A Messiah at the End of Time (Dancers at the End of Time, Book 5)
Michael Moorcock
Language: English
Pages: 130
ISBN: 0879973587
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Also known as the Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming. When the Fireclown arrives at The End of Time, any problems that the residents there have with boredom and ennui will not be lasting for very long at all.
One thing the Fireclown is very good at is shaking things up and changing the status quo. This is particularly true in the case of the staid Miss Mavis Ming.
Abu Thaleb's relief, the two parted amicably. Doctor Volospion, alone for the moment, glanced about him. He seemed unusually content. A little sigh of pleasure passed between his normally tight-pressed lips. He could, on occasion, produce in himself a semblance of gaiety and now there was a lightness to his step as he moved to greet Mistress Christia, the Everlasting Concubine, changing his costume as he went, to brilliant damson doublet and hose, curling shoes, a hat with a high crown and an
entertained his guests. Hard-faced metal servants already waited on the long table at one end of which sat dignified Doctor Volospion and the pipsqueak Bloom, all got up in the silliest outfit Mavis Ming had ever seen. Strips of ancient neon, blue-white, illuminated this particular part of the castle, though they had been designed to malfunction and so flickered on and off, creating sudden shadows and brilliances which always disturbed Miss Ming. The walls were of undressed stone and bore no
decoration save the tall portrait of Doctor Volospion over the massive fireplace in which a small electric fire had been positioned, and the fire was also an antique, designed to simulate burning coal. Becoming aware of her entrance, both men rose from their seats. "My madonna!" breathed Bloom. "Good evening, Miss Ming." Doctor Volospion bowed. Emmanuel Bloom seemed to be making an effort to contain himself. He sat down again. "Good evening, gentlemen." She responded to this effort with one
clearer than those of your poor, senescent cities." "Do not seek to confound me, sir, with airy generalities of that sort. How do you know?" "I have eyes," said Bloom, "which have seen all things. One gesture reveals a society to me — two words reveal an individual. A conversation betrays every origin." "This Grail of yours? It helps you?" The Fireclown ignored him. "The eagle floats on currents of light, high above the world, and the light is recollection, the light is history. I know you,
it was in ancient English. "You doubt none of my powers now, I hope, My Lady Charlotina," he said. Her smile was slow. She knew he would have her speak of Jagged, perhaps make a comparison, but she did not have it in her to satisfy Volospion's curiosity. Lord Jagged was Lord Jagged, she thought. "I was privileged," she said, "to know your plan from the start and to see it work so smoothly. I am most impressed. First you incarcerated Miss Ming, then you lured Mr Bloom to your castle, then you