All previous chapters - CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 2 - CHAPTER 3 - CHAPTER 4 - CHAPTER 5 - CHAPTER 6 - Chapter 7 - CHAPTER 8
Previously on “The bomb in the shed…”; A flashback to New Mexico 2003. Elizabeth discovers Arthur is making waves at the research facility and tries to get him to help her with the project, but breaking the security protocols would put them both at risk
And here we go with CHAPTER 9…
Chapter 9
London - Present day
Jacob would be the first to admit that the offices of Seed One Capital were pretty dull. They left it to the entrepreneurs and start-ups to do the table tennis, foosball tables and crazy slides. But his office was a theme park full of fun compared to the corporate hellhole their lawyers called home. The place was grey, tired and dependable, like the partners who ran it. He was sat with half a dozen of them in a meeting room, Arthur on the other side of the table with his lone representation, an old friend apparently.
“Is everything in order?”
This question came from Jacob’s side of the table, from the senior partner. He sounded perfectly calm but Jacob knew he would be a boiling cauldron of tension inside. This was a delicate moment. The lurking danger of brinkmanship. Last minute negotiations had killed more than one deal in this room and soured many others.
Arthur didn’t seem the type though. He’d fought on very little on the contracts in the end. He was relinquishing a lot of control of his technology, which was good for Jacob and good for Seed One Capital. Arthur was doing well out of the deal too though, the shares he was getting in Sensidium could make him very rich. But Arthur didn’t seem very interested in that. The only area his lawyer had pushed back on was the funding of his research. Jacob had tried to keep the agreement as loose as possible, but they’d had to tighten it. Which was going to make it harder to stall the development of Bella. But that was a challenge for another day
Jacob said, “I need a word with Arthur, before we sign.”
The senior partner shot him a sideways glance that bordered on panic, before he recovered his composure. He clearly thought his client capable of sabotaging his own deal.
“Can you all give us a minute?” said Jacob.
The lawyers filed out reluctantly, probably wondering what madness might transpire without one of their number present.
“I’ve been trying to talk to you for days, Arthur,” said Jacob when they were alone.
“Paul said it wasn’t a good idea for us to have contact during negotiations.”
Arthur was so literal about everything. He was an engineer after all.
Jacob said, “We’ve been completing our due diligence. I just have a final couple of questions about New Mexico.”
“I can’t talk about it,” replied Arthur quickly. He was looking wary.
“Don’t worry. I don’t need to know anything classified. There was some kind of accident before you left. Can you tell me what happened?”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”
Clearly Arthur wasn’t going to talk about anything to do with New Mexico. He was starting to look very uncomfortable.
“My boss, Kinga, is worried,” explained Jacob. “She wants this deal go ahead, but she’s asked me to talk to you first. She wants me to be reassured that what we are doing is safe and doesn’t break any contracts.”
“What will reassure you?”
At least Arthur was trying to help.
“Are you using any of the technology that was being developed in New Mexico?” asked Jacob.
“No. Everything in Bella we created ourselves.”
“What do you mean, ‘we’ created?”
“I didn’t mean anything,” replied Arthur quickly.
It wasn’t the first time he’d said something like that. He didn’t look at all comfortable now. He was almost certainly lying, Arthur wasn’t a hard person to read.
“We can’t go ahead with the deal if I’m not clear on the origin of this work,” said Jacob. “It’s that simple.”
Which was true to a point. Kinga had given Jacob the latitude to decide. But without the deal he was stuck. If Arthur called his bluff things were going to get difficult. But Arthur didn’t look like he was about to call anyone’s bluff. He looked distraught. Just the mention of the deal not going through seemed to be freaking him out. Jacob had seen it countless times before, entrepreneurs mentally spending the money before the deal was done. It left them vulnerable. Arthur had clearly already taken the funding for Bella as a given.
“Ok, Bella isn’t just mine,” said Arthur. “Elizabeth and I created her together. But outside of the Los Alamos programme.”
“Elizabeth who died in the accident?”
“Yes, she’s my inspiration. When new ideas come to me it’s her voice I hear.”
Arthur was in a heighten state of distress now. And he’d just admitted to hearing the voice of the crazy lady scientist who blew up the lab twenty years ago. Hardly the reassurance Jacob was looking for. But it seemed to be the truth, as far as Arthur understood it anyway. Which left Jacob in a familiar place when making decisions. Managing risk. How much of a danger was Elizabeth and Arthur’s past in New Mexico? It was impossible to tell. So what should he do? He could imagine his father’s reply to that question. Mitigate and manage, son. Mitigate and manage. Maybe having someone else’s voice in your head wasn’t so crazy after all.
“Ok Arthur, let’s do this.”
Arthur looked visibly relieved.
Jacob called the lawyers back into the room and they signed all the papers. He made sure to shake Arthur’s hand. They were cementing the deal after all. They were partners now.
“Would you like to go for a drink?” suggested Jacob. “We can celebrate the deal and working together.”
