Change


 * 1)  In 1937 Kim, Sofie,  and  Dory were in that wonderful last year  of their tweens when their bodies  were gathering power for the big  changes soon to come. They talked about boys in abstract terms that had little to do  with the little barbarians  that were actual boys.
 * 2)  In slumber parties  the  girls practiced necking with each other so long  as it was understood that  one of  the neckers had to be a  boy  in theory. Sofie Krause 'at great  per- sonal sacrifice' played the role  of beau  nine times out of  ten,  espe- cially when Doriel was up.
 * 3)  At  their private  school  the tight  group of  girlfriends  passed flowery love letters to each  other.  Girl-love at age twelve is of such a high  order that it knows  no  jeal- ousy. Share and share alike,  every- thing from lunch to masterpieces  of amorous  soliloquy.
 * 4)  Doriel.  No last  name.  Black eyes,  long jet black hair  tied  in the obligatory Church pony tail  but with  the  cutest  bangs  ever.  The first of the three to start  growing knockers, Dory was already, at  just age  twelve, a full six  feet  tall.  Sha was going to be a giantess.
 * 5) Dory loved books like The  Hob- bit  and  aimed for straight  Bs  to please har father, who was very  of- ten absent, while not appearing  too bookish. Dory heard voices. When sha was younger, it was a fun game,  but over time Dory came to dislike being a telephone switchboard.
 * 6)  Eventually, Dory insisted  the Voices keep it limited to  important calls. Sha enforced this by  threat- ening to keep the Voices up at night with  voices of har own.  Over  time sha learned sha was a member of  the B'nei  Elohim and sha  learned  what that   really  meant.
 * 7) Sofie Krause: A tomboy who kept her  ash-blond hair short,  with  no Church-mandated pony tail. When  she grew older she was the only girl  on the  football  team.  Like  Kim  and Dory,  Sofie  was required  to  wear woolen  skirts to class rather  than trousers, which always annoyed  her.
 * 8) One Halloween morning Dory came dressed as a pirate's wench. Sha had ripped har dress into long strips so har pinup-model legs could poke  out when sha walked. When Sofie saw that she felt a sweet electric shock  and knew she had graduated to full-serv- ice tribade.
 * 9)  Kim wasn't ready to  let  down her  father.  So  she  gritted   her teeth,  wore the  damned  pony-tail, and  when  she ventured  outside  of Headwater  she tried to  ignore  the comments at the edge of her  hearing like,  'Oh hey, there  goes  another Bunner, look at her hair.'
 * 10)  For science class the  teacher paired everyone off as lab partners.  Kim  ended up with Sofie,  and  Dory ended  up  with har  cousin  Gabriel Shybear. Everyone assumed those  two would gravitate together and do  the usual  Church of Green  Dome  thing, but that was never to be.
 * 11) Sofie kicked Gabriel out of hez seat  with  'no offense  pally'  and sent  hem shambling towards Kim,  an adjustment in the teacher's  choice.  Che could tell Sofie and Dory were a unit so che grew close to Kim,  even holding her hand skating at Lake  13 when  it was frozen over.
 * 12) By the springtime in 1939 Sofie and Dory were asking if Kim and  Ga- briel  had pitched woo and  what  it was like. 'We did indeed pitch woo,' Kim  said. 'He feels like  a  rubber wet  suit stretched over a  suit  of armor. Soft on the surface but  with a  hard  core  underneath.  I   like it.'
 * 13)  In the summer of '39 the  same Lake  13 was for skinny-dipping  and there was no more keeping one of the oldest Red Wing family secrets. Dory already knew, but now Kim and  Sofie knew  as well that  Gabriel  Shybear was  both  a boy and a girl  at  the same  time. And che  wasn't  unique.
 * 14) The four of them stood naked in a square, ten yards out into Lake 13 up  to  their thighs in  cool  water with no body modesty at all  because they  were good friends  and  nobody else was there. The boy part of  Ga- briel  was doing what fourteen  year old boy parts do around girls.
 * 15)  Kim asked about the one  ball, so Gabriel lifted it and showed  hez labia  majora behind it. 'The  other ball is inside me, Kim, it's a  real ovary.  I could get  pregnant.'  Kim glanced  at  hez small  breasts  and nipples, which didn't look like they were  just  for  decoration  either.
 * 16)  'Gabriel  is what  we  call  a jen,' Dory said. 'Now take my momma, che's an ambi. The genitals are  the other way around. If you told hem to fuck hemself che could literally  do it.'  Gabriel, who heard  that  joke before,  still cracked up.  But  Kim and  Sofie were stunned to  silence.
 * 17) When Gabriel saw their unbelief che  said, 'Recall  your  scripture.  Genesis six four. There were  giants in the earth in those days. When the sons of God came in unto the  daugh- ters  of men they bore  children  to them. The same became the mighty men of  old,  men  of  renown.'
 * 18) Kim processed this, put it  to- gether with Gabriel's height of  six feet seven, then said,  incredulous- ly,  'You're saying you're  actually one  of the nephilim?' Dory defended har  cousin by explaining they  both had copies  of  their  grandparents' Z sex chromosomes.
 * 19) 'What about you?' Sophie asked, looking  at Dory. 'You're  Gabriel's cousin so why didn't you end up with a  dangler?' 'I'm not a nephil,  I'm an angel. That's why I'm even taller than Gabriel and I've got two  girly bits.  A little bit harder  to  see, but  that's  why we're  here.'
 * 20)  Sha  reached  down  to  spread things  open  for their  view.  They were  not perfectly identical,  only the  lower set had a  urethra.  Then Dory  looked askance at both of  har friends. 'None of this should be new to  you, Kim. Sofie? Don't  you  two believe  the  Book of  Green  Dome?'
 * 21)  'Of course I believe all  that stuff in the Green Book and the  Bi- ble,'  Kim answered.  'God,  heaven, miracles, the resurrection, everyone believes  it happened then. But  no- body   believes  it  happens   now.' Sofie said Kim was right, and nobody admitted what they all knew.
 * 22) 'If you were just talking about the  Bible you'd have a point,'  Ga- briel said. 'Half the Green Book  is corrections  to the stories  in  the Bible.  But  the new claims  in  the Book  of Green Dome?  Everything  in there really happened. It's like  no other  holy text ever  written.'
 * 23)  Kim and Sophie  accepted  this rebuke  and nodded their  heads  si- lently,  unprepared  to  call  their friends  liars.  Besides,  the  evi- dence   was there for them  to   see between  the legs of their  friends.  Kim   asked, 'The archangel?  You're  that Gabriel?'
 * 24)  Dory and Gabriel  locked  eyes briefly, and Dory chose to speak. 'I hate to say it, but there are things we can't tell you, at least not now.  I think later you'll understand  why we  couldn't talk. But I  can  teach you the proper pronouns for ambe and jan,  yen and yeng, men and  women.'
 * 25)  Gabriel, Kim, Sofie  and  Dory were  all firmly middle-class,  evi- denced  by their attendance  at  the Church's private school. Their  par- ents  were sufficiently well-off  to provide  instruments when they  took band  class, except Kim's  only  in- strument  was her own  voice.
 * 26)  As the 1940s began Kim  Zinter was a member of the Green Dome  Tem- ple Girl's Choir. She was an expres- sive mezzo-soprano with a voice that belied her fifteen years and  verged on  being too breathy  and  sensuous for spiritual music. Listeners  com- pared  her favorably to  Peggy  Lee.
 * 27)   Dory  played  a   double-bass standing  on  an  end-pin  sha   had lengthened  to be more  comfortable.  Sometimes  sha set down  har  French bow and plucked the strings pizzica- to  with  meandering bass  lines,  a soundtrack  to daydreams sha  was  a black cat slinking around at  night.
 * 28) Sofie Krause pounded the  skins with  all the power that made her  a formidable offensive guard, yet  sha ran   effortlessly  in  and   around Dory's  machine-like bass,  averting expectations  and  punctuating   her licks with sixteenth-note drum fills as  endlessly unique as  snowflakes.
 * 29)  Gabriel Shybear had no  innate musical talent but che figured  that was  the reason che was taking  band class,  after all. After a  semester learning scales on a recorder Gabri- el took up the sax, Kim started dab- bling  on piano and the kids  had  a basic jazz combo on their hands.
 * 30) Many who knew the details  said that  Robyn replacing Kim Zinter  on keys and vocals in 1943 didn't real- ly  count as a change in the  band's line-up.  Later some even said  that when Rebekah Redstar replaced Gabri- el Shybear in 1947 that wasn't real- ly a change as well.
 * 31)  Sophie  Krause and  Dory  Two- feathers formed the constant pulsing heart of the act and performed until the early 21st Century. After Sophie changed  her name to just  Hunky  in 1942  the  band would, in  fact,  be named  Hunky-Dory after  the  rhythm section,  much like  Fleetwood  Mac.
 * 32)  Beginning in 1945,  for  every year  ending  in a 0 or a  5,  which they  called a Lustrum, the  members of  Hunky-Dory would  drop  whatever they  were doing, get together,  jam in the winter, record in the spring, and  tour  in the summer. It  was  a ritual they never allowed to  lapse.
