Azel Anne - Journeys.txt

(593 KB) Pobierz
CHINA
 
Chapter 1
Dr. Petra Vossler pulled her jeep into one of the parking places reserved for Kurt Vossler, president and owner of Vossler Engineering Corporation. The five parking spots weren't marked in any way, and except for their location right beside the private elevator that went to the top floor of the Vossler Building, there was no indication of rank or privilege. Kurt Vossler was a proud man, but not one who felt the need to flaunt his power. He expected people to recognize his achievements and respect him for them. No one ever parked in these spaces without permission; it was simply understood.
Petra used her key to activate the security system and then punched in her access code. The elevator doors slid open with a soft hiss, and she crossed over from the functional cement world of the workers into the luxury and prestige of the corporate executive. The offices didn't really suit the no-nonsense sort of man her father was, but corporate image was everything. Petra understood this, but like her father, she wasn't always comfortable with it. The carpet in the elevator was a deep pile of burgundy, the walls brass and teak with inlays of mirror. Petra kept her face neutral, knowing that cameras and microphones were part of the elevator's security system.
A minute later, she exited on the top floor. Olive Bond was there to greet her. "Dr. Vossler, welcome. Mr. Vossler asked that you wait for him in his private office. He'll be there in five minutes."
"Thank you, Olive. It's been a while. I hope your husband and the twins are all well," Petra said as they walked across the spacious reception room to the president's office.
"Yes, the family is fine. Jason bought another store, and the boys will be going off to university this fall. Sam plans to study computer science, and Mike wants to take a law degree, then a Masters in business. I think they intend to form a new company and build it up as they go."
 
"Good for them. Do they still build computers on the side?" Petra stopped at the door to her father's office and allowed Olive to open it for her.
"Yes, in fact they have enough money from their business and scholarships to put themselves through university. But they feel PCs are old technology now and they want to move into other areas. They're hardworking boys. Jason and I are very proud of them." Olive stepped into Kurt Vossler's private office and held the door for Petra to follow.
Petra Vossler was a beautiful woman. She was of average height, her hair was the rich colour of mahogany, and her eyes were chocolate brown, like her father's. Like her father, too, she was intelligent and successful, but there the comparison ended. Kurt Vossler was tall, aloof, and a tough business competitor. His only child was more like her late mother: friendly, vivacious, and concerned about social issues. Her doctorate was in Social Science.
Kurt Vossler had never indicated to anyone how he felt about his daughter's choice of career. The Vosslers didn't talk about their private lives. Even Olive, who had worked as Kurt's private administrative assistant for the last five years, could write what she knew about the family in a single paragraph. On the other hand, Petra knew enormous amounts about the private lives of the people who worked for Vossler Engineering, as did Kurt. Despite the fact that he was a rather stiff and distant man, he had never forgotten Olive's birthday, and always wished her a happy anniversary. And the year that Jason had been in a terrible car accident, Kurt had cancelled all his meetings, taken her and the boys to the hospital, and seen to it that Jason got the very best of care.
Kurt Vossler seemed to be a very intimidating and arrogant man. He wasn't. He was very loyal to his employees and took a personal interest in their lives, but he was also a proud and reserved man, and business came first.
Olive asked if Petra would like coffee and then left, closing the door with a soft click. Petra stood by the window, looking down over the city of Kitchener, Ontario. Her father had emigrated from Germany as a young boy, a number of years after World War II. Like so many in Europe, he had lost his family in those dark years. His father, a soldier, had been killed in the war, and his mother had died during the Allied bombings of Dresden. Kurt had come to Canada to live with a distant cousin and to start a new life.
 
