Glass Sky

by Niko Perren

  Tania pushed the plate across the table toward him. “And what about side effects?” she asked. “Rain that falls on China can’t also fall on Mongolia. The disk array is going to require a degree of international cooperation that we’ve never seen. And the cost? How do you get the Council to pay for it?”

  “It’s already approved,” said Molari. “It’s been in the works for weeks. Your predecessor, James Wong, worked out the funding.”

  “Wong?” Tania asked, feeling a sudden unease. “I’m surprised. I thought he twisted everything he put his hands on.”

  “Your worries are probably justified,” said Molari, his face sagging into a frown. “That’s why Tengri brought you here. This hasn’t quite gone the way we had hoped.”

  ***

  Tania sat in a warm pool of sunlight atop the stone steps leading into the General Assembly Building, savoring the fresh New York air. During James Wong’s disastrous tenure, she’d had nothing but contempt for the UNBio Director. But now it was she who would be running UNBio. Her staff would be monitoring the state of the planet. She would be providing scientific advice for UN climate policies. Her teams would be coordinating the hundreds of interventions, from invasive species removal, to species balancing, to artificial watering holes, which protected Earth’s crown jewels. The UNBio preserves.

  She skimmed through the folders full of dense documents that Tengri had just made available, running filters and automated summarizers, using the fully stretched size of her scroll to try to organize it into a coherent picture. Damn, this is a mess. As far as she could tell, there hadn’t been independent UNBio audits in years.

  Not surprising, given the stories of corruption.

  A reminder flitted across the display: climate summit starts in 15 minutes. She rolled up the scroll, tucking it into her chest quiver. Men and women strode by, the men’s gray suits a uniform that varied only in the cut and the pattern of the red tie, the women in occasional splashes of color. As she got up, a young man she didn’t recognize spotted her and hurried against the crowd.

  “Doctor Tania Black? I’m glad I found you. The Secretary General wants to meet with you.”

  And now I find out what’s really going on. She followed the man into the hallway, up a flight of stairs. Another hallway.

  “In here.” Two burly men stepped away from a wooden doorway.

  Tania entered an opulent room, paneled wooden walls, original paintings, like a private study in a historic mansion. Khan Tengri was chatting with Tetabo Molari at the head of the heavy wood conference table. Circling the table, a dozen people sat in leather chairs. They all turned to look at Tania as she took the remaining seat.

  “You must be Doctor Black, the new UNBio Director.” A short Latino woman with her hair in a French twist extended her hand across the table. “I’m Valerie Juarez.”

  Tania gasped.

  Opposite Tania, to either side of US President Valarie Juarez, sat Maxine van Buren, the blonde-haired President of the European Union, and Rusov Malikov, the Russian Federation President. On Tania’s left sat Lui Xing Tao, the Chinese President, and to her right Lucas Olivera, the Brazilian President. Tania wasn’t as sure about the others, but it wasn’t hard to guess.

  The UN Climate Council. A group of eleven nations and regional alliances that had been created a decade ago, just before the sulfuring started.

  “Madam President?” stammered Tania. “I thought you’d all be in the General Assembly Hall for the summit.”

  “Nothing useful is decided in a meeting that large,” laughed the President, her brown eyes gleaming. “That’s why the Climate Council was created in the first place. History is made in back rooms.”

  Chapter 3

  TANIA WASN’T SURE where to look. So much power in such a small room; if she made eye contact it felt as if she were staring. I am staring. Her heart lurched as if it were malfunctioning.

  “I’m delighted that Mr. Tengri found a replacement for James Wong so quickly,” said Maxine van Buren. “Mr. Wong’s contributions to the disk array funding were invaluable. I’m sure you are eager to pick up where he left off, so we can move forward with our plans.” The other leaders nodded, but Tania caught tension in the sideways glances.

  “Thank you,” said Tania.

  Khan Tengri draped his suit jacket over the chair behind him. “In light of the full agenda, Doctor Black will have to catch up as we go. Mr. Molari, what are your latest estimates?”

