The Day The Oil Stopped Burning. Chapter 10: Middle East, The Turkey's cooked

Chapter 10: Middle East: The Turkey’s cooked

 

 

 

Art Dutton's official title was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs, which in the official hierarchical structure put him at about number twelve on the totem pole. In reality he was the right hand man of Secretary of Defense Sivalingam Sivananthan. Sri Lanka–born, Sivalingam Sivananthan was a physicist and entrepreneur. He had been director of the microphysics laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was the founder of Sivananthan Laboratories Inc. in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and created advanced military infrared night vision technology, a platform for next-generation solar cells. He also helped found the nonprofit Institute for Solar Photovoltaic Innovation, Research, and Edu-training, or INSPIRE, to prepare the Illinois workforce and interested students to build a renewable energy and solar ecosystem for the state. He had been taped for increasingly sensitive military innovations and was instrumental in several post fossil fuel military break- troughs. He had always had an admiration for Ron Smith and the EAG and since he had a combined expertise in advanced military innovation and technology and alternative energy and environmental preservation, he was popular with conservatives, liberals, hawks, doves, tree huggers, land raiders, Greenpeace and the joint chiefs. When Dr Sarah Jane Kelly had chosen him for Secretary of Defense, he acquiesced only if allowed to bring in most of his staff and Art Dutton who was a genius and whose uncanny ability to organize the best talent, harvesting the best results had made him and Sivalingam billionaires. 

 

Of course Ron's ability to spot huge potential talent especially talent that shared his ideology had caused him to notice and follow Sivalingam and Art years ago. They had long since become friends and had worked together to achieve many positive results for many years. Right now Ron was in touch with the SOD office and was starting to freak out about his friend Art and his assistant Sam. They had now been missing for 32 hours. Ron and company had been the last group to see them at the meeting at EAG headquarters early the previous day. "I don't give a shit if he is at the bottom of the fucking Atlantic......connect me to his com frequency right fucking now or I will climb through this fibro-optic cable and strangle your fucking ass" Ron was yelling to some poor assistant who's only violation was to suggest that Secretary Sivananthan was busy. "I will get him right away for you sir" was the reply. "Ron what's up, where the hell is Art". "Don't know buddy, last we saw him, he and Sammy were heading to A.J.s office to ask for some help on this thing we are uncovering. They left the office and never showed at A.J.s. I had Laura send you everything in the level six code. I'm guessing there's a security breach in your detail. Your driver, secret service security guy the D.C. Cops or all three were probably on the take and I suspect they gassed Art and Sam the second they got in the car. Now....Sam is a newbie and they could have pulled anything on him, but Art knows his shit and they would have had a hard time getting the drop on him. This is why I suspect they used gas. They are probably dead by now, but you guys should put some energy on it. NSA and CIA already have....thus my pessimistic outlook, but you and Art were close so you should handle an investigation yourself and even if they're dead you might want to go the extra yard and find out who pulled the plug and exercise some Sivananthan justice if you catch my drift". "Yea I do Ron, thanks. I reviewed your stuff....wow pretty wild accusations. I am totally on this with you and I believe your boy Jack's story, but you know we need a hell of a lot more provable evidence to do anything". "Of course you do buddy boy, so find it. You don't have to deal with shit like warrants or probable cause; you have spooks....so fucking use them"! "Ok, ok I'll find them, don't worry. Is this everything you have". "Yep, that's it so far, but I'll let you know ASAP when we turn up anything. I'm also going to follow up face to face with A.J. If you think that's a good idea". "I don't see why not. He is about as straight as they come". "That's what I think too. Thanks Sivalingam, talk to you soon".

 

Truth was that the SOD office really didn't have mush "police power" as it were. In the years following 9/11 and even with Barack Obama following George W. Bush the true power to intimidate and actually spy on American citizens lay in the NSA. Several different events and unconnected policies had played a serendipitous roll in letting the National Security Administration amass tremendous power to spy and intimidate within the U.S. The former "BIG BULLY" in America had been the IRS. Everybody was scared of the IRS and certain administrations in history had used them as their personal pit bull. In 2013 a huge IRS scandal had disrupted the IRS. IRS agents had targeted conservative political groups which created conservative/ republican outrage. Then it was discovered that the IRS offices were wasting large sums of money making mock videos and having extravagant parities. It eventually resulted in a total melt down of the IRS, a sweeping investigation that actually uncovered a mass conservative conspiracy led by Senator Lindsey Graham who had originally bribed IRS officials to target conservative groups only to try and expose it and get the Obama Administration into deep shit. The plan ultimately back fired on them and they were the ones who ended in a shit faced condition. The positive result being the complete dismantle of the IRS and a long awaited, much needed complete re-do of the Federal Tax Code. From six thousand four hundred and twenty pages to one hundred and twenty five. A flat tax of fifteen percent was enacted and an extra five percent for couples making over five hundred thousand. Corporate tax was also fifteen percent. No tax on capital gain. No tax on dividends. No personal deductions except for charitable contributions.

 

Now that the IRS had been dismantled, and reassembled in a toothless, nurtured form, the already robust, and eager to abuse NSA was chomping at the bit to jump in and provide the malicious tool of corruption that every political organization drools over. The NSA had already used (and abused) PRYSEM as a way to subvert laws and excised data-mining and spying so it was only a natural evolution to grow into a political tool that if wanted, could be used for an administrations personal objectives. Ron, who had studied man's evolution of technology, had a theory about the evolution of organizations. Especially bureaucracies which he often said had a life and growth of their own. 

 

Since the administration of President Kelly and the appointment of Pete Miller to head up the NSA, the abuse of power and use of intimidation had been mostly mitigated. Pete was thought of by Ron as a man of integrity and not one likely to use the data within the NSA for inappropriate measures. The one thing for sure; nothing could compare with the abuse of power and corruption under Chief Arie Fletcher during the Santorum administration.  

 

"Pete can you find out what happened to Sam and Art......strike that, I know what happened to them......can you find out who killed them and kill them back"? "Ron, I'm not sure we can work it exactly like that but I will find out who is behind this. We have been looking into the intel you passed to us this morning from your boy Jack. Pretty hard to move on this without substantiation". Yea, I just heard that same thing" Ron replied. "What's your plan Pete". "I have a few ideas and different plans of action; I can come over and fill in you Laura and Charlie if you want". "That would be great. Thanks Pete". "Jane....can you get me Fin Hameratt"?. "Yes boss. She's on...ouopps never mind, I got her message system....hum that's funny". "What...what the hell are you talking about". Ron yelled. Jane was still wondering what was going on. "I would normally get a digital location signal and an auto patch through with her level four security communication frequency, but it's not happening. It's like she is.......not.....around.....Orr....".. "Jane, what the fuck are you mumbling about"? "I think something's wrong boss". 

 

"Get me Ahbeene Farhteen, he's Turkish NIO" Ron replied immediately to Jane's concerns. The National Intelligence Organization of Turkey was an organization which commanded global respect. They were extremely capable, well run and as transparent as one can be considering their duties and directive. Since the replacement of Former Prime Minister Recep Tiyyan Erdogan in 2013 and the implantation of democratic and sectarian reforms the NIO and most other Central Government organizations were largely supported by the citizens of Turkey.

 

Prime Minister Erdogan saw the end of his political career in June of 2013 when protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdogan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day for the next seven days. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdogan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow. Taksim Square cannot be allowed to be a place where marginal groups can freely roam". Shortly after the growing protests, he left the country for a visit to Morocco, but he received a cold welcome and did not meet Mohammed VI of Morocco.^[81] Erdoğan claimed: "social media is the worst menace to society". As it turns out, his remarks and general attitude toward a "big brother society" proved to be a big mistake.

 

 Ahbeene Farhteen was the DIRECTORATE OF ELECTRONIC AND TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE for the NIO. The main duties of this directorate were ELINT (Electronic intelligence) and SIGINT (signal intelligence). Ahbeene's primary mission was counteracting all electronic and technical attacks against Turkey and its allies and his division was the best there was. He and Dr. Hammeratt had worked together on many issues and Ron had come to respect Ahbeene's abilities and integrity. 

