Wake-up Call: 2035

by Robert J. Traydon

  Kestryn continued, “This Ultimatum section also calls for the prevailing scourge of extinctions to be brought to an immediate end. The conditions define that any species under threat of extinction, must be protected at all cost. As such, all human activity in the vicinity of these species is to be immediately halted and relocated. Breeding programmes must be established on a commensurate scale to ensure that these species are given adequate opportunity to recover. A large amount of human effort will be required to comply with these conditions, but we are encouraged by the number of human beings who dedicate their lives to this specific cause, often in a voluntary capacity.”

  She went on to define lists of vulnerable, threatened, endangered and critically endangered ocean and land-based species. The lists were comprehensive and ranged right across each phylum. Numerous wild megafauna were listed, some of which included whales, elephants, rhinos, gorillas, and tigers. Kestryn stated that the hunting, culling or research-related killing of any of these species was now prohibited by the Ultimatum.

  She then highlighted specific endangered species that required urgent attention due to their critical importance within their respective ecosystems. Pictures of these species were cascaded across the holographic display, the majority of which were plants, insects, amphibians, birds and fish. Some of the species were not known even to Edward Payton.

  Kestryn emphasised that entire ecosystems would be put at risk of failure if any of these key species were to be lost. They were to be regarded as ecological foundation pillars, as the chains of life within their respective ecosystems were inextricably dependent on them. Loss of these species would lead to localised runaway extinction events. She went on to state that many of these species had unique medicinal properties that would also be forever lost to the world if they were to become extinct.

  From the numbers that Payton had seen earlier it was obvious that hundreds of species, not yet discovered and documented by humankind, were becoming extinct each day. What their potential contributions to science and biology were, humankind would tragically never know.

  Kestryn then signalled to Raker to continue.

  10:55 a.m. Observatory: Ultimatum – Land and Ocean Expropriation

  Raker took over and called up the charts pertaining to the ‘Land and ocean expropriation’ section which filled the wall display around the conference chamber. He then motioned towards the hologram which immediately displayed the rotating depiction of Earth.

  “This Ultimatum section addresses the unremitting appropriation of land and disturbance of the ocean by humans for their own use. All land and ocean shall now be assigned to one of the following three Environmental Designation Zones: Human Activity Zones, in green; Non-interference Access Zones, in yellow; and Habitat Defence Zones, in red.”

  The entire surface of the planet, including both land and ocean, was then coloured like a mosaic. The Principals looked closely at each of the world’s continents so see how they had been affected. They took special note of where the green, red and yellow areas were shown, but it was dismayingly obvious how little land surface area was highlighted in green.

  He continued, “The green ‘Human Activity Zones’ are areas that will remain in humankind’s possession. Humans are entitled to continue living and using this land for their own purposes, although it will be regulated in terms of the Ultimatum’s general environmental conditions. Note that we have highlighted undeveloped areas deemed by us to be high-yield ‘solar and wind renewable energy generation’ areas.

  “The yellow ‘Non-interference Access Zones’ are areas where already existing human population and infrastructure may remain, but no further development is permitted. This includes both urban and agricultural expansion. Humans visiting or residing in these areas may continue to do so, but are prohibited from interfering with the environment in any way.

  “The red ‘Habitat Defence Zones’ are to be regarded as human exclusion areas. These zones are entirely reserved for the regeneration of the environment and indigenous species, and as such, human access is fully restricted.”

  Raker elaborated, “The Ultimatum specifies that all the land highlighted in red is to be expropriated from humans and handed back to nature. As such, all humans, human activity and human infrastructure will need to be relocated from these red areas into green areas, wherever deemed fit by each nation’s government. These relocation exercises will need to be completed within three years.

  “Human restriction from these zones will improve the chances of accelerated environmental restoration. I must stress, that refusal by humans to evacuate themselves and their infrastructure from these red zones will be regarded as non-compliance and remediation will be instituted in terms of the Ultimatum.”

  He summarised, “These Habitat Defence Zones constitute 40% of the planet’s land surface area, with 35% being dedicated to Non-interference Access Zones, and 25% dedicated to Human Activity Zones – 5% of which should be dedicated to renewable energy farms.”

  Two-dimensional maps populated the surrounding wall of the chamber, showing more detailed perspectives of the nation specific land designations. Looking at the maps, it was apparent that many small populated centres existed within red areas, meaning that they would need to be relocated. The only large major centre falling within a red zone was Manaus, right in the middle of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

  This required scale of relocation was startling to the Principals. Any attempt to move people away from their homes would be a social and political nightmare. This was yet another seemingly impossible section of the Ultimatum to comply with.

  The hologram of Earth rotated slowly, giving the Principals a clear indication of what their new world’s borders looked like. The political world map that they were so familiar with, had been summarily redefined.

