When Paul entered the conference meeting room on the first floor, he was greeted by a smiling familiar face of Justin Rainer, formerly an engineer at one of his old customers and now the co-owner of Rainer and Lynch Construction, who was the minority contractor being used for site and utility work. It was like coming home to Mississippi. Paul and Justin had spent many hours installing conveyor systems and coating systems all over the Southeast. He was then introduced to the biggest Earth man he had seen in a long while. Marvin J. Robertson was the owner of Robertson’s Erectors and was doing the tilt-wall and roof construction for the warehouses. He was an engineering major at Mississippi State and played basketball and football while there. At six-foot ten-inches and 380 pounds, he was definitely someone you had to look up to. The last man in the room was Ramon Figueroa. He was selected to be the general contractor for the 12-story Verron Embassy, Commerce and Immigration Building. He too would make a trip soon to Verron for a bit of re-education in construction techniques. Paul had known him when he worked with his father years earlier as a young engineer on condominiums in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The Cuban born entrepreneur now owned Ramon Construction and several of the condominiums he had built while fresh out of Georgia Tech. Paul liked working with people he knew and trusted and other than Robertson, Paul had known these other men for years. He knew it was pretty obvious why he contracted them to do his project, but he also knew that all three were very capable of doing what he needed done.
Justin greeted Paul with a hug and commented, “If I hear one more person call you a bigot or a racist, I’m going to dig out those horrible pictures of you with your grandchildren and me with my wife and children all playing together at Chuck E. Cheese.” Paul smiled and let him know, “I wish the world was a different place, but for now I just have to do what seems to work best.” He looked around the room at Justin and Robertson, who had visited Verron and continued by asking, “How many different races did you see on Verron?” Robertson laughed and commented, “Folks would really freak-out if one of them showed up to start school, or moved in next door.” Justin added, “That 99 is a real character and when Hon IV began to explain the technology used in your construction, I soon realized that everyone has something to offer on your planet and each fills their own unique niche. It seems to work well for you. Don’t try to fix it if it ain’t broke.” Paul simply said, “Thanks.”
Those present at the meeting almost jumped from shock when Paul said, “Lucy, hologram please.” In the center of the table appeared a hologram of the entire Verron project. The detail was incredible. As they discussed each phase of the project, one building would disappear to be replaced by a more detailed projection of another building. When they came to the 12 story building, it was actually broken down floor-by-floor, from foundation to gun turret on the top. Next Paul had Lucy show the Travel Center that would be built next door and finished with the five-story medical center and future residential area. When the holograms disappeared, Paul asked, “Are you guys in for the whole project? I believe I can keep your companies busy for a few years. I didn’t include the Timber facility or the Tank farm. I’m using a couple of companies out of Texas for those. They had the experience I needed to get them up fast. By the way, one is a Hispanic contractor out of San Antonio, the other, from Houston, has been building tank farms for three generations. I’m still deciding who will do the pipeline.
Not until Paul climbed into a big Dodge 4x4 and headed out to look at the project, did he grasp the immensity of the place. At first he thought he had overbuilt, but knew that he would one day use all the 36,000,000 square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space. When finished, this south Mississippi town would not only have the world’s largest crude oil tank farm, but also the largest warehouse and manufacturing complex in the world. Part of the 100 foot high walls had been tilted into place and Klelta and Verron Steel roof trusses were stacked in a large field close by, surrounding the mammoth Verroncrete pads were the numbered tilt-up panels ready to be put in place. For just a few days over a week of work, the project was coming along well.
Standing on the proposed site for the Embassy and looking south, he could picture in his mind the motels and other businesses that would one day line the highways approaching the complex. He intended for that land be developed and be part of the local economy. Success was already breaking ground on two new restaurants, a large Flying J travel center and a small subdivision. Paul walked across a muddy field and pointed out where he wanted his landing pad to be placed, and after seeing the roadway being cleared for future truck traffic, he changed the plan and had them double the width. He knew it would not be near capable of handling the future traffic of oil trucks, gasoline trucks, timber haulers and freight trucks. He observed the proposed site of a rail spur that would cut between the rows of warehouses. He next paced through the construction site to the future travel center. Where he suddenly decided that not everyone would want to simply step through a gateway to Verron, some would enjoy the experience of flying in a spaceship. Paul had Benny reposition the travel center to accommodate at least 3 or 4 spaceships, complete with boarding gates and a small terminal for baggage and freight.
