Night of Light

The door swung open, and a mob of Kareenans rushed in. Most of them were in their original humanoid form, but a few had metamorphosed. Their leader, a man Carmody did not recognize, had two tigerlike canines projecting over his lower lip, and a long nose hardened into a leathery sharp-tipped beak. He held a huge sword that dripped with blood. He raised it above his head and opened his mouth to shout. Then he, and all those with him froze. His arms stayed up, the sword fell from his hands and clattered on the floor.

Yess went on chanting. Those in the crescent let go each other’s hands, went to the immobilized men and women, took their weapons and dispassionately slew them. Only when the last one lay dead did they cease. Carmody alone took no part in the slaughter, though he had felt the desire to kill.

Yess stopped chanting. Slowly, too slowly for Carmody, the Presence withdrew.

The god examined the bodies. He shook his head.

“Rilg and Abog are not here. They must still be outside, waiting until the Seven Fathers of Algul have gathered. They sent these to test the temper of the Mother. She favors us at this moment. Next time, they will hope the Mother will allow them to kill me. Then, and only then, can Algul be conceived and born.”

Carmody left the room to go back up to the rooftop again. There he prayed, but he felt that the strange stars seen so dimly through the coiling haze were not those his God had made. He could not shake the feeling of desolation that came over him. Was it possible that there could be more than one God, a multitude of Creators?

Perhaps Yess was right. There were local saviors, and there was also an oversavior. Once the oversavior appeared, the locals must go. This would not mean that Carmody’s own religion was false; it was true as far as it had gone. Now another aspect was revealed, and one more bit of truth was added to the jigsaw puzzle of the universe.

“Help me in my doubt!” he cried out.

A star fell through the purple. Far below, something huge laughed and laughed.

He paid no attention to either. He had seen many meteors in the Kareenan sky before, and he knew that it was only a coincidence that the monster was laughing. Besides, if he were superstitious enough to grasp at anything for a sign or an omen, one had canceled out the other.

No, it was an inward sign he wanted. But there was no answer, within or without.

Suddenly, shouts rose from below. Guns fired. Carmody whirled and ran to the gravcage. He started downward, but as he did so, bullets exploded against the bottom of the cage. Carmody threw himself over the waist-high fence and onto the floor that the cage was passing. There were more shouts from below, then screams. The gunfire ceased and was followed by a crashing sound.

He looked down the shaft and saw the cage wrecked on the bottom floor. Several bodies were smashed between it and the wall; legs and arms protruded from beneath the shattered metal.

Firing broke out somewhere else. Yess and his disciples were not all dead. Perhaps the invaders could be driven out again. He ran toward the firing, lost it because of the thick stone walls, and decided to move more cautiously. After a moment, he heard the battle again. At the end of a corridor, he found Tand and some priests exchanging shots with the Algulists along a winding staircase. The Enemy were poking gun barrels around the corners and firing blindly up the stairs.

Joining Tand, Carmody said, “Do you think they have kasers?”

“If they had them, they’d be using them.”

“Where’s Yess?”

“In his apartment.” Tand looked at his wristwatch. “The Night will soon be ended.”

He hesitated. “I don’t understand it.”

“Understand what?”

“How they can be so strong and in the House of Boonta. Well, let them profane it. When the Night is over, Boonta will catch them like rats in a trap.”

There was an explosion halfway up the staircase. The defenders reeled back before the ear-stu

Tand, Carmody, and three priests were left standing. They ran up the staircase to the next floor and took positions. Two self-propelled grenades landed near and began spitting greenish smoke.

Tand threw a grenade toward those on the stairs, and the explosion hurled the gas- expellers back down. Immediately after, Tand ordered Carmody and the priests to retreat to the next floor.

There Yess appeared with twenty-eight priests and priestesses.

“There are too many,” he said. “They’ll be coming in from all sides. We must make a stand on the rooftop.”

“What about fliers?” Carmody said. “Won’t we be vulnerable there?”

Tand said, “I imagine that fliers, like kasers, have all been wrecked.”

Yess led the way slowly and with dignity. Carmody, sweating and expecting at any time to be attacked from the rear, wished that they would hurry.

When they reached the roof, he helped the others set up some furniture they had brought as barricades on the seven stairs that gave access to the roof. Yess strode back and forth, between the savage stone figures, while the others worked. Now and then, he looked up at the strands of haze floating above. They were begi

“Boonta will be making Her appearance soon,” Tand said to Carmody. “Then we will go down and see what we must do to rebuild our world.”

Yess had stopped. His eyes were turned upward, but his head was cocked as if he were listening.

“Mother is here.”

His features twisted with anguish. He cried out, “I have not called Her yet! But She comes!”

The rest were silent. One of the priests, white-faced, crooked a finger at them. Carmody stood behind the man who had summoned them and listened. Far off, faintly up the stairwell, the sound of singing arose. The words were not intelligible, but the tone was triumphant.

“They are hailing the birth of Algul!” Tand said.

He looked at Yess. “But that is impossible! You are still living!”

Yess replied. “Be quiet. Listen.”

The singing had stopped. There were no more sounds from below, and none came from the city outside the Temple. Tand opened his mouth, closed it when Yess motioned for silence. Several minutes passed while Carmody wondered what Yess was listening for.

A moment later, his question was answered. Weakly at first, then stronger, a baby wailed.

Yess exhaled slowly and deeply. “Aah!”

A male Kareenan voice came up to them. “Listen, fallen god, and you who serve him. Listen. The newly bom son of Boonta, Algul, cried your doom! Listen!”

Yess shouted, “Stand where we may see you. Let me see my brother!”

There was a laugh. The Algulist shouted back, “Do you think I am a fool? You would kill me and, far worse, the infant Algul!”

“That’s Abog’s voice,” Tand said. He shouted, “Abog! You spirit of evil! Where is your leader, Rilg?”

“I killed him during the second attack! The fool is dead now, and I am the chief of the Fathers who have survived!”

“Much good may it do you!” Tand shouted. “Go, and take your abominations with you! You will not live long to enjoy them!”

There was another laugh. The wailing of the baby receded and was gone.

Those on the rooftop turned to look at Yess. His face was pale as the rising sun. He said, “This is the first time since the begi

He spoke to Carmody. “It was a fateful day that you came to our world, Father. You were the first Earthman ever to pass through the entire Night. You were also the first Earthman to become a Father. Since then, things have not been the same on Kareen. Now Night is ended, and the struggle should be over. The course of the next seven years should be plain. But he, my evil brother, is born! And I live!”