Page 13 - An Evening with Maxwell's Daemons

Justice in Limbo

audiences with different endings, to see which one will be the most
popular. Or, in this case, the most interesting.”
“So, the possibilities look like shuffling the combinations of
what happened to the judge against what might go on with the two
searchers. First, the disappearance itself: why did it happen?
Mechanical failure, pilot error, suicide or intentional creation of an
illusion of disappearance? Second, who will get the truth first, and
why? How will the two reporters interact? Ultimately cooperate,
based on complementary skills, mutual affection, or even some
grand compromise constituting a real surprise ending? Contrarily,
their antagonism could result in one disaster or another. In short,
having created this mystery and this competition, I need to find the
best—or at least a very good—resolution. That is why I intend to
call it ‘Justice in Limbo’, and here is my solution.”
She paused for effect.
“Following various clues deciphered by the female reporter, they
locate the judge, who is weak, wounded and without any means of
survival on a deserted island. The male, whose politics are strongly
contrary to those of the other two, nevertheless sacrifices himself to
save their lives and return them to civilization. Thus I would avoid
offending either side by giving him some moral superiority—which
cannot fail to impress both those he has rescued and the rest of the
body politic. Not exactly a happy grand reconciliation, but an
accepted and acceptable choice among the rather finite available
endings. I would like to know your ideas about this.”
“All very noble,” said Schlager. “I think it just as credible, given
recent information about the corruption of the third estate, that
your rival reporters, sensing the biggest story of their lives within
grasp, and unlikely to shed their prior antipathy to work together,
spend as much time plotting and sniping against each other as
trying to stay ahead of the official search organizations. Thus a story
of personal ambition and partisan bias trumping their
responsibilities as journalists. The thrill and tension of the hunt
turning Yale graduates into vicious beasts, an atavistic descent. This
could play out four ways, presuming they find her before anyone
else: in the first scenario, the judge is dead and discovered by her

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