Johnston studied the serious lines in De Bono's face as his breathing slowed to a hesitant series of deep chest falls. The two men sat quietly, studying each other for what seemed like an eternity to Johnston. Finally, he spoke in a weak voice. “Pull America out of the UNE and it could fall like a house of cards, Secretary General. My God, if these fools manage to cause that to happen, then where will that leave us?"
“Looking for flint to make our cutting tools and arrow heads, once again."
“I see your point precisely. They truly are a threat to mankind."
Johnston closed his eyes, leaned back into his seat again and held his head with his hands. “Nothing could have prepared me for this,” he sighed. “My purpose in life has changed in just an instant, and there is no going back now.” He dropped his hands limply on the table and stared at De Bono with stunned disbelief.
De Bono's face softened and he reached across the table and gently laid his upon Johnston's forearm. “You've had enough surprises for one day, Senator. May I suggest that we just relax for the remainder of our trip?"
The warmth of De Bono's touch was reassuring to Johnston. He no longer saw the Secretary General as a twisted politician who had hoisted him on his own petard to serve his own sordid interests. He now saw a man who, while flawed in a certain ways, was driven by the desire to save mankind from repeating the failures of the past. In spite of all the dark maneuverings, it was an urgent agenda to which he now felt privileged to serve. However, the fact that this turn of events also happened to save his ass was the deciding factor.
He laid his other hand upon De Bono's and said with a deep newfound determination, “Whatever it takes, Secretary General. Whatever it takes."
* * *
Political Leverage
THE WORLD HAD been finally been shocked into reality when, in the spring of 2010, a Saudi Wahabi terror cell financed and armed by Al Qaeda delivered a deathblow to the United Nations building in New York. In what was a brilliantly executed attack, they managed to transport a suitcase size, low-yield nuclear device to the very steps of the UN building itself and became holy martyrs, shahids, when they turned the UN into a smoldering radioactive pit of death and destruction. The whole world soon knew who had perpetrated the attack and this final torment by Islamist terrorism pushed the American leadership past all sense of self-restraint. In one defining moment that shocked the world, America retaliated by obliterating every city in Saudi Arabia with new strategic scalar weapons based on Tesla technology. Without the residual radiation common to nuclear devices, America's new scalar weapons literally melted everything from ground level up across the entire surface of Saudi Arabia. Not even the scorpions survived.
The Islamists had finally pushed the world to the reality of wholesale nuclear extermination. This realization stunned mankind more than the devastation of Saudi Arabia, and in the aftermath, the world's nations chose to rebuild again. This time a more enduring form of global rule would emerge as the United Nations of Earth. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the main headquarters of the UNE was built on the left bank, known as the ‘rive gauche,’ whereas the massive home in which the Secretary General lived had been built on the older and more prestigious ‘rive droite,’ Right Bank. Designed by Italian and Japanese teams of architects, the massive buildings tastefully blended in with the surrounding architecture, while being constructed in such a manner as to survive a magnitude 9.5 earthquake. A secret underground tunnel connected the two with a high-speed tram.
White with blue trim, the Secretary General's private residence was appropriately named the Blue House and was nearly twice as large as the American White House in Washington D.C. Adjoining the main office wing of the Blue House was the Secretary General's private indoor swimming pool. Housed within a spacious timber lined pool hall, the water in the pool was constantly heated to a minimum temperature of 80 degrees. A private changing room and bath adjoined the pool area, as did a private hallway that led from the pool to the Secretary General's private library and office.
As was his custom each morning, De Bono relished his underwater laps. Rather than splashing about and swallowing pool water, he preferred the eerie peace and silence as he propelled himself from one side of the pool to the other. One aspect of swimming underwater that he liked was the reward of discipline. Rather than paddling madly through the water he would sweep his cupped hands back against his thighs in sure, powerful strokes, then streamline his body so that his momentum would carry him as far as possible. Then, with a minimum waste of motion and effort, he would repeat the process until reaching the other side of the pool, a disciplined study of time and motion that could be measured and fine-tuned with each successive stroke.
Swimming let him focus him mind on each issue of importance that day without the clutter and demands of other thoughts and people. On the final leg of his last lap, his thoughts centered on Senator Johnston and how he delivered his resignation speech exactly as instructed. Further, the most recent status from his instructions showed that his indoctrination was proceeding more smoothly than planned, which would serve to further validate his acumen with the inner council. However, now the time was coming at hand for the Senator to be given his first assignment, and De Bono had the perfect one in mind.
Finishing his swim, he stood up and stepped across to the elegantly contoured stairs leading up to the pool deck. Standing at the top of the stairs was Yvette with a large towel and a terry cloth bathrobe draped over her arm. Dressed in a scant, low-slung string bikini that covered the barest of essentials, the appearance of hair on Yvette's shapely body was limited to her sculpted eyebrows and coiffured hair.
