Cauldron

by Larry Bond

  The man who took the chair across from him couldn’t have been any more different in physical appearance. Nicolas Desaix had the same tall, slender build and prominent, jutting nose his countrymen still associated with France’s last great leader, Charles de Gaulle. It was a resemblance Marchant was sure the intelligence chief valued.

  “You’ve seen Major Duroc’s preliminary report?”

  Marchant nodded, remembering the blank-faced motorcycle courier who’d hand-carried the document to his home, stood waiting while he read it, and then retrieved it for immediate shredding at the DGSE’s headquarters. That, more than the report’s cold, factual words themselves, had rammed home the dreadful seriousness and secrecy of this matter. What had been planned as a fairly simple act of self-inflicted sabotage had escalated into gunfire and sudden killing.

  Desaix seemed to read his mind. “I regret the unfortunate… complications, Alexandre. Especially your security guard’s death.” He shook his head sadly. “He had a wife, I understand?”

  “Yes. In Lyons.”

  Desaix sighed. “A great pity.” He looked up. “She will be provided for?”

  “Of course.” Marchant folded his hands across his lap. “We carry life insurance policies on all our employees, and in this instance my personnel people are organizing a special compensation fund.”

  “Good.” Desaix nodded his approval. “France must care for all her fallen sons. No matter how they fall.”

  Eurocopter’s chief executive was struck by the evident sincerity in his voice. A few simple words transformed young Monnet’s death into an act of patriotic sacrifice. It was astonishing. This man had more charisma and command presence than the President and the rest of the cabinet combined. Half his talents were wasted in his present position.

  Desaix sighed again and then shrugged. “Still, such tragedies are probably unavoidable. We live in an imperfect world and we must use imperfect tools to achieve our ends.” He looked up. “And those ends were achieved, true?”

  “Yes.” Marchant felt himself on firmer ground now. Work force changes, production schedules, and profit margins could be managed and controlled. Mental images of grieving widows could not. He sat forward in his chair. “Your major’s bomb caused only minor damage — as promised. Nothing that significantly affected our rotor output. Nevertheless, my directors are appalled by just how close this ‘Hungarian’ terrorist group came to wrecking our Sopron operation.”

  Both men smiled at that.

  “Then you foresee no serious opposition to our proposals at tomorrow’s board meeting? No second-guessing?”

  Marchant shook his head. “None. I already have all the votes we need in my pocket.”

  Desaix looked pleased. He’d approved Major Duroc’s “special action” as a means of solving two serious problems with one small bang. And Nicolas Desaix was a man who fully enjoyed being proved right.

  Despite the favorable tax and wage agreements offered by Hungary’s military government, Eurocopter’s Sopron plant was still a money-losing proposition for France. Government protection ensured a steady stream of European aircraft industry orders for its rotors. Overseas sales were a different story. Fierce competition from America’s Boeing and the Japanese meant a need for continuing and expensive government subsidies. With the world mired in what seemed a perpetual economic slump, French companies like Eurocopter desperately needed ways to cut their costs. Naturally, cutting wages for their foreign workers in eastern Europe was far more politically palatable than slashing pay packets at home.

  Unfortunately Sopron’s Hungarian work force was showing signs of increasing militancy over French control and supervision. Work stoppages, “sick-outs,” and muttered strike threats were already raising tensions along its rotor assembly lines. Further wage reductions were bound to be violently opposed — at a high cost in factory downtime and lost orders. Other companies operating in Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia faced the same kinds of labor force unrest.

  That was the first problem.

  The second also involved foreigners. To be more precise, foreigners living in France. During the past four decades, hundreds of thousands of “guest” workers and their families had swarmed into the country from Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Portugal, and half a dozen other poor nations. Lured by a severe labor shortage during the 1950s and 1970s, they were now unnecessary. With millions of native-born Frenchmen out of work, the “Arabs” were seen as a dirty, dangerous, and shiftless source of social friction and political trouble. Public opinion blamed them for every increase in the crime rate and for diseases like AIDS. Bloody skinhead rampages through their shabby, poverty-stricken neighborhoods were becoming commonplace.

