Declare

by Tim Powers

In the ancient story, a genie tricked a fisherman into catching fish from a miraculously preserved lake in the desert; when the fish were put into a frying pan, a solid wall opened and a black giant described as “a mountain, or one of the survivors of the tribe of A’ ad” appeared and asked the fish, “O Fish, are you constant to the old covenant?”—to which the fish replied, “Return, and we return; keep faith, and so will we.”