Storm (Swipe Series)

weather mill to function, should we hope to continue fighting Earth’s permadrought . . .”
    Lily nodded slowly.
    “Lily, the mill has not operated since September. America has now gone six months without state-controlled weather.” He shook his head. “It’s been bearable, so far. The cooler winter months still rain or snow frequently enough, and the water reserves have been tapped effectively to shield against any negative effects. But come springtime . . . Lily . . . there is no bigger threat to your American State.”
    “All right . . . ,” Lily said. “Okay. But—forgive me, Dominic—this sounds like a technical problem. It hardly has the signs of a political standoff.”
    “And so I thought too,” Cylis said. “So I thought for quite a long time. The outages were worrisome, of course. But they were a mechanical concern. One that would be addressed, surely, with plenty of time left to avoid the worst of the consequences . . .” The chancellor stood now and paced back and forth along thedining hall’s heavy table. “Until this week when Lahoma security began to suspect sabotage. I called you here to help me root out any traitor . . . but I called too late. Two have already revealed themselves—they blew up the mill while you were en route.”
    Lily frowned, uncertain. “And, Dominic . . . you think the general put them up to this?”
    Cylis stopped pacing and pivoted quickly to face her. “There can be no doubt. For months, I’ve sensed his distance . . . seen sign after telltale sign of his ongoing betrayal. I denied it. For too long, I denied it. And finally, now, it fits. All of it fits, in light of this.”
    “But why?” Lily asked. “What does Lamson have to gain by starving his own people?”
    “Political instability!” Cylis exclaimed. “It’s not just the suffering Marked and dead Markless at stake here, Lily. A plot like this will destroy our already fragile global economy. It will shut down America’s power plants. There will be food shortages, mass extinctions, even fewer acres of habitable land . . . Marked citizens across the globe would feel its awful effects. And if we learned one thing from the Total War, it’s that cataclysms of the magnitude we’re talking about lead to one thing and one thing only: revolution. With the right timing and finesse, a person could swoop in under such circumstances. Could save the day. Could get the whole world on his side . . .”
    “So you think this drought is a power play ?” Lily asked.
    Cylis frowned. “Hey, what do I know, right? But at the end of the day, the motives here hardly even matter. In time, a permadrought like this will destroy the lives of the very Marked citizens I am sworn to serve. That alone is my concern. You Americans are my responsibility too, remember, under the umbrella of this great new Global Union. I cannot allow this drought of his to continue.”
    Lily tried very hard to be respectful of the claims.
    She coughed nervously.
    “Sir—”
    “Dominic.”
    “Dominic.” Lily paused. She looked for the right way to say it. “If this is true, why not just confront Lamson yourself? Have you tried reasoning with him? Negotiation?”
    “Lily—this is a man who has betrayed me repeatedly over the last six months! He’s been working behind my back, off the record, this whole time, in ways that I can’t trace, specifically to rob me of the chance to negotiate. If I confront him, he’ll simply deny it. At best, he’ll admit to something small—and then proceed to work twice as hard to shut me out of whatever else he has planned down the line. I cannot risk pushing him away. I cannot risk losing what little trust of his I still have left. Not now. Not with this new G.U. as fragile as it is.
    “Outright accusation is out of the question too,” Cylis added. “I can’t accuse him, and he knows it. I can’t prove anything at all. He’s been far too careful. Whatever meddling he did over in Lahoma, it was contained . . . and I am left merely to speculate. None of the surviving workers appears to know about Lamson’s involvement. Even now, they’re working tirelessly to get the mill up and running again. At the moment, they’re aiming to have it back online in time for planting season.”
    Immediately, Lily’s face lit up. “Well then, that’s great! Problem solved!”
    Cylis sighed. “I have my doubts,” he said. “Where there were two traitors, there could easily be more. If any other Lahoma