The Pin Keeper

The Pin Keeper

  John Rudram

  Copyright 2012 John Rudram

  Prologue

  Moonlit night

  Two green piercing eyes, big and wet , stared raptly between wooden racks, part of a large Sea facing Library. The shining spectacles on those eyes, slipped repeatedly from top to bottom, nervously.

  “It is going to be terrible. It will not work,” the lips beneath the spectacle fluttered in a feminine whisper.

  Silence descended into the chasms of a deep moment. A crackling thunder dived into the Annex Parking Zone, deafening everyone in the room. The trees around the Last Survivors shook as something very, very fast leapt from the Annex towards their concrete citadel.

  “It is coming right at us,” the shivering voice of the third most powerful pharmaceutical mogul echoed around them. She wiped her sweat staring at her rebounding sentence. The words filled with her own fears now came to her from every direction increasing her anxiety.

  They saw another one coming towards their right. Each of the six heads gathered in this big room snapped, turning in the direction of the light as it burst through the trees and leapt into their secure domicile.

  A calm hum resonated amidst the dashing typhoon water-slaps on the thick glass window.

  A deep voice smashed the vocal silence from behind.

  “It will choose from one of us if the Protocol has to succeed. And IT has already begun choosing.”

  Island X

  Approximately 300 MILES WEST OF HAWAII Coast.

  Chapter 1

  The Thunder dropped and pushed forward into the back end of their building, ramming into their fenced structure that towered over a sixty feet.

  “They are coming from the back,” the pharma baron, a young woman, pitched in.

  “It is alright Valentina, they can’t get in.”

  A heavy set six feet juggernaut marched towards the other end of the room, clenching the others collared neck.

  “What is Happening? You know something David. Don’t you?”

  “They are going for the North Guard Tower Isaac,” said David without offering any effort to break free of iron clasp around his neck.

  Isaac turned back, and saw the Guard Tower burning with blue flames.

  “You very well know what I am asking about David don’t mess with me.”

  “I need my neck to speak,” screeched David now almost on the verge of choking.

  Isaac released him and got a Chill coke for David.

  “Catch, Drink and Speak up, else it will be your last sip dip head.”

  David moved to a sofa and sat down with his head bent. Slowly sipping the coke he started in a grave voice,”In1975, The Passiflora Inc. [The PIN] officially restructured itself into the largest funding organization encompassing the area of Sports, Academics, Pharma, Entertainment Media and A part of Public Governance and that was the farthest anyone or any company had ever went to have a global control of historic importance.”

  “When did you join Passiflora?” asked Valentina now moving closer to David.

  “I joined in ‘79”

  “What happened to it then?” pushed Isaac now sitting on the edge of a long thick table.

  “Despite attracting thousands of high potentially talented people every day and preparing countless executive plans, The PIN remained one of the most mismanaged Organisation in the World. A controversy about declaring itself as a protected organisation, barring transparency, which was not its first such attempt directed at the structure, was an outcome of consistent foolhardiness by its managing directors.”

  “What was it worth then?” asked a slender voice, shifting her rimless dewy spectacles.

  “When I joined, The Pin was estimated to be fourteen and half billion U.S Dollars, Ana”

  A loud chorus ‘Gosh’ went up in the chamber.

  “Silence!” shouted Isaac, “IT can hear us”.

  “Yes! That was a lot of greenery and many believed that the actual figure was much higher,” continued David breathing normally now.

  “It was 5 years ago when the first comprehensive development guidelines were framed to restore the scope and reach of the organisation,” David H McAllister, the subordinate director of Pin Strategic Missions, paused.

  He knew the following portion was going to be the toughest part for the people around him.

  “The Hive Protocol”

  Everyone fell silent.

  “The Hive Protocol was put forward, where five members were selected from different disciplines and were given the organisation’s presidential powers for a period of five years and fourteen days. On that last fifteenth day, whoever commanded more power by studying, convincing, thinking, acting would be chosen for the most covet spot of the real president for rest of his tenure.”

  “Who made that?”, asked Ana.

  “Fortunately or unfortunately the then board of Directors, instead of creating a bench of corporate, recruited top class physicists and mathematicians”.

  “What were scientists doing in a board room?” asked a bald stout man standing behind Isaac.

  “They were studying the Butterfly,” a loud thunder descended behind David’s voice.

  Walsh Brown, a bureaucrat, hundred percent agreed with other’s expression that they had heard some jumble in the loud pressure outside.

  “I shall explain that later, I will now continue with the Hive Protocol to achieve this, it suggested that the Organisation be divided into 5 zones. Each zone comprising 32 Activities and its buffer zone was to be delineated as a grey area.” Dave was speaking faster now rubbing his hands to keep himself warm. He didn’t know neither bother to know whether the chillness in him was due to the weather outside or the excitement of his talk inside.

  “The Hive Protocol outlined that if a new zone was created and business activity rapidly moved to this ill-planned area, pressure on the organisation zone would increase tremendously. To help achieve this objective, proposals such as building an outer zone road to divert new traffic from the Other zones and strictly deregulating commercial authority within this zone, was also projected. This Zone Six was considered as the Jungle Zone. No laws. No Rules. In the final fourteen days one had to command in Zone Six, simultaneously fighting or collaborating with other candidates.”

  “So, now we are under the Hive Protocol,” said Isaac slowly.

  David did not answer, he had lot more to tell.

  “Following the recommendation, in 1984, the PIN announced a grand plan to build an airstrip, ply a hovercraft service from Its Headquarters in Hawaii to a nearby small island, and create a new town in there for deploying all facilities to monitor the movements of the five candidates over the period of those fourteen days.”

  Silently everyone looked around their perimeter. They knew it. They were now inside the most dangerous plan laid by the smartest minds to select a true leader.

  “That is where we are,” said David Calmly.

  “And we are on Day fourteen.”

  “What is the name of this place?” asked Valentina in a trembling voice.

  McAllister stared right into Valentina’s deep brown teary eyes, “They Named it as The Pin Keeper.”

  #Dice is not always as it seems for everyone#