Regan's Reach (32 page)

As they weaved across the lawn she chatted.
"It's been six months now. We'll be hearing from Regan any day."

Six and a half months,
he thought ruefully.
Where are you sis? Shit!

*

Office of the Vice President, The White House,
December

Anne Marshall paced angrily back and forth
across the room. She had no idea whether Vice President James Walker still had
anyone talking to him on that mobile but he was in no hurry to talk to her, of
that she was certain.

Finally she heard him say simply, "Goodbye"
and he disconnected. It was so suspiciously affected she almost exploded.

"Anne, sorry about that, what can I do
for you." He looked as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

"Jim, I swear you know exactly why I'm
here. You agreed to stay out of this business with USDynamics and the Chinese,
it's my territory Jim and you know all dealings with China are delicate."

"I have stayed out of things Anne. In
this case I simply passed on some information that came to me unexpectedly from
contacts and I saw it as related to the STEIN business, after all we can't be
seen to be doing nothing. The decision to hold the Coleman woman seems a wise
one to me in the interim; she is after all their CFO."

"Of course it's related, you asshole,
and you know it, you've just put the whole USDynamics saga on the front pages
again! I swear you'll bring down that company on your own. I'm speaking to
Sarah about this, I've had enough." She stalked from the room.

"You do that!" he called after
her as he walked toward the door and shut it behind her. Returning to the desk
he took out the mobile and redialed.

Listening to the dial tone he jumped in as
soon as it was answered, "You were saying?"

" . . . I was saying I'm not happy,"
the voice simmered with anger. "We're building up our shareholding but we've
hit a wall, we're still six percent short of compulsory acquisition. The
remaining shareholders are stonewalling and several have been quietly buying,
building up significant stakes. Our interests have the major shareholding but
three other groups now hold the keys. Their fifteen percent means we can't
squeeze them out."

"Just buy one or some of them out, you
can afford it, pay them whatever. There were always going to be some smart
investors out there, they're just taking advantage of the situation surely,
holding out for more."

"You're not listening, Vice President
Walker," The voice spat out the words, like staccato bullets. "They're
not selling! There are three shareholding groups apart from us. USDynamics
stalwarts are one, led by the Chairman, that's understandable. A seven percent
stake has been amassed by a private company, TakeThat Corporation and they've
been steadily buying since the beginning. The last buyer we just learned is the
US Government! How can that be, Mr. Vice President? Have you been holding out
on me!"

Walker felt a cold chill pass down his
spine and he fell silent for a moment.
How could that be? How could I not
know?
He rapidly assessed the situation.

"Listen, I've done everything asked of
me, I know nothing about the Government buying and I doubt that is even true.
My part is over, don't call me again." He disconnected then stood staring
at the phone, perspiration breaking out on his forehead.
Bitch!
He
thought. He walked behind his desk and out of sight tried to crush the mobile
under his heel; it still looked usable. Putting it in his pocket he grabbed his
suit jacket and exited the office hurriedly.
I'll get rid of it later,
he thought.

*

The Oval Office, December

The meeting which had begun with relaxed
coffee had taken a serious turn.

"That's a serious accusation Anne, and
now that you've shared it where does it leave me?" Her hands wide,
appealing, President Allen walked from her desk to join Anne at the couch.

"Sarah, I've had enough. This isn't an
accusation, it's an observation. Jim has been disseminating information and
stirring the pot on this one from the beginning, all in the name of national
security which isn't even his brief. His actions have singlehandedly
contributed to the savaging of USDynamics’ share price and possibly the loss of
the company to the Chinese. For me it's usually three strikes and you're out.
Jim’s had four or five for Christs sake. Sarah, if it looks like a duck, and
walks like a duck it probably is a fucking duck." She fumed.

"That's a bit over the top Anne!
Perhaps he's been unwise but the origin of that Arteis virus from USDynamics is
pretty damning and it did a lot of damage, the Chinese are going to sue for
billions. . ."

Anne interrupted. "That's just it
Sarah, this whole thing doesn't make sense unless you see it as part of a plan
to drive down the USDynamics share price. The Chinese could end up stealing the
company."

"Are you saying Jim is in league with
the Chinese? You can't be serious."

Anne seemed to collapse into her seat. She
dropped her shoulders and shook her head sadly, before looking up again,
appealing.

"Sarah, take Jim out of the equation
for a minute, just look at the other facts. We're always concerned about
military secrets, as long as they're protected we're happy. But what else is at
play here? Think long game. We've let private cowboys take the lead into orbit,
we've got private operators servicing our space stations, tourists flying
around in free orbit, and even the Indians have passed us with research craft
heading to Mars. USDynamics are our leading aerospace company and the Chinese
are only a few shares away from picking it up for a song. They don't want our
military technology; they want to leapfrog us to the moon and beyond!"

Sarah looked pensive, "I did act on
your suggestion by the way, we've been picking up shares, but I'm told it's not
enough. We only hold around three percent and there's still another twelve out
there somewhere. We need to face it Anne, Chinese interests already hold enough
to dominate the board. I agree a complete takeover is unthinkable but I don't
think we can stop it."

"So, what are you going to do about
Jim?" Anne asked.

"You know it's not that simple Anne, I
can't entertain an accusation like that without rock solid proof. But, he may
have been unwise and I'll take your comments under advisement, no come back on
you. I appreciate your courage in addressing it."

"And the STEIN woman held in
California?"

