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A quote: “We as the public are absolutely right to remain suspicious, contemptuous even, of the secrecy and the misinformation which is the digest of our news.” ~~ John le Carre
I’ll start with a story …
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“Remainers or Other?”
Point lowered the binoculars, brow furrowed. “Not sure. Place is clean save for the lights. Too clean.”
Point was old enough to remember before cities collapsed. The sight of an empty parking lot, artificial lighting and pristine concrete made his skin crawl.
Wait! Movement. Glasses up he spotted a coyote skidding to a halt just before reaching the edge of the lot while his jackrabbit prey sprinted onto the surface, 2, 8, 16 yards before stopping and looking back confused.
Point watched as the surface opened under the rabbit, disappearing it and smoothing out.
“Other,” he muttered.
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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, modified, Adobe Stock standard license.
Cameron says: (Man, I’ve been absent too long.)
2 AM and meeting in this parking lot seemed perfect. Five minutes later, the contact rolled up in a nondescript car.
“You have the information?” he asked.
“That depends on if you have the money.” I saw the notice on my phone so I tossed him the USB stick.
“Sorry about this,” my contact replied. The parking lot lit up with lights from squad cars.
“I’m not,” I answered. “I took some precautions. Local news is going to have a field day with the contents of that drive. Good luck.”
He went pale as his own phone began to buzz.
This is getting old really fast. Connor Westin looked across the vacant parking lot, remembering when he’d thought this posting as political officer for a semi-reformed Commie was going to be a one-time job.
But that cross-country trek to retrieve a young man and the microprocessor he carried had proven so successful that the arrangement had become a permanent one. Connor had even moved his family up to Eureka to have them closer to Sparta Point, so he could go home on a regular basis but still be available on a moment’s notice.
Like this unexpected little run. Not even a proper mission, just a bit of intel that the Feds might be setting up a small business owner known to be friendly with the Sharp Resistance. But now Connor was wondering if it was going to turn into a stakeout, or if a G-man with an itchy trigger finger would open a can of firefight.
And how the media would spin this one to make Spartan’s Own out to be terrorists. Especially given that, at this late hour, it was a lot less likely that a citizen reporter with a smartphone would see it and stream it to the cloud.
Dupin says: As I pulled into the brightly lit parking lot, it was empty. I was the first one. As it should be. I’d be handling the lights, or lack thereof. And the projector.
Sarah would bring her giant inflatable screen. Ryota had the popcorn maker. Otherwise, it was BYOB and snacks, though we always brought plenty to share.
And costumes. We all had our costumes.
Come midnight, the lights would turn off, the popcorn popped, and Rocky Horror Picture Show would play, but it would be better this time. I’d retired my sixteen-millimeter and replaced it with a refurbished thirty-five-millimeter projector.
Cameron says: Having attended a few RHPS viewings, that is a wonderful image.
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