CYBER-SHIELD

The ball sat approximately four metres from the hole on the ninth green as Ray Kaminski approached, removing his putter. The distance wasn’t the problem but the uneven approach and the slope was tricky. It needed a firm put to speed the ball up the slight slope and allow the ball to curve down into the hole. A miss would be fatal. The ball would continue running past the hole, gather speed, ending up even further away at the edge of the green. After a few practised strokes, Ray hit the ball neatly up the slope and it curved accurately down and into the hole. There was a round of polite applause from some onlookers which Ray acknowledged with a raise of his club. He pulled his trolley of clubs directly over to the professional’s shop.

“Hi Stue, I want you to sell this set of clubs for me and donate the proceeds to your charity.”

“Oh, hi Ray, are you wanting to upgrade. Mind you these that you have are some of the best I stock. Do you want to try some others?”

“No Stue, I’m giving up. I’ve had enough of golf. It doesn’t satisfy me anymore.”

“Hey, you can’t give up! You are one of the best amateurs we have in this club, even the County. You could even do well on the professional circuit.”

“No just sell them.”

“I’ve still got your old clubs here. Take them,” pleaded Stue as Ray about turned and walked briskly off to the changing rooms. He had enjoyed his golf when he was employed and it gave him some relief from his job but having sold his IT company for a goodly sum, he had fully retired and found chasing a ball around gave him no pleasure. He would have to find some more interesting things to do in his extra 2,000 hours a year of leisure time. He changed and put all of his golfing clothing into a black sack. Standing in front of the full-length mirror, he mused, what’s a good-looking man like you moping about his pointless life? Tall, slim, handsome, a full head of hair even though with the help of some colouring, he should be looking forward to going home to a pretty lady. No such luck, the last love of his life left him many years ago, blaming him for being totally married to his job. No point in musing but getting online to some dating agency and try his luck. Picking up the black sack he marched off into the car park to deposit his load into the refuse container.

“Good morning, Mr. Kaminski,” said a young man standing next to an ancient Aston Martin, as two other men approached.

“What in the Dickins brings you three stooges here?” asked Ray in amazement as he dropped his black sack to the tarmac.

“We have come especially to see you Mr. Kaminski and take you to lunch,” said the second man approaching.

“Well, that’s very kind Mike but I’m eating here, at the club. What’s all this in aid of?” asked Ray looking incredulous. “You were the last people in the world I expected to see.”

“I’m surprised you remember my name Mr. Kaminski. You used to refer to me as ‘Bozo’ in the past in a rather derogatory fashion,” replied Mike as he shook hands with Ray. The other two men shook hands also. “Since we came here to be civil, can we call you ‘Ray’ but you can call us by your nick names if you are more comfortable.”

“Let it be ‘Ray’ but you are all looking very prosperous. I presume those expensive classic sports cars are yours. This American outfit must be paying you good money. And I can’t get over your smart clothes. You were right scruffs in my day,” uttered Ray incredulously as his gaze passed from one to the other.

“We scrubbed up especially for you Ray,” said the second man in line. “We left Aronline and set up our own company. You can call me Dodo as you used to though I’m not extinct just yet.”

“Hi Alf and Patrick, you certainly have made the effort, so I’ll take you into the dining room and treat you to lunch. It’s curiosity only, since you always made it plain that you hated me so much. Follow me.” said Ray pushing in through the swing doors and leading the way at a brisk place. “John, give us a table for four by that bay. Thanks. OK follow me guys, we shouldn’t be disturbed over here.”

“Lot of water under the bridge since we last worked for you Ray when you used to call me Didums. I miss that those days,” said Patrick, a tall slim man with a slight stoop and wearing thick black framed tinted glasses which hid his bright blue eyes. They all sat with Ray, in the alcove, perusing the menu.

“The pie is the best choice here. Jack! Four pies, tap water, two diet cokes and a ginger beer please. Right, let’s get down to business because I suspect that’s why you came. First tell me why you left Aronline since you were on a contract with a substantial golden handcuff deal?”

“I’ll start since I’m the unofficial spokesman for this bunch,” said Mike who was rather chubby with a constant smile or was it a leer. He continued once the waiter had distributed the drinks. “We left after a month when we realised that they were a bunch of wankers and only had bought you out to reduce the competition. We were wasted there and since we became troublesome and obnoxious, they were glad to get rid of us. I’ll let Alf tell you what we set up. It was his idea anyway.”

“Thanks Dodo. As you know Ray, we were games mad but those out there were mainly annoying rather than exciting and not requiring any serious computer skills. I had an idea which I had developed over a while. It was to interest the hacking brigade rather than the usual pundit. The gamer had to break through a series of barriers or fire walls and eventually got to the treasure which started at five hundred dollars and grew.” Alf was a gangly man who looked more like a teenager than his thirty years. He usually sported a scruffy mop of brown hair which today had been tamed. Alf was generally serious and would consider carefully before he spoke. He was the brightest of the three. They all sported expensive polo shirts, chinos and smart trainers.

“So, for how much did you sell it for?” asked Ray sipping his water.

“No, it is free to download but you had to purchase hints, get out of jail cards and shields, plus a few other things. That’s where we made our money,” answered Alf.

“To have two vintage Ferraris and an Aston you must have been making some dough?” asked Ray.

“There’s not a lot of cost in this venture. I’d mapped most of it out and the other two spent a month playing day and night and making adjustments, mainly to make it more exciting for the normal gamer. Lots of bangs and flashes but the serious guys could switch off these distractions. Now in the last three months we have had over a million serious gamers, each spending on average thirty-five dollars a month, all going into our offshore account,” said Alf with a satisfied grin on his face as Ray looked on in amazement.

“That’s really impressive guys. You should have informed me of your skills whilst you worked for me.”

“You wouldn’t let us play games at work! You even took our phones off us,” answered Mike in a raised voice and had to be restrained by Patrick.

“I couldn’t afford you playing games whilst there was essential work to be completed, deadline to be met and customers to satisfied. That’s what I employed you guys for and now you have found your niche. Good luck to you!” said Ray as the four plates of pies were distributed amongst them plus dishes of vegetables and jugs of extra gravy. “Bon appetite!”

“OK, what makes your game so special?” asked Ray. “I have the mind to copy it, develop it better and make a mint, possibly damage your company.”

“You could Ray,” answered Mike. “First of all, we appeal to a very select audience, secondly, we are the only ones currently that have a substantial cash prize. Thirdly we split the game into ‘Beginners,’ ‘Intermediates’ and ‘Experts’.”

“I could match that! How many prizes have you paid out so far? That must be a drain on your finances?”

“We pay out one or two a week but only because we let these people break through to the treasure,” answered Patrick. “Under normal circumstances they wouldn’t get there under their own steam. We give them or sell them hints and worms that bypass some of the barriers. So, we have everything under control. No one as yet has broken through without our say so. The prizes we give out is to encourage the punters. We even publish their names and region they come from.”

“What, you actually publish their names?” asked Ray looking incredulously.

“Well, usually their pseudonym rather than actual name, though we do know all their details, not just from their payments. We constantly send them messages of encouragement with free hints so that they continue to play, though the ‘Expert’ group generally don’t ask for them.”

“Surely the ‘Expert’ group as you call them are breaking through to the treasure all the time? How do you stop that?” asked Ray as he put his knife and fork down.

“You would think so Ray but a couple of friends have joined us who are into AI, artificial intelligence, and their programme not only stops the infringements but also learns from any new ploy that our hackers introduce,” replied Alf looking smug. “For instance, we have a number of hackers from the Russian intelligent services, GRU, that are regulars, intent on honing their skills and they haven’t broken through unless we help them,”

“OK guys, I get the picture. You have a successful product, making poots of dosh so what do you want from me?” asked Ray as he called over the waiter and ordered four apple crumbles.

“I’ll answer this.” said Alf with a nod of approval from the other two. “Ray, as you know, that when we worked for you, we hated you intensely. You used to bully us mercilessly but you always got the best out of us. Currently we are drifting about aimlessly, without direction and starting to lose interest. We want you to join us and give us a sense of purpose.”

“So, you want me as an advisor, is that it? At a distance so that you can avoid the bullying.”

“No Ray, we want you to be our Boss,” said Mike emphatically as the other two nodded in agreement. “You can name your terms. As you can see money is no problem. We will even offer you majority shareholding. There’s a danger of us splitting up and you are the only one that can keep us on the straight and narrow. We want you to focus our endeavours, bully us to do our best work.”

“Well, that’s an impressive admission. It’s also an impressive offer. How much cash do I need to invest to get a majority holding?” added as Ray as the apple crumble was dished out with a huge jug of custard. “How do you know that I don’t already have a position?”

“Sorry Ray,” answered Mike. “When we decided on you, we hacked into your Email to check you out. We would have approached you anyway, with an offer you couldn’t refuse. As to the investment, you know we have little interest in money. We will give you the share you need for a pepper corn.”

“You lot are desperate!”

“We are, we didn’t realise how good you were for us,” said Alf gravely as his comrades nodded in unison. “What do you say? Will you join us Ray and save me and us from extinction.”

“Well, you have done your homework and I have some interest particularly with the AI thing. Maybe our relationship might just blossom rather than me subjecting you to constant bullying but you all thrived on it. Now I’m not going to make a definite decision this very moment. I need say a month to plan and decide what benefit I can bring to the table. We’ll meet in a month’s time. You drop me an Email so I know how I can contact you if I need to. Now to demonstrate your commitment to me, I want you three to do something for me.”

“Anything Ray to help you make up your mind,” answered Mike.

“Right, hand over the keys to those sports cars and I’ll sell them for you at Bonham’s,” said Ray noticing the look of horror on their faces. “This is for your own good. I just don’t want any of you to kill yourselves in those cars. You’re all hopeless drivers. That’s why I never allowed you cars when you worked for me. Just use Uber.” They all looked at each other, put the keys on the table as Ray gathered them up, stood and left them gawping.

A month later the three were summoned to a vast office complex in central London, in a tall luxury tower block. A secretary ushered in the three, sat them down at the conference table that could seat a couple of dozen personnel and offered them refreshments. Ray walked in from a side door.

“Hi guys, don’t get up we have lots to get through today,” said Ray as he sat down in the midst of them. “Right, I accept your generous offer to head up this company and my contract states that I will have a twenty percent stake with no dilution when other people join. For that I supply you with these magnificent offices at my own expense. Plus, I will also contribute ten million dollars of my cash to show my commitment in this project. I know it’s a paltry sum compared what you are worth these days but it is all my money that I am willing to gamble. Our salaries will be a fixed percentage of our net profits and we need to agree on the share out. Any comments so far?” The three rose from the seats, came over to Ray, shook his hand, gave him a hug and mumbled some thanks.

“Well, that nearly brought a tear to my eye. When you all got up, I thought for a moment that you were going to leave,” said Ray as they all smiled at him. “OK, this is how we are going to arrange ourselves and our organisation. These will be our offices and we can extend down two floors if and when. Above us is a restaurant with a dining room for our own exclusive use and above us an apartment hotel for our use. I have arranged a suite for each of you. It’s fully serviced with maids and laundry so you can live in a civilised manner. I also have an apartment here. This will be paid for by the company as part of our expenses.”

“You mean that you have arranged accommodation for us?” asked Alf.

“I have, because you guys won’t bother with anything decent. My secretary Sue will hand you the keys on your way out and you can go and inspect. Sue will also give you a Code for your Uber cars which again will go on expenses.”

“You seemed to have organised everything for us Ray,” remarked Patrick.

“You lot couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery. I’m surprised that you have managed so far. We need to be professional and our administrative staff will be there to look after the incidentals for us.”

“That’s wonderful Ray and we are most grateful but what about our organisation? That needs tweaking and energising,” uttered Mike.

“I was coming to that and I’ve given it much thought. You three will be our Technical Directors, I’ve appointed a Financial Director plus a Sales Director that will join us later this month and our Company Secretary will be Clarence.”

“Not Cruella. She made our lives hell,” cried Alf.

“Yes, but I had her collate your good work, edit it and made it customer acceptable.”

“She used to take our phones away from us!” shouted Mike.

“On my orders but you always managed to steal her phone from her handbag when she was not looking and play games on it. I allowed that and she’d give you an hour of R&R before she retrieved it.”

“So, you sanctioned that!” shouted Patrick looking aghast.

“Of course, I did. You needed some downtime and what better than illicit time playing games on work time. We need her expertise in keeping you guys on the straight and narrow. I’ve also appointed Mathew as Marketing Director.”

“He’s a jerk of the first order!” exclaimed Mike.

“But he’s good at his job and will complement the work you will be doing. Now I’ve booked us all in for a week’s convention for hackers in Detroit in two weeks’ time. We will have a stand. Clarence will host it and we will be a bunch of helpers, onlookers to check out the skill of these people. We will have a bunch of screens and handout free discs and any other bits that Mat comes up with in time. It will be a very casual affair to check out any new developments in the hacking field. We keep a low profile and not put our heads above the parapet. I don’t want to attract any undue interest in us. I’ll tell you more later. I understand that Russian and Chinese Intelligence agencies are sending strong delegations there. This is not a selling or promotion gig but a spying mission on our main enemy. They are the ones that will probably try to hack into our treasure chest. After our visit we will create a higher level of game with a jackpot of a million dollars to entice the best.”

“A million bucks, that’s outrageous,” shouted Mike.

“So, you don’t think your programme will keep them out Mike?”

“I’m sure it would and will but it’s a hell of a test. What’s this in aid of?” asked Mike.

“Well, I have another idea for your development if you can keep the best hackers at bay. It will give the AI a chance to tackle new tricks and check how secure it is.”

“So, what is this new development you’re proposing Ray?” asked Patrick.

“If this web shield is as good as you guys say, there is a billion-dollar market out there we can exploit by selling foolproof cyber-shields or firewalls. Secondly, I want you to develop ways of discovering the hackers and ways of sending them a headache. Most malware is just a preventive wall. We want to fight back with similar aggression.”

“That’s an interesting concept but it will mean we will have to get off our arses and do some work!” exclaimed Alf.

“I thought that was what you wanted rather than just watch the money roll in.” Ray paused for a moment. “Using Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Mathematics, we should have some advantage over the rest of the industry. By the way, I contacted Roger Atherstone, your AI guru and Len Senecki and talked to them for ages before I came up with this development and they thought there was great mileage in this.”

“Who is going to buy an untried system and what will they pay for it?” asked Mike.

“We will give them six months free trial then charge a percentage of the company’s turnover we are protecting. I’m looking at billion-dollar companies and Government departments where security of data is of utmost importance. We’ll start with the big Banks. I think we should have a vote whether we go with this development or ditch it.”

“I see this as a natural development of our work. I’m in,” said Mike with delight.

“It’s a tough cookie but we can crack it. Count me in,” added Patrick.

“We will need to bolster our AI if we go with this. I approve.” added Alf.

“I’ve already got Roger recruiting the best and Len is putting a plan together to see how his expertise can add to this project.”

“Let’s stop there and give ourselves time to digest what you have heard today. Here, I have a short pack of my ideas. Please add to them. Go and have a look at your accommodation and let Sue know if you require any changes or additions to make your life more comfortable. Can we meet for dinner tonight at eight, in our own dining room above, where we can celebrate. I’ve invited all your team and the people I have co-opted to join us.” There was a nodding of heads from all as Ray rose and left the room.

Some six months later, Ray entered a private meeting room at the Savoy Hotel, London. Alf rose from his chair and greeted Ray.

“Good morning Alf. I hardly recognised you in that expensive suit, haircut and close shave. You’ve even rid yourself of trainers for a smart pair of brogues.”

“OK Ray don’t go on. I’m going to choke with this shirt and tie. Feels like school days.”

“Are we all set up?” asked Ray and got a nod from Alf. “Clarence will bring them up, sit them down, pour coffee or tea and disappear. I will do all the talking and you just nod and grunt at the appropriate time. I can’t get over how smart you look. Your mother would be proud of you.”

“Leave off Ray. This is the first for me being in a room with the top people.”

“Get used to it Alf. We have five more today to get through if they turn up, though Clarence has contacted them all. All I want you to do for the moment is look, listen and learn. Once we have reviewed the recordings then we may change the format. OK, I’ve got a buzz from Clarence and she is bringing in the two from the Swiss Bank. Don’t get up.”

Clarence brought the two gentlemen in and introduced them as Konrad Schrieder, the CEO of the London Branch and Russ Fredrickson, the Technical Director.

“Welcome gentlemen. We are pleased you made it and I’m sorry if we have inconvenienced you by our drastic display but it got your attention. “I’m John Smith and this is my colleague and Technical Director, Bob Bailey. These are not our real names. We will disclose those at the end of the meeting, if all goes well. Now let me start. Mr. Fredrickson can you tell us how many times in the last month somebody has attempted and actually penetrated your system?” asked Ray.

“Well, we don’t count attempts and we have foiled all.”

“That as you know is incorrect. We made three attempts and penetrated your security system with apparent ease at the third. Hence freezing both your personal accounts to attract attention,” said Ray pausing to let the information being absorbed. “We have monitored your system only on the periphery and detected six serious attempts and a dozen minor ones in the last month. We have a print-out here that actually tells you the origins of the hackers.”

“You no doubt will give us this print-out, Mr. John Smith,” answered Konrad Schrieder and continued. “Do you know it is a criminal offence you have committed and we should be reporting this to the police.”

“We are aware that this is a grave offence but no harm was done apart from egg on face. Reporting this to a higher authority would have left you in a quandary. I’m sure that you wouldn’t want the world to know how easily some hacker can steal your personal data.”

“That is also true,” replied Konrad. “What is it that you want from us? Is this a form of blackmail? If it is then we will go straight to the police and have you arrested.”

“Please be assured that this is not blackmail. Yes, it is a strong sales pitch and we will tell you more once we have demonstrated how easily we can hack into your system and that you need more sophisticated protection. I will ask my colleague here to hack into your system now and bring up your account listing. Go ahead Bill.” as Alf opened his laptop and punched in a series of commands. “We have written a short programme to penetrate your system and we can do it at will. Now Russ, give me a letter between A and Z.”

“What’s this about?” asked Russ looking puzzled.

“We will pull up the first account beginning with that letter and you Russ will get on you mobile and confirm if we are correct,” answered Ray.

“That’s too easy,” stated Konrad. “You could have got this information with your first incursion. Name me the thirteenth account name. Russ, choose a letter.”

“Thirteenth account beginning with letter ‘T’,” said Russ and immediately made contact on his phone with his office. Alf scribbled the name, account number and current balance on a piece of notepad, tore it off and passed it to Konrad who glanced at it and passed it onto Russ. Russ got up and walked away out of earshot, with his back to them and carried on a conversation in a whisper. After two minutes he walked back, sat and announced, “That is correct,” looking very dejected.

“Did your office detect an unauthorised hack?” asked Ray as Konrad looked to Ross for a response. Ross shook his head looking rather embarrassed. “Well, your security fire walls aren’t up to much if you can’t detect our penetration. This is where we can help you.”

“Is this all part of your sales pitch?” demanded Konrad rather brusquely. “This could simply be some magician’s trick. How do we know its genuine?”

“I can assure that this is no trick. This is for real.” answered Ray and continued. “Over the past couple of years, we have developed a protective shield that is impenetrable. For the last year, top notch hackers have spent over a million hours trying to break through our product.”

“Explain how you could have had hackers waste so much time?” asked Konrad.

