We Float Upon a Painted Sea

“Dear Professor Burke, if you are reading this correspondence I will presume you have received the decryption code from our contact and have successfully downloaded the files to the shackle we have provided you with. I would also presume you are feeling anxious and have many questions need answering. I sincerely hope to address your concerns, but can I start by reassuring you that coming to the Environmental Liberation Front with the information you possess was a wise choice. We would be more than happy to convene a meeting at a time suitable to both parties, however much will depend on you agreeing to certain conditions which I will need to outline prior to our meeting. One proviso is an assurance you will be prepared to go on record stating exactly what you know regarding the MoDs activities in the North Atlantic, and disclose all relevant classified documents, files and plans. However, I feel it only right to highlight the consequences of this decision, if taken forward: the Government will view your actions as treasonous and if caught, a lengthy prison sentence or worse will await you. Nonetheless, if you need to leave the country and move to somewhere without an extradition treaty, the ELF will be happy to provide you with the required documents and safe passage.

I cannot emphasise enough the need for discretion - you must not discuss your revelations with anyone else, and take extra care not to be followed. The shackle communicator we have sent you is a standard satellite device with all the normal built in functions, such as GPS and internet access. It is encrypted and DNA activated, so can only be operated on your wrist. The shackle’s credit facility has also been activated and will provide you with sufficient funds for sundries, until you get to your destination. Furthermore, we would ask you not to use the communicator facility, as Government surveillance will be attempting to locate you using voice recognition techniques. The curfew will not be suspended until the Prophylaxis Trident Satellite systems are back online, which we believe will be imminent, so until then, we have a window of opportunity to conduct daytime operations. The MoDs will be aware of our increased activity and will counteract this with manual surveillance, such as the personnel currently stationed outside your apartment.

We have provided you with a Tracked Electric Vehicle (TEV) which will be parked on Duncan Terrace, Islington. You will be travelling under the name, John Muir. I would like you to leave your apartment at 6pm on the 31st of August 2066, locate the vehicle using the fob and make good your escape. We shall arrange for the surveillance van to be delayed. Make your way to the TEV Portal where you shall enter the following coordinates: 55.9485° N, 3.2001 and 9am as your time of arrival. Automation will commence and will continue until you arrive in Edinburgh. We shall arrange for surveillance cameras on the roads from your London flat, the track network and onboard carriage to be manipulated so rendering your journey undetected. On arrival, make your way to a brew shack called the Splurge Bucket, which is located on Giles Street, Leith. Edinburgh is an ideal location as surveillance satellite systems have documented problems with image detection in this part of the world. Your contact in Edinburgh is an ecommando called Lúthien who will provide you with details of where and when we can meet. I would advise you to destroy or re-encrypt this message. Do not discuss your plans with anyone else, including closest family members. I will say no more until we meet.

Yours, Itaridlë (Leader of the ELF)”

The Professor had entered the coordinates at the Portal and the TEV climbed the ramp and then accelerated to join the high speed track. He felt uneasy with the sudden loss of control. It reminded him of the childhood experience of a rollercoaster, ascending the rail, the body storing more kinetic energy with every metre climbed, until subjected to the forces of gravity. Finally, passing the urban sprawl and shanty towns of London, he sat back and stared out of the window. His gaze fixed on the multiple rows of green painted laboratory meat processing plants lining the track for countless miles. He sat upright on his seat and began to recall everything he knew about his involvement in a covert project called Silent Wave. He extracted his notepad from his leather satchel and began drawing schematics and equations. Later, he began to write:

“For eleven years I have led a research team at University College London, investigating tsunami wave counteraction measures, through the deployment of Pulsed Power Technology. The concept of artificial oceanic wave generation is an esoteric theory, but not a new one: American scientists had first identified the potential of harnessing the catastrophic forces of the tsunami wave during World War II. The theory was rudimentary and involved the detonation of ten thousand tonnes of TNT explosives on the seabed. It was hoped the anticipated shockwave would create a tsunami, which would then be targeted against the Japanese fleet.”

The Professor remembered the black and white film of the project and how, as a means of maritime warfare, initial tests proved disappointing. This provoked Admiral Chester Nimitz to comment on camera, I could make a bigger wave farting in my bath tub. The Professor smiled painfully at the image in his mind.

