The Helium-3 Conspiracy

by Colin Setterfield

  "So we wait. I want every possible body, the CIA, NSA, FBI, everybody, on an around-the-clock investigation. Inform every state police department to be on the lookout for this man Ensley. We must pick up something that will lead us to him," the President impressed cogently.

  "We will do everything within our power to get SWANC back, sir! You can bet on that!" added General Hollings.

  The President wasn't finished. "And Cassie...I want a communications blackout on this. We don't want the Press to get hold of it and cause a mass panic amongst the world governments."

  The Council stood to their feet with Cassie Williamson's concluding remark, "I'm on it, Mr. President. Once we have SWANC back in our hands, we'll have to completely revise the security. Jimmy will advise the Joint Chiefs of the present status."

  The President nodded and thanked everyone for coming on such short notice. "We will keep a very low profile on this until we know more. We will inform you of any new developments."

  The Council members said their goodbyes and left.

  **

  Breaking News for the President

  Thursday, July 2, 2026

  11:00 a.m.

  President Baker was busy reading the Baltimore Times when Cassie Williamson pushed open the door and stuck his head into the office.

  "Busy?" he asked.

  "Come in, Cassie, what's on your mind?" answered the President amicably.

  The Chief of Staff entered the Oval Office and sat opposite the President. "I was reflecting on the meeting with the National Security Council yesterday."

  The President smiled thinly. "Yes, they certainly took it well."

  "I think the news came as a shock to all of them but I guess it's best to keep them in the dark about certain other developments," said Cassie.

  The President nodded his agreement. "I'll be discussing the options suggested by the National Security Council with Vice President Horne in about thirty minutes. I'm sure we'll come up with some solutions, however, until the signal loss of SWANC is fully explained, we are just guessing."

  Cassie turned to leave. "I look forward to hearing the Vice President's suggestions. Whoever has perpetrated this mess will no doubt contact us when they are ready."

  The President turned his attention back to the Baltimore Times. "The sooner, the better!"

  Thirty minutes later Vice President Basil Horatio Horne, Jr., was ushered into the President's Office. Horne was a man of average height, slender build and completely bald. His most distinctive features were the cleft in his chin and a winning smile, showing a good deal of gum above a set of slightly crooked teeth. He was always upbeat, jovial, and an ardent supporter of human rights. His proudest moment was a meeting in 2011 with Nelson Mandela of South Africa before that great man passed away in December 2013.

  Horne was known for his quick wit and grasp of the language, wielding his tongue in a similar manner to Sir Winston Churchill, the astute Prime Minister of Britain during the Second World War. He had run a close contest for the presidency before the second term of Arthur Madsen who was inaugurated in January of 2018 and later lost the nomination for the presidency to Richard Baker in the 2024 election, accepting the vice-presidency as his consolation prize.

  President Baker liked Basil Horne, despite being at loggerheads on certain issues of state. The Vice President had a gift for close-quarters political combat, a good man to have in the trenches. He was married to Sophia, a lady of Italian descent, and they had one daughter, married to an NSA official. Tragically, fifteen years previously their only son Graham, then thirty years old and a member of the CIA's Clandestine Operation unit, had been killed during an undercover operation in Nicaragua. Basil Horne was sixty-nine years old and had plans to run in the next presidential election.

  "Basil! How are you? Keeping busy as usual?" quipped the President.

  The Vice President laughed. "Busy, busy, as they say! You know what it's like these days with all the meetings!"

  The two men talked about family and social things for a few moments and then the President became more serious. "Have you any thoughts on the options we discussed at the meeting?"

  Basil Horne said, "I am sure we'll find that some right-wing Saudi or Iranian group is involved, Mr. President. As the national security advisor said, 'Who stands to lose the most during this transition?' The people the world buys its oil from of course!"

  "The Saudis appear to be very supportive of the need to transition to Helium-3. They have already completed one fusion reactor and have asked the Energy Bank to supply them with ten kilograms of Helium-3 for testing purposes," countered the President.

  The Vice President was not to be put off. "Maybe, but it could also be for appearance's sake. The Iranians have chosen to remain silent on the transition matter which is a bit ominous!"

  "True," answered President Baker contemplatively. "It's not that I haven't suspected them of being up to something. It's just that we have come such a long way since those days when Iran wanted to build a nuclear bomb."

  The talk of possible solutions to the developing crisis continued between the men as the President's secretary brought in some refreshments. Horne was adamant that the SWANC system signal loss would soon be resolved and once the reason for that was known they could sit down and work out a plan of action.

  The Vice President finally added, "One thing is for sure, Mr. President, assuming the worst case scenario— we don't bargain or negotiate with terrorists!"

  The President responded emphatically, "Absolutely not and besides, there is no real proof that the system has actually been hijacked."

  The President stood and held out his hand. "Sorry, Basil, I have another meeting pending with the Chief Whip. We'll talk more about this with the Joint Chiefs next Wednesday."

  "Thanks for your time, Mr. President. I'll see you there," replied the Vice President, rising and moving toward the door of the Oval Office.

