The Manhattan Incident (34 page)

Once the mandate was refined, it didn’t take long for the participants to realize that considerable funding and manufacturing capacity would be needed to produce the technological solutions. This need for considerable resources became the most contentious issue at the conference. A solution would have to provide sufficient funding, funding compliance, and a balance for civilian vs. military goods. To sell this taxation model would require that civilians continued a decent standard of living and that their needs as consumers were met. Capitalism had to be balanced against socialism. A tall order, it required late night, noisy, angry, alcohol fueled meetings. Near the end of the conference, the stalemate was finally broken. The result was a draconian proposal that tended to reign in the super rich and the mega-corporations and large banks, but also limited choices for the average person. It was decided to put the proposal to an up or down global vote, with every citizen having their say. The voting medium was decided to be Facebook. Enough time would be allowed for non-Facebook people to join. The social media were poised to become a global communication powerhouse that would revolutionize outcomes.

The proposal destined for ballot carried five parts. The first part was to provide budget resources to initially fund Earth First. These funds were to come from unclaimed estates throughout the globe from those individuals who died from Blue Flu, riots and other mayhem. The countries of origin would get 40%, while Earth First would take 60%. Part two was approval of the Earth First Council, the third was approval to form GAF, the fourth was to grant Earth First the power to exercise a VAT taxation on non-medical and non-food global sales to fund future GAF operations, and the fifth was to grant Earth First extraordinary economic global oversight in order to assure funding and manufacturing capacity for advanced weaponry to defeat the aliens. Conference participants overwhelmingly agreed to make it an all or nothing vote, as the loss of any one component would cause the others to be non-starters. The first three parts were deemed likely to pass global voting muster, as the fear of the aliens and their hostile intent was all too clear. The fourth part was the problem, as certain segments of the population would find it threatening to their lifestyle. It was also agreed that any country that blocked the internet or denied voters their rights to vote would be isolated from the world’s economy and protection.

The last part essentially was an economic manifesto that redefined the world’s manufacturing priorities and siphoned off funding and manufacturing capacity to build the next generation of weaponry needed to defeat the aliens. While it was not guaranteed that the aliens would return to finish the job, it was a bet that few would take. Balanced against this need was the understanding that average consumers and the population below the “one percenters” in terms of wealth should not be penalized with a lower standard of living and fewer life conveniences.

Essentially the needed manufacturing capacity would be gained through the elimination of competing products. For example, the number of car models available worldwide was ridiculous. If one was to agree on a limited number of the best and most efficient models, people could still have choices and some manufacturing capacity could be diverted to weaponry. While one high end model might still be allowed to exist, the super-rich would have fewer toys. The same was true of smart-phones, most appliances, cereals, wines, beers, cigarettes, furniture, and on and on. The same would be true for weaponry such as fighter jets. Clearly only the very best should be made, if the enemy was to be defeated.

Who would decide? A special manufacturing panel, actually several to expedite the process, would be appointed by Earth First Council. It would include engineers, economists, ordinary people, and experts knowledgeable in products. The panel’s expertise would be product specific, that is, automotive, appliances, and so forth, and be free of conflicts of interest. Manufacturers would present their products and any supporting data they wished. The latter could include safety data, fuel efficiency data, consumer data such as reviews and product evaluation from independent agencies such as Consumer Reports in the United States. The panel would narrow down the submissions to the best two competing products or in some cases, several because each would be in a subclass. For example, one could select two competing smart-phones, but would select two subcompact cars, two compact cars, two full size sedans, two full size vans, two pickup trucks and so forth. The final two products would be put to a global Facebook vote, winner take all.

The winner would have the entire global market, but in turn would be taxed at 25% of their profits with no loopholes or exemptions. These taxes would be used by Earth First to finance weaponry manufacturing and other related costs. Corporate profits would be carefully monitored to assure fairness and any windfall profits would be subject to extraordinary taxation. The losing manufacturers would have essentially three choices. One, they could sell their facilities at fair market value to the winner or merge with them to meet to provide the expanded capacity needed to meet increased global demand. Two, the facility could elect to transition into weaponry manufacturing with assistance from Earth First funds to enable the transition, or three the facility could be sold to anyone on the private market. The only restriction was that no more than 50% of the losing manufacturing production could remain private, unless the Earth First needs were deemed met, then the percentage could be exceeded. The other winner restriction was that the CEO’s or President ‘s salary, benefits  and stock options could not exceed ten times that of the average salary and benefits paid to production workers and managerial positions in that company.

