The Fusion Cage

XI

Aaron James Mitchell sat in the plush surroundings of a penthouse suite in the Bilderberg Hotel, looking out of the window at the sumptuous grounds as he tried to quell the sense of impending doom enshrouding him. The annual Bilderberg Conference, a three day event which was due to begin the following day, would mark a turning — point in the global obsession with fossil fuels. It was known, but only to those fortunate and powerful enough to be attending, that the future of humanity’s fuel would be decided not by environmental or resource factors but by the whims and requirements of a small handful of the world’s most powerful and wealthy men. The facts would be laid before the Steering Committee of Bilderberg and discussed at length by its members and invitees as a matter of global importance.

Even Aaron could admit to himself that the security of Bilderberg and the sheer influence of its regular attendees virtually premeditated the suspicion of those who regarded the political leaders of their respective countries with contempt. It was only in recent years that lists of the attendees at Bilderberg were even released to the public, and then only in places where those interested knew where to look. Combined with a permanent block on media reporting and the flood of security and secret services operations that surrounded the meetings, it was a marvel to Aaron that the whole world didn’t know about Bilderberg. The methodology of the meetings certainly flew in the face of Aaron’s own opinions on how to apply effective security, such as that surrounding Majestic Twelve. None the less, obscure and unknown the meetings remained, as did the events that took place within. However Aaron, and his close connection with those who both attended and even influenced the meetings themselves, had managed to gleen crumbs of information over the years about what went on within the shadowy corridors of Bilderberg.

At the top of the list of their priorities was economic policies based upon the trade in fossil fuels. Oil, in every form, in every country of the globe, was a concern that dominated most Bilderberg meetings at one point or another. Shell, Exxon, Oppenheimer, OPEC; all of the largest and most powerful petrochemical corporations were represented at Bilderberg, and all of them intensely interested in where oil was going to come from over the next ten, twenty or fifty years.

The great irony, Aaron reflected, was the fact that the vast majority of easily accessible oil in large quantities lay beneath the sands of the Middle East, and no Arab leaders were Bilderberg invitees. Thus, in the face of Arab distrust of the West, of the murderous and mindless hatred of Islamic fundamentalists, did the countries represented by Bilderberg have to discuss how their countries could do business with their unpredictable oil bearing foes in the Middle East. Many ordinary citizens considered the dominance of the fat — cat oil businesses and their continued manipulation of said oil — bearing nations to be the ultimate in oppression and self — serving greed, the pursuit of profit despite the suffering of the Muslim nations’ ordinary people beneath the yoke of their splendour — loving monarchies and dictators. Yet, in fact, the general public had the whole image the wrong way around.

The nations of the West had long possessed the ability to drill oil in places far from the Middle East. Even Russia, now a tentative ally of the West, was possessed of oil reserves vast and plenty. Oil fields were being discovered on a regular basis at greater and greater depths and further afield, even in Antarctica, and only the development of efficient technology prevented the mining of these precious fields. This was without mention of the immense capacity of the science of the West to provide energy from a hundred different alternative sources which, although heavily screened from the public domain, would render the need for oil completely unnecessary. Even electro — magnetic research had shown considerable potential for energy generation, and that at the turn of the 20th Century at the hands of men like Nikola Tesla.

No. The West did not use the Middle East for oil, for oil was not a permanent nor current requirement of the West. It did so because, without this tenuous yet essential link between East and West, the ultimate goal of the Bilderbergs could not be achieved.

The New World Order.

The New World Order had been shaped in the late 1950’s by the earliest Bilderberg meetings. It was not a self — serving plan for global domination, although it was placed largely in the hands of globalised mega — corporations. It was, in Aaron’s opinion, one of the most noble and yet fraught with danger policies that he had ever heard of.

Global unity.

The dream; the Utopian jewel of a global society no longer torn by racial oppression nor religious intolerance. It was the spread of democratic rule, the triumph of trade over war. Already, the steady and inexorable spread of the European Union, absorbing countries beneath its protective umbrella, was the advancement of that dream. The N.A.T.O. alliance had been its birth, a vast cooperating super — army that had allowed the coalition forces to so completely overwhelm Iraq in the early 1990’s. With the military force of the United States at its side, no single country outside the E.U. could hope to stand up to its advance. The New World Order was an advancing of the hope for unity, the bringing of democracy, by choice, to countries hitherto far beyond the reach of the West. But for that policy to be implemented, the populace of the countries involved must be under the control of their respective governments: most people operated in fear of the laws of their governments, but the greatest fear of all political establishments was the people rising up against them, too numerous to put down with words or war. The Arab Spring had been a stark reminder for many leaders that, when pushed too far, the people could coordinate themselves in their millions, and bring down entire governments and armies almost overnight.

