Sovrano

by Michael Powers

  The documents JP received were incredible. Eric sent Tuteur15’s mission statement, objectives and strategies, as well as a list of target companies. If nothing else, it demonstrated how much Eric trusted JP. Released to the press, such documents could be devastating. Naturally, JP had no intention of betraying Eric’s confidence since he was eager to work with his mentor in any capacity. Even though uncertain what Eric had in mind, JP suspected he was going to be offered a position with Tuteur15.

  When the elevator reached the top floor, JP stepped into the hallway. Ten feet away, TUTEUR15 was emblazoned on two enormous solid brass doors. Once inside, JP hesitated briefly to orient himself. The spacious waiting room was a beehive of activity. Several men and women in business attire were patiently leafing through magazines, waiting to meet with Tuteur15 executives. Small groups in glass-walled conference rooms were animatedly discussing various proposals.

  As JP scanned the room, a young man rose from one of the comfortable sofas and marched directly to him. “Mr. Drummond?” he asked.

  “Yes?” JP replied, brows arched.

  “If you will follow me, Mr. Price will see you right away.”

  “Lead the way,” JP nodded. A personal assistant who had been trained to recognize him on sight! Now that was class. No wonder Eric Price was so successful JP thought to himself.

  Several corridors and a half dozen turns later, JP was inside Eric’s office. Standing with his back to them, Eric was gazing out over Manhattan.

  JP’s handsome young escort cleared his throat before speaking. “Mr. Price?”

  Responding instantly, Eric spun around, circled his desk and hurried to greet JP. “Jean-Paul! Thank you for coming! Great to see you again.”

  As they shook hands, Eric nodded at JP’s escort. “Thanks, Michael. We’d like at least an hour to talk without interruption.”

  “Very good, sir,” Michael grinned as he backed out of the room, closing the door as he left.

  JP wandered around, browsing casually at Eric’s office. “Very nice. Very very nice.”

  “My office or my company?” Eric asked.

  “Both! That light reading material you sent me was absolutely fascinating. If you hadn’t already accomplished some of those objectives, I’d swear it was written by a lunatic. What can I do for you, Eric?”

  Eric gestured toward a sofa. As they sat, Eric got right to the point. “You and I have known each other for years, JP. I trust you. I like you. I respect you. I have always assumed you feel the same. I want to invite you to become the first non-LGBT board member of Tuteur15. This is a critical move for both of us. For you, there will be guilt by association. When it becomes obvious to the rest of the world what Tuteur15 is up to, your friends may turn on you for working with a bunch of fags. Your own family may disown you. This could strain your marriage. You could receive death threats. Worst of all, you may even develop an identity crisis.

  “The risk I face is different, but equally serious. There simply aren’t enough qualified people to do all the things Tuteur15 intends to do. We need multi-lingual executives with high-level experience in diverse fields. We’re growing faster than I can find talent. At the outset, we wanted to make Tuteur15 an all-LGBT organization. Not only is that impossible, we now admit that’s simply another form of bigotry. Still, the first non-gay I invite to join the board must be just right. That person must get along with other Tuteur15 executives, be superbly qualified, and better than any LGBT candidate. The best person I can think of is you, JP. You have impeccable credentials, superb executive experience, and you’re very likable. You face the greater risk, of course. If I’m wrong, it’ll be a nasty setback, but I’ll recover. I’m not sure you’ll have that luxury. Now that I’ve thrown down the gauntlet, are you interested?”

  JP nodded vigorously. “When do I start?”

  Eric cocked his head back and frowned. “That’s it? You’re not even gonna think it over? Or consult a psychic? JP, I had a terrific sales pitch prepared. I have more than forty excellent responses to objections I thought you’d raise. How can you say yes so quickly?”

  “Didn’t you tell me once it’s impossible to turn down a request from a mentor?”

  “Yes, but this isn’t just another assignment, JP. There’s tons of risk and…..”

  “I trust your judgment, Eric. If you think I’m the right person, that’s good enough for me.”

