The Final Enemy

by Petrosini, Dan

  Johnson said, “It is a celebration! Damn, Remedy has beaten death, for God’s sake.”

  Mulroney said, “The president’s right. We should take the opportunity to acknowledge the president’s role in bringing Remedy to a home in Washington.”

  “Maybe, but I think we’ve got to put some distance between the president and Remedy. He gets any closer, the public’s not going to be able to make that distinction when things go wrong.”

  “Remedy’s been a godsend politically. Look at his approval numbers. I don’t know what you’re so worried about, Pete,” Mulroney said.

  The president’s grin faded as Garland said, “Are you reading my reports? Am I the only one seeing the crap that’s showing up as the snow melts?”

  Mulroney said, “We’re looking at the issues you’re raising.”

  “I don’t want to toot my horn, but the president knows my core strength is to look at the landscape ahead, analyze the facts, and make conclusions. Right now, I’m telling you, the couple of clouds out there are forming a damn tornado.”

  The president shook his head. “Sounds dramatic, Pete. Give me your number-one cloud, so to speak.”

  “Food. People are waiting in lines at grocery stores in scores of cities. In the past month, there’ve been twenty-eight stabbings, four gunshots, countless muggings, and fights over food. It’s not limited to the poorer districts, either. For God’s sake, there were a couple of stabbings in Greenwich and Beverly Hills.”

  Johnson loosened his tie. “Are there supply disruptions?”

  “Not really. Basically, the food industry’s ability to produce is being outstripped by demand. There are just too many mouths to feed.”

  Mulroney asked, “Mr. President, may I suggest we arrange a cabinet level meeting in the next day or so?”

  ***

  Two boys and a girl, seven to ten years old, were huddled in alley with a man in his mid-thirties wearing a baseball cap. The man was giving instructions and answering the children’s questions. As they were breaking up, the man put on sunglasses and spread his arms out.

  “Remember, stay together, but keep a couple of feet apart from each other when you’re leaving.”

  The ponytailed girl said, “But what if we get caught, Dad?”

  “Don’t worry, honey. If anything happens, I’ll take care of it.”

  “You sure, Dad?”

  “I promise, everything’s going to work out.”

  “Don’t worry, Cathy, like Dad said, everything’s going to work out. Mom’s gonna be outside waiting for us.”

  “Gary’s right. Don’t worry, we’ll be home before you know it. Now let’s get going.”

  The group turned out of the alley and stopped at the corner opposite Shoprite. The father cued his kids one by one and the children went into the store, grabbing baskets as they entered. The father set up shop outside the store as the kids disappeared from sight.

  Once inside, the boys headed to the canned foods aisle and filled their baskets with soups and tuna. In the cereal aisle the girl loaded six boxes of Cheerios in her basket and met up with the boys by the produce section.

  The eldest boy whispered, “We got to spread out a little. On the count of three we go.”

  The children sprinted toward the entrance and past their father, who was milling around the doors. The kids rounded the corner and hopped into their mother’s car before the security guard untangled himself from their dad. As the guard radioed for help, the kid’s mother hit the gas and the car disappeared down the avenue.

  ***

  Garland carried his gray leather portfolio into the wood-paneled Cabinet Room, barely able to contain his disappointment at the small number of attendees. He dispensed with the greetings and took his seat as the president arrived with his chief of staff in tow.

  Mulroney said, “The president wants to review any negative implications of Remedy and looks for your recommendations.” Mulroney flipped open a file and continued, “There have been a smattering of food shortages reported, precipitating some unfortunate acts of violence. I believe that’s the primary concern, so let’s start there. Secretary Spencer, can you tell us what the Department of Agriculture’s view is on supply, demand, and distribution?”

  Tony Spencer, an Ivy League lawyer, looked like he’d never spent a day in the sun, no less on a farm. He was wiry and spoke with an upper-crust accent.

  “Presently, supply and demand are fairly balanced. The increase in demand, driven by the rise in population, has been spread evenly across the nation. Logistics have not been an issue and are not expected to be in the foreseeable future.”

  “Good, we’ll consider these shortage incidents as just temporary, passing occurrences.”

  “Not exactly, Mr. Mulroney.”

  All eyes snapped back to Spencer, who raised a forefinger.

  “All excess capacity has been utilized at this point.”

  “Well, how damn long till they get more capacity? How long till they build new factories?” Johnson demanded.

  “Unfortunately, all the easy solutions have been deployed. At this point in time, building new factories and processing plants would be useless. What is needed are raw materials.”

  Mulroney asked, “What’s the plan to get them?”

  Spencer said. “Major technological breakthroughs are going to be needed.”

  Johnson said. “What the hell does that mean?”

  Garland interjected, “More chickens, cows, and produce, sir.”

  “Are you telling me our people are going to go hungry because we don’t have enough fucking chickens? Well, goddamn it, get them from overseas!”

  Garland flipped open his portfolio and slid documents around the table.

  “These charts outline the current production and consumption levels in South America and across Europe. I don’t have the full Asian stats yet, but the numbers I do have are not encouraging.” Garland paused a few seconds as they reviewed his handout. “And you can forget about Africa, folks. They’ve been unable to feed themselves for the past hundred years, no matter what’s going on.”

