Meanwhile, more rubber rafts pulled ashore, and all of Hagbard's people started donning wetsuits distributed by the men from the submarine.
"I've never done this before," said Lady Velkor. "Are you sure it's safe?"
"Don't worry, baby," said Simon Moon. "Even a man could do it."
"Where's your friend, Mary Lou?" George asked.
"She left me," Simon said glumly. "The damned acid fucked up her mind."
NO-because in the long run whites and blacks and men and women have to come to an understanding and an equality No because this split can't go on forever I mean shit I understand that but No I can't not now No I am not ready yet the penis I imagined I had last night was not just some Freudian hallucination there's the phallic power behind the physical penis No the acting from the center of the body what Simon says Hagbard calls acting from the heart and only a few can have that right now No most of us haven't learned and haven't been given a chance to learn That's the real castration the real impotence in both men and women in both blacks and whites No the power that we think is phallic because this is a patriarchal society No I can't be Simon's woman or anybody's woman First I've got to be my own woman and it may take years it may take life I may never achieve it but I've got to try I can't end up like Daddy I can't end up like most blacks and most of the whites too end up No maybe I'll meet Simon again maybe we can try a second time That acid nut Timothy Leary always said You can be anything you want the second time around No it can't be this time it's got to be the second time around No I said No I won't No
"I hope to hell Hauptmann was telling the truth about not following me," said Hagbard. "It's going to take time to get us all down below."
"What are we doing with the cars?" Harry Coin asked.
"Well, the Bugatti, obviously, is too beautiful for me to part with, which is why I'm taking it aboard the Leif Erikson. But the rest we'll just leave. Maybe some of the people who went to the festival will be able to use them."
"Don't worry about them Huns," said John-John Dillinger, strolling up. "Any of them give us trouble, we'll just reply with a few short sharp words from old Mr. Thompson. Leave 'em in stitches."
"Peace, it's wonderful," said Hagbard sourly.
"Give it a chance," said Malaclypse, still in the guise of Jean-Paul Sartre. "It needs time to spread. The absence of the Illuminati has to make itself felt. It will make a difference."
"I doubt it," said Hagbard. "The Dealy Lama was right all along."
The entire operation of outfitting Hagbard's people with wetsuits, paddling them out to the scuba-launches, and transporting them down to the Leif Erikson took more than an hour. When it was George's turn he looked eagerly into the depths for the Leif Erikson and was happy when he saw it glowing below him like a great golden blimp. Well, at least that's real, he thought. I'm approaching it from the outside, and it's just as big as I think it is. Even if it doesn't go anywhere and this is all happening in Disney World.
An hour later the submarine was deep in the Sea of Valusia. George, Joe, and Hagbard stood on the bridge, Hag-bard leaning against the ancient Viking prow, George and Joe peering into the endless gray depths, watching the strange blind fishes and monsters swim by.
"There's a type of fungus that has evolved into something resembling seaweed in this ocean," said Hagbard. "It's luminescent. There's no light down here, so no green plants grow."
A dot appeared in the distance and grew rapidly in size until George recognized a porpoise, doubtless Howard. There was scuba-diving equipment strapped to the animal's back. When he had come alongside he turned a somersault, and his translated voice started to come through the loudspeaker in a song:
When he swims the oceans spill, He can start earthquakes at will, He lived when the earth was desolate, I sing Leviathan the great.
Hagbard shook his head. "That doggerel is just awful. I'm going to have to do something about FUCKUP'S ability to translate poetry. What are you talking about, Howard?"
"Aha," said Joe. "I didn't get a look at your talking porpoise friend last time I was aboard. Hello, Howard, I'm Joe."
"Hello, Joe," said Howard. "Welcome to my world. Unfortunately, it's not a very hospitable world at the moment. There is grave danger in the Atlantic. The true ruler of the Illuminati is on the prowl on the high seas- Leviathan himself. The land is collapsing beside the Pacific, and the tremors have made the earth shake, and Leviathan is disturbed and has risen from the depths. Besides the trembling of the lands and seas, he knows that his chief worshippers, the Illuminati, are dead. He had read their passing in the pulsings of consciousnes-energy that reach even into the depths of the sea."
"Well, he can't eat the submarine," said Hagbard. "And we're well armed."
"He can crack the submarine open as easily as a gull cracks a penguin's egg," said Howard. "And your weapons will bother him not at all. He's virtually indestructible." Hagbard shrugged, while Joe and George looked askance at each other. "I'll be careful, Howard. But we can't turn around now. We've got to get back to North America. We'll try to evade Leviathan if we see him."
"He fills the whole ocean," said Howard. "No matter what you do, you'll see him, and he'll see you."
"You're exaggerating."
"Only slightly. I must bid you farewell now. I think we've done a good week's work, and the menace to my people recedes even as does the danger to yours. Our porpoise horde is scattering and leaving by different exits into the North Atlantic. I'm getting out of the Sea of Valusia by way of Scotland. We think Leviathan will head south around Cape Horn into the Pacific. Everything that swims and is hungry is going that way. There's a lot of fresh meat in the water, I'm sorry to say. Good-bye, friends."
"So long, Howard," said Hagbard. "That was a good bridge you helped me build."
"Yes, it was," said Howard. 'Too bad you had to sink it."
"What were those tanks on Howard's back?" said Joe. "Scuba gear," said George. "There's no air available in the Sea of Valusia, so Howard has to have breathing equipment till he can get to the open ocean. Hagbard, what was that business about the true ruler of the Illuminati? I've heard again and again that there were five Illuminati Primi. Four of them were the Saure family. That leaves one. Is it Leviathan? Is the whole show being run by a sea monster? Is that the big secret?"
"No," said Hagbard. "You have yet to figure out who the fifth Illuminatus Primus is." He threw Joe a wink that George missed. "By true ruler Howard meant a godlike being whom the Illuminati worship."
"A sea monster?" said Joe. "There was a hint about a sea monster of enormous size and power in that movie those people showed me in that loft on the Lower East Side. But the original Illuminati- Gruad's bunch- were portrayed as sun worshippers. That big pyramid with the eye in it was supposed to be the sun god's eye. Who the hell were those people with the movie, anyway? I know who Miss Mao is now, but I still don't know who they were."
"Members of the Erisian Liberation Front- ELF," said Hagbard. "They have a somewhat different view of the prehistory and origins of the Illuminati than we do. One thing we both agree upon is that the Illuminati invented religion."
"The Original Sin, right?" said Joe sardonically.
"Joe, you ought to start a religion yourself," said Hagbard.
"Why?"
"Because you are so skeptical."
"We're going back to America, huh?" said George. "And the adventure is more or less over?"
"This phase of it, at least," said Hagbard.
"Good. I want to try to write about what I've seen and what has happened to me. I'll see you guys later."
"There's to be a magnificent dinner tonight in the main dining salon," said Hagbard.
Joe said, "Don't forget, Confrontation has a first option on anything you write."