Hyperspeed

Hyperspeed offers a glimpse into the world as it might exist in the year 2076. It is futuristic, but it is not science fiction. The scenarios are plausible based on a logical extension of modern technological developments, where intercontinental travel is carried out in evacuated tunnels, called portals, that permit supersonic global travel, such as Paris to Shanghai, in just three-and-a-half hours.
The story is about a recently retired corporate executive named Christophe Conally who inadvertently stumbles into a conspiracy to counterfeit and smuggle gold bullion by a sinister group called The Syndicate, who are intent on commandeering the global economy and seeking to fill the power vacuum left behind when central governments became irrelevant in the post-modern age. The story describes extremely complex construction projects; physicists, scientists, and engineers; farmers and vintners; diabolical international agents; pets and other friendly creatures. Both highly personal, with Christophe's longing for closure to painful chapters of his life and his engagement with a pair of turtledoves and a few domesticated animals, interspersed with impersonal multinational corporations constructing nearly unimaginable public transport systems spanning the globe that double as gold-smuggling vessels.
This story is engaging on many levels.