Nuclear Time by Oli Smith

Author:Oli Smith [Smith, Oli]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Science Fiction, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9781409071488
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2010-07-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

11

Colorado, 28 August 1981, 2.00 p.m.

'Yes, yes. No, sir. We're working as fast as we can.'

Geoff screwed up his face in frustration at the tiny

voice of authority that crackled through the speaker

of a huge plastic mobile phone he had awkwardly

stuck between his shoulder and his ear. In one hand

he held a very large wad of papers bound in a pale

blue folder with a biro jammed between two of his

fingers, while his free hand scratched idly at the

balding pate beneath his itching official hat.

'Look, sir, speaking freely for a moment, it

frankly doesn't make a difference what's going on

over there; it's impossible to move any quicker

133

DOCTOR WHO

than we're already doing. The paint's still drying on

the houses for God's sake, and we can't afford enough

electromagnetic emitters to move the androids any

quicker without risking a trigger. There are too many

dead zones they have to pass through as it is, and we

have no idea if the village will actually work.'

He scratched one last time then tore the cap off in

frustration, hurling it at the thick glass of the

observation window. There was a soft bang and it

ricocheted onto the large foldout table that was pushed

up against the wall. Pinned roughly to the

unvarnished tabletop was a large map, the majority of

which was almost completely blank - there was just a

large red felt-tipped 'X' scrawled in the middle of it,

surrounded by a village plan printed in faint blue

rectangles. Even the grey contour lines of the

tediously

flat

landscape

seemed half-hearted,

taking a back seat to the compass lines and trajectory

maps that had been imposed precisely and brutally

over the top.

Geoff slapped his folder roughly onto the map

and, with a swift movement of his knuckles, brought the

biro into his thumb and forefinger to write a

humourless You are here in the lower corner of the diagram.

'No, no,' he continued into the phone. 'There were

the funds. You just didn't want to allocate

134

NUCLEAR TIME

them to a project that was terminating.' Another pause.

'I am fully aware of how much a nuke costs, but that

wasn't my decision, so you can either have this done

quickly or you can have it done safely. I don't need to

remind you of the security risks involved if it goes

wrong.'

The voice on the other end of the phone

increased in volume, and Geoff winced, hurriedly

reaching up and pulling the handset away from his

ear.

'These are my men, sir! I'm not going to put their

lives in any more danger than I have to!'

A lower, more threatening tone accompanied the

response.

'Yes, well, a lot of things will probably happen after

this is over, but they are my men for now, and until I am relieved of the responsibility I will do it my way. Yes, sir. Goodbye.'

There was a dull thud as the mobile was

slammed down onto the table, closely followed by Geoff's elbows as he slumped into his chair and sunk his head

in his hands. The folder was jammed underneath his left

arm and he elbowed the wad of papers onto the floor to

clear himself some space. He hadn't eaten all day, but

his stomach was now too painful for him to even

consider filling it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.