 * 33)  As the 20th Century rolled  on Hunky-Dory  dabbled  with  and  even gave  birth to an astonishing  array of musical styles, but not even  the Mick Jagger / Keith Richards /  Ron- nie  Wood / Charlie Watts lineup  of The Rolling Stones would come  close them  in terms of  sheer  longevity.
 * 34) Early on the four most powerful B'nei Elohim came to be called  sim- ply  the  Band.  The  less  powerful  styled  themselves Roadies. And  the ones  who  fell under  the  sway  of Rebekah,  or the 'loyal  opposition' as  Robyn  charitably  called  them, were  known as the  Groupies.
 * 35)  In April 1942 word arrived  of the Doolittle Raid after five months of  unrelenting bad  news  following Pearl  Harbor. In  celebration,  the conductor  of the Green Dome  Temple School  band class led a recital  of patriotic John Philip Sousa marches, attended by half of Headwater.
 * 36)  For an encore the  class  tore into  a  cover of the  classic  Duke Ellington standard 'It Don't Mean  A Thing (If It Ain't Got That  Swing)' with Kim soloing on vocals,  Rebekah Redstar on trombone, and Gabriel  on sax.  It was the first real  triumph of the future Hunky-Dory.
 * 37)  For Kim the only  downside  in all  this was how her father  didn't make the recital despite his  solemn promise to do so. She could see  her mother sitting out there in the  gym and  how she kept a seat  saved  for him, but even to the end of the  en- core  the  seat  was  never  filled.
 * 38)  Erik Zinter didn't  come  home all  that  night and even  the  next morning. In the middle of the school day  Kim was pulled out of class  by Deacon Paul Bergin and driven  home.  Paul  said nothing but Kim began  to cry.  He found his way to  1301  'V' Street but Kim didn't get out.
 * 39)  'Home sweet home,' Paul  said.  Kimberly stared at him through blur- ry  eyes, wondering if he was  being callous. Then she did get out of his car and proceeded to walk a block to 1301  'U' Street. Sloppy temple  re- cords. And that was how Bergin found out  where she really  lived.
 * 40)  Paul choose not to follow.  At home   Clara  paced  silently.   Kim started  crying again  in  sympathy, pleading for her Mom to speak. After a time Clara looked directly at  her daughter, building up the  willpower to blurt it out to her, and  finally she did: 'Your father is dead!'
 * 41) They both cried until there was nothing more to give, and even  when Kim's  eyes  were bone dry  she  was still wracked with sobs that trailed off  at length to silent grief.  Fi- nally Kim started repeatedly  asking her  mother  why and  when  she  was ready  to speak Clara  had  answers.
 * 42) According to Prophet Peter  Two Feathers, Erik Zinter was killed  by an  ancient relic called the  Golden Gift,  something Kim and  Clara  as- sumed was merely an allegorical lit- erary device to move the plot of the Green  Book along, perhaps like  the whale in the book of Jonah.
 * 43) In the scripture of the  Church of  Green  Dome heaven  was  a  real place  with walled cities  ruled  by angelic kings. One time Michael sent Prince Melchizedek, the son of  Mel- chiyahu  and  grandson  of  Gordiel, down to Earth to set aside a  people to receive the oracles of God.
 * 44) Peter Twofeathers revealed that for ten years he had lent Erik Zint- er  the Golden Gift, the very  relic wielded by Melchizedek in the story, to honeycomb Green Dome with tunnels to access isolated pockets of  coal.  This had allowed Headwater to  pros- per  through the  Depression.
 * 45) But overnight there was a cave- in  that smashed Erik's helmet  lan- tern  and  plunged  him  into  total darkness.  He couldn't dig  his  way out, even with the Golden Gift,  be- cause he got turned around and bored deeper into the mountain rather than back  out towards the way  he  came.
 * 46) As Erik created a greater  vol- ume  of  space to walk  through  the remaining  oxygen was stretched  too thin  and  there were  also  suction losses  through the Golden Gift  it- self. It wasn't until dawn that  men with picks and spades broke  through the cave-in and reached Erik's body.
 * 47)  Peter assured Clara  that  her husband  died without any  pain.  He simply fell asleep and never woke up again. Also he praised the memory of Erik  for never violating  a  sacred trust  that some in the Church  were saying was more than even the Proph- et had the authority to grant.
 * 48)  But Clara admitted she  had  a hard  time  taking all of  this  in.  Peter  was asking her to  accept  at face value that the Golden Gift  was real, and the scriptures were liter- ally  true. Shared beliefs were  for binding  a faith community,  not  to actually...believe.
 * 49) 'When you attend the Final Rite you will come to see see the  wisdom of it,' said Peter Twofeathers. 'But try to be strong, Clara. In the days to come there will be those who will tell you that God punished your hus- band  with  death for  misusing  his holy  gift to the Church.'
 * 50)  In  the aftermath of  her  fa- ther's  death Kim stopped  going  to school.  Sofie  and Dory  came  over after  a  couple of days to  see  if their friend was well. She was  not, but  their visit elevated  Kim  from her grief a microscopic bit and  her mother  Clara  noticed  that.
 * 51)  After Sophie's mother came  to pick her daughter up Clara asked her to wait until Dory's parents arrived as  well, because she had a  request to make of all of them. When  every- one  was together Clara  said,  'I'd like  Sofie and Dory to be with  Kim for her father's funeral.'
 * 52)  Susan Krause shook  her  head.  She  said  they  were  just   school girls and a funeral is a very solemn thing.   Dory's   father    Ithuriel agreed  and  said  this  should   be  family   time  for  Clara and  Kim.' 'But we have no family  here,' Clara  said.  'My  folks  are   back east.'
 * 53) Dory's mother Anael pointed out that  Clara still had  in-laws,  but she shook her head. 'They're  Bunner Incarnate.  They always held  me  at arm's  length.  Kim  is  taking  the death of Erik very hard but when the girls came over today I saw how they were  like  a family to  her.'
 * 54) Ithuriel said, 'I'm not worried about  Dory. I'm worried more  about Sofie  and Kim. When you are on  the other side of the Final Rite, Clara, you  will no longer have the  child- like  faith that our Lord  said  was more  blessed than the faith of  who believe  because  they  have  seen.'
 * 55)  It was a  gentle  negotiation.  Clara   got  permission  for   Kim's friends  to be with her for the  fu- neral.  Ithuriel persuaded Clara  to have  Kim sit out the  actual  Final Rite, and rarely in history have  so many  future  lives been  so  deeply affected  by  so trivial  a  choice.
 * 56) It would have been unseemly  to run around playing while the body of Kim's  father was sent to  his  long home along with three other Greendo- mites  from around the  country,  so they sat around in the Temple  base- ment. Volunteers prepared dinner for the  families  of  the  dead.
 * 57)   Gabriel  joined  them   after breaking  away from a group of  boys smoking outside. Che seemed to  know a  lot of secrets about the  Temple.  Gabriel led the girls into a  supply room  which wasn't locked. Kim,  So- fie,  and Dory tagged along  because there was nothing else to do.
 * 58) There was no electric light  in the temple attic, only a window with blinds  and it was a gloomy  January day outside. There was an old  piano which   was  probably  broken.   Kim avoided  the urge to play it.  There was  a map of Headwater and many  of the  usual  church  odds  and  ends.
 * 59) The kids found unused  hymnals, stacks of old temple bulletins, emp- ty mason jars, and dozens of stacked folding  chairs. Sofie found a  cane carved from gnarled wood and shifted it from hand to hand to get the feel of  it. Gabriel stopped  moving  and went, 'Shhh! What's that?'
 * 60) The children froze but the only thing they heard was organ music and the choir bleeding through the ceil- ing  from  the  main  sanctuary  up- stairs.  'Very funny,'  Sofie  said, giving Gabriel a friendly shove. One of the walls was unfinished. Gabriel moved aside a piece of plywood.
 * 61)   The  plywood  had   concealed another dark space beyond. It was so black  inside it drank their  vision like  a sponge. 'I've never been  in there,'  Gabriel admitted.  None  of the girls wanted to go in there  but Gabriel dared them to go.  Naturally Sofie was the first one through.
 * 62)  Gabriel  immediately  followed Sofie  to  show che  wasn't  afraid.  Dory and Kim were afraid of the dark hole  and unafraid to admit it,  but they didn't want to be left alone so they squeezed in too. Gabriel burned through  ten  matches  before   Dory brought  a  candle from  the  attic.
 * 63)  The kids found they were in  a space  that  was  about  four  times larger than the attic but there  was no wooden floor, just natural  stone and dirt rising halfway to the ceil- ing.  Something like a  rocky  igloo reached  nearly to the ceiling  from the  center of a circle  of  stones.
 * 64) The ceiling creaked as  someone walked to and fro overhead.  Gabriel did a complete circuit of the space, then said to Dory, 'This is part  of our family history!' She said, 'This must  be  the very summit  of  Green Dome.  Wanica built that cairn,  and the altar right over it.'
 * 65)  When  Gabriel  saw  the  blank faces  of Sofie and Kim che was  as- tonished. 'Did you forget what  they taught us in Sunday school? This  is the Island in the Sky where God gave Chief Wanica the Golden Gift.'   Kim rolled  her eyes and said  God  gave Moses  the stone   tablets  too.
