Chapter 6: Through the Looking Glass

January 9, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“Kimmy, I’m sure you remember Lyudmila; this is her boyfriend Yuri.”

She got up and hugged Lyusya, and said hello to Yuri.

“They have badges with full access,” I said. “Lyudmila is meeting with Cindi and her team, as well as Julia and Terry, Charlie, and Sam. I’m pretty sure Yuri is going to Starbucks!”

He laughed, “Lyusya is computer expert! I am in Ministry of Trade! Computers are tools, and boring. She gets excited by them!”

“I know the feeling!” Kimmy said, laughing. “Starbucks is just down the street. There’s also a Caribou if you prefer.”

“Thanks, but I tease. I have meeting with Boeing at 9:00am.”

“You’ll be back for lunch, right?” I asked.

“Yes. Is Japanese, as you said?”

“Yes.”

“Good!”

Lyudmila went to her first meeting and Yuri left to get his coffee before his meeting at Boeing. I invited Suzanne into my office, and we both removed our shoes and put on slippers so as not to mar the «tatami» mats.

“Wow!” Suzanne exclaimed. “I love the cherry blossom tree!”

“My friend Siobhán painted it; she’s the one who did all the borders at the house.”

“And the pink room” Suzanne asked with a silly grin.

“She tried to talk Birgit out of it, but all Birgit did was repeat ‘pink’ until Siobhán gave up!”

“What’s the correct way to reverence the shrine?”

“«二礼二拍手一礼»,” I replied. “Two-two-one - two deep bows, two claps, and one deep bow. Then say your name and address, at least the first time.”

“Say what?”

“Your name and address,” I grinned. “This is your first time, so you need to tell the «kami» of «Shihan» Hiro where you live. After that, you’ll just say your name.”

“That’s just ... I don’t even know what to say to that!”

“The one thing you can count on is that Japanese culture is very different from American culture. Also, before you reverence, you should wash your hands in the small bowl of water on the table to the side, ring the small bell, and light some incense.”

“You’re not pulling my leg with the name and address bit, are you?”

“The «kami» aren’t omniscient,” I replied. “«Shihan» Hiro needs to know who you are and where you live so he can mention you to any other «kami» he encounters.”

“Do you actually believe that?”

“He did, and that’s all that matters.”

“An interesting approach to spirituality. I’m going to have to think that one through.”

“We should spend some time talking about my time in Japan. It was life-changing.”

“Cherry blossom!” Penny declared with a smirk as she came into the office.

“Shush, you!” I replied. “Did you finish the proposal?”

“I have a small number of changes to make. You’ll have it before your ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ meeting.”

“Those are only going to be monthly for at least this month and next.”

“OK.”

“I’m going to give Suzanne a tour,” I said. “I’ll be back soon.”

I took her through the two buildings, then brought her back to reception where she put on her Winter gear so she could head to the Secretary of State’s office to get her Illinois driving license. When she left, I went back upstairs and sat down next to Penny. She’d completed her changes, so we went over the document together, then emailed it to Julia and Terry. We had other work to do while we waited for Julia to call, which didn’t happen until I’d had lunch at Takumi with Suzanne, Lyudmila, and Yuri. We’d bade them goodbye when we’d returned to the office, as they were heading to California.

“Take my keys,” I said to Suzanne as we walked upstairs. “Penny and Terry will bring me home.”

“You want me to drive your BMW?!”

“It’s a car,” I replied. “You do drive stick, right?”

“Uhm, actually, no.”

“We’ll have to remedy that, but another day. Penny’s car is an automatic.”

“What does she drive?”

“A BMW. She drives stick, but prefers an automatic in the city.”

“Because a manual is a pain in the ASS in traffic!” Penny said as we walked into the office.

“Suzanne needs to get home. OK if she takes your car and I bring you and Terry home?”

“Sure,” Penny said.

She retrieved the keys and handed them to Suzanne, “Just back it into the driveway off the alley behind the house.”

“Can you print directions for me?” she asked.

“Sure,” I replied.

