Free Dirge by Alan Dean Foster Page A

act.
    All they needed now was a sponsor.
                      
    “Found a new church? Are you both crazy?” Martine Herzalt Lorengau sat upright and stiff in a chair as she regarded the pair of unlikely visitors. “I’m assuming that blatant insanity manifests itself similarly among the thranx, of course.”
    “I can assure you that we are not mad.” The insectoid gestured casually, in a manner the gangly, pinch-faced human might recognize. “Only hopeful.”
    Beside him, Father Pyreau hastened to support and reaf-firm his friend. “We came to you because we have been turned down everywhere else.”
    A hint of a smile struggled with the corners of Lorengau’s mouth but could not break through. The barriers were too great. “As a businesswoman of some repute, let me tell you that is about as piss-poor an opening for a request for investment as I have ever heard. Nothing like starting out by telling me that everyone else you’ve talked to thinks that you’re fools.”
    “This is to be an investment in people, and the future.” Pyreau met the woman’s unnervingly deep-set, large eyes without flinching and tried not to squirm in his chair. He ought to be used to this by now, he told himself. The milieu as well as the rejection. Nevertheless, he persevered. What else could he do?
    “Even if I wanted to waste money on such a ludicrous enterprise, why would I choose to support one that purports, according to your proposal, to spiritually link humans with thranx? Why not humans with Pitar? In that, at least, I could see some possible return.”
    “The return from such an investment would not be monetary,” Pyreau replied earnestly.
    “With the Pitar involved, it might be.” Her voice falling, she grumbled under her breath. “Missed the boat on that one. But we’re catching up.” Leaning forward slightly, the high, black leather back of the expensive chair rising behind her like a throne, she regarded each of them in turn. “I’m still not sure how you managed to secure an appointment with me. My time is valuable.” Her tone darkened. “If nothing comes of this meeting, and I fail to see how it can, someone else is going to end up paying for it.”
    “There are those who do sympathize with our aspirations.” Shanvordesep concluded his reply with a soft, descending whistle.
    The industrialist’s demeanor remained unencouraging. “If you did any research at all before coming here you should know that I am an atheist.”
    Pyreau nodded. “We know. Our proposed religious venue would be open to all.”
    This time the smile emerged. It was a smile that had on more than one occasion struck terror into the heart of a competitor. “Now you are simply being asinine and worse, wasting my time.” A hand moved toward a row of tactile perceivers.
    “We mean to do this thing. If we can establish a congregation capable of accommodating the beliefs and feelings of two entirely different species, making room for the different beliefs inherent in one species will be simple by comparison.”
    The dismissive fingers that terminated in perfect nails hesitated. “It won’t include me. I don’t believe in anything.”
    “But you do,” Pyreau argued energetically. “Everyone believes in something. If you don’t believe in a supreme deity, then you are convinced of its nonexistence. Conviction is founded on dogma, which is supported by belief.”
    Martine Lorengau blinked. “I am a businesswoman, not a philosopher. I have neither the time nor the inclination to waste on theology or metaphysics.”
    “You have a soul,” Pyreau assured her softly.
    This time she laughed, a sound that contrasted startlingly with her speaking voice. “I could cite you hundreds of people who would disagree.”
    “That which lies within every sapient being and cannot be quantified needs feeding.” Truhands reflexively wove a complex pattern in the air before the intimidating desk. Knowing that the female human