The O.D. (35 page)

I’m
sure
the
reality
of
my
position
didn’t
go
unnoticed
by
you
.
In
mitigation
,
I’ve
always
tried
to
maintain
some
integrity
in
my
business
dealings
and
in
this
respect
my
hands
are
clean
.
My
feet
,
however
,
are
filthy
.
I’ve
walked
through
the
effluent
of
free
enterprise
up
to
my
thighs
and
this
marks
me
out
as
a
vandal
of
epic
proportion
.
So
be
it
.
You
alone
know
the
reason
.
The
effluent
will
never
rise
above
your
ankles
,
because
of
what
Ruth
and
I
have
done
.
And
because
of
us
,
little
Pandora
will
,
with
luck
,
never
even
see
it
,
let
alone
set
foot
in
it
.

There’s
truth
in
the
adage
‘you have to speculate to accumulate’.
What
I’ve
done
is
extend
it
a
step
further
. You have to accumulate to eradicate.
My
accumulations
in
this
world
have
allowed
you
to
eradicate
their
necessity
in
yours
,
which
was
the
plan
all
along
.
Over
our
three
generations
–
ours
,
yours
,
your
childrens’
–
the
initial
task
will
have
been
completed
.
Something
will
have
been
eradicated
from
the
world
,
even
if
only
in
your
small
part
of
it
.

You
,
Lonnie
,
are
a
child
of
both
worlds
.
Born
in
mine
and
fed
on
it
;
replanted
in
yours
.
But
your
very
knowledge
of
my
world
ensures
you’ll
never
be
totally
free
of
it
.
Not
so
your
children
.
What
they
do
with
their
lives
and
what
you
do
with
the
rest
of
yours
is
out
of
my
control
.
There’s
no
reason
to
think
your
children
will
be
born
‘
special’
.
They’ll
be
exceptional
only
in
that
they’ll
have
been
born
into
the
rarefied
atmosphere
of
Eydos
.
That’s
all
you
can
count
on
as
being
certain
,
but
it’s
enough
.

I
edit
this
letter
every
month
to
take
in
new
thoughts
and
to
keep
abreast
of
breaking
news
.
I
have
an
overpowering
feeling
that
this
month
the
envelope
will
be
sealed
once
and
for
all
.

I
could
ramble
on
for
pages
and
probably
would
if
I
didn’t
feel
so
tired
.
In
closing
I
must
tell
you
again
how
inspired
I
find
your
initial
ideas
for
Phase
Two
.
I’ve
been
giving
a
lot
of
thought
over
the
past
few
months
to
your
Big
Idea
as
you
call
it
,
and
you’re
correct
.
The
time
to
push
is
almost
here
.
Sooner
than
we
expected
or
would
have
hoped
,
but
here
nonetheless
.
As
for
my
part
in
it
,
there’s
nothing
further
I
can
do
here
.
Knowing
the
framework
is
in
place
–
in
your
mind
anyway
–
makes
it
easier
for
me
to
take
my
leave
.
There’s
nothing
to
be
lost
now
by
hesitating
.
’

There was a laboured signature at the bottom of the page, followed by a P.S.:

One
last
thing
.
To
ensure
the
works
you
propose
are
not
hindered
by
lack
of
finance
,
I
have
set
up
The
Ruth
and
Forrest
Vaalon
Trust
,
currently
valued
at
$
2
billion
,
to
help
oil
your
wheels
.
As
of
today
Forrest
Vaalon
,
personally
,
is
penniless
,
and
it
feels
good
.

Pilot sat quietly for a time, then slipped the letter into its envelope and looked back over what little of the island was still visible in front of a thick fog rolling in from the east.

As he lay in bed with Macushla and Pandora that night in their dome, Pilot was feeling a strange combination of sadness and elation – the two emotions perfectly in balance. The past was lying in a coffin in Manhattan; the future, in large boxes of notes, printouts and flash drives in the admin dome.

XXIV

Associated
Press
. –
Phoenix
,
Arizona
,
Tuesday
,
February
7th
,
1830
MDT
.

Over
a
hundred
hospital
admissions
this
morning
have
been
attributed
to
an
atmospheric
inversion
,
which
created
a
blanket
of
noxious
air
over
central
Phoenix
late
yesterday
afternoon
.
Residents
–
especially
the
old
,
infirm
and
young
–
have
been
advised
to
stay
indoors
until
the
air
quality
returns
to
safe
levels
…

CNN
–
Phoenix
,
Arizona
,
Wednesday
,
February
8th
,
1500
MDT
.

‘
BAD
AIR’
IN
ARIZONA
KILLS
SEVEN
.
The
cocktail
of
carbon
monoxide
and
other
lethal
gases
which
has
been
trapped
over
metropolitan
Phoenix
since
Monday
has
now
killed
seven
people
,
hospital
authorities
report
.
Dozens
more
are
being
treated
for
serious
respiratory
difficulties
.
Meteorologists
say
there
is
no
sign
of
the
atmospheric
inversion
abating
for
at
least
a
week
and
are
recommending
evacuation
to
outlying
areas
,
where
the
air
remains
good
.

