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Following a good night's sleep, I showered, shaved and dressed. Ken and Pam, no doubt well conditioned by their children, already were up by the time I ventured downstairs.

We had an early lunch, or a late breakfast, and tied up a few loose ends of the discussion that had been left over from the previous evening. By the time we had finished eating, talking and cleaning up, early afternoon had arrived.

Pam excused herself, indicating she had a number of errands to run and a few people to see. Perhaps by design, this left Ken and myself alone to pursue the second reason for my trip to Washington.

Ken was the first to speak. "How did the Bettinger Foundation people approach you?" he asked.

"They, or, at least, their Timothy Jameson, sent me an invitation to lunch," I answered.

Ken followed up with: "When did you get the invitation?"

"The day I got back from visiting Brian at the prison," I replied.

"How much time was there between the time you met Beth and your meeting with Brian?" Ken inquired.

"About a week or so," I said.

"Did you tell Beth you would see Brian when she visited you at your office?" Ken asked.

"No," I responded. "I wanted to think the situation over for a little while. I phoned her a few days later."

"Did Brian know you were coming?" Ken probed.

"Yeah," I indicated. "Beth had phoned the prison and left a message for him."

"What were the conditions of the external consulting offer which Bettinger made to you?" Ken queried.

I thought back to my conversation with Dr. Jameson. As terms of the offer popped into consciousness, I listed them: "$55,000 per year; 15-20 hours per month; extremely flexible work schedule; write my own ticket with respect to duties, and a year trial period with possibilities for either renewal of existing arrangements or, maybe, even a full time job."

"Did this Jameson guy say how you came to be chosen to be the recipient of the Foundation's beneficence?" Ken wanted to know.

"Jameson said he had heard me speak at the Network Support Conference for the Survivors of Terrorist Attacks and had been impressed with my talk, " I reported. "Furthermore, apparently, he knew something about my background, both as a psychologist as well as a draft-dodger.

"Dr. Jameson informed me the Bettinger Foundation considered all three facets of my life to be potentially valuable resources. He said the Foundation would like to be able to draw upon my experience, insights and expertise as the need arose."

Ken terminated his series of questions, at least for the moment. He seemed to be mulling over various possibilities.

"What's with all these questions?" I wondered aloud.

"As you requested," Ken replied, "I've made some inquiries with respect to the Bettinger Foundation. The more I find out about them, the less I like what I'm discovering.

"First of all," Ken began, "the Bettinger Foundation is only one of a number of corporate entities under the control of a parent, holding company called Futures Unlimited. This latter organization does its banking through the Cayman Islands."

"I don't know, David, whether or not you are aware of the fact, but in the Cayman Islands, to even ask questions about any of the client companies of the chartered banks there is an illegal act. Although some companies may have legitimate reasons for wanting to shroud their financial activities in super secrecy, more often than not, people and companies which take this route have something illegal or immoral or problematic that they wish to keep from becoming public knowledge. Consequently, as far as I am concerned, the Cayman Island connection leaves the shadow of a very large question mark concerning the integrity of the motives and activities of the people who, ultimately, are behind Bettinger.

"None of the corporations falling under the umbrella of the Futures Unlimited holding company is listed with any stock exchange. Moreover, although I've managed to dig up a few pieces of information, there is very little financial or corporate information available on these companies in any of the standard business reference works or from any of my friends in the business community who generally know quite a lot about such matters.

"The virtual absence of information concerning these companies, including Bettinger, also is potentially disquieting. To me, it suggests someone, for some reason, is very concerned about covering the tracks of corporate structure, interests, goals and activities.

"Under some circumstances, this aura of mystery might be nothing more than a minor blip on the screen of life. However, the people who are behind the Bettinger Foundation are very well connected with certain aspects of our own government as well as quite a few foreign governments.

"In addition, they have links with various branches of the military, along with different facets of the intelligence community, both domestic and international. They also seem to have a fair amount of interaction with key players in the defense industry, as well as a number of multi-national corporations.

"Moreover, because Bettinger is not considered to be a lobbyist as defined by law, it doesn't have to satisfy any of the conditions, such as disclosure, through which the activities of registered lobbies are, to a degree, regulated. Yet, on the basis of what little I have discovered, I have no doubt that Bettinger is actively involved in trying to shape government policy on a lot of different levels.

