Chapter 7
For several days, hundreds of fearful and curious people went up to the valley rim. When enough of them had returned with confirmation of the dreadful reality, the mood in the valley promptly shifted to alarm.
But for me? It was almost a relief. No more carrying around a silent burden.
I still didn’t let on that I’d had advanced warning. And the Deacon didn’t tell anyone either. Suffice to say that what others didn’t know wouldn’t hurt me or them.
Whether the Professor had been legit or not, he’d been unable to change the minds on his Quorum. Humanity’s stay on Purgatory was coming to an end.
In the weeks that followed, attendance in the chapel went through the roof. I was forced to allow people to begin spending the night. Who was I to keep banker’s hours, at a time like this? As long as people didn’t leave a mess—excremental or otherwise—I let them stay as long as they wanted. It’s what the chaplain would have preferred were he still alive and able to give direction. I could think of no better use for the place.
Occasional scout trips to the hills told us that the contraction of The Wall was accelerating.
By the time The Wall was in the valley floor, and closing at well over a meter per day, I had more people in the chapel than could possibly fit. I began to wonder if the combination of fear and crowding might cause a riot. But my flock was like me for the most part—calm and resigned. Maybe attempting to make some sort of final peace with the universe? Perhaps, also, we were each of us eager for the ultimate escape. It had been years since we’d walked freely on a human world, masters of our own universe. Life in the valley, controlled utterly by the mantes, had been like a living coffin.
Now it would end.