Genesis

by Bernard Beckett

This speaks clearly of the challenge the Council faced. It was a challenge they would never overcome, but they had to try. Their plan in going to trial was to put a new threat before the people. They sought to fabricate evidence so that Adam could be painted as part of a broader conspiracy. They wished to unsettle the people, have them believe the plague had mutated to a more virulent form, and that this breach was not the first. They wanted to suggest the Outsiders were already among them, plotting a large-scale invasion. In short, they wished to return the people to the level of concern and insecurity that had underpinned the establishment of The Republic. ‘Change Equals Decay’, the second dictum. Adam’s profile made him the perfect candidate. There had been troubles in his past; he was known to be a loner, unconnected and rebellious. The leaders made the mistake of perspective. They assumed that because he represented all they feared, the people would also fear him. They didn’t anticipate his charm. They didn’t anticipate the people making a hero of him. The trials were screened in every commune. The people became obsessed with the proceedings just as the Council had hoped, but their opinions soon diverged from the official script. Adam didn’t look like a traitor to them. He was a good-looking young man, with a disarming smile. He told the court that when he saw the young girl, floating hopelessly towards a line of explosives, he saw the sisters he would never know, the...