
“You just like to gape at her nipples,” Rybys said.
To Herb Asher the little boy said, “Would you take me to the men’s room, Mr. Asher?”
“Now?” he said, dismayed. “Can’t you wait until she’s through singing?”
The boy said, “Now, Mr. Asher.”
With reluctance he led Manny through the maze of tables to the doors at the rear of the lounge. But before they had entered the men’s room Manny stopped him.
“You can see her better from here,” Manny said.
It was true. He was now much closer to the stage. He and the boy stood together in silence as Linda Fox sang “Weep You No More Sad Fountains.”
When the song ended, Manny said, “You don’t remember, do you? She has enchanted you. Wake up, Herbert Asher. You know me well, and I know you. Linda Fox does not sing her songs at an obscure cocktail lounge in Hollywood; she is famous throughout the galaxy. She is the most important entertainer of this decade. The chief prelate and the procurator maximus invite her to-”
“She’s going to sing again,” Herb Asher interrupted. He barely heard the boy’s words and they made no sense to him. A babbling boy, he thought, making it hard for me to hear Linda Fox. Just what I need.
After the song had ended, Manny said, “Herbert, Herbert; do you want to meet her? Is that what you want?”