The Inheritance

True to form Barns came storming out of his office screaming. "Frederick! How did you get in here you fucking no good son of a bitch! You arrogant, no good, worthless, incompetent ..."

I ignored him and kept putting my personal items into the box.

The invective continued, "I told you I'd get even for you going over my head! If you think I'm going to give you a good recommendation you're more deluded than one of those idiots in the State Mental Hospital! You mother-fucking bastard! I'm going to kick your ass! You're going to be blamed for every disaster for the next six months and there is nothing you can do about it! You wasted your money on that fancy suit! Like I said, you're a stupid bastard! ..."

That's when Mr. Ross and the HR lady stepped around the corner followed closely by Audrey. Ross said, "That's enough Bates."

Bates snapped his head around, "Mr. Ross. This is the incompetent slacker that put us in a severe bind this weekend."

Mr. Ross held up his hand. He reached over and took my schedule off the cubicle wall. "It doesn't look like he was scheduled for the weekend or yesterday. You can't punish a man for taking bereavement leave, or maybe you think you can. Never the less. I want to introduce you to Mr. Frederick, the new chairman of the board of Pacific Enterprises. I also want to introduce you to Ms. Livingstone his executive assistant. I understand you used vile and vituperative language when talking with both of them Friday and again yesterday."

Ms. Sharp stepped in. "Mr. Bates it is unacceptable to inflict such abusive language on any employee. In addition it is strictly against policy to deny bereavement leave to any employee. Mr. Frederick was perfectly within his rights to come to HR with his request.

Bates muttered, "Sanctimonious lesbian, ball busting, bitch!"

Mr. Ross said, "Mr. Bates your employment is terminated as of now. You will follow us to HR and turn in all of your credentials, keys, credit cards and complete all paperwork."

Bates sneered, "Who'll you find to run this zoo! I've got you over a barrel! You can't fire me or everything will go to pot!"

I shook my head. "Not so. Get Mr. Ericson in. I know he worked a mid-shift but he's the best man in the IT department. Send our limo to pick him up."

A guard escorted Bates to HR with strict instructions to not let him touch a computer terminal. As he left I sat down at his terminal, changed his password and logged it off. Then I pulled the ethernet cable from it. That done I went to my terminal and logged on as administrator and changed his Windows password. When I finished these preliminary steps, I walked around and said goodbye to the people who were working. They were generally a good group. They worked hard and had suffered under Bates as much as I had.

By the time I'd finished my rounds Johan Ericson had arrived. I sat him in Bate's chair. "Johan, has anyone explained what is going on?"

"No Ryan. Why?"

Audrey stepped in, "Mr. Frederick inherited controlling interest in Pacific Enterprises. Mr. Bates has behaved abominably and has been dismissed. Mr. Frederick thought you'd be the best qualified person to take over the IT department. Are you willing to do it?"

"Sure, anything to help the company. You mean on an interim basis, right?"

I said, "Johan I think it should be permanent unless you don't want the job."

"No! I want the job but there is such a lot to do. I'm not sure where to start."

"Good," I smiled at him. "Get yourself a top of the line new computer and set it up in here. We need to change all of Bates' passwords and all of the root passwords. Next we need to search the network firewalls for VPN tunnels or other holes he could get in thru. Once you get a system cleaned take a full backup and run all the old backups to tape and delete them from the system. I also want a full port scan on the firewall and want it to block all unauthorized transmissions in or out." I snapped my fingers, "Email, lock his email and remove all aliases and forwarding outside the company. I know this is a huge job but it takes priority over all other projects. I'll leave it to you to determine what needs to be done first. We're depending on you."

He stood and gave me a bear hug. "It'll be done. Thanks for the opportunity Ryan."

"You deserve it. You know these guys." I waved at the IT floor. "Use them and if they don't know something put them with someone who does and train them. I have to get going Jonathan, goodbye." I handed him a slip of paper with Bates' new windows password. "Sorry to leave you in the lurch like this but I have to go."

