The Dark Lady

profit,” I continued. “A soldier does not risk his life unless he is ordered to do so.”
    “How can she know whether I've risked my life or not?”
    “You told me earlier that you thought she somehow would know if you did so,” I replied. “You were correct.”
    “But if she's never seen me... ” he began, confused.
    “She is not a woman,” I said.
    “Why are you so interested in her?” asked Kobrynski suddenly.
    “There are certain things I must ask her.”
    “If there's any truth to this half-baked story of yours, just risk your life and she'll come to you.”
    “In eight millennia, she has never been observed in the company of a non-human.”
    “Then I repeat: Why are you interested in her?”
    “It is very difficult to explain,” I said.
    “Good. It's time someone besides me felt awkward.”
    “She appeared to me in a vision,” I said. “I must find out why.”
    “A vision?” he repeated. “You mean, like a religious visitation?”
    “Perhaps.”
    “Perhaps?” he repeated. “What does that mean?”
    “It may have been a dream. If it was a vision, I must discover why she has singled me out among all non-humans, and what she wants of me.”
    “And if it was a dream?”
    “Then I will know she did not contact me, and I will be free to perform a religious ritual that has been too long postponed.”
    “What ritual?” asked Kobrynski suspiciously.
    “Suicide,” I said.
    Kobrynski blinked his eyes. “I stand by my first statement: You guys are crazy.”
    “I am sorry that you should think so,” I said.
    “Look,” said Heath, leaning forward. “I don't know what she is: a woman, an alien, a teleporter, or Leonardo's Mother of All Things. But I do know that she was on my ship less than two months ago, and that there are more than forty paintings, holograms, and sculptures of her dating back more than eight thousand years. That much, at least, is a fact.”
    “You've actually met her?” asked Kobrynski.
    “Both of us have,” replied Heath.
    “Why didn't you ask her what you wanted to know then?”
    “ I don't have any questions for her,” said Heath. “And Leonardo didn't know what she was— or what he thinks she is— at the time.”
    “Okay,” said Kobrynski. “I know what his interest in her is. What's yours ?”
    A mask of impassivity suddenly covered Heath's face. “I'm just helping Leonardo find her.”
    Kobrynski looked from Heath to me and back again. “You're lying,” he said at last. Then he turned to me. “You're telling the truth— but you're crazy.” He paused. “What about this Venzia? What does he want from her?”
    “He wants to know what lies beyond this life,” I replied.
    “And he thinks she can tell him?”
    “Yes.”
    Kobrynski frowned. “What did they do— empty all the asylums in the Oligarchy and give all the inmates my name?”
    “It is not necessary for you to believe us,” I said.
    “Good— because I don't.”
    “All we ask,” I continued, “is your permission to remain on Solitaire until she appears.”
    “She's not going to appear,” said Kobrynski.
    “I hope you are right,” I said.
    “I thought you wanted to talk to her.”
    “I have to talk to her,” I responded. “No one wants to confront his god.”
    “So now she's a god instead of a lonely woman who likes men that take chances?”
    “I do not know,” I said. “That is what I must find out. May we have your permission to stay on Solitaire?”
    “It's not mine to give,” said Kobrynski. “Stay or go as you please.”
    “Thank you.”
    “No need to; I always humor madmen.” He paused. “When do you think she's going to show up?”
    “I do not know.”
    “Well, if it's anytime after tonight, she'd damned well better be a goddess.”
    “Why?” asked Heath.
    “Because I've been toying with a new variation of my plasma painting,” replied Kobrynski. “I'm going to test it out tonight— and when I do, this whole damned planet's going to be radioactive for the next seventy or eighty years.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “Do you know what's involved in plasma painting?” he asked.
    “I was given a brief description of it by the library computer on Far London.”
    “Well, it's an interesting process, but it always seemed a bit limited, ” said Kobrynski. “Now that I've got an unpopulated planet to play with, I'm going to use unstable atoms to create controlled explosions for artistic emphasis.”
    “Have you tried it yet?” asked