Three Wishes
IV Ground Hero
I think we all remembered where we were that day when we first heard the news. I was at school when I heard. Four airplanes, thousands of people, and a dozen or so heroes. I guess I was pained more than most-I was granted powers beyond the realm of most humans, but because I was learning flipping sentence structure and the rules of the infamous comma, a lot more people would not be seeing their children in the evening. Someone was going to pay, and I took it upon myself to be the black sheep of the New Testament-the tax collector.
I knew I could just destroy the men responsible-literally erase them from the face of the earth, but America wanted answers. Replies to why has always healed and so I decided to allow them time on this blue sphere for a little while longer. The biggest problem was to place these men in the hands of the authorities without becoming suspect in my techniques. I would need a mercenary team. I would need a mercenary team I wouldn’t feel too bad about letting portions die when I could guarantee not a single death with the use of my powers.
So I began work on my plan. I would need a team that comprised of militants that had weapons training, that no country would ever acknowledge training, and that the mainstream of America had no care of either. I also needed a team that comprised of people from a group that I could hold something over. Then I had it.
DeBeers. The diamond Cartel. The US has been after them for years, and because I was feeling patriotic, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone-Lay some trouble at the doorstep of one of America’s enemies, and capture another. I remembered from reading in Scientific American that Uranus and Neptune were diamond manufacturing monoliths. Something to do with the environment of these two gas giants. I took a peek at each planet and the scientists were proved right-It indeed rained diamonds on Neptune and Uranus. So what I needed to do now was to start an all out trade war with DeBeers. I needed to start taking business away from them noticeably so that when the time came to negotiate for my throw away soldiers, the executives would take one look at the damage I did to their bottom line and offer up their own sons and daughters.
First up, I had to get the diamonds out to the market place and have an explanation where they came from. I did some research on the net and found the perfect candidate. Zambia. Zambia is a country in Africa that allows another African country (Angola) to smuggle diamonds in (smuggling being necessary because of trade restrictions the US put on it) and certify them as coming from Zambia (a country without US trade restrictions). So the plan is to have the diamonds be teleported into Angola, pay off a Zambian smuggler to use his connections to certify the diamonds DID come from Zambia and Ship them to the US where a Distributor would put them in the market place. Now, I would have to set up a diamond distribution center that would be small on DeBeer’s radar screen until it can gain enough influence to hold its own against the monopoly. I would also need a man in the diamond business with the connections to broker the diamond deals with the companies.
“Kirstie, I need to discuss something with you of grave importance. Don’t think of me as your master during this conversation.”
She got up from her kneeling position at my right and proceeded to a chair opposite of me.
I told her my plan then laid the bombshell on her-I would need to get the initial funds for various licenses, employees, and good old fashioned bribery from her.
“I can’t guarantee this enterprise is going to work, but if done right, it will pay off in spades and we will get the bad guys while we go about it.”
“All right, I’m in. I’ll put your name on my account at the bank and you’ll have access to all my funds.”
First thing I did was hire Stephan Mondragon. Alexis did a mind probe that turned up no allegiances to DeBeers. It also turned up the fact he already had a network of diamond buyers in place. We consulted with him on what he recommended for a distribution center, and his insights saved a lot of time and money. Then Alexis and I went about putting together a distribution center and staffing it. She put loyalty and other commands into the staff.
I then started surveillance on the diamond smuggling into Zambia to find a likely smugger. Her name is Nikkie Chiluba. She has connections to Zambia’s Ministry of Mines(the department that actually certifies that the diamonds are from Zambia) and has done smuggling runs dozens of times. A couple of days after her latest run I teleported Alexis and myself over to Angola and Alexis knocked at her door. Reading my mind, Alexis did all the talking with my words.
“Miss Chiluba, my associate and myself are here to discuss a long term business proposition.”
She let us in and we all took a seat.
“We need your skills and connections to smuggle diamonds into Zambia to have them certified as coming from there. Would you be able to help us.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“4 percent of the value of each shipment in diamonds. With few exceptions, you would have your pick of which diamonds you want as your payment.”
“Sounds fair, when do we start.”
“When’s your next run?”
“Next Tuesday.”
“We’ll see you next Sunday at 1 p.m. and give you the diamonds to be transported. While we won’t be able to go with you on your smuggling leg of your journey, we do need to meet with you in Zambia. Where and when would be good for you?”
