A Weekend In Baja
November 14-17, 1973
Michael
The Sky Ranches of Baja California
They come from a time when airplanes were more frequently used to vacation in Baja, and when bad roads brought good people, just not very many of them!
(Brant, feel free to add color to how you envisioned this meeting being set up; I'm very enthused about the relative isolation of Baja California Sur contrasting with the long history of it being a rich/Hollywood getaway.)
Brant
Well if we want to move the trip up a week or two (11/14-11/17) we could coincide with the 1973 Baja 1000 — the most prestigious and one of the most dangerous off-road races.
Michael
I think we could have it occur before Jo's trip to the reservation.
Brant
Mexico also completed the Baja Highway 1, the first continuous highway to run from California to La Paz in (you guessed it) 1973.
Michael
Brant
We could stay at one of the few big hotels under assumed names and charter a boat — have the meet out on the water.
Jack Dempsey´s Hotel in Baja California: The Playa Ensenada
I think we could use the Baja 1000 as cover — lots of people, lots of unconventional types, less likely anyone would notice them going. Jocasta and Marshall, that is. Rent rooms under assumed names in Los Cabos or La Paz. Charter a boat, be shocked to find Mitch at the hotel bar when they come downstairs to leave.
Leonard
Totally works for me. Jocasta will register under her Nina Sebrova papers to get another stamp on her passport, tell Marshall about an amazing beachfront ceviche stand in Puerto Peñasco, and get ready for a return to the Boat Life of her Sausalito youth.
Michael
(Cool. You guys can get this started tonight if you want! I just won't be able to do much adjudicating before tomorrow. And time-wise, this happens after saving Alan Watts but before Rosebud Reservation and Leonard Crow Dog.)
Brant
"It's nicer down here than I expected," Marshall says upon greeting Jocasta. "Has a bit of a Wild West vibe. Has potential. Anyway, the man with the boat is supposed to be meeting us outside the lobby. A shame neither of us speaks Spanish -- I had to go with a bilingual, probably going to need to," Marshall taps his temple with one finger, "after we're done. Anyway, shall we?" He gestures toward the lobby.
(Still growing his hair back out.)
Leonard
"I've been learning Chinese," Jocasta laughs, lighting up a Marlboro menthol she bought from a cabbie and donning a yellow felt hat with a silver band. "I don't really know why. But speaking of the Wild West, the old men in the Committee for a Free Macedonia or whatever they call themselves, these Old Country Republicans, they keep talking about China that way. Wild West." She laughs a quiet laugh. "My dad's friends. You're right, though, it's nice. Something about places like this, the smell of wind hitting the water..." she trails off.
Jeff
"Am I late? Shit, shit... Am I late? I was with...a friend in San Diego, he wanted to take his grandson out on a boat...anyway I didn't know where I was going until...shit, here y'all are. Sorry if I kept you waiting. Shit."
Mitch is a little out of breath, he sprinted in from the wharf.
Brant
Marshall is a little taken aback. "How did ... ? Wait, do you know why we're here? Does anyone else know you're here?"
Jeff
"I got a lift, I didn't even know who I was meeting until I saw y'all, and unless you count Ralph, no, nobody else knows I'm here. It was Ralph's boat, he dropped me off. And his grandson, the kid. He's like nine. I don't know why Ralph thought it was a good idea to take John David to Cabo. Apparently John David's dad and Ralph don't get along. I'm sure they're fine."
"I guess John David knows I'm here but he's nine, so who knows?"
Brant
Marshall blinks once, then sighs. "Well, I guess if you're here now that means you're, what, supposed to be here? Come along then. That's our boat," he gestures at the charter boat at the end of the wharf. "We have things to discuss."
Jeff
"Oh, I ran right past it...okay. What's the situation?"
Brant
“No situation,” Marshall replies. “We’ll discuss on the boat.”
An hour later, out on the water, seated stern-side, the sound of the outboard motor partially drowning out his voice, Marshall speaks in a combination of English and ASL. (He uses the ASL for terms or phrases he absolutely does not want the captain to overhear.)
