Validator smiled, but chose not to answer him directly. “The good news is that this merger is almost a perfect fit, with little redundancy, so we won’t have to suffer the bad publicity of lay-offs and all the other complications.”
“So that’s why you killed my sales force,” Dan said with a mixture of anger and admiration. “You’ve been planning this for three years, haven’t you?”
Cosmo’s face went blank. “You of all people should know how erratic and unpredictable I am, Dan. I hardly know what I’m doing tomorrow, much less next week. But I can assure you that all my actions have been in the best interests of the firm and its shareholders.”
“Oh yes,” Dan replied wryly. “Let the official record show that.”
Alison turned again to Bellflower, this time as if the two of them were alone. “Arthur,” she said urgently, “we don’t need these people. I screwed up, I admit it, but we’ll weather it. There’s nothing Validator Software can give us that we don’t already have.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” said Cosmo, picking up a piece of paper and glancing at it. “Leaving aside our $6 billion in annual revenues, profit margins that are higher than yours, and 20,000 loyal customers—remarkably loyal, given the last couple years—there is also the matter of new products. Arthur tells me you’ll be lucky to get your next generation product out just six months late. Meanwhile, Dan here has a little skunkworks operation going in Santa Clara—run by your old friend Armstrong Givens, Ms. Prue—that’s not only got a superior product to yours, but is going to beat you to market. How long until it’s ready, Dan?”
“Six weeks.”
Validator turned to the figure beside him. “Is that what your intelligence says, Lisa?”
“More or less,” she said, flicking through a report on her laptop.
Dan started to laugh. He clapped his hands four times, each clap louder than the last. “Well played, Cosmo. After all these years, you can still surprise me.” He began to rise from his chair. “Well, good luck to you all. Shall I have Virgil drive me back to the airport?”
“Not just yet,” said Cosmo. “Please sit down, Dan. We still have a personnel matter to attend to.”
Dan reluctantly did as he was asked.
Cosmo folded his hands on the desk. He didn’t speak for a long time, as if what he was about to say was difficult and needed to be carefully phrased.
Finally he spoke. “Dan, I’ve concluded that, after nearly fifty years, it’s time for me to retire from the electronics industry. As you know, my wife Amber is currently the president of the Idaho Chamber of Commerce. She’s now decided to run for Congress from the 2nd District. I have it on good authority that she will win, too,” he said with a wink.
“Because of that, I plan to spend the next few years working in Washington, out of my Georgetown townhouse. By coincidence,” he said, smiling knowingly at Bellflower, “Arthur and I will be asked by the President of the United States to serve on his Council of Science and Technology Advisors, of which I will be the chairman. Of course, that’s not yet public news, so please keep it to yourselves.”
Dan grinned. “Does the President know this yet?”
Validator laughed. “No, not yet.”
“Then, Cosmo,” said Dan, “let me be the first to congratulate you and your wife on this triumph of the democratic process.”
“Thank you,” said Validator. “The people have spoken—or at least they will in November. And that brings me to you, Dan. Arthur and I have concluded, and both of our boards have agreed, to offer you the chairmanship of the newly merged Validator Software.”
Cosmo then turned to Alison. “We have also agreed to offer you, Ms. Prue, the position of chief executive officer of the new company.”
Cosmo Validator stood without waiting for a response. The others followed suit. “I will expect a response from both of you in the next forty-eight hours. In the meantime, while we’re getting the cars ready to take you to the airport, shall we retire to the living room to celebrate? I have champagne prepared.”
v. 9.6
The quartet walked out of the office in pairs: Alison with Bellflower, Dan with Validator. When Cosmo got a step ahead, Dan glanced back to see that Lisa Holmes hadn’t followed them. She had already turned her back to the departing group to talk on her cell phone.
“After all this double dealing behind my back,” Alison hissed to Bellflower, “why should I even consider taking this offer?”
“Because,” he replied, “it’ll still be the company you built, and you can’t let it fail now right on the brink of such a huge success. And because it will make you one of the most powerful businesswomen in the world. Got anything better planned?”
Dan caught Validator’s arm and stopped him. “I was doing a great job for you, Cosmo,” he said. “Why did you put me through this hell?”
Validator pulled himself to his full height. “Because,” he said, “you were a brilliant CEO of a mature company. But this business is changing fast. And if I was going to let you be the chairman of a company with my name on it, by God, I was going to make sure you knew how to think like an entrepreneur. You needed to be tested… just like young Miss Prue up there needed to learn how to be like you.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“I do, Dan. I’ve just given you the only thing in my life that I’ve ever really cared about. Isn’t that enough?”
A small, folding campaign table had been set up the middle of the great hall. It bore a champagne bucket in a towel and a silver tray with four glass flutes. The four of them encircled it. “This was John C. Fremont’s field desk,” said Cosmo. “Just imagine him and Kit Carson standing here, preparing to go off the map and conquer a new world.” He filled the glasses, handing each in turn to the others. Then he filled and raised his own glass.
