The crowd roared in ecstasy.
With a wave of his hand, Elder John quelled the general hysteria, in order to end the meeting with a final, fifth lesson.
‘What did God intend for the earth?’ He turned to the audience, spreading his arms. ‘Jehovah created the earth, so that people would live there happily, forever. He wanted a righteous and joyful mankind to inhabit the earth. The earth shall never be destroyed. It shall exist for all eternity!’
Unable to contain himself, Artyom snorted. Angry looks shot in his direction, and Brother Timothy raised a threatening finger.
‘The first human beings, Adam and Eve, sinned, deliberately violating God’s law,’ continued the orator. ‘Therefore Jehovah expelled them from paradise, and paradise was lost. But Jehovah did not forget the purpose for which he had created the earth. He promised to transform it into a paradise, in which people would live forever. How did God fulfil his plan?’ The elder posed the question to himself.
A lengthy pause indicated that the key moment of the sermon was about to arrive. Artyom was all ears.
‘Before the earth could become a paradise, the evil people would have to be eliminated.’ John pronounced the words forebodingly. ‘It was promised to our forefathers that a cleansing would take place through Armageddon – a divine war for the annihilation of evil. And then Satan would be enfettered for a thousand years. There would be nobody left to harm the earth. Only God’s people would remain alive! And King Jesus Christ will rule the earth for a thousand years!’ The elder turned his burning gaze to the front ranks of the people who were taking in his words. ‘Do you understand what this means? The divine war for the annihilation of evil has already ended! What happened to this sinful earth was Armageddon! Evil was incinerated! According to what was prophesied, only God’s people would survive. We who live in the metro are the people of God! We survived Armageddon! The Kingdom of God is at hand! Soon there will be neither old age, nor illness, nor death! The sick shall be freed of their ailments, and the old shall become young again! In the thousand-year reign of Jesus, the people who are faithful to God shall turn the earth into a paradise, and God shall resurrect millions of the dead!’
Artyom recalled Sukhoi’s conversation with Hunter about how the level of radiation on the surface would not drop for at least fifty years, and that mankind was doomed, and other biological species were on the rise… The elder did not explain exactly how the surface of the earth would turn into a flowering paradise.
Artyom wanted to ask him what weird kind of plants were going to bloom in that burned-out paradise, and what kind of people would dare to go up above and settle it, and if his parents had been children of Satan, and if that were why they had perished in the war to annihilate evil. But he didn’t say anything. He was filled with such bitterness and such mistrust, that his eyes burned, and he was ashamed to feel a tear run down his cheek. Mustering his strength, he said just one thing:
‘Tell me, what does Jehovah, our true God, say about headless mutants?’ The question hung in the air. Elder John did not deign even to glance at Artyom, but those standing next to him looked around with fright and repulsion, and they moved away from him, as if he had let out a foul smell. Brother Timothy tried to take him by the hand, but Artyom tore away and, pushing aside the brethren who were crowded around, began to make his way to the exit.
He made it out of the Hall of the Kingdom and went through the dining carriage. There were a lot of people at the tables now, with empty aluminium bowls in front of them. Something interesting was going on in the middle of the room, and all eyes were turned in that direction.
‘Before we partake of this repast, my brethren,’ a skinny, homely fellow with a crooked nose was saying, ‘let us listen to little David and his story. This will fill out the sermon we heard today about violence.’
He moved aside, his place being taken by a chubby, snub-nosed boy with carefully combed, whitish hair.
‘He was mad at me and wanted to give me a drubbing,’ David began, speaking with the intonation children use when reciting verses they have learned by heart. ‘Probably only because I was short. I backed away from him and cried out: “Stop! Wait! Don’t beat me! I haven’t done anything to you. What did I do to offend you? You’d better tell me what happened!” ’ A well-rehearsed expression of exaltation came over David’s face.
‘And what did that awful bully say to you?’ the skinny fellow jumped in excitedly.
‘It turned out that somebody had stolen his breakfast, and he was only taking out his annoyance on the first person he ran into,’ David explained, but something in his voice made it seem doubtful that he himself understood very well what he had just said.
‘And what did you do?’ asked the thin man, stoking the tension.
‘I just said to him, “If you beat me, it won’t bring your breakfast back,” and I suggested to him instead, to go to Brother Chef and tell him what had happened. We asked for another breakfast for him. After that he shook my hand and was always friendly to me.’
‘Is the man who offended little David present in this room?’ asked the skinny fellow in the voice of a prosecutor.
A hand shot up, and a strapping twenty-year-old with a doltish and malevolent-looking face began to make his way toward the improvised stage, to tell about the miraculous effect of little David’s words upon him. It wasn’t easy. The boy was obviously more adept at memorizing words whose meaning he didn’t understand. When the presentation was over, and little David and the repentant thug left the stage to the approving sound of applause, the stringy fellow took their place again and addressed the seated audience in an impassioned voice:
‘Yes, the words of the meek possess enormous power! As it says in Proverbs, the words of the meek break bones. Softness and meekness are not weakness, o my beloved brethren, for softness conceals an enormous strength of will! And examples from the Holy Bible give us proof…’ Flipping through the well-thumbed book for the page he wanted, he began to read aloud some story, in tones of rapture.
Artyom moved ahead, followed by surprised looks, and finally made it into the lead car. Nobody stopped him there, and he was about to go out onto the tracks, but Bashni the senior guard, that amiable and unflappable hulk of a man, greeted him cordially at the door, now blocking the way with his torso and, knitting his thick brows, sternly asked if Artyom had permission to exit. There was no way to get around him.
Waiting half a minute for an explanation, the guard kneaded his enormous fists with a dry crackle, and moved towards Artyom. Looking around in all directions, trapped, Artyom remembered little David’s story. Maybe, instead of hurling himself against the elephantine guard, it would be worth finding out if maybe somebody stole his breakfast.
Fortunately, just then Brother Timothy caught up with him. Looking at the security man tenderly, he said, ‘This young man may pass. We don’t hold anybody here against their will.’ The guard, looking at him in surprise, obediently stepped aside.
‘But allow me to accompany you even just a little way, o my beloved Brother Artyom,’ Brother Timothy sang out, and Artyom, unable to resist the magic of his voice, nodded. ‘Perhaps the way we live here was something unaccustomed for you, the first time,’ Timothy said in soothing tones, ‘but now the divine seed has been implanted in you as well, and it is clear to my eyes, that it has fallen into favoured soil. I only want to tell you how you should not act, now that the Kingdom of God is near as never before, lest you be turned away. You must learn to hate evil and to avoid the things which God abhors: fornication, which means infidelity, sodomy, incest and homosexuality, gambling, lying, thievery, fits of rage, violence, sorcery, spiritualism, drunkenness.’ Brother Timothy reeled them off in a rush of words, nervously looking Artyom in the eye. ‘If you love God and wish to please Him, free yourself from those sins! Your more mature friends will be able to help you,’ he added, evidently alluding to himself. ‘Honour the name of God, preach the Kingdom of God, take no part in the affairs of this evil world, abjure people who tell you otherwise, for Satan speaks through their mouths,’ he muttered, but Artyom didn’t hear anything. He was walking faster and faster, and Brother Timothy couldn’t keep up. ‘Tell me, where shall I be able to find you next time?’ he called out from quite a distance, panting, and almost lost in the semi-darkness.