Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure (16 page)

“Good morning,
Christopher,” Barb answered. Christopher had discouraged the use of
“Mr. Adams” by Barb. She was showing her age with her hair now
gray and worn pulled back, but sharper than ever. She handed
Christopher a handful of messages she had taken for him and a plain
brown envelope with his name on it along with the words, “Top
secret—For Your Eyes Only.”

“Thank you, Barb. You
look very nice this morning,” he said sincerely.

“Why, thank you
Christopher.” Barb still had the same natural glow as she did the
first time he had seen her, he thought as he entered his office. He
put the papers and envelope on his desk, pulled back the chair, sat
down, and was prepared for another day. He quickly shuffled through
the messages checking for anything that couldn’t wait. Seeing
nothing that couldn’t wait, he set them aside and picked up the
brown envelope.

He removed a single
piece of paper from the envelope and was instantly surprised to see
what looked like a ransom note. Individual letters cut out of
magazines, pasted together on the sheet of paper to form a message.
This was a first for Christopher. He carefully read the message:
“Eleven AM, corner of Third and Jefferson. Ace Plumbing. Tell no
one. Come alone. Very important!” followed by “Read and destroy.”
Christopher picked up his phone and depressed a number on the keypad.

“Barb, can you tell
me where the brown envelope came from?” he asked.

“It was dropped off
first thing this morning by special courier. Funny though, I thought
I knew all the couriers, but I’ve never seen this one before. He
just handed me the envelope, had me sign for it and left. Never said
a word. All the paperwork was in order. Is there anything wrong?”
she asked.

“No. I was just
curious. Thank you Barb.”

Christopher stopped at
Barb’s desk just long enough to tell her, “I’m going to be out
for a while. You can reach me on my cell phone if anything comes up.”
He turned and left without giving her a chance to respond.

He took the elevator to
the lowest level where the parking garage was located. As he exited,
Christopher’s eyes quickly scanned the parking garage full of
mostly dark blue sedans, almost all identical agency vehicles. He
remembered once thinking they had painted his name on the wall
identifying his parking space, not so much as to reserve the parking
space in the morning for him alone, but rather as a means for him to
identify which vehicle was his when it came time to leave at the end
of the day. He wasted no time in exiting the garage.

It would take
Christopher about ten to twelve minutes to reach the designated
location. During that time, a hundred scenarios of what this might be
about went through his mind. None of these, he would soon learn,
would be correct. He kept checking his watch every time he was caught
at a traffic light, making sure he would be on time. While sitting at
a red traffic light, nearly at his destination, Christopher suddenly
felt a touch of excitement run through him as he related what he was
doing and feeling to what field agents and covert operatives must
feel every day.

Arriving at the
designated corner, he pulled into the first available parking space
he found, locked the car, and walked back to the corner of Third and
Jefferson. He looked at his watch: ten-thirty on the nose. He stood
on the corner looking around for a storefront or building called Ace
Pluming, but saw nothing. Just then, a white van pulled up in front
of him and stopped. Across the side was the name “Ace Pluming.”
The side door slid open and the man in the back said, “Get in.”
Christopher climbed in to find a seat facing the back of the van.
“Please, sit down,” the man said motioning to the rear facing
seat. “I apologize for the cloak and dagger invitation, but it’s
necessary. We’re taking you to a special briefing. Please buckle
your seat belt. The location of this briefing is also a secret, so I
have to ask you to wear this blindfold.”

Christopher complied,
although he felt it unnecessary since there were no windows in the
side or back of the van, and he was facing the rear as well.
Christopher realized the rear facing seat and blindfold were meant to
disorient the passenger and felt sure the driver would take an
erratic and indirect course to their destination. He couldn’t see
his watch, of course, but Christopher felt nearly an hour and a half
had gone by before he felt the van come to a halt and the engine turn
off.

“You can remove the
blindfold now,” the voice said. Christopher removed the blindfold
as the door of the van slid open.

