The Manganese Dilemma

by Ian Miller

  "That sounds good," Telfar said. Her voice was flat.

  "Yes, well don't overdo the enthusiasm," the woman from the White House scowled.

  "You know what bothers me about this," Telfar said in a louder, more aggressive tone.

  "And what's that?" The woman was starting to bristle.

  "I get the feeling my agents are getting far too much exposure in Russia, with so little to show for what they risk."

  "You can't get information by staying in bed," the woman retorted.

  "No, but the more you stick your nose into where it's not wanted, the more likely you are to get caught."

  "The Russians won't know –"

  "And that's where you're wrong," Telfar said in a raised voice, and as she pointed her finger accusingly, she continued, "Since that abortive raid on that Ufa building, which, as an aside, got precisely nowhere, we had two men captured. The Russians now know we are interested in whatever goes on in that building, and I am sure they have also considered that wherever what's produced in that building goes, they'll be taking precautions. Everything got a lot more difficult after that episode."

  "So you think we should just give up?"

  "Since you mention it, I think we should stop sending agents out to chase this mirage."

  "In which case I shall take you off the case and get your Director to find someone more amenable to taking instructions."

  Ruth Telfar sat there, staring at the woman, somewhat shocked at this turn of events. Finally, she gave a depressed shrug, and began gathering up her papers.

  "Excuse me," Lawton said, "but Ruth was giving her opinion as to what should happen. She never said she would not do it, but merely that she thought it was a bad idea."

  "Yes, well I want loyalty," the woman said, "and so –"

  "Then I'm out of here too," Lawton said. "If you don't want advice from people who have some experience in this sort of activity, then I don't see I'm going to be much help either."

  "Mr Lawton, there's no need to –"

  "If Ruth goes, I go," he said firmly.

  The woman stared at the two of them. This turn of events was undesirable, because the Executives would not want to hear the project was back to square one and needed new personnel. She took a deep breath, swallowed, then said in a bile-ridden tone, "Ms Telfar, you can stay on the team as long as you agree to deploy an agent if so ordered."

  "Remember, Ruth," Lawton added, "it's going to take a couple of months at least. Any heightened attention that arose thanks to that failed raid on the building will have probably subsided by then." Unsaid was the assumption that in two months they might have a reason not to go ahead.

  "All right," Telfar said. "When the time comes, an agent will be ready." Under her breath, she was thinking that maybe this plan would fail long before then. There was no guarantee that any Russian magazine would publish both of the articles, in which case the plan could be aborted.

  "Good," the woman said, and gathered up her papers. "We have things to do. I look forward to hearing progress." With that, she rushed out of the room.

  "Well, that was hardly pleasant," Lawton said.

  "Bernie, you shouldn't have put your career on the line like that," Telfar said. "Mine is probably gone, but you have to think of yourself."

  "I don't agree yours is gone," Lawton said. "You're on record of having warned them that caution should be exercised. The chances of this going wrong are far greater than those of going right. You should be on the right side of the fall-out."

  "Whether I'm right is probably irrelevant," she countered bitterly. "By that stage it's backside covering time, and those at the top always find ways to send the blame downhill."

  "Which makes it even more important that we both make sure your position of proposing caution bearing in mind the risks are properly recorded in the minutes of the meeting," Lawton said. "When we receive them, we should get together and make sure we agree on what we say if we have to correct them."

  "Agreed," Telfar said. As she got to her feet and started to leave, she turned back and said, "And thanks for the support, Bernie."

  "Pleased to be of assistance," Lawton said.

  * * *

  "Ha, you look busy," Svetlana said. "I thought our little project was running out of steam."

  "As I might have said before," Burrowes said with a grin, "when all else is lost, flail around."

  "And where are you flailing this time, or, put it another way, when should I take cover?"

  "The latest command from above," Burrowes said, with a shake of his head that showed sign of despair, "is they've asked me to write an article on the manganese industry in Russia, so, well, I have to do some research on it."

