We Don't have a Choice!

Then I realized that Joanna hadn't mentioned taking blood from my husband. Surely, she wouldn't go directly to Brian. That just reinforced the importance of telling him everything.

Oh, but those contacts for future business would be very nice to have. I knew Roger was a sharp businessman. I wondered whether he'd still be willing to help after I missed his party.

---------------------------

As I drove to work, I recalled my play with Brooke last night in bed. Our fantasy conversation about sleeping with other partners had definitely made us both excited. The sex had seemed more intense, probably because it seemed so taboo. I pondered whether Brooke really meant what she'd said about sleeping with others. Of course I could never imagine how we'd approach asking some other couple, let alone how I could get Brooke to willingly agree.

Arriving at my office I was immediately shocked back to earth by reality. As I sat down with a coffee, Rico dropped in.

With my anxiety overriding politeness, I snapped: "Have you found anything?"

"Not yet Brian. I've conducted some general scans but have found nothing unusual. This really needs a surgical examination. It will take time."

"The person we're looking for was in Seattle on Thursday night. Can we identify who didn't log in on their work computer that day? They can only gain access to those particular drives through their work computers; can't they?"

"That's correct. It's reasonably simple to see who logged in, but determining if someone logged in remotely from Seattle will take longer."

"Well if you can give the names of those that didn't log on at all, that at least gives me some suspects to consider."

"I'll get onto that now."

As Rico rushed off, I realized I should determine who would've been on vacation. That would reduce the potential list of suspects, unless that was why Saturn was in Seattle. Even though I was now confused I decided to walk around the office before visiting HR.

Checking staff at workstations didn't give me any insights. I identified that four workstations looked as though there was no one present today. Checking with Sonia Prentice, my HR officer, I confirmed that Myer, Simpson, Chow, Jordan and Leigh were on vacation last week. Also Simpson, Chow, Osman, Leigh and Wozniak were on vacation this week.

I was passing the Finance area on my way back to my desk when I had an inspiration. If they travelled for work, the person will probably have used a company credit card to pay for the hotel. On entering the Finance area, I spotted Scarlett in her office giving me a welcoming smile and then a beckoning wave.

As I entered, I casually said: "Good morning, Scarlett," before closing the door. I took the chair that she offered.

"What can I do for you today, Brian?" Scarlett asked with a sultry voice.

I immediately recalled our discussions at the boss's dance party. I only let her implied offer distract me momentarily before I focused on the problem of Saturn.

"I've a problem where you may be able to help. Confidentiality prevents me from giving you the reason, but I need to know which company employees may have been in Seattle last Thursday night." I handed her a piece of paper detailing; Seattle Thursday, July 6.

Looking somewhat perplexed she questioned: "How do you expect me to know?"

"If they were on company business, they may have rented a car, paid for accommodation or paid for a meal using a company credit card. I was wondering if you'd be able to do a search for me. Initially it may only be necessary to look at Development Division personnel."

"That would take me hours and frankly I have higher priorities. I'm sorry but I'm busy completing reports for the Board including budgets and next year forecasts. All this is due next week. Can't your managers tell you who was in Seattle?"

"My concern is that it may be one of them and this enquiry must be kept secret."

Scarlett didn't say anything while she pondered my request. "You know I must follow company rules that state that if a member's expenses are to be investigated, they're to be notified. That means I would need to inform everyone."

"Ah ... that wouldn't be a good idea. Plus that rule would've been established for cases involving fraud. This is something different."

I contemplated telling Scarlett more of the circumstances to have her consider an exception when she offered: "Of course I might be persuaded that the company rule would only be applicable to the person that we discover had been in Seattle."

"If you delayed telling the individual for a week or more due to your other heavy work commitments distracting you, do you think it would comply with the spirit of the company rule?"

"Well I'd need to be convinced over dinner and some recreation at my place tomorrow night."

Her offer threw me off balance for a moment. I'd little doubt what she meant. Although I knew I couldn't accept, for some inexplicable reason I replied: "I always have band practice on Wednesday."

