Part 57 (1/2)

Beyond the first few dark rows, wave after wave of bodies clad in T-s.h.i.+rts and jeans stretched all the way to the back of the auditorium.

William stepped away from the curtain and rearranged his tie.

Hank patted him on the shoulder and laughed. ”You look like you've gained twenty pounds,” he joked privately.

”They're going to witness the world's fastest weight-loss program,” William said with a cunning grin, referring to the surprise he had prepared for today's announcement.

”Get ready, William,” Martin Cohn said, gesturing for everyone to move away from the curtains.

The announcer's voice filled the auditorium: ”Ladies and gentlemen, vice president and general counsel, Martin Cohn.”

Amid quick applause and murmurs, Martin greeted the audience. The Wallaby logo appeared, projected brightly behind him on a huge screen hanging above center stage.

”This day will mark an important juncture in Wallaby's history,”

Martin said. ”A few months ago we announced a strategic alliance with International Computer Products, the world's largest manufacturer of computer products.”

The ICP initials materialized beside the Wallaby logo.

”As a result of our announcement, sales of the Joey II computer have skyrocketed, exceeding in just two months the previous year's total sales.”

The audience applauded, and the screen changed to a picture of the Joey II sitting beside an ICP desktop computer.

”Today we have an announcement that will ensure that both Wallaby and ICP continue to grow and profit together.”

There was a dead silence, and a photo of William Harrell's smiling face filled the overhead screen. ”Now it's my pleasure to introduce William Harrell, chairman of International Computer Products.”

A murmur ensued throughout the audience. Though Martin Cohn usually started off the meetings, it was always to introduce Matthew Locke.

Martin stepped aside, and William crossed the stage. The audience applauded mildly and stopped once William arrived at the podium.

”Thank you, Martin. And thank you,” William said, sweeping the audience with a heartfelt smile. ”I've always been envious of you guys out here in California. I look out there and all I see are T-s.h.i.+rts, jeans, and sneakers.”

There was some mild laughter, and William knew the crowd was probably a little thrown off by his being up here and not Matthew Locke. He went right into his presentation.

”Maybe it's this kind of environment in which you work at Wallaby that lets you create products as spectacular as the Joey computer.”

On the screen an older picture of the original Joey team appeared, a younger Peter Jones kneeling in the center of the group, his arms wrapped around a Joey poised on his knee. The audience applauded with pride and appreciation.

”A few months ago, your company and ICP joined forces to work together to offer our customers powerful hybrid systems. On that day a dream came true for me. Finally, users of ICP's line of computers had an easy way to access our difficult operating systems, actually working smarter because of the Joey. Now, that's a big deal to us starched s.h.i.+rts at ICP,” he confided, ”because we've been playing catch-up with Wallaby, trying to figure out how to build portable computers and personal information a.s.sistant software as great as the Joey.

”You see, the truth is is I've always been envious of the Joey and Wallaby. Jealous that we, the biggies, hadn't been the one to invent an equally breakthrough design.”

It was time for him to pull his prank, which he hoped would act as the perfect segue to the real announcement. Pulling off his tie, he stepped away from the podium and strolled to center stage.

A strip-tease song started playing on the big speakers throughout the auditorium, and the audience was mute with wonder as William began unb.u.t.toning his s.h.i.+rt. Next he unzipped his pants, and dropped them to the floor. Underneath, he wore faded jeans. He pulled off his s.h.i.+rt and flung it aside. He raised his arms, and turned around so the audience could see the graphic on his back.

It showed the joey kangaroo as always, but this time the pocket it climbed out of was embroidered with the ICP logo.

The audience applauded and cheered as he sauntered back to the podium.