Zeppelin ["lighter-than-air" ship) in which Alex Hergensheimer was scheduled to return home from the Konge Knut. Zeppelins were common and airplanes unknown in his home universe.
American consul in Mazatlán, a native of Brownsville, Texas. He was unable or unwilling to help Alex Hergensheimer out of the debt incurred by his rescue by the Mexican Coast Guard.
Solomon Andree
[mentioned in passing] Described as attempting a balloon flight to the North Pole.
Andrews (no first name)
[mentioned in passing] Alex Hergensheimer's second grade teacher, whom he mentioned as evidence that he had not lost his memory.
City manager of Hell, acting for Lucifer. He also manifested as Jerry Farnsworth's business manager in Eden, Kansas; he was elected to the Eden College Board of Trustees.
Alex Hergensheimer's name for a fellow passenger on the Konge Knut who attended the firewalking demonstration; the passenger's real name was Cheevers.
Mr. B
Alex Hergensheimer's designation for the boss of the thug who came aboard the Konge Knut to collect the million dollars in Alec Graham's lockbox. His real identity was never revealed.
Reverend Paul Balonius
In Alex Hergensheimer's world, a 19th century traveling preaching who had the Bible completely memorized.
Deacon and court official in Alex Hergensheimer's hometown. He had sentenced Alex's scoutmaster to the stocks after he'd been accused by his wife of using profane language.
In Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld, he was elected U.S. President in 1896, paving the way for complete domination of the country by Christian Fundamentalists.
King of Scandinavia in one of the universes through with Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson passed. His capitol was Stockholm. Margrethe was distressed to learn that Denmark was part of Sweden.
A hill near Mazatlán; it could be seen from Icebox Hill. (In English, Lookout Hill.)
Church of the Divine Orgasm
Eden, Kansas, community church, to which Alex Hergensheimer's family belonged. It apparently was nondenominational.
Churches United for Decency
Organization of which Alex Hergensheimer was executive secretary, deputy director, and fundraiser. It lobbied for a number of political issues, including making abortion a capital crime and tobacco a prescription drug, prohibiting contraception, attacking the tax-free status of non-Christian private schools, and impeding astronomical research.
Lighter-than-air ship on which Alex Hergensheimer flew to the Konge Knut. Zeppelins were common and airplanes unknown in his homeworld.
Ron Cowgirl
Manager in the restaurant in Nogales, Arizona, where Alex Hergensheimer got work as a dishwasher. He had to explain the basics of taxes, Social Security and other payroll deductions to Alex.
Sam Crumpacker
Lawyer whom Alex Hergensheimer visited when he and Margrethe Gunderson were returned to Alec Graham's world. He was obviously involved in some shady deal with the $1 million that Alex had found in Graham's lockbox aboard the Konge Knut. In reality he was a manifestation of Loki, who was behind the universe shifts.
Roderick Lyman Culverson III
Sybil Farnsworth's date and dinner guest at the Farnsworth ranch while Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson were there. He behaved obnoxiously; in reality he was one of Lucifer's minions, real name Israfel, who was acting deliberately to shake Alex out of some of his preconceptions.
[mentioned in passing] Sixth-century monk who, according to Alex Hergensheimer, made an arithmetic error in calculating the time since Jesus' birth. The result of his error is that the likely year of Jesus' birth is, according to the modern calendar, 5 B.C.
El Distrito Real
[mentioned in passing] seat of government in the Kingdom of Mexico. [Spanish, "royal district"]
College town in Kansas in which Margrethe Gunderson and Alex Hergensheimer settled after their reunion at Koshchei's intervention. They apparently lived a life both idyllic and sybaritic, and raised many children.
Danish king of Scandinavia, with a capital in Kobenhavn in one of the worlds Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson passed through. He was born Prince Frederik. Margrethe was delighted to learn that Denmark controlled the rest of Scandinavia.
Exchange and Readjustments
Office in Heaven to which Alex Hergensheimer was referred to change his berthing assignment.
"Good Samaritan" who offered Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson a ride when they were stranded and naked in Texas. He invited them into his house for as long as they could stay. Actually an aspect of Lucifer, he also helped Alex in his search for Margrethe after the Rapture, eventually effecting their reunion. When the couple settled in Eden, Kansas, they "remembered" the Farnsworths as their best friends whom they'd met after the Mazatlán earthquake.
