Chapter 20: Once more into the breech

“Victor, I just told you that I don’t want to scale up manufacturing to that sort of volume. To do it, I’d have to move production to a bigger site, and that would increase our security risk.”

Victor Martin was still my primary contact at Lockheed. We had been discussing production forecasts all morning long. He did not seem to want to listen to my arguments and would not tell me why he suddenly needed five times the volume of my carbon nano-tube stealth coating.

He looked as frustrated as I felt. He loosened his tie, and then pulled out a sheet of paper.

“Sign this, and I can explain,” he said.

I read over the paper. It was a typical in-brief document stating that I was a party to a Top Secret project titled “Long Dart,” and that I understood the restrictions regarding this project. I hesitated, then signed and dated the page.

“Okay, now tell me what this is about.”

Victor gave me a tight smile.

“How familiar are you with the B-1 bomber?” he asked.

I shrugged and said, “I’ve seen pictures of it. It’s an impressive looking plane. Why?”

“It was a political hot potato in the 1980 election. We knew it was vulnerable to Soviet technology based on the Belenko defection in 1976. That’s when we first learned about the MIG-31, and its projected capabilities. Carter canceled the program. Reagan brought it back in ‘83, even though he knew we had a stealth bomber on the drawing board. That design is based on a totally different airframe type.”

I nodded. From my own past, I knew the flying-wing concept the B-2 would use to minimize its radar cross section. I assumed they wanted to use my coating to improve the stealth characteristics even more.

“It must be a big mother, if you need me to scale up production to the levels we’re talking about,” I said.

Victor grimaced and said, “That’s just it. We’re thinking that we can apply your coating to the B-1 and have an aircraft that runs at about a quarter of the cost of the new bomber, with just as much stealth. Because of our work on the F-117, we got the contract to do this study. We need to be able to cover about a thousand square meters of surface. We also want to coat the first stages of the engine’s compressor blades. You’ve been producing about a hundred kilos a month for us, since you came to California two years ago. If our tests work as we expect them to, we’re going to want to apply the coating to all 100 of the B-1s that have been ordered, starting as soon as possible. At your current production rates, you would need fifty months to produce enough coating. If we add in the coating for the new bomber, the Air Force is going to need even more from you. You have to increase production!”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Damn it. Does this mean Lockheed is going to release me from our contract?”

“What?” he asked, surprised.

“You have rights to purchase 100% of our production. Are you building the new bomber? If not, how would they get my coating?”

Victor paled as he said, “We’re going to have to talk about that. We’re not one of the contractors on that project, though we’ve been brought in to review some of the work during the latest design reviews.”

“So you want to modify a B-1, and have it show up the new bomber?” I asked with a smile. “It makes sense if the B-1’s are cheaper to build as well. We’re still talking about three-and-a-half million per plane just for the coating. How are you planning to apply it?”

“We’re thinking of a whole surface replacement. We’ll pull the airframe panels, coat them --along with the screw heads-- and then put them back on the aircraft. It will be a pain to do the refit, but we don’t see any other way. The engines we’ll just change out. We’re working with GE to apply the coating to the rest of them during production.”

I shook my head. “Crap.” I thought about the production set up in Austin. “Okay, I can set up parallel production lines, but am going to have to buy or build a bigger space. How much lead time do I have?”

“Current production, and the stockpile of the coating we’ve built up, should let us handle the test contract, which is just two coated aircraft. However, we’re pretty sure the Air Force is going to want to move forward pretty quick, once they see the data. Maybe ten months. We have a demonstration milestone in six, and have already started applying the coating on one aircraft.”

“You know, using the coating is going to come out if you guys do this, don’t you?”

“Why do you say that? We’ve got good operational security.”

“B-1s are already on folks’ radar. They know the airplanes are not fully stealthy. Once you start coating them, someone will notice they are much stealthier. If you do this, it’s just a matter of time ‘till they figure it out.”

“Kelly!” I yelled as I walked into the offices. “Can you get Alison to fly over here? I need to meet with her before school starts up.”

Kelly stuck her head out of her office and frowned at me. She knew where I had come from. “Problems in Austin?” she asked.

