“It’s what Jerry Owen said Sergeant Hooker had told him. I think it’s about right. But they’ve got more. They’ve got Bakersfield. It isn’t organized yet, but they own it, and their people are sifting through what’s left of the city, looking for weapons. And recruits.”
“So there’s more than a thousand?”
“Yes, I think so, but maybe not all armed. And maybe not recruited all the way. They will be.”
“So they could possibly double that strength after they have an… initiation ceremony,” Hardy said. “We’re in trouble. You mentioned Sergeant Hooker. Who is he?”
Beck shrugged. “He’s as close to a leader as anyone they have. A big black Army man, Army uniform anyway. There are generals and like that, but Sergeant Hooker outranks them all. I didn’t see him much. He has his own tent, and when he goes anywhere they drive him in a car with plenty of bodyguards. And Armitage always talks polite to him, as polite as he ever is to anybody.”
“A black man,” George Christopher said. He looked around at Rick Delanty, who had sat silently during Beck’s story. Then he looked hurriedly away.
“There are other black leaders,” Beck said. “They spend a lot of time with Hooker. And you never say anything bad about blacks, or chicanos, or anybody else. First couple of days they just slap you for it, like if a black man says ‘honky’ or a white dude says ‘rigger,’ but if you don’t learn fast they figure you’re not really converted…”
“Don’t mind me,” Rick Delanty said. “I’ve got all the equality I ever wanted.”
Harvey Randall and Tim Hamner came into the room. They brought folding chairs from the library. Eileen went to Tim and whispered hurriedly, and everyone tried to ignore the growing horror on Hamner’s face. Alice Cox brought in lighted kerosene lamps. Their cheery yellow glow seemed out of place. “Shall I light a fire, Senator?” Alice asked.
“Please. Hugo, did you see their arsenal?”
“Yes, sir. There were a lot of guns. Machine guns, and some cannon, and mortars—”
“I need details,” Al Hardy said. “We all do, and things are getting busy around here. It might take more than one day to get all the useful information he has. Mr. Christopher, could you reconsider?”
Christopher looked as if he were going to be ill. “I don’t want him here. He can’t stay here.”
Hardy shrugged. “And the Governor? Hugo, what do you know about Lieutenant Governor Montross?”
“Nothing, except he’s there,” Hugo said. “He stays in officer country, and when he goes anywhere there’s a lot of bodyguards. Like Sergeant Hooker. The Governor never did talk to us, but we got messages in his name sometimes.”
“But who’s in control of this group?” Hardy demanded.
“I don’t know! I think it’s a committee. I never got to talk to the top bosses — mine was a black woman named Cassie, and she was big, and she was mean, and did she ever believe! The real bosses were Armitage, and Sergeant Hooker. The Governor, maybe. A black city man named Alim Nassor—”
“Alim Nassor? I know him,” Randall said. “We did an interview with him once. A natural leader. Very powerful in the Watts area.”
Eileen left Tim and went to kneel next to Randall. As she whispered, Harry watched with curiosity. Could a TV reporter be shocked? Yes. Definitely. And scared shitless, if Harry was any judge. He wasn’t the only one. Deke Wilson had been looking sicker and sicker. It wasn’t surprising that Deke’s territory had been smaller every time Harry went down there. And now the New Brotherhood was at Deke’s main area.
George looked disgusted. Finally he said, “I want to throw up every time I look at him. Senator, how much whiskey do you have left? I’ll trade you a pint of my cheap stuff for one stiff drink right now.”
“The trade isn’t needed,” Jellison said. “Eileen, would you bring a bottle, please? I think we could all use a drink. And I gather there’s more news. Harry, you mentioned a letter.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Perhaps I should read it while we all have a drink.”
Harry got up and went to the Senator’s chair. He took an envelope from an inner pocket and gave it to Jellison. The Senator opened it carefully and took out several sheets of paper. They were handwritten by someone who’d used a broad-nib pen, someone with excellent handwriting. Harry wanted very badly to see what that letter said, but he went back to his seat.
Eileen brought in a full bottle of Old Fedcal and poured for everyone. No one refused. She filled Hugo Beck’s glass and he gulped it eagerly.
And he’ll stay drunk the rest of his life if he can find booze, Harry thought.
“Are they starving or just hungry?” Christopher asked.
“Not even hungry,” Hugo said. “Their doctor — the rabbity guy — says they find enough vitamin pills, and I ate well myself.” He saw their faces close up and cried, “No! I only ate human meat twice! At the rituals! Most of what they fed us came from supermarkets, but there were some animals, too. They don’t need cannibalism. They only do it when there’s new recruits. It’s a ritual.”
“A damn useful ritual,” said Harvey Randall. Heads turned toward him. “Look at Hugo. They’ve circumcised his soul. It’s a mark on him that anyone can recognize. That’s what it feels like, doesn’t it, Hugo?”
Hugo nodded.
“Suppose I told you it isn’t visible at all?” Hugo looked puzzled. Harvey said, “Right. You know it’s there.”
“Some of them like the taste,” Hugo whispered, but they heard him.
Deke Wilson spoke in a voice filled with terror. “And I’m next! They’re coming for me in four days!”
“Perhaps we can stall them.” Jellison looked up from the letter. “This is an interesting document. There is a proclamation of authority by Acting Governor Montross. Then there is a letter to me, inviting me to discuss the terms under which my organization can be integrated into his own. It’s politely worded, but quite peremptory, and although he doesn’t threaten us directly, there is discussion of unfortunate incidents in which various groups refused to recognize his authority, and had to be treated as rebels.” Jellison shrugged. “But there’s no mention of cannibals or Angels of the Lord.”
“You don’t mean… don’t you believe me, Senator?” Hugo Beck asked in despair.
“I believe you,” Jellison said. “We all do.” He looked around the room and got nods from the others. “Incidentally, this gives us two weeks, and mentions Deke’s White River area as well as our own. That may be simply to get Deke off his guard, but it may also mean they’ve delayed their attack—”
“I think they won’t fight you just yet,” Hugo Beck said. “They’d just found out about… another place. I think they’ll go there first.”
“Where?” Hardy demanded.
Visibly, Hugo considered trying to bargain, and decided against it. “The San Joaquin Nuclear Project. They just found out the plant’s still operating. It set them crazy.”
Johnny Baker spoke for the first time. “I didn’t know there was a nuclear plant in the San Joaquin Valley.”
“It wasn’t on line yet,” Harvey Randall said. “It’s still under construction. I think they got it to the testing stage before Hammerfall. There wasn’t much publicity, because of the environmentalists.”
The kosmonauts spoke in excited Russian. Baker and Delanty joined in, speaking much more slowly. Then Baker said, “We were looking for an operating power plant. We thought Sacramento might have survived. Where is this San Joaquin plant? We’ve got to save it.”
“Save it?” George Christopher’s face was gray. “Can we save ourselves? Dammit, I don’t believe it! How could that cannibal army grow so fast?”
“Mohammed,” Harvey Randall said.