The Term Sheet | Wattys 2016 Winner

Chapter 47

The swelling made it difficult for David to open his eyes, but he tried anyhow and only found darkness. He couldn't remember anything that happened after the guy at Doug's office had punched him. As his senses slowly returned one by one, he could feel cold, wet concrete under his bound hands. He heard pounding rain on what must have been a tin roof. He realized he wasn't blind, there was just a bag on his head. The ringing in his ears started to subside and he could hear echoes of tapping. Then a voice came from what sounded like a distance.

"He's waking up."

"Go string him up with his friend."

He heard heavy boots swiftly approaching and then felt another punch in the face.

When David came to again, he found himself bound to a chair in a small room with one door, one window with a dirty blind on it, and an old rusty table. Both his eyes were swollen and he struggled to keep them open. Doug walked in, right up to the table in front of David.

"Where's Andrew?"

"David," shouted Doug. "Why the fuck did you have to make me do this the hard way? Damn it. We were so close. You would get your money and I would get your company. Easy. People were counting on this, you know. Do you realize how stupid this makes me look? But you had to go play the hero and complicate things. Why couldn't you have just taken the fucking money?"

"Where's Andrew?"

A loud blast of thunder shook the building.

"In good time, David. We have some business to attend to first."

David squirmed in his chair.

"What kind of host am I? How can I ask you to sign these papers with handcuffs on?" said Doug. He reached behind David and unlocked the handcuffs.

"Nothing you make me sign will be legal when I explain this situation."

"Who says you will be able to explain anything, David? Look, this is all just a silly formality. Your company was going to go under one way or another and this could have played out a lot easier for all of us. But unfortunately, I ran out of time. Doesn't it always happen like that? Man plans and God laughs."

Doug laid a thin manila folder of papers on the table in front of David.

"I guess you could consider this a hostile takeover," said Doug.

David reached for the papers and began leafing through them.

"You're not doing this acquisition for the System, are you?" asked David.

"So you are smarter than you look. But you're not doing this startup for the money, are you?"

David shook his head.

"What do you want Cryptobit for anyhow?" asked David. "It's un-crackable. Why not just steal my code?"

"I'm no thief, David." He pulled up a chair and sat uncomfortably close to David. David could smell his expensive cologne in the wet air. "I am just a simple businessman, and I prefer to keep it that way whenever possible. I like my privacy and I don't like oversight. These days, protecting those rights is getting harder and harder."

"What do you get owning Cryptobit that you can't get by just using it?"

"I run the world's largest security firm. He who owns the system controls the system. If you haven't already been approached by every three letter acronym government agency in the world, you soon will be. They all tell you the same bullshit story: let us in, let us in or we'll blow your house down. I need control before someone else gets it."

"In order to kill the president?"

Doug jumped to his feet.

"So the big bad wolf has been to your house already. No matter. Sign this now and I will ask Gabriel to take care of things quickly for you."

Doug shoved the papers back into David's face. The papers spilled to the ground. David didn't move. Doug turned to leave the room.

"Fine, have it your way. How's Heather doing anyhow?"

A pang of panic flew through David's heart.

"Such a shame, too. When Gabriel came by to visit, she was so surprised to see him. It's unfortunate that she fell while getting out of that bus. Gabriel tried so hard to help her, too. I suppose when you're out of the picture, she'll inherit your worthless equity. Then we can replay this little charade with her at the other end of this table."

"Wait," shouted David.

Doug turned around slowly.

"I'll sign if you tell me one thing."

David reached down and began collecting the strewn papers. Doug carefully picked up his chair and sat down again.

"Well?" asked Doug.

"Why?"

"Who do you think provides the security software that most of the government uses? Who do you think provides the security software that most foreign governments use? Everyone wants their back doors and everyone wants to be assured that nobody else has any back doors. Selling secrets used to be for small-time spies who often had to work undercover for years before they gained access to the information. We just figured out a way for the secrets to come to us. Everything would have been fine if Snowden would have kept his fucking mouth shut. Now that everything and everyone is under scrutiny—the president and Congress have started a witch hunt. This government is as antiquated as the fireplace. They're a relic of the past that does more harm than good. We just keep them around because they make us feel good, while the gas and electric heaters quietly hum along in the background. It's time to change the logs on the fire, David."

David looked down and shook his head.

"Pen," he said.

Doug pulled a Mont Blanc fountain pen out of his breast pocket and handed it to David. David scribbled his name.