“Oh hell,” Matt said and grimaced. “You said she missed her family. I suspect it wasn’t her biological family she missed.”
“It’s best left alone, especially with the reincarnation fad going on. It’s enough to have a hundred people thinking they were Hitler in a past life. I don’t want to give any more suggestions. Someone just might try carrying on where the original Charles left off.”
“That’s for sure,” Matt said. “That’s one sleeping dog that shouldn’t be let lie, it should be shot.”
“Darn,” Carol said. “You’re not going to tell us either.”
“But it doesn’t really affect what’s going on now. What does is the fact that Ben now believes he’s part of the prophecies.” Jim looked up at Carol. “I can see where Karla mistook the older Stutchman for the Charles she knew, same piercing brown eyes, that, adjustment for age, and a lot of wishful thinking.”
Matt’s expression suddenly turned curious. “You think there’s a connection with that and the trouble we’re having? It’s something from the Bible.”
“Not the Bible itself. For thousands of years people have quoted it to justify all sorts of odious activities. In this case, what is significant is that at first Ben rejected what Karla said as insane and has now adopted it as meaning him. There must have been a bridge. A person that caught on to what Karla was saying and used it to guide Ben’s actions. By the sound of things, he seems to have embellished on the original.”
Earl raised a finger. “The man that was with both of them when you talked on the V phone.”
“Yes. He found that Charles was of no use to him as all he wanted to do was retire, so he had Ben depose him as leader. He probably used the prophecies to give Ben the idea that he alone was significant and that his father didn’t count.”
“Yes,” Carol said, “when he first took the Lydia he seemed devoted to his father. It must have taken a lot of manipulation to put them against each other.”
Matt appeared confused. “Other than Ben’s ravings, I haven’t heard anyone else claim divine rights.”
“No, he’s changed his tactics. Now it’s fear and group hatred. He’s possibly using that right winger on the council in the same way he used the Stutchmans.”
“I see,” Laura said. “The religious prophecies have nothing to do with what’s going on.”
“Except as a means to an end.”
“Here it is,” Joan said reading her pad. “The bit about the horns, Daniel chapter seven. It was a dream interpreted to mean that there will be ten kingdoms; then a smaller one will appear to conquer three. This colony is a smaller one that just appeared and three have broken away. Those numbers seem to match.”
“But there were fourteen confederations in the Commonwealth,” Carol said, “now there’s eleven.”
Jim smiled. “The numbers have matched many situations. Back on Earth they said it applied to the European Economic Community. That organization had ten members until Spain and Portugal joined at the same time making it twelve. That completely screwed up the religious nuts. Forget the prophecies; they were only tools our manipulator used to screw with Stutchman.”
“But,” Joan continued, “here it mentions something about a cock riding a tiger. The Poulet part of De Poulet means cock in French doesn’t it? That was the name of the family that headed that Empire a thousand years ago.”
“Coincidence,” Jim replied.
Matt folded his arms. “So, to sum it up, this man wants to be the power behind the power. He failed once and is trying it again.”
“Correct,” Jim said then turned to Carol. “See, I figured that out all by myself, so I am intelligent.” He then stuck out his tongue.
Carol retaliated by wrinkling her nose and they spent the next few seconds making faces at one another.
Matt raised an eyebrow and turned to Laura. “How come we always have weirdoes as friends?”
“They’re your friends. I’ve never seen these two before in my life.”
“How does ya know it’s Darlison?” Sam asked.
Jim stuck his tongue out at Carol one last time then turned to Sam. “He misquoted Jefferson. So did Ben when I talked to him on the ship.”
“The one ‘bout man not being able ta govern his self?” Sam said.
“Yes, I can’t remember the quote, but if Jefferson did say it he was probably joking when he made that statement. He was at one time quite frustrated over the infighting that occurred when they framed the American constitution.”
“I see,” Matt said after a moment of thought. “He’s now using fear of an advanced civilization to consolidate power. But the thing about modern man having mutated is a lie. How does he expect people to believe it?”
“An old Nazi method. A lie shouted loud enough and often enough will eventually be believed.”
Sam took a few paces around the room before speaking. “So what do we do ‘bout it? Cook that there fellah with a laser pistol?”
“No, I’d say education is the best way. An informed public is not prey to Nazi methods. We also have to identify our friend and possibly expose him. There were three people who knew him. Ben, who I doubt would give us any intelligible information. Jennifer, who disappeared, presumed dead, before we retook the Lydia and Charles. So we’ll have to talk to him, and I suggest soon.”
“Tomorrow mornin’” Sam said. “We jest walk straight in without tellin’ no one. That way that fellah cain’t tell ahead of time what we’re a doin.”
“Can you get us in that easily?” Jim asked.
“Y’all are a talkin’ ta the honorary President fer life. Ah jest says open the door, and people opens the door.”
“Ok then, tomorrow morning.”
Chapter 17
“What’s happened?” Matt said as he tapped the shoulder of the closest member of a rapidly gathering crowd.
“Don’t know,” the man replied with a shrug. “I was on my way to work when I heard a loud bang, so I came to see what was going on.”
