1
qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui
opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfgh
jklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvb
nmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwer
tyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopas
dfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzx
cvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq
wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuio
pasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghj
klzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbn
mqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty
uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf
ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrty
uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf
ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqw
ertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiop
asdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjkl
The Night’s Journey
2
It was a slow Wednesday, a typical hump day at Allied Magnetic Corporation; the talk of
the day was gossip of co-workers and events planned for the coming weekend. Most days
had a lazy routine, but as of late, energy was finally in the air with rumors of a special
project. This company had been around a long-long time, as typical with older
companies, things seemed slow to change.
Production work had slowed down due to the lack of innovation. Competition was
overstepping older products and the loss of old customers seems the norm. The
management of Allied had been so reluctant to chase new ideas; many of the young
bright engineers left for more progressive companies. The buzz now inside the stogy walls
were about the new top secret project underway. Wages had been frozen in place for a
while; many inside the place still held hope that there may be some hope on the horizon.
Only a few knew about the pending announcement of a new technology development
that would forever change Allied Magnetics. The research department, lead by Bill
Farmer had just reached the final testing stage in the development of revolutionary
devices in Industrial Magnetics. It was a hard fought battle to develop a prototype and
even harder to keep things under rap, secrecy was critical. Only a handful of people knew
the full technical developments. Bill had sectioned off parts of the project to each group
so they would not see how it all fit together. Only now as the final stages of putting the
prototype together could the secret be revealed. Only the most trusted engineers and
technicians were allowed for final assembly.
The key to secrecy was that no one thought this old stogy company would come up with
this kind of development. No one was going to waste time spying here! To do this kind
of development you would need far more advanced lab equipment than was available at
Allied. What almost no one knew was that much of the work had been done far early
while Bill, the head of development worked in government research. The technology was
not available at the time to make a prototype but the core research had paved the
beginning concepts and methods to start.
3
That research sat in a secret archive that no one would ever see except for the researcher
who developed much of it. His name was Bill Farmer. During this time Bill worked in a
secret location far from viewing eyes. The Governmental agency doing the research was
so deep under cover that they did not even have a governmental agency name. Far below
the FBI or CIA. These secrets were developed in far off places with little if any laws.
These rough and wild areas were enforced with an iron fist. Secrecy was paramount to
development of things most people could only dream about. The team had to not only
work in the labs doing the research, but also patrol and control security.
In Black operations everyone does every job. The more help you use, the larger the circle
of security threats. If something had to be done; it was done by the research team, not
anyone else. If the security perimeter was broken by anyone, justice to the trespasser was
fast and swift! Too many bad memories caused Bill to end his relationship with the
government. His trail was dark enough that he was able to pass back out of his secret
operations and return to private industry to work.
The government had a good trust that Bill would remain silent about the projects he
worked; disclosure would be the end of Bill Farmer. He had enough of a black history to
finish him if he disclosed anything. Bill was more than a bit nervous about using some of
his research on this project; many years had passed and he could see that 30 years from
now the research would come forward. He was going to speed it up while being quiet
about how he came up with the ideas for a workable device. It would be dangerous but
he was willing to take the risk. Reopening this project caused Bill to wake up at nights in
cold sweats from his dreams; working on old ideas brought back more than just the
research; It brought back some of the collateral duties that were required to be
administered as part of security. This was an unwelcomed consequence to opening old
memories.
Bill, head of research and development, was tall, a little gray showed in his sandy colored
hair; his clothing consisted of old and a bit tattered gray suits, a white shirt and red tie; he
4
always wore highly shined shoes. His look was dated but Bill found it to his liking. His
hair was thinning and showed signs of age and stress; however, he was fit and thin.
When entering a room, he would just fit in. Bill was comfortable in conversation with co-
worker, management, and well liked by all who knew him.
His social life suffered from long hours and few interests outside of work. Weekends
were spent reading and writing about work topics. His last pet was a cat; it was not
entirely well cared for and was not missed by Bill when it passed. Work consumed much
of his spare time.
Bill had few close friends. He would work long hours, studying and read, leaving little
time for others. Co-workers always greeted him warmly and would invite him to events,
he never came. He had lived an interesting life, full of travel and new experiences; now
he simply found contentment with his work. Relationships had long past being the
center of his universe.
He often wondered “If only I could be left to do my work!” It wasn’t that he was anti-
social; it was his age and life experience. He had an interesting past, working in cutting
edge technology with the government, travelling all over the world. Now he found joy in
developing his ideas and time to simply do his work with little attention from others.
Bill did most of his work out of the development lab at Allied Magnetics, he was well
versed with technology, his work areas and tools were kept in immaculate conditions.
Work reports and papers were never out of place. If he had demands of those who
worked under him, it was for organization in all things. He was a fair but demanding
boss; underlings normally meet his strict expectations or found themselves transferred to
another department.
One thing that was critical to his research was his work from home. Company lawyer
always were nervous about company research leaving the lab. It was Bill’s practice to
listen but do his own thing. He used the Internet and retrieved past studies from his
5
government work to help develop his new technology. He had developed ideas before
practical electronics devices existed to turn his ideas into workable products. He would
laugh and think about what Edison or Telsa would have built it they lived in today’s
times.
Bill had been with Allied for almost 15 years. A very long time for people who worked in
this type of industry. Movement from one company to another was the norm in most
high technology companies, Bill liked where he worked and was very patient in
developing his ideas and new products for the marketplace.
His prior experience before Allied Magnetics had been in military research. Working for
the government had a number of frustrations and problems for Bill. The bureaucracy of
government frustrated him the most. Bill had decided to leave his secure government job
and work with a small company where he could have some freedom to develop his ideas
without the constraints of multiple copies of the same paperwork and following the
chain. He wanted some freedom to push his ideas. Allied Magnetics was a perfect fit.
His new position paid a great deal less money, and had its own set of frustrations, but Bill
was happy with it, so he stayed. All his ideas were not meet with enthusiasm, but he was
able to bring some to market, and they made good money for the company.
One area of development that had always interested him was magnetic theory. When he
first proposed his new theory on Magnetic Field Propagation, there was widespread
disbelief by fellow engineers and scientists that in Basic Magnetic Science, new laws of
physics could exist. His research papers were out there but buried within classified area
of the government, out of sight except to governmental agencies. Little would come from
the research inside the government; he still had the knowledge and some access to his old
research through past associates. He would go back to it often, knowing that today he
had more devices to test his ideas.
Bill argued over and over again that his ideas would bear fruit, make the company a major
player in industry. He just needed some money to build the electronic circuits and
6
devices. Everyone at Allied Magnetics respected him, but these ideas just seemed way out
of reach and unrealistic. He was still confident that in time he could manage to get the
funding for his project.
He was driven by a calling that started long ago; his ideas in theory were ahead of the
electronics that would have to be invented to make these theories work. This didn’t mean
his ideas were wrong, just that he was born too soon. Bill knew if given the opportunity
he could prove his theories, with enough funding he could make his ideas come to life
within his lifetime.
Bill would often say, “All science was science fiction at one time, you just have to be
willing to find the pieces to the puzzle.” Again and again, he would come to the
boardroom to ask for funding. He would always get the same reaction. “If it is not
making a product that we sell, we can’t afford to spend money on it!” Finally, the Board of
Directors of Allied Magnetics after constant requests agreed to fund his most sought after
project.
At the meeting, Bill stated, “The laws of physic that we will change are not my theory,
but natures, these laws exist. Look at Hydrogen Fusion and Black Holes; they exist in
nature just not here on Earth.” “We cannot recreate them now but in the future who
knows.” “What I am proposing is a small project to prove we can create the physics of my
ideas in a lab environment, and then we can then do more to develop devices and
products that have economic value to our shareholders. We can license our technology
to others to expand our market base and recoup our costs of development.” The board
was not entirely willing to go along with his ideas, but somehow he managed to convince
them. If you go to the well often enough you will eventually find water.
During the meeting CEO Joseph Black asked, “Bill, did you carry this idea from your
governmental work done before you came to Allied?” Bill was a bit aggravated by these
constant questions about his past but answered patiently, “Yes, I tried to develop it with
the government, but my ideas were shot down. The advances in electronic devices did not
7
exist at that time; the technology then would not have allowed the development of a
prototype. I believe we can do it here and now, my old research papers are still in the
government achieves, others may have looked at them, but no one else would had
developed them! You can be sure we would have heard about it if they did, it would
change everything in technology we use today.”
“Hell, I know you’re right about that, your ideas are revolutionary! That’s my concern
right now.” “If your ideas are out there and no one else worked them, why should we
believe in you?”
Farmer added, “Give me 6 months with my proposed budget, we are between projects
now, this is the perfect time to do it!” “Worse case, we advance the features on some of
our current devices were have on the market.”
Black stated “Bill, I will recommend it to the board for approval, that’s the best I can do
for you. I don’t see you succeeding with this project; maybe you’re right about recouping
our investment with new features on our current devices. It has been a long time since
we developed anything really “New”.
Bill seemed happy to at least move the idea to the next level for consideration. This was
more than he had ever gotten from the board president in the past. The board room was
always a dark and bleak room, dark mahogany walls with outdated furnishings. No
wonder those who met there were opposed to new ideas. He wondered how people work
day-to-day in such places. Joseph Black did present Bill’s ideas and the board reluctantly
agreed to the limits on the funding of the project. They were not thinking he would be
successful, but maybe something of value would emerge. We needed a new thing, the
company stock price had been on a downward sloop and needed a little buzz to get it
back up again.
Bill’s theory was that the basic laws of how magnetic fields work in nature could be
altered with intense concentration of magnetic energy, and he would be able to show it in
8
a lab environment. The basic rules of magnetism were going to change if all worked as
planned. This force has been felt by child playing with magnets for generations, the
concept that magnetic fields would either attract or oppose.
Bill believed that positive to negative charges could be converted to behave in completely
different ways based on Quantum Physics rules. He reasoned that magnetic fields exist in
nature in different forms; such as within Black holes, where even light cannot exist. If he
could replicate some of this nature of the universe in the lab he could use it with practical
devices, he planned to compress magnetic fields to an immense energy band, he would
modulate magnetic fields with laser beams. The beams of light would be focused within
a magnetic field to a point where the light would be concentrated in an energy band a
couple atoms wide. The beam would be scanned to change the magnetic properties of
matter.
Magnetic energy is the fundamental building block of everything in nature. He thought if
he could change the nature of magnetic energy, he could convert mass to energy and
back again in a different magnetic configuration. He knew in his heart that it could be
done; now he had to prove it could be done in the lab.
If this theory was proven correct, members of the development team could be rich
beyond their wildest dream. If proved wrong, then the company should at least get some
improvements in existing devices. Everyone had nothing to lose and everything to gain
from the venture. It was felt that the shareholders would benefit and the board would
be seen in a positive light for their efforts. Hopefully, to spread some new light into that
dark bleak boardroom.
Bill was given six months of time and an adequate budget, if nothing was developed
within that time, the research project would stop. His final report to the Board of
Directors would be due Wednesday, on June 15. He was expected at a minimum, to
produce something of economic value to justify the expense of the research. Bill knew
9
this was his last shot at developing this idea, failure would mean no second chances at
Allied Magnetics.
He would devote all his time to the project under extreme security. His team was trusted
and knew how to keep work under the vest. Past ideas had been lost to competition
because of slack security; this time too much was at stake. All steps taken were directed
by Bill so that he would be responsible if it got out. He keep all research under lock and
key and was extremely private in discussions with others. His only breech was taking
work home. He had to use care to see that it was always under lock and key in his home
vault when he was not there.
The days that followed were busy, time always moves faster when you have a deadline.
Little sleep was had by the research team. The teams were broken into small units so that
each group was responsible to produce a section of the final prototype. Only Bill had the
complete plans, this would help to ensure that confidentiality would be maintained. The
original theorems were tested; Bill was surprised by the mathematical formulation of his
ideas. He just had to repeat the finding with real devices.
It was late on a Friday; his lead team finally provided the quantum formulation to
mathematically back the idea with current devices. This in itself was a major victory and
would re-write science. He now had confidence in a successful outcome. The problem for
the team was making the math work in a real product. Another problem was making the
final device small enough to fit into the room. The idea worked on paper, making a
working prototype was another matter.
Time was running out and money was about gone. Bill managed to borrow sections from
other projects to keep the costs within budget, there was still hope. The biggest obstacle
was that once the mathematical proofs were made public, then another company with
more research capital would beat Allied Magnetics to a sellable product. The final day of
development produced the final result Bill was waiting to see, the thing really worked.
No one but Bill knew he had a workable product.
