The Russian Crisis

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Lorraine Samuels, chair of the JPI board of directors, took her seat at the head of the long table in her company boardroom. She smoothed her short grey hair and looked around at her fellow directors. There were six of them present today with three absentees. A quorum.

She smiled broadly as Jackson Phillips entered the room and took his seat. She noted that he took a place with his back to the windows. He wouldn't be distracted by the bright sunlight that flooded into the room on the 23rd floor of her building.

Lorraine, like the other directors, were top executives of the largest military suppliers in Canada. Little known in the world outside of the military is Canada's place among the top 15 defence contracting countries. Lorraine's firm produced sub-systems, mainly for the U.S. military, and earned billions of US dollars per year doing so. She shook her head as she thought of what this meeting was about.

"Well, now that Jackson is here and very welcome, let's begin. Jackson..." she smiled at her friend, "... the meeting is yours."

Lorraine's smile was the last of the morning. Jackson spent the next hour going over all he knew about the theft of source code from the JPI division. He talked about the paucity of information about the theft, about possible thieves and potential buyers of the information. He moved to the potential ramifications of the theft and, finally, into the actions that should be taken without delay to deal with the crisis.

Bill Smitherly, the director seated next to Jackson, spoke to Lorraine, as chair. "I note for the record that Maxim Blax is not here today. This is not only unprecedented, it could be a violation of our duties as directors of JPI."

Lorraine nodded. "Yes, it could very well be. To hold this meeting without the CEO present, even though he is not a director, is highly irregular. But..." she looked at Jackson, "... I invited him last night, as Jackson had strongly recommended, but Maxim declined that invitation."

There was an audible gasp from the directors. Bill Smitherly was stunned, his mouth sagging open.

Lorraine waited a beat. "I didn't mention this at the beginning because I wanted everyone to hear what Jackson had to say. I can add that three of our members - the absent ones - are the ones who asked me yesterday if Max would be here. They also declined to come when they learned he had refused. We had a quorum so I didn't tell the five who are present - so sue me. But this is something that can't wait for Max to take it seriously."

"Are you saying Max is not on board?" Smitherly was belligerent now.

"Yes. That's precisely what I'm saying," Lorraine answered in a sharp tone. She brooked no attempt to undermine her authority. "I spoke with Max for a few minutes last night. I told him what Jackson had told me to prepare me for this meeting. He fought me at every word. He didn't believe Jackson... didn't believe there was a theft ... didn't think this meeting warranted any of his time. He told me, 'if you want to have a stupid meeting, go ahead. I won't stoop to your level.' I think he called me a name but I was so surprised by his reaction, I stopped listening..."

Smitherly, CEO of an armored fighting vehicle maker, held up his hands, palms toward the board chair. "All of this is so hard to believe, Lorraine. I'm sorry if ..." he stopped talking as Lorraine nodded in his direction.

"Hard for all of us," Lorraine told her fellow directors. Then, she turned to look directly at Jackson Phillips.

"As a special advisor to this board, I am asking you, officially and for the record, what can be done about this calamity?" Her voice was formal and lacked any warmth for her friend.

Jackson reached into a pocket of his suit jacket and withdrew a SD card. He leaned forward to push it into a slot in an elaborate presentation system built into the centre of the board table. He flipped a toggle switch on the control panel. A screen dropped down over the wall at one end of the large room. See-through blinds simultaneously dropped to cover the windows and darken the room. A picture appeared on the large screen; it was a list of items.