For the next few weeks, the projects at both AMI and Wolf Media progressed nicely, though the Wolf project ran more smoothly. Owen griped about the fact that Bill was not in the office all the time. Bill pointed out that he and Mark alternated and Alex was always in, so Landmark was represented one hundred percent of the time, even on those rare occasions when he and Mark were both at Wolf. Incapable of leaving things alone, Owen announced one day that overtime would no longer be paid to the AMI employees on the project. Bill responded by telling Owen that he would simply reduce Natalya's and Monica's assignments so that they could be completed within the standard forty hours. Naturally, this meant that either the project schedule was pushed further ahead or Alex and Mark would put in more hours at a higher rate. Owen was forced to retract his decision.

Albert Simms began calling Bill more frequently and leaving messages of annoyance when Bill wasn't in the office. Even though Bill checked in for his messages on the days that he was out of AMI, it was difficult to pretend that Orange Bank was his only client. He tried to play it down, but Simms had already heard other rumors.

"Bill, I thought you were giving this project your full attention."

"This is my first priority," Bill assured him.

"Then why were you unavailable again yesterday?"

"I returned your call as soon as I got your message."

"Almost two hours later."

"Mr. Simms, I am a Senior Manager here. As such, I have other responsibilities. There are numerous meetings. There are times when one of my colleagues on another project wants me to attend one of their meetings to provide some input. I can't be expected to sit at my phone eight hours a day in case you call."

"I'm not asking you to. But you told us that you were giving one hundred percent to this project. Now it seems that you have another project."

"I can assure you that Arthur Mitchell has not assigned me to any other project."

"Then can you explain why we have only been billed for twenty hours of your time for the past week?"

"I took a few days off."

"What about the week before that? And the previous week? I wasn't aware that AMI was working twenty hour weeks." There was a long pause as Bill struggled to come up with an acceptable explanation. Just as he realized that it wasn't his responsibility to lie to the client and cover up for Owen, Albert continued. "I heard a very disturbing rumor a few weeks ago. It just seemed so outlandish that I could scarcely believe it. But it was so detailed, I also had difficulty believing that it was entirely fabricated. I was told that your best programmer was fired from AMI and then you hired him back. Then weeks later, you had been discharged from Arthur Mitchell and then hired back. And recently, Owen fired another programmer and you hired him back as well. According to my source, two of your employees are entry-level AMI programmers. Is there any truth to this story?"

Bill realized that there was no point in denying it. "You're remarkably well informed."

"In that case, I'm going to have to insist that you meet with me immediately and tell me everything that brought this to pass. I want to hear it straight from you and I want to hear it accurately. I don't want to make any decisions based on rumors and stories that have come to me over the past few weeks."

"I don't know if it's my place to do this," Bill protested.

"We've already established that I can't expect the truth from AMI or even from Michael Lotti. Based on what I know right now, I have enough to convince my board to take the project away from AMI and start legal proceedings against them. But this will definitely set back the project, so I would prefer to wait until I hear what you have to say. How soon can you be here?"

"Give me half an hour."

Explaining to Owen that he had to run over to Orange Bank to discuss an issue, Bill hoped that nothing in his demeanor betrayed the fact that this was not just another client meeting. He was ushered into Simms' office with an urgency that let him know that the bank Vice President was holding all other concerns until he had dealt with this matter. Aside from Albert Simms there was one other man in the office.

"This is Phil Carter, head of our internal investigative department," Simms introduced the tall, lanky man, who reached forward to shake Bill's hand, "He's been looking into our dealings with AMI for some time. Before you walk out, I just want to assure you that there are no cameras, video tapes or other types of recording equipment. Nothing will be recorded or written down except for my own notes. I asked Phil to be here because he's familiar with the situation and it helps to have someone else here to make certain that I understand everything correctly. I am not asking you to divulge any confidential information or reveal anything to me that would damage AMI. In fact, I have told you what we already know and I just want confirmation before I act on information that may be erroneous or exaggerated. Your name will not be used as a source when we speak with representatives of AMI particularly in view of the fact that you weren't the source. You did your best to protect them. I just have to know how this situation came about. Do you understand the purpose of this meeting?"

"I understand."

"Then is it true that you were terminated and then rehired twice, the second time as a consultant?"

"That's correct."