  Eric chuckled as he looked at his watch. “Okay, I know how to take yes for an answer! Since we have an hour, what would you like to chat about for the next fifty-eight minutes?”

  “The aerospace project,” JP replied promptly. “I’ve got some ideas about how we can kill two birds with one stone. You alluded to it briefly in the material you sent me. Interested?”

  Propping his elbows on his knees, Eric leaned forward and laid his face in his hands. “I’m listening.”

  “It looks like the financial part of your plan is turning out to be a piece of cake. The real danger is one or more governments might invoke antitrust laws and seize your assets, right?”

  “Right,” Eric agreed.

  “You need a very powerful bargaining chip. Something you control and the rest of the world needs. Something no one can snatch away from you. Something akin to controlling the sun with a TV remote.”

  “Precisely, JP! It could take a decade or more to develop the bargaining chip that’ll give us the edge we need. Some of the most sophisticated technology in use today was conceived in the 1980s. The incubation period is incredible!”

  “Maybe we can shave some time off that incubation, Eric. I just read an article by Dr. William Renben in Future World Magazine. I brought a copy with me. Read it. See if you reach the same conclusion I did. If we can design, fund, and produce Dr. Renben’s brainchild, we’ll have the most powerful bargaining chip in the world.”

  Eric sank back into a pile of sofa cushions. “JP, I think you just earned this year’s salary. Are you ready to meet some of your fellow directors?”

  “Guess so,” JP smiled. “Does my hair look all right?”

  “Good enough for a heterosexual,” Eric teased.

  Fort Worth, Texas

  Excited by the Future World article, Eric called Dr. Renben and asked to meet. Billy agreed, skeptical his caller was really Eric Price. After all, nobody had taken Billy seriously. Why should an important man like Eric Price?

  En route to Texas, Eric studied the report his security staff compiled on Dr. Renben. A degree from MIT was only one of a list of impressive credentials. The item which intrigued Eric most was Billy’s sudden resignation while working on a Defense Department project.

  Eric’s limousine parked in front of a dilapidated apartment building on the edge of Fort Worth. Clothes were strung between neighboring homes. A rusty school bus without wheels served as a playground for children, dogs, cats, and a variety of varmints.

  While Eric slowly scanned the neighborhood, his chauffeur switched on the intercom. “I’m sure this is the correct address, Mr. Price. Shall I see if Dr. Renben is available?”

  “No need. I’ll go myself, thanks,” Eric smiled as he opened the car door.

  “Sir, maybe I should come with you,” the chauffeur offered. “This doesn’t look like a very safe part of town.”

  Eric agreed. “All the more reason you should stay here. We don’t want to walk back to the airport, do we?”

  “No, sir,” the chauffeur chuckled.

  Eric climbed the rickety porch stairs. There was no front door, so he wandered to the mailboxes in the middle of the hallway, found Billy’s name scrawled on one, then hunted for a matching number on one of the doors. While Eric waited for Billy to answer his knock, he relived the last thousand meals cooked in the apartment complex through their residual odors.

  “Who is it?” a timid voice squeaked through the door.

  “Dr. Renben? I’m Eric Price. We spoke on the phone.”

  A number of chains clicked and keys turned. Finally, the door creaked
open a few inches. When Billy could visually confirm Eric Price was standing in the hallway, he opened the door just wide enough for Eric to enter.

  Inside the tiny apartment, Eric reminded himself not to intimidate Billy. He turned to his host and extended his right hand. “Dr. Renben, thank you for seeing me,” he smiled graciously.

  Billy’s handshake was as limp as a dying man's. The mixture of shame and fear Billy exuded seemed inappropriate for a man of his brilliance. “Nobody calls me Dr. Renben anymore. You can just call me Billy, Mr. Price.”

  “Okay, Billy. And I prefer Eric. Can we talk now or have I come at a bad time?”

  Billy scurried to a chair and cleared a place for Eric to sit. “Now is fine. I really didn’t think you’d show up to be honest. I thought you might send someone else.”

