Secrets of Fathers and Empires
Rycliff
Secrets of Fathers and Empires
By
Matthew Hallam
Copyright 2010
Contents
Secrets of Fathers and Empires
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
EPILOGUE
Prologue
July 13, 2002
“Jebidiah, please be reasonable.” Very few people know J. Edwin Whitten's first name and even fewer people can address him by it. Harrison Clayton is one of these privileged few. He and Edwin’s friendship started in their college days, way back in the '70s.
They attended the University of Texas together. After graduation, Edwin went into banking. He soon grew bored and came to hate working at his father's bank. So, he decided to strike out on his own. He now owns his own successful company and is considered moderately wealthy by most standards.
Harry studied him, at a little over six feet tall and 225 pounds Jeb is not an individual who intimidates easily. His piercing blue eyes give the impression that they can look straight into the inner depths of anyone he chooses to stare at. Harry had always thought Jeb could be a very successful lawyer. Whitten’s jet-black hair has started to show traces of silver starting at the temples and hinted at a receding hairline. His forehead is developing a furrowed look, but overall, not bad looking for someone who had recently turned forty-nine
Harry, as his friends called him, became a lawyer. He started in a big downtown law firm in Houston, as an associate. After about ten years in the practice of law, he was still a junior partner and moving more slowly up the career ladder then he had hoped. He decided that maybe politics was where he could achieve his goal of success. In his first bid at a political career, he ran for a minor seat on the Texas House of Representatives; He failed at winning a seat in the statehouse of representatives for two consecutive elections. Next, he ran for county judge and then-attorney general and lost both times.
In his first bid at a political career, his defeat came by his inexperience; he debated, with a polished incumbent. As a result, he came across as an uninformed and rather dull individual. The debate came back to haunt him in the second attempt, although this time it was because he refused to debate the other candidate. The voters thought of him as aloof and not informed on the issues. Once again, he lost by an overwhelming majority.
He decided to go back to practicing law and started a firm with a much older lawyer than him, Mr. Raymond Robison. Mr. Robison became his mentor and took Harry under his wing. Together with Harry's enthusiasm and Raymond’s experience the firm prospered. Now with the retirement of Mr. Robison, the firm was Harry's and he was succeeding at expanding his caseload and expanding the firm, by hiring new associates and taking bigger cases.
Whitten finally answered. “I don't need to be reasonable. Just make the changes I've asked you to make for me.” He sat there in Harry's office looking at the dozens of photos and diplomas as well as various framed front-page articles hanging on the “glory wall”. He reflected on the change, in Harry’s surroundings, Harry had been what people nowadays call a disadvantaged youth, his parents died at an early age, and he was forced to move to Houston and live with his maternal grandparents. He did have one thing in his favor, he was quick to learn, and worked his pants off. He received a full scholarship for college, and he took full advantage of it.
“Jeb, as your lawyer and friend, I'm telling you that what you're proposing lacks planning, and in my opinion doesn't represent your best interests. How can you invest in a little no-name company like Lunar Development Corporation? They show a very modest earning potential and their goal to colonize the moon is extremely ambitious, impossible is more like it. The company will be bankrupt if it fails at colonizing the moon. Why do you think it's going public? It needs the cash. It is trying to keep the office furniture from repossession, as we speak. Why, are you willing to invest all the inheritance from your father on it?” Harrison asked.
“They will succeed. This public offering and the company's plan to market itself will work.” Stated, Mr. Whitten. “Besides LDC has been in business for a while already and isn’t going broke any time soon. As for the office furniture being carted away, I know that it will never happen. This dream to colonize the moon is what counts. Can you imagine the enormous profits that will be had when they achieve that goal?” Whitten declared.
“Still, I'd be remiss in my duty to you, if I didn't point out the fact that some of these changes are a bit rash. Changing your will so all of your personal fortune goes to the Fertility Foundation, the Adopt a Child of America Foundation, and The Run-away Hot Line for Teens, is a bit out of the ordinary. As is turning your home and land into an orphanage for wayward youths, people will think you have gone mad. And are you forgetting Blaire, your daughter, and only child? Don't you love her? Don't you want to provide some security for her in the event of your untimely demise?”
