Chapter 35: ... and Prejudice

“Colonel, do you really expect us to believe no one in the Air Force is willing to have a frank conversation with Saudis about this?” Alison asked a very nervous Colonel Conright from the Office of Strategic Security.

We had flown to the labs in Nevada, our most secure home in Alison’s mind and made some calls. At first, people had denied any contract or risk. Then Alison had revealed some of her team’s intelligence and applied a little pressure to some MI-6 friends to get further confirmation. It took a week, but the Colonel had finally come for a face to face visit.

“Our war efforts are at a delicate balancing point,” The Colonel said. “We’re using Saudi facilities to build up our forces, and can’t risk creating a rift in the coalition.”

“And they’re not risking that?” Alison asked.

I had had enough. I was not going to tolerate a risk to my family.

“Colonel, I am directing my companies to stop all production of stealth materials in the event of an attack by foreign interests on myself, my family, or any of my employees. I will also be approaching the States in the region that are not supportive of the Saudi regime with lucrative licensing deals for both generators and other materials of interest.”

The Colonel was smart enough to know I meant Israel.

“Let’s not be hasty, Paul.”

“I’ll give you until the end of the week to have the contract squashed! If we can’t confirm it is pulled, I will be publicly opening discussions with Israel. My orders to cease all production in the event of an attack, successful or otherwise, will go into effect, today.”

I stood up. It was time to be done with talking.

Alison came into my office in the house after escorting the Colonel back to the airstrip.

“Is it a good idea to threaten the government, Paul?”

“Good or bad, it’s done,” I said. She arched an eyebrow at me and then nodded. “I’d like to be ready to carry through my threat. Can you reach out to our new friends from Cynthia’s list? I think a private discussion with the Israeli Secretary of State and an exiled Kuwaiti prince may be in order.”

“I will see what we can do. Neither attended the symposium in Switzerland.”

“I know. Do you have any contacts with Iran?”

“Why?”

“‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”

I was thinking out loud now. I also knew that Iran was an exporter of Islamic fundamentalism in the future. Opening a dialogue now might help curtail that.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Paul.”

“I know. Explore our options to open business discussions. Only initiate conversations from the houses in Ireland or Switzerland. No correspondence to any of our other offices. No meetings except in Switzerland.”

Alison’s frown was concerning, but she nodded and jotted down a note.

“Have you written out your orders for production in the event of an attack?”

“Already sent to the central server with copies routed to Matthew, Kelly, Candace, Jim, and Jeryl.”

“What do you want to do about Thanksgiving?”

“How’s security in Maine?”

“Tight. However, you’ve gone to Maine every Thanksgiving since you bought the place. It’s a predictable pattern. It is also possible the contract has already been accepted, and so we should avoid it.”

“Any alternatives? Much as I like things here, I don’t think this is the right place for Thanksgiving. We’ve got a lot of flights to change, if we’re going someplace else.”

“Ireland, Saint Lucia, or Austin. I would recommend Hawaii if you hadn’t spent so much time there over the past month. Someone might have gotten eyes on you there, already. Deer Valley is very secure as well, but you’ve spent a lot of time there, too.”

“Let’s talk to Jeryl, but I think Austin might be the answer.”

Thanksgiving was tense. We all tried to unwind in Austin, but having no news from the government or Alison’s network kept everyone from relaxing fully. We stayed on the property and tried to enjoy the company of our family while slowly re-engaging with our business interests around the world. My greatest frustration was having to use a treadmill instead of pounding out some miles outside to clear my head and think.

“It isn’t all bad,” Jeryl said as she rubbed my shoulders after a lunch of leftovers on Black Friday.

I sighed as her fingers worked the tension in my neck. “No, it seems like we’ve used this house less than the others. It really is a nice place.”

“And you can’t knock the weather.” It had been pleasantly warm with just enough cooling at night. “Ali and Jeremy seem happy as well.”

