“Why did you start building? And why was I not informed about it?”
“We didn’t consider it to be important. At first, only private assets were used. The new owner of ‘Apple’ was the initiator. He was afraid of a flood because of global warming. Two months ago, the Security Council decided that the state had to take part in the construction – for any emergency. We improved the project by requiring that the Base be able to move not only by water, but also on the ground and even by air.”
The President was silent for a while. He took a pen and started to twirl it. At last, he spoke to everybody. “First, the right for living in Noah’s House should be granted to most talented and healthy representatives of mankind, not just businessmen and government members. Second, we must decide on what information should be provided to the mass media. Shall we declare both variants – the green zone and Noah’s House – or just the first one?”
Ministers dropped their eyes. The Director of the Secret Service answered, “We can’t possibly tell the whole truth by any means! Otherwise, each person will try to get into the safest place – the Base. It will be the war of everybody against everybody. As a result, no one will survive.”
The ministers kept silent.
“In this case,” the President of the World said gloomily, “I have to make the most difficult decision in my life. We will declare evacuation to the green zones… and pray for them to be really green. If the worst case scenario happens, at least two thousand people will survive in the airtight base. Let’s vote.”
One by one, all the ministers raised their hands.
“Unanimously,” the President of the World summed up. “In half an hour, I will give an address to the people of the Earth.”
“I’d advise to do it in two hours,” the Director of the Secret Service said. “I must put all our security forces on full alert.”
“Why?”
“I think the opposition will try to revolt. Especially separatists in the green zones. They might shout about strangers who will drive the local population out, take away their homes and food. They’ve been looking for a reason to restore borders between nations for a long time. In America, Europe, Asia…”
“I see. You’ll have one hour, no more.”
Suddenly a man with colorless eyes and white eyebrows wearing the uniform of a police sergeant appeared in the room. Barkov did not understand where he had come from. It seemed the man had walked through the wall. All the others present in the room froze as if someone pushed a pause button. A perfect silence fell on the room.
The sergeant stopped in front of Lorenzetti and said, “Mister, what are you doing here?”
Lippo stepped back. “That’s impossible!”
“What is impossible?” the sergeant asked.
“Computer!” the hacker cried out. “Break all external connections! Quickly!”
The table, chairs and people, including the sergeant, disappeared. Lorenzetti was standing alone in the middle of his white room. He had a confused and scared look, his face almost as white as the wall.
As Lorenzetti stood silent, Andrew Barkov turned to look at Emily. He understood now that Emily was right. Appearing on the e-vision, the President hadn’t told the whole truth. In fact, he told lies. He was going to continue lying, even if he meant well. Mother was right, too. Neither she nor Andrew would be able to get into the secret asylum – the so-called Noah’s House. If the Earth stopped rotating completely, one could survive only in there. It meant they were both in mortal danger. Cold, heat, radiation, lack of air… Genetic modification could be their only chance of survival.
I must act decisively and quickly. Before it’s too late.
“How did they trace me?” Lorenzetti squealed.
That was the least of Andrew’s worries. He caught Emily’s hand, stood up and towed her to the doors.
“Stop!” Lippo shouted. “Where are you going? Take me with you! I can’t stay here. They’ll come for me soon. I don’t wanna go to jail!”
“In that case, our ways part here,” Barkov replied. “Jail is the place we are going to right now.”
Chapter 9
Walking to the elevator, Andrew looked out a window.
The ocean kept receding. Since he and Emily had entered the hacker’s study, the shoreline had moved about two hundred meters further to the horizon.
The professor said that water is moving to the poles. It’s hard to imagine what’s going on in the northern territories.
The elevator doors opened. Letting the girl enter, Barkov followed her and turned back.
Lorenzetti was standing in the doorway of his study staring into space.
“Farewell,” Andrew said.
Lorenzetti seemed to pay no heed to it, his eyes glassy. Barkov pressed the “Down’ button. The doors closed and the elevator started moving.
The box slid out of the wall. The female voice announced, “Thank you for your visit. You may take your weapon.”
Taking the pistol, Andrew checked to be sure the cartridges were in place, and shoved the pistol back into the holster.
“Do you have a plan how to release my father?” Emily asked.
Andrew knew now that what Emily had told him about the Earth’s crisis had been true. Now he had to fulfill his promise to help her release her father; besides, her father would be valuable if they had any chance of survival. He knew that Eddy Housman was in the pretrial prison built a few years before in what used to be a parking lot in the center of Miami.
“Yes, I have a plan. First, I’ll enter the prison.”
“Do you have a permit?”
“No, but I’ve been there many times. I know the location.”
“Will you try to get my father by force?”
Andrew imagined Captain Palmer. He would knock out the captain with pleasure by hitting his chin with a good blow with right fist. But what to do to the others? To those Andrew had been working with all these years? They had helped him more than once in times of need – some of them by saying kind words, others by covering him with fire.
I can’t hurt those people.
“No. There must be another way.”
“What then?”
Andrew didn’t have a solution. He needed some time to think it over.
Suddenly he felt a chill in his feet. The feeling strengthened quickly. Shivers ran up his legs, spine, neck… In his mind’s eye, the picture flashed up: a dozen cops were standing before the elevator doors, weapons at the ready. The safety was released, forefingers touching the trigger…
Barkov grabbed his holster, but pulled his arm away at once. I will not shoot at my colleagues.
The elevator stopped and the doors moved apart.
“Don’t move!” one of the police shouted. “Hands up!”
Emily uttered a loud scream and jerked up both hands. Andrew froze looking over the policemen. He knew three of them: two worked in headquarters, one in the southwest department. Captain Palmer showed himself from behind a policeman’s back.
Barkov was glad