Heavy Weather

Nobody said anything for a long time.

Finally Jane felt she had to stand up. "I just want to say that I feel really proud of everybody. And I have a good feeling about this. Good hunting tomorrow, people. I've said enough." She sat down.

April Logan stood up. "Forgive me for interrupting your deliberations, but if it's all right with the group, I'd like to ask all of you something."

April Logan looked at Jerry. Jerry lifted his brows.

"Actually, it's something of a poll query."

"Go ahead, just ask," Jane hissed at her.

"My question is: When do you think the human race conclusively lost control over its own destiny? I'd like everyone here to answer, if you don't mind." April produced a handheld notepad. "Please just start anywhere in the arclc-here at my left, will do."

Martha Madronich stood up, reluctantly. "Well, I hate ao first, but in answer to your question, um, Professor, I figured we lost it for good sometime during the or Emergency." She sat down.

Ed Du

Greg Foulks stood up. "I'm with Ed on that one, except was one last chance in 1989 too. Maybe even as late after the First Gulf War. Well, that one was actually econd Gulf War, strictly speaking. But after they blew big chance at genuine New World Order in '89 and they were definitely trashed. I've said enough." He sat down.

Carol Cooper stood up. "Well, you hear this question bit, of course... . Call me romantic, but I always thought 1914. The First World War. I mean, you look at peace in Europe before the slaughter, and it looks ation might have had a chance to stick. And if we 't blown most of the twentieth century on fascism and communism and the rest of the ism bullshit, maybe we tiM have built something decent, and besides, no matter at Taney says, Art Nouveau was the last really truly looking graphic-art movement. I've said enough." ~am Moncrieff took his turn. "Late 1980s ....here re some congressional hearings on global warming that rybody ignored... . Also the Montreal Accords on chlorofluorocarboflS; they should have passed those with some serious teeth about CO2 and methane, and things would be a lot better today. Still heavy weather, probably, but not insanely heavy. Late eighties. Definitely. I've said enough."

Rick Sedletter rose. "What Greg said." He sat down.

Peter Vierling stood up. "Maybe it's just me, but I always felt like if personal computers had come along in the 1950s instead of the 1970s, everybody would have saved a lot of time. Well... never mind." He sat down.

Buzzard stood up. "I think they blew it with the League of Nations in the twenties. That was a pretty good idea, and it was. strictly pig-stupid isolationism on the part of the USA that scragged that whole thing. Also the early days of aviation should have worked a lot better. Kind of a real wings-over-the-world opportunity. A big shame that Charles Lindbergh liked fascists so much. I've said enough."

Joa

Joe Brasseur stood. "I'm with Joa

Ellen Mae Lankton spoke. "Me? If I gotta blame somebody, I blame Columbus. Five hundred thirty-nine years of oppression and genocide. I blame Columbus, and that bastard who designed the repeating rifle. You'd never find an F-6 on any plain that was still covered with buffalo.

But I've said this before, and I've said it enough." She sat down.

Ed Du

Yeah, put me down for 1789. I've said enough."

Jeff Lowe rose to his feet. "'I don't know very much aboui history. Sorry."

Mickey Kiehl stood up. "I think we lost it when we go for nuclear power. They coulda designed much better plants than they did, and a hell of a lot better dissystem, but they didn't because of that moral taint the Bomb. People were scared to death of any kind of iatation' even when a few extra curies aren't really danrous. I'd say 1950s. When the atomic-energy people hid the military-security bullshit instead of really trying make fission work safely for real people in real life. So got all-natural CO2 instead. And the CO2 ruined everying. rye said enough."

Jerry stood up. "I think it's fruitless to look for first sea or to try to assign blame. The atmosphere is a chasystem; humanity might have avoided all those mis~s and still found itself in this conjunction. That begs question of when we lost control of our destiny. We have none now; I doubt we ever had any." with Jerry on this one," Jane said cheerfully. more so. I mean, if you look back at the glacial for the Eemian Period, the one before the last set of ages, there were no people around to speak of, and yet weather was completely crazy. Global temps used to and dip eight, nine, ten degrees within a single cenThe climate was highly unstable, but that was a corntezy natural state. And then right after that, most of rope, Asia, and America were covered with giant cliffs of ice that smashed and froze everything in their path. Even worse than agriculture and urbanization! And a lot worse than heavy weather is now. Pm real sorry that we did this to ourselves and that we're in the fix we are in now, but so-called Mother Earth herself has done worse things to the planet. And believe it or not, the human race has actually had things worse.

"Very good," said April Logan. "Thanks very much for that spectrum of opinion by people who ought to know. Since I have no intention of being here when Dr. Mulcahey's forecast is tested, I'll be taking his advice and leaving Oklahoma immediately. I wish you all the very best of luck." She turned to Jane. "If I can do anything for you, leave E-mail."

"Thanks, April."

"Wait a moment," Carol said aloud. "You don't want to miss the night's entertainment."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Alex is doing something for us, right after the powwow."

Alex. Where was Alex? Jane realized with a guilt-stricken start that she hadn't even missed him.

"Yeah," Rick blurted. "Where is ol' Alex?"

Carol smiled. "Ladies and gentlemen, Alex Unger and his Magic Lariat!"

Alex wandered into the circle of firelight. He was wearing leather chaps and pearl-buttoned shirt and a ten-gallon hat. He'd polished his Mexican boots and put clown white and lipstick on his face.

"Yippee-ti-yi-yo," Peter suggested warily.