  "What on earth for?"

  "No idea. They're probably hoping something will come up."

  "Has it?"

  "Well, that depends on what 'something' is allowed to include. I have a deluge of statistics –"

  "An energetic spy, I can see," she laughed.

  "It's all public knowledge," he said with a shrug. "I've been ordered not to hack. I'm not looking for secrets."

  "I wonder why they suddenly want this?"

  "My guess is the boss has to be seen doing something." Burrowes gave the dry reply.

  "Which means, ha ha, you have to do that something."

  "Indeed. If you wish, you could help."

  "Why not," she replied. "Divide the project up into different uses, and we can independently check some each."

  Soon, both were searching and tapping away on their keyboards.

  Chapter 27

  Justin scowled as he put the phone down. "I wouldn't believe it," he said, his voice extremely bitter, "but that wretched Middleton wants to talk to us."

  "What?" Janice almost exploded. "After Goldfinch's had another round of trying to blacken our business? We should sue him."

  "He says he's bringing an olive branch," Justin muttered.

  "What cheek. We should just throw him out."

  "No," Cameron said. The three of them were sitting around a small table having coffee. "You should hear what he has to say. One of the most important points of conflict is you want to know what the opposition is doing. Listen and learn. You say you might bring a lawsuit against him? Well, the more concrete grounds you have, the better. And I'd suggest you turn that intercom on so I can overhear as well."

  "OK," Justin said. "He said he'll be here on the half hour. That's about five minutes away so we might as well get ready."

  They spent the time tidying their desks, and in particular putting away anything that Middleton should not see. They had just finished when the phone went and the receptionist announced that Middleton was there.

  "Send him straight up," Justin said, and they sat back in their chairs.

  Middleton seemed to be a little embarrassed as he came in, as well he might be, Justin thought.

  "So, what brings you here," Justin said in a very cold voice. No Good Mornings today.

  "I know you're annoyed," Middleton said, as he sat down.

  "Very perceptive of you," Justin said.

  "The point is, Irving wants to make peace with –"

  "He's got a really funny way of going about it," Justin spat.

  "Look, please, hear me out. I meant it when I said I'm bringing an olive branch." He paused, waiting to see the response.

  "Go on." Justin was not giving any particular interest.

  "The reason Irving has launched another attack on your business is that he wants the rest of New York to believe you hate him."

  "Well, I suppose he's going about it in the right way," Justin said.

  "The reason he wants everyone to think that is he wants to make a major company raid, but he doesn't want anyone to know it's him."

  "I'm not sure I follow," Janice said, to fill in the pause.

  "The reason nobody will think its him is because you will be making the raid."

  "Well, that plan's going to fail," Justin said with a hollow laugh. "W
e haven't got the necessary cash, and –"

  "Irving will put up the necessary cash."

  "In advance?"

  "In a trust fund that you can access as you make the purchases. You will, of course, accept Irving's price limitations."

  "And the stock is registered to?"

  "The same trust fund. There will be legal papers to sign of course."

  "And how much are we talking about?"

  "Up to seven hundred and fifty million."

  "And he's not doing this himself because he doesn't want his name on the transactions?" Janice asked.

  "Exactly," Middleton said. "Look, I said it was an olive branch. The fees on seven fifty mill has to be of interest, I hope?"

  Justin was a little stunned. Janice took the lead. "That's certainly of interest," she said, "subject, of course, to a proper legal agreement."

  "Of course," Middleton replied. He smiled a little and said, "We wouldn't put that much money in someone else's hands without one either. So, we have a deal?"

  "We have a deal," Justin said, "subject to the proper legal agreement."

  "Good. I'll have it drafted up and sent to your lawyers to look over this afternoon. As an aside, who are they?"

  Janice gave him a card, with the legal firm's name on it, and their main contact. "I'll phone them and let them know it's coming," she said.