Paul knew he had to get Michael to Atlanta for the Job Fair by Tuesday afternoon, so they traveled down to the Gulf Coast to meet with local government and business leaders on proposed locations of the pipelines and port requirements for future oil tankers. There was a concern that the coast would turn into an industrial area after millions had been spent to develop the tourist trade along the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast. After several hours of reviewing plans, it was agreed that they could enjoy the best of both worlds, by using floating docks farther off the coast to meet the requirements of tankers that needed deeper water, thus eliminating the heavy traffic and obvious construction required to handle the ships closer to shore. Possible paths were selected for the largest pipeline in history and roads selected for routing the heavy traffic of trucks. It was agreed that Verron would build a larger refinery than originally planned at the Verron Complex to eliminate the need for destroying possible marsh lands in the fragile coastal ecosystem. Paul took everyone to Mary Mahoney’s Old French House for lunch and made certain the Mayor of both Gulfport and Biloxi were happy with the arrangements. He quickly pointed out over diner that their tourist trade would soon increase due to the number of people who will be passing through their towns on their way to visit Verron and that there is only one way to travel to Verron; all traffic had to come through south Mississippi.
They made another meeting with the Zoning and Planning Commission of Mobile, Alabama to get things in motion for increased capacity in serving supertankers that will come through there. They were interested in having a refinery located north of Mobile Bay and Paul made a verbal commitment to build a refinery there as well. Michael kept doing numbers in his head as he “Counted the money” and knew that although the expenditures were tremendous, that the return on the investments was going to more than pay for it. After they left the meeting and headed for Atlanta to drop off Michael, Paul discussed the possibility of contracting the management of the refinery to a minority owned oil-company and decided to contact Venoco in Colorado to see if an arrangement could be made to have Mr. Marquez partner with Verron in an Alabama refinery. Paul landed the Dragon Wagon at Charlie Brown Airport and rented an Alamo Car to drive Michael to the Omni International Hotel and the Job Fair to be held at the Georgia World Congress Center. As they drove into the parking garage, they were glad to see no sign of protestors on the sidewalks along the busy streets. Paul then realized that this was CNN Tower and hoped he didn’t run into any reporters. He donned an Atlanta Braves baseball cap and some sunglasses and turned his collar up on his jacket and headed directly for the suite of rooms Renee had reserved for her group from Verron. He let Michael go check in.
Paul had no intentions of staying overnight in Atlanta, but at the last minute, decided to take his staff of people to the Sun Dial on top of the P
eachtree Center Tower. He smiled as he remembered taking his kids there when they were younger and got good report-cards; it was their reward. It was a bit cold to walk the five or six blocks to Peachtree Center, so Paul had Renee have a limo service transport the twenty people to the Sun Dial. They were thrilled to get such a large booking on a Tuesday night. The reservation was made in Renee’s name to avoid word spreading about the King of Verron coming for dinner. Everyone enjoyed the elevator ride up the outside of the building and loved the lights of the city in a 360 degree panoramic view. It didn’t take long for the word to spread through the restaurant as one customer after another recognized Paul from the newspaper and television news that constantly had his image spread for all to see. Several people passed by and took photos with their cell phones and no doubt were texting the pictures of the Verron group all over Atlanta to their friends.
