Blasphemy (part 13)
Maggie leaned back in her chair, and picked up her glass of port. Only a thin sliver of liquid remained. She took a sip, emptying it. One of the bartender's tentacles was ready to pour more, but she waved him off.
"Dugar, I'd like a little water, please." She held out her glass and he filled it from a decanter of ice water on the table.
"So, Theem Seeker of God, the gods are indeed real and touchable, if you know where to look. They even make mistakes on occasion, such as not knowing all the details of hyperspatial physics, which can really warp space-time. Our best guess is that Joos-tow's commandment had probably been the reason for the systems failure, creating an anomaly in a localized region of space surrounding the Laasko sun. Since Joos-tow was gone, everything worked the way it was supposed to. At least Joos-tow had the dignity to clean up its damage as best it could. That it didn't punish the Laasko for its own errors says even more. We got back to known space with only one additional minor distraction."
Theem Seeker of God stared at her for a moment, then screeched shrilly.
"This is but a blasphemous tale," it insisted. "Where is your proof?"
Captain Maggie Gale of the Vortex of Chaos lifted the glass of water in front Theem Seeker of God's face. As she did, it changed to a dark, almost opaque crimson. Maggie brought the glass back to her nose, inhaled the delicious aroma, and then sipped deeply.
When she was done, she looked over to a grinning humanoid sitting at a nearby table.
"A '58, from the Cameron Estates on Freedman's Planet?" It nodded. "Very, very nice. An excellent vintage." She turned back to Theem Seeker of God.
"The minor distraction on the way back was a stowaway. Theem Seeker of God, I'd like you to meet Joos-tow, former god of the Laasko, and a great deity to know when you're out of the good port."