“You won’t stop it. Father can’t stop now. And he doesn’t need me to do it. He just needs Hans singing on this side, Willy calling from the other. So, all that’s going to happen now is, if we aren’t over there—me and you, bunny—in the gate, we’ll be caught out here when everything starts falling.”

Alex pulled tighter on the cord. “I don’t care. We’ll go together—”

He heard the whirr of her flier a millisecond before it slammed into his temple. A blade slashed his cheek and his grip on the wire loosened momentarily. Zia instantly slipped free, leapt up, and ran to touch the gate.

“Bring him, Hans. Try not to damage him. Too much.” She bent to lift the flower.

The ground vibrated, very faintly.

The white hand jerked out from under Alex and grabbed his ankle. The wire round his arm bit hard. Then he was being reeled rapidly, helplessly, in toward the blazing gate.

The ground rumbled, stronger this time.

Within the gate structure, the vibrating air was spinning, spiraling, forming a wormy whirlpool. Slivers of the white-blue light emanating from the frames seemed to get sucked into it, whirling around. A low, rhythmic whine started from somewhere, growing louder, faster, like the gears of some vast, far-off machine beginning to turn. Above it, Alex thought he heard the barking of dogs.

The life-sizer stooped to the foot of the board the tall man lay upon and began pushing him. The eyes behind the mask were wide in furious ecstasy. The gate swung open inside its huge frame, setting off shivering cascades of light. As the tall man’s head passed within the frame, the air around him burned solid white. Slowly, the robot pushed him deeper through.

Beckman was whispering feverishly as Alex arrived at the gate. The ground bucked and complained. It seemed as if the moon was shaking in the sky. There were figures moving on the slope beneath the tower. Dogs ran before them, barking ceaseless warnings. His grandfather was there, looking old and tired, but lifting his cane high.

The big robot kept pushing steadily, until the soles of the tall man’s shining boots were swallowed up and disappeared. As soon as he vanished, the machine fell lifeless.

“Now!” Zia shouted. Alex felt her take his elbow. Beckman’s mechanical hand crushed around his other. Then they were moving, forward, into the light.

The grinding noise was racing, deafening. Alex strained to look back over his shoulder. It was perhaps a trick of the light crackling blindingly around him, but, for a second, he thought he saw the quaking old castle change—phantom hints of long-vanished walls re-forming, rebuilding. He tried to call out.

But he was already touching the light, stepping over into eternity.

XXXIV.

MEETING THE MAKER

The first thing he thought was that the pain in his ankle was gone.