We left and went to Ross's office for the rest of the briefing. Audrey insisted on carrying my box of mementos. We made a side trip to HR where I turned in my old badge and keys.

We were half an hour late getting to the airport. Anthony was waiting with his family. I got hugs from his mother, two aunts and one very developed teenage sister, who eyed Audrey with jealous eyes. Shortly we were in the air on our way back to Monterey.

Once airborne Audrey ask, "Ryan do you really think Johan is up to the task?"

"If anyone in the department is up to it Johan is. He's incredibly sharp in both systems administration and network administration. He also knows who's the best database administrator. He'll set the department right in short order. He'll also find all the holes in the system and plug them permanently."

The rest of the week was spent visiting the other divisions. There were seven in all. Luckily three of them were in Monterey.

Audrey and I spent the next two weeks going over reports from the several divisions.

At the end of the second week I received an email from Mr. Ross, it said, "You were right about Johan. Complaints from IT workers have dropped by over ninety percent. I've attached his report on what he's found so far. The department was riddled with holes. Thanks for your help. Productivity is up company wide."

The next week Sherwin fired Brenda Simmons. He was upset because she didn't alter the minutes of the board meeting.

Audrey caught her crying as she left the building at five in the afternoon on Friday. She phoned me and explained the situation.

I told her to march Brenda right back into HR and rehire her. Tell them to change her dismissal to a lateral transfer directly under me.

As they were waiting in HR, Audrey said to Brenda, "I told you he was a really good guy."

Brenda sniffed, "Yeah, you did but I didn't really believe it."

"So why didn't you do what Sherwin told you to do?"

Brenda gave a wan smile. "Because you were there and falsifying the board meeting minutes is a criminal act. If I'd done it Sherwin would have a hold over me. I have no way to prove he ordered me to falsify the minutes. That scared me more than you being there."

In HR it took several calls to me and an hour to transfer Brenda to my office. That done Audrey and I came home in the limo after dropping Brenda at her car.

About seven days out from the stockholders meeting, we were sitting watching the bay after dinner when Audrey said, "Ryan I'm worried. I can't see any way that we're not in for a constant fight with the other stockholders. It's hurting the business and we've already seen places where the divisions are modifying their processes the way Sherwin wants. Soon the environmentalists will get wind of what's going on, when they do all hell will break loose. I'm stumped. I don't know how to turn this around."

I mulled it over for a while as she snuggled with me under a blanket. She kept talking about various aspects of the problem. Finally, I said, "You know there are basically only two parts of the company. The divisions here in Monterey which do research, prototyping and climate modeling. The other four are production divisions."

"Yes, so what are you thinking?"

"Well the four production divisions are where we have our problems. They are the ones Sherwin wants to debase. He could care less about research and modeling."

"True, but I don't see where you're going with this."

"Audrey the real value in the company lies in innovation. Sherwin doesn't want innovation. He thinks it costs too much."

"Yes he does. So..."

I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. I said, "So if we split the company into two parts, we form a new company... say 'West Coast Environmental' from the three research divisions. He can keep Pacific Explorations and the other four divisions if we get the patents."

"Well that would solve one of our problems... "

"Don't you see it would solve both of our big problems. We wouldn't have to fight Sherwin in the board meetings and we wouldn't be in the line of fire when the environmental shit hits the fan."

"The only problem is that we have no money to fund our research."

"I think we can make money out of the research and prototyping. We'll have to generate a new production division. How much will farmers pay us to tell them which crops they should plant to get the best yield on their land. We'd know because of the climatology modeling. Huge desalination plants are at their limits because of the energy costs but research has several new more efficient systems but they don't scale well so Sherwin has kept them from being put into production. However, if we put them in small towns and communities up and down the coast they'll be welcomed. Not only will they provide water but they'll also provide local jobs. I think we can keep running on the income from these kinds of projects. Model water consumption and flow in large cities give them a better chance to plan."

