The Cyber War Conspiracy, Thomas Biehlig [i can read book club .TXT] 📗

of general mutual distrust. All are afraid of losing shares of the entrepreneurial risk in such markets is exorbitantly expensive. One flop, and the enterprise involved can become insolvent. The costs of developing such chips are very high. You know the problems. But there is one thing that is interesting. A scientist from MIT was fished up dead from a canal in Bangkok. Before that he had been missing for four weeks. Officially he researched the development of quantum computers. But the first functioning quantum computers are still at the baby stage. Nobody knows anything for sure. Allegedly he found out along the way something that would enable the production of a new, faster generation of chips. But from a technological viewpoint that is in my opinion still in the distant future.”

“That sounds rather exciting, Yoo, but at this point I can’t see a connection with research on network chips. Or do you know more?”

ON the other end there was a short silence before Yoo answered: “I was lucky. A former colleague told me there are rumors in the market. It is said they’re continuing the work of the dead scientist in secret. Since the market is very transparent the necessary equipment had to be bought via straw men and phony firms. Probably they then made a mistake. Probably there was a leak. But that’s all speculation. Nobody would swear to it.”

Suddenly Jansen was wide awake and gave only a short answer: “Thanks a lot, Yoo. I’ll call again tomorrow morning. Please tell nobody about this story. We have to safeguard ourselves first; the matter could take on very big dimensions. Bye for now.”

Nervously he wobbled on his chair and lit up a cigarette. What sort of consequences could this have? Who could be behind it? Sunk in thought he watched the smoke of his cigarette moving.

Suddenly Sebastian put his head through the door. “The boss wants to talk to you, right now.”

“Is it something important?” Jansen asked, but Sebastian had gone away again. Now of all times, he thought, and decided that for the moment he would tell nobody about the conversation with Yoo. In many cases it could be very helpful to think things through thoroughly. Frequently you are exposed to uncomfortable and even stupid questions. And his boss had gained notoriety for just that. He first of all pretended to know everything, and at the next moment he asked a question that could not be beaten for idiocy.

On the way to the main office his colleague Teresa came toward him. “Hi, how are things?” he greeted her. With a smile on his face he eyed in passing her skirt with its floral pattern. The contents were scarcely hidden.

“Hello, Marc,” she returned his greeting. “Good, we had a barbecue yesterday evening. Was a nice evening, if a little too short. Unfortunately I didn’t get home till 8 p.m. I had to do overtime.”

I really should have a bad conscience now, thought Jansen. Yesterday evening I simply left. Instead, he gave a silly grin and answered, “On the way to the boss. Any idea what sort of mood he’s in?”

She shook her head and laughed and kept going. A short time later he was sitting in front of Rolf Behrendt, his boss and simultaneously proprietor of Technology News Research.

“Marc, I’d like to know how things look regarding Victor Navarro’s report.” To give the whole scene weight, Rolf got up and began to circle around him, like an eagle round its prey.

„I promised him I’d send the finished report by 12 o’clock tomorrow,” answered Jansen. „I’ve already explained to you in advance all the details, and you found the set-up and my provisional results to be okay.”

Willy-nilly he had to think of his theory regarding his boss’s competence. He wondered when one of the famous questions would come that substantiated that theory.

„Hadn’t you mentioned in your report that the price of network chips was falling?” Rolf kept drilling.

He obviously did not remember that they had committed themselves to presenting a scenario with limitations because of the energy spectrum. With that low cost variant Victor’s client would not profit from the very high price level, which was usual for cutting-edge chips. That’s how he had presented it with the agreement of his boss, he thought to himself.

„So I want to know why this newspaper report says that the prices of computer chips are rising. You wrote just the opposite. Why?”

To emphasize his question he fluttered an edition of CT before his eyes.

That was the question which confirmed his theory. His boss had not understood the topic, and he did not even notice that. That question definitively disqualified him. „Rolf, it’s quite logical that the prices of those chips in the lower energy segment are falling. If Victor’s client wants to produce simple chips for the mass market, then they’ll be in a market where there is an enormous pressure on margins and many suppliers are cavorting about. On the other hand the two market leaders almost annually put a new generation of their chips on the market. Development costs money, naturally they want to get it back. I pointed that out quite clearly. Of course they have to consider how they want to position themselves. Big price variations are almost part of daily business. If the client intends to build up his own production line for chips, then he has not only to determine sis own suppliers, but he also ties himself to their technology. Finally we get the blame if they aren’t competitive with the prices. I recommend to them, for exactly that reason, to proceed very carefully when choosing suppliers of basic technology. Only then will they continue to succeed, with their own production, in positioning themselves in the top segment. As a second option, in my opinion, there is only the possibility of looking for an OEM partner. But that point was clearly agreed on for the report, Jansen answered, and waited for the reply.

