Chapter 5

Despite Mhairi only being back at work for just over a month she was right back into it.

“Andrew, let me explain what happened last week. The three of us completed the forms for the vetting process and I have been told that they will be expedited. But I also received a visit from a security consultant. He had credentials and I phoned and confirmed that the MoD had sent him. There was no talk about whether you could actually write and deliver the program, that was not why he was here. What he left with me was a thick book of security regulations that suppliers have to comply with. Just as we as individuals have to be cleared so too does the company. He was a right grump at the start but he calmed down pretty quickly. Once he realised that we were completely new at this he stopped reciting the book and just started talking to me. From what Julian has told me the program is straightforward and is a derivation of AIMS. But what the program is going to be used for is classified. We will find out when we eventually get clearance but we know it is going to be used on Secret and Top Secret projects. That means the Soviets are going to find out. He was very blunt about that. We spy on them, they spy on us, and the fact that we, being the UK Ministry of Defence, are using a new computer program will get out. So what we have to be able to prove is that we have a robust security procedure around, well everything. Physical security of the premises and equipment, security around the actual code so that somebody can’t take a copy of it, especially the source code. You even need to have appropriate personnel policies, who can work on the code, who cannot, have they got clearance, all that sort of thing. I think that all of the ancillary stuff for the business will be more complicated than the programming, at least based on how confident Julian is. We are playing with the big boys now. And that brings me on to the last point he made, and he was very clear and looked me straight in the eye when he talked about it. The main defence suppliers are a small number of well-known group of companies. Something new like this will also become known. Both the company and the program will suddenly have lots of questions asked about it. The company and the program are brand new, you are all young and without any track record, or credibility. I was told that there will be a campaign to undermine us. All of these main firms have lots of former politicians, civil servants, military people, even former spies, working for them.”

Mhairi paused for a second but the three of them just sat there waiting for some good news.

“Now I also see the similarities to the situation where we first met. Sure a law firm and the Ministry of Defence don’t have anything in common, well egos maybe. But they are getting into something new, something that Andrew has already proved to them has value. And value in this case is very different than getting full utility out of a previous purchase, here the value is helping defend the country. So I have explained my afternoon last Wednesday, let’s talk this through.”

Julian and Andrew looked at each other. It was his company that was going to do this. Andrew was nothing more than a less than silent partner. But Julian gestured for Andrew to start.

“I know that we can write a program that will meet the needs of the Ministry of Defence. So let’s put that to one side. Two weeks ago this seemed like an unbelievable opportunity, as you said Mhairi, a chance to play with the big boys. But meeting the requirements of the security regulations will be a huge cost and it sounds like a permanent cost. So we have to figure out whether it can be recovered through the price of the software and whether we want to be in this business. Julian, this is on you, you are the one that is going to have to live this, not me. What do you think?”

“You are the one with the experience of dealing with this, at least more than the rest of us. I have thought about whether I want the company to focus on secret projects, trying to separate the perceived glamour of this secret world from the cold hard reality. I got the short version of this morning from Mhairi last week. What it comes down to for me is the thing that we have talked about since we have known each other. We know this stuff and the old guard have no idea. Now they are going to play catch up as quick as they can. We see it with all the computer company proposals we review with the Trust. There are lots of talented programmers out there. Nobody is bringing a proposal for classified software to these meetings but what we are looking to create is clearly within the skill level of any number of programmers. So we have an advantage right now but I don’t know how long it will last. What we have to decide is how to make child of AIMS secure, and recover those costs. If we get pushed out by the established players then we can delete the code and let our clearances lapse.”

They let that sink in as they thought about it.

“Can we make the offices secure enough to pass this security review?”

Leslie’s question resulted in more silence. Andrew thought about the different parts of the process.

“The program can be kept on those external hard drives and secured at the end of each day. If we put them into a safe, like a bank does with the money at the end of day it should be fine. But it is the security of the building that will be the issue. We don’t want to have to hire a security guard at night but given what Mhairi said maybe we have to.”

