Newton's Ark (The Emulation Trilogy) by Hill D.A

Author:Hill, D.A. [Hill, D.A.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Published: 2012-04-06T04:30:00+00:00

chapter 9

January 2046

Harry Branston resented the way Paul Carlson went on playing the noble hero. It was the military under Branston’s leadership that had to do the dirty work, always with one hand tied behind their backs because Carlson was an idealistic fool. It was going to get them all killed. Branston had tried to be loyal. He and Carlson went back a long way, and he had taken an oath for Christ’s sake. But Carlson had made one bad decision after another—supporting James Newton’s ridiculous plan when he should have just had him arrested; allowing the Asteroid Papers to be leaked to the press; assigning Major Lopez to Newton’s team without so much as consulting him; and most unbelievable of all, giving James Newton a missile! A missile!

If not for Harry Branston and the forces loyal to him—him not Carlson—the country would already have disintegrated into armed camps each trying to grab what they could for themselves, as had nearly happened in South Carolina. He could have overlooked Carlson’s blind spot where James Newton was concerned, but the lottery was the final straw. He had tried to point out to Carlson that there was no way to govern the country without the support of the military, and the only way to secure that support was to promise key military people a place in the arks. Carlson had refused. He insisted on keeping the lottery pure. That was the word he used, pure. As if purity had any place at a time like this.

The final straw was Carlson’s refusal to take decisive action to stop the March on the Arks. The damage the invaders had caused had set them back months, months they simply did not have. Carlson had said he did not want any unnecessary deaths, but by allowing the arks to be threatened he had done just that.

Branston had hoped to avoid this moment but he could not put it off any longer. He had promised places on the ark to the key commanders of the operation against South Carolina and now Carlson had over-ruled him. Those commanders were not happy. They had not been bold enough to say so openly, but he knew mutiny on a grand scale was brewing. Once that happened it was all over.

It was a terrible thing he was contemplating, overthrowing the President of the United States. The Vice-President would have to go with him. He was a lightweight but also the rightful successor to the President; Harry Branston knew he would carry on Carlson’s misguided, idealistic policies to the bitter end.

Branston searched his mind for an alternative; some way to convince the President to change course. But there was no other way. Surely his loyalty to his country overshadowed his loyalty to his President? He knew he had to act, even if he did not want to. But planning to overthrow the government was a tricky business. Lining up support whilst not alerting those forces loyal to the current regime required a

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