  Mulroney said, “Secretary Spencer, you mentioned technology as a solution. Can you expound on that?”

  “Certainly, though it’s difficult to do so definitively about how it will progress. The use of technology is pervasive in all walks of life, as is the case with food sourcing and production. Years ago, yields on farmland were dramatically lower, and livestock required more feedstock and longer times to fatten. Technological advances provided the solutions to those issues, along with rooting out tremendous waste in the system. However, the progress and gains were not instantaneous. Some solutions took decades to come to fruition.”

  Johnson said, “George, I want you to get together a bunch of those Silicon Valley guys. Lock their asses in a room till they come up with an answer.”

  Spencer said, “Mr. President, getting the best minds will undoubtedly help, but I want to caution everyone that this is a much different mission. In this case, we’d be looking to create a new source of protein.”

  Johnson asked, “Well, what about cloning? Can’t we just legalize cloning and start cloning cows and chickens?”

  “It could help some, but we’d need the land to raise them, and we’d need farms to grow what they eat. We don’t have enough land.”

  “I’m looking at a couple of vertical farming ideas,” Mulroney said.

  “Good. Is that it?” Johnson asked.

  Garland said, “Just one more thing, sir. I think you should consider making a public display of attending church.”

  “Church?”

  “Yes. Attendance and belief are sliding.”

  “So what does that have to do with the president?” Mulroney said.

  “Nothing and everything. There’s no question Remedy is responsible for the spiritual rethinking that’s spread. A people without a moral and spiritual compass is likely to cause us problems.”

  “And having the president go to chu
rch is going to change all that?”

  “All the president can do is set an example for the country. It’s not a panacea for the deepening spiritual rot, but I believe it may help.”

  ***

  “Oh no. Look at that line, we’re gonna miss the ceremony,” Jack moaned.

  “It’s okay. That line is for newborns. See the sign?” Laura said. “The press one is over there.”

  The couple got on line and passed through three barriers of security before entering the Remedy Center.

  “I saw the depictions, but it looks so different,” Jack said. “I don’t know, it feels like . . .”

  “A church. It feels like a church, doesn’t it?”

  Jack nodded. “I’m sure that was Wyatt’s intention, but I gotta tell you, it doesn’t feel right to me.”

  “I know, they even have Remedy sitting on a sort of altar.”

  “It feels sacrilegious. I bet they’re gonna catch some heat for it.”

  “Look at all those babies being lined up. It looks like they’re getting baptized,” Laura said.

  Jack saw Peter Garland approach and said, “Hello, Mr. Garland.”

  “Hi Laura, Jack.” Garland shook hands with Laura first. “It’s so nice to see you again. I heard you two got married.”

  Laura beamed as she held out her ring hand. “We just celebrated our fifth anniversary, if you can believe it.”

  “That’s wonderful. It goes quickly, so enjoy it.”

  “How are you doing, keeping busy?” Jack asked.

  “And how. Say, Laura, would you mind if I borrowed Jack for a minute?”

  As Garland led Jack away from the invited guests streaming in, he made small talk about the building.

  “What’s going on, Mr. Garland?”

  “First off, please stop with the Mr. Garland stuff. No need for formalities. Call me Pete.”

  “Sure.”

  “I wanted to chat because, as you know, we’ve worked together in the past, helping each other out.” Garland winked. “Well, I believe it’s time to cooperate again.”

  Jack leaned in. “Sure. What’s going on?”

  “Remedy’s not all champagne and strawberries, Jack. To paraphrase one of your lines, and I thought it was brilliant at the time, People are so busy celebrating the end of death, they don’t see the downside. It’s gonna get ugly real fast if we don’t get started dealing with the repercussions.”

  Jack nodded. “It always struck me as naïve, Pollyannaish. I’ve been researching overpopulation and its effects. It’s scary stuff.”

  “Not to mention what looks like a complete breakdown in morals.”

  “I know.”

  Garland pulled his lips in. “We’ve got to get started dealing with this or we’re doomed.”

  “How can I help?”

  “Johnson is stubborn as all hell, and believe me, if he doesn’t listen, he’s the one that’s gonna take the fall for this.” Garland shook his head. “You know, Baxter could tap dance his way out of jams, smiling as he did it, but Johnson doesn’t have his skill set, making it even more important that he avoids jams in the first place. I’ve been trying to warn him for months. We finally had a cabinet meeting, but it’s still not clear how seriously he’s taking it. Frankly, I think he believes he can ride out his term before all hell breaks loose.”

  “You have some information you’d like to plant?”

  “Jack, you should’ve gone into politics; you’d have been good, very good. Look, what I’m about to tell you is top secret. If you want a source to back it up, I can provide it.”

  “You’ve always been a straight shooter.”

  “Good, now one more thing before I give you the fine china. I don’t want this out there till after Tuesday, when the Remedy Center opens officially for public viewing.”

  Jack nodded and Garland unloaded.

