The Final Enemy

by Petrosini, Dan

  “During normal growth, new cells nourished by the body are created as other cells die off. The dead cells are eliminated and expelled as waste. Normally, you’d see traces of the dead cells in and around the cytoplasm. However, by manipulating a cell’s ribosomes, we alter its mission from looking for outside nutrients to support its growth to recycling dead cells as fuel for its growth.”

  “So it doesn’t require any outside nutrients?”

  “Exactly.”

  “That’s amazing. It’s a major breakthrough, right?”

  Dr. Pino smiled. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll name a building after this old man.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  News of Dr. Pino’s progress made it to Garland just before it exploded onto the news. He called Jack.

  “Look, Jack, there’s this Dr. Pino down at one of Georgetown’s labs, and he may have found the holy grail.”

  “I just heard something myself. What’s this about?”

  “From what I was told, this doctor had been researching a way to clone animal cells into food, and it looks like he’s had a breakthrough.”

  “Holy crap! That’s the fix we’ve been looking for.”

  “Let’s hope so. Look, get on down there, check it out, and get it out to the press.”

  ***

  Researcher Discovers How to Feed the World?

  By Jack Amato

  Deep in the basement of Georgetown University School of Medicine is a cramped laboratory where a major discovery seems to have been made. A cytologist named Doctor Ricardo Pino successfully altered the structure of a cell in a groundbreaking way. Dr. Pino’s remarkable achievement instructs cells to fuel their growth by recycling dead cells rather than looking for outside nutrients.

  Dr. Pino, who’s toiled anonymously at Georgetown for three decades, was searching for a way to reduce the amount of nutrients required for cell division when, as he said, “A bell went off.” Dr. Pino explained that deer had destroyed tomatoes growing in his vegetable garden, and as he was spading the tomato remains into the garden as fertilizer, he came up with the breakthrough idea.

  Though this development has the potential to solve chronic food shortages, the doctor cautioned that more testing needs to be done and that, in any case, commercial application may be a couple of years away.

  The White House issued a statement of praise for the work being done by Dr. Pino and pledged to support his efforts and any others with every available resource to bring the possible benefits to all Americans.

  The Georgetown discovery is certainly welcome news and further evidence of the continued efforts being made to resolve the crisis. However, it remains to be seen what the future holds as we wait for it to be commercially viable.

  ***

  Just after eight p.m. in Jersey City, four cars shut their headlights as they turned onto Grove Street. People on the sidewalks quickened their pace as the unmarked cars rolled to a stop at a building numbered 8803. The first floor of the vinyl-sided building had housed a bodega before being converted to housing, and its plate glass windows now had protective gates.

  The lead officer, a fortyish-year-old sergeant wearing a bulletproof vest, instructed his crew to surround the building. Undercover officers quickly scattered, taking up positions. The perimeter in place, the sergeant sent a beefy officer to the door with a ramming rod.

  Once the signal was given, the front door was battered three times before giving way. Guns drawn, the officers scampered up the stairs, encountering a black, double padlocked door. This time it took five rams to splinter the door, but the scene inside immediately shattered the officers.

  A father, shotgun in hand, stood in front of a table defending his wife and children, who were gorging themselves on a corpse.

  “Let them finish. I don’t care what you do to me, but I beg you, please let them finish. They’re only kids.”

  “Put the gun down or we’ll shoot.”

  “Hurry kids, Daddy’s got to go.”

  The father slowly put the gun down and, as he was rushed, confessed to killing his neighbor.

  ***

  Garland said, “Looks like Pino’s idea isn’t panning out.”

  Jack replied, “Yeah, I heard the tissue doesn’t have any caloric or protein values.”

  “That’s what the FDA is saying. I mean, geez, anything that could go wrong . . .”

  “Now you see, beating me up on not being overly optimistic in my pieces wasn’t fair.”

  Garland said, “We need to play this carefully.”

  “Play?”

  “Folks are feeling good. People like that you raised their expectations.”

  Jack said, “Me? I wasn’t the one doing photo ops with Pino.”

  “We need to avoid crushing their spirits. Things could get nasty if they feel desperate.”

  “You can’t keep this secret. The word’s getting out already.”

  “I’m not suggesting that, but we need to give them something to keep their hopes up. If they knew something or, even better, that a couple of things were in the works—you see what I’m saying?”

  “But there isn’t anything in the so-called works.”

  “There are countless people working their asses off trying to—”

  “I get it, but nothing’s working. I don’t know what you expect me or anybody to do about it.”

  “You weren’t listening. We got to message hope.”

  “You mean propaganda.”

  “It’s our patriotic duty.

  “Lying makes me a patriot?”

  “Don’t forget why you’re here, Jack. You don’t like it here, you and your wife can go out and fend for yourselves.”

  “Oh, come on, Pete, wait a minute. I’m just trying—”

  “Look, I don’t have time to debate this with you. The Chinese are moving a huge fleet toward Papua New Guinea, and the intelligence tells us they plan to wipe them out for food, like they did with the Fiji Islands.”

