Geostorm the Shift

by Bobby Akart

  Thinking this was some kind of game, Knight hopped off the barstool and retrieved her lab coat. He ran his arms through the sleeves, but it was backwards, giving the appearance he was in a straitjacket. This amused the chimp greatly, who let out a series of hoots and hollers.

  “Well, Dr. Boone, now we match,” said the man as he pointed at her white polo shirt and matching khakis. They looked like a couple who decided to go to the mall and wear matching clothes, or mixed-doubles tennis partners from the 1930s.

  Kristi turned several shades of red and managed a smile. “Is there any chance we can start this over?”

  “What? Um, sure.”

  She carefully touched his muscular chest and pushed him backwards out of her office. She shut the door and stood back next to Knight, who was both intrigued and amused by the interaction.

  “Okay, let’s start over,” she said in a raised voice. She waited for the man to knock and reenter her office.

  Nothing.

  “Okay, come on in!” she said a little louder.

  Still nothing.

  “What the hell?” she mumbled and marched toward the door. The man was standing on the walkway, laughing. He’d intentionally stood his ground just to aggravate her.

  Kristi had a cross look on her face, so he quickly apologized to her back as she spun and marched inside. “I’m sorry, Dr. Char—I mean Dr. Boone. I just thought it would be funny if you thought I’d left.”

  “Not funny,” she said, staring at her whiteboard, which acted as a daily and weekly planner.

  “Okay, please, my apologies.”

  He is trying.

  “Who are you?” she asked without turning around.

  “I’m Thomas Bannon, from Wisconsin-Madison. I’m your new assistant.”

  Kristi smiled. Now it was her turn. She crossed her arms and stared at the whiteboard.

  “No, you’re not. You’re fired.” She smiled but otherwise managed to contain herself as her body wanted to burst out laughing. She didn’t expect her new assistant on the job until next week, and she certainly was not expecting an incredible hunk.

  At first, Thomas didn’t reply. He glanced over at Knight, seeking encouragement, but only received a curious look in return.

  “Dr. Boone, I’m sorry. Can we please—?”

  She cut him off. Her grin widened and she said, “Groveling is good. I think we’re gonna get along just fine.” She turned to reveal her smiling face and extended her hand.

  “Welcome to my world, Thomas.”

  Chapter 23

  Brookfield Zoo

  Chicago, Illinois

  “Please take a seat. I had a late night of research, and today is gonna be one of those dog and pony shows that is a welcome change of pace, but exhausting.” Kristi tried to explain her odd behavior.

  “Hey, I get it,” he said as he took a seat in front of her desk. He glanced to his left to gauge Knight’s interest, who was keeping a wary eye on the new arrival. “Is this good-looking young man part of your research, or did you turn your ex into a toad, or chimp, or something like that.”

  Kristi chuckled. “Okay, that was funny. My ex-husband turned himself into a toad many years before I signed the papers ending the charade of a marriage. We were two different people with two different sets of interests. Certainly, my one-year research sabbatical in the Congo didn’t help. In my defense, the marriage was loveless by that point anyway.”

  “The Congo? Wow, that’s any zoologist’s dream.”

  Kristi fumbled through her desk drawers again, looking for his résumé. She’d had a chance to review all of the applicants, but, much to her chagrin, the actual personal interviews were handled by the human resources department at Brookfield. They felt they were better qualified to make those personnel decisions because it was possible that someone like Thomas Bannon could be moved out of Kristi’s department to a more suitable position without her consent. Rhonda, her prior assistant, had been with her since her return from the Congo, but she’d moved on to greener pastures.

  “My undergrad study at Ohio State was in zoology,” said Kristi. “Um, you’ll have to forgive me, Thomas, but I can’t recall the details of your résumé. Where did you go to school?”

  “Sure, of course. First, please call me Tommy. My dad was Thomas Bannon Senior, technically speaking, and I was a junior. He was Tom and I’m Tommy.”

  “Was?”

  “Yeah,” replied Tommy with a bit of sadness. “He and my mom were killed in London during the terrorist attacks at Trafalgar Square in 2020. They were celebrating their anniversary and were taking pictures by the fountains when the terrorists descended upon the square with machetes. It was barbaric.”

  “I remember,” said Kristi with a grimace. “The people were helpless. So sad. I’m sorry, Thomas, um, Tommy.”

  “It’s okay. Time has healed most of the sadness, but I think about them often. They loved animals and were very proud when I got accepted into the Department of Integrative Biology at UW-Madison.”

  “It’s a great school and was on my list, too. Ohio State won the day because I could get a doctorate in veterinary medicine all under one roof, so to speak. What was your specialization during school?”

  “Behavioral sciences and ecology,” he replied.

  “Good! You can help me figure that one out.” Kristi pointed toward Knight, who was waiting patiently to be acknowledged. He liked being the center of attention.

  “He seems a bit standoffish,” said Tommy.

  “He hasn’t been himself lately. At first, I wanted to blame it on my foul mood associated with the divorce. You know.”

  “I’ve never been married,” he interjected.

  “Lucky you. Be happy with your girlfriend and enjoy life.”

  “I don’t have one of those either.”