BBC
NEWS
–
Phoenix
,
Arizona
,
Thursday
,
February
9th
,
0730
MDT
.

POISON
AIR
DEATH
TOLL
‘
OFF
THE
CHARTS’
–
PRESIDENT
DECLARES
STATE
OF
EMERGENCY
.
A
sudden
and
deadly
deterioration
of
breathable
air
in
Phoenix
‘
killed
several
thousand
people
overnight’
,
an
observer
on
the
ground
has
reported
.
Nothing
of
this
magnitude
has
been
seen
since
200
people
were
asphyxiated
by
traffic
fumes
in
Bangkok
three
years
ago
.
A
shortage
of
breathing
apparatus
for
emergency
workers
is
making
rescue
of
the
sick
and
retrieval
of
the
dead
extremely
difficult
.
Although
some
people
have
left
the
city
,
it
is
thought
that
many
thousands
still
remain
. ‘
Our
citizens
have
been
so
debilitated
by
the
lack
of
breathable
air
that
they
cannot
even
panic
,
’
Governor
Lopez
stated
at
0530
Mountain
Time
. ‘
The
situation
here
is
critical
and
we
need
immediate
assistance
.
’
Washington
responded
in
the
past
hour
with
a
Federal
Declaration
of
a
State
of
Emergency
in
Phoenix
.

The
Walter
Wexler
Blog
–
Wednesday
,
February
15th
.

Think
of
a
hundred
Twin
Towers
and
you’ll
get
an
idea
of
the
final
massive
loss
of
life
that
occurred
in
Phoenix
last
week
. ‘
Atmospheric
inversion’
,
my
ass
.
Those
people
killed
themselves
with
their
own
cars
.
Just
look
at
the
numbers
.
The
carbon
monoxide
blanket
woven
from
their
own
exhaust
fumes
measured
a
massive
300ppm
at
its
most
concentrated
.
There
was
no
way
out
of
the
city
for
those
poor
people
–
even
on
foot
.
TWO
HUNDRED
AND
EIGHTY
-
FOUR
THOUSAND
,
FOUR
HUNDRED
AND
SEVENTY
-
EIGHT
.
I’ll
give
you
that
figure
again
in
numerals
−
284
,
478
.
That’s
20
%
of
the
population
of
Phoenix
,
snuffed
out
in
a
few
painful
breaths
.
I
don’t
want
to
say
I
told
you
so
,
but
didn’t
I
warn
about
this
kind
of
disaster
happening
in
our
country
three
years
ago
?
I
told
you
so
.
It
was
only
a
matter
of
time
before
the
isobars
,
temperature
,
wind
,
or
in
this
case
,
lack
of
it
,
and
our
own
deadly
emissions
,
got
together
and
conspired
to
kill
us
all
in
the
perfect
storm
…

Round the refectory table, Lonnie Pilot, Len Wenlight and Macushla Mara, nursing fourteen-month-old Pandora, were eating North Ronaldsay sheep yogurt and talking about the horrific events in Arizona they’d been following on the internet for the past week. Wenlight was there in his capacity as the Island’s ‘embedded journalist of choice’. He’d been trying in vain to glean details of Eydos’ proposals for the forthcoming conference, but Pilot continually stonewalled him.

Never had there been more call for an Earth Summit. In the twelve years since Eydos had risen from the sea, the globe’s human cancer had progressed from ‘critical’ to one stage below inoperable. Population had grown by 1.7 billion, putting unbearable pressure on the world’s vital organs. This, in spite of the H7N7 Equine-1 flu pandemic having killed 50 million people when it crossed over to humans two years previously. Through all this global upheaval, the doctor-politicians of the Earth’s A&E ward remained inactive – frozen like rabbits in the headlights.

All but one. If there was one politician who commanded universal respect among her peers and the world at large, it was the Secretary General of the United Nations, Lim Lin Hok. To call her a ‘politician’ was a slur on her character. She was outspoken but always fair; single-minded, but flexible when necessary; and had brokered three international peace deals in the past twelve months alone. That she had been corresponding with Lonnie Pilot through encrypted messaging for two years and knew more about the Eydos package than anyone off-island, was the world’s best-kept secret.

The idea to hold the summit on Eydos had been Pilot’s, but Lim had presented it to the world as hers. “Nillin is as neutral a meeting place as we will ever find,” she had argued. “Holding the Conference on Eydos will allow us to view our problems and broker our solutions from a unique and unprecedented perspectiv
e−
an out-of-body experience through which we will all benefit.”

On a flat area of the shelf just outside Nillin, a vast geodesic structure a hundred and fifty metres in diameter and fifty metres high had been built. Inside, seating for four thousand people had been installed. Scattered around the ‘Mother Dome’, as it was called, were smaller ‘baby domes’ for private meetings, catering, communications, medical facilities, generators, chemical toilets
etc.

In just under a month, three idle cruise ships would be slipping into Nillin’s new deep water harbour to deliver delegations from every country on earth to ‘the shrinking island with the growing credibility’
−
cruise guests by night, delegates by day. Top of the agenda of the emergency congress were the crippling economic blood clots, social hemorrhaging and environmental heart attacks the world had been suffering throughout most of the participants’ lifetimes and before.