3 Torridian   The Trainer 4
wintry weather, the scale of the attacks, and the dynamics of traveling public over the holiday.”
“Exactly. Panic and flight will help communicate the pathogens to not only other cities, but rural areas.”
“Right.” Mr. White looks up at an ornate clock that’s counting down to Y2K. “So, how do we keep all this out of the press?”
“We’ve wagged the dog. Now we wag its tail, Mr. White.”
Mr. White casts his gaze back across the table. “I don’t follow.”
The thirty-one-year-old, athletic woman with chiseled yet feminine features begins to speak as both men turn to her. The distinguished medals on her uniform shimmer beneath the narrow beams of light. “Keep the press focused on a President embroiled in scandal and the threat of the Y2K computer bug.”
“I’m sure that’ll work just fine,” replies Mr. White with more than just a hint of sarcasm before taking a generous sip of his coffee. “Now tell me, how will you eliminate the threat?”
“She can’t this time, Mr. White,” interrupts Rico, without giving the decorated female operative a chance to reply. She glares at Rico, who hits his remote, ending the simulation and the overhead lights begin to brighten again.
Rico continues, “Old school, covert offensives don’t work against a cellular terrorist network. We’ve lost too many agents and eliminated too few targets.”
“How many targets have I failed to eliminate?” objects the operative with a subtle, cold defiance.
Mr. White initially nods with understanding. “You’ve eliminated all of your targets.” He picks up his coffee mug, swishes it, and then sets it back down. “But unfortunately, you’re the exception to Rico’s point. And, now they know who you are. And, the targets include diplomats with immunity.” Fixing his gaze directly at the operative, he finishes, “And, the venues include countries where American operatives conducting any form of espionage or covert activity would cause a firestorm of political fallout and social unrest. I can’t even rule out the destabilization of some of their governments.”
Frustrated by both men’s objections, the operative points to the paperwork in front of them, “Which is exactly why the threats must be eliminated using the methods I’ve taken great care to research and detail, including the addition of a lone, external operative.”
“Too risky and too unorthodox,” objects Rico. “Besides, we’ve already got men with his skill set. Ex-military guys.”
“No. You’re wrong,” she replies in a slow, articulated manner. With inflections of restraint in her voice, she continues, “His are unique. This guy wasn’t trained by our system. He		 doesn’t have our habits, use our methods, or have any other markers that would make him identifiable. And if he’s caught, we can credibly deny any affiliation — he’ll be left to fend for himself. We simply walk away, leaving a media spin similar to the ’63 Oswald scenario — but with far better closure. I’ll see to it myself.”
“For the sake of argument, let’s say that’s all accurate and workable. Can we trust him to do the job?” asks Mr. White.
“Since I’ve taken him under surveillance, I’ve seen him not only hit consistently from the classic, prone position, but he’s consistently accurate when standing and unsupported — even when tracking moving targets. Using our scope and ballistic equipment, his capability will be as lethal as our best…”
“Shooting holes in paper is a far cry from taking out a terrorist. He’s not going to wake up one morning and decide he’s going to trade up hitting bull’s-eyes for human targets. He’s got zero military training — not even civil defense. This is ludicrous! We don’t need this guy. Besides, our men have got incendiaries,” Rico counters.
“They malfunction about 20 percent of the time. We can’t afford that sort of…”
“That’s quite enough.” Tired of the bickering, Mr. White takes one last stab at finding resolution, his voice heavy with years of experience to back his wisdom. “The breadth of analysis you’ve assembled makes one hell of an argument. But for God’s sake, you’re effectively proposing an outsourced operative.”
“You’ve got to keep this guy within six sigma of control spec. He’s not a process. He’s a human being,” adds Rico.
Irritated by the cocky, young intelligence analyst who also happens to be Mr. White’s top technical advisor, she replies condescendingly, “Psychoanalytical control mechanisms too complex for you, Rico?”
As Rico strains to reach distant paperwork, his shadow briefly cuts a dark swath through the blinding white terrain of paperwork. He finds the reference information he’s looking for and points to it. “o.k., yes, on paper it all works. Given his psychological profile, you’ve got a hook into his past that leaves him undeniably vulnerable. But still, you’re proposing control without the safeguards of chemical conditioning agents. It’s control using just emotional conditioning; and that’s practically voodoo magic, not science.”
“It’s as much science as what goes into media manipulation,” she replies, rejecting Rico’s argument. “Look, the public has bought the Y2K bug; ‘are the computers going to keep working after midnight?’ That’s what everyone’s worried about because that’s what we want them to worry about. Is anyone talking

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