“Jocasta has agreed to help me with certain loose ends that we need to tie up in the wake of what happened in Huntsville. I have questions about the integrity of the organization — and I do not believe that every member of our former oversight committee has adopted Gottlieb’s sanguine attitude about us. Puharich is still at large. Butler, as well, plus all the men like him whom Reinhardt had recruited. All of them must be dealt with, notwithstanding Control’s ostensible direction otherwise. If Archie — and Roger — are going to do what must be done to avoid the future foreseen by the committee’s esmologists, they must be protected. You too, Mitch, though you may not think it. That will require certain closed book operations — which is what we’re here to discuss.”
Leonard
Jocasta takes Mitch's arrival in stride; his showing up unexpectedly has become, well, expected. She offers him a cigarette and takes a seat on the deck. Following Marshall's lead, she speaks, alternating sign language for eyes-only material.
"I think we should approach this categorically. First, there are some members of the old CWG who I think need to be permanently removed -- I don't think it's too many of them, but they either won't get with the new program or actively subvert it. They can go quietly, or if any of them raise hell we can make an example, but they should be our first priority," she says. "Second are people who might resist or drag their feet or just want out; them, I think, we can just send a message. Put a little scare in them, but nothing more. Finally, there's go-along-to-get-along types who I think will just respond well to a good show of authority. Them, I don't think we'll need to deal with in any way but a firm, standard chain of command. We should prioritize who belongs in the first two categories today."
She looks out at the clear skies above Ensenada, at the warm sun. "We should also talk about dealing with Alpha Leonis, who I'd consider a high priority. Your comte too, although obviously we can't deal with him in the same way we do the others."
Jeff
Mitch likewise follows his companions' lead. "My main worry is Puharich. Not only is he still at large, as you say, but he's come through the whole storm with his resources apparently intact. I don't want him raising up the next generation of gellerlings. Quick digression: Comte's tendrils in Shasta include schooling, or have, or will, so partially in hopes of choking him out I'm thinking we set up something up there for the remaining INDIGO kids, hire a real teacher or two, and me on site offering guidance. But ending Puharich is a priority, he's at the top of the list.
"Comte's been firm enough about 'Al' being my destined nemesis I figure my best play is something severely hands-off, where I leave him to you, Jocasta. Comte's not a guy in the conventional sense, he's the effect of a cause, and the cause we can maybe kick out from under him, blow him out like a candle. Make san-Jermain mean something different from the creature of History-B that now haunts the sacred mountain."
Brant
“It would not surprise me if Puharich and ‘Leonis’ are affiliated. Puharich has a well documented interest in the Children,” Marshall uses ASL for ‘the Children’, “and my operating theory that Leonis has … well, produced at least one child of his own has yet to be disproven.”
“I agree our highest priority targets are Puharich and the Comte. But I am primarily concerned with Puharich. With his access to the Children and given Jocasta’s vision, beneath Shasta, of her future and Reinhardt’s ‘heirs’, I believe he is still dangerous. But he is highly placed in the organization and Control will be watching him — and us. I do not think Control cares if he dies — in fact, I think Control is counting on it — but I think we still must remove him in a way that precludes discipline. Not so much plausibly deniable — I don’t think anyone will believe we’re not involved with his death or disappearance — but practically deniable, that is, done in a way that ties Control’s hands. I think that means a frame-job. With the Children, perhaps? And the Kings?”
Jocasta
"Frames are risky, though -- for every loose end they tie up, they create two more, in my experience. If that's the way you want to go I can make it happen, but I think it might be wise to just make him disappear. I can make sure he vanishes, and that means if Control wants to raise hell about it, they have to not only find him, they have to admit they're looking for him. It puts the burden all on them. Either way, he goes at the top of the list."
She ponders for a moment. "I don't know quite how to deal with Alpha Leonis. I think it'll be tough to find him, and once I do, we'll probably want him alive at first to ask him so me questions. But I can get started.
"So Puharich at the top of the go list. I'd put Butler up there too, maybe as an example -- he needs to see the CWG can't protect him and they need to see we can get to any of them. What about Gunn and Phillips? They're pretty high up but I don't have a sense of how much they'll bend.
