Within days, water was flowing to the power station. Jody activated the injection system and directed the stream to the aquifer, hundreds of feet beneath the surface. City water flows were also directed to Latsko’s hydrogen gas operation and Myles and Harmony’s farm. As a result, Logan’s aqua-piracy sustained the Water-Energy-Food Nexus that the three-party alliance had become dependent on.
It took a few weeks, but gradually, existing wells began producing more water due to the ongoing injection at the power station. Logan didn’t know how many people there were in the Big Abandonado who relied on wells for H2O. Jody had estimated the local population to be less than two hundred people. It was mostly scavengers and survivalists who had refused to move on when the economy collapsed. Some received electricity from Logan if they had something of value to trade. And now, thanks to his scheme, all of them would still be able to take water from the wells they had grown to rely on.
Success boosted Logan’s confidence. He felt a sense of triumph in outwitting the New Cali Directorate. His fear of detection lessened, and he researched ways he could further exploit the vulnerability Jody had discovered in the automated system. Before long, he hatched a new scheme…
Logan travelled to Myles and Harmony’s farm in his ionic wind lifter. From the air, the 300-acre property looked out of place. A well maintained emerald green oasis surrounded by abandoned housing developments partially buried in drifts of tortilla colored dust. The farm was surrounded by a fenceline with the same security system that Logan employed—motion activated swarm ejectors. Logan could see agribot machinery at work on his approach. One of the machines planted corn along a fenceline, another weeded vegetables, and yet another minded a small herd of cattle with newborn calves.
He landed his wind lifter on a dark green lawn next to Myles and Harmony’s residence, the former clubhouse. They chose it because of its strategic location atop a hillock, like a castle in the medieval era. He found the pair seated at a table in what was once the lobby of the clubhouse. A ceiling mounted swamp cooler delivered a stream of cool air. It was yet another blistering hot day in the desert.
“You said you have a business proposition?” said Myles as Logan pulled up a chair.
“That I do.” Logan poured himself a glass of ice water from a pitcher that sat at the center of the table. After quenching his thirst, he proceeded: “What’s the total number of tanker trucks you own?”
“Twenty,” said Harmony. “The holding company said we needed to buy the whole lot or they weren’t interested in selling…But that was okay, because we bought them dirt cheap.”
“We were using six of them to scout out wells before you reactivated our city water,” added Myles. “The rest are still parked in the storage yard where we found them.”
“And they’re all SDVs?”
“Yup,” said Myles. “They’re all identical. Self-driving and powered by hydrogen fuel cells.”
“They all have synthetic treads for rough roads?”
“Well yeah, Logan. They were used to control dust on raw desert development projects, so they’re built like tanks.”
“What’s the maximum water capacity?”
“10,000 gallons apiece,” said Harmony.
Logan’s eyes lit up. “Wow, I didn’t think it would be that much…So, with all twenty in service, you could conceivably move 200,000 gallons of water in one trip?”
“What’s up, Logan?” said Myles. “Why are you so interested in our water trucks?”
“I found a buyer for the excess water I’m producing at the treatment plant.”
“You have a surplus now?”
“More water than I know what to do with. We’re only using a fraction of what I have on hand. I’m continuing to inject the rest into the aquifer but at this point it’s overkill. I have plenty to produce power, and the local wells are up to pressure.”
“You could cut back on how much you’re taking from the pipeline,” said Harmony.
“Jody said it’s better not to touch it. Fluctuations in either direction are more likely to trigger an alarm.”
“So, who are you going to sell it to?” said Myles.
“The Eden Stacks at Mellowbreak Beach. They’re advertising online for water.”
“Where are you going to tell them the water came from?”
“I’ll say it’s mountain spring water. They’ll never know the difference.”
Logan contacted the Party Vanguard in Mellowbreak Beach by email. He received a reply from Colleague Mother Cynthia Zen Waverly, a Guardian of the Perpetual Sunrise. Waverly said they were extremely interested in purchasing Logan’s water. He continued the email thread, saying he had 200,000 gallons to sell, but he needed more compensation than the amount per gallon quoted in the online ad. Waverly replied quickly, saying they needed the water badly, as soon as possible, and would pay the inflated price.
