Ed Parman was the first to break the tableau. He slumped to the floor, and lay there, his shoulders shaking convulsively.
"Herd," Bairn said suddenly, "Take over. Come on, Tom. Whatever did this is in the power room."
"Joe?" Herd asked.
"I don't know."
The two of them fled, leaving behind them, Parman on his knees staring at the void, the others half-crying, half-laughing.
Bairn and Black Tom Morrissey came into the power room. They stood awed at what they saw.
Joe was there.
Bairn said finally, voice as soft as the night wind over earth:
"Joe was right. He was good for something after all."
Tenderly, he and Black Tom lifted Joe's dead body down from the tank, laid him gently on the floor.