Chapter 21
chapter twenty one of count down by kurt becker s j this libravox recording is in the public domain recording by maria terese v much to ned's surprise owen never brought up the latest run-in with robson Owen was at home, but he was too excited about the town meeting to worry about where Ned had been or what he'd done. He was on the phone busily calling everybody he knew and urging them to be present. Ned gathered that all the sons were doing the same thing, and even while he pictured
the whole town busily at the phone, he heard a sound truck pass along the street, exhorting everybody in a loud, mechanical voice to be present. It was clear that the sons of the vigilantes were the moving force behind the affair. Owen stopped calling, and then the phone started ringing as people called him. ned sensed the tension in his uncle and he knew it would be the same all over hillstown the town was on edge something big and exciting was brewing he felt that a fuse was burning and rapidly approaching a keg of gunpowder it made him feel strangely uneasy
supper was a terrible strain owen kept getting up to answer the phone once or twice the doorbell rang and owen stepped out on to the porch and talked in excited tones once kingsley called ned heard the sudden change in his uncle's voice the respectful almost oily sound owen made when he spoke to kingsley he came back to the table and glared at ned but said nothing merely asking deborah brusquely to hurry with the coffee as he had important things to do for a while ned thought he might go then the phone rang for him it was miss deeb sounding quite abnormally excited i have a message from mike for you ned she told him breathlessly he said for you to stay away from this meeting he gave any reason why ned wanted to know no he didn't he was in such a hurry over the phone but he did say he thought it would be very dangerous for you he said to tell you to get over to all saints and hear it over the radio that would be the safest thing he said i had to tell you because you aren't allowed to talk to him ned i'm scared mike sounded terribly excited and i couldn't get anything out of him except that it had something to do with baldwin thanks amanda he said quietly don't worry i'll do just what you told me he hung up and stood for a moment by the phone wondering the sense of impending danger was strong in him
i'm going to church he announced in a loud voice be back later and before owen and deborah could say anything he was out in the street and running the streets were surprisingly crowded little knots of men and women seemed to be everywhere talking and gesticulating an unusually large number of cars were in the streets tension was in the air the town meeting ned thought was really generating excitement and then he stopped short hearing the word space ship for a moment he thought he'd imagined it and then he realized as he watched and listened that the secret was out hillstown knew now what really was going on in the strange mysterious regions beyond the fence walter was at the rectory so was amanda deeb and the policeman jerry welch who wore a faintly troubled frown to ned's delight father carson was also there looking expectant and not a bit worried he welcomed ned with a firm hand-clasp and a wise smile i have a message for you from andy he said to tell you countdown is next week and the invitation still goes nancy said to tell you amen to that steve said don't forget to whistle
he stopped and changed the subject i suppose you all know each other mike seems busy keeping down the sides of the rally he looked around at them and smiled sit down children we have a long wait might as well be comfortable jerry welch kept rubbing his hands together as if continually washing them and his face kept looking more and more anxious relax jerry the priest said you're jumpier than a toad i don't like it father the officer replied i don't like it at all kingsley's got every hothead in town on that platform and he's got the regular cups scattered all over town something's brewing something nasty he-well he's not normal i wish father bolton hadn't gone don't worry about father bolton father carson said crisply he can take care of himself besides mike's with him and we have a number of cool-headed people on the platform too he grinned friend kingsley's in for a surprise what do you mean it is a serious tactical blunder to underestimate the adversary it's also a mistake to over-estimate your own strength old forrest sherlock being as you say not normal has made both mistakes i think he paused
for one thing there are a large number of people in this town who can't stand the sons of the vigilantes because of the way they've gone around insulting everybody for another there are many decent men in this town who regard the people you call hotheads as simply crackpots mike and i and father bolton have been very busy all day rounding up these fine people and urging them to attend the town meeting i imagine the disciples will be outnumbered five to one they make a lot of noise but there aren't too many of them thanks be to god he looked at the policeman with a smile i think we've more or less pulled the rug out from under them father carson refused to amplify so they chatted about other things until it was time to tune in on the meeting the first speaker was the mayor who welcomed everybody in round florid phases and congratulated them on their devotion to their civic duty he reminded them that this was a public meeting and said he expected them to behave in accordance with their firm democratic convictions about the right of free speech and free expression of opinion he presented one by one the various distinguished personages on the platform and then he got down to business and declared that the meeting was open the first speaker was a man who needed no introduction his distinguished fellow-citizen and good friend the temporary chief of police forrest sherlock kingsley there was an expectant hush punctuated by a few coughs and then kingsley launched into an impassioned oration
