That afternoon, Aahil and his son had laid out a line of ten balloons for launch along a desert road. A recruited crew of two locals helped.
“One ton each,” Brad said. Vince nodded.
Brad showed Vince the latest design features of their remote sulphur release system. Each balloon would rise to an elevation of 15 kilometers. Starting there, pressure sensors would trigger an SO2 release valve as the balloon rose to 17 kilometers. “We’ll keep ozone damage to a minimum at those heights,” Vince said. Brad nodded. After that, each balloon would vent its helium and return to ground to be located by GPS. “Good. Then the crew shows up in the scout retrieval truck,” Vince explained. “They refill the sulphur, disconnect and replace the helium tank and push your reset button, right?” Brad nodded and said. “Yup, then we got remote control again for re-launch. They need to locate those balloons careful to avoid any snag on a shrub.” Much depended on the lateral air movements in the high evening atmosphere. Vertical ascent and vertical descent would be ideal for retrieval. But not likely. Aahil would learn the routine and be able to train other crews.
That evening they waited with Aahil as the sun set, watching with night vision binoculars from the Nissan Patrol. “So we’ll use the same basic logistics as this for the Niger national,” Brad said. Along roads gave best access, but also away from civilization to avoid plastic tanks coming down on the road or someone’s house. A little obsessive they agreed with so few houses around here. “Anyone could be doing this,” Brad said casually. “Anyone, anywhere in the world.” Night time release would avoid high altitude drone detection and any spotter satellites. “We’ll see what the world says,” Vince said. Drones wouldn’t be, at least shouldn’t be watching, not this early in the game.
“So we keep two storage sites,” Brad said. “One here and the yard at Niamey.”
“I’m gonna rename Agadez the major sulphur yard,” Vince said. “Niamey will transition to a transfer station. How about the balloons?”
“Yeah, warehousing’s good,” he said. “For balloons and helium.”
More tanker trucks would bring sulphur dioxide from Vince’s Nigerian oilfield connections. They’d truck in the stationary storage tanks empty—a hundred and seventy tons each—to this Agadez yard. If the scout truck idea worked, they had parking space for a good sized fleet of those. A good night would have each scout truck coming home empty with all of its three tons released by recycled balloons.
They talked about the timing logistics of hitting target tonnage. Brad calculated a thousand tons a week. “The drone people are gonna be noticing then.” Lots depended on the number of balloons, the rate of trucking sulphur in from Nigeria, and the local weather. A few windy nights could make for a setback. Vince thought a random pattern of time release as well as a random spatial pattern would help avoid detection. The primary constraint was keeping close to roads and access wadis for retrieval.
“I sound like a paramilitary strategist,” Vince said.
“You do need a new career,” Brad said. “That’s sure.”
Vince stared at him for a second. Then he couldn’t help smiling.
“You know, I made this special request once,” Vince said. “More like a wish whisper to the universe. Like a prayer, but not really. Just I was out in the mountains that time.”
“What’d you request?”
“I dunno, brotherhood of man,” Vince said. “Or anything that gives people, not only young ones, a practical chance.” He paused. “This maybe.”
“What this?”
“This global situation is gonna bring people together. Brothers, sisters.” Vince gave a wry look. “Could be a motivation.”
“Yeah, don’t count on it.”
“I suppose not,” Vince said.
Brad confirmed the time on his jPad. Double checking final balloon settings, he looked to Vince, and then touched the green square on the remote screen to authorize. They watched along the sand road as the balloons bubbled up from the ground in a line, lifting their sand colored globes like quick growing weeds sprouting up towards the sky. As they lifted off, the sun dipped below the distant desert horizon and they ascended in a weaving trail into their darkening target.