“Problems everywhere. Whatever happened to ‘relaxing over the summer?’”

Kelly followed me into my office and shook her head. “Do I need to call Jeryl, and have her come back here early?”

Jeryl was visiting Michigan with her family. She had been gone for a little over a week on a two-week trip. Kelly had been teasing me about missing my girlfriend since the second day she was gone.

“No,” I said more sharply than I intended. I sat down, scowled at her and added, “I don’t know why I’m so pissed at Lockheed. Maybe I need a break, too.”

Kelly dropped into the chair in front of my desk. She was dressed stylishly as always in a white skirt and light blue blouse. She had cut her hair shorter after we moved out to California two years ago, and now looked like a young Meg Ryan. She smiled at me.

“Hey, you’ve been working hard since we got out here. You’ve spent two years doing double work in the school of engineering, you’re involved in the review process of every start-up we fund, you still review every research paper that comes in here, and you’ve booked yourself almost solid all summer long meeting with different partners. You do need a break.”

I glanced down at my desk calendar. Today was Wednesday and I had no free time scheduled until Sunday when Jeryl was supposed to return. I knew the rest of the summer was the same way.

“Shit.”

Kelly smiled again as she said, “You don’t have to do it all, yourself. You know that, don’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s next on your calendar?”

“Time to review Professor McTavish’s latest research plan.”

“How urgent is it? Do you have reason to believe she is off-track?”

“No. It’s not urgent, but I need to get it done before the end of the month, so Candace can move funds in July. Her current funding grant runs out then.”

“Beginning or end of July?”

“End.”

“Do you need anything specific from her?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you expecting material or research from her that is holding something else up?”

“No.”

“Then reviewing that plan is not important or urgent. Schedule it after the 4th. What’s next?”

Instead of answering her, I pushed my calendar to her. “Here,” I said.

Kelly grabbed the calendar and then picked up a red pencil from the coffee cup I used as a holder. She began crossing things off and fitting them into smaller blocks of time after the upcoming 4th of July holiday. I watched her quietly.

Finally, she tossed the marked up calendar back at me. “There. Now you have three hours a day in the office this week instead of twelve.”

“How?” I looked at her notes and changes.

She stood and leaned over my desk and stared me straight in the eye. “Del-le-gate!” she growled.

“I knew you were going too deep this summer. I saw you do it last year, as well. That’s why you’re interviewing for an advisory panel this week and next week instead of doing the review work yourself. We’re also adding a secretary, just for you and Jeryl. Laura can take care of Candace and me, and she can handle Dad when he’s out here, but you two need a firmer hand. We’re going to get you someone that can coordinate things, and make sure you are out of here at a reasonable hour. Paul, if you don’t take care of yourself, I swear I’m going to call Mom and have her come stay for the summer.”

Her look made me swallow my flippant response.

“Okay, sis. You’re right.”

She smiled. She loved being right. “Good. I’m glad you didn’t make that harder than I expected,” she said as she sat back down.

“Now, I’ve already done a first round of interviews for your secretary. Of course, I posted it as an executive assistant, since they aren’t going to just answer the phone and file things for you. The two candidates I’ve short-listed are going to be in here tomorrow morning. I expect you to give them a fair interview. Both can do the job. I want you to determine whom you are more comfortable with.”

“Jeryl doesn’t get a say?”

“She helped in the first round of interviews,” Kelly said with a grin. “She agreed that we just needed to do this so you wouldn’t over think it.”

I shook my head. I knew when Kelly and Jeryl got together on a plan, I was beat. “Okay. I get the picture. How much are we paying this assistant?”

Kelly smiled and said as she stood up, “When have Jeryl or I ever let you set salaries? You keep your eye on the big things, Paul. We’ll take care of the rest.” As she headed for the door she added, “You have an hour before we go home. I think you should take me out to dinner tonight, so don’t take any work home.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a forced smile.

“So, do we have plans for the 4th of July company barbecue yet?” Candace asked as we all pushed back from the conference table. Jeryl had returned Sunday evening on the same flight Candace had caught from Chicago. They had joined Kelly and myself this morning as we discussed expanding our Austin production facility. Candace had spent most of the morning going over the available real estate. We had finally decided to buy land, and put up a dedicated building.

