The Elite Club

Prologue To an untrained eye,the five-member group seated in Mr. Ben's executive office could appear just like a group of business executives, but Mr. Pon knew otherwise. If anything,Mr. Ben's concluding statement proved the worst of his fears. "It's trite knowledge that the world can no longer accommodate the current human population with the all-clear negative consequences of global warming, increased crime and competition in resources,among many other evils leading to an ever-ending struggle for survival", he heard Ben say."Dear friends, it's an undisputed fact that whenever human population reached a disproportional maxim,God had a way of cleansing it. Noah's floods and the razing down of Sodom are just examples. I believe that God wants us,the chosen few, to cleanse and recreate a new human generation. We need to decongest the Earth through progressive elimination of undesirable human elements". CHAPTER ONE It was a very sunny,hot morning. The temperatures were almost reaching boiling point. The dryness of the hot breeze could almost be touched. Leaf-devoid trees dismally swayed their branches as if they were protesting the scourging effect of the sun.The usually congested streets of the city were unusually deprived of their human traffic. Most people feared venturing out into the open brazing sun. Ironically,even among those who opted to stay indoors were allegedly said to have succumbed to heat-strokes.It was as if the universe had conspired to get rid of its inhabitants. The atmosphere in Mr. Ben's cosy office was in sharp contrast to what prevailed outside. The automated overhead fans were doing their best to ensure that the temperatures remained just to the liking of it's occupants. In fact,none of the five occupants seated in this office sipping their drinks had directly felt the effect of the recent environmental changes. They had created their own self-adjusting environments all the way from their posh offices to their vehicles, living rooms and clothing. Nevertheless,the grime effects were quite glaring for them to see,and they were determined to change the situation for the better for the futuristic chosen few, hence the reason for this meeting. Each of the five occupants represented the highest expertise in their own diverse fields. They were filthy rich and had vast resources at their disposal. It was rumoured that their combined wealth could cater for the fiscal budgets of all third-world countries for decades. Whether they earned such status by their own rights,or by crooked, undercutting means,is a story for another day. A brief introduction of this Elite Club members is desirable at this point. Foremost, there was Ben Rand. He was a medium-sized,fifth-year old man. Wearing his short,well-manucured moustache with pride,one could be forgiven for mistaking him for a youthful athlete. At a tender age of eighteen,he had created and founded the now worldwide renowned sole software company, Software Tech Inc. The proceeds from this venture were so exceedingly huge that he had been named the richest man in the world. He was married with two grown-up sons,each running a subsidiary of the company in diverse parts of the world. The Elite Club being his brainchild,he was the undisputed chairperson. Professor Derrick Kane from the United Kingdom sat to the right of Ben on the round table. He was a lean,tall,sixty-year old man with thick eyebrows and long,well-maintained greyish beard.His resonating voice made him appear amiable,but behind this facade lay a coldly mean and calculating mind. Unknown to many was the fact that he suffered serious temper tantrums, especially whenever things went against his grain of wit. He had persued his academic career until he specialized in Virology, obtaining his doctorate at a meer age of twenty-six. He had a brief teaching period at the University before being deployed by the government to head the International Research Institution.Being the volatile type,he soon decamped and founded his own research laboratory,the Protocol Research Lab.It was not clear whether it was through a stroke of volitional genius,or through mother nature that the world never became short of ever-increasing,fast mutating viruses after the inception of this Lab. The profits of his genius were so astronomically enormous that he constantly wondered whether he could live long enough to enjoy it. Quite unfortunate for him,his male vitality had been found wanting and consequently,he was unable to sire children of his own. The fact that he was heirless was a bitter pill he was not prepared to swallow. Next in line was Professor Xangh Ho from China. He was a stout, clean-shaven,slit-eyed, middle-aged man. His preying, penetrating eyes always sent chills down the spines of many,but his soft voice was lulling,if not tantalizing. Born in a wealthy background,he had no difficulties in starting his own genetic engineering company at the end of his academic inclinations. The company,aptly known as Biotechnologies Inc ,had, over the fifteen years of its existence,been instrumental in the provision of genetically modified resources to ever expanding human demand. At forty-seven,it was a well known fact that he was among the ten richest people in the world. Of exceptional standing,at least in matters gender,was Ms Fatuma Iman. She was a curvy,thin-lipped,oval-faced middle-aged widow from Saudi Arabia. Morphologically,her physique belied her age,as she looked liked a teen. Having obtained her Ph.D in Space Studies at twenty-seven,she had gotten married and widowed at thirty-three through the tragic assassination of her late wealthy husband. Since then,she had not only devoted herself to expanding their oil business, but also to further vigorous research in diverse scientific fields. Their short marriage had left her with no issue of their own,and over the years,she had seen no need of disturbing the status quo. The fifth and the last member of the club, but not in any way the least,was Fred,the USA president in flesh. At fifty-nine,he stood stout and tall, with a clean-shaven, protruding chin.With a basket mouth,he talked with a stammering, hissing sound which was almost scary. He was known to resort to fists whenever his verbal communication failed, especially when angry. Having amassed a lot of wealthy through his clandestine underground activities,his Mafia friends had deemed it wise to put one of their own in the Oval office. After numerous political manipulations,threats and intimidation, they were not disappointed in the results. In normal matters of the state,the president could not attend such meetings in person,but via a proxy. This one pertained to matters very personal to the fabric of his person. The secret nature of the club and its agenda was such that none of the members was to divulge anything even to their families. Fred's role in this conspiracy was to provide the muscles and channels towards it's accomplishment. * *. * * * Mr. Pon Ndesi sat in his prestigious office,just adjacent to Ben's where the meeting was in progress. This work station of his was full of highly sophisticated technological world surveillance systems so much that he could monitor the slightest security threat in any part of the world just at the click of a button. However,he had been disabled from accessing any information relating to the meeting in his boss's office. Nevertheless,he had earlier on bugged the room while overseeing the security detail, and none suspected. Having worked his way into computer wizardry,it was little wonder that he had caught the eye of Ben's elder son, Solomon,who happened to be the CEO of the African subsidiary company. He and Solomon had a lot in common, foremost among them being the sanctity of human life as postulated in the biblical teachings. This trait of Solomon had been a source of conflict with his father so much that a wide rift had developed between them. Consequently,and secretly,he had established his own cohort to surveillance what he termed to be his father's extremist, fanatical whims. To achieve this,he needed to have a confidant in the latter's inner circle. He had therefore convinced him to employ Mr. Pon based on his excellent academic credentials and vast experience. It was a matter of time before Ben noticed his genius,thus his promotion to the current status. He was suddenly jerked into attention by the buzzing of his earphones. He listened as the meeting started.