Chapter Three - Blog Date 050906

Half Moon Bay, CA 18April05 1300PDT

Anthony Carmondii sat on the pool patio of his mansion looking out at the Pacific Ocean. He was enjoying the unusual warmth of the early Spring sun and the gentle breeze coming off the azure water. Samantha Lodgerton had left after brunch, thankfully. She was already asking for more money for clothes and jewelry befitting her position as his companion. If she had performed better in bed, he may have considered it. But she was a forgettable lover, and Carmondii had already decided to move on to a freshman Congresswoman from Menlo Park. At least she should be able to carry on a conversation.

Carmondii had a 2 o'clock tee time at the Half Moon Bay Golf Links Ocean course with Aaron Ginsberg, Chairman of Equity Funding Group(EFG). EFG was the venture capital firm that had provided all of the financial backing for Carmondii's empire. The relationship dated back to the mid-1990's when Carmondii was working his way up the hierarchy of Silicon Valley, moving from start-up to start-up, usually as the CEO brought in by EFG, and cashing in on stock options when the new companies went public. It had been an extremely profitable relationship for both Carmondii and EFG. The Indigo deal had been a goldmine.

The Cyberware business plan had evolved with the expansion of government and corporate emphasis on electronic security. Adeki Singh's programming skills had succeeded in attracting numerous contracts for installation and maintenance of various data processing systems. Revenue had been strong through most of 2004, but there had been a recent downturn in spending by some of Cyberware's key customers. Cash flow was down. Interest rates were going up. The war in Iraq should have been a positive factor for a company like Cyberware, and Carmondii was certain that what was going on now was nothing but a blip on the radar screen.

Wall Street considered Cyberware a "strong buy" due to it's healthy balance sheet and the attractive fiscal 2005 "pro forma" income projections. Even with operations from business generating less cash than in the past, Cyberware currently had over $500 million dollars in the bank. And the company's line of credit at the bank gave Carmondii access to another $500 million dollars.

But Wall Street didn't know that EFG was due $1.5 billion dollars on July 1. It was a hand- shake deal between Carmondii and Ginsberg. If Cyberware was unable to pay the amount when due, Carmondii was personally required to forfeit 10% of his stock each month until the debt was satified. Making the picture even darker for Carmondii was the fact that Ginsberg had made it clear at the time of the divorce (when it became public that Melanie had a 50% interest in the company) that he considered Carmondii as the 100% owner of Cyberware.

By not paying the scheduled special dividend to Melaine, he was already, in effect, borrowing from her. He knew that the conversation that he would have to have with her in the next day or two would not be pretty. And that was just one element of what was rapidly becoming a high risk juggling act. Somehow, he need more time from Ginsberg, more control of Melanie's shares, and an answer from Adeki on the code uplink to the Cayman accounts. What looked like a walk in the park six months ago had turned in to a clusterflock.

As Carmondii stood to leave for the golf course, his eyes caught sight of a gull as it swooped down and captured an unsuspecting fish at the surface of the water. It crossed his mind that, if Aaron Ginsberg was the gull, Anthony Carmondii needed to get to some deeper water.