Old Poison (11 page)

A man in the first row stood up and didn’t
wait for Nate to call on him. “You’re telling me the whole rest of
the world knows we’re headed for disaster, and the oil guys are
keeping it secret. Give me a break.”

The noise level in the room rose several
decibels, and Nate had to lean into the mike and speak loudly.
“Please sit down, Harry. David, Sven, all of you, I’ll pay you each
one hundred dollars to do your own research. I’ll give a thousand
dollars to anyone who can prove that global warming is not a real
threat to our country, our company bottom line, and, our jobs,
yours and mine.”

Their jobs! Maybe I was wrong about Nate’s
persuasive abilities. One of Nixon’s aides was supposed to have a
cartoon on his wall that said something on the order of, “If you
have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.”

Nate continued to talk over the audience
clamor. “No, I’ll make that five thousand to anyone who can prove
global warming is not a threat.”

Carrot and stick, now he at least had their
attention. They quieted. “Many of your offices have already
suffered tremendous losses due to extreme weather events. In the
last twenty years we have witnessed the worst floods, fires,
hurricanes, and tornados ever recorded by man.” He paused, then
with a very charming, little boy grin, added, “Well, unless you
count the flood reported by Noah.”

That won him a laugh and lessened the
tensions in the room. “In the last twenty years of the twentieth
century, our industry paid for damages in forty-two weather-related
disasters that cost over one billion dollars each. Thirty-six of
these events occurred between 1988 and 1999, costing us one hundred
and seventy billion dollars. In May of 1999 we had a single tornado
event that spawned more than seventy-five tornadoes. One of them
was more than a half a mile across and stayed on the ground for
four hours. And it didn’t just blow Dorothy over the rainbow.
Fifty-four people died. Over ten thousand homes and businesses were
damaged or destroyed. You beginning to see a pattern here?

You could hear a pin drop. No one even
coughed.

Now look at the tables in your conference
packets and follow that pattern into the twenty-first century and
notice our company losses. I am sorry to tell you the evidence
suggests this is only the beginning. As global warming increases,
so will extreme weather disasters. How much can our company, or any
insurance company, take before we go bankrupt? What good can we do
for our employees or our insured if we’re broke?”

A neatly dressed woman in the first row
raised her hand. Nate said, “Yes, Kay?”

I was beginning to see a pattern here, and
it wasn’t just a weather pattern. So far everyone Nate spoke to he
knew by sight and name. Did he know all his regional managers that
well? If so, Clara Shimmerhorn was in deep trouble.

Kay rose and said, “Okay, so say we accept
global warming, but you said it was warming at an alarming rate,
and you also said it had only gone up one degree in the last
hundred years. In Tucson our temperature can change forty degrees
from noon to midnight. I can’t see why one degree would make that
much difference.”

That gave the audience a small laugh, and
Nate smiled. “I can understand why that is confusing, but the thing
is, we aren’t talking about just a local temperature, we’re talking
about a world average or mean temperature. To put it in
perspective, you know about the ice ages when much of Europe and
the U.S. were covered by glaciers?”

Kay nodded.

“Do you know how much the world mean
temperature had to drop to start an ice age? Four degrees
centigrade. Just four degrees. Some scientists are now predicting
an increase of three degrees. Some are predicting even more. If the
mean temperature rises by even the most conservative estimate of
three degrees, the effects will be disastrous worldwide.”

He turned and looked directly at me. “For
instance, Mrs. Shimmerhorn, our Midwest will become too arid to
produce crops. What would the folks in your area of Story City,
Iowa, do if there was no rain for crops, and no crops to feed
people and livestock? Across the world in Mali the people already
face that plight. Since the 1970s an entire region of lakes has
dried up, and people who were once self-reliant farmers and
fishermen now face famine. Desertification is happening in dozens
of places all over the globe, right now.”

