PANACHE REPORT ORIGINAL

This story is a work of fiction, a product of the author's imagination.  Any similarities to people or events is purely coincidental.

INTRODUCTION:

It was snowing in Switzerland.   A top-secret meeting was taking place in a luxurious château.  Seven of the most powerful men in the world were in attendance.

They sipped on white wine; a Montrachet 1978 from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, priced at $24,000 per bottle.   For appetizers, they dined on Royal Beluga Caviar, the rarest of caviar’s and oysters on the half-shell.  For dinner, they feasted on swordfish, filet mignon, smoked barracuda, prime rib, clams, crab and lobster.  For dessert, they ate White Chocolate butter cake filled with double chocolate ganache and raspberry essence.

After dinner, they retired to the study where they sipped Brandy and smoked Cuban cigars as the fireplace flickered in the background.

Five of the men were international oil barons, one of the men was a Middle-Eastern dictator named Xavier Malik and the seventh man was a terrorist broker who had extraordinary computer skills, his name was Quinn and he represented the most dangerous terrorist in the world, Jericho.

THE PAWN:

Roland Price turned to Quinn, we need your client Jericho to instigate a war between the Middle-East and the United States.  Oil profits will increase tenfold for the next decade, each man in this room will become a billionaire.

Xavier Malik spoke, I am very interested in becoming a billionaire but I also want to win re-election, the terrorist attack will occur in my country, my approval ratings will go through the roof and we can blame the attack on the United States.  The dictator handed Quinn floor plans, give these to Jericho, have him assemble a team and attack these buildings.  Quinn asked, you are willing to kill your own people to win re-election?  Malik replied, I see them as ‘collateral damage.’

Roland Price stood up, each man in this room has donated $1 million dollars to hire Jericho for this assignment, out of good faith, I will deposit half of the money in a offshore account, when the assignment is completed, Jericho will get the remaining balance.  Quinn handed him a piece of paper with an account number on it.

Within the next six months, two buildings in the Middle-East were bombed by terrorists, five thousand casualties.   Jericho took responsibility for the attack in a videotaped confession.   Middle-Eastern Intelligence fed the following information to media outlets: “Our intelligence indicates that “Jericho” was working in conjunction with the United States.”  The Middle-East retaliated against the United States, a war was in progress.

Xavier Malik called Quinn, my numbers haven’t surged in the polls.  I will pay you $5 million dollars to betray Jericho.  Let me know his whereabouts, I will have him arrested, a month before re-election, I will reveal to the public that Jericho is in custody, that will guarantee me a victory.  Quinn replied, let me get back to you.

A week later, Quinn took a break from his computers and turned on his Plasma big screen. Breaking News from CNN: Middle-Eastern dictator Xavier Malik has been assassinated.  In other news, the manhunt continues for international terrorist Jericho.

Quinn smiled, everything was going according to plan. Quinn’s ‘Strike Team’ assassinated Xavier Malik.  Contrary to popular belief, the ‘Strike Team’ not Jericho was responsible for the terrorist attacks in the Middle-East six months earlier.

Whenever the strike team carried out a terrorist attack, Quinn would send an untraceable video feed of Jericho (taking responsibility for the attacks) to media outlets.

The authorities would ‘never’ find Jericho because he was a computer generated synthetic image digitally created by Quinn.  ‘The most wanted man in the world didn't exist.’

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