He reached down and spun a monitor to face him.

“Hah! Just what I thought. Take a look at this.”

The other two peered over his shoulder. Cliber uttered a meditative “hmm.” Hutten said nothing but reached past Huang to tap keys on the console.

“Good thought, Konrad.” Huang nodded in approval. “That configuration should maximize throughput in the beta cycle.”

“An obvious extrapolation from the modulator parameters,” Hutten observed.

In her business, Crenshaw was sometimes pleased and relieved to be treated as part of the furniture The lack of attention could even be a valuable asset. This was not one of those times. Deciding that the green coats were going to ignore her until she intruded on their attention, she stepped up and spoke.

“President Huang?”

All three looked at her in unison. Cliber’s face immediately settled into its habitual glare of contempt. The other two wore expressions of mild curiosity.

“Yes?”

“Alice Crenshaw, sir. Security division.”

Huang’s brown furrowed, but Crenshaw noted his fugitive flash of concern. Like a child caught looking at dirty pictures.

“There’s no problem, sir. I’m on assignment with Kansayaku Sato. He sent me to convey his apologies and regrets that your dinner meeting must be postponed by half an hour.”

“Is that tonight?” Huang asked absently.

“Seven-thirty,” Hutten offered. “Now eight.”

“Well, I guess we’ll be there. With all the bells and whistles.” Huang laughed nervously.

Crenshaw groaned inwardly. They had invented the term nerd for this man. She gave him a polite smile “The Kansayaku is looking forward to meeting your team leaders this evening.”

Cliber flashed her companions an anticipatory grin. “I’m looking forward to it, too. I’ve got a few things I’d like to drop into Mr. Kansa-whatever’s ears.” She turned on Crenshaw. “He’s sure enough taken his time getting around to us. The grapevine’s been buzzing about how hes in such an all-fired hurry to get the project moving. How come he’s waited so long to talk to us?”

“The corporation has a lot more interests than your AI project, Doctor Cliber. Kansayaku Sato must concern himself with them all. He has been looking around, getting a feel for the operation here in Seattle. He has told me that he thought it best not to disturb your important work on the project more than necessary.”

“No more than-,” Cliber sputtered. “The personnel changes he ordered were hardly necessary. And they were very disturbing.”

“As I said, doctor, no more than necessary.”

“What does he know about what is necessary? You people are all alike. You have no idea of what we are doing here, but you still think that you can shove people in and out, make schedule changes at whim, and I don’t know what all else. Then you expect us to dump results in your laps on order.”

“Calm yourself, doctor.”

“Calm myself.” Cliber’s face was flushed. “I haven’t gotten started yet.”

“I suggest you reevaluate your attitude in light of the Kansayaku’s mandate,” Crenshaw stated coldly. “He might find your attitude nonproductive.”

“Nonproductive!” Cliber tugged her cap from her head, loosing her honey-blonde hair from the pins that had bound it up. She slammed the green cap to the floor. “Sherman!”

Huang looked up confusedly from the monitor he had gone back to studying. “Hmmm?”

Crenshaw spoke before Cliber could launch her tirade. “I was just suggesting to Doctor Cliber that she place some curbs on her… enthusiasm. Cooperation with Kansayaku Sato is the fastest way to get your project moving.”

Huang blinked, looking from his clearly incensed colleague to the calm security officer and back again. “Vanessa I’m afraid Ms. Crenshaw is right. You do let your temper get the better of you occasionally and we must be careful around Mr. Sato. If he’s satisfied with what he finds and no one antagonizes him, he’ll go away and we can all get back to our work. You know how close we are.” He gave Cliber a weak smile that seemed to calm her a little.

Then he mumbled, “I do hate all this bureaucratic nonsense.”

“Hardly nonsense, President Huang.” Crenshaw chided. Cliber snorted, but Crenshaw continued. “But I understand how professionals like your team may find it bothersome to abide by the necessary formalities of operating in a businesslike manner. Kansayaku Sato is only looking out for Renraku’s interests. He wishes all departments to work at peak efficiency.”

“Then why hasn’t he approved our requests for more help?”

“As a matter of fact, he has.” Crenshaw produced a chip carrier from her jacket pocket and tossed it on the desk. “These are the files and transfer orders for twelve of your requested personnel. I’m sure you will want to express your thanks to the Kansayaku at dinner tonight. Until then.”

Enjoying the stunned looks on Huang’s and Cliber’s faces, Crenshaw turned and strode for the door. On her way, she noticed that Hutten had seated himself at a cyberterminal and continued to work through all the uproar. A realistic and professional attitude. She liked that in a man.

20

Sam awoke as his muscles locked into a brief spasm. After a moment of startled disorientation, he lay back, confused. He was indoors and in a bed whose soft quilt lay heavily on his naked skin. The room was dark, lit only fitfully by indirect glow from what seemed to be a fire in the next room. He was surrounded by a vaguely familiar scent at once comforting and strange.

He couldn’t remember how he had come to be here. Last he knew he had been in the forest, running for his life from the Tir Tairngire border guards. And there had been a pair of wolves.

The memory was confused, one thing blending into another.

Images of the place where Hanae had died dominated his memories. Flash-lit shards from the attack, tranquil images of the scene as they had bedded down with the shadowrunners, washed-out visions of Elves wandering among the destruction. It all dissolved into whirling impressions of the dark forest and his haunted run through the dark.

Sam remembered falling and hitting his head. A cautious exploratory hand confirmed that memory. He had a very large bump on the back of his head, but he felt curiously little discomfort on touching it. in fact, none of the scrapes and bruises from his run bothered him. They were still there, though, evidence that the nightmare in the forest had been real. His mysterious benefactors must have given him something for the pain.