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The Inheritance

Rory stepped in. "That's not true. Each of us received a letter telling us to dress warmly and it provided each of us with a dramamine pill to ward off seasickness. He also didn't make you get drunker than a lord last night. Jerry it's about time you took responsibility for yourself."

The Captain glowered at Jerry and said, "Now sit down."

Jerry sat but continued to mumble under his breath.

There were two more episodes of the three of them hanging over the side on the way out to the selected spot. When we got there there was a brief fifteen minute service and we set Roger's ashes afloat in a biodegradable container. You could see it coming apart in the waves as the boat gradually turned around. Everyone except Audrey and I went back to the cabin. The two of us worked our way around the boat's rail and watched until the container was invisible in the wind driven waves. Then we went back in. Audrey was clinging to me as we unzipped our coats and sat at a table. Anthony got us two cups of hot tea from the galley. We sat holding hands as we slowly sipped our tea.

Of course, the peace couldn't last with Jerry around. His complaining kept getting louder and more vicious. Finally he took another jab at Audrey. "How the hell did you come to be dressed so warmly, cunt! I thought you were a slave!"

Audrey looked up at him with the first truly angry face I'd ever seen from her. "Ryan picked out every item of clothing I'm wearing. He cares for me and protects me. He dressed me warmly to protect me from the cold. He sent you advice to dress warmly which you ignored. I've had just about all of the shit I'm going to take from you! You should know that I have a black-belt in karate and you're about ten seconds from finding out how good I really am! You rude, crude, arrogant, ignorant, overbearing, obnoxious, egocentric ass!"

Jerry always was a bully and a coward. Cowed, he stumbled back to his seat by Sam and Janie. On the other side of the cabin Rory, Megan and Alicia were observing the goings on with barely suppressed amusement.

Just before the boat docked Janie came over to the table. She asked Audrey, "How can you switch allegiance so quickly? I mean, Uncle Roger was barely cold and you took up with Ryan. How can you do that and look yourself in the mirror?"

Audrey answered, "I was scared when your uncle died because I'd lost my master. I was hurting because I loved Roger very much. Roger's last wish was that I help Ryan for six months. When I picked Ryan up from the airport. I hadn't slept in a day and a half and was running on caffeine and adrenaline. I was on the ragged edge and Ryan did what your uncle would have done. He ordered me to take a three hour nap. When I woke up he had a meal ready for me. He took care of me. When I got back from getting all of you situated in the hotel he had another meal ready for me. But mostly when he found me sobbing in Roger's room he took charge of me and held me all night. He was so much like your uncle I couldn't tell the difference. It was like Roger was still holding me. He dressed me warmly for this trip because he knew it would be cold and windy. I was amazed because the clothes he picked out for me were almost identical to the clothes I picked out for him. I guess my answer is that I don't feel like I've switched allegiances. It feels like Ryan is an extension of Roger. Like I still have the same master. Ryan makes me feel safe again."

Janie nodded then whispered, "I have something I have to tell you. Last night I planted bugs in your rooms and Ryan's rooms. Jerry made me do it. He thought he could get something juicy. I'm sorry. Both of you have been incredibly nice and we've been a bunch of screaming assholes. Again, I'm sorry."

Audrey said, "Where did you plant them?"

Janie proceeded to tell her where the bugs were planted. She named every one that Audrey found last night. She also told us where the recorder was concealed outside. "Jerry was going to sneak back and pick it up today after this ceremony. He was going to leave another receiver."

I said, "Thank you Janie. It was brave of you to confess."

As we approached the dock Anthony who was sitting at the table with us whispered in my ear, "I'll get the recorder, you delay them a little."

Before the boat was fully docked, Anthony jumped ashore and took off up the dock at a dead run. The Captain yelled after him but Anthony was gone.

I ran interference and subtly blocked the exit. "Captain, you and your crew are invited up to the house for a late lunch. That's where Anthony has gone." I raised my voice, "Jerry, Janie, Sam, Rory, Megan and Alicia, you're invited up for lunch too." I stepped out of the way.

Jerry brushed past me with a sneer. "I'll eat your free food again. You're a fool Ryan."

I let him pass with the rest of my cousins.

The Captain raised an eyebrow and said, "You're up to something! I'll string along. We'll be up as soon as we get the boat secured."

Audrey and I got in the limo for the trip back to the house.

When we arrived Anthony met us at the door. "I've got it!"

I said, "Thanks Tony," and took the recorder from him and opened it up. I found the SD memory chip and removed it. I stuck a blank that I took from a San Disk Set back in the slot. Then Tony took it back out and showed me where he found it.

Shortly we welcomed my cousins and the boat crew to the house. I was still having trouble thinking of it as my house. Anthony had fresh clam chowder ready and hot bread with butter and of course beer and wine. We were all seated around the table eating when Jerry started up again. He'd gone back to the hotel and showered and changed. It looked like Janie and Sam had done the same.

"Jesus, this is the best you can do! Fish soup and bread! Why didn't you make your cook make something good! And beer or wine. Where are the real drinks!" he groused.

I said, "Anthony is a fine chef but he was out on the boat to say his goodbye to Roger too. I think he's done a fabulous job in such a short time. Besides, it's a fitting meal after being out on the ocean most of the day."

One of the boat crew spoke, "Aye, it's a fine meal after a cold day on the water. And a beer is just about perfect to go with it. You should be especially grateful after the mess you made of yourself this morning."

Jerry sneered, "I'll show you how grateful I am..."

I said, "Jerry you should know that cameras are recording everything you say here."

Jerry continued, "I'm so grateful that I'll be happy to give this recording..." He pulled the recorder out of his jacket pocket. "To Sherwin Wilson. He'll use it to destroy you and have a permanent record of you fucking that bitch Audrey. Now what do you say?"

"You planted bugs in my house without a warrant?"

"Nah," he sneered, "I had my slut sister Janie do it."

I smiled, "Thanks Jerry. I'll have the cops come and pick you up. Oh by the way..." I held up the baggie with the bugs in it. "We found these last night. You won't have any lurid information to give Sherwin. I'm sure he won't be pleased. We took the microSD card from your recorder. You have nothing to give him. He'll probably let you rot in jail."

He broke open the recorder and looked at the microSD blank. "Wh... what about Janie?"

"I think we'll be lenient with her. She told us about the bugs on the boat. Of course we put the batteries back in these bugs and everything is being recorded on your other device. The police will be able to have a lot of fun with the recorder you replaced that one with."

Jerry seemed to cave in. In one last act of defiance he pointed at Audrey. "Well did he fuck you slut?"

Audrey wriggled under my arm and wrapped one arm around my waist. "Yes we enjoyed sex together last night. My new master is wonderful. He even gave me a safe-word. However, enjoyed is far too weak a word to describe our coupling. Love just about covers it."

The tension was broken by the Captain and crew of the boat laughing. He said, "Well that's good news. Congratulations Audrey and congratulations Ryan! We were hoping someone would take care of Audrey. She a rare and special woman."

