“Tim, you said people don’t demonstrate in favour of development, but that wasn’t true in Canada. There were a lot of counter-protests.”
Tim smiled. “Yes, there were. Thanks for the segue. Earlier, I said we did a revision of the hive strategy on that pipeline project. That was a real breakthrough for us. We created a second swarm, using the same hive.”
“Why? Won’t one do the job?”
“Not as well. The second swarm is made up of counter-protestors. The ones you just asked about. We call it the counter-swarm.”
“Counter-protestors? Wouldn’t they be protesting in favour of the things we’re against?”
“Exactly.”
“Why would we support them? For that matter, they’re not likely to be on our mailing list. How could we even reach them?”
Tim said, “How? We use social media targeted toward the demographic most likely to oppose us. We know how to get people into the streets. We’ve been doing it for years. Why do we do this? Let me ask you, when we coordinate a counter-swarm to go up against our own swarm, what do you think happens?”
“I guess there could be a confrontation.”
“Just a confrontation?”
“Okay, there could also be actual violence. Are you saying that’s what we want?”
“Yes. That’s what we want.”
“But violence? Our people could be harmed. or even blamed.”
Tim shrugged. “So they’re harmed. There are thousands more. As for being blamed, we haven’t mastered media relations for nothing. Most of the mainstream media can’t be bothered to do research, so when we issue press releases and videos that blame the counter-swarm for the violence, the media just go with it.”
One of the people said, “I still don’t see the point.”
“The point is that when violence breaks out and we can pin it on the counter-swarm, our own side now seems principled. Moral. The public response is that since the counter-swarm is so violent, maybe the original protestors are right. This strategy has gotten us a level of public support we were never able to achieve before.”
Someone else said, “You mentioned the Canada project. What is that and how does it relate to this strategy?”
“Once we realized what we had, we decided, purely as an exercise in possibilities, to see how much we could damage the Canadian economy.”
“Whoa. We’re hard-pressed even to stall a single project, much less kill it. Now, you’re talking about tackling a national economy? This is way over our heads.”
“I agree. Normally it would be, but their politicians and courts have given us the opening we needed. Bigger than we could have hoped for. They’re what Lenin called ‘useful idiots.’ Without them, we could not have achieved what we have.”
“Has this been working?”
Tim smiled. “Working? We have shut down all oil and gas exports from Canada, we’ve cut the flow of forest products by thirty percent, and we’ve been able to generate disease scares that have closed the border to cattle, pigs, and poultry. It’s been a long struggle, but we can see the day we shut down the resource industries in Canada for good.”
“What then?”
The chairman said, “Then we target other countries. We’re already setting up in Australia and New Zealand.”
“How about here?”
“That will come. One country at a time.”
38
THE PLAN
Ellen Sangster and Ross Candale faced Baxter. She said, “What do you have in mind?”
“Right now, I’m stuck in the middle of this violence. People being executed, tortured. And I’m part of the system doing it. I can’t stand the thought of that.”
“But you’ve had an idea.”
“Yes. I’ve been preoccupied with fighting back. After all, I’m on the inside. I’m in an ideal place to disrupt their operations. Sabotage their missions. But I’m just one man. By myself, I can’t do anything that might be effective. But in that meeting, I realized you can.”
“You’re on Jerry’s side?”
“Not exactly, but I need some help to figure out why not and what to do instead.” He took a deep breath. “This is going to sound crazy, and I’d love to join you here, but it hit me that I might be more useful where I am.”
“How?”
“I’m the backroom techie who fixes computer glitches. To do that, I have access to every program, every file, every database the NPF uses. I know when people are added to the subversives list. I know when they’re slated to be taken to an interrogation centre. These are the people who would be most valuable to us. I’d love to be able to get to them before the Peaks do.”
Sangster said, “Get to them? To do what?”
“Why, to come here or perhaps to some other community if this one gets too big.”
“Whoa. You’re talking about a network of towns like this one?”
“Why not? Look, I haven’t begun to figure out the details, and there are so many holes in what I do have that it seems ridiculous even to call it a plan. But I know where I’d like to take it.”
Candale said, “You’re talking about being the inside guy steering subversives to us? That’s risky. In fact, it’s suicidal.”
“You could be right.” His face hardened. “But when I came here, every step was a struggle. It felt as if I was giving up.”
“As if you were abandoning the country?”
“Not just the country. I felt as if I was abandoning my values. As if I was giving up on freedom. On justice. I know that sounds like a cliché, but to me, it’s real. Those values are real. If you and this town will join me, I’ll return to Ottawa just as if nothing had happened. And I’ll do my best to sabotage the NPF from the inside. I can’t sit back and wait for things to happen. This country is worth the fight.”
Sangster said, “Todd, are you sure?”
“Sure? The only thing I’m sure of is that I want to get rid of this scourge. Until now, it’s been nothing more than an urge. But if you guys and your friends here are willing to help, we can make it happen.”
She nodded. “Well, every good fight needs a plan. Let’s get to work.”
BAXTER, CANDALE, AND Sangster sat opposite Jerry and Alan, mugs of coffee substitute on a table. Jerry sipped his drink. “This stuff is going to take some getting used to.”
Alan nodded. “Starbucks doesn’t have anything to fear.”
“Just as well. I don’t like Starbucks.”
Sangster said, “Is there anything you two agree on?”
Alan said, “Can’t think of anything.”
Jerry said, “I agree.”
Both men laughed. Jerry looked at Baxter. “Okay, what have you come up with, whatever your name is?”
“My name? Ivan Kryss.”
“Yeah, and I’m Bambi.” He pointed at Candale and Sangster. “Alan and I noticed that you both hesitate when you use this guy’s name. That tells us he’s using an alias, or you don’t know him as well as you say. Which is it?”
Baxter said, “You’re right. Ivan Kryss isn’t my real name, but I’m not going to tell you what it is. I have too much to lose. I won’t risk revealing it to people I don’t know, no matter how highly recommended they are. If you can’t live with that, this meeting is over. Otherwise, let’s get busy and do some work. What’s it to be?”
Jerry shrugged. “Tell us what you have in mind.”
Candale said, “I’ll explain what Ivan has proposed. It’s risky, especially for him, but if it works, it will allow us to fight back against the government and the Peaks while reducing our exposure. Jerry, I know you want to fight the Peaks, but if there was a way to do so without confronting them directly, would that satisfy you?”
“Fighting them without fighting them? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”