Chapter 16

The following Monday, after I have my morning shower at school, I head to the office. As soon as I step through the door, Ms. Smith, the same secretary that screwed the Principal the day of our first meeting, asks, “What can we do for you, Mr. Brown.”

“I’m just here to inform you that I will be missing school tomorrow morning. I have meetings with Kawasaki and NeXT.”

That is a lie, but I am not about to tell her that I plan on staying up all night breaking into the Jock’s hideout.

“Please wait a minute. I think Mr. Sheffield will want to talk with you about this.”

I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to deal with the Principal. Having his secretary fetch him for something that isn’t his business indicates how he is about to try and push me around again.

Moments later, Ms. Smith comes out of the Principal’s office saying, “You can head in there now. He is ready for you.”

I don’t even get the door closed, and he is going off on me. “What is this I hear about you informing us that you will be skipping school tomorrow. You are already up for a disciplinary hearing for skipping half the classes you have been assigned.”

“I’m sorry, but I believe you have been served a writ stating I am suing you for your treatment of me since I have started school here. My lawyers tell me I am not supposed to be talking to you about such things. I will remind you that the classes you claim I am supposed to be in I have already passed.”

“You snot-nosed little shit. You will go to what classes you are told and be happy about it.”

“I can see that we are not going to have a reasonable conversation, so as of now, I refuse to participate. If you don’t mind, I’ll be leaving now.”

“You will not walk out on me, young man. I’m not through with you yet...”

He continues to belittle me for another half hour, after which he is even more angry since I refused to say or do anything. The entire time I just sit there. When he is finally done ranting, he says, “I can see how you don’t want to resolve this. Since you are cutting class and showing me that you don’t want to be here, you are effectively suspended until you are done with your lawyer games.”

I never thought he would be so pig-headed or make so many mistakes. This is how I expected my Principal from Fort Grand to act, not a southern Principal that has to worry about public opinion.

After I leave school, I head straight to work. Once there, I phone the lawyers telling them how I recorded the conversation with my Principal. My next call is to the editor at The Times Colonist.

“Times Colonist, Angela speaking. How can I direct your call.”

“Mr. Muller, please.”

“Please hold.”

“Liam here.”

“Hi, Mr. Muller. It’s Trent Brown.”

“I’ve been meaning to call you, and thank you for your help with our advertising team. Our profits are way up, thanks to you.”

“No problem. I hope that means you are willing to do me a favour.”

“What is it that you need, my boy.”

“I’m just calling to give you a heads up. I can’t contact you with this directly, so off the record, my next call is going to be to Cohn and Wolfe. My Principal at school is trying to screw me around. I’m already suing his ass, but I think the community needs to know what he has cost them exactly.

“I just wanted to give you a heads up, and I would consider you helping Cohn and Wolfe to be a personal favour.”

“I’ll let my editors know to keep an eye out, and we will see what we can do for you.”

“Thanks, that is all I ask.”

We continue to socialize for a bit. News is a lot like sales. Socializing is a big part of it, and a lot of information can be gleaned from the small talk, especially by what is not said.

My call to Cohn and Wolfe is a bit dry. They are a PR firm. From my time in the future, they were the only major firm I could think of that weren’t involved in some grand conspiracy or known for immoral acts. That doesn’t mean that they were clean. They could have been as dirty as the rest, but since nobody knew much that could be used against them, they were evidently good at what they did.

By the time I get off the phone with them, it is after lunch. I have officially hired Cohn and Wolfe, and they have conducted a thorough interview.

During the interview, they asked that I not talk to the media unless they arranged it and gave me talking points. When I put the phone down, I vowed to avoid that part of the newspaper and ignore the press as far as school is concerned. If Cohn and Wolfe do a good job on this, I might use them for other things. After all, in the court of public opinion, reality means nothing. PR is everything.

As far as using a PR firm is concerned, I am torn. The public needs to know when somebody is hired to act in their best interest and doesn’t. At the same time, PR firms are an excellent example of why humanity doesn’t deserve to be saved. By using one, am I any better? I hope that since I only intend to use them for good, I am not tainted by their dishonesty,

With that call done, I phone Zlata.