“Out of our way please,” Sam said as he walked straight into the crowd.
People turned, and upon seeing the speaker, instantly made a path for the threesome.
The sky over downtown Carlisle was blue with only a hint of cloud on the horizon. The traffic on Levin Street was turning around due to barricades hastily erected by uniformed police officers. As each vehicle reached the barrier, its computer read the rerouting beacon on the first barricade, turned then proceeded on an alternate route suggested by the beacon.
They made their way through the crowd to a group of uniformed police milling around in front of a two story building. Their gray uniforms were exact copies of ones Jim had seen on La Raza, they were either surplus the government had purchased or had been donated by a sympathetic group.
Medical personnel walked in and out of the ornate archway leading to a recessed front door.
“What’s goin’ on?” Sam asked the back of an officer.
“Move on,” the officer said as he turned. “It’s none of your bus...” The officer straightened. “Oh, President Sam. It’s a bomb sir. Went off about half an hour ago.”
“Anyone hurt?” Matt said.
The officer frowned and looked down at his data pad. “I believe Mr. Stutchman is dead.”
“Oh shit,” Jim said as his face dropped. “Any idea who did it?”
“We have a quite reliable witness who said she saw someone running from the area just before the bomb went off.”
“It was the mutants!” a man in the crowd behind them yelled. “They killed him to screw up our economy.”
“Out of the Commonwealth,” another yelled.
The call turned into a chant which was taken up by a large section of the crowd. Jim glanced back and saw the anger on the faces of the chanters. The quieter bystanders either looked flustered or disgusted with the noisy ones.
Jim turned to Matt. “I thought you said it was only an active minority with that sentiment. If this gathering is a cross s
ection of the community, then it seems like half of the population think that way.”
“Ah... I thought that it was only about ten percent at the most. It looks like I was wrong.”
Jim took a long look at the crowd. He examined the chanters in particular. The first thing he noticed was their dress. Even though the area was a predominantly business district, they wore mostly casual cloths. The quiet ones were attired in outfits that were more representative of the area.
Another thing that came to his attention was the hairstyles of the females present. They were more of a formal nature, incongruous with the style of their dress. It was as if they had chosen their clothes to appear as casual passers by, but did their hair that morning to accentuate their looks.
“No, I think you’re right. This crowd’s full of plants that were conveniently in the right place at the right time. They’re playing to that camera crew over there.”
Matt looked across the street at the cameraman panning his screen in the direction of the crowd. A newsman stood to one side giving his commentary on the scene.
“Officer,” Jim said, “did you get a description of the person seen running away?”
The officer broke into a broad, satisfied smile. “Yes, a very good one. We put it through the computer identicode system and it matches perfectly with the oldest son of a mu... ah... immigrant family from Batchoff.”
Jim looked around. “Nothing we can do here. We have to go back to Matt’s place and see how the media are treating this. That seems to be their target at the moment.”
They walked back the way they’d come and in the direction of the public parking lot where Matt’s navigator was parked. The moving sidewalk whisked them away from the chanting crowd and through a small retail section.
“I don’t know where they think all this came from,” commented Matt as he watched the passing storefronts. “If it wasn’t for the Commonwealth, and the rest of the galaxy, we’d still be in storm tents listening to the screaming wind. None of us knew how to melt one of these buildings together in less than two days. None of us knew how to alter the weather so fast.”
“Ah heard one of them a sayin’ that they only helped us so they could take over the cities already built and ready for ‘em. They seem ta thaink it’s some sort of plan the Commonwealth came up with fer us ta do the work for ‘em.”
“Who’s in charge of the police force?” Jim asked.
“Darlison,” Matt said with a forced smile. “He’s the member for internal security.”
“As I understand it, there are eight members in the council. One for each of the designated districts and a Prime Minister that acts as chair and is the actual head of government. What powers do you still have, Sam?”
“Ah waves at people and cuts ribbons fer store ‘n public park openin’s. They says ah’m head of state which means ah don’t have nothin’ ta do with the law makin’; jest the ceremonial stuff.”
“You don’t do a thing in the government?”
“Ah runs the elections. The votes are counted under ma supervision and ah declares the winner. Then ah opens the council meetin’s when they’re in session. That’s what ah was a doin’ so ah couldn’t come meet ya at the spaceport. That there new constitution they made a year ago don’t let me do nothin’ more than that.”
“You’re supreme military commander,” Matt said, looking as if he was about to burst out laughing.
“Military?”
“Yes,” Matt said, “we have a corvette on order from New Hope. It’s mainly for patrolling the shipping lanes. Sort of like the old coast guard.”
“Yep, ah insisted on there bein’ some kind of military as soon as possible. If’n them Bunds get uppety again ah don’t want us ta look like we ain’t doin’ our part. Ah wants ta send at least a small ship. But under the constitution ah cain’t order them ta do nothin’ less’n a rigid set of circumstances calls fer it. If’n the government declares war and asks fer the use of ma troops, ah has ta give ‘em over, less’n ah can prove their declaration was illegal.”
