The Lesser Evil

by Jim Magwood

  “Well…I’m not sure…but I’ve been thinking the last few minutes…”

  CHAPTER 57

  “Jacob, I’ve got a number of names from the ‘80’s and those rocket destruction activities, and a few of them stand out. They were attached to some part of the program, either from the U.S. or Russia, some even from other countries, and they’re still around today. A few have developed into large industrialists, bankers, some politicians.

  “Question: Are we looking for someone who would be wealthy or really influential? I’m assuming so, because they’d have to be wealthy for this group to do what it’s been doing, or they’d have to be able to tap into national treasuries or something to get the funds they would have needed.”

  “I agree. Who do you have? How many on the list?”

  “Not many, really. A few dozen if you just count the ones with real wealth. Most of them, though, are pretty well hidden.

  They’re very private and their wealth is not well documented.

  In each case, it’s known to be huge, but also well hidden.”

  “Does anyone immediately jump out?”

  “Two or three, yes, but nothing to put a finger on specifically. Shall we start with them and see where it all goes?”

  For several hours, the men split the lists, then sorted and reviewed the names, and specifically traced the most promi-nent, or suspect, ones. By midnight, they had narrowed the list down to a dozen or so that most closely fit the criteria they had established: someone who had been close to the missile work in the ‘80’s; someone who had risen to some form of wealth and power over the last few years; someone who today was not well known or who was very reclusive, unable to be seen or tracked very often.

  Roger finally said, “I’ve got a couple of people here we should take a closer look at, Jacob. How do you think we should do this?”

  “Well, you have that database list of all the events that have taken place: names, places, dates, and so on. I think we should run these names past that list and see if any of them link in any way. And I don’t think we should restrict the links to just being in the locations at the time of the event, for instance. Have they ever been in the locations? Have they ever said anything about the places or people involved? See if they’ve had any relations at all with the events or people at any time. Someone who spoke against one of these incidents twenty years ago could have waited until now to go after them.”

  “Yeah, I see what you’re saying. It’ll take me an hour or so to patch these lists together so they can look at each other.

  Why don’t you go round us up some dinner while I’m doing that.”

  “Dinner, Roger? Apparently you really don’t have any idea what time it is. Perhaps breakfast is the better word. And you trust my culinary skills?”

  “Breakfast? Have we been at it that long? Ah, well, if you can run a computer, you should be able to run a frying pan, right? Go! Go! There are smoke and fire alarms by the kitchen. You’ll do fine.”

  Jacob left chuckling.

  Roger came upstairs a while later with a grin on his face.

  “So, you decided to order out, eh? I could smell breakfast downstairs and, wow, look at all this. Where’d you get it at this hour?”

  “Are you saying you don’t think I could put together some mushrooms and bacon, a few shallots and spices? You even had a jar of sun-dried tomatoes and a couple of pork chops in storage, though I won’t guarantee their freshness.

  You actually seem to have a fairly well stocked pantry—for someone who likely doesn’t know what’s in the pantry.”

  “But where’d you come up with these magnificent biscuits? I know I didn’t have them in said pantry.”

  “Ah, a little flour, some salt, a couple of eggs. In the Israeli army we didn’t have to make everything in our helmets, you know. So, sit, sit. Try to be civilized for once.”

  Both men ate as if they were starved. Coffee flowed quickly, and a second pot was made. Seconds, maybe even thirds, were indulged in, until both of them sat back trying to suppress small groans. After appropriate apologies for his re-marks about Jacob’s cooking skills, Roger spread some notes on the table.

  “I’ve got some early results from the cross matching, Jacob. There were three men who immediately popped out of the system as soon as I started the search. One of them is from Israel, one from Britain, and one originally from India but now living here in Canada, in Toronto.”

  “Who is the Israeli? Perhaps I know him?”

  “His name is Moshe Herzog.”

  “Yes, I know of him. A wealthy industrialist from Haifa.

  He has interests in oil drilling, farming, and construction of both roads and city buildings, as I recall. I don’t recall ever hearing anything controversial about him, though. What do you have?”

  “Well, he was with a team that was inspecting and catego-rizing the weapons destruction programs in the ‘80’s, then he pretty much disappeared until about 1997 when he came on the scene with a lot of money. Looks like it was good money, though, mostly from an inheritance and his companies. It looks like what really flagged him in the system, though, was the number of comments and speeches he made about the Iranian nuclear threats to Israel—and here are some comments about getting citizen armies together if the government wasn’t able to get their act together and protect the country. And he spoke out about criminal threats in other countries.”

