“Soares’ men have seen you. They are reporting to Miguel that you appear to be the same street bum that passed by last night about this time. Do you wish to hear the conversation yourself?”
“No,” I tapped.
“Miguel is asking if there is anything suspicious about you – anything at all. The guard now watching you has said that he sees nothing suspicious; that there are many such vagrants like you in this part of the city; that your refuge – some subway stop or empty building - is probably not far away. Miguel has accepted the guard’s rationale and has told him only to continue to watch you. You are becoming a familiar sight.”
During the day, the Machine had also run its first extraordinarily detailed simulation of my assault on the weapon site. Its objective had been to refine its plan and account for all foreseeable possibilities, before running me through it - for my human perspective. The Grid had found this planning approach the most effective, time and again – let the Machine develop the plan down to the smallest movement and then apply the human template. The product tended to be what was most feasible. You should know that what might seem or be impossible for another organization may be well within the realm of the feasible for the Grid.
I pushed on, not casting a single glance at the building on my left, simply placing one foot in front of the other as if struggling to accomplish even that small feat.
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At 10:30 following morning, Clara was standing in front of the investment banker from Freeport. “Senor Ramirez is ready to see you, Senor Winnfield.” She spoke in Spanish.
Winnfield looked up at her, smiling. “Thank you.”
Clara turned and marched off toward the door to Ramirez’s office. The investment banker stood and followed, gunmetal-colored briefcase in hand. Ramirez’s chauffeur had picked him up in front of the Excelsior Hotel promptly at 10:00AM and delivered him with equal promptness for his meeting with the Mexican banker at 10:30.
As Winnfield entered Ramirez’s office, the Mexican banker was already walking toward the office door. He reached out, a wide grin on his tanned face, and took Winnfield’s hand, drawing him in and toward a small conference table sitting on the far side of the room. He indicated where his guest should sit.
“Can Clara bring you any refreshment, Mr. Winnfield?”
“Coffee, black, would be very nice, thank you, Senor.”
“Clara, two black coffees, please.”
“With pleasure, Senor.” Clara turned and left the room, closing the office door behind her.
Ramirez sat next to and faced Winnfield, his wide grin still present beneath his white, well-groomed hair. “I trust you spent a good, if busy, period since I saw you yesterday. The Excelsior is an excellent hotel. You chose wisely, Mr. Winnfield.”
“I have Mr. Whitmore’s personal secretary, Mrs. Fairbourne, to thank for that courtesy. I’m sure you remember her from your visits with Mr. Whitmore. Mr. Whitmore wishes his senor staff to be comfortable when traveling and Mrs. Fairbourne seems to know all the right places, nearly everywhere, to ensure that.”
“Yes, like Clara, I’m certain she is a godsend.”
A knock came at the door before it opened, revealing Clara carrying a tray with the ordered coffee.
“Speaking of Clara, here she is. Right on time, as always. We were just speaking of you, my dear. I was telling Mr. Winnfield how invaluable you are to me.”
Clara visibly blushed. “Please Senor, you are embarrassing me.” She served their coffee and departed. As she reached the door, she turned and addressed the Mexican banker. “Senor Ramirez?” Ramirez turned to look at her. “Yes, Clara?”
She nodded her head toward him. “Thank you.” She quietly closed the door after her.
“Truly an angel, Mr. Winnfield. I assure you.” Ramirez took a sip of his coffee. “Excellent.” He put his coffee cup down and looked at his guest. “Shall we get down to my clients’ business?”
“Certainly, Senor. Since receiving your clients’ investment guidelines from you yesterday, I have prepared detailed investment portfolios for your and their consideration.”
Winnfield reached down and placed his briefcase on the conference table in front of him. He took out his smartphone and again manipulated its miniature keyboard, then pressed the sides of the briefcase and opened it. He swiveled it toward Ramirez to enable him to see the computer screen inside the case. He extended the screen outward from its stored position.
“What a marvelous device,” Ramirez observed.
“Yes – quite ingenious. A person must know how the briefcase operates and must have both it and this specific smartphone to open it. Without the smartphone, the briefcase cannot be opened without destroying its contents and, perhaps, harming those trying to open it. I can assure you, Senor, it has been extensively tested.”
“Yes, I’m sure it has been. I am impressed, Mr. Winnfield.”
“I hope we can equally impress you with the portfolios we have developed. Shall I begin?”
Ramirez nodded. He was looking at Winnfield with admiration. “Yes, please.”