I sat down at my computer, brought up mapquest.com, entered the office address and Penny’s address, then printed the directions on the printer Penny and I shared. Suzanne picked up the sheets of paper, we hugged, and then she left.

A few minutes later, Penny and I went to Julia’s office to meet with her, Terry, and Sam to discuss the changes we’d need to make to accommodate ‘Fast User Switching’ in XP. Our discussion took about an hour and Julia promised to circulate a draft design document by the end of the week. Penny and I went back to our office and I found a message from Jeremiah Brown, so I dialed his number.

“What do you think?” I asked after we’d greeted each other.

“This is going to be a lot of fun! I spoke with the Reverend, and last night I sketched a bunch of stuff after looking at a book I have on Russian architecture, plus some stuff I found online.”

“Cool.”

“I’ll send you over a proposed fee structure. Jackie said to let us know if you think it’s in the ballpark. I’ll include everything from design through completion of construction.”

“Thanks. Any idea when you’ll have something to share?”

“I’ll email you some elevations so you can tell me if I’m in the right ballpark. I know you’ve seen those Russian churches up close and personal!”

“I have. I really appreciate it. How are the kids?”

“All four of them are doing really well, thanks. Jackie tells me your brood is doing great! Sorry about turning down the New Year’s invitation, but you know the situation with Sharice’s dad.”

“Drinking and debauchery don’t mix with his brand of religion!”

“Exactly. Let me know what you think of the elevations.”

“Will do.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and hung up. About an hour later, an email with five attachments arrived. Three of them showed elevations of churches which looked very much like simplified and stylized versions of Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, while retaining the clearly Orthodox design principles. The first of the other two was reminiscent of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the second of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. They were fantastic design ideas, though obviously they’d be much smaller than the originals. I was sure that whatever he ultimately came up with would be awesome.

I opened the Word document which laid out their fee structure, which I felt was reasonable and something the church could afford, based on what I knew about the state of the building fund, which, after many years, was fairly significant. It would easily allow them to gain a construction loan to cover the entire cost of the building, with an affordable mortgage afterwards. I replied by email with my thoughts, then opened up the bug tracker to find a task to work on for the rest of the day.

January 13, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

On Saturday morning I joined the men for breakfast at Bucktown Bistro. Over the years, the core group had more or less stayed the same, though the Navy guys rotated in and out as their duty stations changed. A few others, such as Ed and Chris, had come and gone, but the rest of us had hung together for the best part of fifteen years. I recalled our first breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s, and not too long after, meeting Karl, who would be returning in July after his final tour of duty as Force JAG in London.

“How’s the new job shaping up, Clayton?” Aaron asked.

“Pretty good, actually. Nearly everyone on my team is ex-military, either US, UK, Dutch, or Australian. The few who aren’t, are former protective service officers. Nobody objects to me running the team in a tight, military fashion.”

“Any colleagues of Katya’s?” I asked.

“There are a couple of Russians on the team, though they’re young enough that Katya was already retired by the time they served.”

“I’m sure I know the answer to this question,” Kurt said, “but can you tell us who you protect?”

“Not a chance,” Clayton replied. “Well, not in terms of actual names. It’s mostly business executives and celebrities, though there are a few political figures as well. And yes, you would know the names.”

“How much are you going to have to travel?” Pete asked.

“Me, personally? Not a lot, though my team is always traveling. The only times I’m going to have to be away are to meet VIPs when necessary to get their business, or if there’s a serious incident. And yes, there are a few of those every year. Most of the normal stuff only warrants a report, but if the cops are involved, I have to show up. Thinking of leaving government service and earning some REAL money?”

Pete laughed, “I have no problem being a ‘kept man’! Mel earns enough I could play golf full-time and we’d never miss my salary.”

“Marshal Carston,” Lieutenant Knox said, “I’ve wondered how that works, with your wife basically working against you.”

“It’s Pete, Mike. Seriously, only Adams uses titles, and that’s just his fetish! And believe it or not, I’m fully behind my wife’s job, even if it means the occasional bad guy goes free. Most don’t, and the guilty verdicts confirm we did our job correctly. Contrary to popular belief, most LEOs want nothing to do with violating the Constitution.”