Farnsworth's Folly
Jerry Farnsworth's ranch.
Katherine (Kate) Farnsworth
Jerry's wife, who offered gracious hospitality to Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson when they were stranded in Texas. While searching for Margrethe after the Rapture, Alex learned she was Rahab, the harlot who aided Joshua's before his conquest of Jericho. Jerry called her "Duchess".
Sybil Farnsworth
Teenaged daughter of Jerry and Kate, a recent convert to the Old Religion (witchcraft). She was actually an afrit named Egret, who also the was desk clerk when Alex Hergensheimer checked into Hell's Sans Souci Sheraton hotel.
Co-op organized by and for the newly arrived souls in heaven after the Rapture, established near the Asher Gate.
Jeremy Forsyth
SS Konge Knut passenger who paid off his bet to Alex Hergensheimer after Alec Graham's successful firewalk. He was named Gerald Fortescue in Alex's original world. (Also known as "The Well-Travelled Man".)
[mentioned in passing] Living unit to which Alex Hergensheimer was assigned in Heaven; apparently bachelor quarters.
Glaroon
World that Koshchei offered to Lucifer to govern; Lucifer seemed reluctant to accept it.
Mrs. Ephraim Glutz
Hypothetical passenger mentioned as winning the "mileage pool" by Alex Hergensheimer in his description of a typical item in a ship's daily newspaper.
Alec Graham.
Alex Hergensheimer took over his identity after Alex found himself in a new universe following his firewalk. He used the name through most of his subsequent ordeal, though he thought Hergensheimer had a much nobler sound. The original Alec Graham was apparently involved in a shady deal involving one million dollars that Alex found in "his" lockbox. Graham was actually a manifestation of Loki, who set up the situation into which Alex would be thrown.
Elise Graham
Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson's daughter in Eden, Kansas, a Novice Ecdysiast (stripper). She spoke of having a religious vocation, but Alex believed she'd marry right out of high school.
Ruler of Russia in Alec Graham's world, a constitutional monarch who no longer claimed suzerain over other Slavic states. In Alex Hergensheimer's world there was a Russian Emperor who is absolute monarch of vast territories.
gumpersaggle
Alex Hergensheimer's proposed name for the flying machine (airplane) that he and Margrethe Gunderson saw after being marooned by the iceberg collision. Neither he nor Margrethe had ever seen one before, and they weren't certain what it was.
Margrethe Svensdatter Gunderson
Stewardess on the SS Konge Knut who became Alec Graham's mistress, then Alex Hergensheimer's wife. A schoolteacher on one-year leave, she had studied English language and history and knew four other languages. When Alex Hergensheimer "became" Alec Graham, he fell in love with her, and she accompanied him through his ordeal of passing through strange universes. She was "born again" in the last minutes before the Rapture, but was not taken into Heaven. Their separation was the result of Loki's conniving with Yahweh to test Alex's faith, so as recompense she and Alex were given a life together with all their wishes granted, and the memory of their ordeal erased.
One of the passengers who paid off a bet to Alec Graham after his firewalk.
Abigail Hergensheimer
Alex Hergensheimer's wife in his home universe. She was upright to an extreme, and apparently not a pleasant life companion. She made it into Heaven during the Rapture but made such a nuisance of herself complaining about others' behavior that St. Peter had her thrown out of his office.
Alexander Hergensheimer
Ordained clergyman and officer of Churches United for Decency, he was chosen the victim in a bet between Yahweh and Loki to test the faith of Yahweh's most devoted follower. While a passenger on the MV Konge Knut, he accepted a bet to try a firewalk after witnessing a demonstration, and during the walk was transported to a different universe where he was known as Alec Graham. From there, with Margrethe Gunderson he was shuttled from universe to universe, either staying just long enough to build up hope that they were finished with the ordeal, or shifted with disconcerting rapidity and frequency. He came to think of Margrethe as his wife, but although she accepted Jesus moments before the Rapture they were separated when he was taken bodily into Heaven. Deciding that eternity without her would be unbearable, he chose to go to Hell to search for her. He gained Lucifer's aid in revealing Yahweh's contrivances and winning a peaceful existence for himself and Margrethe with all memory of their experiences erased and all their desires fulfilled.
hollow grams
Alex Hergensheimer's understanding of "holograms", used to decorate the rooms in Jerry Farnsworth's house, including changing the function of room (for example, from parlor to dining room).
