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  The short little scientist pushed up his bifocals. “Intern?” he said, glaring at the rifle. His accent sounded like he was from India.

  “That’s right. Lazar says you’ll cross-train me for thirty days. If all goes well, I’ll—”

  “I was not told about an intern. I know nothing about that. I’ll have to check with my boss. This is not a good time.”

  “You want to tell that to General Lazar?” Chuck said.

  The little man flinched. “I said come with me. You must talk to my boss.”

  Chuck followed him a short distance. They approached a white-haired, white-bearded scientist in jeans and a white lab coat. His face was as pale as snow. His eyes had a pale-pink hue. The swarthy man gestured and hurried away.

  “I’m the new intern,” Chuck said. “General Lazar said come on down here and you’d give me a big-picture overview of what you’re doing.”

  The albino had thick-boned ridges under his white eye-brows, giving his pale eyes a shaded look. His shoulders were bunched up and he held his hands against his chest in a way that made them look limp. Because he held them there, Chuck saw the Black Cobra tattoo around his ring finger. His skin was pale like a man who hadn’t been outside in years, but it also had a tinge of gray to it, like a sick man. Still, he didn’t look sick at sick at all, despite his sunken cheeks and grayish lips. There was too much hostility in the eyes for a sick man.

  Those suspicious eyes, however, looked as if they were coated in a thin layer of ice.

  “What are you doing here?” His voice was deep and gravelly.

  Chuck said, “I was cross-trained in administration and security. Now, Lazar sent me down here. I’m the new intern.”

  His face flinched. “I did not request any intern.”

  “Pay attention. Lazar sent me.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “Cross-training. He wants me to have a vision that encompasses the whole organization so that I can make informed executive decisions.”

  “Executive?”

  “That’s right. An executive who doesn’t know the organization is a disaster waiting to happen. Today, I’m here. Tomorrow, I’ll be with meteorology, and so on.”

  “Fine, but now is not a good time.”

  “Look, just give me the Readers-Digest version of what you’re doing here. Then I’ll stay out of your hair until you’re ready.”

  “I said not now!” the albino screamed. “Are you insane? Sit over there and shut up! I’ll talk to you later.”

  Chuck stepped towards him and grabbed his shirt by the collar. “You’ll talk to me now or I’ll teach you some manners.”

  The albino wiped sweat from his pale forehead. “Just shut up and watch what I do. This a crucial time. I cannot be distracted. Surely Lazar would have known this.”

  “I need information now.”

  “Who are you?”

  Chuck pulled his handgun and shoved it under the albino’s nose. “I’m the guy who gets what he wants. Start talking or start begging.”

  “Alright, don’t shoot.”

  “You’re wasting my time!”

  “No, no! It’s very simple. You understand about the ionospheric heater, right? Surely the general told you that much.”

  “He’s not a very good explainer.”

  “Do you have to point that gun at me?”

  “Alright, that’s it.”

  “No, please. I’ll talk. He may be a military genius, but I have no equal as a scientist. It comes to this: The general is going to unleash upon the world a series of calamities that will leave them in a state of shock and awe. But that is only the beginning. He will then use ionospheric heaters to superheat the ionosphere, a layer of the outer atmosphere located at altitude between thirty-seven miles to 370 miles. This is a key part of his international extortion plan.”

  “Why?”

  “Russians learned how gullible the American public is back in the 1970’s with the Nuclear Winter scam that caused widespread fear in America. Lazar already has a dozen journalists at some of America’s most well-known publications who are eagerly-awaiting the story of massive weather evolution …. They are just waiting for today’s demonstration. Then they will publish Lazar’s pre-written “studies” that bore the names of international scientists for credibility even though they’ve never been peer reviewed. These scientists are on Lazar’s payroll. Lazar is certain the public will believe anything they read. It will be very convincing anyway. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts, volcanic eruptions—the public will demand that politicians take action. Like heroes, elected officials will step in to solve the problems and levy new taxes.”

  Chuck let go of his collar. “Why does Lazar care about this?”

  The scientist scratched his neck with pale fingers. “Every dominant player must have a game changer, a force multiplier, a technology or innovation so powerful that it becomes an irresistible force. There is no other way to gather so much power in such a short period of time. Lazar has harnessed several game changing factors. First, his mind is a tool of military genius. Second, his ionospheric heater is a tool of technological genius. He has the power to heat the atmosphere. This will collide with the Gaia hypothesis.”

  “What is that?”

  The Albino smiled.

  CHAPTER 24

  USS Forrestal

  O3 Deck, Operations Room

  Two hours, fifty-one minutes

  The Albino shook his head and looked away. His gaze seemed to survey the control center with all its banks of newly-installed computers and electronic equipment. The room was the size of a tennis court, and it consisted of racks of electronic equipment. They were chest high and lined up in rows for the whole length of the room creating seven walkways between the rows.

  Chuck could see the Albino was trying to make his smirk go away. He was successful and turned back to Chuck, who was still holding a gun on him.

