Enlightenment [Book 2: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 4: Back to the Future

Chapter 4: Back to the Future

With little time to waste, Maddy assembled over 100 of her best and brightest in the main auditorium on short notice. She hoped they could help her answer the critical questions that lay before them. "Welcome everyone," she announced over the auditorium sound system.

"I've brought you all here so we can begin discussing what can only be called the Manhattan Project of our time. Failure to get to the desired end is simply not an option. Similar to conditions facing the brave souls working under that fateful project name over a century ago, the future of our species and that of our beautiful planet once again hang in the balance. However, unlike the Manhattan Project of the 20th century, this time we are alone in our quest for success. Earth and all of its inhabitants are in great danger and, unfortunately, are also wholly unaware of the peril that lies ahead. As such, we must come together and embrace this silent challenge and prevail."

Maddy paused, casting her gaze around the diverse group convened in front of her. Some of them were holdovers from the original Institute, while others were native scientists and technicians from their new home in Iceland. Looking out into the crowd, she could see that some were on edge. A few fidgeted while others avoided eye contact with her altogether. Not good. She was aware that some of the Icelanders resented her for inserting many of her top scientists into key positions of authority, while other locals took it a step further and blamed her for Datek's demise and for the thousands of deaths that followed. Maybe they're right. She'd never be able to fully relinquish that guilt. Briefly, she looked down, bringing herself back to the moment.

"By now," she continued, "as you all have been made aware, our recent 4DLT Jump a year into our potential future uncovered highly unexpected conditions. At this point in time, significant evidence suggests that our world is currently on course to experience the effects of a far-reaching nuclear exchange. However, details beyond that broad assessment are presently unclear. Precise timing is not certain, nor is the full extent of the devastation. Going forward, our first objective is to document what we may be facing. To attain this level of precision, we'll set up a series of expert teams to Jump out eleven months from now to fully document post-nuclear conditions on the ground, in the water, and in the air across the globe."

She paused again to re-assess the group dynamic. They were still, almost motionless...and very quiet.

"I know that none of you, save for two individuals in this room, have experience with Jumps that far out into the future." She smiled, as she watched Stanley standing proudly with his arm wrapped around Edward's shoulder near the auditorium entrance. "However," she continued, "that reality will soon change. We must understand what the future may hold for us to have an opportunity to change it. To accomplish this objective, we'll need all the observations we can get our hands on—and our efforts will go far beyond simply visiting the future. Several teams will have to travel great distances so that we can significantly improve the initialization of our Ensemble modeling system. And as an Organization, we're much more isolated than before. While this reality often helps our cause by minimizing our footprint and significantly reducing overall risk, in this case, it's a hindrance given our need for highly accurate economic, political and environmental conditions on a global scale. To satisfy these requirements, teams will have to disperse worldwide to gather this critical information. And we won't stop there. We'll also forward-deploy additional technology and other resources to support our eleven-month Jump plan."

Maddy took a sip of water and looked out into the audience once again. This time, she sensed an improved group dynamic. They're listening. Good. Deep down she knew the overwhelming majority of the people at Næsta Kynslóð admired her leadership, inner strength, and ability to resurrect the Organization from the ashes within such a short span of time. Now they needed her more than ever, considering the undeniable fact that some group, somewhere, was trying to set up a chain of events that would end in global-scale nuclear devastation.

After taking a second sip and putting the glass down on the podium, Maddy continued. "In short, we have a lot of work to do. As such, I'm asking each of you to cooperate and do your part, whatever that part may turn out to be. Despite the incredible odds against us, we all have managed to survive. And what we're facing now may, in fact, be our greatest challenge to date. However, none of that worries me. As your Chancellor, I have seen firsthand just how resilient you can be. What has not killed us has indeed made us stronger. And while recent circumstances may have driven us together, what we now face requires a willingness to sacrifice and join as one. Any past differences we may have had are now trivialized by the devastating future we've already seen a glimpse of. We must be willing to do everything in our collective power to avert this potential devastation before any of it has a chance to ever begin. The time for us to act is now."