by Paul Anlee
“Let us address the latter, first. We all know that modern money, whether fiat money or credit money, has no real value beyond the opinion that people hold about it. If a currency loses the confidence of people who use it, it loses value. So, while there really is no physical barrier to simply creating more money, there is a psychological one.
“You will recall that, in 2008, central banks rushed to save the global financial system and they did so again less than a decade later. They implemented concerted quantitative easing by flooding the banks with new currency. Essentially, they saved the value of all of their currencies by all devaluing at the same time.
“Speculators who bet against any single currency or against any single economy learned a harsh lesson. When it comes to preserving the value of fiat money, no one is big enough to take on all the central banks. The central banks are the only ones with a license to print, and they can print as much as they deem necessary.
“With that in mind, the first part of our proposal is to coordinate our actions so as not to give a new trade advantage to any one country over others. This may mean central bankers lose some of their autonomy and are brought under the umbrella of political will.
“As for getting re-elected, that is a non-issue. The Vesta Project will outlive almost all of your political careers. In all honesty, we are not as concerned about your personal futures as we are about the continued support of your nations to the Project, and about surviving this crisis. There is no personal, familial, or political party advantage that will survive the destruction of the planet. As of today, they are all irrelevant. Survival of humanity is our only priority.”
She and Greg had worried about being so straightforward but agreed that boldness would play better than humility at this point. Looking around the table, she felt they had judged correctly. The politicians bristled at her dismissal of their personal interests, but quickly realized the larger truth of her vision and settled back, listening attentively.
“The only way to ensure continued support through a long period that will likely see many political changes is to make sure everyone benefits.
“We will work extensively, in an internationally coordinated manner, to manage public opinion in favor of the Project. As far as possible, the proposal before you distributes the economic and employment benefits across countries according to your relative populations.
“Unlike past programs, no one will receive disproportionate advantages. As far as possible, rich nations will not benefit more than poor ones.” A number of the representatives looked at the North American and European leaders who, for the most part, kept their gazes stoically fixed on Kathy or on the table in front of them.
“Part of managing public opinion will be emphasizing the economic growth benefits of this project. The asteroid belt, the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, and the Kuiper belt at the edge of the solar system are rich in resources, metals, minerals, water, oil, and other organic compounds. In a world where resources are increasingly more difficult to find and more expensive to extract, the easy mining of resources in space will pay back the investment we make in developing the required technologies.
“We will increase the economic benefit of the Project by making those same technologies available on Earth immediately. This will lead to the development of practically limitless, clean, cheap energy, and many other spinoff benefits. Were it not for the fact that the Earth is about to be destroyed, these technologies alone would usher in a new Golden Age. We’ll sell it as that.
“Finally, we’ll sell the new frontier. For the first time in history, humanity as a whole will have the opportunity to expand into space. In addition to new resources, it will open up new territory. We’ll have room to grow again.
“Throughout history, a major key to economic development has been the ability to open new frontiers or rebuild zones that were destroyed in wars and disasters. Construction leads to demand, which leads to employment, income and consumption.”
As he listened, Greg couldn’t help but think it was all a cruel joke, maybe the cruelest ever. Only a select few would ever know the true goal of Project Vesta. The larger part of humanity must never know about Earth’s impending doom. People have to believe the project is to everyone’s benefit rather than the benefit of the species. As a whole, people are not all that altruistic.
“To build interest, excitement, and personal investment in the project,” Kathy was saying, “we will establish a colonists’ lottery for anyone who is interested in moving to a new frontier. We will reserve seventy percent of the available spaces for people we select for expertise in a cross section of fields like science, technology, business, humanities, arts, and leadership. That will be done by a committee appointed through this working group. Everyone else will be selected by lottery.
“That is the essence of the proposal. I’m sure you have many questions, concerns, and objections, and we are prepared to consider your more experienced advice.” With that, she concluded her presentation and stood in anticipation of the onslaught she expected to follow.
“Trust,” President Chu said, shaking his head. His voice was quiet and sounded bitter. “How do we trust that there will be no disproportionate advantage? That countries will not seek to benefit by currency devaluations or military power? The world has not been a trusting place since…well…ever, really. Particularly over the past hundred years since technology made the development of global empires possible. How are we to trust each other to cooperate and be at peace for a twenty-year stretch?”
“We turn to the tools we’ve always used to build trust in each other: treaties and openness,” answered Kathy. “Through meetings such as this one today, we can develop treaties of cooperation. Under the pressure of the Eater’s threat to humanity, and with the assistance of our lattice enhancements, we will need to develop those treaties rapidly.
“If you will open your internal computer servers to Greg and me, with your permission, we can use our lattices in confidence to guarantee openness among treaty signatories.”
As expected, a din of protest rose up.