The sudden burst of
light caused him to squint and shield his eyes for a moment.

“Mr. Adams, Welcome.
Follow me, if you would please.” Although the man who spoke wasn’t
wearing a uniform, Christopher pegged him as military.

Christopher followed
the man through a door and down a corridor and into a room that
looked like it was set up for a presentation of some sort. There were
three other people seated in the folding chairs facing a podium next
to a projection screen. There was a slide projector in the rear of
the aisle separating the seats into two groups. “Please have a
seat. Someone will be with you momentarily,” his escort said as he
left the room closing the door behind him.

Christopher looked
briefly at the three other people in the room and deduced they were
at as much of a loss as he was as to why they were here. There was a
very well dressed man with neatly trimmed gray hair. He wore
conservative but expensive jewelry and an expensive suit. Probably a
politician. The second man was a highly decorated marine coronel, and
judging by the hash marks on his sleeve and his mannerisms, he had
probably seen his share of action.

The third person was a
very attractive young woman in her mid-thirties. She was neatly, but
conservatively dressed. The little bit of jewelry she wore was simple
and not expensive. She had a very healthy look about her and seemed
quite down-to-earth, yet very focused. There was something familiar
about her. Christopher knew he had seen her face somewhere before but
couldn’t quite place her. He did, however, find her quite
attractive. This was an unusual feeling for Christopher. It was rare
for him to be attracted to a woman, but there was something about her
he liked. He decided to sit next to her and perhaps find out what it
was that attracted him to her.

“Hello, I’m
Christopher Adams,” he said motioning to the seat next to her. “Do
you mind?”

“No, please sit down.
I’m Cindy Mathews,” she responded holding out her hand and
shaking his as he sat down next to her.

“The astronaut. I
knew you looked familiar, but I just couldn’t quite place you.”

“Mission specialist
actually. I’m a microbiologist, but yes, though I haven’t flown
yet. I’m scheduled for the upcoming mission aboard Columbia. And
you?” she asked.

“I head the
decryption section with the CIA.”

“I envy you not
having to deal with the publicity. I love my work for the work
itself. I don’t care to be in the spotlight so much. It just comes
with the territory,” Cindy replied.

“I must admit, I
admire what you do, but, I don’t think I would like the spotlight
much either. “I don’t suppose you have any idea why we’re here”

“Not a clue,” Cindy
said. “They brought me here blindfolded and didn’t say a word.
You?”

Christopher founded
himself more attracted to Cindy with each word. “Same thing. We’ll
find out soon enough.” He noticed Cindy looking at him with an
expression that reflected his feelings. The attraction seemed mutual.
Just then a man wearing military fatigues with two black stars sewn
onto each shoulder entered the room.

“I think we’re
about to find out,” Christopher told Cindy under his breath.

Standing at the podium,
the man addressed the four people seated in front of him. “I’m
General Harding. I know you’re all wondering why you’ve been
brought here the way you were. First of all, what I’m about to tell
you doesn’t leave this room. I don’t care what kind of security
clearance somebody might have—you can’t repeat a word. Not to
your wife, your girlfriend, your mother, not to anyone. Not even to
each other once you leave here. I want to be sure I’m clear on this
point,” the general paused, giving the four a chance to acknowledge
this with a nod, which they did.

“You’re about to
learn of an operation that goes way beyond top secret. Every person
with this knowledge, like yourselves, has been handpicked for reasons
that will soon become obvious. First, I think it best to explain the
situation that has made this operation necessary for the very
survival of life as we know it on this planet.”

