NINETEEN

There were catcalls and shouts from the curb in downtown Manhattan and they threatened to drown out the proceedings. A handful of reporters and a dozen onlookers had gathered in a semicircle around the front steps of the Eternity Church for a press conference, but the noise across the street forced everyone to strain to hear what the pastor was saying as he stood outside the old, brown-brick cathedral.

Several NYPD cops kept the small mob of protesters from getting out of hand. Most of them had wandered down from an unrelated demonstration on Wall Street a few blocks away. With the unemployment rate at seventeen percent, and eleven states on the verge of bankruptcy, the public was in full-blown panic. The protesters had hit the streets to blame the “robber-baron capitalists” for the nation’s financial woes. But when they heard that a Bible-toting pastor was preaching about the “end of America” a few blocks away, some of them decided to head over to the church and redirect their fury.

A bearded man in a dirty sweatshirt shouted over to the press conference from the opposite curb. “Hey, quit bringing God into this, you idiot! It’s the capitalist system that’s rotten. My kids don’t have any food. You can take your Bible and — ”

A cop grabbed both ends of his nightstick and blocked the man at the chest from walking in the direction of Rev. Peter Campbell, who was standing on the top step in front of the church. Two members of the pastor’s Bible-prophecy group were standing behind him.

A female reporter with a wireless microphone took a step toward Campbell. Her cameraman, who had a quikcam linked to a satellite feed, was right behind her. “What do you say, Reverend Campbell, to that man who can’t feed his family? You talk about God’s coming judgment, but with our economic problems, do you think people are listening to your message?”

Campbell had to raise his voice to be heard. “Our message today isn’t just about God’s judgment; it’s also about God’s grace and His plan for redemption. We want people to see the signs of the times and realize that the coming of Jesus Christ is imminent. We can’t tell you the day or the hour, but it is very clear as we speak that Jesus is once again approaching the door of human history — ”

“What kinds of signs?” another reporter shouted.

“As mentioned by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew: earthquakes. We’ve seen fourteen major earthquakes around the world in the last twelve months, and now the volcanic eruption in Saudi Arabia. Jesus predicted these things would be the ‘birth pangs’ of the cataclysm to come. The book of Job says that God ‘shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble.’ These signs are reminders that the Lord has something He wants to tell us.”

“And what about our national financial mess?” a man from an Internet news service asked. “Are you saying that’s from the hand of God?”

“I am saying — the Bible is saying — watch for the signs. Jesus also predicted famine. Here in the United States, we haven’t pulled out of the dust-bowl effects of this drought we are seeing in the Midwest, or from the virus that has been killing off our livestock, or the collapse of many of our financial institutions. The dollar is plunging. We have to get the big picture. Think back to some history. The BP oil disaster along the Gulf Coast. Remember that? Resulting in the halting of offshore drilling. Then promises of renewed drilling. Administrative delays. Another spill. Another shutdown of drilling. Then our government dives into our strategic oil reserves, which become depleted. And when that happened, and when OPEC refused to supply us, where did we turn? To Russia. Why is that important? Because in Ezekiel …”

But Campbell was interrupted by a volley of eggs. He was hit in the head and face.

The reporters and cameras immediately whirled around to take in the scene across the street, where cops were zip-tying the hands of a few of the egg throwers. More screaming and scuffling.

Pastor Campbell’s press conference had disintegrated.

A young Asian man in a T-shirt and baggy cargo pants stood on the sidewalk. He had been walking by but stopped when he heard the pastor’s comments. As he walked up the stairs, Campbell was still wiping his face as two of his friends helped him into the church.

“Hey,” the Asian man shouted.

The other two men held their hands out to block his way, but Campbell turned toward the Asian man. “So what do we do?” the young man asked. “What now?”

Campbell smiled. “Come inside. Let’s talk.”

In the lobby of the Climate Change Office of the U.S. Geological Survey in Washington, D.C., Dr. Robert Hamilton had been waiting for nearly two hours. He was usually a patient man, but his foot was tapping incessantly. His patience had just run out. The papers on his lap were important — more important than his own battle with cancer and the ill effects of the chemo he’d endured. After a long and undistinguished career, Hamilton had stumbled on a discovery so stunning that it’s magnitude almost defied quantification. He had his hands on a devastating assessment of an impending geological crisis. He ran through his vocabulary: apocalyptic, disastrous, catastrophic. All those words fit. It went far beyond his original thesis — simply that global warming trends had been spiked because of increased volcanic activity. Now the government scientists needed to know it too.

In his agitation, Hamilton glanced nervously through the office window to check the weather outside. The sky was darkening. Drat. I didn’t bring an umbrella.

Finally, a secretary breezed in and motioned to Hamilton. “Dr. Smithson will see you now.”

Hamilton grabbed his expandable folder, bulging with papers, and nearly sprinted into the inner office.

Smithson was startled by Hamilton’s hasty entrance. He stood up and reached over the desk for a handshake. “Bob, good to see you again. It’s been awhile. What brings you here from the glorious state of Hawaii? Still teaching?”

“Yes, and doing a lot of fieldwork — which is why we need to talk — ”

“Sure. For a volcanologist like you, there must be plenty to study on the islands.”

“Well, Henry, lately my fieldwork has been in the Middle East — ”

Smithson cut him off. “Interesting. So what can I do for you?”

Hamilton started to pull papers from his folder. Smithson gave a tight-lipped smile and glanced at his watch.

“Henry, this data is startling. Some shocking trends are developing — with potential effects on the global-warming debate.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place.”

“Right. Henry, I needed to show you my computations. I’m aware of the extrapolations your people have made, based on spiking global temperatures. I know you are preparing to present them at the International Climate Conference.”

“Yes. Thank goodness the United Nations pulled together this emergency conclave. You know, Bob, it might be best … rather than take your time to explain this now, just send me an e-datafile.”

“This can’t wait. I need your assessment of my conclusions immediately.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Hamilton gritted his teeth and tapped his finger on his file. “You don’t understand. An environmental cataclysm is coming, and it’s going to blow your global-warming ideas sky-high.”

“Come on, Bob. Leave it alone. Your expertise is in volcanic activity. Leave the climate-change stuff to the experts, okay?”

“Henry, for heaven’s sake, you’ve got to review this data.”

“Bob, you want the truth? You’ve been a thorn in our side. Every one of us who has spent our careers on the problem of global warming has had to put up with you. I remember the meeting in Reykjavik … and then in Amsterdam. Frankly, you were an embarrassment. We hold these conferences on climate change, trying to salvage this planet — and you keep turning up like a bad penny, with your cockamamie theories. Why don’t you give it a rest?”

“No, I can’t do that. Will you please look at my findings — ”

“Fine. Send me the e-datafile, and when I get the time I’ll look it over — when I get the time.”

Hamilton could almost feel yet another door hitting him on the backside. He shoved his papers back into the folder. “Henry, you know what’s really sad about all this?”

“What?” Smithson was now on his feet and scooting around his desk to escort Hamilton out of his office.

“What’s tragic is that you’re missing the really big catastrophe, the forest for the trees. I can see it coming, but you can’t …”

“What I can see,” Smithson said with a grimace, “is that I’m late for my next meeting. Take care, Bob.”

Hamilton played one last card. “I happen to know you have some spaces still open for presenters at the climate conference. I want a speaking slot. Bill me as a dissenting opinion. You owe me that. Let’s at least have a debate.”

Smithson just stared at Hamilton with a raised eyebrow. He leaned down and punched a button on his phone. He tried to call his secretary but she had stepped away. So he called Mike Leaky, his research assistant, to bring a parking voucher for his visitor. A moment later, Leaky showed up and handed the coupon to Hamilton and walked him out through the lobby.

At the elevator, Hamilton turned to Leaky. “Young man, have you heard about any of my older research papers on the connection between global warming and volcanic activity? I’ll send your boss my updated data, something far more devastating is on the horizon …”

There was an awkward silence.

“Good luck to you, professor,” Leaky said, but nothing else. His eyes avoided Hamilton’s gaze. His mouth parted like he was about to say something, but no words came out. Instead, Leaky turned and hurried back into his office in the government building.

By the time Hamilton made it to the bottom floor, the wind was picking up. A bit of paper swirled into the air. The clouds were black. Hamilton heard a rumbling of thunder as he thought back to his meeting. And then, a memory swept in from somewhere, a line from Shakespeare, Macbeth:

For Dr. Robert Hamilton, the outcome was painfully clear. As he prepared to dash to his car, while the thunder rumbled overhead, a thought buzzed in his head like a gnat. Despite his own scientific certainty, Hamilton still couldn’t shake that nagging sensation.

I’m tired of feeling like the crazy one.