by Dina Rae
Chapter Thirty-Three
Raphael
Camden, Brick, and I separately reserved self-driving cabs under phony unit cards and drove around Brookline until Jaxie was off to her party. Wendy and Sai planned on meeting up with us once we knew where Jaxie would be. My self-driving cab operated by a passenger tablet. With the joystick, I idled the car in Jaxie’s apartment complex until she left.
The car Doctor Laurie sent was a long, black Mercedes sedan reminiscent to the huge vehicles of the ‘90s. It was just the driver and Jaxie inside of the car. With the joystick, I steered the car to follow after we were several hundred feet apart on the main road. Quickly, we got onto Route Nine and headed to Boston.
“Exiting Tremont,” I quietly said in my microphone.
“Copy,” Camden said back through the receiving mic jammed up my ear canal.
My self-driving cab turned away from Jaxie’s ride and then Camden followed up as the tail. Soon he was in the heart of the city.
“Brick, your turn,” Camden said.
“Copy that. Got her on Cambridge,” Brick said. A few minutes elapsed and Brick got back on the frequency. “Oh shit. Lost her.”
Oh no!
Jaxie’s voice rang in my ear. “So the party is at Boston Symphony Hall?” she asked her driver, clearly for all of our benefit.
The driver replied back, “Yes. Although they are changing the name. Construction is complete. You will meet him in the lobby as soon as I pull up on the side of the building.”
“Brick,” I said through the mic, “I hope she makes it to Boston Symphony Hall. You know where she is?”
“Yes, she really is headed there. I got eyes. And thanks, Jaxie,” Brick said.
Two blocks away I spied a public gym that we scouted out earlier in the day. With the joystick, I maneuvered the cab to pull onto the curb. I got out of the car, dressed in workout attire with a huge gym bag in tow. Soon I would casually enter and exit the gym, and then get closer to the party.
“En route. North side of building,” I said as I walked in and out of the gigantic fitness complex.
“Copy that.” First Brick answered and then Camden.
As I walked towards Massachusetts Avenue, I heard the faint sound of an orchestra in my earpiece. “You inside, Jax?”
“Yes. Still alone. This place is amazing. There’s a flag and a banner with a globe and laurel leaves. Like the U.N. flag, slightly different with different colors. There’s a coat of arms inside of the globe. I can’t make out the pictures inside of it. I think this might be the coming out party for the inner circle. He’s walking over. Can’t talk anymore.”
I was a block away from the party. Peacekeepers lined the outside perimeter of the hall. Their cargo trucks blocked the main entrance. Only those who were invited could get in. From the distance, I saw men in tuxedos and women in ball gowns entering the hall. Within a few minutes, Camden and Brick joined me on the street.
“So close, yet so far away,” Camden said. “Hope nothing goes wrong. There’s a pizza place over there. It’s so cold. Want to wait inside?”
I saw the restaurant in the distance, even farther than where we stood. But there wasn’t much of a choice. Eventually, a Peacekeeper would see us and ask why three men holding gym bags were lurking around the building.
I nodded as I listened to Jaxie and Doctor Laurie. Both Camden and Brick heard her and the doctor loud and clear. We slowly walked to the pizza place as we listened.
“You look even more ravishing than you did earlier this week. Is that possible?” said the doctor.
“And you look more distinguished and handsome than you did earlier week,” Jaxie said. “I especially like your tuxedo. Navy. It’s very elegant.”
As the three of us listened in on their flirtatious banter, I couldn’t help but marvel at what an amazing actress Jaxie was. If I didn’t know any better, I’d believe she was very interested in the man.
The three of us took a table at the pizza place and threw our gym bags underneath. We took off our lightweight, high-tech winter coats and ordered a pitcher of Coke and a deep dish sausage pizza. The waitress warned us that the pizza would take over an hour. Even better, we all thought.
Camden took out his tablet and bunched up his jacket around the screen. “I can see everyone’s legs and the floor from the angle of her purse. Let me turn on the lens from the hairpiece. Okay, I got eyes on everyone in the lobby except Jaxie and the doctor. The comb is in the back of her head. This will have to work,” he said.
