GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) by Nikolaus Baker Read Free Book Online Page A

but these did not strike the attention of the community and eventually the whole matter was forgotten or ignored . One thing that could not be denied , however, was the change. The whole county experienced a sharp drop in temperature , felt e ven in the dusty city of academics. Somehow, after that fateful day, t he world had changed.
    The only people who put two and two together were the villagers, in whose minds the earthquake and the temperature drop were inextricably linked. But for the rest of the world, which did not acknowledge that the quake had ever happened, this possibility went entirely unnoticed.

CHAPTER II
     
    GENESIS

     
    Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
    —Genesis 2:1
     
     
     
    Don Luzio Ilario was n ot a particularly light humoured gentleman . He was r uthless , in fact, or so he seemed to anyone who really knew him. A more accurate description might be lethal although most people were unwilling to say so aloud . But everyone knew that u nless you wished to casually end up swinging over the side of a bridge with your neck stretched , he was a man who commanded respect. Of course, Don Luzio had a variety of faces to fit his numerous business interests —his shifting personality could be both persuasive and witty when required , and he had a light-hearted , diplomatic c harm that belied the gravity of his purposes.
    Don Luzio o wn ed many casinos and other businesses in Italy . M ost of his companies were honest businesses, built up over generations by his father and grandfather . U nlike his forefathers, Don Luzio built other businesses upon his solid family foundations , d iversifying into the utilities and manufacturing sectors. He now supplied many services to the government , and b illions of pounds flow ed through his fast growing empire. His lifestyle had ma de him a little fat , almost jovial to look at; the man would not walk anywhere far, and he did not need to. With a still - young look and smart, short - brown hair , an outsider would consider him nothing more than a brilliant young entrepreneur.
    Today marked the bidding of another lucrative contract , and his organisation w as busy preparing the many tender documents for perusal. Although everything was nearly ready, the team would wait until about ten minutes before the deadline before they ma de the final document transfers. It was a tried and tested procedure that had won them many e-government tender contracts . Their competitors never kn e w that the real reasons their bids were unsuccessful — even if discussions with candidates or tenderers took place afterwards, even if someone filed a debrief or complaint , no other offers would succeed if t he Ilario Holdings expressed an interest .
    To win contract after contract with the central government would eventually force other companies out of business , and then Don Luzio’s competitors would be ripe for the picking. Ilario planned to eventually own all the utility suppliers in Europe— be they cleaning services, road repairs, parks and recreation , security or the supply and manufacture of g as equipment. The Don was already a prominent and very powerful figure in Italy , and well on his way to expanding his organisation .
    Most governments he considered for his growing empire us ed a formal mechanism for assess ing pre-qualification of contracts through tendering exercises . European governments required assurance that potential suppliers of services and products were suitable to tender for public contract opportunities in terms of their legal, financial, and technical capacity, as well as their honest integrity and credibility. His subsidiary companies always passed these credibility qualit y checks with flying colours!
    Ilario’s c ompanies used and owned a n online supplier information database service available to all supplier companies or competitive organizations. Many suppliers accessed the databases via the internet and the information