by James David Maliszewski

Mercedes Kelleher fidgeted slightly in her leather chair. She never enjoyed board meetings, especially when they dragged on as long as this one had. GigaCorp earnings since last quarter were slightly down… and the board wanted her to account for it.

“If you’ll reference screen 34 of my report,” she began, “you’ll see that I’ve outlined several factors that have contributed to our current fiscal downturn. I don’t expect any of these factors to last much longer beyond the end of the year -- if that.

“If you reference screen 40, you’ll also see that I’ve outlined other factors that I think will guarantee an increase over the coming year.”

Kelleher then scanned the conference room to see the reaction of the board. Most of them had their heads down, staring into their view screens. They nodded and harrumphed and made noises whose meaning she couldn’t quite ascertain. With each passing second, she hated this meeting more and more. When would it end?

An older woman with dark skin and a head of white hair -- she’d probably been with GigaCorp since the turn of the century -- was the first to look up from her screen and speak.

“What about BioWear?” she asked. “I don’t see anything in the report about it. At the beginning of the year, you assured us that it was not only on schedule, but that it’d increase earnings before the year’s end. That doesn’t seem to have happened.”

There was a murmur at the table as heads started nodding again.

Kelleher smiled coldly. “You’re correct, of course. I stand behind my initial assessment of the profitability of Dr. Kujawa’s work, however. Having seen her latest reports, I think we may have another GenGel on our hands here.”

The white-haired woman didn’t miss a beat. “Then, why didn’t you include this in your report? Why doesn’t marketing have any idea what’s going on? If you intend for this line to be ready to go before the year’s end, the board has to be kept informed.”

Kelleher smiled again and melted back into her chair. She loved that chair. It was one of considerable value, one of the few items to come from Earth before the disaster, and it was comfortable beyond belief. Kelleher often took solace in its leathery arms when challenged by the board. Those who didn’t know her might see it as a sign of weakness, of buckling under the pressures of questioning. Perhaps it was.

But not this time. She had a ready answer for the board. Kelleher sat up straight and turned her attention to a man standing at the back of the room.

“Colonel Markham.” She said. “Would you kindly step forward?”

The man strode forward with heavy regulated steps. His boots rang solidly on the polished floor of the boardroom. He wore a gray paramilitary uniform, unadorned except for the insignia placing him with GigaCorp’s security forces. He also wore a blank expression that revealed nothing about his interior state of mind. By all appearances, he appeared the stereotypical military man -- a stock character from a bad holo-vid.

When Markham reached the front of the room, he stood at attention beside Kelleher, saying nothing. His briefly scanned the assembled executives before he turned his full attention to GigaCorp’s CEO.

“You should remember Colonel Markham from his success against the Coalition last month. Since then, as you’re aware, we’ve had a few public relations setbacks.”

There was some grumbling from the board members. Most of it was inaudible, but Kelleher could distinctly hear the word ‘DataNet’ mentioned on more than one occasion.

“Yes, DataNet.” She said with contempt. The words almost seemed like acid in her mouth “It’s become more than a nuisance lately. It is the reason for our delay in launching Dr. Kujawa’s latest project.

“That’s why I have assigned Colonel Markham to handle this matter. He’s shown a remarkable ability to get things done. I suspect he’ll be able to take care of DataNet easily enough. But perhaps I should let him speak for himself.”

She then turned to face the man who loomed above her chair like a vulture. “Colonel, would you be so kind?”

Markham eased his posture at her request, releasing his stiffened back and revealing a slight paunch. He was nevertheless in good shape for a man his age, but he no longer seemed quite as formidable as he did only moments before. He now looked like an aging sports hero on whom time had taken its toll –unbowed by declining.

“Be pleased to, ma’am.” Markham responded in his clipped accent. He addressed the board. “Two days ago, intruders succeeded in overcoming security measures at our genetics division. These same intruders hacked into GigaCorp computers and retrieved data relating to the BioWear project.

“As you know, the stolen data included footage of last month’s trials and their… unfortunate results. Late last night, the footage and associated data was released to the public via DataNet. Since that time, I have begun an extensive investigation to determine precisely how these intruders managed to not only breach our security but also gain access to encrypted files.”

A stern-faced bald man at the end of the table asked, “And what have you ascertained, Colonel?”

Markham looked down at Kelleher, who nodded her head to him and sighed.

“From what I’ve uncovered so far, it appears that we have a leak within GigaCorp -- probably someone highly placed within the company. How else could the intruders have been able to obtain the data they did?”

There were muted gasps throughout the boardroom. Even the bald man looked disturbed. This was not good news and Kelleher didn’t relish what was about to come next.

“Shouldn’t we do something, then?” one of the other executives asked. “We’ve got to put a lid on this ASAP. If DataNet’s version of events goes unchallenged, the BioWear line is dead. We’ll never be able to recoup our investment.”

That thought seemed to disturb even more members of the board. Being accused of unsafe testing practices was one thing. Losing millions in investment capital was something else entirely.

“Just give it to Miguel.” The white-haired woman ventured. “Have PR cook up something and go live with it. The public will eat it up. They always do.”

Kelleher stood up, pushing back her chair in the process. With Colonel Markham at her side, she began to slowly walk around the table.

“No, that’s not enough. This is too big. We’ve got to do more than get Miguel to do his “José Average” routine. We’ve got to contain this fast and that requires something special from PR. Plus, there’s still the question of the source of the leak itself. Even if we manage to put a good spin on BioWear, we’ve got to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t get away from us again. DataNet’s becoming too effective for my liking.”

The board simply sat in their seats, spellbound as the pair circled them. Some of them seemed concerned, while others looked impatient. Kelleher made her way around the table and back to her seat. She stood there at the head of the table, with Markham at her side.

“To that end,” she explained, “ I’ve given Colonel Markham authorization to begin a more extensive investigation into this matter. I want to be sure there are no more leaks. His office will be in contact with all of you shortly.”

“But you can’t possibly mean --” the white-haired woman protested.

“Oh, I most certainly do.” Kelleher countered. “I told you the leak was high level. The Colonel and I suspect that one of you is its source. We intend to find out which one.”

A smile cracked across Markham’s craggy face for the first time since the meeting began. Kelleher sat down at last and pulled her chair closer to the table.

“I expect full cooperation with security’s investigation. Please don’t disappoint me. In the meantime, get PR to work on something better than their usual tripe. Miguel will need to work overtime to pull this one off.”