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twenty-six others, by a squad of at least six gunmen with auto-matic weapons
who were allegedly members of the Church of the Redeemed. All six
were killed. A
complete list of the dead will follow shortly.
"
President Long had to fit the session into a crowded schedule, and
scheduled it only as a last-minute bid to end party bickering in
the crucial midwestern state. The unusually early time was caused by his
schedule. He was due to fly to Kansas City at eight Central Time.
"
I did a mental calculation. If he was shot at 6:15 Central, it
was 4:15
here only twenty minutes or so before I got home.
The announcer was going on and on about the whole thing. The list of dead
included the Secret Service agents, some well known press people,
his top campaign aide and two Congressmen from Illinois.
"FBI and Secret Service agents immediately went to the local and
national headquarters of the International Brotherhood Church of the
Redeemed, but spokesper-sons for that organization deny any responsibility
for the slaying and state categorically that they are as shocked as the rest
of us."
" '
Ill bet, Dory grumbled.
"
I thought a moment. No. Wait a minute. Maybe they are.
"
"
Huh? You know those idiots dont do anything without orders!
'
"
I sat back, feeling stunned. Dory suppose it
"
isnt
'
The Association.
Suppose it isnt
'
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the Redeemed.
"
She looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean? You saw 'em. You
remember how Dan looked: Who else could it be?
"
I thought furiously. `Dory whos the Speaker of the House?
'
'
"
"
Huh? I dunno. Why? I guess I can look it up in the almanac. She got up, "
rooted around, found it, strug-gled with the contents, then found the right
page.
"
Well Ill be damned, she said. Phillip J. Kelleam.
'
"
"
"
"
Arnolds a dead man, I told her. If not today, then as soon as possible.
'
"
"
"
"I dont get you.
'
"
"Dory if the President and
Vice-President are killed before a successor be named, the Speaker of the
House becomes President."
"
Oh, Jesus! she breathed. "Its Harry Parch! I nodded.
"
'
"
"We gotta do something. Warn the Secret Service or something!
"
I shook my head sadly. We cant. Hes probably got our phone tapped and
"
'
'
us monitored very closely right now. Besides whod believe us? And
why
'
would they? I got up, went over to the small bar, and poured myself a stiff
one.
"
Dory came over and looked at it. "Pour me one, too. A good stiff one.
I
think we both need it.
"
In the background, a remote announcer was saying, The Vice-President is
"
emerging now, absolutely cov-ered by Secret Service agents. Hes in
the
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'
car theyre roaring off. They want to take no chances tonight.
'
"
But, as night passed and the dawn rose over the desert, my prediction was
already true. More of the so-called Redeemed had planted a huge
series of
"
"
bombs on a key overpass any limo would have to take to get to the airport. It
exploded as Arnolds limo went over it, then dozens of the Redeemed,
all
'
smiling, closed in and machine-gunned everything that moved. Some of the cops
who survived finally got them it was a suicidal attack with none of them even
trying to find cover but they had done their job.
And so had Harry Parch.
In a way, it was a master stroke. Kill the two top men. Put your own man in
power, probably backed up by a huge contingent of people either on the inside
at IMC or those who had been invited out to scenic Nevada for a
demonstration.... Kidnap some of the Redeemed and reprogram them.
Make sure it was on national televi-sion, the nightmare of young, hollow faces
in robes and hoods smiling as they shot those people down in cold blood.
Knocking off both the top spots absolutely dem-onstrates the conspiracy in the
public mind, allowing Kelleam to take control and move decisively, as
a result of massive public outrage and pressure, to close down the
Redeemed. Was it any coincidence that the bomb-planters had waited to
be cut down at that bridge when they could have easily slipped away?
So all we could do was sit there and get very drunk so we wouldnt have to
'
decide whether or not Phil Kelleam and Harry Parch were really any
improvement over The Association.
We awoke hung over when the phone rang the next afternoon. I
reached blearily over Dory and answered it. It was Joe, of course, telling me
that the club would be closed for a few days, through the funerals, anyway. I
just told him I
expected it, hung up, and rolled back on the bed again.
I felt really lousy, but Dory was even worse, so I struggled up,
finally, sticking some coffee on, then flipped on the TV. The usual stuff,
mostly, what you would expect under these conditions.
Kelleam had wasted no time while we slept, declaring four days of
public mourning, scheduling the unprece-dented double funerals, and, almost
before he was sworn in, authorizing the FBI and Secret Service to
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