Bellflower raised his glass as well. “A toast,” he said, “to the new Validator Software and the two people who will run it. May you be both smart and lucky.”
“And,” added Cosmo Validator, “may you never let them see the strings.”
v. 9.7
Bellflower and Validator were lost in conversation about children, grandchildren, and fishing expeditions. Dan walked out onto the big stone patio. The mountain peaks were now a deep orange, their bases turning gray-blue. Above, the setting sun had turned the sky and clouds blood red, streaked with flames.
He was joined by Alison Prue. Together, they stared silently at the vista.
“How did you manage to recruit Armstrong?” Alison asked.
“I gave him the one thing he really wanted.”
“What? Money? Stock? He had those.”
“No,” said Dan, “I gave him himself.”
“How good is that new product?”
“Good enough.”
Alison stared at him for a moment, then looked back to the sunset. “We beat you. None of this changes any of that. We beat you fair and square.”
Dan started to tell her that not a single word of that last sentence was true. But he caught himself. He was Alison’s boss now, her mentor. They were now in this together. “Yes,” he told her. “Yes, you did.”
The End
Also Available from Michael S. Malone
The Virtual Corporation
The Microprocessor: A Biography
Intellectual Capital
One Digital Day
Infinite Loop
Valley of Heart’s Delight
Bill & Dave
The Future Arrived Yesterday
Four Percent
The Guardian of All Things
Coming Soon From Michael S. Malone
Trinity: The History of Intel Corporation
Michael S. Malone Biography
Michael S. Malone is one of the world’s best-
known technology writers. He has covered Silicon Valley and high-tech for more than 25 years, beginning with the San Jose Mercury News as the nation’s first daily high-tech reporter, where he was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. His articles and editorials have appeared in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and Fortune, and for two years he was a columnist for The New York Times.
He was editor of Forbes ASAP, the world’s largest-circulation business-tech magazine, at the height of the dot-com boom. Malone is the author or co-author of nearly twenty award-winning books, notably the best-selling The Virtual Corporation, Bill & Dave, and The Future Arrived Yesterday. Malone has also hosted three nationally syndicated public television interview series and co-produced the Emmy-nominated primetime PBS miniseries on social entrepreneurs, “The New Heroes.”
As an entrepreneur, Malone was a founding shareholder of eBay, Siebel Systems (sold to Oracle) and Qik (sold to Skype), and is currently a co-founder and director of new start-up PatientKey Inc. Malone holds an MBA from Santa Clara University, where he is currently an adjunct professor. He is also an associate fellow of the Said Business School at Oxford University, and is a Distinguished Friend of Oxford.
About Barking Rain Press
Did you know that six media conglomerates publish eighty percent of the books in the United States? As the publishing industry continues to contract, opportunities for emerging and mid-career authors are drying up. Who will write the literature of the twenty-first century if just a handful of profit-focused corporations are left to decide who—and what—is worthy of publication?
Barking Rain Press is dedicated to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature, which we believe is essential to a vital and diverse culture. As a nonprofit organization, Barking Rain Press is an independent publisher that seeks to cultivate relationships with new and mid-career writers over time, to be thorough in the editorial process, and to make the publishing process an experience that will add to an author’s development—and ultimately enhance our literary heritage.
In selecting new titles for publication, Barking Rain Press considers authors at all points in their careers. Our goal is to support the development of emerging and mid-career authors—not just single books—as we know from experience that a writer’s audience is cultivated over the course of several books.
Support for these efforts comes primarily from the sale of our publications; we also hope to attract grant funding and private donations. Whether you are a reader or a writer, we invite you to take a stand for independent publishing and become more involved with Barking Rain Press. With your support, we can make sure that talented writers thrive, and that their books reach the hands of spirited, curious readers. Find out more at our website.
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Bad Policy
by James M. Jackson
Print ISBN: 978-1-935460-60-2
eBook ISBN: 978-1-935460-61-7
When private financial investigator Seamus McCree returns to Cincinnati after a routine business trip, he discovers that his home has become a crime scene for a brutal murder. The victim in his basement is an acquaintance from a previous corporate investigation—and endured bullets to both of his ankles, knees and elbows before the final shot to his forehead put him out of his misery.
No one has seen an “IRA six pack” victim since The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.
Now the primary “person of interest” in the murder, Seamus must use his talent for logic and hard work to prove his innocence. Soon he uncovers a trail that leads back to his Boston roots—and a poisonous family feud dating from the divorce of Boston’s Irish mafia and the Provisional IRA in the 1970s.
Driven by the chilling realization that there was more behind the death of his policeman father than he ever knew, Seamus ignores warnings from the police, friends, and enemies as he continues to dig for the truth.
