‘You,’ said Theodosius, speaking to Tennyson, ‘have met Decker’s Old One, but I doubt that Jill has met him.’
‘I am pleased to meet you, sir,’ said Jill.
The Old One wheezed and hummed and finally he said, ‘It is my privilege and pleasure to have met the two of you and to welcome you back to End of Nothing.’
The crowd had started slowly edging in, a close-packed semicircle about the four of them – five, if one counted Plopper.
‘First of all,’ said Theodosius, ‘Out of sheer curiosity, what is this bouncing horror you brought along with you? Does it have significance?’
‘Your Eminence,’ said Tennyson, ‘I rather doubt it does.’
‘Then why is it along?’
‘You might say it got caught up in a traffic jam.’
‘Our intelligence is that you reached Mary’s Heaven.’
‘Yes, we did,’ said Tennyson, ‘and it is not Heaven. It is a research center similar to Vatican. We did not have the chance, however, to explore it. It seems we got entangled in local politics.’
A robot elbowed his way through the crowd and came up to stand alongside Theodosius. Tennyson saw that it was John, the gardener.
‘Dr. Tennyson,’ asked John, ‘what proof can you offer that it is not Heaven?’
‘Why, no proof at all,’ said Tennyson, brazening it out. ‘No documentary proof. Can you not accept our word? I would have thought a human’s word would be enough for you.’
‘In a situation such as this,’ said John, ‘no unsupported word is good enough. Not even a human’s word. It seems to me you humans -‘
‘John,’ said Theodosius, where is your respect?’
‘Your Eminence, respect is not a factor. We all are in this together.’
‘The Tennyson speaks the truth,’ said the Old One. ‘He radiates the truth.’
‘You thought, perhaps,’ said John to Tennyson, ignoring the Old One, ‘that this bouncing betsy you brought might serve to support your story. Pointing to it, you would ask if such a thing would be found in Heaven.’
‘I thought no such thing,’ said Tennyson, ‘for if I should do that, then you would ask that I prove it was, indeed from Heaven, and not picked up otherwhere.’
‘That I would have done,’ said John.
The crowd cried out in a single voice and thereupon surged back, still crying out in wonder and in terror.
‘For the love of God!’ exclaimed Theodosius, standing straight and rigid.
Tennyson spun around and there they stood: Smoky and Haystack and Decker II, huddled in a row, with the equation folk standing guard on them.
– The equation folk must have understood what was going on, said Whisperer. I wondered if they did and felt certain that they didn’t. Could this be the proof you need?
Decker II was walking down the esplanade toward them.
‘Why, that is Decker,’ said the cardinal. ‘And it cannot be. Decker’s dead. I said a mass for him. . .
‘Later, Your Eminence, I’ll explain,’ said Tennyson. ‘This is a different Decker. Another Decker. I know it is confusing.’
They stood and waited for Decker II. Tennyson stepped out several paces to meet him.
‘I suppose,’ said Decker, ‘that this is Vatican.’
‘Yes, it is,’ said Tennyson. ‘I am glad to see you.’
‘I don’t mind telling you,’ said Decker, ‘that back there, at the end, it was getting very hairy. You damn near got us killed.’
‘I almost -‘
‘You were dealing with a maniac,’ said Decker. ‘An alien maniac. Aliens alone are bad enough, but -‘
‘Yet you were one with him. You seemed to be his man. What was it you called it – a triad?’
‘My friend,’ said Decker, ‘in that hornet’s nest back there your first thought is survival. To survive you do what you must. You have to be fast on your feet and shifty in your attitude and you must go along.’
‘I can understand,’ said Tennyson.
‘And now I must speak to the man in charge,’ said Decker. ‘You’re not the man in charge, are you?’
‘No, I’m not,’ Tennyson told him. ‘The man in charge is His Holiness, on the wall up there. But I think you had best speak to Cardinal Theodosius. You’ll get along with him better than you would with His Holiness. When you speak to the cardinal, you address him as Your Eminence. It’s not necessary, but he likes it.’
He took Decker by the arm and marched him up to Theodosius.
‘Your Eminence,’ he said, ‘this is Thomas Decker II. He desires to speak with you.’
