by Jake Devlin
“Well … I guess that's … okay. I guess. But still” –
“C'mon, Ro; that's enough retribution, isn't it?”
“I – okay, Gordy; I guess so. But as for Frank, if I were writing it, I'd have 'em castrate him or kill him. Despicable.”
- 71 -
June 18, 2013
3:54 p.m. local time
St. Tropez, France
“And it's a big industry, but not a centralized one, more a huge number of cottage industries. Anybody who wants to raise a ruckus and maybe make a few bucks can create a theory about anything they want, try to spread it, see if it gets some traction, and then turn that into a profit-making business.”
“Like the ones that claim that 9/11 was a false flag op run by the US government to let them get the Patriot Act passed, in part?”
“Right; or by the Israelis or the guy who owned the Twin Towers and wanted the insurance money. There've got to be scores of scammers out there touting their take on it, and lots of them are making scads of money from books, videos, web sites, lectures and all kinds of stuff.”
“People can be so gullible.”
“Yup. And there are tons of those kinds of theories, about the Kennedy assassination, the Masons, the One World Government, New World Order plots, that the moon landing was faked” –
“Wasn't there a movie about that?”
“Yup, 'Capricorn One,' but that was about a faked Mars mission.”
“Same difference.”
“And I could go on and on, hundreds and thousands of 'em, a lot of them around specific events, like 9/11, but a lot more about overarching conspiracies, like the Bilderbuggers, the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations and on and on.”
“And then the neo-Nazis have their own theories.”
“And the militias and white power groups, which are both secret societies AND conspiracy theorists.”
“And gangs, biker groups” –
“Well, those are more just criminal groups, not real conspiracy theorists. Mostly thugs, no priests.”
“Well, leaders, right?”
“Right, but not much mystical or conspiracy stuff there.
“But that One World Government, New World Order stuff does have some truth to it. There are lots of real groups whose goal is to create a global government, a repressive, police-state kind of thing.”
“Like the old Soviet Union.”
“Yup, very much like that. Or the Roman Empire. Or the Taliban. Or North Korea. Lots of those kinds of things throughout history.
“In the 21st century, of course, with all the new technologies and now all the social media, all these groups have had to adapt their strategies, get more subtle and incremental in advancing their agendas. But we can see it happening all around us, if we look only a little bit carefully.”
“Like that Margaret Mead global warming conference?”
“For one, yup. Leading to that cap-and-trade legislation, the whole green energy thing and the anti-carbon dioxide mob psychology.
“I remember when I was a kid, there was a comic strip called 'There Oughta Be A Law,' which started sometime during World War II, just before I was born, and ran until about the time you were born, and I always wondered if that was part of the inspiration for some of these big-government groups of the latter part of last century. It seemed pretty innocuous at the time, with silly little bits of human fallibility and deviousness, but the title seemed to fit with what we've all seen developing, that slippery slope to micro-management through laws, statutes, rules and regulations.
“You know, back in Bonita, when I was talking with people on the beach while I was writing the Donne book, I met a guy who had run two steel plants in Pittsburgh, with a total employment of around 1200, he said, and he told me about an OSHA inspector who came through and saw a ladder leaning up against an inside wall next to the door to the loading dock, and it had a broken rung; they were getting ready to throw it out into the trash the next day, but the inspector fined him 350 bucks for that.”
“Even though they were throwing it out?”
“Right. Picky little asshole, but that was the reg he was following.
“And this guy said that out of the 1200 employees, a full fifty of them were involved with regulatory compliance. During the recession in '09, they had to close one plant, and got down to about 200 employees, and 15 of them were solely involved with compliance.
“I also met the CEO of a medical device company, and he told me that compliance with regulations added at least 30 percent to the price, without affecting the quality of the products at all, just superfluous, unnecessary paperwork.”
“So that's why you had Donne cut out all the regs and red tape that he did.”
“Right, but kept accountability at the macro level, so if a business screwed up, they'd still have to pay for any damages they caused.”
“The opposite of the One World Government bunch.”
“You bet. In fact, I wrote him to do the exact opposite of what their goals were, from what I picked up from our surveillance work, out of their own mouths, just to thumb my nose at them.”
“Uh-oh. A big red flag.”
“Yup.”
“No wonder you put it on Gordy.”
“Yup. And he agreed, remember?”
“That's what you said, yeah. And you said he could handle it.”
“And he can.”
“You sure?”
“Yup.”
- 72 -
May 23, 2014
2:09 a.m. local time
1500 feet over Transylvania, Romania
“No, you should be the one to talk to her. Over.”
“Why me? Over.”
“'Cause you're her mother; she doesn't listen to me. Over.”
“You think she'll listen to me any better? Over.”
“Well, yeah; you're not the one who broke into her phone. Over.”
“Oh, she blames both of us for that. Over.”
“Maybe you can convince her that it was just me. Over.”
“Not after seeing what you got out of her phone; those pictures are burned into my brain. Over.”
“I know what you mean; they were pretty provocative. Over.”
“Provocative? They were downright raunchy, Keith. Over.”
“Okay, Lin; raunchy. Over.”
