Apocalypso

PART IV
Xanadu
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Hurry up, come on!” Fran had yelled, as Todd and Ray clambered in the rear of the ambulance.

Ray shouted, “We’re in, go!”

The truck leaped into gear, making a hard left turn and tossing them around. Todd said, “Well, that was convenient.”

“Sit back and leave the driving to us!” Sandoval tossed back a salute.

“How do we get out of here?” Fran asked, quailing as they approached a traffic barrier at high speed-a phalanx of plastic water drums.

Sandoval answered by stomping the accelerator to the floor. As the passengers held tight, the ambulance rammed straight into the drums, bouncing them across the deserted intersection.

Squawking like a radio announcer, Sandoval said, “Empty water drums-brought to you by your good friends at Slave Labor, Inc. If it’s a shitty job, it’s gotta be Slave Labor!”

Keeping up the momentum, he charged over sidewalks and across parking lots, using a GPS device to avoid blocked streets as he raced out of the city. Clearly, the whole route had been painstakingly mapped out ahead of time. James Sandoval didn’t leave room for errors.

“What about your people back there?” Ray asked.

Sandoval said, “My crew have been slipping away for the past week, and the few that are left are taking full advantage of this diversion. Don’t worry about them; they know how to take care of themselves. We’ll all meet later at the rendezvous point.”

“What about the Apostle?” Deena asked.

“He’s just been cannonized.”

Straining up the steep grade of College Hill, Sandoval illegally took the bus tunnel through to the East Side, then hurtled down back streets of formerly expensive residential neighborhoods, swerving around abandoned cars as he crossed a bridge over the Seekonk River. On the other side, he turned left through an oil storage depot and, a moment later, pulled to a stop in a deserted boatyard.

In an ordinary summer, this lot served a small fleet of pleasure craft; now there was only one. Moored at the end of the dock was a striking three-masted yacht. The sight of it almost made Sandoval’s four passengers weep with relief.

Picking up the CB microphone, he said, “I’m here, Chandra.” There was no reply. “Chandra?”

“What’s wrong?” Ray asked.

“Probably nothing. Stay here.”

Sandoval got out of the vehicle, taking a shotgun and leaving the engine on. They watched as he walked to the dock ramp, scanning every corner. The whole area appeared to be deserted. Good.

The yacht looked untouched. It was a hell of a thing: a custom-built sixty-foot sloop, lacquered gloss black, with teak decking and ribbed orange sails like dragon’s wings. It resembled a futuristic Chinese junk. The elegantly scrolled name on the stern was La Fantasma. Ray knew this boat inside and out, having spent the previous summer working on board, transporting it from Sandoval’s estate in Venezuela across the Caribbean, then all the way up the East Coast along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Sandoval studied the yacht for another few seconds, then started down the ramp to the dock. When he reached the middle, cut off from all help, the trap was sprung.

There was a diesel roar, and a huge riot vehicle crashed through the doors of the boathouse and blocked the road. At the same time, dozens of Adamites leaped out of hiding places in the overgrown brush, brandishing automatic weapons and surrounding the ambulance. But they kept their distance, obviously well aware of the girls’ explosive vests.

The Apostle Chace appeared.

He rose like a phantom from inside the yacht. It was a deliberately big entrance; he knew he was resplendently silly in his Holy Roman Emperor regalia, replete with towering hat and gold scepter, flanked by hooded bodyguards. But the little folk so adored these exorbitant displays, and Chace was nothing if not a people-pleaser. Savoring the moment, he grandly descended a plank to the dock.

To Sandoval, he said gravely, “Et tu, Jimbo? I knew you had to be the ringleader.”

“And you the ringmaster.”

Addressing the witnesses, Chace said, “Well, as you all can see, it looks like we’ve had a serpent in our midst, a liar and an imposter! Our friend and ally the Prophet is not what he pretended to be-not a friend, not an ally, and not a prophet. In fact, he isn’t a holy man at all, but an unholy one! And here he is! Brothers, I’d like you to meet the little man who caused this big fraud: James Sandoval!”

The soldiers erupted in furious boos and catcalls.

