taking seats, andfinally the call bell stopped, and Literate President Morehead rappedwith his gavel. The opening formalities were hustled through. Theroutine held-over business was rubber-stamped with hasty votes ofapproval, even including the decisions of the extemporary meeting ofthat morning on the affair at Pelton's. Finally, the presiding officerrapped again and announced that the meeting was now open for newbusiness.
At once, Harvey Graves was on his feet.
"Literate President," he began, as soon as the chair had recognizedhim, "this is scarcely _new_ business, since it concerns a problem, amost serious problem, which I and some of my colleagues have broughtto the attention of this Council many times in the past--the problemof Black Literacy!" He spat out the two words as though they were amouthful of poison. "Literate President and fellow Literates, ifanything could destroy our Fraternities, to which we have given ourlives' devotion, it would be the widespread tendency to by-pass theFraternities, the practice of Literacy by non-Fraternities people--"
"We've heard all that before, Wilton!" somebody from the Lancedaleside called out. "What do you want to talk about that you haven'tgotten on every record of every meeting for the last thirty years?"
"Why, this Pelton business," Graves snapped back at him. "You knowwhat I mean. Your own associates are responsible for it!" He turnedback to face the chair, and, with a surprising minimum of invective,described the scene in which Claire Pelton had demonstrated herLiteracy. "And that's not all, brother Literates," he continued."Since then, I've been receiving reports from the Pelton store. ClairePelton has been openly doing the work of a Literate; going over thestore's written records, checking inventories, checking the creditguide, handling the price lists--"
"What's that got to do with Black Literacy?" Gerald Toppingtondemanded. "Black Literacy is a term which labels the professionalpractice of Literacy, for hire, by a non-Fraternity Literate, orLiterate service furnished for criminal or politically subversivepurposes, or the betrayal of a client by a Fraternity Literate.There's nothing of the sort involved here. This girl, who does appearto be Literate, is simply looking after the interests of her family'sbusiness."
"She was taught by a Literate, a Fraternities-member, under, to saythe very least, irregular circumstances, and without payment of anyfee. Any fee, that is, that the Fraternities can collect anypercentage on. And the Literate who taught her also taught her youngerbrother, Ray Pelton, and this Literate, who is known to be herlover--"
"Suppose he is her lover, so what?" one of Lancedale's partisansdemanded. "You say, yourself, that she's a Literate. That ought toremove any objection. Why, if she were to come forward and admit anddemonstrate her Literacy, there'd be no possible objection from theFraternities' viewpoint to her marrying young Prestonby."
"And as for Prestonby's action in teaching Literacy to her and to herbrother," Cardon spoke up, "I think he deserves the thanks andcommendation of the Fraternities. He's put a period to fourgenerations of bigoted Illiterates."
Wilton Joyner was on his feet. "Will Literate Graves yield for amotion?" he asked. "Thank you, Harvey. Literate President, and brotherLiterates: I yield to no man in my abhorrence of Black Literacy, or inmy detestation for the political principles of which Chester Peltonhas made himself the spokesman, but I deny that we should allow theacts and opinions of the Illiterate parent to sway us in ourconsideration of the Literate children. It has come to my notice, asit has to Literate Graves', that this young woman, Claire Pelton, isLiterate to a degree that would be a credit to any Literate FirstClass, and her brother can match his Literacy creditably against thatof any novice in our Fraternities. To show that we respect Literateability, wherever we find it; to show that we are not the monopolisticclosed-corporation our enemies accuse us of being; to show that we arenot animated by a vindictive hatred of anything bearing the name ofPelton--I move, and ask that my motion be presented for seconding,that Claire Pelton, and her brother, Raymond Pelton, be duly elected,respectively, to the positions of Literate Third Class and LiterateNovice, as members of the Associated Fraternities of Literates!"
From the Joyner-Graves side, there were dutiful cries of, "Yes! Yes!Admit the young Peltons!" and also gasps of horrified surprise fromthe rank-and-filers who hadn't been briefed on what was coming up.
Lancedale was on his feet in an instant. "Literate President!" hecried. "In view of the delicate political situation, and in view ofChester Pelton's violent denunciation of our Fraternities--"
"Literate Lancedale," the President objected. "The motion is not to bedebated until it has been properly seconded."
"What does the Literate President think I'm doing?" Lancedaleretorted. "I second the motion!"
Joyner looked at Lancedale in angry surprise, which gradually becamefearful suspicion. His stooge, who had already risen with a preparedspeech of seconding, simply gaped.
"Furthermore," Lancedale continued, "I move an amendment to LiterateJoyner's motion. I move that the ceremony of the administration of theLiterates' Oath, and the investiture in the smock and insignia, becarried out as soon as possible, and that an audio-visual recording bemade, and telecast this evening, before twenty-one hundred."
Brigade commander Chernov, prodded by Cardon, jumped to his feet.
"Excellent!" he cried. "I second the motion to amend the motion ofLiterate Joyner."
If there were such a thing as a bomb which would explode stunnedsilence, Lancedale and Chernov had dropped such a bomb. Cardon couldguess how Joyner and Graves felt; they were now beginning to be afraidof their own proposition. As for the Lancedale Literates, he knew howmany of them felt. He'd felt the same way, himself, when Lancedale hadproposed the idea. He got to his feet.
