The Demon and the City

the goddess seemed to need no such supports. The main cabin had a porthole facing the prow and thus the occupants could see out if they chose. Robin took the seat nearest the porthole and remained there, welded to the view of Mhara and the goddess at the helm.
    "If this carries on," Chen said uneasily, "we're going to have to find some way of strapping ourselves in."
    "Or a binding spell," the demon said.
    "I've no way of knowing whether that would work out here. Magic is different in different worlds, and here we are between them. Anyway, we don't want to get stuck in case the boat goes over."
    "You and I have fallen into the Sea of Night before," Zhu Irzh said.
    "Yes, and nearly drowned, or whatever is analogous. I'd have died if it hadn't been for Inari." Chen sighed. "She must be wondering what's happened to me."
    "The captain knew we were going to the Night Harbor."
    "Yes, but he won't send anyone to look for us."
    "Ma might."
    "Ma? He's terrified of the Night Harbor."
    "I think you'll find a change in Sergeant Ma, Chen. He's really been surprisingly helpful in recent weeks. He—"
    But Robin, who had been paying little attention to this conversation, interrupted. "I can see something."
    Within moments, they were all clustering around her shoulder, looking at the bright line of the horizon.
    "It's Heaven!" one of the maidens sighed. "We are almost home." She clasped her friend's hands with joy.
    "Thank the goddess for that," Zhu Irzh remarked with some irony. They watched as the line grew stronger and brighter, but then the ship gave another great plunge and sent everyone staggering.
    "Hold on!" Chen cried. Robin could see through the porthole that something was rising up from the surface of the Sea of Night. It looked like a huge spined porcupine, with a mass of waving tentacles and a billowing sail that spanned out behind it into a web of light.
    "What," Robin heard the demon say, with the kind of calmness that heralds screaming panic, "is that?"
    Robin did not know. The thing made her sick to look at it. It was utterly wrong. The light was a visceral red, an intestinal shade, and moments later it came down to cover the boat. The cabin was cast into a crimson gloom and filled with a smell like old fish. One of the maidens began to gag, delicately, in the manner of a cat about to be sick.
    "Please don't," Zhu Irzh said, eyeing her. Then everything went black.
    "It's dragging us down!" Chen cried.
    "But what is it?" That was the demon, the panic more evident than ever. "I didn't think anything could live in the Sea of Night."
    "It is something from between the stars," a maiden gasped. "The churning of the Sea of Night has brought it up."
    "So if it drags us with it, this boat will end up in space?"
    "Yes."
    "I have to see what's happening," Zhu Irzh said, and over Chen and Robin's protests, he threw open the door. A red fold of translucent flesh billowed up like a canopy, showing a field of stars. Robin had never seen anything so bright. Next moment, the air was ripped from her lungs as whatever atmospheric shield that had been protecting the ship was torn away. The teacups that had been rolling around on the floor floated upward. So did Zhu Irzh. Robin caught hold of the doorframe, clasped the demon by his ankles, and hauled him back, but her chest felt as though it was about to burst. Just before her vision went completely dark, however, she saw something like a huge hook flash across the star field. The boat shuddered and shook. Robin passed out.
     
    She woke to brightness. Her chest was still sore, but the air felt fresh and clean, with a faint smell of the sea in summer. Robin sat up and found that she was lying on the deck with one of the maidens kneeling by her side. The boat, with a glittering tow-rope attaching it to a much larger craft made of pearl and silver, rested a little distance from the shore. Robin looked out onto a mass of flowering trees and artfully ragged cliffs. In the other direction, only a dark line at the horizon's edge betrayed the existence of the Sea of Night, now far behind.
    "Yes," the maiden said, smiling. "This is Heaven, the Celestial Shores. Welcome."
    "God, I need a cigarette," Zhu Irzh said, coming out of a cabin.
    The maiden looked scandalized. "This is Heaven! You can't smoke here!"
    The demon gave her a disgusted glance. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Forty-Four
    The atmosphere in the room was growing colder by the minute. Paravang stared hopelessly across the table