Patrick S. Lafferty

Anno Domina Patrick S. Lafferty

The year is 2030, and the most important decision of Damien Driver?s brief tenure as governor of Arizona is to decide whether or not he should stay the execution of a heretical cult leader. Damien?s conservative constituency ? and just about everyone else with an opinion ? wants the treasonous woman dead. However, the party?s single largest contributor, the Bishop of Phoenix, as well as the prison chaplain plead with the governor for clemency: the bishop citing the Church?s stance against capital punishment; the chaplain believing she is the second coming of Christ. Already convinced that the woman is wholly innocent, Damien searches frantically for a legal loophole to justify a stay of execution only to discover that there are forces at work trying to make the decision for him.