by M. C. Miller
“I was getting worried. What was the call about?”
“You can imagine.” He brushed his fingers through her hair and stepped away.
“I take it the news isn’t good.”
“Nothing I can’t contain.” The inference was clear.
“Someone else might know – besides Riya?”
Eugene nodded, prompting Leah’s sighs of desperate disappointment.
“I warned you this was not the way.”
“Don’t start.” Eugene tamped down on a simmering frustration.
“You didn’t need to go down this path. It’s so unnecessary.”
“Under normal circumstances, none of this would have to happen.” Restless, Eugene searched his desk for answers that couldn’t possibly be there. “You said it yourself – we live in a time that forces good people to embrace drastic measures.”
“The whole situation’s drastic! That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. You’re risking so much more by this foolishness. Doing nothing would have served us much better.”
“Where’s the guarantee? There’s no way of telling what might have happened if the information got out.”
“You have resources. Who is everyone going to believe? It’s far better to force them to prove a negative than give them positive evidence by trying to cover it up.”
“I can’t take that chance. Our work is too important.”
“You can’t afford to be this obvious. Where does it stop?”
Leah was the only person in the world who dared talk back to Eugene. For her love and his sanity, he allowed it. With his focus now on diffusing the situation, he held back the impulse to argue. There was still a family dinner party to return to and a daughter and son-in-law downstairs who shouldn’t guess anything was wrong.
“Don’t worry. All we need is a little more time.”
His attempt to calm Leah only shifted her mood from irritated to sullen.
“It wouldn’t take much to ruin everything we’ve worked for.”
“Soon, none of this will matter. Remember, we’re building a sustainable future where once there was none. This isn’t just about us; there’s a whole world at stake.”
Leah said nothing at the one time Eugene thought she was primed to do so. He turned to read cues from her body language. “This isn’t like you. Why worry when you know I have the resources to do what’s necessary?”
Exasperation drained from Leah’s voice. In its place was something sour and dreadful. “The real horror is that Riya was just the first of so many more to come.”
Leah’s confession was a truth too raw to be stated so frankly. What it implied was not something Eugene liked being reminded of despite his commitment to the plan. For what it made him feel, he resented Leah’s sudden sense of revulsion. A compassionate but exaggerated conscience should never overrule a clear, altruistic vision of what needed to be done. In reflex, his resentment turned flippant.
“Every remodeling project starts with demolition.”
The reference was distasteful. “Don’t talk like that. You make it sound so wooden and impersonal.”
“We’ve gone over this a thousand times.”
“There’s sanctity to sacrifice. That’s what it comes down to. The sacrifice of many for the greater good. For our children. I hate to hear you be so debased about it.”
“If there was another way…if the world had time…”
“The necessity wouldn’t be so clear. I know. You’ve told me.”
“Why go into this again? We both agreed someone must take action – someone with the power and means to do something on the scale required.”
“It’s not about that. I agree something needs to be done. I have issues with how you’re going about it. We’re going to have to live a long time with the legacy of how this was done. I want that legacy to be a blessing, not a burden.”
Eugene was suddenly incensed. His voice fell to a whisper. His anger was not directed at Leah, but everyone he had witnessed giving little but lip service to the crisis enveloping the planet. “Same old story. Everyone wants to be at the feast – but no one wants to get their hands dirty killing the beast!”
For the sake of their evening together, Leah thought better of snapping back.
Eugene stepped around his desk in a huff and sat down. “After a lifetime of trying everything else, I see no other way. No one else is stepping up. I love the fact you have sensibilities. But to get through this, you need to love the fact that I don’t. How else is anything going to get done?”
Eugene didn’t expect an answer but he hoped for one.
Instead, there was a knock at the door. “Grandpa?”
The child’s voice belonged to Jayden, their nine-year-old grandson.
Leah retreated to the door and opened it. “Here he is.” She braved a smile in the presence of innocence.
The boy idolized his grandfather for the way he doted over him. Jayden shuffled into the room, enthused to be the center of attention. “I’ve got the billiards table all set up. Are we still going to play?”
Leah headed out the door with an eye on Eugene. “See you downstairs.”
Seated behind his desk, Eugene nodded and watched the boy approach.
“Mom said not to bother you but I didn’t think you’d mind.”
Eugene patted the boy on the back. “Not at all.”
“What are you doing?”
“Just some work.”
“You have to work tonight?”
“I got a phone call I had to take.”
Jayden snooped on the desk and jiggled the computer mouse, canceling the screensaver. An open document blazed on the screen before them.
“What’s that?”
Eugene leaned back. “A speech I’m working on.”
“Who’s it for?”
“A university. They asked me to talk to the students.”
“What about?”
Eugene considered an appropriate way to sum it up. “A lot of things – how the present becomes the future. What happens to those who ignore the past.”
Jayden strained to read the title, then pointed at it. “How do you say that?”
“The Anthropocene Dilemma.”
“That’s a funny word.”
“Anthropocene is the period of time we’re living in right now. Just like the dinosaurs lived in the Jurassic Period – right now is the Anthropocene Period.”
