Edward Llewellyn - Prelude to Chaos

I began to shake with fury at the immensity of Futrell’s treason, so that Judith laid her hand on mine to calm me. By the time I had regained control of my emotions the President had finished and the commentators had started.

They were switched off abruptly and Deacon Anslinger appeared on the screens, explaining what the President had really meant, and how it was going to affect the situation in Sherando. From now on Anslinger would be dominant on the Council, and soon his rigorous recommendations would become the Settlement’s way of life. I got to my feet and pushed my way to the door; I had to get out into the fresh night air and decide what I myself must do.

Judith had come out after me and for a few minutes we were alone on the plaza. I wiped my forehead. ‘They’re switching to a war economy. Self-elected elites and other minorities are going to get stomped. Especially if they’ve got something the majority wants—like kids and fertile girls. The storm’s coming. And now it has Presidential approval to blow!”

She glanced at me. “The Teacher warned us. That’s why we’ve been gathering in these Settlements.”

“Judy—you’d better get out of this one!”

She bit her lip and whispered, “Gavin, I must talk to you alone. But where?”

I must talk to her too! I thought for a moment. “Tomorrow morning I’ll be checking stores in the Depot. Go to the side door at ten and tap three times. The Depot’s verboten to everybody except myself and Anslinger, so don’t let anybody see you. The door’s down that alley which leads to the warehouse where they store old agricultural machinery. Know it? Then if Fm alone I’ll let you in. If I don’t it means Anslinger’s with me, so beat it fast”

“Thanks! I’ll be there.” She pressed my hand and slipped away into the crowd pouring down the steps from the General Assembly.

Why did I feel protective? She was an eminently self-sufficient person and under most circumstances probably better able to look after herself than I was. But the circumstances in Sherando, in North America, in the whole damned worlds, were abnormal. And while sitting beside her during the President’s speech I had been aware of her isolation among these Believers and of the tension building up within her. Judith’s superficial calm hid a wildness which, I sensed, made her capable of doing almost anything. She was on the verge of doing Something wild.

The Depot was a stone building, half sunk into the ground, and looked almost as if it had been designed as an ammunition store. Without windows and with only a few scattered light bulbs it was a gloomy place. As I waited for Judith the next morning I heard a motorcycle turn down the alley and go on past into the warehouse at the end. Apparently the rider had not spotted her, for a few minutes later there were three quick taps on the side door. I went to open it.

Judith slipped in from the sunlight and stood looking around into the gloom. “What is all this stuff?” she asked. “Sufficient weaponry to arm a brigade.”

“What’s it doing here?”

“Ostensibly, the Army’s stockpiling it for our descendents. So they can start blowing each other apart again. I think it’s really for use by Sherando if it’s attacked. Somebody up there in Washington likes us!”

She pointed to a stack of blue-white ammunition carriers. “What’s in those things?”

“CBW agents.”

“What agents?”

“Chemical Biological Warfare agents. Those containers are mixed HCN and nerve gas.”

“Nerve gas!” Her hand went to her mouth.

“Pre-1990 chemicals, so they don’t break your Teacher’s prohibition. But over there,” I pointed to a stack of containers checkered red and yellow, “is something new. I don’t know what it does, but I’ll bet it’s something horrible!”

“How could they allow such chemicals into a Settlement?” “Judy!” I caught her shoulder and turned her to face me. “When things go sour, weapon-prohibitions aren’t worth a damn. Anyway, you didn’t come here to talk about how Sherando’s sliding into heresy!”

“No.” She studied my face. “I came to tell you that yesterday Anslinger warned me to get married—or take the consequences.”

I looked at her, then said gently, “You’re the only single woman in Sherando over sixteen. You’ve got to marry someone if you’re going to stay here. I admit I came at you like a patronizing fool. Now I’m asking you like a humble suitor. Please marry me.”

“Gavin—I can’t!” She looked away from me. “Not now, at any rate.”

I sighed. “Then they won’t let you stay.”

“They won’t let me go!” She gave a short laugh. “I’m a valuable item on the Sherando inventory.”

“I know you’re a good surgeon, but—”

“I’m not valuable because I’m a surgeon. I’m valuable because I’m a woman. A fertile woman. Anslinger’s demanding that I marry and start breeding. The bastard’s after my genes!”

“How do you know you’re fertile?” I saw her expression. “Scrub that question! Tell Anslinger to stuff it. I’ll speak to him. If he insists—he can’t stop you leaving. This is still a free country.”

“Free for some people perhaps. But not for us!” She turned to look at me. “Anslinger has found out who we are. He wants to keep us in Sherando. Me to breed. You to fight. If we bolt he’ll sic the Feds onto us. He’s hand-in-glove with the local cops. He’ll probably make a deal with them to bring us back to Sherando after they’ve caught us. He as good as told me so yesterday.”

“Judith—we. can leave any time. Who’s to stop us?”

“Leave? On what? With what? To go where?”

I hesitated. I had not thought about leaving after Anslinger had asked me to stay, and so I had never considered how I might. Now that Judith had made me think about it I saw the problems of trying to escape without transportation, ID’s, or credit cards.

“Ever hear of a place called Jonestown?” Judith asked suddenly.

“Vaguely. Wasn’t that some settlement where they all killed themselves on orders from a religious maniac called Jones? Back in the seventies?”

“They started out as religious idealists; poor people trying to build a better life for themselves. Some of them turned into devils. All of them acted like sheep. They killed each other, and then killed themselves. Jones became a sadistical brute. Anslinger’s starting down the same evil pathway. Oh, he’s not a madman like Jones. He’s very sane. As sane as the Puritans who hung witches in Salem.”

I stared at her. “Judith that’s balls! This isn’t a collection of huts on the edge of the jungle.” I remembered the terrible pictures I had seen in the encyclopedia as a boy, and gestured toward the stone building around us. It might not be beautiful but it was solid. “We’re not trying to scratch a living from a rain forest. This place has lasted thirty years. It’s well established. It’s prosperous and strong. It’ll be even stronger when I’ve finished the fortifications. The people here may be zealots, but they’re not superstitious fools. The Elders aren’t religious maniacs.”

“The Elders are a bunch of elderly fumblers who follow Anslinger because they can’t see where to go and they won’t see where they’re going! They’ve been under his thumb ever since the first mob attack on a Settlement scared hell out of them.” She paused, breathing quickly. “Sherando was founded by genuine Believers. They built it up. They made it what it is today. They’re still Believers, but they’re confused and frightened. When Anslinger talks about austerity, about the need for discipline, all that fascist crap, they think he’s talking good sense. He’s roused the Puritan in them. And that’s not what the Teacher taught.”