  Molari pursed his lips. “The full system will require 3000 disks, each launched on an independent heavy-lift rocket. Assuming we create the new space facilities we discussed, it’ll take five years to stabilize the climate. And 8 years to get the full system operational. Estimated costs are in the documents I provided you.”

  “A nice-sized infrastructure project, as promised,” said Olivera. The Brazilian President’s voice was squeaky and didn’t match his husky appearance.

  The Chinese President snorted. “I have worked with engineers. Double the timeframe and triple the budget.”

  “I was trained in Beijing,” said Molari.

  Lui narrowed his eyes. “Five years still sounds optimistic,” he said. “But it’s within the time frame James Wong provided us.” He turned to Tania. “Tania. James Wong’s assessment was that sulfuring’s residual effects should give us five years of relative calm before we need further climatic intervention. Do you agree?”

  A dozen of the most powerful people in the planet looked at her expectantly.

  “Ummm…” Her tongue flopped around in her mouth as if it had been anesthetized. Get a grip. They’re only human. “I think…” Five years? Is he crazy? She sucked in a breath, toning down her reaction. “I haven’t studied the data yet, but the five-year time frame seems very optimistic to me. The sulfur is raining out of the atmosphere very quickly. We’d certainly shoot well past our temperature targets.”

  Lui swiveled his chair to face Tania. “James Wong said we could overshoot by up to three degrees temporarily.”

  “The last time we overshot, the West Antarctic Ice Shelf collapsed,” said Tania. “I’m sure we’ve got some grace period. But I doubt it’s five years. Especially since the extra CO2 we’ve emitted since 2040 makes our baseline temperature forcings worse. In my opinion, if it takes five years to get the disk array ready, then we’ll need at least some additional sulfuring to tide us over.”

  “More sulfuring’s out of the question!” President Juarez slapped the table. “It ruins the whole narrative for the disk array. And India’s government is too fragile to survive a second famine. We can’t let another nuclear power fall into anarchy.”

  A woman in an orange sari sat forward. “I don’t think my government is quite that fragile,” she said. “But after last year, I agree that sulfuring is clearly out of the question.”

  “India has hundred warheads at most,” the Russian President pointed out in a thick accent. He directed his comments at Juarez, ignoring the Indian Prime Minister. “We have ten thousand. The threat is exaggerated.”

  Annoyance furrowed Tengri’s brow. “Pakistan has nuclear weapons too. It shares rivers with India. Failed states don’t behave rationally. It’s dangerous.”

  “Not to any of us,” said the Russian. “We are well clear of any fallouts.” He leaned back, looking slightly sulky.

  “Since it’s just a short period of sulfuring, why not give food aid to the worst hit areas?” said Tania. “It would stabilize their governments.”

  The Indian Prime Minister nodded in agreement.

  “You have some magic food supply?” asked Olivera.

  “Ninety percent of the world’s grain goes to livestock,” said Tania. “When I worked in Chengdu we cut meat consumption in half with a few minor restrictions. If we did the same globally…”

  Maxine van Buren glanced at Juarez, rolling her eyes slightly. “This isn’t Chengdu, Dr. Black. We can’t tell people what to eat. It’s not how free markets work.”

  President Jua
rez nodded. “Do you have any idea how powerful the cattle lobbies are?”

  “Cattle lobbies?” sputtered Tania. No wonder Earth is falling apart. “We’re talking about swapping a sixteen-ounce steak for eight. To save millions of lives. Surely in a time of crisis…” She faded off, looking to Lui Xing Tao for support. “President Lui. You’ve seen Chengdu. You know this is possible.” The Chinese President’s face remained expressionless.

  “Perhaps we could discuss this later,” said van Buren. She turned to the group’s other members. “We need to divide the new launch facilities. Each of the Climate Council members will get one new heavy-lift rocket center, which leaves five extra facilities as sweeteners to buy enough support to get this plan through the General Assembly.”

  Nods. Lui leaned forward. “On the basis of population, China should get one of those extra facilities.”

  “Only if India does.”

