Part 5 (1/2)
”I thought that business of bouncing it off the cliff face was foolproof?”
”Wella dodge I can work up, soot the chassis unshi+pped I orking on it”
”How long to rig it?”
”Oh, half an hour - twenty minutes”
”Do it This may be the last time we'll use radio, except as utter last resort”
Okay, boss
The an called it to order once all were present or accounted for McCracken arrived just as he had decided to proceed without hi a veterinarian, and held proxy for the colony's underground associates in Barclay
”The Barclay Free Company, a provisional unit of the United States of Aan announced formally ”Does any member have any item to lay before the Company?”
He looked around; there was no response ”How about you?” he challenged Joe Benz ”I heard that you had soht to
hear”
Benz started to speak, shook his head ”I'll wait”
”Don't wait too long,” Morgan saidup for discussion - ”
”Three,” corrected Dr McCracken ”I'an and handed hian looked it over, refolded it, and put it in his pocket
”It fits in,” he said to McCracken ”What do the folks in town say?”
”They are waiting to hear froht” Morgan turned back to the group ”First itee today, passed by hand and about three weeks old, setting up another provisional governht under our noses
Maybe he was a stooge; maybe he was careless - that's neither here nor there at the e was that the Honorable Albert M Brockman proclaimed himself provisional President of these United States, under derived authority, and appointed Brigadier General Dewey Fenton co us - and called on all citizens to unite to throw the Invader out All formal and proper So what do we do about it?”
”And who the devil is the Honorable Albert M Brock to reovern some assistant secretary job - I suppose that's the 'derived authority'
angle But I can't place him”
”I recall him,” Dr McCracken said suddenly ”I met him when I was in the Bureau of Animal Husbandry A career civil servantand a stuffed shi+rt”
There was a gloomy silence Ted spoke up ”Then why bother with him?”
The Leader shook his head ”It's not that siht have been a minor clerk under different circumstances And the Honorable Mr Brockuised as a bureaucrat But that's not the point We need nationwide unification ht noho the titular leader is The theory of derived authority et everybody to accept one leadershi+p Little bands like ours can never win back the country We've got to have unity - and that's e can't ignore Brockely, ”is that it need never have happened at all! It could have been prevented”
”No use getting in a sweat about it,” Morgan told hiovernment's mistakes now, but just the saht up to the last It takes all nations to keep the peace, but it only takes one to start a war”