Nano Surveillance (Dave Henson Series Book 1) (33 page)

Chapter 84 (March 31, Sunday 2:15pm Mountain Daylight Savings Time)

Alex and Basil had just driven in and parked their car in front of the FBO office at Cut Bank Airport. They could see through the windows in the FBO office that the cute blond girl was working behind the front counter. Like the other day, she was all alone. Similarly, the airport looked as nearly desolate as it did the other day. The only other vehicle on the airport, besides the girl’s car, was the same old beat up pickup truck that they had seen a couple of days ago. It was parked next to a closed up hangar.

The two men stepped out of their car. As they did, Basil said, “Alex, are you getting a spidey tingle feeling.”

Alex looked over at Basil with a disgusted look. “Call it what you want, but I am feeling like we’re in the right place.”

“Well good. Glad to know one of us is thinking we aren’t wasting our time again in this rinky-dink dead airport. Let’s go in and visit our little lady friend again.”

The two men entered the FBO building. As they did Lorraine looked up from her computer screen nonchalantly. As she recognized the men approaching the counter, she immediately began to feel anxious and her hands began to feel clammy.

“Hello gentlemen, what brings you back here today,” asked Lorraine in the most confident voice she could muster.

“Well hello ma’am, it’s nice to see you again as well,” said Basil somewhat mockingly. “We’ve been out of town for the past couple of days and were just passing by on our way back to Spokane, Washington. We thought we would check in with you one last time since we were in the neighborhood. We’re still looking for a group of people that probably landed at an airport around these parts recently in a Cessna Citation business jet. Have you seen this type of aircraft fly in here since we last spoke?”

“No, it’s been pretty much dead around here lately,” lied Lorraine as she remembered the Cessna Citation parked out on the ramp yesterday. The same aircraft that the good looking guy Dave had asked her to top off with fuel. “Though our runway is long enough to support business jets, this airport typically doesn’t see a lot of them, nor any other significant amount of aircraft until late spring when the weather warms up. As you can imagine, here at Cut Bank we’re a kind of Mecca for the backcountry pilots. Until they begin to show up, it’s a pretty desolate place.”

“It looks like it,” said Alex looking out across the airfield.  As he scanned the buildings adjacent to the runway he pointed to a hangar with the old pickup truck outside of it. “Who owns that beat up pickup truck?” asked Alex.

“Just an old aircraft mechanic,” responded Lorraine. “His name is Ed Clemons,” she added innocently.

“The truck was here a couple of days ago when we stopped by the first time. I wonder if he might have seen the people or aircraft we’re looking for.”

“I doubt it.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Basil, who had been lasciviously watching her reactions as Alex questioned her.

Lorraine looked in the direction of Basil and saw him staring at her in a way that gave her a chill down her spine. “Because he keeps his hangar’s doors closed all the time and he’s half deaf.”

“Do you think he’d mind us paying him a visit?” asked Basil, as he slowly flipped through an aviation magazine that happened to be laying on the counter next to him. He looked up at her when he completed his question and gave her a penetrating stare.

“He’s kind of a hermit,” responded Lorraine a bit nervously. The strong confident image she had been trying to portray since the men walked in was beginning to crumble. The men were making her extremely nervous and she was sure they were beginning to notice it. “So yes, he’d probably mind, and again, I doubt he could tell you anything.”

“Understood, but maybe we’ll go over and knock on his door anyways,” replied Alex. “Who knows, maybe he did step out of his hanger long enough to see something. Plus it’s hard to not hear a business jet taxi by your front door, even if you are half hard of hearing.”

Basil placed the aviation magazine back down on the counter. “Thank you again ma’am for your time. We’ll be on our way.”  He jerked his head ever so slightly toward the door so that Alex could get the message that it was time for them to leave.

Seeing Basil was ready to leave, Alex thanked the woman once again for her time, and the two left her standing alone in the office. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably and she wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t get Dave’s last name and had no idea where he was or how to reach him.

“What do you think?” asked Alex as they walked back towards their car.

“She was hiding something. You’re spidey senses were right. Henson and his crew are somewhere near here. We’ll check out all the hangars and then pay Mr. Clemons a visit. If we come up dry, we’ll take a tour down that road where we saw that guy turn off a couple of days ago. My bet is that guy was Mr. Dave Henson.”

Chapter 85 (March 31, Sunday 3:00pm Mountain Daylight Savings Time)

Ron finished typing in the last key stroke into the computer on the lab bench as the rest of the NSurv team stood around him and watched. Immediately across the country, television broadcasts were once again interrupted and popular aggregator websites hacked.  Each was now broadcasting or displaying another video, courtesy of NSurv. The video started out with a brief summary description by Dana of what viewers were about to see. She described that the images and audio were recorded in just the past couple of weeks, and that they took place in the main lodge of the President’s Camp David vacation retreat in north central Maryland. The video then continued.

