That took Jackson to a late-night phone conversation with Mariah. The PR woman was a quick thinker. “There’s one good solution,” she said in a tone that brooked no dispute. “You will be the spokesman, Jackson.”
While Jackson’s first impulse was to argue against him representing the company, his first emotion was relief. ‘Hell, yes,’ he told himself. “Well,” he told Mariah, “we don’t have much choice, do we? I’ll do it.”
“See you at 9 a.m. at the office,” she said in a voice that sounded suspiciously delighted. She cut the call.
Jackson looked at his watch and yawned. He was planning his remarks as he dropped off to sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Jackson took a taxi to Toronto Western Hospital at 8 a.m. He found Max’s room in the Intensive Care Unit and was allowed in under strict orders to stay no longer than ten minutes.
Jackson found Blax hooked up to several machines, lying in a bed with raised sidebars. The man’s body seemed encased in bandages and his head was swathed in a gauss fabric. His eyes were shut and his breathing seemed regular.
“Hello, Max,” Jackson spoke quietly as he bent forward at the bedside. There was no reply.
A nurse entered and Jackson and she exchanged pleasantries. “He was awake earlier but didn’t say anything,” the nurse said. “He’s mildly sedated while we determine the extent of injuries to his brain, if any.”
Jackson looked at Max again for several moments but seeing no activity, he waved goodbye at the busy nurse and exited the room and the hospital. By 9 a.m., he was in the PR unit at JPI waiting for Mariah Belo.
She came in with her laptop computer and a few sheets of paper. Jackson marveled at the woman’s morning look; she seemed cool, collected and quite striking regardless of the stress she must be under. She put down her laptop on the board table and handed the papers across to Jackson before taking a chair.
The top sheet on the slim pile of paper was the introduction to Jackson that Mariah would give to open the news conference. He was identified as the founder and former CEO of JPI and as a current board member and acting CEO in the absence of Maxim Blax. She would explain that Mr. Blax had been involved in an accident the night before and had suffered serious injuries but was expected to recover fully, according to doctors. The intro did not go into detail about the accident and did not mention the police investigation into it or the hospital in which Blax was being treated.
“If they ask, we’ll answer,” she offered when Jackson raised his eyes, “But if they don’t, we won’t.”
During the morning, Jackson and Mariah went over the material for the conference. Others were asked to come by to suggest questions while the two figured out answers. Payne’s questions were the only ones Mariah hadn’t anticipated and Jackson doubted if they were queries journalists would make.
“How many clients does JPI have today and how many do you think you’ll have in a year?”
“Is that a trick question, Payne?” asked Jackson with a show of annoyance.
“Nope. The trick question would be how many clients will JPI lose over the year as they think they are using obsolete and maybe vulnerable software.”
“Point taken.” Jackson began to worry.
“Yes,” Mariah observed, “but look at it this way. By announcing new software a year in advance, we’re competing with what is in place today. We’re competing with ourselves, in fact. But what would happen if a rival company announced they were bringing out brand new product across the board…”
“Ouch,” said Payne. “You’re right. Whatever we lose now and over the coming year, we’ll make it up in spades when 3.0 hits the market.”
Finally, Mariah closed her laptop and brushed her hands together. “That’s it. Done, Finito.”
Jackson was tired. The pouches under his eyes had blackened and his mouth drooped. He looked his age.
“Lunch and a rest or vice versa,” Mariah ordered.
Jackson took the versa with a short nap on a couch in a spare meeting room on the PR floor. After that, he went for a light lunch by himself, saying he wanted solitude to think about his role in the conference. In reality, he also wanted a splash of water on his face and a couple of aspirins to quell the aches in his knees, having been sitting for three hours.
Promptly at 2 p.m., Brownley’s security men crossed the lobby of the building housing Jackson Phillips Inc. and stood beside the long velvet rope hanging on a dozen stanchions. One of the men unhooked a six-foot section of the crowd control rope and stood aside to allow a parade of journalists to enter the area set aside for the news conference. Another two men from Brownley’s team checked the media credentials of the reporters and photographers as they passed.
Reporters took their seats in rows of chairs set out in front of a raised platform that contained a lectern with the JPI logo emblazoned on its front. Several one-way mirrors were mounted so that the speaker could see words projected on the glass while the audience saw only clear panes in front of the spokesperson.
Mariah took her place behind the lectern at 2:05 p.m. and waited until the hubbub in the rows of reporters died out.
“Thank you for coming to Jackson Phillips Incorporated’s announcement of the development of Version 3.0 of all of our software…” Mariah spoke for three minutes. She told the surprised audience of the accident the night before that had hospitalized Maxim Blax, JPI’s CEO. “In his place, I am very gratified to be able to introduce Jackson Phillips. Mr. Phillips agreed to fill in for Mr. Blax while he is recuperating. As you will know, Mr. Phillips is the best person to speak for Mr. Blax because Jackson - he likes the name - founded this company some 15 years ago, served as CEO until just over a year ago and, in fact, helped choose Mr. Blax as his successor.”
