“Yes, it is. It looks like a new type, actually,” his comrade answered, “now I will explain… before going into battle, the Chinese sergeants choose some troops to swallow a worm egg, which is just like a small chocolate candy. It activates itself as soon it detects the death of the host body. Once somebody moves the corpse, like a collector patrol, the egg detonates and releases around a cloud of nerve gas, which you have to be quick to neutralize. The first versions were metallic, and we learned to find them by doing the x-ray scan of the bodies beforehand, but this one…” Marek interrupted himself while checking the samples Pedro was holding in his hand, “..this one looks as if it’s coated in some organic material that probably prevented us from detecting it.”
“What do we do now?” Pedro asked, looking at Dimitri. The lieutenant did not say anything and just hinted to the two remaining soldiers to throw also the bodies of their comrades onto the spider.
Around half an hour later, the patrol was walking back into Lesosibirsk.
“You know, Marek, it’s kind of strange,” Pedro said abruptly.
“What?” Marek asked, “The war? Or this battle? I wouldn’t call it strange.”
“No, I mean, the whole situation. A few days ago, before the attack began, I was surfing the web and came across an old movie, about the battle of Troy, released at the beginning of the century. Then I went on reading the original text, just to break the tension before the battle. Greeks and Trojans, do you remember?”
“Kind of, but what’s strange about it?” Marek answered without showing much interest.
“It’s that they fought to bring back into their camps the bodies of the dead, just like we do. A lot of technology has appeared over time, but nothing has radically changed, don’t you think?”
“Well, no. They wanted the bodies for superstitious reasons and loot. We want them because they have a value, an objective value. We turn them into fuel to continue and eventually win this war. Look, we can see the anti-aircraft batteries. We are reaching the gas plant.”
The field gas plant, one of the hundreds scattered around the thousand-mile front, was the nerve center of each sector, the prize for which people fought on both sides. Fueled by the biological collateral of the war, as it was called in official reports, they produced the energy and resources to continue fighting.
The spider stopped next to the area where prisoners of war were unloading the bodies, and throwing what was left of them over the conveyor belt that took the biological mass over to the first processing station, to be eventually turned into gas and electric energy. Beyond combatant bodies, the plant was processing any kind of biological carcass. Marek and Pedro were observing the scene, when the voice of Dimitri resounded over the intercom. “Escort patrol, you can go back to the battalion quarters, mission is accomplished successfully. And be ready for tomorrow inspection.”
Marek and Pedro did not need any reminding. They knew very well that the following day General Irina Kanchelskaya, the South Sector Commander, would be visiting the first line. They had enough time to clean up their exoskeletons and put together the battle recordings, so they put their work down and headed to the bar next to the gas plant for a drink. As they walked down the muddy road, Pedro noticed a Filipino prisoner hurrying over to the belt, with a crown of flowers in his hands. He turned his head, following the rush of the prisoner, and then back to Marek, who smiled and commented.
“That guy was caught prisoner about two years ago, his name is Cosme. He was the only survivor of one of the many Filipino mercenary companies fighting for the Chinese in this area. His unit was annihilated by a thermobaric grenade bombing, I think his brain was permanently injured, as he can no longer speak and keeps doing the same crazy things from when he was at the camp.”
“What crazy things does he do?” Pedro asked.
“Well, he keeps making bouquets of flowers, to put them on all the childrens’ bodies he happens to find, before they are put on the belt.”
Pedro nodded and asked back. “Alright. But how does he do in winter?”
“He builds a stock during spring and summertime. As he is harmless, the military police allowed him to keep his small obsession. It might help him to overcome the hardship, after all.”
Pedro did not answer, and thought about the months he had ahead of him, then he turned back to Marek.
“Thanks for telling me, mate, I might be kind to him, in case. But now let’s hurry up, I need my vodka.”
Chapter 26
It was a few minutes past five in the morning. The first rays of light shone around the tops of the Judean mountain range. In a few minutes they would turn red and soon a new day would begin.
The view from the window of Avi Eitan’s bedroom in Mazkeret Katya was worth all the shekels he had paid for the house. About twenty miles to the East, Jerusalem was about to wake up, but today he did not have to report there for duty. He had managed to get a half-day off to take his family to the airport.
Next to him, his wife Morav was starting to wake up, after having felt her husband move. Avi admired once more her ebony Ethiopian body, and thanked God once again for their two daughters. It was definitely worth all the criticism he had faced from his parents to marry Morav.
“Avi, isn’t it a bit too early? The flight is at ten o’clock, this time it’s not so bad to live close to the airport.”
She stood up. Avi looked at her without answering for a while, then moved his eyes back to the window and whispered.
“It’s not a trip like all others, Morav, you know,” he said calmly. “You might never come back to Israel, and I might not be able to join you up there in Cyprus.”
Morav inched closer to Avi, and took his head in her hands.
“Do we have another chance, Avi? The pressure of all the refugees at the borders is becoming unsustainable, and food reserves are depleting, after many years of fly swarm attacks. Good for us that the government worked out this deal with Turkey….a planned exodus from the Promised Land.”
