Pacifica Rising: Adapting to Climate Change in a World of Pandemics and Economic Chaos

By Jerry Brule'

Climate Change will result in over 250 million refugees fleeing drought, famine, flooding, war and disease. Where will they go and what will they eat? Pacific Islanders have found a way to thrive on the oceans. The new Nation of Pacifica welcomes all refugees to join them in occupying the oceans which cover 70% of the earth. They have learned how to adapt to climate change and how to begin the healing of the earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781663201867

Jerry Brule'

Jerry Brule’ has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Arts Education with a minor in Physics. He is interested in Energy and Architecture and has built his own energy efficient home using alternative materials. He is enjoying his retirement by continuing his lifetime learning and by facilitating discussions on how to solve all of the world’s most important problems.

Book preview

PACIFICA

RISING

Adapting to Climate Change

in a world of pandemics

and economic chaos

JERRY BRULE’

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PACIFICA RISING

ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN A WORLD OF PANDEMICS AND ECONOMIC CHAOS

Copyright © 2020 Jerry Brule’.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0185-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0186-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020909541

iUniverse rev. date:   05/30/2020

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Christmas on Christmas Island

Chapter 2 The Funeral

Chapter 3 The Wavemaster

Chapter 4 Memories Gift

Chapter 5 Tebaatei

Chapter 6 Karaki

Chapter 7 Tara te Auti, The Floating City

Chapter 8 Annie’s Story

Chapter 9 Maleke’s Story

Chapter 10 The View from Space

Chapter 11 Surviving Disasters

Chapter 12 A Water Family

Chapter 13 The Unsinkable Boat

Chapter 14 The Resource Curse

Chapter 15 The Shark and Dolphin People

Chapter 16 The Convoy

Chapter 17 How we learn

Chapter 18 A Perfect Match

Chapter 19 The Kabaga Fish Farm

Chapter 20 Swimming with the Fishes

Chapter 21 The Leviathan Graveyard

Chapter 22 The Mermaid

Chapter 23 Nauru

Chapter 24 The Ecowarrior

Chapter 25 Life Under the Mountain

Chapter 26 Bioleaching

Chapter 27 A Better Seahome

Chapter 28 The Universal Theory of God

Chapter 29 Sustainable Sufficiency

Chapter 30 Back to America

Acknowledgements

Recommended Reading

ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR

Cover illustration – Black sails at sunrise

INTRODUCTION

Disasters like the coronavirus pandemic and economic collapse of 2020 bring out the best of humanity and the worst. In Naomi Klein’s book, The Shock Doctrine, Naomi describes how Disaster Capitalism works. When disasters strike, some people and companies take advantage of the shock and trauma. Profiteers compete for scarce resources and then sell them at enormous profits. Twenty-five cent masks are sold for $7.00 ea. People who lose their homes and businesses are forced to sell them for a fraction of their value. If people or companies have the cash, they can profit from others’ hardship.

Politicians and tyrants use the disruption to consolidate their power. They push through ideological agendas that have nothing to do with the crisis. Things that would not pass in mundane times. Corporations form alliances with lawmakers, to remove restrictions, to allow the corporations to pollute more, to produce shoddy goods, to cut corners, and to exploit their workers. That allows them to save money, but in ordinary times, people wouldn’t stand for the exploitation.

That is not to say that these people are bad or the businesses evil. That is simply the nature of the dominant economic system of free market capitalism. Resources are to be competed for and sold to maximize profits for the shareholders. They are forced to reduce the costs of labor and reduce the costs of operations. To them, liberty is the freedom to make as much money as they can, without government restrictions, no matter who they harm. They own the rights to all of those fossil fuels, and their stockholders are forcing them to produce them even if it destroys the world. Capitalism made it impossible to prevent the ravages of climate change.

Disasters also bring out the best in people. The vast majority of people are compassionate, and they cooperate with each other to help those who are suffering. They volunteer to do rescue work or donate supplies or do whatever they can for the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the powerless. During disasters, people realize that there is power in numbers and cooperate with each other to get things done. After catastrophes, many people need help getting back on their feet again. They believe that the government should work to help people.

