The Eden Effect Read online

  ‘No work tonight,’ said Robert. ‘However, just a logistics issue. We will stay here Monday to Friday, but we intend to go back to Melbourne Friday afternoon and drive up Monday morning. I hope that’s okay with you.’

  Arthur was first to reply. ‘Of course, Robert. We don’t expect you to work seven days a week, and I can’t say Eden has enough to offer to justify staying for the weekend for social reasons.’

  That matter out of the way, they continued the meal, drank the excellent wine, at least Robert and Adam did. Megan was still on her first glass, which was nearly full. Obviously not a drinker, Martin thought. He was thoroughly enjoying the reds, well above the level he was used to. Arthur too was drinking. He was mindful that he had to stay sober, but it was hard. The reds were really that good.

  It was 10pm, Martin settled the bill in cash and left a generous a tip. The five of them headed back to the Victorian house where they parted company. Martin, Arthur headed home on foot, not quite as steadily as they would have liked.

  The next three months were filled with intense activity. While Martin and Arthur continued their daily delivery run, Robert and the others were hard at work. They made a formidable team and the efforts paid off almost immediately.

  Robert intended to tackle the biggest first. He expected Eden Valley would be the hardest nut to crack and would take the most time. He was a little apprehensive about succeeding at all. Like just about everyone else in Australia, he knew of Eden Valley. It was a giant it its field. After only a brief amount of delving, Adam had discovered that the Donati brothers had had Eden Valley on the market for the last two years, quietly. There had been a few interested parties, but no one had come up with the $400 million price tag. This was for the business only. The Donati’s wished to keep the property itself. Robert offered one billion for the lot on the condition that the Donati’s stayed on for six months to run the business and transition to a new management. Once again, money talked and forty five days later the deal was finished and Eden Valley, the business, the property, the lot, was owned by the Eden Foundation, an entity no one had previously heard of and whose ownership was a tightly held secret.

  The next target was the media. Old Sam Jennings had owned the local TV station, the radio station and the local newspaper, The Eden Star, for as long as anyone in Eden could remember. Somehow, the media ownership laws preventing anyone owning TV, radio and newspapers in the one market had bypassed Eden. Old Sam Jennings, he had been called Old Sam for as long as anyone could remember, had never married, had no family and was all too happy to sell. He kept his books in such a mess that Robert and Adam found it impossible to even hazard a guess at what the three businesses were worth. Sam Jennings had a monopoly on the media in Eden, so they reasoned he must have been making good money. Robert offered $750,000, expecting Sam to ask for twice as much. But Sam accepted immediately. Robert realised he was over paying. He was not concerned. It wasn’t his money, and anyway, there seemed to be a limitless supply.

  The motel owner and the bed and breakfast owners did their best to drive a hard bargain, but their desire to sell was written all over their faces and the deals were done quickly and quite cheaply.

  The supermarket, the service station, the general store and a few of the small businesses dotted along the high street were easy to gain. The owners could not believe their luck. It was better than winning Tatts Lotto. And the bonus was, they could keep working the businesses on a generous wage. Unbelievable. The bank proved to be the trickiest. It was a franchised operation and linked to the Bendigo Bank network. Fortunately, the bank did not own the freehold, which Robert bought with a ridiculous offer. The bank’s lease was about to expire and there were no options left. The bank really had no choice, sell or be forced out the end of the lease. That one was picked up for a song, which pleased Robert very much.

  So, at the end of three months, much quicker than anyone had anticipated, the Eden Foundation was the owner of all Eden’s commercial real estate that was worth owning.

  That led to another dinner at the Red Lion, even more lavish than the first. This time the hotel had to send to Melbourne for the wine. All their good stuff had gone. There were three bottles of Grange, totalling $5000, for which Martin had prepaid.

  It was again a most convivial evening with congratulations of a job well done. The food was excellent and the wine put them in all good spirits. Arthur noticed that even Megan was drinking and by the end of the evening her cheeks were flushed, resembling the colour of her hair.

  As the dinner was drawing to a close, Martin announced. ‘You’ve done a great job, you three. We’re way ahead of schedule. It’s time for break. You have a month off, with full pay of course. Go home to Melbourne, catching up with your families. See you back here in one month from now. There’s still a lot of work to be done.’

  The five of them were again back together, sitting around the office table. Martin noticed that the three from Melbourne looked very relaxed. Adam was tanned and smiling. Megan was looking even more stunning than he remembered. She was in fact the first to speak, and announced that she was three months pregnant, which no doubt explained her glow. This led to murmurings of congratulations from Martin and Arthur. Presumably, Robert and Adam already knew. Megan explained that she been trying to conceive by I.V.F for about twelve months, and it had finally succeeded and that she and her partner, Larissa were ecstatic. She also informed the group that she could only work for another four months, but reassured them that she was well and would have no problem fulfilling her duties.

  It was then down to business, phase two of the project, and this was Martin’s show. Martin had delegated the first part of the venture to Arthur and it had gone extremely well.

  This phase was all his and he realised that he was feeling somewhat anxious as he prepared to address the group.

