There was an air of unusual force and authority
about him. Barrent was unable to tell his status.

Barrent said, "I was just closing up, sir. But if there's anything you
wish to buy--"

"I did not come here to buy," the caller said. He permitted himself a
faint smile. "I came here to sell."

"Sell?"

"I am a priest," the man said. "You are a newcomer to my district. I
haven't noticed you at services."

"I hadn't known anything about--"

The priest held up his hand. "Under both the sacred and the profane law,
ignorance is no excuse for nonperformance of one's duties. Indeed,
ignorance can be punished as an act of willful neglect, based upon the
Total Personal Responsibility Act of '23, to say nothing of the Lesser
Codicil." He smiled again. "However, there is no question of
chastisement for you as yet."

"I'm glad to hear that, sir," Barrent said.

"'Uncle' is the proper form of address," the priest said. "I am Uncle
Ingemar, and I have come to tell you about the orthodox religion of
Omega, which is the worship of that pure and transcendent spirit of Evil
which is our inspiration and our comfort."

Barrent said, "I'll be very happy to hear about the religion of Evil,
Uncle. Shall we go into the living room?"

"By all means, Nephew," the priest said, and followed Barrent to the
apartment in back of the store.

Chapter Six

"Evil," the priest said, after he had settled comfortably into Barrent's
best chair, "is that force within us which inspires men to acts of
strength and endurance. The worship of Evil is essentially the worship
of oneself, and therefore the only true worship. The self which one
worships is the ideal social being; the man content in his niche in
society, yet ready to grasp any opportunity for advancement; the man who
meets death with dignity, who kills without the demeaning vice of pity.
Evil is cruel, since it is a true reflection of the uncaring and
insensate universe. Evil is eternal and unchanging, although it comes to
us in the many forms of protean life."

"Would you care for a little wine, Uncle?" Barrent asked.

"Thank you, that's very thoughtful," Uncle Ingemar said. "How is
business?"

"Fair. A little slow this week."

"People don't take the same interest in poisoning," the priest said,
moodily sipping his drink. "Not like when I was a boy, newly unfrocked
and shipped out from Earth. However. I was speaking to you about Evil."

"Yes, Uncle."

"We worship Evil,"