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The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 34 Table of Contents Chapter 36 Chapter 35 Prometheus, March 8, 2056 To be honest, the Group 2 debacle was more of a public relations disaster than an ecological one. The damage was dramatic, but relatively restricted. Within 48 hours someone leaked the hazmat team video on the internet and all hell broke loose. The media were all over us. Rhamaposa survived only with the intervention of the Secretary General and several heads of state, including the Asian Union and the USSA. I have no proof, but I'm sure they knew of the pressure exerted by…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 33 Table of Contents Chapter 35 Chapter 34 Group 2 Disaster, February 17, 2056 At the next UNGETF conference, we were given an interim report on Corella Corporation activities on behalf of Group 2. They were using balloons to hoist tons of sulphur pellets for release in the stratosphere. It was fully automated. No people went aloft. The cargo was dispersed from a series of vents along the bottom of a V-shaped gondola. When the drop was complete, the balloon turned on a transponder and vented hydrogen to drop lower in the atmosphere. The…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 32 Table of Contents Chapter 34 Chapter 33 Jon Visits, January 27, 2056 On Sunday Jon called to say he would be dropping around to visit next week. The Senator was scheduled to hold a series of meetings with Provincial and First Nation leaders. He didn't know when he would be free, but he would make a point of seeing us. I felt a little odd being just another scheduling point in my brother's busy life, but I resolved not to let it put me off. Anna was running a fever and Edie was tired, so I didn't have time to dwell on it. On Tuesday, when I…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 31 Table of Contents Chapter 33 Chapter 32 One Thing After Another, December 14, 2055 The next few days were just one damned thing after another. On Monday, when I walked into Ecology 550, a spontaneous wave of applause broke out. I held up my hands. "Okay. Okay, listen I'll make you a deal. Hold the applause until after we fix this problem and then we'll all celebrate. We still have a lot of work to do." My statement had just the sobering effect I wanted. As I looked around the room, I noticed a few faces that didn't belong. Officially the…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 30 Table of Contents Chapter 32 Chapter 31 A Convention of Idiots, December 12, 2055 Reality landed right on my shoulders with a thump that evening. I was at home in the library categorizing and prioritizing the Ecology 550 students' geoengineering ideas, when the phone rang. It was from Sri Lanka. "I'll get it!" I called out. "Luc." "Yes. Hello Peter. What's up?" I turned the lights down and sat back in the half light of the video to talk. "I'm just trying to get a handle on the big picture. I don't know what to think anymore." He slurred…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 29 Table of Contents Chapter 31 Chapter 30 Platonic Lust, December 12, 2055 Some women engineer their faces. They have studied celebrity, looked at the beautiful and followed the dictates of fashion. Their faces are uniformly flawless. Eyebrows are perfectly plucked to the prescribed trace. Their eyes are highlighted to take advantage of their natural colouration. Their skin is so smooth it could be plastic. In fact, they have turned themselves into living dolls. The point of the exercise is to raise their market value in the ceaseless and…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 28 Table of Contents Chapter 30 Chapter 29 On the Home Front, December 8, 2055 When I got home that afternoon, Edie was in a bit of a state. "Luc, what is going on?" "What do you mean?" "There was a phonecall for you a while ago...from the United Nations!" I had told her nothing of what I was doing. "Oh. It was probably something to do with the Task Force." No sooner had I said that than the house phone rang again. I checked the caller ID and it was from the UN. "Mr. Fontaine? Luc Fontaine?" said a female voice. It was audio only. "Yes." "…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 27 Table of Contents Chapter 29 Chapter 28 UNGETF, December 8, 2055 I looked forward to the first meeting of Group 7 with some trepidation. According to my email update it was on the seventh floor of the MacDonald building which housed the municipal offices downtown. I had been there to pay taxes and once to attend a city council meeting, but I had never been above the second floor. I was required to submit to retinal and DNA scans, on top of which my padd told me the elevator had a built in terahertz scanner. I restrained myself from waving…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 26 Table of Contents Chapter 28 Chapter 27 Eco 550 -- Geoengineering, November 29, 2055 When I was a student, it was not unusual to hear that virtual glasses were going to revolutionize education. Veegees, as they came to be called, were internet connected computers that used the spectacle lens to project information directly into the user-wearer's eyes. The 'virtual' came from the fact the glasses allowed the wearer to manipulate objects only they could see. What do you tell someone who has the internet group mind mediated by supercomputer…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 25 Table of Contents Chapter 27 Chapter 26 A Quiet Sunday, November 28, 2055 Sunday is a day of rest --- theoretically. I had intended to have a quiet day, do some yard work and maybe touch up my Amazon report for Doc Y. I was awakened early by a crying baby. I didn't want to get up, but I was not going to fall asleep again, so I washed up and dragged ass upstairs to the kitchen. Edie was heating milk in a saucepan and Anna was crying her lungs out. Edie looked like she had not slept all night. She gave me