During the pandemic, health care workers were celebrated as heroes for putting their lives on the line to help their patients. But there were millions of other everyday heroes that took pride in doing their jobs to keep the economy going. They kept the people fed, the lights and water on, the garbage picked up, and the trains and buses running on time.

But beyond the medical and economic emergencies, Climate Change has continued to ravage the planet paying no heed to the needs of suffering humanity. During disasters, people often found it challenging to think of the future because it was hard enough just trying to get by for the next day, week, or year. The immediate concerns were finding enough to feed the family. How could they keep the house? How could they find a job again?

Over the past twenty five years, droughts, heatwaves, and forest fires took place in one hemisphere, while extreme storms, blizzards, and floods wreaked havoc on the other. At the same time, the oceans continued their inexorable rise, inundating low lying islands and coastal cities. Population growth added another two billion mouths to feed just as the fertility of farmland declined, and the water needed to grow crops was disappearing. The fisheries declined as the oceans became more acidic, and the coral died from the heat.

All of this created a sudden surge of millions of starving refugees, fleeing famine, disease, floods, droughts, tyranny, and war. Experts predicted hundreds of millions of people displaced from their homes. At the same time, countries closed their borders, even more wary of outsiders, than ever before. People were imprisoned and treated as criminals if they tried to enter another country. This became the most critical question of our age. We are unable to stop, or even slow, climate change, Now the question is, where can the hundreds of millions of climate refugees go, and what can they eat?

In those trying times, inequality and injustice were made worse, democracy was replaced by totalitarianism, and it was often difficult to imagine a better future. Everywhere we looked, we saw more devastation.

After we survived the pandemic, it took longer to recover from the economic collapse. Politicians and the establishment wanted to go back to the disastrous policies we had before the near collapse of society. Other people of vision and compassion, wanted to end the inequality, the injustices, the attacks on the planet, and the destruction of the wildlife. Why didn’t they start fresh and get it right that time? In some places they did.

This book envisions a positive future where people have stopped contributing to climate change and injustice, and instead have started healing the earth. It came from an ancient proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Why imprison refugees and then have to feed them, when you can set them free on the oceans and teach them to survive and fish. The oceans cover 71% of the planet and are virtually uninhabited. They were the last frontier on earth.

How could people survive on the incredibly dangerous seas, and what would they eat if the seas were dying? Instead of imprisoning the refugees and having to feed them, allow them to do the dangerous job of seasteading. Often tyrants first attack the truth seekers. The teachers, reporters, scientists, and experts were persecuted and forced to flee their homes. These were the best, the brightest, and bravest of people. With training, and education, they could overcome the immense difficulties and learn to thrive on the seas. They not only settled and started healing the oceans, they improved education, governing, economics, and even religion.

This is a story about some remarkable people who helped bring about that change. They helped form a new nation of Pacifica. These are good and interesting people. I think you will like them if you get to know them.

Maleke Pearl is an engineer and a marine architect. He designs the unsinkable seahomes and the floating seawater greenhouses that allow people to live, to eat, drink, and shelter, on the seas safely.

Maleke’s wife, Mary Una, is one of the world’s greatest educators. She knows that the best way to teach is to ask important questions. She asked why people couldn’t live on the seas and why refugees had to be imprisoned. She asked why the leaders of a new nation shouldn’t be a team of three instead of just one person. She asked why the most critical questions in government couldn’t be resolved through direct democracy. She helped set up the remote education system in Pacifica and influenced the creation of the new nation’s government.

Maleke’s sister Jazelle is a psychologist dedicated to helping the refugees overcome the trauma they were fleeing, and to assimilate and adjust to a new peaceful culture. She convinced the leaders of Pacifica that a government’s primary purpose is to strive for the happiness and health of all of its citizens.

Jazelle’s mate, Angelique Lee, is a world-renowned economist that finds an alternative to free-market capitalism and helps Pacifica practice sustainable sufficiency. This is based on Ghandi’s quote, Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs but not every man’s greed.

