Carter's War - 9. Chapter 9

Alone in his silent study, Robert Avery stood staring out across the well-cared-for estates of the large house that was his home. The thick glass of the tall window was slick beneath his touch, yet he ignored the condensation as he watched the stabbing forks of lightning that rent open the sky. The flashes illuminated the gardens and, for a moment at least, banished the shadows that lurked there. Safe away from the hammering rain, he felt oddly attuned to the great force of nature that shook the very foundation of his home. He experienced it, wondering at the great mysteries that lay locked within the heart of the storm, what destruction it could bring down. A rolling crash of thunder swept around the manor and echoed through the ancient halls.

The flickering flames of the log fire in the marble hearth did little to warm the room or its lone occupant. It simply cast the room in an eerie glow that blanketed the room in the illusion of warmth. He found his attention being drawn to the fire, without turning he could watch its every detail; the dancing flames, the heat and the fascinating patterns it cast on the walls.

He remembered too many times when fires of a different kind had swept across the world; the flames of change and the dawn of equality still smouldered. It had consumed so much; friends, homes, lives all now lay in ashes. And he shuddered involuntarily at the memories.

He turned to regard the delicate portrait that hung above the mantle; it depicted a beautiful woman who had been his wife. Her beautiful, deep-brown eyes were lost on a painted horizon, seeming to search for something beyond that line. He remembered when those eyes had burned with a luminous glow that had outshone the flames that consumed the rest of the world. Those eyes were gone now, lost in the vastness of time, lost to someone's bitter hatred of what was different. The rain hammering relentlessly upon the glass reflected the turmoil within his mind.

He thought on all that he had attained in the years since that last brushstroke had touched that canvas. His right hand moved to rest upon the back of the well-padded chair, his aged fingers running across the finely tailored suit jacket draped across it, remembering a time long past. He had travelled a long weary journey since those old days, and he had accepted that there was no way back.

He heard a soft sound as a door opened and a flash of light was reflected in the darkened glass of the window he continued to stare out of. And he watched the image of his visitor resolve in the glass, framed in the lighted study door. He already knew who it was, long before the image had materialised, only one person would just walk into his sanctum. Bruce Weippert's image was as familiar as Robert's own reflection, and he could never fail to recognise the man who had helped Avery-Woods come so far. He turned slowly allowing a flush of pleasure to slide across his face. Bruce leaned casually in the doorway; in his hands he held a tray bearing a pot of tea and a pair of cups. The future vice-president of Avery-Woods Corporation's board of directors, his sharp blue eyes shone with intelligence as he studied the older man. Avery could feel his concern, even if it was buried beneath the casually dismissive air that the ambitious man always carried himself with.

Weippert crossed to the great oak desk, moving to stand across from him.

"It's good to see you, old man," he stated; setting down the tray the concern was now very evident in his eyes.

Avery moved away from the windows, seating himself in the desk's high-backed chair, mildly reassured by the pressure of the soft padding at his back. He was far away from his office and its boardroom, but it was a nice change.

"What's wrong, Bruce?" Robert asked, skipping the pleasantries that were redundant between two men who spent so much time working around one another.

Weippert smiled softly, "Just the pressures of this latest project. I've got a problem with the Tri-Tech merger on my hands. They're trying to block the company's bid for a full buy out. It's just a couple of stockholders, but I think they may try to force the price of stocks up." Avery's old friend shook his head slowly. "It's Rena Allison who is causing the problems..."

Rena Allison was a major stockholder of Tri-Tech, and proprietor of the huge series of government contractors that were a major supplier of American military contracts. She was the one woman who had stood between Tri-Tech and a full partnership with Avery-Woods. Avery shook his head slowly; so many years, and yet some things never changed. Allison had been trouble since the early sixties when she had competed against a fledgling company for a Canadian communications contract, a fledgling company that had later become Avery-Woods. Some people never grew out of bullying people to get their own way.

"It's getting pretty heated in some of the meetings, some of their stockholders are buying into his independence bull... but our law lawyers are working on other solutions to the problem."

Avery rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should invite the Tri-Tech management to the house for a dinner, and see if I can talk them around by showing them the best and brightest that Avery-Woods has to offer. Maybe Allison will stop trying to turn this into a hostile takeover and listen for once."

Weippert chuckled, "Rena Allison, listen to someone other than her financial advisors?"

Robert shrugged, "She might."

"Good luck," Weippert said with a shrug. "But I might have to raise our offer price; I'm going to need your permission to do what it takes to secure a deal."

Robert Avery nodded, "I can see that; I want to avoid a hostile takeover, though, let's try to keep this amicable. Though we are committing an awful lot of our assets to this try to avoid overextending the company's finances."

"It shouldn't come to that," Weippert said sitting back into his chair. "Besides, I have a few plans in motion to ensure that we don't run out of money. I just need you to authorize Gavin Jennings to deal directly with the brokers."

Robert blew out a sigh. "Do what you need to do," he said as he lifted a cup of tea and took a drink.