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Chapter 1 Rider of the Green Buffalo

All the equipment and supplies Nick had requested seemed to have been loaded in the Unicorn. Vacation had finally arrived; a time to relax and enjoy doing something there was normally no time for. Nick always looked forward to any free time, being the sole owner of (Si)3 (Scotland Industries, The Third Generation) was a job that demanded all of his concentration. Everything Nick Scotland did at Scotland Industries was interesting, but at the same time the work was very intense and extremely demanding. There was never enough time for everything that had to be done, so Nick delegated his work load as he saw fit. He had always been a heavy handed task master when it came to his own time and schedule, and expected the same, if not more from his employees. He was the kind of boss everyone wanted, do the work required in the fastest most efficient way that you could and do it to the best of your abilities, that's all he wanted. Because of his attitude and ways with people, for every dollar he gave in wages he always seemed to get two dollars back in employee’s effort. Nicks employees were the key to the operation of (SI)3 and he valued each and every one of them highly. What he considered the third generation of Scotland Industries had come a long way from when his grandfather William J Scotland had started Scotland Industries at the end of 1945.

 "Hello Control, Voice ID Nick Scotland, GPS-Scan Verify, Biometrics set for full monitor. SI-One requesting permission to take off from Pad 127, priority one." As he said each word he pictured the 1272 Computer System identifying his voice, verifying his location through the SatLink220 System. Five hundred and eighty nanosatellites, each the size of a laptop computer, each totally independent but part of a global communications system that linked everything within the Scotland Industries business network. Each satellite was one of the many products that came from the breakthrough technologies of Scotland Nanotech. Nanotechnology that Nick had pushed hard for over ten years and spent billions of dollars on, an effort that paid for itself thousands of times over already in patents and contracts. His Gen4 Wrist Link beeped and he glanced down for a moment to give it time for quick retina scan verification. A quick beep signaled the scan was completed. He glanced at the time and knew Charlie wouldn't mind him being late as usual.

"ID GPS-Scan Verified. SI-One cleared for takeoff from Pad127 “Nick had always loved flying. He had his pilot’s license by the time he was fifteen, even before he had a regular driver’s license. There was a peace that came to him each time he was airborne, he liked that peaceful feeling. For Nick it was hard to find that peaceful feeling in everyday life. He swung the (SI)3 Unicorn to the west and enjoyed the view of the clouds.

Nick tapped twice on the top of his watch, one of forty varieties of the Gen4 Wrist Links now available, and thought of the first time he had meant Charlie Eagle Wolf. Four years ago he had been in Spain after the purchase of the five thousand acre Narbone' estate, with its castle, library of antique books, maps, coins and bullion. Mainly interested in the estate property, with a minor interest in Narbone' business empire, Nick had been impressed with the extent that Leon Narbone' had gone to gather together as much of his families history as he could within his ninety two year lifetime. He purchased the estate and business for a higher price than he had wanted to pay, but the castle overlooking the sea was worth the price to him. He was in the massive library room with the ancient looking curator, Mr. Stone, when a tall man with steely grey eyes, and weather worn face approached them.
     "Hello Mr. Scotland, my name is Charlie Eagle Wolf, from outside Chinle Arizona. I was wondering if I could talk with you for a few minutes about being able to look through some of the journals that are in the estate library."
     Just looking at the Mr. Stone's face Nick could tell that there was recognition between the two men.
     "Well if that's all for now Mr. Scotland I'll be in my office, if you need anything just give me a call." And with a quick turn, Mr. Stone walked briskly towards his office and quickly closed his door

Nick walked over to an office and opened the door.

“Frank when you have the survey downloaded send the survey team back to Research One and come get me in the library.”

“OK Nick”. The voice belonged to Frank Adams one of Nicks personal friends and associates. Frank had been with Nick for quite a while, having first run into him at the wrong end of a dark alley at the wrong time. Frank had been with Nick since and had proven that with the use of his connections within the governments of the world.

