The Protectors of the Saltire. William Speir

from our allies, and foreign military visitors. We usually have at least one booth and a hospitality suite, and this year we’ve been asked to present our company’s service offering and success stories at one of the break-out sessions. I’d like for you to give that presentation.”

      “I’d be honored to, sir.”

      “Terrific! Marketing handles the booth and hospitality suite, so you won’t have to get too involved in that. You’ll need to attend the events that they schedule for you, but you’ll still have plenty of free time to attend the conferences and the expo. Marketing will help you pull together whatever presentation materials you need. I’ll have the marketing team get in touch with you next week to work out the details. The trade show goes on for five days altogether. I’d suggest getting there a couple of days early and staying a couple of days after it’s over. Take Emily and make a vacation out of it.”

      “Where’s the conference this year?”

      “Orlando, Florida at the Orange County Convention Center. We always book our rooms at the Rothschild Centre across the street, and I’ve taken the liberty of booking you a VIP suite there.”

      “Thank you, sir!”

      “Don’t mention it. You’ll be the senior company representative there, so make sure you have whatever you need to represent us in the best way possible.”

      “I will, sir.”

      After Tom’s boss left his office, Tom sat down and thought about it for a moment. He was very excited about the new job, and he wanted to call Emily and tell her about it as soon as possible. He was about to pick up the phone when another thought hit him. The boss suggested making a vacation out of the trip to Tower. Maybe that would be a good way to celebrate our anniversary. He decided that it was a great idea. He was familiar with the Rothschild Centre and knew that their suites were outstanding. Emily deserved a vacation after the work that she had been putting into her surveillance system. This could be just the thing for both of them.

      He decided to tell her over dinner that night. They were having a dinner party on the night of their anniversary, which was only two weeks away, but he felt that tonight they should have a private celebration. He’d tell her about his promotion and the vacation then. He was smiling as he dialed the number of their favorite restaurant to make a reservation.

      “Good morning,” he said when the hostess answered the phone. “This is Tom Anderson. I’d like to make a reservation for two for this evening.”

      “Yes sir, just a moment while I see what’s available.”

      After a moment, she said, “Did you say Tom Anderson?”

      “Yes.”

      “But sir, we already have a reservation for you this evening.”

      “You do? What’s the phone number for the reservation?”

      The hostess read him the phone number. It was his home number.

      “Who made the reservation?”

      “Your wife called it in about 20 minutes ago. Is there a problem?”

      “No, no problem. I just didn’t know she had done it. Thank you.”

      “My pleasure, Mr. Anderson. We’ll see you tonight.”

      Tom stared at the phone after he hung up. Why did Emily made a reservation for dinner tonight?

      5

      February 1, 8:30 AM

      The Home Office of SignalCorps Technologies Inc.

      At the same time that Tom was meeting with his boss about his promotion, Emily was across town at a meeting with SignalCorps’ CEO, Edison Travis Shane. She wasn’t sure why he wanted to see her but had accepted the meeting invitation without asking questions. Shane had a flair for the dramatic, so whatever the reason was, she wanted to let him have his moment.

      Emily remembered when she had first met Shane. It was Tom who suggested that she get a patent on the surveillance camera system she had developed to help with interventions for the Order. “It’s a great system,” he had said to her. “If you can find a partner to mass-produce it, I think the military and law enforcement would provide a terrific market for you. There’s a lot of money to be made with a system like yours.”

      Emily finally agreed and filed her designs with the United States Patent Office. After receiving her patent registrations, she started looking for someone who could manufacture the system – someone who had experience with the technology and a reputation in the industry for superior products. She stumbled onto SignalCorps while reading a trade magazine and was surprised to discover that they were local. After doing some research, she decided to reach out to the company and see if they had an interest in her system.

      The first meeting was supposed to be with just the head of Research & Development. When she walked into the meeting, she could tell right off that he didn’t take her seriously. Emily was a college graduate, but she didn’t have advanced degrees in electronics. The head of R&D had two PhD’s and clearly thought that no one without equal credentials could develop any product worth his time. He also didn’t believe a beautiful woman could design an advanced surveillance system that could possibly work better than what was already on the market.

      However, once Emily demonstrated her system to him, he changed his attitude toward her and the system. By the end of the demonstration, she could tell that he was excited. But when he excused himself and left her alone in the conference room, Emily wondered if he were coming back. She had started packing up her equipment when the head of R&D came back with several other people.

      The head of R&D introduced Emily to the heads of Product Marketing and Manufacturing for the company. Then he introduced her to Shane. She recognized him from a picture of him that she had seen while doing research on the company, and she was surprised that he seemed very friendly. From his educational background and work history, she expected someone more like the head of R&D in terms of behavior, but Shane wasn’t a typical techno-geek. He had a brilliant mind for circuits, business, and people. This combination made him very successful and allowed him to attract and retain great employees and loyal customers.

      Emily was asked to demonstrate her system again, and by the end of the meeting, everyone was excited about the product and its potential. At first, Shane wanted to buy the patents outright, but Emily didn’t want to let go of control over her designs. In the end, they agreed on a partnership. Shane would pay Emily for the right to manufacture the system, as well as a percentage of each unit sold. The deal was fair, and both felt there was tremendous potential to make a great deal of money.

      Now that the manufacturing bugs had been corrected, it was time to release the product on the market. Emily knew that Shane had done some test marketing, and the initial results were encouraging, but Shane wanted to make a big splash with the general release to the public. Emily wondered if that was the reason for the meeting that morning.

      “Good morning, Emily,” Shane said as she was escorted into his office.

      “Good morning, Edison,” she replied. “What’s so urgent that you needed to see me? Is there a problem with the product?”

      “No, no, nothing like that. I have a plan for the initial release to the public, but I wanted to run it past you first.”

      Once they sat down in his office, Shane continued. “First of all, you know that we’ve been testing the waters with the product, both with the military and with law enforcement. I have to tell you… I’ve never seen such enthusiasm for a product like this before. We already have a number of pre-release orders, and word-of-mouth is spreading like wildfire. I think this could be the biggest surveillance product ever!”

      Emily was surprised and happy to hear this. It still felt a little surreal to her that someone else would be interested in a product that she had built primarily for herself.

      Shane continued. “Second, in thinking