When Logan told Myles and Harmony about the tentative deal and the amount of gold involved for just one delivery, they agreed to participate. Not only would they supply the tanker trucks for a 50-50 cut, but Myles would accompany Logan to the coast while Harmony kept an eye on the farm.
The twenty tanker transports were filled to capacity, and they set out for the coast the following morning, with Logan and Myles in the lead in an echo-pulse cruiser. The high-tech coupe resembled a conventional automobile but was outfitted with ultramodern gadgetry and tough synthetic treads. Logan traded an unlimited supply of electricity to Zyler Salvini, a survivalist mechanic, for the vehicle. It was equipped with pulse emitters that generated sonic echoes of itself. Holographic decoys that replicated the coupe’s speed and maneuvers. The cutting-edge technology could be used to confuse hijackers or evade law enforcement agents. It was powered by hydrogen fuel cells and equipped with compressed air rams—when activated, they provided instant acceleration to 150 mph plus. The air rams featured vectored nozzles, giving the vehicle the capacity to make airborne jumps over obstructions as well.
The convoy traveled south on the abandoned freeway. The asphalt was rutted and crumbling under the packs of automated transports that still used the road for commerce. They encountered huge drifts of dust and sand. In the passenger seat, Myles carefully studied upcoming road conditions so he could adjust the speed of the transports when hazards appeared.
They came upon a gigantic sinkhole, too deep to drive across. The automated transports had blazed a rough detour through the desert. Logan activated the air rams, and the cruiser rapidly accelerated. The vehicle sailed across the abyss and landed on the other side. Logan parked there, and the pair climbed out of the cruiser to stretch their legs. It would take a few minutes for the tanker trucks to navigate the makeshift detour and catch up.
“How close are we to the New Cali Directorate?” said Myles. He pulled on a khaki ball cap to keep his long hair under control in the stiff desert breeze.
“About 100 miles or so,” responded Logan, pointing towards the south. “As close as we’ll get.”
They reached an isolated desert outpost, and the convoy left the freeway and went due west on a smaller highway that had almost no other traffic. Not as cracked and rutted from overuse, but the roadway still showed signs of extreme neglect, windblown drifts of desert dust still common.
Logan found a route that bypassed Shakersville completely. Though cities on the coast had seceded, the inland region was still technically part of the federal bureaucracy. That meant widespread anarchy, appalling corruption, and an unsound economy. Uncertain about the political climate and crime rate, Logan thought they should avoid making a stop there for anything. Refueling could turn dicey. It was likely that the quality of available H gas was poor too, and the trucks and cruiser had enough capacity to easily make it to the coast.
By late afternoon, they were crossing the coastal mountains on a narrow two-lane highway. As they approached the coast, they could see the Eden Stacks, three sixty-story tall arcologies.
They came to a check station at the Mellowbreak Beach border, and Logan brought the cruiser to a stop at a closed gate. A uniformed man appeared at the guardhouse window. He had a polite demeanor and slicked back hair. “Good afternoon, sir. Have you come for pleasure or for commerce?”
“Commerce,” said Logan. “We have 200,000 gallons of water for the Party Vanguard.” He used his thumb to point at the transports queued up behind the cruiser.
“And who is your Party contact?”
“Colleague Mother Waverly.”
“Yes, sir… Did Mother Waverly give you an authorization code?”
Logan brought the QR code up on his IntelliPhone and held the device out the open window so the guard could scan it. After verifying its validity, he welcomed them to Mellowbreak Beach and lifted the gate. As they drove towards the towering trio of arcologies, Waverly called Logan on his IntelliPhone: “I’m so pleased that you made it. I’ll meet you in front of the Lotus Stack, it’s the one in the middle.”
The Eden Stacks were close to the beach, behind tan colored sand dunes and situated in a three-building row, parallel to the surf. The arcologies had gleaming exteriors of polished steel, aluminum and tinted glass. Except for the pavement and the entrances to the underground parking garages, the surrounding ground was bare sand with no landscaping whatsoever.
They found Colleague Mother Waverly standing with a teenage boy in swimming trunks. Both held surfboards. Waverly’s caramel colored skin was heavily sun damaged with excessive lines and wrinkles, and her face showed signs of Botox injections. She wore a scanty string bikini.
