Trading Reality (39 page)

‘I’m sorry, Mark, but this figure really bothers me. Graham Stephens has explained to me my duties as a director under Scottish Company Law. It’s illegal to allow a company to continue in business if you know it’s not going to be able to meet its creditors. And it looks like we’ll be in that position in less than two weeks’ time.’

‘We’ll find the cash,’ I said.

‘Where from exactly?’

‘There are a lot of options. We’ll do it somehow.’

Sorenson looked at me closely. He knew I had no idea where the cash would come from, but he knew I would try hard, and, as he himself had said, he knew I had guts. He came to a decision.

‘OK. I’ll give you until next Wednesday. Seven days. If I don’t have concrete evidence of some cash coming in by then, I’ll call in the receiver.’

I coughed. ‘One of the options is for you to put up some of your own money.’

Sorenson sat stock still. I could feel Willie cringe in the chair beside me. But it was a fair request. And Sorenson must have had some spare cash.

‘You told me that you frequently backed companies you believed in.’

He breathed in through his nose. ‘Mark, as you know, I already have a sizeable stake in this company, and of course I’m at risk for my director’s fee as well. More importantly, my reputation is on the line here, and that’s my greatest asset. I would remind you that my preferred strategy is to sell out. Given that, it would be illogical for me to buy in, wouldn’t it?’

I wasn’t sure his stake was that ‘sizeable’ given his net worth, but he had a point. ‘OK,’ I said, disappointed.

‘Now, you have my support for the next seven days.’

I was still hopeful that somehow I would get hold of some funds. And if all else failed, there was still my bank, although I wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

Just then, David popped his head round the door. Sorenson had been as good as his word, and had secured an assurance from David that he would carry on working for FairSystems, and accept my continuing role as managing director. I wasn’t too sure what that assurance was worth, but I was willing to do my part.

‘I just had an interesting phone call,’ he said.

‘Oh yes?’

‘It was from Yoshi. He said he happened to be in the country and wanted to fix up a meeting with us.’

‘Fine,’ I said. ‘When?’

‘Today. He says he’s going to fly up this afternoon. He suggested four o’clock.’

‘Today! They don’t waste their time, do they? Do you want to come, Walter?’

‘Gee, I’d sure like to. But I’ve got to catch the four o’clock flight from Edinburgh if I’m going to make my connection back to San Francisco.’

‘Shame. It would have been good if you could’ve made it. Is it just Yoshi? Or is he bringing his boss?’

‘Just Yoshi, I think,’ said David. ‘It must be a spur-of-the-moment thing.’

‘OK. Thanks, David. We’ll see what he has to say.’

When David had left the room, Sorenson asked, ‘Who’s Yoshi?’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. That’s Yoshiki Ishida from Onada Industries. They’re the people we’ve been talking to about licensing our software for the entertainment market. You remember, the ones who would only deal if they got the source code to FairSim 1.’

‘I certainly do,’ said Sorenson. He looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘There’s something I feel I ought to tell you,’ he said.

‘Yes?’

‘You know I had breakfast with Willie at the Balbirnie early this morning? Just after we’d finished I saw David come into the dining room. I don’t think he saw me.’

‘And?’ I asked, curious.

‘And he went to join a Japanese business man. Youngish. They seemed to know each other well.’

‘Yoshi?’

‘I don’t know who this Yoshi is, but it sure looks like it could have been him, doesn’t it?’

He was right. It did.

It was two minutes to four, and I was staring at the afternoon sun reflecting on the sea through my electronic window. Around this time a fishing boat always nosed its way into the harbour. I had found the regularity of the picture comforting at first, but it was beginning to irritate me. I would have to get it changed.

I was confident Yoshi would arrive at exactly four, and I would get a call at one minute past. I was curious to see what would happen at this meeting. I hadn’t been surprised to hear that David had met Yoshi earlier for breakfast. That stuff about Yoshi just happening to be in the country made no sense; Yoshi had said that he was based in London. Obviously David had planned the meeting before the EGM, on the basis that I would be out of the way, and he would be MD. He just couldn’t wait to give away that source code, I thought.

