DARK MESSIAH

  183

  tions were bullshit ego posturing. Heads turned to Car-

  son, took note of the stocky build, the massive chest

  and gut and thick neck that went along with the five

  o'clock shadow. Carson was a giant fireplug. His name

  should have been Dicarlo or Bonano or Testa or some

  good Italian monicker, but not Carson. That was too

  anglicized, too smooth for an unsmooth man. Diaz nod-

  ded to him.

  "I don't mean to break in-"

  He got no further for the moment. "Don't waste

  words," Diaz reprimanded lightly. "You did break in."

  Abruptly Diaz's words came heavily singsong slurred

  with a thick Hispanic accent. "You talk, man, okay?" It

  was an inside joke between the two men, Carson was

  Italian. His mother was named DiAngelo but she had

  married into the Carson name. She could still barely

  speak English. But her son spoke a multitude of lan-

  guages and was highly skilled in the profanity of them

  all. When you're a steelworker, dockworker, miner,

  truck driver, wildcatter and lumberjack as your trade

  through life, you must speak all these languages and

  dialects to communicate with the spreading variety of

  nationalities. Carson was that manelous cross of bril-

  liant mind with blatant coarseness, the perfect man to

  be Director of Field operations for the construction

  company (or wherever he was needed),

  "We need a narne," Carson said abruptly. "No narne

  is bullshit. It attracts attention like Plies. Mr, X is u -

  shit, but that's whatwe're going to start calling him. It's

  almost as bad as Batman-"

  Roberto Diaz agreed completely, but he turned and

  nodded the question to Al Templin. "since he's an Irish

  drunk," Templin said slowly, -we'll use his real narne.

  Angus McIver."

  A hand rose over the seat of Roger Sabbai, the tall,

  asthetic, almost cadaverous figure in dark suit and white

  shirt and string bowtie of' the Church Coordinator of

  tbeir jzroup. Religion was an important issue for the

  giant Satterhill firin. After all, they built the churches

  for the new communities, and tl@ey were faxned for

  buNinq and then restorjm4 old churches and donating

  184

  Martin Caidin

  them to whatever religion stood dominant in particular

  neighborhoods. It mattered little, or not at all, to this

  group, that Sabbai, a dark mixture of Burmese and

  Romanian, was absolutely a master of knowledge of

  world religions, and steeped deeply in the lore of the

  devout wriggling on their knees or bellies to the pleni-

  tude of gods found across the planet. Diaz nodded to

  Sabbai.

  "An interesting name," he said in a voice echoing

  from deep within a stone cave; his own chest. "I will

  not be the only one to notice that Angus is Scotch

  rather than Irish."

  Diaz kept his face straight. "I have it on good word,

  Reverend, that his mother was known to run rather

  freely among her choice of lovers." Without a moment's

  hesitation, Diaz turned back to Al Templin and wordlessly

  returned the baton to the security man.

  11 You will not have any need to speak with, to meet,

  or to have any contact with Mr. McIver, " Templin said,

  his voice soft and yet strangely compelling. Only he and

  Diaz had ever met with and knew the identity of Doug-

  las Stavers. "This is my purpose here today. To rein-

  force that rule with you all. You do not need. Therefore,

  you do not and you will not know anything further in

  the execution of your duties. Any attempt on your part,

  individually or collectively, to penetrate beyond the

  name of Angus McIver will bring on, immediately, your

  termination with this group."

  Mark Baxter's verbal reaction without a physical ges-

  ture came from complete surprise. Baxter didn't under-

  stand people. He didn't like people. He was pure

  mathematical genius and singularly brilliant in his func-

  tioning as a part of a vast computer and electronics

  industry closely "allied with Satterhill Industries." He

  had without intent even adopted the cold and colorless

  dress of his machines; his physical actions and his speech

  were almost robotic in many ways. His world was vision

  through electronic blinders; a giant horse pounding

  through the nonsensical flotsam of everyday piddling by

  the masses. He was, in short, an unmitigated ass, but

  would never have understood such an unkind descrin-

  DARK MESSIAH

  185

  tion. He rarely left the electromagnetic boundaries of

  his own beloved nonhumans.

  "You would terminate us for so innocent an action?"

  he asked of Templin's reference to never attempting to

  ascertain the true name of "Angus McIver," "You'd fire

  us?"

  I said nothing about firing anyone," Templin told

  him quickly, adding a thin smile to his words.

  "But I distinctly heard you say@@'

  "The word, Baxter, was terminate."

  Baxter pulled back in his seat. Humans were crazy.

  "You mean you'd-"

  Templin didn't want him to finish the issue as a

  question, and he broke in at once, "Precisely. Termi-

  nate. Eliminate. Dispatch. End of human program. The

  simple word, I believe, is death." He nodded to Diaz.

