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"Now, Fra Pavel," said the Inquirer of the Consistorial Court of Discipline, "I want you to recall exactly, if you can, the words you heard the witch speak on the ship"

The twelve ht at the cleric on the stand, their last witness He was a scholarly-looking priest whose dae evidence in this case for eight days already, in the ancient high-towered College of St Jerome

"I cannot call the witch’s words exactly to mind," said Fra Pavel wearily "I had not seen torture before, as I said to the Court yesterday, and I found it made me feel faint and sick So exactly what she said I cannot tell you, but I re of it The witch said that the child Lyra had been recognized by the clans of the north as the subject of a prophecy they had long known She was to have the power to make a fateful choice, on which the future of all the worlds depended And further to mind a parallel case, and which would make the Church hate and fear her"

"And did the witch reveal that name?"

"No Before she could utter it, another witch, who had been present under a spell of invisibility, ed to kill her and escape"

"So on that occasion, the woman Coulter will not have heard the name?"

"That is so"

"And shortly afterwards Mrs Coulter left?"

"Indeed"

"What did you discover after that?"

"I learned that the child had gone into that other world opened by Lord Asriel, and that there she has acquired the help of a boy ns, or has got the use of, a knife of extraordinary powers," said Fra Pavel Then he cleared his throat nervously and went on: "I may speak entirely freely in this court?"

"With perfect freedom, Fra Pavel," came the harsh, clear tones of the President "You will not be punished for telling us what you in turn have been told Please continue"

Reassured, the cleric went on:

"The knife in the possession of this boy is able to reater than that - please, once again, I a the her than the this knife cannot destroy"

He eating and tree of the witness stand to the floor in her agitation Fra Pavel gasped in pain and scooped her up swiftly, letting her sip at the water in the glass in front of hiirl?" said the Inquirer "Did you discover this naain I crave the assurance of the court that - "

"You have it," snapped the President "Don’t be afraid You are not a heretic Report what you have learned, and waste noyour pardon, truly The child, then, is in the position of Eve, the wife of Adam, the mother of us all, and the cause of all sin"

The stenographers taking down every ere nuns of the order of St Philomel, sworn to silence; but at Fra Pavel’s words there caasp from one of them, and there was a flurry of hands as they crossed themselves Fra Pavel twitched, and went on:

"Please, remember - the alethios come about, then the consequences will be,’ and so on And it says that if it comes about that the child is tempted, as Eve was, then she is likely to fall On the outco And if this teives in, then Dust and sin will triumph"

There was silence in the courtrooreat leaded s held in its slanted beaolden h more than one of the e of that other invisible Dust that settled over every hu, no matter how dutifully they kept the laws

"Finally, Fra Pavel," said the Inquirer, "tell us what you know of the child’s present whereabouts"

"She is in the hands of Mrs Coulter," said Fra Pavel "And they are in the Himalaya So far, that is all I have been able to tell I shall go at once and ask for a more precise location, and as soon as I have it, I shall tell the Court; but"

He stopped, shrinking in fear, and held the glass to his lips with a tre hand

"Yes, Fra Pavel?" said Father MacPhail "Hold nothing back"

"I believe, Father President, that the Society of the Work of the Holy Spirit knows more about this than I do"

Fra Pavel’s voice was so faint it was almost a whisper

"Is that so?" said the President, his eyes seelared

Fra Pavel’s dae whimper The cleric knew about the rivalry between the different branches of the Magisteriuht in the cross fire between theerous; but to hold back what he kneould be erous still

"I believe," he went on, tre out exactly where the child is They have other sources of knowledge forbidden to me"

"Quite so," said the Inquirer "And did the alethiometer tell you about this?"

"Yes, it did"

"Very well Fra Pavel, you would do well to continue that line of investigation Whatever you need in the way of clerical or secretarial help is yours to command Please stand down"

Fra Pavel bowed, and with his frog daeathered his notes and left the courtrooers

Father MacPhail tapped a pencil on the oak bench in front of hines, Sister Monica," he said, "you may leave us now Please have the transcription on my desk by the end of the day"

The two nuns bowed their heads and left

"Gentlemen," said the President, for that was the mode of address in the Consistorial Court, "let’s adjourn"

The twelve members, from the oldest (Father Makepwe, ancient and rheu with zealotry), gathered their notes and followed the President through to the council chamber, where they could face one another across a table and talk in the utmost privacy

The current President of the Consistorial Court was a Scot called Hugh MacPhail He had been elected young Presidents served for life, and he was only in his forties, so it was to be expected that Father MacPhail would mold the destiny of the Consistorial Court, and thus of the whole Church, for many years to co, with a shock of wiry gray hair, and he would have been fat were it not for the brutal discipline he imposed on his body: he drank only water and ate only bread and fruit, and he exercised for an hour daily under the supervision of a trainer of chaaunt and lined and restless His daemon was a lizard

Once they were seated, Father MacPhail said:

"This, then, is the state of things There seem to be several points to bear in mind

"Firstly, Lord Asriel A witch friendly to the Church reports that he is asseelic His intentions, as far as the witch knows, are malevolent toward the Church, and toward the Authority himself

"Secondly, the Oblation Board Their actions in setting up the research progra Mrs Coulter’s activities, suggest that they are hoping to replace the Consistorial Court of Discipline as the most powerful and effective arentlemen They have acted ruthlessly and skillfully We should be chastised for our laxity in letting it happen I shall return to e ht do about it shortly

"Thirdly, the boy in Fra Pavel’s testis Clearly we ain possession of it as soon as possible

"Fourthly, Dust I have taken steps to find out what the Oblation Board has discovered about it One of the experiar has been persuaded to tell us what exactly they discovered I shall talk to him this afternoon downstairs"

One or two of the priests shifted uncomfortably, for "downstairs" : white-tiled rooms with points for anbaric current, soundproofed and well-drained

"Whatever we do learn about Dust, though," the President went on, "we ht to understand the effects of Dust; weless than that If in order to destroy Dust we also have to destroy the Oblation Board, the College of Bishops, every single agency by which the Holy Church does the work of the Authority - then so be it It ht into being to perfor of it But better a world with no Church and no Dust than a world where every day we have to struggle under the hideous burden of sin Better a world purged of all that!"

Blazing-eyed, Father Gomez nodded passionately

"And finally," said Father MacPhail, "the child Still just a child, I think This Eve, who is going to be teuide, will fall, and whose fall will involve us all in ruin Gentle with the proble to propose the reement