It's Hell To Choose (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 9)

by Michael Anderle

  Mark looked down the road a hundred yards at the small crowd there with signs chanting something about ‘Sharing is Caring', and 'Hoarding is Wrong!’. It looked to be over three hundred people of mixed races. There was one smaller group off to the side, and Mark could see at least fifteen tents scattered under the trees outside of the gate entrance on the other side of the crowd.

  Sia came up beside him, “I wonder what they would do if they all just tried to climb up or run in?”

  Mark nodded, “See those wires at the top of the fence?” She nodded, “Electrified. No one is going up there without coming back off all tingly."

  Sia put the video camera on her shoulder and started taking some shots for the intro, “That’s funny!” she commented.

  “What?” Mark asked.

  “There are signs on the fence that say ‘Beware - Wolves in Area. That has to be the worst way to keep people away that I’ve ever seen.

  Mark finished prepping and asked her, “You got enough footage?” When she nodded, he continued “Good, let’s go.”

  The two went walking up to the large group of people who were covering the front road and at least twenty feet on either side of the road. From there you couldn’t go to the right due to a sheer cliff-face going up a few hundred feet. To the left, the trees were pretty thick for twenty feet, and Mark knew there was a sudden drop of a couple of hundred feet that way. Sucked if you didn’t know this and tried anything in the dark.

  The two of them shot three introductions really quick when Mark noticed Barrins walking up behind them with his thumbs stuck in his waistband, smiling.

  Mark raised an eyebrow to the guy. It was nice that he was a fan, or at least a viewer of their show, but he didn’t want his elbow jiggled while he was working.

  —

  “Cheryl Lynn, this has to be one of your worst ideas ever!” Bethany Anne grumped. She was uncomfortable in her skirt, blouse and suit coat in the Pod. She was rapidly approaching the front of the Colorado base after a stop in France. The new shoes felt nice. Ashur was with her in the Pod. Eric and John had sped ahead of her and were in place already, unseen in the trees.

  Cheryl Lynn spoke through the speaker, “I’ll admit, it is a calculated risk, and it might backfire; but hear me out. We know most of the picketers have been paid. Get them to admit that on camera and there goes support for this kind of bullshit.”

  “What about the others?” Bethany Anne asked.

  “That’s when the secret weapon comes out. I’ve talked with John, and he completely agrees it won’t fail” she replied.

  “Well, what is it?” Bethany Anne wondered.

  Cheryl Lynn answered, “Um, I can’t tell you. If I do, it will ruin the weapon. Trust us, ok?” Bethany Anne wanted to gripe, but she could see the base coming into view when Cheryl Lynn said one more thing, “and please, for the love of God, don’t cuss!” A pause then she added, “Or kill people.”

  Ashur’s ‘chuff’ of annoyance at Cheryl Lynn’s last remark humored Bethany Anne. “I know buddy, she means well, but she takes all the fun out of it, too.”

  —

  Sia was grabbing a few more shots of those picketing when she was tapped on the shoulder, “Sia turn around!” Mark said. She looked over her shoulder to see Mark looking up.

  Her eyes opened wide, and she tried to whip around as quickly as possible to set up a framing shot and then looked up barely in time to see a black … something coming down quickly and then stopping a foot off of the ground. Mark wanted to step forward, but the guard put a hand out to block him, “Sorry Mr. Billingsly, please wait until the CEO steps out.”

  Sia pointed the camera towards the object, and it opened from the front, splitting down the middle. Inside, a large white German Shepherd was sitting and quickly jumped out. Sia took an involuntary step back before she realized the dog was waiting a few feet in front of the craft. She kept it in focus as a woman in executive business dress stepped out. Her hair was black and her skin white. She was very pretty and smiled as she stepped out.

  She moved a few feet from the craft and the doors closed and then it went back up into the air and then quickly traveled towards the base and disappeared over the trees.

  She stepped forward and the dog stayed at her side. Not just any dog, this German Shepherd was huge.

  The woman stepped towards Mark, “Mr. Billingsly, Hello, I’m Bethany Anne.” Her smile lit up the video screen. Mark was hesitating, and Sia almost cleared her throat, but he finally caught back up to what they were doing here.

  “Pleased to meet you, Bethany Anne, please call me Mark.” He smiled in return. Sia wanted to kick him. He was already moving into ‘I’m a guy, and I am smitten’ mode. Jackass, she thought.

  The woman turned toward the camera, “Hello Sia, I love your work. I’m glad you are the video person working with Mark on this news report.” Sia almost twitched her camera. No one on these interviews had ever mentioned that they had a clue about her work! Sia nodded her acknowledgment from behind the camera, but couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

  She did, however, try to frame Bethany Anne a little tighter and stepped to the side so the light caught her just right.

  Sia pointed her camera towards the group of protesters who had realized the action was behind them, not up at the gate.

  Bethany Anne started walking towards the group coming at her. She pursed her lips and stopped as the dog continued a few steps in front of her before stopping.

  There was a belligerent-looking white man with salt and pepper hair and a pudgy stomach which his light-gray off-the-rack suit barely held in. His black leather shoes looked brand new.

