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“Miss Stratt, thank you for coming, we know you’ve been exceedingly busy.”
“That’s quite alright,” Stratt said as she took a seat and looked out at the crowd of fifty or so world leaders watching her. “I had expected it.”
“Let me start,” The President of the United States said, with a deep voice that hid much weariness, “By offering my personal congratulations, and that of the Americ — no, of the human people — on your success so far. Launching the Hail Mary at all is an incredible feat of science and engineering, but doing so in the timespan you did demonstrates an unparalleled ability to organize.”
“Thank you Mister President.” Stratt replied evenly. She felt the ‘but’ that was coming.
“Yes, I would echo the President’s remarks, and I believe all of our colleagues here and around the world would do likewise.” The British Prime Minister said, to a general ripple of nodded heads and voiced affirmations.
“Thank you again.” Stratt said. They were really buttering her up. Must be worried she’d take the news badly.
“But” There it was, “Of course, this is only the beginning.”
“The beginning?” Stratt asked, just hiding her surprise.
“Of course.” The President repeated, “We have taken the first vital step to finding a solution to the Astrophage crisis. And again, it’s a deeply impressive step. You’ve seen the news, I’m sure, even in these bleak times there have been celebrations worldwide at the news Hail Mary has safely exited the Oort Cloud and with it, our solar system.”
“I have.” Stratt allowed. She had been keeping a faint eye on the public in case something went wrong with the mission and measures had to be taken to calm people down, but after the explosion at Baikonur, everything had gone according to plan. She had seen the happy people in the streets and allowed herself brief satisfaction at the success.
“But if you were a fool you would never have been our choice for this role.” This was Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister (PM Wakabayashi herself being occupied by the emergency response to a major typhoon that had struck the Home Islands two days earlier) “Therefore, you will be well aware that we have only cleared the first hurdle in a very long race.”
“That is correct, I have been instituting plans and preparing for a transition from Project Hail Mary to securing the endurance of the human race until we hear back. I can send the files to the national governments by Thursday.”
“Miss Stratt,” The Brazilian President cut in, “I am getting the sense we may be at cross purposes here. May I ask what you believe the purpose of this meeting is?” Stratt appreciated the directness and she replied in kind.
“To strip me of the powers you have invested in me now that Hail Mary has departed and its success or failure is out of the hands of anyone on Earth. Transitioning to whatever plans each country has for itself as we wait for news. And to hold me accountable, perhaps criminally, for decisions I have taken that have caused either public outcry or private lobbying.”
There was quiet for a few seconds, then the Chinese Premier leaned forward and tented her fingers.
“I fear my Brazilian colleague is correct, you are laboring under a misapprehension. Whilst we do hope for a most thorough debriefing of Project Hail Mary so far and your honest thoughts on its prospects, we did not bring you here to strip you of any powers nor to pin blame on you for necessary acts. We do note some apprehension among our number regarding your decision to press-gang Ryland Grace into the mission — we have debriefed the staff at Baikonur and are aware of this — but your logic is credible.”
“I make no apologies for that. Grace was the only remaining candidate who could complete the mission.” Stratt said mildly.
“No need to defend it, I only note it for the benefit of my colleagues. No, we brought you here with the intention, if you are willing to continue to carry the burden, of reaffirming the powers we have invested in you and discussing the steps you would envision taking next. Please recall that the original purpose of your powers was to ensure the future survival of our species, not simply to launch a space vessel. That mandate remains, whether by finding an alternative solution to the problem, or merely by sustaining our species until we hear back from Hail Mary and can implement a solution. The national leaders not in attendance here are largely of the same mind, though three intend to withdraw and a small number are wavering, but we think we can convince them to stay.”
“I see.” Stratt said. “Very well, if you believe I am most suitable for the role, I accept.”
The American President spoke again, “Excellent.” He gave a broad smile that flashed white teeth, “And we do believe that. If there were any doubts, getting Hail Mary launched within twenty months of the discovery of the Petrova Line erased them. There are certainly people who dislike some of what you have done, but nobody can claim you are ineffective.”
“Thank you Mister President.” Stratt said, “But I do not need to be buttered up. I said I would accept. Let’s move on.”
“Exactly what we mean.” The British PM said, “But you are right. Let us move on. Plainly, what steps do you intend to implement over the coming weeks and months, and in pursuit of what objectives? We ask not with the intention of picking holes, more because it will help us know what we’ll need to prepare our various national governments for whatever domestic measures must be taken. Commanding the military to, for example, charter an airplane is one thing. Implementing, as an example of a proposed measure, power rationing would require very different steps to implement.”
“You are anticipating major changes in policies, then?” Stratt asked. There were nods. “Good, because that’s exactly what we’ll need to do.”
“Please, fill us in.” The Russian President spoke for the first time.