  "Excellent. Now, one more thing. I gather you know a Colin Hooper and a Raymond McKenzie?"

  "So?" Justin replied, his voice now laden with suspicion.

  "Irving wants to progress that project," Middleton said. "He needs to contact them, and if you know where they are, we would appreciate –"

  "If there's a message, I'll see it gets forwarded," Justin said. "I'm sorry, but they asked me not to give away their new address, and I gave my word I wouldn't so, well . . ."

  "That's fine," Middleton said, and he got up. "If you cooperate and make these purchases, I think you will soon find your way to playing in the big league."

  "Well," Janice said, after Middleton had left, "what do you make of that?"

  "I think we should wait for Doug to come back here," Justin said, knowing fine well that Cameron would hear that. "The real question, I guess, is what do you think Mr Rutherford will think of that?"

  "Let's suppose," Janice suggested, "that Goldfinch has worked out that we have had a backer, and that backer is giving him trouble. Maybe this is connected."

  "You think, to flush him out?"

  "Well, that's possible."

  "True, but let's wait for Doug. My guess is he will be contacting Mr Rutherford first, so we'll find out what he thinks."

  It took about ten minutes before Cameron returned to their office. He had a broad smile on his face as he sat down and challenged them with, "Well, what do you think that was all about?"

  "Well, my theory was that this was to flush out who our backer is," Janice said, "although it seems a fairly expensive way of going about it."

  "It's almost certainly Goldfinch already knows," Cameron said. He turned towards Justin and added, "If you recall those guys that wanted to beat you up, well the boss had a visit from them."

  "I hope he's all right," Justin said.

  "I'll pass your concern on," Cameron said with a nod. "He's fine, but Brian is dead."

  "Dead?"

  "Yes, there was a gunfight between this guy and the boss, the boss got a wound in the arm, and Brian joined in. Unfortunately, when he did he stood up, as if he were at a pistol range." Cameron paused, then added, "As a piece of advice, if you ever get into a gunfight, the first objective is to take cover. Never offer yourself as an easy target. Brian didn't know what he was doing."

  "But he had a gun?" Janice asked.

  "Apparently. But I assure you, the boss never expected that to happen."

  There was a pause, so Justin, to break the silence, asked, "And the other gunman?"

  "Took a bullet. We don't know how bad the wound is, but he was able to run away and flee on a motorcycle. So, in answer to your earlier question, we have to assume either he told others what's going on, or others saw the boss."

  "So, I suppose we'll have to turn this big banking offer down," Janice said, her mouth turned down and her eyes were also looking down.

  "Hell no," Cameron said with a grin. "Take Goldfinch's money. Just make sure he pays."

  "You realize I can't tell you what he's buying, or what his instructions are," Justin cautioned.

  "Of course you can't," Cameron said. "The boss suspects Goldfinch is out to screw you for bad practice. Goldfinch expects you to do something stupid, and he'll pounce. So, be ethical, and do everything by the rule book."

  "And Mr Rutherford?"

  "He will see what Goldfinch is doing anyway, because you can't buy that much of one company without someone taking notice, but the boss's decided that whatever Goldfinch does, he will ignore it."

  "He's giving up on his crusade?" Justin said with a smile.

  "Not necessarily," Cameron said. "His view is probably that if you behave and take a huge fee from Goldfinch, you will effectively be on your way up, and that itself will stick in Irving's throat."

  "And what about the two inventors?"

  "You mean the one inventor and the guy leaching on his back? Well, pass on the message. At this stage all we have is the statement that Irving is going to put in some money."

  "I think Irving has bigger plans than that," Janice cautioned.

  "That's almost certainly true," Cameron replied, "but as the boss said to me, at this stage they must comply with the terms of the agreement they signed or go to court. At this stage, complying is their best option."

  "Yes, but they will have to produce the technology," Janice pointed out.