  A good amount of the picketers backed him up, but they stayed back a few feet when he stepped forward.

  “You are her!” he demanded. Sia zoomed in on his face. “You're holding back this technology from the rest of us!”

  “And what technology is that,” the contralto voiced CEO asked him.

  “Everything!” he spluttered. “You can get to the moon; your operations guy looks like he has had facelifts and … and…”

  The CEO’s voice went a little harder, like velvet across steel Sia thought, when she asked him again, “And what, sir? What do you want from us?”

  “Your technology, of course!” His eyes grew round in surprise.

  Bethany Anne asked him, “Why do you want our technology, Mr…” She left the question out there, but she had that same demanding tone she had used just a second before.

  “Silvens-Werner.” He admitted, then grimaced in distaste, like he hadn’t wanted to admit that. Sia took a quick pan over to Bethany Anne, but Sia believed the real story was going to be with this picketer.

  “Well, Mr. Silvens-Werner. Since you have admitted you ‘want our technology’, why don’t you tell us who is paying you to picket here?”

  The man looked around quickly, but Bethany Anne added, “Oh no, Mr. Silvens-Werner, you came to my corporate headquarters to talk with me or someone from my company. Now, you have pulled me from operations that could have used my attention to speak with you. Do not be rude and try to leave before your interview with me is over. So, why don’t you let myself and the viewers watching Channel 4 News represented by the team of Mark Billingsly and Sia Fortinouet hear your answer? Please, tell us, who is paying you to picket here?”

  Mark was shocked as the man started spouting off three important names. One from the defense industry, and two from pharmaceuticals. He was surprised when Bethany Anne pulled an envelope from her suit jacket and opened it. Taking out a cream colored paper, she unfolded it to and held it out to Mark. “Mark, here is a resume of Mr. Silvens-Werner. He is known to promote a large amount of different and varied efforts for a fee. Since this morning, our company has been looking into this gentleman and the buses of picketers he hired to stand in front of our gate.” She turned back to the grumpy looking man, “I’m sure you would like to answer all of Mark’s questions, wouldn’t you Mr. Silvens-Werner?” />
  She looked to the people behind the fussy man. Sensing another scoop, Sia moved the camera from Bethany Anne to the crowd where she was looking as she spoke, “How many here were hired to come picket today?” All but two in the near vicinity raised their hands. “If you came by bus, please head toward the bus and get ready to leave. This fallacy is not worth your time and frankly is beneath you.”

  Sia kept the video rolling as the group split around the young CEO and her dog. She moved the camera to capture a young lady who was staring at Bethany Anne in amazement as she walked around her.

  Sia turned the camera to Mark, who picked up the queue, “Mr. Silvens-Werner, this document says you live right outside of Washington D.C., is this true?” The man nodded it was. “Is it true that you were paid to hire these picketers? He nodded again, “I’m sorry, can you answer the question out loud?” Mark asked.

  “Yes.” he grated out, “I was hired to do this.”

  “Why, Mr. Silvens-Werner?” Mark asked.

  “To help generate the grass-roots turnout necessary to give those in Congress the will-power to require TQB Enterprises to release their technology forcefully.”

  “Fascinating, Mr. Silvens-Werner,” Mark said. “What is your budget?” The man mumbled something so Mark asked again, “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t able to hear you. What is your budget?”

  “Success” he spluttered, “doesn’t have a budget.”

  “So, you are admitting that so long as you provide the grassroots support that causes Congress to force TQB Enterprises to divulge their technology secrets, you don’t have a budget?” Mark asked.

  If the man could kill with his eyes, Sia was sure he would be shooting Mark right then, “Yes.”

  Bethany Anne spoke again, “Mr. Silvens-Werner’s contact information is on that form, Mark. Perhaps he would like to speak again, or maybe not. That is his choice.”

  Suddenly, the German Shepherd started growling when the man took a step towards Bethany Anne. “Ah ah ah,” she told him, “laying a hand on me is going to go very bad for you, Mr. Silvens-Werner. Not only because it would be on video, but because you would be in ICU. Plus, you are on my company's land; this isn’t public property.” She pointed with her hand behind her. “Public property, if you had paid any attention, is back at our sign on the main road.”

  “If it wasn’t for that dog, you bitch, I would…” Her sudden laughter caught everyone by surprise.

  “The dog is here for your protection. If you want a piece of me, then go ahead and try. They will be…” Suddenly, the German Shepherd chuffed loudly, staring at Bethany Anne who looked down at the dog and rolled her eyes. “Fine, suffice to say I’ll break anything that touches me.”

  The man grimaced at her and then the dog and stepped around both of them and headed towards the buses down the road.

  Bethany Anne spoke, “Step aside, Ashur. Let me speak to these others.” She started walking over to one of the two remaining picketers who were close. Sia noticed that even the big group that had stayed up by the gates had thinned noticeably. Now, there was a small group of maybe twenty standing near the pop-up tents. Sia looked over at Mark, who seemed torn between following the man or Bethany Anne. He nodded towards Bethany Anne.

