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I was pleasantly dead for a long time, but finally woke up as if from a long sleep. I was stiff and when I tried to shift in bed my side hurt me. I opened my eyes and looked around; I was in bed in a small, windowless but cheerful room. A sweet-faced young woman in a nurse's uniform came quickly to my side and felt my pulse. 'Hello.' 'Hello,' she answered. 'How are we now? Better?' 'What happened?' I asked. 'Is it over? Or is this just a rest?' 'Quiet,' she admonished. 'You are still too weak to talk. But it's over-you are safe among the brethren.' 'I was rescued?' 'Yes. Now be quiet.' She held up my head and gave me something to drink. I went back to sleep. It took me days to convalesce and catch up with events. The infirmary in which I woke up was part of a series of subbasements under the basement proper of a department store in New Jerusalem; there was some sort of underground co
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I had joined the Cabal on impulse. Certainly, under the stress of falling in love with Judith and in the excitement of the events that had come rushing over me as a result of meeting her, I had no time for calm consideration. I had not broken with the Church as a result of philosophical decision. Of course I had known logically that to join the Cabal was to break with all my past ties, but it had not yet hit me emotionally. What was it going to be like never again to wear the uniform of an officer and a gentleman? I had been proud to walk down the street, to enter a public place, aware that all eyes were on me. I put it out of my mind. The share was in the furrow, my hand was on the plow; there could be no turning back. I was in this until we won or until we were burned for treason. I found Zeb looking at me quizzically. 'Cold feet, Joh