Balance of Power Shifted (48 page)

There was not one sound that Bill could hear not even a cough, sneeze or shuffle of paper as they focused on Mike.  Looking intently at the audience
, Mike continued with, “As of today Efficio is putting 20% of revenues towards a non-profit entity called…” and as he paused, on the main screen came the words ‘The Stewardship Foundation’.  With his right hand pointing at the screen, he spoke aloud, “The Stewardship Foundation.”  This organization will be the steward of Electricus, which will also make it the steward of our fellow man.  The Stewardship foundation has 2 billion dollars or 20% of current revenues of Efficio as seed money.  As soon as Efficio implements the needed infrastructure, the initial 20% contribution increases to 40%.  Proper use of this money includes but is not limited to, the manufacture of, or defraying the cost of manufacturing Power Pads and Power Panels for use in powering any building, whether it is a mud hut or a thatch roof structure in the middle of the deepest jungle.  However, we need the help of everyone in this room to identify where we should focus our efforts, coordinate the building of manufacturing and distribution centers, educate, and equip your poorest citizens with Electricus and how to use it to power their homes or pump their wells.” 

“
In other words, we need you to talk to your governments, religious and tribal leaders and let them know there are no strings attached.  Thank you everyone and Archbishop Eduardo Cordova will join me here to help answer any questions.”  A 5-second pregnant pause hung over the room until the first hand claps started as well as a foot stomps and whistles as each attendee applauded in their own fashion.  The applause did not slow down or cease and everyone stood on their feet and kept it up until Mike finally indicated his gratitude for their applause, which slowly quieted down the audience.

The audience murmured their interest in the first question asked by a man from Ethiopia, which
was, “how is The Stewardship Foundation run?”  I let the Archbishop handle this question since there was already a draft of the bi-laws created.  The Archbishop then directed some staffers to distribute a packet of information to all the attendees and said to them, “The management of Efficio and a team here in Vatican City drafted a set of bi-laws that you can take with you and review.  Everything is up to discussion, but to summarize the important aspects of it please refer to the slide on the screen in front of you:

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All countries that agree to join and accept the minimum requirements will have a voting right in all decisions

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All religious representatives that agree to join and accept the minimum requirements will have a voting right in all decisions

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All members will elect an operating council of 12 for a two year period

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The operating council will review submissions for funding and actions and present to the membership for voting on a quarterly basis.  The operating council will also act as tiebreakers and dispute resolution

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The operating council members will hold titles such as treasurer, secretary etc.

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Efficio will maintain all licensing rights to Electricus and will act as an auditor and distribute funding based on council decisions and will reserve the right to veto any actions it deems not in the best interest of the foundation.

The foundation will have field auditors made up of the membership to audit field activities to ensure
the funding is directed to the approved people and projects.

The Stewardship Foundation

The questions went on for over an hour and mostly dealt with situational issues.  A key goal of the effort was not just to supply Electricus, but to fund some basics that use electricity such as lighting, refrigeration and increasing production through the use of tools such as a well pump and irrigation.  There was a reception at the end of the meeting where refreshments and finger foods where served.  After formally shaking the hands of seemingly every attendee, I felt like the president of the United States.  Seeing the excitement in their eyes to be a part of this effort was a well-needed jolt of motivation to keep moving forward and to not succumb to weariness and fear that all too often where raising their ugly heads.

The meeting wrapped up and from what the Archbishop indicated, all the attendees were going to participate in a two
-day workshop to help put context around the foundation’s objectives.  Bill and I took off, but not together, and went to his and Charlene’s place where I enjoyed an authentic gourmet Italian meal that Charlene had prepared, complete with homemade pastries for dessert.  Bill and I said good night to Charlene and talked well into the night about how to keep moving forward and avoid dying.  We also went over the finances on how the foundation worked and verified that the accounts had the funds in it.  All expenditures needed two signatures.  One signature was required from the future foundation Treasurer and a signature from any of Julius, Iris, Kristen or me.  My plane was at noon tomorrow, so I planned to sleep late since I was not used to the time change, and I still wanted to talk to Fiona before hitting the bed.

The next 2
-months were a blur of activity.  Everybody that was an employee of the company was working 14 hours a day.  Taylor was coordinating interviews and hiring people around the globe. Even though Kristen was getting quite large, she never slowed down and was a real trooper.  She made sure all the finances where in order, which was quite an effort since she was also involved in the Foundation.   I very rarely saw Julius and Iris due to the countless meetings they had to lock down contracts with their army of attorneys and law clerks.   Amy and Gwen had formed a powerful team promoting the company as well as the Foundation.  The job those two did was instrumental to keep thousands of reporters, corporate representatives and government emissaries apprised of where the company was in production, and published long-term projections of where we were headed.  Steve, now freed up from the army, was joined at the hip with Sean and where working with automobile and truck manufacturers of all kinds to gauge progress to help us ensure production was aligned with their needs.  Almost every manufacturer had decided to retrofit current production vehicles with electric motors and simply replace all components that worked on vacuum or mechanical means such as belts and pulleys.  Of all the prototypes we were privy to, the 18-wheeler overnight cab and trailer combination was the most impressive.  The cab and trailer worked in tandem to provide Electricus provided power to no less than eight individual motors.  They had a little trouble working out the power ratio between the cab and trailer, but eventually took care of it.  In some respects, it was right out of the Transformers and I fully expected it to transform into an alien robot.  Our sales team, completely based in the headquarters building did not have to go out and sell since everyone came to them.  Then there was Fiona. I think she was working harder than anyone was and she was almost entirely on the road with a cadre of Clavis security folks and had exclusive use of one of their jets.  I was beginning to worry about her because she did not know how to slow down and I was afraid she was going to burn herself out.  Without her around to manage me, I worked 18 hours a day.  Many days I just crashed here at the office instead of my now lonely quarters on base.  My uneasiness had increased over the weeks and fully expected some kind of attack at any time, and spent a good amount of time looking over my shoulder.

