“Confessions” Serial, Tech Wars 18
“Damn!” Arthur read the article dismayed. He had been so careful not to reveal what he had been working on to the media. Despite this, Amanda had just brought him a copy of a prestigious business journal. He had read it with growing horror. Somehow a journalist had gotten wind of his development of the Erskine Estimator. Even the name had been a secret until now. Were it not for his own nagging uncertainty that the Estimator had not moved far enough into the slowly emerging new levels of Artificial Intelligence, it would have already been launched by now. He instinctively felt that some essential element was missing but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Not only did the article speculate that the Erskine Estimator had created a whole new echelon of Supply Chain software, it gave Arthur’s name for it – along with his actual name and photograph as well as a summary of his many achievements. The article ended by asking why the Professor had not actually launched the program.
This was terrible news. Not only did Arthur want to keep his software under wraps until shortly before launching, but he also realized that the Hungarians would almost certainly read the article and finally know his identity. The article also mentioned that he was believed to be living somewhere in Alaska. It was only a matter of time before they pinned down his exact location. They had proved to be completely ruthless, which meant he was in very real danger. His first thought was to contact Brett and ask for his protection. He looked around sadly at the stunning rural paradise he had developed and lived in for the past two years. He would have to leave immediately – but where could he go?
• • •
Andy, formerly Brett, received a brief message on a burn phone. It read, “In trouble. Need help. Call me. Arthur.” Andy frowned. He had been intending to contact Arthur anyway, but this escalated the need to do so. He had given Arthur a couple of burn phones when they had met at Venice Beach. He went back to his room and took out the phone with a number Arthur would recognize and dialed it.
A rather distraught Arthur answered and told Andy about the article in the business journal. Andy listened carefully and realized that the Professor was in imminent danger. He wasted no words. “You must leave now. Right now. I’ll have a private jet waiting for you at the airport in Anchorage. I was going to contact you anyway on a related matter.”
“What’s that?”
“How big is your ego?”
“What the hell …”
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll discuss it later. All I can ask you now is if I put you in touch with a man and his technology that will resolve your AI problems, are you prepared to work with him to produce the Supply Chain program you’ve been dreaming about?”
“If he’s genuine, of course. You know I’ve been holding back on the launch because I know something’s not as good as it could be.”
“That’s all I need to know for now. Be at the airport in three hours and ask for a private flight in the name of Jameson Associates. If you get there first, just wait. Bring clothing for a warm climate …”
“What should I tell my assistant, Amanda?”
“If she’s prepared to travel, bring her along. Otherwise, tell her to get out of there fast! Later.”
• • •
Unbelievable, Andy thought. It’s bad enough handling the guys who’re chasing after Sally but now we’ve also got to keep Arthur safe from a completely different set of villains.
Moments after receiving the Professor’s SOS, Andy had called an aviation company in Phoenix that he used from time to time. He instructed them to have a private jet ready in Anchorage to fetch one (possibly two) person under the name of Jameson Associates and fly them to Phoenix. Another plane should be standing by in Phoenix to fly them on to Cape Town. He knew the CEO well enough to emphasize that they must not reveal their final destination. Their client’s name should be changed to “Irvine Corporation” and it be made clear that it was a completely different assignment. The passengers should be transferred from plane to plane as inconspicuously as possible.
Andy then called Jauncey and explained that a world IT authority would shortly be arriving. Could he persuade Peter to give him the Confidential Technical Briefing (CTB)? He was confident that Professor Erskine would find ExoTech to be the answer to his current problems. On the other hand, to have a man of his caliber accept the ExoTech system to enhance his own development would make worldwide headlines, to the advantage of the ExoBrain.
Both Andy and Sally had already been given the CTB and had watched the introductory thirty-one videos that outlined the basics of ExoTech. Andy found it fascinating but, not being a techie, he was content to understand it at a level where he could see how it would radically change his inherent frustrations with existing computing systems. Sally, on the other hand, had shaken off her earlier skepticism and had dived headlong into understanding the new technology. She was already communicating with Jeff Buhrt, chief engineer of the development team. She explained that her present mission was to expose as many of the scams and criminal activities linked to current programs on the ‘Net. As soon as she could hand her findings over to the appropriate authorities, she would be happy to join Jeff and his fellow techies in expanding the capabilities of the ExoBrain. These seemed to be almost infinite.
Peter agreed to postpone his trip back to his headquarters for a few days to meet with the Professor, whom he had heard of numerous times as being one of the giants of current IT and AI technology. He could see the advantage of having someone of Arthur’s reputation on board with the ExoTeam – or at least associated with it.
• • •
Zoltan was in an incandescent fury. Not only had Brett slipped through his fingers but now the Professor had as well. He wondered if he could pick up the trail. When his men had arrived at Erskine’s farm, it was deserted. The Professor had clearly taken all his vital electronic equipment with him, leaving some broadband boxes and sound speakers behind. The men had made a thorough search of the farmhouse and outbuildings without finding anything that related to Erskine’s AI development. They had told Zoltan that they were making enquiries at Anchorage airport but there was no sign of Erskine’s departure from there. They also found signs that the Professor’s young female assistant had gone with him. It didn’t make sense for him to have driven hundreds of miles across the vast distances of Alaska only to enter the Yukon and have to travel hundreds more miles before getting to any major city.
Zoltan was sitting in his elegant Budapest apartment, wondering what to do next, when his phone rang. His man in charge of finding the Professor had gotten lucky. He had checked on the movement of private jets from the airport and had persuaded one of the officials to send him any security videos of passengers leaving on a private flight in the past few days. He used the story that Erskine had abducted his daughter and, although the police had put out a nationwide search for the couple, he was determined to use any means possible to find her. He offered the security man a substantial amount of dollars as a reward if a video revealed the Professor and the man’s daughter.
The videos were sent and a couple of hours later Zoltan had identified the Professor, (whom he now knew by sight from the business journal’s article) accompanied by an attractive young woman. The registration number of the jet they boarded was visible as the couple boarded the plane. For a further financial incentive, the security man had established that the pilot had notified the control tower that they would be flying to Phoenix, Arizona. It was still going to be a needle in a haystack but at least it was something. Zoltan sent his men off to Phoenix to see what they could find out. The words of an old song occurred to Zoltan, were they “By the time you get to Phoenix I’ll be waiting?” The Professor wouldn’t be waiting but there just may be a way to track him down.
• • •
A few hours later, Andy’s burn phone rang. It was Arthur. “What’s up?” he asked anxiously.
“Just to tell you that we’ve left Phoenix and are heading for Cape Town. There was no sign of anyone following us.”“Great. Looking forward to seeing you. By the way, how did your assistant react to all of this. Has it complicated her life?”
“Not really. She did have a boyfriend, but they broke up some months ago. Her parents are dead, so she has no real ties to Alaska or even North America. I would say she’s real excited.”
“Then I’m sure we won’t disappoint her.”
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.