For the next hour, the off-shore investment strategist shifted between various electronic lists, charts and diagrams that he displayed on the high definition imaging screen of his briefcase to present the Director of the First Bank of Mexico with very detailed portfolios of investment in twenty-two US defense companies. He began his presentation by reviewing the premises and guidelines presented by the Mexican banker the day before. He next elaborated and refined the premises, necessarily drawing into play the structure and current operating doctrine of US military forces. He focused on a rapid development of its special operations capabilities that presupposed an increased emphasis on special operations forces themselves and the resulting impact that such prioritization of military effort would have on conventional and supporting forces. He next gave numerical weight to the many sub-categories of required special operations capabilities that would be needed, as well as those within conventional and supporting forces. All of this he translated into proportional dollar investment values for special operations forces, conventional and supporting forces, by sub-category. Lastly, he identified the various US companies that would be relied upon to produce the spectrum of specified capabilities and the specific dollar amounts to be invested in each. The total US dollar value amounted to 500 million, exactly.
“As you will have noticed, Senor, even with such a large investment, we could not address all of the needed sub-categories to dramatically enhance the special operations capabilities of US forces. The requirements are simply too large. Therefore, we have focused on those specific areas that will have a proportionally larger impact on such an effort. Such specific areas, we believe, will receive prioritized effort from the Americans. With this approach, your clients will, therefore, receive a larger and quicker return on their money.” He sat back in his chair and looked at Ramirez. “In this way, your clients take maximum advantage of the Americans’ paranoia. I hope you find our initial proposal reasonably close to your expectations, Senor.”
Ramirez sat there and gazed at the younger man for several seconds. He then looked down at the last list displayed on the imaging screen showing the list of US companies with related dollar figures. A small smile softened his features, as he looked back toward Winnfield. “Mr. Winnfield, you have again impressed me, both with your proposed portfolios and your presentation. You have demonstrated an amazing depth of knowledge of your subjects, both financial and military, and communicated it with absolute clarity of thought. I am amazed that you have put all of this together since we met yesterday.”
“You are very kind, Senor. Thank you. We have excellent access to relevant databases in the financial and military fields, and our proprietary software lessens the significant complexity of such tasks. I am very pleased that we are off to a good start. I have only a few more days to meet your timeline.”
> “Still, very impressive. I believe that you are much closer to the mark with your initial proposal than you give credit. I would like to review your initial proposal with my clients today. I will tell you that I feel they will be very pleased. While I am no military man, I clearly understand your main developmental points, given your excellent presentation, and the resulting specific investments. It makes logical sense to me and I can communicate that to my clients. I will need a copy only of the last list that depicts the target US companies aligned by major grouping – special operations, conventional, and supporting capabilities – and identifying the relevant sub-categories of capabilities.”
“Given your clients’ requirements for discretion, I have not printed a copy of my presentation for you, Senor, anticipating that you would not like too much paper about.”
The Mexican banker again smiled. “Yes, you anticipated me well.”
“Give me a moment and I will print a copy of the last image for you now.” Winnfield pushed some buttons on the keyboard within the briefcase. A few seconds later, a piece of paper the size of a large index card slid up from the back of the lower inside portion of the briefcase. Winnfield handed it to Ramirez. “Senor.”
“A truly remarkable device, your briefcase, Mr. Winnfield. My compliments to Mr. Whitmore for having developed it. Very tidy, very discreet.”
“I will pass your compliments to Mr. Whitmore.”
Ramirez raised the piece of paper in his right hand. “I will review this with my clients today. I will telephone you this afternoon with their reaction. I believe that this will please them. I propose that we meet again late this afternoon to either redress any points my clients may have or to make the necessary financial transactions. I will let you know.”
“Excellent, Senor. I will be standing by for your telephone call, at any time.”
Winnfield pushed the imaging screen back into place and closed the briefcase. He rose from his chair, extending his hand.
Ramirez shook it, then led the investment banker to his office door. As they reached it, Ramirez spoke. “Mr. Winnfield, I have been most impressed by your presentation today. I know that you are committed to Mr. Whitmore. But should your situation ever change, I wonder if I might attract you to think of a career move. Mexico is a nice place to live – despite the current problems – and I can offer quite beneficial remuneration.”
Winnfield smiled as he looked across at the Mexican banker. “I am flattered, Senor. Truly. As you have said, I am committed to Mr. Whitmore. He has been very good to me.”
“Of course. I understand. Still – if your situation changes, please let me know.”
“Thank you, Senor. I will remember.”
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“Senor, Senor Ramirez is here to see you. You asked me to tell you as soon as he arrived.” The beautiful Maria stood at Soares’ office door.
Soares looked up from his desk and smiled. “Thank you, Maria. Please show Senor Ramirez in.”
Maria nodded, stepped back four paces and gestured to someone standing to her left, behind her.
Ramirez passed by her, nodded toward her, a smile on his face as well, and entered the office of the Patron of El Centro.
Maria reappeared at the doorway and stood there, looking toward Soares.
