Robert Smith - The Planner

“Yes. It’ll go too,” said Digger. “It won’t be used on the day obviously. Shame. Nice lot of computers and communications in there. But we’re able to re-use some of them to control the demolition.”

“I guess I thought that would be our control room,” said Planner.

Snow interrupted, “We have another planned.”

Planner looked at Bates. Bates smiled back broadly as-if he knew the plan.

“And the Securities and Exchange Commission?” asked Planner as another thought brought forth an epiphany.

“Yes, that too. In fact, that’s one of our primary targets within the building.”

“Enron…” said Planner involuntarily.

“You’ve heard about that too, eh? Yes, causing a few red faces with some Texan politicians, I hear. They want that tidied up,” said Digger cheerfully.

Planner fell silent.

“So is that the few billion I heard Snow White was about?” said Bates.

“That figure is probably deferred costs. It’s worth a lot of money to particular people. You know… not getting locked up,” smiled Digger.

“So what are the operations surrounding The Names?” asked Bates.

Snow walked over to the map. “These are to do with the first family and politicians. The seven dwarfs we’ve called them internally; inevitably, considering the code-name. We’ve run various scenarios and this is how we see it so far. Pardon me, if you find the associations seem less than diplomatic.” Snow picked up a pile of cartoon pictures and showed a picture of Dopey. “Firstly, the President. Obviously the President needs plausible deniability so has been kept away from detailed planning. He may look a bit incompetent hence the Dopey character. However we are sure this will only be transitory.”

Snow stuck the picture of Dopey to the map. “The President… will be in Florida. All he knows at the moment is strategy. He and his brother, Neil, will be at an elementary school promoting their No child left behind policy 97. After a brief TV appearance, the President will be taken to Offat Air Force base where we’ve arranged a meeting with Warren Buffet and the WTC CEOs. 98”

Snow showed a picture of Sleepy and stuck it on the map. “His wife, Laura, also in the dark, will be with Teddy Kennedy in Washington, thus reassuring him that this Big Event won’t be yet another strike on the Kennedys.”

Snow showed a picture of Happy and stuck it on the map. “Jeb Bush is helping with Operation Rainbow Stage C; He’ll be retrieving the Rainbow actors’ flight school records, and other data, down in Florida.”

Snow showed a picture of Bashful and stuck it on the map. “Marvin Bush has been helping with various Operation Stage A’s through his association with the flight schools and companies overseeing the WTC and airport security. He wants to quietly disappear now. But we’re hoping that he’ll be able to do just one job for us on the day of the Big Event; ensuring the sprinklers are disabled within the WTC complex. 99”

Snow showed a picture of Doc and stuck it on the map. “Bush Senior has kindly offered to host the Bin Laden family on the day and shield them from unnecessary public interest. 100”

Snow showed a picture of Sneezy and stuck it off the edge the map. “Usama Bin Laden himself is in hospital in Pakistan; Kidney disease 101. We’re getting him a portable dialysis machine so we can get him out of our care. We control a series of sideshows here associated with the Saudi Royal Family. I won’t go into it… it does get quite messy… all Stage C activity.”

Snow showed a picture of Grumpy and stuck it on the map. “This is the code name for the re-arrangement of executive power. Anybody in the chain of command that could thwart the plan will be away; either out of the country, in LA or tied up on exercises. This leaves just the members of the COG in charge. They’ll be surrounded by other politicians and military staff, many of whom will not have been indoctrinated, and so they’ll have the job of keeping them in-check whilst also establishing their own alibis. The key person as far as transmitting our story will be Solicitor General, Ted Olson who will be receiving a call from his wife, Barbara, who is destined to fly on Flight 77.”

“Barbara Olson?” asked Bates. “Hell to Pay 102and TV star, Barbara Olson?”

“Yes, the very same,” nodded Snow. “The psychologists have argued that we must tell our side of the story early and for it to come from a trustworthy source. 103”

“And will she…?” asked Bates with his voice trailing off. He was asking whether she would be killed.

“Barbara Olson will cease to exist. No doubt she is already making other plans,” smiled Snow enigmatically.

Bates and Planner fell silent and all that could be heard was the air conditioning and in the far distance the sound of workman installing cables across the building.

Snow then flipped over the last picture, a picture of a fairy tale Prince. But he did not stick it on the map. Instead, Snow started to pace. “So all these guys are busy. Everyone has their orders but who’s running the show? There’s always mishaps, changes of plan and so forth. Who’s going to make sure it’s all going to go like clockwork from the control center? Who has the technical skills and a view of the Big Picture? Who could it possibly be?

Snow handed the Prince logo to Planner.

“Me,” said Planner flatly.

Snow smiled, “Could there be anyone else?”

Planner looked around to Bates and tried to smile. Bates beamed back.

Planner was back home in Maryland. He had caught the crowded Friday evening flight arriving back home before 9pm. There was too much information to process, he had reached information overload; And emotional overload. He thought he gone through the six stages of grief: Denial, Isolation, Anger, Regrets, Depression and Acceptance; But a new stage, that of “Realisation”, he considered, could tear him apart.

He paced around the house several times; he had to block out distracting thoughts. He cursed himself for not thinking through his wife and daughter’s death more fully. He could have obtained evidence!

While paranoia was indeed a possibility, there were two pieces of evidence that confirmed his suspicion that was murder, information that was always there but just not connected; the broken exterior light and the crash barrier. He never had replaced the broken light. He took a stepladder from the garage and went outside to examine the light. He climbed the ladder and with a torch examined the bulb without touching it. He saw nothing unusual; a dud bulb and spider webs.

He put the stepladder away and considered driving to the spot of the crash. But no, there would be no point. The barrier would have been replaced. There would be nothing to see. He realised that no-one collects evidence for murder when they accepted death as an accident. He knew that. The CIA knew that. Whoever murdered his wife and daughter knew that.

Planner went to his drinks cabinet and took out the whisky bottle. There was hardly any left; mainly downed during the Depression stage of grief, he recalled. He had not been attentive enough to refill his stockpile. He finished what was left of the Scotch. He decided that it was best not to make a cocktail from the assortment of spirits and liqueurs at the back of the cupboard.

He switched on the TV but did not sit down to watch it. He just wanted distraction. He had to find a way to not think of her, of them, of how they died. He had to channel his energies onto a productive course; he needed to keep busy. Opening his filofax, he went down his To-Do list. After writing down a list of actions and re-reading them, he crossed most of them out. Finally adding another in capitals: “Phone Katherine!” Then he read down the list again. There were many notes that he had made earlier in the day. Then he found just the thing to keep his emotions at bay.