 

"Nasıl arkadaşım yapıyoruz hey ron". Spoke Ahbeene as their communication line was secured". Greetings to you too my old friend" Ron returned the greeting. "What can I do for you old friend"? "I have a feeling that Fin Hammertt has been murdered or kidnapped. Can you look into things for me"? "I got agents on the way to her office as we speak. What the heck is happening? We have been gathering a large quantity of data regarding some crazy shit. Major oil and nat. gas reserves that were supposed to be disposed of being stockpiled, and a hell of a lot of military hardware. We also see a lot of nasty, unfriendly people moving into places they really have no business being. Does any of this sound familiar? Does any of this have anything to do with Fin missing". "Bingo on both accounts" said Ron. "I am transmitting you everything we have. We suspect Senator Justin Amash is at the top or close to it. You are going to have to deduce who's involved over in your neighborhood. I would guess some top dogs are part of this thing. In fact I'm sure of it, no international conspiracy bent on reconstituting petroleum distillates as an energy source, selling it, selling the machinery and weaponry that uses it, and starting a few wars to gain power in the African Continent could possibly succeed without some assets within the Turkish/Pakistani/ Israeli Government cooperative". "Ok, I'm feeding your stuff into our computers now. I will run some programs and figure out exactly who's involved. Now that I know the broad strokes, I can bore down to the details no problem. While we've been talking I've put seven people and six thousand terabytes to work on it. We've already run half a dozen different algorithms and I have sixteen suspects. Give me another half hour to get some human intel and....... Oh shit!!!!!" "What is it Ahbeene"? Ron asked. "Sorry my friend, Fin is dead. My men just reported, she was in her office poisoned". "God dammit, those fucking shit heads are going to pay.....Fuck....fuck...” Ron was just melting down. This was the third friend of Ron's to fall victim to this clandestine operation and he was getting very very angry. "Ahbeene, can you please find whoever did this and kill them". "Consider it done Ron. What else do you have as far as operations in Istanbul"? "As you know, Fin had her own office, but we maintain a research facility over on the north side of the Bosporus. Pretty light on security so if you could check it out....I'll copy you the coordinates, and Ahbeene"..."Yea Ron"....."Remember to kill those fuckers". "Yea Ron, I'll get back to you soon". "Laura, did you plug in everything from Max"? "Yea boss, pretty interesting shit. There are probably twenty big wigs within the federal government involved not including military or private sector so far. This thing is going to be big". "Ok, keep working on the federal government level for now, especially the legislative branch. Our first objective is to expose whoever we can before they have a chance to kill the GECA legislation". "I am going to try and get Dougy, Max, and Tom back because if we can find out for sure the top six and

NSA, CIA or FBI can't get them; I am prepared to let Max take them out". "Ok boss, I agree with you, if we don't it’s going to be dooms day". "These dick heads are really pissing me off". "Jane, get me Grace Meng at the White House". "She's ready boss". "Grace, did you have your people analyze all the stuff I sent? Did you look into Amash"? "I have Pete miller's crew on it". "Good, I just talked to him a minute ago". "CIA is on it too....and I peeled off two of my best Secret Service guys to do some undercover". "Who". "Joe Boswell and Bruce Lockwood". "Can we just go arrest Amash". "Not yet Ron, but we're working on it". "Can I just go kill him". "Not yet Ron but I'll let you know". "Anything on Art Dutton and Sam Markey yet". "Officially missing persons, no leads as to whereabouts, but we got a full court press going". "Thanks Grace". Ron concluded. "Get me A.J. will ya". "Got him Boss.....your welcome". Jane knew that courtesy and good manners would always remain foreign concepts to Ron. "A.J. We've got a serious situation here". "I can see that Ron, can you come over here and bring me up to speed". "Yea, I'll be right there. See you in a few". "Laura, Charlie, we're going to the Pentagon. Be ready in five minutes, General A.J. Lukas is expecting us". Within twenty minutes they were all sitting in the Generals office. "We are pretty sure it goes as far as the Senate". Ron was beginning. General Lukas cut him off. "Oh, fuck that, I know at least two of the joint chiefs and the Chair of the armed forces committee.....maybe a few in President Kelly's staff...... Maybe her"! "You gotta be kidding me"? "No, I have been following this shit for a month now, ever since the GECA got close to passing. Everything you guys have gathered is spot on. Even the stuff your boy Jack says he got from an egghead visit makes perfect sense. All the shit going down in Turkey and West Africa. All the sudden disappearances of various GECA proponents.......everything is making sense in the context of what you are telling me. Now we have to devise a game plan of how to deal with it......and that's not going to be easy.....not easy at all". "Any ideas off the top of your head A.J." asked Ron "After all you are the five star General". "Nope...... How about you guys"? Was the reply. "Yes Rachel" the General said in response to a call from his assistant. "Oh shit no...When....where? Ok...ok...I'll let him know". "What's happening" Ron asked. "I'm afraid to tell you that they found Art and Sam's bodies. Sorry Ron, I know you liked that kid and we both thought the most of Art. You were right gas then poison injected between the toes". "Any sign of the driver and security detail"? Asked Ron. "Yes the body of Art's regular driver and secret service agent along with an additional SS guy all killed the same way." "What about the D.C. Cops". Ron asked. "Must have been phonies, no sign of them". "So ether somebody killed the driver and SS guys first and had doubles in the car......or, they were on the take, and got killed along with Art and Sam". "Or the bad guys had something on the driver and SS guys but didn't want any loose ends". "We're already following up with any family, friends that sort of thing". "So you know Ron, DCPD is going to lead the investigation, but we can pull rank with Sivalingam, and he is pretty bummed. You know how tight he and Art were. He can say we suspect an international terror organization, which is actually just what we do suspect so NSA and CIA can step in". I can throw a couple of my best guys in with them if you want". "That would make me feel a bit better" said Ron. "Done" said A.J. "Man, I bet Siva is just pissed". "Yea, he and Art went back a long way. Art was one smart capable fucking dude. I kind of figured that Art would get the nod for Secretary of Defense and Siva would get the V.P. spot". " I hear you Ron....loud and clear. Siva sure would have made a better V.P. than that douch bag Jim Stanley". "Well A.J. That's politics for ya. I know the game is played with a different set of rules in the military but it's a similar game of thrones". "Right you are son.....right you are". 

 

Even though there had been a plethora of extremely competent running mates in the 2028 elections including Sivalingam who like Dr. Sarah Jane Kelly had a science background. Unfortunately for her the political climate at the time required her to select a running mate from somewhere to the right of her. The previous eight years had been under a New Democratic Republican Party (DRP) administration and the populous had gotten use to centrist positions. While Dr. Sarah Jane Kelly was mostly a centrist and was certainly pragmatic, she was a member of the New Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) which was considered kind of left by the general electorate. In order to seal the deal they needed a right leaning DRP that could muster support from the middle of the road conservatives. Several smart capable choices were vetted, but everyone seemed to Dr. Kelly to harbor a pre conceived agenda or an element of swagger or sometimes both and neither of which she liked. After too long she had told her champagne managers to: "get me somebody who doesn't ware his balls on his chest and have his head in his ass...... Every guy you bring me has an ego problem, wants to alter my agenda and is a chauvinist asshole and I'm tired of it. Ether get me a smart DRP who will play ball or get me a brain dead fucker, who will do what we tell him and shut the fuck up. As things worked out, it was the latter. Jim Stanley was the moderate two- term Governor of Arkansas. As her campaign manager described "he is as plain Vanilla as they come". As it turned out, he was prefect in that respect in that he really did not seem to possess his own opinion and was quite amenable to simply defer to the judgment of his superiors. He also was the Governor of Arkansas which was regarded as a Podunk, hick state but none the less produced Bill and Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee. He could bring the right leaning middle and do it without saying a thing which was exactly what they wanted. There was no need for him to inspire anyone, it was sufficient simply not piss anyone off or stir up any shit. The only real problem as they all saw it was that he really was not so smart and it would really suck if something happened to Dr Kelly and Jim Stanley actually has to serve as president. "We will cross that bridge if we get to it" .......let's just NOT get to it...and if we do.....we jump" was what Keith Jones, Dr. Kelly's favorite political advisor said. 

 

"Still, I just can't handle that idiot Stanley. I mean its not as if he a bad guy, it's just that he's........he's......such a stupid fuck". Don't worry A.J. He at least knows enough to know what side his bread is buttered on and he will go along with whatever President Kelly says". 

"I suppose you right Ron, but you go try and hold a joint chiefs of staff meeting with the Commander in Chief and give an intelligence report on Somalia with that dildo sitting in and you know that he does not even know what anybody is talking about and he is making suggestions that are ludicrous and.........Jesus .....drives me nuts. If I had to report to him I'd shoot myself". "Christ A.J. Calm down. What do you want me to do now about the GECA and this entire shit storm? Should I go bust heads"? "No, just keep gathering data, you are not in the head busting business, but I am. I got an army remember, and I do have at least a hundred really good men I know I can trust. But you, my friend, are way better at gathering data. We have way too many levels of BS to filter through. By the time I learn something from my guys it's already been on CNN, NBC, CBS, in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the National inquiries, and been commented on by that Hungarian bitch Arianna Huffington. What I would really like is some hard evidence on Amash, Bates, Franks, and all those dickless TRADs. I bet that Hockey Bitch Palin is in on this shit too. Jesus, talk about wasted years, it's been sixteen fucking years since oil could burn and she is still trying to get drilling in the ANNWR. I can understand how the Alaskan public screwed up and elected her Governor. Nobody knew her, but to turn around and elect het Senator eight years later after she had been McCain's running mate and people actually herd her speak......My god...those people must be as stupid as she is. So Ron I know you are more of a statistics kind of organization and I really don't want to ask you to get your hands dirty". "Don't insult me AJ, I came to you, and I lost two people and have a three more being shot at. Besides this is an environmental issue and that's what I do. If I wanted to keep my hands clean, it's just way too late for that". "Right, ok Ron get me some fucking dirt on all those guys. I can take them down but they won't stay down with some really hard evidence connecting them to this conspiracy thing". Keep your boys safe and out of harm’s way and get me the data"!! Siva, has equal resources and we are connecting with some key folks we think we can trust all over the world. Who do you trust in Turkey"? "Ahbeene Farhteen, he's the head geek in NIO". Ron Answered. "Yep, I know him, good man. Ok I'm going to roll. Where are you going? You need a security detail"? "Laura and I are heading back to EAG headquarters and keep working". Laura had let Ron and AJ chat while she ran through all the relive not data AJ had granted her access to. She agreed that EAG was better at data mining but the Military didn't have to be as good because they had billions of dollars and had been at it for hundreds of years. "Quantity beats Quality sometimes" Laura said to AJ when he insinuated that their intel sucked. Besides no one in her position would ever pass up the opportunity have unfettered access to computer data at the Pentagon. She told Ron "the problem is they have so much data that they can't see anything. They need analysis to analyze the analysis". "Well download as much of that stuff as you can and work your magic when we get back to the office". "I really want to sit down at my deck and think with a double Stoli in my hand". "Ron, I'm going to give you six of my guys. They are top notch; I trust them with my life, so should you. I want you to take them back to your offices, and whoever needs to be covered coming or going just let Ned here know and he'll take care of it". "Thanks AJ that's great. We will get as much stuff as quick as we can. Do I funnel everything through you"? "Yes, I was going to say Siva and Pete Miller but I guess we should assume that everything could be infiltrated. Even thought they are both trustworthy they might handoff something to the wrong person. Of course I might do that too so what the fuck. Before you go I want to say something, where's Laura"? "Right here General" Laura said as she came in. " Ron, we go way back and you know we are on the same side on this one even though that may not always have been the case. Now, I'm an army guy, but we have the ear of national law enforcement, U.S. intelligence and at least some international intelligence. Now Ron, I know you have spent your life saving the world but as a General you learn to win a war one battle at a time. Do you get what I'm saying"? "Yea AJ I believe I do". "So" AJ continued "this battle is to stop whoever is illegally bribing, blackmailing, coercing, threatening, or whatever they are doing to block the GECA. If we can get it passed, that will be a successfully battle". "I couldn't agree more AJ. See ya soon". 