10
It was Wednesday, June 15; the time had come to show the results of his research. Bill’s
emotions were hard to keep in check. His team had put so much time and effort to meet
the deadline, they had worked almost to exhaustion, Bill’s hair had grown much grayer
from the effort. He understood that once the new information was provided, the entire
world would learn about this new technology. He had managed to keep it all under
wraps, the team was very good with secrets, and it helped to keep them in the dark most
of the time.
This was going to be a very busy, long hard week. Bill thought to himself, “Now how bad
can it really get?” Little did he know what was to come. His personal history was full of
stressful events, he was confident about his abilities; he worried most of the ability of
others in the company, especially in the board room!
That morning started out gray, the overcast sky and mist in the air left a cold feel inside
of Allied Magnetics Conference room. The same dark walls and bleak environment was
highlighted by a large machine that was assembled in the center of the room, wires for
power were lying around the floor and down the hallways to the basement. The place
looked disorganized and unprofessional. A pile of interconnected junk!
Bill entered the room and looked around, all the Board members were seated, a dark
shadow stood in each corner; the darkness of the morning did not allow its light to fill the
room. The word had gotten out that day that something big was in the works; this
helped to add some energy to the room. Bill sat quietly at the far corner of the large
conference table. Looked around and thought that a picture of this room would never
inspire anyone. It was hard to believe it would be the start of a revolution in science.
The CEO Joseph Black greeted Bill, “Good morning Bill, it appears you have good news for
us today by the look of the place!” Bill stated, “You know the importance of keeping the
findings I am about to present confidential, if released to the public we could lose out on
the chance to fully develop devices before others, they will use our research. We must at
11
all costs keep the news as confidential as legally possible”. “I have prepared the patent
and trademark information, but it still will have to go though our legal department.”
The Board chairman reminded Bill, “We are a public corporation, we will make all
findings known to our shareholders, and we will disclose any information that could have
a bearing on company operations and profits.” “You seem in a hurry to start your
presentation; I will try to keep an open mind to what you are saying but we will follow the
law. The board awaits your findings, quit wasting our time and get to it!”
Bill shrugged, he knew this information would never remain a secret but did hope they
would not hype it up too much… How could these guys know the full picture, they could
not know how this is going to change everything.
The theory Bill then proposed to the board was a simple one; it was that the rules for
magnetism, how magnetic energy behaves can be seen as cause and effect. This science
as used in today’s devices caused an effect on one object based on the force of magnetism
being applied to it. For example, a motor turns because a magnetic field caused a force
on parts of the motor, these parts then moved. This basic principal was used with radio
waves, and sound. The basic principal used by all magnetic devices.
Bill continued, “Our Corporation creates devices for sale using these basic magnetic
principals. These laws of physics exist and have been used by man for centuries. When
you applied a magnetic force against another object, there was a reaction from that force,
simple rules of physics.” “Those rules are no longer valid, we have proved through a
mathematical process a more reasonable and efficient method.” “What we have
developed is an effect - cause relationship.”
We create the effect by focusing lasers and magnetic fields to compress certain materials
that combine to create a breakdown of the structure of the atoms of the materials, this in
turn has an effect on the bonds to fuse the materials in a way to disrupt the natural
atomic structure of the material, thus giving us the effect of transference for the materials
through a magnetic tunnel to another location where we reverse the effect to cause a
12
return of the matter to its original structure.” We create an environment inside the
material that is found in fusion, then defuse the material back to its original state.” To do
this we found a new law of magnetic property based on Quantum Physics principles.
Our prototype is huge and impractical at this time but it does give us a road map towards
future development.” “Well let me show you, don’t miss it when I throw this switch.”
The switch was pushed, a large grunt was heard, and nothing seemed to change. No
flash, no boom! Everyone in the room looked at each other. Eyebrows were raised,
whispers were exchanged. Bill let the room settle and eyes return to him before he
started up again.
Bill then said, “My new technology does not disprove any of the currently held laws of
physics, I have found a new law, I have just shown it to you today.” Bill let the room rest
and thinks about what he just said. “I have found a new law, one that is not seen or felt”.
Bill continued, “The premise of the new law is simple and complex.” “Energy of any form
can be changed, converted to some other form, energy can become matter or matter
energy.” “During the change in state, energy exists in both forms simultaneously, both as
energy and matter” “In a worm holes, magnetic fields are so strong that even light cannot
be seen.” I will prove to you today that magnetic energy can be made to take another
form, be changed from one form of energy to another physical form” “The key to
understanding this is to know that during the change of form, the material can be
transported from one location to another.”
Bill’s research assistant set up a glass on the other side of the room, then placed a device
behind the glass and stepped out of the way. Bill then went across the room to another
device that looked like a large black box the size of 5 refrigerators; he indicated that at the
count of three, he would fire a magnetic bullet at the glass. The board members did not
look pleased; Bill assured them that they would be safe from the impact. “Just wait and
see the results of this demonstration, you will all be amazed.” “It is perfectly safe; it
worked well in the lab.”
13
He counted to three; no sounds were made, nothing seemed to change. The board
members sat looking confused, “What just happened?” was heard, no sound was made,
the glass still stood where it was, no indication that anything had happened. Bill was
ecstatic. He said “Now I wish you to come and observe our glass!” When examined a 1
inch hole was cut through the glass with no other apparent damage.
Bill enjoyed seeing the strange looks as the glass was examined. “The chairman of the
board was puzzled, “OK so what did we just see?” said Joseph. “Go back to your location
and look at the center of the board room table.” Bill stated in a firm voice. They returned
to find a 1 inch piece of glass sitting in the exact center of the table. It had not been there
before.
Bill went on the explain to the confused group “The large sending unit that looked like 5
refrigerators has for the last 10 minutes been converting magnetic particles from a wave of
magnetic energy into a concentrated ball of magnetic solids, when projected, it traveled
through the air until it went through the glass.” He added, “When contact was made with
the glass, the glass’s 1-inch section mass of materials were converted into energy and
became part of the ball of magnetic energy; a collecting device behind the ball returned
the energy ball back to its sending unit.” “It then transported the energy band to the table
where its particles returned to a mass.” “What the charge has done is move from one
point to another, both unseen and unfelt. Anything in its path becomes part of the
energy ball, it did not blow a hole through the glass, the glass section became part of the
energy mass. Given enough distance from the device, eventually the field energy reverses
and separates into a separate magnetic field and returns again to a solid mass.”
Bill looking around the room saw that his explanation was not helping. He added, “The
process seems simple in theory; but in practice, it is very complex. With this device all
forms of manufacturing, signal transmission and medicine will change.”
14
Bill went on to explain that by controlling the size and shape of this energy mass,
transmissions of data could be encoded into a ball and instantly sent to another location
at a fraction of the energy needed today. All forms of communication would change,
Magnetic resonance scanning technology would change from looking for a tumor to the
absorption of the mass as part of a magnetic ball and transmitting it out of the body,
every cell has unique magnetic characteristics, and these could be collected and removed
from human tissue.
“Now the problems… The location and shape of the ball varied, we cannot control the
device completely. It changed the matter but also damaged the structure or both the
glass and the piece removed. We also radiated everyone in the room a little… Not so
much to hurt you but don’t get near this machine too often. One exposure is OK – 100
exposures and you may start to develop problems. We have a lot of expensive work to
do.”Bill continued “it’s now going to get really expensive.”
Bill further explained that what you see here today is a crude application of this new
science. I demonstrated it works, to be practical, a complete new technology has to be
developed; this will require a massive influx of capital. What is needed now is to move on
to the next step as quietly as possible.” Bill looked for some feedback, what he got in
return was more blank stares. It was always this way, he saw the big picture, and other
did not. Mankind does not accept change very well, and those who bring it to mankind
are never appreciated. Bill was soon to find out how true this was.
The Chairman still looked confused, “Look Bill I don’t get it. What can be made from
moving something around a room!” Bill had a hard time not laughing out loud. “Look –
we just brought physics from space into this room. This device can change everything we
know and do… He looked and still saw blank stares.
The one question bill was waiting to hear came. One of the other board members who
saw what this device could do said “What are we going to do with all our old technology-
with this no one will want to invest in what we now build!!” “You are correct; we need an
15
influx of capital now.” Returned Bill. I believe the cost of development will take years
and much more resources that we have. We need to keep it quiet until we have things in
place. Others have more resources and can develop a useable device way before us.”
The company’s lead Lawyer said, “We cannot keep this quiet, our shareholders must
know of it all. Bill you should have given us less to see so we could privatize the company
and keep things out of the press, by showing us this we must make it public now. You
screwed up Bill, now we have no choice but to tell our shareholders how this will hurt
their share price. My God Bill, what the hell have you done to us! All bill could do was
just shake his head in amazement.
Code 13
The Baltic company had been around for many years and always found something new
when needed to stay in the black. Making money seemed easy. It was held in private
hands with overseas operations that held the corporate part of operations. The share
prices of their public companies were keep extremely high so only a select few owned the
corporate side of things. For over 100 years Baltic was a feeder for its other operations.
Secrets were kept hidden until it was time to bring them out when money was to be
made. New developments in technology were brought out when old products no longer
had profits. Profits existed based on selling until a new market was needed. This is how
life had always been inside the walls of Baltic. No one else could be first if it was
avoidable.
It was middle week, hot and muggy, the office environment was stressful. Company
management changes the last few months have resulted in new rules, higher levels of
scrutiny and increased workloads on everyone. Technology developments of other
companies were so much harder to stop, steal, or slow down these days. Emerging
markets made life difficult for everyone at Baltic. Things were falling through the cracks.
Life was so much easier when the United States invented most new things.
16
The management style was much more rigid now; upper management didn’t accept
failures with a soft hand. When a mistake did occur, change came fast and hard to the
poor soul caught in the cross hairs. The causalities were not mentioned in casual
conversations; however, in the dark recesses and quiet spaces, whispers could be heard
between trusted friends. The organization was very demanding in the past, but never to
the extent being felt now. Events were beginning to become overwhelming;
communication was getting more difficult between departments. Mistakes were
happening more often. The last big one 6 months past, created a major shake-up in
operations.
Suddenly, the main computer screen started to flash Code 13! A Code 13 call indicated
that a major break in the security of company operations had occurred, unseen and
undetected by Central unit 5. It is the responsibility of this department to ensure a Code
13’s never happened. Now everyone had to spring to life; in all cases this Code indicated
really bad news. It would now be the team’s responsibility to fix the problem. It had been
almost a year since the last Code 13 call. These call did happen, how they were resolved
was a key factor of any consequences that resulted from the occurrence. It was the job of
this office to ensure that Code 13 calls did not take place, or if they did to resolve them
quickly and quietly; the consequences on each employee in the office now depended on
the outcome from its resolution.
The one golden rule at Baltic was that its highly paid people were to ensure that Code 13’s
did not occur. A code 13 indicated that large amounts of hidden and secret technology
was about to be made public from another source. Millions of dollars of secrets would be
obtained by others, years or decades of research may be lost. Two questions started a
Code 13, #1. Did someone take Baltic’s hidden technology or worst #2. Someone was
neglectful in not seeing this one coming. It would be the responsibility of this
department to resolve this problem quickly. If it was an inside job, the consequences
would include a very painful death along with the secrets placed back under cover. If it
was an outside development, the technology would be slowed down, purchased, or taken.
17
Helflex Teller was the agent in charge to resolve Code 13’s; he would receive help from the
office’s black operations personnel. Their ultimate fate was in Helflex’s hands. Everyone
in this department was responsible for this mess. They would provide for his needs as
required to resolve the issue at hand. Upon successful completion, a review would be
conducted to find out why a Code 13 happened. Those who failed to see it coming were
sweating in their boots, to run was worst than to stay and face what may come of it. The
last agent that ran was caught, brought back to company headquarters. The pictures of
what happened to him were vivid enough that no one would ever follow in his footsteps.
A quick bullet to the back of the head was better than what happened to this poor soul.
A good resolution was still possible. If taken care of properly life could go on. It was up
to this department to ensure life returned to normal. Helfex was the tip of the arrow, and
the bow was bent and ready to fire. He had a great track record, never lost a case, always
subtle and quiet during operations. Age and stress were starting to show on Helflex’s
face. Deep lines formed around the eyes showing a lack of sleep and abundance of stress.
He worked out and was fit, dressed well but not so much as to stand out in a crowd.
When the Code 13 sounded he jumped a foot, closed his eyes, and then took a long deep
breath. He said to himself – Not again!
