“I think so. Are more coming through?” asked Nigel.
Planner interrupted by pointedly looking at his watch, “Ok, thanks. Good luck with the plot details. Sorry, I’ve another appointment. Thanks for your time.”
Bates was surprised when Planner stood up, shook Nigel’s hand and left the room. Bates did the same but at the door, Bates paused and asked Nigel, “So how is this movie story ever going to be discovered? Written notes found in the wreckage? Cockpit voice data recorder?”
“Voice recorder?71 Right. Good one. Must do that. No, the story will be relayed by passengers”, said Nigel. “It’ll be an Orson Wells World-of-the-Worlds-type production. Different viewpoints from people crouching in the isles, in the loos, using their cell phones72.” Nigel used a phone call gesture.
Bates nodded and smiled and continued out the door.
* * * *
Bates and Planner grabbed their Pastrami, Rye and Pickle sandwiches in the canteen and returned back to Planner’s private office.
“So Hollywood? Unimpressed?” said Bates.
“You could say that,” said Planner.
“I was saying that,” said Bates, taking his first bite.
Planner finished chewing and said, “I think we have a disaster on our hands.”
Bates swallowed, “Yes. That’s the idea.”
“We’re developing a byzantine, gothic horror… soap opera of a disaster! It’s not going to be believed,” grumbled Planner and bit into his sandwich again.
“We can scrap the whole Passenger Revolt storyline,” suggested Bates.
“No,” said Planner. “No-one will ever hear about it, just let sleeping dogs lie on that. I guess it’s the Carrot and Stick operation that’s bugged me.”
Planner outlined the earlier discussion he had had, particularly, with Jenny. They decided she was one of the “Psychologists” that had been frequently referenced.
“I’ve just had this vision of Stick Men73,” continued Planner. “Going around bumping off journalists and other do-gooders, by the score, since the back-story just isn’t that strong and just so implausible; it’s going to look so obvious.”
“Well, I presume you’ve seen the computer models, the ones modelling public reaction to BE2?” said Bates.
“The Change Readiness Models74?” said Planner with a laugh. “Changing the political atmosphere? It’s all done with a modicum of science, some statistics, a Cray computer and a lot of wishful thinking,” he said dismissively. “If the storyline is not believed, by say N percent of the population, then with just a few tweaks to the parameters of the model, you’ll get a completely different outcome. In reality, if the story isn’t believed, the only atmosphere that this event will create… is revolution. There could be riots in the streets.”
“I don’t think that is going to happen. That’s very pessimistic: I thought you were a radiator not a drain?75 You’ve said yourself that we don’t have investigative journalists anymore. We’ll be framing the rhetoric.76”
“Maybe. Maybe not,” mused Planner. “It’s not just journalists anymore. There’s academics, scientists… Have you ever looked in any history books lately?”
“People don’t read history books! They watch television,” mocked Bates.
“What about the History channel?” said Planner.
“Only shows world war two,” said Bates sarcastically.
Chapter Nine: Las Vegas
Planner and Bates walked to Operation Las Vegas Office. As for other offices, nothing on the outside revealed what was inside. Just as they were about to go inside, following on from their previous conversation, Bates added another information channel, “And the internet. Don’t forget the internet!”
Planner’s eyes widen with realisation; the internet formed an uncontrolled medium of information dispersal especially compared to newspapers, television and radio where partisan gatekeepers “managed” the news. Planner had not kept with changes in technology; he had toyed with the internet at home over slow dial up lines but the internet was not available at Langley or other CIA offices due to the threat of hacking by foreign intelligence services.
Before Planner thought through the issue, he was being introduced to a stream of new people, all smartly dressed men that headed up the Las Vegas Team. They were code named, Paris, Venice, Sinatra, Casino and Cowboy.
Planner’s mind wandered while Sinatra set up a powerpoint presentation on the construction of the World Trade Center Towers, thinking about the internet and whether that had been factored into the information dispersal parameters of the Change Management Readiness model. So when Sinatra, a good looking, man in his late forties started talking about the towers’ deconstruction, it startled Planner.
Sinatra was saying, “…Dual redundant, fibre optic and wireless controlled detonators attached to the core columns installed during the elevator upgrade77…” when Planner interrupted.
“Can I just stop you there, a moment!” Planner said, attempting to reconstruct the discussion from his distracted short-term memory. “Let me get this straight… we’re planning to blow up the whole of the world trade center?”
Paris replied with a slight French accent, “Naturally. It is the quickest way to clear the site and start regeneration.”
Casino added directly, “The management are in a hurry.”
“For the insurance to pay out, there must be complete destruction,” said Venice with an Italian lilt.
“Insurance? Really!” Bates said unconvinced.
“Two billion dollars78,” Venice explained with understatement. “Some people consider that to be a lot of money.”
“Don’t you think that blowing up the towers might look a bit… odd?” Planner mused.
“No, no, no. This isn’t just any old Las Vegas Hotel destruction; it has been carefully thought out,” Sinatra explained.
“…By experts,” noted Paris.
Sinatra continued smoothly, “We have 3D computer models of how it would look. Advanced models. We can show you… how the aircraft would destroy key columns, the inferno, collapse initiation, everything. Run the video.7980”
A few minutes later, Sinatra ran rough computer model projections of aircraft flying into towers cutting columns and the building collapsing. Sinatra then pointed to a schematic of the North Tower. “When we finally bring the tower down, the floors will be weakened by cutter charges all activated by computer and signalled to cell-phone detonators. Then the top floor will fall. Starting from close to the point of impact. Then the rest of the building will be blown out, straight down. It’ll look like a hammer knocking a nail, all the way to the ground.” Sinatra replayed the video showing the top section falling through the floors.
When the lights came back on, Planner asked, “And both towers will do this?”
“Yes, both towers,” replied Venice. “And the towers fall on the smaller buildings. We need WTC 3, 4, 5 and 6, all destroyed. There is a lot of value there that needs to be lost or destroyed.”
“What needs to be destroyed?” asked Bates
“The Eldorado Task Force for a start!” said Venice.
“And they are?” Bates asked again.
“Their offices are in Building 6. They monitor international bank transfers. We have a lot of money to move, starting September 12th. It would be inconvenient to have it traced,” explained Venice with a sigh. “Now I know what you’re thinking… Collateral Damage. We’re on the case.”
“Go on,” said Planner.
“The towers will stand for one hour,” said Venice. “In which time the majority of the occupants, unfortunately not all, will be able to escape. It has to be just one hour, our fire simulations indicate that the fires will be burning out soon after that, even with the sprinkler system disarmed.”
“So how many people work in the World Trade Center?” said Planner pursing his lips.
“Fifty thousand,” said Vencie, adding quickly, “but… we expect less than 5 % casualties.”