It was 9:00am on the previous Sunday morning in the back country woods of rural Maryland. The President of the United States sat relaxed in a leather wingback chair in the main lodge at Camp David. Sitting to the side of him in an identical chair was Dimitris Barbas. Across from them on a matching leather sofa sat Chung Lee, Chairman of the Board of Yeh Electric Train, and Ken Hardy. With Barbas and Hardy both still infected with the nano-dust, they provided a clear and complete audio/video recording of the four men talking. They were discussing a number of topics, but the theme of their conversation focused around the President’s Transportation Movement Act and its impending passage. Also included in their discussions was talk of awarding contracts to Yeh Electric Train for building the MAGLEV locomotives and passenger cars, and to DGK International for laying the guideway tracks across the country. As they talked they sipped on mimosas, and dined on slices of smoked salmon and bruschetta topped with roasted mushrooms, poached eggs, and caviar.

“Again, I want to thank the both of you for coming here today,” said the President as he stood up and raised his mimosa filled Champaign glass in a welcoming toast to their meeting. “We are on the cusp of a new dawn in America. At a crossroads where the United States transitions from being a primary contributor in the destruction of the planet through its output of automobile carbon emissions, to a leader in eco-friendly, low-carbon footprint public transportation.”

“The honor is ours Jesse,” said Barbas as he stood and raised his Champaign glass in response. “Mr. Lee, along with a number of our other international allies on the war on global warming, salute you for your leadership in this area. We look forward to working in cooperation with you, and the United States people, to making the world a healthier place for our grandchildren.”

“Agreed,” responded Lee as he raised his glass. “By the United States tackling global warming head on, it will set an example for other countries around the world to hopefully follow, including my own. The government of China has done very little to address China’s massive contribution to global warming as our economy has flourished over the past couple of decades.”

After completing the President’s toast, the four men sat back down.

“I do have one question for you,” said Chung Lee before the President could continue to speak.

“Yes, go ahead. What’s your question?” asked the President with still a big smile on his face.

“Do you believe Mr. President that global warming is indeed a manmade event? I’ve reviewed several weather analysis studies that have been conducted over the past decade by a number of world renowned meteorologists and scientists, and they all suggest that global warming is more the result of other factors, rather than man. Factors such as volcanic eruptions, changes in ocean currents, and celestial events to name a few. I have no doubt that man contributes to global climate change, but I’m just not so sure that man is the main cause of it.”

The President laughed lightly at Chung Lee’s question. “Mr. Lee, it really isn’t about whether or not man is the main contributor of global climate change or global warming. Or even whether or not it is a new phenomenon. The fact of the matter is, it is an issue, whether artificial or not, that people can easily be manipulated into believing and understanding. Quite frankly, it’s today’s new religion. Governments, media, and business leaders like us, have effectively been able to use the global climate change meme for accomplishing numerous positive initiatives around the world that have helped poor and not so poor people alike. Regardless of whether or not global warming is something new or mostly a manmade event is irrelevant. It is the vehicle for affecting positive change in our world, such as in what I am proposing with the Transportation Movement Act and the United States adoption of a mass public transportation system.”

Chung Lee nodded in agreement at the President’s summary. “Alright, I just wanted to be sure we were not all buying into the same stuff we are selling.”

The four men laughed at Chung’s suggestion before the President continued on with his introduction in a more subtle tone.

“Though addressing global warming is a major benefit of the Transportation Movement Act, it is ultimately not the chief purpose of the legislation,” said the President.

Lee and Barbas sat silent as the President paused for effect, with Barbas already knowing in advance what he was about to say.

“The Transportation Movement Act also offers an even larger benefit to the world. It is the vehicle for providing reparations to the rest of the world for all the wrongs that the United States has inflicted on it for over a century. Not just for the terrible pollution that it has produced, and the negative effects of it on the billions of lives that it has impacted. But for also its predatory and dictatorial actions and policies that it has effectively foisted on countries and their people throughout the world. Be it via its military and economic actions, its land grabs during the establishment of the country, slavery, or its overall insensitivity to other countries’ sovereign rights, as it simply exploited and took from them what it wanted when it needed it.”

Barbas and Hardy nodded their heads in full agreement as the President spoke. Chung Lee simply listened in silent and confused disbelief, as he wondered to himself how the American people could have been so duped into electing a man to represent them that had so much disdain for them and his country.  Could they have been so truly uninformed on voting for this man, or did the majority of the American public really think like him.

“With the passage of the Transportation Movement Act, and in particular the mileage tax, we will be able to generate the revenues to not only eventually complete the national MAGLEV rail system, but to also spread a significant amount of the United States wealth to other countries and their people around the world.”

“Isn’t the mileage tax that you mention a temporary tax?” asked Lee. “How long do you really think you can open up the United States citizens’ bank accounts to the rest of the world?”

Ken Hardy looked at Chung Lee and smiled before saying, “Most newly proposed taxes are pitched as temporary, or as a very small percentage of income or cost of goods. I think I would not be going too far out on a limb to say that the mileage tax will be temporary as long as there are still automobiles on our roads and/or there are people who still desire to commute by non-public transit means. If the Transportation Movement Act passes, I think you won’t see it repealed in our lifetimes. Even the opposition party members who are currently opposed to the TMA legislation wouldn’t want to see that cash stream ever disappear once it’s created.”