Helflex ran quickly to his private office and opened his laptop, signed on and set the
proper security protocols. The laptop screen came to life and provided detailed
information about a new discovery in magnetic science at a company called Allied
Magnetics. His jaw fell; he thought to himself, “Shit, this one’s a big one!” After a second
deep breath – he shouted – “O Shit!” “What is going on, less than a year and another
one?” Helflex wondered how this development could occur without notice. His team had
become too fearful of management, this would have to end. His ass was on the line again.
This was a major failure in surveillance, once out in the public, as it was now, it would be
hard to undo the damage. From every Code 13, Helflex knew the Corporation was
watching and planning behind closed doors. Baltic had already developed new
18
technology and had been keeping it from the public, now a competitor had found the
same technology! There was timing to these things. A thought came to him that
technology was moving too fast today. “I wonder if I can ever retire from this place.” As
he moved around the office and get his materials for the job, he kept shaking his head
and saying Shit, Shit , Shit – An indication of the trouble he was in. Normally he would
approach these jobs with a calm demeanor, Recent changes in top management were
worrisome, he knew inside that this one was going to be hard.
The company belief was that you milked the last drop out of old technology before you
replace it with new devices. Once made public you had to use what you invent or
someone else would. You needed a complete product line ready to go, and then you
owned it all. Share it and you lose. It was the job of his department to stop the
advancement of the Baltic’s hidden technology by competitors. Someone had missed this
one and it was a big miss. Heads would roll if this one was not handled correctly. Helflex
did not like the looks of the Allied Magnetic story. He always found it hard to understand
how willing companies were to share good new, and then lose out on the financial
rewards of their effort. Never made much sense to him!
“Tell me why this went under our radar, what do we pay you guys for”, said Helflex.
Everyone knew that the heat would be spread around, so all remained quiet but one brave
guy, there is always one, said “We know you will fix it.”
Helflex stopped and gave him that look, the one that makes you shake in your boots, and
said “You remember the last one we just did, you see a couple people missing from our
operations! Then quietly he said ”We don’t have a retirement plan.” “Don’t bother trying
to cover your ass, management will bury you with it.” On his way into his personal
assistant office he said with a bit of smile, “You poor souls have a great fucking Day!
The phone rang, it was quickly passed on. “Get on a plane now!! “Any thoughts to this
one, what do you know”, Helflex said nothing in response, his team had nothing yet.
After a short length of time that seemed long, he finally said “ This one went completely
19
under the radar, I will get out there and let you know once I find out the basic facts.”
“These small companies are always easy to work, we didn’t see it coming.”
The voice on the other end of the phone simply said, “Take care of this quickly, or don’t
look behind you.” “I will be watchin’ this one closely, fail me and don’t come back, just
hide really good if you understand what I mean!” He knew the consequences of failure,
he had managed the last Code13 and there were no three strikes rules here. Helflex’s new
boss was promoted after the last code 13, his instruction\ in dealing with his previous boss
upon returning were still disturbing to him. It was violent and vicious; his new boss knew
that he did not want to meet Helflex on these terms. He thought “If I ride him hard he
will know who’s in charge.” The first mistake was normally tolerated, few got two
warnings, Helfex was tired of taking it out on his coworkers. This one was a big one,
maybe no second chances here.
The job of this division was to keep the company informed on any technical
developments that would threaten the operations and hidden technical developments of
the company. The Magnetics division had developed far-reaching advances in products
and devices that it has so far kept off the market. They had planned to wait for just right
time before patenting methods in order to maximize profits. Now Allied Magnetic had
introduced their technological breakthroughs to the market. This event should have
been stopped before it reached this point. Steps could have been taken to slow down or
stops development if it was on the radar screen to act upon. Once this information was
made public, the profile of actions would require a more delicate hand. The Code 13 was
authorization for all actions needed to resolve the issue and return ownership of the
technology back to Baltic where it belonged.
Helflex was thought to be good at this, the last time he had a Code 13, three deaths were
needed, and the technology ended up lost to cover up the deaths. He had gotten sloppy
and was seen doing the killing; so to keep it from looking like Baltic was involved, they
had stopped the plans to buy out the company. Helflex thought to himself, “be careful
20
this time, talk first, kill second.” “use a little patience.” The plan had been to buy out the
other company right after the killings, but due to the investigation, they had to stay clear
of the purchase. This resulted in the head of operations being disposed of in a way to let
everyone know to not screw things up again!
Helflex was the special agent in charge during the operation; his job was the prevention of
technical development in Central Region 5 by any competitor. The second part of his job
was to deal with breaches of technology security; he would be the one to fall for this
mistake, if not resolved. After one screw up he knew better than to make the same
mistake again. Any developments that infringe on the banked technology of Baltic would
need to be stopped or at least slowed down. No more killings that resulted in a loss of
revenue and information. He had been very good at his job and expected to leave no trail.
As he had aged, he was now getting a bit sloppy.
When Helfelx got off the phone he yelled to his personal aid Kim, “My ass is really on the
hook now. This is going to be a long day.” Kim replied quietly, “ You know this stuff falls
through to cracks all the time. Besides, who would think that the company crackpot’s
ideas would hold water anyways.” “Well, I know who catches blame when this shit falls
off the radar”, replied Helflex. Kim just smiled, she knew his ass was not the only one in
the fire today. Helflex was normally not so vocal about problems. The new changes in
management had shaken everyone up; there was little trust that mistakes would be
forgiven. Someone’s head would fall for this one and Helflex knew his was waiting on the
chopping block.
Kim said, “ Your travel plans are booked as normal, be at the airport in 30 minutes to pick
up your tickets under your normal code name” He relied, “I have my Id, but need some
cash, nothing bigger than 20’s, about 3 thousand to start, have the rest of what I need in
place on site.”
Kim looked a bit worried, “Be quick with this one”
21
“It will take about a week from start to end” Helflex returned, he thought to himself “ One
week one way or another!” He took one more deep breath to help him relax, and without
any further delay he had his gear packed and was off to the airport for a quick ride east to
try to put some closure on this event. It would be a delicate matter now that it was in the
public. The last thing the Corporation needed was to start another conspiracy theory.
Who hasn’t heard of the water powered 150-mile per gallon car? That was an oversight in
his department he survived. That one was a hard fix. The drive to the airport was quick;
Helflex took the time on board the plane to get some rest. He did not sleep well; his
mind was on what happened to his predecessor who was slow on the switch. His death
was not an easy one, Helflex knew well of the event, for he had been the executioner. He
knew it was just another part of the job, but it was his boss’s intolerance for mistakes he
worried about most.
He wished he could give this assignment to someone else, but they like to keep the
circles of knowledge small, so it fell to him – no help on this one. Frank had been well
liked in the department; he thought it was funny that no one ever talked about him when
he was gone. He wondered if the same might be in store for him, forgotten, never to be
talked about again. Now he was in the hot seat and knew he better get to get this one
done right and quick.
Before getting on the plane he had changed into a type of dress that blended in with all
those on board, he had taken a seat in coach. He was tall and had gained weight, signs of
getting old. This current lifestyle was a luxury he knew he could not afford without the
job he held. Many of his peers were not so lucky to reach his age. His sleep was
constantly interrupted even though he was tired in the cramp quarters of the plane; he
wished he was on the normal first class flights that he used for routine travel. He now
needed to keep the lowest possible profile, so he suffered through the flight. He would
make up the sleep when he arrived at the hotel; flying east though did take more hours
from him. Jet lag was always a problem for travelers who lived on the west coast, he
always could tell from the look of traveling passengers which were from the east or west.
22
He always tried to fight any appearance that would indicate anything about himself from
others. Getting some sleep hide where he traveled from. With age this one was harder
and harder to hid, he had to start thinking about retirement, Helflex wondered if his
employer would allow him to just leave and give up his work. He knew the answer but it
kept coming into his head anyways.
After landing, the hotel room was a welcome recluse from the crowded airport and plane
ride, here alone with his thoughts, Helflex decided to wait to finalize how to approach the
problem at hand. Was it was better to rush in and handle the matter with blunt force or
take each step with careful measure? The latter was decided upon, he felt it would be
better to rethink an approach after a long rest, so without a shower, he found his bed and
made good use of it. He slept well, with no thoughts of his on-going problems. He
awakened late in the day; he was still on west coast time and knew he would need to
adjust quickly to his new time zone.
First Contact
The morning sun arrived with a bright cloudless sky and with it the waking of Helflex.
He was always slow to rise when on a mission; today was no exception to the rule.
Rolling around, warm and still tired, there was an unwillingness to start his day. The
light was bright falling off the stark white walls of the room. With a moan and a resolve
to start the day the covers were pulled back and shower started.
Today would be first contact; the results of the afternoon meeting would determine the
direction of future events. Showered, shaved and dressed; Helflex took time to think
through the plan of action for the day. He was still a bit sleepy due to jet lag from last
evening’s flight; he had to really work to focus on the day’s plan.
The stress of this trip, combined with thoughts of how this thing went undetected really
pissed him off. He threw his towel off the bed and into the bathroom floor. Too many
things have been slipping through the cracks this year. The new management style was
23
unforgiving, so no one seemed to be willing to stick their necks out. His age had started
to bring impatience, he was losing his edge. In this game that was not a good thing to do,
every step needed to be planned to the smallest detail. He was dreading finding out who
screwed this up when it was over. If it was in his division, hell would be waiting when the
job was done. Helflex knew who would be the devil, he would be the one to ignite the
flame. These thoughts soon passed and it was time to get to work.
Helfex said to himself, “ I will contact this Bill Parmer and see if we can come to an
understanding, he may be willing to bring his skills to work for us, at the least I can find
out how much of the technical knowledge he has written down or passed on to others.”
In the past he found it an easy job of convincing these guys. They were all stubborn at
first, but would crack when the real pressure came. Everyone will save their necks; he just
had to apply the force. He felt a little sorry for his victims, they never saw it coming.
The phone rang in Bills office and was not answered, it seldom was, the machine picked
up, “Hello Bill, this is Roy Page, I work at another company who has been working on a
prototype, it’s the same device that your company has just announced, we were surprised
to say the least that you has been developing this same technology. We are a small
private company and are just now patenting our findings; we need to meet privately, of
course this is just informal, you are welcomed to bring counsel if you wish, - I will not.” “I
will be in the area at 12:00, at the diner across the street, just ask for Roy, the waitress will
see you to my table.” “ Just a little informal chat between engineers, nothing to worry
about.” “You do eat lunch and so do I, what’s lunch between a couple guys.” “I hope to
see you at lunch, really looking forward to seeing you again.”
Helflex laughed to himself at the thought of the look on Bills face after hearing this call.
He had used the tactic before and it always worked well. Bill being more of a scientist
than a businessman would not be able to resist the meeting. He knew that if he asked
management about the meeting, he would be told No by legal. Then he would think – he
24
said “Seeing me again” - “I don’t remember a Roy?” Oh, what’s the harm in a little lunch!
The plan was in action.
When meeting with Bill, Helflex had to dress the part, not too rich but also inviting and
interesting. A business suit, it would look well worn, a bit crumpled, glasses and a little
scuff on the chin, expensive shirt and shoes. He would have the look of someone who
had traveled and was on the road. Helflex played this part a lot, and was good at it. It
was the balance of the whole thing; you had to add subtle details to make it believable.
As the phone rang in Bill’s office it was ignored as normal, too much work to get done
today. Getting coffee a bit later he reviewed the message. He listened to the message,
and then abruptly hit the replay button. The lab was open and the message resonated
around the room. He replayed it many times to be sure of what he heard.
Bill thought to himself, “Now what is this, can it be real?”. He ran all the different options
in his mind, “If I call legal this thing it can really get screwed up”, “the more he thought it
over the less inclined he was to get anyone else involved. “What do I have to lose by
talking to him? It is just a little lunch between fellow engineers.” “Sounds like we met
before, but I sure don’t recall a Roy?” ”What’s a little lunch, need to eat anyways.”
His mind was made up, but first he tried to trace the origin of this call, Star 69 did not
work, no Caller ID. “Hmm” thought Bill. “Now what”, Maybe I’ll keep an eye for Roy
about 15 minutes prior to his arrival and see if I can get a look at him coming into the
diner. “This is a new wrinkle I did not expect.”
“The time was 1130 am, let’s get this plan started”, Helfex said to himself. He called the
front desk at the Hotel and asked the clerk if she would call a cab, he said “I will be down
to meet it in the lobby at 1145 am.” On the way out the front lobby Helflex looked towards
the wall as he exited the Hotel, no reason to leave a trail with the desk clerk, he then met
his waiting cab.
