ODIN'S WAR

Victors Bring Death

Spurion stood up from his chair, and leaned over the table to survey the faces of the 8 archangels, neatly Seated four to a side. They were in a plain board room similar to the one abandoned in the revolution.

“Gentlemen,” he began, “We have a very dangerous situation on our hands. It is obvious that while we have been able to control the majority of the population of our community, it ’seems that there is a percent that remembers the life of the Umms before the Blast.”

“Yes,” spoke up an archangel, “and I think it will always be so, my lord. The old pass their ideas to the young.”

“I agree with you, Number Seven,” said Spurion. “Therefore, there is only one thing for us to do. We must destroy the older generation.”

“My lord!” Archangel Number Five stood up suddenly.

“We can’t do that! We are committed to life, not death. We. ..”

“Stop!” thundered Spurion. “You are a fool. If we don’t destroy the cancer; the organism will die. If we extract the cancer, the organism will live. We cannot have chaos which we just had a short time ago.”

“You are right, my lord,” said Archangel Seven. “We cannot be subjected to the barbarism of those animals, the Umms. The great Reverend Hollow Hollow would not have allowed it.”

“Yes,” said Spurion. “That is correct. We must remember Hollow and his religion, since it served us so well in the past.”

“I suggest,” began Archangel Number seven, “that Hollow be made an official martyr for I.C.C.E., and that he should be elevated before the people as an example.”

“’You are very perceptive, Archangel Number seven,” said Spurion. “We shall make Hollow Chief martyr of God and I.C.C.E. We will contact the organization in Australia and explain everything that has happened. I’m sure they will agree.”

“Who shall replace Hollow as chief prophet of the state?” said archangel number three. “We need someone who will guide the people in matters of religion and state, and who we can trust.”

“I think we will let Archangel Number seven make a suggestion,” said Spurion, “but we will discuss it later. First, we have a little something to discuss which should address our problems with dissidents. I have been preparing for this kind of problem for several months.” He pressed a button on the table communicator.

“Marcus! Come in, Please.” Shortly, a man in a white lab coat walked in. He was a short dark haired fellow with a hook nose. “Please explain to these gentlemen the workings of your invention.”

“Yes, my lord. I have developed a device, gentlemen, which will eliminate the old and the weak segment of our population. We have discovered, through exhaustive medical research, that when a person reaches a certain age, usually between 50 and 55, his bones become sensitive to a chemical I have developed, called marcast.” the scientist paused to smile. “Exposure to this chemical causes a sharp increase in the production of arthritis in every calcium containing joint, even the jaw. Depending on the exposure, the person will literally freeze up, and after a prolonged period where the person experiences pain throughout the body, which is impossible to remove, the person generally dies of shock, starvation, and reduced circulation. However, insanity usually occurs well before death, as apparently senility is also accelerated. We think perhaps the attack of sudden pain and the inability to move contributes more to the mental dysfunction than the senility. We still have to study the problem.” Marcus smiled once again.

“Yes,” said Spurion, “and we have some subjects for you to experiment on. It will be a fitting punishment for the survivors of the rebellion. What form do you presently have for your chemical, Mr. Marcus?”

“It is presently a light white powder,” answered Marcus, It is tasteless, colorless, and odorless. It is, in fact, completely soluble in water.”

“There you have it, my fellow gentlemen!” thundered Spurion with exuberance. “It is soluble in water, and into the water it shall go.” “The water supply of the entire community?” asked archangel number five.

“Of course,” said Spurion, “It will not affect any of our younger population, and we will take our supply of water out separately, so there is no chance of us being affected.” Spurion scanned the faces around the table for a hint of disagreement. There, seemed to be only fear.

“Thank you, Marcus,” he said, “Marcast shall prove to be most useful and valuable to us. You may leave now.”

The little scientist shuffled out. “So, gentlemen, we have now three things to vote on. First of all, all those in favor of the martyrdom of Hollow Hollow in the name of God and I.C.C.E., say aye.” Several ayes came from around the table. “Good,” continued Spurion, “Then it is agreed. Archangels one and two will be responsible for the matter. We have to make Hollow as near a god as the people will believe, so that they will also believe what we tell the people he stood for. Secondly,” he went on, “we need to settle the water issue. All those in favor of putting marcast into the main water supply, say aye.” Several Ayes were mumbled about the table.

“Good,” said Spurion again. “Then it is also agreed. Finally, I would like to hear if Archangel Seven has a suggestion for a replacement for Hollow.”

Archangel seven stood up and smiled. “Yes, I do,” he said. “It should be Hollow.” “What?” exclaimed archangels One and Two.

“Yes,” said number Seven, “Marie Hollow, his beautiful wife.

“Brilliant!” exclaimed Spurion, “They will identify with her immediately, and she will be easy to control. I will approach her myself at the next opportunity.”

Spurion stood up once again. “Then all our pressing business is settled. We have now only to hunt down the last few rebels and make examples of them. Archangel seven shall have that responsibility; you will all be notified when we shall decide to have our ceremony for the dead Hollow Hollow and the anointment of his wife Marie.” He paused for a moment. “And she is so beautiful as well,” he mused. “You are now dismissed.”

The archangels stood up in unison, left faced and left the board room, their fiendish business settled. Spurion was pleased. The rebellion was quashed, and it would not happen again. Marie will be most willing to carry on the memory of her husband. At least for a while.