Volume One, Issue One

Small shifts, small sounds, small breaths. Five of them; large man, small man, tall man, tall girl, small girl.

Large man, gravelly voice, complaining. “They should have been here already."

Small girl, squeaky whispers. “Maybe they broke down.”

Husky laugh from the tall girl. “So our work’s been done for us. Perhaps there is a god.”

Tall man, hissing. “Customs at the first dock is probably holding them up. Be still.”

He’s the killjoy, that one. Always has been. Hateful and driven; a vengeful general leading wayward troops.

Small man, whispering. “Is this really necessary?”

“Of course,” says the tall man. “We’re doing what needs to be done. We won’t be drones, we won’t be ruled.”

Small girl, musing. “Well, someone has to rule.”

“Who says?” Tall man, philosophizing. “We dream of a free civilization, do we not?”

Tall woman, clear and cutting. “An anarchaical one, you mean.”

Tall man, snappish. “That attitude creates totalitarianism. People have the ability to interact freely and peaceful, without the cruelty and restriction of penal codes.”

Large man, directly. “We are neither free nor peaceful, John. You rule us, and we act with violence.”

“Only to throw off the yoke of oppression.”

“Yet this proves that violence is in us. What makes you think that when freed from laws it will abate?”

“We’ve at least proved that laws do little to hold it in check. And which one of you would betray us to the managers?”

“We might choose exile.”

“To live like rats?”

“Don’t we already?”

A grinding noise, a massive door opening, a ship sliding into the bay. Arguments aside, four people crouched in darkness, armed and silently ready.

The tall man, tense. “Ready?”

All, whispering. “Ready.”

Movement in the middle of the bay, the machine moving, the living cogs turning living gears. Workers, engaged.

Tall man, electric. “On my mark…”

Title: Not a Robbery
Word Count: 309
Encylopedia: Clute, John and Nicholls, Peter; The Encylopedia of Science Fiction; New York; St. Martin's Press; New York; 1993, update 1995
Entry: Abbey, Edward