Well, I am working on a novel in my spare time.... here is part of it (orginially in word doc..so spacing is a bit off)
The Assassins Guild
April 13th, 1912, A conversation in a bar in Boston
Young man?s voice ? ?What was the decision??
Old man?s voice ? ?You know the book called Futility??
Young man ? ?Robertson? Then this is going to happen tomorrow I take it??
Old man ? ?Yes, it will happen like the book.?
Young man ? ?I take it we have men on that ship??
Old man ? ?Yes, we will all meet in Cairo in two weeks.?
May 6th 1937, A conversation in a café in Paris
Old woman?s voice ? ?Has the target been set??
Old man?s voice ? ? Yes, It?s an airship from Germany. It will happen when it arrives in New York.?
Old woman ? ?Do you foresee any major impact??
Old man ? ?There?s a high chance that this will end any travel via airship for a long time if not forever.?
Old woman ? ?This is anticipated by many of us and will be beneficial in the future.?
November 20th, 1963, A phone conversation
Old woman?s voice ? ?The decision has been made to go ahead with the plan.?
Old man?s voice ? ?I do not think this is a good plan, but I guess the impact will achieved the goal.?
Old woman ? ?Yes, there were a few who did not want to go thru with this, but with the expected outcome projection, this has to be done.?
Old man ? ?And what about the choice of disinformation??
Old woman ? ?We already came up with a handful of conspiracy theories to use.?
Old man ? ?We?ll discuss this afterwards then.?
Old woman ? ?Right, see you in Toronto.?
October, 30th, 1999 , A phone conversation
Old man?s voice - ?Have you made the proper arrangements??
Young man?s voice - ?Yes, It has been done. The target is Egypt Air.?
Old man - ?Anyone else on the plane that might be of interest??
Young man - ?Yes, a large number of high ranking Egyptian military officers on board.?
Old man - ?Really? Perhaps we can use that as another leaked information then.?
Young man ? ?Yes, the truth doesn?t matter as long as the outcome is the same.?
Chapter 1. Assassins
Assassins may not be the oldest profession in the world, It certainly is an ancient profession that has been around for centuries like the masons. In biblical time, it was King David who arranged to have someone to secretly kill his lover?s husband . Through out history, assassins are mostly remembered with people of wealth and power, but of course most of the time, only the name of the slained are remembered. When an assassin becomes a famous house name, they are probably dead or locked up for the duration of history. There are two types of assassins that can be easily identified, professionals and amateurs. When we use the word amateurs, it simply doesn?t imply their skill is not up to par as professionals. It is just that they don?t do it as a means of living, it is more of a hobby that requires in depth research. In fact, the best assassin in the world today is an amateur. The price of hiring an expert amateur assassin sometimes can not be measure by money alone.
What is assassination anyway? We can usually assume that it is the act of killing someone who does not want to be removed from the society just yet. But the act of killing someone doesn?t imply that one is an assassin. Usually the assassin in question have no grudge against the victim. In addition, the killing is being carried out under someone else?s instruction. This is just one of the definitions of a professional killer. An amateur assassin could also be doing it under someone else?s order but it could just be a project or a moral justification. One thing can be certain in both cases, the victim is probably surprised up to the moment when they come face to face with their would be killer.
With the skills of assassination dating back to even prehistory, naturally there would be thousands of ways to kill another person. It could just simply be a knife to the throat, or causing what appears to be an accident with elaborate plans. It could also be done with utmost mercy using a tasteless pill causing a painless death in the middle of the night, or engineering the sinking of a gigantic cruise ship just to eliminate one person. The reason for assassination is equally diverse. It could be as inane as a childhood grudge, lovers tryst, or even the fate of a kingdom. The price of killing someone runs from a couple pieces of stale bread to even an entire nation; which of course is subjective to the perceived worth of the victim?s life.
