Ensemble [Book 1: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 33: The Unholy Union

Chapter 33: The Unholy Union

Gus Lebanchek knew things were only going to get worse. Yesterday's 25 percent market crash had set the planet on edge. Even he was watching CNBC now for Christ's sake. Now it looked like conditions might be stabilizing. Some of these idiot financial pundits were calling for another leg down. As if they were rooting for it.

I'll be happy with a flat day after yesterday's carnage. Gus waved his hand to turn off the 100-inch virtual monitor of the live global news stream. The latest Jumps are showing we should be OK. "Rick, when are we talking to Cranston?"

"1600," Joliet replied remotely from an adjacent office.

"He better not reschedule again. We had him four days ago. After yesterday, it's now or I'm moving on without him. Enough already."

"I have it on good authority that he'll be on today for sure."

Should be OK, Gus found himself thinking, then shook his head. Three weeks ago, the word "should" wasn't ever used...by anyone!

Nowadays, thoughts like that regularly rattled around in Gus's brain. The truth of the matter was that there was very little he could do to effectuate any significant change with the massive day-to-day uncertainty already baked into the system. Still, as much as his confidence had been shaken in recent weeks, he had to believe that fallout from very large macro events, like this one, could still be controlled. For that to happen, however, it would require a large and wholly unsustainable level of resource commitment. Right now, 73 percent of all global Sweepers were monitoring every move of every major financial exchange worldwide. Maintaining such vigilance was impossible. If they had another market collapse on top of what they just experienced, it could end up being a critical turning point. Luckily, so far, Sweepers were reporting no additional damage on the immediate horizon.

Ministry concerns were not limited to the possibility of continued financial turbulence, however. What worried Gus was that the market turmoil they were experiencing was only a symptom of the real problem at hand. These disruptions amplified the fear and uncertainty of people across the globe in their everyday lives.

Gus truly believed that most people, even those who opposed Ministry interests, inherently, deep down, wanted a stable existence. That was exactly what the Ministry had consistently provided humanity for decades. And now, that long-standing, interdependent relationship was being put to the test. In the last two days alone, urban rioting had spread locally in Detroit and Los Angeles and to many other metropolitan areas across the country. Civil unrest was by no means limited to the United States. Violence in the Middle East was also spreading. Even small uprisings in China over wages and other perceived social inequities were suddenly popping up in places like Shanghai and Hong Kong.

There was an unknown contagion, but the situation was not completely out of hand...at least not yet. Still, given the relative sense of serenity the planet had grown accustomed to under Ministry control, what many were experiencing now felt like chaos in comparison. This was especially true for those under 40 who had no other meaningful frame of reference.

The social upheaval had to be stopped at all costs. Unfortunately, the cost of additional resources expended by governments on crackdowns and pre-emptive measures such as enhanced Sweeps simply weren't having the desired effects.

We're running out of time. Gus shook his head. And options. The only viable path forward would be to attack the disease at the source, and the cancer they had to remove was the Underground itself. It was Gus's job to figure out a way to make that happen.