Visions of the Future (51 page)

“…what today, do we not consider to be part of physics, that may ultimately become part of physics? …it’s interesting that in many other sciences there’s a historical question, like in geology—how did the earth evolve into the present condition? In biology—how did the various species evolve to get to be the way they are? But the one field that hasn’t admitted any evolutionary question—is physics.”

—Richard Feynman

AUTHOR’S FOREWORD

There is a good chance that the world, as we know it, will come to an end in the foreseeable future. At least I think so. Climate change will cause some disruptions, but none that the world hasn’t seen before. But climate change in conjunction with deforestation, species extinction, and a slew of other things might well be something unprecedented. Added to that is the hole in the ozone layer. And then there is the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Taken together, things don’t look promising.

Assuming that something bad will happen, it would behoove us to find some place where we can start over. The last time we received a scare like this was during the Cold War when we half-expected the Russians to wipe us out with nuclear weapons. Do you remember Nevil Shute’s “On the Beach”? We were taking the prospect quite seriously. Thousands of homeowners were digging bomb shelters and stocking them for the long term. Our Government had created a super-shelter in order to save—the Government. Yes.

So let’s think about this while there is still time. If we were to escape into space, who would we save and who would get to make the choice? The Billionaires’ Gambit describes two scenarios. In one, the Government makes the politically correct choice in order to insure that wherever they land, everyone is represented, no one is left behind and, of course, the Government remains in power.

The second scenario posits the single-minded attempt by a group of billionaires to save civilization with the collection of people most likely to lead to that end. Anything or anyone that might threaten the mission is obliterated, no matter how worthy, no matter how innocent.

I’ve given a great deal more space to the second scenario for the simple reason that it makes a better story. But I am not an advocate for either position. Surely, there must be a middle ground.

Time: Near the end of the 21st Century

Place: The basement of the White House, Washington, DC

Six people, five men and a woman, are sitting around a conference table. The woman is the President of the United States. The men form her “kitchen cabinet”.

President Cuddly Morgan was exasperated. “A dozen billionaires don’t just vanish into thin air. Where the hell are they?”

Bob Jorss leaned forward. “Is it really that big a deal? People disappear all the time. Look at the Roanoke colonists. The whole damn settlement disappeared. They disappeared almost a thousand years ago and we still don’t know what happened to them.”

“Yeah.” Morris Raddliffe spoke around a fat cigar that the President forbade him to light in her presence. “And what about Dorothy Arnold? She vanished at the beginning of the last century and she was worth over a million then. Don’t know the arithmetic but that has to be billions in today’s currency.”

“And Judge Crater,” put in Lonny Two-Feathers.

“Not to mention Jimmy Hoffa,” added DeRutherford Jones.

The fifth guy, Marcus Wainright, just sat there shaking his head.

Cuddly snapped, “Cut it out. You’ve got one lousy rich woman and a few assorted men. We’re talking here about twelve very wealthy people who disappeared within a week of one another. Aside from their wealth and the fact that they are all reclusive, they have nothing in common.”

Wainright nodded. “No indication that they even know one another. They all made their money in different ways. The two things they do have in common are that they all have advanced science degrees and they all made most of their money through startup companies rather than acquisitions. But they got educated at different schools and they got their degrees in different subjects and their startups are all privately held companies. We got zilch to tie them together.”

Cuddly inquired, “Aside from being privately held, do the companies have anything in common?”

Two-Feathers shook his head. “Naw. All of the companies are related one way or another to their principals’ advanced degree. One egghead has companies that make gadgets or computer stuff. Another egghead is into biotech. One company is looking into more efficient desalinization. Other than that, we couldn’t find a common thread.”

Cuddly looked around the room. “So with every goddamn spook agency in the government looking into this that’s the sum of our knowledge? Shit!”

She adjourned the meeting and that’s the last we will hear from them.

Time: Two years earlier

Place: A small conference room in a mansion somewhere on the east coast of the United States. Seven people, five men and two women are sitting around a conference table.

The older of the two women said, “Let me sum up.

1. We’ve found a suitable island and we’ll get workmen to build our homes, right down to the last faucet and the last light switch.

2. Within two years, you will each have found a suitable mate, if you haven’t done so already. Your chosen mate must be intelligent and well educated in one of our needed disciplines; must be absolutely discreet; must be adventurous; and must be someone you will be happy with for the rest of your life.

3. Should you discover that your choice has been a mistake, you will remedy the mistake immediately and select another partner.