"I can't get involved in that and
neither can you, cyber terrorism is serious Anne; we can't be seen to take a
soft approach. As I understand it the evidence is pretty compelling even if it
doesn't make sense, shit, when does terrorism ever make sense? No, she stays
there until we've sorted it in court or until we have Regan Stein. The press
will be on our administration like hot bricks if we slacken off on this one."

Anne stood, resigned that there was nothing
more she could do for the moment.

She needs proof
,she thought,
'Rock solid proof'
. She excused herself and
left for her office.

*

The Lodge, Fairfield County Connecticut,
December

A fire crackled in the background, outside
the temperature was cool to cold.

Who knows,
the man thought as he adjusted his glasses,
maybe snow for Christmas?

The old style portable phone perched on the
chair arm rang loudly. A traditionalist, he liked the ring which always
reminded him of his youth. He reached clumsily and knocked it to the floor but
with a quick fumble managed to hit the button before it went to messaging.

"Bill Thomas!" he answered
quickly.

"Mr. Thomas, this is Barbara Wilson
calling from New Zealand, I have Marcus Jackson calling for you, are you free
to take the call?"

"Marcus Jackson?"

"Yes sir, Marcus is legal counsel for
Regan Stein, he would like to speak with you if it's convenient, and may I put
him through?" Barbara could be very pleasant.

"Yes, yes, of course, put him through."
Bill heard the click on the line. There was a short pause.

"Hello Mr. Thomas, this is Marcus
Jackson and thank you for agreeing to talk to me sir, is this a good time for
you?"

"I make the most of every minute these
days son, and a call from Nu Zeeland doesn't come very often. Call me Bill,
will you, and what can I do for you?"

"Thank you Bill. Well sir, this call
is about what I'd like you
not
to do sir, but let me explain. As
chairman of USDynamics I know you'll be well up with the situation regarding
your market position?" He paused,
would Bill fill the gap?

"Go on?"

Damn!
"Well
sir, my understanding is that you effectively have a new owner and they may not
be far off a squeeze takeover, am I correct?"

"Cut to the chase Mr. Jackson, these
aren't happy days in USDynamics and it seems STEIN hasn't helped us one little
bit, I probably shouldn't even be talking to you."

Canny old bastard . . . I like him.

"Sir, I can understand why you might
feel that way, however I'm certain given time we'll show you this is all
bullshit, and I'm sorry to be so blunt. In the meantime there are bigger games
being played here and we want to make sure USDynamics and STEIN come out on the
right side. You bought in to STEIN sir, and when you did that we became
committed to you. We still want to work with you but not the Chinese, not the
way they've handled this business."

"Well," Bill replied wearily, "it
may be too late for that anyway Mr. Jackson, the deal is almost done and
dusted. They only need six percent more shares now and it will be a compulsory
acquisition; our staff will need to speak Mandarin."

"Sir, we do good business with Chinese
companies, but we don't agree with what's happened here, and we're doing
something about it."

"What's that Marcus, because I'm
tired? The loyalty is gone, we've been screwed royally and we're not at all
sure STEIN hasn't played a part in it."

"Sir, you've met Regan, she's young
but she's a handshake kind of girl, her word is her bond. She and STEIN have
nothing to do with cyber terrorism and I don't yet know how but we're going to
prove it. The point of my call is I'm predicting the Chinese will have to pull
out of this takeover and the share price will recover. I want to implore you,
you and the shareholder group you represent, don't under any circumstances sell
your shares, no matter what premium they offer you."

There was silence for a moment and Marcus
was about to speak when Bill Thomas responded.

"I hear you Marcus but it won't make
any difference; between us in our group we only have four percent. Hell that
was worth billions only a few months ago . . . now? The Chinese only need six
percent to proceed and that's out there, it's only a matter of time."

"No sir, it isn't out there, oh the
shares might be but they're not available. Regan has had me collecting shares
from before all this happened and I've just kept going as it tracked down. Sir,
on her behalf I've amassed seven percent so with our seven and your four they
can't trigger the squeeze out. We don't know who's behind this or how they've
done it but all we need is time sir, and to buy time we need your help."

Bill Thomas sat up in his chair with a vigor
that surprised even him.

"Mr. Jackson - I think we need to
meet."

"Well sir, it's not the best time for
me to come to the States but I know Kevin Stein would like to connect with you,
perhaps a visit to New Zealand could be arranged? We are coming into our summer."

There was a long pause before Bill spoke
again.

"Leave it with me Marcus, I have your
number and I need to speak to a few people first, then I'll call. You say you
have seven percent?"

"That's right sir, you'll see our
company on the share register, 'TakeThat Corporation'. It's registered in the
Caymans."

"Hmm, I'll call you tomorrow." He
hung up the phone, closed his eyes for a moment and breathed a deep satisfied
breath. He could hardly believe it. Then he started dialing.

*

The Stein Traveler, Interstellar

Nothing . . . Then there was . . .
everything.

Will I ever get used to the appearance
of that starscape coming out of warp,
she thought? "Did
we cause a pop?" Regan asked mischievously.

"Babe, we're in space, you don't need
to worry, no one hears you pop."

Marin shrugged doubtfully as he made for
the galley.

"Ham my man,
you
can be offhand
but I'm not so sure I'd be so generous about that, coffee?" He looked back
at Regan.

"Yes, please." Regan said and
laughed;
what an unbelievable few weeks
. The camaraderie between the
three of them was as satisfying as anything she had felt at home and she felt
in great shape. Daily workouts with slow gravity increase back to Earth normal
had her feeling physically and mentally on top. And the ideas, where were they
coming from? It was as if a lid had been lifted and if the plan going away had
been to find a different mind space it had certainly worked.