Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America (65 page)

We came to the guest-house where Calyxa and Flaxie and I had made our temporary home. I felt unaccountably sad; but I didn't want Lymon Pugh to see that emotion, or hear it in my voice, so I did not speak.

"You have a fine family, Adam Hazzard," he said. "You make sure nothing unpleasant happens to them. That's your task, if you don't mind taking advice from a plain Republican Guardsman. And now I'm off to bed." He turned away. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight," I managed.

I paused at the door as Lymon Pugh headed back toward the Palace.

The night had that unusual calm which marks the hour before the dawn,

"silence brooding like a gentle spirit / O'er all the still and pulseless world."

Off in the darkness I saw a huge silhouette lumbering among the trees—that was Otis, who seemed well on the way to becoming a nocturnal Giraffe. Perhaps he especially enjoyed the lonely hours of the morning. Or perhaps he couldn't sleep any better than the rest of us.

I looked into the darkness for a good long while. Then I went indoors, and crept into bed with Calyxa just as the sky was lightening, and curled into the warmth of her sleeping body.

Less than a month passed between the night of the Wrap Party, which marked the end of the filming and editing of
The Life and Adventures of theGreat Naturalist Charles Darwin,
 and its debut in a plush Broadway theater.

A short time by ordinary reckoning; but it was a dire eternity in Julian's reign as President.

Sam Godwin, who maintained close contact with the military, had taken on the thankless duty of conveying bad news to Julian—a role he was forced to play increasingly often. It was Sam who told Julian that the Army of the Californias had been met with fierce re sis tance by ecclesiastical forces at Colorado Springs. It was Sam who told him how the Rocky Mountain Division of that Army had rebelled, and swung its support from the Executive Power to the Dominion of Jesus Christ on Earth. It was Sam (and I envied him this task least of all) who was obliged to tell Julian that, after extensive but inef-fectual shelling and burning, Army commanders had worked out a truce with the Dominion Council and declared a unilateral cease-fire—all in violation of Julian's direct orders.

Sam emerged from that session ashen-faced and shaking his head. "At times, Adam," he confided in me, "I don't know whether Julian even understands what I say to him. He acts as if these reverses were inconsequential, or too distant to matter. Or else he storms and rages at me, as if I were the author of his defeats. Then he hides away in that Projection Room of his, mes-merizing himself with moving pictures."

There was worse to come. A mere three days before the debut of
CharlesDarwin,
 news reached us that the joint leaders of the Army of the Laurentians had declared solidarity with their comrades in California and had raised the possibility of a march on New York for the purpose of unseating Julian Conqueror. The name of Admiral Fairfield (who had been so successful at sea) was mooted as a possible successor. That might have been the keenest cut of all, for Julian admired the Admiral, and they had got along well during the Goose Bay Campaign.

These small and large insurrections shook the foundations of his Presidency; but Julian continued to make plans for the Broadway opening of his film. Local churches had begun calling for a boycott of it, and it would be necessary to cordon the theater with Republican Guards to prevent riots.

Nevertheless Julian invited us all to the premiere, and made sure the finest carriages were available, and told us to dress in our best clothes, and make a grand occasion of it; and we did so, because we loved him, and because we might not have another chance to pay him such an honor.

A phalanx of gilded carriages, surrounded and preceded by armed Guardsmen on horse back, made its way out of the Palace grounds on the appointed afternoon.

Calyxa and I rode in one of the central carriages, following the vehicle that carried Julian and Magnus Stepney, with Sam and Julian's mother in a third conveyance behind us. It was near Christmas, but the streets of Manhattan were not merry. Banners of the Cross had been pulled down in order to clear a line of sight for the sharpshooters Julian had placed on all the rooftops between Tenth and Madison Avenue. But the streets weren't crowded in any case, in part because of the new Pox—the same Pox Dr. Polk had worried about last summer—which had been communicated by fraudulent vaccination shops to young Eupatridian ladies, and which had spread from there into all walks of life in the great City of New York.

It was not an especially virulent disease—not more than one in forty or fifty New Yorkers had come down with it—but it was unpleasant and deadly.