She was quiet for half an hour, "You're right. As long as we hold the patents we can make a go of it with those three divisions. But how do we get him to let go?"

"You know him better than I do but I was thinking, we asked for four divisions. Ask to keep San Diego as well, it's the biggest. He'll think I have a sentimental attachment to it and the income it brings in. We'll have to give in slowly and demand all of the patents in return for the division."

"He'll never agree to that. He needs to use those patents."

"I know. At the last minute we'll cave and let him use them for five years royalty free. He'll think he has us and agree. At least I hope he'll agree. We'll split the two companies and give him all of our fifty two percent of the Pacific Exploration stock in return for one hundred percent of the West Coast Environmental stock."

She gave me a kiss. "He'll go for it the greedy sod and all of his lackeys will follow him."

At the stockholders meeting I got to keep the chairmanship by virtue of having fifty-two percent of the voting stock tied up. This time Audrey voted her own stock.

At the board meeting a week later I proposed the plan to split the company. There was a huge discussion over the plan. Finally, the original proposal was defeated because I couldn't vote Audrey's shares.

Two weeks later we had another board meeting and this time Sherwin had a counter proposal. He also took the San Diego division. I conceded the division but held out for all the patents. We had another adjournment.

At the next board meeting, two weeks later, Sherwin said he wouldn't pay royalties on the patents. I offered royalty free use for two years. He asked for seven. We haggled back and forth and finally agreed on the five years on the patents they were currently using. The deal I'd been shooting for. It took all my willpower to look beaten when inside I was dancing a jig.

"Now," he said, "How do we do this?"

I said, "First we split the company forming two independent companies. We each get shares in the new company that match the shares we have in Pacific Explorations now. In other words I get forty-seven percent of the new company, Audrey gets five percent of the new company and we let the dust settle for a couple of weeks. Then we do a stock swap with compensation."

"What compensation?" Sherwin asked warily.

"If shares in the new company are selling for forty-five dollars each and shares in Pacific Explorations are selling at fifty then you pay me a share in the new company plus five dollars for each share of the old corporation I give you. That leaves Audrey and me five percent of the shares in Pacific Explorations. I'll sell them to you at market price on the day of the trade."

Surprisingly the other members of the board pushed Sherwin into agreeing. The deal was struck.

The new company was formed and went public. A month later the stock exchange happened. They ended up paying us twenty-seven and a half dollars a share for our Pacific Explorations stock. Audrey and I were now the only stockholders in 'West Coast Environmental.'

Now all we had to do is put the new company on a paying footing. Luckily, most of the labor costs went with the other four divisions. We also had a good pad of cash from the stock exchange. Since Audrey and I owned all of the stock in the new company we decided to offer up to forty percent on the market to raise more capital if and when needed. I insisted that she retain fifteen percent and I kept forty-five percent of the stock. And yes we did allow my cousins to buy shares but I wouldn't let them buy more than ten percent percent of their bequest from Roger, in shares.

Audrey asked why she had fifteen percent. I told her it was for the same reason that Uncle Roger gave her five percent of Pacific Explorations stock. To put a brake on me in case I wanted to do something stupid. I got laid that evening. Boy did I get laid. She practically ate me alive.

Two months later, Megan asked me straight out, "Ryan why won't you let us buy more stock? It looks like a good deal to me.

With four cousins watching me intently I answered, "Meg, West Coast Environmental is a new company. It could fail utterly. I don't want to be responsible for destroying your entire bequest if the company fails. It falls under the adage of not putting all of your eggs in one basket. It's a bad idea.

"So you're looking out for us" she said.

"Yes, I guess I am."

Janie asked, "Why Ryan? I, for one, have been horrible to you for years. Why are you looking out for us?"

"There's a song by the Gothard sisters called "Little Things." It basically says to change the world you have to lead by example. You have to do the little things that let people know you are sincere. You're still my cousins and family."

Janie said, "You know that Jerry and Sam both put everything in Pacific Explorations. They are crowing about the increases in the stock price and how much their investment has made them."

