Earth Has Been Found (23 page)

Epilogue

Julius Pechall, professor of ancient languages, switched off the projector, suddenly aware of the silence as the faint hum of the micro-reader stopped.

For a time he pondered what he had read. Obviously it had been a thinly disguised novel, written soon after God’s Finding. He guessed that one of the characters had been the author — Malin, perhaps? None of them had great depth; the story was the important thing.

What did it matter? The story gave him a few interesting sidelights for his paper — providing he trod carefully on the theology. But aside from that, it made him wonder what the world had been like back in that golden, but very sinful, age. It was a time that seemed so remote, yet little more than one hundred years had elapsed since the God first struck, ending the wicked ways, the fornication.

He prayed at once for absolution. He realized he had been very close to Impure Thought, and even for a researcher, normally granted some leeway, that could be very dangerous. One could be sent south.

He got up, donned his lightweight metallic suit, gloves, and helmet, and adjusted the heating. It was fairly safe in New Washington, Alaska, at this time of the year. But even in the capital of United North America, with all its defenses, there was no guarantee against the scourges of a vengeful God.

He hurried toward the airlock, reciting to himself the Prayer for Preservation. It would not be wise to be late for the dawn service.

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