 * 66)  Dory pointed to  the  ceiling.  'What  do you think is happening  up there right now?' Kim considered her answer,  because she didn't wish  to offend  her friends. She said it was a  simple cremation of  my  father's body  and the bodies of three  other Green-    domites,    spiced    with ritual.'
 * 67) Dory said, 'Kim, you saw Gabri- el  when  we went swimming  once  at Lake 13 and you still think the  Bu- ron is just a bunch of stories  they invented?'  'I went to  the  library and  looked that up,'  Kim  replied.  'Gabriel's a hermaphrodite. It's not a  big deal. Sometimes it  happens.'
 * 68)  Gabriel rolled up hez  sleeves and  approached Kim,  flipping  both hands over a few times to show  they were empty. Che said, 'Hold out your hand.' Gabriel clasped her hand, and when  che took it away  again  there was  a  stack  of  silver  half-dol- lars. 'Explain that, if you can.'
 * 69)  Kimberly put the coins in  her purse because money was money and if Gabriel wanted to give her ten bucks so  be it. She said, 'Magic  tricks, Gabriel,  just  like  what   they're showing  Momma upstairs  right  now.  Why  can't people just be amazed  at God for what he really did do?'
 * 70) Dory threw up har hands in mock despair  at  har  heathen    friends and  muttered something about  White  Wingers.   Gabriel moved toward  the cairn. 'We'll never have the  chance to be in  here again,' che said.  'I want to see  if it's  really there.' Sofie warned that he'd go to hell.
 * 71)  'There's no hell in  Greendom- ism,'   Gabriel  snorted,  and   che picked the boulder most likely to be easily  moved. As soon as it  did  a mouse escaped. Dory and Kim screamed together when they saw it. Without a word  Sofie let her cane fly  in  an arc over her head upon the creature.
 * 72) Sofie was just hoping to  scare the mouse away but she ended up hit- ting  the  critter  instead  with  a lucky shot. 'This is a church right?  So there's your church mouse.'  Dory shifted  immediately  from  fear  to maternal concern. The animal was  in obvious pain and Sofie crippled it.
 * 73)  But Sofie just wanted to  shoo it off and was surprised she actual- ly  hit it. They all took  a  closer look  at the creature. The head  was misshapen  with a huge bump  on  the back  that  was nearly as  large  as  the mouse's head itself.  'Look what  you did,  Sofie!'  Dory  complained.
 * 74)  'That isn't from anything  she did,' Gabriel said. 'He didn't go in the  cairn like that. He  must  have waited for someone to crack a gap in the rocks wider so he could get out, the poor little guy.' Sofie finished him  off with the end of  her   cane and said that was better for him.
 * 75)  Its head was now a flat  furry coin.  Nobody  knew what  the  white bump  meant.  Sophie  scratched  the dirt with her cane and dug a  little grave  for the dead mouse  'Rest  in pieces,' she said, then  remembered, too late, that they were at the  fu- neral of Kimberly's father. 'Sorry.'
 * 76)  Gabriel returned to the  cairn and  tugged on the stone once  more.  Sophie  gave  him a  hand,  and  the boulder  slowly  swung open  like  a hinged  door, just enough that  they could squeeze inside the stone igloo one at a time. Dory brought light. A plain  white dome lay inside.
 * 77)  Kim said God didn't look  like much.  Gabriel  shook hez head. 'No, but   God made  this. And don't  say  God  made everything,  Sofie,   even  you  know better.'  The skin of  the  dome  was dotted  with  many  little holes.   Some of these  had  needles like a cactus. Kim touched it.
 * 78)  That was something  Kim  ought not to have done. With a sound  like a tiny squirt of steam her fingertip was  instantly skewered. Kim  pulled her  hand away involuntarily  before the pain even registered. After that the  white dome sported another  ex- truded spine from its surface.
 * 79)  Dory was a little  more  wise.  Sha  grabbed  a pencil  out  of  har purse  and leaned over the  artifact with the eraser tip prudently stand- ing in for har finger. Sha  verified it was ready to defend itself at any time. Gabriel thought about  kicking it  but che was  wearing  moccasins.
 * 80)  Sofie was not afraid. She  al- lowed her own finger to be  skewered by  the white dome and doesn't  even wince.  'Here we go,  Kim.  Whatever trouble you're in for getting  stung by this thing, I'm in the same trou- ble.'  So she has the final  victory over Gabriel in the test of courage.
 * 81) After that they began to  slide back  out  of the  cairn,  but  they heard footsteps in the storage  room next  door. Dory put out the  candle as  everyone held their  breath  and tried  not to make a  sound.  Deacon Paul  looked into the dark  gap  and could just make out two silhouettes.
 * 82) Bergin screamed at them to  get out.  Blushing, Gabriel, Kim,  Sofie and Dory scrambled out from  beneath the  altar, then out of  the  supply room. They sat together in the base- ment  lunchroom. The  deacon  locked the supply room, and true to  Gabri- el's  words  they  never   returned.
 * 83) Dory's only casualty was a pen- cil  with a soggy eraser. Sha  said, 'Thanks  for that little  adventure, Gabriel. I always knew the avatar of Chokhmah was real, but actually see- ing it is something I'll never  for- get.' Just then the attendees  began to  filter in from  upstairs.
 * 84)  During the shared  meal  after the  Final  Rite   Kim  thought  her mother   seemed very different.  The grief   was   gone.   Clara    said,  'It's  all  true,  Kim.   Everything  in   the   Green   Book   is  really true!'  She no longer  needed  faith for the things taught by the Church.
 * 85) Kim knew her mother had been  a nurse in the First World War and had seen  things in France  so  terrible she refused to even talk about them, things  which would crush the  faith of  anyone  who believed in  a  good God.  It was good to see  some  sem- blance of joy restored in her.
 * 86) But Kim and Sophie needed  more convincing.  Over the next few  days they grew bumps at the back of their head  just  like  that  poor  church mouse. Dr. Wahkan said not to  worry but Clara disagreed to the point  of quitting her job at the little  hos- pital and taking Kim to Lusk.
 * 87) Two days later Sofie's  parents brought her to Lusk as well but  the doctors  there could do little  more than watch the girls get worse.  The bumps opened up like flowers to  re- veal  stiff black hairs  inside.  By June 1942 the girls were under  fed- eral  quarantine in  parts  unknown.
 * 88) Kim and Sofie had no idea where they  had been taken, but it  was  a new place. There was no use  mincing terms,  they were in prison, but  it doubled  as a clinic. It was an  odd combination   of   almost    magical science and shabby construction with nails  sticking through  the  walls.
 * 89)  There were no windows  in  the clinic  where  they were  held,  but from  June  to August  of  1942  the girls  could hear construction  out- side that only ceased at night. Dur- ing  those months their captor,  Dr.  Ian  Trochmann, learned  maddeningly few  things about  their  condition.
 * 90) The white D-shaped cup emerging from  their scalp was made of  bone.  The  cups  had  exactly   fifty-five graphite  bristles growing out of  a floor. If the bristles were  crushed or  snapped off they grew back  like the lead in a mechanical pencil. Dr.  Trochmann had two cables made.
 * 91)  The  b'nei elohim  would  call them Purple Cables, even after  many copies were made that weren't  actu- ally purple. But for Dr. Trochmann's purposes  the  cables proved  to  be useless.  He would  print  squiggles from the girls on a fat roll of  pa- per but didn't know what they meant.
 * 92) When Trochmann put a 15  milli- volt level on the pins both Kim  and Sofie reported total-body sandpapery sensations they found very  unpleas- ant  and  refused to  endure  again.  Hooking the girls together with  the Purple  Cable was thought too  risky in the early evaluation.
 * 93)  One  time Kim and  Sofie  were playing Eights, and Kim heard a  si- lent shout in her head that, despite its  silence, sounded  exactly  like Dory.  She said, DISCARD THE  QUEEN!  Kim replied to the voice with a men- tal shout of her own. 'It's not even the right suit!' DO IT!
 * 94)  Kim obeyed the voice,  dropped the  queen,  and Sofie's  eyes  went much wider than it should have  done from  a bad play. Dory's  voice  now told Kim, SOFIE WILL DISCARD A   SIX OF HEARTS, WATCH! And that's  exact- ly what she did. Now they both  knew their friend's voice was real.
 * 95) Lest watchers suspect something meaningful  in their mutual  glances (and they were being watched)  Sofie covered  by saying, 'You don't  even know how to play this simple  game.' She  retreated to one corner of  the clinic,  Kim  to another,  and  they conversed through Dory.
 * 96)  Dory had to smooth  over  some hard  feelings  about  keeping  this strange  talent  a secret.  She  did this  by  calmly pointing  out  that both   Kim  and  Sofie  would   have thought  her  nuts if she  said  she could hear voices, plant voices, and ride behind another person's eyes.
 * 97)  When Sofie asked about  Jerry, and  what his talent was,  Dory  re- plied,  DO YOU REMEMBER THAT   TRICK YESHUA  DID WITH LOAVES AND  FISHES?  JERRY COULD PULL THAT OFF! It   did- n't sound like something that  would help them get out of the  windowless clinic that was their prison.
