The Grid

by Carlton Winnfield

  Soares had been looking at Miguel as the latter gave his report. “Very good.” He turned to look at Khan. “Our sources, my friend, here in Mexico are – how should I say it (he spread his arms wide and grinned) – comprehensive. The destruction of the building in Ghal Tar and the regrettable death of your men there clearly suggests the possibility that some organization has taken an interest in you, perhaps us, for some (he stared hard into Khan’s eyes) – as you have stipulated - unknown reason. Still, I believe that our sources here will be able to let us know if danger approaches. I will know if that happens. Let me say that I hope your brother is well.”

  “Thank you, Gomez. He is dear to me.”

  The two men stared at each other. Trust among thieves.

  It was Soares – of course – who broke the silence first, smiling. “I trust, my friend, that you continue to be comfortable with our agreed assurances. Such matters are never easy. I understand. Especially, in someone else’s home. Miguel will remain at your side, as your hostage. He is my guarantee to you of my loyalty to our undertaking. He is dear to me.” At these words, Miguel looked down at the dark, polished wood floor. I saw him swallow. “Your wife’s brother will also remain at your side. He is the only person among your men and mine who knows how to employ the weapon. As you told me, he has memorized it all. Without him, our undertaking is an empty one. You control his fate. Therefore, you control the fate of what we do – as we agreed. I accept this arrangement. I am in your hands, Khan. Our success in this and the fate of my lieutenant rests with you. I trust this is satisfactory, that it convinces you of my resolve and sincerity.”

  I was impressed by Soares’ performance. He was very good. And then I thought, Jamila’s brother – what a small world we wander in.

  Khan smiled in return. “I have always been your loyal servant, Senor Soares. Otherwise, I would not be here with you today.” Equally adept, I thought, in the world of Realpolitik. Not someone to come across – unprepared - in a dark alley offering assistance.

  “Most excellent, my dear friend.” The broad, bright smile again. “I know we agree that our undertaking must not fail – at any cost. Each of us has too much to lose. You – your new Caliphate. Me – Latin America. Together – maybe larger domains in the future. But – one step at a time. First, this initial step to consummate our relationship and to get us a seat at the poker table in the great game. I know that we understand each other.”

  He and Khan stared into each other’s eyes, each continuing to measure the other. Each, I was sure, was wondering just how far the other’s loyalty could be counted on in this all-or-nothing venture on which they were embarked. Each probably believed that – if push came to shove – they could cut the other out and proceed on their own. Khan believed he had the means to detonate the atomic warhead unilaterally, if he chose. Soares believed that he could prevent that from happening, take control of Jamila’s brother and compel him to take the required steps to detonate the warhead. Both would prefer to avoid such unilateral action in the hope of larger domains in the future. This is what I thought these two men were considering as they stared at each other in the quiet refinement of Soares’ office.

  Khan nodded and said, “I know we do.”

  “Unless you wish to make modifications, the schedule remains the same, my friend. Once I have made the financial arrangements of which we spoke and from which you will profit most handsomely, you will cause the weapon to be detonated. I do not believe those financial arrangements will take more than four days from today to complete. Miguel will notify you. As we agreed, the detonation of the weapon will not take place for twenty-four hours after those financial arrangements are in place – this to give you and me and our people time to depart the city to a safe distance. As we agreed, during the last 24-hour period, you will surrender yourself to me as my hostage – this to ensure that your men, those that will martyr themselves, live up to their resolve, though I do not doubt it.”

  “You need not. I have no changes to our agenda.”

  Soares stood up. “Then, my friend, I will see you again in four or five days. If there is anything that you or your men need – anything at all – it is yours. Miguel will arrange everything.” He approached Khan, who stood up from the comfort of his chair. Soares opened his arms. Khan mirrored his movement. The two men embraced, then stepped back from each other, letting their arms drop to their sides, each still looking into the other’s eyes. Two predators, temporarily on the same hunt, facing each other.

  Khan inclined his head. “Thank you, Gomez.” He lifted his head. His eyes were bright, almost luminescent – those of an addict to his beliefs. “With your money and our combined skill, we have acquired an atomic weapon and have brought it to Mexico and no one suspects. The West thinks itself so powerful, so knowing, and yet, here we are – right under their noses with their worst fear. We will not fail to finish the task.”

  He turned and started walking to the high, ornately carved doors of Soares’ office. Miguel and Soares exchanged nods. Miguel turned and joined Khan as he arrived at the doors. Miguel opened them and gestured for Khan to go first. As Khan walked through the shadow cast by the opened door, a fly landed on his pant leg and worked its way into the cuff.