 

Back at EAG headquarters Rob poured a stiff one, Laura went to work, and Dr Charles Watson came in and said  "Jesus Ron, I heard about Art Dutton and Sam. What a tragedy. Who did it happen". "Someone got to their driver and maybe their security. They gassed them when they got in the car. Probably took all of twenty seconds. Then they injected Rican between their toes. Total professional job, they never woke up, they also killed the driver and two security guys".

"This thing is getting big, isn't it". "Yea Charlie…. that it is. Have you detected any emissions...anywhere"? "The usual hotspots, why"? "Maybe someone just wants everyone to think its usual". "What do you mean"? "Well, if I had a formula to change petroleum back to a combustible substance, I would want to text it, and make sure it works, maybe even tweak it and make it better. As we know, it's pretty easy to detect if someone is burning fossil fuel in any quantity. So, I you wanted no one to know I would test it in a usual hotspot where there is natural Co2 emission so no one would notice. Are you with me Chuck". "Sure am, you want to know if there is a way to determine if the usual hotspot is acting unusual.. Right"? ""Bingo" said Ron. "Well boss I don't think it's been done, but I imagine I can figure it out".

"So what are you doing still here". "I am joining you with one of those Stolis, you Bogart. Then I am going to do the impossible just like I always do".

The Day The Oil Stopped Burning. Chapter 9: Anegada, Smoking some Cubans

Chapter 9: Anegada:  Smoking some Cubans.

 

 

It was well after midnight when Jack returned to the boat and he had been gone for over six hours. While Dougy and Geno were confident that he was alright, Annie G was starting to get a bit antsy. “I’m glad you’re back Baby” she said as he climbed aboard “I was starting to get worried”. Everyone was back in the cockpit, having eaten dinner and having a few cocktails…except of course for Max who never drank. He had however taken off his tie, jacket, and leather dress shoes which Jack noticed immediately, and then commented. “Ok guys I know that we have had a rather surreal week and that nothing should surprise me at this point, but I have just witnessed the two most incredible things ever. First: I have actually seen Max Cunningham without a tie and sport coat, wearing flip flops no less. Second: I just had a five and a half hour conversation with the creator of our universe”. “No fucking way’!!!! Was the response in unison from five guys and one girl? “Yes way” said Jack. ” I am not kidding you, if was fucking incredible. Unfuckingbeleaveable, I can’t even begin to describe how ultimately awesome it was”. Jack proceeded to spend the next eight hours straight explaining every minute detail of his conversation with Bob while his friends sat in total amazement. He shared every question he had asked and every answer Bob had given. He shared the incredible feeling of peace and serenity that had come over him. He shared the incredible bond that made materialized between them. He shared all the secrets that had been reveled….except one, and that had been the one answer that Bob had not actually spoken, but Jack had felt it, and Bob had let him feel it, and had confirmed that his feeling was correct. Jack knew that he had the answer to the very question which all mankind desperately yearned to know, and he had promised not to reveal the answer to anyone. “I can live with that” he thought to himself. He shared to his friends that he had never in his life felt the feeling of raw, unmitigated, unequivocal love as he had just felt during his five and a half hour meeting with this strange being from somewhere he could never comprehend. They had all asked a million questions, and listened as they never had before. The sun had risen and it was now Zero eight thirty hours and no one was even tired. In fact they all seemed to be on adrenalin high, just completely amazed at what had happened and what Jack was sharing with them. Finally someone suggested that they all get some shut eye of they would all be wasted by evening. Max volunteered to stand watch while everyone else tried to get a few hours sleep. Jack had also explained at least some of the details surrounding the current situation and what he had committed to do about it. He was very clear that this was his commitment and that he was not expecting the others to automatically follow him in his plan of action, but everyone including him knew that was just bullshit and that there was no way in hell that any of them was not in this thing one hundred percent. Max set up his laptop and customized M4 assault weapon in the helm station. He checked his Glock 9mm and half dozen loaded quick change back up clips and he started to develop an action plan. Everyone else except Geno who was too wound up to sleep had crashed. Geno took the forward watch and settled into his routine of scanning the horizon for any and all approaching vessels. Geno had always had extremely accurate vision and his Celestron Marine 16 x 60 binoculars allowed him to identify a vessel at over five nautical miles. Of course the Nanny Lu had great radar, but it took a trained eye to sniff out a suspicious vessel and Geno was gifted with that uncanny ability. “Let me know if anything looks goofy to you. I’m going to start running some hypothetical scenarios and see if we can actually pull off this save the world thing”. “You got it Max, I got the eye out and you will be the first to know if I don’t like what I see. By the way, if anybody can effect a plan from God to save the world…..it’s you brother”. Max’s usually expressionless face actually reveled what might have actually passed as a smile…just for a millisecond…then he went to work.

 

Bob had let Jack know that there was simply no way he was going to be able to bring down the entire conspiracy and that it would be fallacy to even try. The objective was to get the GECA legislation through the U.S. Congress and on to the White House and United Nations. Bob had also let Jack in on the fact that he was kind of going out on a limb because there had not been a decision among the powers-at-be regarding any kind of intervention. Bob has been assigned the task of looking after earth in a manner of speaking and was acting on mankind’s behalf on his own. Therefore he was not going to be able to enact a grand gesture as had been done sixteen years ago when they let their presents be known and passed on tons of information and change the composition of oil. That was pretty overt stuff and there was to be none of that this time around. The odds seemed pretty lopsided to Max being the pragmatic warrior that he was. What the hell were the chances of six men and one woman going to have against a highly financed international ring of highly sophisticated crime with leaders at the height of power in every country including the United States Senate and House and Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines and who knows where else. “This is freaking impossible, not to mention suicidal” he had said earlier. But then “I always preferred to be the underdog” he had added later. He was assessing their assets and liabilities as he had always done and had suddenly realized that this was going to have to be done on faith. This was a foreigner concept to Max. He had taken on long odds without hesitation before, but he always knew and accepted exactly what the odds were and what was required of him to beat those odds. This was a new game; one in which the rules he had relied on for so long no longer applied. He basically had to bet his life, the lives of his friends and the success of an entire mission to save the world on intelligence against all odds because it came from a supreme being. This was just something that he was going to have difficulty getting his head around.

 

Max had established a secure communication channel with Ron and had already apprised him of the situation. He was actually concerned about a security breach within the EAG. The thought of any corruption within his own organization made his shudder, but he had totally failed to recognize the size, scope and utter unscrupulous nature of the forces he was up against. Ron had assured him that they had uncovered some of the very same evidence, and were rapidly coming to similar conclusions however his reaction led Max to believe that they had not really grasped the size and scope of what was happening ether. His commentary was filled with expletives like, “you have got to be shitting me” and “holy shit” and “no fucking way”. Ron usually spoke in such expletives, but the tone of his voice betrayed his usual confidence and Max got the distinct feeling that Ron was actually blown away by what he was hearing. Ron had immediately scheduled a meeting with everyone who was in attendance at the previous day’s conference. He was a bit surprised when he was unable to raise Sam, and also that Art Dutton had been unavailable, but had dismissed it at the time. Now he was freaking out. “Jane, I want somebody to contact Sam Markey now. I can’t get him and I have a direct communication frequency. Something screwing is going on. Also, I need you to get a hold of Art Dutton’s office. He and Sam had an appointment with General A.J. Lukas. I want you to find out what in the fuck is going on”. “On it chief” Jane had replied.