"Secrecy and mystery in this context are no longer minor issues. They set off a lot of warning bells in me."

"Actually, Ken," I interrupted, "Dr. Jameson more or less told me about these governmental, military and intelligence links. He said he wanted to be up-front with me about these connections in view of my draft-dodging background, and so that we would have the opportunity to discuss any problems that these kinds of liaison might pose for me.

"Moreover," I continued, "Dr. Jameson indicated the Bettinger Foundation maintained close contact with these sorts of people and organizations in order to acquire as much accurate information as possible. He suggested this information was essential to its activities of combating terrorism and carrying out various tasks such as competent risk analysis assessments."

"Perhaps," Ken replied, "things are just as Dr. Jameson has stipulated. On the other hand, what he told you may be just a plausible cover story which puts a positive spin on intentions and purposes that are other than what they are made to appear to be.

"When did your talk at the Network Support Conference take place last year?" Ken asked? "Wasn't it June?"

"The last few days of June, and the first couple of days of July," I specified.

"So," Ken said, "Dr Jameson waits nearly a year and..."

Before he could continue, I interjected: "Dr. Jameson told me he had wanted to let some time past before contacting me. He said he didn't want to intrude into my life at that time out of consideration for my situation and feelings."

"Taken on its own," Ken countered, "one might be inclined to accept that explanation at face value. Nonetheless, when one juxtaposes this sort of explanation next to the facts of a missing federal prisoner and a kidnaped sister, I begin to wonder about things."

"I don't understand what Brian and Beth have to do with the Bettinger Foundation," I remarked.

"I don't understand it either," Ken acknowledged, "but don't you find the whole situation excessively coincidental? The invitation to lunch is sandwiched between, on the one hand, your visit by Beth, together with your trip to see Brian, and, on the other hand, Brian's and Beth's disappearances?

"There would have been enough time between, on the one hand, the point at which you informed Beth about your trip to see Brian, or the point at which Beth notified Brian of your forthcoming visit, and, on the other hand, Bettinger finding out, in one way or another, about these plans and setting in motion their own response through the lunch invitation. Jameson may have intended to contact you at some future date just as he told you, but circumstances unfolded in such a way that the time of contact was advanced to accommodate, in a, seemingly, very natural manner, those circumstances.

"The intriguing aspects of these events are only enhanced," Ken intimated, "when one throws into the mix the rather secretive and mysterious nature of Futures Unlimited that, through Bettinger - and, possibly, in other ways as well - also happens to have very close links to a variety of powerful government, military, intelligence and business organizations. Don't you feel your spider sense tingling, Peter Parker?"

"I'm afraid my spider suit is at the cleaners," I responded. "Furthermore, I'm all out of webbing. Consequently, I'm having a little bit of difficulty swinging from premise to premise."

"Let us suppose," Ken conjectured, "that you have stumbled into something with Beth and Brian which is far more complicated than it appears on the surface.

After all," Ken added, "even without bringing the Bettinger Foundation into the picture, you have Beth's vision involving you, together with her temporary disappearance and Brian's on-going disappearance. Wouldn't you agree that all of this indicates something already is going on which is rather convoluted in nature?"

I reflected on Ken's words. "Yes," I confirmed.

"Good," he stated. "Now, let us bring the Bettinger Foundation before our viewing audience ... enter, stage right.

"Unfortunately," Ken continued, "due to the innocence, if not naivety, of our unsuspecting hero, he does not see that Beth, Brian, the invitation to lunch, and the disappearances are all part of the same chain of events. Instead, the hero treats the events as interesting, but unrelated incidents.

"What if, however, Beth and Brian constitute some sort of threat or obstacle to certain vested interests that the Bettinger Foundation or its parent company, Futures Unlimited, has? Moreover, what if some kind of action had been planned by either one, or both, of these corporations with respect to Brian and Beth in order to resolve the problems generated by this brother and sister?

"Yet, inexplicably, a fly by the name of David Phelps lands in the specially prepared corporate ointment before it can be applied to the area of irritation. As a result, a contingency plan is devised to remove the fly from the ointment.

"In these particular circumstances, the method of choice for removing the fly is a very lucrative and attractive job offer. Most flies would jump at the chance."

