Emergency Transmission

by Sean McLachlan

  David lay in his tent thinking. He’d gotten into the habit of doing this when he wasn’t preaching or ministering to his flock. His tent was the only place he could be alone. People followed him now wherever he went. His path was clogged when he went through the market, his footsteps dogged when he strolled out into the farmland. Even on the beach he couldn’t be alone. Fishermen, many of them former slaves from the Righteous Horde, came up to him, wanting to speak with him and touch him.

  At first he feared these people lest they recognize him. But soon he put aside his worries. He had glanced in a mirror in Roy’s bar one night and did a double take. He hadn’t recognized his own face. The worry lines graven from the long march had vanished. The anguish of all those massacres had been washed clean. He looked ten years younger, even with his hair all shaved off. How could any of these ex-slaves recognize him if he barely recognized himself?

  Of course all was not entirely well, because nothing ever was in this world. The Doctor had noticed him now, and wherever he went, whenever he spoke, there would be a guard or one of Annette’s deputies in the crowd, watching.

  Let them watch, he told himself. I have nothing to hide.

  That did not entirely put his mind at ease. Back in the Righteous Horde, getting noticed generally got you killed. It was hard to leave that type of thinking behind.

  You are in a different place now, a better place. You are safe here.

  At least for the moment.

  It had been a week since the peace conference and he still had not come to a decision about what to do about the concrete. The engineers were experimenting with various methods for capping the well. All had failed. They needed his concrete, but he still did not know what to do about the Righteous Horde.

  And they were marching north, under his orders. He did not have much more time to think.

  It was getting time for his evening sermon. First he would walk through the Burbs as far as the open area before New City gate, then loop around through the poorest area of tin shacks and canvas lean-tos near the beach before going to his usual spot to speak. Every time he did this walk he gathered more people than the sermon before. God’s plan was working.

  If only he knew what that plan was.

  He unzipped his tent and stepped out.

  A crowd of at least two hundred people rose as one to greet him. The tweakers who squatted next to his tent clustered around him, grinning in their simple way. He smiled back at them and put his hands on their shoulders. Each day they stood a little straighter, their eyes shone a little clearer. Many of them could speak correctly again.

  Beyond stood the main part of his flock, the Burbs traders and scavengers and a few farmers. No New City citizens yet, but they would come in time. God would soften their hearts and show them that His word was more important than their comforts and luxuries.

  “God bless you!” he cried, raising his hands in the air.

  They cheered and returned the blessing. David noticed that the sky was dark and an acrid breeze came in from the sea. God had held off the rains for all this time. Had he turned them back on David and his flock? Had David taken too long to decide?

  He made his long circuit around the settlement, walking a bit quicker while keeping a close eye on the sky. As usual, people greeted him and joined the crowd in his wake. By the time he made it to his accustomed spot beside the marketplace he had assembled more than four hundred people. A couple of days ago he had had to switch where he gave his sermons. His previous spot in the middle of the marketplace had grown too small and the vendors had asked him to move elsewhere since the crowds were blocking business. Now they met in a field to one side.

  David mounted a flat rock his followers had set there. He tried not to think of how the Chosen One had stood atop rocks like this when he gave his sermons.

  David raised his hands above his head.

  “Welcome, my brothers and sisters!”

  “Welcome!” they called back.

  “Before I speak, let us pray.”

  Everyone bowed their heads.

  “Lord, forgive our sins. Forgive the sins of our enemies and make them see the light. Heal the hatred and mistrust that divides us. We are all equal before Your eyes. Amen.”

  “Amen!” the crowd called.

  He gave them a wide grin, having learned that with big crowds you had to exaggerate your gestures. He had learned so much in the past few days.

  “There are more and more of you every day. I’m going to need a bigger rock.”

  The crowd laughed.

  He pumped his fist in the air.

  “The Lord is winning!”

  They cheered.

  “Have you heard the sermons Reverend Wallace has been preaching? The Lord turned his heart and now he embraces all of God’s people.”

  Another cheer. He saw several Asians in the crowd. From what he had heard, there had been little harassment in the past few days. The haters who had fled New World United Church had been replaced by twice as many of God’s people. Even Yu-jin had returned, and that had led to many of her fellow Chinese going as well in a show of solidarity. It was all working out.

  But he knew the struggle wasn’t over yet. Those haters had not disappeared, and he noticed that some of his followers came to his sermons armed, taking up strategic positions in the crowd to protect him. It reminded him all too much of the old sermons where he had been the guard.

  “When I said that we must pray for our enemies, I mean those who sow discord among us. There are many here who still cling to the old hatreds, the hatreds that destroyed this world. That has to change. We will help them change. I have a mission for you. I want you to seek out these people. Do it wisely, in public places. Stay safe. But seek them out. Try to turn their hearts. Show them that we should not hate Weissberg or the Chinese. Convince them that the freighter is not a threat, but God’s way of knitting the world back together. Pray for them. Get down on your knees and pray for them right before their eyes. I will do the same.”

