Pandora: The Final Solution

I gratefully acknowledge one of the foremost creative geniuses of our times, James Cameron, for conceiving the lush moon Pandora and the "noble savages," the Na'vi, that inhabit it. I have not received any money for my work based on Avatar. If I could get paid by the hour for these stories, I would retire and spend all my time dancing and writing in comfort.

This chapter contains all original characters and situations, set on Earth immediately after the end of the movie. It is the obvious approach to dealing with the Pandoran uprising, with less than obvious consequences.

Dear Readers: Sorry for the long delay since my last update. After undergoing my fourth operation in two plus years, I spent a month fighting a respiratory infection made worse by a bad reaction to new antibiotics. Wish I could write during these down times, but haven't found a way to concentrate when I'm in zombie mode because of the medications. Also spent too much time rereading Jerathai's and Xenobia's Avatar writings to recharge my batteries. Highly recommended, and I wish I could write as well as they do. I appreciate your support while I keep plugging away. All constructive criticisms are welcome. I have so much more to learn and master.

ASAP means As Soon As Possible

EVP means Executive Vice President

FTL means Faster Than Light

ISV means Inter-Steller Vehicle

ROI means Return On Investment

VP means Vice President

Chapter 23: Chairman Singh – Part 2

All four in the boardroom walk through JW's office towards the food service line. JW quickly pulls open the door from his office to his secretary's anteroom in his usual way, and this time is faced with the muzzle of the assault rifle held by Colonel Jennifer Little. Behind her, three more plainclothes SecOps agents have their weapons aimed at him. He stops dead in his tracks, and says with a scowl and a raised voice "Colonel, this is getting old."

"Sir, don't surprise me like that. Opening a door quickly behind my back is asking for trouble."

"This is a sound-proof door, and you won't hear me or anyone else coming. You won't even hear anyone kicking or banging on it, let alone knocking. What should I have done?"

"Yes, sir, you are right." She lowers her weapon and the others slowly do likewise.

"My visitors are just getting their meals, and the food is here. Since they are traveling with the Chairman, you know they had a long flight to get here."

In a conciliatory tone, she says "Ma'am, sir, come on through." The SecOps personnel stand aside and the two board members walk to the servers across the room. Dmitri stops besides JW in the doorway.

JW face softens as he says "Colonel, there is enough food to serve your team. You can eat in the boardroom if you wish."

"Thank you, sir. Since the board members are eating now, they should use the boardroom and the Chairman should join them. I'll ask him to move in there where conversation is protected by our equipment. My team will eat in shifts when we can."

"They can use the round table in my office where the Chairman is now."

"That is very nice, sir."

"Like I said before, I'm not the enemy. I strive to treat all my visitors well."

"Thank you, sir. To be effective, my unit must keep its distance, and that gets misinterpreted, sometimes."

"I understand, Colonel. I know your team is just doing their duty, so telling you to relax is not going to matter. Just tryin' to give you-all some Texas hospitality, since we'uns are jus' a stone's throw away from El Paso."

For the first time, she makes a hint of a smile. "Very good, sir. I'll keep that in mind."

JW sees Singh walking towards the boardroom table holding only a glass of ice water, and says "Chairman, there's plenty of food if you want more."

"No thank you, I've had more than enough. It was an excellent meal for having such short notice. Thank you again for your hospitality, a rare quality in these trying times. I usually eat too much and too fast, an atrocious habit I learned as a child. It was bad enough at home, with my sisters and brothers. I had to eat very quickly or go hungry. Once the Kalistan Junior Defense Corps took me in, I learned to eat even faster. My parents were glad for me to go, one less big mouth to feed." The Chairman grins as everyone else laughs. "I was always very large for my age, and the commandant was glad to get a big kid that was not as dumb as a rock. He put me on the leadership and college prep tracks, and for that I am eternally grateful. They did have to feed me, as that was all I cared about back then, besides working on complicated things, vehicles, mainly. I learned a few things from the other boys there. So in time, I moved on to even more complicated things, women." The group laughs again as they take their places around the beautiful conference table made from Pandoran wood.

Once Singh, Ko Jin, Bill Blakely, John Winston, and Dr. Dmitri Mendeleev get situated in the boardroom, Blakely looks to the Chairman and says "Mr. Winston was planning to move to Corporate after the ISV in space dock here gets underway, and since that will be postponed, we decided he should move immediately and become EVP for Pandoran Affairs to work the response for the current crisis. Part of that is exploring the Centauri system more thoroughly, to see if unobtainium might exist somewhere else other than Pandora."

