…Minus 034 and COUNTING… “LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY!” His voice

Richards uses the bullhorn to announce that he is carrying twelve pounds of Dynacore plastic explosive, enough to destroy everyone nearby and possibly ignite the jetport fuel tanks. He claims the explosive has a General Atomics imploder ring set to half-cock, so any disturbance will trigger it. The threat panics the crowd, which scatters from the barricades and fences, while the police remain tense and uncertain.

Richards then demands a fully fueled, long-range jet with a skeleton crew within ninety minutes. The press continues filming because the enormous public audience makes the confrontation impossible to ignore, even though no one can confirm whether Richards truly has the explosive.

Evan McCone, the Chief Hunter, steps forward and challenges Richards’s claim, arguing that a man without a General Atomics rating could not obtain Dynacore. Richards counters that explosives are available in the streets for cash and says he used Games Federation money. McCone refuses the deal, but Richards tightens the bluff by announcing that he will send Amelia Williams out because she has seen the explosive.

Inside the car, Amelia is horrified when Richards tells her to support the lie. Richards, wounded and desperate, explains the appearance of Dynacore and the imploder ring so Amelia can describe them convincingly if questioned. Amelia protests that she cannot lie because of her conscience and civic duty, but Richards insists that backing him is the only way to keep him alive and force the authorities to yield.

Richards tells Amelia to claim he has been holding the ring since the first roadblock and to say she was too frightened to notice anything else. Broken by fear and moral conflict, Amelia finally stumbles out of the car and runs into the flashbulbs. The police lower their weapons as the crowd surrounds her, and Richards sinks back down in the car to wait for the outcome of his bluff.