Lords of the Seventh Swarm

Chapter 38

Orick whispered to Tallea, “Then one night a leader of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, came to Jesus’ room, and Jesus told him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, except. a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.’”

Tallea frowned. “Why not?”

Orick hesitated to discuss such dangerous things. If he spoke of her need for baptism before she was ready, he feared she would balk. So he wanted to lead her to the idea gradually, let her get used to it. But he had no idea how to proceed. “Well, it’s a ritual … that shows our willingness to submit to God, keep His commandments. And in return, He forgives us our weaknesses and prepares us so we can live in His kingdom.”

Tallea began to tremble slightly, as if afraid, and she raised her ears. “Are you baptized?”

Och, of course,” Orick said. “Everyone gets baptized-mean, even Jesus got baptized.”

“He did?” Tallea asked. “But you said he was sinless. Why would he need to be forgiven?”

“Och, I don’t know!’’ Orick said, for he’d never considered the matter. On inspiration, he nosed into his pack, opened his Bible to the tale of Jesus’ baptism. Orick put his paw on a glow globe, causing it to glow fiercely, so that he could read:

“Then comets Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him,

“And John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

“And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so for now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Orick suddenly realized that John had asked Jesus the same question that Tallea was asking him now. “In here, Jesus had John baptize him, but notice he said, ‘Suffer it to be so for now.’ I think it means that in the future, Jesus planned to baptize John-or more accurately, he would redeem him from his sins, which is what baptism is all about.”

“But what about the passage, ‘for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness’?” Tallea said.

Orick considered the words “fulfill all righteousness.”

“Jesus was sinless, in both thought and deed,” Orick said. “So even though he didn’t need to be redeemed from his sins, he did need to keep his own commandment. He was setting an example, showing us that baptism is important.” Orick began to recall that somewhere in the dim past, one of the monks at Obhiann Abbey had mentioned this concept.

“If baptism was necessary for Jesus, isn’t it necessary for me?” Tallea asked.

Orick hedged, “Well, it’s a symbol of willingness to keep God’s commandments, and, uh-”

“But I need it, right?”

“Well … uh, officially-”

“Will you baptize me?” Tallea asked.

Orick hadn’t considered. He wasn’t a priest. He had no proper authority, didn’t even know where to go to get it. He’d found Christian religions on some worlds. On Abbo, he went to the Orange Catholic Church for a service, but they had such a jumble of odd notions, all tied to the worship of some Saint Aesopland, he couldn’t make hide nor hair of it.

“What’s wrong, don’t you want to baptize me?” Tallea asked.

“Well, like I said, it’s a sign of willingness to keep God’s commandments-”

“Which ones?” Tallea asked. “To love one another, even as we love ourselves? Or the Ten Commandments? I remember all ten. I don’t lie or steal. I’ve killed a few folks, but I can give that up-”

“Well, uh-” Orick scrambled for an answer.

“Won’t you baptize me?” Tallea asked. “Please? I’ll do it-I’ll do whatever you ask!”

Orick hadn’t anticipated this. He’d sort of thought that he’d have to beg and wheedle and convince Tallea of her need for baptism. Then they’d maybe go back to Tihrglas and find a priest to do it proper. He’d imagined it would take weeks and months-maybe years-before Tallea would develop enough faith to concede to the need for baptism. He hadn’t thought she’d convert in a matter of two days, then come demanding it from him like this. “It’s not so easy. Only some folks have authority to baptize-priests and whatnot.”

“But you wanted to be a priest!” Tallea said, hopefully. “Don’t you have even a little bit of authority?”

“Well,” he conceded, “the Tome teaches against it, but then the Tome teaches against a lot of things, and not everyone believes the Tome as much as I do.

“Back on Tihrglas, in some cases-like when infants are stillborn-an attendant will baptize, then have the act ratified by a priest, later. Some people teach that in an emergency, anyone can baptize-”

“Isn’t this an emergency, Orick?” Tallea’s eyes were so insistent, so full of hope. “There’s a pond by the cliff. You could do it there.”

Orick wondered. He felt that God had called him to this work, had made him Missionary to the Cosmos. And if God had called him, didn’t that constitute some authority’?

Certainly God wouldn’t demand that he take every baptismal candidate back to Tihrglas for a dunking. He’d be so much afoot, he’d never get any work done. No, Taliea was right. She needed baptism, and he needed to do it. Like John the Baptist, crying repentance out in the wilderness.

The Great Tangle of Ruin would be Orick’s wilderness, and the pond here in these lightless regions would be his River Jordan.

Why, if only I had some locusts and wild honey to eat, Orick thought, I’d be another John. Certainly, even John the Baptist had never envisioned anything like this.

“All right,” Orick said, “for thus it becometh us, to fulfill all righteousness.”

It seemed a very sacred and dignified moment, as Tallea carried her glow globe in her teeth, to the back of this tunnel, and set it beside the still waters, beneath a rock, so that the pressure would make the glow globe stay lit.

There, they watched the ripples on the pond’s surface, the light reflecting off them, onto the stone cliff above. They listened to the perfect stillness around them, and Orick talked to Tallea about repentance, about her need to continue the struggle to become better with each day of her life. Indeed, he hardly felt she needed the talk. She’d already shown that she would give her life for others, had been adjudged worthy of a second life by the Lords of Tremonthin-a very special tribute to the life she’d lived.

Orick knew hundreds of baptized scoundrels back on Tihrglas who would never be her equal as a person. For her, the baptism seemed little more than a formality for her entrance into heaven, and Orick felt it a great honor to do this.

