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like it fine—if you believe in him. Do you believe he exists?”
    “I can see him. Why therefore should I doubt?”
    “Do you believe he’s a god?”
    She hesitated for a moment, anxiously reading Wildheit’s eyes, wondering if, against all the odds, this could be some sort of joke. She found no mockery in his face, only a profound sympathy.
    “I believe he is a god,” she said.
    With infinite caution she extended her arm and let her fingers come delicately in contact with the leathery brown deity. As she touched it, she closed her eyes involuntarily, then opened them, in a kind of ecstasy. She remained thus for a couple of minutes, then took her hand away.
    “What did you feel?” asked Wildheit.
    “I felt … music.” Her voice was strangely distant.
    “That’s good! He accepts you.”
    “Why should he accept me?”
    “Because he lives in a multitude of dimensions—all gods have problems of identity. You’ve demonstrated a belief in his existence here and now. That gives him a point of empathy he can use to strengthen his frame of reference.”
    “You’re being very technical.”
    “I’m being practical. Coul needs belief the way you need food. And he’s appreciative when he gets it. When you’re in extreme need, call out to him. If you believe in him enough, could be he’ll find a way to help. Now, what time does the late watch begin?”
    “Soon now. Why?”
    “Dabria has arranged a subterfuge. He dare not appear to approve of your leaving, so he’s arranged to allow us to escape. When the watch changes, I’ll have my weapons back and then we can go. Can you lead me through the city to the bridge over the river?”
    “I think so.”
    “Good! Out in thedesert I have a spaceship. If we can reach that we’ll be safe. But we may have to fight to get there. Stay close to me, and do exactly as I say.”
    As he was speaking he heard a slight noise from the far end of the cellar. Moving to investigate, he found one of the doors ajar, and in a small room beyond this his uniform and equipment had been laid on a table. Dressing as swiftly as he was able, he returned to Roamer.
    “If you’re ready, partner, we’ll go see what Chaos has in store for us.”
    Signaling for her to stand well back, he shattered the heavy door with a single explosive capsule, then fired a shock pellet down the corridor he found beyond. He ducked his head out of the way of the picopulse shock, then signaled for Roamer to follow fast. At the end of the corridor they found two stunned watchmen slumped over a table. Past them was another door and a flight of stairs leading upward which brought them out on the top of a guard wall on the fringes of the city itself.
    “Now which way?”
    “To the left. That way we can avoid the watch-school.”
    The day was closing to a golden dusk, and the streets beneath the wall were largely deserted. A tower in the wall suggested a means of descent and also the presence of more watchmen. Wildheit cleared the entrance with a shock pellet and followed straight through down the spiral stone stairs. At the bottom he surprised two watchmen who were coming to investigate the noise. He dropped one with a hand-blow, and the second fled into another part of the tower presumably to fetch assistance.
    The marshal did not follow him. They now had a clear route into the sandy streets and an urgent need to reach the bridge before too many watchmen could be mustered. The few people they passed among the random houses appeared surprised to see the pair runrun by, but made no attempt to interfere. Soon they found themselves on the edge of the river and in sight of the bridge. Unexpectedly the bell in the gatehouse began to sound a soulful alarm. Other bells set further in the city took up the message and relayed it until the whole evening sky seemed alive with clamorous sounds.

SIX
    WILDHEIT swore, then drew the breathless girl into a recess between two buildings.
    “Is there another bridge,