I lay next to her in bed, our legs intertwined, her delicate head resting on my chest. We were always close, physically. We loved the touch of each other's skin and both of us could not sleep without some kind of physical contact - a hand, a leg, a foot, an arm... It served to enhance the tie that we felt for each other, comforting, warm, and peaceful. When I had to go out of town on business trips I missed her terribly. My heart literally ached, full of the sweet longing for her and her closeness.
So here she was, and all was right with the world.
For the moment.
"Will you please, please tell me what's going on, Janice?" I pleaded. She'd been evasive for the past couple of days, saying she didn't understand everything herself. She'd spent a lot of time with Rick, talking and discovering for herself what was going on.
Our quarters had been changed. We were now in a suite of rooms, with our own bathroom and even a small kitchen. The children were in their own, but connected, room not far from where we currently lay. The bed was bigger than we were used to, but comfortable. And everything we needed or wanted was provided almost instantly. Bearing plenipotentiary power certainly has it's perquisites...
She began hesitatingly, speaking of her childhood. She'd told me a little, of course, of what she'd experienced while she was growing up. But I'd never heard most of it, and certainly like this. When she spoke of her education, training, and - there was no other way to say it - indoctrination, she became distant and cold. She spoke of education that was at once academic, but also was secret and manipulative. She talked of physical training that was as rigorous as many special forces trainings I'd heard of. And the indoctrination she'd received into the inner machinations of the team were thorough and complete.
Needless to say, I was stunned.
When she related to me her position in the team, and really, the world, I was even more shocked. How could such an organization exist in the world? I wondered. Most of the dictators, autocrats, and even "democratically" elected officials on the world are either in the team or being directly controlled by the team. It seemed more than I could handle.
So here she was, and all was right with the world.
For the moment.
"Will you please, please tell me what's going on, Janice?" I pleaded. She'd been evasive for the past couple of days, saying she didn't understand everything herself. She'd spent a lot of time with Rick, talking and discovering for herself what was going on.
Our quarters had been changed. We were now in a suite of rooms, with our own bathroom and even a small kitchen. The children were in their own, but connected, room not far from where we currently lay. The bed was bigger than we were used to, but comfortable. And everything we needed or wanted was provided almost instantly. Bearing plenipotentiary power certainly has it's perquisites...
She began hesitatingly, speaking of her childhood. She'd told me a little, of course, of what she'd experienced while she was growing up. But I'd never heard most of it, and certainly like this. When she spoke of her education, training, and - there was no other way to say it - indoctrination, she became distant and cold. She spoke of education that was at once academic, but also was secret and manipulative. She talked of physical training that was as rigorous as many special forces trainings I'd heard of. And the indoctrination she'd received into the inner machinations of the team were thorough and complete.
Needless to say, I was stunned.
When she related to me her position in the team, and really, the world, I was even more shocked. How could such an organization exist in the world? I wondered. Most of the dictators, autocrats, and even "democratically" elected officials on the world are either in the team or being directly controlled by the team. It seemed more than I could handle.
But the fun mental exercises were just beginning.
Janice went on to explain to me what the purpose of the compound we were living in was. She spoke of the vast inequities in the world, the greatest disparities stemming from the control of the military and the political will to use that control. Those who control the military also control the modes of production and transportation of life-giving and sustaining supplies: medical, food, etc. So whomever controlled the military really controlled the community.
"Think of the billions who exist in the world, ignorant and benighted, because they do not have access to the food, medical supplies, transportation options, and education that they need. They spend all of their days grubbing for food, subsisting on the equivalent of a dollar a day - and most often on two or fewer meager meals per day. Think of the environmental toll on the world as these people look for fuel for their cooking fires, as they deposit their wastes in unhealthy locations, as they remove forests to expand their farming ability," she said. "Think further of the wealth that we have here, the ease of access to food, transportation, and education. Think of what WE are doing to the environment, too..."
She knew this was a sore spot for me, knew that it would get my ire up... She was sincere, but I was also beginning to feel manipulated. She was speaking with a kind of fire and passion I'd never seen in her, an intensity I'd never seen before in anyone. It made me uncomfortable, which was something I'd never felt from Janice before...
She explained how these rooms had been created. A member of the team discovered a new solvent that would dissolve just about anything. It had a particular affinity for silicone, and sandstone is made almost entirely of quartz, which is made up of silicone and oxygen. It also worked extremely well on organic compounds and petroleum-based products, such as nylon. In fact, the only things it did not dissolve were tin, silver, mercury, platinum, gold, and other soft metals. The solvent had been used on sandstone in the southern Utah desert to hollow out a place for storing nuclear waste. It turns out that quartz, because it is relatively inert, is an amazing buffer for storing nuclear material. And because the solvent is so effective at creating these spaces efficiently and with no residual health or environmental impacts, it seemed like a good thing all the way around. She said that these rooms had been made in an adjacent cavern to those storage facilities. The polishing was a natural result of the solvent process, and the round, spherical shape was chosen simply for convenience. The rust color stemmed from the iron remnants left in the sandstone as it dissolved, staining the adjacent stone a darker hue than it was originally.
"Tomorrow," Janice said, "I am going on a tour of the facilities here. Would you like to come along?"
"Yes, very much," I replied.
"Good. My father will be here to show us around. He will answer any of our questions then."
We drifted off to sleep, hers a little more contented than mine. I still felt like I only knew a very small part of what was going on.
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