The Demon and the City

I will deal with this."
    "I can't let you—"
    " Robin." His hand closed warningly around her arm and Robin fell silent.
    Ta Ch'u:
    The Taming Power
    of the Great

Forty
    Zhu Irzh had never thought that he might be happy to see Kuan Yin's boat again, but it was not until they were on board that he finally felt able to relax, despite the irritations of the Heavenly vessel. His shoulders ached from having to lug the transformed Celestial all the way down the mountainside, but now the being had been confined in the lower reaches of the boat. Kuan Yin had departed from her maiden, who was now resting, exhausted, in her own cabin; it must be tiring, Zhu Irzh considered, to be possessed, especially by a goddess. He had the feeling that they were probably high maintenance. The young woman, Robin, was also resting, and her strange Celestial companion had been closeted with Kuan Yin for more than an hour, while Chen and Zhu Irzh were once more served tea by another of the goddess' handmaidens. Zhu Irzh was obliged to admit that the surroundings were nicer, and the quality of the tea higher, than those of Bad Dog Village. He gazed around at the pearly lacquered walls, inlaid with scenes of Heavenly life, with only mild distaste. Chen leaned forward and tapped him on the knee.
    "So. Robin Yuan. What does that name mean to you?"
    "Sardai's girlfriend?"
    "Exactly. Yet she said nothing when I mentioned Deveth's name, and we still have to find Deveth and question her. Now that the goddess' business has been more or less accomplished, we need to think about our own."
    "Deveth was killed by something, not necessarily someone. But the investigation didn't clear Robin. She could be implicated. And she's traveling in the company of another immortal. What if he's the killer?"
    "Robin works for your girlfriend."
    "She's not exactly my—oh, all right. Robin's in it up to her eyes, if you ask me. All we have to do is find out how."
    Chen appeared about to speak, but then glanced around him, startled. On the table, the tea bowls rattled a little and then were still. "Hang on. We're moving."
    Zhu Irzh followed him on deck, at a run. The ship had indeed upped anchor. The lights of the Night Harbor's port had already fallen behind to a hazy line along the shore and the boat was moving out past a narrow breakwater with a squat lighthouse at its end. Ahead, lay the immense void of the Sea of Night. At that moment, they passed the Harbor arm and into the Sea itself. Zhu Irzh, looking over the side in dismay, caught sight of distant stars, deep below the water.
    "If Kuan Yin thinks—" Chen, about to utter blasphemy, fell silent and headed back to the row of cabins with the demon at his heels. He raised a hand to the goddess' door, then let it fall. Zhu Irzh, however, had decided to abandon any attempt at Celestial decorum. He pounded on the door.
    "Madam! We're moving!"
    There was the sound of footsteps and a moment later, Robin Yuan came up behind them. Her face was startled. "We're sailing!"
    "I'd noticed," the demon said.
    "Where are we heading? Heaven?"
    "I suppose that's the idea." Zhu Irzh was strongly tempted to spit. "But not me. We're going to turn around and head back to the Harbor. Where I'll be getting off." He gave the door to the goddess' cabin another blow, but it remained firmly shut. "Open up!"
    Chen plucked at his sleeve. "Zhu Irzh, stop it. You can't talk to her like that. She's a goddess."
    "Yes, a goddess who's in the process of kidnapping me. If you let them get away with things, Chen, it never stops. Why do you think Hell got created in the first place? Something has to limit Celestial arrogance."
    "Look, theological speculation is all well and good, but we're on the goddess' own boat, with no way off it unless she decides to throw us over the side."
    "There might be a lifeboat."
    "On a Celestial vessel? Why would they need one? Let's go back to our own cabin. And Miss Yuan, could you come with us? I want to talk to you." Chen had a light in his eye that Zhu Irzh did not see very often, but with which even he was disinclined to argue. He trailed after Chen and then poured more tea once they were back inside the cabin. Pity the goddess did not appear to have anything stronger, but what could you expect of Heaven?
    "Now," Chen said, sitting down opposite Robin. "I know you work for Jhai Tserai. I know they've been trying to develop a drug that changes the nature of Celestial beings. I strongly suspect that one of those beings