    "Is it ok to call you Charlie and you can just call me Nick. Let’s go over, sit down, and tell me why you're here and what you’re interested in." They moved over towards one of the ornate tables and sat down.
     "It's quite a place Nick; I've tried to just get into this room for over ten years. But always Mr. Narbone' refused to see me or respond to my letters and emails. Quite a reclusive fellow, plus there was some history between our families."
He gazed around the room which could easily hold a medium sized house easily. The walls held shelves from floor to ceiling with the traditional movable ladders to reach the higher shelves. The room smelled of old but had several desks with large computer monitors with various screensavers.
     "Yea, Charlie, he was quite a character.  It’s a shame he didn't have anybody to leave everything to when he got sick. I had actually purchased the estate and all of his business concerns several years before he died. He had known my father through several business deals over the years and gave me a call asking if I was interested in the estate. I said sure and we had several meetings over the years about what he had concerns with, and what was to happen to his companies, employees, and properties. We came to an agreement and the deal was struck. So Charlie, what's on your mind?

 Charlie moved his chair closer to the table took a deep breath and began his story.
          "When I was young my great grandfather would tell me stories of what he called the Ancient Ones. When I was ten he died at the age of 105 years old. To this day I can remember the words to those stories. There were many that told of the all the characters that everyone had heard of, but he told also of a story that no one else had ever told or heard of before. This was the story of the Rider Of The Green Buffalo. No one I have ever talked to has ever heard of this story before and to this day I have yet to find anyone who has heard the story besides me."
          "OK Charlie let me get this straight, you're here to tell me about a story your great grandfather told you." Nick smiled and slide forward in his chair to look Charlie straight in the eyes.
          "Nick let me finish and then you can throw me out if you think I'm a little on the goofy side. OK."
          "OK Charlie go ahead."
          "When he always told me the story there was something in the way his eyes sparkled and his voice would gain strength as if he was part of the story. Every time he told the story it was word for word exactly the same. Not an out of place word or gesture, the same always from A to Z."
     Nick had to be at Research One in the morning for meetings with his Research Directors for status updates for the past month.

            “Before we go any further let me set the stage for the life of the Ancient Ones. Some where between 500 A.D. and 1200 A.D. the Ancient Ones grew from nomadic basket weavers to living in pueblo cities of considerable size and population, spreading father around the area. With the growth came the normal requirements for larger amounts food to support the larger population. The Anasarzi built their world without horses which wouldn’t be introduced until the arrival of the Spanish in the early 1400’s. A series of droughts and other civilization woes lead to the population shrinking and moving to other areas in the southwest. In my research this I believe was the beginning of the Earth’s Little Ice Age that would bring the end of the Vikings and the cold that would haunt the countries throughout Europe.”

“Not to interrupt Charlie but you did say they called it the Little Ice Age.”