‘Decker II,’ said the cardinal, ‘you drop in on us unceremoniously and with no warning whatsoever, but I’ll be glad to listen.’
‘I speak for an alien being who is a fugitive from his home planet, Your Eminence,’ said Decker. ‘He is that egg-shaped bubble out there and I call him Smoky, although he has a more proper name.’
‘It seems to me,’ said Theodosius, ‘that I have seen this Smoky, or one of his fellows, a number of years ago. And now, please, eliminate all the palaver and get on with what you want to tell me.’
‘Smoky throws himself upon your mercy, Eminence,’ said Decker, ‘and begs sanctuary of you. He can’t return to Center, for if he did, his life would be forfeit. He is truly a homeless creature and fallen from very high estate. He is quite humble now.’
‘He sounds in bad shape,’ said Theodosius.
‘He truly is, Your Eminence. He petitions you -‘
‘Enough of that,’ said Theodosius. ‘Now, tell me, is this place he fled from known as Heaven?’
‘Not to my knowledge. I have never heard it called that.’
‘Are you aware that one of our Listeners made an attempt to visit your Center – is that what you call it?’
‘Yes, Your Eminence, that is what we call it, the Center for Galactic Studies. And, yes, we are aware that someone or something that fitted the description given me by Tennyson of your Listeners had tried to infiltrate the Center, but we frightened it away.’
Tennyson glanced over his shoulder and saw that the equation people had spread out so that Smoky and Haystack stood relatively alone. Hopping frantically toward them was Plopper, making straight for the Bubbly.
It reached a position in front of Smoky and began hopping up and down in place, going very rapidly.
‘Oh, my God,’ cried Tennyson, ‘not again!’ He lurched around and started running toward the two of them. Behind him he heard the pounding of feet and Decker yelling at him, ‘Get out of the way, you damn fool! Get out of here!’
Tennyson kept on running. Decker came up beside him and reached out an arm, thrusting at Tennyson, hitting him on the shoulder and sending him sprawling. Tennyson tried to keep his feet beneath him, running hard and sidewise to regain his balance. But it was impossible to stay upright, and be went plunging to the pavement, striking on one shoulder and skidding, finally coming to a stop piled up in a heap.
Decker was yelling at Smoky in the Bubbly language. ‘No, Smoky! Don’t try it. Haven’t you had enough? You’re finished, I tell you. You are all washed up; you haven’t got a chance.’
Haystatck was also bawling at the Bubbly. ‘You and your goddamned pet! You’ll be the death of us.’
Haystack yelled at Decker. ‘Get out of the way! The fool is going to do it.’
Decker hurled himself to one side, running desperately.
Plopper blazed. He became a circle of brilliant fire, but the fire was cold. Even where he lay, fallen off to one side, Tennyson felt the bite of it.
But even as this happened, an awful silence fell, cutting off the screaming of the crowd – a silence and a darkness. Tennyson, lying on his back and looking toward the basilica, saw the shaft of darkness projected from the vision plate that had been installed for His Holiness. The shaft of blackness extended out over the esplanade, and within it lay the deepest night. The brilliance of Plopper blinked out and the darkness went away. Plopper was no longer exploding. He lay sprawled on the pavement and did not stir. Haystack had been tipped over on his side and Smoky tipped as well, lying on his face. As Tennyson watched, the Bubbly began a slow crawl up the esplanade, painfully hitching his way along. Theodosius and the Old One stood waiting as Smoky crawled toward them. Decker strode across the pavement and picked up Haystack, setting him on his feet. Plopper was stirring feebly and Decker, going over to him, picked him up by one tentacle and walked slowly down the esplanade, dragging Plopper behind him. ‘
Tennyson hauled himself erect. One shoulder, the one he had fallen on, was sore and there was a throbbing pain in it. He hobbled along lopsidedly as he walked over to join Decker and Haystack.
‘He just wouldn’t give up,’ said Decker, making a thumb at Smoky. ‘He is one of those fanatics who never know when they are licked. Even when he was flat on his butt and knew it, he still had to make another try. You know what his motto is? First the galaxy, then the universe.’