"Damn!  I guess so . . . Amazons!"

These words, shouted out by the military member of the intelligence committee showed the exasperation Lieutenant Colonel Clayhorn was developing over the debriefing. Known for his militant stance against any and all threats by potential enemies of the United States, the colonel was becoming tacitly aware of what he now believed to be an urgent priority of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staffs.

"You see, colonel . . . these steel shafts have been extracted from the victims in each case," Mr. Stuttman added. "And on these crossbow 'bolts,' as they're called, is a small engraving. Gentlemen, you can see it there on this one."

He passed the bolt over to Mr. Taylor to share with the others at the table. He then flashed an enlarged image of the insignia found on a bolt onto the screen behind him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you're now looking at the identical emblem you saw this morning on the lid of the sarcophagus inside the Big Sur tomb. Each crossbow arrrow was found to be marked with this Amazonian symbol."

"Christ! How weird is that?" the colonel exclaimed loudly again, looking into the faces of all the other men. He seemed to be becoming all the more agitated by the sight of the small weapon now in his hand and the bizarre connection it had to what he had learned about the tholos.

Dr Williamson again entered the discussion.

"Gentleman, we must not forget that the characteristics of this group we are investigating . . . This Penthesilea Sisterhood . They seem to be to emulating the historical Amazons as an ideal society. May I remind you of their  . . . specialty in the ancient world? If you peruse any of the art or legends depicting them . . . stealth with a bow and arrow are close at hand. Lethal results with men were what they were pretty much about."

"So we have to stop these goddamned women!"  The Colonel responded in a now enraged voice. "We should be mobilizing against them immediately!"

Caitlin O'Farrell looked at the colonel and then over at Mr. Stuttman with steely, clear eyes. She was obviously alarmed and disgusted with his and the attaché's militant reactions.

"What we are seeing today," emphasized Mr. Stuttman and addressing the colonel, "is a more sophisticated, high tech version of those women. These are smart Amazons today . . . with a real technical flare. They should indeed be considered a formidable foe . . . and on no uncertain terms to the military, sir."

"Yes. . . I say real the bitches in!" was the military man's barely audible reaction. Though it was nevertheless heard by Ms O'Farrell.

"And these women are growing in number by the day," was Mr. Stuttman's own personal response.

He then spoke in a louder, more formal voice, bringing closure to his presentation.

"Gentlemen, that concludes my input today. Our investigations at the Bureau will continue aggressively, I can assure you. I look forward to our subsequent briefings where we might develop an action plan." Stuttman then left the front of the room for his seat with the others.

Ms O'Farrell, still standing at the head of the table , with the screen to her back, took charge again of the discussion

"Gentlemen, what I have seen here today, only emphasizes that our agencies are more myopic than I had ever imagined. I say this because we seem focused on the notion that what a small fraction of women are doing here and now is a threat to all civilization as we know it. You all here today need to be appraised  of other, wider  information in order to separate true threats from benefits."

The others in the group, taking this as a direct criticism of them, became pensive and silent. They awaited an appropriate response to what Ms O' Farrell was suggesting.

"I believe you need to hear my personal take on this social phenomenon . . . and from the perspective I have studied it through ongoing work with the State Department."

The men sat waiting, a few visibly still irritated by the woman's contrary position.

"I must confess to you that several years ago we in Washington were unaware of this organization's broad reach until they began appearing on the intelligence radar screen. Mostly PS was being watched for their activist agenda, and due to its active creation of certain women's agencies."

"You see, we were then brought into an investigation of the Penthesilea Sisterhood in light of their 'think tank' operations in Massachusetts. We got wind of certain work in policy and lobbying coming out of their in-house Otrera Institute for Progress, which is located in Cambridge, MA."

Several of the men looked at each other vacuously, apparently not aware of the society's internal organization.

"This association of women scholars, working independent of Washington, and centered around Harvard, created a bit of a stir in New England and the Beltway of DC these last few  years. As we started looking into their work from the outside . . . well I was personally and initially impressed. Mostly for this group's 'out of the box' thinking about women's needs internationally and their smart range of solutions. It was all pretty compelling, gentlemen, how they have now made a difference in women's lives . . . and continue to do so."

