Chapter 24 Summary

There are spaceships again in the 38th century, manned by garrulous, conceited beings, who feel a manifest destiny to conquer the stores and record their feats in forms like the "Versicles by Adam, Rejoinders by the Crucified," chanted to a marching cadence, describing the senseless life cycle of the children of Eve, trying to build Edens on earth. The liturgy includes the latest rendition of the Canticle of the Brethren of the Order of Leibowitz, declaring, "Lucifer is fallen." These happen to be the secret code words that leak to reporters, who badger the Defense Minister with questions about Sir Tische Thon Berker's statement about radiation levels on the Northwest Coast ten times normal. The minister is unresponsive about reported testing across the Pacific, reminds the press testing is illegal, and they are not at war. The manufacture of nuclear weapons has been...