 * 98)  Kim suggested  punching  every number  on the lock until  the  door opened. Dory relayed that to  Sofie, who shook her head. They were  being watched.  One  time she  killed  the lights in their space and saw a glow coming   from  the   'mirror'   that stopped soon after. It was a window.
 * 99) Kim came up with an idea to end the surveillance. They had to embar- rass  Doc Troch by making him  think that  two girls, ages seventeen  and confined  together for months  in  a small space, had fallen in love with each other. Sofie thought she  could swing it. Dory said BEHAVE.
 * 100)  Kim and Sofie went  on  strike and  did  not cooperate  with  their captors at all. They said no  words, but  just sat in the clinic all  day doing  nothing. There were two  ways of  dealing with all the  dead  time that  were newly available  to  them after the Change.
 * 101)  Kim let the clock  appear,  to her, to race and let her  heartbeats seem,  to her, to become a low  hum.  Kim  sped up, cruised for  a  while, then  slowed back down. Her  muscles got  sore from staying in one  posi- tion  but four hours were burned  up in  as  many minutes.
 * 102)  Sofie tried that too, but  she thought  the time-lapse  method  was gross  because  she could  feel  her bladder fill up and food moving  in- side. She preferred to take a series of hour-long jumps in time with  her consciousness  simply  turned   off.  This  was the cat nap method.
 * 103) After four meals, two  showers, and  many  other stops  to  use  the restroom or drink some water Kim and Sofie  had  a rather busy  day  that compressed a full week of real time.  Another three weeks and the lunatics won.  The asylum-keepers brought  in their  biggest gun.
 * 104)  This was the self-styled  Con- troller of what he styled DECON.  It was the only time Clyde Tolson  ever met  Kim Zinter and Sofie Krause  in person He told them it was time  for a heart-to-heart.' 'Fine,' said  So- fie.   'Start by telling us who  you are.'
 * 105)  'I  am FBI  Special  Agent-in- Charge Clyde Tolson. You and Kim are under  the jurisdiction of a  branch of  the  US  Department  of  Justice called DECON, which I head up.   DE- CON  is short for  Domestic  Enemies Containment,  Observation, and  Neu- tralization.'
 * 106)  Kim was pissed off.  'Domestic enemies? You must be joking. My  fa- ther lost an arm fighting the Hun in W.W. One. My mother was a Red  Cross nurse Over There. Every Sunday morn- ing  after Temple I lead  the  whole congregation in a rip-roaring rendi- tion  of  God Bless  America.'
 * 107) 'You and Sofie have  contracted an  unknown contagion in a time  be- fore  there is a proper federal  re- sponse  for that. Bad luck for  you, bad luck for everyone. But there are Presidential executive orders  which could be read, very loosely, as  of- fering  such a response.'
 * 108) 'You don't seem afraid to  talk to  us  face-to-face,'  Kim  pointed out.  'Doc  Troch and  Nurse  Ramsey ain't scared either.' Tolson said if it  was transmitted by sneezing  the girls would be totally isolated, but revealing  how they  got sick  would do  much  toward getting them home.
 * 109) Sofie allowed that he explained why he wouldn't  unlock  the   door,   but  she didn't even know where  she was.   'You're  not  very  far  from Headwater,' he said. 'Just one state over,  in fact, near Cody.  This  is called  the  Heart Mountain  Reloca- tion Center.'
 * 110)   Sofie said she didn't  under- stand  and  wanted to know  who  was being  relocated.  'It's   easy   to  understand,   Sofie.  Last  December after  Pearl Harbor  FDR  authorized the incarceration of Nips living  on the West Coast. Last  February   the first  camps were built.'
 * 111) Kim said that by Nips she  pre- sumed  he  really  meant    American citizens  with  a  Japanese   ethnic background. When Tolson had  nothing to say to that Sofie said, 'Hey Kim- mie, I think I'm in the wrong  camp.  My    great-great-great-great-great- great-granddaddy was a German.'
 * 112)  Tolson wagged a finger.  'This camp  is the third biggest  city  in Wyoming but only seven  undesirables out  of  every  ten  are  Nips.  The President's executive order was  the kind of gift that comes around  only once  in  a generation,  but  strike while  the iron is hot,  they  say.'
 * 113) Sofie said, 'So I'm one of your 'undesirables' but I don't even feel sick.'  Tolson told Sofie her  brain wasn't even alive anymore. 'Then how could  we be having this   conversa- tion?'  Tolson turned to Dr.  Troch- mann and asked him to tell the young ladies  what they've learned so far.
 * 114) 'It spreads like a virus,'  the doctor  said, 'but I've  never  seen anything like it before. It literal- ly  remodels nerve and brain  cells.  No  more potassium and  sodium  ions pumped  by ATP through  a  membrane.  Your neurons are now little  gadgets with  sliding levers and the  like.'
 * 115)  Kim  wanted to  know  what  he meant by gadgets. 'Both of you girls  have  been  hooked up to an   Offner  Dynograph   and  it  shows  nothing.  You're literally brain dead. Special  Agent Tolson thinks you may  be  the  first  victims  of  a   nasty   Nazi weapon  we've  never  seen  before.'
 * 116)  'I don't like you very  much,' Sofie said, directing her glance  at both men in turn, 'But I can see you want something. Well, we want  some- thing  first.  We want  the  windows disguised  as mirrors  removed  from our  living  space.'  Dr.  Trochmann tried  to play dumb.  Mirrors?
 * 117) 'Come now, Doctor,' said Sofie, 'you  must think we're  just  stupid girls.  But we've had a lot of  time on our hands locked up in here. Nat- urally  we  found  your  two  filthy peeping-Tom mirrors and people look- ing  in  on us.' And Tolson said  he could see there was no fooling  her.
 * 118)  'Sometimes  I  call  Sofie   a scrub,' Kim said, 'and she knows I'm only  kidding. But Mr. Tolson,  I'll match a scrub at Green Dome  against any B student among the publics any- where.' Sofie said it better be that way,  the amount  of  money her dad- dy  shelled  out for  tuition.
 * 119)  Tolson said the mirrors   were  not used  for what they thought they  were. Kim  said, 'Look, maybe  we're  infected  and you  have  some  order  that  says you can hold us  in  this  quarantine  of yours,  but  we still have one fundamental right.'  Tolson asked  her to name  this  right.
 * 120)   'Like   plain   old-fashioned privacy!' For the first time  Tolson and Trochmann became aware that  Kim and  Sofie were holding  hands.  The doctor blushed. Sofie saw the  open- ing  and  moved tighter  up  against Kim.  'What  did you  expect?  We're seventeen  and cooped up  together.'
 * 121) 'I hope you get what we're try- ing  to  say here,' Sofie  said.  'I hope   we  don't have  to  spell  it out.'  Tolson said he  knew  exactly what she meant, and he truly did. He apologized for starting out on   the  wrong  foot.   'Let's   begin   once more,'  offered Kim.
 * 122) The mood of the men  brightened visibly at this breakthrough. Tolson said, 'I need to tighten up security a  bit  but I'll let you  have  your privacy.  Curtains on your  side  of the  mirrors.' When Tolson left  the clinic he never saw the girls again, but  not for lack of  trying.
 * 123) The girls were attentive to the tighter security arrangements Tolson mentioned, but the only real  change seemed  to be how  their  tormentors would look at a scrap of paper  from their  pocket  before  punching  the buttons  that  would let  them  out, which  meant  a daily  code  change.
 * 124) Sofie almost despaired but  Kim explained (via Dory to maintain  se- crecy) that the change did not  make their  task any harder at all.  They just had to pick a range and try all the  combos in it night after  night until the daily shifting combo  hap- pened to fall into that range.
 * 125)  Next to the door  leaving  the clinic was a square keypad with  the digits 0 through 9, and the  letters A through F, and Kim knew from  lis- tening that the combo was only  four keystrokes.  But  as  soon  as   she started trying a very vivid daydream of time appeared in her mind.
 * 126)  To Kim her future was  like  a self-assembling house of cards.  She could see the top, ten nights later, when  doing the range from  7000  to 7FFF  she punched 7BC6 and the  door clicked  open.  But Kim  wanted  out that very night, so she started try- ing  the  range from 1000  to  1FFF.
 * 127)  The house of  cards  collapsed and  assembled  itself  again.  This time the answer was four days  away.  Kim began trying higher ranges,  and got  jackpots ranging from two  days to  two weeks. Then in her mind  she saw the number that was their ticket home  that very night:  D1FC.
 * 128)  But it was November  and  they were  wearing nothing  but  slippers and hospital gowns. That itself  was part of Tolson's security. Kim  told Sofie to gather blankets and  towels and whatever else she could find  to create  makeshift extra clothing  to shield  them  from the  cold.
 * 129)  'This  is  going  to  frighten Agent Tolson to no end,' said Kim as they  both  bundled up.  'This,  and especially  what we do after  this.' She could see the events leading  to their escape from the camp  stacking in her mind. Sofie said she was fine with     Tolson     being     scared shitless.
 * 130) Sofie Krause and Kimberly Zint- er saw the two Purple Cables hanging in  a rack on their way out  of  the clinic  and  requisitioned  them  as belts to make their ad hoc  ensemble of blankets almost sort of hang  to- gether.  Then they stepped out  into Wyoming  on a cold  November  night.
