Starfire by Charles Sheffield Page A

clearly come as a shock. The engineer was sitting speechless, eyebrows raised and mouth open like a startled frog.
    "I know nothing of Mr. Hyslop's background," Maddy said. See, Dr. Colombo, I can lie as well as you. "However, I have every confidence in your judgment of him. When would the transfer take place?"
    "I assume that time is of the essence." Bruno Colombo frowned. "Therefore, I see no reason for delay. Reassignment can happen immediately."
    "No!" Hyslop came back to life. "Director, that's totally impossible."
    "Why?"
    "Because things can't just be dropped when I'm right in the middle of them."
    John Hyslop's rush of words and incredulous look told Maddy a lot. Bruno Colombo might think he was the god of Sky City, but there was an awful lot going on here that he didn't know about.
    "I'm deep into a dozen projects," Hyslop continued, "here and out on the shield. We must have continuity—at the very least, I have to summarize the things that only I know about."
    "Hyslop, you have filed numerous reports attesting to the competence of your chief assistant. Are you denying the truth of those?"
    "You mean Lauren Stansfield? Of course not. She's exceptionally able and knowledgeable. She understands all the systems of Sky City as well as anyone. But she's mainly an inside worker, not an open-space specialist."
    "Where is she now?"
    "At the moment she happens to be out on the shield. But that's unusual. She doesn't have nearly as good a grasp of shield engineering as, say Will Davis."
    "So we will divide your old responsibilities. Lauren Stansfield will handle problems of Sky City engineering, and Will Davis will deal with outside activities relating to the shield. I assume that you are confident of Davis's abilities?"
    "Certainly. He's first-rate. But—well—it's not really that easy."
    Maddy could see how the argument was going. John Hyslop didn't have a chance against Bruno Colombo. It had little to do with seniority, and nothing to do with who was right. She would bet that John never won an argument with Colombo. The director had a more assertive personality.
    And Maddy? Maybe. It was just as well that there had been no argument. But Maddy was increasingly sure she deserved no credit for that. Everything had been greased before she ever set foot on Sky City.
    "I agree, you need to tie up what you've been doing." She interrupted Colombo, who was now demanding to know why the full status of each project had not been given in weekly progress reports. "We are hoping for fast action, too, but we don't want to jeopardize ongoing work. We don't want to make anyone have to admit he acted too quickly, and without adequate thought." Yes, Director, that could mean you. "How long will you need, Mr. Hyslop, before you are ready to make the transfer?"
    "I can coordinate everything with Lauren Stansfield and Will Davis and be ready to go in a week."
    "A whole week!" Bruno Colombo spoke to John Hyslop, but he was looking at Maddy. "Really, that sounds ridiculously long."
    "It's acceptable." Maddy was sure of it, someone had been applying heat to Bruno Colombo. She turned to the director. "So we agree. One week it is, then the official transfer. But I need Mr. Hyslop to make a brief trip to Earth beforehand, for general introductions. That should be done as soon as possible." Maddy winced inside, knowing that she had just committed herself to another shuttle trip and no sleep. "We also need a planning session here to discuss overall schedules. Where can we hold such a meeting?"
    The director waved a hand around the office. "Right here. We can continue where we are."
    "Not unless you are ready to give up your office." Maddy was pushing deliberately, curious to see just how much ground Colombo was willing to give. "I need a private session, just me and John Hyslop. We have to get to know each other, and there are sensitive matters of Argos Group activities that cannot involve you."
    Bruno Colombo's face reddened, and for a moment Maddy