“You mean when the Transportation Movement Act passes,” corrected the President.

The four men laughed at the Chief of Staff’s faux pas and the President’s correction of it.

“Yes, the passage of it,” responded Hardy laughing.

“How confident are you that your Congress will pass this legislation?” asked Lee. “The recent video releases of your Vice President and Mr. Barbas here must have compromised its ability to be passed.”

“Yes, the release of the videos has been an unfortunate series of events. However, we’re still confident that we’ll have the necessary votes in both the House and the Senate to ensure the TMA’s passage.”

“And what happens when the American public begins to fully understand the siphoning off of the mileage tax revenue to other nations,” pressed Lee. “You don’t think the opposition party will push for its repeal?”

“The American public won’t ever see the siphoning off of the mileage tax revenue, as you so aptly put it," responded the President. "That simple factoid will be lost in the budgetary minutia of running and managing such a massive national program. Yes, there will be the opponents of the TMA that will try to bring it to the surface, but our friends here in the media,” as he looked over at Barbas, “will continue to support us. They’ll make sure the opponents of the TMA are reduced to looking like ridiculous and sniveling children that are simply jealous of the good work we’re doing for the country.”

“And even if the American public does find out that the mileage tax revenue is also funding international projects, they won’t care,” chimed in Ken Hardy.  “They’re too busy with their day to day lives trying to find work and make ends meet. Also, as the President just stated, the national press has our backs. By the time they get done countering any negatives on the mileage tax, the American public will be asking to have even more of the funds go to global initiatives. Joe and Jane Q. American public are saps for a good cause, when pitched the right way, even if it means they have to suffer a bit more.”     

“What about the labor unions in this country?” questioned Lee again. “What will their reaction be when they find out that the construction of the MAGLEV vehicles and tracks are being manufactured out of the United States? I would think they’d act violently to the news.”

“No they won’t,” responded the President. “There will be plenty of work for them. Yes, Barbas and his partner Jason Evans at DGK International will fabricate the guideways and provide the magnetics, but we’ll employ American labor to install them. Similarly, Yeh Electric Train will build the locomotives and passenger cars, but it will be America workers that operate them.”

“As you can see it’s a win-win for all,” chimed in the Chief of Staff. “The TMA gets our country’s people back to work, we help out our international partners, and we clean up the environment in the process. Who can legitimately complain about it?”

“So when do you think you’ll get this bill up for a vote in Congress?” asked Barbas.

“As you know, the bill has already been submitted to the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House has promised me he’ll have it on the floor of the House in a couple of weeks for an up or down vote. Once it passes the House we’ll have it over at the Senate the following day. They’ll probably want to debate it for a week themselves before they finally vote on it. I’ll sign it into law the day after the Senate approves it.”

“And once it’s the law of the land, how soon do you anticipate having your team formally ink the business terms with Yeh Electric Train and DGK International?” asked Barbas.

“Within a couple of weeks,” responded Ken Hardy. “Since both the MAGLEV vehicles and tracks are the physical pillars of the TMA, we’ll want your firms onboard early to help with the property site assessments and planning stages.”

“As soon as I sign the bill into law I’ll have my Secretary of Commerce and her team out to meet with each of your companies to begin detailed contract negotiations.” 

While Chung Lee listened to the other men talk he couldn’t help but think to himself of the irony of the situation and his country’s good turn of fortune. Today the United States was about to purchase Chinese engineered locomotive technology developed by a highly educated Chinese labor force, and use poorly educated and unskilled American labor to build their new national rail system. In the 19th century it was the reverse.  United States entrepreneurs and factories designed and built the locomotives, and unskilled Chinese immigrant laborers were used in the construction of railways that crisscrossed the United States as part of the Transcontinental railroad system.

One of the flaws of capitalism and a totally free society he mused to himself. Where the unbridled energy of one generation creates so much unchecked wealth that it breeds a new generation of purposeless and slothful offspring. The Chinese system of capitalism is the best form of capitalism he said to himself, a proverb that he constantly heard throughout his career at Yeh Electric Train. A strong and centrally managed government, yet with limited regulation, has enabled China’s economy to flourish. While during the same time the economies of Europe and the United States, with their weak and less centrally controlled government, yet high regulatory control, have nearly collapsed.

“So gentlemen do you have any additional questions for me?” asked the President who was anxious to bring an end to the meeting and go out to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls.

“Yes, I have one remaining question,” responded Chung Lee. “What are you doing in terms of your security breaches and the prevention of additional surveillance videos from being released? As you can imagine, if word leaked out about our meeting today it would be very damaging to me and my country.”

“I can assure you Mr. Lee that we are all over sealing our security leaks and taking out the perpetrators of the video releases. Though we have not caught them yet, we have a pretty good idea who they are and roughly where they’re operating out of.”

“I hope so, as my government will have major issues with Yeh Electric Train contracting with the United States if the security issues are not resolved. The last thing our government wants is to be in the middle of a civil uprising in your country. Moreover, Yeh Electric Train has highly confidential intellectual property associated with our locomotive technology that we don’t want falling into our U.S. based competitors’ hands.”