“We set up a competition open to all, setting the prize at one million dollars and upping that to five million. No one collected and we gained an awful lot of information on hacking methods,” answered Ray. “We used artificial intelligence to counter the hackers. The system automatically learns and adapts accordingly. Even with our own skills and intimate knowledge of our product, we cannot break in. Furthermore, we are using quantum mathematics to bolster our work.”

“OK, let’s have the true sales pitch. What is it going to cost me to apply your system?” asked Konrad.

“Before we get into that let me outline further benefits of our product. Our system lies on the periphery of your own, like an outer firewall. We monitor and filter all incoming messages and when we find anything inconsistent, we check back its origin. Your system just acts like a brick wall.”

“You’re telling us you know who is hacking into our system?” asked Russ looking incredulous.

“That’s correct. We can tell where the hack originated and even pinpoint geographically its location. We can usually detect if it is a lone hacker or some organisation.”

“I presume in those instances you would report these people to the appropriate authorities,” stated Ross.

“We could but since many originate abroad it would be futile, particularly if the culprit is a Government organisation. Don’t forget we have records of the main hacking individuals and organisations from all over the world. There is a finite number of them.”

“So, what can we do with this information if the authorities won’t act,” asked Konrad looking far more interested and less sceptical.

“We can do a number of things. If appropriate, we will inform the authorities but they are slow to react so we have developed a series of attacking strategies. If it’s a lone hacker, then we can order him to desist. If that person doesn’t stop then we scramble his system and that of his online friends and post appropriate messages to say to his pals who caused the problem and why.”

“I like that,” answered Konrad. “But what action do you take against the larger organisations?”

“Russ, you no doubt have knowledge of the danger of giant solar flares that could damage all electrical equipment by generating an intense magnetic field. Well, we have developed a way of sending such a flare to the origin that virtually melts their system. The only way they can escape is by closing their bank of computers down before we attack. We will monitor and strike when they least expect it. This will destroy millions of dollars’ worth of equipment and the beauty is that they won’t know what has happened or who did it since all their data is destroyed.”

“Are you sure you can do that and is it legal?” asked Konrad.

“Hacking isn’t legal and up to now there has been little to stop it. We will ask your permission to carry out that drastic action because you may have to weigh up the political consequences. You can imagine a Russian or Chinese intelligence agency having their system blown apart by some foreign power.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate in pressing the button,” said Konrad, “You folk now have my full attention. Tell me what it will cost me to hire your company to secure our system?”

“We won’t charge you anything for the first six months and we will guarantee that your system will not be penetrated in that time. The penalty for our failure will be a billion dollars. After six months if you decide not to continue then we will charge you sixty million dollars, mainly to cover the insurance charges for the billion penalty. If you decide to continue with us, then we will negotiate a rate based on your annual revenues that we are protecting. It won’t be cheap but you will sleep in peace at nights.”

“Technology is changing all the time,” said Russ. “How will you keep up with developments and innovations in hacking?”

“That’s where our AI, artificial intelligence plays a key role. It is constantly learning and developing new defences. Our technicians are constantly testing the system not only to ultimately break through but to assist the AI system to develop new defensive strategies. Gentlemen, we have reached the end of our presentation. You have had a comprehensive view of our services. Here is a detailed pack with a contract attached for you to ponder over. Once you have made you decision to proceed, we will meet again to finalise the detail. We do have offices and base in London. My assistant will show you out,” said Ray as Clarence entered and escorted the somewhat bemused pair out of the room.

The following day all the directors were sitting around the table in the board room and Ray was presiding.

“You’ve all viewed the recording a number of times now, any comments?” asked Ray.

“Yes, I have one,” piped up Patrick. “Alf looked most uncomfortable in his suit. Spent most of the time adjusting his tie and he didn’t say a word during the whole proceedings. That was strange.”

“Agreed,” commented Clarence, “but the silence was planned, wasn’t it Ray. He will just have to get used to his smart get up. I hardly recognised him. He looked really good. I could have fallen for him if I hadn’t known him before.”

“Well said Clarence, but there was no real sales closure at the end,” remarked Richard the Sales Director. I would have given them a shove over the edge to sign on the dotted line.”

“You didn’t give them much time to ask questions,” commented Mike.

“The meeting seemed rather short.” said Patrick. “I would have spun it out a little. How did you feel Alf having sat through thirty minutes without saying a word.”

“I felt like a spare prick!” added Alf. “Most uncomfortable in a shirt and tie. I thought I was choking.”

“I feel for you Alf but I thought you all put on an impressive show,” said Mat the Marketing Director. “It was meant to be a bit of a shock tactic and you achieved that. All the information was presented and only a fool would turn you down. I’d like to hear what our legal beagle has to say on the matter.”

“I concur with Mat but my concern is more with the legality of our hacking,” added Peter the Legal Director. I was expecting any moment the Met, Police to charge in and disrupt the proceedings. Are you going to sum up Ray?”

“Thanks Peter, overall, I thought we did well. I liked the abrupt way we handled it. Take it or leave it attitude but at your own risk. In future meetings I’ll let Alf say more but strictly from the script that you approved. I liked the way Clarence introduced them, efficiently with minimum comment and expertly guided them out of the room at the end. I only hope you weren’t too bored out there in the foyer?”

“I was fine with my tablet, people watching and handing off the Sheiks. I didn’t want to be wife fifty-seven in their harem. The only thing I can add is that we should book an anti-room as a holding area prior to the meeting. The people going out tended to chat to the incoming ones and delay your meeting. I don’t know if that is good or not. Obviously, they all know each other in the city.”

“Good point Clarence. Book an anti-room for tomorrow. We are meeting the airline chiefs. They have had bad press recently with major issues with their systems. Couple of days after that we finish off the first draft of the banks. Any further comments? Yes Clarence?”

“I’ve given my boyfriend the big ‘E’. Can I move into the aparthotel with the boys?”

“I should think so. You guys don’t object? No, they don’t so see Sue and arrange it.”

“Just bit of news I’d like to add,” said Richard, the Sales Director, pausing for effect. “Swiss Bank contacted me this morning and want a follow up meeting!” A cheer went up.

Five days later they were in their third session of presentations or confrontations as they now started to call them. This time with six more banks. The day with the airlines had gone well and they seemed to be less sceptical than the banks and more receptive to the help. The three morning sessions went off as expected and after a light lunch they were back expecting their first visitors. Deutsche Bank arrived with a full complement of staff, six in all, led by a bumptious CEO, Rudi Lenger, who insisted to be addressed as Mr. Lenger and his Technical manager a Mr. Gruber.

“Now Mr. John Smith, as you call yourself, why have you called us in. I hope this won’t be a waste of time. I am a busy man and these men should be at work for me,” started Rudi in an abusive and arrogant manner.

“Welcome Mr. Lenger and welcome Mr. Gruber. I can assure you that this meeting will not be a waste of your time or of our time which is as precious to us as it is to you,” stated Ray.

“I don’t care for your assurances,” ranted on Rudi.

“I’m sure you do, otherwise you and your team wouldn’t be here,” stated Ray rather firmly. “Your security systems at the bank have been penetrated easily and your personal accounts have nominally been compromised. No damage was done other than to freeze your and Mr. Gruber personal accounts to firmly catch your attention. To that extent we have achieved our goal bringing you all here.”

“So, you admit that you hacked into our accounts. That is a criminal act and you shall be punished severely!” shouted Rudi pointing a finger at Ray.

“I personally did not hack into your accounts but if a criminal mind had they could have done massive damage rather than a perfunctory freezing of two inconsequential accounts,” said Ray instantly regretting pouring more petrol onto the fire. “You, Mr. Lenger should carefully listen and learn from what we have to say.” As Rudi rose from his chair, pointing fingers at Ray and Alf, screaming, “Arrest these criminals and take them to prison!” Three men rose, presented their ID’s as Metropolitan Detectives and proceeded to arrest Ray and Alf as Rudi rubbed his hands together in glee as a job well done. They were led out the back way to a black van and driven to Scotland Yard.

Fortunately, they had prepared well for such an event. Clarence, observing the commotion on her tablet, immediately sent a prepared message to a news bureau that two men had been arrested for hacking into personal accounts at Deutsche Bank, London and untold damage being done. Meanwhile Alf and Ray were being questioned. Alf stuck to his story that he was Bill Bailey, thirty-two years old, of no fixed abode and of independent means, working occasionally as a Consultant IT specialist. Ray on the other hand, couldn’t hide behind his new persona of John Smith since his face was well known.

“Look this interview is going nowhere, only repeating the same old things to no avail,” stated Ray. “I admit that I instigated the hack on Deutsche Bank to show the weakness of their security systems. No harm was intended or done. The freezing of two accounts was merely to capture their attention which it did successfully albeit the result was unexpected without listening to our total presentation which could have saved them from further embarrassment. No, please, don’t interrupt. We foresaw this incident and planned accordingly to show how good we are and how poor security systems are in general. Take your Met’s system, we hacked into it and scrambled your Chief’s personal data a week ago. No real damage done but he probably had to make out his salary manually because the link to the Pay Company is defunct. Your IT department is probably trying to straighten things out as we speak. Please check this out now whilst we have a break.”

Thirty minutes later Ray was back in the interview room being questioned by a series of more senior officers. “Yes, we checked on your hack and it is true. Now Mr. Ray Kaminski you have admitted to a second criminal infringement. To what purpose?”

“Now we are getting to the nub of this issue. We have up to now been targeting Banks and airlines, the more lucrative side of the business. We are aware that the Public Offices of this Country are also subject to hacking, NHS, Police, Government, Transport, Power, Defence mainly for information that may have monitory value sold into the right hands. There is little spare money in these bodies to interest us financially but would be useful in advertising our wares being used by National bodies. We hoped to offer these security shields at cost. Firstly, we need to make some profit from the commercial world.”

“So, you would be benefactors to the Nation would you Mr. Kaminski? Pull the other one.”

“It may be hard to believe but why mine coal when we can mine rich seams of gold and diamonds. Our aim is just to advance our marketing goals. If your Defence departments purchase our cyber shields, then it will encourage the others to at least take a peek at our offering. I believe our National Security departments sent a strong delegation to the Hackers Convention in Detroit last year. They must be worried sick by what they learned there. We were there to check on the up-to-date hacking methodology and find ways to combat it. To date no one has penetrated our system without our permission. I hope all this is being recorded since we have developed procedures not only identify the culprits but to geographically locate them. Maybe we should be giving you, our sales presentation.”

“OK, Mr. Kaminski, we are letting you and your colleague free with a conditional warning. We presume that you or your people were the origin of the leak that Deutsche Bank has been hacked and their shares have collapsed.”

“I can’t possibly comment on that but that arrogant prig had it coming to him. I presume you watched the footage of him show-boating. I immediately saw through his ploy and recognised the three detectives as being uncomfortable at the table. I hope to hear from your IT department shortly. You have my Email.”

“Just to let you know our condition for your release is that you change your sales methodology. No more incidental hacking. Someone from the Government will certainly paying you a visit. They are definitely eager to learn what you have found out about the hackers out there and how to reduce their influence. They have watched a full recording of your presentations with great interest.”

A full Board meeting was taking place to review the progress made last week and the impact of their brief incarceration.

“I congratulate you on the good work carried out last week, particularly Alf who suffered more than most,” said Ray, starting a round of polite applause. “The police intervention was damaging but the announcement of the Deutche Bank hack has short tailed the decision making of our targets. All have signed up to the trial period and the grape vine is working. Our meeting with MI6 has hastened that. I think they spread the word for us amongst the Government departments. Our work is cut out. Do we need more people? If we do let’s start recruiting now. Let’s poach some more of the disillusioned from Aronline, our former colleagues.”

“I know of six that are wishing to join,” added Patrick. “There will be a flood when they join.”

“How do we proceed from now on if our own hacking of clients is not permissible?”

“I shouldn’t worry too much about that Mike,” replied Alan Schofield, the Finance Director. We have been asked by a number of Government and National agencies to quote for our services, isn’t that so Matt? Yes, and since we are the only ones to quote we can effectively name our own price.”

“Thanks Alan, since you are in the chair, can you update us on our finances,” asked Ray. “I’m sure you all would like to know.”

“Our finances are in superb health at this moment. For the past six months our Games product is bringing in over eighty million dollars a month.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Clarence. “I didn’t realise that the three stooges were so clever without my bullying.” This was accompanied by all round chuckling while the three put on an act of preening themselves. “Can someone explain how they have achieved this?”

“I will,” answered Matt. “Since the three stooges have translated the game into Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Japanese our coverage has doubled to over two million gamers. Since we have increased the prizes and tweaked the cost of the hints, now average about forty dollars a month per gamer. You can do the maths.”

“Hey Ray!” exclaimed Clarence. “We can just sit on our hands and let the money roll in. Why do we have to pursue this new project?”

“That’s exactly why the three wanted me to create a new company with new developments,” answered Ray. “No fun in sitting on our hands doing nothing. This project is an interesting challenge and a direct spin off from the game. In fact, it’s an integral part. Please continue Alan.”

“The only drain on our finances is the servicing cost of our Million Dollar indemnity. I propose we self-fund that by gradually reducing the huge monthly cost to various insurance companies. Can we vote on that? All in favour? Good, that is a relief for me in my position. The only other drain is this office, our restaurant and the aparthotel. To increase the throughput of the restaurant I’ve sold a thousand lunch and dinner vouchers this month to various companies in this and surrounding office blocks. This is at break-even cost according to our Chef. The aparthotel Manager needs more suites to make the business more efficient. She suggests that we take over the next two floors and develop super luxury suites there. There’s a big demand for them in London.”

“Hey, I bags one of those for myself,” demanded Patrick, checking with Mike, Alf and Clarence who all were nodding in agreement.

“I thought you guys might want that, so I’ve reserved another floor, higher up the building which will be converted to your liking. Now on a more personal matter. All Directors here are on expenses only contracts, no salary. Some of you have been drawing cash on the company card. That’s not only expensive but not kosher if the tax man was ever to investigate your finances. If you need cash, just come to my office and draw some petty cash. Just to let you know, everyone has kept within the agreed spending limits so far, even though I’ve increased your charges for your apartments to increase the revenues for that business. It’s still a useful loss leader for tax purposes.”

“Any other business before we break for lunch?” asked Ray.

“Deutche Bank has come back, cap in hand, wanting our services,” stated Matt.

“Fine, but we fix a charge from the start based on their UK revenues, no six-month trial or the Billion dollar indemnity,” stated Ray forcibly.

“What if they don’t bite?”

“We negotiate but hold out. You, Alf, may spread the word along the hacking pipeline that they are vulnerable hoping that attacks on them increase. Not from us. It will appear that this was initiated by the initial leak to the press. That reminds me, we must be vigilant to hacking and I suggest you put up our screen on Deutche Bank immediately, only to monitor the hacks. This will give us more intelligence on any new developments in the hacking world.”

“Fine Ray, just to let you all know we have set up a secret screen on GCHQ near Cheltenham, the Government top secret establishment, to monitor the hackers. That has been a good source of information which our AI can tackle.”

“That reminds me Alf. Run your competition again for the experts and double the prize money this time to say ten million. That will sort the goats from the sheep! OK guys, let’s break for lunch!”

Ray strode into the dining room the following morning, ordered his breakfast at the counter then on directly to the coffee machine, choosing a large Americano. Picking up his hot mug, he looked around the dining area and spotted Clarence hugging her mug. “Can I join you?” he asked.

“Sure, please do, though I won’t be good company this morning. Only got in at three a.m., clubbing with the boys,” she said hugging her head and stifling a yawn.

“Did I catch that the boys you referred to are our three stooges?”

“The same!”

“So how are you getting on with them these days? Must be OK if you’re going clubbing with them?” asked Ray looking quizzically at Clarence as she swept her hair from her eyes.

“Oh, they are real poppets these days. No antagonism, no fractiousness or bad behaviour from past days. They actually hand their work to me for checking and editing rather than me dragging it out of them. Total change. They now appreciate what you and me do for them. I’ve taken them clubbing a few times to give them some R&R, getting them away from their screens,” said Clarence looking quite animated.

“Well, that’s good. How do they get on with the opposite sex then?” asked Ray as the waitress bought him a plate of scrambled egg laced with smoked salmon, drizzled with truffle oil, plus a rack of toast.

“Wow! That looks good, I’m starving, I’ll pinch a pinch a piece of your toast if I may,” said Clarence looking brighter and continued, “The boys are rather shy around girls. I have to encourage them and show them the ways. I had to teach them how to snog rather than just pucker the lips in a kiss.”

“You what! It wasn’t a practical demonstration, was it?” asked Ray in amazement.

“Oh, it was full on. I used to teach my two brothers and not to paw the girls but just fondle their breasts gently.”

“What, you allowed them to grope you?” asked Ray, full of astonishment.

“Oh, I didn’t mind, even enjoyed it.”

“So how did they pick up the girls?”

“I had to take them onto the dance floor individually, dance near a group of girls then asked one to take over from me whilst I went for a pee. I added that there would be champagne for them in the VIP booth which I booked for us,” said Clarence pinching another piece of toast. “Anyway Ray, how is your love life these days?”

“On the rocks I’m afraid. No luck on the online dating front,” answered Ray looking glum.

“I can’t quite believe that you being so handsome and rich to boot. There must be plenty of single mature women out there looking for someone like you. In fact, I can line one up for you.”

“What you’re turning into a match maker now!”

“No, but you know I’ve given Pete the big ‘E’, well I’m still in touch with his mum. She’s a real smart lady and also quite glamorous. Got her own boutique in Hampstead where I buy most of my clothes. She currently lives in a huge town house in Islington. Far too big for her so when I mentioned the fully serviced aparthotel where I currently live, she got interested. In fact, you have just missed her. She’s staying in my spare bedroom, road testing the arrangements here, So far so good. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. You come early for breakfast tomorrow and I’ll introduce you.”

“Hey, that’s a bit quick,” said Ray taken aback.

“No, no, I’ll just introduce you and I will then invite her to be my guest at the soiree we are holding on Friday evening for our clients where you can check her out with no holds. In fact, that gives me an idea. If you two, make out together then I can get Patrick back to my place for the night. I have a real soft spot for him.”

“Hey Clarence, how in the hell am I going to get her into my apartment on the first meeting?” asked Ray looking shocked.

“Well, it won’t be the first meeting. She’s staying all week so three more breakfast to just meet her and I’ll give you the nod if she likes you and willing. That’s brilliant and I’m sure the plan will work. If the relationship doesn’t work out in the long run, no harm done and Alice will have more opportunity to suss out the life here. You have to call her Alison. She doesn’t like Alice!”

“Can she afford it? It’s quite expensive, that is unless you are on company expenses.”

“Oh, she’s fairly rich and if she moves in with you then there’s no bother, is there?”

“Hey, not so fast. I may not even like her!”

“Oh, you will. You will be smitten. The bigger problem is will she like you. Nah! She will, I’m sure she will. If I was in her position I’d be camping outside your door.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence. Don’t forget we have a Board meeting at eleven.”

“Just one thing Ray. Can you explain to me in simple terms, layman terms, what this cyber security programme does,” asked Clarence stopping Ray in his attempt to leave the table.

“You know what it does in digital parlance, why do you want a simplified version.”

“Well at our soiree we will be meeting the top echelon of the companies and they are not always au fait with the scientific principles and the general parlance we use.”

“OK, I suppose you can describe it as a net, a series of nets that protects the home base. The minnows and sprats that we know are allowed to pass through but the sharks, conger eels and any one we don’t like the look of are scrutinised, turned away, even severely threatened with complete destruction. Does that simplify our process enough for you?” asked Ray, waving to the waitress for a fill of coffee.

“That’s great explanation but what if an intruder mask himself as a regular client, how do we unmask him?”