I said, "I know it but feel I've only begun to know how special she is."

The police arrived and carted Jerry off. They also recovered the other recorder from the flowerbed and took the baggie with the bugs in it.

The gathering became much more civilized after they left. It broke up about nine in the evening. Everyone was pretty tired. Mostly from the tension.

As she left Janie said, "Ryan and Audrey, I'm so sorry for the way I acted and the things I did to try and create problems for you. Thank you for being so kind."

We both assured her that things were right between us now.

She asked one more question. "Audrey, you don't seem to mind that everyone knows you fucked Ryan. I don't understand."

Audrey said, "It's not against the law and I don't really care what anyone else thinks. Ryan is my master and I only care what he thinks."

"But what if he dies or dumps you?"

I answered, "Audrey still has five percent of the stock in the company. She never has to work another day in her life. Even if that wasn't true, I'll make provisions for her in my will to ensure she is taken care of. I think one of the reasons Uncle Roger chose to make me his primary heir was to ensure Audrey was taken care of. Cared for other than financially. I'll try to be as good to her as he was."

Audrey was clinging to me with tears running down her face. "See," she said, "I don't have to worry with Ryan to care for me."

~~~~~

Monday morning at eight-thirty we were awaken by my phone.

Audrey answered, "Mr. Frederick's phone may I tell him who's calling?"

It didn't need to be on speaker for me to hear my boss from San Diego screaming at her. "Put that little shit on the phone, slut! I don't care who you're pretending to be let me talk to that slacking little son of a bitch!"

She put the phone on speaker and set it on the nightstand.

I said, "Mister Barns. You're a little out of line."

"Get your lazy ass down here! You didn't work either of the weekend shifts I'd scheduled you for! I'm going to fire you!"

"There are several things you should consider. First, I was still on bereavement leave on Saturday. Scheduling me on that day was an act of pure stupidity on your part. Second, I was not scheduled to work on Sunday or today when I left. You have no right to expect me to work shifts I haven't been scheduled to work. Third, you fired me verbally on Friday. I have no reason to consider working any shifts after I've been fired. Now I have a question for you, did you work the weekend shifts as Ms Livingstone directed?"

"You get your sorry ass down here and clean out your desk! I'll take a chunk out of your ass."

I'd had enough. "Mr. Barns, I'll be down to clean out my desk tomorrow about eleven in the morning. I'll see you then." I ended the call.

The phone rang again in two minutes. It was Barns again. Audrey held it and just looked at me. I took the phone and simply powered it off. I smiled at her. "Do you think we can get me another phone some time today?

I didn't expect her reaction. She pushed me flat on the bed and kissed me. "God you are so much like Roger! He never let others control his feelings. He was always in charge."

She bounced off the bed and came back with a phone. "I feel so stupid, I should have done this Friday. This is Roger's phone now it's your phone. It has a lot of information and phone contacts that should be useful to you. The unlock combination is 110718."

"So that's the day you came to work for Uncle Roger, right?"

She sat looking at me for a full minute. "How did you know! That's right but how?"

"Just thinking like Uncle Roger. It's a date he'd never forget any more than I can forget 2014 October 12 at 10:23 in the morning."

She looked shaken. "And what is that date and time?"

"That's the day and time I first stepped off Uncle Roger's plane and met you." I took the phone from her and reset the unlock pin. When I looked up she was crying. I gathered her in my arms. "Shhh, now there's no need to cry."

"If... if you... if you don't mind I'll cry if I want to. How do you know the exact time?"

"Well, I'd checked my watch as I stepped off the plane and there you were a goddess waiting to whisk me off to fairy land. I don't know exactly when I fell for you but it was after I sent you to shower and sleep. I heard you crying thru your door."

"You were listening at the door?"

"Yeah, until I heard you start to snore. I wanted to make sure you got some sleep."

She pushed me down flat on my back again and began another round of kissing. She stopped after about ten minutes. She sighed, "You are so special. You are exactly what I need."

She rolled off me and took the phone. It looked like she punched in a speed dial number. When someone answered she said, "Alan, it's Audrey. We need the plane fueled and ready for a flight to San Diego tomorrow morning about eight-thirty. We'll be on the ground..." She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

I said, "About six hours."

She said, "Six hours. Then will want to return to Monterey." She listened for a minute and said, "Yes, that will be perfect." She ended the call.

I rolled her onto her back and climbed into the vee of her legs. She spread her legs wide and just looked at me as I slowly slipped my cock into her pussy.

I started slowly moving in and out of her. God it felt good. I grasp her behind the neck and started a long kiss as I fucked her.

Audrey was totally open to me her legs were spread wide and her mouth was soft and open to me. As I pumped into her she moved her legs up and toward her shoulders. When she finished her knees were in my armpits and she was humping me at my rhythm.

I gasp, "Audrey, why fold yourself up like this?"

She gasp back, "It puts more pressure and friction on my G-spot. Oh my God it feels so good!"

I raised up on my arms and tucked her feet up near my neck. It must have done something for her because she started to pant and blow the way you see in the natural birthing commercials.

I asked, "Better?"

"Oh God! So much better! Please Master. I can't hold out much longer. Please let me come!"

I started really pounding her. I could feel her pussy muscles rippling against my cock. I gasp, "You can't come until I start filling your cunt with my sperm." Then I concentrated on the friction against my cock.

I could feel every time I pulled out. She rippled her muscles and tried to pull me back in. I could feel her straining to keep control and start to lose it. her hands grasp my hips and pulled me slamming into her every time.

I went over the edge and started pumping cum into her pussy. She screamed and the pressure of her pussy doubled. She kept humping and crying and screaming until I was totally drained.

I rolled off her and collapsed on my back. Audrey swiveled around and started sucking and licking my cock. She also held one hand under her pussy catching my sperm as it oozed out of her.

When she finished cleaning me and eating my cum out of her pussy, she curled up next to me and put her head on my shoulder. I swear I could almost hear her purr. I know I was totally wiped out and very content.

Audrey said, "God I like fucking like mink in the morning. Ryan that was so good. I love being folded that way so your cock hits my G-spot." She started planting kisses on my chest.

I started stroking her hair. It felt so soft and silky. She apparently liked to have it caressed. She snuggled closer and made little cooing sounds. "You keep that up and I'm going to go back to sleep on you," she warned.

I said, "Good, we can both use a little more sleep." I pulled the sheet and blankets up to cover both of us.

We woke again about ten. We bathed and dressed in lounging clothes. Anthony fixed us pancakes and eggs with ham and loads of great coffee for breakfast. After breakfast, Audrey took me thru the house showing me the cameras and the server room that kept the video and audio from the cameras. She showed me the safe in the master bedroom and took me on a tour of her bedroom. She had a lot of her clothes in her bedroom.

I asked, "Audrey, do you rent a house or an apartment?"

"Yes I do Ryan, why?"

"Because it looks like you have most of your clothes and other things here. Why do you need an apartment?"

"You're right of course. I hardly ever go there. I have almost nothing there. Roger always wanted me near. I guess it's for appearances sake."

"If you want, and only if you want, you can let your lease expire. I want you near as well. You don't have to decide right now."

In the afternoon we went to Corporate headquarters. Ursula was still at the secretary's desk.

This time she greeted me with a bright smile. "Mr. Frederick! Thank you for the good words you gave my boss. He told me you said I was doing a good job. It doesn't seem like it. All I do is sit here in case someone comes in."

Audrey said, "We can fix that. We'll get you some typing to do. Also you can now alter your spiel. Now you can say Mr Frederick is not in."

She looked at Audrey and said, "Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am."

Audrey smiled, "It's okay. Neither of us bite."

Ursula said, "Yes ma'am, yes sir." She visibly relaxed and sat back down.

We went into Roger's office, now my office and skimmed all the papers stored in Roger's safe. We then spent some time skimming over the things in his computer. It was five-thirty before we left for home.

Anthony, good to his word, had the entire house spotless.

We went down to the gym and did about forty-five minutes of exercise before going upstairs and eating supper. After supper we put on some soothing music and all three of us sat and watched the bay out the windows. Audrey snuggled with me in a loveseat and Anthony sat in an overstuffed chair. There was a cheery gas fire going in the fireplace, warming the room. We just sat and talked about things, mostly reminiscences about Roger. It was ten-thirty before we went to bed. We told Anthony we would be gone most of tomorrow. He told me he had relatives in San Diego so I asked him to go with us. I said, "We could have take-out for supper."

Anthony said, "Not a chance you'll be eating take out. I'll start some steaks marinating in the morning and we'll have steak mashed potatoes and salad. It's the least I can do for you taking me with you."