 

By fourteen hundred hours Jack had woken up and met Tom and Jimmy in the galley. “Wow that felt good to catch a few zees. I was mentally exhausted” said Jack. “Is Max still of watch”. Yea” Jimmy answered “and Geno is on visual as well. I was just going up to relieve them after getting some grub going”. “So, what’s our agenda today”? Jack allowed as how he really was not sure. “I guess we should all have a confab and see what Max has learned from the boys in D.C. I really hate to leave here…..I mean I really, really hate to leave here, but I suspect that we probably will have to head back to D.C. and throw ourselves into the lion’s den. Fuckin-A do I hate the thought of that”. “Especially since I heard on the radio from Earl that he caught a dozen nice Tuna and two really nice Mahi- Mahi in the passage just four nautical miles from right here, and I know it’s been six years since you have tasted Jimmy’s famous Tuna sushi rolls” Jimmy added just to twist the knife. “This crowd never gets any easer does it” Jack asked to no one in particular.

 

Suddenly, Geno was yelling up a storm and Max was running into the cabin heading for the firepower stash. “What the fuck is going on” Jimmy shouted. “Geno spotted a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk coming in hot from the east”. “Fuck” yelled Tom as he followed Max. “Doug, get your ass up, there’s a party brewing up here and you don’t want to miss it”. Geno had a SAW set up already on the forward tramp and Max and Tom emerged with an assortment of rifles, RPG launchers and the Shoulder launched laser guided sidewinder that had already proven its effectiveness on Beaver Island. Tom had stabilized himself at the edge of the aft cockpit and had braced the sidewinder missile launcher against the cockpit cover. He already had a clean sight on the approaching chopper and was ready to blow it out of the sky on Max’s order. “Max, I got Missile lock any time you give the nod”. “Roger that” Max replied. “Geno, you ready with the SAW”? “Ready” Geno replied. “Dougy where are you” Max yelled. “If I were up your ass you’d know where I was” Doug yelled as he came flying out of the amidships hatch in his boxers and his favorite .308 auto in his hand. “I was just about to seal the deal with Angelia Jolie in my dream and you fuck sticks show your ugly………I’m going to blow your ass out of the sky you dick wad”. “Wake up grumpy did we” Geno said as he held his sights on the approaching chopper. “Geno, you sure that’s a Black Hawk”? Max yelled. “Absofuckinglutely” was his reply. “Max, do we blow um away or wait to see if he fires on us”? Tom yelled from his ready position. “Because if he lets one of those 2.75 inch M4 rockets go or opens up on us with that 30 MM cannon it might just be too fucking late”.  “Radar says he’s four point six miles and closing fast at one ten” Jimmy yelled. “Jack better make sure

Annie G is under some cover, we might take a hit”. Suddenly before he heard a thing, Tom saw the mussel flash on the forward mounted 30 MM cannon and squeezed off the trigger on his missile launcher. Within one point three seconds a small explosion stopped the approaching chopper in its tracks. As the forward momentum stopped, and the rotor slowed the chopper started a rapid descent as fire ravaged the cockpit. In the time it took Dougy to say “Asta la Vista motherfucker” the chopper was in the water and sinking fast. “What’s the depth over there” Max asked Jimmy. “Around one twenty. Easy dive if that’s what you want to know” “Yep, let’s head over there and see what we got”. “Who wants to go diving” Dougy yelled “Now that I’m up, I guess I might as well…or I can pound a few beers if any of you guys want to go…I hate to hog all the fun you know”. “Yea, a real fun hog, that’s you all the way Dougy” Jack said. “Actually, you stay and pound those beers; I want to take a look at who these buttholes are”. “Done deal Jackie boy, Annie said she wants a little time with me when you’re not around anyway”. “Dream on liver lips” Annie G said as she came up from below. “You boys sure do know how to keep a girl entertained…what’s for lunch”? Jack said "I can take the spear gun and see if I can spear us a nice grouper for lunch....or, you can fry up some spam". "Yummy, you know I just love spam and eggs. Maybe I'll just make up some conk salad in case you miss". "That's what I love about you baby, such confidence". Max and Tom had loaded all the diving gear into the tender, Jack hopped in and they sped off to the site where the chopper had plunged into the sea. "We had better see if we can ID these guys" Max said. "I suspect they won't exactly be carrying driver’s licenses". "Who do you think they are Max" asked Jack. "Mercenaries, hired guns, probably from Cuba, maybe Columbia. Let's take a look see". They geared up and hit the water. Things were still pretty cloudy considering that a burning helicopter had just fallen out of the sky and sank leaking hydrogen battery fluid, synthetic lubricant, hydraulic fluid, and quite possibly a large quantity of blood. "Just before getting in the water Tom had turned to Max to say "you don't think that there is blood in the water do you".”Why... You getting squeamish on me now". "No, I just hate sharks, they are mean motherfuckers". "Jesus Tom just get in the God Dam water, you are such a pussy sometimes". 

 

The sharks had indeed been lured in by the irresistible draw of blood in the water. At least a dozen good sized tiger's were visible through the still cloudy water. The chopper had fallen just south of a significant drop off that rose from well over four hundred feet to about fifty. It was about two miles off shore and the depth gently tapered all the way to the beach with mostly sand bottom and occasional coral head. A coral reef protruded off a point several miles to the east blocking the prevailing east winds and providing one of Jimmy's favorite anchorages. Even during "the season" Jimmy's bay was usually empty. This time of year it was guaranteed to be deserted. Considering that the entire population of the island was less than a hundred and no one lived west of the main harbor, Jimmy's bay was as isolated as it gets. 

 

They descended to one hundred and twenty feet when they came to the chopper hung up on a small ledge in the drop off. There were two bodies which had obviously died upon impact. "Teach you to mess with guys who pack a sidewinder" was the thought going through Tom Rum's head. Tom had a tendency to take it personally when people tried to kill him, unlike Max who always kept emotion completely out of the situation. Max had always thought that was why Tom preferred to carry and operate the superior weaponry; and the miniaturized, guided, shoulder launched sidewinder with the plethora of different available warheads for all different situations was far and away his favorite. Max realized that Tom was usually able to use his skills and advanced weaponry to defuse a deadly situation before it became deadly for them, and he took it as a personal insult that anyone would try to do his friends or associates harm. He also got visible satisfaction out of doing away with such threats which all in all made him an amusing companion and incredibly effective bodyguard. He used to kid Max about his secret service days saying "you should have gotten the Sarah Palin detail back in '07-08 mate. I would have been giving her the high hard one. She was hot"! "You are so fucking juvenile you.” was always Max's standard response. "Come on Max; don't tell me you would not have tapped that action. I would have been hailing her from behind while she's looking over at Russia..... Out her back window". 

 

"They searched the bodies and as suspected no ID was not forth coming. The chopper was devoid of any form of identification, no serial numbers were left and it was clear that the chopper was black market. It was heavily armed and under normal conditions and against any foe other than Jack and friends would have been deadly. In this particular situation, deadly only to them. Two 30 MM cannons and two .50 Caliber forward mounted Gatling guns along with four wing mounted 2.75 inch missiles. Max disassembled some of the machinery and weaponry to take back to the boat and attempt to determine some place of origin. He also removed some of the personal gear. He knew that there would be no evidence- because he knew these guys were professional- and like him would not have made any mistake that would reveal their identity. In the world of spooks not revealing ones identity was the most important thing. As Tom Rum and Max completely surveyed the chopper recharge, jack had followed a couple twenty pound grouper up a canyon and was moving in for the kill. He was clearly torn between his desire for more information about those who were trying to kill him and his desire for the ultimate lunch of fresh fried grouper and conk salad. He was swimming ten feet above and twenty feet behind the fat and delicious looking grouper when a six foot tiger shark came around the bend in the canyon fifty feet ahead and was swimming fast right toward them. The grouper did an abrupt about face and started swimming right toward Jack. Within a second he had let two spears go nailing both grouper and shooting a healthy dose of highly potent shark repellent dead ahead. In another second he had collected the grouper, turned, and joined Max and Tom as they finished up at the wreckage. Max gave the signal to ascend and they headed back toward the surface. After a short decompression stop they were back in the tender heading back to the Nanny Lu. "Who were they" Jack asked as they sped toward the Cat. "Cuban mercenaries, defiantly Cuban. Real badass fuckers". Max answered. "Yea well they don't look so badass as cooked, soggy, dead motherfucking corpuses now do they" Tom added. "Any clues who they work for" asked Jack. "They will work for anybody; equal opportunity killers I guess. Undoubtedly your buddies in the wacko conspiracy world. Those crazy Cuban mercs don't give two shits who is writing the paycheck as long as it cashes and you really don't want to be on the other end if it doesn't. Fuck um, they're dead now and I doubt this stuff is going to tell us anymore. Let’s get back to the boat, eat those grouper, call Ron, and develop our next step". "And have a couple big ass Rum drinks" added Tom.

The Day The Oil Stopped Burning, Chapter 8: B.V.I. A Conversation With the Big Man.

CHAPTER 8: B.V.I.  A conversation with the Big Man.