Bob Wesley is a mechanical genius that can fix or build just about anything. He helped Maleke build his unsinkable sailboat, the first floating seawater greenhouse, and helped convert two enormous tankers into a floating prison that was then repurposed as a floating city in Pacifica.

Annie Olson is a doctor that perfected remote health care among the maritime nomads. Having worked on the coronavirus pandemic, she vowed that Pacifica would be prepared for the next pandemic. When the Great Plaque struck, she had a lot to do with the world surviving that.

Ma’ake Komoro was the educational and spiritual leader of Kiribati, which was a collection of mostly low lying Pacific islands covering a huge expanse of ocean along the equator. He brought back pride in their culture. He helped form the new nation of Pacifica and became one of the first team presidents of the new government.

Tebaatei, Ma’ake’s grandson, is one of the most skilled sailors in Pacifica. He works as an Astronauta, sailing spaceships and supplies, using solar sails, to the orbiting international space station.

Many of the citizens of Pacifica were refugees that had been spurned by their native countries. They learn how to grow their islands to keep up with the rising seas. They learn how to regrow the coral reefs, to replenish the fisheries, and help heal the oceans they rely on.

Some people think that Pacifica is a naïve utopia that wouldn’t work. I believe that it is inevitable that humanity will move onto the seas. All we need to make it successful is vision, imagination and will. The only question is, will we do it in time to save the oceans, which are the lifeblood of the planet?

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CHAPTER 1

CHRISTMAS ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND

It was a pleasant dream. I think it was of the grandkids laughing and playing. But something bothered me. This was not right. I awoke with my heart pounding to the sound of laughing, and the voices of children. It was still dark in the cabin. What were little kids doing up there at this time of the morning? Curious and concerned about the safety of the children, I thought I had better check it out. We berthed in one of the hundreds of bays made to shelter seahomes, but then I remembered it was so crowded that many of the seahomes linked up three and four deep. I was a bit annoyed about their running across my deck but thought that was the price of being linked. Anyone was free to traipse across your boat to get to all of the other vessels. The vacas themselves formed the causeways. I got up, so I didn’t wake Mary, grabbed my com in case I needed to call for help, and went topside.

The brightening skies highlighted the mare’s tails high above in red, and above the horizon, a golden glow bathed the lower clouds. The tranquil, lagoon, was sharpening in detail. The smooth surface provided mirror reflections of the colorful seahomes and their myriad masts. I was relieved to see a couple of adults watching the kids as they dived and swam in the water off the next vessel. It is incredible how a glance of only a fraction of a second can illustrate loving parents. The pride and love that they showed made it evident that they are good people. I immediately calmed down.

I went back below to visit the head. Suddenly I felt all of my aches and pains — arthritis in the knees, a stiff neck, and a sore back. I’m getting old, I thought as I looked in the mirror and saw that my close-cropped hair was greying on the sides. A bit of a potbelly, but if I sucked it in, you could see a pretty good six-pack hiding beneath a thin layer of fat. Not bad for someone in their mid-sixties, though. I was fortunate to have gotten my Greek nose from my mom, but the impressive physique and frizzy hair from my dad. The caramel skin and high cheekbones were a melding of both. I thought that now that I was up, I may as well do my exercises and work out all my kinks, so I took off my shorts and replaced them with a loose swimsuit and a tee shirt.

I went back topside and stepped out on the port bow. The two men watching the girls noticed me. Mauri, I said.

Mauri, they both replied. One was very dark and short, and the other one was about two meters tall with a rusty beard and long hair that was bleached blond by the sun. The bearded one motioned towards the children and said, I’m John, and the blond one is Jessie. I’m sorry, did we wake you? Jessie is very excited because she became good friends with Tajeen six months ago, and she finally gets to see her in person today.

The short one added a couple of incomprehensible sentences. What the hell was that, I thought? My com said the language was Bengali. I set it to translate. Pardon me? I said into the com. It came out in Bengali.

Sorry, I speak also English. My name Ghilish. We come from Bangladesh.

