LITMIR.BIZ

      Published in Great Britain in 2014 by

      Canongate Books Ltd, 14 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1TE

       www.canongate.tv

      This digital edition first published in 2014 by Canongate Books

      Copyright © Michel Faber, 2014

      The moral right of the author has been asserted.

       British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

      A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library

      ISBN: 978 1 78211 406 2

      Export ISBN: 978 1 78211 407 9

      ePub ISBN: 978 1 78211 409 3

      Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions and would be grateful to be notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

      Typeset in Perpetua, ITC OfficinaSans LT Book and We Come In Peace by Palimpsest Book Production Ltd, Falkirk, Stirlingshire

      For Eva, always.

      CONTENTS

       I Thy Will Be Done

       1 Forty minutes later he was up in the sky

       2 He would never see other humans the same way again

       3 The grand adventure could surely wait

       4 ‘Hello everybody,’ he said

       5 Just as he recognised them for what they were

       6 His whole life had been leading up to this

       7 Approved, transmitted

       8 Take a deep breath and count to a million

       9 The choir resumed

       II On Earth

       10 The happiest day of my life

       11 He realised for the first time that she was beautiful, too

       12 Looking back, almost certainly, that was when it happened

       13 The engine kindled into life

       14 Lost in the mighty unison

       15 Hero of the moment, king of the day

       16 Toppling off an axis, falling through space

       17 Still blinking under the word ‘here’

       18 I need to talk to you, she said

       19 He would learn it if it killed him

       20 Everything would be all right if she only could

       III As It Is

       21 There is no God, she wrote

       22 Alone with you by my side

       IV In Heaven

       23 A drink with you

       24 The Technique of Jesus

       25 Some of us have work to do

       26 He only knew that thanks were due

       27 Stay where you are

       28 Amen

       Acknowledgements

       NB There is script throughout the book used to denote the Oasan language – the appearance of these characters is intentional and does not constitute an error in the text