Null-ABC

by John Joseph McGuire and H. Beam Piper

fire hose with his right handand fired a pistol with his left, and a boy in a black-and-red jacketwho was letting off a burp gun in deliberate, parsimonious, bursts. Itwas a second or two before Cardon recognized them as Prestonby'sbodyguard, Doug Yetsko, and Claire Pelton's brother Ray. There werefour Literates' guards and about a dozen boys with them, all firingwith a variety of weapons.

  At the same time, others were arriving on the escalators from thefloors below, firing as they came off--Slater's Literates' guards, theLiterates and their black-jacketed troopers of Hopkinson's storeservice crew, the fifteen survivors of the twenty riflemen from Macy &Gimbel's. The attackers turned and crowded onto the ascendingescalator. Most of them got away, the casualties being carried up bythe escalator. Doug Yetsko bounded forward and brought his fire hosedown on the back of one invader's neck. Then, after a last spatter ofupward-aimed shots from the defenders, there was silence.

  Cardon stepped forward and yanked the hood from the man whom Yetskohad knocked down, hoping that he had a stunned prisoner who could beinterrogated. The man was dead, however, with a broken neck. For amoment, Cardon looked down at the heavy, brutal features of Joe West,the Illiterates' Organization man. If Chester Pelton got out of thismess alive and won the election tomorrow, there was going to have tobe a purge in the Radical-Socialist party, and something was going tohave to be done about the Consolidated Organization of Illiterates. Heturned to Yetsko.

  "You and your gang got here just in the nick of time," he said. "Howdid you get into the store?"

  "Through the freight conveyor, into the basement."

  "But I thought those goons had both ends of that plugged."

  "They did," Yetsko grinned. "But Ray Pelton took us in at the middle,and we crawled through a cable conduit to get around the gang at thisend."

  Cardon looked around quickly, in search of Ray. The boy, having comeout of the excitement of battle, was looking around at the litter ofdead and wounded on the blood-splashed floor. His eyes widened, and hegulped. Then, carefully setting the safety of his burp gun andslinging it, he went over and leaned against the wall, and was sick.

  Prestonby, with Claire Pelton beside him, started toward thewhite-faced, retching boy. Yetsko put out a hamlike hand to stop them.

  "If the kid wants to be sick, let him be sick," he said. "He's got aright to. I was sicker'n that, after my first fight. But he won't dothat the next time."

  "There isn't going to be any next time!" Claire declared, withmaternal protectiveness.

  "That's what you think, Miss Claire," Yetsko told her. "That boy'sgonna make a great storm trooper," he declared. "Every bit as great asCaptain Prestonby, here."

  Claire looked up at Prestonby almost worshipfully. "And I never knewanything about your being a fighting-man, till today," she said."Ralph, there's so much about you that I don't know."

  "There'll be plenty of time to find out, now, honey," he told her.

  Cardon stepped over the body of Joe West and went up to them.

  "Sorry to intrude on you two," he said, "but we've got to figure onhow to get out of here. Could we get out the same way you got in?" heasked Yetsko. "And take Mr. Pelton with us?"

  Yetsko frowned. "Part of the way, we gotta crawl through this conduit;it's only about a yard square. And we'd have to go up a ladder, andout a manhole, to get out of the conveyor tunnel. What sorta shape'sMr. Pelton in?"

  "He's under hypnotaine, completely unconscious," Prestonby said.

  "Then we'd have to drag him," Yetsko said. "Strap him up in a tarp, orload him into a sleeping bag, if we can get hold of one."

  "There are plenty, down in the warehouse," Latterman interrupted,joining them. "And the warehouse is in our hands."

  "All right," Cardon decided. "We'll take him out, now, and take himhome. I have some men there who'll take care of him. We'll have to getyou and Ray out, too," he told Claire. "I think we'll take both of youto Literates' Hall; you'll be absolutely safe there."