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  You might wonder why the Grid - such a philanthropically-oriented group of individuals - had taken it upon itself to retain such tools of intrusion, manipulation and coercive influence – why they had not focused their attention on philanthropy and turned over their secrets and magic to national governments. After all, some of those governments had much experience in wielding such tools, if not nearly so advanced. In fact, the Founders had considered this option for these very reasons – consulted with the Grid’s human thinkers and newly created Machine geniuses. The product of these considerations and consultations had been that modern governments could not be trusted to wield the Grid’s magic; that the events of the 20th and early 21st centuries had clearly thrown such trust into doubt. The minds assessed that there were politicians and persons of power who sought first, above all, to maintain their influence and their power, to retain their positions, and that the achievement of the Grid’s goals and the wielding of the Grid’s magic could not be trusted to such potentially narrowly-focused interests. The minds believed that, at the current state of human development, power does corrupt nearly everyone to some degree, and absolute power will corrupt many absolutely. With sufficient power and an insular ideology, groups of like-minded people, sometimes even good-minded people, could convince themselves of the rightness of amazingly wrongful acts and seek to carry them out. Imagine – the minds believed – what the corruptible and even the self-deceiving good-minded could do in the shadows with the tools that the Grid possessed. The temptation might simply be too great. This risk was too high. Such was the Grid’s thinking. Such thinking had logically led it to adopt its second principal requirement – prevent the governments of particularly the more advanced States from learning of the Grid’s existence, lest its magic fall into their hands.

  And the Founders took this decision with their eyes wide open, for they knew that they too were susceptible over time to the corruption that the Grid’s power offered. They knew that they were indeed a like-minded and, yes – from their perspective - a good-minded group that certainly had convinced itself of the rightness of its cause and the rightness of its actions in the shadows. They recognized the trap that lay there before them – in full view.

  Today, years later, the Founders continued to accept the risk and danger that the Grid posed to them. They acknowledged among themselves their continuing belief that they could protect the common good while avoiding the trap. They also acknowledged among themselves that this was not a certain thing; that they too might ultimately fool themselves – that they must always be watchful not to walk into the trap with their eyes wide open. They believed that they had a good chance of doing this successfully because they posse
ssed something that all other individuals or groups with power did not: the nearly artificial intelligence of the Ops Machine minds. But even then the Ops Machine minds - with their purely objective counsel - told them it was not a sure thing.

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  CHAPTER 13 – The Patron

  The Machine showed me a real-time image of three vehicles exiting the underground garage of the building in which Soares’ headquarters was located. The initial image was from an altitude of less than fifty meters. The image then zoomed upward and stopped. The readout in the upper left of the Tablet screen read 347 meters. The image followed the movement of the three vehicles.

  “You are watching the ground movement of Miguel, Khan and their security escort. They appear to be going back to the location of Khan’s men and the atomic weapon. Do you wish me to continue to show you these images?”

  “No. Continue to track their movement. Tell me if they deviate from the expected route, and let me know when they arrive at the weapon location. Show me Soares.”

  The screen image changed immediately. Soares was leaning down to the glass-topped table. He pressed the white-colored device. Very shortly thereafter, the beautiful Maria appeared at the office doors. Soares turned to look at her and said, “Tell Mendoza to come in.”

  “Immediately, Senor,” she responded, turned and departed the office, again silently closing the doors behind her.

  Soares walked to his desk and sat down in the thickly upholstered leather chair behind it. The fly repositioned itself to provide a left side image of Soares. He appeared to be deep in thought.

  “Power-span of this Device?” I asked.

  “127 hours. Sufficient, I believe.”

  I knew the Machine was rounding down the remaining operating time of the Device to the nearest whole hour. It could have given me the number of remaining minutes and seconds. The Machine would tell me if it believed the power-span of any of the Devices in play posed risk to the mission. It would recommend a solution.

  I sat back in the couch and continued to watch.

  There was a knock and the doors of Soares’ office opened. A large man, tall, entered the office and approached the desk. He stopped just in front of it and remained standing – waiting. Soares appeared for the moment not to recognize his presence. The large, tall man did not appear at all disturbed by this, as if accustomed to such behavior. He didn’t say a word. He waited patiently, arms extended and crossed down in front of him, his eyes on Soares.

  Several seconds passed. Soares looked at his hands and then up at the man standing in front of him. He studied him briefly, then nodded to one of the two chairs arranged in front of the desk. “Mendoza, sit down.”

  “Thank you, Patron.” He stepped to his left and sat in the chair situated slightly to Soares’ right front.

  “I understand your wife has been ill. How is she, my friend?”

  “It is nothing too serious, Patron. She is recovering.”

  “The attention of my medical staff has been to your satisfaction?”

  “Yes, Patron. Completely. I thank you deeply for your concern and your help.” Mendoza bowed his head.

  “It is my pleasure, my friend. You are part of my family. I will always care for my family, Mendoza.”

  Mendoza raised his head and looked at Soares. “I am deeply honored, Patron.”

  Someone who did not know him would mistake Soares for an innately moral man. What I saw was a highly intelligent leader.

  “Are your men in place and are you certain that you can obtain control of the weapon and Khan’s brother-in-law, should Khan prove less than fully compliant to our agreement? This is of the utmost importance, Mendoza. Such an action – should it be necessary – cannot fail.”

  “Yes, Patron. I have more than forty men in the building, many of them unknown to Khan’s men. All of them have been fully briefed and have been shown pictures of the brother-in-law. All of them know not to damage the weapon or him in any way should it become necessary to take control of them. All of them know only to take such action based on my order – only my order. All of them know the price of failure. As your chief of security, I guarantee this. I too understand the price of failure, Patron.”

