Yuen-Mong's Revenge (49 page)

     
"Control yourself… That is what she wanted; that is what she would
have gotten with her 52 percent; so why not give it to her gracefully? Or
did you want the humiliation of having the news-broadcast blare out that
you lost the ballot. Son, hasn’t it sunk in yet that she licked us at our own
game … a twenty-year-old girl who six months ago lived in the stone
age? … She licked us. Do you hear? And don’t blame her. You got the
ball rolling with your greed, buying her shares. That’s what made it
possible for her to buy the shares, your blind greed."

 
     
"Syd Twan let us down. He should have warned us; he is Foundation."

 
     
"Syd Twan is simply another pawn in her game. He is taken by her,
as he was by her mother. Don’t you have eyes? But all is not lost. At least
she is inside now, and with her is instantcom."

 
     
"You think she will bring it into UniCom?" Ko Young’s eyes lit up.

     
"What else can she do? She used all her funds to gain control over
UniCom."

 
     
"But having her as the chairman of the board? A female. This is unheard of. We can’t even call her chairman."

 
     
"Let her decide what she wants to be called."

 
     
"But she has no commercial experience. She will ruin the company."

 
     
"Tell me, son, if you had finessed one of our competitors the way she
finessed us, would you call yourself a genius? Would you? Yes, you
would. That is what she is." He had no fear that she would not be one of
the best leaders UniCom would ever have. She only needed the right kind
of guidance, and she would learn quickly. She had what it took, courage,
determination, a nose to recognize an opportunity and grab it, ability to
judge risks and willingness to take them, and last but not least a good
measure of ruthlessness when it came to dealing with opponents.
In fact,
she will make a better chairman than you.
But he did not want to say that
and humiliate his son even deeper.

     
"We will have to neutralize her, manipulate her. That will not be easy,
she is so bloody-minded."

 
     
"You leave that to me, son, and if you want to do her a favor, I urge
you petition the Foundation that they take her lover in as a member.
Don’t shake your head. If you don’t, somebody else will. It will look
much better if it comes from one of us and without delay."

 
     
His son looked dubious, but then shrugged and left.

     
Chen Young marveled at how he had stared at certain ruin yesterday
and today was looking at even brighter prospects than ever. UniCom’s
leading position in space communications was assured once and for all.
And now the Young dynasty even controlled the company outright. With
the same stroke of hand she also had rid them of the cumbersome equal
share agreement with the Dengs. He was looking forward to her visit.

22

"Rise, my granddaughter."

 
     
Yuen-mong raised her head, responding to her grandfather’s smile,
and then rose slowly. She kissed his cheek.

     
"Sit, Chairman." He winked at her, pointing to the chair next to his.

     
"How would chief director sound, grandfather?" she replied, sitting.

     
He chuckled. "I told my son that you would find a suitable title." His
face turned serious. "It is good to see you again… I believe that I have
finally begun to understand you. You blame UniCom for the death of
your parents. In your eyes, all those who were in charge at that time are
guilty and that includes me. Am I right?"

 
     
It felt as if he were trying to read her mind. She met his gaze firmly.
She was not going to waver. "All of them, grandfather? … I hope not. In
time, I will know."

 
     
"And if you know, what will you do?"

 
     
"It’s not a question of if, but of when, and to answer your question: I
don’t know. I have given it no thought yet, nor is it important for me
now."

 
     
"Revenge could be fatal to you. I’m sure you are aware of this."

 
     
A faint smile played around her eyes, but she did not answer.

     
"Have you ever been afraid, Yuen-mong?"

 
     
"Yes… It is a useful emotion if it leads to positive action."

 
     
"You know that I love you."

 
     
"Yes, grandfather, I can feel it."

 
     
"It is me who is afraid for you. Do you promise that you will not take
any rash action, neither before nor after you know, but will ask me for
advice?"

 
     
"I do and I will… and right now I need your guidance and advice for
my first board meeting. Will you tell me how you conducted these
meetings when you were chairman?"

 
     
"I will, but before that, I want you to have this present that was
destined for your mother."

 
     
He took a small velvet-covered box from his coat pocket and gave it
her. She opened it. A platinum brooch in the form of a bouquet of
flowers, held together by a large, exceptionally brilliant diamond, each
flower a small diamond, sparkled at her.

     
"It’s beautiful. Thank you, grandfather." She kissed his cheek. "
I will
treasure it. In fact,
I will
wear it right now." She pinned it above the rise
of her left breast.

     
"You are a beautiful young woman, Yuen-mong."

 
     
She responded with a smile.

