The Heaven Trilogy Read Online Free PDF Page B

The back foyer was empty when he entered. Normally Norma would be sitting at the switchboard, punching buttons. Beyond her station the wide hall continued to a series of administrative divisions, each housing a suite of offices. At the hall’s end, an elevator rose to three additional floors of the same. Floors four through twenty were serviced by a different elevator used by the tenants.
    Kent’s eyes fixed on the first door, ahead to his right, shadowed in the hall’s fluorescent light. Bold, white antique letters labeled the division: Information Systems Division. Behind that door lay a small reception room and four offices. The spawning ground for Advanced Funds Processing System. His life. The division could have been placed anywhere—in a basement bunker, for all that mattered. It had little to do with the Denver branch specifically and was in fact only one of a dozen similar divisions hammering out the bank’s software across the globe. Part of Niponbank’s decentralization policy.
    Kent walked quickly down the hall and opened the door.
    His four coworkers stood in the small lobby outside of their offices, waiting for him.
    â€œKent! It’s about time you joined us, boy!” Markus Borst beamed. His boss held a champagne glass brimming with amber liquid. A large, hooked nose gave him the appearance of a penguin. A bald penguin at that.
    The redhead, Todd Brice, pushed his oversized torso from the sofa and grinned wide. “It’s about time, Kent.” The kid was a fool.
    Betty, the department secretary, and Mary Quinn held champagne glasses they now raised to him. Red and yellow crepe paper hung in ribbons from the ceiling.
    He dropped his case and laughed. He could not remember the last time the five of them had celebrated. There had been the occasional birthday cake, of course, but nothing deserving of champagne—especially not at nine o’clock in the morning.
    Betty winked one of those fake black lashes. “Congratulations, Kent.” Her white-blonde hair was piled a little higher than usual. She handed him a glass.
    â€œLadies and gentlemen,” Borst announced, lifting his own glass. “Now that we are all here, I would like to propose a toast, if I may.”
    â€œHere, here,” Mary chimed in.
    â€œTo AFPS, then. May she live long and prosper.”
    A chorus of “Here, here!s” rumbled, and together they sipped.
    â€œAnd to Kent,” Mary said, “who we all know made this happen!”
    Another chorus of “Here, here!s,” and another round of sips. Kent grinned and glanced at the light glaring off Borst’s balding head.
    â€œGee, thanks, guys. But you know I couldn’t have done it without you.” It was a lie, but a good lie, he thought. In reality he could have done it easily without them. In half the time, possibly. “You guys are the best. Here’s to success.” He lifted his glass.
    â€œSuccess,” they agreed.
    Borst downed the rest of his drink and set it on the coffee table with a satisfied sigh. “I say we close her down at noon today,” he said. “We have a big weekend coming up. I’m not sure how much sleep we’ll be getting in Miami.”
    Todd lifted his glass again. “To knocking off at noon,” he said and threw back the balance of his drink.
    Mary and Betty followed suit, mumbling agreement.
    â€œBetty has all of your plane tickets to the Miami conference,” Borst stated. “And for Pete’s sake, try not to be late. If you miss the flight, you’re on your own. Kent will be giving the address since he obviously knows the program as well as any of us, but I want each of you to be prepared to summarize the essentials. If things go as well as we expect, you may very well be mobbed with questions this weekend. And please, leave any mention of program bugs out of your comments for now. We don’t really have any to speak of at this point,