  The albino said, “The Gaia hypothesis, named after the Greek earth goddess, holds that the earth is a highly-regulated, self-regulating ecosystem with numerous internal control systems. These internal controls maintain the delicate chemical composition of the air and the oceans. They make life on the planet possible. The ionospheric heaters will heat the atmosphere.”

  “How is that even possible?”

  “Just be patient. I’ll get to that in a minute. A .05% increase in the temperature of the atmosphere will alter the delicate and fragile balance of the entire ecosystem beyond the tipping point.

  “Scientists agree that microbes and other organisms play an important role in creating and maintaining the fragile balance of our environment. Catastrophe theory holds that the continuous change of any variable in a system leads to the change of all related variables. Yet in delicate and fragile systems such as our ecosystem and our environment, small changes in one variable can lead to massive changes in the entire system. Lazar is now threatening to use his ionospheric heaters as the catalysts to propel the earth’s ecosystem and our environment into massive change, creating global chaos.”

  “Threatening?”

  “No, he’s about to use the weapon. That’s why I have to end this discussion now. He’s going to give the world an example of his power.”

  “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I don’t have time for this!” he screamed. “Lazar will have you shot for interrupting my work.”

  “I’ll shoot you right now if you don’t keep talking.”

  The albino winced. “Fine, but you’ll be sorry.”

  “I said talk.”

  “Fine, it’s your eulogy. Fine then. Scientists have argued that without the stable and predictable activities of plants and microbes, the Earth would rise in temperature until it was almost as hot as Venus, causing a global catastrophe of unimaginable and epic proportions. The balance of the earth’s atmosphere, presently 79% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and less than 1% carbon dioxide, would shift. As catastrophe spun out of c
ontrol, the earth’s atmosphere would transform into one similar to those found on Mars and Venus. Carbon dioxide would dominate. Nitrogen and oxygen would become scarce. Life would end in a catastrophe similar to the changes that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.”

  Chuck didn’t like the doctor, but he didn’t interrupt.

  The white coat continued: “Like Damocles Sword, General Lazar holds over the human race the extinction of life as we know it. That is his macro fear factor. In addition, he holds micro fear factors over individuals. They either capitulate to his irresistible will—or they will face a very real personal catastrophe. On the other hand, they can line up for him as do the atoms in some metals, strengthening an already irresistible magnetic force, a political leviathan that cannot and will not be stopped. Men will bow to his will because they have no choice. They win if they join him; they perish if they don’t.”

  The phone rang.

  “Forget about it,” Chuck said. “Keep talking.”

  ***

  In his office on the O3 gallery level under the flight deck, Lazar leaned against a sixteenth-century walnut chart table from France and glanced at his watch.

  He said, “What’s taking him so long to update me?” He looked at his two security men. “Go check on him. Have him call me immediately.”

  The men rushed out.

  Lazar turned back to the table and continued scanning his action checklists.

  ***

  The scientist’s pale skin was turning pink with anger. “I’m going to call Lazar. He would not send you here at a time like this.”

  “Will you just answer my question first?”

  “I don’t answer any more questions until I’m given permission.”

  Chuck punched him in the face hard. The doctor fell backwards. He moaned a couple of times and made whining sounds as he got up. Now his gray lips were red and even more puffy than before. He still held his crooked hands limply to his chest, but they were different now…because they were shaking.

  Chuck waved his gun around. “That’s your permission.”

  “You broke my nose,” the top scientist said. His pink eyes flashed with suppressed rage.

  “That’s how I ask a question nicely,” Chuck said. “Now you better answer it, or next time I ask, I won’t be so nice about it.” Chuck stepped toward him.

  The doctor recoiled. Fear gripped his eyes. He scrunched his nose and cried out in pain. His pink cheeks darkened.

  “Fine, but it won’t do you any good. You’re no intern, and you’ll never get out of here alive.”

  “That’s my problem. Tell me your name.”

  “Doctor Ursinov.”

  “Now tell me what’s going on here—fast.”

  Ursinov winced. He said, “Alright, you’ll get what you bargained for. This here is the control center for the HAARP ionospheric heater—or as General Lazar likes to call it—the wrath of Tupa Inca.”

  Chuck thought the doctor must have been insane, but then he recalled that it was Lazar behind all of this.

  A tone of pride entered the physicist’s voice. “HAARP is the most powerful ionospheric heater in the world. That is why Lazar brought me in. My expertise in environmental politics and science goes back for decades to when I was just a doctoral candidate.”

  “Did you say politics?”

  Ursinov grabbed a fresh handful of tissue and gently dabbed his bloody nose. “That’s right. As far back as the 1970s I worked with Russian propagandists. I helped them dream up an imaginary “anti-hothouse effect” and backed it up with the credibility of myself and other top scientists. Allegedly, if nuclear bombs were used in an attack on Germany, so much dirt and dust would be launched into the atmosphere that the sun would be blocked out, causing a global freeze. Skipping the normal peer review process, it was presented as a nuclear winter scenario. The story was pawned off on the mainstream Western media. They jumped on the story and dumped it on an unsuspecting public. Back in Russia, we knew that the theory was ridiculous, but the American and European public was led to believe that nuclear winter was a credible threat. The responsiveness of the general public never ceases to amaze the political classes who constantly deceive them while they promise them utopian solutions. Now Lazar is going to create a panic of his own, but this time the threat will be entirely real.” Ursinov reached for tissues as blood had covered his upper lip.