"If this inducement doesn't work, other contingency plans can be drawn up. Such organizations have a large number of options available to them.

"They are experts at arranging situations. They have many ways to influence, pressure, coopt, neutralize, entangle, discredit, intimidate and, if necessary, eliminate people who are causing difficulties.

"Perhaps, David, I've spent too much time in Washington, but I see these kinds of thing happen on a daily basis. The scenario I've constructed may appear to you to be very fanciful and improbable, but, I assure you, the underlying principles on which the scenario rests, form the woof and warp from which much of the historical fabric of our country, and virtually every other country on Earth, is woven."

"Ken," I said, "I don't have any problem accepting the underlying principles on which the scenario rests. I just have a problem with the scenario. For example, what possible threat could Brian and Beth be to either Futures Unlimited or the Bettinger Foundation?" I challenged.

In rapid succession, more interrogative missiles were launched in the general direction of Ken's scenario. "Why kidnap Beth and, then, let her go? Why go to the trouble of implanting false memories concerning an alien abduction?

"Wasn't Brian already neutralized in prison? Why remove him from there? Or, alternatively, why not suppose that Brian escaped for his own reasons and through his own means?

"How could my arrival on the scene constitute a problem sufficiently severe to warrant a job offer? And, how would such an offer disengage me from the Beth and Brian situation? Moreover, didn't the disappearances, if they were the intended actions of Futures Unlimited or of Bettinger, take place in spite of my having stumbled onto the scene? So how was I a fly in the ointment?"

Ken raised both of his hands to about chest level and moved them in a way that indicated: 'Enough' Lowering his hands, he admitted: "All of your questions are quite legitimate, and I really don't have a fully satisfactory response for most of them, although, I suppose, I could suggest a few possibilities.

"For instance, Beth could have been kidnapped in order to find out what she had told you. Or, alternatively, perhaps she was kidnapped in order to bring pressure of some kind on Brian.

"She could have been released relatively quickly in order either not to draw undue attention to her absence or because Brian agreed to cooperate in exchange for her release or some combination of the two. Furthermore, the alien abduction cover story might have been implanted both to confuse whomever might try to help Beth, as well as to help discredit any legitimate information which Beth happened to divulge to her would-be helpers.

"As far as Brian is concerned, if what he has is information or knowledge that could either hurt or help Futures Unlimited, then his being in prison really does not resolve their problem. My guess is that if these people arranged for Brian's removal from prison, then Brian has information which they need. If it were otherwise, if they were afraid that Brian would reveal something which was injurious to them, they easily could have taken out a contract on him in prison.

"Your place in this whole scenario might not be that hard to figure out either. Because you had met both Beth and Brian, they would want to find a way to keep tabs on you without arousing your suspicion.

"Brian had talked to you for a long time at the prison. They might have been quite concerned about what he had said to you and what, if any, fallout would be precipitated as a result of that conversation.

"For example, they may have had some knowledge of this Botclofots organization or group that Brian mentioned to you. Since Brian seemed to suggest the Botclofots might be able to help out, then, conceivably, either Futures Unlimited or the Bettinger Foundation wanted to use you in some way with respect to that group. Who knows, maybe they even thought you might be able to lead them to that organization.

"In any event, what better method of engagement would there be in your case than for the Bettinger Foundation to approach you through an issue that has affected your life in a profound manner? This would give them a natural entryway into your day-to-day life which would permit them to monitor your activities at close range.

"In addition, if you took the job, they would be in a position to subtly shape your schedule to suit their agenda. For example, if at some critical point, for whatever reason, they needed to get you out of the picture temporarily, they could have you go on a speaking tour or participate in a terrorism conference in another country.

"Currently, you may not be interfering with any of their plans. However, you may constitute a potential threat, and, consequently, they may have decided to take steps now in order to be in a position to neutralize you at some later time.

"The bottom line, David, is that something strange is going on here. I have a gut feeling there are too many 'coincidences' in too short a period of time that are taking place in your life.

"My scenario, in part or as a whole, may not be the correct explanation for whatever is transpiring. Nonetheless, I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss such possibilities out of hand.

"In any case," Ken informed me, "my scenario only was intended as an intellectual appetizer. The main course is about to be served."

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