“No, thank you,” replied Arthur.
---
Jacob’s heart sank when he saw Winterbourne heading his way. It had to be one of two things: another issue with the Sensidium tests or another moan about Arthur Price and his impact on the lab. They’d been working together for a couple of weeks now, couldn’t they learn to get on? Maybe he could head off in the other direction, pretend he hadn’t seen him. But that would only delay the inevitable.
“I need to talk to you about Arthur,” said Winterbourne.
He seemed more agitated than normal, his glasses were all misted up. Hard to tell if the man was angry, worried or upset.
Great.
“What’s the problem?” Jacob tried to sound as upbeat as possible.
“There isn’t a problem,” replied Winterbourne, “Quite the opposite…”
That was new. No wonder it was hard to read Winterbourne, the guy was excited. Something that rarely happened.
“…He normally keeps himself to himself as you know. But a couple of days ago he got involved in our discussion about the Sensidium tests.”
“And…”
“And he came up with some extraordinary ideas. We’ve spent the last couple of days working through it all with him. It could change everything.”
“What do you mean, change everything?” Jacob could hear the excitement in his own voice now.
“I mean the tests could all come good. It might work.”
Was that possible? Everyone had pretty much been going through the motions for the last few weeks. Failure was expected. If the Sensidium trials were a success it would change everything. It would take the pressure off the pure fusion research. Make it easier to slow things down with Bella.
“You need something from me don’t you?” said Jacob.
Nothing was ever that simple. He could see it in Winterbourne’s face.
“We can only make it happen if we get Arthur and his team more involved in the trials, now.”
Which meant taking Arthur away from pure fusion and Bella. How was he going to persuade him to do that?
“Ok I’ll talk to him.”
Winterbourne wasn’t leaving. “There was one more thing.”
“Yes”
“I noticed some deliveries are going to Arthur at his home address. I assume that must be a mistake. We wouldn’t be supporting anyone doing research out of the lab, would we?”
Damn. Winterbourne had obviously been doing some digging. There was no reason for him going through all those orders.
“Of course not. Leave it with me,” said a Jacob. “I’ll sort it.”
Another good reason to slow things down with Bella.
---
“Do you mind if I join you?” asked Jacob.
The woman was sat alone at the bar with a cocktail in front of her, staring at her phone. She looked up, gave him a cursory glance, then returned her attention to the screen
“I’m meeting someone,” she replied blankly.
And that seemed to be that.
Everything about him sized up and rejected in a single moment. What power did she possess that enabled her to evaluate his worth with such certainty on so little evidence? A Holmesian-like eye for detail that could glean his nature from small but imperceptible fragments of evidence? Or was it just a sixth sense honed by centuries of evolution? Jacob wasn’t the kind of person who tried to pick up women in bars. Even if he did it certainly wouldn’t have been someone like this; a woman ten years older than him, glamorous and drinking in an upscale hotel.
He tried again, “Sorry, Alex; I should explain, I’m Jacob, I work with Arthur Price, your father.”
This certainly got him her attention back. It didn’t look to be shifting her perception of him though.
“Dad’s retired,” she replied. “He doesn’t work with anyone anymore.”
Clearly Arthur hasn’t told his family what he was doing. Why was that not a surprise?
“He’s doing some work with my VC firm.”
Jacob offered Alex his business card, as if that was a perfect explanation of everything. She didn’t take it, so he set it on the bar in front of her. It probably made him look even more like the sleazy pick-up artist she’d clearly assumed he was.
“What can I get you?” said the barman, momentarily saving Jacob from further embarrassment. He sat on a stool beside Alex and nodded to her drink. “I’ll have what she’s having.”
“Virgin Colada? of course.”
Alex smirked. “Don’t tell me, it’s your favourite?”
Oh well. If that was what it took to break the ice.
He said, “Maybe. Can I get you another?”
“No I’m good.” Hers was more than half full. “How did you find me here. You do realise it’s a bit ‘creepy stalker’ turning up like this.”
“I’ve been trying to get past your PA for a couple of days now,” explained Jacob. “I don’t think he likes me. I had to bribe him to get hold of you.”
“What did that cost?”
“Two tickets to Hamilton and a bottle of tequila.”
“I think you overpaid.”
Jacob shrugged. It felt worth it already.
“What are you doing with my dad?” asked Alex.
It sounded like she begrudged having to ask him about her own father. Jacob’s first instinct was to reveal very little. But that would make him no better than the old man.
“He’s been working with us on a clean energy project. New technology. He’s very smart.”
Alex nodded, though if it meant anything to her she didn’t show it. “So what do you want from me?”
“I was hoping to learn more about Arthur, from someone closer to him.”
This got him a wry smile. “Good luck with that.”
“I like to know the people I work with closely. Beyond the job. I’m finding it hard with Arthur.”
“Join the club. I’m only family. At least you’ve got the work, that should give you a head start.” She didn’t sound angry or bitter. Just resigned.