"And there are two other programmers on the development team, the lead programmers in fact, who were also terminated and then rehired as consultants?"

"That's correct. Only AMI did not hire them as consultants. The consulting firm I work for did."

"With the full knowledge and consent of AMI. In other words, Owen loses his temper over trivial matters, fires productive developers, who are then hired by the consulting firm and billed to this project at much higher rates, which are then passed on to Orange Bank."

"Orange Bank continues to pay the same rate whether the programmer is an AMI employee or a consultant," Bill pointed out.

"I understand that Orange Bank pays one hundred and twenty five dollars an hour for each member of your team. However, we expected Arthur Mitchell to hire and maintain a team of experienced programmers. We did not expect such a high turnover and open positions offered at substandard rates to offset the higher cost of replacing employees with consultants and training new hires so that only inexperienced programmers are attracted. In short, we are paying AMI their high rates and they have saddled this project with two neophytes and an incompetent director who is driving costs up and productivity down. Is this an accurate picture?"

"Judging where we are right now, it would be difficult to debate that assessment," Bill said, "but it isn't like AMI set out to do this from the start. The entire development team consisted of AMI employees for a few years. The first consultant didn't start until a bit over a year ago and I was the one who hired him."

"Because he was your best programmer and Owen foolishly fired him."

"That's accurate."

"So instead of my cross-examining you, why don't you just relax and tell me how this whole situation came about? You won't be giving away any company secrets. You can see that my information is accurate. I just want the details."

Bill spent the next forty five minutes in a monolog with almost no interruptions, as he related the trials and tribulations of working under Owen on the Orange Bank project.

"So I finally understand why Michael agreed to extend the project deadline several times, eliminate functions that had been part of the original specifications, agree to allow AMI to add more personnel to the team and yet we're still four months behind schedule."

"I'm glad that you understand it," Bill said, "because I don't. When it became obvious that Owen had lost control, Jean should have stepped in and done something to put it back on track. Instead, she stood behind Owen as he fired more people. And when I finally turned the project around by hiring Mark, and Jean brought it to Bruno's attention, he should have either let it go or responded in some way that had a positive impact. Instead, he babbled about company rules and fired me even though it almost destroyed the project. And throughout all this Mike Lotti, who is supposed to represent Orange Bank, never said a word in protest. Do you understand that?"

"I have heard disturbing rumors about illicit relationships which exist between some of the people you named at AMI and some people here at Orange Bank," Simms said. "I won't bore you with the details because without concrete proof, it constitutes slander. But after hearing how Owen mismanaged the project so blatantly without any interference from his superiors, I can only conclude that the rumors have some basis in fact. Now let me ask you a question and I want you to give me a complete and honest answer. What guarantees do we have that the project will ever be completed?"

"Though I can't give you any guarantees, I believe that the events of recent weeks indicate a new trend," Bill answered. "I think we discovered the root of the problem and have taken steps to correct it. I am now acting as manager and director. Owen, under orders from Bruno, is prohibited from interfering with my team. Unlike Owen and crew, my sense of responsibility is to the client and the project. Whether I have to be a programmer, a manager or a consultant, I have to give the project my best effort. Even if it means that I have to bump heads with my director, even if it puts my job in jeopardy, which in this case, it did. Mark feels the same way and so, I believe, does Alex. I happen to think that it's the sign of a dedicated programmer. When a person is more concerned with self-promotion and ego to the point that things have to be done their way even if everyone else tells them they're wrong, even if they know it will be detrimental to the project, that person has no business on a project, not as a programmer and most definitely not as a director. Unfortunately, Owen and crew are extreme examples of the egomaniac personality. That's why we couldn't work well together. But having seen firsthand just how dangerous that attitude was, they have finally agreed to put me completely in charge."

"This brings me to another question. What value is Arthur Mitchell adding to the project that justifies their high billing rate?"

"You'll have to elaborate on that question." Bill's mind was struggling to come up with an answer that wouldn't insult Simms' intelligence or sound like an attack on Arthur Mitchell.

"Considering that Bruno did nothing except fire the manager, Jean did nothing but insist that the manager get fired and Owen fired numerous people and came up with an impossible schedule that's long been abandoned, can you come up with any reason why Orange Bank should pay two hundred dollars an hour to have these people involved in the project? It sounds to me like we'd be better off paying these fees to make sure they stay off the project."

