Accelerant- Sixth Extinction

by James Morris Robinson

  The next morning came quickly. Prayer, then breakfast, then the first day of the leadership and strategic planning meeting. The focus would be on alternative money transfer systems. Hawala was the focus. If they had time, Bitcoin type peer-to-peer systems would be discussed. Genesis deployed both systems to move vast amounts of money through the organizations they did business with.

  Kyle sat next to Jeff. “This Hawala system is used by most of my crew members. They get money from family members, and other assets, with no fuss and it is not expensive.”

  “Yeah, I am curious as to how it works, as we will be using it on our next operation for some very large purchases.”

  Suddenly, they heard tapping on a water glass. It was the facilitating field commander getting their attention. The field commander swiped the touch screen monitor and a Hawala flowchart appeared. The field commander said, “Genesis, although well-financed, does not involve itself with state-sponsored terrorist organizations, governmental or state terrorism, or state sponsorship of terrorism. Drugs sales, piracy, robbery, theft, and extortion are the signatures of rogues. The main engine of finance for Genesis is Hawala. This keeps Genesis and its organizations off law enforcement radar. Hawala has evolved a reliable and credible informal value transfer system based on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers because every individual in the chain has the incentive of earning money. And that’s what keeps the system working.”

  Kyle raised his hand. “Sir, there is a senior Genesis commander from Africa that says that the Hawala system has been around for thousands of years. It evolved from the ancient Egyptian system based on credits called giro. He says the great minds of Africa created this system.”

  “I see you have met Secretary Bird. He and his family are somewhat…let’s say experts on this subject. Here is what we know. Actually, Hawala was developed in India, before the introduction of western banking practices. Silk, the most luxurious fabric of the time, was almost exclusively made in China until the secret was revealed in the 7th century to the West. This precious commodity attracted Central Asian merchants, who in exchange brought horses, cattle, furs, hides, and luxuries, such as ivory and jade, to China. The Silk Road was the route for most of the trading. It was the world's oldest and most historically important overland trade route. Hawala was introduced to the merchants on the Silk Road routes as an effective barter system for avoiding being robbed of their luxury goods. The Silk Road was not just a historically important international trade route between China and the Mediterranean…it served as a splendid cultural bridge. It linked the cultures of China, India, Persia, Arabia, Greece, and Rome.”

  The field commander walked over to the large touch screen monitor and swiped it. An infographic of ‘How Hawala Works’ appeared.

  “Hawala's lifeblood is trust. A person who wishes to transfer money from one country to other contacts the Hawaladar. These are the Hawala dealers who arrange the money transfers. The transfer is backed only by trust, family connections, or regional relationships. Consider Bilal, sitting in Abu Dhabi, who wishes to transfer money to Samy, sitting in Kuwait. Bilal contacts a local Hawaladar and hands him the required sum of money. The Hawaladar in return gives him a secret code. He calls a Hawaladar sitting in Kuwait. Meanwhile, Bilal is expected to share the secret code with Samy as this is the only means to authenticate Samy's credibility. Once shared, a meeting is fixed between Samy and the corresponding country’s Hawaladar. Samy is expected to share the secret code and the money is delivered to him after deducting a small service charge. This system is fast and money is delivered within 24-48 hours, as compared with other services, offered by banks, which take usually around one week. Genesis’ Hawala network allows immigrants, believers, and operatives a secure, less expensive, and faster way to remit money than those provided by traditional banks and non-banking institutions. The fees we earn particularly from our organizations and service partners help keep us endowed. These fees continue to grow as our cryptologists continue to infuse blockchain technology to harden the process…increased stealth.

  The Field Commander ended the discussion with a reminder that all Hawala transactions should be done on the Genesis Apophis enabled tablets. A loud bang was heard as all the tablets in the room received instructions and software updates.

  “For the remainder of the day, I want all of you to report to deck six for aggressive persuasion preconditioning. Tomorrow we will discuss aggressive persuasion training in detail. You have your orders…Move now!”

