The Krakow Klub (12 page)

None of these stories had a shred of
truth,
and that pleased him greatly. In fact,
Stoellar leaked false information on occasion just to see what
might appear in print. He made significant political contributions
to various candidates of both parties. Such contributions were, of
course,
always cloaked
in secrecy.

Stoellar wanted to have power and influence
over people, but he was satisfied with only the subject and himself
knowing of that power. He not only had no desire for publicity but
he shunned it whenever possible.

Over the years, Stoellar had become more and
more fascinated with political processes. He concluded that most
governments were laughably incompetent. Most were also easily
corruptible, even at the highest levels. One evening, after a
particularly contentious national election, he sat in his
penthouse, mulling over the event when he had a brilliant idea.
It wasn’t a new idea. He had had the thought in the
back of his mind since he realized that the Soviet Union would soon
implode leaving the United States as the single superpower in the
world.

If he could somehow gain control of the
United States government
, then he
would
possess the power that would enable him to gain control of the
whole world. Yes, he concluded, it was just that simple. Take the
US, the world’s only superpower, and the rest of the world can be
yours as well.

With the right group, the right planning, and
the right funding, it could become a reality. American politicians
could be bought and controlled. With enough money and time,
anything was possible.

Stoellar then began to devote all of his
energies to building and
funding
an
organization to accomplish his goal of world domination. That
organization finally became a
reality
and was
named the Krakow Klub. It would be an extremely secretive
organization with a small number of carefully selected members from
around the globe. He decided that twelve members would be
sufficient. Each member must be extremely wealthy, very powerful,
and without social or moral conscience.
Over the next
couple of years, he recruited his little band that would one day,
at least in his mind, enable him to rule the world.

The first meeting to seal the pact was in
Krakow, Poland. The meeting was secret and took place at a
renovated castle in an isolated area north of the city. The hired
staff
was told
that the castle was
being
rented by a group of wealthy international
financiers who needed a private location for a business meeting. It
was essentially a true statement. No one was ever the wiser.

After two days, the overall plan had been
perfected and approved by the group. It
was not
formally agreed
upon, but
generally
understood by all, that membership in the organization was for life
and transfers were not possible.

As a sign of loyalty and dedication to the
cause, each member had a tiny stylized “KK” along with their
membership number tattooed on the outside of the left wrist. The
mark would
be covered
at all times by a
wristwatch
or other item
of
jewelry
. But, even if noticed, the very
small
tattoo appeared quite innocent and would most
likely attract no attention.

They all agreed that communications between
them, henceforth, would
be
by a secure website
or a satellite phone, and each member would be referenced solely by
his or her number in all such communications. Stoellar was
designated Number
One,
and each additional
member was assigned a succeeding
number,
according to their acceptance into the organization. All members
were closely monitored
by Stoellar
to ensure
that their loyalty remained unabated.

****

Two of the original members, a
German
and an American, eventually became disenchanted
and asked to resign their memberships. Almost immediately
after that
, the German was killed in an
avalanche while skiing in Bavaria. Another skier on the same slope
believed that he had heard a loud pop, like a gunshot.
A gunshot could
have started the
avalanche,
but nothing
unusual was ever
proved
. The
mangled body
was
buried deep in the snow. No one suspected that the
avalanche transponder that he wore had been deactivated that
morning before he left his chalet for his last downhill run. At
autopsy, the pathologist noted a strange looking cut on the left
wrist but she had no idea that a tiny tattoo had
been
rather inelegantly removed
with a large serrated knife. The
cut just appeared to be a result
of
being
brutally thrown about by the powerful avalanche. The death was
ruled to be an unfortunate accident.

The American member lost control of his car
while driving at high speed along the Pacific
Coast
highway,
and it careened
through a guardrail and over a
cliff
. The car
exploded and burned on
impact,
so there was no
remaining evidence to cause suspicion that the brake lines and
throttle mechanism of the Ferrari had
been tampered
with in any way
. As in the case of the avalanche victim, the
death was ruled accidental.

After that
, Number One,
Stoellar, tightened his selection process for replacement members
and increased his surveillance procedures to a higher level for the
remaining members.

Soon, the two departed members, numbers eight
and ten were replaced. The new members received the number
fourteen and fifteen
. The numbers eight and
ten were “retired.” For some
reason,
the
number thirteen was skipped over. Superstition is a strange
bedfellow.

Stoellar was also well aware that the other
members would eventually suspect that the German and the American’s
deaths were not
accidents
. He wanted them to
believe it. There would be no further attempted desertions from the
flock. Ever.

****

Funding for operations of the
Krakow Klub group was provided by the membership fee and a
subsequent annual contribution. In addition to the annual fees from
the twelve members, there were earnings from their rather large
accumulated nest egg of unspent past contributions
.
Membership
and annual fees were not the same
for each member in
amount. All fees and contributions
were calculated on the basis
of total wealth and current
income. Stoellar was the only one that knew about the differences
in contributions.

Stoellar, being a financial manager of
international repute, managed the funds, investing them in
international ventures that offered a generous return and small
risk. The Krakow Klub prospered financially and their “war chest”
was currently in the
double-digit
billions of
dollars.

