Chapter 73

It’d been after 10:00 p.m. the previous evening when Prince Rashid finally returned to his embassy, but it was after midnight before Jason, Genna, Thad, and Joel had gone to bed. Those discussions had been very productive, though, for it looked like things would run smoothly, even for such a thrown together group of mismatched people.

One of the first things that had come out was both of the Battens were thoroughly familiar with guns, both long and short. Though they hadn’t had the kind of professional training Joel and his team had, Joel felt they could be taught enough to assist the warriors if the occasion arose. With Thad working around the ranch and hunting in the nearby woods, it was felt his presence, along with the natural traits of the Apache, would make it harder for anyone trying to infiltrate the area. To confuse any non-authorized person trying to penetrate the area close to the farmhouse it was decided to purchase a small herd of cattle to graze along with the horses. This would provide the farm with fresh beef, and the natural randomness of dealing with such animals would make Thad’s activity less predictable.

It was also determined one of Genna’s responsibilities would be to co-ordinate communication among the team members. Jason thought it would be difficult to do along with keeping the house clean, cooking, shopping for groceries, and planting a garden, but she felt she was more than up to the task. Well, at least until Andrea returned with the baby. She was already laying claim to the role of being the baby’s nanny.

Joel thought he and Bennie could swap out driving the h3 until more staff could be brought into the group. This way one of them would always be at the ranch to lead the other four team members, while the other would stay with the vehicle and keep it ready for Jason’s needs. Also, both Joel and Bennie planned to go with Jason to Phoenix for the weekend. The three had been invited to make the trip with Prince Rashid on his private jet.

Jason made a note to himself to check with someone on the ethics committee as how to handle such travel - especially since the Prince was already going to Phoenix to discuss business with Jason’s granddaughter and her husband.

Even with the late hours, Jason was actually up earlier than normal the next morning. By the time he had finished his run and had a cooling down time with Tai Chi, he was ready for breakfast and a busy day. When he entered the kitchen he discovered Genna hadn’t disappointed him in that regard. He also found himself receiving grief from Genna, Thad, and Joel over being outside unarmed and without security protection. Jason listened patiently for a few moments before making a slight move with his hand. Suddenly, before any of the group was able to observe where it had been hidden, his right hand held a wicked looking SIG automatic.

“Don’t always assume the obvious,” remarked Jason. “If I appeared armed an assassin would likely try a low percentage distance shot. If he sees what appears to be an unarmed man he’s more likely to try getting closer to increase his chances of a kill. If he gets that close, then he’s mine. Especially with the extra inch on this SIG’s barrel, because that moves my effective range out to almost a hundred yards, and no one expects a pistol to have that kind of range and still be accurate.”

“Damn!” exclaimed Joel, “where in hell did that come from. I could have sworn there was no place to hide that weapon.”

Jason grinned, and replied, “Sorry, trade secret.”

While Joel and Jason were traveling to Capital Hill Dan was meeting with Hawk and his wives in an early morning conference. The primary topic concerned the prior day’s visit by a group of executives from their computer partner. “I think they’re interested in the new design,” Dan explained, “but they’re trying not to appear too interested. This is merely a futuristic toy at the moment, while their immediate focus is getting the current year’s models to the stores by Thanksgiving. I found it almost laughable they considered all the new colors a more significant impact than being invulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse.”

Trying not to sound disappointed, Hawk asked, “Did anything positive happen?”

“Well, they did give us full rights to the Komtec name in compensation for having right of first refusal on the production and marketing of the new system. It was also decided any royalty fees would be negotiated at that time.”

Hawk looked shocked as he said, “Now, let’s get this straight. We get the name, trademark, logo, etcetera, and they get the right to refuse to pay whatever we come up with concerning a future price. Dan, they can’t be that big a fool.”

“Personally, I suspect several key points. First, they don’t see an immediate need for such a system. Second, I think they feel, given enough time, their engineers can reverse engineer the system and modify it sufficiently to get by any patent we might file. And, for the final point, I think they feel if they decide there really is a need, they can simply buy us out. I don’t expect a squeeze play, but it’s entirely possible.”

“And your thoughts?” asked Brenda.

“Firstly, they’ve no idea how deep our backing is, or where it’s coming from. That negates point three. Concerning points one and two, I think it’s important to not give them the time they’re sure they have, and help them realize how important this technology can be. Finally, I think we move forward without them and then let them coming begging when the shit hits the fan.” Hawk looked at Dan questioningly, yet did not say a thing. Finally, Dan said, “Don’t look at me like that. I may not know exactly what you’re considering, but I know how you think. Remember, I was there when you turned that simple college water battle into all-out war. I love the old line from the Untouchables movie, ‘They pull a knife; you pull a gun. They put one of yours in the hospital; you put one of theirs in the morgue.’ Hawk, that’s the way you play, except you wouldn’t pull a gun, you’d use a fucking grenade launcher.”

“What’s this about a water battle?” asked Brenda.

“While we were at Auburn John and I were living in an off-campus house that was basically a home for the nerdish elite. One Wednesday in the latter half of April one of the fraternities attacked us in the dead of night using buckets of water and water balloons. It was nothing but a typical college prank.”

“OK,” responded Brenda.

