A new work of speculative fiction from the author of Flat Earth: The Musical
Tom Bishop sat at his desk, waiting for a telephone call. To occupy his mind, he left his desk and began to pace around the office, examining the photographs lining the walls, all showing important landmarks in his career and rise to power. He found himself walking in a circular manner, since his office was an oval office. It was, in fact, the Oval Office, and it was Tom Bishop’s office, and Tom Bishop was President of the United States of America.
One photograph in particular caught Tom’s eye, and he stopped to look more closely. The photograph showed Tom Bishop standing on a stage, dropping a red billiard ball, the ball caught in mid flight. This was where it all began, when Tom took part in the James Randi million dollar challenge. The purpose of the challenge was to show evidence of a paranormal event. Tom had appeared on stage and successfully proved that gravity itself was supernatural, meeting all conditions of the challenge. Randi had disputed the result, of course. The year long legal battle finally came to a conclusion at the US Supreme Court, where Tom accepted the million dollar cheque, and denounced Randi in a devastating manner – “James Randi is a washed out old magician who promotes science and declares that all things are explained by science without any education on the matter. His foundation does a great disservice to society by teaching school children that paranormal events beyond the explanation of science do not exist when, as we have seen from this court case, they clearly do.”
In successfully debunking the scientific myth of gravity, Tom had revealed to the general public the fragility of mainstream scientific belief. They begun to question everything told to them by the government, by the media, by society itself. Tom, with his million dollars and 15 minutes worth of fame, was ideally place to capitalise on the resulting surge of public unrest. When Tom proved that the Apollo moon landings were fake and exposed the conspiracy at the heart of NASA, the surge of public unrest became a tidal wave of civil disobedience, a wave which carried Tom into the White House and made him the most powerful man on Earth.
The telephone eventually rang, rousing Tom from his memories. He swiftly picked up the receiver.
“Mr President, we have located the rebels. They’ve landed on Ross Island, sir, in the Antarctic. They’ve set up a camp at the base of Mount Terror.”
Tom answered without hesitation. “I want you to launch an operation as soon as possible. I want the rebels taken or destroyed.”