He’d had every intention of recording the meeting, asked or not.
“Tracy,” Wolfe said. “Take notes.”
Tracy was ready with his clipboard and pen.
“Mine is a three-point plan,” Kriegel said, “which plan, byway of stating our goal, I shall describe to you somewhat backward.
“Our goal is to drive the people from Miami.”
“What people?” Wolfe looked down at the map as if it offered information other than the names of roads. “Why Miami?”
Kriegel asked, “Haven’t you ever heard Miami referred to as ‘the capital of Latin America’?”
Clearly Wolfe hadn’t. “It’s a mighty sprawly city.”
“Nearly all the people in it are aliens,” Kriegel asserted.
“Aliens?” Tracy looked at the map, willing to see aliens.
“How do you intend to attack Miami?” Wolfe asked.
“First, by Intelligence,” Kriegel answered. “Then by Sabotage. Only then by Force.”
“You mean to capture Miami?” Wolfe asked.
“Oh, yes,” Kriegel answered simply.
“Capture and hold it?”
“Why not? You’re thinking of the armed might of the Zionist government of the United States, aren’t you?”
“I am giving it some thought, yes.”
“Once we have captured Miami,” Kriegel said, “the area will be flooded by white Americans eager to cast off the yoke of democracy, equality, and all that crap. We will fill up Florida like a boot. Our population will flood up the coast and west even as far as Texas, Colorado, and Nevada. Miami will be our capital.”
“Nice climate,” Jack commented.
Wolfe said, “You think big.”
“We will do this,” Kriegel promised. “And we will do this within three years.”
“But how? Where do we get the manpower?”
“Your organizations in this country report to me thirty thousand registered members. And I, at this moment, command half the prison population in the United States. Have you any idea how many men that is?”
Jack said, “Lots.”
“Besides, we are getting increasing numbers of followers among our student populations, our other unemployed … Oh, yes, we have the manpower, if we attract them, train them, and use them correctly. What we need are more and more training camps set up, using this marvelous Camp Orania you have established, Commandant Wolfe, as a model.” Wolfe tugged his shirtfront down and squared his shoulders. “Oh, yes, Commandant Wolfe,” Kriegel said, “I see you becoming an increasingly important figure in this movement.”
Tracy, glaring, grimaced at Jack.
“Intelligence.” Kriegel looked at the road map of Miami. “We need to know where the electrical power grids are that service Miami. How to turn the city’s water off. Sabotage the sewers. Sabotage the main bridges to the city to blow them up at the appropriate moment.”
“There’s the sea,” Wolfe said, studying the map diligently. “The ocean.”
“Yes.” Kriegel brushed that corner of the Atlantic Ocean with the back of his hand. “I expect the aliens to escape by sea. Back to Latin America. And New York.”
“But they can ship food and water, troops into Miami by sea,” Wolfe pointed out.
“There won’t be time.”
“Sir?” Tracy asked. “How can we attack Miami if we’ve already blown up the bridges ourselves?”
“That’s the charm of the idea,” Kriegel admitted. “Have you ever heard of a fifth column? The Trojan horse? Our troops will already be in the city. After the power and water are off thirty-six hours, first we seize the airport. And then our troops will proceed block by block, driving the aliens toward the sea.”
“Phew!” Jack said. “They will drive the aliens toward the sea!”
“There won’t be enough ships to take all the aliens away,” Tracy said.
“Then we drive the aliens into the sea.”
“Drive the aliens into the sea,” Jack repeated.
Wolfe asked his son, “Are you getting all this down, Tracy?”
“Oh, yes, sir.”
Wolfe sat back. “Seems simple enough. Tell me, Commandant Kriegeclass="underline" how do we get the money for all this, for all the training we will need to do?”
“Lots of little Miamis,” Kriegel said. “We shall establish a model. Within six weeks, I should think, after you train your men for this specific task, Commandant Wolfe, we will take just the men you have here—having chosen a small, fairly isolated city, in the Southwest, South, Midwest, West, it doesn’t matter—gather intelligence on it, turn off its power and water, attack it in force, and liberate from that town’s banks and other businesses what I think you Americans call ‘cash money.’ Millions and millions of dollars of cash money.”
“Ummm.” Wolfe studied the matter. “Plundering. I like that idea. Will we try to hold these small cities?”
“No,” Kriegel said. “Just plunder them. You’ll strike without warning, lock their police and other tiny town tyrants in their own jails, and make off, overnight, with every bit of cash and other valuables you can find.”
Wolfe slapped the table with the palm of his hand. “Excellent! I’m with you!”
“The rest of my plan concerns you and me, my dear Commandant Wolfe!”
“Don’t you ‘my dear’ me,” Wolfe said quietly.
“I intend to make my headquarters here, in this encampment, to which I have given the name Camp Orania.”
“You are most welcome.”
“Immediately, using whatever resources you have available, I shall need a handsome house built here for myself and personal staff. Large and beautifully furnished. And air-conditioned. Complete with swimming pool.”
Wolfe blanched. “Of course.”
“We must have the prestige of leadership, you see.”
“Certainly.”
“The membership, as it swells, won’t respect us without. I will need here a praetorian guard, men loyal absolutely to me and my safety. I will need similar domiciles in other parts of the country, with safe and well-planned escape routes out of and into each.”
Wolfe blinked several times.
“Come now,” Kriegel said. “Lieutenant Tracy has given me printouts of greetings from headquarters all over this great country and this great world. You must have my leadership. I insist things be done right. I shall have what I need.”
Wolfe considered this.
Jack said, “Also the helicopters.”
“Yes.” Kriegel said. “Obviously I will need to be transported in and out of these encampments around the country by long-range helicopters.”
“More than one?” Wolfe asked.
Kriegel said, “They have so much downtime.”
“Also he’ll need at least one escort helicopter,” Jack said.
Kriegel laughed. “Not to worry!” He put his hand on Wolfe’s arm. “You see why it is important to put my plans into effect immediately! First thing in the morning you must begin training your men for our first plunder of a small city! To build up respect for us! To build up our membership! To build up our coffers! To give me the freedom to get around, meet with the other commandants, organize, for you to initiate training according to this plan, to work toward our goal!”
“Miami,” Jack said.
Kriegel stood up. “To Miami!”
Tracy jumped up. “To Miami!”
“One last thing,” Kriegel said before leaving the room. “Something must be done about the sanitation of this place. Every time I begin a speech, people throw up. It wasn’t the way the cook cooked. They hung him. It certainly isn’t my speaking. It must be the water.”
“That’s right,” Jack mused. “It must be the water.”
22
“Pardon me, sir. Are you Mister Fletcher?”
“I am.” The young man dressed entirely in white said, “One of our patients, Ms. Faoni, has expressed a wish to meet you. Would you mind?”