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Tell me, Nellie Joanne
, said Eld, and she felt His voice passing through her like an electric current,
do you remember this place?

Nellie felt a spurt of surprise.
Um, sort of
, she said carefully.
It seems familiar somehow, but I can’t remember it.

Indeed.
Eld sounded pleased.
We have brought you here before, along with your fellow cadets, who have been prepared to serve you in your destined role. As you have already guessed, these memories were stored in your deepest filing cabinets, where they have been awaiting the time they would be opened and the purpose of your life revealed. Now that time has come, and the true Nellie Joanne is about to awaken and fulfil the destiny for which she was bred.

Nellie felt herself being gently turned to face the Receiving Chamber’s entranceway. Beneath her feet she could see Nell, openmouthed and staring up at her. Then a flash of red caught her eye and she saw a figure appear in the domed doorway. At least thirty feet tall, its head brushed the lintel as it passed into the room. Red robes cascaded to its bare feet and its hands were lifted in a beseeching gesture. Closer and closer the statue rolled on its wheeled pedestal as Nellie squinted through the brilliance, trying to get a better look. Finally she was able to make out the face, and for a moment she was washed with relief as she saw it wasn’t the white meaningless oval that dominated the other icons in this place. Then shock ricocheted through her, followed by horror, as the exact details of the Goddess’s features became clear.

The statue was wearing her own face.

Nineteen

Y
ES
, N
ELLIE
J
OANNE,
Eld boomed.
It as you see it. The Goddess has chosen to manifest Her Second Coming through you. Even as I speak, statues all over the Interior are being repainted with your divine face.

Rigid with shock, Nellie hovered midair, staring as the huge statue moved closer. Impossible as it seemed, there were her own slanted gray eyes, long blond hair and wide mouth, exaggerated to ten times their normal size above a pair of upraised pleading hands. But how could this be? The Goddess was ... well, She was
the Goddess
, not some semi-functional unknown cadet who lived deep underground, running mazes and shooting at holographs.

Ah,
said Eld, cutting smoothly into her thoughts.
But the first Goddess was the unknown daughter of farmers, was She not? And remember, Nellie Joanne, We have been watching over you. Every aspect of your life has been meticulously planned, you have been well prepared to act as Our intercessor. It has all been a matter of training your energy field so you could become one with Us and accept Our presence when We chose to manifest Ourselves through you.

With a gentle surge, the Gods’ collective energy field penetrated Nellie’s skin and flowed into her nervous system. Brilliance pierced
her through and through, and she felt herself flooded with radiant heat. Next came a fumbling sensation in her brain somewhat like the feeling she experienced when her twin was lifting the interference field but magnified a hundredfold, and a wide variety of images appeared simultaneously in her mind. There, at the front of her head, she could see a young man in a living room, consulting a star chart posted on the wall. Hovering in her left temple was a classroom of children making a collage of the significant moments of the Goddess’s life, and near the base of her brain two Security Police walked the streets of Marnan as passing civilians gave them a careful berth. Scattered through the rest of her mind were scenes of people holding out their wrists for scanners, farmers working their fields, and a priestess bowing before a great statue of the Goddess as a man on a scaffold painted large gray eyes onto its face.

With a start, Nellie realized that she was also picking up on the energy fields of the people she was watching. And from all of them, even the priestess and the Security Police, what she felt was the sharp high-pitched pulse of fear.

You see, Nellie Joanne
, said Eld, and Nellie felt His satisfied voice vibrate throughout her body.
This is your power when you are one with Us. You are all-seeing, all-knowing. Every human mind that belongs to Us is linked to your own and you can read their thoughts, their hidden desires. All that is seen and unseen is yours, part of the kingdom you will rule. And We will rule with you, for you are Our vessel to be filled by Us.

