“We need to get that black gold before the Russians set fire to it.”
Gareth raises a finger. “Not to worry. The beauty of EMP missiles is that they cripple all electrical activity within a half-mile radius. The Russians can’t set the oil ablaze even if they want to. We’ve paralyzed their operations. All they can do is run.”
Stan’s cold eyes look away. “EMP is the best weapon system we’ve acquired.”
“I agree. For $30M a pop, we can neutralize a city without killing anyone.”
“We must have this capability in space. Have we armed our spacecraft with EMP?”
“Yes. Three of our military rockets are equipped with the technology. We can destroy anything on the ground or in space.”
“Excellent.”
Camera crews hold microphones over the President’s desk as reporters jockey for position. The room grows silent and the tension builds. Someone shouts, “Five minutes!”
Stan whispers to Gareth. “Listen, we need to roll out more EMP artillery. The President wants Greenland captured by the end of the year.”
“That’s not a lot of time, sir.”
“We have no choice. We must secure the oil and gas platforms on the southern dry land, then rally north into the frozen Russian territory.”
Gareth nods. “The good news is that the Greenland glaciers are rapidly disappearing.”
“How quickly?”
“About three miles of permafrost per week.”
Stan grins. “Excellent. We have to use the melting ice to our advantage and push north. We can’t allow the enemy to retake dry land.”
“By next year, most of Greenland will be arid. It’s the perfect time for this offensive.”
“How are the Russians responding?”
“The traditional way—rockets and artillery.
“Casualties?”
“Few thousand a day, nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Good,” Stan says as he buttons his coat, “what about oil prices?”
Gareth tenses. “Steadily rising as usual. It hit $89,210 per barrel today.”
“Rats, it should be going down! We’ve seized so much Russian oil the last few weeks. We’re practically flooding in crude.”
“You’re right, sir. The more we capture, the more our inventories grow, but for some reason the market ignores our supplies.”
“Explain that to me, Gareth.”
“Well, sir, geopolitical tensions keep prices artificially high. And there are also rumors of peak oil.”
Stan grimaces. “What’s that?”
“An idea that global fuel production peaked in 2042. The quality of fossil fuels continues to decline every year. We have to pump more to maintain stable reserves. That’s why prices go higher.”
Stan rolls his eyes. “That’s a liberal theory, Gareth.”
“Yes, it’s just a notion, sir.”
Gareth turns to see the President’s spokesman reenter the room. “Three minutes!”
Stan remains emotionless. “What about these rations? Why isn’t the lower demand bringing prices down?”
“I’m not sure. Last week we cut public transportation services by three percent and the market paid no attention.”
“Only three percent? We can cut more than that.”
Gareth shrugs. “Perhaps. We’ve eliminated buses and other motor vehicles. Household heating and refrigeration are at record lows. What else can we ration?”
Stan frowns. “Listen, the President is holding an Energy Summit next week, and he wants action items to lower the price of fuel. I need you to come to that meeting with solutions.”
“Yes, sir,” Gareth says confidently, “I know just the person who can help us—Manos Kharon from GoldRock. He’s an out-of-the-box type of thinker. He helped us design the Information Tariffs.”
“Let’s hope he can get us out this shithole.”
“He will, sir. He’s a genius. He implemented Google’s new policies flawlessly despite opposition from their CEO.”
Stan stares into Gareth’s eyes. “Opposition? Who dares to question our authority?”
Gareth pales and sweat appears on his brow. “Bethany Andrews.”
Stan’s face flushes in rage. “A woman? You’re telling me a female executive disobeyed her government?”
“…that’s correct, sir. She opposed the tariffs.”
A spokesman enters the Oval Office. “One minute till we go live.”
“Let’s talk about this after the speech,” Stan says before abruptly walking away.
Gareth takes a deep breath and calms himself, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He walks along the blue carpet and passes the row of cameras, approaching a group of government officials standing at the back. He keeps a distance from his boss.
The room grows silent. The President’s desktop shines like a diamond in the floodlights. A Marine stands at attention as a door opens.
“Ten seconds…”
The President walks into the Oval Office. Cameras flutter as he sits at the desk, his face framed by two American flags in the background. The lustrous light magnifies his white hair and worn features. His eyes visibly tired, he makes no gestures and stares into a teleprompter.
“Three, two, one…”
“My fellow Americans, World War III continues. In space and on the ground, our enemies engage in hostile actions that threaten our way of life. They underestimate the resolve of the American people. We stand committed to defending our homeland at all costs.
“In the north, the Russians continue their bloody campaign in Alaska, invading our precious lands and seizing our Arctic refineries. Their goal is plain to see—to control the world’s supply of oil and natural gas. They believe the American people will stand idly by as their armies plunder our resources. They are mortally mistaken. This aggression will be the death knell of our enemies!”
Gareth hears a murmur and turns to find several Cabinet members with their fists in the air, mouthing, “USA! USA! USA!”
“Recently, we have turned the tide against the foe, retaking their spoils and pushing them further back to their rotten homes. In Greenland, we have stopped the enemy’s advance and taken back the land. We will not end our struggle until the Russians surrender unconditionally!”
Stan gestures to Gareth with a thumbs-up.
“In the east, the Chinese hostility continues. Our enemy threatens the American way of life in space and on the Internet. They hack our schools and companies to steal our information. They take our intellectual property and rebrand our knowledge as weapons of war. For too long, we’ve allowed our innovations to be freely distributed to our enemies, who turn around and use them to sabotage our homeland.”
The President pauses for effect as reporters and staff lean in, their microphones and cameras inching closer to the Commander-in-Chief. He lifts his chin and raises his voice.
“Nowhere is this more evident than on Mars. Many years ago, we believed that the red planet belonged to all human beings. We formed alliances with the international community with the hopes of expanding civilization beyond Earth. Those aspirations are threatened by an aggressive China that threatens our existence in space.”
Gareth removes a pair of smartglasses from his jacket pocket and places them on his face. He opens his messages and drafts a note with his eyes. “Manos, be prepared to go live. The President is speaking about China.”
“The Chinese want to claim Mars as their own. They have attacked our military and sabotaged our exploration efforts, trying to weaken our resolve. We have no choice but to defend ourselves. My fellow citizens, we cannot allow this theft and manipulation to continue any longer. We must protect American ingenuity and innovation. We must not allow information to leave our border and end up in the hands of the enemy.”