Metafire

"OK, remembering that I'm a cop, even though that doesn't seem to make a difference to you, how did you kill Stan? Are you sure he's dead?"

"Yes," it was Jane. "He's dead. We killed him in his sleep. He was too smart for us. Too dangerous. We used poison. We all saw him dead."

"All of you could be tricking us," Randy was not going to be convinced. "This could be a ruse to get me and Erisa involved in another bombing, perhaps from space."

Now it was Frank's turn, "Never, Jack. If we bombed from space, or even threatened it, the result would halt the exodus from earth. We are the children of Oppenheimer. The exodus was unexpected, but now that it is happening, it's welcome. We are spending our funds in positive ways now. Our job is done. The exodus achieves the same effect. Once enough people have left the planet, the survival of mankind is assured."

Erisa then said, "Yea. You know, my motto, all my life, has been to get off the planet as soon as possible. This is doing it... My other motto is that worry is a waste of imagination."

"Precisely," Sporkin was speaking again. He heard the expression and appreciated it. "Worry is a waste of imagination. It is. We have made mistakes more enormous than any men have ever made. We know we are doomed. But we concentrate on our work. We must remain secret, but we use all our creativity to leave a path for the future of mankind. That is why we are joining our Ukranian partners. We will establish a place of common meeting in the colonies of space. Jack, you have a role to play in this. Jack, you have an important role, beyond our lives."