“When you carried out war games in the Long Sea, did you retrieve all the test missiles that landed in the sea?”
“Yes, sir,” Geza said.
Cruz leaned his head forward in an inquisitive manner. “Are you sure, admiral?”
“Positive,” Geza said.
“It’s true, Mr. President,” Hitchcook assured. “I personally made sure that all test missiles were retrieved.”
“Good. Are all our offensive missiles capable of carrying nuclear payloads?”
“Yes, sir,” Admiral Geza said.
“In the next ten days, I need you to put missile launching systems in Earth orbit disguised as telecommunication satellites,” Cruz ordered. “Hitchcook, you must quickly supervise the making of the disguise. I want those missiles systems in Earth orbit as soon as possible. They should be armed with long-range space-to-surface nuclear missiles with maximum explosive yield.”
“Do you want to nuke Earth, sir?” Fleet Admiral Eawo said, thinking about his family in Nigeria.
“It’s just a backup plan. Nuking the Earth will cause irreversible environmental degradation but we need to have back up plans. If war breaks out between our space force and the Earth, we’ll be heavily outnumbered and outgunned. If Earth’s superpowers unite against us, they’ll be able to quickly build a space force. That’s why we must have back up plans. We must be prepared for all eventualities.”
“How many missile launchers do you want to orbit the Earth?” Hitchcook asked.
“You must put at least fifteen evenly spaced and in different orbital planes. All of the missile launchers must be in high Earth orbit. If need arises, we will use the satellites to strike the capital cities of the world’s superpowers. We’ll only use nuclear weapons as a last resort because they’ll have long-lasting effects on the environment. We want to eliminate the polluters with as little damage to Earth’s environment as possible.”
“That will be done, sir,” Hitchcook said. “The admirals and I will make sure the missile systems are put in high Earth orbit.
“Why not put the missile launchers in geostationary orbit above the capital cities of the Earth’s superpowers?” Eawo asked.
“Because the anti-satellite systems of the superpowers mainly target geostationary and sun-synchronous satellites. They’ll easily discover the missile systems if we put them in geostationary or sun-synchronous orbit.”
“Wise decision,” Eawo said, nodding his head.
“One more thing,” Cruz said. “Ensign Jennifer Ladley has been discharged from the space force.”
“Who’s Ensign Jennifer Ladley?” Eawo asked.
“She’s the Ensign we assigned to Planet House to cook for the President,” Hitchcook said.
“Did she misbehave, Mr. President?” Eawo said. “If she misbehaved, we’ll straighten her out.”
“No, admiral, she didn’t misbehave. She’s been promoted to my wife.”
Eawo burst into laughter and Hitchcook joined him. Even Admiral Geza smiled in amusement.
“Are you going with her to Earth tomorrow?” Hitchcook asked.
“No,” Cruz said firmly. “You know how women are. She might brag about E Utopia to her friends. Besides, the press will be all over her and she might let slip something about E Utopia.”
“I see what you mean, Mr. President.”
“Keep an eye on her, will you, Hitchcook?
“I’ll keep an eye on her, sir.”
“You’re dismissed, gentlemen.”
Eawo and Geza rose from their seats and saluted. The three men bade the President farewell and walked out of Planet House.
Cruz walked to the wall and looked at a display that was showing images from satellites observing E Utopia. Two of the satellites were on E Utopia’s daylight side and sent beautiful images of the planet. Pride swelled in him as he feasted his eyes on the livestreams of E Utopia. This beautiful planet was one half of the green empire that he wanted to create. He would never rest until he conquered the other half of his empire.
When he was tired of watching the displays on the walls of the situation room’s walls, he went out of the room in search of Jennifer. He found her in the kitchen.
“Good evening,” she said.
“Hi.”
“Dinner is ready.”
“Dinner can wait.”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m hungry for this,” he said, putting his hands on her posterior.
