Thriller, Climate Change Fiction
Date Published: July 19, 2022
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
She’s determined to stop climate change before it’s too late…
Nuclear engineer Dara Bouldin’s life is a mess. She’s paying off her dad’s gambling debts, reeling from a broken engagement, and practically invisible at the energy research agency where she works. Meanwhile, her ex Jericho’s latest single is racing up the charts and her handsome new colleague Dmitri is friendly with everyone but her.
All around them, wildfires, floods, and other natural disasters have become the norm. But Dara has an audacious plan to reverse climate change, if only someone would listen.
Little does she know, someone at the CIA has been paying attention. And when the public demands action, Dara gets the chance to turn her dream into reality, with the blessings of Congress and the President. Things are looking up.
That is until she discovers a secret that thrusts her into the center of a global conflict that could rewrite history, in dire ways she never intended. Things are going to change, big time. And the countdown has already begun.
Be careful what you wish for, Dara.
T-minus Ten
“Some said the world would end in fire.
Others said it would end in ice. We know better now.”
Brigadier
General
Alexander
Fallsworth
acknowledged his audience in the
windowless room lit with PowerPoint slides and the words ‘Top Secret-SCI’ (for
‘Sensitive Compartmented Information’) in
red LED letters on each wall. His presentation to the Intergovernmental
Committee on Climate Affairs beamed from a laptop that normally resided in a
padlocked Class 6 file cabinet. Both the cabinet and the computer were nearing
capacity.
The meeting participants had come to CIA
headquarters in Langley, Virginia, from several other agencies — the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, the Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Department of Energy. They gathered around a large conference table, all
furrowed brows, crossed arms and pointed features.
Alexander, silver-blue irises shifting, felt adrenaline
course through him as words shot past his tongue.
“Colleagues, the world hasn't ended at
all. It’s left us the task of dealing with the consequences. That’s why I’ve
gathered you here today. I’d like to talk about Project Plowshares.”
A few in the audience fidgeted, coughed.
Afghanistan was a walk
in the park compared to an afternoon
with this crowd. He pressed on,
quoting from the Bible’s Book of Isaiah: “‘…they shall… beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up their
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’”
The PowerPoint transmitted a video of a
nuclear explosion, ending in a mushroom cloud of fission products.
Pacing himself with a few sips of water,
Alexander delved into the history of the program.
Most of the audience members had been
students of nuclear history at one time or other, so they were familiar with
Project Plowshares, at least the version of the program envisioned during the
Cold War era. Alexander explained that Plowshares resulted after President
Eisenhower’s
‘Atoms for Peace’ speech before the
United Nations in 1953, when the president said of the atomic bomb, “It is not
enough to take this weapon out of the hands of the soldiers.
It must be put into the hands of those
who will know how to strip its military casing and adapt it to the arts of
peace.”
He took a breath, hoping his listeners
couldn’t see the perspiration beading where his blond crew cut ended and his
forehead began. “The brass at the U.S. Atomic Energy Agency took the Atoms for
Peace ball and ran with it, funding programs to find peaceful uses for atomic
bombs. Beyond the obvious nuclear energy applications, Plowshares included
large-scale civil engineering projects that harnessed the power of nuclear
explosives.” He advanced to the next slide, willing himself to keep talking.
“The Soviets ran a similar ‘peaceful
uses’ program during the Cold War era. Some would argue that India was able to
develop atomic weapons due to this program by exploiting gaps in the Treaty on
Nuclear Non-Proliferation, since it originally referenced ‘nuclear weapons’
rather than
‘nuclear explosives,’ as it does today.
We’re aware that India consulted with the Russians on using nuclear explosives
to create artificial lakes. Unlike us, the Soviets actually tested and
implemented infrastructure projects under their version of Plowshares,
including a dam in Kazakhstan.
