“For many, UNIRO is all that is left. We have no other choice but to trust each other,” Mapfeka said, looking around the room. “So,” he said looking back to Barnes, “unless you have an idea behind your arguments of how to face what is ahead without UNIRO, I suggest you get used to these meetings because we aren’t going anywhere. Personally, having a little bit of faith in my fellow human beings pursuing mutual goals of cooperation is much better than the alternative.”
“And what alternative is that, Colonel?” Barnes asked coldly.
Colonel Mapfeka sighed heavily. “Annihilation,” he said.
CHAPTER 23: Chalk from the Cliffs
At dinner that night, William and John had another chair filled at their table. Despite his irregularities, mishaps, and sometimes hard to understand stutter, Lieutenant Jeon sat at their side.
“I like this guy,” John said while Seong was up getting another plate of food.
“Why is that?” William said with a smile.
“He reminds me of you,” John replied happily.
“He does?” William chuckled. “How so? I don’t really see it.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right Will,” John grinned. “A man who fought in the war and is a little rough around the edges with a splash of social awkwardness thrown in on the side? Doesn’t sound like you at all. What was I thinking?”
“Shut up,” said William, throwing down his fork and laughing.
“He’s also someone else for you to talk to beside me all the time. It’s good you discover one of the other eight billion people on the planet to converse with once in awhile.”
“Why’s that, Doc? Getting tired of me? You don’t want me talking to you?” William smirked.
“No, it means you’re starting to trust others again.”
William looked down at his plate, smiling.
Before bed, William was reviewing his class notes while trying to finish some homework assignments. The television was on in the bedroom while he was in his little box-like kitchen, cutting an apple, taking a break, when he heard a news bulletin that brought him rushing over. A story was breaking on the eleven o’clock hour from southern England and UNIRO was at the center of it. Sitting around a flashy red news desk was an old news anchor, who was wearing too much makeup over his bald head, and three so-called experts in the subjects of both UNIRO and geoengineering. Once the anchor introduced himself and his guests, he introduced the story and handed it over to a field reporter in Dover, England.
Facing east towards the European mainland, the white cliffs of Dover were a symbol of strength and fortitude to the British people, standing watch over the English Channel's narrowest section for invaders through wars of past centuries. Patches of green grass and shrubs speckled the cliff faces, like green sugar sprinkled atop a white frosted cake, covering the tops of the cliffs and back inland for miles under stubby forest and farmland, hay bales and villages. They were high, well over 300 feet in some places, and owed their outstanding white color to soft chalk formed from sediment build-up from the remains of coccoliths, plates of calcium carbonate formed by coccolithophores, microscopic single-celled planktonic algae whose fossilized skeletal remains sank to the bottom of the ocean millions of years ago.
Trying to stand on the bow of a boat bobbing up and down in the English Channel, just off the coast of Dover was the field reporter, attempting to deliver his story, his face a pale, sickly green. William was trying to see what was behind the reporter: a huge piece of machinery that looked like it was from a mine.
It was taller than the cliffs, and its eight massive crawler tracks, in four sets of two, held a tower section with cables extending from its coastal facing side. These cables looked to be supporting a boom with an operating room and offices and at the end a cutting wheel that was just off the cliff face about halfway up the tower.
Atop the tower were spinning vertical axis wind turbines. On the other side of the tower, to compensate for the boom’s weight, was an enormous counterweight made from rectangular concrete blocks stacked on top of each other about a quarter way up the towers height, being held in place by more cables. To fit the crawling tower, the narrow rocky beach had been extended a half-mile out into the channel with a cofferdam, enclosing the new land to protect it from common storms.
A number of white shipping container buildings were also on this extended beach on the eastern side of the tower structure that branded the UNIRO symbol and what looked like an oil refinery that had pipes running from its many tanks into the black channel waters. Dredging ships were widening the beaches to the north and south of the crawling tower and refinery for at least four miles in either direction, with open water being fenced in by a continued cofferdam that awaited land to hold in. The reporter tried to speak but became too sick. He quickly had his camera crew play his previously recorded story.
“Today the British prime minister met for the first time with the United Nations International Rescue Organization’s Director-General, Roque Ferrer, to commemorate and discuss the overall completion of a major milestone in one of UNIRO’s first famed geoengineering projects.”
So that was the man in charge of everything, the leader of all that was UNIRO. Ferrer looked like he knew how to get what he wanted, with his young Latin appearance, smart suit, and smug smile. Reporters took pictures of him and the prime minister hand in hand in front of the completed superstructure.
“Rising high over the world-renowned white cliffs of Dover, the 132-meter high Coastalscraper is one of the largest land vehicles in the world, weighing just under 13,000 tons. It is so large and requires so much power that it has its own off-site solar farm six kilometers away that produces ten megawatts of power. This project has been designed to help with ocean acidification, a growing problem that has seen the world’s oceans become more acidic over the last few decades as more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.”
Footage taken from a helicopter panned over the project, showing its scale.
