The Great Symmetry by James R Wells

Author:James R Wells
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: James R. Wells, Science Fiction, future space fiction
Publisher: Travertine Books
Published: 2015-07-05T07:00:00+00:00

Part 5: The Daughters of Atlas

Live Broadcast

“Okay Governor, here’s your script. We’ve got a few minutes to practice, but we don’t have long. As soon as we get it recorded, we’re going to turn around and release it live. This can’t wait.” The frazzled producer had none of his usual smooth manner.

Governor Rezar looked at the displays and began to read.

He looked up from the script. “Is this for real?”

“Yes sir, that’s why we had to pull you from your tournament. I am deeply sorry about that. It’s an emergency.” The producer listened to something in his earpiece. “We need to record in just a few minutes.”

“A nuclear strike?”

“I’m afraid we couldn’t create a True Story in time, so we had to go with some objectively factual elements. It’s the best we can do. And by the way, it’s tactical nuclear,” the producer clarified.

The governor spluttered. “How could this−”

The producer’s expression looked like he was trying to settle down an anxious performing animal. “We’ll give you a full briefing, but right now, we need to get this broadcast out. We’re experiencing huge losses in confidence. The market is down over eight percent, and that’s everybody’s retirement. So we need to help our constituents.”

Rezar studied the script. The makeup artist came in. Rezar was experienced at learning his scripts during makeup and hair. The script was short. It was no problem. During recording, he had the prompter as well, although he had learned that he looked much more authentic if he knew what was coming.

A nuclear strike. On his planet. This was wrong. Even an uninhabited patch of desert.

Rezar queried for recent command-level communications with Affirmatix and found the recording from a few hours earlier. General Leon and Admiral Incento, practically falling over themselves to accommodate Vice President Lobeck of Affirmatix. It went beyond the normal privilege and respect that was accorded to a top figure of any Sister. The voices smelled of fear.

He searched, chasing down leads. At one point he had to enter an additional security code, beyond his usual credentials. Rezar was glad he could remember the code, and that it was still current.

Then he had it. The D6, a weapon that could end all life on Kelter, was insystem. The ultimate threat, exacting frantic cooperation from the Kelter security forces, to locate and turn over three fugitives. Unbelievable, not just the fact of it, but that he hadn’t been told.

“Governor, it’s time.” The producer brought Rezar back from his inquiries.

Rezar felt like his mind was split in two. The extremity of the situation could barely exist in the same universe as the words he had been practicing and was about to recite.

The governor began his address. “Good afternoon, fellow citizens, consumers, and hard-working, patriotic supporters of our way of life. I need to talk to you about a very important topic. You may have heard that a tactical nuclear device was used in the Valley of Dreams site, forty kilometers to the northwest of Abilene. This was

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