I am Maleke, I said. I never mind hearing children having fun. I am just glad that they are safe. What brings you both to Christmas Island?

John said, We’ve been gleaning plastics in the Northern Gyre. We generally head South during the winter, and what better place to spend the holidays than on Christmas Island? I noticed from your flag who you were, and told Ghilish here, that you knew all about these boats, but he’s still worried about the storm down South.

Big storm coming? Ghilish asked. We come East to avoid big typhoon. Now, storm come here. But then he got frustrated with the English and lapsed into his native language.

The com translated what he said. In 2028, a typhoon made two meters of rain in five days. Half of my home country, Bangladesh, was flooded, and 20 million people lost their homes. Refugees went everywhere, but India couldn’t take many more. There, people didn’t like us because we are Muslim. So we came to the Maldives, but they are a small nation and could only take a few thousand more.

We were fortunate that they let us into the Maldives because I could dive. They trained me to grow coral, and after ten years of hard work, I was able to buy our own seahome. Finally, I thought we wouldn’t have to worry about floods or storms. We came East to avoid storms, but now I hear there is one coming here. Will we be OK here?

"Ghilish, you have absolutely nothing to fear. The vacas are very seaworthy and can sail two or three times the speed of the wind so you can outrun any storms if they head this way. But this lagoon is probably the safest in the Pacific. You shouldn’t worry unless you see a lot of people leaving to flee the storm. Instead, there are more and more coming here for shelter.

We’ve been getting some strong storms because the Antarctic is warming up, but I don’t think the storm down South will come this far because it is a cyclone. It will stay down South around Polynesia and break apart if it gets closer to the equator because there is no Coriolis force here. You should be fine in the lagoon if any squalls reach this far North. Double cross your mooring lines, and just to be safe, go ahead and flood your bilges if the wind picks up. That will keep your home low in the water and safe. I told him.

The sun was still below the horizon to the East, and Ghilish’s wife and two other children came up from below decks with prayer rugs. Ghilish bowed slightly and said, Please excuse us. It is time for prayer.

I said, Nice to meet you, into my com, and it came out, Tomar shathe porichôe hoe amar khub-i bhalo laglo."

Jessie and Taheen had scrambled out of the water and were arranging mats, so they were facing a little North of West. John called out, Come on home when you get hungry. And Jessie smiled and waved.

As John came aboard, I nodded to Jessie with a raised eyebrow and asked him softly, Is Jessie Muslim?

No, he said, Isn’t it great that the young want to learn about other cultures? I’m going to be fishing for a while, so I’ll keep an eye on Jessie when she comes home.

The children are our future, I said. How’s the fishing here?

It’s great. I’m amazed the water is so clear with this number of boats here.

Well, we are close to the cross current formed by the two South Channels. No one is allowed to dump anything in the lagoon, and no open propellers are allowed, so it stays pretty clear.

It seems to work. Everything seems pretty healthy down there. Come on over for a beer sometime.

Thanks! I’m afraid we’re going to be busy today. We’re going to Ma’ake’s funeral, and then we’ll be heading South into the storm, to Tara te Auti, North of Tahiti. It was good meeting you. Maybe we can visit online. Fair winds and calm sea to you.

Alone again, I began to notice my sore back again. Getting old was literally a pain. If I didn’t stretch out and do exercises every morning, I could feel it all day. I generally woke up later, but this was a perfect time to watch the beautiful sunrise as the clouds began turning red. I had developed my basic routine over thirty years ago when I was confined to a six by ten room. Mostly Pilates and things like jumping jacks, push-ups, and sit-ups, things that could I could do in a small three-foot-wide area. Later, when I got out, I added Tai Chi and Aikido katas when I had more room, and whenever practical, I loved finishing up with a swim in the warm water of the lagoon.

