by Chris Hechtl
“And if I like what I'm doing? And don't want to retire to some mudball? I love space,” Race said.
“Mister Track, as your broker you can't miss this opportunity. I've already taken the liberty of drawing up the paperwork. All I need is your signature.”
“No. Not only no, hell no. I think I need to find another broker. In the meantime, don't buy or especially sell anything else in my name. Consider my account frozen.”
“Mister Track! Be fair about this!”
“All you are after is the fat commission if I sold. Well, I'm not going to. Now or anytime soon. If you think the company is worth a lot now, wait. Just wait.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“I get paid in shares and credits. I work for the company. I see things. Just wait.”
“You really should sell. I'm advising all my clients with Lagroose stock the same.”
“No,” Race said as he hung up.
>---O---<
Doctor Beringer smirked as he checked the latest report. The probes had finished sector nine. Nothing to report. So far his finding had been the best all season. His name would go on the report, the Europa conclusions would be drawn from his findings. That was great, it meant he'd get the byline on the next publication. If it kept up, his thoughts cut off as an alarm klaxon began to wail. He sat up in alarm. “That's …”
“The radiation alarm!” his assistant and intern Porcha said, waving a hand. “We've got to evacuate!”
>---O---<
“We're here covering a recent story of a Lagroose mishap. An accident, detrimental to the environment on Europa as the reactor goes critical. The personnel manning the science facility have been fortunately evacuated without injury, but the environmental damage is untold.”
“We're looking at a total loss of the facility. It'll be irradiated. I don't know what happened!” Doctor Beringer said, bewildered. “It's not supposed to happen! Not with a fusion reactor!”
“Doctor, the damage outside the facility?”
“Well, the walls will contain most of it and funnel it up. We have thick walls, and the radiation shields. But when the batteries fail, then the containment will be breached.”
“So you are saying radioactive debris will rain down all over the planet?”
“Europa is a moon, young lady. No, that's what I'm not sure about, how it could happen? A fusion reactor doesn't produce much in the way of radiation, and we have little waste! I don't understand it, I mean, the alarms went off and ...,” he waved a hand.
“Thank you, Doctor,” the reporter said. “This is Michelle Lokita, Eye in the Sky News. Back to you Allen, Trixi,” she said.
“Turn it off,” Jack said, waving a disgusted hand. He'd heard the report over and over.
Roman reached for the remote trigger with his implants but Athena shut the screen off on her own. He turned to Jack. Jack grimaced at the board.
“What happened?” Jack asked.
“Well,” Roman swallowed. “I'm not an engineer. We've got our people looking into it, but we can't send any onsite investigators. We're doing our best to pick through the data we've got, plus the eyewitness reports. It's coming together, but slowly.”
“We may never know the whole story,” Trevor said in disgust. Jack turned to his image. Trevor was a cyborg, and he made no effort to hide it. He also kept to himself and his machines whenever he could get away with it. Now was not one of those times, Jack needed him on hand to deal with a different form of fallout.
“We're taking apart every reactor from that production run to try to find a flaw. So far nothing,” Doctor Wells said, shaking his head. “Which makes this baffling. It shouldn't be possible for a fusion reactor to go Chernobyl.”
“Yet it has.”
“Yes, and I'm not saying it's sabotage ...” The doctor eyed Roman. Roman grunted in response but didn't say anything. “But I'd certainly lean in that direction. This isn't an ordinary accident. There weren't any signs. None at all.”
“Such accidents have taken a detrimental effect on the shares of this company,” Mister Rashid Kahless said with a shake of his head. Rashid was a representative of two of the investment groups who had bought shares. He was also an avid cosplayer who spent a lot of time in virtual worlds. One of them had been his addiction for decades, which was why he'd changed his last name to a famous Klingon name. He had even had plastic surgery to alter his face to look like a Klingon. “I'm getting some concerned rumblings from some of the people I represent,” he said.
Jack grunted. Rashid was one of the better representatives. At least he didn't insist they move the board to Earth orbit to make it easier on the representatives and the people they worked for. Jack was of the opinion that if they wanted to invest in space bad enough, they should take some of the risk as well.
“I'm sure it will blow over. In time,” Jacky said. “My people are doing their best with the spin control.” She turned to Doctor Bell, their resident engineering expert. Well, other than Jack. “Doctor, we'll need some of your people on board with this. Talking heads have to be real. Real people with real weight on their shoulders to tell our side of things.”
“There aren't sides here, just what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Fortunately no one was killed,” Roman said.
“And we'll never know the full story why. Not until we can get some robots in there to pick through the wreckage. And we may not get much,” Trevor warned.
“And you got nothing from the data? No hack? That hacker group Puck?”
“Puck isn't a group; we've established that,” Trevor replied with a grimace. “And no, I haven't found a single out-of-place packet, worm, virus, or any other trigger mechanism. We don't have access to the computers in the facility. Those that weren't melted ended up powered down when the lights went out from the EMP.”
“Great,” Roman drawled, sitting back in disgust. “There goes getting any video recordings or anything of that nature.”