  “And the others?”

  “One is Daniel Chambers of Britain, a wealthy banker from a long-term family banking group. And a Gourav Singh, originally from India and now living in Toronto. Chambers is, as I said, from banking circles, but Singh has a scientific background and was apparently on the dismantling and destruction forces with the rocket groups.

  “Let’s see… Chambers… looks like he…oh, I see. It looks like he’s linked because he owns several banks with major worldwide relations. He’s funded a lot of computer businesses and has been involved in some apparent computer spying ventures. Can’t see if they were proven, though—and it appears he put together some large financing packages for a couple of groups that were trying to buy out a lot of casinos and retail stores that had been linked to organized crime. Oh.

  And look at this, will you. He’s pushed hard for the end of all secret banking—the Caymans, even Switzerland. And he put some forty million dollars into an anti-drug campaign, specifically trying to shut down all drug dealers. Hmmm. That’s maybe getting close to what we’re looking for, don’t you think?”

  “Do you see if anything links the three of them together?”

  “Yes, that’s why the system spit them out so fast. Along with their backgrounds and close links to the events we were looking at, they’re apparently personal friends. Several quick news shots here of them sponsoring some things together, a news photo of the three of them in a party of some sort—all arms linked with several other men, also. Men from all over the world, it appears.”

  “Could you transfer that list of names, including the ones in that party photo, over to my computer, Roger? Maybe I’ll send it on to my friends who can do some very deep digging and see what we come up with.”

  “Sure, I’ll do that right now—if I can waddle back downstairs after that breakfast. Terrific food, Jacob. Maybe I’ll keep you around.”

  Chuckling, Jacob replied, “Maybe, Roger, if I retired from the university and moved to my lodge in Alberta, I could send you regular care packages.”

  “Oh, no. If you’re going to do that, I’ll just move over there so I can be close to Marie’s cooking. Now I know where you got your talent with food. Marie.”

  “Ah, the secret is out. But I’ll never let you abscond with her. Now, let’s get that list transferred and see what we might rattle out of the branches, shall we?”

  CHAPTER 58

  “At the top of the news this hour, United Nations Secretary Mohamed al Zewari has just finished his address to the General Assembly regarding the incidences of violence taking place around t
he world by both the so-called vigilante group and the increasing violence by private citizens acting on their own. We have some clips of his speech, and will have the entire broadcast later this evening. Here is Secretary Zewari.”

  “And, while we can certainly understand the desire to move against influences with which we do not agree, we simply cannot, as civilized people, allow for a few to impose their will on the many. We all have cultural differences that guide us in our actions. What might be non-acceptable to a group of people on one side of a border could be the way of life of people in a neighboring region—and those cultural differences must be respected, even when they do not meet with approval by all.

  “We are far beyond the time in the development of our societies when a few can dictate the directions of the many.

  The old days of the so-called world powers demanding the rest of the world must fall in line with their antiquated views, and such demands enforced with the power of militaries, are gone.

  The under-privileged and new upcoming countries of the world have their right to live as their cultures decree, and it is the place of the so-called world powers to support these countries, not to stand in their way and demand compliance with outdated beliefs and opinions.

  “We call on the world powers to make every effort possible to enhance the lives of the less advantaged of the world.

  This should include providing much needed funding to those who do not have the ability, in the early stages of their development, to fund themselves. This should include providing the materials and supplies necessary to protect them from others who might be prepared to take advantage of them. And, this should include removing any barriers from the developing countries which are, or might be, imposed by the so-called world powers from their own views and/or cultures.”

  “Secretary Zewari did not say very much about the violence taking place around the world by self-styled vigilante groups. There does appear to be a dramatic increase in the number of events taking place, and in most places, the local authorities do not seem to be able to get a handle on controlling the violence.

  “While the average size of the events does not compare to the events that have apparently been caused by the main vigilante group itself, the numbers of the local events are increasing as more and more citizens take to the streets in supposed attempts to clean up their neighborhoods and cities. However, in that process, it appears there are many innocent citizens getting caught in the actions, with deaths, injuries and property damage rising dramatically. At the last report, the United Nations is suggesting an almost forty percent increase in overall crime statistics this year to date over last, and we have only begun the year.

  “In a short interview following his address, Secretary Zewari did make the following statement:

  “We are an organization dedicated to bringing peace and stability to the world, and we simply cannot stand by while unknown forces and the large world powers bring violence to the rest of the world and continue to prevent the growth and development of countries that have the right to live their lives freely. We are calling on all the developing countries to do everything they can to support each other and to turn aside these unwarranted attacks.”