„Well then, everything’s okay. We have to synchronise our strategy exactly. Before you send off the report I want to check it. You know Navarro’s office is a very important customer of ours. They pay a very big sum of money for this report. After all, you’ve been working on it for two months. You really must get it done on time. It’s in your hands. If you need help, let me know,” Rolf growled, then he sat down again and drank a mouthful of coffee.

„No worries, the report is actually ready. You can have it this evening to check. I have to write only the last bit, the resume. I’ve just rung an informant, at last I’ve got everything as right as rain. Tomorrow it’ll get its evaluation,” answered Jansen, who had meanwhile become a little irritated, and he lit up a cigarette.

„Okay, I trust you. Then after that I’ll expect the complete report.”

Back in his office marc noticed that a telephone memo was glued to his monitor. Please ring Victor straight away on his mobile! Teresa.

What else could he want; we settled everything yesterday evening, thought Jansen. Then his thoughts were again circling round his telephone conversation with Yoo. To make matters worse, he meanwhile noticed he had forgotten breakfast. He decided to get from the baker open bread rolls and a salad. That would certainly bring order to his thoughts. If what Yoo had reported was correct, that could cause quite a stir on the market. No matter which angle he looked at the information from, it seemed to him enigmatic. Were there not constantly rumours on the market, so why should he mention anything about it in his report? Without proofs and concrete references to the actual assignment of tasks it was certainly a risk that could be avoided, a risk that could torpedo the professional quality of his work. On the way to the baker he finally decided not to mention it with one word in his report.

While Marc was standing in the queue at the baker’s to buy his bread rolls, Victor Navarro was sitting in his room in the Hamburg hotel “Alsterhof” comfortably on the couch and drinking a cup of tea. He had just rung his client and got the last confirmation of the plan. He guessed the carrying out of the job had reached an extremely tricky point. At the same time he was wondering how Marc would react to the offer. Thoughtfully he opened up the monitor of his laptop and booted it up. The laptop gave a few blips till it was ready the start the work. Sure of his goal he clicked with the mouse through the menu navigation till he had found the desired document. The file had the name “Jansen offer”, and would change Marc’s life permanently.

On the other hand Marc was just biting into his second bread roll and in so doing spilled blots on his desk. Cursing, Jansen wiped the desk clean and, still chewing, dialed Victor’s number.

When Victor saw Jansen’s number on his display he put his tea aside and announced himself with an experienced professional voice, “Victor Navarro.”

“Hello, Victor, Marc Jansen here, what’s going on? My colleague Teresa gave me a message that I should contact you urgently.”

Coolly Victor answered: “Marc, we have to meet this evening. Is 7.30 in Hotel ‘Alsterhof’ okay by you? I’ll be waiting at the bar for you.”

Jansen’s reaction was puzzlement. He thought it over for a short time: “Has something special happened? Is it about the report?”

“No, not directly. Please come to the hotel this evening. Talk to nobody about our meeting. Especially nobody in your firm. We’ll worry about the report later. Can I rely on your keeping silent?”

“Of course,” he answered and wondered what the background to the meeting might be. As well, he had not reckoned with Victor’s being in Hamburg. Normally he stayed in his office in Berlin or visited clients all over the world. And suddenly he wants to meet me of all people, and in Hamburg too.

“See you then,” Victor said curtly and hung up.

Jansen thought it over. What did he really know about that Victor Navarro, why all this secrecy? He had met Victor twice before. Both times he and Rolf had been there to talk about projects or to reel in assignments. He could still clearly remember the first such meeting. That time Rolf had told him that he was to go to Berlin with him. A new client had a project in the field of electronics. After all, he was a specialist in such things. Victor was introduced to him as a lawyer. Commissioned by various enterprises he organized and administered their patents and the observance of patent laws. For the firm Technology News Research Victor Navarro with his office was then a highly rated client, with a big potential sales volume. He did not like to remember the story of his car trip to Berlin with Rolf to acquire Victor as a client. They went with a draft contact in the pocket. As always the pressure of expectation was very strong. That time he had felt unwell and was as dog-tired. They got lost in Berlin and arrived late for their appointment. In his agitation Rolf almost had a heart attack. He claimed that everything was Marc’s fault because as the passenger he was not able to give the driver enough support. When they eventually arrived they were in front of an old city villa in the east side of town. The office with only three staff members turned out to be very small. One of them was obviously his secretary. Victor turned out to be a short, elegantly dressed man, slightly corpulent, a southerner of about fifty. During the meeting that followed Victor told them that he had mainly foreign clients and that his main office was actually in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. The branch in Berlin was only one of ten in the world. He lived from