He passed the tablet to Brick and me. The opulent lobby had gleaming marble floors, antique tables with crystal vases of flowers, chandeliers, and hand-carved settees and chairs spread along the enormous perimeter. There must have been at least two hundred people inside, yet the lobby did not appear to be crowded. In the center of everything was a stringed quartet of musicians playing something classical and German. Waiters and waitresses dressed in tuxedo pants and crisp white shirts served champagne and caviar to every guest within the room.
Jaxie and the doctor talked some more. He mentioned the party was part of a celebration. The newly remodeled building would serve as the prime headquarters for the new world government.
“One World,” the doctor said. “That’s what we might name it. That will be decided later. We will devote our lives and resources to promoting peace forever.”
As I listened in through my mic, I couldn’t help but look at Brick and Camden from across the table and roll my eyes. Stephen Laurie’s voice dripped with phony sincerity.
Jaxie didn’t miss a beat. She quickly added, “One World…Love it! And who will preside over One World? I hear that you are in the running.”
“Yes, as is your CEO, Maximillian Steele. What’s he like?”
“I thought you knew him.”
Laurie shrugged. “Not really. We run in the same circle, but we are just acquaintances.”
“Well, that makes two of us. I’ve worked for him for over ten years. With exception of him helping me get an appointment with you to search for family, he has never done anything for me on a personal level. He is demanding and settles for nothing less than perfection. Many people don’t make it at Fogle. But I’ve done well at the company. His innovations changed the world, and I am proud to be part of that. He has done much good, but he never cured cancer. He never received a Nobel Prize either.”
“She’s good,” Brick whispered as we sat in almost complete silence at the pizza restaurant. The waitress stopped by and plopped a pitcher and three glasses on the table. Camden shushed him as we all continued to listen in on Jaxie’s evening.
Doctor Laurie, who clearly enjoyed all of Jaxie’s flattery, laughed in modesty. “We are both very accomplished. But then we are part of the Twelve. Only one of us will be chosen as head of the council.”
“So who are the other ten contenders for the most powerful position in the world?”
Laurie answered, “There are some oddly chosen dark horses. Harry Ronchild. He runs the World Bank. And Wolfgang Herrmann. He runs Broyer. They control our seeds as well as our pharmaceuticals. He is also head of the World Hunger Organization.”
“So that’s four. If my math is right, then there are eight more lucky members who will compete for the top spot?” Jaxie asked.
“They also have a chance, but some of them cannot be trusted with such an important position. There’s Hal Greene. He’s been in the media far too long, spinning every story in the direction that best suits him...”
I knew Hal Greene. He owned my old station’s main competitor, WBNX.
“And then there is the only other Doctor, Doctor Helena Shatin. She’s a Russian billionaire and a professor in psychiatry. There are whispers about her research. Real high-tech agent-orange kind of stuff. Some say she has a troop of Manchurian candidates, you know, mind controlled assassins. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that she is a true genius at indoctrination, hypnosis, and mind control. I admire her contributions to medica
l science.”
Jaxie politely laughed. “I bet you are immune to all of her tricks. So that’s six, right? Helena, Hal, Wolfgang, you, Max, and Harry. Who are the other six? Hal Greene’s news station hasn’t made any announcements.”
“None of this is widely known. But since everyone is here and we will sit with them, I will introduce you very soon. Two of the men are Asian, one from Japan and the other from China. One runs an electronics company, and the other owns all of the remaining automotive and transportation manufacturing plants. I will need some help with their names. Prince Ahmed Watobi, a Saudi, owns all of the oil reserves but also bought out several mineral mines in Africa that are used for car batteries. Let’s see, that leaves three more. I should know this. I’ve met with these find people a few times now…Oh yes, a very wealthy and quiet man from Italy. He used to be a cardinal within the Vatican. He’s from a very prominent family both now and throughout history. I am sure you have heard of the Medici family. Well, he’s a descendent. He is vehemently against getting rid of religion. Are you religious?”
I didn’t hear a response and imagined Jaxie just shook her head.
