Gene Wolfe - CALDE OF THE LONG SUN

_human_ terms. It's there averred that devils do not often dare to

personate the gods for _that very reason_, while the immortal gods, for

their part, _never_ stoop to personating devils."

"Hoinbuss," Auk said. The man with the injured arm was circling

the fire. Changing the subject, Auk asked, "That's our talus, ain't it?

The soldiers got it?"

The unfamiliar voice said, "That's right, we got it."

Auk turned. There was a soldier squatting behind him.

"I'm Auk," Auk said; he had reintroduced himself to Chenille with

the same words, he remembered, before whatever had happened

had happened. He offered his hand.

"Corporal Hammerstone, Auk." The soldier's grip stopped just

short of breaking bones.

"Pleased." Auk tried to stand, and would have fallen if Hammerstone

had not caught him. "Guess I'm still not right."

"I'm a little rocky myself, trooper."

"Dace and _that young woman_ have been after me to have

Corporal Hammerstdne carry you, my son. I've _resisted_ their

importunities for his sake. He would _gladly_ do it if I asked. He and I

are the _best of friends_."

"More than friends," Hammerstone told Auk; there was no hint of

humor in his voice. "More than brothers."

"He would do _anything_ for me. I'm tempted to _demonstrate_ that,

though I refrain. I prefer you to think about it for a while, always

with some element of _doubt_. Perhaps I'm teasing you, merely

_blustering_. What do you think?"

Auk shook his head. "What I think don't matter.

"Exactly. Because you _thought_ that you could throw me from that

filthy little boat with _impunity_. That I'd _drown_, and you would be

well rid of me. We see _now_, don't we, how _misconceived_ that was.

You have fodeited any right to have your opinions heard with the

_slightest_ respect."

Chenille strode out of the darkness carrying a long weapon with a

cylindrical magazine. "Can you walk now, Hackum? We've been

waiting for you."

From his perch on the barrel, Oreb added, "All right?"

"Pretty soon," Auk told them. "What's that you got?"

"A launcher gun." Chenille grounded it. "This is what did for our

talus, or that's what we think. Stony showed me how to shoot it.

You can look, but don't touch."

Although pain prevented Auk from enjoying the joke, he managed,

"Not till I pay, huh?"

She grinned wickedly, making him feel better. "Maybe not even

then. Listen here, Patera. You too, Stony. Can I tell all of you what

I've been thinking?"

"Smart girl!" Oreb assured them.

Incus nodded; Auk shrugged and said, "I'm not getting up for a

while yet. C'mere, bird."

Oreb hopped onto his shoulder. "Bad hole!"

Chenille nodded. "He's right. We heard some real funny noises

while I was back there looking for something to shoot, and there's

probably more soldiers farther on. There's more lights up that way

too though, and that might help."

Hammerstone said, "Not if we want to dodge their patrols."

"I guess not. But the thing is, Oreb could say what he did about

anyplace down here, and he wouldn't be wrong. Auk, what I was

going to tell you is I used to have a cute little dagger that I strapped

onto my leg. It had a blade about as long as my foot, and I thought it

was just right. I thought your knife or your needler or whatever

should fit you, like shoes. You know what I'm saying?"

He did not, but he nodded nevertheless.

"Remember when I was Scylla?"

"It's whether you remember. That's what I want to know."

"I do a little bit. I remember being Kypris, too, maybe a little

better. You didn't know about that, did you, Patera? I was. I was

them, but underneath I was still me. I think it's like a donkey feels

when somebody rides him. He's still him, Snail or whatever his

name is, but he's you, too, going where you want to and doing what

you want to do. And ifhe doesn't want to, he gets kicked till he does

it anyhow."

Oreb cocked his head sympathetically. "Poor girl!"

"So pretty soon he gives up. Kick him and he goes, pull up and

he stops, not paying a lot of attention either way. It was like that

with me. I wanted rust really bad, and I kept thinking about it

and how shaggy tired I was. And all at once it was like I'd been

dreaming. I was in a manteion in Limna, then up on an altar in a

cave and fit for sod. And I didn't remember anything. or if I did I

wouldn't think about it. But when I was bumping out to the

shrine, up on those high rocks, stuff started coming back. About

being Kypris, I mean."

Incus sighed. "_Scylla_ mentioned it, my daughter, so I did know.

Sharing your _body_ with the _goddess of love!_ How I _envy_ you!

It must have been _wonderful!_"

"I guess it was. It wasn't nice. It wasn't fun at all. But the more I

think, the more I think it really was wonderful in a abram sort of

way. I'm not exactly like I used to be, either. I think when they left,

the goddesses must have left some crumbs behind, and maybe they

took some with them, too."

She picked up the launcher, running her fingers along the pins

protruding from its magazine. "What I started to say was that after

the talus got hit I saw I'd been wrong about things fitting, my dagger

and all that. This stuff isn't really like shoes at all. The smaller

somebody is, the bigger a shiv she needs. Scylla left that behind, I

think, or maybe something I could use to see it myself.

"Anyway, Auk here plucks a dimber needler, but I doubt he

needs it much. If I lived the way he does, and I chose to do, I'd need

it just about every day. So I found this launcher gun, and it's bigger.

It was empty, but I found another one with the barrel flat where the

talus had gone over it, and it was full. Stony showed me how you

load and unload them."

Auk said, "I think I'll get something myself, a slug gun, anyhow.

There's probably a bunch of 'em lying around."

Incus shook his head and reached for Auk's waist. "You'd better

allow me to take your needler this time, my son."

At once Auk's arms were pinned from behind by a grip that was

quite literally of steel.

With evident distaste, Incus lifted the front of Auk's tunic and

took his needler from his waistband. "This wouldn't harm Corporal

Hammerstone, but it would _kill_ me, I suppose." He gave Auk a

toothy smile. "Or _you_, my son."

"No shoot," Oreb muttered; it was a moment or two before Auk

understood that he was addressing Chenille.

"If you see him with a _slug gun_, Corporal, you're to take it from

him and break it _immediately_. A slug gun or any other such

weapon."

"_Ahoy! Ahoy there!_" The old fisherman was shouting and waving,

silhouetted by orange flames from the burning talus. "_He says he's

dyin'! Wants to talk to us!_"

Silk lifted himself until he could sit almost comfortably upon the

turret, then waved both hands. His face was smeared with the mud

of the storm, mud that was cracking and falling away now; the gaudy

tunic that Doctor Crane had brought him in Limna was daubed with

mud as well, and he wondered how many of those who waved and

cheered and jumped and shouted around the floater actually

recognized him.

_SILK FOR CALDE!_

_SILK FOR CALDE!_

Was there really to be a calde again, and was this new calde to be

himself? Calde was a title that his mother had mentioned occasionally,

a carved head in her closet.

He looked up Sun Street, then stared. That was, surely, the