Devastation C. Martin Stepp The hall was quiet. The mood was somber. Whispering and muttering could be heard from some of the darker corners of the room. Television technicians were frantically setting up cameras and audio equipment near the stage at the front of the venue. The silhouette of a small podium was vaguely visible in the middle of the large stage under dim lighting. The President of the United States of America was due to address the audience in a few moments. Before long, powerful lights were turned up to illuminate the stage area with an almost blinding brilliance. A large man emerged dressed in a dark suit, a white shirt and a red tie with thin, diagonal stripes of white and blue. He was flanked by two men who were dressed similarly. They were most likely secret service agents. The large man took his position directly behind the podium. He began speaking: “Ladies and gentlemen… members of the press… my distinguished guests. I think most of you have heard by now that New York City is gone. A nuclear attack late last night has completely annihilated the city and has killed most of its eight million inhabitants.” He stopped speaking for a moment. The end of that sentence was punctuated with an audible gasp. That was followed by a hushed silence that almost sounded as if most of the air had been suddenly sucked out of the building. He then said: “Survivors are currently being evacuated from the surrounding areas. Every resource available to the United States government has been mobilized to insure the safety of the American people. Survivors from the far end of Long Island are being evacuated by sea with the aid of the U.S. Navy. Our initial response to this crisis has been to minimize the secondary impact of this tragic event.” There was a smattering of polite applause. The President continued: “In closing, I want to let each and every American know that we will not let this, the most devastating attack ever to be propagated on American soil to go unanswered. We will determine who is responsible. We will formulate an appropriate response. We will retaliate in kind.” The entire audience rose to their feet. This time the applause was loud and energetic. The President stood at the podium and let the applause subside of its own accord. When it quieted down enough he said: “Thank you. Good night. God bless the victims of this horrible tragedy and God bless America!” He left the stage to another round of applause followed by the two secret service agents. Three weeks later Ardeshir was tending his meager crops in an area near the middle of Iran- not far from Behabad. He heard a strange whirring noise. At first he assumed his neighbor, who owned a much larger farm, had gotten a tractor or some other motorized piece of equipment. Eventually the sound became louder and seemed to be coming from above his head. He looked up to see what looked like a black eagle floating in the distant sky. As the eagle got closer to him it was also nearer to the sun and he could no longer look at it. Ardeshir went back to his chore. The next thing he saw was a flash of light which was much brighter than the sun. Ardeshir did not live long enough after that to learn that the United States had dropped a nuclear bomb on Iran that was carefully selected to wipe out most of his country without affecting surrounding areas.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 22:30:57 +0000
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