Regan's Reach

by Mark G Brewer

  Looking back at the side of the building they resumed their conversation. "I say it's too big for an air duct."

  "It's got to be, what else is it?" Officer Rebecca Wong looked back down at the sound of another car arriving, with another close behind that, the conversation forgotten for the moment. It was cold outside and seeing through the windows of cars that now arrived in a stream became problematical. The two officers were soon engrossed in their task.

  High up, on the sixth floor on the eastern alley side could be seen the familiar shape of an upside down curved air vent. It only looked out of place in that it was larger than usual and the flat side facing down did not appear to have a grill. The black color didn't exactly match the traditional building either. However, both remembered seeing it before, didn't they? But they weren't sure what it was for. No matter.

  *

  In the Rayburn sixth floor office allocated to them, Steve Ryman coached Mary and encouraged her as they shared a coffee. She looked nervous, worn out and a night without sleep hadn't helped. His main concern was how she would hold up under the badgering he knew would erupt once the hearing got underway. These things became as much an opportunity to posture as a quest for the truth. She looks vulnerable, he thought.

  "Mary, enjoy your coffee, I'm just going to check when they want us and I'll be back. Don't go anywhere!" He smiled disarmingly. She nodded and returned to her latté. Steve checked with the guard outside the door and it shut behind him.

  Mary closed her eyes and with her elbows on the desk massaged her temples with her fingers, the thumbs working her cheek bones as she felt a massive headache building. A small sound made her look up . . . and gasp.

  "Regan . . . how . . . what are you doing here?"

  Regan walked around the desk and embraced her friend. "I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to get here, this is my entire fault. Are you ok?"

  Mary collapsed back into the chair. "I'm fine, really, how's Kev?"

  "Kevin?" Regan sounded surprised. "He's fine, worried about you. I think he feels he sent the troops in to do something he should have done himself."

  "It's not his fault Regan, I got greedy; I shouldn't have come to the States at all under the circumstances."

  Regan interrupted. "Mary, we don't have much time, I'm going to do the Congressional hearing. Stand up my friend and come over here, oh, and hold this."

  "What is it? What's happe . ."

  . . ning?" And she was in the Pod. Standing in front of her was the tallest . . . Man?...she had ever seen.

  "Hi, I'm Marin." he said, and extended his hand.

  Regan could hear chatting outside the door. It opened and a well dressed man in his thirties entered with a coffee. "I've brought you another . . ." His voice tailed away and he quickly shut the door behind him, "another coffee."

  "Mr. Ryman I presume?" Regan didn't stand. "Thank you for looking after Mary, Marcus speaks very highly of you. Oh, I'd love that coffee, filter I'd guess." and as she reached out her hand expectantly, he hesitated.

  "I'm not going to shoot you Steve."

  "Sorry, yes of course." He was rapidly regaining his composure, very impressive. "No lattés here I'm afraid. . . at a guess, Regan Stein, right?"

  "It's nice to meet you Steve."

  "How did you get in here, and where is Mary?" He looked around the room.

  "Mary's left for the day Steve, I'll be appearing instead." She was very matter of fact.

  He looked alarmed. "I said to Marcus, it . . . it's not that easy. She's been summonsed, to not appear is contempt."

  "Oh I don't think they'll complain, I suggest you go out there now and let them know I'm willing to step in for Mary provided they release her immediately. They will agree and we'll never need to reveal she's not here, simple."

  He stood and just looked at her for a few long seconds, then turned and walked to the door. As he rested his hand on the handle he looked back as if he was going to ask a question, then thought better of it, shook his head and left.

  [How's it going Ham?]

  [Even better than we hoped.]

  *

  Marcus sat at his desk going through the extensive notes and decided he liked the plan - it was good. The home system chirped and immediately he heard Ham on the line.

  "Ok, are we ready? The call goes through in five."

  "Ready as I'm ever going to be. Ham, how do you organize all this from orbit?"

  "Satellite communications Marcus, I'm as linked in as you can get."

  "Don't you get tired of being locked up in that ship? You've got to come down here."

  "What . . . and stop pedaling? The whole ship would run out of power."

  Marcus laughed and it broke the ice, "Ok, so how do I do this?"

  "You just talk as you normally would, say exactly what you want to say, and the ship relays the translation instantly, they won't know the difference."

  "And I'll hear them in English the same way?"

  "That's the plan, pretty good huh?"

  "Better than anything we've got, that's for sure."

  "Not really, this is just faster. Ok, I'm calling now; I'll do the secretary stuff, and then put you through."

  Marcus cleared his throat and sipped at a glass of water, he decided to stand as he talked so he picked up his notes and paced the room.

  Ham was soon back, "Mr. Jackson, I have Mr. Huang on the line."

  "Thank you. Mr. Huang, are you there?"

  "Yes Mr. Jackson, I am here."

  "Mr. Huang, thank you for agreeing to talk with me, I understand you are the Chief Executive Officer of Huang International, is that correct?"

  "Yes Mr. Jackson and you too are known to us; TakeThat Corporation, very interesting, and only recently listed." He spoke slowly, "I understand you are interested in trading some shares?"