  To put it bluntly, France wanted the foreigners out.

  And so Nicolas Desaix had seen a golden opportunity to aid his nation, benefit its powerful industrial conglomerates, and boost his own political career — all in one fell swoop.

  Replacing their troublesome eastern European workers with low-wage “guest” laborers would help Eurocopter and other French companies cut their manufacturing costs. It would also reduce the government subsidies now used to keep their prices below market levels. Even better, as documented aliens with French work permits, the new factory workers would pay their taxes directly into Paris’ revenue-starved coffers. They would also be off French soil and under strict control in guarded, fenced-off, and isolated compounds.

  On paper, it was the perfect solution. And Sopron was the first step toward putting it into practice.

  Frightened by the first signs of a “terrorist” campaign against French-owned facilities, other manufacturers were sure to quickly imitate Eurocopter’s worker replacement program. The Germans would probably fall in line as well, Marchant thought. The Boche had their own problems with unwanted immigrants.

  The Hungarians and the other client-state governments would undoubtedly protest these moves, but their protests would be futile. They needed continued French and German financial aid, backing, and goodwill far more than. France or Germany needed them. Any threat to end that aid or close the factories should be enough to cow them. Or so Marchant hoped.

  He cleared his throat. “One thing still troubles me, though.”

  Desaix frowned slightly. “And what is that?”

  “This Hungarian policeman Duroc mentioned. Hrad…” Marchant stopped, unable to fit his tongue around the police colonel’s unmanageable name.

  “Him?” The DSGE director snorted. He waved a hand in airy dismissal. “He’s nothing. A provincial nobody without influence in Budapest. Don’t waste time worrying about that fellow, Alexandre. If he causes too much trouble, I’ll have him suppressed.”

  Marchant nodded his understanding. The French security services had poured a great deal of time, money, and training into their Hungarian counterparts. As a result, they exercised a great deal of both overt and covert control. Hungary’s current rulers owed their power to Paris — something Desaix and his colleagues never let them forget. An official who offended the military government’s chief sponsors wouldn’t last long in his job.

  He stood up, surprised as always at the effort it took to lift himself upright. “In that case, I’ll take my leave, Director. I’m sure that I’ve already taken up too much of your valuable time.”

  Desaix stood up with him, an easy, companionable smile on his lips. “Not at all, Alexandre. Not at all. My door is always open to you. Remember that.”

  Eurocopter’s chief executive officer looked up at the taller man. “You have my thanks, monsieur. And those of others as well.”

  Neither man felt a need to say more.

  Everyone knew that France’s aging and ineffectual President was on the verge of one of his periodic cabinet reshuffles. Backing by some of the nation’s largest industrial firms would help Nicolas Desaix win whatever ministry he wanted to head. It was a quid pro quo Marchant offered gladly. With Europe and the world in economic and political turmoil, France needed more leaders courageous an
d cunning enough to seize every opening fortune held out to them.

  Empires were won by bold action, not cringing caution.

  AUGUST 21 — ”EURO-EXODUS,” THE ECONOMIST

  With the ink barely dry on Eurocopter’s press release, more than a dozen French-owned companies have announced similar plans to replace workers at their eastern European manufacturing sites. What began as a surprise move at one factory is fast becoming a trend.

  The latest figures show more than 50,000 jobs affected by these announcements, and one senior official in Paris estimated that figure will grow rapidly in the days and weeks ahead as fresh French and German firms join the race to cut labor costs. Other experts put the numbers of Algerians, Turks, and Tunisians slated to be shipped out of France at more than a quarter of a million — with men, women, and children all being uprooted in a modern-day Exodus.

