Justified Hostilities

At head office in New York, executive assistants are running around in turmoil getting the last important details together for the annual meeting in London, if they only knew the plans of others! A company controlled by the Chinese government wants to seat two new directors on the board of Advanced Surveillance Systems Inc., but will they? The reason is simple: as directors, they can obtain the classified design/engineering information on the new weaponized drone system. This design information must be obtained at any cost.

President Walter Scott has been informed by the corporate secretary, Mary Ann Donahue, that a quiet pickup of 5 percent plus of the common stock has taken place on the market--by whom, nobody knows. Scott understands that this activity close to an annual meeting always spells trouble, and he will consider informing both his executive team and senior board members of this activity. But trouble is on the way!

Meanwhile, on the far eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, a group of terrorists experienced in abduction techniques and torture continues to work on plan B, which is to take place--if required--within ten days.