After her introduction of Jackson, Mariah said, “As you also know, JPI develops, maintains, upgrades and markets software for a large number of military purposes. We are expected by our clients, including many government bodies, to apply the highest levels of security to our products, our work and, in this case, to our announcements. You will have questions for us that we will answer freely and truthfully. You will have questions - we know you will - that we cannot answer for reasons of security. When you ask questions that would cause us security worries, not only won’t we answer, we will tell you only that ‘We decline to answer.’”
Mariah listened to the groans from various journalists before continuing. “I ask you not to misquote us. When we say, ‘We decline to answer,’ we are not saying the premise of your question is right or wrong. For instance, you might ask us why we decided to replace Version 2.0 with 3.0 across the board. For security reasons, we won’t answer that question at all. We decline to discuss our reasons, period. If you ask us about any rumours you may have heard, we will decline to answer. If you ask us for specific elements or functionality to be included in 3.0, we will decline.”
“Will you answer any questions?” A reporter in the front row had risen and shouted out his query.
“Hi, Jerry. Don’t get too excited. Although this is an exciting occasion.” Mariah’s quip was greeted with laughter from a lot of the journalists. As you will hear, there is plenty of news here. And plenty of questions will be answered. So, let’s get to it. Here is Jackson Phillips.” She emphasized his name.
There was only one way in which an honest reporter among the hundred or so in the group could describe Jackson Phillips as he moved to the podium and that was ‘dignified.’ He stood erect at his full six feet, one-inch height. From the short grey hair on his head to the stylish black shoes on his feet, he was the picture of self-confidence. He had a smile that was warmly inviting. His suit was perfectly tailored, obviously expensive but refined. His tie was a Holt Renfrew with a flash of colour but modest in all of that.
“Good afternoon, and I can say I’m delighted to see a lot of familiar faces among you. Given the state of the news media today, I am glad so many of you are surviving.” This comment was met by a wave of chuckles. Layoffs we
re constantly on the mind of each reporter here as media cut staff to keep themselves alive in the face of online competition.
“Speaking of survival, I want you to know I was in happy retirement a week ago and here I am back in best bib and tucker, dragged onto this platform to deal with a roomful of lions.” More laughter. “But, I am even happier to be here with you to make one of the most welcome announcements I have ever made. The development of Version 3.0 of JPI software is going to be the most outstanding achievement of this company and I am overjoyed to be part of it.”
Version 3.0 is also going to be, I have no doubt, the most advanced software in the world to ensure the best safety and security possible for members of our allied armed forces and…” he verbally underlined ‘and’ and paused for a heartbeat, “… civilians who are caught in war zones or who may be targets of terrorist acts anywhere.”
The faces of many of the reporters turned from their notebooks, cellphones and video cameras or monitors to the podium and Phillips. Foreheads creased as many processed Phillips reference to ‘civilians.’ Did this mean JPI was expanding its customer base to include civilian-centric products or that it would cut back on military marketing or …?
Phillips went on for several paragraphs of his teleprompter script. He was a practiced presenter and his reading from notes was as fluid as if he were adlibbing the speech. He explained the basic purposes of 3.0 but did not get into details of its functionality.
“In general, as you will know, warfare and acts of terrorism have been changing in dramatic ways. We at JPI believe we can identify and understand these changes - and we have incorporated some of this, of course, in current software. We have the learning, the opportunity and the obligation now to get in front of all these new methods of warfare and terrorism with Version 3.0 of all our software. We have a clear vision of how to build solutions that will be the new base for military and civilian defence.”
Phillips spoke for several more minutes but concentrated on risks faced by soldiers, sailors, aviators and civilian populations. He talked about the skills of JPI personnel. He also gave a brief overview of JPI’s abilities in Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning. He omitted the word ‘targeting’ from the discussion of JPI software. He introduced the new name of the MLD&T Division to the Safe Environment Division. “And now I have told you about SED in what I’ve said, I’ll turn the floor over to you and your incredibly incisive questions.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
A chuckling reporter in the front row was selected by Mariah to ask the first question. “Mr. Phillips, your current solutions are, in general, only two years old. Why would you want to spend a large amount on a whole new version for all of that instead of just issuing upgrades?”
The answer came quickly with an admonition. “I’ve known you for years, Everett. It has been ‘Jackson’ until now so don’t change that. You make me feel so much older than my 45 years.”
He waited for Everett to nod and grin. “As I said, we realized we have the learning, the opportunity and the obligation now to get in front of all these new methods of warfare and terrorism with Version 3.0 of all our software.”
Mariah quickly pointed to a videographer in mid-audience, calling her “Stephanie.”
“Jackson,” Stephanie pointed her video camera at Phillips and zoomed into a close-up. “Is there something wrong with the current software that would cause you to dump everything and start over?”
“Jackson looked at Stephanie with a relaxed smile. “Thank you, Stephanie. We decline to answer.” He nodded to Mariah to choose another questioner.
Stephanie didn’t give up that easily. She refocused to a wider shot and raised her voice. “Does that mean there is a problem at JPI?”
“We decline to answer, Stephanie.” By including the name of the reporter in his answer, Jackson was lessening even more the chance of the video being used in a number of news reports. It would be hard for another reporter or outlet to re-use the video clip when it was obviously made to a journalist named ‘Stephanie.’ The question and answer were quotes Jackson did not want used by any outlet.
