Nano Surveillance (Dave Henson Series Book 1) (14 page)

“I can’t wait to hear the reaction when Barbas sees that clip played on national television,” commented Dana.

“Yes, he’s a man that likes to be in total control. I am sure he won’t take it well. However, I need your assistance on it. Again, I would like you to narrate the video providing both introductory and summary remarks.”

“I’d love to,” responded Dana.

“Great. Work with Ron and let’s get it wrapped up and prepared to transmit before we leave on Friday for the Caribbean. Again, we will not plan on broadcasting it until next week. However, if for some reason we need to release it earlier, or if we get delayed down in St. John, we can have the rest of the team here at NSurv release the clip.”

“I will connect up with Ron as soon as we are done here,” said Dana.

“Well I think we’re pretty much done,” responded Dave as he stood up from behind his desk. “As a matter of fact, I need to do a little prep work before a general pays me a visit later today. Apparently the Pentagon has suddenly taken an interest in NSurv and our capabilities. Not sure exactly how they learned of our capabilities, but hey, it’s the government. They have many more eyes in the skies, if you will, than we do. Last I read in a recent military magazine, the combined military services have over 10, 000 aerial drones in the field today, most of which are deployed over United States land. Although their surveillance technologies pale in comparison with what we are doing here at NSurv, they are fairly comprehensive at a coarse level.”

“As we discussed, I am sure via our phone conversations when I was at ABO, the administration believes NSurv had something to do with the Vice President’s video recording. They’re probably sending out the troops, or in this case the general, to sniff out what’s going on inside the walls of NSurv.”

“Well we will be prepared for him when he shows up today. Suffice it to say he won’t be learning very much,” responded Dave in a serious and determined tone.

With Dave’s last statement, Dana left Dave’s office to track down Ron, and Dave stepped out of his office to talk with Jane Nanders. He had asked Jane to put together a dossier on General Russell Jarod a couple of days ago so that he could better understand the man he would be talking with later on in the day. His gut had already told him that General Jarod was a man to be very wary of.

Chapter 42 (March 19, 9:00pm in Shanghai, China)

Billionaire Chinese business tycoon Chung Lee looked past the man sitting across from him at the dining table. While partially listening to the man talk, he stared out at the evening skyline from the Hai Ting restaurant on top of the ninety floor skyscraper in downtown Shanghai. A sea of red lights slowly blinked on and off in both an asynchronous and rhythmic way from the tops of all the city’s skyscrapers. Far below at street level, red and white lights from automobiles traced the city’s roadways.  Shanghai had changed so much from when he was a poor young boy growing up in the city. Like him, the city had transcended its past and developed into a major international economic metropolis.

Identified by the state government at a very early age as a highly gifted and intelligent student, he had been groomed for success in China’s version of communist capitalism. He had attended Shanghai University where he received a Bachelors and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. From there he went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard University in the United States. After completing his education at Harvard he had returned to China and started his career at Yeh Electric Train, a business that his uncle had founded a decade earlier. Three decades later he was the Chairman of the Board of Yeh Electric Train and had amassed a personal fortune of over $20 billion U.S. dollars. Though he had spent much of his career in management at the company, he had always remained an engineer at heart. Consequently there wasn’t one area of the company’s business that he did not know or couldn’t explain to anyone.

Tonight Chung Lee was having dinner with a man from the United States that he had gone to school with at Harvard. Jason Rowe was the United States Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade and was sent to China to specifically meet with Chung Lee and discuss his company’s MAGLEV technology. Though Chung had stayed in touch with Jason over the years since they graduated, Chung never held Jason in high regards. When they were attending Harvard Business School, Chung viewed Jason with both admiration and contempt. Admiration because he was your all American guy living the high life in the United States, and contempt, because Jason had a high self-opinion of himself and acted as an elitist with everyone he came in contact with. This said, Chung realized as a young Harvard student that Jason Rowe was a person that was worth investing his time in, even if he had to somewhat hold back in reserve his partial disdain for him.

“Chung it is great seeing you again. It’s been nearly a decade since we last saw one another.”

“Yes, it has been a long time,” responded Chung as he returned his gaze to the man sitting across from him.

“I am so glad you were able to take some time to meet with me. I know you’re an extremely busy man right now. Your company has been experiencing tremendous growth in recent years like most Chinese corporations.”

“It’s no problem,” responded Chung. “As you said, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other and its nice reconnecting with old friends.”

Chung took a sip of his Martini before continuing. “So what brings a busy guy like you out here to China?”

“Well as you know I work as the United States Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade. As you’re also probably aware, the President of the United States has recently made it an objective of his administration and our country to build a new national public transit rail system. Two of the main reasons for doing so are to reduce our country’s dependency on foreign oil and to dramatically decrease its output in CO
2
emissions.”

“Yes, I did recently hear about his Transportation Movement Act and its key objectives on an international news broadcast. He laid out some pretty aggressive goals for your country. Do you really think he has a chance of achieving them?”

