Читать книгу The Protectors of the Saltire - William Speir - Страница 12

February 1, 8:30 AM

The Home Office of SignalCorps Technologies Inc.

At the same time that Tom was meeting with his boss about his promotion, Emily was across town at a meeting with SignalCorps’ CEO, Edison Travis Shane. She wasn’t sure why he wanted to see her but had accepted the meeting invitation without asking questions. Shane had a flair for the dramatic, so whatever the reason was, she wanted to let him have his moment.

Emily remembered when she had first met Shane. It was Tom who suggested that she get a patent on the surveillance camera system she had developed to help with interventions for the Order. “It’s a great system,” he had said to her. “If you can find a partner to mass-produce it, I think the military and law enforcement would provide a terrific market for you. There’s a lot of money to be made with a system like yours.”

Emily finally agreed and filed her designs with the United States Patent Office. After receiving her patent registrations, she started looking for someone who could manufacture the system – someone who had experience with the technology and a reputation in the industry for superior products. She stumbled onto SignalCorps while reading a trade magazine and was surprised to discover that they were local. After doing some research, she decided to reach out to the company and see if they had an interest in her system.

The first meeting was supposed to be with just the head of Research & Development. When she walked into the meeting, she could tell right off that he didn’t take her seriously. Emily was a college graduate, but she didn’t have advanced degrees in electronics. The head of R&D had two PhD’s and clearly thought that no one without equal credentials could develop any product worth his time. He also didn’t believe a beautiful woman could design an advanced surveillance system that could possibly work better than what was already on the market.

However, once Emily demonstrated her system to him, he changed his attitude toward her and the system. By the end of the demonstration, she could tell that he was excited. But when he excused himself and left her alone in the conference room, Emily wondered if he were coming back. She had started packing up her equipment when the head of R&D came back with several other people.

The head of R&D introduced Emily to the heads of Product Marketing and Manufacturing for the company. Then he introduced her to Shane. She recognized him from a picture of him that she had seen while doing research on the company, and she was surprised that he seemed very friendly. From his educational background and work history, she expected someone more like the head of R&D in terms of behavior, but Shane wasn’t a typical techno-geek. He had a brilliant mind for circuits, business, and people. This combination made him very successful and allowed him to attract and retain great employees and loyal customers.

Emily was asked to demonstrate her system again, and by the end of the meeting, everyone was excited about the product and its potential. At first, Shane wanted to buy the patents outright, but Emily didn’t want to let go of control over her designs. In the end, they agreed on a partnership. Shane would pay Emily for the right to manufacture the system, as well as a percentage of each unit sold. The deal was fair, and both felt there was tremendous potential to make a great deal of money.

Now that the manufacturing bugs had been corrected, it was time to release the product on the market. Emily knew that Shane had done some test marketing, and the initial results were encouraging, but Shane wanted to make a big splash with the general release to the public. Emily wondered if that was the reason for the meeting that morning.

“Good morning, Emily,” Shane said as she was escorted into his office.

“Good morning, Edison,” she replied. “What’s so urgent that you needed to see me? Is there a problem with the product?”

“No, no, nothing like that. I have a plan for the initial release to the public, but I wanted to run it past you first.”

Once they sat down in his office, Shane continued. “First of all, you know that we’ve been testing the waters with the product, both with the military and with law enforcement. I have to tell you… I’ve never seen such enthusiasm for a product like this before. We already have a number of pre-release orders, and word-of-mouth is spreading like wildfire. I think this could be the biggest surveillance product ever!”

Emily was surprised and happy to hear this. It still felt a little surreal to her that someone else would be interested in a product that she had built primarily for herself.

Shane continued. “Second, in thinking of the best way to market this system, it occurred to me that a normal marketing campaign would simply not be good enough. People need to see this product in action, not just read about it in a press release or advertisement. So, I finally came up with the perfect idea.

“Every spring, there’s an annual military trade show, conference, and expo called ‘Tower.’ It’s the largest trade show in the defense industry, but law enforcement attends as well. There are vendors from every part of the defense industry, military personnel, law enforcement personnel, politicians – in short, our target market. I’ve made arrangements for SignalCorps to be there this year. Our featured product will be your system. We’ll have a number of live demonstrations to show people how the system works. I was thinking that we could hide cameras all around the Convention Center and at the booth to show how well the system works and how easy it is to operate. We’ve also been given the opportunity to speak at the conference regarding covert surveillance using this system. What do you think about that?”

Emily thought about it for a moment. “It sounds like a really great plan,” she said. “I agree that the product will sell better to people who have used it, rather than just read about it.”

“Excellent,” Shane said. “And I can’t think of anyone better suited to demonstrate the product or make the covert surveillance presentation than the product’s creator. You’re one of the most eloquent speakers I’ve ever met, and you know the product inside-out. I can have marketing staff there to handle orders, as well as some of the manufacturing staff there to discuss how it’s assembled, but it needs your expertise to bring the demonstration alive.”

“You’re not suggesting that I be some sort of ‘booth babe,’ are you?” Emily asked, referring to the practice of using very attractive women at trade shows to make sales.

“Not at all,” Shane said quickly. “I want the product to be represented by the best person, and that’s you. The fact that you’re stunning is incidental. If you want to ugly yourself up for the show, that’s entirely up to you.”

Emily smiled at the compliment. “Okay, you sold me. Where’s Tower being held this year?”