 * 131)  After crossing L street,  11th rises  from the flats  of  Headwater and  dead-ends at the home  of  Dory Twofeathers  almost a  hundred  feet higher.  From her backyard the  hill rises  another sixty feet, bald  and scraped  raw  by the wind,  but  the summit has a stand of three birches.
 * 132)  No  one owned the top  of  the nameless hill owing to the difficul- ty  of building a house  there,  but for generations a ramshackle cluster of tree forts was built between  the three birch trees. When Kim and  So- fie were taken away Dory and Gabriel spent  much of their time up  there.
 * 133) From this vantage Dory and  Ga- briel  could  see all  of  Headwater spread out to the north and east. To the south the railroad looped around Mt.  Motorcycle to form the  end  of the  line. West over an 'S'-  shaped bend in the Squaw River was Lake  13 lying  at  the foot of  Green  Dome.
 * 134) Looking down, Dory and  Gabriel saw  Special  Agent  Bill   Sullivan toiling  up the mossy bald and  when he was closer he called from them to come down to chat. Dory invited  him to  come up into her tree  fort  in- stead, and after a moment  consider- ing  this,  he decided  to  try  it.
 * 135) Agent Sullivan managed to reach the high railed platform where  Dory and Gabriel were sitting. He  opened his  mouth to introduce himself  but Dory  spoke first. 'You are  Special Agent  William Sullivan of  the  FBI and you came up here to ask us about Kim  Zinter and Sofie Krause.'
 * 136)   He  wondered aloud  how  Dory knew  all  that. She  said,  'You've asking   people   all   over    town  about   my friends and some  of  the people  you  asked are on  my  wave- length.'  He  was puzzled  by   that answer. Gabriel asked him where  Kim  and  Sofie   were  taken.
 * 137)  'I'm  not at  liberty  to  say where  they are right now,  Gabriel, but  I can say they are  very  sick, and  their doctors still don't  know how  they came down with  what  they have.  That's where the two  of  you can help. We know the last time they were  together was at the  funeral.'
 * 138)  'If you've been  asking  about us,' Gabriel said, 'then you already know  we didn't actually attend  the Last  Rite for Erik Zinter. We  were downstairs the whole time, the  four of us.' Agent Bill said Paul  Bergin found the four of them in the  stor- age  room where they  oughtn't  be.'
 * 139)  'It  was  unlocked,'  shrugged Dory.  'We were bored, so we  had  a look.'  He asked if they found  any- thing unusual. 'No sir, except maybe a  piano.' 'After Paul booted   them out,  Gabriel added,  he locked   it back up. But flashing a badge  might let  Agent Bill in to  see.
 * 140)  'I  did go up  to  the  Temple flashing my badge, Gabriel, but Paul Bergin's boss, Peter Twofeathers, is a  little too old-fashioned  for  my taste. He's of a mind that I need to get a judge to sign a warrant before I  can  go snooping  around  in  the basement of the holy precincts.'
 * 141)  Dory said Twofeathers can  get like  that, and Gabriel  nodded  his  head  in agreement. 'I'm very  sorry we   can't tell you anything  more.' Then  Agent  Sullivan  reached  into his   jacket   and pulled   out   an  envelope.   'Anyway here's  a belat- ed  birthday  present for you.'
 * 142)  What  Gabriel  thought  was  a birthday  card  turned out to  be  a notice for the draft. Agent Sullivan pointed over the railing. 'See  down there over Dory's house? I know it's not  your school,  that's  Headwater High.  In  the gym you'll  find  Dr.  Wahkan and two other fellows.'
 * 143)  Gabriel said he didn't  under- stand.  'There's  not much  to   it.  You  tell me how Kim and  Sofie  got sick and I make this draft notice go away. You say nothing, and down  the hill you go to see who gets you, the Army  or the Navy.' Gabriel swore he already told him everything he knew.
 * 144)  'Dory will you help the  young man out? War is hell. You might  not ever see cousin Gabriel again  after he reports to Boot.' Dory shook  her head,  refusing to even mention  the mouse. Sullivan said, 'Last  chance, Gabriel. No? OK, suit yourself, son.  Go  kill yourself some  Japs.'
 * 145)  After  Sullivan  left  Gabriel suggested  a game of  Cartel,  which was  the  least  likely  thing  Dory thought could come out of his  mouth after  what just happened.  'And  by Cartel   I  mean  strip  Cartel   of course.' That raised the stakes from losing little pink pieces of  paper.
 * 146)  The  dice flew and  round  and round  the board they went.  Gabriel bought up 42nd Street, Broadway, and Park Avenue. All he needed was  Wall Street  for  a  full  Cartel.   Dory scooped up the Appian Way, the Burma Road,  and Easy Street, and all  she needed  was the Yellow  Brick  Road.
 * 147) Dory thought it strange Gabriel wanted to play a game when he'd just been  handed a draft notice and  she didn't have her heart in it. Gabriel got  another half-Cartel going  with Mulholland  Drive and Sunset  Boule- vard  but  Dory blocked  by  getting Bourbon  Street  and  Main   Street.
 * 148)  Gabriel had some  lucky  rolls and avoided landing on any of Dory's properties, while Dory kept  hitting Gabriel's stuff and started to  have a  serious  cash flow  problem.  She auctioned  off her belt  and  nylons for  a  little breathing  space  but then the dice really turned on  her.
 * 149) Dory started landing on  Gabri- el's  Cartels  repeatedly.  She  was methodically stripped of most of her cash  and started showing more  skin to  stay in the game.  Soon  Gabriel owned Dory's dark yellow dress  with white polka dots, and after that her knit  rayon  undies and  bra.
 * 150)  But Dory rallied a little  bit near the end. The properties associ- ated with her knee socks and  little black Mary Jane shoes, which Gabriel didn't want, were enough to complete a second Cartel, creating a kind  of death row on one side of the  board.  Soon  Gabriel was  shirtless.
 * 151)  Another round.  Dory  demanded his pants. But Gabriel simply put on Dory's  bra and dress, and when  che was   sufficiently   covered,    che dropped  trou and handed them  over.  'A  man  shalt not wear  that  which pertains to a woman,' Dory preached, 'for  it is an abomination to  God!'
 * 152)  'That verse doesn't  apply  to me,  cuz,' said Gabriel. 'I'm not  a man nor a woman.' Gabriel landed  on the  next half of Dory's death  row.  With  insufficient cash to pay  Dory she  demanded his  underwear,  which che  promptly handed over. The  game was over but che was fine with that.
 * 153) Under the cover of Dory's  yel- low  dress Gabriel slipped into  her panties  and together with  her  bra che  had everything che was  looking for.  Gabriel bid his cousin  adieu, left  the  tree fort,  and  flounced down the hill to the high school gym to face the local draft board music.
 * 154) The NCO representing the   Army asked  Gabriel  what  his  deal  was showing  up dressed like  that.  Che looked down at hemself, then  caught the  sergeant's eye. 'I guess I'm  a waddyacallitt, homosexual.' But  the Navy  first class petty officer  had heard that dodge before.
 * 155)  He  complained  that  slackers like him thought it was an easy  way out,  and demanded the name  of  his boyfriend.  Gabriel blurted out  the name of the only male homosexual  he actually knew: Aaron Anton. 'We  had  him here last month,'  the  Army NCO  said.  'Queer as a football bat.'
 * 156)  Dr. Wahkan knew  what  Gabriel was  trying to do, and he also  knew Gabriel wasn't actually going to get drafted. He decided to hurry  things along. 'Gabriel! About face! Hike up that  skirt! Panties at half  mast!' Gabriel  complied and both  military men  drew  closer to  take  a  look.
 * 157)  'I  was present  at  Gabriel's birth,'  said the doctor, 'and  I've seen hem many times since. Che has a rare  birth  defect that  gives  hem both  male  and  female   genitalia.  Imagine what they would do to Gabri- el on a destroyer after three months at sea hunting Japanese subs.'
 * 158)  The Army and Navy  representa- tives looked at Gabriel and realized the doctor wasn't bullshitting them.  They looked at each other, and  nod- ded agreement. Petty Officer  Watson typed up a card classifying  Gabriel IV-F:  not  qualified  for  military service for physical reasons.
 * 159)  'Hang on to that  card,  son,' Watson  said.  'Get  it   laminated.  That's  gold.  Starting  next  month you'll have to present proof of your Selective Service status on  demand.  And Doc, I don't think we'll be back next  month. I think we're  scraping rock bottom of Headwater now.'
 * 160)  On the way out of the gym  Ga- briel bumped into Dory and  wondered aloud  how she knew he'd  be  there.  She said, 'Michael  told  me to meet  him   here.'   Even  as  she  spoke,  Michael   strode around a corner  of the  school.   Gabriel and Dory  in- stinctively recognized hym.
 * 161) They assumed a position of  at- tentive  listening. Hy said,  'Hello Dory.   Hello Gabriel.  Your  friend Kimberly  has   found a way  to  get herself and Sofie home but she needs you and Peter Twofeathers to help or it will not work, which is really to say they will freeze to death.'
 * 162) So we're to meet  the Prophet,' said  Dory.  She looked at  icy  7th Street  switch-backing up  snow-cov- ered slopes before meeting the  dark slash  of  Green  Dome  Road,  which wrapped  to the summit of  the  hill like  the stripe on a  barber  pole.  'Shall we walk to the Temple, Lord?'