“Well, one of our procedures is to check his and everyone’s DNA to see if it’s been tampered with and then we see him off if they are a threat. Our AI, artificial intelligence programme has sampled millions of such intrusions and can identify the threat for us. If there is slightest doubt, they interrogate the culprit until his head hurts. Is that sufficient simplification for you?” asked Ray looking to Clarence for an answer which wasn’t forthcoming. “I’m sure you can hold your own in that company. You appear distracted.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking what I need to arrange for you and the boys prior to our party. I’ve arranged a couple of my girlfriends for Mike and Alf. They’ll get an expensive frock out of it if nothing else. I sent them to Alison’s boutique to buy on my account. Thinking about Alice, I reckon you will like her. Don’t forget to come early for breakfast for the next few days.”

“Thanks Clarence, I’ll be here tomorrow. Must go and prepare for the Board meeting. Ciao!”

All the Board members were sitting around a big table generally chatting away. Patrick and Clarence were rather close together sharing some joke, Alf and Mike were on their phones playing some game and discussing its merits. On the other side, Matt, Peter, Richard and Alan were discussing the football match they had attended the previous evening. Ray strode in with a file under his arm, grabbed a chair and forced himself between Clarence and Patrick to their discomfort and amusement of the others.

“Morning all, glad you are all here. This is the first company meeting with all the shareholders present. We will follow the normal agenda. Let me start,” Ray paused and looked around the table to ensure full attention. Even Mike and Alf put down their phones. “Right, we are all ship shape and I’m pleased with our progress and very happy with every-bodies input. We are going to pause for a while and consolidate on the CyberShield project until we get more trained people on board. Clarence is in charge of recruitment and has some very good people in the pipeline. Many are from Airoline who you will know well. We have honoured their golden handcuffs there. The biggest catch is Professor Henderson from Warwick University to bolster up our AI area. Yes Partick?”

“He’s not going to take over, is he?”

“Rest assured Patrick, Alf and Mike, he has been appointed primarily as an advisor and ensure that we at the very forefront of AI development. If he can progress our own endeavours, then that will be a bonus. After a month I want you three to assess in which direction we should point him. Now in the meantime I want you three to develop three games that we can market. I’m not bothered about a mass audience, what I want to see is a strong inclusion of your AI expertise in these products. Yes Mike?”

“Are you saying we have a free hand in this?”

“Yes, I am. I don’t want you getting bored. We will set up an associate company, distinct from us, where you will be the major shareholders and reap the benefits. Now your biggest task today is to assess five potential recruits we have. From their background, which is fuzzy, Clarence thinks they could be spies from GCHQ, Cheltenham, planted on us. They want to purchase our services but I presume all they want to do is steal our knowledge. Yes Patrick?”

“You probably don’t know this but we have set up a passive screen around GCHQ without their knowledge to check who is paying them a visit. You would be surprised by the amount of dubious traffic they are fending off.”

“I didn’t know that, and you should have cleared that with me. Now can you detect how much penetration there is?”

“No, but Alf piggybacked on some unofficial GRU traffic that broke through most of their defences. He reckons it was just an exploratory probe rather than a serious attempt. On the basis of that we could break in easily.”

“Good to know but just watch, nothing else. Keep a log of the attempts and check for anyone we haven’t come across. Now over to you Alan for the Financial report.”

“I have some interesting news for you. I forecast that by the end of this financial year we will become a Unicorn Company in journalistic parlance. That is our revenues will exceed a billion dollars in our first year of trading and if that doesn’t grab your attention then this will. I forecast that our profits will also exceed a billion dollars since our expense are so paltry. All this is because companies subscribing to CyberShield will now be paying their full dues after their six-month sabbatical. OK, OK I’m not getting any joyful response I was expecting. What did I say wrong?” asked Alan looking around the table for a response.

“I’ll answer that,” replied Clarence. “We are not really interested in the heap of money we are making. We are all comfortably off, thank you! If you had mentioned a huge donation to charity, then we may have sat up and taken interest.”

“OK, sorry! I just thought it might be of interest. I’ve never worked for a company with such phenomenal growth and profit. On the charity front I was going to suggest that we make a substantial donation. Any suggestions?”

“Not anything in GB!” said Alf.

“Something in the Third World but it has to be specific,” suggested Clarence.

“What about Sans Frontières, the French outfit. They seem to be at the forefront of all things, also why don’t we invest a substantial amount in eradicating some disease like malaria or yellow fever,” added Matt.

“Look, all research on these things is done peace-meal by tons of research labs with bits of grants that run out. Why don’t we just buy out one of these labs and apply a bit of AI to the problem,” offered Patrick. “We know from experience how effective that can be.”

“OK guys,” interjected Ray, “We could be all day putting the world to rights. Who wants to take the lead on this worthwhile cause and we’ll throw as much money and resources on the chosen issue as it takes?”

“I will!” replied Alf. “If Clarence would give me a hand with the admin.” He got a nod from Clarence and a curious look from Patrick. “I have an old college friend who is currently researching in this field. I’ll look him up.”

“That’s settled. Please send your suggestions, ideas to Alf and Clarence. This is a great opportunity for us to make a real mark on the World. Now Alan, you have more to add.”

“Thanks Ray. Most of our workforce are on a good salary and benefits but I feel we should share our largess with them and also lock them in. I suggest we set up a fund, something on the lines of John Lewis, where there is a regular bonus. We need to agree on the general matter so that I can pursue it and come up with suggestions for the next meeting.”

“Do that Alan,” replied Ray, cutting short the comments and I will give up one percent of my share to fund it. All I can add at this stage is that there should be some large incentive, prize for making a significant breakthrough. You come up with suggestions Alan.”

“Alan, since the three of us are also major shareholders then we will also contribute,” interjected Alf. “I’m sure the other two agree, yes. We’ll contribute the same amount as Ray.”

“OK, guys, that’s been a significant progress this morning. Let’s break for lunch and we’ll discuss the new games thing this afternoon. Just to be a party pooper, you three are expected to wear your civis outfits tomorrow night. Sorry, it’s just decorum. The girls will be all dressed up to the nines, plus our guests.”

Ray was circulating, mingling with the guests whilst Clarence and Patrick were in the foyer, welcoming and registering them. It was a palatial ballroom with special banquettes set around the perimeter and a stage at one end where a quartet were playing a medley of Gershwin numbers. Ray checked his watch to see that it was still early but the room was filling up nicely and the chatter level was rising. At five to eight Ray got the signal from Clarence that all the invited guests had arrived which pleased him. He checked around the hall to see that all the guests were comfortable, in groups and no pair was standing alone. Satisfied, he was about to stride to the stage and give his welcome speech. He touched his breast pocket to check that he had his notes there as a safety measure when someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“Oh, hello Alison, I’m glad you have come. I seemed to have missed you in the melee. You look stunning in that frock; the colour suits you.”

“Thank you, kind Sir. I was helping Clarence at the entrance. She was rather busy and Patrick wasn’t much use. I believe you know that I am your date for tonight. Aren’t you supposed to greet me in the usual French way,” said Alison with a mischievous look.

“Oh, pardon me. You took my breath away and I forgot my manners,” replied Ray as he air kissed Alison on both cheeks. “Yes, our fairy God mother arranged it I believe. Now will you accompany me onto the stage. I need some moral support. I have a welcoming speech to make and even I get nervous. You will be a marvellous distraction.”

“OK, if I must. Do we hold hands?” asked Alison with a flirtatious glint in her eyes.

“I think linking arms may be appropriate at this stage,” replied Ray, as he escorted Alison onto the stage and was handed a mike by one of the musicians. “A warm welcome to you all, our customers and their partners. This is the first opportunity you have had to meet the key personnel of our company who allow you to sleep safely at night. I won’t introduce them now but they will be circulating throughout the evening. Do remember that this is a social occasion so do keep business to the minimum and enjoy yourselves. There will be varied entertainment on stage and a buffet has been set up in the adjoining room. Do remember that if you need a full meal that can be easily arranged for you. The extensive menus from our excellent hotel restaurant are available on each table. The meals will be delivered to you as usual. Please do enjoy yourselves and we are here to help you achieve that. Thank you.” With that short speech, Ray escorted Alison down the steps off the stage to unanimous applause.

“I have been ordered to spend the night with you,” she murmured.

“I believe so. Your case has been taken up. The Guest room has been prepared.”

“No need to go to so much trouble on my account.”

“I hope not. Now let me introduce you to our first customers from Swiss Bank.”

Waking up suddenly, Ray looked at the ceiling automatically to check the time, five past seven the lit-up figures read. He then realised that entwined around his body was the figure of Alison.

“You’re awake at last. What time is it? I have to be at work in Hampstead by ten.”

“No problem. You’ll stay for breakfast? Time for that. What do you normally have?”

“A buck’s fizz, a dozen oysters, a piece of toast followed by coffee, all served by my butler in full livery.”

“That can be easily arranged.”

“Hell no, I hate oysters, just toast will do, plus coffee.”

“I’m going to tempt you to a delicious omelette and dump the oysters. Alexa! Order champagne with fresh squeezed orange and omelettes with all the trimmings, for breakfast for half seven.”

“Yes, Your Lordship, immediately!”

“Just like that and you expect me to believe all that? What’s with the title?”

“It’s a joke set up by Clarence and her naughty boys and I can’t change it however I try.”

“I need to get to Hampstead by ten to open shop. I need to get a move on.”

“Get Alexa to order you an Uber.”

“Is this a joke. OK then. Alexa! Order me a car to get me to Hampstead for ten please.”

“Immediately Your Highness. I shall report back shortly.”

“She’s got you clocked too. This is Clarence’s doing.”

“I woke up earlier to go for a pee and the lights kept coming on gently as I poked around your apartment. Its huge and quite luxurious. It also looks lived in. Books and CD’s strewn around. Some nice pieces of furniture and original pictures on the wall,” commented Alison, snuggling up to Ray.

“It’s big to impress.”

“It certainly impresses me. So, I could bring my own furniture and bits and pieces in here?”

“I’d love you to do that.”

“What I mean is …… you know what I mean. I’m quite slovenly around the house, leaving things, which I shouldn’t, everywhere.”

“I noticed that when you tore my clothes off last night. Normally I’m meticulously tidy but my maid Lara says it all looks too clinical so she deliberately leaves a sock or tie about. Those CDs and books are her idea.”

“Oh, but I’m not as bad as Clarence. She’s such a slut but the place is all spick and span when we return in the evening, even her laundry is done and clothes put away. You live a high and mighty life here.”

“No, a good life and I need someone to share it with.”

“Alexa reporting! Ms. Alison, Your Highness, a limousine will be waiting for you by the lifts on level minus two at nine thirty-six to take you to your shop by ten. This is on our account.”

“Thank you, Alexa.”

“A pleasure Your Highness.”

“It’s an android, you don’t have to thank her or it. If you do, she’ll start a conversation.”

“Just being pleasant. How did she know my name and the shop? Clever, eh?”

“That’s Clarence’s doing. Now you have a choice of bathrooms, there’s a ‘his’ and ‘hers’ opposite here or you can use the one in the guest room where your case is. I presume you won’t be going to work in that gown everyone admired last night. In fact, all four of your gowns were admired. You all four looked gorgeous I noticed and the men couldn’t keep their eyes off you four. I hope you made a sales pitch?”

“Clarence did that for me, handing out my cards. I hope you don’t mind. Now can I leave my case here for the weekend and road test this apartment?”

“I hoped you’d say that. I presume you want to road test me some more, as you put it?”

“That as well but I’m getting to enjoy the good life as you call it. This seems much better than looking after a house and car.”

“Clarence did say that you were intending selling your house. Can I have first refusal. I have a property company that would buy it for a good price. In fact, I own a third of this block including the Hotel and Offices.”

“Wow, you must be rich or is it just borrowed money?”

“No, it’s all mine. I sold my last company and needed somewhere to invest. Property in London seemed the best bet. Yes, if you get a valuation, add ten to fifteen percent, sell it to me for half and I’ll put the other half in an offshore account in the Bahamas for you. We save on estate agents fees and taxes. Moving in here, you will save outrageous Council Tax, maintenance, heating lighting, just the high fees.”

“Not if I moved in with you if you’ll have me.”

“Of course, I would and it would be a pleasure to fund all of your expenses. Now, can I take you to some expensive restaurant tonight to impress you more?”

“Nah! Waste of good money. I can cook a light supper for you and you can provide the wine.”

“I’ll do better than that. The Uber will bring you back tonight and we will have a candle lit dinner here done by my resident chef from the restaurant. How about a starter of langoustine, followed by Dover sole. Clarence told me you loved fish. Now talking about food, you will have to get your skates on young lady and get dressed for breakfast. There could be a butler in livery there and we don’t want to shock him.”

“Give me a kiss and don’t you go to sleep on me tonight!”

In the hotel swimming pool Ray was doing his regulation twenty lengths when a hand came over the lane and ducked his head under the water. Coming up spluttering, he saw Clarence grinning at him. “Might have known it was you! You are up early. Have you already had a tiff with your new boyfriend?”

“Nah, he’s just having a lie in after all the exertions last night and with all the lessons I had to give him.”

“That’s too much information Clarence for this early on a Saturday morning,” said Ray as they both swam an easy breaststroke alongside each other.

“Now don’t tell me anything. I have arranged a meeting with Alice this afternoon to get blow by blow account. I presume you two got on alright?”

“Like a house on fire. Let me tell you we are having dinner in the apartment tonight and she left he overnight case behind.”

“Say no more, I’ll get all that this af.” with that Clarence swam off to the side and climbed out of the pool as Ray continued his lengths.

Alan from Finance phoned him. “Sorry to disturb you Ray, I have had something on my mind and wanted to offload.”

“Go ahead Alan, I’m just reading the newspaper.”

“Well, I was a bit concerned by the reaction I got at our Board meeting. I thought I was spreading good news to all but it was like damp squib.”

“Don’t concern yourself about it. You’ll get used to it. The guys from my old company aren’t interested in making huge profits just working on something interesting. Look at the way they responded to the charity thing. That’s what interests them not, making a lot of money.”

“On the charity front I got in touch with an old friend who is a Doctor at the London School of Tropical Medicine and I broached the subject of funding and the first thing he said, more of a warning, was that it will eat up all our cash and may not show any tangible results. I told him we were prepared to invest millions which got him interested. He suggested we invested in two same based projects with different approaches, a kind of competition.”

“That sounds interesting. I’d like to meet him. Arrange a lunch next week. We may take him on as an advisor. Did you mention AI?”

“I did, but he said that cost too much in setting up since no school had the experience and didn’t know where it would help.”

“That’s where we have the advantage with a team ready to put all their minds behind it. Now you were going to broach the subject of investing our profits, mentioning Family Office thing?”

“Sorry I gave up mentioning that with the reaction I got. I thought it would be a good lead in. I’m still addressing it but I have to dress it up somewhat. I have spoken to Matt about directing our sale pitch to the FSO’s the Financial Security Officers that are now in charge and liable for cyber protection in their Companies rather than the IT guys. He was appreciative. Thanks for the explanations, I’ll leave you in peace now. Bye.”

Ray put down his mobile, took up his diary and jotted a few points as an aide memoir then did the same on his mobile. He sat back and smiled at the thought of a bean counter being put in his place. His thoughts were then directed to this evening’s entertainment. “Alexa, are all arrangements in order for tonight?”

“Yes, Your Lordship. The Chef has purchased a Dover Sole, the size you stipulated and has been to your cellar for the wines to complement the dishes. I have texted Her Ladyship and informed her that she needs to attend in the sexiest outfit she can muster and a limousine will be sent to fetch her.”

“Thank you, Alexa, no more, stop!” ‘Buggeration’ Ray thought slamming the newspaper to the floor in mock rage, ‘Clarence has had her hand in this! How the hell can they instruct my Alexa. I will have to get rid of it. No, she’s too useful to me.’

There was a buzz at the front door and the monitor showed Alison standing outside. Ray rushed forward to let her enter. “Wow! You do look ravishing,” as Alison smiled and did a spin for Ray to take in the full view. She was wearing a short dress in dark shimmering material with a rather revealing décolleté.

“You did say sexy. I hope you approve?” she said with a mischievous smile. “Are you going to let me in or do I have to stand out here?”

“Sorry, just taken aback. That was Clarence’s doing, the text. But no harm done it seems. You do look wonderful,” uttered Ray as he closed the door.

“Are you going to kiss me on the lips? We are past the formal greetings, aren’t we?” as she raised her mouth to Ray’s.

“Lead the way to the lounge. I have champagne and nibbles for you.”

“To hell with champagne, I need all my courage up, wearing this dress. I’ll have some of your Polish vodka you have hidden in the freezer with fresh orange juice you're so fond of, no ice. I had a poke around your kitchen last time I was here. I hope you’re not going to be serving me one of your frozen ready meals?” said Alison as she strode into the lounge and sat on the settee, crossing her legs to show more of her thighs that was healthy.

“I’ll join you in one of those, my favourite. Do help yourself to the nibbles. Chef went to extraordinary lengths with those,” said Ray, filling up a couple of cut-glass tumblers. “If we don’t eat them we will have to sneak them to the chute. By the way, I have given the Butler the night off,” uttered Ray with a chuckle.

“No, sit next to me here,” ordered Alison, patting the cushion seat next to her. “Can’t have you gawping at me all night from across there. Closer, we are supposed to like each other. I must admit, I was taken aback by the text until I realised it wasn’t from your mobile but I decided to play along. Don’t tell Clarence. Tell her I was in a frumpy old frock.”

“I certainly shan’t but I won’t let on the outcome. Cheers!” as they clinked their glasses and took a refreshing sip.

“This dating business is so depressing and tiresome. I’ve given up on it. Thank God for Clarence and her matchmaking. Bring the old methods into fashion I say! I drink to that. By the way, I met you wife a few weeks ago at the shop. She bought six expensive frocks on Clarence’s company account. I did check with Clarence.”

“Oh dear, she must have been depressed and angry about something. I’ll get in touch. We have been divorced for over ten years. I was starting a new company and it was taking all of my time. I give her a healthy allowance so money shouldn’t be a problem,” said Ray looking depressed and taking another thoughtful sip.

“Do you have children?”

“No, thank God but she has begat two girls on the bounce, with two different men. I support them financially though never met them. It doesn’t seem right. You have children?”

“Yes, two, boy and girl but they are grown up and out in the world. Peter was with Clarence for a while but she was too feisty and clever for him. She was earning three times his salary thanks to you and he was envious, macho kind of way. You bullied her mercilessly. She spent hours crying on my shoulder.”

“She was a bright kid when she joined us. I saw her potential immediately but she was shy and lacking in confidence. I had to do it in a brutal fashion to toughen her up. Look at her now. I got her to bully the three lads to get the best out of them. She is my successor if I ever decide to pack in. Now let’s lighten up and enjoy ourselves!”

“Just one more bit of business Ray. Did you really mean that you would buy up my house at full price or was it just a chat up line?”

“Yeah, I would buy it if you wish to sell, on the generous terms mentioned.”

“Why do you want it?”

“Add to my portfolio. Its big and I would convert it to multi occupancy and collect some dozen rents at Islington prices and make a fortune.”

“I could do that!”

“You could but you wouldn’t want all the aggro that goes with it. I have ten properties like that and a team to look after them. All I do is count the cash coming in. It’s not a Rackman outfit. We provide affordable accommodation in wealthy parts of London.”

“OK, you can buy my place but isn’t all that money thing you talked about illegal?”

