Strolling into a popular Waffle House located within a highway junction town of Conroe Texas, Samuel noticed three familiar faces waiting for him in the corner booth. After requesting a cup of coffee from the waitress at the counter, he moved toward his friends and sat down. Then he said in a soft tone, “Good morning gentlemen, it’s nice to see you again.”

Seated immediately to Samuel’s right, the most senior of the men replied, “It’s nice to see you again as well number two, but why the urgent meeting?”

“I received some positive news yesterday afternoon that needs to be shared with all of you, and I wanted to provide you with as much time as possible to act upon it.”

“Alright number two, what do you have?”

“The executives at various networks have agreed that as part of America’s continuing yearlong celebration, each of our three possible target locations will have a live television feed during the pregame festivities and the contest itself. Of greater significance, at least from our perspective, is the decision that those festivities would have more of an impact if they were to transpire on television simultaneously. Thanks to their thought process on the matter, we can now plan to move on all three sites.”

“That’s amazing number two. It has unfolded in exactly the same manner as you predicted, but how could you have possibly known that would happen?”

“Because I helped to plant a seed of potential profit that I knew could not be ignored by the network executives.”

The man furthest into the corner of the booth then inquired, “How did you do that?”

After receiving and thanking the waitress for delivering his cup of coffee, Samuel waited for her to depart and replied, “We have had a friend working within one of the networks for several years now, and he has kept me abreast of opportunities that could be exploited. He had noticed a few years ago that although it didn’t occur every season, from time to time each of the three locations would host a contest on the same calendar day. As luck would have it, two of the locations were going to host on our preferred day this coming fall. Then using that information to our collective advantage, I urged him to pursue the matter further. When he felt the time was right, he suggested to a superior that this coming fall could present a wonderful opportunity for a live television event.”

“That’s all it took?”

“Well, that and a little time. You know how the corporate world works, especially in the entertainment business. Someone suggests an idea, and if a superior likes that idea then they run with it and subsequently claim the credit for its conception. In this particular case our inside man pitched his idea to a known greedy corporate climber who possessed both the ability and ambition to contact the administrative offices of each institution. Just like that, the wheels were set in motion. Only one of the locations needed to make a slight alteration to their schedule in order for all three to host simultaneously, and their opponent for that day was eager to oblige when they learned they would in turn receive public recognition for assisting in the process. It was simple really. All they needed to do was flip the respective seasons when each institution would host during the scheduled home and home series.”

The last of Samuel’s three friends at the table joined the discussion by adding, “That’s a clever way to get them to agree.”

“Thank you, but our inside man at the network is the one who pitched the idea. He was quite correct when he voiced to me that the one thing that can always be counted on in our current culture is vanity. By offering publicly known credit toward them, the institution who has now become the visitor on that day set events in motion that have played beautifully into our hands.”

“That explains the common day for hosting, but what about the start time.”

“Once again vanity came into play. Although each of the three locations showed an eagerness to be one aspect of the festivities, none of them wanted the vulnerability of being shown up by either of the others as a consequence of having performed first. The idea of a simultaneous starting time was floated and subsequently agreed upon, so here we are.”

“Very nicely done number two. So what time is everything set for?”

“The contest in the mountain zone will begin at one o’clock their time. That will coincide with a three o’clock start for the two locations in the eastern time zone.”

The man in the corner stated, “That’s a late start in the east for that time of year.”

Glancing in his direction, Samuel replied, “True enough, but that could become an advantage during the evacuation process. The daylight savings time that just began this morning will have ended two weeks before the event to create a time change. Combine that with the shorter daylight hours of less than six weeks away from the winter solstice, especially that far north of this location, and the sun will have sunk to a lower position with regards to the western horizon. For the two locations in the east, that could be a hugely significant factor. In terms of attempting to escape the area, the approaching darkness should help each respective group.”

The man contemplated what had been presented, gave an approving nod, and then added, “Your right number two, we can benefit from that.”

With that Samuel took a sip of his coffee, and changed the subject slightly by stating, “Now then gentlemen, let’s discuss what will need to be done in order to hit all three targets effectively. I realize that you have all done a tremendous job with your efforts to remain on schedule, but now we must identify and recruit additional personnel if we are to maximize the impact.”

The senior man took the lead once again by asking, “Are you speaking of additional ground personnel?”

Answering to the group collectively, Samuel replied, “Although more of them will surely be needed, that aspect of the operation will continue to be handled by another faction. In your case, please maintain the focus only upon the air personnel. You will need to identify and recruit a total of forty-two individuals with the necessary skill set for the jumps.”

“Forty-two, that’s a significant escalation in personnel. Why the big change?”

“It seems that the networks have a patriotic idea for their television coverage that will require fourteen parachutes at each location. Although that will cause alterations to our original thoughts, it also provides us with a greater opportunity.”

“Alright number two. At the moment we only have the twelve that you initially requested, but we shall do our best to locate an additional thirty.”

“Thank you gentlemen, I know that you will. And please, all of you must understand that this is imperative to the overall plan. We have the necessary site for the training facility selected, and machinery is in transit. Your initial twelve recruits and the selected pilots for their training will be sent there shortly to begin construction. What I must be concerned with at the present time, is if the three of you need help in locating the thirty additional recruits. If you believe that you do, then I need to know that right now as opposed to a few weeks or months from now.”

After glancing at each other for a few seconds, followed by a collective gentle side to side movement of their heads for verification, the reply was resolute. “There’s no need for any additional help number two, we can contact number seven again and tap into the same gene pool that we recruited the current group from. There are many more who could be candidates, so we won’t let you down.”

With an affirming nod of his own, Samuel replied, “Alright gentlemen. Based on your results in the past, I believe in all three of you and thank you for your extended effort. Please keep me posted on your progress though, as proper documentation will need to be fabricated for each of the additional recruits.”

“As you wish number two.”

After having another few sips of his coffee, Samuel took three twenty dollar bills from his wallet and placed them in the center of the table before adding, “I appreciate you all coming on such short notice to this out of the way place. Now please allow me to take care of breakfast today gentlemen, and have something hearty before you all get back to work.”

“Thanks number two. And since you brought it up, why did you choose this place?”

“There are lots of customers who come through one of these restaurants every day, and as long as you don’t drastically over or under tip the waitress, no one will remember our group as anything other than a set of normal customers.”

“I understand number two, and don’t worry, we will be forgettable.”

“Good, and please also keep this in mind. It’s the opinion of number one that really matters with regard to your job performance. Although you may never know the identity of that person, I strongly suggest that you succeed with your newly given task.”

“Yes number two, we understand.”

Then as he stood from the table to depart, Samuel replied, “Good. Now I need to get over to College Station. I have to plant another seed of potential profit with the university administration.”