Gloria Kohl

“Human activities have caused the Earth to exceed six of nine boundaries necessary for keeping the planet healthy, pushing the environment well outside the safe operating space for humanity.” Smithsonian Magazine, 2023. PROLOGUE Iceland - September, 2023 Something was different. She had been to this lake five times before and the energy had been peaceful, serene just like a glacial lake in a remote area of northern Iceland was supposed to be. But it felt off, as if the turquoise stillness was a mirage. She and above her, her ten colleagues, their columns of shimmering pixels, would soon begin their descent to the shore of the lake. Leta scanned the boulders and granite slabs of vertical rock that rose unevenly towards the sky. There was no sign of life, at least not human. Look around, the voice in her head said. Something’s not right. Leta was still in pixilated form hovering a thousand feet above the glacial lake. She knew the place well, knew what to expect and this feeling was not what she expected. She scanned again, the craggy outcroppings, the inlets here and there of the almost oval lake. No sign of human activity. But still a sense, as though the serenity of the water had only recently become calm. No prior storm had been reported. Her team arrived, flanking her on all sides. Ten Tenorans like herself, still pixilating, millions of microscopic replicas of themselves, awaiting the sign from her that it was okay to proceed. Hansen, she sensed, was concerned by her hesitation. He moved closer. There was no talking in this form and Hansen had yet to perfect mind-to-mind communication. He started to solidify and descend, his sign he believed it was okay to proceed. You’re not imagining this, the voice in her head said. But she countered with the thought that maybe she had finally reached her limit. Most Water Carriers retired after a hundred missions. This was her hundred and fortieth. Maybe this arresting unease was the sign for her to stop, not for the mission to stop. She had read that Water Carriers start to hallucinate at the end of their careers. Too much radiation from space even with the refraction suits. Tenorans needed this water, they needed this mission to happen. Hansen was all in. The rest of her team were waiting for her sign. She was still the leader and she had to act. Then, against her better judgment, she gave the go ahead.   SECTION ONE “This month is the planet’s hottest on record by far – and hottest in around 120,000 years.” European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization. 2023.   Chapter One Ari – Nubian Desert, Sudan, Africa – August, 2023 Heat rose in wavy bands over the desert sand making the air seem thick with texture, thick enough to run her hand through it. Ari wondered if her body and electromagnetic field displaced the heat’s energy so that it wasn’t visible up close but only in the distance. She tossed a small rock into the wave. Odd, she thought. It looked like the wave and the rock existed on two different planes. For something new to do this week, she could study that, and then tossed another rock. It was getting hot, too hot, but still, she didn’t want to go back. And she didn’t want to be sitting here either. There had to be more than this same old, same old, but when? A year from now? A month? If she had a date, maybe she could be patient. Maybe. Aside from trips into Khartoum with her mother, she hadn’t been anywhere but here. Nineteen years and counting here. She reminded herself that this jumping-out-of-her-skin feeling was always worse when her mother disappeared into one of her seclusions. Her mother had been in this isolation for a full week now, ever since that mystery person named Maxstor on Tenora was reported as “gravely ill.” Her mother wouldn’t say who the man was or why he mattered, only that he did. And Ari couldn’t just look up a Tenoran person online, not on Earth, and find out who he was there or what his relationship might be to her mother. But hadn’t that Greer Hexley solar project come her way after her mother’s last seclusion? That had been the high point of her life so far. A killer high, being in charge, knowing exactly what to do, with people—not just her parents—listening to her, even looking up to her. It had been exhilarating. So maybe something good could come from her mother’s hibernation now. She tossed a handful of sand into the still air and tracked the grains as if her stare could weaken gravity. She spotted an egg-eater snake slithering about twenty feet off. It wasn’t interested in her. She could try and capture it, make it play with her—well, not really play, at best slide onto her arm, and if she was lucky, wrap. Nah, probably better to just give herself five more minutes to hang out, lay back and think about how maybe college could be in the cards for her. She saw herself with a group of kids her own age like she’d seen in campus images online. Except going straight into grad school would mean the students were three or four years older than her. It was worrisome, and she thought for the hundredth time that she should have applied to undergrad and not used “her extraordinary accomplishments,” as they’d said in their acceptance, to leap-frog in. She could act older even if she wouldn’t look it. She would pass. As it was, sometimes she felt ancient. Probably, it was the desert that did that to people, she thought. Demanding so much and so f’ing indifferent. Around for millions of years, around for millions more, with or without humans to fully understand it. She didn’t, that was for sure, but even more than that, as a Tenoran