  Heated protests have erupted all across Hungary, Croatia, and Romania — the nations most affected. In the most severe attack, workers in Brasov, north of Bucharest, stormed a foreign worker’s hostel, killing thirteen Arabs and wounding scores more. Four Romanians and several police were also killed.

  But the protests are not confined to those whose livelihoods are threatened. Nationalist beliefs drive many of the actions. One French trade union leader stalked out of a recent meeting in evident rage, growling that “these jobs should go to true Frenchmen, not bastard Arabs.”

  The public outcry in France took a violent turn on Wednesday as neo-Nazi skinheads and leftist union workers poured into Marseilles’ immigrant neighborhoods. Several hours of street fighting, beatings, and arson left six people dead and dozens more injured. Onlookers have complained that the police did little to contain the violence or to arrest those responsible.

  Despite these warning signs, France’s top-ranking corporate and governmental leaders show no evidence of any intention to reverse course. Whether driven by racial arrogance or economic necessity, this forced mass migration seems likely to continue.…

  AUGUST 30 — MOBILE POLICE COMMAND POST, SOPRON, HUNGARY

  Colonel Zoltan Hradetsky stood on a grassy hill overlooking the Budapest-Vienna highway, glowering down at a scene that was every policeman’s worst nightmare come to life — a riot spiraling out of control. Static and frantic voices crackled over his command vehicle’s radios as his junior officers fought to regain some measure of control over their own men.

  The highway looked like a battlefield. A kilometer-long column of buses sat stalled bumper-to-bumper, each packed with replacement workers and their families headed for the Sopron rotor-fabrication factory. Frightened faces stared out through steel mesh screens welded over shattered glass windows.

  Thick, black smoke hung over the whole area, billowing from truck tires stacked and set afire as makeshift barricades. The smoke mingled with gray wisps of tear gas rising over rock-throwing rioters surging back and forth across the road. Policemen wearing gas masks and carrying nightsticks and Plexiglas shields raced from trouble spot to trouble spot, clubbing protesters away from the buses before they could pry doors or windows open. Trucks waiting to cart off prisoners to the city jail stood empty. Nobody had any time to make arrests. They were too busy fending off total disaster.

  Hradetsky swore under his breath. Damn that idiot Gellard and his arrogant masters in Paris! They hadn’t bothered to inform him of their plans until earlier this morning, far too late to put together any kind of coherent crowd control plan. As a result, his first police units hadn’t been in time to stop Eurocopter’s enraged workers from blocking the bus convoy.

  Angry shouts, screams, and the muffled thump of more tear gas launchers being fired drifted uphill on the wind. More smoke stained the sky, rising from behind the stalled column now. Rioters had cut off the convoy’s line of retreat.

  He turned on his heel and stalked toward the worried-looking officers clustered around his command vehicle. “Radio Kapuvar and tell them we need reinforcements now, not next week! And find out where those bloody water cannon are! We’re running out of other options fast.”

  “Your panic may not be necessary, Colonel.” Francois Gellard, the factory’s general manager, folded his arms across his chest. Somehow he managed to look bored despite the confusion spilling over the highway only a few hundred meters away. Two of his own security guards stood nearby, cradling short, compact FA MAS assault rifles.

  “And just what the hell do you mean by that?”

  The Frenchman smiled thinly and pointed at the western sky. “I’ve already taken steps that should bring this farce to a quick end.”

  Hradetsky followed his outstretched arm and saw three black specks on the horizon, specks that took on shape and size as they closed at high speed. Helicopters with Eurocopter corporate markings.

  Moments later the helicopters flashed by low overhead and slid downhill toward the highway, rotors howling as they decelerated. Each had its side doors open and men leaning outward over the struggling throngs only fifty meters below.

  Moving slowly now, the Eurocopter aircraft flew eastward along the highway, trailing bright white flashes and a rattling, thumping series of ear-splitting bangs as the stun grenades their crews were lobbing exploded on the ground and in the air. High-pitched screams rose in their wake. Policemen and rioters alike were knocked down by the blasts and then trampled as the panicked mob broke and scattered away from the road.