“The problem could lead to a collapse of global fisheries by midcentury with the oceans covered by massive dead zones where little to no life can exist from low oxygen counts,” the reporter continued as William cringed at the prediction.
“With this five billion dollar project now almost complete, UNIRO hopes to reduce ocean acidification by excavating and refining the white chalk in the cliffs of South Forland and then pump the powdered chalk out into the Azores and Portugal Currents where it will travel using ocean currents until it dissolves.”
“Cool…” whispered William.
“Each of the chalk sprayers, located on the seafloor, holds sensing equipment that will relay ocean environmental data to the UNIRO base Eripio that is in charge of this operation in Algeciras, Spain. Oceanographers believe that over the long term, this chalk will counteract some of the effects of ocean acidification and contribute to an overall decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, killing two birds with one stone.
“Critics of the project believe it is just trading one disaster for another. Thousands have had to relocate as homes and businesses are being bulldozed to make way for the disappearing coastline. It is estimated that over a billion tons of chalk will be excavated every two years from the cliffs. Several countrywide protests have already been held by locals, environmental and cultural preservation groups, and government conservatives. The chalk deposits extend from Kent to as far west as Sussex, a region that is expected to dramatically transform into a new coastal region filled with bays, coves, and harbors. The prime minister justifies the project, saying it has added over 5,000 construction jobs to the British economy and is expected to sustain 2,000 permanent jobs following its full activation in June. She also says it shows her government's commitment to pursuing environmental and forward thinking. Designed by architect Gary Kellet and German multinational corporation ThyssenKrupp, in collaboration with workers and engineering teams from all over the UK and UNIRO Engineering Corps, construction on the project will have taken two
years once activated. Time will tell if the project will pan out. Many scientists are hopeful while others are just waiting to say “I told you so” to what could be the world’s biggest greenwashing stunt.”
Feelings of astonishment and uncertainty made William look away from the television. For the first time, he questioned some of UNIRO’s actions after seeing how much political authority the organization now held, especially with someone like Roque Ferrer at its head. It was a whole political faction unto itself with a significant following and ability to sway international policy. William suddenly saw that UNIRO, for all the friends and alliances it had made so far, could make enemies. Underneath it’s seemingly noble, even divine power over the world, it was still politically mortal and therefore, fallible. UNIRO would have to be careful or else the whole organization could backfire.
CHAPTER 24: Edin
The next morning, William stared at himself in his tiny bathroom mirror. He laughed at his reflection. This was his second day trying Dr. Frydryck’s strange act of self-praise.
“I love my…” William chuckled at himself. “This is so embarrassing… and weird.”
William thought about just leaving for his early morning run before class, even taking a step into the doorway.
“No. No,” he stopped himself. “No, come on. Just, just get it over with.”
He grabbed both sides of his sink, took a deep breath, and stared into the mirror. He stared until he didn’t see an embarrassed reflection; he stared until he saw something of the man willing to do whatever it took to heal himself.
“Okay… Here goes nothing…” He cleared his throat. “I love… I love that…” He looked around the bathroom. “I love my sink,” he grinned. “I love my new apartment. I, I love my running shoes. I love that I have the chance to be here with UNIRO.”
William lowered his head as he put his hand through his hair. “I love that it affords second chances, to even those like me. I love that I am finally among those willing to put up with me,” chuckled William. “People like Mr. Wood. Dr. Frydryck. Colonel Morris - ”
“Who you talking to, Will?”
“Ahhh!” William jumped, putting his fist up. John jumped as well at William’s scream. He looked over into his bedroom and saw John standing there staring at him with a confused look. “Doc! How long have you been standing there?!”
“What?! A few minutes!”
“A few minutes! How did you get in?”
“The door was ajar, I’m here for our run!”
“Never speak of what you just saw,” grunted William. “Or heard!”
“I won’t…” John started. “Well, I might,” he admitted with a mischievous smirk.
“Doc!”
“Just kidding.”
“So,” John said, running beside William, “you do that every morning?”
“What did I just say?”
“Fine. Fine. What happens in your bathroom, stays in your bathroom. Fine.”
“Just focus on your running. You need it, trust me.”
“Yes,” John panted, “yes, I do. Jeez, you’re fast Will.”
“Ha,” laughed William. “No, you’re just old, Colonel. Let’s go, keep up!”
William sprinted ahead. He ran through the streets of the BLOC section just as he used to run through his home streets of New Orleans, with childish curiosity, every corner hiding something new to discover. He saw the most modern of vehicles, smartly dressed people, and beautiful grounds. The sun was just over the eastern horizon, giving the white buildings of the section a dazzling luminous glow.
The permeable concrete sidewalk below William’s feet bordered a beautiful rain garden. The warehouses were coming up in front of him, always getting larger, growing like square mountains as he ran in their valley. The never-ending hum of the bases operations was suddenly pierced by a high pitch electronic chirp, then the long squeal of a siren. William turned around and saw a convoy of white semi-trucks and ISAF patrol cars escorting them, the source of the squealing sirens.
