Flu made the front page, but the oil crisis wasn’t far behind. America threatens action in the Gulf, read a headline. Of course, he thought, they would have to. Self-interest would be too strong. All of America’s own reserves could not compensate for the loss of all that oil. It didn’t matter that eight out of every ten barrels of oil shipped down the Gulf was destined for Asia; the impact on world oil prices would be devastating for everyone. He found himself flicking to the financial pages. Oil was up in price by fifty-six per cent. He could imagine Cassie computing this, reading the
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