Balance of Power Shifted

by Karl, Victor

  The week and half leading up to Taylor and Kristen’s wedding were hectic indeed. Julius made a speedy recovery and seemed to be in good spirits when we visited him at their home. As soon as he could, he typed a very detailed report on everything he remembered about that night using his left hand since four fingers on his right hand had been intentionally broken, one finger at a time. Even though he had one broken finger on his left he could still type with his remaining fingers. He had jokingly commented that he was not much slower typing now than he normally is. His report recounted the detailed line of questioning focused on Electricus. He remembered that his attackers spoke with heavily accented English, but he could not place their country of origin. At no time did they call each other by name. After the third broken finger, Julius had given them the encryption passphrase need to access the PCs and certain files. At one point they did stop speaking English and spoke in their native tongue. Julius did not know what they were saying but based on the gestures suspected they were discussing what to do with him.

  The police had caught a car on neighborhood security cameras leaving the townhome complex. The occupants appeared to match the description of the assailants. A check on the plates revealed that the Land Rover was stolen at Newark Airport the day before the attack.

  Iris came back to work about a week later to help finalize the paperwork needed to secure funding from our group of 12 investors. There were a few individual investors, but the others represented an investment group. Although tried, there were no concessions to partial ownership and all investors would receive hefty returns on their investment that scaled upwards dramatically over a five-year period. With the funding in place, Bill and Steve would ramp up production at our two suppliers.

  Our new marketing executive Amy Christina, hailing from a recently failed alternative power company venture and with 10 years of experience with a large New York City marketing firm was busy. Amy was currently working with a production company to produce a series of 30-second television commercial slots to start airing in two weeks. In addition, she created ads for distribution in newspapers and industry specific magazines in construction and technology. Her markups were very exciting however, the cost was much higher than I expected. Amy gave us all a tutorial on how advertising will pay for itself based on proven statistical data.

  Sean was leading the charge with Brinkerhoff Builders and had talked Bill and me into allowing all the units in the low-income housing development to use our Power Pad system. He relayed that Max and Gisele were a joy to work with and had a genuine desire to make those less fortunate better off. Sean and Amy were already collaborating on how to leverage and showcase the development in advertisements, as well as feature a case study on our web site.

  Two Binkerhoff supervisors have been working up on the third floor with Sean learning how to install the units, as well as how to maintain them. The Power Pads are self- contained with heating coils and sensors that fed back to the Power Panel and could alert the owner or even Efficio of the status since we integrated wireless LAN technology into the Power Panel. Each Power Pad cost Efficio $575 to produce and Power Panel costs $1500. Each housing unit took two Power Pads and one Power Panel for a total cost of $2650. As production ramps up and we start making units in the hundreds, the price drops by a full third for each. Therefore, this whole project will cost Efficio over $260,000 dollars, which we will recoup in advertising in short order. Brinkerhoff would be responsible for placing the Power Pads on the roof with the mounting hardware and location recommendations made by Sean and install the proper electrical wiring to the circuit breaker box during construction.

  We had already provided 10 units to Brinkerhoff, and over the next month, they will receive the balance now that financing is in place. Brinkerhoff had already completed most of the framing work on the 100 units and was currently working on the interiors. The last step, performed by an Efficio crewmember, would require about ten 50-gallon barrels of Electricus. Outfitted with a special filling mechanism, the new Power Pads receive Electricus by a central receptacle. This receptacle requires 20 pounds of pressure to open a valve in each cell allowing Electricus to fill the chamber with only a slight amount of air left over from the vacuum packing manufacturing process. Once pressure diminishes, the cell valve would close making each cell isolated from the others. This innovation was a tremendous time saver and was the brainchild of Steve.

  Chapter 18: The Wedding

  The Friday before the Taylor’s wedding Fiona and I were working out at a local dojo in a nearby town. We had become friendly with the Korean owner Bae and he invited us periodically to join him and a few of his senior students and staff. These sessions were Taekwondo style and I had to condition myself away from the mixed martial arts style I was familiar. I liked learning this style because it heavily focused on the use of the legs, which were our strongest weapon and worked in throws and how to break holds. I always learned something when we got together and did a good job of holding my own.

  There were a couple of females working out with Fiona with firsthand experience with her strength and quickness. Even though she was still learning, she was such an athlete that she made up for inexperience with speed and aggressiveness and regularly outclassed her more experienced opponents. We declined going out for drinks afterwards since we had some chores to do.

  We were walking back to Fiona’s Hummer, which she conned Bill into agreeing she could have it as her company car, when we sensed a commotion behind us. A car had driven up at high speed and had cut across the path of two men trailing us. I heard Ty’s voice telling the two men dressed in dark clothes to freeze. When one took off though a row of bushes to his left, Ty shot the other with a Taser. The tasered person froze and shook a bit before toppling over on the sidewalk. Ty and another Clavis security person quickly tie wrapped the wrists of the person on the ground and just as quickly tossed him into the back seat of their car. We hustled over to Ty and I asked, “What the hell, who are these guys?” Ty responded, “Mike, these 2 have been staking you all evening and when you walked out it looked like they were going to Taser you both.” “How do you know that?” I asked. Ty reached down to the grass along the walk and picked up a Taser gun. “Because of this,” he said. “Do I want to know where you’re taking him or what you’re going to do?” Ty just shook his head no and said, “I’ll let you know what we find out.”

