The Extinction Code (8 page)

Of the families who once lived there, he knew and cared little.

Unlike the smaller, publicity loving buffoons like Trump who paraded their wealth for all to see, Kruger and his companions remained in the shadows, their wealth and power unknown to all but a few politicians. That, in part, was why Kruger was now the
de facto
head of Majestic Twelve.

‘Our next move?’ uttered one of his companions, a man with a cane who looked old enough to be able to remember Gettysburg. ‘You make this sound like a position of choice Samuel, but we are being hunted, our position is precarious. It is likely that our enemy know our identities.’

Samuel nodded sombrely, keen to show that he understood the delicacy of their position. ‘The American Defense Intelligence Agency has made great strides in deconstructing our efforts and they have had some victories, but their power will always be limited by the office of their director, General Nellis.’

‘Who has the ear of the President,’ a man by the name of Felix pointed out, younger, more hawkish and energetic, the heir to an oil fortune whose mind was every bit as sharp as his father’s had been. ‘That’s significant in itself.’

‘Presidents come and go,’ Samuel replied without concern. ‘What one achieves, the next often undoes for nothing more than spite. The current president clearly shares few of our ideals, but he has little power over us. That, my friends, is why the administration is allowed to lead the country: it makes the people think that they can make a difference.’

The other men nodded in silent agreement.

‘We almost took too much from them last time,’ said another man, the owner of one of the world’s largest and yet least known banks. ‘The people suspect, Samuel.’

‘The people believe conspiracy theories,’ Samuel countered. ‘That’s why we promote them, one after the other: faked moon landings, UFO sightings, economic crashes, shadow governments…’ Kruger smiled. ‘When they can no longer tell what is true and what is not, the truth remains well hidden within the lies.’

‘It was too great a risk,’ said another, the owner of a major shipping company. ‘Look at the Arab Spring, at Syria, Egypt and others. Push the people too hard and they will rebel, violently if necessary.’

‘Indeed they will,’ Kruger agreed, ‘against their politicians. Not against us. Most of them barely know we exist, and those that suspect that we do don’t know who we are.’

Kruger sat down on an ornate chair and folded his hands beneath his chin. He was well aware of the old adage that
power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely
: that was why Majestic Twelve was formed of twelve men and not one. The cabal’s origins in the wake and the rubble of World War Two had been born of more than just the spectacular discoveries made during the time of Einstein and Oppenheimer, for that conflict had resolved in the minds of men made powerful by the sale of weapons that humanity, even democratically governed humanity, simply was not capable of saving itself from tyranny when it appeared. Mankind had lost all sense of the common good, and thus was feeble in the face of violence and greed, traits that Kruger and others before him had encouraged.

A
state of fear
was that which best protected both leaders and the led. That had been the conclusion of the predecessors of Majestic Twelve, military industrial figures who pondered the bizarre way in which the Third Reich had risen to power and so completely brainwashed the population of Germany before setting Europe aflame for five long years. Hitler had used a skillful combination of patriotic rhetoric and fearmongering to galvanize the German people into rising against oppressors that in many ways did not exist; blaming the United Nations for the crippling economic reprisals directed against Germany for the First World War under the Kaiser, despite Germany having been the aggressor in that conflict also; blaming the Jews likewise for the ailing economy, targeting them as an enemy of the state while convincing the people that every other country in Europe would continue to oppress them, preventing Germany from ever holding a place on the world stage. In doing so, he took control of the entire country and won the allegiance of a people who had vowed to fight an enemy that technically did not exist.

