Disclosure_ A Novel - Michael Crichton [142]
Sanders looked back: Conley was following them.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Let him come.”
They crossed the gateway, past the barking dog, and came back into the Victorian library. Fernandez sighed. “It feels good to be home again, doesn’t it?”
Conley was walking along, showing no surprise. But then, he had seen the Corridor before. Sanders walked quickly. The angel floated alongside them.
“But you realize,” Fernandez said, “that none of this makes any sense. Because Nichols is the one who’s been opposed to the acquisition, and Conley is the one pushing for it.”
“That’s right,” Sanders said. “It’s perfect. Nichols is having it off with Meredith. He promotes her behind the scenes as the new head of the division. And how does he hide that fact? By continuously bitching and moaning to anybody who will listen.”
“You mean, it’s a cover.”
“Sure. That’s why Meredith never answered his complaints in any of the meetings. She knew he wasn’t a real threat.”
“And Conley?” she said.
Conley was still walking alongside them.
“Conley genuinely wants the acquisition. And he wants it to work well. Conley’s smart, and I think he realizes that Meredith isn’t competent for the job. But Conley sees Meredith as the price of Nichols’s support. So Conley has gone along with the choice of Meredith—at least for the time being.”
“And what are we doing now?”
“Finding out about the last missing piece.”
“Which is?”
Sanders was looking down the hallway marked OPERATIONS. This wasn’t really his area of the database, except in specific places of overlap. The files were marked alphabetically. He went down the row until he found DIGICOM/MALAYSIA SA.
He opened it up and searched the file section marked STARTUP. He found his own memos, feasibility studies, site reports, government negotiations, first set specifications, memos from their Singapore suppliers, more government negotiations, all stretching back two years.
“What are you looking for?”
“Building plans.”
He expected to see the thick sheets of blueprints and inspection summaries, but instead there was just a thin file. He opened the first sheet, and a three-dimensional image of the factory floated in the air in front of him. It was just an outline at first, but it rapidly filled in and became solid-looking. Sanders, Fernandez, and Conley stood on three sides of it, looking at it. It was like a very large, detailed doll’s house. They peered in through the windows.
Sanders pushed a button. The model became transparent, then turned into a cutaway; now they could see the assembly line, the physical plant. A green line—the conveyor belt—started moving, and the machines and workers assembled the CD-ROM drives as the parts came down the line.
“What are you looking for?”
“Revisions.” He shook his head. “This is the first set of plans.”
The second sheet was marked “Revisions I/First Set” with the date. He opened it up. The model of the plant seemed to shimmer for a moment, but it remained the same.
“Nothing happened.”
The next sheet was marked “Revisions II/Detail Only.” Again, when he opened it, the plant shimmered briefly but was unchanged.
“According to these records, the plant was never revised,” Sanders said. “But we know it was.”
“What’s he doing?” Fernandez said. She was looking at Conley.
Sanders saw that Conley was slowly mouthing words, his facial movements exaggerated.
“He’s trying to tell us something,” she said to Sanders. “Can you see what it is?”
“No.” Sanders watched a moment, but the cartoonlike quality of Conley’s face made it impossible to read his lips. Finally Sanders shook his head.
Conley nodded, and took the keypad out of Sanders’s hand. He pushed a button marked RELATED and Sanders saw a list of related databases flash up in the air. It was an extensive list, including the permits from the Malay government, the architect’s notes, the contractor agreements, health and medical inspections, and more. All together, there were about eighty items on the list. Sanders felt sure he would have overlooked the one in the middle of the list that Conley