"I didn't say that."

"Do you disagree?"

"I can't say that either."

"So what positive contribution is Arthur Mitchell making to this project? Two entry-level programmers?"

"They've gone a bit past entry level."

"But they were hired as entry level while we were billed at the same rate as experienced programmers for their time."

"I can't argue with your conclusion."

"So tell me, Bill, faced with the situation we have now, wouldn't you draw the same conclusion I did, that the project is basically being held together by former AMI employees now working as independents?"

"I have to admit that it would be a fair conclusion."

"I thank you for your time and your honesty. I don't believe that I have to caution you about keeping this meeting confidential."

"You certainly don't."

"I expect that you will soon see some major changes in management. Good day."

Bill returned to Arthur Mitchell more than slightly unnerved by what he had just heard. When Owen inquired as to what had occurred, Bill made up a story about a discussion he had had with Albert Simms in which he had assured the Vice President that everything was proceeding according to schedule. Owen smiled and walked away. Bill wondered how long Owen would remain smiling. Based on his meeting, Simms was planning some major action against Arthur Mitchell.

Bill did not have long to wait. Two days later, he saw Mike Lotti come in, proceed straight to Owen's office and enter without knocking. Moments later, the sound of shouting could be heard. After a few minutes, the screaming stopped and both Owen and Mike marched out and stormed into Jean's office. Now a shrill female voice was added to the din. Then all three paraded into Bruno's office like a military procession. Soon four voices raised in anger filled the air.

By this time, all work had ceased as everyone simply watched in astonishment and rumors were whispered across the floor. Some people began drifting closer to Bruno's office to better overhear what was being discussed. Bill was too far away to hear anything more than muffled shouting. The bellowing stopped abruptly and the eavesdroppers quickly began looking busy and moving away as the door burst open and all four of the room's occupants marched out. In single file, the procession headed toward the war room. The short partition allowed the programmers to see them coming from across the hall.

"Wow, all four come," Alex remarked, "maybe to make arrest like KGB."

"If it's what I think it is," Bill said with a sinking feeling, "you're not far off."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Bill found it comical. Bruno headed the line, his shoes tapping in military precision. Owen followed close behind him, as if Bruno was shielding him from enemy fire. Mike bobbed along next, his stubby legs taking two steps to Owen's one. Puffing and gasping at the exertion, a waddling Jean took up the rear, her excess body fat jiggling with every step. Bill couldn't prevent a smile from touching his lips fleetingly.

"Does something amuse you, Landey?" Bruno asked. The smile quickly disappeared. When Bruno addressed someone by their last name, they were in serious trouble. "I want you in my office immediately. We have an important matter to discuss."

Bill stepped out from behind the partition and found himself at the head of the line. He began walking toward Bruno's office and trying not to grin as he pictured the four of them following him like a brood of ducklings behind their mother. At the door he stepped aside and allowed Bruno to enter ahead of him. The other three pushed him aside and entered hurriedly so that they could take the comfortable seats on the couch. Unfortunately, it wasn't large enough for the three of them, so Jean ended up at the end, with one buttock hanging over the edge. Bruno gestured toward the available chair but Bill declined, preferring to stand rather than sit on the hard wood.

"Landey," Owen began, "could you please tell us exactly what was said in Albert Simms office the other day."

"Hasn't Mr. Simms been in touch with you?"

"That's beside the issue. I want to know what you and Simms talked about."

"Basically, Mr. Simms expressed some dissatisfaction with the performance of Arthur Mitchell's upper management on this project. He expected our rates to be somewhat high, but he hoped to get a superior team and a superior product. Instead he discovered that the Vice President and Senior Director did little to justify their exorbitant hourly rate and mostly let the Director do as he pleased regardless of the consequences. The Director let his ego rule, creating schedules based on no solid foundation, refusing to consult with anyone else before making major decisions and firing anyone who disagreed with him. Mr. Simms has discovered that this project is seriously behind schedule and over budget and that AMI's current contribution consists of two entry-level programmers. In summary, Mr. Simms is very upset because he discovered the very problems that I warned you about repeatedly but you chose to ignore."

"Do you mean to tell me that after we bent over backwards to give you everything you asked for, you went behind our backs and divulged confidential information to our client?" Bruno's face grew bright red.