Incensed, Prince Bashir of Saudi Arabia shouted, “We cannot permit state secrets to be divulged to other interests. That is preposterous and offensive to Allah.” Others were shouting similar exhortations.
They were outside their expertise, losing ground, and it was terrifying; they could lose everything they’d gained right here.
Before Kathy could respond, the room went suddenly and eerily quiet. All around her, eyes closed and heads leaned back.
What’s happening?—she sent to Greg.
I have no idea—he replied, just as confused.
17
Well, ain’t that just a kick in the teeth?—thought Secretary of State, Virgil Hartland. Fascinating, and terrifying. Mostly, terrifying.
When he’d accepted the invitation to attend this special meeting of the G26, he didn’t know it would be his ticket to survival. Learning that the world would face certain destruction in his lifetime had come as a shock. He was thankful to be counted among the select group chosen to be evacuated. The powerful always looked after their own.
He’d have to work hard if he was going to maintain a high ranking in the political arena long-term and ensure safe harbor for himself and his family. Evacuation would begin in twelve years. He might have to wait a little longer since, in order to maintain secrecy and order, a number of high-profile individuals including politicians would be among the last shipped out. Contrary to what one might think, this wasn’t a particularly reassuring thought. No doubt the world would be giving way to utter chaos by then.
He had to give the pair credit. It was a testament to the couple’s abilities and thoroughness that the many scientists and engineers present appeared to be satisfied with the plan. Those high-tech types never agreed on anything.
The colonization program outlined by the two scientists sounded reasonable enough to someone, like him, with only degrees in economics and law. The demo
nstrations showing the threat of the Eater, the floating Cybrid, and the potato bullet were all impressive. He appreciated such demos as theater of the best kind, and they’d been effective.
Unfortunately, their follow up and call to action fell short. In his humble opinion, it was all going to fall tragically short if someone with strong leadership didn’t step forward quickly.
The couple had done alright until they started pointing to extensive references and academic-style political and economic models. In a nutshell, their well-formulated proposal sounded incredibly naïve.
For starters, like so many utopian thinkers of the past, the success of their plan depended on people behaving themselves.
Heck, what could possibly go wrong there?—he chuckled.
He didn’t fault the pair, though. Their expertise was as scientists, theory-burdened academics, career intellectuals. They were young and inexperienced in the political and social arena. They lacked the “real world” lived experience that he, Virgil Hartland, brought to the game. He had his own fair share of shortcomings, but he was not naïve. They needed someone with his skills if they were going to pull this off.
President Chu’s comments had gotten him thinking. They’ll have to build trust to get cooperation. How are they going to create trust among people who’ve spent a lifetime seeking advantage for themselves and their constituencies?
If there was one thing politics had taught him, it was this: No matter what people claimed, they seldom behaved for the greater good. They had to be cajoled, bribed, threatened, or tricked into doing the right thing. People were, for the most part, unable to extrapolate the effects of political decisions on their futures. They can’t tell right from wrong and good from bad on a larger stage. They latched onto a particular socioeconomic political ideology early in their lives—conservative, liberal, libertarian, socialist—and stuck to it, even when it was contrary to their own best interests or the long-term best interests of their society.
That’s why we politicians can, and will, say anything to appeal to our voters. We get away with it, too. Time and time again, nobody holds us accountable. Winning votes and power, that’s all that counts. And when we can’t win, we can at least make the other guy lose.
It’s a nasty game but someone has to play—Hartland smiled wryly. He not only played the game, he loved it, and he was good at it.
Not so good that I can get everyone back home onboard, though.
The scientists had sold him on the necessity and urgency; he just couldn’t see a way to move it forward. The proposals were logically sound, well-researched, and intellectually convincing. The problem was that he, and every other politician sitting around that table, knew it would be impossible to sell within their own parties, let alone to a determined opposition. Especially if we can’t tell folks the whole story.
Hartland returned his attention to the discussion. Prince Bashir was, quite rightly, pointing out the impossibility of divulging state secrets to outside interests, calling the idea “preposterous, and offensive to Allah.”
Reluctantly, Hartland raised his hand in support of the Prince’s protest. Not the Allah part—who knew what Allah thought—but against the sharing of state secrets. There wasn’t a President, Prime Minister, or General on Earth who would agree to that.
Halfway up, Hartland’s arm froze and dropped back to his side. His eyes closed, and his head lolled back against the lattice induction plates in his headrest. His lattice switched into deep inSense mode, removing all voluntary connections with his body. He couldn’t move.
A spotlight grew in his inSense visual field, and a robed man wearing an old fashioned ‘Anonymous’ mask appeared.
I haven’t seen one of those for a long time—Hartland thought—Not happy to see it now, either. That mask always came with a pile of trouble.