“So, we've got to work with what we've got. Run every person through an interrogation room. Everyone,” Jack ordered.
Roman blinked. Jacky inhaled, her nostrils dilating. She leaned forward to get his attention. His eyes cut to her. “Boss, think about this. If we do that and it gets out, it'll look like we're pointing fingers. That we're fishing for someone to blame for all this.”
“Which we are, we're looking for what happened and why,” Roman retorted.
“I'm not saying that's not a worthy goal here. But we have to be ever mindful of perceptions. Especially now,” she said. “This is a trying time. A dangerous time,” she said.
“It is troubling,” Rashid rumbled.
“Tough. We'll keep it low key as we can. But we've got to get to the bottom of this to prevent it from happening again. If it is an accident, we'll lay it out to the press. If not, well, we'll find out who did it and deal with them,” Jack growled.
>---O---<
“Think they bought it?” Trevor asked as he looked at Jack. Roman grunted.
“I think so.”
“Why didn't you tell the board?”
“Because they would have said no,” Roman replied with a snort. “They would have seen the risk, seen the cost, and not cared about what it meant in the long term. This will hurt us, yes.”
“Definitely. We're already getting chatter about shutting down every fusion reactor. Everywhere. The United Nations and green movement are jumping all over this.”
“And they can jump into hysterics all they want. We know the real reason it happened. Doctor Beringer did good; it's a pity his research was lost.” They'd kept the good doctor out of the loop because the best actor in their little drama was someone who didn't have a clue except what he'd seen and experienced for himself.
Jack had also kept the board in the dark for the same reason or so he'd told Trevor. Roman probably suspected that he had other motives. Not only was he taking on the blame and shielding the rest, but he also didn't trust everyone on the
board. Some of the representatives would gladly stab their own mothers if they could get away with it. Especially if it meant a big enough payday in the end without getting caught.
“Definitely,” Trevor said in disgust. “He's only jumping my techs every, oh, hour or so, about rebuilding what they can from his backups.”
“Which we will try to do,” Jack said. “After Roman and you are through going over them.”
“Of course.”
“In the meantime, we're going to take a hit. That's expected.”
“And the trap is set?” Trevor asked.
“Yes, Trevor, the trap is set. Let's see if they take the bait,” Jack murmured. He checked his tablet. Athena was helping him to manage the next step. He'd have to script it all out carefully if it was going to go off as he'd expected.
>---O---<
The news hit the energy investors like a hammer. Some of the more shaky members bailed, and a couple of the representatives on the board changed hands. Rashid remained, though his portion had dropped by half.
“We're getting inquiries from ESI,” Jacky reported.
“Oh?”
“They want to buy out.”
“Of course. Who's the mogul last century who said the best time to invest is when people are down and in trouble? Something about fishing in troubled waters?” Roman asked.
“I'm serious. And so are they. They have been buying up shares. They want to buy us out.”
“No,” Roman snorted.
“They aren't going to go away,” Rashid replied, smoothly stroking his tie. “I happen to know ESI has at least one representative on this board,” he said, looking directly at Miss Yumi. She blinked once but merely smiled. His eyes shifted to Mister Satori.
“I think they are after the beanstalk or our energy market share. Lord knows we've got enough; we could sell off some of the green tech to cover our losses,” Jacky suggested.
“What numbers are they throwing around? Any ideas?” Jack asked mildly.
“I'm hearing noises above one hundred trillion,” Jacky said.
Rashid coughed. Trevor didn't blink, though he did cock his bullet shaped head. Roman tugged on his ear. “They'd have to do better than that,” he said.
“Can we bribe them? Get them to go away? Sell off an asset? Barter one?” Rashid asked.
“I don't think our clients would agree with a portion of the pie,” Mister Satori stated.
“This is starting to sound like a hostile takeover. A negotiation,” Roman said, eying the two representatives. “Enemies in the camp and all that.”
“Please, Mister Roman. Must we be enemies? We are all civilized beings here,” Mister Satori said, spreading his hands apart in appeal. “We merely represent a lot of people with keen interest in this company and its continued good health. It is now tied so tightly to the march of human civilization.”
“There are other megacorps,” Jack murmured.
“But Lagroose is the best, the brightest,” Mister Satori said, smiling. He had eyes, black eyes like a shark, Jack noted. His smile seemed sincere, but Jack knew differently.
“So, a conglomerate of terrestrial mining, industrial, and energy corporations all have mankind's best interests at heart? After all the pissing and moaning, obstacles, and such they threw up at the green movement? Climate change? Ending pollution? I find that hard to believe,” Trevor said with a mechanical sniff of disdain. “This is greed, pure and simple. They see an opportunity, and they are moving in.”
“It's not just them. Some large middle east and other governments and interests have stepped up,” Rashid said slowly. He checked his watch computer. After a moment he grunted. “And as expected, two of my shareholders have sold out to other parties,” he said. He looked at Yumi. She merely smiled at him.
“They still don't have a controlling interest. I do. New business,” Jack ordered.
“But …,” Jacky protested, clearly dismayed by his intended change of subject.
“I said new business. We've got a company to run. We can't always focus on the wolves baying at our heels. We can't let fear drive our actions. New business,” Jack growled.