Given that the salary cap was across the board for all surviving manufactures, the argument that someone would steal their expertise by offering a higher salary became moot. At first glance, it might appear that innovation was stifled by the elimination of competing products. Not so, as an appeal option was left in place. The manufacturer of any supposedly improved product or new invention that created a better product than the licensed one could present its case to the appropriate Earth First manufacturing panel. The panel had 90 days to decide. If approved, the first option was that the current manufacturer would retool to produce the new product and pay royalties to the company or inventor. If no agreement was reached, the current manufacturer would be seized by Earth First and turned over to the new manufacturer. Ninety days were allowed to reach an agreement. Generally agreements were reached. Specialty firms soon arose that competed to make new and improved versions of existing licensed products. Competition, instead of being throttled, became rampant again.

Of course, this being a historical documentary, you know that the entire package did pass. However, it was far from easy after the vote of acclamation. Resistance happened as does whenever special interests or the wealth and power of the super-rich are threatened. Dirty tricks abounded, ugly incidents and acts of violence did too, as did unending threats of what will happen if you pass this Earth First manifesto.  For example, if you believed everything you heard, the citizens of the First World would become impoverished, highly unemployed, live at a much lower standard of living, and be subjected to domination by Second and Third World Countries. At least that’s what the Republican Party of the USA and the manufacturing/business/super-rich sectors said.

It didn’t happen! The PR campaign cranked out by these groups was fought tooth and nail by more liberal political parties such as the Democratic Party in the USA, liberal parties around the world, and refuted and exposed at every opportunity by the Hacker’s Guild. The latter mobilized flash mobs that countered the ugly thugs hired by the rich and right leaning sides, thwarting them at every turn. The Hacker’s Guild used some dirty tricks of its own. Outspoken mega-billionaires, corrupt politicians, and other special interest groups were hit with credit cards that suddenly stopped working, or had their account numbers distributed to the poor, or suddenly their bank balance vanished, or their names unexplainably appeared on no fly lists, or their hidden scandals or affairs suddenly became public knowledge. Some thought it was poetic justice. Others screamed for the hackers’ heads.

Ultimately, the average Joe and Jill were not deceived by the extreme rhetoric or threats. The bottom line was fear and the desire to be protected from the aliens at whatever cost. The special interests of the super-rich, the corporations, and right-wingers could not provide a suitable alternative that alleviated the public’s fear. The world accepted a rational change, but it took a few years. Ultimately all countries came on board, even Iran and North Korea. No one wanted to be left out in the cold. Oh, one selling point clinched the deal. The Earth First Council agreed that all this could be reopened and discussed again, should Earth defeat the aliens.

There were some aspects of this changeover that most consumers appreciated. First, the “which to buy” decision became much easier and more anxiety free. The consumer knew the product was the best and being sold at a fair price. Replacement parts for appliances, cars and other equipment also became less complex. No longer did you have to worry about part compatibility. You could buy parts to fix your toilet or dishwasher without worrying about which brand or model you had. Well, if you had the older products, it was still a problem. Of course that provided a nice incentive to upgrade. Consumers accelerated their replacement of existing products at a much faster pace than anyone thought possible. Business boomed and jobs were plentiful. Gloom and doom adversaries were completely wrong. There was essentially no unemployment globally, given the loss of population from the Blue Flu virus and booming manufacturing plants providing weaponry and new consumer products.

Today we in the United States enjoy a good standard of living, as do others around the world. Every global citizen has a P-Com communication device. It is a G-6 smart phone manufactured by Apple. It allows for instant communication alerts world-wide should the aliens return. It gives severe weather updates and warnings wherever dangerous weather occurs, thanks to a global-spanning weather satellite system. The P-Com is affordable for all and allows for communication needs by citizens all around the globe. It can connect to the internet, search through the globally dominant search engine, Google World Wide, send email, conduct web purchases, pay bills, and become a GPS for foot or vehicle travel. With the push of a button or detection of sudden loss of balance or violent movement, it calls the global 911 and its position is instantly found through the GPS chip in the phone. The P-Com is coated with a graphene, high gain photo-detector coating in the ultraviolet through infrared spectrum that works outdoors and indoors and with its high capacity lithium battery rarely needs a conventional charging.  A rugged case that can be worn on belts or carried in purses has the same photo-detector coating and when the case is in contact with the phone, it transfers the trickle charge. Bandwidth crunch is a thing of the past, with Alcatel-Lucent’s core Internet router, the 9080 XRS.

