PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Dr. Edwards narrowed his eyes.
“Where did the boy find this?” He shook the twig.
“By the old fortress.”
“Do you know what it means?”
“That they have a presence on the island, despite the treaty.”
“I’m sure you realize that some may see this as an act of war?”
I nodded.
“And who, pray tell, would you inform about this breach?”
“Just you, National Intelligence.”
Dr. Edwards grinned. It wasn’t pleasant.
“To avoid total war, it will stay ‘just me’.”
Four soldiers entered the room. Before I realized what they were doing, two men grabbed me.
“Kill him.”
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Word count = 100
Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.
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Sorry for “double dipping” this week. Quite a few people wanted me to continue last week’s story. Possible explanations were brought up, everything from a cure to cancer, to proof that Atlantis existed to Dr. Edwards trying to figure out who destroyed his shrubbery. I decided to go a completely different direction ;)
Oh boy, who knew that little twig would lead us here? Dr Edwards seems one of those people who’s always convinced he’s doing the right thing for a greater cause, no matter what.
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Yes, Dr. Edwards can justify just about anything in that way. And I’m sure he believes it.
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And for some reason when I read your comment I thought of a line from Shrek, “Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
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Ha, that’s a great line!
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Such a difficult choice.
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Yes, another moral question this week.
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Oh no, he should have thought ahead and not said, “Just you…” I’m not sure what he should have said, but not that! He’s doomed.
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I’m not sure how he could avoided this one. Perhaps the soldiers will follow “the rule of law” and just lock him away until the foreign base is taken care of. perhaps not…
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I think this is probably close to the truth of many a potentially dangerous situation, both past and present. The sacrifice of the few for the many. I would not be able to make such a decision.
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I think it is close to how some things work out – the needs of many outweigh the needs of the few, but are we willing to pay that price when the future is uncertain? I don’t want to make that decision either!
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Yes, your part 2 is a resounding success. I was as surprised as the witness would have been.
You pose a very interesting ethical quandary. If, as Dr Edward believes, war is going to happen unless absolute secrecy is maintained, then his action can be justified – one life against many. If you take the view that I do, that war can only take place through the individual choices of many men to take up arms, then he isn’t justified. That’s because his ethical decision is one of the many that makes war inevitable. If each of us as an individual made the commitment not to take up arms, war would not be possible.
With best wishes
Penny
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Thanks.
Yes, it is a bit of a moral dilemma. I tend to agree with you, that war can be avoided without sacrificing the witness.
I once saw a Cold War era movie from, I think, Norway that had a similar idea (yes, I stole this ;) ). After avoiding Soviet soldiers the entire movie, with all of his mates killed, the hero was killed by the CIA at the end to avoid WW III.
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Dr. Edward, chief of National intelligence, is playing some game. He just eliminated an witness!
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He did. His idea is that if it leaks out, there will be a costly war, so he wants to try to eliminate the foreign base without people knowing it was even there. One life, the life of the witness, against the tens of thousands of lives that might be lost in a bloody war. That is his thinking. If it is right or not? That’s for you to decide.
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Hoo boy. It seems Dr. Edwards was a very dangerous man. Lots of good tension in this story.
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No, not a nice man at all. Thanks.
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Excellent part 2 of last week!!
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Thanks!
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Oops, disconnect. I thought this was part 2 of this week’s story.
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At least a dozen people asked me to continue my story last week. I usually don’t, but decided it would be fun to put in an ending that was totally unexpected.
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I sat up with the ending and I think my eyes bulged a bit – and that pretty much sums the impact your 100 words had on me – felt this
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Thanks. When I said I was going to take it in a different direction than expected, I guess I must have succeeded…
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success
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