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for her role or a similar one soon after she’d settled into the vice-presidency. Training one’s successor took a bit of courage because there was always an illusion of safety in making oneself seem indispensable to a firm, but in the long run it usually paid off.
    On the one hand, management appreciated the security of knowing there would be someone else available to fill a difficult role if the original person in the position chose to leave. The one who took pains to train a successor had the advantage of appearing concerned with the overall well-being of the firm, not merely himself or herself. It was a useful image to foster, although there were some unavoidable risks. The threat of discovering one had inadvertantly trained a young shark who might slash the trainer at the first opportunity in hopes of succeeding to the position earlier than scheduled paled into insignificance compared with the advantages of looking progressive and concerned with the company’s future in the eyes of management.
    Another lesson she owed to Davis Wakefield, Kali privately acknowledged. At that thought the papers in her hands seemed to crinkle beneath her tightening fingers. Deliberately she forced herself to relax. She was still in charge, both of herself and the business at hand.
    „How did things go last night?“ Mike asked, his expression sobering.
    „Not as well as I had hoped,“ Kali sighed. Her lips curved wryly.
    „I think I misjudged the Scotch intake,“ she admitted. „My only accomplishment in the past twenty-four hours was to discover that Hadley Industrial Systems is our chief competitor.“
    Mike winced. „I’ve heard of them…“
    „You’ve more than merely heard of them,“ Kali told him calmly.
    „Everything I’m teaching you, I learned from their new CEO.“
    „Oh.“ He looked a little nonplussed for an instant but his bright mind picked up the implications immediately. „In other words you’re in competition with your old mentor?“
    „Something like that,“ she admitted. „I managed to put a small dent in the potential relationship between Sterling and Hadley Industrial, but it wasn’t a major destruction job.“
    „Well, that’s something at least…“
    „I don’t know. If Sterling decides to swallow a little pride he can easily make a new beginning with Hadley. At the moment he’s not too thrilled with IAI. He had visions of getting us into a bidding war with Hadley.“
    Mike smiled again. „The man can’t be all that dumb. From Sterling’s point of view that makes a lot of sense.“
    „Don’t you think I realize that? I was hoping to get him signed, sealed, and delivered before he had a chance to shop around.“ She waved the folder in her hand meaningfully. „He can’t afford to sit back too long and let the various suitors for his hand squabble indefinitely.“
    „I took a look at the data earlier. He does appear to be enjoying the prospects of his potential prosperity,“ Mike observed.
    „You can say that again! He’s living like an impoverished Regency nobleman who’s just discovered a distant uncle has died and left him a fortune and a title! Look at this! One of those exotic, new DeLorean sports cars is on order at an automobile dealer’s over in Bellevue, he’s been living on credit cards for the past month, he’s been escorting women like Gwen Mather, expensive women, for weeks, and there’s a couple of cases of one of the world’s most expensive brands of Scotch being imported for him by a local distributor! Not to mention the new clothes! The evening outfit he had on last night was not rented, believe me…“
    „The Scotch,“ Mike interjected with a sudden frown. „That’s the second time you’ve mentioned the Scotch. The man doesn’t have a drinking problem, does he? Even the most brilliant inventor isn’t going to do us much good if he’s a lush…“
    Kali shook her head firmly. „No, there’s no indication he’s got a problem. That sort of thing