Doctor Who_ Wonderland - Mark Chadbourn [33]
Watching them, I had a surge of the bright optimism I felt when I first came to the Haight. Here was our generation, conjoined by peace and love and a belief in a better world. In the silvery morning, I felt they could overcome anything. It was going to be a hell of a party.
We moved into the park cautiously, searching for anything out of the ordinary, but it was a futile task; everything was out of the ordinary. Ben and Polly went off in a separate direction to see what they could find. 'Do you really think Mathilda will be here in person?' I asked. We'd spent the night filling the Doctor in on our fears.
'I would think the kind of woman you described wouldn't be able to stay away,' the Doctor said. 'At least, not until the carnage begins.'
'You think we're right? That it will all happen here?'
He gave me a look that had the strangest hint of pity, as if he knew something I didn't. 'Remember the butterfly: this is the moment when your nascent movement transforms into something quite beautiful.'
'The Summer of Love?'
He made an expansive gesture. 'Feel the energy here. Given the opportunity, this could change the world.'
'But if those Blue Moonbeams get passed around, it will all be destroyed.'
He nodded slowly.
'I wish Denny were here.'
For perhaps the first time I glimpsed something like honest kindness in
his face; it was odd, but kind of good. 'You don't need Denny, Summer. You miss him, but you have your own strength within you, I can see that.'
'But what are we going to do, Doctor? How can we stop this happening?' His attention was now focused on the crowd as he turned in a slow arc. 'What are you looking for?'
'A sign.'
'From whom?'
'The one who's been contacting me.
'You don't think he's playing a game with you?'
'No, Summer, I don't.'
'What, then?'
He wouldn't look at me; he'd grown troubled once again, drifting into his own intense world. He set off through the crowd, with me trailing after him, scared and increasingly desperate, but filled with fire that Denny shouldn't have died for nothing.
We found Timothy Leary playing pattycake with a little girl. He smiled and nodded to the Doctor. 'Wait till you hear my speech,' he called.
The Diggers were handing out free sandwiches while the Quicksilver Messenger Service played their mercury communique of transformation. The Hells Angels were all over the place, menacing in their leathers and denim, big bellies and beards, pussycats in action. They were reuniting lost children with their parents, shepherding the space cadets to calmer places where they could come down in peace, generally spreading the message of goodwill to all.
And the day passed in a haze of sunlight, bubbles, kites and streamers, blissed-out smiles and hash smoke. Everywhere I looked I could see the peace symbol. Finally Leary took the stage and gave the most passionate speech I'd ever heard. He ended it with an exhortation that brought a cheer: 'Turn on, tune in, and drop out.'
But as the shadows grew longer, and the sun dipped to the horizon, my anxiety grew.
Ben and Polly came up to us while Jefferson Airplane played in the
background. By that time the Human Be-In was in full swing; there were people as far as the eye could see, thirty thousand, perhaps more, jammed tight, some standing, many lounging on the grass, heads bobbing. The atmosphere of comradeship – of love – was so strong you could almost touch it. Complete strangers would meet, then hug, recognising they were brothers or sisters.
It made me sick to think what would happen if the Blue Moonbeams were handed out. Once the killing started, when the panic began, thirty thousand tripping, doped-up freaks would turn the place into a frenzied nightmare. How many would die in the crush alone?