The Fallen and the Elect

by Jerry J. K. Rogers

  * * * *

  It wasn't until Gary began to drive away from the Cardinal's office that any restraint on his anger was loosened. That son of a bitch Cardinal may not reveal who passed on the info about Aurora, but it doesn’t mean I won't be able to try and find out the source on my own, Gary thought. The drive in heavy traffic broke his concentration. Just as Gary attempted to zero in on an approach to finding possible names, a car would cut in front without using a turn signal or prematurely brake trying to adjust to the irregular traffic. Once he arrived at the R & D campus parking lot, Gary eyed several of the director-level and manager assigned parking slots and saw they were already empty, even though it was only 4:30, still half an hour before the scheduled quitting time for the executive and supervisory day shift personnel. Parking his car and briskly heading into the building, those watching him could tell by his gait that he was quite upset. Two employees who happened to be riding up in the elevator felt uneasy by his territorial stance and stern expression. They decided to get off a floor earlier and walk up the stairs instead of remaining in the elevator car.

  Gary was pleased to see Sheila at her desk working. He had mentioned that he would be gone for the rest of the day when he talked to her earlier by phone as he accomplished one of his follow-up visits to the main Waterfall research center off campus. This time she hadn’t taken off early, as she was accustomed to.

  “Sheila. Office. Now,” Gary barked as he walked straight past her without his customary request for messages or updates. The abruptness of his request made Sheila shudder with anxiety. She snatched her microtablet PC and didn’t hesitate in following him into his office. Sheila hurried to prep the dictation software on her tablet. These were the times she found working for Gary to be stressful.

  Sitting down in his chair, Gary started to blare out his requests. “Get a list of everyone we recently promoted. And get a synopsis of each of their background checks. Then get me a list of anyone who could have had access to any information on our projects that have the highest confidentiality. And get the IT director in here right away,” Gary commanded.

  “I think Preston may have left early just a short while ago.”

  “Then get his ass back here. We may need to lock down network access to several of our projects and check security files on recent access.”

  “Can I ask what's going on?” Sheila asked

  “You can, and maybe I'll let you know in a short bit. Now hurry up and take care of those tasks,” Gary responded tersely, his demeanor more subdued than when he arrived.

  He waited until Sheila left the office before getting on the phone to make the first of several calls. “Hey, this is Gary. Execute the protocols for a breach. Restrict access for all development arms of Aurora.”

  Resistance met his next call. “We need to do a temporary lockdown on the lab, development center, and on all the files. Then make sure to secure all samples ... I don't care where you're at in testing, just do it.”

  After only a few minutes, Sheila returned with two items, the first, a list of open positions in the division, and the other, a list of names of those recently promoted to new positions in the company. Gary was impressed with her expediency. In reviewing the first list, the CFO position was still open. Regardless of what he found today, he knew the position would soon need to be filled. Scanning through the names at the top of the alphabetical list, two stood out.

  “Are Lucard and Branson still here?” He asked Sheila, who was standing by his desk awaiting further instructions, knowing they would be forthcoming.

  “I believe Lucard already left, but Branson may still be here working late again.”

  “Well let's get them both in here if they're still on site.”

  Sheila remained and Gary knew she wanted to inquire as to the reason for his serious-mindedness. She knew something must have transpired but couldn't commit to ask.

  After a tense moment of silence, Gary posed his question. “Was there something you wanted to know Sheila?”

  “Would you mind if I ask what all this is about?” she asked.

  Gary sat back in his beige leather executive chair and tried to determine if he would answer. With all the activity buzzing in his mind concerning the leak, he wasn't sure he could trust her. Given that she had direct physical access to many of his files, he knew she might eventually be sitting in the chair across from him answering questions.

  “I don't feel comfortable talking about it yet. Go ahead and get Lucard and Branson in here.”

  Sheila was about to leave the office when the thought occurred to Gary that maybe she could be helpful in one way.

  “Sheila, I do have a question for you.”

  She paused in the doorway with her back turned toward Gary to hide her ire. She had thought Gary trusted her implicitly and without question. “Yes Gary?”

