The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Stephenson, Neal. Termination Shock. William Morrow, November 16, 2021. Kindle.

In the speculative fiction novel Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, Frederika Mathilde Louisa Saskia, Queen of the Netherlands, was among four world leaders invited to a secluded Texas ranch where billionaire T.R. Schmidt unveiled a machine intended to reverse the impacts of global warming. Saskia knew she had been invited because her country was in danger of flooding due to rising sea levels connected to climate change. Since she was merely a figure-head, Saskia was unsure what T.R. wanted her to do until a series of engineered events forced Saskia to step out as a proponent of climate change.

T.R. invited representatives from four low-lying countries that were in danger of losing their land, similar to Houston, Texas, to the unveiling of what he called Pina2bo. Pina2bo was basically an outsized six-barrel gun sunk into an old mine capable of shooting sulfur into the stratosphere. As the sulfur accumulated in the stratosphere, it would reflect back the sun’s rays and eventually cool the Earth.

Meanwhile, a Sikh by the name of Deep “Laks” Singh had become an Internet superstar when videos appeared of him fighting the Chinese on the Line of Actual Control between China and India. Laks was so talented that the Indian Army reached out to supply him with whatever he needed to push back the Chinese. In his final fight, Laks was debilitated when the Chinese targeted him with an energy force that scrambled the neurons in his brain. Laks, however, was taken to a hospital where he was underwent surgery and implants to correct what the Chinese had done. When the surgeons were finished, Laks’s sense of balance and spatial awareness was actually more fined tuned than before the scrambled neurons.

After T.R.’s presentation of Pina2bo was finished and the special guests had returned home, T.R. hired Rufus “Red” Grant to keep an eye on his property. Rufus, who had dedicated his life to killing a particular feral pig who killed his daughter, had believed he had nothing to live for after he achieved that goal. T.R.’s invitation gave him a new sense of purpose. So, he took on a drone project that helped train eagles to attack and disable enemy drones.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Saskia’s country was flooded. The gates of a massive dam, intended to protect them against surges, collapsed during a storm. It was determined that China had dropped some sort of explosive into the ocean to create the wave that destroyed the gates. Shortly afterward, the government of the Netherlands dissolved, leaving that country without leaders.

Making matters worse, a deep fake of Saskia appeared on the Internet where it appeared she was telling the victim of a recent natural disaster that she was urging the government to pay more attention to climate change. Since Saskia was just a figurehead, she had no power to do anything and was discouraged from taking her own stand on any political issue. Before Saskia’s workers could produce an explanation and apology for the deep fake, another fake video of Saskia appeared in which she apologized to the government. However, she did not recall her feelings about climate.

Saskia had no choice but to advocate her throne to her daughter. As she considered her future roles, she was heralded as the Queen of the Netherworld. Netherworld consists of areas that lie below sea level. When she visited Venice, she learned two more Pina2bo type sites were being installed, one in Vadan and one in New Guinea.

Saskia decided she wanted to take an active role in encouraging geoengineering so she traveled back to T.R.’s ranch to see Pina2bo. At this point, the gun had been in operation for about a year. Models showed that the climate was cooling, but there was concern in the Breadbasket area of India because the monsoons had been late. Leaders worried the rains the country depended on for its food supply eventually would not come at all. They initiated what they called an attack on the United States in the name of climate peacekeeping.

Saskia’s visit coincided with this attack by India. The Indian military first used a device to render useless any cars, phones, engines, or other devices that had electrical components. Saskia, T.R. and a few others who were at Pina2bo were escorted down into the mine shaft to keep them safe from any further attack.

Laks had been specially trained to carry a briefcase containing enough Cobalt-60 that he could throw it down the shaft of the gun, where Saskia, T.R. and the others were sheltering. The blast would render the gun useless. Laks, however, was bitten by a rattlesnake, an injury that slowed his progress. When he arrived at the shaft, he stopped in surprise when he saw a person at the head of the shaft. Laks realized that meant there were people sheltering in the mine. He had not been told his mission would include killing people and did not want to responsible for any deaths. Laks' indecisive pause gave Rufus, who had risen horseback to the mine, the chance to shoot open the briefcase Laks was carrying. Laks was killed by the radiation inside.

Later, as T.R. and others are searching for a way to incorporate a sign of respect into Laks’s burial spot — he had to be buried where he died because the body was radioactive — Saskia steps forward in her new role as representative of the Netherworld. The novel concludes as T.R. and Monhinder Singh, a Sikh sent to ensure Laks’s body was treated respectfully, disagree if Laks was an enemy or a hero. Saskia takes each of these men by the arm and tries to find common ground as they walk together toward the sunset.