Chapter 33
Since finding the encrypted file (or files, since there were a couple of them), I had set my cracking program on one of them. Thirty-six hours, and still nothing. I had every confidence in my program, though. It had gotten me into a lot of computers, including the CIA, FBI, all branches of the military, and most other organizations that interested me over the past couple years.
I had informed my office I was going to be away, again, for an unknown amount of time. I had already set up an account for myself to use when I was 'time diving' in the 'close to the present' past.
What I wanted to do was go and find the most remote, hard to get to place that I could buy, and build a very private retreat there. I had watched a documentary on TV once, about a hotel that was accessible by railroad or boat, or copter, but no road.
I wanted something like that. I wanted it very private, and so difficult to get to, that the average person would not even know it existed, let alone be able to gain any access to it. There were two areas that had what I wanted. Canada, and Alaska. South America had a number of them as well, but I wanted a stable government. Stability, and law and order are NOT common commodities in most South American countries.
As I thought about it, I realized it would not be hard to get a fake ID issued to me, and buy the property in that particular name. After all, I had access to all the right computers. I grinned at the thought of the state and federal governments who were about to issue me a brand new identity.
First, I would need a birth certificate, and then I would need a driver's license, a social security number in that name, yes, this was all fairly straight forward. I would not be buying this property in Alaska, the new identity I was creating would be buying it.
The birth certificate was easy. I went to the local hospital, and 'time dived' to the past, about a year off from my actual birth. Then while in the 'between' I watched as several birth certificates were made, and I stole a blank, filled it out, and returned it to the pile to be filed. Good, one legitimate birth recorded. I then stole the resultant original birth certificate, which was issued and placed in the distribution stack, to go back to the proud parents.
I moved forward in time to when my new persona would be about sixteen years old, and hired a kid to go into the local social security office, and apply for a social security number. I took pains to make sure he understood what he was to say, gave him my newly made birth certificate. I went in with him from the 'between', and watched over him. Mission accomplished.
I had rented an apartment, just so he could give an address to which the social security people would mail my card. They issued a card on the spot, though. I kept the apartment anyway, being sure to put an item into the NTZ from it. It would be a good place to hide if I ever needed one. It was listed under a fake name. Money has a way of greasing the way through a lot of useless paperwork. Ergo, no background check or any pesky snooping was done. First and last months rent, and an additional three months rent up front, proved my solvency enough to forgo that crap.
It took my program forty-six hours, twelve minutes and fourteen seconds to crack the encryption program on Roger Millers file! When my computer signaled me that it had completed the task, I did a little dance. I had actually been starting to worry that someone had created a program that could out-fox mine!
I immediately set my program to working on the second file, but this time I had the key. It opened right up. I chortled to myself. I loved it when things went my way! I opened the first file. I whistled as I read it.
It contained thousands of names, their work in life, and their position on the 'council'. I had only touched the very tip of a very deep iceberg. Ten minutes of reading names and who they were and where they worked gave me a chill. The 'council' was into everything, at least at a glance. What was even worse, was the title of the document. It was, North American Council Directory.
It contained the names of people in the US and Canada who were members of the 'council'. There was a hierarchy within the 'council', also. There was a 'basic member' level, which seemed to be the initial recruit. There was an active grooming of them for a possible climb within the 'council'.
The next step was called an 'active member'. Then came positions in the Political, Security, Enforcement, Finance and Transportation branches. Finally, there were the directors, the executive level. Roger Miller was listed as Director of Enforcement, United States. There were six directors, altogether.
One name caught my eye, simply because a recent exposé had been done on him. He was a congressman, and he was the supposed golden haired boy for the Democratic Party. He was also a director on the 'council'. He was at the highest level in that organization.
He was also on the several important committees, and had even met with the president on several occasions. Speaking of the president, one of his cabinet members was on the 'council' but at a lower level. He was at the active member level, which meant he worked specifically for the 'councils' wants and wishes. There was also a subheading with one name and a country and a phone number next to it. The titles were as follows:
Directorate France: contact, then the name and number. Directorate England: contact, then the name and number. Directorate Spain: contact, then the name and number.
This went on for nine different countries! My god, these people were everywhere!
I closed that file and opened the second one. It was much shorter. It contained two lists. One was a watch list, the other was a resolved list. My name appeared on the list of those to be watched!
The other list contained names and dates marked, resolved. I was trying to figure out exactly that meant, when I ran across a name on this list, a name I knew for a fact that belonged to someone who had died just a month ago! Right next to his name, was the date of his death, marked as resolved. This gave me an even bigger chill than the other file did!
These people were insane! If what I was reading was true, and I was interpreting it correctly, the 'council directors' ordered deaths, and someone, the enforcement arm, carried them out!
I sat back and thought. I needed more information. I could leak this to the press, but that might endanger prosecutions at a later date, if they were warranted. I knew how publicity seemed to work against the government's case for some reason.
