Chapter 14

Two more weeks had passed, and they were nothing more than repeats of the first two. In every case except one, the customer company agreed to replace all its production machine tools with the latest models from Aerospace Technologies. The one exception was a company that wanted to consult with its directors and shareholders — it was closely held — with respect to financing its purchase. But they promised they would be replacing all their machine tools very soon.

In fact, it became quite funny. To the amazement and amusement of the new girls in the Leper Colony, the phone began to ring off the hook. It seemed that the word of AT’s remarkable new machine-tool line had started to spread. As a result, all the competing companies wanted the new higher-precision tooling as soon as possible to avoid being left behind. The problem was scheduling sales visits to determine their needs and write the orders.

Kim and Brad faced a conundrum: On the one hand, customers were jumping up and down wanting to see an AT salesperson. On the other hand, they were the only two people in the company who knew enough about the new machines to provide the customer with the right ones. And it was impossible both to make a sales call and train the sales staff and the new technical support people who were to be paired with them. The result was they spent the two weeks traveling, but the week following — at least — was reserved for home-office training.

There was one last call to make and it was the company Kim least wanted to visit: That was Precision Manufacturing, Inc., the home of Chester Klem, the erstwhile maintenance guru. To make matters worse, Precision had the full line of year-old AT machines, and the purpose of the call was warranty service. The company claimed that the AT machines were no longer producing to specification, and Kim was 99 percent certain she knew why.

It was 9:30 when they arrived at the company’s plant in East Los Angeles. As usual, Brad was to meet with the purchasing manager, while a man who introduced himself as Mark Hopkins was to escort Kim.

“What’s your position here, Mark?” Kim asked as he led the way out to the plant floor.

“Well, I was manager of plant operations until this morning,” he replied.

“Until this morning? What are you doing now?”

“I guess I’m unemployed.”

Kim did a startled double-take. “What on earth are you doing with me, then? Why aren’t you working on a résumé ... or something?”

Hopkins grinned, seeming to be not at all upset, and replied, “Because I’m the only one who knows what’s what on the plant floor ... besides Chester Klem, that is.”

Kimberly just shook her head. In a few moments they reached the machine that Precision Manufacturing wanted repaired or replaced on AT’s nickel. It was still in operation, so Kim asked Mark to give the operator a break so that she could inspect it. He did, and then watched as Kim expertly opened the inspection ports.

It took only a moment for her to confirm her earlier suspicion. Carefully she dipped her finger into the hot machine oil and then looked at it. “I’m sorry, Mark,” she said, “This machine has been abused in terms of the warranty. Good grief! I can see bits of metal in just this tiny bit of oil. This unit has been grinding itself to pieces because of improper lubrication.”

Amazingly, all Mark did was to roll his eyes and grin. Then he surprised her by saying, “That’s nice. That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell The Powers for months. But after all, Chester Klem is the ultimate maintenance guru in Southern California anyway, so what do I know? Just a kid out of school.”

Kim stood up straight, returned his grin and extended her hand. “As one kid just out of school to another, will you shake on that?”

Suddenly Hopkins’ eyes widened. Almost under his breath he murmured, “Kimberly Kane...” Then, sounding excited, he added in his normal voice, “You just received your Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cal Tech, didn’t you?”

Then he laughed out loud. “Kim, this is really going to be funny. Are you aware of the fact that Cal Tech is selling your dissertation at a hundred bucks a copy? Because they are. No wonder the university-press people are falling all over themselves to get the book out on the streets. They’ll have the second printing going before the initial printing is even off the presses.”

Then with another laugh he added, “This is going to be fun. What’s next?”

“‘What’s next’ is I would like to get Chester Klem, the plant manager, and the vice president of manufacturing down here right away.”

Again Mark laughed. “Klem will be here in a few moments after he’s called. As for the other two, I’m not even sure they can even find the plant floor. But here goes...” With that he picked up a phone and made several calls.

A few moments later, there was a page for Chester Klem to call an extension number. After just a few more moments, the phone rang. Mark told Chester he was wanted. Klem appeared shortly after and was introduced to Kimberly, but only in her capacity as a tech service technician from Aerospace Technologies.