     
During the next half-hour, she listened to her grandfather. He first described the personality of each of the people on the board. She learned
that without exception each board member also held an executive or
managing position in the firm. Her uncle was currently the CEO, Kim
Deng, board co-chairman and vice-president of finance, Xi Deng vice-president of research and development, a position he had held for the last
22 years —
so he was my father’s direct boss,
she concluded — Cor
Deng served as his right hand. The older of Kim Deng’s sons, Hak was
in charge of the HST division, the younger one, Ron, of all manufacturing plants; Pat headed UniCom’s commercial space fleet, and Dan, Bee’s
husband, had exploration and mining, although neither was on the board
any longer. In the past, the board co-chairman automatically was
allocated to the other controlling family. Deng and Young male descendants were always groomed to take over the top executive and managing
positions, while a number of middle management positions were
occupied by men related through marriage, all rising in rank with age and
experience.
What about performance and ability?
she wondered.

     
When he began giving her advice on how she should conduct the
meetings, she interrupted him promptly: "Tell me first, how you did it
and then I will listen to your advice."

 
     
He smiled and told her. She had little doubt that he had been a strong,
autocratic leader who had kept a very tight reign on all things, using delegation only for the details of operational matters — not a style that would
suit her.

     
"Kao Deng, my successor had a very similar approach. Unfortunately
he died rather suddenly."

 
     
"And what style did my uncle use?"

 
     
"He was still developing his and often sought my advice."

 
     
"What do you advise should be his function now?"

 
     
"You leave him in his position as CEO."

 
     
She did not like that option, but her face betrayed nothing.

     
"I think that until you gain experience, you do not get involved in the
day-to-day business and rely on the current people."

 
     
"I will think about that."

 
     
"The commercial development of instantcom can be neatly slotted
into the current HST division."

 
     
It took him a long time to come to that,
she mused.

     
"I see you smile. Isn’t it obvious that instantcom will be UniCom’s
next triumph? That has been your plan from the beginning."

 
     
"Grandfather, you seem to know more than I do. But rest assured, my
father’s invention will be developed within UniCom."

 
     
"Yuen-mong — complete the dream, you live up to your name. But
now it is time to be chief director."

* * *

They were driven to UniCom’s skyscraper in the upper BD, close to the
Sanctum. Atun and Syd Twan were waiting in the entrance lobby that
occupied the entire ground floor. Its three-storey high ceiling, its glass-covered exterior and the abundance of luscious greens and bushes
imparted the impression of being in the open. She felt Syd’s admiring
gaze on her. She had taken extra care to look her best and knew that the
conservative but stylish long black dress and her high heels — the right
one adjusted to compensate for her limp — made her seem even taller.
She had used no make-up, only a bit of rouge on her lips. Syd’s face paint
was heavier. Except for the diamond brooch, she wore no other jewelry.

     
Her entry was planned when everybody else was already seated. She
had thought hard and long about how to approach these people. It had
kept her awake half the night. They had to believe that she was in complete control. Conveying that image had become second nature when
confronting the savages on Aros, but these people would immediately
spot any chinks in her armor and exploit it.

     
At the exact appointed time, she took a deep breath, let an aura of
calm take hold in her mind, and entered the room ahead of Atun and Syd.
She felt reassured about the impression she had just made on these
people. Three seats at the top of the oval table had been left empty. She
took the one at the head, Atun to her left, Syd Twan to her right.
Deliberately, she let her gaze roam from face to face, briefly probing the
minds. She sensed admiring curiosity in Kim Deng’s sons, cautious
reserve from himself, animosity by Xi and his other son, the usual
confusion in her uncle, pride and a feeling of possessiveness in Syd
Twan, anxiety in Atun.

     
Chen Young took charge of introducing her and Atun to those
directors she did not know. He did it, she felt, both out of pride and to
spare his son the embarrassment.

     
The introductions over, she knew her moment of truth had come. She
fought the flutter of doubt that gathering to invade her mind and
addressed her audience while remaining seated, both hands firmly on the
table. "Gentlemen, I have no experience in giving speeches and I do not
intend to give one now. I will be brief." She paused, suppressing the
tremor that threatened to creep into her voice and would give her away.
"As my first duty, I welcome the two new outside directors, Mr. Philip
Vashny, the small shareholder’s representative, and Dr. Syd Twan, my
personal choice." She nodded to both.

     
"I guess most of you feel as uncomfortable about my presence and my
role as I do myself. I have no illusions that it will be easy to gain your
trust and acceptance. Why should you trust a twenty-year-old, and a
female in addition, to lead one of the most powerful companies in the
galaxy? You would be foolish to do so. So, I do not expect your trust or
acceptance, but I expect that you will give me the opportunity to prove
to you that I may indeed be worthy of such trust and acceptance.

     
"To set your mind at ease, I hasten to say that initially I do not intend
to get involved in the day-to-day running of the company. I am a
complete novice in this business and I am willing to trust you, unless
your actions prove to me that such trust is not merited. Let me also assure
you that I welcome clearly argued advice, even unsolicited one, and I
hope I will get plenty of it. However, the final decision will always be
mine. This also means that the final responsibility for the consequences
rests with me.