 * 163)  Yes,  Dory,' hy  said,  'let's walk.' And something like a  crystal ball  grew before them until it  was taller than Jerry and even  Michael, yet it was not solid or  substantial in any way. The seraph walked  right inside  the sphere  without  resist- ance. Jerry and Dory followed.
 * 164)  They looked back and  saw  the high  school, inexplicably, was  now two  miles  away and  eight  hundred fifty feet below, with most of Head- water  spread out beyond it.  Taking only  a few steps they had  attained the  summit  of Green  Dome  without breaking a sweat or slipping on ice.
 * 165) 'Fragments  of reality  can  be formed into bridges,' Michael  said.  'Albert  Einstein and  Nathan  Rosen explored this on a blackboard a  few years  ago, but I doubt it  will  be practical for any human to  actually make  one. It takes the power  of  a star  just to hold the  path  open.'
 * 166) The original avatar of Chokhmah had  always been at the  Temple,  in the sense that the Temple was  built over  the cairn assembled by  Wanica   after  he received the Golden  Gift.  But Chokhmah, in union with  Michael as a living avatar, had never before walked the wooden halls.
 * 167)  Peter  had his head  over  his desk  in  silent prayer.  Jerry  and Dory  came to him for a hug, one  at each side. Michael said, 'You should make  your petition aloud, Peter.  I can't hear your thoughts unless  you are  one  of the  B'nei  Elohim  and frame your thoughts a certain  way.'
 * 168)  Peter stood up and  exclaimed, 'My  Lord!' but Dory and Jerry  were already setting out three chairs  in front  of  his desk.  Michael  asked everyone to be seated, and when they were, hy took a few moments to study the  family photographs  hanging  on the  walls of Peter's office.
 * 169)  Hanging  over  Peter's   right shoulder  was a 1914  photograph  of Peter himself with his wife  Jaroah.  Over his left shoulder was the  old- est  photograph, hanging  above  Pe- ter's  head, was Gabriel, as an  in- fant in 1866, being held in the arms of  hez mother the  hashmal  Leliel.
 * 170)  Standing  next to har  in  the image was was Gabriel's father Jash- en,  son of Chief Wanica. 'There  he is,'  said  Michael.  'Jashen.   The original Shy Bear. Made, not  Begot- ten. Until recently he was the  only B'nei  Elohim Made since the  Fallen Angels were exiled from Salem.
 * 171)  Gabriel  pled for  mercy,  and confessed  taking his friends  under the  altar to see the Avatar. 'Be at peace," Michael said. 'Do you  think Kimberly  and Sofia experienced  the Change contrary to my will?' Je- rry  shook hez head no. Michael  was sat- isfied with hez response.
 * 172)  Michael saw that one  wall  of the office was covered with a  large tri-state  map  and hy stood  up  to approach  it.  'Kim and  Sofie  have been held in a camp here,' hy  said, pointing  to  a place  northeast  of Cody. 'Not tonight, but on the  fol- lowing  night,  they  will   escape.
 * 173)  'They will hide on  a  freight train.  By the time that train makes its first stop here, in Powell, they will  be  unconscious.  You,  Peter, must  be  waiting for the  girls  at 2:04 AM with your warm station wagon filled  with warm blankets and  warm chicken broth in a Thermos.
 * 174)  Michael  turned to  glance  at Gabriel  and Dory.  'Not to  mention the  bodies  of  two  warm  friends.  Otherwise Kim and Sofie will die  of exposure somewhere in the  mountains south of Billings, Montana.' Michael turned  to Jerry and said, 'Put  the coin on Peter's desk.'
 * 175) Gabriel did the trick with  his left  hand and set a half-dollar  on the  tabletop. Michael  was  already shaking  hyz head. 'Not a copy,  Ga- briel,  the  original."   Chastened, Gabriel   repeated  the  move   with  his right  hand.  Then Michael  said  to Peter, 'Present the Golden Gift.'
 * 176)  To obey his lord, the  Prophet had  to overcome his deep  habit  to keep  it  concealed. It  was  hiding behind books  on  a  shelf.   Momen- tarily   a golden   bladeless  knife hilt was  on the  desk. Peter asked, 'Lord   Michael,   is the  relic  to pass out of my hands at this time?'
 * 177) Peter said he fully understood.  It  is  sacred,  yet he gave it   to  Erik  to honeycomb the  mountain,  a truly impious use. 'That was   actu- ally a good deed, Peter. Be in  good spirits. Remember that I desire mer- cy  and  not  a  sacrifice.  Prophet Lange would have done the same.
 * 178)  '  But  the time  is   quickly  approaching   when only  young   Ga- briel  can  keep it  safe.'  Gabriel took  that remark as  a  cue to lift the  Golden  Gift from  the desk top and place it  securely  in the  lit- tle hidden  space- time pocket  that was always next to him.
 * 179)  Michael said to  Gabriel,  'To Chief  Wanica  this was  the  Golden Gift, but to you it is the Macro and now I do have rules. Use it only  at need. That makes you solely  respon- sible  for the Last  Rite,  Gabriel, but  only for as long as the  Temple is in the hands of the Church.
 * 180) 'And that will be true only for two  more months. Make no copies  of the Macro until you see the Abomina- tion  of Desolation has defiled  the very  altar.  After that,  when  the temple  has  been  destroyed,  every living  soul among the B'nei  Elohim are to receive a Macro.'
 * 181) Dory wondered aloud  where  she fit  in.  Michael said, 'You  are  a driver  now, so you will  share  the wheel  with Peter. And gas money  is not an issue" He dropped a  thousand in twenties on the desk. Dory picked up  two of the bills and  looked  at them closely.
 * 182)  Dory noted that they  all  had different   serial  numbers.   These bills were  not copies   like   Jer- ry's   fifty    cent  pieces.   'I'm richer than God, Dory.  I could drop a  hundred million  dollars on  your little town, but then a cup  of cof- fee would run  you  fifty bucks.
 * 183) 'Peter, your country is at  war along  with  most of the  world,  so there's  strict gasoline  rationing, but  you're a member of the  clergy.  The  X sticker on your woodie  gives you permission to buy unlimited sup- plies  just like any fireman or  cop or  congress- man in Washington  DC.
 * 184)  'There are many  more  details but all of you are Academy  trained.  I'm  certain  you will  reason  them out. Go save your friends.' A  care- fully-shaped  Einstein-Rosen  bridge took just Michael and his chair away with  a  loud pop.  Dory  and  Jerry scooted together in the new space.
 * 185) The girls could see the  clinic was one of hundreds of long  single- story sixplexes with tarpaper walls, each  one  surrounded  by   drainage ditches crossed by gangplanks.  Some had their interiors lit. Sofie want- ed  to knock on a door  begging  for help but Kim shook her head.
 * 186) Instead Kim chose a  greenhouse that was empty but locked. She  qui- etly told her friend, 'We have  spe- cial talents now just like Jerry and Dory do. You can break anything  you touch. So break that padlock.' Sofie didn't  believe  her, but  the  lock broke in her hands anyway.
 * 187) 'How do you like them  apples?' Sofie husked. 'If I knew I could  do that  we'd a left that hellhole  any time we wanted.' Kim shook her  head again and explained it was an  elec- tric lock, so  if Sofie  broke   it,  they'd  still be in the clinic.  'So how did you get us out of there?'
 * 188)  'I'll explain when we get  in- side.'  Sofie was disappointed  that the greenhouse was cold. There was a vegetable  garden  inside,  but  the glass  only kept away the  snow  and wind.  Kim seated  herself,  plugged one end of the Purple Cable into her head, and offered Sofie the other.
 * 189)  The D shape of  the  connector ends  meant they could only  go  to- gether  the  intended  way.  In  the first  Sharing by two B'nei  Elohim, Sofie  replayed Kim's  memories  and learned how the winning door  combi- nation  appeared  in Kim's  mind  as soon as she started punching out.
 * 190) After that, Kim's mind  latched onto a much more elaborate  scenario for  getting out of  the  internment camp. Sofie could see that also,  in all  its absurd glory. In  just  one half  hour they would be  discovered by  the fellow who  maintained  this greenhouse, one George Kaneko.
 * 191)  Mr. Kaneko's initial anger  at finding Kim and Sofie hiding in  his garden would fade to pity when  they told  him  that they had  been  held prisoner  in the clinic since  June.  Not even the first wartime internees arrived until August. And the  girls would learn three new words.
 * 192)  Mr. Kaneko's parents were  is- sei.  They had been born  in  Japan, but immigrated to America. Mr. Kane- ko himself was nisei. The US was the only  country  he  had  known,   yet George,  his parents, his  wife  and even his three sansei (or third gen- eration) daughters were in the camp.
 * 193)  The extended family of  George Kaneko, through hard work, had  made a  good  life  on  their  Washington State  strawberry farm. But  in  the confusing  legal  tangle  after  the internment  was announced they  were tricked  into selling their land  to whites for pennies on the dollar.
 * 194)  Now  the  Kaneko  family   was forced  to crowd into a  single-room in  barracks, lit by a single  bulb.  They  had to shit, shower and  shave with  other  families  in  community facilities  with no  partitions  for privacy,  and eat in a  common  mess hall that served the whole block.