  “You're pretty much plugged in around here. Would you happen to know ...” He tried to formulate the exact context of his question but decided not to finish. “Never mind.”

  Scooping up the project folders from his meeting area, Gary made an effort to spend several minutes securing everything into his credenza and fastening the lock to the cabinet. Lucard knocked on the doorsill of the open door. It appeared he hadn't headed home for the evening. Inviting him in, Gary subtly interrogated him for nearly 15 minutes and then decided he didn't seem to be the one who’d revealed the sensitive information to the Church investigation team, if there were only one. As soon as Lucard left the office, Sheila sent in Branson. Gary offered the seat opposite his desk. Branson knew that if you sat on the couch, the meeting would tend to be more informal and pleasant than at his desk.

  Gary wasn't sure but he thought Branson’s short Afro had more gray around the temples than when he first started in his new position. Gary decided to use the same approach with Branson as with Lucard. He wouldn’t directly ask him but would focus the questions to help him gauge the loyalty and trustworthiness of his junior director. Then he would then zero in on the project of interest.

  “Branson, everything we're about to discuss is completely confidential. You mustn't mention anything to any of your peers or your staff. Understand?

  “Not a problem,” Branson nervously responded, crossing one leg over the other in an attempt to present himself as calm.

  “Does your marketing team have all the information they need to accomplish their objectives? I know there were some issues you had brought up before.”

  Branson hesitated with his answer. “We're doing very well I think.”

  “Well, has any of your staff had to try to gather additional information, possibly researching or collecting information they may not need? You’d let me know if they did wouldn’t you?”

  Branson wasn't sure how he should answer. He had recently mentioned to several of his peers his frustration with his team continuing to have problems with gathering company historical data to help on some of their campaigns. Now he was curious if one of them might be trying to subvert him in some way. He decided to become defensive.

  “Gary, what exactly are you saying?” Branson asked. Gary noted the tone of his voice changing.

  Gary decided to go straight to the issue at hand. “Look, have any of your folks been requesting any information about the Aurora project?”

  “No reason for us to. We never had to deal with rolling up information for that project.” The project name ignited a memory though. “Although I do remember Alder asking quite a few questions; even as recent as this morning in the parking lot when I arrived at work.”

  The panorama of events came into focus for Gary. If he hadn't been so incensed over the leak of sensitive corporate information, and had focused on the situation as a whole, he could have come up with Alder as being the possible tipster. Although he didn't have direct access to the files or information, or a need for direct access in his duties, especially as he wasn’t assigned any oversight responsibi
lity for the project, he may have found additional information on his own by some other means. And considering his friend and coworker was a survivor of the angelic visitation, his paths could have crossed with the Church's team as it attempted to find out what happened.

  “What type of questions was he asking?” Gary queried, softening his tone.

  Branson forced himself to try and recall the earlier conversation with Alder. “Pretty much the only thing we discussed was the strange weekend he had, and the fact that some outsiders were asking about one of the company's projects.”

  Bingo, Gary thought. “Did he specifically discuss Aurora?”

  “You know what, I don't remember now that I think about it. I do remember something about Stephen being involved in there somehow. I kinda dismissed the conversation because he mentioned he was gonna bring it up to you.”

  “He did, did he?”

  Branson could hear the skepticism in Gary's voice then remembered that Gary was out of the office. “He may have tried to let you know. I mean you were gone most of the day.”

  Gary agreed with his comment. He wasn't sure if Branson was attempting to defend Alder or wanted to bring up a cogent point. “And you said he talked to Stephen over the weekend?”

  “Yeah, he did.”

  “Did he mention how Stephen was doing?” Gary asked, attempting to redirect the conversation away from Alder being seen as committing a major indiscretion in the company. Branson knew that Gary was probing for specific information, and he may have just given him some major pieces.

  “He said he's doing fine, just that he's not coping well if I recall correctly.”

  “Hmmm. Did he mention whether Stephen needed anything, or what the long-term prognosis was going to be?” Gary asked with sincerity.

  “You know what; he didn't mention anything like that at all.”

  “Did you both discuss anything else?”

  “Nope, went straight to work after that.”

  “So that's pretty much all you two talked about?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  Gary dismissed Branson.