Chapter Ten
Sara’s heart sank as she watched livestreams of news on her computer. Hundreds of refugees were moving out of the Sahara and Somali deserts after many of their relatives had succumbed to high temperatures. Some of the refugees were well-received where they went but refugees from Sudan were not so well-received in South Sudan. For decades North Sudan oppressed South Sudan, leading to a bloody civil war that led to the independence of the latter. The same applied to Somali refugees who were not so well received in Kenya. Kenyans had suffered attacks from Somalia’s Al Shabaab terrorists and they feared that the terrorists could enter Kenya disguised as refugees.
She placed a hand on her tummy. If temperatures continued to rise, the whole world would be uninhabitable. Was abortion such a bad thing under the present circumstances? She had asked herself the question many times. She was morally opposed to abortion but wasn’t it cruel to bring a child into a world like this? She knew George would never forgive her if she aborted his child. But would the child forgive her for bringing him into such a world?
She felt a tightness in her chest when her cell phone rang. The call was from an unknown number. “Hello,” she gasped.
“Hello. Is that you, Sara?”
She almost fainted when she heard the voice of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. “Yes, Tim,” she said.
“The President has decided to launch an inquiry into findings. He tasked me to work with the Pentagon on this matter. They’re sending submarines to the two spots and when the clouds appear, the submarines will rise to the surface and take pictures of the sky to determine whether there are clouds in those two areas.”
“And if they don’t find clouds?”
“They will train reconnaissance telescopic satellites on those two spots.”
“But NASA has been compromised,” Sara said. “They mustn’t include NASA in this.”
“Don’t worry. They won’t include NASA in this op. They’ll use the Military National Reconnaissance Office’s intelligence satellites.”
“There is also the possibility that the culprits pasted clouds on top of real clouds,” Sara said. “If the Navy servicemen see clouds in that area, it doesn’t necessarily mean that nothing is amiss.”
“I have already pointed that to them.”
“Thank you, Tim.”
“No, thank you for bringing this matter to light. By the way, this is classified info.”
“I won’t tell anyone, Tim. Did you hear the news from the Sahara and Somali deserts?”
“Yes,” Tim said somberly. “It’s terrible. People are being cooked to death.”
“Those scenes will fill the whole world if El Monstruo continues unchecked. I hope the Pentagon will act quickly.”
* * *
“Mom, can you please give me fifty bucks?”
Akeela Frankson looked at her daughter, Primrose. The girl looked so much like her dad that Akeela couldn’t look at her without thinking about him.
“What do you want the money for?”
“Stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“There’s this skirt I saw when I was window-shopping. It’s so cool.”
“What’s the point in having a new skirt? When you’re walking outside with the cool skirt, nobody will recognize you. You’ll just be another girl with a face covered by a breathing machine.”
“I’ll use an oxygen tank and nasal cannulas. I want everyone to see how my makeup will match the skirt.”
Akeela wasn’t short of m
oney. Her husband’s employers sent her a fat check every month. She had saved most of the money. When he came back, they would buy a new house far away from Houston’s Manchester neighborhood. Although the smokestacks had stopped pouring smoke into Manchester, she wanted to buy a house far away from the neighborhood. She knew that the oil companies had only stopped because of El Monstruo. When El Monstruo ended, the government would remove restrictions on the oil companies and they would resume pouring pollutants into the neighborhood.
Akeela missed her husband but she was coping. At least he was not deployed in a war zone. When he was in Afghanistan, she was petrified each time she heard news about US casualties. Each time someone knocked her door, she feared the knocker could be a messenger from the Army bringing news of injury or death of her husband. She missed him but at least she knew he was safe.
“Mom, my request is still pending,” Primrose insisted.
“Okay. Go to my bedroom and bring my handbag.”
Primrose skipped to the bedroom, seeing dollar signs in her eyes.
The doorbell rang and Akeela walked to the door. She opened the door and saw two strangers in dark suits. One of the strangers was white and the other was black.
