The bishop is the judge, the captain his executioner.

The Manuals of the Bunker, Vol. 2, Verse 3

The bishop stepped to the edge of the dais and looked down at us.

A red bruise marred his almost bald head.

"You impress me," he said. "I wouldn't have expected you to come back."

Amy moved her hand into her jacket. Knowing she was digging for the gun, I gestured her to stop—pulling a weapon might end all opportunity to speak and to explain matters.

"We need to talk," I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "We have learned something very important that everyone needs to know. The—"

The bishop raised a finger. "Let me guess. You've come here to apologize for hitting me. And for attacking the guards."

"They attacked us," Amy said. Her hand slid deeper into her jacket. "And ye hit me, so ye should apologize, not I."

"Take them." He motioned at the two guards behind him, the bearded and the tall one.

"Stop." Amy drew her gun and pointed it right at the bishop's bulging belly.

The man took a step back.

I held up a hand. "Listen, sir! We really need to talk."

He smiled. "Of course. Let's do that."

I fumbled for words. "We have been... When we were chased, we entered one of the tunnels."

Something was off. The bishop looked so serene, and one of the two guards behind him seemed to smirk.

Two guards!

Before I had time to look for Wolfe, I heard his voice next to me.

"Give me the weapon." The captain had appeared beside Amy, two steps away from her. He must have left the stage when we were concentrated on the bishop.

"Stay away! Or I'll snuff the gob of fat in yellow." Amy gestured with her gun at the bishop.

In an almost leisurely move, Wolfe reached out and placed his hand on the barrel. Amy tried to kick him, but he dodged her foot, pulling the weapon from her at the same time.

For a moment, they looked at each other, both with slit-eyed murder in their face.

Two fierce, redheaded adversaries about to jump each others' throats.

He relaxed. "The thing has a safety switch. It won't shoot like that."

The two guards jumped off the dais. The one with the beard seized Amy, the other one me.

"Wait!" Wolfe held up a hand. "We don't know what else they carry with them."

He approached me, not looking into my eyes but scanning my body. "Give me that pack."

The guard holding me tore the strap from my shoulder.

"Listen," I said, "I have to show you—"

"Shut up," the bishop bellowed. "Let's get this done."

Wolfe took my bag and went over to Amy.

She glared at him while the guard pinned her hands behind her. "I should have smashed yer head when I had the chance."

"Take that jacket off," the captain said.

"Ye'd like that, wouldn't ye?"

"Now."

"I can't. Yer man is grabbing me boobs."

Wolfe nodded at the guard, who let go of her.

She took off the jacket and held it out to Wolfe. When he approached, she lunged for the gun holstered at his waist. He stepped aside, and she stumbled past him.

The bearded guard caught her. "Got you, little cave rat."

"Get them up here!" the bishop said.

Without hesitation, they dragged us onto the dais, next to my dad and the craner. I glanced at them. There were tears in my father's eyes, and the craner gave me a quiet half-smile.

I nodded at both of them and looked away. It wouldn't do to get distracted. I had to concentrate on what was coming.

By the looks of it, all of the people of the upper cavern were assembled here, and a few of the lower one, too, including Jasmine, Carp, and Frankie. The new foreman sneered.

They'd hear whatever I said.

"Good people of the bunker," the bishop began. "These two here..." He gestured at us while facing his audience. "They are accused of crimes far numerous and heinous than any person I have ever known. Than any other person in the history of the church."

He turned to face us. "Both of you have run from the orders of your superiors. You have desecrated the shrine. You have attacked your bishop." He pointed at the wound on his head. "You have attacked the guards. And you have entered the realm of the machines and of the Engineers."

He shook his head. "The guards and I bear testimony to your crimes. And right now, you have just confessed to at least some of them."

The tip of his finger was trembling as he pointed it at us.

Denying him would just fuel his anger further. "Yes, I've been in the tunnels beyond the two caverns," I said.

Wolfe had been in the realm, too. Should I accuse him?

The captain's face was impassive, his eyes darting between the bishop and Amy. He was bound to deny anything I said. And accusing him wouldn't help our cause. For all I knew, he could even have entered the realm on the bishop's orders.

Yet the people here needed to know what we had learned.

I took a step forward. "Sir—"

The bishop's hand made a cutting motion. "Wait!"

I stopped. This was a game that had to be played by his rules.

"Do you know what the Manuals say about those who enter the realm?" His words were soft now, like a teacher questioning his favorite pupil.

I did know what the manuals said, his version of them—I knew their verses by heart.

I even had believed in them.

"Death awaits those who enter the realm of the Engineers and the machines." I bowed my head. "But... I'm alive, and I—"

"Wait!" he barked, and then he pointed at Amy while still looking at me. "Do you admit that you have attacked the captain with... that woman?"

"No!" Amy took a step forward. "T'was only me. Tim didn't do it."

The bishop stepped closer to her and looked her up and down. "You, young woman, are an outlaw, and you'll not be heard here. So, be quiet."

She spat at him, sprinkling his face with spittle. "Is that quiet enough, ye globship?"

The bearded guard slapped her with the back of his hand before pushing her back to stand beside my father. Blood from her bruised lips stained her chin.