  Turbines whining, the helicopters spun through a tight turn and made another pass. More explosions hammered at Hradetsky’s ears. And more men and women were left lying broken and bleeding on the highway.

  He whirled round to face Gellard. “You fucking bastard! How dare you order this… aerial massacre!” He stabbed a finger toward the bodies littering the pavement and roadside.

  “Calm down, Colonel. Most of those people aren’t seriously hurt at all — simply breathless and stunned.” The French factory manager nodded toward his orbiting helicopters. “In any event, your vaunted police were losing this battle. And my men and machines have won it. I doubt you’ll find very many of your superiors willing to second-guess my actions.”

  Hradetsky felt his face grow red with barely suppressed rage. “I don’t give a damn what those toadies in Budapest say or don’t say. You’re operating on my territory now — not your precious factory grounds.”

  He moved closer to Gellard, watching as the manager and his bodyguards tensed, obviously unsure of what to expect from this short-tempered Hungarian. “I’m putting you under arrest, monsieur. The charges will include murderous assault on my police officers down there and on other citizens of this district. I will not allow anyone — no matter how powerful — to take the law into his own hands. Not while I command this post.”

  Gellard shrugged. “Then you may not command here for long, Colonel.” The Frenchman turned away, more interested in watching the buses carrying his new workers edging their way past abandoned barricades.

  Hradetsky swore again and moved downhill, already issuing the instructions needed to bring some kind of order out of the bloody chaos along the highway.

  SEPTEMBER 2 — FAX TRANSMISSION, SOPRON POLICE HEADQUARTERS

  FROM: Ministry of the Interior

  TO: Col. Zoltan Hradetsky, Commander, Sopron Police District

  1. Effective immediately you are relieved of all duties at your current post. All special pay allowances and cost-of-living adjustments are also revoked.

  2. Effective immediately you will suspend all extraordinary investigations or operations, pending arrival of your designated successor.

  3. You are strongly reprimanded for your conduct on 30 August. Despite recent worker-related changes, Eurocopter’s Sopron facility remains an important contributor to our nation’s economy. Your unprofessional behavior has jeopardized this vital relationship, and this reprimand will become a part of your permanent service record.

  4. Effective 05 September you are ordered to report for duty in the Office of Criminal Records, Budapest. For
the purposes of pay and office organization, you will carry the nominal rank of captain — while retaining your existing grade should future assignments warrant it.

  Imre Dozsa

  Brigadier General, commanding

  CHAPTER 3

  Sentinels

  SEPTEMBER 11 — DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Hydraulics whining, the huge 747 rolled out of its turn and slid downward, thundering low over the green, wooded Virginia countryside. Four thousand miles and nearly seven hours after leaving Great Britain, American Airlines Flight 128 was on final approach to Dulles. Row after row of houses, steepled churches, and flat-roofed shopping malls slipped past beneath the plane’s wings. Many stood empty or unfinished. The world recession had brought even Washington’s suburban sprawl to a grinding halt.

  Joseph Ross Huntington III pulled his gaze away from the narrow cabin window and frowned. He saw signs of economic gloom everywhere he looked these days — even on this morning flight from London. More of the airliner’s seats were empty than were occupied, and most of his fellow passengers were weary-looking businessmen. Several years of global trade war had taken their toll. With the nation’s unemployment level locked near twelve percent, few American families had the money or inclination to vacation overseas. Public contempt for “foreigners” was at an all-time high.

  Huntington shook his head at that. At least Americans could still put food on their family tables. That made them fortunate compared to most of the world’s population. Africa and both Central and South America lay mired in unpaid debts, deadly disease, utter poverty, and political upheaval. Asia, except for Japan, South Korea, and a few others, wasn’t in much better shape. Even Europe’s proud, industrialized nations teetered on the brink of economic collapse, kept afloat only by frantic government spending, subsidized production, and wishful thinking.