I gave him no answer but sat in stunned
silence. How did he do that? I was too far away for him to read my
name tag. Had he memorized all the photos in the computer roster,
or did he simply know exactly who I was? He held me in his gaze for
a few seconds as a slight smile played on his lips. It might have
been simple geniality, or it might have been a Cheshire cat,
“gotcha.”

“Situations like the one in Mali are part of
what your UN money goes for, David, part of where our excess grain
goes. If our Midwest turns to dust and desert, the famine will
become worldwide because our Midwest plains are the world’s bread
basket.

“On the other hand, it could mean good news
for Canada and Russia. As our latitudes are overheated and turn to
dust, Canadian and Russian prairies may warm just enough to become
the new producers of the world’s grain. That would certainly make a
change in the world trade balance, wouldn’t it? It could even
affect our position as numero uno.”

Consternation registered on David’s face as
Nate scored a bull’s-eye. “David, the goal here is not to shut down
oil wells or cattle ranches, but to devise plans for our nation’s
continued prosperity. That means finding better answers than
turning up the air conditioner.

“Kay, if the world mean temperature goes up
three degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, your mean summer temperature in
Tucson will be one hundred degrees. That is not your high, but your
average. Your highs would fall between a hundred and thirty to a
hundred and forty. How many of your seniors would survive that kind
of heat? How far would your water and power stretch under those
conditions?” Kay sat down heavily with no more comment.

“Sven, ever since 1999 heat and drought have
contributed to horrific annual forest fires that have destroyed
hundreds of thousands of acres of trees throughout the west. If the
world continues to warm there will be great loss of temperate
forests. That is not only tragic to loggers, nature lovers, and
animal life, but it makes fewer trees to absorb less of the CO2 we
dump into the air, which makes it hotter yet. The hotter it gets,
the hotter it gets.

“Kyle, Mary Beth, both of you cover areas
that have serious coastal erosion problems. There is now very
frightening evidence that the great ice sheets of Antarctica and
the arctic may be melting rapidly. The European Space agency is now
warning of the collapse of the Wilkins ices shelf. As they melt and
the ocean water warms and expands, the world’s mean ocean levels
are rising. The optimists have been predicting six feet, the
pessimists thirty feet. Now international climate scientists are
beginning to think sea levels could rise three times that of the
official worst-case estimates. That could completely wipe out some
small island nations. With the invading seas you can expect damage
to our fresh water supplies, sewage facilities, and loss of our
most expensive real estate. Even at that, we could be getting off
light. At the end of the last ice age, world oceans rose three
hundred feet. One can only guess at how many ancient coastal
habitats are buried three hundred feet beneath the sea.”

He had more than caught their attention. He
had touched each individual where he lived.

“How bad will it get? We don’t know. Could
it all start cooling off again? Possibly, but not likely. David,
you said this world has warmed and cooled many times. That’s true,
but according to the Milankovitch solar radiations cycles, which
you will learn more about this afternoon, we should be in the
middle of a cooling trend right now. Instead, it’s getting hotter.
Since Milankovitch’s formula has proven accurate throughout Earth’s
history, this warming trend can only be explained by human impact
on the world’s atmosphere. Our burning of fossil fuels has changed
the world.

“So, how do we make plans? What do we do to
protect our company and our insured against the possible hazards of
global warming? Will your region of the country face more rain and
flood, more hurricanes and tornados, or more drought, fire, and
crop loss? That’s what we’ll discuss this afternoon in our regional
sessions. Have a good lunch. See you at one o’clock.”

I gathered my belongings, joined the crowd
heading for the diningroom, and was about to catch up with Sven
when someone grabbed my arm. The grasp was firm enough to halt and
hard enough to hurt. I turned, both startled and angered, and found
myself looking into Nate’s face. There was a smile on his lips;
however, his eyes were anything but friendly. “Diana, I believe we
have a matter to discuss.”

* * * * *

“Why don’t you join me for lunch in my
private office?”

“Nate, you have an office? I thought you
just conducted business in the park.”

