The global economic collapse was triggered by a catastrophic war in the Caucasus Mountains of Western Asia. The conflict began when China’s totalitarian government launched a military offensive to seize control of the Grozny oil field in Southern Russia.
China had emerged as the predominant global superpower. Russia was weakened by decades long war in Eastern Europe, and the United States by societal decay, out-of-control government debt and widespread corruption. All three of the nations maintained their nuclear weapons stockpiles, but China’s strategic advantage over the lesser two had grown considerably.
With its military superiority, and the world’s largest economy, China moved to expand its empire. The first test was Taiwan. Though much of the world disputed the move diplomatically, no one took action to stop the invasion, and Taipei was overrun by the Chinese Army.
Emboldened by the lack of resistance, China’s next conquest was in the Middle East. The Persian Gulf oil fields were seized almost overnight in a daring, full-scale offensive. With a secure foothold established, the Chinese Army moved northward into the Caucasus Mountains, where they took control of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. When they reached the Russian border at the Grozny oil field, they were met by the full might of Russia’s conventional forces, but within a week, the Chinese had gained the upper hand.
In a last-ditch effort, the Russians launched low atmosphere cruise missiles armed with tactical nuclear warheads. It was a pivotal moment in world history. A crossing of the Rubicon. The first-time nuclear weapons had been used since Truman made the decision to vaporize Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The results were apocalyptic. Soldiers on both sides annihilated, and the battlefield transformed into a poisoned wasteland.
China answered in kind by targeting Far-Eastern Russia with their own tactical nuclear cruise missiles. Vladivostok and key military installations were obliterated.
The conflict escalated into a doomsday scenario when Moscow retaliated by launching a full-scale ballistic missile attack on China. Within 60 seconds, Beijing countered with their own ballistic missile attack on Russia.
China’s sophisticated Anti-Ballistic Missile system was almost flawless in its defense of the mainland. All but one of the incoming Russian missiles were intercepted and destroyed in outer space. The only one to make it through decimated Hainan Island, targeted because of its naval base, and the mushroom cloud was visible from both Hong Kong and Hanoi.
In contrast, the aging Russian ABM system failed miserably. Less than 20% of the incoming Chinese missiles were intercepted. The result was the total destruction of Russia’s major cities. Moscow and St. Petersburg were both hit by multiple warheads.
Thermo-nuclear firestorms in the devastated Russian cities sparked massive forest fires with no one left to fight them. Fueled by the prevailing westerlies and millions of square miles of coniferous forest, raging wildfires crossed the Ural Mountains, and before long, most of Russia was ablaze, from the Baltic Sea to Siberia.
Millions of tons of soot and ash were injected into the atmosphere. Sunlight was blocked, and drastic cooling disrupted eco-systems throughout the northern hemisphere. Severe drought and catastrophic disruption of agriculture followed.
Nuclear winter was the last straw for the USA’s decadent society and its democratic form of government imploded. A military dictatorship seized control of the eastern half of the nation, while the western portion disintegrated into anarchy as the drought persisted. Eventually, the Pacific Northwest joined Western Canada in forming a new resource rich nation separate from the east. In the bone-dry Southwest, independent city states such as the New Cali Directorate and Rocky Mountain Imperium emerged, but most of the region was abandoned because of massive dust storms and the overall lack of water. The vast majority of residents migrated north and east where there was still significant rainfall.
The New Cali Directorate shunned Washington D.C. in favor of an alliance with Beijing. The Melrose Committee sold the harbor region to the Chinese and began extensive drilling operations along the coast to supply Asian nations with energy.
Dr. Liang Hao was a Chinese national. A wealthy businessman with ties to organized crime. He met Waverly before the collapse, when she was still going by Suzy Hongo and trafficking in illicit drugs. In addition to his legitimate enterprises, Hao dealt in heroin, hashish and weaponry.
The Guardians of the Perpetual Sunrise cult was founded by Hao, Waverly, and Heath Kolacki, a sleazy attorney with organized crime connections of his own. Wealthy investors were recruited to join the organization, and they built the Eden Stacks Arcologies at Mellowbreak Beach.