25
He looked very different from the way he look upon his arrival. He made sure the lobby
clerk did not see his face as he passed the front desk. When using a Cab he was careful to
not stand out.
Within the cab he gave detailed instruction to the driver, “Drop me off at the corner of 5
th
and Broadway on the North side”. No other words were spoken, Helflex wanted nothing
to be remembered with this encounter, just another fare, he was sure to tip the customary
15%, nothing to arise the interest of the driver. He walked the two blocks south to the
Diner. The heat of the day was felt off the building, he was ready to add a bit more heat
to Bill’s day.
As he went into the Diner “Roy” made sure to look at the window of Bill’s office, and gave
a little smile. He knew Bill would be watching. Upon entering, Roy asked to speak to the
manger; “Hello Sam” said Roy, the Manager a guy named Sam, as printed on his shirt
returned a customary “Hello”. “Sam, I have a meeting this afternoon to be conducted
with my lunch, do you have a quiet area where we will not be disturbed”. Sam indicated
to the waitress to sit him at Table15. On the way to the Table Roy asked if the seating
waitress knew Bill Parmer, she said, “Bill comes in once and a while”. “Will you let him
know I ‘am at Table 15, my name is Roy”. He gave her a 10 dollar tip and asked to be left
alone after he arrived for about 15 minutes, we need to talk a bit before lunch, just give us
this time to get our business done. She smiled and said “Yes” as she pulled the tip into her
front breast pocket.
The waitress’s tag said Jill, but who ever knew if the tags were real, she looked the part,
the uniform a bit too tight, they may shrink in the wash but never get replaced. You
could tell a lot from the conditions of a uniform. Too new and well fitting was normally a
sign of bad service and inexperience. Jill’s uniform looks like she had been there a long
time. She would be good, a 10.00 tip to start would insure her help with Bill.
He requested two of whatever Bill normally orders with lunch. He said to put it on Bill’s
tab. She said “OK”, The initial tip keep everything going according to plan. He had to
26
smile a little; Helflex wondered how Bill would like being left with the tab for lunch. It
would provide the time needed for a swift departure without being followed after the
meeting. Everything was planned.
Lunch
The sun was high in the sky and hot, no breeze to break the waves of heat. A stiffing day
to be outside, Bill’s walk was slow; he was in no hurry to reach the diner. Bill thought to
himself one more time “Maybe I should talk to legal before I talk to this guy.” “No, I will
just have a short talk with Roy and see what his angle is.” Bill had developed much of the
basic premise of this technology while in the military, but who could have gotten that
research, and if someone had developed a practical use of it, why wasn’t there news or
products on the market. Bill had worked hard on developing ideas; he was determined to
find out what this guy named Roy was all about. If he did find his old research, maybe he
was just fishing for information. He was going to make the conversation short and get
back to work. He was determined to get the lowdown on this guy, forget about lunch!
Upon his entrance to the diner, Jill said, “Hello Bill” he acknowledged her, she smiled and
then escorted him to Table 15, after Jill left, Helflex said “Hello Bill, I am glad you decided
to take some time to talk to me today.” He looked pretty ordinary to Bill, he didn’t look
much different than most of the engineers and scientists Bill worked with everyday, a bit
younger than his dress would indicate, but that was not out of the ordinary. A lot of
younger engineers took on the look of their bosses. He sat down carefully, looked at the
table and saw two cold ice teas, both untouched. “Bill, I ordered you an Ice tea, thought
you might like one on this hot day.”
“Look Roy, I don’t have much to say, what is your angle with this?” Helflex waited
a few seconds then said “Sit down please.” “Bill I am here out of respect for your work,
you have found an important new concept, however, I am here to help, not hurt your
efforts.” Bill reluctantly took a seat, he was starting to feel like he was making a mistake,
but he was in too far to stop now. Bill slide into the booth.
27
Roy said “I work for a company that has already developed your ideas into marketable
products.” Bill was starting to turn red, “Come on Roy, do you think me a fool!” “Look
Bill, I know what you have found and know what you have not found yet. It is really very
simple. You found a way to modulate the magnetic energy signal, you have focused the
band of energy into a tight wave that can change matter into energy and back into
matter. “Now you need to develop its use in a commercial product” Given enough time
and money you may find the answer, I will show you where you have went wrong so far,
that should reassure you I am not here to scam you.” Roy continued “What I give you
must be return to me, but after looking at it you will understand that I am telling you the
truth.” Helflex handed Bill a manila folder for his review. Bill opened it carefully, he laid
out the papers on the table.
Upon review of the materials, Bill did not look good, “If you had this technology why in
hell is it not on the market.” Bill said loudly. Roy added, “It‘s simple, what is the result of
this new technology on our existing technology? “ “It makes much of today’s technology
obsolete.” Helflex knew it would take some time for Bill to see what was at stake. “Bill
this is not making for a good week for you but you need to understand, the organization I
work for does not want this technology on the market for some time yet, you will need to
stop your development now.”
Bill hesitated for a few seconds and then stated “There is no way to stop what we have
found, the world knows about it.” “Bill it’s really simple, you don’t need to stop the
research, just slow it down, we can make some arrangements for your comfort” If you
work with me no one will know and things will go smooth for you. I know this is a lot to
take in but things are moving fast, what is your answer!”
“Roy there is no way in hell that I will stop this project, if you put a product to market
first, go for it, we have started the patient process and would hold your company liable for
any use of it without our licensing of your use, you should have followed through on the
28
registration of your findings before we did.” Helflex smiled inside, but was careful to hide
his emotions, everything was working as predicted, Bill didn’t realize what was coming.
Helflex took back his folder from Bill and then gave him a smile and said on his departure
“Bill, we will meet again.” He left the table, giving the waitress a $20.00 tip for its short
use; he then said to Bill, “Don’t forget the pay Jill for the tea!” He left and walked around
the corner up a couple blocks, entered another Diner for a real lunch before he returned
to his Hotel. He had started the ball rolling, now was time to put the rest of the plan into
action.
Chapter 5
Action on the company
Hellflex arrived back at his Hotel, very satisfied; he always gained an appetite when on
the hunt and was satisfied with the meal he ate after the meeting with Bill. He took a
drink with lunch and was relaxed and ready for the next step upon his return to his room,
he opened his cell phone and dialed the office, “Hello Kim, this is a very fine day.” Kim
replied, “Everyday can be a fine day.” This was the response Kim and Helflex used to
ensure the conversations were private with no worries about noisy ears listening.
“Kim what additional information do you have about Bill Farmer?” “be careful Helflex,
he’s a straight shooter, no dirt, reliable from the start, never late to work, very loyal to his
company. This guy is going to be tough to turn.” Helflex said, “I don’t plan on turning
him, it has gone too far for that, what I plan to do is to discredit his work, then eliminate
Bill, the quiet type, it’s always so unexpected.” Kim laughed lightly, she’s heard this type
of talk before and diffidently did not want to hear details! “This one will take a while
then?”. Helflex smiled and replied, “Find me a safe house, and let the Corporation know
that I have it under control, but we need to get as much stock of Allied Magnetic as
possible after our news break tomorrow.” “I will cause the stock to drop 20%, then the
29
Corporation can act like the hero and save the company by buying in big.” “Set it up, text
message the address of the safe house”. “Make sure they wait till it drops at least 20%.”
Helflex then took his afternoon sleep; he did most of his work at night, sleeping all day
had become a habit; this sleep would be better than the previous day. The lunch drinks
helped relax him. His plan was formulated and now just needed to fill in the blanks. The
night was quiet and upon his wake, a text message on the location of the safe house was
waiting in his secure e-mail. He saw the location, smiled broadly, took a hot shower,
dressed and was feeling ready to take the next step.
Bill Farmer was having trouble falling into sleep; his meeting with Roy keep running
though his thoughts. “Why was he so calm, if it was me I would be all upset.” Why no
legal action and what company did Roy worked for?”. Bill was now thinking of all the
question he should have asked! Why did he talk to Roy?” If legal found out he would be
in for it.” Bill tossed and turned trying to relax and fall asleep. Finally, with enough effort
and time Bill was able to forget the day’s event and fall off to a deep sleep, uninterrupted
until the next day. He was unaware of what was waiting for him in the morning.
Upon his wake his mind again turned to the previous days meeting. He smiled to
himself. Made a strong coffee and got dressed and ready for work. He thought – now
what will this day bring.
The night was filled with activities for Helflex, time to put actions in motion. The early
evening was dark, the moon was but a sliver and the overcast left heavy shadows of black
all around. The safe house was at the end of a road a few miles south of the city. Close
enough for access, but far enough out so that his activities would go unnoticed. The
rooms were small but the computer and phone worked, even an attached garage to store
the rented car. Everything in place, Kim was good at her job and Helflex knew she would
be hard to replace. Her position was in the open; he feared she would do too good a job
one day and blow her cover. He liked Kim and would hate to have to hurt her.
30
The first call was to the media contact of the Corporation, “Hello Jim, this is Hellflex,
how are you tonight, ready to earn your wages again?” “ This one’s a high priority, and
you need to stay in deep cover through the whole thing, filter the information down
through our most trusted channels.” “Bill Farmer of Allied Magnetic, get a story out
about their recent press release, that their new development has some fundamental
technical problems, that Bill is seeking to share the technical findings with another
corporation which has been provided all technical aspects of the development and will be
making some important news about the technical development of products using similar
technical developments of Allied Magnetic technology.” “Include that sources say that
Bill Farmer has been sharing his technical findings outside of Allied Magnetics. He is
thinking of leaving his current position, and a legal battle is sure to follow.”
“Jim you must keep this story low key, just get the word out Bill Farmer has provided
information to another company for further development of the technology.”
“Helflex, this stuff is going to explode when it hits the press; I will be facing legal action if
I can’t back this up.”
Look Jim, we don’t use you often but I have you covered on this one. A word of warning,
we will be taking over Allied Magnetics, stay clear of the story after this first news release,
pass it to another reporter.”
“OK Helflex, I will do this one with a soft touch, but you are going to owe me big time, I
catch the liability for the story and can’t reap the benefits when the story hits big.”
“Good-by Jim.”
With the start of the story there was nothing else to do for a while, time to get a little
sleep. He slept like a baby. Everything in place until tomorrow, He thought that he could
tie this one up in a couple days. The suicide would be staged as normal, and he even
thought about attending the funeral. He smirked before falling into a deep sleep.
31
The morning sun broke through a hazy gray sky, the start of another full day for Bill
Farmer. As he approached his car he thought he heard a voice, it was inside himself. It
sounded a warning; he just felt that today would be very stressful. Bill wondered if Roy
would contact him again. He looked out the car window and thought “A day like this I
could have stayed in bed and sleep all morning”, it had been a hectic couple of weeks,
outside of his normal routine. Bill was a person of habit, each day awaking at the same
time and following a pattern that was very predictable. All this stress and worry was
throwing off his normal rhythm. His thoughts kept returning to his meeting with Roy the
previous day, wondering what today may bring.
He stopped for coffee as he entered his work office; his routine was to look at the front
page of the Billing Express. He looked with amazement at the story on the front page,
how could it had gone so wrong, now he knew instantly why Roy was so calm, how could
he have been so stupid. Why didn’t he talk to legal before his meeting, how could he say
that this guy he talked to already knew and had developed the new technology. No one
would believe him, he was in big trouble.
The phone began to ring; Bill did not want to pick it up. What to do now, He looked at
the door, on the floor passed under the door was an envelope, within the envelope was
cash and a sort note from Roy, “Thanks for the information, let me know if this is enough
cash for the help you provided. “ Salt in the wounds” one last insult to seal the trouble Bill
put himself in. How could he have gotten access to his lab? The place was to be sealed
tight with security. Shit he said, as he unlocked his work area. He threw the envelope in
his pocket, we would look it over closer later, for now he needed to think about how to
get out of this mess!
The story in the paper told how Bill Farmer had leaked technical information to a rival
company. His bank account would show large deposits from an unknown source, money
that Bill could not identify the source. He knew he was set-up good and it would take a
lot to get him out of this trouble.
32
During the ride to work, Bill had kept trying to think of a way out of this mess. He was
looking down the hall and saw approaching a security officer was now at the door
awaiting him. Bill looked at the security manager and said, “Why are you here, this story
is not true.” The Manager a long time employee of Allied Magnetics, always liked Bill
Farmer, Bill was always polite and never a cause for oversight. “Look Bill the board just
told me to escort you to legal; they just want to talk to you before this situation gets any
worst.”
On the fourth floor, the doors to the legal department look bleak, it was located down the
end of a dark hallway, a place to be avoided at all costs. Nothing good has every come
from this office. Bill shuttered to think of how things were about to go, he knew the set-
up was complete.
