13th September – Judgement Day
Tom, Vladimir, Joan, Jenny, Duck, Etienne, Christian, Helen and I sat in silence in the starcruiser at the edge of space.
The stars of Orion shone bright and clear above us.
‘Five, four, three, two, one …’ Tom counted down.
A further second passed before the missiles exploded with a blinding flash.
‘How long will it be until we know if it’s worked?’ I asked.
‘If the asteroid’s been deflected sufficiently,’ answered Tom, ‘it will skim the Earth’s atmosphere in about an hour.’
‘So we’ll know then,’ said Helen, ‘whether this is it or whether life on Earth will continue.’
I looked over at Christian. ‘Well done to Christian,’ I said. ‘If he hadn’t got to the starcruiser, we’d have been pinned down in the woods for too long to instigate the launch. You may just have saved the world,’ I said to him.
As I said those words, I pondered on the uncertainty that still remained about the outcome of the missile explosion. ‘Is Gamma still a legal vicar?’ I said to Christian.
‘We are,’ Christian replied. ‘Or rather, I am. Something happened today that there wasn’t time to talk about. Somehow, Gamma met Beta and they all merged with Alpha. I can remember everything that’s happened.’ He paused as if deep in thought. ‘They were all parts of me.
‘I remembered what Helen said about this whole business bringing out parts of her that she never knew were there. I also remember what Swan said about letting God define him or herself to me, rather than inventing a god of my own.
‘I can now reconcile all my contradictions into one personality, and yes, I am still a legal vicar. Why do you ask?’
‘I don’t want to put a damper on what’s been a pretty good day so far,’ I said, ‘but we could be within the last hour of life on Earth. If that’s the case, I’d like to be married to Helen when we all go.’
‘That’s fine,’ said Christian, ‘Amy can produce the relevant documents, and there are enough of you here for witnesses.’
‘There’s something I’d like to say,’ interrupted Helen. ‘I’m an optimist about all this. I think we’re all going to make it. At that point, life is never going to be quite the same again. I can’t go back to everyday life in Waterford. Quite apart from the practical problems of re-integrating into a community in which I’ve just been involved in a shootout – and in wrecking the woods with an American, black project spacecraft – the Women’s Group is going to seem a bit tame.
‘Joan has offered me a role in MI5 if we make it, and I need to take that.’
Helen looked at me, awaiting my reaction.
Joan interrupted: ‘Actually, there would be work for all of you in MI5. It wouldn’t all be about saving the world. In fact, as Jenny will tell you, some of it’s quite boring. It’s different though.’
‘Frankly, I was getting a bit bored with my retirement,’ I said, turning to Helen. ‘Whatever you want’s OK with me. Will you marry me?’
‘Yes,’ she said, smiling. ‘Amy,’ she continued, ‘can you make the place look a bit more like a chapel?’
The flight deck transformed into a charming stone chapel. Virtual sunlight streamed from imaginary windows in computer generated, dust filled beams.
‘Could we make that a double wedding?’ said Duck.
‘Who are you talking to?’ I asked.
‘Initially, Jenny,’ Duck replied, ‘for an agreement in principle, and then Christian for the practicalities.’
‘Yes,’ said Jenny.
‘OK with me,’ said Christian.