“Last, I just approved the Prime Minister’s proposed expansion of the Shadow program. The program is focusing on counter-insurgency teams that hired by legal governments of unaligned planets. Last month we had to decline over one hundred contracts to engage teams of our Shadows that we lacked the resources to fill. The Shadow program has contributed funds to our coffers that allowed us to increase several benefits to our citizens. Only volunteers become Shadows and only Shadows that volunteer to take a contract deploy to solve the problems of our alliance partners or independent worlds.
“Finally, I will be spending time with our Alliance partners over the next month to better understand the research requests and requirements they have for the Teaman University and its many R&D spin-off companies. We are totally committed to helping our Alliance partners before considering any non-Alliance requests. We will not consider a research or development request that would harm an Alliance partner. I want to make sure that we have a good communication channel in place so they see and know what we are and are not doing for non-Alliance R&D customers.
“All of you know Torey Abdul, my Chief Personal Secretary. If you have topics that you feel we should cover or information for me, please contact her. She organizes my life. All of you have access to me without much of a filter. Thanks again for coming. The press will get an unedited clip of the meeting from my staff in ten minutes. The bar is now open.”
The applause seemed to be longer and louder than decorum required. Willie was pleasantly surprised.
Willie walked to Will on stage, put an arm around him and said, “That was the most effective way to say there was a new Sherriff in town that I could imagine. Well done!”
“You know it’s funny. Dad and my Godfather both taught me how to play the games of politics and business, but from opposite sides of the table. I don’t find the middle of the table to be that uncomfortable anymore.”
Chapter 5 – GalTech Is Born
Kip entered the bank’s private elevator escorted by a young female who looked drop dead gorgeous in spite of the severe skirted business suit she wore. At least the nametag that proclaimed her "Eva," gave him a plausible reason to stare. He tried to concentrate on her conversation rather than notice her looks. It was hard to do. By the time they reached the two hundred tenth-floor, he knew the history of the building and most of the challenges the architect went through to design a building so large it required multiple anti-grav generators, wind compensation thrusters, and triple redundant back-ups. He also had the feel that Eva was far too bright to be a mere tour guide or executive flunky. His Syrt was content and did not comment.
Eva opened the massive single door and held it open for Kip to enter. When he did, she smiled and backed out of the closing door to leave Kip with the three men who stood up to greet him. The one who seemed to be the oldest of the three closed the distance between them with a friendly smile and his hand extended. Kip guessed him in his forties but then added an extra ten years as he remembered where he was and who this must be.
"Mr. Kipling David! I am Ben Colin, the CEO of GalTrust Bank. Thank you for coming." He shook Kip’s hand firmly and sported a dazzling smile. Kip could not help but think of him as a guy who could have made it big as a pitchman for dental products.
"Please allow me to introduce Mr. Smith and Mr. Dennis." The two men nodded pleasantly from across the room in where they sat in a cozy square of overstuffed chairs that faced each other over an elegant square table. Kip mentally tagged them as either mid-level finance or accounting guys who worked out extensively or as corporate body guards.
Oops, make that body guards and apparently very good ones. Kip noticed that Mr. Dennis sat so he could be out of the chair and catch Kip with a kick in one movement if need be. Also, he watched Kip’s eyes and hands so naturally that it had to be a habit in his normal life. He missed nothing. Meanwhile Mr. Smith seemed totally relaxed but watched Kip's feet and core as the telegraphs of movement to come. Still no warnings from his meld mate.
"May I call you Kip?" asked Ben.
"Mr. Colin, when the President of the largest bank in the Teaman Empire mysteriously invites an average guy to a meeting, a guy who can think of a number of projects that would benefit from the use of that bank’s money, that President can safely assume that he can call that average guy just about anything he would like. However, Kip would be fine."
