anyway.” He turned to the man in a white suit. “Blair, who is your best overall program management guy, one who can handle difficult people and is well respected within the company?”
“For protection services, that’ll be Bob Johnson,” replied Blair. “He’s done some difficult projects for us.”
“OK, I’ve met him. Put any resources he needs at his disposal. And Nancy, you provide any surveillance assistance that Bob will require. This will be our priority one project.”
“But why, Erik? Why are we taking this risk?” Nancy shook her head in puzzlement.
Erik jumped up, walked back and forth impatiently, turned to his listeners with a pained expression:
“Look, it’s not just about FreedomShield! This country is on the wrong track! We all know it! We all want someone like John Dimon to come in and get us back on the right path!” – punching the air with his index finger – “This is our chance to help make this happen. We’ll get paid well in the process and, if Dimon wins as we all expect him to – he is far ahead in the polls now – we are golden!”
Erik calmed down, sat back at the table, smiled:
“OK, time’s a-wasting. Let’s get back to work. Blair, come back with Bob Johnson once you get him.”
As the visitors were leaving, Erik called out to Dean:
“Dean, hold on a minute. Close the door.”
Dean shut the door after the other two and turned back:
“Yes?”
“Dean, I’ll need you to set up a few special project accounts. Give them some unrelated names.”
“Why?”
“Most of the payments will not be coming from the Dimon’s campaign. There is no reason to risk disclosure on how much we’ll be getting paid for this. I want you to handle this personally, don’t delegate.”
Dean pulled a handkerchief out, wiped beads of sweat off his now even redder face, sighed uneasily:
“OK, Erik.”
The younger man turned back to the window, signaling that the conversation is over. Dean began leaving, hesitated:
“Erik?”
“Yes, Dean?” a hint of irritation.
“What if Dimon loses? We’ll burn our bridges in Washington...”
Dean left the phrase hanging in the air, as to emphasize the gravity of the decision.
Erik looked at the other man a few moments longer than necessary:
“Well, Dean, we better do everything in our power to make sure he wins then... everything."
JUNE 2024
Beijing, China
It was perhaps the most contentious meeting of the Party’s Central Politburo on record. More so than the one five years ago when the financial attack on the U.S. was agreed upon. Usually, this group of twenty-five most powerful people in China came to decisions by consensus. Today, some of the members seemed close to throwing punches.
“We must take decisive action!” pounded the table Wang Hunshan, President of the Central Party School. “Young people are turning away from the Party en masse . They are demonstrating in the streets and openly calling for the end of the Party’s rule. This can’t be allowed to go on!”
“What do you propose, that we send tanks against them again, like we did in 2022 and 1989?” snapped back Sun Yang, Head of the Central Politics and Law Commission. “We’ve been already labeled ‘The Butchers of Beijing,’ should we add to that reputation? The problem is, there are no jobs for many of these people, that’s why they are not content!”
“The problem is jobs,” agreed Li Zhang, the Party Chief of Shanghai. “Appreciation of renminbi and widespread use of robotics made our labor – and our products – less competitive. Even the Americans are now able to undercut our manufacturing costs. We spent enormous resources to undermine the US dollar, just to see our renminbi being sabotaged by digital currencies that people use to smuggle money out of the country. The pride of our achievements in 2022 gave way to disappointment. And the Americans, after the initial surprise, are gathering strength. Some of their
“For protection services, that’ll be Bob Johnson,” replied Blair. “He’s done some difficult projects for us.”
“OK, I’ve met him. Put any resources he needs at his disposal. And Nancy, you provide any surveillance assistance that Bob will require. This will be our priority one project.”
“But why, Erik? Why are we taking this risk?” Nancy shook her head in puzzlement.
Erik jumped up, walked back and forth impatiently, turned to his listeners with a pained expression:
“Look, it’s not just about FreedomShield! This country is on the wrong track! We all know it! We all want someone like John Dimon to come in and get us back on the right path!” – punching the air with his index finger – “This is our chance to help make this happen. We’ll get paid well in the process and, if Dimon wins as we all expect him to – he is far ahead in the polls now – we are golden!”
Erik calmed down, sat back at the table, smiled:
“OK, time’s a-wasting. Let’s get back to work. Blair, come back with Bob Johnson once you get him.”
As the visitors were leaving, Erik called out to Dean:
“Dean, hold on a minute. Close the door.”
Dean shut the door after the other two and turned back:
“Yes?”
“Dean, I’ll need you to set up a few special project accounts. Give them some unrelated names.”
“Why?”
“Most of the payments will not be coming from the Dimon’s campaign. There is no reason to risk disclosure on how much we’ll be getting paid for this. I want you to handle this personally, don’t delegate.”
Dean pulled a handkerchief out, wiped beads of sweat off his now even redder face, sighed uneasily:
“OK, Erik.”
The younger man turned back to the window, signaling that the conversation is over. Dean began leaving, hesitated:
“Erik?”
“Yes, Dean?” a hint of irritation.
“What if Dimon loses? We’ll burn our bridges in Washington...”
Dean left the phrase hanging in the air, as to emphasize the gravity of the decision.
Erik looked at the other man a few moments longer than necessary:
“Well, Dean, we better do everything in our power to make sure he wins then... everything."
JUNE 2024
Beijing, China
It was perhaps the most contentious meeting of the Party’s Central Politburo on record. More so than the one five years ago when the financial attack on the U.S. was agreed upon. Usually, this group of twenty-five most powerful people in China came to decisions by consensus. Today, some of the members seemed close to throwing punches.
“We must take decisive action!” pounded the table Wang Hunshan, President of the Central Party School. “Young people are turning away from the Party en masse . They are demonstrating in the streets and openly calling for the end of the Party’s rule. This can’t be allowed to go on!”
“What do you propose, that we send tanks against them again, like we did in 2022 and 1989?” snapped back Sun Yang, Head of the Central Politics and Law Commission. “We’ve been already labeled ‘The Butchers of Beijing,’ should we add to that reputation? The problem is, there are no jobs for many of these people, that’s why they are not content!”
“The problem is jobs,” agreed Li Zhang, the Party Chief of Shanghai. “Appreciation of renminbi and widespread use of robotics made our labor – and our products – less competitive. Even the Americans are now able to undercut our manufacturing costs. We spent enormous resources to undermine the US dollar, just to see our renminbi being sabotaged by digital currencies that people use to smuggle money out of the country. The pride of our achievements in 2022 gave way to disappointment. And the Americans, after the initial surprise, are gathering strength. Some of their
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