While there are far fewer cars, trucks, computers, wines, beers, beauty products, clothes, appliances and so on to choose from, consumers are assured what they buy are the best, most trouble free, and easiest to service. Prices are reasonable and affordable world-wide. Everyone who wants a job has one. Of course, this aspect is in most part, a result of major population losses from Blue Flu virus and the increased manufacturing levels attributed to the alien war effort. Those with special needs were not forgotten. The disabled, emotionally challenged, cognitively challenged, and homeless received care and aid.  A surplus of dwellings resulted from the loss of life from the virus, thus eliminating the homeless aspect of society. Food is also plentiful, given the fewer people, too. While all are saddened by the major loss of life, those left behind are better off. As a result, wars and localized conflicts have all but disappeared. Those few that started quickly ended when the GAF threatened to intervene to maintain global stability and the alien war footing. There was zero tolerance for illegal drugs. Marijuana was put on the same level as alcohol. Local police vigorously terminated illegal drug organizations. If the local police were seen as not doing their job or corrupted, GAF stepped in and solved the problem. Although intervention was harsh and violent at first, the disappearance of drug trafficking made the world a safer, less violent society.

At the close of the conference, a humanitarian proposal emerged. It was decided that all prisoners, except for those who committed violent crimes, were to be offered a special amnesty. In exchange for the forgiveness of their remaining sentence times, upon release these individuals would assist in body recovery, burial details, and demolition of areas ravaged by fire and riot damage. During these tasks, they would be fed and sheltered, but not paid. Upon one year of labor, they would then be offered paying jobs in the reconstruction effort and weapons manufacture and reinstated with all their rights, including voting privileges. The measure passed overwhelmingly and contributed greatly to the rapid restoration effort.

8. VIDEO: THE INCIDENT, Year One through Five, and Year Six, Present Time, PI

VIDEO: THE INCIDENT
. The video narrator was on a roll. Over the next four years, a remarkable transformation occurred across the globe. As the Earth First world government was established and then rose to power, a number of major changes happened. It soon became apparent that the United Nations served very little purpose any more. It was disbanded and many of its functions and services became incorporated into the Earth First power base. In fact, the former United Nations complex became the seat of the Earth First government. While some grumbled, most of the planet’s inhabitants were happy with the arrangement. Things were definitely returning to normal and the standard of living got better for pretty much everybody. Here in the United States, the 99% were quite happy with the new arrangement. Only the super-rich and power- hungry politicians grumbled. The grumbles fell on deaf ears and eventually faded into the background. Business, finance and manufacturing interests did not join the grumbling group, as in the past. Things were booming, so they had no complaints.

Strife around the globe all but disappeared. The unifying force was the common enemy. Rather than fighting with each other, the threat of the aliens’ return bonded everyone together with a common purpose. That purpose was to be ready to defend Earth and defeat the aliens. Some even dreamed of taking the fight to the aliens’ home world and destroying them there, wherever “there” was. The knowledge that the GAF was ready and willing to keep world peace helped to quiet down those few armed squabbles that did arise.

General Straub wasted no time in building a loyal leadership base for GAF. While theoretically the 10 major military powers had a say in who ran the military show, they gave considerable leeway to General Straub, given his remarkable coordination of strategy and command success in beating back the first alien invasion. Straub had no problem convincing General Douglas to take over GAF weapons development, given his results at Area 51. Another star as a promotion didn’t hurt. The other countries approved highly of this decision, given General Douglas’ record in advanced weapons development and partial success with understanding alien technology. Straub sealed the deal by making Douglas second -in-command. His other top choice was approved rapidly. Tech Sergeant Munger was placed in charge of communications and promoted to Master Technical Sergeant. Munger had come a long way from his initial U. S. air force experience.

The hard part for General Straub was finding a high-up military officer with budget acumen and a nose to weed out corruption and price gouging in weapons contracts. Wisely, General Straub knew he should give this post to a Peoples Republic of China military officer, as they were feeling bent out of shape with two Americans in charge. Since a Russian was currently serving as Earth First Council Chair, they were less needy. The Chinese government nominated several officers, but Straub also solicited nominations through his contacts in the Chinese military. One nomination from the latter group, a Military Doctor Liang Feng, highly recommended a Major General Cao Ji. General Straub dug deep into the background of Cao Ji. There were rumors of a “Tibetan Incident” where Ji supposedly worked against corruption above him. He selected Cao Ji as the fourth interview, the other three being gleaned from the government pile.