“Yes its effects lasted for several hundred years till a warming period began. The reason for the cooling has yet to be determined. I have some ideas from some research but let me finish about the Rider. The last Great Pueblo of the Ancient Ones was near the Animas River and came to be known now as the Aztec ruins. This brings us up to the time of the Rider of the Green Buffalo. The story tells of times of drought and suffering of the Anasarzi civilization as it went from over a 100,000 population to less than several thousand living along the Animas River. Born at the waning of the civilization was the warrior by the name of Moon Walker, who received the name because upon learning to walk, would at night walk out and watch the stars and the moon cross the dark night sky. The moon and stars were a fascination that lead to questions when watching the moon and walking at night under the stars. These quests of knowledge lead to the Mesa Verde where not many of the Anasarzi lived anymore. There was tales of an old man who had studied the stars all his life and lived on the Mesa Verde. Moon Walker went to seek out and learn from the old man. Moon Walker listened and learned many things from the old man but would listen over and over to the tales of the herds of buffalo that would take days to pass till the last of the herd was gone. Moon Walker became the Buffalo Walker over the next five years as trips to the plains increased in frequency. There was a fascination with the movement and life of the buffalo herds as they moved about with the seasons. Buffalo Walker knew that the way of the Ancient Ones was passing so he walked great distances without stopping in the quest for knowledge to help the people of the Anasarzi. On returning home from a long trip, the warrior was watching the moon and stars while crossing the Valley of the Monuments when the Warrior came upon the Spirit of the Green Buffalo. The Spirit and the Warrior known as Buffalo Walker became as one. They then began the search for the Great Buffalo, the leader of the Old Herd, the ones from the beginning. The Old Herd and the Great Buffalo held the secrets of the buffalo since the beginning of time. Upon finding the Great Buffalo the Warrior, Spirit of the Green Buffalo, and the Great Buffalo became as one. The Rider of the Green Buffalo became a part of the herds roaming the plains. For a hundred years the Rider of the Green Buffalo rode with the herds throughout the plains. Throughout the hundred years of the Rider the tribes grew more mobile with the introduction of horses while the legend spread throughout the many tribes that interacted with the herds of buffalo. When the Moon was full the Rider of the Green Buffalo would watch the sky for its appearance and roam throughout the herds waiting to talk to the Moon. Every so often the Rider would return to the place of his birth and the place that held the secrets of the Great Buffalo and the Old Herd. By the end of the hundred years the Ancient Ones had been lost to history with only the places they lived remaining. Near the end of the hundred year of the Rider, the Moon refused to talk to the Rider. The Rider knew that it was now time to leave the herds because of the Moons refusal to talk. The Rider soon would begin the long journey to the place that he had so often looked forward to seeing. As word spread among the tribes of the Rider’s last journey, the tribes each sent a warrior to accompany the Rider. The warriors gathered and watched as the herds from the plains and beyond began to move to the place of The Old Herd. The Old Herd knew of the future that they were destined to face, a future that had befallen many since the first step of a human on the Earth. The Rider and Great Buffalo left the Old Herd and began the journey to the place they had seen many times before. After a long journey across the Great Plains the Rider and Great Buffalo came to the place of the Ancients in the Mesa Verde.  The Rider gave a last wave upon entering the Mesa Verde as the accompanying warriors left for their homes. The Rider of the Green Buffalo disappeared and was never seen again. The Great Herds would soon be lost to history through no fault of their own. The Rider was said to be able to return when the Moon again would talk to the Rider again. So ends the legend as told by my grandfather.”

“Charlie that sounds like an interesting tale, but what has that got to do with Leon Narbone?

“In the mid 1500’s the Spanish conducted excursions into what is now Arizona and New Mexico. These were in response to attacks on Spanish settlements in the area. In a fertile canyon the Spanish captured women and children, whom they took back to the area which is now Mexico. One of these captives was a 10 year old girl Yanaba, who had been the daughter of the leader of the tribe from where they had been taken. She was adopted by a Lt Diego Narbone and sent to local Spanish schools to be educated. She spent five years in school learning but at the same time yearning to go back to the green fertile canyon from where she had come. She planned over and over again to begin her journey. The day finally came when a shipment arrived with livestock from Spain. Included in this shipment were several horses for now Captain Narbone, one of which was a prize Andalusian stallion named Alonso. This was to be the beginning of a line of horses that Lt Narbone was planning to stock his lands of New Spain.

Yanaba spent hours per day around Alonso till the stallion was familiar with her as a rider. She knew that once the move was made there would be no turning back but she had to give the secret to someone who would be able to keep it within the tribe. The moon would be full soon, the perfect time to begin a night journey that would give her a head start from anyone sent after her.

She began her journey on the first day of the full moon, taking food and water for the first days. As soon as Capt Narbone discovered her disappearance he dispatched five of his best Conquistadors to bring her back. The chase went on for over two months as all of Yanaba skills were tested to survive and avoid capture. Tired and exhausted Yanaba came into familiar territory and knew that her canyon was close. She had gained a half a day lead over the five pursuers and knew that she should not lead the Conquistadors back into her canyon. She moved farther to the west to a place where she knew there would be warriors from the canyon. Alonso had not tired or failed when Yanaba had needed his help in avoiding capture, but the days and weeks of hard travel was taking toll on the spirit that drove the pair forward. She moved into the valley that the canyons warriors would always hunt and looked across to see any movement. With swift movement Alonso moved into the bottom of the valley towards a figure that Yanaba had seen. As she approached the startled warrior she saw that he was about her age and then recognized him as Niyol, a friend that had grown tall from the last time she had seen him.

