April 30, 1986

2
April 30, 1986

     Agent Danley moved on to his final slide in the darkened conference room.
     "And that's why domestic counter-terrorism will be the primary strategic challenge to the United States in the coming decade."
     Agent Danley closed up his papers and the house lights came on. He had gotten used to being the in-house Chicken Little by now, but he usually got at least a polite question or two about the methods of his study or some potential uses to root out communist spies or something.
     He looked out on the room full of Bureau employees that should be engaged in helping him, and all was silence.
     Well, Danley supposed, terrorism did seem like a job for the Central Intelligence Agency or the military, not the FBI. Terrorism was happening in places like Germany and Greece, accessible to the places terrorists were, not in America. It was being done by guys like Gaddafi, which, no matter how much credit you gave him, you probably couldn't imagine him having any sympathizers among Americans.
     And then there was Chernobyl, which really didn't have much to do with the Bureau except that everyone was paying attention to it. Chernobyl was real-time failure of the Soviet state, which no one in the Bureau could help but root for, as unwise as it ever is to root for a terrible human tragedy unfolding. In America, Agent Danley thought, the government was scared of the people, not the other way around.
     As people filed towards the exits, Agent Danley could see that Agent Harper, the powerful head of the Organized Crime Division, was waiting for him right at the door. Harper didn't like that part of his budget had been earmarked for domestic counter-terrorism, necessitating, among other things, this meeting.
     "Great presentation, Howard. I especially liked the part...well I can't remember any part of it, but I thought it was a great presentation."
     Luckily, Agent Danley's secretary popped in.
     "A call for you in your office."
     Agent Danley was appreciative. He couldn't explain to Agent Harper why the Mafia was on the way out and that groups of paranoid conspiracy theorists were on the rise. He'd just have to see it himself.
     Agent Danley walked briskly down the hall and hit the elevator door. He and his secretary rode down together and his heart was in his throat. No one ever called his desk. They must have a case.
     He flipped the light on his phone and picked up the receiver.
     "Agent Danley?"
     "Yes, go ahead."
     "This is Craig Cantroux with the Texas Rangers. How are you today?"
     "I'm fine, Craig. What can I do for you?"
     "I've got a homicide. Male. Fifty-four. Shot outside his home. No sign of struggle, no theft to his home, himself or his car. Dedicated family man, no known enemies. Only one motive we can find, it was his occupation."
     "What he do?"
     "He was an OB/GYN."
     "Abortion doctor."
     "Yup."
     "You think it was religious? Maybe a struggle between two young lovers?"
     "Agent Danley, I'm sensing resistance."
     "No, no, none at all. I'm just paid to be skeptical."
     "Yes, of course."
     "Well, fax me over all the particulars. You need me to be on the scene?"
     "I normally wouldn't ask, Agent Danley, you know I normally wouldn't except this fits a pattern of harassment behavior and seems to involve multiple actors working in coordination."
     "You mean like a terror cell?"
     "Not to put too fine a point on it, yeah, a terror cell. We appear to have a terror cell operating in Texas and they've just struck for the first but I'm not sure the last time."
     "I'll canvass, see what resources we have to give you. I will definitely be there to consult, possibly tomorrow or the next day."
     "I really appreciate that, Agent Danley. I really do."
     They hung up, and Agent Danley was left in silence. It was strange, he thought. Now that it was happening, he didn't feel relief or vindication. No, he felt terror, for the families and the lives that were being affected.
     Didn't this guy (or gal) think about running for political office? Couldn't he find some way to achieve his political objective through the system that was already in place? But then, he had to remember that ultimately it wasn't the political objective that was really at stake, but the lionization of the person in charge of the terror cell. To be known, to be a soldier for ideals, and then ultimately to become a martyr to the furtherance of the ideology. To be a hero and to be remembered.
     To actually accomplish those goals would undercut the messianic fantasies of the leader or leaders of the cult. To actually try to run for office and change the law in question would prove that the system worked and that gradual change was possible. That would make the leader just another charismatic leader, not the soldier of God he or she imagined themselves to be.
     Against the state. That was what this joker wanted to be. As if the state was not itself an expression of the people.