  "Indeed, but to whom?"

  "What do you mean?" she asked. "Goldfinch will get to see it then."

  "Will he?" Cameron countered. "What the inventor should do, when it's time to show and tell, is to show the people who are going to make it, and only after there is a firm non-disclosure agreement with the inventor alone. Get him to come in, and the boss will give him a document to get them to sign, and another one whereby the boss get's paid his legal fees when they are sufficiently solvent to pay them."

  "You think that will stop Goldfinch's lot?" Janice was clearly sceptical.

  "Maybe, maybe not, but if that company does anything to break their agreement, the inventors are off Goldfinch's hook."

  "If the subsequent courts find for them?" Justin warned.

  "True, but those two have to accept their position is not strong after signing that agreement with Goldfinch, so this is their best way out of it. If anyone has a better idea, let's hear it."

  Nobody had a better idea.

  "One more thing," Cameron added. "If Goldfinch tries to screw you, then he'll have caused damage, then he also becomes liable for damages."

  "If Mr Rutherford doesn't want us to go to court after that libel, why will he be different –"

  "Mr Rutherford said that such a libel case could go on forever, because Goldfinch never really went hopelessly beyond what you could call fair comment," Cameron said with a shrug. He shrugged, and added, "When he said you had lost huge on your first go into the market, that was even true."

  "Yes, but it hurts our –"

  "Yes, but it counts as fair comment," Cameron said. "However, breaking a contract is an entirely different matter. If that went to court and you have been honest, the fact he has bad-mouthed you all over town will now make the damages go sky-high. That's why I'm sure he'll play straight with this trust fund investment."

  * * *

  Burrowes had completed his survey of uses for manganese, and was rather pleased with himself for having some downtime. He gave the document to Rutherford, who went away and must have made a phone call because in less than half an hour Rutherford was back and he handed the document to Svetlana.

  "Write it up in Russian," he said somewhat brusquely. "Make sure it's in a form that an ave
rage Russian might write, as opposed to some University-style exercise, which this probably already is."

  "You're going to publish it in Russia?" she asked in a somewhat surprised tone.

  "I'm not going to do anything," Rutherford said. "It'll give you something to do."

  "OK," Svetlana said with a shrug.

  "Meanwhile, you," Rutherford said, "seem to have nothing to do."

  "Good, isn't it," Burrowes said with a smile.

  "Not for long it isn't," Rutherford said with a laugh. "The guy who's paying us wants to see you at this address, more or less as soon as you can get there." With that, Rutherford handed Burrowes a piece of paper, and turned and retreated back to his office.

  "Well, that was a nice little rest," Burrowes said with a sigh.

  "Serves you right for announcing you were finished," Svetlana pointed out. "Had you used a different technique, you could look busy and have your holiday."

  "Yeah, well as they say, shit happens."

  "You're not wrong there," Svetlana said, as she scanned through the opening pages of Burrowes' document. "While I don't know a lot about English, I know this writing is just plain awful. The grammar is –"

  "All the better," he said as he got up. "You won't be simply translating words. You'll have to translate the meaning."

  "If I can work out what it is," she mumbled.

  "I'm sure you can. I suspect I'm going to be in a worse position." With that he headed out towards his car.

  Where Rutherford had his base was starting to get towards the edge of the metropolitan area, and rather unexpectedly, the piece of paper gave an address that was even further out, although not that far from work. Since his old car did not go as far as a GPS guide, and for some reason he was never very enamoured with the service offered by his cell phone, in part because he had trouble persuading it to give him the right amount of map, he had to rely on his book of maps. As he drove, he thought the continual rows of industrial buildings were somehow so grey and depressing. Yes, he knew that a lot of money was made in this part of the city, but it could still look better. He finally came to the address, which turned out to be basically a parking lot and a dilapidated factory, long since abandoned. As he drove in, he saw Lawton stand up and wave, so he drove towards him and parked.