Regan's Reach

by Mark G Brewer

With Ham on board, Regan missed nothing, only a thought being required to access information and find out what was happening. It was a process that on ship she found manageable but here? She settled into the chair and tried to relax with her mind buzzing.

  Marin, currently being interviewed by National Geographic; Ham's documentary already scheduled in the States for tomorrow and repeats within twenty four hours; the John F Kennedy still steaming toward New Zealand; British and French representatives arriving in Auckland, desperate to make sure they weren't left behind in the rush to the alien; China and Russia strangely silent; The Middle East in turmoil.

  [They don't get it do they?] Ham gently intruded on her thoughts.

  [What's that Ham?]

  [They all want to see the alien, all looking for advantage. They don't get that you're in charge.]

  [Am I? Ham, I'm happy for Marin, he's studied Earth for the last decade or so. I hope he really enjoys this moment and honestly I don't want that kind of attention. Every minute that Mary spends in custody is a minute I feel like I've failed her. I want revenge Ham, it scares me.]

  [Revenge is coming and I've got good news, it worked; Jim Walker's going to chair the Congressional hearing]

  She sat up, excited, "Oh yes!"

  [And, annoying as it is to sound like a personal assistant, Marcus will be here in about fifteen minutes.]

  [Thanks Ham, congratulations on the documentary by the way, quick work.]

  What a day. Regan stood and started to stretch, a routine she hadn't used since leaving on her trip. It was her pre meeting warm up and just doing it was enough to bring back the memory of that last meeting with the guys, and to bring a smile.

  *

  Due to the crowd Marcus had to leave the car on the other side of the park. Sightseers wanting to look at the Saucer clogged up the roads and police were preventing anyone stopping or entering the STEIN premises. He jogged through the darkness cursing the fine drizzle that had settled in after sunset. Within minutes the humidity had him sweating profusely but nothing could dent his enthusiasm. Passing the old skateboard park he looked up at the familiar building, the television spotlights while pointed upward still revealing the outline of the saucer on the roof and on seeing it he couldn't help himself. He had to stop and stare like every other punter for a moment.

  "Jesus Regan, you're a magnet. Nothing ever happens by halves with you!" He jogged on only to be stopped by an officer at the entrance, but then quickly to his surprise, over the police radio a voice crackled out verifying his ID and the officer waved him on.

  As he walked in Regan dropped to the floor from her chin up bar and for a moment he just stood there staring open mouthed. She looked surprised at his reaction then lifted her hands to her head.

  "It's the hair isn't it? Bit of a shock for everyone. Marcus, it's good to see you - how are you?"

  He looked down at himself, "A bit wet actually," and he paused, taking her in. "Regan, what can I say? It's so good to see you back . . . .it was becoming a worry I can tell you." He stepped forward and they hugged, "Sorry about the damp."

  "No problem Marcus, are you ok? You can use the bathroom."

  "No, no I'm fine. It's late and I know you'll be tired. Is Kev here?"

  "No, he has a regular Vidcall to Mary apparently, trying to keep her sane he said, he'll be catching up with me in the morning."

  "Are you sure you want to talk about this tonight?" He looked genuinely concerned.

  "I'm fine." she gestured to the couch and took her chair as usual. "Now, tell me about Mary?"

  Marcus sat and spread his file on the huge coffee table. "Ok, it's a congressional investigative hearing. That means it's to investigate where activities of private citizens suggest there may be need for legislative remedy. Honestly it's just a stall; they're simply delaying, trying to give the impression to the Chinese that they're doing something. Unfortunately Mary just got caught in the crossfire and she's been stuck there two months. She appears on Monday eleven a.m. their time, that's Tuesday to us, at eight a.m. Steve Ryman, our guy in San Francisco, has been with her all week and will be with her in the hearing. He's the best but as I say, it's all been a stall so the best he could do was simply to make sure she's well looked after."

  "He'll need to know there'll be a change in plan." Regan interrupted.

  "A change, so what's that?" He looked surprised.