  “What?”

  “Look, either way you want to go, I need to know in an hour. There’s plenty of guys who’d kill to get on this base.”

  ***

  Jack batted around saving his integrity against the reality that Laura would be at risk. He told himself he’d walk if it weren’t for her. He thought of the bombshell Garland had dropped about the Chinese moving against Papua New Guinea. Was Garland sucking him in again? He phoned Laura, who confirmed something seemed to be going on in the Pacific. He then quickly texted Garland.

  Jack wrote several articles explaining that while Dr. Pino’s lab-grown tissue had no nutritional value, hundreds of scientists were addressing the flaw. Jack weaved whispers of progress in other research, with the reality that it would be some time before any endeavor reached the marketplace. He read through the pieces and massaged his angst with a call to Garland.

  The sound of the crestfallen nation was muffled by the news that the United States had dispatched a sizable contingent of the Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harbor toward Papua New Guinea.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  “A confrontation with China is the last damn thing we need, but we’ve got to respond,” Rogers said.

  The secretary of defense said, “Timing’s not right, but it never is, is it?”

  “After that horror show in Fiji. I mean, geez, they turned the island into a giant slaughterhouse. Where was the intelligence on the fish-processing vessels? We should have questioned it. With basically no fish left, where were they going? It was a red flag that was missed.”

  “Disappointing, no doubt, but geographically we just couldn’t have gotten a force there in time to stop them. After mobilization, it’s a seven-day sail. They were outta there in four.”

  Garland entered the room. “Sorry I’m late. The meeting with Crown ran late, but he’s not gonna try and run against us. What did I miss?”

  “Not much, just saying this New Guinea thing is the last thing we need.”

  “I don’t know about that, maybe it i
s.”

  The president peered at Garland over his reading glasses. “Okay, Pete, what’s up?”

  “Well, history shows us that when a threat to America arises from abroad, the nation comes together, puts aside any personal goals, and is willing to sacrifice for the greater good.”

  “That sounds so nineteen fiftyish.”

  “But this is not a threat against the homeland. It’s ten thousand miles away.”

  “Messaging. It’s all about the message. We’ll have to make it real for Americans. Bring the threat home, and they’ll rally. I’m sure. Then we can score some points by defusing the threat and look like heroes. It’ll buy us some goodwill and time.”

  “Maybe it could have worked with the Mariana Islands. They are a commonwealth, like Puerto Rico.”

  Garland said, “Too small, under a hundred thousand people there. New Guinea has over ten million.”

  “Ten million?”

  ***

  The room went dark, matching the mood of the couple of attendees Garland had gathered to convince the president that he had to approve Rightsizing.

  A bank of monitors came to life and Dr. Philip Martin, an ecologist, began explaining the data on a pie chart and graph.

  “Presently, seventy percent of the world’s land is devoted to food production. That is an astounding and simply unstainable level. The Earth’s atmosphere is unable to absorb the amount of CO2 being released. That may seem strange, but livestock and agriculture are responsible for close to thirty percent of our greenhouse gas emissions. You can see how Earth has warmed from this. It has also depleted the ozone layer. See this here?”

  Martin pointed his laser at a new image.

  “These holes in the atmosphere, which had been closing, are now expanding, widening areas without protection from the ozone layer. We’d banned the products releasing CFCs, but this new deterioration is directly related to the sheer numbers of people using products with trace elements.”

  “Excuse me, Dr. Martin, but can we address those trace products with regulation?”

  “I would urge regulatory action be taken, but we’re only responsible for approximately fifteen percent of emissions.”

  Garland said, “Please continue, Doctor.”

  “Almost a third of productive land is used for pork, beef, and poultry production. Again, an unsustainable amount.”

  The ecologist paged through images of countryside crowded with cattle, pigs, and chickens. He stopped on a picture of a large black lake.

  “What we have here is just one of thousands. Believe it or not, this is a lake of feces. Animal excrement has simply overwhelmed nature’s ability to recycle it. In other words, we don’t only have a human overpopulation issue, but an animal one as well.” Dr. Martin ran through a slew of slides evidencing worse conditions in other major nations and ended with a picture of a lifeless planet. He put the clicker down.

  “We’ve exceeded the sustainable population of the planet by an appalling amount, and it is my belief that it may be too late.”

  “It’s never too late. Technology can provide solutions.”

  Martin shook his head. “It’s simply fundamental. The laws of nature are insurmountable. For starters, consider the fact that aggressive farming techniques leave no room for the soil to recover. So the produce currently harvested for human consumption and animal feed will start to decline, slowly at first, but it then will deteriorate at an accelerating pace.”

  “What about fertilizers?”

  “Unabated, long-term use of fertilizers actually sets back the natural recovery. In my opinion, any short-term gain is overshadowed by the damage done.”

  “What do you suggest we do?”

  “Frankly, neither I nor any of my colleagues have a clue.”

  Garland stood and thanked the doctor before escorting him to the door. As he approached the table, he said, “Frank, would you give the president a snapshot of what your men are facing?”