“Well, the word got out the next week they were coming back, and little Johnny boy took the lead. We bought every balloon we could get our hands on, along with some washtubs. Then, just after dark, a team raided several of the classroom buildings and ‘borrowed’ all the fire extinguishers powered by compressed air. They proceeded to one of the gas stations that provided free air, and removed the existing contents, replacing them with water and a chemical additive John had gotten a friend to pilfer from the Chemistry Lab. Back at the house, we were filling all the balloons with water and the chemical, and carefully placing them in the wash tubs. Once they were filled we hoisted the tubs onto the roof and waited for our antagonists to arrive. Shortly after midnight several cars pulled up and the ‘enemy’ quietly exited. When they got about halfway to the house we started lobbing the balloons filled with water and concentrated ammonium sulfide. At the same time the team with the fire extinguishers hit the enemy’s house with the same stuff, saturating furniture, carpets, drapes and mattresses. It was a mess.”

Brenda was puzzled, so she said, “Dan, it sounds just like two typical college pranks.”

“Without the extra chemical, it would have been. Ammonium sulfide smells like a mixture of Ammonia and rotten eggs!”

“Yuck! And you say the other group’s house was saturated with this stuff?”

“Yep, they had to pull everything out of the house and gut it. Even some of the sheet rock had to be replaced. It was the next quarter before anyone could live there again. So, that’s why I’ve some idea of what Hawk may do.”

Somewhat embarrassed by Dan’s revelation Hawk replied, “My idea is something I plan to discuss this weekend when Jason gets home. In the meantime, I need to have the three of you cover for me for the next few days so I can write the bios. I’ve also got some radical ideas that will probably require me to make a trip to Redmond, Washington.”

Earlier Jason had observed how Capitol Hill’s security personnel virtually ignored Senators and Congressmen who were wearing a special lapel pin. Thus, making sure he was wearing his own pin, he walked right beside the metal detector carrying his attaché case which contained the pistol and clips he’d taken from his office the previous evening.

No one was in the office, so he unlocked the doors and went into his inner office. Behind closed doors he returned the pistol and clips to their book homes. When the bookshelves were back to normal Jason looked up the number for the head of the Senate Ethics committee. “Senator Wilson’s office. May I help you?”

“Is the Senator available?” asked Jason.

“I’m not sure if he is or not. Who shall I say is calling?”

“Senator Magill.”

“Hold one second.”

Moments later a male voice responded, “This is Bill Wilson. How can I help you, Jason?”

“Bill, I need some clarification and advice in dealing with an ethics issue.”

In a more formalized tone Bill Wilson asked, “In regard to yourself, or another member of the Senate.”

“Myself. I had a visitor last evening from the ruling family of Dubai. He wants to fly me to Phoenix so I can introduce him to my granddaughter and her husband. I was planning on going home this weekend, anyway, but I wasn’t sure I could accept his offer without problems.”

“And the purpose of the meeting?”

“He wants to do business with their company, and feels he’d get a more favorable response following my introduction. There’s been a long-standing relationship between his family and myself - one that requires an explanation to my family.”

“Since your family is involved, is there really a business interest, or is he trying to influence your vote?”

“Bill, I don’t know how Dubai has learned of it, but my granddaughter and her husband’s company is developing some significant technology regarding the transmission of electrical power. My friend’s family wants to see if that technology could enable them to extend and expand their electrical grid, providing cheap and dependable power to more of the remote areas in their country.”

“Jason, I’m sure many of us on the Hill would like to know more about that kind of technology. Thus, it’s my view this falls under the realm of stimulating business interests for your state and not a lobbying attempt to influence legislation. Under those circumstances, the trip would be perfectly justified as part of your normal duties to the citizens of your state. Also, I’ll make note you called for a ruling beforehand, which is a rarity in this place. That should silence any accusations and criticisms that might arise in the future.”

“Thanks, Bill.”

“Not a problem, though I’d caution you to make sure your family gets prior approval from the various agencies concerning the export of this technology.”

“I’ll do that. I can advise you that, from what I understand, the new technology is involved with the manufacturing process, not the product. The product is just rolls of wire, even if it’s a slightly more efficient wire.”

“Then I can’t imagine you having an export problem, especially if the technology was readily available to American companies. Still, it’d be up to others to make the final decision. Of course, if your granddaughter’s company starts running into unreasonable bureaucratic demands or delays, don’t try to influence the guilty agency yourself. Instead, call me, and I’ll see if I can cut through some of the red tape. Lord knows, we need to find all the products we can to export to that region of the world.”

“I agree,” replied Jason, “Especially products that are produced in this country by American workers.”

A surprised Bill Wilson responded, “Jason, I understood you’re a fiscal conservative and a supporter of free trade. That statement didn’t sound like a free-trader.”

“Bill, there’s ‘free trade’ and there’s lunacy. There’s a point where this shipping of jobs overseas has to stop, or there won’t be enough employed people left in this country to buy the products. Personally, I think the trend has gone far beyond the vision of Reagan and his economic advisers.”

“I’m afraid you’re right, and I’m glad to hear there’s a new voice of reason in this place. Lord knows we need more of them.”

“Bill, remember, I’m not a politician. I’m a down in the trenches warrior. I’ve spent most of my life solving immediate life or death problems, and adapting to changing conditions and objectives. That alone gives me a different perspective.”

“I guess it would.”

“Also, I’m a true independent from a state that prides itself on having political leaders that are mavericks. Add to that the fact I’m not accountable to anyone but myself and the people of my state. Most of the others in this place need a constant flow of campaign financing, and have to either march to the beat of their party’s drum, or promote outrageous ideas to get the financial support of the lunatic fringe. I’m not at that point yet, and I hope I never am.”

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The Hawk and the Chipmunk

Mike Lowe aka The Scot

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