She had a funny look. Like she was weighing what to say. “Satoshi, you believe in balance. You believe in equality. But do you really think that people are capable of creating that balance and equality themselves?”
He was taken aback. “What are you really asking? You are asking me if I believe in the goodness of mankind?”
“More or less.”
“Then my answer is yes, I do. I believe that those who have the power grow corrupt from it. So my life’s work, my gift to the world, is to give them a monetary system that gives power to the people, and removes it from the powerful few.”
That look in her eyes again. Cold. Calculating. She said, “I disagree. I believe that the world has been shaped by a few great people. It is these people who can truly create change for the better. Behind those great leaders, that balance and equality that you talk about can persevere. But left to their own free will, the masses make disastrous choices. This is what history has taught us.”
This was such an odd interview. Not at all what he expected. She still had the recording device off. He frowned, “Lena, how long have you worked for your news magazine?”
A knock at the door.
“I’m afraid I don’t work for a news magazine.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
Another knock at the door. Harder this time. He glanced over towards the entrance and began to get up. Lena placed her hand on his shoulder and pressed him back into his seat. Their eyes were locked.
She said, “Please remain seated.” She walked to the door and opened it. Two rough-looking men came in. They watched Satoshi as they walked to the center of the room. Their hands hung loose by their sides, like attack dogs waiting for an order from their master.
Lena sat back down across from him and said, “Now, where were we? You were telling me about the innate goodness of mankind?”
He began to feel the nervous shiver of a man trapped. “Who are they?”
She didn’t look at them. “My colleagues. And just so you know, I would not characterize them as two fine examples of mankind’s good nature. They can be violent. But only if I require it.”
Satoshi’s hands began shaking under the table. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lena, just as I have told you.”
“And why have you come to see me? Why have you really come, if you are not a reporter?”
“Because the man I work for is forging a great future for our world, and he hopes that your work will be a part of it.”
“You want to use bitcoin?”
She nodded.
He began to think about her questions. “You want to control bitcoin?”
She said, “It will be the world’s first truly global currency. Think of the power one would wield if they could manipulate its value. You created bitcoin transactions to be anonymous. That works out perfectly for us. It helps us to retain anonymous control. A world that thinks it is free is a happy world. Ignorance is strength.”
His eyes showed anger and fear. “You can’t do that. I won’t allow it. Besides, that’s not possible, I’ve designed—”
She shook her head, clicking her tongue. “You will make it possible. And we will give you great support and incentive.”
He crossed his arms. “What? You’ll physically hurt me if I don’t help?”
She leaned forward. “Oh, yes.”
The way she said it sent another shiver through him. The two men standing behind her didn’t blink.
Lena said, “You will come with us now, and disappear from the life you know. If you do this, we will not hurt you. You will also provide us your very best effort to assist us in completing our goals.”
“What if I do not—”
She didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. “If you do not comply, we will still not hurt you.”
He was confused.
Lena said, “We will hurt the ones that you care most about. Great change requires great sacrifice.”
His mouth was open. His shaking hands were clenched into fists under the table, but he had no will to raise them. “Look at you. How could a woman like you say such things? How can you be so… evil?”
Lena stood and looked down on him. “Mr. Satoshi, there is much evil in this world, but I am not it. I am but an instrument, a tool. I have a duty to create change. Some of it may be ugly, violent, and despicable to you. But mine is an honorable duty with a noble cause. You can now be a part of this great cause. One day I hope that you will see this as a gift.”
She held out her hand to help him up. Her face transformed into a brilliant smile. “Come help us create a better world.”
He didn’t take her hand.
She stayed there for a moment, holding out her hand and waiting for him. Seeing that he made no move to get up, she raised her hand into the air and snapped her fingers.
The two men stepped forward. Satoshi noticed that one of them held a syringe.
Chapter 1
Hamid rubbed his eyes with the back of a greasy glove. He then looked at the analog clock positioned next to his boat’s magnetic compass. Almost time. He peered out into the sea. He could hear nothing but the drone of the loud diesel motors.
This was madness, he thought to himself.
The sailors under his command didn’t know any better. They would follow orders, just as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) had trained them to do. But as the boat rocked in the blackness of the sea, Hamid knew just how unusually dangerous their task was.
He called out, “Cut the engines.”
One of his sailors pulled back a lever and the noise of the engines dropped to nothing. Then he looked at Hamid with curious, expectant eyes. The dim yellow light hanging from the pilothouse ceiling illuminated his face. They stood quiet, looking at each other for a moment. Nothing but the sound of the small waves of the Persian Gulf tumbling into the hull.
Hamid said, “You have a question for me?”
The second sailor climbed up the ladder to the pilothouse. He too looked curious. The first sailor said, “No, Chief.”
“Good. As I told both of you before we left Abu Musa, it’s best not to ask questions about what we are doing tonight. Whatever you see out here, you are never to speak of it. Never. To anyone. Just remember to do as you’re told tonight, and don’t ask any questions.”
The sailors nodded. They were good men. Not men. Boys. The older of the two couldn’t have been more than twenty years old. Hamid had picked them because they were hardworking and trustworthy. And also because they had no families on the island. He hated himself for it, but that had been a consideration.
“The stores are laid out on the main deck as you asked, Chief.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s enough supplies to feed a company of soldiers for a month. I’m not sure who would need that out here…” The sailor seemed to realize that he was asking a question and stopped. He said, “Is there anything else we need to do before the rendezvous? I checked the charts, and this is the right location.”
Hamid had triple-checked the time and location himself. He didn’t want to upset any of the men that worked in the Grey Buildings on Abu Musa. Life could get very bad for Hamid and his men if those men became unhappy. They had a schedule, and Hamid was but a component in the machine that produced according to that schedule. If things were not delivered on time, those men got angry. If anyone spoke of the work they did, they got angry. And when they got angry, Lt. Col. Pakvar got involved. No one wanted that.