~~~~~

Tuesday morning things went as planned. We stepped off the plane just before ten in the morning. We were met by Mr. Ross, the division president and a limo. Anthony was met by his cousins and his uncle.

On the way back into town Audrey filled Ross in on the problems we had with Mr. Barns.

He said, "I thought you looked familiar. I'm afraid I don't know enough about IT to know how Barns is doing. He was the head of IT when I got here. If what you told me is true then he was totally out of line. How do you want to handle it?"

I thought for a moment. "You, Audrey and the head of HR should follow me in. If I'm right Barns will be throwing a hissy fit at me the whole time I'm trying to pack. You can pick your time to step in.

I went into the IT area. My badge didn't work but the VIP badge given to me by HR worked fine. I went to the printer area and picked up an empty paper box. Then I went to my cubicle.

True to form Barns came storming out of his office screaming. "Frederick! How did you get in here you fucking no good son of a bitch! You arrogant, no good, worthless, incompetent ..."

I ignored him and kept putting my personal items into the box.

The invective continued, "I told you I'd get even for you going over my head! If you think I'm going to give you a good recommendation you're more deluded than one of those idiots in the State Mental Hospital! You mother-fucking bastard! I'm going to kick your ass! You're going to be blamed for every disaster for the next six months and there is nothing you can do about it! You wasted your money on that fancy suit! Like I said, you're a stupid bastard! ..."

That's when Mr. Ross and the HR lady stepped around the corner followed closely by Audrey. Ross said, "That's enough Bates."

Bates snapped his head around, "Mr. Ross. This is the incompetent slacker that put us in a severe bind this weekend."

Mr. Ross held up his hand. He reached over and took my schedule off the cubicle wall. "It doesn't look like he was scheduled for the weekend or yesterday. You can't punish a man for taking bereavement leave, or maybe you think you can. Never the less. I want to introduce you to Mr. Frederick, the new chairman of the board of Pacific Enterprises. I also want to introduce you to Ms. Livingstone his executive assistant. I understand you used vile and vituperative language when talking with both of them Friday and again yesterday."

Ms. Sharp stepped in. "Mr. Bates it is unacceptable to inflict such abusive language on any employee. In addition it is strictly against policy to deny bereavement leave to any employee. Mr. Frederick was perfectly within his rights to come to HR with his request.

Bates muttered, "Sanctimonious lesbian, ball busting, bitch!"

Mr. Ross said, "Mr. Bates your employment is terminated as of now. You will follow us to HR and turn in all of your credentials, keys, credit cards and complete all paperwork."

Bates sneered, "Who'll you find to run this zoo! I've got you over a barrel! You can't fire me or everything will go to pot!"

I shook my head. "Not so. Get Mr. Ericson in. I know he worked a mid-shift but he's the best man in the IT department. Send our limo to pick him up."

A guard escorted Bates to HR with strict instructions to not let him touch a computer terminal. As he left I sat down at his terminal, changed his password and logged it off. Then I pulled the ethernet cable from it. That done I went to my terminal and logged on as administrator and changed his Windows password. When I finished these preliminary steps, I walked around and said goodbye to the people who were working. They were generally a good group. They worked hard and had suffered under Bates as much as I had.

By the time I'd finished my rounds Johan Ericson had arrived. I sat him in Bate's chair. "Johan, has anyone explained what is going on?"

"No Ryan. Why?"

Audrey stepped in, "Mr. Frederick inherited controlling interest in Pacific Enterprises. Mr. Bates has behaved abominably and has been dismissed. Mr. Frederick thought you'd be the best qualified person to take over the IT department. Are you willing to do it?"

"Sure, anything to help the company. You mean on an interim basis, right?"

I said, "Johan I think it should be permanent unless you don't want the job."

"No! I want the job but there is such a lot to do. I'm not sure where to start."

"Good," I smiled at him. "Get yourself a top of the line new computer and set it up in here. We need to change all of Bates' passwords and all of the root passwords. Next we need to search the network firewalls for VPN tunnels or other holes he could get in thru. Once you get a system cleaned take a full backup and run all the old backups to tape and delete them from the system. I also want a full port scan on the firewall and want it to block all unauthorized transmissions in or out." I snapped my fingers, "Email, lock his email and remove all aliases and forwarding outside the company. I know this is a huge job but it takes priority over all other projects. I'll leave it to you to determine what needs to be done first. We're depending on you."

He stood and gave me a bear hug. "It'll be done. Thanks for the opportunity Ryan."

"You deserve it. You know these guys." I waved at the IT floor. "Use them and if they don't know something put them with someone who does and train them. I have to get going Jonathan, goodbye." I handed him a slip of paper with Bates' new windows password. "Sorry to leave you in the lurch like this but I have to go."

We left and went to Ross's office for the rest of the briefing. Audrey insisted on carrying my box of mementos. We made a side trip to HR where I turned in my old badge and keys.

We were half an hour late getting to the airport. Anthony was waiting with his family. I got hugs from his mother, two aunts and one very developed teenage sister, who eyed Audrey with jealous eyes. Shortly we were in the air on our way back to Monterey.

Once airborne Audrey ask, "Ryan do you really think Johan is up to the task?"

