Adam swallowed ham while Claudia slipped a pair of clean underwear over his bare ass. As she did, she briefed him on his latest mission.  

     She started with a photo taken of Gideon Goldbody.

​     "Ever seen him before?" Claudia asked.

​     "No. I'd have remembered this guy." 

​     "He's currently the third richest man in the world." 

     "I thought I was the third richest man in the world."​

​     "You've been dethroned. Get a look at this." On the left side of the screen, Claudia ran a list of Goldbody's holdings and assets. 

     "He has his finger in just about every corporate pie in existence. The list goes on and on." 

     Adam whistled. "Hmm. Who does that remind you of? It's like he's hiding his wealth in stocks and minerals in the same way I hide my wealth in stocks and minerals. And so...we've never heard of this guy before because..."

     "He didn't want anybody to know anything about him before today. This information you're seeing, I had to dig very deep to get this. Also, this information is very fresh. None of it is older than five years."

     "Which means..." 

     "None of it is old money, passed down from generation to generation. It was like this Gideon Goldbody showed up out of absolutely nowhere to amass billions and billions of dollars. Here's something else."  

     The second image to come up was one of Goldbody's lair on top of Pete's Peak. Adam chuckled. He was getting more and more impressed with this guy by the second.  

     "His place is bigger than ours," he said, "and on top of Pete's Peak? How could he even get the authority to...and without anyone knowing a thing."  

     "Everyone's going to know him after today," Claudia said. "Check this out."

​     The next image was one of an event announcement.

​     "This came out exactly one day ago," Claudia said. "Every member of the Fortune 500 got one...except for you."

​     WELCOME! WELCOME! the announcement read. YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE GRAND OPENING OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR GAMBLING CASINO EVER DESIGNED! 

     The next image was of, what looked like, a dead cross between a luxury liner and a starship. Windows lined its perimeter, and through these windows Adam saw people in elegant dinner attire sipping champagne with one hand while playing slots with the other. 

​     MY JETS AND HELICOPTERS WILL CARRY YOU TO MY PRIVATE ESTATE ATOP PETE'S PEAK the announcement went on. THEN, MY SKYMASTER WILL CARRY YOU A HUNDRED MILES ABOVE THE EARTH WHERE YOU WILL SPEND A WEEKEND IN THE MOST LUXURIOUS AND UNIQUE RESORT IN THE HISTORY OF THE PLANET. EVERYONE'S GOING!

​     Adam couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What, he's planning to send the entire Fortune 500 into space? Today?" 

​     "In two hours." 

​     "And we've never heard of this guy before? I mean, you especially, Claudia. He wasn't in your data base at all?" 

     "I know."

     "That mean this guy has planned this very well, and is very well funded."

     "Or the forces behind this guy have planned this very well and are very well funded."

     "And...further...considering the technology it would take to..."

     "I'm sorry, Adam. I let you down. I should have caught on to this guy years ago." 

     "You think it's beginning, don't you? You think it's beginning today."

     "Yes I do."

     Adam sighed. Then,  

     "Put him back on the screen. I need to get a better look at this guy. Also, have you finished detoxifying me?"

     "Just finished." 

     "Good. From here on out, it's all about staying hyper-alert."

     "I agree."

​                                                 CONTINUE
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