that he might be correct. His solution possessed the elegance of simplicity.

But at what cost? The Crown had not executed anyone since Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans in the Sixties. Aside from Belarus, Europe had abolished the death penalty. Even if the conspirators were taken to The Hague for trial, they could not face execution.

“I cannot let you do this,” I said.

“You can’t stop me,” Galt replied.

I lunged forward and grabbed Galt’s revolver from the desk.

He had kept one round out for his test. When I pulled the trigger, the hammer landed on a live one as did my next shot. I pivoted and fired the rest of the rounds into 482’s head, destroying the robot.

I walked over to Galt, who lay against his giant screen. Blood bubbled from h...

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