I've never had anyone accuse me of blushing before, but I could feel my face flush as it felt very warm. Why was I toying with temptation? This wasn't a fantasy. Why was I being so reckless in reality?

"Thursday would be better for me also. I've seen you working late. No one would be any the wiser if you stopped by to view my home renovations, particularly those in my bedroom."

Now I was disconcerted and struggled to form a reply. Each time I encountered Scarlett about the office, I treated myself to a brief assessment of her body and wondered what an experience with her would be like. There was a difference between enjoying a mild fantasy and actually cheating on my wife. I resolved to set her straight.

"Come on Scarlett. You know I can't."

"Your wife need never know. I know you want me, so that is my offer. If your investigation is so important, let me know your answer tomorrow. Just now I need to get back to work."

I just gave a reluctant nod and left her office. I decided discretion was the best strategy until I'd considered my options. I'd have to find an alternate way to force her to do my bidding. Perhaps I should just ask Marvin to give her a directive even if it did make me look weak and incompetent.

That afternoon as I drove for my first meeting with the CEO of SEC, I had to postpone all considerations of catching Saturn. This SEC meeting needed my full attention.

I now had to recall everything I knew about Roger Hamstead and the missile to be manufactured by Skilled Enterprises Corporation.

I'd compiled the proposal we'd sent to them, however my only direct communication with Mr Hamstead had been through a few emails. Today he wanted to meet with me so we could discuss final testing, integrate our production timelines and review security processes. I needed him to finally commit to the terms of our proposed contract, particularly the financial arrangements.

Even before Marvin's warning I knew Hamstead's reputation for tough negotiation was legendary. My team had been dealing with SEC for a couple of months, however this was mainly to enable feasibility testing to be conducted. Throughout this feasibility phase our people retained control over the critical software and hardware. I now half expected that Hamstead would attempt to negotiate a different price.

When I arrived at SEC, I was asked to wait at the security desk. This was to be expected; however I knew Hamstead liked to put pressure on competitors through procedural intimidation. I was consequently quite surprised that as soon as I was seated the security guard came and explained that Ms Joanna Dickinson was here to escort me.

Before me stood a young woman wearing a formal smile. She was slim but shapely and her silky blonde hair was in voluminous tresses. My eyes were instantly drawn to her striking cleavage. This made it a struggle to raise my eyes back to view her sweet face. I could feel her alert eyes examine me before her assessment was revealed by her spreading smile.

"How do you do, Mr Fletcher. My name is Joanna Dickinson, but please call me Joanna. Roger Hamstead has asked me to keep it informal and relaxed."

"Well I should also reciprocate the courtesy. Please call me Brian."

"Brian, my role is to facilitate the cooperation between our companies, so please don't hesitate to ask for anything from me ..." then with alluring eyes and pursed lips she added "... I mean absolutely anything."

I recall I swallowed several times in preparation before replying, but I was uncertain what I could say. Did she just flirt with me or was she naturally gregarious?

"Now Brian, if you'd please follow me, I'll lead you up to Roger's office."

As I stood in the elevator looking at the floor numbers to avoid staring at her, Joanna explained: "Roger asked me to bring you straight into his office, if that's alright with you?"

I nodded and confirmed with: "That will be fine."

When Joanna led me into Roger Hamstead's office, he instantly left his chair to greet me. "Good afternoon, Brian and welcome to Skilled Enterprises Corporation. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Not completely relaxed I replied: "Thank you Roger. I'm looking forward to cementing our relationship for this new missile."

"Well in that regard, I don't think you'll need to worry further. I'll tell you more in a minute, but can I offer you a drink. I was about to have a coffee."

"Coffee with milk and one sugar would be great, thank you."

"Joanna, would you please ask Norma to fix coffee for the three of us." Turning back to me, Roger continued: "If you've no objection, I'd like Joanna to sit in for our conversation as I've designated her to be our liaison whenever we can't talk directly. Please join me at this table as I've some documents to show you."