Matt continued to look amused. “Troops? All you have so far is a troop, one Admiral who hasn’t started inducting recruits yet.”
“Well, he’s still a waitin’ on the results of them examinations of the people what applied. We got ta be dern careful ‘bout selectin’ this here planets first military. They’re goin’ ta have ta set the standards like our forefathers did at Valley Forge.”
“You can also dissolve the government and call for a new election,” Matt said, raising a finger.
“Yep, but only under another set of them there rules.”
“What are the rules?” Jim asked.
“When ah am petitioned by ten percent of the population callin’ fer a vote of no confidence, ah conducts a vote. If’n the vote is over fifty percent then ah dissolves the council.
“If’n ah am petitioned over alleged misconduct of the council ah holds a Presidential inquiry, makes the findings public then calls fer a vote to prosecute.”
“Can you do that to an individual member?”
“Yep.”
“You see,” Matt said, “before we left Earth there was a whole series of government scandals, attempts at dictatorship and other various screw ups. This system was designed to safeguard against misuse of power. A citizen who is unfairly treated by the government can petition Sam for an investigation.”
“Yep, the government policin’ itself is like settin’ the fox ta guard the hen house.”
“You see it’s not the direct power the President has, because he, by himself, has none, it’s the power he denies others. No individual politician can take over by military force, as the politicians don’t command the army. And the President can’t take over because, even though he commands the army, he can’t use it unless the circumstances match the constitutional rules.”
“Can the council override the Presidents decision?”
“Yes, by calling a popular vote. They can also call a popular vote to depose the President and elect a new one.”
“So if...” Jim was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. The three turned to see a small crowd of a dozen people climbing through the broken display window of a store. Several of the group carried pieces of wood and wielded them as weapons.
“Get them damn mutants!” one yelled as Jim saw a young man dragged across the floor inside.
“Damn,” Sam said. “Come on, we gotta help.”
The three ran across the road. A passing navigator slowed as it detected them ahead. As Matt reached the first person in the crowd he seized him by the loose material on the back of his shirt and flung him out of the way. Jim did the same to a female but with substantially less force.
“Leave that there man alone!” Sam yelled as they saw three of the assembled group kicking the young man who was now on the store showroom floor.
“Stay out of this President Sam!” a woman yelled. “These test tube freaks have to be kicked back into space where they belong. They sure as hell don’t belong here.”
Jim shoved aside another man as Matt attempted to grab the victim on the floor and drag him to safety.
“They are just the same as you and me!” Jim yelled. “The only genetic alteration that has been made in the last two thousand years has been the elimination of inherited diseases.”
“Bullshit!” yelled the man Jim had just shoved. “We’ve all seen the altered plants, flowers, trees and animals they keep sending us. They have to have done it to themselves. How else do you explain their intelligence?”
“I’ve lived with them for over two years. They’re no more intelligent than we are.”
“How do you explain this then? I did an employment exam for a job and got beaten out by one of these damn mutants.”
Sam stepped forward and met the man’s infuriated glare with a determined stare. “That doesn’t say how smart that fellah was, it says how stupid you was!”
“So, President Sam is a mutant lover!” a woman yelled
as she pushed forward. “Looks like we have to impeach him here and now!”
Jim ducked back to avoid a fist before throwing one of his own. Within seconds, multiple assailants both male and female were attacking them.
“We’re coming President Sam,” called a voice from behind. “Come on, get them damn know nothings.”
Jim glanced over his shoulder to see a score of men and women running in their direction from every building in the street. Minutes later, they stood and watched the know nothings rapidly retreated down the road.
“Shit, those creeps are getting bold,” said a man in a business suit. “Are you all right Mr. President?”
“Ah’m jest fine. Haven’t been in a good street fight since ah was on pass in Abilene.”
Out of the corner of one eye, Jim caught sight of a uniformed police officer standing around the corner of a nearby intersection. He held what Jim knew to be a 2D camera and aimed it at the crowd of their supporters. As Jim turned and looked directly at him, the man hurriedly disappeared around the corner.
“Sam, you had better get a military together in a hurry. I don’t think the police will be of much help.”
“Yep, ah saw him a takin’ pictures of the people willin’ ta fight on our side.” Sam reached into his inner Jacket pocket and retrieved a pen phone. “Admiral Bounds, we have ta have a meetin’ this evenin’ at Mr. Remington’s house.”
“Not there,” Jim said, “they have some sort of listening device and can probably hear every word we say. That’s the only thing that would explain the timing of that bomb. They knew we were going there to talk to Stutchman. The only alternative I can see is aboard the Lydia.”
“Did ya hear that Admiral?”
“Sure did, when should I be at the spaceport?” The Admiral replied from the phone.
Jim raised a hand to silence Sam. “We’ll pick you up Admiral.”
“So what’s the plan Jim?” Sam asked after replacing the pen phone in his pocket.
“We don’t want the Admiral going to the spaceport alone. There may be another assassination by a mutant. We’ll pick him up but first we’ll drop by the shuttle. There’s a couple of laser pistols an a stunner on board.”
To Wake the Living (The Time Stone Trilogy Book 2) Page 33
