quot;No; said torial Court of Discipline, quot;I  you to recall exactly, if you can, tc;

    t looked ternoon lig tand, t ness.   o. Jerome.

    quot;I cannot call tcly to mind,quot; said Fra Pavel ;I  seen torture before, as I said to t yesterday, and I found it made me feel faint and sick. So exactly ell you, but I remember t. tc t of a propo o make a fateful cure of all t o mind a parallel case, and we and fear ;

    quot;And did tc name?quot;

    quot;No. Before ster it, anotc under a spell of invisibility, managed to kill ;

    quot;So on t occasion, ter  ;

    quot;t is so.quot;

    quot;And sly afterer left?quot;

    quot;Indeed.quot;

    quot; did you discover after t?quot;

    quot;I learned t to t ot t traordinary po; said Fra Pavel. t nervously and  on: quot;I may speak entirely freely in t?quot;

    quot;it freedom, Fra Pavel,quot; came tones of t. quot;You  be puniselling us urn old. Please continue.quot;

    Reassured, t on:

    quot;to make openings bet er t, please, once again, I am afraid of  is capable of killing t  is  destroy.quot;

    ing and trembling, and ness stand to tation. Fra Pavel gasped in pain and scooped ly, letting  ter in t of him.

    quot;And did you ask furt t; said t;Did you discover tc;

    quot;Yes, I did. Once again I crave t t...”

    quot;You ,quot; snapped t. quot;Dont be afraid. You are not a ic. Report ime.quot;

    quot;I beg your pardon, truly. tion of Eve, t;

    tenograpaking do. Po silence; but at Fra Pavels c on:

    quot;Please, remember, ter does not forecast; it says, If certain t, t says t if it comes about t tempted, as Eve o fall. On tcome emptation does take place, and if t and sin riump;

    troom. t t filtered in t leaded ed beams a million golden motes, but t, not Dust, t  ot t settled over every ter ifully t the laws.

    quot;Finally, Fra Pavel,quot; said t;tell us  ;

    quot;Ser,quot; said Fra Pavel. quot;And t is all I o tell. I s once and ask for a more precise location, and as soon as I , I sell t; but...quot;

    opped, so rembling hand.

    quot;Yes, Fra Pavel?quot; said Fat;;

    quot;I believe, Fat, t ty of t kno t;

    Fra Pavels voice  it  a whisper.

    quot;Is t so?quot; said t, o radiate hey glared.

    Fra Pavels daemon uttered a little frog  brancerium, and kne to get caug to  ill.

    quot;I believe,quot;  on, trembling, quot;t to finding out exactly ;

    quot;Quite so,quot; said t;And did ter tell you about t;

    quot;Yes, it did.quot;

    quot;Very o continue t line of investigation. ever you need in tarial o command. Please stand do;

    Fra Pavel boes and left the

    courtroom. their fingers.

    Fatapped a pencil on t of him.

    quot;Sister Agnes, Sister Monica,quot; ;you may leave us noion on my desk by t;

    t.

    quot;Gentlemen,quot; said t, for t orial Court, quot;lets adjourn.quot;

    t (Fat and ro t (Fatrembling ry), gates and follo to table and talk in tmost privacy.

    t President of torial Court  called ed young. Presidents served for life, and ies, so it o be expected t Fatiny of torial Court, and to come. ured man, tall and imposing,   not for tal discipline er and ate only bread and fruit, and rainer of ces. As a result,  and lined and restless. his daemon was a lizard.

    Once ted, Father MacPhail said:

    quot;tate of to be several points to bear in mind.

    quot;Firstly, Lord Asriel. A co ts t  army, including forces t may be angelic. entions, as far as tc tooy himself.

    quot;Secondly, tion Board. tions in setting up t Bolvangar, and in funding Mrs. Coulters activities, suggest t to replace torial Court of Discipline as t poive arm of tpaced, gentlemen. ted rutised for our laxity in letting it urn to  sly.

    quot;testimony,  can do traordinary t find  as soon as possible.

    quot;Fourt. I aken steps to find out ion Board  it. One of tal t Bolvangar o tell us ly talk to ernoon doairs.quot;

    One or ts sed uncomfortably, for quot;doairsquot; meant te-tiled rooms s for anbaric current, soundproofed and well-drained.

    quot;ever  Dust, t; t  on, quot; bear our purpose firmly in mind. tion Board sougo understand ts of Dust;  destroy it altoget. If in order to destroy Dust roy tion Board, ty, t. It may be, gentlemen, t tself o perform task and to peris. But better a  to struggle under tter a !quot;

    Blazing-eyed, Fately.

    quot;And finally,quot; said Fat;till just a co be tempted and s us, I am going to propose t radical, and I .

    quot;I propose to send a man to find empted.quot;

    quot;Fat,quot; said Fat once, quot;I ive penance every day of my adult life. I udied, I rained...”

    t ive penance and absolution rines researcorial Court, but not knoo t yet committed, intense and fervent penance accompanied by scourging and flagellation, so as to build up, as it ore of credit. e level for a particular sin, tent ed absolution in advance, t never be called on to commit t imes necessary to kill people, for example; and it ate of grace. quot;I ; said Fat;I  of t? Yes. o be reacever o anyone else, raigo trike , like t blasted t. ter for us all if t paradise.quot;

    t  gave its blessing.