  Raker brought his session to a close. The Principals were in a state of stunned silence after seeing how humanity’s freedom to live and travel wherever they pleased in the world had, in a single instant, been taken away. Vast areas were now off-limits to people and there was no doubt in the Principals’ minds that this would cause worldwide protest, if not outright rebellion.

  Raker then gestured to Warion to take the floor.

  11:00 a.m. Earth: White House

  After arriving at the White House, Vice President McKenzie had been fully briefed by Agent Walker on the search operation’s progress, and then taken to the Oval Office which McKenzie had insisted on seeing for himself.

  It was 11:00 a.m. exactly when McKenzie entered the White House bunker’s Situation Room, located under the West Wing. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were by this time, all already there. They greeted the Vice President, then took their seats and started the meeting.

  Their first point of order was to raise the nation’s defence readiness condition from DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 4. This placed NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) on standby and increased the alert status of the United States Armed Forces, who would be readying themselves for imminent further instruction and possible mobilisation. This included the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.

  They then reached consensus that the Vice President would be sworn into power at midday if President Jameson’s location had still not been established by then.

  Everyone in the Situation Room was then briefed by the Chief of the National Guard, General Flanker. He ran through all the information relating to President Jameson’s disappearance that was available to him up to that point in time. The Secretary of State, Philippa Harvey, confirmed that there were various other world leaders who were alleged to be missing including the Presidents of China and Brazil, the Prime Minister of India, and the President of the European Union Council. Unconfirmed reports had also surfaced regarding the unknown whereabouts of the International Monetary Fund Managing Director and the United Nations Secretary-General. The situation was as confounding as it was unprecedented.

  Five minutes into their meeting it was brought to their attention tha
t the Washington Post had just posted an article on their website claiming that the US President was missing. The article had garnered over a million views within its first five minutes.

  Somehow news of the President’s disappearance had been leaked to the media. This was now well and truly a disaster. Media trucks would be pulling up outside the White House within minutes and the news would then be broadcast all around the world. There was no hiding the situation anymore; no amount of denial could deflect attention away from the truth. Only physically placing President Jameson on camera to address the nation would prove without any doubt that she was not missing. If the White House was unable to do this, then speculation and conspiracy theories would be rife.

  The presidential spokesperson was called into the meeting. They would need to address the media as a matter of urgency. They had to spin some probable story about a large scale intra-governmental department emergency drill, in order to buy themselves more time to find out exactly what had happened to the President.

  11:05 a.m. Observatory: Ultimatum – Atmospheric Stabilisation

  Warion rose from his seat to describe the ‘Atmospheric stabilisation’ section in the Ultimatum. He highlighted specific conditions and targets* that held the highest degree of relevance.

  [* Sample of atmospheric stabilisation conditions and targets:

  All manmade polluting emissions to be reduced by 10% per annum.

  Fossil fuelled power generation to be reduced by 10% per annum. Scrubbers and carbon sequestration facilities to be installed on all long-term fossil fuelled power plants. Renewable energy supply to be ramped up by means of wind, solar, hydro and thermal alternatives, by 5% per annum;

  Residential, commercial and industrial electricity usage to be reduced by 10% per annum;

  Manufacture of fossil fuelled equipment including machinery, vehicles, boats and ships to be scaled down at 20% per annum with equivalent ramp-up of renewable energy alternatives. All engine sizes to be governed by the ‘engine capacity to mass ratio’ requirement: Maximum = 1 cc per 1 kg;

  Fossil fuelled commercial airliners to be phased out at 5% per annum and replaced with carbon neutral airships;

  Intercity road freight to be shifted to rail at 10% per annum;

  All non-motorised forms of transport and use of public transport to be heavily encouraged through tax incentives. Electric Micro-vehicle Zones to be implemented within all cities at 10% per annum;

  Transoceanic transport of non-beneficiated minerals including coal, oil, gas and ores to be phased out at 10% per annum;

  Ice breaker ships, fossil fuelled recreational/sports machines, and the launching of spacecraft and satellites into space by means of liquid-fuel rocket boosters to be prohibited; and

  Deforestation, slash and burn, and conversion of land to pastures to be halted.]

  Again the Principals were bombarded with a list of conditions that were sure to face huge opposition from the world population. Adding to the difficulty would be the fact that all of the conditions would need to be implemented simultaneously. It would have been far easier to phase in unpleasant legislation over an extended period of time, but this luxury was not available.

  Edward Payton supported many of the conditions. He had always been an avid fan of the airship and believed that the Hindenburg accident more than a century ago had done the invaluable technology a terrible disservice. The fact that a modern solar powered airship could do a trans-Atlantic flight using no fuel (producing zero carbon dioxide emissions), compared to a traditional commercial airliner which used 80 tons of jet fuel (producing 250 tons of carbon dioxide – 135 450 m^3), was evidence enough that the technology deserved a second chance. Granted the journey would take longer, but the environmental benefits far outweighed the time benefits. Payton considered the unlikelihood of people accepting longer journey times in the interest of sparing the environment.