“How is our restaurant coming along?”

“Great, we will be ready for opening for sure. Wait a minute. Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“I was suspended. It’s just more of them dicking me around. The lawyers are on it. How would you like a test run before you open the restaurant?”

“How do you mean?”

“We invite a bunch of friends over for an evening of music and socializing while the waitressing and kitchen staff work their kinks out on a forgiving crowd. That way, you will be prepared for the grand opening.”

“I love it. Let’s do it two Fridays before the grand opening, so we have time to fix anything that needs fixing.”

“So a week Friday. You should invite some friends. We will invite the family, of course.”

“You should invite the General and Admiral.”

“And their wives. I was also thinking of all our off watch security. They do a lot, and we never do anything to thank them.”

“Oh yes, They have helped with Dahlia, and I really need to thank them.”

“You should have extra staff on hand and invite the rest of the staff as guests. Just let them know that if there is a problem, they may need to help out. We should also have somebody from the franchise.”

“I’ll write a list and have you approve it. Sounds like a plan.”

Talking to Zlata is a little interesting. It is like talking to your friend, employee, mother and girlfriend’s mother all rolled into one. Thankfully she is cool, and it isn’t awkward. We socialize for a bit because we haven’t seen each other much lately. While we socialize, I work on new patents.

When she gets off the phone, I decide to suck it up and see if I can’t fix my problem with starting a quantum computer program before the world is ready for one.

I phone Adm Cub.

“Adm Cub’s office. MS (Master Seaman, his rank) Hobbs. How can I help you?”

“Yes, It’s Trent Brown. You need to tell Adm. Cub that he wants to call me ASAP.”

“Just a moment, Mr. Brown. He is in his office now. Let me patch you through.”

“Adm. Cub here.”

“It’s your favourite boy genius.”

“What did you do this time?”

“Hey, I don’t always phone just because I did something. Granted, that is why I’m phoning, but that isn’t the only reason I call.”

“Out with it.”

“Before I give you an ulcer, how about I give you a present first?”

“Now, you’re talking.”

“As per normal, I can’t talk over the phone. Bring your staff and the Fleet CERA (Chief Engine Room Artificer). I will give you a way to double the fuel efficiency of the cruise engines on the 280s (class of guided missile destroyer, also known as the Iroquois class) and increase its max speed to 31 kn, if the shaft line can handle it.”

When I joined the navy, the 280s were the first class of ship I was trained on. Twice we were scheduled to go on a dream tour for the UN, but we ended up going on a different trip because the 280s used too much fuel, and the UN trip would have been too costly.

“And, that is your present. You must want something big.”

“Let’s just say, once I have finished giving you your present, we will clear the room so only you and I will be privy to the conversation.”

“What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into this time?”

“I have no clue if you are going to be mad or ecstatic.”

“Do you need me to drop what I am doing and come talk with you now?”

“No, there is only one person who could pick up the pieces I left and complete the project, and it would likely take him at least 15 years. I’m having issues with my Principal, and he suspended me until it is dealt with. Come over any time this week, except tomorrow forenoon. I have plans I can’t break.”

“I don’t think I’m going to sit on this. Oh, look. Somehow my calendar for tomorrow afternoon suddenly cleared itself. How does 1300 sound?”

“See you then.”

With the phone calls finished, I spend the rest of the afternoon starting the paperwork to give my patent clerk so she can file patents for superfluous future inventions, nothing significant, but things that will help make us money.

After school, the office fills, and the place becomes busy but slows down after supper. I keep working through it, stopping only for supper. It is 11:30 before I stop and for a snack. The rest of my spec ops team meets at McDonald’s. We don’t talk about what we have gathered for. Instead, we act like it is the end of a long day, and we decided to meet for a snack before going home.

Somehow we have both SUVs. We don’t want even a single one of our vehicles spotted as we break into the jock’s hideout. Thankfully, Paul was smart enough to make plans. Leaving McDonald’s, we head for Station Ave. It is secluded and inactive at this time of day since on one side of the road is empty lots that will eventually be a residential area. On the other side are the train tracks and a rather small train station, which has its last stop around 6 pm.