  Fiona and I shaken, headed back to the Hummer and for the first time Fiona really expressed her concern for our safety as well as others. There was no disagreeing with her since I had the same concerns. I did say that Bill and I had discussed this from day one, which is why we have not shared the most critical secrets with anyone. Fiona leaned over, kissed me firmly, and said, “I know Rico, and maybe that’s what concerns me the most. Just be extra careful.” With my face nose to nose with hers, told her, “we have to be careful, because I don’t know who they are, and they may try to get to me through you, so I don’t want you going off on your own without me or someone from Clavis. Promise me Fiona…promise me.” She nodded her head yes and with tears in her eyes, jokingly said, “after all I need to get you to the altar, which by the way we need to set a date for.”

  Driving up to Fiona’s place, I opened the garage door and squeezed the Hummer into a space that was excessively small for it. We had decided to garage it over her other car to keep prying eyes away. We kept our eyes open until the door shut per our security training to make sure no one slipped in at the last minute and checked the alarm system to make sure no tampering had occurred since we left. With everything looking good, I headed to the shower while Fiona made us some leftover chicken and salad. We spend the rest of the night watching black and white movies on cable as we sipped a nice Cabernet.

  The next day, we drove down to the Long Beach Island area and arrived at our hotel around noon. Everyone else was also staying here. We had given my house on the Island to Taylor and Kristen for their wedding night and longer if their family wanted to use
it. The wedding was at 3 pm and the reception at five. It was a stunningly beautiful day with clear blue skies and temperatures in the upper 70’s. In other, words a perfect day for a wedding.

  The nice thing about the middle of September here at LBI is that the kids are all back in school so you don’t get the crowds. It is like a turn of a switch the way lifeguards return to college and families go back home to focus on the first week or so of school. A respectable amount of weekenders still come down but the traffic is much lighter.

  Taylor was Presbyterian and Kristen was Catholic, so guess who won out. Saint Francis Catholic Church on the island was the perfect setting for their wedding. The wedding was to be co-celebrated by Taylor’s pastor from his childhood. The reception was a few minutes away back over the Causeway on the mainland at a place I used to rent boats from to crab in Barnegat Bay. The old marina gave way to a beautiful wedding hall built on the water overlooking the bay. I can only image how good the pictures will look, especially since Fiona and I will be in them as a groom and bridesmaid, and the bay backdrop would be spectacular. Taylor’s older brother was the best man and Kristen’s infamous younger sister Brianna was her maid of honor.

  We were laying out our clothes and I started snickering about the mint green dress with all the little frilly things on it that Fiona was going to wear. You always hear bridesmaids talking about how hideous the bridesmaid gowns were. Some believed it was due to the bride not wanting any of her bridesmaids to outshine her on her special day, and I think the gown in front of me would support that hypothesis. Fiona heard me snickering and said, “What are you laughing about pal”, and then pushed me so I fell onto the bed with her on top of me. “Ummm” she said, “we do have a little time to kill” and with that, we got busy with one rule, I could not mess up her hair. That by the way ended up being much harder than I thought.

  The mass was very emotional and I caught Fiona watching and taking mental notes. Both had written very heartfelt statements to each other about love, fidelity and friendship, which did not leave too many, dries eyes in the place. I looked across the way at Fiona who stood out of the crowd of four other bridesmaids. She was openly crying and dabbing her nose with a tissue, but it could not hide the fact that she actually made that monstrosity of a dress look great. There it went, damn, she actually made me get weak in the knees again. We formed a procession line out of the church and went back inside afterwards for the photographer to do his job. We only posed for a couple photos here with the bulk to be taken at the reception hall. Taylor was able to rent a white stretched Hummer limousine, which held the entire wedding party and amply stocked with champagne. The chilled bottles made their way around and glasses were optional. In 10-minutes, we were exiting the limo and directed to a scenic dock area next to the water. They made us put down the Champagne bottles to take pictures and 20 minutes later we were entering the hall.

  Jeremy and Ty were invited guests to the reception and Jeremy had his wife Mary there. Ty actually came with our newest accounting clerk Cristina who Kristen had hired a month ago. There were two other Clavis security people there, masquerading as help. I saw a group of people gathered around a table on the other side of the dance floor, saw Iris sitting there, and next to her was Julius. Tapping Fiona, I whispered in her ear that Julius had made it to the reception. Steve was also in the wedding party and when he walked in with us, he headed straight over to a beautiful and tall dark skinned woman. She had a bit of an Asian look to her and Steve with his dark Jamaican skin standing next to her looked like a couple right off of a Hollywood red carpet. Apparently, they were an item from his last job, but she ended up going overseas for an assignment for a large chemical manufacturer and was back for a visit. I learned later from Fiona that her name was Karina and that she joked that she was above Steve’s pay grade.