“Now here’s a blast from the past for
many of you,”
Alexander said, stifling a chuckle as he
drew circles on the next slide with his laser pointer. “Nearly every
undergraduate nuclear engineering student in the United States uses the classic
textbook Introduction to Nuclear Engineering,
by the late John Lamarsh. Perhaps you remember this book from your college
days. Early editions of the book contained the following excerpt:
‘…there are a number of ways in which
nuclear explosives may be used for peaceful purposes…natural gas trapped in
underground formations can be released by the detonation of a nuclear
explosive…New harbors, canals, and mountain passes can be excavated with
nuclear explosives at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods.’”
He paused, looked around the table, and
clicked to the next slide that contained the rest of the Lamarsh quote:
“‘It should even be possible to alter
unfavorable weather patterns in many parts of the world by removing mountain
ranges which obstruct the flow of air.’”
Alexander swallowed, his mouth dry. “Do
we have any questions so far?”
One of the meeting participants, a man in
a U.S. Air Force uniform, spoke up. “General Fallsworth, what are
you suggesting?”
Alexander attempted to modulate his
breathing, which grew at a clip to keep up with his heart rate. “I’m proposing
what Lamarsh said was possible, the one thing no one has tried. I propose that
we use nuclear explosives to eliminate targeted mountain ranges in order to
reposition the Jet Stream, create more favorable weather patterns and heat
sinks, and reverse the impacts of climate change.”
Silence and stillness now. Every eye in
the room bored through him. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to speak plainly.
Fire, drought, floods, and extreme weather have rendered swaths
of our country uninhabitable and burdened other areas
due to countless citizens who’ve been displaced. Agriculture is in ruins,
insurance premiums have skyrocketed, and the chasm between rich and poor
continues to grow. Besides the obvious financial impacts, these problems
threaten our national security. Our enemies are well aware of our weaknesses,
and, domestically, civil unrest is on the rise. Worst of all, people have
died.”
Alexander’s voice caught in his throat.
“Thousands of people have died,” he continued, “and all we have done is react.”
He paused, pressing his lips together,
then added,
“This has gone on far too long. We carry
on as if everything is fine, letting the years slip through our fingers.
Well, time has run out for conventional
methods, and now we must explore the desperate measures I’ve discussed.
These measures could save us, not to
mention future generations.”
Moments later, a woman in the corner,
eyes focused on the birch table’s grain, broke the silence. “Is this even
legal?” she asked.
“The U.S. never ratified the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and we’re not planning to do anything outside
our own territory. The general counsel reviewed my proposal and, technically,
it’s completely legal.”
She nodded, her tight expression easing.
“I lost several family members when Cheniak flooded. My niece was only three
months old when she…” The woman hesitated, adjusted her glasses. “…when she
drowned. The water rose so fast, there was nothing anyone could do.”
The representative from the Joint Chiefs
of Staff piped up. “What do you recommend as a path forward?”
Alexander felt his shoulders lighten. Steady, Fallsworth, he said to
himself. “I plan to reach out to the Chair of the Nuclear Engineering
Department at Chambers University. One of her Ph.D. students, the ‘Bouldin, D.’
on the journal articles I’ve handed out, developed software that simulates
nuclear detonations and removal of geological obstructions for geo-engineering
purposes. The dissertation examines how technical parameters related to nuclear
explosions can impact weather patterns and long-term climate outcomes. As far
as I can tell, a model already exists and would only need to be adapted and
beta-tested, then implemented.”
The committee members exchanged looks
across the table. “What about radioactive fallout?” asked the woman from the
Department of Energy.
“We can conduct the detonations
underground,”
replied Alexander, his voice firm.
Then the man in the Air Force uniform
spoke for the group. “I think we owe it to ourselves and our nation to at least
consider geo-engineering as a way out of our difficulties. Let’s think about
it. If we agree, authorizing a black fund shouldn’t be hard.”
Alexander studied the participants,
mentally beseeching each one to please, please accept the proposal.
Thank them for their time, Fallsworth. You’ve
got this.
It was all he could do to keep from
calling out, “So who’s with me?”
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Excellent excerpt, The Silent Count is a book that I will enjoy reading!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it with me and have a marvelous weekend!