“Can you give us some examples of the kinds of tests you’ll be implementing?” a man called out.
“Certainly. The three Arks will be positioned in specific locations and elevations above the Earth for varying periods of time. A problem we currently have is the loss in both muscle and bone density our astronauts experience after prolonged exposure to a zero-gravity environment. Upon their return, the impact of adjusting to Earth’s gravitational force is noticeable. It can take anywhere from fourteen days to several weeks of adjustment to gain a sense of normalcy. What will the rate of decline be for an ostrich or hippopotamus? Will certain species retain their muscle density while others deteriorate more rapidly? No one knows. This is one example of what we mean by ‘testing.’ No toxic chemicals, no unnecessary experimental operations on the brain or spinal cord. This massive undertaking is intended and designed to extend the life cycles of our planet’s wildlife, wherever they may live … be it here or in a new home.”
“How are you gonna feed them all? What will they drink?” a woman standing off to the side asked. “The Nevada desert isn’t exactly an oasis, and the last time I checked, the lake levels are down about thirty feet.”
“I’m glad you brought that up.” Cain smiled and pointed at the woman, “I concur with your statement; the water level of Lake Mead is lower than it’s ever been. We anticipated the use and consumption to be right around two hundred fifty thousand gallons of water a day for the SUBOS. That was our initial estimation from many years ago. However, upon the activation of this facility, that number ballooned to over four hundred thousand gallons of water every day. That’s been placing a heavy strain on the state’s freshwater supply. Particularly, Lake Mead and the Colorado River. Early last year, in 2021, we devised a strategy to not only meet the requirements and needs of the residents of Nevada, but one that will fulfill our needs as well. Engenechem, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Navy, the Department of the Interior and several corporations, is proud to announce that we are building a pipeline.”
As Cain spoke, a large projection screen was lowered behind him and off to his right. A digital projector illuminated a map and zoomed in on the lower half of Nevada, northern Mexico, and the Gulf of California.
“Here,” Cain said, using his red laser pointer, “Isla Montague, the northernmost point of the Gulf of California. With the approval and cooperation of the Mexican government, we are in the final stages of constructing the facility that will soon house the equipment necessary for the desalination of seawater.”
“By what means will that happen?” a reporter close to the podium asked.
“Nuclear reactors will power the building and grounds, and desalination, but nothing else. The reactors will not be considered a substation for providing power to the local residents.”
“What kind of capacity are we talking about?” another woman inquired.
“The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson has four saltwater distilleries that can produce one hundred thousand gallons of fresh water … each. That’s four hundred thousand gallons of desalinated water every twenty-four hours. By way of comparison, the Isla Montague location will incorporate fifteen of these distilleries, producing a total of 1.5 million gallons of fresh water every day. Our scientists worked with the Army Corps of Engineers, Shell, and Xylem Pumps on a delivery system that would accommodate that kind of volume. Right now, we’re assembling sections of pipe that are six feet in diameter and twenty feet long. The pipeline will be above ground and stretch across nearly three hundred fifty miles of rugged landscape, from the Gulf of California to its final destination here at the SUBOS.”
As Cain was giving the basic information on the pipeline, a slide show began with pictures of the sections of pipe being mounted in their concrete cradles and welded together.
“What do you intend to do to purify the water after it’s been pumped hundreds of miles?” a woman shouted from the rear of the conference room.
“The Engenechem team of engineers created a unique filtration system that, once implemented, is sure to revolutionize the desalination process around the world. The distilled water will flow through a series of ten filters every ten miles. The first set of five filters are electrically charged membranes of differing porosity. The second set of filters are thicker, fibrous filters that are also electrically charged. As the water travels along its three hundred fifty mile journey, it will undergo reverse osmosis while simultaneously passing through nearly four hundred filters. When it finally reaches the SUBOS, the level of impurities, salt and dissolved solids will be less than three parts per billion. That’s billions with a capital B, folks.”
“Do you intend to use all one and a half million gallons of water every day?” someone shouted.
“No, not all of it. We anticipate our consumption to be somewhere in the neighborhood of one million gallons. Some days more, some days less … it’ll vary. All excess water can then be pumped either directly to the City of Las Vegas or back to Lake Mead.”
“If you don’t mind humoring me for a moment, sir,” a woman said as she stood, “I’d like to get your take on my summary of this conference thus far.”
“Fire away!”
“Engenechem and more than one hundred entities are planning to capture six of every known creature and temporarily house them in three artificial environments that will be placed in orbit. You devised this plan in the off chance our planet doesn’t recover from the effects of man-made global warming and extreme changes in climate. You also anticipate possible colonization of Mars. To ensure that the SUBOS tower and the collection of animals have plenty of water to drink, you’re currently constructing a three hundred fifty-mile long pipeline from the Gulf of California to the SUBOS. The desalinated water will be produced by fifteen distilleries, powered by aircraft carrier-style nuclear reactors. Does it sound to you like I got the guts of it correct?”
Cain and the audience applauded the woman who, in turn, jokingly curtsied and bowed before taking her seat.
“Wonderful!” Cain warmly stated. “It’s a rough sketch but yes, you captured the guts of it!”
