The Day Of Their Return, 1

Poul Anderson, The Day Of Their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 74-238 AT 1, pp. 75-76.

In Captain Flandry...:

"Outpost of Empire" concludes at the bottom of p. 72;

p. 73 is blank;

p. 74 is a dedication "To Marion Zimmer Bradley, my lady of Darkover";

p.75 presents -

the title of a novel, THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN;
a quotation, JOB, iv, 12-16;
over half way down the page, the beginning of the first chapter of the novel, called simply 1.

Half way down p. 76, 1 ends, to be followed immediately by 2. Thus, 1 is less than a page in length. It presents a scenic description and an inner dialogue. Dawn gleams on a sea. A waterfall on a blue cliff beyond the sea is audible to the male viewpoint character, Jaan. The sky is white in the sunrise, purple above and violet to the west. Jaan feels grit beneath his feet. Thus, three senses are engaged.

Jaan converses with an inner presence called Caruith who:

claims to have returned after six million years;
refers to "Oneness" (p. 76) in terms reminiscent of the Last Supper discourse of John's Gospel;
but says that "...sentience will create God..." (ibid.), thus contradicting John's opening verse.

Jaan/Caruith ascends to the Arena to proclaim Oneness. A new message and movement are beginning...