The Fusion Cage (Warner & Lopez Book 2)

by Dean Crawford

  Ethan crouched down alongside Amber in fascination.

  ‘Your father was going to develop a device that would power the world for free and then he was going to give it all away. What’s his name?’

  Amber smiled again.

  ‘Stanley Meyer,’ she replied, and then her features saddened once more. ‘And my mother is Mary. She’s also missing.’

  ‘You’re Amber Meyer?’ Lopez asked.

  ‘Amber Ryan,’ she replied. ‘I was adopted. Stanley and Mary couldn’t have children, so they adopted me at the age of two. Mary was an electrochemist and they met as undergraduates at university. I think that because they couldn’t have children they made their careers their priority, and then later in life decided to adopt me.’

  ‘Philanthropists,’ Ethan guessed. ‘They were giving things back all the time.’

  ‘They consider acts of such altruism as the future of our species,’ Amber said. ‘Dad said that corporate capitalism, a price and a profit for any service, had become so grotesquely mutated that it no longer served a purpose for those who needed it the most. He didn’t want his legacy to be a billionaire’s fortune – he wanted it to be a legacy that would last for all time.’

  Ethan shook his head in wonder. ‘That’s pretty amazing.’

  ‘I considered him an idiot for even suggesting it,’ Amber retorted with a shrug. ‘He could have become a billionaire overnight. He deserved the success. I’d have taken the money and then handed the device to somebody else, let them duck the bullets, but dad isn’t like that.’

  ‘Fossil fuel companies would become worthless,’ Lopez pointed out.

  ‘Not to mention the collapse of oil–bearing nation’s economies,’ Ethan added.

  ‘That’s what he was afraid of,’ Amber said. ‘I think that he felt that governments and major corporations would seek to silence him if they had discovered what he was working on. It’s why he came back here from Chicago, back to our hometown. It’s quite remote and I think he preferred basing himself here far from the prying eyes of Washington.’

  Ethan sat back on his haunches thoughtfully as he considered what Amber had told him.

  ‘So let’s say Stanley was successful, and that bright object you saw being taken away by troops was what he created. He must then logically have revealed the device to the townsfolk and helped them disconnect from the National Grid.’

  Amber nodded. ‘That’s what I figured. He had to prove that the device works, because they wouldn’t believe him otherwise. So he disconnects the town from the National Grid and wires it up to whatever he created. It looks like doing that was enough to alert the government to what he was up to.’

  Lopez joined them as she spoke. ‘The government sends somebody down to take a look at things, realise what’s happening here and decide to shut it all down before word gets out.’

  ‘They make Clearwater look like a ghost town that’s not been lived in for many years,’ Ethan went on. ‘But then what’s happened to the townspeople? Surely they haven’t decided to murder three hundred people to cover this up?’

  Lopez shook her head as she looked around them.

  ‘I don’t doubt that the government would want to keep this under wraps, but I also doubt they would murder so many people in order to do so. Washington has been behind quite a few alternative energy programs for some years now and everyone knows about climate change.’

  ‘Then they must have bought them out,’ Ethan said in amazement. ‘Every last one of them.’

  ‘No way,’ Amber said. ‘My father would never have agreed to silence over this, not for any money.’

  ‘Then your father is in a great deal of trouble,’ Ethan said, ‘because whoever is behind this would likely go to any lengths to ensure his silence. The question is, who?’

  Amber looked up at the surrounding hills.

  ‘There is a major company that was involved in a legal dispute with the town’s council over mining rights out in the mountains near here. It’s something to do with the new mining process which literally slices the tops off of mountains in order to gain access to coal inside. Apparently the process has poisoned the fresh water supplies to many towns, and our councillors were fighting the company for the right to maintain the pristine wilderness around here.’

  ‘If that company found out about your father’s device,’ Lopez said, ‘then they would have had a very clear motive for ensuring nothing ever got out of Clearwater.’

  Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘Who was winning the legal battle?’

  ‘The corporation, predictably,’ Amber replied. ‘They had access to legal eagles far more powerful than anybody in Clearwater or even St Louis. There was no way we were going to win that case … ’

  ‘Unless your father revealed his device to the world,’ Lopez finished the sentence for her.

  Amber reached into her clothes and produced a cell phone. ‘I could call my mother, she could explain everything to you better than I could but I haven’t been able to reach her and … ’

  Amber went to activate the phone and Ethan lunged forward and caught her hand. ‘No!’

  ‘Why not?’ Amber gasped, shocked.

  ‘She’s not answering because she can’t or doesn’t want to be found, and I suspect if you use that cell phone the people who shut down Clearwater will come for you too.’ Ethan released his grip on Amber, cautious of frightening her. ‘What’s the name of this company?’

  ‘Seavers Incorporated,’ Amber spat as though removing something unpleasant from her mouth.

  ***

  VII

  Northern Kentucky International Airport,

  Hebron, Kentucky

  Huck Seavers was not normally a nervous man, but he could feel tension in his body and a prickly heat irritating the back of his neck as he sat in the Gulfstream jet’s luxurious interior and awaited his guest. The temptation to hide his rugged, wide–jawed features beneath the brim of his Fedora was almost overwhelming.

