Finding Power – Part II

By Daniel J Arthur

Chapter 9

Make Space, Bellevue, WA, 7:00 AM Mid-summer

Daan was waking to his alarm. He hated to have an alarm, but they were very helpful for some things, and catching an airplane was one of those. He slowly got up and made his way to the restroom to clean up. He wasn’t late, but he liked to be early. It kept his mind and body relaxed, so that he could continue streaming forward.

Today was the start of something more uncertain, possibly dangerous. He had decided it was time to support people in less well to do places on the planet. The first five new make space places, he called them that with a TIGR – The Investment Group Resources, as part of the name. Jeff was available but no longer a regular presence. Daan was reporting to a guy named Justin, who he hadn’t met, but seemed cool enough. Today he was heading to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Enough said. Tough. Dangerous. Important.

He headed out to the light rail station, used his Orca card to pay and got on a train. It was a nice day by Puget Sound standards with a good number of clouds and gentle warming from a cool night. Daan was relaxed and thinking about his date with Tammie. After much ado thinking she was the one, before he had even met her, now he thought she was a nice person, pretty but probably not his focus going forward.

He had had that special someone for many years, but they had grown apart. He had sought companionship and found it after several years of trying to master badminton in one of the local clubs. That was something special and they had enjoyed the challenge and exercise from their time on and off the court, but she had become ill and gradually passed on after fighting cancer. It was devastating to Daan. He had been numb for a number of months, and her family had been patient with his recovery. He was lucky Jeff had come along with his present opportunity he mused.

He transferred at the International District, formerly and sometimes known as Chinatown, mainly from Cantonese influence, to the train heading to SeaTac airport. It wasn’t a short ride, but pretty uneventful and easy as he only had a fairly light backpack travel bag, which he was careful not to sling against his fellow travelers. He was looking forward to setting up a new site in a highly stressed area. Daan loved to see people have hope and success from their hope.

Chapter 10

Port-au-Prince later afternoon one day later

It was hot and sticky in the airport, not like the comfortable temperature controlled terminals he was used to in the States. He made his way from the gate through baggage claim, passport control and customs with nothing to declare. He had no problems and was thankful for Jeff’s team’s help in getting his visa and ticketing through Miami. He was to meet a Father Timothy in the ground transportation area.

He didn’t see anyone right away, maybe because their flight had arrived early, and found a chair to wait in. He kind of felt some deja vu. He had been here as a young toddler visiting his aunt and uncle. He didn’t have many memories, but they were positive. He had a good relationship with his caretaker, a young Haitian man, and he remembers drinking water from a Schlitz beer can, because he had thought the can with the brown label was chocolate water.

There were quite a few heavily armed people in the crowd, most of them looked official. Some others not so much. Just then a pretty typical fatherly type of the Catholic order appeared next to him and announced, “I’m Father Timothy, come with me.”

Daan stood and replied, “Hello, I’m Daan, how are you sir?”

“Good, but we best be going. You are definitely on the radar,” Father Tim responded and gently tugged Daan’s offered hand as he turned towards the exit.

“Okay, Father, I’m with you,” Daan said as he hustled after him after he carefully slung his backpack over his shoulders making sure not to hit anyone with the pack or straps.

Father Tim led Daan to a dark sedan waiting curbside, and they got in quickly and were off before he could get his seat belt fastened. They headed out of the terminal area, and then turned left instead of following the signs indicating Port-au-Prince to the right or west.

Father Tim, noticing Daan’s facial expression with scrunched eyebrows said, “We have a slight change of plans, please bear with us.” And, we continued eastward until we approached a hanger and turned into a security gate, were passed through and pulled around the hanger where a private jet sat with its stairs open.

“Let’s go in,” he suggested as he got out of the sedan and waved him towards the awaiting jet.

Daan got out, thanked the driver, and, again, hustled after the very energetic Father Tim, who was entering the private jet. Once aboard they sat across from a handsome dark skinned man that neither had met before.

“My name is Roger,” stated the stranger as he extended a hand to both one at a time, “I think Daan should come with me for now. Father, please quickly disembark as we need to taxi and take off before Jimmy Barbecue’s forces arrive.”

“Okay, take care,” Father Tim said as he jumped up and flew out the door.

“What’s happening?” asked Daan as a flight attendant withdrew the stairs and secured the door.

“Well, I think your childhood experience created a naivete that we need to retreat from,” he responded as he leaned to look out the window towards the hangar.

“Please secure your seat belts,” requested the flight attendant as we could feel the craft lurch and roll away from the hangar.

“Will Father Tim be okay?” Daan asked with concern obvious in his voice.

“Yes, he is accepted by the gang and authorities, but I’m afraid Jimmy thought of you as potential ransom bait, so we flee for now.”

The business class jet lifted off smoothly and headed toward their next destination. Daan asked, “Where are we going, Roger?”

