The Fund. Jeff Edwards

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СКАЧАТЬ for a PM’s brother. In two years time the current US President will have completed his last term in office and must retire. Any hope of using his video then ceases to be an option. I don’t think we’d even get two thousand hits if his video were released after his retirement. Our generation is taking over and we just don’t care that much about men behaving badly decades ago.’

      Brian pushed back his chair. He knew Justine well by now. ‘I can understand what you’re saying because the same idea had occurred to me. It’s worried me as well, but I thought we could have used the videos for a lot longer yet.’

      Justine nodded. ‘We have a few years at best. Definitely not decades.’

      ‘Okay. What’s your solution?’

      ‘What makes you think I have a solution?’

      ‘Because I can hear your devious mind cranking over from here. Justine and I know you wouldn’t have brought the subject up if you didn’t have a plan.’

      Justine rewarded Brian with one of her few smiles. ‘The answer is intelligence. The videos were all right for their time, but today they’re too limited. Sex is nothing now. What we have to do is collect information on a variety of people, particularly those in power. We need to collect all manner of what may seem to be useless information. We have to know everything from their shoe size to how much he has in the bank and where they’ve secreted their secret funds. There are lots of data gathering groups around that are already trying to do some of this, but we have to go beyond. We have to become a version of “Big Brother”.’

      ‘Why?’ asked Lana.

      ‘The more information we have on someone the more power we have over them.’

      ‘I don’t see what knowing their shoe size will do for us,’ laughed Lana.

      Justine didn’t laugh. This was totally serious to her. She regarded Lana with the look of a stern schoolmistress trying to teach a naughty child. ‘Suppose we needed a favour from a government official in a very poor country. Suppose he has an unusual shoe size that doesn’t allow him to purchase the correct size locally because they couldn’t afford to stock them. So, he’s getting around in ill-fitting shoes that constantly hurt his feet. We go to him for a favour and just happen to have a spare pair of shoes in his correct size. Will he do the favour for us? To stop his feet from hurting, I think he will.’

      Lana conceded that Justine had a point. ‘But this means collecting a vast amount of information. It’s too big a task for anyone. Besides, we have almost unlimited funds. We can get what we want, anytime we want. It’s just a matter of paying the asking price.’

      ‘The example of the shoes is an oversimplified one,’ conceded Justine, ‘but it is an example of how I want to go.’

      Brian broke in. ‘I’m afraid I have to agree with Justine. Money will not get us what we want on every occasion. In fact, if we try to buy our way out of every situation it’ll create precedents. Word will get around that we’re prepared to bribe all and sundry to get our projects under way and people will deliberately place barriers in our path just so they can get a share of the pie. Our unlimited funds will soon become very limited. If we can get a project through for the price of a pair of shoes it will be well worth us investing in the background information.’

      Lana conceded their points. ‘Well, now that we’re to become spies, how is all this information collection going to work?’

      ‘I’m glad you asked,’ acknowledged Justine. ‘You see, we’re going to have projects going on all over the world and the other workers here at The Fund will be dealing with hundreds of government officials from many nations and at all levels of government. When we talk to them about our projects we’ll do so in a friendly way and encourage them to make small talk with us. They’ll tell us things during these discussions that may seem unimportant at the time but could be very significant in the future. We simply record all these discussions and then enter them into our computers. The computers will cross reference the information with other data fed into it and you’ll be surprised what sort of intelligence we can turn up without even looking for it.’

      Eliza added, ‘A minor official told me the other day that the person who I will be dealing with when I arrive in Africa is a big fan of Disneyland. Apparently he’s been to Anaheim several times, so I’ve purchased some rare editions of Donald Duck comics to take with me.’

      Nori smiled at the thought of Eliza the Goth handing over some Donald Duck comics to the leader of an African country in exchange for The Fund receiving water rights to a distant river. That water would then allow an impoverished tribe to move from their previously war-torn lands to start a new life in a safe zone.

      ‘We simply ask to record each conversation?’ asked Brian.

      ‘I doubt that any government official in any country would allow that. They couldn’t cover their gold-plated behinds if something went wrong. They can’t afford to be recorded giving their permission,’ said Toby.

      ‘I agree,’ said Eliza. ‘It must be done secretly. I know just the sort of equipment we’ll need. I’ll get Dad to work on procuring it.’

      Justine continued. ‘After each meeting, or whenever the information comes to hand, it’ll be entered into a laptop computer that everyone will carry. Once a day the information will be encoded and transmitted to our core computers here, where it will be held pending verification. Nothing will be accepted as fact until we can obtain some form of verification from another source.

      ‘It’s still going to be a monumental task,’ said Suzie.

      ‘Of course it is,’ confirmed Justine. ‘We’re going to need a lot of specialised help with this, not only collecting the information but in confirming its accuracy and finally deciding how and when it can be used. We’re going to need professional help for that. However, if we start now, while the videos still have their power, then by the time they’re obsolete our dominant position will remain.’

      Nori smiled. ‘I can just imagine how much information you girls will be able to collect in Paris. I know the way shop assistants like to talk about their other customers.’

      Suzie’s face dropped. ‘I was looking forward to a week of indulgences. Now you’ve turned it into an assignment!’

      ‘The same goes for the boys in Jersey and Jamaica,’ said Ali.

      ‘Spoilsports!’ glared Eliza.

      ‘I’m sure our trip to see the children will be just as harrowing,’ laughed Ali.

      Chapter 7

      Sam stretched his tall frame to loosen his cramped muscles and went to open his balcony door. He needed to let some fresh air into his apartment.

      The three of them had been going over the files all evening and the atmosphere in the cramped flat smelt stale with the lingering aroma of too many cups of coffee.

      They each took a turn in Sam’s shower before changing into fresh clothes. Finally they left the files where they lay and walked across the road to Sam’s favourite café where he led them to his regular table.

      Sloane took Sam’s advice and had the ploughman’s special, a meal guaranteed to send his cholesterol level into orbit, while Bree wisely selected fresh fruit and toast.

      The СКАЧАТЬ