“And to think she sent 'em to Kurt, so if they break up, who knows what he'll do with 'em. I'd hate to see them on his Headbook page or on Twutter. Over.”
“I've never liked that little punk. Over.”
“Me, either. Over.”
“And that video! Hate to have him put it up on OurTube. Over.”
“Omigod! I forgot about that; geez. Over.”
“And what's with all the tattoos, makeup and green hair? Over.”
“Hers or Kurt's? Over.”
“Geez. Kurt's got it, too? Over.”
“Yeah. Once Jessica did it, Nicole said she had to do it so they'd stay BFFs. Over.”
“BFFs? Over.”
“Uh, I think it's 'Best Friends Forever,' something like that. And then Kurt followed suit. Over.”
“So peer pressure. Over.”
“Well, that's a big deal at her age. Over.”
“And she's so snotty about it all. Over.”
“Well, Keith, remember that bumper sticker I told you about? The one that said, 'I wish God had sent me all my problems when I was 16 and knew everything.' Over.”
“Oh, right; so true. Over.”
“Remember the battles you had with my father over the Clinton-Bush election? Over.”
“Oh, yeah; he was such a kneejerk Republican. Over.”
“Still is. Over.”
“Yeah. Over.”
“And you've been starting to sound more like one over the past few years. Over.”
“I have? Over.”
“Yes, you have. At least you didn't fight about music. Over.”
“Yeah; that we agreed on, mostly.
Over.”
“I can't believe the Rocking Stones are still together. Over.”
“Yeah, but Dirk is showing his age.”
“Yager? Over.”
“Of course Yager. Over.”
“And the Roaches; too bad they broke up so early. Over.”
“Remember your mom talking about the crush she had on George? Over.”
“Yeah; he was a good-looking Brit. Too bad he got shot. Over.”
“Yeah. But Paul and Colin are still going fairly strong. Over.”
“And both were knighted. Sir Paul and Sir Colin. Over.”
“But John was the real genius. Over.”
“Hmm. Wonder if we could get Nicole to go to a Stones concert with us after this job. Maybe that'd” –
“Never happen. She still hasn't forgiven me for saying that music ended with the Moody Mauves. Over.”
“Well, you're right. All that gangsta crap that's – wait one. Is that our target? Over.”
“I don't think so. We've still got a mile or so to go. Over.”
“You sure? Over.”
“Yup; this one has five towers. Ours only has three. Over.”
“Oh, right; okay.”
“'Over,' Lin? Over.”
“Sorry; just adjusting my goggles. Over.”
“It's a dark night; I've got mine up to eight. Over.”
“Eight, Keith? Lemme – ah, better. Right; five towers. Over. What's so funny? Over.”
“Sorry, Lin. I just looked down at the village in the valley, and thought how cool it'd be if we'd outfitted these things with bat wings, see what they'd do if they looked up and saw us. Over.”
“Oh, yeah; maybe they'd be running for their pitchforks. Over.”
“No, Lin, that's 'Frankenstein.' Over.”
“It is? Oh, right. Over.”
“Right. Okay, time to focus; coming up on the target. Hold up and hover. Over.”
“Roger; hovering. Over.”
“Okay, there it is. See it? Over.”
“Tough to see through the fog. Where? Over.”
“One o'clock, just to the right, up on that crag. Over.”
“Oh, right; got it. Geez, Keith, that's eerie, with the fog and all. Over.”
“Perched up there like an aerie. Over.”
“Well, it's an eerie aerie. Over.”
“Yup. Over.”
“Okay. But the fog is only around it, not down in the valley; weird. What's with that? Over.”
“That is weird, Lin. I have no idea. Over.”
“Maybe they've got fog machines all around it. Over.”
“Hmm; could be. That family's got enough money to do whatever they want to. Over.”
“But why would a Swiss banker buy a place like this? Over.”
“Just a whim for him, maybe. His family has a long history in the banking biz, and they're the richest family in the world. It's said they own or control over half the wealth of the world. Over.”
“The entire world? Over.”
“Yup. It's even said they were responsible for redrawing the Swiss border, for the overthrow or bankruptcy of dozens of governments, even for the French Revolution. Their whims become reality. Over.”
“Really? Over.”
“Yup. But now we need to get up above it. Over.”
“Okay. Quiet mode on the turbos? Over.”
“Yup. Tilted, throttling up. Over.”
“Right next to you, Keith. Over.”
“Another couple hundred feet, okay? Over.”
“Oops; geez, over-throttled that one. Over.”
“It's okay, Lin. I'm right behind you. Over.”
“I don't see a flat space anywhere on the roof. Over.”
“It's okay. Amber knew they were all pitched, so Wes added the outriggers to these things. We'll land near the tower with the keypad by the door and get in that way. Over.”
“The one in the middle, right? Over.”
“Right. Over.”
“Okay. God, that place looks even creepier from up here. Over.”
“Yeah, it does. Heading down; you land first and get to the keypad, then I'll land in front of your rig and join you, okay? Over.”
“Okay; hovering down. Over.”