Bus system that operated in Heaven, which Alex Hergensheimer rode during his search for Margrethe Gunderson. When a passenger on the bus asked for Alex's blessing, Alex's sainthood became manifest.
Hotel in Mazatlán in which Alex Hergensheimer claimed to have been staying, so that he could get his passport "replaced" after the earthquake. [Spanish olas altas, "high waves"]
Hubert (no last name)
Jerry Farnsworth's name for the computer that controlled his automobile.
Judge who presided over the debtor trial in Mazatlán for Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson. When they were indentured to pay off their debt to the Coast Guard, he insisted that they be purchased as a couple.
Park in Mazatlán where Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson frequently spent their day off. They were relatively safe atop it during the earthquake. Its Spanish name was el Cerro de la Nevería.
By inference, Sybil Farnsworth got into trouble once for making an illegal tape of their music.
John Edward II (no last name)
In the United States where Alex Hergensheimer ended up after the Mazatlán earthquake, he was His Most Christian Majesty, Hereditary President of the United States and Canada, Duke of Hyannisport, Comte de Quebec, Defender of the Faith, Protector of the Poor, and Marshal in Chief of the Peace Force. [Inferring from Hyannisport, he could be John Kennedy or a descendant.]
The SS Konge Knut's daily newspaper; Alex Hergensheimer was grateful that Alec Graham had saved all of them from the first day of the voyage, since they helped Alex acquaint himself with the ship's routine and the other passengers.
Bert Kinsey
Alex Hergensheimer's boyhood "outlaw chum" who shared his taste for science fiction. He saved Alex from the fiery pit when he was hurled into hell, but was changed into a pink monkey when he expressed skepticism about Alex's sainthood.
Kirk (no first name)
Alex Hergensheimer's scoutmaster. He was accused of profane language by his wife and sentenced to one day in the stocks. After the experience, he left town and was never seen again.
Before his firewalk Alex Hergensheimer was travelling aboard the MV (motor vehicle) Konge Knut, but afterwards he found it transformed to the SS (steam ship) Konge Knut. The night that he convinced Margrethe Gunderson of what seemed to have happened to him, the ship was struck by an iceberg, and disappeared after Alex and Margrethe were washed through a hole in the hull.
The "deity" one level above Lucifer and Yahweh, who seldom took an interest in affairs below that level. At Lucifer's intercession, he mediated the dispute over Yahweh's treatment of Alex Hergensheimer, manifesting to Alex as the image of the veterinarian he knew during childhood. Lucifer had suggested that Alex address him, if at all, as "Mr. Chairman".
Margrethe Gunderson described him as the god not of mischief but of evil, and suspected him of being responsible for her and Alex Hergensheimer's ordeals. They eventually found out that he was causing the worldshifts as part of a bet he'd made with Yahweh to test the resolve of Yahweh's most faithful follower. Loki had manifested as Alec Graham to set up the situation into which Alex was cast, and was also Sam Crumpacker. He claimed to have won the bet, and also complained that Yahweh welshed on the payment.
Lonesome Cowboy Steak House
Restaurant that turned into Vivian's Grill, in another shift to a new world, before Alex Hergensheimer could collect his wages for washing dishes.
Head cook and Alex Hergensheimer's nominal boss in Ron's Grill; Alex describes him as "a giant blackamoor". Alex found him in Heaven, running a lunch counter.
[mentioned in passing] Queen of Scandinavia in one world in which Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson found themselves. Her capital was Kobenhavn.
Sister Marie Charles (no other name)
Secretary to Saint Peter in Heaven. He called her "Charlie".
[mentioned in passing] A "visiting professor" in Hell, teaching harlotry. She was on the permanent faculty in Heaven (what she taught there was not specified).
Port city to which Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson were taken by the Mexican Coast Guard airship that rescued them from midocean after the Konge Knut struck an iceberg. Mazatlán was the ship's original destination, but the city to which they were taken was obviously in a different world. They were indentured there to pay the expenses of their rescue.
Brother Eddie McCaw
Adjutant of the Salvation Army center where Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson sought help after being transported to Nogales, Arizona, following the Mazatlán earthquake. He gave them housing and hired Margrethe as a temporary cook. He became Brother McNabb after a worldshift.
