Edward Llewellyn - Prelude to Chaos

“I’ve never been able to work out what the Teacher actually taught—or teaches.” I was trying to cool her down by shifting the subject “Is he still alive?”

“He’s alive.” The glow that came into Judith’s face when she spoke of the founder of her religion was almost as disconcerting as the flush of anger when she spoke of how Anslinger was distorting his teaching. “He’s withdrawn to meditate.” She gripped my hand. “Gavin, if you’d heard him, then you’d believe as I do.”

“Maybe.” What kind of man was this Teacher? A man whose name alone could change Judith from a sensible scientifically trained neurosurgeon into a gullible innocent? I had given up trying to show her the fallacies in the religious mishmash she called her faith. “I can’t fault Anslinger for putting some backbone into the Council. I know they’re moving toward a closed society. But that’s what they’ve got to become within the next few years. This is going to be a Settlement under siege. The sooner he can persuade people to think in terms of survival the better the chance they have of surviving.”

“You think that’s how a society survives? By absolute obedience to whatever fanatic has grabbed control? Hard work and harsh discipline for anybody who dares to oppose the laws the leaders lay down?” She clenched her fists. “That’s what it turned into at Jonestown. Jones used to have anybody who didn’t obey his whims thrashed in public. That’s the spectacle Anslinger’s going to start here. And this morning he warned me I’ll be the first in line for a public flogging unless I marry fast. And marry him or you. He thinks him and you are my genetic match.”

“Marry him? He’s married!”

“Polygamy is about to be introduced. We’re diverting into the Mormon pattern. Along with a lot of other less pleasant things. Including capital punishment.”

“Whip you? He wouldn’t dare! I’ll stomp the bastard if he tries-—”

“Quit coming the heavy, Gavin!” Judith sighed. “Anslinger will have the mass of these decent people here behind him. All the women and most of the men would agree that I have to be brought into line. A fertile woman without children is an anathema. I’m going to have kids, all right. But at a time I choose and by a man of my own choosing.” She saw my face and touched my arm. “Don’t look so upset! I won’t be calling on you to make some grand gesture. I’m not planning to stay around to become Anslinger’s second wife—or his first victim.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Take off. I’ve been getting ready to go ever since I realized that Anslinger was taking over.”

“Go where?”

She shrugged. “I haven’t mentioned Sutton Harbor to anyone. And I asked you not to. Have you?”

“Of course not!” I felt sick at the thought of Judith on the run, alone. She’d never reach Maine. “I’ll come with you.” “Like hell you will! I haven’t planned for a partner. Not on this escape!” She saw my hurt and gripped my hand. “Whatever I may have said in the past, you’re better off here. You’ve shown that you’re too cynical to be caught by Anslinger’s cant. And there will be fighting. However rotten the leadership—there are five thousand basically decent people here. They’ll need men like you when the fighting starts. If you help the Settlement survive you’ll be serving the Light in your own way.”

“Damn the Light! It’s you 1 want. Okay—take off for Sutton Cove. But don’t be surprised if I turn up there later.” I caught her arm. “Judy, you’ll never make it alone!”

She reacted like a goosed girl. I had said the wrong thing and she had interpreted it the wrong way. “I’ll be waiting for you—but I won’t hold my breath!” She walked toward the side door. “Now let me out of this store of evil!”

I followed her, protesting, careless of whoever might be watching us. Judy was about to do something desperate. I had either to stop her or go with her.

She strode down the alley, her skirts swinging, her head held high. She was a stubborn, willful, crazy, arrogant bitch! She was exactly what Anslinger had described so well. Here I was, with an assured position in one of the few strongholds that were likely to survive the next few years. There she was, being followed by a man who loved her and could protect her. Once she had married me, nobody would dare to insult or threaten her.

Instead, she was choosing to embark on a desperate journey across an unsettled countryside, swarming with thugs and rapists. And I was going to have to go with her, whether she wanted me or not. It was I, not her, who was still being hunted by the Feds. They didn’t give a damn about her by this time. I wished I felt the same way.

^ We reached the end of the alley, to where it opened onto the plaza. She had the sense to stop In the shadow of a building when a black limousine came through the main gates and turned toward the Council Chamber. “What Washington big-shot’s come to make a deal with Anslinger today?” she snarled.

I was too worried about Judith to be interested in nervous politicos. “Judy!” I said, grabbing her arm. “For God’s sake show some sense! You can’t just walk off through the woods!”

She shook off my hand. “I’m not an idiot, Gavin Knox. When I said I’ve been preparing to get out of this hell-hole I mean I’ve been preparing as carefully as I did when I got us out of the Pen. Worry about your soul! Not about my body.” “Damn my soul! How are you going to make a break?” “You’ll know after I’ve made it. I trust you, Gavin. But-—” She stopped, her hand to her mouth, staring across the plaza. “Oh God!”

“What?” I turned to look.

And I saw. Standing on the steps of the Council Chamber to greet the new arrival was Deacon Anslinger and a group of Elders. Getting from the limousine, glancing suddenly toward us, was Gerald Futrell.

I can’t remember what I did when I saw Futrell. I can only remember a surge of hatred, a surge which swamped everything except the face of the man I meant to kill. Judith tells me that I reacted like an automaton; reaching for a gun that wasn’t there, standing rigid with one hand fumbling like a machine on automatic which has encountered some unprogrammed obstacle.

She says that after a moment of confusion I knocked her aside as I swung around and went striding back down the alley. I remember an instant of savage frustration at finding myself unarmed facing my enemy, then the insistent need to get my gun and blow him apart. Judith says she followed me between the houses, through the hallway of the Bachelor Cloister, and up the stairs to my room. I have a vague image of her anguished face as I loaded the Luger and the Jeta. Of her hanging onto my arm. Of my saying, “That’s Futrell. I’ve got to kill him.”

I remember her voice. “You can’t! Not here!”

“He was brought here for me to kill.” None of this makes much sense to me now, but at the time my logic seemed as clear and sharp as the blade of a fighting knife.

She slapped my face and I remember the shock. Like hitting a faulty video camera, her blow brought things back into focus. She was standing in the doorway, challenging me to push her aside. “They’ll kill you!”

I answered slowly, reaching for my lost conviction. “That doesn’t matter. Just so long as I kill Futrell first.”

“They’ll kill me! Doesn’t that matter either?”

The shock of her words added to the shock of her blow. I found myself suddenly uncertain. She pushed me back into the room, closing the door behind her. “Gavin—you’ve been conditioned. I suspected it before. Now I’m certain. Fight it—for God’s sake! For my sake!”

“For your sake?” I shook my head. “What the hell’s going on?” Then I realized what was going on. I had been about to act as a human missile. A missile targeted on Gerald Futrell.