Yuen-Mong's Revenge (57 page)

 
     
She got up, briefly touched his hand, and said: "Thanks for telling me
about my mother." Then she left.

* * *
 

Tuesday morning Atun had his first briefing with the planning group he
had assembled from top people in Research and HST about the status of
instantcom. He pointed out that as things stood at that point in time, it
was mainly suitable for image and voice transmission over space, such
as in conference sessions between small groups or even two individuals,
news broadcasts and sports events. Currently its main advantage was that
it was not dependent on fixed transmission links like HST, but could
occur between any two points in space. Then he spelled out the research
that was still needed to make it a serious competitor to HST for mass data
transmission.

     
She liked watching him. Whenever their eyes met, she sent positive
vibes to him. He handled questions well. He proposed that a small
steering group be set up to develop a detailed plan of research priorities.
In the meantime, the product development section of the Research
Division would take over the production of a sufficient number of
prototype models that could be used for trials, training of mediums,
applied research, and trial market tests. His suggestion that the news
broadcasting industry should be offered the first limited use was greeted
enthusiastically. Instantcom would then start earning funds immediately,
while only marginally competing with HST. The upcoming ice hockey
match between the two top teams of Palo and Andromatis, to be held in
Cherni in four weeks time would be an appropriate event for the galactic
first. The HST member offered to arrange it, with Anouk to go to Palo for
the event, accompanied by a research technician.

     
At the end of the meeting, she suggested that it might still be a good
strategy to proceed with the further expansion of HST. That too met
cautious approval.

     
After the meeting, she received the first set of profiles of potential replacements for Cor Deng. Of the five files submitted, four were Young
or Deng members by birth or through marriage, including Pat Young. She
advised Mr. Ong-Deng that she wanted a wider choice, reiterating that
the prime criteria were ability, experience, achievements and leadership
potential, rather than blood or family kinship.

* * *
 

While she was sitting into Atun’s meeting, Bee had left a message that
she wanted to see her, and Mrs. Oddell had slotted her in after lunch.

     
"What a small office you got," Bee exclaimed after being ushered in
by her secretary.

     
"But it has the best view. See."

 
     
Bee joined her at the corner window. Mist was rising from the
Sanctum bay of Lake Carda, obscuring the lower slopes of Mount
Olympus. "Yes, I can see. Better than my father’s."

 
     
"I’m glad, Bee, you have decided to work with us."

 
     
"But I haven’t said yes yet." She was visibly taken aback.

     
"Bee, remember, I’m an empath. I knew the moment you entered that
your answer was yes."

 
     
"It feels strange that you can read my mind. I don’t know whether I
like that."

 
     
"Yes, it’s a matter of getting used to it, and I also want to be completely open with you. I will always know when somebody tells me a lie
or hides something. So if you don’t want to tell me something, just say
so. I won’t probe. You will actually find that this is freeing." She noticed
that Bee blushed. "Bee, I haven’t caught you with a lie yet. In fact, one
thing that I like about you is that you are so straight and open."

 
     
"Thank you."

 
     
"Bee, ask what’s on your mind."

 
     
Bee responded with a smile. "You know that too? … You said Ming
had empathic abilities. Will she also know —"

 
     
"— when somebody lies to her? Yes, she will."

 
     
"Oh, Yuen-mong, thank you for warning me. It’s sometimes so tempting to tell small lies to a child." She paused and looked to the ground.
"Are you willing to tell me what happened between you and my father …
and Pat?"

 
     
"Yes to the first, no to the second. You must have known that your
father’s dream has always been to paint and that he didn’t have his heart
in UniCom. He did it because he knew that as a Young this was expected
of him. The events over the last few weeks have made it even harder on
him. I offered him a choice. I also told him that UniCom will guarantee
the loans he took out for buying the shares I sold him. That removed his
financial worry and he grabbed the opportunity."

 
     
"You make it sound so simple. There must be more to it."

 
     
"Yes, there is. It must have been very hard on him that his niece of
less than half his age became his boss."

 
     
"Yes, he seemed very depressed the last three weeks, but then
suddenly last evening he was a different man. He hummed at the dinner
table — I was at dinner with them because Dan is away. I have never
seen him like this. And then in the middle of the meal he announced that
he had resigned from UniCom and would enjoy the rest of his life
painting. You should have seen grandfather. He almost fell off his chair
and wanted to know if dad had lost his mind. But he only smiled and said
‘no, thanks to Yuen-mong, I finally have found the courage to do what
I should have done over thirty years ago.’ Mai literally jumped out of her
chair and hugged him."

 
     
"That’s a lovely story, Bee. I’m glad for him."

 
     
"He then also told me that if I wanted to work with you, I should,
regardless of Foundation custom. Dan had already agreed that as long as
the children will not suffer, he had no objection. You told me that he
might surprise me."