General Straub sat across from Cao Ji. He noted that Ji’s command of the English language was very good, a plus. “Major General Ji, please tell me about the vaccine incident in Tibet. Whatever you say will be held in strict confidence.” Ji recounted the entire incident about General Rong’s plan to divert vaccine from the Tibetans, thus enriching himself on the black market. Upon hearing the story, General Straub knew immediately that Ji was the man for the job. “Major General Ji, how would you like to come over to GAF with your Tibetan wife and assume command of weapons procurement? You will work directly with General Douglas who oversees weapons development.” “General Straub, I would like that very much. I am going no further in the Chinese military. As you can guess, there are rumors about me and General Rong. While no proof exists, suspicions about my role have brought my career to a dead end. I think the government and military would be happy to get rid of me.” “Consider it done. Did you bring your wife along as we asked in your interview invitation?” “Yes, Sir.” “Good, you stay here and report to HR. They’ll help you make the transition to base housing and get all the paperwork in order. The post comes with a promotion, General Ji. Welcome to GAF!”

While we won’t bore you with further details of personnel being added to GAF or the World Government, we would be remiss if we didn’t tell you about one other post. The Earth First Council members realized early on that PR and cyber intelligence were extremely important. As part of their outreach, they turned to General Straub for recommendations. General Straub immediately thought of Telltale Rose, a figure beloved by millions across the globe because of her taking on RGen and getting Draco and vaccines expedited for the masses. In his mind, Straub saw her as the ultimate figurehead for PR. So did the Council members.

Her interview went well. During the interview by two Council members and General Straub, an idea struck General Straub. “Ms. Gray, I mean Anita; I see you have a daughter, Jolene, and you are engaged to Henry Zisterwicz. Congratulations. If you are offered the job, you will all move to New York City and be well compensated and your daughter well-schooled. Bear with me now, as I have some thoughts and questions that are very important and not meant in a threatening way. Anita, it is obvious that you are good at PR, but it is apparent that you lack the computer savvy to have pulled off what you did. Without a doubt, you were aided by the Hackers Guild. We are very much in need of expertise in cyber intelligence and it is our guess that whoever helped you would be an ideal candidate for us. I am not asking you, now, for a name. I am asking you to contact your helper and relay our needs. I assure you that there will be no criminal charges against the unnamed person; he will be granted immunity for all past actions. What do you say?” “General Straub, I will get back to you as soon as possible. I would like the immunity and no criminal charges put in writing to take with me.”

That night in the hotel room, Anita wondered if the room had been bugged by the Earth First agents to gather intelligence about the Hackers Guild. Taking no chances, she turned up the television loud and gestured to Henry to come over. She explained General Straub’s request and showed Henry the signed document from General Straub and the two council members as well as witness signatures from two aides in attendance.  Without a pause, Henry said, “I’ll do it, but under one condition. I want free rein to work through the Hackers Guild whenever I think it is necessary and that the Earth First government will agree to safeguard any member of the Guild and intervene on their behalf, should they get arrested.”  To make a long story short, both Henry and Anita got the jobs and the Hackers Guild became unofficially protected. Their work contributions over the next few years helped in no small part to create a favorable image for the Earth First government. The cyber intelligence provided by Henry with the aid of the Hackers Guild helped GAF to dampen dangerous minor conflicts around the globe before they spiraled out of control.

Early on the Earth First Council members met and decided that another intense effort beyond weaponry development and the arming of GAF was needed. More scientists, engineers, and mathematicians were needed. These areas had declined, as their tough education requirements caused many students to steer toward other fields that required less effort and provided secure financial futures. Special emphasis was needed to identify the best students for the science, technology, engineering and mathematics pipeline. Resources were also steered toward the area such that students completing degrees in these fields would be well provided for during their education and receive good salaries. Toward that end a special program called STEMEO was created. A search was launched for the post of Director of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Outreach.

When General Straub became aware of this search, he nominated Dr. Paul Laurent for the post. General Straub made it known that Laurent was his personal choice for the position. General Straub called in several favors, including endorsements by Generals Douglas and Ji. Laurent was therefore fast-tracked with very little due diligence. At that point General Straub decided to push his luck no further and left the filling of posts completely to the Earth First Council members.