 * 195)  This happened out of  fear  in the  wake of Pearl Harbor,  and  Kim would   remind  Sofie   how   Tolson bragged  of  making it come  to  be.  Sofie  would ask Mr. Kaneko  if  his daughters had any clothing to spare, but he would say they were too young to have anything that would fit her.
 * 196)  Instead Mr. Kaneko would  give them spare garments of his own, even shoes  and  jackets, and  when  they were  captured,  as he  was  certain they would be, they could claim they stole them from the greenhouse.  And Kim would ask why he was so  certain they would not escape the camp.
 * 197)  Mr. Kaneko would bring up  the barbed-wire  fence that began to  go up  in October and was  nearly  com- plete, much to the bewilderment  and dismay of the Japanese-Americans  in the  camp who thought their  perfect acquiescence to the internment would prove their loyalty to America.
 * 198)  He would say the only  gap  in the fence was along the west side of the  camp away from the  train  sta- tion.  It was guarded by two  towers with  high-power  searchlights,  and soldiers  on horseback to  run  down any who made it through. Seven less- er-equipped towers guarded the rest.
 * 199)  Nevertheless,  Kim  and  Sofie would  thank  Mr.  Kaneko  for   the clothing, leave his greenhouse,  and make  for the fence along the  train tracks, choosing a section  equidis- tant between two guard towers.  They would  be  spotted but none  of  the guards would shoot right away.
 * 200)  Sofie,  by simply  touching  a lamp post, would take out the  light overhead  by  remotely  pulling  the wires. After that, she would  merely touch a fence post to snap it off at the  base.  The fence  would  dangle suspended  by the two nearest  posts permitting the girls to roll under.
 * 201) The guards would begin  firing, but  none  would score hits  in  the darkness  as the girls ran  for  the tracks.  There they would  find  the manual  turnout switch used to  move trains onto the siding to unload new internees for the camp. Sofie  would break the metal left/right sign.
 * 202)  With  the reflective  sign  no longer  indicating the  position  of the switch Sofie would throw a lever to divert traffic to the siding just before  the next train arrived in  a ridiculously  opportune  coincidence that would say much more about Kim's new sense of timing than luck.
 * 203)  The train would veer onto  the side track as expected, and the  en- gineer would apply the brakes with a will,  causing an empty gondola  car to stop right in front of the  girls just  long enough for them to  climb inside  and get out of  sight.  Then the train would go into reverse.
 * 204) When the train was entirely  on the  main  line again  the  engineer would  manually move the shunt  from left  to right. The guards  couldn't leave  their posts and would  report the  fence breach by telephone.  The train  would resume its voyage  east before anyone knew one had stopped.
 * 205) That, in any event, was the es- cape scenario Kim had foreseen,  but the  half-hour  was up.  Mr.  Kaneko turned  the  lights  on  within  his greenhouse, and it was time for  the girls  to carry out  everything  Kim had  daydreamed to the  last  detail without a single deviation.
 * 206) The freight train between  Cody and  Billings was not  scheduled  to make  a stop in Powell but  on  this occasion  the  engineer  stopped  to phone  in  the broken light  at  the Heart Mountain internment camp. That gave the friends of Kim and Sofie  a very brief window to save them.
 * 207) The train was a half mile  long and  nobody knew exactly  which  car the  girls had chosen to  stow  away on. The last image Dory recieved was the  kind of rolling stock  with  an open top, about half the height of a box  car. The girls themselves  were unconscious from exposure.
 * 208) Peter drove beside the  motion- less train for a quarter mile before reaching  the first run  of  gondola cars.  Everyone got out of the  sta- tion  wagon and began calling  Sofie and  Kim by name but no heads  poked over the sides of the cars.  Gabriel used handrails to climb one of them.
 * 209)  Gabriel didn't see the  girls, he  saw a railcar filled with  inch- thick  sheets  of steel  stacked  to within a foot and a half of the top.  Same with the next car back. But the car after that had two piles of rags huddled against the front wall  that could have been Kim and Sofie.
 * 210)  Gabriel climbed back down  and pointed at the correct gondola  car.  'They're in that one!' he told Dory, sprinting toward it. He hoped he was right. There was only the light of a waxing gibbous moon for him to  see.  Then disaster struck: the train  be- gan to move once again.
 * 211) Instantly Gabriel had the relic that Michael called the Macro in his hand. He squeezed it until the hiss- ing shaft, pitch black on near black in  the night, reached  its  maximum extension  of about ten feet. If  he squeezed  harder it would  begin  to retract as a shield or dome.
 * 212) When the railcar containing the girls approached, Gabriel swiped the active Macro effect through the cou- pling.  This  caused  an   inch-wide swath  of  steel to  disappear.  The half of the train with a  locomotive continued  to accelerate, while  the rear half began to slow to a halt.
 * 213) Peter moved his vehicle in  re- verse  to  follow the  part  of  the train  that was left  behind,  while Gabriel  and Dory followed on  foot.  Dory  felt a great sense of  relief.  No matter what happened now, Kim and Sofie  were  not on a  one-way  trip into eternity by way of the Rockies.
 * 214) When the rear half of the train rolled  to a complete  stop  Gabriel told  Dory to get up there and  make sure it really was the girls he saw.  Dory climbed to the top, saw it  was indeed Kim and Sofie, and burst into tears from the raw emotion of seeing them again after so long.
 * 215)  'I'm  going  to  cut  them   a slide,' Gabriel said, and he let the Macro bite into the lip of the  open gondola  car.  'You're  too  close,' Dory  warned.  'You'll  slice  their feet.'  The front half of the  train was slowing to a stop. The  engineer realized something was wrong.
 * 216) Gabriel put another nick  about two  feet aft of the first  one  and Dory told him that was better. So he made a cut about three feet wide and danced out of the way as the wall of the  gondola car and tons  of  steel spilled to the ground. The chute was as smooth as a mirror.
 * 217) Peter Twofeathers joined Gabri- el,  ready to catch the  girls  when they  came  down  the  slide.   Dory dragged Kim to the cut first and let her go. Kim was wrapped in  blankets and a man's clothing. Not so much as a  single atom of iron was  sticking its head up to impede her drop.
 * 218)  Dory waited for Peter and  Ga- briel  to pile Kim into the  station wagon  before dragging Sofie to  the slide. She could see two flashlights dancing  a thousand feet away.   The crewmen from the caboose were  walk- ing  toward them to investigate  why the train had been snapped in two.
 * 219)  When  Peter and  Gabriel  were ready  Dory  pushed  Sofie  off  the railcar  into  their  waiting  arms.  Dory   refused to  just  slide  down after her. After everyone was in the car Peter drove perpendicular to the tracks so the  men with  flashlights wouldn't  see  the plates.
 * 220) Gabriel saw that Kim was  wear- ing some short fellow's clothes  and flannel coat under a blanket and she looked  for  all the  world  like  a homeless bum, but everything smelled clean. The car stank worse than Kim- berly did. Che dug to reach skin and found she was dangerously cold.
 * 221) 'No wonder they nearly froze to death,'  Dory said. 'There was  only  a  foot of steel  between  them  and sixty  miles  an  hour  of  November wind, at two in the AM, in  Wyoming.  Poor   Kim.  Poor    Sofie.'   Sofie stirred awake under Dory's ministra- tions and said she was Hunky now.
 * 222)   Dory was  confused.  'They'll  never stop  looking for us,'   Hunky  explained.   'We decided  to  change our  names. Kim is  Robyn now.'  Ga- briel still had  a Robyn,  on    his hands. Skin  to skin, Dory told him.  that's   the secret to  it.  Gabriel didn't need much convincing of that.
 * 223)   Peter  said  naming   herself Hunky  Krause wouldn't hide her from the  FBI.  'Just Hunky,'  she  said.  'One name.' Dory thought  Hunky-Dory was  cute.  'And I want   a   secret code name just like in the  Galaxy's Fall trilogy,' Hunky went on.  'Call me Sabotage. I can break things.'
 * 224)  The  way  home  doubled   back southwest. As Peter was driving past the   Heart  Mountain   camp   Robyn stirred to life, as if sensitive  to the  mere  proximity of  her  former prison. Luxuriating in the attention Gabriel lavished on her she  purred, 'I like this afterlife.'
 * 225) South and east of Cody lies the Big Horn Hot Springs, which is  sort of  little  brother  to  Yellowstone Park.  There's even a herd of  bison who  stick around for the  free  ea- tins. The health benefits were  real but  wartime gas rationing  took  an equally healthy bite on tourism.
 * 226)  So  when a  clergyman  of  the Church of Green Dome arrived in town with four young adults, an X  ration sticker on his windshield, and  more than  nine hundred dollars in  cash, it  took  very little time  to  find four rooms clustered around a  small private pool running a toasty 104F.
 * 227)  Hunky and Dory sat  close  to- gether  playing  footsie  under  the milky  water. Robyn and Gabriel  sat across from the girls and Peter  was between them. Gabriel wondered aloud if  stopping there was  safe.  Robyn nodded.  'Tolson  probably  knew  we were gone but it was dark.
