Basic and functional, straightforward yet elegant.
Just like Dar. "Let's say you have this allocated bandwidth..."
"So what, it bursts. Big deal," Shari commented.
"Hey, shut up." One of the men in front turned around. "You don't want to hear this? Take a hike." He glanced at Shari's badge. "Take your petty rivalry and ditch it, sister."
Ah, chivalry. "Thanks." Kerry put a hand on her unlikely champion's arm.
"Don't thank me yet, lady," the man warned her. "If this is all BS, I'll chew you next."
Bet you won't. Kerry felt Dar's presence and knew, if she turned her head, she'd find her partner nearby. "I'm not worried," she told the man. "Now, where was I? Ah. Yes. Bandwidth. Let's use a T1 for example."
Shari started to push forward, but suddenly found herself held back firmly. She turned in annoyance, only to find herself the focus of two chips of icy fury only slightly tinted with blue. "All right, now..."
"If you know what's good for you," Dar spoke in an absolute flat voice. "You'll take the gentlemen's advice."
"Okay, you two. Break it up." Michelle gently eased between them, giving Dar a determined smile. "Time out. We'll continue the discussion later." She took hold of Shari's arm and despite their size difference, maneuvered the larger woman away from their bristling adversary.
"Like she said, it bursts." The loud man shook his head, oblivious to the drama going on behind him. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is how it bursts." Kerry released a breath, watching Michelle and Shari leave from her peripheral vision. "It analyzes the traffic flow, and makes decisions on how to route, what to route, and what to prioritize based on the application layer."
"What?" The man snorted. "At a network level? That's impossible to deploy large scale. Sure you can do it for one router..."
"It's not impossible." Kerry shook her head. "Dar's working with the hardware manufacturers to burn the essential code into firmware."
"No way." The man shook his head.
"Guess you'll have to wait and see." Kerry smiled. "But don't wait too long. Your competitors won't."
"Oooh. Nice sound bite," the reporter complimented her. "But...does this really work?"
"It really works." Dar judged that her body had stopped shaking enough for her to move up onto the platform and join Kerry. Her knees were still quivering a little as the adrenaline slowly drained from her bloodstream, and as she came up in back of her partner, she felt sudden warmth as Kerry's hand patted her calf. "Not bad for an old hacker, huh?"
A chuckle went around the crowd. "Can we ask you a few questions about it?" the aggressive man countered, with a visibly higher degree of respect.
"Maybe." Dar let her hands drop on Kerry's shoulder. "But if I answer, I might have to kill ya."
Another chuckle.
So far, Dar decided, so good. Roberts and Stuart several, Michelle and Shari, none.
Let's make sure it stays that way.
MICHELLE FOUND A corner, and put them both in it. "Can I ask what your damn problem is?" She fumed. "Damn it, I'm trying to build something we can use here. "
Shari glared back at her. "It's all bullshit!"she said. "Can't you see what they're trying to do? We spent how many months putting together a campaign, getting new clients, digging a wedge into them. We're going to blow it if we let them steal the spotlight!"
Michelle ran her hands through her hair. "Shari...Shari...you're not seeing straight. Look at them." She turned her companion around and pointed. "How in the hell would you like to remove them from the spotlight?"
"You should have left me alone! If I kept at them..."
"If you kept at them..." Michelle gritted her teeth. "You were going to get your clock cleaned any minute. Didn't you see that look you were getting? You're the one who used to sleep with her. I'd have thought you'd clue into that."
Shari made a disgusted sound. "Psycho."
"Hey." Michelle patted her arm. "It's not psycho to go after someone who's taking potshots at your SO. You were being obnoxious."
"I wasn't."
"You were." The shorter woman exhaled. "So cool it. Go back to the booth and schmooze. Let me deal with those two. At least I can have some sort of conversation with Stuart. Besides...I want to see whatever it is they're developing--that sounds like technology we can't afford to ignore."
Shari glared at the ILS booth, and then she shrugged. "Whatever."
"Stop antagonizing them." Michelle's voice gentled. "You keep pushing them, and they push back. ILS could cover our budget in Robert's lunch money. So let's back off, and see what they're going to do next. Last thing we want is for them to come gunning for us"
"We can handle it."
"Technologically, no we can't," Michelle told her, with a wry twist to her lips. "Our strength is small, personalized niches, and accounts where we can compete with them based on skinny margins. When it comes to the big silicon...baby, we're recycled glass."
"C'mon, this isn't rocket science."
"Shari." Michelle took her by the shoulders. "Listen to me. At the level Dar Roberts works, it is rocket science, and she's a rocket scientist. You may not have caught what Stuart was saying, but I did, and if it's true, they're going to own this market."
Shari studied her. "That hokey bursting stuff?"
"That hokey bursting stuff," Michelle replied. "Did you catch her saying they're working with the hardware vendors to have it put into firmware? That means it's real, and she's patented it, and if it works we're all going to be paying ILS for the privilege of using it."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm not kidding you," Michelle said. "It's a big deal. I'm really surprised they're even talking about it here."
Shari drummed her fingers on the table. "Can we steal it? Get a hold of it and look at the...the programming or whatever it is?"
Michelle grimaced.
"Don't grow a conscience on me now." Shari correctly interpreted the expression. "If we can get this thing, if you think it's that big a deal, then we can use it ourselves and compete with them on their own terms."
"I can try to get a look at it," Michelle temporized. "Maybe she'll be willing to brag about it and let me get my eyeballs on it." She exhaled. "Let me see what I can do. At least we don't have to worry about going up against them for Quest's bid. I want that one to be all us."
"I wasn't worried. I wanted them in." Her taller companion stuck her hands in the pockets of her skirt. "I want to keep them off balance," she said seriously. "Dar likes to control what's going on. She doesn't do well when she has to improvise."
Michelle studied the lanky, dark haired form lurking behind Kerry's seated figure. "I don't know about that," she disagreed. "But at any rate, go on back to the booth and let me do my thing. I'm the nerd, and it'll be up to me to find a way to give us enough technology to get a leg up on these guys while you dazzle them with the savings they'll get."
"Mmph. Okay," Shari finally agreed. "I guess I sometimes look at Dar, and I see that grotty kid I actually slept with in the depths of my stupid youth. I can't adjust my focus to believe this is actually a CIO of a major IT services company. I just can't."
Michelle patted her arm again. "Well, I first met her that way, so it's easier for me. And, while you're at it, let's reach out and touch anyone who thinks they can break into ILS's network. Offer a bounty. That's one way to knock the shine off the rep."
"Hm." Shari looked thoughtful. "I'll put the word out to our boys. They like a challenge," she said. "That was a damn stupid thing for her to do."
"That, I agree with you one hundred percent on." Michelle nodded. "G'wan." She gave Shari a push, watching as she reluctantly retreated to their smaller, but snazzy looking booth. She started back toward her target, but stopped when Peter Quest stepped into her path unexpectedly. "Oh, hello."