  “Do you mind?” Mark called out to Bethany Anne who looked over to him.

  “What? Oh, sure, come along. I’m actually not sure why these individuals are here, yet.”

  Mark jogged a little to catch up. Bethany Anne had waved the two unknown guys to join her, and Sia had a camera shot of all four people walking to the little tent area.

  A few of the people seemed to shrink back, like now that they had her attention, they didn’t want to meet her face to face. Mark asked, “Wait, you didn’t know this group was here?”

  “Oh, I knew they were here. Our security team visited them last night, plus we made sure no wolves would hurt them. However, I haven't spoken to anyone here, and I’m curious.” She stopped in the dirt. Sia was careful to pull the video out far enough to show that Bethany Anne wasn’t taking any precautions to keep her new shoes out of the dirt. In fact, they were already pretty messed up.

  “So, who can speak for you guys?” she asked. She looked at the two who had been over at the stand-off and raised an eyebrow. The two men seemed rather young. Both, thought Sia, couldn’t be older than twenty-five.

  The first man was wearing an older Member’s Only jacket. His partner looked like he might be of mixed parental heritage, with black hair and a slightly Asian hue to his skin, “I can.”

  “And you are?” Bethany Anne asked.

  “I’m Jin Tompson, and this is my partner, Dillan.” The other man nodded to her. “We came up here hoping to see if you had any projects that can use us?”

  “In what way, Mr. Tompson?” Bethany Anne asked. “What is it you can do?”

  “Most of us here are self-taught, Ma’am” he started, “so if you mean what degrees, then none of us have that. I love electromagnetism and Dillan is into gravity.”

  Bethany Anne smiled while looking over to Dillan. “Argue much?” Dillon smiled and nodded.

  She turned to the rest, “All of you here are self-taught?” She had a few people who nodded and smiled and a couple who seemed pained to nod to her, while not looking into her eyes.

  “Barrins.” She called out. The young guard came up, and Sia started walking towards where those around the tents were standing to capture what it must look like for those under the trees and she almost gasped.

  When Sia stepped into the shade, it left a bright light on Bethany Anne who looked radiant in her outfit. She half turned and spoke to her guard, “Barrins, do we have positions open for hardworking, inquisitive and smart people?”

  “Always” he replied.

  She smiled, “What’s the catch, Barrins?”

  “No take out, ma’am?” He replied smiling, “You want me to pull it up?” She nodded so he reached down to a pocket that had Velcro to keep it closed. Sia dialed in to see him ‘rip’ it open and pull out a little seven-inch tablet. He pulled it up and went through security. “Ma’am, right now we have thirty-seven openings on SS1 and the next prep class to get ready to go there is in four days.”

  Bethany Anne turned back to the group. Her voice turned again to that strange way of talking, part soft, part hard. “Everyone who is with Jin and Dillan, please come up here.” Soon, she had about twenty-two people in the small area. It was about one-third woman and two-thirds guys. “How many of you love learning?” All hands went up, “How many of you love space?” All hands stayed up. “How many of you are willing to do what is necessary to make a difference, if that difference means you do it in outer space?” Again, all hands stayed up.

  “Jin?” She turned to him again.

  “Yes?” he replied.

  “Why did you really come here?” She asked, “Not all of you, but you, personally.”

  “To give them a shot, ma’am.” Jin turned to the group, “They are good people, all of them. A couple I found in the library, and they knew a couple more. Some, as you can see, have problems with large groups. However, they care. They might not understand exactly how to work with most people, but this little group here can work together. So, I figured why not? If you don’t try, you never know.”

  Bethany Anne smiled to him, “I see. Jin, are you willing to stay in a leadership role with your group as my first R&D group for SS1?” He nodded so she looked around, “We have spots open for thirty-seven team members, and I count about twenty-two, so everyone here will have the opportunity if you want and you are willing to work hard and work safely.”

  A shorter blond girl, with a receding chin, stepped forward. Her eyes were alight with intelligence even as her body posture shouted she was uncomfortable. “Ms. Bethany Anne, where… um… where is SS1?”

  Bethany Anne looked over to Jin with a question on her face. “Stella” he supplied.

  “Stella, a member of my R&D team, may be uncomfortable, but they w
ill stand straight and treat me as an equal; not as someone that is superior to them. That means looking me in the eyes, Stella.” The young woman looked up into Bethany Anne’s face and felt encouragement with the smile greeting her. “Better. Now, you have a question that I believe is vital and very appropriate before your team decides as a group whether to take me up on my offer. So, treating me like an equal, what is your question?”

  Stella noticed the guard behind Bethany Anne mouth ‘stand straighter’ as he pantomimed how she should stand. Stella drew herself up and put her shoulders back. He winked at her and Stella almost winked back. She looked Bethany Anne in the eyes, “Ma’am, where and what is SS1?”

  “SS1, Stella, is short for Space Station One. It is presently at L2; do any of you know…”

  “LaGrange Point Two!” shouted one of the guys behind Stella, “Woohoo!”