The Plot to Cool the Planet. Sam Bleicher. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Sam Bleicher
Издательство: Ingram
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Жанр произведения: Контркультура
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781640962903
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      The Plot to Cool the Planet

      Sam Bleicher

      Copyright © 2018 The Strategic Path LLC

      All rights reserved

      First Edition, released Earth Day, April 22, 2019

      Second printing, October 2019

      NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

      320 Broad Street

      Red Bank, NJ 07701

      First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2018

      This book is a work of fiction. Except for known public figures, all individuals in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to individuals living or dead is coincidental. All events described occur in a hypothetical future and are a product of the author’s imagination.

      ISBN 978-1-64096-289-7 (Paperback)

      ISBN 978-1-64096-290-3 (Digital)

      Printed in the United States of America

      Table of Contents

       At Sea

       Ystad

       Yangon

       Phuket

       Phuket

       Phuket

       Phuket

       Langley

       Singapore

       Paris

       Jakarta

       Montreal

       Santa Fe

       Santa Fe

       Jakarta

       Jakarta

       Yangon

       Setitor

       Montreal

       Setitor

       Rampi

       Timmins

       Timmins

       Moscow

       Beijing

       Setitor

       New York

       Washington

       New York

       New York

       Washington

       Omaha

       New York

       Havana

      For humanity, in the hope we can survive an existential threat spanning centuries past and future for which neither evolution nor experience has prepared us, with our only tools intellect, imagination, and courage.

      Chapter 1

      At Sea

      The excursion to the Buddhist shrine is the perfect opportunity to meet her, he thought. Sri Lanka was the seventh stop on the twenty-one-day cruise, and he was ready. He had noted her well-tailored wardrobe, elegant jewelry, and lighthearted conversations with passengers and crew. He was confident he understood her personality and style.

      He caught her eye and tentatively offered a slightly ironic, cynical comment.

      “For a mere mortal, the Buddha certainly seems to have acquired some superhuman qualities, don’t you think?” The remark was designed to provoke a longer conversation. She took the bait.

      “Well, perhaps he actually was more in tune with the universe than the rest of us,” she rejoined.

      “Maybe so, but I’m not persuaded yet.” After a bit more good-natured sparring, he introduced himself.

      “I’m Mark O’Mara, from Ireland.”

      “Ingrid Halvorson, from the Netherlands,” she answered carefully.

      “Really? I would have expected Halvorson was Swedish.”

      “It is. My family moved to Amsterdam when I was a child. I still speak some Swedish.”

      The conversation flowed from there. Ingrid was delighted to talk about something more intellectually stimulating than the weather and the food, though she was enjoying both. Mark was younger, more charming, and more sophisticated than most of the cruise passengers. After a bit, he suggested dinner at La Petit Brasserie, the French dining room aboard the ship. She cheerfully accepted.

      The Royal Asia Explorer was the world’s newest, most exclusive cruise ship. Though registered as a Canadian flag vessel to reassure passengers and minimize taxes, it was conceived, owned, and managed by an Italian line. This trip was the ship’s maiden voyage from Dubai to Bali and Singapore, and the June weather was perfect.

      The next day was at sea, crossing the Bay of Bengal. Mark and Ingrid spent most of it together, eating and talking. They eased into the subject of world affairs and found similar perspectives on climate change and global politics. She found him intelligent and well-informed, appropriately dressed, and aware of which fork to use at dinner.

      They danced that evening around the pool under a full moon as the ship glided toward Myanmar. By dinner the next day, she was entranced, and he seemed equally intoxicated with her.

      The three years since the election of President Donald Trump had been a continuing public policy disaster from her perspective. The paralysis of global climate policy particularly distressed her professionally and personally.

      Climate