State of Fear

Sanjong, Kenner, Evans, and Sarah arrive in Canyon Diablo, Arizona. A number of southwestern state parks have been inexplicably booked in advance for special events. All of the bookings were paid for by charities with no connection to the groups attending the events. The organizations all claimed it was a mix-up, but encouraged the groups to attend regardless, because the deposits had already been paid. Kenner and the others recognize this as the probable workings of ELF, and also discover that a rocket arrays have been prepared in McKinley State Park. Sanjong explains that ELF intends to use the rockets to control the weather.

The group watches more of the DVD Evans discovered. It shows Drake and his PR director talking about how to spin news and research to sell the veracity of global warming. Furthermore, the want to imply that climate science suggesting the contrary is either supported by industrial organizations or generated by researchers interested in making a splash.

Surveying the scene at the park, Kenner and his entourage come to the conclusion that ELF wants to spark a storm via “charge amplification” that will result in flash floods and catastrophic mud slides (321). The park is full of people, so time is of the essence.