It also made me want to improve my security and investigation company, to include my own enforcement arm. I had to get this information to the right people in the government, but another look at the first list showed that the federal government was knee deep with infiltration from the 'council'!
Everywhere I turned, there were 'council' members in places that needed to be informed about the 'council'. I had a sneaking suspicion that any evidence I turned over might get lost somehow. Not to mention me going from a 'watch' list to a 'resolved' list. I grinned, but it was a grin of "gotcha!"
No, I definitely needed a clandestine force to do the same work the 'council's' enforcement arm was doing. I could not trust my local police or the federal authorities, as the very agencies I had to notify to get the ball rolling, had a lot of the same people in it whom they were going to have to prosecute or take action against. It was a mess.
This is not to say the whole government was corrupt. I had learned over time that this 'council' thought itself above the law, and I knew it would not hesitate to take me out if they considered me a threat. I was already on their "watch" list after all.
I did a 'time dive' and started looking for places to buy via the internet. I found three likely spots in Canada, and two in Alaska. All were lonely places, and hard to get to. A warning was attached to them, stating that you would be snow bound for part of the year.
The one I looked at the hardest, was a lodge style place. A company had built it, hoping to cash in on people wanting to 'rough it', and see the Alaskan wilderness. It was a two-story building with ten bedrooms, five bathrooms, a kitchen, a huge living room with a large fireplace, a wrap around veranda, and a game room. It sat on a lake. There were also three small cabins with just a bed, lights, and a communal outhouse for the really brave located on the property. It was on one thousand acres of beautiful wilderness!
It had its own water source, and sewage disposal. Electric power was supplied by a small hydroelectric generating station. They had an emergency back up generator, that had a one months supply of fuel on hand at all times. It was perfect, except they wanted too much money for it.
I returned to my own time, and did some serious thinking. Ok, I could definitely hide out under my new id, but did I want to run? What if I ignored the 'council'? Would they ignore me?
No. The 'council' had to be brought under control and exposed for what it was. I looked through more files that I had downloaded, and came across an interesting one! It was the origin and history of the 'council'! I read it avidly.
It had been started just before the Civil War. A few of the big businessmen got together to discuss the way the federal government was moving towards finding ways to strip people of money. Then, after the war began, a new concept was brought forth. It was called "income tax".
This group was upset with the whole idea, as it went against the very idea of a 'free' America! So they got together to fight the government's high handed methods. They pledged to finance the political campaigns of people of like mind, and fight to get others thrown out of office.
What followed was an interesting list of 'Whose Who', from back then! I sat back and read some of those names again. Ok, these were the big industrial movers and shakers of America from over a hundred years ago.
I could not imagine these people trying to take control of the government by violent means. So that had to be a fairly recent decision in the history of the organization. I already knew they had taken part in the Kennedy assassination. They probably orchestrated the whole thing.
So exactly when did they go from just a group of men belonging to a type of club, to activists willing to commit murder in the name of their cause? We already had large groups that the people could join, called political parties.
While I did not always agree with those in politics, it was the price one paid for a free society. This 'council' was bent on shaping the country in the way THEY thought the country should be run. They were also willing to kill anyone who stood in their way!
I needed help, and I needed advice. I was still pissed at my own government for its high-handed attempt at controlling me, and "putting me away, for my own safety". It had been a thinly disguised way of turning me into a slave.
Despite my government's assurance that they would stop bothering me now that I had agreed to work for them, they were still trying to keep me under surveillance. The last attempt was trying to get a homing device placed on my car.
I thought about whom I might trust, and the name John Avery-Smythe came to mind. What was it about his family that seemed to draw me? Ever since I had observed that revolutionary battle and watched a wounded and confused captain Avery-Smythe crawl off to die, I seemed to interact with that family a lot!
I thought furiously. If I made reservations for a flight to London, I knew the government would know instantly. Would they stop me? Or try to? I didn't really know, and I didn't want to find out.
I grabbed several thousand dollars in cash out of my safe, and packed a small bag with several changes of clothing. I grabbed the video I had made of the Kennedy assassination, the same one I had shown to Rachael. I put all I had on the 'council' onto my fairly new laptop computer, and put it into my bag, also.
I was not going to risk a call to lord Avery-Smythe. That, too, would alert my government. I first wanted to do a little checking on the lord. I had a gut instinct concerning him. I trusted this man in a way I did not trust anyone else; at least, not since my parents' deaths. Still, a little prudent checking would do no one harm.
I did a final check through the house. I informed my security that I would be gone a few days. I got into my car and drove to a long term parking garage that I knew of, outside of Boston. I looked at my watch.
It was 4:30PM. That would make it about 10:30PM at night in London. Perfect! I just wished I had taken the time to infiltrate the British computer systems. I should have thought about an ID for that country. Ah, well. Perhaps I could rectify that on this trip. Since I was now storing my software programs in the NTZ, I had easy access to them from anywhere in the world. I took a deep breath, and stepped forward through the NTZ, into England.
Edited by TeNderLoin