Excerpt from The Wafer:

"Nine out of ten cardiacs die while waiting for a suitable donor on our service, and I'm sure the same is true in all major centers. This is a tragic and frustrating situation in any affluent society and will sooner or later lead to unconventional sources for the needed organs."

"Then the inevitable begins to happen while we complacently hope it won't."

"And probably Marcus Mann expects it, too."

"Perhaps, since he so readily told me to hide if the need arises. He knows my dedication to the cause."

"The other deception ... you mentioned two."

"The stealing or robbing of live organs from the brain dead, by betraying the organ couriers en route to the dying recipient. And for the betrayal, there would almost surely be a spy in the operating rooms at Sentara General, locally, and in similar situations in other cities."

"You suspect this?"

"Yes. It could happen this way: The hospital lookout calls the spy at her desk in the LifeChain building and alerts her to the presence of a donor as the organs are about to be taken. The sale is then made to a pirate somewhere."

"You said her."

"There are no male employees inside LifeChain headquarters dealing with the distribution of live organs."

"So the person betraying you or other couriers would have to be a woman."

"I think so."

"Has Mann tried to protect you?"

"He has tried to stop me from delivering organs."

"And?"

"I refused."

"Won't he fire you?"

"He can't fire me."

"Wooooah!"

"I do not need the employment financially, and I work for a dollar a year."

"Oh?"

"Have you heard of the Pullys, down on the Carolina coast?"

"Joseph Mixter Pully?"

"My father. He has contributed more money than any other one person to financing the startup of LifeChain, and I sit on the board in his place."

"Holy God, everybody in this community talks about him. One of the first tales I heard upon my arrival here eight years ago - richer than Cresus, and more powerful than the Mafia in his own bailiwick."

"Right on every count, but he is not mean for meanness' sake, nor for money, but meaner than mean for principle's sake, when the principle of it arises, if you know what I mean."

"Yes. He's awesome but not really bad. Does he know about your situation?"

"Oh, no. And I wouldn't dare tell him. Not yet anyway. Subtle or cautious he is not. If we pinpointed a definite target and needed help, then I would tell him."

"Great backup."

"In every way, but a dangerous crusader."

"I like his potentia1."

"I may come to need it one day."

"Deadly pursuit. Did you provoke it in any way? "No. My pattern of activity has not changed."

"Would you recognize the people chasing you?"

"Locally, always a man in a gray well-tailored suit with proper shirt and tie, and always wearing a fedora. I have distinguished several different faces and figures so outfitted."

"Who owns them?"

"I have no way of knowing with certainty."

"Perhaps from other suppliers of organs and tissue besides LifeChain?"

"We know of two competitors locally, one outfit called Legation, the other called Mercury. Have you heard of them?"

"No."

"Everybody's getting into the business these days, too much of it borderline or worse. Legation supplies banked tissue and live organs, both ostensibly for altruistic reasons under tax-free status, for huge profits, but with little or no quality control. It's a big outfit, started locally by an unschooled evangelist named The Reverend Lotte, with phenomenal success from the beginning. The Legation operation has spread to other cities."

"Legation is a peculiar name for an organ outfit."

"Not when you understand the owner. The Reverend Lotte considers himself to be, or at least claims to be, a legate, a missionary on a mission from God to supply organs and tissue to those in need."

"How do you know?"

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