“My name is Alum,” said the robed figure. “I have listened in on your meeting, and have taken control of your inSense lattices to bring you this message. You will comply with the proposals made by Drs. Liang and Mahajani. It is the only hope for humanity’s survival.”
“You will comply”? Wow, who does this guy think he is?—Internally, Virgil bristled against the man’s tone. Externally, his body remained disconnected and appeared to be at peace.
“Commandeering your lattices for this broadcast is but one small example of my reach and capabilities. My actions are inspired by the Lord God, Yahweh, Allah, or Yeshua, whatever you wish to call He Who is Beyond Naming.
“Unlike Reverend LaMontagne, I am no longer content to use only words to convince you of God’s Truth.
“As in the days of the Old Testament, God’s wrath has been unleashed. His power reaches you through me, through my actions. The time of cleansing is at hand, when those who love God and devote their lives to His Glory will become the final Chosen People.
“Now, there are those among you who think your secrets safe from public scrutiny. Let me assure you that to think so is folly. The crimes you have perpetrated to access the halls of power can be brought easily into the public eye. Some are only minor infractions, but appallingly few of you have led honorable private lives. For those who’ve strayed from the path of righteousness, I will now permit you to view the evidence which condemns you.”
Hartland would have shifted uncomfortably in his seat, had he been able to move. Instead, he watched helplessly as the anonymous figure in his lattice was replaced by images from his own past, clearly and unmistakably him with a series of young ladies, and other indiscretions during his climb up the ladder. This was followed by images of women he’d “known” lying exposed and vulnerable on abortion clinic tables, a series of bank statements showing numerous payoffs for silence, and more.
The final image was the contorted body of a woman following a suicidal leap from a tall building. The video wound backward from that image and he saw himself on a balcony, pushing the woman to her death.
The woman had refused the generous payoff for an abortion. He wasn’t going to let her taint his next election; he’d had to remove the threat, remove her.
It was all true. But how could anyone have recorded this, and not come forward until now?
His mind raced. Were others here seeing his crimes, or were they seeing their own malfeasances? If anyone finds out about this, it’ll be the end of my career.
And then came an even more sobering thought: If I lose my standing, I could lose my seat in the evacuation!
Alum returned. “The spate of deaths striking the corrupt heart of the global financial system over the past few months has been just one example of Yeshua’s wrath.
“The Almighty has granted me the means to bypass your best security and reach you with impunity. His Will is inescapable.
“The most peaceful path forward for you, the path chosen by God, is to follow the proposal assembled by Drs. Liang and Mahajani.
“I am the Sword of Yeshua and will enforce His Will if required. Should you choose a different path, you will die, and your immediate family will die with you.
“Should your successors continue on a path of opposition, they will also die, and so on until more cooperative leaders emerge. You cannot escape God’s righteous judgment, and His plan will go forward with you or without you.
“I will leave you with one final demonstration of my reach, lest you still believe yourselves safe from our Lord’s Will.
“Ladies and gentlemen, soon I will take one of your own. Even now, he dies. When I release you from this communication, he will not be freed with the rest of you. His misdeeds have been judged sufficiently heinous that he shall be removed from the flock. Let his death serve as an example and a reminder to you: God’s Will has been laid before you; oppose Him and you will, likewise, perish.”
The lattice image faded to black. Hartland felt sensation returning to his limbs. His heart was pounding.
He attempted a few deep breaths to regulate his system, but something was wrong. The tightness in his chest increased, and he couldn�
��t catch his breath. Dizziness followed, a terrible squeezing sensation, and fear. His skin felt seared as if he’d been covered in flaming oil. Intense pain wracked his muscles and joints.
He struggled to break free, to scream. Panic filled his mind and wiped out all rational thought as his body convulsed. Within a minute, death relieved him from the throes of his torture.
* * *
No one noticed the spider, genetically engineered to manufacture and inject a lethal dose of batrachotoxin, as it scrambled away from its victim and climbed the nearby table leg. The creature retreated into a protected dark nook created between the table joints, screws, and wooden supports, and it waited.
Greg and Kathy watched the world’s leaders and advisors slump back in their chairs, and the guards crumple to the ground.
They watched everyone around them go limp, while they themselves remained unaffected, completely conscious but cut off from everyone else’s lattice.
Try to tap directly into someone nearby—Greg sent Kathy.
They tried frantically to penetrate the cloak that had shut them out, to identify the source of the transmission that had knocked everyone out. They witnessed the damning scenes of the nearest politicians, but couldn’t stop the inSense streaming or get past the full consciousness block.
From what they could piece together, a man called Alum was in full control. Alum? They knew nothing of him, apart from some ridiculous prophecies in the news some months ago. Maybe not so ridiculous after all. He’d just penetrated one of the most secure meetings ever, paralyzed everyone in the room except them, and was forcibly transmitting inSense presentations.