Anger filled me, and I turned towards the guard, readying a kick to bring him down.

"Stop it!" Wolfe grasped my arm and shook his head in a small motion. His gaze drilled into mine with an intensity that surprised me. "Answer the bishop's questions."

I took a deep breath—it wouldn't do to start a fight. I turned towards the bishop and nodded. "Yes, sir! We attacked him. We were scared, and we're... sorry."

Was I sorry for the attack on that cold-blooded bastard of a captain? No, I wasn't.

"And what do the Manuals say about the guards?" the bishop asked.

I knew it, of course. "The Church is justice. The guards are its tool. Honor them."

"Honor them, right." The bishop nodded. Louder, he continued, "The manuals tell us to honor the guards, not to attack them."

"I'm sorry." The repetition felt stale on my tongue.

"I see." He nodded. "And do you admit that you've entered the shrine of the temple? That you have defiled it? And that you have attacked me personally?" He pointed at a swelling on his head, without touching it.

"He only did it because ye smacked me," Amy yelled.

The bishop gave her a short stare and looked back at me. "You know that the manuals talk about the burden of knowledge and rulership that the bishop bears." His voice was not much more than a whisper now, I doubted that anyone would hear him but me. "That burden falls on him, and on him alone."

Then he turned towards the people in the square. "You have heard it, dear people. This boy... this young man has trespassed into the realm of the Engineers. And, together with an outlaw girl, he has attacked a guard. Both deeds are capital crimes. And, on top of that, he has desecrated the shrine, and he has attacked me. More crimes."

His words rang over the city and out into the fields. The crowd stood silent, impassive.

Didn't they care?

The bishop turned back to face me. He pursed his lips and nodded. "Now, Tim, it's time to speak. What is your defense? What might justify the atrocities you committed?"

I didn't hesitate. "Sir, there's something you need to know."

He raised his eyebrows and nodded at me to continue.

"We were scared and running." I spoke loudly. They all needed to hear my words. "And it was fear that drove us into the tunnels. There's a ladder there, and stairs. We climbed them. And finally, we found a door." I held the bishop's gaze now and stood straight. "Beyond it, there was the surface."

The bishop just watched me, his cheeks slack as usual. A murmur went through the crowd.

"We saw it with our own eyes." I gestured at Amy and myself. "The surface, it's not barren. We've been there. It's full of life. There are trees higher than this cavern." I gestured at the ceiling. "There are animals like none down here. There's clean water. And there are fruits. And butterflies. We've seen it."

I had decided not to mention the birds.

"And butterflowers!" Amy shouted.

The bishop stood as still as a rock. I had expected him to challenge my words.

"I can prove it." I looked over at Wolfe. "Captain, sir. In that backpack, you'll find some apples."

Frowning, Wolfe reached into the bag and pulled out one of the fruits, holding it up. It gleamed red in the lamplight.

"An apple from the surface!" I said. "It's red. Not yellow as the ones we have here. And it's much larger."

The bishop took the fruit and studied it from all sides. Then he looked back at me. His hand opened, and the apple fell into the straw.

"This must have been grown on your heaps of compost. We know about the weed you plant there in secret, the herbs you smoke. You are full of lies." He shook his head, and then he raised his words. "But your words are not just lies. They are worse. What you've told us now, about the surface, it's... Blasphemy." His last word was almost a whisper, but it carried over the square easily. Then, he turned towards the people. "You all have witnessed this." He pointed a finger at me, but his eyes were on his audience. "He not only attacks a guard and your bishop. He not only trespasses into the realm and the shrine. He may have been forgiven for all these sins... The Engineers and the Church are generous and forgiving. Yet he also denies the words of the Manuals. He brings evil, fake tidings. He says he has seen the surface... He even says he's been there."

Spittle flew from his lips as he continued, turning his face back at me. "Don't you know Volume 3, Verse 7? The surface kills all men."

"That's a bloody lie!" Amy yelled.

The bearded guard stepped up to her, his baton ready.

She closed her mouth.

"The Manuals spell it clearly," the bishop continued. "The surface kills all men. So how can they have been there?" He spread his arms, palms facing the ceiling. "There's only one explanation... He lies. He lies not only into the face of his bishop but also into the faces of you good people." He gestured at the crowd. "There's only one punishment for such temerity."

"But, sir, there's something else in that backpack, it's—" I began.

"Shut up!" the bishop yelled.

Wolfe reached for the bag, but he froze when the bishop spoke once more. His voice had regained its composure as he faced the crowd.

"The bunker is perfection." His words rang out over the square and the cavern. "Under the guidance of the church, the Engineers have crafted it into the perfect equilibrium to keep us safe and to be our final home. And this equilibrium must be preserved." He took a deep breath. "At all cost. Therefore, the hand of the church must be firm."

He gestured towards Amy and me. "These two, they not only have lied. And trespassed. And attacked a guard and the bishop. Even worse, they are trying to unbalance our world. So, there can only one verdict for their case."

He paused, rubbing the mole on his chin, and the silence was stifling.

"They must die. With the old foreman and the craner."