on the stage.
24 He unscrewed the false top on the gas cylinder, took out the barrel
of the rifle, the breech and the stock, and quickly assembled them. He
put the clip in the rifle and worked the bolt, putting the first round
in the chamber, put the top back on the cylinder, slipped the
rifle out of sight and went back to his pretend work.
25 Below him, the arena was full and people were beginning to speak on
the stage. The crowd roared as The Young Speaker came out and started
his lectures. Bullet went over, shut the access door and bolted it,
took up the rifle, brought it to his shoulder, and took very careful aim.
26 "Only you," The Young Speaker was saying, "can stop the evil. Only
you can overcome that which is devouring our land. Stand up, be
counted! Now is the time!"
27 Very gently Bullet squeezed the trigger. The rifle barely made a
whisper. He had already picked his second target and was swinging toward it when he realized the crowd
wasn't screaming in horror, and that The Young Speaker was still
talking.
28 He brought the site back and looked at the youth speaking again. He
just continued with his lecture tossing something in the air and
catching it again. "Damn!" Bullet cursed to himself , "How could I have
missed? I NEVER miss!"
29 He sighted again, and squeezed the trigger. Just before he fired The
Young Speaker put something on top of the podium, and after he fired
was tossing something again. Bullet blinked, sat the rifle down a
moment, brought it back up, and fired again. Still, nothing.
30 He took the clip out, examined the cartridges, put them back in the
rifle, and clicked in another