“We’ve got three days to sort it out,” I said. “With all the extra time you ladies have arranged in my schedule, I figured I’d have plenty of time to pick up stuff for the grill.”

“What about our new employees?” Kelly asked. “Do you know if Laura or Matthew have family to bring?”

I waved a hand at her imperiously. “I’ll delegate that to you, sis,” I said with a grin. “Besides, they would have to have really big families to run us out of food, if last year was any indication.”

Everyone laughed.

“I was surprised you chose Matthew, Paul. I thought for certain you would choose Ruth,” Kelly said.

I had spent an hour with each of her and Jeryl’s candidates as our new executive assistant. By the end of the second hour, I knew it was no choice in my mind and I also knew they were going to be surprised.

“A medically retired staff sergeant from the Marine Corps, or a Jewish grandmother type? I have enough women in my life telling me what to do. Of course I chose the Marine.”

Jeryl grinned at Kelly. “I guess you have to pay up that bet now,” she said sweetly.

Kelly blushed.

“What bet was that?” I asked.

“Never you mind,” Kelly snapped. “It was between Jeryl and me. Not you.”

I glanced at Jeryl who avoided my gaze. Curious.

“Well,” I said, “what about you ladies? Are either of you bringing a guest, this year?” Both Kelly and Candace avoided my eyes. “Kelly? No junior partners from one of the other VC firms you want to bring around?”

She had been dating one guy off and on for the past two months.

“I swear you’ve blushed more in the past two minutes, than I’ve seen you blush in the past year,” Candace said to Kelly with a smile.

“You guys can stop picking on me,” Kelly said without heat in her voice.

BOOM!

A wall of sound hit us through the closed door of the conference room as the building shook. A second later, the fire alarm sounded and sprinklers popped off. I was closest to the door and moved toward it. Kelly, Jeryl and Candace were just starting to stand as I put a hand to the door. I could see a flickering light beneath it.

“Fire!” I yelled.

My ears were still ringing so I wasn’t sure anyone else could hear me. I motioned them toward the sliding doors leading to the terrace that ran along the back of our building. I got us all out and closed the doors behind us.

“Paul, what was that?” Candace asked as she looked over my shoulder.

I turned and saw a flicker of flame on the wall by the door.

“I don’t know. We need to head down and get clear.”

I pushed her toward the fire escape at the far end of the terrace. Jeryl was the first down the ladder. I was the last. No one else from our offices appeared on the terrace.

“Oh my God! Laura!” Kelly sobbed, as she realized who was not with us.

Laura, Kelly’s secretary had been the only other person in our office this morning. She had been manning the receptionist’s desk by the entryway.

I grabbed Kelly in my arms and said, “Calm down. She might be out front.”

The terrace and our escape ladder were at the back of the building, overlooking the golf course. We stayed close together and moved around the building.

Three fire trucks were already in the parking lot and men in heavy protective equipment were pushing through the front door as a couple of dozen people streamed out. We could see smoke coming from the front windows on the top floor --our floor. Kelly looked around the crowd and then fell against me sobbing.

Jeryl hugged us both close. I watched helplessly as the professionals began pulling charged hoses into the building. The other tenants that saw us gave us a wide berth. It was obvious they thought we had caused the fire from their looks.

Police and the local fire chief were huddled together watching the scene when I finally shook myself loose from the ladies and walked over to them.

A police officer tried to stop me with a hand, but I ignored him.

“You need to call the FBI,” I said before they had really even taken notice of me. That statement got their attention.

“Why? And who are you to tell us what to do?” the head fireman on the scene asked.

“I’m Paul Taylor. My company owns the building. We were on the third floor when that bomb went off and killed our secretary.”

“What?” The policeman asked.

“Our secretary, Laura Wilkins was in the outer office. That’s where the explosion happened. The rest of us were in the back conference room,” I said as I motioned to the ladies. “Someone sent us a bomb. Laura opens all packages. I saw a box with a stack of mail on it when we went into the conference room.”