Dr. Laurent was both pleased and conflicted when the offer came. He liked what he did, but knew in his heart that the successors to Drs. Miller and Gupta, now known as Drs. Hopkins and Rajani,  could carry on without him now that the Blue Flu viral crisis had passed. Those two had already created a new vaccine for the Blue Flu that was highly successful. Paul also understood the importance of educating more scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to make the advances needed to successfully stand up against the next alien invasion wave. He agreed to take on the job and develop the strategic plan for STEMEO. 

The voice-over narrator now cut in for the final time. Students, this concludes our video. While we won’t go into detail here, I’m sure your teacher will cover progress of the Earth First government and STEMEO recent history in class, given its extreme importance. Suffice it to say that Dr. Laurent built a very successful STEMEO program. General Straub has built an imposing GAF ready for whatever the aliens throw at us and the standard of living has risen throughout the globe. This video was one of his creations. I would be remiss if I did not mention one last thing. Because of time constraints, we were unable to cover the medal ceremony in the United States after the aliens were beaten back. Medals were awarded by the President to all the military men and women mentioned by name in this video, as well as the civilians who helped cure the Blue Flu. For a video clip showing the ceremony, go to www.THEINCIDENT.Gov/medals/ ceremony. The tests you have taken before called the p-STEMEO panel and today’s test, the STEMEO Final were developed under Dr. Laurent’s guidance. You will now take your test as directed by your teacher.

Paul sat there bemused a bit and his thoughts returned to the present. It was hard to believe that five years had passed in reality and in the video. It was now the sixth year, PI, and no aliens had returned. We are damned lucky, he thought. While the teacher, Mr. Edward Rabideau, set up the tests at his desktop monitor, Paul’s thoughts ran on again. He still worried about the attempt on his life. While Paul’s CV was a complete fabrication, it did mirror that of his previous identity, Dr. John Cabrot. Still, it would take extreme digging to expose the CV as fraudulent, given the work done by General Straub’s intelligence group to protect him.

Paul snapped back to the classroom. He noted that Mr. Rabideau looked very serious and paid Paul no attention. Paul smiled. It might have something to do with some unmentioned details not in the video. The incentive to find the best STEMEO students was very powerful. For every student identified and accepted into the STEMEO program, there was a $5000 reward for the science or math teacher.

As such teachers took the identification of STEMEO students and their subsequent instruction very seriously. Paul was even more pleased with his method to prevent teachers from neglecting the non-sciences. The test about to be sent to each student’s built-in desk monitor via the Wi Fi was actually two tests. One was to determine STEMEO proficiency period. The other, while it had some science basis, was primarily an assessment of non-science skills such as history, English, writing and so on. Part of it was also an aptitude test.  The catch was that the “bounty” was reduced or eliminated if the student scores in the non-sciences slipped below a nationally determined level. This aspect was true across the globe. Yes sir, thought Paul, a very efficient way to do things. The results of the aptitude part were used to help steer students in various directions. While none were forced to follow through on these recommendations, it was well known by now that financial incentives were more likely to be offered to those who did. Nothing like scholarship funds to seal a deal, thought Paul.

Early on, Paul had assembled teams to fan out across the globe when special students, as determined by the p-STEMEO tests, were about to take the final STEMEO test. They would eagerly await the scores and if the scores met the criteria, the students would be whisked away to special schools established for fast-tracking STEMEO professionals. Their families would come with them. Being selected was not only an honor to contribute to the defense against the aliens while also improving human technology, but it also had some perks for all involved. It wasn’t a hard sell. Paul no longer had to go to any STEMEO tests, but he did so several times a year in the United States. He enjoyed the trips and wished to not only keep active, but to monitor the pulse of the system.

For some reason, Paul suddenly thought of Reverend Cooper. While still highly suspected by MI, the bastard had still not been actually connected to the assassination attempt. However, his church was heavily infiltrated with moles secretly planted by General Straub’s intelligence group. In retrospect, that turned out to be a very important thing, but not for the obvious reason. The Reverend’s church, now called the Church of the Rapture, had moved into big time globally. It was attracting members in increasingly scary numbers. The Church believed that the next wave of aliens should not be resisted, but accepted as God’s plan to bring about the Rapture. This position placed it at complete odds with the Earth First government and GAF. Fortunately, it still constituted a minority, a very troublesome minority, one which it was important to watch closely. The moles supplied a steady stream of intelligence and were watchful for acts of violence. At present, none had been detected, but the potential for violence was certainly there.