The risk was all physical access.

“Do we have any idea how many copies they want of the software? Mhairi?”

“They want to use it extensively, they have talked about hundreds, maybe even a thousand.”

“Easy maths for getting the unit cost. So we need new machines with clean hard drives, reinforce the computer office, alarm on the door, same with the front door and also with the gate at the entrance. Three alarms and some stronger doors. We would need a big safe and attach it to the floor, bolts into the concrete maybe. We can get Creighton to cost that all out for us? Kenny and Aiden would need to get clearance as well, Creighton too probably. So there is a legal and administration cost to all this. Let’s put a number on it. So equipment, security improvements, business costs, what about profit?”

“As high as possible, which is stating the obvious. Let’s get the costs of all the security stuff and then see what that comes to. If we say that all our costs are £50,000 which seems really high, 100% profit would have an all in cost of £100,000, so they would sell at £100 per copy if they ordered a 1,000. Let’s firm up the cost figure. Three years of salary for the three employees plus one other, the upgrades and a healthy admin cost. I think there is going to be a lot of compliance with rules and regulations.”

Their bullshitting ballpark estimate was actually pretty accurate. Creighton costed everything out to just over £47,000.

“So we have a plan. Cost out meeting their requirements, build in a huge profit margin and tell them the cost per unit on the assumption they want 1,000. They can tell us to get lost, haggle on the price or accept it. The last being the best, but least likely, outcome. They have to approve our security and if we pass that then there is a chance this may work. What about if we spend a bunch of money but it falls apart at the end?”

“We will have more secure premises and new equipment. The admin costs will stop and the salaries of the staff, well they will be used for other projects. So what is at risk? £20,000? Andrew, are you okay with your share of that cost?”

He nodded.

“Yes, when you lay it out like that I am. Also the improvements allow us to potentially bid or propose on other projects.”

This part of the meeting was over. They had a plan. They tried not to immediately go back over things as they grabbed some more coffee although it was tempting. The remainder of the meeting was dealing with Andrew’s decision to step down as a Trustee of the Endowment Fund. It was complicated and procedural as Mhairi led them through the process of changing Trustees. Andrew and Suzanne would be back at the end of the week and it would be done in one simple session. Mhairi had ordered lunch for them, not sure how long the meeting would last. Given what they were talking about they could hardly have a chat in the pub.

“If this looks like it is going to be successful then you need to hire an administrator for the computer company. Someone with clearance and experience. You cannot use us for all that work, the rates make no sense. We will do all the set-up but if it is an ongoing business then you should have someone internally that you can rely on.”

They paid a lot of money to Drummonds and to Mhairi but got great advice and she did not milk them for every penny she could get. She headed off to attend to other matters and the three of them sat there finishing lunch. Leslie posed the key question.

“Is it worth it?”

This time Julian answered, and quickly.

“Yes. Sure we are going to spend a lot of money and it is risky but I can afford it, we can afford it. I can’t explain why but this feels like it is something I should do. Over the years Andrew always talked about making a difference with the company to raise the money for cancer research. I joined that and it was our collective goal but I became part of someone else’s dream. This feels like I have the chance to make a difference, but this time be in at the start, in a completely different way but make a difference nonetheless. And Andrew is an integral part of it as well. He is not going to be coding but he has an understanding of this world. So yes, I am committed.”

Leslie went over and gave her husband a kiss. It was clear to both her and Andrew that Julian was 100% committed to this. He decided to walk back to the flat, taking the chance to think about the following day. Again, there seemed to be an abrupt transition between the serious and the sexy. He wasn’t worried about the shoot, Elspeth seemed totally determined and confident and so he knew they could get some great shots. But it was afterwards that he noodled about on the walk home.

