Chapter 43 Chapter Forty-Two

Flint asked, "What do you want me to do with the body?" Tanner didn't hesitate: "We strapped weights to their ankles, flew them about two hundred miles, and pushed them into the Atlantic Ocean." "No problem." Flint left the room. Tanner turned to Senator Van Leuven. "That's over, princess. We're on our way." She leaned towards him and kissed him passionately: "I miss you, baby." "I miss you as well." "Those monthly trysts are so frustrating because I know you have to go." Tanner hugged her tightly. "We'll never be apart again. We'll honorably wait three or four months to pay our respects to your dear husband who passed away, and then we'll get married."

She smiled and said, "Let's just wait a month." He nodded: "That's quite audible." "I retired from the Senate yesterday. They are very sympathetic to my loss." "Great. Now we're free to sleep and fly together in full view. I'm going to show you something from KIG that I couldn't show you before." Tanner and Paulina arrive at the red brick building.Tanner walked up to the solid steel door.There is a groove in the center of the door.He wears a large jade ring with the face of a Greek warrior carved into its face. Paulina watched as Tanner pressed the ring into the groove and the door slowly opened.

The room is huge, filled with huge computer and TV screens.At the foot of the far wall were generators and electronics, all connected to a control panel in the center of the room. Tanner said: "Princess, meet Prima. This is the hypocentre projection point. What you and I are seeing here is something that will change human life forever. This room is a satellite capable of controlling the weather in every part of the world The command center of the system. We can create storms anywhere. We can stop the rain and cause famines. We can blanket airports with fog. We can produce hurricanes and tornadoes and stop the growth of the world economy." He smiled slightly , "I have demonstrated some of our capabilities. Many countries are doing scientific research to control the weather, but none of them have solved this problem yet."

Tanner pressed a button, and a huge TV screen lit up. "What you're seeing here is an advanced technology that the military could only dream of." He turned to Paulina, smiling, "The only unruly wild card that prevents Prima from offering me total control is the greenhouse effect, and you Handled that beautifully." He sighed, "You know who created this project? Andrew. He's a genius." Paulina stared at the huge machine in front of her. "I don't understand how this thing can control the weather." "Well, the simple explanation is this, hot air rises toward cold air, and if there's moisture in—"

"Don't talk down to me, honey." "Sorry, but the detailed narrative is a bit complicated," Tanner said. "I'm listening." "It's a little more technical, so bear with me. Microwave lasers produced by nanotechnology pioneered by my brother, when fired into the Earth's atmosphere, create free oxygen that combines with hydrogen to produce ozone and water. Atmosphere The free oxygen in the gas is paired - that's why it's called O2 - and my brother discovered that shooting that laser from space into the atmosphere made the oxygen combine with two hydrogen atoms to make ozone - O3, and water - H2O. "

"I still don't understand how that could—" "Weather is driven by water. Andrew found in a large-scale test that the by-product of his experiment turned out to be a large amount of water, and even the wind direction was changed. The more lasers, the stronger the wind. Control the water and wind, and you will Controlled all weather." He pondered for a moment: "When I found out that Akira Iso in Tokyo, and later, Madeleine Smith in Zurich, were close to the answer to this question, I invited them to come and work here so that I could control them. But they turned me down. I absolutely Can't get them to finish the project at hand." He sighed, "I told you I have four of my top meteorologists working with me on this project."

"yes." "They're good too. Franz Verbrugge in Berlin, Mark Harris in Paris, Gary Reynolds in Vancouver, and Richard Stevens in New York. I put them all on the weather A different aspect of the control, I think because they work in different countries, they will never put the pieces together to discover the ultimate purpose of the project. But somehow, they did. They went to Vienna to meet me, Asked me what my intentions were in researching Prima. I told them I was going to give it to my government. I thought they wouldn't pursue it any further, just to be on the safe side, so I laid a trap. While they were sitting in the reception room , I made a call to your senate office to make sure they heard me denying you heard of Prima. The next morning they started calling you to make appointments to meet. That's when I realized they had to get rid of them ’” Tanner smiled, “Let me show you what we’ve got here.”

A world map appeared on a computer screen, dotted with lines and symbols.As Tanner spoke, he moved a switch, and the focal point on the map changed continuously, finally highlighting Portugal. "Portugal's farming valleys are irrigated by rivers that flow from Spain into the Atlantic Ocean," Tanner said. "Imagine what would happen to Portugal if it rained all the time and the valleys were completely flooded?" Tanner pressed a button, and a picture appeared on a huge screen. In the painting, a huge palace, guards in full dress stood guard, and verdant and beautiful gardens were shining in bright sunlight. Sparkle.