When Bill entered the office there was a chair waiting for him to occupy, sitting in the
center of the room alone, chrome arms and a rigid black seat. Not like the nice leather
seat the interrogator occupied across the room. There were three people in the room, the
head of the legal department, the Human Resource Director, and the Chairman of the
Board of directors.
The head of the legal department name was Clarence Bender, he had been with Allied
Magnetics for many years, this was the first time Bill had the misfortune to meet with
Clarence. He had heard of him from other employees and attempted to avoid him at all
costs. “Sit down Bill, I am going to ask you some questions, do not tell me anything you
do not want on the record, we will be recording our conversation, if you choose you may
elect to bring in counsel before we begin. Do you understand what I have just said.” Bill
thought, “This is going to be a really bad day.”
“Look, I don’t have anything to hide, I don’t need counsel, I did nothing wrong.” “I ‘ve
been with this company a long time and think you guys should not be treating me like I
did something wrong.” Clarence looked worried, “Look Bill, you understand that
33
anything you say may be turned over to Federal Security Commission officers, or if
charges are filed within State or local jurisdictions, you may be liable to civil or criminal
actions.” Bill look bleak but said, “I understand.” The light in the room appeared to fade a
bit.
“Bill, did you meet with someone and pass on confidential company files?”, Bill said, “
Well yes I did meet with someone called Roy, and no I did not pass on company
confidential files.” “ I got a call for this guy who stated he had information about our new
technical developments and asked if we could meet for lunch.” I know I should have
checked with legal first, but I just went across the street for lunch, I did not take any
documents, and our conversation was very short.” “ I provided nothing to him.”
“Bill, all of our technical information is out there now; the paper even said we still have
major technical issues to overcome. How would this Roy know so much if you did not tell
him?” “OK, now this is the hard part, I hope you trust me enough to try to believe what I
am about to tell you because it is the truth.” “Roy brought with him, information that
showed our new developments have already been discovered by others and all of our
pending technical issues have been resolved by Roy’s company” a silence filled the room,
Clarence coughed lightly, adjusted his tie, took a deep breath and said loudly, “Bill you
are not telling us the truth, what you are saying is impossible, if you had this information
why did you not share it with us yesterday after your meeting! “This puts us in a very bad
situation, our stock price had gone up 80% since the news of our development made the
press, it now has nose-dived, It looks bad to our investors, there will be civil liability and
the company can ill afford those expenses now. “ We have lost the 80% and have lost
another 10% by this morning” “ Are you kidding me, this is ridiculous”.
The Time has come to tell the truth, I will advise you one more time, “Do you want your
own legal counsel here Bill” Bill stood up, looked at the floor, gave one last look at the
34
three, and said nothing” Just stood there waiting for something to come to him – he was
blank and numb”.
Clarence waited then said, “You will be escorted out of the building until we can resolve
these issues. Now about this Roy, give us the Corporation name and how to contact him.”
Bill knew he was done for now, he simple smiled and headed for the door. How stupid he
was, he never bothered to find out much about Roy, he was caught off guard by the
conversation they had and never bothered to get more details.
On the way out the door, Bill was informed to not call the office or have any dealing with
company business until he was contacted by Clarence. A soft rain began to fall, the start
of an interesting day. He headed out for his car after returning his company keys and
credit card to the security chief at the door. He watched the floor to cover his shame as
he was escorted back to his car. No one he passed said a word, and avoided his path as he
moved through the building back to his car.
Chapter 7
Roy’s Return
On the ride home, the local news was on the story; the day’s story was the fall in the value
of the Allied stock price. The company spin machine was at work trying to justify how
the new developments of technology would turn into products. They stated that all new
technology takes time to make into the market and the loss in the value of the company
stock would be offset by a rise in value down the road. Bill knew inside he has lost this
battle.
The phone calls were constant when he arrived home, the answering machine was full,
Bill then unplugged the phone, a simple solution to his problem. The day was full of
stress, the knocks at the door were ignored, and an afternoon nap did not help. After
supper Bill decided he needed to get some air but not anywhere he would be recognized,
35
he drove across town to a busy bar where he could just grab a bar stool and blend in,
unseen. He was happy to see his first beer buy the third his neck was relaxed and he could
unwind a little.
“Hello Bill”, Bill turned and looked to see Roy standing behind him. “Roy! You need to
give me some answers.” “All in good time Bill, just relax, I am here to help you.” The dark
room filled with smoke and noise added to Bills confusion and anger. “Roy !, you better
have some answers for me or else!!”. “Look Bill let’s take a walk, I can help you if you
want to find a way out of your mess.” The parking lot was dark but much quieter, Roy
began, “You made a good move today, being honest about our meeting, I can help you if
you want to be helped, do you want help Bill?” Roy what I want is to know who you are
and who you represent, tell me that and I’ ll be helped, anything else and you can go to
hell.”
“Helflex said , “Bill, Here’s the way it is going to work, Allied Magnetics is now in the
middle of a hostile takeover, the company that takes control of it will pay you well for
your stock, your regulatory problems will soon go away, your job is not coming back, you
are finished with Allied Magnetics.”
Bill was having a difficult time understanding what he was hearing, how could it all go
away? He added “You are going to be the fall guy for this mess Bill, your friends are going
to lose a lot of money and hate you for it, because after the takeover Allied Magnetics and
all its business is going to be moved into the takeover corporation, few jobs will move
with it, all top management and research is gone. I can give you two choices, one is to
follow the research and become part of us, or to not become part of our team, and the
second choice will result in a short life span.” “Are you ready to make a choice Bill.”
Bill said, I have made a choice earlier today. You refuse to tell me who you are, you have
screwed up everything about my life, and now want to make it better. I know you Roy,
and I know what comes next.” “What you don’t know is that I to have a plan, do you
36
want to hear it Roy?” Helflex was a bit concerned, he had planned on moving Bill to a
remote location before the suicide would take place. A pause then a single gunshot
sound was heard.
The bar music was heard outside; the shot went unnoticed, just another noise of the
night. A body lay in the center of the parking lot, a single bullet hole in the back of the
head. The body in a heap, crumpled straight down in a pile. Shortly after a car was heard
speeding off. A quiet fell back over the parking lot. Dull thuds of poorly played rock
from the 90’s crowded out the other night sounds. A short time later a women’s scream
was heard, and people on the street came to see. Cell phones called 911 and a siren was
heard in the distance.
Closer and closer, the whine of the sirens grew louder as did the crowd around the
heaped body lying in the parking lot. Some just gawked, many whispered. Others
watched in silence.
The body looked normal other than the position, almost like the victim was simply asleep
except for the one bloody bullet hole in the back of his head. The contortion of it showed
a quick death. Police tape was stretched around the scene, black cases opened, coffee was
shared and radios blared into the night. It was going to take awhile for the collection of
evidence. Dead drunks with friends and the walking drunk carefully got in cars and left
the area. Police officers turned a blind eye to those they knew should be calling cabs.
More important work at hand and no one wanted to miss the show.
The first inspection of the body reveled little, no ID was found on the body. A money clip
held money but no other cards. No rings, tattoos, or other distinctive markings. The way
the body fell showed no one searched him before the police arrived. The lead detective
called in for his supervisor to come to the scene, this one was odd. The man’s dress was
out of place for his age, no ID, and the nature of the killing seemed to be completely out
of the normal robbery, dispute, or family connection.
37
Chapter 8
A turn of fortunes
The phone rang at the safe house with no answer, the check in time for Helflex was
overdue, an unusual event. Kim never knew him to not call on schedule; in this case
protocol called for a wait of 30 minutes, a return call, then shut down his operation and
calls in support. As the time passed, Kim ran through her mind what could have went
wrong, Helflex was to follow up and make second contact with Bill tonight, if he did not
leave his apartment, he was to break-in late and have a little chat, it was still much too
early for that, he must be on the road, or talking to Bill now. She knew that a call would
be made if he was delayed, wondering to herself, “Shit, what now!!
Another call went unanswered. Shut down of the current operation was signaled. Kim,
receiving verification, headed for home, she was going to hit the bar first, she needed a
stiff drink. On the drive Kim was talking to herself. “Now Helflex, what in the hell is
happening with this place! I hope to hell he’s OK. The more they drop, the closer it gets
to me.” “Why the hell did I get started with this job!”
The police search of the body found no ID, no cars in the vicinity, the victim had a money
clip, and so he was not robbed. Finger prints, DNA checks showed no match. This guy
was a closed book; local media would have to be called for assistance. If the word got out
quickly maybe someone could help with the investigation. New media reported the
findings, and other sources were checked. The bar owner saw nothing. The bar, did not
have any camera for fear of liability of letting the drunks drive home, or an occasional
hook-up arranged in the back. No one questioned saw anything or if they did were not in
the mood to help the police. It was a dead case before it started.
Bill’s head was a bit groggy from the day’s events, first the morning meeting with legal
and now this. He held the 9mm pistol in his hand and started the disassemble process,
38
first step disassemble the gun to its basic parts, soak each part in mineral spirits, wipe
each part clean and then dispose in separate locations, each part without traceable
numbers, the serial number section would be destroyed separately. Bill thought to
himself, “time to turn the tide of events”. He had at first felt like going back, but the
more time passed he understood, it was the course of events. He had to start controlling
what was happening. For the first time in the conflict he felt in control of things.
The evening was very dark, with overcast and rain. The moon but a sliver, with a cold
wind blowing. The weather looked as he felt inside. Mumbling under his breath sounds
of regrets for his first meeting with Roy. It was not of his doing, but he should have been
smarter, this world is a cold heartless place.
Bill had killed once before, at that time he was sanctioned by the government during
military service, he wondered if Roy did his homework before their second meeting. Bill
had used the earlier part of his day to examine how he got into his current situation and
then time to develop a planned way out. He knew that if Roy’s organization did not want
his expertise he wouldn’t have had his earlier meeting with Roy, he’d already be dead.
Bill’s plan was to pick an out of the way bar, he knew he would be contacted again, this
time he would control the events of the day. The death treat he was given was real, he
thought it might come; only he had turned the tide of this situation.
His plan was to try to reason with Roy first, but if he was sure that it had to come down to
violence, he would be ready. Bill reasoned that he could be left alone, or be followed and
then turned to be part of their plan, or eliminated if he refused to help. Helping would
speed the process up and keep the publicity at a lower level, but if death had come to Bill
it would have to look like he did it himself. Spending time in a bar after the fact become
public would be a good starting point for a suicide. The later seemed to be the choice of
action and Bill reacted first.
Kim contacted the head of special operations and informed him of Helflex’s lack of
contact, she was soon to learn of a murder in that town of a body with the physical
39
characteristics of Helflex, the body was found with no ID or traceable way to identify the
victim. This problem was getting very complicated. A code 15 was sounded. All hell was
about to break loose. Kim would be with this case of a while now. She mumbled under
her breath – “Holly Shit”
The night sky was dark and overcast and Bill was not going to be found in his apartment
tonight, he knew until he solved this problem, he was going to be on the run. On the way
to the airport a short stop, a change of clothing from a super center store; he would burn
his old cloths, then clean the gun residue off his skin from the gun blast and change into
new clothing stored in the trunk of the car. The cold weather was a sting to his skin as he
changed and cleaned; the small fire he started lighted up the sky, and provided much
needed warmth. The alcohol from the cleaning solution applied to his skin really made
him cold. The shivers were causing his teeth to chatter. Bill felt remorse about the events
with Roy, but realized how close he had come to being the target. Off to the bus station,
he had parked his car in long-term parking; he then walked across to the station, bought
a ticket with cash, off to a safe place to finish the work at hand. He would have to stay in
deep cover for a while.
He would rent a car out of town then change the plates. Paying with a credit card was a
problem, so he would leave the card as a deposit for damage, but pay in cash. Tracking
his card would be really hard without charges. He had thought our most of the details,
but when on the run who knows what could come up. On the bus, he avoided looking at
others; buses were full of all kinds of odd ducks. He felt he would blend in OK, the cloths
he bought were pretty basic stuff, khaki pants and a pull over shirt, a light jacket and a
ball cap. His feed had loafers, good to fit in with casual dress, for a person of his age. He
was hoping to fit in and not be noticed.
The ride was slow and allowed him time to think of the events of the night. It had
become the longest couple days of his life.
Days he wished he could forget.
40
Chapter 9
Code 15
A code 15 flashed on the pager of Special Operations Agent Ralph Hernes, Ralph was a
large man, too large for the suits he normally wore, he did not fit in well, his was not the
job for finesses, but brute force. When a Code 15 sounded it was time to place a final
action on a person or thing. Code 15 was used to eliminate a problem; this day’s problem
came with the name Bill Parmer.