“Oh…” Jayden’s confused lack of interest spurred Eugene to explain.
“This is the time in Earth’s history when human activities for the first time are having a big impact on the whole planet. We’re using up the Earth, the oceans, we’re changing the weather and making it hard for all the animals to live. There are so many of us and we’ve gotten so good at what we do, we’ve become a bad thing for the Earth. We have to realize if we hurt Mother Earth, we hurt ourselves.”
Jayden fidgeted. “So what’s a dilemma?”
“It’s when you’re trapped in a place with only two ways to go – but neither way gets you out of the trap.”
“So what do you do?”
“With any luck, you won’t have to worry about that. Grownups are going to fix that problem before you’re old enough to care. Come on, let’s go downstairs.”
“Great! More time to play! I bet I can beat you this time!”
Eugene stood and led the boy towards the open door. For the next hour, the old man would try to lose himself in the moment – enjoying the present without a care for the unthinkable future it was becoming.
Chapter 8
Spanish Wells Plantation
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
A restive ocean gave fair warning in the darkness beyond the three-acre estate. Curtis Labon strolled through the damp air, relishing the sting of its chill. Something more purifying than refreshing could be found in cold discomfort. He pressed his steps forward and let the late hour induce a bitter reflection. He didn’t believe in sin – odd how sel
f-imposed penance felt good.
There was no escape from thoughts of Noah, his son away at college and now suddenly estranged. It was easy to explain why; harder for the heart to understand in ways that led to acceptance. The reason seemed clear; the all-consuming idealism of youth. And yet, thinking back on a busy life, Curtis couldn’t shake the rising dread that it might be due to something more.
Blame altruism. Any protest sign outside meetings of the G20 or WTO would sum it up. The boy didn’t understand how his father could be part of the Hydra strangling the planet. No matter what anyone did to throttle the monster, it always managed to grow another head. Global governance, corporate multinationals, NGOs were used as shills in a shell game of power and money. Corruption, avarice, and self-interest had been refined into functional specs and standard operating procedures. Nothing existed outside the rigged zero-sum game.
As the beast fed, his father had become rich. In the eyes of his son, being rich, by itself, was enough of a stigma. Worst yet, Noah had only recently discovered how the family fortune had started. In his son’s eyes, biopharma had been bad enough, but adding to the riches by mining oil sands from ore deposits in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta, Canada was being dirty rich in the worst way.
Curtis quickened his steps along the path. The hypocrisy of both sides was infuriating. With experience, he had recognized it for what it was. The unholy excesses of the rich elite were legend. But that was only half of the saga. The very people who held the most righteous contempt for the Hydra were also the ones most addicted to the lifestyle, gizmos, and conveniences the beast made possible.
The boy’s world view was simplistic and naïve. But like a child’s innocent remark, it held a kernel of truth. On the other side, the Hydra was only a beast insomuch that human nature was beastly. Neither side had the answer. Both sides framed the problem. Regardless, Noah had disowned him.
Curtis’ mind raced, his heart even faster. It felt like finally arriving only to discover he had everything except the one thing he wanted most, the one thing that couldn’t be bought. Some things were hard to admit even if no one else would ever know. A life lived well was not always a life lived to its greatest potential, its highest calling. Curtis had no escape from searing self-judgment. Years had flown by and what had he done? Too often he had acquiesced in pursuit or enjoyment of comforts instead of working through what he knew to be right.
He could claim relentless reality had jaded him. He could argue it’s easy to be idealistic when practical facts are skewed or ignored as unimportant. Even if he was right, it was still an excuse. Sick with himself for a life of slipping into patterns, becoming complacent, he pushed forward under the solitary cover of night.
Somehow he had to devise a means for atonement.
Behind him, an old world masterpiece of a house was ablaze with light. At the end of the cobbled trail, a covered dock was dimly lit by a full moon sliding higher behind a haze of marine air. Along the wide stretch of prime waterfront, the lap and toss of salt water announced the undisputable border between worlds. In nature, things could be that certain, unlike the world of man.
Behind a post near the end of the dock, the tip of a cigarette glowed red. A human form took shape and snapped Curtis’ reverie. It was a disappointment to find he wasn’t alone. It was some relief when Hasuru Tamasu appeared in the mist. Curtis could deal with Hasuru. Not so if the master of the house, Herr Heinrich, had appeared. Curtis was apt to become overly frank in the late hour. Heinrich would never appreciate that level of honesty.
Hasuru made an indolent show out of blowing smoke at the moon and Curtis caught an acrid whiff. “Still polluting the air I see…”
Hasuru didn’t move. “It’s OK. This tobacco’s organic.”
Curtis didn’t laugh. His lingering self-judgment had a momentum. Hasuru was dead serious which was even more pitiful, especially since there was something infuriatingly meme-like about the illogic. Tribal knowledge had reduced human society to a cargo cult, awash in the certainty of its enlightened delusions, ever at the ready with ditto-headed catch-phrases and aphorisms in place of critical thinking.