In the aftermath of the conflict, Majestic Twelve formed and began planning to emulate the Third Reich’s methods, not with conflict but by guile: to sew fear into the hearts and minds of people, to convince them beyond all shadow of doubt that they
needed
governments to protect them,
needed
armies and navies and air forces to protect them,
needed
the skill and knowledge and prestige of well educated men to lead them to safety,
needed
water and electricity pumped to their homes, food in their supermarkets and fuel in their vehicles. Fears arose and were duly cultivated by Majestic Twelve to ensure the allegiance of the masses: the Cold War, The Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the War on Terror, global warming: anything and everything that could be created to ensure that the people felt as though the enemy were already at the gates and only the might and expertize of the government could save them…

Kruger knew that he sat among the most powerful men on earth: powerful not because they were wealthy but because they knew precisely how the
vulgar crowd
, as Niccolo Machiavelli had once described them, were always “taken by appearances”. The growth of the Internet and the information age, far from hindering this process, had given it even greater reach as the truth was lost amid the inane ramblings of millions of citizens all clamoring for the truth even though they would not have recognized it had it rose up and slapped them across the face. Just as once had hundreds of Jews been subdued beneath the barrels of a handful of German Wehrmacht, simply because of the uniforms that they wore, when they could have risen and overpowered a few soldiers in moments; just as civilians even now suffered beneath dictatorships in so many countries, or cowered in apartments afraid to step out onto streets ruled by gangs, so the citizenry continued to fail to realize that it was their own inability to
unite
that kept them in chains. Hitler could never have reached power without the complicity of ordinary Germans; gangs of street thugs would be crushed in days by the might of the citizens living in houses across every city on earth; dictators would fall easily were the people, including the military, to form a true alliance of peace. Kruger knew that the Defense Intelligence Agency presented little threat to Majestic Twelve. He was more concerned with events like the Arab Spring where truly courageous, ordinary people had risen up and overthrown dictators like Muammar Gaddafi.

‘We must choose our twelfth member,’ Kruger said to his companions. ‘For too long we have been without a full compliment, and Victor Wilms is now either dead or in the hands of the Defense Intelligence Agency. If that is so, he may very well remain beyond our reach.’

‘And able to turn on us,’ said another of the men. ‘And of course, you have not yet even mentioned Aaron Mitchell.’

Kruger shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Mitchell, once their most talented assassin, had performed a remarkable
volte face
and become perhaps their most feared foe. His sudden reversal of allegiance was a prime example of one individual rising up against an oppressor, except that in this case Mitchell knew nothing of Majestic Twelve’s true intentions and thus was motivated purely by revenge, in itself a powerful threat.

‘Mitchell’s whereabouts are unknown, and as far as we are aware he has no knowledge of our identities.’

‘As far as we’re aware,’ a British man named Hampton echoed. He sat bolt upright in his seat, his hands resting on an ornate cane that he used more for show than anything else, the former Etonian as spritely as any man half his age and his clean jaw adorned with a broad, silvery moustache. ‘As far as we were aware it was impossible for a man to escape from a security max prison, but Mitchell achieved it. What else are we
aware of
that might also be incorrect, Samuel?’

‘A great many things,’ Kruger admitted, ‘but we are neither omnipresent nor omniscient. Mitchell has chosen his path and sooner or later it will bring him to us. When it does, we will be prepared to eliminate the threat that he represents and continue with our work.’

‘And what about the Defense Intelligence Agency?’ asked another. ‘They have clearly made it their policy to hunt us down and to expose Majestic Twelve. Until now it has been a tolerable threat but we now face greater issues. What are we to do about Nellis’s team?’

Kruger examined his hands for a moment as he thought about the consequences of the DIA’s mission to expose the cabal. As his colleague had said, the DIA had been directly responsible for obstructing a number of MJ–12 campaigns, but at the same time they had failed also in many others, technology concealed from the American government that could otherwise have changed the face of humanity, at great financial cost to the cabal.

But now things had changed. An expedition to the Antarctic had resulted in the loss of a DIA agent’s life, and somehow that had created a personal vendetta of sorts. Kruger was well aware of the identities of the team’s members: Ethan Warner, Nicola Lopez, Douglas Jarvis and others, all apparently hell–bent on bringing the cabal down when they didn’t really have even the vaguest understanding of what Majestic Twelve represented, what its true mission was and had been for decades: some would say, centuries.

