Read Online The Outer Circle (The Counterpoint Trilogy Book 3) by D. R. Bell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: D. R. Bell
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money when he died in 2006. My natural father never helped me financially. When I came to the U.S. nine years ago – too late, I am afraid, to lose my accent – I sought out Jennifer to thank her. Jeff and Jennifer practically adopted me, helped me with college, I slept on their couch for months. And I did not volunteer – I begged them to let me work on Jeff’s campaign.”
“Well, Dr. Weinstein, welcome to the team!” smiled Marosyan. “Happy to have someone with your credentials.”
He turned to Jeff:
“Speaking of credentials, where is your VP Dr. Moonson?”
“He couldn’t make it, not feeling well.”
“I wish we could have designated Jennifer as a VP, she has a great name recognition,” Marosyan shook his head.
“Why couldn’t you?” wondered David.
“Electoral college laws. Electors can’t vote for two people from their state. We didn’t want to risk losing California,” explained Robert. “So we ended up with Dr. Moonson, who doesn’t help the ticket much.”
“That’s OK, Robert,” Jennifer waved her hand in a don’t worry gesture, “people vote for the president, not the VP. Anyway, there is a reason David is here. I asked him to talk to us about the emerging socio-economic landscape of the country so we can fine-tune our economic message.”
“Well, I guess that would be useful,” allowed Marosyan not too happily. “But I wish you talk some sense into your husband about running this campaign to win. I mean, we have the polling data we should be using to fine-tune our messaging, we have the backers that are willing to throw money at us...”
“Robert, don’t start this again!” Jeff shook his head. “I want to win but I want to win the right way. I will take no money from special interests; I want to rid the country of their influence. I will not change my message based on polling. There are millions of people that believed what I wrote and what I said, they follow me because of that. We will build our coalition around them, not by betraying their trust!”
“Ahhh, who said anything about betraying anyone!” screamed Marosyan in frustration. “I am talking about doing some professional campaigning, the kind you hired me for!”
“See, David, that’s the zoo you signed up for,” Jennifer put her arm around David. “It’s not too late to walk away and grab that high-paying job on Wall Street.”
“Oh no, not in a million years!” exclaimed David.
“So, do you have some ideas for us?” asked Jeff.
“Oh yes,” David’s eyes lit up. “I wrote down a few suggestions.” He grabbed a slightly coffee-sogged folder on the table in front of him. “The society has become...”
“It’s all well and good, but the timing sucks. We have an electronic townhall in twenty minutes,” said Marosyan.
David sat down, visibly deflated.
“It’s my fault, bad scheduling,” apologized Jennifer. “David, Robert, why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow night and we’ll give David the floor. Are you both available?”
David and Robert nodded.
“Great, we have a plan. Now, let’s go to the studio,” Kron got up. “David, welcome to the team.”
Los Angeles, USA
“We found Jim Brobak,” announced Alejandro. “He is now in Farmington, New Mexico.”
“How can I contact him?” jumped David.
“With caution,” replied Alejandro. He nodded at the phone in the middle of the table between them. “If he is willing to talk to you, this phone should ring fairly soon.”
“Why?”
“This phone is ‘encryption paired’ to another phone that has been delivered to Jim Brobak a few minutes ago. They are hard-wired to the same encryption key. A very long encryption key that would take years to break via brute force. You can’t extract the key without destroying the phone. The phones are delivered physically; no keys get exchanged over the internet. The encrypted conversation goes over the internet using TOR-3A, the latest version of the
“Well, Dr. Weinstein, welcome to the team!” smiled Marosyan. “Happy to have someone with your credentials.”
He turned to Jeff:
“Speaking of credentials, where is your VP Dr. Moonson?”
“He couldn’t make it, not feeling well.”
“I wish we could have designated Jennifer as a VP, she has a great name recognition,” Marosyan shook his head.
“Why couldn’t you?” wondered David.
“Electoral college laws. Electors can’t vote for two people from their state. We didn’t want to risk losing California,” explained Robert. “So we ended up with Dr. Moonson, who doesn’t help the ticket much.”
“That’s OK, Robert,” Jennifer waved her hand in a don’t worry gesture, “people vote for the president, not the VP. Anyway, there is a reason David is here. I asked him to talk to us about the emerging socio-economic landscape of the country so we can fine-tune our economic message.”
“Well, I guess that would be useful,” allowed Marosyan not too happily. “But I wish you talk some sense into your husband about running this campaign to win. I mean, we have the polling data we should be using to fine-tune our messaging, we have the backers that are willing to throw money at us...”
“Robert, don’t start this again!” Jeff shook his head. “I want to win but I want to win the right way. I will take no money from special interests; I want to rid the country of their influence. I will not change my message based on polling. There are millions of people that believed what I wrote and what I said, they follow me because of that. We will build our coalition around them, not by betraying their trust!”
“Ahhh, who said anything about betraying anyone!” screamed Marosyan in frustration. “I am talking about doing some professional campaigning, the kind you hired me for!”
“See, David, that’s the zoo you signed up for,” Jennifer put her arm around David. “It’s not too late to walk away and grab that high-paying job on Wall Street.”
“Oh no, not in a million years!” exclaimed David.
“So, do you have some ideas for us?” asked Jeff.
“Oh yes,” David’s eyes lit up. “I wrote down a few suggestions.” He grabbed a slightly coffee-sogged folder on the table in front of him. “The society has become...”
“It’s all well and good, but the timing sucks. We have an electronic townhall in twenty minutes,” said Marosyan.
David sat down, visibly deflated.
“It’s my fault, bad scheduling,” apologized Jennifer. “David, Robert, why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow night and we’ll give David the floor. Are you both available?”
David and Robert nodded.
“Great, we have a plan. Now, let’s go to the studio,” Kron got up. “David, welcome to the team.”
Los Angeles, USA
“We found Jim Brobak,” announced Alejandro. “He is now in Farmington, New Mexico.”
“How can I contact him?” jumped David.
“With caution,” replied Alejandro. He nodded at the phone in the middle of the table between them. “If he is willing to talk to you, this phone should ring fairly soon.”
“Why?”
“This phone is ‘encryption paired’ to another phone that has been delivered to Jim Brobak a few minutes ago. They are hard-wired to the same encryption key. A very long encryption key that would take years to break via brute force. You can’t extract the key without destroying the phone. The phones are delivered physically; no keys get exchanged over the internet. The encrypted conversation goes over the internet using TOR-3A, the latest version of the
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