Last War (32 page)

    
Czyra re-spliced the wires in the small box he needed to make a better connection and jogged back to the car where Jason sat listening to the conversation. Jason looked towards Czyra. “Hey, Czy. I can’t really make it out, but it seems both presidential candidates are in there – at least the woman is -- and they’re rehearsing their respective presidential stances. Apparently, they want to use the Olympics in this whole scheme, too.” Jason chuckled. “Sports, music, entertainment, politics, commerce—all of it. It’s a beautifully designed system.”

    
“It’s like any other business.” Czyra went silent before looking at Jason who seemed to be in deep thought.

“They want to co
nvince us that this is the way the system should work.” Czyra said. “But, I’m tired of chasing the dangling carrot.”

    
“You seem a bit distracted. What’s wrong?”

    
“I missed something.” Czyra said. “I heard them talking about someone ‘off of the radar.’ We’ve gotta figure out who that is. I recorded it. Listen.” He played the recording for Jason. 

    
“Do you have any clue?” Jason asked. “Have you ever come across any inconsistencies that didn’t add up?”

    
Czyra bellowed out a loud laugh before collecting himself. “Excuse me? That’s
all
I’ve come across are inconsistencies. It’s how they operate.”

    
“Well, what if we take all those inconsistencies, and try to figure out how they string together—if at all—then maybe we can put a profile on this mystery person.” Jason said. “Whoever he is, is probably doing the most damage.”

    
“OK. Let’s get out of here and get started on that, now.”

    
“I’ve got a few resources we could use.” Jason said. “Get us back to the interstate. I’ve got a plan.” 

Governor
(Presidential candidate) Wilford Mince’s office

Austin, Texas

     The papers piled high on Texas Governor Wilford Mince’s desk; his thoughts raced. The 53-year-old man had finally seen his few decades of politics all the way through to the point he had hoped to reach: Presidential candidate.

     Like everything else in this campaign, he knew he’d have a lot of work
to do – but, it was more like ‘follow directions’ work than any sort of research, himself. There was nothing he felt more comfortable with, than paying attention and following instructions. He was a successful business man – he knew the value in that sort of order.

   
Next to the stacks of paper on his desk, he had five cell phones. One for each of the major factions in his life—three of them were connected to business. His least used was the phone he had used to speak to the Brendenhalls. That one he kept in the drawer. He had a that was used to communicate directly with the franchise owners of the businesses he managed. He had a third that he clearly used for personal calls to, among others, his wife and kids. But, the most used was the mysterious BlackBerry he kept closest to his fingertips.

    
His assistant walked into the room.

     “May I help you?”
Mince asked.

     “You have a call on line one.”

     “Who is it?”

     “
He said his name was Nosaj from NASA.”

    
Why is Nosaj calling me a time like this?
“Nosaj? Tell him I’m busy.”  

     “He said it’s very urgent, sir.”

     Mince groaned and sat forward in his chair. “Send him through.”

     Mince
let the phone ring a few times before answering to the rugged undetectable but very familiar voice of Nosaj.

     “Hey, Mince.” The soothing rough voice said in a deliberately slow
, taunting, voice. “Remember me? It’s your best pal, Nosaj.”

     “What do you want? And why didn’t you call the number you have?”

     “Well, I wanted this to be on government record, sir. That’s why. Anyway, what kind of ‘hello’ is this? I missed ya pal.”

     “Call the cell number, Nosaj.”

     “Listen. I have access to this recording. Whether I let them stand, or erase them is on you. I need a few things from you.”

     “What?”

     “I’m going to need you to be on call for the rest of this year. We need your help, again.”

     “I thought we had agreed that I had done enough.”

     “Well,
I
thought we had agreed that you’d help us wage war on the elites. Now, look, you’ve joined the enemy.”

     “
What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s not what you think.”

     “Oh? What is it?”

     “Nosaj, we’re not discussing this here. Maybe we should meet, or something?”

     “You’re trying this, again? I told you that we are anonymous. We can continue to communicate as much as you’d like the way we have been, and cooperate, or you know—it’s your choice, Mince. We need you on board. This, for sure
, will be last call.”

     “I’m running a presidential campaign, here, Nosaj, let’s be realistic. This can’t happen like this
– not like before.”

     “Is that your final answer?”

     The phone went silent. Mince had been through a whole series of issues with these internet and technology hackers. Almost got himself in trouble with the public media numerous times in sex scandals.

    
He didn’t want to accept, but he knew with them, there really was no other choice. He either accepted or be terrorized and ruined by this enormous army of anonymous internet hackers.

    
“I can’t do the things I did for you before. I can’t go that far.”

     “You’ll go as far as we ask. Besides, crippling Japan and its economy
for a day was not that bad. They needed a day in urban wilderness.”

     “Their economy has never quite recovered.”

     “So? Why should we care? We’re America the great, right?”

     “You know that was a breaking of the deal. You told me you’d never put my career in jeopardy.”

“And looky here, you’re running for POTUS. Look, I’m hanging up, Mince. So, am I seizing this recording? Or am I leaving this on the government’s file?”

     “Take it.”   