  David continued to preach along similar lines, telling half-remembered Bible tales from his childhood about how Jesus protected prostitutes and lepers. He also told newer tales, like those of Saint Connor of the City State Wars, who preached peace and even managed for a time to keep some city states from fighting by getting their people to ignore their leaders and speak directly to one another. Saint Connor had been martyred by one of those leaders. David skipped that part.

  As he spoke, clouds began to gather. When he had first come out of his tent they had been a gray line on the horizon out to sea. Now they were overhead, and thickening. He had to wrap up this sermon soon, but like with all his sermons, no matter how well received, he felt he had left something unsaid, that he had not touched on the most important thing he must tell these people. He still lacked the courage, and the wisdom.

  As the first patterings of rain came, he knew that God was telling him it was time to make a decision. The people started edging away. He took a deep breath and raised his hands.

  “Before you go …” Most of the crowd stopped. “God has revealed to me a way to fix the offshore well. He has shown me where there is enough concrete to make the repairs. Yes, I see your surprise. Yes, I see your doubts. Do not be surprised. Do not doubt. For with God all things are possible. I will speak with your mayor about this, and show him where to find what we all need. This concrete is free. I will not trade for it. It will not need to be won by blood or bartered for with worldly goods. I will freely give this to the Burbs and New City. Now go, take shelter from what will be one of the last storms you will have to weather.”

  The rain had been picking up as he spoke. Now that he released them, most people ran for the nearest building. A few of the more devoted clustered around him, peppering him with questions.

  “All will be revealed soon enough,” he reassured them. “Please, go take shelter.”

  He ran for shelter himself. In the confusion, with everyone running this way and that, he found h
imself hurrying between two rows of shacks, alone for the moment.

  A strong hand grabbed him and pulled him under an awning. David blinked away the acrid rain and looked at the man who had accosted him.

  It was Aaron, his second-in-command from the Righteous Horde.

  His first reaction was fear and guilt, as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

  David brushed that aside and embraced his old friend. That embrace was not returned.

  “How did you get here?” David asked.

  Aaron had a hard look on his face. At first he did not respond. The rain pattered on the canvas awning above them, and the mud all around raised a sharp odor that stung David’s nostrils.

  “I stole a boat, and made the fisherman take me to this place.”

  “And where is the fisherman now?”

  Aaron looked at him like he’d asked a stupid question. A moment later David realized that he had.

  “What are you doing here?” David asked.

  “What do you think? You’ve been gone so long. Besides, I had to tell you, the Righteous Horde is stronger than ever! Your so-called prophecy was proven to all of us. We were marching along the shore gathering fish—the old rule against it is long gone—and we saw the freighter in the distance. Even having heard it on the radio I nearly fainted at the sight of it! For a moment I even believed in miracles myself. And of course the men all believed. We had a big prayer session. Everyone looks on you as a prophet. There’s no more infighting now, no more desertions. Everyone’s marching up here thinking they’re going to the Promised Land.”

  Aaron looked eager, alive. There was hope in his eyes for the first time since David had met him. He had not lost his wariness, though. Even though the muddy lane was deserted he kept looking around, checking they were alone. He had on a loose flak jacket that David knew concealed at least a couple of weapons.

  “How is your wound?” David asked.

  “Good enough. But what’s going on? I’ve been here a couple of days, pretending to be a scavenger. All the talk is about you. They say you stopped a riot against the Chinese, and stopped a war with another city state. People are divided between whether you’re a hero or a holy man.”

  David put his hands on Aaron’s shoulders. “Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

  His friend shook his head, confused. “This place is so strange, and you’re being strange too. I had to take some time to figure it all out. I’ve talked to people and watched you from afar. The way people crowd around you it’s easy to not be noticed. I even attended a couple of your sermons. You have a way with words, brother. You can get these people to believe anything.”

  A sudden spike of fear gripped David.

  “Were you at this sermon?”

  Aaron nodded, and a frown darkened his features. “We need to talk about what you said. I know you didn’t mean that the concrete would be free, but we need to figure out how we’re going to deal with the Chinese and The Doctor.”

  The stench from the toxic rain was making David lightheaded, or perhaps it was the sudden confrontation with his old life.

  “Let’s go to my tent and get out of all this,” David said.

  “All right.”

  They covered their heads with their hoods and rushed out into the rain. David ran ahead and found himself sprinting, pumping his legs, hoping that Aaron would not be able to keep up. David felt the urge to run right through the Burbs and out into the wildlands, to run and run until he left his old life and old sins far behind him.

  But Aaron kept right on his tail.

  They came to the tent, a bedraggled group of tweakers sitting in front under a large piece of plastic sheeting. They grinned and babbled at him. Aaron stared as David unzipped the tent.

  “So a group of tweakers really did follow you.”

  “The humblest and greatest of my flock.”

  Aaron chuckled as he crawled inside the tent.

  The damp from their clothing made the confines of the tent stink. David pulled out a clean cloth and a flask of water and they washed themselves as best they could.

  “So what’s the plan?” Aaron asked.

  David paused. Heart beating fast, he looked his old comrade-in-arms in the eye and said,

  “Exactly what I told my flock. I will give the concrete to them for free. No tricks, no deals, no fighting.”

