Metafire

And then George looked at Erisa, "that we are alone. We are not alone. There will be others. The followers of Oppenheimer will never be far away. If anyone believes that this is wrong. If anyone wants to get out. We will be arranging freedom for Erisa, here, and Jack. I am sure others of us can return to earth, but it would be to prison."

The group had been responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people. Every individual had long since made an absolute commitment to Metafire and to the beliefs and commitment of Oppenheimer.

Erisa looked about her. The faces of the people were strong, intelligent. They were firm in their conviction. She could not believe these were the terrorists, yet they were. These people were again committing to a nuclear bomb threat, even after their impassioned regrets for the previous blasts. She had to speak, "Guys. You still believe these bombs are your tools! You still think people need to be reminded! Nobody needs this. You are as crazy as the Nazis! As the Communists! As anybody else ever has been!"

Andrei looked over to her, calmly, and said, "You, Erisa, you did not volunteer to be here. We did. Our regrets are many years old. We are not militarists. We believed the bombs that we placed before would not explode. Now, we consider exploding a bomb in space. It will do no physical harm. We can explode it many miles out."