Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven [49]
"Okay, what's it about?" Harvey asked when they had a booth.
"I liked being out at JPL with you," Hamner said. "I've sort of lost control of my comet. Nothing I can do the experts can't do better, and the same with the TV series. And it is your series. But … " Tim paused to sip his drink. He wasn't used to asking for favors, especially from people who worked for him. "Harvey, I'd like to come along on more interviews. Unpaid, of course."
Oh, shit. What happens if I tell him it can't be done? Will he talk to his agency? I sure as hell don't need a test of strength just now. "It's not always so exciting, you know. Right now we're doing man-in-the-street interviews."
"Aren't those pretty dull?"
"They can be. But sometimes you get pure gold. And it doesn't hurt to check in with the viewers now and then." And I work my way, goddammit!
"What are you looking for? Can you use much of it?"
Harvey shrugged. "I won't throw away good film—but that's not the point. I want attitudes. I want the unexpected. If I knew what I was after, I could have someone else do it. And … "
"Yeah?" Tim's eyes narrowed in the dim light. He'd seen a funny expression on Randall's face.
"Well, there are strange reactions I don't understand. They started after Johnny called it the Hammer—"
"Damn him!"
"And they'll probably get stronger after we air the Great Hot Fudge Sundae strike. Tim, it's almost as if a lot of people wanted the end of the world."
"But that's ridiculous."
"Maybe. But we're getting it." Ridiculous to you, Harvey thought. Not so ridiculous to a man trapped in a job he hates, or a woman forced to sleep with a slob of a boss to keep her job … "Look, you're the sponsor. I can't stop you, but I insist on making the rules. Also, we start early in the mornings—"
"Yeah." Tim drained his glass. "I'll get used to it. They say you can get used to hanging if you hang long enough."
The TravelAll was crammed full of gear and people. Cameras, tape equipment, a portable field desk for paper work. Mark Czescu had trouble finding a place to sit. Now there were three in back, since Hamner claimed the front seat. Mark was reminded of trips out to the desert with the dedicated bike racers: motorcycles and mechanic's equipment braced with care, riders shoved in as afterthought. As he waited for the others to come out of the studio building, Mark turned on the radio.
An authoritative voice spoke with the compelling quality of the professional orator. "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place: then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." The voice quality changed, from reader to preacher. "My people, have you not seen what is now done in the churches? Is this not that abomination? 'Whoso readeth, let him understand.' And the Hammer approaches! It comes to punish the wicked.
"'For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world unto this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days be shortened, there should be no flesh saved.'"
"Really lays it on," a voice said behind Mark. Charlie Bascomb got into the TravelAll.
"The Gospel has been brought to you by the Reverend Henry Armitage," the radio announcer said. "The Voice of God is broadcast in every language throughout the world in obedience to the commandment. Your contributions make these broadcasts possible."
"Sure hear him a lot nowadays," Mark said. "He must have a lot of new contributors."
They drove out into Burbank and parked near the Warner Brothers Studios. It was a good street: lots of shops, from hole-in-the-wall camera stores to expensive restaurants. People flowed along the wide avenue. Starlets and production people from the studios mingled with straight business types from insurance