“And the price?” he said, his expression becoming amused. “An astronomical sum, I am certain. You know something of the level of my wealth. You will take advantage, I am sure.”
Steers stared directly at him. “The amount I wish formyselfis. . .one American dollar.”
CHAPTER
57
NASH HAD HEARD ALL OFthe conversation but couldn’t comprehend any of it.
Her entire empire for a single dollar? That made no sense at all.
Later, he escorted the visitor back to the chopper. Nash managed to take a picture of the man’s face after he boarded the aircraft and was facing toward Nash. He immediately sent it off to Agent Morris with a short message.
Who is this guy?
He got a response before the chopper was even out of sight. It was not what he expected, considering how important and powerful the man seemed.
I have no idea. But we will find out.
He went back inside and met Steers in the hallway.
“Did your meeting go well?” he asked.
She looked at him curiously—too curiously, he thought. She finally said, “Time will tell, Dillon-san.”
“How much time, do you reckon?”
“Not enough, at least for me.”
He was taken aback by this statement. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Come into my office. This is really not a discussion meant for hallways.”
She closed the door and they sat side by side, their knees nearly touching.
Steers said, “The man here today? There is no need to tell you his name. You would not recognize it. He remains always in the shadows. He never seeks attention. He is vastly wealthy, far more than I. He is powerful, again far more than I. Indeed, he has more wealth and more power than all of the other men who came here beforecombined.”
“How can someone like that not be widely known?”
“If you have vast wealth, you are only widely known if you truly want to be. Many wealthy crave the attention. They want to be known and either adored or hated, or both. This man cares nothing for that. You see, one can accomplish so much more from the shadows.” She looked off. “He is a supreme strategist. He wants to live forever and spends much money on achieving that goal. He is very, very close to top-tier leaders and ruling classes around the world, but particularly so in both the Middle and the Far East. For some powerful desert princes he is their primary investment and brand guru, as they try to remake their images across the world into something more acceptable. Whether it is buying up sports teams, creating a professional golf league, or building ski and golf resorts on the sands, they want people to look at that instead of all the other things they do that are not so pleasant or appealing. And his well-organized and crafty minions are placed around the world to seek and steal whatever useful secrets and intelligence they can. It is said that even Mossad fears him but also copies some of his tactics.”
She paused and looked at Nash. “And though the public will never hear one word of it, he is very close to the leadership inyourcountry. He has wrestled concessions from them on AI technology, the release of necessary GPU chips, the sharing of data, and investments in both the Middle East and your country in data center construction, in addition to other AI development facilities. He is also involved in nuclear power and green energy initiatives to provide the necessary electricity that these facilities require. In your country AI may be seen as a boon for many things, including the creation of unimaginable wealth. In the Middle East it is also seen as a boon, but they already have unimaginable wealth, so it is not that which they solely seek.”
“What then?” asked Nash.
“It is the final ingredient they require to implement a complete police surveillance state across the entire region and thereby ferret out and crush dissent of any kind before it can mount any realistic challenge to them. They do not like dissent there. Past leaders, including family members of the current crop of rulers, have been assassinated by their enemies or overthrown by a dissatisfied public who see the wealth of their country consistently going only into a few elite pockets.”
“That does seem to be a problem, around the world,” noted Nash.
“He also had very close ties to China, but was forced, at least on the surface, to relinquish them in order to transact meaningful business with your country. But he plays both sides with consummate skill. He has the Middle East in one pocket and still keeps Beijing in the other. They are both places that wish a complete Orwellian police state.” Her features deepened and then hardened. “And lest you think otherwise,yourcountry’s leadership is particularly intrigued by this feature, as are the wealthiest among you. After all, when you own the mountain your chief responsibility is to ensure that you do everything possible to prevent landslides. You see, landslides transfer what was once at the top to the bottom. Not a trip these people desire to take.
“And if AI takes many of the jobs, then the rank-and-file people will be solely dependent on the government, and/or on the largesse of the monied class, for their very survival. The power will be complete; the wealthy and holders of high positions will rule everything. So this man is a welcome friend and colleague wherever there is concentrated wealth and power around the world.”
Nash looked and felt overwhelmed by all this. “How. . .how do you know all this?”
“I also have intelligence-gathering resources, even within his organization. Besides, he does not care if I know this. This plan is not being thought out with a distant date for implementation. It is being executed right now. For those who wish to fight back, I fear it is already too late.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way. But he sounds like a legitimate businessman with vast resources and connections in the government and business sectors.”