“Good afternoon, ma’am,” Black Stranger said.
“Good afternoon.”
“Can we come in?” White Stranger said.
“What is this about?”
“It’s about your husband,” Black Stranger said.
Akeela’s knees buckled. She had to hold onto the door to avoid falling. She pulled the door wide open and hobbled to a sofa. The strangers followed her and sat opposite her.
“Mom is everything alright?” Primrose asked, her eyes vacillating from her mother to the strangers.
“I don’t know, honey. They said they’ve come to tell us something about your dad.”
“Can we speak in the absence of your kid?” White Stranger said.
“Oh my God!” Primrose moaned. “Mom, did something happen to my dad?”
“I don’t know, Primrose,” Akeela shrieked.
“We can’t speak in the presence of your daughter,” Black Stranger said.
“I’m not a baby,” Primrose protested.
“She’s sixteen. Let her hear whatever you’ve to say.”
“But what we want to say is confidential.”
“If it concerns her dad, she’s got every right to hear it,” Akeela said with finality.
“But she must not tell it to her friends or to anyone.”
“I won’t tell,” Primrose promised.
“Your husband is fine, Mrs. Frankson,” White Stranger said.
Akeela and Primrose heaved sighs of relief.
“Where is he?” Akeela asked.
“I’m coming to that,” White Stranger said. “The world is about to end. Temperatures are rising and atmospheric oxygen levels are continuing to fall. Soon the world will be totally uninhabitable. Your husband’s employers have created an environment somewhere in space where a limited number of people can stay indefinitely. Mrs. Frankson, your husband has been given the privilege to choose one hundred and fifty people to go and live with him in space.”
“You mean he’s in a space station,” Akeela said. “I saw a movie like that once.”
“We can’t just take your word for it,” Primrose said. “You could be criminals for all we know.”
“Here’s the proof,” Black stranger said, holding a flash disk by the tips of his fingers.
White Stranger took out a laptop from a bag and switched it on. Black Stranger plugged the flash disk and White Stranger’s hands moved on the mouse pad. Andrew Frankson’s voice came out of the laptop’s speakers.
Mother and daughter scrambled to the laptop’s screen and held each other’s hands when they saw Andrew Frankson’s face.
“I have made this video for my beloved family and friends, whose names I shall say after I explain the purpose of the video. I pledge you to secrecy. This must not get into the ears of outsiders. Conditions on Earth are deteriorating. I’m speaking from a location outside the planet Earth. We have found a habitat capable of sustaining a limited population. Each member of our group has been given the privilege to invite people to come and stay here. I wish I could invite the whole world but I am allowed to choose. Unfortunately, we can only take a limited number of people. You must keep this secret to avoid panic. We don’t want a stampede of people screaming and begging to be included on your trip to this new habitat. I know you have a lot of questions but I can’t answer them now. I worked hard to earn us this safe refuge and I will be disappointed if you don’t come and join me. By coming to join me here, you’re also doing those who remain behind a favor because you will reduce the number of people competing for Earth’s meager resources. Here, you shall breathe freely without the need for breathing machines. The weather here is fine. In short, I’m inviting you to come and live with me in paradise. Here are the people on my list. My beloved wife, Akeela, my daughter, Primrose, my sister...”
Crossing her fingers, Akeela listened intently, praying her sister and brother were on the list. She wept with joy when her siblings, their spouses and their children were included on the list. “I love you, Andrew Frankson. Thank you for including my sister and my brother.”
“How do we know that you didn’t kidnap my dad and forced him to make that video?” Primrose asked.
“The video is all the proof we have. Your dad sacrificed a lot to earn you the right to go and stay in a new hospitable environment away from doomed Earth. He’ll be very disappointed if you refuse to come.”
“So when do you want us to leave?” Akeela asked.