I called Keith. Andy picked up his phone.

‘Is Keith ready?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ said Andy. ‘He nipped out a quarter of an hour ago with his camera. He should be in his car now, waiting.’

‘Good. Thank you.’ I put the phone down.

Sure enough, it rang again at one minute past. I gave them a few minutes to stew, and then wandered off to the conference room. Yoshi was polite and friendly, almost casual. Without his boss and cronies around, he had decided to assume his American persona.

‘Welcome,’ I said.

‘It’s great to be here again,’ replied Yoshi. ‘Thank you for seeing me at such short notice. It’s a shame I have to rush in and out like this. I like it up here. And I don’t even get time for a round of golf.’

‘Do you play?’

‘Oh, sure. All the time. And I hear there are great courses around here.’

‘There are, I believe,’ I said. ‘Although I don’t play much. How about you, David?’

I was curious to hear what David did with his spare time.

‘I haven’t played for a long while,’ said David. ‘There’s too much to do around here.’

Of course, macho MBAs didn’t play golf. That was for the dead wood. For the first time since I had moved up to Scotland, I thought about taking it up.

I sat next to David, with Yoshi opposite. ‘Now, how can we help you?’

‘I wanted to touch base with you on a couple of things,’ Yoshi began in casual American, ‘First of all, I want to update you on how we are progressing our strategy in the virtual entertainment market. It only seemed fair that we should keep you in the loop, given our earlier discussions.’

He paused, looking at me. I motioned for him to continue.

‘We have linked up with a small outfit in Japan who are developing a VR simulation manager that we can use as a basis for our virtual entertainment software. It’s not quite as good as yours, but it’s close. It will certainly be adequate for our needs.’

He’s bluffing, I thought. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t. But I would play along. ‘So, you no longer need to deal with us?’ I said evenly.

‘That’s right, Mark.’

‘Well, I’m glad you’ve found a suitable solution to your problem,’ I said with no trace of concern. ‘But, in that case, I don’t understand why you’re here.’

Yoshi looked at me closely for a few moments. He had clearly hoped for something more from me. He knew we were in trouble, and he was trying to use that as leverage. But I wasn’t going to let him. It was pride as much as anything else. And I thought he was bluffing. ‘We know that FairSystems is in play,’ he said at last, ‘and that Jenson Computer is building a stake.’

He glanced at me for confirmation. I didn’t give him any.

‘It’s likely that you will lose your independence soon,’ he continued. ‘The reason I’m here is that I want to make an offer for your company. We could discuss a friendly deal of course, with continuing involvement for yourself and all your people should you wish it. We feel that FairSystems and Onada Industries tries would make a great fit.’

So there it was on the table. The predators really were showing themselves now. Yoshi was looking for a reaction. He got it.

‘No,’ I said.

He pressed on. ‘The arbitrage community is getting involved,

Mark. FairSystems’ days as an independent company are numbered.’

‘No,’ I said again.

Yoshi took a deep breath. ‘There would be many synergies between our companies. With your VR software and our hardware technology, Onada could soon overtake Sega in the electronic entertainment business. They have nothing close. Think about it.’

‘No.’ I was beginning to enjoy this.

Yoshi tried a different tack. ‘I can assure you, you’ll be much better off as part of a Japanese group than falling for a US company. American companies fire people and cut costs. The Japanese invest for the long-term. That’s why Japanese companies dominate the world electronics industry.’

‘No.’

Yoshi sighed. His eyes flickered towards David, who hadn’t said anything, and who wore a perfect poker face.

‘OK,’ he said. ‘I get the message. But our offer won’t be on the table for ever. Once we hook up with this other company, we won’t need you. It will be too late. And either you’ll go bankrupt, or Jenson Computer will suck you dry of all your technology, and close your factory down. You don’t have much time to choose.’

He stood up to leave, and we shook hands. ‘I’m sorry you’ve wasted your journey,’ I said.