The Device was positioned just above shoulder height on the dark frame of a painting to the left of Soares’ desk, showing me most of the interior of the office. The audio and HD video were excellent.
Soares rose from behind his desk, stepped around it and approached his childhood friend, arms extended in his usual, generous greeting.
“Manuel, thank you for coming, as always. I trust your day has gone well. You look well, my friend.” He gestured for the banker to sit in one of the deeply upholstered couches. He sat on the same couch, toward one of its ends.
“I have had a very good day, Gomez. Thank you.”
“That is good, my friend. Tell me how your meeting progressed with your investment banking associate.”
“I believe I can characterize the meeting as most productive, Gomez. The investment strategist is a very impressive young man. He knows in detail the US defense market, the US military and its doctrine, the key companies involved in the market, and, employing this knowledge, has developed a very impressive investment proposal for your consideration. Of course, he is unaware that it is you personally who is the investor. I have led him to believe that I have several wealthy clients involved in this financial project.”
Soares nodded his head. “What does he propose, Manuel?”
Ramirez took a piece of paper from the left inside pocket of his coat and handed it to Soares, who accepted it, sat back into the couch, and began studying it.
“You will recognize many of the companies on this list, I am certain, my friend. They represent some of the largest defense companies in the world. Some of the others were unknown to me. But I have independently confirmed their financial and business ratings, which are very good to excellent, and the investment strategist assures me that they are key to a rapid development of US special operations capabilities in the specific areas associated with them. The investment strategist developed this list based on an intimate knowledge of the structure and operating doctrine of US military forces. You will note the emphasis on the development of special operations forces themselves, with secondary and tertiary focus on supporting and conventional forces, in that order. The strategist again assures me that this balance of investments will result in the quickest and most abundant return on your funds because, given the structure and operating doctrine of US forces, the US will focus on the development of those specific capabilities to most rapidly develop its overall special operations capabilities – sea, air, and land.”
Ramirez went on at some length to summarize much of the detailed thinking that Winnfield had given him earlier in the day. He spoke for about 15 minutes. He concluded, “I do believe, Gomez, and I hope I have been able to communicate clearly enough to you, that this investment proposal is logical, based on a solid strategy, and will maximize your benefit as a result of - as you put it – the Americans’ paranoia.”
At the end of Ramirez’s presentation, Soares was nodding. “A very thorough proposal, my friend. I must say that it appears to me also to be quite logical. Like you, I have little knowledge of the structure and doctrine of US military forces. Therefore, we will have to rely on the apparent logic of the proposal and on your knowledge of and trust in the competence of the investment bank in which you will entrust my funds. I am certain that you would not be talking to any financial institution about this matter unless you had full confidence in it. It is a considerable amount of money, my old friend.”
Ramirez cleared his throat. “I have full confidence in this investment bank, Gomez. I have done business with it many times in the past and always with full satisfaction. The bank has recently instituted new measures to ensure security and discretion concerning the investments of very wealthy persons. Your money will be safe with them.”
Soares looked at Ramirez and held his gaze. “I trust you, my friend. I always have. As I see it, in the worst case, I will not make as much money as I intend. But I do not see how I will lose money, overall, and I have potentially much to gain. With your trust in this investment bank, I think we should proceed.” A quiet look of relief passed across Ramirez’s face. “You have my authorization to transfer the funds in the manner we have spoken of to ensure there is no direct link back to me. Please let me know, Manuel, when you have signed the relevant documents, transferred the funds, and have the appropriate receipts of deposit in hand. You have done well in the short time I have allowed you.”
Ramirez smiled. “Thank you, Gomez. I’m certain you will be pleased with the results.”
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The sound of a telephon
e ringing and being answered.
“Hello Manuel. I trust this call does not mean that Carlton has displeased you in some way?”
The sound of chuckling. “Not at all, James. Your Mr. Winnfield is quite exceptional. If I could steal him from you, I would. I’m calling to tell you personally that my clients have accepted Mr. Winnfield’s investment proposal and your man will be with me toward the end of this afternoon to finalize matters. I thought best to tell you this to ensure you are available later today – at around six PM, my time - for the video conference you wish to conduct prior to the transfer of funds. Mr. Winnfield will join me in my office at 5:30 to discuss with me your proposed mechanisms for the transfer.”
“That is excellent news, Manuel. I will be available from 5:30 and waiting for the video call. Mr. Winnfield knows the relevant internet address.”
“Very good, James. I’m most pleased. Until later this afternoon, then.”
The connection was broken.
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“Surprise and overwhelming force will be the key elements in achieving the objectives of your assault. As we have agreed, those objectives are the neutralization of the adversarial forces at the weapon site to prevent the detonation of the atomic warhead and to enable its recovery by the United States.”
The Grid Page 17