>---O---<
“He isn't being reasonable, and he is correct. We don't have the votes,” Mister Satori stated.
“Then it’s time the gloves come off,” Miss Yumi replied mildly as they walked down the corridor to the waiting shuttle. “I'll let my people know.”
Jack looked at Roman after he played the surveillance clip for him. He nodded. “Alert security.”
“They'll know we know something,” Roman warned.
“That's fine. They know we know about the sabotage. Do it. If they play hard ball, they'd better expect to take damage in return.” Lagroose Security and Athena had them stymied. They couldn't get to him; he knew that. But others … others were a different story.
“Put a watch on our other board members. Discretely of course.”
“Of course.”
“I need to call Luigi. We're stepping up the time table for Venus if this is to work.”
“Boss, this plan is overcomplicated. You know that's ripe for failure. If any one thing doesn't work just as you planned … and the timing ….”
“It'll work. It has to,” Jack growled.
>---O---<
Bret heard a knock on the door and groaned. He didn't have anyone to get it. His wife had passed, and he was alone with the dog. He watched the dog look up. “I hate solicitors,” he muttered. His kids and grandkids had been after him to retire to a senior community for years. He'd resisted; he loved his home. There were so many memories there, and the family liked to come for holidays. He didn't want to lose his neighbors, start over.
He shook his head, rubbing the small of his back as he moved to the door. He hated getting old too. He glanced at the black mass near his chair. “Some help you are,” he muttered mockingly. Brown eyes looked at him, then the massive head rose. “I got it,” he said, waving the dog back to sleep.
The dog snuffled, then laid back down. Manny was an old guy like him, a former police mastiff with a bit of tinkering from Ursilla to keep him from getting the genetic crap his stock bloodline normally got. He was also smart, sometimes too smart. Scary smart. But he'd been sleeping a lot now, lazy.
He checked the camera feed out of habit. A guy, someone in a gray hoody. It was raining out, so he flipped the locks open then opened the door. “Yes?”
“Mister Bret Lagroose?” the person asked, not looking up.
“Yes? What's this about?”
“Just this,” the guy said. There was a puff as Manny suddenly rose behind him with a snarl. Bret had been turning to scold Manny to go back to sleep and not bark when incredible pain tore into his stomach. He doubled over, hands going to the pain when a second puff slammed something into his temple, and he was bowled over onto Manny in a welter of gore.
The dog slammed into the screen door. The man on the other side eyed the dog warily, then took off. He got into a small green sedan and left the area as if nothing had happened.
>---O---<
“You heard?” Roman asked, coming into his office.
“Everyone keeps saying that to me and walking in unannounced,” Jack growled.
Roman stopped, turned, and went back to the door.
“Get back here. Spit it out and stop playing games,” Jack growled.
Roman snorted, about-faced, and came back to the desk. He stood at parade ground attention, hands behind his back. That told Jack the news wasn't good. “Just tell me the straight version,” Jack sighed.
“You asked for it boss. Bret Lagroose is dead.”
Jack blinked. Then his eyes narrowed. “And you are telling me this because it's a security issue?”
“Your cousin was involved in law enforcement just like many members of your family. But he retired ten years ago. They got the shooter on video. The person walked up to the front door, rang the bell, and then shot him point black twice. It was a professional hit.�
�
Jack winced. “Sloppy.”
“I was thinking the opposite myself,” Roman said, looking at him quizzically.
“Killing Bret like that was to send a message to me. I'm assuming someone's taking the fall?”
“Now that you mention it, the DOJ has been investigating but not getting anywhere. The person wore a hoody, and the vehicle used to leave the scene hasn't been seen since on any traffic cameras.”
“Thought not. They looked into someone from Bret's past. Someone he put away, some major case, right?”
“They eliminated family. They haven't eliminated a paid hit by a family member. And oh, you are on that list by the way.”
Jack grimaced. “Setting me up for the fall? Now that does take some balls.” He shook his head as he twiddled his thumbs for a moment. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. “Did anyone look into their financials? I know they followed the routine about threats and such. Checked to see if anyone was staking them out, learning their schedule.”
“Of course,” Roman replied. “SOP.”
“And Standard Operating Procedure also looks at the family first since they are closest to the victim. While they do that, the case goes cold.”
“Not necessarily. They are looking at any leads.”
“Can you look into it too? From this end I don't know,” Jack answered for Roman before the other man could open his mouth. He frowned thoughtfully. “What I want to know is if anyone asked them to sell their shares. Or change their proxy for a fee.”
“You are thinking it is somehow related to the ESI problem?” Roman asked carefully. “Boss ...”
“It fits. With Bret dead, his wife died years ago, his estate will be divided between his children. That means I'll have to get new proxy letters from each of them. My majority slips a bit. And if one can be enticed to sell their shares …”
Roman frowned thoughtfully. Slowly he nodded.
“Look into it. If you have to …,” Jack grimaced. “If there is little evidence to go on, roll with what you have. Set up a shell company to approach the family about their shares. That will either get them defensive or get them to sell.”