Over the years, in spite of the considerable
annual expenditures, the Krakow Klub’s funds had reached such a
level that members agreed to stop the annual contributions. Their
budget ran into the billions each year, but Stoellar’s astute
investments over the years had amassed a financial juggernaut worth
more than a hundred billion dollars. It was one of the world’s
largest and most secretive money funds.

Like Stoellar, the Krakow Klub, as a group,
had an appetite for power that was insatiable. The group had
already managed to ensnare several heads of state and make them
subject to the will of the organization.
These were,
in the overall scheme of things, countries that were insignificant
to their long-range plans. However, they did offer an opportunity
to hone their manipulative skills to the highest level before
embarking on taking over the major powers.
Practice makes
perfect, and there were bigger fish to fry.

The organization had expanded to recruit
agents and associates who worked in the field. Potential candidates
were from diverse professions and backgrounds. Each was screened
exhaustively with a lengthy and complex character analysis that
went back to childhood. Every weakness, every temptation, every
character flaw was studied and analyzed carefully. Those who
exhibited any sign of true honesty or integrity
were
quickly rejected
.

Those selected often received monetary
support from the organization, either as a stipend or a political
contribution. A few were virtual captives, held by blackmail and
threats. But a small number served because they desired to do so.
All were aware of the danger to themselves should they attempt to
double-cross the cabal or refuse to carry out instructions.

Number One
handled
all
final selections based on results of the screening process. He
matched each
recruit
to a member of the Krakow
Klub who would be in charge of mentoring, reporting, and
controlling. The mentor then would guide the candidate with
promises of vast wealth and power. The training process was a
time-consuming
process, but they had the time
and the patience. And they had an ultimate goal.

Politicians were prime targets. Many
political aspirants were carefully
studied,
and most were not candidates for the organization. Those whose
psychological profiles looked promising were studied even further
to determine if they could be bought or intimidated by bribery or
threats.

Most of the political recruits accepted were
young, overly aggressive go-getters starting out in small, local
elections. They were given financial backing and
training
in the powers of persuasion. Soon, they moved on
to more important offices until they achieved their goals of being
members of Congress, governors, prime ministers, or whatever
another country’s governing group might be. By now, they were
smooth, articulate, personable, charming, and totally corrupt in
every way.

Like a giant squid, the tentacles of
corruption began to spread all over the world, and the United
States of America was no exception. Time, money and dedication
were
paying off for the Krakow Klub.

The results
he had
attained so far
were most gratifying to
Stoellar. He felt that his goal was, at last, within reach. His
carefully planned and executed strategy had finally resulted in the
group having placed their man in the White House. Soon, very soon,
he, Erik Stoellar, would be the most powerful man in the world. And
it was
power
that drove Stoellar. Unlike many,
he did not crave fame. He had all the fortune he needed. He
preferred to work from the sidelines, leaving the limelight to
others. Power
was
his narcotic, and he was
totally addicted.

The Krakow Klub was an
organization bathed in secrecy. Stoellar was the only one with the
knowledge of the identity of every person in the Krakow Klub’s
large group of associates and its network of political
minions.

Communications
among members
had to happen
through an extremely complex and secure
website
that was untraceable. For urgent
messages, they
used
secure satellite
phones.

Periodically, Stoellar would meet with each
Krakow Klub member personally to review the progress of their
recruits.

The original meeting in Krakow was the first
and last time that all members would ever
meet as a
group.

The Krakow Klub believed that all governments
were inefficient and poorly run by unqualified people elected by an
ignorant citizenry. Dictatorships were even worse. Powers were
wasted. Opportunities missed. Wars wasted far too many resources,
at least most of the time.

It seemed only logical that an elite group of
well-educated, rich, dedicated individuals could do a better job in
every instance. Simple. Very simple. They would start out with
small, undeveloped nations through rigged elections or brutal
revolution if necessary. They would then move on to the super
powers that would require much more sophisticated methods.

For these
well-developed
nations, especially the United States, military conquest was not an
option. They would use the political system to their advantage.
America’s military is
the most
powerful in the
world. But there is a potentially fatal flaw. The Supreme Commander
of the United States military is a
politician
.
They would have a hard time buying the military, but politicians
were often for sale at the right price.

So the Krakow Klub would avoid
confronting the United States military. Instead, they planned to
install a person in the White House who would be elected for two
terms. They would then use those eight years to infiltrate the
military high command sufficiently for their purposes.

Stoellar was certain that securing control of
a few strategic top-level positions in the military chain of
command would be adequate to gain total control when the right
crisis provided an excuse for martial law and military
intervention. He believed you did not have to control all the
players
in the game to
rig it. Controlling
just a few key players could do the trick.

Their plan was rather simple, as plots go.
They would engineer some national threat or crisis that would allow
their
puppet president to declare martial law.
Once
martial
law was in effect, they could
move swiftly to eliminate any and all
opposition
within
the military command structure. By the time anyone
realized what was happening, the country would be under the control
of the Krakow Klub. Even the mighty United States of America was
vulnerable to such a carefully orchestrated conspiracy.