Kitchener had been settled by German immigrants in the nineteenth century, and at one time had been called Berlin. That name had been change during World War I, and the town renamed after the famous British general in order to show loyalty to the Commonwealth.
Petra sighed. Life was all about new starts. A little over four weeks ago, her father had suffered a mild heart attack. That information had been kept very quiet. Kurt Vossler was Vossler Engineering, and the company's worth would plummet if it were known that the owner-president was seriously ill.
The door to the office opened and Petra turned to smile at the tall, handsome man who stood there. At sixty-five, Kurt Vossler looked far more fit than many fifty-year olds. But as Petra walked across the room and hugged her father, she could see grayness in his skin and stress lines around his eyes that hadn't been there last year.
"Hi, Dad. How are you feeling today?"
"Not so bad, honey. Those pills I put under my tongue work well, but I get tired more quickly now," Kurt said. Petra smiled affectionately. Her father knew better than to try to keep things from her. She'd always had a way of worming the truth out of him.
The two sat down in the conversation area overlooking the city, and Petra took her Palm Pilot from her shoulder bag.
"Well, you went over the resumes, who do you recommend?" Kurt asked, settling down to business.
"Quin Venizelos," Petra said.
Kurt grimaced.
"Dad, she's the only one with the brains and drive to fill your shoes. If you name her as your successor, the investors will feel confident in the company. I hope you're not hesitating because she's gay," Petra said.
"My own daughter is gay. That's not an issue."
Petra busied herself arranging the resume data of the regional directors on her Palm Pilot. "It could be an issue with the stockholders," she said.
"Business doesn't care who, what, or how many an executive sleeps with, as long as the profit growth is in the double digits. Sexual morality doesn't belong in the boardroom," Kurt said.
"Then what's the issue?" Petra asked, placing her PDA on the table and looking directly at her father.
"She's a strange one. Wild."
"Brilliant," countered Petra.
 
"Unpredictable."
"She has an amazing success rate."
"I don't like her," he said.
"I'm not surprised." Petra laughed. "She seems to be a lot like you: focussed, a risk taker, and determined."
"She runs our Pacific Rim division as if it's her own private company. She never asks permission; she notifies me of what she's done. She's a loose cannon," Vossler said.
"Has she ever made a poor decision? Have you ever had reason to question her loyalty?" Petra asked.
"No," her father said. "The Pacific Rim is our biggest growth sector by far, but it's a huge market, so I can't completely give the credit to Venizelos."
"Agreed. But you have to admit that having someone who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese and is familiar with the various cultures is a great advantage?not to mention the fact that she speaks three other languages reasonably well, and has degrees in engineering and business."
Petra suspected he enjoyed debating with her because she always came prepared for battle. She also surmised he felt better when he saw, if only for a few minutes, the spunky, impetuous, independent girl he had known before Val's accident.
"She's more than qualified and has the experience to back up her studies. So I ask you, Petra, why hasn't she formed her own company? Why has she stayed with me?"
"Is that what's making you hesitate?" Petra rested her chin on the arm she draped over the back of her chair.
"She's a dark horse. I don't know what makes her tick. Also, she has a temper, and apparently no fear. I just don't know, Petra. What about Wilson, or Schumann?"
"They're damn good administrators, but they haven't got the drive or the vision to take Vossler Engineering into the twenty-first century. Venizelos has," Petra said.
For a few minutes, Kurt sat staring out the window, looking as if he were weighing all the factors. "I trust your judgement, but I'm not willing to hand this company to someone I hardly know. She's always worked in the Far East. She shows up for our stockholder and policy meetings like a damn typhoon, gets what she wants, and disappears back to her own half of the world. I don't understand the woman at all, and I don't think she's a bit like me."
 
Petra tried not to smile. "We could send out some feelers. See if we could pick up somebody good from another company," she suggested. "But that could take some time."
Kurt nodded. "We'll do that as a backup measure. In the meantime, 1 want you to go out to China and get to know Quin Venizelos. Then we'll decide."
"Dad, I do have my own career."
"It's summer. You teachers don't work in the summer."
"I'm a professor, and I do research in the summer and teachers?"
Vossler waved a hand to stop her favourite tirade about how hard teachers worked and how little the public appreciated their efforts. "You'll go?" he asked.
Normally, Petra would have argued that her own life and studies were too important for her to simply drop them and leave at a moment's notice. She knew that stress was definitely not good for him at this stage of his recovery.
"All right, I'll go, but you owe me big for this one."
 
Chapter 2
A week later, Quin Venizelos stood outside the Customs arrival gate ...
Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin