by Chris Angus
“Perhaps you’re right,” said Ryan. “What have we got to lose?”
“Maybe a hell of a lot,” said Sam. “Our lives, to begin with. It’s a horrific decision, Ryan, to take half a dozen souls down there again. For no better reason than to pray. What’s wrong with praying on the surface, for heaven’s sake? I thought the whole point of prayer was that it worked anywhere—because God is everywhere.”
“Sometimes,” said Wormer, “God likes to see a little effort on the part of his supplicants. He likes us to pray in church, for example, or to go on pilgrimages and the like. It’s a show of faith.”
“I’ve already been responsible for the deaths of a dozen policemen beneath Laki,” said Sam. “Laki was once the focus of my entire professional life. Now, I see it in a completely different light. It simply frightens me to contemplate going underground again. If you’d been there, it would scare you too, Cardinal.”
Wormer gave her the self-righteous smile he bestowed upon all poor nonbelievers. “God will not forsake us,” he said.
Ryan said, “What the hell, Sam. Maybe the Cardinal’s right. Hasn’t Laki always shown us the way out of that underground maze so far? If he wanted to destroy us, he’s had ample opportunity to do so.”
She looked at him. “He showed you and me the way out, if you want to put it that way. He didn’t show Dagursson’s men the way in time to save their lives. He didn’t show Akbari. And look what happened to Amma and all the others in that cave down there. Do you really want to risk spending eternity glued to a wall like them? For what? To pray? You’re asking a lot from a barely reformed atheist.”
“Your efforts will be doomed to failure,” the Cardinal warned, “If you plan to pray to some Viking, heathen god. You must pray to the one true God.”
“Must be nice to have utter certainty who that is,” said Sam archly.
Ryan shrugged. “I can’t argue with what you’re saying, Sam. But if we’ve come around to even contemplating the existence of some sort of deity on this volcano, then I think we must also contemplate a non-scientific approach. Irrational as prayer may seem to a scientist, it’s really all we have left.”
Sam’s emotions played openly across her face. She was wracked with indecision. But the disappearance of the Southern Ocean was a clear sign they were operating on a new plane. The planet had begun to disappear. In the face of that, how could the potential risks not be worth the effort?
“All right,” she said in a resigned voice. “I always wondered if I’d stand by my principles when faced with death and not go running off to church begging for salvation. None of us atheists ever know for sure what we’ll do until that time comes. But I suppose we’ll go. I just hope Laki doesn’t suspect me of being insincere when the time comes.”
***
It took half an hour to convince Dagursson of their plan. He wasn’t a happy camper, but he gradually came to accept that with Ryan lined up against him, he wasn’t going to be able to single-handedly beat a dozen cardinals into submission. Still, he insisted that Wormer select only the four physically strongest of his people to go underground. The rest could continue their prayers from the rim.
Meanwhile, Laki was beginning to show signs of not waiting around for anyone, delegation or no. Carlisle’s scientists had detected something rising in the magma chamber.
“What is it?” Ryan asked, staring at a series of computer-generated graphs that clearly showed something expanding far below.
“We haven’t been able to analyze it,” said one of Carlisle’s whiz kids. “Doesn’t seem to profile like magma, but we can chart its movement all right. Our projection is it’ll reach the surface in twelve to fourteen hours if it maintains its current rate of expansion.”
“Terrific. Another timetable,” Ryan said. “We barely beat the one for Rashid’s little toy. I don’t like our chances the second time around.”
They gathered at the venthole opening that Sam had used to lead the others out of the subterranean maelstrom. Barring any new tunnel collapses, it would offer the quickest route back to the hole and Amma.
Sam tried to give the cardinals some idea of what to expect. “You’re about to enter a world stranger than anything you’ve encountered before,” she said.
“Stranger than the Vatican?” asked one of the cardinals with a slight smile.
“I should think so,” Sam said, though she acknowledged the humor with a quick smile of her own. “Strange . . . and dangerous. We’ve already seen what might be considered a view into another universe and spoken with an entity that is over a thousand years old.”
The men in robes looked startled at this news. Only Wormer seemed unconcerned. His agenda had more to do with church hierarchy and his own place in it than with inexplicable mysteries.
“There is nothing that will not bend to prayer,” he said piously.
“Right,” said Sam.
She and Ryan would lead the group. Dagursson insisted on coming along to offer extra protection to their elderly charges. Hauptmann was too tired to engage in another long underground adventure. He and Kraus would remain behind. Jon continued to be paranoid and was so frightened he would be of no use to anyone. No scientists would accompany them either. This was not a scientific expedition but rather a roving prayer mission.
As they entered the venthole, an unusual quiet descended. The background din they’d become used to receded. In an eerie way, it was almost as if Laki were welcoming them.
Ryan moved up beside Sam. “I’m having second thoughts about taking them to the hole itself,” he said in a low voice, “given the effect it seems to have on those who are overtly religious. If this group doesn’t qualify, I don’t know who would.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” said Sam. “Wormer wants to pray to his own God. I have no problem with that, but I don’t think they’ll have a clear idea of what they’re dealing with if they don’t actually see the hole . . . see what is at the heart of Laki.”
