The E Utopia Project (17 page)

She rose from
her chair and gently pushed him to the floor. “I love you, George Surman,” she
crooned, holding him tight.

“I love you,
Sara Cummings.”

They remained
motionless for more than a minute before George said, “Are you going to let me
eat the delicious chicken slabs?”

Sara rolled
away from him and they returned to the breakfast table and dined.

She finished
eating first and affectionately looked at him, telling herself again and again that
this adorable man was going to be hers for life. She pulled out her phone from
her pocket when she reminded herself that she had a planet to save and mortal
enemies to fight.

She opened the
mobile web browser and looked for news about herself. The first stories that
caught her attention were the comments from US government officials. The US President
said the United States was capable of protecting all its citizens and that he
saw no reason why Sara chose to seek asylum in the Russian ambassador’s
residence. He said that the US government was obliged to protect her firstly
because she was a US citizen and secondly because she was the head of an
important arm of the United Nations. He encouraged Sara to come out of asylum
and pledged to give her a crack team of bodyguards.
The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland
Security
also echoed the same sentiments. The Attorney
General
went
further to say that if Sara sought asylum in the Russian
embassy because she was genuinely concerned about her safety, she would accept
the President’s offer of a team of bodyguards. If Sara refused to take the President’s
offer and remained holed up in the residence of the Russian ambassador, the
Attorney
General
said, it would lead to the conclusion that Sara sought
asylum for the sole purpose of embarrassing the US government.

NASA, ESA and
the six companies that Sara had implicated during her press conference
responded strongly to her allegations. Some of the representatives of the
companies mocked her, and some echoed Wong’s sentiments and said they forgave
her because she was suffering from a nervous breakdown. Many people ridiculed
Sara for asking the world’s governments to spend money and resources on
creating a space force when the world needed to channel its resources into
building more sand reduction and ultraviolet laser plants. Some even called for
her removal from her post, arguing that as an important arm of the United
Nations, GEMA needed a practical and logical leader who was not prone to
inventing stories about aliens. One commentator went to the point of saying
that he believed that Sara missed her calling. “Why was GEMA being led by a
science fiction writer?” he asked.

By the time
George finished eating, Sara was deeply engrossed in browsing the internet.  He
itched to hold her and explore her body, but he didn’t disturb her, knowing how
passionate she was about her work. He went to the bedroom and threw himself on
the bed.

Sara searched
the internet for over a quarter of an hour before she came upon an article that
supported her.

The article
was under the headline
The World Cannot Afford To Ignore Doctor Cummings’ Theory
Says Scientist.
The story read as follows:

Doctor
Sikhanyiso
Ncube, a little known scientist from Zimbabwe says the world cannot afford to
ignore what
Doctor
Cummings said in her press conference
yesterday. Yesterday Doctor Cummings, the Administrator of the Global
Environmental Management Agency (GEMA), said she believed that an
extraterrestrial force was taking oxygen from the Earth’s atmosphere and she
implored world leaders to set up a space force. Like Doctor Cummings, the
Zimbabwean scientist thinks that instead of focusing solely on building oxygenators
throughout the world, the world should find out what is happening to the
atmosphere’s oxygen. If an extraterrestrial factor was taking away oxygen from
the atmosphere, then replacing the oxygen by the decomposition of silicon was
not the solution because it would turn the world into a silicon dump.

“Thank you
Doctor
Ncube!” Sara said to herself.
“At least there’s someone out there who doesn’t think I’m crazy.”

Her eyes were
still glued to her phone when George returned to the living room.

“Still busy
trying to save the world,” George said, looking at the screen of her phone.

“Not just the
world, but you, me and our future marriage.”

“Dinosaurs
became extinct because they couldn’t adapt to changes in the environment,
right?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe this
time the environment has changed so much that every living thing will become
extinct,” George said soberly. He had just been fantasizing about the happy family
that he wanted to raise with Sara. El Monstruo firmly stood in the way to the
realization of his dreams.

“I believe
there’s a way,” Sara assured.

“I hope you’re
right, Sah. I want to live with you for the rest of my life and if El Monstruo
prevails, that could mean being with you for a year or two. I want us to have
kids, but it would be a sin to bring a child into a world like this.”

“There’s a way
and we just have to find it,” Sara said solemnly. “We have to fight to save
life on Earth. We have to fight for our marriage. We have to fight to make the
world a better place for us to bring our children.”

“I’m not a
scientific expert, darling. I wish I knew enough science to help you in the
fight to save the environment.”

She put her
hands on his shoulders. “You’re helping me more than anyone could, George. I’m
still in this fight because you saved my life. The world now knows about my
theories and observations because you saved me. There are murderers out there who
want to stop me from doing my job. You might be required to save me again.”

George hugged
her. “I won’t let anyone touch you, Sah. I won’t let them take you away from
me. I lost you once. I’m not going to lose you again.”