    And in t corner of t a man no larger they said.

    In ty rousers , stood under t bulb clutcrousers  daemon  of  Father MacPhail.

    quot;Dr. Cooper,quot; t began, quot;do sit do; ture except t. ts voice ecly off, te tiles t lined the wall and ceiling.

    Dr. Cooper sat on t take  and gray-. ed to see  was coming.

    quot;So you nearly succeeded in severing t; said Father MacPhail.

    Dr. Cooper said s;e considered t it o , since t o take place any tal c ter ervened and took to ers.quot;

    t daemon opened  t, and t them again and hid her face.

    quot;t must ressing,quot; said Father MacPhail.

    quot;tensely difficult,quot; said Dr. Cooper, ening to agree.

    quot;I am surprised you did not seek torial Court, ;

    quot;e, I, ood t t ion Board matter, but old it orial Court of Discipline. e  ot;

    quot;No, of course not. And noter. Did you ; said Faturning to t of  to t;of t of Lord Asriels researc migo release on Svalbard?quot;

    Dr. Cooper sense silence a drop of s fell from o te floor, and bot distinctly.

    quot;ell...quot; ;team rolling it  just as an atomic explosion is detonated by conventional explosives, t... however,

    taken seriously. I paid no attention to ; ly, quot;kno  auty t ;

    quot;Very  colleague no;tack.quot; t smiled. It  Dr. Coopers daemon s . quot;Courage, Dr. Cooper,quot; said Fat;e need you to be strong and brave! t o be done, a great battle to be foug earn ty by cooperating fully  even ion, not even gossip. No you to devote all your attention to o  equipment was ime you need.

    quot;And t very comfortable. ell o someo e at a table or a desk? ould you like a typeing macate to a stenograp;Let t every moment, Dr. Cooper, I  you to to your colleague and  task is to recall, and if necessary to rediscover, ruments you require, you s is a great task, Dr. Cooper! You are blessed to be entrusted ! Give to ty.quot;

    quot;I do, Fat! I do!quot; Grasping tband of rousers, tood up and bo  realizing it, again and again, as t of torial Court of Discipline left his cell.

    t evening tialys, to meet   coo, but certainly full of peril for t  its deat t only t an arm to teet action had saved him.

    t at ted meeting places, among ts of a plane tree in a stle square, and excact in ty old  earlier t evening tation from t of torial Court to come and discuss matters of mutual interest.

    quot;Quick ; said t;A o one  tell t ;

    old  to kill Lyra. S surprised.

    quot;Its to do,quot; s;Very logical people. tialys, do you t;

    quot;I dont kno I so. Go omorro tain.quot;

    Unsaid be brief excness of to nine years or ten, rarely more, and tialys and Salmakia  fear old age, trengt compared end as far into ture as tcended past Lyras own.

    turned to t. Jerome and began to compose to Lord Roke on tone resonator.

    But  talking to Salmakia, t sent for Fatudy togeted t tive absolution t ransfigured; tainty t ran to make .

    tical arrangements, money, and so fort said, quot;Once you leave ely cut off, forever, from any help we can give. You can

    never come back; you ter advice t look for t ead, look for tempter. Folloempter, and so t;

    quot;S; said Father Gomez, shocked.

    quot;Yes, s; said Fat;e  mucer. tempter comes from is a strange one. You  le you, Fat let yourself be distracted by task you o do. I ; ;in traveling, guided by to a place  time to tempt  is, of course, if  succeed in removing t location. t remains our first plan. You, Fatimate guarantee t if t falls till not prevail.quot;

    Fat green-backed beetle, clicked her wing cases.

    t opened a dra of papers.

    quot; t; ;and t seen. Read it ;

    s given name before. Fat tears of joy prick  farewell.

    —

    youre Lyra.quot;

    t t meant. S dizzy, even in  a great burden settle on o make it even o shadow.

    quot;ell, I... I kno like ours. ell, s t;

    It  impossible noo see ttle boy, and s  and wandering away like sheep in a field.

    quot;But rust ; s,