  At the same time, on the opposite side of the door, Cassie Williamson knocked, opened it, and was about to barge in when he saw the Vice President about to leave.

  "Don't leave yet, Mr. Vice President." Then turning to the President, he said, "I have some interesting news about SWANC. A group, calling themselves the OLF, have just taken responsibility for hijacking the system."

  Both the President and Vice President looked at the Chief of Staff as though he had just held them up at gunpoint.

  After a few seconds of silence the President found his voice. "The Oil Liberation Front? I thought they were just some lobbying group with members in various oil producing countries?"

  "I have the NSA, CIA and FBI delving into their records and going through their sources as we speak," answered Williamson.

  "Could this be a prank?" asked the Vice President.

  "I don't think so. The communication was received via special delivery to the United States embassy," answered Williamson. "It reads that no particular country has anything to do with the hijacking."

  "Do they make any demands?" asked the President cautiously.

  "They intimate that their demands will follow soon. They want us to know that their intentions are peaceful but the use of SWANC against the countries involved in the Global Energy Accord will depend on us."

  "So, this is definitely about the transition to Helium-3!" exclaimed Horne, stroking his chin. "They obviously don't know that there are further security protocols regarding SWANC."

  The President replied solemnly, "We can't assume anything, Basil!"

  Cassie interrupted, "What are we going to do, Mr. President?"

  "I want a copy of this communication on my desk as soon as possible," declared the President angrily. "We'll find out who these bozos really are and they'll pay for this act of provocation."

  The Vice President moved passed Cassie to the door and said, "We'll definitely get to the bottom of this. I will see you at that meeting on Wednesday." He turned and strutted down the hallway.

  Cassie Williamson looked at the President
and noted, "I really wonder about that man sometimes."

  The President stood at the window, the hint of a smile beginning to spread over his face and nodded. The Chief of Staff walked out, closing the door.

  **

  Mare del Plate

  Tuesday, July 7, 2026

  10:00 a.m.

  Francisco Hernando Juventus was enjoying a day in the sun on the beach of Mare del Plata, Argentina. The beach was virtually empty due to the lower temperatures generally experienced in July. With a blanket wrapped around him, Francisco lay on the beach chair allowing the heat of the sun's rays to warm him as he surveyed the scene. Fortunately there was no breeze, otherwise it might have been a little too chilly.

  Francisco was a newcomer to this part of the world, the few people who had come to know him could only guess as to his past. There was his landlord, owner of the property that he rented; the couple who stayed next door to the rented property, and the salesman at the car dealership, where he had bought a late model electric car. Francisco kept mostly to himself, occupying his time by walking around the city, viewing the historical sites and spending time on the beach. His real name was Malcolm Ensley.

  On leaving the United States, Ensley had immediately opened the briefcase that Sammy Binks had given him. He needed to learn his new identity and what further instructions Sammy had for him. The instructions were clear.

  He was to keep a low profile for at least three months and live in the house that had been rented for him under his new name. A sum of one million pesos, cash, approximately two hundred and fifty thousand USD, had been provided for his initial expenses. He was also provided with a new passport and a fake driver's license.

  If Ensley thought he would get the rest of the promised money immediately, he was mistaken. The instructions contained one last duty that he needed to perform before the money could be wired. He would have to wait for further instructions. When he had performed the task, the money would be wired into the account. He would have to wait two weeks for this information.

  Ensley had deposited the one million pesos into the account that had been opened in his new name in a bank in the city. After purchasing the car, he had spoken to his landlord and discovered that the house had been rented for a period of three months. This suited him as he was not sure if he would stay in Mare del Plata. After he performed the final task he would be able to live anywhere in the world, except the United States.

  He relaxed feeling the warmth of the sun's rays, radiating through the blanket, soothing his body and the thought of being totally free to pursue new directions in life, dominated his thoughts. He would soon be a wealthy man, never needing to work ever again. Maybe he could find a wife and settle down, have some children, forget all about the past. What he had done did not bother him in the slightest. However, he was a little nervous as to what his final instruction would be, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it—for the next two weeks he could relax and enjoy some solitude.

  **

  Valkyrie's Main Players

  Friday, July 10, 2026

  8:00 p.m.

  It was late and Arthur Jackson was getting agitated. The call he had been waiting for had not come through at the expected time. Their schedule for contact was always on the hour and it was not usual for Wolverine to be late. There had been no contact for almost twelve days and Jackson was a little anxious as to the outcome of Jeremy Gibson's visit, and the badge that was missing from his desk drawer. He had been tied up in meetings since the incident and was earnestly awaiting Wolverine's call.

  Wolverine was the caller's code name and had been chosen for security reasons in order to retain some anonymity when making these contacts.

  Jackson had chosen not to use a code name but was known simply as "AJ" to the other members. The person who gave Wolverine and AJ their immediate instructions went by the name of Condor. Neither AJ nor Wolverine had ever met Condor in person.