he was interested only in the peace and tranquillity of the community to which end he had dedicated all his energies in a double trust he expected soon to be able to announce the solution of the baffling and brutal crime which had made it incumbent upon him to assume the burdens of the heroic wounded man whom they all loved and respected mr drew but there was something vastly more important there was a terrible threat hanging over them all he paused dramatically here it comes father carson chuckled wait till he finds out we've spilled the beans in the best compound continued kingsley in portentous tones and instead of the relatively harmless research in silicates which they had all been led to believe was taking place there was rising a monstrous engine whose existence threatened all their lives not only because the engine itself was a hazard to the lives of everything for hundreds of miles but because it represented a vicious and blasphemous effort to defy the eternal law of the lord they were building a space-ship he stopped again expecting apparently consternation and pandemonium instead there was a faint murmur of surprise disappointment and incredulity the shocking news had fallen flat kingsley swallowed audibly at the unexpected turn of events then drew a deep breath and went on
the lord he cried in solemn tones has taken pity on us his children and sowed the skies above our heads with twinkling beauty which may serve to raise our earth-bound thoughts to him in wonder and in gratitude but it is not his purpose that we poor humans debased and totally depraved as we are to reach out with blasphemous fingers and solely the splendour of his handiwork this spaceship is a blasphemy which we must not tolerate we must destroy it we must take our courage in our hands and overwhelm the hideous thing blotting it out drowning it if need be in torrents of blood for a moment there was silence as the meaning of what he said sank in and then there were loud cries of protest mr mayor mike's powerful voice came clearly to the microphone mr mayor i have a couple of questions please excellent step up to the microphone mr the mayor's voice had a nit of grimness in it i am sure that as a teacher of science in our high school your questions will shed great light on this affair thank you mike's voice sounded a trifle breathless but it was strong and self-assured i'd like to ask mr kingsley a couple of questions please certainly kingsley replied unctuously you said that we were all children of the lord mike said and while i might differ with you on the phrasing i certainly agree with the idea
kingsley laughed politely now i'd like to ask you two questions if i may one since men are children of the lord and are made with the same care as the rest of his handiwork how can we be sullying his handiwork by touching it and secondly if you're totally depraved as you just said we all were how can you in all honesty accept the job of enforcing the law he paused to let that sink in personally i don't think the mayor or these nice people here or even you sir are totally depraved with that pandemonium broke loose there was laughter then there were angry shouts and a babble of voices clamouring to be heard and a vast confusion which gradually subsided as the mayor called for order kingsley tried again but it wasn't any use there had never some one pointed out been the slightest sound of trouble or the noise of explosions or anything even remotely resembling what they all knew took place at the rocket launchings in cape canaveral the meeting went on growing duller and duller as it progressed until it jubbled away to nothing good old mike father carson gloated good old father boulton i can just see them working up that bit about total depravity how about the other things miss deeb asked
no problem amanda the whole universe belongs to god we'll never go anywhere he doesn't want us to go all this stuff about intelligent life and other worlds is sure conjecture if there is life he put it there if there is intelligence he gave it if there is life and there is intelligence there isn't much problem either if either fell the way adam did or it passed the test and is unstained and unsustainable christ is the first-born of creatures and his merits are infinite he's the king of the whole of creation so you see no matter how you look at it kingsley's wrong and there really is a spaceship walter asked wide-eyed ned saw it he was in it actually weren't you i was ned agreed and i'm puzzled by a lot of things the priest smiled why don't you ask mike about them to-morrow he knows as much about it as anybody in fact baldwin told me that it was a thesis mike wrote on gyroscopics which gave him the idea for the whole ship now you'd better go it'll be safe i think and i have a lot of work to do they said their good-nights and walked out walter could hardly restrain his impatience as they walked towards ned's house ned described the ship to his friend and told him about andy and nancy when he had finished walt looked wistful
do you think i could ever get to go on a trip like that he asked with my lag sure walt ned said encouragingly sure you can you just wait we'll both go they stopped and with one accord threw their heads back and stared at the wonder of the late spring sky we'll both make it i'm sure we'll make it chapter twenty one
