At first Beth was worried that she’d done something wrong, but when she saw the satisfied smile on her director’s face, she felt as though she’d won a lottery.
“Your report was excellent, Beth.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You keep doing work like this you’ll be promoted to a field position in no time. Is that something that interests you?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it, but yes, I guess so.”
“Doing related material, of course, interviews, follow-ups. This book you quote a lot, what was the name of it?”
“When Prophecy Fails.”
“Yes. A gold mine. Certainly you brought a lot of your own theories to this, but...wherever did you find it?”
She was going to mention the name of the computer nerd, the one who told her about the book, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember it. Rather than looking stupid, she just said:
“It was...something I’d known about for some time, sir.”
She would make it up to him, somehow, later.
6. Chairman of the Bored
Molloy: Bright-eyed, bearded, red-haired, deep voiced, giant. Fat now. Whispers. Hand shakes when wiping thinning hair. A juggernaut? Direct merchandising may cheer him.
Bensen: Long, lean, spider. Public Relations maestro. Makes stars, presidents and kings. Center of infinite web. Spent last year at parties, keeping contacts, never staying, never home. Vagabond. Drug dependent? Weakest link? Hides it well.
Mannon: Short, sleeping god. Too rich to be considered a single person. Vast Phoenix folded into its own wings for protection. Not to be awakened until the end of world.
Bud Bean: If world did end would wait for new one, hop on without missing beat. Clump of white in center of blonde. No other discernible change. Switch in back of head, off. Must turn on. Right hand. Understands me. Will listen.