Glass Sky (27 page)

“BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.”

Tania’s omni flashed on the nightstand. 5:07 AM. She fumbled for it, answering before even looking at the display. A call this early. Has to be important.

“Heellllo?” she yawned.

A man’s voice. No video. Just the Presidential Seal. “Doctor Black. President Juarez needs you at the White House at 15:00 today.”

Tania waved on the lights, fighting the head-fog. “The White House? Is there anything I…”

“Be at the gate at 14:30. I’m sending details.” The man hung up.

Well, it’s not like I wasn’t expecting this. I was the voice against sulfuring after all. The voice that said we should risk a hurricane to save Asia.

She caught the airport bus. There were few passengers at this early hour, mostly business travelers with day-bags. All were locked to the same news broadcasts on their omnis, as if they were part of some extended organism.

Not a road or bridge had survived within 30 miles of downtown Miami. Hollow-eyed survivors waved from the roofs of the concrete skeletons that jutted out of the sea of broken office furniture and mangled bodies. Others stood, stunned, between the windowless concrete floors. Military and news helicopters swarmed like bees without a hive, paralyzed by the magnitude of the destruction. It feels like the Philadelphia bombing all over again. The same shell-shocked helplessness.

“I can’t believe we let this happen,” muttered the man next to Tania. “President Juarez should be impeached. Same with that UNBio bitch. What’s the point of building the shield if we can’t protect our own interests?”

***

The President’s young intern escorted Tania past the solemn marines and into the West Wing of the White House. Suited men and women raced past oil paintings of former presidents, as if they each had a crisis to attend to in the carpeted hallways. After a couple of turns, the intern stopped at a wooden door mounted in an ornately carved frame.

The Oval Office!

“President Juarez is expecting you,” he said.

The door seemed to resist Tania’s push, as if emphasizing the moment’s import. Tania had seen the Oval Office on TV many times, but always the same view: the President’s desk in front of a great curved window. The full room was much larger. Bright Mexican weavings decorated the walls, a nod to Juarez’s Latino ancestry and the voters who had brought her to power. The President sat in a leather armchair at a long coffee table framed by two colorful couches. Three unshaven male advisors sat to her left. Tania recognized the Vice President and the Chief of Staff. The third man she’d never seen before.

“Doctor Black, thank you for coming.” President Juarez stood up to shake Tania’s hand. Worry-lines creased her face, matching the wrinkles on her skirt. If she’d slept in the two days since Hurricane Martha, it hadn’t been for long.

The stranger rose too. “Paul Smith, Chief Lobbyist for the Federation of Multinational Corporations.” His handshake was firm, bordering on painful. His gaze lingered, almost hostile, as if probing for weaknesses.

The President sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I have no choice but to start sulfuring. I’d like you to minimize the political fallout.”

Fuck. Hardly a promising start. “I’m keen to find a solution,” said Tania. “But my simulations just don’t justify sulfuring. I work for the UN, so I have to look at the global picture. Even if there’s another Miami, which I hope to God there isn’t, the storms won’t come close to inflicting the amount of harm that sulfuring will cause.”

“Won’t come close? Is this some sort of contest?” The President shook her head. “I continue to be surprised by your naiveté.” She gestured at the window, beyond which the muffled sounds of distant protest could be heard. “Americans don’t care about Asians. They care about Americans.”

“And the Chinese?” asked Tania. “Do they share your concern about Americans?”

“China pulled through the last round of sulfuring fine,” said Juarez. “I’ve already talked to President Lui.”

The three men on the couch nodded as one. “China will extend their southern border fences and use more anti-personnel robots,” said the Vice President. “No more bleeding-heart generals letting in refugees.”

“If you go against UNBio’s science on this, you’ll destroy last month’s Climate summit agreement,” said Tania. “Our future depends on cooperation.”

“Cooperation?” scoffed Juarez. “How are your CO2 cuts going, Doctor? Show me this cooperation. You’ve gotten nowhere.”