“Who is he, you may wonder, and how did he pull the wool over our eyes for so long? I was fooled, too, I admit it! Well, look at him! So aristocratic, so smooth. But we shouldn’t be surprised. Satan is a master of deception. That’s his MO; he’s a scam artist who will masquerade as our fondest desire, tempt us with false idols and false hopes, then stab us in the back. But in the end, liars will always be found out. Even the King of Lies will be exposed. Suffer not these false prophets, these she-males and Elvis impersonators. Let us drive them into the light of Heavenly justice, just as Christ drove the demon pigs off a cliff!”

Opening a parchment scroll, Dixon put on a pair of reading glasses and declaimed, “James Sandoval, you are all hereby charged with blasphemy, heresy, and conspiring against all the Angels, Prophets, and Living Saints, in the person of Their chosen representative on Earth!”

Sandoval laughed. “You mean you?”

“I am now Prophet and Apostle rolled into one. How plead ye to these charges?”

“Ye? Come on, ye can’t be serious.”

“Oh, the charges are extremely serious.”

“Well, I don’t acknowledge your authority, Torquemada. Go stick that in your hat.”

Delightedly, Chace cried, “Guilty! Did you hear that? Did you all hear that? The accused has freely confessed that he denies the True Prophet! By rejecting the Apostle of Adam, he rejects Adam’s Word!”

“Adam doesn’t give a damn about you,” Sandoval said, “and neither do I.”

“Guilty! To deny the authority of Lord Adam’s appointed vassal is to deny Adam Himself, and to deny Adam is to deny Our Heavenly Father.”

“You know what? I’m not really religious, but I seriously doubt that God needs any help from a bug like you.”

“Guilty! The accused admits to opposing Our Lord and Savior. ‘Not really religious,’ he says, which is the same thing as saying he is irreligious, antireligious! There is no middle ground-the Lord accepts no compromise! Therefore, it becomes our solemn duty to save this man from eternal suffering. To scourge his physical body that he may repent and be saved.”

The guards seized Sandoval and forced him to his knees. Striking a dramatic pose, Chace cried, “O Heaven bestow thy Flaming Rod, to smite the Foe of Man… and God!”

Chace raised his scepter. It was made from an electric cattle prod: a forked steel bar wrapped in kerosene-soaked rags, with a copper core and an insulated handle. When he flicked the switch, a blue-white spark bounced between the poles, igniting the rod in a wreath of yellow flame. At night the effect was quite spectacular. He swooshed it back and forth a few times for good measure.

“Now, Heathen,” he said ominously. “Tremble before the Mighty Scourge of Heaven!”

Sandoval’s defiant face twisted away from the burning staff.

That’s when the ambulance came to life, popping into gear and lurching forward. Several disciples barely had time to leap aside as the vehicle charged. Gathering force, it smashed through the dockside railing and shot out over the water, landing hard. The hood buckled, and the windshield caved in. In seconds it sank out of sight. No one emerged.

“What the hell was that all about?” Chace asked.

“I think you just lost all your Immunes, buddy.”

Dixon’s eyes widened with comprehension, then hardened. “That’s okay. That’s okay. All it means is we have to speed up our train schedule. We have enough doses left for a couple of weeks, and I’m pretty sure there’ll be no shortage of Immunes once we get to Xanadu. I’m not worried.”

“You should be. Those people will defend themselves, and you’re not immune against them.”

“They won’t be expecting us. We’re the Peace Train! We’ll come tooting in there like Thomas the Tank Engine, and they’ll never know what hit them. The only ones left when it’s over will be the Immunes.”

“Then I guess you have nothing to worry about.”

“You got that right, Jim. But you do.” He raised the sizzling torch. “You definitely do.”

“I guess I’m caught in a trap,” Sandoval said.

“Yes, you are.”

“I can’t walk out.”

“No, you can’t.”

“You want to know why?”

“Why?”

Out of nowhere, there was a blast of amplified music, and a booming voice sang, “Because I love you too much, babyyyy.”

Chace jumped in surprise, craning his neck to find the source. “What the hell?”

It was coming from the top of a giant oil tank. There were people up there, a whole rock band. The soldiers hurriedly fell back to see better.

“What is that?” Chace demanded.

Awestruck, one of his men said, “It’s the King.”