I moved onto the trampoline between walkways. The fine nylon mesh is springy and good for doing my Aikido rolls. As I did my routine, I looked around and admired what Kiritimati had become. When I first saw the island, it was pretty undeveloped. Half of the lagoon was fetid salt ponds that smelled terrible and were infested with flies. Now the three new entrances into the lagoon kept the entire bay fresh and healthy. The hundreds of ponds that had been land-locked at low tide were now interconnected. The channels between and around the dozens of resultant islands had been dredged out. Biologists engineered the entire lagoon, so the water flowed in and out with the tides, much like the lungs of a living creature, which provides an ideal habitat for innumerable species of aquatic life.

All of these islands had become centers of commerce. Some of the cities on Kiritimati, like London and Paris, were named by a French priest who missed the grand cities of Europe. Father Emmanuel Rougier, rented the island and planted hundreds of thousands of coconut trees from 1917 to 1939. In the same tradition, the new island city had been named Venice. The islands now look like puzzle pieces because each was sculpted to include numerous bays to maximize the moorage for seahomes, and the valuable waterfront property for the islanders. People come from all over the world to shop and dine among these islands, and it even has a considerable fleet of gondoliers to provide romantic rides.

When I first visited, there were few buildings and little infrastructure because much of the island was preserved as a bird sanctuary. Now the island was covered with homes, but they all had flat roofs covered with sand, and the birds are doing much better because they can nest on the rooftops free from the predation of rats or feral cats. The major powers thought the island and its inhabitants were worthless. In the fifty’s, the US and the UK used the island for nine nuclear tests, without even bothering to evacuate the inhabitants.

Now the tourist industry has exploded ballooning the economy, and new channels, one in the North and two in the South, provides better access and enhances the health of the lagoon. Westerly sea currents sometimes formed a vortex on the opposite side of the island. This current often drove many old sailing ships onto the coral shoals, which gave the Bay of Wrecks its name. Some of that current, when diverted into the lagoon, flushed out the lagoon and made it the largest and safest refuge in the world, not only for sailors but for wildlife.

Dugongs and otters flourish in the myriad channels in the lagoon, and sea turtles return every year to lay their eggs on the barrier islands. A protective barrier of seahomes now shelters the Bay of Wrecks, forming a safe harbor and excellent diving. That is why Christmas island is one of the most popular diving destinations in the world. Although they are protected, people still enjoy diving among the many wrecks, now that the bay is calm.

I got a call from Trent Sotang who is head of the Island’s Chamber of Commerce. Hi Trent! How are you doing?

I’m doing great. How are you and Mary?

We’re fine. I’m a bit anxious about attending Ma’ake’s funeral in a bit. Can I help you?

That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I heard both of you are going to be speaking about Ma’ake today. This is going to be broadcast all over Pacifica and maybe in other nations too, so what you say can have a big influence on tourism.

We will be talking about Ma’ake’s accomplishments and a life well lived. That should only attract more tourists.

Of course! Of course! And we all loved Ma’ake and we realize that if it weren’t for him Christmas Island would still be a wasteland. But we were just wondering if you might skip over the nuclear testing background? Tourists don’t want to visit and dive here if they think it might still be radioactive.

Is it Trent? Has anyone found any areas that are still radioactive?

No! No! Of course not! Everyone knows that Ma’ake got the Americans to map out every inch of the island and buried all of the contaminated soil under the barrier islands. Since then we have been adding a meter of soil on top of everything so there couldn’t possibly be any hot spots left.

Trent you know that the British and Americans exploded 33 nuclear bombs on or around Christmas and Malden Islands, so I don’t think you can rule out any hot spots popping up. But I think it is wonderful that Ma’ake went to the UN and pressured America and Britain to rebuild the island. That was one of his greatest achievements and the modification of Christmas Island allowed Pacifica to thrive.

That is my point! Christmas Island is now one of the best tourist destinations in the world, and we don’t want to scare those tourists away with any talk about nuclear tests. We were just wondering if you and Mary would shy away from that topic? Certainly there are many other accomplishments that you can talk about to honor Ma’ake?

I guess that is true, I said. OK, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll talk to Mary about this.

