Chapter 17

Tuesday, August 21, 2035

When Al and Bonnie awoke the next morning, they immediately contacted Hak to see what else he might have found out. There were pleasantly surprised to learn that his friend had been able confirm payments to the other two congressmen who had been possibles the day before. She has also found and confirmed payments to two others. After a brief but friendly conversation with Hak, they hung up and fixed themselves a light breakfast.

While they were eating, Bonnie asked. "What are your plans for today, Al?"

"I don't really know, sweetheart. There's really not much I can do until I hear back from Mr. Wright. Did you have something you wanted to do?"

"Well, yes, I do. I'd like to go down to the paper, and talk with my boss for a while. I don't intend to tell him everything, only about the congressmen who are on the take. I want to know what his feelings are about the liabilities we might be faced with if we print the story. I'll tell him they are receiving payments from a special interest group, and I won't let him draw me out any further."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to talk with him at all? I don't want these people to know we suspect anything as yet."

"Al, I would trust my boss with my life. He was an old friend of my father's, and I've known him almost all of my life."

"OK, I'll get dressed and we can leave as soon and as you're ready."

"Not on your life, buster. This is something I have to do by myself. I'll take a cab, and check-in with Lt. Slavens before I leave and as soon as I arrive. I'll be perfectly safe, and I don't want to hear any more argument from you."

Al laughed."You sure are a hard lady to get along with at times. All I ask is that you please be careful. Now that I've found you, I don't want to lose you."

Bonnie giggled with then kissed him lightly on the lips. "I have no intention of looking like you did when I first met you in the hospital. As for losing me, don't think you're going to get rid of me that easily. I'd plan to be around for a long time."

Al knew when to give up gracefully. He couldn't help but worry though as he watched her climb into a cab a little over an hour later. After he had watched it pull away, he booted up one of his computers and started making a list of everything they had learned to date.

Bonnie arrived at work without incident, and immediately went in search of her boss. She found him and his office, laying back in his chair, his feet on his desk, reading potential articles for the next day's paper.

Bonnie's boss, Dave Wilson, was an old school newspaperman. As the editor-in-chief, he wanted to read and approved everything that went into his newspaper. He wouldn't have thought of delegating this duty to someone else.

Wilson started out in the newspaper business fresh out of high school. He started in the mail room of his hometown paper. Soon he found himself running errands for the reporters in the city room. Within a year he was writing some of the boring little articles which no one else wanted to bother with. He wrote obituaries, and articles about the firemen getting some little lady's cat out of a tree, and other things the full-fledged reporters thought were beneath them.

When he finally got his own byline, he knew he would be doing this for the rest of his life. He knew he had reached the big time when he had been offered a job at the San Francisco Chronicle. He had been there ever since, working his way from a job as a junior reporter, until he had reached the lofty position of editor-in-chief.

The two things he stressed most to reporters who worked for him, were accuracy and honesty. The accuracy part was easy for most reporters to understand. It's simply meant getting your facts right. If a reporter screwed up the facts in an article, Dave would bring him and explained to him how important was to be absolutely accurate in what was reported. If it happened to second time, the reporter no longer worked for Dave.

What Dave meant by honesty was a little harder for most reporters to understand. Dave didn't believe a newspaper or any news media for that matter should be used as a forum for supporting one person's opinion. He didn't believe a story should have a "slant". Dave wanted his writers to report the news accurately, and in such a manner that the reader could form their own opinions, without being influenced by the opinions of the reporter or the newspaper management.

Dave's opinions had gotten him into trouble with management on more than one occasion. He had been close to being fired several times during his stay at the Chronicle, but had refused to back down from his principles.

Dave was Bonnie's hero in the newspaper business. She had known Dave all her life, and he was the primary reason she had decided to become a reporter in the first place. When she had told Dave of her decision to go into journalism when she finished college, he had assured her a job would be waiting for her when she was ready for it. Bonnie knew she could learn a lot from Dave, so she took him up on his offer.

Bonnie had always been close to her "Uncle" Dave, but now, when she came into his office, she was more than a little concerned about his reaction to what she had to tell him. She wanted to be as honest with him as possible, but she didn't want to betray any of the secrets that could adversely affect Al or his family.

"Good Morning boss," she said, to get his attention. "Anything interesting?"

"Same old crap," he told her, looking up from the stack of papers in his hand. "What the hell you doing here, young lady? You're supposed to be on vacation."

"Well, boss, I'm not very good at this vacation thing. Something's come up that I need to talk to you about. It's very important, but it's not something we can write about immediately."

"If we can't write about it, are you sure you should be talking to me about it?"

Bonnie closed the door to the office, than took a seat across from Dave. "Uncle Dave, I trust you more than I trust just about anyone else, including mom. I've always been able to talk with you. This is a situation where I need advice from both my uncle and my boss. I need to ask you to keep everything I tell you secret until I tell you it is OK to go ahead and print it."