 

 

"Hey Jimmy, We're over Turks and Caicos right now, be on Beef island in one hour. We can dodge customs with some diplomatic shit Rod pulled via the state department". "Ok Jack, I'm in Trellis Bay, like two minutes from the airport. Do you want me to send a van"? "Can you that would be awesome". "Can I? What the fuck, I own a charter service. Josh will be there, are you going to the terminal"? "No, we are going to the west hanger, like I said we get a waive through with the customs routine and taxi right to the U.S. diplomatic hanger. That’s probably a good thing because we have some major firepower that might be hard to explain to your average customs agent". Within the hour they were at the "Nanny Lu" as Jimmy! Boat was named. Hank and Marla had named the boat, Jimmy said it was "after their great grandmother or some shit". Jimmy was never very keen on the name, but he regarded it as bad luck to ever change a boats name, so the Nanny Lu it was. She was equipped with four staterooms and three additional crew quarters. She was sixty two feet overall with a twenty five foot beam. She had a cruising speed under full sail of fourteen knots at anything over ten knots of wind speed. She could motor at twelve with a top speed of eighteen under power and she could surf at twenty two knots downwind with an asymmetrical spinnaker. She was extremely maneuverable in the harbor with twin screws she could do a three hundred and sixty degree circle in one spot. She was loaded with the latest in electronics, had a 300 KW solar generator, and a 200 GPH water maker. She could cruise for three months without resupply, and easily complete a transatlantic in sixteen days. She was a totally self-sufficient world cruiser and she could be sailed by two people.

 

"Jack, Geno......and my sweet, sweet Annie G." Jimmy yelled as they were hauling gear down the pier. "You two fuck sticks look like a couple dog du snow cones but Annie, you look fabulous". "Thanks honey, when did you start featuring the Captain Jack Sparrow look"? "Just started..Whattdaya think"? "The braided goatee's a bit much, otherwise not bad". "So Jackie, where you guys want to go"? "I'll tell you Jimmy, this is fucking paradise, man I could go anywhere, just get a cold Heineken in my hand and I'll be in heaven". "Hey Jimmy, these are the guys who saved my life, Dougy, Max, Tom, meet Jimmy. Doug and Tom know their way around a boat. Tom has done a couple BOAC around alone races". “I’m not worthy" Jimmy said bowing down in honor and jest "you are my hero....and I don't even know you". Jack continued "Max is not a sailor but he is a badass Special Forces guy who can handle anything. If we can get his tie and sport coat off him....maybe even a beer in his hand we'll be doing good". "Let's shoot over to Anegada for the night". "This is a nice boat mate" Tom Rum said as he was untied a stern line". "We'll, it would be my honor for you to take the helm and take her out". "My pleasure there captain". 

 

Within ninety minutes they were at anchor at a small anchorage just west of the main harbor on the Island of Anegada. Jack had taken one of the Avon tenders to a lone beach on the west side of the island. It had been a pretty crazy week for Jack and he really needed to sit on the beach for a couple hours and just try to figure some things out. Other than the deadly nature of their situation and being shot at, the past week had been pretty darn fun. He was thinking that it seemed like a long time since he had left Washington D.C. He kind of wondered if he was ever going to go back. He thought about what had transpired in the weeks leading up to his departure and the odd circumstances that led to the disconcerted feeling he could not shake. Jack had been born with his uncanny ability to read people and he was well aware of the nefarious nature of things that were brewing. After a few hours, he was starting to piece together the chain of events and people involved who he had seen or talked to and start to make sense of what was going on. He was just pondering on the fact that a lot of humanity was shit heads and really didn't care about each other. Why the neck were they like that, weren't the eggheads a force of good, weren't they benevolent and loving, weren't we supposed to be like them. Why would people deny the advantages and true gifts from a truly higher power in the Universe? Had they not been writing about and praying to this power for centuries in attempts to understand and explained things beyond our comprehension. Had they not literally created us and let us evolve and develop a higher intellect and develop technology and had not technology evolved along with our biological evolution. Had not our technological evolution long since overtaken our biological evolution? Unlike every other spices on earth; humans highly evolved technology had allowed then to adapt the world around them to suite their own needs and wants, rather than having to rely on biological evolution to adapt themselves to survive in their surroundings. Pretty amazing stuff Jack thought. He was just wondering why the eggheads would allow humanity to fuck up all the technological gifts they had given us, but then he realized the history of man was fraught with inexplicable events of crudity and selfishness. I guess we are a fucking bunch of pigs he thought to himself.......And I am just running away, maybe I'm just another one of the fucking pigs myself.......

 

"No you're not" a voice came from behind him. Jack turned around to see a pleasant looking middle aged man sitting in the sand behind him. "Who the hell are you" Jack asked? "You can call me Bob" said the gentleman. "Where the hell did you come from man, I didn't hear a thing". Bob just smiled and rolled his eyes upward toward the sky. "Holy shit, are you an egghead". "You realize that we never really cared for that particular name". “Well you guys could have given us something easier than ecohedanosphearic entities". Bob replied that Echos or something along those lines could have been a bit better, but you have to admit, eggheads are a bit derogatory, especially since we did actually create you people, and suggested that a little respect would not be too much to ask for. "Good point Bob, so what brings you to Anegada"? "It seems like things are getting a little out of hand these days, and we thought you might want a hand". "Me.....Me...I need a hand? What about other people. .....like maybe someone a bit more qualified to save the world". "Nope...it's you". "Why". "Just your lucky day I guess". "So, are you going to fill me in on who is trying to kill me, and maybe who is trying to get gas to burn again and start some wars and sell weapons and cause extreme suffering, death, destruction and possible atmospheric deterioration all for selfish personal gain"? "Yup". "Ok...who"? "Lots of people". “Can you be a bit more specific". "Senate minority leader Justin Amash". "Oh that's just great Justin Amash .Why don't I just call the cops and tell them that Senator Justin Amash is trying to kill me, and by the way, he is also the mastermind behind a clandestine, sinister, worldwide conspiracy bent on world collapse.....that should work just wonderfully". "Yes, of course, you could be more delicate. That approach might work well with....say....Ted Nugent; he has been part of the conspiracy for years. Of course everyone already knows he's a wacko". "That's funny; I always figured he was an alien". "Hhhooo...That hurt, you have a good sense of humor Mr. Saffell, and you are pretty sharp". "Jack, please, call me Jack. After all I'm the one that's been referring to you guys as eggheads for sixteen years.....and sorry by the way, I mean o disrespect. I was only sixteen years old when you guy showed up. I really am a big fan...you guys are awesome". "Thanks, you know, we do try, but it's been this rule where we really don't want to micromanage things here, that was never the idea". "You realize you’re not alone, there are thousands of different civilizations all over the universe that are at different stages of evolution". "Where do we place"? "You guy rank pretty high. All in all you are doing a decent job for yourselves. I mean, you do have your share of assholes, but the majorities are kind, loving people who really do care for each other". "Thanks, that's refreshing to hear. So.....are you God"? "I guess you could say that. Most of your major religions these days seem to be monotheistic, but our whole civilization is interconnected, so it could actually be thought of as one single power or force within the universe. It's actually many universes in many different dimensions, you just happen to inhabit one of them at the moment. We are responsible for life on earth if that's what you mean. As you have already figured out, all the information needed to create a human being can be found in a single DNA molecule. Rather basic stuff really. So, I suppose...Yes... We are what most humans refer to as God. As I said Jack, we have planted seed of life, if you will, all over the many universes for billions of years. Your spices, is but one among thousands and every civilization that has evolved as far as yours has developed some form of religion. Often, as in your case, many different religions, this is equally as often very problematic. You see Jack; it is only natural and intuitive for a spices that has advanced to a stage of your technology to start to wonder about things outside themselves. To wonder where they came from, and what their purpose is. You certainly need to have reached the level of evolution where survival is not predicated upon your biological evolution keeping up with the needs of your surroundings, but rather, your technological evolution keeping up with your need to adapt your surroundings to your specific needs. For you guys that happened a couple hundred thousand years ago. Fire, stone tools, sharp sticks, that sort of thing. Anyway, as the brain developers and the neocortex develops a network to link it all together on the different levels and humans started to recognize their different thought patterns, that is to say, understand abstract thought and imagination. At this point in evolution it seems necessary to develop some sort of spirituality or religion just as a way of explaining things that are otherwise unexplainable at the time.......so most civilizations just make it up. Make sense to you Jack"? "Yea, sort of. Let me get this straight. So, basically religion is correct, that there is a God, or higher power, and that's you guys...right"? "Right". "And, even though most religions think in terms of one God, that is not totally wrong because you guys are interconnected, so it's kind of just a matter of semantics...right"? "Right". "But, what about all the different prophets and rituals and scriptures and stuff"? "We'll jack, I am afraid that you people pretty much made all that stuff up. Like I said, it is only natural to wonder and try to make sense of things, but when one group claims to have it all figured out and possess exclusive access to The ANSWERS......well that's when the shit hits the fan. For some reason at this stage of your development, you people seen to be willing to fight each other over abstract believes. It is somewhat understandable to fight for say, food, or shelter, of something having to do with your survival, but this insistence on killing to defend your ideology is baffling to us". "So we are like the lovable yet dysfunctional family" asked Jack. "Something like that" answered Bob. 

