I am now in an office building in what I know is London, observing a man on a conference call. There is a one half second delay between the three other parties as their voices are scrambled and descrambled in the most secure communications system yet devised.

The Chinese man, talking from the other side of the world, says, "Confirm that sniper and immediate superior were also disposed of."

A man in Rome says, "This is what happens when our intelligence on the Contrascenti* has a weak spot. We'll probably have to clean up this wet work for a while yet."

An American voice replies, "There will be hell to pay for at least a few months. I suggest we wake up some sleepers at CIA, Interpol, MSS and SVR to keep us apprised of new directions. These people are scared and scared people make unpredictable decisions."

The man I am watching says in a clipped British accent, "Damned Muslims, they're like putty in the hands of the Contras. Especially a destructive chap like bin Laden. Too bad we can't leak the news that he's dead, or even that he pissed in his own bed. Of course the Contras have some generic videotapes of bin Laden made for all contingencies - they'll keep up the illusion that he's still around. I don't care whether the thug becomes a will-o'-the-wisp legend or martyr. What's more important is that we need to send a message to the Contrascenti - to dissuade them."

"Agreed," says the American, who is Jewish, "We must discourage our shadow brothers. The problem is that they profit from chaos. The Argentine was the originator of this action. I nominate him for economic sanction."

"Yes. We must financially devastate him, quickly, so the others are discouraged," says the Chinese.

The Italian says, "His major corporate banking is through one of our banks. We will call his loans - and let the word out. Then we can manipulate the value of his holdings."

The Englishman says, "Agreed. Pity about bin Laden, but I guess even we can't prove he's dead. The most that exists of him is in the CIA files. Great irony for a not-too-bright boy. It turned out to be his bad luck that the planes did far more damage than was predicted. The collapsing towers was a fluke. Only two of the five planes were predicted to get through. As it was, one didn't even get off the ground."

The Chinese says, "Perhaps one day we can leak the whole story. For now, it is we who must punish the Contras. I note that our 'safewindow' time is expiring."

Each of the men says their farewells and disconnects.

For the first time since its founding in 1250 AD, the Cognoscenti* has ordered the financial assassination of a member of its troublesome breakaway organization, the Contrascenti.

end of SubContact Session