6
Jessica keyed into her townhome to find Adam seated on her den sofa by the lit fireplace, a bottle of wine and two glasses on her coffee table.
“You’re home early. How was the game?”
“Trump never showed, his Chief of Staff said he decided to take the First Lady to a concert.” Adam handed her a glass of wine. “Jess, I need to pick your brain.”
“But first, you felt the need to ply me with alcohol?”
“It’s a strange subject. One of my assistants was going on today about something called zero-point-energy. I spent most of the afternoon reading about it. Is there any basis for it, or is it just theoretical nonsense?”
She slipped off her shoes and took a sip of wine from her glass. “Just because it’s theoretical doesn’t make it nonsense. By definition, vacuum fluctuation or zero-point-energy is an ambient field that harbors the energy state of life. According to quantum physics, every cubic centimeter of space that surrounds us has enough energy in the ambient field to power the entire country for a day. Again, it’s all theoretical.”
“If it’s all theoretical, why were Nikola Tesla, T. Townsend Brown, John Keely, Viktor Schauberger, and Otis Carr harassed and their work confiscated under the Warfare Act? Why was Professor John Searl and Adam Trombly poisoned?”
“Baby, that’s Conspiracy Theory 101. Believe me; if zero-point-energy really existed we’d have it.”
“Enough energy in a cubic centimeter of space to power the country for a day? I can think of a few groups that might prefer the status quo.”
“Where’s all this coming from?”
“I’d tell ya, only your security clearance is too high.”
Leaving her glass on a coaster, Jessica straddled Adam’s lap, nuzzling his neck. “Maybe we can raise your clearance to meet mine.”
The 2011 silver Jeep Grand Cherokee inched its way south on Interstate 495, its driver more focused on the thoughts swirling through his head than the morning rush hour traffic.
Adam Shariak had never met Dr. Neale Manley, but he knew who the physicist was. Jessica had worked with him before she had joined Kemp Aerospace, the two of them succeeding in developing a simple oscillating electronic circuit that put out more energy as resistant heat than was required to drive the device. Manley’s employer, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), had bought the design, along with the services of Dr. Manley — much to Jessica’s chagrin.
“Might” always seemed to overcome “right” when it came to dealing with corporate giants, and SAIC was one of a dozen major defense contractors feeding at the massive trough of the United States Defense Department’s annual $600 billion military budget. So entwined was the Pentagon with its suppliers that there was a perpetual revolving door among government personnel serving in the private sector, and both political parties abused the system. In December of 2012, Deborah Lee James had been president of SAIC’s technology and engineering sector. A year later, Chuck Hagel swore her in as Secretary of the Air Force.
Meeting Dr. Manley — let alone picking his brain about zero-point-energy — seemed a daunting task. From what Jessica had told him, the physicist was involved in what she termed, “Weird Science and Freakin’ Magic.” Though she refused to elaborate, Adam got the gist — Manley and his work were off-limits, even to the new Under Secretary of Defense.
He decided on an innocuous “front door” approach, instructing his secretary to schedule as many “meet and greets” with military contractors during the next three days as possible. To save drive time, he had her book him into the local Hyatt Regency.
Science Applications International Corporation was his first stop on his list.
The flow of morning traffic opened up as the silver Jeep Cherokee entered northern Virginia. Adam Shariak exited the Capital Beltway in Tyson’s Corner, a commercial center that was home to the corporate headquarters of some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
Turning off Leesburg Pike, he followed signs to the gated entrance of the SAIC campus, its fourteen-story-high concrete and glass structure looming ahead.
Sam Mannino, former Air Force Chief of Staff and current CEO at SAIC, led him into his office suite. “It’s good to finally meet you, Captain Shariak. You did a nice job running Kemp Aerospace; though it’s still a bit unusual for a high-ranking government post to be filled by a nominee hailing from such a small supplier.”
“I would think the CEO of an $8 billion employee-owned tech company would appreciate an occasional victory for the little guy.”
“Touché. So what’s on your mind?”
Adam removed his iPad from its small carrying case. “I’m a bit concerned about SAIC’s backlog of signed business orders. At the end of the last quarter it tallied approximately $7.4 billion, of which $2.1 billion was funded. The biggest red flag is your progress on the Marine Corps’ new Amphibious Combat Vehicle.”
Sam Mannino typed a command into his desktop computer. “SAIC was awarded a $121.5 million firm fixed-price contract to produce thirteen prototype amphibious vehicles, with options for 60 low-rate initial production vehicles and 148 full-rate production vehicles. The full value of the contract is just over $1 billion.”
“Correct. However, the base period of performance for the new program was expected to be completed in September. Before he left office, you petitioned my predecessor for another eight months. Why the delay?”
“Son, when I took over as CEO of SAIC, the U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York had just won a $500 million judgment against us for over-billing on a project to modernize the city’s payroll and timekeeping system. Half a billion dollars is a lot of money, even for a corporate giant like SAIC. We had to make cutbacks, and cutbacks lead to extensions.”
“And delays on contracts lead to fines. Like when Kemp Aerospace was ten days late on one of our contracts to provide circuit boards to SAIC because one of our suppliers in the Midwest was held up due to a snowstorm — an act of God which cost us $40,000. To a small supplier like Kemp, that’s a lot of money. But, as they say, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Translated: Paybacks are a bitch.”
Sam Mannino’s face paled.
“Hey now, no worries; September’s still two months away.”
“Mr. Under Secretary, surely we can work something out? Perhaps we can subcontract Kemp to help us on the Amphibious CVs?”
“That smells too much like a bribe to me. Strong-arming suppliers isn’t what I’m about; nor is creating an adversarial relationship. My goal is to work with you, Mr. Mannino. You’ve got your eight months, not a day longer.”
The CEO smiled in relief. “Thank you. And yes, I want to work with you, too.”
“Just make sure every one of those ACVs performs as advertised. I don’t want our marines getting their socks wet because something leaked; if that happens you’re gonna need more than a plumber to save your ass from me.”
“Understood.” Sam Mannino shook Captain Shariak’s hand. “How about lunch? There’s a terrific Italian place a few miles from here.”
“I’d love to, but I have to be at MITRE Corp. in forty minutes. However, there is someone I’d like to say hello to while I’m here.”
Adam followed the armed security guard out of the elevator onto the seventh floor. They passed through a gated checkpoint and proceeded down a white-tiled corridor, security cameras sealed in tinted purple globes were mounted along the ceiling.