  "That's it. I've said my piece."

  Roberto Diaz slid smoothly again into leading the

  group. His words came in a strange mixture of the

  Hispanic janitor and the wielder of secret, terrible power,

  "You all have private fortunes because of your associa-

  tion here. Each of you has a million dollars, plus, in

  your possession, legal, taxes prepaid, Your families are

  protected and their futures secured. Only if you keep in

  mind what you just heard. We will not review this

  matter. You already know it. Eriough," he said finally,

  steel adding harshness to his closing the subject. He

  turned back to Templin.

  "You , re not quite through. The security program.

  please. "

  Al Templin nodded, "Let us cut through all this

  conversation and get to the hard nut. While it is not

  street knowledge, it is well accepted on Wall @;reet,

  the Pentagon and certain other circles not easily acces-

  sible to the public, that behind all the many companies,

  firms, factories and operations of Satterhill, and a hun-

  dred other business entities, there is the ultimate con-

  trol of Stavers Industries. I had not intended to bring

  up this issue," he added, noticing the raised brow of

  Roberto Diaz, "but in some way that connection was

  rwide on a voninuter review seekinv- otit data on Anaus

  186

  Martin Caidin

  McIver. Again, in some way yet not known to us, but

  identified by Mr. Baxter, here, those two names-McIver

  and Stavers-appeared in the same computer database

  program. It is no more important than my making the

  point that you do not know anything about the relation-

  ship between these two gentlemen. Angus McIver is all

  you need to know. The name of Douglas Stavers is

  well-known in the circles I have described. Mr. Stavers

  is an extremely wealthy and powerful man, but some

  time ago he abandoned control of all his industrial and

  business holdings to Mr. McIver, and Mr. Stavers has

  also been for some time the Reverend Douglas Stavers.

  That is his burning interest in life, to bring together the

  great religions into a single cohesive force. He is con-

  vinced that between the greenhouse effect, the contin-

  uing destruction of the ozone layer, the proliferation of

  nuclear and toxic wastes, acid rain, deforestation, the

  slaughter of many animal species, the unbridled explo-

  sion of population, and other elements, the future of

  this planet and the continued existence of the human

  race is in doubt. He intends to do everything he can to

  end this rape of our world. He believes powerful reli-

  gious movements, combining the emotional and the

  psychic strength of billions of people, is our only

  salvation. "

  Al Templin went silent for the moment, astonished at

  his own fervor of presentation. I'm starting to believe

  this shit myself, be thought. Carqful, careful; don't

  overdo it. "One second voint," he went on smoothly.

  "The Reverend Stavers I's no sissypants. He was for

  many years an international soldier of fortune. He served

  in the armed forces of our country. He is a combat

  veteran of many wars, known and unknown. In short,

  he is of tremendous pragmatic temperament. He is

  aware that no single movement will accomplish what he

  wishes to see emerge from his efforts. So there is a

  second movement that operates concurrently with his

  evangelical call to arms."

  He poured a glass of water and drank slowly, then

  replaced the glass on the table. "This second activity is

  where vou will direct vour efforts. Reverend Stnver,

  DARK MESSIAH

  187

  knows the world must have an outthrusting of its en-

  ergy. He is aware, he believes implicitly, that man-

  kind's ventures away from the earth, into space, are

  more of a genetic and religious response to the basic

  drive of our race for survival. We must reach other

  worlds. We must improve our ability to move through

  space. We need propulsion means far superior to the

  clumsy chemical rockets we are using. This will require

  the expenditure of several hundred billion dollars."

  Templin again went silent to let that number sink in,

  "Reverend Stavers has the capacity to raise that level of

  funding, but it will require dedicated and loyal and

  skilled people like yourselves to bring all this to pass.

  From this moment on this will be your only goal in life.

  I am overstepping the boundaries of my responsibili-

  ties, and I hope Mr. Diaz will forgive this transgression

  into his territory."

  Diaz nodded, gesturing for Templin to go on; his

  reaction precisely as they had planned well before this

  meeting.

  "My position as the head of Security for our activities

  is less in terms of physical security-such things as

  guards, warning systems, all the bells and whistles of

  personal protection-than it is to assure that all this

  activity shall proceed smoothly., efficiently, entirely within

  the law, and without interference, The lntern@l Reve-

  nue Service is a good leading example. You will never

  provide the IRS the slightest opportunity to find fault

  with your tax returns. This has far greater imnortance

  than any of you may realize. If your personal lifestyle

  produces a shortfall you will come to Mr. Diaz to cor-

  rect the matter. If he is unavailable, you will come to

  me. But you will never fudge on anything. We expect

  absolute loyalty from you and we will answer in kind, as

  well as support. Peopie at times go overboard. You may

  do the same. Operate under the cloak of our protection.