"I divulged nothing. He already knew about everything. He simply wanted me to confirm what he had heard before he took any action."

"So you confirmed it and filled in any details he might have missed, so that any faith he ever had in Arthur Mitchell is now gone."

"On the contrary, I said whatever I could to put the project in the best possible light. I did my best to give the impression that our problems are behind us and we're now proceeding at a steady and respectable pace."

"How does he know everything?" Owen demanded, "Who provided him with all the details? It had to be someone very close to the project. Who was it, Landey?"

"He mentioned former AMI employees," Bill answered, "and I believe even former members of our development team. If you want, I can go through our personnel records and try to narrow it down beyond the forty or so people you fired."

"Don't try to make this my fault!" Owen shouted.

"I don't have to try," Bill responded. "I told you over and over again what would happen if you kept firing programmers over every imagined shortcoming. I predicted that this would happen. But it's never your fault. Over forty people fired, dozens more quitting, every one of them blaming you, but it's not your fault. Oh, what's the use of discussing this? Just tell me what happened now?"

"Simms wants AMI off the project," Mike announced.

"Just like that?" Bill asked.

"I just attended a high level meeting at which various options were discussed," Mike continued. "One was to allow AMI to continue, but refuse to pay their invoices until the project was completed and then deduct from the contract the cost and schedule overruns. The option Simms was pushing for was to discharge AMI immediately and let another firm finish the job."

"Just because we're running behind schedule?" Bill protested. "There are always schedule overruns on major development projects."

"But few with such blatant mismanagement," Mike said, "at least that's how Simms and our legal department see it. You billed us for experienced programmers and kept replacing your better people with inexperienced ones at lower salaries. That doesn't sound like AMI treated Orange Bank fairly. It sounds like AMI is guilty of professional malpractice. Even if it comes to a lawsuit and we ultimately lose, which Simms feels is doubtful, it will cost AMI millions to defend and ruin their professional reputation. Think of all the other big projects that will go to other firms. The way Simms sees it, AMI has no choice but to let this project go and write off any outstanding invoices."

"He hinted at something like that when I was with him," Bill said. "I tried to tell him that it won't improve the situation. If he hires another firm and starts all over again, it'll cost him millions more."

"That was argued at the meeting," Mike said, "but Simms convinced the board that considering AMI's dismal record, another firm can take the source code and finish faster."

"But we didn't give him the source code," Bill said. "AMI owns it."

"Actually, Orange Bank does," Mike pointed out, "it was a condition of the engagement."

"Simms struck me as a sharp businessman," Bill remarked, "how could he be making such a serious mistake? Would it help if I talked to him again?"

"You've done enough damage, you son of a bitch!" Owen shouted.

"It's too late," Mike told him, "the decision was already made. I'm sure that our president is already talking to your managing partner."

"Then I guess there's not much to do except pack my personal things and go home."

"And don't expect us to pay any of your outstanding invoices," Owen added.

"That remains to be seen," Bill said. "What about the AMI employees on the team?"

"Naturally, they'll be let go."

"You won't consider finding them a spot on another project?"

"They're a couple of inexperienced coders. We don't need them."

"And you called me a son of a bitch. Did you stop and think about what this will do to AMI? We didn't hire them as consultants for this specific project. They were hired as employees with the understanding that they keep their jobs unless they personally deserve to be let go."

"I made them no guarantees. They're adults and they should understand that life isn't always fair. The only satisfaction I have out of this is knowing that you're back to being unemployed," Owen gloated.

"Like the song says, 'You can't get no satisfaction'," Bill said with a smile, "I have other clients, remember? You, on the other hand, will probably remain unemployed permanently. There aren't many openings for incompetent, ignorant, dictatorial directors these days. Now I'll leave you boys and gal to have a good cry. I've got some packing to do and a group of people to break the bad news to."

Bill's next move was to call his project team together in his office. They filed in solemnly. For a moment, no one spoke. Monica broke the silence. "The rumors are all over the office. Is Orange Bank taking the project away from AMI?"

"Sure seems that way."

"What this means for me?" Alex asked. "Do I have job? Do I collect unemployment?"

"Alex, you're probably the most fortunate on this team," Bill answered. "You don't work for AMI, you work for Landmark. We have another large client and we can use your help."

"What about Natalya and me?" Monica asked.