“Because you insisted on nonbinding targets,” said Tania.

“Which aren’t being met,” said the President. “Making it necessary for me to act.”

“You wanted this!” said Tania. “Not the storm necessarily. But you pushed for an unworkable plan, so that you could justify acting alone when it failed.”

“Maybe you’re not so naive after all,” smiled Juarez. “But you make it sound like I had a choice. Is Congress going to allow Americans to suffer when we control the tool that can save them? Will our voters? From the moment you handed us control of the climate by recommending the Nanoglass shield, this was inevitable.”

How could we have been so foolish? They don’t need Pax Gaia. They can dictate terms. Cut CO2, or we’ll stop the rain. Tania’s jaw clenched so hard she felt as if she might snap a tooth. “So what are your plans then?” she asked. “What about the ecological future of our planet? The UN-Bio preserves? Pax Gaia?”

“Pax Gaia?” Juarez sneered. “Risk my political future promoting your utopian visions? Move billions of people? Change the way we treat the poor? It’s a fantasy, Doctor Black. The world lacks the willpower to make the changes you’re going to propose.”

“And you’re offering what? The US and China as global climate dictators? That’s better?”

“Yes, in fact. It is better. We’ll keep the ice caps from melting. We’ll provide stable rainfall. We’ll expand arable land, control famines. We’ll make a new climate. A tamed Earth.”

“A tamed Earth?” Each word tore another chunk out of Tania’s hopes. “The environmental consequences…”

“Yes. There will be species loss. But the environmental consequences can be reduced if you help us,” snapped Juarez. “That’s why you are here, Doctor Black. To help us keep some level of international cooperation. We may hold all the cards, but it’ll go much more smoothly for everyone if we have public approval.”

“You think I’d support this?”

“You could help us keep the peace,” said Juarez. “Aren’t you always going on about saving lives?”

“I’d be selling out the planet,” said Tania.

“You’ve proven yourself flexible in the past,” said Juarez. “The funding of Pax Gaia for instance.” She shrugged. “The decision has been made. We’re announcing Tamed Earth at a press conference in thirty minutes. I’d like you to make the opening statement. Tell the world that new evidence justifies our decision to resume sulfuring.”

“New evidence?” asked Tania. “Science isn’t some sandwich topping you can order to suit your whims. All the raw data is publicly available.”

“Don’t be obtuse,” said the Vice President. “We’ve had publicly available climate data for fifty years. Yet for decades, the carbon lobby produced research that contradicted it. Just muddy the waters for us, so that we can negotiate behind the scenes. Give our allies an excuse to cooperate. It’s easy. We’ve already written your speech.”

Tania felt sick. Negotiate behind the scenes? Work with us, or we’ll turn your country into a desert, more likely. Her mouth moved, but she was unable to speak.

“If you cooperate, the UNBio Director job stays yours,” continued Juarez. “You’ll be able to bioharvest in an orderly fashion. Minimize the losses. We could even save some of the better preserves.”

“This goes against everything I stand for,” said Tania, shaking her head. “This is… monstrous.”

The President slammed her fist on the table, sending an empty coffee cup clattering to the floor. “You’re expendable, Tania.”

The Vice President nodded. “Very expendable. Sulfuring is going to happen, Doctor Black. And once the shield is built, we are going to control the climate. Tamed Earth is coming. With or without you.”

“I’m not going to lie so that you can doom millions of people.”

A vein bulged on the President’s forehead. She nodded to Paul Smith, and without another word she stood up. The Chief of Staff and Vice President followed her out of the far door, leaving Tania alone with the corporate lobbyist. Tania half expected secret service agents to step in with paingivers. There were rumors…  And then what? Run? In the White House?

Paul Smith’s eyes glinted behind a vampire smile as he studied Tania across the low table. He picked up his briefcase and squared it between them.

