by Randy Dutton
Showing an impish smile, she made a dinosaur with her fingers and started tromping through his chest hair toward his head.
Trying to contain his laugh, he continued, “Agronomists found that CO2 not only allows plants to grow bigger, but to also be more nutritious. Now, over the past 540 million years, CO2 had dropped from 7,000 to 280 ppm. That’s a drop of 96%. Where did it go?”
“Into coal, oil, gas?”
“Right, and into soil, peat, carbonates, methane hydrates, ocean sediment, and other compounds.”
“Don’t forget diamonds.” Her left ring finger waggled.
“Can’t leave those out.” He leaned over and kissed her hand. “Why, if all earth’s carbonate rock were converted back into CO2, the resulting gas would weigh 40 times the current atmosphere. Essentially, carbon’s being captured by nature and sequestered into nearly irretrievable forms. Here’s what most environmentalists don’t understand....”
Anna’s attention was absolute. Her little dinosaur sat down.
“Earth’s flora, its plant life, was nearing the dead zone,” he said.
“The dead zone?” Her eyes widened.
“Yep. When plants suffocate from lack of food, in this case, CO2. When levels drop to about 180 ppm, most plants start dying. Some call that the ‘yellow zone.’ At 150 ppm, almost all plants are dead. That’s the ‘dead zone.’ I estimate that if mankind hadn’t started burning fossil fuels, Earth’s plant life would have withered and died off in about 10 or 20 million years.”
Anna’s eyes widened in shock. “That can’t be right. I can’t imagine earth’s plants all gone.” She glanced at her sitting hand and flopped it over on its side. Her lips pouted.
“Well, I’ll admit it’s a simplistic, straight-line projection. There would be cycles of dying plants releasing carbon into the air, plants getting a temporary reprieve, then dying off again. Look at CO2 concentrations and you’ll see even faster drops and some dramatic rises. These numbers fluctuated wildly over geological time, and for reasons we don’t entirely understand. But the long-term trend is definitely downward. Here’s the funny part of all this—”
“There’s a funny part here?” She sweetly mocked him.
“Yes, Dear.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Mankind has inadvertently saved the planet by burning fossil fuels. We may have added another 10 or 20 million years to earth’s flora and fauna.”
Anna’s expression change from humor to thoughtful. “May have?”
“Sure, unless someone finds a way of really soaking it up fast.... Then the benefit we bequeathed the Earth will vanish. The very environmentalists who complain mankind’s evil and is destroying the earth’s biosphere ought to be thanking mankind for saving the biosphere. Ironic isn’t it?”
Pete noticed Anna’s dour expression.
“Babe, is there something wrong?”
“Maybe.... What if someone created something that captured carbon and got out of control?”
“Depends on the levels it drops it to, what consumes it, whether something recycles the carbon back into the air, and how nature copes with it. Why?”
“What if someone genetically modified a life-form to quickly consume CO2 down to very low levels, propagate faster than competing species, and not recycle the carbon?”
“Not recycle it? Then it might be game over.”
Her lips pursed as she considered the green phytoplankton blooms in California.
“Anna, is there something you want to tell me?”
“Not yet. Let’s go back to your quiz.”
“Okay.” He gave her a doubtful look. “Do you believe mankind can make a significant difference in global temperature?”
“No.”
“Is it worth our resources to spend everything we have to maybe reduce global temperature one degree over 100 years?”
“Not really...But Pete?”
“Yes, Babe?”
“I don’t think all this has much to do with global temperature.”
His brow furrowed. “What would it be then?”
“To create a two-tiered society where elitists dominate the world.”
“For what purpose?”
“To control resources and forcibly and dramatically reduce the human population.”
“Anna, why would you believe that?”
She laid her head on his chest, and sighed. “Because they told me.”
Pete leaned forward. “What? Who told you that’s the plan?”
“Quite a few actually, Swanson included. That’s always been their goal. For nearly a hundred years.”
Anna’s emotions rose again. “They believe…they believe we’re a virus growing out of control. That humanity’s population, like a virus, is putting the world out of balance. Progressives think they are tasked to respond as the antibody…. Pete?”
She leaned up and looked him in the eyes, hers already starting to tear. “Our child is not a virus.” A tear fell onto his chest.
“No, our child is not a virus,” Pete said huskily as he held his wife more tightly.
They were up and showered an hour later. Anna had regained her composure. Their change of plans included Anna lowering the boom on Swanson.
After a leisurely lunch, they drove back toward Nice and positioned themselves on a hillside road with a clear view of the Monaco Harbor. They leaned against the rental car’s fender in a position to see the Spider still tied up dockside.
Pete turned on the laptop and called up the program that monitored the Krugerrands. “There are a lot of red dots across the US now.”
“Must be the FBI rounding up the hackers,” she said flatly.
“The signal of the coin placed in Jared’s pocket is centered over the Spider. It’s green.”
“It’s probably with Alexis.”
He put the battery back into Jared’s cell phone and handed it to her.
“Here goes.” She crossed her fingers and tightly gripped the phone in her left hand.
Pete sat next to her so he could hear both sides. His concern rose as he watched her body tense and her expression turn angry.
A brusque male voice answered. “Hello?”