"Jolly West is a coward, but he's also a true believer. I'd put him in the second group, someone to shake up but leave in place. Mystic Kate, I'm not sure. She might need a little strong-arm, but I never worked with her directly, so I'm fine with whatever you decide. Any thoughts on Bedra or Jayne or Mulligan?"
"Gottlieb we think is under control, right? So he's in the get-alongs. Ditto Stanton. I'd put Claire in there too, and Roger seems to like him. Maybe Haynes, and a lot of the lower-level types. Nature will probably deal with Von Braun sooner than later."
Jeff
"I could attempt to kill him with..." Mitch signs in ASL, leaving the end dangling. "I don't know if it would work. It might paint a target on my back, if someone realized I have that power...if I have it. Take me out before I strike at them, too... I would rather not go down that road, but perhaps we should commit fully to this throwing of caution to the wind."
"As for my elder brother, if he's one of OZYMANDIAS's friendlies, as I suspect, then rolling up them will expose him as an asset, won't it?"
Leonard
"There's gonna be moments to go wild with this, but not for you, not now. Don't let this go to your head or anything," Jocasta says with a smile, "But Marshall's right. You're too important. But yeah, once we start to put some pressure on the OZY die-hards, we can probably find a link to Alpha Leonis. If not, well, we'll deal with that when we have to."
Brant
"Right," Marshall says, reaching into his pocket to pull out a cigarette case as the motor dies down and the boat comes to a slow standstill. "They know about you now, Mitch. Gottlieb was shocked at your abilities when I talked to him: you're a big fucking deal now. Anything like that, they'll know it's you. There may already be plans in place." Popping open the case, he draws out a joint and lights it. After inhaling he offers it out to whomever wants it.
"So what's the board look like? There's a target. The target is a threat: you can't risk leaving him alone because he's too dangerous. But the target's got a lot of juice. We can just take him but the rules don't allow that: the house will kick you from the game if you just," Marshall makes a head-explosion gesture with his hands.
"Now you can try to cheat the house. It's been done. But that's dicey. You can try to remove the target some other way that doesn't break the house rules ... or which do but maybe the house will turn a blind eye on, if it's done right." He takes the joint back and inhales.
"Could we use the Children? Not in the literal sense -- well, maybe in the literal sense -- but could he be dealt with in such a way that it looks like the Children did it for reasons which are so institutionally embarrassing that Control will look the other way?" (edited)
Leonard
Jocasta takes a long drag on the joint. "I'm not quite sure what you're after with that idea, chief," she says. "Is the point to just get leverage over the INDIGO program because we don't have it yet? If so, I'd argue this is how we get that leverage -- disappearing the guy who fucked it up because he was tainted by the CWG's defeatist ideology."
She mulls it over, eyes squinting from the weed smoke. "If it's to make it look like the INDIGO kids did it because they were mistreated or something...I mean, that's probably not wrong. If we dig into their records enough I'm sure there's enough to hang him a few times over. But I'm a little murky on what we get out of it that we might not otherwise.
"I also want to...I don't want to question our approach of thinking differently. I think that's the door we're trying to wedge open, in a permanent sense. But I guess I want to make sure we aren't being too clever. I think there's a pretty clear feeling, not just at Control level, but out there with the everyday SANDMAN operatives, that there's been a major transfer of leadership. And it's not like we get politically appointed with every new administration. We're an international black ops outfit. I think they'll...expect there to be a visible shakeup, and if we don't give them that and get fancy with narratives that can get misinterpreted or read the wrong way, we might lose this early momentum that will convince them our authority is legitimate.
She rolls her eyes at her own rap. "Jesus, that sounds so Machiavellian. Paranoia setting in already. Look at it this way: that's what they used to do, these feints and unnecessary internal deceptions. We should do things differently from that, too."
Jeff
"I feel like that's almost a vote in favor of me trying to do the thing. Almost." Mitch eyes the joint. "I could envision going in like cowboys, roping him in his house and making it bloody. Or going in like Destry, taking him peaceably and driving him to, uh, the Mission I guess, and questioning him and...I dunno that the story ends any different that way, which is a reason to do it like Shane."
"Maybe that's why they left him alone, to see what we'll do with him. Shit. Y'all had already figured that out, hadn't you? I'm playing catchup."
