by Jack Womack
"It's pretty," E said. "I-"
"It's for you," said Leverett. "All for you." Reaching into his jacket, he removed a phone; drew up its antenna and spoke into its mouthpiece. "Undertake procedure A." Pocketing it again, he turned to us, and nodded heavenward. "Look."
We lifted our heads, staring at the clouds directly above the cathedral as they commenced to move, swirling as if Godness Herself stirred them, whirlpooling enough that a tremendous circle of strata soon detached itself from its enveloping banks, lowered several dozen meters and continued to spin. Malloy led us forward, taking a phone of his own from his pocket, staring up all the while as we crossed the plaza, bearing toward the crowd. A few among their number began taking notice of what ensued overhead, and pointed upward. Openings broke in the circle's middle, which now appeared to remain placed while the outer rim continued to spin. Many more in the assemblage saw what onwent, and their murmurs rose as hurricane-surf. By the time we reached the edge of the crowd, all were staring upward, looking beyond the searchlights. Malloy spoke into his phone.
"Execute procedure B, please," he said. "Now!"
As he worded, the searchlights shut off; the cathedral remained lit, appearing to shine all the brighter. A beacon affixed upon the dome's lantern came on, its beam fixed heavenward and revealing in full the face of Dryco. The crowd gasped; made no greater noise than that disturbing, and continuous, rumble. Two blackclad gentlemen stepped away from the multitude; Malloy greeted them, and turned toward us. "I'll wait here," he said. "I've had my share of risk in my lifetime, and would prefer to observe from afar. All's set from here."
"Proceed, then," Leverett told the men, who nodded and began unobtrusively pushing a route through the crowd. He and John grasped E's arms, and started moving him forward. "Come on, Isabel-"
"Luck be with you, El," Malloy said; looked down at me, and smiled. "You, too."
While we followed the men leading us, careful not to call greater attention to ourselves than was possible, someone came onto the portico to address the crowd; though he wasn't visible from where we were, the speakers set up around the cathedral must have carried his voice across the East End.
"E," the man called out. "Hear us, E."
The clouds above began making their own murmurs, as if to growl at all those below; flashes gave life to the logoed eyes and brightened the circle's whirling edges. As we reached the cathedral walls, keeping close against them as we stepped over cables and boxes and those who'd taken positions sans view, I felt drops spatter against my arms. The sky thunderclapped all the more loudly. "It's raining, Leverett," I said. "That's intended?"
Reaching behind E, he tapped my husband's shoulder, and nodded in my direction. "Quiet your wife," he said. John stopped, and turned as if to confront me; I'd already circumvented him, pushing forward so as to alongside myself next to Leverett. My husband said nothing as he stepped next to me; I realized that, unconsciously, I'd muffed my ears with my hands. As I let my arms drop to my sides, unwilling to overreact where any might see, I felt a tug on my earring, as if it were snagged on something; circling quickly, I saw John pull his fingers away, and smile.
"E," the man at the podium continued to call out; the audience hummed, seemingly, in response. "We want you. We need you. We love you. Hear us, E-"
A sound of rustling paper came from far overhead, its crackle counterpointing thunder and drone. Seeing the lightning-lit face looming above as before when I glanced up, I spied as well blue flames flickering round the facade's twin spires, St. Elmo alicking their apexed crosses and the pediment's statues.
"We were worldscattered. In E we unite. Through E we go forth. With E we conquer. Hear us, E-"
Our leaders directed us to a door located in the base of the stairway, secluded from audience-view by a wall of carsize speakers; without word we entered, following their steps, passing quickly through a marble antechamber before ascending a stairway's iron coils. At its head was another door; we stepped through as our guides opened it for us, coming out onto the portico's left side, behind another cluster of speakers. The man addressing the Elvii stood at the podium, some ten meters away, shouting as if to drive away the rain.
"Time comes." The speakers so amplified his words, and we stood so close to their horns, that his phrases earstruck me as if they were long pins driven into my head. "We call for you now as we always have. As we always will. Return to us tonight. Return. Hear us, E-"
Our guides absented themselves, returning the way we came. John took up a position near me, his look evidencing that he had distanced; as if, however unintentionally, he had begun concentrating too keenly on past, rather than present. "Your cue," Leverett said, shouting loud enough that we could hear. "Ready?"
