"No. Nothing. We had no contact for days prior to the end, which was normal for that type of an assignment."
"So all we've really learned, thus far, is why you were brought here instead of simply being executed. They needed to know how much you knew and, of course, whether you had told anyone."
"Exactly. And once Eric found out that I didn't know the location of the lab or specifically what they were making, he knew there was no reason to keep me around."
Tillie frowned. "But he said something about one more function you needed to fulfill. What was that all about?"
Elias thought back for a moment. "That's right. He did say that. I have no idea what he meant, though."
"And what do you know about the lab?" Tillie asked, taking another sip of tea.
"Not much. All Benjamin told me was that it was a bio-weapon lab and that they were working on a new aerosol material."
Wiping the melted chocolate off his fingers, Elias began to break down the AK-47. Wilson and Tillie watched the practiced, swift movements.
After a few moments, Wilson pressed on. "Is your colleague in Israel continuing his efforts to gain additional information from this Bassam?"
Elias shook his head as he inserted the firing pin in place. "No, Benjamin has squeezed all of the juice he could out of that particular lemon. What he told me was all there was to glean from Bassam."
"Why was Eric specifically in Aegis?" Wilson asked. "And what does Kreitzmann have to do with this puzzle?"
"I thought we decided that Eric was here as bait to attract Elias," Tillie stated.
"He was. That's not what Wilson is asking. I think his question is why Aegis and not someplace else. And the answer is that they wanted to put me in an environment where there is nothing I can do with the knowledge I might have. They have effectively cut me off from any allies or any other agencies or even governments who might have a concern about Faulk's actions."
"I'm a little confused about that," she said. "Don't the agencies and governments talk to each other? Wouldn't Faulk have been told about Bassam? Oh, wait! That was a dumb question. Bassam told the Israelis that Faulk and Eric were bad guys. Benjamin, or his bosses, wouldn't have told our government anything."
"You're right, Tillie. Well, almost right. Benjamin told me that they did inform Faulk when they first caught Bassam. I guess it caused quite a ruckus, with Faulk demanding they turn him over to us for questioning. The Mossad refused. After they interrogated Bassam, and heard what he had to say about Stone and Faulk, the Israelis realized they couldn't pass on any more information. They decided to tell Faulk that Bassam was a dry well."
"I assume he didn't buy that."
"Obviously not, but getting information out of Mossad if they don't want to share is almost impossible."
"Faulk must have been beside himself," Wilson commented. "In his desperation to find out what the Israelis knew, he must have remembered that you and Benjamin had a relationship."
Elias nodded his agreement. "We did. And it was well known in the intelligence community that there was no love lost between Faulk and me."
"Looking at it from Benjamin's perspective, it made perfect sense," Wilson thought out loud. "He knew you hated Faulk. He knew you had lost your wife in the attack. He knew the information he possessed was of the highest order of magnitude, and yet, since it implicated a highly placed individual in our government, it couldn't be shared through normal channels."
"Absolutely. He would have no idea who he could trust over here."
"Except for you."
"Except for me. I was really his only option."
Elias had finished assembling the now functional AK-47, and leaned it against the ladder beside his chair.
Tillie drank the last of her tea and set down the cup. "We have some of the pieces, but we're still missing a bunch. Why was Eric here for so long? What does Kreitzmann have to do with Faulk's plans?
Wilson spoke up, "If I may ask a question, perhaps I can clarify one point. How long ago did the Israelis capture Bassam?"
Elias thought back for a moment, suddenly making the connection. "Of course!"
"What?" Tillie asked excitedly.
"The Mossad first picked up Bassam almost three months ago."
"That's when the Israelis first notified Faulk that they had him?"
"Exactly."
"And that's close to when I saw Eric enter Aegis."
"Right."
"So at that point," Wilson interjected, "they knew that it was only a matter of time until Benjamin contacted you. So they baited the hook, placing Eric inside Aegis."
"Either as bait or as a safe place for him to hide."
"And when they learned that Benjamin had contacted you, Faulk offered you an assignment he knew you couldn't turn down."
"That's right. Either way I'd go into Aegis. If I hadn't heard anything from Benjamin about Eric, I would take the job to rescue him. And if I had been told the truth, I would come in to get him."
"That makes sense," Tillie said. "But how does Faulk tie into Kreitzmann?"
"That we don't know. But there is no way that Kreitzmann could have his own way in and out of here without Faulk's knowledge, not just because the door would be noticed, but there are also the guards. As Kreitzmann, maybe Eric, and God knows who else have come and gone, they would be waltzing right past them. So there must be some connection. I'm guessing that Faulk is using the research for some purpose."
"And what was Eric planning to do with the firebombs?" Tillie asked.
"Faulk sent enough ordnance to take out all of Aegis," Elias replied.
Wilson leaned back in his camping chair, making it creak, the sound echoing back at them. He stared into the darkness above. "The key is still Aegis. For some reason Faulk wants it destroyed."