He was still clutching my arm, and my anger
made my voice loud enough to turn a few heads. Nate’s eyes shifted
around to take in the curious looks, then he laughed as if I had
made a joke. Then he said, “Only when we’re doing the ecology
survey, my dear. Today I think my office will be much more
comfortable.”

Looking down at his hand on my arm, I
replied through a clenched-teeth smile, “I think I’d rather take my
chances in MacArthur Park at midnight.”

He dropped my arm like it was hot and looked
lamely at his offending hand as if it had acted upon its own
volition. “It’s great to see you again, my dear,” he said warmly,
then gave me a hug and a peck on the cheek as if we were long-lost
buddies. As he did, he whispered in my ear, “Diana, please, there
are watchers.”

As he pulled back, I could see the fear in
his eyes. Either this guy was genuinely frightened or he was a
wonderful actor. Knowing Sam was listening to my lapel mike I
asked, “Okay Nate, but I have something to take care of first.
Where is your office? I’ll meet you there in about five
minutes.”

“Good! I’m in the Jason building, right
across the street, suite 1200. Thanks.”

He turned and walked away, and I watched him
wend his way through the crowd, dispensing hugs and kisses as if
this were a family reunion instead of an insurance conference. My
cell phone rang. “Yeah Sam?”

“I thought we agreed you would steer clear
of any close encounters.”

“The situation is a little different than
anticipated, and I do have a lot of questions for him to answer.
You get that location?”

“Yeah, I’m on the way. Be careful.”

While Nate was still schmoozing his way
through the crowd, I walked across the street and took the Jason
building elevator to the 11th floor. Quietly I entered the fire
staircase and started for the 12th floor. As I rounded the landing,
I caught a very surprised-looking Sam sitting on the top step near
the door. Always prepared, Sam wore the coverall uniform of a
ubiquitous electrical service company and had a toolbox of
legitimate-looking equipment.

Covering his surprise, he said, “Good girl!
You learned something on your last case, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” In my last case I had
been trapped on an upper floor by some unpleasant people and had
learned the benefit of fire stairs and caution.

“Well, I checked the hall for you,” he said.
“His office is locked and no time to check it out. I don’t see any
muscle, but the place is lousy with both surveillance and
counter-surveillance equipment. He will probably know you’re
wearing a wire, but that’s okay. Put him on notice not to pull
anything. Here, take a look.”

He reached under the top tool tray and
handed me a video screen about the size of a pocket TV. It was
hooked to a tiny wire that slipped under the door, and on the
screen I could see a fish bowl view of the entire hall. As I
watched, the elevator opened. A waiter stepped out and pushed a
food cart down the hall to suite 1200. He unlocked the door and
entered, leaving the door standing open. I handed the screen back
to Sam, quietly opened the fire door, and waved Sam a goodbye.

As I walked quietly past the office door, I
could see the waiter’s back as he set out lunch on a small round
table. I hit the elevator button to open and close the door, then
clomped loudly back up the hall, humming to myself. When I reached
the open door, I gave two friendly raps on the wood and said, “Hi,
Nate.”

The waiter whipped around, and I feigned
surprise and laughed. “Whoops, guess I beat him back here. Oh,
coffee, wonderful! Could I get you to pour me a cup of that? I
missed mine and was yawning all through the morning session.”

His occupational desire to present excellent
service vied with his suspicion that there might be something not
quite kosher about my entering Nate’s office. As he served me,
however, the routine won out over the troubling prospect of
questioning my presence. I pulled a twenty from my purse and
slipped it in his hand as I ushered him out the door saying, “Let’s
leave the rest covered to stay warm until he gets here.”

With the door shut, I looked around Nate’s
office. I was sure I would be the star of Nate’s office
surveillance video, but I didn’t even care. He had certainly gotten
a good view of my apartment. At least my bedroom and bathroom were
walled off from his surveillance.

His large, prestigious corner office had
windows on two sides, giving him a spectacular view of the city. It
was sparsely furnished, no hard wood, only easily replaceable pine
and man-made materials, not the ostentatious display one normally
expects from VP quarters. It was neat as a pin. That was
predictable.