She kissed
him. “It was difficult being away from you.”

He sighed. “What
do you think is the best way for us to fight this war?”

“The President
offered me a crack team of bodyguards comprising some of the best agents in US
security and law enforcement agencies. I have to accept the President’s offer
so that I can move freely and do my job.”

“I want to be
one of your bodyguards.”

“I’m glad you
said that. If you become my bodyguard you’ll be with me wherever I go. I’m sure
the President will accept my request to have you as one of my bodyguards given
your military record.”

“So how are
you going to contact the President and the Attorney General?”

“Through the
office of the UN Secretary-General.”

“Do you have
his number?”

“Yes.”

He gently
pushed her way from him. “Phone him, Sah.”

She dialed a
number. “It’s busy,” she said after trying the number for two minutes. She
tried a second number and a female voice answered in heavily accented English.

“I am the
Director of GEMA and I want to speak to the Secretary-General.”

“He’s engaged
right now. He’ll phone you when he finishes what he is doing.”

“Thank you.”

They only
waited for six minutes before the UN Secretary-General phoned.

“How are you, Mr.
Secretary-General.”

“Doctor, it’s
good to hear from you,” the Secretary-General said with a strong Khmer accent.
He was a member of Cambodia’s Khmer ethnic majority.  “How are you?”

“I’m fine, sir.”

“I was shocked
to hear about the attempt on your life. I sent the
Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security
and his assistant to investigate the matter. Did they talk to you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll do
everything we can to help you, Doctor Cummings. The American government offered
you bodyguards and you have to accept the offer.”

“That’s why I
phoned, sir. Can you please tell the US President that I accept his offer. I want
the bodyguards as soon as possible, today if possible.”

“I’ll talk to
the President. Does this mean you will be at the summit next week?”

“Yes, sir,
I’ll be at the summit.”

“Good. I was
worried you would not turn up for the meeting. In the past mediating in civil
wars and resolving international conflicts was the UN’s major role but now the
environment is our major concern and that makes your department the most
important department of the UN. Let me talk to the President right away and see
if he can quickly setup a guard to protect you.”

“Please tell
him that I want my fiancé to be in the team of my bodyguards.”

“Is your
fiancé
qualified?”

“He’s an
ex-marine and he saved my life, so yes, I think he’s qualified.”

“I’ll tell the
President about your
fiancé
.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I’m not doing
this for you, Doctor Cummings. I’m doing it for myself and for the whole world.
If you help us defeat El Monstruo, you help save me and the whole world. I
shall contact you after I talk to the US President.” Although the
Secretary-General didn’t subscribe to Sara’s extraterrestrial theory, he had
great respect for her and believed she was the right person to lead GEMA.

The call was
disconnected.

“He’s going to
talk to the President,” she told George. “He’ll call as soon as he gets the
President’s response.”

“That gives
you enough time to sap my strength again,” he said, pulling her close.

She pushed him
away. “Wait. I’ve to let the Russian ambassador know about the new
developments. It will be improper to let him learn about this from the media.”

She led him to
the living room where she rang the bell. The maid responded in a minute and a
half.

“What can I do
for you, Doctor Cummings?” she asked.

“I want to
speak to the ambassador.”

“He’s gone to
the embassy. You can phone him.”

“Do you have a
number which I can use?”
Sara
asked.

“Yes.” The
maid took out her phone and gave Sara a number.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The maid went
out of the apartment, leaving Sara dialing the number. The call was answered on
the second ring.

“Russian
embassy, can I help you?” a female voice said from the other end of the line.

“I’m Doctor
Sara Cummings who is in asylum at the residence of the Russian Ambassador. Can
I speak to His Excellence.”

“Wait a
moment.”

The “moment”
was a hundred and two seconds long.

“Doctor
Cummings, are you still there?” the ambassador’s voice came out of the
earpiece.

“Yes, Your
Excellence.”

“Is everything
alright?”

“Yes,
everything is alright. Your people are taking good care of us.”

“I’m pleased
to hear that.”

“Your
Excellence, the US President offered me a team of bodyguards and I accepted his
offer because I want to run around and prepare for next week’s UN summit.”

“I see,” the
ambassador said, stifling his disappointment. He was enjoying the embarrassment
of the US government and he wanted Sara’s asylum to last long. “Are you sure
it’s safe for you to go out, Doctor Cummings?”

“I think I’ll
be safe with the team of bodyguards that the President offered.”

“Fine. I will
be waiting for communication from the US government.”

“Thank you for
everything, Your Excellence.”

“Don’t mention
it, Doctor Cummings. The Russian Federation is always ready to help the UN and
its staffers.”

The line went
dead.

“Now what?”
George asked.

“Now we wait.”
She smiled mischievously. “It looks like someone wants me to drain his strength.”
She walked toward him, put her hands on his chest and looked at him with
challenging eyes. “Let’s see how much strength you’ve got, George Surman.”