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closely.  Has something happened in Denver that I need to know about?”
    “Indeed it has...or is about to.”  The Pontiff leaned back in his throne, regarding him. “Word has reached us that the Governor of Rado is finally opening a school to teach people about the alien artifacts known as the Gifts of the Tourists.  It is a school meant to produce sorcerers.”
    Esteban blinked.  He supposed he should not have been surprised.  Such a thing was unthinkable in lands where the Church was powerful, such as Texas, but in Rado...“I had thought, Holiness, that the Honcho was going to invade and conquer Rado,” he said.
    “Such was his plan.  Apparently, though, it has come to naught.  His invasion forced was defeated and he died in battle.”
    Esteban drew in a sharp breath.  “I was not aware of this.”
    “Nor were we...until his son Jeffrey, the new Honcho arrived in Dallas yesterday and broke the news.  But here we are.  If the invasion had succeeded we would not be concerned, but now Governor Kristana is free to go ahead with the plans for the school.”
    “This is grave news, Holiness.  But if you will forgive my asking, what does it have to do with me?”
    His Holiness steepled his fingers.  “What, indeed?  I have a mission for you, Brother Esteban.”
    That didn't sound good.   “A mission, Holiness?”
    “I want you to enroll at that school.”
    What?   “I, I do not understand.  My duties...”
    “Your work at the Reconditorium can be handled by one of the other monks of your Order.  You can therefore be spared for this task.  The others, however, cannot.  They are too old.”
    Esteban swallowed again.  “Is there an age limit, then?”
    “Not as such.  But I need someone to be able to blend in with the other students, and it is expected that they will be young people, who are not committed or with other responsibilities, like children.”
    “But, Holiness!  To be around such influences...”
    “Come, now,” the Pontiff reproved him.  “You have been handling forbidden artifacts for years now.  Have you found it a burden...that it tested your faith?”
    Esteban shook his head.  “No, Holiness.  But all I do is receive them, classify them, tag them, and put them into storage.  I have not attempted to learn anything about how they were made.  That would violate the ban promulgated by one of your predecessors.”
    “So you fear the risk to your immortal soul?  You have doubts in your ability to resist the temptations of sorcery, once you are within the nest of vipers?”
    “In a word, yes.”
    The Pope leaned forward.  “What would you say, Esteban, if We told you the ban was not an infallible proclamation.  That, in actual fact, it was simply an act of desperation, and not the result of divine inspiration?”
    Esteban's eye widened.  “But they are gifts from demons, or from those who traffic with demons!”
    His Holiness sighed.  “Brother Esteban, it is good to meet someone who does not doubt the word of the Church.  But the sad truth is, the Tourists were not demons.  They were merely people like us, from a different lineage, whom God used to humble the arrogance of the Ancients.  In the aftermath of the Fall of civilization, they became convenient scapegoats, nothing more.”
    Esteban tried to process this.  “Then why are you worried about this school?”
    His Holiness shrugged.  “They failed us once.  I, for one, would prefer not to risk that happening again.  We should rebuild our civilization the way the Ancients were doing, before they traded for the Gifts.  We should do it the hard way.
    “And there is another reason.  The too-rapid progress of technology caused it to replace religion in the minds of many the first time.  Science led to atheism.  We will save more souls if they are not distracted, this time, from the authority of the Church by the glamor of new toys.”
    “You are right as always, Holiness.”
    “One more thing.  You