  "I'm going to appear instead of Mary."

  Now Marcus looked startled. "Regan, you just can't do that. For one thing they've summoned Mary, not you, and secondly they really want you. As your counsel I strongly advise against that. There's a good chance they won't let you leave, they may even trade you to the Chinese!"

  "I know that Marcus but it's not going to work out like that - trust me. Tell Steve to keep it to himself but just so that he's prepared let him know. I don't want him to say a word, are we clear?"

  "Of course, I'll call him over the weekend. Regan, I'd be remiss in not advising you against this."

  "I understand Marcus and thank you but I have this covered. Now, on another matter, well done with the shares by the way, it looks good. Tell me about the situation with the Chinese takeover."

  He looked at her, more than a little shocked; "You know about the shares?" She nodded. "Ok then," he shook his head as if to clear it, "I guess then you know you're rich, but of course you already were. You will also know that I've followed your instructions and in addition to the share trades that have netted cash I've been steadily buying USDynamics, picking up as many as possible while the share price tumbled. Regan, we simply couldn't collect everything available and our activity probably held up the price a bit. Still, we picked up seven percent. The Chinese have eighty five percent and were pushing to get to ninety plus. So, we hold seven and with Bill Thomas's group holding four, between us we have enough to prevent a squeeze, that's a compulsory buy out of the minor shareholders."

  "You have Bill Thomas in on this?" she looked surprised.

  "Sure have, when I realized we wouldn't get to ten percent ourselves I got our broker to dig around. He found that Bill's group held four and I contacted him. When he heard what you were up to it was like a light went on for him. We haven't put anything in writing but he won't sell, it's a handshake deal. The whole takeover thing has stalled. We've been holding things up for weeks."

  Regan walked over to him and planted a kiss on his lips. "Marcus Jackson, I knew I did the right thing when I took you on as my lawyer."

  "Hey, I took you on if you remember; you couldn't even pay me in the beginning."

  "And I won't forget it. Let's get a coffee and I'll tell you what I want to do with those shares." She continued talking while walking to the kitchen.

  "You'll need to reserve time Tuesday morning around nine a.m. to call the Chinese buyers so book the call in with them. Tell them we're thinking of selling up, that should see them make the time available, oh and let Bill know everything I'm about to tell you, I'd hate him to think we'd break a handshake deal. Now, listen carefully my friend, here's the plan . . . "

  An hour later and exhausted she looked at her watch, still on home time after eight months and intergalactic time zones, it was two a.m. [I'm done Ham, what's Marin up to?]

  [He's in the Transport . . . the Saucer, doing another interview with the BBC. I think he's rather enjoying it.]

  [Guide him to the guest room when he's done will you, and if you can release something to help me sleep that would be sweet.] She made her way to her bed and collapsed, out in an instant.

  An injection of thought broke into a dreamless sleep.

  [Regan.]

  She yawned and stretched. [How long was I out?] She could see the sun was well up.

  [Nine hours and it's late morning. I thought I needed to bring you up to date]

  [What's up Ham?]

  [The Prime Minister has respectfully requested that the John F Kennedy remain outside New Zealand waters. Your country is nuclear free apparently.]

  [Y
es, that's going to be interesting isn't it, exotic matter and all that!] Regan stretched and rolled off the bed. [So how did they respond?]

  [Reluctantly they have complied and are skirting up toward Fiji. It seems to me they'll remain near the edge of the economic zone within easy air range.]

  In the bathroom she started the shower. [Is that a problem for us?]

  [Not really, I just thought you should know. They'll have jets in the air twenty four seven now but the Pod will easily outrun anything they have.] [And I have another thought.]

  [It can be dangerous to think too much Ham.] She rotated in the flow, massaging her scalp.

  [The ADF; I've been looking at its flight performance and it's pretty impressive, not like anything we can manage but pretty good nonetheless.]

  [Yes, so where is this heading?]

  [It's a New Zealand plane, perfectly entitled to be in your airspace, and it's computer operated.] he let the thought hang.

