The copper transmit needle on the field radio danced in furious, oscillating kicks across the decibel scale.
Standing on the wet gravel roof of Apex Super-Mart #02, Julian Vance pressed the carbon microphone tight against his lips. The freezing harbor wind whipped the hem of his green Starlight smock, but his right hand on the transmitter chassis was steady as iron.
Through the darkness below, the four-hundred-and-ten-thousand-member network of the Night Clerks’ Union was listening on every frequency.
“All stations, verify statutory standing,” Julian’s voice carried through the storm, echoing into the buried copper repeaters of twelve civic districts. “I am reading the verbatim text of Gazette Rule One Hundred Eight into the permanent municipal audit ledger.”
Julian held up the yellow teletype strip under his inspection torch:
“Notary General Vance Sterling ratified Rule 108 under the Municipal Reorganization Concordat of 1996. Under his own signature, the Citadel Enclave of District 1 and all holders of Form Mun-00-VIP are certified as one hundred percent exempt from all municipal shift duties and graveyard protocols. They are likewise exempt from all emergency service rosters, employee liabilities, and register transactions.”
Julian paused, letting the cold words settle into the ears of every utility worker in New Marrow.