Singh replies "That is a good idea, but his responsibilities should be broader." He stops, looks down for a second, sighs, looks across the table at Ko and then Blakely, and continues. "While I was eating, I thought back to the first time I read the book 'The Na'vi' by Phred Palmer. It is an excellent book, really piqued my interest in the Na'vi. In some ways they are similar to my people, the Sikhs in Kalistan, and so different in so many other ways. It focused on the people of Pandora, but left out many details of the flora and fauna. When I read Grace Augustine's book, I was thrilled how she described the plants and fit them into the context of the entire biosphere, including the ways the Na'vi use them. It is clear she spent much time with both the plants and the Na'vi. That made my understanding of the natives much deeper, and then it became clear in my mind what they are up against on a daily basis. They must put aside their conflicts and cooperate, work together, and protect each other, or die very suddenly and gruesomely. We here on Earth could learn so much from them. Dr. Augustine flew out there before I got involved with RDA. I had hoped to talk to her when she returned, but that can never happen now." He hangs his head while he pauses to take a deep breath and sighs again. Raising his head, he says forcefully "On Pandora, our head of Security killed our head of Research." He raises his voice even more. "Our people are killing each other!" He shakes his head, and continues in a normal tone. "No wonder the avatars revolted, their leader was killed by the commanding officer of SecOps there. I am very angry about this whole sordid affair. When we get back, the board must discuss this. I'm thinking we must sack someone in security and someone in research for this debacle, and the VPs would be a good starting point."

Blakely says "Yes, we must discuss that. Those that allowed this breakdown of discipline and lack of focus on the mission must be held accountable. The board may need more details before acting, though."

"The VP of Research has got to go. She annoys me with her constant sniping about the avatar program being kept on a shoestring budget, steady at two new avatars per year, and the operations arm building systems such as PANSAT for exploration even though that is her domain. Yes, the avatar program is on life support, but that is no excuse for the lack of discipline exhibited by the avatar personnel. This insurrection cannot go unpunished."

Ko softly answers "I'm sure the board will understand your position, Chairman. Captain Gustav's video makes that clear. The insurrection did happen after their leader was killed. No reason was given on how or why that happened. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances."

"There was an underlying tension that should have been dealt with in a proper manner. The administrator out there should have put a stop to it, as he was on the scene. If Parker Selfridge was standing here now, I'd sack him."

Blakely counters "There is the possibility that Selfridge was playing those groups off of each other..."

"Even more reason to sack him!"

Ko answers "It will be about six years until he gets here. He is effectively out of a job now, he will be in cryo the whole way."

"If we sack him now, he won't get paid for the return trip. I hope he is not in cryo yet, I want him to know that he is fired before he is beyond care."

"If we fire him, he is free to say and do whatever he wants. If he remains an employee, contractually he must work with us, even with his own counsel, which he had before he left. Most likely, that is worth more than the six years of salary, even at his high pay rate."

"Unfortunately, you are right." The Chairman sighs while shaking his head again. "The VPs remain culpable in not inquiring about their charges out there, finding which tensions exist and addressing them as needed, keeping their personnel in line. I think the Research organization should be taken over by JW. He should be established as EVP of Exploration, and the position VP of Research abolished. That will send the message to the whole of RDA that such lack of cooperation will not be tolerated. Since he will be in charge of exploration, that will give JW the organization he needs to explore the Centauri system more fully. It also gives RDA a laser focused responsibility towards exploration, both within the Sol system, and without. Think we have autonomous drones in or approaching over a hundred neighboring star systems now, most with FTL data links, and many more here in the asteroid and Kuiper belts and Oort cloud. Exploration is a huge job, as is restoring our production of unobtainium, and they dovetail nicely."

Blakely says "I believe the board will look on that approach favorably, even though the Research VP has solid friends on the board. They won't be happy, but will understand your reasons, Chairman."

"I'll send an email to the board to that effect, tonight from the plane, for discussion tomorrow. We must get JW set up right away, and his replacement here, Dr. Dmitri, must also be named ASAP."

Both Blakely and Ko nod their heads.

The Chairman looks towards Dmitri and says "Captain Gustav had some thoughts about your niece, she is your niece?"

"Yes, she is."

