"I ... I don't know."
"Who is authorized?"
"Only generals, sir, and only those directly concerned with the war effort."
"I see," Tomar said, and hung up.
He had just dispatched seven copies of the announcement with an explanatory note to seven of the fourteen generals in the ministry when the Communications Engineer called again. "Major, what's all this about a bushel of fish?"
"Look, there are seven tons of the stuff all over the streets."
"And poisoned?"
"Exactly. Will you please see that this message gets out over every available piece of city-wide communication as fast as possible? This is really life and death."
"We're just allowed to work on getting war messages through. But I guess this takes priority. Oh, that explains some of the messages we've been getting. I believe there's even one for you."
"Well?" asked Tomar after a pause.