by Yossi Porat
“My place or yours?” Brian joked.
“I can be at your place in an hour. I’ll bring a big pepperoni pizza – I know it’s your favorite.”
An hour later they were munching contentedly on their pizza, as in the old days as room-mates at university. “So, what’s the cloak and dagger business?” Brian asked in amusement.
After hearing all that Rob had to tell him, Brian laughed in derision. “Come on, Rob. Taking over someone’s brain? Are you kidding me?”
“No, Brian, I think there’s something to it. This is dangerous stuff, and we’ve got to catch it before it becomes a threat. Think of the potential! It’s terrifying, really!”
“Well, Rob, I’ll take your word for it. If you think there’s something to it, that’s good enough for me,” Brian decided. “Now, the first thing we should do is find out everything we can about the influence of communication waves on the brain. I’ll do that tonight. Aside from that, it seems that they have succeeded in concentrating their transmission in one very strong signal. But they’ve obviously run into some complications, which is why they attached those yellow stickers – they had to upgrade their transmission capabilities.”
“What I want to know is, how do we get them to transmit, so that we can locate them?” Rob asked.
“Ask your friends to completely stop using their cell-phones. The bad guys will start to sweat, thinking that maybe they’ve been discovered. But then when your friends start to use their phones again, they will try to start transmitting again, and that’s when we catch them!”
“But who can help us? You said we needed sophisticated satellites. How do we get to them?” Rob wondered.
“No problem. I know the Minister of Communications, Sir Joseph. He’s the one who gave me my award, and he begged me to come to work for him in the Ministry. I’ll get him involved, without giving him too many details. He’s got a background in intelligence, and he’ll like working that angle again. Now, let’s relax with some football!”
Back at his home computer, Rob googled “brain communication sound waves
experiment.” Hundreds of scholarly articles turned up, and he started perusing them carefully. He finally went to bed, fully clothed, at five in the morning.
His phone woke him at eight-thirty. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Morris smiled at the other end. “What have you found out?”
“Well,” answered Rob sleepily, “I was up most of the night researching. I also talked to my friend Brian. First of all, he says that you both should stop using your cell-phones completely. Just tell your friend too, and now let me go back to sleep!”
“OK – I will, thanks,” Morris answered and hung up. He dialed Deborah’s number and gave her Rob’s message. He told her he would keep her posted and hung up.
Deborah did as Morris suggested, and turned off her cell-phone, putting it away in a drawer of her desk. Ten minutes later, Lance called on her office phone. “Darling, I tried to reach you on your cell-phone, but it went straight to voicemail.” “I must have forgotten it at home,” Deborah said.
“Can we meet at lunchtime?” Lance asked. “We can go to the Volvo show-room and take them up on their offer. What do you think?”
“I’ll come in a taxi,” Deborah replied. “See you soon.” She hung up and the telephone immediately rang again.
“Yes, Lance, what did you forget?”
“It’s me,” Raphael said. “How are you, Deborah? We haven’t spoken since Rome. Can we have lunch today?”
“I’m having lunch with my husband,” Deborah answered coldly. Raphael felt that whatever they had had together, it was now over. But he thought it was worth another try. “Shall we fly to Rome? We could have a good time.”
“No, never again!” Deborah exploded. “I will continue working on the new branch, but I will never spend time with you alone there!”
“OK, OK,” Raphael tried to calm her down, and continued in a business-like tone, “Could you please come to my office after lunch. We do have things to discuss, you know.”
Deborah entered the Volvo showroom and saw Lance talking to the head of sales. He waved to her and she hurried over, anxious to be with him.
“The offer is exactly as we explained in our messages to you both. You may upgrade both of your present models, and you also win a family vacation to America, all expenses paid. What could be better?” According to the name tag pinned to his lapel, his name was Alan.
“Alan,” Lance smiled. “It sounds too good to be true. How much do we have to add to this deal?”
“Let me check,” Alan turned to his computer. “Not much – only twenty-seven thousand pounds. It’s a very good deal, and you can pay in installments.”
Deborah and Lance agreed to the terms, shook hands with Alan, and left to have lunch. Because they both had to be back at their offices, they had fish and chips in the street, they way they used to when they were young and poor university students.
Deborah entered Raphael’s office. “We’ve got to talk about everything that’s happened,” she began. “I must tell you that I’m miserable about it all. I think I’m being controlled by some force outside of me to do the things I did with you. I’ve told you – I love my husband and my family, and I would never do anything to jeopardize that!”
“What the hell are you talking about!” Raphael exploded. “What do you think this is? Some science-fiction movie? You loved every minute of it!”
