d do you create new stars as you go along?"

* * * * *

There she went again with her talk of creation, as if creating things
out of nothing was the commonest occurrence in the world. Glaudot stood
up. "All right, sister. Show me."

"Why, show you what?"

"Create something."

"You mean," Robin said, disappointed, "you actually can't?"

"Just go ahead and create something."

Robin shrugged. "What would you like?"

Glaudot thought for a moment. "A piano!" he said suddenly. "How about a
piano?" It was complicated enough, he thought. "And while you're at it,
how about telling me how come everyone speaks English--or tries to speak
English around here?"

Robin frowned. "Is there some other way of speaking?"

Glaudot also frowned. That line of thought wouldn't get him anywhere.
"O.K.," he said. "One piano coming up?"

"All right," Robin said.

Glaudot blinked. The pretty girl hadn't moved. She hadn't even changed
her facial expression. But a parlor grand piano stood on the rock before
them.

"Well, I'll be damned," Glaudot said. "What else can you create?"

"We made all the natives here. We made the green and crimson. We made
this whole Wild Country. We made some of the animals too."

"Like--the piano? Out of nothing?"

"Is there another way?"

Glaudot said, "You better come back to the ship with me. Captain'll like
to see you."

Tashtu shook his head. "The Lady Robin awaits the Lord."

Glaudot looked at Robin. "Who's that?"

"Charlie. He's just my friend. I--I don't think I have to wait for him.
I've always been more interested in reading about spacemen than he has.
I'll go with you now if you want."

Tashtu looked unhappy. "Lord Charlie, he say--"

"Well, you wait right here, Tashtu, and tell Charlie where I've gone.
What could be simpler? I'll be all right, don't worry about me."

"Lord Charlie, he say watch you."

"And I say I'm going with the spaceman to his spaceship."

Tashtu bowed. "The Lady has spoken," he said, and watched Robin descend
the rocky rampart and walk back with Glaudot toward the far distant
glint of metal which was this spaceship they were talking about.

* * * * *

"So you can create just anything," Glaudot said.

"I guess so."

A goddess, he thought. A beautiful goddess who ...

Suddenly he stared at her. Who could make him the most powerful man in
the galaxy.

"This spaceship of yours--" she began.