Small Gods

snapped the deacon.
    “You’re going to die.”
    It was hardly a whisper, but it bounced off the bronze doors and carried across the Place…
    It made people uneasy, although they couldn’t quite say why.
    The eagle sped across the square, so low that people ducked. Then it cleared the roof of the temple and curved away towards the mountains. The watchers relaxed. It was only an eagle. For a moment there, just for a moment…
    No one saw the tiny speck, tumbling down from the sky.
    Don’t put your faith in gods. But you can believe in turtles.
    A feeling of rushing wind in Brutha’s mind, and a voice…
    —obuggerbuggerbuggerhelpaarghnoNoNoAargh-BuggerNONOAARGH—
    Even Vorbis got a grip of himself. There had been just a moment, when he’d seen the eagle—but, no…
    He extended his arms and smiled beatifically at the sky.
    “I’m sorry,” said Brutha.
    One or two people, who had been watching Vorbis closely, said later that there was just time for his expression to change before two pounds of tortoise, traveling at three meters a second, hit him between the eyes.
    It was a revelation.
    And that does something to people watching. For a start, they believe with all their heart.

    Brutha was aware of feet running up the steps, and hands pulling at the chains.
    And then a voice:
    I. He is Mine .
    The Great God rose over the Temple, billowing and changing as the belief of thousands of people flowed into him. There were shapes there, of eagle-headed men, and bulls, and golden horns, but they tangled and flamed and fused into one another.
    Four bolts of fire whirred out of the cloud and burst the chains holding Brutha.
    II. He Is Cenobiarch And Prophet of Prophets .
    The voice of theophany rumbled off the distant mountains.
    III. Do I Hear Any Objections? No? Good .
    The cloud had by now condensed into a shimmering golden figure, as tall as the Temple. It leaned down until its face was a few feet away from Brutha, and in a whisper that boomed across the Place said:
    IV. Don’t Worry. This Is Just The Start. You and Me, Kid! People Are Going To Find Out What Wailing and Gnashing Of Teeth Really Is .
    Another shaft of flame shot out and struck the Temple doors. They slammed shut, and then the white-hot bronze melted, erasing the commandments of the centuries.
    V. What Shall It Be, Prophet?
    Brutha stood up, unsteadily. Urn supported him by one arm, and Simony by the other.
    “Mm?” he said, muzzily. VI. Your Commandments?
    “I thought they were supposed to come from you,” said Brutha. “I don’t know if I can think of any…”
    The world waited.
    “How about ‘Think for Yourself’?” said Urn, staring in horrified fascination at the manifestation.
    “No,” said Simony. “Try something like ‘Social Cohesiveness is the Key to Progress.’”
    “Can’t say it rolls off the tongue,” said Urn.
    “If I can be of any help,” said Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah, from the crowd, “something of benefit to the convenience food industry would be very welcome.”
    “Not killing people. We could do with one like that,” said someone else.
    “It’d be a good start,” said Urn.
    They looked at the Chosen One. He shook himself free of their grip and stood alone, swaying a little.
    “No-oo,” said Brutha. “No. I thought like that once, but it wouldn’t. Not really.”
    Now, he said. Only now. Just one point in history. Not tomorrow, not next month, it’ll always be too late unless it’s now .
    They stared at him.
    “Come on ,” said Simony. “What’s wrong with it? You can’t argue with it.”
    “It’s hard to explain,” said Brutha. “But I think it’s got something to do with how people should behave. I think…you should do things because they’re right. Not because gods say so. They might say something different another time.”
    VII. I Like One About Not Killing , said Om, from far above.
    VIII. It’s Got A Good Ring To It. Hurry Up, I’ve Got Some Smiting To Do .
    “You see?” said Brutha. “No. No smiting. No commandments unless you obey them too.”
    Om thumped on the roof of the Temple. IX. You Order Me? Here? NOW? ME?
    “No. I ask.”
    X. That’s Worse Than Ordering!
    “Everything works both ways.”
    Om thumped his Temple again. A wall caved in. That part of the crowd that hadn’t managed to stampede from the Place redoubled its efforts.
    XI. There Must Be Punishment! Otherwise There Will Be No Order!
    “No.”
    XII. I Do Not Need You! I Have Believers Enough