  "Yes Mr. Huang, it seems we have a common interest in USDynamics."

  "You have our offer Mr. Jackson, are you asking us to increase it?"

  "Oh, I'm sure you would Mr. Huang but no, in fact I have a quite different proposal. Please do record this call in case you need to refer to it in detail. First you may already know that a representative of STEIN International is appearing before a Congressional Hearing in Washington this morning, it will be broadcast live on all the major US news networks. You have about thirty minutes to tune in and I strongly suggest that you do so."

  "Following the appearance of the STEIN Representative I'm happy to say you will find yourself in an impossible, untenable position. Sir, we understand you see this whole exercise as just business, perhaps with a little political support mixed in, but we don't agree. It's not the STEIN way but if pressured we can handle it. By any measure this USDynamics business has been very dirty, even criminal as I think you are aware. We want you to know we have rock solid proof of your company's involvement in share market manipulation of a criminal nature and this is involvement that will no doubt be extremely embarrassing to your Government. Now, of course your Government had nothing to do with this plot and when all the details come out, as they will unless you cooperate, I'm sure your Government will stand by you, won't they?" Marcus paused. "Now, don't just accept what I'm saying, it's important that you listen in to the hearing. After the hearing you will have one hour to contact a broker whose name and details I will transmit to you after this call. If you don't make the call, all the background information will be made public regardless of the political fallout. This is what I expect you to do and there will be no negotiation . . ."

  Fifteen minutes later they disconnected and Marcus let out a long breath. He then turned to Kevin, stretched out on the couch.

  "Well, what do you think?"

  "You did well my friend, you couldn't have done any more, now I guess it's up to Regan."

  "FBC" Marcus called out, and the wall screen burst to life.

  *

  Steve Ryman led Regan out past the startled guard who immediately entered the office to check the room. They left him in their wake as
they walked quickly toward the Congressional Hearing room. Although Steve had prepared her for the courtroom setting, as they entered the room the she noticed the House of Representative Committee were all sitting raised above her level. Intimidate by design, just power games, she thought. Steve had also explained this should be a closed private session. Yeah right . . . that's so not going to be the case.

  [Are we ready Ham?]

  [All set Regan, you're not the first witness, and they've been going for a while already, nothing new or interesting so far. I'll let you know when we go live on air, just focus where you want to look and try not to move your head too much, we'd like people to retain their breakfast.]

  This was a new experience, literally being the eyes of the camera and Regan wondered again at Ham's ability to capture this feed directly from her brain. Amazing!

  Steve guided her to the front table and before sitting she looked up and made eye contact with Vice President James Walker; he seemed to be grinning.

  Walker spoke first.

  "Ms Stein, we are pleased to see you have volunteered to attend this important hearing today. You understand this hearing is to consider what changes, if any, are needed in legislation to prevent the occurrence of cyber attacks of the nature your company perpetrated on a friendly power. This is not a courtroom although you are expected to take the oath and speak the truth. Any legal repercussions from your company's actions are quite separate to the proceedings here today, however what you do say may be used in a court of law at a later date." He paused to engage her with a glare, "Do you understand?"

  Regan stood. "Well, it certainly sounds like a court of law, but yes, I understand, and I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help…"

  He interrupted. "You swear on the Bible Ms Stein."

  An assistant stepped forward.

  [Going live.] Ham's subbed cue reminded her to smooth out her head movement.

  Regan placed her hand on the Bible and paused, considering if this was entirely appropriate given her beliefs. What the hell, I'm committed to telling the truth, she followed the clerk and repeated the oath.

  "Now Ms Stein, in your own words, perhaps we could begin with you telling us what your company was thinking when it perpetrated this cyber crime."

  "Mr. Vice President . . ."

  "You may refer to me as Mr. Walker, Ms Stein."

  "Sir, I have great respect for the office, not necessarily for the person who currently holds it."

  In bars and offices all over the United States television channels were showing the hearing live, the picture and sound on every channel. At her reference to the VP laughter could be heard around the country, mostly Republican of course.

  Regan continued. "A crime has been committed but not by my company STEIN or by USDynamics. I stand accused here today on the basis of fabricated evidence, criminal fraud, and political interference at the highest levels. Here today . . ." and she held up her hand gesturing causing everyone to duck for cover.

  She looked around amused, "Please! It's just a data card . . . I have here today a data card detailing the data trail from the beginning of this affair right through to today. On examining this information your people will confirm three things; First: there definitely was a cyber attack on USDynamics from a Chinese company. Second: our product Arteis performed entirely to specification and hit the attacker hard, exactly as it was designed to do. Third: in a conspiracy between the Chinese corporation concerned and contacts at high levels in this Government, steps were taken to destroy all evidence of the Chinese attack and blight the names of STEIN and USDynamics. I believe the intention was to drive down the USDynamics share price and facilitate a takeover by the Chinese, thereby handing to them the aerospace technology they wanted. All the proof is here." Regan flourished the card again.

  "Really Ms Stein, all this has been forensically examined and we know your company initiated the virus attack." Walker looked around at the senators present, as if seeking their support.

