Chapter 58: The Game is Afoot

May 19, 1995, Reno, Nevada

I opened the phone again and dialed Elyse’s direct line.

“The game is afoot!” I said as soon as she answered.

“Dante?”

“Yes. A little bird just whispered in my ear that he’s trying to hire Lone Star developers.”

“Does he have a chance to get them all?”

“Nope!” I said giddily. “I already have the best of the bunch on my side and she’s not going anywhere.”

Elyse laughed, “Of COURSE it’s a female programmer! Blonde or redhead?”

“Brunette,” I chuckled. “And yes, what you and the girls would call a ‘Steve type’ but that is the LAST thing on my mind or on hers.”

“Sorry. It’s just that with your history...”

“I know.”

“So when does he try to drop the hammer?”

“If I was him? On June 9th. That would be the point where it would do the most harm. Imagine they all walk in at 8:00am on Friday the 9th and resign en masse, or close to it. It throws the entire deal into chaos, right?”

“Or so Dante thinks.”

“Exactly. Maybe he gets all of them but the one who called me today. Maybe he only gets most of them. But in the end, so long as we have at least one senior person, we’ll make this work.”

“So what’s his NEXT move?”

“Good question. Some kind of FUD campaign, for sure. Beyond that, I’ll need to think some more about it. Ultimately, though, he can’t get what I’m sure he really wants - Lone Star for a song complete with the source code and customer base.”

“You know he won’t stop there.”

“Of course not; this is personal for him. He hates me. Did I tell you what I said when he asked me once if I hated him?”

“No.”

“That I didn’t hate him because it would require an emotional investment.”

“Talk about poking the bear!”

“Yeah, well. If I can’t tweak Dante, I’m just not having fun. I need to get back to my lunch. Keep this under your hat. Not even the Board. Nobody. No leaks.”

“Got it. You know, I was right that day in Iron Mountain.”

“Which one?”

“When I said that everyone who has tried to fuck with you has run into the cold-hearted, scheming bastard that you would be if it weren’t tempered by everything else. That you faced down Margaret Lundgren like you were holding four aces to her pair of threes. You just smoothly and coolly handled Alec Glass. And you totally fucked over Lisa without even a thought. And NOW you’re enjoying it.”

“Consider the target this time,” I chuckled. “That makes it both profitable AND pleasurable.”

“You’re scary good at this, Steve.”

“It hasn’t played out all the way. And I’m sure he has some more things to pull from his bag of tricks.”

“But he’s dancing to YOUR tune now, not the other way around.”

“So it would seem.”

We said ‘goodbye’, I snapped the phone shut, and went back to the table.

“You look very happy,” Cindi observed. “Almost smug!”

“Just some good news, but I can’t share just yet. Sorry.”

“You aren’t usually one to keep secrets,” Barbara observed.

“I know. But in this case, it’s necessary. Trust me; everything is going exactly according to plan.”

May 20, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Sensei Steve!” Marcia said excitedly when my wives, Michelle, Birgit, and I walked into the dojo.

“Hi, Marcia. How was your week?”

“OK. Is it OK if I think you’re a better teacher?”

“I might be a better teacher for you,” I said. “But different people need different styles of teacher.”

“The competition is next weekend. Will you be in town this week?”

“Yes. I’ll be here every night to work with you.”

“Great!”

“Let me go talk to Sensei Jim before class.”

“OK!”

I went into Sensei Jim’s office, bowed, and sat in the chair in front of his desk.

“Sorry about missing this week,” I said. “But I’ll be here this entire week and I’ll work with Marcia. How did she do while I was traveling?”

“She’s ready. But she also depends on you. Just remember, if she wins, it’s because of a joint effort.”

“I’m not going to take any credit,” I said. “I don’t want to detract from her success.”

Sensei Jim smiled, “Take pride in your students. They’ll know when you do. And it will make all the difference in the world.”

I nodded, “I understand.”

“Good. I assume you want to work with her exclusively all week?”

“Yes, please.”

“Do that.”