“Yes, of course, I love Blaire; I'll never stop loving her. I'm not giving her a red cent until she comes to her senses and forgets this Irish gold digger of hers.”
“Jeb, Ian appears to be a great gentleman, and he truly seems to love Blaire, I know Blaire really loves him. Besides, what would Maggie say about your behavior and the way you've been acting lately?”
“You let my wife's memory rest in peace!” Jeb interrupted, slamming his hand on the desk. Harry jumped at the noise.
“I'm sorry about that; I was only trying to get you to think about this some more. Come on, do you believe that's all he wants, is just her money?”
“I believe he just wants to get money, and this way there's no money for him to get. Now make those changes immediately.”
“All right I'll make the changes to the will, and I'll look into LDC for you.”
“Do more than look at it. Buy it. I should be able to buy one million shares of LDC.”
“Oh, and Harry, buy it by using dummy corporations and offshore accounts. The last thing I want is a bunch of lawyers snooping around from the SEC and the IRS. I want this to be legal, but I certainly do not want to end up listed as a major stockholder. It may be useful later on down the road to be in control of a ten- percent block with voting privileges. Take care of the details and I make sure that I double my usual bonus I pay you.”
“Oh boy! Double of nothing, I'll be as rich as you are in no time at all.”
“I'll wire the money to you at 8:00 AM sharp tomorrow, wise guy. You still on for dinner as usual?”
“Of course! It's your turn to buy.”
Whitten was in the study having his customary drink of the evening. He drank only one thing scotch and soda. From 6:00 pm. until 7:00 pm. was Whitten's quiet time. No one who knew him well interrupted it.
He used this time to relax from the stress caused by running a multi-million-dollar corporation. Whitten Avionics Inc. was very successful, less than twenty - five years in business and already it had sales in the five hundred-million-dollar range. It had profits last year of 150 million, and he had a personal net worth of 200 million. All from a small factory, he had bought from an ex-air Force sergeant, who was going broke slowly, selling aviation electronics.
He thought back to the time he decided to try to acquire the business. Edwin went to his fathers' bank for a loan. He tried to convince his father that all the company needed to be profitable was, better leadership and a more disciplined approach to business. He also tried convincing his father that he could turn the company around in a short amount of time. His father decided not to give him the loan.
“It's too risky and you'll lose your shirt trying to make a living at it” He replied. “Besides I'm ready to retire and turn the bank over to you. Why take a chance on something that will never amount to anything?”
“Father, we've discussed this, I don't want to take over the bank, and I haven't even worked with you for years. Besides, I have a bank job now and I cannot stand it. I'm bored. What would I be if I ran a bank?”
“Secure and most likely rich like me. Why is it all the people of your generation are so set against doing anything that your fathers worked for?"
“Were not against everything you've worked for, and I want to be just as successful as you. I just want to do it on my own. Why can't you understand?”
Edwin got the loan from another bank. His father saw this as an act of rebellion. For the next twenty-four years, he never let Edwin hear the end of it. He constantly brought it up at every family gathering. Even after Whitten Avionics Incorporated was doing well, his father never recognized it for the success it was.
Edwin believed he would turn the company around. He did, in just three years it was in the black. He started by calling every aviation firm from Houston to Moscow. He succeeded by never taking a "no" for an answer.
Many times, he made personal appearances at the doorstep of every two-bit company in the area, just to scare up some sales.
On one such call, he came across a new company named Lunar Development Corporation, Incorporated. That was 10 years ago. Back then, it was just a small company that worked as an independent contractor for NASA. They did odd jobs ranging from simple charting and photography of the moon's surface to the complex, such as designing the mock-up of their lunar colony.
The problem for them, however, was that their contract stated all outcomes were the property of NASA. Now it was going public, and they were going to have a colony of their own on the moon by the year 2010. Something that if successful would be a real coup, considering NASA scrapped its plans, citing various problems. The main problem, of course, was that the federal government would not approve the funding for reasons all of its own. In Whitten's opinion, the government was afraid to lose valuable tax dollars, because many legal experts thought that the US government could not have legal jurisdiction on the moon. No country on Earth could truly claim it until they colonized it, but how can any government maintain control of an essentially autonomous group of people.
