A Leaf in the Storm

The energy-opaque bubble triggered to protect us from the primary plasma and secondary thermobaric shockwaves from the orbital strike, the same hazards raising the projected casualty rate in the concourse to around ninety-five percent.

I reached into the city with authority an order of magnitude higher than any planetside government, requisitioning every transatmospheric-capable vehicle within a two-mile radius for improvised extraction. Two-thirds of those vehicles were selected at random and ordered to destroy themselves. The remaining third I laid in a circle equidistant from our location.

Worst of all, I was following one of a large number of action sequences generated in advance for unlikely circumstances. This left my surface thoughts more-or-less unoccupied by strategic or tactical concerns, and gave me an opportunity to reflect.

We had been young, once. She had dreamt of a career in high politics, and I of more direct means of changing the world.

What a shame we had both achieved our dreams.