Note: This is a work of fiction as should be obvious by the inclusion of extraterrestrials and alien spaceships, but just in case, let me say that any similarity between persons, public or private in this fictional story and any real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
The wall on the opposite side of the Status Room, the wall that would face the living quarters, was blank. It had three large swiveling chairs. Each chair responded to the will of anyone sitting in them. In response to the desire of the person seated there, they could recline, add back support, become softer, add a tray or cup holder, almost anything one might need in a chair as desired by the user. Even the chair's temperature could be changed according to the user's preference. The chairs could face the window displays, or the blank wall. The wall was also a display that could access any connected sensor data or show complicated diagrams or videos created or summoned from other sources by mental commands. The only control we had over the sensor platforms while we were here, however, was by telling Joe what we wanted to happen and then having him relay an appropriate command or set of commands to the remote (or local) device.
After a few minutes testing out the chairs, Dad and I got up to go into the next room, the Operations Center. In this room, there were also three of the same chairs, but each was accompanied by a desk-like table on three sides. On the table surface, a virtual control panel for one or many different systems could be projected. Physically touching the controls would immediately send commands to orbital or system drones, local sensors, tactical units, and even the components installed here in the Headquarters Building. I could access the sensors and data streams from the refueling station near Jupiter, since I was part owner, and calculate the projected income as it filled a visiting ship, or at least I would be able to once the station was completed. For now, I could access the construction details, even over-ride the construction itself if I really wanted to. I didn't. I didn't want to screw it up, it was a complicated structure that had to be built correctly or risk catastrophic failure when ships docked and transferred hydrogen. There were huge mechanical stresses involved, and I didn't have time to learn all the specifics with the slow pace of memory-implants my poor child's monkey brain could accommodate.
Dad familiarized himself with a basic control set, then sat back shaking his head. "It's going to take me a while to learn all this."
I looked at him and smiled. "Show him, Joe."
My father's eyes went wide, then slowly a smile spread across his face. I knew Joe had implanted training memories of the system control operations. That was really a small amount of data, relatively speaking. It was quick and easy. Suddenly, Dad 'remembered' how to operate the complicated panels, how to rearrange them to his liking, summon and dismiss controls for various pieces of machinery. "Wow," was all he said.
Then he suddenly jumped up. "Oh my God! Joe, you can implant tactical simulation memories into raw recruits, making them experienced veterans who have run through a thousand permutations of the exact scenario they're going to face on any given operation! You can put them through boot camp in two minutes, and give them 20 years of combat experience and classroom room training in what a couple days?"
He looked at me, his eyes still showing his shock. "Tim, your soldiers will be the absolute best in the world from their first day in action!"
"The goal is not warfare." I said smoothly and sternly. "The goal is peace and security. Still, there will be some fighting even if things go well."
"Let's go sit down in the status room and go over our current plans, I'm sure there's room for improvement. But first, Joe, can you get us both fluent in Spanish? We'll need the other local languages as well, but let's just get Spanish into our heads before we go over the plans."
An hour later, we were seated in the Status Room, looking at a map of Central America. I spoke to my father and Joe, detailing the overall mission, high-level strategy, and some background information about why I had chosen this operation to begin my eventual… what? Conquest of Earth? My bid to be recognized as Earth's sole and rightful ruler? More likely my descent into megalomania and utter madness, I thought to myself.
"Guatemala, of course, covers a small strip of land between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. To the north is Mexico, with Belize to the northeast. To the south are Honduras and El Salvador. Although Spanish is largely spoken throughout the country, there are rural areas where only a small percentage of the population speak it. Instead, many rural people speak only the local Mayan languages of their ancestors. There are many different Mayan languages.
Generally, these regions are poor. There is not much work and what work there is pays little. A good wage is five dollars a day for a man to work on a farm, less for women. The larger cities have all the modern amenities, grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals and medical clinics, refrigerators. and gas stoves. the smaller native Guatemalan villages may lack electricity, especially in houses outside the village center. In the smaller villages, houses may be built of boards and sticks, or adobe mud. Bricks and cement blocks may be used if someone has a bit of money.
If someone does have money for a larger, nicer house it is often because the husband has gone to the United States and worked, sending money back to support his family. The trip is hard and dangerous, some don't make it, others get turned around by immigration authorities. These men are willing to risk their lives to make things better for their families. Others might afford better housing because they have other illicit income sources.
Because Guatemala straddles the Central American isthmus, any illegal drugs flowing north from South America flow through Guatemala. This can be overland in vehicles, through the air in small planes, or through coastal waters in boats or crude submarines built for the purpose. The flow of drugs means that there is money to pay government officials or law enforcement to make sure that the illicit trade continues. Often bribes come with threats, play ball or you will suffer, or your family will suffer, or both. If a criminal enterprise wants to set up a warehouse and transport hub for drug smuggling in a rural region, there is little that can be done by the local people. Occasionally, the government will make an example of one particular operation, but not enough to make any dent.