  The second day of training was at a special location. They were blindfolded and their ears were plugged to prevent them from hearing or seeing anything that would give away the secret location. They were also given gas masks for oxygen. They were driven for what seemed like an eternity. It was unbelievably hot for several miles. Then they felt a chill and then it was room temperature again. The escorts took the blindfolds off and the light from the room almost blinded them for a moment.

  The field commander walked to the front of the room. He was a seasoned soldier. He appeared to be harden by battle and field experience. With a tough face, he said, “The focus today is aggressive persuasion. This topic is important as many of you will be captured and tortured by enemy combatants. The art of interrogation will be examined and why some methods are more effective than others. More importantly, if you are captured, you need to know how to counter the torture techniques our enemies may use on you. Pain is not the issue; endurance is!”

  The field commander struck a match. He put the burning match between his fingers to put it out. Without any expression or emotion, he asked, “How is it that I effectively extinguished the flame without yelling out in pain?”

  The room was dead silent. No one really knew.

  “The trick is that the pain is still there; you must condition yourself to not mind that it hurts!”

  At that moment, a very intimidating looking Albanian Muslim entered the room. “This is Dardan, our Chief Interrogator. Dardan has had years of experience at aggressive negotiations using what we call aggressive persuasion.”

  Dardan took over the discussion. He walked over to the interactive video wall with the Seamless LED screens and moved the LED video panels around. Images of Executive Order 13440 and the U.S. Army Field Manual appeared.

  “United States interrogators obtain information from combatants via the interrogation rules of the U.S. Army Field Manual. They deploy a variety of psychological and sometimes physical techniques in order to make subjects honestly and completely disclose any information. The job of an interrogator is a controversial one which, quite frankly, many civilians and politicians can’t stomach. Several years ago, the President of the United States revoked Executive Order 13440 and those issued by the Central Intelligence Agency. This was a game-changer for rules of conduct concerning detention and interrogation of detained individuals. The Obama Administration then went after the CIA’s use of coercive interrogation techniques, particularly a technique called water-boarding. The good news for us it that, this week, the president weakened the procedures in the Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. The American interrogators viewed this as a political solution which was ineffective. We were in stitches as we laughed at this action.”

  A soldier raised her hand. “Sir, why is this so humorous?”

  Dardan explained. “Interrogations always border on torture. It is the nature of aggressive persuasion. Some people, even you, may find the job of an interrogator inherently repugnant. The use of threat, manipulation, and deception on a human being in order to trick him or her into giving information appears to some people cold-hearted and cruel. However, the information received can be priceless and can put an enemy in very compromising situations.”

  Dardan pressed an icon on a screen and suddenly a large panel slid open. Everyone could see the interrogator’s workshop. They could see three interrogators actually interrogating a subject using aggressive persuasion.

  “A fe
w months ago, one of our Black Sites in Raqqa, in northern Syria, was compromised. We lost soldiers and several high-value assets. This subject was a part of the rebel group.”

  Dardan pointed to the interrogators at work. “When we train new interrogators, we ask them a question: what do you do with a person who has no fear? The newbies usually give us the book answers they think we want. They are shocked when we tell them that the real answer is that you must put the fear into them.”

  The soldiers tried their best to remain faceless as they witnessed the interrogators pour boiling water on the subject’s shaven testicles. The prisoner screamed out as only a man in pure agony can. Among the screams, Dardan, who seemed emotionless, said, “The objective of torture is to take total control of the victim. It is the art and science of breaking the will of another human being. You enhance vulnerability by pain, terror, and humiliation.”

  Jeff looked at Kyle and Kyle smiled to assure Jeff that there was normalcy in this. They both looked on as the interrogator tied the elbows behind the back and tightened them until they touched. The prisoner cried out as the tension created in the muscles increased with the tightening.

  The interrogator shouted, “Where did the rebels take our prisoners and how did they gain access to location and codes for the black site?”

  The subject cried out in a shrill voice, “I do not know.”

  Kyle yelled, “Water-board that bastard.”