  She could see where this was headed. [You want to buzz them?]

  [I couldn't have put it better myself.]

  [Can you fly it?]

  [Is the Pope a Catholic?]

  [Have your fun Ham, just don't start a war, and check it out with Steph first!]

  [Wahoo!]

  She felt a draught on her back and turned, it was Marin the media star. He picked her up and pressed her back against the wall. Reaching out she shut off the water, her legs curled around his waist. "Marin, you know the rules."

  He smiled and carried the Girl Scout, still wet, into the bedroom.

  *

  Sunday one p.m. in the war room and this time just 'the family' for lunch. Rested and relaxed Regan watched as people rotated around Marin, watching quietly for their turn and then slipping in quickly to talk with him whenever they could.

  [Your mother doesn't seem quite so impressed Regan.]

  [Hmm, bless her; she's never been too impressed with celebrity.]

  She walked over to Kevin, dutifully looking after Jean. "Hey, I see you two managed to fight your way through the media scrum."

  Outside the crowds had swelled to around twenty thousand, filling the park. People were pouring in from around the country to see the flying saucer and hopefully get a look at an alien. Regan wondered how long it would last; not too long she hoped.

  She turned on the big screen and called out. "Sorry people, you carry on, I want to catch this."

  Kev and Jean joined her on the couch as the screen lit up and the FBC Business Focus logo played across the screen.

  As the logo faded away leaving the odious John McCall Regan scowled loudly. She was joined by jeers and boo's from around the room.

  "Welcome to this Business Focus special, Seven on Saturday. I'm John McCall and we're joining you tonight to focus on Monday's Congressional hearing, a hearing that will finally bring to task the cyber terrorists STEIN. Those of you following this case will know all the background but for those who don't a brief summary is coming up. But first, what's happening on Monday? Well, the number three executive from Stein, Chief Financial Officer Mary Coleman, will front the Committee hearing which we've just heard will be chaired by none other than the President of the Senate presiding, Vice President Jim Walker. He's understood to be livid about the use of USDynamics as a vehicle to attack China Air and especially about the damage Stein have done to our great nation's reputation. That Regan Stein herself isn't here facing the blowtorch is a tragedy. As you know she's yet to make herself available preferring instead to let her employees take the heat. I'm not surprised. But first, let's bring you up to date with a summary of how we came to this sorry point, and then we may even take calls from viewers. I'll hand you over to Sylvia Holmes our business analyst, Sylvia?"

  Regan muted the sound, no one needing to hear the bullshit again. The room was mostly quiet but those who did turn to see Regan's reaction were surprised to see her smiling. Kevin looked concerned. The chatter quickly picked up again in the background.

  "She's going to be fine Kev," Regan knew he was taking this badly. "I know you feel responsible as the boss but she wanted to go. We'll have her out of there by Tuesday afternoon, I promise."

  He looked doubtful. "It's not that Sis, we all feel responsible in a way. I just want to get her out of there."

  "We will, bro."

  They chatted with Jean, Regan keeping one eye on the screen until McCall reappeared and she hit the sound.

  Kevin tried to dissuade her. "Don't listen to him Regan, he's just a prick, leave it."

  "I just want to hear what he has to say now; it'll only be a minute."

  "Welcome back viewers. What a tragic tale of corruption and incompetence. We're going to go to the lines and hear what some of our viewers think. Line one, are you there?"

  "Hello John . . ."

  "Hi there, who am I speaking to and what would you like to say?"

  "Just call me Ham, John, and my question is, where do you get all this speculative information?"

  "Ah Ham," he laughed, "you know I can't reveal my sources . . ."

  "Well I could." The caller interrupted,

  "I'm sorry?" McCall shifted uncomfortably.

  "I'm saying I could, John. I know your sources. How much do you think you'd be sued for if it came out that this was all speculative and false?"

  "Who is this?"

