Tags:
Audiobook
Calm
Tranquil
Soothing
Adult
30s
Audiobook narration
Script:
Murray Stockman, or just Stockman, as everyone called him, and his wife Lucy relaxed in the garden of their second home in Hope Cove, a little seaside town in the southwest of England. Well, it was hardly a town, and only just a village, and two at that. There was an Inner Hope and an Outer Hope, divided by a rise in the cliff between them. On the east side, most of the houses of Inner Hope had thatched roofs and eighteen-inch thick cob walls and dated back at least two centuries, and likely more. Apparently, it was a favorite with pirates in those early days. But then most coves along the south and north coasts of Devon and Cornwall were favorite destinations for smugglers, who found them to be natural shelters from storms, and replete with sympathizers and distributors of their booty. Hope Cove was another of those comparatively remote parts of England where time stood still, the permanent population didn't grow, and everyone did their shopping or went to church in one of the more populated towns at least thirty minutes away by car via the narrow country lanes bounded by high, centuries-old hedgerows. Murray and Lucy loved this simple part of the world, tranquility and beauty all around, and with the locals tipping their hats or touching their foreheads to each other as they passed in the village as signs of greeting with an unspoken sentence. Of course, they didn't stand a chance of becoming locals in their lifetimes, even in Outer Hope, but they weren't looking for that. They were looking for a retreat where they could imagine themselves before the time of cell phones and computers. Stockman was the inventor and the central pin of Orb, the Organization for Reorganizing Business, an international group of contracted specialists, all cleared for a class-two secrecy, one level down from top secret, who worked on projects when needed. They were often involved with politics, corporations, or groups that had somehow been wronged and wanted reparation. Stockman was an inch under six feet tall, powerfully built, sharply intelligent, and devoted to his wife, Lucy. Since his military days, Stockman had been embedded in a security position with some of the most powerful people and groups in the world. Orb became a natural development for Stockman, as he brought his skill sets to a focus group who chose their missions and were financially supported by world leaders, needing a group like Orb to do work for them they were unable to do. No one had a permanent position with Orb, other than Stockman. Their mission was to help reputable, trustworthy, and respected industry leaders and government executives control, manipulate, or monitor situations around the world that had gotten out of hand and needed some adjusting. Orb's leadership was guided by the hands of a group of twelve senior industrialists from across five countries, sprinkled with a few permanent government seniors from three countries, who reviewed and approved, or not, projects Stockman brought to the table. Financial support came from the members of the group, or rather their employers. It was a wealthy, powerful club with a global vision. Stockman had put the group together after his time with CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Servants, and after his last appointment as security chief for Domar Oil, which had major oil and gas assets worldwide. Lucy, Stockman's wife, had also been a member of CSIS, but now played at being Stockman's confidante. Her second sight often anticipated issues before they came to Stockman's attention, and she would offer her words of wisdom before being asked for them. But more than that, she kept Stockman safe, provided a home, and slipped him his Plymouth gin and Schweppes tonic, with a slice of fresh lemon and two ice cubes, every evening at exactly 6 p.m. whenever he was home.