Waiting at the train station is a rental cargo van, which, as soon as we arrive, David and Peter, two of our guards, get out of. We trade vehicles as the spec ops team, and I pile into the van, taking off for the jock’s hideout. Peter and David take off with the SUVs. There is no need to leave them to sit suspiciously by the train station.

In the van is a guy in his late 40s that I don’t recognize. Paul is the one in charge and isn’t making any introductions, so I keep my mouth shut, assuming we aren’t introduced for a reason. Before we leave, we change clothes and don balaclavas so we can’t be recognized. Gun is the only one not changing or putting on a balaclava. His job will be to sit in the van as a lookout. We have everything planned so that there shouldn’t be any video of us, and nobody will see us, but it is better safe than sorry. On the short drive, Paul gives everybody their assignments.

Paul isn’t one of the prideful assholes that have to put themselves first, trying to inspire loyalty that isn’t earned. Jane is the best person for the job to go in first, so she does, while the rest of us wait in the van until the alarm is deactivated. At which time, we head in after her.

The new guy heads straight for where we used to have the security computer and VHS recorders for the cameras. The rest of us split off to search our assigned area of the hideout. Paul and I head straight for the storage room where the blackmail material is supposed to be stored. We are also the only ones carrying duffle bags. They are filled with blank tapes, cameras and other equipment to record all of the material.

I notice in the giant storage room it is the only place without security cameras. This has been going on a lot longer than we initially thought. There are shelves of VHS and Beta tapes, but there are also shelves of Super 8 reals.

Along the far wall is where the filing cabinets are. I head straight there to check them out. The first few are filled with pictures assorted by date taken. In the last six, we hit pay dirt. Three of them are filled with files for each girl they have blackmailed. Each girl has a file that contains her information, including vitals, where and when she was blackmailed, with a list of every video and picture she is in, listed by date and location. The second three filing cabinets contain files on all blackmailers, including which videos and pictures they are in.

“There is no way in hell we will be able to copy all of this shit before we get caught,” exclaims Paul.

“I never thought there would be this much. We don’t even have a way to copy the Super 8s.”

“We should find out which are their initial blackmail tapes and forget the rest.”

“The last six filing cabinets contain files on both the girls and their blackmailers. Everything is done by date, but there is a book on top of each cabinet that is alphabetical, indicating which drawer each girl is in.”

As each of the others finish searching their assigned part of the club, they show up in the storage room to help out. It isn’t long before we run out of film for the cameras, and we barely put a dent in the VHS tapes before we have to leave.

Dawn is breaking as we leave at 6:30 am. It is too light out for us to exchange vehicles at the same place we did earlier. People would notice. We end up parking on the far side of the mall and then using a payphone to call for Peter to bring us an SUV. The new guy just went his own way. He had shown Jane and Paul how to erase things off the computer without a trace. They already knew how to shut off the cameras and rewind the tapes to record over them, so we wouldn’t need him anymore.

When I am dropped off, we move all the evidence to the bike garage’s woodshop side, locking the shop for only the second time in years. As I head to bed, the rest of the spec ops team hashes out a plan to collect as much film and blank VHS tapes as possible without drawing attention to themselves.

To keep up appearances, I allow my girlfriends to continue with my wakeup calls but go back to sleep as soon as they leave. This first morning I am forced to get up just before lunch to make my appointment with the navy.

I arrive at my office just before Admiral Cub and send my office staff home for the afternoon. As soon as the last person leaves, Admiral Cub enters with his usual entourage plus the Fleet CERA. As usual, he introduces everybody, but I don’t pay attention to the names. They are not important to me, and the only two I intend to address are the Adm and Chief.

I take them to our small conference room, and once they are seated, I begin, “To start with, my gift to you is also something for you to prove to me that you can be trusted. I will tell you how to improve the destroyer and any patents you file I am half owner of and can sell licences for. It is also an incentive to work with me and not against me. As you know, I am prone to help you with anything except weapons.”