“Well, then you already know about R.”
“Arr?”
“Not ‘arr.” R, like the letter.”
Daniel nodded. “I read something about it. So who is he?”
“One of the independents. He – or she, I suppose – communicates only via secure email, and only once a day, but he’s done some incredible work. I’ve tried to persuade him to join us, but he won’t. But who cares about how, Daniel! More and more people are coming to know that the virus is a blessing, and fixing the hunger problem is going to be really, really good for the FC.”
“What about the virtue effect? What have you found out about that?”
Elise’s face hardened. “Why do you keep asking about that? The virtue effect is one of the best things about it, most of us think.”
“Except when we have to defend ourselves – and we eventually will, on a larger scale than just covert actions with a carefully selected handful of people who can bring themselves to risk killing.”
“I’m all right with most of our population not wanting to kill people.”
Daniel shook his head with exasperation. “I’m not looking for people who want to kill. Hell, I never wanted to kill anyone, but I did what I had to on the battlefield in order to defend my patients. If I hadn’t been able to do that, more good men would be dead and a bunch of freedom-hating fanatics would be dancing on their graves. Personally, I’d rather have our guys alive and the extremists dead. What happens when one of our FC nations gets attacked? In fact, they might get attacked precisely because someone thinks we can’t fight back effectively.”
“I know all the arguments, but I’m not going to push people to do research they disagree with. Why can’t you be happy with what we’ve accomplished until now?”
Daniel took Elise in his arms. “You’re right. I’m sorry. What you’ve done is incredible.”
“What the team did. I have a couple of people that should win the Nobel Prize for this, but politics and fear will prevent that from happening.”
“Do you understand what this will do? The possibilities it presents?”
“Better than you, I bet,” said Elise. “This is all we’ve been thinking or talking about for days.”
There came a knock on the door and his assistant, Millie Johnstone, stuck her head in the door. “I’m sorry, Mister Chairman, but Colonel Nguyen is here to see you.”
Elise gave him another kiss. “I’ll see you tonight. Dinner?”
“Definitely,” said Daniel. “A nice big one, before your change to the virus makes everyone fat again.”
“Funny.” She smiled and departed, giving Spooky a sharp look as she went.
“Tran,” said Daniel. “Good job on the Ethiopian extraction. It was a tough one, but you and Cassandra found a way to get it done.”
“Yes, sir,” said Spooky. “I know it’s not my lane, but I’m curious about their final location for permanent settlement.”
“I believe I’ve already worked that out,” said Daniel. “They’ve been invited to New Zealand.”
“Quite a bit colder than Ethiopians are used to,” said Spooky.
“It’s not too bad in the summer. Besides, not to be too harsh, but anything is better than what they had or have now.”
“Of course,” said Spooky.
“Has your team returned safely?”
“This morning,” said Spooky.
“That woman,” said Daniel. “The former Marine?”
“Jill Repeth?”
“Yes, that one. I think you’ve found a good one there.”
Spooky nodded. “She’s very capable.”
Daniel smiled. “And I’m glad to see you and Cassandra working together. You both had me a little bit worried there for a while.”
“Nothing to be concerned about. Like you said, it’s nothing personal. Intel and covert ops overlap sometimes and we have differing perspectives, that’s all.”
“Good,” said Daniel. “You know that without the two of you I don’t think I could do this job.”
Spooky smiled knowingly.
There came another knock on the door and Millie stuck her head in again. “I’m very sorry, sir, but I have a call from the staff of the President’s office. South African, I mean. His people say it is urgent.”
“Sorry, Tran,” said Daniel, “but I’ll need to take this. Getting Australia and New Zealand to finally become full members of the FC has given us momentum for expansion that I don’t want to lose. South Africa would be a real prize.”
“No problem,” said Spooky, standing. “We’ll talk more later, Mister Chairman.”
Daniel waved his assent distractedly at Spooky. The secure phone was already on his ear.
* * *
Spooky walked slowly down the hall back to his office.
I underestimated Cassandra Johnstone’s resolve and resourcefulness, he thought. That is a mistake I must never repeat again. Her sources are evidently extensive. She may even have people within FC Covert Ops. In fact, I’m sure of it. I’ll have to find out who they are.
He made a mental note to develop sources of his own among Cassandra’s people. He also resolved to beef up his counterintelligence team and give them a longer leash to dig into the background of his own personnel. Every day, the FC was growing, gaining influence. It was time to stop doing everything on the fly. He had to institute procedures, protocols and policies.
There was only one real loose end flapping in the breeze, and that was Skull. He wondered where the man would be heading next, and didn’t blame him for dropping off the radar.
I made a mistake – perhaps two mistakes – in hoping the circumstances would get rid of Skull, Spooky thought. I was right to believe him too unpredictable to manage well, but I was wrong about his ability to win through. In retrospect, I should have brought him into the fold, and then killed him if I thought it necessary.
After all, if you want a job done right, do it yourself.
A knock sounded on his door and he called for its opening. In the entrance he saw Cassandra, dressed in a neat pantsuit that did nothing for her figure. Perhaps she was de-emphasizing her personal attractiveness, something that competent women often did in the workplace in order to be taken seriously.
