'They didn't start showing up until after Dhamballa held his first rally,' J2 said.
'All right,' Hood said. 'So Burton had this revelation and started his ministry with a core of people who believed in what he was doing, probably in his home village and possibly at the mine.'
'Correct,' Liz replied.
'At which point the mine owners and Genet might have become aware of him,' Hood went on.
'Yes,' Liz said. 'We're not sure whether Burton was still working for them when he adopted the Dhamballa personality or whether they watched him after he left. Whenever anyone quits suddenly, the Pis watch them for a while. Make sure they did not sneak some diamonds out.'
'I see,' Hood replied. 'Liz, you said there was a second reason you did not think that Burton was acting.'
'Right,' Liz said. 'It ties in with the sanity issue. A man who is unbalanced, a man who has a god complex, has a very specific need. He wants to be the absolute ruler. He wants to be Jesus Christ or Napoleon or-Mae, who's the supreme god in Vodun?'
'Olorun,' Mae replied as she consulted the monitor. 'He is 'the remote and unknowable one.' His emissary god on earth is Obatala. He's the god who reports on human activities.'
'From what we've been told and what little we've read, Burton is not making claims of that sort,' she said.
'No,' Hood replied. 'Dhamballa is just saying that he's the incarnation of a snake god.'
'We have to be more precise about that,' Liz said. 'Vodun priests do not claim to be an embodiment of gods so much as a representation. A spokesperson, if you will.'
'He's still hearing voices in some fashion,' Hood said. 'You consider that sane?' . ***
'You mentioned Moses a minute ago,' the woman replied.
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'What makes you think that Thomas Burton is any less rational? How do you know he is not what he says?'
Hood wanted to answer, Common sense. But something in Liz's voice made him hesitate. Her tone was not critical of Hood but respectful of Thomas Burton. In that moment, Hood realized he would never have said either of those things to Edgar Kline.
Hood felt a flush of shame. Liz had been right to ask that question. It was not the right of Paul Hood or anyone else to make qualitative judgments about the Vodunists or people of any faith.
'Let me ask you this, then,' Hood said. 'If Burton believes he is a god in some form, why does he need the Brush Vipers? Wouldn't Olorun come to his aid if he needed it?'
'Doubt is common to prophets and messianic figures, especially in the early stages of a ministry,' Liz replied. 'And a support system is helpful. Moses had Aaron, Jesus the apostles.'
'But Moses and Jesus did not need to kidnap priests,' Hood said.
'It makes sense if you don't think of it as an aggressive act but as a policy statement, so to speak,' Liz said. 'What the Brush Vipers did, almost certainly with Burton's approval, was merely an expedience. It was a way to announce his arrival and his target.'
Hood felt that Liz was making several leaps where she did not have facts as a bridge. But that was all right. He did not have to agree with her, but this is what she was paid to do. Explore possibilities.
'I hear what you're saying,' Hood said. 'And the bottom line is we're dealing with a committed but probably nonviolent man. What we do not know is the extent to which Dhamballa controls the Brush Vipers and to what extent they are interested in religion or simply in power.'
'Exactly,' Liz said. 'But you may find that out relatively soon. At some point early in any ministry of this type, the miraculous must occur. Moses and the plagues, Jesus healing the sick. Burton knows he has to produce something signifi-
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cant. Barring divine intervention, he is probably counting on a ground swell of support. By taking on the Church, he may be hoping to fire some long-dormant sense of religious zeal in his fellow Botswanans.'
Hood was silent for a long moment. 'Well,' he said, 'this has been quite an education.'
'For all of us,' Liz said.
Hood nodded. 'You all did a very good night's work. Thank you.'
Hood turned to go. Liz called after him. He looked back.
'Just remember something, Paul,' she said. 'These people are proud of their heritage. And as the Jews in the Diaspora and the early Christians under Rome showed, the Vodunists have one great advantage.'
'What's that?' Hood asked.
Liz replied, 'Faith can never be defeated by threats and force of arms. It has to be beaten by a better idea.'
'Or from within,' Hood said. 'That's a much easier thing to do.'
THIRTY-ONE
Maun, Botswana Friday, 1:30 P.M.