‘Think about it,’ said Yoshi, and David Baker saw him out.

I closed my eyes. Jenson Computer and now Onada Industries. I wondered how many other companies there were whose biggest customers were their biggest enemies.

I loitered in the corridor for David. I had to wait at least ten minutes. He and Yoshi obviously had a lot to talk about.

He tried to turn back when he saw me, but he was too late. I pulled him into the conference room. He shuffled impatiently from foot to foot.

‘Why did you lie to me, David?’ I began.

David’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Lie?’

‘Yes, lie. I know you had breakfast with Yoshi at Balbirnie House this morning. Walter Sorenson saw you.’

For a moment I saw anger in David’s eyes. He didn’t like to be caught out. Then he pulled himself together. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about that,’ he said coolly.

‘And why couldn’t you?’

‘Yoshi said he wanted a meeting with me alone this morning. I couldn’t really argue with him, since he’s such an important customer. He was adamant that you should know nothing about it.’

God, David was smooth. And quick on his feet. ‘And what did he want to discuss?’

David was in his stride now. ‘He told me Onada Industries were about to make an offer for FairSystems, and he wanted to know my reaction.’

‘And what was your reaction?’

‘As you know, I’ve consistently been in favour of selling the company. I told Yoshi that, but I said your response would probably be negative.’

So far, so plausible. Yet it was much more likely that David had arranged this meeting with Onada believing it would fall the day after the announcement of his appointment as managing director. That shouldn’t have been too embarrassing to admit to. But David didn’t look embarrassed. He was brazening it out. He was hiding something, I was sure. What?

Then I remembered the thought Rachel had had when David had been adamant that we should sell the company. We had been suspicious of Jenson Computer then, not Onada, but the thought might still prove to be correct.

‘David, have you done a deal with Onada?’

Got him! David’s eyes flickered for a moment, and then his face took on a pose of puzzled innocence. ‘A deal? No. What sort of deal?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. A deal whereby you deliver FairSystems to Onada Industries, and in return they make you managing director.’

‘No!’ said David, with too much righteous indignation.

‘You bloody well have, haven’t you?’ I moved closer to him. ‘Haven’t you?’

Suddenly we were no longer two business rivals, but two men staring each other down. I was taller than David and stronger. And he suddenly thought I would use that.

He knew I knew.

He backed off, or rather pulled away. He walked to the far corner of the room, and turned round. ‘So what if I did? This company would have a real future with Onada. The Japanese will dominate virtual reality in five years anyway; if they set out to do something, they always succeed. You’re only an amateur manager, you have no idea what you’re doing. The firm would be much better off with me running it. It’s obvious; certainly to the Japanese.’

‘So how much have you told them about the company, David? Do they know about all our development plans?’ Suddenly I was very glad that David didn’t know the details of Project Platform. I felt total contempt for him. ‘You make me sick! You’ve betrayed everyone who works here. You’re fired. Now get out of the building!’

‘Fuck you! I was just doing what made commercial sense. If you and Richard didn’t like it, then that’s your problem!’

Richard didn’t like it. Richard? I remembered the big row David had had with Richard the day before he’d died.

‘Richard knew you were negotiating with Onada behind his back! He talked to you about it, didn’t he?’

David was quiet now.

‘I bet he fired you that afternoon,’ I went on. David’s face was impassive. I thought I caught a flicker in his eye. ‘But he never got a chance to do anything about it before he died. That was convenient, wasn’t it?’

David just looked at me.

‘Did you kill my brother?’ I asked quietly.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said David scornfully.

‘You heard me. Did you kill my brother?’ I repeated.

‘I don’t have to listen to this,’ he muttered, and pushed past me.

I grabbed hold of his sleeve. ‘Hold on, David. Answer my question!’

David turned to me. ‘No, I didn’t kill your brother. I don’t know why he was killed. But I can guess. He got in the way of someone who wants to own this company. Now you’re in the way. And when you get killed, I won’t shed any tears, believe me.’ With that, he pulled his arm away, and pushed through the door.