"Let's talk about that. There is something about this place Faulk wants gone. I haven't been here long enough to get a feel for what that might be. Maybe if both of you verbalized your observations, opinions, conclusions, hunches, anything about Aegis, something will make sense."
Elias could tell that Wilson was organizing the disparate tidbits in his mind before speaking. Tillie, impatient for him to begin, blurted out at Elias, "You know what Biosphere 2 is, right?"
"Sure. It's the huge glass environment north of Tucson."
"Do you know what the original intent was for building it?"
"Science experiments of some type, but not really."
"John P. Allen conceived of it as a way to study Earth. The Earth is Biosphere 1. He wanted to create what was to be basically a lab where the impact of life, techniques, chemicals, everything…could be studied in a closed system."
"I didn't know that."
"For several reasons, it didn't work. Now it is basically a tourist attraction. But my point is, I think that's what Aegis was really designed to be. Except, instead of studying the physical impact of mankind on nature, I think this place was an experiment to see what people would do with no government, no rules, no structure, no outside influence. I think Aegis was intended to be a controlled psychological experiment. Or maybe even a political experiment."
Elias was intrigued by the concept.
"I mean, think about it," she continued excitedly. "The government can't build an outhouse at a campground without posting a metal sign listing all of the do's and don'ts for its use by the public. Yet our government built this gigantic complex where citizens were supposed to be able to come and live out the rest of their lives, and there's nothing! Not any signs posted. Not even a handbook. I was blown away the first day I walked in here. We're so used to being handled, directed, controlled, and ordered around that I went through kind of a shock when I discovered I had the whole place basically to myself and there wasn't anyone or anything telling me what I could or couldn't do."
"You don't think President Walker built Aegis for the reasons he gave?"
Tillie moved to the front edge of the canvas seat and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her kne
es. "Look, I'm sure he was devastated that his daughter killed herself. But I just think that somewhere along the line between the day the idea was first proposed and the day Aegis was opened to the public, someone saw an opportunity to use it for another purpose entirely. I wouldn't be surprised if the idea of Aegis was actually suggested to Walker during his darkest moments by someone with a whole different plan."
"Wilson, Tillie raises some fascinating points. What do you think?"
"As you can well imagine, she and I have had countless discussions on this very topic over the past few years. Purely from a logical standpoint, Aegis, insofar as its stated purpose, makes no sense. It never has. We spoke of this briefly when we met."
Elias nodded, thinking back to that first conversation on the porch.
"But if you impute more devious or sinister motives to its construction, it makes much more sense."
"Such as?"
"You oughta know," interjected Tillie. "It's a great place to dump inconvenient people where they are never heard from again."
"It is also an excellent source for subjects if you happen to be a scientist in need of human beings for your work," Wilson added. "No one can ever come looking for them. There is no oversight of any sort whatsoever."
"True."
"And, to return to Mathilda's point, it does afford one an opportunity to watch and see exactly how the supposedly educated, civilized people of this country would structure their new environment without the benefit of rules, regulations, and a constitution."
"From what I heard, the result was chaos."
"The uprising, yes. It was quite horrible. However, the reaction to the riot was the organization of Madison and Walden, and to a lesser degree ZooCity. That development created a certain level of stability."
"But, Wilson, you told me when I arrived that there was a disturbing trend now."
"There has been. Most assuredly. The extinction of the ZooCity element ameliorates things somewhat. But we are still left with the Kreitzmann segment of the equation, as well as the tenuous coexistence of Madison and Walden."
"Are they enemies?"
Wilson chuckled. "Hardly enemies. They are merely at the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. Walden is weak, ineffectual. Madison is organized, strong, and well equipped. If an overt conflict were to occur between those two enclaves, the battle would be brief and the outcome certain. You must remember, throughout our history, anytime there has been a dramatic imbalance between two competing societies, the status quo never maintains."
"One swallows the other."
"Either swallows or destroys."
"Besides," Tillie added, "there aren't that many left at Walden."
"No? Why is that?"
Wilson took a long, deep breath before answering Elias' question. "Perhaps some historical reference would be of some help. From my own observations over the years I've been here, and the insightful input I've received from Mathilda, there has been a rather clear and linear evolution occurring within these walls. At first, when my friend arrived, there was pure anarchy."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Elias ventured.
"No, it is not. Anarchy, for the enlightened, is the only way to live a life of self-actualization. A truly good person needs no rules, no governance, no courts, no prisons…none of the rigid and confining aspects of society at large which stifle us and cause us to reside at the level of the lowest common denominator. Sadly, only those who fail to acknowledge the realities and frailties of the vast majority of mankind believe that anarchy is a viable alternative.
"I am quite certain that the three of us could coexist in an environment of anarchy, without a problem. It would only be after a fourth or a fifth or a sixth person might be added that we would suddenly recognize the need for a leader, rules, and methods for enforcement. These are precisely the stages of evolution that transpired at Aegis. At the time our young friend here first arrived, there was ample space with abundant resources. Despite the substantial initial influx of residents, the enormity of Aegis absorbed them easily."