living here, would she ever understand what it meant not to be human? And did she even want to? No, she just wanted to learn how to hang out with people. A crush on a real flesh and blood person—human or Tenoran. If she shouted it, would anyone hear? Sometimes, it felt like her body would just burst. True, she’d figured out how to masturbate but what she really wanted was whatever happened with a real person. Watching romantic movies online made her want to puke. Predictable, sappy. But there were a few good films, showing deep friendships. What she wouldn’t give for a friend like that, someone she could share her feelings with, someone who wanted to know her, really know her. That could, would she felt sure, happen at school, in Switzerland. Where there was snow. Skiing. New food. Not to mention learning from the best fusion power scientists in the world. She didn’t want to sit up, but she forced herself. The snake was gone, and off to the sides, nothing was moving on the sand, at least not that she could see. Not smart to be so distracted out here, but she’d sense danger. She had a knack for it. Like the time with the horned viper all camouflaged in the sand, coiled just a few feet from her. It would have been curtains if she’d stepped on it, but somehow she’d known it was there without actually seeing it. Living on the desert her whole life, she could run with her eyes closed, sense terrain and direction. And she was fast. BFD! Maybe, if she really had to go to Tenora, which her father had always said was a “when, not if” situation, she could negotiate with her parents to return to Earth for graduate school in the fall. The Swiss Plasma Center for Fusion Research, the best institution in the field, had given her a full scholarship for her achievements, so wouldn’t that mean something to her parents, persuade them? She could commute to Tenora. Ha! So many millions of miles, billions. But she still hadn’t even pixilated into deep space. Oh shit. She’d totally forgotten. She’d promised her mother she’d fix the pixilation suit by the time she emerged from this latest seclusion. Damn. She sprang to her feet and took off for the workshop, and then it hit her again: the fear that if she had to go to Tenora, she might be stuck on that wasteland for the rest of her life.   Chapter Two Hexley – Virginia, USA – August, 2023 Hexley was waiting for his rhythm to kick in. It usually happened after two hundred meters, but at four hundred he was still off. Instead of breathing every fourth stroke, it was every other. Choppy, no glide, no easing of his mind. Why couldn’t his wife agree with him on something so important? He just knew, had had a feeling, Greer’s upcoming announcement would not be good. And when Eleanor had asked him how he knew, he’d felt so challenged, as if his insights, his premonitions had no merit. “I’m not challenging you, Hex,” Eleanor’d said as if reading his mind, “I’m guiding you like I’ve always done.” “I know because I know our daughter, Eleanor.” And you don’t, he thought now, you never did. Should he tell her that? “We’re not telling Greer she’s genetically Tenoran. Not now. It’s not time,” she’d said. Again, always, her answer was no. He should quit asking for permission and just tell Greer. He could meet her when she arrived later and tell her. He needed air at every stroke now. When was the last time he couldn’t maintain breathing every other stroke? He was so upset he grabbed the water with his fists and pushed it under and behind him, but that only made his stroke harder. He opened his hands again. Keep swimming. It always worked to clear his head except it wasn’t working now. Because this time something felt different. Greer suddenly coming home with an announcement and they’d barely heard from her all year, hadn’t seen her since last Christmas, nine months now? He’d been patient, hadn’t he? Greer had no idea how patient he’d been. For decades. Water went right up his nose and he stopped. With the stinging inflaming his sinuses, disgusted and irritated, he pushed himself forcefully through the water towards the side of the pool and, in one effortless motion, hoisted himself out. “Be patient, Hex. When everything is ready, we’ll tell her. You’re almost there and your brother, Maxstor, will be dead soon, and you’ll replace him as Tenora’s Head of the Council. You’ll see.” Yes, Eleanor had been kind to him last night; she’d smiled and even kissed him lightly on the lips. He closed his eyes and smiled. He loved her lips. She knew this was hard for him and he couldn’t be angry at her. Without her strategies and his work, Hexley Enterprises never would have grown to control almost all of Earth's water purification and distribution systems. He nodded. And he never would have had the patience to develop a way to stop Tenora’s water missions. He wiped himself down, stripped out of his briefs and headed naked to his bath. Maybe a steam next or a scalding shower. Let it all drain out of him. He was so close. The nets were probably only a few tests away from perfection. And his brother, a few breaths away from death. And then his nephew, Malon, would succeed Maxstor on the Council. Any day now, Malon had said. Then Hexley could go home, be welcomed, honored? Eleanor and Greer by his side. But that’s why Greer had to know, she had to get ready, learn to pixilate. “Patience, Hex,” Eleanor said and then had come her kiss. “Your love for your daughter is blinding you." He’d shaken his head at her words and she’d given him the I-know-you slight smile. Always her knowing what was best for him, as if he was some misinformed child.