No need for that here, Spooky thought as he stood up and waved at a metal chair. “Come in, Cassandra. Sit. Forgive me, but my office has few comforts.”
“You’re right, Tran. Your office doesn’t.” Cassandra stepped inside, turning to gesture behind her. “I took the liberty of bringing Jill Repeth along.”
“Oh, you two know each other?”
“Better all the time,” Cassandra replied flatly, sitting down. A moment later, Repeth took the other chair and smoothed her fatigues, glancing from one to the other.
“To what do I owe the honor of your presence?” Spooky asked.
“Honor isn’t a word I’d bandy about right now, Tran,” Cassandra replied.
Spooky sighed. “You obviously need to get something off your chest, so please, proceed.”
“She’s here because of me,” Repeth spoke up. “I’m not interested in all this spy versus spy stuff, but I also didn’t want to go over your head to the chairman, Spooky. I do want some straight answers.”
“And you think Ms. Johnstone’s presence will facilitate that?”
“I’m hoping. I really am. I can’t work for someone if I don’t understand what they want me to do and why – and right now I don’t know why everything since I began with this team was a lot rougher than it needed to be. I need some explanations.”
“Or what?”
Repeth sighed. “Look, Spooky, I’m not trying to blackmail you, but…if I can’t feel right working for you, I have another option now. Chairman Markis is standing up regular FC armed forces pretty soon and they’re going to need military police.”
“I see.” Spooky looked at Cassandra with one eyebrow raised.
His rival chuckled. “Oh, you thought maybe I was trying to steal
her away? It may make you feel better to know I tried and she turned me down flat. I guess she likes spy work even less than special ops. So this isn’t about me and you…except that I’d like to hear your justification as well.”
“I hardly owe you an explanation.”
“No, but you’ll owe Markis one if I go to him and drop this grenade in his lap. You know how he is;. If you ever lose his full trust, he’ll never rely on you for anything important. In that regard, he’s far less forgiving than I am.”
Spooky forced himself not to freeze at the naked threat – an effective one, if he had to admit it, because Cassandra was right. If he told Markis the truth, the man would likely fire him, and there simply weren’t any opportunities for positions as challenging, entertaining, and potentially rewarding as this one.
If he lied to Markis, however, it would eventually come out. Lies always did, which was why he much preferred to tell as much of the truth as served him.
So be it. Time to eat some humble pie…and entice Cassandra to join the feast if I can.
Smiling abruptly, Spooky said, “You’re right, as usual. I’m glad you’re on our side, and Jill too.”
“Spare us the buttery topping, will you?” Cassandra snapped.
“Fine. Cards on the table, then? Yes, I wanted the mission – missions, really – to fail, or at least, not to succeed too spectacularly.”
“But why?” pleaded Repeth. “You could have gotten us killed. If we hadn’t taken our gear back…”
Spooky folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. “Your gear didn’t save you, and not having it might have convinced you to call it off, blaming the Africans for double-crossing you. No one would have held it against you, and you could have come home without risk. You chose to go through with it rather than be reasonable.”
“I’m a Marine. I improvise, adapt and overcome. You still haven’t explained why.”
“You’re not going to like the answer, Jill.”
“I already know that.”
Spooky stood up to stare through his window, looking out over the Colombian town of Tunja. “Sometimes, people have to be sacrificed for the greater good.”
“Ten thousand innocent Ethiopians?”
“To help save millions, yes.”
“I don’t get that at all.”
“Cassandra can probably explain, now that I’ve given her that clue.”
The older woman shook her head. “I’m not doing your dirty work, Tran. Tell us, or tell Markis.”
“Very well.” Spooky turned back to stare at Repeth. “What’s the greatest long-term threat we face right now?”
“The North American Unionists, I’d say.”
Spooky shook his head. “No. It’s the Caliphate. The Unionists will eventually collapse, because their ideology doesn’t align itself with the American character – and I’m including the Canadians and Mexicans. But the Caliphate is merely an extreme expression of large parts of the culture of the Middle East – its tribalism, its deep-seated insecurity, its substitution of revenge for justice, and its use of Islam to justify what is really fascism with a new face. It has the power to win hearts and minds for a very long time, and its cause célèbre is Edens, which means there can be no compromise.”
“So what? Get to the point,” Repeth insisted.
“The best way to combat an evil ideology is to rip off its mask and show the world its true face. But the Caliphate hasn’t yet committed crimes on a large or public enough scale to do so.” Spooky leaned over the desk to stare Repeth in the eyes. “We needed a massacre, Jill. We needed a Srebrenica, a Tiananmen Square, a Rape of Nanking, an Auschwitz.”
Repeth recoiled, aghast. “That’s monstrous.”
“That’s the world we live in. We needed a public and undeniable atrocity with an evidence trail leading directly back to the Caliphate through the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s office – which I had all ready to go. It would have turned much of the world against them and aided the cause of Edens and the FC everywhere. Wavering nations would have flocked to join us, and the sideline-sitters would have begun to support us.” Spooky swept papers angrily from his desk, to flutter to the floor. “Instead, we have a heartwarming human interest story that will be forgotten by next weekend.”
