Chapter 9 Summary

Fat inquires about airline tickets to China before joining Phil and Kevin for a science fiction movie that Kevin strongly recommends. Valis deals with the era of Richard M. Nixon's reelection campaign. Called Ferris F. Fremount, Nixon is very popular. A second story line has Nicholas Brady, an electronics genius, supporting a has-been rock star, Eric ("Mother Goose") Lampton and his wife Linda, who has no sex organs. Brady, who occasionally morphs into Fremount, lures Eric into a room-sized mixer and explodes his head, revealing electronic components in lieu of brain tissue. Linda puts Eric's head back together and is shocked when he speaks like Fremount. In the White House, Fremount orders Brady murdered and cheerleaders chant "Kill Brady!" both in Washington, DC, and in Burbank, CA. Some strip in ecstasy, revealing no sex organs.

Time passes. Two Fremounts face one another across...