“Yes I do, and that is exactly why I am here this evening talking with you. I was tapped by my boss to explore your company’s interest in helping us achieve the President’s objectives in the TMA.”

“Really?” responded Chung questioningly. “In what possible way?”

“To be perfectly blunt with you, the President is interested in having Yeh Electric Train provide the MAGLEV locomotives and passenger cars for the rail systems he wants built in the United States.”

Chung looked at Jason incredulously. “Why would he want a Chinese company to build his MAGLEV locomotives? There are several companies in the United States that have the technology and manufacturing resources to build them. We compete with them regularly, bidding on projects around the globe.”

“Yes, yes, this is true, however, the President’s TMA objectives go much further than simply reducing the country’s energy needs and lowering CO
2
emissions. He feels the United States owes a lot to the rest of the world. That over the centuries the United States has treated much of the rest of the world’s people as simply beasts of burden to take advantage of and to use for its own personal gain. He wants to right those wrongs of our nation’s past, and in the process, change how the rest of the world views our country. To help provide those, shall we say, self-imposed reparations to the world, he wants to spread our country’s wealth to other nations around the globe, including China. And to that end, we believe Yeh Electric Train is the perfect company to partner with for the production of our MAGLEV locomotives and passenger cars.”

Chung Lee looked over at Jason Rowe in utter disbelief and confusion. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The President of the United States, of arguably now the most powerful country in the world, offering handouts to companies around the globe for self-imposed reparations for his country’s past behavior.  It sounded incredulous, but on the other hand he was a business man. He certainly was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If the United States government wanted to give him a contract worth well over a trillion dollars he would certainly fulfill their wishes.”

Though Chung already has some idea of the enormity of the size of the potential contract for this project, he had to ask Jason for a few specifics. “How many MAGLEV locomotives is the president’s TMA looking for?”

“The TMA initially calls out for twenty-five cities to have MAGLEV service between them. Based on initial projections we estimate 750 locomotives and nearly 10,000 passenger cars will need to be produced.”

Chung looked at Jason incredulously. “Has your president any idea of what the cost will be for interconnecting 25 cities in the United States with a MAGLEV system of that size and complexity?”

“Yes, it is projected to cost approximately $20 trillion dollars over a ten year period to implement such a rail network system in the country,” responded Jason.

“Who do you have in mind for manufacturing the guideway?” asked Chung. “As I am sure you are aware there is a very close symbiotic relationship between MAGLEV locomotives and the guideway rail system they run on. We have a couple of close guideway partners who we have worked with over the years that I would highly recommend you contract with.”

“Indeed,” responded Jason. “I’m sure you’re familiar with DGK International in Germany. They have a very reputable history of installing MAGLEV tracks on a large scale.”

“Yes, they are the best in guideway construction, and as you say, they have the size and infrastructure to support a project the scale of what you are talking about.”

“So do you think Yeh Electric Train would be interested in participating in such an endeavor?” asked Jason already knowing the answer.

“Of course we would,” responded Chung, “And I am sure the Chinese government will be just as pleased and supportive of the opportunity. As you know, our country’s economic growth rate has begun to slow in recent years and our major cities like Shanghai have been struggling to keep up with the continued influx of unskilled labor from the rural areas. A business opportunity of this magnitude will be very helpful to the people of China.”

“Excellent,” responded Jason with an ear to ear grin. “My boss, the Secretary of Commerce, and the President will be extremely pleased with your acceptance of our proposal. I was also asked, assuming you accepted our offer, to invite you to come to Washington D.C. and meet with the President in person for a weekend retreat at Camp David. He and some of his aides would like to personally meet with you and provide you with more specifics about the MAGLEV goals and objectives for our country. He’d also like you to come prepared with some initial budgetary cost estimates for building the locomotives and passenger cars.”

“Yes, I would love to visit Washington D.C. again and meet your President. Please let him know that I am available at his convenience,” responded Chung Lee.

“I will indeed let him know. I can tell you already that he will probably like to see you in the next several days. As you may have already read or heard, the President is very anxious in getting the TMA legislation passed and its implementation underway.  We are anticipating its passage in Congress in the next few weeks, and the President signing it into law in a large formal ceremony days later. At that point, we will immediately want to begin the work of building the greatest mass public transit system in the world.”

Jason picked up his Martini from the dining table and raised it up for a toast. Chung Lee responded in kind. “To a better and more prosperous world,” spoke Jason. The two clinked glasses and celebrated their newly forged agreement and rekindled relationship. As they placed their glasses back down on the table a waiter arrived to serve them their dinners. Chung once again returned his gaze beyond his dining partner and out into the night Shanghai skyline. It was a strange world he thought as he stared out into the dark space, but what was not to love about it.