a strained look as I entered the…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 24 Table of Contents Chapter 26 Chapter 25 Rhamaposa, November 21, 2055 Due to the tyranny of digital time, I know it was 3:17 in the morning when the house system woke me to answer an urgent call. Voice only. My first thought was, 'Oh lord, now who has died?' Then I saw it was an overseas number. I sat up on the side of the bed to talk without turning on the lights. "Yes?" "Hello Luc. Luc Fontaine?" "Yes." "This is Peter Ramaphosa." He spoke quickly with a strong British accent. "What can I do for you?" I was confused. Why was this UN…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 23 Table of Contents Chapter 25 Chapter 24 The Anvil Breaks, November 20, 2055 As the train approached Centre City, I called Olivia on her personal number. A computerized voice told me the number was discontinued and dumped me into voicemail hell. I hung up and called the house. Edie answered. "Hi, Edie. Can I talk to Olivia?" "She's not here." "Where is she?" "I don't know." She paused. "She didn't tell me where she was going." A rising panic momentarily engulfed me. "Ww...What do you mean?" "I mean, she took all her stuff and left." "I'll…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 21 Table of Contents Chapter 23 Chapter 22 Vancouver, November 20, 2055 Apparently being in ConSec means never having to wait for a plane. Carman walked me through a gate and out onto the tarmac. No body scanners, no sniffer bots, no security check of any sort as far as I could see. There were all of five people on the plane. Nobody spoke until we were in the air and then sparingly. I really did not know what to expect. Why would Carman drag me all the way to Vancouver? What was going through his mind? What did he mean by "a body that shouldn…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 20 Table of Contents Chapter 22 Chapter 21 At a sidewalk cafe, November 19, 2055 In North America, privacy is a thing of the past. How often we hear that! Wherever you go, newseyes operated by various government agencies or private corporations flit about recording every sight and sound to be analyzed by computer. Electronic communication is routinely monitored. Stationary cameras are everywhere. Microbugs make the detection of surveillance almost impossible. Newseyes put it in your face. When someone is watching over your shoulder, you feel…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 19 Table of Contents Chapter 21 Chapter 20 An Awkward Homecoming, November 17, 2055 Adelle was right. I did have difficulty getting back through Customs. The time stretched on. After five hours, an iris scan and multiple DNA tests, not to mention extensive questioning by airport security, Border Control and ConSec, I was released. Olivia was waiting for me. She was sitting in the lounge reading the news on a padd facing away from me. I walked up beside and behind her and nuzzled her neck. She spun around and gave me a big kiss. "I thought…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 18 Table of Contents Chapter 20 Chapter 19 Rio Triste, October 22, 2055 Fifteen scientists formed the Mandate group and one staff person, a terrifyingly severe Dutch woman who managed schedules and bills. She never said more than two words to me the whole time I was there. The locals were a mixture of Spanish descendants, blacks and natives in various proportions. Most of them seemed to think we were a bunch of arrogant, ignorant bastards useful only as victims. They paid attention to us only because we had money. The ecologist literally…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 17 Table of Contents Chapter 19 Chapter 18 Amazon, Sept. 29, 2055 Have you ever wondered what is the logic of your life? Sometimes I feel like a piece of flotsam bouncing on the waves of a river whose depth and currents I cannot fathom, whose path I do not know, whose destination, short of the ocean, is a mystery. This feeling caught me as I contemplated Olivia. It was equally true of the happy accident that I just happened to notice the odd red-green plant years before when Doc Y and I were on a sampling tour in the B.C. interior. I got my…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 16 Table of Contents Chapter 18 Chapter 17 Microbugs, Sept. 25, 2055 A couple of ConSec guys appeared and we climbed back into the paddywagon for the ride home. We didn't talk. As I entered the kitchen, I was enveloped in a wave of unreality. It all seemed so fantastic. How are you supposed to feel when you are plucked out of your daily life, threatened, spun in the air, examined and then plunked back down to carry on? Olivia and I sat at the kitchen table sipping coffee. "Can I see it?" She held her hand out. When I gave her Carman's…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 15 Table of Contents Chapter 17 Chapter 16 Carman, Sept. 25, 2055 Matt had been on the west coast for two months. Jon was in Ottawa with the Senator. I was happy with Olivia. Our life was never dull. Doc Y, as Jim Yablonski was affectionately known around campus, and I were collaborating on a new paper on photosynthesis. Except for dad's death, which was a shock, my life was unfolding more or less as I thought it should. Then I met Carman. I had got up early one Saturday morning, as I sometimes do when I'm chewing on a problem. I appreciate…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 14 Table of Contents Chapter 16 Chapter 15 The Great Work, September 7, 2055 In the top centre drawer of the big desk in dad's library, I found an unmarked envelope containing this document. The Great Work, March 2040 My time is getting short and I don't know what more I can do. I am getting old and I don't have time for bullshit. I don't want for anything. There is no profit -- economic, moral or spiritual -- in recording my thoughts, yet I persist. I have raised the boys as best I could since Joan died. They are good, strong lads. I only…