Age of Gaia by James Lovegrove

Author:James Lovegrove [Lovegrove, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Solaris
Published: 2013-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

ON A ROLL

DURING THIS PERIOD, as Barnaby and Lydia became cemented in the public’s perception as a couple, GloCo went from strength to strength. The share-price wobble brought about by the Seagull Movement protests stabilised. There were no more ructions or fluctuations, just a steady incremental rise in profits and dividends. Barnaby swooped on a number of his rivals, making bids for them using loans leveraged against his existing corporate holdings. In well over half of these attempted buyouts he was successful. He expanded further into the American and Asian markets, while leaving the Middle East more or less alone. It was an impenetrable cartel down there in the deserts, and the region as a whole was just too volatile. Much the same was true of Russia, which held the world’s largest natural gas reserves, second largest coal reserves and ninth largest crude oil reserves. It was too much of a closed shop; the discovery and extraction costs were high on account of the vastness of the country, its harsh climate and its lack of decent infrastructure; but above all, Russian businessmen were, as a breed, mad, and almost impossible to deal with in a civilised manner. Contract negotiations invariably involved drinking Herculean quantities of vodka, more than even Barnaby’s hardened liver could handle, and quite often letting off assault weapons in the wilderness as well. The hassle and hangovers weren’t worth it. As both Napoleon and Hitler had learned to their cost, Russia should be left well alone.

GloCo flourished, and so did Barnaby’s relationship with Lydia, much to Jakob’s disgust.

“You’re always bloody together,” he complained in the Jaguar one morning on the drive in to work. “Every spare minute you have, you spend with her.”

Barnaby looked up from his Financial Times. “Seriously, Jakob, is it your place to cast aspersions on my girlfriend? Let me answer that for you. It is not. You bodyguard, me employer. There are boundaries. Clear?”

“I’m not casting aspersions on her,” Jakob said. “Just on how close you and her are getting. It’s not like you to be so... smitten. It’s not normal for Barnaby Pollard.”

“I think Barnaby Pollard is the best judge on what’s normal for Barnaby Pollard.”

“It used to be one inconsequential loskind after another.” Loskind was Afrikaans for ‘woman of easy virtue,’ only not so polite. “And now you’re all serious about this one chick who seems to be taking over your life. It’s not good for you.”

“In what way not good, Jakob? Everything’s pretty rosy from where I’m standing. Have you seen GloCo’s share price lately? And look at this.”

He turned the newspaper round, pointing to a column. Jakob glanced at it in the rearview mirror.

“Print’s too small, boss. Read it out to me.”

“FT’s tipping the valuation to go even higher. Comment here says, ‘GloCo’s on a roll and shows no sign of stopping. CEO Barnaby Pollard combines acumen with aggression in a high-risk, high-reward industry. He’s an old hand, a seasoned campaigner. He knows the ropes and he’s got the track record and the assets to underwrite his adventurousness.

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