The doorbell of Aaron’s suite rang and he roused himself from his thoughts, walked to the hall and pressed a button on a small console set into the wall. A small screen there lit up and Aaron stared into the face of a Bilderberg invitee. He opened the door and the man walked in silently, waiting for Aaron to shut the door before he turned and spoke.

‘What news?’

There was no preamble. The man was older than Aaron, his suit perfectly pressed, not a hair out of place. He would not of course be a member of MJ–12, for to reveal one’s identity was a cardinal sin as far as the cabal was concerned, but clearly he was acting on their behalf. Aaron realized that he was probably sharing a hotel with the entire cabal, with no idea of who they were.

‘The device has been recovered but Stanley Meyer is in the wind, as is his wife and daughter.’

‘No matter,’ the man said. ‘As long as the device is in our hands Stanley Meyer will be unable to distribute it to other people or demonstrate it to potential buyers. He has nowhere that he can go, and as soon as possible will you ensure that a media campaign to further tarnish his reputation is instigated. The less trustworthy Stanley Meyer appears, the less likely it is that anybody will listen to his story.’

‘Will that be enough?’ Aaron asked.

The man shook his head.

‘Not to change the world,’ he replied. ‘The revolution is coming and there is nothing that we can do to stop it, but we don’t need to stop it — only to maintain control. Already, our major corporations are investing in technologies that will change the shape of our world in a matter of decades. Lockheed Martin has recently unveiled a nuclear — fusion generator that fits on the back of a truck and could power thousands of homes. Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in solar power and other renewable energy ventures — when the world’s leading exporter of oil becomes interested in the very things that devalue oil, you know a change is coming.’

‘This is a tide that not even Majestic Twelve can stop,’ Aaron agreed softly. ‘Sooner or later, somebody, somewhere is going to reveal this technology to a wide enough audience to create a shift in the balance of power. Is it not wiser to get ahead of that tide and obtain the rights to the technology before somebody does something stupid and gives it away for free?’

The man laughed, and it seemed as though the effort almost split his jaw.

‘Do you really think that any sensible human being would be able to turn away the opportunity to earn a billion dollars overnight? Everybody has their price.’

‘Stanley Meyer didn’t,’ Aaron pointed out.

‘I said sensible human being,’ the man replied. ‘Stanley Meyer is an idiot. He could be relaxing on a beach on his own private island by now instead of hiding in the gutters of God knows where. He will be found, eventually, and when he is he will have nothing. I will make it my personal mission to ensure that he ends up destitute for the rest of his life without a dime to his name.’

Aaron nodded quietly as he pictured in his mind the old inventor shivering on a street corner in Detroit’s south side, babbling about a conspiracy to deny the world free energy. The perfect foil, a man reduced to such a meagre state that nobody would believe him.

‘I need to know what measures I may use to ensure that this stays under wraps,’ Aaron said finally. ‘If I locate Stanley Meyer, do you wish me to further make offers on your behalf, or should we simply dispose of the problem?’

The man stared out of the windows across the park outside for a long moment before he replied.

‘Make offers if you can,’ he said finally. ‘We don’t want to make more mess than we have to, agreed?’

‘Agreed,’ Aaron Mitchell replied, not without a flutter of mild relief as he stood. Murder was tough, especially when the target was a man who was clearly attempting to do the right thing with an altruism that would in other circumstances have earned him a Nobel Prize.

‘Resources?’

‘Continue to operate beneath the auspices of Seavers Incorporated, and allow them to supply any paramilitary or mercenary forces that you require. If law enforcement gets onto the case, the trail will lead to Huck Seavers rather than us. Ensure that you vanish as soon as the task at hand is complete.’

Aaron turned and walked for the door, opening it and exiting onto the corridor outside, his footfalls silent on a thickly carpeted floor. A man in a grey suit awaited him, an earpiece microphone and designer shades partially concealing his features. The hard line of his jaw and the short cut to his hair betrayed him as a former military man, the agent falling into step alongside Aaron as he walked.

‘Get me everything on Stanley Meyer,’ Aaron ordered without preamble, ‘and his family. We have limited time and they must be found, is that clear?’

‘Yes sir,’ the agent replied and hurried away ahead of Aaron.