“Shit,” the cop said dispassionately. He grabbed his radio and stepped away from us as he keyed the mike and began speaking. A minute later, he was back.

“Homicide is on the way. They’ll decide if the FBI needs to be called.”

The interview room made me feel dirty despite its sterile appearance. The walls were mostly white. The lighting was good. The air conditioning was keeping the room comfortably cool. I still felt dirty. Part of it might have been the smoke and soot on my clothes.

More of it had to do with the feeling of blood on my hands. Laura had been with us since we opened the California offices, almost two years ago. She was a kind, efficient woman who always treated Kelly and Jeryl and I more like friends than bosses. She had just gotten engaged to her long time boyfriend who had just finished his MBA at Stanford.

The door to the room opened and two men entered. One was the detective who had taken my statement earlier. The other was more clean-cut, and was more silent than a local cop deserved to be. The new man extended his hand.

“I’m Special Agent Jamison,” he said.

I shook his hand. They sat down and pulled out my statement. The police detective deferred to the FBI agent.

“Mr. Taylor, have you received any threats recently? Any indications that someone would want to harm you?”

“No. At least nothing that was brought to my attention. I retain a security firm. We’ll need to check with them on anything they might have observed. They brought nothing to my attention, so I’m assuming there were no warning signs.”

Agent Jamison nodded and asked, “Alison Wilson’s firm, correct?”

I nodded and asked, “Do you have a file on me, or are you guys that fast?”

“We have a file relating to your security clearance. We’ve check out your associates previously in connection with government contracts you hold as well. You’re a very interesting young man, sir.”

“Call me ‘Paul.’”

I tried to think of a way to tell them the name of the Unabomber. I suspected that is who had sent us a package, but there was no logical explanation of how I would know his name. If I just blurted it out, they would crucify me as an accomplice or sympathizer.

“Any ideas on who did this?” I asked.

“No, not yet. It might be the same person that we think is responsible for a bomb at UC Berkeley in May, and one mailed to Boeing, last month.”

“I heard about the Berkley one. Nothing about Boeing, though.”

“It was defused,” Agent Jamison said. “We got lucky on that one. If this was the same person, attacking you, fits one of the profiles we have working.”

“One of them?”

“We have dueling profiles, right now. The task force I’m on has existed since ‘79. Until two years ago, we thought the bomber was a neo-Luddite. They hate technology and believe it is poisoning mankind. Our current profile is leaning more toward a disgruntled airline mechanic. Given the targets of the past two bombings, it’s still a toss up.”

“And my work hits both profiles,” I said.

“That’s right.”

“Shit.”

The agent nodded in agreement and commented, “That’s a pretty apt summary.”

“So what’s next?” I asked.

“You go home and get cleaned up. It will take us a couple of weeks to release the scene back to you for renovation or sale. We don’t have any instances of this nut job attacking the same place twice, so you should be safe. Other than that, I can’t really say.”

“That’s not good enough for me,” I said. “I’ll put up a million dollar reward for this guy, whoever he is.”

“That’s very noble, Paul, but I don’t think our agency is going to support that.”

“I’m not giving you a choice. For Laura and her fiancé, I’ll go straight to the news people with the reward.”

“You can’t do that. You’ll create a witch hunt.”

I thought of Laura’s ready smile, and the pride she’d taken in showing off her new diamond ring, last month. “I don’t care. I don’t want anyone else killed by this idiot.”

He sighed. “You could ruin any evidence that is uncovered by that approach.”

“Not if you guys support it. Set up a phone center to handle the calls. I’ll pay for it. This is the first death from this guy, right?”

“It is, as far as we know.”

“Then use that as the basis for the reward.”

“Don’t you think you should discuss this with your security team before deciding?”

I looked him in the eye. “I’m not hiding from a bully and a terrorist. I’ll pay more for my security, but I’m not going to let someone like this get away with murder.” I added as I stood up, “Talk it over with your bosses. I’ll be putting out a statement, tomorrow. The FBI can be onboard or get steamrolled.”

I looked at the police detective and said, “I’m going home. You guys have my address if you need me.”

I walked out of the room.