  ‘Are you all right sir?’

  The stewardess on the flight was leaning over him, concern writ large over her perfect features.

  ‘Never better!’ Huck boomed, one thick hand slapping down on his jeans with a sharp crack. ‘How are you, honey?’

  Huck’s broad, white smile and sparkling eyes glittered at the stewardess, who smiled as she stood up once more.

  ‘Fine, thank you, sir.’

  The stewardess moved off, and Huck retreated once more into his sombre mood.

  He did not know the man he was waiting for, not who he worked for and indeed not even what he wanted. The only thing he did know was the man’s name, Aaron Mitchell, and that his influence and power had been instrumental in allowing Seavers to further develop his plans to begin mining the mountains of Missouri for coal. Seavers Incorporated was one of the largest mountaintop mining companies in the United States with a portfolio of over $5 billion worth of operations across the Appalachian mountains in the eastern United States.

  Mountaintop removal mining, also known as mountaintop mining, was a form of surface mining that involved digging the summit ridge of a mountain. Coal seams were extracted by removing some four hundred feet of overburden to expose underlying coal seams. The excess rock and soil was then dumped into nearby valleys in what were called “holler fills”. The process was less expensive to execute and required fewer employees than conventional mining, and had begun in Appalachia in the 1970s as an extension of strip mining techniques. The process had spread across Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee as conventional seams had been exhausted, and Huck’s father had been there to take advantage of the new process.

  The late, great Jeb Seavers had started the company in the early 70s, a period during which America had witnessed great financial and economic upheaval, fuel shortages and oil crises in the Middle East. Sensing an opportunity in the new and novel form of mining, Huck’s father had developed an empire that was continuing to this day to provide fossil fuel power for the U
nited States. Over the decades since, and with Huck’s assistance, Seavers Incorporated had acquired allies both in Congress and the White House across multiple presidencies, valuable assets in the constant fight against environmentalists who seemed determined to remove all forms of power production from the United States in favour of returning humanity to living in mud huts and burning scrap wood for heat.

  Seavers sighed softly as he looked out of the window of his jet and watched a regional aircraft take off, bound to destinations unknown. Big coal, as it was known, was a dirty business in almost every way and Huck was more than aware that many of the mountaintop mining companies had sought every means possible to ignore environmental and human rights issues in the pursuit of profit from their work. Seavers disliked the name itself – big coal, which made him sound like some corporate monster hell–bent on the destruction of nature. In truth, Seavers could not be further from such a caricature.

  On the fold–down table before him was a picture of his wife and three children, in front of their beachfront property in Malibu, California. The bright blue sky, burning sunshine and luxurious villa were a sharp contrast to the drizzle and gray skies of Kentucky. Seavers could hear the rain drumming on the windows of the jet as he waited, and he reminded himself of why he was doing what he was doing. There were those who depended upon him, and the world was not a place that favored the weak or, sadly, the altruistic.

  Seaver’s assistant, Allison, moved to the door of the jet and heaved the locking mechanism open. The door swung down and a series of steps unfolded automatically under hydraulic pressure to allow a man in a dark suit to stride up into the aircraft. He wore a long black coat, presumably to defend against the gusting rain outside, but nonetheless it made him look somewhat sepulchral. A black suit with a white shirt and black tie, his obsidian skin dark and his hair salt–and–pepper gray, his bulk large and intimidating even from this distance. Seavers could not imagine a more perfect image for the kind of man he was being forced to deal with.

  Aaron Mitchell strode to the seat opposite Huck and sat down, his hair and face beaded with drops of rain to which he seemed oblivious. Dark eyes and a humourless expression stared back at Seavers as though from another world.

  ‘It is done.’

  Seavers felt some of the tension slip away from his body and he could not help the sigh of relief that escaped from his lips as he nodded.

  ‘They all folded?’

  ‘All but one.’

  Seavers felt his blood run cold again. He stared at Aaron for a long moment waiting to hear what had happened to the individual who had apparently decided to turn down the offer of a lifetime.

  Aaron spoke quietly, but his voice nonetheless seemed to reverberate through Huck’s chest.

  ‘Stanley Meyer fled the town of Clearwater approximately two hours before we arrived. We have not been able to locate either he or his wife and daughter.’

  Despite his consternation Seavers felt a ripple of relief once more flash through his system. He knew what the men he was doing business with were capable of, and had half expected a report that Meyer had been severed into multiple pieces and posted to the four corners of the country.

  ‘And what of his fusion cage?’

  Aaron inclined his head. ‘It is now in safe hands.’

  Seavers leaned forward on the table, his hands clapsed before him.

  ‘Stanley Meyer can reproduce that device almost anywhere he chooses,’ he insisted. ‘He can move from town to town and will be extremely difficult to trace. We both know that he is aware of who we are, of what we’re trying to do.’