"If anyone in the department is up to it Johan is. He's incredibly sharp in both systems administration and network administration. He also knows who's the best database administrator. He'll set the department right in short order. He'll also find all the holes in the system and plug them permanently."

The rest of the week was spent visiting the other divisions. There were seven in all. Luckily three of them were in Monterey.

Audrey and I spent the next two weeks going over reports from the several divisions.

At the end of the second week I received an email from Mr. Ross, it said, "You were right about Johan. Complaints from IT workers have dropped by over ninety percent. I've attached his report on what he's found so far. The department was riddled with holes. Thanks for your help. Productivity is up company wide."

~~~~~

The next week Sherwin fired Brenda Simmons. He was upset because she didn't alter the minutes of the board meeting.

Audrey caught her crying as she left the building at five in the afternoon on Friday. She phoned me and explained the situation.

I told her to march Brenda right back into HR and rehire her. Tell them to change her dismissal to a lateral transfer directly under me.

As they were waiting in HR, Audrey said to Brenda, "I told you he was a really good guy."

Brenda sniffed, "Yeah, you did but I didn't really believe it."

"So why didn't you do what Sherwin told you to do?"

Brenda gave a wan smile. "Because you were there and falsifying the board meeting minutes is a criminal act. If I'd done it Sherwin would have a hold over me. I have no way to prove he ordered me to falsify the minutes. That scared me more than you being there."

In HR it took several calls to me and an hour to transfer Brenda to my office. That done Audrey and I came home in the limo after dropping Brenda at her car.

~~~~~

About seven days out from the stockholders meeting, we were sitting watching the bay after dinner when Audrey said, "Ryan I'm worried. I can't see any way that we're not in for a constant fight with the other stockholders. It's hurting the business and we've already seen places where the divisions are modifying their processes the way Sherwin wants. Soon the environmentalists will get wind of what's going on, when they do all hell will break loose. I'm stumped. I don't know how to turn this around."

I mulled it over for a while as she snuggled with me under a blanket. She kept talking about various aspects of the problem. Finally, I said, "You know there are basically only two parts of the company. The divisions here in Monterey which do research, prototyping and climate modeling. The other four are production divisions."

"Yes, so what are you thinking?"

"Well the four production divisions are where we have our problems. They are the ones Sherwin wants to debase. He could care less about research and modeling."

"True, but I don't see where you're going with this."

"Audrey the real value in the company lies in innovation. Sherwin doesn't want innovation. He thinks it costs too much."

"Yes he does. So..."

I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. I said, "So if we split the company into two parts, we form a new company... say 'West Coast Environmental' from the three research divisions. He can keep Pacific Explorations and the other four divisions if we get the patents."

"Well that would solve one of our problems... "

"Don't you see it would solve both of our big problems. We wouldn't have to fight Sherwin in the board meetings and we wouldn't be in the line of fire when the environmental shit hits the fan."

"The only problem is that we have no money to fund our research."

"I think we can make money out of the research and prototyping. We'll have to generate a new production division. How much will farmers pay us to tell them which crops they should plant to get the best yield on their land. We'd know because of the climatology modeling. Huge desalination plants are at their limits because of the energy costs but research has several new more efficient systems but they don't scale well so Sherwin has kept them from being put into production. However, if we put them in small towns and communities up and down the coast they'll be welcomed. Not only will they provide water but they'll also provide local jobs. I think we can keep running on the income from these kinds of projects. Model water consumption and flow in large cities give them a better chance to plan."

She was quiet for half an hour, "You're right. As long as we hold the patents we can make a go of it with those three divisions. But how do we get him to let go?"

"You know him better than I do but I was thinking, we asked for four divisions. Ask to keep San Diego as well, it's the biggest. He'll think I have a sentimental attachment to it and the income it brings in. We'll have to give in slowly and demand all of the patents in return for the division."

"He'll never agree to that. He needs to use those patents."

"I know. At the last minute we'll cave and let him use them for five years royalty free. He'll think he has us and agree. At least I hope he'll agree. We'll split the two companies and give him all of our fifty two percent of the Pacific Exploration stock in return for one hundred percent of the West Coast Environmental stock."

She gave me a kiss. "He'll go for it the greedy sod and all of his lackeys will follow him."

At the stockholders meeting I got to keep the chairmanship by virtue of having fifty-two percent of the voting stock tied up. This time Audrey voted her own stock.

At the board meeting a week later I proposed the plan to split the company. There was a huge discussion over the plan. Finally, the original proposal was defeated because I couldn't vote Audrey's shares.

Two weeks later we had another board meeting and this time Sherwin had a counter proposal. He also took the San Diego division. I conceded the division but held out for all the patents. We had another adjournment.

At the next board meeting, two weeks later, Sherwin said he wouldn't pay royalties on the patents. I offered royalty free use for two years. He asked for seven. We haggled back and forth and finally agreed on the five years on the patents they were currently using. The deal I'd been shooting for. It took all my willpower to look beaten when inside I was dancing a jig.

"Now," he said, "How do we do this?"

I said, "First we split the company forming two independent companies. We each get shares in the new company that match the shares we have in Pacific Explorations now. In other words I get forty-seven percent of the new company, Audrey gets five percent of the new company and we let the dust settle for a couple of weeks. Then we do a stock swap with compensation."

"What compensation?" Sherwin asked warily.

"If shares in the new company are selling for forty-five dollars each and shares in Pacific Explorations are selling at fifty then you pay me a share in the new company plus five dollars for each share of the old corporation I give you. That leaves Audrey and me five percent of the shares in Pacific Explorations. I'll sell them to you at market price on the day of the trade."

Surprisingly the other members of the board pushed Sherwin into agreeing. The deal was struck.

