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The information transmitted, Brad could do nothing but watch the screen icons. The race against time showed the NATO jets slightly ahead as they approached on the screen. Brad glanced at his Nigerien pilot, reading fear in his eyes, but equal resolution. Nothing would change their flight track, not by their choice.
Dark dots appeared on the horizon on the north side.
Staring out the windshield into the cloud cover rushing past, Brad watched the shadows of two fighters edging in along either side. They matched the speed of their jet so close Brad could pick out one NATO pilot speaking into his intercom. The conversation went on, as if in the fighter pilot was receiving conflicting commands.
Asian Alliance fighters approached from the south.
“You watching?” Brad asked.
“Yeah,” Vince said.
Then, had Brad seen or just imagined that fighter pilot saluting his way. Just as he had.
“Vince, I think...” Brad said.
“What?”
The wing dip next was distinct, and both escort fighters shot out ahead. Brad shifted his look to the map screen, struggling to suppress another invincible moment. But the receding fighters weren’t circling back, as the Asian jets also veered off on a return course.
“The North Atlantic strike fleet appears to be shifting their naval presence.” Brad reported to Tamanna for her minister. “Asian Alliance too.”
“Are we sure?” Tamanna asked. “Before I tell the minister.”
Brad stared at the screen, as the two escorts rejoined their squadrons.
“Confirmed,” Brad said. “At this time.”
All fighters appeared on altered tracks towards their carriers. Staring in amazement, Brad watched the Chinese carrier changing course as well. The NATO commander would have eyes glued to that.
“What happened?” Brad said. He thought of his wife and two boys back home. For a moment he could hear the children’s laughter, his kids, like the gurgle of a mountain stream. He risked all for them, and their climate tomorrow.
“They’ve opened diplomatic channels,” Tamanna said. “New political proposals on alternate methods of climate cooling will be tabled.”
“Yeah, well they sure need coordinated intentions,” Brad said. “And a defined course of action if they want to avoid another firestorm.”
They looked at each other, nodding.
“What went down?” Vince asked. “Really.”
“The Minister says one commander totally broke the strategic discussion,” Tamanna said. “He started talking of his granddaughter’s fuzzy giraffe.”
Brad pumped a fist up and down into the air.
“The extra global cooling’s trending on social media,” she added. “We’ve deescalated complications, at least for our African monsoon release.”
“What chance the extra cooling gets trade off space,” Brad mused. “And we target the climate we had?”
“Yeah,” Vince said. “Let’s hope.”
International recognition the atmosphere belongs to everyone. No pirates allowed, Brad could tell his kids. Everyone who breaths, and everyone who looks up at the sky. The sky covers international waters, and all nations need keep in line. Like at the playground, certain things, not allowed.
Brad could again think of tomorrow. They’d release another load of sun parasols to cool the planet, and give people extra breathing room to tone back on carbon emissions.
End
Discover other Writings by Les W Kuzyk
If you like the ideas in African Monsoon, my novel Pinatubo II follows Vince when he first meets Brad in Niger where together with Tamanna they design geoengineering for a larger version of the HIC and seek out a political climate change solution.
The Climate Reality Stories section of my site Our Near Future links to other short stories based on near future climate change scenarios that vary between dark and optimistic outlooks. If you wish to follow Vince later in time, read Blown Bridge Valley back in Calgary with his now teenage daughter. Even further into the future his daughter Annalise addresses climate refugees as a PHD student in Tribe 5 Girl.
My soon to be published novel The Shela Directive follows youth in a speculative science fiction novel. The new adult characters in 2029 struggle with the social justice issue of the wealthy, of who owns the wealth and what wealth should really be used for. They had their needs met by the first woman president, but with her passing each felt their social world degraded in this near future urban setting.
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Les W Kuzyk
About Les W Kuzyk
Testing the waters of writing through a graduate university Anthropology and Religious Studies study, Les composed a thesis themed on a morals-based world order. Having thus learned of his passion for words and after publishing several non-fiction writings, he now focuses his writing voice on fiction. He has life experience with various cultures including the pura vida lifestyle of Costa Rica and the Polynesian culture of the South Pacific island nations. He lives with his Eastern European wife and daughter in Calgary.
Connect with Les W Kuzyk
Our Near Future site
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