30
TALES FROMTHE FUTURE
***
John Heitzman’s helicopter hadn’t even landed on the roof of his office
building yet, but his closest assistants and secretaries were already waiting
in the meeting room, feverishly checking their figures and preparing to re-
port to their boss. They were no longer used to having him present at their
meetings. And so now they awaited their boss with a certain degree of trep-
idation and fright.
John Heitzman came in, and everyone stood up. He started speaking be-
fore he’d even gotten to his spot at the head of the table:
“Take your seats. No reports. Listen carefully, because I’m not going to
repeat anything. There’s no time for that. So. There’s a country estate in
Texas. Here’s its address. I instruct you to buy up all the land within a hun-
dred mile radius of the estate. Buy up all the industrial complexes located
on that land even if you have to pay three times what they’re worth. Those
of you who handle real estate transactions can leave and get the operation
moving immediately. If need be, put all your agents to work. This operation
should take no more than one week.”
One of the assistants jumped up and hurriedly headed for the exit.
John Heitzman continued:
“All of the buildings, factories and plants on those lands are to be demol-
ished within no more than a month’s time, even if you need to bring in hun-
dreds of construction companies to do it. Within a month, the area where
they once stood needs to be seeded with grass.
John Heitzman addressed the sole remaining assistant in the room:
“There’s a small company in Texas with the beautiful name of Lotus. Ex-
ecute a five-year contract with them. Put them in charge of drawing up plans