"Unfortunately, you don't have the experience we need on the other project," Bill said. "You'll get your two weeks severance and I'll give you a good recommendation. I'll also talk to Albert Simms about finding you a spot on Orange Bank's development team. It would make sense for them to do that. In the meantime, you work here until Owen tells you otherwise, so why don't you go back to your computers and look busy."

Alone in his office, Bill dialed Albert Simms' number.

"I presume that Michael has been by your office with the news?" Simms asked as soon as he heard who was on the phone.

"Your decision was rather sudden, Mr. Simms and in all honesty, I'm not sure it's the best course for Orange Bank at this juncture."

"And why is that?"

"Though it's true that AMI made some bad managerial decisions that led to cost overruns and a delay in the schedule, the project is now very much under control. Turning it over to another firm will only add more delay and more cost."

"I don't intend to turn it over to another firm."

"I thought you were taking it away from AMI."

"I am. But AMI is not the firm that has been managing the project. As you confirmed for me, AMI's contribution was some incompetent directors and two inexperienced programmers. So we intend to hire the firm that did the actual work."

For a moment, Bill thought that he had misheard. "Are you referring to Landmark, the company I work for?"

"Naturally. Who would be in a better position to complete the project within a reasonable schedule?"

"Mr. Simms," Bill began.

"Al, please. We're going to be opposite equals on this project, you representing Landmark and me representing Orange Bank. It's much easier to use first names."

"Okay, Al. Have you discussed this with your legal department? I do believe that AMI has a standard client contract that prohibits you from soliciting their employees or consultants. My consulting contract prohibits me from accepting work from AMI clients for a year."

"My legal department believes that we can convince AMI to grant us written authorization to hire Landmark and for Landmark to accept the assignment."

"And you had this in mind when you decided to discharge AMI?"

"Absolutely."

"So why was nothing said about this?"

Simms laughed. "Bill, I achieved my position in part by being a tough negotiator. If I had simply told AMI that I was interested in hiring Landmark directly, they would have argued, dredged up the agreement and prevented it from happening or at the very least demanded their percentage of the deal. Didn't you wonder why I let Michael Lotti sit in on our board meeting when I knew that he was practically Owen's spy? I let him learn that we were planning to discharge AMI immediately and drag them into court, knowing that he would pass the information on to Owen. Now Bruno and your managing partner, Marv Helsig, are gearing up for a battle that will cost them millions, not to mention AMI's reputation. Then I'll offer to drop everything in return for a release from our agreement, which includes the right to hire Landmark. Do you think they'll go for it?"

"I don't see that they'll have any choice."

Simms laughed again. "No, they won't. We all would certainly like to avoid a legal battle if we could. This way, AMI simply turns over to us all material on the project, for which we already overpaid. The Landmark team, which has already proven itself, takes over the work. I believe that the work will then progress more smoothly and more inexpensively."

"We'll be short two programmers," Bill pointed out. "That's what I was calling you about. Owen is going to fire them and I think it would be a good idea for Orange Bank to take them on. They may not be greatly experienced, but they're dedicated, they know this project and are already heavily involved."

"So hire them and bill us for their time. We're already resigned to paying for it. With AMI out of the picture, we've already eliminated Owen, Jean and Bruno at two hundred dollars an hour each. That's already a significant savings."

"We still have to discuss terms and rates."

"I'll make this very simple for you, here's an offer you can't refuse. It would probably sound better coming from Bruno," Simms chuckled. "We're going to modify the same contract we have with AMI and change it over to Landmark. Other than the firm name, everything else stays the same. You will complete the project at the same rates AMI charged us. That's one hundred twenty five dollars an hour per programmer. One hundred fifty dollars an hour for the manager. I assume that the rates are satisfactory?"

"I have no complaint."

"Naturally we will remove from the contract all references to the positions of director, senior director and vice president. If Landmark does decided to promote you to a higher position, it will not be at Orange Bank's expense."

"Landmark doesn't work that way," Bill said, "we're not AMI."

"And it's precisely because you're not AMI that we want you to handle this project. As soon as I speak to Helsig and make sure he agrees, we're all set to go. I'll messenger the contract over to you today and by Monday morning, Landmark and Orange Bank will have a direct relationship. We've already got offices prepared for you and your team."

"Sounds like you've been planning this for a while."

"Unlike your former superiors, I like to be prepared."

