Back at Headquarters, King Tim and his Dad had already brainstormed a few ways to interfere with Rafael's operations. The plans ranged from one called "Total Destruction" to one called "Kilroy was Here." The latter was a simple message left in a place where no one should have access, a place to let Rafael know that Maribel's people could reach deeply into his operation undetected. The former, Total Destruction, would use every bit of advanced alien tech at their command to completely destroy all drug shipments moving through Guatemala, all fields involved in local cultivation of illicit drugs, destruction of assets such as trucks, planes, boats, and submarines used in the transport, emptying of bank accounts, destruction of weapons belonging to the gangs and any of Rafael's other people, and, if necessary, the elimination of personnel should they move to counter-attack.
Because of the limited number of weapon drones available and the very high number of targets, Total Destruction would take days to complete. They knew it would also result in the opening of additional fronts. Enemy forces in Colombia, Mexico, and the United States among others, would immediately launch all out efforts to identify and destroy whoever was responsible. They would be ruthless and might seek to punish entire villages of innocent people if they could not identify or reach those directly responsible. Maribel would have to be taken out of country and returned to Headquarters, probably permanently. Total Destruction, therefore, was labelled as a doomsday option, and was not a choice they were willing to make at this point.
Some of the other plans involved striking at meaningful assets, maybe disabling one or more vehicles transporting drugs, redirecting some of his cash, providing incriminating intelligence to a law enforcement agency or government official willing to act against key cartel personnel or assets.
A variation of the Kilroy was Here plan involved providing Maribel with detailed logistical information about some aspect of Rafael's operation. She could use it during the meeting, if needed, to show that her people had sources that could reveal his darkest secrets. If she did this, he might start doubting the loyalty of his subordinates and might start culling those he suspected of leaking information to Maribel's operatives. Or he might strike directly at one of Maribel's security team, or even workers at Food First. Although Joe put the probability of that relatively low, he cautioned that Rafael remained somewhat unpredictable.
They worked through the available options, adding more options and refining and detailing specific actions. After a few hours, they had a list of options they could have Luis relay to Maribel without revealing the use of alien technology. Many of them would, however, give her reason to wonder just how extensive her father's reach really was, and why he had developed such a far-reaching and highly skilled security and intelligence gathering network if he wasn't heavily involved in criminal activity himself. They decided they needed a cover story to explain this, so they came up with one which they detailed to Luis, so he could answer any awkward questions she might ask.
Before Maribel returned to Guatemala, they had discussed rehabilitating Rafael through memory implant therapy, but they had yet to work out how to arrange that without revealing alien tech to Rafael, so although Maribel was imprinted with the idea of 'fixing' Rafael's character defects, exactly how that might be done was hidden from her. One suggestion was to kidnap him, conduct the therapy until Joe pronounced him 'cured' of criminal tendencies, then blocking specific memories of the therapy itself that would reveal their secrets. One drawback to that was that they could not be sure that Rafael was, in fact, curable. If they could not correct his disorder, they might be unable to release him. His disappearance would cause chaos and danger for the operation.
By the time Luis was scheduled to report back to Maribel, he was equipped with a range of plans to present to her. They chose plans carefully because they were unsure of Maribel herself. She would think she was choosing the course of action, and they had agreed to let her control the operation on the ground including any strikes against Rafael's operation. On the one hand, they knew Mom generally favored swift, decisive action. She had suggested, they recalled, just zapping all the bad guys with lasers and being done with it. But, although Maribel was imprinted over Mom's personality for this undercover operation, she seemed to have different inclinations. They honestly didn't know what course of action, if any, she would choose.
They would have two invisible armed spy drones inside the room with her at all times, ready to take any necessary action to preserve her safety and to monitor the conversation for future planning. Indeed, they were already monitoring Rafael's communications for any hint that he might be planning to harm Maribel at the upcoming dinner meeting. So far, they had no such indications. He didn't share his goals or plans for the meeting with anyone, except to arrange for a secure perimeter and to monitor the actions of Maribel's security team. He even made arrangements for Luis to join them at dinner since Maribel was unwilling to meet without him at their previous meeting.
Maribel had been reviewing information available to her from what she thought was her father's network for most of the day. At 7:54 PM, there was a knock on the door.