THE ACT OF STORY STATEMENT: Do whatever it takes to save Tenora and Earth from climate extinction. THE ANTAGONIST PLOTS THE POINT Hexley, a scientific genius, was never granted the opportunity by his home planet, Tenora, to become the breakout star he has always believed he is. Realizing that Tenora would never allow him to lead the governing Council, even after bioengineering the first Water Carrier to transport Earth’s water to his drought- and disease-ravaged planet, he chose exile to Earth rather than endure ongoing humiliation and rejection. In his thirty-five years on Earth, he has amassed a trillion-dollar fortune by controlling the planet’s water purification and distribution systems; yet, he has never relinquished his obsession with avenging his exile. Now, he has developed the means to end Tenora’s water missions to Earth and will hold Earth’s water hostage until Tenora’s Council begs him to return as their true leader. Only then will he allow Tenora’s planet-saving water missions to resume. Only Hexley’s beloved adult daughter Geri, born on Earth without knowledge of Tenora, can temper his hunger for revenge. Soon, he’ll tell Geri that she’s Tenoran, even though his wife forbids it, and Geri will return to Tenora with him, understanding and supporting all he has achieved and overcome in his life. However, Geri’s need for independence and her commitment to saving climate-challenged Earth thwarts Hexley’s idealistic and unattainable dreams for their relationship, leading him to disinherit her. Geri’s estrangement emotionally complicates and exasperates Hexley’s megalomaniacal obsession with revenge. With mounting grief and despair over losing his daughter fueling his world-ending destructive powers, he will destroy Earth and Tenora if he is not stopped. THE BREAKOUT TITLE THE WATER CARRIERS – The three main characters, in addition to the bio-engineered Water Carriers, can be interpreted as water carriers. HERE, NOT HERE – The origin of Ari’s wisdom that saves the day. A TOUCH AT THE END OF THE WORLD – The origin of Ari’s transformative powers that saves the day. GENRE AND COMPARABLES Genre: Speculative and Climate Fiction, Literary Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven’s genre-bending literary science fiction meets Sequoia Nagamatsu‘s How High We Go In The Dark’s, multiple viewpoints, futuristic technology, multi-generational grief and grievance, love, and hope for the future. CORE WOUND AND THE PRIMARY CONFLICT When a precocious nineteen-year-old female scientist—raised on Earth but from climate-ravaged Tenora—survives the invasion of her family’s compound in Africa’s Nubian Desert, she is forced to return to Tenora, and in a race against time and climate change must gain the scientific acumen and prescience to stop the destruction of her planet and Earth by the richest man who’s ever lived. OTHER MATTERS OF CONFLICT PRIMARY: Ari must choose what is good for the many and prioritize the survival of Earth and Tenora over her own desires. At the outset, her mother tasks her with successfully pixilating into deep space from Earth to prepare for a return to Tenora, her planet of origin. Moments before this latest deep space attempt, her mother warns her that if she fails again, she and her parents will soon die on Earth. Ari’s primary ambition has been to remain on Earth and help save it by studying fusion at one of the world’s best schools. She also wants to learn how to be one of many experiencing the world, but her mother’s words force her to confront a greater responsibility. Ongoing challenges to choose the greater good over her personal needs are the rungs of the ladder Ari must continue to climb, as the stakes for the survival of both worlds keep rising with her. SECONDARY: Midway through the story, Ari faces the dilemma of either remaining committed to her mission of stopping Hexley and the secrecy it entails, or being honest with Rabia, her first love, whom she meets on Tenora. She fears that holding back from Rabia may lead to losing her, and ultimately, she does lose her. Months later, Rabia, who has been hiding her own truths, is murdered, plunging Ari into an even deeper conflict as she grapples with all the signs she likely missed regarding Rabia’s situation while being consumed by her own turmoil—signs that could have potentially saved Rabia. THE INCREDIBLE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING Ari sits on a desert dune, sifting sand and watching an egg-eater snake. The physics of the heat waves rising against the vast desert horizon intrigues her mind and rekindles her yearning for a life with peers, tackling scientific problems not of her own making, experiencing snow, winter sports, new foods, and a vibrant life away from her family’s desert compound. Later, in her workshop in the industrial research hangar, Ari works on her pixilation suit: millions of micro-organisms acting as a refraction layer against