        “Niyol, it’s been a long time since I saw you and I don’t have much time. There is something you must do for me and you must hurry. Listen …. “

        Yanaba knew that the Conquistadors would soon be upon her, the lead she had was exhausted with talking with Niyol. But there was still time for her plan to work as the sun was setting in the west. Alonso ran hard; the Conquistadors were gaining up the slope getting ever closer. The five saw Alonso cross the top of the ridge and pushed hard to shorten the distance. As they crossed the ridge they saw Alonso standing by himself and Yanaba running down the slope. They quickened the pace down the slope as the darkness of the evening was creating heavy shadows on the slope from the canyons rims above. Yanaba turned to face them, smiled and ran into the shadow covering the ridge. The five quickened their pace and rode into the shadow; this sealed their fate as it had Yanaba’s. Niyol had been on the canyons rim as Yanaba had told him to and watched with a feeling of loss as the events unfolded in front of his eyes. Yanaba had said goodbye as she looked him tearfully and made him once again promise to do as she had told him. Yanaba’s secret was now safe in the hands of Niyol, to be passed down to the future generations of the fertile canyon. And so it was till it was my time, Charlie Eagle Wolf the last one to hear the story and telling it to you Nick.”

        “Charlie what does this have to do with Leon Narbone?”

        “Yanaba told Niyol that she had written in Leon Narbones travel journals the location of the Rider of the Green Buffalo final resting place.”

        “Now just wait a minute. I thought that you had said that the Rider had gone alone into the place of the Ancients?” Nick had a bit of skepticism in his voice as he spoke.

        “Waiting within the place of the Ancients was a warrior chosen by the Rider to be the one who would make sure the Rider was alone when entering the place that held the secrets of the Great Buffalo and the Old Herds. This warrior was to hold the location of this place and pass it on to future generations of the warriors’ tribe until the return of the Moon that would talk to the Rider. When this happened once again the Great Buffalo and the Old Herd would roam amongst the buffalo bringing peace and tranquility to the herds. The warriors’ family held and passed on the secret till Yanaba’s family perished with the incursion into the fertile canyon. Niyols’ family passed on the information Yanaba had given him that evening in the valley.  This is what my great grandfather told to me in both story, song and dance. For years I have tried to get access to the Narbone journals but have been turned down by Mr. Stone and Leon Narbone himself. The reason for this was because of the loss of Alonso and the turn of events for the Narbone family since that loss.  Captain Narbone crossed paths with Governor Coronado and fell out of favor because of his part in the failed Coronado expedition into the now states of Colorado and New Mexico. The expedition was looking for the fabled seven cities of gold and instead only 100 of the 1600 Spaniards and natives made it back two years later. Once Narbone returned to Spain in disgrace he and his family never recovered till Leon Narbone got into shipping, etc. That pretty well brings us up to the point where you, Nick, bought out Narbone.”

        “OK nice story Charlie but do you actually believe a story like this?”

        “Nick as I grew up I thought of it as a part of my ancestors traditions. As I got older I sort of dismissed these things then in my junior year of college I thought if checking some of the stories out. Off to the west of my home there was a canyon called the Canyon of the Five Horsemen. I spent a summer roaming around looking to see what I could find. The canyon ran for over twenty miles and intersected with a large valley and several other canyons. I found a slope that that ran for over a mile and then went downhill for several hundred feet to a cliff that fell for over six hundred feet to the base of the canyon. I searched the base of cliff with a metal detector and found several pieces of Spanish armor, swords, coins and some bones. I had them checked and they were from the right period. I have had relatives who were named Niyol throughout the past several generations of my ancestors.”

        “And you say Narbone refused to let you look at the journal because he blamed your ancestors for the woes that happened to his family?”

        “Something to that effect, there was a real disgust when I talked to Mr. Stone.” Charlie looked disgusted himself as he talked about Leon Narbone.

        “Charlie do you have a computer connected to the internet?”

        “Sure, I’m hooked up through satellite.”

        “What’s your full name?”

        “Charlie Eagle Wolf that’s my full name.”

        “OK let’s slip over to the computer for a second.” Nick said as he moved over to one of the keyboards in the library as he talked. 

        “Charlie I’ve got to check you out. Do you mind?”

        “No go ahead. I’ve been checked out before. I’ve got nothing to hide, my life’s fairly simple.”

        Nick taped his Gen4 Wrist Link.

