Little Differences

Anna spoke in a tone that she hoped would soothe Peggy when she said, "You are correct. Avery and I have complete profiles on both of you, but we are the only ones at Saturn Systems with access to the details within them."

"Why?" Gabe asked.

Anna continued, "It is part of the vetting process for vendors and sub-contractors required under our government contracts. Even though Armore does not support any of our secure government projects or products, any organization that we do business with must meet the same standards, such as being American owned, and not involved in anything that violates local or international laws."

Avery said, "We monitored the investigation into the conspiracy involving your key executives very closely and were within in days of terminating our contract with Armore when the matter seemed to resolve itself."

Gabe saw the wink from Avery English and wondered what it meant. He couldn't know the truth. He just couldn't.

Chapter Nineteen

Peggy was still shaking her head in frustration as she said, "How can two people be so polite and professional yet so disrespectful at the same time?"

Gabe was driving. They had just crossed the border between South Carolina and Georgia on Interstate 85. Peggy had been lamenting about their meeting with Avery and Anna English for over forty-five minutes, which began when they had re-entered the rental car in the parking lot of Saturn Systems.

"Are you still talking about the form they insisted you complete?" Gabe asked.

Nodding, Peggy said, "That's most of it. Why even mention an interest in acquiring Armore if they knew that they couldn't discuss with us why they would be interested in doing so?"

"Their explanation could make sense. If it is related to their government contracts and deemed by the government to involve sensitive information that they would need to share with us, then the requirement that you complete the Standard Form 86 isn't unreasonable."

Gabe was referring to the "Questionnaire for National Security Positions" forms that the Englishs had asked Peggy to complete on the tablet Avery had passed to her after lunch.

"But why not you? I think that I made it perfectly clear to them that you and I made decisions together. They just ignored me."

"I don't think that they were ignoring you so much as they were recognizing that while you and I may discuss matters related to Armore, you are the one with the legal authority to make all the decisions. Yes, thirty-eight percent of the shares are owned by me, but by virtue of you being the trustee that controls those shares, yours is the only decision that matters."

He was more concerned about the intelligence the owners of Saturn Systems appeared to have on him and Peggy as individuals, as well as on the status of Armore. If knowledge was power, why were Avery and Anna English so cavalier in disclosing that they had so much knowledge to him and Peggy?

"No," Peggy insisted. "If they expect me to decide without being able to discuss all the facts with you, then they won't get a decision from me. I don't care what sort of security clearance I have or what secrets that they want to discuss with me, it isn't happening without you."

"Well, it's unlikely that the background checks required for even the lowest level of security clearance would be completed before we get back to California. Plus, it's not like you're interested in selling Armore anyway, so just ignore them or refuse to take the next meeting that they mentioned wanting."

Peggy was silent for several minutes before asking, "Am I though?"

"Are you what?"

"Am I not interested in selling Armore? When we had the shareholder meeting I was certainly against it, but things aren't the same now. Maybe we should discuss it rather than discount it out of hand."

"Okay, what are the pros and cons of entertaining offers?" Gabe asked.

"Without my father being around to contribute, running Armore will be a yoke around our necks, especially as we try to start our own family. The challenge doesn't intimidate me, especially with you beside me, but it isn't what I dreamt it would be anymore. Do you understand?"

"I do, and I remember our conversation about your father's continued involvement in running Armore until his retirement giving you time to have our kids and raise them through their most formative years before having to assume the helm completely. What else?"

"It would be too limiting for you. I know that you would willingly sacrifice your own ambitions to help me run Armore, but I have seen you in action. I have gained significantly more insight into your knowledge, intelligence, and skills over the past few weeks and I know that you are destined to be and do so much more. I have caught only glimpses of your capabilities but I know that they exceed those of even the very best former United States Marine Corps aviator. There's a lot more to you below the surface. I know it. I've seen it, and I love it. I don't want to hold you back."

