Read Online The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari - Free Book Online
Authors: Mark J. Ferrari
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summons didn’t interrupt anything of import.”
“Only boredom, Bright One. They are dull to watch.”
“The boredom you endure magnifies my gratitude. What do you make of them?”
“The boy is certainly bright, but hardly so remarkable as many of his predecessors. The parents seem utterly mundane. Had bitter experience not taught us otherwise, I’d think all this caution wildly excessive.”
“As it would be,” Lucifer conceded, “had our Oppressor less power to complicate even the simplest endeavors. Someday I will catch Him meddling, and make Him pay.” The idea made him smile. “This would be the very wager to force by default!”
“Would it?” Kallaystra asked. “You still haven’t told me what the stakes
are
this time.” She gazed at him inquisitively.
Caught off guard, Lucifer hesitated. He could hardly tell her that if he won she and all of Hell’s other inmates would be eliminated with the rest of Creation.
“I . . . don’t want this widely known, Kallaystra, for I’m testing loyalties; but as your faith is well proven, I’ll trust you with a secret, just between the two of us. Agreed?”
“Of course, Bright One,” she replied, eyes agleam with the delight conspiracy always brought her.
“You’ll remember that little war some time ago, in Heaven. . . . The one we lost.”
“What of it?” she said flatly. It was considered poor manners to mention it.
“Perhaps you’ll forgive me for bringing it up when I tell you that, should I win this wager, the outcome of that contest will be reversed.”
“What?”
she gasped.
“He agreed to this?”
“He did.” Lucifer grinned. “He seems to have grown cocky in His old age.”
“I can’t believe He consented! What can He be thinking?”
“That is precisely what we must discover,” Lucifer cautioned. “He’s surely got an ace hidden somewhere. We need to find it before committing ourselves to anything of consequence.”
“How can I be of service?” she asked, her enthusiasm clearly trebled.
“First, my trusted accomplice, by remembering that
no one else
must knowwhat I have told you,” Lucifer insisted. “When I am elevated to my rightful place in Heaven, proven loyalties will be rewarded; and proven disloyalty as well. Let the others reveal themselves
without
knowing what is at stake. Understand?”
“Rest assured, Bright One, your confidence in me is not misplaced.”
“Had I doubted you in the least, Kallaystra, I would have said nothing at all.”
“I am yours to command.” She fairly bubbled.
“Good. I thought we might start by cultivating a small conundrum for Joby to navigate—just to see what boils up at higher temperatures.” He went to his desk, glanced at Williamson’s report, then smiled at Kallaystra. “Reconnaissance suggests that the boy’s mother possesses a latent tendency toward anxiety, and the father attaches rather a lot of importance to his little boy’s budding masculinity. I thought we might employ your extraordinary skill with dreams to whip these small flaws into a proper froth.”
“Sounds fun.” Kallaystra grinned. “What do you have in mind?”
“Briefly, I want his mother driven to strangle the boy in apron strings, while his father worries that Joby isn’t ‘man enough.’ No matter what the child does, someone disapproves. Think you can manage it?”
“With ease, Bright One. Is that all?”
“Well, if you’re left with time on your hands, you might help me locate a fifth-grade teacher more resonant with our point of view than the one they’ve got at that school of his. Someone with a love of conformity and a severe allergy to imagination.”
“That will not be difficult, Bright One.”
“I won’t keep you then. Go with my profound appreciation.”
“To the triumph so long denied us.” She smiled, then vanished.
“Well . . . to
my
triumph, at any rate,” Lucifer murmured.
He was sure, of course, that she’d leak their little “secret” all
“Only boredom, Bright One. They are dull to watch.”
“The boredom you endure magnifies my gratitude. What do you make of them?”
“The boy is certainly bright, but hardly so remarkable as many of his predecessors. The parents seem utterly mundane. Had bitter experience not taught us otherwise, I’d think all this caution wildly excessive.”
“As it would be,” Lucifer conceded, “had our Oppressor less power to complicate even the simplest endeavors. Someday I will catch Him meddling, and make Him pay.” The idea made him smile. “This would be the very wager to force by default!”
“Would it?” Kallaystra asked. “You still haven’t told me what the stakes
are
this time.” She gazed at him inquisitively.
Caught off guard, Lucifer hesitated. He could hardly tell her that if he won she and all of Hell’s other inmates would be eliminated with the rest of Creation.
“I . . . don’t want this widely known, Kallaystra, for I’m testing loyalties; but as your faith is well proven, I’ll trust you with a secret, just between the two of us. Agreed?”
“Of course, Bright One,” she replied, eyes agleam with the delight conspiracy always brought her.
“You’ll remember that little war some time ago, in Heaven. . . . The one we lost.”
“What of it?” she said flatly. It was considered poor manners to mention it.
“Perhaps you’ll forgive me for bringing it up when I tell you that, should I win this wager, the outcome of that contest will be reversed.”
“What?”
she gasped.
“He agreed to this?”
“He did.” Lucifer grinned. “He seems to have grown cocky in His old age.”
“I can’t believe He consented! What can He be thinking?”
“That is precisely what we must discover,” Lucifer cautioned. “He’s surely got an ace hidden somewhere. We need to find it before committing ourselves to anything of consequence.”
“How can I be of service?” she asked, her enthusiasm clearly trebled.
“First, my trusted accomplice, by remembering that
no one else
must knowwhat I have told you,” Lucifer insisted. “When I am elevated to my rightful place in Heaven, proven loyalties will be rewarded; and proven disloyalty as well. Let the others reveal themselves
without
knowing what is at stake. Understand?”
“Rest assured, Bright One, your confidence in me is not misplaced.”
“Had I doubted you in the least, Kallaystra, I would have said nothing at all.”
“I am yours to command.” She fairly bubbled.
“Good. I thought we might start by cultivating a small conundrum for Joby to navigate—just to see what boils up at higher temperatures.” He went to his desk, glanced at Williamson’s report, then smiled at Kallaystra. “Reconnaissance suggests that the boy’s mother possesses a latent tendency toward anxiety, and the father attaches rather a lot of importance to his little boy’s budding masculinity. I thought we might employ your extraordinary skill with dreams to whip these small flaws into a proper froth.”
“Sounds fun.” Kallaystra grinned. “What do you have in mind?”
“Briefly, I want his mother driven to strangle the boy in apron strings, while his father worries that Joby isn’t ‘man enough.’ No matter what the child does, someone disapproves. Think you can manage it?”
“With ease, Bright One. Is that all?”
“Well, if you’re left with time on your hands, you might help me locate a fifth-grade teacher more resonant with our point of view than the one they’ve got at that school of his. Someone with a love of conformity and a severe allergy to imagination.”
“That will not be difficult, Bright One.”
“I won’t keep you then. Go with my profound appreciation.”
“To the triumph so long denied us.” She smiled, then vanished.
“Well . . . to
my
triumph, at any rate,” Lucifer murmured.
He was sure, of course, that she’d leak their little “secret” all
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