Looking at the Palm trees,
Carl hung up the phone and cursed in regards to the message he had just received.  The Navy had just confirmed that the
Dayang Yihao, a
Chinese scientific research ship had just arrived at ground zero.  The specifications on the ship indicated that it carried both a manned and unmanned submersible capable of reaching the 1500 feet and more.  The Navy had a frigate in the area and a submarine was due to arrive by evening.  His orders were to stay out of range for detection and just monitor the situation.  The Chinese appeared to be redirecting one their naval ships to the area and one was steaming in that direction at 10 knots and should arrive in just under 24 hours, which complicated his plan.  Carl was currently in Hawaii, but would soon be on his way to Guam were he would direct operations.

In the
interim, Carl read a number of secure communications including the latest FBI report on the situation with Efficio.  The first communication was a courtesy memo from the head of Mossad to the head of the Central Intelligence Agency letting them know that they had agents in and around Rome.  The agents were monitoring people with terrorist ties that had recently navigated their way into Italy.  They believed they were involved in targeting Efficio operations in Italy as well as the now very publicly known Stewardship Foundation.  The FBI memo had a very detailed analysis of Pinnacle’s relationship to a couple of the US oil companies and some unsavory activities that they had been performing for them in the US and abroad.  There was also a warrant for the arrest of Titus Aaron who they now believe flew the helicopter during the Fish Island attack and a Pinnacle employee. 

The FBI
were actively working surveillance and seeking wiretap court orders to glean additional information.  All of the attackers killed or caught on camera are part of a terrorist organization translated to mean ‘Crossed Swords’ that were not jihadist in nature, but more aligned along the lines of a mercenary group or as the report stipulated ‘guns for hire.’  The Mossad have been following these people for a long time and had just forwarded a thick file on them to the FBI.  A CIA analyst had provided a separate report that Carl felt to be a very compelling point regarding the impact of Electricus on funding for terrorists.  In summary, the report focuses in on the belief by different terrorist fractions and their religious leaders that a jihad was in fact ongoing with Efficio.  This belief accepted as true and promulgated throughout the region was due mainly to published news reports as proof that a jihad is in progress against Efficio.  The analyst stressed that he believes the attacks are financially motivated but not for the reasons most assume, but strictly to protect interests of a few people who have not yet been identified.  In a way Carl thought, this is probably a better situation then a full out jihad and much more containable for all those involved.  When they finally figured it all out, it would be too late to stop the inevitable push of Electricus around the globe.

The
high-resolution photos showed that asshole head counsel from Pinnacle meeting with an intense looking individual in the lawyer’s Lexus.  The pictures were from a public parking lot at a huge mall about five miles from Pinnacle’s headquarters.  According to the report, they had met for 10 minutes and had a heated exchange.  The photographer was able to get a shot of the license plate of the car the unknown person got into.  The driver had rented the vehicle at the airport just a few hours earlier.  

After finishing the reports, Carl was shaking his head slightly thinking to himself that the Efficio folks had really opened up corundum of issues
but at the same time he admired their dedication and resilience that had turned is hard-nosed skepticism about their venture into a hesitant supporter.  Carl also ran through what he knew Carter had said at the hearing.  Did he really have a backup plan to carry forth Electricus in the event of his demise?  He was not completely sold on it, but based on the activity out of Vatican City; it could very well be true.  His agents reported they are now under surveillance by the Vatican security team.  This did not faze Carl at all and sometimes it helped if the quarry thought they were in control.  Looking down at his watch, he grunted and reached down for his backpack, slung it over his shoulder and headed out to catch a military flight to Guam taking off in an hour.

Feeling the swell of the Pacific all too much, Fei Yen kept rolling a phrase there her mind over and over. 
General Hu Jiabao’s orders had been very clear.  “Do not return home until you find the organism behind Electricus.”  Fei Yen was now fully aware of what the American phrase ‘careful what you wish for’ meant.  Fei Yen’s life had denigrated daily ‘dress downs’ by the General, while the pressure on Professor Ling had abated.  Professor Ling and she where now on the research ship which had cruised at 15 knots to reach the location garnered from the coordinates obtained from Professor Grayson.  To add insult to injury she had been hopelessly seasick from the minute they left port.  Even though Professor Ling was barely talking to her she was able to talk him into sitting in for her in the meeting with the deep sea drone drivers.  While back in China, they had worked with sea floor topology maps and worked out a search pattern.  The geology of the area was very inconsistent.  There were flat open areas that ended in rough underwater outcroppings caused by ancient volcanic upheavals as well as some deep chasms.  There were certainly variations down below that could have contributed to spawning never seen before life forms.

Professor Ling had just finished up with the technicians and the ship’s captain regarding the exploration process.  They
had arrived on site at approximately 5 PM, but would not launch the submersible until 8 AM in the morning.  Seas were calm and expected to remain so for the near future.  The unmanned drone would be used over the next couple of weeks to take footage of the area with the onboard cameras sending real-time transmissions back to the ship’s control room where his esteemed colleague, if she wasn’t a shade of green, and he would be analyzing the data as well as a team of marine biologists and geologists.  The team relied on capturing areas of interest onto the grid map so that prioritizing of the areas of interest could occur and scheduled for closer inspection.  The drone technicians gave Ling a brief overview of the capabilities of the vehicle including the ability to retrieve specimens using the articulating hydraulic arm.