“Tomorrow,” Black Stranger said. “We’ll start with the first fifty people on the list. If anyone among the first thirty people on the list can’t go for any reason, we’ll pick the next in line and those who have missed the first flight can go on the next flight.”
“We will travel in a spaceship?” Primrose asked.
“Yes,” replied White Stranger.
“Like Star Trek?”
“Like Star Trek,” Black Stranger echoed.
“Mom, I’ve got to go and get that skirt,” Primrose said. “I want to be the best dressed girl in space. I can’t wait to see dad.” Despair replaced excitement on her face. “I wish dad included Nicole. I don’t know what I’ll do without Nicole. Why can’t we just invite Nicole?”
“Who is Nicole?” Black Stranger asked.
“She’s her best friend,” Akeela replied.
“It’s complicated, Primrose,” White Stranger said. “If we invite Nicole, she would invite her parents and her brothers and sisters and they’ll invite their friends, and before we know it, we’ll have a crowd of people begging to go with you to safety. The story would get in newspapers and the whole world would beg to go with you. Some people might even try to take your places on the spaceship by force.”
“One more thing,” Black Stranger said. “You’ll only be allowed two kilograms of baggage.”
“Two kilos!” Primrose exclaimed. “That means I’ll carry only my lingerie.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll have everything you need up there.”
Chapter Eleven
Nzue burst into Sara’s office and announced, “I’ve got good news,”
Sara looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“The rate of oxygen decline for the past month was only three point three percent.”
“And that is good news?”
“If you see it the way I see it, it’s good news,” Nzue said. “At one time we recorded monthly oxygen decline rates of as high as nine percent. Last month’s oxygen decline was only three point three percent against four point five percent for the previous month. If we maintain this rate, we’ll be able to arrest the decline.”
“Listen, Nzue. Last month the Earth lost three point three percent of its meager oxygen. The margin looks small because we replaced the lost atmospheric oxygen with oxygen derived from the redu
ction of sand. We created mountains of silicon dumps and we still had a decrease in atmospheric oxygen.”
Nzue refused to let Sara dampen his mood. “But for the first time since El Monstruo began, we’re close to having zero percent oxygen decline.”
“Do you know what it means to attain zero percent net decline of atmospheric oxygen using the methods that we’re currently using?” Sara asked with exasperation.
“Enlighten me.”
“If we manage to stop the depletion of atmospheric oxygen without stopping the oxygen loss, it means the amount of oxygen we’re producing by sand reduction is equal to the amount of oxygen that the atmosphere is losing. It means we’re going to have to continue reducing sand and creating mountains and mountains of silicon waste forever.”
“Maybe we won’t do it forever,” Nzue reasoned. “Maybe the reducing agent that is absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere will be used up.”
Sara shrugged. “Maybe the hypothetical reducing agent in the lava from the hypothetical volcanoes will be used up.”
“We need to be optimistic if we want to win this war, Sara.”
“Yes, we need to be optimistic. But we also need to explore other alternatives instead of sticking to this volcanic axiom. We need to find out where the oxygen is going. Otherwise we’re going to fill the whole world with silicon dumps.”
“You have a point, Sara,” Nzue said. “Sand reduction is not the answer but it will buy us time.” He sighed. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I’ll let you know.”
She returned her eyes to her computer and resumed watching livestreams from Earth observation satellites. For two months, she had watched real-time images of the Earth for at least six hours a day but she hadn’t found anything suspicious. It was as if someone had warned the satellite companies. Sara believed that one of the people whom the President had consulted about this matter had warned the space agencies and satellite imagery companies. Someone in the Cabinet was involved in the attempt on her life. Maybe it’s not just an ordinary member of the Cabinet, Sara thought with a shudder. Maybe the President himself is involved in this dirty game. If the President was involved, any attempt to stop him would be seen as politicking. Some people could even see it as treason. If the President was involved, then the bodyguards that he had given her could not be trusted.
The E Utopia Project Page 25