The word ?assassin? came from an Islamic sect named ?Hashshashin? around 11th century. They are known for murdering their enemies in secrecy to achieve their own political goals. The legend has it that Hasan, who was the grand master or leader of this sect, has a vast network of devoted members carrying out the killings of generals and politicians. His sphere of influence soon grew from Iran to Syria and South Asia. The phrase ?assassin? was later brought back to Europe by the crusaders where it is generally defined as one who murders a important person either for hire or from fanatical motives. After their power waned around 1250?s when the Mongols and other sultans gradually take over their powerbase.
It is amazing how history can repeat itself even in another land when another similarly famous group appeared around 14th century in Japan. These agents were specially trained in the martial arts and covert operations that their techniques were revolutionary and were closely guarded secret. Due to their exceptional skills, they were treated by the mundane as supernatural beings or one who employs dark magic to achieve their goals.
Skipping to recent times many nations employs similar agents for such roles yet the job of assassinating someone has gradually become something frowned upon by the general public and if you were one of the ?civilized? nations, the mere suggestion of assassinating someone can make you being perceived as no worse than the target.
How did the guild of assassins comes into existence today is a mystery to even many of the elders in the guild. As secrecy is the key, it came as no surprise that the existence of a true guild of assassins is unheard of even for some heads of the state and their own intelligence agency. There are probably less then about fifty members in the guild at any one time. As mentioned earlier, the best assassin in the world who?s an amateur, is also the master of the guild. No one knows how long he?s been the guild master, just that he?s always been the guild master. No one knows the facts surrounding him, there?re just a lot of rumors. For example, there are rumors that he is over 102 years old yet he?s still very active in his profession. It is very hard to tell his age from his appearance as he always used a different disguise in public.
The guild holds a meeting every ten years. This is the year where they induct new members as one of the rule states that each old member is suppose to have a least one replacement when they become inactive(usually caused by death). The process of selecting a member is also quite intricate as that person must be unanimously voted in by all members of the guild and that if invited, that person must accept or be assassinated, specifically by the very person who recommended him in the first place. The view of the guild is that for the mere knowledge you possess of the existence of the guild itself could impede the guild?s own goal.
Chapter 2. The City
Richmond is the capital of Virginia. Being an old city and the former confederacy capital, it is filled with historical tales. On this hot August night, the famed restaurant called ?Mama Zu?s? is packed as always. The place is small yet crammed with people waiting to be seated. A young man that looks about in the mid-30s walked in wearing a black cashmere sweater and carrying a leather briefcase. With a slight annoyed look he try to search for his intended contact in this crowed room. The host approached him and was ready to take his name down on the list as the young man saw his contact sitting behind a group of seven people at the waiting area.
?I?m with him.? says the man tersely to the host, while pointing at the rugged looking old man who happens to see him at the same time.
?Come over here Peter, according to the list, we should be next.? says the rugged old man.
Peter cracks a smile and approach the old man. ?It?s great to see you again.? He says, as he look around the room and in a hushed voice. ?Why did you pick this place??
?The more crowded it is, the less likely people would remember you the next day. Besides, the food is quite good.? Says the old man as he points at the last night?s menu written on a blackboard behind him. ?I recommend the Osso Buco, very tasty.?
?I?ll pass on that, I don?t like lamb.? Peter glances quickly at the board and then back to the old man. ?So why do you want to meet me? And of all the places in the world, this particular city??
?Ah Peter, lets wait until we get the table, I think our table is ready.? Says the old man as he gestures at the tiny table at the corner across from the kitchen.
At the same time about 30 miles away south of Richmond. I?ve just arrived home and sit the mails on the table when I noticed an ornate greenish envelope amongst other bills and junk mail. The letter was addressed to me from Sri Lanka. I could not think of anyone that I know personally at that country, so I casually tossed it back to the pile of mails and sort out rest of the junk mail. The content of the envelope would later provide another amazing situation that involves me. The decision to ignore this was an easy one as my personal phone goes off. I value my personal privacy so much that I rarely answer my phone and let the machine pick it up. I figured that if it is important, they would leave a message. It got to the point where some of my close friends force me to get another phone as a ?must answer? phone in case of emergencies. It turns out that what they view as emergency is almost always different then my own interpretation.
