Exodus (The Exodus Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Andreas Christensen
body, looking at himself from a short distance, and not recognizing who he’d become. Somehow, and this had been coming for some time now, he felt estranged from himself. He knew he was having some kind of midlife crisis, but hoped he wouldn’t do something ridiculous, like buy a motorcycle or get a mistress, as so many others tended to do when they suddenly looked at themselves in the mirror and saw their own mortality staring back at them. His wife, two years younger, coped so well with his current weirdness; he wondered how she did it.
It was the quarterly meeting of the heads of some of the largest and most successful businesses in the country, and they were , as usual, gathered at the Havelar Industries headquarters in New York. His wife and daughter had followed him, to take the opportunity to enjoy some of the things that only New York could offer. Right now they were Christmas shopping, and later they would go to a Broadway show that he couldn’t remember the name of. As the other business leaders came in and sat down at the large conference table, Ramon found himself feeling a bit uneasy not having Isabella with him. They usually made all major decisions together, but she had wanted to spend some time with Maria this time. They needed to talk about college, she’d said.
Havelar Industries was one of several large corporations that had emerged within the last couple of decades to become the engine driving the new American economy, which had been struggling for years with competition from Asian and South American economies, especially after the fall of the Chinese communist party. Cheevo was another, and like Havelar Industries , Cheevo and several other corporations had gradually, over the last few years, grown into a network that also included the former Holloway administration, as well as Andrews’s current administration. Since most of the old antitrust laws had been largely abandoned, and private-public cooperative projects were now the model for the new American economy, the network wasn’t as much of a legal issue as it would have been in the twentieth or early twenty-first century. But still it was something that wasn’t spoken about outside the inner circle of the Consortium, which had become the unofficial name of the network.
The Consortium’s ties to government didn’t just mean large government contracts; it also meant a steady flow of information, sometimes long before the information reached the public, or even outer parts of the government apparatus. This was just another regularly scheduled quarterly meeting, and normally a representative from the government would attend, but Ramon was taken by surprise when the president entered the room. Right next to the president, a solemn George Havelar entered the room, followed by the secretary of the interior, the defense secretary, the national security advisor, the president’s science advisor, and at last a man he recognized as the old JPL Director Daniel Shaw. The president only attended the meetings himself when the topics were particularly important, and this unprecedented entourage indicated that this meeting would be something out of the ordinary. What in the world would make the president bring in the former JPL director? The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was but a shadow of its former greatness, an anachronism gathering dust out in Pasadena.
They all greeted each other with polite and sometimes warm smiles and handshakes, although Havelar, President Andrews , and his people smiled less than usual, and they all had that somber expression on their faces more commonly seen at funerals than business meetings in the new economy. Again, Ramon got a feeling that this was anything but a business meeting. And then another thing happened that was contrary to etiquette. When the president occasionally attended meetings of the Consortium, it was customary that he opened the meeting, before Havelar, as the elected chairman, took over. This time, however,
It was the quarterly meeting of the heads of some of the largest and most successful businesses in the country, and they were , as usual, gathered at the Havelar Industries headquarters in New York. His wife and daughter had followed him, to take the opportunity to enjoy some of the things that only New York could offer. Right now they were Christmas shopping, and later they would go to a Broadway show that he couldn’t remember the name of. As the other business leaders came in and sat down at the large conference table, Ramon found himself feeling a bit uneasy not having Isabella with him. They usually made all major decisions together, but she had wanted to spend some time with Maria this time. They needed to talk about college, she’d said.
Havelar Industries was one of several large corporations that had emerged within the last couple of decades to become the engine driving the new American economy, which had been struggling for years with competition from Asian and South American economies, especially after the fall of the Chinese communist party. Cheevo was another, and like Havelar Industries , Cheevo and several other corporations had gradually, over the last few years, grown into a network that also included the former Holloway administration, as well as Andrews’s current administration. Since most of the old antitrust laws had been largely abandoned, and private-public cooperative projects were now the model for the new American economy, the network wasn’t as much of a legal issue as it would have been in the twentieth or early twenty-first century. But still it was something that wasn’t spoken about outside the inner circle of the Consortium, which had become the unofficial name of the network.
The Consortium’s ties to government didn’t just mean large government contracts; it also meant a steady flow of information, sometimes long before the information reached the public, or even outer parts of the government apparatus. This was just another regularly scheduled quarterly meeting, and normally a representative from the government would attend, but Ramon was taken by surprise when the president entered the room. Right next to the president, a solemn George Havelar entered the room, followed by the secretary of the interior, the defense secretary, the national security advisor, the president’s science advisor, and at last a man he recognized as the old JPL Director Daniel Shaw. The president only attended the meetings himself when the topics were particularly important, and this unprecedented entourage indicated that this meeting would be something out of the ordinary. What in the world would make the president bring in the former JPL director? The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was but a shadow of its former greatness, an anachronism gathering dust out in Pasadena.
They all greeted each other with polite and sometimes warm smiles and handshakes, although Havelar, President Andrews , and his people smiled less than usual, and they all had that somber expression on their faces more commonly seen at funerals than business meetings in the new economy. Again, Ramon got a feeling that this was anything but a business meeting. And then another thing happened that was contrary to etiquette. When the president occasionally attended meetings of the Consortium, it was customary that he opened the meeting, before Havelar, as the elected chairman, took over. This time, however,