Chapter 43 (March 19, Tuesday 3:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time)

Chief of Staff Ken Hardy sat across from the President at his desk in the Oval Office. They had been talking about the President’s day so far and the Chief of Staff’s planned visit to the Virgin Islands this upcoming weekend. President Coleman had already spoken to the Vice President earlier in the day and asked for his resignation. Though the Vice President had initially pushed back on having to resign from his post, he eventually came around when the President suggested he would offer him a pardon in the event that he was found guilty of any crimes associated with the death of the woman. The President also promised that he would not allow Houlton to be extradited to Argentina if the Buenos Aires police wanted to proceed with a legal trial against him. Though President Coleman didn’t like to make promises to anyone, he had no choice with Houlton. The Vice President was a dangerous wild card. He could have made the President’s life much more difficult than it already was if he hadn’t offered those concessions in return for his resignation letter.

“Have you already figured out a successor to Houlton yet?” asked Hardy.

“Yes, I have a candidate in mind who is a member of the Senate,” responded the President. “He’s actually a member of the opposition party. Senator Tom Landers from Virginia.”

Hardy looked at the President in astonishment. “You’ve got to be joking.”

“No I’m not,” responded the President seriously. “By choosing a Vice President who is of the opposite party we can demonstrate to the American public that our administration is willing to put differences aside and work across party lines for the best interests of the country. Not to mention, it may help us obtain a few additional votes on the TMA legislation. Some of the moderates in the opposition party may reciprocate my gesture by supporting the bill. Actually, I’m counting on a few of them to do so.”

“Yes, you’ve suggested a couple of good reasons, however, have you fully thought this one out?” asked Hardy who was still not fully bought into the concept yet. “Do you really want to have a gadfly in our administration regularly reporting back information to our opponents in Congress? And what happens if, God forbid, we lose you, or you’re incapacitated for a period of time. Do you really want Tom Landers replacing you or temporarily filling your shoes?”

“Ken, I might be thinking a bit out of the box here, but I’m not crazy,” laughed Coleman. “You know Senator Tom Landers. By all accounts he’s a moderate. Take a look at his voting record for the past twelve years he’s been in the Senate. Heck, some of his own party member colleagues have publicly questioned his party affiliation. If the House and Senate approve him, we’ll keep him under constant wraps. Other than the occasional photo op with me, he won’t be spending any time here in the White House. And as far as losing me, I’m going to personally vouch that I’m not going to let that happen.”

“Do you think he’d actually take the job,” pressed Hardy.

“Of course he would. He’s a politician first, a party member second. We’ve all got aspirations. Like any other politician he’ll jump at the opportunity to hold the second highest political office in the country.”

Hardy nodded his head more in resignation than in agreement with the President’s decision of nominating Senator Tom Landers. “Alright, if that’s your decision, I’ll work with it.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear that, as I’ve already planned to speak with him later today. If he accepts my offer, which again there is no doubt in my mind that he will, we should have no issues getting him approved by Congress.”

Hardy flinched briefly from hearing that the President had already planned to talk with Senator Landers without letting him know first.

Seeing his Chief of Staff still not looking completely comfortable with his decision he threw him one more reason for his choice.  

“Ken, don’t worry about my decision on Landers. I’ve thought it through carefully. Keep in mind that the Governor of Virginia is a member of our party and a close friend of mine. At a minimum, look at my decision on Landers as an opportunity for the governor to replace him with someone who we know we can count on going forward.”

Hardy smiled at the President and nodded in full agreement. “You’re right. There are some significant positives with your decision. We’ll make this work, and putting Houlton behind us quickly is what needs to happen if we want to have any chance of getting the TMA passed. He was becoming an increasing distraction.”

“Speaking of the TMA,” interrupted President Coleman. “You’re still planning to head down to see Barbas this weekend in the Virgin Islands?”

“Yes, I’m heading out on Thursday. I’m flying into Cyril E. King airport in St. Thomas. Barbas is then having his helicopter pick me up from there and fly me out to his yacht off of St. John. Jason Evans is scheduled to arrive Saturday morning.”

“Have you and the Secretary of Commerce worked up a proposal to present to them?” asked the President.

“Yes, we’ve put together what we believe is an attractive and fair proposal based upon your suggested outline. Barbas and Evans should be quite pleased, as they’ll each become much wealthier. Suffice it to say they’re getting a very sweet deal.”

The President could tell from Hardy’s last comment that he had some concerns with the proposal.

“It’s a necessary evil,” responded the President as he looked intently at Hardy. “We need them to continue to financially back our efforts, Barbas with his media network conglomerate, and Evans with his financial campaign contributions. Without their past support the two of us wouldn’t be sitting here today. And without their continued support, we’d be hard pressed to achieve our goals of eliminating global warming and raising the standard of living for everyone on this planet.”

“Yes, you’re right Jesse,” sighed the Chief of Staff. “But the financial magnitude of the proposal to Barbas and Evans is almost criminal. Each of them, through their business enterprises, could potentially make a trillion dollars over the next decade.” 

“It’s still a small price to pay,” replied the President. “The benefits far outweigh the price our country will pay them.”

The President got up out of his chair to signal he was done with their conversation. Ken Hardy understood and immediately stood up in response, as he got the message that the President wanted to be alone and focus on other business.

“Have a good trip Ken, and don’t catch too much sun while you’re down there.”

“I’ll try not to,” said Hardy as he left the Oval Office.