Paul truly enjoyed the company of his staff and Renee had assembled some incredibly talented and personable people. He was glad that the service was excellent and the food was even better than he had remembered it. There was a small jazz ensemble providing a relaxing mood for the customers. By the time they had appetizers, salads, the entrée and dessert they had been sitting at the table for nearly three hours. When the group made their way downstairs to find that the limo service was going to be a half hour before they would arrive, Renee suggested, “It’s only five or six blocks and it’s not all that cold tonight, let’s just walk. Paul could see no reason to worry about his people in a heavily patrolled area with plenty of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Besides, five of the twenty were armed Marines with handheld energy blasters. Before they exited the building for the sidewalk, Paul asked, “Is everyone following my orders and wearing their shields?” He got nods and yes answers from everyone. He smiled and asked, “How many of you have them turned-on. Four of the people quickly reached for their belt to activate the protective device.
In spite of the lower temperatures, the evening was actually pretty comfortable. There was no wind and the sun warmed buildings were still radiating heat from earlier in the day. Several of the group commented that that they should open a Hard Rock Café on Verron, there seemed to be one just about every place else in the world. The crowds were thinning out as they approached Centennial Park. The group was about halfway across the park to the Omni when they were set upon by over a dozen young men. At least six of them blocked their path, while over a dozen more surrounded them on the left, right and behind. Paul had spent enough time in prison with these same groups of young gangbangers and recognized them as Gangster Disciples. He moved to the front of those from Verron and addressed the man that was obviously the leader, saying, “Nitro still Governor?” The surprised young man answered, “Nitro back in the joint. On the board. How you know Nitro?” Paul smiled and answered, “He was my cellie at Hays for five years. Now, I know that you guys have better things to do than hang out in the park at night, so why don’t you go home and get warm.” He indicated for his group of people to move forward and immediately there was a dozen guns pointed at them. Paul kept his people walking and said, “Put those things away, before someone gets hurt. Do you know who I am?” The leader replied, “You’re that King that don’t like black folks.” Paul looked around at the young black men with guns pointing at him and told him, “I got along just fine with Nitro, but I can’t say I feel all that good about you and your friends.” He continued to walk forward and said, “When you end up back inside, tell Nitro, Running Man said hello.” They all walked away as the GDs looked on in wonder at the boldness of this man. Seconds later they took off running from Centennial Park as fast as their legs would carry them.
Denise Marrel had been working as Renee’s administrative assistant for a year now and was almost more OCD than Renee. Nothing slipped by her, because she checked and double checked and then checked again to make sure everything was perfect. She was the only member of the group who didn’t go out to dinner. She never went out to dinner. She didn’t really care to be around people and preferred to work on her computer or read a good book, rather than waste an entire evening making small talk. She had been in and out of Renee’s suite several times over the past few hours and ordered her meal from Renee’s room phone, since she was busy in her suite preparing for the next day’s presentation. She never got to finish that meal. The bomb went off within minutes of the meal being delivered; she did not have on her forcefield. Room service assumed it was Renee ordering food delivered to Renee’s room. Paul and the rest of the group had just started to cross the street as they exited the Park. They were literally knocked to the ground by the explosion that destroyed the entire 20th floor and sent glass and debris crashing to the street below. They watched in horror as the huge fireball swept through the suites where they had been only hours before. Renee began to scream Denise and ran for the building. Knowing in her heart that it was too late if she was anywhere on that floor. Paul made a gateway and forced everyone back to Mountain City, except for himself and his Marines. He did not want to place anyone in the way of danger. His heart was grieving for the loss and mad as hell that someone had just tried to kill his people. His anger would soon double when he found out that the center of the bomb had been on a catering cart delivered to Renee’s room. Someone had just started a war with Verron and Paul was going to do everything in his power to avenge the death of the innocent people who had just been killed.