The new company was formed and went public. A month later the stock exchange happened. They ended up paying us twenty-seven and a half dollars a share for our Pacific Explorations stock. Audrey and I were now the only stockholders in 'West Coast Environmental.'

~~~~~

Now all we had to do is put the new company on a paying footing. Luckily, most of the labor costs went with the other four divisions. We also had a good pad of cash from the stock exchange. Since Audrey and I owned all of the stock in the new company we decided to offer up to forty percent on the market to raise more capital if and when needed. I insisted that she retain fifteen percent and I kept forty-five percent of the stock. And yes we did allow my cousins to buy shares but I wouldn't let them buy more than ten percent percent of their bequest from Roger, in shares.

Audrey asked why she had fifteen percent. I told her it was for the same reason that Uncle Roger gave her five percent of Pacific Explorations stock. To put a brake on me in case I wanted to do something stupid. I got laid that evening. Boy did I get laid. She practically ate me alive.

Two months later, Megan asked me straight out, "Ryan why won't you let us buy more stock? It looks like a good deal to me.

With four cousins watching me intently I answered, "Meg, West Coast Environmental is a new company. It could fail utterly. I don't want to be responsible for destroying your entire bequest if the company fails. It falls under the adage of not putting all of your eggs in one basket. It's a bad idea.

"So you're looking out for us" she said.

"Yes, I guess I am."

Janie asked, "Why Ryan? I, for one, have been horrible to you for years. Why are you looking out for us?"

"There's a song by the Gothard sisters called "Little Things." It basically says to change the world you have to lead by example. You have to do the little things that let people know you are sincere. You're still my cousins and family."

Janie said, "You know that Jerry and Sam both put everything in Pacific Explorations. They are crowing about the increases in the stock price and how much their investment has made them."

I shook my head, "No I didn't know. I hope they don't get stung. The reason we split the company was that we couldn't make any progress with half of the stockholders pulling against us. I think Pacific Explorations is in for a bad time. If you can, talk them into pulling at least half their investment out of the company."

Janie snorted, "You know Jerry, he won't listen to anyone, especially me. He considers me a traitor."

Rory said, "I'll try to talk to Sam. Jerry should get out of jail shortly. Maybe I can talk some sense into him before Jerry gets to him again."

That's how Sam managed to save half his bequest by putting it into a reputable mutual fund. That and he bought forty thousand dollars of West Coast Environmental.

When Jerry got out of jail he refused to follow Sam's lead even with all five of the cousins urging caution. He maintained that we were all fools and refused to talk to us.

In January, we bought an unused cannery and turned it into a manufacturing plant for desalination units. The prototypes were pretty well final so we had almost no work to do to go into production. Even the production process was as environmentally friendly as we could make it. We documented everything we did to make sure the environmental impact was minimized.

In February we ginned up a sales department. Not unexpectedly, the desalination plants were the easy to sell to small towns. The climatological forecasts were much harder to sell.

By May we had the production line running and we started installing the first desalination plant at Westport, a small town North of San Francisco on the coast..

In late June, shortly after Westport came online, the first results from a live installation were available. Soon after we had a waiting list of small towns on the coast wanting a plant. Eureka wanted three and Brookings Oregon wanted two.

In June we got contracts for climatological advice from Bakersfield and Fresno. Since the climatology and oceanography divisions were already producing detailed forecasts we had no trouble creating the products they needed along with predictions on the effect of introducing water rationing at different times. Both cities were very leery of the forecasts but went with the predictions and introduced rationing six weeks earlier than other towns in the valley.

By mid-August it was obvious that the predictions were spot on. Fresno and Bakersfield were in much better shape than the rest of the valley. They immediately wanted to know when they could renew their contracts for the next year.

We were solidly, though very slightly, in the black by late October, some of the original communities along the coast were asking to put in second plants and were opting for the largest plants we made. Farming was booming in and around these towns because, with drip irrigation, they were able to grow crops with a minimum of water. With failing crops elsewhere they were getting high prices for their produce that more than offset the cost of putting in drip irrigation. The tourists were also flocking to these towns because they didn't have the water rationing other places were imposing. There were several very happy little communities along the coast. We were even getting requests for desalination plants all the way up into Washington and the small communities on Puget Sound.

Our stock price had risen to almost equal that of Pacific Enterprises.

Also in October I received an email from Johan. They had brought Barns back and he had been fired. He asked if I could give him a good recommendation. I called him and found that five others had been fired. Six very good admins and we were hurting for IT support in the desalination plant and in the climatology division. I sent them all plane tickets and arranged for jobs at West Coast Environmental. All of them were overjoyed to have jobs. Not a single one of them balked at moving up from San Diego.

In November, just over a year after Uncle Roger's death the environmental groups finally figured out what Sherwin Wilson and Pacific Explorations were doing and the expected firestorm started. Unfortunately we were being tarred with the same brush. Our stock took a dive along with Pacific Explorations stock.

I found myself on the hotseat at a televised news conference on a Sunday morning in early December, answering hostile questions from environmentalist groups and reporters.

One reporter asked, "How do you explain this devastating turn around in the policies at Pacific Explorations? Why didn't you stop it?

I answered, "The board of Pacific Explorations was bound and determined to follow the course they did. Although I held a lot of the stock I could see that the ensuing years would be nothing but one fight after the other. No vital research would be done and that's what pushed Pacific Explorations to the forefront of the industry. Together the board decided that splitting the company into Pacific Explorations and West Coast Environmental was the best way to resolve the differences. I relinquished all stock in Pacific Explorations and gained one hundred percent of the stock in West Coast Environmental last December. Since the stock exchange splitting the two companies, I've had no influence over the actions of Pacific Explorations."

Another reported asked, "Is it true that you own one hundred percent of the stock in West Coast Environmental?"

I drew in a deep breath, "No it's not. My executive assistant, Audrey Livingstone had five percent of the stock in Pacific Explorations. She now owns fifteen percent of the stock in West Coast Environmental. I was simplifying things for the sake of clarity. I have sold some stock to my cousins and put some on the market. The rest is in reserve for sale if we need more capital. I intend to retain at least forty-five percent of the stock."

The feeding frenzy had started:

A third reporter shouted, "Why didn't you stop it! The problems with Pacific Explorations? Why didn't you do something?"

"Because I couldn't. It's like standing in front of a runaway train holding your hand out and expecting it to stop. You simply get run over. I decided to salvage what I could from my Uncle's corporation. That's what I've done with West Coast Environmental."

An environmentalist yelled, "Coward! Why shouldn't we lump you in with Pacific Explorations?"

"I expect you as reporters and environmentalists to be fair and objective and I expect the same from your bosses in the newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media outlets you represent. I want you to look at the things West Coast Environmental has done and is doing and judge us for our outcomes and not for the things another company has done. Talk to the people at Westport and Eureka. Talk to the city councils of Fresno and Bakersfield. Look at what we do and judge us on that, not on what the corporation we came from does."

A voice shouted out, "What do you do?"

"What do we do? Like it or not global warming is real and nothing short of a natural catastrophe on a bigger scale can change that fact. What we do is try to provide solutions. Desalination plants to convert the rising sea water to potable water for drinking and for crops in areas where rainfall is failing to keep up with the need. So far our solutions are good for small communities. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to scale them up for larger cities. The plants are very energy efficient. We are working on research to improve them. We are also recovering the minerals that are removed from the sea water. These are sold to manufacturers so we are not building slag heaps of toxic minerals. Our other major product is advice on how to ameliorate the effects of climate change. Our contracts with Fresno and Bakersfield have just been renewed. They must find value in our advice and our forecasts, ask them. Finally, we conduct research to try to find new and better ways to deal with the effects of global climate change. That is what we do at West Coast Environmental."

The news conference continued for another hour. I walked off stage thoroughly depressed and as exhausted and sweaty as if I'd been running a marathon. I figured I'd blown my first meeting with the press.

Audrey flung herself into my arms when I got off stage. "Brilliant! You were brilliant!"

"Audrey I blew it how can you say I was brilliant?"

She sat me in a chair at the make-up table and started removing my makeup. "You did not blow it! You explained in simple words why we split the company. You explained why we are not responsible for the actions of Pacific Explorations. And you explained what we do and why. We couldn't pay for better advertising. This will go out over hundreds of television stations and in hundreds of newspapers and magazines. NPR was even there! You challenged the environmental groups in the best possible way. You said, check on what we do and how it impacts the environment. You told them to check on how we can improve the lives of people caught in climate change. You did brilliantly. I'll bet we get inquiries from dozens if not hundreds of cities stretching into to midwest maybe all the way to the East coast for our climate forecasts. If you blew it today I don't want to think about what will happen if you really nail it some day." She finished with a kiss, a long lingering kiss.

Audrey was right. Within two weeks the papers started writing articles about the desalination plants and their energy efficiency. They also noted that we sited the plants above the predicted maximum sea level rise for the next fifty years. Another set of articles came out about our advice to Fresno and Bakersfield. They showed graphs of our predictions against reality. The two were very close. The environmentalists did a one-eighty and suddenly West Coast Environmental was their darling.