  ***

  Jack wore a frown as he hustled back to Laura.

  “What’s the matter?” Laura asked.

  “I’ll fill you in later, but get on the horn with one of those survival, military places and order as much as you can.”

  Laura pulled her chin in. “As much as I can of what?”

  Jack pulled his phone out. “Food, anything that’ll last a year or more.”

  “Jack, what are you taking about? You’re scaring me.”

  “Look, just do it, okay. I got to call my grandmother.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I’m Richard Richards, and this is Fox News at Six. Reporter Jack Amato, who came to fame bringing the discovery of Remedy’s powers to the world, has done it again.” A picture of Jack appeared to the left of the Fox anchorman. “Today, Amato broke a story on, what he terms, the coming worldwide crisis stemming from overpopulation. Amato detailed several incidences of food and water shortages in the Midwest and Northwest that he claims are a harbinger of things to come. The article quotes several sources in academia who support his call to action.”

  Jack’s picture was replaced by one of the president as Richards continued, “Amato’s article asserts that though signs such as food shortages and a lack of drinking water are surfacing, that governments, including the United States, are avoiding action. Quoting a source deep in the White House, Amato claims that President Johnson has held cabinet-level meetings to discuss possible solutions to defer or avoid the crisis. However, despite the meetings and evidence presented, action has yet to be taken, wasting valuable time.”

  A quote from a White House spokesperson appeared on the screen, which Richards referenced before reading, “The president and his administration continually evaluate issues that affect the American people. It has never been the practice to publicly release information on any policy until it is fully formulated and vetted.”

  Jack’s picture reappeared on the screen as the anchorman continued, “Amato ended his article by pleading not to let ignorance or fear prevent the United States and others from taking steps to counteract the impact of overpopulation.”

  Jack’s headshot disappeared as the anchor said, “Fox has conducted its own investigation on the claims and can report that Amato appears to be raising valid and frightening concerns. We’re going to do a follow-up on this tomorrow, so please be sure to tune in.” The background behind Richards switched to a cordoned-off street. “We’ve got a developing story. A police officer was shot and seriously wounded during a disturbance at a grocery store in Detroit. Let’s go live to Mike Emani, who’s at the scene.”

  ***

  Garland’s plan had the intended effect. The media jumped on Jack’s report, and the looming crisis dominated the news. However, there was a downside. Much as he tried, President Johnson couldn’t credibly ignore the questions shouted by the White House press pool as he moved about. Troubled by the optics of the president avoiding questions, his chief of staff, Mulroney, arranged a press conference.

  Johnson forced a smile and strode past the American flag to the presidential lectern. Towering over the podium in a charcoal suit with the slightest hint of pinstripes and a red tie, Johnson was an intimidating figure. There was a narrowness to his eyes as he surveyed what he felt were enemies in the room.

  “Good afternoon. There have been a number of reports concerning the longer-term ramifications of a growing population. I want to quickly address that before I take a few questions. I want to be clear; the benefits from Remedy have been a gift enjoyed by every American. In keeping with our values, we’ve shared our good fortune with the rest of the world, despite the concerns of some in the media. To do otherwise would have betrayed who we are as a nation.”

  Johnson tilted forward. “My administration, contrary to what is reported by some of you here today, has always been mindful of and continually monitors any possible downside of Remedy, or anything else, for that matter. There may be challenges ahead, but if we refrain from panic and criticism,” Johnson let the word hang a second, “we’ll meet them head-on and find solutions. I can assure you, no one will work harder tha
n I to protect our way of life.” The president eased to his original position. “Now, I’ll take a few questions.” He pointed to the front row, where a petite brunette in a blue pants suit sat.

  “Let’s start with Mary.”

  Mary Whiteworth was the White House press correspondent for ABC, the least detestable network in Johnson’s eyes.

  “Thank you, Mr. President. According to Dr. Gebayaho, the UN’s chief demographist, the current world is considered overpopulated. He and others believe it will be unlikely if not impossible to overcome a food and water shortfall at this late stage. How do you respond to that assessment?”

  “Let’s keep in mind that for every expert with an opinion there are at least two others taking the opposite side.” The president smiled. “Global population is currently a bit over ten billion, obviously much higher than it’s ever been. However, the fact is, no one knows what number of people makes the planet overpopulated. Experts had put the number at seven to nine billion as recently as two years ago and warned of Armageddon then.”

  As Johnson moved to call another reporter, Mary asked a follow-up.

  “But what about their assessment that it’s too late to address the coming shortages in food and water?”

  “Since the beginning of time, man has faced seemingly insurmountable challenges in building unbuildable structures like the pyramids, the Coliseum, and overcoming natural and man-made disasters. Our species is adaptable and resilient. We have found solutions to challenges while advancing the culture.” The president swiveled and pointed as he finished. “I’m sure we will rise to the challenge on this one as well. Bill?”

  Bill Pickens, a rail-thin correspondent for the Associated Press, stood up.

  “Mr. President, can you comment on a report by Jack Amato that your own agriculture secretary, in a cabinet meeting you attended, said the only solution to feeding the world would be the creation of a new source of protein?”