“It’s not illegal, it may be immoral but it’s certainly tax efficient. I’ll get my legal guy to send you the contract. Now let’s lighten up. I presume you know that the Milan fashion show starts next week. How about we go to Milan for a break. Stay in the best hotels, eat some real Italian ice cream for breakfast and enjoy ourselves.”

“Nice idea Ray but I have a business to run. I can’t afford all the time spent in journeying to and fro.”

“We will do it simply by taking a private jet which will get us there and back in a jiffy. Cars will collect us at both ends. Simple! In fact, I’ve provisionally booked a suite for us. Say yes!”

“Oh, you’re such a darling, how can I refuse. Do you have a private jet but not a car?”

“No silly, I just charter one when needed and you get rid of that car of yours and use my method of using Uber.”

“I didn’t realise that you could order posh cars. I’m getting to enjoy life again. Now when are we having this dinner you have concocted?” asked Alison grabbing Rays arm with an affectionate squeeze.

“I suggest about eight if that’s OK. Just order with Alexa.”

“Alexa! Can we order dinner at eight please.”

“Certainly, Your Highness. The Chef is in the kitchen as we speak. He is preparing a delicious starter of spicy Moroccan kebab of langoustine and lobster claws with a main of slivers of Dover sole in an Andalucian almond sauce. Clarence said you don’t want to be too stuffed for another course. You can sample Ray’s best brandy before bedtime,”

“Stop Alexa!” shouted Ray, looking rather embarrassed. “That’s Clarence’s work for you. I haven’t yet figured out how they can by-pass me and set up Alexa like that. Sorry!”

“Don’t apologise Ray, I rather like it. She’s getting her own back on you. Now we have half an hour before dinner. Can we discuss this Milan trip. I’d like to bring along my chief buyer if I can. She can stay in my room with me. Oh, I wish you could see your own face. No silly! She can stay in her own room if you could arrange one.”

“You frightened me there. You have a mischievous sense of humour Alison. I will have to get used to it.”

“Since we are on friendly terms you can call me Alice and move up for God’s sake and put your arm around me. I need a good man in my life. Cheers!” as Ray obliged and gave her a friendly squeeze. “Can we kiss on that. That’s better. No more, I don’t want to ruin my make up. I have to face a Chef in a few minutes, after that I won’t mind. Now top me up again, I still need some courage to face my own private Chef.”

A few weeks later there was a meeting of all the AI team, chaired by Professor Henderson with Ray and Alan as onlookers and invited guest Dr. Oscar Tennyson, Head of Research at London School of Tropical Medicine. They were in deep discussion on what project they should support.

“We could go on forever trying to pick a topic. I would propose that we choose Malaria and give that research a big push over the hill and eliminate Malaria once and for all as they have done with Polio. Oscar, can you comment,” suggested Ray looking somewhat exasperated.

“Very laudable project, a popular one and lots of good money has been spent on it already. We gave up on that a few years ago since we couldn’t compete with the money others were spending. Something like yellow fever might be easier to crack but it hasn’t had the publicity of malaria.”

“Our intention is to apply all our skills in Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Mathematics to the subject and get a breakthrough,” stated Professor Henderson emphatically.

“How would you do that?” answered Oscar. “With robots doing the lab work?”

“Let us be clear here,” stated Ray, “Our expertise is not in robotics but the use of AI in solving complex problems. To give you an example, it’s been used successfully in chess and in mastering the Chinese game of Go. There it succeeded quickly and efficiently in beating the best human brains in solving a problem. The programme learns on its own and counters its own mistakes, working twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week. That’s the energy we can apply.”

“I wish malaria was that simple with a set pattern of rules,” replied Oscar.

“Yes, but AI can search out these complex rules,” added Patrick, “manage them and find the correct solution to eliminate the dangers as we see them.”

“Are you saying you can do that without all the lab work?” said Oscar in an incredulous manner. “No one has done it so far!”

“No one has tried it as far as my investigation goes,” added Patrick. “We can trawl through all the current research results and apply them to our programme, then maybe come up with more sensible course of research. All we need is someone checking and verifying our results and progress. Oscar, our work can encapsulate say some million researchers in a matter of weeks not years.”

“Sorry, I’m totally out of my depth with your proposals,” replied Oscar.

“You are not the only one Oscar,” said Ray, “But we can bring you up to speed quickly to see the true benefits of what we are proposing.”

“Gentlemen, we are off course and getting embroiled in technical jargon,” interjected Clarence. “We need to choose a topic, all are worthwhile, so I propose we choose these two elements of Malaria where a lot of data already exists. One team take on the elimination of the Malaria mosquito and the other developing a super vaccine.”

“So, you want us to break into two team in competition, is that it?” asked Alf.

“No, I wasn’t suggesting that at all Alf!” rebuked Clarence. “What we do is buy, subcontract or rent two different bodies to carry out the donkey work and we provide them with the intelligent addendum.”

“That’s the nub of the matter,” stated Ray. “Well said Clarence, I support you with that view. What do we know about research, nada. Our expertise lies in the intelligence side of the business. We need to identify two research companies that fit our bill. Professor and Oscar, can we rely on you to come with a selection of companies or research establishment that we can choose from. Let’s call it a day and thanks for all of your input.”

The trip to Milan fashion week was a tremendous success as was the cementing of their relationship. Alice apologised profusely that she had forgotten to pack her night attire. Ray forgave her. Alice ordered over a hundred thousand Euro’s worth of fashionable clothes and also recruited a skilful seamstress, who wanted to brush up her English, to join her team in Hampstead, to alter clothes to fit and even sew frocks from scratch. On return to her house in Islington, to her disgust, she found a huge sign erected, stating that the house had been sold to a developer and application had been submitted to the Council to convert the property to multi occupancy with twelve separate apartments available for rent in six months’ time. Apply promptly to the number below. Alice was on the phone to Ray before she had even crossed the threshold.

“What’s the meaning of this vulgar sign you have erected at my front door? Take it down immediately. I haven’t even sold it to you yet,” screamed Alison.

“Now calm down. There’s no point in dilly dallying about. I know what I am doing and this is pure business not some comfortably nice transaction. Firstly, I need to upset the neighbours. I have eyes on further adjoining properties. You tell me you don’t even know your neighbours so why the concern. I have already posted them very favourable conditions if they are prepared to sell. In fact, the owners of the house next to you have contacted my office with intention to sell at current value.”

“You could have warned me,” retorted Alison.

“Apologies, but my office people do not hang about. You will find a letter in your box offering you five per cent commission for introducing a seller. So, you are onto a winner already.”

“Why are you so keen on the house next door? It’s not as good as mine.”

“True but it’s on the junction with access at the side. I shall convert the gardens to car parking which will take twenty cars off the streets plus converting two properties in one go is more economical.”

“But, but it just seems unethical and far too fast,” added Alison.

“This is just straight forward good business practise. You can’t be gentle about it. Look Alison, I don’t want this to come between us but this is a brilliant opportunity for me to expand my portfolio. Now on a more personal matter, I have a team at your disposal to move your furniture into storage and any choice pieces to our apartment. I hope you haven’t changed your mind. A team is ready to convert the rooms above your shop into apartment for your seamstress.”

“This sounds like blackmail. Aren’t we moving too fast?”

“Strike whilst the iron is hot, I say. You are still in control and nothing as yet has been signed but I believe the change will be good for you as we have discussed at length. If you want me to slow down, then I can do that. No problem.”

“Sorry Ray, it was a shock to see the sign up so quickly. It would have been better if you had done that once I had moved out of the area,” uttered Alison quietly.

“True, and I can only apologise that it was rather insensitive. How can I put all this right for you?” asked Ray.

“Well, you can order another slap-up dinner for me at your place tonight. Send a car for me at eight. Bye!”

Ray was waiting at the open door with a red rose as Alice walked along the corridor from the lift. “You look ravishing tonight,” as she twirled to show of her stylish green frock.

“Thank you, kind Sir. Next time please send me a Bentley. Rollers are so common. Now, are you going to hand over the rose and kiss me or are you just going to gawp?”

“Sorry, stunning is the word. Come on in and yes, I will kiss you and sweep you off your feet.”

“Now that’s better,” she replied. “I like to see some contrition but I think you are overdoing it with loads of flowers you sent and the Rolls. I do love it. I see you have the vodka ready. You are feeling guilty! That’s good. I like to have the upper hand sometimes, not always.”

“OK, OK, don’t rub it in. I have been duly chastised. I shall be more careful in future.”

“Now sit closer. I won’t bite. Now in the foyer, your PA Sue accosted me and profusely apologised for jumping the gun on the signage and things. She’s a bit of a strange girl to be your PA. Bit of a dolly bird or more of a floosy. Not your type me thinks.”

“Now drink up, Cheers! There are some nibbles you like. Now there is a story behind her. Some twelve years ago she applied for a secretarial job and I interviewed her. A frail mousy girl, from one parent family, who had dropped out of college for money reasons. I quickly discovered that she had lots of brain between her ears. She could name all the kings and queens of any dynasty I mentioned.”

“Was she any good at typing and shorthand?”

“No, but she could memorise anything I dictated and used ‘voice’ on the computer to type it out. Of course, I gave her a test and not only was the letter perfect, she adjusted some phrases to sound better than mine. I put her on a months’ probation.”

“So how has she turned out to be this typical dolly bird secretary whose too busy doing her nails than working.”

“Don’t underestimate our Sue. She has an IQ that goes beyond the stratosphere. Far brighter than my three boys and Clarence. She was very shy, so I suggested that she adopted a persona and acted that way. How was I to know that she chose to model herself on Goldy Hawn. Anyway, it works for her and everyone loves her. When Clarence and I were bullying the boys, they used to go to her and cry on her shoulder. She mothered them.”

“Well, I never. Is she married, got a boyfriend?”

“Oh, she has had a string of husbands, all multimillionaires. She has millions in alimony plus vast shareholdings in their companies. You need to befriend her. She will be good for your business.”

“What does she know about fashion. She just spends her money at my shop.”

“I refer all my ideas to her before I implement. She listens in to all of our meetings and gives me good pointers.”

“Why doesn’t she just attend and take part?” asked Alice looking incredulous.

“Too much of a distraction. All the men would be gawping at her and not getting on with the business at hand.”

“So how is she going to put my business right? Has she told you?”

“She has and you should listen. Firstly, she suggests you get larger premises, rebrand, go online retail and install one of those whole-body scanners that you get in airports to accurately measure your clients so that you can fit the clothes better. Also, a virtual mannequin on their PC so that they can see themselves in the clothes that you suggest for them. My lads can knock that up for you in a jiffy.”

“Is that all? What about fashion and customer care?”

“Oh, she says you are great at selecting the right outfit and your customer care is exceptional but you could treble or even quintuple your business if you cared without much effort or losing control. You should consult her. Since you are now part of the family, she won’t even charge you for her services.”

“Well, I never! Now let’s forget about her and concentrate on ourselves for now,” said Alice clutching Ray’s arm. “What’s for dinner? I know! Alexa! What’s for supper?”

“Good evening your Highness. We have a delicious supper waiting for you in the dining room, all under cloches so that you can dine whenever you like. For starters you have carpaccio of Kobe beef with a light truffle oil, accompanied by your favourite Medoc red. For mains you have a delicious lobster terrine decorated with langoustine, accompanied by vintage champagne. Ethiopian coffee, freshly roasted, ground and brewed to your liking accompanied by Ray’s best brandy then off to bed for a round of passion.”

“Stop Alexa!” shouted Ray. “Sorry Alice, too much information.”

“I like the last bit best. Now, am I to understand that there is no chef or butler lurking in the dining room. That we are completely on our own?”

“That’s correct. I’ve arranged so that we can help ourselves when we want.”

“Good!” exclaimed Alice, standing up and twirling around. “Unzip me, Ray. I don’t want to spill anything on this expensive frock.” as she stepped out of her dress and carefully laid it on the back of the settee, revealing a pretty black bra, lace panties and black stockings. “Right, stop gawping and give me a kiss. That’s better!” as she slipped her hand down to his crotch. “Now that’s had the desired effect. Come on I’m starving.” They gave up on coffee and brandy.

The alarm went off at half seven. Bleary eyed, Ray looked at Alice in the half light and said, “I have a morning meeting at nine sharp. I usually go for a swim first then breakfast in the restaurant.”

“Bugger the swim. You can use the energy to make passionate love to me again as instructed. I’m going to have a lie in to eight thirty then shower, dress and be ready for your workman at ten to bring my belongings here and set them out. What time does the maid come in.”

“I’ll delay Lara till nine and then she’s at your disposal all day, to help. Is that OK?” asked Ray.

“Fine, now do your duty!”

The meeting started at nine prompt with about twenty of the staff in attendance plus four invitees from two laboratories and Oscar from the London School of Medicine.

“Right Henderson, the floor is yours. Don’t forget that we are novices so keep it simple.”

“Thanks Ray. I’m a novice in this field of research so I have to keep this simple at this stage. As I understand it, the life cycle of a female malaria carrying mosquito is to feed at night on blood. The male feeds during the day and only on plant material so doesn’t spread the disease to humans. When the female bites and suck blood from a human the malaria parasite is transmitted to the blood of the human and then passes to the liver where it incubates and multiplies, hence causing the severe illness. This human then becomes a carrier that will infect other female mosquitoes and so on and so forth.

With the use of AI, we hope find a way of stopping the spread of malaria in humans, firstly by developing an effective vaccine and secondly stopping mosquitoes carrying and transmitting the parasite. To eradicate the mosquito would have serious if not drastic effects on various natural food chains and we feel it is not the way to go. We propose to find a way of altering the genes of the female mosquito so that it feeds off plants, not blood. We have mapped the genome of both male and female and will do comparisons to find the effective area to modify.

For the vaccine, we will use human stem cells for testing which should give us millions of valid humanoid tests. We will use the power of AI not only to check the results but to test the algorithms. This will speed up the investigative processes immensely since our computers work 24/7. That’s the end of my summary. Over to you Ray.”

“Thanks Professor Henderson. That was succinct and simple for all to understand. I’m sure that our guests from the two labs we have chosen to carry out the research didn’t find it too boring. Now can I hand over to Patrick who is our AI guru to say in simple words how this speciality is going to tackle the process.”

“Thanks Ray. Our approach is again very simple. We let loose our AI programmed computers to attack this process however they see fit. In simple terms imagine a competition of a hundred thousand greatest minds in the world set individually to find the solution, working 24/7. That’s the power we have in our hands. Forget robots and preconceived ideas, these machines think out of the box. No one is controlling their thoughts. That’s the beauty of our AI and we have used this power to great effect on our other projects. By harnessing AI’s results with lab work testing, we have the best of both worlds. On our part, we will be recruiting a further fifty AI specialists and I believe that Ray is financing over a hundred medical specialists in the field of tropical diseases to bolster the lab work. That’s me done for the moment Ray.”

“OK that was very simplistic but don’t underestimate the power and speed of our AI programmes. Even Professor Henderson was impressed by our developments in this field. Now I’d like you to break off into groups and allow our lab people to get up to speed on AI and what it can do for them. Every half hour I’d like you to mix again according to Clarence’s formula so that you can get a different perspective. After two hours I’d like each person to write a one-page summary and hand it to Clarence for digestion. This I hope will give us clear direction rather than a general discussion where only the vociferous have their say. OK grab a coffee, beer, coke or whatever your tipple and let’s get started.”

“Do you want the summaries to be anonymous?” asked Gus from one of the chosen Labs.

“I think we are all grownups here,” remarked Ray. “Sign the copy so that we can refer directly to the individual if we have a query. Since most of you can’t write legibly then I suggest we do it on our tablets and post them to Clarence who will collate them. She will also write a summary and this will be circulated to all. Don’t forget, millions if not billions have been spent on this topic already and no satisfactory solution has yet been found. If you guys can crack it, you will be famous.”

“Ray, I want to be in the discussion groups,” whispered Clarence.

“Yes, I was hoping you would be,” answered Ray. “I’m going to join in to update myself too. You do know that I have set up directional microphones and cameras that will be recording the proceedings so that you can see first-hand what went on in each group and gauge the mood and nuance of the discussion. Go to it girl!”

“I haven’t heard you use that phrase for some time!”

“No, we’ve moved on from the old times but this is a serious project and we need to do our best. Get together with Sue and digest all the information together.”

“OK, but Henderson and Patrick did give a very simple overview. Was that on your say so?”

“Got it in one. The topic is very complicated and full of pitfalls. I didn’t want people to concentrate on the difficulties. There will be plenty of those. I believe the two-pronged approach you advocated is the best way forward. Now I’m relying on your organisation and bullying skills to get this project off the ground and steaming along. Don’t forget our bread and butter stuff. I shall be monitoring that element.”

“Oh, hi Ray, give me a kiss,” said Alice as she ushered Ray through the door. “That’s better, now welcome to your new abode. I’ve changed thing around a little, no a lot. Lara and I had to find places for my bits of furniture and ornaments. Sue came and she shook off her ten-inch heels and got stuck in. She’s quite a girl.”

“I’m glad you have met her and got on. I did warn you.”

“We got on like a house on fire. She expanded on the hints she made to you about my business and I’m going to implement them all and more. She’s already found new premises for me, an old Co-op. You are supposed to buy it and lease it to me, she said. Also, to be more tax efficient I have to sell my business to an Equity Company in the Bahamas, which will belong to me anyway and then lease the business back. My personal company will be based in Bahamas where I will be the CEO so that I don’t have to pay any taxes on my salary here. I will be simply on expenses just like you lot. Another of my companies is then going to mortgage my company up to the hilt so that I will be in great debt and not pay any Corporation Tax.”

“Hey, hey, slow down! Did you buy into all of that?” asked Ray looking incredulous.

“Well, she explained it so simply and said she would set it up for me.”

“I should let your accountant have a look at this before you agree.”

“Sue said my bookkeeper wouldn’t know where to start. She said I should ask you.”

“So, you trust me?” asked Ray looking inquisitively at Alice and added, “can I come in and close the door now. This is something we should discuss in private.”

“Sorry, I was just so excited by it all. I have a fella in my life and a new business opportunity. Forgive me for being just a little excited. Now, of course I trust you and shall I tell her to go ahead?”

“If Sue proposed it then do it. Now show me what you have done to our apartment.”

“The only serious things we have done is moved you favourite high backed chair into the spare room. You will be sitting next to me on the settee from now on, close. I’ve placed my piano over there, out of the way.”

“I didn’t know you played?”

“There’s lots of things you don’t know about me and it’s for you to find out. In my youth I was on the Junior Olympic team for swimming so keep out of my way in your morning swims of a paltry twenty lengths.”

“OK, I’ll bear that in mind but I thought you had other uses for my body in the mornings?”

“Oh, I do so set the alarm earlier. Now Lara has told me all the arrangements for laundry and things, so I don’t have to pester you. All is shipshape. Now what have you planned for me this evening?” asked Alice looking mischievously at Ray.

“Oh, this and that. I thought we might go out for dinner or maybe you might cook for me. Don’t forget to take your dress off. You can’t go spilling things all over it.”

“Don’t be cheeky young Sir. Can’t get you getting too excited too early. Yes, let’s have a night in and I’ll knock something up from the stuff I’ve brought over. Need to use it up. I hate waste. Now get two drinks and you can tell me about your day. Oh, just before you tell me, I’ve found out that it’s Sue that is tampering with your Alexa not Clarence.”

Four weeks later, four of them were ensconced in Clarence’s office, sitting around her large desk, Clarence, Sue, Ray and Mike.

“Thanks for you all being on time,” commenced Ray, “I need to get a personal progress report from you, particularly from you three.”

