Corrigan stared fixedly out at the rear facade of the Executive Building opposite. Pinder had said it—all the things that had been swirling around in Corrigan’s mind, but which he hadn’t been able to bring himself to admit consciously. Even so, now that the opportunity was not only there but being pressed, a deeper-rooted reluctance to wield the knife prevented him from being blunt. “I don’t know,” was all he could muster. “As you said, it’s something that I’d probably have to think over.”
Pinder waited a few seconds longer, then sighed. “All right, I’ll come out with it straight. Borth has seen it too, and he isn’t happy. He’s told Ken Endelmyer that he doesn’t want Shipley in the venture. Management’s view is that his former DINS work is part of the past now, and largely irrelevant, and they have concurred.”
So there never had been anything for Corrigan to give an opinion on. Pinder had simply been casting for a way to make him feel implicated. But if Corrigan had any protest to make, this was the moment to do it.
He turned and looked around the place where they had worked together, remembering feet propped on untidy desks; solder guns and birds’-nest tangles of makeshift racking; grubby diagrams tacked to pressboard; scratched keyboards and gray metal shelving. He thought of the future and Xylog: of glass-paneled corridors, deep-pile executive suites, and gleaming machine-halls. And he said nothing.
Pinder heard the silence and went on. “There is a core group from the DINS section that I’d like us to retain. Frank Tyron agrees that they’re good and wants them transferred to COSMOS, but I think there’s an equal case for integrating them into your side of the operation. I’m giving you first choice. What do you say?”
An offer of alliance, wrapped around the handle of the knife. He couldn’t do anything to change the verdict now, Corrigan told himself. Only Tyron would benefit if he refused. It was a time for realism.
“Sure, I’ll take them,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The sign in gold indented lettering on a polished wood ground facing the elevators read:
* * *
Floor Six
OZ PROJECT SOFTWARE SYSTEMS DIVISION
ANIMATIONS ENGINEERING
ADAPTIVE ENVIRONMENTS GROUP
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
SUPPORT SERVICES
* * *
“Good morning, Mr. Corrigan,” one of the two clerks waiting with bundles of files greeted as Corrigan emerged carrying a black Samsonite.
“Hello, girls,” he returned, nodding, and headed toward the double doors leading through a glass divider to the sixth-floor reception foyer.
“Good morning, Mr. Corrigan,” the receptionist said from her desk as he passed.
” ‘Morning, Betty. You’re looking very smart today.”
“Why, thank you.”
“We’ve got some important people coming today. Keep it up.”
“Good morning, Mr. Corrigan,” the young man in a charcoal suit going the other way said, halfway across the open-plan floor of work spaces and conference areas leading to Corrigan’s office.
“Hello, Chris. Did we get those specs integrated for Bolger?”
“Completed yesterday. Run and checked out last night.”
“Good lad.”
Judy Klein was already at her desk in the partitioned outer area in front of his office. It looked like part of a set for the flight deck in a space-fiction movie, with its curvy furnishings and multiscreened computer side-table.
“Hi, Judy. ‘Tis a grand day for living, to be sure, to be sure. What have we got?”
“Hello, Joe. Let’s see. The arrangements for those people from Chase that Borth is bringing are confirmed. And there’s a message from Amanda Ramussienne at F and F saying that she’ll be coming too.”
“Fine. And where have we fixed for lunch?”
“Delio’s for twelve-thirty.”
“That’s great.”
“Roger said to let you know we’ve signed off on the two new TMCs. There’s a list of calls to be returned on your desk. And Pinder has put the meeting with Quell back to ten-thirty instead of ten. I said it would be fine. It doesn’t clash with anything.”
“Okay. Anything from Tom Hatcher yet on those referent transfer patches?”
“Yes. You’re due to see him in half an hour with Charlie Wade and Jorrecks. He said he’ll have the information then.”
“Fine. I’ll clear the calls first. If anything comes up while I’m down there, just put it through.”