Ali had complained about not being able to sail or play on the beach, but had quickly fallen back into her routine of Anna led activities. Jeremy was beginning to be much more mobile as well. I sat up straighter and pulled Jeryl into my lap for a kiss. She molded herself against me.

“Wow, that was nice,” she said our lips parted.

“Likewise.”

The phone on my desk rang.

“Shit,” I said as I got up after Jeryl got off my lap. I picked up the phone on the fourth ring and said, “This is Paul.”

“Please hold for the President of the United States,” a woman’s voice said. That got my attention.

The line clicked and a voice said, “Paul, this is George Bush. I hope I did not catch you at a bad time.”

“No, Mister President,” I said. Jeryl’s eyes went wide.

“I wish I could have made this call sooner, so you could have better enjoyed your Thanksgiving, but I wanted to let you know that I have had direct conversations with Prince Abdullah in Saudi Arabia. He has assured me that whoever opened the contract within Saudi Aramco will be found and dealt with. He has apologized for the insult and asked me to assure you that this incident was not a reflection of official policy, sentiment, or intent.”

“That’s very good to hear, Mister President.”

“Paul, I want you to know that what you have done for the military is going to save a lot of lives in the near future. I also want you to know that I personally appreciate the conversations you have been having with regards to what happens after the war. I believe your arguments for not maintaining a permanent presence in Saudi Arabia may have been what actually triggered this action.”

“How so, Mister President?”

“A few folks at the CIA believe the Saudi Oil Company was looking at annexing Iraqi oil fields after we kick them out of Kuwait. They felt that a permanent U.S. presence would prevent dispute of such actions. I want you to know that the U.S. government would not support such actions.”

“That’s good to hear, sir.”

“Well, I will let you get back to your family and friends. I hope you can relax a little now and enjoy the holidays.”

“Thank you, Mister President. I appreciate you taking the time to discuss this with me directly.”

“Paul, I want you to know that I view you as a national asset. What you have done for our military, our nation, and the world is worth safe guarding.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said with a lump in my throat. I was surprised at the effect his words had on me.

Christmas was a much better holiday. We were in our Deer Valley house, enjoying the snow covered vistas outside our windows and the warm companionship of our immediate family, instead of worrying about threats and war.

“Mrs. Eccles has finished the menu planning for Christmas dinner,” Jeryl informed me as she came into the office. “Are you going to be alright with a rib roast and a ham, or do I need to tell her to cook more?” she asked with a grin.

“No, I’m sure that will be plenty unless Stephen and Christopher are champion eaters.”

This was going to be the first holiday where Jordan and Jyl would be bringing their significant others to a family get together.

Jeryl smiled at me and sat on the edge of my desk. She was wearing white ski pants and a black Diamond Skin top. She looked as appealing as she had on our first ski adventure, so many years ago. I lifted her hand to my lips and gave it a kiss.

“Are you close to finishing for the day? I want to get a few runs in by ourselves before all the company arrives this week.”

“Almost. Cindy received some inquiries from the Middle East, for generators. She wanted my input before responding or putting them in the order pipeline.”

“Where from? Israel?”

“No. We already had orders for six from them. These came from Iran.”

“Can you do business with them without government approval?”

“I’m not sure. I need to get Jim and Kelly investigating that before I respond, but I need to decide if I want to do business with them first.”

Jeryl shrugged. “It’s not like they can’t use their oil for power. Is it more important to you that they have cleaner energy and normalize some relations with the west or that they continue to be punished for actions over a decade ago?”

“As usual, you help me get to the heart of the matter. I think it’s something I should ponder on the ski lift.”

“Excellent answer,” she said with a smile.

Soon, we were skiing down to the lift from outside our house. I watched Jeryl’s hips shift as she easily navigated the path through the trees, and smiled. I could follow that ass anywhere, I thought.

We enjoyed a couple of hours of easy skiing and then headed home after seeing one of the Range Rovers on our driveway from the lift.

“Why would Sanford have a car out?” Jeryl asked as we carried our skis into the locker.

“I’ve no idea. It looks like he brought someone to the house.”