The three engaged in small talk for a few minutes and then two executive types came puffing up. It was all Kim could do to contain her grin as she saw one of them trying to adjust his hardhat to fit. Obviously, it had never been on his head before, and since hardhats were required on the plant floor, it spoke volumes in support of Hopkins’ quip that they might not be able to find the plant floor. Clearly, that hardhat had never previously been on its owner’s head, although it did have his name carefully printed on its front.

“What’s this all about?” the senior of the two executives asked.

“This is about machine abuse,” Kimberly replied “and it’s why Aerospace Technologies will not honor this machine’s warranty. The abuse on this machine has voided it.”

“What!” he squawked. “That’s impossible. All our machines are impeccably maintained.”

“Oh? Then why is the oil in this machine’s sump not the grade required to maintain warranty protection? And why are there metal particles throughout? I haven’t checked, but it appears the oil filter was clogged quite some time ago. And that’s another warranty breach.”

“Look, young lady, Chester Klem has forgotten more about industrial machine tools than you will ever know! And he says everything is just fine.”

“Okay,” Kim responded. Then turning to Klem she gave him a small stack of metal plates to run through the machine.

Klem looked puzzled, but did as she asked. First, though, he carefully repositioned and locked all the inspection plates and then started up the machine in the precisely correct manner. Carefully he positioned each sheet precisely on its marks and cycled the machine. He repeated the process until all of the steel had been run.

Kim had been collecting the finished units as they ejected from the machine. When the test was concluded, she looked at the ten and just shook her head. “I certainly don’t need a micrometer to check these out. No two are even close to being the same product.” Turning to the executives she asked, “Would you like to see for yourselves?”

The two executives merely glanced at the semi-finished product and shook their heads. Again it was the senior who spoke. “Of course you’re right,” he said, “but it’s a machine failure, not an operator failure. You could see that Chester operated it exactly by the book.”

“Both of those statements are true,” Kim agreed, “but the machine failure was caused by abuse. Specifically, failure to use the required grade of lubricating oil, aggravated by the failure to change filters in a timely manner.”

Then to the group she said, “This is a bit noisy. Can we go somewhere quieter to continue this discussion? And I think it’s probably time to get Mr. Canfield involved.” Kim was referring to John Canfield, the founder, chairman and CEO of Precision Manufacturing.

Before the others could do or say anything, Mark was on the phone. A moment later he rejoined the group and reported, “Mr. Canfield would like to meet with all of us right now in his private conference room.”

The two executives who obviously had been about to object to involving Canfield, merely reddened and said nothing. Off they trouped.

Again Kimberly felt somewhat embarrassed. She was again wearing Levi’s and a work shirt, and again it was sweat-soaked from the heat of the factory floor. But, she thought, I guess the sweat stains come with the job.

Once in the conference room, Kim stood at an easel pad and made a presentation on machine lubrication. She stressed the fact that newer precision machine tools required a synthetic oil because of its ability to make and hold extremely thin lubricating films, far thinner than conventional oils could. Because of this, using a conventional oil in such a machine would result in the film breaking down, permitting direct metal-to-metal contact. At that point, the machine began literally to grind itself to bits. And that’s exactly what had happened to the machine in question.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my life!” Klem exploded. “It’s just a cheap stunt in cahoots with an oil company to force us to use its overpriced product. Why, Mr. Canfield,” he added proudly, “I’ve already saved nearly $1,000 this calendar year, and the year’s not half over yet. What this girl has just said is ridiculous! And what can she know anyway? She’s just a pretty face.”

At that point, Mark Hopkins spoke before Brad had a chance to. “Jack...” he grinned and interjected, “Since I’m no longer on the payroll, I guess I can call you Jack...” Then he continued, “Miss Kane most assuredly has a pretty face, although to be honest, she’s just plain outrageously beautiful. But she’s something else.”

Turning to Klem he said, “Chester, I really think you should address Miss Kane by her more appropriate title. She’s Dr. Kane. More specifically, Dr. Kimberly Ann Kane, BE, ME, Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. Her dissertation is now being published and is scheduled for use in graduate courses in machine-tool design and engineering at both Cal Tech and MIT, although I’m certain it will be used wherever such courses might be offered.