He walked over to her, standing behind her and massaging her temples. Deborah melted into him. She kept murmuring “No” all the while, but did not stop his hand from wandering to her breasts, massaging them and rolling her nipples in a slow, circular motion.
Deborah moaned unwillingly. “Come,” Raphael whispered. He pushed her gently up against the wall. He lifter her skirt and opened his trousers. “Stop,” she moaned. “I don’t want to.” But Raphael lifted up her right leg, the better to enter her. Deborah grabbed his balls and squeezed vigorously. Raphael gasped and let her go, falling to his knees.
“I don’t want to! Is that clear?” Deborah practically screamed. “I could bring charges of rape against you!”
“Get out of my office, you whore!” Raphael snarled. “You’re fired! I don’t want to see you around here again!”
Deborah calmly gathered her underwear from the floor and went to Raphael’s desk, pushing the intercom button for his secretary. “Please get me Mrs. Raphael,” she requested sweetly.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, you bitch!” Raphael was on his feet.
“I’m going to tell your wife everything. I wonder what she’ll have to say.”
“All right, all right. What do you want from me?” Raphael sounded desperate.
“First of all, you won’t fire me, and I won’t press charges of rape and sexual harassment against you. You will appoint me senior vice-president in charge
of all our foreign branches. You will give me a substantial raise as well, and you will keep your distance from me, except where business demands communication between us. Is that understood?”
“Completely,” Raphael was beaten. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” Deborah answered. “I want another cash advance, like the one you gave me a few weeks ago.”
Raphael went to the hidden safe and brought out a sheaf of bills. “How’s this?” he asked.
“I need thirty thousand,” she answered forcefully.
“That’s it,” he answered, stuffing the bills into her hands.
“And don’t forget to announce my promotion,” she said, leaving his office and closing his door firmly.
“Lance, darling, guess what? I’ve just been named vice-president of the company! I even got an advance of thirty thousand pounds!” She was on the office phone with Lance.
“You are amazing! How much do I love you!” Lance exulted.
Her email showed the announcement of her new position, and as she left her office, everyone gathered to congratulate her. After acc
epting their hugs and handshakes, she returned to her office and rewarded herself with some chocolate. She felt the need to tell Morris of her good fortune and called him on her office phone. “Things are really going my way,” she thought to herself.
Chapter Eighteen
Laurie answered the company phone. “Control Experimental Communications. How may I help you?’
It was Abu-Razik. “Can we meet for lunch?”
“No, sweetheart. I’ve got a ton of work. I’ll see you at the club tonight, all right?”
Abu-Razik called his superior in Syria. “Listen, my source is beginning to talk. Soon we’ll know all about this company. I told her that Omar is my cousin and wants to hire her, so we’re all meeting this evening. Meanwhile, I’m having a great time with her,” he lied.
“You dog!” His boss was envious. “Keep it up – we need all the information she can give us, and if you’re having fun on the side, good for you!”
Andrew called Laurie on the intercom and asked her to come in. “You know,” he began, “we’re very happy with your work here and we’d like to give you a promotion. As the company’s business grows, I find that I can’t handle everything, so I’d like you to take over the salary angle for me. I’ll transfer the list of programmers and department heads to you, along with their salaries. Of course, you’ll be getting a substantial raise, as well as stock options in the company. What do you think?”
“It sounds good. How much will I be getting? You know I get forty-five thousand a year now.”
“OK. I’m talking sixty thousand, plus stock options.” Andrew sounded pleased with himself. “I must be sure that the information you’ll be dealing with will stay within the company. Salary details are sensitive, as are the personal details of our employees. I’m sure we can count on you.”
“Absolutely,” Laurie assured him. “I’d like to get started, so send me the files, please. And thanks for your confidence in me.”
Back at her desk, Laurie studied the list of programmers. She was astonished to see that there were one hundred and eleven names on the list, most of them based in India. She decided to inform Menahem immediately. This could be extremely important.
“Menahem, the company has 111 employees, most of them based in Gujarat, India. I’ll text you the exact address.”
Menahem passed the information on to Avram and to the Prime Minister. It was decided to send out a surveillance team to India immediately.
Laurie returned to Andrew’s office. “I’ve noticed that the average salary for a programmer is ten thousand pounds a month. You offered me only five a month. Maybe we could negotiate upwards?’
“Ah, “Andrew answered with a smile. “But you’ve got stock options – they don’t. You’ll be a millionaire soon, don’t worry!”
He looked at her, serious now. “You know, salaries eat up a large part of our budget. Maybe you can raise some more capital for us. Think about it. That would really be a help!”
Laurie smiled and left Andrew’s office. That evening, she thought about the rich Saudi – maybe she could entice him to invest. As she entered the club, she saw the two Arabs waiting to greet her.