"Literate President, brother Literates," he raised his voice. "I callfor an immediate vote on this amended motion, which I, personally,endorse most heartily, and which I hope to see carried unanimously."
"Now, wait a minute!" Joyner objected. "This motion ought to bedebated--"
"What do you want to debate about it?" Chernov demanded. "Youpresented it, didn't you?"
"Well, I wanted to give the Council an opportunity to discuss it, astypical of our problems in dealing with Black ... I mean,non-Fraternities ... Literacy--"
"You mean, you didn't know it was loaded!" Cardon told him. "Well,that's your hard luck; we're going to squeeze the trigger!"
"I withdraw the motion!" Joyner shouted.
"Literate President," Lancedale said gently, his thin face lightingwith an almost saintly smile, "Literate Joyner simply cannot withdrawhis motion, now. It has been properly seconded and placed before thehouse, and so has my own humble contribution to it. I demand that themotion be acted upon."
"Vote! Vote! Vote!" the Lancedale Literates began yelling.
"I call on all my adherents to vote against this motion!" Joynershouted.
"Now look here, Wilton!" Harvey Graves shouted, reddening with anger."You're just making a fool out of me. This was your idea, in the firstplace! Do you want to smash everything we've ever done in theFraternities?"
"Harvey, we can't go on with it," Joyner replied. He crossed quicklyto Graves' seat and whispered something.
"For the record," Lancedale said sweetly, "our colleague, LiterateJoyner, has just whispered to Literate Graves that since I haveseconded his motion, he's now afraid of it. I think Literate Graves istrying to assure him that my support is merely a bluff. For theinformation of this body, I want to state categorically that it isnot, and that I will be deeply disappointed if this motion does notpass."
An elderly Literate on the Joyner-Graves side, an undersized man witha bald head and a narrow mouth, was on his feet. He looked like anaged rat brought to bay by a terrier.
"I was against this fool idea from the start!" he yelled. "We've gotto keep the Illiterates down; how are we ever going to do that if wego making Literates out of them? But you two thought you were beingsmart--"
"Shut up and sit down, you old jackass!" one of Joyner's peopleshouted at him.
"Sh
ut up, yourself, Ginter," a hatchet-faced woman Literate from theFinance Section squawked.
Literate President Morehead, an amiable and ineffective maiden aunt introusers, pounded frantically with his gavel. "Order!" he fairlyscreamed. "This is disgraceful!"
"You can say that again!" Brigade commander Chernov boomed. "What doyou people over on the right think this is; an Illiterates'Organization Political Action meeting?"
"Vote! Vote!" Cardon bellowed.
Literate President Morehead banged his gavel and, in a last effort,started the call bell clanging.
"The motion has been presented and seconded; the amendment has beenpresented and seconded. It will now be put to a vote!"
"Roll call!" Cardon demanded. Four or five other voices, from bothsides of the chamber, supported him.
"The vote will be by roll call," Literate President Morehead agreed."Addison, Walter G."
"Aye!" He was a subordinate of Harvey Graves.
"Agostino, Pedro V."
"Aye!" He was a Lancedale man.
So it went on. Graves voted for the motion. Joyner voted against it.All the Lancedale faction, now convinced that their leader had theopposition on the run, voted loudly for it.
"The vote has been one hundred and eighty-three for, seventy-twoagainst," Literate President Morehead finally announced. "The motionis herewith declared carried. Literate Lancedale, I appoint you toorganize a committee to implement the said motion, at once."
* * * * *
Prestonby flung open the door of the rest room where SergeantCoccozello and his subordinate were guarding the unconscious Pelton.
"Sergeant! Who's in charge of store police, now?"
Coccozello looked blank for an instant. "I guess I am," he said."Lieutenant Dunbar's off on his vacation, in Mexico, and CaptainFreizer's in the hospital; he was taken sick suddenly last evening."
Probably poisoned, Prestonby thought, making a mental note to find outwhich hospital and get in touch with one of the Literate medics there.
"Well, come out here, sergeant, and have a look around the store onthe TV. We have troubles."
Coccozello could hear the noise that was still coming out of thedarkened screen. As he stepped forward, Claire got another pickup,some distance from the one that had been knocked out. A mob of womencustomers were surging away from the Chinaware Department, intoGlassware; they were running into the shopping crowd there, withconsiderable disturbance. A couple of store police were trying to getthrough the packed mass of humanity, and making slow going of it.Coccozello swore and started calling on his reserves on one of thehandphones.
"Wait a moment, sergeant," Prestonby stopped him. "Don't commit any ofyour reserves down there. We're going to need them to hold theexecutive country, up here. This is only the start of a general riot."
"Who are you and what do you know about it?" Coccozello challenged.
"Listen to him, Guido," Claire said. "He knows what he's doing."
"Claire, you have some way of keeping a running count of the number ofcustomers in and out of the store, haven't you?" Prestonby asked.
"Why, yes; here." She pointed to an indicator on Chester Pelton'sdesk, where constantly changing numbers danced.