“Yes, I’m furious!” Alison said as she looked at Jeryl and me as well as Tiffany who was staying with us this month.

“Paul and Jeryl, were you ever going to activate your trackers so we would know there was a problem? Tiffany, why did you wait for them here? You should have been at the office as soon as you heard the call on the scanner. Why did I learn about the attack twelve hours after the fact? I should have been notified as soon as you learned there was a problem. What if the farm was targeted at the same time? Why did you come back here --to a known location-- before you knew it was safe and secure?”

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, then added, “Obviously, we have gotten slack over the past two years. For that I blame myself.”

I could tell she was serious. I also had to agree with her. She was the expert.

“You’re right, Alison,” I said. “I should have alerted Tiffany immediately. Hitting my tracker was the obvious way to do it, and I didn’t. It never even entered my mind.”

Tiffany frowned at me. I chose to interpret it as a thank-you. Alison nodded and appeared to calm herself some more. She had landed in San Francisco early this morning. If she had not already been planning on flying over to discuss the new Austin plant’s security needs, it would have been amazing how quickly she arrived on the scene.

She turned her gaze to Sanford as he stepped into the room. “I’ve checked the property and everything is set,” he said. “All the monitors are active. I’ll be downstairs in the monitoring room.”

He left us without another word. The monitoring room was in the basement.

“We need to leave town for a bit,” Alison announced. “The Deer Valley house is probably the best place.”

“No. We need to be here for the funeral.”

“We’ll come back for it,” she said, her tone and firm lips indicating there was not much room for argument. “I’ll have staff over here to take over care of the house while we’re gone.”

“That’s fine, but the FBI doesn’t think we’re at risk.”

“They aren’t being paid to protect you. Until my team reaches the same conclusion, I want to move you to a safer location. Besides, we need to re-evaluate security in Utah with this threat in mind, as well.”

“What do you mean?” Jeryl asked, as she had come to love our getaway in the mountains.

“Probably a gatehouse, and the ability to screen mail and packages,” Alison replied. “Now, I want you all to pack a small carry-on bag. I’ll arrange transport. I want us in Utah tonight!”

“I’ll stay here,” Candace said. “I’ll check into a hotel if you insist, but I need to stay here and don’t think I’m much of a target.”

Alison looked at her for a minute, calculating. Finally, she nodded. “Stay here, then. Tiffany or her replacement will be here to keep an eye on things, and provide security for you.”

“I should stay as well,” Kelly said.

“No, you need to go. You’re Paul’s sister, not just a lawyer or business partner. If there is still a threat, you make too appealing of a target.”

I nodded this time. “I agree. Besides, you need a break.” She had been pretty brittle last night and this morning. She had been close to Laura.

I stood up and held out a helping hand to Jeryl and then Kelly. We all headed to our rooms to pack a bag. Alison followed me upstairs and ducked into our home office to use the phone.

Three hours later, we were on a G-III flying east. Alison handed each of us a tumbler of very expensive scotch. “You may not feel it, but you are in shock. Drink up. It won’t change anything, but it will help you relax.”

I took a sip and shivered at the feeling and taste. Jeryl wrinkled her nose after her first sip. Kelly sipped without emotion. Alison patted her shoulder and then caught my eye. I kept the glass in my hand and followed her to the back of the plane.

“I’ll get a professional to visit us in Utah,” Alison said. “Kelly is taking this pretty hard.”

I sipped the scotch, then said, “I think Laura was her best friend in California. I can hardly fathom it. I dealt with Laura a lot less than Kelly did. Most days during the year, it was just the two of them in the office.”

Alison nodded. “Now what’s this about offering a reward?”

I explained. The FBI had finally agreed, just before we left town. I was going to announce it after Laura’s funeral.

“I agree with your sentiment, but don’t want you to announce it, personally. If you do, this nut case may come after you again. Let the Bureau handle it. You just sign the check.”

“I think we should make a company statement, but I don’t have to read it.”

“Okay, but let me read it, first,” she said. “In Utah, I want to see you on the range again. You can’t get a concealed carry permit, but we’ve got Brownings in the cars and house.”

“You don’t really think there is a threat, do you?” Her attitude was a little scary.