 

Jack was not really surprised at how exhilarated he felt at the moment. His head was so full of questions, with different thoughts racing so fast in his brain......he thought to himself "calm down Jack.....keep it cool". Never the less he felt kind of like a groupie at a rock concert. "Ok, how long do I have" Jack asked. "Do you mean, to live" asked Bob. "No, no...Sorry... I mean...right now, to talk to you. How long do I get to talk to you? As you might imagine I have a few more questions, and it's not every day you get to talk to God.....or an alien.....or both". "I'm not in any hurry. I've been around since the first great human migration started; I might as well spend a few more minutes answering questions for you Jack. Or maybe you just want to email me a list of bullet point questions". "Can I do that” asked Jack. "Jesus No" said Bob "I was just kidding, but actually, we do like your Internet thing. I tap in on occasion to check things out. You guys really made it easy with that Facebook invention back in the first decade of this millennium. I especially liked the "God Facebook" page, that guy was hysterical".  "Bob, you’re a pretty funny guy yourself, are all the eggheads like you"? "Yes, I think you would find us similar in that respect, and we do adapt ourselves to our surroundings, mostly to extend comfort to whoever we are communicating with. However we do have individual personalities; as you would you put it. There are some definite ironies in the universe and recognition of them can be entertaining. I believe that is what you would consider humor. I must say though, humans really do take this humor thing to a higher level. That seems to be one of the ironies of your race; you have the capacity for incredible kindness and selflessness, yet also have the capacity for incredible cruelness and inhumanity. We have long speculated that your sense of humor developed as a sort of coping mechanism for this paradox. What else would you like to know". 

 

"Just how much influence have you guys had on our development"? "Do you mean like actively”. "Yes, exactly like sixteen years ago when you showed up and gave us the gifts of technology and saved us from destroying our atmosphere". "We have been keeping an eye on your world since the beginning if that's what you’re referring to. We have made a few visits at key times. We did introduce technology to the first humanoids. After several hundred thousand years your technology was stagnating and you guys were kind of stuck in the hunter gatherer thing so we introduced agriculture and beasts of burden. Some of the early advanced civilizations took to it well....you know, Mesoamerica, Egypt, China, the Fertile Crescent". "What about all the Christianity stuff, what about Jesus Christ" asked Jack. "Not us" answered Bob. "Awesome guy totally had the right idea... But not us". We pretty much stayed out of the picture until sixteen years ago when, as you stated, we figured out that your atmosphere was at a tipping point. It just so happens that you guys had just recently figured out how to digitize information and your ability to store more and more of it in less space has increased rapidly. What humanity has yet to recognize is that this ability to digitize information is the tipping point for all civilizations to become advanced. Quite truthfully, we probably would have let you guys go ahead and just trash your own planet but for the fact that you passed this tipping point. We just couldn't see letting you parish and we realized you were ready for a technology boost. Humanity would have figured out everything we taught you eventually. That's just how it works, so we simply sped things up a bit, and probably saved your planet. The general consensus was that it would be a shame to have you guys come all this way and survive to join the ranks of the advanced spices only to destroy your habitat in the misguided attempt to adapt your environment to your needs. So, that is the reason behind our intervention of 2016".

 

"Ok, next question" said Jack. "How have we preformed as a spices, since your intervention? I mean, it seems to me as if we as a spices are loath to accept any kind of productive change. I have witnessed it in my work for the past six years. Men can look you in the face and lye about things that literally affect the entire human race, and quite often I can sense that they truly don't care. I can actually feel their indifference toward their fellow man. I can actually look into their minds........or soul.....if you will, and see a void. How can it be that, in the wake of all the gifts of life and technology you have bestowed on us that people can be so......so......fucked up"? "That's kind of a tuff one Jack" answered Bob. "On the whole, your race has behaved admirably, but you are correct, there are still problems and still problemed people. I don't think I possess an adequate answer for you on that one Jack. What I can say is that there has always existed a struggle within the cosmos between positive and negative energy. Many of your Religions explain it as the struggle between God and The Devil, which is not a bad analogy but really kind of misses the point. The struggle is within each and every one of us, not between two actual entities. We seem to have advanced to a point to which negative energy is simply not tolerated, and as such, has not really influenced our progress and development for trillions of years. That is not to say however that negative energy does not still exist......it does. In the case of humanity, it will suffice to say that you guys are still working on it, and all in all you are moving in the right direction".

 

"Ok next question, if you created us- and apparently a lot of other spices too- who the hell created you"? "Hummm, you have interesting questions Jack. I was not mistaken in gauging your capacity for understanding at a high level. We come from a previous spices like ourselves. Your human understanding of time is limited, but for the purpose of this explanation, just consider a length of time that your current understanding of math has not reached. The only definition you have for it so far is INFINITY.  So, in other words, a really long time ago, we were once like you. We had evolved from one cell organisms in a bio-metophisicological fashion. Our seeds had been planted and nurtured in a fashion similar to what we did with you and many others over the last several trillion years. Anyway, as we evolved, and employed technology, just as you have, we eventually were able to exist as information and energy, without the need of a biological support system. It is actually a bit more completed that just energy and information, but that is the best I can come up with as far as an explanation within you human realm of understanding. Maybe the best way to explain is to use a human concept that helps you to define the indefinable. I guess you could say that we have a soul. Do you understand Jack"? "Yea, actually I think I do". "Good, I realize this is heavy shit, but I'm the one that is calling on you, so you do have the right to understand as much as is humanly possible. So basically, we continued to evolve and be nurtured by our creators as did other spices and over what you would again consider infinity, we all assimilated into one. We achieved a total singularity and became one with our creators, our technology, and each other. Since then we have been able to transcend dimensions-at least as you understand them- create many universes, plant new life throughout those universes, and pretty much carry on as we are supposed to.....do you have more questions"?

 

"Well yesssss..... How long do you guys live? What happens when you die, and how do you reproduce???? Or do you even reproduce"? "Ok, ok, one at a time. I'm not sure I can adequately answer those ones ether but I'll try. First, to use your preferred English vernacular, We live a really fucking Long time! I've been around since you guys started migrating out of the African continent, which was beautiful by the way. It was a complete joy to watch your curiosity and unquenchable spirit of adventure......but I digress....so, yes we basically live forever and that; my dear Jack answers your next question. We don't die, not by you concept anyway. We eventually do what you might consider a sort of recycle thing, but that is simply beyond your ability to understand, and, quite frankly, my ability to explain. The last one is difficult to answer as well. The process I explained to you regarding where we came from....our evolution....our singularity.....well, let's just say, that's still going on. It is a continuum, of time, space, and energy.....or, let's call it life.....It is A life continuum, and we are all part of it. Fact is Jack that you are A part of it too.....do you get what I am saying to you"? "I think so, and if I am on the right page, you may have answered my next and far most important question". "That's right Jack, you are defiantly on the right page, and you intuition serves you well. I will ask you to keep that one under your hat if you will, for many obvious reasons". "Oh but Bob, that's the big one! What da ya mean I gotta keep that one under my hat? That is like the single biggest unanswered question in the history of mankind and you just insinuated the answer and I have to KEEP IT UNDER MY HAT....is that about it"? "Yup, that's about it Jack. I didn't say our conversation, or my answers to your questions, or what I am going to ask would be easy for you. Do you have more questions"?

 

"Just a couple hundred" said Jack with a somewhat snarky tone. "Might have to keep it to an even hundred" Bob retorted in kind. "What about physics, what about atoms, molecules, particles, relativity, the speed of light, quantum physics, parallel dimensions, black holes. Universal expansion and how the hell does carbon based life fit in the picture? Oh, and how small do things really get? Is it like a whole other universe could exist in the space of what we know as a particle? Oh and how long does a star usually have? I mean, specifically how long before our sun burns out"? "You know Jack, sooner or later we are going to have to get around to why I am here right now, and if you line of questioning gets any more generic, I will have to rethink my original high opinion of you and your capacity for knowledge and pragmatism. So, here we go. Your understanding of basic physics is sound; Quantum physics is just like religion, a way to explain inexplicable things. The speed of light is what it is, but by no means does that establish any sort of limit to the travel and transfer of energy, or matter in any form. Black holes, another thing like religion, made up to explain stuff you don't understand. They don't exist as you understand them. Let's just say they are gateways to other dimensions and universes. Parallel universes, yes, and by the way, you can get to them through black holes". 

 

Bob was getting rather sarcastic at this point, but Jack was absorbing every bit of information, and was actually able to tap into a telepathic connection with Bob just as he was able to do with most humans. He harbored an intuition that Bob was something along the lines of "pure wisdom" or "pure good". Not in some formal, ritualistic way, but in some simple, serene, peaceful way. Jack even felt a very real sense of euphoria and total contentment that he had never experienced before. Oh a conscious level Jack thought "this is one cool benevolent dude" and "I am going to do whatever this guy asks me to do....no problem".

 

Bob continued; "there are many things smaller than a particle, and no, an entire universe is not inside one of them. Carbon based life is a pretty small part of the whole picture, but a very important part. It is not the exclusive domain of consciousness as you know it. In other words, there are many things you would consider as intelligent life forms, like me for example, that are not, or at least no longer, carbon based life forms. However carbon based life is a pretty efficient way to nurture evolution of an advanced species. You understand Jack"? "Yes, I do. Please continue". "Ok then, as far as your sun is concerned, I have no idea. We can put things in play and maybe manipulate the outcome, but we by no means control everything". "Then who does" asked Jack? "Why, no one" answered Bob "it just IS". "So, there is stuff that you actually don't understand" asked Jack. "Yes, there is stuff that we don't understand.....not much....but some things that we don't know.....you feel better"? "Yea, I guess I do. I'm not sure why...maybe it's just a little refreshing, knowing that even God doesn't have ALL the answers" said Jack after he had thought about it for a minute or so. "I tend to agree" said Bob. "So, you ready to hear a few more details about what is happening in your world today"? "Yea, I'm not at all sure I actually want to hear it, but I have this distinct feeling you are going to lay it on me anyway so....you have my undivided attention". 

