Hypersonic Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age by Walter J. Boyne Page B

first flight glitches had kept them occupied for most of the trip out from Seattle—the cooling system was difficult to regulate—but by the time they were inbound to Tinker, they had a chance to catch up.
    “How did the board of directors meeting go last October, Harry? Everything I’ve heard says it was very peaceful.”
    “It was peaceful on the day of the board meeting, but a nightmare on the thirteenth, the day before. Tom decided to keep Nancy out of the loop until then. She knew something was happening, but had no idea that we were going to call for her replacement. When Tom told her that I was going to take over her position, she burst into tears andhad a fit of hysteria. He’d never seen her like that before, although some of us had a few times, when things didn’t go her way.”
    “Tough on Tom, eh?”
    “Yeah, it went on for about an hour, with her alternating between crying and making threats, or so he tells me. Then all of a sudden, she bursts into tears again, throws herself into his arms, and says she was glad it was over. She said she would voluntarily resign, and throw her votes, even all her proxies, whichever way Tom said.”
    “Must have been a relief for everybody.”
    “Yeah, except for the fact that I don’t really want the job. I hate the paperwork involved. But Tom refuses to take it, says he’s too hotheaded, and he’s right. But I wish you had stayed with the firm, and you could take over. You’re a lot better at this modern stuff”—he waved his hand around the equipment packed fuselage of the AWACS—“than I am.”
    “Tom would never have stood for that, Harry. Nancy was bad enough, I would have been intolerable to him.”
    They talked for a while about the Shannons, then Harry asked, “How many of these big buckets do you think they’ll build?”
    “Not enough—too expensive. The Air Force is talking about buying sixty-four; if it winds up with half that it will be lucky. But we’ll sell a few to the NATO countries, and Japan, maybe.”
    “Well, I can see where your strategy for your company is better than ours. We get in on the initial production run, but you are there for the updates.”
    Rodriquez nodded. “Exactly, it’s the same with the B-52, they’ll constantly be adding new equipment to the old airframes.”
    Harry Shannon shook his head.
    “Yeah, we’re doing better at that, but we’ve got a long way to go. You know, this business about adding new equipment to old airframes, Bob, Dad told us exactly that so many years ago. Somehow Tom and I never got the message. We’ve got to shift gears faster if we are going to make it.”
    “That’s what worries, me, Harry. We’ve already seen how much better you are doing. You’ve picked up a few contracts lately that we thought we had sewn up. The Vance Shannon name still means a lot. If you guys stick to your new business plan, you’ll do well, even though the market’s in a decline. And the better you do, the tougher it will be for ActOn. It is not easy as it is; we are locked into somelong-term development stuff that is all outlay and no income for years.”
    Harry knew he was talking about the GPS system, but didn’t let on. There was no way Vance Shannon, Incorporated, was getting into something as far out as the GPS, not for a while, anyway.
    “Well, we blew it on the Space Shuttle. We haven’t had any contracts so far, but we’re working with Rockwell to help on some of the maintenance efforts down at Cape Canaveral. There should be some money in that.”
    “Yeah, we’re looking at it, too.”
    They were quiet as the AWACS finally touched down, its tires squeaking on the long Tinker runway.
    Then, embarrassed, Rodriquez asked, “You hear anything from Mae?”
    “Nancy and Anna do. I’m glad you brought that up. Mae’s been asking about working with us. How would you feel about that?”
    Rodriquez bristled. “She doesn’t need to work for anybody, not with the settlement I made and the alimony