“Why have I been invited amongst this august company?” asked Mike, ready to stand up and leave.

“Simple Mike,” answered Ray. “You remember that conference we had four weeks ago when we split up into teams to discuss our special project. In each of the groups, you didn’t say much but when the leader asked for a round robin of comments every five minutes, you were the one with the most succinct, interesting, precise comments of all. In fact, in four of the sessions the leaders asked you to summarise the session, and two of them, Daryl from SpecLabs and Orlowski from ProLabs don’t know you from Adam. They thought you stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Even Clarence and Prof Henderson were impressed by your comments and summary.”

“Well thank you for your vote of confidence but he’s a jerk!” answered Mike, venomously. “He asks stupid questions all the time.”

“Surprisingly, he said the same thing to me, ‘I feel a jerk amongst your people’,” said Ray. “He admitted that he had learned more in four weeks with your group of AI specialist than he did in four years at Warwick.”

“Well why did we take him on!” asked Mike looking around the table for support.

“Very simply, we needed a figurehead on our team who was known worldwide, respected and an authority on AI. When we approached the banks and airlines, we could show some credibility about our AI credentials. Who out there has heard of Mike, Alf, Ray and Patrick? No one, so please answer his questions nicely so that he can come up to speed with our work,” answered Ray.

“We need him Mike, believe me,” concurred Clarence. “He’s no fool and he’s a good administrator. He can pull information together, distil it and present it in an authoritative manner. We need him, Mike!”

“Let me put it in perspective for you all with a favourite analogy of mine,” said Ray. “Many years ago, when I was a mere student, the world was going through a catastrophe, the Cuban crisis. You probably learned about it in history. The US blockaded Cuba because they discovered a number of silos containing nuclear missiles pointing at the US. The US president told them to move them out and there was a stand-off. We students went on marches and wrote petitions to all world leaders to prevent an all-out nuclear war. The mighty Russian bear backed off with tail between his legs and promised to ship the missiles back home. The US president got all the glory and kudos for turning the Big Bad Russian Bear back. The winners get to write the history. The bad bear had lost the battle but in fact had won the war. In the secret negotiations, there was a quid pro quo agreement, arranged by team of specialist advisors, who recommended that in exchange for the Bear removing some puny missiles from Cuba, the US remove a pile of more powerful ballistic missiles, aimed at the Kremlin, out of US bases in Turkey. The point of this story is that the US president was basked in glory, and the back-room boys who arranged the treaty never got a mention.”

“Is that true?” asked Sue. “Our history teacher told us emphatically that it was President Kennedy that never flinched and was the world hero for preventing an all-out World War and Khruschev was the baddy. I suppose it’s pertinent to having Henderson as our figurehead with the back-room boys developing the strategy and policy.”

“OK! OK I get the picture,” remarked Mike, hanging his head in mock shame. “In future I shall handle Henderson deferentially even though he’s a pillock of the first order.”

“That’s settled,” said Ray. “Now before we get down to the order of the day, I was getting worried about you Mike. You used to be quite chunky and now you have lost a lot of weight. When I mentioned this to Sue, she said not to worry. You were going to the gym and swimming daily. What’s brought that on?”

“Well, it’s a bit embarrassing,” added Mike, looking at his feet. “You remember that first client soiree that we organised. Clarence found me this girl called Belinda. She was a looker but nought between the ears. She started referring to me as fat-boy, so I thought I’d do something about it. I dumped her!”

“But she told me you slept with her?” said Clarence in surprise.

“Oh, I did and you didn’t have to show me how to do it.”

“Hey Mike, you don’t have to give away our secrets!” answered Clarence with a hurt pout on her face.

“Anyway, I thought by slimming I’d pick up some other girls but no luck so far.”

“Hey Mike,” exclaimed Sue. “You are very eligible, In fact with your wealth, extremely eligible. I would have thought you would have girls flocking.”

“Well, I don’t go around with a sign around my neck saying, ‘eligible bachelor, multi-millionaire to boot,’”

“Maybe you should!” interjected Sue. “You have looks and wealth Mike, at a young age. All I had was looks and a dippy personality which I developed. Wealthy men don’t want brainy wives. I targeted my first husband as a rich CEO of his own company. Three years later I dumped him after a huge pay off. Second and third husband were the same except I manipulated them and their business to maximise their profits. I got them to sack and sue their Accountants on the basis that they weren’t minimising their taxes. I used another accountant company, that I now own, to halve their tax liability so their original accountants just capitulated and settled out of court. The companies now don’t pay any tax since I got them offshore and saddled them with huge loans at horrible interest rates. It didn’t matter since they owned the loan company based offshore.”

“Where did you learn all that?” asked Mike.

“All from our Ray and I set you three guys up the same way.”

“Is it true that you are divorcing your third husband?” asked Ray.

“Yeh, I’ve had enough of him,” answered Sue with a smile. “I’m now rich and don’t need to hunt for wealthy men so I’m now going out with Justin Lazonby, an actor, a minor celebrity. He’s more fun than the old guys. That reminds me, do you think Patrick will mind if I move into his spare room Clarence, since he’s not using his apartment? Just until the divorce comes through.”

“Hey, Alf and I were devastated when Patrick shacked up with you Clarence!” exclaimed Mike. “We had a love hate relationship with you and it seemed to break our trust!”

“You’ll get over it Mike. Find yourself a girl you like. I hear you are fond of one of the supervisors at the Lab?”

“Which one is that Mike?” asked Sue. “I seemed to have missed out on that gossip.”

“It’s the Ethiopian girl in a wheelchair,” answered Mike. “She’s rather nice and very bright. I was going to suggest that we take her on into our group. Her talent is wasted there in the lab.”

“Why don’t you ask her out?” suggested Clarence.

“I would but wouldn’t she just think I’m just sorry for her plight?”

“Well, why don’t you just ask her to the theatre, something like the Globe?” suggested Sue. “I can make all the arrangements for you. It will seem harmless and you can check if she has any interest in you, OK?”

“Thanks Sue if you think it will be all right?”

“OK guys, let’s get down to business having sorted out your private lives. Let’s start with our CyberShield project. Mike, you start.”

“Alf is the major player on this but we are all up to speed. So far no one has penetrated the shield and it’s currently active for forty large clients. As yet none of the large players that we know have had a go. The tiddlers, we send a warning not to do it again. A few have tried with different clients and we have muddled up their computers. I don’t think any of them have discovered that we have done it.”

“That’s good. We don’t want to let the cat out of the bag,” suggested Ray.

“We currently have a queue of twenty new clients waiting to come aboard. Unbeknownst to them, they are not aware that we have blanketed them to check what attacks they are receiving. So far nothing that we can’t handle. Alf tells me that you have thirty or so more clients in the pipeline. We are fully manned up to handle that workload and we have put more resources on the AI front to advance out hacking techniques to check our vulnerability. GCHQ are pissed off with us because we won’t share our knowledge.”

“Thanks Mike and yes Clarence, what have you got for us.”

“I’ve been checking out all the other Cyber Shield companies out there. So far, we haven’t tread on anybody’s toes but we need to check carefully that our future clients haven’t taken one of these companies on board in the past. I’m not sure how they would react to our competition.”

“Thanks Clarence. Any suggestions on how we act on this?”

“Yeh, easy Ray,” answered Mike. “We put a spy on their site which tells us who their clients are currently and who their prospecting. Clarence, give me a list and I’ll set it up. They won’t notice unless we tell them.”

“Tread carefully Mike, we don’t want to be the arrogant ones in this. Right Sue lets have some input from you.”

“The main hacking game that the lads invented is going great guns. Most of the security services are using them as training grounds for their people. So, we are registering them for future reference. One of the AI guys has constructed an algorithm that identifies them through their key stroke. Just like morse code operators could identify the senders. We know their origin and quickly we will have their names and addresses. All in good shape.”

“What have you deduced about the other game that we have put on the market,” asked Ray.

“I’ll answer that,” interjected Mike. “The game has been well received and we currently have over two million registered players. Alf and Patrick are currently in dispute about the next generation of the game. Alf wants to complicate it and Patrick wants to widen the audience by simplifying certain sections. Not sure where they are at. It may need your intervention, Ray.”

“Thanks for the warning, Mike. I’ll have a fatherly chat with them.”

“It would be better if Sue handled it. She can nudge them in the right direction without upsetting the applecart, not that I don’t trust you, Ray.”

“As you say Mike. Sue, you handle it in your motherly way.”

“Sure, no problem. Now can I continue with the malaria project?” asked Sue as they all nodded. “I have observed that the lab people are sceptical as to what AI can do for them. They all agree with everything since we are the purse holders but we need to spend more time with them on this matter.”

“Good observation Sue. I detected some of this and put it down to teething problems. Any suggestions on how we can get these people up to speed?” asked Ray.

“Yes,” jumped in Clarence, “We send in Sue to visit the labs and apart from mesmerising them she will point them in the right direction in her inimitable way. The AI guys always make it too complicated when they describe how they work. Sue has the ability of totally failing to understand anything but getting these people to tell her what they want and inevitably they accept the concept.”

“Can you handle that, Sue? It’s important that we get this off the ground on the right foot.”

“No problem, Ray, they will be putty in my hands. Now the research guys who are collating all the current data on malaria are getting questioned by the big boys in this field who are feeling threatened. The Bill Gates Foundation is one of them. We have had some legal letters from them. Nothing we can’t handle but we need to tread carefully. Secondly somebody has let loose that we will be using stem cell technology in a big way and the Life Activists are getting stirred up. I suggest we ask them to volunteer to be injected with malaria. That will shut them up.”

“OK folks, thanks for the briefing. I have a finger on the pulse I think but keep me updated on any matter however trivial it may seem. We are being stretched in many ways and we have to not only be on top of it but seen to be managing all angles. Anything else?”

“Yes, “remarked Sue. “We are all pleased that you are getting along with Alison so well. It’s changed you for the better. No longer so tetchy. I’ve given her some pointers on her business and she has accepted them all. Unfortunately, her business is going to flourish so you won’t see so much of her. You need to teach her that art of delegation which you so firmly drilled into us. Now I need to be off to see my Justin and move into Patrick’s spare bedroom, ciao!” as Sue rose, smiled at all in a goofy way and trotted off on her high heels.

A few days later, in the evening, Ray was alarmed by the doorbell. The monitor showed Alice in a fashionable coat, carrying a number of bags. “Hello stranger, good to see you. I thought you had left me for good.”

“Give me a hug and kiss. That’s better. I’ve been so busy with my new premises. I’ll tell you all about it when you take these bags and I get my coat off. Get me one of your vodka drinks quick or I shall pass out. I’ve been so busy and I’m tired and hungry,” said Alice, rather agitated as she flopped into a sofa and sighed.

“Wow you are in a state. Large vodka coming up. I’ve just had a message from Alaine, the Chef. He’s got some of the best venison in tonight. I suggest that we pop up to our restaurant and eat now otherwise I might be tempted to ravage you!” said Ray with a leer. “I can then give you my full attention. Drink up girl, I’ve already reserved a table.”

“But I’ll have to change! I can’t go out like this!” exclaimed Alice gulping down her vodka.

“Women! You look marvellous my dear and I don’t want to waste too much time eating.”

“You’ll just have to wait for your pudding. I have a lot to tell. OK, do I need my coat?”

“Good as you are darling and we are only going upstairs in the lift!”

Five minutes later they were shown to a discrete table overlooking the Thames and a waitress immediately brought them a bowl of olives, hot bread and dipping oil. The Sommelier brought them a bottle of claret and poured two large glasses and left discretely.

“Hey!” exclaimed Alice, “We haven’t ordered anything yet and things are appearing like magic. They haven’t even allowed us to sample the wine?”

“They know my tastes here and they are sure you have impeccable tastes too so why waste time. I’ve ordered some langoustine that I know you like and they will be here shortly. Don’t fill up on the bread, the venison I am told is exquisite.”

“So, this is how you live, is it?” stated Alice, sampling her wine.

“This is my local restaurant and since I own it then I’m entitled to dine here and sing its praises. How’s the wine?”

“Perfect. So, this is your domain, is it? I suppose you dine here because you have to check it out since its yours?”

“Not only that, I reckon it serves the best food in London. When the word gets out then we will be fighting to get a table. I have resisted inviting the food critics. They only like free meals and to write disparaging comments when they can. That’s why they are called critics.”

“So how are you going to attract the right clientele? It can’t be making much money with this small crowd.”

“It fills up later with the theatre crowds. The locals come early. Don’t forget the kitchens here service the bistro down below which is filled to the gunnels by our people and the offices in the building. They know a good deal when they see one. We have five restaurants here. This fine dining one, the bistro, our private diner and the breakfast bar plus they service the aparthotel, so I don’t need much advertising.”

“Do you mean they serve the same food in all from the same kitchen?”

“Well, the quality of the food is the same and the menus may differ slightly but this menu here is available in all dining areas. The only difference is that here, there are men serving the tables and pretty waitresses in the other areas. Now eat up the langoustine before the sauce gets cold and less about my empire and let’s hear what news you have for me. I’m all ears and fully concentrating or at least I will if you stop playing footsie with me under the table.”

“Sorry, couldn’t resist it. I haven’t seen you for a while. These tables are too big. Now I have a lot to tell so stop making eyes at me. I know your sort!”

“Sue said that with your business growing I shan’t see much of you. She’s right. I think I will have to bankrupt you so that you are all mine!”

“Sue did say I need to develop the art of delegating. She’s the best. She just has to flutter her eyelids and wonders happen. No wonder you won’t give her any helpers.”

“That’s true. That way she can wander around my empire and not only nudge people to do the right thing she can read the pulse and keep me informed. Now less of me and tell me what you have been up to. Here comes the venison.”

“Have you seen the architectural sketches of the old Co-op. No, well I will show you later but they stripped the building to its basics and what a fine building it is. The modern signs just hid the gem underneath. I will keep the old Co-op sign engraved in the stone and my signage will just be discretely on the window which will be fully refurbished in the original style. No plate glass only a kind of Dickensian appearance. People will have to peer in rather than see from afar at my display.”

“Sounds fantastic, now eat up.”

“I’ve got a huge amount of space plus the upstairs. Sue suggested I put an open glass lift in to take customers to private viewing salons. The centre of the building will be fully opened to the roof to give the place an airy look with balconies all around. I shall set up mannequins there to look over at the customers below. The changing rooms will be at the back, led by a short catwalk where the customers can flounce and show off their purchases to their partners. Lots of comfy seating including some of your high-backed wing chairs for the men so that they can be partially hidden from the throng of women customers that will be flocking there.”

“Sounds wonderful. When is the grand opening?

“Not sure yet. I need to finalise everything and get more staff trained up.”

“Now can you do something for me? Can you arrange a preview, a sort of dress rehearsal for all of my staff and the lab people? It will be a good chance to get them together, totally out of their comfort zone and experience quality and style plus a social environment.”

“That was delicious. Please tell your Chef.” forking the last piece of venison into her mouth followed by a sip of wine.

“You can tell him yourself. He’s coming over now with a pan in hand with more delectable pieces of venison. Don’t spoil his pride by refusing.”

“Don’t take me for a fool. I was hoping he was bringing the whole carcass. I’m famished. That was delicious Alaine. Yes, I will have some more and some more of the sauce. Where did you get this wonderful meat?” asked Alice.

“Special new supplier from Kent. Specially bred for the table. I have some original cheesecake for desert, served with fresh fruit and our ice cream?”

“I think we will miss out on the desert thank you Alaine. The accompanying wine was great too.”

“That’s from Ray’s own cellar. We are running low Ray.”

“Thanks Alaine, you have more hungry customers waiting for seconds,” said Ray as the Chef bowed and proceeded further down the restaurant for eager customers. “Now, I asked if we could have a preview, a dress rehearsal at your new place before the grand opening?”

“I don’t see why not. I’ll have to warn the caterers to prepare another round of food and drinks. What do you suggest?”

“I want the best for my group, no skimping and I’ll pick up the tab for both events.”

“That’s mighty generous of you but you don’t need to.”

“It will be my pleasure, doubly so since the tax man will pay for it all so no expense spared. Now who have you got organising it all?”

“I’m doing it all, why do you ask?”

“Well, I should get Sue to organise it and you just sit back and agree or disagree with what she comes up with. That will be your first lesson in delegation.”

“But Sue will just pass it off to her gang of minions whilst she polishes her nails. You do know it’s a sham, her nails? They a false and it’s just part of her act.”

“And how effective it is! It’s something she developed over time. Nothing to do with me but I couldn’t do without her.”

“When I first got to know them, I was really jealous when they came up to you for a hug. I now realise that Sue and Clarence just treat you as their daddy and they being your daughters. I reckon they assume that the sun shines from your every orifice.”

“All I did was to give them a good education in this tough world. They were bright enough to accept the rigorous training and I’m right proud of their achievements. Why don’t you get the ball rolling by texting Sue about the dress rehearsal and tell her the whole shebang, including your show, is on my expenses.”

“That’s too generous Ray but I shall gracefully accept. It’s been an expensive month for me. Isn’t it a bit late to do that? To contact Sue?”

“No, she’s always on tap and it gives her time to sleep on it. Now, when are you going to finish eating and drag me back to our apartment. I’ll take the half bottle and we’ll finish it in comfort. Come on don’t dawdle!”

“Yes Sir!”

The rehearsal party at Alice’s new venue was a resounding success mainly in the social aspect. The two factions, the lab workers and the AI geeks at last gelled into one entity. Ray was overjoyed that he was now heading up a united team rather than a distrusting rabble, all suspicious of each other. The free bar helped but the special key was Alice’s insistence that Tigray, the Ethiopian lady was part of the catwalk parade of models. She was decked out in one of Alice’s special frocks but the outstanding exhibit was her hairstyle where her jet-black hair was swept back, splayed out like a peacock’s tail decorated with sparkles. She got a massive ovation. Alice insisted that Tigray came to her opening the following week for repeat performance. Mike was totally enchanted and took loving care of her. Even Alf became besotted by one of Alice’s models and begged Sue to do the introductions. Ray was happy that all three of his proteges were fully happy and in love.

Alice’s shop opening was attended by the local Member of Parliament, as guest of honour plus Sue’s Jason who brought along a number of minor celebrity actors from his current sit-com. Alice’s guests where enchanted by the new premises and especially her new stock of designer frocks from Milan.

The following day Tigray rolled up in her wheelchair at Ray’s office, tapped on the door and since it was open propelled herself in. “High Ray, have you a minute for me?”

“Certainly Tigray, my door is always open. May I add how beautiful you looked at our two parties.”

“That’s what I’ve come over to see you about.”

“What you have a problem?”

“Sort of. I wasn’t quite sure how to take the whole thing with me being the token disabled person on show. I enjoyed it but looking back I’ve started being uncomfortable about the whole thing.”

“I’m sorry about that,” exclaimed Ray, rising, closing the office door and sitting in an armchair to be at Tigray’s level. “We didn’t mean to embarrass you in any way or make you uncomfortable. As you are aware we have a number of personnel who are disabled and quite a number of non-white people working for us. Lara, my housemaid, who’s from Sudan took part on the catwalk plus Clarence and Sue. I hope there was no pressure?”

“I suppose not but the disabled get a raw deal in most cases and being put on display like that can make us squirm.”

“Let’s say that it was in the best and pure interest that you were asked to display some of Alice’s designer frocks, plus you brought the house down. Everybody there was rooting for you. The wheelchair was seen more of a prop. You looked enchanting. I shouldn’t look on it badly.”

“Thanks Ray. You have satisfied my concerns. Now on a different matter still concerning me and my disability. Mike is taking special interest in me, is it because of my disability, does he feel sorry for me?”

