This time, they met in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Kerrma-non. Old, mostly broken machines stood silently in the room, covered by large, gray tarps. The dusty industrial floor echoed with their footsteps as they pawed to the center of the vast room. They were all there—the leaders of the Jerrassian Liberation Front. Eight men and women of imposing stature, all dedicated to the purification of the Jerrassian people and the ideology of United Jerr.

Namir All was the first to speak.

“The situation is fluid,” he said. “Things are changing very fast and could go wrong at any moment. I believe that provides us with a unique opportunity. The People’s Council is busy tearing itself apart over the alien visitation. They’re distracted, and their attention is no longer on us. This is the moment when we should strike.”

“Are we ready?” Moram Kor asked. “Do we have a viable target?”

“We do,” Latar Nol replied. He was a middle-aged man with a limp from an unfortunate encounter with a forklift several years earlier.

“Actually,” Namir interjected, “I would like to propose a new target.”

“What?” Latar seemed flabbergasted. “Wasn’t it you who suggested the hostage plan in the first place?”

“I did,” Namir admitted. “And it was a good plan. It still is. But I think we can do better—much better. Allow me to explain.”

There were grunts of both support and opposition, though none were openly antagonistic. In the end, it was Moram who settled the matter. “Let’s hear your plan,” she said simply.

“Thank you.” Namir smoothed his suit as he stepped forward to take center stage.

“As you know, as First Assistant to the Minister of the Interior, I’m privy to certain pieces of information not intended for general knowledge,” he began. “Among them is detailed information about a secret project to enrich an element known as plutonium for the purpose of creating what is called an atomic bomb.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

He looked at his comrades. While they listened intently to his plan, he saw little understanding in their eyes.

“An atomic bomb is a device that uses Paramat Kvar’s famous equation to extract energy from heavy atoms by splitting them into lighter elements. It is a bomb powerful enough to obliterate an entire city,” he explained.

That got their attention.

“A city like Kerrma-non?” Latar asked cautiously. With five million people, the capital was the largest city on Jerr.

“It might,” Namir answered carefully. He was not a physicist. His only knowledge of atomic bombs came from the briefings he received on behalf of the Minister of the Interior. But it stood to reason that an atomic bomb could, if designed for that purpose, obliterate a city of millions—or so Namir thought. He kept his answer brief, not wanting to get sidetracked. His new plan had very little to do with atomic bombs, anyway.

“Like I said, to build an atomic bomb, you need heavy elements,” he continued. “That is the plutonium I mentioned. It is a highly radioactive element our government is manufacturing to use when they eventually build their atomic bomb.”

He paused for effect, then pressed on. “I wish we could steal the plutonium and create an atomic bomb of our own, but that is, of course, impossible. The People’s Council has spent untold billions of tomak-par on the project over years and has still not managed to create even a working prototype. What I propose is much simpler: let’s consider putting fragments of plutonium inside one of our usual bomb canisters. When the bomb goes off, the plutonium will be vaporized and spread by the wind through the city, to be inhaled by the people living there—people who would then die from radiation poisoning. A single plutonium-enhanced bomb might kill thousands or even tens of thousands. In the face of such a threat, the People’s Council will—no, must—relent to our demands.”

The leaders of the Jerrassian Liberation Front were clearly impressed, and rightly so. If all went well, they would, within days, be able to mold the government like clay in their hands.

“And we can get this… plutonium?” Moram asked. “Wouldn’t it be heavily guarded?”

“It is,” Namir answered. That was the weakest point of his plan. But with United Jerr’s security forces now entirely focused on the aliens, he thought there was a good chance a plutonium heist could succeed. “As assistant to the Minister of the Interior, I have access to the security arrangements around the transport of plutonium from our enrichment facilities. I know the timetables and the forces assigned to protect them. We can do this.”

They discussed the details for another hour, but in the end, the decision was unanimous. The Jerrassian Liberation Front agreed to Namir All’s plan.