День триффидов
Strategic Withdrawal
Iturnedtoanotherangle:
"Idon’tsee—Tellme,justwheredoyouandyourCouncilstandinallthis?"
"SupremeauthorityandlegislativepowerisvestedintheCouncil.Itwillrule.Itwillalsocontrolthearmedforces."
"Aimedforces!"Irepeatedblankly.
"Certainly.Theforceswillberaised,asandwhennecessary,byleviesonwhatyoucalledtheseigneuries.Inreturn,youwillhavetherighttocallontheCouncilincasesofattackfromoutsideorunrestwithin."
Iwasbeginningtofeelabitwinded.
"Anarmy!Surelyasmallmobilesquadofpolice—"
"Iseeyouhaven’tgraspedthewideraspectofthesituation,Mr.Masen.Thisafflictionwehavehadwasnotconfinedtotheseislands,youknow.Itwasworld-wide.Everywherethereisthesamesortofchaos—thatmustbeso,orweshouldhavehearddifferentlybynow—andineverycountrythereareprobablyafewsurvivors.Nowitstandstoreason,doesn’tit,thatthefirstcountrytogetonitsfeetagainandputitselfinorderisalsogoingtobethecountrytohavethechanceofbringingorderelsewhere?Doyousuggestthatweshouldleaveitforsomeothercountrytodothis,andsomakeitselfthenewdominantpowerinEurope—andpossiblyfartherafield?Obviouslynot.Clearly,itisournationaldutytogetourselvesbackonourfeetassoonaspossibleandassumethedominantstatus,sothatwecanpreventdangerousoppositionfromorganizingagainstus.Therefore,thesoonerwecanraiseaforceadequatetodiscourageanylikelyaggressors,thebetter."