“Until I talk to your FBI contact, I won’t know. It would be foolish for us to assume there was no threat. You’re better served if we assume there is, and act accordingly. Unless you want to allow Jeryl or Kelly to be put at risk?”

I scowled, and she gave me a tight smile with her unnervingly arched eyebrow. She made her point well.

“I’ll also be checking up on your Krav Maga practice, while I’m here.”

I nodded. I had no problems with that. It was always good to change up the instruction.

“We’re also going to start having some drills. You should have sent up the alert as soon as you were clear of the building. What if the bomb was intended to drive you out of the building for a snatch and grab?”

It was my turn to frown.

“I know. Tiffany was only five minutes away. I should have alerted her immediately. We should have stayed at the back of the building. Nobody could have approached us without warning from the golf course.”

“Do you remember interviewing me three years ago?”

“Yes.”

“Then you were worried about protecting your family and friends from long-term economic harm. I think you need to re-evaluate that stance now. This might have been a one-time attempt, but you’ve made enough of an impact to make enemies. You need to start thinking about protecting them from physical harm, and you need the take it seriously. Understand?”

I nodded and took a longer drink of scotch. Alison nodded back. There was no sympathy in her eyes.

Jeryl and I were snuggled together in the master suite of the house when I heard a soft tap on the door. I slipped out of the bed without waking Jeryl who had just dozed off and opened the door a crack to see who it was. Kelly looked in on me with a tear-streaked face.

“Paul, can I sleep in here? I don’t want to be alone.”

I opened the door fully, and pulled her in for a hug.

“Of course you can. Come on in.”

Kelly had on a loose t-shirt that covered her to mid-thigh. She stayed tucked under my arm as we moved to the bed. Jeryl stirred as I lifted the covers and she slipped in. I gave Kelly a little hip nudge to move her to the center of the bed and climbed in after her, trying to be a gentleman, but still catching a glimpse of her lovely legs. I pushed any lustful thoughts away.

“Thank you,” Kelly whispered as she rolled on her side and gave me a hug.

Jeryl, now mostly awake, scooted in behind her and reached around her to give us both a hug. “It will be alright, Kelly,” she said.

I moved my arm and she lowered her head to my chest as Jeryl stroked her back. Soon, she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I woke in almost the exact same position except Jeryl’s arm was draped over Kelly’s waist and her hand was making slow circles on my stomach. My morning erection was getting stroked lightly every third or fourth circle. Kelly was still sleeping soundly.

I used my free hand to stop Jeryl. This was hardly the time to scare or startle Kelly and I knew if Jeryl kept teasing me, we would do something I would regret, and Kelly might never forgive.

I slipped out from under the covers and walked quietly around the bed to give Jeryl a kiss. Then I headed to the bathroom to take care of a few things. Jeryl appeared to be asleep again when I came out in my workout clothes and headed downstairs to hit the treadmill. It was a beautiful summer day in the mountains. I was surprised to see Alison on the elliptical machine as I entered the workout room.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Good morning. I was thinking about a run, but after our talk I figured you would tell me not to.”

She gave me a tight smile. “You’re a smart boy, Paul.”

I settled into a warm-up pace. “How long have you been up?”

“A couple of hours. My body clock is somewhere over the Atlantic, as best as I can tell. Once it got light out, I decided to get in a workout.”

Alison was trim and fit. She had on black running shorts and a black sports bra as well as running shoes. I knew she was in her mid-thirties, but she could have easily passed as a co-ed on campus. I carefully put any thoughts about her body out of mind and increased my pace.

“How’s Kelly?” She asked as she finished up her own workout and grabbed a towel from the pile set in a cabinet by the door.

“Wrung out. She had problems sleeping and came to Jeryl and me last night.”

Alison nodded as if she knew that already. “I’ve got a doctor coming out this afternoon. I want all of you to talk with her. I’m also arranging for Jeryl’s Aunt Helen to come out. She has training in grief counseling and can help you all. Jim and Beth will be here later today, as well as Jeryl’s sisters and Mother. Her father is on a fishing trip in Canada, so I haven’t been able to reach him yet.”

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