I pulled off my ski boots as Alison appeared at the inside door of the ski locker.

“Paul, Stan from Gulfstream is here to see you.”

“Really? That’s a surprise.” I followed Alison into the office and saw Stan warming his hands at the fireplace.

“Paul, sorry to stop by unannounced and unexpected,” he said as he shook my hand. “I was actually out here looking at a property when I got a call from the head office.”

“Nothing too serious, I hope,” I said as I motioned him to sit down.

“Serious, yes, but not bad news. Gulfstream agreed to our joint proposal. We’re a go for the GO-X.”

I broke into a grin. GO-X was our working name for the Gulfstream Orbital - eXperimental. It looked like we were going to take a stab at privatizing spaceflight two decades ahead of my prior history.

“That’s excellent news,” I said. “I can hardly think of a better Christmas gift. Does Harry know?”

“Not yet. Like I said, I was close by and thought you would like to know first.”

“Well, let’s call him. It’s late across the pond, but he would want us to wake him up for this.”

The three of us had worked out the rough design for the GO-X over the course of a few months. Our stated goal was a sub-orbital capability with capacity for a dozen passengers plus cargo. Our actual design goal was 30,000 kilograms to low earth orbit. Given our power plant capabilities, if we could get that mass to LEO, we could get it anywhere in the solar system, since we did not need to carry huge masses of oxidizer and fuel, as a traditional spaceship would.

Harry was ecstatic at the news.

“When can we get together to get to planning?” he asked after letting loose with a joyous yell.

“How about Ireland, the second week of January?” I suggested.

“Excellent,” both men said. We ended our call to Harry and I brought Stan upstairs to the living room to share the news with Jeryl and Alison.

“What’s this mean?” Alison asked. “Something else earth shaking and dangerous?”

I laughed as I poured a celebratory scotch for us all. “Earth shaking, yes. Dangerous, maybe, but not how you think.”

She arched an eyebrow at me, as did Jeryl.

“Just so long as you don’t decide to be a test pilot,” Jeryl said.

We all laughed and then raised our glasses for a toast to the GO-X.

“The war began at midnight, Baghdad local time,” the BBC announcer said as we watched footage of aircraft taking off from a dessert strip. “While official details have not yet been released, correspondents in the city reported multiple explosions occurring simultaneously at 12:05 followed by an immediate loss of power throughout the city. Shortly there after, the night sky was lit up by streams of tracers and missile launches as the Iraqi air defense network engaged the attackers.”

The scene on the screen changed to a briefing room. “We go now to Stanley Roberts at the Central Command briefing.”

An Air Force General strode to the podium as cameras flashed and then the room settled.

“At midnight local time, coalition forces began the air campaign to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait and eliminate their capabilities to export aggression on their neighbors. Sorties were launched in theater, using joint coalition naval and ground based aircraft. Over one hundred missions were successfully executed during the night with no coalition casualties.”

He uncovered a large map showing the region around Baghdad, and another showing Kuwait and the roads leading toward Basra. The map around Baghdad had red circles on the air-defense positions as well as the military and civilian airfields. The camera zoomed in on the map.

“Our primary objective in the first wave of attacks was to eliminate Iraqi air power as well as their air defense capability. I am happy to say that this has been accomplished. Our battle damage assessments indicate that the only air defense capability remaining around the capital are mobile units attached to their operational forces.”

The camera shifted to the other map.

“We also decimated the forces encamped in Kuwait. The Republican Guard units holding the region were targeted by our forces and engaged. We do not believe these forces have retained any operational capability.”

The general switched on a large monitor showing the frozen image of a group of tanks sitting in revetments. “This is imagery captured by our aircraft. The pinpoint of light sitting on each tank is an infrared target designator. Another aircraft released guided munitions designed to home on these specific coded designators. You can see the results for yourself.”

He paused as the video played. There was just enough jitter in the frame to indicate movement and then there were nearly simultaneous flashes on all the tanks. The camera angle widened as the flare died down and debris and fire could be seen from all the targets.”