 

"A lot of this I really don't have to go over considering you are already in the thick of it. The main reason you are in the deep shit right now is that you insinuated to a group of PPPEP guys that certain interests had quite a bit too lose with the passage of the GECA treaty. They have planted spies with telepathic powers all over the place and one of them that reports directly to Senator Amash, was present at the time. It probably wasn't what you said as much as what you thought, and no, you wouldn't have been able to detect his telepathy because they knew of your powers but you didn't suspect theirs, so they just blocked your abilities without you even knowing. If you were expecting this shit it might have been different but these guys are total pros so it’s no wonder they caught you off guard. Anyway, these guys obviously caught the vibe that you really suspected that there was a humongous conspiracy even if you didn't grasp it at a conscious level. Furthermore, at this stage of the game with them being able to block this legislation in the House -unbeknownst to you, the White House, and just about everybody else involved- they were hardly willing to risk losing the vote because of one lame ass, telepathic, environmental lobbyist.....namely you! You with me so far"? Yea, I'm with you". "So, they put out the hit on you, which to them is no big deal, they have already assassinated over two hundred people in the past ten years so what’s another lobbyist...right? They would have gotten away with but they underestimated your intuition and willingness to act on it. Most folks get feelings, vibes, intuition, whatever you want to call it, and it's real, however they rarely trust them and even more rarely act on them, you, on the other hand do. In fact you have learned the rather unique skill and ability to interpret your intuitions and act accordingly. You know full well that you were born with this skill, but what you don't know is that everybody is, they just don't know it, or they don't know how to use it, or maybe they did at one time in their evolution and have forgotten because of external factors like too much reliance on technology. The whole idea of a species having technology is that it evolves along with their biological growth and their mental growth and that they learn to incorporate it all into a unified healthy evolution. Anyway, sometimes one thing will get ahead of the other and it takes a while for things to assimilate and even out. You just got the gift of better incorporation of all your senses and the ability to understand, interpret and act upon them".

 

"Wow, these fuckers are willing to blow me away for something as simple as world power, domination, and extreme wealth and privilege" asked Jack. "Yes... I know right" answered Bob. "Hard to believe they would waist you for such a meager pittance. So, here we are with the GECA legislation passing out of committee and heading to the House floor for debate and all those in favor thinking it’s a lock when in actuality, the Trad's and PPPEP's and others in the conspiracy have secretly ether bribed or threatened enough Members to kill the Legislation before it even gets out of the House and to the Senate or The President much less to the U.N. And, I am sure you are aware that if the U.S. balks at this treaty, it is not going to happen and one more possible roadblock will have been lifted on their quest to create Global chaos. By the way, they have had the formula to reformulate petroleum and distill it for combustion for many years now, they have just been waiting for a time at which their interests are fully aliened and they can maximize the effect of this discovery and the fact that they have almost every piece of Petrol powered machinery and/or military hardware needing fossil fuel already in their collective possession". 

 

"So what you're saying is that if the GECA treaty goes through, it might at least buy some time and put a speed bump in their way, because every country on earth will be behind it and there will be a global across the board restriction on any fossil fuel consumption or combustion, and we will have global watch dogs with sharp teeth to see to it that such restrictions are enforced".

"That is exactly what I am saying, which is not to say that they can't pull off a pretty major disruption in economic, and political stability anyway.....but it will sure be harder for them if that GECA treaty get signed and goes into effect". "I am beginning to see the big picture here, and it sure is a lot bigger than I originally thought" said Jack shaking his head in disappointment in himself. “Hey” said Bob “don’t be hard on yourself. You already had a much better idea of what was happening than ninety nine percent of the population. That is why you had a price on your head”.

 

“What happens now” asked Jack. “Well, ether you and your friends throw a big ol’ wrench in the works of these inconsiderate, clandestine, selfish, power hungry, greedy bastards, or they get away with it and disrupt the world’s balance of power and push your still fragile atmospheric condition into an irreversible feedback loop creating climate change of epic proportion that will probably spell the end of the human race”. “You know Bob; you really don’t need to pull any punches with me. I mean, I’m a big boy, you don’t have to sugar coat anything…….Soooo…..basically it’s up to my friends and me to save the planet? Could you give me something with a little more pressure, something a little more important? How about this…maybe something that I might at least have the slightest, outside chance of accomplishing”? “Now Jack don’t sell yourself short. I think you’ll be fine. Besides you do have some kick ass friends, I’ve noticed”. “Ok Bob, you already know that I’m in. The fact is that you knew before you even talked to me that I was going to do whatever you asked, didn’t you”? “Yes, I sure did” said Bob smiling. Jack was smiling too. It seemed to dawn on both of them simultaneously that even though Humans had searched their soul for contact with their “Higher Power” for thousands of years, and that the “Eggheads” had helped them evolve and nurtured their growth for thousands of years, this was the first actual bond between father and son and they were both feeling an incredible sense of joy at that very fact. “Hey Bob, I have to tell you, I am really incredibly happy that you came to seem”. “Me too” said Bob. “Will I be able to see you again”? “ You never know” said Bob “you never know. So here is what I need you to do”.

The Day The Oil Stopped Burning, Chapter 7: D.C. The World's Largest Arms Dealer

 

CHAPTER 7: D.C. The World’s largest Private Arms Dealer

 

 

"So what do we have so far"? Ron asked to the group gathered around the conference table at the EAG headquarters. Sitting at the table was, Ron, Laura, Pete Miller from the NSA, Art Dutton from the Secretary of Defense office, Doctors Chang, Watson, and Sam Markey. "I think there is some kind of major conspiracy going on that is directly related to the GECA" Laura started. "As you are all well aware there have been numerous efforts in the past to reconstitute any number of various fossil fuels for any number of various reasons. Some well meaning, some not, some large scale, some small, however none that have proven successful as far as we know. Now, all of these past efforts no matter how large the scale has never represented anything more than what we would call- rather isolated attempts ether by a rogue nation for military purposes or corporate interest for the purpose of profit. None of this being illegal, just hard to do and as such, hardly worth doing. Well, Gentlemen and Ladies, it would seem that from the pieces of evidence-that while coincidental and antidotal on their own- seen to add up to something on a much larger and substantially more sinister scale". "What the hell are you talking about here Doctor Jones" asked Pete Miller. Pete was a chief officer at the NSA and was the NSA lesion to the White House. "We don't have any such intel that I'm aware of". “Like I said" continued Dr. Jones” 

The clues are small and seemingly unrelated until you start to piece them together and develop a theory". "So this is strictly theoretical stuff we are talking about.....right? Asked Pete. "Right.... And frankly I hope it's wrong.....but at this point I don't think so". Ron jumped in at this point "Laura has just spent the past seventy two hours compiling, filtering, and piecing together every shred of information available from our own sources and co-oping with you guys (looking at Pete and Art) as well as the CIA, Turkish, and Israeli intelligence and the Chinese". Ron was absolutely correct, Laura had been piecing bits and pieces of data together and running hundreds of different programs, filters and algorithms trying to find common denominators and make sense of otherwise insignificant actions all over the world. Dr Laura Jones was quite simply the best at this sort of thing and had often assisted various Government security agencies, so when she suggested a conspiracy, it was not taken lightly. "So, let's hear your opinion" said Ron.

 

Well first, I believe that somebody has already developed a formula to reconfigure petroleum and refine it back into high grade combustible fuel. I'm talking gasoline, aviation fuel, you name it. I think that it is being scaled up and is being refined at secret locations all over the world. Second, I believe that there is an international conspiracy behind this that is much more far reaching than we can imagine. It's likely that entire developing nations are involved, and a number of international banking interests. Quite possibly a few radical religious groups and I'm guessing some higher ups in various governments and militaries of many developed countries including ours. I think that whoever this is, they have been secretly stock piling left over oil reserves, and fossil fuel powered machinery and military equipment for years. I also get the impression that they are gearing up reemployment of disserted oil extraction facilities along the east coast and central corridor of Africa".

 

In the last few years before the first visit from the eggheads, geological research had turned up vast and previously unknown reserves in the areas of Nigeria, Congo, and Somalia where there were already known reserves but the political climate and civil unrest had made further exploitation to risky. Increasing demand from the thirsty nations of Western Europe, the U.S. and China had finally overcome the risk factors and vast reserves all along the central corridor of Africa just below the equator and along the eastern coast from Somalia to South Africa. These reserves that dwarfed the Middle East reserves were just beginning to be exploited when the eggheads visit rendered them useless. The discovery of vast oil reserves in a particular country or region does not necessarily spell property for the indigenous  people as we have learned from the Middle East and other " oil rich" countries' the insuring political upheaval, the civil war and general unrest seemed to prove that this was no different. Africa, which was mostly a political mess and the tribal nature of African culture, made for a lot of competing interests for control over the new found treasure. 

 

When suddenly the new found treasure which everyone is fighting over is found to be useless the underlying animosity continues and conflict just intensifies rather than diminishes. The past sixteen years had done little to improve conditions in Africa. While desalination and irrigation had done much to alleviate wide spread famine, most attempted democratic central governments had failed to take hold and overall economic conditions had remained dismal for a majority of the population.