  “And clearly Brazil also gets one,” said Lucas Olivera. “My country has the most extensive preserves. When we cut off funding, Brazil will lose the most in transfer payments.”

  Cut off funding to the UNBio preserves? Did I hear that right? Tania’s chest constricted. She looked at Tengri for guidance. He frowned and nodded imperceptibly.

  Malikov leaned inward, eyes darting from face to face as if he’d just dropped a stack of poker chips on the table. “I vood support Brazil, China, and India getting extra facility if we make Spidex manufacturing in Russia.”

  “Ummm… sorry to interrupt.” Tania ignored Malikov’s glare. “Mr. Olivera, what did you mean by ‘cut off funding to the UNBio preserves’?”

  “The disk array is staggeringly expensive,” said Olivera. “We have to build new space facilities, create disk materials, and build rockets. Taxpayers will never support it. So James Wong helped us come up with a plan to fund disk construction using the money that currently goes to the preserves.”

  “Which lets us position it as a free economic stimulus,” said van Buren. “Very popular.”

  “You’d destroy the preserve program,” gasped Tania. “Those funds pay for habitat restoration. They keep local governments from harvesting the preserves for timber, or minerals.”

  Juarez’s fingertips whitened as she clenched her omnipen. “James Wong assured us that the majority of the preserves were in good enough shape to survive a temporary funding cut,” she intoned. “Are you disagreeing with his assessment? Again? I thought you hadn’t studied the data yet?”

  Silence hung. Eleven leaders stared at her with obvious disapproval.

  “I already looked for UNBio preserve audits,” said Tania. “There aren’t any. Wong had no basis for believing the preserves are in good shape.”

  “Ergo you have no basis for thinking they aren’t,” retorted the US President.

  “Other than common sense.” Tania’s nails bit into her palms. Damn it. Stay cool.

  “Doctor Black, we have no choice,” said van Buren. “Half the Netherlands is underwater. They had to raise the retirement age to 77 to deal with the costs. Italy lost Venice. London is extending its dikes again.”

  “Direct consequences of letting up on CO2 cuts during the ten-year sulfuring grace period,” said Tania.

  “The past ees irrelevant,” snapped Malikov.

  “Not if we make the same mistakes in the present,” said Tania. “What are your plans for CO2 cuts this time? Tell me you at least have an accompanying plan to restore long-term equilibrium? Or do we keep adding disks until we blot out the sun entirely?”

  Tension filled the room like a poisonous gas. Tania glanced at Tengri. Is this what you were hoping I’d do? She detected the slightest twinkle of a smile in his eyes.

  “Don’t fight us on this,” said Lui. “We need the disk array. And UNBio’s preserve funds are the best way to pay for it. You could help a lot, by providing selective evidence to reassure taxpayers that there is a free lunch. Once construction has started, we can reveal more layers of truth.”

  “My role as UNBio Director is to provide scientific advice to the Climate Council. Not bend facts to fit your narrative,” said Tania. “Surely there are other ways to fund the disk array? What’s the point of building it if we destroy everything we’re trying to save in the process?”

  But they’d already told her the point. The Climate Council was a room full of vultures, fighting over scraps of the planet’s corpse. An orgy of spacecraft construction. Jobs and votes for Climate Council members. Paid for with the UNBio preserves, and the blood of all the species they sheltered.

  ***

  The Climate Council meeting continued the rest of the afternoon, and Tania listened, fascinated and repulsed in equal measures by the political maneuvering. Finally, they broke for dinner. Tania ducked through an open doorway into a small side room and slumped at the table, running her hands through her hair. I’m so unprepared for this.

  She pulled out her omni. “Call UNBio. Simulations Department.”

  It took a while – she’d only been head of UNBio for a few hours and the computers didn’t recognize her yet – but eventually she was able to argue her way past the AIs to an actual person.

  “Katherine Dunn speaking.” A sour-looking woman with a hawk-like nose peered out of the screen. “Can I help you?” Tania’s omni identified her as the UNBio Permanent Secretary. She’ll be my second in command.

  “Good afternoon, Katherine,” said Tania, trying to leave her frustration behind. “I’m Tania Black.”

