Hank Stevas was a highly political figure. Short and in his late sixties, he had attracted criticism from both sides of the aisle for being confrontational and overly brash, or rude as others would politely call him. Someone Kathryn was hoping would not be in this meeting.
Kathryn took a deep breath. “Well, the best step would be to take a proactive approach and try to avoid what could turn out to be a global panic. This would mean purposely finding a way to relieve some of the strain being created. There are few possibilities that require a certain amount of time and resource-”
“I see,” replied Stevas cutting her off. “And does everyone at the USGS agree with your assessment?”
Kathryn was expecting this. Hank Stevas had not so subtly attacked her a year earlier during one of her environmental reports. She was amazed at his total disregard for empirical facts, even his lack of interest in learning the facts. Instead he attacked politically by going after a person’s character or reputation. After her run in with him last year, she later learned that he was friends with her predecessor. It seemed he was not going to let sleeping dogs lie.
Kathryn hesitated only because of the satisfaction he was about to get, even though the answer was far from simple. “No.”
“No,” Stevas repeated nodding his head and frowning. “So how many other scientists do agree with you?”
His accusing tone lingered in the air as she stared at him. How convenient that he said ‘agree with you’ instead of ‘this conclusion’. “It’s not that easy-”
Stevas spread his hands in a mocking gesture. “How many agree with you, half? Less than half? Does anyone agree with your view? Being the head of the largest scientific department on the planet, I would hope that at least some of your subordinates would agree.”
Kathryn had to force herself not to glare at the man. “Some, yes.”
“Some,” he nodded sarcastically. “Some.” Stevas looked around the room addressing everyone at the table. “So we have a minority scientific opinion here regarding a geological event that may or may not be a serious risk, and that could cost who knows how much. Might I remind everyone that last year you gave a presentation claiming that the ocean levels worldwide were actually falling in contradiction to everyone else in the scientific community suggesting the exact opposite, even in fact calculating the opposite.”
Kathryn did not want to respond but would not let it go unaddressed in front of everyone in the room. “My suggestion was that the widely accepted calculations were flawed based on failure to account for a number of variables such as lunar gravitational patterns, the Earth’s equatorial bulge, and-”
“You claimed,” Stevas cut her off again, “that the water level was falling but could not explain where the disappearing water was supposedly going! Tell me Ms. Lokke, does anyone agree with your claim now, a full year later?”
If Kathryn did not want to respond to his last question, she really did not want to respond to this one. Stevas had clearly known what the subject of this meeting was about and decided to dig up some dirt. Reluctantly she answered. “Not to my knowledge. But you have to understand this isn’t like walking down to the nearest beach with a measuring stick. There are many calculations involved.”
“Not to your knowledge,” he repeated.
“Look,” she said ignoring Stevas and addressing the others, “this is a grave situation. If we don’t do something, and soon, to release some of the pressure along that shelf, we may be talking about the greatest disaster we have ever seen. If that piece of the continent collapses, we could have just a matter of hours to evacuate 50 million people.” Now she glared at Stevas. “How smoothly do you think a last minute evacuation plan would go?”
Kathryn looked to the President who had been watching the rest of the table with his hands folded in front of his mouth. “Ms. Lokke, do we have actual proof that this collapse is imminent?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Stevas putting his glasses back on. “No,” she answered.
“Well I’m afraid I’m not ready to go around warning half the countries on the planet, and potentially starting a panic, over something that we cannot provide real proof of.” He stood up and the rest of the table abruptly followed. “I’d like you to have your team conduct more research and return when you have something more concrete.” He shook her hand. “Thank you for coming in.”
Kathryn watched in stunned silence as all of the men shuffled out of the room, some shaking her hand on the way out. Stevas was not one of them.