Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure (19 page)

“Cindy. That’s a
pretty name. Is the attraction mutual?”

Christopher hesitated,
“Well, it was at first, but,” he stopped.

“Then what?”

“I can’t really
explain, Mom. I mean it’s involved with this secret project and to
explain what happened I’d have to say things I can’t talk about.”
Christopher didn’t want to say anything about Operation Down-size
because he knew the house might be bugged. He wouldn’t take the
risk of underestimating his opponent, and he didn’t want to put his
mother at risk or worry her over something she could do nothing about
anyway.

“Well,” Mary said,
“we’ll just have to deal in generalities. You have a problem to
solve. The solution to most problems can be found by first defining
an objective. Do you have an objective?”

“Actually, I have two
objectives that must be reached through one action.”

Mary looked relieved.
“That should be easy. You were able to do that when you were only
seven. I take it one of these objectives has to do with a certain
young lady. All I can say, Christopher, is follow your heart. I know
you’ll do the right thing.”

“These problems are a
little more complex than problems were then, and the consequences of
an inadequate solution are far too severe to take any chances. I just
need to think on it for a while. It’s starting to get nice out so I
think I’ll just go out on the porch. The fresh air and sunshine
can’t hurt.”

“That’s a good
idea, Christopher. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”

Christopher sat on the
old porch swing. The sun felt good on his face as he let the bench
gently swing back and forth. Between being home, his mother’s
understanding words, and such a beautiful day, he was finally able to
clear his head.

What he needed was a
single action that would keep Cindy from trying to go public and that
would prevent Operation Down-size from taking place. His own argument
to Cindy kept coming to mind. What if he were in a lifeboat and a
ship was sinking? Wouldn’t he save as many as he could? He had to
remember that this was only an argument to stop Cindy from saying too
much at the time. This was not a sinking ship and he was not in a
lifeboat. This plan involved murdering billions of innocent people
simply because they needed to eat food. These innocent people weren’t
to blame for the situation they were in; the government leaders that
were elected in good faith to solve such problems were really the
ones responsible for not doing their job. These were the same people
who were planning to murder the people they were elected to serve. An
action of this magnitude would make Hitler look like a bully in a
sandbox by comparison and could not be allowed to happen under any
circumstances.

Christopher had a lot
of favors owed him by field agents and covert operatives all over the
world. But Operation Down-size was not only very large, but well
organized, and it went right to the top. There was also no way of
telling how many and which agents were already a part of the
operation. It would take a lot more people than those who owed him
favors to stop an operation of this size, and what about Cindy? How
could he keep her from going public? He had no doubt that she would
take action sooner or later. He knew the only way he could prevent
her from going public would be to eliminate her need to do so. He
figured there were only two ways of doing that, he thought. First
would be to eliminate the reason for her to go public. That would
mean to do away with Operation Down-size. No small task at best.
Second would be for someone else to go public first. Then there would
be no need for her to. His going public would have the best chance of
stopping Operation Down-size altogether. He couldn’t imagine the
public allowing it to happen if they knew about it. It would be hard
to say how they could stop it, but if billions of people tried to
stop something, they would most likely be successful.

It suddenly dawned on
Christopher why he had seen so many people do what he thought, at the
time, to be dumb things for a woman. Well that was it. He had to go
public, but how to do it? There had to be a way without making
himself a target.

Christopher noticed a
slight chill in the air. He looked up and saw the sun was on the
horizon. He had been on the porch all day. Mary was sitting on the
living room sofa with the television on, though her thoughts and
feelings were on the porch with Christopher.

“Christopher?” Mary
was standing in the doorway. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you
build us a fire and I’ll fix some dinner.”

“Sure, Mom.”
Christopher went and retrieved an arm full of wood and took into the
living room. In no time at all there was a roaring fire in the
fireplace robbing the air of its chill.

“Dinner’s ready,
Christopher.” Mary’s voice rang from the kitchen.

“Smells great as
always, Mom.” He sat down as Mary set the last plate of food on the
table.

As they ate, Mary
asked, “Were you able to figure out your problem?”

“Well, I know what I
have to do. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do it.”

“Another day on the
porch like today and you could probably save the world,” Mary said
in jest.

Christopher didn’t
look up, but his eye’s got a little bigger.
If
she only knew how close to the truth she actually is,
he
thought
.
“I’ll be
happy if I can just solve my problem.” He wanted so much to be able
to tell his mom the details, but he would never put her at risk.

“Why don’t you give
it a rest for the night and spend a little time with your mother?”
Mary asked.

“Sure, Mom. Is there
anything you want to see on television?”

“Well, there’s a
movie coming on in a little bit that looks like it might be good.
I’ll tell you what. If you watch the movie with me, I’ll make us
some hot buttered popcorn. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds like a deal,”
Christopher replied.

Early the next morning,
Mary, assuming Christopher was still asleep, went to the kitchen to
make a hot cup of tea. As she turned on the tap to add water to the
kettle, she noticed someone standing on the little wooden bridge
leaning against the rail. It was Christopher. She could see his
breath in the chill of the morning air. When the water came to a
boil, she filled her cup and gave it a gentle stir. She had never
seen him so consumed with a problem before. This was, however, the
first time there was a female in the equation.

“You know,” Mary
said out loud to herself, “I could be a grandmother yet.” A big
smile came over her face as she carried her cup of tea to the kitchen
table and sat down. As she glanced out the window at Christopher, she
could tell he was deep in thought and best left alone to sort things
out for himself. If there was an answer to be found, Mary thought,
who better than Christopher to find it? She was well aware of
Christopher’s abilities and confident he could solve any problem.
Mary looked out the window again, carefully watching the steam from
Christopher’s breath as he exhaled.
Downwind.
Perfect
. She thought as she filled an iron skillet with
bacon and sausage. She turned on a burner on the stove and turned the
exhaust fan to high. Within five minutes, Mary heard Christopher’s
footsteps on the porch as he returned to the house.