  We will alwavs have it for you and your families. Use

  vour own Ck services. Do not have them involved

  @vith or connected with us in any manner."

  Al Templin went through a list of another dozen

  ;4- J] A_f@il-l -f+- 0-i --1A I- --f-I +-

  188

  Mar-tin Caidin

  each person at the meeting in the form of a transcript

  for them to study. They could have planned for those

  papers to self-destruct, but nothing was said at this

  meeting that could adversely -affect-He stopped his

  talk and his thought pattern@. No; he and Diaz were

  wrong. No copies of anything. No records. That system

  had hung many a Nazi officer who might have gotten off'

  scot-free of war crimes except for that German pen-

  chant for elaborate record-keeping. And any lawyer

  worth his salt could always make something out of

  nothing. Templin made a mental note that before these

  people left the floor of this building, they would be

  strip-searched and their clothing shredded to individual

  fibers for any wires or electronic devices,

  He turned the meeting back over to Roberto Diaz.

  The janitorial figure sipped coffee and turned to Ed

  Carson. "From here on I wish you to keep everything

  short, tight, succinct, condensed as to your goals. Not

  your responsibilities. It is your goals that I want. When

  you complete your presentations, all of which shall be

  mercifully brief, I will then listen to your needs if you

  have any beyond the authority already in your hands.

  Mr. Carson," he -nodded to the beefv rnan at the table,

  11 your subject is Field Operations." Diaz made a steeple

  of his fingers, slumped in his seat and studied Carson.

  "If you please, sir. "

  "Let me explain first what I do not do," Carson

  answered immediately, I let my subordinates handle

  the every'day operations of all our industries and busi-

  ness. Thev're the best. Thev deliver, so that I can

  attend to what is n-ty real Job. Working with other

  officials of this organization, we are moving to take over

  contro). of the aerospace, electronic and related indus-

  tries that make up the launch capabilities of just about

  everv country firing heavy payloads into space. Note

  my emphasis on the term of heavy payloads. The Italians

  have launched small satellites, So has India, and Israel.

  That's kid stuff I'm talking about the people who right

  now can launch the really big loads, or who will have

  I l1v if we assist them

  that capability in the future, especia

  ,,Aith knc)wlf-A,,f@ niprinmover r@niiroc-; @nrl f-3-A--

  DARK MESSIAH

  189

  The big boys right now are obviously the United States

  and Russia. Our shuttles, the Energia boosters, the

  new Neptune cargo booster developed from the shuttle

  system, the oncoming Nova booster series. This is the

  real stuff Even our old equipment got us to the moon

  back in the Apollo days. The new boosters will make

  the Saturn Fives and the shuttle rockets look like toys.

  It's a huge job and a bitch of a job, but we want launch

  capacity in places other than the U. S. and Russia. The

  French have some big stuff now, The Chinese have

  some monsters coming on line. The British are getting

  into the act with direct runway takeoff-to-orbit systems.

  That's what we're talking about. In short, we are to

  create and to control the ability of our organization to

  launch the materials to establish a manned moon base,

  and, concurrently with that effort, to get ships ready for

  manned flights to and exploration of the surface of the

  planet Mars. "

  Carson ended his briefing with a dead stop. Not

  another word of explanation or even a telltale expres-

  sion on his face to reflect further information. Not to

  say that silence reigned among the group. There was

  plenty of self-murmuring and glances of surprise be-

  tween them. Carson's face was frozen, Templin showed

  a thin and cold smile as if pitying the inability of even

  these selected people to handle what they'd just heard.

  Roberto Diaz smiled broadly, his golden tooth in the

  forefront of his mouth reflecting overhead lights with a

  garish sheen.

  "Doctor Hammad Al-Binn," Diaz said suddenly, his

  calling out the name a direct order for the doctor to

  report, Al-Binn, a fierce and brilliant mixture of Arab,

  Hindu and Canadian who had practiced and researched

  medicine the world over, and then had been carefully

  directed to his present position, nodded slowly. But he

  failed to speak as Diaz desired. "it is appropriate to ask

  questions of what we have just heard?" he queried

  Diaz.

  The shine faded from the @ )Old tooth as Diaz leaned

  forward. Gone was the smile or any trace of pleasantry.

  -;J -;41, A-10--f-

  190

  Martin Caidin

  and an abrasive tone to his voice and demeanor.

  "Goddamnit, stick to what you're supposed to do,

  Doctor. "

  "I apologize," A]-Binn replied smoothly, unfazed by

  Diaz, for the doctor was as much psychologist as he was

  a medical doctor. He recognized double-teaming when

  he saw it and be knew to question the need for this

  behavior by the team of Diaz and Templin (they were

  so obvious!) would be a major error on his part.

  "My task is simple," he said slowly, in a honeyed

  voice long ago smoothed by his own personal ventures

 

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