“Neither am I. Michael Siglino is his name. He and the pope created a new kind of religion, like a one world religion. I think it’s called Inter-Faithism. And then there is General Angel Ramirez. He’s from Venezuela? Maybe Peru. He is a military genius. It was his vision to organize, train, and place the Peacekeepers all over the world. He fell in love with an American heiress whose family owned a defense contracting dynasty many years ago. They married. She recently died before the war, and he inherited her empire. He and his two sons now run it. You might have heard of them-Locket-Meyed?”
“Of course. The biggest defense contractor in the world. He’s a general and owns a defense corporation?”
“I know. Dangerous man. Again, I doubt he will go any farther. Military is always too threatening. Add in a chain of weapon manufacturing plants, and then no one trusts him to lead. Lastly, there is an Indian woman, Amala Patel. Pakistan, I believe. She, too, rose to power by inheritance. Her father somehow got a hold of all of the water desalination plants within the Middle East. There you have it. The famous twelve.”
“You’re the best candidate out of all of them. Nonpolitical, a do-gooder whose work benefits mankind, nonthreatening…”
The doctor interrupted, “Oh, you don’t know me that well.” His tone was flirtatious, but there was an edge.
“Maybe I can get to know you that well,” Jaxie said in a seductive manner. “Will you give me a tour of the place and what you have done? I never been here before.”
“Oh, I plan on giving you a tour of every square inch of this place.”
The two of them giggled. I looked at Camden’s tablet for footage. They had moved from the lobby into what was once the auditorium. The gigantic room had been converted into a banquet/conference room that could easily hold thousands. A ton of unutilized space remained. There was a vacant balcony protruded over the main floor that could hold thousands of people.
The tables were arranged in concentric circles, with each circle getting smaller until reaching a nucleus of one giant round table. The arrangement resembled Plato’s Atlantis. I couldn’t see much else. Jaxie continued to move around the room, causing the footage to become blurry.
We almost forgot about our own dining table. The waitress startled us as she set down plates, cheese, and hot peppers. She told us we still had a good half of an hour wait until our pizza would be done.
After she left, we continued to listen in. Camden’s equipment was top of the line. Not even a crackle or short circuited screen. The doctor introduced Jaxie to the Italian cardinal and two Japanese men, Katsu Ikeda and Nori Saito. Wearing a traditional black tuxedo with tails, Maximillian Steele walked over and greeted Jaxie. He kissed Jaxie’s check as if he knew her fairly well.
Jaxie barely knew her CEO. What was the greeting about?
“Doctor Laurie, your taste in women exceeds your knowledge in medical science. Jaxie, you look ravishing in silver.”
“Well, thank you, Mister Steele.”
“Max, please. How is everything going on in operations?”
“We missed you today at the meeting. Everything is fine,” Jaxie said.
“I know. I had an unexpected problem that come up. Your dedication is appreciated. So glad to see you here,” Maximillian said. “She’s a keeper, Stephen.”
Camden whispered to me as we watched and listened in the restaurant, “She hardly knows him. I am head of security and I hardly know him. This is weird. He’s putting on some kind of an act.”
“You both must have meetings with him,” I said. Camden nodded. “Maybe the doctor’s sudden interest in her makes Maxie nervous? Maybe the two men are rivals? Aren’t they in position to lead the Twelve?”
The half an hour went by way too fast. The waitress came by with an enormous pizza big enough for six people, and we were only three. The smell was intoxicating and I suddenly became hungry. She dished us out each a gigantic piece of the deep dish pizza. There must have been half a pound of cheese and sausage on each slice. We delved into the dinner like ravenous wolves.
As we ate in silence, we all listened in and took turns watching Jaxie on Camden’s tablet. She was clearly the bell of the ball. The doctor introduced her to dozens of others, mostly men. All of them greeted her with interest. She and the doctor finally found their way to their seats.
Jaxie’s camera lenses gave us a peek of the grandiose décor and opulent furniture from two different vantage points. She sat with the doctor at the most prominent spot inside the series of circles. There looked to be twenty-four place settings, but the table was big enough for twice as many people. The china plates gleamed with gold accents. I suspected the gold was real, along with the goblets next to each setting. Jewels were set in each goblet. Alberta Ross’s diadem came to mind. Was all of this related?