"What is her name again?"

"Ivanna Petrakov."

"Using a family member like that is very disturbing to me. I do not want RDA to intrude on your relationship. I do ask that you tell Ivanna that we are aware that she left with those expelled by the avatars, and she is free to return to Earth or go back to Pandora without worry of reprisal against her or you. Her loyalty will be rewarded, even if she returns to Hell's Gate to rejoin her fellow avatar drivers. But, I will order that your emails remain private, or at least as private as they can be. We know all major powers on Earth, including RDA, collect and process all emails for legal and intelligence reasons. There is no reason for RDA to burden you any further than that."

Dmitri answers "Thank you Chairman. I'll send her an email via the priority channel to the Venture Star after we finish here today. We aren't that close, my sister and I were split up when we were very young after the deaths of our parents, and couldn't keep in touch. After all these years, we send pleasantries on special occasions, but that is about it."

Jin says "Well, if she does return to Earth, I hope you can re-establish your relationship in person, that is far better than email. The board will respect the Chairman's wishes on this, and will not ask you to make a spy out of your niece."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ko."

The Chairman looks to JW and says "When your people verify the list of those sent up to the Venture Star, have the payroll payments for everyone else stopped. Handle them all as sacked, until proper documentation is received for those qualifying for death benefits."

"That sounds like a good response, and should be legally defensible. May get pushback from SecOps, though, and lawyers for exes expecting child support payments."

"Have Legal look at it ASAP, and do what they suggest." The Chairman pauses. "There is something else you must know, because you will be in charge of the avatar program."

"Oh?"

"The VP of Research came from an academic background, and she ran that program as a post-doctoral fellowship. I had hoped her outlook would broaden with her experience here in RDA, but I am sorry to say that did not happen. Her policy remains that only PhDs are considered for avatar drivers. Except for some volunteer lab rats early on, this Sully we heard about from Captain Gustav is the first non-academic to become an avatar driver. His identical twin brother was a brilliant young anthropologist and was one of the first two drivers selected not just for research on Pandora but also for diplomacy. Unfortunately, he was killed just before departure. Even though they were identical twins, they took very different paths in life, with the surviving brother enlisting in military service while in high school, joining the U. S. Marine Corps. So, when the scholar brother was killed, the soldier brother was the only person alive that was a genetically qualified replacement, and he was available and agreed to substitute. The leadership of the avatar program was unhappy with his selection, but the only way to salvage the investment in that avatar was to hire the soldier brother and try him out on Pandora. He could always be packed into cryo and returned if he did not work out. Of course, the security office had to vet the soldier brother before he could be hired. They were thrilled to have one of their own drive an avatar, and the recent reports from Pandora said that he was the best driver out there, or at least had the best physical skills. Everyone was greatly relieved that he was succeeding, far better that anyone anticipated. Colonel Quaritch even got corporate approval to fix Sully's pre-existing war injuries based on his excellent performance. So, when you start to work in headquarters, JW, expect the Security Operations leadership to request making an army of avatars designed to retake Pandora. Years ago, they expressed the desire to make a squad of special forces avatars, but the VP of Research steadfastly refused, unless her budget was substantially increased in areas beyond making soldier avatars."

JW replies "That's good to know. I'll be ready for it. This problem on Pandora plays right into the hands of that SecOps request."

"Yes it does, to a point. Financially, the avatar program has never made sense. Its ROI is pathetic, virtually zero, and out-year projections are always inflated by vague promises of future returns that never materialize. The financial trolls love ROI, but I've always hated it because it makes no provision for risk when used before the fact. There has always been much fascination with avatars, it is a very compelling technology, but it just has not panned out from a business perspective. That is why the administrator out there had the authority to shut down his part of the program. Back here, two avatars are being produced per year, just enough to keep researchers busy improving the technologies. However, they have not found the breakthroughs needed to significantly reduce costs. The various intricate pieces and processes make it prohibitively expensive for the medical uses envisioned here on Earth. The drivers on Pandora are basic researchers, for the most part, and their pay-offs are always long term, if any. Before now, soldier drivers were viewed solely as expenses. Taking back Hell's Gate and reopening the mines will finally give them a potential return that is indisputable, if the risk is ignored. But, it will be horribly expensive. However, it may be impossible to reject making a special forces unit of avatars."

"I'll look into the technology and finances, and see what such a squad would cost. Maybe putting some fresh minds on it will help. There are plenty of bright engineers out here in the desert."