Paul realized that the entire area was soon to be an absolute zoo. He felt like he could learn more by monitoring the Homeland Security, FBI and the Atlanta Terrorist Squad than he could enduring the media frenzy that was about to take place. He left his Marine security detachment behind to brief the investigators on who from Verron was unaccounted for and to inform them that the others in Atlanta for the Job Fair were now safely outside Atlanta. They also had a message from King Verron announced by the media that the Job Fair would continue as scheduled and that everyone involved in this act of cowardice would be taken care of as quickly as possible. He then announced a $10,000,000 reward for information leading to the identification of those responsible; to be reported directly to Verron Security, not local law enforcement. Paul had no intentions of making an arrest or having a trial. Whoever was responsible would die. When Paul stepped into his office Renee was in tears and being comforted by her husband Joshua. Jesserrica and Vlad were both there as well and most of Renee’s staff and Michael’s staff, General Zarman and Renee’s ex-husband General Hall. Paul paused a moment and cleared his throat, then said, “I’ll not order anyone to do what I am about to suggest, but I believe we should hold that Job Fair right on schedule tomorrow morning. I intend to surround the place with 100 armed Marines in body armor. No one will be in danger and everyone will be wearing their forcefields. But, we can’t just allow whoever did this the satisfaction of us canceling the activities for tomorrow. I know that attendance will be down, but I refuse to be manipulated by these cowards.”
Josh was about to argue, in an effort to protect his wife, but Renee quickly turned to the people in the room and asked, “Can I carry a blaster too?” General Zhdanov answered for Paul, “I’ll personally issue each of you a blaster and hope you get a chance to use it.” Paul turned to Joshua and told him, “Joshua, I need you to contact CNN and the local news agencies and make it perfectly clear that it is business as usual tomorrow. I’ll have Vlad contact Homeland Security and FBI to inform them. Those guys will want to shut down the entire city of Atlanta.” If you have to move it to another location at the last minute, that’s fine too, but come rain or shine, tomorrow morning ‘the show must go on.’”
He turned and left the room followed by Vlad, General Zarman and General Hall. They went immediately to his office and got an update from Lucy. She let them know that the bomb had completely gutted the 20th floor and fires and water damage had pretty much destroyed the floors below and above. Smoke damage pretty much got the rest. The entire motel had been closed until further notice. Lucy informed them
that she had already made reservations for the Georgia International Convention Center next to Hartsfield Atlanta Airport. Paul picked-up a com unit and informed Joshua to have the new location announced immediately. It was far enough away from downtown to create no problems. He knew everything near the Omni and Georgia Convention Center would be canceled. Lucy then let him know that the center of the explosion was Renee’s room and that 20 other people on the floor had lost their lives, as well as one firefighter. Paul was seeing blood, when he thought that someone had targeted his own daughter with a bomb. Lucy then said, “The initial FBI report says an al-Qaeda group closely associated with ISIS is claiming they did it in retaliation for those killed in Iraq and to let you know that you better think twice before you declare war on ISIS.” Paul prepared to leave the room and turned to Vlad, saying, “You and Lucy find who did this. I’ll kill them myself” and closed the door.
A convoy of ten troop transports followed the Dragon Wagon to the Georgia International Convention Center. There was no room to park, so each ship dropped their passengers and moved to Charlie Brown Airport. King Verron, Renee and 24 more workers exited the Executive Ship and headed inside as they were cheered on by thousands already waiting for them to arrive. It was still two hours before it was scheduled to begin. Renee and Paul were interviewed live by several news channels and made a point of telling people to come on out to the Job Fair and that they planned to stay open late to give everyone who had to change their plans plenty of time to get there. There were no protesters or trouble makers. There was however a large group of FBI, Atlanta Police, and Homeland Security present. They were immediately intimidated when 100 Verron Marines arrived carrying plasma rifles and wearing dark-gray body armor. They covered every entrance to the center. No one, not even Homeland Security or the FBI was going to be allowed in until thoroughly searched. When the opening comments were delivered to those who had arrived, it was Paul Verron, instead of Renee who greeted the people and thanked them for not allowing a group of cowardly bullies to intimidate them. He knew he was being filmed by FOX and CNN and looked directly into the camera and declared, “I intend to make this official. The act of terrorism conducted yesterday against my family and my government is an act of war. As of yesterday evening at 11:12 PM, the Nation of Verron is at war with al-Qaeda, ISIS and any who support them. I’m coming after you very soon and there is no place for you to run.”
Verron: Serve and Protect: Book Two (Verron Series 2) Page 8