"If I have to-" E said.
"What's done is done," Leverett said, lifting his phone. "Now do."
"Hear us, E," said the man at the podium. "Answer."
"Procedure C," said Leverett, voicing into the receiver. "Engage."
Mayhap the man noticed his hair lifting, as if breezed, away from his neck, as I felt mine grow staticky; possibly tingles suddenly traveled from his fingertips, up his arms. Something awared him, and he leapt back from the podium; no sooner did he move than a bolt shot down from cloud to church, blasting the spot where he'd stood, charging the air. Simultaneously the searchlights came on, sending their shafts skyways once more.
"Go!" Leverett shouted. John tossed a capsule at the podium which flashed sunbright when it landed. E dropped his wrap from his shoulders, revealing his regooded jumpsuit: its lines were retailored to better fit his frame, and its fabric was white, rather than yellow; our logo showed upon it fore and aft as before. Running across, he passed through the cloud rising from the blistered stone just as the rain dissipated its mist. His people, initially, stood responseless, quieting so absolutely that, for long instants, all we heard was rain beating against the church, drumming against their coats. Once they realized whom it was they sighted, they connected, crying so loud as to push cheer into scream. E paused expressionless at the podium as the people's noise grew louder, increasing so as to deafen all other sound. Then he raised his right hand; they silenced, as if unplugged. The searchlights blanked again. Careful not to touch the podium, he leaned forward into the mike and began his unaccompanied song.
"Mine eyes have seen the coming''
More than the searchlights had blanked, I realized; the whole of the city had gone out, totaling all in darkness. Sporadic lightning strobed the scene. "Volume," Leverett was saying into his phone. "What happened? Where's the volume?"
=of the glory of the Lord-" E's voice wobbled as he phrased the second line.
"Nobody's hearing him!" Leverett shouted. "Electrify. Action! What do you mean, it's knackered-?"
E muted, and stared at his silent onlookers. The sky cloudburst; rain pelted so hard as to soak him. His hair matted against his face; his collar collapsed under water's weight. Removing his shades, he slung them into the crowd. No one jumped to catch for them as they flew; no one lunged to seize them, once they landed.
"What are you doing to me?" Leverett said, screaming into his phone. "You can't-"
"Faker!" someone shouted. "Ta'e a malky to 'im," another said. "Vegassene!" a woman cried. "American!!"
Those frontlined started surging forward, attempting to crash the impromptu defense line that formed itself; some of Malloy's men, undoubted, doing what they could to forestall, if not prevent, harm. Pocket-size soundsystems hailed onto the portico's steps as those farther back made clear their intentions. E backed away from the podium; turned, and ran toward me. I couldn't tell whether rain or tears most wet his face. John stepped between us as he approached, disallowing any embrace. When E tried asiding him, my husband throated him with his hands, shaking his head as if to detach it. Careless of his reaction, I struck John in the back of his neck; he loosed E, and I pulled him toward me.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Isabel, I'm sorry. Help me-"
John grabbed
E's arm, dragging him across the stone as if readying to throw him to the crowd. Leverett sighted what onwent, dropped his phone and rushed over. Malloy's men positioned themselves along the steps, lifted their weapons and fired. The crowdroar intensified; paving-stones landed against the columns. Leverett drew back as he ran over, and punched E's face; held his hand as if he'd broken it while continuing to shout.
"Look what you did! Look-!"
"Don't hit me-" E said, rubbing his jaw; before John could pull him away I took hold, and brought him over to me. The gunfire upvolumed; eyeing downward, I saw that those in the crowd who came armed had reached the front. Seizing E more tightly with one hand, I reached into my purse with the other, finding the compact. The cathedral's smaller entranceways had revolving doors, to facilitate large numbers of tourists; I knew what essentialed if we were to escape, if but momentslong. Towing E, I raced toward the doors; John and Leverett dashed after us, ignoring the Elvii at the top of the stairs. I threw myself against the glass of one of the compartments, hauling E into the wedge with me as I pressed my thumb against the compact; before ten seconds passed John, too, crammed into our slot.