"I'll let you and Dmitri work that out, but reviewing the entire avatar system sounds like an excellent start. Even if new soldier avatars are not approved by the board, maybe you can find a way to move the technology forward for medical use here on Earth, so RDA can make something on its outrageous investment in it."

"Will do."

"Good. I'll think about your new job, and will talk to you back at headquarters.

"I look forward to that."

"Do you have any questions for me?"

"It occurs to me that you are the primary expert in RDA for exploration. You are legendary for your vision in exploiting the moon, and that made you both the chairman of RDA and the richest homo sapiens in the universe. Do you have any experiences that could help me?"

"Oh, my, where to begin... We must have many long discussions to cover that." The Chairman pauses for a second as he becomes emotional. "This may not be helpful, but my primary motivation has always been my awareness that I am just a poor boy from the shattered ruins of a large country once known as India, formerly the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. I have been haunted by the fact that millions had to die to make me what I am today."

"This is why you want to retire and use your wealth to leave a legacy in Kalistan?"

"Yes, of course. I am certain all of you know the story from your world history classes." The Chairman's voice loses its emotion as he takes on a monotone professorial tone to recount those events.

"The Indo-Pakistani war was very brief, but proved to be one of the most deadly wars ever fought. How it started was never determined with certainty, but the world powers agree that the first nuclear explosion happened within a military base in Pakistan. Minutes later, Pakistan launched its nuclear arsenal into India. When it became clear to India that it was under attack, it launched a massive counter-strike. China watched the exchange via satellites and ground radars, and once it determined it was not a target, turned its missile defenses loose in an attempt to limit the carnage. The interceptors managed to down the longer range missiles headed to eastern and southern India, saving Kolkata, Chennia, and Bengaluru. None of the shorter range missiles could be stopped, so most military and political centers in north-eastern Pakistan and northern and western India were destroyed. Days after the exchange, a splinter group held a press conference in Kabul. They claimed the Pakistani government was trying to destroy them, so they sent a commando team into India. They bragged that they hijacked a mobile launcher on the southern edge of the Kashmir region, and shot its nuclear missile into a base near Rawalpindi. As proof, they gave the Western correspondents present some equipment and keying materials from the mobile launcher, but no one present could verify the authenticity of the items, and those that could were either dead or not saying."

"Although millions perished in the initial nuclear holocaust, they were the lucky ones. The bloodbath that Mohandas Gandhi labored so hard to stave off during his lifetime exploded across the subcontinent. Mobs of Hindus and Muslims attacked each other, leaving thousands more killed and injured. The one group that both sides incorrectly blamed for the war was the Sikhs. As the British were dividing up their colony into Pakistan and India, the Sikh homeland became a contested area that was the center of conflict for generations. The British were always enamored of the Sikhs, particularly their costumes and fighting skills, and set up regiments made exclusively of Sikhs. Once the British withdrew, the Sikhs retained their power in India's affairs, but could never get the government to resolve the conflict in their homeland. When the mobs started attacking Sikhs, the Sikh military units gathered up their communities and protected them within the surviving bases. The Sikhs collected everything useful they could get their hands on, like vehicles, food, and weapons, and worked their way into central India where they established their own state, known now as Kalistan."

"After the mobs vented their fury, the real disaster began. The missiles and riots knocked out the systems that keep modern societies operating. The electrical grid was fried, and no power was available to run the water purification plants or pump potable water to the masses. Likewise, the water treatment plants could not operate, dumping raw sewerage into the local waterways, bringing devastating epidemics. The logistical systems, primarily financial and transportation, collapsed, and food and other necessary supplies were no longer flowing into population centers. Factories shut down and ports closed, so everyday products, like soap and toilet paper, were no longer available. Within a matter of weeks, the number of dead from famine and disease surpassed the fatalities caused by the nuclear bombs. Nothing like this had been seen since the great plague swept across Europe centuries before. It was said the rivers flowed with the ashes and bodies for weeks, making the western arm of the Indian Ocean the final graveyard for the uncounted dead. The monsoon rains were welcomed for their role in cleansing the areas too contaminated for prolonged human exposure."

