optical interface for the rest of the bundle. When he was finished, he spliced them back together, but they could not be included in the segment to be monitored. This type of installation left no time for working around such problems, and ninety-five per cent inclusion of a fiber pack of this size was better than nothing. The agency would reel in gigabytes of data from this site alone.
He put the false sheathing back over the area where he had been working and signaled to his partner that he was finished. This section of Internet roadway was now available for agency monitoring, joining hundreds of similar installations.
***
Paul Klugman–short, fat and balding–felt ill at ease around those who were taller than him. Nevertheless, he was an excellent supervisor. Not in the eyes of his charges, necessarily, but certainly in the opinion of his employer, as he consistently succeeded in deriving maximum output from his limited staff. He sat behind his oversized desk as he addressed his people.
“Okay folks, just to bring everyone up to speed, the project deadline has been advanced two months, and that’s not just for the mock-up. They want it ready for a full demo.”
Stanley was the first to respond. “That may be expecting too much. Even before moving the deadline up we were pushing it.”
“Stanley’s right,” said Katherine. “The interface is too complex to rush like this.”
Klugman leaned on his elbows and looked at Boyd. “What do you think, Boyd?”
Boyd had been standing to one side, leaning against the wall. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but if we pull together I don’t see why it can’t be done.”
“There, you see?” said Klugman. “Boyd is on board.”
Katherine looked at Boyd in disbelief. “Are you crazy? Linking the electronics to the comm unit will take several weeks all by itself.” She was furious. It was just like Boyd to kiss up to Klugman.
Boyd shrugged. “Hey, if you and Stan…”
“Stanley.” Stanley quietly corrected him.
“If you two would spend less time whining and more time working, the thing might be done already.”
Katherine was about to go through the roof. “You hypocrite! You two-faced, butt-kissing son of a …”
Boyd interrupted her. “Don’t hold back, Katherine. Tell me how you really feel.” He was pushing it, and Klugman seemed to be enjoying the show.
Stanley was puzzled. “Mr. Klugman, I…”
Klugman held up his hand. Katherine saw it now, too, and stopped. The room grew silent, as Klugman leaned back in his chair. “Thank you, Boyd.”
Boyd simply nodded and sat down.
“What’s going on?” asked Katherine.
“Just an experiment,” said Klugman. “I wanted to observe the dynamics of my little group in a stressful situation.” He leaned forward again, his face stern. “Because that’s what we’re about to face. Extreme stress. The boys upstairs seem to think that technology is driven by edict. Well, maybe they’re partly right. But this little circus is going to go bust if they keep pushing like this. Look at how you guys were acting just now, and the hard part hasn’t really begun.”
No one said anything for a moment.
“Why the change in the deadline?” asked Stanley.
Klugman shrugged. “Competition. Profits. Because they can. Who knows all the reasons? Bottom line–in short order we better have the project ready, at least for a practical demo.”
“How ready does it have to be?” asked Stanley. “Are we talking about a full production unit?”
“It has to be capable of being in production. And it has to be impressive.”
Katherine, still angry, glowered at Boyd, then looked at Klugman. “Who exactly do we have to impress? Techies, or some suits?”
“Probably both,” said Klugman. “No businessman in his right mind is going to throw the kind of money we’re talking about at something he doesn’t understand.”
“They did it in the dot com revolution,” said Boyd.
“And look where it got
He put the false sheathing back over the area where he had been working and signaled to his partner that he was finished. This section of Internet roadway was now available for agency monitoring, joining hundreds of similar installations.
***
Paul Klugman–short, fat and balding–felt ill at ease around those who were taller than him. Nevertheless, he was an excellent supervisor. Not in the eyes of his charges, necessarily, but certainly in the opinion of his employer, as he consistently succeeded in deriving maximum output from his limited staff. He sat behind his oversized desk as he addressed his people.
“Okay folks, just to bring everyone up to speed, the project deadline has been advanced two months, and that’s not just for the mock-up. They want it ready for a full demo.”
Stanley was the first to respond. “That may be expecting too much. Even before moving the deadline up we were pushing it.”
“Stanley’s right,” said Katherine. “The interface is too complex to rush like this.”
Klugman leaned on his elbows and looked at Boyd. “What do you think, Boyd?”
Boyd had been standing to one side, leaning against the wall. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but if we pull together I don’t see why it can’t be done.”
“There, you see?” said Klugman. “Boyd is on board.”
Katherine looked at Boyd in disbelief. “Are you crazy? Linking the electronics to the comm unit will take several weeks all by itself.” She was furious. It was just like Boyd to kiss up to Klugman.
Boyd shrugged. “Hey, if you and Stan…”
“Stanley.” Stanley quietly corrected him.
“If you two would spend less time whining and more time working, the thing might be done already.”
Katherine was about to go through the roof. “You hypocrite! You two-faced, butt-kissing son of a …”
Boyd interrupted her. “Don’t hold back, Katherine. Tell me how you really feel.” He was pushing it, and Klugman seemed to be enjoying the show.
Stanley was puzzled. “Mr. Klugman, I…”
Klugman held up his hand. Katherine saw it now, too, and stopped. The room grew silent, as Klugman leaned back in his chair. “Thank you, Boyd.”
Boyd simply nodded and sat down.
“What’s going on?” asked Katherine.
“Just an experiment,” said Klugman. “I wanted to observe the dynamics of my little group in a stressful situation.” He leaned forward again, his face stern. “Because that’s what we’re about to face. Extreme stress. The boys upstairs seem to think that technology is driven by edict. Well, maybe they’re partly right. But this little circus is going to go bust if they keep pushing like this. Look at how you guys were acting just now, and the hard part hasn’t really begun.”
No one said anything for a moment.
“Why the change in the deadline?” asked Stanley.
Klugman shrugged. “Competition. Profits. Because they can. Who knows all the reasons? Bottom line–in short order we better have the project ready, at least for a practical demo.”
“How ready does it have to be?” asked Stanley. “Are we talking about a full production unit?”
“It has to be capable of being in production. And it has to be impressive.”
Katherine, still angry, glowered at Boyd, then looked at Klugman. “Who exactly do we have to impress? Techies, or some suits?”
“Probably both,” said Klugman. “No businessman in his right mind is going to throw the kind of money we’re talking about at something he doesn’t understand.”
“They did it in the dot com revolution,” said Boyd.
“And look where it got
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