Joanna was soon back and pulled up a third chair.

Roger then continued: "Marvin led me to believe that you prepared your company's proposal documents and even the contract."

"I had assistance of course and ensured that experts reviewed it."

"Well our lawyers have found no problems with the contract terms. In fact they were complimentary that you seem to have anticipated changes and additional opportunities. That is relevant as I've just heard that not only have the Air Force and DARPA accepted that our weapon system easily achieved Mach 5 flight, but the Navy is also wanting to develop an anti-ship version."

"That does sound promising," although I'd always thought this was inevitable, I tried to sound suitably enthusiastic. "Does that mean you will be accepting the price schedule as well?"

"Yes. I just have to wait for the Board's clearance in two weeks' time. The other detail I'd planned to give you today was the delivery schedule. I have it here in this folder, but given this new development, we will probably now need to increase the quantities."

We spent about an hour agreeing on security protocols and other proposals that SEC was exploring. It was obvious that Roger considered this promising for what he eagerly described as further collaboration. By the end of the meeting I'd relaxed significantly. All our dealings had seemed extremely open and fair. It left me wondering if Roger's reputation had been somewhat exaggerated.

As I left the meeting, Joanna accompanied me so she could introduce me to their Operations Manager and the Trials Coordinator. She politely steered me back to the elevator again.

Once the door closed, she said: "Roger must be impressed with your proposal. I've never seen him so open with clients. He is obviously keen on our partnership." She then patted me on the arm and leant in closer as she discreetly added: "That's excellent. It means I'll often have the pleasure of your company."

Now I've come across ingratiating employees before, but this felt quite different. Joanna was being personal and intimate. I knew I should have been embarrassed but perversely I was feeling quite flattered. After all, it was my experience that most attractive women put up intimacy barriers in the workplace. Uncharacteristically, Joanna was being warmly companionable.

After brief conversations with Bruce Campbell and Julian Garcia, Joanna accompanied me from the building, finishing with a warm farewell.

Back in my car I felt relief and some satisfaction that a perceived problem had vanished. The relief was brief as recalling the Saturn problem sent a chill down my spine.

---------------------------

As Brian had texted me that he'd soon be home, dinner preparations were well underway when he walked in. As usual, he greeted me with a kiss, however I could tell his mind was elsewhere.

Although at dinner he talked to the girls about their day, it was obvious his questions were perfunctory. He seemed to be going through the motions without real interest.

I knew I had to make some declaration about the embarrassing situation I'd got into, but Brian's issues seemed more critical. It was after the children were in bed that I was able to ask what the problem was.

We were sitting at the kitchen table when I asked: "Did everything go well with your meeting today, dear?"

"Yes, the meeting with SEC went off better than expected."

"So what's troubling you?"

"I still have no idea who the spy called Saturn could be. This is serious. If I don't find out who he is, the FBI will veto our contract with SEC. If that happens, I can kiss my job goodbye."

"I hadn't realized it was so serious." I pondered the implications. My own business income was nothing compared with Brian's. Plus my income reflected the fickle nature of the market. I knew that we could never service our mortgage without his income. Even if he was able to secure another job after being fired, it would never be at the same level of salary. This was definitely a family problem.

Brian looked deflated as he explained: "Rico, my IT guy, is working through all the transactions on the server to identify who has had access to the software. Then I'll have to determine whether that access was legitimate or not. The problem is that it may take longer than I have. The FBI indicated that I needed to identify Saturn prior to the end of next week."

"Can't you determine who would've been in Seattle that day?"

"I've checked the employee vacation records. There were five guys on vacation last week, but with our new flexible work arrangements, it could have been almost anyone who was supposedly working from home. My only consolation is that to gain access to the software, it must be done at work. Our protocols are such that no employee can gain access to more than one third of the system."

Wanting to be helpful, I suggested: "Let's see if we can do some brainstorming. If someone went to Seattle it could be for work reasons ... or private reasons. What work reasons are there?"

