Danger Close by James Sumner (classic novels for teens txt) 📕

free. He wasn’t angry at the colonel for grabbing him, and he understood his concern. But he found his apparent lack of confidence frustrating, and his hardened expression did little to mask it.

“Just get your men ready, Colonel,” he said, his lips barely moving. “One way or the other, someone’s entering the history books today.”

21

Buchanan let out a long, weary sigh as he struggled to maintain focus on the person speaking to him. He was three hours into the meeting, which included members from the Senate Committees for both Foreign Relations and Armed Services, representatives of the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, the president of the United Nations Security Council, and the U.S. secretary of state.

He sat alone in a large, mostly empty room inside the Capitol Building, facing the intimidating bench. He had no legal advisors, no investors, no directors… nothing. Just him, unprepared, in a closed hearing that he thought made no sense.

The man speaking to him was a representative of the Federal Trade Commission named Stackhouse. He had white hair and a thin face. His voice was slow and deliberate.

“…and you have continued to act with a startling level of assumed impunity, which has ultimately led us here. So, I ask you again, Mr. Buchanan—what do you believe gives GlobaTech Industries the right to do whatever it wants?”

Buchanan looked at him. “I don’t believe we do whatever we want. We’re a private security firm, and we do what our clients pay us to do, providing it’s within the boundaries established by law.”

“But you’re not just a private security firm, are you?” said a man sitting in the middle of the bench. He wore a military dress uniform with an array of medals attached to the left breast. “You’re a private army with advanced weaponry and technology that you’re unwilling to share with the United States military.”

Buchanan sighed again. “Forgive me, sir. I don’t know your name.”

The man shifted in his seat, sitting straight and proud. “I’m General McFadden, the chief of staff of the United States Army.”

“Okay, General. Our operatives are highly trained security personnel. They’re not soldiers.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Yes. My men are employees who carry out jobs given to them, not paid volunteers who service a political agenda.”

The general’s face tensed to subdue his disdain for the comment. He chose to ignore it and move on.

“How many operatives do you employ, Mr. Buchanan?” he asked.

“We have around three hundred thousand security personnel working around the globe.”

“That sounds like a large army to me…”

“I’m not sure we would even break the top fifteen globally,” said Buchanan dismissively. “But again, they’re employees. There are companies who operate internationally with more people on their books than that. In fact, the DoD technically employs all one-point-three million U.S. soldiers. It’s not as if their missions have never gone wrong. Why aren’t you sitting here beside me, General?”

“Because the U.S. Army didn’t stand by and watch the president of another country be killed,” he replied sharply.

Buchanan’s jaw muscles instinctively tensed. His mouth narrowed to a thin line. “Due respect, sir, but neither did we.”

“Says the CEO—”

“Say the families of the men I lost that day, General.”

A tense silence enveloped the room, amplified by the emptiness in the closed hearing.

Stackhouse cleared his throat. “Mr. Buchanan, perhaps we can move on to the other areas of industry that GlobaTech Industries monopolizes.”

Buchanan shook his head and looked over at him. “Such as?”

“You have, as I understand it, research and development facilities all over the world?”

“I wouldn’t say that. Most are based in the U.S. We have one in Switzerland and, I believe, two in the U.K.”

“And what do these facilities do, exactly?”

Buchanan shrugged. “They research and develop things.”

“Moses?” said the secretary of state firmly.

Buchanan turned to her. He knew Secretary Phillips well. She was one of the few people President Schultz kept from his predecessor’s staff. She was about as fair and honorable a person as one could ever hope to find in government.

“Madam Secretary?” he said respectfully.

She leaned forward on the desk, and the sleeves of her light gray suit rode slightly up her arms. “While these hearings are preliminary and your presence here is requested, rather than required, you would do well to refrain from sarcasm.”

He nodded. “My apologies.” He turned back to address Stackhouse. “We primarily develop and manufacture weapons, technology, and medicine. We do this to fulfill contracts we’ve secured or to provide free aid around the world.”

“The concern of this committee is that your company monopolizes those sectors of industry to the point where you have no competition. As things stand, there’s nothing stopping you from increasing prices and essentially holding your clients to ransom.”

Buchanan shrugged. “You’re right. But we haven’t done that, and we have shown no intentions of starting. You can’t penalize me for something I might do, Mr. Stackhouse. I wish someone would tell me what this hearing is really about.”

“Would you care to clarify that last statement, Moses?” said Secretary Phillips.

“I mean that everyone here—” He gestured to the bench with his hand. “—seems to have taken great issue with every area of GlobaTech’s business, yet they’ve only acted on those concerns in the last forty-eight hours. We’ve been doing what we’re doing for the last three years, Madam Secretary. It’s never bothered anyone before. So, why now?”

President Rutherford leaned toward his mic and cleared his throat, preparing to speak for the first time since the hearing began.

“Mr. Buchanan, this hearing is taking place on my recommendation. You’ve already spoken with the U.N., and I told you then what I’ll tell you now. The tragic events that took place in Paluga have unfortunately shone a large spotlight on your company. It’s caused questions to be asked that no one felt needed asking before. Your failure to protect such an important client has highlighted just how much of a potential threat GlobaTech Industries could be. We’ve been here before, Mr. Buchanan, and I’m sure we’re all eager not to let history repeat