  Aaron laughed. The reaction quickly died when he saw David was in earnest.

  “You gotta be fucking kidding me. That concrete is our ticket to a new life. Look at this place. Have you ever seen such wealth? And the freighter, it’s got to be even richer! We can trade for anything we want—land, food, seed, tools. We can set up our own city state just as we planned.”

  David shook his head. “It would be an evil place, founded on blood.”

  “Oh come on, you sound like you believe in all this bullshit.” Aaron stared. Silence stretched out for a long moment as Aaron’s face fell. “Wait, you do. What the hell has gotten into you?”

  “Hell is what has been taken out of me.”

  Aaron looked at him in wonder. “Have you really fallen for the old lie? None of that shit is true, it’s just for controlling people. We have a chance to make good. I don’t want to fight any more either. Look, we sell the concrete to them, and everyone is better off. The rains stop coming, and we get to cultivate some of this unused land. The whole area will be richer, and the Righteous Horde will be yours to do what you want with forever.”

  “No. Everything I’ve done here I’ve done for free. I helped the Chinese for free. I helped Reverend Wallace for free. Even the deal with Weissberg was free. We put things back to the status quo, and I asked nothing for myself. If I start making deals now, I’ll look like a man of the world instead of a man of God.”

  “A man of God! Remember when we banged that farmer girl? You had one end and I had the other, and we weren’t even first in line. Don’t talk to me about being a man of God.”

  David winced at the memory, because it brought back so many more.

  Aaron put a hand on his shoulder. “Wake up. This place is getting to you. Sure, you’ve found you have a talent. You can make people listen. And you sure have the best timing of anyone I’ve ever met. Things just fall in place for you. But don’t start making up fairy tales about it.”

  “It’s not a fairy tale, Aaron. This is real. What are the odds that I would have turned on the marine band at just the right frequency at just the right time to hear those two boys talking? What are the odds that I would have found just what everyone needed that very same day? What are the odds that when I was trying to break up the riot the tweakers showed up? God is working through me, Aaron. How much more proof do you need?”

  “Well then he can work for you too!” his friend snapped. “Didn’t he make you leader of the Righteous Horde? What about your obligations to all those people? The last of the food is going to run out in a couple of days and we’ll be left eating all the dried fish we’ve been gathering. People will start getting sick. And we’re still marching north. It won’t be long before someone sounds the alarm. We’ll have another fight on our hands, but that doesn’t have to happen if we use the concrete as a bargaining chip.”

  “There will be no bargaining with the lives of these people. If we give the concrete as a gift, it will soften their hearts to us.”

  Aaron barked out a laugh. “Have you seen that mass grave outside of town? They hate us, and a little concrete isn’t going to change that. They’re desperate, though, and they’ll trade for it because they don’t have a choice. Don’t be stupid, David.”

  “I’m not stupid. For the first time in a long time I’m not stupid. Don’t worry, there’s hope for the Righteous Horde. All it has to do is pray to God for forgiveness, repent and commit itself to never repeating the mistakes of the past. When the people here see—”

  “They won’t believe it for a second,” Aaron said, jabbing his finger at him. “And I don’t believe you either. You came h
ere with a silver tongue and the biggest trade in a generation and you want to keep it all for yourself. You know how these rubes act. Sure, you’ll give them the concrete for nothing, but you’ll get plenty in return. They’ll build you a church, give you land, stuff you with good food. You’ll have any woman you want. You’ll set yourself up just fine, and forget your real friends, the ones who went through fire with you.”

  “No, I’m trying to help you,” David replied, pained to the core. “If you just embrace God, he’ll wash away your sins. I’ve never felt at such peace as I do now. You can feel that too. All the Righteous Horde can. And we can live here in the Burbs as brothers with those who were once our enemies.”

  Aaron stared. “You’ve gone insane. You’ve gone completely insane. You really do believe this shit. After all we’ve been through together, you walk out and make a new life for yourself. I saw the way you looked at me the first moment you saw me. You wish I had never shown up. Because I can tell people who you really are. I can smash this bullshit facade with just a few words.”

  It took a moment for David to figure out what he was feeling—confusion. It took some more time to realize that he felt confused because he hadn’t grabbed that Bowie knife next to his bed and plunged it into Aaron’s throat. This man threatened everything he was trying to build, and the old David would have killed him without a second thought.

  The old him. He wasn’t that person anymore. He had been reborn in the blood of Jesus, and that was the last blood he would ever touch.

  “Aaron, please try to understand. If we set ourselves up as another city state, no one will change and I won’t be able to control their bloodlust for long. Pretty soon they’ll get greedy, one of the faction leaders will kill me, and everything will be the same as before. You need to open your hearts to God and—”

  David reached out to him.

  “Shut up, you coward!” Aaron batted David’s hand away. “You’re just taking the easy way out of your responsibilities. You think the Righteous Horde is just going to get on their knees like a bunch of little lambs? They’re killers, every one of them, and if they don’t get their reward for following you all the way back to this place, there’s going to be Hell to pay!”