She opened her purse, which hadn’t needed much work to resemble a briefcase, got out her vanity, and inspected her appearance. In demure make‑up and demure little dress, she hardly suggested a top‑flight , witch, till you noticed what else she was packing along. .
“To business,” Barney said. “We informed this team at once of what you’d discovered, Steve. From the strictly scientific angle, your hints, added to what’d already been assembled, were a jolt. Working together, certain of our people have developed some insights that should prove revolutionary.” He paused. But, let’s begin with the political mess we’re in.”
“Or the religious,” Janice Wenzel said.
“In this case,” Pastor Karlslund said, “I doubt if there’s any clear distinction.” He was a large, blond, scholarly‑looking man.
“If the Johannine Church is indeed of diabolic origin?” Griswold grimaced. “I hate to believe that. I don’t agree with its tenets, but to say they come not from error but from evil does go rather far. Are you sure, Mr. Matuchek, that you really encountered the Adversary?”
“One of his higher‑ups, anyway,” I said. “Or lower‑downs, if you prefer. Not for the first time, either. Those earlier visions and experiences of mine fall into a pattern now.”
“I mean, well, you were under considerable stress. A hallucination would be very reasonable . . . expectable, I mean.”
“If the Johnnies are legit,” my wife clipped, “why are they keeping quiet? They have Steve’s identity. They’ve had ample time to get in touch with him, or to file an official complaint. But never a peep. Barney’s man, sent to fetch his broomstick, took it from where it was parked with no questions asked. I say, they can’t risk an investigation.”
“They might be trying to get your daughter returned to you through their paranatural contacts,” Hardy suggested without conviction.
Admiral Charles snorted. “Big chance! I don’t doubt the Adversary would like to cancel the whole episode. But how? He can return her with zero time‑lapse in hell, you say, Mr. Matuchek?quite astounding, that. Nevertheless, I don’t imagine he can change the past: the days we’ve lived without her, the things we’ve learned as a consequence.”
“Our silence could be her ransom,” Hardy said.
“What man would feel bound by that kind of bargain?” the admiral replied.
Karlslund added: “No contracts can be made with the Low Ones anyhow. Contract implies a meeting of minds, an intent to abide by the terms reached. Being incapable of probity, a devil is unable to believe humans won’t try to cheat him in turn.”
“So,” Charles said, “he’d gain nothing by releasing her, and lose whatever hostage value she has.”
Ashman said painfully: “He’s already succeeded in dividing the forces of good. I get the impression this meeting is in defiance of the government, an actual conspiracy. Is that wise?”
“I suppose you mean we should make a clean breast to Uncle Sam and trust him to set everything right.” The hurt in me powered my sneer.
“What resources have we in comparison?” Ashman asked. “What right have we to withhold the information you’ve gathered? It’s vital to the common weal.”
“Let me handle that question,” Barney said. “I’ve got connections in Washington, and Admiral Charles, who has more, confirms my guess as to what’s going on there. The key datum is this: that the facts of the kidnapping are being officially suppressed. Our local FBI head is a sharp boy. He saw at once that that’s what policy would, and acted in anticipation of a directive he knew he’d get.
“The reasons for such a policy are complicated, but boil down to two items. First, hardly anything is known about the hell universe. This is one of the few cases, maybe unique, that looks like a direct, physical assault from demon territory. Nobody can be sure what it portends. In those circumstances, caution is inevitable. They’ll argue in the State Department that the truth could be altogether different from the semblance. They’ll argue in Defense that we’d better not commit ourselves to anything before we have more data and especially a bigger military appropriation. The President, the Cabinet, the top men in Congress, will agree on sitting tight. That involves sitting on the news, to forestall an inconvenient public furore.