  “When I read your article, Billy, I was so excited I wanted to fly down here right away. I think I understood about a third of what I read. I hope you’ll be patient with me, but could you explain in layman’s terms what the W-Particle is?”

  “The W-Particle is potentially more revolutionary than fire, gunpowder, the wheel, and nuclear fission combined,” Billy replied excitedly. “It’s the fourth particle within the atomic structure. Physicists knew that neutrons, protons, and electrons existed many years before they were actually able to observe them with their most powerful computers and microscopes in the 1970s. Magnetism and electricity are the result of these particles interacting. As our tools became more sophisticated, scientists learned how to influence the interaction of subatomic particles, converting electric energy into magnetic energy and vice versa. The greatest recent advance in mankind’s technological development has been the application of this principle in computers. Today we pack billions of charged particles into ever smaller spaces. The conversion of these charged particles into electric impulses allows tiny computers to perform data storage, retrieval and processing tasks formerly done by room-sized machines.”

  As Billy spoke, Eric felt his excitement building. Billy’s inhibitions evaporated as he warmed to his topic.

  “What I’ve discovered is a new particle in the atomic structure. I named it the W-Particle for the first letter of my legal name, William, even though I’m the only one who acknowledges its existence. A few physicists theorized back in the 1950s that the atomic structure contains another particle, but most of my colleagues dismiss the idea as nonsense. Quite simply, the W-Particle determines the radioactive state of matter. A change in the charged particles around the W-Particle changes the radiation level of the entire atom. It’s similar to the discovery that ice, water, and steam are the same substance, just in a different state. That’s significant because it means they’re interchangeable.

  “I’ve been able to demonstrate in the lab that magnetism, electricity, and radiation are simply different atomic states along a continuum. I can move an atomic particle back and forth along the continuum using electromagnetic pulses. Why is this important? Because I use a tiny bit of energy to create a huge amount of energy. Think of how useful that could be. I was only able to produce this effect once before my project was shut down. As you can see by looking around, nobody’s beating my door down with research grants.”

  “I thought a fourth atomic particle had already been discovered,” Eric interrupted. “Something called a quark, right?”

  Billy’s eyebrows arched. “I’m impressed, Eric. You’ve done your homework. Actually, quarks are sub-atomic particles carrying charges similar to the protons, neutrons, and electrons in each atom. There are six different types, and we’re learning more about them all the time, but they're not the same as the W-Particle. What I’ve discovered is a particle on the same level as protons, neutrons, and electrons, but it can’t be detected using conventional means.”

  “How could such a discovery be used, Billy?”

  “By moving atomic particles along the radiation continuum, I can create enormous amounts of energy very efficiently. Conventional fuel would only be needed as a catalyst to start the process instead of feeding it continually. The range of applications is endless. We could build power plants the size of a small house to provide electricity for an entire country. We could make non-polluting cars able to travel 50,000 miles on a single tank of gas. Planes and ships could carry hundreds of times the payload they now carry at several times the speed, all at a fraction of the current cost. Travel, construction, electric power generation would all be revolutionized. The world would no longer depend on fossil fuels. The way we work, live, and play would all change for the better. I know I sound like a vacuum cleaner salesman, but all I need is one more chance to prove I’m right.”

  “What do you need to take this concept from theory to reality, Billy?”

  “It won’t be cheap,” Billy sighed. “I’ll need a list of test equipment a mile long, supercomputers, engineers to build models, and a supply of plutonium.”

  “Billy, if you had everything you need at your fingertips, how long would it take for the first practical application?” Eric asked, leaning forward anxiously.

  “Testing will take a year, with practical applications in three to five years,” Billy replied.

  “Do you think everything you need could be found at an aerospace plant which builds jets and nuclear missiles?” Eric asked.

  “Oh, sure,” Billy grinned. “There’s a place outside Seattle that’d be just perfect.”

  “Hmmmmmm,” Eric purred thoughtfully. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say, Billy. How’d you like to work for me?”