“You’ll pardon me if I disagree with that comment,” I said.

Pete laughed, “If you didn’t, I’d say whatever treatment your friend Mary has you on was affecting your brain!”

“Why are you so skeptical of law enforcement, Steve?” Neil Keeler, a brand-new NCIS agent asked.

“Let’s just say that despite not breaking the law, I’ve had far too many run-ins with the CPD and FBI.”

“They were all over him because he was dating Dmitry’s wife during the Cold War,” Jamie said.

“I didn’t date his wife,” I chuckled. “Tanya was very much single when I dated her!”

“I thought attorneys were very precise in their speech,” Terry said with a smirk.

“Fuck off!” Jamie replied with a big grin. “BOTH of you!”

“How’d you let THAT girl go?” Neil asked.

“You did see his TWO wives at the party, right?” Clayton asked.

“That came as something of a shock!”

“Neil,” I said, “the Cold War and our career choices basically meant it was impossible for Tanya and I to find a way forward. I’d have had to move to the Soviet Union while she studied at their diplomatic school and then followed her around on her diplomatic assignments. With no internet and no cell phones, I’d have more or less been limited to being her husband, not having a career, unless we wanted to be apart all the time. That didn’t work for either of us.”

“That makes sense,” Neil replied. “I’m guessing you had an FBI tail?”

“Quite often, and they tried to turn me, too.”

“You can’t be turned by your OWN government!” he protested.

“Steve would see it that way,” Pete replied with a grin. “He actually agreed with the KGB that the US was the ‘Main Enemy’!”

“I had no love for the KGB, either,” I replied with an equal grin. “Though I do have a soft spot for Katya.”

“Somehow,” Kurt replied with a grin and a head shake, “the word ‘soft’ applied to you with regard to any female you know doesn’t seem appropriate!”

All the men at the table broke out in uproarious laughter, attracting attention from Alex, who came over to find out what the joke was. He had a good laugh when Kurt repeated the conversation. Our food arrived just after that, so we began eating, which reduced the chatter as we all enjoyed the excellent meals which Pam had served to us.

When we finished, Terry and I got into my car for the drive back to the South Side.

“Everything OK with working from home?” he asked.

“Did Penny say otherwise?”

“No, of course not! But I know you like to keep your finger on the pulse of the company.”

“I do, but if I want to do that long term, I have to step back, at least for the near future.”

“Penny implied you’d be back after you went to Mayo in February.”

“That’s the best-case scenario, but I can’t let myself believe that any more than I should obsess about the fact that this might be permanent.”

“God ... well, Loki, forbid!”

I chuckled, “Either word works. Part of my problem before was obsessing about the future, which was making me nuts. I’ve done my best to put that aside and just take one day at a time. So far, so good. I’ll see what Mary Whittaker says next month. And there is one very good thing which has come out of this.”

“What’s that?”

“NIKA will survive without me, which was always a concern.”

“Don’t even think that way!”

“Do I sound suicidal? Or like I’m going to run off to Japan?”

“No, of course not!”

“Then don’t worry about it. My point is, that in twenty years, if I want to retire, I can do so, secure in the idea that NIKA will continue.”

“I’m curious - what would you do with your shares?”

“That’s an open question. I’d certainly sell some to the ESOP, but possibly to whomever is on the Executive Team. I don’t think I’d ever sell to an outsider.”

“Please don’t even consider that while I’m working for NIKA!”

“You wouldn’t be the first person in line with a long knife if I suggested selling to an outsider!”

“Not to be morbid, but what happens to your dad’s shares?”

“They come to me, along with the dividends. Or if something has happened to me, to a trust, managed by Bo DeWitt, for the benefit of my wives and kids, with Al exercising the voting rights.”

“Any word about Dave coming back? He’s been fairly quiet at breakfasts and the parties.”

“Maybe this Summer. If he does, what would you say to running Athena?”

“Seriously?! What about Mario?”

