“I should tell Renatta so she can find someone else.”
“OK. Go right now. I’ve got a some time free, so I’ll take over cleaning up the dishes until you’ve told her. Feel free to tie up other loose ends about tonight too before you come back and finish the work.” Nat walked off to the kitchen as the head of security and martial arts master collected dirty dishes and took them into the kitchen for washing.
That night Nat met several new people. He showed up early---more to see if he could get there before Kelly than anything else---but once again, the martial arts master was there before him. But so were several others. He recognized Olive and Sally, but the rest were new to him.
Hughson started the meeting. “I’m not going to ask each of you to introduce yourselves to each other. Unfortunately, given the job we’re setting out to do, I think it’s important to follow a modicum of security protocols as our organization needs to remain secret.” He looked around the room and glanced into everyone’s eyes for at least a moment to emphasize the importance of what they were doing.
“Each of you has a specific skill set that I want to take advantage of to pursue an important project that the Elders have initiated. I’ll talk to each of you independently as needed, but I thought it would be worthwhile for each of you to at least see what the other folks involved look like, just in case something unexpected happens and we need to ‘improvise’.”
“It’s also important that each of you understand the ‘big picture’ so you can better deal with the specific elements you will be responsible for achieving. Again, it’s hard to know when and how to improvise if you don’t understand exactly what the overall goal is supposed to be. Besides, it’s easier to talk to you all at once than each separately.”
“As you know, the previous president of the USA attempted to stage a coup d’etat against the newly elected President-elect so he could retain power. He did this with the help of a broad-based, amorphous movement known as the ‘alt-right’. Fortunately, the American military establishment---in keeping with their sworn duty to protect the constitution from enemies ‘both foreign and domestic’---stepped in and arrested Norbert Blunt and sent in commandos to free the Congress from terrorists who had taken them hostage.”
“But having done this, America has been placed on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, our sources say that the Joint Chiefs want to hand back authority to the civilians ASAP. On the other hand, they find themselves in the situation of the woman who took a ride on the back of a tiger and found it hard to dismount without catastrophic results.”
“The reason for this is that the white nationalists never really believed that the coup attempt would keep Blunt in power. Instead, their long-term goal is instead to undermine the legitimacy of the American government. To that end, the insurrection worked remarkably well. What they want to do now is to create mayhem in society, make it as difficult as possible for the military to hand power back to elected officials, and, make everyday ‘quality of life’ for everyday citizens seem to be getting worse as time goes by.”
“The goal isn’t to seize power themselves, but rather to make American society less and less ‘free’ and more and more authoritarian. The idea is to create a self-fulfilling prophecy where a growing minority of people think that there is a conspiracy to create a totalitarian state and join the alt right because it says that it is the only way to oppose it.”
“This is the same policy that terrorists have used for generations. It was what the Baader-Meinhof Gang pursued in Germany and why Osama Bin Ladin staged the 9/11 attacks. If people fall for it, in the short term, it works like a charm. That’s why the brain dead response by the Americans to the Al-Qaeda attacks led directly to the rise of Isis.”
“Eventually people get so pissed with the chaos that all the people who usually stand on the sidelines and watch get involved and rub-out the terrorists. But in the interim, a lot of damage gets done. The Elders want to get involved and minimize the damage as much as possible. That’s the project, and I’ve invited you here to help with one part of that”.
Nate was a bit confused by this. Kelly had said everyone there had some specific skills that were needed for this project, yet he was just a newbie trying to learn the ropes at the centre. What did he have to offer? After the meeting, he asked Hughson about this.
“Don’t sell yourself short. You have a mixture of abilities we need for this specific job. First, you’re young and resilient. Secondly, you are quite fit. You are also a quick study and can think on your feet. Finally, you are single and here, which means you are available on a moment’s notice. We may need someone with all of these traits.”
This ended the confusion, but added a significant bit of concern. “Are you going to send me out on some sort of James Bond, high risk, undercover assignment?”
“Possibly undercover, but not ‘high risk’.”
“I don’t have anything specific in mind, so I won’t get into details. But we would like you to undergo some training with the idea that you can become one of the people I send out on specific tasks. You’re something of an ‘apprentice’, so we won’t be asking you to do anything illegal or dangerous. You’ll be more of a ‘bit player’ than the ‘lead’ in this scenario. The Elders believe in being subtle, and violence is far from that.”
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