The Return Page 4

  IV

  The Tenant smiled at Loudons and said, "Your courtesy does notexcuse our stupidity. We know our history and we should haveidentified the word accurately.

  "Yes, we were originally a ... a pla-toon of soldiers, two hundredyears ago, at the time when the Wars ended. The old Toon, and theFirst Tenant, were guarding POWs, and there, sir,"--to Loudons--"is aword we cannot trace. We have no idea what they were. In any event,the pows were all killed by a big bomb, and the First Tenant,Lieutenant Gilbert Dunbar, took his platoon and started to march toDeeCee, where the government was.

  "But there was no government any more.

  "They fought with people along the way. When they needed food, orammunition, or animals to pull their wagons, they took them, andkilled those who tried to prevent them. Other people joined thetoon, and when they found women they wanted, they took them.

  "They did all sorts of things that would have been crimes ifthere had been any law, but since there was no law, it wasobvious that they could be no crime.

  "The First Ten--Lieutenant--kept his men together, because he hadThe Books. Each evening, at the end of each day's march, he readto his men out of them."

  Altamont knew without looking at his associate that Loudons wouldbe inconspicuously jotting down notes. The last was an item thesociologist would be sure to record: the white-bearded Tenant hadpronounced that reference to a written testament in capitalletters.

  The story was continuing....

  "... finally, they came here. There had been a town here, but ithad been burned and destroyed, and there were people camping inthe ruins.

  "Some of them fought and were killed, others came in and joinedthe platoon.

  "At first, they built shelters around this building and made thistheir fort. Then they cleared away the ruins, and built newhouses. When the cartridges for the rifles began to get scarce,they began to make gunpowder, and new rifles, like these we areusing now, to shoot without cartridges.

  "Lieutenant Dunbar did this out of his own knowledge becausethere is nothing in The Books about making gunpowder. The guns inThe Books are rifles and shotguns and revolvers and airguns.Except for the airguns, which we haven't been able to make, theseall shot cartridges.

  "As with your people, we did not die out because we too hadwomen. Neither did we increase greatly--too many died or werekilled young. But several times we've had to tear down the walland rebuild it, to make room inside for more houses. And we'vebeen clearing out a little more land for the fields each year.

  "We still read and follow the teachings of The Books: we havemade laws for ourselves out of them."

  There was a silence during which Altamont felt himself to be thefocus of attention; not obtrusively, but, nonetheless, insistently.However, this was Loudon's field and Altamont preferred not tospeak.

  "And we are waiting for the Slain and Risen One," Tenant Jonesadded, and there was no doubt that he was looking at Altamontintently. "It is impossible that He will not, sooner or later,deduce the existence of this community, if He has not done soalready."

  Again the silence and lack of movement, broken by Loudons thistime, when he picked up the candle to re-lit his cigar.Mentally, Altamont thanked his partner.

  "Well, sir," the Toon Leader changed the subject abruptly,"enough of this talk about the past. If I understand rightly, itis the future in which you gentlemen are interested." He pushedback the cuff of his hunting shirt and looked at an old and wornwrist watch. "Eleven hundred: we'll have lunch shortly.

  "This afternoon, you will meet the other people of the Toon, andthis evening, at eighteen hundred, we'll have a mess together.Then, when we have everyone together, we can talk over your offerto help us, and decide what it is that you can give us that wecan use."

  "You spoke, a while ago, of what you could do for us, in return,"Altamont said. He knew that now he would have to be the one tostress their original mission: Loudons would probably be sofascinated by this society that the sociologist might neverremember the primary reason for coming to Pittsburgh.

  "There's one thing you can do, no further away than tomorrow, ifyou're willing."

  He had no time to wonder at the interchange of glances around thetable before the Toon Leader said, "And that is--?"

  "In Pittsburgh, somewhere, there is an underground crypt, full ofbooks. Not printed and bound books, but spools of microfilm. Doyou know what that is?"

  The men of the Toon shook their heads. Altamont continued:

  "They are spools on which strips of films are wound and on whichpictures have been taken of books, page by page. We can makeother, larger pictures from them, big enough to be read--"

  "Oh, photographs, which you can enlarge. I can understand that.You mean, you can make many copies of them?"

  "That's right. And you shall have copies, as soon as we can takethe originals back to Fort Ridgeway, where we have the equipmentfor enlarging them. But while we have information which will helpus to find the crypt where the books are, we will need help ingetting it open."

  "Of course! This is wonderful. Copies of The Books!" the Readerexclaimed. "We thought that we had the only one left in theworld!"

  "Not just The Books, Stamford, other books," the Toon Leadertold him. "The books mentioned in The Books. But of course wewill help you. You have a map to show where they are?"

  "Not a map, just some information. But we can work out thelocation of the crypt."

  "A ritual," Stamford Rawson said happily. "Of course!"