As the convoy approached him, William slowed his run to a light jog. His shoes stopped moving just as the first patrol car rolled by, then a second, then a third. The first truck hurried by heading towards the warehouses at the center of the base. One by one they passed, mechanically silent with their electric drives. Each white truck trailer was labeled with a blue UNIRO seal.
John caught up, out of breath. He rubbed sweat away from his glasses. “Only in Florida is it this hot even before the darn sun comes up. Cheese on bread.” He noticed William was staring at the passing convoy. “Oh yeah, that’s, that’s Project Edin,” John pointed.
“What’s that? What’s in the trucks?” William asked.
“Foo - ”
“Food,” said a construction worker behind the two men. “Specifically seeds. That’s what’s in those trailers, seeds.”
“What, what he said,” gasped John, still trying to collect himself. “Edin is a collection of seed banks UNIRO is establishing all around the world, including all the bases.”
“It’s ironic, isn’t it?” the construction worker asked rhetorically. “We need more food than ever but we’re hiding it in the ground.”
“There must be a good reason for it,” William said. “There always seems to be a good reason for whatever UNIRO does. Right, Doc?”
John was hunched over. He put a thumbs up in the air for a response to William.
“You could say that,” said the construction worker. “Edin is a failsafe in case we don’t succeed.”
“Don’t succeed at what?” William asked, looking at the disappearing trucks.
“Saving civilization. Edin ensures that, should something go wrong, whoever is left has a store to help restart. Each vault holds thousands of species. It’s a global Noah’s Ark.”
“You think all this will fail?” William asked, gesturing the warehouses.
The construction worker pointed to the convoy, now almost invisible, “I think those who think they are immune to failure are arrogant to the pressures of reality. They aren’t adaptable.”
“Hey,” said William, “I never said I thought UNIRO couldn’t fail. I’m just trying out this thing called optimism. I, I haven’t really practiced it in a while.”
The construction worker smiled. “Yeah, I guess this place tends to do that to people. Call me a cynic, but I just think you never can let your guard down. The world is going to change quickly once we start. For better or for worse.”
CHAPTER 25: Monopoly
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Tuesday, April 6, 2027
“As I understand it, UNIRO is set to open in just a few months. Is that correct, Council President?” asked Neal Carrera, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Neal sat before the United Nations Security Council with a microphone in his face.
“That is correct,” said Council President Majed Alshaikh. “The grand opening is in exactly eighty-one days.”
“Excellent,” said Neal, taking off his glasses. “Then I propose a joint project with the new organization. One to finally rid the world of its nuclear waste issue and further promote the safe storage and protection of nuclear material to keep it out of the wrong hands.”
“Are you deferring your agency’s job to someone else, Director?” a Chinese representative rudely interjected.
Neal looked at the representative from across the large round table as what he said was translated through a pair of ear buds. Once translated, Neal chuckled at the implication.
“Of course not, sir,” he said, “but it would be best given UNIRO’s current…” Neal paused. “…advantage.”
“And what advantage is that, Director Carrera?” Majed asked.
Neal looked back at the council president and put his glasses back on and said, “Frankly, sir, everything.”
Neal picked up his notes he had prepared and began to read them.
“Money, resources, manpower, infrastructure, public opini
on,” he glanced up. “UNIRO is now the favored child of this UN body. The IAEA is now underfunded and understaffed, at a time when such an agency should be the focal point. Seven years ago, we watched as the full potential of a nuclear war unloaded. If you want to never see it again, I suggest you either give me more or begin transferring our capabilities, skill sets, staff, and task over to UNIRO. The organization has monopolized change.”
Neal gathered his things, took out the ear buds, and stood up, pushing the microphone away from his face.
“Director Carrera, where are you going?” asked Majed, bewildered. “This meeting is not over.”
“Monopolies are dangerous, Council President, even ones for good,” Neal said. “They leave no good for anyone else.”
CHAPTER 26: Crazy Meyers
Seong waved William over to one of the dining hall’s many flat screens. William pushed his way into the crowd to reach him. A crowd was around just about every screen in the hall, many abandoning their dinners.
“What’s up, Jeon? I was just heading out to take a shower.”
“I-I thought you might find this in-in-interesting, sir. I know you l-l-l, like ae-ae-aero, flying stuff.”
“I do. Is there a rocket launch or something happening?” William asked, focusing on the television. “Have yet to see one here. I’ll run outside!”
Seong pointed to the screen, “No. Better.”
William quickly saw he was right.
...
“Sixty seconds till release on my mark,” ordered Major Charlie “Crazy” Meyers, pilot of the soaring Phoenix 30.
“Copy, sir,” said his tense copilot.
“Time for this queen to release her workers,” Meyers smiled.
...
Five thousand feet below was a team of aerospace engineers, test pilots, press, and several top UN and UNIRO officials. Dust swept through the group occasionally. It was like a scene right out of a 1950s military propaganda film showing the experimentation of a new untested aircraft. Together, the group looked up at the sky, waiting anxiously in the middle of the Mojave, as were thousands of UNIRO base personnel watching on a network live stream.
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