        “Nick Scotland Sat 220 verify info request name Charlie Eagle Wolf local scan.” The Wrist Link beeped that the info request was completed. Nick tapped a key on the keyboard in front of him.

        “Lock location, transmit info to local terminal.”

        Charlies face appeared on the monitor then the screen changed with pictures of Charlie from when he was in kindergarten thru current photos. The pictures began of work identification cards and security clearances began to show across the screen.

        “Charlie you are thirty seven years old and have worked with both the NSA and CIA. You also spent time working for NASA and the NRO. All your reviews were excellent and your pay was near the high end of the scales. You have money in accounts throughout the world with the largest in Switzerland. You own four residences two in the US, one in Australia, and one in Japan. Your wife died ten years ago and is buried in Arizona. You have two children one working for the CIA and the other living in Washington State. You retired from the government four years ago because of differences over policy. Your medical files show you had a polyp removed two years ago and it was benign. You have a dental appointment in two weeks and this is what your dental x-rays looked like on your last visit. You also left your computer on at your house and these are some of the family photos you have on that computer. This is the current real time reading from your electric meter and your house cat is currently asleep on a couch in your living room with two fleas crawling on his back. The mapping program on your car shows that you left the airport two days ago and have traveled 245.34 miles since you rented the car. Now from what I see here your not a bad person or have anything to really hide. So Charlie all you need is to see the journals and you’ll be happy and go on your way.”

        “Nick information like that would take me at least a week to accumulate and have to break a least two dozens laws to get that far. I’m impressed with your systems and your ability to gather information”

        “Scotland Industries operates ninety percent of the intelligence gathering for sixteen different countries throughout the world. This intelligence is gathered by Scotland Industries satellites running on Scotland Industries systems monitored by Scotland Industries personnel. All this information is available for anyone who is able to afford to pay for the information and sign a contract as to what they will do with the info. Eighty percent of the computers for most governments run on Scotland Industries systems all with the understanding that the information is supplied in the strictest confidence. It is also understood that I have personal access to any and all of the information that any of the government computers have or passes through them. This gives me a fair level view of what goes on with the information that Scotland Industries supplies and what happens with that information.”

        “Nick this is sort of overkill with a look at what you and Scotland Industries does for a living, but why are you telling me all the secrets that you deal with, I have no real interest in any of that kind of thing anymore.”

        “Charlie let me read something to you. “ Nick enlarged a portion of a screen he had read as he was scanning through the various information topics.

        Nick paused then started. “I have found that there is right and wrong, caused by good and evil people who are in constant battle to prove themselves better than each other. In this battle the innocent are part of the battlefield and if they are hurt there is no remorse from either side, the battle just moves on.”

        Charlie looked startled. “Nick that letter was delivered by my hands personally to the Ron Price, Director of National Intelligence, the day I resigned from what I had been doing for over fifteen years. The letter was to be destroyed after it was passed on to those who needed to see it.”

        “Charlie how do you think a letter is destroyed when it’s finally been read?” Nick shifted screens to products produced by Scotland Industries.

        “The paper or disk is inserted into a shredder, shredded, then placed into an incinerator for burning” Charlie took a look at the screen as Nick pointed to an item description.

        Charlie looked at the screen as Nick began to read the product description. “Scotland Industries Shredder, concealed nano copier for paper or disk. As the paper or disk is individually sent through the shredder, a nanolaser scanning program copies the front and back of the paper or disk just before the laser begins burning the item. The unit can then send the information to a computer of your choice or with the more advanced model the information can be sent to a satellite. The remains of the paper or disk are sent into the shredder for total incineration by the final incinerator laser. The whole unit measures about three feet tale and two feet wide and deep. The entire unit is only available to facilities that have a Scotland Industries security system, without a connection to a Scotland Industries system the unit will not function. Knowledge of its capabilities is known only to Scotland Industries Level 1A and above. Has a self destruct capability with satellite control. It is labeled as Scotland Industries most secure shredder with the contents coming out the size of dust particles.”

        “Ron Price is a former colleague of my uncle, Senator Leland Scotland, who helped him secure the job as Director of national Intelligence. Let me try to tell you my family history so you get a good picture of where I’m coming from.” Nick looked down at the table, his face showing a sort of disgusted look.

