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Authors: Robert N. Charrette
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Kun?"
Holger nodded.
Chalmers held out his hand. Holger placed the chip carrier in his palm. The last part of the test completed. Chalmers looked grim.
"I think Monsieur L'Hereaux will want some words with you."
CHAPTER
5
7
9
13
15
34
41
Epilog
5
Ben Wiley was president of Datapik, the major information resource firm under the Metadynamics corporate umbrella. He wore the right suits, maintained the right home and the right friends, bribed the right politicians and media hacks, and never, ever left behind enough evidence to tie him to anything that might be deleterious to the company or to himself. Wiley lived up to his name, being sharp in his dealings and quick to take advantage of his opponents' failings Young, ambitious Wiley was a rising star in the Metadynamics firmament, and a rival to Anton Van Dieman.
Van Dieman didn't care for rivals.
More than once Wiley had forced Van Dieman to restructure his plans. Had Wiley been more than mundanely oriented, he would have been a dangerous rival. But Wiley time was passing, as was the mundanely oriented world. Van Dieman's stars were in the ascendancy.
The proof was there to be seen. Van Dieman had made himself a powerful man. His own Clemsen Bioresearch was no small part of the Metadynamics family. He had good con., nections in the megacorporation and in the government, but was his other connections that had stood him in such good stead over the past year, and those connections would make his rise unstoppable. Opponents of Wiley's sort would soon be part of Van Dieman's past.
For the moment, however, Wiley still had the power to annoy. He separated Van Dieman from the herd as they left
the last session of Metadynamics's quarterly coordination briefing.
"I hear you're losing the top brains in your research branch, Darney, Thompson, and Trahn, all at once. Quite a blow." Wiley made a mock sympathetic noise. "Hard to recover from, especially with a budget cut ahead. I'd say you're looking at some hard knocks in the market, my friend."
Where had Wiley gotten that information? "Those transfers have not yet been announced."
Wiley smiled a knowing and thoroughly smug smile. "Word gets around. Too bad—for you, I mean. I know how hard you worked to build up that staff. I hear the market's already reacting. I even hear that there's a rumor about you looking for greener pastures elsewhere." Wiley's tone suggested that he found such a concept very satisfying on a personal level.
"No need to worry," he told Wiley. "I will be staying within the family. I've accepted the executive vice presidency at NSC."
Network Securities Corporation's mission encompassed operations for most of Metadynamics's North American-based companies, including Datapik. Van Dieman's new position did not cover Datapik. Yet. That would change.
"I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other," he told Wiley. Smiling at the man's stunned surprise, Van Dieman left him behind.
Upon return to his office, Van Dieman ordered both his secretary and his secretarial agent to shield him from any intrusions. He settled at his desk, noting the fine, expensive furnishings of his office, the symbols of his mundane power. Such power offered great rewards, but he wished to contemplate a different sort of power, one that offered greater rewards. He blanked the window for privacy and cut off the hologram projector nestled among the shelves of his office's inner wall. The false image of a rare Guthrie bronze faded away, allowing his prize to emerge from hiding. He smiled to look upon it again.
The object was a sculpture of unknown substance depicting a coiled, wormlike entity. The room's lighting was bright enough that the object appeared nearly transparent. He ordered the lights dimmed, smiling as solidity returned to the vermicular object. His eyes ran along the coils as he considered the fortune that had smiled on him.
It had been easy to convince Fletcher to place the object in his care, by telling the Federal
Holger nodded.
Chalmers held out his hand. Holger placed the chip carrier in his palm. The last part of the test completed. Chalmers looked grim.
"I think Monsieur L'Hereaux will want some words with you."
CHAPTER
5
7
9
13
15
34
41
Epilog
5
Ben Wiley was president of Datapik, the major information resource firm under the Metadynamics corporate umbrella. He wore the right suits, maintained the right home and the right friends, bribed the right politicians and media hacks, and never, ever left behind enough evidence to tie him to anything that might be deleterious to the company or to himself. Wiley lived up to his name, being sharp in his dealings and quick to take advantage of his opponents' failings Young, ambitious Wiley was a rising star in the Metadynamics firmament, and a rival to Anton Van Dieman.
Van Dieman didn't care for rivals.
More than once Wiley had forced Van Dieman to restructure his plans. Had Wiley been more than mundanely oriented, he would have been a dangerous rival. But Wiley time was passing, as was the mundanely oriented world. Van Dieman's stars were in the ascendancy.
The proof was there to be seen. Van Dieman had made himself a powerful man. His own Clemsen Bioresearch was no small part of the Metadynamics family. He had good con., nections in the megacorporation and in the government, but was his other connections that had stood him in such good stead over the past year, and those connections would make his rise unstoppable. Opponents of Wiley's sort would soon be part of Van Dieman's past.
For the moment, however, Wiley still had the power to annoy. He separated Van Dieman from the herd as they left
the last session of Metadynamics's quarterly coordination briefing.
"I hear you're losing the top brains in your research branch, Darney, Thompson, and Trahn, all at once. Quite a blow." Wiley made a mock sympathetic noise. "Hard to recover from, especially with a budget cut ahead. I'd say you're looking at some hard knocks in the market, my friend."
Where had Wiley gotten that information? "Those transfers have not yet been announced."
Wiley smiled a knowing and thoroughly smug smile. "Word gets around. Too bad—for you, I mean. I know how hard you worked to build up that staff. I hear the market's already reacting. I even hear that there's a rumor about you looking for greener pastures elsewhere." Wiley's tone suggested that he found such a concept very satisfying on a personal level.
"No need to worry," he told Wiley. "I will be staying within the family. I've accepted the executive vice presidency at NSC."
Network Securities Corporation's mission encompassed operations for most of Metadynamics's North American-based companies, including Datapik. Van Dieman's new position did not cover Datapik. Yet. That would change.
"I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other," he told Wiley. Smiling at the man's stunned surprise, Van Dieman left him behind.
Upon return to his office, Van Dieman ordered both his secretary and his secretarial agent to shield him from any intrusions. He settled at his desk, noting the fine, expensive furnishings of his office, the symbols of his mundane power. Such power offered great rewards, but he wished to contemplate a different sort of power, one that offered greater rewards. He blanked the window for privacy and cut off the hologram projector nestled among the shelves of his office's inner wall. The false image of a rare Guthrie bronze faded away, allowing his prize to emerge from hiding. He smiled to look upon it again.
The object was a sculpture of unknown substance depicting a coiled, wormlike entity. The room's lighting was bright enough that the object appeared nearly transparent. He ordered the lights dimmed, smiling as solidity returned to the vermicular object. His eyes ran along the coils as he considered the fortune that had smiled on him.
It had been easy to convince Fletcher to place the object in his care, by telling the Federal
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