Connie Willis - All Clear

Oh, my dear friend, Polly thought, and the light in Christ’s face seemed to deepen, to grow more bright—

“The shimmer’s starting,” Colin said gently. “We need to go.”

Polly nodded and turned back to The Light of the World for one last look. She kissed her fingers and pressed them gently against the picture, and then she and Colin ran hand in hand up the aisle and across the nave.

Colin helped her over the barricade, and they clambered onto the wreckage, and across the precarious timbers, holding on to Faulknor, on to Honour and each other, picking their way over broken masonry and plaster, and climbing down again to the stained-glass-strewn floor.

“Careful,” Colin said, and she nodded and followed him into the shimmer.

“Where do we need to stand?” she asked.

“Here.” He reached for her hand, and a sound cut suddenly across the silence. He looked up alertly.

“It’s all right,” she said. “It’s the all clear.”

He shook his head. “ ‘It is the lark,’ ” he said, and her breath caught.

“ ‘The herald of the morn,’ ” she said.

The shimmer began to brighten, to flare. She took his hand and stepped into the midst of the light with him.

“Almost there,” he said.

She nodded. “ ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock,’ ” she said, and the drop opened.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CONNIE WILLIS has received six Nebula Awards and ten Hugo awards for science fiction, and her novel Passage was nominated for both. Her other works include Doomsday Book, Lincoln’s Dreams, Bellwether, Impossible Things, Remake, Uncharted Territory, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Fire Watch, Miracle and Other Chrisimas Stories, and Blackout. Connie Willis lives in Colorado with her family.