The E Utopia Project (37 page)
Investigations revealed the
families of the thirteen Japanese green activists had vanished. Gone to a new
world where they were breathing stolen oxygen.
A wounded conservationist had
lashed out, almost succeeding in wiping out mankind from the face of the Earth.
The United Nations Security
Council held a meeting at Head of State level, chaired by the French President,
who currently held the rotating chairmanship of the Council. All delegates at
the meeting that took place at the UN Headquarters in New York agreed the world
had to create a unified defense system to ensure that the Earth would never
again be breached by outside forces. But they disagreed on how to do it.
Inevitably, there were deep suspicions
between the Western powers on one side and the Russians and Chinese on the
other side. Both sides feared the other side could use the crisis to gain
military advantage over the other. Everyone agreed that the best way to protect
Earth from intruders was putting missile systems in orbit but there were huge
differences on how those missiles should be controlled. Neither side wanted to
give the other side more control over the orbital missile systems.
The British Prime Minister
proposed that the orbital weapons should be programmed and positioned to attack
targets coming from outside the Earth. The French President proposed that the
weapons should be programmed in such a way that their positions or status would
not be altered without a code. To avoid unilateral action, the five permanent
members of the Security Council would have a part of the code, making it
impossible for one country to unilaterally alter the positions and status of
the weapons. The United States, China and Russia were worried that the system
could be hacked and used against the Earth as a whole or against particular
states.
In the end the Security
Council agreed to expedite the creation of a United Nations Space Force and to
launch many surveillance satellites into orbit to watch out for intruders. The
space force would be on standby, ready to launch their spaceships if the
surveillance satellites detected E Utopian spaceships. On the issue of
oxygenation of the atmosphere, the Security Council agreed that sand reduction
was the only viable option. Venus was too far away. With the current rocket
technology, rockets would burn lots of oxygen to get to Venus and the oxygen
they would burn could outweigh the oxygen they would bring from Venus.
The people of the world
celebrated when oxygen levels rose by just over three percent in the month
following the discovery of the E Utopian ships. The worst was over and the
situation could only get better. Some experts said that if the world doubled
the number of sand reduction plants, the atmosphere’s oxygen content could
return to normal in two years.
* * *
“I don’t think I need you
anymore,” Sara told Agent Kane as she stepped out of the car. “Looks like my
enemies vanished to space.”
“We haven’t been given orders
to stop guarding you, ma’am,” Kane said. “I’m sure that if you let the
authorities know that you’re tired of having your posterior checked out by me,
I’m sure they’ll grant you your wish.”
George playfully nudged Kane
in the ribs. “Shut up, you pervert.”
“Come on, George. Checking
out your boss’ posterior is part and parcel of a bodyguard’s job. I’m literary
watching your fiancée’s back.”
They entered a lift that took
them to the seventh floor. Sara entered her office and George and Kane sat on
their usual spot in the corridor.
There was a knock on the
door.
“Come in,” Sara said.
Wong entered.
“Good morning, Sara.”
“Good morning, Wong.” Sara
now felt she could use the word
good
when greeting people.
“I haven’t seen Nzue for more
than two weeks. Is he alright?”
“I think, he’s alright,” Sara
said. “I think, he’s breathing fresh clean air somewhere in the Universe.”
“I don’t get you.”
“He was in Sam Cruz’s mob.”
“How do you know?”
“When I found out about the forgery
of the images from Earth observation satellites, I told you and Wong. And when
I was attacked, I suspected the two of you?”
“You thought I wanted to get
you killed?” Wong said indignantly.
“Yes. I especially suspected
you. You were dead against my theory whilst Nzue was more supportive.”
“You must be disappointed you
were wrong about me.”
“Hey, it was nothing
personal. The two of you were my only logical suspects. You were the only ones
who knew about my discovery. Nzue was brainwashed by Sam Cruz. Cruz fooled us
all. I should have known that his generosity was too good to be true.”
“You’re right. He was too
good to be true. People are generous but not to that extent. Sara, the world’s
powers have resolved to form the space force that you proposed.” Wong smiled.
“People want you to be the next UN Secretary-General and I think you deserve to
be in that seat.”
“Right now I’m head of GEMA
and my main concern is the silicon dumps that the sand reduction plants are
producing.”
“That can’t be helped, Sara,”
Wong said with a shrug. “Sand is the only viable source of oxygen.”
“Do you think we’ll have
enough sand to make the oxygen required to normalize the atmosphere?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you concerned with
the fact that sand reduction will consume a considerable chunk of the land
needed for agriculture and forests?”
“I think we’ll have enough
land to survive, Sara. We’ll find some uses for the silicon. If the silicon is granulated
it might even make good top soil.”
“You’re a genius, Wong!” Sara
looked at Wong with renewed admiration. “I never thought of that. Silicon is an
inert element that isn’t toxic to animals and plants.”
“Some scientists even claim
that silicon improves disease resistance in plants.”
“There’s a good chance that
it might make good top soil.”
“I hope you become the next
UN Secretary-General.”
“Why?”
“Because if you become the UN
chief, I’ll stand a good chance of being appointed Director of GEMA.”
“I’ll never be the
Secretary-General. Have you forgotten that my country is a permanent member of
the Security Council?”
“If the people of the world
have their wish, you will be the next UN Secretary-General even though you are
a citizen of one of the big five.”
“In the unlikely event that I
become UN Secretary-General, I’ll recommend you for the post of GEMA Director.”
Wong’s eyes widened and his
mouth gaped. “You’d do that?”
“Yes, I would.”
“Then I’m going to pray for
your elevation.”
George entered the office.
“Hi Mr. Wong,” he said.
“Hi Mr. Surman. See you
later, Sara.”
“Okay, Wong.”
“Sah, when I proposed to you,
you refused to marry me right away because you wanted a normal wedding with my
uncle and your friends present,” George said when Wong had left the office. “Now
we can have a normal wedding. It won’t be exactly normal because I won’t be
able to eat real turkey, beef and chicken at the wedding party but it’ll be as
normal as you can get these days.”
“I don’t care about turkey,
beef and chicken because I’ll have your lips to devour at our wedding and honeymoon.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Of course it’s a yes. It has
always been a yes. I just wanted it to be special.”
George walked around her desk
and kissed her. “It will be special.” He put a hand on her tummy. “You fought
to save the world and to make the world better for our kids and you won, Sah.
Our kids will run and play freely without wearing breathing machines.”
“I didn’t do it alone, honey.
I’d be dead if you didn’t rescue me from that gunman.”
“I didn’t only rescue you,
Sah, but I also rescued myself and our kids.”
THE END
The second book of this
series is still in progress. This series is my second science fiction story. I
have written books of different genres but I’m now concentrating on science
fiction, paranormal and fantasy genres. Apart from my two science fiction
stories, I have a paranormal novel.
Below is the link to my first
science fiction story, a dystopian thriller called Electronic Gags.
Below is the link to my
paranormal thriller called Under the Curse.
If you have time, please
review the book. You can also connect with me on social media using the links
below.
E-mail:
[email protected]