- 73 -
June 18, 2013
4:42 p.m. local time
St. Tropez, France
“But what surprised me most was when we discovered a copy of what was titled a 'Master Plan' document in some files we'd archived in the early '80s. Ohhh, that's good. Maybe a little lower?”
“Like here?”
“Oh, yeah, Pam; perfect.
“Anyhow, If you read that document closely, it's a lot like the United Nations Agenda 21 from 1992, the plan to create what they called 'sustainable development.' Read that and the 'Master Plan' and it'll freak you out, guaranteed.”
“Why? What's in this 'Master Plan'?”
“It's a complete strategy for overriding all nations' sovereignty and creating a monstrous, repressive world-wide police state, including rationing of food and energy, in fact all resources, absolute control of all media and mandatory – quote, unquote - 'education' by a one-world government controlled by the elites. You may have to read between some lines, but for the most part it's set out in unabashedly open language, even with words like 'manipulation,' 'deception,' 'disinformation,' 'indoctrination' and 'brainwashing.'”
“Wow. Really?”
“Yup.”
“Who wrote it?”
“One of our agents got it at one of the Bilderbugger conferences, but it didn't list any specific authors. There were several references to some of the participants in the Margaret Mead conference and to some other – oh, ow!”
“Sorry. Too hard?”
“No, you're doing fine; must be something really knotted up right there. Ahhh, that's good.
“Anyhow, that was a part of why I had Donne pull the US out of the UN and eliminate our funding for it.”
“And you had him cut off relations with like 45 or 50 countries, too, right?”
“Yup; similar reasoning there.”
“Isolationist?”
“Not really; more maybe an – oh, that's good, Pam; right there – maybe more an insulationist.”
“But, um, wouldn't the UN and all those countries try to get back at him for doing that, some kind of backlash, maybe even war?”
“Of course, but I didn't bother with that in the book, other than the scene where Donne met with the Cardinal – oh, and the one with the Pope.”
“Right; where he swore and then got upset when someone used the word 'focus.'”
“Yup.”
“Wasn't there an assassination plot, too?”
“Ah, I think there – oh, right; the one with the Egalitarian, the one the KSK Triplets foiled.”
“How are they doing, by the way? Haven't heard about them since that car chase in – oh, where was – ah, right; South Africa.”
“Right; Pretoria. They've been working with Vito and Danuta on some advanced training and doing a few more guard jobs with 'em, and sometimes they've pulled Jill and Carie in on some of the bigger ones, too. I think the Kuzzins'll be ready for their first hit in another few months, when the right job comes up.”
“Good for them.”
“You getting tired? You've been at this for over half an hour.”
“I love doing it, and you're hurting.”
“But your hands have to be cramping or hurting at least some.”
“A little bit, but only a little.”
“Tell you what. It's almost dinnertime, and I'm feeling a lot better. How about if I grill up those steaks and you stir up whatever you want to go along with 'em?”
“You sure you're feeling up to that?”
“After your magic hands, I feel up for almost anything.”
“Anything?”
“Almost.”
“How about this? We let the steaks keep marinating for another half hour or so, and ...”
“Yeah, and what? You wanna look at that 'Master Plan'?”
“Maybe after dinner. But I was thinking about something else for now.”
“Ah.”
“So roll over and relax; I'll be gentle.”
“Okay. Ah-ha.“
“Mmmm.”
“Ahhh.”
- 74 -
May 23, 2014
2:16 a.m. local time
1800 feet over Transylvania, Romania
“Okay, Keith, outriggers down, settling in. Dismounted, gyro running. Over.”
“Hovering, Lin. See the keypad? Over.”
“Yeah, on my way. Careful when you set down; these tiles are slippery – oops – and loose. Crap! Hope no one heard that. Okay, on the platform at the door, keypad open. Over.”
“The code's on the assignment sheet. Over.”
“Hang on. Okay; got it. 3-6-9-4-1-7-8-6-0-2-2. Okay; we're good. Over.”
“Good. And I'm down, gyro running. Over.”
“Watch the tiles. Over.”
“Woah, you're right. Ah, made it. Over.”
“Wait. Hear that? Over.”
“What? The wolves? Over.”
“Wolves? They're awfully close. Over.”
“Don't worry, Lin; they're in all these mountains. Over.”
“I don't know, Keith. They sound really close. Over.”
“Don't waste any energy on it, Lin. Focus. Over.”
“Okay; focus. Crap! The door's stuck. Over.”
“Lemme try. Ugh -- oh, shit! Gimme a hand here. Over.”
“Okay. Scooch over, lemme get a hold. Over.”
“Okay, I think it moved a little. Pull harder. Over.”
“Wow, that's slow; bet they haven't oiled the hinges in years. Over.”
“Maybe decades. Over.”
“Maybe centuries. Hope nobody heard that. Over.”
“I think we're okay. Over.”
“Whispering? Over.”
“Yup. Inside voices now. And no more need for the 'Overs.'”
“Ah, of course. Oh, geez, spiderwebs. Eww. Over – oops; I mean not over – I – what should I” --
“Focus, Lin, focus. Radios off.”
“Okay; right. Those stairs are awful steep … and narrow.”