Gabe ignored Peggy's observations about him and asked, "Don't you have any sentimental attachment to the company that your mom and dad founded? Wouldn't it be hard to lose that? We could find competent people to run the company without you having to sell it."

"No," Peggy said. "I mean, yeah, there are sentimental aspects of the company that I would be losing, but I know that as long as I held a controlling interest in the company, I would feel responsible for it and need to stay too involved in its operations. That wouldn't be fair to you or our children."

"Okay, how about if we spend the next couple of days reviewing those offers that were brought up during the shareholder meeting? If nothing else, they will give us some idea of what value others are placing on Armore. I'll also ask Admiral Jenkins to provide an updated valuation analysis for me on Armore. She has most of the latest information from when I had her evaluate the share prices for me. Let's compare those numbers and then see where the folks from Saturn Systems come in with their offer. I think it's likely that the unsolicited offers will tell us more about what others perceive the value of Armore to be than anything else, and allow us to examine all of them with our eyes open."

"That all sounds fine, but please ask your Admiral Jenkins to keep things quiet. I'm not committed to any one direction right now and I wouldn't want any rumors to get started at Armore about us even thinking about selling."

~~~

Gabe answered the knock on their hotel door to find an attractive woman in her late forties wearing the uniform of a Colonel in the United States Air Force. "Yes, may I help you?" he asked.

"Good morning, Mr. Lewis. I'm Wendy Wallace with the Air Force Judge Advocate General's office. I am here to see Margaret Donahue if she is available."

"I am available," Peggy said as she descended the stairway in the Maritzen Suite of the Emma Hotel. She was still in the process of threading one of her earrings into her ear, but had completed the task by the time that she reached the bottom of the stairs. "What can I do for you, Colonel?"

Their drive from Atlanta to San Antonio had been uneventful and slightly faster than anticipated with the higher speed limits once they had crossed over into Texas. When they had checked into the hotel the previous afternoon, they had been informed to expect a visitor to their suite at eight the next morning, so while the person turned out to be an officer in the Air Force, her arrival wasn't unexpected.

Colonel Wallace extended her hand to Peggy and the two women politely shook before the Colonel asked, "Is there a place where we might sit and go over a few documents together?"

"Of course," Peggy said. "Right over here."

She took Gabe's hand in hers and led Colonel Wallace to the formal seating area of the suite where there were two large overstuffed leather chairs separated from a matching sofa by a heavy wooden coffee table. Peggy led Gabe to the sofa and they sat together while Colonel Wallace took a seat in one of the chairs across from them. She opened her satchel and withdrew a file folder, which she set onto the top of the coffee table.

Addressing Peggy, she said, "I have been asked to review with you the scope and parameters of the security clearance that has been approved for you."

"It's been approved already?" Peggy asked. "It's only been five days, and two of those were weekend days."

"It was approved last Friday," the Colonel informed her. "I happened to be in the area on personal business over the weekend, so I was asked to spend a few minutes explaining things to you today since you would also be in town. May I continue?"

Peggy glanced at Gabe and then looked back at the Colonel and said, "As long as Gabe can hear whatever you have to say, I'm fine with you continuing. If he can't listen in, then your time here is wasted and I'll ask you to leave."

Colonel Wallace smiled and said, "There is nothing that I am going to discuss with you that Mr. Lewis isn't allowed to hear."

Bruce Goddard had told them, "Since you're going to be driving back to California anyway, why don't you stop in San Antonio and at least listen to what Brandt Consulting has to say?" Gabe had always believed that it never hurt to hear what someone else had to say, and a brief visit to San Antonio would be a nice break to their cross-country trip, for the food if nothing else, so he had agreed to take the meeting. He was still struggling with the similarities between, what he had always believed to be a fictional company, and the apparent existence of a real one with the same name.

"How did you, and I assume the Englishs know that we were going to be stopping in San Antonio on our trip to California?" Gabe asked. He was beginning to wonder if a tracker had been placed on one or both of them, or if they were otherwise being watched for some reason.

"I'm just told where to be and when. Where the information comes from is above my pay grade. May I continue?"

Peggy and Gabe merely nodded and listened as Colonel Wallace detailed the TS/SCI clearance that had been approved for Margaret Donahue by the Director of National Intelligence. Peggy didn't understand many of the terms and acronyms used but when Gabe silently mouthed, "I'll explain," to her, she let the Colonel continue without interruption. Peggy did understand the penalties that Colonel Wallace listed for betraying her country's trust by revealing any secrets learned through the security clearance granted her.

When she had completed her tutorial, Colonel Wallace had Peggy sign several documents acknowledging the things that she had been told, and then she quickly placed everything back into her satchel and stood. "I can show myself out," she told them as they prepared to rise from the sofa. Gabe and Peggy sat and watched as the Colonel walked briskly to the door and left the suite.

Peggy turned to Gabe and said, "I don't understand two things. First, why would I need that level of clearance for the details about what Saturn Systems does for the government to be shared with me? I mean, understanding that they do secret work without knowing exactly what that secret work is should be adequate, don't you think?"

Gabe was contemplating something in his own mind, so he simply nodded at Peggy's question. She continued, "Secondly, I don't understand why they went to the trouble of getting the clearance for me when I made it crystal clear that I would not hold any discussions with them without you in attendance. They are still ignoring the fact that you would need the same level of clearance as me."

"I don't think that this is just about Saturn Systems anymore," Gabe said.

Before Peggy could ask for Gabe to clarify his statement, the house phone for the suite rang. It was on the side table beside where she sat, so she answered it. After thanking the caller, she said, "A car is downstairs for us. I guess that answers the question about where we are meeting the folks from Brandt Consulting. We're being chauffeured to wherever it is."

