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What did you get in return for the risks you took by entering intotheir realm?'
" 'Confirmation, Lord,' I said hastily, reaching for the deepesttruth without distortion. 'They knew an Angel when they saw one.
Just as I supposed they would.'
" 'Ah!' A great roar of laughter came from the Heavenly Throneand once again it swept up Heaven, so loud I'm sure that it must havereached the weak and struggling ears of Sheol. The Whole Heavenswere rocking with laughing and singing.
"At first I didn't dare to speak or do anything, and then suddenly,angrily perhaps, or should I say, willfully, I raised my hand. 'But Imean this in all seriousness, Lord! I was not some being beyond theirdreams! Lord, did you plant the seed for this when you Created theUniverse, that these beings would raise their voices to you? Will youtell me? One way or the other, can I know?'
"The angels quieted down in little groups and pockets at first andthen the laughter tapered off altogether, and something else replacedit, a soft singing of tribute to God in his patience, a softacknowledgment of his patience with me.
"I didn't join in this song. I looked to the great outer stretches ofthe rays of Light that came from God, and the mystery of my ownstubbornness and my own anger and my own curiosity subdued mesomewhat, but did not throw me for one second into despair.
" 'I trust in you, Lord. You know what you're doing. You have to.
Otherwise we are .. . lost.'
"I broke off, stunned at what I had just said. It far exceeded anychallenge I'd thrown at God so far, it far exceeded any suggestionthat I had made. And in horror, I looked at the Light, and thought,What if He doesn't know what He's doing and never has!
"My hands went to my face to stop my lips from saying somethingrash and thereby tell my brain to stop with its rash and blasphemousthoughts. I knew God! God was There. And I stood before Him.
How dare I think such a thing, and yet He had said, 'You do not trustme,' and that was exactly what He had meant.
"It seemed the Light of God grew infinitely brighter; it expanded;the shapes of the Seraphim and Cherubim grew small and utterlytransparent, and the light filled me and filled the recesses of all angels,and I felt in communion with them that all of us were so totallyloved by God that we could never long for or imagine anything more.
"Then the Lord spoke, the words wholly different now, for theycompeted with this effulgence of Love which overpowered thethinking mind. Nevertheless, I heard them and they penetrated to myheart.
"And everyone else heard them too.
" 'Memnoch, go into Sheol,' He said, 'and find there but ten soulswho are worthy, of all those millions, to join us in Heaven. Say whatyou will to them as you examine them; but find Ten whom youbelieve are worthy to live with us. Then bring those souls back to me,and we will continue from there on.'
"I was ecstatic. 'Lord, I can do it, I know I can!' I cried out.
"And suddenly I saw the faces of Michael and Raphael and Uriel,who had been almost obscured by the light of God, which was nowreceding within more endurable bounds. Michael looked frightenedfor me and Raphael was weeping. Uriel seemed merely to watch,without emotion, neither on my side or for me, or for the souls, or foranyone. It was the face that Angels used to have before Time began.
" 'I can go now?' I said. 'And when must I return?'
" 'When you will,' said the Lord, 'and when you can.'
"Ah, I understood it. If I didn't find those ten souls I wasn't comingback.
"I nodded, lovely logic. I understood it. I accepted it.
" 'Years pass on Earth as we speak, Memnoch. Your settlementand those visited by others have grown into cities; the world spins inthe Light of Heaven. What can I say to you, my beloved one, exceptthat you should go now to Sheol and return with those Ten Souls assoon as you possibly can.'
"I was about to speak, to ask, What of the Watchers, this littlelegion of meek, flesh-educated angels behind me, when the Lordanswered.
" 'They will wait in the proper place in Heaven for your return.
They will not know my decision, nor their fate, until you bring thesesouls to me, Memnoch, souls that I shall find worthy to be in myHeavenly Home.'
" 'I understand, Lord, I'm leaving with your permission!'
"And asking nothing further, broaching no questions as torestrictions or limitations, I, Memnoch, the Archangel and the Accuser ofGod, left Heaven immediately and descended into the great airymists of Sheol."15BUT, MEMNOCH," I interrupted. "He gave you no criteria! Howwere you to evaluate these souls? How could youknow?"Memnoch smiled. "Yes, Lestat, that's exactly what He did andhow He did it, and believe me, I knew, and no sooner had I enteredSheol than the question of the Criteria for Entrance into Heavenbecame my full focus and desperate obsession. It is exactly the way Hedoes things, no?""I would have asked," I said.
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