It began with fevers and confusions, followed by the appearance of yellow pustules all over the body (especially the neck and groin), and culminated in bleeding lesions and a rapid decline into death. As a result many people chose to keep at home despite the season, and many of the pedestrians we passed wore paper masks over their noses and mouths.

All that, plus a chill wind blowing from the north, lent a certain bleakness to the city's Christmas.

Fear of Pox had not altogether prevented public gatherings, however, since the disease seemed to be transmitted by something more than casual contact. The theater as we approached it was brightly-lit, its sidewalks swarming with patrons and curiosity- seekers, and the roast-chestnut vendor was doing a roaring business.

The theater's grand marquee proclaimed the title of the movie, and added a banner announcing the world debut of JULIAN CONQUEROR'S BRILLIANT AND STARTLING CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE!
¹⁰²
A cordon of Republican Guards kept out would-be troublemakers, mobs of whom had been dispatched by church committees as an obeisance to the Dominion. The film, of course, was not attractive to especially pious or conservative people; but there were more than enough Aesthetes, Philosophers, Agnostics, and Parmentierists in Manhattan to make up the deficit. These people were Julian's constituency, if he could be said to have one, and they had turned out in force.

Julian left his carriage just as ours was pulling up. He would watch the movie from a protected box above the gallery, along with Magnus Stepney, who was accorded that privilege as the star of the film. Sam and Julian's mother had a similar box assigned to them, while Calyxa and I held reserved seats in the orchestra section. We were only halfway through the enormous lobby, however, when a man I recognized as the Theater Director came up to us in a rush.

"Mrs. Hazzard!" he cried, recognizing her, for she had had some dealing with him in her role as lyricist and composer.

"What is it?" Calyxa asked.

"I've been trying to reach you! We have an unexpected and serious problem, Mrs. Hazzard.
As you know, Candita Bentley
¹⁰³
vocalizes the role of Emma. But Candita is ill—a sudden attack—
Pox
," he confided in a scandal-ized tone. "Her understudy is down with it, too."

"The show is canceled?"

"Don't even whisper it! No, certainly not; but we need a new Emma, at least for the songs. I can call up someone from the chorus; but I thought—since you wrote the score, and since everyone says you have the voice for it—I know this is absurdly short notice, and I know you haven't rehearsed—"

Calyxa took the startling invitation very calmly. "I don't need to rehearse.

Just show me where to stand."

"You'll sing the role, then?"

"Yes. Better me than some chorister."

"But that's wonderful! I can't thank you enough!"

"You don't have to. Adam, do you mind me voicing Emma?"

"No—but are you confident you can do this?"

"They're my songs, and I can sing them as well as any of these Broadway women. Better, I expect."

Calyxa had been offered the vocal part of Emma early in the planning of the production, but she had reluctantly refused it, since she was preoccupied with Flaxie and the ceaseless duties of motherhood. To night's unexpected opportunity obviously pleased her. Stage fright wasn't one of her faults.

I wished her well, and she hurried off to prepare. There was a general announcement that the curtain-time had been postponed by fifteen minutes. I milled in the lobby in the meantime, until Sam Godwin approached me.

His expression was somber. "Where's your wife?" he asked.

"Recruited into the show. Where's yours?"

"Gone back to the Palace."

"Back to the Palace! Why? She'll miss the movie!"

"It can't be helped. There have been fresh developments, Adam. She's packing for France," Sam said in a very low voice, adding,
"We leave to night."

"To night!"

"Keep your voice down! It can't be that great a shock to you. The Army of the Laurentians is moving on the city, the Senate is in open revolt—"

"All that was true before this evening."

"And now a fire has broken out in the Egyptian district. From what I've heard, most of Houston Street is in flames and the burning threatens to cross the Ninth Street Canal. The wind spreads it quickly, and if the flames reach the docks our only avenue of escape may be cut off."

"But—Sam! I'm not sure I'm ready—"

"You're as ready as you need to be, even if you have to sail with just the shoes on your feet and the shirt on your back. Our hand has been forced."