"Not without me, Iz," he said. "Not without me."
Bracing my feet against our enclosing doors to hold them placed, I sealed our compartment just as all outside went white. Closing my eyes, feeling vibrations race bodywide, I prayed unto Godness that my baby wouldn't be harmed. Blood warmed my face as my nose flowed; neither E nor John worded, while we were passing. Through my lids I detected a shadowing as the whiteness faded; drawing my feet together, I leaned forward and pushed, spinning the door round until we exited. Coming out, my arm still clutching E's, I looked at a dark, red world.
"What's this?" E said, freeing himself of my grip. "Where are we?"
"Iz," said John. "It's-"
"War," I said, at once recalling the historical inferences Dryco extrapolated, following our return.
"We're still in London?" E asked, staring out from the top of the steps.
"What war?" John asked. "The second? It's over-"
"Not here," I said. "Britain never peaced with Germany. It's ongoing and we're in it-"
Until I saw the searchlights it was impossible to say if it was day or night. The cathedral's plaza was blockaded round by sandbags, and overroped with entangled hoses, lying coiled atop one another, resembling a snake-nest; spray geysered from leaks in their lengths. They were connected to firewagons, and their nozzles were directed by parties of men wearing metal bowls atop their heads, watering the burning buildings surrounding the cathedral. From a hundred blazes smoke billowed, clotting the air, stinging my eyes and choking me as I attempted to breathe.
"We can't stay here," I said, holding a handkerchief against my face. "Whatever's ongoing on the other side, we have to go back-"
"I'm not goin' back," E said, backing away from us. "They'll kill me."
"You'll die here," I said.
"Maybe not-"
"It's senseless, you can't-" A newspaper fluttered along, catching at my ankles; plucking it up, I scanned its heads:
GERMANY RENEWS ATTACK
LIVERPOOL, MANCHESTER, LEEDS HIT BY MISSILES
BRIGHTON SCHOOL V3ED, 189 DEAD
TRIAL BY NAZI HELLFIRE *** `BOMB AWAY' SAYS LONDON
IF THEY HAVE THE BOMB, WILL THEY USE IT?
"I had it, Isabel," E said. "You're not gettin' me back there, no way." A series of blasts went off in the near distance, shaking the stone beneath my shoes; one of the sculptures toppled from the pediment, shattering as it fell onto the steps. E turned, and began his own descent.
"John," I said, following. "Stop him."
My husband actioned at once, moving more quickly than I'd have expected he would; as he threw himself at E, tackling him and sending them both rolling down the steps, I understood his intent. As they came to rest at the bottom he positioned himself atop E and started hitting him. Shellbursts bejeweled the smoke above as if they were fireworks, showering golden rain that burned, skinhitting. Three ambulances sped through the street alongsiding the cathedral's north side, ringing their bells.
"Stop it," I shouted, grasping John's collar, pulling him away. "You can't-"
"Essentialled," my husband said, jerking loose of my grip. "He hurt. He'll suffer. I'll revenge us yet."
The cathedral's dome appeared as a broken egg whenever the searchlights played over across the ruin. Silvery fish floated through the ink that drowned it, glinting as the beams lanced their sides; after a befuddled moment I gathered that they were observation balloons. One burst as it was harpooned, and sank slowly into the murk. "Leave him be. We have to home it-"
"Rapist!" John cried, returning to his work, fisting E repeatedly. "Housebreaker! You ruined us. You ruined us-" As I fixed myself upon my husband's back once more, I heard a drone overhead, the buzz of a bird-size bee; unexpectedly, it silenced, and some seconds afterward the ruins to the south of the cathedral reblew, throwing the three of us headover end, spattering us with cinder and slag. Sitting, looking up, I watched red blooms blossom from what had been sowed; the sirens didn't deafen against the screams.
