He came out of the alley and pushed knee-deep through soft black dust until the ground rose and he stood on a hillock looking down on pools of some glassy substance, each perfectly circular, like the discarded lenses of some gigantic piece of optical equipment. He skirted these, for he knew from past experience that they were capable of movement and could swallow him, subjecting him to hallucinatory experiences which, though entertaining, were time-consuming, and a short while later he saw ahead the pastoral illusion where they had met Jagged on his return. He crossed the illusion, noticing that a fresh picnic had been laid and that there was no trace of the Lat having been here (normally they left a great deal of litter behind them), and would have continued on his way towards the mile-wide pit had he not heard the sound, to his left, of voices raised in song.
Who so beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound —
His strength the more is.
He crossed an expanse of yielding, sighing stuff, almost losing his balance so that on several occasions he was forced to take to the air as best he could (there was still some difficulty, it seemed, with the city's ability to transmit power directly to the rings). Eventually, on the other side of a cluster of fallen arcades, he found them, standing in a circle around Mr. Underwood, who waved his arms with considerable zest as he conducted them — Inspector Springer, Sergeant Sherwood and the twelve constables, their faces shining and full of joy as they joined together for the hymn. It was not for some moments that Jherek discovered Mrs. Underwood, a picture of despairing bewilderment, her oriental dress all dusty, her feathers askew, seated with her head in her hand, watching the proceedings from an antique swivel chair, the remnant of some crumbled control room.
She lifted her head as he approached, on tip-toe, so as not to disturb the singing policemen.
"They are all converted now," she told him wearily. "It seems they received a vision shortly before we arrived."
The hymn was over, but the service (it was nothing less) continued.
"And so God came to us in a fiery globe and He spoke to us and He told us that we must go forth and tell the world of our vision, for we are all His prophets now. For he has given us the means of grace and the hope of glory!" cried Harold Underwood, his very pince-nez aflame with fervour.
"Amen," responded Inspector Springer and his men.
"For we were afraid and in the very bowels of Hell, yet still He heard us. And we called unto the Lord — Our help is in the name of the Lord who hath made heaven and earth. Blessed be the name of the Lord; henceforth, world without end. Lord, hear our prayers; and let our cry come unto thee."
"And He heard us!" exulted Sergeant Sherwood, the first of all these converts. "He heard us, Mr. Underwood!"
"Hungry and thirsty: their soul fainted in them," continued Harold Underwood, his voice a holy drone:
"So they cried unto the Lord in their trouble: and he delivered them forth from their distress.
He led them forth by the right way: that they might go to the city where they dwelt.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord for His goodness; and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men!
For He satisfieth the empty souclass="underline" and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: being fast bound in misery and iron;
Because they rebelled against the words of the Lord: and lightly regarded the counsel of the most Highest."
"Amen," piously murmured the policemen.
"Ahem," said Jherek.
But Harold Underwood passed an excited hand through his disarranged hay-coloured hair and began to sing again.
" Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
yet will I fear none ill… "
"I must say," said Jherek enthusiastically to Mrs. Underwood, "it makes a great deal of sense. It is attractive to me. I have not been feeling entirely myself of late, and have noticed that you —"
"Jherek Carnelian, have you no conception of what has happened here?"
"It is a religious service." He was pleased with the precision of his knowledge. "A conspiracy of agreement."
"You do not find it strange that all these police officers should suddenly become pious — indeed, fanatical! — Christians?"
"You mean that something has happened to them while we have been away?"
"I told you. They have seen a vision. They believe that God has given them a mission, to return to 1896 — though how they intend to get there Heaven alone knows — to warn everyone of what will happen to them if they continue in the paths of sinfulness. They believe that they have seen and heard God Himself. "They have gone completely mad."
"But perhaps they have had this vision, Amelia."
"Do you believe in God now?"
"I have never disbelieved, though I, myself, have never had the pleasure of meeting Him. Of course, with the destruction of the universe, perhaps He was also destroyed…"
"Be serious, Jherek. These poor people, my husband amongst them (doubtless a willing victim, I'll not deny) have been duped!"
"Duped?"
"Almost certainly by your Lord Jagged."
"Why should Jagged — you mean that Jagged is God?"
"No. I mean that he plays at God. I suspected as much. Harold has described the vision — they all describe it. A fiery globe announcing itself as 'The Lord thy God' and calling them His prophets, saying that He would release them from this place of desolation so that they could return to the place from which they had come to warn others — and so on and so on."
"But what possible reason would Jagged have for deceiving them in that way?"
"Merely a cruel joke."
"Cruel? I have never seen them happier. I am tempted to join in. I cannot understand you, Amelia. Once you tried to convince me as they are convinced. Now I am prepared to be convinced, you dissuade me!"
"You are deliberately obtuse."
"Never that, Amelia."
"I must help Harold. He must be warned of the deception."
He tried to speak through it, but she covered her ears, shaking her head and refusing to listen as he implored her to return with him.