“Not much. Several places they fought a sort of rear-guard action getting back to the temples and lost some people.” Ardmore saw a messenger in the screen hand a sheaf of_ flimsies to Thomas. Thomas glanced at them and continued. “A bunch more reports, Chief. Want to hear ’em?”
“No. Give me a consolidated report when they are all in. Or when most of them are in, not later than an hour from now. I’m cutting off.”
The consolidated report showed that over ninety-seven percent of the members of the cult of Mota had been safely gathered into the temples.
Ardmore called a staff meeting and outlined his immediate plans. The meeting was, in effect, face to face, as Ardmore’s place at the conference table was taken by the pick-up and the screen of the receiver. “We’ve had our hands forced,” he told them. “As you know, we had not expected to start action of our own volition for another two weeks, perhaps three. But we have no choice now. As I see it, we have to act and act so fast that we will always have the jump on them.”
He threw the situation open to general discussion; there was agreement that immediate action was necessary, but some disagreement as to methods. After listening to their several opinions Ardmore selected Disorganization Plan IV and told them to go ahead with preparations.
“Remember,” he cautioned, “once we start, it’s too late to turn back.
This thing moves fast and accelerates. How many basic weapons have been provided?”
The “basic weapon” was the simplest Ledbetter projector that had been designed. It looked very much like a pistol and was intended to be used in similar fashion. It projected a directional beam of the primary Ledbetter effect in the frequency band fatal in those of Mongolian blood and none other. It could be used by a layman after three minutes’ instruction, since all that was required was to point it and press a trigger, but it was practically foolproof — the user literally could not harm a fly with it, much less a Caucasian man. But it was sudden death to Asiatics.
The problem of manufacturing and distributing quantities of weapons to be used in the deciding conflict had been difficult. The staffs used by the priests were out of the question; each was a precision instrument comparable to a fine Swiss watch. Scheer himself had laboriously fashioned by hand the most delicate parts of each staff, and, nevertheless, required the assistance of many other skilled metalsmiths and toolmakers to keep pace with the demand. It was all handwork; mass production was impossible until Americans once more controlled their own factories.
Furthermore, detailed instruction and arduous supervised practice were indispensable in order for a priest to become even moderately skillful in the use of the remarkable powers of his staff.
The basic weapon was the pragmatic answer. It was simple and rugged and contained no moving parts other than the activating switch, or trigger.
Even so, it could not be manufactured in quantity at the Citadel, as there would have been no way to distribute the weapons to widely separated parts of the country without attracting unhealthy attention from the PanAsian authorities. Each priest carried to his own temple one sample of the basic weapon; it was then his responsibility to locate and enlist in his own community, workmen with the necessary skill in metalwork for producing the comparatively simple device.
In the secret places down underneath each temple, workmen had been busy for weeks at the task grinding, polishing, shaping, reproducing by hand row on row of the lethal little gadgets.
The supply staff officer gave Ardmore the information he had requested.
“Very well,” Ardmore acknowledged, “that’s fewer weapons than we have members of our congregations, but it will have to do. There will be a lot of dead wood, anyway. This damned cult business has attracted every screwball and crackpot in the country — all the long-haired men and short-haired women. By the time we count them out we may have a few basic weapons left over. Which reminds me — if we do have any left over, there ought to be some women in every congregation who are young and strong and tough-minded enough to be useful in a fight. We’ll arm them. About the crackpots you’ll find a note in the general indoctrination plan as to how each priest is to break the news to his flock that the whole thing is really a hoax for military purposes. I want to add to it. Nine people out of ten will be overjoyed to hear the truth and strongly cooperative. That tenth one may cause trouble, get hysterical, maybe try to do a bunk out of the temple. Caution each priest, for God’s sake, to be careful; break the news to them in small numbers at a time, and be ready to turn the sleepy ray on anybody that looks like a source of trouble. Then lock ’em up until the fun is over