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◄ A MARS ODYSSEY, Capter-1 #Part-1

Part 2 :

‘’Is Khan crazy or just dumb? Has he forgotten that India has at least as many nuclear-tipped missiles than Pakistan has? Does he really think that the Indians will give up such vital lands without a fight?’’ ‘’Well, Mister President, satellite imagery is clearly showing us that the Pakistani Army has started to mass itself along the border with the Punjab and the Kashmir.

Maybe Khan is counting on the floods in India to distract the Indians and thin out the Indian Army units in or near the Punjab. To be fair, I must say that the Pakistanis are presently as desperate as the Indians and have little left to lose by attacking India. On the other hand, the Punjab, being located at high altitudes, is basically safe from floods and is notably cooler than the rest of the Indian sub-continent, two points that make it invaluable right now in terms of real estate to both the Indians and the Pakistanis.’’ ‘’True, but that real estate won’t be worth much once it is contaminated with radioactive fallouts.’’ replied Mason before looking at his secretary of state, James Barrow. ‘’James, once we are finished here, I want you to call Khan and try to put back some sense in him. Make him understand that he will gain nothing by starting a war with India now.’’ ‘’I will do my best, Mister President.’’ said the graying African-American man, nodding his head once. Mason then looked back at the briefer. ‘’Sorry if I keep interrupting you, Mister Blake. You may continue.’’ ‘’Thank you, Mister President! In terms of new international developments linked to sea levels and global warming, these were the sole items on our agenda today, Mister President. However, numerous spots and situations are considered critical and we will keep a close watch on them. Those spots and situations were included in the last weekly watch list that you received, Mister President. Do you have any questions, Mister President?’’ ‘’Not at this time. I read the watch list and I must say that it makes for some grim reading. Thank you, Mister Blake! Jena, do we have anything new on the domestic front?’’ The Secretary of the Interior, Jena Westwood, a tall and still very pretty woman at the age of 58, nodded her head at Mason’s question. ‘’Yes, Mister President! The last group of citizens from New Orleans and the Louisiana coast has arrived in their new designated homes in Birmingham and Atlanta. Other displaced citizens from along the banks of the Mississippi are still streaming in and are being processed as quickly as humanly possible. However, this still makes over half of the states of Louisiana and Mississippi irremediably lost to the rising waters, with their arable lands contaminated by seawater. I am afraid that completing the relocation and rehabilitation of so many people will take lots of time and money, Mister President.’’ ‘’Yes, we went through the same drill six years ago, when we lost most of the state of Florida to the rising sea, and that despite all our efforts to build protective sea walls.

Short of a miracle that would make the sea lower to its original level of a century past, I am afraid that we will continue to experience such losses, both in lives and in infrastructures and lands. In fact, if I can believe the latest studies from the Environmental Protection Agency, we will continue to face rising sea levels and warmer temperatures, unless we can somehow reverse that trend by cutting the proportion of CO2 and other warming gases in our atmosphere. I know that our Ecological Corps is doing a fantastic job of building and putting in operation more and more atmosphere scrubbing towers, or ASTs, across the country, but this problem is truly a global one and not strictly an American one. Even if we do everything possible here, we will still be affected by the pollutants produced in other parts of the World. Let’s just say that experience from the past couple of decades on that subject does not make me optimistic. We thus have to continue focusing on our ‘Plan B’, on top of doing what we can in America to reverse this global warming or at least stop it. Administrator Cardona, how is the Mars Home Project doing? Do you still get all the help and cooperation promised by Russia, China and Europe?’’