Whitten Avionics was one of a few companies that still supplied Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Grumman, and Raytheon; it even does business with Airbus. On occasion, it supplies NASA. Whitten wanted more, a lot more. He wanted to eat at the table with the grown-ups at Thanksgiving. If Whitten Avionics could get in on the ground floor and supply the moon colony then it would be the sky’s the limit he thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice. Edwin felt like saying, "Go away, and wait until later." However, he knew that this situation eventually, must be dealt with and it might as well be taken care of now.
“Daddy, can we talk?”
“Have you decided to take the money for the abortion, and stop seeing this Ian Mallory as I've asked you? All this guy wants is money; he does not love you. Think about this logically and you will see him for the snake he is. Just wait six months when you are all belly. And he is long gone, with no forwarding address. Then you’ll be stuck raising a child all by yourself. Is that what you want? Don’t you realize if you have a child very few men will want to even think about marrying you then?”
“Don't worry your money is safe, Ian Mallory couldn't care less about all of your millteions. You know what? Neither could I. Another thing, I would never have an abortion. Ian will never stop seeing me. I can prove it, He has asked me to marry him, and I said yes. So, see you aren’t the ruler of the entire universe”
“Well, if that's your choice, I think you should know what the consequences of your decision will be.” Mr. Whitten continued, “I will pay for the wedding, and a modest honeymoon, which is my responsibility and I'll not shirk it. But that will be the last thing I do for you. Do you understand? This marriage should take place as soon as possible, which means a very small guest list. Second, I will not pay for your senior year at college. I will not give you another dollar of my money. You will have to find your place to live and fend for yourselves. Third, you should be ready to work your tail off, because raising a child today is going to be even tougher for you than it was for me. Lastly, I give your union a maximum of two years before it falls apart, I hope you prove me wrong, but I won't hold my breath.”
On July 28, 1982, the sun was shining, and the birds were singing, as Ian Mallory and Blaire Whitten were wed. Whitten was not all that heartless however, he gave Blaire her mother's wedding gown, and it fit, barely. She looked radiant in the white gown, and secretly Whitten was overcome with shame for his actions. His daughter was a beautiful young woman now, and she had her own life to live, no matter how rough a road it was.
It was a small ceremony with Edwin and Harry in attendance for the bride and Ian's parents in attendance for the groom. It was the first and last time Edwin met them, and they did not impress him at all. The ceremony was presided over by a Justice of the Peace. Since Blaire was pregnant; Edwin wouldn't ask a priest or minister to perform the ceremony, besides, he couldn’t get a church on such short notice
The honeymoon was, as advertised, modest. It consisted of a weekend in Galveston, in a pleasant but inexpensive motel near the beach, with little or no amenities. Ian and Blaire couldn't have cared a bit; to them, it was the greatest weekend of their young lives. They were together and they were married. No longer would they have to sneak around to see each other, they would be together for eternity.
On March 17, 2003, Baby Boy Mallory was born at 8:05 in the morning. He was a healthy baby, and he weighed eight pounds, eleven, and a half ounces. Ian was beside himself with joy, a baby boy and on St. Patrick's Day no less! Surely, the luck of the Irish was upon him. Ian knew what he wanted to name him,
“Let’s name our son, Ian Sean Mallory, Jr.”
“No! I do not want two of you Ian. How about a compromise, we'll name him Sean W. Mallory?”
What's the 'W' stand for?” Asked Ian, fearing that he already knew.
“We'll let it stand for 'W' just like the 'S' in Harry S. Truman's name. If anyone wants to read more into it, then it will be they're doing.”
Ian knew that this was a battle that he could not win. Even if he prevailed with his argument, he would lose in the end. It was the same argument his father lost. His father had wanted to name him something completely different, he wanted Sean Patrick Mallory, his mother wanted to name him after both of the grandfathers, and she won. It wasn't such a bad compromise to make, he thought. At that moment, he stared out the window and up into the evening sky and saw what looked like a shooting star. A sign of good luck, Ian thought. So, he agreed to Sean W. Mallory and signed the birth certificate.