The Ripple in Space-Time: Free City Book 1 (The Free City Series) by S F Chapman Page B
Authors: S F Chapman
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capital city. His
superiors had surmised then that riots, or much less likely, a volcanic
eruption might someday menace the megacity.
But he knew this was neither.
His latest crew of five ragtag
volunteer rescuers sat quietly behind him, likely all contemplating their
certain impending demise. An hour earlier at the comparative safety of the
Armory, they had watched in stunned silence when he returned with the previous
crew of mortally radiation-sickened rescuers and, by then, the three expired
‘survivors’ that had been pried out of the wreckage.
Everyone seemed to sense the
futility of the rescue operation, but the radiation levels were so high that
any attempt to escape by fleeing would certainly be fatal as well.
In a strange twist of luck he had
survived the blast because he had forgotten to salute his Commander when the
pompous old fool had unexpectedly stopped by his office in the early evening.
As punishment for his minor lapse in protocol, the old man had ordered him to
stay late and tend to some filing in the basement Records Room. Although the
building had collapsed around him, he ’ d managed to crawl out.
He ’ d been the only
survivor at the district headquarters and had since put himself in charge of
the hopeless rescue effort. Like most of the residents of Arusha, he was merely
a serf; his life meant nothing.
Three trips earlier, he ’ d spotted a few ghastly looking victims staggering around what he
presumed was the site of the tourist hotel. The crew had spent twenty minutes
collecting the survivors and loading them into the vehicle while he waited
inside. When they reached the Armory, the rescuers were nearly
indistinguishable from the victims.
Unquestionably he too would soon
suffer the same fate.
• • •
“ This will lead to riots, ” Chief Inspector
Helga Bennet muttered to herself as she sat alone in her somber darkened
office.
She undoubtedly held the dubious
honor of being the first person in Free City to learn of the catastrophe.
It had all started hours ago,
while she was engaged in a heated late evening conference call with Inspector
Second Class Zara Kamchatka in Nairobi and Liaison Agent Hugo Mackillroy in New
Rome regarding the investigation into the assassination of Madame Kufuzu.
Mac had definitely linked the
murder to some sort of plot that was a foot to kill the Warlord of EurAfrica.
He and Zara had been arguing about who would track down a few feeble leads in
Arusha when it happened.
Helga had recalled that the image
on her desktop screen of the wilily woman Inspector in East Africa had
strangely flicked and briefly faded before returning to normal. When the
unusual communication anomaly had passed, Zara had an uncommon look of terror.
“ There was a flash and now the ground is shaking! ” she ’ d yelled before fleeing.
While Zara was escaping from the
trembling building in Nairobi, Mac had quickly checked the seismic and
satellite information for East Africa and relayed his findings that indeed some
sort of huge blast had occurred in neighboring Arusha.
Helga had notified the Prime
Minister of the disaster shortly afterwards and set about shifting through all
available details. Information quickly surfaced about the extremely high
radiation levels near the blast. Helga sent Zara to the University of Nairobi
and a High Energy Physics Professor there confirmed her fears that most likely
stolen antimatter from the Lunar Lab was to blame for the destruction of the
EurAfrican capital.
In the ensuing hours, Helga had
talked to dozens of Inspectors and Agents on Earth and elsewhere; all reported
the horrified shock and revulsion of the locals upon learning of the sneak
attack.
Disturbingly, several incidences
of vandalism and vicious vigilantly justice had already surfaced in outlying
areas.
24. News Item: Sabbatical for beloved
professor
Dateline: 3rd of August, 2445; Free City University, Free
City, Earth
Free City University ’ s much-idolized Professor
superiors had surmised then that riots, or much less likely, a volcanic
eruption might someday menace the megacity.
But he knew this was neither.
His latest crew of five ragtag
volunteer rescuers sat quietly behind him, likely all contemplating their
certain impending demise. An hour earlier at the comparative safety of the
Armory, they had watched in stunned silence when he returned with the previous
crew of mortally radiation-sickened rescuers and, by then, the three expired
‘survivors’ that had been pried out of the wreckage.
Everyone seemed to sense the
futility of the rescue operation, but the radiation levels were so high that
any attempt to escape by fleeing would certainly be fatal as well.
In a strange twist of luck he had
survived the blast because he had forgotten to salute his Commander when the
pompous old fool had unexpectedly stopped by his office in the early evening.
As punishment for his minor lapse in protocol, the old man had ordered him to
stay late and tend to some filing in the basement Records Room. Although the
building had collapsed around him, he ’ d managed to crawl out.
He ’ d been the only
survivor at the district headquarters and had since put himself in charge of
the hopeless rescue effort. Like most of the residents of Arusha, he was merely
a serf; his life meant nothing.
Three trips earlier, he ’ d spotted a few ghastly looking victims staggering around what he
presumed was the site of the tourist hotel. The crew had spent twenty minutes
collecting the survivors and loading them into the vehicle while he waited
inside. When they reached the Armory, the rescuers were nearly
indistinguishable from the victims.
Unquestionably he too would soon
suffer the same fate.
• • •
“ This will lead to riots, ” Chief Inspector
Helga Bennet muttered to herself as she sat alone in her somber darkened
office.
She undoubtedly held the dubious
honor of being the first person in Free City to learn of the catastrophe.
It had all started hours ago,
while she was engaged in a heated late evening conference call with Inspector
Second Class Zara Kamchatka in Nairobi and Liaison Agent Hugo Mackillroy in New
Rome regarding the investigation into the assassination of Madame Kufuzu.
Mac had definitely linked the
murder to some sort of plot that was a foot to kill the Warlord of EurAfrica.
He and Zara had been arguing about who would track down a few feeble leads in
Arusha when it happened.
Helga had recalled that the image
on her desktop screen of the wilily woman Inspector in East Africa had
strangely flicked and briefly faded before returning to normal. When the
unusual communication anomaly had passed, Zara had an uncommon look of terror.
“ There was a flash and now the ground is shaking! ” she ’ d yelled before fleeing.
While Zara was escaping from the
trembling building in Nairobi, Mac had quickly checked the seismic and
satellite information for East Africa and relayed his findings that indeed some
sort of huge blast had occurred in neighboring Arusha.
Helga had notified the Prime
Minister of the disaster shortly afterwards and set about shifting through all
available details. Information quickly surfaced about the extremely high
radiation levels near the blast. Helga sent Zara to the University of Nairobi
and a High Energy Physics Professor there confirmed her fears that most likely
stolen antimatter from the Lunar Lab was to blame for the destruction of the
EurAfrican capital.
In the ensuing hours, Helga had
talked to dozens of Inspectors and Agents on Earth and elsewhere; all reported
the horrified shock and revulsion of the locals upon learning of the sneak
attack.
Disturbingly, several incidences
of vandalism and vicious vigilantly justice had already surfaced in outlying
areas.
24. News Item: Sabbatical for beloved
professor
Dateline: 3rd of August, 2445; Free City University, Free
City, Earth
Free City University ’ s much-idolized Professor
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