  Billy gawked at Eric. “I hope you’re not teasing me, sir, because I take my work very seriously.”

  Eric leaned closer to Billy. “I tease a lot of people, but I assure you, Dr. Renben, I’m quite serious right now. You’re not a crackpot. I had you thoroughly vetted before I came here. You’re very bright. Perhaps too bright for your own good. You were making excellent progress toward proving your theory. Someone was threatened by the prospect of cheap, safe, clean energy, so you were set up. Because you’re openly gay, you were accused of molesting a twelve-year-old boy. It was his word against yours with no witnesses. Charges were dropped in exchange for your promise to quietly disappear.”

  “That boy and his family were paid to lie!” Billy complained bitterly.

  “As one gay man to another, I believe you,” Eric nodded. “My security team reached the same conclusion.”

  “You’re gay?” Billy blinked in disbelief.

  Eric nodded, allowing their common bond to sink in.

  “I'd never have…..I mean you look so…...so…..how did you get to be…..”

  Eyes twinkling, Eric turned playful. “What’s the matter, Billy? Do I have to prove I’m gay?”

  “No, it’s not that!” Billy assured Eric quickly. “It’s just……you’re right. Why would you lie about being gay? So, what do you want from me?”

  “I want you to help me harness the W-Particle, Billy. It’s that simple.”

  Billy jumped out of his chair. “When can we start?”

  “As soon as you’re ready. I’ll give you everything you need. Supplies, staff, facilities. I’ll pay you double your last salary.”

  “Can we start today?” Billy asked cautiously.

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Eric nodded, glancing around the tiny apartment. “Billy, I’m curious why you moved here after losing your job in Houston.”

  “I spent most of what I earned while I was working,” Billy explained, shaking his head with regret. “After I lost my job, it took a while to realize a whisper campaign was keeping me from working in my field. Nobody in Houston wanted anything to do with me. I grew up a couple miles from here, so I came back to Fort Worth where I knew I could survive until I figured out what to do next. This low rent apartment is all I could afford with my small savings. Sometimes a person just needs to go back to his roots to figure out his next move. Know what I mean, Eric?”

  “I certainly do,” Eric nodded. “Did the same thing myself a few
years ago. Billy, pack your bags and we’re off to Seattle!”

  Billy twisted his body back and forth slightly, glancing around the apartment. “Is it cold where we’re going?”

  “Chilly enough for a light jacket at night, but nice during the day.”

  Billy shuffled to his computer, picked up several flash drives, and grabbed a jacket. Over his shoulder, he called out, “Let’s go! I can replace all the rest of this junk with my first paycheck and still have enough left for rent and groceries.”

  CHAPTER 24

  The United Nations recognizes nearly 200 sovereign nations, along with many protectorates, small islands, and other entities. Since the beginning of the 21st century, twenty-five sovereign nations engaged in armed conflict involving more than a thousand deaths. The Middle East, the Balkans, and Africa were the worst hotspots. Terrorists found safe havens in Central Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia, striking almost at will. One out of every six commercial freighters was attacked by sea pirates. The Indian Ocean was the most dangerous place in the world for a ship. In fact, there were very few safe havens for ships, planes, trains, and individual travelers.

  Since global trade was crucial to nearly every billion-dollar company, Eric created an International Affairs Division, establishing diplomatic relations in every nation where Tuteur15 did business. The official function of each diplomatic mission was to maintain good working relationships with local governments. Tuteur15 diplomats were greeted with open arms by politicians around the globe since they brought jobs and capital with them.

  David Cheslyn, on the other hand, was a lonely man. No one wanted to talk to David. They knew what he wanted. It was easier to avoid the charming chairman of Dominion Group than it was to say no.

  David began building his own corporate empire long before Eric Price. He was fond of telling his cronies, “Eric Price was a common drunk when I was elected chairman of my first billion-dollar company!” That was not exactly true. David left InterNorth Bank to become chairman of his father-in-law’s New York bank a year after Eric left rehab.