~~~

Gabe had been to San Antonio a few times so he knew the general layout of the city. The downtown area where their hotel was located was bisected in some fashion by Interstate 10, as well as US Highway 281, Interstate 35, and Interstate 37. There were two major "loops" around the city; Interstate 410 being the "inner loop" and Highway 1604 being the "outer loop". There were no onramps to any of the freeways within several blocks of the hotel, which left their driver with the option of surface streets as he navigated them toward the eastern part of the city. Gabe couldn't keep track of the street names as the driver sped past numerous side streets before finally settling onto the northbound frontage road for Interstate 35.

Surprising to Gabe, the driver bypassed several opportunities to transition from the frontage road onto the freeway until just before the interstate converged with Interstate 410 near the San Antonio Military Medical Center. The driver navigated right, across several lanes in order to take the first exit, which put them once more onto the northbound frontage road. Just before the intersection with Eisenhauer Road, they crossed under the overpass, making a U-turn onto the southbound access road. The driver once more navigated multiple lanes of traffic to cross into the far-right lane in time to pull into a parking lot.

"Restorations by Bobby" was the name of the business. Studying the large building that they were pulling up to, Peggy and Gabe saw ground to roof plate glass windows for a showroom with several restored classic cars and trucks. Standing in front of the entrance doors were Avery and Anna English.

Peggy whispered, "You said that you didn't think that this was just about Saturn Systems. Care to change your opinion?"

Gabe simply shook his head as Avery English stepped over and opened the rear passenger door. "Welcome to Brandt Consulting," Avery said in greeting.

Gabe slid out of the backseat and stood to help Peggy exit behind him. She took his hand and stared at the Englishs. "My position hasn't changed," Peggy informed them. "I will not have any discussion that Gabe is excluded from due to his not having the required security clearance..."

Anna interrupted Peggy and said, "Please, let's go inside where our conversation can be held someplace a bit more private."

Reluctantly, Peggy allowed Gabe to lead her as he followed Avery and Anna through the double glass doors and through the showroom toward the back of the building. They led them into a conference room and closed the door behind them. Everyone remained standing.

"Can we offer you some coffee or anything else to drink?" Anna asked.