  Warion handed over to Commander Trennor to deliver the final Ultimatum section.

  11:15 a.m. Observatory: Ultimatum – General Environmental Improvements

  Commander Trennor stood up and stated that the conditions and targets in the ‘General environmental improvements’ section were an integral part of the Ultimatum. He reinforced the philosophy that when all the small differences were added up, they made a big difference, and that was exactly what this section of the Ultimatum strived to do.

  Trennor spent the next 10 minutes running through the highest priority conditions and targets*.

  [* Sample of general environmental improvement conditions and targets:

  Governing economic principles to promote sustainability rather than growth;

  Global economic reporting to shift from GDP to GDP per capita;

  All oil drilling and fracking operations to be halted;

  Municipal water usage to be restricted to 100 litres per person per week, and personal capture of rain water to be incentivised;

  Plastic production to be reduced by 10% per annum;

  All television channels to apportion broadcast time to environmental awareness;

  Recycling to become a compulsory aspect of modern living;

  Genetically modified foods, artificial chemical sprays and pesticides to be prohibited;

  Disposable containers, bottles and bags to be phased out at 25% per annum; and

  Biodegradability and carbon footprint ratings to be reflected on all products.]

  He then stated that all the others were self-explanatory and would need to be reviewed in the Principals’ own time. He reminded them that each and every condition had a degree of relevance with regards to the re-establishment of the planet’s natural balance. None could be overlooked.

  With that, the summary of the Ultimatum’s five key objective sections was concluded. The Ultimatum was a stern sign showing just how drastically human life was about to change.

  It was an overwhelming challenge that stood before the Principals, but they had no choice but to take it all in and do with it what they could. The fact that every single condition could be logically motivated, would strengthen their position when calling for them to be implemented back on Earth. If they could adequately justify the Ultimatum’s register of conditions and targets to the world’s population, it would provide them with a firm footing from which to launch a global compliance campaign.

  11:25 a.m. Observatory: Ultimatum – Consequences Of Non-compliance

  Empress Aeryssia moved onto the Ultimatum’s ‘Compliance monitoring’ chapter. She confirmed that compliance with the Ultimatum would be assessed by the Exploration Division every three years from the date of the encounter. These milestone assessments would be referred to as ‘interim compliance reviews’.

  She spoke, “As mentioned earlier, any non-compliances identified during these interim reviews will be subject to ‘remediation’.”

  The Empress went on to explain that remediation would be carried out wherever nations failed to implement the conditions, or failed to achieve their targets as specified in the Ultimatum. This would entail the correction of all non-compliant areas, to realign them with the Ultimatum’s stipulated targets. She then stressed that as part of the remediation, population management non-compliance would face ‘remedial threat removal’. This was effectively an increase in the intervention level to either Selective, or Total Threat Removal.

  The Principals were horrified in every respect. They interpreted ‘remedial threat removal’ as a euphemism for human destruction, and it terrified them. Three-year intervals were also very short, and didn’t leave much margin for recovery if actual compliance results lagged behind the targets. The Principals had 10 billion reasons to fear the worst … and they recognised that humanity’s very existence was at stake.

  She continued, “The potential for remediation and its associated remedial threat removal, should serve as a strong incentive for world leaders not only to implement the Ultimatum, but to also ensure that their citizens adhere to it. If you are wondering what remedial threat removal
involves, it would be wise for you to assume the worst … those sections of your population directly affected by it will no longer exist on Earth.”

  Her statement confirmed the Principals’ nightmarish thoughts.

  The Empress went on to outline a key provision in the Ultimatum, referred to as ‘Remediation Escalation Adjustment’. It stipulated that should non-compliance proliferate and cause further environmental deterioration during any interim period, then the extent of remediation would be escalated accordingly. Thus, rather than just bringing a non-compliant area back into line with its original target, the remediation could exceed it in proportion to the degree of interim environmental deterioration experienced. She emphasised that this provision would only be invoked as a consequence of last resort.

  The Principals considered the prospect of unlimited consequence escalation for pervasive failure to achieve the targets – and it was not to be taken lightly. The risks associated with non-compliance were too great to contemplate, and certainly greater than the risks associated with the worldwide enforcement of the Ultimatum.

  The Empress spoke, “Humankind’s fate hangs in the balance and shall be determined directly by its response to this Ultimatum.”

  These Supreme Beings were obviously in possession of superior technologies and had the ability to carry out the consequences as threatened. The Principals mulled over the Ultimatum’s daunting manifesto. They were slowly coming to the realisation that there was only one option available to humankind … comprehensive worldwide compliance.

  11:30 a.m. Earth: White House – Situation Room

  Vice President McKenzie was left with no other alternative – he would have to issue a press release. The midday ‘acting presidential swearing-in ceremony’ was expected to last 20 minutes, so the press release was scheduled for 12:30 p.m.