Page 6 of In Bed with the Enemy

5

AMY

I breathed a sigh of relief as I finished my presentation. I looked out over the sea of people as I opened up the floor for questions. Everyone looked engaged, which was a good sign. In today's day and age, so many people were often on their phones or computers and it was hard to hold people's attention.

But, my presentation was also very different for this conference, so maybe it was more about that than it was about my own skills as a presenter. Either way, I waited patiently for questions to come in.

Someone, a few seats back from the front raised their hand. "Yes, Sir," I said, pointing to him. "Go ahead."

"Do these devices store energy on-site or do they connect to the grid?" he asked.

"Great question," I said with a nod. "Either way! Once converted, the electricity can be stored on-site in any standard battery array or an interconnection agreement can be applied for with the local utility provider and the energy can be fed directly into the grid."

The man who asked the question made a few notes and nodded his head in thanks. I looked out over the sea of people again. "Anyone else? Don't be shy."

"I have a question." The deep voice rang out from the back of the hall and I gulped as I watched Etan Greene fittingly step out from the shadows and raise his hand.

One of the conference aides frustratingly ran forward to hand him a microphone and I tried to remind myself that I was on stage and needed to not roll my eyes. But, that didn't mean I was going to just sit here and let him ruin things for me.

"I'm sure everyone's familiar with Ethan Greene, majority shareholder of Standard Energy. A company who's been largely against alternative energy sources for fairly obvious reasons."

"Thanks for the introduction," he said, "but I'm quite sure everyone here knows who I am," he chuckled and the crowd laughed a bit with him. "And I wouldn't say that Standard has been against alternative energy sources. On the contrary, we've got some of the world's brightest minds tucked away in various labs working hard for all of us."

"The technology already exists, Mr. Greene," I said gesturing to the PowerPoint behind me.

"Perhaps. But, Standard Oil has always put safety above all else."

I couldn't help the scoff that escaped my lips. "This technology is far safer than a large oil rig, that's for sure."

Ethan held up his finger and waved it back and forth. "I'm not so sure, Ms. Reid. These solar fields, where are they generally constructed?"

My heart rate spiked as I tried to think through how my answer might get me into trouble. I knew Ethan wasn't going to open his mouth up without a goal in mind. I just wasn't sure what it was.

"Generally solar fields are constructed in rural areas that don't see a lot of pedestrian traffic. Land on either side of rural highways is generally affordable and accessible."

"Interesting. And, these solar fields that you construct, what sort of security is provided?"

"The panels are all fenced in, as are the transformation stations. I'd envision a roaming security guard to check on the sites, but our company just sells the technology. We don't negotiate the terms of the ground lease that would inevitably control where these panels are placed."

Ethan smirked and my stomach sank. "And, these transformers you speak so highly of, they use a specific substance, don't they?"

"Mercury, yes," I said. "But, the substance is triple sealed. There's absolutely no chance of the substance escaping the device," I said quickly. This was the one issue with my invention that I hadn't been able to get around. Mercury was necessary to facilitate the chemical reaction within the transformer. I'd tried a number of different elements, but it was the only one that worked.

"So, you're saying that you intend to sell a device that contains a highly noxious substance to be placed in facilities that are barely monitored."

"I think that's going a little far, Mr. Greene," I said, the sweat on my palms beginning to leave marks on the microphone handle.

Ethan shrugged. "Is it? Say a rambunctious teenager decides to commit a bit of trespassing and cause some mischief. Maybe he takes a baseball bat to your little device. Is the triple seal going to stand up to a baseball bat?"

My anger spiked as I realized just what he was getting at. "Acts of vandalism would affect the safety of any piece of technology. And the risk of a random act of vandalism is far less than the risk of an oil leak. I hear the oil from Standard's spill twenty-five years ago is still embedded in the ocean floors off the coast of Alaska."

A collective gasp rang out over the crowd and I wondered if I'd gone too far. But, Ethan was testing me and I wasn't going to let him discredit me in front of everybody.

"An unfortunate accident that happened when I was only a few years old. I can assure you that Standard has implemented much more stringent safety standards in response to that event. This is why your proposal concerns me. Unlike our rigs, where people are extensively trained and security is extremely tight, you're proposing to allow dangerous technology to sit on the sides of highways without any oversight. It's certainly impressive technology, but practically speaking, I just don't think it can be ethically employed on a wide scale."

I stood there with my mouth hanging open. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was about to lash out, ask him how an oil baron could possibly sit there and talk about ethics when the cars we all drove actively polluted our world and our oceans. But, the conference organizer rushed onto the stage and took my microphone away from me rather suddenly.

"Well, that's all the time that we have for this morning's presentation. Thank you for joining us."