"I see you have a sense of humor, Kip. That is good because I need to be mysterious for just a little longer. You recently applied for a loan to Marley Bank to purchase a business. They turned you down. So did the Bank of Trent and Goman. They thought the business was too risky. Actually to my analysts and to me, it seems to be a sound business venture in a highly risky industry. At the conclusion of this meeting, regardless of the outcome, GalTrust will make you that loan for a fixed rate of five percent amortized over 40 years with no recourse and secured by the assets of the business. That is, if you still want it at that time. Let’s call that your "listening and privacy-invasion fee" and move on to the meat of this meeting."
Kip raised his eyebrows in amazement and bit back a response. His mind crunched though a dozen questions. The only two banks aggressive enough to consider a loan on the business he wanted to buy did not just say no. They said, "Hell no!" He thought they would. Of course, one only succeeds by trying. The terms of the loan and interest rate that Ben just quoted would yield millions in profit if the business was only managed adequately. Kip realized that he was getting at least a million credits just to listen. So, listen politely was what he intended to do.
"I assure you that by the end of this meeting you will have earned your loan. Is that all right with you, Kip?"
Kip stared at Ben with obvious skepticism. He stared even harder at Smith and Dennis. His mind raced through all the threat scenarios from his military training earlier in life and through his ghetto survival experiences from even earlier in life. He unconsciously changed his position in his seat to allow him to move quickly if he needed to. Whatever this game was, the price of admission was so high that one had to take it seriously. He now knew for sure that Smith and Dennis were on the muscle side of the business and most probably ex-military. Kip knew his abilities in combat and was confident that he could hold his own with any four or five men at once, even Shadows. What bothered him was that this banker could afford the best muscle in the the whole Alliance, probably knew Kip’s background, probably informed these two, and they seemed confident while they were staring back at him. Were they confident that they could take him or confident that it would never come to violence? Kip once again thanked God that his business career was turning out to be as interesting as his military career.
"Ben, this would seem to be the time for me to drop the levity and listen. Please continue."
"Kip, before we get to the heart of the matter, there are a few things I need to understand about you. You were on a stellar career track with the Shadows, the most elite fighting force in the Teaman Empire and probably the Galaxy. You had as high a performance rating that one can get. Then you resigned your commission and talked them into taking you from Light Colonel to Sergeant Minor. Not even a Master Sergeant, as your rank would have deserved, but a Sergeant Minor. Why?" Ben stared intently at Kip. He hoped Kip would sense the importance of telling the truth or if he would answer with the same drivel given in his official record.
Kip was a bit shocked to hear Ben actually say it. In spite of being the head and a major shareholder of the biggest bank in the empire, he still had to have a mighty strong relationship with someone very high to find out about Kip’s Shadow experience. Most of what Kip did was highly classified. Of course, all Bank CEO’s in the Teaman Empire did technically have a dotted line reporting relationship directly to the Emperor. Somehow, Kip could not imagine an Emperor being buddies with a banker. Just hold on Kipster. Since this is the biggest bank in the Empire, the Emperor and this guy have to be close. Technically, Emperor Jasper is the Chairman of their board and, by
law, their biggest shareholder. Ben can get any info he needs from the Shadows. That suggests that our two security types may just be Shadows.
"Maybe I should have applied for a loan to buy a much bigger business," Kip said, shaking his head without humor. "It is probably not really classified information at this point. I did it because I found that to prove some closely held theories, I needed to get back to the action. Shadow units are not large and do not get into head-on battles. We rely on our allies for that. We operate in small insurgent and counter-insurgency based teams. Colonels and Master Sergeants don’t get to do much of that. Sergeant Minors lead small teams and can be occasionally be brevetted to lead larger teams if their skill sets make it a desirable option to their commander."
"My next step in the Shadows would have had me in an almost exclusive planning mode. In fact, I seemed to have a real flair for it. Nevertheless, to prove these particular theories, I needed to be a doer rather than a planner. I had some notions I thought would be very effective in small team tactics. I did not want to dictate them from above and get people killed from afar if they did not work. I shared them with my superiors. I convinced them to let me prove and refine them as a key member of a small team that was in the middle of the action."
