Page 72 of South of Nowhere

His only experience digging one was prior to a gunfight. Like a foxhole in combat. He said, “Never relied on one to stop a flood. And nobody has any idea how deep the water’ll be by the time it gets out here.”

“How much of the town has evacuated?”

“It’s about ninety-five percent. They’ve gone to Hanover College.”

Coyne was nodding. “Good choice. If that goes, well, it’s time to start looking for the Ark.”

“You know if Gerard Redding’s evacuated the mine?”

“Hope so, for his workers’ sake. As for him, don’t much care. His name’s not on my dance card.” She said this sourly.

Shaw lifted a brow.

“We don’t see eye to eye, Redding and me.”

“That right?”

She sighed. “Water. Goddamn water. It’s the new gold, Colter. The earth is mostly water but nearly all of it might as well be Play-Doh. The water that counts? It’s vanishing. In Africa, the Middle East, South Asia…There, if it’s not droughted away, it’s being weaponized. A warlord who controls the water controls the people.” Her gaze grew dark. “And I have a feeling it’s the same thing here. Gerrymandering around water sources to keep the voters under a politician’s thumb.”

Shaw had not heard of this, but it was right up his father’s alley—a man who never met a government conspiracy he didn’t brake for.

“Fresh water in California.” A shake of her head. “It’s like playing a dozen games of chess at the same time. All the Salad Bowl farms—from Sacramento down to Bakersfield—fighting for every drop. Small ones like me and huge agra-com operations. Back in the old days they fought over land and claims and gold. Now we fight over water.” She scoffed. “Of course, now I’ve got to worry about toomuchof it.”

“If the land flooded, what would it do to the farm?”

“I’d lose a year’s crop. It would wash away topsoil and the seeds I just sowed. And the water would unbalance the nitrogen and phosphorus. But worse than that, I’d lose all my research fields. Here, take a look.”

She walked toward her desk and he followed her. On it were hundreds of sheets of paper, folders, books, magazines. Though it seemed highly unlikely to be the case, he took the opportunity to see if there was any evidence she was preparing for the flood ahead oftime, proving she was behind the sabotage. But it was all scientific in nature, financial spreadsheets, technical data.

Besides, she didn’t seem like the sort of woman who was foolish enough to leave evidence lying around.

“Hobby of mine. I farm because I love it, and it’s a family legacy. But I stumbled on something a few years ago and it’s become a passion. Phytoremediation.”

“I’m not generally passionate about things I can’t pronounce.”

A smile eased onto her face as their eyes met. “You’re funny, Colter. Phytoremediation is the science of removing toxins and chemicals and other crap from the soil through plants. Certain types of vegetation absorb the bad stuff, break the poisons apart and dispose of them in the air. Stuff that’ll kill us and animals doesn’t affect them at all. And what they off-gas isn’t bad either.”

Interesting idea. He’d have to mention it to Dorion. Because of her job she was acutely aware of the effects of chemical spills. The process Coyne was describing would not be an immediate solution to an incident, but maybe plants could be sown in affected soil to mitigate long-term pollution.

He told her this.

“That’s exactly what it’s about. I think it’s the wave of the future.”

She stretched and stifled a yawn.

Shaw gave it one more shot. “Must’ve gotten up early for the trenching.”

Coyne gave him a look. Did she suspect something?

“Started digging the minute we heard. About seven or so. But you’re talking to a farm girl, sir.”

Shaw cocked his head.

“If we’re still in bed at five a.m., that’s known as sleeping in. Now, I got some ditches to dig. You best scoot.”

31.

Time Elapsed from Initial Collapse: 11 Hours

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