Ferd Steinbrenner was drowsing after his electrocardiogram. Even sedentary activity left him extraordinarily fatigued. When he opened his eyes he saw five Japanese men standing before him in impeccable dark business suites, alike in appearance as blackbirds. For a moment he thought he was dreaming the improbable scene. They stood there, staring and impassive.
"I see you are awake, Dr. Steinbrenner."
The man speaking had short greying hair, a sharp vertical line between close set eyes, a large tan mole on his cheek, and ghastly uneven dull yellow teeth. He seemed the head of the unlikely contingent.
The man gave an abbreviated bow. "My name is Sato Hashimoto. I have recently come from Japan to meet you."
All the Japanese nodded and smiled.
"I brought my computer expert with me. As the head of Hashimoto International, I do not understand all the technicalities of advanced computer usage. Mitsuto is very pleased to meet you."
The youngest of the men smiled and bowed quickly. Ferd wondered what this was all about.
Hashimoto continued, "We have learned from your honorable sons about your breakthrough in computer usage and would like to acquire the components. We will look forward to working with you in the future."
Ferd could feel his heart leap and start to pound. Now his sons, meaning Alexander of course, had spoken to a Japanese corporation. Ferd had a great sense of foreboding, as though a great weight had been added to his body, pushing him with force into the mattress. He decided to find out what these men knew. He nodded pleasantly.
"Ah, so Alexander has informed you that we would be coming. Good. Then you know that for this new and wonderful scientific breakthrough, we are willing to invest several hundred million dollars into research and development. Of course, you would receive a salary commiserate with your crowning achievement in science."
A salary? Ferd thought, amused and indignant.
The Japanese men were all tittering and nodding, except for Sato Hashimoto. He was looking steadily at Ferd. His flat eyes resembled those of a venomous snake.
Ferd stopped smiling. The tittering ended.
"We are extremely pleased and wish to reach an amiable agreement. So we will discuss this very carefully, when you are better. We do not want to cause you any exertion at this time. You may be assured your achievements will be highly praised and you will receive abundant recompense."
A salary? Ferd wondered just what Alexander had promised these men. Maybe he had told them all about his computer.
Ferd felt his heart go into a fast uneven rhythm. Atrial fibrillation, he thought, but it was not life threatening. The numbness he suddenly felt was in his right arm, which was good, because he knew he wasn't having a heart attack. Just fibrillation. Unfortunately his condition had been progressing so well that the monitors had been removed. The ICU staff would not know that he needed immediate help. An injection of digoxin to restore his normal heart rhythm, the doctor inside Ferd prescribed.
"We would like to take the Miller women back to Japan with us. To study them."
Alexander had told them everything.
"And, of course, you would be the head of the research team. Our corporation will buy the rights to your computer components. Would it not be edifying to have a young and brilliant work force to do research with you?"
A peculiar numbness was spreading over Ferd's face. He could feel that the right side of his face did not respond when he tried to smile. He was not smiling at the men in the room, just experimenting, but they evidently thought he was, and they all smiled and bobbed nods. All except Hashimoto.
"Ah, then we have the beginnings of an understanding. This has been a most enlightening conversation. I will have my staff start working out the details of a contract so that we will be in total agreement."
Ferd wondered about Sato Hashimoto's use of the word conversation. He himself had not spoken a word. And now he was afraid he couldn't. He was having a stroke. Ferd knew it in a detached way, as a medical doctor. Emotionally, this was what he had dreaded most in his life. One of the delicate capillaries in his brain had burst. Ferd hoped it would not cause serious brain damage.
Ferd was also in fibrillation, which was making him short of breath, but no one in the room seemed to notice.
Ferd had not agreed with anything Hashimoto had said, so he shook his head. Surely the man knew the meaning of No.
Evidently he did because Hashimoto subtly changed tactics. "Since we have learned about Eve and Sabrina Miller we have been keeping tabs on the women. We are also aware that your government is interested. The American government would surely want the computer for their own usage and would take it away from you. The Soviet Union also would like to acquire it. I have read the report stating it is to be a new, special type of weapon."
When Ferd tried to reach for the bell that would summon a nurse he found he could not move his right arm. Then suddenly he lost sight in his right eye. He couldn't tell if the lid had dropped, or if he had actually become blind in that eye. Ferd was suddenly terrified, both by the deadly calm man before him and his own deteriorating condition.
"We have many pictures of the women." One of the men in the room held up the obligatory camera, complete with telephoto lens.
Ferd felt the numbness creeping down his right leg. It was a prickly, tingling sensation. He started panting to gain their attention, so they would realize he needed help. Then he slumped sideways off his pillow, as if he had passed out.
He saw the computer expert, Mitsuto, rush toward him and could feel the man checking his carotid artery. Then Mitsuto rang the emergency bell at Ferd's bedside.
Hashimoto and his contingent were pulled roughly out of the hospital room by orderlies, doctors and some very disturbed nurses. The halls echoed with the sound of the emergency team bringing medical equipment for the code-blue signal.
As Hashimoto left the hospital with his staff, he hoped Dr. Steinbrenner would not die. If he did, Hashimoto would have the distasteful chore of negotiating with Dr. Steinbrenner's disagreeable sons.