She let Avi go and moved to the table next to the bed. The travel documents papers were there, written in four languages: Hebrew, English, Greek and Turkish.
“According to this, we will relocate to a small town just outside of Magusa, on the old Turkish side. The inhabitants have been moved to Anatolia two weeks ago, along with most of the Turkish-speaking population. I wonder what the government gave Turkey to get North Cyprus in exchange.”
“You can imagine, Morav,” Avi replied, “lots of military aid for Turkey to continue the war against Pakistan and India and secure control of Northern Iraq and Syria.”
“I wonder if they also gave them the technology to build the killer flies. It looks like we control it, or better, we have a major part in creating this monster, although many sources claim they were invented by the Americans and copied by the Russians.”
Avi kept silent, then asked Morav.
“Is that a statement you are making based off of your Google research or are you looking for some sort of confirmation from me? You know there are some things I cannot tell you.”
“You do not need to tell me. Back to the topic of our trip, I would have preferred to be moved to one of the properties bought on the Greek side of Cyprus, but it looks like those positions all went to the well-networked elite. This shitty world really never changes.”
Morav looked at the clock. She had enough time to take a shower before waking up her children. She turned back to Avi.
“What’s the plan for those of you who stay behind? I mean, do you think you will eventually flee or resist till the end?”
Avi answered immediately, as if he was expecting the question.
“There is no clear escape plan. We have to make sure that Israel can be rebuilt once the crisis is over, which basically means defending certain areas at every cost and to be ready to surrender some others if the situation gets ugly. After the experience from last year along the Jordan valley, I can tell you, it is not easy to fire at a crowd of des
perate people seeking nothing more than to flee famine and war, even if you know that terrorists are hiding among them. You actually would like the terrorist to open fire at you, not to be the one who pulls the trigger first. So yes, we are prepared to give up some land to gain time, if needed.”
Morav kept silent. The Jericho and Jordan valley massacres of 2044 had left a wound on Avi’s spirit that had not quite healed yet. She checked her packed bags once again, among them there was a small sketch from Chagall that Avi had given her upon their engagement.
“You must bring this one with you. We cannot risk to lose it in some looting.” Avi said briskly, as Morav was still checking the small package.
“Do you expect a lot of it?”
“From anyone that stays behind. Well, many looters might turn out to be Israeli Arabs simply because they are not part of Plan Lot, but they won’t be alone. This one I can tell you, looting is one of the things we will have to turn a blind eye on most of the time. Not to mention that…anyway, it’s getting late now, let’s wake up the girls.”
Morav went into the girls room, and Avi started getting in his uniform.
One hour later, they were driving through the security gates of Ben Gurion International Airport. Avi could spot a long row of Superjumbos on the runways. They never stopped shuttling between Tel Aviv and Cyprus. The girls did not talk during the trip, but as they passed the security check, Yael, the younger one, broke the silence.
“Is it true that in Cyprus we’ll have a house by the seaside? And we can play at the beach the whole year?”
Morav turned towards her from the front seat and smiled, as she swiped her watch and projected a set of pictures on the car screen system.
“Well, it’s not exactly on the beach, but not far away at all, you see?” she zoomed in and out of the 3D view, “You can get to the sea with this small ramp of stairs, after walking a few yards down this alley.”
Yael’s mouth opened in astonishment and anticipation.
“Mom, and is it true that the flies can’t get there? That you do not have to rush to the shelter while they are spraying the pesticide around and things smell bad for days afterwards?”
“Yes, darling, it is true. Cyprus is in the middle of the sea, so fly storms cannot reach it. They fall dead over the sea.”
“Ooooh, wow, that’s just great!” Yael could not contain her enthusiasm, then she looked around and felt the rest of the family was not sharing it. She stopped for a while and then she came up with the explanation.
“If only dad could come with us now. When will you join us in Cyprus, daddy?”
Avi tried to dodge the question, pretending he was paying attention to how well the car was self-parking next to the departure hall, but Yael didn’t give up.
“The car parks alone, you don’t have to watch it. When will you come to Cyprus with us? Ytzhak, the dad of our neighbors, is coming with the rest of his family.”
“I still have some work to do here, Yael. But I will join you soon, it’s a promise.” He got out of the car, opened the door and gave Yael the biggest hug.
Chapter 27
The tiltrotor plane flew along the Moroccan coast just south of Agadir, then veered towards East. It flew for another twenty minutes, before the giant solar power plant started appearing on the horizon. Despite the fact that Louis had read all the documentation during the flight, he could not help being in awe once he saw the construction worksite.
It was like a huge tent camp, spreading over more than ten thousand square miles. The tents were pinned by carbon fiber poles, each more than one hundred yards tall. From time to time, some clearings populated by buildings and plants opened in the immense camp.
The plane flew to a point in the center of the area, where the clearing was bigger than usual. Then it tilted the engines upward and landed on the helicopter pad next to the heavily guarded control building. Or, Louis thought, he’d better call it the control village, as more than one thousand people were living in the compound.