  "It's 'Ham I am' John and I can answer the question for you. You'll be sued for your net worth, eleven million five hundred thousand and forty seven dollars. The network of course will settle for a lot more than that. They'll have to so they can survive."

  Viewers could see McCall making desperate gestures to someone off screen to cut, but nothing was happening.

  "Something tells me you're headed for another bloody nose John, brace yourself." Somehow, seamlessly the picture became a recording from the earlier program with McCall stumbling backwards, blood pouring from his nose.

  The screen went blank.

  "What the hell?" Kevin turned to Regan as the room erupted in cheers, she simply shrugged.

  "Well, he deserved it; I'd punch that man's lights out myself!" Jean Stein sounded like she really meant it.

  Regan laughed and hugged her. It's good to be back!

  *

  Ham was having a fun day. Talking with McCall as he flew shotgun just inside New Zealand's exclusive economic zone filled in a few boring moments between dodging F Twenties. They were trying to pressure him to leave but had no chance against the little ADF.

  What a buzz, he thought, like flying an aerobatics plane after a Jumbo. He tossed the little ADF around, easily outpacing and maneuvering the latest US fighter bombers. He knew there would be alarms sounding on the aircraft carrier.

  After repeated warnings from the ship to leave, he pointed out this was a New Zealand plane in New Zealand territory, they should be the ones to move. It was immature he knew, but what the hell? As one by one the jets returned to ship to refuel Ham knew he had enough data to delight Steph and turned for home.

  Back in the Wairarapa base Hayden and his team followed the whole engagement on screen, breaking into cheers as the ADF banked away from the carrier. If they had wanted confirmation that they were on the right track this was it and Hayden was on the phone to Stephanie in Wellington as soon as Ham started his run for home.

  "Steph, it was incredible! The ADF was untouchable; they're going to be seriously worried they've fallen so far behind. How that guy piloted from orbit so well . . . honestly, it was stunning! I've got to meet that guy."

  *

  The Stein Traveler hung in space, small adjustments constantly repositioning the ship so that it appeared completely stationary from Earth. A considerate subject, Ham knew such a small object would be hard to capture in images if he allowed too much movement.

  Those watching at that very moment would see a small section sliding out of the sphere and dropping into atmosphere. It would certainly get people talking and left a coin slot in the surface of the craft, subject for further
analysis and discussion.

  Two hours later after a leisurely drift over the dark Pacific Pod One made a silent vertical drop to the roof of Riverside settling gently beside the Saucer. Two tall figures in black emerged from the roof exit, made their way to the craft and entered through the rear. Again, silently, the Pod lifted, climbing slowly to around five hundred meters before seeming to disappear in a blink.

  Air traffic control followed the path briefly until Ham interfered with the signal and they disappeared off screen. It would be a two hour journey. Regan wanted to arrive in darkness.

  *

  Eight a.m. - it was morning in Washington. The man slipped out the old mobile and keyed it on, the cracked screen lighting up with the familiar apple.

  "Fucking thing’s indestructible!" he waited while the system reloaded, then punched to dial. Four rings and the familiar voice answered so he went straight on the attack.

  "Where have you been all weekend! I've been trying to get you. Did you see the McCall interview on Saturday?"

  "Whoa! You've been trying to get me? We agreed, no more contact."

  "Don't get all righteous with me, this is urgent for both of us; did you see the McCall interview?"

  "Yeah, I saw it. You're talking about the caller?"

  "Yes I'm talking about the fucking caller. Is there any chance he was right? Are you sure your guy covered his tracks?"

  "I wasn't there but he's not an idiot. Yes I'm sure. Look you're making me nervous now, I've done my bit, don't call me again!" The call disconnected.

  The man cursed, stuffed the phone back in his jacket pocket and stormed to the hotel bathroom to shave.

  *

  "Gotcha," A voice no one could hear . . . in orbit.

  *

  The two US Capitol Police officers on guard at the entrance of the Rayburn Office Building were deep in conversation and looking upward as the Vice President’s car pulled in. They quickly attended to security and directed the driver to the secure underground car parking.