The general pushed a
button on the podium dimming the lights and activating the slide
projector. The screen lit up with a picture of planet Earth. The
general continued, “This is home to all mankind. Since the
beginning of time, our planet has provided an abundance of food
sources, both in the form of animals or prey, and food that grows
literally on trees, ready to eat. If it wasn’t for this, mankind
could never have survived, or for the matter, would not have lived
long enough to evolve into the technically advanced society we’ve
become. Fortunately, it’s a big planet, capable of supporting a
population of billions. However, this brings us to the first of two
catastrophic problems. The latest census, compared to those
previously taken, indicate an unprecedented increase in the rate of
population growth.” The slide advanced to the next, showing dried
up soil with a few dying cornstalks. “If you put this information
together with the fact that we are losing workable soil faster than
we can develop new ways of increasing productivity, well, you get the
idea. We’ve done the math, and by the year twenty thirty-five, the
population will have grown beyond what the planet is capable of
producing.”

The general pushed a
button bringing up the next slide. It was a picture of hundreds, if
not thousands of starving third-world people fighting over food
supplies. “The first to be effected are the poor in third-world
countries. More and more of these people die of starvation each year
already. The number continues to grow at a frightening rate. It’s
difficult to predict the exact outcome, but riots over food supplies,
which already happen more and more each year, and, perhaps even
cannibalism, are just two of several possibilities. As time goes by,
it will only get worse.”

The general paused for
a moment to let this information sink in, then continued, “Here is
the second problem we are going to address.” The next slide on the
screen was a split picture. “On the left, a picture of rush hour in
Los Angeles on a bad smog day. On the right, a picture of a large
factory with several large smokestacks billowing a thick black cloud
into the atmosphere. We have learned through the latest data that
global warming is far worse than we had ever thought. It is
reversible, but it would require the shut-down of ninety percent of
the world’s factories and power plants, along with removing the
exhaust of ninety-five percent of the vehicles and the total
elimination of chlorofluorocarbons. I’m sure you all agree, the
chances of getting the people of this world to live without electric
power, to permanently park their cars, and to comply with changes and
restrictions so extreme are less than zero. People just seem to be so
short-sighted. If it won’t hurt them today, they’ll go on as
usual until it hits them in the face tomorrow. It seems people have
either become incapable of contributing to society or those that can
have become fat and lazy. Left alone, I’m afraid the situation
would end civilization as we know it. I hate to think what life on
this planet would become if it were left alone to take its course.
Well it’s not going to be left alone to fall into ruin. We have
come up with a way we believe will resolve the situation. Before I
get into the details of the operation itself, let’s take a short
break and, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to give you a quick
tour of my facility here. After we stretch our legs, I’ll be giving
you the details of the operation. So, if you will all follow me,
please.” The general led the small group through the door into the
hallway.

“We’re in a relic
of the Cold War. This facility, like so many others, was built by the
government starting back in the late fifties through the early
seventies. Billions of dollars were spent making these facilities
capable of supporting life totally cut off. Some are larger than
others. This particular facility will house eight hundred and
thirty-five people.” The general led the group into a large room
with industrial décor. “This is the power plant for the complex.
It can generate enough power to handle a small city. Every piece of
equipment has a backup.” The group moved a little further. “This
area is the facility’s water purification center. As in the power
station, everything has a backup.”

The group went down
another hallway and through another door. They found themselves in a
long hallway with other hallways intersecting every fifty feet or so
almost as far as they could see. “Each of these hallways has twenty
housing units. There are ten hallways all together.” Turning the
group around and heading down another hallway and through doors, they
found themselves in an enormous dining room. “This dining room can
seat over four hundred people. The kitchen is capable of preparing
twice that much food. Down the hall a little further through this
door is an assembly hall able to seat eight hundred people plus. Way
down there is a movie theatre and a bowling alley. We literally have
a self-sustaining little city.”

The general turned and
headed back to the room where they started. “Let’s go back to the
meeting room where we started and I’ll give you the details of the
operation. After that, we’ll see about some kind of snack. I know
I’m getting a little hungry.” As the general led the group back
into the meeting room where they had started, he added, “At the end
of the Cold War, these facilities were deemed no longer necessary,
and were all but abandoned. Now, almost all of them have been
refurbished, refueled, and re-provisioned with enough supplies to
last over a year.”