"Oh! I almost forgot! Take this," he said, turning and handing the angelica to Vexin

He started shaking once he felt the stone in his hands.

"There'll be a Plexiglas barrier between the front row of pews and the gate area. They were going to have one anyway for crowd control, but its a help to us--if people suspect you and get unruly, itll at least slow them down a little."

"Th-that doesn't m-make it seem b-better." He stuttered, trying not to break down into frightened tears.

"The gate's scheduled to open at six o'clock sharp," he continued. "The required energy is all being generated from the other side. At about two minutes to six, a line of acolytes from every state in the country is going to file out."

He nodded.

"Good luck."

Vexin clutched the rock close. "TH-thank you." he said softly.

He nodded before taking them down another short corridor. "They're all in here," he said in a low voice, stopping in front of a door. "You'd better keep your head down--I'm sure they've all seen your photo."

Vexin nodded. "O-okay."