        “Nick before you go any farther, why are you going to the trouble to tell me all this, and it really isn’t what I came here for.” Charlie was getting uncomfortable with the information and knew that what he had already been told was enough to get himself thrown into a room with no open doors and never be heard from again.

        “When you sent your emails asking for access to the journals that were part of the Narbone collection I had you run through a normal background and security check, then run through what we call a world security check. With your background in the intelligence world it was easy to find out what you have done for various agencies, but the hard part was to find things in your personal life because your early life was within the tribal community. This type of community is hard to penetrate for information, especially for information about some ones personal life. But I did find out that this Rider of the Green Buffalo had something to do with your families past, and from the earliest parts of your childhood it has been a burden that you have carried.” Nick got up from his chair and walked towards the large floor to ceiling windows that flooded the room with bright sunlight.

        “Nick let’s quite running around the bush here, you want something, what is it?” Charlie was getting really tired of being told this and that, about things that were no business of anyone except possibly Nick himself.

        “Charlie all my life I’ve been curious about this and that, when that happens if I don’t have time to find out what I want, I just hire someone to find out what I need. As long as I find out what I want I’m happy. What I’m interested in now is climate and the changes that could happen in the future. This could affect the entire world in one way or the other, and that would affect Scotland Industries business in many ways.” Nick was looking straight into Charlie’s eyes when he was talking and Charlie knew that Nick was now in total business mode, no time for ideal chatter, sticking to the point and get it done.

        “Nick, what about climate change intrigues you? What do you want to find out? There are millions of aspects to climate change, what aspect do you want to explore? I enjoy studying the way the world works and the intermingling of all the processes that go into the making up of a simple sunny day. What are you interested in doing Nick?” Charlie was getting frustrated with dealing with Nick. He had dealt with all sorts of people and Nick was starting to fit into one of the more weird ‘categories’ of people that he had talked with.

        “Charlie, I want to build a 3-D database of past weather from around the world, past geological events, past celestial events, and past historical events, then use self guided data mining programs to go through the database to discover some knowledge and be able to make predictions of future events that will occur. Now don’t get me wrong, this is a very large project that will take a large amount of money, computing power, and some of the best minds on a lot of subjects. Also I want the project to be completed within a five year time period, starting today. I need you Charlie to be the force behind the whole project. I can give you an administrative, technical and logistical staff that will handle any thing that you tell them. I will personally give you a budget for the first year of 100 billion dollars, with more each year based on the results that are achieved. Your salary will be five million dollars take home a year, Scotland Industries will provide you with places to live, transportation, and anything else that is required for your needs…”

        “Nick, I didn’t come here to find a job. I came here to find out some information about something of importance to me, my family, and my ancestors. Why should I do anything else? This is what would make me happy, not spending a lot of time on a project that doesn’t really have anything to do with me.” Charlie stood up and walked over to Nick looking out one of the large windows.

        “Charlie, if I promised to let you see the journal that you want, would you think about taking the job?”

        “Nick, the journal could contain answers to something that would for me, maybe be the greatest discovery ever, for people that have not had a lot of their history saved over the years.”

        “Charlie, every piece of property that I own goes through what we call a Survey. It starts with nine different types of satellite imaging, and then a Survey team comes in and completes the rest of the Survey. The geological, hydrological, biological, metrological, and various other physical parts of the Survey are then completed. The electrical, water, heating, etc parts of the Survey are then completed. A physical accounting of every piece that goes with the property is taken -pictures, video and scans – everything is inventoried.

Next the (SI)3 Technical staff comes in an upgrades everything to meet (SI)3 standards which means that the property will be top of the line in computer, communications, infrastructure, and will be as self sustainable as possible. Most (SI)3 properties or facilities produce more energy then needed and the energy is sold to outside grids.  After all this, everything is then put into a Survey computer database so that everything about the property is available to be accessed at anytime. You can have access to anything you need for the Narbone property, plus you can have the journal to look through. But the journal has to stay on the property. Please be aware that everything is tagged with GPS locator implants. There is a staff of twenty five, who can get you anything you need. Please be aware that the entire estate is under auto tasking by one of the (SI)3 satellites. In other words you’ll be under 24 hour surveillance as long as you are on the property. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want someone to know about.”

