King of All I Survey
Chapter 54: The Icemen Cometh

Chapter 54: The Icemen Cometh

Joe also marked the reactions of the men in the room and weighed it against the intelligence they had gathered by monitoring communications and interactions within the key groups in Guatemala. On our situation map, one of the dots changed to red. The President’s changed to green.

"What was that?" I asked, "Why did you change them? Rafael just basically told the President he wasn’t good enough to be president and you switched him to our side."

"Based on his reaction and other available data, President Arroyo is relieved to have the pressure taken off. He has been handcuffed in his position and has made compromises that bother him. He will almost certainly work toward our goal if we approach him correctly."

Dad brightened a little, leaning forward, "So we don’t need Rafael. We don’t need another president. We can use the one already in power."

"It would be a back-up plan, but not the optimum path according to my simulations of probable outcomes," Joe replied. Dad sank back in his chair as Joe spoke.

"What about the one you switched to red?" I asked.

"The Chief of the General Staff has no prior involvement with the cartels or organized crime. He has acted against them to the best of his ability hampered by entrenched corruption in the military and judicial branch. However, he hates Rafael. Rafael has been his number one target for years as the de facto kingpin of the gangs and trafficking operations in Guatemala. He does not appear to believe that Rafael can change and views this as a ruse. He will fight Rafael’s efforts out of principle and will do anything he can to prevent him from achieving the legitimacy of the Presidential office. We must count him as hostile. Over the next few days, many of the people we are tracking will need to be changed from ally or enemy to the opposite. Many will retain their personal loyalty to Rafael regardless of which side he is on. Many will oppose him regardless of which side he is on," Joe explained.

"Kudos to them..." Dad said under his breath.

I thought I’d better change the subject. "OK, Joe, let’s send the bots after those crops now. Wipe ’em all out. Be careful not to hit people."

"Order acknowledged." Joe replied, "Drones will begin precision laser strikes on the fields, we’ll use wide beam when we can and reduce down to plant by plant if necessary to avoid collateral damage. We will include the two indoor growing facilities, sending smaller laser equipped drones in along with their workers as they come and go through the access doors. We are allocating only drones already monitoring the growing sites so as not to dilute our coverage elsewhere in the country. Estimated time to full eradication of contraband plants is 4 hours depending upon access to the two indoor facilities."

"Good," I said, "Step two is to disable all cartel submarines that have or are planned to travel through or Past Guatemalan waters. Hit those that are docked and hit the others as each one is docked with crew disembarked. Blow the fuel tanks if you can without hurting anyone nearby. Use the drones to warn people away before you blow them up. Only persons designated as threat levels 8 and higher are acceptable collateral damage. Just the killers. No one else is to be hurt during these phases."

"Acknowledged. As per the approved plan. Our drones have seen that Rafael and Maribel’s video has now been seen at the highest levels of the cartels in Colombia and by the Leaders of groups 9 and 14, the principal operations in Chiappas. They are all sending hitmen to eliminate Rafael and Maribel, both from their home locations and some already in Guatemala. We are tracking each of them with the flashing red asterisks on the situation map."

"They’ll link Maribel to Food First soon, if they haven’t already. We should consider evacuating all Food First personnel now," Dad suggested.

"Joe. Do it." I ordered. Our plan was to have our paramilitaries visit them and tell them their families are in danger, but we can take them to a safe house. We would drive them to a building that was a large simulation room running our evacuation sim. They would think they were walking from the building to a waiting transport plane. The simulation would ’fly’ them to an island about an hour away. They would think they were exiting through an enclosed gangway which was actually a LITV and would end up in a large storage room at the Blue Island housing facility. From there, they would each be assigned rooms and have free run of the island, with meals served in common areas until we counted it safe to return them to Guatemala.

---

The high-tech equipment at the Food First facility was already moved out of country even though the building was fully shielded and should be unbreachable. Maribel wore a shield ring, and her house was fully shielded. She, Rafael, Miguel, Luis, Manny, and Carlos were all inside now. All of them except Rafael and Miguel had shield rings.

Luis was getting situation reports constantly from Joe via his earpiece. Joe’s enormous computing capacity allowed him to easily carry on millions of conversations and even more complex tasks all simultaneously if needed.