After Trent hung up I resumed my exercises and looked out at the island. When I first visited there were only palm trees and scrub brush. Now there are about a dozen resorts on the island. Each resort has its own small bay with a beautiful sandy beach. Hundreds of thousands of residences and businesses cover the island, and the heavy foliage resembles the lush Hawaiian Islands. The island even has a lovely forest, surrounding several freshwater lakes. There are many fruit and nut orchards as well as decorative trees, and gardens, all of which can be explored on an intricate system of bike trails and roads. The lagoon is now about four hundred square kilometers, which is about the same area as the landmass, making this the largest coral atoll in the world.

Looking past the lagoon to the Southeast, the view is dominated by the thermal tower. It stands three hundred meters high and evokes the trunk of a mighty tree whose top is lost in the clouds. Kiritimati has now become the capital of Pacifica, and all of the administrative and other government buildings make up the roots.

The thermal tower is located at the site of the onshore nuclear test on November 8, 1957. After they removed all of the soil which still retained radioactivity there was a huge hole, so the builders filled it in with foundations for the capital building and the tower. Before the island was developed they tested the entire island for radiation. All of the radioactive soil was dumped into huge seven meter by three-meter fabric bags on site, so the currents wouldn’t spread the contamination all over. Those bags, when filled, formed enormous building blocks which were used to form barrier islands. Then all of the bags were covered with clean sand. Fortunately, the bags had never been exposed and no radiation remains.

Usually, there are plenty of wide-open spaces to explore and enjoy in the lagoon, but now most of the shorelines of the lagoon are crammed full of vessels. The vast majority of the vessels are Vaka Vale, seahomes like our own, the Napai. Almost all of the seahomes are exactly alike because mass producing them keeps the costs down. They are double-hulled catamarans with two A-frame masts. The jib and both mainsails are roller-furled on curved travelers that allow the sails to be canted at an angle. But the central defining feature is that all of the vakas have walkways that can link, or connect, each seahome with any other vaka.

Although most are all alike, everyone expresses their individuality by decorating each one differently with wild designs and colors. Still, those familiar with the culture can discern order from the chaos. Each clan has distinct color schemes, and the stylized designs tell a story about the family. The Napai, which means leaf in Hopi, has a Native American motif because I had been raised in the Northwest and like those stylized designs. The main designs and story are Hopi however, because of Mary’s culture, with traditional patterns and Kachina legends.

The lagoon is now a forest of masts because this was the most popular time of the year to visit the island. A lot of people wanted to spend Christmas on Christmas Island, and many more wanted to spend New Year’s there because Pacifica is the first nation to ring in the New Year. And then there is the funeral.

The tower is the main component of the natural air conditioning for the new government building that is now the new seat of Pacifica’s government. This building, which resembles the roots of a gigantic tree, draws in cooler air from earth tubes. This air rises as it heats up and exits at the highest points of the building. That air is then used to cool the photovoltaic panels that provide power for the building. Air conditioning heats the air even more, then it is collected in ducts that join together to enter the tower.

Almost all of the newer buildings on the island are designed so that every five or ten years, they can be jacked up and raised as the island grows with the rising seas. They all have flat roofs covered with sand so the birds can nest there. Dozens of species come to the island to breed and nest. In the past, the birds and their chicks were preyed upon by rats and feral cats. Now they were safer on the rooftops and on the barrier islands, which are off-limits to the people when they nest.

Most of the buildings throughout the island use solar panels, which also act as awnings. Their power generation matches the air conditioning loads, making the buildings livable in the oppressive heat. All of the solar panels and all of the air conditioning condensers create heat. Much of that heat is sucked away in ductwork. The ducts are always joining and growing more substantial, like the branches or roots of a tree. Then the hot air goes up the enormous chimney of the thermal tower, turning huge fans at the top, which generates electricity. Thermopiles in the inner walls also generate electricity from the heat. Then just before the hot air finally exits the tower, it is sprayed with seawater. The super-saturated air contains salt and some bacteria to provide the nucleation that creates clouds high in the sky.

That bank of clouds forms a continuous band along the equator, which eventually replenishes the rain forests in Brazil. It also increases the albedo and provides shade where it is desperately needed.

