Search Results: 'Barber v. Murray'

The Verdict’s Echo

Words: 2847 · Source Novel:: Sanctuary of Lies

Months after the Supreme Court of the Federated Arcathian States issues its opinion in Barber v. Murray, enshrining radical personal expressive rights, cult leader Silas Crane perverts the ruling to launch the “Doctrine of the Final Shearing.” Undercover agent Lillian Voss infiltrates the isolated Aegis Sanctuary, a compound of blinding white stucco perched on a desert fissure. She immediately perceives that every serene smile masks terror; open doubt is punished by public “cleansing.” When a new arrival whispers a forbidden question about the outside world, he is led to a scaffold and mysteriously falls. Lillian recognizes that here, truth is a luxury that kills, and her first lie to Crane’s inner circle must be flawless.