“All right,” Ryan conceded, a bit dubiously. “We’ll just have to try to keep close tabs on them once we get there. I’ll mention it to Dagursson.” He glanced back at the cardinals. “They’re not the most sprightly bunch. We ought be able to corral any that seem inclined to jump in before they can actually take the leap, like Akbari.”
Sam looked behind them. “I don’t trust Wormer,” she said softly. “There’s something about him that makes me uncomfortable.”
“You mean besides being a pompous ass?”
“Sort of.”
“He does seem pretty wrapped up in himself. I get the sense he’d like nothing better than to take Laki on, to prove it’s a false god.”
“And by doing so, show himself off in the best light to his fellow cardinals,” said Sam.
“Sounds almost political, doesn’t it?”
She looked at him. “You thought that too? Like he’s on a mission, not to quiet the volcanic activity but to promote himself.”
“There are ambitious religious leaders,” Ryan said.
“Most of them, from my experience. Anyway, we can’t forget our own purpose here, which is to try to speak to Laki through Amma, and ask for his help.”
“Talk to a volcano.” He shook his head. “I never could have imagined such a thing a few days ago.”
“You two seem thick as thieves,” said Wormer, moving up beside them. “Anything I should know about?”
“To be honest, Cardinal,” Ryan said, “we’re a little concerned about your group’s reaction when you see some of the more bizarre aspects of this place.”
Wormer looked around. They were moving deeper into the venthole, but so far nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“Place appears normal enough to me,” he said. “If anything, it seems quieter down here than it did on the surface. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. We’re dealing with a natural phenomenon here. Certainly there will be hot spots, maybe even earthquakes, but beyond that, I think you’re exaggerating. I intend to
put this absurd notion of a volcano as deity to rest once and for all.”
There was a sudden rumbling, the first they’d heard since moving underground, almost as though Laki were displeased at the cardinal’s words. For the first time, Sam thought Wormer looked nervous.
“What was that?” he asked.
“Just Laki talking to us,” said Ryan. “Better than an eruption, trust me.”
Wormer turned to his fellow cardinals and said something in Latin. Immediately, they began to chant. Sam saw Wormer moving his own lips silently. She rolled her eyes at Ryan.
The wind began to pick up, indicating they were on course. Dagursson came forward and took Wormer’s place next to Sam and Ryan, as the cardinal fell back with the others.
“We’ve got to watch these characters when we reach the hole,” Ryan said. “God knows what they may be capable of once their prejudices are confronted by the unknown.”
Dagursson nodded. He seemed lost in thought. “I have to say that my own preconceived notions have been shaken more than a little by all of Carlisle’s and Hauptmann’s scientific talk. I don’t know what to think anymore, whether we’re dealing with basic science here or some religious Second Coming. But this place makes my flesh crawl. Until that rumbling we just heard, it’s been a lot quieter than the last time around. What the hell does that signify?”
“Maybe things are subsiding a little,” said Ryan.
As if in response, there was a sudden, loud shriek that made everyone jump.
Over the din, Wormer said, “Mother of God. What was that?”
“Just a gas release,” said Sam, more confidently than she felt. “When pressure releases suddenly, it can make an incredible racket.”
The shrieking went away quickly but was replaced by a distant wailing that went on and on and that Sam recognized as Amma’s distant cry. The wail had a different quality from the one she’d heard before. This seemed more like a cry of despair.
The cardinals showed signs of increasing nervousness at the strange sounds. Unconsciously, they had grouped more closely together. Wormer tried to reassure them, though he seemed tense himself.
“I hope none of them drop dead from a heart attack,” said Dagursson. “My own heart’s beating like a sledgehammer.”
Now the wind was getting very strong, as they neared the boulder that stood opposite the opening in the earth.
“Watch them,” Ryan reminded Sam and Dagursson. “If I had a bloody rope I’d tether our religious fanatics to the boulder, or at least to each other.”
Then they stood before the opening. The wind whistled up from below, the cable-like tentacles throbbing as they disappeared into the depths. The elderly cardinals, with the exception of Wormer, seemed not to possess the strength to approach the hole against the gale.
Wormer fought his way forward with Sam and Dagursson to the edge of the stone wall and peered in. What he saw froze his features into a mask of incredulity.
The swirling stars and galaxies seemed even closer than Ryan remembered. It felt as though he could literally reach out and grab them, and he wondered if this had something to do with the expansion in the magma chamber.
“Look out!” Dagursson suddenly cried.
Ryan felt rather than saw the movement next to him, as the cardinal began to crawl over the edge, and he reacted instantly, grabbing Wormer around the waist.
“Let me go!” Wormer cried. He had one leg on the wall, and he was holding on for all he was worth. It took all of Dagursson’s and Ryan’s strength to haul him off the stone ledge and force him back to the boulder, where they pinned him down.
Once he was freed from staring directly into the maelstrom, Wormer’s strength dissipated, and he slumped to the ground.
“What . . . what was that?” he murmured, as though emerging from a drug-induced high.
“Just your run-of-the-mill natural phenomenon,” said Ryan.