Our stock also did a one-eighty and jumped to five dollars over the price it was selling at before the firestorm. The Pacific Explorations stock continued to decline even tho it still had major assets in plants, it was now down to a quarter of it's value when the corporations split.

Audrey was also right about a boost in our orders. Everyone from Port Isabel Texas to Belfast Maine wanted a desalination plant. Towns and cities all over the states wanted climatological forecasts.

I had to reel the salesmen in. I couldn't have them promising things we couldn't deliver. Audrey was disappointed. We came close to our first fight over it but I had her sit down and go over the capacity for the desalination production and compare it to the list of contracts we already accepted. Then she understood.

"Thank you Ryan. You're right you stopped me from creating a public relations disaster."

"You're welcome," I said. "I also want to send the head scientists for the desalination plants to Texas and all the way up the coast into Maine. I want to be sure our system will work in all those areas. I want to send a crack climatological team to the midwest and to the East coast to see how our predictions stack up against reality in those areas. Again, I don't want us to promise unless we can deliver. I'm going to make our chief climatologist responsible for determining which areas we can cover. I'm thinking we'll want to build another desalination factory on the east coast or more than one if the plants need to be altered. The same thing for the climatology. We may want to make several centers to serve different areas. Does all that make sense or am I being over cautious?"

She just looked at me for several minutes. "You may be smarter than Roger. He almost got over extended when I first started to work for him. It took almost a year to dig out of the hole. I think this is a really smart long term plan."

"Good now all we have to do is convince the sales people to rein it in. Also we need to be candid with the customers. We need to tell them flat out that we are working at capacity and that we are looking at building new factories but that they take time."

She laughed, "Yeah, they are really enthused. It's not a job selling our products because customers are besieging our sales staff.

In January, we had all of the cousins over to the house to commemorate Roger's funeral. The party was much more convivial than the year before. That is until Jerry got into the whiskey.

Suddenly he bellowed, "Ryan, you back stabbing son of a bitch! You owe me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"

I sighed, "Jerry, you're drunk. I don't owe you a brass farthing."

"Yes you do," he shouted. "You let me invest in that hole of Pacific Explorations when you knew it was going down the tubes! You owe me my inheritance!"

I started to answer but Sam said, "Let me take this." He turned to Jerry. "Jerry you're a nasty man and a nasty belligerent drunk! You got the same advice as the rest of us. Audrey warned us against investing in Pacific Explorations at the risk of being hauled in for insider trading. When Ryan formed his new corporation he wouldn't let anyone buy more than ten percent of their bequest because he was afraid of what could happen if it failed. Like a fool I followed you into buying into Pacific Explorations. Luckily, Janie talked me out of it. I pulled seventy-five percent out and put forty thousand into shares in West Coast Environmental. The rest I put into a mutual fund. I was really lucky, I've almost got all of the bequest. Ryan and Audrey tried to warn you off. Of course that just made you more determined to do just the opposite. Ryan is not responsible for your poor decisions."

Then Janie stepped in front of Jerry with Sam. "Jerry I discovered what a shit you are just in time to avoid all the hassle. That cold boat ride and puking my guts out over that rail woke me up. I even talked to you while you were in jail and tried to talk sense into you. If you'd listened, as Sam did, you wouldn't be hurting now. Dump the Pacific Explorations stock and put it into a good mutual fund and let it grow."

Megan was next, "Jerry, Alicia and I followed Audrey's advice to the letter. We put as much as we could into our 401K and 403B accounts. We put the rest in a mutual fund. When Ryan formed his new company we each withdrew ten percent and bought stock in West Coast. Our broker warned us against the investment. Now he asks us weekly how he can get his hands on some stock in West Coast."

Jerry was still belligerent. "I'll sue."

I said, "Jerry that's a sure way to pour the rest of your bequest down the toilet." Jerry sat on the floor and started crying.

Rory changed the subject. "Meg you said, Alicia and you. Doesn't Alicia live in Bakersfield and you work in San Francisco?"

Megan put her arm around Alicia. "Not any more. Alicia got a job in San Francisco. Alicia and I live together now."

He nodded, "I guess that makes sense apartments in San Francisco are expensive."

Alicia quietly said, "No Rory you don't understand. We're lovers. Megan is my mistress. I'm submissive like Audrey. Megan takes care of me."

Rory asked, "When did this happen?"

Megan smirked, "Last year at Uncle Roger's funeral."

Alicia added, "Audrey announced that she was Ryan's submissive. It released something inside me. I wanted to be her but knew I was afraid of men. How else could I have lasted this long and still be a virgin. Megan talked to me and everything just fell into place. Megan claimed me that night in the hotel." She giggled, "The next morning I had to race across the hall naked to get dressed for the burial at sea. Megan commanded it." Her eyes were sparkling with the memory of the excitement.

Everyone was stunned. I broke the silence when I said, "Congratulations to both of you." I gave each of them a hug.

Audrey followed me in congratulating the pair of them.

Soon everyone except Jerry gathered around them to offer their good wishes. In fact Jerry was no where to be seen.

Anthony came into the room, frog marching Jerry in front of him. "I found him in your bedroom Ryan."

Audrey was on the phone to the police. She said, "I know that door was locked. He must have picked it."

Anthony sat Jerry on a stool at the bar. I went to the other side of the bar and looked him in the eye. "Jesus you're a stupid asshole. Didn't the time in jail teach you anything?"

Audrey said, "I'll do a sweep for bugs" and she left. She came back in a few minutes with six bugs in a baggie. She held it up in front of his eyes.

I ask him, "Who told you to plant the bugs Jerry?"

"I don't want to go back to jail. Ryan?"

"I can't help you there Jerry. You broke the law again. I suggest you pull your money out of Pacific Explorations before it all evaporates. You'll be in for longer this time. It's your second offense."

"Wilson, Sherwin Wilson talked me into planting the bugs. What can you do for me?"

"Jerry it's out of my hands. You need to talk with the prosecutor. Maybe he'll cut you a deal if you give Sherwin up." The doorbell rang and Janie ushered the police into the living room.

The senior officer said, "You again, where is the receiver this time?"

Jerry seemed to wilt he took them outside and showed them his new hiding place. Audrey gave them the bugs we found and they left hauling Jerry off in the back of a squad car.

Once they were gone Janie sighed, "I wish there was something I could do to help him."

Audrey suggested, "Arrange for his broker to see him so he can bail on those Pacific Exploration shares. See if he can talk Jerry into a stable mutual fund."

The mood lightened considerably and we all had a good time reminiscing about Roger.

When we went to bed that night Audrey snuggled up to me and whispered, "You know Ryan, Roger was very worried about the company, actually about the research grinding to a halt and the lack of progress. I don't think he could see a way out but you found a way. Maybe the only way. You're running the company Roger envisioned, the one he started and nurtured. I think he's looking down from heaven and he approves.

I ran my hand down her back. "We're running the company. I don't think I could have done this without you. I hope he approves... You know you haven't compared me to Roger in almost ten months."

She leaned in and kissed me on the throat. "Ryan, I compare you to Roger many times a day. I often find Roger compares favorably with you. You are my master now and a girl couldn't want a better master. I guess I've transferred all my feelings for Roger to you. I love you Ryan, as much as I loved Roger now I love you."

I took her by the neck and kissed her. "What did I do to deserve all this?"

"You're just being you. The real Ryan is a human being who is trying to do his best."

"Like what?" I was expecting her to talk about the company.

"Like when Megan and Alicia announced they were lovers. You congratulated them immediately. Everyone else followed your lead and they felt truly good about their declaration love. If you'd have blown up they would have felt terrible and betrayed. You did the right thing. Did you know that is helping our business?"

"Helping the business how?"

"The company is getting a reputation for being 'Freak Friendly.' In other words people with different lifestyles are being welcomed instead of being ostracized. We've gained dozens of highly talented people that are gay or lesbian or transgender or cross dressers or you name it. They do excellent work in our environment where they are not looked down upon because of their orientation. Your attitude has permeated the entire corporate structure. Because of it our HR department is half the size of most companies our size. We have almost no discrimination complaints or claims. We have half the turnover that other companies have. Our work statistics are the best in the United States. We have far less absenteeism than most companies. Far fewer sick days are used. You've allowed three different unions to try and get a toe hold. The employees have all rejected them by large margins. The women here are paid the same as the men for doing the same job. They really produce because they know they are treated fairly. They know they couldn't get as good a deal anywhere else. Our productivity is twenty to thirty percent higher than anyplace else in the country. It boils down to leadership, real leadership not something that comes out of a text book. That's how it's helping the business. I guarantee you that if you announce you're starting a plant in Marfa, Texas that you'll have at least five candidates for each position. They'd be ready to leave today and live in tents for six months thru the summer. Like it or not you've made us an industry leader."

"Well, I hadn't noticed I'd made that much of a difference."

"Love, we had an OSHA audit three weeks ago. We just got the report. We got the highest rating they've ever given. That's because of your insistence that it's done right the first time. The same for the Equal Opportunity commission. They inspected us with a fine toothed comb. They didn't find anything wrong. Nothing."

I kissed her. "Thank you for keeping me straight. I'm really happy that we're doing so many things right." I kissed her again.

She asked, "What was the second kiss for?"

"It was because I wanted to. You're so beautiful and you taste wonderful."

She blushed, "Oh!" She snuggled closer, turned her face up to me and her lips parted slightly.

She didn't have to wait long, I kissed her again and started caressing her hair. That was the night I decided that I wanted Audrey in my life forever. We made soft tender love that night. As always Audrey gave everything of herself to me. I don't know if she sensed something but she seemed extra tender as she washed me after making love.

The rest of the year was very hectic. We were working like crazy trying to keep up with the demand for our products and services and maintain the quality at the same time.