“You see, gentlemen, Dr. Kane is considered the world’s foremost authority in the field. And a new line of machine tools solely designed by her is sweeping the entire industry. Single-handedly, she has virtually obsoleted every machine tool around.”

Brad was sitting beside Kim and whispered in her ear, “But are you still a really great fuck?”

Kim’s eyes flared, but then she just vigorously nodded her head and grinned.

The manufacturing executives were in a state of shock, but Jack Canfield was thoughtful.

Before he could say anything, though, Brad spoke up. “Full disclosure compels me to inform you gentlemen that, in addition to being an outstanding machine-tool designer, Dr. Kane is now also vice president–manufacturing & design of Aerospace Technologies. So if you’re thinking about appealing her decision at AT, I have to tell you there’s no one to appeal to. On the technical side, she’s it.”

Suddenly, Chester Klem began to cry and his crying just increased in volume. Finally he murmured, “My God! What have I done?” and went off in another paroxysm of tears.

Kim jumped from her chair, went to Klem and knelt beside him to comfort him. What she had seen was one of the most tragic things in business: A man wakes up one day to find that due to some dramatic change in the market or in technology, 25 or more years of experience suddenly became obsolete. Joseph Schumpeter called it “creative destruction” and it’s vital for an economy but it doesn’t happen without causing substantial pain to affected individuals.

Moreover, in Klem’s case it was even worse. He had been so proud of the savings he had achieved for the company, but now he realized the savings came at the cost of millions of dollars in destroyed or damaged machine tools.

Jack Canfield turned to Mark and said, “Could you escort our guests into my office, please, Mark? I’ll join you in a few minutes, but I need to speak to these gentlemen first.”

They entered the chairman’s office through a side door that connected directly with his conference room. There they found a beautiful young woman seated in a chair reading a magazine while waiting. When she saw Mark Hopkins, she beamed and jumped to her feet. The instant she did, it was apparent to both Kim and Brad that she was very pregnant.

When the two merged in each other’s arms, it was clear to Kim and Brad that the two kissed in exactly the same way they did. Their bodies were molded together and they could hear the bells, too, and feel the electricity flowing between them. One thing they did differed from Kim and Brad, though. The woman was rubbing her distended belly against Mark’s cock. The difference in their heights allowed it to work.

Finally they eased apart and Mark said, “This is my wife, Pam.” To her he said, “Honey, this is Kimberly Kane and Brad Kramer. They’re visiting us from Aerospace Technologies.”

“Kimberly Kane?” Pam Hopkins said in a hushed tone. “Doctor Kimberly Kane?”

Kim frowned but nodded. “That’s me, but how did you know?”

“My God, woman!” Pam nearly exploded. “After that article in The Los Angeles Times, what are you doing here associating with mere mortals? Good grief! You’re famous!”

“Article?” Kim nearly screamed. “What article?”

The girl rummaged around in a tote she was carrying and produced a copy of The Los Angeles Times. After flipping through the paper, she found what she was looking for and announced proudly, “This article!”

Kim took the paper and rapidly scanned the story. It was remarkably comprehensive, reporting her degree, her dissertation, her new machine-tool line, and the tremendous acceptance it was enjoying.

Glancing at Brad, she saw that he was looking embarrassed. “Did you know about this?” she asked accusingly.

“Yeah, sweetie, I did,” he admitted. “But I only learned about it an hour ago. While you were on the plant floor, I was checking to see what was going on back at the ranch, and I learned about the story. It was Jane.”

“Jane?” Kim reacted, now even more puzzled. “Who’s Jane?”

“Jane Chalmers,” Brad replied. “She’s one of the girls in the Leper Colony. It seems she was a top PR woman before her court case. Anyway, she thought it might cut down on the calls if we could get a paper to run a story on our new line. I agreed, and she did.” He frowned and continued, “It seems she was very good and had lots of top press connections who were more than happy to welcome her back by helping her out.