Brant
“Perhaps. Control can only rely on its institutional legitimacy to maintain, well, control so much. Organizations like ours tend to attract people who don’t, let’s say, feel especially bound by things like rules or protocol. Great kings maintain power by playing the lords against each other and distracting them with games.”
“But you’re right, Jocasta. Well, both of you. I mean, why couldn’t we just have you zap him? He wakes up one night to take a piss, sudden microscopic inflammation in his frontal lobe, maid finds him slumped over the toilet in the morning. Even if Control knows we — you — did it, they couldn’t prove anything. They could accuse and they’d probably start watching us more closely, wondering if they already need a new URIEL to deal with the old.”
Leonard
"The only reason why is...Christ, Mitch, I'm gonna give you a swelled head and I hate myself for it," she smiles. "You're too important. Whatever we're trying to do here, to whatever degree we're on the same side, you're not like us. You're different. Charley too. Maybe Roger. It's not that the rest of us don't have a role to play...I think we do, and, well, oof. If we're gonna start using that metaphor or parable or concept or whatever it is you're so fond of, I think...the people writing this story want me to follow this idea that the path out of this is through the spirit world. I don't know what it will do, if anything. Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. But whatever it is, it's just a...point in this story. The way out, the way it ends...it has a lot more to do with you and Charley."
Jocasta takes another hit of the j and coughs wildly. "Christ, Marshall, what south Asian seraglio did you scrape this stuff up in? I sound like a freshman philosophy major. Look: I just think, given what you can do, unless there's some compelling advantage we get out of it, you're wasting your time going around pushing buttons."
Brant
“Could we … make Geller do it? Or make it look like Geller did it?”
Leonard
"I'm again not sure what that gets us, but I admit the idea of both taking that clown out and staging it to look like a murder-suicide is both appealing and efficient. It's extra work, but what else am I doing?" She gazes dreamily out at the sea again, wishing she felt right enough to dose.
"Is there anyone outside we should think about while we're at it? Should we be trying to keep Pat Price alive? And isn't there some cop that's been breathing down your neck, Marshall?"
Brant
"Christ, Marshall, what south Asian seraglio did you scrape this stuff up in?”
"A few of the Special Ones grow it at the Mission. I lace them with a bit of cocaine. Y'know, like the Israelis do."
Marshall folds his legs under him. "OK ... thinking differently ... thinking differently." He pauses and rubs his forehead, eyes closed in concentration. "What about the, uh ... 'spirits'? Like the Underwater Panther? Puharich keeps a place in upstate New York, maybe there's something there ... some entity, or aspect to the land, that would be willing to help us?"
Leonard
"I don't think we need to overcomplicate things with Puharich," Jocasta muses. "He's good for a bullet and nothing else. But the Comte? That's where we might want to call on the spirits. We can't just push him down a flight of stairs. But there's a lot of spirits in the world, and a lot of them are hungry and hold grudges."
Brant
After a considerable pause: “OK, a bullet for Puharich, then. But we still have the issue of the Children in his charge — they may well be dangerous. Extremely dangerous. The extent of their abilities is unknown. Are we concerned with them? Saving them? Is that our … place? It’s a lot of moving pieces. A lot of loose ends. Is there a way we can tie up Puharich, the Children, and the Comte all at once?” He raises a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “Just tossing ideas out here. I don’t think we need to end this trip with a concrete, step-by-step plan for everything, but we should — the three of us, I guess — decide how we want to proceed on these fronts.”
Jeff
"It would be easy to talk me out of it but I mentioned a minute ago my idea for putting together a education-type setup for them, up at Shasta. There's some metaphysical juice to putting a school there."
Leonard
"My feeling is, just...trust me to deal with the individual loose ends. I'll get Puharich, find Butler, put a spook into West, as time permits, and I'll try to do it in a way that leaves a message if we agree on who we want to read it," Jocasta says. "You can advise me on Gunn or any of the others if you feel it's necessary, Marshall.