"Come-" I said, pulling myself up along with E; his jumpsuit was blackened with soot and smudge, dulling its brightness, blanking our logo. His face was bruised and swollen; his hair was matted with blood. John was recovering as well; running his hand along his leg, assuring its fit, he readied to stand. "Come, E. We have to go. Come on-" He pulled away from me before John could haul him in.
He drew back, disentangling himself. "No, Isabel. I won't do it."
"You can't stay here."
"This is where I'll be goin' soon enough," he said. "You go. I won't-"
John lunged forward, striking E in the chest with his good leg, sending him down atop an agglomeration of charred timber. E enraged; seeing my husband move toward him he retrieved one of the more solid boards and swung up around, breaking it against my husband's skull.
"Stop it!!" I screamed. "I'll leave you both-!"
Neither seemed troubled by my threat; even now I can't say that I wanted to leave either of them there. As John dropped, so E rose; I paused there for what seemed a limitless time as they pummeled each other, sparks and ash raining down on us all the while. The fires around us intensified, blending into a single blaze; when the firemen's hoses ignited they dropped them and ran. One called out to us, awakening me from my trance. "It's a firestorm!" he shouted. "Are you mad? Go underground, get to shelter!"
The wind heated, picking up; lighter debris ascended and circled through the air, as if they were no more than bits of paper uplifted by a candle flame. As the fires burned hotter their roar grew; the smoke so thickened that I expected we'd all shortly drop. John had E down again, slamming his face against the paving-stones, remodeling him one last time. From his pocket I saw him extract his straight razor, and lift E's head by one ear. Bereft of thought, heedless of result, I picked up one of the boards and brought it down so hard as I could against my husband's back; as he fell off E I lifted it again, and smashed his bad leg's knee.
"Run, then, if that's what's wanted," I told E. "Run."
His balance failed him as he tried to stand, and several times he slipped against the pavement; when he at last footed he stared horizonwide for a moment, seeing, as I saw, nothing but fire. As he wiped the blood from his face, cleaning his blackened hands on his suit, E smiled, as if, having accepted his prospects, he at last felt himself redeemed. "G'bye, Isabel," he said, his lip drawing into that unconscious sneer; stumbling away from us, he headed northwest, where the flames hadn't yet ravaged every street, and vanished into smoke.
My husband lay on the pavement watching; pawed at his leg with his hand. `John-" I said. "We have to leave. John-" He said nothing; without warning gesture he thrust his fist against my face. In midswing he must have conscioused of his action, for he restrained his jab, and therefore neither fractured my bones nor splintered my teeth; yet, he hit me. Edging far from him, I knelt against
the cobbles, finding the air breathable enough at groundlevel to allow me my sobs. Facades in Ludgate tumbled streetways as their fires overwhelmed; bricks sprayed across the plaza as if they were meteors. Momentslong while kneeling there I allowed myself disallowable thoughts; considered how easy it would be to stretch out, and await cremation. Belaying such notions, I looked at my husband; raising the hand with which he'd hit me, clenching it, he started pounding his own face, beating himself full-strengthed. Before I could stop him he'd caved in his right cheek; his nose sagged, as if the rising heat melted it. Seizing his hands, I pinned him; watched his face redden like a Jersey sunset.
"For you," he said, his voice faraway, barely audible over the surrounding holocaust's rumble. "For you. It's all wrong, whatever I did, whatever was done. Whatever was ever done. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry-
"We have to go, John." Fresh explosions throbbed my ears, sounding as firecrackers might to an ant. "Back to the cathedral. We'll have to go back where we came in."
"Leave me. It's my deathright here, Iz. Please leave me, please-"
"I can't-"
"Why?"
He had me, twiceover; but whatever he'd done, having already watched E lose himself, I wasn't going to goodbye my husband over here as well. "Let's go," I said. Standing, I fixed my grip, enabling for him to rise; saying naught, nodding assent, he allowed me to lift him, one last time. He shifted his weight onto his good leg; the wind blew so that he couldn't stand unaided. Encircling his waist with one arm, I supported him as we started toward the steps; retrieved the compact from my purse with my free hand.
"The church's afire, Iz," he said; through the smoke I saw flames, high on the cathedral's roof, behind the towers. "It's unmakable."