Before 24 Billion and Counting

Chapter 8 Part 2 The preservation of privacy - if you can

He thought for a minute. "Okay - here's what I'll do. Let's do an interview here and now on the traffic accident. Frank can take the can and that'll be tonight's story. You'll know what's in. Then you tell me the rest." 

"Alright, that sounds fair." 

Frank set up the camera and then Joe asked me the questions with an introduction which went. 

"This is Joe Hannigan, Channel Eight News, and here is the mystery man, the lone one who walked away from today's pile up on the Mll - Charles Berisford from New Zealand. 

"Mr Berisford, how does it feel to be the only one who walked out?" 

"A bit lonely, but luckier than the hundreds who didn't. I wish I'd been a quarter of an hour or so earlier on the motorway." 

"Do you have no injuries at all?" 

"I'm very stiff now because I was caught up between the seat back and the floor, I've a few bruises and they'll show up later, and some very superficial grazes, but that's really all." 

"A miracle almost." 

"Not really. There was only the one car behind mine that the computer didn't prevent crashing, and the computer had the brakes hard on." 

"What do you think saved you from most injury."  

"Definitely the airbag." 

"You said you'd wished you'd been earlier. Were you delayed?" 

"Not particularly.  

If anything I was earlier than I expected." 

"Why didn't you stay and help?" 

"I talked to a fireman, in fact I noticed your channel interviewed him earlier, and he said very politely the best way I could help would be by going. One less to worry about was his attitude." 

"Do you think that was reasonable?" 

"Oh I think so. If you look at the way the cars and things are put together these days you need specialist equipment and knowledge to get people out. I don't have that. And even though I walked most of the length of the crash there wasn't anyone else who I could help. You know, someone who could walk away, or even someone sitting beside the motorway with a minor injury. It was very strange. I felt as if I was in a dream." 

"Would you travel again on the motorway under computer control?" 

"Yes. I don't know if you've ever looked at records of what used to happen on motorways, but crashes like this happened quite often before the computer came. And anyway we don't know yet if the computer was at fault." 

"What else could it have been?" 

"Sabotage occurs to me, a bomb somewhere, or some gismo put in the computer." 

"What brings you to England Mr Berisford?" "Business. I only intended to be here three days."  

"And what business is that?" 

"I'm primarily a publisher, and I'm looking at the possibilities for a manuscript that has been offered me to look at." 

"Do you have a family in New Zealand?" 

"I'm a widower - my daughter is in Australia with the grandchildren. If she catches this I'm in good shape Julie." 

"Thank you Mr Berisford. and congratulations on your lucky escape." 

Frank packed his camera up, and Joe said to him, "Tell the boss that it's exclusive and to get the word out he's our property." Frank nodded and took his leave. 

"He doesn't say much does he", I remarked," Can I get you a drink. I'm having one whether you do or not." 

"No he's quiet, but he doesn't miss a trick. What have you 

got?" 

"Well there's the minibar or some duty free malt whisky."  

"I'll take a duty free off you." 

I sorted out the drinks and we sat opposite each other on two low armchairs. I said, "Joe, I know the business, I've been in it twenty five years. This isn't a story for your end of the press. For one thing there are a lot of loose ends, and for another it hasn't run its course. I'm not asking you to let it alone, nor am I welching on our bargain, but believe me if I say I don't know, it means just that." 

I told him the story. How I found out there was a manuscript, and the two artifacts. How Alicia had come by them, as far as was known, and how Jenkins had attempted to intervene, and as things stood I didn't know the merit of the manuscript until I'd read it. He made notes on a lap top. 

He heard me out, and I topped my drink up, and gestured to his with the bottle. 

He said, "Please, it's excellent. The story is interesting, and I think in all honesty Jenkins is a pain. Mind you I found your holier than thou attitude to him a bit much too." 

"But I do believe in standards. Some of what we turn out I find poor. But you have to remember that I have a range of people in the firm and a corresponding mix in output, mainly so that we can finance that element with less commercial potential and hopefully other merit. Like you. You have some programme output that is trash to finance some other work." 

"Ah but we don't go around sitting on a high horse and calling someone crap just because their company has failed." 

"No I won't have that. Jenkins has failed because he brings nothing to the table. He thinks that to achieve a successful company all he has to do is sit in the office and wait for someone to produce. He doesn't realize that people need help and synergy from others, leadership and encouragement." 

"I may half agree with you," he said with a trace of amusement, "but don't tell anyone I said so. My reputation as a mean newshound must remain intact. So what's your next move?" 

"I must read the damned 'script. If it's no good then I've wasted a trip, and had a car crash and argued with Jenkins and what all, but I've met Alicia - that was reward enough." 

He mused, "That's interesting. I mean you've got a retired real celebrity and you could tell her story. The father and then the son. You talk almost as though you're spellbound by her. It's fascinating." 

"She has fantastic charisma. But I want to preserve her privacy. The life she leads now is perfect for her at this time of her life. To disturb it in any significant way would be cruel." 

"Okay, so you read the manuscript and so it is good enough. What then?" 

"Well I have to get the provenance sorted. There are better copyright thieves than Jenkins, and whilst I believe Alicia, it's still a manuscript that arrived without a signature to it. It could for all I know be a copy of an old book, or by someone else entirely. I must admit I haven't had time to think it through up to now but I suppose I'll have to trace Chris Williamson both here and in Turkey to bottom it." 

"Get's quite expensive for you doesn't it. I mean you follow something like this up, and you may think it's brilliant, publish it and it's a failure, but you've still spent the cash." 

"Well that's where judgement comes in - and again I say having a spread of different types of output. This may be a work of genius or complete trash, but at least we've generated the finance to allow the possibility for the work to surface and contribute to the total of human culture." 

"Oh come off it 'contribute to the total of human culture'. That's what get's my goat about you. This high flown high mindedness. What about the rest of us struggling for a measly buck, and worse - those who don't have anything at all. This is elitist crap." 

I hadn't the energy to argue and let him go. Elitist or standards. Did I know anymore?