"OK, I guess I understand. You want me to be uncle first, and editor second. Bonnie, I hope you know I will always respect your confidence. You've always been more of a daughter to me then any of my own kids have been."

Bonnie reached across the desk and squeezed his hand. She told him everything that had been happening, holding nothing back, except the names of the other people involved. When she finished, Dave let out a big sign.

"I know I don't have to ask you this, young lady, but are you sure about all of this?"

"Absolutely sure, Uncle Dave. I can't prove it all in a court of law, but in my own heart I'm sure of everything I've told you."

Dave leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. Several seconds went by before he said anything else. "From what you've told me, if these guys activate the computer virus, we wouldn't even be able to report it. Radio and TV would be just as helpless as we would."

"That's the scariest part about it, Uncle Dave. We think we've figured out a way to prevent them from activating the virus. Were going to have to wait until our former FBI agent gets back with us before we'll know for sure. The congressmen, on the take, is another story. Is it something we should go ahead with now?"

Dave smiled and shook his head. "As much as I would like to write that story myself, it wouldn't be a good idea. Even if you prevent the virus from taking effect, they still control a large portion of our economy. If they simply shut down all of the companies they own or control for a few days, they could cripple us for months."

"I know that Linda seemed concerned about the number of companies these people control, but I never really thought about what would happen if they simply closed the companies."

"Didn't you say that one of the people who's involved in this is an economics professor? If so, you should give him a list of the companies they control, and ask him what would happen if they all shut down for a week."

Bonnie thought for a minute, then nodded. "I think I'll do just that. I'm not even sure if Al has thought about that aspect of the problem. I knew there was a reason I wanted to talk with you."

"By the way, young lady, who's this Al you keep talking about? I known you for long time, and I've never seen your face light up so much from just speaking someone's name. I hope he someone who deserves you."

Bonnie blushed, and smiled at her of uncle. "I think he is, Dave. I just hope I deserve him."

"Never doubt yourself, Bonnie. You are a beautiful, intelligent young lady. I take it from what you're saying that you have fallen in love with this guy. Just let him know, if he hurts you, I'll hurt him."

Bonnie giggled. "Uncle Dave, I think I'm a pretty good judge of character. Have you ever seen me swooning over some man, or telling you I was in love?"

"No, Bonnie, you never have. This guy must be something special if you have fallen for him. I wish you the best, and I want your promise to introduce me to him as soon as this is over."

It talked for a few more minutes, then Bonnie excused herself and headed back to Al's place

Al become so engrossed in what he was doing, the ringing of his phone caused him to nearly jump out of his chair. "Al Green speaking," he answered.

A cultured voice came over the phone. "Mr. Green, this is Dr. Jenkins at the Stanford Medical Center emergency room. We have a Ms. Bonnie Gillespie here. She's been in an automobile accident, and she's been asking for you."

"Oh my God. Is she okay?"

"She will be, Mr. Green. She has a broken arm, and quite a bit of bruising, but there doesn't seem to be anything serious. She is asking for you though. If you could come by and see her, I'm sure it would improve her mental state considerably."

"I'll leave immediately, Dr. Jenkins. Thank you so much for calling."

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Green. I'll probably see you when you arrive. Goodbye Mr. Green."

Al dressed quickly and within minutes was in his rental car, heading out. He hadn't cleared the parking lot of his warehouse where he found himself surrounded by five other cars. "Not again," he thought, pounding the steering wheel of the rental car.

Al knew immediately he had screwed up. In fact he had screwed up in several ways. He realized now the phone call about Bonnie must have been bogus. In his fear and frustration he had forgotten to bring along Lt. Slavens' little present. On second thought, maybe that wasn't a screw up after all. If he had the gun with him, he would probably try to use it, and then he would be killed for sure. Maybe this way he at least had a chance.

The men who surrounded his car were not wearing ski masks. He was immediately relieved, thinking that if they were not wearing masks, they might not be planning to do anything bad to him. Then it hit him that they might not care if he saw them because they never planned to let him live to tell about it. He could tell they were all of Oriental descent. One man approached the car and tapped on his window. Al lowered his window slightly. The man smiled at him and said, "Mr. Green, we would like for you to come with us. Our employer would like to speak with you."

"Who is your employer," Al asked him?

"We work for Mitsutronics Corp.," the man answered. "Now, please come with us."

"OK, I've been wanting to meet someone from Mitsutronics. Lead on and I'll follow you."

The man smiled and shook his head. "You don't understand Mr. Green, you will be riding with us. Please don't make this unpleasant for any of us."

Al could see no way out. He quietly got out of his car, and climbed in to the back seat to of a car whose door was being held open for him. There was another man seated on the far side in the back and as soon as he was seated the man holding the door nudged him over and climbed in on his other side.