“Well, we are going to land and refuel in Bermuda before continuing on to Inverness. On the way I am going to brief you on your options and then give you more information depending on your choices. Do you have everything you need? We have a restroom and refreshments.”

“No, I’m fine. I guess I’m more interested in what you have to say more than anything. I will be good for awhile.”

“Great,” said Roger as he eased back into his seat facing me, “basically, I have reviewed your background and progress, and it has led me to favor a possible change from Jeff’s original work plan for you. You have been progressing favorably developing new make centers, and the one in Haiti will go forward with more support from Catholic Services for now.”

Roger paused and took a sip from his bottle of water as he studied Daan’s reaction. “I’ve been with the investment group for several years assigned at the discretion of the director or CEO. She asked me to intervene today as she was afraid for your safety and to prevent being blackmailed. We want you to continue in your role as new site development, but we think you could do more for the organization with more training.”

Daan looked out the window and noticed we were leaving the island, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. There would be many miles of ocean between now and Bermuda. He wondered what it was like in Inverness. He doubted he had the right clothing for the weather. But, he wouldn’t worry as he had plenty of money, as the investment group paid him well, including for his last two paintings.

“I know this diversion is a shock to you, but hopefully you are somewhat relieved to have been taken out of harm’s way,” Roger continued, “When we arrive in Inverness you will be on your own for a few days to get food and clothing as well as to just look around. Then, there will be some training. You will be staying in a nice modern apartment with a view of the Loch Ness valley to the southwest, mountains to the west and Moray Firth to the north. It is a gorgeous view. The training center is about a block away in some small warehouse buildings. The Scottish trainers are the best. The husband and wife will help you avoid defeats like what happened at the local Culloden battlefield many years ago.”

“You’re not concerned for my safety there?” Daan asked.

“No, you will fit right in, just like you were in Bellevue again, so only regular safety protocols will be necessary. You will be setting up a make center near downtown, while you are getting the training. I will be around for the first couple of days just as a resource, though I might help you with some training as well. We don’t want you to think you need to be a spy or lethal weapon of some kind. However, we want you to learn how to protect yourself and TIGR. Occasionally that will require being proactive. Unfortunately there are many enemies to doing good in this world. They are jealous of their ability to control and dominate.”

“I can imagine, and not just local thugs like in Haiti.”

“Correct. We actually have a good working relationship with both sides of the law in Haiti, but you were a new unknown that threatened the balance of power. In this case, our most persistent threats could have cared less about the opening of a make center there, as they are blind to the value of Haiti. You were right to want to operate there, and in time you might want to visit what is being developed as we fly.”

“Oh, wow, I guess I have been naive to any threats to what I have been doing. I am aware of the current fascist movement in our time, but I guess this work made me forget about their threat to the planet and humanity.”

“Yes, it is very tricky business these days to try to help people. Profiteers are running many governments and organizations now. They don’t consider anything valuable except pure ledger profits. Not the welfare of people. Not the environment. Not fairness. Nothing that good common sense tells you that needs to be considered. No, they are crazed, and we are doing our best to change the hearts and minds of the crazed.”

Daan added some observation, “I know the type. They tend to believe anyone who is down on their luck must deserve it. So, the robber goes out the door with the goods thinking it serves them right.”

Chapter 11

Cardiff, Cymru 11:00 PM

Tomoe was reaching for a drink, a glass of water, next to their bed. Nat was lying next to her gazing appreciatively her way, as they had just been intimate with one another, a wonderful give and take they have.

“Nat,” Tomoe broke the silence as she often did after their love making, “do you think there was an agent working against Daan in his earlier years? Rachel has found some patterns that seem to link a Catholic operative to two US Senators.”

“It could be, love,” Nat responded with a relaxed air, “I’ve been reviewing your reports, too, and it appears they were desperate to sideline him with serious character assassination efforts. It would have been relatively easy to get the gullible to believe he wasn’t so genuinely benevolent. He was in a mixed race marriage, still looked at as fishy in those days, and he was passionate about fairness. Something many people in the community felt to be a hopeless fantasy.”

“Interesting,” Tomoe observed as she had finished her drink and turned towards Nat with her head on the pillows, “especially that he was able to go through the fire or lion’s den without destruction. I think his childhood helped him not to require the attention and devotion of others, except for his wife and immediate family. It must have been lonely a great deal. I think the very inappropriate sometimes monk and teacher was effective in his character assassination and subversion, but even though he was cleared the cloud was never completely lifted.”

“Yes,” continued Nat, “I’ve been looking at his ancestral heritage, and from what Rachel has found rebuilding his already extensive family tree, he had a large number of very interesting characters. I don’t know if I have heard of so many ancestors with connections to so much history.”

“Well, love, let’s do some more research in the morning on this most ethical and capable operative,” she finished as she tapped off the lights and snuggled closer to him as was their custom.

Chapter 12

Inverness, Scotland Safe house 9:00 AM