Mr. Helms tactfully interrupted from his seat.

"Ms O' Ferrell, we appreciate your contrary opinion at this meeting today. But could you give us some tangible things to support your . . . overly positive view of the Penthesilea Sisterhood?"

"Certainly," she answered, moving more central to the table.

"Firstly, I admit I was not working under the same hostile assumptions you men have generated here today . . . that PS as an organization should be perceived as a threat to American society. I must say my cursory investigations of the Otrera Institute for Progress . . . its Boston 'think tank,' . . . was that it was just proactive in some very positive ways."

"Think Tank? " Mr. Taylor asked.

"Yes. The Otrera Institute for Progress has been very sensitive to the needs of women in their plight relating to continual war zones, political strife, and an ongoing global financial crises. While observing and studying them, I actually came to applaud the group for their controversial tenet to remain all female in principle. For it was about then that they chose to 'come out' so to speak as a bona fide all-female policy center, and began to get commentary and criticism in the press."

The men looked at each other in silence.

"So you support this . . .rigid gender bias of theirs?" Asked Mr. Stuttman?

"Gentlemen, Men's clubs and all-male secret societies have been around for a few thousand years. Are we surprised to learn that the women have had one, possibly dating back perhaps as far?"

"That's a valid point," agreed Dr. Williamson. And all our women's colleges are still well-respected here in States."

"Actually I'm somewhat proud to report that . . . as a fairly young 'think tank,' the OIP is beating the pants off several other, more established collaborations known to our agency in terms of their on-the-ground development and effectiveness."

"So . . . what sort of . . . progress, Ms O' Ferrell, are you referring to here? What exactly has this institute been working toward?" It was now an inquisitive Mr. Stuttman who led the inquiry.

"Well alright. I'll give you a few things your offices with the FBI have perhaps overlooked. You see we in Washington are always being informed of the identities of individuals who . . . compete with other academic and intelligence institutions implicitly, and with great success. After hearing so much about the OIP through the grapevine, we started thinking . . . we better take a close look."

"And? What did you learn?"

"We found that these new kids on the block, Otrera Institute for Progress, over a two year period, had really made a footprint in so many parts of the world where inequalities toward women were paramount."

"As in?"

"Real innovation and progress, gentlemen. Consider their female-only architectural and engineering contests they host in every state of the U.S. now. They sponsor these annually for women at the country's top universities. Last year the goal was to design a hollow, light weight building material block, to later be filled with water, sand or mud on site in a domicile construction. It had to be cost-effective, strong, and easily shipped for construction into areas which had experienced earthquakes, mudslides, tsunamis, or hurricanes."

"And?"

"The winning designs were subsequently tested and manufactured in the state of Iowa. They were then shipped off as pre-fabricated family shelters complete with tools and plans. Each unit had attachable roofs, doors and windows packaged in an economy of space. They could be sent anywhere in the world affordably and rapidly."

The men showed some signs of genuine interest.

"This project, conceptualized by OIP, has radically changed the temporary living conditions for thousands of people, mostly women and their children, this year stuck by natural disasters and who are victims of instability in their own countries. They include the masses of immigrants outside the borders of their war-torn countries."

There were no comments from the men.

"Many of these victims, finding themselves only recently homeless did not have to suffer the weeks and months of other refugees, battling the elements and a lack of security. The construction characteristics of these simple but effective block units guaranteed them adequate living conditions, safety and security, literally within days. It was a 'win-win' when you consider that some four-hundred Americans were put to work constructing those shelter-block units in a small town in South Carolina."

Again, the  men were non-committal.

"The 'Otrera Institute for Progress'  has done other similar projects through women-only contests. Specifically, designing and packaging portable water purifying units, and solar cooking devices, using the sun's power, amplified through and convex lenses. Those manufacturing plants were in Tennessee and West Virginia, employing nearly seven hundred Americans."

Several of the men exchanged glances at the table.

"I found that from my own monitoring of OIP, many of the brightest women from the country's top research labs have contributed to this institute's concepts and projects. And how many of these females are actually 'card-carrying' members of the Penthesilea Sisterhood? I could not tell you here, but I know of their close affiliation to this group. We'll just have to leave that work to Mr. Helms and Mr. Stuttman, I suppose."