Hao hired Chinese para-military mercenaries to subjugate the residents of the nearby beach town because they needed the water from their artesian wells. After the village was destroyed, the cult used mind altering drugs to brainwash the townspeople and turn them into compliant grubs.
□□□
Heath Kolacki messaged Colleague Mother Waverly. He said he had an important issue to discuss. He managed the Eden Stacks security force and was investigating the disappearance of the twenty-five grubs that Myles had liberated.
Kolacki was in his mid-sixties and had thinning gray hair. He was an unattractive man with thick eyeglasses, a rat-like face and an impatient demeanor. His office was on the upper levels of the Lotus Stack, not far from Waverly’s suite, and she walked there to meet with him.
“It appears that the correlation between the grubs’ departure and Logan Writt’s water deliveries is not coincidental,” said Kolacki as Waverly settled into her seat.
“I was afraid of that.”
“I interviewed a grub this morning, Candice Jiminez. She volunteered information to our security personnel. According to Jiminez, Writt’s partner, Myles Deloof, is recruiting grubs to work on farms he’s developing in the Big Abandonado.”
“You mean Vegas?”
“Yeah, in what’s left of it.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Writt told me they were transporting the water from the Northern Rockies.”
“Well, it looks like he was lying. Writt and Deloof both live in the Mohave Desert.”
“How are they coming up with so much water then?” said Waverly.
“Deloof is telling the grubs it’s groundwater. That an earthquake opened a connection to a previously untapped aquifer.”
“More prevarication?”
“Yup,” said Kolacki with a smirk. “I did a quick analysis of the local geology and groundwater resources with my AI. The existing aquifer is fed by runoff in the surrounding mountain ranges, and it’s an established fact that it was close to exhausted by the ongoing drought. With the continued arid conditions at the higher elevations in the Spring Mountains, any isolated wells still producing water should have completely dried up in the last year or two. And any alleged connection to an additional underground water source is nonsense. Nothing like that exists.”
“Then where are they getting the water from? They’ve sold us over a million gallons so far.”
“And beyond that and the irrigated farmland, a Czech named Stanislav Latsko is operating a hydrogen electrolysis plant in the shadow of the abandoned resort district. He’s producing enough fuel for sales to commercial transport companies, and the process uses significant amounts of water and electricity.”
“My guess is you have an explanation, Heath. Enlighten me please.”
The attorney sat back in his chair, folded his hands behind his head, and smiled. “Logan Writt found a way to tap into the Colorado River pipeline. The water belongs to New Cali, but he came up with a way to hijack it. The branch-line was shut-off but never dismantled.”
“Wouldn’t someone pick up on it?”
“It’s an automated system just like everything else in New Cali. Writt is obviously an intelligent man and it’s likely he used AI to hack into the system. He may be feeding them falsified data that shows nothing is missing.”
“How do we handle it then? We need the water badly regardless of where it’s coming from and the next delivery is scheduled for tomorrow.”
“Proceed as usual. Keep everything we’ve discussed today confidential for now. I’ll put the tankers under surveillance in the garage, and if Deloof tries to smuggle more grubs, security will confront him in the act. I’ll also have a pair of mini-surveillance drones follow the convoy back to the Big Abandonado. We’ll see where the tankers end up, because my guess is it’ll be the Desert Hills Water Treatment plant, the terminus of the branch-line. If the drones come up with photographic evidence, I’ll confront Writt with it and use it as leverage to negotiate a lower price.”
□□□
Logan took Lyric up to the penthouse to meet Stanislav Latsko, and as he’d predicted, she was fascinated by his high-grade sound system. Stanislav was in turn impressed by her thorough knowledge of symphony orchestra music. She’d majored in music in college, and she waxed eloquently on the topic. Stanislav rarely met anyone with a fine arts background that matched his own, and they talked at length touching on everything from the baroque period to post-modern. Logan sat silently sipping his brandy with an expression of contentment. He felt a sense of satisfaction in having helped the pair make their intellectual connection though he knew little about the subject himself.
Before they departed, Hana Yamaguchi brought Lyric a suit of lightweight body armor and a new Intelliphone. Logan dropped her off at her place. He asked her to meet him at the water treatment plant the next morning, and they’d travel to the Eden Stacks with the final delivery.