Elspeth had created a fake look, a good wig with hair a darker colour and a very different style, changed her eye colour, together with a stupid kid’s transfer in a prominent position. Andrew was walking past a jewellers when he thought about her rings. On a complete impulse he stepped into the shop. They were a little sniffy with him but 15 minutes later he had a couple of cheap costume pieces. He only hoped that they weren’t too badly sized. But the rest of the walk was typical Andrew, planning for something to be successful. They had seen with their photography business that there were not a lot of women prepared to model nude. It seemed to him that the number of larger women who would be prepared to be photographed naked would be exponentially smaller. If that hypothesis was true then Elspeth had a very good chance of being published. But then what? They had gone to great lengths to hide her physical identity so it wasn’t as if the shoot was going to be of Elspeth Robertson, housewife from Edinburgh. So, just like Andrew, Elspeth needed a modelling name. As the three publications were all German, making her German seemed to be the obvious solution. Thus Ursula Schmidt, the Aachen Rose, was born. Andrew knew Aachen was right on the border with the Netherlands and close to Belgium, France and Luxembourg. It seemed a place that lent itself to obscuring someone’s origins.

Suzanne tooted at him as he walked up the street and was waiting at the stairs by the time he got there. There was a sparkle in her eyes and suddenly they were bounding up the stairs two at a time. They started stripping in the hall and, like the movie cliché, left a trail of clothes through to the bed. That afternoon Andrew just threw Suzanne around, often for no other purpose than he knew it excited her. She would scramble up the bed, an ankle left trailing invitingly and he would haul her back to the end of the bed and fuck her again. It was good dirty fun full of laughter and moans and the quick recuperative powers of youth. And it wasn’t just Maggie that was doing dirty-minded yoga. Suzanne had gone to classes all year and was more flexible in her hips. Andrew had her folded in half, power fucking her into the bed and all it got him was exhortations to try harder. When he finally came he was puffing like he had just finished the marathon. All he got from Suzanne was one slight groan as she unbent her body. They had so much fun they were late for dinner and spent the first five minutes blushing as both Leslie and Julian asked them what had delayed them.

There was ten for dinner that night as both sets of parents were there as well as Maggie and Tony. The first 20 minutes were an interesting sociological experiment. The Strongs and the Campbells were full on upper middle class. Both husbands were professionally very successful, and both wives were ladies who served on various charity committees and organised things. They had not had to work. Which was in stark contrast to both Tony and Maggie’s parents and to their own background. Andrew watched them all like a hawk, somewhat on edge, as he wasn’t sure how the parents, and Julian senior in particular, were going to react. But both Leslie and Julian must have at least warned their parents because the initial conversations were all polite interest, although there was a tinge of a patronising air about it. But it was amazing how the house broke through all the pretence. That they had bought a five bedroom house on a bluff overlooking the Forth and with Edinburgh in the distance immediately piqued the interest of Christine and Mary and things settled down. Julian senior wasn’t likely to invite Tony out to Murrayfield to play golf but that was okay. Maggie and Tony were clearly successful with the business and they were good friends with the four of them. The tense introduction was moved past.

It was probably the first evening that Suzanne held centre stage for most of the night as both Brian and Julian senior were intrigued as to the change in Trustee. Leslie started the explanation before ceding the floor to Suzanne.

“I have been fortunate to sit in and hear a lot of the discussions about the investments the Trust is making. For the last three summers I have worked for the Forestry Commission, first in Edinburgh but for the last two years I have spent most of my time up north. So I have heard another side of the discussion, and have heard people who work in the area talk about the balance. Six or eight jobs can make a difference to a small village, support the local shop, support the pub. So I see how much rural employment is not measured in the hundreds. Being measured in the tens is hugely significant. So a lot of the stories which to Andrew are visions on a piece of paper are real to me. That Andrew tried to do it without actually seeing the impact is amazing. But the other side of it is the impact of man on the environment. There I have seen the good, the bad and the very ugly. The Forestry Commission has made huge strides in making any infrastructure fit into the environment. I have seen other landowners or businesses do the same thing but sadly I have also seen ghastly, horribly inappropriate buildings and development as well. So I would talk to Leslie about some of these during our chats. Then Leslie started to ask me what she needed to do to assess the investment proposals so that they were not something ghastly that ruined the environment or just stood out as utterly alien. And that is how we got to today.”

