He said, "The Secretary sent me here, Mr. Gordy. He takes a personal interest in your discovery."
Gordy shook his head. "The Secretary is dead," he said. "They were all killed when Washington went."
"There's a new Secretary," the man explained. He puffed on his cigarette and tossed it into the patch Gordy was scrabbling into a truck garden. "Arnold Cavanagh. He knows a great deal about you, and he told me, 'If Salva Gordy has a weapon, we must have it. Our strength has been shattered. Tell Gordy we need his help'."
Gordy crossed his hands like a lean Buddha.
"I haven't got a weapon," he said.
"You have something that can be used as a weapon. You wrote to Washington, before the War came, and said—"
"The War is over," said Salva Gordy. The government man sighed, and tried again, but in the end he went away. He never came back. The thing, Gordy thought, was undoubtedly written off as a crackpot idea after the man made his report; it was exactly that kind of a discovery, anyhow.
It was May when John de Terry appeared. Gordy was spading his garden. "Give me something to eat," said the voice behind Gordy's back.
Salva Gordy turned around and saw the small, dirty man who spoke. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. "You'll have to work for it," he said.