Chapter 6 - Northstar
By Monday morning, Hayes Meridian had become a building full of people pretending not to panic.
Federal investigators had served preservation notices over the weekend.
Outside counsel had advised the board not to proceed with the planned asset sale.
The emergency meeting still happened.
I attended.
For the first time in eight years, my name appeared on a Hayes Meridian visitor badge.
CLAIRE HAYES — SHAREHOLDER.
Walter was already in the boardroom when Daniel and I entered.
Beside him sat Samuel Price and Graham Pike.
I knew Pike immediately.
Tall.
Gray suit.
Sharp eyes.
He had the polished stillness of a man who considered every room something to be acquired.
“Captain Hayes,” he said.
I stopped.
“We’ve never met.”
“No.”
“Then why do you know my rank?”
He smiled.
“Your graduation incident is online.”
Of course.
Someone had recorded Walter’s assault.
The video had spread across social media over the weekend.
I hated that strangers had watched the worst minute of my relationship with my father.
Pike appeared to enjoy it.
“Unfortunate family misunderstanding,” he said.
Walter’s jaw tightened.
I sat across from them.
“Forgery is also a misunderstanding?”
Samuel interrupted.
“My client denies any unlawful conduct.”
“Which client?”
The question made Daniel glance at me.
Samuel hesitated.
Walter said, “Me.”
I nodded.
“Good to know.”
The board’s independent director, Amelia Grant, called the meeting to order.
The proposed asset sale was immediately suspended pending legal review of the disputed voting proxy.
Walter slammed his hand on the table.
“This company cannot operate while my daughter stages a hostile takeover.”
“I haven’t proposed a takeover.”
“You walked into my house with federal agents.”
“They were investigating your company before I knew they existed.”
Pike spoke gently.
“Perhaps everyone should lower the temperature.”
I looked at him.
“When was Northstar Components founded?”
The room became silent.
Daniel shifted beside me.
Pike’s smile disappeared.
“Six years ago.”
“My mother had a Northstar quality review nine years ago.”
Walter said, “Claire.”
I ignored him.
Pike folded his hands.
“Your mother reviewed many prospective suppliers.”
“So Northstar existed?”
“Possibly under a predecessor entity.”
“What predecessor?”
“I would need records.”
“We’re having trouble with records. Someone keeps deleting them.”
Walter glared at me.
“From your account.”
“An account I never created.”
Amelia Grant leaned forward.
“Is that accurate?”
Daniel answered.
“Yes.”
Pike looked at Walter.
Something passed between them.
Small.
Quick.
Enough.
The meeting ended without approving the sale.
Immediately afterward, General Cole called.
“Come to Belvoir.”
I arrived at 9:14.
Agent Bell was waiting in her office.
He placed a sealed evidence photograph on the table.
It showed a damaged navigation interface board recovered after Sable Pass.
I knew the board.
I had spent hours examining system logs from those units.
Bell pointed to a manufacturing code.
NSC-441.
“Northstar,” I said.
He nodded.
General Cole stood by the window.
Bell continued.
“Northstar sold interface boards to Hayes Meridian. Hayes Meridian integrated them into a larger contractor package. Several boards failed verification testing.”
“Before deployment?”
“Yes.”
“How did they pass?”
“Testing certificates were altered.”
I sat back.
“By whom?”
“Under investigation.”
“What happened at Sable Pass?”
Bell slid over another document.
“When the boards began producing intermittent errors, the system generated maintenance warnings. Someone with contractor-level remote access modified telemetry rules to suppress those warnings.”
I understood immediately.
“If the warning was suppressed, route confidence would stay green.”
“Yes.”
“Even if the positioning data drifted.”
“Yes.”
My throat tightened.
The convoy had not been deliberately sent into Sable Pass.
It had been following corrupted positioning data that falsely reported high confidence.
The route file I detected had been the symptom.
Not the attack.
“Why would anyone hide the failures?”
Bell answered quietly.
“Replacement would have triggered a fleet-wide inspection.”
“And exposed bad components.”
“Potentially hundreds.”
General Cole added, “And tens of millions in contract losses.”
I thought of my mother.
I have refused to approve Northstar.
“Does my father know?”
Bell leaned back.
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
“You have his company records.”
“Some.”
“What’s missing?”
He looked at me for several seconds.
“The original Northstar certification review.”
My mother’s red folder.
“Someone sent me a photograph of it.”
“I know.”
“You traced the number?”
“Burner.”
“Who else knew Mom had that review?”
“That question matters.”
My phone buzzed.
Daniel.
I answered.
“Claire.”
His voice was barely controlled.
“What happened?”
“I found Halcyon.”
I stood.
“What is it?”
“Not what.”
He paused.
“Who.”
I waited.
Daniel said, “Halcyon Consulting is registered to a trust administered by Samuel Price.”
My stomach dropped.
“How much?”
“I’ve identified twelve point seven million dollars in transfers over eight years.”
“From Hayes Meridian?”
“Yes.”
“For what services?”
“Strategic consulting.”
“Did they perform any?”
“I can’t find evidence.”
I looked at Bell.
“Daniel, send nothing electronically. Call independent counsel.”
“I already did.”
“Good.”
He hesitated.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“One payment was made eight days after Mom signed her last board minutes.”
My skin prickled.
“What board minutes?”
“The meeting where she requested an independent Northstar audit.”
“How much?”
“Two million.”
“To Samuel’s trust?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Daniel continued.
“And the payment authorization carries two signatures.”
“Whose?”
“Graham Pike.”
I waited.
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Daniel’s next words arrived quietly.
“And Dad’s.”
