Project Pope

'She'll be all right now, said Te

'She still thinks that she found Heaven, said Ecuyer. 'Even thrown out, she still thinks it's Heaven. That's what hit her so hard. You can imagine the emotional repercussions. To find Heaven and then be thrown out.

'Did she say more? I mean earlier. More than she said just now.

Ecuyer shook his head. 'A few details, is all. There was this man — black and huge. He threw her down the stairs. Down the Golden Stairs. She rolled all the way to the bottom. She is convinced she is black and blue from bruises.

'There's not a mark upon her.

'Of course not, but she thinks there is. This experience, Jason, was very real to her. Vivid in its cruelty and rejection.

'You haven't looked at the crystal yet.

'Not yet. To tell you the truth, I'm reluctant to. Even knowing what it is….

'I understand, said Te

'What worries me, what really worries me, is that Heaven, or the things in Heaven, or whatever may be out there, has detected our spying. That they can trace Mary back to us. We should have-

'I think you're letting your fears run away with you. I don't see how they can trace her back. I can't imagine how they could have detected her. She wasn't really there, not in her corporeal being.

'God, I don't know, said Ecuyer. 'I don't know anything anymore. We never should have let her go; we should have recognized the danger.

'I can't think there is any possibility she was detected, that the project was detected.

'This black man-this devil of hers — chased her down the stairs.

'All right, said Te

'Almost never is there any direct reaction to any of our Listeners in those other worlds, said Ecuyer. 'Ordinarily our people are no more than observers. When they are more than observers, they become involved by becoming one of the residents of these other worlds — by forming some link with one of them or by somehow programming their minds so they become one of them or — Jason, I just don't know… I have never known. I don't know what our Listeners do when they arrive someplace or how they go about handling the situation. I can't figure it out, and they're no help; they can't tell me how they do it. What happened to Mary has never happened before. When our people get really involved, when they enter into the physical aspects of some other place, they become involved as something other than themselves. But Mary got involved as Mary. She was in Heaven, so far as she was concerned, she herself actually was in Heaven and she met this man and he chased her down the stairs…

'That's what she says.

'I'll tell you something, said Ecuyer. 'I'll bet you that it happened that way. I'm convinced that the crystal will show-

'Of course it will, said Te

'I don't think I'm sure, said Ecuyer. 'But I do think the possibility is there. The possibility is that she — how do you say it? — that she has given us away. Our Listeners never can be certain what they'll find out there. The man who chased her may not be the kind of being that she thinks she saw. He may have been something that was incomprehensible, so Mary's human mind translated him into human terms, into the sort of creature, horrible as he may have appeared to her, that she could understand, that would be bearable and that she could accept. Mary is an experienced observer, one of our most valuable. I'm certain she would know what she saw and certain as well that if she ran into some life form too horrible to look upon she'd instinctively protect herself by translation.

'I don't understand your fear, said Te

'That is true, said Ecuyer, 'but there is a difference. The robots don't go blind. They know what they are getting into. Their shots are picked very carefully.

Mary was resting comfortably, the sedation having taken hold.

'She'll be all right now, said Te

'I don't know, said Ecuyer. 'When she is rational, we'll have to talk with her and try to think it through.

'I have patients waiting for me, said Te

There were only a couple of patients. When he was finished with them, Te

It was early afternoon and the day was fine. The mountains stood up a deeper blue against a pale-blue sky. Looking at the mountains, Te

The garden was deserted. Usually a few monks could be found pacing silently along the paths, but none were in evidence. Te

Sitting on the bench, he looked toward the mountains. Strange, he thought, that they should exert so powerful an attraction for him. Someday he'd have to take Decker up on his offer and, with this new friend of his, make an expedition into them. Although more than likely, he told himself, a few days' trip such as Decker had suggested would not carry them far into the mountains, perhaps no farther than the nearer foothills.

Soon, he thought, he'd have to see Decker and talk with him about Whisperer. Whisperer, he thought, what a silly name! And what, for the love of God, was Whisperer? Something that could get inside one's mind? That could become one with him? I am inside of you and can become a part of you. Was that, Te

He tried to brush the entire matter away; it was a disconcerting business to even think about. He'd know more about it when he talked with Decker, and there was no gain by puzzling at it now. Surely by this time Decker had learned considerable about Whisperer.

A foot crunched on the walk and Te

'So it's you again, said Te

'Who else should it be? asked the gardener. 'Who else has more right to be here? This is where I belong. This place is mine or as close to mine as any place can be.