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           Nowamongmypeople-"

           "Yourpeople,Mike?"

           "Sorry.Ishouldhavesaidthat,amongtheMartians,thereisonlyonereligion–andthatoneisnotafaith,it’sacertainty.Yougrokit.‘ThouartGod!"

           "Yes,"sheagreed."Idogrok?inMartian.Butyouknow,dearest,thatitdoesn’tsaythesamethinginEnglish?oranyotherhumanspeech.Idon’tknowwhy."

           "Mmmm?onMars,whenweneededtoknowanything–anythingatall–wecouldconsulttheOldOnesandtheanswerwasneverwrong.Jill,isitpossiblethatwehumansdon’thaveany‘OldOnes?’Nosouls,thathastomean.Whenwediscorporate–die!–dowediedead?diealloverandnothingleft?Doweliveinignorancebecauseitdoesn’tmatter?BecausewearegoneandnotarackbehindinatimesoshortthataMartianwoulduseitforonelongcontemplation?Tellme,Jill.You’rehuman."

           Shesmiledwithsoberserenity."Youyourselfhavetoldme.Youhavetaughtmetoknoweternityandyoucan’ttakeitawayfromme,ever.Youcan’tdie,Mike–youcanonlydiscorporate."Shegestureddownatherselfwithbothhands."Thisbodythatyouhavetaughtmetoseethroughyoureyes?andthatyouhavelovedsowell,somedayitwillbegone.ButIshallnotbegone?IamthatIam!ThouartGodandIamGodandweareGod,eternally.IamnotsurewhereIwillbe,orwhetherIwillrememberthatIwasonceJillBoardmanwhowashappytrottingbedpansandequallyhappystruttingherstuffinherbuffunderbrightlights.