Noble Conflict (32 page)

Each and every Alliance citizen is as guilty as those in the High Council for how we have treated the Crusaders in general and the Insurgents in particular. We stopped thinking for ourselves because it was easier to let others do our thinking for us. Will we allow those with a thirst for power to rise up to fill the vacuum left by the High Council and to once again suppress freedom of expression and thought? Will we continue to digest the lies of old simply because they are easier to swallow than the inconvenient truth? Or will we seize this new day and ensure that never again do we place our lives, our thoughts, our destinies in the hands of unworthy others?

The choice is yours and mine.

So, who am I?

Just an average Alliance citizen who has had access to confidential data in the past, but was too complacent to scrutinize it until very recently.

For those who still doubt my words, I’ve posted datanet links at the bottom of this screen to a number of now-unlocked sites containing top-secret information that confirm that every word I’ve said so far is the truth.

What we do with that truth is up to each and every one of us.

But as I once read, there are none so blind as those who refuse to see. It is time for all of us to open our eyes.

A friend of mine recently accused me of letting others do my dirty work. Well, this is me raising my head above the parapet. I’ve posted this message and the links to all the corroborative evidence on every news and social networking site I could think of.

I don’t know what will happen next. Maybe it’ll go viral, maybe it won’t – but at least the truth will no longer be hidden away. It’s out in the sunlight for all to see. I don’t know what kind of trouble I may bring down upon my head for doing this. But I’ve thought long and hard about it, and if I do get my head handed to me, then it’s a price I’m willing to pay.

To any remaining authorities out there, posting this was my decision and my decision alone. I had no collaborators and it was all my own idea. If you’re so afraid of the truth that you decide to come after me, I’m easy to find.

My name is Mackenzie Voss and I have one wish for you, for me, for all of us.

Peace.

www.mackenzievoss.net

www.alliancehighcouncil.net/classified/historical_documents

www.alliancehighcouncil.net/classified/crusader_threat/containment

Malorie Blackman
is one of today’s most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers. She has won numerous awards for her books, including the Red House Children’s Book Award and the Fantastic Fiction Award, and has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Noughts & Crosses
has been adapted for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is soon to be a graphic novel.

In 2005 Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her contribution to the world of children’s books, and in 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature. She has been described by
The Times
as ‘a national treasure’.

THE NOUGHTS & CROSSES SEQUENCE:

NOUGHTS & CROSSES

KNIFE EDGE

CHECKMATE

DOUBLE CROSS

BOYS DON’T CRY

THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES

TRUST ME

PIG-HEART BOY

HACKER

A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E.

THIEF!

DANGEROUS REALITY

THE DEADLY DARE MYSTERIES

DEAD GORGEOUS

UNHEARD VOICES

(A collection of short stories and poems, collected by Malorie Blackman)

FOR YOUNGER READERS:

CLOUD BUSTING

OPERATION GADGETMAN!

WHIZZIWIG and WHIZZIWIG RETURNS

FOR BEGINNER READERS:

JACK SWEETTOOTH

SNOW DOG

SPACE RACE

THE MONSTER CRISP-GUZZLER

NOBLE CONFLICT

AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 02559 7

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company

This ebook edition published 2013

Copyright © Oneta Malorie Blackman, 2013

First published in Great Britain by Doubleday, 2013

The right of Malorie Blackman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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