"The enormity of this religious state and its great wealth is eye-opening," Joxx said, nose pressed up against the shuttle's window. "By these ancient standards, it is nearly on a par with the Fourth Empire itself."
Hunter sighed wearily.
"A very astute observation," he said.
New York was green, too.
The buildings. The water flowing around the port. The miles of towers and transport tubes and people movers, even the air itself, clogged as it was with flying cars. From horizon to horizon to horizon, everything was just a little bit green. And everywhere, flags were flying. They were green as well, all with the image of the faceless angel in the center.
The view of the vast city-state of basilicas stretching all the way to the sea had been awe inspiring. But it was obvious right away that this place was the capital of Earth.
The shuttle landed in an arrival zone carved out of the forest of trees in old Central Park.
The vessel was burping and sizzling as Hunter and Joxx stepped off. It seemed out of breath from its seventeen-minute jump over "the Pond." Hunter saluted the green-uniformed pilots; it had become a habit with him now. They looked out of breath, too.
Hunter and Joxx were met by a motorcade of ultra-stretched air cars containing a company of enormous, security men. They were heavily armed with huge space rifles and bandoliers of lightning packs. Their armbands displayed the image of the same angel; their air vehicles did, too.
They ushered Hunter and Joxx into one of the ultra-stretched air cars. It took off quickly, slotting into place in the middle of a formation that the aerial security escorts had formed around them. They were put into seats at the rear of this vehicle. A stewardess appeared. She, too, was a cute novice. She was a little bolder than Hunter's friend back at Peter's Grand Square; she actually let her hand brush against him several times as she was passing him and Joxx hot towels and glasses of that awful red wine.
As always, after Hunter's first token sip of the bitter wine, a priest appeared in their compartment. He was wearing a cassock and collar just as they were, but was obviously of higher authority, as indicated by the number of tiny green crosses he wore across his left breast pocket, like a military officer wearing medals. He was here to brief them.
This was one of Hunter's least favorite parts of the mind trip, only because the high priest talked so slowly and therefore could drag out the scene forever. Joxx, however, was fascinated when this man told them the Emperor of the Galaxy was awaiting their arrival with great anticipation.
Joxx looked across at Hunter and mouthed the words: "We're here to see the Emperor?"
Hunter simply yawned in reply.
"But why?" Joxx asked aloud.
Hunter just pointed back to the high priest, as if to say, He's about to tell you.
'The Emperor hasn't had a really thorough confession in quite some time," the priest continued in a very hushed voice, enunciating every syllable to its long, painful conclusion. "This is troubling for some of us. Personally, I think he has entered a period of reflection. But that's just my opinion. In any case, that's why he asked for the best confessors that Peter's could offer. And that's why you two are here."
This time Joxx did laugh. Out loud. Us? Hear the Emperor's confession?
The priest nodded, again very slowly.
He got up to leave. Joxx tried to grab him by his long sleeve, but his fingers went right through the material. Next, Joxx began to demand more information from the man, but this was not a part of the mind ring program.
So the high priest simply ignored him, bowed deeply, and disappeared back into the cockpit.
The stretched air car set down with a bump a few moments later.
Hunter and Joxx stepped out to find themselves atop the highest building in the city; indeed, this was the highest building on the planet. It was 250 stories high, not counting the gigantic statue of the same faceless angel, arms outstretched, wings raised as if in flight, which adorned its peak. A force-field bubble protected the entire top of this monstrous structure, so wind and temperature were not a factor up here. They were so high up though, it wasn't too much of a leap to see how the notion to build floating cities came into being.
There were more security troops here, green uniforms, angel-image shoulder patches in place. Two of them led Hunter and Joxx down a long tunnel that was crammed with dozens of flashing strobe-light security devices. By the end of this gauntlet, the security people were convinced that Hunter and Joxx were who they claimed to be.
From here they were led to an enclosed chapel ten stories down from the roof. This place was staffed with a small army of novices — a different order here, so no veils — and each one looked more comely than the next. They were dressed in brief black habits with tiny green crosses emblazoned near the bodice. They presented Hunter and Joxx with the ritual snack of crackers and yet more bitter wine.
Joxx was so enthralled by these servants he failed to see the huge portrait hanging above their seating area. Hunter now turned him around and directed him to look up at the almost 3-D painting. For once it was not a picture of the ubiquitous angel.
"Just so you'll know," Hunter said. "That's who we are here to see."
Joxx took a close look at the painting and nearly fell over.
The man in the picture was the same man they'd seen partially revived in the hollow. The man who could only blink and smile. The guy they'd called Jimmy.
"He's the first Emperor?" Joxx gasped.
"I told you it got weirder," Hunter replied.
Flash!
The two mind travelers now found themselves in an enormous chamber where seven men sat around a very ornate, rectangular table.
This room was very dark; only a few candles provided the light. Hunter had learned that this chamber was a few stories below the chapel.
The men around the table were all wearing long, red garments with white collars that seemed too stiff to ever be comfortable. Several were wearing strangely pointed hats. The men were elderly, unfriendly. Some of them had faces as red as their garments. There were no introductions. It was just assumed that Hunter and Joxx knew who these people were.
They were not invited to sit down. Instead, they stood at one end of the table, looking down at the men seated at the other.
"You realize that you've been called here on a very delicate matter," the man sitting at the head of the table asked them. He was obviously in charge.
Hunter and Joxx nodded on cue.
"The Emperor asked for you himself," the man went on, clearly not happy about the situation. "Experts in taking confession — frankly, I'd never heard of such a thing."
"We go where God thinks we are needed," Hunter told diem, delivering his line perfectly. "We can hardly question the Emperor's wisdom."
The seven men looked like they'd just as soon throw Hunter and Joxx out the window than to be talking to them about this.
The man in red who was doing all the talking cleared his throat dramatically; it was his way of reasserting dominance in the room. "At this time," he said, "we want to remind you what the official history of the Empire is. Any objections?"