XXV

Jason’s Brooklyn Home

     “How cool is that, dude? You have deep connections with The Unknowns?” Czyra asked. “You’re Nosaj?”

     “Working with the technology I had for one of my previous titles in the NSA, it was my job to combat folks like them, at first. They started off as a major pain in my rear at work. They always interrupted our systems and made our job – what I thought was – unnecessarily difficult.”

     “So, what changed everything?”

     “
While investigating them, I researched them, I learned their cause. One time I decided to help them free the Egyptian people from their government. I began to mingle with them anonymously, as well. I quickly climbed the ranks of the Unknowns when they got their hands on the type of info and technology I had for them.”

     “How do you
have so much access?”

     “I’m the guy who created the government’s current surveillance system. I know the system better than they could ever imagine.
Because I was associated with the Unknowns, I designed it with … what I’d call a ground wire.”

     “So
, they have no clue?”

     “’They don’t know half the capabilities of their surveillance systems
, Czyra. Not without me.”

     “So, now what? Now that we’ve got someone on the inside?”

     “We watch, listen, and react accordingly.”

     “How so?”

     “Mince knows the drill. He’ll be wired, he’ll get us info, he’ll set up places for us to get in, he’ll leave behind clues, he’ll fund us. He’s an old C.I.A. asset; one of the best we’ve ever had. He now is an Unknown asset, as well.” Jason winked. “I’m stepping this organization up to the next level. My own army.”

     “Does Mince know you?”

    “Only as my alias Nosaj. He’s seen my power. We’ve successfully disabled two countries simultaneously for just under 24 hours, and disrupted them for a total of a month before they both got back on their feet. With him, we  can fix this place called America.”

    
Czyra didn’t know what to feel. This entire time he felt like he was the man fighting a giant in this call for action against the government. Now, he himself, felt like he was on the side of the giant. “Your memory is coming along well.” Czyra said.

     “Or, someone’s memory. I’m not sure if I should be using Tameka’s memory card, or not.”

     “It’s working. Her, or your, or whoever’s memories are in that card are installing nicely into you and our chase. So, if it ain’t broke…”

    
“Yeah. But, what if it is broke?” Jason laughed. “Hey, kid, let me remind you that this will get more dangerous, but it’ll be quick, intense, dangerous, and concise. You ready?”

   
“I’m more ready than ever.”

     “OK. We’ve got Mr. Mince wired up for the next Brendenhall meeting. We’re gonna get what they’re talking about in there once and for all.



Brendenhall Hotel

Vancouver, CA

    
Governor Mince’s nerves pulsed as he rode through the large iron black gates to the Brendenhall Hotel. He adjusted his white button-up shirt so that his silk blue tie fell flush with the edges of the collar on his suit jacket. Once again, he was wired up Nosaj and the Anonymous Unknowns.

    He’s never wired up for the major Brendenhall meetings. He didn’t know if t
here were metal detectors, or if anyone would be scanned for the devices he was wired with. Ultimately, he was paranoid that someone would see his wire. He shuffled his suit and tie, once more.

     “Is everything OK?” his driver asked.

     “Yeah. Just a bit nervous. Big time things happening around here, these days, good fella.”

     He didn’t know what to expect. Surely they were sealed tight. He had no other choice, though. Everything was on the line.

     Today was RNC rehearsal. Everyone was to attend. The current administration and the tentative new one. The Brendenhalls were still deciding who would join Mince on Pennsylvania Ave., in the case that he’d be chosen as the next president.

     T
he hotel greeted them with a patch of lawn cut from a paradise. The usual crowd of protesters yelling about “Project F.A.I.T.H.” were just outside of the gate.

     Mince looked at his advisor
who sat next to him. “They protest what they don’t know. They speculate, and obsess over it. Meanwhile they miss what they really should be fighting for. Operation F.A.I.T.H. is history. But, they say it won’t work.” He popped a piece of gum into his mouth while laughing. “They’re way behind the game. If nothing else, that works into our favor every time.” 

     His limo pulled up under the grandiose
gold-plated pavilion at the front door of the hotel. Mince immediately began scanning for security. The security measures had stopped at the fence and driveway. Everyone at the front door were other members of the meeting. He crawled out of the limo and began greeting his peers.

     Each face had a welcoming smile. Each face seemed ready to
undertake a task. No one felt the stress that Mince felt. Wedged in between the good guys and the bad guys, his every word may prove to be crucial.

     Mr. Brendenhall approached him and shook his hand.

“You know, sir, this may all fall on your performance.”

Mince la
bored over that thought; it was more than Mr. Brendenhall ever knew.

“The task and message we’re asking you to carry is going to seem like
a backtrack to the American people. We have to make sure that you sell this. The initial plan is to get Hilary into that office. She’ll represent change. But, if we can’t sell her enough, you’re up pal. Either way, we need you to play a role in leading us into the birth of the new nation; a beginning to a whole new world. Can you bear that, sir?”

     “Absolutely.”

     Mince had no clue. He actually leaned towards the fact that he was more inclined to mess everything up, instead.

     “Alright, Mr. Mince, let’s get in here and set up. We’ve got a lot to rehearse.”