 * 228)  'By the time we were in  Cody, Tolson was searching around the camp for two dead girls in hospital gowns and stolen blankets. I reckon  about right now he's trying to make  heads and tails of that damaged rail  car.  That we might be staying here hasn't entered his wildest imaginings.'
 * 229) An air bubble the width of  the pool  surfaced, broke, and  suddenly everyone was soaking in fizzy water.  The head of a sixth person  surfaced and  the kids instinctively knew  it was  Michael, even Hunky and  Robyn, who  had never met hym before.  They all stood up in the water.
 * 230)  Michael told them to sit  back down,  and requested that  Dory  and Sofie  remain  untangled  until  his audience  was  over.  'Lord,   we've agreed  to  use  Hunky  for  Sofie's name,'  said Dory as she  sank  back into the water. 'And Kim is  'Robyn' now. They're both wanted women.'
 * 231) 'Yes you are,' agreed  Michael.  'Robyn,  did you tell  your  friends how long Tolson will be looking  for you?' When she told them it would be for  the next thirty years, and  end only when he died, it brought a wail of  despair from Hunky, and  Michael turned hyz attention to her.
 * 232)  'Hello  Hunky.  Robyn  already knows  me because she  can  remember the future, and I met Gabriel, Dory, and Peter while you were still  cap- tive, but we've not met. Please tell us what you already know about  me.' She  said she knew he was named  Mi- chael in the Green Book.
 * 233)  'How I know that I  can't  ex- plain.  I suppose it's part of  this change I signed up for when I let my finger  be skewered up on  the  hill after Robyn went first. I know  you- 're  the best fit for what we  think of when we think of God, and I  know it's not a very good fit at all.'
 * 234)  I know your real body  is  the sun,  and you share that  body  with Binah.  And I know those things  be- cause now I realize the book is true after  all.' Michael shook hyz  head with  rue. 'I wanted to see what  it be  like if my holy book  was  about things that really did happen.'
 * 235)   Peter  Twofeathers  came   to Hunky's defense here. 'I think  when people read the stories in the Bible of  talking snakes and talking  don- keys, then another story in  another ancient  book with  talking  animals rings true. I'm speaking of  Aesop's story of the boy who cried wolf.'
 * 236)  Michael laughed  because  what Peter said was true and hy had never thought  of it that way.  Of  course Hunky  and  Robyn  would  think  the Green  Book was filled  with  poetry and parables and allegory after  be- ing told many passages of the  Bible were written in a similar mode.
 * 237) 'Lord,' ventured Gabriel,  'may you not think it impertinent to ask, but  when you appeared in  the  pool just  now it made me think  of  when you  took me and Dory to the top  of Green  Dome in a moment.  Why  could you not have gone to the camp  your- self and brought our friends home?'
 * 238) 'You're Begotten, Gabriel. Your family  helped you discover you  are the  Magician. But the Made  are  on their own. Without a crisis to over- come Hunky wouldn't be Sabotage, she would  just think she  was  unlucky.  Robyn  wouldn't  be  the  Seer,  she would just think she was crazy.
 * 239) And now here you are, safely at point B after escaping from point A, bathing  in milky water that  smells like brimstone, but not to get clean I imagine.' Peter said the water was imagined  to have  health  benefits, but mainly they just didn't want  to spend another night in the car.
 * 240) 'What awaits at point Z, Lord?' asked  Dory. 'Will you say  why  the B'nei  Elohim exist, and why we  can do  the things we do?' Michael  said she already knew the ancient contro- versy.   He and Binah  were  blocked from  communicating with any   eloah on the other side  of  his parents.
 * 241)   But Michael said  they  could listen,  and  a year prior something big  happened. He asked if  she  had ever  heard  Ma  Pekins?'  'Land  o' Goshen, Lord,  there ain't  a   hull lot   of   folks  never  heard  Ma.' Michael  saw that she and, and  said so too has the eloah named Gevurah.
 * 242)  'Oh, that is  wonderful  news, Lord.  That means you've won!'  'No, Dory, what it means is that for  the eleventh time in history, the commu- nity of elohim has received  signals from  planet-dwellers.  But  Gevurah only  has a direction to Earth,  not the distance. That comes later.
 * 243) Soon other elohim will pick  up broadcasts  from Earth  and  realize you  are not out of reach.  Ein  Sof will  have  found  the  Students  at last! And they will wonder how I can be  a  stable yellow  sun  in  their midst  yet remain  unquickened,  and things will grow sticky for Keter.
 * 244) 'Meanwhile all the elohim  lis- ten  with  rapt  attention  to   the  first soap opera, sponsored by  Oxy- dol,  the whiter,  whiter soap,  and they  fail to  understand one  word.  But  the broadcasts came from  1933, so I know who Gevurah must be.   Hu- mans know him as Sirius.'
 * 245) Gabriel wondered aloud if   the elohim   will be coming to visit  by and  by. Michael said,  'They   will send   avatars,  Gabriel,  like  re- mote-controlled  rockets,  but  only as flybys. After it gets a cer- tain distance  from an eloah the link  is too thin to pass any propellant.
 * 246)  So  to finally  answer  Dory's question,  starting from right  here at point B, you're going to help  me catch one of those incoming  avatars at  point Z and bring it inside  my- self.  And that will not be easy  at all, because they will be moving  at seven-tenths of light-speed.
 * 247) And none of this can be  forced upon you because all of this, all of human  history, in fact, is  nothing more  than the greatest  love  story never told: overcoming every artifi- cial  barrier  Keter  and  Daat  and Chesed  can  throw up to  block  the wedding of elohim and humanity.'
 * 248) When che heard these words  Ga- briel swam out around Peter to  face Robyn,  stood up tall to  brace  his courage, looked her in the eyes, and said,  'From the day we  became  lab partners in school I loved you.  Ev- ery day you were gone and only  Dory could reach you it tore me apart.
 * 249)  Then Michael said we  had  one narrow chance to save your life  and I couldn't sleep for a minute  until I saw you again, and when I did  you were  frozen half to death  on  that stack of steel. It was a life chang- ing  moment, Robyn. I want to  spend the rest of my life with you.'
 * 250) Robyn waded out to face Gabriel and  took each of hez hands  in  her own.  'And I love you too,  Gabriel.  It's  true. I loved you  even  after that time at Lake 13 and your lesson on   nephilim  biology.  But   we're Church  of Green Dome and  you  know there's  rules. Dory  is  for you.'
 * 251)  'Whoa,' said  Hunky,  clearing her  throat and wading out a  little bit too. 'I know the scripture  says never put God to the test but here's a much smaller love story than human history,  Lord,  with  much  smaller artificial  barriers. If  you  can't fix this I won't take your job.'
 * 252)  All eyes turned to  Dory,  who nodded  her head. She said  she  was with Hunky  on this,  Robyn becoming Mrs.  Gabriel Shybear was point  C.'  Michael   said, 'Why not?  I   never  set down mandatory  cousin-marriage.  That  was  Mark Lange.'   But  Peter guessed it would  split  the Church.
 * 253) 'I know it will, Peter, and the external  reality will finally  con- form  with  the  internal  reality.' Peter tried to shine a good light on it. 'Once the nomadic people of  the plains had to choose between  remov- ing to the reservations or starving.  The Church was a third way.'
 * 254) 'We can still save something of the  Church,' said  Michael.  'We'll move  the remnant to another  place.  For  now,  Peter, take  these  young people  to Headwater  and   announce  the  betrothal:  Gabriel  to Kimber- ly.   The important thing is not  to use her new name of Robyn.'
 * 255)  Peter bowed his head and   ac- knowledged  Michael.  The   decision  having been made, Robyn slipped into a  daydream  of  consequences.  'Oh, poor  Gabriel.   Poor me!'   Michael  asked  if Robyn, seeing that,  would still  marry hem.  But she was  con- fused on that very point.
 * 256)  She couldn't see how the  wed- ding  would  happen with  her  being dead.  Michael  did  a  little  hand wave.  'Dead? A temporary  inconven- ience.  Remember in the  Green  Book how Yeshua was wiped off the face of the Earth but now he's good as  new?  You don't think I can do it again?'
 * 257)  Robyn begged  forgiveness  for her unbelief. 'Come this  December,' said  Michael, 'you will be  wed  to Gabriel.  Yeshua himself  will  pre- side,  with  Peter  and  Jaroah  and Hunky and Dory attending. The  cere- mony will be in Nyduly Wood. A match made in Heaven, as they say.
 * 258)  'As for you, Peter,  and  your wife,  I'll ask you to stay in  Haa- retz. The Church will not long  sur- vive this wedding, I'm sorry to say.  You  should be prepared to  transfer the  office of Prophet to  Robyn  on the day you announce the happy  tid- ings.  Some will not be so happy.'
 * 259)  Gabriel  said, 'I want  to  go back  to  the part where  you  said, poor  Gabriel. What does that  mean, Robyn?'  She  looked at  Michael  as though  seeking permission,  but  hy refused  to answer yea or  nay.  She told him there would be an effort to dissuade hem from marrying her.
 * 260) 'Also they'll want you to  hand over  the Macro. In the first  case, we'll already be married, and in the second case...' She shrugged.  'You- 're  B'nei Elohim, Gabriel.  They'll try to persuade you with a bullwhip, but  as you already know we  can  be quite stubborn.'