“It’s been kept in deepest secrecy—“
Jane blurted, “You didn’t even tell the rest of the Council!”
“How could I?” Malik said to her. “This is catastrophic news. It must not leak out to the general public. There would be panic everywhere,”
Dan gaped at him. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew. I knew when your naive Dr. Freiberg brought his findings to my—our—scientific staff.”
“But you should have informed the Council, Vasily,” said Jane. “Break this news to doddering old fools like Sibuti? Or gangsters like Gaetano? That would be a disaster piled on top of a catastrophe.”
“I don’t get it,” Dan said. “What in the name of bell’s angels are you doing with the information?”
“Taking your corporation away from you. All of the Big Seven space corporations must be confiscated.Yamagata comes next.” Dan’s temper snapped. He leaped across the table, hands going for Malik’s throat. But the Russian blocked him, grabbed him by the hair and one arm, and flipped him expertly to the ironwood floor of the patio. Dan landed with a painful thump, the wind knocked out of him. Malik stood over him, fists clenched, hat still in place, a twisted little smile on his lips.
“We are not in zero gravity now,Randolph . I know how to defend myself. Shall I show you a few karate kicks?”
Squinting up into the afternoon brightness, Dan saw Jane clutch at Malik’s arm and a pair of beefy hotel boys rushing toward them. Dan climbed slowly to his feet and waved the boys away. “I’m okay,” he told them. “No problem. We’re just having a little fun.” “I’ve kept up my martial arts training,” Malik said, smirking. “Apparently you’ve spent all your time in low gravity making money.”
Dan picked up his chair and sat on it, fuming to himself, I’ll kill this sonofabitch one of these days. Too bad I didn’t do it when I had the chance, ten years ago. His backside hurt where he had landed on the floor, but his only serious injury seemed to be to his pride. Jane returned to her seat. Malik sat down, too.
“Let me explain something to you, Mr. taptans, Malik said. “You may think that I am carrying out a personal vendetta against you, but believe me, that is not the case.”
“Sure,” Dan muttered.
“I learned about the greenhouse disaster more than a year ago.” “And you’ve done nothing about it.”
“Not so.” Malik glanced at Jane, then returned his attention to Dan. “But before I tell what I have done, tell me—what would you do to save the world from the coming catastrophe?”
“I’d move heaven and earth to avoid triggering that cliff!” “Yes, of course. But how?”
“Stop burning fossil fuels, for one thing. It’s the carbon dioxide and methane we pour into the atmosphere that’s causing the warming.” “Not natural causes?” Jane asked.
Both men shook their heads. Malik said, “Astronomers and geophysicists agree that neither solar activity nor ordinary climate cycles are causing the global warming trend. Our friend here is correct: the greenhouse is man-made, almost entirely.”
“There’s some contribution from cow farts and termite burps,” Dan added, “but the overwhelming cause of the warming is the crap we’re putting into the air.”
Malik smiled at him. “To get back to my question: How would you correct this situation?”
“Like I said, stop burning fossil fuels. Go to fusion and solar power. Move as much as possible of the world’s industrial base off-Earth and into orbit. We can make superconducting electrical motors and batteries in orbit, you know. They can replace petroleum-powered vehicles.”
“All around the world?” “Right.”
“In ten years?”
“What choice do you have? Maybe we can’t get it all done in ten years, but we’ve got start now and do as much as we can.” Malik drummed his fingertips on the table for a silent moment, then said, “I agree entirely.”
Dan blinked at him. “Then why
Jane blurted, “You didn’t even tell the rest of the Council!”
“How could I?” Malik said to her. “This is catastrophic news. It must not leak out to the general public. There would be panic everywhere,”
Dan gaped at him. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew. I knew when your naive Dr. Freiberg brought his findings to my—our—scientific staff.”
“But you should have informed the Council, Vasily,” said Jane. “Break this news to doddering old fools like Sibuti? Or gangsters like Gaetano? That would be a disaster piled on top of a catastrophe.”
“I don’t get it,” Dan said. “What in the name of bell’s angels are you doing with the information?”
“Taking your corporation away from you. All of the Big Seven space corporations must be confiscated.Yamagata comes next.” Dan’s temper snapped. He leaped across the table, hands going for Malik’s throat. But the Russian blocked him, grabbed him by the hair and one arm, and flipped him expertly to the ironwood floor of the patio. Dan landed with a painful thump, the wind knocked out of him. Malik stood over him, fists clenched, hat still in place, a twisted little smile on his lips.
“We are not in zero gravity now,Randolph . I know how to defend myself. Shall I show you a few karate kicks?”
Squinting up into the afternoon brightness, Dan saw Jane clutch at Malik’s arm and a pair of beefy hotel boys rushing toward them. Dan climbed slowly to his feet and waved the boys away. “I’m okay,” he told them. “No problem. We’re just having a little fun.” “I’ve kept up my martial arts training,” Malik said, smirking. “Apparently you’ve spent all your time in low gravity making money.”
Dan picked up his chair and sat on it, fuming to himself, I’ll kill this sonofabitch one of these days. Too bad I didn’t do it when I had the chance, ten years ago. His backside hurt where he had landed on the floor, but his only serious injury seemed to be to his pride. Jane returned to her seat. Malik sat down, too.
“Let me explain something to you, Mr. taptans, Malik said. “You may think that I am carrying out a personal vendetta against you, but believe me, that is not the case.”
“Sure,” Dan muttered.
“I learned about the greenhouse disaster more than a year ago.” “And you’ve done nothing about it.”
“Not so.” Malik glanced at Jane, then returned his attention to Dan. “But before I tell what I have done, tell me—what would you do to save the world from the coming catastrophe?”
“I’d move heaven and earth to avoid triggering that cliff!” “Yes, of course. But how?”
“Stop burning fossil fuels, for one thing. It’s the carbon dioxide and methane we pour into the atmosphere that’s causing the warming.” “Not natural causes?” Jane asked.
Both men shook their heads. Malik said, “Astronomers and geophysicists agree that neither solar activity nor ordinary climate cycles are causing the global warming trend. Our friend here is correct: the greenhouse is man-made, almost entirely.”
“There’s some contribution from cow farts and termite burps,” Dan added, “but the overwhelming cause of the warming is the crap we’re putting into the air.”
Malik smiled at him. “To get back to my question: How would you correct this situation?”
“Like I said, stop burning fossil fuels. Go to fusion and solar power. Move as much as possible of the world’s industrial base off-Earth and into orbit. We can make superconducting electrical motors and batteries in orbit, you know. They can replace petroleum-powered vehicles.”
“All around the world?” “Right.”
“In ten years?”
“What choice do you have? Maybe we can’t get it all done in ten years, but we’ve got start now and do as much as we can.” Malik drummed his fingertips on the table for a silent moment, then said, “I agree entirely.”
Dan blinked at him. “Then why
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