"... And as I spoke with this being, this visitor from another world, the story it told me was chilling. I have never been so deeply and emotionally affected in my life. It spoke of a journey across ages, of the death of its home world, and of the agency of this destruction—the very vehicle which had brought it to Earth, now landed in Death Valley and disguised as a volcanic cinder cone."

Ithaca called Harry in from the bathroom, where he had just finished taking his shower. She wrapped him in a thick terry robe as he stood before the television, feeling how warm his skin was. "Great fucking birds flapping in the air," he breathed.

"What?" Ithaca asked.

"He's making the announcement now. Listen to him. Just listen to him."

"When I asked the Guest if it believed in God, it replied .in a steady, certain voice, 'I believe in punishment.' " The President paused, staring across the fully attended house. "My dilemma, and the dilemma of all my advisors, military and civilian, and of all our scientists, was simple. Could we believe that our extraterrestrial visitor and the visitors in Australia were linked? They told such different stories ..."

There was a knock on Trevor's door. He closed his robe and hurried to open it, hardly even seeing who was outside, his attention still focused on the television.

"Hicks, I owe you an apology." It was Carl McClennan, dressed in a raincoat and clutching a bottle of something wrapped in a brown paper bag. "That's him, isn't it?"

"Yes, come in, come in." Hicks didn't bother to ask why McClennan was here.

"I've resigned," McClennan said. "I read his speech last night. The bastard wouldn't listen to any of us."

"Shhh," Hicks said, holding his finger to his lips.

"I wish that I brought news of some comforting solution to all who listen to me today. But I do not. I have never been a faithful churchgoer. Still, within myself I have held my own faith, and thought it wise, as the leader of this nation, not to impose this faith on others who might disagree. Now, however, through these extraordinary events, I have had my faith altered, and I can no longer keep silent. I believe we face incontrovertible evidence, proof if you will, that our days are numbered, and that our time on Earth—the time of the Earth itself—will soon be at an end. I have sought advice from those with more spiritual experience than I, and they have counseled me. I now believe that we are facing the Apocalypse predicted in the Revelation of John, and that on Earth, the forces of good and evil have made themselves known. Whether these forces be angels and demons, or extraterrestrials, seems to be of no importance whatsoever. I could say that I have spoken with an angel, but that does not seem literally true—"