4. As you identify your mate, you will bring that person to meet with us and prepare to become a billionaire.

5. When each of you has selected a mate, you will go to a designated airport from which you will be transported to the island. The jet that carries you will pick you up one couple at a time. Every filed flight plan will be different. Every flight will arrive at the same destination.

6. You will not make plans for your departure. You will not get your affairs in order. You will not dismiss your staff. You will just go.

She looked around the room. “Have I missed anything?”

There were head shakes all around.

“Good. I’m looking forward to meeting your chosen life’s companions.”

The backstory

Of the twelve missing billionaires, one man and one woman were quite a bit older than the rest. The man was Adam Adams. In his late sixties, he was the oldest of the missing billionaires. The woman was Hepzibah Riley, Adam’s companion of forty years and the mother of their five children.

Adam made his billions by starting up investment companies. He lied. He cheated. He stole. He was completely amoral and utterly ruthless. Hep was a plant biologist. She made her billions by starting up a horticultural firm which patented a monumental number of new cultivars and peddled them for vast sums, throughout the world. They were particularly useful to the underdeveloped nations, which were unable to afford them and depended on subsidies from countries embarrassed by their own riches. Adam, whose sole genius was making money, devised her strategy. Hep couldn’t care less where the money came from, as long as it came. They never married. Even in their youth they knew that one day they might want to disappear and they wanted no paper trail leading to their association.

Adam could easily have passed for a man fifteen years younger. About five nine, he was erect and fit. His salt-and-pepper hair was full and glossy. He was a handsome man with soft brown eyes, a straight nose, amused mouth, and a strong chin. There were crow’s feet around those brown eyes and laugh lines around his mouth.

Hep was a good match for him. While there was nothing soft about her, she was unquestionably feminine. Only five years younger than Adam, she was still a sexy lady. Her hair had turned that silvery shade that somehow makes women look younger. Her pecs held up an inviting bosom. She had the kind of money and looks that charities lust after for their boards of directors. She wasn’t on any of them. But the woman did have a charitable bent. She started up a chain of hospitals and made them into models of medical research and patient care. There were five such hospitals, four in the United States and one in Belize. The medical personnel were paid amounts comparable to those paid to football players. The buildings were paragons of cleanliness and comfort. Charges were based solely on a patient’s ability to pay. She and Adam had agreed early on—they would have five kids in order to accomplish their goal. There would be a hospital for each of them. Thus, as each kid was born, the baby was taken to one of Hep’s hospitals and the birth registered in a convenient name. This is easy to do if you own the hospital. But to be on the safe side, each registrar met with an unfortunate, fatal accident after the paperwork was complete. There was no trail, paper or otherwise to Adam and Hep.

Hep, Adam, and one employee lived on an island, about the size of a small town, in the South Pacific. To render the island invisible to air observation, it was covered by an electronic shield which was overlaid by a hologram. The hologram looked exactly like the surrounding air and sea.

Ivar, the employee, was a towering six foot five. He looked incredibly intelligent, with his high forehead and piercing blue eyes. In fact, when anything involved more than rote learning, he was incredibly stupid. He was also incredibly loyal, an incredibly good cook, an incredibly efficient valet and handyman, and an acceptable pilot. He flew an antique jet, which he kept in impeccable flying order. The man loved that plane. He belonged to the Antique Jet Society but wasn’t the least bit sociable. He belonged to the Society because it gave him landing privileges in the Society’s assigned space at most of the world’s airports.

Of Adam’s and Hep’s five kids, four were male, one female. Five of the dozen missing billionaires were the kids’ undocumented mates. The five siblings resembled their parents. The mates were of varying colors and looks. But they all shared Adam’s and Hep’s searing intelligence as well as their ruthlessness. Early on in their children’s lives, Adam and Hep, after observing them closely, determined each of their interests and talents. Bryan, for instance, as a little boy was fascinated by all animate moving things. He would squat for hours watching a gecko going about its gecko-ish business. As soon as he could talk he would tell Hep what he had observed and would speculate on why the critter did it. His interest was maintained and encouraged all the way through grad school. When he received his doctorate in zoology, his PhD thesis was on the adaption of cellular membranes to cold and other extreme environmental conditions.

The other four kids were similarly observed and channeled into careers that were not only compatible with their interests but essential to the success of their mission.

Their early education was unique. Adam and Hep imported the eight most competent, compassionate grade school teachers that could be found. They were paid on the same scale as the hospital doctors. But they had to promise to remain on the island until the youngest of the kids finished the eighth grade. At the end of that time they could take their millions and return to the mainland. Ivar would pilot them there right after a farewell dinner and drink. None of them ever arrived home.