~~~~~

While going thru the items in my uncle's safe shortly after I became his heir, I found Aunt Abigail's engagement ring and her wedding band. I'd left them in the safe. After I made my decision to marry her, I waited until Audrey was out and went thru her jewelry box. I made a cardboard blank and sized one of the rings she wore on her third finger of her right hand. The next day I took the blank and the rings to a jeweler and had rings resized.

For Thanksgiving we had a group over. The boat crew, the maids that cleaned the house, the gardeners, the limo drivers and their families. I also invited the secretaries that worked directly for us. It was mostly people we interacted with daily. We also had my cousins, the five who were out of jail, to the celebration.

After we'd all finished eating and were gathered in groups talking, I snagged Audrey's hand and pulled her to the opening between the living room, the dining area and the lounge. I loudly said, "Attention please! I have an announcement! ... More like a question!"

Dead silence followed. Audrey looked at me with a question in her eyes. I sank to one knee and asked her, "Audrey Livingstone, I've fallen deeply in love with you. Will you be my wife and live with me for the rest of our lives?"

Audrey turned white and swayed a couple of times before she mastered herself. She slipped to her knees to answered me. "Yes Master Ryan. I'll be your bride. I've never thought I could love anyone as much as I love you!" She almost didn't give me time to slip the ring on her finger before she collapsed into me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me an incredible kiss. She sealed out mouths together and opened hers to me. I don't know how long our tongues dueled but I was getting short of breath before she loosened her death grip around my neck.

I rose and helped her to her feet to the cheers and applause of everyone in the house. I was pounded on the back so much it felt like I'd gone fifteen rounds with a heavy weight boxing champ. Audrey was surrounded by a gaggle of women all talking and looking at the ring.

After about a half hour of this Audrey made her way to me. "Ryan where did you find this ring? It's beautiful. I think I've seen it before."

"It was Aunt Abigail's ring. I found it and her wedding band in Roger's safe. I had it resized to fit you. I think both Roger and Abigail would approve. I hope it brings us at least half as much happiness and love that they had."

Audrey started sobbing and fell into my arms. She whispered in my ear. "Ryan, I can't imagine being any happier than I have been these past two years."

I whispered back, "We haven't had a chance to discuss this but I would like to have children with you. At least a boy and a girl."

She drew back and looked in my eyes. "Yes! I'd adore that." Then she wrapped me into one of those kisses again. I was seeing spots before my eyes before she let us up for air.

The Captain said, "You two need to get a room! I don't know what you said to her but wow!" I got another slap on the back.

