As a child, Ray Martinez was well known to the people of Cuba. The toddler trudging dutifully beside his father as Carlos visited offices or clinics, the lad closely studying any new thing he saw, and the boy exploring on his own as his father discussed production or safety with other adults. All that ended when Ray’s father died. The Cuban public saw nothing of Ray between the solemn eight- year-old at his father’s funeral to the intense young man challenging his uncle for the presidency.
Ray Martinez had not lived those years in seclusion; he’d simply done nothing to call attention to himself. Martinez is a common enough name that no one ever considered the earnest, perhaps even driven, young man so focused on learning everything he could about
economics and cultures might be the Ray Martinez. He made sure the corporations and governments he reached out to knew who he was, though, and they were all interested in making his acquaintance. By the time he was twenty-three, he had connections across the Carib- bean League and beyond. That was in 2067, the year he challenged his uncle for the presidency.
How that contest between two Martinez’s would have played out and what it would have done to Cuba will forever be a matter of conjecture. Before the politi- cal battle was fully joined, Enrique fell from a railing and drowned. Of course there were rumors of foul play—giv- en the name and the stakes how could there not be? However, witnesses and security tapes were unanimous in their testimony that no one touched Enrique, but there will always be debates as to whether Enrique was un- lucky or Ray had been quicker at the draw.
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Rumor has it Hanque Dofflemeyer of SK, a “close friend” and suspected bed partner of Enrique’s, was there when he fell. Apparently she had an “extreme reaction” to some seafood at about the same time and was airlifted to a special clinic in the CAS immediately.>
Pyramid WatcherLegend has it that when Ray saw Cuba’s real situation— everything the president sees—for the first time he was struck by an inspiration. His uncle had created the Carib- bean League Navy and had been trying at great expense to make it powerful enough to destroy the pirates plagu- ing the Gulf and the League. But after that, what? Atzlan and Aztechnology were just over the horizon—along with other corporations eager to carve the Caribbean League into profitable little chunks. The pirates weren’t part of the League, but their attacks on the corporations’ assets had helped make the League possible. Maybe he could con- tinue that relationship. So he put together a special task force made up of the fast modern warships his uncle had bought for the navy and took on the pirates one at a time. The show of force ensured no one came to his prey’s de- fense, and that the pirate in his crosshairs would accept his invitation to parlay before a shot was fired. He offered ev- ery captain the same deal: A pirate license—not privateer commission—to operate in a proscribed area unmolested. All the pirate had to do was follow certain guidelines re- garding types of ships and cargos and pay a fee for each ship taken. For the first dozen or so, the penalty for not taking the deal was getting blown out of the water. After several pirates had signed on, the consequence became a reward to anyone who brought them down, no questions asked. In less than six months, he had pirates and even pi- rate kings coming to him, trying to negotiate licenses for the most profitable sea routes before their competitors did.
That’s the legend. Common sense is a plan that com- plex and effective had been worked out months be- fore he challenged Enrique. The fact he had the mech- anism in place to quickly extended this “license and
fees” program to a variety of organized criminal activi- ties throughout Cuba supports that theory. This net ef- fect was a significant increase in Cuba’s revenues and an overall reduction in crime—particularly the violent, messy kind that frightened away tourists—as the gangs and crime families became self-policing.
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Don Miguel is a smart man. Ray Martinez is also a smart man. They try to keep out of each other’s way, but there’s only so much room on the island.>
KaneMCILHENNY
Not a name most people recognize, but McIlhenny products make soy foods tolerable, sometimes even flavorful. Through two centuries, the McIlhenny fami- ly made Tabasco sauce of various intensities on Avery Island. Avery Island is a large salt dome surrounded by bayous in southern Louisiana. The family was dedicat- ed to preserving the natural beauty and biodiversity that surrounded them, so when in later years the wide- spread use of soy made spices and sauces more prof- itable than ever before, the McIlhennys built their new facilities farther inland. With more arable land available, they planted test crops of various peppers and spic-
Age: Young
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Description: Ray is a quiet, determined man. As a child he
sailed the League with his father learning about all its peoples— an intense, hand’s-on education he resumed incognito in his teen years. After his father’s death he became more involved with his mother’s occult practices, witnessing the raising of corps cadavres and other rituals. Despite his love for Cuba and its people—or perhaps because of it—Carlos saw no grey areas when it came to what was best for the nation. He meted out swift, brutal justice untempered by mercy. Ray, no stranger to the back of his father’s hand, inherited his father’s uncompromising discipline, and everyone understands the consequences of failing to meet his expectations. Because of his mother’s talents there are always rumors that he curses his enemies, including his uncle, and that he meditates in a chamber of skulls. There is no evidence these or any other similar suppositions are true. The web of connections he began in his youth grows more extensive and powerful every day. He has ears and eyes in the administrations of several nations and corporations—making him a very valuable ally or a very dangerous adversary.
es. A hurricane in 2036 caused extensive damage to their inland facilities, and as climate changes affected the bayous, their Avery Island plant became untenable. They transplanted examples of their essential crops to mobile hydroponic units, and—with adequate seed stock and secret recipes in hand— began looking for a new home. One with a good environment for their plants and a stable political and economic environment for their business. In 2040 Gary Monroe, eighth-gen- eration McIlhenny, discovered everything they were looking for in Lady Guadalupe’s Cuba. The discovery that immigrants and travelers had brought varieties of peppers, cumin, and other spices from four continents to the island clinched the deal. Today Avery Tower is a ten-story hydroponic farm producing high-quality pep- pers and spices with an adjacent plant to turn those crops into the delicious sauces and condiments that make soy a meal. Avery Tower employs several hun- dred agricultural and industrial workers year round.