— No Mister Crawley and, and listen to tell you the truth about the whole thing I haven’t even…
— Mind getting that right trouserleg again? Feel it slipping down into the, that’s it yes I know you’ve been busy Bast but I’d better give you a little of the background to pass along to your associate there, he didn’t seem very clear about all the ramifications and it’s the devil’s own time anyhow understanding him on the phone you know. More than half a century there Ray-X was a really prosperous toy company you know but when these peace scares started and you had all these mothers marching around boycotting every toy in sight their inventory backed right up, all the usual kiddie toys machineguns carbines pistols grenade launchers bazookas warehouses full of them and they had to come up with a whole line of new products. Fickle kids cured them of toys but things like these battery-run weapons systems had given them a little expertise so they tried pocket radios but couldn’t meet the Japs’ competition and went over into these battery-powered prostheses, hearing aids that kind of thing. Other line they went into was thermocouples, grabbed the market overnight but they’ve been trying to fill twenty-five million in mostly fixed price orders on less than four hundred thousand in working capital, couldn’t get public financing and finally had to cut their executives’ salaries in half as part of a five million dollar loan deal that dried up their new product planning and R and D overnight. Now they’re caught between cost rises and these fixed price contracts and they may rim into more trouble on their thermocouples with this pressure to prohibit rhodium imports from places like Gandia as country of origin because of this confrontation shaping up over there, see what I mean about needing a little more leverage than this Piscator can probably give you when the chips are down.
— Yes I, I certainly do but…
— Of course I might be some help to you on the rhodium situation if it comes to that, people with substantial interests in the Gandia region there in fact I think this man Beaton’s been in touch with you hasn’t he? about these mining claims and power company sites your associate there picked up in that Ace and Alberta and Western collapse?
— Mister Beaton yes I think he called but I…
— Tell you why Bast this partner of mine in our picture project here sits on their board’s got some interests out there he’d like to round off, matter of fact I think he’d be ready to give you people everything you sank into those two ventures and maybe a dollar or two more and I’d recommend you take it. Might help ease this cash flow problem you’ve been up against since the day you walked in here if I’m not mistaken.
— Yes that’s certainly the…
— Of course this Ray-X acquisition looks like a good candidate for some of these big government cost-plus contracts your associate there is beginning to press hard for, problem with their R and D in a shambles though whether they can come up with the product and I’d be cautious about overextending too soon. This three million in undistributed dividends you picked up in that brewery deal and recovering most of your purchase price in the pension fund’s sale of the stock back to the employees has generated enough cash for things like this move into Nobili Pharmaceuticals I don’t mean that of course, talk around the street the only reason you people went after it was its use as a Panama tax haven and transshipping point once this J R Shipping Corp is operative, smart move but right now about all that’s carrying Nobili’s its far east market isn’t it. All this patent litigation in the wings if the VA pulls out on these contracts for ethicals it may just be a question whether they can move into proprietaries fast enough with this crash program in headaches, still having that green problem are they?
— The, the green what? I…
— Wasn’t clear yes ljust meant this trouble their chemists are having with some new aspirin keeps coming out bright green, solve that maybe you can hold things together long enough to tie things in with this insurance scheme for employees your associate here’s just come up with if he can get a favorable decision on it may not be easy, SEC can be pretty sticky when they think you’re just looking for a cash pool and you know what a stickler he can be for the letter of the law. Expansion program’s one thing but when he starts talking in terms of Disney and Kraft and Champion Homebuilders it may be time to stop and regroup, wouldn’t you agree? And this hedging he’s started recently in commodities futures, it can be a little risky played that close to the margin and this may be a good time to stop and pick up some of your winnings, snap up this offer on these power company sites mining claims and the rest of it may not be there next time you look and I should tell you Bast, this man Stamper’s not one who plays to play, he plays to win.
— Yes well that’s what my…
— And I wouldn’t bother to bring Piscator in on it at all just send me the papers and I’ll clear up the details, he’d just try to complicate things. In fact Bast as far as your corporate legal work goes if you people follow up on this Triangle deal I’d take this man Beamish right along with the package, that arrangement he just worked out on the phone there sounds like he’s got a head on his shoulders and he sounds like the right sort you know, man you can deal with because I’ll be frank to tell you Bast I don’t like the way this Piscator seems to be trying to nose you out with your associate there.
— Yes but you see I’d really be very relieved if he…
— I know what you mean but he’s not the type to sit back, take the way he brought this Pomerance outfit in by the back door and brown nosing your associate there on this little nursing homes merger, probably never given you the details on that either has he.
— No but you see Mister Crawley the whole…
— Always says he can’t get in touch with you or makes some excuse though I must say Bast it’s high time you people did something about that midtown office of yours, I called there to ask if there’s anything to this rumor about General Haight joining your organization and your secretary Virginia put me on with a Mister Slomin who wanted to take my bet on the Superbowl game.
— Yes well I think she…
— And that new uptown number Piscator just gave me girl answered and told me to fuck off give you some idea of the kind of numbers in his little black book eh? You might think some more about that suggestion I made to your associate there some time ago, told me you said you were having a little space problem and I told him to think about taking a decent hotel suite while you’re getting this expansion program organized and working out your permanent requirements, use it for meetings that sort of thing.
— Yes well when he called last night he…
— Think I suggested the Waldorf didn’t I?
— Yes well in fact that’s what he suggested last night and I went there this morning, the suite I’ve taken even has a piano in it not a Steinway or anything like that but a small grand I can use when I…