  The woman scrunched her nose. “Am I supposed to know who you are? How did you get this number?”

  “I’m the new UNBio Director,” Tania said through gritted teeth.

  “This is very poor taste, so soon after James’ accident.” Katherine hung up.

  Tania dialed again.

  “Listen…” said Katherine.

  “Check my credentials,” growled Tania. “Khan Tengri appointed me this morning.”

  Katherine looked off screen for a moment, then her expression changed to utter shock. “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry.”

  “No problem,” said Tania. “Listen, I’m on the bad end of a vicious learning curve. Can you please get me the head of simulations?”

  Tania thought she detected a slight hesitation, then Katherine vanished off screen. Half a minute later a ponytailed man appeared. “I’m Gordon Hill,” he said. “I understand that you are the new boss?” Gordon studied her.

  “Tania Black,” said Tania, “at your service.”

  Gordon’s eyes widened. “Tania Black? Cool. I’m a big fan of what you did in Guatemala. What can I do for you, Tania?”

  “I’m at the UN Climate Summit. Apparently James Wong told the Climate Council that the UNBio preserves can survive for five years without funding. And that the global climate will remain stable for five years without more sulfuring. I’m having a hard time believing those numbers.”

  Gordon tensed, expelled a breath. “Those numbers sure didn’t come from my department. But Wong wasn’t one for consulting us scientists.”

  “What’s your opinion?” asked Tania. “Don’t hold back.”

  “The UNBio preserve program is a disaster,” said Gordon. “Maintenance and reconstruction projects have been spotty at best. As for sulfuring – we’ll be lucky to go two years before we have to intervene in the climate again. Five years? That’s delusional.”

  “That helps a lot,” said Tania.

  “Do you mind if I ask what’s going on?” asked Gordon.

  “It’s still security restricted,” said Tania. “Let’s just say there’s a freight train leaving the station in the wrong direction. I’m going to lie on the tracks and hope it stops.”

  ***

  Tania stepped into the hallway, almost colliding with Molari. “Doctor Black!” He clapped his hands together, grinning. “You live up to your reputation. Two helpings of brains, and none of tact. I think it’s been a long time since someone called President Juarez an idiot to her face.”

  “That s
urprises me now that I’ve met her,” said Tania. “Besides. I said her suggestion was idiotic. There’s a difference.”

  “Still, your comments confirm everything Khan and I were worried about. I’m having dinner with him. You should join us.”

  They walked together, up two flights of stairs to a lounge overlooking the East River. President Juarez sat at a table in the corner, deep in conversation with Maxine van Buren, an island in a sea of secret service agents. Khan Tengri sat by himself in a booth along the window, backlit by the spotlights of the levee construction cranes, paging through messages on his scroll. He slid over to make room for Tania on the bench seat.

  “Still think I went too far eliminating Wong?” he muttered.

  “No… that fucking bastard.” Tania sputtered. “I don’t get it. Wong wasn’t stupid. He knew that this would destroy the UNBio preserves. What was his motivation?”

  “I can’t speak to Wong’s reasons,” said Tengri. “But you did well today. Held your own against the entire Climate Council. Though it would help if you were a bit more tactful, Tania. I’m only one voice. If you rile up all the snakes at once, I can’t save you.”

  The waiter brought menus. Tania looked for the vegetarian section. “It figures,” she grumbled. “I make a fuss about meat consumption, and the UN restaurant turns out to be a steakhouse.”

  “Steak sounds good,” said Molari. “No offense Tania. It’s the tragedy of the commons you see. I’ll only stop eating steak when everybody else does, and they’ll only stop when I do.”

  A few minutes of small talk. The waiter returned with their food, a steaming pile of rare meat for Molari, mounds of tofu and vegetables for Tania. Tengri took soup. Tania skewered a chunk of tofu. Overcooked.

  “So tell me Tetabo. Why does Molari Industries have a research project on sunlight control?”

  Molari sawed off a piece of steak and popped it into his mouth, chewing it to satisfied humming sounds. “Do you know where I was born, Tania?”