At these words another surge of heat passed from the Gods’ collective field into Nellie, and she lit up with renewed brilliance. Again her vibratory rate increased, and she felt every molecule in her body begin to swell. Then a shudder reverberated through her, a kind of soundless crying out, and she was washed with a single explosive wave of pain as her individual cells lost their grip on form and dissolved. Briefly she hovered midair, a vivid, yellow-white pulse
of energy at the center of the Gods’ collective field, and then she materialized into a new form, humanlike and very tall, with a protruding jaw and extremely slanted eyes. From every molecule in her new body came a rapid high-pitched hum, and she sensed waves of luminescence passing from the surrounding Gods into herself and back again.

Power,
came the thought, rippling and glimmering through the synapses of her new body. Then,
Our power
, the words so intense they felt as if they were coming from countless minds at once. And they were, Nellie realized. However briefly, the Gods were allowing her to share the glory of Their collective thought field.
Power, power, power,
Their minds sang, as waves of luminescence pulsed through Nellie’s body and her skin radiated light. And it was power, she thought swiftly — the power to remake form, to merely think a word and see it take shape before you.

Slowly she was lowered from her position midair, until she was once again standing before the throne. Leaning forward, Eld fixed her with His glittering gaze.

You see, Nellie Joanne,
He said, and once again she felt His voice at play among the currents of her energy field.
Your eyes have been opened and you have experienced what it means to be one with Us. Anything becomes possible, all secrets are unlocked. Think how the people of the Interior will fall down before you when they see you radiating such holy light. They will do anything for you, they will worship and revere you as Our ambassador. Together We will rule the Interior, the unruly Outbacks, and eventually the entire planet.

Abruptly another voice cut across Eld’s, bellowing at top volume
. “
WHY DON’T YOU DO IT YOURSELF?” the voice shrieked, and Nellie whirled to see her twin glaring at the God, her face deeply flushed. “IF YOU WANT POWER AND GLORY OVER THE PEOPLE OF THE INTERIOR,” the shorn-headed girl screamed as spittle shot from her lips, “WHY DON’T YOU SHOW UP IN THE TEMPLES AND AWE THEM TO BITS YOURSELVES?”

A stunned silence reverberated across the Gods’ collective field, and then Eld withdrew from Nellie’s body. Immediately her vibratory rate decreased and the radiant sensation of heat and light vanished. A rapid shriveling process set in as her energy field released the form of a God and descended once again into the heart-thundering fear of a twelve-year-old girl:
no one, nothing, nowhere
. For one endless searing moment, all Nellie could do was stand with her eyes squeezed shut as her mind begged, pleaded and whimpered for another few seconds of Godhood. Reluctantly she opened her eyes to see Eld leaning forward, His gaze fixed on her glowering twin.

Yes,
He murmured, His glittering eyes hooded with distaste.
The other one. Your destiny is well overdue.
Raising a hand, He beckoned to someone at the other end of the room and called,
Let us have the demonstration.

As He spoke, a clutch of children and adults passed through the barrier of red light that glimmered in the domed entranceway. Catching sight of them, Nellie’s eyes widened. It was the group she’d seen earlier, wandering through the holograph. Still in a trance, they stumbled toward her, prodded by the butt of Fen’s gun. Twenty feet from the throne, Fen slipped to the front of the group, then knelt and touched his forehead to the floor.

Your stars have been prepared, my Lord,
he said.

Stand back,
ordered Eld, and Fen slipped to the rear of the group.
Now
, said the God, leaning forward intently,
who wishes to be a star?

The group made a collective surge forward and stood huddled together, so close Nellie could have touched the nearest child. Hands under their chins, they kept their eyes lowered and moved their lips soundlessly.

No, not soundlessly,
Nellie thought. Leaning toward the closest child, she heard him whisper, “Ride the light, ride the light, ride the—”

Stunned, she drew back, just as a girl several years older than herself darted to the front of the group and dropped to her knees.
Please, my Lord,
she whispered.

Ah
, said Eld, His voice glimmering with satisfaction.
Your deepest wish is about to be granted. You may rise and look upon My face.