She silently held out the towel first as he removed his cap and earplugs. He dried himself briefly, dropping the wet towel to his feet. She then drew herself close to him and embraced him with a wide mouth kiss. As he kissed her back, she gently tongued the crme-filled chocolate she'd been holding in her mouth into his. He accepted it with his usual delight and crushed the chocolate against his palette allowing the sweet, viscous filling to wash away the aftertaste of the pool chlorine.
They kissed lightly again and then she walked with him to the shower where she washed him as he scanned the waterproof webpad in his shower for the latest updates. He had just flipped a page with his eyes, when an alert from Phillip Boretti, his head of staff popped up. He pointed his eyes to the dialogue and blinked twice. “Sorry to bother you in the shower Secretary General,” his head of staff said politely, “but Chinese President Chop is online and wishing to have an immediate and urgent dialogue with you."
Yvette was rubbing the small of his back just to be mischievous, hoping he'd lose his usual poker face for just a split second with his head of staff, thereby sending a veiled message as to who was really standing behind the throne. “Phillip,” De Bono ordered, “Prepare the security dome in my library. I'm on my way."
“I have already done so and I will be awaiting you in the library, sir,” Boretti replied smartly to send a reply in kind to Yvette's attempted subliminal message.
De Bono turned off the shower, switched the webpad off and turned around to face Yvette. “You little prankster,” he scolded her playfully. “I'm going to have to teach you a lesson this afternoon."
She ran her tongue across her lips. “I love being the teacher's pet,” she cooed as he took a fresh towel in hand.
“And I love being the teacher, but for now, darling, we need to take care of the business at hand. Did you finish your research on the Three Gorges Flu epidemic? I'm hoping to bring it up during my conversation this morning with President Chop."
“It is all finished. You'll see it in the secure side stream folder as 3G. I believe President Chop will find the contents of that file to be most convincing."
“No doubt he will. Tell me, you really despise them—the Chinese, that is."
Yvette turned away from him. “They killed my maternal grandparents at Lang Son when they invaded Vietnam in 1979. They're filthy pig
s, and now these idiots have unleashed a new horror upon mankind that could be like no other. You'll see everything in my report."
“Which as usual will be detailed and brilliantly organized.” He put his arms around her. “I didn't know how your grandparents had been killed. Perhaps I read it in passing and forgot it long ago, but this is the first time I've seen your personal pain. I'm sorry for that."
She turned to face him. “So go deal with them and be firm or they will destroy you and it is not my prejudice that is speaking."
“And if they did, what would come of you."
“With my luck, your replacement would be old, fat, toothless and suffering from chronic flatulence, a fate worse than death, so don't let me down."
De Bono laughed hard as he finished drying himself. “Yvette, the only man who could ever hope to break your heart would have to be a diamond cutter."
She pointed her finger at him. “That was not fair. Now I'm really going to teach you something this afternoon.” She stepped close as her face softened. “Antonio, please remember; give Chop a millimeter and he'll take the whole planet."
* * * *
DE BONO STROLLED briskly into his private library dressed in a cream-colored turtleneck sweater with black sports jacket and slacks. Phillip Boretti had already elevated his security dome, which was normally recessed under the floor, and stood next to the open door holding a pair of thin, wireless VR gloves. “President Chop is waiting on standby, Secretary General,” he said matter-of-factly. “Your heads-up display is already organized and link-ready."
De Bono groaned as he slipped on his gloves. “Just between us, Phillip, I think Chop is an inept ass."
His chief of staff chuckled. “My sentiments exactly, sir,” he agreed with delight as he closed the door to the secure dome behind him. “Happy hunting, sir."
De Bono quickly checked the heads-up desktop for the familiar setting and Yvette's file. He'd seen most of it the day before but opened it once again to scan it briefly, as his security dome transmitted password keys and encryption ciphers with President Chop's security dome in Beijing.
“Yvette, my darling,” he hummed admiringly to himself, “You can be as nasty in politics as you are good in bed—a woman of unique talents and passions.” President Chop's face appeared in front of him floating patiently in space as the encryption routines completed the exchange of the single use complex encryption cipher they'd use during this dialogue.
The leader's face looked just like the posters papered all across his country. Rigidly stoic with broad jowls and narrow eyes, Chop had the face that could only win the seat of so much power through internal machinations. Finally, the secure transmission icon appeared telling both men the conversation could begin. “President Chop,” De Bono greeted. “To what do I owe the honor of this call today?"
Chop nodded his head respectfully; “I thank you for accepting my call, Secretary General. The matter I need to discuss with you today is most urgent. As you are aware, only three nations still refuse to sign the UNE treaty, Great Britain, Israel and Taiwan which the UNE has regrettably recognized as a country against our voiced protests."
“Excuse me, President Chop, but so far we're covering old news. Can we dispense with the histrionics and move forward?"
Chop's jaw quivered. Obviously, De Bono was not going to give him a free hand in setting the agenda and pace of the dialogue. “To be specific, we now have absolute proof that Taiwan has nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction aimed at us. We presented this information to your offices last week and you have not responded."