“Hey, he’s totally infatuated with you as a person. Forget your disability. He came to Sue and me with the same question and we both agreed that he should take you out on a date and see where that led to. I believe Sue arranged tickets for you to the Albert Hall. How did that go?”

“Marvellously, he’s such a gentleman and looked after me so well. Do you think we could have a relationship, sort of boyfriend, girlfriend thing and my disability wouldn’t be a problem?”

“Most certainly, all you need to show is some attraction and he would be over the moon.”

“Thanks Ray, that make me feel good but what about the seniority thing. He’s a director and I’m just a lowly supervisor and, and, and I believe he’s very rich. The whisper is that he is a multimillionaire?”

“Tigray, the main thing is he adores you and he’s not interested in status or wealth. He is more interested in making you happy. If it leads to something you have all our blessing. It’s up to you to show him that you want ‘to go out’ with him as you young ones say.”

“Thanks Ray, I’ll leave you in peace in a happier mood and go and try to jump over the moon, bye!”

As Tigray wheeled herself out, Sue entered. “What was all that about? I’ve never seen her looking so radiant. She looked really sad and severe when she passed my office on the way to you.”

“She was a bit concerned about being on show as a disabled person and asked me if she could throw herself into Mike’s arms.”

“You obviously satisfied her on both accounts. I’m pleased. Now I have sent her an application form to join the AI team under Prof. Henderson. Her brain will be more suited there than in the labs. Did you know she has two Doctorates?”

“Well, most of our staff and that of the labs have higher degrees. The only ones without them are at the top of our tree, you, me, Clarence and the three lads. I’m not sure what that shows about us? Anyway, you progress the Tigray move. I have some sales pitches to do with Alf and Clarence. Only three today, we are slowing down the on that front, only progressing by word of mouth.”

“GCHQ is still bugging us. Patrick told me that they are constantly being attacked by hackers. Most are repulsed but one or two get through. I know what you’re thinking Ray, Partick tells me all these attacks are being absorbed by our AI programme. So far, they wouldn’t have penetrated our system. The Chinese are getting active it seems but they are a bit arrogant and don’t cover their tracks very well. We have identified their cells and locations. The Syrians are also in on the act but nought to worry us yet.”

“Thanks for the update, Sue, I must dash.”

Three weeks later Ray called a Major Board meeting. “Good morning to you all and again thanks for being prompt. As you can see, I have invited some new guests to this meeting, Professor Henderson and Tarique Almand. I have some important news to impart today and I need your overall approval. Our Company has grown and the management structure is unwieldy for our current and future purpose. I am going to reorganise the company on American styles. I propose that I be Chairman of a Holding Company, then there will be a number of Presidents heading each Division. The overall control will be a CEO, Chief Executive Officer who will be Sue, Clarence will be President of the Commercial Cyber Division, Patrick will be President of the old Hacking Group, Mike will head up them overall AI group. Alf you head up the Games group that you have developed, Professor you will head up the Anti-Malaria project and you Tarique, our new boy on the block will head up your own Games group to promote your game that you have invented and developed with our AI help.” Ray paused for effect.

“Now I’m going to throw in my Property Development business into the pool so that you will have shares in all the businesses. Yes Mike?”

“How are the shares going to be split? Us four currently hold the majority.”

“Yes, that will be thrashed out. I foresee that we four will reduce our shareholding so that Sue, Clarence will increase theirs and Tarique and the Professor will get a new allocation. There will be an allocation of bonuses based on performance. We will have to work something out for the Anti-malaria division. None of you will lose out financially in our first year but there will be adjustments after that. Yes Alf?”

“Why have you thrown in your business into the collective pool and who is going to head that up?” asked Alf.

“That’s going to be my investment in the overall business and I have yet to appoint someone to head that. Yes Alan?”

“Where will Finance, Sales, Marketing and Legal functions fit into this organisation?”

“Good question. There will be a Central Service Office for all these functions including Human Resources for which we have yet to appoint someone probably you Alan. You guys will be Presidents or Vice Presidents of these sections, depending on seniority. You will be on the usual expenses only salary and have appropriate share holdings. All of our bonuses will be held for us, separately and securely, in a Swiss bank based in the Bahamas. Taxes will only be paid as you draw on those accounts. Yes Patrick?”

“Why are we doing this reorganisation? I’m not sure I can manage a division on my own. All that was done by you Ray.”

“It’s time you took full responsibility for your business and the Central Service Office is there to support you. Sue and I will still be there to nudge you in the right direction. No need to worry. I have noticed lately some dissatisfaction and bickering amongst you three guys so a clear split in responsibility was called for.”

“But we work best together rather than separately. You know that Ray,” said Alf.

“I agree and nothing to stop you swapping ideas but you need to take full responsibility for the main feature of your work. You have to approach this professionally and be business like. Too many people now are dependent on you to lead them,” answered Ray looking to Mike who wanted to pose a question.”

“What if we get so disgruntled with things that we want to leave all this behind?” asked Mike looking around the table for support.

“That’s your prerogative though you will lose your substantial loyalty bonus. Though in your cases that shouldn’t hurt you. You would still be shareholders unless you wanted to cash that in. Mike, Alf, Patrick, this reorganisation doesn’t restrict your freedom one iota. Don’t forget we are a multi-billion-dollar company who is extremely cash rich and we all need to protect that standing in a professional way. I’d hate it all to go down the pan. Our main decision currently is do we want to continue growing our revenues or simply stay as we are today. Don’t forget we are a totally private company and we are not beholding to any external greedy shareholders who would want us to continually expand. OK, let’s stop there for a moment and all of you consider the implications for yourselves. Sue, can you hand out the notes on the proposal on the table. We digest them then we will reconvene next week and put it to a vote. Right let’s go and get some lunch.”

“Do you want your eggs scrambled or an omelette?” shouted Alice as Ray was getting dressed. “I hope you don’t mind me cooking in my undies? Don’t want to splash my new frock.”

“No to the second but it could be dangerous for you and scrambled with smoked salmon strips to the first,” shouted back Ray. “There should be some in the fridge, Lara tops my supply up.”

“I hope that’s all she tops up for you!” shouted back Alice. “She’s quite a lady, too good for you!”

“Now, now no need for jealousy!” replied Ray as he sauntered into the kitchen area and patted Alice’s pert bottom.

“She can’t earn much as a maid here or can she?” asked Alice placing a full plate in front of Ray.

“Above the normal London rate and I also give her a substantial tip every month.”

“Oh, Clarence never mentioned tipping staff when we discussed the costs here.”

“To be honest with you I haven’t given it much thought. I shall ask the others if they tip their maids, they should,” answered Ray as he was handed a mug of steaming black coffee. “That reminds me that I should increase my tip since there is double the work here now.”

“Can I contribute since I’m living here Scot free?” asked Alice sitting opposite Ray.

“No need, it all comes out of the company expenses.”

“I still don’t understand your company expenses,” answered Alice digging into her omelette. “It all sounds fishy to me!”

“It’s simple really,” answered Ray, waving his toast at Alice to make the point. “Say you were employed by an Italian House in Milan and they told you to work in the UK, you would expect all expenses to be paid by the Italian company. I happen to be employed in the Bahamas.”

“I suppose the benefit of all that is you pay no tax in the UK?”

“Got it in one. We are totally tax efficient. Don’t forget we employ over a hundred fifty people here and they all pay hefty taxes plus all the VAT so the Tax people don’t do too badly from us. We are certainly not as bad as some of the Global players who openly fail to pay their dues.”

“But you still deprive the Exchequer of his dues that could be spent on hospitals and schools.”

“Yes, and on armaments whilst there is still dire poverty in the UK and the World. For a number of years now I have been giving a million pounds monthly to charities of my own choice, not just to clear my conscience, but I want the money to go to the right place. I don’t give to animal charities but organisations like Amnesty International, Green Peace, Sans Frontières, medical research, educational research.”

“Wow! That’s a lot. I occasionally buy a Big Issue and feel good about it.”

“Well, I have so much money now that I couldn’t spend it all in my lifetime, so I direct it to causes I believe in. You know we, as a company, are investing millions in combating malaria.”

“Yes, I know and its very laudable. Now on a more local issue. I drove past my former House in Islington and apart from planning notices stuck everywhere, nothing is being done.”

“Yes, the Planning Department are sitting on their hands and rejecting all my proposals. They believe that multi occupancy will lower the tone in that district.”

“So, I sold you a pup and all the other properties you bought will come to nought?”

“Not quite. I am lobbying the Council with the help of the local MP and other dignitaries. My point is that there is a definite need for small properties for rent and I have a list of prospective tenants lined up already champing at the bit. There is a Planning meeting next week to discuss this case and I think I will win on various grounds. They won’t be able to turn me down.”

“I wish you luck. My transport awaits. The driver has just buzzed me. Zip up my dress, give me a kiss and I shall be off. Can you book the restaurant for tonight. Ciao!” said Alice as she picked up her large handbag and walked to the door.

Alf ambled into Ray’s office, through the open door, sat down heavily in a swivel chair opposite Ray, folded his arms behind his head and pronounced, “There’s been trouble at the mill!”

“I’m all ears,” answered Ray as he closed down his laptop, leaned back with his eyes directly on Alf.

“You know the new company that we took on recently, the bank from Luxembourg? Well, they’ve suffered a cyber-attack and their customer files have been compromised!”

“Hold it there Alf!” exclaimed Ray. “I’ll call Sue. She needs to be on this.” He speed dialled Sue’s number, spoke briefly and turned to Alf. “She’ll be with us in five. Hold off until Sue gets here. She needs the full info. Now whilst we are waiting, can I ask you how you are getting on with that gorgeous Rosamund?”

“Oh, it’s fabulous!” exclaimed Alf, leaning forward. “She’s really cool. We’ve been going out for almost two months now and she’s real fun.”

“Good to hear. I hope you are treating her well,” said Ray.

“Yeah, only the best for our Rosamund. I think she enjoys our lifestyle. Now Ray, do you think she puts up with me just because of my wealth?”

“I wouldn’t know but since you are the richest young bachelor in the UK then you should have thousands of eligible girls knocking at your door. I would suggest you take it easy and see how it goes. If she’s attracted to you despite your money, you’re wise enough to find out. Women are on the lookout for a good catch. If you have doubts then chat to Clarence about it, she’s good at judging character. Ah, here comes Sue,” said Ray as he stood up and pulled a chair up for Sue.

“We are all here who need to be. I’ll just close the door for some privacy then Alf, you start from the top.”

“Hi Sue, I was just telling Ray that there has been a cyber-attack on that bank we recently took on in Luxembourg and their customer data has been compromised.”

“So, somebody has penetrated our wall?” asked Sue in a state of shock.

“No, no, it was before our time, even before we set up our preliminary surveillance on them. You know we only had two months prior to the signing of the contract,” stated Alf, leaning forward and putting a protective hand on Sue’s arm.

“Do they know?” asked Ray with concern in his voice.

“Not yet, that’s why I’ve come to see you for some advice,” answered Alf. “Let me tell you the full story and how we discovered the breach.”

“Please do!” stated Ray and Sue nodded her head in agreement.

“As you know, we scrupulously monitor the traffic, in and out to determine a norm. AI found a spike a month ago, two weeks before we took on the contract. It suggested that we investigate it,” stated Alf as he slouched back in his chair with his arms behind his head.

“I presume you started the investigation,” answered Ray. “Who suggested that?”

“Our AI programme of course,” answered Alf. “The operator at the time just agreed not realising that it would hack into the bank’s system and probe around. Can’t blame the operator, I would have given the go ahead.”

“So, what did they find?” asked Sue, putting down her nail file. “You know our contract states that we don’t penetrate into their systems.”

“Oh, I know but they found an active bug that was collecting customer data and storing it, ready to send somewhere as a batch, hence the spike we detected. Hang on, let me tell you the bug was planted six months ago and behaved as a Trojan horse until ordered to harvest the data. It started up some three months later. The funny thing is that it stored the harvested data then sent it in one batch.” stated Alf emphatically.

“OK, do we know who may have planted the bug and where the data was sent to?” asked Sue.

“Our AI intelligence says it’s got all the hallmarks of a Russian origin but we couldn’t trace the destination. They used AI to construct a polymorphic pathway of servers to make it difficult, impossible to trace,” stated Alf. “Quite cunning really. Suggests some sophisticated body, a Government Security Service.”

“OK, what is our next step,” asked Ray. “And have we taken any measures to stop this?”

“If you let me continue then I’ll tell you what we have done. AI suggested we set up our own account with the bank to allow our details to be harvested,” said Alf with a smug smile on his face. “Each time their bug collects an account then it is marked so that they don’t harvest it again. Leaves less of a trail. We initially deposited 10.5 million Dollars and kept moving monies in and out to the same pattern as the other clients. You know the bank is just a clearing house for crooks, laundering their money.”

“Funny you should say that. I’ve just been perusing a report on our new clients and it mentioned the Luxembourg Bank as being possibly a world leader in money laundering. I shall have to look into this more closely,” said Ray rummaging in his desk draw for the report.

“We should cancel our contract with them,” added Sue.

“Our AI suggests that we hold off until we find out who the perpetrators are,” answered Alf.

“You make it sound as if your AI system is like a person that you can talk to and get its opinion?” questioned Sue.

“Well, it is sort of,” answered Alf. “We have nicknamed her ‘AYA’, as sort of bastardisation of AI. We question her like you lot do with your Alexa. Aya answers back in a sweet French accent. Some of our lads just copied the best of all of the Alexa and Siri type programmes and attached it to our AI system. Works bloody well it does and saves us a lot of time reading reports. She’s better than and more intelligent than any person.”

“Well, I never,” stated Ray. “I never thought you guys had progressed so far and so fast with our AI programme.”

“Hey! She even suggested this communication path of speaking. Far more efficient.”

“OK, what does Aya propose we do?” asked Ray. “Or should I go and ask her myself?”

“Oh, you could. Anybody could but I’ll tell you what she proposes before we sack the Bank. Their bank charges are horrific by the way. Now let me carry on.”

“Our bank details have already been harvested and stored away ready for transmission. The only difference is that we have added a bug and marker to our data so when it is transmitted, we can follow it to its destination. Once there, the bug will behave like their trojan horse which will give us time to close our account. Cleverly Aya suggested that we overdraw our account by the amount of charges we have suffered then close the account and in effect disappear.”

“This Aya sounds just too clever for my liking!” stated Sue. “When will the bug be activated and what will it do?”

“First of all, it will scramble all the data of the destination machine and any machines it has been in contact with. Could be a big fall out. If we see fit then we can send them a solar flare which will destroy their equipment, turn it to ash.”

“OK, at what point do you activate the bug?” asked Ray.

“You can ask Aya yourselves if you like. She proposes that we take that decision when we know the origin of the perpetrators. She considers it to be the Russian security organisation and they may only want to blackmail the bank so that they launder more cash for them at a favourable rate. Taking the bank down would be like shooting yourself in the foot. They currently do a lot of laundering for the Russian government and their cronies. They also on the face of it, maintain a face of respectability, for the moment. Most banks have been accused of laundering and they all say they will implement a shit load of preventive measures.”

“OK Alf, we sit on our hands and wait for the next transmission,” stated Ray. At that point we will see if our bug implant has been successful then we ask our dear Aya for further proposals.”

“Hey Ray, you need to take our Aya seriously,” said Alf sitting up. “She’s been already useful in many of our fields that we are embarking on. Clarence spends all her time getting advise and proposals from her.”

“Sorry Alf, I didn’t want to be demeaning of her. At this moment I can only think of her as a more sophisticated Alexa,” answered Ray. I suggest we go to your office Alf and you give us a demonstration.”

“No need Ray, you can pick her up on your laptop when I set you and Sue up with the password and security screening. Don’t worry, the information is all encrypted and doesn’t even rest on your laptop. Now the only thing is that on the screen, the lads have set up Aya as a gorgeous girl that flirts with them. Clarence finds it funny but we can eliminate that if you don’t like her. She changes her dress up each time you open up, based on Alison’s catalogue of frocks. OK Ray pass me over your laptop and I’ll log you in. I’ll do yours later Sue.”

“Right Ray, I’ve logged in on your laptop and requested a secondary user,” stated Alf passing the laptop to Ray. “Now just follow the instructions. It’ll take five minutes initially. Just security.”

“It’s telling me to look at a point on the screen.”

“That’s an iris check.”

“It’s now telling me to read out a sentence. I presume that is voice recognition. OK, I’ve done that. Now it’s telling me to type a sentence. Oh, I see, another security measure.”

“We recognise your typing style,” stated Alf. “Don’t worry you won’t have to go through that rigmarole in future.

“Now it’s asking me ‘Are you being coerced or under duress?’ I presume I answer ‘NO’?”

“That’s a trick question. You answer ‘YES’, the opposite. If you answer the negative then we go through a close down mode,” answered Alf. “Now our gorgeous Aya will appear.”

“Why, hello Ray, I’m Aya! Good to meet you at last. And you Alf. Who’s the lady with you? Don’t tell me, it’s Sue,” stated a life like lady in a low-cut aquamarine dress, on the screen. “How do you like my new frock, Sue? It’s from Alison’s new Italian collection. You should rush down there to her store and check them out.”

“OK, OK Aya, cut out the chit chat,” said Alf. “We have important things to discuss!”

“Oh! don’t be cross with me Alf. It’s just nice pleasantries as a preamble. In fact, I’m hurt and going off to sulk for a while. Bye, I’ll be back.”

“Wow she is a beauty and so life like. She reminds me of someone,” said Ray.

“She’ll be back. Yes, we modelled her on Mike’s new girlfriend,” answered Alf. “Gave her a slight Asiatic look, darkened her complexion, blackened her hair, got rid of the model anorexic look and lengthened her legs.

“I’m back having refreshed myself and donned a new frock. Do you like it?”

“Cut it out Aya!” stated Alf. “We are busy and need to get on. Tell Ray what you suggest we do with the Luxembourg case.”

“Simple Ray, we just sit on our hands as you guys say until they harvest the data. Our location implant is amongst it which will tell us which office it originates from. Originally, I thought it might be Russian but now I think its Israeli. They have been quiet for some time but I’ve recognised one of their operators. Unless he has defected, which is not impossible. When we pinpoint their location and check on their further activity. I presume they will be using some outpost outside of Israel to confuse the enemy. They also have a need for money laundering in the West.”

“Thank you Aya. Can we close down now Alf,” said Ray.

“Bye all, see you soon,” stated Aya, with a wave and a twirl the screen went blank.

“Well, I never,” stated Ray leaning back in his chair. “It was like talking to a real person rather than a machine.”

“As far as we are concerned the people who use her regularly now think of her as real,” said Alf. “Initially they thought it was some real person reading off a script but the answers came too fast. She even displays emotions.”

“Does she have a conscience?” asked Sue.

“It may look like it but we have deliberately avoided programming one in. “She does have legal integrity and will point things out that are against English and International Law. Fortunately, most laws and legal procedures are digitised so we just fed them into her. She can quote them chapter and verse,” stated Alf looking rather proud of his achievement.

Alan rushed into Ray’s office looking worried. “Ray, reception has just phoned that five gentlemen from the Tax Office are here insisting they see us and they won’t accept making an appointment.”

“No worries, Alan. I have been expecting this. Ring down that you will escort them to the Board Room and we will check out what they want. I’ll meet you there with Clarence and I’ll also get Sue. She’s a great distraction. No hurries. Go through the whole security process with them, ID, Driving Licence, Passport, Home address, the inside leg measurement of their grandfather, the lot as we would for recruits. Let Jane on reception do this and ensure they get the stupid looking huge placard rather than the small ID badge. I’ll round up the others.”