“Mario is managing Athena much the same as Julia and I were managing NIKA - waiting until the right time to bring the right person into the role.”

“I’m a software guy, not a business guy!”

“Mario is a double-E who worked full time during the day for us and took night classes. Zeke was hired as a programmer, and doesn’t have a college degree. Barbara was working at a medical practice as an office manager, and only had an Associate’s Degree. Julia, Cindi, Dave, and I are all CS grads, just like you. Only Elyse has real training in that area, and she didn’t even have her MBA until she’d worked for NIKA for two years! Not counting our time at NIKA, my sister has more actual business education, training, and experience than the entire rest of the Executive Suite combined! And we can go from there to Tasha, Cynthia, Cèlia, John, Deborah, Liz, and a host of others.”

“I hadn’t really considered that.”

“And if you want what might be the best example - Kimmy, who simply had her High School diploma and started as a part-time receptionist. She’ll finish her business degree in June then start on an MBA in the Fall. You know how much of the actual CEO and President work she did on my behalf, and she’s Stephanie’s right-hand now, in addition to the things she does for me.”

“OK! OK! You’ve made your point!”

“Bottom line, Terry, is I don’t want people trained in business by business schools. Think about what would happen with someone trained the way Bob was, in a position of real power, especially in control of financials.”

“But Elyse...” he stopped. “Never mind. You knew she’d never buy into the MBA bullshit where everything comes down to maximizing profit at the expense of customers and employees, while ensuring fat payouts to the executives who do all the damage.”

“That about sums it up.”

“You’d make a good candidate for the Labour Party in the UK!”

“Not a chance! I don’t believe in imposing my ideas on anyone else! I do think it’s in the long-term best interest of capitalists to behave the way I do, because in the long run, if you stomp on your employees, your customers, and society as a whole, they’ll eventually take everything you have either through confiscatory taxes, onerous regulation, or outright revolution. The problem is, everyone is so focused on the short term and maximizing the stock price to be able to cash out their options, that they’re wrecking their businesses, and society, in the quest for eking out the last buck. They’re damned fools.”

“Which is why you invest only long-term.”

“Correct. Buy and hold. Period. Not doing so only subverts what I’m trying to do!”

“Do you think Penny can handle the Rap Sessions?”

I chuckled, “I think the real question is whether the Rap Sessions can handle Penny!”

Terry laughed and nodded, “My wife is an interesting character.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“Not Dave and Julia. If there were any two people more straitlaced than those two, I don’t know who it might be! Even Pete is more liberal than they are! And I mean that in terms of social behavior, not politics, though I guess that’s true, too.”

“It’s their church that does that - highly traditional, highly conservative, unchanging, and rigidly hierarchical. But they aren’t ‘in your face’ about it the way some fundamentalist evangelicals are.”

“Do we have any?” Terry asked.

“A few,” I replied. “Who they are isn’t important, but they are the exception because our environment is anything but Puritan!”

Terry laughed, “Something I would never say anywhere except in a secure location - that’s kind of obvious when the boss has slept with half the female staff!”

“That wasn’t true even before our growth spurt before the ‘dot com’ debacle. Penny exaggerates. You know some of them, obviously, but I’m pretty sure Penny suspects girls I’ve never been with nor would I consider being with. You DO remember what happened with Mikela, right?”

“Sure.”

“Those claims were completely unfounded. Completely. The same was true for Kaitlin.”

“Sorry,” Terry said. “I should have known my wife’s own desires were driving her to speculate, rather than know.”

“It’s just Penny being Penny!”

“As I said, she’s a character!”

We arrived at the house and Terry thanked me, then got out of the car and walked next door to his house while I went inside so I could get my karate gear. Ten minutes later, Kara, Birgit, Stephie, Ashley, Maria Cristina, Suzanne, and I were on our way to the dojo. Birgit had insisted that Maria Cristina and Suzanne come see her test, and she’d invited Tiffany and Rachel as well. And, of course, she’d invited her teacher, who I expected to show up. As soon as we arrived in front of the dojo, I saw Alicija Czerwinski through the large plate-glass window.