  "But the store," Claire started to object. "And all these people whocame here to help us--"

  "As soon as I have your father home, I'm going to start rounding up agang to raise the siege," Cardon said. "Radical-Socialist stormtroops, and--" He grinned suddenly. "The insurance company; the onethat has the store insured against riot! Why didn't I think of thembefore? They're losing money every second this thing goes on. It'll beworth their while to start doing something to stop it!"

  * * * * *

  The trip out through the conduit was not so difficult, even with theencumbrance of the unconscious Chester Pelton, but Prestonby wasconvinced that, except for the giant strength of Doug Yetsko, it wouldhave been nearly impossible. Ray Pelton, recovered from hisafter-battle nausea and steeled by responsibility, went first. Cardoncrawled after him, followed by a couple of the boys. Then came Yetsko,dragging the sleeping bag in which Chester Pelton was packed like amummy. Prestonby himself followed, pushing on his futurefather-in-law's feet, and Claire crawled behind, with the rest ofRay's schoolmates for a rearguard.

  They got past the battle which was still going on at the entrance tothe store basement, letting Pelton down with a rope and carrying himonto the outward-bound belt. They left it in time to assemble underthe ladder leading to the alley through which Ray said they hadentered, and hauled Pelton up after them. Then, when they were all outin the open again, Ray ran up the alley and mounted a fire escape,and, in a few minutes, a big 'copter truck which had been parked onthe roof let down to them. Into this, Cardon ordered the unconscioussenatorial candidate loaded, and the boys who had come with Ray.

  "I'll take him home, and then run the boys to the school," he toldPrestonby. "You and Ray and Claire get in this other 'copter and gostraight to Literates' Hall." He pointed up to the passenger vehiclewhich was hovering above, waiting for the truck to leave. "Go in thechurch way, and go straight to Lancedale's office. And here." Hescribbled an address and a phone number and a couple of names. "Thesemen have my 'copter at this address. Call them as soon as you get toLiterates' Hall and have them take it at once to Pelton's home, onLong Island."

  Prestonby nodded and watched Cardon climb into the truck. TheLiterates' guard who was driving lifted it up and began windmillingaway toward the east. The passenger 'copter, driven by another guardfrom the school, settled down. Putting Ray and Claire into it, heclimbed in after them.

  "Ray," he said, "how would you like to be a real white-smockLiterate?"

  Ray's eyes opened. "You think I'm good enough?"

  "Good enough to be a novice, to start with. And I don't think you'llstay a novice long."

  Claire looked at him inquiringly, saying nothing.

  "You, too, honey," he said. "Frank fixed it all up. You and Ray willbe admitted to the Fraternities, this afternoon. And that will removeany objection to our being married."

  "But ... how about the Senator?" she asked.

  Prestonby shrugged. "It's all over the state now that you can read;there's nothing that you can do about it. And Frank has a lot ofinfluence with him; he'll talk him around to where he'll be willing tomake the best of it, in a week or so."

  * * * * *

  Russell Latterman noticed that Major Slater was looking at him in arespectfully inquiring manner. He said nothing, and, at length, theLiterates' guards officer broke the silence.

  "You didn't go out with the others."

  Latterman shook his head. "No, major; I'm an executive of Pelton'sPurchasers' Paradise, however unlike its name it may look at themoment. My job's here. I'm afraid I'll have to lean pretty heavily onyou, until Mr. Cardon can get help to us. I'm not particularly used tocombat."

  "You've been doing all right with that rifle," Slater told him.

  "I can hit what I aim at, yes. But I'm not used to commanding men incombat, and I'm not much of a tactician."

  Slater thrust out his hand impulsively. "I took a sort of poor viewof you, at first. I'm sorry," he said. "Want me to take command?"

 
"If you please, major."

  "What are you going to do, after this thing's over?" Slater asked.

  "Stay on with Pelton's, provided Mr. P. doesn't find out that Iorganized that trick with his medicine and the safe," Latterman said."Since Lancedale seems to have gotten on top at the Hall, I am, as ofnow, a Lancedale partisan. That's partly