“Department of Defense program P-Seventeen, Session Seven Sixty-Seven, twenty-one April 3669, zero-nine hundred hours, four minutes. Alpha Team is present. Beta team is present except Doctor Ko-rensis, on a scheduled vacation.”
“Thank you, Sergeant Ma-tirol,” Heather said to the young blond woman behind the tape recorder. “I hear that Beta Team has some exciting news.
Who’s presenting?”
Doctor Bo-leden the philosopher poked his hand up.
“You have the floor, Larry.”
“First of all, I’ve been asked to announce that there are four ribbons temporarily on display in the dance studio, as someone we know did a clean sweep at the monthly dance competition of the city’s most popular teen dance club last Saturday.”
Everyone clapped and Heather turned red.
The philosopher cleared his throat. “And, of course, I’ve also been asked to remind you that it is a violation of top-secret-umbra security to associate, in any way, that dancer with our Heather, outside of this room with that green light on.”
They all promised with mummers and nods.
“Okay, down to business.” He looked at a sheet he held. “Of the seventeen articles we have endorsed so far, nine have been published, and five more have been accepted for publication. That’s eighty-two percent, much better
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 195
than their fate in Heather’s timeline.”
A rumble of approval ran through the room.
“But the good news is that one of the first, the one about the exponential increase in pollution by a chemist at Southeastern University, published in a scientific journal almost a year ago, has now been re-written and accepted for publication by a popular magazine.”
He stood smiling while the cheering passed.
“There is a dark side to this news, of course. The magazine also plans to publish the opposing view, and the person they’ve hired to do that is not a scientist, could not be a scientist and honorably refute the well-established facts of the matter, and is known for his blatant use of the four main tactics of debunking. Richard, you remember those better than I do. Would you do the honors, please?”
The philosopher took his seat, and the historian stood. “I’ve heard them so often, I’ve got them memorized.”
Several people chuckled.
“One. What the people don’t know, I’m not going to tell them.”
Heather
frowned.
“Two. Don’t bother me with the facts, my mind is made up.”
Remembering it from other sessions, General Ko-fenral nodded.
“Three. If I can’t attack the data, I’ll attack the people.”
“Ad hominem fallacy,” General Bo-seklin mumbled, and the philosopher, seated near, verified with a nod.
“Four. I do my research by proclamation because actual investigation is too much trouble.”
Doctor Ko-silma the chemist shivered with distaste.
The historian sat back down and Heather stood. “Thanks, Larry and Richard. Although I feel the temptation to add the team’s voice to the debate, just as I sense many of you do, this article is probably not important enough for that. Our endorsements of a few scientific articles don’t go beyond the publishers. That ethical system works to our advantage, and hopefully we can continue in stealth-mode until something really important comes along.”
The team looked frustrated, but seemed to understand.
“You’ll get us copies of both articles, pro and con, as soon as possible,
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 196
Larry?”
He
nodded.
“Next, I believe we have a new candidate. You had that, right Tanya?”
Doctor Po-morna the biologist stood and held up a thin manuscript. “This just circulated in our department for comment. The author is not well known, but the work is sound. He gathered a number of estimates of bio-diversity, both pre-historic and recent, did some curve fitting, and concluded that we might be headed for an epoch in which human activity will become the dominant evolutionary force. He even went so far as to propose the term anthropocene. The idea is a bit radical, so it will probably need our help to get published. He does not see the danger we do — greenhouses gasses and climate heating — but then no one else does, at this point, either.”
Discussion took the rest of the session, and by the time Doctor Po-morna sat down, a security corporal was back from the air base with copies of the manuscript.
Heather stood. “Please remember that this article may not be classified, but where you got it, and why you have it, is. We’ll vote on Wednesday. Let me see . . .” She looked down at her note pad. “Alpha Team is having breakfast with Doctor Po-selem on Wednesday to review the Time Traveler’s Paradox, and Beta Team meets on Friday afternoon.” She looked around.
“Sam?”
“No command meeting today, as several of us have to go places, and no issues are pending. Enjoy your lunch.”
Heather looked around the room one more time, then nodded to the blond security sergeant. “Rachael, please close the session.”