  “Get specific and hurry up.”

  “Fine, you’re paying the tab here—with your life. The power of the HAARP ionospheric heater is utterly staggering. Imagine this. The most powerful radio stations in North America are 50,000 watts. The reason for that is because the government has made it illegal to exceed that limit. After all, 50,000 watts is a massive amount of broadcast power. Now compare that to HAARP. General Lazar’s ionospheric heater is 72,000 times more powerful than the most powerful radio station. That brings the total output to over 3.5 million watts of ELF waves. With the natural amplification effect of the ionosphere, the power output can rise to nearly 10 billion watts.”

  “What’s the effect of that kind of power?”

  Ursinov swallowed. “In tests, we have vaporized remote islands and mountains. One minute they were there; the next minute they were gone. But that’s nothing. That’s child’s play. Ten billion watts is a prescription for a massive environmental catastrophe. This is similar to the power that the Russians have at their disposal.”

  “How is that possible?”

  Ursinov lunged for a fresh handful of tissues for his bloody nose. “Are you really joking me? You think the Russians are technologically lagging behind the USA? How typical of you arrogant, yet ignorant Americans. After Tesla’s death in 1943, our Russian spies stole some of his papers from the Belgrade Museum in Yugoslavia. The Russians have always been ahead of the Americans in this technology. A perfect example is what we did to America in the Bicentennial year of 1976. HAM radio operators reported that they were picking up strange, unknown radio signals. Static interference was a big problem in America that year—on the radio, the telephone, and on television. Nobody seemed to know why. The HAM operators said that the signal they were picking up was a tapping that would go on for ten beats—stop—and then continue for ten more beats. We sent these signals from Russia to create an artificial layer of ionization in the upper atmosphere. By doing this, we were able to bend the jet stream and change global wind patterns. The result of our efforts was that California suffered a massive drought. Crops dried up. Livestock died. Farmers went broke. Food prices rose dramatically. Wildfires were rampant. It was the worst drought in California’s history, all caused by a rare high-pressure system that was stuck 800 miles off the coast. The high-pressure system blocked the usual wind patterns. That’s only a sample of the kind of power that General Lazar now has at his disposal.”

  Chuck remained calm. His anger did not affect him. “Where do you get the power that you need to run an operation like this in such a remote location?”

  “Well, since you’ll never get off this boat alive, I don’t mind telling you. We get it from space-based solar power, compliments of the US government.”

  Chuck felt a sick feeling in his gut. This was like a recurring nightmare. “What do you mean the US government?”

  “A secret organization named EREBUS controls the US space-based power program. Their satellites send down a beam of microwave power to another oil tanker we have nearby. The bow is being used as a platform for solar collectors. We also have a bigger collection farm on Seal Island.”

  “That’s impossible. The US government would not assist you in international environmental terrorism.” Chuck’s voice lacked conviction.

  “But of course they would. How do you think General Lazar got HAARP to begin with. A former US president has been assisting him all along.”

  Chuck felt even sicker. It was clear now that US politicians were selling out the country in ways far worse than just ripping off American mineral wealth through UN taxes. They were using the E
REBUS satellite-based solar power system to power Lazar’s HAARP weapon. Chuck was sick because a couple of years ago, he had personally had a chance to destroy the space-based solar power collection system when he’d taken down RUMAN at Jin Mountain, at a remote compound in the Idaho wilderness. He had done major damage, but left most of the compound intact because at the time he thought EREBUS was staffed by American patriots who were looking out for their country. In Costa Brava, he’d found out that he was wrong about that. The leader of EREBUS was evidently working with the ex-president and Lazar. Now it was all coming full circle. Chuck realized he was directly responsible. It was because of his own actions at Jin Mountain that Lazar could power his HAARP weapon with the solar space-based power program. Chuck had turned it over to EREBUS for safe keeping. Now he regretted that decision.

  He had to put an end to this now. If Lazar unleashed a massive environmental disaster on the world, hundreds of thousands could perish, maybe millions.

  Not in his entire life had Chuck felt the weight of such guilt and horror weighing upon his conscience.

  ***

  Two hours, twenty-one minutes till WMD attack

  In a room set up with computers to monitor the temperature of Doctor Ursinov’s computer plant, a bi-spectacled man was hunched behind a monitor.

  Lazar’s two security enforcers entered. The stiff-faced one said, “Where’s Ursinov?”

  “I don’t know. Probably down in the operations room.”

  ***

  Two hours, sixteen minutes till WMD attack

  While Ursinov was talking about the abilities of Lazar’s ionospheric heater, a computer monitor caught Chuck’s attention.

  “What’s that about?” he said.

  Ursinov tossed his bloody tissues in the trash and grabbed some clean ones. “It’s not important.”

  “I said, what is it?”

  “It’s about helicopters. I only have access to that so that I warn off any helicopters coming into the area while the weapon is being deployed.”