“Thursday of the same week in Lukulu. I have a contact there you’ll be able to stay with. Here’s his name and address.”
With that, we got up and went to the secluded area teleported to get here and teleported back to Alexis’s home.
For the next 5 days I transported stones from Uranus based on diamond quality codes and getting a good mix of gemstone-quality stones and stones used for industrial use.
Sunday came and I did a scan of Nikki’s mind to see if she was going to betray us. No such thought existed. She was exited about the money she was going to be bringing in for herself. I teleported Alexis and myself over and we met Nikki at her home a little before our appointed time. I then “imported a few donkeys from Mexico, “exported” the foodstuffs on the donkey’s back to some homes of some hungry Nigerians, and teleported the diamonds into the donkey’s sacks.
Nikki looked over the diamonds, separated out the 4 percent in stones she wanted, and put the stones back in the bags. Our business complete with Nikki, we went to our secluded area and then teleported to Lusaka. Here we came across several shipping companies. We chose one with the best track record (at least in the minds of those who worked in the companies) of getting their shipments to their destinations. Negotiations went well and we got a good price.
We met Nikki at her contacts home and told her where the diamonds needed to go once the certification process was completed. Alexis asked her how much time it would take for the process and she said a month. Alexis asked if we wanted to grease some palms, could we speed the process up a little. She gave a figure and said with it, the diamonds could be certified in 2 weeks. I produced the amount and Alexis and I said our good-byes. We told our shipping company to expect a parcel in 2-3 weeks time.
It was a bout 6 weeks time after our first contact with Nikki that our distribution center (Incidentally named White Shade Distribution) in the US received its first diamonds. Stephan went off and started his sales pitches. He sold most of the diamonds off. Then the whole cycle began anew. I got the diamonds from Uranus, had Nikki smuggle them into Zambia and bribe their way to quicker certification, then our shipping company delivered them to our distribution center where Stephan sold them off.
Soon, I was looking to increase output and Alexis contracted 4 more smugglers and we set up 4 more distribution sites-2 more in the US and then 2 in Europe.
Alexis and I then started visiting dealers that traded with DeBeers. Using some Jedi mind tricks, Alexis convinced them to severely limit their future dealings with DeBeers and focus on us as their primary source of diamonds-after all, we undercut DeBeers monopolistic prices by 10%, and all our diamonds were certified.
I was able to pay back Kirstie after our first few shipments and from then on I was able to start claiming profits. Companies started coming to us based on word of mouth from others in the industry.
Meanwhile school was going well and the football team made all-state. I received the gameball for being the MVP and signed it “With best wishes-Jack Hanson” and gave it to Lance. Finals were a bit rough because of all the “extra-curricular activities” I have been involved in but managed to get a C (flipping commas) and the rest B’s on my tests.
White Shade Ltd. kept on producing and supplying diamonds and flourished because the dealers preferred the non-paternalistic relationship they had with us over that of DeBeers. I was also providing intel on UN troop position and movement to my smugglers which saved more than a few shipments of diamonds from being confiscated. With White Shade now being 2nd largest diamond supplier in the industry, I figured it was time to talk about some troops. Executive Outcomes is a military force funded DeBeers that take military action in countries in Africa when political change/unrest threaten diamond supplies.
I wrote a business letter addressed to the top executives detailing a plan that would allow them to buy me out. Of course this was a lie. This was merely the worm on the hook to get them to show for a meeting. At the meeting I put forth my proposal.
“Gentlemen. During the last sixth months White Shade Ltd. has become the 2nd largest diamond supplier in the world. It has been a collaborative effort of mining operations, Sales managers, and even a little intelligence gathering. For the past three months White Shade has taken VERY little market share from other Diamond Suppliers. That is because we have been targeting you. Dealers that have been your loyal devotees for decades have been jumping ship. We assure this will happen again in the future and we have the diamonds to supply the increased demand. What all this is leading to is a trade war. We at White Shade will make sure it is a trade war of increased supply. Companies will start buying up diamonds to horde away-the prospect of buying them at all time lows too tempting to pass up, and not only will the price of diamonds on our side will be cut to beat you down, Diamonds as a resource will lose its value due to the increased number of stones in the market. Don’t want that to happen? Well this is what WE want. 3 regiments of Executive Outcomes. Simple as that. In exchange for the soldiers, we end our marketing campaign that targets traditional DeBeers merchants, pay $10 million cash, and allow DeBeers to once again the lead role on the world’s diamond supply.”