One message caused Luis to look up at Maribel with alarm, "Base reports that Colombia and Chiapas groups are sending hitmen after you Miss Flores, and Rafael, as well. We are tracking 23 individuals either en route or preparing to come."

"23," Rafael said, rising from his chair at the table. "They really want us dead. They will be sending highly qualified men. We need to get out of here and lay low in the mountains. They’ll find this house easily enough, now that we gave them Maribel’s name."

Luis smiled, "Sit down. The only place they’ll find is a spot on the steps of the Palace of Justice."

"You think so?" Rafael asked, still standing, "You people seem very good at what you do, I grant you, and I don’t know how many you are, but these men are very, very good. They will give their lives to reach their targets. Their only job is to hit highly protected people, even heads of state or Generals in secure military bases. Do not fool yourselves that you can stop them all or even know how many are truly on the way." His voice was intent but level and controlled. "If they get even near this building, they can use grenade launchers or drop bombs from a helicopter to reduce it to rubble and bury us inside."

"This building is stronger than it looks," Luis said.

Maribel looked at him in surprise. "It is?" She asked.

"Yes," Luis answered, then used one of the trigger phrases that would help her accept his words without further question, "Your father had it arranged before you arrived in Guatemala."

"I see," she said.

"The field eradication is also underway," Luis informed the group.

"Just how are you doing that?" Rafael asked. "I would guess that you are using satellite photos to find them, but how can you reach them, get past guards, and destroy the fields? There are quite a few, and they are generally pretty far out of the way..."

Luis smiled, "That’s a trade secret, I’m afraid, Mr. Camal de Leon."

Rafael’s brow furrowed in irritation at being denied the information. "Perhaps if you shared the targets, I could let you know if you missed any?" He suggested.

"We didn’t miss any," Luis said with a slight shake of his head. "Miss Flores," he added, "Your father has agreed to your request to take the Food First employees and their families to a safe house just in case anyone would use them to get to you."

"Oh, good," she said. "I knew he’d see it my way." Then she realized she couldn’t remember actually asking for that, but so much had been going on, she must have forgotten. Of course, she wanted them all safe, and she wouldn’t have overlooked it... She noticed a slightly puzzled look on Rafael’s face, no doubt he was trying to calculate how many people that was and what resources would be required to round them all up.

Maribel pushed her chair back from the table, "Why don’t we move to the living room and see what the TV stations have to say. The seating is more comfortable, anyway."

Rafael nodded. "Yes, let’s see how our television debut is being received." His bright smile was back, his eyes twinkling again.

Damn him. Remember, his charm and looks are a weapon... Maribel reminded herself. She forced herself to look away, feeling her gaze lingering on him just a second too long as she stood up and walked toward the living room.

The rest of them stood as well. Miguel, Carlos, Luis, and Manny each sat in the comfortable upholstered chairs, leaving the sofa facing the TV free. Rafael gestured for her to sit, then sat beside her.

Of course he would, she thought. Sitting this close to him, she could smell a very subtle cologne, probably just an aftershave. Not one of those overpowering scents some men wore, just a subtle... manly smell. Carlos got up and took the remote from the table in front of her to turn on the TV. She had drifted away for a moment and forgotten the TV. Damn him again! She thought furious at herself for getting distracted.

A news anchor was speaking, the words "Special Report" on the screen above him. "According to a statement from President Arroyo’s office, the government welcomes any assistance in their ongoing fight against organized crime. The President personally invites Mr. Camal de Leon and Miss Flores to turn themselves in to the guards stationed around the Presidential Palace so that their information can help guide the military’s efforts toward that goal. The President went so far as to say that he might be willing to consider a reduced sentence for Mr. Camal de Leon’s crimes if his information proved sufficiently helpful."

Rafael snorted, "Reduced sentence, my ass! I’d be dead before I got within a hundred meters of the Palace and he knows it."

Maribel noticed Rafael’s hand was closed in a tight fist. The muscles of his forearm tense... She remembered the muscles of his chest and abdomen when he changed into the bullet-proof vest at their dinner... "Stop it!" Oh my God, I said that out loud, she thought with a panic. "I mean, be quiet so we can hear this," hoping no one realized her slip. She was blushing, but no one seemed to notice as they watched the screen.