Shadwell pulled himself together. Even now young Newt might be suffering unimaginable tortures at the hands of the daughters o' night and he, Shadwell, had sent him.

"We canna leave our people in there," he said, and put on his thin overcoat and shapeless hat and went out into the street.

The weather seemed to be blowing up a bit.

* * * * *

A

ziraphale was dithering. He'd been dithering for some twelve hours. His nerves, he would have said, were all over the place. He walked around the shop, picking up bits of paper and dropping them again, fiddling with pens.

He ought to tell Crowley.

No, he didn't. He wanted to tell Crowley. He ought to tell Heaven. He was an angel, after all. You had to do the right thing. It was built‑in. You see a wile, you thwart. Crowley had put his finger on it, right enough. He ought to have told Heaven right from the start.

But he'd known him for thousands of years. They got along. They nearly understood one another. He sometimes suspected they had far more in common with one another than with their respective superiors. They both liked the world, for one thing, rather than viewing it simply as the board on which the cosmic game of chess was being played.

Well, of course, that was it. That was the answer, staring him in the face. It'd be true to the spirit of his pact with Crowley if he tipped Heaven the wink, and then they could quietly do something about the child, al­though nothing too bad of course because we were all God's creatures when you got down to it, even people like Crowley and the Antichrist, and the world would be saved and there wouldn't have to be all that Armaged­don business, which would do nobody any good anyway, because everyone knew Heaven would win in the end, and Crowley would be bound to understand.

Yes. And then everything would be all right.

There was a knock at the shop door, despite the CLOSED sign. He ignored it.

Getting in touch with Heaven for two‑way communications was far more difficult for Aziraphale than it is for humans, who don't expect an answer and in nearly all cases would be rather surprised to get one.

He pushed aside the paper‑laden desk and rolled up the threadbare bookshop carpet. There was a small circle chalked on the floorboards underneath, surrounded by suitable passages from the Cabala. The angel lit seven candles, which he placed ritually at certain points around the circle. Then he lit some incense, which was not necessary but did make the place smell nice.

And then he stood in the circle and said the Words.

Nothing happened.

He said the Words again.

Eventually a bright blue shaft of light shot down from the ceiling and filled the circle.

A well‑educated voice said, "Well?"

"It's me, Aziraphale."

"We know," said the voice.

"I've got great news! I've located the Antichrist! I can give you his address and everything!"

There was a pause. The blue light flickered.

"Well?" it said again.

"But, d'you see, you can ki‑man stop it all happening! In the nick of time! You've only got a few hours! You can stop it all and there needn't be the war and everyone will be saved!"

He beamed madly into the light.

"Yes?" said the voice.

"Yes, he's in a place called Lower Tadfield, and the address‑"

"Well done," said the voice, in flat, dead tones.

"There doesn't have to be any of that business with one third of the seas turning to blood or anything," said Aziraphale happily.

When it came, the voice sounded slightly annoyed.

"Why not?" it said.

Aziraphale felt an icy pit opening under his enthusiasm, and tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

He plunged on: "Well, you can simply make sure that‑"

"We will win, Aziraphale."

"Yes, but‑"

"The forces of darkness must be beaten. You seem to be under a misapprehension. The point is not to avoid the war, it is to win it. We have been waiting a long time, Aziraphale."

Aziraphale felt the coldness envelop his mind. He opened his mouth to say, "Do you think perhaps it would be a good idea not to hold the war on Earth?" and changed his mind.

"I see," he said grimly. There was a scraping near the door, and if Aziraphale had been looking in that direction he would have seen a bat­tered felt hat trying to peer over the fanlight.

"This is not to say you have not performed well," said the voice. "You will receive a commendation. Well done."

"Thank you," said Aziraphale. The bitterness in his voice would have soured milk. "I'd forgotten about ineffability, obviously."

"We thought you had."

"May I ask," said the angel, "to whom have I been speaking?"

The voice said, "We are the Metatron."[31]

"Oh, yes. Of course. Oh. Well. Thank you very much. Thank you."

Behind him the letterbox tilted open, revealing a pair of eyes.

"One other thing," said the voice. "You will of course be joining us, won't you?"

"Well, er, of course it has been simply ages since I've held a flaming sword‑" Aziraphale began.

"Yes, we recall," said the voice. "You will have a lot of opportunity to relearn."

"Ah. Hmm. What sort of initiating event will precipitate the war?" said Aziraphale.

"We thought a mufti‑nation nuclear exchange would be a nice start."

"Oh. Yes. Very imaginative." Aziraphale's voice was flat and hopeless.

"Good. We will expect you directly, then," said the voice.

"Ah. Well. I'll just clear up a few business matters, shall I?" said Aziraphale desperately.

"There hardly seems to be any necessity," said the Metatron.

Aziraphale drew himself up. "I really feel that probity, not to say morality, demands that as a reputable businessman I should‑"

"Yes, yes," said the Metatron, a shade testily. "Point taken. We shall await you, then."

The light faded, but did not quite vanish. They're leaving the line open, Aziraphale thought. I'm not getting out of this one.

"Hallo?" he said softly, "Anyone still there?"

There was silence.

Very carefully, he stepped over the circle and crept to the tele­phone. He opened his notebook and dialed another number.

After four rings it gave a little cough, followed by a pause, and then a voice which sounded so laid back you could put a carpet on it said, "Hi. This is Anthony Crowley. Uh. I‑"

"Crowley!" Aziraphale tried to hiss and shout at the same time, "Listen! I haven't got much time! The‑"

"‑probably not in right now, or asleep, and busy, or something, but –"

"Shutup! Listen! It was in Tadfield! It's all in that book! You've got to stop‑"

"‑after the tone and I'll get right back to you. Chow."

"I want to talk to you now‑"

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