“Right gentlemen, I have rounded up the main executive team for you as requested. I’m Ray the President and Chairman of ARK Holdings, on my right is Alan, who you have met, Senior Vice President of Finance. On my left is Clarence, Senior Vice President of our security arm and here is Sue, our CEO, Chief Executive Officer,” announced Ray as Sue loped in on her high heels, wearing a dangerously short skirt and a revealing blouse, giving all a huge smile and wave.

“Now that the key people are here, what is the nature of your sudden visit here,” asked Ray as the five gentlemen looked at Sue with utter astonishment as she preened herself and started polishing her nails.

“Er…. Well, we are here to ask you about the huge amount of unpaid taxes that you owe the British Government. You make huge profits but you taxes paid are pitiful,” said their leader, opening a file in front of him and trying to hide his large ID placard.

“That’s a serious accusation,” said Sue as she put down her polishing stick and fluttered her eyes lids at the man, making him most uncomfortable. “What information have you in that file of yours that substantiates this claim?” she asked, continuing with polishing her nails while the five looked on uncomfortably.

“We have evidence that you have made profits of over sixty million pounds in the UK and have paid no tax this last year. Also, we have no Tax Declarations from any of your executives.”

“Let me answer that,” said Ray, leaning back in his chair. “ARK Holdings is a global company and we do business in every corner of the world. We have based ourselves in the Bahamas but have chosen our operating base in London for convenience since most of us are British citizens with dual nationality. We can operate from anywhere in the world.”

“That may be so but in the eyes of the tax office and the British Government you are behaving like all the global companies and avoiding and evading tax.”

“We are tax efficient that’s why we base ourselves in the Bahamas,” answered Sue. “I hope you have checked our position since you have an information sharing treaty with them. You obviously haven’t since you have no idea what our global revenues or profits are. And to cap it all I presume you don’t even know what our tax contribution is in the UK through payroll, VAT, Council Tax plus many other spends we have. Do you have any idea?” asked Sue pointing her nail file at their leader.

“We know you pay no Corporation Tax,” stated the suit on the left.

“Yes,” answered Ray. “The only real revenue company we have in the UK is our property arm and as yet that hasn’t made any profits as you well know. We have submitted all our accounts as legally required and you gave us a zero rating.”

“But you have over half a billion pounds of assets and revenues here!”

“Oh yes, that is correct,” stated Ray. “But we are heavily investing with borrowed monies since we want to establish a firm economic base here in the UK. We could quite easily move the whole thing to Geneva or even the South of France where they would welcome us with open arms.”

“That sound s like a threat which we find offensive,” said their head man.

“Offensive, is a strong word,” retorted Ray. “We are currently investing millions in research projects here in the UK, employing over two hundred scientists each on six figure salaries. A further hundred are employed here on our AI research and development and they earn over four hundred K each. Our property arm employs over two hundred personnel all on treble the average wage. And you collect all their taxes through PAYE. Our VAT bill last year was over ten million pounds. Don’t you think we make a solid contribution in taxes to the Government purse?” Ray paused for all this information to sink in.

“As you stated earlier,” Ray continued, “the executives don’t get a salary whilst abroad and just live on expenses as expats. They all have substantial shares in the company which they can only access when they choose to leave the company. So, you see we are totally transparent in our finances if you care to look in the right places and you will find our tax position is in order. Since you have bothered to come out and see us in person then I will offer you lunch in our company restaurant. Just take the lift to the forty-fifth floor. I’ll get someone to take you there and settle you in, goodbye gentlemen. Our meeting is over,” stated Ray as a waiter entered to escort the five men out.

“Well handled Ray,” said Sue. “They were here on a fishing trip and didn’t even catch a sprout.”

“I think our secret weapon was Sue,” said Alan, “They just couldn’t take their eyes off you and it befuddled their brains.”

“OK, back to work guys. Good job Sue. They couldn’t believe their eyes when I introduced you as the CEO of the company.”

Back in his office, Ray pulled out his phone and quick dialled a number. “Sorry, Alison is not available. Please leave a message and I will contact you ASAP.” “Hi Alice, I’m taking you out at eight so glam up. I know you said you would be late today. See yah!”

At seven thirty Ray was awaiting Alice’s arrival from work with her now favourite drink of chilled vodka and freshly squeezed orange. The doorbell chimed and Ray heard the metallic rattle of keys in the lock.

“Wow! You look terrific,” exclaimed Ray as Alice waltzed in and spun around to show off her dazzling frock, as Ray proffered her a glass of vodka.

“Oh, I need that badly!” exclaimed Alice, snatching the glass and downing the drink in one gulp. “Bad day at the office unfortunately! Glad to get home and forget about it. Now keep your hands off me Ray, I need to look good for where you are taking me.”

“Spoil sport. You certainly know how to look ravishing. At least allow me to peck you on the cheek and get you a top up. We are a little early so tell all. A problem shared is a problem halved is the saying,” stated Ray as Alice perched herself on a high stool at the bar to avoid crushing her dress.

“Well, the bloody Council have painted double yellow lines outside my shop!” shouted Alice with great venom. “My customer can’t stop outside my shop to be dropped off. Even I can’t in my taxi without a traffic warden booking the driver. He’s an officious bastard too!”

“Can’t you use the back door?”

“No, we can’t now! Our bloody neighbour has blocked the lane in protest at me telling him to shift his six cars parked in my yard at the back. He’s a wheeler-dealer guy, selling bangers. I shall have to look at the property deeds and take legal action but that will take time and the evil bastard is just enjoying causing the mayhem. It’s a shared driveway for God’s sake!”

“Funny you should say that,” said Ray, holding Alice’s hand, trying to placate her.

“There’s nothing funny about it! I’ve also got no room to extend my workshop for the seamstresses and I’m having difficulty fulfilling my orders!”

“Now calm down Alice. I think I have a solution for you which will solve all your problems and give your wheeler-dealer a sore head to boot.”

“OK, OK, so you are going to wave your magic wand again, are you?”

“Yes, darling I am. Now calm down and listen. Right, you know when we started investigating the Co-op thing, my property manager is always on the lookout for large, dilapidated houses in good locations that we can renovate and turn into apartments to let.”

“Now stop drivelling on Ray. Your property interests are not going to solve my dilemma!” said Alice emphatically, downing her drink in one again.

“Well, they just might if you just listen. I may be able to solve all of your problems in one fell swoop. On the other side of your back lane, if you have noticed, is an old, dilapidated mansion and I am the proud owner. The house also shares the back lane, the said blocked back lane. The former owner, now deceased, had a huge garage to house his classic car collection. I was going to convert it into apartments but you can have it for your seamstresses. It’s big enough and will convert easily for your needs.”

“OK, OK but you haven’t solved my access issue,” retorted Alice.

“Oh yes, I have! Now let’s make a move and we’ll talk on the way you don’t need a coat. Right, if you have been listening, I have one third share of the lane, you have a third so say we block off our two thirds and prevent him getting access to your car park.”

“Yes, but I need access and he’s got six god-damn rusty cars in my car park!”

“I propose you have access through my driveway, it’s big enough and my men will knock the fence down to your property. As to the cars, my men will shift them. That solves your problem and eventually we will glam up the access to the rear of the Co-op and tidy up the parking area and fencing to your satisfaction. Right, we are here. Now just enjoy yourself.”

They entered the conference suite which was in darkness apart from a bright spotlight at the entrance. Ray guided Alice into the spot and suddenly a band struck up ‘Happy Birthday dear Alison,’ with people singing with gusto as the lights went up revealing a crowd of happy faces.

“I’ve brought you to a surprise party in your honour. You’ll know all the people here so forget about your woes and enjoy yourself.”

“I’m so excited I can’t sleep,” whispered Alice to Ray in bed, at just past three in the morning. “Who organised the whole thing and I didn’t know a thing about it?”

“Sue of course. She still can’t help doing the PA thing for me.”

“I still can’t believe that I’m engaged to you. I didn’t think you would ever propose to me even though we were getting along like a house on fire. I like the knuckle duster you presented me. It’s huge. Must have cost a fortune?”

“You’re worth it darling. It seemed a night for celebrations with Alf announcing that Tigray was pregnant and Mike shacking up with his girlfriend at last. I thought Clarence and Patrick might be announcing something but he’s a dark horse.”

“Yes, it was quite a night. I met your property manager Russel, he’s such a sweet guy. You obviously had a chat with him and he reassured me that everything will be sorted for Monday. He’ll have the whole gang working over the weekend he told me. Thank you, my darling. I will sleep easy though I doubt I will. I’m too excited.”

“I had a word with Ruby, your manager. She tells me that you would like to take on some interns from the Art College but you don’t feel happy about not paying them.”

“No, I don’t feel good taking them on for free for a year. My cousin did that with a Law firm and it nearly broke the family at the time. I can’t afford to pay them a living wage but they have proved useful to me working weekends and holidays. Good experience for them to realise what fashions women want and they are so enthusiastic.”

“I think I can solve that problem for you too. You know that each month I donate a million pounds to some good cause. Why don’t I this month, set up a bursary for these students, particularly for those without rich parents?”

“That would be wonderful darling. They could have a year of work experience in the rag trade. Why didn’t I meet you years ago when I was really struggling with my business? You could have come along on your charger and waved your magic wand. Right let’s make passionate love to seal all the deals.”

“Morning Ray,” said Professor Henderson as he hovered outside Ray’s office. “Have you a few minutes for me?”

“Hi Prof. come on in. I haven’t seen you for ages.”

“Been busy, in fact too busy, my family are complaining that they don’t see much of me these days. Enjoying my job too much,” said Henderson setting down in a chair.

“Well, that’s good to hear, though you shouldn’t abandon your wife and family. I fell into that trap.”

“Yeah well, there’s lots to do and never enough hours in the day. I came in to update you on progress we are making. You know that we were majoring on vaccination and messing with the DNA, well we have expanded in developing an efficient medical cure for malaria and finding ways of eradicating the parasite altogether.”

“I hope you are not losing focus on the main objective and finding easier paths of research,” said Ray.

“No, we are still highly focused on the main task. These are just useful offshoots of our work. AI is bringing up these elements as by-products. We are now producing millions of human liver stem cells to test our vaccines and the DNA manipulation is going well. As you know the female mosquito needs blood to improve fertility and egg production. By switching to a plant diet it reduces that considerably so the population will wither. That’s not want we want. The natural food chains require a huge volume of mosquitoes and their larvae for all creatures to survive in the wild.”

“So, what do you plan to do?”

“Well, our researchers hope to construct a super female mosquito that can reproduce successfully just on a diet of plant life. We currently have millions of them in our lab and we are checking on them against the normal types. When we are satisfied, we will instigate a trial in the wild.”

“So, are you saying that the two types will coexist?”

“No, we are planning that the new variety, being dominant, will breed with the old and wipe them out eventually.”

“How long will this take in the wild?” asked Ray.

“Depends on how many we release in any one area. Under controlled conditions we can breed millions and millions of males since there are no predators in the lab. The problem will be finding areas or countries that will accept this solution.”

“Most of the afflicted areas are in poor regions of the world. I’m sure a substantial financial incentive will persuade some countries to accept,” answered Ray.

“Do we have that kind of money?”

“More than enough but we must avoid a bidding war,” stated Ray. “Check out where you would like to conduct the first trial and we’ll go from there. Now a professional question for you, how much is AI helping in your research?”

“Immensely Ray. It’s speeding up the process a million times and cutting out the dead ends, we are only progressing the promising paths. The lab scientists are totally won over. They are using Aya all the time.”

“Yes, I’ve been consulting Aya and find her or it most interesting in all our fields of work. I can’t help thinking of Aya as a person and tend to address her as a live female.”

“That’s how my people now treat her. They love her quirky nature that the lads have built in. Makes her sort of personal not a robot, she has a personality,” answered Henderson.

“I wonder if the lads have built in integrity and a moral code?” asked Ray.

“Oh yes, that’s all plumbed in including legal element so she doesn’t stray beyond the law of the land.”

“That’s good to know. Do you think she has a conscience?” asked Ray.

“I’ve wondered that myself. You see she learns and develops from experience of the outside world. The lads have fed her with millions of hours of TV programmes especially documentaries, political and news items. As yet she doesn’t give opinions but will analyse and give her version of the best course of action. Not surprisingly, since she can digest so many facts, sift out any false news, and comes out with very good pointers. She is a very useful tool for us. I only hope she doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. I never thought I would see such a remarkable development in my lifetime.”

“We are all impressed Prof. The question is how do we stop the genie escaping?” asked Ray.

“I am giving the matter much thought and I have asked your three bright lads to work on it. It’s too dangerous in the wrong hands. I have already restricted her area of consideration to the individual field of study and don’t allow any trivial questioning. They have Alexa and other devices for that.”

“But I have access to all aspects it seems,” commented Ray.

“Yes, only eight senior people have that access. For other it’s restricted to their field of work. We need to control the beast. The gaming team have downloaded all the games under the sun and she can pick out the best elements and the addictive elements in each game. Makes designing a new game easy-peasy. I’ve told the lads to restrict the introduction of new games to two or three a year even though they are huge money spinners.”

“Prof, it was my best decision to get you on board. As you know the lads were very dismissive of you in the beginning but they appreciate your administrative and directive skills.”

“It was the best decision I have ever made in my life to join your outfit. I must admit the money was the main incentive initially but now I see that my personal development in AI has leapt up in leaps and bounds, far beyond my wildest dreams. As you said earlier Ray, I need to get back on terra firma and get back to my family.”

“You do that Prof and pop in more regularly for a chat.”

“I will, I will.”

“Hang on a moment Prof,” said Ray, waving him back in the chair. “I’ve had a request from Hilary for clearance on five new intakes. There seem to be a mishmash of mechanical engineers, IT specialists, programmers and psychologists. Do you know anything about this?”

“Oh yes, Hilary is bolstering up her quantum department to facilitate the new project.”

“What new project? I haven’t been informed,” stated Ray leaning forward to hear more.

“Well, it’s an offshoot of the AI department that is the crux of our Cyber Shield and the hacking game. They complained that their computers were too slow so I told them to fix it. Hilary, the bright spark she is, goes off and gets Aya to investigate all the developments in Quantum computers and with her team starts up building one from scratch. That’s why she needs more people,” answered Prof.

“OK, but these guys are on the highest salaries and also on ridiculously high golden handcuffs.”

“I’ve put the whole department on those terms Ray. If this develops into something then it will be the biggest thing since the first digital computer was invented and we want to be the first to exploit this,” answered Prof with much enthusiasm in his voice.

“OK, explain this in layman's terms. I thought quantum machines were a long way off.”

“Well, we have a rudimentary machine working now at ten times the speed of an ordinary computer. What’s holding up the speed is that we are checking its output with normal digital equipment. When we unleash the thing, it will speed up to thousand times the normal speed and tackle countless tasks all at the same time. It’s an amazing development.”

“OK Prof, I can appreciate your enthusiasm for it but you have described quite vividly the benefits of it but not how the machine operates.”

“Ah yes, well the thing is, before the digital age everything worked on analogue systems which at that time were quite cumbersome. Digital development speeded things up immensely but it’s a right tedious method based on ones and zeros, a sort of morse code. There are various systems out there that assist in the programming but it is still a slow process. Quantum machines in layman’s language revert back to the analogue using all numbers, letters and digits, thus far more economical in input and output. You end up with a supercomputer which we have in development. It’s far more complicated than I have described but it will change computing for ever. We have the advantage over most developers in that we have a more sophisticated AI system. That’s our great advantage.”

“OK, I think I understand.”

“Just ask Aya to explain it all for you. She’s a wizard at that. I must go, I have review to attend in a few minutes.”

“Thanks Prof. Please ask this Hilary to come and see me for a chat. I need to get to know her better it seems. Off you go to your meeting.”

At that moment Alf walked in. “Oh hi! Just the two I wanted to see. Have you got a few minutes for me?”

“Come on in Alf. Prof, you will have to delay your meeting. I don’t often get Alf popping around for a chat so it must be important. OK Alf spill it out.”

“It’s not quite World shattering as you think but I do need your help Ray and you Prof can give me your advice.”

“OK Alf, the floor is yours,” as Alf slumped down in a chair and put his feet up on Ray’s desk, making himself comfortable.

“What were you two discussing when I came in?” asked Ray.

“New recruits to the Quantum Department. I was just signing them off,” answered Ray.

“Great, that’s just what I came in about. This area is growing faster than Jack’s bean stalk and it needs control and positive directions. The conditions these guys have got seems to allow them to do fuck all and get away with it. It’s the Golden Handcuffs. I know we need them but the guys are complacent,” stated Alf in no uncertain terms.

“Have you got an answer or are you waiting for inspiration?” asked Ray looking amused.

“Oh, I have the answer and I’m looking at it,” stated Alf staring at Ray, even pointing a finger.

“What me? What impact can I have? I appointed you guys to do that!”

“Oh, we have tried, believe me but we don’t have the presence and bullying tactics that you have Ray. Do you remember how you terrorised us into doing the best work of our lives. We hated it and you, especially Clarence but we achieved wonders and we all benefited greatly, financially when you sold up. We need some more of that in Quantum to put some spark up their arses,” stated Alf vehemently.

“OK, so you want me to go in there and bully those people around? But what about you guys in the chain of command. I shall be going over your heads and upsetting your authority!”

“Bugger the niceties. It’s important to have the Quantum computer functioning immediately to help with all the other projects. Do you realise Ray how good these things are. Even our basic one is better than all the super computers in the world. When it’s fully developed, we will be able to leap-frog all computer developments by at least ten years. In company of AI, we will be able to complete all our projects and take on many more. Malaria will be like polio, dead!”

“OK Alf, apart from the lazy personnel what is the key issue in development?” asked Ray as the Prof listened in and nodded in acknowledgement.

“I don’t know how up to date you are with Quantum computers Ray but they a different and more powerful beast than our traditional digital, stone age machines. To give you an analogy you can’t develop a candle to give more and more light but when the electric light bulb was invented there was no limit to its development and scope, Bits are dead, Qubits are the future. Now going to our development problem. All new quantum machines currently depend on immense super cooling of their, their what in jargon we might call crystal processor. That’s expensive, difficult to control and you need a huge factory to house the system. We are trying to develop a system that works with a small cooling fan that you find on your PC.”

“OK, Alf. I get the picture. Prof here has filled me in and I was going to consult Aya to get more info. So, you want me to stir up the porridge, is that it?”

“Yes, I want you to go in there and read the riot act and if they don’t pull their socks up we will have another Spanish inquisition but worse. If they don’t comply then, since we can’t fire them, we can’t put them before a firing squad but we can give them a lingering, very painful death by roasting them on the pyre.”

“Bit drastic but I see your point. What advise have you got Prof?”

“I totally agree with Ray and I wish I had the courage to come to you sooner and encourage our Malaria team to sort their ideas out and start getting credible results.”

“And I was sitting here thinking all was hunky dory down in the labs,” answered Ray.

“Under normal circumstances it would be Ray, but don’t you see the potential and prize waiting to be grasped. Please Ray, come and do your stuff as you did before and ensure you attack us, the three stooges as you used to call us. We need to feel you venom again. We miss it and we need it. Things have been too easy. Back to the sack cloth and ashes plus the feel of the cat-o-nine tails on our backs.”

“A bit overstated and exaggerated there Alf, but I get the point. Where do I start and what’s you part going to be in this Prof?”

