A Dubious Curse (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 8) Read online

  “Huh, that could put the world financial markets in chaos?” the President uttered.

  "We need to stop them," Banyon replied urgently.

  “Colt," the President said. "I'm well-aware that more than 54 percent of all silver production today is used for consumer products, and that number is growing every year. Things like cell phones, computers, and other electronic devices need silver as a component. It is also used for medicine. Those industries would be crippled, and it could be worse than that.”

  "How so?" asked Banyon.

  “Several countries like China and India are not selling their reserves anymore. If we run out of silver, those countries would become richer and all those American markets I have mentioned could collapse.”

  “We need to take these people down,” Banyon reiterated.

  “I agree,” replied the President as he thought about the consequences. “And the computers are near where you are?”

  “Yes, sir, and you have agents already in Las Vegas available to raid the facility,” Banyon strategically offered.

  “You don’t mean the NSA agents, do you?” the President remarked with annoyance. “I told Bart we can stop them, but due to protocol, it will take some time,” the President said hotly.

  “Not if you declare stopping the plot a national emergency, sir. You could divert the agents to raid the facility while the wheels keep working to get them off my back,” Banyon argued. “You need to do this, sir.”

  “You present a good argument,” the President replied thoughtfully.

  “This attempt to corner the silver market using the Internet would fall squarely under the NSA charter, wouldn’t it?” Banyon offered.

  “It does,” the President agreed.

  “And the NSA has been under a lot of fire lately because of the whistle-blower Edward Snowden. This would be proof of the viability of and need for the organization.” Banyon knew the President was very concerned about the recent bad press for the top secret agency.

  The President didn’t answer for a few seconds. “You would make a good politician, Colt,” the President finally responded. “You have some solid negotiating skills. I’m glad you are on my side.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Banyon replied.

  “I’ll call you back after I consult my advisors. If this is possible, I’ll call from the Situation Room. Give me three hours.”

  “We’ll be ready,” Banyon assured.

  “Where am I diverting the NSA agents to go after these guys?”

  “Ely, Nevada.”

  hen Banyon reentered the cabin, he noticed that Bart was gone. “He left to get his computer,” Pramilla informed him.

  As Banyon looked about the table, he saw that Loni and Previne were busy typing on their laptops. They didn’t seem to notice him. They were intent on their work.

  He had given Loni the assignment of researching other attempts of cornering the silver market and he had given Previne the job of discovering any additional information on silver that could help their mission. Maya and Pramilla were talking to Lisa about something. He also saw Eric and Kim in a deep discussion. Skye sat with her hands in her lap and looking nervously at everyone else.

  “Okay, I’ve got the ball rolling to stop the NSA agents and the Mongolian plot,” Banyon announced, clapping his hands to get everybody’s attention. “Bart will be back soon with his computer, so that we can hook up with the Situation Room. The President said he would call me back once he was in the Situation Room. Now, let’s get up to speed on the other topics.”

  “I’ve found the curses that we can use to stop Harold and Barry,” Previne offered, looking up from her laptop. “All Lisa…” But Banyon cut her off.

  “Previne, please remember that Harold is probably watching us right now. Don’t say anything more until I tell you,” Banyon ordered. “We’ll pick a time when Harold is not watching. I’ll let you know.” She nodded her head in agreement and looked at Lisa to make sure she understood.

  “That’s when you will also tell us about how we are going to stop the Effort from continuing to pursue the book of the Vril. Am I right?” Previne asked.

  “Yes,” Banyon responded. “I know you haven’t had time to look at the book of the Vril, but while I’m working on the assignment to stop the Mongolian plot, it would be a good time to get started,” Banyon suggested softly to Lisa.

  “Alright,” Lisa replied.

  “Maya, go and get the book,” he ordered. She promptly left the table.

  “Can I hear about Skye?” Loni asked from behind her laptop without looking up.

  “Okay,” Banyon said. “Kim, can you fill us in on our visitor?”

  “I’ll try to make it brief,” Kim responded like a lawyer.

  Before he could begin, the cabin door flew open, and Steve strutted in, carrying his rifle. “I’ve got an important question,” he said to no one in particular.

  “What’s that?” Banyon asked with his hands on his hips in disapproval.

  “What’s for dinner, and who is doing the cooking? It’s almost six o’clock, and me and the guys are getting hungry.”

  teve was quickly banished, and Loni told him that dinner would be in two hours. He left the cabin, mumbling under his breath that he got no respect. It made Loni laugh.

  “So let’s hear about Skye, shall we?” Previne asked as she looked up from her computer and put her hands together.

  Kim nodded his head, moved to the front of the table, and started. “From what she has told me, she was born in the small city of Ölgii—population of about 28,000—in the province of Bayan-Ölgii. It is the farthest point west in Mongolia and touches the border of Kazakhstan.”

  “The country of Kazakhstan is the beginning of the Islam-dominated part of the world,” Banyon added.

  “That’s correct, Colt. Most people in the area are nomads, but Skye’s parents owned a small produce store. She did very well in school and was offered a government scholarship to attend the university in the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar. She studied computer science.”