“Is that breakfast I
smell cooking?”

Never
fails
, Mary thought. “Go ahead and sit down, it’s
almost ready.”

“Well?” Mary asked
as Christopher finished his breakfast. “Have you worked out your
problem?”

Christopher finished
wiping his mouth with a napkin and set it on the table next to his
now empty plate. “I believe I’ve found a single solution that
will solve both problems.”

“I knew you would,”
she said never having doubted that he would. “So when will I get to
meet this young lady friend of yours?”

“I don’t know.”
He quickly changed the subject. “I have to go into town for a
while. Do you want me to get anything for you while I’m there?”

“We could use some
more bacon and eggs before you eat me out of the house and home. You
seemed to have developed quite an appetite lately.”

“Anything else, Mom?”

“Oh, yes. Some milk,
too.”

“I’m going to be
gone for a good part of the day, but I’ll stop and pick them up on
the way back.” Christopher went upstairs and changed clothes, and,
after giving his mother a big hug, headed for town.

His first stop would be
at a bank in order to obtain some cash. He had to make some purchases
and didn’t want to use his credit cards since they could be easily
and instantly traced. After getting sufficient cash, Christopher went
to a large discount store where he bought a video camera with a
tripod and a remote microphone. He then drove around the outskirts of
town for a while until he found a quiet and remote little mom and pop
motel. He rented a room for the day.

Once in the motel room,
he unpacked the equipment he bought and began to set it up. The white
curtains over the window would make a perfect backdrop for what he
was going to do. He moved the small table and all but one chair to
the other side of the room. He then set the camera on the tripod and
placed it facing the curtains on the other side of the small room. He
plugged the remote microphone into the camera and strung the cord out
to the chair and lay the microphone on the chair. After loading the
tape and batteries into the camera, he pressed the button labeled
power
. He looked into
the viewfinder and adjusted the position of the camera and tripod
until he was satisfied with what he saw. Remote control in hand,
Christopher clipped the microphone to his shirt and sat in the chair
facing the camera. He pressed the button on the remote control
labeled record and looked directly into the camera.

“Test, test, 1, 2, 3,
test.” He pressed stop and went to the camera to rewind the tape
and play it back. After making a few adjustments to the camera, he
returned to the chair. He repeated the test a few times until he was
satisfied, then sat in the chair and went over in his mind what he
was going to say.

Looking directly into
the camera, Christopher pressed the record button, paused a moment,
then began with a format he thought would get the most attention. “We
interrupt this program to bring you breaking news. Government and
military leaders around the world have united in an effort to
prevent, what they believe to be, the inevitable extinction of the
human race, which they believe will be caused by global warming and
over population coupled with food shortages. These are conditions
that they, as our leaders, were supposed to prevent had they been
doing their jobs. They not only failed us, but would now have us pay
the price.

“Their solution is to
hide in fallout shelters while they eliminate over ninety percent of
the population by detonating neutron bombs—a tactic that would
eliminate life but leave buildings and do so without any long-term
radiation. The situation is real. It is called ‘Operation
Down-size.’ It’s up to you, each and every one of you, to stop
them. If you do not, you will all perish.

“This is not a joke,
nor something to be taken lightly. Even though Operation Down-size
will no doubt be denied, be forewarned, the threat is real. They may
tell you I’m a radical or an escaped mental patient. I am, in
reality, a high ranking official with the CIA. What I am telling you
is the truth. What you do is up to you.”

Christopher continued
looking into the camera for another moment, then pressed the stop
button. “This is crazy,” he said aloud as he walked up to the
camera and pressed rewind. “The people will think I’m some kind
of nut and change the channel while the government tries to kill me.”

After reviewing the
tape, Christopher packed everything up and put it in the trunk of his
car. He taped the video cassette to the underside of his dashboard
and headed for home. He almost forgot about his mom’s list. He got
her items at the store and then continued home. He felt a little
uneasy as he crossed over the wooden bridge and drove up to the
house. He carried the bag of groceries in and set them on the kitchen
table.

Mary was peeling some
potatoes for dinner at the kitchen sink. “Did you get your problem
straightened out?”

“Yes I did. It was a
little stressful though. I think I’ll take a walk and try to relax
a little. I won’t be long.”

“Take your time.
Dinner won’t be ready for a while yet.”

There were still some
details Christopher had yet to figure out. He still needed to think
of the best way to air the tape so as many people as possible would
see it. He could pull in some owed favors and get it on a local
network, but that wouldn’t reach enough people to guarantee
success. Then he remembered Rick Tanner from back at MIT. He was a
bit of a prankster, but a telecommunications genius. Christopher had
helped him write several computer programs while at school. Rick said
if he ever needed anything, anything at all, he would be there for
him. But where would he be now? Perhaps someone at the school might
know. If not, ten minutes on a computer and he could track him down.
First thing in the morning, he thought, he could go to the local
library and get online there.

Christopher walked back
to the house where he could smell dinner in the air. He noticed smoke
bellowing from the chimney indicating Mary had already started a fire
in the fireplace. He stopped outside and grabbed a couple of logs to
add to the fire for later.

“You’re timing is
perfect. Dinner is almost ready.”

He set the logs down
next to the fireplace and went into the kitchen. “Anything I can do
to help?” he asked, knowing there would be nothing his mother
hadn’t already done.