The Six Messiahs

'No, sir.'

Frederick stared at him until Dante had to look away. Frederick put a friendly hand on his knee, rubbed it intimately. Dante blushed, looked up at him, and grinned.

'You'll do just fine,' said Frederick. 'With your background, the training shouldn't prove difficult.'

'Training?'

'Shouldn't take long, either. You've been a leader of men before. You may even be officer material.'

'Whatever you say.'

Frederick leaned back and studied him. 'Hungry, Mr.Scruggs?'

'Yes, sir,' said Dante, realizing. 'Real hungry.'

Frederick gestured; the man remaining in the compartment pulled down a wicker basket from the luggage rack, set it on the seat beside Dante, and snapped it open, revealing a mouthwatering selection of sandwiches, fruit, and beverages.

'We are careful about what we eat,' said Frederick. 'Good food. Nutritious and well balanced. No liquor is allowed.'

'I don't drink, anyway,' said Dante.

'That's fine. An army travels on its stomach, isn't that right, Mr. Scruggs? Help yourself.'

Dante could hardly recall ever feeling so ravenous; he devoured three sandwiches and two bottles of ginger ale without saying a word, wiping his mouth across the sleeve of his new jacket, shameless as a starving dog. Frederick leaned back in his seat, folded his hands neatly, and watched Dante eat, a sly smile playing across his strong features.

As Dante finished eating and let out a resounding belch, at a signal from Frederick the third man replaced the basket in the rack and left the compartment. Frederick delicately held out a napkin; Dante stared at it for a moment before realizing what this was, then took it and cleaned off his dripping mouth and chin.

'Are you curious about the group you've become part of, Mr. Scruggs?' asked Frederick, with that teasing smile again.

'I figure my job is,' said Dante, pausing to bring up another burp, 'do what I'm told and don't ask questions.'

'Good. For instance, you do not need to know what we call ourselves, because it is not a question you will ever be required to answer.'

Dante nodded.

'You will never be told anything unless we determine that you need to know it. Do you know where we are going now?''

'West somewhere,' said Dante with a shrug, observing the position of the sun out the window.

'Quite perceptive; but beyond that, do you care where you are going?'

'No, sir.'

'We are great believers in discipline, Mr. Scruggs. Discipline of behavior; discipline of the self. It is essential to our work that people should not take any notice of us. Imagine, for example, that a job you were involved with required you to dine in a fancy restaurant and it was important for you to blend seamlessly into that crowd.'

'Okay.'

Frederick leaned forward and whispered, 'Do you think that would be possible, Mr. Scruggs, if you were to exhibit the table manners of a pig rolling around in its own shit?'

Dante felt the blood drain from his face; Frederick still smiled at him.

'No, sir.'

'This is why we learn to train our minds; and why we believe every personal failing must be so severely punished. this is how we learn.'

Sweat trickled down the back of Dante's neck. Frederick reached over and patted Dante's leg.

'Don't look so worried, Mr. Scruggs. I hadn't made you aware of our standards and you were so very hungry. But having had this conversation, I won't expect to see such a disgusting display from you ever again. Will I?'

'No, sir.'

Frederick gave Dante's thigh a reassuring squeeze and leaned back.

'We recognize that each of our men is uniquely qualified In do our work, and if he pleases us, he should be uniquely rewarded. You have developed your own particular interests in life, Mr. Scruggs, apart from ours; we feel that if you have fulfilled our needs to a high level of satisfaction, we should in turn provide you with an opportunity to satisfy yours.'

'Okay.' What did he mean?

'Do not be deceived; this generosity springs from a selfish foundation: It has been our experience that giving a man what he wants when he pleases us will only provoke him to work that much harder in the future. It is an investment. Do you follow me?'

'I'm not sure.'

'An example would be in order. Let's imagine that we have given you a difficult assignment to complete and you have performed it flawlessly. What might you expect from us in return?'

Dante shook his head.

Frederick, all-knowing, snapped his fingers; one of the men opened the door from the corridor outside and in walked a plump, attractive young woman, a strawberry blonde, provocatively dressed, carrying a small valise.

'Yes?' said Frederick to the woman.

'Pardon me, gentlemen, I don't mean to intrude,' said the woman, obviously nervous.

'How can we help you, miss?' asked Frederick politely.

'I found this case, you see, under my seat in the next car over?' she said, in a grating midwestern drawl. 'And the fella outside—your friend, I guess, he was sitting across from me— he said he thought it belonged to one of you gents in here. So he asked if I wouldn't mind bringing it back myself.'

'How very kind of you,' said Frederick. 'Did our friend offer you anything for its safe return?'

'Sort of,' said the woman, blushing.

'How do you mean?'

'He said one of you fellas would give me ten dollars if I did it.'

'He would be right,' said Frederick, taking out his billfold. 'Forgive my manners, won't you join us for a moment, miss? It must be more comfortable in here and we really are most grateful.'

'All right,' she said, still standing, awkwardly holding the valise.

The man in the hall closed the door behind her, leaving her alone with Dante and Frederick.

'Here then, Mr. Johnson,' said Frederick to Dante, 'why don't you take your case back from the young lady?'

Dante glanced at Frederick in confusion.

'Oh, is it yours?' said the woman, holding it out to him.

'Thank you,' said Dante. He accepted the case from her, holding it stiffly in his lap.

Frederick patted the seat beside him and the young woman sat down, as he slipped a ten-dollar bill from his billfold.

'As promised,' said Frederick.

'Thank you very much, sir,' said the woman, taking the money, eyes downcast, embarrassed.

'No, thank you, my dear,' said Frederick. 'Mr. Johnson, perhaps you should examine your case and make sure everything is in order.'

Dante nodded, set the case flat across his knees, and carefully unfastened the twin clasps.

'If you don't mind my asking, are you traveling alone, miss?' asked Frederick. 'What is your name, by the way?'

'Rowena. Rowena Jenkis. No, I don't mind. And yes, I am,' she said. 'Traveling alone, that is.'

'I see,' said Frederick, smiling warmly. 'You're a very pretty girl, if you don't mind my remarking.'

'No, I don't mind at all.'

'Are you a prostitute, by any chance, Rowena?'

The girl looked stricken; her hands tensed into fists and she (•lanced nervously at the door. Frederick studied her reaction carefully.

'Please, I don't mean any offense by the question,' said Frederick pleasantly. 'And I certainly hold no ill