Trembling visibly, the girl rose to her feet. As she glanced upward, squinting against the brilliance, Eld’s gaze locked onto her. The girl took a step back, her look of awe scattering, and her face crumbled into small chunks of fear. A shudder ran through her and she lifted her hands as if to ward something off. Then, to Nellie’s horror, the girl’s body split down the middle and a small bright light flew out of the divided parts toward Eld’s outstretched hand.

Mouth open, Nellie stared at the sundered halves of the girl’s body which were now outlined in a shimmering field of light. Motionless, they continued to stand several inches apart, and there was no sign of blood or interior damage. The two parts appeared to be in suspended animation, the body’s internal organs frozen mid-function. As Nellie watched, disbelieving, the divided halves of the girl’s body came together again, the split mending as if it had never occurred. For a moment the girl stood blinking rapidly, as if reorienting herself, then took a deep breath and settled into a dull stare. At a signal from the throne, Fen scurried forward, took her by the arm and led her to the back of the room.

The rest of the group continued to stand with their eyes lowered, murmuring fervently.
Drugged
, Nellie thought. Her eyes flicked toward Nell’s, locked briefly, then flicked away again. She could see it in her twin’s face — the same thought. This was how Fen had lost his soul. It had been sucked out of him by a God.

Leaning forward on His throne, Eld began to speak.
A star
, He said quietly, observing the bit of luminescence cradled in His palm.
You are all stars, you humans, it is your destiny to shine in the Land of the Stars among the Gods. As you have just seen, it is not necessary to die to achieve this honor. No, it is possible to shine as a star in the heavens and at the same time continue serving the Gods within your body.

Eld lifted His hand and the luminescence left His palm, soaring toward the ceiling where it joined a dense cluster of stars.
You see
, He
said with a sweep of His arm.
Heaven is made of stars, singing their praises to the Gods. This is the destiny of the best human souls.

Once again a voice cut Him off, but this time it bellowed aloud. “They’re not singing,” shrieked Nell, bent double with the force of her rage. “They’re screaming. And they’re screaming because this isn’t a real level. There’s no love in it anywhere. Without love, nothing is real.”

The words hurled themselves at Eld, shattering the collective mind link. The loud ongoing note wavered on its pitch, and Nellie saw the horde of Gods simultaneously flinch. A second later came the dreaded rippling sensation, rocking the floor so intensely, she stumbled and almost fell.

DO NOT SPEAK ALOUD!
roared Eld. Leaping to His feet, He locked eyes with a small boy huddled at the foot of the throne. Instantly the child’s body split in two and a bright light flew out of the gap, directly toward the God. As Nellie stared, open-mouthed, Eld opened His lips, sucked in the bright essence and swallowed it.

Without a cry, the two parts of the boy’s body fell to the floor, and Fen dragged them to the back of the room.

DISOBEY ONCE MORE AND THAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU
, Eld boomed. Nell’s eyes slanted toward Nellie, slurred with fear, but still her thoughts raged on, unchecked inside her head.

I knew it,
Nellie could hear her muttering.
That’s where Their light comes from — They eat people’s souls. It’s because this isn’t a real level and They have to keep boosting Their vibes to keep Their power.

You are partly correct,
said Eld, cutting off her thought flow.
It is true We once lived in a realm so quick you lowly humans could not survive it. In that realm, which you would call a level, We lived on the Red Planet, but catastrophes and cataclysms forced Us to depart Our natural abode and descend into the slower realms in search of a place to set up Our kingdom.
A look of distaste crossed the God’s face and He added,
But others are not as We are. The lower orders
cannot comprehend the higher ones. It takes so long to teach them the basic truths.

Nell’s eyes lit up angrily, but Eld continued, ignoring her
. It is a matter of bloodline,
He said with careful emphasis.
Bloodline is of the essence. Only Our descendants have the genetic capability to become one with Us and serve as vessels.
He paused, His gaze passing from Nell to Nellie, then added,
Over the centuries we worked carefully, selecting local inhabitants for interbreeding and initiation into Our mysteries, but ultimately the lower realms proved unsuitable to Our needs. And so, as you can see, We created Our own realms. Out of nothing We created entire realms, a realm of Our own to match each of your ... levels.