When Ralph saw the flashing code, he said to himself “Damn it, this week is going to hell,
why now!” He didn’t mind most of the codes he received on his pager, but a code 15, it
would be damage or death to someone or something. Over time these events became
harder to deal with, each one seemed to haunt Ralph for months after the event ended.
He did know that as each new code 15 came to pass, he could put the last one to rest. He
would carry the memory of what he did; the ghosts of those he dealt with would stay with
him until a new person took the place of the past victim.
As time went on, victims blended in with the living. When Ralph would see similar
looking people, the memories would flash in his mind, A short jolt of panic would come
but pass quickly. He often thought about the path of destruction his life created for
others. Early on he would get a rush out of the hunt, and was happy with his trophies.
But just as the hunter learns to respect his prey, so had Ralph over time learned to respect
the lives of those he ended.
The previous code 15 had required Ralph to clean house in the corporation. This made
Ralph a marked man within the company for a long time. Memories were slow to forget
the disappearance of a co-worker, no matter their relationships. Rumors were the glue
that maintained company security of secrets and processes. He could see the fear in the
eyes of the people he had to deal with inside the company. Everyone seemed to have a
41
secret; they seemed to wonder if he was there to see them. When he would say “Hello”
and the response he got back was a fearful, “Heeello”. He could sense the watching of his
back as he moved down the hallway or out the door. He took no joy in this aspect of his
work, but it had to be done, and it was his place to do it. He was very good at his job.
Bill opened his eyes to look out on a nice lazy sunny day, it was hot and stuffy; he was
sleeping in the cramped quarters of a cheap motel but he felt relief. The bus ride was
long and the car rental took awhile, the clerk had to get special permission from the
clerk’s boss. After the day he had he sleep in late this morning.
Today he would move to better quarters, the previous night had been hectic, cheap
motels accepted cash without questions. No credit cards to trace his location. Bill had
the cash he needed to get through the events to come. He thought to himself “This was a
one-way ride, that he would either find a way to solve or wind up like Roy, dead.”
When Bill was in the military, he had killed only once, but somehow once you lived
through it, over time you came to accept it. He thought about the events of the previous
night, “Could I have done anything else?” He knew that unless he took efforts to change
the flow of events he would either be dead, or discredited and ruined for life. He could
live with being discredited, but he had the feeling that the first option was a more
realistic chain of events. Not until the last moment had he decided to go through with
killing Helflex. In the dark parking lot, his hair was standing on end, waiting to get a shot
in the head, when he turned and fired his gun into the head of his adversary. He was
surprised at the last instant as the gun fired, the look in Roy’s eyes. He knew he would
forever see those eyes in sleepless nights the rest of his life.
The solution to his design problems were provided when Helfex showed him the
developments by his company; it provided the insight needed to solve the final problems
with his new magnetic theories. With the information to solving many of the barriers in
42
Allied Magnetics work, came the insight that he would not be allowed to have the time to
develop them. Bill always held information close to the vest; never telling everything you
know was his motto. He had wanted to be open with “Roy” at the meeting at the bar
about how things were to end, but instead planned to allow event to unfold and not be so
stupid this time. He felt if he could solve the final problems, and then make them public
in a way that even Roy’s corporation could not hide, his problems would be solved. This
would take time he did not have. Then there would be no reason to go after him or Allied
Magnetics.
The second problem was getting patents on the work; if the corporation had control of
Allied Magnetics they would still reap the benefits of his work. So the second problem
was how to stop them from buying out the majority shares of the Allied Magnetics. He
felt that that could be fixed by getting the price to rise. If he could get the information
out that problems would be solved.
The afternoon started out hot and dry, dusty roads made the day feel hard. He was
hungry mostly from all the nervous energy from the last couple days. He ate quickly,
eager to get on his way. After a quick lunch, Bill stopped at a local auto junkyard; upon
walking into the store, he asked the clerk, “Know where a guy could buy some license
plates around here?”
The clerk look Bill over closely, “Why would you’re want some plates mister?” “I an’t got
no old plates, only the ones that come on the cars that got junked.”
“Look”, said Bill, “I got a DUI, just need a plate with this year’s sticker on it for a couple
weeks; I will get rid of it after I am done with it.” “I got fifty bucks for you, if you can keep
your mouth shut.”
Bill made sure his plate was gone before he drove in, he place the new plate on his car,
Bill thought, “ I feel better now, I am sure there’s a lot of people out looking for my plate
number.”
43
The sales clerk looked a bit wary about giving up the plate, “If yous get caught with the
plate I am saying it was stolen, guy! “
Bill smiled, “I am not going to cause you a problem, anyone could come in here and
snatch a plate.” “I gave you 50 to just keep your mouth shut” He smiled and Bill was
quick in the car and off down the road, he would put the plate on out of site.
Even with a rental car he was sure the rental company charged money to his card, just in
case he was a dead beat. He was sure to cover all his bases. The corporation has a long
arm, trumped up charges about an employee that stole from the company most likely.
Ralph opened the file folder, “Man, how do they expect me to find this guy, nothing to go
on.” No credit card or bank use, no one had identified his car, His phone records showed
no calls over the last couple days. This guy disappeared, Ralph knew Helflex, he knew
that anyone who got the better of him would be a tough catch, but everyone makes
mistake, Ralph had time on his hand.
He had a lot of experience chasing, much more than most of his victims had at running.
He would make the mistake they all did, they could not just stay hid, they always had to
be on the move. As he thought out his plan he got his gear and headed to the airport.
The airplane ride had lot of turbulence, Ralph’s large frame never helped in the small
cramped chairs on airlines; he would rid first class except it provided too much exposure,
just blend in with the masses. Upon landing he was sure to get a rental car with some
room. The rental car was much better than the plane ride and by the time Ralph reached
Bills apartment he was feeling much better.
The door to Bills apartment opened easily, a quick look inside reveled too much
information. An impression on a notepad of travel arrangements, personal records and
photos, in open exposed areas, Ralph was large and not well versed in English; however,
44
he was exceptional at his job as a terminator. This chase was getting much easier. The
stale smell of drying plants and old laundry told how long Bill had been gone. Dust on
counters, unpicked up mail.
Ralph laughed at what he found, Bill he said to himself, you are too clever, I “ll be a lot
more careful than Helflex was with you.” “Ralph knew from what he found, Bill withdrew
a large amount of cash, he was driving his car, and he had a plan. He also knew that Bill
would avoid friends, avoid any transaction that would show his whereabouts, and he
would not be anywhere near where he left hints behind.” An inventory of the apartment
showed the use of a computer, none was to be found. He would trace his whereabouts
through his Internet connections. Ralph chuckled to himself, “Bill you just made a fatal
mistake.” “ I will make up for the loss the Helfex.”
Ralph understood what Bill would do next, Bill took his laptop, he would use it, and when
he did the ISP connections could be traced to the number where the use took place, he
would be close by, Bill would soon be found. Upon exiting the apartment Ralph was
careful to leave with nothing disturbed, no one could tell the apartment had been
entered.
Upon exiting the building and driving to a nearby parking lot, Ralph called in his findings
and arranged for the trace on the Internet ISP. He also told them to report any car
sightings, only to check for expired license plates from junked cars. He asked where was
the closest junkyard. The nearest junkyard was 48 miles out of town, If Bill killed Helfex
late, and left town he would have to find a motel fairly near to this town to get a room
that late at night. 48 miles was just about right. Every journey needs a starting place, and
he had his.
Upon arrive at Jims Junkyard he could feel he was right, this has to be the place he got a
clean plate. Upon entering Ralph looked around, the place was a mess; he only hoped
45
they keep records so he could get the number of the plate. “Hey there, how can I help
yous”, Ralph looked the guy over, he had to be careful and not spook him too much, “I am
looking for something and I know you will help, you would like to help me out won’t
you?”, as Ralph asked he reached for his money clip and pulled a $50.00 bill from the top
of the stack, then he pulled another, Jim watched and did not respond to the question,
Ralph said again, “ I need to know one thing, and I ‘ll be sure to pay you well for the
service, the guy you gave a plate to earlier this day, what was the state and plate number,
give me the answer and you’ll have a good payday.” Jim looked at Ralph, he was big and
did not look like the type of guy you said no to, “I don’t wants no trouble, I have to look
it up, our records are kind of a mess!” The early evening was starting to set, this chase
was going according to plan.
Ralph smirked to himself, he began to think he was on the trail now, this one would be
easier than he first thought. After a bit of digging, Jim found the information and passed
it to Ralph, he was watching the two $50.00 bills in Ralph’s hand, his head dropped when
he saw the Big guy reach his hand back in his pocket and pull out the money clip, Ralph
knew he was causing Jim a bit of stress, he slowly opened the clip and pulled out two
more $50.00’s to add to the two in his hand.
“Look you helped me out without any trouble so I am helping you out with a warning,
here is $200.00, you found the money in a junk car, you never saw me or the guy earlier in
the day, you don’t want to see me again, you understand!” Jim was smiling now but knew
he better listen, “Ok, I get it, you are a ghost after you leave, I have a very short memory.”
Jim knew he would not want to cross this guy, he left the dusty parking lot in a cloud, it
was hard for Jim to even make out the model of car as he left. He knew tough guys, and
he just had a close call with a bad one, Jims memory quickly faded all thoughts of his day.
46
Bill Parmer had gotten through the first step of his plan, now for the next step. He had
driven a long way but knew driving away would not solve his problem. He just wanted to
be far enough away from anyone who would know him, and be in a safe location blend
into the surroundings, he picked a city with a medium population, staying in an industrial
area where businessmen paid with cash and asked for blank recipes at hotels and
restaurants, a way to squeeze a little more from their company expense accounts.
The night was setting in and he was tired and hungry. The dew was starting to form in
the air and the heat of the day was now gone. Time to get a good night’s rest and stay
under cover. He exited the expressway and found a moderate private motel named the
Shady Night Inn. He parked out back of the motel, out of sight. He stretched, walked
into the front office and met a older women at the counter, with not much happiness to
share. She says “Need a room?” Its $69.00 a night! Bill asked “I like to pay cash and get a
blank receipt for expenses, can we do that?
She smiled and nodded OK, took the cash – gave out a key and a blank receipt. She
turned and walked back into the office. This was a game she knew well. Bill just smiled
and thought to himself, everything is going a bit too easy.
His plan now was to leak information on the Internet to get a buzz around Allied
Magnetics, boost the stock to prevent the corporation from buying a majority share of the
company. The earlier newspaper leak had really hurt the stock price and time was
important, with him on the loose, the corporation needed to stay away from taking over
Allied Magnetics until he was gone, and too many loose ends with him around causing
trouble.
What was most frustrating for Bill was the insight he had on how his new technology for
magnetic energy would change the world. He knew that a lot of current technological
devices and processes would be made obsolete, he could understand the resistance to
47
change that would flow from his new ideas, but to hold off introducing life saving devices,
was in his mind the most cruel evil.
When Bill first found out that his ideas and theories have already been found, he was a
first devastated, then a slow anger formed in his mind and a determination to set things
right. Bill knew the nature of the corporation and what they would be capable of doing
to himself and Allied Magnetics. Now he must share the technical details so they will not
be hidden from the outside world. If he was found, he would be killed, his work, much of
it held within his lab and office at Allied Magnetics, would be sidelined when the
cooperation took control of the company. The technology would be then brought into
the marketplace at a time when the corporation would best use it to get further control of
other company’s assets.
Bill checked into his room and pulled the shades, he backed his car into the parking lot to
make identification of his license plate a little harder to see. He took a long hot shower,
he needed to take a rest, the last two days had been extremely stressful, he knew this was
going to be a bad week but he never could imagine how events were turning. Remorse
was setting in for the killing of Helflex, he knew he had little choice, earlier in his life he
had killed for the government as part of his military service, he was now reliving the guilt
and hardship it took to get past those days. This event was bringing back those past
events as well, if he just could shut his eyes, the world would look better in the morning.
He was safe here, no way to track him, he could rest now.
The morning light was slipping through the edges of the closed curtain, Bill could tell
that he had had a long rest, the noises of the rooms nearby being cleaned, the light of the
sun shone high in the sky, it was late morning. Bill looked at the clock face on the desk
and saw it was 10:30. Time to get to work, he got out of bed and placed the do not disturb
sign on the door. Started a pot of coffee, got dressed, and loaded up the car. His plan
today was to use the room phone outlet, connect to the Internet. Bill knew that where he
connected made little difference; the use of the Internet would not be safe, his ISP would
be detected and traced back to the motel, he had already paid for two days in advance
48
with cash. When he was done with the Internet connection, he would move on to
another motel in the area. Play cat and mouse, they would search the area but if his car
was spotted he would have a different license plate number than they would be searching
for.
