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Patrick thought. It wasn’t much more than two centuries since the continent had been first crossed by the European settlers, and not much less since the great western migrations in search of land and gold. Now another vast flight to the west was under way.
    Thandie went on, “I don’t need to detail for this group the economic dislocation that has unfolded, nor the tremendous human tragedy. A few months back I myself visited a huge refugee camp outside Amarillo, Texas. But I do want to point out how all this illustrates the accuracy of my modeling. When I spoke to the IPCC in 2018 the flooding had reached a mere thirteen meters above the old sea level datum, on average. At that time the scientific consensus was that the flooding couldn’t exceed eighty meters or so, because that was the upper bound from ice-cap melting. Well, just as my models predicted then, we have now reached a rise of around two hundred meters. The incremental rise is currently around thirty meters a year, and is following an exponential curve upwards. It seems clear the worst is yet to come, despite the denials of the scientific community and the governments. Regarding the source of the rise we have continued to gather data, and again every new piece of data has confirmed my tentative 2018 modeling.”
    Thandie had established that the sea level rise was fueled not by melting ice but by ejections from subterranean seas, from lodes of water stored within the Earth. She produced images taken from undersea explorations of vast, turbulent, underwater fountains, places where hot, mineral-laden water was forcing its way out of the substrate, up from the depths of the rocky Earth itself.
    Nobody knew why it should be just now that the deep reservoirs broke open. There had been dramatic and abrupt changes in Earth’s climatic state in the past. Maybe this was just another of those dramatic but natural transitions. Or maybe it was humanity’s fault.
    “But in a real sense the cause doesn’t matter,” Thandie said, “and it’s futile to assign blame. Whatever the cause, we have to deal with the consequences. And from this point on those consequences are unknown. Up to now we have had some precedents to guide us. In the Cretaceous era, for instance, when the dinosaurs were still kicking around, Earth was warmer and wetter, and sea levels were much higher. Now we’re passing such precedents. We’ll soon be in an era when seas will be higher than at any time since the formation of the continents over two billion years ago.
    “I’m aware that the federal government and other agencies continue to plan on the basis of the flood receding, of the possibility of recovery. Various departments are working on plans for the orderly recolonization of formerly drowned regions, for instance. I have to say I see no reason why the flooding should stop any time soon. Indeed we’re finding it hard to put an outer limit on the ultimate sea level rise. My best guess is that if the subsurface chambers we’ve discovered release all their water, we’ll end up with oceans five times the volume they had in 2010. All Earth’s land area will be lost long before that limit is reached, of course.” She let silence linger after that blunt statement.
    Edward Kenzie nodded. “So, Dr. Jones, what do you think we should do?”
    She shrugged. “You’ve three choices, as I see it. You plan for a life on the sea. Or under it. Or away from the Earth entirely.” Patrick found himself nodding at that last. “Oh,” Thandie said, “and you’ve around fifteen years to choose which, and implement your plan.”
    “Why fifteen years?”
    “Because in fifteen years Denver will be flooding.” She glanced around at the old library, the dusty calm, the sunlit air. “The water will be here. I guess whatever you’re going to do, you need to start now. Any more questions?”
    After fifteen minutes of reasonably informed questions from the LaRei members, the presentation was over, and