the radiation from space. Monitors, servers, spectroscopes, chests of parts, and plasma chambers represent some of the environments she thrives in and uses to operate the water and solar energy generation systems for the family’s drought-resistant seed farm. A flashing light signifying a system failure drives Ari to the massive water and solar energy fields. Ari spots her mother walking in the distance, her flowing white linens in the foreground, their home carved into ancient stone in the background. Ari thinks the scene could be from a science-fiction movie, except she and her family really are aliens. Later, at dinner and in her bedroom, Ari learns and worries about her pixilation now scheduled for tomorrow. With her parents standing by, Ari departs from the pixilation desert plateau, undergoing mind-blowing sensations of tearing apart, color, energy, motion, sound, absolute silence, and millions of atomic replicas of herself moving near the speed of light, climaxing with her mother’s voice calling her name in the star-filled rapture of space. Geri Hexley gazes out the window of her family’s luxuriously appointed jet, featuring an Albers painting embedded in an ebony and glass cabin divider. As she travels through a sea of white storm clouds, she contemplates the storm that her news that she won’t be joining Hexley Enterprises will unleash in the Manor House below. Beneath the clouds, she sees the ten-thousand-acre estate, and suddenly, her father’s new city, Hexley City, appears as if from nowhere. Observing it from five thousand feet, she learns from the family pilot that it is home to HexLink and other mysterious enterprises, possibly related to space travel. In a silent, driverless air car gliding along the Shenandoah foothills, Geri finally reaches the guard gatehouse. She then follows the mile-long approach to the house, passing horses grazing in pastures and dense forests beyond. Ultimately, she arrives at the motor court, where a towering water-woman sculpture stands at the center. With head uplifted to the sky, her wide-spread arms drip water into the basin below. Inside the home’s pristine, shiny marble interior, Geri averts her gaze from famous art pieces that adorn the museum-like walls and atriums. In her suite of rooms, she notices a new black material has replaced her desktop, and later at the formally dressed dining table with her family, she sees the same dark material above the table, hovering like a horizontally suspended monolith. Hexley swims in his enclosed Olympic pool struggling to find a rhythm to his stroke. Thwarted by thoughts of his daughter’s arrival and the portentous announcement she will be making, he swallows water, hoists himself from the pool, and naked retreats to the sauna and shower rooms. In his steaming hot shower, he imagines his life on Tenora as a boy in that dark apartment with his father’s large presence filling the small space and the dirty pan of water in the corner for washing, used by all his family, always his turn coming last. He imagines his father standing in front of him in the shower, and he is choking him, but this time the man won’t die. These settings are all within the first thirty pages of the novel. Ari’s additional locations include Tenora’s completely enclosed capital city, Trosi, along with its several beige, sandstone dominant plazas, water and climbing simulations, a minimalist flat each room with its air cleaning arboretum built into the walls, the last aquifer, a hospital room, and a Scout training and research center. Then there’s Patagonia, featuring its mountains, forests, a small village’s dirt street, and a single, dangling-from-the-ceiling light bulb hotel room. Finally, there are various interiors of New York City, plus the Statue of Liberty, and the Oculus. Geri’s additional locations encompass her townhome and Ana’s brownstone in Cambridge, MA, as well as the post-Civil War streets of Khartoum, Khartoum’s Corinthia Hotel, the war-ravaged park along the Nile, the interior and exterior of Al-Nilin Mosque, Omdurman market, the refinery site in Northern Khartoum, Geri’s spartan living quarters there, and the interiors of her advanced technology production site. Lastly, when Geri travels to New York, she will visit a Long Island nouveau-riche south shore home and various interior and exterior sites in NYC. Hexley’s locations include his oversized bedroom and his study, which features floor-to-vaulted-ceiling bookcases filled with first editions; the corridors, suspended glass walkways, pixilation chambers and cages of Hexley’s underground research center, the Dandelion; the forests of Hexley’s estate, which include a new building site in progress with crops, solar power, and cattle, as well as a mid-completion full site enclosure; the interiors of HexLink with the Water Ships; and the immense production and assembly site in Hexley City, as viewed from Hexley’s private viewing room, The Aerie.