John Krygelski - The Aegis Solution

“There are nearly countless examples of our leaders making decisions contrary to the will of the public, occasionally destroying their own political careers in the process, to do what they perceived to be the right thing. In many cases, history has judged them as having been right. In many cases, not. But the point is, that is how our republic was intended to work.”

“So you’re saying that if we walk outside this room right now and present the facts to the crowd, asking them to vote on whether we share the food or not, they’ll vote against it?”

“No. What I’m saying, Miss Clements, is a far worse indictment than that. The sad truth, as any student of history will tell you, is that the crowd outside this room will vote either way, depending entirely on how the so-called facts are presented.”

“You lost me.”

“It’s quite simple. If we were to pick the most gifted orator among us to sell them on the idea of lowering food and water to the people outside, they would vote to do so with a large majority. If, on the other hand, we presented a persuasive and frightening argument against the idea, it would be soundly defeated. This was proved, conclusively, during pre-World War II Germany by Hitler. Our founders knew this. That is precisely why we must decide what to do and then present our position, and only our position, to them, as eloquently as possible.”

“Why not pick two people, one on each side, and let the group hear both?”

“What would be the benefit of that?”

“You’re kidding, right? Then they could make up their own minds.”

“You refer to ‘their own minds’ as some monolithic thing. I’m talking about the final vote. What do you think would happen?”

“Well, one side or the other would win. Either we would feed the people outside or we wouldn’t. That would be it.”

“And you think everyone would be happy?”

Samantha paused for a moment. “Happy? I think they would be glad they were brought into the loop, had a chance to vote, a chance to participate in the decision, instead of being left out.”

Wilson, silent to this point, said, “Sadly, Samantha, that is not the case. What would happen…what has happened out there in the world…is that you have winners and losers. And the losers are never appreciative of the opportunity to participate in the process. When learning that they’ve lost, they will claim fraud in the voting process, manipulation of the facts, and any other charge they can think to bring. Quite simply, what occurs is that prior to the vote you have a single group; after the vote, you have two. And, when the importance of the vote is significant, the two groups become enemies.”

Sam was silent as she thought about what Pierce and Wilson had put forth. After a minute, she said, “That is what it’s been like on the outside, isn’t it? Has been for years now.”

Wilson nodded. “And it festers.”

“You’re right,” she acknowledged.

“Although it was reaching intolerable proportions in the world, that was after decades of florid prose and inciting rhetoric. Here, within the confines of Aegis, any schism or any polarization would escalate much more rapidly. For you see, Aegis is like a lifeboat upon which we are all adrift. If we are to survive and retain our civility…our humanity…dissension must be held to a minimum, order must be maintained, and we must find a way to live under a common accord.”

Sheepishly, Samantha looked from Wilson to Pierce. “I don’t think that just applies to us. They could’ve used it out there.”

Another twenty minutes were consumed with discussions on the mundane details of logistics, before Pierce, deciding that the immediate business was adequately covered, stood up. “I believe we’ve already kept our citizens waiting too long. I think informing them of our situation would be the best thing to do right now.”

The balance of the gathering stood as he continued, “Wilson, I would appreciate it very much if you would stand up there with me. Many of the people here know you and respect you. Your participation in this would be helpful.”

“I’d be happy to.”

“Thank you.”

The two men led the way out into the open area. The crowd, still splintered into smaller groups, hushed noticeably, and Pierce and Wilson proceeded directly through the people toward the raised platform at the other end of the room. Elias, Leah, Matt, Lisa, and Sam walked to the rear of the assemblage, which was already turning to face the front.

“E.C.!”

Elias, startled by the familiar voice, scanned the group for the face. Within moments he saw Marilyn politely working her way back toward him. As she drew nearer, her eyes momentarily left his and moved to the side. That was when she spotted Leah, and her eyes flew wide open. Her pace abruptly increased; by the time she reached Elias and Leah, she was running.

“Leah! My God, you’re alive!”

All Leah could do was hold her old friend and say nothing as they emotionally embraced, the moment eliciting tears from them both. Elias stood patiently as they held each other. Twice Marilyn leaned back and stared at Leah’s face, convincing herself that this was all real. The third time, her hand came out from behind Leah’s back, and she grabbed Elias’ hand, gripping it tightly. The three stood this way as Matt and his family moved a respectful distance away, giving them privacy.

During their reunion, Pierce began speaking from the front of the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid I have some astounding news. I have just been briefed by John Wilson Chapman and his associates on recent developments pertaining to Aegis, and the rest of the world….”

As he talked, Marilyn finally stepped back from Leah and opened her mouth to speak, when Elias suggested that they move away from the gathering. Following his advice, they walked away and rounded the same corner from which Elias and Leah had earlier arrived. Convinced they were out of earshot of any members of Madison, Marilyn, holding both of Leah’s hands, stared at her and said, “Honey, what happened? We all thought you were dead. We were sure of it.”

Leah grinned back at her friend and joked, “Don’t know if it was Churchill or Mark Twain who said it, but reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

She then went on to tell of her abduction and captivity for the past two years, downplaying the torture aspects and occasionally even finding a way to make light of her travails. With all of the years Marilyn had spent working within the intelligence community, her mind filled in the details, unbeckoned. As Leah neared the end of her narrative, Elias joined the discussion, filling Marilyn in on the plot they had uncovered. Whenever Faulk’s role was mentioned, Marilyn’s face contorted into a mask of rage and hatred, but she kept her words to herself until they had finished and Elias asked, “Why are you here in Aegis?” and added hastily, “Not that I’m not incredibly happy to see you.”

“I found out the bastard sent you here to die.”

“Faulk was never sloppy,” Elias said, surprised. “How did you discover that?”

“You’re right. He never let anything slip through. But maybe, with this planned epidemic so close to happening, he actually became distracted.”

“Or,” Leah suggested, “it was so close to the event that he decided it didn’t matter if you did find out. Kind of his way to torture you a little before the end.”

Marilyn nodded. “That fits him to ‘T.’ I’ll bet you’re right.”

“Specifically, Marilyn, what did you find out? How was he planning on killing me? And how did you discover it?”

“I was processing and routing outgoing communication for the day. As you know, the highest-level communications are encrypted by the sender personally. That’s when I found this…unencrypted.”