“Sir?”
Turning away from the window, Jameson looked over to the entrance of his office where a young intern stood nervously. He was keeping the specifics of how bad this crash was entirely top secret, but everyone obviously knew something had happened. There were a number of staff members who had left their posts upon hearing the news, believing their lives over and no longer seeing the point in remaining in work. That meant the offices where Jameson was were incredibly understaffed, hence the fresh-faced intern who was now stuttering in Jameson’s doorway. Typical that this was the day of the week he had chosen to be out of HQ.
“Yes?” Jameson answered, his mind racing as he glanced at the clock on the wall. It couldn’t be time for the conference already. Surely not. “What is it?”
“I’ve err, I’ve got your mother on the phone. I told her you were busy, but she insisted. Shall I put her through?”
Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Jameson let out a half laugh. That was the last thing he had been expecting. With another glance at the clock he decided that he didn’t really have time to speak to his mother, but with everything going on he knew he couldn’t let the opportunity pass him by. He should at least make sure she was safe.
“Right okay,” he replied, “yes, put her through.”
With a nod the intern disappeared from view. Seconds later, the phone rang on Jameson’s desk. Walking over to the doorway first, he pushed it closed before breathing in a deep breath and picking up the receiver, waiting to hear his mother’s voice at the other end of the line.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“Jamie,” his mother gushed into her cell, the reception somewhat fuzzy but her familiar voice still able to make out. “What’s going on? Is all of this true? I think I’ve lost everything.”
“Calm down mom,” Jameson sat up straighter in his chair; quickly realizing this was not going to be an easy conversation with his mother. “Where are you? Are you safe?”
“Yes, I’m at home. Do you think I’m in danger? I’ve seen on the news people rioting and looting in the streets. Things are already completely out of control. Are you going to be able to put a stop to this, Jamie? When is the government going to step in?”
“Mom, listen,” Jameson paused for a moment, trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, he had a duty to his job and the secrecy he was sworn to. On the other, his mom was just a regular woman who still didn’t truly know what was going on and if he could give her a bit of information about what was happening in order to make her life that tiny bit easier, he wasn’t going to miss out on that opportunity. “Things are bad mom, worse than they’re making out on the news. I’ve got a call with the President soon but –”
“The President?!”
“We need to see if they can provide us with any aid, any sort of bail out. So, I don’t have long. Listen carefully – it’s not ransomware as they’re going to tell everyone, it’s everything. All the money is gone. And to be honest, I don’t feel confident that the government is going to be able to help us. They don’t have the money to cover this. The country just can’t support what we’ve lost. Things are going to get real bad when the truth comes out. You need to do everything you can to stay safe and away from it all.”
“What do you mean, Jamie? Everything can’t just be gone!”
“It is, mom. I’m sorry.”
“But what will we do? How will we fix things?”
“I’m going to work on that. We’ll come up with something,” Jameson paused again as there was a knock on his now closed office door and the same nervous-looking intern pushed it open and stuck his head into the room. Jameson looked up at the clock and saw the time for the conference call was finally upon him. Lifting a finger to the intern, he gestured for him to give him another minute. He couldn’t just leave things with his mom like this.
“Look, mom,” he said. “We’ll figure something out, I promise. But in the meantime, I need you to stay safe and stay indoors. No matter how bad it seems like it’s getting, that’s where you’re safest. I’ll work something out and I’ll come and get you myself, okay? I promise, mom. Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
“To me?” Jameson’s mother slowed for a moment, a brief second of silence spanning out between her and her son. “I’m not worried about me, Jamie; it’s you I’m scared for. I know you’ll do everything you can, but if there comes a point when you know you’ve done all you can, promise me you’ll get out of there and keep yourself safe. Money isn’t the most important thing sweetheart. That’s you.”
“Okay mom, I promise.” Jameson replied, a grim smile breaking out onto his face. “Now I really have to go. Stay indoors. I love you, mom.”
“I love you too, Jamie. Go and save us all.”
As the line went dead, Jameson Kildare felt the pressure of his mother’s words weighing heavily on his shoulders. He knew she hadn’t meant it quite so literally, but he felt like for New York at least, a lot of what was going to happen would be as a result of how this next meeting went. At least he could go to it now knowing that his mother was safe. She was a sensible woman and she would do as he had instructed. As would he. He had promised her that he would get out before it was too late, and he would do so. He loved Trident
