Free Kinsella (Kinsella Universe Book 1) by Gina Marie Wylie

made the call.  I asked about each of our contracts and was told they are ‘under review.’  When I asked what type of review, our guy in Washington told me he couldn’t say.”
    The suit looked at his boss.  “The cost of canceling even one contract would be prohibitive for the government.”
    Brian Taverner smiled slightly.  “Did you know my old man worked for GE, back in the day?  We lived in Phoenix and GE had a big computer manufacturing plant just north of town, back in the fifties.  One day, one of the engineers came in with a hot tip from a friend who’d seen the patent application that Texas Instruments filed on integrated circuits.
    “The engineers gathered round and read it.  They realized that the machine they were building was junk.  It was the size of a grand ballroom, used more vacuum tubes than Carter’s has liver pills, and more electricity than Burbank.  They went to management and said, ‘Hey, our computer is dead!  We need to cancel it and start working on something with integrated circuits.’”
    He stared at the suit, obviously expecting a question.
    “I guess I’m supposed to say I didn’t know GE ever made computers,” the suit volunteered reluctantly.
    “Once upon a time, a very long time ago, they used to.  However their management decided to ignore their engineers, because the company had sunk so much money into development of their new machine.  Two weeks later the order list went to zero as everyone canceled.  Three months later they shuttered the plant.  Eventually the plant was sold to Honeywell where they did make computers — with integrated circuits.”
    He smiled at Stephanie.  “I’m here to kiss some serious bootie, because I’m not going to make the same mistake the managers at GE made.  I’m not sure why you’ve graced us with your presence just now, but I have a feeling God loves us.”
    Captain Gilly was more practical.  “I wanted the Professor to see what the state of the current art is.  Was.  In exchange, she’s willing to discuss the patent at length, and, so long as we don’t get into a particular area that she’s the lead on, we can also discuss applications.”
    Brian nodded and turned back to the suit.  “Do you know how my story about GE ends?  My father and the other engineers quit GE in disgust the day after management told them they were going to continue the vacuum tube project.  At one time the computer company they formed was a household name in IT, before they sold out for big bucks.  And, surprise!  Their first computer was the size of a piano and had four times the memory than the one they’d been working on for GE, and you could run it on standard 220V service available in most commercial buildings.  They sold a lot of them.”
    He waved back towards the front of the building.  “Now, if you will, let’s go talk.”
    A few minutes later, they were in the conference room, already filled with people.  There was an excited buzz of conversation; this wasn’t how meetings were typically called.
    John Gilly stood next to Stephanie.  “Do you suppose you could let me toot your horn first?  To sort of smooth the way?”
    She looked at him steadily.  “Are you saying they might decide I’m a little young and a woman to boot and decide to ignore me?”
    John waved around the table.  Among the three dozen engineers and managers present, there were only two other women.  “This is too important to get off on the wrong foot.”
    “This is important to you,” she told him, “although I’m not sure why.  It’s not important to me.  I stand on my own two feet, and if dingbats and morons don’t get it... well, I leave them behind.”
    “Professor, please.  I’d like to think we’ve become something like friends in the last few days.  Besides, I’m only going to repeat the same speech the President gave me, and he’d never seen you.  Trust me, okay?”
    She stared at him for a second.  “The