“One follow-up question, please,” she said and again stood up. “With all of these plans, projects, agendas … schedules and goals you have going on, I mean … you do have a lot going on. Do you ever find yourself feeling like Noah before the great flood?”
Cain tilted his head back and drew in several deep breaths.
“If I recall correctly,” he began, still looking up at the lights, “Noah … was a devout Jew, and did what he was told to do, and said to the people what he was told to say. That, to me, says that Noah was merely a servant and messenger.”
Cain turned his attention to the woman and arrogantly declared, “I am not a messenger and am a servant to no one. Honestly, I find myself becoming more like God!”
CHAPTER 14
SHOPPING LIST
Arena One, 3:00 a.m.
‘So, after Riggs sent up the new batch,’ Armada typed, ‘Garret had us play a game of ZG Ball with a few of them before we went back to Arena One.’ He pressed ‘send’ on the communication kiosk fold-out keyboard and waited for a response from Chloe.
Several minutes went by, then his mailbox flashed a green flag. Armada opened and read Chloe’s reply.
‘Who won?’ she inquired. ‘How many points did you score? Did it feel at all strange with Titan not being there?’
‘We did, four points, and yes, it’s just not the same without him here. I know we’re all supposed to be the same, but I have come to realize that he and I are vastly different from the others.’
‘Different how? In what way? I can’t agree or disagree with you; you and Titan are the only ones of your kind that I’ve been exposed to.’
‘I think in our personality. I can’t put my finger on one specific thing, but it’s something inside my head that I’m unable to fully express. Do you ever get that feeling whenever you’re wit
h your sisters?’
‘Sometimes. I have these urges to tell Cain and Dr. White that I’m not the property of their corporation. I find myself growing more and more angry with each passing day, especially when we have our monthly evaluations and the nurses speak to all of us in such a condescending and patronizing manner. I swear, there are those times when I want to tell some of them ‘Shut up! Who do you think you are? I’ve accomplished three times what you can even dream of in less than four years.’ These idiots are ten times our age and think themselves superior to you and I.”
‘Whoa! Simmer down! Sorry for asking,’ Armada typed.
‘I apologize. I don’t really have a close relationship with anyone down here. At least not like what you had with Titan. I spend so much of my time in class or at the lab, there isn’t anybody available to just sit down and talk with.’
‘It’s okay. Except for Euclid, I don’t have that glamorous a social life either.’
‘Have you been monitoring the RFIDs? Do you still suspect that they’re ejecting bodies via the WES?’
‘Yes, and YES. Typically, after you and I have said our goodbyes, that’s when I do a WATCHER scan and review the packing slips and manifests for loads going to the WES. They don’t have a set schedule for deploying the capsules coming from the Nursery. But nine times out of ten, there’s nothing to worry about with loads making the full ride from the SUBOS dock. It’s the loads that take a Nursery pit stop prior to reaching the Aerie that are suspicious.’
‘How many chips do you estimate have been rendered inactive?’
‘Last month, when we were constructing Arena Three, I saw two platforms being off-loaded for the WES. That night I ran a scan and compared it with WATCHER reports I ran two weeks prior. The new report showed that in the first week they deactivated seventeen chips, and in the second report that number almost doubled. The discrepancy in RFIDs, in a fourteen-day period, was nearly fifty. Fifty of my brothers and your sisters.’
‘Oh, my gosh!’ Chloe replied. ‘That’s almost half a batch for us. How do we stop this? I’m scared stiff to even suggest I might have a hang nail or something simple like that. I’m afraid Dr. White will send me to the Nursery and no one will ever hear from me again.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Armada typed. ‘They think we don’t know when someone’s been replaced, but I immediately notice the change.’
‘Have you completed construction on all of the Arenas?’ her next message asked.
‘Yes, three new facilities and dormitories for six hundred brothers. The other night, Riggs sent up a new batch, the Hyperion class, to stay on Arena Four. We now have eight hundred of us to begin the next stage of assembly.’
‘What are they building now?’
‘Garret says we’re basically building a zoo. He’s freaking out with all of the inventory we have floating around and so many staging areas to keep straight. Plus, Riggs has been sending up some larger, preassembled pieces that look really bizarre. Some of this stuff I don’t even know what it is, and neither Riggs nor Garret will tell us.”
‘Like what? Describe some of it to me; I might can tell you.’
‘One piece is about thirty feet square, with rows of half-inch-thick steel … I think it’s a magnesium and tungsten composite. It folds down on itself and the strips of steel have notches cut out every six inches or so. A second piece, the same size, looks like it would attach to the first, perpendicularly, and the notches on those strips of steel would fit in the strips of the first piece. Garret won’t let us unfold it and is all hushed up about the whole thing. Honestly, it looks like a giant vegetable processor.’
‘You’re right, that does sound bizarre. Did Garret say anything about when you’ll be putting it together?’
‘No. He won’t even tell us what it’s called or who authorized the off load. Another weird thing is the underside is covered with a fabric I’ve never seen before. It’s thick, and looks as if there might be copper wires woven through it.’