A quick glance at the caller ID shows that it is Nate Nealy, a friend of mine. He was an ex-navy officer working in a top-secret nuclear submarine before he became a private detective. For some reason, he ends up with very strange and weird cases. That?s not to say he did not get his fare share of domestic disputes, personal injuries, and of course, lost pets. But if there is a strange case out there, nine out of ten times it lands on his desk.
I answered the phone, ?Yes??
?Ted, I?m glad you picked up. I got an interesting case.? Says Nate excitedly.
?What is it this time? Another greedy person faking his injuries for insurance?? I like sarcasm when conversing with someone who like to take time to get to the actual point.
?No, you know I don?t handle cases like that personally. What do you know about uranium? Or specifically depleted uranium??
?Plenty, is this about toxic waste discovered at some playground?? Again, hoping he would get to something more exciting then this back and forth questions and answers.
?Alright, this is the case that I took three days ago. A cache of about five hundred thousand pounds of depleted uranium was discovered in the basement of a local convent. A nun who was in charge of the storage, found the crates neatly with their historical scrolls and artifacts. Now, it is a possibility that perhaps some arms dealer is using it as a warehouse.?
?Yeah okay, You should call the local ATF instead me.?
?Well, I would, except that the cache is gone.?
?Gone? Are you telling me that five hundred thousand pounds of heavy metal just plain vanished? I?d think that you have men looking at that place twenty-four hours non-stop.?
?Yes, I?m just telling you that they?re not there anymore. Why don?t you come with me to the convent and look. I also have pictures of the crates before they dissapeard.?
?Sounds like a good idea. How about dinner first? Momma Zu?s is just around the corner. Let me get ready, and I?ll see you at ? say six?
?Right, let me gather all the information I have then? says Nate as he concludes our conversation on the phone.
I then proceeded to get ready for the meeting as I think about what the implications of these crates could be. Depleted uranium is the radioactive byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Regardless of its possible toxic nature, its effectiveness in combat has seen a raise in its application recently. With it density and pyrophoric nature, depleted uranium coated ammunition can be used to penetrate armored tanks, then fragment and burn through armor. Up to seventy percent of the depleted uranium burns and oxidizes into smoke, which can contain a high concentration of depleted uranium particles. This radioactive and toxic dust usually stays in the air and move with the wind to within fifty meters of the origin. The end result is that the radioactive material dissolves in water and goes into the soil. With its half-life being 4.5 billion years, on can safely assume that the battle field of that famous middle-east war in the early 90?s is going to chime a Geiger counter for a long time. With the recent popularity in recycling, the government, at this time, offers this attractively dense material free to arms manufactures. Ironic that recycling to save the environment can leads to further contamination.
Looking back, the people involved with these strange crates are probably involving in major criminal activities if they have to hide these crates and then some how move them when they were discovered. The only questions remain are why and perhaps how they manage to move the crates undetected.
The meal was good, and of course the waiting put a bit of annoyance on it. As I ponder the reason why certain place may not wish to employ table reservations, Nate passed me a thick beige folder. A couple photos were the first items I noticed when I open the folder. They show a couple of aluminum crates neatly stacked with writings that I?m guessing is Russian. Without asking, Nate confirmed it and added that the writings implies these were Georgian surplus depleted uranium rods. Rest of the documents catalog the rods found in the basement.
?I want to get more information, I guess we can stop by the place??
?Yes, I still have a couple guys keeping watch, we should be able to access the basement.? Says Nate.
?Oh, after this, I?d like to speak to the person who took the pictures and did this report?
?That would be Ed, he?s the new summer intern from the local college. We can stop by his dorm after we visit the cathedral.?
The cathedral is about a couple hundred years old like most of the catholic churches in this area. The stones that made up this building were probably specially chiseled from the local quarry. The main wooden gate is somewhat unusual to be painted red. Faith has kept this place in shape and I imagine will continue to in the future. We approached the entrance as Nate acknowledge the men he had outside watching this place. Nate and I enter the basement to the spot where the crates use to be. I noticed a thin layer of dust as if nothing has changed in years.
--- to be continued
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