  Chief Interrogator Dardan walked over to Kyle, looked him in the eyes, smiled, and asked, “You know the waterboarding technique?”

  Kyle looked into Dardan’s seasoned face and nervously replied. “Well…no, not really.”

  The interrogators saw the humor in this and motioned for Kyle to get up and join them. Dardan smiled and nodded, “Go ahead.”

  The other soldiers were speechless as they wondered what was ahead. The chief interrogator yelled at the class. “What is waterboarding?”

  One soldier took a stab at it. “Waterboarding is dunking a victim face-first in water with their body inclined with the head back. This way the victim holding his breath will not prevent the upper respiratory tract from filling with water.

  “That is not waterboarding, soldier.”

  The Chief Interrogator walked over to the wall. He swiped the panel titled Waterboarding…How It Works.

  “Commit this to memory. Waterboarding, by design, induces panic and suffering, by forcing the subject to inhale water into the sinuses, pharynx, larynx, and trachea. The head is tilted back and water is poured into the upturned mouth or nose. Eventually, the subject cannot exhale more air or cough out more water, the lungs are collapsed, and the sinuses and trachea are filled with water. The subject is drowned from the inside, filling with water from the head down. The chest and lungs are kept higher than the head so that coughing draws water up and into the lungs while avoiding total suffocation. The subject swears he is drowning, wishes that he was, so he can die…but he cannot drown.”

  The Chief Interrogator nodded to one of the interrogators. She said, “The techniques that we use are far more efficient in extracting accurate information in a timely fashion. We combine waterboarding with a little…let’s say, 'cocktail.' We inject the subject with a severely high dosage of mefloquine. Then we water-board this bastard, as that American just said. This is pharmacological waterboarding as well as physical waterboarding. In a few moments, he will talk like a geek on his first date.”

  Jeff asked, “What is mefloquine?”

  “It's commonly known as an anti-malarial. It belongs to a class of drugs known as quinolones, which were part of the American’s Central Intelligence Agency mind control study in the middle of the 20th century.”

  Jeff looked surprised. “So the rumors were real…the CIA's MKULTRA mind-control program actually existed.”

  Dardan excitedly jumped into the conversation. “Project MKULTRA was not only real…it was one of the most famous undertakings relating to the CIA’s efforts toward mass mind control. There were many different tests conducted as a part of the project, including some conducted on volunteers, inmates, and unsuspecting targets. The project involved several different drugs, including mefloquine and the most famous LSD.”

  The interrogator handed Kyle a rectal insertion device. As she handed him the device, Kyle asked, “What is this for?”

  “You will shove 3,240 mg of mefloquine up this guy’s ass before we waterboard him. Are you game?”

  The soldiers were dead silent as the other interrogators turned the subject over and opened his rectum so wide…

  Kyle inserted the device. He pressed the insert button and, once the device was emptied, threw it on the floor, spat on the subject’s ass, and walked back to his seat amidst the thunderous applause of his fellow comrades. In less than a minute, the subject began to vomit, experiencing severe neuro-psychiatric side-effects, including suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, and anxiety. Then the interrogators physically waterboarded him…and he talked and talked…and passed out.

  Chief Interrogator Dardan pressed the icon on the wall and suddenly the large panel slid closed. The interrogator’s workshop was gone…as if it had never existed. Chief Interrogator Dardan began to pace the room. He looked into the eyes of each solder and he could see that they were relieved the horror of it all was over. He added to their anxiety. “In aggressive persuasion, you are either the victim or the interrogator. You make the choice.”

  Suddenly they heard the sound of gunfire. Two shots.

  Chief Interrogator Dardan looked at the startled faces and said, “one shot to the head…one to the heart. We did what the poor fellow wanted. He is no good to anyone here now. Class dismissed.”

  Chapter Eight — The Mission Revealed

  Kyle and Jeff received their orders on the last day of training camp in Djibouti. A week later, they found themselves in the largest city in China. Shanghai, situated on the estuary of the Yangtze River, was the most influential economic, financial, international trade, cultural, science, and technology center in East China. Jeff and Kyle took pleasure knowing that Shanghai was also a popular tourist destination.

