Free Long Way Down by Michael Sears

excrete carbohydrates—sugars—which can be processed into ethanol.”
    We settled into the chairs in Haley’s office. There was only one picture in the room—a framed photo of his wife that sat next to his computer monitor. Haley saw me looking and turned it, possibly unconsciously, so that it faced him alone.
    “What’s the catch?” I said. “There’s got to be some reason we’re not all doing this already. Where does oil have to be trading before this becomes competitive?”
    “As I mentioned, sunlight is limited—finite. You cannot improve your per-acre energy capture by increasing sunlight. So where do you get increased efficiency? Most of the industry is taking an engineering approach, improving their technology. Most of them are using a very commonly found algae. It is much more efficient than corn or sugar beets, and it is easily replaced in case of catastrophic die-offs—algal crashes—due to drought, or predators, or too little sunlight for extended periods. However, the theoretical best, the ultimate, that current systems could hope for would be a return of approximately eight thousand barrels of diesel and four or five thousand barrels of ethanol. That’s per acre.”
    I ran some numbers in my head and whistled. “Not too shabby.”
    “Indeed,” he said. “But suppose you could quadruple your production per acre?”
    “But you can’t. You said it, sunlight is finite.”
    “Sunlight is finite, yes. But remember, the algae only capture a percentage of it. And can only process up to a certain percentage of what is captured.”
    “And that’s where you come in. ‘You’ being Arinna.”
    “Arinna bioengineers more efficient algae. Producers who use our algae will have fewer pool crashes, capture a wider range of available light, and process a much higher percentage of that light energy into fuel. And our product actually captures more carbon dioxide than the burning of the fuel releases. The holy grail of biofuels.”
    “How close are you?”
    “We have a product that performs flawlessly in the laboratory. It has done quite well in our research farm in Arizona.”
    “Where do you get water in Arizona?”
    “There’s plenty of water. It’s just not fit for consumption—filled with salts and minerals. But it’s perfect for our needs. The air is cleaner than we would like, but every site is a trade-off to some degree. But location is not really our concern. I’m not a farmer. I just want to sell my superior product to farmers.”
    “So, you don’t need my help there.”
    He did finally smile at one of my feeble jokes. “I am at a loss as to why I need your help at all, Mr. Stafford. I have explained to my lawyer that I am innocent. Eventually, investigators will discover who is promoting this scheme.”
    I was stunned. The man was certainly intelligent—a genius—and experienced. “Didn’t you go to Virgil Becker for help?”
    “Virgil is our banker. His firm took us public. Of course I spoke with him about the situation. But I made it clear to him that there is no cause for concern. I am innocent and that will be demonstrated.”
    I am often amazed at how remarkably stupid some smart people can be. In most of those cases, I could see the underlying cause—usually arrogance or inflated sense of privilege. But Haley should have known better. For the first time, I began to doubt him.
    “Mr. Haley. You say you know my history. You know part of it. I went to prison. But I’ve been out for a while and I’ve managed tohelp some people out of serious jams. I helped Virgil after the mess his father left him. I can help you. But if you’re only telling me part of the story, you are tying my hands. Understood?”
    He didn’t like it. He did the scowling thing again.
    “I’ve been set up,” he said finally.
    “So be it. Who would do this? Do you have any enemies?”
    He gave a short, unamused laugh. “Hosts. I am decidedly from the wrong background. Despite that, I am successful