"This is the presidential residence." The picture switches to the dining room inside, where the family sits around and having breakfast together. "This is the President of Portugal, his wife and two children. When they talk, they speak Portuguese, but you hear English. I sent people to install a dozen nano cameras and microphones in his mansion. President Unaware, but his captain of the guard works for me." One of the entourage said to the President: "You have a meeting at the embassy at eleven o'clock this morning, followed by a speech to the union. At one o'clock in the afternoon, lunch at the museum. Tonight we have a state reception, welcome--"

The phone at the breakfast table rang.The president picked it up: "Hello." Then came Tanner's voice, translating simultaneously from English to Portuguese: "Mr. President?" The President looked taken aback. "Who are you?" he asked, his words being simultaneously translated into English by Tanner. "a friend." "Who—how did you get my private phone number?" "It doesn't matter. I want you to listen very carefully. I love your country and don't want to see it destroyed. If you don't want terrible storms to wipe it off the map, you must Send me two billion dollars worth of gold. If you're not interested now, I'll call you in three days."

On the screen they watched as the president snapped the microphone angrily.To his wife: "A madman got my number. Sounds like he escaped from a madhouse." Tanner turned to Paulina: "That was taped three days ago. Now let me show you our conversation from yesterday." Again a picture of the great palace and its beautiful grounds appeared on the screen, but this time it was raining heavily and the sky was brightly lit with lightning. Tanner pressed the button, and the scene on the TV switched to the Oval Office.He was sitting at the conference table, and five or six assistants were talking at the same time.The president scowled grimly. The phone on the desk rang. "Now." Tanner grinned. The president tremblingly picked up the microphone: "Hello." "Good morning, Mr. President. How--?" "You're destroying my country! You're destroying crops. Fields are flooding. Villages are being—" He paused, taking a deep breath. "How long will this go on?" The president's voice was hysterical. "Until I receive two billion dollars." They watched the president grit his teeth, close his eyes, and after a while they said, "You're going to stop the rain, when?" "yes." "How would you like us to deliver the money?" "How easy do you see, princess? We've received the money. Let me show you what else Prima can do. It's our early test." Tanner pressed another button, and a hurricane appeared on the screen. "This happened in Japan," Tanner said. "Real time. And it's usually calm for them this season." He pressed a different button and there was a picture of violent hailstorms laying waste to a citron grove. "Live footage from Florida. It's near zero there - in June. Crops are being wiped out." He activated another button, and a giant screen showed a vision of a tornado destroying buildings. "This is what happened in Brazil. You see," Tanner said proudly, "Prima can do anything." Paulina leaned closer and said softly, "Just like his daddy." Tanner turned off the TV.He picked up three DVDs and played them to her: "This is my conversation with Peru, Mexico, and Italy. Do you know how gold is delivered? We drive the trucks into their banks and let them fill the wagons. And Catch-22. If they try to find out where the gold is going, I promise them the storm will start again and never stop." Paulina looked at him with concern. "Tanner, is there a way for them to trace the address of your phone?" Tanner laughed. "I wish they did that. If anyone manages to track them, they'll get to a church broadcast station, and then another broadcast station will lead them to a school. A third broadcast station will start a game they never want to see." The storm. The fourth will end in the Oval Office of the White House." Paulina laughed. The door opened, and Andrew walked in. Tanner turned around: "Ah, my dear brother is here." Andrew stared at Paulina with a puzzled expression on his face: "I know you, don't I?" He watched her for almost a minute, trying to gather his thoughts at the same time, and then smiled. "You - you and Tanner are - getting married, and I'm best man. You're - you're the princess." Paulina said, "Very well, Andrew." "But you—you left. You don't love Tanner." Tanner said, "Let me correct you. She left because she really loved me." He took Paulina's hand. "She called me the day after the wedding. She married a very Someone with money and power, in order to use her husband's influence to get important clients for KIG. That's why we can grow so fast." Tanner hugged Paulina, "We arrange monthly secret trysts Once," he said proudly, "then she got interested in politics and became a senator." Andrew frowned: "But—but Sebastiana——Sebastiana—" "Sebastiana Cortez," Tanner laughed. "She's just a matchmaker, trying to mislead people. I've taken great pains to make sure everyone in the office understands her. Princess and I Absolutely not to make anyone suspicious." Andrew said vaguely: "Oh, I see." "Come here, Andrew." Tanner led him to the control center.The two stood in front of Prima. "You remember this? You helped develop it. Now it's done," Tanner said. Andrew’s eyes widened: “Prima…” Tanner pointed to one button and said, "Yes. Weather control." He pointed to another button, "Position." He looked at his brother. "Look, how easy we made it." Andrew lowered his voice and said, "I remember..." Tanner turned to Paulina. "This is only the beginning, Princess." He took her into his arms. "I'm researching over thirty countries. You get what you want. Power and wealth." Paulina said cheerfully, "A computer like this might be worth—" "Two of these computers," Tanner said. "I have a surprise for you. Have you ever heard of Tamoa Island, in the South Pacific?" "No." "We just bought it. Sixty square miles, unbelievably beautiful. In French Polynesia, with a small landing beach, and a yacht port. Everything, including" — he dramatically Pause - "Prima II." Paulina said, "You mean there's another—?" Tanner nodded. "That's right. Underground, absolutely no one can find it. Now those two meddling whores are finally eliminated, and the world is ours."