The Leviathan Effect by James Lilliefors Page B

support for exploring this type of technology, nor has Congress. But on the other hand, if someone beats us to it, the public would be outraged that we let it happen. They’d hammer us.”
    Blaine knew that he was right; she had been thinking the same.
    “And that concerns me.”
    “Of course,” she said. “It concerns me, as well.”
    The President re-crossed his ankles on the desk, placing his right foot on top. “Did you know, Cate, that China is about to surpass us in the amount of scientific research they publish each year?”
    “Yes,” she said, “I do.”
    “That’s an area we led for the entire twentieth century.”
    “I know.”
    “Do you know where the tallest building in the world is today, Cate?”
    “Dubai, isn’t it?”
    “That’s right. Dubai. During the twentieth century, up until 1996, I believe it was, or ’97, the tallest building in the world was always in the United States. Did you know that? Seven or eight separate buildings, beginning with the Park Row building in 1900. On through the Empire State Building and the Twin Trade Towers.”
    “Yes,” Blaine said. “I read that article the other day, too.”
    “It’s only a symbol, granted,” he said. “But symbols matter. Coupled with other declines, in education and patent applications, for instance, there is a very real perception that this country is falling behind. Now I’m an optimist by nature,” he added, turning his eyes to hers again, “but I want to be realistic, too. I can see that this technology has the potential to bury us. I want to keep focused on the larger picture here until we can see what we’re really up against.” He looked off, showing her his famous profile. “I’m sorry. I’m probably being more dramatic than I ought to be. Anyway, Cate.” He turned to her. “Live and breathe this thing for me, if you can, okay?”
    “I will.”
    “And we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
    “Yes.”
    Several minutes later, Blaine walked across West Executive Drive to a waiting limousine that would take her home. Before scooting in, she glanced at the blinking red light atop the Washington Monument and felt the unfamiliar undertow of things she wasn’t being told.

TEN
    T HE R EPUBLIC OF C APE Verde is an archipelago of ten islands and five islets about three hundred and fifty miles off the coast of Senegal, West Africa. Settled by the Portuguese in the mid-fifteenth century, Cape Verde later became a way station for African slaves bound for North America. Many of the people living there today are these slaves’ descendents.
    In late September, the equatorial sun beats down on the calm seas surrounding Cape Verde, causing water to evaporate and form warm waves of unstable air. As these waves come into contact with low pressure systems, they expand, beginning a cycle of rain and further evaporation. When conditions are right, these atmospheric disturbances feed on one another, growing in size, eventually spinning in a counter-clockwise pattern, fueled by the warm seas and the westerly trade winds.
    Each year, several hundred atmospheric disturbances occur in the Cape Verde Islands, dozens of which develop into tropical storm systems. On average, nine of these storms become hurricanes. Exactly what causes an atmospheric disturbance to transform into a hurricane is a mysterious process, each resulting from a complex series of interacting weather patterns; no two hurricanes are alike. It generally takes a week to ten days for a Cape Verde hurricane to reach the United States. Most of the Atlantic Ocean hurricanes that impact the Eastern Seaboard begin as atmospheric events east of the Cape Verde islands.
    On the morning of October 2, a band of rain showers to the southeast of the lower Cape Verde islands merged with a low pressuresystem and began to spin in a chaotic motion, dumping heavy rains on the islands and the seas to the south. By early afternoon, it had begun to organize around a well-defined center,