 
     
"Tell me, what did grandfather do after that?"

 
     
"He only shook his head and then muttered something like ‘I should
have known she planned that.’ I guess he meant you. Dad also said that
Pat was going to resign too and that you had fired Cor Deng."

 
     
"It’s too bad I got on the wrong foot with Pat right from the beginning, but I think he too will be happier not having me as his boss. Cor
Deng did something that meant Atun and I could not trust him any
longer. So he had to go."

 
     
"Dad hinted at it. But aren’t you afraid of grandfather and of the
Dengs?"

 
     
"If I were afraid of them, I wouldn’t be where I am. No, I think that
Xi Deng will be afraid of me. He will do nothing. I have more trust in
Kim Deng and his two sons. I think they’re OK. And grandfather? You
judge yourself. Look, Bee, let’s now talk about your position. I would
like that Atun and Anouk join us — she’s the young woman I trained as
my matched medium. She is also an exceptionally sensitive empath and
her abilities will greatly help you assess potential candidates.’

25

Yuen-mong, Atun, and Anouk moved into her villa on Wednesday.
Anouk found it initially forbidding to return to that place, but reconciled
herself to it when she could choose a small self-contained apartment in
its right wing.

     
Pat had left it in a rather sorry state. In the gardener’s shed, they discovered the broken pieces of the nude statue she had seen on the video
cubes. It seemed to have been deliberately smashed. She immediately engaged an architect to restore the villa to its original design. Anouk was
put in charge of organizing its cleaning.

     
They also took delivery of the special space shuttle for Vishnu and
had it temporarily stored in UniCom’s air shuttle garage.

     
Atun got an invitation to become a member of the Foundation, sponsored by Ko Young and Syd Twan.

     
Yuen-mong scheduled a series of sessions to meet the employees of
the various divisions. She outlined how she saw the future of UniCom —
a firm where ability, performance, and loyalty would be rewarded,
regardless of background and gender, and that her door was always open
if a person felt not treated fairly. Her message was all the more believable
when it became known that the successors to Cor Deng and Pat Young
were employees that had no family connections with either the Youngs
or the Dengs, and that the first two women were promoted into the
middle management positions. With rare exceptions, she sensed goodwill
toward her whenever she encountered employees in the building. She had
not appointed anybody to Ko Young’s position. In consultation with Kim
Deng, she left it open. He agreed that he would assume an overall
supervising role, hinting that he had done some of that even while Ko
Young had been chairman of the board.

     
By the end of the following week Atun ventured as they were relaxing
in her office for a drink after work: "I think you have won them over,
even Kim Deng. He mentioned this morning after our meeting that there
seems to be a welcome fresh wind blowing. I find him very cooperative
and helpful."

 
     
"Yes, I also find it easy to work with him. He’s competent."

 
     
"I think you can strike him off your list of potential culprits."

 
     
"No. I have not figured him out yet. The only ones that I have
removed are Syd, as I told you after that aborted dinner meeting with
him, and Ko Young."

 
     
"Him too?"

 
     
"Yes, he is too ineffectual for something like this. He is basically a
nice guy who lacked the courage of his own convictions and led himself
be forced into a mold that did not fit him."

 
     
"But he set these guys on Anouk and me."

 
     
"I know. It’s just a feeling and I trust it. I also think that my mother
would have noticed that something was wrong. His mind would have betrayed him, and I think that he would have confessed to her when confronted."

 
     
"So that leaves only your other uncle and your grandfather, and the
two older Deng brothers, and there I put my money on Xi. But it could
have been Kao Deng. He was vice-president of finance and could have
panicked by the implication of instantcom, especially if he didn’t really
understand its limitation and potential. By the way, the UniCom shares
have already regained two thirds of their losses. I’m suddenly rich
beyond my dreams. Crash-landing on Aros was the best thing that ever
happened to me."

 
     
"It’s strange how perceptions change over time. Come, Atun, let’s go
home and have a quiet evening, just the two of us. I would like that."

 
     
"You don’t have to ask me twice. I’m all for it."

 
     
He got up and held out his hand to help her from the low soft chair,
taking her into his arms. "You know, love, there’s another thing that I
would never have dreamed would happen to me." He kissed her. "Kissing
my boss."

 
     
"Sure, because you couldn’t have imagined that your boss might be
female."

 
     
"Yes, the most delicious female."

 
     
They rubbed noses together.

     
"I’m glad you aren’t painting your face. We could never do this," he
said.

     
"No. Did you paint your face before that best thing happened in your
life?"

 
     
"Very little. I didn’t like it, and when I space traveled, there was little
point doing it… I think you’ve started a trend in UniCom, and even
outside. Did you notice?"

 
     
"That there are more and more employees who use little or no face
paint? Yes."

 
     
"Next thing, they’ll imitate your limp."

 
     
She pushed him back. "No, you
cannot
be serious."