"That's true," Tillie agreed. "At first, we all scattered. It was possible to go days or even weeks without coming across another resident. If you wanted human interaction, you could find others, and some did. They banded together in little groups. Some of us made a point of avoiding everyone else completely. And it was no problem back then."
Wilson resumed his narrative. "More and more people arrived, followed, inevitably, by conflicts."
"It reminds me of the description of the first settlers arriving on this continent."
"There is more to that comparison than you know, Elias. But I am getting ahead of myself. The first conflicts were resolved on an ad hoc basis. Alliances rapidly formed and were quickly broken. Populations shifted around the complex. Segregation was rampant as many of the clusters identified themselves by the color of their skin or their religious beliefs or…well, it just burgeoned. Each of those groups believed that this superficial commonality would somehow provide a cohesiveness that never fruited.
"For some, the constant migration was to avoid conflict; for others, it was to find it. All the while, the ability to find a piece of Aegis that you could call your own and where you could be left alone became harder and harder to manage.
"People need a leader, someone who can impose order upon them and enforce it. In the absence of such a man or woman, the uprising, the riot, was an inevitability. But it served its purpose. It demonstrated to the survivors the undeniable need for structure, for governance. Walden and Madison were formed. ZooCity came into existence as a result of many feeling disenfranchised. They could not relate to either entity, nor did they feel that either enclave accepted them."
"Aegis really is a microcosm of society, isn't it?" Elias asked him.
"In many ways it was."
"Was?"
"Yes. In the time after the formation of the enclaves, there was a shift in the paradigm. Subtle, at first, but discernible."
"What happened?"
"Less and less of the newbies were deferred suicides," Tillie answered for Wilson.
"Deferred…?"
Wilson ignored the interruptions and continued his explanation. "In the early years of Aegis, the vast majority of entrants, or newbies, as Tillie refers to them, came to this place for the purpose stated in its initial proposal to the American public. They checked in to Aegis rather than committing suicide. There were some, such as the young girl from Racine we discussed before, who came here for other, more spurious reasons. But most fit into the first category.
"That has changed. Tillie and I have both noticed that in the last year or two the largest percentage of arrivals, by far, are not coming to Aegis as an alternative to killing themselves."
"Is there a common reason they have come?"
"To get away from out there," answered Tillie.
Wilson nodded. "That would appear to be the case. As you mentioned a moment ago, just as the Pilgrims voyaged to America to escape England and the King, most of our recent arrivals have been men and women who have given up on society. They no longer feel as though they belong to what the culture has become. They can no longer relate to the music, the movies, the politics…even their immediate surroundings when they venture forth into the public arena. Yet they are at a disadvantage because there is not a culture anywhere in the world which attracts them, nor is there an available plot of land, ungoverned and unspoiled, to which they may flee as did the Pilgrims. So they have come to Aegis. And their numbers are growing exponentially."
"That's amazing! I've heard nothing about this on the outside."
"Of course you wouldn't. I would doubt that those leaving would announce their reasons."
"And I'm guessing from what you said earlier, most of them have gone to Madison."
"Indeed. In fact, their arrival, the growth in their numbers, has focused and crystallized the foundational beliefs of Madison considerably."
"I am surprised that so few of the
m go to Walden. My visit was brief, and I admit it wasn't my cup of tea, but it did seem pleasant there."
Wilson permitted a slight smile to curl his lips. "Many did try Walden first. It seemed to them that it was closer to an idyllic structure than Madison with its more visible rigidity. They quickly changed their minds."
"Why is that?"
"They recognized it as what they were running away from," answered Tillie.
"Really?"
"Yes," she snapped. "It usually took them about a week to figure out that all of that politically correct pseudo-tolerance, finding one's inner child, celebration of victimhood, building your self-esteem, narcissistic garbage is what was causing all of the problems out there."
"How do you really feel?" Elias asked with a smirk.
"It's true! The only newbies who went to Walden and wanted to stay there were the deferred suicides, not the societal refugees Wilson described."
"And now we are finally answering your original question, Elias," Wilson said.
"I've forgotten what it was."
"You inquired as to why there were so few remaining at Walden. The answer lies within what Mathilda so eloquently described. That particular enclave found itself to be the last refuge of the desperate."
"That should still be a sizable number."
"It should, but for one small issue. It seems that for those unfortunate souls, the decision to enter Aegis only briefly delayed the inevitable."
"They killed themselves anyway?"
"Nearly all of them have."
"I don't understand. If they escaped whatever it was out there that was driving them to the brink, why would they do it in Aegis?"
"I think," Tillie replied, "it was because they couldn't get the right wine to go with their organic veggie burgers."
Wilson glanced over at Tillie, a subtle, chiding expression on his face, as he continued, "In a sense, I believe that Mathilda was correct in her assertion that Aegis is a psychological or political Petri dish. The jury is still out in my mind as to whether that was the deliberate intent of its creators. However, it has become a de facto social experiment. The very nature of Aegis had an accelerating influence on the Darwinian process of selection of the fittest."
The Aegis Solution Page 29