The Krakow Klub (23 page)

“Jim, that’s just one of the things that I
want us to address with our new business. I want to provide
materials and services that will improve people’s lives and keep
them safe.”

He looked Jim straight in the eye and said,
“I hope that you’ll accept my offer. You’re the only person I could
trust
with my Mylean legacy. You will have
access to power and knowledge you never even
dreamed
about
before. That’s why you’re perfect for the job. You
will have substantial power at your disposal, but you have the
brains and moral character not to abuse that power.”

Julia stood behind the model, obviously
marveling at the intricacy of the design. She leaned closer to
examine the finer details and noticed that Akiro and Mitch had
crept under the pool table across the room. Mitch led the way with
Akiro obediently following. A most amusing sight.

Jim stood in silence for a few seconds,
obviously deep in thought. “You’re right. I’m tired of Washington.
It’s almost impossible to have a true friendship with anyone. It
seems that almost everyone inside the beltway
is
obsessed
with getting to the next rung of the old career
ladder, no matter what the cost. Quid pro quo are the words of the
day. As far as I’m concerned the whole system is beginning to
crumble under its
own
weight. I’m tempted to
take your
offer,
but I still need a little
more time before I make a final decision. After all, it’s a
life-changing situation. And you know how slow I am to make up my
mind, at least most of the time.”

John kept pressing for an answer. “Jim,
you’re right for the job. I’ve got Maxx and Maxxine as
consultants,
but that’s just not enough. I need you
personally. I have to have someone that I trust because I am going
to give that person extensive powers and extensive
responsibilities.

“You have a
Ph.D.
, but
you recognize your limitations. You still have the mind of a
student. So you can learn as you go. You may make mistakes, but you
will recognize them quickly and adjust. No one knows everything.
Not even Maxx; well, at least not yet.”

“I hardly think that I
could
be that important. You’ve got Maxx and Maxxine for
consultation,
and you have more than adequate
resources for your business.”

John paused for a moment and seemed to be
listening intently to something. When he spoke, his voice was
strained,
and his face
ashen
.

“Take your time. Our partnership is of the
utmost importance to
me,
but I’ve just had
some disturbing news confirmed by Maxxine. She has discovered a
developing situation in Washington, and it is not only serious, it
is quite dangerous.

“Maxx gave her the same
communications
capability that he used to speak to me for
my whole life. It’s like there’s a voice in my head. Hard to
explain but
it's
true.”

Jim Slater suddenly stiffened and was all
ears. After
all,
he still worked for the
National Security Advisor.

Julia walked over and joined them.

“Okay, let’s go back
to
the living area where we can, at least, be comfortable while we
hear your bad news.”

****

“Maxx has been gathering vast amounts of data
from Earth in his study of humans. To do that, he’s developed some
very sophisticated algorithms that alert him when something unusual
is taking place. He’s become quite a snoop. Anyhow, he detected
some alarming activities
recently,
and Maxxine
has been working to confirm them.

“It seems that there is a very secretive
organization, they call themselves the Krakow Klub. And they plan
to take over our government.”

Jim was incredulous. “Impossible. How could
anyone believe that they could
take over
the
entire government? It’s ludicrous at best and a bad joke at worst.
It’s insane.”

“Jim, listen to me. Their plan is not to gain
control through force. Their plan is far more insidious and far
more dangerous than that. They’ve been working on this for many
years. They are going to gain power from within the system and then
expand that power until they have absolute control. Maxxine
indicates that they’ve already made substantial infiltration in the
government and the military command as well.

“These people are some of the richest and
most ruthless people in the world. They came up with a relatively
simple, but it is a long-range plan that has put them within sight
of their goal. They recruit key personnel using financial
incentives and blackmail. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to
corrupt those in authority.

“It seems that our former president had a key
role in the conspiracy. His resignation paved the way for the vice
president to assume power, and as you can imagine, our new
president has been under their control for years. By the way, I
have no doubts that the Krakow Klub was behind the disappearance of
the former President’s plane. From what I understand, they don’t
take kindly to being
double-crossed
.

“The new president has no idea that his
entire reason for existence is to pave the way for Carla Montrose
to be named vice president. Don’t bother to ask. She’s a minion of
the Krakow Klub.

“You’ve surely heard of her.
She’s often referred
to as ‘the Wicked Witch of the East’
by her fellow Congressmen. She’s about as popular as a fox in a
henhouse. Maxxine has suggested our new president will appoint her
by executive order after the houses of Congress deadlock over the
question of her appointment. The Supreme Court could potentially
overrule the appointment, but that will never be allowed to
happen.

“That’s just one scenario as to how she would
get into office. Regardless of how
it’s accomplished,
they are intent on her getting into the Oval Office. When that is
achieved, the scene will be set for their takeover.

“As soon as Montrose is the vice president,
President Wilkinson will be eliminated, apparently by
assassination. The assassination
will be done
in such a way that it can
be blamed
on
terrorists. That, along with a few other engineered terrorist
attacks, will set the stage for the declaration of martial
law.”

Jim Slater was stunned by what he had just
heard and interjected that the whole thing was totally implausible.
“The military would never allow such a thing to happen.”

Once again, John, speaking very deliberately
and calmly, stopped Jim’s protestation. “There’s even more to the
plan. Let me continue.