Hasuru registered Curtis’ lack of humor as disapproval but ignored it.
“What happened? Did Heinrich kick you out of the house?”
Curtis stopped alongside Hasuru, faced the ocean, and shoved hands in pockets. “I’m surprised he invited me.”
“He believes business should be done in privacy and comfort. It’s the way he likes it.”
“This place is nice. Not sure if it suits him.”
“He got a good deal on it – from a Senator.”
“Just in the neighborhood, eh?”
“Not quite. They have some new thing together.”
“Such as?”
“Green software. For government. Something for the smart grid. Senator Rigis is heavily invested.”
“I didn’t know Heinrich was into software.”
“He isn’t. But he just acquired a company that designs smart sockets, smart meters, home automation network interfaces, all kinds of monitoring and control gadgets. Rigis wants to be sure the right software gets into the new devices.”
“As a Senator or an investor?”
“Is there a difference? Heinrich talks a lot about dynamic energy pricing, load scheduling, automated control of equipment. Between us, I think it must be something else.”
“Why’s that?”
Hasuru laughed. “Because he talks so much about it.”
“Strange. He’s usually so reserved.”
“You watch. He’ll bring it up at the meeting tomorrow. He’ll tell The Group it’s all about efficient energy consumption, reducing greenhouse gases.”
“More power to him.”
“Exactly. I’d do the same. Lock in as many investors as possible now.” Hasuru took a long drag on his cigarette. “Position correctly and command the future.”
Hasuru’s words tugged at Curtis. Inexplicably, the hour seemed too late for such blatant bravado. For Curtis, the ebb and flow of self-judgment couldn’t decide whether to cover up the truth or reveal the lie. Moonlight on the waves and the invisible horizon wasn’t helping. An impulse came over him to reveal the truth but cover up the lie.
“It’s hard to command something I can’t imagine.”
“I don’t imagine the future. Imagination is now. The future is fallout.”
The statement was sharp, matter-of-fact flat, a punctuated Zen koan. The harshness of the response and its clarity called for silent consent or an escalating challenge. Curtis saw no other way to avoid the trap. He personalized it.
“I imagine Dr. Riya Basu saw herself in the future.”
Mention of the name threw Hasuru off stride. “That was a tragedy.” He recovered and looked at Curtis. “It proves one thing. It’s not the future that’s uncertain. It’s the present.”
Curtis kept focus. “It made no sense.”
Flicking ashes, Hasuru faced the water once again. “That’s what you get when the foolish and pointless joint forces. New Class Order is the worst kind of scourge. It does evil in the name of good.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge.”
“Why? You know something?”
“Like I said, it made no sense. NCO didn’t kill Riya.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“I’m the one who’s been doing the heavy lifting getting GenLET.”
“As I remember, you were more than willing to volunteer.”
“Someone had to.”
“You took it personally when Mass bought NovoSenectus. To hear you talk back then, he picked biopharma just to compete with you.”
“Nonsense. We all thought he might run off and do the unthinkable. That was the real worry.”
“As time went on and he didn’t, what was your reason then?”
“Same as yours – GenLET.”
“I always thought stealing his secrets was one of your guilty pleasures. You make it sound lik
e a burden.”
“Admit it, many within The Group have become silent partners.”
“You mean inactive.”
“Yes. Inactive but still sitting at the table.”
“What’s your point?”
Curtis searched the mist. “How long have we been a Group? Thirty…forty years? The message has gotten diluted. Do we even know what it is we’re after?”
“If we wanted to do easy things, anybody could do them.”
“Just as anybody can go through the motions.”
“What would you have us do?”
“For one thing, pay more attention. Something is going on. NCO didn’t kill Riya. Mass did.”
“Mass?” Hasuru started to pace the dock. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Oh, really? I know for a fact it was a professional hit, paid for by Mass. The shooter is back in Algiers. The money was laundered through the Grand Caymans.”
“How do you know so much?”
“I know where to look and I’ve paid a high price to find out. Call it a side benefit from years of stealing secrets from Mass.”
“But Riya was his top scientist. Why would he do such a thing?”
“That’s all I’m asking you to do – ask the question. If it’s true, then there has to be something going on. Why would Riya betray him – to traffic in GenLET secrets? That’s hard to believe after so many years of service. But if she did, who would she be working with? It certainly wasn’t us and we haven’t heard anything. Something that big would have shook the ground. Something bigger may still be buried.”
“I don’t know. NCO had motive and opportunity.”
“Beware of packages wrapped too neatly.”
“But GenLET isn’t finished. He needed her…”
“He has other scientists. Isn’t it odd that Riya’s closest colleague had her daughter kidnapped. How about that for leverage.”
“It’s easy to concoct conspiracy theories. Just as easily, the feeble-minded believe them.”
“And the Emperor has no clothes. Listen, I’m not drawing any conclusions one way or another. I don’t know what Mass is up to – but we have to face the fact; he’s up to something. We can’t rule out the worst-case scenario.”
