Golden Buddha

Halpert sca

Halpert decided to buy Cataluna Esteme.

For the feet of the skeleton, he used two companies the Corporation already owned. The first was Gizo Properties, based in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. The second was Paisen Industries, based in San Marino, a country on the Adriatic coast completely surrounded by Italy. Accessing the companies’ accounts over the computer, Halpert deposited $874,000 in Gizo Properties and $418,000 in Paisen Industries. In the blink of an eye, Halpert had moved $1.292 million into already existing accounts. The money would not remain there long.

Next, Gizo Properties and Paisen Industries, through a special shareholders’ resolution that Halpert drafted and passed, each agreed to buy stock in two more companies. The first was Alcato, based in Lisbon, the second, Tellemedics of Asunción, Paraguay. Both of these companies were operating concerns—Alcato built specialized marine electronics, Tellemedics made telemetry equipment used in hospitals throughout South America. The Portuguese company had a book value of $3 million U.S.; the Paraguayan, nearly $10 million.

Both had been secretly owned by the Corporation for nearly a decade.

Halpert pulled up the corporate records of both and found sufficient cash reserves for his plan.

With the legs now in place, he looked for the torso.

He would need a recognizable and stable platform that would appeal to the Corporation’s soon-to-be partners. For this he could only use Central Europe. Halpert needed a company based in a country with rock-solid political stability, iron-clad currency and worldwide recognition of financial wherewithal. He sca

Liechtenstein it was.

Albertinian Investments S.A. was a currency-and-gold-trading concern that had proved widely successful since the recent upward move in precious metals prices. The company, secretly controlled by the Corporation, owned a beautiful six-story building in Vaduz, where it occupied the top two stories, had a cash balance in accounts amounting to over $18 million U.S., and frequently invested in other companies that showed promise.

Next, Alcato and Tellemedics passed corporate resolutions making loans of $1.25 million each to Albertinian Investments. These were composed of the monies transferred from Gizo Properties and Paisen Industries, plus some cash from the coffers of each. Albertinian Investments agreed to pay each company 7 percent interest for the loans, as well as an option to convert the loans to stock at a set price for the next five years. The trail of money was becoming cloudier by the minute.

There was now an extra $5 million of washed and clean funds in Albertinian Investments.

Halpert sipped from a glass of iced tea. Then he entered the commands into the computer and Albertinian Investments offered to buy Cataluna Esteme for the $50,000 asking price. The transaction would take several hours for the attorney in Andorra to complete.

Next, Halpert sca

“Carlos the Second, please,” he said in Spanish when the receptionist answered. “Mr. Halpert calling.”

Exactly forty-two seconds later, the lawyer came on the line.

“Sorry for the wait, Mr. Halpert,” the lawyer said. “What can I do for you?”

“I need you to fly to Andorra, immediately,” Halpert said. “We are buying another company.”

“Standard protocol?” the lawyer asked. “Open bank accounts, rent offices and such?”

“That’s the idea,” Halpert said, “and we need it done yesterday.”

“I’ll need to charter a plane, then,” the lawyer said. “I doubt there are commercial flights available at this late hour.”

“We will approve the costs,” Halpert said.

“How big are you looking, sir?”

“The initial funding will be ten million,” Halpert said. “Five will be a direct loan from one of our divisions in Liechtenstein, the second five will be in the form of a line of credit, available immediately.”

“I understand, sir,” the lawyer said. “I’ll leave right away.”

“One more thing,” Halpert said. “Find us a public relations firm in Andorra—I have a feeling what we are pla

“Anything else?”

“If there is,” Halpert said, “I’ll contact you when you reach Andorra.”

“Very good,” the lawyer said as he hung up the telephone.

Then the lawyer sat back in his chair and smiled. He knew his rather excessive fees would be paid in cash—which he would fail to report to the tax authorities. Reaching for the telephone, he called a local company to charter a prop-jet for the trip north.

“LIKE being kicked by a mule,” Cabrillo said over the noise of the droning engine.

Pilston was closing the side door of the Antonov. She wrestled it in place and held it closed while Michaels locked it down. Cabrillo placed his hand on the Golden Buddha to stabilize himself, and then removed the package of papers and the satchel of food. He placed them on the floor, then unsnapped the harness and set it aside. He stared around the cargo bay of the Antonov before walking forward to the cockpit.

“How’s she fly, Tiny?” he asked as he slid into the copilot’s seat.

“She’s as slow and steady as a diesel trawler,” Gunderson answered.

“Did you get any sleep?”

“Yep,” Gunderson said. “Tracy needed to rack up some flight time, so she and Judy flew us here from Vietnam.”

Cabrillo nodded and turned his head back to the cargo area. “How’d it go with Mr. Silicon Valley?” he asked.

“We made it through,” Michaels said.

“I want to apologize to both of you,” Cabrillo said quietly. “If there was any other way…”

“We know, sir,” Pilston said. “It was just a job—and we treated it as such.”

“Still…,” Cabrillo said, “it was above and beyond what we should ask of you. I approved a special bonus for you both, and Hanley has scheduled you for a month off with pay as soon as we finish this mission.”

“Thank you, sir,” Michaels said. “And this helped soften the blow somewhat.”

She held up the stack of bearer bonds.

“I trust,” Gunderson said, “you mean that figuratively and not literally.”

THE U.S. Ambassador to Russia sipped from a small glass of vodka, then smiled at President Putin. The men were seated in front of a roaring fire inside the presidential offices in Moscow. Outside, a spring storm was finally exhausting itself after dumping nearly a foot of wet snow on the capital city. Soon the first flowers would pop their heads from the soil. Then it would all turn green.

“How much are we talking about?” Putin asked.

“Billions,” the ambassador said.

“And the structure?”

“As you know,” the ambassador said, taking another sip, “this is not a United States government operation. For all intents and purposes, you will be making the agreements with a separate company that we subcontract with.”

“But they work for you?” Putin asked.

“Not on paper,” the ambassador said, “but we have used them in the past.”

“Give me some details,” Putin said as he rose to stoke the fire with a poker. “I’d like to know with whom I’m getting into bed.”