  CHAPTER 59

  “This is Susan Barkeley back again with your NewsEye interviews of the evening. Bob Durant is in Geneva and Bob, what are you hearing there?”

  “Susan, I have Emil Constantine here with me. Mr.

  Constantine, what is your impression of the efforts of the United Nations in combating the world violence?”

  “We don’t care what this UN is saying. They say what they want. We do what we want. But, it is not right that they want us to do nothing to make our homes safe. What, are they going to bring safety? We have families suffering. We have listened long enough. We must do this so our families can live.”

  “Are you saying that the local people will take to the streets to make things safer, Mr. Constantine?”

  “Are they not already doing this? The people I talk to are tired of being afraid. They want this big vigilante group to come to our city and make things good. The United Nations?

  Pah! What will they do? Talk. Just talk.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “We have just finished our survey of the audience here at the Games in Auckland, and the numbers are quite impressive.”

  “And the Games have been so exciting, haven’t they, Mark?”

  “They certainly have, Judy. Many more people have turned out than last year and they seem so festive, for the most part. However, there is an undercurrent of anger, I think I would say, that I’ve picked up in the interviews. People are seeming to be very fed up with the inability of the authorities to control the violence and criminal activity running rampant, and I’ve been hearing more comments than ever about going out and taking care of things themselves.”

  “What has the survey shown, Mark?”

  “Well, to our question, Do you feel your neighborhood is relatively safe?, 96% of the respondents answered ‘No.’ To the question, Do you think the authorities are making headway on resolving the problem?, 91% said ‘No.’ And to the question, Do you feel the people should take arms against the criminal influences?, the answer again was an overwhelming number. 97% said ‘Yes.’ From these numbers, Judy, it appears the authorities are going to have more than just the criminal influences to deal with. It appears the people are going to start making themselves heard, and they may end up in confronta-tions with the authorities as both groups try to make things better.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “And at this time, the fire raging through the Kings Cross shopping center is still not under control. We’re told there are now at least twelve stores involved and that the fire teams simply cannot get an upper hand. It appears, as we were told earlier, that the fire started in one combination pub and dance hall, and that a note was sent to the Guardian saying more such events could be expected if certain ‘purveyors of filth,’ as the note said, were not driven out of the area. The fire teams are saying now that the entire center may be a complete loss, that there have been at least nine deaths so far and more than one hundred injured.”

  CHAPTER 60

  “Thank you for meeting with me again, Reverend Sanders. I realize it was pretty quick notice, calling you at the last minute like I did, but I have some serious questions I need to get some answers for.”

  “Well, I’m happy I was available. How can I help?”

  “You know we talked a bit last time about these vigilante actions going on. First they were pretty much just from this major group that was doing them, but now the general public has started taking up arms and getting involved, and I’m thinking it’s getting out of hand. There are some innocent people getting hurt and I don’t know what to think, or do, anymore. I guess my main question right now is what you think about all this now? And is it right or wrong what this group is doing?”

  “Mr. Baxter, I don’t think my answer from last time has changed any. I understand what’s going on, and I can imagine what the people are feeling about trying to clean things up, but I still have to say that it’s not right. We have established authorities in most of the countries of the world that are doing their best to keep us all safe, and I think they need to be allowed to do their jobs. I think in many cases, we’ve tied their hands, and that should be a first step in getting things fixed—

  getting them freed up to do what they’re supposed to do.

  “I know that sounds like a major process, because we have too many groups now that seem to be standing in their way, or that are putting obstacles in their way. We—the public, the citizens—would have to get back to the voting boxes and courtrooms and take back control of our own lives. Vote out the representatives who aren’t doing what’s right and shut down the groups that are allowing the wrong things to stay in effect. Get the right people in the right offices. Vote the power back to the people. And that’s not going to happen overnight.”

  “But, what do we do in the
meantime? That will take years, if we can even do it. We can’t wait years with all that’s going on.”

  “I know. It’s now become an almost impossible road to travel. The people are going to suffer no matter what they do.

  But I remember someone who used to say, in response to people who asked if they should get on programs that would take years to complete, like furthering their education, what will you be doing at the end of that time anyway? If you don’t move ahead with your plans or dreams, where will you be when you reach that end time? The real answers to those questions is to sit down and make lists of the pros and cons and see where it all totals up, and make a decision as to what you really want.”

  “Okay, but another question. All this stuff is going on and you have the ability to get involved—help things along—