Blown for Good Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology (39 page)

Gerald was taking advantage of not being at the Base and not having to report up to anyone. He was getting a good night’s sleep. Having full 30-minute meal breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner and having nice leisurely strolls back and forth between the CLO and the New York Org every meal. I thought about how his mood would change once COB arrived. When all the Gold event crew arrived and Dave started telling everyone around how they were out-ethics scumbags, Gerald was not only going to be watching little ol’ me, he was going to have fifty or more potential staff that would be blowing, sent back to Gold, you name it. I hoped he was storing up some of that sleep he had been getting because he was going to need it in a week or so.

After about a week I had completed the installations in the rooms that had been renovated. Each day I would hear about how it was going in Spain and how COB was freaking out over how behind the systems were there. It was supposedly the biggest flap in Spain and the only reason COB was not getting rid of people was that Tom Cruise was there and Dave was having to pal around with him instead of assigning people to the Rehabilitation Project Force.

The renovations were truly a disaster in New York Org and I kept reporting this back to CMO Int. If they did not quickly send some reinforcements, there was no way the renos would be done, much less the systems. It was just about to start going past the point of no return.

That week more people showed up. Tom Devocht showed up and started tackling the issues with the renovations. After being there only a few days, he found out, or figured out, that Alex, the girl running the whole show, was sleeping with one of the guys from the org who was also doing the renos. She was shipped off as soon as this was found out.

The next excitement was that the Spain event had been completed and a few of the Gold event crew were being sent directly from Spain to New York to help with the systems and get them installed before Dave showed up a few days later.

When the Gold crew arrived the next day, they recounted the horror stories from Spain with regards to the systems there. It was a disaster no doubt, but I tried to explain to them that New York was not going to be better and in fact, based on the progress of the still ongoing renovations, I could almost guarantee it would be worse. As Trevor walked around the org he could not believe his eyes. It was worse than Spain and he had already been up going on two weeks straight. The only sleep he’d had in the last two weeks was on the plane flight over.

I showed him all the stuff that I had installed or pre-built ready to be installed. By myself, I had already done everything that could be done. But if they finished the renovations any time soon, there was at least another week or so of work needed even if you had ten people doing it.

We got to work getting things ready to install. We did pre-wiring and anything that we thought would speed up installing the systems. All the digital film rooms had yet to be built. Once the rooms themselves were finished, we would have to install screens, speakers, projectors, remote control touch panels, computers and all wiring between all of these things. There were at least six different digital film theatres to install plus a full auditorium with speakers and full equipment rack as well. Then there were about fifty cassette decks and CD players that were needed on several floors, a dozen or so flat screens around the org and about 16 video display systems in the reception area.

The last of the event crew were about to leave Spain and wanted a report on where things stood in New York with regards to the systems. Whoever was relaying the information mentioned my name in some way, and that is when all hell broke loose. Henning Bendorf was the Art Director. He was not only the one who had designed all of the event and film sets for the last five years, but he was also the one designing all of the Ideal Orgs. He was one of Dave’s favorite people in Gold. Henning could not believe that I, of all people, was anywhere near New York Org systems. He actually told Gerald that if Dave even knew I was there, those who had sent me would be taken off post and sent to the Rehabilitation Project Force. Apparently, I was the most out-ethics person in Gold and Henning told Gerald that if I was still in New York when he got there, that he would get on a plane to Gold and not show up for the opening event at all. As soon as Henning hung up after talking to Gerald, he called CMO Int and told them that they were crazy for sending me and demanded that I be recalled immediately. He gave them the same spiel about how upset Dave would be and since he had been with Dave in Spain for the last two weeks, who would know better.

An hour later, Gerald came and told me to make sure that I was ready to go by 3:00
 p.m.
the next day. I was going back to Gold. Trevor begged Gerald to let me stay. I worked as much as I could through the night. I even managed to install a bunch more items as renovations were completed. There was just no stopping it.

As I was installing one last item around noon the next day, I saw Amber O’Sullivan. Amber was going around to all of the places Dave might go and making sure that he had cigarettes, water and all the things he liked in any conference room or space that he might use while here in New York. Amber was not only one of COB’s personal stewards; she was my wife’s cousin. Amber was also from the UK and had red hair just like my wife. Amber asked me what I was doing here and could not believe that I was here installing systems. I told her I just stopped by to help out and was on my way out very shortly.

I went and got my belongings from the room where I had been staying and said goodbye to Trevor who was actually crying as I left the New York Org. I felt for him, but this was purely a political move and I had no say at all in what was happening. I had to leave and no one could stop it. Everyone there was told not to even bring up my name as it might upset Dave. As far as everyone was concerned, I had never been there.

I was to go to the airport by myself. Gerald had his hands full in New York and he was sure to be even busier once COB arrived. I was told that if for any reason I did not make it back to Gold, the dogs would be cut loose to hunt me down.

Henning was arriving on a 1:00
 p.m.
flight. Dave was supposedly getting in a few hours later. I was leaving at 3:00
 p.m.
and I think that as I was taking off, Dave’s flight was landing. I knew this would somehow bite me in the butt.

I arrived back to Gold late that night. I had a nonstop flight and was picked up at the airport by Int Base staff as soon as I arrived. When I woke up the next day, I went back to the UV coating area like nothing had happened. Everyone else pretended I was never gone. It was like a big secret. No one spoke of it at all.

At lunch muster that day we started to hear about the fallout from New York. COB had arrived and nothing was ready to show him. He had even rejected some of the renovations that had been done and was telling them to redesign and build new things before the Opening event that coming weekend.