‘It could be a cloak or deflecting tool. If it had mirrors attached to the bottom, I can see it being used for blocking out thermal radiation waves for infrared resonance imaging,’ Chloe suggested, adding ‘In other words, whoever delivered this thing doesn’t want anybody knowing what it is, what it does, or where it is. Right?’
‘Precisely,’ Armada confirmed. ‘I almost forgot; this came with a halo frame and four multimount, vector thrust engines.’
‘Whenever it’s fully assembled, you just watch; they’re going to operate it remotely and make it portable,’ Chloe predicted.
‘I agree. But I can’t figure out what it’s supposed to do.’
‘Time will tell, Mr. Spy.’
‘I want your help and input on an investigation. Are you game?’
“I don’t know,’ Chloe pecked, then followed with, ‘We’re probably being monitored as we speak. I already don’t feel safe.’
‘All I need you to do is just review some documents, packing slips, and invoices. I’ll send them to a public folder on the Master Server and you only need to open the folder and look at the individual images.’
‘Won’t I get caught or flagged?’
‘No. I’ll set up your accessibility permissions and credentials. No one will even know the folder exists.’
‘What’s this about? Can you give me a hint?’
‘Last Friday, after our conversation, I ran a WATCHER scan and waited a couple of minutes. The report didn’t come up. I looked at programs running in the background on the Master Server that might be slowing it down. It showed hundreds of running applications being active, but one in particular, called ‘Groceries,’ was taking up an enormous amount of bandwidth. This program has so many access permissions, data is being sent in from all over the world.’
‘Groceries? What’s it for?’ she inquired.
‘To me, it looks like someone created a massive shopping list and sent orders out all over the planet.’
‘Shopping for what? Where?’
‘One invoice I saw was for something called a Komatsu PC650. I have no idea what that is.’
‘That’s an excavator made by a Japanese company. It’s huge.’
‘Well, Engenechem bought ten of them for nearly half a million dollars each. Then they purchased twenty Wirtgen asphalt reclaimers. Those are coming from Germany.’
‘I don’t get it. What’s the problem? What are you looking for?’
‘They purchased one hundred telehandlers. Two hundred light plants. Two hundred fifty 60-kilowatt generators. Twenty-two hundred miles of copper wire in fifteen different gauges. Ten thousand solar generators with one hundred thousand collection panels. Twenty-five thousand, fifteen-gallon liquid propane tanks. Fifty thousand assorted styles of shovels. I found forty subfolders for all kinds of equipment and machines.’
‘Sounds to me like Engenechem is preparing to break ground on something big,’ Chloe commented.
‘Maybe so. The majority of these purchase orders were generated with shipping instructions to send everything to Hutchinson, Kansas, to a place called Strataca.’
‘That’s a salt mine!’ she quickly informed him. ‘That’s one of the locations where Engenechem took my L-Gen for testing. I wonder why they’re delivering that type of equipment to a mine? The only thing an excavator of that size and capacity can do is drive in and sit. There’s not enough room for the boom to be raised or the arm extended. What else?’
‘Drywall, tile, tools, copper and PVC tubing and pipe,’ Armada began, ‘Toilets, sinks, faucets, water hoses, barbed wire, hundreds of thousands of LED lightbulbs, paper goods, and lumber. LOTS of lumber. I’m talking millions of linear feet! Two trains worth.’
‘The more items you name, the more it gives an impression that Engenechem isn’t about to build, they’re stockpiling for something.’
‘Exactly,’ he typed.
‘What would spook a corporation as big and powerful as Engenechem into stockpiling?’
‘Good quest
ion. Is it something they think might happen or will definitely take place? Another question to ask is could this be something Engenechem is preparing to do themselves?’
‘You mean Engenechem create and initiate a crisis or event themselves?’
‘Bingo! Why not? They’ve become the largest self-sustaining, off-the-grid corporation in the world. They have the biggest, most technologically advanced private military in the history of mankind. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Engenechem instigated a catastrophic global event. They could literally take over everyone and everything.’
‘Okay, now you’ve really got me worried!’ Chloe confessed.
‘I’m sorry, but I can’t stop this feeling like something big is about to happen, and you and your sisters, and me and my brothers are directly involved. I’d even go so far as to say we’re partially responsible for what lies ahead in the not too distant future.’
‘Us? You and I are to blame for what’s coming?’ she hastily asked.
‘Well, in a way, yes. But not in a conscious, deliberate way. We’re the ones doing all the heavy lifting when it comes to research and design to create and build their machines, systems, and structures. We need to dig deeper and find out what Cain and Doc White have up their sleeves with all of this. Why would this massive company feel the need to buy millions of bandages and doses of antibiotics, thousands upon thousands of pairs of pants, socks, shoes and boots, millions of freeze-dried meals, and then send it all to a salt mine nearly eight hundred miles away? There are scanned copies of packing slips for one million seven-hour votive candles, flares, axes, chain-link fencing, matches, water storage containers, filters and purifiers, and iodine tablets. There’s some in the folder for thousands of one-gallon jugs of hydrogen peroxide, portable surgical kits, and tools for field dressing wild game … this whole thing is screwy. Engenechem is directly involved with something nefarious. I know it.’
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