  “I depend on your competence and loyalty, as always, Mendoza.”

  Yes, an intelligent leader.

  Soares continued to look directly into Mendoza’s eyes. “Notify me of any change in Khan’s behavior or that of his men. Day or night, Mendoza. You must be always watchful. Remember, those men are not like us. Khan has much to gain from completing our arrangement, and frankly, I think he will honor it because of what he will gain. Still, do not trust them. Watch them.”

  “As you command, Patron.”

  “Very good, my friend. Thank you. I know that I can count on you. Please attend to these most important matters and keep me informed. Please accept my wishes for your wife’s rapid return to full health, my friend.”

  Mendoza stood up from the chair, stared momentarily at Soares, bowed his head briefly toward him, turned and walked to the office doors. He opened them and, before leaving the room, turned toward Soares again and bowed his head. “Patron.” He closed the doors silently behind him.

  Soares watched the doors close, then sat back in his leather chair, closed his eyes and drummed the fingers of his left hand on the desktop. He began nodding his head, almost unnoticeably, to the beat of his fingers and, perhaps, to the music of the thoughts in his mind. He closed his eyes. His fingers continued to drum the desktop. His head continued to nod – up and down. It seemed to me that he was letting his subconscious work something out.

  After several minutes, his eyes opened. He stared straight ahead, letting himself come out of his trance. A smile creased his face. His subconscious had found what it was looking for. He reached out and touched another white-colored device, identical to the one on the glass-topped table. Again, the beautiful Maria appeared.

  “Senor?”

  “Please telephone Senor Ramirez and ask him to visit me here as soon as possible.”

  “Certainly, Senor.”

  Maria withdrew, silently closing the large doors.

  Soares sat there, behind his desk, thinking – letting his mind run. He did not stand, but only swiveled his chair from time to time, in short movements to the left or right. The rhythm still played on in his mind, it seemed to me.

  I was beginning to grasp the intellect that had helped Soares become the leader of one of the most successful narco-trafficking organizations in Mexico – an emerging challenge to the State itself.

  A knock. The doors opened. Maria appeared. “The Senor Director will be here in 20 minutes.”

  He stopped his swiveling and looked at her. “Thank you, Maria.”

  “The telephone number called by Maria is listed as belonging to the Director of the Mexican First Bank, the oldest continually existing bank in the country.”

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  “Khan and Miguel are arriving at the weapon location. A guard in the lead vehicle is telling security personnel at the destination of their imminent arrival.”

  “Thank you.”

  My Tablet showed the image of the same three vehicles turning right off a busy downtown thoroughfare into a narrower side street and then -100 meters farther - left down into an underground parking garage. As the vehicles disappeared from view, a three-dimensional architectural drawing of the building into which they had entered appeared on the screen. An orange, intermittently blinking dot also appeared, moving within the architectural drawing – the Grid’s Device now hidden in the cuff of Khan’s pant leg.

  Two other dots – one white, the other yellow in color – also appeared within the architectural drawing, but higher up in the structure it defined.

  I watched the orange dot move down and right into the first of three underground parking levels and stop there, out
of sight from the street above. I imagined that Soares’ security personnel were checking the identity of the passengers, ensuring they were who they expected. Fifteen seconds passed, then the orange dot began moving straight ahead again and stopped 50 meters farther into the garage. The orange dot moved fractionally to the left, then ahead, then slightly to the right and stopped in front of what the architectural drawing showed to be an elevator shaft. Shortly later, the orange dot moved fractionally ahead and stopped.

  The Tablet’s architectural view tilted to provide me a side view of the building. The orange dot moved upward within the drawing, coming ever closer to the white and yellow dots, and stopped again on the building’s tenth floor. The Tablet’s image zoomed in to show me a 3-D drawing of the entire tenth floor at a 45-degree angle from above. As I already knew, the white and yellow dots were located on this floor. The orange dot exited the elevator and proceeded left down a corridor. Thirty-five meters along the corridor, it turned left into a large interior room without windows, surrounded by other rooms and corridors on the tenth floor – perhaps a conference room. This was the location of the yellow dot – the Grid’s Device standing watch on the nuclear weapon. The white dot was superimposed on the upper part of the eastern wall of the room – the Device assigned to Salim.

  “I am bringing Khan’s Device into play.”

  The Tablet’s view changed. At first, just the appearance of shadows of differing hues of darkness moving, then the appearance of a straight line of some soft material – the cuff of a pant leg – seen from below and, in the background of the image, a ceiling light far above. Then the soft line approaching closer and disappearing – the scene now continuously shifting to show table legs, pant legs, chair legs, and chairs and something rectangular covered in the near distance, as the Machine directed the Device to survey its surroundings. Then, very rapid visual movement as the Device lifted from Khan’s pant cuff and flew low between legs of various types toward a distant wall. The surface of the wall appeared to move downward as the Device ascended and alighted on top of one of the spot lamps that helped illuminate the room from positions high up on the walls.