The two men quickly looked at each other.

"So you see, gentlemen, PS  was not new to me in my division, as we found it to be the mother organization of OIP. We just didn't scrutinize it under the same negative light your agencies have."

The military man, Colonel Clayhorn once again intervened boisterously.

"Well perhaps it's now time to see what more threatening things these women are involved in, Ms. O' Ferrell. Our men here from the CIA and FBI have painted a very different picture of their activities because they do exist. Do you not acknowledge these are some very serious issues we have seen here today? And that they in fact do present a real threat to a . . . great faction of the American people?"

"Are you speaking about males, Lieutenant?"

The colonel glared back at her.

"Sir, referencing only our work on OIP, we found that most of these women's efforts and their collaboration with others world-wide spearheaded the solutions and fresh approaches to problems affecting many thousands of women—socially, politically, physically, and economically. Do we fault them for that?"

The Lieutenant Colonel only continued to be more visibly frustrated over this sudden defense of the society, as did the obvious consternation of Mr. Helms.

"You see, gentlemen, what we witnessed in their Boston center through surveillance,  and as part of our investigations, were legitimate projects targeted within specific divisions of study. Those included information technology, medical applications, engineering efforts, business models, education and health. All of these disciplines appeared to have at their core, real solutions to help confront the barriers females face in all parts of the world. Things which traditionally have prevented their actualization . . . limited their education and potentials.

Dr. Williamson judiciously entered the discussion.

"Ms O'Farrell, thank you. Perhaps on balance we should be hearing of these things. Do you have anything else to add before we leave the meeting today?"

"Well . . . yes. Of great interest to me was one of the behavioral sciences endeavors this research group was conducting at the time of my investigations. It was rather whimsically called "Male 101: The Mysterious Behavior of Men."

Several of the men laughed out loud.

"As humorous as that sounds, gentlemen . . . this project was fundamentally dedicated to understanding the social behaviors and attitudes of males toward women. Generally and in hundreds of societies."

The group leaned forward following their amusement. Mr. Helms inconspicuously began to nervously scratch his bald head, while at least one of the other men covered his mouth to disguise an irrepressible smile."

"Go on, Ms O'Farrell . . . so what did they discover?"

"A few of the communiqués I covertly intercepted revealed a pretty fascinating probe into what comprises . . . at least in part . . . the male condition. This included attitudes about themselves, their familial roles, and most interestingly a perception generally  of . . . well . . . us. That is, the opposite sex. Once again, this was a composite of many different societies in existence today. But interestingly similar in scope."

"And did you . . . learn anything about . . . us, Ms O'Farrell?"

Several of the men laughed again.

"I did find the analysis quite interesting. Particularly as it was devoted to behaviors which almost all societies find . . .  unsavory,  and in their worst degree, repulsive."

"Yes? As in?"

"Exactly. What were those behaviors?" came from the table.

"Well, let's see. . . Hooliganism? Violence associated with sex? Male prison gang affiliation? The completely asymmetrical incidence of males perpetrating the crime of rape? Men's predilection for female incarceration? Torture? Pedophilia? Domestic Violence? Male dominance rationalized through religious dogma? Stalking behaviors? Males who become serial killers? These are all pretty much  acts dominated by the male population. And all pretty unsavory, as you might agree. Shall I go on, Dr. Williamson?"

The men had stopped laughing and were for the most part silent. Yet some were now showing signs of anger.

"I might add that this project looked into the combinations of genetics, conditioning, and brain chemistry. All by some of the most talented post-doc researchers at work today. They were particularly interested in which combinations of all of those factors result in the aggressive triggers which often propel some men to brutalize women. In other words which combinations of them might predispose males to violence, or sexual deviance? This was all interesting stuff to any thinking woman, gentlemen."

"Well . . . those truly are perplexing issues," Dr. Williamson reluctantly added."

"Yes. And at the time of my recognizance, the OIP  was making some further inquiries into the recent discovery and possible involvement of the male warrior gene. A possible genetic link which may be present in some males, predisposing them to over-competitiveness, cruelty and a lifetime of violence."