“I see a number of measures being needed, most of which can be pursued in tandem. Our purpose is to ensure our survival for a minimum of twenty six years, preferably longer. This also means we need to maintain a strong enough scientific base, engineering base, and space capability to enact whatever solution presents itself. We cannot simply find a way to survive at subsistence levels. Ideally I would like to send vessels, these could be unmanned, to other nearby stars affected by the Astrophage and see what can be gleaned from them. Some are closer than Tau Ceti and we may glean information that helps. But that is a major enough decision that I do not intend to take it alone and I will need to have feasibility studies conducted before bringing it to you.”
“Interesting idea.” China’s leader said.
“More importantly I do not believe we can accept deaths in any significant numbers. Pragmatically speaking it could cause greater catastrophe. The outbreak of famine would set off a chain reaction that could dissolve the ties of international solidarity we have managed to establish, throw countries into chaos, and undermine our efforts at survival. So our goal must be zero deaths. We have already failed, as Prime Minister Wakabayashi’s absence shows. Increasingly erratic and violent weather will continue to plague us. Nevertheless there is a difference between a few hundreds or thousands dead in a typhoon and a few tens of millions dead of famine.”
The Japanese Deputy PM’s nose wrinkled at this, but he stayed quiet.
“So our real goal is to keep deaths as close to zero as possible.” Stratt saw they were waiting for her to press on.
“We must reorient the world’s industrial base and output in a manner more dramatic than the nations of World War 2. One; Harden ourselves against severe weather events. That is the easiest part, because we largely know what needs to be done, it’s just a question of doing it. Subordinate to that I would also like to establish a global disaster response agency, one which can do what needs to be done in the immediate aftermath of a disaster to save lives without having to negotiate with governments. Two; The Astrophage has given us one positive thing which is an immense source of power. We will use that. Build as many Astrophage power facilities as needed, worldwide. We need that power for step three; Every home on Earth, every office building, every shop, every factory, everything, needs to be fitted with the means to endure extremely cold weather for indefinite periods of time. For the next few years we will still have meaningfully long and warm summers but winters are going to grow colder and longer quickly. We’re going to need well insulated buildings that can run lighting and heating twenty-four-seven for decades. We also need to abolish any ideas of planned obsolescence, things have to be built to last. The real reason for the power requirements is part four; lighting and heating for enough farm acreage to feed the entire planet. This will mean changing our staple crops and cutting most or all currently popular meat out of our diets, barring possibly fish. The oceans will change temperature far more slowly than the surface. It will take propaganda campaigns to make that change stick in some places. In tandem I want to press ahead with massive genetic manipulation projects to harden crops against cold, rain, flooding, and whatever else might threaten them. Nationalize the entire genetics field. Worldwide. No more CEOs, no more boards, no more profits, I don’t care how much they scream and cry because we need scientists with a blank check and not being directed to any purpose except improving crops.” Stratt saw several faces blanch at this but she pressed on unconcerned, “Five; institute global rationing measures. Even if nothing else was done we still have a short period where production exceeds our species’ caloric needs, and I intend to both capitalize on that to the full and extend it as far as possible. Every calorie we save now is one that we can put in storage and keep for the future. No exceptions. The people in this room will be treated the same as the homeless and orphans. Enough for everyone, and no more. Food waste must end immediately. There can be no more dumpsters full of edible food protected by police for the goal of corporate profits. Seven; We need to investigate alternative or currently underutilized sources of food. Cattle ranching is going to end, but maybe insect ranching is efficient enough to survive. I don’t know, we need to do more research. More propaganda will be needed in some places but frankly if the choice is between your protein coming from crickets and starving, humans will choose the crickets. Seven; Continue and expand geoengineering projects like the release of Antarctic methane. Every day we can buy with a measure like that is a day we can spend preparing our farms and homes.”
Stratt took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Alongside all this are two other ongoing projects. The first is to search for an alternative solution to the Astrophage problem which can be implemented before Hail Mary returns information, or if the mission fails. The second is to prepare for an inability to solve the problem. We know the Astrophage only dims a star to a certain degree, but we need to discover if that will remain true in the long term. If it does we need to find out what human survival looks like in that world, and how we get there.”
The world leaders looked back and forth to each other, and some chattered quietly amongst themselves. Stratt remained impassive and waited for a response. After a few moments of conferring, the Russian President spoke,
“This is indeed a dramatic project, and I expect you are already aware there will be dissent, both publicly and in governments.”
“I am aware.” Stratt said simply, “Solutions will be found.” She did not say it with confidence, anymore than she would say “If I let go of a ball it will fall to the ground” with confidence. It was merely a statement of the truth as she knew it.
“They shall.” Russia’s Premier said, “As long as I am President of Russia, she shall lead the way. Our resources are at your disposal.”
Whether he was fishing for her favor now, positioning his country for greater influence during and after the crisis, or completely sincere, mattered little to Stratt. The continued support of what were usually jealously guarded national sovereignties like the Russian Federation, and others represented in the room, was what was of true import. After a few more exchanges of inconsequential trivialities Stratt was back aboard a flight to Houston, where she had been installed at NASA’s JSC to track the Hail Mary since shortly after launch. She realized that one of her first objectives now would be relocating to a permanent site from which she could effectively reorient her focus and begin the work she had been charged with.
She opened her tablet and started to draw up a list.