The 13th Enumeration by William Struse, Rachel Starr Thomson Page B
Authors: William Struse, Rachel Starr Thomson
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Religion & Spirituality, Christian fiction, Christianity, Mystery & Suspense, Christian Books & Bibles, Religious & Inspirational Fiction
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an eight-millimeter nutdriver from a niche in the wall, disconnected the rubber couplings which connected the sewer line from his building to the city’s main sewer line. Removing almost a meter-long section of pipe, he reached into the sewer main and felt around for his daily catch.
At this time of the morning, the water and sewage waste running through the pipe were at a minimum. His fingers felt for the familiar small, leaden objects. This morning there were three, as was often the case. The most he had ever found was five.
Usually there was no trace of the capsule. The water-soluble recipe only lasted two or three hours before it disintegrated. When the magnets captured the objects, they normally broke the weakened capsule, and the lead-encased flash drives fell to the bottom of the sewer pipe. The weight and flat surfaces of the lead kept it within inches of where it had fallen, regardless of the water volume that flowed over it. Quite a clever idea, if he did say so himself. Anyone in the network who had access to a toilet within half a kilometer upstream of the bakery could anonymously deliver their message. No meeting in person, no dead drops under park benches, and best of all, no electronic delivery with traceable origin and destination.
With efficient and practiced skill, the Baker reconnected his sewer line to the city main. Removing a small plastic bag from his pocket, he placed the lead-encased memory drives into the bag. He hung the gloves back over the exposed sewer pipe and replaced the nutdriver in its niche. With a laugh, he thought to himself that he doubted his bakery customers would approve if they knew he played in the sewer in the morning while their bread was rising. With that pleasant thought, he returned upstairs, the plastic bag secure in the pocket of his pants.
Chapter 11
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dylan Gallos stared at the wall of computer screens in his command center. Darius had allowed him to spend whatever he needed to ensure he had real-time access to every financial market in the world. One of the nice things about the Dubai Tower was that, since it was so new, it had the latest fiber-optic technology for screaming fast speeds. Dylan was running some cutting-edge trading software he had designed. He needed all the bandwidth he could get.
On his main monitor, he pulled up the stock price of Aquarius Elemental Solutions (AQES.BB). When Darius’s company first went public, it was traded on the NASDAQ, which had a minimum share price and capitalization requirement to be listed on its exchange. When a NASDAQ stock fell under a dollar a share for a certain amount of time, it was delisted from the NASDAQ and traded on the Over The Counter Bulletin Board. These companies still had to file the necessary paperwork with the SEC, but on the OTCBB they had no minimum share price, market capitalization, corporate governance, or other requirements to be quoted.
Thanks to the guiding hand of Dylan and a little help from some toxic financing hedge funds, AQES had gone from a share price of five dollars to where it now traded at $0.00012 a share. New start-up companies that did not have the backing of huge hedge funds or Wall Street banks typically went to predatory or “toxic” funding sources that would give the start-ups much-needed cash in exchange for stock shares. They would then create some hype about the stock in order to get the share price up so they could dump their shares. In the business, this was called a “pump and dump.” Once they unloaded their shares, they would then short the same stock using “naked shorts” (or fake shares) and ride it back down to a fraction of the original share price. Naked shorts were illegal, but the regulatory agencies didn’t seem to want to do anything about them. Most companies survived for several cycles of this toxic death spiral and then went bankrupt. Even companies with marketable products or ideas often did not survive long enough
At this time of the morning, the water and sewage waste running through the pipe were at a minimum. His fingers felt for the familiar small, leaden objects. This morning there were three, as was often the case. The most he had ever found was five.
Usually there was no trace of the capsule. The water-soluble recipe only lasted two or three hours before it disintegrated. When the magnets captured the objects, they normally broke the weakened capsule, and the lead-encased flash drives fell to the bottom of the sewer pipe. The weight and flat surfaces of the lead kept it within inches of where it had fallen, regardless of the water volume that flowed over it. Quite a clever idea, if he did say so himself. Anyone in the network who had access to a toilet within half a kilometer upstream of the bakery could anonymously deliver their message. No meeting in person, no dead drops under park benches, and best of all, no electronic delivery with traceable origin and destination.
With efficient and practiced skill, the Baker reconnected his sewer line to the city main. Removing a small plastic bag from his pocket, he placed the lead-encased memory drives into the bag. He hung the gloves back over the exposed sewer pipe and replaced the nutdriver in its niche. With a laugh, he thought to himself that he doubted his bakery customers would approve if they knew he played in the sewer in the morning while their bread was rising. With that pleasant thought, he returned upstairs, the plastic bag secure in the pocket of his pants.
Chapter 11
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dylan Gallos stared at the wall of computer screens in his command center. Darius had allowed him to spend whatever he needed to ensure he had real-time access to every financial market in the world. One of the nice things about the Dubai Tower was that, since it was so new, it had the latest fiber-optic technology for screaming fast speeds. Dylan was running some cutting-edge trading software he had designed. He needed all the bandwidth he could get.
On his main monitor, he pulled up the stock price of Aquarius Elemental Solutions (AQES.BB). When Darius’s company first went public, it was traded on the NASDAQ, which had a minimum share price and capitalization requirement to be listed on its exchange. When a NASDAQ stock fell under a dollar a share for a certain amount of time, it was delisted from the NASDAQ and traded on the Over The Counter Bulletin Board. These companies still had to file the necessary paperwork with the SEC, but on the OTCBB they had no minimum share price, market capitalization, corporate governance, or other requirements to be quoted.
Thanks to the guiding hand of Dylan and a little help from some toxic financing hedge funds, AQES had gone from a share price of five dollars to where it now traded at $0.00012 a share. New start-up companies that did not have the backing of huge hedge funds or Wall Street banks typically went to predatory or “toxic” funding sources that would give the start-ups much-needed cash in exchange for stock shares. They would then create some hype about the stock in order to get the share price up so they could dump their shares. In the business, this was called a “pump and dump.” Once they unloaded their shares, they would then short the same stock using “naked shorts” (or fake shares) and ride it back down to a fraction of the original share price. Naked shorts were illegal, but the regulatory agencies didn’t seem to want to do anything about them. Most companies survived for several cycles of this toxic death spiral and then went bankrupt. Even companies with marketable products or ideas often did not survive long enough
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