“You expect us to believe you have the resources to supply such a trade war?”
“I have the supply to replace every grain of sand in the Kalahari desert with a diamond. Gentlemen, do not make the mistake of doubting my supply. I do not need to spend another day mining to take this war to you. All the diamonds I’ll ever need is already out of the ground-and they are there waiting kill your company; me and my company also have no qualms destroying the industry to do it.”
“Mr. Hansen, we gather a little intelligence ourselves. We know that you use smugglers from Angola to Nambia. We know that Nambia then issues certificates for your diamonds. However, we also know that the stones we have examined are not from that region-wrong color. We want to know where the diamonds are coming from.”
“Let me explain. I think your perceptions of me and my company may be a bit colored. I do NOT trade in Blood Stones. The furthest the money I pay the smugglers goes is to their own accounts-NOT any of the organizations they may belong to. When I started my operation, I knew DeBeers kept tabs on its competitors. So to keep the location of my mines safe, while also allowing certification of the diamonds, I used this tactic. Let me assure you. The purpose of certification is to keep conflict diamonds out of the markets. While my diamonds may not be mined in Zambia, they ARE NOT banned diamonds.
“Truthfully, this whole enterprise has never been about making it rich. I am after all willing to destroy the industry in which I am the second largest competitor. It has been about rounding up an army. The only reason I don’t just turn the operation over to you is because I need 2 things. First is insurance that once the soldiers have been handed over, they won’t turn on me because of orders from you. And second I need money for the soldiers.
“Now, I can understand the reluctance of turning over these men. You don’t want to have to fight your own men, and you don’t want what they do to trouble your conscience. Well, the only trouble you’ll have in sleeping at night is because of your own business practices. What I am doing is gathering a task force to hunt down those responsible for largest attack on US soil. As a matter of fact, those responsible also made money in the diamond trade. Isn’t it appropriate to go after those who hurt the image of diamonds by committing such a monstrosity? The only difference is I am the one who going to be giving the soldiers their assignments.”
“Why don’t you just let your government do the job?”
“First off, every American would love to be the one who captures these bastards. Mowing down the soldiers of the men who planned the attack, then, after a hard fought battle, bringing the leaders to justice. This is what I want. Also, the military has been slow. They have caught some of the men responsible, but I could do a much more effective job. So gentlemen, what will it be? Give me the troops to bring justice to those who deserve it. To cleanse the image of the diamond industry. To do something that a company can be proud of. I’ll even credit DeBeers with providing the troops that brought the most hated men in America before a court to face their crimes.
I got DeBeers’ assurances the troops would be sent to me within the week. It was a long time in coming, but lady justice was going to reclaim her honor finally.
V Marching Johnny off to Die
Now because I have a paranoid side, I had decided to create a bunker that could only be accessed by teleporting to it. I built it into Pikes Peak in Colorado. It has nonperishable foods, a stock of water, an air induction/filtration system, and medical supplies. I had Alexis mind-control the guy who would be perfect for the job (I did a search for “Someone would know how to create a hidden self-contained underground bunker”) of designing the bunker. I also did a search for the people who could give the written OK for the project, and had Alexis make them fill out the correct forms and had them forget the project ever existed.
I was also busy finding a home for my new soldiers. I found a large militia compound, also in Colorado, and with the help of Alexis and a sizable contribution to their cause (protecting their home state against an unconstitutional federal incursion into their state), I was able to buy their facilities. I had a meeting with leaders of the regiments to figure out who was the best tactician. He would be the person I would get the intel to for formulating a plan of attack on any strongholds that our quarry may be holed up in.
