by Mark Lemke
CHAPTER 4
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My name is Nick Connor.? I'm the head of NeXus, a private consulting company that specializes in security evaluations for domestic commercial nuclear power generating stations.? I had to have a name for our 'company' to make it look legitimate, so that's what I came up with.? I existed in the netherworld between the military and private-sector security firms and provided 'private evaluations' for nuclear power plant executives who wanted to know just how good their security really was.? I've got a Web page, as most businesses do, though mine revealed very little about NeXus or the work I do.? It's barely one page-has a title and some contact information-but the phone number goes to an answering machine where the only thing people can do is leave a callback number.? I pick up the messages from time to time.? The e-mail address on the Web page goes to a secure server that would be hard for even the most aggressive hackers to trace, though it doesn't really matter, because I don't use it anyway.? I really only do work for those who are recommended to me.? These recommendations usually come through governmental agencies whose names were comprised mostly of letters.?People rarely approach me directly-few people know how to.?In some cases, though, people have heard about work that I've done at one of the power plants in the country.? Discrete inquiries are made, then screened, evaluated, and funneled to me.? If I decide I want to take the job, I make contact with the executives in charge of the power plant and take it from there.
I'm very expensive and, as I'd just demonstrated at The Headlands, very good at what I do. I have to charge something for my services.? Besides, people believe they're getting a superior product if they pay a lot of money for it. So I accommodate them and charge them a lot of money. There are companies out there who are very public and who provide paramilitary-type services, mostly for war-torn areas of the world. They also provide bodyguard services for foreign diplomats; protection for traveling dignitaries; and, some, more aggressive services, which sometimes landed them on the front pages of newspapers.? They too charge a lot of money for what they do and employ a lot of ex-military guys with talent and skills that you can't find in the phone book.?? Good men, all.? I ought to know . . . I'd worked with many of them in Special Forces: Green Berets, Rangers, SEALS.? Those I don't know personally, I know of by reputation.? The Special Forces community is small so it isn't uncommon to be known by a lot of people.? Special Forces operatives value their reputation almost above all else.? And word gets around.? So on the surface, NeXus looked similar to some of the more public security companies.? In reality, I'm anything but.