His first step was to write a long letter explaining what was happening with Allied
Magnetics, the interference by another group, and an attempt to manipulate their stock.
He told how his ideas and theories would be made public and where on the Internet to
find the technical details of the developments discussed at the recent press conference
held at Allied Magnetics. Bill knew that he would be giving away many trade secrets; the
patenting process had already started so even if they knew, no one else could steal his
developments. In his letter he detailed that he was on the run, and that he would be
posting more details over time. The letter was sent to regulatory agencies, the news
media, work associates and friends. With the send button he instantly released hundreds
of messages over cyber space; he then down loaded his technical findings to his group of
internet sites for public postings. Signed off the computer, he loaded his car and left the
motel.
As he left, his thoughts were on how much life had changed in such a short time. He
knew that in his wildest dreams he could not have been more wrong to celebrate his
success early that week. At least now he was in control of events.
49
Chapter 11
The Call
The cell phone began to ring in the dark black car of Ralph Hernes, he was smiling when
he opened the phone and pulled to the side of the road. He sensed it would be good
news, “Yes”, “We have a location, Ferndale, a Motel called Sunset Motel, located at 154
Industrial Drive, the connection was made at 12:09 pm” “What is your ETA”. “I was
looking the wrong way, I thought he would head to a less populated area, with less police
coverage.” “He thinks he’s covered with the new car plates”. “It will take me a couple
hours to get there, have the local police check the area and motel for his car, you know
the new plate number, be sure they check for his original plate too.” “ If they find him,
have him arrested, we will “Talk to Him” “ when they release him from custody”
The voice on the other end of the phone had one more thing to say, “He has released a lot
of details on the Internet, you need to make this problem disappear.” Ralph answered
with a pause and then “I understand”. He then cursed under his breath, always cleaning
up other people’s screw-ups.
Ralph was thinking on his way to Ferndale, this guy is smart, he has a plan, my only edge
is the license plate, not much to go on. Why would Bill go on the Internet into the
second day at a Motel? The answer was simple, he knew that Bill would know that they
could track him there; he was gone, but to where? The Ferndale area is large, he could
blend in and be very hard to find, but everyone had a pattern, Ralph’s best skill was to
understand patterns, he was well practiced and finding a pattern then finding the person.
Bill’s pattern was his logic, he would set out a plan and stick to it, what would be his next
step, he was using cash to keep tracking his location to a minimum, His car was common
enough to blend in to a large city area with a lot of traffic of similar models and colors.
Then Ralph smiled, he figured out a pattern, he knew where to find Bill, he added some
speed to his car as he headed for Ferndale, and time was short.
50
The University of Ferndale had a large technical library on electrical engineering, just the
spot for Bill to work on integrating the ideas Helflex showed Bill. Bill had been trying to
find the missing puzzle in a few basic flaws in his design, when Helflex showed him the
details from the Corporation’s developments, the lights went on, now was the time to
finish the work while it was still fresh in his mind.
The work paid off, it was hard for Bill to think about the technical details of his work with
so many events occurring, but he was able to develop some mathematical models that
showed signs of success. The day was getting long, supper and rest, he needed to get
settled into a new Motel. He would try to find something local, the less driving on the
road the less exposure. The night sky was hazy and gray, early evening with the sunn just
setting. The parking lot was almost empty except for Bill’s car. Upon its observation Bill
said to himself, “I should have parked it in a more populated area”. Looking around he
say no one, a large black car sat near his but other than that car the lot was pretty much
empty. Bill stopped and looked for a few minutes before he hurried to reach his car, in
the back of his mind he was troubled, he stayed to late in the library the open parking lot
had high visibility. As he reached for his key and focused on the door lock, he fleet a
shadow encroaching around him, as he looked up a large hand grabbed his face, the prick
of a needle was felt embedded into his neck, his head filled with fog, and his body relaxed
into darkness.
Holding Bill up while he opened the car door was a bit of a balancing act for Ralph, he
opened the driver door, took a look around and with one sweeping motion tossed Bill
across the front seat head first he then bent his legs down and climbed into the car. Ralph
waited a minute and watched for any activity, seeing none, he started Bills car and started
out for the open highway. On his belt, he pushed a button on the page attached,
activating the next step with a Code 15. Before Ralph could finish his Code 15 assignment,
he would wait for final instructions.
51
Chapter 12
Bill’s Situation
Bill awoke to a bright light and foggy vision, his head was throbbing, he felt a burning on
his wrists and feet. His arms and legs were bound tight; he was lying on a cold stone
floor. His mouth was dry from the dusty floor, his back was cramped, as was his
shoulder. He had never felt so much pain everywhere at once in his life. His first
reaction was to yell out, but he held the urge to speak and quickly tried to look around
with his eyes. He saw a pair of eyes looking into his. “Hello Bill”. Bill’s spirit fell, he
knew he was in a bad situation, not knowing what to do next he said nothing in return.
“Look Guy, I kind of respect how you got out of that trouble with Helflex, except he was a
good friend of mine.” “We don’t have many in this kind of work, so I tied you up a little
tight, sure hope it hurts a lot!’ Said Ralph, showing a smile with his words. “ I am not
asking who you are or why you have not killed me yet, I just ask that you to be quiet”, Bill
said in return. “ Well Bill, I can help you out with this one, I just wanted to be sure you
woke up from the little medication I gave you, I have had some that didn’t”. “I need to
dump your car and get mine, be back soon, I would have made you more comfortable but
you don’t sound very apologetic to me”. “ I’ll just leave you on the hard floor for a couple
more hours, I need you to sleeps so here’s another dose of the stuff.”
“Ok, OK, I’ll be anything you want just don’t give me anymore of that stuff!!”, stated Bill.
A loud laugh was heard before the pain of the needle was felt in Bill’s neck and the lights
went out once again.
The car was cleaned, removed to an isolated location and burned, arrangements were
made to retrieve the black car, when completed Ralph returned his call, “I have taken care
of the situation, what do you want me to do with the problem?” The answer on the other
end of the phone was not the answer Ralph wanted to hear. “ The problems was not
52
taken care of as we directed, now we need to stand this operation down, we are going to
leave the problem and deal with it another way. The problem has not seen you or us, so
we can make a drop and move on with our plans”. The caller said, now Ralph knew in his
heart how this one would end, “let him go” was never a scenario, but he did have firm
instruction to make no contact with Bill. Ralph knew in the Corporation you did not
make mistakes, he had to think of a quick way out. Ralph said, “I understand and will
take care of matters”. He then hung up the phone. “Shit! He said to himself, how would
he let Bill go after he had seen him.
On the way back to Bill Ralph went over in his mind what choices he had, he thought if
he gave him an overdose, this would be a big problem but how would the Corporation
deal with it, if he released Bill and he went to the police, provided detailed information
about Ralph, the Corporation would eliminate him, they seldom left open strings on
operations. He was told not to make personal contact with Bill. Looked like only one
solution to this problem, and he would have to take it.
53
Chapter 13
Bill’s Revenge
When Ralph entered the room, he could smell urine and puke, it was very unpleasant.
He looked at Bill lying in on the floor, breathing heavy, in a pool of slop. He was awake
but groggy; he would drag him outside and hose him off. Hose down the floor and wash
it outside, the hard vinyl floors would be easier to clean this way.
After the clean up he untied Bills hand leaving his feet tied up, he did not want to have to
chase him through the woods. He then looked at Bill and said, “Bill I am about to deal
with you, you got anything to say?” Bill knew his time was up. “Look just do what you
have to do and stop talking to me, I got nothing to say to you.” Ralph cocked the gun
aimed at Bill’s head and said, “Good by Bill” and pulled the trigger. The last thing Bill felt
was the sound of a bullet passing near his head, he never heard the gun shot. He opened
his eyes and saw Ralph standing in front of him. Ralph said, “This is how this could end,
it’s up to you, I work for an organization that does not accept mistakes, they deal with
mistakes, the way I should have dealt with you just now, except they don’t miss.” “I don’t
want to be on the other side of the gun; I need your help to keep me from being there.”
Ralph hated to ask for Bill’s help but he had few choices. “I was told to not make any
personal contact with you, the Corporation was working out the damage you caused with
the release of all the technical details you put out on the Internet, the stock price of Allied
Magnetics went up so high, they did not buy the company out, and now they are busy
putting in additional patents and trademarks on the technology before someone else or
Allied Magnetics can do more.” “You are not a threat now, but your work is lost to the
Corporation.”
Bill was happy to be alive but the words just clouded in his mind, the medication had not
worn off yet, Ralphs words just brought out more rage in his mind. Bill said,” I don’t
know what to think now, I need to sleep” he sleep for 12 hours.
54
When he awoke, Ralph was watching over him, “Good morning Bill, here’s some coffee, I
have some food when you feel like eating”. Bill looked at Ralph, “Look, I am happy to still
be here, why did you shoot at me yesterday if you were not going to kill me?” Ralph
looked sternly at Bill, “What makes you think that it is over?” “Look Bill, I could’ve made
it look like the medication I used killed you, I may have survived that problem with the
Corporation, you must understand, I was given instructions to make no personal contact
with you. I was to keep you out until I was given further instructions, if you describe me
to the police, I will disappear forever if you get my meaning.” “They don’t leave loose
ends.” Ralph always looked to minimize risk, his thought was to convince Bill to go
along with his idea and get them both off the hook.
Bill’s head was throbbing, he did not want to receive any more shots, “look, I just don’t
see any way out for me, I ‘ve given out information that will get me into hot water
without a reason for me to have done it.” “How do I get things back on track, I can’t just
go back and act like nothing has happened.” Ralph’s large face had a big smile, “Here is
how you get out of trouble, I will give you information developed and held secret within
the Corporation that could only have come from my boss, he will catch the blame, your
corporation can then license the technology. You make some money and get off the hook
for giving away some developments, and my boss will be my next assignment. Both our
problems will be solved.
55
Chapter 14
Bill’s Return
It was late when Bill opened the door to his apartment, the damp air held a lonely smell
of abandonment. A pile of mail lay on the floor, answering machine full; he would have a
lot of questions to account for with his return to town. He put his future fate in Ralph, he
wondered if he was just setting himself up for another trap. He knew he had no choice
now; this would be his only way out. He poured a few fingers of scotch in his glass,
opened the window, kept the lights out and sat in his favorite chair. It had been a very
long week. The mellow flavor in the glass melted his tension but did little for his fears.
The Morning sun was showing in the window, he had fallen to sleep in his chair, his
muscles ached, and recovering from his ordeal was not helped from hours of sleep in an
upright chair. Upon his wake, he struggled to get up, he made a strong pot of coffee, took
a hot shower, and looked at the morning news, and the local feature was about him.
Allied Magnetics taking head was on TV to explain why their technical developments
were being released on the Internet from their engineer Bill Farmer. Their answer was
that the release of the information was not authorized and answers would be
forthcoming. The news that company already had licensed the technology was asked
about, the spokesman for Allied Magnetics indicated that although other corporations
were using and working on the technology, that the basic science would open up new
avenues for product design, and Allied was far ahead of anyone else with practical
designs. Bill smiled for he knew this was not true.
He picked up the phone and called the office, his plan was ready to be put in place. After
a quick chat with his department head, he talked to the legal department and requested a
meeting with the Board of Directors and CEO, in private. It was set up for latter in the
day, at 4 pm. He was to come in the back door. He knew this was his only way out of this
mess, Ralph better come through or he was finished.
At 1 pm he arrived at the secluded located, it was a dark area, hidden from view, he made
sure that he was not followed, would Ralph show up as planned. Bill felt a hand touch his
shoulder, he turned quickly to see Ralph, without saying a word, he was handed a stack of
56
Data CD’s, then Ralph turned and left. This would be his last contact with Ralph if he was
lucky; the next time Ralph visited would be Bill’s last.
The speed at which all the events happened flashed back. How could all this exist and no
one knew ran through Bill’s head. Security with an iron fist must work he thought.
57
Chapter 15
The Meeting
Upon his return to the apartment, drapes pulled, checking the CD’s proved more valuable
than Bill could ever imagine. Within the disks were data developed from working
prototypes, detailed instructions, and years of research. This data was extremely
confidential, it will save Allied Magnetics. Now he only had a couple hours to put it
together for the meeting with the CEO and director.
