"For what?" asked father Jules.
"Never mind. Say I'm keeping you from temptation."
"Bless you, my son, and may you have a big enough hangover to show you
the wickedness of your ways."
Smiling, Rastignac watched the Father walk out. He was not
disappointed. The priest had no sooner reached the huge door than his
Skin fell off and lay motionless upon the stone.
"Ah," breathed Rastignac. "The same thing happened to Mapfabvisheen
when he put his on. There must be something about the wine that
deadens the Skins, makes them fall off."
After the padre had left, Rastignac handed the bottle to Mapfarity.
"We're dedicated to breaking the law most illegally, brother. So I'm
asking you to analyze this wine and find out how to make it."
"Why not ask Father Jules?"
"Because priests are pledged never to reveal the secret. That was one
of the original agreements whereby the Church was allowed to remain on
L'Bawpfey. Or, at least that's what my parish priest told me. He said
it was a good thing, as it removed an evil from man's temptation. He
never did say why it was so evil. Maybe he didn't know.
"That doesn't matter. What does matter is that the Church has
inadvertently given us a weapon whereby we may free Man from his
bondage to the Skins and it has also given itself once again a chance
to be really persecuted and to flourish on the blood of its martyrs."
"Blood?" said Lusine, licking her lips. "The Churchmen drink blood?"
Rastignac did not explain. He could be wrong. If so, he'd feel less
like a fool if they didn't know what he thought.
Meanwhile, there were the first steps to be taken for the unskinning
of an entire planet.