“What?” they all said in surprise.

“The ink used in printing the report requires an ionic charge to stay legible, which is provided by the inside layer of the envelope. If the papers don’t receive the charge for more than thirty minutes the ink will dissolve, and any attempts to copy the report will not be possible due to the particular ink used in printing it.”

“This seems somewhat excessive,” commented Gordon. “Even on the NASA project we didn’t see such sophisticated security.”

“The information in this report is very revealing I think you’ll agree. We can’t take the risk of it being exposed.” The group understood that security measures were needed for the project, but it was the degree of the measures that left them chary. With such sophisticated security, they were left to wonder about other secrets being protected even from them.

Sted began to speak, as he knew his team members well enough to know that he should step in, before their frustrations started to show. “As the leader of the consortium I’d like to say that we’d be glad to review the report, and we consider today’s meeting a positive step toward alleviating the partners’ concerns. Barring any problems in the report information, we’ll make a favorable regular report to the partners” he said in bringing their comments to a close.

He was chosen as the consortium leader for different reasons, and one of them was his mature attitude, which would be needed in such a high profile and politically charged project. He had the same reservations as the other consortium members, but always tried to be constructive in his exchanges with Anthony, for the good of the project.

“That’s wonderful news. I’ll get in touch will you to schedule our next meeting,” replied Anthony. “Let’s call it a wrap for today.” Finished Another meeting finished without any major obstacles, and he was glad and relieved. 

Sted, Alice, Mark, and Gordon all filed out of the boardroom quietly. They were very suspecting that AFC had been hiding something, but that did not seem to be the case any longer. They were going down in the elevator as they shared their opinions on the meeting.

“They’re being pretty cocky to keep back the secret ingredients,” Alice said.

“I’m betting this deal has layers to it that we aren’t going to know about. It’s good to know that Foster Bensha is involved,” replied Gordon.

Alice replied to further express her annoyance, “I can’t imagine the partners entering into an agreement like this. There’s information that is simply being kept secret. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Sted replied, “this is a complicated one there are a lot of different elements at play here. We need to be wise in going about it.”

“I’m going to go over these figures very closely. I’ll be contacting each of you” Mark said as he looked at the other three members. “I want to look at the estimates made in the cost figures. Let me know when you’ll be at your offices, because you’re going to need to reference your files to help verify these estimates.”

They all agreed and were headed back to their respective cities to follow up on the information they received. Lots of work laid ahead for them. They reached the main floor and walked out of the building. 

“Have a safe trip and we’ll talk again soon,” Sted said, as they walked to their cars before driving to the airport.