Commonwealth: A Novel of Utopia, part 1, chapter 10
Author’s Note: This is an excerpt from my novel Commonwealth. The rest of today’s installment is free, but only on my Patreon site. If you want to read the next part today, it’s already up on Patreon as well. You can sign up for as little as $1/month, or $2 for exclusive author’s notes and behind-the-scenes material. There’s also a table of contents for all published chapters.
“Okay, if you want to fight this battle, let’s fight it,” Michael said. “Have you heard about the proposal for martial law?”
“The proposal for what?” Rae blurted out, drawn into the conversation for the first time.
Zoe nodded grimly.
“It was in the paper this morning. Congress is debating a countermeasure to give the army responsibility for internal security. They’ll have authority to detain anyone without trial and to use force as they see fit, not subject to court review. Remington said it was a necessary measure for self-defense against terrorists like us.”
“Tell us, general,” Michael said. “The government is striking back. What’s your next move? What are you going to do about it?”
“What am I going to do about it?” Owen said with a twisted smirk. “You mean, what are we going to do about it. You’re part of this now,” he added, jabbing at them with the fingers that held his cigarette. “Or didn’t you realize that?”
“We’re not part of your anarchist brigade,” Zoe said. “We didn’t come to throw bricks!”
“You think the cops care? As far as they’re concerned, everyone who was at Times Square is guilty. They have all our faces on video somewhere. It’s only a matter of time before they send a black-bag squad to your door.”
Rae hadn’t thought of this. From the looks on her friends’ faces, they hadn’t either.