“JUST BECAUSE CHANCELLOR MADDOX may or may not be developing chemical weapons,” Goodman Dougherty says, “that doesn’t mean she intends to use ’em on her own people.”
“It would explain why she’s no longer here,” Hope says. “And the latitude and longitude numbers—they weren’t to let people know how to get to the Conclave, they were to tell her soldiers where to stay away from.”
“But she was just elected president. Why would she wipe out the capital?”
“It’s not just the capital she’s wiping out. It’s most of the military and every other leader in the Republic. With no Congress, she becomes the supreme ruler.”
“Even if it means killing thousands of people in the process?”
“It’s never bothered her in the past.”
Hope knows they’re all remembering the same thing. The towns. The corpses. The crows. They’ve seen for themselves what the chemicals do.
“Could she really get away with it?” Dougherty asks.
“Hitler did,” Book says. “When the Reichstag was set on fire, he blamed it on the Communists. It gave him all the power he needed.”
The thought sinks in. What they’re envisioning would be the ultimate act of evil. Which is why Hope is convinced it’s exactly what Maddox intends.
“So what do we do?” Dougherty asks.
Hope turns to the former Skull Person. “I know it won’t be easy, but somehow you have to see the president. Explain everything: the chemical weapons, the multiple rocket launchers, all of it. Convince him to evacuate the city.”
“You didn’t have any luck reaching him. Why would he listen to me?”
“I don’t know, but somehow you’re going to have to.” It’s less a request and more an outright challenge.
“Okay,” he says warily. “And you?”
“We need to stop Maddox.”
“I hate to break it to you, but she’s long gone, and probably not coming back.”
“So then we go to her.”