“Your degree is geography?”

“Yes. I started with an interest in soil erosion, slope stability, managing rainfall run-off and whether drainage is needed in places. That is what I talked about when I applied to the Commission. But it has grown and morphed from there. But I have changed to Social Science. Andrew is going to be an engineer, an applied scientist rather than a pure scientist. I suppose I am the same, applied social science rather than theoretical.”

“So do you veto projects?”

“I don’t know. Leslie and I have talked about things but I have not been in the final meetings. Leslie has mentioned that there are more proposals than money. Do you not invest in things after talking to me?”

This last was said to Leslie.

“Oh yes, several times. For a lot of the proposals based as they are in existing towns there is very little issue, but several times I have gone back and talked to people about what they are proposing.”

“Are you not making it more difficult for yourself?”

Julian senior seemed more interested than upset.

“I suppose we are. But it is a minority of proposals. What I am trying to do is not be involved in creating something that upsets everybody who sees it. Think about all the times we went up north Dad. Every time we drove through Glencoe you would complain about the visitor centre, an ugly concrete building slap bang in the middle of the glen. Everybody who drives past complains about it. Not that there should be a visitor centre but where it is and how it is constructed. That is the example I always use when talking to people. And it was Suzanne that reminded me of it. And most people instinctively get what I am trying to do. The Trust’s mission is to support development and employment in Scotland and northern England, but I don’t want to wreck the country doing that.”

Andrew could see that Brian and Julian senior were impressed by what Leslie was trying to do, and that Suzanne would be an invaluable addition. She had two summers of working in northern Scotland. This summer she had been in the very north west corner of the country. She brought an expertise and perspective that would help going forward. Maggie and Tony had spent most of the night listening but once or twice he saw Leslie talk to Maggie as Suzanne talked about taking over. Andrew had an idea that Julian’s replacement had been in the room that evening.

Back at the flat Suzanne was bubbling away.

“I was glad I was able to answer all those questions.”

“You were great. I think they were more interested than anything. The example of the Glencoe visitor centre was perfect. Everyone hates the thing, but exactly as you said, not that there shouldn’t be a centre but where it is and how it is constructed.”

“Are you sad in some way to no longer be a Trustee?”

“No. The exact opposite to be honest, relief rather than sadness. For more than a year I have felt I haven’t contributed anything as a Trustee. Now mostly Leslie does not need additional help but I think it is great that you are there to complement her and bring a different outlook on investing. Julian and I are both self-taught, mainly by Leslie and Doug. Frankly, I think he is jealous that I have been able to escape first. This time next year it will be you, Leslie and someone new.”

Suzanne was going to spend the day with her sister Vanessa so once again Andrew left her the car and walked over to Tony’s shop, and the studios above it. He was conscious that this was the first time he was going to be photographing a model with the express purpose of selling the shots. He had done a couple of shoots with nude models, Naomi and Roxie sprang to mind, but in both cases they had been sprung on him and the shoots were at the start of the business. Now the EPIC Partnership was established and Andrew was going to shoot photographs as explicit, even more explicit, than he did for Maggie. It wasn’t daunting per se but it did give him pause.

Elspeth tried to crush his ribs she hugged him so hard, so clearly there were no last minute nerves. At least he assumed it was Elspeth. He didn’t know how often she had practiced but the wig was totally natural looking and it changed her. Andrew was more interested to see how Donnie was reacting, was he still as keen as he had appeared earlier in the summer? All Andrew could judge him on was the smile and hearty handshake. Mr. Robertson was as excited about Mrs. Robertson’s adventure as she was. Andrew took Donnie aside and explained his purchases, he didn’t want Donnie to get upset but his smile just got wider.

“We had talked about this but haven’t had the chance to do anything about it yet. Elspeth will love it.”