“Thank you, Sensei.”

He stood and we went out to begin class. Jolene led exercises, and then I took Marcia to the smaller training room to fine tune her kata and defensive techniques.

“Did you spar this week?” I asked.

“Yes, with Darla and Nellie.”

“Good. Did you bring the list of kata?”

“Yes. Let me get it.”

She went back to the main room to get the papers and was back almost immediately. I reviewed the list and randomly called out five kata from it, with Marcia doing each one. After the fifth one, I had her put on sparring gear and defend against me. Finally, I asked for Kara’s help, and for the last ten minutes they sparred.

“You’re ready,” I said. “On Monday, we’ll review all the rules, for both competitions. The rest of the week we’ll practice kata. Remember, according to the rules, kata is not a dance or theatrical performance. It must adhere to the traditional values and principles. It must be realistic in fighting terms and display concentration, power, and potential impact in its techniques. It must demonstrate strength, power, and speed — as well as grace, rhythm, and balance.“

“Got it! Can I bring a friend on Saturday?”

“It’s open to the public, so you can invite anyone you want.”

“Cool!”

“See you Monday evening, and we’ll go over all the rules in detail.”

She thanked me, we went out to line up for dismissal, and then my wives, Michelle, Birgit, and I walked home. We had a lively afternoon playing with the kids, a nice quiet family dinner, and then our guests for Guys’ Night and Girls’ Night Out began arriving.

“Any major developments this week?” Jamie asked when he and Jackie arrived with Eric.

I shook my head, “Not really. The main one is that the leased office space in Raleigh is pretty bad. Mario is going to start looking for new space for January. Given our expansion plans, we’ll need a larger, better space. Otherwise, it’s all going according to plan.”

“Right,” Jackie laughed. “When have things EVER gone according to your plans?”

I smiled, “When I put up capital for Phelan-Brown, to name one time.”

She smiled, “True.”

“And when I put you and Gerald Brown in touch with Siobhán. That’s turned into a couple of very nice partnerships.”

“She’s really talented,” Jamie said. “It’s just too bad artists starve during their lifetimes.”

“Not if the system works properly,” I said. “Patronage and commissions are how it SHOULD work. Once the government got involved with the National Endowment for the Arts, and other programs, the people with money stopped doing what they’d done for thousands of years. Those programs directed funds to things nobody would act as patron for, and discouraged patrons from acting individually.”

“I don’t think that’s on my list!” Pete laughed, walking in with Melanie and Jonathan.

“Sure it is, Petey!” Melanie smirked. “It’s #8 - ‘Nearly all government programs end up having the exact opposite result as was intended’.”

“How could I forget that?” he laughed. “How are things going with your takeover of your competitor?”

“I was just telling Jamie everything this week has gone according to plan.”

“Oh shit!” Pete said. “That means we’re in for a wild ride!”

“Past performance is no indicator of future success!” Bo laughed as he walked in just then.

“That stupid disclaimer?” I said shaking my head. “In 4-point type at the back of a totally hyped sales brochure?”

“SEC regulations!”

“Which prevent individuals from taking action against brokers who lie to them, so long as the disclaimer is there.”

Pete and Jamie looked at each other, smirked, and exclaimed, “Rant #13!”

Once the guys and girls separated, we got down to the important business of the evening - poker, whisky, pool, and cigars.

May 21, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“When does your quarter end?” I asked Dyani on Sunday morning when we arrived at the dojo.

“June 9th.”

“OK. I’m not available next weekend because Marcia has her competition. Are you going home for the summer?”

“Yes.”

“Where’s home?”

“«Naabeehó Bináhásdzo», the Navajo Nation, which for me is northeastern Arizona. We live just outside the city of «Tségháhoodzání», which is ‘Window Rock’ in English.”

“Do you speak Navajo at home?”

“Yes, but I went to a school which taught in English. Both my parents speak English, but my grandparents only speak Navajo. Did you have a chance to read about «Diné» spirituality?”