"We're fine, thank you," Peggy replied as she surveyed the room. The walls were covered with dozens of pictures depicting what looked like before-and-after images of classic cars that had been restored. She didn't recognize all of the makes and models, but she did recognize that the transformations had been impressive.

Still standing, Gabe asked, "What is the relationship between Saturn Systems and Brandt Consulting? There must be one for you two to be here."

Avery English nodded and said, "A symbiotic relationship does exist..."

Peggy interrupted him and asked, "What type of symbiotic relationship; mutualist, communalist, predation, parasitic, or competitive?"

"It's entirely mutualistic," Anna assured them. "Please have a seat and we can begin..."

Peggy's voice rose as she asked, "Are you two deaf or just stupid. I have no intention of discussing anything with you that Gabe can't be involved in. I told you when you asked me to fill out those security forms that..."

Avery chuckled slightly and said, "Miss Donahue, you were not required to obtain a security clearance so that we could discuss things with you. You need it to listen to what is going to be discussed with Captain Lewis. Please take a seat and let us explain."

Peggy glanced at Gabe, "Captain Lewis?"

Gabe silently pulled one of the chairs out at the conference table for Peggy and then slowly sat in the one beside her. Things were taking a turn that he hadn't anticipated and he was mentally chastising himself for not considering all of the possibilities for this meeting. He had been so convinced that Brandt Consulting existed only as a fictional organization in some twisted author's imagination that he had never imagined any part of it being real.

As soon as Avery and Anna had taken seats on the opposite side of the table, the monitor on the wall came alive with the face of Trent Ehrlinger, Secretary of Homeland Security.

"Good morning, Anna and Avery," Ehrlinger said. Watching his eyes move to Peggy's face, he said, "Miss Donahue, it's a pleasure to meet you and I hope to get the opportunity to do so in person very soon." Turning to Gabe, he said, "It's good to see you again, Captain."

Gabe nodded and said, "Likewise, Mr. Secretary. Is this meeting at your request?"

"Yes, it is, and I'll explain the purpose to you shortly. First, let me begin by assuring you that a great deal of research and effort has been expended in order for the President to agree with what we will be discussing today, so I don't want you to think that this is some half-cocked idea."

Gabe simply nodded and said, "Understood." He felt Peggy take his left hand into hers as she waited for Ehrlinger to continue.

"Miss Donahue," Ehrlinger began, "do you mind if I call you 'Peggy'?"

"That would be fine."

Ehrlinger nodded and said, "I want to convey the President's most sincere condolences for the recent loss of your father and Janelle Sanders. We understand that their deaths were the result of a mistaken belief by a mentally unstable man, but that doesn't lessen the pain for you or the injustice of what occurred. I also want to offer my own personal condolences and offer any assistance that you might need going forward with your life."

"Thank you, sir."

Glancing around at each of the faces, Ehrlinger said, "I guess I should start with explaining why Saturn Systems is interested in acquiring Armore Corporation. Peggy, you know that Armore provides certain helpdesk, training, and field marketing support for Saturn Systems' commercial products, such as the Orbit enterprise system, and many of their middleware and database products. Armore does not currently support any of the more sensitive products that Saturn Systems provides for our nation's intelligence operations and cybersecurity programs. These products are supported entirely within the sensitive compartmental facilities at Saturn Systems and select government installations. As the government's reliance on Saturn Systems' products has increased, the requirements for support have also increased. They could expand their workforce, but it makes more sense for them to look at acquiring another organization with staff already skilled in the required support that only needs to learn the new products and obtain the required security clearances. This is the second reason that Armore was considered the primary organization for Saturn Systems to acquire."

"Why would they need to acquire Armore?" Peggy asked. "We could determine how many people they needed at their facilities, get the required security clearances, and then outsource the staffing for them under our current contract."

Ehrlinger was nodding as Peggy spoke. When she finished, he said, "True, but that would not address the number one reason for them to acquire Armore."

"And what is that?" Peggy asked.

She expected to hear the answer come from the monitor. Instead, it came from beside her when Gabe said, "Me."