At the same time, most journalists in the room knew they couldn’t do much, if anything, with Jackson’s “We decline to answer,” quote. They couldn’t any good conscience, use the quote to write, “Phillips refused to discuss any negative pressure at JPI…” given Mariah’s introduction to the conference. If they did use such an allusion to Jackson’s refusal to answer, journalist would be at the mercy of JPI and other commentators. We decline to answer meant that and only that, period.
There were more questions, notably many asking for details about Version 3.0 developments. ‘How would anti-terrorist solutions work to detect IEDs. How would camouflage be redesigned? How would solutions be integrated into drone technology?’ In all such cases, Jackson decline to answer with specifics but, then, broadened the question to give a generalized answer.
“There are things that may not be fully addressed in defensive measures against terrorism. These things will be addressed by Version 3.0 - and AI will help to keep the version refreshed and ahead of terrorist abilities far into the future.” That repurposed answer would be sufficient for many of the journalists in the lobby, including military media staffers and freelancers.
Finally, the news conference wrapped with Mariah seemingly begging for more questions from the crowd of flagging journalists. Bottles of cold water were set on several long tables at the back of the crowd. Some of the journalists quenched their thirsts while most left in a rush, not realizing the air conditioning in the lobby had been turned off half an hour before.
“Whew,” said Mariah to Jackson as they gathered notes and other evidence of the conference. Technicians were unplugging and unmounting the teleprompter and JPI’s own video recording equipment. “Very few horrible questions. You did an amazing job, Jackson. Thank you so much.”
“Just following the teacher,” Jackson gave a small bow to the PR woman. “I thought it went as well as possible.”
Payne came to the two and heard the last comment. “It was a thing of beauty… like well-aged wine,” he enthused with a mocking glance at Jackson. “I could feel our stock going up and up - if we had stock. At worst, we aren’t going to lose a hell of a lot with this crazy idea. And we might make a buck or two with 3.0”
“Gee,” Jackson retorted, copying Payne’s backhanded compliments, “Let’s have a crisis every year.”
Mariah moaned softly. “God… you two,” she scolded.
Mariah and Jackson walked through the lobby together. “It’s like a chess match, isn’t it?”
Jackson looked down at her. He raised an eyebrow.
“The media is looking several moves ahead, thinking about how to turn the quotes and questions into an interesting story. The interviewer should be looking several moves ahead, thinking about quotes and answers that will make the story both interesting and positive. That’s harder to do. Much harder if you lie.” Mariah stopped at the elevator. “We can’t do that.”
Jackson looked down again, impressed as usual with the woman. “But,” he added, “Fox and Trump lied incessantly to make him President of the United States.”
“Yes.” Mariah’s pretty brown face turned upward, poignantly sad.
Before the elevator came, Jackson’s phone dinged. He checked his email and turned away to make a call. Mariah boarded the elevator and was gone.
Media accounts began to flow with an hour of the conference, in a trickle, a stream and then a flood at least in military and business trade press. It began to appear in mass media web sites in the late afternoon and on the front pages of business sections of major dailies the next morning.
Jackson had fretted, thinking he had jammed too much promotional blah into his statements to the media. As usual, however, reporters simply dropped the ‘outstanding’ and ‘overjoyed’ adjectives and adverbs and concentrated on the facts.
Many outlets, newspapers, TV, radio and the web, use
d the Canadian Press article distributed by the wire service.
‘Jackson Phillips Inc., a military technology company based in Toronto, will spend the next year developing Version 3.0 of its entire line of software. Founder and former CEO Jackson Phillips announced the project today promising “the most advanced software in the world” to provide safety and security for allied armed forces and civilians caught in war zones or targeted by terrorists.
‘Mr. Phillips told about 100 journalists, “Warfare and acts of terrorism have been changing in dramatic ways. We have the learning, the opportunity and the obligation now to get in front of all these new methods of warfare and terrorism with Version 3.0 of all our software.”
‘Mr. Phillips said the results of the development will be “solutions that will be the new base for military and civilian defence.”
The CP article talked about the change of name of a JPI division to the Safe Environment Division (SED).
The question that had most worried Jackson and Mariah was asked. “Is there something wrong with the current software that would cause you to dump everything and start over?” Jackson had answered, “We decline to answer.” From the coverage they saw, the answer did the trick. Without an answer, reporters lost interest in the query.
Mariah might have felt a twinge of guilt in having skirted around a question that could have unravelled the conference and even the company. But that guilt was assuaged when she and Jackson determined that the media should not have decided the future of the company and its thousands of employees with a single, random question. She knew the answer was still out there if anyone chose to do their homework.
In a short debriefing session after the conference, Mariah’s summation was, “You saved the company, Jackson. I can’t imagine a news conference with Max having nothing positive to offer. I’d be looking for a job at Google, just like everyone else.”
“And I’d be in my cottage looking at the bay, with my feet on my ottoman and a cold beer in my hand. You’re right,” Jackson said sardonically. “It would be a disaster.”
The Russian Crisis Page 14
