Way of a Rebel
By Walter Miller, Jr.
Illustrated by Rudolph Palais
[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from If Worlds of ScienceFiction April 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence thatthe U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Lieutenant Laskell surfaced his one-man submarine fifty miles off theFlorida coast where he had been patrolling in search of enemy subs.Darkness had fallen. He tuned his short wave set to the Miami stationjust in time to hear the eight o'clock news. The grim announcement thathe had expected was quick to come:
"In accordance with the provisions of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment,Congress today approved the Manlin Bill, declaring a state of totalemergency for the nation. President Williston signed it immediately andtendered his resignation to the Congress and the people. The executive,legislative, and judiciary are now in the hands of the Department ofDefense. Secretary Garson has issued two decrees, one reminding allcitizens that they are no longer free to shirk their duties to thenation, the other calling upon the leaders of the Eurasian Soviet tocease air attacks on the American continent or suffer the consequences.
"In Secretary Garson's ultimatum to the enemy, he stated: 'Heretofore wehave refrained from employing certain weapons of warfare in the vainhope that you would recognize the futility of further aggression anddesist from it. You have not done so. You have persisted in yourblood-thirsty folly, despite this nation's efforts to reach an agreementfor armistice. Therefore I am forced to command you, in the Name ofAlmighty God, to surrender immediately or be destroyed. I shall allowyou one day in which to give evidence of submission. If such evidence isnot forthcoming, I shall implement this directive by a totalattack....'"
Mitch Laskell switched off the short wave set and muttered an oath. Hesqueezed his way up through the narrow conning tower and sat on thesmall deck, leaning back against the rocket-launcher and dangling hisfeet in the calm ocean. The night was windless and warm, with the summerstars eyeing the earth benignly. But despite the warmth, he felt clammy;his hands were shaking a little as he lit a cigarette.
The newscast—it came as no surprise. The world had known for weeks thatthe Manlin Bill would be passed, and that Garson would be given absolutepowers to lead the nation through the war. And his ultimatum to theenemy was no surprise. Garson had long favored an all-out radiologicalattack, employing every nuclear weapon the country could muster.Heretofore both sides had limited themselves to non-rigged atomicexplosives, and had refrained from using bacterial weapons. Garsonwanted to take off the boxing-gloves in favor of steel gauntlets. Andnow it would happen—the all-out attack, the masterpiece of homicidalengineering, the final word in destruction.
Mitch, reclining in loneliness against the rocket-launcher, blew athoughtful cloud of cigarette smoke toward the bright yellow