Stranger in a Strange Land

Bishop."
                They left the Cherub scratching his head while Boone hurried them on through the Happiness Room to the bar at the far end. "Got to get you out of here," Boone said jovially, "before you bankrupt the Church. Doc, are you always that lucky?"
                "Always," Harshaw said solemnly. He had not looked at Mike and did not intend to-he told himself that he did not know that the boy had anything to do with it . . . but he wished mightily that this ordeal were over and all of them home again.
                Boone took them to a stretch of the bar counter marked "Reserved" and said, "This'll do-or would the little lady like to sit down?"
                "This is fine." (-and if you call me "little lady" just once more I'll turn Mike loose on you!)
                A bartender hurried up. "Happy day. Your usual, Bishop?"
                "Double. What'll it be, Doc? And Mr. Smith? Don't be bashful; you're the Supreme Bishop's guests."
                "Brandy, thank you. Water on the side."
                "Brandy, thank you," Mike repeated ... thought about it, and added, "No water for me, please." While it was true that the water of life was not the essence in the water ceremony, nevertheless he did not wish to drink water here.
                "That's the spirits" Boone said heartily. "That's the proper spirit with spirits! No water. Get it? It's a joke." Re dug Jubal in the ribs. "Now what'll it be for the little lady? Cola? Milk for your rosy cheeks? Or do you want a real Happy Day drink with the big folks?"
                "Senator," Jill said carefully, "Would your hospitality extend to a martini?"
                "Would it! Best martinis in the whole world right here-we don't use any vermouth at all. We bless 'em instead. Double martini for the little lady. Bless you, son, and make it fast." He turned to the others. "We've just about tIme for a quick one, then pay our respects to Archangel Foster and on into the Sanctuary in time to hear the Supreme Bishop."
                The drinks arrived and the jackpots' payoff. They drank with Boone's blessing, then he wrangled in a friendly fashion with Jubal over the three hundred dollars just delivered, insisting that all three prizes belonged to Jubal even though Boone had inserted the slugs on the second and third. Jubal settled it by scooping up all the money and depositing it in a loveoffering bowl near them on the bar.
                Boone nodded approvingly. "That's a mark of grace, Doc. We'll save you yet. Another round, folks?"
                Jill hoped that someone would say yes. The gin was watered, she decided, and the flavor was poor; nevertheless it was starting a small flame of tolerance in her middle. But nobody spoke up, so she trailed along as Boone led them away, up a flight of stairs, past a sign reading: POSITIVELY NO SEEKERS NOR SINNERS ALLOWED ON THIS LEVEL-THIS MEANS YOU!
                Beyond the sign was a heavy grilled gate. Boone said to it: "Bishop Boone and three pilgrims, guests of the Supreme Bishop."
                The gate swung open. He led them around a curved passage and into a room.
                It was a moderately large room, luxuriously appointed in a style that reminded Jill of undertakers' parlors, but it was filled with cheerful music. The basic theme seemed to be "Jingle Bells" but a Congo beat had been added and the arrangement so embroidered that its ancestry was not certain. Jill found that she liked it and that it made her want to dance.
                The far wall of the room was clear glass and appeared to be not even that. Boone said briskly, "Here we are, folks-in the Presence." He knelt quickly, facing the empty wall. "You don't have to kneel, you'rt pilgrims -but do so if it makes you feel better. Most pilgrims do. And there he is just as he was when he was called up to Heaven."
                Boone gestured with his cigar. "Don't he look natural? Preserved by a miracle, his flesh incorruptible. That's the very chair he used to sit in when he wrote his Messages . . . and that's just the pose he was in when he went to Heaven. He never moved and he's never been moved-we just built the Tabernacle right around him . . . removing the old church, naturally, and preserving its sacred stones." Opposite them about twenty feet away, facing them,