I got one and a half of my regiments to the newly purchased compound. I then booked a flight to Pakistan from the US for my other troops. Once we touched down, the troops (including our lead tactician, Tariq), Kirstie, and I then made our way to the mountains of Afghanistan. On our way, we bought vehicles and fuel to transport us. Alexis made those we came across forget our passing. I’ve been gathering intel on US troop, Northern Alliance, and Al Qaeda troop movement to keep us undetected. Satelite photography was something I couldn’t do much about except stop my troop movement and camouflage our presence. During all this I have also been scoping out the stronghold of our first quarry. FBI lists all top 10 terrorists as 25 million dollar paydays; I decided a mercenary team would start out in Afghanistan to hunt down those responsible. Indeed 7 of the 10 was in Afghanistan. The first one on my hit list was number 9 on the FBI top ten. His camp was above ground and wouldn’t be too hard to handle with our superior numbers. So, I got the intel to Tariq and he simulated a plan that was straightforward, yet designed to have few casualties on our side. I brought an entire regiment to a forward position to wait till the moment of attack while still outside the area of enemy troop detection. I left the half-regiment behind to man our base camp. After doing one last scoping of the area to make sure the battle would be unnoticed by those outside the battle (US, Northern Alliance, or other terrorist troops) I ordered the operation to proceed. The regiment had 4 groups, everyone was involved with the first group/objective-camp penetration. Then one group was involved with holding key positions to watch the backs of the next 2 groups. Group Alpha would continue to search and destroy the rest of the enemy troops while group Gamma performed the capture portion of the mission. Once the operation commenced, I kept a close eye on our intended target. When everyone rushed to attack my force, I teleported him to me and Alexis put him under. When the capture phase was initiated, I teleported myself and Alexis to where Gamma group was and Alexis went to work implanting memories of a successful capture. The main idea was take the 25 million dollar perceived reason we were there for out of bullets-way while the rest of the fighting was going on. Once the flying lead had all landed, then we could have the troops carry back our prey. I then kept tabs on outside forces on our way back to base camp to make sure we didn’t stumble across anyone. Alexis also implanted the memory of being captured by mundane means into our prey that coincided with what Gamma team remembered. The toll on our troops was very small. We lost a few, but by now the US would’ve lost 3 times as many in accidents.
Alexis went about probing our prey on what he knew about the Al Qaeda/Taliban operations and what he knew about future plans of terror. She also probed him on those who was in the Top Ten list. He believed he knew where 3 was but was only accurate on where one was. He would be our next target. Target B had much the same set-up as our first target and was still in Afghanistan.
We took a 2 day rest while I gathered intelligence on Target B’s site and outside force positions and movement (again, US, Northern Alliance, and Al Qaeda). Alexis implanted memories of being interrogated rather than mind scanned into our first target. I gave the intel to Tariq and he gave another plan of attack much like the first one. A few more casualties were expected because of more favorable terrain to the defenders, and because of a larger enemy army. Again, my entire regiment penetrated the enemy campsite. Then a group took up key locations. Alpha group went on search and destroy and Gamma group took up target retrieval. Alexis went on mental clean up, and I kept us clear of other forces in the area and on the way back to base camp. We lost twice as many troops as in the first battle, but we still lost fewer than expected.
Alexis scanned looking for the same information as she did in our first prey and turned up only one name and location on the Top Ten. Target three would be in a cave-a place made for disposing of disposable heroes. Tariq grimaced when I gave him the news. He suggested a two stage plan. A small stealth team would enter the cave system, capture an enemy, have him give as much information as he could in a half hour on enemy troop location and traps, and then radio for the remaining force to join in on infiltration.
The stealth group remembered having Alexis along. In reality, I kept tabs on them in 2 minute intervals; the rest of the time I made sure the larger infiltration group outside would remain undetected. When the stealth team got the enemy troop, I teleported Alexis to them, she then scanned his mind for the information, and then the stealth group sat tight and hid; Alexis fixed it so that everyone remembered the interrogation took 25 minutes and the captured soldier gave up Target 3’s location. I teleported her back to me and the infiltration force joined the stealth team to get Target 3. I then kept tabs on my army as they made their way to their objective. I teleported Target 3 to us as the army got close and Kirstie put him under. Once my army got close to the area of capture, Alexis was teleported in-when the army started to look for Target 3, Alexis implanted false memories of capturing Target 3. Even with all the information the captured enemy soldier had provided, my regiment still lost 30% of its remaining strength.
The mind probe of Target 3 turned up no information of remaining targets (he believed a fourth target to be in Afghanistan but was in reality already in Mexico). I then did a search for the main US base to turn over the captured in the morning.
The main US base was going to take us a day to get to in the vehicles we bought. A company (including myself and Alexis) took the prisoners to the US base in the morning. We let ourselves be taken in by US forces when we got close to the main US base camp.
