by Gian Bordin
"I am sure it will be of no surprise to you that Atun Caruna and I intend to develop instantcom —"
She sensed the tension rising sharply around the table.
"— as a new division of UniCom, headed by him. Both he and I will be actively involved in its further research, at least initially."
Sensing Xi Deng’s outrage, she focused on him. "Mr. Deng, you wish to say something."
He was visibly startled to be addressed without having given any sign that he wished to talk and cleared his throat several times. "I think it is unwise to have research splintered over different divisions of the company and especially to have it as a part of a products division. It confuses functional responsibilities and leads to undesirable duplication. I therefore strongly recommend that UniCom’s research division takes charge of it."
"Mr. Deng, I value your opinion. Would you please enlighten me how you would organize such new research in your division."
"I would personally appoint an experienced senior researcher to head a project team. He would assess the resources in terms of people, equipment, and funds needed and would then apply to have suitable people seconded or hired to make up the team."
"And they would work more or less independently of all other teams?"
"Yes, to a large extent," he admitted reluctantly.
"And particularly for the development of a new product that uses processes that have little in common with other lines of products or services offered currently, is that right?"
"Yes, but the door is always open to get help from other research sections."
"I see, the research is divided into separate sections, and it could in fact be advantageous to have such a section or project team work very closely with the people who will actually offer the new product to potential users on a trial basis, particularly if research and implementation go hand in hand, as I envisage will be the case for instantcom. Do you agree?"
"Yes, it is conceivable."
"So?"
"I see your point. I withdraw my objection."
"I did not take it as an objection, but as a potential option to be considered. Thank you, Mr. Deng."
She immediately sensed that the climate around the table had changed.
"Are there any other aspects that anyone would like to raise at this point?" She noticed her grandfather’s smile as she looked around from person to person, lingering on Ron Deng who lowered his gaze: "Mr. Deng, I am waiting for your question."
Everybody, except Atun and her grandfather, looked at her in surprise.
Ron Deng smiled almost bashfully and said: "How did you know?"
She returned his smile. "Let’s just say that I read your mind."
"I hope not."
"Your question?"
"When will we get a demonstration of instantcom. Several of us missed the one at the convention."
"Atun, when can you arrange one?"
"Two days from now, say Friday afternoon. I suggest that I take Anouk into orbit and that will show the contrast with standard communication."
"Is that agreeable, Mr. Deng?"
"Yes, Miss Shen. Thank you."
She completed making the round and then said: "Atun Caruna and I will over the next few days spend time with each of the senior managers to learn about the company, your functions, and hear your views of how this company should progress. I therefore close this meeting now. There is no point that I receive your individual reports, since they would have little meaning to me now. Gentlemen, thank you."
She got up, and so did Atun and Syd Twan, who whispered into her ear: "Yuen-mong, you were superb. You surpassed all my expectations."
An ironic smile played around her mouth and eyes. "Syd, you just gave yourself away."
"I didn’t mean it that way. I knew you would be up to the challenge, but … Why are you laughing?"
"Because you’re just going to dig an even bigger hole for yourself. I accept your compliment."
"Miss Shen."
She turned and faced Ron Deng. "Yuen-mong is my name. May I call you Ron?"
"Please do. I just wanted to assure you that you will have my full support. I admire what you have done, even if it cost me dearly."
She sensed his comments were genuine. It confirmed the initial impression she had got at her first reading of his mind. "Thank you. I will need all I can get, and I’m confident the value of your shares will recover."
Is he another suitor in the making? went through her mind.
Chen Young put his hand on her shoulder. "Come Yuen-mong, and you too, Mr. Caruna," he nodded to him, "and I will show you around."
In the elevator to the top executive level, he said: "Learning the ropes in a new firm is always a big challenge, and it helps having a secretary you can fully trust and who knows the ins and outs to assist you, even guide you initially. I know exactly the right person for you. She is my former secretary, a gem of efficiency and a treasure of knowledge, and she gracefully agreed to come out of retirement and take on the role of initiating you into the administrative secrets of UniCom."
Is he already planting a spy? she mused. But then I will have nothing to hide. So she replied with a smile: "That is thoughtful of you. Thank you."
"I am certain that you will appreciate her."
"I guess that if she was good enough for you, she will be good enough for me."
"She is. Let me introduce you to Mrs. Oddell." He went ahead. "Through here." They entered a good-size corner room. "This is my office, although I hardly use it anymore. Hers is just next door."
"Oh, what an exceptional view!" exclaimed Yuen-mong, standing with Atun at the corner window which overlooked Lake Carda, with Mount Olympus reflected in it. "Is this room included in the package with your secretary, grandfather?" she asked with a mischievous smile.
"Would you like this as your office? … But you should first have a look at the suite allocated to the chairman."
"Maybe, although I see no need to displace my uncle from his office. My authority will not depend on the size of office I have… What do you say, Atun?"
"It is great, but it would be convenient if I could have my office close-by."
"There is, in fact, another office just through here." Chen Young opened a door on the left, and they entered another room of roughly equal size.