To the West is the airport, and later in the day when the tower heats up, I enjoy watching the solar gliders launched. They make their way to the thermal tower, catching that rising air and spiraling up till I lose sight of them.

The tower even looks alive because the terraces have trees planted in containers. The tourists staying in the resort love living among the verdant fruit trees and vegetable gardens that grow outside their rooms, and the view is one of the best in the world.

After I finished my exercise routine, I dove into the amazingly clear water. The channels in the lagoon are about ten meters deep at high tide. The visibility was more than a hundred meters, and as I floated looking below, I could see the cables anchors and buoys that all of the vacas use for mooring. The numerous vessels created an intricate pattern of light and shadow on the lush seagrass on the bottom. It was kept in check by the herds of Dugongs that made the lagoon their home.

As I watched, several sea otters swam into the grass and disappeared from view. I could see their progress because they disturbed the grass as they swam through hunting for food. They could not see in the grass, but their sensitive whiskers would alert them when they came upon something good to eat. One surfaced near me, grasping a large crab which it quickly dispatched. The otter lay there on its back, loudly crunching while staring at me curiously.

It didn’t consider me a threat and kept eating as I hauled myself back up onto the deck. As I toweled myself off, a couple of other sea otters also surfaced bearing food. What a sweet life I thought as I returned below decks. Mary was just now stirring. Her long black hair framed her beautiful brown face, and I leaned down and kissed her cheek. Sixty five and no grey hairs or wrinkles. That is just not fair. I said.

She grabbed my face and kissed me back. Hopi genes and good living, she said. Plus, all the fat smooths out the wrinkles. Her rounded face and features looked remarkably similar to those of the Islanders, but there were subtle differences. Similarly, in America’s Southwest, the people of peace could tell one of their own from the features of their traditional enemies, the Navajo. Now it was accepted that the older Hopi had a trace of Oceanic genes while the Navajo had arrived relatively recently across the Bering land bridge. BS, I said, you only weigh 160 lbs. Compared to all of these Samoan women, you look like a little pixie.

What were you doing up so early? she asked. You’re all wet. Do you want to rinse the salt off before I wash up?

Thanks. I’ll only be a second. I was talking to our neighbors who got up for their Salah. They’re a family of refugees from Bangladesh. They were able to get a seahome by working coral in the Maldives. They are afraid of the storm down South, but I don’t think it will reach this far North.

It is nice here. Maybe we ought to stick around till the storm passes?

You know the clients want me down there to make certain the airport makes it through the storm. I need to know what sort of weather I can expect. There have only been 40 typhoons this close to the equator, and I would hate to miss this one, I said. I might even ride it out aboard the Napai.

Well, if you do, it’ll be without me. Mary said. If there is any storm, I would rather ride it out on dry land. I’d even settle for your airport if it were habitable, but the Namaka-Tangaroa is the next best thing. I want to be where it is safe. I sometimes wonder if the refugees will be able to survive living on the seas. It is a hard life, even for those born to it.

I worry too, I said. It seems like the early refugees that helped build up Pacifica were made of stronger stuff. They were fleeing terrible persecution and were grateful to help build up the only nation that was glad to have them. Now, this latest generation seems like they come here just to have fun. After the great plague, all of the nations needed more people, so they began to treat their workers in a humane manner, to attract the best workers. Now that we have everything worked out in Pacifica, they come because they want to live in paradise and want to surf and party."

We old farts are always tearing down the new generation, but I agree, now that we have done all of the hard work, maybe we should also take it easy and have some fun. Leave the hard stuff to the newer generation.

I admired her compact form as she rose from the bed and put on some shorts and a bra. With age, she no longer had much of a waist or a butt but was still fit and firm. On her right shoulder and coming down her back was one of the striking traditional tattoos given upon completing the initiation ceremonies of the Pacificans, but intertwined in that tattoo was her favorite god, Kokopelli, the humpbacked flute player. That’s the big question, down South isn’t it? A lot of the young hotshots think this will be a challenge and are eager to see if they can ride out the storm. This storm will be a test to see if a floating city is viable.

