Miami, Florida
Risk Management International, Inc.
RMI was the brainchild of several retired high ranking officials from the country's top intelligence agencies. Carl Duvall, the Chief Executive Officer, was a former Deputy Director of Operations for the CIA. James Salter, the Chief Operations Officer, was also a Deputy Director for the CIA but came from the intelligence side instead. Gregory Lyons, the Director of Crisis Intervention, was the Deputy Director for the NSA. A formidable group of minds and skills ran this company. Each still had contacts within their prospective agencies, giving them access to resources that were invaluable in the private sector. Many of their field resources and assets too were still under their influenceafter spending decades cultivating them.
Their attitudes were best described by a comment made by Duvall:
"What…, do you think that the morning after I retire, I'll wake up not remembering what the hell I've been doing for the past three decades?"
As far as this group was concerned, all the hot topics, all the trouble spots, and several of the red flag projects that were left open when they retired or left their posts, all became instant business opportunities.
On Brickell Avenue, many high rise office buildings towered over the palm tree lined avenue which ran through Miami's financial district. This particular building was owned and operated by a large conglomerate based in the United Sates; the company consisted of many subsidiaries, some well known, and others smaller and more discreet. The 34th through 40th floors of this building were occupied by Risk Management International Inc., a global security company.
RMI's conference room was located on the 37th floor and represented the pinnacle of office technology. It was located literally in the center of the 37th floor with no windows, instead, it featured a flush mounted video wall consisting of multiple screens that stretched nearly from wall to wall and was10 feet in height, covering almost the entire wall from floor to ceiling. Alot was invested into the state of the art Audio\Visual system installed in the conference room, which was of theater quality. The video wall was capable of displaying up to 30 separate video inputs to create a collage of multiple television channels, other sources in any combination, or one large singular display. In its idle state, it presented a simulation of the Miami skyline, giving the illusion that it was an actual window but its main purpose was to display breathtaking presentations.
The enormous conference table, which seated 52, was made of mahogany along with the doors and wall trim. The table was surrounded by 52 matching stainless steel and mahogany chairs upholstered with tan leather, 25 down each side and one on each end. It was the unseen features though, that made the conference room truly technologically advanced. Built into the frames of the two double door entrances, were scanners that detected any powered devices down to a battery powered wrist watch and even pacemakers. Additionally, the room was electronically shielded by noise generators that ran at specific frequencies to prevent any use of eavesdropping devices. Security through judicious actions wasa large part of doing businessfor this company.
The video wall displayed the company logo, consisting of the roman letters 'RMI' chiseled into a white marble slab and bracketed by Greco-Roman pillars. Below the company name was the Latin phrase "Protegre Ad Satis" (Protect to Sufficiency). The music playing softly in the background consisted of an easy listening mix of a Jazz inspired trumpet with classical undertones by Wynton Marsalis.
The group of executives gathered in this meeting sat around the table, quietly conversing until the presentation commenced on the screen. The screen centered on the Miami skyline with Biscayne Bay in the foreground. The dialogue was narrated by a deep masculine voice, which exuded authority and pronounced every word crisp and deliberately. Much care seemed to have been taken in not voicing any certain dialect or accent.
"Risk Management International is a highly specialized organization which prides itself in providing discreet and effective services to its clients. As the modern business environment becomes ever so highly evolved and competitive, whether through technological advances or by global exposure, so does the associated risks of doing business. Corporate espionage, kidnappings and terrorist threats, along with technology based acts of sabotage, are commonplace in today's highly competitive global business environment.
RMI's dedicated staff of professionals provides proven results through the accumulation of talents and skill sets from the Government, Military, Technology, Law Enforcement and the Business sectors..."
The screen began to go through different scenarios, one being a staged kidnapping, as the narrator continued, "...RMI has the resources to provide solutions such as executive protection, counterintelligence, clandestine hostage rescue, security and risk oversight; including complete training or management of existing assets. RMI's vast resources allow any client access to the most complete, truly global risk and security management available."
After the presentation, Carl Duvall stood and gave a brief applause.
"Excellent work ... but I suggest we take the edge off the narrative, it sounds a little intimidating," he said as he looked over the staff for looks of disagreement, "I am not trying to scare up business," he joked, "I suggest dubbing over using a female voice", he looked a couple of seats over to his daughter, "Melody, make yourself available and let's see how it turns out."