“I am Colonel Whitman, US army. I understand that you have a couple of prisoners for us.”
“Three actually. My men and I came for the reward for their capture.”
“How did you find them?”
“The first we did a search of the area for Al Qaeda combatants. Once we found the first, we were able to find the other two from interrogations.”
“We also interrogated the prisoners. We had troops in the area-how did you perform a capture operation without alerting us?”
“They were far enough away that with the little stealth we were able to utilize, they missed the operation. When do we get our money?”
“I’m going to have to contact a couple of people to get the cash. The US military doesn’t have 75 million laying around.”
“Yeah, well Paying 75 million for 600 hammers can do that.”
“I’d also appreciate it if you told us where your camp is so my men don’t attack it thinking it an enemy camp.”
I told the colonel where we were.
“Your lucky. We’ve been receiving intel on this camp of yours and were going to put together a strike force to send out against it. We had no idea mercenary teams were in the area, but I suppose the reward is high enough to attract such attention. We’ll host you until we can get the money, then send you on your way once we hand over payment. That sound good?”
“That’ll work colonel.”
“Also, US war journalists are going to want to know how these men were captured and assume it was us. We can say we captured them if you like to keep your profile low and not alert other enemy troops to your presence.”
“I’ve been thinking about this very issue. The organization that supplied the troops did so for a reason. DeBeers wants the publicity of being the ones who brought terrorists to justice for 2 reasons. First to repair damage it did to its own reputation through its own trade practices. Second, to let other organizations know that diamond trading to fund guerrilla warfare will do more harm than good. I think for this message to get out, the media has to know who captured them. I’ll talk to whatever correspondent you want to present when we have our money.”
“Fair enough. We’ll also need an account of the operations that were performed to capture these men. The accounts would prove useful in analyzing the enemy’s tactics and also prove useful in providing documentation that the US didn’t fund a mercenary team that broke the rules of war.”
“Say it with me colonel-After we get our money.”
“Understood. Now, I have couple things to do.” He got up and saluted me, dismissing me. I returned the salute and left.
We spent the next couple of days at the US base camp and waited for our money. The funds were turned over and Colonel Whitman and Tariq talked about our wargames. Alexis had made sure Tariq knew nothing of my her abilities before the interview started. Colonel Whitman then presented us before a tent full of journalists take make a statement and answer questions.
“On the third week of January Whiteshade Strike Force had already made its way into Afghanistan and set up a base of operations. There, we searched for our first captive. Upon recovering him, we were able to pick up a few of leads on locations that had men wanted by the US government. From there, we captured 2 more. DeBeers supplied the soldiers to help America fight the war on terror and to send a message that diamond trading to fund terrorist activities will be answered in the harshest manner. We will continue to aid the US military in bringing men to justice for their crimes against the American people. I will now answer questions.”
“How long do YOU think the war on terror will continue?”
“Well, I must say that the operations of Whiteshade is just a small part of the US military operation in Afghanistan. We have no interest outside our designated tasks-it wouldn’t be appropriate and it wouldn’t be . . . equitable. However, saying that, I would say it won’t ever cease. Terrorism is a tool used to further or defend a worldview, not a worldview onto itself. And because it IS a tool, it can be difficult to restrain oneself in using it. It is easy to see how destructive it can be, and because we disagree with the worldview of the ones using it now, we can label it evil. However, the US won World War Two with the use of terrorism, Utilizing the most destructive force it had available in its arsenal at that time and continues to be one of the most destructive forces on the planet to this day. Whenever a group decides it can’t stand against an army in conventional warfare, it will turn to guerrilla tactics to undermine them. Guerrilla Tactics-Terrorism against the army. From there it is an easy step to take guerrilla warfare against the civilians. This is because it causes hardship on the government that funds and directs the army. How long will the war on Terrorism continue? That’s like asking how long a war on espionage would last.”
“Who’s next on your hit list?”
“I can’t comment on that.”
“How long will Whiteshade be involved?”
“We are committed to bringing in as many of those responsible as possible. We in fact have a goal to see that all Ten of the FBI’s Top Ten terrorists be in US Custody by year’s end. That’s it for the questions. Thank you for your time.”
I teleported into Pakistan and wired the money into the Whiteshade Strike Force coffers and teleported back. The war had just started and we were ahead.