  The High Commander assigned Jeff and Kyle to their shipping company in China. As laborers, they were to get comfortable with ship repair, logistics, and dock work on one of the largest floating repair docks in the world. The shipping company contracted ships to Genesis, which had controlling shares in fifteen Chinese docks, along with joint ventures in Los Angeles and Seattle.

  Today, the boys would suit-up and look like investment bankers. Jeff stood and looked up at a huge skyscraper that got lost in the clouds. “Kyle this is one hell of an address. I did not know they had such buildings.”

  “Jeff, this is the Shanghai World Financial Center and we are in the heart of Pudong, Shanghai’s financial district. To the right is the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Makes you marvel at China’s economic and financial power doesn’t it?”

  “If you say so.”

  They headed for the Jin Mao Tower to have lunch with several Genesis field commanders. The purpose was to meet their new operational commander and, equally importantly, to get details on their mission.

  “The lobby is breathtaking, as was the aerial view as they rode the elevator. It is a fast ride up to the fifty-sixth floor.”

  “This elevator was like being on a space-ship Kyle.”

  “Yeah…this is cool bro. This is a spectacular view of the Bund and Shanghai’s skyline.”

  Jeff was amazed. “Yeah, really cool.”

  The elevator opened and they were greeted by two businessmen. Jeff greeted the gentleman and they quietly acknowledged him. They smiled and pointed the way across the majestic lobby to the Communications and Business Centre where they would have lunch and a meeting. One of the gentlemen spoke as he opened the door to a private and secured conference room where they were seated. “Welcome.”

  Kyle and Jeff smiled and in unison said, “A salaam alaikum, High Commander Mustafa.”

 
“Wa alaikum a salaam, my warriors. May Allah bless you with the mightiest of courage and passion.”

  Jeff made small talk. “How was your trip in High Commander?”

  The High Commander smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “We have been on Genesis business in the Straits of Tiran.”

  “I think I heard of that sir…”

  “Yes, son…The Tiran Straits are the narrow sea passages between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas which separate the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea. The distance between the two peninsulas is about nine miles as the crow flies. Our oceanologists were conducting deepwater research and exercises there. Then the long flight south down the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean to Réunion Island, a French department, where the volcanologists are interested in a specific volcano on an island that although heavily populated with almost 866,000 inhabitants, still has beautiful beaches, rainforests, and offshore reefs.

  “Where is Reunion Island?” Jeff asked.

  “It is located in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Madagascar.”

  “I guess I should have asked. How was your global journey, sir?”

  They all laughed, including the two noticeably armed individuals. The High Commander motioned for the two gentlemen to leave and for Jeff and Kyle to be seated. Jeff noticed the gentlemen did not leave but took their positions around the secured room. He thought these are armed Royal Guard…not commanders.

  Lunch was served. Fruits and delicious cuts of hot and cold meat were served but no wine for the table, which was a common request by Muslims. After lunch, Kyle, Jeff, and the High Commander walked over to a White Room. Once in the room, those on the outside saw only white. Without fanfare and very quickly, the High Commander pivoted to business. “First, we need to have a discussion of the meaning of martyrdom.”

  Jeff’s eyes widened as he looked at Kyle.

  The High Commander continued, “This wasn’t taught in training, but is very important. Allah blesses us with the understanding that in Islam, martyrdom has played out the most in conjunction with jihad. We are all soldiers for Allah and the Quran declares that those who are slain in Allah’s way are not dead, but alive. This means that any fighter who is killed in a jihad attains automatic salvation. But we also want to attain Shahid...both witness and martyr. While a martyr may die because of fighting, a Shahid is a witness because he gives his life out of the passion for truth. The Shahid exchanges himself for the divine and thereby becomes divine. Muslims who have laid down their lives fulfilling a religious commandment or have died fighting defending their countries or protecting their families obtain the status of Shahid. Do you understand?