"And don't you have a continuous check on sales, too? How do theyjibe?"
"They don't; look. Sales are away below any expectation from thenumber of customers, even allowing for shopping habits of abargain-day crowd. But what's that got to do--"
Prestonby was back at the TV, shifting from pickup to pickup.
"Look, sergeant, Claire. That isn't a normal bargain-day crowd, is it?Look at those groups of men, three or four to a group, shiftingaround, waiting for something to happen. This store's beeninfiltrated by a big goon gang. That business in Chinaware's just thestart, to draw our reserves down to the third floor. Look at that,now."
He had a pickup on the twelfth floor, the floor just under the publiclanding stages, and at the foot of the escalators leading to thecentral executive block.
"See how they're concentrating, there?" he pointed out. "In thatladies' wear department, there are three men for every woman, and themen are all drifting from counter to counter over in the direction ofour escalators."
Coccozello swore again, feelingly. "Literate, you know your stuff!" hesaid. "That fuss in China is just a feint; this is where they'rereally going to hit. What do you think it is? Macy & Gimbel's tryingto bust up our sale, or politics?"
Prestonby shrugged. "Take your choice. A competitor would concentratewhere your biggest volume of sale was going on, though; politicalenemies would try to get up here, and that's what this gang's tryingto do."
"He's absolutely right, Guido," Claire told the sergeant. "Do whateverhe tells you."
Sergeant Coccozello looked at him, awaiting orders.
"We can't commit our reserves in that Chinaware Department fight; weneed them up here. Where are they, now, and how many?"
"Thirteen, counting myself and the man in there." He nodded toward theroom where Chester Pelton lay in drugged sleep. "In the squad room, onthe floor below."
"And for the mob below to get up here?"
"Two escalators, sir, northeast and southwest corners of officecountry. And we got some new counters that Mr. Latterman had built,that didn't get put out in time for the sale. We can use them to buildbarricades, if we have to."
"How about a 'copter attack on the roof?"
Coccozello grinned. "I'd like to see that, now, Literate. We gotplenty of A-A equipment up there--four 7-mm machine guns, two 12-mm's,and one 20-mm auto-cannon. We could hold off the State Guard withthat."
"That isn't saying much, but they're not even that good. So it'll bethe escalators. Think, now, sergeant. Fires, burglary, holdups--"
The sergeant's grin widened. "High-pressure fire hose, one at the headof each escalator, and a couple more that can be dragged over fromother outlets. Say we put two men on each hose, lying down at the headof the escalators. And we got plenty of firearms; we can arm some ofthese clerks, up here--"
"All right; do that. And put out an emergency call, byinter-department telephone, not by public address, to floorwalkersfrom the fifth floor down, to gather up all male clerks and otherstore personnel in their departments, arm them with anything they canfind, and rush them to Chinaware. Tell them to shout 'Pelton!' whenthey hit the mob, to avoid breaking each others' heads in theconfusion, and tell them they're expected to hold the Chinaware andGlassware departments themselves, without any help from the storepolice."
"Why not?" Claire wanted to know.
"That's how battles come to happen at the wrong time and place,"Prestonby told her. "Two small detachments collide, and each sendsback for re-enforcements, and the next thing anybody knows, there's afull-size battle going on where nobody wants to fight one. We're goingto fight our main battle at the head of the escalators from thetwelfth floor."
"You've done this sort of work before, Literate," Coccozello grinned."You talk like a storm-troop captain. What else?"
"Well, so far, we've just been talking defense. We need to take theoffensive, ourselves." He glanced around. "Is there a freight elevatorfrom this block to the basement?"
"Yeah. Wait till I see." Coccozello went to the TV-screen and dialed."Yeah, and the elevator's up here, too," he said.
"Well, you take what men you can spare--a couple of your cops, and acouple of the office crew--arm them with pistols, carbines, clubs,whatever you please, and take them down to the basement. Gather upall the warehouse gang, down there, and arm them. And as soon as youget to the basement, send the elevator back up here. That's our lifeline; we can't risk having it captured. You'll organize flying squadsto go up into the store from the basement. Bust up any trouble thatseems to be getting started, if you can, but your main mission will beto rescue store police, Literates, Literates' guards, and store help,and get them back to the basement. They'll be picked up from there andbrought up here on the elevator." He picked up a pad from a desk an
dwrote a few lines on it. "Show this to any Literate you meet; getLiterate Hopkinson to countersign it for you, when you find him. Tellhim we want his whole gang up here as soon as possible."
"How about getting help from outside?" Claire asked. "The city police,or--"
"City police won't lift a finger," Prestonby told her. "They neverhelp anybody who has a private police force; they have too much to doprotecting John Q. Citizen. Hutschnecker; suppose you callRadical-Socialist campaign headquarters; tell them to rush some oftheir Lone Rangers around here--"
* * * * *
]
Russell M. Latterman was lunching in the store restaurant, at a tablenext the thick glass partition, where he could look out acrossConfectionery and Pastries toward the Tobacco Shoppe and the LiquorDepartment. There were two ways of looking at it, of course. He wasoccupying a table that might
Null-ABC Page 12