        “Nick, who do you think you are with all this bull crap about satellite tasking and 24 hour monitoring? I did this kind of stuff for a living and the people I worked for couldn’t even do that kind of thing. Nobody has that kind of power besides governments. You might have money but this other stuff is just trying to show off what money can get you Nick. I just need access to the journal and I’ll be on my way Nick.”

        “Charlie, what was the most sensitive satellite tasking you were allowed to watch?”

        “Real time satellite, with Predator or Rapture feeds was the best we could hope to get and sometimes this was not always guaranteed to mesh together before things went sour. Nick, it’s a shaky business with satellites and information gathering.”

        “Charlie, if I show you some things, could you guarantee me to never tell another person the rest of your life, if you do promise that Charlie, I’ll show you what Scotland Industries have the capability of doing. Can you give me that promise Charlie? I really need your expertise and your ability to push and shove in order to achieve results.” Nick was pushing Charlie hard to get an answer that would get another project started that had been rattling around in his brain for a while.

        “OK Nick, give me a presentation that would impress me enough to go back into the working world.” Charlie had a tone in his voice that brought a smirk to Nicks face.

        “Charlie, first let me give you a brief history of Scotland Industries. My grandfather, William J Scotland started the company in 1947 after coming out of the Army in 1946. He started the company with my grandmother; both of them had worked on radar and early electronics systems in the Army. They got married and had a son William J Scotland II in 1950. The business flourished with the awarding of government contracts through the years, and the expansion into higher security technologies.  A second son Leland Scotland was born in 1955; both of the sons went into the company business after coming out of college. William the second got married in 1969, his freshman year of college to Carol A. Sterling. Leland Scotland married Margret Fleming in 1975 at the end of his sophomore year of college. William the second had a daughter Joan and five years later a son Nick, both of who were being groomed to be the next generation of leaders to run the business. Leland and Margret never had any children, leading to some resentment within the fabric of the family over what would become the future of the family business. William the second wanted to diversify away from government work into the civilian sector, Leland wanted to stay heavily working on government contracts, and a bitter rivalry developed between the brothers over the future company direction. At a 1985 meeting between the sons, William number two, Leland, and their parents, William number one and Jeanette, the leadership of the company was passed on to William number two. Leland Scotland left the company, going into politics and became a US senator.”

        Charlie keep looking at Nick, somehow trying to paint a diagram of the workings going on inside of Nicks mind. Because Nick seemed to be thinking out loud, going thru his life history trying to put things in order or somehow to make sense of what had happened.

        “Throughout Scotland Industries history every year the Scotland family had a week set aside for a gathering of the entire family. No matter where in the world a family member was, the company made sure that there was access to any family member to attend the family gathering. By the eighties William one would take a plane and fly wherever he had to in order bring everybody to the Rutland Vermont meeting in the fall of the year. In September of 1988 while flying back on the last leg of a four day flight, after picking up Joan Scotland in Anchorage Alaska and while crossing Canada towards Vermont, the plane my grandfather was piloting crashed while taking off after refueling. There was never a finding why it crashed. In an instant the Scotland family was down to four living members.”

        Charlie twisted his head around to look at Nick. “What do you mean four? The way you explained it there would only be you and Leland Scotland.”

        Nick began to drift back to that day so many years ago. Nick had been placed on assignment with an elite team sent by the US government to retrieve a yacht that had been captured by supposed pirates in the Strait of Malacca. The yacht was an intelligence gathering asset of the US Navy that had been gathering electronic sonar data from hidden sonar buoys on the floor of the strait. One night while anchored in a quiet location near an uninhabited marsh island, they were boarded and taken prisoner. The yacht was taken to the pirates’ lair and within a half hour was auctioned off to the highest bidder for over five million dollars to an intelligence agency within a minor terrorist organization. The eight man crew, equipment and yacht were to be picked up within forty eight hours. The US Government sent the team with Nick representing Scotland Industries to field test a real time satellite information system; this was happening during the infancy of personal computing and real time info sharing. Nick had called his parents and told them that he would see them in Rutland as soon as the mission was finished. They were the only ones who knew he was not on the plane when it left Alaska headed for Rutland. The mission had started quickly two days before Nick was supposed to be in Rutland for the family reunion, with little time for anything but concentrating on the mission itself. Little did Nick know that a simple one day mission would take ten days, and those ten days would forever change Nicks’ life and his entire outlook on life would also be changed forever.