‘The DIA are operating with the consent of the current administration, although that in itself is of course a temporary measure for them and could change at the next election. However, I believe we share the view that leaving such measures to chance is never a wise course of action. The DIA’s mission to expose us has already cost the life of the Director of the FBI, and that in itself may seed caution in the minds of those who would stand against us.’

‘It also handed them Victor Wilms on a plate,’ said one of the men. ‘There are too many loose ends Samuel, too many problems to be resolved individually. We must strike boldly to prevent us losing control of the situation any further.’

Kruger was about to reply when his cell phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. To be contacted by his assistants during one of the cabal’s rare meetings would require a seismic event and he looked at his cell immediately. As he read the simple message there, he felt the first twinge of dread creep like insects beneath his skin.

‘What is it?’ asked the man named Felix.

Kruger slipped the cell back into his pocket as he replied. ‘Victor Wilms is dead. Local media have reported an incident inside the prison walls, but our contact has confided that Wilms was killed by a sniper’s rifle from at least one mile away.’

A gust of discontented sighs drifted among them as the old British Etonian replied.

‘That’s it, Samuel. Enough is enough.’

‘I agree,’ Kruger replied. ‘We cannot afford to take the chance that the next administration will share the same sympathies as the incumbent president. I have placed a team on stand by and they are merely awaiting the command to carry out my order: I have instructed their leader to enact the Extinction Code.’

A deep silence weighed heavily in the room as Kruger judged the reactions of his companions. They were all men of the world, well educated, of proven financial power and success, but those same traits also denied them the experience of the man on the street, the perspective of the ordinary citizen upon whose inadvertent allegiance all men of power relied.

‘We have tried this before,’ said one of the men. ‘Dwight Oppenheimer made a play to pull the plug on civilization and he ended up dead. We’re nothing without the masses, if only they knew it.’

‘Again, I agree,’ Kruger replied, ‘that is why, unlike Oppenheimer’s broad–brush and clumsy attempt at a worldwide epidemic, this will instead be a precision strike.’

‘How?’ demanded another. ‘Are you suggesting a false–flag nuclear war option of some kind?’

‘No,’ Kruger replied. ‘It has come to light recently that a new perspective on all living species has revealed a means to eliminate life by the flick of a switch, biologically speaking.’

‘And this Extinction Code, it is already in place?’ asked one of the youngest men in the cabal. ‘It has been tested?’

‘It is seeing a limited trial in Madagascar,’ Kruger replied. ‘The man behind it wishes to meet us, to discuss his terms.’

‘And the DIA?’ asked another. ‘If we embark on another campaign now they will be sure to obstruct us, as will Mitchell. We cannot afford to move publicly for fear of an arrest or even an assassination.’

‘The Extinction Code I refer to covers two plans of action,’ Kruger explained. ‘The first is localized and directed at the employees of the Defense Intelligence Agency. If we are all in agreement, I will put it into motion immediately.’

The cabal members all raised a hand in favor, and Kruger nodded.

‘So be it. The second plan of action is global and under the control of a man whose opinions and ideas I think that we should listen to. He has been in touch and would like to meet us in Dubai.’

The members of Majestic Twelve looked at each other for a moment, and then they all turned back to Kruger. ‘Who is this man?’

***

X

DIA Headquarters

Washington DC

‘You’re sure it was Mitchell?

Ethan and Lopez walked into Hellerman’s office, Jarvis and the scientist waiting there for them.

‘No doubt about it,’ Ethan replied. ‘He even left us a nice little note.’

‘Then it’s started,’ Jarvis said. ‘Mitchell’s likely developed a plan to hit them all, one after the other, and they’ll start running as soon as they hear about what happened to Wilms.’

‘Can’t we keep it under wraps for a bit longer?’ Lopez asked.

‘Unfortunately not,’ Jarvis explained. ‘There was a media team inside the prison doing a documentary for state television. They’ve agreed not to broadcast the footage of what happened, but the word’s out already that a man died in Florence ACX after a shooting incident. Majestic Twelve won’t have missed the event.’