  Sean was also a groom, but decided to come by himself and take a chance on hitting it off with one of the eligible females Kristen had invited. The packed hall looked great with the flowers and decorations. I recognized a few people from my old hometown, but there were mostly strangers from Kristen’s side of the family. I am not sure who picked out the band, but they were older than I expected. I guess you have to consider the tastes of all the guests including parents and grandparents. When the lead singer and master of ceremonies introduced himself as Gerry, I had a good laugh, because I automatically dubbed the band in my mind as ‘Gerry and the Atrics.’ Gerry then had the wedding party come out on the floor and we formed a path for the newly married couple to pass through during the introduction as man and wife. With a “now for the first time in public please welcome Kristen and Taylor Bonhampton” from Gerry, a new chapter for those two began.

  The rest of the reception was a whirlwind of drinking and dancing and just a generally great time. I did however have to shoo Sean and a few others away from Fiona so I could dance with her. I did get Fiona’s attention a little bit when I danced with Jeremy’s wife Mary. Apparently, Jeremy cannot dance at all so he pressured me to dance with his wife, which was great because she ended up being a great dancer and soon a few male admirers were cutting in on me including Sean to her delight.

  The next morning we decided to hang out on the beach awhile before heading home. As the early sun burned away the morning haze, we just sat in sand chairs that we carved out of the sand wall left by the tide. The tide was on the way out and the waves just barely lapped at our toes as we sat and gazed at the expanse of ocean. I pointed out three dolphins chasing some Snapper Blues in the breakers about a hundred yards out and followed them as they headed south along the beach. Somehow, I knew this was coming, but actually looked forward to talking about it. Fiona while grabbing my hand started to ask questions about a wedding date, location and many others. I just looked into her eyes and said, “Honey, I only have you. I would marry you tomorrow if you wanted but I know you want a traditional wedding like Taylor and Kristen so feel free to plan it out and invite whomever you want. Just let me know what time to show up.” “Are you sure” she asked? “Very sure” I answered. Then she asked a question I wasn’t expecting. “Do you want me to sign a prenuptial agreement?” I just cocked my head sideways at her and responded with carefully chosen words. “No prenuptial. I have more money than I ever will need in life and our company will increase that tremendously. I want you to be my partner at home and in business and if I can’t make you happy enough to want to be with me then money would be the last thing on my mind.” “If you change your mind Rico I will sign one,” she softly said. “What and leave the mother of our five children destitute” I said with a straight face. “Five kids” she said, “I was thinking more like four.” As nice as it was hanging on the beach we got up, dusted the sand off each other, and headed off. I have to say the view from the rear was as good as the view from the front.

  Bill and I were sitting in his office Monday morning trying to put together a strategy on how to get the automobile industry engaged with Electricus. We did not have an understanding of how to approach a car company to build a special unit to our specifications. While we were discussing options, our receptionist buzzed in on the intercom and said there were two men from Washington D.C. who wished to talk to Bill or me. I looked at Bill as if to say what do we do and he shrugged his shoulders. So I told the receptionist to have one of the Clavis people verify who they were and if they are legitimate escort them to the smaller first floor conference room. This was the room next to Bill’s office, so we headed over there speculating between ourselves who these people were and what they wanted. After waiting five minutes, Ty escorted two dark suited men into the conference room.

  The first one to introduce himself was Juan Ramirez the head of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy a sub division under the US Department of Energy and a subdivision of the Under Secretary of Energy for Energy and Environment. The second man was from the White House Public Relations team and he introduced himself as Thomas Vinmore. Bill and I said welcome, and proceeded to
introduce ourselves. Cutting to the chase Bill said, “What can we do for you gentlemen?” An hour later Bill and I sat there somewhat taken aback by what we heard. First, they were already equipped with a wealth of information and were aware of Electricus and its capabilities as well as our project at the low-income housing development and our discussions with the Army and Air Force.

  The next big shocker was an offer to loan Efficio close to 1 billion dollars with very attractive repayment terms. What I did not like, and I am sure Bill did not like, was the strong-arm tactics they were using to try to get us to the table to sign agreements. At that point, I had coffee brought in and asked our two visitors if they minded if we stepped out for a few minutes to discuss the information they had presented. They shook their heads ‘yes’ in unison to our request. Another thing I did not like was their cocky assuredness that we would be jumping all over their offer.

  As soon as we walked back into Bill’s office he starts with “can you believe the crap they’re selling? They want us on board as the poster child for the president so that he could get credit for supporting our new energy platform. I didn’t even vote for him.” “I agree Bill,” I said. “This is bullshit. We’ll just have to go back in there and tell them the truth that we have no shortage of investors and will continue down that path.” “Do you want me to give them the bad news or you?” I asked Bill. “If you don’t mind I’ll take this one,” Bill said with an evil grin.