Free The Astral Mirror by Ben Bova

your soul really is in mortal peril.”
    “But I haven’t done anything wrong! I’m not a crook. I haven’t killed anyone or stolen anything. I’ve been faithful to my wife.”
    The angel gave him a skeptical smile.
    “Well...” he wiped perspiration from his upper lip. “Nothing serious. I’ve always honored my mother and my father.”
    Gently, the angel asked, “You’ve never told a lie?”
    “Uh, well... nothing big enough to...”
    “You’ve never cheated anyone?”
    “Um.”
    “What about that actor’s wife in California? And the money you accepted to swing certain deals? And all the promises you’ve broken?”
    “You mean things like that—they count?”
    “Everything counts,” the angel said firmly. “Don’t you realize that the enemy has your soul almost in his very hands?”
    “No, I never thought...”
    “All those deals you’ve made. All the corners you’ve cut.” The angel suddenly shot him a piercing glance. “You haven’t signed any documents in blood, have you?”
    “No!” His heart twitched. “Certainly not!”
    “Well, that’s something, at least.”
    “I’ll behave,” he promised. “I’ll be good. I’ll be a model of virtue.”
    “Not enough,” the angel said, shaking his golden locks. “Not nearly enough. Things have already gone much too far.”
    His eyes widened with fear. He wanted to argue, to refute, to debate the point with his guardian angel, but the words simply would not force their way through his constricted throat.
    “No, it is not enough merely to promise to reform,” the angel repeated. “Much stronger action is needed.”
    “Such as... what?” he croaked.
    The angel got to his feet, paced across the room a few steps, then turned back to face him. His youthful visage brightened. “Why not? If they can make a deal for a soul, why can’t we?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Hush!” The angel seemed to be listening to another voice, one that the man could not hear. Finally the angel nodded and smiled. “Yes. I see. Thank you.”
    “What?”
    Turning back to the man, the angel said, “I’ve just been empowered to make you an offer for your soul. If you accept the terms, your salvation is assured.”
    The man instantly grew wary. “Oh no you don’t. I’ve heard all about deals for souls. Some of my best friends...”
    “But this is a deal to save your soul!”
    “How do I know that?” the man demanded. “How do I know you’re really what you say you are? The devil has power to assume pleasing shapes, doesn’t he?”
    The angel smiled joyfully. “Good for you! You remember some of your childhood teaching.”
    “Don’t try to put me off. I’ve negotiated a few tricky deals in my day. How do I know you’re really an angel, and you want to save my soul?”
    “By their fruits ye shall know them,” the angel replied.
    “What are you talking about?”
    Still smiling, the angel replied, “When the devil makes a deal for a soul, what does he promise? Temporal gifts, such as power, wealth, respect, women, fame.”
    “I have all that,” the man said. “I’m on top of the world, everyone knows that.”
    “Indeed.”
    “And I didn’t sign any deals with the devil to get there, either,” he added smugly.
    “None that you know of,” the angel warned. “A man in your position delegates many decisions to his staff, does he not?”
    The man’s face went gray. “Oh my God, you don’t think...”
    With a shrug, the angel said, “It doesn’t matter. The deal that I offer guarantees your soul’s salvation, if you meet its terms.”
    “How? What do I have to do?”
    “You have power, wealth, respect, women, fame.” The angel ticked each point off on his slender, graceful fingers.
    “Yes, yes, I know.”
    “You must give them up.”
    The man lurched forward in the wingchair. “Huh?”
    “Give them up.”
    “I can’t!”
    “You must, if you are to attain the Kingdom of Heaven.”
    “But you don’t understand! I can’t