"China sent their army south to annex the northern parts of both countries, setting up new buffer states to join Tibet and Bhutan. Unlike the annexation of the Korean peninsula after its nuclear holocaust, no guile was needed here. The Chinese Army simply rolled south unopposed and took over the lands they wanted. Their experience with operating in the nuclear hot zones of Korea helped greatly as they restored order and reestablished civilization at a primitive level. Iran and Afghanistan mounted relief efforts for the remainder of Pakistan. The western powers mobilized their relief organizations by shipping supplies into the ports still operating between Kolkata and Chennai. The largest refugee migration the world has ever seen began, with the survivors from northwest India walking to the eastern coast. The remnants of the government and military kept order as best they could, but India quickly fractured into numerous city-states. Within a month, Kolkata tripled its population and declared itself an independent state. The rest is history."

"So, how did you get involved with the Chinese?"

"After the war, the Chinese feared the potential problems that the breakdown in the subcontinent could cause them. They did not annex the entire subcontinent because they did not want the responsibility or the expense to keep it orderly. But, they wanted to watch everything and control whatever they could. They funded many competitions, looking for young athletes, artists, scientists, writers, entertainers, and even engineers."

"Any youngster that might challenge them in the future."

"Yes, and the winners would go to China, on what you would call full scholarships. There they would learn and improve their skills, under the friendly guidance of the Chinese, and often would become proponents for the Chinese government."

"How did the Chinese pick you?"

"For decades, China has kept a colony on the back side of the moon, since they consider the front side to be American territory. This colony has no real reason for existence, other than the obvious political stake in the ground. So, one of the incentives they invented is a contest for university students to propose experiments for the lunar colony, and sometimes they send the winners to the colony to perform the experiments. Anyone who enters a reasonable proposal gets some reward, usually a scholarship to a Chinese university. In poor lands, that is a huge incentive. So, I was volunteered to enter and eager to make a good showing. My innovation was not an experiment for execution in the colony, but a strategy for exploring the moon well beyond their base."

"As you know, the number one problem in space is always power. If your power management is not first rate, your system dies too soon, maybe before accomplishing its mission. Do you remember the first satellite that landed on a comet to analyze its contents? It bounced into a shady place, and quickly ran out of power before it could start its analysis. Exploring Luna has the same problem. There was a theory that water ice remained in the floors of craters that are perpetually dark. So, how to verify this theory? A super nimble rover is obviously needed, but a nuclear power supply for it is way too heavy. Any other power supply light enough for such a rover will severely limit exploration time in dark places."

"I saw a video about Nikolai Tesla and his hardware for providing power wirelessly. Because of the electric fields generated, his equipment could not be used in populated places today. Fortunately, that is not a problem on Luna. There are mountaintops near each pole that are in perpetual sunlight. My proposal was to send a swarm of rovers to the poles, one group to find perpetual light and transmit power based on Tesla's ideas, and the other group to receive power to look for water in the perpetual dark places. I also proposed to send out a third swarm using the transmitted power to look for the skylights, the places where the surface has collapsed into lava tubes. Astronomers studying the moon have been identifying these holes for almost two centuries, but no one has examine them close-up. Such places would make ideal spots for new colonies, underground habitats that would provide protection from solar radiation not available on the surface. With power, water, and shelter, expanding man's presence on the moon would finally become affordable."

"I know the Chinese didn't jump on your proposal. What happened?"

"They were very impressed, but my plan was exploring outside their colony, including the visible face. They are not interested in encroaching into the areas they think are owned by the USA. They thought my proposal was too risky from a political perspective. I cared only about exploring the moon, not whom might own it. The Chinese did award me a full ride in their universities through whatever graduate degrees I wanted, but it felt like they were buying me out. Fortunately, I sent my proposal to other organizations around the world. That is when Mister Blakely here came calling with a group of investors. My friends and I had built a model lunar rover as an undergraduate project, and the investors were duly impressed. In fact, they were so enthusiastic, they hired our entire rover team, on the spot. They also leased facilities close to campus, so we could develop our rovers while finishing up our degrees. RDA owned space, but they, too, ignored developing the moon because of the Americans and Chinese settlements there. These investors were not afraid of the possible ownership claims. After certain political donations were made in America, they got both the backing of the American government and title to whatever could be found anywhere on the surface, basically ignoring the Chinese presence except for their actual facility. A new company was formed, with me as the chief technical officer, to build these swarms of rovers. All rovers were also outfitted with sensors to look for valuable elements, mainly metals. Radar surveys from Earth had found large areas with common metals, iron mainly. As the swarms crawled to their targets, they looked for deposits of anything valuable. We wisely kept to the American side, except around the poles, staying far enough away from the Chinese colony to not cause problems. After the rovers found places with perpetual light or water or shelter or good spots for prospecting, we began planning where to build colonies to exploit our finds. We contracted with RDA to fly personnel and equipment to the American base, and started the hard work of mining what we could. We set up processing plants, and turned the ore into the materials we needed to build our colonies. As we became self-sufficient enough, I designed the rail-guns to launch ingots into space. At this point, we were doing on the moon what RDA was doing in space. Our ore processing units were bought directly from RDA. RDA also knew what we were doing from what we sent to the moon and brought back. That is when RDA proposed buying us out, mainly with a stock swap deal. As you would say, the rest is history."