 

"Third, I believe that this conspiracy has malevolent intentions that are nothing short of an upset in the world’s balance of power. I also believe that the pending Global Energy Cooperation Act, which we believe every world power is in favor of, proposes a serious thorn in the side of this conspiracy, and I think that is why they are willing to take more overt action at this moment. If I'm right, they obviously would be highly motivated to see that the GECA dies a quick death, and they certainly possess the resources to eliminate any obstacle standing in the way of their objectives. In our case, that obstacle is Jack. He obviously stumbled onto something that was regarded by these guys as a serious impediment to their goals; enough to try and take him out. Doug was lucky enough to locate him just as a highly trained and equipped team of unidentified assets were about to take him and his friends out. Our guys had to fry three of them and two got away. The bottom line is that this conspiracy could easily reach way up into any of the cabinets. We could be talking about staff, advisors and even Senators and Members of Congress. We could be talking about Generals, Admirals, Assistant secretaries, and senior staff in the militaries. We could even be talking about the NSA, Department of Defense, CIA, Homeland Security, and the FBI...........any questions"?

 

"Ok this actually makes sense and your theory is plausible" said Art Dutton “but, other than your intuition, what kind of proof do you have that can help substantiate any of this"? "First of all somebody and I'm not talking amateurs here, tried to kill Jack Saffell. Now why in the world would somebody with professional assassins on the payroll want to kill an environmental lobbyist? And what has Jack been working on? Only the most significant, global changing, international cooperation treaty EVER! And what's the most important thing that this treaty will accomplish? Actually outlaw any type of CO2 emissions, and construct a mechanism to monitor and enforce it on a complete and global scale. Since every single person on earth will benefit from this treaty, and it will be the single biggest event since our first visit from the eggheads to actually save humanity from extinction, there would need to be a pretty compelling reason to try and fuck it up. And what could that reason possibly be but the usual lust for wealth and power.....on a huge scale! If this treaty goes through, and I'm right about this, someone will stand to lose gazillions". "Once again" said Art "I get it, but I'm still hearing speculation. Maybe Jack just pissed off the wrong group of people years ago, and this attempt to waist him has nothing to do with the GECA". "What else do you have" asked Ron. "I have had Fin over in Istanbul working on human migration trends over the past six years and she has come up with some things that stand with my theory that are otherwise inexplicable. Next, we have tracked fifty six different petroleum disposal sites and it looks like all have been stockpiling and shipping to hidden storage facilities in Somalia, Libya, and probably all over north, central and the west coast of Africa. A compilation of satellite data that I ran through a dozen different algorithms tends to show the same kind of thing happening with a bunch of machinery. I'm sure you guys realize that security involved in the storage, dismantling, and destruction of a whole butt load of military hardware and equipment has been sloppy at best. More like nonexistent. I don't blame then since everybody figured the stuff was unusable junk and why waist resources guarding junk, but I think we have located several storage sites and I'm guessing there are hundreds more." Plus, after comparing notes with my guys at Langley, it looks like some actions and movement by key assets could be explained by my theory".  

 

After 2016 when the eggheads granted humanity the gifts of various emissions free, renewable, energy technologies and a year later when fossil fuels became non combustible, a lot of the world's oil reserves just sat around in storage. Industry still had use for oil rather than burning it for energy and many of those uses were still viable even with the slight molecular changes made by the eggheads. Even with the making of plastics, non combustible solvents, waxes, and all the other uses of crude oil, it still only amounted to less than two percent of the total annual use. Considering that the world had ninety eight prevent more oil than it would ever need and that it tended to be otherwise nasty stuff (large oil spills were never fun) the eggheads gave humanity another gift; a chemical process to turn crude oil into a harmless benign liquid that could be absorbed into seawater or evaporated into the atmosphere. Thousands of facilities throughout the developed nations were set up to serve this purpose and the vast majority were of course privately held and operated. Everyone listening to Dr. Jones elaborate on her theory knew that if some motivated, well organized group wanted to amass billions and billions of barrels of oil and billions of tons of military machinery, it would have been relatively easy to do over the past ten years.

 

"Ok tell me about the suspicions migrations Dr. Hamerat is charting" Dr. Watson asked. "We have a recent move of over two million people into the area just north of the border of the new Turkish-Pakistani border". "So, that's not new, they have been moving south for a while since things turned sour in Russia". "No, this is different. That's why I got Fin working on it. Looks like the demographics are way younger; predominately male 17 to 25. We show the same kind of thing moving west to east in Dar for, south Sudan, Kenya, and Somalia". "So what do you think that means" asked Art. "Not sure, but that kind of movement with those demographics is usually a prelude to conflict, and if I were a conspiracy bent on shifting the balance of power and amassing vast wealth through selling weaponry, machinery and the fuel to power it. I would love to have a few large scale conflicts going on just to shake shit up and province the requisite distraction”.”Good point" said Ron. At this point Dr. Watson chinned in "we have all been feeding Laura data, and Sat. Image we studied, kind of backs this up. We don't have anything obvious and no change day to day, but if we track say, a two hundred day log, then we show possibly underground storage, refining facilities, warehouses, you name it. All in the same basic geographic locations Laura has alluded to. Oh and also west central Russia".

 

At just about the same time Art and Pete both asked "what's their objective" and "what's their plan of action". ""Start with thousands of F 35s and Abrams a1a tanks and you can get the picture. At bare minimum you become the world’s largest private arms dealer, at worse you start wars and take over small countries like dominos. I have no idea regarding potential game plans, but my opinion is that they have actually been sitting on the re-combustion formula for a while.....years maybe.... and planned to produce a mass quantity of fuel before exposing anything. Then along comes the Global Energy Cooperation Act Treaty and throws a big old humongous horsefly into their bowl of oatmeal". "You don't happen to have a reasonable strategy for proceeding on this do you" asked Pete Miller..... "And.....  What the fuck am I supposed to tell the President"? "No action plan Pete" said Ron "like Laura said, anybody could be involved......anybody! Could even be you two...or me, but then why would I have My team telling you this stuff....and I kind of doubt ether of you are involved because I've know you both for over thirty years and I trust my own intuition. But the NSA, CIA, Military, even administration staff are all suspect....... Basically the plan is for you two along with whatever key people you can trust, to come up with a plan. We found our boy, and that was our first concern. Oh, and Pete, I'll need you to cover us on that bit of handy work on Beaver Island, unless of course you want me to explain to the local authorities why guys were shooting at each other with sniper rifles and some got cooked with a shoulder launched sidewinder". “Yea", said Pete "I'll see what I can do". 

 

"I am convinced and I will defiantly implement an investigation, but if as you suggest, this thing has tentacles in our own Government, I will have to tread lightly and chose my allies carefully" said Pete. "I suggest you do the same Art. Who do you trust in the upper echelon of the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff"? "I got a few here and there that I'm pretty sure I can trust, how about you"? "Yea, same here. One thing for sure; I don't trust any of those PPPEP types or those fucking Party of Traditional American Values bastards. That bone head Santorum just about fucked over this whole country just because he was arrogant enough to believe his image of god had to be embraced by all of humanity. I still can't quite believe the hubris of a man that commands we believe in the writings of men with undeniable personal vested interest over thousands of years just because it is his Bible, and continues to desperately cling to his fable after the entire world actually witnesses a superior race of beings with undeniable proof that they created life on earth. I would not be completely surprised if some of those PTAV bastards are at the heart of this shit". "Yea, I agree that guy's a dip shit.... So Pete, how we'll do you know General Lukas"? "Meet with him twice a week, top notch guy, most pragmatic mind in there since Powell retired....why"? "I know him pretty well myself" said Art "we actually graduated West Point a year apart, and I agree with your assessment. I think I will head over to the Pentagon and have a little pow-wow with him". General Alfred Jacob Lukas was a five star general and current head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His friends knew him as A.J. and Pete, Art, and Ron all agreed that he was the least likely guy in the world to be corrupt. "The bottom line is that if A.J. is in on this shit....we are all fucked" was the way Ron had put it as they adjourned the meeting. "Art, take Sam with you when you brief AJ. He has been riding shotgun with Laura and might be able to fill in the blanks when AJ and his staff question you; if not, he can do the telepathy thing with Laura and she can connect the dots". "Good idea Ron, thanks. My assistant has already contacted his office; we are heading there right now.....Sam, you ready to roll"? Sam looked at Ron and Laura. "Go ahead, I'll connect everything we've got to your personal data frequency, usual security protocol and it’s only going to be up loaded for an hour then it will self disintegrate from the system. Let me know if you get delayed and I can reload, but SOP dictates sixty minutes maximum per shared upload. Got it"? "Yea, got it Laura, I know what to do, thanks". "Let's roll” said Art "our driver and detail are waiting".

 

Waiting in the secure parking area, right at the exit of the direct elevator to EAG offices were two vehicles; a black Suburban and a D.C. Police car escort. In the Suburban was a driver and secret service officer. In the Police car were two Washington D.C. Cops. Art and Sam jumped into the back seat and within thirty seconds they were heading south on K street toward the Pentagon. Sam suddenly felt queasy and his peripheral vision was blurry. He felt an intense heat and overwhelming dizziness. He turned to his left to see that Art was unconscious. That was the last thing he saw.