"Yes. I've read about that," was the President's comment.

"So in summary gentlemen," Ms  O' Farrell stated, "the efforts of the Penthesilea Sisterhood to set up and employ this stellar group of women researchers might just someday benefit us all."

"But do you really believe that is all these women are up to, Ms O' Ferrell?" It was Stuttman again.

"Speaking of our surveillance of the OIP, their goal seems always to have been a better understanding of certain undesirable elements males present on every continent. And as you can see they are issues which ultimately impact the lives women and girls."

"Fine, Ms. Ferrell. And we thank you for that."

The President of the Board suddenly stood, signaling a close to the meeting.

"Gentlemen, I believe we've heard some interesting facts here about the Sisterhood's more benign operations."

"Yes," O' Farrell tenaciously continued. "So can we then agree, gentlemen, that certain of these behaviors they have studied have indeed produced much strife and human suffering in the world? The over-arching goal of the OIP and PS in general seem to be finding methods to understand and greatly reduce these social ills."

"You sound like a public relations rep for the Sisterhood, Dr. O'Farrell," retorted the Colonel, with a brewing anger still in his voice.

The men all chuckled at his couched insult, giving the meeting some needed levity.

Caitlin O'Farrell responded unaffectedly.

"Well I will have to say, gentlemen, in my own cursory investigation of this sisterhood we have discussed today . . . as it has manifested itself over the past five years. . . I see much more good these females are accomplishing than the harm you insist on amplifying here today."

Jack Taylor from the DHS spoke up in his typical balanced manner.

"So as I understand you, Ms O'Farrell . . . though you support their humanitarian efforts . . . you do still at least believe the jury is out on this organization? Right?"

"Yes, Mr. Taylor. And thank you once again for your presence of mind."

"So . . . out of a final interest to us today," he asked. "And . . . as a women . . . what do you personally make of all this? Are we to see the situation with violence worsen with PS or go away?"

The attractive agent surprisingly smiled cordially back at him and the all th men.

"Worsen for whom? Men or women?" she asked. "Do you honestly think it's in any woman's nature to purposely make the world a lesser, less hospital place? Wasn't  it Pascal who observed, 'The chief industry of all women to create love'?

The men were stunned, unmoving at the remark.

"Why have men always feared a world where women take the lead?  Just  share the planet more fully with us, gentleman. Women only want fairness, security and joy. Simply those attributes. Yet, could the future path be any more uncertain or barbaric in certain parts of the world for women than it is now?"

She looked into the eyes of each of them.

"Do not fear us gentlemen. Allow us to make necessary progress."

With that statement, Dr Williamson moved to the center of the room and held up both of his hands, dramatically. "Gentlemen . . . Ms O'Farrell . . . I wish to thank you all for your input today. I believe it has increased our insight into this extremely complex and rapidly developing series of events. We have, unfortunately, found ourselves . . . through this incomparable archaeological find . . . heavily in the midst of some very pressing issues."

"Yes, Dr. Williamson," the sole woman finally said before taking her seat, "I'm sure we all concur. But just maybe we could be witnessing a type of revolution here. One that we may not readily see the benefits of yet. It seems that an amazing time for women has presented itself now . . .unannounced and without warning. And perhaps we should not be so quick to step in its way or label it so catastrophically."

"Well spoken, Ms O' Ferrel."

"This movement obviously came out of a wish for women to see a better world. And as we have seen today, the efforts of some of them are committed to never rest until progress is possible and changes are made. I only ask that as we proceed we are vigilant, but also right-minded and cautious in our perceptions."

Dr. Williamson nodded. As he waited for her to be seated, he smiled presidentially at the group.

"For now, ladies and gentlemen, we must go back to our separate agencies and disciplines to carry on with our work. Hopefully," he said earnestly, holding out a hand to the lieutenant colonel, "with a more cautious mind, and . . ."

Directing a similar gesture toward Caitlin O'Farrell, ". . . a more understanding heart."

A few of the men reluctantly nodded and one actually smiled.

"It is only safe to say," The Board President finally concluded, "that this is not the end of the developments we have all been entrusted to monitor and decide upon. Thank you all for your views and input today."

* * *