  Arthur, of course knew what he was going to say and had heard it before, and was certainly sympathetic to Martin’s views. Natalie and his friends in town had heard of him speak of this on numerous occasions and all, at least outwardly, showed support.

  But there were two lawyers, one very senior and experienced, and a very switched on P.A. Martin had no idea what their reaction would be and his anxiety was made worse by the fear they would think of him as an idiot.

  No choice. He had to proceed. This was the project and he was paying the bills and calling the shots, and they would have to fall in line, like it or not, with their approval or not.

  Martin stood, cleared his throat and began to speak. For the next twenty minutes he gave them an expanded version of the speech he had given Arthur months earlier. When he finished, he sat down and waited for a response. Surprisingly, Megan was the first to respond.

  ‘Martin, what you said makes perfectly good sense. I remember the story about that gang rape in India and I remember feeling, terrible, angry. It was very unsettling and I agree it was information I could have certainly lived without.’

  Robert made no comment and Martin thought, I can imagine what he is thinking.

  Adam spoke next.

  ‘Okay Martin. I get it. But what is the plan? What do you actually want to do?’

  This was the moment Martin had been waiting for and planning for months. Having got his thesis out there, he now found himself on surer ground.

  ‘That’s a good question, Adam. That is what this whole affair is all about,’ he started. This time he stayed sitting and continued.

  ‘I want to test out my thesis. Test it out here in Eden. I want the people of Eden to take part in an experiment, all of them, the whole town. I want to prove that not being exposed to all the nasty news that we see, hear and read on a daily basis will have a positive effect on a the residents of Eden. I’m sure that it will, but I need to be able to prove it as scientifically as possible.’

  Robert now spoke. ‘Interesting idea, Martin. I also agree that there is something in what you are saying. But you are proposing to radically change the behaviour of a whole tow
n, some seventeen hundred people. They may not agree. Have you thought of that?’

  Martin was ready for the question. ‘I have thought about that long and hard and it will be a difficult sell, I know. I’m hoping to do this in a cooperative way is possible. I want the town to be with me on this, to embrace the project.’

  ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying so, Martin,’ Adam said, ‘but are you being realistic? Do you imagine that 1700 people will be prepared to agree to this voluntarily, all of them?’

  ‘No, perhaps not at first,’ answered Martin. ‘This is where our phase one of the project comes in. The Eden Foundation now owns virtually all of Eden’s business infrastructure. That is, the jobs of everyone is this town. That should be able to exert some leverage. This is the stick part of the plan. And there will be the carrot. For taking part in this project, all then residents in Eden will be compensated for their time, their efforts and inconvenience. The compensation will be monetary and will be substantial, but I don’t think we should be talking numbers at this stage.’

  ‘You have really thought it through in a lot of detail, Martin,’ said Robert. ‘Adam is right. This will not be easy. But, you know, I think it can be done. It’s just that we are not the people to do it.’

  ‘I accept that, Robert,’ Martin replied. ‘Get in whoever you need and in whatever numbers you need. Get the best and you know we will pay top dollar.’

  ‘What do you think, Adam?’ Robert asked. ‘What are the skills sets we require?’

  Adam paused for a moment, then replied.

  ‘For one, we will need psychologists. A whole bunch. We need to know how the public will react to such a proposal. And Martin, you have a thesis to test out. That it involves measurements. You want to determine it, scientifically, I think you said, what effect this plan will have on people. To do that, you will need to take a measurement before and another after. I don’t know, some sort of happiness index, or a life satisfaction index. I don’t know the terms, but the psychologists will. So you will really need a lot of them.’

  Adam stopped, picked up his glass of water, took a sip and continued, ‘and you will need P.R. You will have to sell the idea to the people. And you said, you want to bring the people with you. And for that, you will need a top P.R firm, with that, we can certainly help you. And you will need the media, which you clearly have so little regard for, to disseminate the message. That shouldn’t be hard. They’re your media now.’

  ‘Thank you Adam. Excellent suggestions,’ Martin said. ‘But there is one other skill set that we will need. I.T. Yes, the media is ours, but there is the Internet and for this plan to succeed we will need to control that and I have no idea how that can be done. Anyone with an iPhone can log into any news service anywhere in the world. How do you possibly stop that?’ Martin said, his voice quivering a little as he spoke.

  This time is was Megan who jumped in with a reply.

  ‘Internet filters, Martin. That would do it. You can allow or block anything on the internet. You’re right, that you need I.T and not just any I.T. I know just the person.’

  They waited. Megan continued, somewhat hesitantly.

  ‘It’s Larissa. My partner. In case you think I’m not being objective, ask around. I can give you references and if you can find anyone better in the field of Internet filters, then get them. Speak to the Federal Communications Minister about Larissa and see what he has to say.’

  ‘That’s okay Megan,’ said Martin. ‘We want the best, and if Larissa is the best then it’s okay with me.’

  Robert spoke again. ‘Our next step therefore is to assemble the team. Megan will get onto all the relevant players. Adam, you will help. Martin, do we have a free hand to offer the appropriate remuneration to make this happen, or do we need to run this past you or Arthur?’