He got off the plane and headed to the visitor welcome area. Dorian and Tarek were there, waiting for him. They shook hands as if he were one of the many dignitaries who were regularly touring the site.
“Tarek told me you were achieving something great,” Louis commented as he followed Tarek, who was making way for them, “but he understated it big time, Dorian. It’s simply huge.”
“Please, spare me the father’s pride comedy. I cannot stand it,” Dorian replied, “and do not forget you are here on business. You will have time for hugs at home tonight, with Camilla and the kids.”
“Are they all right? I would not like to find out that she is expecting another baby when it is born, as with the first two. Mom could not handle it. Do it for her, please.”
“No surprises this time. Now hold on...here is the meeting room. Let’s continue our discussion later.”
Louis entered the room, where around fifteen attendees, coming from all corners of Eurasia, were waiting for him. Louis immediately recognized Dinesh Kheradpir and went straight to him, almost ignoring the rest of the team. They shook hands vigorously, while patting each other on the back.
“It has been a long time that I have been waiting to meet you in person, Dr. Kheradpir,” Louis said warmly. “If there is a case where the pupil has gone further than the master, this is the one. Unfortunately, this war has made traveling anything but easy.”
“You are the living legend, here, Dr. Picard. We will have time for smalltalk afterwards, now let’s start the meeting. We have to persuade some politicians.”
The attendees went to their places, put on their virtual reality goggles and connected to the biosensors hanging in front of them. Then content started to flow.
At the end of the session, the picture was clear, and was summarized by Matthias Morganti, the representative of the European Union.
“Basically, the energy side of the equation is solved, at least in principle: new solar cell technology is giving us access to nearly unlimited amount of energy. Thanks to this, we can turn any desert into a garden, like we have been doing here. In addition to that, the outstanding need for fossil fuels - in order to move planes and ships - can be fulfilled by extracting hydrocarbons from outer solar system planets and asteroids, thanks to the orbital elevator and advanced rover technology.”
“Yes, it is like this,” Tarek replied, speaking as the representative of the Arab League, “Access to these technologies would basically remove the main source of conflicts on the Eurasian continent.” He paused, and then turned his head to Dinesh.
“Dr. Kheradpir, on the other hand, has just perfected a Telomerax version that decays. That is, unlike the previous ones, it does not make anti-aging effects permanent. Dr. Picard has confirmed the finding, so we can also address over time the problem of the pest swarms.”
“But unfortunately it is still a bit early to uncork champagne, isn’t it?” The objection came from Artyom Gordeev, the personal secretary of the Russian President. “We are still not able to get the pandemic really under control, as the excessive usage of antibiotics in the early years of the crisis has made germs stronger than ever, and on top of that, to build the orbital elevator on time, we need access to American technology and space launch sites that neither the rebels nor the government seem willing to grant us, at least until the civil war stops. Their representatives did not even bother to attend this meeting.”
“In other words,” Dorian jumped in looking at both the Russian and Chinese delegate, “we could have had the tools on hand, if the two of you had not destroyed each other’s space infrastructure over the last ten years, and now, even if we know exactly what to do, it might be too late. Unless things in the States go in the right direction, then we have no control.”
The Russian visibly resented the remark, while Yuan Zhang, the Chinese, who was the vice-minister of Economic Affairs, politely smiled at Dorian and then looked at Dinesh.
“It’s not just us, Mr. Picard Junior, you also ne
ed to factor in the depletion of fossil fuel reserves carried out by India and Pakistan while pursuing their war in the Middle East. That’s why we had to put coal plants back into service to produce electricity to survive. This obviously did not help the environment, but between immediate death and slow agony you always pick the last one.”
Dinesh noticed the growing irritation in Dorian, and raised his hand to speak.
“Gentlemen, we are all guilty here, period. I could add the massive deforestation in Africa and Latin America, triggered by the lack of easy access to oil, and all that followed. And yes, I might have pushed my government too heavily to use antibiotics. We are already paying for that. But we might have a way out, if we act quickly. We have evaluated a number of scenarios and discovered we have between two to three years to get all this technology before it is too late.”
“Otherwise?” the question came from Louis.
Dorian swiped to the last video.
“This is the most likely outcome. By 2065, there won’t be more than 150 million survivors on the planet, spread mostly along the tropics where climate conditions will remain more favorable.”
Artyom Gordeev pushed his chair back.
“Do the Americans know this? Do they care?”
Dinesh answered,
“Yes, they know, and no, they don’t care. Neither the government nor the rebels. They say they do, but they’re really only thinking about how to win their war.”
Tarek summarized the situation in the silence that followed, without bothering to hide his amusement.
“Even if we decided to stop war in Eurasia tomorrow and invade America to get what we need, it would take too much time. We can only try to push and influence as much as we can, but basically we need a miracle, given the current political outlook in the States.”
He stopped and thought that this would be one of the situations that Valerio would have liked to witness. The amusement gave way to sadness, he looked once more around the table, then he pointed at the gardens below and said,
The Last Enemy - A history of the present future - 1934-2084 Page 34