So when he finished speaking to her, he had her offer a brief but heartfelt prayer, then they both climbed into the water, swam about.

The pond was deep and cool-the clear water disappearing somewhere into the rocks far out of sight. For a moment, Orick feared that some huge creature might infest the pool. Little blind fishes swam in it, along with some of Ruin’s water insects. The water was tinted by bluish green algae, a soft and vibrant color. It smelled of some strange, earthy minerals.

Orick had never considered how he might baptize someone. He’d seen priests do it-gripping the candidate’s hands and having them lean backward into the water. But neither he nor Tallea had hands, and both of them floated higher in the water than did a human.

After floundering about for a minute, Orick decided there was nothing for it but to put his paws on Tallea’s back and push her under, so he offered a brief prayer, “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

Then he shoved her down with all his weight, until he felt certain she’d been submerged. He let her up, and she splashed about, gasping for air, spattering droplets of water all over him.

She kissed him, licking his wet muzzle, and Orick kissed her in return, so full of love and gratitude and hope, he could express it no other way.

Then, something strange and wonderful happened: Orick felt his lips begin to burn, as if they were on fire, and his heart pounded hard.

Tallea must have felt it too, for she got a panicked look in her eye, and she swam toward shore.

Then, everywhere, every cell in Orick’s body felt as if it burst into flame at once. It was not an uncomfortable feeling. In fact, Orick felt oddly at peace.

Yet he was burning.

He wondered if the water had begun to heat and boil for some inexplicable reason, and he began dog paddling. And the burning grew hotter, flaming.

The words of John the Baptist came to mind: “I indeed baptize you with water, but one comes after me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose, and he shall baptize you with fire, and with the Holy Ghost.”

Then Orick felt as if he were consumed in flame, and he heard Tallea cry out, as if in pain.

Never, never in all his years, had Orick had an experience like this. Never had he imagined it.

He felt his own spirit within him, like some dark force, twisting within his body, seeking escape. He opened his mouth, and cried, “Father, save me!”

He wondered if this was the judgment of God. He wondered if God would punish him for his temerity in baptizing Tallea without holding the priesthood. He felt-he felt as if he were under the judgment of God, and that any moment he might be burned to a crisp or ripped apart.

“Father, forgive me!” Orick groaned in fear.

He looked up above him.

In the darkness, at the top of the cave, a green light shone. A bird of emerald flames winged overhead in a swift pass. It had emerged from solid rock, and it disappeared into the ceiling. Then reappeared and wheeled, swooping lower.

And Orick recalled. The bird of light. The Holy Ghost descending upon Jesus in the form of a dove.

Orick realized that something divine and marvelous was happening. He’d never felt as he did now. He’d never heard of anyone back on Tihrgias having such an experience.

He was both terrified and grateful at the same time.

This is my judgment day, Orick realized. This is the end. Any moment, the spirit would either take him to greater heights, or it would destroy him completely.

There were those at Obhiann Abbey who claimed that one could not look God in the face and live. Yet others argued that it could only be done if one were transformed, made holy.

Orick gazed upward steadfastly, knowing that such a moment was at hand. “Forgive me, Father,” he whispered. “Transform me. I seek no harm. I will do no evil, now and forever.”

Then the spirit came, hovering over him on wings of green light, and Orick gazed steadfastly into its eyes for the space of half a heartbeat.

The fires within him raged, and he felt as if he would melt in the presence of this manifestation.

The bird of light whispered to Orick’s mind, “So be it.”

And as feverishly as the burning had begun a moment before, now the moment passed, and the bird of light dissipated, like a mist under the morning skies, and Orick felt a profound peace, like nothing he’d ever experienced in his life.

Tallea had paddled to the shore, and now she sat in the water, looking upward where the manifestation had been.

“Does this always happen?” she asked, panting hard, looking to the top of the cave where the bird had been.

Orick paddled beside her, marveling at the deep and abiding sense of peace he felt.

“Hardly ever,” he answered, wondering.

God had forgiven him, he realized. God had allowed him to baptize Tallea, and had sent His messenger to let Orick know that the ordinance was accepted.

For a long time, neither he nor Tallea spoke. Instead, they rolled about in the pond for several long moments, kissing playfully, gazing into one another’s dark eyes, then climbed back onto the ground and just sat, nuzzling. Orick licked the water from her face, and she did the same for him, until at last they sat, began talking low.

Tallea told Orick of her childhood, her dark past raised as a Caldurian warrior, trained in a creche of stone with bars of steel by harsh swordsmen, enslaved by her love for her masters.

She spoke of sleeping in dark towers on nights when the wind whipped the ragged banners, snapping them in the blackness, and told of the cold rains that skittered against the stones of the guard towers where she stood watch, and said how she would gaze down on the village below and see the glow of firelight in some window, and wish desperately for a place inside, a place safe and warm, where people would accept a child who was not quite human as a beloved daughter, not just a tool to be wielded.

She felt that love now, that acceptance, and Orick did too, more profoundly than he had ever imagined possible.

Tallea talked of her hopes for the future, her love for Orick that felt so much deeper, so much easier to come by, than the compulsions that drove her to serve her masters, and she thanked him for freeing her.

So they rested, dripping and cold, speaking words of hope and comfort.

Yet something nagged at Orick’s mind, something odd. He kept recalling the bird of light, and wondering. It had not looked much at all like a dove.

It had looked … he decided, like a Qualeewooh.