“Two hundred and twelve armored vehicles were destroyed in this attack. Similar techniques were used on the Iraqi air force, and air defense commands.”

“Holy Shit,” Harry said as we watched another video of a different attack. “How in the hell did you yanks pull that off?” he asked. “It looks like a time-on-target down to the second.”

I nodded and kept my mouth shut. I had a pretty good idea of how they had done it all. This was a much different air campaign than had been executed in my prior life. I suspected the F-117s were the targeting platform and B-1 bombers, modified as we had discussed years ago, had been the munitions delivery platform. During our design consultation, we had discussed possible tactics that would make use of our planned capabilities.

“Serves the bastards right,” Stan said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a long war.”

“Let’s hope not,” I said. We agreed to turn the volume down and get back to work. We had woken to the news of war this morning, but were also close to finalizing some significant planning milestones for the GO-X.

Later that afternoon, as Harry and Stan were back in front of the television for their war update, I was surprised to see Matthew walk into my office. We had chosen our offices in Dublin for their location as well as having room to grow. Our plant was several kilometers out of town, north west of the city; the house was south west and further away. Our offices were the top floors of a renovated warehouse downtown. We had spent a bit of money opening up the outside walls to improve natural light and then put an open floor plan in place. We still had a cluster of interior offices for key folks.

I stood up from my desk and met Matthew part way to my desk and steered him back outside my office to an informal seating area. We could see Stan and Harry in a glass-walled conference room with a TV in the corner.

“What brings you to Dublin, Matthew?” I asked. “Problems?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Only the kind of problems your crazy inventions create. Cindy asked me to come visit to look at production processes, but she was really asking me to increase production so she could build up generator production.”

I frowned. “We’re up to eight a week, right?”

“Yep. Four here and four in Atlanta. The problem is that she has an order backlog over five years deep already and growing.”

I nodded. “So what’s the problem?”

“Our production capacity for nanotubes is maxed out. Between the government, CRP, Detroit, DigiNet, Innovative Environs, and now your power systems division, we have zero excess capacity. I’m trying to figure out how much to expand production in Atlanta and here.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Double both locations and start looking for two other sites. We can’t grow anymore in Austin without building a new plant there. We also haven’t really tapped into the Asian markets yet.”

“Okay. Let’s talk to folks about where to expand, but I don’t want generator production to ramp above six hundred units a year.”

“Why not?”

“At six hundred a year, we hit about ten percent of the world power demands in three years. The problem is that only a little more than fifteen percent of the total demand is for electrical production. If we flood the market with cheap electrical power, whole other industries will collapse. I don’t want a broad economic collapse caused by our greed.”

“How could that happen?”

“Mining for one. If we convert and replace coal fired plants or natural gas plants to our generators too quickly, whole sectors will collapse. What are the coal miners in Virginia going to do if we put them out of business overnight?”

It was Matthew’s turn to nod. “Maybe we should be looking to open manufacturing plants in some of the regions we think will be impacted.”

“Good idea. Anyway, I don’t want generator production to cause other big collapses. I’ll talk to Cindy about it. I might even slow our ramp up. I’ve got to think about the bigger picture now. I’m glad she wants to grow the business, but I think there are some other things we need to think about over the short term.”

“Like what?”

“Like if we should just fill orders on a first come, first served basis.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, look at Pacific Gas and Electric. They have an order in with us, but are also behind the push to have the Atomic Energy Commission regulate operation of our generators to try and slow adoption. I’m sure I’d do the same thing in their shoes, but really? Do we have an obligation to fulfill their order ahead of VEBA in Germany who is not raising artificial barriers?”

“Wow, that could put a big political target on us if word got out.”

“I know, but it’s something we should be thinking about. I never want to get into politics, but I also don’t want to let the existing political infrastructure dictate our actions. It’s something I’ve been thinking about ever since meeting the President.”

Matthew looked at me for a few minutes. “You know, we need to discuss this with Kelly, right? She is much more in tune with ‘the powers that be’ than I ever want to be.”