“But I felt . . .” Wormer stared from one of them to the other. “I felt . . . God,” he said. “More intensely than ever before. I wanted to go to Him.”
“Whatever this place is, it seems to have that effect,” said Sam.
“It can’t be,” Wormer said. He seemed to be coming back from the brink of something. “This is false. A blasphemy. I . . . I must confront it.”
He stood up, weaving slightly. Ryan let go of him, but he and Dagursson watched him closely.
“I think it’s time to go see Amma,” Sam said quietly. “If you want answers, Cardinal, that is where you may find them. Though I warn you, you may not like what you hear.”
She led the way down the passage toward Amma. There was no question which way to go. She had merely to follow the wailing, and as they got closer, the crying slowly dissipated. When they finally came face to face with the ancient woman, she had her mouth open. Her face was stretched and elongated like some sort of parody of Edvard Munch’s The Scream.
Wormer and the other cardinals stared at the horrifying sight, as though suddenly set upon by a thunderclap and revelation.
Then Amma’s voice came out of that terrible face. She spoke in Norse, but they could understand her words. And there were only two, repeated over and over.
“Go awaaay,” said Amma. “Go awaaay.”
“This is the Norse woman you spoke of?” Wormer asked softly.
Sam nodded, unable to take her own eyes off the old woman.
“Can I speak to her?”
“You can try.”
“Why are you here?” Wormer asked. His brethren gathered around, anxious to hear what the strange vision would say.
“I am everywhere,” said Amma.
“What do you want?”
“Go awaaay,” said Amma.
Sam looked perplexed. “If you are everywhere,” she said, “How can we ever go away?”
“At least tell us who you are,” said Wormer.
“I am God,” Amma replied.
“Which God? Whose God?” Wormer asked.
“The first God,” came the reply. “Before all others, I was here.”
“What do you want from us?”
There was a long pause before Amma spoke again. “There is nothing you can do for me . . . or for yourselves.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Wormer, his voice growing angry. “You are a false God.”
Ryan moved to Wormer’s side. “What are we seeing when we look into your center?” he asked Amma.
“My universe,” came Laki’s reply.
“The universe?” asked Ryan.
“Not your universe,” said Laki. “My universe.”
“Aren’t they the same?”
Again, Amma seemed to hesitate. “I am not the God of your universe,” she said finally. “I have moved on.”
“But you created us?” asked Sam.
“Yes,” replied the voice of Laki. “I have moved on.”
“I do not believe you are my creator,” said Wormer in an angry voice. “He would not abandon us.”
“I am the only God you will ever know,” said the voice.
“No. I reject you,” said Wormer.
“As I have rejected you,” said Laki. “Go away. Live out your useless lives.”
“I . . . I will denounce you when I am Pope,” Wormer said furiously.
The others all stared at him. He was losing it.
Ryan said, “Can’t you help us? We have caused something we may not be able to undo. You know this. It’s at least partly your fault. In the Southern Ocean, something is destroying our world.”
“Your weapons, your scientific experiments have no significance,” said the voice of Laki. “They have no meaning to my universe.”
“They have to ours,” said Ryan. “The laws of nature guide our investigations.”
“The laws of nature are my own,” said Laki.
“You mean you control them?”
“If you like,” Laki replied.
Suddenly, Wormer leaped at Amma. He began to pull at her chrysalis, ripp
ing it from the wall and throwing it to the ground, where the ancient woman lay, mouth still open.
“You are false!” he cried. “I will destroy you.” He reached for a rock and raised it above his head to smash Amma. Dagursson grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“No,” Wormer pleaded. “I must destroy this evil.”
Amma’s mouth moved. “Do not make him angry,” she said. It was the first time she seemed to speak for herself alone. “Skari made Laki angry, long ago. That is why we are here. Skari could make anyone angry.”
Amma spoke now in a different tone, as though being separated from the passage wall had liberated her somehow.
“I want to understand you,” Wormer said.
“You want a god you can understand?” Ryan asked. “When have humans ever had that?”
“Skari became obsessed with Laki,” said Amma. “Worshiped him, made amulets in his honor, lived beneath the Earth. It was not what Laki wanted.”
Sam knelt beside Amma. Now moving freely, the old woman seemed more human, separate, no longer the voice of God. Sam put one hand behind Amma’s withered back and lifted her into a sitting position.
“What does Laki want if not to be worshiped?” asked Wormer.
“Laki has no use for those who worship him,” said Amma. “It is why he causes them to leap into the void. He prefers those who do not believe in him. That is what free will is all about. You humans . . . are on your own.”
Sam could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Laki . . . God . . . prefers atheists?”
“It is the ultimate affirmation of free will,” said Amma. “Laki does not wish to be worshiped by those who fear him. Those who worship Laki are only interested in their own salvation.”
***
An hour passed, during which they rested, sitting in small groups on the passage floor. The cardinals seemed spiritually exhausted by what they’d seen. Wormer sat apart from them, lost in thought or perhaps prayer.
Dagursson, Sam, and Ryan sprawled next to the seemingly rejuvenated figure of Amma. Sam had tried to clean the sticky substance from the old woman and even attempted to run a small comb through the stringy, gray hair. Then Amma seemed to go to sleep.