He continued writing: “The Government have been aware for years, as sea levels rose exponentially, billions of Euros were being spent on flood defences, only to find they were still exposed to the risk of large tidal surges or freak waves. The National Oceanic Centre provided evidence recent tsunami wave activity in the North Atlantic was a result of ice shelves calving into the Arctic Ocean, and propagating as the wave reached the shallow waters of the North Sea. A tsunami with a vertical height in excess of 10 metres would easily breach the nations flood barriers, putting large sections of the public in perpetual danger. To negate the tsunami, my plan had involved a safety net of Cyclone Particle Accelerators, drilled into the ocean bedrock, and linked to pulse propulsion devices, with electro-magnetic guidance systems. These would be located at various points circling the British Isles, and ready to be detonated to create a counter-wave, thus expunging the kinetic energy of the original pulse. My theory was designed only to be used in the event of a mega tsunami approaching a coastal area with a high population density. I believed the use of such technology could be justified to save the lives of millions, despite the potential for a minute level of radioactive contamination.”

The Professor took a carton of iced tea from the vehicles mini-bar and sipped it. He stared at the passing clouds and reflected on the ramifications of his actions. He had disclosed top secret information, copied intelligence files and worst of all, had contacted a prescribed terrorist organisation. His passport had been revoked and his credit cards frozen. He had been put under surveillance. The prospect of being smuggled out of the country, applying for political asylum in a foreign land, and never seeing his home again, was a daunting one. And then he thought of the paradox of creeping government powers and the debasing of civil liberties, justified by the threat to democracy from purported radicalism. Using embroidered fears, they colluded with the media, infecting people’s minds to create a siege mentality for a nation. He thought of the hundreds of journalist, political activists, civil right lawyers and internet bloggers, arrested by tyrannical governments around the world for speaking out. They were the true champions of democracy, thought the Professor, and I have never considered this until now. He returned to his writing with a new resolve:

“I suggested the utilisation of marine hydraulic fracturing drill sites in the North Atlantic, which provided a number of suitably discrete test sites. Using an existing borehole, the device would be placed at a sufficient depth under rock strata. There have been several submarine landslips in the area after methane hydrate extraction processes commenced at the Anton Dohrn seamount, therefore tsunami wave detection systems were already in situ. John G Cluny announced a decision had been made to test Silent Wave on St Kilda, after evacuation of the small local population. In essence I was confident a tsunami wave could be controlled in terms of size and direction and no lasting harm would be inflicted on the environment. In the long term, I believed the nations of the world could benefit from my research, and I planned to share my findings on an international stage. However, much to my dismay, I was warned the programme was of the highest national security, and subject to special intelligence constraints. It was at this point I received a notification, from a source within the Government the MoDs were preparing to adapt my research and use it to develop a weapon of mass destruction. After confronting John G Cluny, I resigned my position with immediate effect. Henceforth, I have been under constant Government harassment and intimidation.”

He put his pen down and reclined his seat, stretching out his legs until his knees clicked. Rain pelted the vehicle window. Ahead, lay a darkening scene, night was almost upon him. He had left London behind and imagined he would never see the city again. His mind was soon flooded with memories of when he first came to the city, and browsed the antique shops of Islington with his wife and child. At first he thought they would be happy there, but as his work commitments increased, he and his family drifted apart and eventually they left him and returned to Scotland. He began writing again, but this time he penned a letter to his daughter. When he had finished, Professor Burke scratched his bald head, wiped his spectacles with his handkerchief and allowed the hypnotic rhythm of the vehicle to rock him to sleep.

When he woke, sunlight was spilling in from the east, over the floodplains, and elucidating the rape fields clinging to the slopes of the Lammermuir hills, south of Edinburgh. He studied the farmland. At first the bucolic scene appeared benign, particularly in terms of colour. A typical glimpse of modern agriculture through the window of a slow moving vehicle, thought the Professor. And then he noticed the absence of trees and hedgerows. He remembered the devastating collapse of bee colonies which once pollinated the crops, and was now carried out by insectoid automatons, but with the dual purpose of mass electronic data surveillance gathering. The wheat fields of the countryside were once the bread basket of the nation. Now they were industrialised processes, its produce saturated in chemical control agents to stave off head blight, mildew and insect infestations. Moreover, most of the surviving crop was too toxic for human consumption and was destined for the manufacture of bio-fuel rather than food.