The Crest

Danielle paced along the helipad. She was anxious. She never liked meeting ‘them,’ certainly not her kind of people, nor was politicking her cup of tea. This was the part of her job she despised most.

Fernando and Karl were there too. The idea of a helicopter still in operation during the Shift, blew their minds, but then the scientists at FORC couldn’t possibly wrap their minds around the super-rich. These dystopian well-to-doers still holed up in their hidden mountain fortresses. They possessed the wealth of several countries; their mindsets warped, unfathomable, yet Danielle still had to play the game. She needed their backing.

She’d met them several times before, but not under these circumstances. What would she say to them? Would they remove her from her position because of her administrative failures? She wondered.

Things at FORC were a cluster until the Portland enclave organized itself. The enclave defined its land like a mountain lion marking its territory. And then — Permafrost stepped in and the enclave got a corporate sponsor. Wow, that changed everything. The Permafrost Corporation funded the enclave, made it functional, but there were caveats. The enclave had to buy its food straight from Permafrost. The enclave had to restrict migration from Old Portland City, after all, the company couldn’t allow all those poor people who couldn’t buy its products. And finally, the enclave had to create a defense force, a cheap one. They recruited from the high schools, and they called up eighteen-year-olds. They called them Crefor, Crest Forces. Later, Permafrost funded the construction of the battlement on the Crest. Slowly, the residents began to extricate the enemy from their lands.

They heard the helicopter fly around the enclave following a grid across the landscape. They couldn’t imagine why. After an hour, it came in fast and landed abruptly. Out jumped two men and a woman. Well-dressed. They greeted the visitors as the helicopter’s rotor began to wind down and then they walked to Danielle’s office.

“Good to see you again, Danielle,” one of the visitors said. She recognized him as a board member.

“Thank you for coming. For what do I have the honor today?”

The visitors got straight to the point. “Well, our cameras detected traditional crops in the enclave, you need to get rid of them.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Our thermal imagery camera detected non-GMO crops; their temperature corresponds to a certain signature.”

“And? These are people’s backyard gardens. That is their food supply. Aren’t we about growing more food, whether it’s from the Permafrost Corporation or a home garden?”

“We agree with you but the future climate will not be so kind.”

“What do you mean? We need to source food anywhere we can. Permafrost has enough customers, don’t they?”

“Well, our board doesn’t see it that way and it’s not about customers, it’s about the future. You see our Permafrost crops are engineered for higher temperatures and low water consumption. But your heirloom crops use more water, and they’re drawing down your water supplies. They won’t last the next warming trend in a year. You need to start planting Permafrost seed.”

Danielle couldn’t believe what she heard. She’d been an advocate of climate-adapted heirloom seed her whole life. “We are short of food. What about the future for Christ-sakes?” Danielle said, emotional now.

“They should be planting Permafrost seed, we’re entering a new stage of the Shift, higher temps, hyper-acidic soils, and dryer conditions. It’s a matter of getting the best possible seed on the land.”

Danielle was shocked. She looked at Fernando and Karl, who were equally flummoxed. “What if you’re wrong? What if our climate-adapted heirlooms survive?”

“They won’t survive, our models tell us it’s going to get worse. But that’s not the main reason we are here. We think it’s time to out-plant your seedlings. They’re growing rapidly.”

“I agree with you there, but they need rain to be planted and we’ve got an Antisis army getting ready to attack. It’s too risky.”

“We understand that, but you need to get those seedlings growing out on the land, sequestering carbon. Our models show another degree Fahrenheit increase next year. It’s a matter of trying to stay ahead of the Shift.”

“I see, well at least we agree on some of the science.”

“There could be rainfall coming, you need to be ready.”

“Okay.”

“One final thing, immediately after you outplant your nursery stock, you must start another batch of seedlings in the nursery. Another five million. Time is of the essence.”

Danielle sighed. “We’ll do the best we can.”

“We know you will, Danielle. You always come through when we needed you. and we’re impressed with your research here. We want to keep it funded.”

“Thank you,” she said, relieved. Danielle looked at Fernando and Karl.

The meeting ended and the three visitors hopped back in their helicopter and took off as abruptly as they came in. Danielle stood in disbelief. She wanted to scream.

“Plant Permafrost engineered vegetable seed? Ha. Not gonna happen gentlemen,” she said to Karl and Fernando.