Standing up, Repeth said through gritted teeth, “Thanks for telling me the truth. Now we’ll see what the chairman thinks.”
“No,” snapped Cassandra, seizing Repeth’s hand. “He told us, so running to the boss would be reneging on the deal. He’d just deny it all anyway, and then Markis would have to try to play referee. He doesn’t need that kind of distraction. He has his role, and we have ours. Besides,” she said, releasing her grip, “Nobody likes a tattletale.”
“You’re both twisted, you know that?” Repeth stormed out, slamming the door.
“You could have made it a little less stark, you know,” Cassandra said with a sigh. “You hit her with a sledgehammer when a wiffle bat would have done the trick.”
“Do I look like her mommy? She needs to grow up and join the big boys and girls.”
Cassandra shook her head, slowly. “You’ve got a lot to learn about gaining and keeping the loyalty of your people, even if it’s a calculated act.”
Spooky sat down and took out a cigarillo, offering her one as well. They both lit up. “I suppose you’re right. I am surprised, though, that you weren’t willing to do what needed to be done. I’d thought you were more…realistic.”
“Understanding your reasoning doesn’t mean I agree with it. Your ploy might have worked, but then again it might have backfired. With all those lives in the balance, I didn’t think a coin flip was worth it.”
Pointing at her with the cigarillo, Spooky said, “So what if I could have guaranteed it would have worked like I said? Would you have been willing to sacrifice ten thousand to save a million?”
A bleak smile stole across Cassandra’s face. “I guess we’ll never know, will we?”
Epilogue
Enrique Mendoles felt the sweat roll down his back into the top of his pants, although it was a cool morning.
It would be easiest to do nothing, he said to himself again. To let things continue as they were, but he couldn’t. He had to speak to Spooky.
His chief lieutenants had tried to talk to him about his changing attitude. The entire Mendoles cartel, even the other sub-cartels they dominated, were beginning to whisper behind his back. Yet, for the first time in his life he didn’t care what other people said or thought about him.
Enrique waited in the abandoned warehouse Spooky’s contact had directed him to. As always, he came in alone, leaving his driver and bodyguards outside.
A heavy metal door clanged open and then shut at the far end of the dim warehouse. He heard footsteps before he saw Spooky and two of his aides walking in his direction.
“My dear Enrique. You know, it’s always a pleasure to see you, but calling meetings like this can only draw unwanted attention to the both of us. I trust it is something important.”
“It is,” said Enrique as Spooky stopped in front of him. “Very important.”
“Then let’s hear it,” said Spooky, taking out a slim cigarillo and lighting it.
Enrique sighed. “As you probably know, I began working in my father’s business when I was fifteen. When he was killed, I took over the cartel at the age of nineteen. If I hadn’t, others would have done so, and my mother and the rest of the family would be dead. Within three years, the Mendoles Cartel was the most powerful in Colombia. Within ten, we controlled all the cartels.”
“A very impressive resume,” said Spooky. “One of the primary reasons I chose you to work with.”
“Yes. My point is, I never felt I had a choice. I never even thought about doing anything else. I grew up in this business, and it was handed to me without question. In the last few months, though, I’ve been doing some research, and what I discovered disturbs me.”
“How?” asked Spooky.
�
�The cocaine,” said Enrique. “It ruins the lives of the producers as well as the users. Any monetary benefit is only transient. Father Bolivar has been telling me this for years, but I suppose I never heard him. Until now.”
“So what are you saying? Do you wish to step down?”
Enrique looked shocked. “No, never! This business has been in my family for hundreds of years. Much of it I built with my own hands. But the Mendoles family did not initially owe its success to cocaine. We were plantation owners and growers. Our farmers produced bounties of food that flooded the marketplaces and filled the tables of Colombians, and coffee and cocoa to sell to the rest of the world. It will be this way again.”
“Let’s not be too hasty,” said Spooky. “I applaud your sentiment, but you should not rush into such a decision.”
“I’m not rushing. I haven’t been able to sleep. I can’t think of anything else. The only time I get any peace is when I consider doing this. It must be done. I’ve already started the process. Within the next month, the Mendoles Cartel will begin to phase out coca plants and switch to legitimate crops. I also intend to use my power and influence to pressure the other cartels to follow my lead.”
“Do you realize what you are saying?” asked Spooky.
“Yes. We could reduce cocaine production in this country to almost nothing within a year or two. Can you imagine? All the money spent, the lives lost, the pain and suffering. Yet, I can stop it with a snap of my fingers. I will do this.”
Spooky sighed. “Have you thought about the consequences of this decision?”
“I have.”
“And are you prepared to accept those consequences?” Spooky asked.
Enrique nodded.
Spooky shook his head. “I should have known something like this would happen when I gave you the virus.”
“Yes, I am not a fool. I know it is the Eden Plague that will not let me ignore my conscience, but I do not care.”
“Are you certain you won’t simply step away? You and your family can retire to a comfortable estate where you will be well taken care of, and I can find someone else to run the business. There would be no need for you to feel guilty anymore.”
Eden's Exodus (Plague Wars Series Book 3) Page 24
