Beck Glenn - Agenda 21.

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CONTENTS

To all those who hold fast to the spirit of the American Dream Labs; the storytellers like Harriet who seek the hard facts and then find new ways to expose, enlighten, inspire and spread courage across the entire world.

Humanity stands at a defining moment in history. We are confronted with a perpetuation of disparities between and within nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the continuing deterioration of the ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being.

The developmental and environmental objectives of Agenda 21 will require a substantial flow of new and additional financial resources to developing countries.... Financial resources are also required for strengthening the capacity of international institutions for the implementation of Agenda 21.

This process marks the beginning of a new global partnership for sustainable development.

PREAMBLE, AGENDA 21,
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE, RIO DE JANEIRO, JUNE 1992

[The purpose of Agenda 21 is] to promote patterns of consumption and production that reduce environmental stress and meet the basic needs of society.

AGENDA 21, CHAPTER 4, OBJECTIVE 7.A

CHAPTER ONE

T hey took Mother away today.

I was on my energy board when they came. They didnt knock. They just came in, men in black uniforms. Enforcers. I shut off my board and stumbled, hitting my hip against the metal sidebar. They didnt say anything but held up their hands in a way that told me to stop and not come any closer. My meter was only halfway to the finish point. Mother had gotten off her sleeping mat when she heard them at the door and stood there, head down. How tangled her hair looked, gray and lifeless.

They asked which sleeping mat was hers. She pointed to mine. I started to say, No thats mine, but she gave a little shake of her head so I kept quiet. One of them rolled up the mat and put it under his arm. The other one tied short, dirty ropes to Mothers wrists. I knew not to cry in front of the Enforcers but tears burned hot behind my eyes.

Mother hadnt done her duty walking since I was paired with Jeremy two days ago. She had stayed curled up on her sleeping mat, her face to the wall, her back a row of bony knobs. I had walked both my board and hers those two days so our meters would register at Central Authority for two people. That was the only way to get food for both of us.

Maybe they could tell one person was doing two different meters because the meters registered at different times. Who knows? Ive seen too many things over the almost eighteen years Ive spent on this Earth to ever doubt the Authoritys power.

Mother went quietly, shuffling her feet across the rough concrete floor. She looked back at me and said, Im sorry I didnt teach you enough.... I love you. There was a scratchy sound to her voice as though the words were stuck inside her. Im sorry, Emmeline. I didnt know what she meant and I didnt have time to ask. The Enforcers, one on each side of her, tugged on the ropes. She looked weak and shrunken between them.

I watched through the window slit as they pulled Mother up the steps of the bus-box. How trapped she looked sitting between them. Six other men, large and muscular in orange uniforms, stood in their harnesses. The Transport Team. The bus-box lurched forward as the men began walking in unison. I watched until it disappeared around the curve past our Compound.

Then I ran after her. The Gatekeeper didnt see me; he was making rounds at the far end. I ran as fast and as hard as I could along the ridge between the ruts in the dirt road, the muscles in my legs clenching and unclenching like fists, until I could see the bus-box.

I slipped to the side of the road, crouching down, creeping closer. The bus-box turned onto a narrower road, hidden by trees. I never knew that road was there.

The green flag marking the area was barely visible. Beyond it was a building I had never seen before. Bigger than any Living Space and a deeper, darker gray than the other buildings. No window slits, just blank, forbidding walls.

The bus-box stopped in front of the buildings only door. Through the trees I could see the Enforcers walk Mother to the door. Dust swirled around her ankles as she shuffled. The odor here seemed familiar but was much more potent.

Mother still had the ropes on her wrists and the Enforcers were holding them tightly. She turned, looked at me as though she knew Id been following her the whole time, and somehow was able to raise one hand to touch her chest, her heart. That motion lasted only a second. Ill remember it for a lifetime.

A hand reached out and pulled Mother inside. The door slammed shut.

While the Enforcers got back on the bus-box, I hid behind a tree and watched until they disappeared. Then I leaned my head against the tree and beat my fists against the rough bark until they bled.

* * *

Alone.

I had never been alone before. Mother never allowed that. Never. Jeremy was not yet back from work. Around me was only gray. Gray walls, gray floor. A cold concrete square. One window slit on each of the four walls and the single wooden door that led outside to the Compounds common area, a packed dirt space with a gate, guarded by a Gatekeeper. Inside, the space was divided into three areas. To one side of the door was the eating space with a counter to place our nourishment cubes and water bottles on. On the other side, the washing-up room with its limp privacy curtain. In the back was the sleeping area, with our mats on the floor and hooks on the wall to hang our uniforms. Along the wall on the right was the energy output area. This is where our boards stood, side by side.

These were all the spaces where Mother used to be.

I walked into the sleeping area. Mothers mat, just long enough and wide enough for one person, covered with the same frayed fabric as the privacy curtain, was stretched over a foam mattress four inches thick on the cold concrete floor. Her blanket had fallen onto the floor. I picked it up and held it to my face, breathing deeply. The fabric was rough and cold, but it smelled of Mother, her skin, her hair. I could see the imprint of her body on the mat. Where her head had been, her shoulders, her hips. I ran my fingertips over the mat, feeling those spaces. Then I curled up in the imprint and pulled her blanket over me. It was safe to cry now.

* * *

There was nothing to do but get back on my board and walk. Create energy. Create energy. Create energy. Get my meter to finish. The sound of my feet pounding on the board and another sound, a low hiss, as the friction and heat of the board is siphoned away through a small hose connected to an outlet in the wall and then into the energy download bar in front of our space. Every Space has a download bar like ours, but the bars belong to the Central Authority. They own everything. They use the energy to supply our needs. Our nourishment cubes, our clothing, everything. They call it the Energy Neutral Policy. I hate their big titles.