Operation 6

TO: Agents and friendlies of Cells M, Q, and Y
FROM : Cell A
SUBJECT : Death of Kyle Woodson

Agent Marshall has been contacted by Ramsey Swartz, a billionaire philanthropist. Mr.Swartz is looking to hire investigators to look into the death of one of his employees, Kyle Woodson. Kyle Woodson is a former colleague of Agent Marshall and Mr. Swartz sought him out hoping he would be interested in looking into his death in a freelance capacity. Cell A believes there may be supernatural involvement in the Death of Kyle Woodson. All available agents of Cells M,Q, and Y should aid Agent Marshall in the investigation. Keep in Mr. Swartz is NOT a delta green friendly do not disclose anything to him.

Mr. Swartz would like you to meet him in 2 days at his offices in San Francisco.

---End of Message ------

What You Know About AFAR and Ramsey Schwartz

AFAR stands for the American Foundation for Antiquarian
Research. Founded in 1927, the organization has served as a body
to fund, evaluate, and publish the work of archaeological
researchers. Although AFAR began as a tiny, primarily academic
organization, in recent years it has risen to a position of some
prominence. In 1990, billionaire Ramsey Schwartz began making
massive contributions to the organization. As a result, AFAR now
sponsors numerous archaeological projects all over the world, and
hosts an annual archaeological symposium in San Francisco.
Little is known about Ramsey Schwartz beyond his fabulous
wealth, philanthropic streak, and diverse hobbies. Widely
praised (or reviled) as quirky and eccentric, Schwartz was one of
the crop of new American tycoons, who include such names as
Trump, Perot, and Gates. His generous contributions to AFAR
have earned him a prominent position on the organization’s
board of directors, a position he has been heard to say he enjoys far more than business.

What Agent Marshall Knows About Kyle Woodson

Kyle Woodson. You recognize the name instantly. He was there
with you in Belize, back in 2002. It all ended so badly!
In the summer of 2002, the University of Pennsylvania, in
cooperation with the Programme for Belize, sponsored a field
season in northern Belize. You (and about sixty other people)
went there. The expedition was directed by Dr. Paul Hughbanks,
who wanted to complete a new survey of a large, empty stretch
of northern Belize, as well as conduct several excavations.
The season was very unlucky, with equipment failures, transportation
troubles, and logistical mishaps from the very beginning.
After a particularly nasty stomach bug swept through
camp, the season finally started to look up when a survey team
heard rumors of a large, unregistered site in the nearby jungle, a
place called El Cacao. There was no record of the place, and
nobody had ever excavated there or even surveyed the place. Dr.
Hughbanks leapt at the news, hoping that a major find might turn
the season around. The only voice of protest raised was from
Kyle Woodson. Kyle pointed out that the group had no permits
to dig at El Cacao and that drug smugglers (the second most
common life form in Belize, right after mosquitoes) were supposed
to be lurking in the area. Hughbanks would not be dissuaded,
however. He assembled a survey team, and set out on the
long hike to El Cacao.
The team got to the ruins, only to find that they weren’t
deserted. A large band of cocaine smugglers was camping among
the mounds. Before anyone knew what was happening, four students
were dead and the traffickers were chasing the survey team
all the way back to the camp. The season ended right then and
there. You always thought you were lucky to make it out alive.
There were investigations and recriminations, of course. Dr.
Hughbanks lost his tenure, his job, and any chance of ever doing
archaeology again. Lawsuits rocked the archaeology department.
Bad news. The only one who came out of it all right was Kyle.
As you recall, he was one of the few people on that dig who actually
ended up in Mayan archaeology. Most of the others had lost
their stomach for it.
You can remember Kyle Woodson very clearly. Big guy, but
soft spoken. One of those people who seems to get along with
everybody, and who really cares. He was the only graduate student
who wasn’t too high and mighty to share a tent with “the proles”,
that is, the undergrads. He really knew his archaeology, but never
talked down to you while explaining it. It’ll be good to see Kyle
again. Funny, you haven’t thought about Belize in years ....