She began to throw questions at the newcomer. “What kind of office are you opening in London? What kind of salary would you be paying me? Who would be working with me?”
“Whoa, whoa,” the Saudi raised his hand. “One question at a time. The company is in the field of cellular communications, as you know. We’d like to get into LBS, Location-Based Services, using the phone’s GPS for specialized areas for each user.”
“I know about that,” Leora remarked. “The company I work for now is also developing LBS. They’re already at the Beta stage.”
“Really?” Omar asked, feigning surprise. “What exactly have they developed?”
“It’s a proprietary algorithm for transmission to specific cell-phones. Did you know they have over a hundred programmers abroad?”
“Really? Well, this is very interesting,” Omar replied. “Tell me, how much are you making there?”
“I’ve just received a raise to five thousand pounds a month, plus stock options. I’m going to be rich!,” she smiled.
Abu-Razik grinned. “I told you she was quite the businesswoman!”
“You know what,” Leora said thoughtfully. “I can actually offer you something very attractive. Instead of opening your own business and competing with Control, how do you feel about investing in it? That way you can gain equal control of technology that’s already proving itself, without having to re-invent it by yourself.”
“What’s the catch?” Omar asked quickly.
“I want a five percent finder’s fee, if you should invest with the company,” Leora replied.
“Well, you find out from your company on what terms we can do business with them. Then we’ll talk. Now, enough business – let’s enjoy ourselves!”
After a short time, Leora excused herself, whispering to Abu-Razik that she was too tired to be good company. As she left the club, Omar looked pityingly at his companion, but decided to concentrate on their business, so as not to embarrass him.
“I think you should let your boss know that we’ve got a chance to infiltrate Control,” he said to Abu-Razik. “We’ll meet again tomorrow and talk.” Putting a hand on Abu-Razik’s shoulder in parting, he left the club.
The next morning, Laurie reported to Andrew that she had a pair of rich Saudis who might be interested in investing a substantial sum in the company. Andrew was ecstatic.
“You have certainly earned your raise!” he grinned at her. “Let’s arrange a meeting right away.”
Andrew called Adam at home. “You’d better get into the office soon. Laurie has found a couple of Saudis who want to invest and we have to meet them soon. They’re leaving London in a day or two.”
Adam replied sleepily that he’d be in by twelve. Andrew then asked Laurie to set up a meeting with the Saudis for four-thirty that afternoon.
At exactly four-thirty Laurie ushered the two well-dressed Arabs into the Control meeting room. The men shook hands all around and Andrew opened
the discussion. “First of all, before we begin, I’d like you to sign a confidentiality agreement. We’ll be discussing proprietary information that could only help our competitors if it happened to leak.”
The Arabs agreed and the discussion began. First, Omar introduced himself. “I am Omar Bin-Hamdan, a member of the Saudi royal family. This is my cousin Sayeed Bin-Hamdan. Sayeed has lately made the acquaintance of your charming employee Laurie at a jazz club here in London. When Laurie told Sayeed what your company does, he called me. He knows that I am very interested in breaking into this field. As you know, money is no object to us.”
“What exactly are you looking for? And how much money are we talking about?”
“I would say twenty or thirty million pounds. What’s important here is development of new technologies, and earning the profits from that. Not all of us have oil wells, and anyway, the oil won’t last forever. I’d like financial independence, you know.”
Adam looked at Andrew. “Excuse us for a moment, please. Andrew?” He left the room, Andrew following him.
“I’m not happy with this at all, Andrew,” Adam began urgently. “We could really get mixed up here, and I might lose my investment of a hundred million pounds. What do we know about these people? Maybe they’re mixed up in terrorism! How does Laurie bring us people that she hardly knows? No, no, I don’t like it at all.”
“You’ve always been so timid. Can’t you see this could be great for the company?”
“What is wrong with you, Andrew? Don’t you see that our technology could be used for terrorism? Do you want to be responsible for that?”
“Oh, stop it, Adam. Everyone in the City works with Arabs all the time. Are they all terrorists? Listen, we’ll check them out thoroughly and I promise we won’t do anything until we know as much about them as possible. OK? Satisfied?”
Returni
ng to their discussion with the two Arabs, Andrew spoke. “We’re not completely sure that at this early stage of development we want outside cash. Also, the amount you’re offering is really not enough for us to put ourselves at risk.”
“Let me ask you this,” Omar replied. “How much would you be willing to take from us? And how much of the company would we have?”
Andrew looked at him. “The company is worth today between four and five hundred million pounds. In order for any investment to have a significant impact, we would need at least fifty million pounds.”