  Kristi gulped. “You’re gay?”

  Tommy began to laugh. “Nope, not that either. Committed. Dedicated. Workaholic.”

  Kristi was intrigued at the male version of herself. “Asexual?”

  Tommy laughed and shrugged. “I suppose if I don’t find someone to date soon, I will be.”

  Oddly, Knight laughed at that statement. He seemed to be enjoying the playful interaction between the humans.

  Kristi stood and motioned for Knight to join her next to the desk. He threw off the backwards lab coat and walked on two legs in that chimp-waddle motion, using his arms outstretched for balance.

  Kristi signed to Knight. Say hello to Tommy.

  Kristi used fingerspelling to spell Tommy. Knight looked to Tommy and signed hello. Then he signed again to Kristi, who repeated the fingerspelling method of creating Tommy’s name.

  Knight repeated his greeting, this time signing, Hello, Tommy. I am Knight.

  Much to Knight’s delight, Tommy signed his response. It is nice to meet you, Knight.

  Knight became extremely animated, letting out hoots and hollers while bouncing on all fours. He suddenly calmed down and became serious. He pointed to Kristi and then to Tommy.

  Friend. You friend.

  Tommy smiled and replied, Yes. Three friends.

  Knight offered his hand to high-five Kristi, and he did the same to Tommy. The three of them immediately became a trio.

  After the introductions, Kristi told Tommy a little bit about what was expected of him. She explained the details of today’s activities, and they discussed how he could help. Mainly, she needed him to shadow her for a while until she could begin to assign him specific tasks. She asked a little more about his background.

  “So you decided against veterinary medicine?” she asked.

  “Yeah, partly because of finances, but mostly because I was anxious to get started on my career. I’ve always loved animals, and as a zoologist, I would not only have the opportunity to interact with them, but also focus on research related to their behavior.”

  She was beginning to remember his résumé and why she’d become enamored with him as an assistant. Her strengths were phy
siology and health issues; his were behavioral and studying animals in their natural environments.

  “You were at the Lincoln Park Zoo, am I right?” she asked.

  “Yes, and the people there were great to work with. But, frankly, they were limited in their opportunities and resources. Brookfield isn’t Africa, but it’s the next best thing. I really have an opportunity to make a difference here.”

  Kristi nodded and leaned back in her chair. She studied her new assistant or, as Knight called him, friend. She needed to make sure he understood the risks of her work.

  “You’re a smart guy, so I don’t need to try to sugarcoat what I do here. I’m very hands-on. I don’t assign tasks to interns or park staff. I’m right there in the pen with the apes and the tigers and any other ferocious exotics we have at Brookfield. If you get too close or startle the animals, you can die. If you fail to use the proper amount of anesthetic when performing a procedure, you can die. You happen to have a run of bad luck, you could die. You understand this, right?”

  He smiled and replied with conviction, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

  “And there’s zoonoses,” she continued. Zoonoses were infectious diseases humans could contract from animals, caused by parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Zoologists were more likely to be at risk from them due to their increased exposure to the animals. “Whether by direct interaction or during your handling of test materials, you can be exposed to diseases if you’re not careful.”

  “I understand Brookfield is a gateway for animals as they are brought in from the wild or rescued from private zoos,” said Tommy.

  “That’s correct, so we don’t always know what we’re getting. They’re supposed to be prescreened before being brought to us, but I don’t trust something of that seriousness to a stranger. Would you?”

  “No, ma’am. I think we’re on the same page. Safety first, but calculated risks are generally accepted.”

  Kristi laughed and stood. “We’re gonna get along just fine, Tommy. Now, gentlemen, let’s go find the Blue Moon beer garden.”

  “I think I’m gonna love this place,” quipped Tommy as he reached for Knight’s hand to follow their leader.

  Chapter 24

  Greenland Climate Research Centre

  Nuuk, Greenland

  Greenland was a massive island located largely above the Arctic Circle between Canada’s Northwestern Passage and Norway. The outlying territory of Denmark was mostly covered in ice, with only a small population living along the ice-free, southwestern coast courtesy of the Gulf Stream’s warmer waters. It was a preferred destination of travelers and scientists studying natural phenomena such as the summer’s midnight sun and winter’s northern lights.

  Chapman arrived at the airport in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, where he was greeted by a media liaison from the Greenland Climate Research Centre. Dr. Michael Winding had begun his career studying climate change at Cal-Berkeley before taking a position in Nuuk.

  “Greetings, Dr. Chapman,” the liaison mistakenly said to Chapman.

  Slightly annoyed, Chapman shook the man’s hand and gave it a slight squeeze. “Chapman Boone, chief meteorologist with The Weather Channel. I don’t have a doctoral degree.”

  “Oh, my apologies,” the man said as he glanced down at his cell phone. “Um, the text message was inaccurate.”

  “No problem.” Chapman shrugged it off. “I appreciate your picking me up and assisting me out to the research center. I’ve been to Nuuk several times on assignment, but I’ve never been in the northeast.”

  Dr. Winding led Chapman through the small airport to an awaiting van bearing the GCRC’s circular logo on the doors. As they drove to the main facility, he provided Chapman some background.