“You can run along now, Troy,” said Waverly to the young lad after Logan and Myles had introduced themselves. “Take my board with you.”
“Where do we offload the water?” said Myles.
“I’ll have my vehicle service department take care of that if you don’t mind them taking charge of your SDV program.”
“Not at all. I’ll give them a temporary username and password.”
“Very good. They’ll park your car as well.”
After meeting with the service manager, they rejoined Waverly for the walk inside.
The arcology was an immense building, not only in its height but also in its girth. The ground level held an arboretum with grow lights and a zoo. Everything appeared well maintained and sparkling clean. Waverly led them to an elevator bank and after climbing inside a waiting car, they were swiftly transported to the upper levels. The top floor was three stories tall. It featured living trees and running water with fountains. The exterior was mostly glass with retractable blinds. Casually dressed people lounged on luxurious furniture and engaged in conversation. Others browsed the web on foldout IntelliPhones. No one appeared to be in a hurry, it was a relaxed atmosphere.
Logan was quick to notice an apparent servant class. Men and women in identical uniforms like the one the guard at the check station was wearing. Servers brought the leisure class food and drinks. Others cleaned the floors and fixtures or watered and pruned the extensive trees and plants.
Waverly led them down a fancy stairway to her personal habitat, one floor below the penthouse garden level. Logan and Myles took seats at a table in a spacious great room. A domestic servant was busy polishing window glass—another teenage boy named Adam. After disappearing down a hallway for a few moments, Waverly returned carrying a briefcase. She opened it on the table and gently pushed it in front of Logan. He picked up one of the gold bars neatly arranged inside and examined it.
“It’s all there,” said Waverly. “You can count them if you like.”
“I think I can trust you,” responded Logan. “I’ll do that later.” He closed the case and clicked the latches shut.
She smiled. “You’ll bring us more water in the future?”
“That can definitely be arranged.”
“Wonderful.” Waverly’s scanty bikini left little to the imagination and she appeared to take pleasure in showing off her ample cleavage to the two younger men.
“So, your arcologies are self-sustaining?” said Myles. “Everything you need to live is produced inside the buildings?”
“Yes, it is.”
“What about energy?” said Logan.
“We generate electricity with solar and wind though much of that does take place offsite.”
“What about fuel?”
“We have electrolysis plants that produce hydrogen gas. Offsite as well. “
“But you grow your own food here in the buildings?” said Myles.
“Yes, we do. On our farming levels with hydroponics and grow lights. We also manufacture synthetic food products for the grubs.”
Myles looked towards Logan, made eye contact, and raised his eyebrows. “The grubs?”
“Our working class.”
“I was expecting to see more automation,” said Logan. “You don’t use robots?”
“We do use some automation, but humanoid robots are frowned upon. Guardians of the Perpetual Sunrise consider use of humanoid robots blasphemy.”
“Do the grubs live in the stacks too?” said Myles.
“On the grub habitat levels close to their work.” The tone of her responses was becoming less enthusiastic.
But Myles wasn’t ready to quit. “How many grubs live and work in the stacks?”
“I don’t have a precise number for you, Mr. Deloof.”
“What about Guardians of the Perpetual Sunrise? How many people in the Party Vanguard?”
Instead of answering his question, she lifted her chin and gazed at Myles silently with an expression of indignance. Finally, she said: “Well, gentleman, as much as I’ve enjoyed our impromptu question and answer session, I have further matters to attend to. I instructed our vehicle service department to check your fuel cells after the water is offloaded. Will you be spending the night?”
“We’d love to,” said Logan in a cheerful tone, attempting to patch up the antagonism that had cropped up between her and Myles.
□□□
The guest suite was roomy and well-appointed with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a stocked kitchen. It had an awe-inspiring view of the ocean. Logan checked the kitchen while Myles was showering. He found a variety of sliced bread and fresh fruit inside a pantry door and in the refrigerator, cold cuts, imported cheese, real butter, and bottled beer. In good spirits, the pair sat at the dining table and ate their fill. They made plans to head out the next morning.