  It was known that Condor represented some unknown and extremely powerful dignitaries in several foreign countries who were interested in the outcome of the fossil fuel transition debate. Apart from Jackson, everyone else in the immediate group knew very little of the involvement of any of the others. Jackson's involvement in Congress was of major importance to the whole initiative since the United States was a major player in the fuel transition. He was a bit peeved that Condor would not reveal his identity at their level, but he understood the need for secrecy and anonymity in the grander scheme of things.

  AJ and Wolverine were not close associates. The two didn't agree on many issues but had found unity on their resistance to the ten-year transition of oil to Helium-3 strategy. All directions from Condor to the American-based group came directly through Senator Jackson, giving the Senator a feeling of importance to the mission as a whole. The world-wide group of those dissenting to the present transition plan was unofficially referred to as the Oil Liberation Front.

  Their prime objective was to obtain the approval of the Global Energy Participation Agreement signatories to agree on a longer transition or to delay mining for the immediate future. So far, this was not going well. It was not the process of lobbying that made their initiative a covert operation but rather the longer term measures of the strategy. Only Condor knew how far, and how extreme, these measures would become.

  Condor's frustration with the lobbying process was growing. Jackson felt a little uneasy regarding the talk of "extreme measures" but then again, the alternatives were not acceptable either. Jackson knew that some powerful forces in the major oil-producing countries were involved with this initiative. This did not bode well for a negative outcome on the lobby process.

  It was necessary for the United States to lead the way in any attempt to stop, delay, or change the present transition from fossil fuel. So far, only Congressmen Jackson and Ross in the Senate, together with Seymour in the House of Representatives, were opposed to the ten-year transition period—nowhere near enough to make a ripple in the pond. There were others who might be sympathetic to an extension but so far nothing in the lobbying process had been conclusive enough to change their minds.

  Jackson's cell phone suddenly began vibrating.

  "AJ," he answered, lowering his voice. He didn't want to attract Camilla's attention to anything. She was always trying to pick up snippets of information that could be used as bragging rights with her friends. Or, at least, that's what AJ liked to think—he believed that loose lips sank ships and his sole intention was to always keep her out of his political affairs but she often snooped, confident that he wouldn't notice.

  Wolverine's voice grated in his ear, "The business we spoke of at our last meeting has been taken care of."

  "Good! There can be no leak of Valkyrie. Did your guys find an old faded FBI badge?" asked Jackson.

  "No," answered Wolverine. "If he took the badge, he must have dropped it—it wasn't on him."

  Jackson was silent for a second. "Okay, it doesn't really matter. Did your guys do a thorough job?"

  Wolverine responded with a trace of annoyance, "I am absolutely sure of that, AJ! We don't want anything returning to haunt us on this. You need to keep your stuff in a safer place."

  "I've already seen to that. It won't happen again," replied Jackson gruffly. "Anyway, we need to meet—to work out some details. Can we meet at the usual place and time?"

  "Tuesday, after the weekend?" asked Wolverine.

  "Yes, don't be late" retorted Jackson curtly.

  ∞∞

  Chapter Seven

  Setting up Surveillance

  Saturday, July 11, 2026

  10:00 p.m.

  Ten days had elapsed since the night of Kenny's recital. The chat with Colleen regarding bringing Arthur Jackson to justice appeared to have given Jake a new lease on life. There was a spring in his step, despite the challenges and risks that lay ahead. He was almost excited about life again.

  Jake and Colleen had chatted for over an hour, after Kenny had gone to bed, disc
ussing the dangers of an attempt to bring Jackson to justice. Colleen was nervous at first but the clearing of Jake's name, plus the prospect of Kenny enjoying a focused, resident father again, made her reconsider. Having Jake back in the home, in her life and bed both frightened and excited her at the same time.

  They had discussed how Jake should approach the matter of his investigation and the need for the utmost discretion. The family's lives might be at risk if he was recognized or compromised in any way, but Jake promised he would take care of all the details. Since the days of journalism he had gained the cooperation of people who were more commonly connected to private investigation work, improving his ability to do covert investigations. He would continue to work on his routine investigations so that the bills could be paid; however, his focus would now be mainly on Jackson. Colleen had agreed to stay in the background and continue her life as normal—doing what she could to provide supporting information.

  Jake contemplated the wall clock for a few moments and realized he had already missed the usual rush of homebound traffic. Earlier that week he had met with an expert on surveillance equipment, Mitch Cunningham. Mitch had served with him during the Afghanistan invasion. Jake had saved his life during a foray into enemy territory, an act of complete selflessness that Mitch had never forgotten, and he was always looking for a way to support Jake.

  Jake explained that he needed to get into Jackson's home and set up some surveillance cameras in certain areas so that he could see what was going on in the home. They would have to break in and place the equipment strategically. The cameras would be monitored remotely from Jake's office. Mitch never questioned the legalities of any undertaking that Jake asked him to be involved with—there were very few moral considerations that would prevent him from helping his friend.

  Jake fully understood that what he was about to do was against the law. Any evidence he discovered through these means would not be admissible in any court. In fact, if caught, he could end up in jail himself for invading the Senator's privacy. It was, however, the shortest route he knew to take in the discovery process.