  “What is her real name?” Loni quickly asked.

  “Mongolian names are not like western names,” Kim explained patiently. “Her full name is Narantsetseg. It means sunflower.”

  “But what is her family name?” Loni pressed Kim.

  “That is her complete name. There is no surname in old Mongolian culture. It can be confusing, I agree.”

  “I like Skye better,” Loni remarked. “We are going to continue to call her Skye. Please tell her, Kim,” Loni announced with finality. Nobody disagreed. Kim spoke softly to the young woman, and a smile crossed her face.

  “Skye,” she said, pointing to herself. Loni nodded her head in agreement and smiled.

  “How did she get here?” Loni impatiently asked.

  “I’m getting to that,” Kim replied frostily. Loni was always the impatient one. “While at the university, it was discovered that she was a wiz at computer programing and was noticed by a man named Ganbold. His name means ‘steel-steel’. Some people would say ‘man of steel’.” At the mention of the name Ganbold, Skye stopped smiling and a grimace formed on her oval face.

  “She was approached by Superman?” Previne laughed.

  “It seems that in Mongolia, he is more like a man who makes major deals and is very wealthy. In any case, he contacted her when she returned to her hometown and told her he had an opportunity for her to see America and make a lot of money. He appealed to her sense of adventure.”

  “Oh, so he just is a sleazebag,” Loni noted with a wave of her hand.

  “I think he is more of a conman,” Kim quickly responded. “He said he had a special project that needed her advanced programing skills and that she would get to use her second language.”

  “Second language?” Loni questioned. “What second language?”

  “She is fluent in Russian, like many Mongolians.”

  “Doesn’t that sound strange?” Loni continued.

  K
im continued. “The two countries, Russia and Mongolia, have had strong bilateral relations since the 50s. Russia sees Mongolia as kind of a buffer between China and themselves. Many Russians moved to Mongolia after the Soviet Union collapsed.”

  “Can one of you find out anything about this guy Ganbold on the Internet?” Banyon asked.

  “I’m afraid it would be useless,” Kim quickly responded. “There are thousands of men with the name in Mongolia. He probably has a second name he uses in the Western world, but we don’t know it.

  “I wonder if I can get it,” Banyon said. “I’ll try a little later,” he thought aloud. “Please continue with her story.”

  “She remembers she met the rest of her team in Ulaanbaatar on September fifth of last year. There were five other young women from all over the country. They all were computer programmers, and each spoke a second language.”

  “What were the languages?” Banyon inquired.

  “The languages were: Uyghur, Russian, Hamgyŏng, Farsi, Urdu, and several Arabic dialects. These languages are all minor languages from various countries in the area,” Kim informed them.

  Pramilla, the career diplomat, recognized the languages. “None of those languages belongs to countries that are friendly to the USA. That is no coincidence,” she announced shaking her head.

  “What countries are you talking about?” Her sister Maya asked.

  Pramilla responded, “The countries in order are China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, and the Arabian Peninsula.”

  Maya asked another question. “I wonder why Ganbold chose women with those language skills?”

  “I think it is very clear,” Banyon noted. “It would be very hard to obtain any information concerning the people of those areas. American diplomats would be stonewalled.”

  “You are on the right track,” Kim commented. “Those languages were chosen for that specific reason, but this is more about the people who live in the area. It is very hard to track people in these cultures, as most are outside their countries census systems. The governments often don’t even know they exist. That, coupled with a government hostile towards America, would make it nearly impossible to investigate an impropriety like fraud.”

  “So you think the people buying the silver futures will be from these hostile countries?” Banyon asked.

  “Some of them may even be dead,” Kim replied coolly.

  “Okay, now I’m totally confused,” Loni shouted out. “What does any of this have to do with how and why Skye was sent to America?”

  think all of it has to do with Skye being in America,” Banyon surmised. “Am I right, Kim?”

  “Yes, you are. It is very simple, really,” Kim calmly explained. “America has the best and most reliable communications systems in the world. In order for this plot to succeed, the plotters needed high-speed Internet and reliable communications. Ganbold bought a small mine in Ely, Nevada. They set up operations there, underground, and transported the girls to the facility. They have lived there since.”

  “So they must have a paper trail,” Pramilla surmised. “There must be passports and other documents allowing them into the country, right?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Kim said as he shook his head negatively. “They are all here illegally. They have been here for more than a year working on the project. That’s why Skye escaped. She couldn’t take it any longer, and now she worries about the other women, who are still underground. They were not treated very nicely.”

  “Did they come in through Mexico?” Eric asked. He still had some contacts with the illegal immigrant trade there and wondered if he could find out anything.

  “No, like many Chinese who seek passage to America, they came through the Snakehead smuggling system. The Snakeheads smuggled them in an overseas container which was shipped to Los Angeles. Skye says they charged them as well. She was charged $13,000 to get smuggled into America.”

  “I knew Ganbold was a sleazebag,” Loni shouted, pounding her small fists on the table. “I bet he hasn’t repaid her for the trip either.”