The day was overcastted; even the gray sky could not keep Bill from feeling a surge of
energy. He now had the knowledge that this day would be an end to a long hard week. A
new start for the company and he could regain his position within Allied Magnetics.
He parked behind the building, entering the back door and made his way into the office
of the CEO. He was unseen, except for the personal assistant of the CEO. No welcomes
were given, just the door opened to the boardroom. He was the first to arrive; he sat in
the middle of the large table, opened his folders and tried to focus on his task. The
information would have to be let out piece-by-piece, rational for his past actions this
week. The door opened and first in was the CEO John Forman, followed by the rest of the
Board members, they did not look happy to be there.
The CEO was the first to speak, “Bill, you are here to explain yourself, we have asked our
legal team to not be here today, this is an informal discussion, do not bring up any matter
that would require a legal judgment, do you understand me Bill”. “Yes, I understand, my
function today is simply to explain my actions and lay out a plan for tomorrow, not
anything beyond that.” “The information I will present you with today is simply an
overview of work that will be patented for Allied Magnetics, the full technical details are
held in a confidential location, no one has seen this material.”
Each member present was presented with a folder that contained specific information
that showed the outline of what would be patented. As they read the materials, smiles
showed on their faces, The CEO was first to speak, “Bill how could you have developed
this, our budget was too small for any of this kind of research, it could not have been
58
done here.” Bill had to handle this question with care, “As you know we have been under
attack by another corporation that has been doing similar research, they have started the
patient process but are way behind our processes, we will need to use care that protection
of our new processes shown here are done in a confidential way. Everything said here
today must remain confidential in the light of current conditions.” The processes I will
patient are our property, the research was done under a deep cover.” Bill was not use to
lying; he hoped he could carry it off. No one on the board of Directors said anything; they
left the talking to the CEO John Forman.
John was concerned about the secrecy, “Look Bill you’ve made life pretty hard around
here with your behavior up to this point, how can we be sure you are not going to screw
us again?” ‘John, you have known me for a lot of years, we have been through some hard
years. You have to trust me on this one, I could have just disappeared and sold this
information, but I am here to insure that Allied Magnetics can use this technology, our
employees and shareholder have been through a rough ride this last week, we are over the
hill with this stuff, give me two weeks and we will have our patient paperwork registered.”
“Bill, I speak for the board, you have your two weeks.”
59
Chapter 16
Code 20
The last few weeks were slow at the Corporation, Ralph was using care to try to avoid all
talk about his dealings with Allied Magnetics and Bill Farmer. The loss of Helflex was still
a topic of conversation, and the quick way Ralph was able to locate and apprehend Bill.
All Ralph would say was, just routine, follow procedures and things always work out. The
Division Chair for the Corporation was Lester Max, he was in charge of the Allied
Magnetic operation, his weeks had been filled with requests for information about how
this operation got so out of control. How did his agent Helflex Teller loss his man, and
why did he not get Bill Farmer before he published his technical details of his
developments on the Internet.
Over the last couple of weeks the Cooperation had to answer a lot of questions about why
they had not let their shareholders know of their magnetic product developments. Why
Allied Magnetics had published their finding first. Why did they have to abort their
attempt to buy Allied Magnetics? The development of this technology was to be years
away, after the Corporation squeezed every dollar out of their current technology. New
products in the design stages were already obsolete.
Lester Max had a nervous personality, he jittered and jumped with sudden sounds, the
pressure his current situation did not help matters. His hair was thinning and gray, he
looked too fragile. A man with his position had to instill fear, his word needed to be law.
He obtained his position not by strength and cunning, but by backstabbing and
corrosion. The former Division Chair, had developed a drug addiction, it was rumored a
little doping of the morning coffee was one contributing factor. Nobody ever accepted
food or drink from Lester after he obtained his position. A Code 20 was sounded when
word got out about Division Chair’s directors drug problem. Helflex was the assigned,
Lester remembered giving the assignment to Helflex. He was told by Lester, “Make him
suffer before disposal”.
60
Ralph was happy to keep a low profile, his actions were the only ones seen as following
the orders of the Corporation, someone had to pay for this screw up, he was trying to be
sure he would stay out of the way. In a few more days, Ralph knew trouble was coming.
The phone rang in Lester’s office; he was quick to pick it up.
The phone extension was from the Corporation Director. “Hello Director, this is Lester
Max how can I help you.” “I have one question, who has access to our data files in the
Magnetic development lab.” “Well, the way to the technical papers and data is thorough
my secure workstation, I have to be present and my secret password needs to be used.” “
No one can get the data but through me.”
The Director answered, “that was my understanding “ and hung up the phone.
Lester did not like the question just asked, and the abrupt ending of the phone call was
not a good sign. “I ‘d better check my files”, he thought. As he suspected, during a time
he was out of the office his files have been accesses and a large volume of data
downloaded.
The circle of people who could have hacked into his files was very small, but the pool was
large enough that he knew that finding the guilty party in time to save his own skin
would be very hard. If he left suddenly he would just look more guilty. Lester knew he
had done way too many people wrong to expect help for anyone.
Ralph’s pager went off, the Director was expecting a return call on a secure line. He
found a secure private area and returned the Directors call, “Hello this is Ralph, returning
your call”
61
“Ralph, I need to talk to you immediately, how soon can you arrive at my office” said the
Director, his tone was telling Ralph it better be soon. “I’ll be there in less than 30
minutes.” “Good by.”
The back entrance to the office was dark, late in the afternoon the sun was on the front of
the building, the lighting was kept intently dark, this entrance was only used when quiet
meetings were held. The pathway was not welcomed by anyone, it always harbored
trouble. Upon opening the door, the Director asked Ralph if he had any other projects
going on tonight, he indicated he did not.
“Here’s the thing Ralph, you are aware of the mess of this Allied Magnetics case, you did a
great job.” “ I can always count on your skills, you found the guy but a bit too late to use
your services.” “Now I find out that Allied Magnetics has licensed our technology, the
files were downloaded by off Lester’s computer using his passwords.” “What do you think
about all this, and who to blame for this mess.”
Ralph knew his questions indicated he had suspicions that Lester was not in this alone, or
that someone had set-up Lester.” Ralph spoke with caution, “I do not want to place
blame on anyone, Lester is not liked by anyone here, and others could have done the
downloading.” “I have the corporation’s best interest at heart, what do you want me to
do?”
The Director was not giving up this line yet, “Tell me, did you make personal contact with
Bill Farmer?” Ralph knew his moment of truth was here, if he lied and was caught he
would be dead, if he told the true, he was unsure of his fate. He said “Yes”. A smile came
across the Directors face, “Ok, good you told the truth, now what is your relationship
with Bill Farmer” Ralph had hoped that Lester would take the fall for the leaked
materials, without question, he was not liked, and was first to be blamed for the entire
mess.” He could tell that the trap was just too easy; Lester would have covered his tracks
62
and found a way for the blame to fall on someone else. Ralph if nothing else had a code
of honor.
My relationship with Bill Farmer is one of prey and hunter, I hunted him and caught him,
I waited for instructions to terminate him. The instructions were changed.
“Ralph, I am going to ask you one final question and I expect a yes or no answer, did you
leak the materials to Allied Magnetics.” The moment of truth had come; Ralph looked
down and said, “Yes”.
The Director smiled, “Well we finally got to the bottom of this”. What was your next
play? You know this could cost us a lot of money.” I played this the best way to go
forward, Lester is a snake and no good for us, with this play we built an alliance I will use
in the future. Make me CEO and I will bring it full circle. The director shook his head, “I
am glad you work for me.” Make it happen.
63
Chapter 17
The Final Development
The TV went to a newscast, breaking news of a commuter plane crash, a team of
executives on board a small fixed wing commuter plane died today. The plane they were
flying in crashed during landing at Newark International Airport at 3:45 pm today. The
weather was good, but all indications are that mechanical failures lead to the disaster.
Aboard the plane was Lester Max, Division Chairman for Interlock Industries, also aboard
was a team of developers for the Magnetics development division of the company. This
loss could be a substantial hit for this company; they were in final development stages of
major breakthrough technology in Magnetic science. Company offices have indicated
that Ralph Hernes, former head of special projects would take over the duties for Lester
Max, as Division Chair.
The weeks turned to months at Allied Magnetics, Bill had been busy getting the technical
aspects of the technology obtained from Ralph trademarked and processes patented. He
was amazed at the detail of the work, why they had held this technology off the
commercial market did not seem to make sense to Bill. If he was willing to take a long-
term view of how much the replacement of technology can cost a corporation, he may
have had a different view. The long view was never one of Bill’s attributes. Life was
hectic; a routine was beginning to set in.
When the new first came on TV, Bill did not pay much attention until he heard the name
Ralph Hernes, a picture was shown with the broadcast, Bill shuttered in his chair. He
understood now, Ralph did not give him a full picture of events; he now was in charge of
the division that was a rival to Allied Magnetics.
Later that day the phone rang in Bills office, he picked up the phone, “Hello this is Bill!”
Bill, this is Ralph, you remember me from our recent visit.” “You’re a guy that I would
never forget, I heard the news today, you failed to mention you were in line for your
64
boss’s job.” Well, it was kind of a surprise to me too, but it’s funny the way things work
out sometimes.” “Bill the reason I am calling is to set up a meeting with you.”
Bill was squirming in his seat, just when he thought things were getting back to normal
he was faced with new challenges. He did not say anything for a while. Ralph waited,
still no comment. “ Look don’t get this wrong, I don’t want to say what I have to say over
the phone, I would ask that you bring your company Lawyer with you, you have won this
battle, we need to negotiate a settlement for the use of shared technology.” “ I have said
more than I should have over the phone already, we will meet tomorrow at the diner at
noon, you know the table!” With that Ralph hung up the phone, he did not wait for a
response from Bill.
Bill understood that this meeting will take place, you do not say no to Ralph, he talked to
the Legal department and the CEO, neither was happy with the meeting after the last
debacle. Bill was able to convince them that with legal representation this would be
positive for both companies, just an initial informal chat. He would arrange a formal
meeting if needed. Bill was a bit worried about how this would turn out; he did steal the
patients and processes of Ralph’s corporation.
The next morning, rain and dew darkened the morning sky. A gray haze sat over the city,
a depressed mood fell over Bill. He was still tired from his ordeal, and did not look
forward to a renewed conversation with a killer who could bring down all the good things
that have taken place over the last couple weeks. He knew Ralph could have killed him
but let him live, that if his purpose was to do Bill harm, he would never know it, his
demise would have already occurred.
At 11:30 am Bill got together with his Layer, Jay Billson. Jay was a likable guy, he wanted
to get the restaurant early before Ralph. He always had enjoyed Jay’s conversations and
wanted to go over strategy before meeting with Ralph. His plans were undone for as they
entered the Restaurant sitting in the table where Bill had meet Helflex earlier, sat Ralph.
65
He looked and smiled; he knew he outsmarted Bill once more. He arrived early to have
lunch privately and ensure the table would be obtained for their use. He had left an extra
large tip ahead of time to ensure privacy and the tables extended use.
As Bill approached the table, he gave a knowing smile to Ralph, he knew he had meet his
match with this guy. “Hello Bill, you look much better today than the last time I saw
you.” “Well, I have a much clearer head today.” “This is Jay Billson, Our Patient Attorney,
he did the work with the Magnetics developments over the last few weeks”
Ralph reached over and gave Jay a very firm handshake, the kind you don’t forget, it told a
story to Jay. The story, don’t under estimate this guy; he is not what he seems. “ I have
ordered for your both, your food should be here any minute.” That was nice of you, said
Jay but how do you know what we would like, and how did you know we would be here
30 minutes early. “Well boy’s that the point is it not?” “ I am here to propose we do
business, my former CEO and team were not of the same mind as I am, I am sure you
have heard of the tragic event of the plane crash and the loss of this team.” “Our new
team will follow me, here’s how I see it.” “Somehow you got our technology, we are OK
with this, what you did not get we can share.” We are going to make some large leaps
over the next couple years in new product development as you will.” “ I am of a mind to
do it co-operatively rather than as competitors.” Bill felt relief, but based on what has
happened was not about to trust Ralph.
Bill said, “Let me get this straight, you are willing to share your developments with us,
when we don’t have anything to give you!” “You do have one thing of worth to us, and any
sharing would require this one valuable asset of Allied Magnetics.” “If we don’t get this
thing we will have to resort to the old management style of doing business.” Bill looked
surprised, thinking what could this one thing be?” Ok Ralph I give up, what is this one
thing.” “it’s what we always wanted, we just are going to approach it a different way, you
know what it is Bill, it is you.”
66