“Ten million dollars,” he said. He flipped open the lid. “Stock certificates. Brazilian and Indian blue chip companies. The last untraceable paper currency. It’s a gift, from the corporations that keep our economy moving. It’s bad for business to have the world upset at the United States.” His face twisted as if he’d smelled something rotten. “Trade disputes and civil unrest are so unprofitable.”

Ten million dollars? At least they’re not trying to buy me cheaply.

“I’m giving you the opportunity to reduce harm,” continued Smith, his voice silky. “The press conference is set. You’re not changing anything by fighting this.” He slid the briefcase across the table. “Take it.”

“Fuck you!” Tania stood up, white-hot anger blurring her vision. She grabbed the handle of the open briefcase and flung it off the table, leaving a comet trail of sparkling certificates. “Fuck the President, too. Are you that empty?”

Smith’s face darkened with menace. “Be very careful what you say,” he hissed, coming around the table towards her. “This didn’t happen. And if it did, the President knows nothing about it. Do you understand?”

Tania raised her arms against a blow that didn’t come.

“Do you understand?” Smith repeated, stabbing a finger at her. “Because if you start spreading unsubstantiated rumors, we’ll lock you up under the Truth in Politics Act. Slandering elected officials is a crime this administration takes seriously.”

Tania turned and walked out of the room.

“You’re a challenge, Tania,” Smith called after her. “I like that. Hopefully they let me keep you.”

* * *

Tania emerged from the Oval Office into the busy hallway. She took a moment to get her bearings. Juarez’s intern trotted down the hallway towards her.

“How did the meeting go?” he asked. “Are you ready for the press conference?”

What? He doesn’t know? Tania’s anger glowed like a reactor core. Holy shit! He doesn’t know! “Yes. Press conference. We should hurry. The President wants me on early so I have time for questions.”

“Hmmm, that’s funny,” said the intern. “The schedule has you on at 16:00.”

“She’s the President,” said Tania.

The Oval Office door opened behind her and Smith stepped out. Shit. He turned to the intern. “You’ll escort Doctor Black to…”

“Yes, yes, we’re on our way,” Tania cut him off. “Let’s go.”

Smith glowered after her as the intern led her down the hallway. Don’t follow. Don’t follow. They turned the corner. Walked past the entrance she’d come in through. Tania braced for a shout that didn’t come. At the end of the hall they turned right and stopped at a doorway marked “Press Room.”

“Would you like a few minutes to prepare?” asked the intern. “The reporters are still getting seated.”

“I don’t want to cut into the President’s time.” Tania patted down her hair, checked the buttons on her shirt. “How do I look?”

“Fine,” said the intern. “Shock and awe ‘em.”

“I’m sure I will,” said Tania. Poor guy. Bet this doesn’t help his career.

She stepped onto a stars and stripes carpet in front of a curtained wall with a raised relief of the White House in its center. The suited man at the podium looked at her in surprise. “Doctor Black? You’re early.”

“The President changed the schedule,” said Tania.

He looked at her, uncertain.

“Is the microphone on?” asked Tania.

The man shrugged, then flicked on a bank of spotlights. Sound surged for a moment as a hundred surprised reporters rushed to their seats in the long, low room beyond the podium. Am I crazy? What am I thinking? Tania stared out at the audience. At the height of her anger, she’d intended to tell everything. The bribe attempt. Juarez’s manipulations. Tread very carefully. Stick to what’s provable or they’ll discredit everything. She cleared her throat and faced the cameras.

“President Juarez invited me here today because she intends to resume sulfuring in light of the horrific events in Miami,” said Tania. Cameras flashed. “She asked me to provide scientific evidence to back up her position. But such evidence does not exist. Despite the horror of what happened yesterday, the decision not to sulfur remains correct. On a global scale, this terrible hurricane is but a fraction of the harm sulfuring will cause.”

The press gallery rustled with excitement. The man who had turned on the lights looked at her in bewilderment. Tania could sense Juarez screaming as the TV monitors played her comments across the White House. Across the world. She could feel the secret service agents sprinting down the hallway.