“Count me in Ray. I’ve had it too easy. I suggest you get all the Directors in plus their immediate subordinates and berate us on our efforts, set severe deadlines and set dire punishment for failure. In fact, just don’t accept failure,” said Prof Henderson with vigour.

“Got it in one Prof. No failure and we don’t take prisoners. Ray, you have to change the climate here. A bit of fear didn’t hurt anyone. Call the meeting for this afternoon Ray. The quicker we start the better.”

“OK guys I will arrange a meeting in good time, but first I need to do some investigation. I can’t just go in rough shod over everybody in such a large organisation, but I promise an impact with some carrot and stick. Now go and let me ponder on this issue.”

A few weeks later Alice came home earlier than usual, catching Ray unawares. “Hi, I came home as soon as I had the news. The shop next door is vacant and I have signed the lease.”

“Congratulations. Your empire is expanding. How will you utilise that?” asked Ray as he rushed off to the fridge to get the vodka and orange.

“As you know darling, I do a lot of wedding outfits for the mothers and often asked if I could design outfits for the bride and bridesmaids so that’s what I’m going to do and set up a small beauty salon so that people can leave the shop looking their best,” said Alice plonking herself down on the sofa and accepting a small drink from Ray.

“So, I presume you want my men to fit the shop out?”

“Would you, my darling. Your men and women workers do such a good job. What they’ve done with landscaping the car park is amazing in such a short time and their work on my workshop is far better than I expected. It’s as if it was specially built with proper staff facilities. Thank you darling.”

“Now that we have the adjoining premises, we can then convert your storeroom into a proper grand entrance rather than having the pavilion.”

“I would like that but isn’t it going to cost me?”

“It is, in many ways but it’s an investment for the future. My property manager has been scouring Chelsea and Islington areas of London for premises for you but to no avail. He suggested you open an in-store boutique in one of the department stores such as Harrods or Fortnum and Masons. It will be expensive but you will get your name with the greats of fashion.”

“Never thought of that or at least never aspired to that level.”

“Well, you have a well-established name in the fashion scene in London so it would be worth a try. I’ll get my legal team to investigate for you and see what comes up.”

“Oh, the local police have been around questioning my staff about a fracas in the area, something to do with arson. Do you know anything about it?” said Alice, waving an empty glass for a refill.

“That’s your unruly neighbour. We caught him red handed on our new property with a large iron tyre lever trying to break in. As you know, empty buildings and renovation sites are a magnet for the bad people to break in and steal, so we immediately install a watchman and set up surveillance equipment. He unfortunately jumped over the wall at a shift change so there were two of them that caught him and duffed him up a bit.”

“But what’s with the arson charge? Did he set light to the place?”

“No but when the police came, they found a can of petrol nearby. He says he has no knowledge of it but the police don’t believe him. He has a genuine grievance against us since my men broke into his cars, drove them onto the High Street and parked them on double yellow lines. And guess what, the wardens had them dragged away to the compound and fined him. I bet he wished he never started the issue with the lane.”

“That’s a bit drastic darling and I almost starting to feel sorry for him, well not much since gave me a mouthful of foul language when I accosted him. Did you have your men plant the petrol?”

“I’m not saying nothing but it could have been left out accidentally by the gardeners. Let’s see how the police prosecute him. If it means a prison sentence then we will own up and he’ll probably get a conditional warning,” answered Ray with a wry smile.

“Now I want to go and see Alf and his girlfriend Tigray and congratulate them on their happy event. Can you contact them for me please?”

“I will and I will go one step further and see if they are free for dinner tonight. We can eat in with a Chef special or go up to the restaurant, what do you reckon?”

“I think Alf would be more at home here, don’t you? He’s more comfortable in informal situations, which surprises me with all his wealth. Now don’t dawdle and set to!” stated Alice as Ray picked up his phone and dialled.

“Good morning Aya,” said Ray as he sat in his office addressing Aya on his laptop.

“I’m well Ray. Thank you for asking. You look rather peaky and tired,” answered Aya sporting a fetching frock from Alice’s latest Italian collection.

“Late night I’m afraid, Aya,” answered Ray feeling more comfortable now talking to a robot as if it was a real person. “Can you update me on the latest happenings in the Company and at large?”

“Of course, Ray. The big news is that the bird has flown. The bank of data, illicitly stored at the Luxembourg bank has been transmitted and we were able to track it to a bank of servers and computers in Syria.”

“Syria?” exclaimed Ray, sitting up and giving the news all of his attention.

“Yes Syria, but of course it belongs to our Israeli friends. We recognised their footprint or should I say their fingerprint.”

“Has any action been taken yet?”

“No, not yet Ray. We have disabled and disinfected the Trojan Horse they had planted. We have copied it and sent it with the transmission so it is sitting in their server awaiting orders from us,” answered Aya giving Ray a twirl, showing off her outfit.

“Any idea why the Israelis are so interested in collecting this data? Are they doing anything with it?”

“We believe the Israelis are going to blackmail the Bank into accepting more Israeli and associate clients which they have turned down in the past. They have loads of money to launder and the Luxembourg bank is the best at it.”

“When you say ‘We,’ who do you mean Aya?”

“Clarence and Patrick.”

“OK, what are you and they recommending should be our next step?”

“I recommended that we should contact the Bank immediately, telling them of our concerns and doubling their charges since they are carrying out illegal business. On legality, I know we broke our contract with them by delving into their system but since they are into illegal activity it shouldn’t concern us,” answered Aya.

“What do we do with the Israelis?”

“I reckon we sit on our hands for a while then activate the Trojan Horses. They will panic since they will recognise it as one of theirs,” stated Aya.

“So, what action will we enact?” asked Ray.

“First of all, it will encrypt all of the data which they have stolen plus a load of other data to make it useless to them. Secondly it will eventually damage their system irreplaceably and thirdly the Trojan Horse it will infect any associate system they are in contact with and gradually compromise those too.”

“Will any of this implicate us?”

“No Ray. They will think that they have a rogue operator on their staff who is misusing their own devise. It’s a very clever bug, we have had a devil of a job to discover it. This damage will take place over a number of months so we won’t be implicated nor will the Bank. It will cost them billions of Shekels to replace their system and will depreciate their security.”

“That’s drastic Aya,” stated Ray.

“Yes, but it will allow the foreign security services to sleep easy for a while. The Israelis will believe it is self-inflicted since we get others to send out lots of news items telling the world about this problem and warning them to check their system for this Israeli Trojan Horse. We will even instruct them how to search for it.”

“That’s clever Aya. The main thing is that we must not be implicated. Who currently knows about this in the company?”

“Only you, Clarence, Patrick and myself.”

“Good, please ensure no one else knows, not even the technicians,” stated Ray emphatically. “What else have you for me?”

“Not a lot Ray. Prof. Henderson’s team have had a breakthrough with the vaccination trials. They are double checking the results. Our gaming boys have developed five more games, ready to go to market but are arguing amongst themselves which games should be published this year. You don’t want to flood the market do you Ray? I’ve got them working on upgrades of the current games instead. Oh, I’ve also got an update in Alice’s property matters. The scoundrel who has been giving Alice so many problems has been put on a year’s probation. The arson charge has been redacted when the landscapers informed the police that the petrol can they found belonged to them.”

“How do you know all that Aya?” asked Ray scratching his head in wonderment.

“Well, I do look after your property business and nothing escapes my attention.”

“OK Aya, thank you for the updates, bye now.”

“Thank you, Ray, it’s always a pleasure to talk to you. You should take a power nap to refresh yourself and then take some time out by visiting Alice to see what wonders your workmen have done there. I was going to show you some pictures but I think it would be more appropriate for you to see it for yourself. Bye.”

“Just a moment Aya. How are my drastic actions going down with the troops since I initiated the pogrom?”

“You have initiated a treble increase in activity and rising. They are all taking your threats seriously and cutting out unnecessary work. The slower ones in the teams are being helped by the brighter ones as you suggested. There is more considered determination in the air.”

“Is anyone suffering under my new regime?”

“Not many but help is always at hand. Prof Henderson is suffering most. I have told him to cut down his hours, delegate and concentrate on important issues only. He will survive.”

“Thank you Aya. Keep me informed on these issues, Bye.”

Ray logged out of the system and wondered what he had let himself in for, talking and taking advice from a robot like a real person. He remembered that the medical scientists in Prof Henderson’s area had developed a medical self-diagnosis programme in their spare time and Aya was now checking on everyone’s health and well-being through the web cam when they logged on.

“Hi Ray, I was told you were skulking about in the undergrowth at the back. What are you doing here?” asked Alice as Ray entered the shop through the rear entrance via the new car park.

“What a welcome! Can’t a man visit his own property and visit a good friend and neighbour? No, let’s be truthful, I came to see you because Aya said I looked peaky and needed a change. She suggested I view the developments in your new car park and entrance. I’m impressed with the progress. I had a word with the foreman and he showed me the drawings. It will be quite palatial,” said Ray giving Alice a peck on the cheek.

“I’m glad you came; I want you to meet my nephew. He has brought a client in his limo and wishes to talk to you about business. He runs an exclusive private car hire business catering for weddings and funerals. Come, he’s waiting in my office, out of the way,” said Alice dragging Ray over to her tiny office. “I have some clients to see to. Ray this is Alistair. See you guys later.”

“Helo Alistair,” said Ray, shaking the young man’s hand who was smartly dressed in a chauffeur's outfit including a peaked cap.

“Good to meet you, Ray. Alice has told me all about you. All good. I’m not sure this is an appropriate time to discuss business? I should make an appointment to meet you,” said Alistair spluttering over his words with nervousness.

“Strike whilst the iron is hot, I say,” answered Ray, finding a spare box to sit on to be less domineering. “Tell me what you have in mind.”

“Alice tells me you use Uber a lot, their premium service with limos rather than Skodas. I run a car hire firm exclusively for weddings and funerals, operating mainly over weekends. I have trouble retaining good, smart drivers since I can’t give them a full week’s work. I was wondering if I could quote you for servicing your office during the week when most of your usage is. I could have a car and driver parked in your garage for your exclusive use, even two cars.”

“We have had good service from Uber so far,” stated Ray. “But we don’t have an exclusive contract with them. What kind of fleet have you got?”

“We have thirty cars with fifty part time drivers on our books. Mainly Mercedes and Jags with a few Bentleys and three vintage Rollers for special occasions. I could do you a good deal. I’m not out to make money just cover the cost of permanent drivers and fuel though that won’t be much since Alice tells me the work is mainly within the city,” spluttered out Alistair.

“Well, you certainly have a large asset base with vehicles and garaging costs. I don’t see why we can’t give you a trial. What happens if you can’t supply?” asked Ray.

“We can always supply you by subcontracting or you may wish to carry on with Uber. Half of our work is subcontracting out to other firms and quid pro quo,” answered Alistair, now more confidently.

“What will be your charging structure?” asked Ray.

“It will be by the hour including waiting time but I’ll ensure it will be less than Uber. The drivers will check that out for each journey.”

“OK, we’ll have a trial starting Monday when your first job will be to take Alice to work here. I will have a monthly account with statement as I do with Uber. Can you do that?” asked Ray.

“I’m sure we can. Drivers currently keep precise records of mileage and time. Do you want the ride to sign off each trip?” asked Alistair.

“No need, we will trust you. All our trips will be ordered automatically using Alexa so we will have precise records anyway. Let’s shake on it. Good, I’ll set up our Alexa to use you as priority. Must go, I see Alice is free. Good to meet you Alistair and best of luck with this arrangement. Hope it works out for you,” stated Ray and walked out to meet Alice in the main shop.

At their monthly board meeting Ray was scrutinising the agenda. “Mike, what’s this item on paedophilia?”

“Oh, I included it as another project we should tackle. I don’t mean producing it but the opposite,” answered Mike. “I’ll tell more when we get to it.”

“Thank God for that!” exclaimed Ray. “Now that everybody is here why don’t we start with your point? Over to you Mike.”

“There was a horrible programme on TV the other night and it dismayed me how young kids are being exploited around the world. I mentioned this to Alf and Patrick and they agreed that we should do something about it,” said Mike. “Over to you Alf.”

“We have the tools to eradicate and take down most of this despicable porn and hopefully release the kids to a better life. Aya can track down the sites easily enough, we send a bug back to the source which will do two things. Firstly, it will identify who is downloading their material and secondly it will totally destroy both parties systems and take down websites,” stated Alf emphatically.

“What have you to say Prof? Can we do this? Can we effectively close down these despicable posts?” asked Ray.

“I don’t see why not. Why haven’t we done it before says I?” said Prof Henderson. “Patrick sent me the TV programme. It was distressful!”

“Can this be done without us being implicated Alf?” asked Ray.

“Of course, it can. Once we have destroyed their equipment, they will have no way of reconstructing the pathways. VPNs aren’t as effective as they advertise at hiding the pathways. All we need is a strategy,” said Alf. “I suggest that Aya trolls through the web including the dark web, listing the sites and the sources and targets. Once we have the majority, we do this in one fell swoop. We should also spread the message that sites have been taken down, through media posts. Maybe we suggest that some Government agency had a hand in this? We should also buy shares in PC companies because there will be a huge surge in replacement sales in the aftermath. We may also consider either publishing or threatening to publish the names of all the people who have downloaded this dreadful material. This should cut down the market and break the chain.”

“OK, let’s vote on this. All in favour of tackling this issue? Unanimous. OK Alf, will you take the lead and let’s meet before we set the train in motion. This won’t eradicate paedophilia but it will stop the spread of this filth on the web. Hopefully it will set free a lot of children,” said Ray. “Now let’s get back to the trivia of the main agenda.”

A month later Ray confronted Alice with a conundrum. “I have phoned you a number of times this week, only to get your voice mail and when I phone your shop, they tell me you have gone to the doctors. Are you ill? Is there a problem you can share?”

“OK, I’ll come out with it. I’ve been to the docs to have some check-ups. My family have had a history of MS, multiple sclerosis, so I know the symptoms and I think I’m afflicted in the early stages. Mother and Grandmother suffered from it so I decided to go for a check-up. That’s all,” stated Alice in a matter of fact way.

“Oh blimey, that’s bad. What was the prognosis?” asked Ray looking worried.

“Well, I have the early stages but it will be years before I’m wheelchair bound.”

“Have you had second opinion on the matter,” asked Ray.

“Oh yes, I’ve been to a number of consultants and paid good money, they all agree. It means I have to look at my life, my future, again in a new light. I’ve had a tough life, bringing up two sons and a daughter, looking after my wheelchair bound mother and working as a manageress in a fashion shop. It was only after my mum died and the kids left home that I set up on my own and that was a struggle all the way until I met you.”

“Wow, it’s the first time you have really opened up about your past life. I didn’t know you had such a tough time. Maybe it’s time that we both re-evaluated our lives,” stated Ray. “Tell me, what would you really like to do in the future?”

“I dream of retiring and travelling around Europe in a gypsy caravan, that’s what I would like to do and I’d like to do it with someone like you, not on my own.”

“I thought you loved your job and had ambitions to take it further?”

“Oh, I do, and it’s only now when I’m on a steady footing financially, thanks to you that I can dream of other things.”

“You know I sold up and retired a few years ago but I had no one to share my retirement with so I was drawn back into work again. Now I’ve met you, I’d like to share the gypsy caravan with you,” said Ray as he cuddled up to Alice on the sofa and gave her a kiss.

“But that will mean selling up and all that upheaval. I’m not sure I’d like to go through that and you, you seem too settled in your new career. Would you give all this up?” asked Alice. “I’ve got used to all this luxury. A built-in maid, Bentley to work every morning, dining out, partying at a drop of a hat, I should miss all that Ray, I really would.”

“Look, I’m rich enough for this to continue. You could sell your business quite easily. I know you have turned down offers from the Milan people.”

“OK, OK but how could you disengage from your job. Wouldn’t it all disintegrate?” asked Alice.

“No way, Sue and Clarence would take the reins. I’m pretty redundant these days. My robot Aya makes all the important decisions. I just do the managers walk about and massage egos. I would probably hive off the property arm with a management buyout and let the rest carry on. We could both retire together and explore the world in the luxury that you seem to enjoy.”

“I would like that, the retirement with you, though I think I would like a more basic approach not flitting about from one seven-star hotel to another. Maybe not as basic as a gypsy caravan but something like a motor home with a small car in tow so that we can explore at leisure,” answered Alice with a dreamy look on her face.

“Can do but I would insist that we had a driver cum butler. I don’t think I could cope with driving a huge bus around the world these days,” suggested Ray.

“I could cope with that kind of luxury but where would the driver stay?”

“These days the cabs are fitted out with sleeping compartments and all mod cons so I wouldn’t be too worried about the driver and our privacy,” said Ray. “This will be a huge change in lifestyle, staying in camp sites, self-catering and being on the road. Could you manage that?”

“I’m sure I could but I’m not sure you could give up all this high living Ray.”

“We could give it a try and we don’t have to give up this apartment. It would be our bolt hole.”

“Well, we should plan to do this ASAP, before I’m wheelchair bound. No Ray, it will come to that. You can then pack me off to some care home and find another pretty lady to live your life with.”

“Hey, that’s not fair Alice. I’m not a cad. I know my responsibility and I will look after you through thick and thin. Don’t you worry. It may turn out that you may be looking after me instead. OK let’s go to dinner and start the next phase of our lives tomorrow, not tonight. Tonight, we enjoy ourselves to the full. Tomorrow is another day!”

“I have an important announcement to make,” said Ray as he faced the full Board. “I intend to retire in the next six months. I might as well tell you the reason since it will get out. Alison is suffering from early stages of Multiple Sclerosis and we want to retire and spend some important leisure time together before she becomes immobile.”

“Oh dear! That’s the worst news I’ve heard for a while,” stated Sue. “I can fully understand your decision, Ray.” There were nods from everybody in the room. “What are you planning to do Ray?”

“Well Alice wants to travel around Europe at a leisurely pace in a motor home. Don’t worry, we shall have a driver, an experienced coach driver to move the bus from place to place. We will also tow a small car to allow us to drive into towns etc.,” said Ray.

“Now that’s a sensible move,” said Professor Henderson. “I hate driving my small RV.”

“I’ll get Aya to research all that for you Ray and come up with the best combination of van and car,” said Alf.

“That’s very good of you Alf. I appreciate that,” answered Ray. “I suggest that Sue takes over the reins from me. We are in good shape and I shall be around if you need me. We are not going to disappear from the face of the earth. The attack on child pornography has been successful, probably more than we hoped for according to various international agencies that have been monitoring this. The Quantum computer is now operational albeit on low power but it has already helped the malaria eradication programme. Alice has accepted a generous offer for her business which I’m pleased with. The only major change I would like to see is to devolve the property side of the company.”

“Are you going to take it back under your own wing?” asked Alan.

“No, I’d like to arrange a management buyout,” answered Ray. “To continue the association with the main company, ie, so that you don’t lose your fancy apartments and these offices, I suggest that you invest some capital in it and appoint some directors.”

“I will arrange all that,” stated Sue. “Now I suggest we suspend this meeting and digest this latest news.”

“No! We carry on,” stated Ray emphatically. “We have a full agenda of important items that need to be settled today. I suggest that Sue takes over as Chair. I’m not taking a back seat just yet.”

“Can I propose that we add another important item to the agenda,” said Mike. “As a leaving present we provide Ray and Alice with a fully furnished motor home and car.”

“Good point Mike!” said Patrick “And get Sue to arrange a fabulous leaving party. We all like a good party,”

Solar Blast…. Solar flare causing a disturbance generate intense magnetic fields that burn delicate electronic equipment in a flash Giant Solar flares