By Sue Ricketts
The two partners of VocalTec Inc. had met while serving in the Israeli Defence forces. They looked closely at the voice packeting technology used by military services to communicate and let them talk from anywhere to anywhere. Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty where in their early 20s when they sat down and decided to find a way to let the general public use this technology. It was a way to speak with someone who was not with them, s Alexander Graham Bell had done nearly a century before. The best part was that their service was almost free because it took advantage of already existing services and equipment. They where the first pioneers to come up with the idea of an audio transceiver just before the twenty-first century arrived. Wonder why you never heard of them? Well, here is my imagined version of their story.
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Alon and Lior spent days and days working to create a device which could both send and receive sound communication. At first, they didn’t try to hide what they were doing. But then strange things began to happen. There was a late-night fire which was discovered to be arson at the workshop where they met each day. They noticed a particular car which always seem to be parked just down the block as they went to work and when they left in the evening. They recognized the telltale signs that they were being watched from the time they had spent In the Defence Forces.
The week before the mysterious fire they had gone to the bank to secure financing to continue their project. Of course, this meant that they had to present a business plan and explain exactly what it was that they where trying to do.
After the fire they went to the police station to report the strange car that seemed to be parked in their neighbourhood so often. The first officer they spoke to took all their information and seemed very concerned. She promised to start an investigation and see what she could find out. They never heard from her again and were told that she had been transferred suddenly to another city on extremely short notice.
When they did not hear from the police officer they returned to the station and were told by the desk sergeant that the car in question was traced to a man visiting his parents while on leave for a few weeks. They couldn’t understand why there would be two people sitting in the car at all times they had seen it.
Even though the attending firefighters had commented on the presence of kerosene at the scene of the fire, the desk sergeant assured them that the Fire Captain in charge had found nothing to suggest that the fire had been set or was anything other than accidental.
Late one evening Lior was making his way through the rubble trying to salvage what he could to move to their new workshop. He had insisted Alon go home when his wife called to say she had found three urgent messages for him waiting on the phone when she came home. Lior continued, until he realized how dark it had become. He looked up to see three men coming down the road with what appeared to be a baseball bat over one’s shoulders. He got a terrible feeling in his stomach and took off in the opposite direction as fast as he could go. He wasn’t fast enough though as they caught up to just before he reached the corner. He felt numbing pain as one of the men continued to strike his leg. Fortunately, patrons at the local restaurant around the corner heard his cries for help and came rushing to his aid.
While he lay in the hospital recovering Alon came to see him and said that the phone messages had all come from a number not in service. He paid the phone company to trace where the call came from and was told that it was one of the extensions listed under the national bank head office. The very bank whose branch they had applied for the loan at.
It didn’t take a genius for them to figure out that someone did not want them to complete the transceiver. Lior was not going to recover quickly. They needed to find a protector someone who could find out who was against them and make sure to neutralize them.
One of Alon’s wife’s cousins worked for Interpol and had connections or so it was rumoured. That night they called him and asked him to please come by the hospital to speak with them. When this skinny, balding older man with very thick glasses arrived he certainly didn’t look like someone who could provide protection. The two inventors hesitated before finally telling Cousin Maxim the whole story and how frightened they both where for themselves and their families.
Maxim listened without comment and when they finished he sat there for some time before he finally began to talk.” I think I know of some people who would be willing to help you. But you would have to be willing to forget about building your device here. You might even have to leave the country for a while. Is that a possibility?”
Lior and Alon looked at one another as they both thought about uprooting their families and weighing the dangers and threats of staying here. They had never lived anywhere else. What could they expect? Could they count on protection for everyone? Was it worth it to pursue their idea?
As a nurse came in to administer the latest round of pain medication, both men realized that they had no choice if they wanted to ensure nothing like this happened to the others whom they care so much about.
Cousin Maxim instructed Alon to go immediately and have his family pack for vacation at one of the beach resorts on the Mediterranean. He was to go to Lior’s family and do the same, making sure they brought clothes for Lior too. The whole flock of nine people, parents and spouses and a young baby were to be waiting at Ben Gurion airport, in the International terminal at 8 PM that night. Maxim insisted that he would arrange to get Lior released from hospital.
Hours later as he lay worrying there was a sharp rap on his door and Lior was shocked to see two burly soldiers from the Defence Forces coming into his room. He looked out into the hallway and was relieved to see Cousin Maxim giving him a small wave as he spoke to the nurse on duty. The military men helped him dress and put him in a wheelchair as they explained that he was being transferred to a special hospital for military personnel. He would be going directly to the airport for transportation.
On arrival at Ben Gurion airport Lior was taken to a military helicopter without any of his family and was whisked off to unknown places. The flight took him to a place on the Egyptian peninsula where he was taken to be examined by two specialists to make sure that his leg had been set properly. They were not happy with the job done by the civilian doctors and so he found himself being sedated.
When he finally came out of it he was filled with fear both for himself and all the others. Where were they? Had it somehow been a trick to kidnap them? There was Cousin Maxim sitting beside his bed. His first panic continued for a few minutes as nothing was said. Had he been betrayed? Where was his family? What had he fallen into?
“Calm down. Calm down, my friend. You are safe” said Maxim as he reached out a gentle hand. “We are in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt and soon we will take you to the Ritz-Carlton resort where you can have breakfast with your family and Alon’s. This stop was necessary to make sure that you healed properly. Your new protectors are concerned that you recover well.”
Was this a miracle? Did someone really want to help them?
Following a hectic ride in a military ambulance they arrived at the resort and were welcomed by the two families with open arms. In the background four very serious looking men in black suits wearing Raybans indoors waited until they had a chance to catch up on their arrival late last night. Everyone was thrilled with the beautiful resort and the accommodations.
Eventually Maxim suggested that the families go for a swim while the inventors talked to the new friends. Over a delightful meal of fruits and griddle cakes, they were introduced to two CIA agents from America and two representatives from the US Patent Department. It seems that the insignificant looking Maxim had managed to speak to some of the higher-ups in the Defence Force who made contact with their American partners. The inventors were offered the opportunity to come to America for long enough to finish their audio transceiver and would receive financing on condition that they registered the patent in the States. If needed they were assured that continued financing would be available to set up a company to use their device anywhere in the world that they chose.
The two young men were astounded at the generosity of the offer and it took some convincing until they believed that the offer was genuine. Things like this didn’t usually happened to young men of no particular fame. They were assured that the Defence Forces had given strong character references on both of them and that was why the offer was made.
And that’s how it came about that the technology for voice over internet communication first came into existence in the States instead of their home country of Israel. Eventually they went home to set up their company to use the technology they had invented after their attackers were convicted and put in jail. The bank employee who had taken their application for financing had passed the information along the line to his head office for approval. Someone there saw an opportunity and contacted the major phone service provider. For a price, she had given them details of the competing device being made which would threaten their profits and maybe even put them out of business. Investigators were able to trace her sudden wealth back to it’s source and gather proof of those responsible.
What a harrowing tale of the birth of progress which has allowed people all over the world to communicate easily. Slowly, slowly, humankind are putting light into the dark corners were those who seek power try to hide their dirty secrets and protect their sources of wealth from the rest of humanity.
It first popped into my head when I lay down to sleep. I need to be well rested and agile tomorrow because I have a long drive and then a difficult speech to make to a group of people who don’t care and won’t likely believe anything I say understand my point of view.
