“Confessions” Serial, Tech Wars 17
The team broke for lunch on the stoep of the gracious old mansion which had been built in the early 1700s – not that old by European standards but, considering the history of white settlers in the Cape had only started in the 1500s, this homestead was one of the earliest of the distinctive Cape Dutch farmhouses in the valley immediately above the fishing village of Hout Bay.
Andy turned to their host. “How did these wonderful old houses develop their distinctive style?”
Jauncey shrugged. “I’m no historian but I believe that the gables which brand the Cape Dutch style originated in Amsterdam. It made sense to the early settlers to retain something of their traditions from Holland, even though in the eighteenth century the gables went out of fashion in the Netherlands …”
Sally broke in. “… Someone told me that the gables are a reflection of the mountains you find in this part of the world.”
“Urban – or should I say, rural – legend, I’m afraid, although I have to admit that these dwellings do fit in perfectly with a mountainous backdrop.”
Peter chuckled and raised his wine glass. “Here’s to the sheer pleasure of discussing architectural aesthetics while the rest of the world is tearing itself apart with the digital wars!”
The others raised their glasses and drank to Peter’s toast. It was Sally that returned them to the twenty-first century. “Peter, what set you off on a quest to turn the computing world upside down?”
Peter ruminated on this for some moments. “It wasn’t so much a quest as an idea born of necessity. Yes, I’d been both interested and frustrated by computers for some years but when I set up a marketing business in Ukraine, I needed to have an accounting system that I could manage. I looked over QuickBooks and others and did not think I would live long enough to use them comprehensively, and besides I did not think they would do what I needed done. So, I decided to write my own using program called Q&A.
“In brief, the system I devised worked so well that it allowed me to slice and dice information any way I wanted with the result that I could always tune my prices for any area so that competitors could not make a profit, and that got me to over 80% market share within months.
“My business was hugely successful over that period. Without going into details, it was not until years later that I realized I had taken the entire concept of computing back to its absolute basics and created computing based on a different basic stable datum from the one used in all of today’s computing.”
“So, you started from scratch?” Sally asked.
“Correct. Years later, I realized that current computing systems had started off using a false basic stable datum on which all of today’s computing science is founded. The further they went, the more the basic fault has complicated all further development.”
“Which is why current programming is so cumbersome?”
“Right again. Current programs carry so much unwanted baggage with them that altering or creating new programs has incredible overhead. Of course, the techies love the challenge of working with miles of convoluted programming. It justifies their existences but we’ve developed a simple system that’s infinitely faster and less expensive, as well as being virtually unhackable.”
Peter threw up his hands and smiled at the others. “Let’s not ruin a fine lunch in stunning surroundings with a monologue from me. I’ll be happy to start any or all of you on our basic training courses which explain the differences between ExoTech and all previous systems.”
“Well said,” Jauncey answered Peter. “After lunch, I suggest we walk for a while, then we can get down to the business of developing a strategy of how to prevent the current Social – dare I call it Socialist – Media from destroying the lives of the very people they’re purporting to help!”
Peter held up his hand with a serious expression that underlined the importance of what he was about to say.
“As I’ve said before, ExoTech is in the business of developing its market share to the stage where we are seen as the most effective and safest computing system on the planet. We’re not in the business of attacking or destroying our competition by fair means or foul. I’m here at Jauncey’s request simply to provide a background for your understanding of what is available in computing without any hidden agendas. We’re providing an ethical system and we’re determined to keep it that way. You can certainly use the ExoBrain system yourselves as a means of keeping complete security on what you are communicating and where you are operating from; but I repeat, much as I admire your intentions, that’s as far as we as a company can go.”
• • •
The following day, two large, athletic-looking men in suits entered the reception area of Dr. Eisenstadt’s clinic. They asked to see the doctor. The receptionist shook her head. “I’m afraid the doctor is busy with a patient. You’ll have to make an appointment.”
The older of the two men withdrew a badge from his pocket and handed it to the receptionist. It read “Douglas Trudholme, CIA” with the relevant Langley address in the United States. The receptionist looked up at the man anxiously. “Is he in trouble?”
“No, but we do urgently need some information on a couple of his patients. We’ve flown out from Washington to follow this up and we apologize for any inconvenience it may cause.”
The receptionist thought for a few moments then pressed a button on the internal intercom. A nurse’s voice answered, “Is this urgent, Millie? The doctor’s just finishing off. Can’t it wait?”
“Er … there’re some gentlemen from America, with the CIA. They say it’s urgent.”
There was a murmur of voices on the other end before the nurse replied, “OK, tell them that the doctor will be with them in about ten minutes.”
The receptionist produced cups of coffee for the visitors who sat impatiently in comfortable armchairs in the reception area. A few minutes later an inner door opened, and a tall man dressed in surgical whites appeared. He stepped forward and ushered the visitors into his office on the side of the reception.
Once seated, the doctor frowned at the men. “This is most irregular. If you’re asking for information on any of my patients, I’m afraid we have a strict confidentiality rule here. I can’t help you.”
The older man grimaced. “Even the CIA?”
“No exceptions!”
The two men glanced at each other. The younger man reached inside his jacket but before he could retrieve anything, another man stepped out from behind a tall cupboard at the back of the office. He held an Uzi machine gun pointed at the two men. The man with the Uzi spoke with a strong South African accent. “Game’s over, guys. Slowly, very slowly, take your weapons out and place them on the table in front of you.”
As the men complied, the “doctor” (who was, in fact, Jauncey) stepped forward, picked up the two Glocks from the table and spoke to the men. “Unfortunately for you, Dr. Eisenstadt saw his last client a couple of days ago. He only agreed to help us on the basis that he was about to leave the city. We’ve been expecting someone like you two. It was your obvious next step.”
“You’ve no idea who you’re dealing with.”
“Neither do you,” Jauncey replied smoothly. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll be our guests for a while, until at least one of you tells what we need to know about your group. We’ll then help you disappear so that reprisals from your bosses won’t be possible. I must warn you that we’re not as gentle as the good doctor was with his patients.”
At that moment, the younger of the two men lifted his right arm and flicked a throwing knife which he had somehow retrieved from the sleeve of his jacket at the holder of the Uzi. The South African, a former Special Forces veteran, used his lightning-fast reflexes to lift up his weapon and deflect the knife headed for his throat. As the knife fell harmlessly to the floor, he followed up by reversing his weapon and crashing the butt of the Uzi into the side of the knife thrower’s head. The man collapsed in a heap.
“A case in point,” Jauncey drawled, as two more men entered the room and took the fake CIA agents away.
It had been fortuitous that Dr. Eisenstadt had decided to take a two-year sabbatical as a volunteer doctor in a remote part of Uganda, Central Africa. The clinic specialized in hair lip surgery, a prevalent problem among the rural communities. Eisenstadt had earned a lot of money already and wanted to contribute something to the more needy people of Africa. He also knew that the experience would only enhance his reputation when he eventually set up a new clinic in the US or Canada. The chances of the doctor being tracked to a remote part of Uganda were slight, so Jauncey had felt safe in asking him to do the plastic surgeries for Brett and Sandy.
An ExoTech Ltd shareholder, Chris is currently authoring two of the four books to be published the day ExoBrain launches and has helped to create ExoBrain’s introductory video to the Confidential Technical Briefing. Chris has spent his working life in the film and television industry, starting with BBC Television in London, then ATV in Birmingham becoming, at the time, the youngest Studio Manager in Britain.
Later, in South Africa, he wrote and directed film and TV commercials, having four South African entries at the Cannes Advertising Festival. After a number of years of writing and directing or producing documentaries (eight international awards) and corporate videos, he concentrated on writing feature film screenplays (five screened) and television series (seven screened). He has a novel, ”Pursuit of Treachery,” with a literary agent and is currently obtaining finance for an action adventure feature film he has written and is co-producing. He is a published poet and has given many readings.