Ben raised an eyebrow, smiled, and asked, "And they agreed easily?"
"No, they said I was too valuable of an asset as an officer. With no other recourse, I resigned. I had enough time in that they couldn’t stop me. I would have resigned earlier but I wanted to make a significant contribution before I hung up my spurs. I was egotistical enough to think my new small group tactics would be a big contribution." Kip looked at the three men. While they all waited patiently for him to continue, Ben turned a questioning glance to Mr. Dennis who cracked a slight smile. Okay, these two are Shadows, know about me, and did not share with the banker the info I just spouted. This just gets more interesting by the minute. It can’t be a real threatening situation or my meld-mate would give up the ‘there is a good surprise coming” silence and talk to me. Kip received a flush of warm and amused support from his Syrt.
"About three days later I got a call and they accepted my application as a Sergeant Minor. That was my nod to reenter the world of sneak-and-peek and shoot-and-scoot. They gave me a shot at a small volunteer insurgent team and let me sell my ideas to my team. Many of the ideas worked. I made my contribution. When it was time to formally reenlist, I chose not to."
Ben looked at his hands pensively for a moment before continuing. "That was just after the Crenshaw police action, right?" Ben looked at the man called Mr. Dennis and received an affirmative headshake.
Kip also looked at Dennis and a bell went off in his head that shouted, definitely a Shadow! There was something in the way a person who had undergone a military symbionic enhancement moved. Dennis was smoother in his small body movements than most Shadows. This just could not get much more interesting. When Shadows retired, the few that had, they almost all elected to retire to New Maui. It is planet with a giant island reserve set aside specifically as a Shadow retirement community. It is geared to take care of their special physical needs. Those that needed the action, stayed in the Shadows. He had never heard of Shadows retiring to go into a private police force since the formation of the Shadows over thirty years before. He doubted that the fine print on their enlistments would allow it but was not sure. These two were definitely not old enough to have to retire and the bank would not have hired them if they had been kicked out. Curious.
"So why quit then? You proved that your tactics work. Why not carry them forward?"
"There were a couple of reasons Ben. The main one was that I really did not enjoy killing people. It is easy to get lost in the rush of combat and the urgency of the next mission. It beats mere sports all hollow. And yes, there are some people the Galaxy would do much better without. Unfortunately, once you do it long enough, you wonder if there isn’t something more to life than erasing the people that are just plain bad or who are bad because of an emergency situation. An intelligent person ought to be able to find a way to accomplish most goals without having to kill someone. In many cases, we need more effective politicians and business people, not more killers that are highly effective.
"Besides, I was becoming conspicuous because of the success of my small team tactics. Murphy was right about his seventh military law. "Don't be conspicuous. In the combat zone, it draws fire. Out of the combat zone, it draws sergeants." In this case, it drew well-meaning people that wanted me to ride a desk at a much higher level.
"I decided that I needed different goals in life. Uh, Ben, I am not sure that I really need your loan. Based on the questions so far, I am not sure I want to go where this train seems to be heading. Maybe we should just stop here."
"Please hang in there with me just a bit more Kip. We are almost there. So what were those bigger replacement goals?"
Kip looked at Smith and Dennis. They seemed very intent on the conversation. Kip did not mind answering, now that the conversation could be steered away from his military experience. Kip was confident that one-on-one he could handle any Shadow. Two exceptional Shadows might be a problem, especially if they had the benefit of his small team tactics. CLYX, his symbiont, did not seem to be concerned about these two, so Kip doubted that he needed to worry. CLYX finally did assure him that they were Shadows and Ben was not. If any threat was even a possibility, CLYX would be pumping him full of threat analysis information.