“President Chop, we've been evaluating your request for withdrawal from the UNE with very close attention and are close to a formal response."
The Chinese leader seemed satisfied knowing that his demands were being taken very seriously. “I trust that you now understand our need to withdraw from the UNE in light of Taiwan's possession of weapons of mass destruction. As a member nation of the UNE, we have surrendered control over our weapons of mass destruction to the UNE."
“President Chop, this is a requirement of member states in exchange for a global mutual defense mechanism. If America and Russia, who have considerably more weapons of mass destruction than China, are satisfied with this arrangement, then I'm frankly hard pressed to understand your latest demand."
Chop was feeling an edge over De Bono. He sensed that De Bono was now trying to buy time. “As you can see, circumstances have changed and we cannot afford this terrible risk from Taiwan without regaining control of our own weapons of mass destruction."
“And so China, after careful deliberation of its international agreements, has decided to abrogate the treaty."
“I find the manner in which you express it to be most regretful. Rather, there is a simple matter. Circumstances have changed, and, unlike you, we have an adversarial, non-aligned nation armed with weapons of mass destruction close to our own shores."
De Bono held up his hand. “President Chop, rather than belabor the point, which you have made so very clear in your previous communiqu©, perhaps let's revisit some of the benefits of UNE membership. For example, what about the massive medical aid we are providing to your country to combat the spread of the Three Gorges Virus, known as the 3G flu, which first appeared in the settlements near your Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River? We are quite concerned about this new airborne virus, as it seems to be over ninety percent fatal, and some people can be carriers for a year or more before evidencing any symptoms."
The sudden broach of the 3G flu was discomforting for Chop, who quickly steeled himself. “Yes Secretary General, it is a most distressing situation. As you know, our country has spent over thirty billion Euros on the construction of this dam, which we hope will finally go into service in two years. The problem has come from displaced populations living near the future reservoir. These settlements are very crowded, and health services, water supplies and sanitation are inadequate. As you know, the residents of these settlements already suffer a high incidence of rheumatic fever, hepatitis B, pneumonia, measles and diarrhea."
“We know about that,” De Bono replied sharply, “As well as the other health risks which have included outbreaks of malaria, paragonimus, epidemic hanta virus and hemorrhagic fever."
“Yes, yes, this is sadly true, and the people of China are deeply grateful to the UNE for its kind assistance. However, the point of this conversation is that of Taiwan, an adversarial and unaligned state with weapons of mass destruction near our shores."
“Now President Chop, we both know that Taiwan is not the problem and that they have already indicated a willingness to ratify the UNE treaty once they are convinced that mainland China has no further interest in attacking them.” De Bono leaned forward for emphasis as his eyes drilled into Chop's stoic face. “The problem Mr. President is that you are losing control of the PLA."
“That is an insult, sir,” Chop shot back. “The leadership of the People's Liberation Army is completely devoted."
“From what we hear, they are annoyed with the leadership over this 3G flu situation."
Chop's jaw stiffened. “Your sources are wrong. There is no such conflict."
De Bono leaned back with a warm smile. “Please, sir, I did not mean to anger you. Rather, I'm simply trying to understand you better.” He could see Yvette's file slowly blinking off to one side. With a sweep of his glove, he pushed it into the secure data side stream transfer bucket. “President Chop, I've just sent you an important file, and I need you to review it with me before I can offer my own recommendations on China's intentions to remove itself as a member state from the UNE."
The file arrived in Beijing even as De Bono was speaking, flashing an acknowledgement on his side. “Please open the file now, Mr. President.” He then watched quietly as the square jawed leader opened the file. It took only moments before his eyes opened wide with alarm as he manipulated the information objects in the file.
“How did you get this information?”
he spat.
“You know, people always ask me that very same question,” De Bono replied with relish, “and I always give them the same exact answer: It is none of your business."
The tide had suddenly turned against Chop. The file offered irrefutable proof that the Chinese had originally bought the virus from the Russian Mafia. Developed originally by the Soviets, the intended use of the virus was to cause severe bouts of diarrhea and nausea. The goal was to incapacitate ground forces and civilians without killing them. However, the Chinese had taken the virus one step further with their own bio weapons lab research and turned it into the killer know known as the 3G flu.
De Bono watched with invisible amusement as Chop closed the file with a sweep of his hands. The Chinese leader took a deep breath. He had been out-maneuvered and now it was he who needed to buy time. “Secretary General, this, of course is highly speculative and requires an internal investigation before we can formally respond."
His moment had finally come, the perfect combination of timing and momentum. “President Chop, you've lied to me twice already, and if you do it a third time, then I'm quite prepared to let you face your own military alone. However, if you are going walk the path of truth with me, then perhaps I can help. Either way, be advised that my patience is greatly strained with you and that I'm excessively tired from your manipulative tactics."
Godschild Covenant: Return of Nibiru Page 6
