Project Pope

'Be quiet, said Decker. 'Keep your fat mouth shut.

'I've told him and I've told him, wailed Haystack, 'and he pays me no attention. Decker, you and I are reasonable beings. Let's give ourselves a little time to work it out. Let's drop the matter for the moment; we can pick up later on.

'I will not drop it for the moment, yelled Smoky. 'I want the answers now. There are ways that we can get them.

— I ca

— Let it get sticky, then, said Te

— I could jerk you out of here.

— Not quite yet, said Te

Plopper had positioned himself directly in front of Smoky and was jumping now in place, straight up and down, going very fast.

Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop…

— We still have no proof, said Jill. If we go now, there'll be no proof. We must get some proof.

'I'll tell you man to man, human to human, Te

'You're mad! yelled Decker. 'To expect me to believe that kind of story. You ca

'Decker! screamed Smoky. 'Fill me in. I command you tell me.

'They refuse to answer questions now, said Decker. 'They have proposed a bargain.

'Bargain! They would not bargain with me?

'Why should we not bargain? piped Haystack. 'As creatures of reason —

'I will not stand for this! raged Smoky. 'I will not be defied by supercilious barbarians.

'It would be better if you accepted some defiance, counseled Decker. 'I know humans because I am a human, and I stand here to tell you that you ca

Plopper plopping now became so rapid and so loud that it was almost continuous, drowning out what Decker was saying. He was bouncing up and down, straight up into the air and down, maintaining his position in front of Smoky, and now Smoky was begi

— I think, said Whisperer, that it may be time for us to go.

— We have to have some proof, said Te

— You'll get no proof from these maniacs. Any minute now they'll explode right in our face.

'Smoky! yelled Decker, trying to raise his voice so it could be heard above the racket. 'Smoky, you are out of line. You are —

'Anathema! screamed Smoky. 'Anathema! I call down anathema!

— Now, said Whisperer, and Te

But before the scene cut out before him, he caught a glimpse of Plopper exploding in his face — a flare of light and fire that was not fire, but cold.

Sixty

The rumor that something was happening quickly spread in Vatican. There was something happening or about to happen. Cardinal Theodosius and an Old One were out at the foot of the basilica staircase, waiting for something that they must know was about to happen. And did you hear the latest.- Jill and Te

Or at least that was what some of them said. Others had a different version. You're wrong, they told the believers. To believe that Heaven is a place you could go to in the flesh is at variance with the tenets of Vatican. Heaven is a mystery; it is not of this world, but of some other and some better plane. There were still others who also disputed what the first group said on the grounds that Jill and Te

John, the gardener, came striding down the steps of the basilica to confront Theodosius.

'I understand, Your Eminence, he said, 'that you have been to see His Holiness.

'That I have, replied Theodosius, 'and who has a better right?

'And that in your audience with him, you accused me of treachery to Vatican?

'I accused you, said Theodosius, 'of interfering in matters that were none of your concern.

'The preservation of the faith is everyone's concern, said the gardener.

'But the murder of an esteemed human and the theft of Listener cubes is not, said Theodosius, speaking bluntly.

'Did you accuse me of that?

'Do you deny that you were the instigator and the leader of the theologian movement? Do you deny that you are the one who stirred up the stink about canonizing Mary?

'It was not a stink. It was an honest attempt to haul Vatican back to the course it should have followed all these years. The Church, had need of a saint and I supplied it one.

'To me it was a stink, said Theodosius. 'It was a stench within the nostrils of the Church. You used the story of a deluded woman, to bring all this about.

'I would have used, said John, 'anything at all to bring Vatican to its proper senses.

He turned on his heel and started up the stairway, then turned about and spoke again.

'You demanded of His Holiness, that if there should prove to be no Heaven I'm to be demoted to a piddling monk.

'That I did, said Theodosius, 'and I mean to see it done.

'You have first to prove it is not Heaven, said John. 'Should you fail, the same to you.

'I would think, said the cardinal, 'that you have it twisted all around. I would argue that the onus lies with you — not that I must prove this place of Mary's is not Heaven, but yours to prove it is.

'Why is it, Your Eminence, that you are so hostile to Heaven?

'I am not hostile to it, said Theodosius. 'I would much hope that there is a Heaven. But not the kind of Heaven you dreamed up.

John turned about and this time he went up the stairs, saying nothing further.

Still the rumors ran.

Did you notice that Theodosius is sitting on a stool? No robot before him has ever sat so long upon a stool. Someone told me that it is a punishment — that His Holiness has told him that, in all humility, he must perch upon a stool.

And the Old One? What's the Old One doing here? He has no business here. Do you notice how he and the cardinal stick so close together, as if they were firm, fast friends? What business has a cardinal of Vatican to be friends with a ravening beast such as the Old Ones are? I tell you there is more to all of this than meets the eye.

But another objected, saying you must remember that an Old One, this same Old One, some say, brought the dead Decker and Hubert home to Vatican, a neighborly and compassionate thing to do.

Brought them home! exclaimed another. It was the least that he could do, since more than likely he was the one who killed them in the first place.

These and other rumors. Vatican went wild.

No work was done. Crowds gathered along the perimeter of the esplanade, leaving the central area free since, by some kind of popular osmosis, it seemed to be understood that whatever was about to happen would take place out in its central area. The basilica stairs were jammed with watching robots. Wood-cutting crews, harvesters, cowherds, haulers, steam-engine operators, all dropped what they were doing and came trickling in. End of Nothing humans left their jobs and businesses and zeroed in on the basilica. Someone began ringing the bells and this continued until Theodosius got up from his stool and went storming up the stairs and put a stop to it. Even some of the Listeners, who rarely mingled with the Vatican hosts, came out to see what was going on. A hastily put-together corps of technicians, wholly without authorization, installed a huge video screen on the basilica's facade and hooked it up to one of the papal audience panels. Within minutes after the hook-up had been made, the cross-stitch visage of His Holiness appeared upon the screen, saying nothing, but joining the watch.