As the body count climbs, all trails seem to lead back to him, and Seamus is forced to go underground to find out who is framing him—and why—before he becomes the next victim.
“A mix of big money, wayward passions, Irish politics, family secrets and enough odd characters to stage a sideshow, Bad Policy is a wild romp that kept me guessing and turning pages well into several nights. Tremendous fun!” — Jack Kerley, internationally acclaimed author, Carson Ryder series
“What a great story! Wry, witty and completely appealing—as if Robert B. Parker’s Spenser moved to Ohio. I love Seamus McCree—a savvy PI who tackles the mysteries of life with heart and brains and humor.” —Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity winning author, The Other Woman
Preview the first four chapters for free at
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Eine Kleine Murder
by Kaye George
Print ISBN: 978-1-935460-64-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-935460-65-7
Aspiring conductor Cressa Carraway arrives at her grandmother’s cabin at a rural Illinois lake resort, hoping to find some peace and quiet so she can finish composing the symphony she needs to earn her master’s degree in composition. Instead, she finds her grandmother’s corpse in the lake.
The authorities dismiss the death as an accidental drowning, but when Gram’s best friend drowns in the exact same spot, Cressa just knows something is off-key in this idyllic setting. Convinced that her grandmother’s death was anything but an accident, she fights her instinct to flee and starts looking into things herself.
There are lots of people and facts to consider, from the self-important property manager and his brow-beaten wife, to their salacious son, to the elderly widow who may be lacing her home-baked cookies with a dash of poison. As the body count rises, Cressa doesn’t know which will be finished first—her symphony or her life.
“Five stars out of five! I strongly recommend putting this book on your summer reading list. It is the perfect book to read while sitting by the water.” —Lynn Farris, Examiner.com
“Suspenseful and full of surprises! Agatha-nominated writer Kaye George seamlessly combines an engaging heroine, an unusual setting, and a suspicious set of characters to create a truly satisfying read.” —Judy Dailey, author, Animal, Vegetable, Murder
“Great characters. A genuine page turner.” —Marilyn Levinson, author, Twin Lakes Mystery series
“Eine Kleine Murder immediately draws you in. Once you start reading, you’ll ignore calls, texts and possibly your family until you reach the last page. The good news is that it’s well worth it!” — Laura Oles, Photo industry journalist & author
“Kaye George marries music and mystery in Eine Kleine Murder to produce an exciting, satisfying read. Brava, Ms. George!” — Kathy Waller, Austin mystery writer
“Kaye George delivers again! Cressa Caraway, classical composer, is up to her eyeballs in music, murder, and mayhem in George’s new mystery series. A rousing read.” —Gale Albright, Austin mystery writer
Preview the first four chapters for free at
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The Diamond Seekers
by David Coles & Jack Everett
Print ISBN: 978-1-935460-44-2
eBook ISBN: 978-1-935460-45-9
“He who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.” — Nicolò Machiavelli
When a courier for the powerful crime family descended from Niccolò Machiavelli realizes he’s being followed by a rival family assassin, he takes a detour through the English countryside to shake his pursuer. He manages to hide his precious cargo—a fortune in blood diamonds from Sierra Leone—before his pursuer collides with an English family on a holiday drive.
The courier drowns in a swollen river; the mother and son die in the crash. The father is emotionally devastated, and retires in d
espair from his MI5 cipher career.
Five years later, the head of the Machiavelli crime family is still in pursuit of his missing diamonds and is ready to launch an ambitious scheme to recover them. What follows is a twisted trail of murder, kidnapping and layers upon layers of subterfuge.
The British Security Services are seriously compromised, but no one knows how or by whom. And suddenly, our former MI5 cipher expert is on everyone’s shopping list.
“The mystery of who REALLY are the movers and shakers at work behind the scenes only comes together in the final pages. The author’s subtle—but riveting—approach to international crime fiction vs. the usual adrenaline-fueled race of the thriller genre makes this impossible to put down.” — Adele Abbot, author, Of Machines & Magics
“If you enjoy mystery and a clever story told through well-crafted dialog played out by a memorable cast of characters, you’ll enjoy The Diamond Seekers. There is room for more and I hope Coles and Everett hook us into a sequel that picks up where The Diamond Seekers left off.” — Greg Lamb, Author, The People In Between: A Cyprus Odyssey
Preview the first four chapters for free at
www.barkingrainpress.org
River Bottom Blues
by Ricky Bush
Print ISBN: 978-1-935460-28-2
eBook ISBN: 978-1-935460-29-9
Mitty Andersen knows that rising blues star Bobby Tarleton didn’t die of a heroin overdose. He’d blown enough blues harmonica notes with Bobby to know that he would never let anything get in the way of his music. So when he gets the news in the middle of his blues set at Little Queenie’s, he suspects a cover-up—and he’s determined to put his ex-investigative reporter skills to work to find out what really happened.
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