Lyric activated her new Intelliphone cautiously. She didn’t go near her email or any of her social media accounts because she was certain the Tommy Cops would have them under surveillance. Contacting Joyce was out of the question. Her parents lived in the northlands, and she’d eventually figure out a secure way of contacting them, but she put it off for the time being.
She logged on to an internet browser using an assumed name and once online, the first thing she did was download the Bug Sensor app. It was sophisticated software guaranteed to detect hidden cameras and listening devices. It also picked up malicious programs and spyware on the phone itself.
She’d yet to tell her new friends about her legal problems in New Cali. It would be embarrassing to try and explain how she’d been charged with grand theft and fraud.
Lyric was concerned about the possibility of encountering law enforcement. She thought they might identify her through facial recognition and find out about the felony charges. She was certain the Tommy Cops had issued a warrant for her arrest. She went on the browser’s AI and entered a question: If the New Cali Directorate issued a warrant for a person’s arrest, what’s the probability the person could be picked up and extradited by law enforcement in the federal bureaucracy or the Eden Stacks at Mellowbreak Beach?
The AI replied quickly: Zero probability. The New Cali Directorate is politically allied with the Chinese government and currently has no reciprocal law enforcement arrangements with the federal bureaucracy or the Eden Stacks at Mellowbreak Beach. Official relations between both entities are frosty at best. The only way the person could be arrested outside of the New Cali borders is if a bail bond company hired an independent bounty hunter.
What a relief, and it was lucky she’d been released on her own recognizance. The nagging anxiety disappeared and she felt more relaxed. She’d never be able to return to New Cali, but as far as Lyric was concerned, she wasn’t missing much. Maybe she could start a new email account without using her real name and contact Joyce and her parents and let them know she was okay.
The next morning, she rose at dawn and made breakfast. Before departing, she put on the body armor suit that Hana had picked out for her. It fit perfectly, hugging her body without restricting movement. The multi-layered material was breathable but guaranteed to repel the primitive lead bullets used by dust bikers.
She checked herself out in the mirror and liked what she saw. The suit had a matte black base with iridescent deep-violet and electric-blue accents that shifted subtly when she moved. It looked extra-sharp, and Hana said it would offer protection in a crash scenario too. She pulled on her heavy riding boots and full-face helmet, and she was ready to go.
Lyric met up with Logan and Myles at the treatment plant, and the convoy set out for the coast with a full load of water. Cribley was late, and when he caught up outside of town, he took his position in the lead, riding a few miles ahead to scout for possible problems.
Lyric rode behind the cruiser for a while and then opened the throttle and passed it when they came to a relatively smooth stretch of road on a straight away. Zyler had equipped the machine with a multi-spectrum sensor array that predicted approaching road conditions, identifying hazards before she reached them. The system used short-range photonic radar and hyperspectral imaging cameras. A synthetic background voice kept her apprised of what to expect.
It was by far the fastest bike she’d ever been on. Watching the cruiser grow smaller in the rear-view mirror gave her a rush of exhilaration, and then she swiftly slowed down and let them catch up. She laughed when Logan lowered his window to give her a beaming thumbs up.
Her new job was a whole lot more exciting than sitting in the stuffy control room at KNEX waiting for her next cue. No doubt about that. Cribley was still giving her the cold shoulder, but she wasn’t about to let it bother her. He seemed to have an aversion towards women in general. Harmony said he was arrogant around her too, and it didn’t surprise her a bit when she said he had a thing going with Philo Cristaldi.
But Philo was nice. He was the perfect gentleman when she invited him in for a glass of tea one day. He knew his hard rock music and appreciated her collection. She’d been friends with other gay guys in the past and liked hanging out with them because they never tried to hit on her.
Her lifestyle in New Cali had become so tedious. She didn’t have enough money to do much in her free time because everything had grown so expensive, and it seemed like every time she turned around another Tommy Cop was looking over her shoulder. More robots and less people and she stopped going to the beach because not only was the fuel for her bike too expensive, but the air and water were so polluted it just wasn’t much fun anymore.
No way in the world would she voluntarily serve time in a prison run by robots. When all she had done was scam the self-serve checkout. But fooling the machines was considered a serious crime in New Cali because everything was run by automated programs, and they needed to keep the people in line.