"I'll give you a call as soon as I have the contracts signed."

A half hour later, Owen barged in and demanded that Bill come to Marv Helsig's office immediately. Bill followed his former director and found Jean and Marv already there. Helsig was the managing partner on the project. Arthur Mitchell was a privately held company, owned by several thousand partners. Each partner was responsible for a particular group. Marv was in charge of the overall projects managed by three Vice Presidents, Bruno being one of them. Previously, Bill had only met him for a quick handshake with each of his promotions and fleetingly at office parties. Marv was a tall, fit man with distinguished white hair and tanned features. It was said that he spent most of his time on his boat and let his Vice Presidents run things as they saw fit. The truth of this claim could not be more evident than at today's meeting. It was obvious that Marv had not known any of the details of this project and was first learning about the high turnover and the employees returning as consultants.

"I must say that I'm shocked at what I've discovered today," Marv began. "I always felt that a good manager could empower his people to make the right decisions, so I didn't involve myself in the day-to-day details of each project. I trusted my Vice Presidents to follow standard business procedures and our established rule book. It seems that my trust has been misplaced. I am just now learning that company policy was flouted with impunity at the highest levels."

"Just to set the record straight," Bruno said, "I must point out the by the time my Senior Director brought the matter to my attention, the rules had already been violated. I did my best to rectify the situation, but it was too late for a full correction."

"I based my decision on incomplete information provided by my director," Jean was quick to add.

"And my decision was based on what my senior manager told me," Owen retorted.

"This is not the time to get involved in a finger-pointing contest," Marv interrupted. "There is plenty of blame to go around and we'll conduct an investigation later."

"I'd like to point out something, if I may," Bill said.

"Since I haven't heard from you yet, you may have the floor. But please keep it brief."

"I'm sure everyone in this room is familiar with the poem, 'For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost'. That's precisely the situation here. It seems that aside from the development team, and I include myself, everyone from director on up was more interested in playing 'cover your ass' than in providing our client with the service that Arthur Mitchell is known for. Owen may have been a competent manager, but as a director, whose job was to interface with the clients and come up with schedules, he came up short. But instead of admitting that he needed help or consulting with me, he simply charged ahead and provided us with impossible schedules. No matter how many times I pointed it out, he just kept doing it. Of course, the client wanted to know why we were always behind schedule, so Owen picked a scapegoat, fired him and kept right on going. As long as his ass was covered, nothing else mattered. When the situation reached a point that Jean had to be brought in, she didn't want anyone questioning her director. After all, if she didn't cover Owen's ass, he wouldn't cover hers. So she blindly protected Owen despite his blatant incompetence, even to the point of firing her lead programmer and her project manager. When Bruno was called in, all he was concerned with is how would it look if other people found out that he allowed a possible conflict of interest. He didn't care that in reality there wasn't any. He didn't care that it was the only way to save the project. He just cared about appearances and particularly how it would reflect on him. So he continued the trend which brings us to the situation today. It could all have been prevented months ago, but everyone let Owen be the nail that brought down this kingdom."

"Is there any point in continuing with the finger-pointing?" Marv asked.

"There is a point to my observation," Bill maintained, "I'm the only one in this room who is not an Arthur Mitchell employee and has no interest in protecting my job. I'm bringing this up because the same mentality and work ethic that led to this situation still exists at AMI. Whatever the outcome of this meeting, you should still institute a management review process here that will prevent this from happening in the future."

"Your point is well taken," Marv said, in a tone which indicated that he wasn't really interested, "now can we continue with the purpose of this meeting? I have just heard from Orange Bank. They have made a request, but judging from where we stand now, it's more like a demand. They will drop all legal action if we turn over to them immediately all source code for the project, which belongs to them in any case and grant them and Landmark a release to bypass us and work directly with each other."

"And will we comply?" Bruno asked.

"We don't have any choice. A lawsuit will cost us millions and damage our reputation. If we comply with their request, they also promise to keep quiet about this whole matter and that's what's most important to us right now."

"So if it's a fait accomplis, what's the purpose of this meeting?"

"There is still one loose end to be considered," Marv answered. "This deal is predicated on the belief that Landmark will agree to take on the project directly."

"From Landmark's perspective, can anyone suggest a downside?" Bill asked.

"It will mean drawing up a new contract and working out all the details," Owen said.

