The Watergate condominiums smell old. This is no surprise since they were built in the sixties, but it is what runs through my mind as I make my way up to the floor beneath Condi's.

The Euro collectivist architectural style and co-op aspect are total turn-offs for me. Yes, they have good security in what amounts to the hideous ghetto known as DC - no it is not enough to compensate.

The VP meets me in the hallway. Plainclothes secret Service agents are everywhere and even the elevator operator was wired. Cheney greets me with a smile before he speaks.

"Its really hitting the fan isn't it?"

"Yes. It is."

"Have you isolated the transactions?"

"Yes, we have had 3 teams working on tracing all the transactions for the past year. It's been a nightmare tracking some of these shadow companies down."

"So do you have the group that pulled the trigger on the meltdown?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact we do have the culprits."

"Anybody we can go after?"

"We can't talk here. Wait'll we get in the car."

The Watergate is buggy. The private security, though top notch in keeping out drunks and panhandlers, is often compromised by foreign nations agencies. Security cameras are everywhere and are also wired for sound and recording units are triggered by motion sensors.

"Obama is doomed. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost. The poor guy is in way over his head. Soros is calling the shots and filling the new administration up with only the Clinton folks that were loyal to him. Obama knows almost none of these people."

"I know. I spent an hour with Biden on the 13th showing him around the Naval Observatory. He was as giddy as a schoolgirl going to her first prom, but it was obvious he knows that he knows none of this is due to his own merit. He's riding the coattails of total ignorance and while that's all he's ever ridden on, this election has made him painfully aware of the type of people that voted for him and Obama."

"If only the nation knew that Condi was really our first black President with a white figurehead. Ironically, now we will have a white President with a black figurehead. I guess it only counts if you think the left way."

"Such is the way the world now works my friend."

The secret service agents stand around as we enter a mirror black Yukon with chrome wheels and a siren bar in the side window. Cheney has more female agents assigned to him than Bush does, which is a nice change of pace although some would say it compromises his safety. Actually, I know most female agents are underestimated and most are more observant and better markspersons than their male counterparts.

"Take us to Georgetown Waterfront Park."

"Yes, Sir."

We have arrived at a nearby park that has views of Theodore Roosevelt Island. Cheney turns to his driver and has him inform the team to merely watch us as we take a small stroll through the park along the water's edge.

Cheney steps out and his thin gold frame glasses glint as they catch the sunlight through the trees. The park is not empty, but it is not busy either. Perfect for a casual stroll.

Cheney cuts to the chase.

"So who are they?"

"Best we can figure, some of the bigger transnationals doing business that were ousted when we invaded Iraq got together and formed a new organization. They united with the intent of waging economic warfare on the United States, ousting us from Iraq and they are truly global with a veritable octopus of tentacles reaching deeply into most EU states and Russia."

"Where's the head located? What names pop up?"

(REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED)

"Oh really? Now that IS a big surprise. That changes everything. What, if any, are your recommendations?"

"I really don't have any. This exceeds my pay grade."

"You have a US Treasury card."

"That's exactly what I mean. This is bigger than the US. I really don't think the US has the resources, especially now, to dissect this hydra. Take off one head and another will replace it. It makes Al Qaeda look like the local car theft ring. The US Government is largely compromised, even if SDAI isn't, and we simply don't have the resources to tackle this one."

"Give me something dammit. There must be some gesture that can frighten them or make them rethink their agenda."

"Oh, I think they overplayed their hand and some are even now regretting some of it. They underestimated just how much the world depends upon the US. If the US sinks - many of the smaller heads of this hydra will be under water too, and we will not have to lift a finger. Were monitoring transactions almost realtime now. The organization and their many fronts and agents have been steadily quietly working to loot US wealth."

"NOT enough. I want the big head not a bunch of little heads. Christ, if you guys can't find a way to quietly shut down an enemy organization - who can?"

A man walking his dog turns to look at the VP as he raises his voice. His dog is urinating next to a tree. He stares and I stare back. He looks away but I realize our walk will end in a few minutes. The secret service will be all over us soon.

"Pirate attacks are way up off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. Hundreds of them so far this year. That's no accident. We mapped the center and the Yemen city of Mukalla is clearly their base of operations."

"What does this have to do with our problem?"

"The pirate activity is one branch of the tentacle we have been focusing on because it has ties with Al Qaeda. Even now, the hijacked Sirius Star carries 100 million dollars worth of crude. It's not the oil and it's not the ransom that matter. Piracy out of Yemen has solely been part of the method of manipulating US oil prices. It's just been another tool used by this organization to manipulate and loot US wealth. It's the largest visible crossover between Al Qaeda and its industrial nation counterparts."

"And? So Al Qaeda is involved?"

"Yes, but they are just hired hands. They aren't smart enough to conceive this and shutting them down in Yemen wouldn't do much. They would just base out of somewhere else. It's Al Qaeda's western based marching orders and the men giving them that are one of the weaker links in this hydra."

"How so?"

"Well the hydra has many heads, but some keep their noses clean as they go about their evil business and others do the dirty work. The dirty ones are easier snared by existing laws and they could help in being the undoing of the clean ones."

"What about Obama. Where does he fit in?"

"He's the wild card. I can't tell yet whether he will buck his backers that placed him in or if he will do their bidding exactly as desired."

"Could I have your autograph?"

A very attractive young woman with her two young children bundled up against the very cool weather is standing before us. Cheney has a look that I haven't seen since I watched the footage of him meet the rather attractive and high class Ukranian Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, in early September. This signals the end of the discussion. I glance back at the Yukon and two agents are already in a run towards our location.

"Here you go."

Cheney pulls a pen out of his jacket pocket and signs the checkbook the woman has presented to be signed.

"Thank you."

The woman looks admiringly at Cheney. Celebrity worship is now forefront in the minds of the masses. If you can be recognized - you are, by default, worthy of being admired just for that alone.

The secret service agents arrive within 10 seconds. Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

"I'm sorry miss, you will have to move along. The Vice-President has a busy schedule."

Cheney and I get escorted back to his car and our conversation is for all intents ended.

"The Saudis will help to bring prices down to $1.50 by Christmas."

"They will?"

"Yes. I called in a few markers. Obama, by inauguration day, will start off with gas prices at an all time low for the past ten years. We'll see if that helps turn things around for the country."

"It should help - quite a lot."

Cheney drops me off at my car outside the Watergate parking garage and waves goodbye through the 5" thick bomb proof blast glass.

I have a deja vu and realize that all this was already foreseen from one perspective. The universe never throws any problems at one that it doesn't also offer solutions for.

Of course that's not great consolation when you watch everyone start counting change out to pay people.