She wasn’t sure how things would turn out when she ditched her phone and took off, but there was something in the back of her mind telling her to go for it…And then she met Logan at the power station, and everything changed.
Lyric recognized the route they were on because it was the same one she’d been on before. There weren’t many landmarks that stood out in the central basin, but when they crossed the coastal range and she saw the ocean and the Eden Stacks in the distance, it all came back to her. She remembered how desperate and scared she’d felt when she didn’t know where she was headed. Only two weeks had passed but the memory seemed older. Probably because of how vivid it was in her mind. Something she wasn’t likely to forget.
Crossing the border was a breeze. The guard at the station recognized the echo-pulse cruiser and the tankers, and he waved the convoy through without stopping them. He gave Lyric a big smile as she zipped through the crossing on her bike.
She stayed close to Logan and Myles when they entered the Lotus Stack. The scale of the place was astounding. There were shops and plenty of indoor plants on the ground floor, and a sign pointed the way to a zoo. Cribley kept his distance as they walked towards the elevators, and as usual, was going out of his way to ignore her.
She sensed tension in the room when they met with Waverly. Lyric was surprised by how ancient she looked, and she caught a musty scent when the woman entered the room. The smell reminded her of visiting her great grandmother when she was a young child.
Both Logan and Waverly seemed edgy, and neither said much at all. No friendly small talk and she noticed Waverly glaring at Myles with hostility. She also spotted Cribley checking out the scantily clad houseboy when he had his back turned. He was a good-looking kid in his canary yellow hot pants, and Cribley was definitely giving him the once over.
After Waverly handed Logan the briefcase, she asked him how long before the next delivery and he said he would be in touch and the meeting was over, just like that.
“The suite is on a different level this time,” said Logan, looking over the pass keys as they climbed into the elevator car.
“Four bedroom?” said Cribley.
“Three. I’ll sleep on the sofa-bed in the living room.”
“Waverly was giving me the evil eye,” said Myles.
Lyric nodded. “I noticed that too.”
“We’ll be back on the road first thing and we can leave this place in the rear-view mirror once and for all,” said Logan.
When they reached the guest suite, Logan asked Lyric to choose the bedroom she wanted. Myles went to a window to check out the view of the ocean and Cribley grabbed a bottle of beer from the refrigerator.
There wasn’t much difference between the rooms. When Lyric had settled on one of them, the first thing she did was click on the Bug Sensor app on her Intelliphone. It flashed a detection alert. A listening device had been located in the room. She walked into the living room still gazing at her phone and more alerts came up. The app detected additional eavesdropping devices and a hidden camera above the sofa too.
“I need to talk to you about something,” she said to Logan.
“What’s up?”
“Let’s step outside.” She tilted her head towards the door. As she walked into the hallway, she checked the app for surveillance devices and kept going. She stopped at an alcove before they reached the elevators. The app indicated the hallway was bug free.
“What’s going on, Lyric?” said Logan when he caught up to her.
“I installed the Bug Sensor app on my phone, and it says the guest suite is loaded with surveillance. Listening devices and a camera in the living room.”
“Hang out and I’ll go grab Myles and Chance.” He returned with them a few moments later.
“Why are they watching us?” said Cribley as he joined the rest of them.
“They know about the grubs we’ve been sneaking out,” said Myles. “Maybe we should get out of here right now.”
“Nah, it’s almost sundown and the road would be too hard to follow across the desert,” responded Logan. “It would be more dangerous too. Better to get some rest and leave first thing tomorrow.”
“Yeah, okay. But it’ll be weird knowing someone is watching us.”
“Probably not live. Just recording for AI review. Act natural and be careful what you say.”
They were up before dawn the following morning. Cribley was the last one to leave the suite, and he made sure to drop his pants and moon the camera over the sofa before he walked out the door. None of the others saw him do it.
The convoy was headed up the switchbacks in the coastal range by the time the first rays of the sun hit the eastern horizon. The journey back to the Big Abandonado was for the most part trouble-free. Logan was unaware they were being tailed by two mini-surveillance drones. When he reached the power station, he sent Waverly a polite email saying they’d no longer be supplying the Eden Stacks with water. He didn’t include an explanation and there was no reply.