"Not really," Mike told him, "They can use the one with AMI as a template and make a few changes."

"You should be familiar with that, Owen," Bill said, "It's just a simple modification. Too bad it will cost you the project."

"That's still assuming that Landmark will take it," Owen commented.

"Is there any reason why they shouldn't?" Bill demanded.

"Because knowing that we're being forced to give it up over our objections and knowing that Orange Bank is our client and knowing that if you don't take it, Orange Bank will have to let AMI keep it, you might consider it unethical to accept even with our coerced permission," Jean explained.

"And if you do take it, you can never expect to work for AMI again," Owen added.

Bill began to laugh. "You know, Owen, you crack me up. You never know when to stop talking. You always have to throw in one extra gratuitous threat. I wouldn't be working for AMI now except that you were in a jam and I had this personal need to see this project through and prove myself. This whole thing was handled secretly. No one's even supposed to know that there's a consulting firm on this project. So I don't expect to ever work for AMI again. Therefore, what's the point of your empty threat? However, Jean does raise a point about ethics. Is it unethical to take a project away from AMI, with AMI's written permission, just because I happen to know that AMI was forced into granting that permission? The way I see it, if AMI grants the permission, then they're doing it because it's better for them to acquiesce to their client's demand than to refuse. So it's AMI who's deciding that they're prepared to give up the project. True, it is possible that if Landmark refuses to take it, AMI may keep it. It's also possible that refusal will result in AMI becoming involved in a legal battle with Orange Bank and Landmark being dragged in. So I have to conclude that if Orange Bank offers Landmark the project and AMI grants us the permission to take it, we are prepared to do so."

There was a moment of silence. Then Owen spat out, "You son of a bitch."

"I'm a son of a bitch? What your feeble mind doesn't seem to grasp is that I'm doing AMI a favor, as I've been doing for years. If I hadn't agreed to come back to this project, AMI and Orange Bank would now be in court and you'd long be out of a job. But it seems that all my efforts did was postpone the inevitable. Your incompetence and stupidity has finally caught up with you. If Landmark turns down the project and Orange Bank sues AMI, you're history. If Landmark accepts the project and AMI loses their biggest client, you're still history. No matter what happens, your career here is over. And unlike most of the many people you've fired, in your case it's well deserved."

"I expected no less from you than sophomoric gloating," Jean commented.

"I wish I could be a bigger person and not gloat," Bill retorted, "but it's very hard to do when I encounter such a clear case of poetic justice. Did you forget how you gloated when you found out that I had a connection to Landmark and used that to get me fired? I warned you then that you were not acting in the best interest of AMI or the project and that nothing positive would come out of it. But you were too full of yourself. AMI be damned! The project be damned! Jean is mad because the guy she fired is still here and she can't stand it! You let your head swell to match the rest of you. I think losing your biggest client is big enough so that AMI will want more than just Owen's head on the platter. So now you're going to find out what it feels like to be in the hot seat."

"I see you're on a roll," Bruno remarked, "no parting shot for me?"

"I never had any real animosity towards you," Bill said. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt that unlike Owen and Jean, you really believed that you were acting in the best interest of AMI. I don't know how many sacrifices the partners will demand. You still stand a good chance of keeping your job. You'll probably never make partner, but then again, thanks to you I never will either."

"So now we know where we stand," Marv announced. "I believe this concludes our meeting."

Bill left Bruno's office, his mind spinning. He entered his own office and locked the door, just to be alone with his thoughts. After a few minutes, a knock sound at his door and Monica entered.

"Ask Natalya and Alex to join us," Bill told her, "what I have to tell you concerns all of you.

Orange Bank is definitely taking the contract away from AMI," he continued when all three had assembled, "and awarding it to Landmark."

"What about us?" Monica asked, "Will AMI fire us?"

"You know Owen. He's not going down alone. But I called Albert Simms at Orange Bank. At my recommendation, he would like to keep the project team together. But he's not looking to hire more programmers. So we came up with an alternate suggestion. I know it's not usually done this early in your careers, but how would you like to become consultants?"

"You mean work for Landmark?"

"You got it."

"Absolutely!"

"You didn't even take a moment to think about it."

"I didn't have to. First of all, working for Landmark has to be better than working for Owen. Second, it's not like I have any choice, if I'm going to get fired. Third, I learned a lot working for you and I want to continue to do so."