  "Mr. Vice President, your forensics are flawed and the absolute proof is here. We have here the facts on every attack from overseas, every response, every data entry, every change by corrupted employees, their names, how much they were paid, into what accounts . . . every call they received, the recordings of the calls."

  She spoke slowly as she fixed her gaze on the Vice President who was turning pale. "In fact Mr. Vice President, a key organizer working with the Chinese used a contact phone just this morning. They left it on, and it is right here in this room."

  The clear sound of an old iphone ring started up from the benches causing Senators to look around. The Vice President stayed very still.

  "Aren't you going to answer it, Mr. Vice President?"

  The Senator sitting beside the Vice President gestured at Walker’s pocket pointedly.

  *

  In the Oval Office Sarah Allen and Anne Marshall sat watching the drama unfolding.

  "Oh fuck me!" The president yelled, slamming her hand down on the table, "He's killed us!"

  *

  Regan kept her eyes fixed on the shriveling man. "Sir, you have abused the trust of a great President, you have sullied the name of a great US company as well as my own company and myself, and you have damaged the reputation of a great nation. You have orchestrated the detention of my dear friend and you, sir, are contemptible!"

  *

  "Make the call Marcus." Kevin paced nervously, wanting this settled as soon as possible.

  Bill Thomas nodded agreement from the large screen, "I agree Marcus, and they've had enough time. If they haven't followed through I want to fry the bastards!" At home at The Lodge he wasn't going to miss this.

  Marcus wasted no time, fastcalling Barbara at the office. He waited while Barbara checked for email confirmation and for a moment he looked uncharacteristically serious. He then turned back with a grin, "It's done," he reported. "They saw the light."

  There was no celebration; in fact Bill Thomas looked suddenly tired, as if events had finally caught up with him. "I need to get back to my group," he said, "Can I tell them everything is as agreed?"

  Marcus smiled, "Exactly Bill, shares have been transferred in proportion to our respective holdings. That means, I guess, that Regan is now in partnership with you and the US Government fifty-fifty. Price is the market price as of closing time Friday and payment has been deferred twelve months."

  "I feel a little uncomfortable with this," said Kevin, "A lot of people lost money on those shares when they sold out."

  "Toughen up Kevin," Bill counseled. "I thought about that too, but I don't feel so bad. My group and I rode this down to the bottom, that's loyalty. As a board we kept telling people this was all bullshit and even though we were the ones in the know they chose to believe the McCall's of this world. Regan believed in what we were doing and she risked her money to save the company, you too Marcus. And someone in the Government was trying to play spoiler to Walkers’ antics too. No, I'm sad some lost some money, but they did get sales for their shares and we had nothing to do with their decision, that's life. The company is now in the best hands so don't lose any sleep over it Kevin, take my word for it. Life's too short."

  "Before you go Bill, where do we go from here do you think?"

  "Kevin, we're looking forward to working with you. Who would have thought Regan would come back with technology like we're seeing now. I'm getting too old for this, but the future is in the right hands. As for the shares, I'd say we hang on for six months then decide. Maybe we trickle twenty percent back into the market, it'll bring in billions more than we've paid. Give my regards to Regan when you see her will you, I'll be in touch." The screen blanked.

  Kevin and Marcus sank back into their chairs, both letting out long stressed but satisfied sighs.

  Kevin spoke first. "Point one percent."

  "I beg your pardon?" Marcus looked up.

  "Regan said to tell you that's how much you'll get. It's the brokerage fee she
'll pay you personally on the deal, on top of your normal legal fees. That's got to be twenty million so I guess lunch is on you, my friend."

  *

  Regan watched the greeting between Mary and Kevin on the Riverside rooftop with interest. It was . . . restrained . . . warm. Very suspicious, she thought. As she and Marin walked away to the exit she could tell the two were deliberately lagging behind.

  Ham couldn't resist eaves dropping. [She's offering chubby sex.]

  [Really?]

  [She's quite an affectionate girl you know, calls me Hamster.]

  [You are so NOT a Hamster!]

  Regan smiled, Kevin and Mary, hmm, so they've got a thing going, now there's a nice surprise.

  They stepped down from her rooftop garden and into the apartment, cheers from the assembled partiers quickly breaking out around the room. Steph, Kutch, Mitch, Hayden, Marcus, they were all there and a huge group of others that she didn't know.

  Oh, where do we go from here? She entered the fray.

  *

  Mt Inaccessible, South Island, New Zealand

  The Pod floated to one side, shielding them from the cool night wind. In silent reflection for some time, it was as if each member of the group were off in their own worlds.

  Lying on her back Regan was staring up at the stars.

  [They look so different from here Ham.] Although happy to be here, still, she longed to be there.

  [They're ok, but for me too much twinkle.] Ham replied.

  [Yeah, but it's still beautiful, and now they really feel within reach.] She held out her hands to frame a collection, like a picture, and drifted away again.

  Marin reached across and took one hand in his, stealing her attention.

  She looked across at him fondly.

  "I know your Dad died in these mountains too Marin, I'm so sorry about that, it must have been terrible."