God's Lions - House of Acerbi Read Free Page B

people. The exponential, mathematical result of an industrialized society trying to supply a world population that is growing to unprecedented levels will be unsustainable in the future. Do any of you know that it takes 2000 gallons of water to manufacture one pair of jeans? Insanity! Progress as we know it is sowing the seeds of our destruction. Our world is like that pond. It’s a metaphor for what is now occurring around the globe, and soon we will all run out of the resources necessary to sustain life. Our finite planet will reach a point from which there will be no return.”
    “That’s hogwash!” An oil man from Texas stood in the middle of the room and faced the stage, his jowly face beet red. “With modern technology, we can grow enough food and produce enough oil to last a thousand years, and by then we’ll have figured out new technology to deal with the growing population. People want growth ... we need it. Growth is good for business. More people mean more cars and a greater demand for our oil. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
    Acerbi’s eyes narrowed at the man. It was obvious he would have to be dealt with . “We don’t have a thousand years ... we may not even have another hundred. And, if you add the growing populations of India and China into the equation, it won’t be long until the world is unable to supply the amounts of food and oil their growing economies will demand. The skies over the earth’s largest cities are already becoming choked with air pollution ... pollution that will only spread with time due to the increasing number of gas powered vehicles on the road.”
    Acerbi continued to fix the audience with an icy stare, for he had long suspected that some of them had drifted away from the core objectives of a secret society born of vengeance.
    Seven-hundred years was a long time to wait.
    Several members of the group shifted uneasily in their seats, especially those who had made vast fortunes from industries that profited from the manufacture and sale of products that left a trail of environmental destruction across the globe.
    An executive from one of Acerbi’s own companies leaned forward in her seat. “We now own most of the farmland in America, Rene. We export wheat all over the globe, and we still have tons left over. And as far as the so-called air pollution problem is concerned, I’ve heard that the earth will always clean itself, just as it’s done for millions of years.”
    Acerbi’s eyes zeroed in on the speaker. Another name to add to the list of those who would have to go if she balked when it came time to do what was required of her.
    “We could debate this all day, but for the past several years I have spent considerable time working with several world-renowned scientists, and they all agree with what I’ve just said. Within a hundred years, the world’s population will grow to unsustainable limits. The economies of China and India are growing, and soon they will be just as dependent on the luxuries of life as we are, with the resultant demand for more resources. It’s a predetermined mathematical fact. This planet will soon have nothing left to give us, and there’s nothing to stop it unless we take drastic action. The scientists who have been working with me on this problem come from some of the finest universities around the world. Many of them are household names. They’ve run the numbers over and over again, and the results are invariably the same.”
    “My God, Rene!” a man in the front row shouted. “Are you absolutely sure?”
    “There’s no doubt about it. Mathematics leaves little room for error ... it’s a pure science with no bias or emotion. The language of science doesn’t lie. It reveals only the hard, cold truth. This nightmare is real, people, and it’s coming.”
    “What do you propose we do about it, Rene?” The question was posed by a female voice cloaked in shadow in the back of the room.
    Acerbi moved from behind the podium and