Search Worlds Without End

In the domed city of Atlanta, after the breakup of the United States, a young writer named Julian Cawthorn is in trouble. Because he insulted the daughter of a public official, Cawthorn is out of work, and virtually unemployable. He begs a temporary job on the city newspaper and finds himself assigned to cover the first public appearance of the aliens Cygnusians, travelers from outer space who have been living in seclusion in Atlanta while visiting Earth.

A Christian revivalist dictatorship rules Atlanta; church services are as much social as they are religious events. When one of the aliens chooses to appear at a church service, Julian watches as the first alien from space stands up and is "saved". The alien's voluntary salvation is taken as a sign that the state religion is indeed the one true religion, and minority groups, previously tolerated, are attacked by gangs, leaving Atlanta in turmoil.

The service is a turning point in Julian's life. He is hired by Fiona Bitler, hostess to and protector of the aliens; at her invitation he goes to work in the secret alien enclave. In this environment Julian comes to know the fascinating aliens. He is mystified by the aliens' interest in his personal life and cannot understand how they have acquired so many oddly human characteristics in their brief period on Earth.

The second book in the Urban Nucleus series, containing the following:

• Prelude: The Domes (1978)
• If a Flower Could Eclipse (1970)
• Interlude: The Testimony of Leland Turner (1979)
• Old Folks at Home (1978)
• Interlude: The City Takes Care of Its Own (1979)
• The Windows in Dante's Hell (1973)
• Interlude: Volplaning Heroes (1979)
• The Samurai and the Willows (1976)
• Interlude: First Councilor Lesser (1979)
• Allegiances (1975)
• Interlude: The Cradle Begins to Rock (1979)
• At the Dixie-Apple with the Shoofly-Pie Kid (1977)
• Interlude: The Fall of Saganella Lesser (1979)
• Death Rehearsals (1979)

This novella originally appeared in the anthology Universe 8 (1978), edited by Terry Carr. It can also be found in the anthologies Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Eighth Annual Collection (1979), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year #1 (1979), edited by Terry Carr. The story is included in the collection Catacomb Years (1979).

Locus Award winning and Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1976. The story can also be found the anthology Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Sixth Annual Collection (1977), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Catacomb Years (1979) and The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy: A Michael Bishop Retrospective (2012).