I nodded, “I did. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I laughed at the behavior of the men and women when they split up!”

Dyani smiled, “So did I and all my friends! Especially the part where the women took off their clothes to try to entice the men to come back! Did the book you read include any information on our culture?”

“A bit. It sounds about like my life!”

“What do you mean?”

“The women are in charge! But you know what, the Christian Old Testament says the same thing - women ran the household, including managing the money.”

“I hadn’t heard that.”

“Well, I hadn’t heard about, what did you call it, «Diné» spirituality.”

“That’s our name for ourselves. ‘Navajo’ is the name the Spanish gave us.”

“I also found a number of parallels, including a great flood, which seems to exist in nearly every creation story.”

“Did you read about Navajo traditions before the Europeans came?”

“Only a bit. The book was more focused on spirituality.”

“Your marriage is similar to the old tradition, where a man would have more than one wife, potentially marrying women who were sisters.”

“Interesting. I knew the Christian missionaries had imposed significant changes, but I really don’t know much about what happened before they arrived.”

“It’s actually difficult for you to know because it’s only preserved in oral histories. But from the telling of my grandmother, the Navajo were not prudish people. The Spanish didn’t write much, except to complain about how we didn’t follow Catholic teachings, which they attempted to impose on us. In fact, there’s a Catholic school close to where I live, the Saint Michael Indian School.”

“I’d actually like to learn more, but today we’re supposed to be focusing on your karate! Maybe when you come back from summer break.”

“Sure! I’d love to tell you.”

We worked for about an hour, practicing everything that Will had been teaching her.

“You have to keep practicing over the summer,” I said. “Is there anywhere you could go to find others who practice Shōtōkan?”

“Probably not anywhere close, given where we live. But I can simply keep doing what Will has taught me and you’ve helped me with.”

“Practice some every day, if you can. I’ll see you in class on Tuesday.”

I locked up the dojo and walked home to spend the day with my wives and kids, and then joined the extended family for our usual Sunday dinner.

May 22, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Our leadership meetings are going to be mostly about Lone Star for the next couple of months, so Dave is going to attend, despite his desire to be anywhere but here!”

Dave laughed, “You have the same feelings!”

“True. And right now, neither of us have a choice. Anyway, I’m going to run this part of the meetings. Kimmy will run the usual operations portion as she normally would. So where are we? Elyse?”

“Your sister’s analysis was spot on, from everything we’ve seen. There are no apparent discrepancies, and their books are in good order. Receivables are in good shape, though I suspect we’ll see a bit of delay in some customers paying their contracts until the deal is finalized and things look clear to them. How do you want to handle that?”

“On a case-by-case basis,” I said. “We obviously don’t want to make a public statement about it, but I don’t think we should cut anyone off if they want to withhold payments until after the deal goes through. Politely ask them to pay, but if they don’t, don’t press too hard.”

“We do have a number of issues to deal with going forward - the lease on the copiers, the lease on the telephone system, and that kind of thing. But nothing is pressing, and all those costs were factored into Bo’s analysis.”

“I’m going to ask each of you about a worst-case scenario. What’s yours, Elyse?”

“Serious delays in renewal of maintenance contracts or pushback on moving to our unified renewal dates. We may see customers balk at signing an extension if they’ve recently renewed. If that happens, we’ll have quite a few support contracts which have terms ending at effectively random time. We can deal with it, but it could be a bit of an administrative nightmare for the next eighteen months.”

“And staffing?”

“Keri and I are both happy with the receivables and payables clerks and the HR administrator. They use an outside consultant the same way we do, and use ADP for their payroll, just as we do. That makes things easier. I spoke to ADP about unifying the payrolls, and that will happen on October 1st.”

“Insurance and benefits?”

“That’s this week’s project. I have a call set up with their insurance broker, our insurance broker, and representatives of the insurance companies. I’ll report back next Monday unless there’s some crucial issue that needs your attention before then. That’s all I have for now.”

“Thanks. Julia?”