  Frank Nestor, the FBI Director, adjusted his glasses.

  “It’s been challenging, sir. I’m proud of the men and women serving alongside me. While we’re grateful for the increase in staffing, they’re working twelve-hour shifts at a minimum, and frankly energy levels are, well, I don’t mean to complain, sir, I’m just real proud of them.”

  The president said, “The nation’s indebted to them. I wish there was more we could do for them. Pete, can you see what we could do?”

  Garland jotted a note and said, “Absolutely. Now Frank, I think the president needs to hear what is happening on the streets of America, and please don’t sugarcoat it.”

  Nestor nodded. “We’re on the cusp of mayhem. Every day more and more crimes are reported, and frankly we know there is significant underreporting as well. However, it’s both the nature and the victims of the crimes that are truly unsettling. Particularly upsetting is the fact that well over half the victims of kidnapping cannibalism are either family members or neighbors of the perpetrators. Our psychologists say it is signaling a breakdown in societal norms.”

  The president slumped, resting his head on his hand.

  Garland said, “It’s the same thing Dr. Garibaldi said. Bottom line is, humans will do what is necessary, no matter how revolting, to ensure their individual survival.”

  The FBI Director went on to explain the agency’s belief that the increase in missing persons was attributed to cannibalism, then he finished with grim statistics on rising fraud in the rationing program.

  Garland trotted out a four-star general who voiced his concern about the deteriorating mental and physical condition of troops. He believed it would impact their ability to protect the homeland against a desperate, foreign power seeking resources. When he began explaining the vulnerability of the Hawaiian Islands, the president cut him off.

  “We’ve got the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, for God’s sake. How the hell can you say that?”

  “Well, sir, keep in mind that while the fleet is based in Pearl Harbor, the current responsibilities have stretched them thin. At the moment, there’s only one destroyer patrolling.”

  “Can’t we reassign something outta San Diego?”

  The general said, “I’m afraid not. Most of the San Diego manpower is either assisting the National Guard or manning the Southern Border.”

  “We’ve got the strongest military on the planet. Don’t tell me there’s nothing we can do.”

  “I’m afraid the only answer would be a nuclear strike. That is, if, say, the Chinese become ultra-aggressive.”

  Later, with the room empty, Garland sat next to the president, who said, “Geez, how the hell did we get here? It’s not like I didn’t take action.”

  “You’ve done more than anyone could have, sir. No one could’ve predicted this.” He smiled and continued, “I like to remind everyone that I’m always checking on the future landscape, and I hate to admit it, but it wasn’t until about two years ago that I—I just wish I could’ve seen things more clearly.”

  “You’ve been a lifesaver, Pete. I know I resisted a lot of what you proposed, but you were right, so don’t beat yourself up.”

  “Thanks, sir.” He leaned toward the president. “We’re at a crossroads. We can either slide toward oblivion, or try to manage things as best we can, strategically, like with Rightsizing.”

  The president said, “This is as risky as it gets. What happens if the damn mosquitoes don’t self-destruct? It’d be something out of a Stephen King story.”

  “I’ve gotten assurances at the highest level of the CDC. They’ve altered the DNA to match honey bees who die after stinging.”

  “They do?”

  “Yeah, their stingers are barbed and when the bee takes off after stinging, the stuck stinger pulls out their abdomen and digestive systems.”

  “But how do we really know it’s going to work?”

  “It’s been tested with mice and pigs. The mosquitos bit them, and the animals died within forty-eight hours.”

  �
��And what about the mosquitos?”

  “Dead within four hours.”

  “So, they stay alive for four hours. Can’t they bight again?”

  “No, they’ve lost their stingers.”

  “How are we going to control all this? Who’s breeding all these killer mosquitos?”

  “Sir, please don’t worry about the details. This will give us plausible deniability.”

  Rogers pushed a hand through his silver hair. “I wish you hadn’t told me any of this.”

  “It’ll be fine. If it gets out, you can brush it off as just another idea that was immediately dismissed.”

  The president grimaced, “I’m getting a real bad feeling about this, Pete. If this gets out—the government killing its own citizens?”

  “I don’t want to go into too many details with you. You need to be in the dark, but if it gets traced back to the research labs where they monkeyed with the DNA, it’s the same two places where they’ve done plenty of altering to kill off malaria and Zika-carrying mosquitos. It’s simply a matter of an experiment gone wrong.”

  “Simple? Nothing is simple about this.”

  “You’re right, sir. Wrong choice of words.”

  “Where are the releases going to be?”

  “Wish I could tell you, sir, but that wouldn’t be in your best interest.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Jack said, “I can’t believe we’ve been here over a year.”

  Laura said, “Time flies by, even when things are as bad as they can get. You’d think it’d seem to slow down, don’t you?”

  “I guess so. It’s been so long since things were good, I can’t remember.”

  “What did the doctor say about those spots on your back?”

  “Vitamin deficiency.”

  “Which one?”

  “A whole alphabet’s worth: A, C, D, E, and I think K.”

  “He prescribe something?”