Barney lifted a thick hand to his mouth, as if he was at an utter loss for words, his round eyes flashing from face to face among his fellow colonists. Then, he suddenly gripped the closest one by the shoulders.
Lamont unconsciously lifted the recorder that was strapped over his neck, turning his attention with the others toward the vaulted entrance of the grove. It was something like a peaked threshold, a wider gap between the quasi-organic fluted columns of the tree-like structures that extended into something of a uniform canopy. Memories of Epiphany Rex flashed before his eyes, and he half expected to see the grotesque centipoid carapaces of that planet’s subterranean natives to incongruously present themselves from the dappled shadows of the grove’s interior. Instead, he was relieved to see that it was two ordinary humans. He quickly recognized them as Betty and Barney Downs, whose three children were among those he had found clinging to Rico when he had arrived.
The Downs couple contrasted in skin color, his being dark brown and hers being quite pale, but as they emerged from the grove, they both appeared to be somehow glowing. Not with a visible light, but with some kind of ineffable energy or presence that illuminated their wide eyes and appeared to make their awestruck features stand out more vividly in the hazy pastel light of the garden.
They were being peppered with questions from the group, who circled in around them. “What did you see?” “What was it like?” “Did you hear them?”
Barney lifted a thick hand to his mouth, as if he was at an utter loss for words, his round eyes flashing from face to face among his fellow colonists. Then, he suddenly gripped the closest one by the shoulders. Lamont recognized the wiry young man as Walter Ames, the veterinarian.
“I embarked upon a voyage that transcended the boundaries of mortal existence,” Barney explained earnestly. “A cosmic tapestry unfurled before me, woven with threads of divine radiance and enigmatic truths. The churning kaleidoscope of my mind became a sacred sanctuary, a temple where earthly confines yielded to the pulsating rhythm of celestial revelation.”
Walter’s long neck twitched with a gulp. “Hallelujah,” he whispered.
Releasing his shoulders, Barney swung around to address the rest of the group. He was making wild gestures with his beefy fists as the words poured out of him in an unbroken staccato. “As the ethereal kaleidoscope whirled and danced, I felt my consciousness merging with the very fabric of creation. My senses were alight with the hues of cosmic seraphim, their fiery wings unfurling like burning stars, singing hymns of creation that reverberated through the void. I beheld the—the Tree of Life! Its roots delving deep into the mysteries of existence, while its branches reached towards the infinite expanse of the heavens. Every leaf on its boughs bore the script of the cosmos, an eternal scripture written in the language of stars. The fruit of this tree was the sweet nectar of understanding, a sustenance that nourished the seeker's soul.”
Lamont glanced at Rosemary, who was holding a hand to her mouth. Then he noticed that Anna had stepped closer to the couple, placing a hand on the arm of the stunned-looking Betty Downs.
“Are you well, sister?” Anna asked quietly.
Betty’s blue eyes regarded Anna with an expression of blank incomprehension. Then, she broke into a smile, as if she had just received news that took a great weight off her shoulders. “As the astral winds whispered secrets of impending return, I felt the echoes of a psalm, older than time, deep in my soul,” she explained. “The words spoke of a celestial roundup where constellations would bow and comets would curtsy, paying homage to the imminent arrival of the Starlit Sages. Their arrival would be heralded by the flickering of the Pleiades, the galactic bonfires, ablaze with anticipation.”
Lamont edged over to Constance, who was watching the spectacle with an expression somewhere between fascination and horror. “Blimey, love,” Lamont whispered to her. “Is that what you sounded like?”
Constance grimaced. “Could be. I don’t rightly recall.”