H. G. Wells novel about the fourth dimension and parallel universes. Alex Hergensheimer had read the first installment in a magazine, but after the Protect-Our-Youth legislation was passed, later installments were never published.
Mazatlán street on which the United States embassy was located.
Minnie (no last name)
[mentioned in passing] Sybil Farnsworth's aunt. Sybil claimed the last time her father had spanked her was her ninth birthday, when she'd set fire to this aunt.
[mentioned in passing] Former owners of the soda shop that Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson bought in Eden, Kansas. (Considering the name — Asmodeus — probably a minion of Lucifer, helping to create the utopia for Alex and Margrethe.)
Alex Hergensheimer's name for a fellow passenger on the Konge Knut, who attended the firewalking demonstration. He [or she?] opined that the firewalkers did it "through the fourth dimension".
City to which Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson were taken by refugee train after the Mazatlán earthquake, in a different universe than the Mazatlán in which they were indentured. They worked there for several weeks, but just as they were becoming solvent they were shifted to a new universe.
The government in Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld was dominated by religious interests. The NAU has only 46 states. In Alex's history, William Jennings Bryan became President in 1896. (See also Churches United for Decency.)
Alex Hergensheimer's name for a fellow passenger on the Konge Knut, who attended the firewalking demonstration; her first name was Gwendolyn, her last name was not given.
O'Hara, Rigsbee, Crumpacker and Rigsbee
Law firm whose address was listed as Alec Graham's address.
Hospital in Mazatlán to which Don Jaime Valera Guzmán paid tithes and also made donations on Alex Hergensheimer's behalf. Apparently paying tithes to hospitals was the equivalent of health insurance.
Government in the universe in which Alex Hergensheimer was rescued from midocean and taken to Mazatlán. It was apparently an enemy of the United States.
[mentioned in passing] Organization that arranged a firewalking demonstration for the passengers of the Konge Knut. The representative allowed Alex Hergensheimer to try, but "took no responsibility" for the results.
Organization that rescued Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson from the ocean. The two were billed for the service, since the central government insisted that all departments be self-supporting.
It was ruled by a tsar in Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld. In Alec Graham's world, it was ruled by the Grand Duke of Muscovy, a constitutional monarch who no longer claimed suzerain over other Slavic states.
In Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld, a dirigible pioneer second only to Count von Zeppelin; in one of the alternate universes, an inventor of flying machines.
Sovereign of Hell and His Colonies Beyond, First of the Fallen Thrones, Prince of Lies. He preferred the name Lucifer, and used the alias Jerry Farnsworth when Alex Hergensheimer first met him.
Schmidt (no first name)
[mentioned in passing] President of Germany in Alec Graham's universe.
[mentioned in passing] Site in Heaven of the Holy Cow.
Steve (no last name)
Teamster who gave Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson a lift towards Kansas, bought them steak dinners, and gave Alex money. Alex found him in Heaven after the Rapture; he credited Alex with converting him.
A soul that Alex Hergensheimer met on the bus in Heaven. A lacemaker from Flanders, she opened a lacemaking school in Heaven. Her request for Alex's blessing caused his sainthood to become manifest.
Angel who advised Alex Hergensheimer on how to search for Margrethe Gunderson; he called St. Peter's office on Alex's behalf to check on her whereabouts.
Tomkins vs. Allied News Distributors
[mentioned in passing] Supreme Court decision in Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld under which community standards of the "typical" community in each state applied to all other cities.
The wife of Jaime Valera Guzmán. Although he technically owned the restaurant (having married the previous owner's daughter), she controlled the management. She tried to cheat Margrethe Gunderson out of her tips, snooped in the room Margrethe shared with Alex Hergensheimer, and generally treated Alex and Margrethe as slaves rather than indentured employees.
His books were removed from public libraries in Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld, after science fiction was outlawed by executive order as a corrupting influence.
His books were removed from the public library after science fiction was outlawed in Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld. One of Alex's English professors, bluntly opposed to the censorship, had said that Wells invented every basic fantastic theme.
Town in which Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson found themselves during their travels through the universes. A kind couple bought them lunch there, and Margrethe bought traveling clothes at a second-hand store.
The deity that subjected Alex Hergensheimer to the ordeal of shifting among worlds,losing all he possessed each time. Yahweh had made a bet with Loki that the ordeal would not cause Alex, his most zealous believer, to lose his faith. [English transliteration of the Hebrew name for God.]