"You didn't even ask about salary."

"I assume it will be the same as I'm making here."

"I have to talk it over with Mark, but I'm suggesting thirty an hour for Monica, forty five for Natalya and sixty for Alex, due to your respective work experience."

"At an average of forty hours a week, that's twelve hundred a week!" Monica shouted, "That's a lot more than I'm making now."

"You'll soon discover that it's not as much as it sounds. You'll have to form a company, consult with an accountant, pay your own taxes, insurance and health benefits. Your twelve hundred a week is probably the equivalent of eight or nine hundred in salary. Of course, that's not counting overtime pay."

"It's still more than I'm earning here."

"Just to be completely fair to both the programmers and the client, let me say this. The client is being billed at the same rate per hour, regardless of who did the work. Though you will be paid for every hour you work, for the time being we will bill the client for half of Monica's hours and three quarters of Natalya's. When I feel that your work is improving, we will bill the client for a larger percentage of your work and raise your hourly fee appropriately."

"That sounds fair to me."

"How about you, Natalya?"

"Working for you without Owen sound very good to me. And the money sound even better."

"Then we're all agreed? If I can work this out, we're staying a team?" Everyone nodded their assent. "Good. Then as soon as I have the contracts approved, I'll get back to you. In the meantime, I suggest that you don't mention this to anyone. Arthur Mitchell might make trouble if you leave to join Landmark. We can't hire AMI employees. On the other hand, if they fire you, as Owen is sure to, they'll have no basis to complain and they'll also be paying you two weeks severance. I have your home numbers and you have mine. When Owen drops the boom, just act as if you don't know what you're doing next. So get back to your computers and keep working. As far as you're concerned, nothing's changed yet."

But that situation didn't last. Only a few minutes later, a commotion was heard as Owen came by to fire the programmers. Natalya and Monica made a big show of protesting that AMI had no right to discharge them. Bill smiled as he watched a performance deserving of an academy award. Owen's performance left much to be desired. Though he claimed to be doing this reluctantly under orders from his partner, he gloated as he watched the programmers pretend to be despondent over their situation. A few minutes later, they had the satisfaction of watching Owen blanch as Jean summoned him into her office. They waited for the outcome and could not help but overhear the angry words exchanged. Soon Owen emerged, grabbed his briefcase and stormed out of the office. His career at AMI was over.

Moments later, Jean stormed into the office that had been Bill's for the last few years, her face crimson with fury. "What are you still doing here? You no longer work for Arthur Mitchell. Get out!"

"I'm waiting for a messenger to deliver something and then I'll be out of here," Bill explained.

"No, I want you out now!" she shrieked, her voice cracking at the last syllable, reminding Bill of a child throwing a tantrum.

"Why don't you lie down on the floor and kick your heels for more effect?" Bill suggested, "That worked when my Suzie was three years old."

"I'm calling security to have you thrown out!" she screamed.

"There you are Jean," Bruno said, coming into the office, "I couldn't find you in your office, so I followed my ears here. We can hear you across the floor."

"I want this..this person thrown out of here!"

"Why are you still here, Bill?" Bruno asked.

"As I explained to Jean, I'm waiting for a messenger and then I'll be out of here."

"Fine, you do that," Bruno said, in a distracted tone. "Jean, can I see you in my office?"

Once again, the people who currently or formerly worked on the fourth floor of the Arthur Mitchell building were treated to the sounds of shouting.

"Resign? I can't resign! I need this job!" Bruno's response was calmer and could not be overheard, but Jean's retort was so shrill, people covered their ears. "Manager? You're demoting me three whole levels? You may as well fire me! I can't survive on that salary!" Some more murmurs followed as Bruno responded, then Jean shrieked again, "Don't make this all my fault! You were the one who fired Landey!" Some more mumbling and Jean burst out of Bruno's office in tears.

By then, the messenger had arrived with the contract from Orange Bank, Bill signed for it and for the last time, left the building where he had worked for over fifteen years.

And that was what set it all in motion, Bill thought, as he battled the storm. Owen couldn't control it and Jean didn't try. Bill had tried to control it, but he couldn't have known about all the political and financial ramifications that took place behind the scenes. So ultimately, the project had been entirely out of control and everyone involved had paid the price.