Part 34 (2/2)

Grace grabbed her coat.

”Fine,” she said.

”I'll drive you home,” Henry said.

”No, I want to walk,” she said. The door slammed behind her.

John shrugged his shoulders. ”I'll call him tomorrow and arrange it.”

”It's like this,” Kyle said. ”You have three people on the board, and they have four. They can fire Grace as CEO any time they want and elect one of themselves to the position. But the day-to-day stuff they aren't involved in.”

John and Henry were in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the law building again, where Kyle was examining the investment agreement Ermanaric Visgrath had sent over. Again the Bench was filled with law students. John wasn't sure if they ever took a break.

”So they ultimately control it all,” Henry said.

”No, they control fifty-five percent,” Kyle said. ”All that means is that if they wanted to if they wanted to they could force a new chairman of the board and a new CEO. You see, investment companies like this don't want to run your company if it's doing well. They want to make money. But they want the rea.s.surance that if you screw it up, they can step in and take over.” they could force a new chairman of the board and a new CEO. You see, investment companies like this don't want to run your company if it's doing well. They want to make money. But they want the rea.s.surance that if you screw it up, they can step in and take over.”

”That's why they won't budge on fifty-five percent,” John said.

”Exactly.”

”So,” John said. He glanced at Henry, who shrugged. ”So, what do we do?” John finally said.

”John, you know I can't offer legal advice,” Kyle said.

”Yeah, but what do we do?” Henry said. He sounded as desperate as John felt.

Kyle sighed. ”There's nothing in here that looks outrageous,” he said. ”And...”

”And?”

”And it's four million dollars. Jeez!”

”We know,” Henry said.

”We're conflicted,” John added.

”You should be.” Kyle wrote down a number and a name. ”Professor Andropov, in the business department. He taught our business contracts cla.s.s. Ask him to look at it.”

”A Russian?” Henry said.

”If you want a balanced opinion on Capitalism,” Kyle said, ”ask an Americanized Russian.”

Andropov was a bespectacled man in a tweed coat. His office was lined with tomes, in Cyrillic and English.

”Here,” he said. He handed the contract to John. It was marked heavily with red ink.

Henry looked over John's shoulder. ”Are there any words left from the original?”

Two hours before, Professor Andropov had listened to their story with a blank face. John was certain he didn't care at all.

”In four months, you have gone from prototype to moneymaking venture?” he asked.

”Some money,” John said.

”In quarters,” Henry added.

”And now you have an offer for four million for majority owners.h.i.+p.”

”Yes,” John said.

”And we don't know what to do,” Henry said.

”Why should you? You are engineers,” Andropov said. ”But engineers can do well in business.” He took the contract. ”I'll read it. Come back in two hours.”

”Did it suck?” John asked, flipping through the pages.

”No, pretty good,” Andropov said. He pulled a sandwich from his desk drawer. It was dark outside; John and Henry had spent all day in the law school and the business school. ”Some weak language. One bad enc.u.mbrance. Otherwise, it's okay.” He took a bite of his sandwich. ”Oh, someone other than an American wrote this.”

”What?”

”The syntax is off in places,” Professor Andropov said. ”Grammar is correct, but phrasing is odd.” He shrugged. ”No big deal.”

”They asked for fifty-five percent,” John said. ”Is that too much?”

”For four million, they should have asked for ninety percent,” Andropov said with a laugh, the first John had seen from him. ”It's a good deal.”

”So we should take it?” Henry asked.

”That I can't answer,” Andropov said. ”But think of this. You made one company in three months. If this doesn't work out, you can just make another one.”

On New Year's Eve, John, Grace, and Henry sat at John's table. The revised contract lay before them. Ermanaric Visgrath's legal team had accepted nearly all of Andropov's changes. A ballpoint pen sat atop the fresh contract.

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