Anna lowered her voice to a threatening tone. “Swanson...You let Jared kill my dogs!”
“Anna, where are you?” His voice softened with real concern.
“That’s irrelevant. Pay attention.... If I ever learn that you are making an effort to find me, or anyone associated with me, I will wreak holy hell upon you and your entire organization.”
“You threaten me?!” he spat out.
“Swanson, remember just how far I will go for revenge!” she growled.
“I could have you hunted and ripped apart!”
“Remember the explosives I kept on your boat?” She heard a gasp. “I’ll bet you can’t find them now.... Want to know why?”
Pete gave her a questioning look.
Her malevolent smile was matched with a malicious tone. “With the press of a button, I could vaporize you.” Her facial muscles relaxed leaving a mischievous smile. She mouthed to Pete, he’ll tear his boat apart looking for something that doesn’t exist.
Pete was bemused.
“You didn’t?!” Swanson challenged.
“Are you suggesting I’m not capable of it?”
“Even beyond my own death I could have people gunning for you.”
“Maybe, but not before a thousand websites are broadcasting your every misdeed. And every government police agency would probe your life. Your legacy would be shredded, your fortune scattered to the four winds as law firms divvy it up. Whether I live or die, I’ve already made the arrangements, and I’ve set up redundancies.... Want to test me?!”
A long pause followed.
“Anna, come home. I’m sorry. I’m just upset at the loss of my best employee – you. You’re like a daughter to me. You know I would never hurt you. Come back and all is forgiven.”
“Swanson, hear me good...” Despite his attempt to lure her, she
kept her tone severe. “You have reason to fear me. But I’ll strike a deal. I’ve cut my connections to you. You and your friends forget about me, and I’ll leave you alone. I’ve helped you make billions off the unsuspecting masses with this carbon trapping scam.”
“Scam?!” he challenged.
“Yes, that’s what it is. A carbon capturing fraud to justify stealing from humanity their lives, their property, their freedoms. The poor people who thought you cared about their plight will rebel if they find you really only cared about controlling them. Keep the money if it feeds your illusion of superiority. But I know you’re nothing but an immoral, tyrannical puppet master. I regret ever having helped you. And now I’m free of your strings…. Do we have a deal?”
There was labored breathing on the other end. He finally emoted a heavy sigh. “You’ve got a deal Anna. Why are you doing—”
“Goodbye!” She clicked off, then pulled the SIM chip and battery out of Jared’s cell phone. After wiping the surfaces, she tossed the battery and phone carcass in different directions, each piece landing in thick brush.
“Why are you keeping the chip?”
“It’ll tell me who Jared had talked to. One can never be too careful.” She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply then slowly exhaled. Opening her eyes, she smiled sweetly. “Let’s go, Pete.”
“Yes, it’s time to go home.” He brushed back a strand of hair from her face.
She gazed into his eyes. “Not yet, there’s still a place I want to show you.”
They stood hand-in-hand in the Picard family plot. She knelt down at her great-grandfather’s grave, brushed accumulated moss threads off the stone, and placed a dozen lilies in the bronze vase in front of the marker. Her voice was soft. “I promised you wouldn’t be alone.”
Next to the granite marker was a larger one, freshly installed, and etched in French and English, ‘Here lies in memory, the Picard Family.’ Listed in turn were Anna’s parents, grandparents and paternal great-grandparents. Under Pierre Picard’s name was a further inscription, Master Sergeant, USMC, Loving Husband to Marie, and Father of a Grateful Anna. An additional line under that was etched, Semper Fidelis.
She stood and leaned against Pete.
He put his arm around her shoulder. “It’s beautiful, Darling. The stone looks new. When did you do this?”
Wistfully, she said, “I commissioned the marker last month but added the description just before I left Vegas.”
Squeezing his hand and, with a serenity he hadn’t heard in her before when discussing her past, she said, “Come on, mon amour. I’ve finally disconnected from this global madness. It’s just going to have to run its course without me. Now, it’s time to go home. I’ve finally got a family.”
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Novels:
The Carbon Series
Book 1: The Carbon Trap – 2012
Book 2: The Carbon Cross – 2015
Book 3: The Carbon Crash – Coming Soon
Muckraker Series
(Digger Cavanaugh – Investigative Reporter)
Pink Slime
Short Stories:
LinkedIn Love
Professor Limn Series as Contributor
About the Author:
As a writer, Randy Dutton attempts to parlay his vast experience and passion for science into entertaining and credible stories. He has a lot of experience to draw from. He’s a retired Navy Supply Corps Commander, an inventor, and former vice president of a high-tech company. He has worked as a supervisor at the Port of Long Beach and owned a management consulting company. In 2008, he ran for the Washington State Legislature.
Working from their large timbered property on the edge of the Olympic Peninsula rainforest, he and his science journalist wife spend much of their time reading and writing about new technology. He has been engaged in the community for years, having served as Scoutmaster for his identical twin sons, now both Eagles, college students, and serving in the Air National Guard.
His passion is identifying problems and arriving at workable solutions, often using evolving technology, or just plain common sense.
Comments:
Send to [email protected]. Author appreciates feedback and promises to respond to every serious inquiry. Publisher reserves the right to use any comments for promotional purposes, and sender maintains no proprietary right to any information sent.
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