"Sounds like we need to build swarms of rovers to analyze the moons of Polyphemus, excluding Pandora."

"Think about a trade-off study of remote sensing the moons from orbit before landing rovers. I had centuries of observations to use for Luna, but there is very little data from Alpha Centauri, other than Pandora. Between the richness of new minerals like unobtainium and the minimally habitable environment, practically all of the focus has been on Pandora."

"The manufacturers of the PANSAT satellites have been wanting us to expand our constellation. They'll be happy to work up a more general exploration variant for use elsewhere."

"Believe me, when the word gets out about this, your people will be overwhelmed with inquiries from sales organizations. You better get prepared for the onslaught."

"We had a staff meeting earlier today, and that very issue was discussed. My people are working it now."

"That's good to hear. Anything else?"

"My security chief said he booked hotel rooms, but it sounds like you three are returning tonight. Is there anyone we should know about that is staying over?"

The Chairman replies "That's an easy one. The Corporate Communications office had a number of new hires scheduled to fly out here for their familiarization briefings on your organization. My plane replaced the usual shuttle, so they flew with us. Two of my most trusted Communications specialists were added to that group, and they are getting those hotel rooms. For appearances sake, they will stay with the group today. They will schedule the group to meet with you tomorrow. Those two will stay behind and talk to you about the Pandoran situation afterward. They need to know everything, so they can work up a good story. You can't miss them, they are the only two that don't look like kids." The Chairman chuckles. "A sure sign of my advancing age. Anything else?"

JW smiles and asks "Chairman, I just have to know, is that the sword..."

The Chairman breaks out in laughter, and then answers "Ah, another one of my secrets, not to leave this room. Yes, this is the very sword that I used to stop the assailants. I hated killing them, but they gave me little choice. My secret is that this is not the ancient sword for which I paid a small fortune. That sword is safely stored in Fort Knox, and will stay there until my museum is built in Kalistan and is ready to receive it. What I am wearing today is an excellent reproduction. It has tasted blood only that one time. Both were bought from the same collector, thanks to Mrs. Ko." He looks to the woman of Korean ancestry and bows slightly, who smiles and nods in return. "Her team had been searching for the treasures that disappeared after the war, and they tracked the bulk of the Sikh weapons to a collector in Japan. That collector had built a secret vault in his office building to hold these items, and had a team of armorers make reproductions of the nicer pieces for display in his office. This sword is one of those reproductions. After he died, his family was told about the secret vault and its contents. That news made them very nervous, since they were technically breaking many international laws, and instructed their lawyers to find a quiet resolution. I have kept out of the political morass of my homeland, but already had been appointed as the official in charge of returning the missing Sikh heritage items, mainly because of my riches that I was willing to contribute. Mrs. Ko brought us together, and a quiet agreement was made. The unwritten part is that her bank was involved in moving Korean treasures out of the country before the conflict there went nuclear, and those items went into Fort Knox for a time. So, even though that happened before any of us were born, she was able to use the same channels in the U. S. government, and achieved the same result with the recovered Sikh treasures."

"Thank you for sharing that."

"You are welcome. Looks like everyone is finished eating." The Chairman stands and walks to the door into JW's office, cracks it open, and speaks to the SecOps personnel within "Please inform Colonel Little that we are finished here, and will be ready to ride to the plane after the usual preparations." Turning back towards the conference table, he says "I think that is enough secrets for one day. Maybe we travelers should take a bathroom break now, and then be on our way to the plane. JW, thanks again for you hospitality. I look forward to your presence at Corporate in New York City. Goodbye, Dr. Dmitri. We'll be in touch with you both as soon as the board votes on your promotions."