Chapter 5
                          Marlael's New Client

        Thomas said nothing more until we arrived at our destination, a
cabin tucked away on a fire road up in the Sierras, far from
civilization.  We picked up some supplies at one of the stores near
Interstate 80 before heading into the woods; Thomas carried them without
a word as we entered the cabin. 
        It was refreshing to enter a place of mine that someone wasn't
waiting for me in.  Aside from a bit of dust on the sheets thrown over
the furniture, the cabin was exactly as I'd left it.  While Thomas put
the groceries away, I busied myself putting oil in the lamps and
lighting them, checking the gas level in the generator, removing the
covers from the furniture, putting sheets on the beds, and all the
little domestic chores that make settling into a seldom-used retreat
such a special feeling. 
        I decided not to start the generator.  I hadn't bought anything
that needed the refrigerator to work, and we had plenty of lamp oil;
besides, it was noisy and I didn't feel like dealing with that.  I went
back inside after checking that the generator was OK and the garage
still locked, took off my coat and jacket, loosened my tie, sat down in
my favorite chair, and lit up. 
        A few moments later, Thomas came in from the kitchen and eased
his massive bulk into the chair opposite me.  For a long moment, he
surveyed me with his dark, sad hound-dog eyes. 
        Then: "Nice cabin."
        "Thanks," I replied.  "Used to belong to my partner.  He'd come
up here every fall to hunt and get away from the city for a while.  When
he got sick of society he gave it to me."
        Thomas nodded.  "What are we doing here?" he finally asked.  I'd
been waiting for him to ask me that since we left Oakland. 
        "Thinking," I replied.  "If you didn't know I had this place,
odds are Nalzich doesn't know either.  He might trace us here, but it
still gets us a bit of a breather... and if we get into a mess here,
it'll be easier to explain than a firefight in downtown Berkeley."
        Thomas frowned.  "I don't like it.  I've worked with Nalzich for
years.  He's always lacked... social grace... but this goes beyond the
pale.  He's disobeyed a direct order from our Superior.  He's -never-
done that.  If he were not a Malakite, I would suspect Diabolical
influence."
        "Why - ?  Oh, right.  That whole 'Malakim don't fall' thing.
Y'know, I've always thought that was a crock, myself.  I - "
	I was interrupted by a chirruping sound from Thomas's coat
pocket.  Brow furrowing, he fished out a cell phone, flipped it open and
answered. 
	"Yes?" He stiffened slightly where he stood.  "Yes... I see.
No.  No, I don't... yes.  I understand.  Yes." Without a signoff, he
closed the phone and pocketed it again. 
	"Call from the corner office?" I inquired. 
	"You could say so," Thomas replied.  "Eli has not been found in
Heaven."
	"Not been found?  Hell, I can tell you where he is - sitting
next to his Heart, staring at the wall."
	"We have never located Eli's Heart," said Thomas slowly. 
	"Never... ?  Then where the hell is he?"
	"An excellent question, Marlael," said a voice behind me, and I
nearly jumped out of my skin as well as out of the chair, whirling and
almost going for my piece before I recognized the figure there.  Tall
and dark, shrouded in black robes, his six gleaming eyes peering out
from the shadows of his dark hood: it could only be Dominic, the
Archangel of Judgment. 
        I didn't exactly fall over with awe.  "It's a busy week for me,"
I remarked.  "I go years without rubbing elbows with one other
Celestial, and this week I've run into a demon, three angels and -two-
Archangels.  Maybe it's time for me to find a new city."
        Dominic regarded me impassively, then blinked his six eyes with
that same creepy ripple-fire pattern Valadriel had used.  I guess all
Seraphim do that.  I wish they wouldn't. 
        "What do I owe the honor of this visit to, O Chief Inquisitor?"
I asked.  "Taking out your frustrations over losing Eli on a few of his
Servitors?"
        Dominic blinked again, then replied quietly, "No.  Eli is not my
enemy, Marlael, and I accuse you of no heresy... yet."
        I had to admit, that surprised me - the flat statement from an
Archangel widely reputed to be baying for Eli's blood that he did not
consider Eli his enemy.  It wasn't as if he could be lying to me - he
is, after all, a Seraph. 
	"Then why are you here?" I asked. 
        "I have come... " Dominic paused, as if what he was about to say
was hard for him.  Then he continued, and I found out that it was.  "I
have come to request your aid."
        "-My- aid?"