“Did she come over with you this trip?”

He shook his head. “No. She took the G-400 up to New York for some meetings while I hopped the GX-3 over here. I’m glad we have three planes now. I can’t imagine flying commercial, even in first class, any more.”

I grinned and thought back to our first trip together. “We have changed our styles quite a bit since then,” I agreed.

“Okay. I’ll start looking for new production facilities. Virginia or West Virginia might have some good opportunities. Donna asked me to see if you had read her proposal for the Atlantic Fiber Link.”

I nodded as I asked, “I did. What do you think?”

He held up his hands. “I’ve got enough on my plate. Don’t ask me to jump into that discussion as well. DigiNet has spanned the country in less than two years and now wants to put in links to Europe. The municipal build out is creating its own employment boom that you might want to think about.”

“That’s the good sort of boom,” I said. “Local employment building out the local loop network and installing towers for wireless service are sustainable jobs.”

“How do you figure?”

“Construction is using local firms that can go onto other jobs when our building is done. The network build out is being done by employees of DigiNet who will stay on for local operations and maintenance long-term. We are building a company that is going to be around, employing thousands of people for decades, not just a couple of years.”

“Wow, maybe I should pay a little more attention to them.”

I smiled. “You should. You’re a significant shareholder, you know?”

“Paul, thanks for taking time to meet with me.”

I was shocked to hear Steve Jobs thanking me for anything. Hopefully, my smile did not falter.

“My pleasure, Steve. How are things at NeXT?”

“You should know, I’m sure you read our quarterly reports,” he said with his boyish grin.

NeXT had become a powerhouse in the computer revolution, much as Microsoft had in my first life. The NeXT workstations and laptops were selling as fast as they could be made. Their easy to use graphical interface had won business and educational users by the droves. No other computer company was in the same league as them.

I smiled. “You’ve done pretty well,” I admitted. “I’m glad you didn’t throw me out of your office a few years ago.”

He laughed. “You never did tell me who you were going to approach next if I did.”

“Apple or Bill Gates. Neither would have done as good a job with my technology as you did.”

He nodded.

“We did well together.” He paused and sipped his bottle of water. “Do you remember the conditions you gave me in our first deal?”

“Of course. Why?”

“I promised you first right of refusal for additional funding requests. I’m here to talk about funding.”

“Your balance sheet is in fine shape as is your revenue stream. What would you need external funding for?”

“I want to buy back Apple.”

Interesting. It was also a totally different scenario from my history. The world was definitely changing. The Gulf War had lasted less then a week and ended with the death of Saddam Hussein and his brothers, but not the total fall of the Ba’ath party. The new Revolutionary Council had sued for peace six days after the commencement of the air campaign. Now Steve Jobs was looking to buy Apple seven years earlier than I recalled him being reacquired by the company he founded.

“Hostile takeover?” I asked.

He nodded.

“So you want me to buy them on the open market but give you the proxy for votes. Why?”

He looked around my Stanford office and waved his arms.

“You’ve built all this. You are changing the world with your power systems and materials science. You’ve built something more than a company. Do you get a sense of accomplishment and pride when you look at what you’ve done?”

“Yes, I do.”

“So do I. I started Apple with Woz. It was taken from me. I’m willing to fight to get it back. I’m talking to people who have built things from scratch and might be willing to help. You know it will be a great investment.”

“Why, Steve? You and the team you have at NeXT are the geniuses. What do you need Apple for? Your revenues are already eclipsing them. They are slowly falling further and further behind.”

He looked at me for a minute. “You know there are still people there that I hired, right? How did you feel when these very offices were bombed? Did you worry only about yourself and the people with you? I know you didn’t. You cared about everyone.”

I nodded.

“Okay, you’ve got me emotionally, but what about business?”