"That would be ideal," murmured Atun, and Yuen-mong nodded.
"Grandfather, would you be willing to give up your office for me?"
"You are the boss. If you want it, it is yours. And your secretary is already waiting next door. Let’s meet her."
Yuen-mong immediately felt good about the gray-haired, stern, no-nonsense woman, who like herself wore little make-up. She and Atun ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with her, getting a thorough introduction into the administrative workings, rules, and conventions of UniCom.
23
One of the first resolutions that Yuen-mong acted upon was to try to break down the invisible barrier between top management and the non-management staff, and what better way to do this than to eat lunch at the staff cafeteria. So on Thursday, she and Atun joined the queue. Since few people in Androma had not seen her face on the news broadcasts, she was instantly recognized. Voices hushed suddenly, apprehension and anxiety filled the minds. People ahead in the queue wanted to quit, until she made it clear that she was one of them and did not want any special treatment. She had though difficulties finding something to her liking and ended up with a quiche and a salad whose green leaves looked strangely artificial. They asked whether they could join a young couple, who immediately wanted to vacate the table for them. It took all her skills to actually get them talking. They finally revealed that they were engaged to be married, but unfortunately would not be able to go on a honeymoon, since the bride had not worked long enough to have the right for a vacation.
After the meal, Yuen-mong asked to see the manager of the cafeteria and told him that she wanted to see more real, natural food and less synthetic stuff, ev
en if it would cost a bit more. Back in the office, she called the personnel manager and asked him to give the intended bride the week after the wedding off as an advance on her vacation.
* * *
The demonstration was scheduled for 16:00 on Friday. She and Atun had arranged to meet Anouk that day in the cafeteria for lunch. Although the voices hushed a bit when they entered, the mind murmurs were more positive, and she felt there was goodwill toward them. She only found out later on that her interventions to grant the future bride a week’s vacation and to bring more variety into the food offered had already made the round.
When Anouk appeared, she immediately sensed the girl’s distress.
"Anouk, what happened?" she asked.
"Mr. Young —"
"— which one?"
"Pat Young, I encountered him in the corridor," she began hesitantly, "and he frightened me."
"What did he do?" asked Atun.
"Nothing really. Just the way he looked at me. I felt threatened."
"Did he say anything?" questioned Yuen-mong.
"No. It was the hatred in his mind that frightened me."
"Look, Anouk, he cannot do anything to you anymore. Just ignore him."
"You told me to look out for people who’ve bad thoughts about us, and he has."
"Yes, I know, but I don’t think he’ll dare to act on them, not anymore."
"Strange," said Atun, "I just saw him half an hour ago and he was very friendly. He offered that a UniCom air shuttle should take us from the roof platform to Soro, that this would save us considerable time."
"Did you accept?"
"I don’t like the guy, but I saw no reason why not to accept."
"Yes, he only did his job."
After lunch, Atun and Anouk set up the equipment in the UniCom lecture theater and got ready to take the shuttle to the space port. At 14:00 Pat Young’s secretary called Atun’s office telling them that the air shuttle was ready. Yuen-mong accompanied them to the roof platform where they were met by Pat himself.
"Atun, I forgot to tell you that this is one of the self-guided shuttles. It has been programmed for setting you down just next to Vishnu and will bring you back here again after the demonstration. Are you familiar with this type of shuttle?"
"Yes, Pat, thank you."
"I leave you then. Have a good trip."
As he talked, Yuen-mong became increasingly uneasy. She felt that underneath the artificial friendliness lay hatred and something else that she could not put a finger upon. There was no need to look at Anouk to know how the girl felt. She briefly hugged her to give her comfort and then kissed Atun’s cheek. She went to the glass enclosed waiting room and watched the shuttle depart.
That uneasiness stayed with her. She could not shake it off. Suddenly, she knew what that other emotion was that filled Pat’s mind. It was a feeling of triumph. But why? Unless … Instinctively, she pressed the icon on her comunit for Atun’s wristunit.
"Yes, Yuen-mong," she heard his voice.
"Atun, override the program and immediately set down, anywhere, and get out of that shuttle, fast."
"Why? We will be late. Everything works fine."
"Atun, please don’t ask, just do it. Trust me. Look at Anouk."
"OK, we are going down. Call you again."
The next few minutes were pure agony, and then came Atun’s call. She could breathe again.
"We got out, with the equipment, and I sent the shuttle on its course again."
"Thank you, Atun, thank you. I may have panicked for nothing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that shuttle crashes before it lands."
"I believe you. Anouk’s face told it all. You should have seen her when we got off."
"Be nice to her. She’s very precious. I will send an air shuttle taxi to pick you up and bring you to Soro. Where are you?"
He gave her the coordinates.
"Atun, no word to anybody. We go ahead as scheduled. Bye, love."
"Love? You’ve never said that."
"There’s a first for everything and I like that word."
She went back to read a report on the current expansion plans for the HST network, although she found it hard to concentrate. With the imminent introduction of instantcom, these plans were now in question. Thirty minutes later, Mrs. Oddell buzzed her.