Even my cousins congratulated us. All except Jerry who was back in jail, for a year this time. He was hoping to have his sentence shortened by testifying against Sherwin Wilson.

~~~~~

In December we started two new plants to manufacture desalination plants. One in Alabama and one in North Carolina. Again we found abandon factories that we could purchase cheaply and refurbish. We also started a midwest climatology center in Madison Wisconsin and another one in Greenville North Carolina. Even with all the caution Audrey and I had gone into this with we came within a hairs breath of overextending the corporation. I sold off ten percent of our stock which was scarfed up immediately and boosted the value of the remaining stock. The money we got for the stock saw us thru the tight spot.

Now between the two of us Audrey and I controlled seventy percent of the stock. She had twenty percent and I controlled the remaining fifty percent. This led to one of the few fights we had. I wanted to transfer five more percent to her.

She was ridged. She was not going to accept my proposal, "No Ryan. Things are fine just the way they are!"

"Audrey, I meant it when I said I wanted you to be a brake on me in case I got some wild idea that would harm the company."

"Ryan, it's not going to happen! You don't need a brake. I do!"

"But Audrey, we agreed to this. We need to keep the corporation healthy. To do that we need for no one to have a whip hand!"

We argued for two hours before she took my face in both hands and looked deep into my eyes. "Ryan, I was the one who wanted to build four new plants and open three more climatology centers. You always listen to me but you always give very reasoned and rational arguments for not doing things my way. Never, not once, have you pulled rank on me and used my submissive nature to get your way. I don't believe you ever will."

We went around and around for hours when she finally proposed. "Ryan, why don't we make five revocable proxies. Give one to each of your cousins. They can be tiebreakers. I'll do the same. That way I can vote fifteen percent maximum and you can vote forty-five percent maximum. Neither of us will have a whip hand but together we can do what's right."

I thought about it for about half an hour before I grabbed her and gave her a kiss. "That's a marvelous solution! And when we need more capital we can revoke the trust and sell the stock." I paused, "Altho they might cause us some trouble with the ten percent share."

Audrey kissed me back and laughed, "I don't think that will be a problem. They'll probably vote your way no matter what."

"Why do you think that?"

"Look at all the money you've made them. With the dividends and the increase in stock prices your leadership has almost tripled their money. Why would they vote against you unless they seriously thought you were wrong. Besides can you see all of them agreeing on anything enough to vote the full ten percent against you?"

I laughed, "I guess you're right. We'll let them know as soon as the lawyers have the agreements drawn up. Let's make the proxies for three months at a time."

~~~~~

We had a small quiet wedding in May and took our honeymoon by touring the new facilities we were opening. It wasn't all work. We took our time and toured the area around each of the new plants. Spring is a wonderful time of the year in most of the country so we had lovely weather the whole time and all of the scenery was fresh with the bursting promise of spring. We rented a motorhome for the tour so we weren't rushed. We drove about three hundred miles a day and rested a day or three at a time. All together it took just over two months before we returned to our home in Monterey.

The towns where we had started our factories were overjoyed to have a new employer in the area and we were welcomed by the locals as heros. In both cases the first desalination plant produced was installed locally.

The climatology centers were greeted with enthusiasm. We already had contracts with Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Omaha and Indianapolis and several cities on the east coast. They were hard at work producing forecasts for their areas.

~~~~~

The following September we were surprised when Sherwin Wilson asked for a meeting. We agreed and set the meeting for the 16th. We met on neutral ground at the local Marriott. My cousins, except for Jerry, attended.

Sherwin opened the meeting. "Have you been following the stock of Pacific Explorations?"

I spoke for our board and my cousins, "Yes we have. It looks like you're really in trouble."

He gave a strangled laugh. "That's the understatement of the year. Revenue from the fishing and kelp processing plants is way down. It's costing us more to get the kelp and fish we do bring in. The environmentalists are all over us like stink on shit. The banks are getting ready to call in our loans. We're to the point of defaulting on some of the loans. It was your uncle's corporation once. Can you do anything to help. Can you figure out a way to save the corporation?"

I said, "I can think of a couple of things but they are going to hurt. They'll hurt a lot."

He swallowed and said, "Go on."

"First, you have to stop bleeding money. That means pulling back your operations. You've overfished the kelp beds and taken too much kelp from them. They need years to recover. That means you have to stop or greatly reduce your fish and kelp processing operations. You may have to stop them altogether for six months to a year. It means you have to reduce your fishing and kelp harvesting. It means firing a lot of people."

He nodded, "The alternative is to fold altogether. What else?"

"Well, you know better than I do that cutting back will actually increase your cash flow. The next part will hurt your ego as much as anything."

He looked at me, "What's that?"

"You need to go the the environmentalists and do a mea culpa. You need to tell them they were right and you were wrong."

He winced but said nothing.

I continued. "Show them that you've cut way back on your fishing and kelp harvests. The worst is you're going to have to ask their advice and take it. Ask them to intercede with the government agencies controlling fishing and kelp harvesting to open a few new grounds to you on a temporary basis. It would be really good if you could show that leaving the beds natural will cause them to die out. Thinning would be good for the kelp. There are quite a few studies in your files to show that it's true."

He said, "Jesus I'll look like a grade 'A' ass!"

Audrey answered for me, "Yes, but you really need to get them off your case fast. Ryan's method is the fastest way I can think of. Once they quit riding you, your chances of getting additional loans increases significantly. Your stock prices will almost certainly rise, if for no other reason than the court cases against you will probably be dropped."

After two hours of tossing around alternatives he looked totally frazzled. "Anything else?" He asked.

"Yes," I said, "Get an outside company to go over the IT departments in your plants with a fine toothed comb. I have a feeling that bad things are going on at least in San Diego. I don't trust Bates."

He sighed again, "Anything else?"

"One last thing, you need to do a thorough analysis of your proposed cuts to the workforce and the operations and show the banks how you plan to pay them every penny that they are owed. Implement the changes and do a week over week analysis of costs and income. Do that for a month before you go to the banks. Hopefully, you'll be able to show how your actions have improved the position of the company. That should get you some more time on the loans coming due. That's all I have, do you have anything else?"

He stood and said, "Yes. I want to apologize for all the asshole things I did to wrest the company away from you. I was sure I was right but you were the smart one. As soon as the environmentalists quit hassling you your stock took off like a homesick angel. I was holding you back. I'm truly sorry for being such a pigheaded ass."

We all stood and shook hands. He said, "I don't know why do don't just buy us back. Those were all great ideas."

I said, "I don't want to hurt anyone. Besides, if you fail and the banker's take over the business, I can get the companies at firesale prices. They sure as hell don't know anything about harvesting kelp or fish and it'll cost them a lot just to keep the plants mothballed. I wish you the best of luck."

He laughed, "Yeah, you'll probably get things for fire sale prices alright."

With that the meeting broke up. My cousins gathered around me.

Rory said, "Well that was enlightening."

Alicia asked, "Ryan, could we all arrange to go out on your boat to where we set Uncle Roger's ashes adrift? I'd just like to say goodbye one more time."

I gave her a hug. "I think that's a great idea." I looked and saw Audrey already had her phone out. I finished, "Why don't you all stay at the house tonight. I think we have enough rooms." I looked at Audrey again and said, "Ask Anthony if he would like to go with us and tell him we're having guests."

She said, "Yes Ryan." She smiled and started dialing. She held a hand tenderly over her stomach, she had a surprise for her husband and master.

The End