  “Not only that,” Kim added with a pointing of his finger. “He has kept the six women as virtual prisoners in an underground cave at the mine since then. He has never paid them a dime, and now the project is nearing completion, she is concerned he will have no more use of them. She is afraid Ganbold will have them killed.”

  “How awful,” Loni responded with her hand to her mouth. “We need to save those women, Colt.”

  “Yes, we do,” Kim said solemnly. “Once Ganbold presses the button at five o’clock Pacific Time tomorrow morning, Skye says that the system will run itself. He will have no need for the girls.”

  “But are we even sure the system will work?” Eric asked “I mean, can they corner the silver market?”

  “It has been done before,” Loni interjected. “Twice, in fact.”

  “What have you found?” Banyon asked his little partner. All eyes turned to Loni as she addressed the group.

  “The first time it was done was in 1979. The Hunt brothers, Nelson and Herbert, bought up virtually the entire future supply of silver in the world. Only a few governments, including our own, had any reserves. They forced the price of silver to over $48 per ounce. Unfortunately for them, on Thursday, March 27th, 1980, they faced a margin call they could not meet and all hell broke loose in the financial markets. They nearly bankrupted several broker houses they used to buy the silver futures on the market. The date is now known as Silver Thursday.

  “I’ve heard of it,” Banyon recalled.

  Loni continued, “According to this recap, the Hunt brothers lost billions of dollars and the Comex—that’s the commodities market—adopted ‘Silver Rule 7’, which now places heavy restrictions on the purchase of commodities on margin.”

  “What does all that mean?” Eric asked.

  “It means an individual can only buy a small percent of a commodity on the open market on margin,” Loni read to everyone.

  “Yes. I remember their family fortune went from something like six billion dollars to less than one billion,” Banyon recalled.

  “Then, there is the case of Warren Buffett,” Loni added. “In 1997, he bought over half of the world’s silver supply. He held on to it until sometime in 2006. Little is known about how much money he made, but the price of silver nearly doubled over that time. He paid cash,” she noted. “That made a big difference, as it was legal.”

  “There have been a couple of scandals over the last few years as well,” Previne broke in. “Some brokerage houses have tried to manipulate futures on silver.”

  “Why is there suddenly so much interest in silver?” Eric asked.

  Previne, who had been researching the metal, replied. “Silver has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals, even higher than copper. It also has the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. When polished, it is one of the highest optical reflectors known to man and can reflect light. It is photosensitive and can retain latent images. It also plays well with other elements to form many compounds. The industrial application of silver is exploding as we develop more and more electronic devices. Silver is essential in making many of their parts work properly. Without silver, they wouldn’t work.”

  “Almost every communications device made today has some silver in it. Without silver, the price of these devices would skyrocket,” Banyon added.

  “But I thought silver was used primarily for jewelry,” Eric said in wonderment.

  “Well, it is both highly malleable and can be polished to a high degree of luster. It has been used as coinage and for jewelry for thousands of years and is still prized today, but, while usage is about the same, the percentage used for jewelry is dropping.”

  “Which means the price of silver is likely going to go up,” Banyon pointed out. “It is a good reason to try to corner the market.”

  “But there is more,” Previne announced. “And I think I know why Skye is blue.”

  ell, tell us already,”
Loni urged her friend. Before Previne could reply, Bart burst into the cabin with his computer tucked under his arm. He rushed to the table and began to set it up, pushing Maya out of the way. He didn’t seem to notice there was a meeting going in session.

  “Bart, don’t set it up here,” Banyon advised. Bart looked at Banyon with questioning eyes.

  “But what about the takedown, it’s still on isn’t it?” He asked, afraid he wasn’t going to make any money.

  “Set it up on the upper deck in the pilothouse. I’ll be able to work in private there. We still have a couple of hours before we start and we need the table down here,” Banyon advised him. “Then, we are going to have dinner.”

  Bart looked hurt, but repacked the equipment and left the cabin. “I’ll have everything ready for you,” he promised as he walked out the door.

  After Bart left, Previne explained her comment. “Silver has been used in medicine for centuries. Before the introduction of antibiotics, silver compounds were used extensively to treat infections. It is an effective antiseptic and disinfectant, and it is used in many medical appliances, for surgery and cardiac devices.”

  “But why is she blue?” Loni persisted. “What does all that have to do with the color of her skin?”

  “I think she has argyria,” Previne told the group. Everyone looked at everyone else. No one had any clue as to what that was.

  “Is it a disease?” Loni quickly asked. “Is she contagious?” Loni began to move her chair away from Skye.

  “No, it is not a disease,” Previne said with a dismissive gesture of her hand. “It is a medical condition caused by the ingestion of colloidal silver.”

  “She ate silver?” Loni questioned. “Why would anyone do that?”

  “No, she didn’t eat silver,” Previne patiently replied. “Colloidal silver is silver particles suspended in water. It usually is invisible to the naked eye. She probably didn’t even know she was drinking colloidal silver. Her captures fed it to her in her water.”

  “Why would they do that?” Loni quickly asked.