“Nothing new to report beyond what we talked about when we flew down for the day. I did verify that access controls are in place to ensure nobody could secretly copy the source code. Of course, if it had been done before last Thursday, we’ll only find out by looking at the logs.”

“Do that tomorrow, please. Anything else?”

“Dave has the details, so I’ll let him tell you, rather than try to speak for him.”

“I didn’t discover any new issues from what we spoke about when we were in Dallas,” Dave said. “Their code isn’t up to our standards, and the quality is variable based on who worked on the modules. That said, Sam worked with their Integration Engineer and is confident their build process is solid and reproducible. If any of their code is going to be reused, it’ll have to be refactored and made to conform to our coding guidelines and standards. Kajri, Terry, and Sam suggest we don’t waste time doing that.”

“Are you recommending we create a replica GUI from scratch?”

“After reviewing everything, Kajri thinks the main thing we need to do is provide data entry screens which match those in the Lone Star system, and custom reports which match the Lone Star reports. The latter is easy, as we have the fully customizable report creation tool in our system. The former would involve creating about two dozen screens. Our menu system is already customizable, so it would just be a matter of moving the options around.”

“How much work is that?”

“Unknown. Sam, Kajri, and Brenda are working on an estimate. They’ve already spoken to Julia about the design. On the plus side, we have a database conversion utility which Sam developed when we converted two customers late last year. It’ll need a few tweaks, but otherwise it’s ready to go.”

“And Lone Star’s new release due on August 1st?”

“They’re on track. It’s feature complete, and there are four beta customers. The bug counts are typical for a beta release, and as we noted, their QA is good.”

“Worst case scenario?” I asked.

“The one where most of the developers leave? I don’t see that happening.”

“Which is why it’s the ‘worst case’,” I replied. “Humor me.”

“We’d have a huge risk in being able to release on August 1st, and even if we managed that, we’d have a huge risk of not being able to respond quickly to any major bugs. If that were to happen, I’d probably insist we not make the new release. The PR hit from that would be far less problematic than if we ended up with some horrendous bug we couldn’t fix.”

“What about the idea of limited release? In other words, announce it, but do a slow rollout?”

“If I may?” Cindi interjected, and when I nodded, she continued, “Their support contracts entitle their customers to copies of the new software immediately. In fact, it’s been Lone Star’s practice to simply ship diskettes or CD-ROMs with the software the day of the announcement. Not doing that would create its own set of issues. But, in the end, I agree with Dave, those issues would be far less damaging than a buggy release.

“If you think about it, the release will be done as NIKA, even if ‘Lone Star’ is on the CD-ROMs. And that will impact ALL of our offerings, not just the Lone Star software. We already get pushback from medical practices when we require them to update when we end bug-fix support for old versions, and if we end up with a reputation for sending out buggy software, that will get worse. And it’s something our competitors would pounce on. So in Dave’s worst case scenario, we slip the release. Or, maybe we end up canceling it.”

“I’d like some contingency plans, please,” I said. “Dave and Cindi, please work together on that. Cindi?”

“I’ve spoken to a couple of dozen Lone Star customers and while they’re nervous, they know our reputation. On the plus side, Lone Star never got into the whole ‘buy the sale’ mode, and their discounts weren’t much different from our volume licensing scheme, though they would call it out as a discount, rather than as a price per license. It’s an interesting tactic that we might want to adopt.”

I shook my head, “I’m concerned that the moment we put a ‘discount’ line item on any bill, people will believe they can get other discounts. I’d much prefer to continue the way we are where the additional licenses are simply shown at a reduced cost, broken out by level. But, bring me a proposal if you feel strongly about it and we’ll discuss it.”

“OK,” Cindi agreed. “Sales of Lone Star have effectively dried up. I was reasonably sure that would happen. The reps are trying, but nobody is interested in buying software from a company which is effectively going to disappear. We did our best in the press releases and collateral material to convey the message that Lone Star’s software would be supported long-term, and that we had no intention of making it ‘end-of-life’. Unfortunately, that message hasn’t been very effective.”