Chapter 9
It was a very different Adelle who arrived for her meeting with Kassel the following day, in a large conference room halfway up the Castle's high tower. She was now wearing a rather stiff business suit and high-collared blouse, and she had retreated into the trademark DeWitt emotionless chill. The chill only deepened when she discovered that Kassel had no intention of meeting with her; he had sent Laura Costello to fill in for him.
"He has more urgent business to attend to," Costello told her.
"I see," Adelle said frostily. "He doesn't take the proposed alliance seriously? It was him who proposed it, after all."
"Seriously?" Costello shook her head. "You tried to seduce him, and you accuse him of not taking the alliance seriously?"
Adelle's back went rigid. "That had nothing to do with business," she said in an icy voice.
"Of course not," Costello scoffed. "Look, I've known Viktor for a long time, and he's not so easily influenced. He can have all the hot sex he wants. No matter how many tricks you have programmed into you, did you really think that he'd consider you to be anything special?"
"I told you, it wasn't an attempt to influence him," Adelle snapped. "Perhaps Mr. Kassel's charms are lost on you, but did it ever occur to you that I might genuinely find him attractive?"
"Don't presume that you understand my relationship with Viktor," Costello snapped back, a fierce expression crossing her face. "He means more to me than you can ever understand. And I don't have to hop into bed with him to get his respect. It has nothing to do with sexual desire."
"Indeed," Adelle said archly. "He desires you. You do know that, don't you?"
Costello pressed her lips tightly together and looked away. "I know," she mumbled. Then she shook her head. "Look, this isn't what we're here to talk about. We have business to attend to."
"Ah yes, Business," Adelle said. "About that. I have considered Mr. Kassel's explanation of the purpose of this facility, and quite frankly, it doesn't add up."
Costello raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "How?" she prompted.
"Mr. Kassel's business plan is dependent upon a global economic collapse that may or may not come about," Adelle said. "While it's definitely a possibility, particularly in light of recent events, it remains possible that the governments of the major economic powers may manage to contain the situation."
"Quite possible," Costello agreed.
"And, even if such a collapse were to take place," Adelle continued, "there is no reason to believe that this facility would remain invulnerable. Indeed, it would be highly vulnerable, given that it must be supplied from outside. And as it is likely that many, if not most, of the Castle's potential residents will be rendered destitute by such a collapse…" She spread her hands wide. "You see the problem, don't you? How will you pay for the food and materials which you must import to sustain this place? Unless you have some advantage that I don't know about."
Costello smiled broadly. "Oh, we most certainly do."
Adelle gave her a skeptical stare and said, "Do tell."
"I concede that, after the collapse many of our clients will find that their current economic assets have become largely worthless," Costello said. "But consider this, Ms. Echo. They currently have a great deal of political influence, and are accustomed to using it. Which puts them in an ideal position to lead the transition to the next phase of the world's economy."
Adelle raised an eyebrow. "And what, precisely, does that mean?"
"What's the basis for the current world economy?" Costello asked.
Adelle looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"
"What's the one commodity that the entire world depends on, and can't live without?" Costello continued. "It's really quite simple, Ms. Echo. Oil. The world is addicted to fossil fuels. Access to oil has been the key to the developed world's economic dominance. Many of our clients have made their fortunes from petroleum or its derivative industries. It's not too much of an exaggeration to say that those who control the world's oil supply, control the world."
"And?"
"Think about it. What could cause more disruption to the global economy than the complete collapse of the petroleum industry? Entire nations – entire regions – would be thrown into chaos."
"But the petroleum industry is doing quite well, even taking recent events into account," Adelle pointed out. "It's one of the few industries that remains profitable."
"I know," Costello said. "We have extensive investments in the energy sector, after all. But we're considering dumping them."
"What?" Adelle was taken aback. "Do you really believe that oil companies are going to start failing?"
"We're positive of it," Costello said.
Adelle stared out a window, lost in thought. "Yes, that would do it," she said. "If the energy sector collapsed, the crisis that Viktor foresees will come about. There would be an extensive period of economic readjustment as the world shifted to alternative energy sources. And if you knew what technology was going to arise to become the next major energy source…" She turned to stare at Costello. "You don't just know about it. You already control it, don't you? You already have the next major energy technology developed, here. And that is what you are going to export to the world. That's your advantage."
"Oh, bravo," a voice said from behind her.
"Am I right, Mr. Kassel?" Adelle said, without turning.
"Quite right," Kassel said, standing in the open doorway of the conference room. "I wanted to see how much of it you could work out for yourself."
"She did better than I expected," Costello admitted.
"I'm pleased that I've passed your test," Adelle said. "So, are you going to let me in on your big secret, or not?"
"Oh, I think it's high time I did that," Kassel said. "I have the solution to all of the world's energy problems, right here in this facility." His eyes twinkled. "Would you like to see it?"
They rode an elevator down, down, deep into the heart of the Castle. When it opened, security guards carrying automatic weapons approached them.
"This is the most tightly secured area of this facility," Kassel said as he allowed a guard to aim a scanner at his eyes. "As you can see, even I don't get in unless my identity is verified. Thank you," he said to the guard. "Ms. Echo is with me."
A large steel door opened, and on the other side, a narrow walkway ran between steel girders. Not far below, Adelle could hear the sound of waves lapping against concrete. "What is this?" she asked.
"This is the oldest part of the facility," Kassel said. "It was once an oil drilling platform. Now, ironically, it's what is going to make every oil rig in the world obsolete."
He led her down the walkway to another steel door. On the other side, Adelle could see an instrument chamber. The far wall was curved inward.
"It's not much to look at," Kassel admitted. "But this is the future of the world's energy supply."
Adelle looked at the instrument panels curiously. "A nuclear reactor?" she asked.
"No," Kassel said. "Not in the traditional sense, at least. This, Ms. Echo, is the holy grail of atomic physics. It's what I was working on when I had to abandon my doctoral degree. But I set up this facility to continue my research, so that I could produce – this. It's a hydrogen fusion reactor – the first one in the entire world to attain operational status."