She closed the cover of her laptop, sending it to sleep, and walked over to the door.
"Who is it?" She asked loudly.
"It's Luis," came the familiar voice through the closed door. She looked through the peephole and confirmed that it was indeed Luis before unlocking and opening the door.
"Come in," she said, "Would you like some coffee or refreshments before we get started?"
"Coffee would be good," Luis replied, the planning would take hours, and they would need the caffeine before they were done.
Maribel gestured toward the dining room table for Luis to sit, while she started the coffee. She put a cup full of coffee beans into the grinder and turned it on. The aromatic grounds fell out into a plastic holder fitted with a paper filter. When the grinder was empty, she put the receptacle into her coffee maker, filled it with water from a plastic gallon jug, and turned it on.
As she did this, Luis sat at the table, opened his briefcase and took out several folders full of papers, stacking them neatly to his side. He took the top folder and placed it in front of him. A moment later, Maribel set a cup of coffee on either side of the table and sat down.
Luis began, "You asked for a series of contingency plans, but you did not specify what level of deterrence or retaliation you had in mind. So, I have prepared several options based on our capabilities."
"Thank you," Maribel said, "I am new to all this business, so I apologize for not giving better instructions. My goal is to prevent any harm from coming to any of our people, or to anyone really. I am not interested in vengeance after the fact, but in prevention or deterrence as you say. What is that saying they used during the cold wars? I want Rafael to know that whatever his organization can do here in Guatemala, we have the capability for 'mutually assured destruction.' In other words, if he hurts my people, I can destroy him."
"Yes, we have, with your father's network, certain assets that could as you say 'destroy Rafael' if you mean destroy him personally. Obviously, destroying the drug cartels or even their trafficking networks within Guatemala is not one of our options. As for Rafael, he is just a man and just as vulnerable as any man, despite his significant precautions."
"He is not likely to respond positively to threats, however, so I ask you to consider carefully as we work through the options. It would be counter to your goal to actively goad him into actions that he would not otherwise have taken." Luis looked her in the eyes to make sure she understood this point.
"Yes, I agree," Maribel reassured him, "I want to send a message to let him know that I can reach into his empire and hit him should I be pushed to do so."
"Good, then we can eliminate these from consideration," Luis said, taking seven file folders from the bottom of the stack and returning them to his briefcase. Maribel's eyes went wide. "Those are all plans to attack him pre-emptively?" she asked.
"Yes, to either strike directly at him or his operation. Several would cause him some… difficulties with his business partners that might cause them to terminate their relationship with him."
"You mean they'd kill him," she asked.
"Yes," Luis replied, "and perhaps not quickly."
Maribel paled at the thought of Rafael being tortured for hours or days before finally being killed by his cartel associates. A shiver ran through her.
"Well, hopefully, it won't come to that," she said, "Let's talk about the other plans, just sending a message, for now."
"Right, for this category of responses, we want to demonstrate that our agents have unrestricted access to him and the innermost workings of his 'business' operations. Further, that aside from access, we have the capability to inflict damage through those hidden access points. Whatever message we send must not reveal how we delivered the message or provide any way for him to cut off that access. So while we have plans to leave a single, convincing message, we also have plans that would show that we can reach multiple, highly secure access points simultaneously so he will realize that while he might block one or several of our pathways, he could never hope to block them all."
"Yes, perfect," Maribel said, her eyes narrowed conspiratorially. "Show me what you have in mind."
Luis opened the folder he had selected before their conversation started and began showing her organizational charts, maps, financial documents, and extremely detailed information about Rafael and his contacts. More information than she imagined possible. There were even transcripts of his private conversations and photos of some of his most dangerous associates. Maribel almost reconsidered letting Luis put away the lethal options when he presented names and photos of some of the people who Rafael had personally ordered killed, or in several cases had taken the action himself. She blanched at the details. Rafael was a monster, this portfolio left no doubt.
Several hours later, Luis packed up his folders, returning them to the briefcase. The entire case and all documents within, he assured her, was to be incinerated as soon as he returned to his apartment house. All the documentation were electronically stored on a highly secure server back in Peru. No paper trail or electronic record would be left in Guatemala.