Synopsis

When the World’s silicon fabrication plants start experiencing an unexplained nose-dive in their yield of functioning ‘silicon chips’, a single company develops new advanced techniques and manages to saturate the market with it’s own products in direct competition. Soon there are steps taken by others who are losing money, to steal the secrets needed to duplicate the plant. A man is duly paid a great deal of money to undertake this task, but nobody anticipates him falling for one of the beautiful, yet mysterious young women who works there.

"What he means is the company owns us." butted in beef risotto waving his fork in an explanatory manner. "The company say's go; we go. The company say's fly, we fly."

Roberts smiled.

"I was recruited to work on the C.F. project, if that means anything to either of you two?"

Greenwood nodded without looking up.

"Short for Custom Formulation? Triple layer multimode global processors; for the twentyfirst century and beyond. What all our customers are waiting for we are told. I take it that you must have experience in this area as the company only seems to like the best and the most qualified to work on it's Platinum project?"

"I was poached from Stura Semi's." ( a remark which Roberts knew to be not strictly speaking true )

Greenwood whistled through his teeth.

"Another one from Stura eh. You hear that Alan?"

Rice was not listening as he had just made an attempt to grab the arm of a young woman who was passing the end of their table.

"A ladies' man is our Alan." said Greenwood with a broad grin, which revealed his pearl white set of teeth, "But not always successful." he added as the young woman dodged aside and shook her head at the offer of the remaining spare place at their table as she continued on her way.

"Pretty girl; who was that?" remarked Roberts as he shifted on his chair so as to watch her make her way across to one of the remaining free tables over by the tall plate glass window that extended along one complete side of the room.

"Melissa Forbes." said Rice, shrugging his shoulders and returning his attentions to his plate. "Engaged and currently out of circulation."

A wry smile spread to Rice's lips as he started to agitate the well saturated solution in the china cup with a white plastic spoon..

"I'm sure that I wasn't the first, and certainly won't be the last old chap."

Roberts once again focussed his attention on the young woman seated at the table by the window. From where he was sitting he found that he could observe her shapely silhouette as she talked with her friend without it being at all obvious.To his eye at least she was every bit as attractive as any other woman currently in the room. She possessed a head of long honey coloured hair which was neatly tied back, was amply proportioned in all places where it mattered most and was wearing a short patterned dress which flattered her figure.

"She'll spot you looking at her in a minute." warned Rice as he noisily tossed his fork down onto a none-too-well cleared plate and wiped his mouth on a paper serviette. Roberts had been trying to be discrete about his curiosity in the young woman but clearly Rice wasn't fooled.

"I don't think she could see me anyway." declared Roberts feeling somewhat irritated and henceforth prepared to change the subject. "So there are other ex. Stura Semi employees her too?" he asked on picking up the tepid cup of tea he had all but forgotten from his own tray.

"I know of several that come to mind immediately. Two at least in the last month. At this rate Stura will go out of business, along with Nitad, AUC and Toga if you ask me. There are heaps of unskilled workers out there, but only a limited number with the skills needed for semiconductor fabrication and marketing "

Roberts learnt a great deal about the way his new employer operated over the following quarter of an hour, which turned out to be substantially more than he had learnt from the two formal interviews he had attended in the preceding month, as the current observations were being made by two regular employees of the company, rather than simply consisting of information generated by the company on how it wished to portray itself.

Towards the conclusion of the conversation with Alan Rice (a few minutes after Josh Greenwood had excused himself to buy some petrol for his car), Roberts gradually perceived an uncomfortable feeling of being watched. Not just the ordinary  feelings of uneasiness that we all must have experienced in a crowded room, this was a strong enough sensation to make him feel a bit queasy deep down in the pit of his stomach. Rice was still chattering away about some woman he had met on his most recent sales 'jolly' to the continent when his words tailed off mid sentence and a frown spread across his face.

"You OK Tim; you've gone as white as a sheet?"

Roberts swallowed hard and shook his head.

"No, it's nothing really. Just felt a bit nauseous for a second. Not sure why though; probably either first day nervousness or maybe even attributable the food."

Rice looked quizzically at him for a moment then waved a hand over towards the serving hatch.

"Rest assured that the food in this restaurant's excellent, so it can't be that." then after a few moments thought, "But if you remember Tim, I did advise you not to eyeball that girl now didn't I?"

Roberts studied the salesman's face and realised that although he was trying to make light of an earlier remark, there was a sense of seriousness somewhere in there too. Perhaps he had fallen out with the young woman in a big way when he had supposedly asked her out? Without thinking he snapped a glance across to the window but found that both of the occupants of the table over by the window had already finished their lunch and long gone.

"Well it can't be her Alan because she's already left with her friend." he exclaimed, almost with a sense of relief.

Rice lifted his coffee cup to his lips and drained it rather noisily.

"I tell you that woman has no friends."

"No friends you say, but what about Miss Melissa whatsername then?"

"Melissa Forbes  old boy!" he said on rising to his feet and gathering his empties up onto the tray. "She's no real  friend, she just works in the same department as one of her downtrodden juniors. Suck up to the boss when she gatecrashes in on your lunch hour and all that. Look here. I've got to go. Have to be in Canterbury by four. Watch out for yourself Tim and remember what I said!"

Roberts sat playing with his empty tea cup for some minutes after the salesman had departed, mulling over his strange parting remarks before starting to gather his own plates together on the tray and shoving the folded sheaf of company literature up underneath his arm. Rising to his feet he then picked up the tray, returned it to the serving hatch and was just turning towards the double exit doors when he spotted the same young woman in question leaning up against the wall over to the right of the doorway. She seemed to be talking in earnest to a smartly dressed middleaged man of stocky proportions who clearly had her undivided attention, that was until Roberts started threading his way across the room towards the exit. Determined not to look in her direction, he couldn't help but notice her shift her stance against the wall without breaking off her conversation such that she might coolly observe him until he had passed from the room and out of her sight.

On returning to his new office that afternoon, Roberts had but a few minutes to reflect on his encounters in the dining hall before making his way down to Health and Safety on the first floor where he and the other new recruits of the week were due to watch a couple of video's detailing the company's Health and Safety policy.

Whilst the conversation with the two salesmen had been most enlightening, more importantly he had developed the beginnings of a fascination for the pretty young woman in the short dress who was destined to continue occupying his conscious thoughts for the remainder of that afternoon. So what about the feelings of uneasiness he had experienced upstairs? These he had long forgotten and could easily have been attributable to the meal; contrary to the rosy picture painted of the establishment by Rice the salesman.

Roberts then reflected on the adverse remarks he made about her at the table. Quite clearly there was no love lost between the two of them as the young woman didn't give the appearance of being the type to take kindly to the way that Rice approached members of the opposite sex; why, one only had to observe his forward approach to her friend Melissa to see that.

It was about eleven thirty that evening that Tim Roberts's mobile rang in the hotel room. He had only minutes before turned off the television and was now waiting for the small kettle to boil for a cup of coffee before retiring to bed.

Walking over to his jacket on the bed and taking out the 'phone, he immediately recognised the voice on the other end.

"Roberts?"

"Yes sir."

"Everything go all right today?"

"Fine, no problems. Have you been able to transfer the money yet sir?"

"It should be in your account by the day after tomorrow."

"It might be the weekend before I'm able to fix myself up somewhere though."

"Just remember that we don't have much time and you are, in essence, on your own."

"Not a problem sir."

"I'll probably ring you again Sunday evening if I haven't heard from you before then."

"Thank you sir. Goodnight."