Drennan's office, from the vantage point of a corner above and behind Kraig's desk. Kraig's head was in the foreground, and Lisa was surprised to see that he had a tiny, incipient bald spot. Lisa hadn't noticed it before because Kraig was much taller than she was. She grinned. Probably an ulcer working away at his innards too. Well, that was the life of the boss, wasn't it? At least an ambitious one like Kraig Drennan. To Lisa it seemed like he had a chip on his shoulder. Everybody knew where he came from, about his mother being in jail when he was born. Born behind bars!
In the center of the image were the Spartan chairs in front of Kraig 's desk. Other offices had space-age contour chairs, made with some sort of hard plastic; they were ergonomically designed, it seemed, to enforce the designer's notion of good posture. The chairs in Kraig's office were straight-backed, made of wood, and had two spindly arms and a thin bit of padding on the seat and back. The person he was interviewing would be directly in the hidden cam's view.
After a few seconds passed, Cecily Sunday was sitting in one of the chairs.
Lisa didn't feel any remorse for spying on the boss. What good was all that high-tech equipment if she and some of the other bold members of the staff didn't put the cameras and microphones to some kind of good use?
* * *
Cecily had walked in without knocking. Kraig was intently reading something on his monitor and didn't immediately look up.
" I solved the case," said Cecily.
Kraig 's eyebrows shot up. "You did?"
" Yeah. Man, it was simple." Cecily was smiling that grimacing smile. Her teeth were all still there, but not in great shape. The front ones were slightly discolored—pale ochre—and a few of the lower ones were crooked.
" So fill me in," he said.
" All you've got to do is find the most likely suspect," said Cecily, hooking one slender leg over an arm of the chair. She was so small that she fit into the seat with plenty of room to spare. "Find the most likely route of transmission, and trace it back to the most likely source."
Kraig shifted i n his chair, his face showing discomfort.
" I'm telling you this," said Cecily, "because you're just a desk jockey who doesn't know crap about real micro work."
The office flooded with cyan light.
Cecily laughed. "I knew I could do it!"
Kraig 's jaw muscles started working double time. In a few seconds the cyan lights died. "Okay," he said, sighing. "You've had your joke. I was prepared for something like that. You didn't get very far."
" Too true. I was hoping to make it all the way to the reef. Where did you learn how to dive, anyway?"
" I'd always wanted to learn but never got a chance until I started earning some money." Kraig's voice took on an edge. "Can we talk about the case now?"
" Come on, Kraig. Lighten up. Everybody knows you're after the director's job. It's the most transparent thing in this whole office building, including the partitions out there in cube city."
Kraig appeared to struggle for control again.
Cecily grinned. "We'll be seeing cyan again in a second?"
With white, compressed lips, Kraig said, "Nope."
" That's too bad, because cyan is one of my favorite colors too. By the way, why are you having that Lisa girl spy on me?"
Kraig gave her a look of surprise .
Cecily shook her head. "Man, I should get really pissed at you guys."
" She's not spying on you."
" Oh, yeah? Is that right? That means she's spying on you ."
" She's not—"
" Yeah she is. She kept staring at me through that glass partition—did she think I wouldn't notice? Then just before I walked into your office she slipped a headset over her ears. I'd noticed that headset as I walked past her cubicle, and it wasn't connected to the computer. And that got me thinking about what sort of device it was hooked into. She probably hid one of those little audiovisual communication things in your office somewhere. She wouldn't have had any trouble finding one—didn't Chet
In the center of the image were the Spartan chairs in front of Kraig 's desk. Other offices had space-age contour chairs, made with some sort of hard plastic; they were ergonomically designed, it seemed, to enforce the designer's notion of good posture. The chairs in Kraig's office were straight-backed, made of wood, and had two spindly arms and a thin bit of padding on the seat and back. The person he was interviewing would be directly in the hidden cam's view.
After a few seconds passed, Cecily Sunday was sitting in one of the chairs.
Lisa didn't feel any remorse for spying on the boss. What good was all that high-tech equipment if she and some of the other bold members of the staff didn't put the cameras and microphones to some kind of good use?
* * *
Cecily had walked in without knocking. Kraig was intently reading something on his monitor and didn't immediately look up.
" I solved the case," said Cecily.
Kraig 's eyebrows shot up. "You did?"
" Yeah. Man, it was simple." Cecily was smiling that grimacing smile. Her teeth were all still there, but not in great shape. The front ones were slightly discolored—pale ochre—and a few of the lower ones were crooked.
" So fill me in," he said.
" All you've got to do is find the most likely suspect," said Cecily, hooking one slender leg over an arm of the chair. She was so small that she fit into the seat with plenty of room to spare. "Find the most likely route of transmission, and trace it back to the most likely source."
Kraig shifted i n his chair, his face showing discomfort.
" I'm telling you this," said Cecily, "because you're just a desk jockey who doesn't know crap about real micro work."
The office flooded with cyan light.
Cecily laughed. "I knew I could do it!"
Kraig 's jaw muscles started working double time. In a few seconds the cyan lights died. "Okay," he said, sighing. "You've had your joke. I was prepared for something like that. You didn't get very far."
" Too true. I was hoping to make it all the way to the reef. Where did you learn how to dive, anyway?"
" I'd always wanted to learn but never got a chance until I started earning some money." Kraig's voice took on an edge. "Can we talk about the case now?"
" Come on, Kraig. Lighten up. Everybody knows you're after the director's job. It's the most transparent thing in this whole office building, including the partitions out there in cube city."
Kraig appeared to struggle for control again.
Cecily grinned. "We'll be seeing cyan again in a second?"
With white, compressed lips, Kraig said, "Nope."
" That's too bad, because cyan is one of my favorite colors too. By the way, why are you having that Lisa girl spy on me?"
Kraig gave her a look of surprise .
Cecily shook her head. "Man, I should get really pissed at you guys."
" She's not spying on you."
" Oh, yeah? Is that right? That means she's spying on you ."
" She's not—"
" Yeah she is. She kept staring at me through that glass partition—did she think I wouldn't notice? Then just before I walked into your office she slipped a headset over her ears. I'd noticed that headset as I walked past her cubicle, and it wasn't connected to the computer. And that got me thinking about what sort of device it was hooked into. She probably hid one of those little audiovisual communication things in your office somewhere. She wouldn't have had any trouble finding one—didn't Chet
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