After dinner, Logan stretched out on a sofa and was soon fast asleep. It had been a long day. But Myles felt restless. The conversation with Waverly was still fresh in his mind, and he decided to do some exploring. He went out the door and down the hallway to the elevator bank. When he used the key card to summon a car, he found his access to other floors was limited. Beyond the level they were on, he could return to the upper garden level or the ground floor arboretum, but that was it. When he selected other levels, he received an invalid entry message.
He walked back down the hallway. He passed the suite they were staying in and kept going. Rounding a corner, he found another guest suite with the door pinned open. He looked inside and saw a uniformed man cleaning. “Hey there,” he said, stepping inside. “Can I ask you a few questions?”
The man was startled at first, and then quickly replied, “Yes, sir.”
“You can cut the ‘sir’ crap with me. I’m not a Guardian of the Perpetual Sunrise, I’m from out of town.”
“It’s my duty to be as polite and helpful with all guests as possible. What would you like to know?”
“I’m Myles. What’s your name?”
“Sam.”
“You’re a grub?”
“Yes I am.”
“How did you end up working here?”
“When they demolished my house, I had nowhere else to go.”
“Why did they tear your house down?”
“The Party Vanguard said our town was a threat to future sustainability and they leveled it.”
“The whole town?!”
“Dr. Liang Hao, Supreme Illuminator of the Eternal Dawn came on our screens and said it was for our own good. That we would have better lives in the stacks.”
“No one complained or tried to fight back?”
“They brought in para-military police. We had no choice.”
“What kind of money do they pay you?”
“I’m not paid in money. I get social credits on my good citizen account.”
“How does that work?”
“If my behavior is acceptable, I receive enough credits to cover my food and housing, plus a uniform allowance.”
Myles thought the set-up sounded unfair for his new friend. “Can I see where you live, Sam?”
“No visitors allowed on the grub habitat levels.”
“What if I put on one of the uniforms and pretend to be a grub?”
“Might not be a good idea.”
Myles reached in his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. “I’ll give you this for an undercover tour of your habitat.”
Sam walked to the open door, looked both ways down the hallway, and then gently pulled it shut. “Okay,” he said with a small smile.
He found an extra uniform in a supply room. After Myles had put it on, they walked down multiple flights of fire stairs to the habitat level where Sam lived. Myles was stunned when he saw how small the room was where he slept, and the rest of the rooms in his pod were exactly the same. The sparse furnishings were identical. Sam showed him the small bathroom that ten grubs shared. There was no mirror above the sink. Instead, a poster with an image of a giant eye proclaimed: “Privacy is Theft.”
He showed him the dining area. A handful of modest tables were arranged in a row, and an automated food dispenser occupied an otherwise vacant wall. Sam showed Myles how he needed to recite a Party approved propaganda slogan to receive food. “Joy belongs to the collective. I returned mine unused,” he said into a microphone and the machine ejected a tray. Myles sampled one of the synthetic wafers on the tray. It was unappealing and bland.
A female grub appeared. Her hair was cut short and the uniform she wore identical to Sam’s. “My dreams are unimportant. I delete them gladly,” she said into the microphone and the machine discharged yet another tray of synthetic wafers.
Myles talked with Sam as they returned to the guest level on the fire stairs. “Do they let you go outside?”
“Once a week, I’m allowed to go on a nature walk for a half hour. But the beach is off limits. We must not watch the Party Vanguard when they’re surfing.”
“What if you went on your nature walk and didn’t come back?”
“But where would I go, Myles? The town is gone. The stacks are all we have left.”
□□□
Logan and Myles rose with the sun the following morning. Myles cooked breakfast. He was astounded at the variety of fresh food he found in the refrigerator—bacon, link sausage, eggs, orange juice, and then he thought about the bland synthetic wafer he’d sampled on the grub habitat level. He wanted to talk to Logan about what he’d seen, but he waited until they’d cleared the check station and were back on the road to the Big Abandonado.
“They lied to the townspeople to get them to go along with it. They said they would have good jobs and an easy life in the stacks.”
“But it turned out different.”
“A living nightmare. They brainwashed those poor people, Logan. Stole their individuality.”
“Not much we can do about it.”
“I suppose you’re right, but it seems so unfair.”
“You thinking we shouldn’t go back?”
Myles thought about it for a few moments and then said: “Nah, the money’s too good. And after seeing the place, I’m glad we’re getting a premium price.”