Free Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans Page A

we need from her to make the necessary alterations to the MEI that will allow us to create electric children”—he paused—“instead of just dead ones.”
    Hatch looked around the room. “Are there any questions?”
    Seven raised his hand. “After we solve the problems with the MEI, will we continue building Starxource plants?”
    â€œOf course,” Hatch replied. “Populating the world with a new species will take more than a century. In the meantime, there are already seven billion Nonels on this planet. It is time we brought those numbers down to a manageable number.”
    â€œWhat’s a manageable number?” Six asked.
    â€œA billion or so.”
    â€œWill the Nonels ever become completely extinct?” Seven asked.
    â€œI’ve not yet decided, but probably not. Just as the horse hassurvived the automobile, there will always be a use for beasts of burden.”
    â€œDo you mean slave labor?” Seven asked.
    â€œYou make that sound like a bad thing,” Hatch said with a dark smile. The rest of the board members laughed.
    â€œIn spite of our setback in Peru, things are moving forward at a tremendous pace. The world’s hunger for energy has driven the Nonels to our door in increasing numbers. Dr. Benson will now give us our production report.”
    A woman sitting to the side of the table wearing a white lab coat stood. “Good afternoon. I’m pleased to report that the Chad, Greece, and Portugal plants will be fully operational by the end of next month. That will bring us to twenty-nine operating plants—though, after the recent terrorist attack, the Peruvian plant will not be fully operational for another eight months.
    â€œWe are currently generating 776 million kilowatt hours each year and providing power to 194 million people, or 3.6 percent of the world’s energy. After we complete our Southern India, Pakistan, and Philippines plants we will be generating 2.8 billion kilowatt hours per year, providing power for about 11 percent of the world’s population, and 13 percent of the electricity currently being generated in the world. We are slightly ahead of schedule to reach our twenty-four-month goal of providing power to 19.89 percent of the world’s countries, comprising 46 percent of the global population.”
    Hatch smiled with satisfaction. “I should add that currently, more than a billion and a half people in the world have no access to electricity. We will remedy this in three years. We will be their saviors.”
    â€œAdmiral, what if the oil producers pressure governments to stop us?” Six asked.
    â€œDo you think I’m not prepared?” Hatch asked, his tone revealing his annoyance with the question.
    Six wilted. “No, sir.”
    â€œI was prepared long before they considered us a threat. This is global fencing. Pave and repave . Should Japan declare war on us, the Taiwanese and Filipinos will declare war on them. How could theynot? We are providing eighty-six percent of Taiwan’s electricity and seventy-two percent of the Philippines’ energy. To lose our electricity would create anarchy at home. They can have wars in their own streets or war abroad; it’s an easy choice.”
    â€œSir, you said that we will reduce the Earth’s population. How?” Eleven asked.
    â€œEfficiently, of course,” Hatch said. “Our efforts will be of biblical proportions.”
    â€œBiblical?” Seven asked.
    â€œYes,” Hatch said. “Biblical. We are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse prophesized to bring about the end of man’s history. It was written thousands of years ago that ‘They,’ meaning us, ‘were given power over the Earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and the wild beasts.’
    â€œOf course we will not dirty our hands by bearing swords. We will provide money and arms to those countries who follow us; then we shall lead them