A few mornings later when I came in to post, I got a call from Gerald in New York. He asked if I had heard from Trevor. I hadn’t but he was in New York so there was no reason I would have.

“We can’t find him here in New York,” Gerald said.

It was poetic on so many levels. When I go to New York, I get personally escorted and watched so I don’t blow. The guy who watches me is Gerald. Then after I leave, the guy who shows up to replace me goes missing right under Gerald’s nose. And who does he call? Gerald calls me to find out where Trevor might be.

Trevor was a young kid. He was in his early twenties. Both his parents were in Scientology, his brothers and sisters were in Scientology. He had aunts and uncles and grandparents all in Scientology. He would never leave knowing that he would be disconnected from all of them in one fell swoop. He like I had nowhere to go and knew nothing else. While blowing from the Sea Org seemed like a possible alternative to the constant torture, with no money, no job and no outside real world connections, the logistics of doing so were daunting.

“He is probably sleeping somewhere,” I told Gerald, knowing Trevor all too well. “He overloads and has to get some sleep before he can chill out. I guarantee you he is sleeping under a desk or behind a pile of boxes somewhere.”

“Yeah, that is what Matt Price said.” Gerald hung up.

Wow, this was getting really bad. Now they had people disappearing from the org while COB was still there. Later that night, I heard that they found Trevor sleeping between some partitions in the auditorium. He had slept for 14 hours straight. When he woke up he had no idea where he was or what had happened. Gerald had combed the entirety of Times Square for four hours looking for him. Like that is where Trevor would go if he blew and even if he did, like Gerald would find him amongst all those people anyway!

Over the next week, I heard more and more tidbits of disasters occurring in New York. At this point it was not about what could go wrong, it was about what couldn’t go wrong.

The New York Ideal Org Opening event was held as originally planned, but the renovations were still not done and the A/V systems were still being installed. A few of the rooms that they readied for the Open House after the event still had wet paint on the walls! Rooms that were not completed were locked and not shown. Teams had been up every night since the opening and even the org staff had still not been able to completely move all of the stuff from the temporary org location that was being used while the new place was being renovated.

It had all culminated with COB meeting with anyone involved in the systems for New York. Lisa Schroer, Fed Tisi, Matt Price and Trevor Sargeant were all given $200 in cash by COB and told to pack their stuff and “get out.” They had been offloaded from the Sea Org by COB right there in New York!

This came as a shock to the guys at the Int Base. That had never happened before. Usually guys were dragged back and tortured here at the Base. But never had this been done at a remote org and never so swiftly and directly. After we were briefed on this at muster, Caroline came and saw me and told me that it was me that should be walking the streets of New York and not those guys. I knew it was only temporary. I told her that they would be back on the systems by morning; Dave would never let them leave at this point. It was clearly one of his little games that he liked to play with people. Make them think he did not want them, then have them beg to come back when they should be running for the hills. This was right out of his playbook.

Sure enough, the next morning we were all assured that nobody was actually offloaded and that they were all back installing the systems.

After about two more weeks of work, all of the systems in New York Org were installed and most of the event crew members were returning, as well as Dave and his staff. I knew that there might be a slight chance that someone had spilled the beans about me being there and that I might still have to face the music if COB found out about this. I expected it would come out sooner or later, I just did not know when.

The day Trevor got back to the Base, I went and saw him. He recounted the horrors that had occurred. He could not believe that I had managed to escape just in the nick of time. He assured me that no one in New York had said a peep about me having been there. Everyone was so scared that it would ignite more flames from COB so no one dared even bring it up or try to throw me under the bus for everything being screwed up. He told me he could not imagine what would have happened if I had not gone down and done the work that I did.

He told me the whole story about COB giving them all $200. He said that he and Matt Price had left with their stuff and went to Times Square and got some authentic New York pizza with the money and were just hanging out until Gerald Duncan found them and brought them back! I asked Trevor about his little sleep vacation and told him that they had even called back and asked me if I had heard from him. We laughed about this and he said that he was going to sleep for a few days and that he would let me know where.

The next day I was at my workstation doing my thing and the Mfg Sec came running in and told me that COB and COB Asst were outside and wanted to talk to me. This was it. I could not have expected to escape this fate forever. I walked outside.

Dave Miscavige was sitting on his motorcycle that was still parked on the road and Shelly was walking towards me as I exited the building. He was about thirty feet away and the bike was still running.

“COB says you should be the A/V Systems Director, Marc,” Shelly said. “He said that if you were in New York getting the systems done, that this whole fiasco would have never happened.”

“Yes, Sir,” I said.

“Good.” She turned around and walked away.

I nodded to COB and he nodded back. Shelly got on the back of his bike and they drove off. I smiled. I walked back into the building and told Caroline that Dave just made me the A/V Systems Dir. I also told her what he said about New York and that it would have been better if I was there. It was actually perfect for me. Now, nobody could ever tell him that I was there in New York as it would appear that they were trying to tell him that he was wrong by saying that if I were there it would not have happened. I was off the hook and I was now finally doing what I liked after being here at the Int Base for almost fifteen years.

ate one night, I had to go over to the Cine Castle and get some computer parts that I had lent Darius Wilhere a few weeks earlier. He was still the Pre-Production Director in Cine and was always playing around with some computer stuff. Since I was back in systems, I had all kinds of that stuff.

I went up to his office, which was my old office above the research and assembly area. He was not there. The girls in Research & Assembly told me that he had been spending all his time up in the Talent area. As I had previously been posted as the Pre Production Director, these were my old stomping grounds.

Talent was around the West side of the Castle above the Costumes and Make-up Departments. I could hear Darius cutting some audition videos as I walked in.