The middle of the table held a crystal bowl with etchings of all of the world’s continents. The bowl held a dozen large peach colored roses. The tips of the petals splashed several shades of pink. Sprigs completed the beautiful bouquet.
I passed the tablet over to Camden who was already on his third slice of pizza. “Look. The crystal bowl, the flowers, the sprigs. It’s got to symbolize something.”
He gulped down the bite of pizza and said, “Yes, it certainly does. The flowers are called peace roses and the tree branches are of course olive branches. Don’t need to tell you what the etched crystal means, do I?”
“They really spell it out, don’t they?” Brick added. “World peace everywhere you turn at this party.”
On the other lens in Jaxie’s hair-comb, I saw lots of empty chairs. The other tables encircled around her table were less ornate, but the chairs were the same. All of them looked more like thrones with their high, hand-carved wooden backs and brightly brocaded upholstery. I immediately thought of King Arthur and the Round Table legend or some other ancient story with kings and queens.
Through Jaxie’s purse, I only saw the place settings and flowers. I wanted to see the people who she was seated with.
“Jax,” I said into my mic, “could you shift your purse upward? At least for a few minutes? Love a visual.”
She casually fiddled in her purse for some lipstick. The lens’s new position allowed us to see some of the Twelve, all seated around the same table. Some brought significant others, some came alone.
Maximillian Steele was alone as was Cardinal Siglino. The cardinal was easy to spot. He donned a traditional scarlet choir cassock, but skipped the traditional hat, revealing his pink, bald head with splotches of white fuzz around his temples. He looked to be around seventy years old. A thick gold chain with a large, heavy, diamond cross hung around his neck.
Maximillian sat directly across from Jaxie. The lens only captured his mouth and shoulders, but I knew it was him. His black hands were the first clue. Max was the only black man at the center table. His cuffli
nks only enforced what I already had knew. They were large circles, enameled in sections of primary colors. Everyone knew Fogle’s trademark.
Next to Max, sat the only Indian woman at the table. She had to be Amala Patel. I couldn’t see her face, but I heard her thick accent. She opted for Western fashion over a traditional Indian saree. The black strapless cocktail dress accented her diamond and emerald choker. I couldn’t see her face, but saw waves of shiny black hair resting on her shoulders. I imagined she was beautiful. The lenses didn’t pick up footage of anyone else at the table, but we heard the banter of several voices as we listened in.
The few people we did see suddenly shifted their bodies to face one side of the room. Glasses clanked and the room went silent. We couldn’t see the speaker, but the accent was undeniably South American. He was speaking through a microphone which initially caused a high-pitched shriek within our earpieces.
“Jaxie,” Camden said, “hate to be a pain, but could you somehow shift your purse so that we can see the speaker?”
Within seconds, the lens sewn in the purse pointed towards a man dressed in a high-ranking military uniform. Golden cords, medals, and pins took up most of the room on the olive double-breasted jacket. Part of his head was not in focus, but we still had a decent view of the man who stood behind a podium on the small stage at the far side of the room. No one asked Jaxie to shift her purse again. Too much fiddling would cause suspicion.
“For those of you who don’t know me, I am General Angel Ramirez of Columbia…”
Brick whispered, “The doctor said he was from Venezuela or Peru. He also couldn’t tell Jaxie the names of the Chinese man or Japanese man. Both men are Japanese. I bet he doesn’t really know any of these men. An alliance of strangers.”
I nodded, impressed with the young man. He noticed something I didn’t.
“…We come together for the first time after the most tragic, devastating war this world has ever seen. In our attempt to pick up the pieces of what remains after such unimaginable destruction, we built our first of seven new world headquarters. We come together to govern and to enforce peace without any repercussions or blowback from dissidents of this world. We come together to finalize plans that were made in the war’s aftermath to clean up, reconstruct, and renew this planet without tolerating any more war. Finally, we come together to sustain peace. Forever.”