Chapter 1

Gordon Colins III looked at the paperwork in his hands. There was very little that was new to him. "Father, the board cannot seriously consider bringing this woman into the corporation."

"I'm afraid it's more than just to consider."

"Why? She's a bull dyke with an overwhelming conception of her own worth. She'll disrupt whatever department she is placed in."

"I'm afraid she wishes to locate here in Toronto."

"Father, my own experiments will suffer. The offer is for a senior researcher. That means she will be at all the meetings. She will be seducing the entire staff, at least the female ones."

Gordon Colins II chuckled to himself. His son spent much of his own time doing the same thing and perhaps he was more afraid of the competition this new addition would bring. "Gordon, even if she is disruptive she has been instrumental in developing nearly four and a half billion dollars in new products. The corporation wants to cash in on her track record."

"I know she's bright. Her IQ is reported to be above 200. I am concerned that a person with an intelligence that high has more of a chance of being unstable. I keep track of people in my field. This woman has killed men and has nearly killed three woman. This was done with her own body for the most part. She shot one woman. There has been numerous incidents where she has lost her temper and severely beaten people she works with. She was a suspect in the shootings of two people that opposed her. We don't need her kind of attitude and actions in the corporation and especially here."

Gordon's father sat back and said in a quieter voice, "The company did an extensive investigation of the woman. Their findings more or less substantiate what you have said. The fact remains that she should produce at least a few billion dollars or more in products before she retires. The people that are paying your salary want that money."

"They're going to lose money with all the disruption this woman brings."

"That will be true in the short term. There are benefits for you in this situation."

"I know that, father. I may not be as bright as that woman but I'm close."

"Then I don't have to explain to you that you'll be able to get rid of some of your old staff and hire some—fresh new faces. If she takes the fifth floor, you will have to vacate one small lab. The budget for the remodelling can accommodate the renovations you've wanted for the last few years."

"I could use some new faces but I'm afraid that her status may sway the board to give her what staff she wants, even if they're already attached to me."

"That won't be allowed to happen, Gordon."

The board of directors at Stethbridge Pharmaceuticals came to an agreement with Sheila Knox. She would get a million dollars a year and a fixed percentage of any drug products she produced. This royalty would climb to two million dollars a year if she could work her magic as she had done previously. At present, she was getting three and a half million in royalty cheques each year from previous accomplishments. This figure was forecast to rise to nearly five million within a few years.

Unfortunately, Gordon Colins II had a serious heart attack and decided to retire. His word to his son that his staff would not be poached could not be kept. Many of the younger and more attractive researchers and lab assistants found their way to the fifth floor.

Gordon was not inept by any means, but he was ruled by his hormones on occasion. The more Gordon III tried to hold on to some of the women, the more they slipped away.

Sheila and Gordon fought everywhere they could. The board meetings were acrimonious. The chair could not control the two people. Both were very valuable to the company and both were pulling in money. Sheila had resurrected a previously abandoned product that was showing great promise as a psychotherapeutic drug. She was now working through the animal testing of a cardiovascular drug. At each success, Sheila would crow and Gordon would attack. His usual rant was that Sheila was not producing any income for the corporation.