Steve spun his laptop around and showed me a slick presentation highlighting the branding and market dynamics. “With the Apple brand, we can offer a lower price point machine. Essentially, it’s the equivalent of one from two years ago. We’ll put it into the home and education markets, where Apple still has some strength. Getting a common operating system and interoperability across the spectrum of computing is key. Tie in the networking and storage capabilities of DigiNet, and no one will want to worry about migrating data to a new system. We will have mindshare and consumer commitment to our platform for their entire life.”

I looked at the numbers he presented. It was a decent business case, but there were a couple of assumptions he made that I would want to verify.

“I’ll tell you what, Steve. Give me a week to review the numbers. I’ll have my folks look it over, just as I gave you a week to decide on my hardware. If Kelly and Jeryl agree, we’ll start buying Apple. How much are you putting up?”

“I’m using one hundred million to leverage half a billion. I’m looking to match that commitment with partners. I think we can get control for about three-quarters of a billion, but want to be able to go to a full billion, if needed.”

“Who’s handling your buying strategy?”

“Laurene,” he said.

I nodded, then asked, “When are you going to make an honest woman out of her?”

He seemed surprised that I knew he was romantically involved.

“Kelly has actually met her a couple of times, and your name came up,” I said. “She was giving us some names for our scholarship selection committee.”

Steve nodded.

“Okay, Paul. I’ll expect to hear back from you by next week. Thanks.”

He stood and closed his laptop after transferring some files to our local public drop box. Without a backward look, he was gone. I shook my head and pulled up the spreadsheet he had left behind as I tried to get my head around how much had already changed.

“Do you have plans made for Valentines Day?” Alison asked as we rode into the office a few days before the fifteenth.

“I do,” I said.

She arched an eyebrow at me as she commented, “Really?”

I nodded.

“Dinner out and a surprise for Jeryl.”

“Were you planning on letting security know?”

“I am, now, but don’t go spoiling my surprise for Jeryl. I’m sending the GX-3 to Hawaii to pick up Hunter and Lila. We’re going to be at the Drake Hotel again with them, just like we did our senior year. They are both planning to separate from the service in June.”

“And they’re going to come work for you?”

I nodded and said, “That’s the plan.”

“I think Lila should work for me.”

“Really?”

Alison nodded.

“I’ve had a few friends check-up on her. She’s got a good reputation in the intel community. She’ll be getting an offer from the CIA that you had better top.”

That information was interesting. Not surprising, but interesting that Alison had contacts to get that level of detail. I filed it away.

“I’m sure my salary and benefits package will be much better.”

“How so?”

“I don’t think an entry level analyst at the CIA is going to have access to a GX-3 to use to get around. I also know our stock plan is much better.”

Alison laughed. Since allowing us to buy her company, she had become a multi-millionaire. Because of the tax laws in the United Kingdom, most of her income was sheltered, since she earned it outside the U.K.

Valentine’s Day fell on a Thursday. Hunter and Lila arrived in San Francisco after lunch and met Jeryl and me at the Drake Hotel. The two women hugged and gushed at each other while Hunter and I shook hands and commented to each other how lucky we were to have such beautiful women in our lives.

Dinner and dancing was enjoyable as were the after dancing activities, at least for Jeryl and me. At breakfast the next morning, Jeryl immediately noticed the shiny diamond on Lila’s finger.

“Congratulations!” she said as she hugged her friend. “I’m so happy for you.”

We enjoyed breakfast and then spent a leisurely day in the city, with the women shopping and looking in art galleries as Hunter, Sanford, Alison and I trailed along. I knew Alison had at least one other person watching us, and made a little game of looking for them.

It took a while. Two antique stores and three art galleries later, I finally thought I had spotted them. I was a little proud of myself. I had kept up an easy banter with Hunter about our ladies, what passed for art and the overall ambiance of San Francisco. If the watcher had noticed me noticing him, I would have been surprised.

As Hunter went over to admire a painting with the ladies, I maneuvered to Alison under the pretense of filling my coffee cup in this upscale gallery.

“I finally spotted one of your watchers,” I said with a little pride. I had been playing at the game of and on for the past year when I had to be out and about.

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