The local villagers are often subsistence farmers, growing food for themselves, selling at local open-air markets, or even hauling produce to larger villages or cities for a better price. These people are often treated as insignificant by those in the country who do have money. If a wealthy businessman needs a piece of land occupied by peasants, he will often just take it, driving them off. Sometimes using questionable legal proceedings, sometimes using force. Property records are poorly kept or entirely lacking in most of the country, making it hard to prove prior ownership. One of our charitable organization's goals is to formally file property deeds for villagers giving them legal title to the land they live on and farm, making it harder for legally savvy businessmen to take it away. Our detailed aerial imaging capability will make survey plans quickly and accurately.
As recently as 40 years ago, government military forces routinely attacked the people of small villages, killing or driving them from their homes, ostensibly because it was thought they supported anti-capitalist ideas. Many villagers remember these attacks vividly.
Although the current President ran on a platform of cleaning up corruption and making real changes, he has been slow to make progress largely due to opposition from older stalwarts in the Legislature blocking any real reform efforts. His relationship with the country's military leadership has been similarly difficult with established leaders quarreling with newly appointed leaders. The Attorney General's office has blocked him at every opportunity. That's not to say all his opponents are corrupt, some may just see things differently and resist radical change of any kind.
Drug contradiction forces are underfunded, undermanned, and under-equipped despite receiving some older surplus equipment from the United States and others. Poor roads and remote mountainous regions make operations difficult. Some of the mountainous regions are increasingly used to grow coca leaves for cocaine production and transport through Mexico.
Large smuggling operations in Mexico often use smaller criminal gangs in Guatemala to move their products through the country. They may play these local gangs against each other to keep them small and relatively weak in comparison to outside players.
Most local villagers try to stay away from any interaction with these criminal elements, but extreme poverty, fear of violence, and lack of governmental protection leave them with little choice when demands are made.
Guatemala is a small poor country in a strategic location with geography that makes travel difficult, they have relatively poor infrastructure with villages either lacking in electric power or subject to frequent outages. Our highly mobile, high-tech capabilities will give us very strong advantages over all players in the region. Our ability to place highly defensible facilities wherever we need them will also give us tremendous local advantages, as will our ability to literally disappear when needed.
Our goal is to make Guatemala a safe and prosperous country for all of its people, especially those for whom it is their ancestral home. We will move to prevent, 100% prevent, the flow of illegal drugs through, into, or out of the country including through coastal waters. We will support the establishment of honest and capable law enforcement and government organizations which support our mission.
We will provide safe havens for those threatened by criminal enterprises or any other group. We will provide food, medical care, infrastructure, and logistical support as we help them to transition to a self-sufficient and prosperous economy.
We will face violent opposition from within and from outside the country. The opposition will seek to use any means necessary to stop us, including moving against us, our families, our associates and their families, anyone who cooperates with us, or even those who do not actively oppose us. Because they have strong organizations outside of Guatemala, our success there will not end the threat. We will be targeted until the entire world is made safe.
Secrecy will be our greatest defense, but it's likely that we will eventually be identified. We have the resources to place ourselves outside of their reach and at the first hint of any breach in the secrecy of our identities, we will do so, but we may not be able to protect everyone involved in our operation at all times. This is exceedingly dangerous, but it is the right thing to do. We could choose other places and other situations to start with, but we are choosing this one.
At first, we will avoid any indication of our plans. We will go in with a charitable front aimed at feeding the poor, improving health care access, and providing various community services, including strong legal and lobbying efforts on behalf of the marginalized Mayan communities. We'll start in the northeast region of the country, Quiche and Huehuetenango districts, both bordering Mexico's Chiapas region. We will adopt a stance of non-violence. We will use the cover of food distribution warehouses to set up local operations, preparing safety zones for refugees should large scale fighting break out. Our goal is not to go in using our high-tech advantage to kill the bad guys and hope things are better afterwards. We are encouraging organic change, re-educating adversaries, and driving positive changes.
I'm not so stupid to think we won't need to fight, we will. We will delay that necessity for as long as possible. When it is no longer avoidable, we will be surgical, avoiding collateral damage at all costs. Meanwhile, we will also be using our ability to intercept data and communications, and our ability to electronically infiltrate and tamper with the same to disrupt enemy operations, intelligence gathering, and finances."
The display wall showed maps, smuggling routes, foreign origin and destination points for those routes, charts, diagrams of cash flowing through banks and shell companies, local villages, key people, and a host of other information relevant to the operation as I gave the speech, Joe had helped me write, but the ideas were mine. Joe had provided some harsh reality checks and filled in some glaring holes in my plan. In the end, as Supreme Ruler of the Entire Earth Solar System and Nearby Space, I approved or denied every piece of it.