"Mitch, I actually think a school at Shasta is a great idea, or at least a starting point. I think the INDIGOs are worth saving, both on its merits, and because they'll be..." She winces as she finds herself again repeating the same stuff the CWG must have told each other, "...useful. As a proving ground for whatever ideas and direction we decide is the right way to, to change the game.
"I think we can collectively do some work around finding Alpha Leonis and figuring out a plan for attacking the problem of the Comte, but that feels more like it's going to need more of us, because we're getting out of, uh, material approaches with them. We'll need Roger. We'll need to look behind the curtain."
Brant
“So phase one, then, sounds like a school at Shasta. Obviously we can appropriate funding for that, if you need it. But how will you get the kids, is what I’m wondering? Or is the thought to build first, and they will … find their way to you?” He pauses and scratches his chin contemplatively.
“There’s something I’m missing here. With Puharich — to be so highly placed but not, apparently, involved in Huntsville. For the organization to let him keep some of the Children …” He trails off, lost in thought.
Jeff
"How will we get the kids there? How did I get here?" Mitch shrugs. "But yeah, there's obviously something fishy about Puharich and the fallout from the fire drill. Figuring that out is squarely not in my wheelhouse."
Leonard
"I can certainly try to find some dirt on Puharich, if you think it's important to not only take him out but leave his memory dirty. I can question him, or bring him in if you want to question him. But as far as how we change the way we relate to the INDIGOs and they to us, that's why we're in charge, right? We don't have to sway anyone if Control is still with our program," Jocasta notes. "Mitch aside, surely the big keys to handling them in the new way, whatever we decide it is, are Charley and Viv. And if we want any nuts-and-bolts about how they've been recruited and trained before now, we can lean on Haynes."
Brant
“My concern is that it won’t be that simple. Control is nominally still with our program — and grateful, perhaps, that we helped it avoid a larger scandal or potential coup. But I suspect there are … aspects to the work the CWG was engaging in that appeal to Control.” Marshall relights the joint and is silent for a second after. “There is a possibility that Puharich is a member of Control. It may have gone that high. Anyway … I’m engaging in needlessly complex thinking. I could put in a request about the remainder of the Indigo Children — see what response we get. That itself might be illuminating. In the meantime, I’ll leave the fine work of dealing with the rest of the CWG remnants, Jocasta, to you. I’d like it to be staged like a closed circle: rats turning on each other, old vendettas flaring up, traitors trying to cover their tracks. You know.” (edited)
Leonard
"Understood."
Brant
“Mitch, what — if anything — do you need? For Shasta? Or otherwise?”
"Or maybe I should be asking, instead: what do you want?"
Jeff
"There are stories about people who just trusted to fate," Mitch says with a heavy sigh. "The woman who booked a venue and a date and started mailing invitations, trusting that the universe would provide a fiancé if she just wished hard enough. The man who imagined that if he didn't make reservations and just showed up at the restaurant, they would be able to accommodate his party, surely, rather than turn away a bunch of hungry mouths. Usually the moral of the story is that you can't trust the universe with anything you aren't prepared to let blow up in your face. Be prepared to walk away from the deal, you know?"
"So, no, we'll need somebody who knows how to set up and run a private school in California, the paperwork and the certificates and all that. We'll need a teacher, or several. I mean, I'll do what I can, and Mary-Lynn too, but it's not like I was ever a student teacher. I don't think so, anyway... And we'll need a site, someplace near the house we're also going to need for me to live in. Pete, I can rope in Bigfoot Pete Mount Shasta, I bet. And ol' Vera, I'm sure she'd love to help but she's got both feet in the grave already, so that's no good... I should check on ol' Vera, her and the thing she's got in her yard... That's neither here nor there."
Brant
Marshall gives Mitch a quizzical look. “Alright. I think I understand. Well, if that’s it, let’s head back to shore. I heard some of the ground crew for that road race are having a thing in town. We should crash it.”
(Goes without saying that Marshall will Hypnotize their boat captain to remember this day differently: three gringos were scouting a potential development site, had some beers, talked business in English, tipped well, the end, honestly almost too boring to remember.)
(I also don’t have anything else for this scene so we can wrap if everyone else is done, or we could see what happens at the party in town, or Mike could say the boat hits a rock and we all drown, whatever works.)