He tried again, “There’s nothing apart from work he’s interested in?”
Alex stirred her cocktail with her straw, contemplating the question. For a moment Jacob imagined her as a small child sat with a milkshake, thinking about stories she could tell about her dad for a summer school project.
She said, “Not really. He used to be passionate about wine. He’d do tastings at home for me and David when we were teenagers. Said he wanted us to have a healthy relationship with alcohol. And he was into history, World War 2. He still has hundreds of books.”
Alex had brightened a little now. There was clearly a stronger connection with the dad she had back then than the one in the present.
She said, “Your turn.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve probably seen more of him in the last few weeks than I have in the last few years. Tell me about it.”
It was hard to know where to begin, Arthur gave so little of himself. But Jacob had to say something. Alex seemed just as keen to learn something new about her father as he did. He talked about the book launch, the pub, the shed and the time they’d spent in the lab since. He skirted around the more difficult details, like pure fusion nuclear devices, and didn’t mention Bella at all. Instead he stuck to the simple details of what they did, what Arthur said and his observations of the man. Jacob realised he’d somehow grown to like Arthur, despite his peculiarities.
Alex seemed hungry for every detail, however banal, asking questions, laughing over shared frustrations with her father. She began to interject with memories from her childhood. Camping holidays, BBQs in the garden, her dad carrying her on his shoulders as they looked for deer on Hampstead Heath. The time he stayed up with her all night three nights in a row when she was suffering from chicken pox. When she caught him leaving presents at the foot of her bed on Christmas Eve and claimed to be helping out Santa. It was hard to connect all these tales of life and joy with the man Arthur was today.
The bar had been quiet when Jacob had arrived but it was getting busier now. He checked his watch. They’d been talking for over an hour. “Sorry, you said you’re meeting someone right? When are they getting here?”
“Not sure, I don’t know who it is yet.”
“Oh I see.” Jacob took a quick look around the bar. “Any candidates?”
Alex had her own quick scan of the room, “Not really,” she admitted.
“Do you want me to go?”
She paused and scrunched her face, as if giving it some serious thought. Then smiled. “No, you’re good for a while.”
---
It was quite a party, given Jacob had pulled it all together in under two weeks. Fortunately the imperial war museum had a cancellation they were desperate to fill. And Berry Bros were more than happy to organise a wine tasting last minute given the amount of business the firm put their way. It wasn’t hard to rustle up a respectably sized crowd of investors and entrepreneurs. Arthur readily agreed to come when Jacob described the event. He gave no sign of suspecting the whole experience was engineered just for him.
They were on the ground floor of the museum, a space given over to a temporary exhibition on Hiroshima. The irony wasn’t lost on Jacob. Most of the guests stayed close to the bar, clearly not relishing the thought of coming face to face with the fruits of their predecessors labours. But Arthur was doing a full circuit of the exhibit, studying everything in detail. Jacob found him staring at a series of black and white photographs taken on the day of the detonation, at a place called Miyuki Bridge. They showed a policeman applying cooking oil to the wounds of a class of schoolchildren. It was the only means of comfort he could find for them.
“Over two hundred thousand people died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said Jacob.
He’d seen the number earlier and it had stuck with him. The scale of the loss of life seemed unthinkable. But in some ways these photographs bore a more powerful witnesses to the brutality of the event than any number could.
“Many more lives than that were saved,” replied Arthur. “Japan would have fought to the last man, woman and child. Then there are the wars we haven’t had to fight since then because of the nuclear deterrent.”
Jacob looked at the group of schoolchildren again. One moment they were just another day in class, the next… this.
“You believe that?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” replied Arthur. “It’s what Elizabeth used to say. It’s why she did what she did.”
They moved on to the next exhibit. A collection of personal items recovered from blast site, on loan from the Hiroshima peace memorial Museum. Clothes, plates, a child’s tricycle. All torn, broken, burnt and maimed.
Jacob said, “Winterbourne told me about the help you’ve given him and his team recently. They can’t stop singing your praises.”
Alex had mentioned her father’s over inflated opinion of himself. She was right, it was well hidden, but it was there. You could see the evidence of it. A slight turn to the corners of his mouth. Not a smile but something. And he straightened a bit. Stood a little taller.
“Happy to help,” he said.
“I was hoping you could help them out some more. You and your team.”
“It would be hard to spare the time.”
Jacob had to be careful, he didn’t want to lose Arthur now.
“It would just be for a short while, a few weeks at most. Until we publishing the test results. You would make a big difference, I know it. Everyone would appreciate it.”
And it could make your shares worth millions overnight. That’s what Jacob was bursting to say. But money wasn’t what drove Arthur. He had to remember that.
“Ok Jacob,” replied Arthur, somewhat reluctantly. “As long as it’s just a few weeks.”
That’s it for Chapter 9, I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to more. Chapter 10 will be out the same time next week, Friday at 4:00pm UK time.
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