"Mr. Young has asked to see you urgently."
"Let him in."
Pat’s face, as he entered, showed contrived grief, but she sensed that it was not matched by his feelings.
"Yuen-mong, I have terrible news. We were just advised that the shuttle Atun took to Soro crashed while landing."
"And?" she asked, faking being alarmed.
"Unfortunately the shuttle exploded in flames. Nobody got out. My sincere regrets."
Again that feeling of triumph. You miserable liar. You probably engineered it. She hid her face in the palms of her hands so as not to betray herself, and after a while said softly: "Thank you, Pat. Please leave."
"Shall I cancel the demonstration?"
She raised her head. "No, I will make an appropriate announcement in the lecture hall when everybody has assembled."
"This must be very distressful for you. I would gladly do it for you."
I’m sure you would, you hypocrite, was her immediate reaction. "Thank you again, but I will make an announcement myself," she replied firmly.
She took a few deep breaths when he had left her office. With her premonition about the shuttle suddenly confirmed, she started to question herself. Was it just coincidence that the shuttle crashed, or should she trust her instinct that Pat was involved? Would he be foolish enough to try something like this out of pure hate? What would he gain by it? Hurt her? It would not affect instantcom, just delay it by a few weeks. It baffled her. No, both she and Anouk must have been misled by his hatred for them, fortunately in this case.
Half-an-hour later she got another call from Atun. "We’ll take off shortly. I guess you have heard that the shuttle went up in flames less than fifty yards from the ship … Yuen-mong, you’re my guardian angel. Saying ‘thank you’ can’t express what I feel."
"Then tell me that you love me."
"I do love you."
"Good, I like to hear this at least once every day."
"You’re incorrigible. The most horrible things happen and five minutes later you joke again."
"But this is nota joke. I really want to hear it often."
"Oh, Yuen-mong… See you again in exactly 49 minutes."
Forty minutes later, she entered the lecture hall. Well over one hundred people were assembled. All men, she noticed. She would have to do something about that too. The murmurs stopped when they noticed her. The restlessness she sensed told her that they knew about the crash. It was an interesting mixture of genuine disappointment by some, gloating malice by a few, anxiety by many. Standing on the podium, next to the equipment, she tried to match some of the feelings with faces. Among the people she recognized, she found few surprises. She noticed that neither of the senior Dengs, nor Ko Young were present. Had they been told that the demonstration would not proceed or did they not show out of principle?
"Gentlemen, I assume you all have heard about the rather unfortunate crash of one of our self-guided air shuttles at the Soro space port earlier this afternoon. Fortunately, the craft was unmanned." She paused briefly, letting her gaze sweep over the audience. She sensed the confusion her remark caused. "Now before I start with the demonstration, I would like to say a few words about the general principles underlying instantcom."
Her words were met by a drone of low voices. She paused, noticing that Pat Young had just entered the hall. As her eyes slowly roamed over the audience once more, people fell silent one by one, but the pitch of confusion, now mixed with anxiety rose even more.
"Thank you. Instantcom relies on the psychic connection between two matched empathic mediums. The equipment captures the brain waves received by each medium and translates them into sound and pi
ctures. How this is done is patented. So far, we have no idea why a connection between matched mediums eliminates any delay and can jump enormous distances in space. All our limited research has shown is that as the distance grows, there is a slight loss of quality. However, as those of you who have seen the communication between Palo and Androma know, even for that distance the loss in quality was hardly noticeable.
"During the presentation, the right screen will show you what Anouk sees and hears, communicated to me via instantcom. She is the medium who is matched to me. For comparison, the left screen shows the picture taken by a camera focused on Atun and transmitted to us via the standard communication channel, but with the sound suppressed.
"I will now put on this helmet and establish contact with Anouk. I would prefer if you did not ask any questions until you see Atun on the screen."
She saw a lot of confused faces, but there were also some who tried to suppress a smile of glee.
Contact with Anouk was almost instant. She first switched on the right screen, showing Atun standing in Vishnu’s lounge, and then the left, which at that moment had a delay of about two seconds. Renewed murmurs rose in the audience.
"Dear colleagues," came Atun’s voice, "we are right now almost exactly on the far side of Andromatis. Anouk, look out the window to provide proof to those who still have doubts. You can see the distinct mountain chain of Kimtong. The highest peak to the left is Mount Young, named after one of the founders of UniCom."
Suddenly, she heard Pat’s high-pitched voice. "Stop that farce. This is a prerecorded fake. I told you more than an hour ago that the shuttle Mr. Caruna took to the space port crashed and that there were no survivors."
Rather than respond to Pat, Yuen-mong only turned to look at him and then said: "Anouk, please go close to your screen so that Mr. Young can see himself on my screen."
The picture on the right screen shifted rapidly and centered on a tablet, quickly getting larger. At the same time, Atun vanished from the left screen that received the standard signal, which then showed Anouk turn away from the window and look down on the small screen of the tablet set up on the table.