  Martin was quick to respond. ‘Robert, you have a free hand. Pay whatever it takes. I want the best, and I want it ASAP.’

  ‘I think we have enough to go on with,’ said Robert. ‘Let’s schedule another meeting in two weeks. All going to plan, I hope to have the team assembled and ready to go two weeks after that.’

  Martin breathed a sigh a relief. It could be done, he said to himself. He stood up, as did Arthur. Arthur had not said a word during the whole of the meeting, but was following everything that was said. He felt very positive too. We can do this. We will do this. Martin and Arthur said their goodbyes and left on foot.

  ‘A drink, Martin?’ Arthur asked.

  ‘I think a little celebration is called for. I’ll call Natalie. Maybe she can meet us at the pub.’

  ‘Sure Arthur. Great idea. I’ve got a couple of things to attend to. Meet you there in an hour.’

  And with that he was off, leaving Arthur to call Natalie. Natalie was available and would meet them at the pub.

  Over the next two weeks Martin and Arthur continued their morning deliveries, as they had always done. Little was said on the morning run, but in the afternoon they discussed the situation over drinks, single malt scotch for Arthur, and Shiraz for Martin. Natalie, who was the only person is the town who knew what was going on, was present most afternoons. She was very enthusiastic about the project and was thrilled to see Martin so animated and excited. She also brought the Scotch.

  Martin and Arthur made no contact with Robert and the others during those two weeks. They knew that they would have been busy assembling the required personnel, and as neither Martin nor Arthur had anything useful to contribute, they left the others alone.

  The next meeting was very brief and consisted of Robert informing them that everyone had been located and employed. He informed Martin of the cost of that part of the enterprise and apologised that it would not be two weeks until everyone was ready to start, but three. Robert also informed them that the new teams would be working out of Melbourne with only the occasional night spent in Eden. The only exception was Larissa, who would be moving into the house, sharing a room with Megan. For the others, Robert completely booked out the motel and bed and breakfast for the next three months. Martin and Arthur returned to their routine and waited.

  Larissa was the first to arrive. Megan introduced her to Martin and Arthur the day after she arrived. Larissa was not unattractive, tall, dark hair and very intense. She exuded intelligence and a sense of purpose, Arthur thought. She assured Martin and Arthur she would not let them down. Megan was looking even more radiant than usual, obviously happy to have her partner with her for the next few months.

  Over the next week the others began arriving. Robert had suggested that as Martin’s role in the enterprise was to be kept a secret; neither he nor Arthur should meet any of them. Robert was effectively their employer and they would all report either directly to him or to Adam. Neither Martin nor Arthur had a problem with that idea. Robert assured them that he would keep them up to date on a regular basis and they were happy with that arrangement.

  Eden was small town where everyone knew everyone else, pretty much, so was not surprising that the new arrivals were noticed. People wondered what was going on and there was some talk in the pub and in the street, but mostly, the locals just got on with their lives.

  Clearly, big changes were occurring in Eden. The whole town knew that Eden Valley had been sold and after some initial anxiety about job security, life went on as normal. There were rumours about who the new owners where. There was common knowledge that an entity no one had ever heard of, the Eden Foundation was the purchaser, but no one had any idea who were the people behind it. And frankly, most of them did not care. The jobs were secure; they told and in fact, there were plans for expansion and Eden Valley would soon be hiring which was seen as positive move in the town.

  Most people knew that Old Sam Jennings had sold, but no one knew to whom. Robert had put a confidentiality clause into the contract, and Sam was not going to risk all that money by breaking it.

  Some people knew that the other, smaller businesses had also been sold, but as the same people as before kept runni
ng them, nothing had really changed. Yes, things were changing in Eden and for the better people thought. There was a general air of optimism around the place.

  And then the ads starting appearing. First in the Eden Star and soon afterwards on TV. They were called community service announcements. The TV ads featured shots of the town, beautifully filmed, so much so, that people had trouble as recognizing it as Eden. The voiceover referred to the thriving town of Eden, which they were told had a bright future, with a lot of exciting things ahead. At the end, the voiceover informed that this community service announcement was sponsored by the Eden Foundation, at the same time as the words appeared on the screen. The newspaper ran similar ads, half page photographs of a scene from the town, under which were the words, ‘The Eden Foundation: Moving Forward.’

  People may have thought the ads were a little corny, but they enhanced the optimism that they were already feeling and genuinely made people feel good about themselves and their town.

  Martin and Arthur would look at each other and nod approvingly when the ads came on TV, which happened daily, several times a day, in fact. Every edition of the Eden Star contained a half page photograph with the Eden Foundation caption below it. Every day was a different photograph, all equally inviting.

  At the same time, the telephone surveys began. Residents would be phoned in the early evening requesting they take part in a five minute survey about Eden. They were asked to agree or disagree on a scale of 1 to 10 on various statements about the town, and at the end they were asked to provide a one sentence suggestion on how the town could be improved. Most were happy to participate. A few were not and said so, and some just hung up the phone assuming it was call centre in India trying to sell them cheaper electricity.