“This is a
long-range
plan that took many years and billions of dollars to get to this
point. They’ve already got many of their puppets into positions of
power,
or at least access to power.
Unfortunately for us, many of them are in the military and have
risen to high rank over the years. Maxxine has confirmed that they
even have the White House physician in the palms of their
hands.”

Julia sat silently and Jim was slowly facing
the fact that this frightening situation was
real,
and it was dangerous, not only to the United
States, but to the entire world.

John spoke again, “Money is equivalent to
power in politics and Washington, DC, is a
political
town. The Krakow Klub has billions of dollars
at its disposal. That kind of money, given time, can buy just about
anything in politics. Placing a few key generals here and there is
easy when
the White House makes the recommendations
for the promotion of general officers
.
And,
of course, you own the White House.

“As I said, the Krakow Klub apparently needs
for Carla Montrose to occupy the Oval Office. Killing the president
would be the easiest way to place her there. A terrorist attack
would be the obvious choice. A freak accident of some sort would
result in a
grief-stricken
nation,
but a terrorist attack would create a fury not
seen since Pearl Harbor or 9-11.

“Shortly after the assassination, there’ll be
other carefully orchestrated events, in other words, additional
terrorist attacks that will lead up to Montrose declaring martial
law. From there, absolute power will be within their grasp. Those
military commanders not already under their control will be quickly
replaced, probably claiming that they
were traitors,
associated
in some way with the terrorists.

“With the military in control, they can move
forward to neutralize the powers of Congress. For example, intern
them into some camp for their protection.”

Julia spoke softly, “John, surely something
can be done to stop this. If they succeed, it would be a disaster
of epic proportions. Can’t you come up with some way to use your
powers to prevent this catastrophe?”

John smiled at her and took her hand. “Thanks
for your confidence. It’s a little late in the
day,
but I think that we can upset their little apple
cart. Carla Montrose will surely succeed in becoming the new vice
president. That seems to be inevitable. The plan is already in
motion. She is ruthless and without moral restraints
—
probably a closet sociopath. She wouldn’t hesitate to
approve massive bloodshed throughout the country. In fact, I have a
feeling that she’d enjoy it.”

Jim got up and paced the room. “What about
the Secret Service. Surely we should warn them. What about my boss,
the national security advisor? He’s a
jerk,
but surely he could do something to prevent the assassination.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t reveal that we’ve
breached the organization’s security. These people are
smart,
and they’ve surrounded themselves with many layers
of protection. We have no proof. They haven’t done anything yet
that is conclusively illegal. How do you propose to convince anyone
that you’ve
been privy to
a treasonous plot on
the government by a
supercomputer
from an
alien
spacecraft
? Just think of it. Does your
health insurance cover psychiatric services?”

Jim was becoming more frustrated by the
moment.

“Just relax. We’re going to do this under the
radar. Maxxine is already working to save the president from the
assassination attempt and allowing the plotters to think that
they’ve succeeded. Then, after the White House is in their hands
and martial law has been declared, we’ll step in, along with the
‘reincarnated’ president.

“Just think of us as the little cavalry group
that gallops in and saves the day in those old Westerns. We’ve got
Maxxine and her enormous resources. They have money and what they
think is the perfect plan. Who do you think is going to win this
little game?”

Jim nodded, “Okay, I get the picture, but I
still feel that I
should
notify the Secret
Service, if no one else.”

“You would have no sworn duties if you tender
your resignation effective immediately.”

Jim was taken aback by the suggestion. “I
can’t do that. I caused a little firestorm when I merely took two
weeks’ vacation without following the established protocol. A
resignation would require adhering to innumerable regulations, many
of them
required for
security issues for my
position. I may not be all that
important,
but
my job entails using and handling a great deal of classified
information.”

John shook his head and answered as if
speaking to a child, “You have no option when it comes to informing
your superiors of the plot.
Your
career would
go up in flames, and at best, you’d be branded as a lunatic. Don’t
waste your breath on such a futile
effort.”

Jim continued stubbornly, “Maybe I could come
up with another story. Maybe I’ve gotten
intel
, through my
job,
of course,
that terrorists are going to make an assassination attempt on the
president.”

“Jim, forget it. You know that you don’t have
access to that sort of information.
If they listened
at all, they would just assume that you are in on the plot. Having
such information would certainly suggest that.
Just settle
down and let me handle things. Think of it this way,
to
protect the president and the government, you just
have to keep your mouth shut. Therefore, you would not be failing
to abide by your sworn oath of loyalty. Simple really.

“I repeat, the Secret Service cannot save the
president. Only I can do that. The assassins are already inside the
White House. The plan is in motion. You have no concrete proof of
the plot. Your boss, that arrogant bastard, would just laugh at you
and tell you that you baked your brains far too long in the Florida
sun.

“You’ve got to trust me on this. I won’t
allow the assassination of the president, but they’ve got to
believe that they were successful. Maxxine is working on a plan
right
now,
and I have complete confidence that
she’ll come up with something brilliant. We’ve got to be patient
for the time
being;
that
is,
unless you want to wind up in jail, or even worse,
dead.”

Jim Slater threw up his hands in surrender.
“Okay, I’ll go along with you, but it won’t be easy. Besides, I
should know by now that I shouldn’t argue with you once you’ve made
up your mind. Now that, my friend, would be a real futile
effort!”

The conversation continued unabated. Julia
suggested that Maxxine freeze the bank accounts of every Krakow
Klub member. She
reasoned
that
deprived of their monetary funds,
they would
be severely hampered
.