  “At the research center, we try to create knowledge about Greenland to be shared with the world. This is a unique ecosystem that has been studied for a century, but now, with a much greater sense of urgency.”

  “I’m aware of NASA’s recent warning,” interjected Chapman.

  Dr. Winding stared out the van window and rested his elbow on the door as he spoke. He was contemplative. “This summer, NASA scientists have been crisscrossing Greenland on a mission to track our melting ice. Their aerial photographs were astonishing but, frankly, confirmed what our data has revealed. We’ve just recorded Greenland’s largest ice melt since 2019, and even larger than the preceding record in 2012.

  “In the last nine weeks, teams of scientists and engineers from around the globe have descended upon Greenland, planting probes into the ice to quantify the melt. The Arctic’s melting season starts each year in June and ends by late August. During the month of July alone, one of the hottest on record, the ice sheet poured 212 billion tons of water into the North Atlantic.”

  “I’ve heard,” said Chapman, who was taking in the sights. He was familiar with the data, but allowed his host to continue. The conclusions he was getting from his contacts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California was that the massive melt off was an anomaly for Greenland caused by the record high temperatures being recorded from Greenland to Europe. It was this unusual heat wave that would take him to Paris in the coming days.

  Dr. Winding continued. “When one thinks of Greenland, images of an icebound, harsh, and forbidding landscape probably come to mind. What you will see as we venture to the research station is a land of ice pocked with melt ponds and streams that have been transformed into raging rivers. We’ve even had wildfires.”

  “After the unusual 2019 melt off, didn’t the ice cap grow back?”

  “Well, yes, of course, as it always does as the cold weather sets in. The Arctic is harsh, fragile, and resilient at the same time.”

  Chapman allowed the liaison to continue. He’d done his research on what was happening in Greenland before he left Atlanta for Seattle several days ago. There had been an expansive area of high pressure enveloping all of Greenland, bringing temperatures to twenty degrees above average. It was the same weather system that had brought drought conditions to the Midwest, including Indiana. This high pressure wreaked havoc throughout Europe as well.

  All of the above, at least to Chapman, made perfect sense. It was easily explained away as an unusual weather anomaly. He believed in studying long-term trends not isolated occurrences when trying to reach a conclusion about the weather. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but the weather patterns from Alaska to the Nordics in Northern Europe were shifting. His contact at CalTech suggested he speak to a geologist working at the Zackenberg Station in Northeast Greenland National Park for his theories on the cause of the abnormal weather.

  “Here we are,” said Dr. Winding, breaking Chapman out of a trance. He hadn’t been to the new GCRC facility since it opened, and his eyes grew wide as he marveled at the architecture. It looked like a piece of granite had jutted out of the Earth during a shift of her tectonic plates.

  The two men entered the building through a garage, and Chapman was greeted with a deluge of activity. Scientists and climatologists from all over the world scurried about. The different languages and ethnicities reminded him of his only trip to the United Nations to report on a climate-change accord when he first started with TWC.

  Dr. Winding noticed Chapman’s reaction. “Do you see what the ice melt has brought upon our ordinarily quiet island? First, your country tried to purchase us, and then this happens. There are nearly as many reporters here as there are climatologists.” Nearly a decade prior, the president floated the idea of purchasing Greenland from Denmark in order to relieve it of its $700 million annual outlay to maintain the island. The offer was rejected.

  Chapman shook his head in disbelief. The scene was chaotic. “Um, while I’d love to chat with all of these people, when can we go to the research station?”

  “The plane is waiting. Do you need a rest after your long flight?”

  “A bathroom would be nice. I’d like to change clothes, wash my face. Things like that.”

  “Of cou
rse.”

  The two men gently pushed their way through the throngs of people, who were casually chatting at times and arguing with one another as well. The subject of climate change had fostered animosity among people for decades.

  The concept of global warming had become front-page news in the late 1980s. Chapman wasn’t even a twinkle in his parents’ eyes, as they’d just been married, but he was fascinated by the subject, so he conducted his own research.

  In June of 1988, Dr. James Hansen, the director of NASA’s Institute for Space Studies, stated that global warming had reached ever-increasing levels. NASA’s scientists had concluded that there was a cause-and-effect relationship between the greenhouse effect and rising temperatures. He affirmatively stated that the greenhouse effect had been detected and it is changing the world’s climate. The result was a New York Times front-page story declaring Global Warming Has Begun. The debate began to rage from there.

  The debate soon turned to political rancor and even violence in the streets. Several mass shootings occurred in the prior decade in the name of ecofascism, the theory that an individual might sacrifice their own interests for the organic whole of nature. Killers in El Paso, Texas, and Christchurch, New Zealand, used this excuse to target those of another race in the name of the environment.

  Chapman didn’t profess to understand the minds of sadistic killers, but he did know from the raised voices at the GCRC that the axiom agree to disagree didn’t seem to apply anymore.

  He was a believer in finding answers for himself, and at times, he used his position with TWC to do so. That was the real reason he’d pitched doing a story in Greenland. Not because of the ice melt, but because of the radical theories of an aging geologist known for wandering the Arctic alone.

  Chapter 25