"We've some suppliers in Seattle. There are four teams on this project and three of them could have reasons to liaise with suppliers. The managers have traditionally used these trips as a reward, so it could be anyone in those three teams. It does eliminate about a dozen, that still leaves 35 people who could have been there."

"Can't your managers tell you who they sent?"

"Yes, but I'm concerned that it's probably one of the managers. Although each manager only has access to one of the components, they're in the best position to somehow intimidate an employee from another team to cooperate. Asking for the managers' help may tip off Saturn. I may have to take that risk if I can't find out more by the end of the week."

I was now fully appreciating his problem. Undertaking an investigation without discovery was the real dilemma. Searching for inspiration, I asked: "Is there some other way to find out who could have been in Seattle?"

"I asked the Finance officer to check credit card records. If they were there for work purposes, there would be expenses for travel, cars or accommodation, unless they stayed with a friend."

"Well there you are. What did he say?"

"It's a she. It's Scarlett. You know, the woman I introduced you to before we danced at Marvin's."

"So?"

"She claims it's against company policy and that she is too busy. She said she'd do it if I went to her home for ... err ... to view her bedroom. I'm pretty sure she means ... sex."

That was unexpected! The cogs in my brain must have been whirring so loudly that they could be heard, but I kept my mouth closed. I could see Brian's embarrassment and despondency.

Before I could say anything, he added: "I told her that was impossible."

I was confident that Brian would never cheat on me. Consequently, I knew that if it was the only solution, I'd have to be the one to make the decision. However I needed to be certain. "Have you any other ideas or options?"

"Not really," he sighed with resignation.

This wasn't the time for hysteria about how unfair the world could be. Brian needed my support. It was with a sense of impersonal detachment that I concluded: "Well then if that's the only option, then you have to do it."

I could see that my cold calculating assessment had shocked him. He looked into my eyes for the longest time as if he was gauging my conviction.

Finally he said: "I will ask Marvin to order her to provide the information. I wanted to avoid that as he made it clear that it was my problem, but it's the best solution."

Strangely, I didn't feel a sense of relief. The more I considered my decision, I was glad I'd given him the option. It was also my way of saying that I loved him and trusted him, without qualification. However I hadn't finished the brainstorming.

"In the meantime, can you get HR to check their records as to who was born in Seattle or has some connection to the place?"

"They should be able to do some searches. We should have records on their birthplace ... their education institutions ... and their next of kin. That's a great idea, love."

"I hope you can put your problem aside until tomorrow as I also have something to share."

"Go on."

"As you know, I met with my client today. He has invited us both to his opening party on Saturday evening next week."

"Well that's nice of him. I'm sure you put in many additional hours that you aren't being paid for."

"Well the problem is that it's a swinger's party?"

I studied Brian's face for a moment and quickly added: "I'd accepted before I knew the nature of the party. It was only when his assistant took blood for a test that I realized what had been planned. Of course I'll have to give our apologies ... just prior to the event."

"OK, that doesn't sound like a crisis, but it's a shame not to go and hear what others think of your work. Would you like us to attend and then leave early as one of us is sick."

"I don't think I could do that. The real disappointment is that Roger ... Mr Hamstead has recommended my work to several friends who will be attending the party. I don't have any other projects at the moment, and it would've been the break that I needed."

"Did you say, Roger Hamstead?"

"Yes, today he complimented my work and insisted I call him Roger now. Why, what is it?"

"There can't be two Roger Hamsteads. He is the CEO of SEC; the company I'm doing business with. I met him today."

"Does he know you're my husband?"

"I don't know." Brian screwed up his forehead in thought before asking: "What did you tell me that Marvin said when he spoke to him?"

"Oh ... so that was him. Now that you mention it, it may have been a Roger that he mentioned. He said, he didn't know how we young swingers got all our energy."

"So Roger thinks we're swingers. This not only affects your architectural prospects, it will also affect my business relationship. I was just thinking that there would be no problems dealing with SEC. Maybe that was why I was received with not only hospitality, but also unexpected friendship. He even wanted to discuss future collaboration with me."