Under the Dome

'So,' Randolph said, 'that's only eight out of eighteen.'

'You forgot to count yourself,' Andrea said.

Randolph hit his forehead with the heel of his hand, as if trying to knock his brains back into gear. 'Oh. Yeah. Right. Nine.'

'Not enough,' Re

'Who were you thinking about, sir?' Randolph asked.

^My boy, to begin with.'

'Junior?' Andrea raised her eyebrows. 'He's not even old enough to vote… is he?'

Big Jim briefly visualized Andrea's brain: fifteen percent favorite onlinje shopping sites, eighty percent dope receptors, two percent memory, and three percent actual thought process. Still, it was what he had to work with. And, he reminded himself, the stupidity of one's colleagues makes life simpler.

'He's twenty-one, actually. Twenty-two in November. And either by luck or the grace of God, he's home from school this weekend.'

Peter Randolph knew that Junior Re

This was probably not the time to share such information with Big Jim, however.

Re

Andrea was once more looking uneasy. 'Urn… weren't those the boys… the young men… involved in that altercation at Dipper's…?'

Big Jim turned a smile of such genial ferocity on her that Andrea shrank back in her seat.

'That business was overblown. And sparked by alcohol, as most such trouble is. Plus, the instigator was that fellow Barbara. Which is why no charges were filed. It was a wash. Or am I wrong, Peter?'

'Absolutely not,' Randolph said, although he too looked uneasy.

'These fellows are all at least twenty-one, and I believe Carter Thibodeau might be twenty-three.'

Thibodeau was indeed twenty-three, and had lately been working as a part-time mechanic at Mill Gas & Grocery. He'd been fired from two previous jobs—temper issues, Randolph had heard—but he seemed to have settled down at the Gas & Grocery. Joh

'They've all hunted together, they're good shots—'

'Please God we don't have to put that to the test,' Andrea said.

'No one's going to get shot, Andrea, and no one's suggesting we make these young fellows full-time police. What I'm saying is that we need to fill out an extremely depleted roster, and fast. So how about it, Chief? They can serve until the crisis is over, and we'll pay them out of the contingency fund.'

Randolph didn't like the idea of Junior toting a gun on the streets of Chester's Mill—Junior with his possible behavioral issues—but he also didn't like the idea of bucking Big Jim. And it really might be a good idea to have a few extra widebodies on ha ad. Even if they were young. He didn't anticipate problems in town, but they could be put on crowd control out where the main roads hit the barrier. If the barrier was still there. And if it wasn't? Problems solved.

He put on a team-player smile. 'You know, I think that's a great idea, sir. You send em around to the station tomorrow around ten—'

'Nine might be better, Pete.'

'Nine's fine,' Andy said in his dreamy voice.

'Further discussion?' Re

There was none. Andrea looked as if she might have had something to say but couldn't remember what it was.

'Then I call the question,' Re

They all raised their hands.

'The measure is approv—'

He was interrupted by two reports that sounded like gunfire.

They all jumped. Then a third came, and Re

'Relax, folks. Just a backfire. Generator clearing its throa—'

The elderly ge

On his left, Andy Sanders said: 'Oh my gosh, Jim, the propane—'

Re

'No problem,' Randolph said with a cheeriness that sounded manufactured rather than organic. 'Tank just ran dry, that's all. Plenty more in the town supply barn.'

Andy shot Big Jim a look. It was no more than a shifting of the eyes, but Re

She'll forget it after her next dose of Oxy, he told himself. By morning for sure.

And in the meantime, the town's supplies of propane—or lack thereof- didn't concern him much. He would take care of that situation when it became necessary.

'Okay, folks, I know you're as anxious to get out of here as I am, so-let's move on to our next order of business. I think we should officially confirm Pete here as our Chief of Police pro tern.'

'Yes, why not?' Andy asked. He sounded tired.

'If there's no discussion,' Big Jim said, 'I'll call the question.' They voted as he wanted them to vote. They always did.

7

Junior was sitting on the front step of the big Re