“It’s against the Moscow Treaty of 1963 to fire thermonuclear weapons above ground,” says the Cabinet Secretary. “The Russians will have to be privately informed we’re going to cauterize the area – – then they’ll ask a flock of questions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Some, we don’t want answered, ” adds Ed, the Secretary’s assistant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That’ll take hours!” says Robertson. “God knows how far the infection will spread in that time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The white phone on the desk rings. All the men look at it. Grimes picks up the phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Yes, Chief?” says Grimes. “Yes, sir. Yes, Mister President.” He hangs up the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turning to the men, Grimes says, “The President’s decided to postpone Directive Seven Twelve, for twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But did he–” stammers Robertson. Grimes rips a blank sheet out of the typewriter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Instead,” says Grimes, “he’ll send out the National Guard to cordon off the area around Piedmont. That’s your department, Ed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Safe and sound!” replies Ed, leaving the conference room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It should have been left up to the scientists,” says Robertson. “It’s a colossal mistake! Tell the President I said so!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grimes reaches into his pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No,” says Grimes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ordering up a 7-12, pronto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":543,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/as034.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"25:40","filesize":"24.02M","date_recorded":"22-06-2020","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"25184392"},"tags":[],"series":[4,11],"episode_featured_image":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/as034.jpg","episode_player_image":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/AndromedaCover1400.jpg","download_link":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/podcast-download\/558\/minute-034-the-moscow-treaty-of-1963.mp3","player_link":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/podcast-player\/558\/minute-034-the-moscow-treaty-of-1963.mp3","audio_player":"\n