Big Data: A Startup Thriller Novel

Chapter 60

It had worked. Thor and Heath were dead. Doug was over the moon. His only regret was that he hadn't been there to see it for himself. How elegant Gaia's Wrath had been. Two for one. Genius. He couldn't imagine how any assassin in history could be as omnipotent. Gaia's Wrath was the Mozart of death. The Einstein of murder.

Of course, Gaia's success meant problems for Doug. Thor, for all his shortcomings, still ran Ancien's day-to-day logistics. Doug had organized an emergency board call for that evening to discuss the matter. It took some cajoling to get a quorum, but in the end, it came together.

"I'd like to call this emergency board meeting of Ancien to order," said Doug, seated behind his desk at his home in Seattle. There wasn't time to fly the board together; a phone call would have to do.

Doug continued, "As you may have heard, our friend and CEO, Thor Massino, was killed today in a tragic accident with a self-driving Chevy Volt. GM released a statement saying it was driver error and not a software glitch."

"Bullshit," came a voice from Doug's speakerphone. "We should sue."

"Of course, we'll look into all litigation options, but tonight we have more pressing matters. Specifically, I have called this quorum to elect an interim CEO. With the IPO rescheduled, and obviously now it will need to be rescheduled yet again, it is vital that we act quickly."

He heard indistinct murmurs on the phone.

"Does anyone know where Luna is?" another voice asked.

"At this time—and this is not public knowledge—it has been brought to my attention that Luna is in Palo Alto."

The murmurs broke into shouts.

"Please, let me finish," said Doug. "Luna's been arrested. On Monday, she will have a hearing. Something about assaulting an officer. By that time, we will not be able to keep it out of the press any longer. Hence the urgency of this call. We need strong leadership now more than ever to keep the ship afloat."

"What about Phillip Jones? He was always Luna's second-in-command."

Doug winced, grateful that he was not on video at that moment.

"Phillip is still in the hospital. The last I heard, he's still in a coma."

The conversation was going exactly how Doug had anticipated. The questions. The order. The groupthink. It all flowed together like a river of inevitability. There was a long pause.

"Doug, I heard you were working closely with Thor. You helped him fix the deal with Boeing, I believe."

"Oh, I would hardly characterize that as helping, but I'd been shadowing Thor. That is true." The meek was about to inherit. Destiny.

"Given the unfortunate turn of events, I think we only have one real option. I'd like to propose we name Doug Kensington our interim CEO. Doug, would that be all right with you?"

Doug nodded. "I can be there tomorrow morning to begin sorting this mess out."

"In that case, I second the motion," came another voice.

"Since we're not able to see each other at the moment, please let it be known now if anyone opposes the motion."