  ‘Measures have been put in place,’ Aaron replied. ‘Disinformation has been spread. Meyer will not be able to get funding for his device no matter where he goes, and if he ever does surface will likely be arrested for fraud.’

  Seavers rubbed his temples and shook his head. Despite the importance to him of maintaining his company’s work and future, he was aware that what he was doing to Meyer was every bit as distressing to the old man as it would be were somebody to undermine Seavers’ own company, just as environmentalists often did with smear campaigns and lies.

  ‘Meyer will not stop,’ Seavers said. ‘How much money was he offered?’

  Aaron Mitchell stared back at Seavers. ‘Enough. He refused.’

  Seavers looked at Mitchell and began to wonder whether he would have been better served travelling to visit Meyer himself, although he knew Stanley would likely have shot him on sight if Huck had stepped across his porch. Seavers was the opposite of what Meyer strove to be, the corporate monster that everybody love to hate, the powerful one, the successful one, the one for whom no fortune was large enough. Seavers bitterly regretted breaking contact with Meyer, with whom in the past he had often discussed the promising future of nuclear fusion and Seaver’s interest in investing in any new breakthrough technologies that might have emerged from the National Ignition Facility in California. But Huck could not have predicted just how far the old man would have come, just how much he would have achieved using nothing more than the tools available to him in the back of a goddamn garden shed.

  Seavers leaned back in his seat in exasperation. ‘You told me that your people had power to find anybody, anywhere, at any time. You said you’d be able to deal with this, quietly.’

  Mitchell’s expression did not change, as though he were a waxwork, his mouth the only moving part and his voice a monotone rumble that seemed strangely soothing and threatening at the same time.

  ‘Ours is a small unit and we do not have the resources to pursue an individual across the country. It would appear that Meyer and his family are smart enough to understand how to stay off the grid. Without a paper or digital trail we are as powerless as anybody to find them.’

  ‘And what if they go public?!’

  Seavers slammed a clenched fist down on the table between them, surprising himself at his anger in front of the formidable man sitting before him. Mitchell did not blink at the sharp crack nor appear even mildly concerned at Seaver’s fury.

  ‘It will take Meyer time to construct another device, and in order to prove its worth it would have to go public in one way, shape or form in order to once again attract attention. As soon as he does, we will be upon him.’

  ‘And if that’s too late?’

  ‘That’s your problem,’ Mitchell said finally.

  ‘It’s my problem?’ Seavers uttered. ‘The last time we spoke you suggested to me that covering this up would not be an issue.’

  Finally, Mitchell moved. He leaned forward and folded his massive hands before him as he spoke in a voice so deep it sounded as though he were underwater.

  ‘The issue has been covered up,’ he growled. ‘Three hundred people have been silenced at great expense to the people I work for, your mining claims will face no further opposition and you have required our assistance to make it all happen. There are limits to what we can do, and thresholds to the risks we are prepared to take on behalf of others.’

  Seavers clenched his fists and replied through gritted teeth, unable to understand why Mitchell was failing to grasp the problems that he was facing.

  ‘If Meyer’s device ever reaches the light of day my company will become worthless overnight. The cost of paying redundancies, dismantling equipment and environmental rehabilitation programs in the areas we have already begun excavating will leave the business completely crippled.’

  If Mitchell was capable of showing any sign of emotion, Seavers could not see it.

  ‘Your business practices are your concern,’ Mitchell replied. ‘My superiors have far wider global affairs to concern themselves with. Their part in this bargain is complete, and anything else that stands in your way will have to be dealt with by your own people.’

  Mitchell stood up and turned to walk toward the aircraft exit. Seavers fumed in silence for a moment before he called out.

  ‘Wait!’

  Mitchell stopped walking but did not turn back to look at
Seavers. Huck stood up from his chair and closed his eyes as he spoke, feeling every bit the man who was walking blindly off the edge of a cliff with the certainty of doom before him and yet unable to stop his legs from moving.

  ‘What would it cost to ensure the complete removal of any risk to my company’s future?’

  Aaron Mitchell turned on the spot, his hands in his pockets.

  ‘That would require your complete control of Meyer’s device, would it not?’ Mitchell said.

  Seavers felt a sudden pulse of excitement as he considered this new and novel approach to his problem. An alliance instead of enmity with Meyer. Seavers cursed himself for not thinking of it before, and then he saw the look on Mitchell’s face.

  ‘This is what you wanted,’ he said finally.

  ‘What I want is irrelevant,’ Mitchell replied as though disgusted. ‘But it is clear to those who govern these factors that the fossil fuel era is at an end, and that every company that does not move on as swiftly as possible will be doomed to extinction. My superiors require a vehicle to ensure that their interests are aligned with those of the companies that control the supply of power to the people. Your company can be the part of that alliance, or it can be history. The decision is yours.’

  ‘The price?’ Seavers repeated.

  ‘The controlling share, of course,’ Mitchell replied. ‘Seavers Incorporated will become the property of Majestic Twelve.’

  ‘The controlling share?!’ Seavers almost shouted. ‘You want to control my company completely? They could fire me overnight as soon as the deal is done!’