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"And an actor I am, have been all my mature years," Barry assured her, "though some of us mature
earlier than others. I am honored to discover that one of my performances has come to Citadel."
"Oh, it came many a year ago, sir! My, but you must be a God-fearing man, to play an angel like
that so well!"
Barry kept the smile, somehow. "I am essentially religious, though my ideas on the subject are
rather difficult to categorize."
She frowned. "Does that mean you don't belong to any church?"
"That is the sum of it, yes," Barry admitted. My heart sank, and we stood and waited for the ax of
petty authority to fall.
"Well, let us tell you about our church, sir!" the woman said earnestly, leaning over the counter. "If
you have a hunger in your heart, our church may fill it."
"I would be fascinated," Barry murmured, half in shock, "but I fear time does not permit & "
"No, no, not on city time! But if you seek, sir, I shall be glad to guide you, yes, after the day's work
is done!"
"I appreciate the offer," Barry assured her, "and I hope I shall have the time to benefit by your
kindness but at the moment, I must consult you in your professional capacity."
"Oh! Surely, sir! And what was it you were wanting?"
"I wish to secure a permit to lecture."
"You are going to lecture?" Her eyes went wide. "Dearie me, how wonderful it will be to hear the
Angel speak!"
"Not the Angel, I'm afraid," Barry said, smiling. "Only the actor."
"Well, yes, of course!" But inside, so deeply that she probably was not aware of it, she still equated
the actor with the role. She had first seen Barry playing the Angel therefore, he would always be the
Angel to her. It was just fortunate for us that she had not seem him as the tempter in J.B. Of course, that
had been a much younger Barry.
The woman took out a form, then stilled, frowning down at it. " 'Qualifications to speak' I can't
just put down 'actor,' that doesn't qualify you for anything spiritual."
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Well, she was entitled to her own opinion.
"I am a master of arts," Barry advised her.
"Master of arts?" She looked up, startled. "You mean you paint pictures, too?"
"Oh, no! Well, that is, actually, yes, I do, but only for my own amusement, and only when there is
time. I certainly do not do it professionally, nor is it the area in which I took my degree."
"Oh." The woman looked disappointed, "What art are you a master of, then, sir?"
"Well, the theater, of course," Barry said, "but more specifically, Dramatic Literature."
You could hear the capitals as he said it, and the woman was impressed without knowing why.
"And is that what you're going to lecture on, sir?"
"In a manner of speaking," Barry said slowly. "My topic will be "The Vices and the Virtues.' "
She was startled again, almost as if she had seen a donkey open its mouth and cackle. "Really, sir?
Is that Dramatic Lit & whatever?"
"It is," Barry assured her. "As the Middle Ages were ending, the good people of the towns and
villages developed a form of theater we call the morality play, in which the characters were
personifications of the vices and the virtues."
"Each vice and virtue appeared as a human being," I explained, "sometimes with a name that
indicated what his nature was. Everything he did, everything he said, showed that vice in action."
"Only menfolk?" She seemed a little doubtful. "No women vices?"
"Oh, there were some," Barry admitted.
I wondered why the woman suddenly seemed so wary.
"Well, it's too big for me!" She slapped the paper down in front of Barry and said cheerfully,
"You'll have to take it up with the deacons, sir."
"The deacons themselves?" Barry feigned surprise, though he'd been expecting it all along.
"Oh, yes, sir! They'll want to deal with this themselves, you being from off-planet, and an actor! I
mean, if you were a minister, or a master of philosophy or such, there wouldn't be the hint of a problem,
I'd just have you fill out the form and give you the permit but I've never had any other kind of a
speaker apply before, and to be honest, I just wouldn't know what to do!"
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"Well, if you say so," Barry said. "In that case, I would like to make an appointment to speak to the
deacons."
"I'll make a note of it." The old dear scribbled on a notepad, an actual paper notepad. "You can talk
to them this afternoon, sir, at one o'clock."
"So soon? Why, what a pleasant surprise!"
"Oh, yes, sir. they meet every day at one, to discuss everything and keep things running smooth.
There's other things they have to talk about today, but I know they'll want to see you right away."
That, I decided, was not necessarily a good thing.
Barry checked the watch on his finger. "Almost twelve o'clock now you do use the Terran time
scale?"
"Yes, sir. There's twenty-six hours and some for this planet's rotation, but we add the extra in at
night, so folks just get a little extra sleep. If you'll set your watch back an hour now, and again at noon,
you'll find it works out even."
I didn't quite follow the logic of that, and could see that Barry didn't either, for he gave her a
pleasant befuddled smile and said, "Does that make it ten o'clock now?"
"No, sir, it's nine. You didn't know about the difference yesterday, you see, so it crept up on you."
Barry looked dazed, but took a stylus and dutifully reset his watch. "Nine o'clock, then. Let me see,
if we went back to the ship, we would have an hour or two there before we came back but there is that
excruciating trip through customs, and I confess the walk is less than delightful & "
"If you'd like to wait here, sir, there's a canteen in the basement." Our hostess scribbled on a form
and handed it to Barry. "There! That's your appointment form. You just show that at the canteen, and
they'll give you something to drink now, and dinner at noon."
"Why, thank you!" Barry said, pleasantly surprised. "I'm afraid we cannot pay, though, since we
have no Citadel currency as yet."
"That's all right, sir it's free, as long as you have business with the deacons."
I wondered if it would have been free if she had not taken a liking to Barry.
"What a delightful system," Barry said. "We shall certainly avail ourselves of your hospitality but
before we do, I think I would like to see a little more of downtown Hadleyburg."
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Publius stared at him as if he were insane.
The lady nodded. "Just as you please, sir. There's some very nice old buildings only a block or two
away, built right after the First Landing and the landing site itself is marked, with the Meetinghouse of
Safe Landing right beside it. It's very popular with the merchant captains and their crews."
"As I should think it would be," Barry averred. "By the way, where will we meet the deacons?"
"Up the stairs, sir the double doors, right at the top. That's the deacons' chamber, and there's
plenty of room for any who care to hear what's going on. If the door's locked, that just means they're in
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