Trent and company left the portal to find themselves in what they immediately decided was the most pleasant dimension yet.
They stood upon an open field of flowers without a building in sight. A clear cold brook flowed down a hill on their right
and there were fruit trees growing wild and bountiful to allow them a good meal.
Trent looked around and laughed as the three frends sat down on a field of soft grass that seemed to grow at a low and
uniform level of its own accord.
"I claima this land for Trent!" He said in a mock-Spanish accent.
"I already called it." Came a rather authoritative voice from within the clouds.
"Oh great, people can fly on this world..." Celia pouted.
"No, not precisely. I don't let people fly, the traffic would be awful. It's bad enough they can fly with their planes
and such." The voice now eminated from the lithe form of a fairly plain woman wearing a white robe. Her brown eyes seemed
bottomless as the abyss, but all three of the wanderers could tell there was indeed something profound at the bottom of those
eyes. The benevolence and patience in the woman's face surpassed even that of Trent's mother, who had bought three consecutive
toasters only to see them all rewired into devices that manufactured less toast than flaming balls of horror.
Celia, ever the perceptive one, was the first to fall to her knees. Matt soon followed, for he recognized the great coffee
giver. Trent alone stood, looking around him incredulously.
"God, I presume?" He ventured.
The woman turned to Trent in amusement and simply nodded. However, she knew Trent's inquisitve nature and before he could
press her she began to answer his questions.
"I'm not your god, I'm simply the god of this reality. You might call me a facet of god. I don't know your fate and I'm
not the one who will judge you at the end of days. I don't have power to shape your destinies as I see fit after you're gone
from here either, but while you're here you'll have as much rest from your toils as I will." She said somewhat evasively.
Celia alone perceived the conditionality of the statement and contemplated it as their host continued.
"You see, the universe, this universe, is entirely under my dominion. But there are whole universes in other folds of reality
that require their own gods. I've got enough trouble with this one. There are others for each of the alternate dimensions,
all of them slightly different. For example, in one dimension I wear bermuda shorts and a cardigan. Now I know my white robes
aren't exactly the pinnacle of fashion but..." She trailed off with a bit of laughter.
"You can't reside entirely on earth, there must be thousands of planets that require the interest of a god if such a being
as you say you are exists." Trent ended this sentence on a high note after a scolding pinch from Celia, which drew yet another
chuckle from the god as she replied.
"There are. More than your science will ever tell you. That's one of the reason I can't be around all the time. There are
a lot of planets and people out there that require my guidance. I can only spend a short time with each, letting them decide
upon a name for me and trying to give them some idea of my laws, before I have to move on..."
Celia looked searchingly over the form of the deity before she dared to utter a sound, looking for any indication that
doing so would displease her. She wasn't nearly as brash as Trent but she couldn't help her desire to speak to this being
who looked so very melancholy in her limited omnipotence.
"God..." She said reverently, waiting for some form of acknowledgement before she began. The figure before her nodded and
beckoned her on with a warm smile.
"I was just going to ask why you saw fit to welcome us. Do deities always greet travelers from other planes or..." She
trailed off, fearing that to ask if they were in some way special might seem too prideful.
"No and no it wouldn't be." The woman before them said kindly. Celia could only blink in confusion. She'd only asked one
question aloud. Her musings were cut off as their new found friend explained her presence.
"I don't suppose it's normal for deities to manifest twice on the same world, but I'm the exception to that rule. I've
been here on earth for some time now. And greeting travelers from other dimensions is one of the greatest joys I find here."
She said as she began to lead the party over to some fruit trees so that they might have a repast while they spoke.
"What made you decide to come down from heaven? Sodomites? Witchcraft? Paganism?" Matt asked curiously.
"No way. Vietnam pissed me off more than any of that stuff. Oh man I still remember how mad Johnson got when I walked into
one of his press conferences. The look on his face when I smited him-- it was priceless!" She said with a laugh that was absent
of malice and yet highly amused.
"So you popped up just to smite Lyndon Johnson?" Trent asked in his usual incredulous manner. Celia could only look on
him somewhat reproachingly, somehow feeling that he wasn't being quite as faithful as he should.
"Naw, a few other people had to get theirs too. After a few more smitings I became somewhat of an icon among the counter
culture. Those were the good days, one of the few rests I've had in several millennia. Now it's different..."
The entire party by now had noticed her somewhat saddened tones in many of her speeches, and even Trent was curious as
to what might be bothering her. In his heart Trent knew that she was the being she claimed to be. His mind was already working
on so many questions regarding spacial laws and relativity but once he noticed her distress human compassion tossed aside
his cold logic and he beat Cecilia to the question that was on all of their minds.
"What's gone wrong since then that you seem so sad?" He asked curiously.
The God, or, as we shall from now on say, Goddess, looked to him as if trying to compose her words properly for a moment,
and then began to explain her unenviable position.
On to Goddess' explanation in CH 20