"But Flaxie—"

"Emily will make sure the baby gets to the boat. She and Calyxa calculated everything well in advance. They've been ready a week now. Listen: our ship is the
Goldwing,
 docked at the foot of 42nd Street. She sails at dawn."

"What about Julian, though? Have you told him about the fire?"

"Not yet. He's sealed himself in that box above the balcony and ringed himself with guards. But I'll speak to him before the movie is finished, if I have to knock heads together to get at him."

"I don't expect he would be willing to leave before the end of the show."

Nor would Calyxa be, now that she had been recruited into the business.

"Probably not," Sam said grimly. "But as soon as the curtain rings down we must all leave at once. Look for me in the lobby between acts. If you don't see me, or if we're separated—remember! The
Goldwing,
 at dawn."

A bell rang, signaling us to take our seats.

Of course my head was whirling with these plans as the curtain rose on
Charles Darwin
; but (apart from the fire in the Egyptian quarter) none of it was entirely unexpected, though I had hoped the need for flight would not arise so soon. There was no immediate active role I could take, however, so I tried to focus my attention on the event at hand.

The orchestra played a lively overture combining the film's major musical themes. The excitement in the audience was palpable. Then the lights went down and the projection began. A grandly ornate title card announced:

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES
OF
THE GREAT NATURALIST
CHARLES DARWIN
(famous for his theory of evolution, etc.)
Produced by Mr. Julian Comstock and Company
with the assistance of the
New York Stage and Screen Alliance
featuring
Julinda Pique as Emma Wedgwood
and introducing
Magnus Stepney in the Title Role

That faded to a simpler card reading:

OXFORD
In the Country of England
Long before the fall of the cities

Thus the scene was set; and now young Darwin appeared for the first time, strolling through the Oxford countryside, which was really the game preserve of the Executive Palace dressed up with signs reading FORTY MILES TO LONDON and watch out for fox hunts and such, to create a general impression of Englishness.

I had not seen any of the finished footage of the movie before to night, and I had entertained some doubts about Pastor Stepney's acting skills. But he performed a respectable Darwin, somewhat to my surprise. Perhaps a career in the pulpit is acceptable training for an actor. In any case he made a handsome naturalist; and the famous Julinda Pique, though nearly twice his age, portrayed a suitably attractive Emma, with make-up to conceal any cos-metic imperfections.

I have already given the outline of the story, and I won't repeat it here, except to mention certain highlights. Act I held the audience's attention in a merciless grip. Darwin sang his Aria about the resemblance between insects of disparate species, voiced by a powerful tenor. The Oxford Bug Collecting Tournament was portrayed, with Emma cheering from the sidelines. I was unfailingly aware that, while it was Julinda Pique's form and figure on screen, the voice that seemed to issue from her mouth was in fact produced by Calyxa in a side-booth. I had been afraid that Calyxa's inexperience would betray her;
but from her first refrain
¹⁰⁴
she sounded strong and straightforward; and there were murmurs of appreciation from the audience.

Of course the audience was disposed to be sympathetic, being composed mainly of apostates and rebels. Still, it was shocking to hear heresies so openly proclaimed. When the villainous Wilberforce sang
Only God can make a beetle
he was repeating exactly the orthodoxy I had learned in Dominion school; and Darwin's riposte (
I see the world always changing
/
unforced, unfixed, and rearranging
) would have earned me a stern lecture, or worse, if I had offered it up to Ben Kreel in my youth. But was Darwin wrong? I had seen too much of the unfixed world to deny it.

The insect tournament concluded with victory and a kiss for Charles Darwin. Darwin's subsequent vow to travel the world in search of the secret of life, and Wilberforce's jealous pledge of vengeance, formed the subject of a rousing Duet, which rang down the curtain on Act I, to riotous applause.

A dry December wind blew steadily from the north that night, fanning the flames in the Egyptian quarter. The
Spark
 had hurried out a special edition, and newsboys were already hawking copies of it outside the theater doors.
BIG BLAZE HITS GYPSYTOWN
was the vulgar but accurate headline.