"No Ben. My new goal was to help people, not to get rich. It turned out that I often needed money to do that. So I got pretty good at making money. You look shocked, Ben. It is true, though. I have never had a primary goal of building personal wealth. I have done all right in that regard, but it was just a necessity for accomplishing the real goal."
"Kip, your philanthropy is not nearly as well-known as some of your business successes. Who do you help?"
"In one business, I buy small houses cheap, fix them up, and rent them slightly above cost to people who qualify. I also started some small labor-intense businesses, made several of my renters partners and taught them enough about business to make them self-sufficient. The pay is not much but the rent is low, they can live and eat well, they have insurance, and we can underprice anyone since there is almost no overhead. All of our profits go back into top notch equipment and marketing programs."
"To date, I have helped over four hundred people get employed, fed, and housed on a long-term basis. I fund the startup capital out of my own pocket. You don’t know much about it because I make everyone sign a non-disclosure as to my involvement. I don’t do it for accolades or glory. I just want to help a few people help themselves. I surely do not want any publicity. This all stays between us, Okay?"
"That is extraordinary, Kip. And I assure you that your privacy in those matters is safe with us," Ben said. Turning to Smith and Dennis he nodded, "For me, that fills in a good many blanks in the ‘why’ column. I think we should move on, don’t you Gentlemen?"
Both nodded somberly. Mr. Dennis rose from his chair with an ease and grace that belied his apparent age and went to open the door that led to a private conference room. No doubt now that he was a Shadow who stayed in constant training and was wearing makeup to make him look older. There were several more beyond the door. A man walked in from the conference room while Kip stared in disbelief.
"Kip, may I introduce you to His Royal Majesty, Guardian of The Star Systems of the Teaman Empire, Member of the Sleet Association Triumvirate, Emperor William Jasper the Second."
Kip did not remember having stood up but now reached out and shook the offered hand. To a very observant Shadow, it was apparent but not obvious that this young Emperor was also a symbiont recipient who trained constantly. Two days without exercising at over eighty percent of one's capacity resulted in a very small amount of muscle hesitation. It was not jerkiness. It was more like subtly telegraphing your physical movements in advance to other Shadows who had well-trained and enhanced
vision. This young Emperor had even better control over his muscle systems than Ben’s two Shadow henchmen did.
Kip was careful not to grin as CLYX told him, “The best surprise meld mate, is one that is a surprise even when you are expecting a surprise. I will now be smug and take a back seat to an interesting meeting. You are very safe, but still may get a surprise or two. This meeting is better than a Zane Grey novel.”
"Your Majesty, please forgive my lack of knowledge when it comes to protocol. This is a surprise and definitely an honor."
"It is an honor to meet you as well, Kip. Because of your tactical genius, we now have the small team ability that allows us occasionally to fix what politicians and evil-minded people are too willing to do. I will make you a deal. If you agree not to worry about correct protocol, I won’t worry about it either."
Kip mused. The word from my friends was right. This Emperor is okay.
Just then, Eva entered the room through the same door that the Emperor had used. She made a slight hand jester to Smith and Dennis. They seemed to relax. Now that he looked more closely, Eva was also a Shadow. But she was definitely one to be reckoned with. A Shadow meeting her for the first time would not know she had a symbiont community as a life partner! That was amazing. The symbiont enhancement allowed the eyes to break movement down more finely. It was like being able to see in slow motion upon demand and the main reason that the bio-enhanced were not allowed to play professional sports. To move so smoothly that a Shadow could not detect the speeded up motions or the amount of control one had required a phenomenal amount of constant training as well as an extraordinary relationship with the symbiont community residing in one’s body.
Kip admired her. If I had any sense, I should treat he like viper. She was like watching an old Terran racing movie and appreciating those drivers that could handle tremendous horsepower smoothly at any speed without ever making an abrupt or jerky movement. Judging by her gaze, she was having the same realizations and thoughts about him. Jigs up pilgrim, she seems to have my number too.
GalTech and the Shadow Warriors: Growth of a Star Empire Page 5