        "Yes.  I have received Valadriel's report.  I wish to know
Nalzich's motivations in disobeying my orders.  I wish to know whose
orders he -was- following when he slew Eli's vessel.  I wish to know
where Eli went, since my agents cannot locate him anywhere in Heaven.  I
believe," Dominic went on with just the faintest hint of wryness in his
whispery voice, "that you wish these same answers yourself.  I am
prepared to offer you certain aid in finding them, in return for
learning them myself when you do."
        "Suppose you don't like the answers when I come up with them," I
pointed out. 
        "That does not matter," Dominic replied.  "The truth is what I
seek, and the truth is often unpleasant." He paused, and then I could
swear he smiled.  "I believe you charge four hundred fifty dollars a
day."
        "Plus expenses," I replied. 
        "I have deposited three days' rates into your checking account,"
said Dominic.  "If you will pledge yourself to my service in this
matter, I am also prepared to offer you an attunement you may find
useful."
        I looked as skeptical as I knew how.  "You're offering an
attunement to me.  Me.  A Servitor of Eli." I fixed the Archangel of
Judgment with my hardest stare.  "This is bigger than just a rogue
Servitor."
        "I have made my offer," Dominic replied.  "I am not prepared to
explain it further."
        I considered, then countered.  "I'll take the case, for my usual
rate plus whatever you feel like throwing in - but only under my usual
rules."
        "Which are?" Dominic sounded faintly amused, like an adult
humoring a stubborn child.  It annoyed me, but I stuck with it. 
        "I work the case through to the end.  You don't suddenly wake up
and decide you'd rather not know, after all."
        "That is unlikely in the extreme."
        "I work the case my way.  You don't tell me how to do my job."
        Dryly: "I would not dream of it."
        "When the case is over, that's it.  We're done.  Your bills are
paid and my responsibilities are over.  I'm not signing on to be your
Servitor; I'm just doing a job for you."
        "Agreed."
        "All right, then.  I don't have any of my contract forms up
here... I'd say we should shake on it, but you don't have any hands."
        "I believe a verbal arrangement will suffice, with Thomas as
witness." The dryest hint of a chuckle floated out of Dominic's shadowed
hood, followed by: "I am, after all, a Seraph.  Done?"
        I thought it over.  Cherubim, while not innately truthful like
Seraphim, are not known for dishonesty, and Thomas seemed a
straightforward kind of fellow.  Between his Servitorhood to Dominic and
his attunement to me, I hated to put him in a position of divided
loyalties.  "OK... Done.  For the terms we just discussed, you've hired
yourself a detective."
        "Will you assume your celestial form to receive your attunement,
Marlael?" asked Dominic. 
        I took a deep breath, let it out, and then stubbed out my
cigarette.  "For you, I guess I could manage that," I said with a smile.
Then I cleared my mind, relaxed and let the Symphony flow through me. 
        My corporeal form slipped away, leaving me clothed in the light
of the celestial.  I hadn't assumed this form in years, except once a
few years back to prove to Karen that I was what I said I was.  It felt
somehow odd, unfamiliar, like trying on an old suit that fit but was
stiff from the closet.  As I stood - well, floated - there in the living
room, readjusting to my celestial sense and the radiance that came from
being able to -see- the Symphony, Dominic did something that was, in a
way, more unexpected than his very appearance; he pushed back his hood
and revealed his Seraphic face to me. 
        It must seem odd to a human point of view to hear a six-eyed
giant serpent referred to as beautiful, but to me, at that moment,
that's what Dominic was; a creature of light and beauty far purer than
my own tarnished glow.  Suddenly, I was painfully aware of the jarring
notes of Discord that years of separation and disillusionment had woven
into my personal corner of the Symphony, and how ugly and painful they
must make me to Dominic's eyes; but no revulsion came into those
gleaming red eyes, only a pained look that was not pity but compassion.
In that one moment, I realized that his ruthless persecution of the
Discordant and the Fallen was no megalomaniac crusade, no pompous,
gloating exercise of superiority, as I had always assumed it to be.  It
was, to Dominic, the greatest mercy. 
        Bathed in the full glow of the Archangel of Judgment's radiant
grace, I felt very small and very humble.  Fortunately, the feeling
passed; I would make a lousy investigator if I felt that way all the
time. 
        He looked into my eyes with all of his, somehow, in a manner I
won't even bother trying to describe.  When he opened his fanged mouth,
he sang in the language of the celestial, rather than the rough speech
of corporeal life:
        "Marlael, Mercurian, Servitor of Creation, beloved of Eli: I,
Dominic, Seraph, Archangel of Judgment, charge thee with a holy mission.
