Northeast Washington DC, February, 2078, Wednesday…

Father Gomez found himself spending more and more time in Paul Sanford's loft. The Mundo Domini cells had slowly come around to believing that the plan he proposed was viable and actually looked to Juan Pablo to bring it all together. Some of them had more than a single motivation. One additional one was that he and Sanford's cell would get the blame if the plan failed. A second one was that they recognized that it was a lot of work which they were loathe to do; it was really a logistics nightmare. In any case, the bulk of the planning fell on his shoulders.

However, Sanford did his part with the weapons planning. His knowledge about efficient ways to blow up things went beyond what might be found among the members of a crack special ops unit with the difference that those members might actually be somewhat sympathetic towards other human beings. Sanford was a pure sociopath, so he never had many regrets when innocents were killed, but with time Juan Pablo found that Paul Sanford and many of the others to not be complete beasts. He believed that a lot of their indifference was acquired as character flaws, society, and circumstances worked synergistically to strip away their souls. He fully recognized that plenty of others had suffered through worse childhoods or suffered more indignities and still had turned out to be useful, contributing, and even compassionate members of society. But these terrorists, like so many, had some number of weaknesses where they had needed strength to overcome the moral trials in their previous lives. No one had stepped forward to channel their obvious skills and intelligence into more peaceful pursuits.

None of this excused them. Instead it was a damning indictment of a largely indifferent and uncaring society. The glue that held them together was a common belief in their cause. Most of their lives had been so meaningless, impoverished, and brutal that latching on to any cause was understandable. Why they had chosen this one cause was as varied as the backgrounds which had preyed upon their weaknesses.

That being said, Juan Pablo could not imagine being able to reform any of them except the girl Trudy Kerrigan. She was the nineteen-year-old girl, mature beyond her years, who guarded the door at Sanford's place. She loved to flaunt her physical assets, especially in front of the priest. She seemed to be attracted to him which might delight many men Juan Pablo's age but only made the priest worry more about her.