Glimmering

“John Finnegan! We welcome you,” spoke a brisk voice. “Within these pages you will see the future that The Golden Family has to offer you and The Gaudy Book—” A chiming, followed by a throaty boom, as of a gong being struck. “The Golden Family is a privately owned corporation formed by the merger of major international corporations from the United States, the European Union, Mongolia, and Japan. In 1987… .”

The voice was silenced as he turned the next page. Rows of numbers, interspersed with small but luminous photographs: trees, mountains, a welder smiling behind a mask as golden sparks fell about her head. He pressed another icon.

“… assets in excess of forty-seven billion dollars annually, chiefly from holdings in…”

The next page brought a molten sunset over Mongolia’s Flaming Cliffs, the sound of tinkling herd-bells and chanting.

“In 1995, GFI completed the acquisition of a 75 percent working interest in the Saraagalt Basin, Mongolia. GFI now owns 100 percent of two contract areas in the Saraagalt Basin in the Gobi Desert, totaling 7.32 million acres. Historically, Mongolia has not had access to its mineral and natural gas deposits. Consulting geologist and engineering firms hired by GFI determined that vast untapped stores of minerals and fossil fuels beneath the Gobi could in future…”

Jack shook his head in a sort of desultory amazement. The sky is falling and they’re still buying up mineral rights. He turned to the center of the prospectus, where a double-page spread showed a sky pulsing with color: purple, green, indigo, gamboge yellow, crimson. Stars showed very faintly through violet flames. In the foreground a shining silver dirigible towed some sort of platform, a huge golden grid with batlike wings. Behind it trailed glittering constellations like so many diamonds tossed upon a jeweler’s velvet table. The same earnest voice intoned.

“In late 1999 The Golden Family will set in place the first SunTerminus™ skystage. Designed and produced by an international team of the world’s foremost research scientists and aerospace engineers, Sun Terminus™ is the most innovative system ever designed to offset the dangerous effects of ozone depletion in the earth’s atmosphere. Unlike conventional satellites, which have been crippled by recent atmospheric disturbances, the worldwide network of SunTerminus™ stages will be set aloft by GFI’s Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) fleet of Fouga™ Dirigibles, each one capable of towing a five-ton payload. Once in place, SunTerminus™ will be the newest, most reliable telecommunications network on earth, providing broadcast and communications services. Because of their lower placement in the earth’s atmosphere, the stages will be unaffected by terrestrial catastrophes, and GFI’s unique and highly specialized security system will prevent any risk of terrorist attack.