“Too bad,” Francesca said. “The process can't work without it. So if you'll be so kind as to allow me to leave...”

“You'll be pleased to know that I have all the anasazium you'll need to develop your process. When I heard of your return I acquired a substantial amount of the refined material. Just in time, I might add. NUMA had dispatched part of its Special Assignments Team on a similar mission. Now I can carry out my full plan to control the world's fresh water. You alone would appreciate the simple brilliance of my scheme, Dr. Cabral.”

Francesca feigned a reluctant agreement, as if she were secretly pleased at the compliment. “Well, of course, as a water scientist I would be curious about such an ambitious endeavor.”

“The world is entering one of the most serious droughts in its history. This dry spell could last a hundred years if the past is any indication. The first impacts have been felt in Africa, China, and the Middle East. Europe is beginning to experience a thirst that cannot be quenched. I simply plan to accelerate the process of drying out the world.”

“Excuse my skepticism, but that's absurd.”

“Is it?” Brynhild replied with a smile. “The United States is not immune. The great desert cities of the Southwest, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, draw their water from the Colorado River, which is now under my control. They rely on a tenuous network of dams, reservoirs, and river diversion. The water supply hangs by a thread. Any disruption in the water supply would be disastrous.”

“You're not going to blow up a dam?” Francesca said with alarm.

“Nothing so crude. With their regular water supply at the breaking point, the cities have been depending more and more on private sources. Gogstad's straw corporations have been buying up water systems everywhere. We can create a water shortage wherever and whenever we want to simply by turning the handle of the tap. Then we will sell only to the places that can afford it, the big cities and the high-tech centers.”

“What of those who can't afford it?”

“There's an old saying in the West: 'Water flows uphill to money.' The wealthy have always been assured of a cheap water source at the expense of others. Under my plan water will no longer be cheap. We will be doing this on a worldwide scale, in Europe and Asia, South America and Africa. It will be capitalism at its purest. The market will determine price.”

“But water isn't a commodity like pork bellies.”

“You've been in the jungle too long. Globalization is nothing more than the promotion of monopolies in communication, agriculture, food, or power. Why not water? Under the new international treaties, no one country owns its water resources anymore. They go to the highest bidder, and Gogstad will be the highest bidder.”

“You will deny water to thousands who will be forced out of the market. There will be famine and chaos in countries that can't afford to buy water.”