Read Online The White Mountain by David Wingrove - Free Book Online Page A

lived for ever…
    â€˜I’ve seen them try to take that step,’ Lever continued. ‘And I’ve seen them flounder, unable to cope with the sheer size of the market. I’ve watched the big Companies move in, like those sharks we were talking of, and gobble up the pieces. Because that’s what it’s really all about, Kim. Not ideas. Not potential. Not get-up-and-go. But money. Money and power.’
    He paused and sucked at his cigar. All about him the old men nodded, but their eyes never left Kim’s face.
    â€˜So I was saying to my friends here, let’s make things happen a little differently this time. Use some of our money, our power to help this young man. Because it’s a shame to see potential go to waste. A damn shame, if you ask me.’
    He leaned back, drawing on the cigar, then puffed out a narrow stream of smoke. Kim waited, silent, not knowing what to say. He wanted nothing from these men. Neither money, nor power. But that was not the point. It was what they wanted from him that mattered here.
    â€˜CosTech has offered for your contract. Right?’
    Kim opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Of course Lever would know. He had spies, hadn’t he? They all had spies. It was how things worked at this level. You weren’t in business unless you knew what the competition was up to.
    â€˜Yes. But I haven’t decided yet,’ he lied, wanting to hear what they were going to offer. ‘I’m meeting them again in two weeks to talk terms.’
    Lever smiled, but it was a smile tinged with sourness. ‘Working for the competition, eh?’ He laughed. ‘Rather you than me, boy.’
    There was laughter from the gathered circle. Only by the window was there silence.
    â€˜But why’s this, Kim? Why would you want to waste a year of your life slaving for CosTech when you could be pushing Chih Chu on to bigger things?’
    Make your offer , Kim thought. Spell it out. What you want. What you’re offering. Make a deal, old man. Or would that embarrass you, being so direct?
    â€˜You know what they’ve offered?’ he asked.
    Lever nodded. ‘It’s peanuts. An insult to your talent. And it ties you. Limits what you could do.’
    Ah, thought Kim, that’s more to the point . Working for CosTech, he couldnot work for ImmVac. And they needed him. The old men needed him, because, after a certain age, it was not possible to stop the ageing process. Not as things stood. They had to catch it before the molecular signal that triggered it. Afterwards was no good. What ImmVac had developed was no good for any of these men. The complex system of cell replication began to break down, slowly at first, but exponentially, until the genetic damage was irreparable. And then senility.
    And what good was money or power against senility and death?
    â€˜I’m a physicist,’ he said, looking at the old man directly. ‘What good am I to you? You want a biochemist. Someone working in the field of defective protein manufacture. In cell repair. Not an engineer.’
    Lever shook his head. ‘You’re good. People say you’re the best. And you’re young. You could learn. Specialize in self-repair mechanisms.’ He stared at Kim fiercely. The cigar in his hand had gone out. ‘We’ll pay what you ask. Provide whatever you need.’
    Kim rubbed at his eyes. The cigar smoke had made them sore. He wanted to say no and have an end to it, but knew these were not men he could readily say no to.
    â€˜Two weeks, Shih Lever. Give me two weeks, then I’ll let you know.’
    Lever narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the young, childlike man. ‘Two weeks?’
    â€˜Yes. After all, you’re asking me to change the direction of my life. And that’s something I have to think about. I’ve got to consider what it means. What I might lose and what gain. I can’t see it right now. Which is why I need to think