Before God, I bid thee find thy Superior's killer and learn his
motivations.  I bid thee find thy Superior and convey him safe to the
Eternal City of Heaven.  I charge thee with uncovering any and all
truths entailed herein, to do with as thy judgment allows.  May Heaven's
enemies fear thy name.  So speaks Dominic, Archangel of Judgment."
        I smiled as new patterns of the Symphony opened themselves to
me.  The attunement Dominic was weaving into my being with his song was
of no small significance - it was the attunement he gave to all his own
Mercurian Servitors, a powerful one, and one he must have realized I
would find eminently useful in my profession.  As a Mercurian, closest
of God's Choirs to Man, it's against my nature to harm a mortal human;
though my "cover" as a private investigator absolves me of such sins to
a certain extent, I still find myself in situations where it hampers me.
Failing to be true to one's nature is the worst thing an angel can do;
over time, dissonance warps our connection to the Symphony, leaving us
scarred with Discord, as I was then. 
	Attuned by Dominic, I would acquire one very important exemption
to that stricture - for it is part of the duty of Dominic's Servitors to
punish the guilty, be they Heavenly or Earthly, and Dominic has opened a
way for his Mercurians to do so without injuring themselves in the
process.  Considerate of him. 
	Despite the cosmic beauty of the situation and my newfound
understanding of Dominic, it made me suspicious that he would give such
a thing to the likes of me, but in the interests of peace, I held my
tongue. 
        As the Symphony settled into its regular patterns, I returned to
my corporeal form, feeling my vessel settle around me comfortably and
readily, like a well-worn favorite shirt.  Dominic restored his hood,
but remained in celestial form, as he had been for the entire visit. 
        "May I inquire what your first move will be?" Dominic asked as I
got settled back in my body. 
        I took a couple of moments to regain my equilibrium, lit a
cigarette, then said, "Nalzich will be looking for me... I guess I'd
better make myself easier to find.  I'm not going to get anywhere until
I find out who he's working for." I smiled as an idea came to me.  "So I
think I'll set a trap for my hunter."
	"Then I will leave you to your work.  Do not fail me, Marlael...
I feel the hand of Evil at work in this.  Such an affront to Heaven's
justice cannot go unpunished."
	"I might have to rough up your boy Nalzich," I warned him. 
	That trace of dry humor returned to Dominic's voice as he
replied, "An eye for an eye, Marlael; such is the Law."
	Then he disappeared. 
	I stood looking at the place where he had been for a moment,
then turned to Thomas. 
	"Your boss is a little weird," I said, "but he seems like an
all-right sort in person."
	"He believes very strongly in his Word."
	"Yeah." I sat back down in the armchair.  "I gotta think.  Let
me know when it gets light out."
	"All right," said Thomas, and then I tuned him and everything
else out and started turning everything over in my head that had
happened in the past few days, trying to make sense of it all.  I
relaxed my mind and grabbed the first thought that happened by. 
	Joey Zippo. 
	Joey Zippo, what relevance does he have to anything? 
	You said it yourself, Mason: you go years without meeting a
single Celestial, and suddenly Oakland is swarming with 'em.  An
Inquisition triad shows up, Joey Zippo turns out to be a demon.  Come
on, that can't be a coincidence. 
	OK, fine.  Then what relevance -does- a Calabite have to a
Malakite showing up and shooting an Archangel in the back? 
	Think, Mason.  If the firebug routine was just a cover or a way
to pass the time, then Joey was in town for something else, right?
Suppose his Superior knew Eli was coming to the area... he'd post
somebody there who could maybe take him out, and I haven't seen any
other notable demonic activity in town. 
	Great, so assume you ruined some Demon Prince's plan by finding
and knocking off his Servitor-on-the-scene before the prize showed up.
Sometimes you get the elevator; lucky you. 
	Unless... 
	Suppose it wasn't luck? 
	Eddie Dice told Jerry about Joey's movements.  Eddie couldn't
have gotten where he is in the Family if he was so stupid he'd tell
-Jerry- about -anything-... so he -wanted- me to know where Joey was
going to be. 
	But did he want me to take out Joey, or the other way around? 
	Only one way to find out, I suppose. 
	"C'mon, Thomas," I said, getting to my feet. 
	"Where are we going?" asked Thomas.  "It's still dark."
	"The biggest little city in the U.S.A., my friend," I replied,
putting on my jacket and coat.  "You ever been to Reno before?"

			   TO BE CONTINUED