I next became aware of the ground trembling beneath me. Had God finally made up His mind to act, to punish us all for what we were doing? Had He sent an earthquake to destroy Washington?
A rumbling grew, louder and louder, and I peered ahead of me into the darkness as I gradually began to realise what was happening.
Lights blazed from the night. Lights which had their source high overhead, so that they might have been the lights of airships. But they were not the lights of airships - all Hood's aerial battleships, it later emerged, being concentrated on harassing the Australasian-Japanese land fleet even now on its way to Washington. They were the glaring 'eyes' of the Land Leviathan itself.
On it came, breaking down everything which stood in its wake, cutting a swathe through buildings, gun-emplacements, monuments. The air was filled with a ghastly, grinding sound, the snorting of the exhaust from its twelve huge engines, the peculiar sighing it gave out whenever its wheels turned it in a slightly new direction.
This vast, moving ziggurat of destruction was what had panicked Penfield and his men. It had first pounded the city with its guns and then moved forward, breaking through the walls where they were thought to be the strongest. Invincible, implacable, it rolled towards the Capitol.
Now it was my turn to take to my heels, barely managing to fling myself clear as it advanced, sighed again, and then stopped, looking up at the Capitol in what seemed to me an attitude of challenge.
Almost hysterically, the Capitol's guns swung round and began firing and I had the impression, even as I risked death to watch, that I witnessed two primitive beasts from the Earth's remote past in conflict.
The shells from the Capitol scored direct hit upon direct hit, but they merely burst against the turrets of the Land Leviathan which did not at first reply.
Then the two top turrets began to turn until almost all her guns were pointed directly at the great, white dome which even now reflected the flames of the buildings which burned all around it.
Twice the guns of the Land Leviathan spoke, in rapid succession. The first barrage took the entire roof away. The second demolished the walls and the Capitol was silent. Again, the vast metal monster began to lumber forward, its searchlights roaming this way and that as if seeking out any others who might wish to challenge it.
At kst the Land Leviathan rolled up and over the smoking, burning ruins while the air still resounded with the screams of those who had not been killed outright, who had been
crushed beneath its great wheels or trapped somewhere under its belly. It rolled to the centre of the ruins and it stopped, squatting on the bones of its prey. Then, one by one, its lights began to wink out as the dawn rose behind it.
Now, indeed, the Land Leviathan was a triumphant beast.
5. A MATTER OF LOYALTIES
Ironically enough, it had been Miss Persson who had commanded the group of metal 'moles' which had saved us in the compound. As I stood staring up at the Land Leviathan, oblivious of all else, I heard a shout from behind me, and there she was, her body half out of the forward hatch, waving to me.
'Good morning, Mr Bastable. I thought we had lost you.'
I turned towards her, feeling very tired now. 'Is it over?'
'Very nearly. We've received wireless reports that the Australasian-Japanese fleet has once again turned tail. It heard, over its own apparatus, that Washington was ours. I think they will be willing to negotiate the terms of a treaty with us now. Within the week we shall be heading South. The month should see the whole United States liberated.'
For once I did not respond sardonically to that word. Having witnessed the ferocity of the whites, I truly believed that the blacks had been liberated.
'Thank you for saving my life,' I said.
She smiled and made a little bow. 'It was time I repaid you for what you did for me.' She looked up at a clear, cold sky. 'Do you think it will snow, Mr Bastable?'
I shrugged and trudged towards the metal mole. 'Can you give me a lift, Miss Persson?’
‘Willingly, Mr Bastable.'
Well, Moorcock, that is pretty much the end of the tale I had for you. I remained in Hood's service for the whole of the first year he spent in the United States. There was some pretty bloody fighting, particularly, as we had expected, in parts of the South (though there were also some areas where we discovered whites and blacks living in perfect harmony!) and not all of Hood's methods of warfare were pleasant. On the other hand he was never unjust in his dealings with the defeated and never matched the ferocity and brutality of those we had encountered in Washington. Hood was not a kindly conqueror and he had the blood of many on his hands, but he was, in his own way, a just one. I was reminded, originally against my will, of William the Conqueror and the stern fair-mindedness with which he set about the pacification of England in the eleventh century.
Among other things, I had witnessed the public hanging of Tresident' Penfield (discovered in the very sewers the blacks had used when hiding from him!) and many of his senior supporters, including Joe 'Bomber' Kennedy. That had not been pretty, particularly since Penfield and several of the others had died in a manner that was by no means manly.
Yet no sooner had Hood established his power than he set his war-machines to peaceful purposes. Huge ploughs were adapted, to be drawn by the ironclads, which could make a whole field ready for planting in a matter of minutes. The airships carried supplies wherever they were needed and only the Land Leviathan was not used. It remained where it had been since the morning after the battle, a symbol of Hood's triumph. Later, the monster would be used when required, but Hood thought it politic to leave it where it was for a while, and I suppose he was right.
In the meantime, negotiations took place with the Australasian-Japanese Federation and a truce was agreed upon.
Privately, Hood thought that it might be a temporary truce and that, having once broken their policy of isolationism, the Australasian-Japanese might attempt, at some future date, to invade. It was another reason why, during the talks which took place in Washington, he left the Land Leviathan in its position, glowering down upon us while we bargained. My own feelings were not entirely in accord with his. I thought it best to show them that we were no threat to their security, for after all they still had O'Bean working for them, but Hood said that it would be time enough in the future to show good faith now we must not let them believe they could strike again while we were off-guard. President Gandhi would not have approved, but eventually I gave in to his logic.
I made one visit to Bantustan during the course of that year, to arrange for food and medical supplies to be sent out, for it would be some time before America was entirely self-supporting. It was a peculiar alliance, that between Gandhi, the man of peace, and Hood, the Black Attila, the quintessential warlord, but it seemed to be an alliance which would work, for both men had great respect for each other. During my leisure moments, I penned this 'memoir' - mainly for your eyes, Moorcock, because I feel that I owe you something. If you can publish it - if you ever see it - well and good. Pretend that it is fiction.