I shook my head, "No I didn't know. I hope they don't get stung. The reason we split the company was that we couldn't make any progress with half of the stockholders pulling against us. I think Pacific Explorations is in for a bad time. If you can, talk them into pulling at least half their investment out of the company."

Janie snorted, "You know Jerry, he won't listen to anyone, especially me. He considers me a traitor."

Rory said, "I'll try to talk to Sam. Jerry should get out of jail shortly. Maybe I can talk some sense into him before Jerry gets to him again."

That's how Sam managed to save half his bequest by putting it into a reputable mutual fund. That and he bought forty thousand dollars of West Coast Environmental.

When Jerry got out of jail he refused to follow Sam's lead even with all five of the cousins urging caution. He maintained that we were all fools and refused to talk to us.

In January, we bought an unused cannery and turned it into a manufacturing plant for desalination units. The prototypes were pretty well final so we had almost no work to do to go into production. Even the production process was as environmentally friendly as we could make it. We documented everything we did to make sure the environmental impact was minimized.

In February we ginned up a sales department. Not unexpectedly, the desalination plants were the easy to sell to small towns. The climatological forecasts were much harder to sell.

By May we had the production line running and we started installing the first desalination plant at Westport, a small town North of San Francisco on the coast..

In late June, shortly after Westport came online, the first results from a live installation were available. Soon after we had a waiting list of small towns on the coast wanting a plant. Eureka wanted three and Brookings Oregon wanted two.

In June we got contracts for climatological advice from Bakersfield and Fresno. Since the climatology and oceanography divisions were already producing detailed forecasts we had no trouble creating the products they needed along with predictions on the effect of introducing water rationing at different times. Both cities were very leery of the forecasts but went with the predictions and introduced rationing six weeks earlier than other towns in the valley.

By mid-August it was obvious that the predictions were spot on. Fresno and Bakersfield were in much better shape than the rest of the valley. They immediately wanted to know when they could renew their contracts for the next year.

We were solidly, though very slightly, in the black by late October, some of the original communities along the coast were asking to put in second plants and were opting for the largest plants we made. Farming was booming in and around these towns because, with drip irrigation, they were able to grow crops with a minimum of water. With failing crops elsewhere they were getting high prices for their produce that more than offset the cost of putting in drip irrigation. The tourists were also flocking to these towns because they didn't have the water rationing other places were imposing. There were several very happy little communities along the coast. We were even getting requests for desalination plants all the way up into Washington and the small communities on Puget Sound.

Our stock price had risen to almost equal that of Pacific Enterprises.

Also in October I received an email from Johan. They had brought Barns back and he had been fired. He asked if I could give him a good recommendation. I called him and found that five others had been fired. Six very good admins and we were hurting for IT support in the desalination plant and in the climatology division. I sent them all plane tickets and arranged for jobs at West Coast Environmental. All of them were overjoyed to have jobs. Not a single one of them balked at moving up from San Diego.

In November, just over a year after Uncle Roger's death the environmental groups finally figured out what Sherwin Wilson and Pacific Explorations were doing and the expected firestorm started. Unfortunately we were being tarred with the same brush. Our stock took a dive along with Pacific Explorations stock.

I found myself on the hotseat at a televised news conference on a Sunday morning in early December, answering hostile questions from environmentalist groups and reporters.

One reporter asked, "How do you explain this devastating turn around in the policies at Pacific Explorations? Why didn't you stop it?

I answered, "The board of Pacific Explorations was bound and determined to follow the course they did. Although I held a lot of the stock I could see that the ensuing years would be nothing but one fight after the other. No vital research would be done and that's what pushed Pacific Explorations to the forefront of the industry. Together the board decided that splitting the company into Pacific Explorations and West Coast Environmental was the best way to resolve the differences. I relinquished all stock in Pacific Explorations and gained one hundred percent of the stock in West Coast Environmental last December. Since the stock exchange splitting the two companies, I've had no influence over the actions of Pacific Explorations."