“It’s going to be in Orlando, Florida. I checked, and the Rothschild Centre hotel is right across the street. I’ve booked a number of rooms there already, and I was able to get you a VIP suite – a little gift to you from SignalCorps. It might be a good idea to get there a couple of days early and stay a few extra days in case we need to schedule any private demonstrations. That would also give you some extra time to enjoy Orlando. It is, after all, the vacation capital of the world!”

They talked for a while longer about the trade show and what her role would be. As she left SignalCorps’ offices, she thought to herself that a vacation would be a great idea. That would be a great way to celebrate our anniversary. Tom could use the time off, and we need a getaway after this past year. She became excited. She felt that this news called for a celebration. She picked up her cell phone and dialed the number of their favorite restaurant. She made a reservation for that evening and called Tom to let him know.

Tom was still in the meeting with his staff, so Emily left him a voice message telling him when to be home so they could get to dinner on time. I’ll tell him tonight that this is my suggestion for how to celebrate our anniversary. It’ll be perfect. She was still smiling as she drove back to her studio.

Tom noticed his message light flashing a moment after he hung up with the restaurant. He entered his password and heard Emily’s message telling him that she had made the reservation and that she had a surprise for him. He was curious as he cleared the message and hung up the phone. Evidently tonight’s going to be a double celebration!

Later that afternoon, he glanced at the clock. Look at the time! I need to hurry if I’m going to pick up Emily and get to the restaurant in time for our reservation. He finished printing off the information about Orlando and his plans for their vacation, and put the papers in a large envelope. He shut down his computer, put on his coat, and left the office.

Emily had just finished printing off the information about Orlando and her suggestions for their vacation when she heard Tom pull into the garage. She put the information in a large envelope, shut down the computer, and ran to get her coat.

She was at the garage door waiting for Tom when he walked inside and put down his briefcase. She gave him a hug and a kiss before he could see what she was wearing. When she stepped back, Tom was impressed. She was wearing a little hunter green dress which set off her red hair and green eyes. It was his favorite outfit of hers.

“You look gorgeous, sweetheart!” he said as he helped her put on her coat.

“Thank you, honey,” she replied with a smile. “Shall we go?”

They got in the car and drove to the restaurant. They talked a little about their day, but revealed nothing about the reasons for the celebration that evening.

They arrived at the restaurant and walked inside, each keeping their envelopes hidden from the other. Tom helped Emily take off her coat when they reached the table, but as she sat down, her envelope fell and made a loud sound as it hit the floor.

“What’s this?” Tom asked, reaching down to pick it up.

“It’s for later,” Emily said, taking it out of Tom’s hands.

Tom said nothing as he took his seat, grateful that his envelope was still hidden. When the waiter came over to take their drink order, Tom and Emily both ordered a bottle of champagne at the same time. The waiter smiled and walked away after Tom and Emily, laughing, made sure he understood that they needed only one bottle.

Tom looked at Emily. “Well, obviously we’re here to celebrate something. Did you know that I tried to make a reservation here for tonight, too?”

“No, do you have something you’re celebrating?” Emily asked.

“Yes, but you first. This was your idea before it was mine.”

“No, you first.”

Tom shrugged. Evidently Emily wanted to go last. He told her about the visit from his boss and his promotion. Emily’s eyes opened wide with delight as Tom told her about his new responsibilities.

“Tom, that’s great!” she said with a huge smile. “I’m SO proud of you!”

“It was totally unexpected,” Tom said. “At first I thought they were closing the office and firing all of us. I’m glad that didn’t happen!”

“That would never happen,” Emily said, taking his hand in hers. “You work too hard and are too valuable to them.”

“Thanks, sweetheart. There’s more, but I want to hear your news first.”

Emily told Tom about her meeting with Shane and the plans for the product launch. Tom had to suppress a laugh as she told him about the Tower conference and what Shane wanted her to do there.

“So, I was thinking that we could make a vacation out of it,” she said, handing Tom her envelop. “They reserved a suite, and the hotel is close to all the attractions in that part of Florida. I thought maybe we could even go to some of the theme parks. We’ve talked about it a couple of times, and I’ve never been there. I printed out some information about the hotel and ticket prices for the parks,” she said as she opened the envelope and showed Tom what she had printed off.

Tom tried to keep a straight face, but couldn’t. He finally burst out laughing, just as the waiter returned with the champagne.

Emily looked hurt. “What’s so funny about this? I thought it would be a great way to celebrate our anniversary.”

Tom handed her his envelope. “It’s the other part of my news for you. I’ve been asked to represent the company and speak at one of the sessions at Tower this year. The company booked us a suite at the Rothschild Centre, and I was thinking that it would make a great vacation for us.” He opened his envelope and handed Emily the ticket confirmations he had printed out. “I already bought us tickets for the theme parks because I knew that you always wanted to go there. This is how I was going to suggest we celebrate our anniversary.”

Emily stared at Tom for a moment and burst out laughing, too. The waiter finished pouring the champagne and left the table, realizing that it wasn’t the right time to see if they were ready to order dinner.

“I can’t believe this,” Emily said after a few minutes. “I finally think of the perfect thing to do for our anniversary, and you come up with the exact same thing!”

“I guess it’s true that great minds think alike,” Tom replied. “I just can’t believe that we’re both presenting at Tower, although it looks like you’re going to be a lot busier than I’ll be.”

“Well,” Emily said, raising her glass of champagne, “at least I won’t have to work too hard to convince you that this is a great idea for a vacation.”

Tom raised his glass and touched it to hers. “Congratulations, sweetheart, and happy anniversary,” he said.

“Congratulations, honey, and happy anniversary,” she replied.