I came out of the shower, toweling myself off, and asked, Are you ready for this?

Most people thought Mary shy when they first met her because of her cultural penchant for not looking people in the eye, but that was before they had heard her speak. No, she said, I still can’t believe that he is gone. Have you figured out what you want to say yet?

Oh! That reminds me. Trent Sotang called me and said the Chamber doesn’t want us to mention any of the nuclear tests. I was sort of wanting to mention the nuclear reparations which allowed Ma’ake to rebuild the island.

Well he does have a point. No one wants to get a resort room over a nuclear blast even if it is perfectly safe now. So that messed up your whole speech? Have you thought about what you will talk about now?

I’m still working on it. Do you think anyone really cares what I say? I didn’t know him nearly as well as you did.

You knothead! Koleo will expect you to say something, and you know you should practice, Mary said as she dug through the closet, looking for something appropriate to the occasion.

I’ll think of something if I need to, I said. What about you? Do you have an entire speech written down already?

I have a few notes, and you should too. Here, Mary said, shoving five or six index cards at me. I wrote down a few of the important things you should say. She opened the door of the head. I’m going to take my shower now. What do you feel like for breakfast? I’m thinking bacon and eggs.

And coffee, I called out to the closed door. I’ll get it started. I went up to the pilothouse and took one more look outside. The colors in the clouds were now gone, but the peacefulness of the early morning still called to me.

Another beautiful day in Christmas Island’s Lagoon, I thought. Hard to believe a storm is coming. The seagulls wheeling overhead called out, and the cool morning breeze brought the distinctive smell of the lagoon. It was slightly stronger than the smell of the open sea: a bit more sulfur and the tinge of fish and seaweed. I often had a hard time remembering what day it was, and sometimes what month it was because the weather rarely changed. There are no seasons here, and with rare exceptions, the days all started at about 75 degrees F. and got up to about 90 degrees. Every day was summer near the equator. I knew what today was, though, December 27th. It still seemed strange to spend the holidays in paradise.

I couldn’t see much except my neighbors, so I turned on the main two-meter screen and selected the view from the foremast camera. From twenty-five meters up, I could see the central lagoon to the West through the forest of inverted V’s. Almost all of the A-frame masts of the Vaka Vale were the same height gently undulating back and forth. Once in a while, you could see the towering masts of a double or triple. Toward the North, there were many more single masts of the sloops and ketches. They needed a regular berth at the docks since they couldn’t link together like the Vaka.

I turned on some soft jazz throughout the boat, then went down the stairs into the galley in the port hull. The bows of each hull contained the liquid metal batteries and electric motors that powered the hydrojets. Behind them was a head with a composting toilet. The head in the starboard hull had a shower. In the stern of the port hull was a large freezer compartment. Ours was smaller than most since we didn’t do any commercial fishing, so we had additional space in the dining area. The dining table, like almost everything on board, was not solid wood but instead a sandwich of lightweight foam with wood veneer covered with tough clear plastic. The table had a beautiful hickory veneer with three squares of brightly colored tiles down the center of the table and six large and six small rosewood circles along the edges. I grabbed cups and stainless plates and skidded them across the table where the magnets under the rosewood caught them.

I put a pan on the induction stovetop, which was also held in place by magnetism. Taking a carton of fake eggs and what looked like a slab of bacon from the fridge, I started slicing. The synthetic stuff made from seaweed, mycoprotein, and grains, has gotten so good that it is hard for me to tell the difference when I go stateside and have the real thing. I added chopped multi-colored peppers and onions from the freezer to the sizzling MP bacon and then added the eggs to make the omelet.

Mary came down the steps into the galley savoring the smells. She was wearing a soft shift in green, with a pattern of vertical stripes that evoked a grass skirt. What are the grandkids doing today? she asked as she joined me at the table.

Lina is going to take them down surfing, I said, as I shoveled some omelet onto her plate. That dress looks very nice.

"Thanks! She sniffed at the omelet