        “My older sister Joan was married at seventeen to a school sweetheart named Steve. She had a daughter Rass, then three years later had a son Bealk. I just call them R & B. Both were with a nanny in Rutland while Joan and Steve were on vacation in Alaska. At the time Bealk was three months old and Rass a little over three. After the plane crash just four of the original twenty-four family members were left. Nobody except my parents knew that I was on a special assignment near Indonesia. After the plane crash it had been assumed at I had been onboard the plane when it crashed. Ten days later I made an escape from where I was being held prisoner and was returned to a military base where I learned of the plane crash. In that ten day period my uncle Leland had assumed control of Scotland Industries. The family all signed onto a will type of contract that established what would happen in any event of death within the family and what would happen to Scotland Industries as a company. If I had died with the rest of the family the company would have been his alone. But it still took two years and a dozen lawyers to wrestle control from Leland. In those two years the company became demoralized and was almost ruined. The settlement left me with complete control of the company but Leland ended up with a hundred million dollar cash settlement. I sold the various parts of the company making sure each employee was well taken care of. I held onto three smaller companies that were engaged in research on new technologies, downsized and revamped their research systems. This was the beginning of the SI Company. I withdrew from all government and private work and began to concentrate on projects that were interesting to me and could do as I pleased and not have to answer to anyone but myself. Leland went into politics and established a company that did a large amount of work for the many different governments throughout the world. The dot com era had just begun and I invested heavily in many of the upcoming companies. I sold out before the downturn and ended up with over thirty billion dollars. This I used to purchase downsized tech companies and began a search for new technologies and the talent to bring these technologies to their full potential. The talent came from around the world as the company began to thrive. The ethics and humanity that came with the formation of the company led to the final formation of SI(3). As the company grew there was also the formation of the HUE Force to offset the inequity between the good and the bad. With acquisitions’ from around the world came the building of SI(3) Research Facilities and Level3 activities. This is what…”

        Frank Adams again appeared with a concerned look on his face. “Nick the Prez is on the phone, so why not turn your EAR on. He doesn’t sound in a very good mood.”

        “EAR on. Control Voice ID. SI-One active, level1 triple A access. Security range twenty feet, total access closed, link total level 1 triple A access. Open active link.” Nick heard the sound code that always seemed to bring bad news and then the click that told him the link was active. “Mr. President how are you today and how is the weather?”

        “No small talk Nick. I’ve heard your PT System has been tested and been activated. This would be a violation of the agreement you signed. So therefore it should be deactivated and dismantled, this would be the best and right thing to do. So I need your word that this will be done as soon as possible.” His voice was stern and had a sound of real conviction behind the words.

        Nick had had known this day was coming and had been waiting to be confronted once again with the Scotland-Anderson agreement that had put him, his company, and employees at odds with the rest of the world as to what was right and wrong. With the use of slick manipulation of the truth, Senator Leland Scotland and then former Senator Fredrick Anderson, had convinced people and governments that Nick and his company were a menace to the world through his interference with the economies and governments throughout the world. The agreement with major governments had placed Scotland Industries as an entity upon its own right, but could only operate within specific ranges in its contact with the rest of the world’s economies, governments, and populations. Nick had agreed in order to end the constant picking apart of everything that the company was involved with.

        “Mr. President or should I say former senator, every since I signed that agreement I’ve waited for the day that I could tell you where to stick that agreement. Well today is that day. For years I’ve listened to everyone telling me that society, governments, economies, populations, and individuals couldn’t handle the progress that my company had made in technology. The companies’ ethics and ultimate goal is to make the individual human being the basic building block on which to establish basic rights for life and a living that would be free of strife and turmoil. This in itself goes against the various structures that most human beings are born into – governments, economics conditions, religions, status within different societies, and the list goes on. All these things package and hold a human life within that package making it hard to break out as an individual.” As he spoke Nick was getting a definite attitude that would be noticeable even to a turtle sitting on a log.