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Out of his chair, like the Olympic sprinter he used to be, Jarvis waves. “See ya in a minute.”
“I’m going to find a pub,” JL tells me.
“There are a bunch of them all around here. Enjoy.”
He gives a small wave and walks out of the room while I review my notes for the team meeting. The chatter from the group filing in is just background noise.
A PA slips a cup of tea onto the table. “Thought you might want this.”
“Thanks. And do you have some biscuits?” I ask him.
He comes back with some cream crackers and bits of cheese. “I can bring you beer, if you’d rather.”
“No thanks. You can go home. I’ll shut everything down when I leave.” I wave him off. It’s the end of the day and I’d rather be alone while I meet with my group.
Jarvis comes back into the frame, noisily. I look up. “Sorry, needed the toilet. Back to back meetings are brutal.”
The assembled staff in Chicago titter and gawk at me through their screen as I shift in my chair, feeling as if I’m a zoo exhibit. Sitting alone in London, while the rest of the team huddles in GSU’s fifth floor conference room, is alienating.
I eyeball the monitor, trying to assess the mood of the team. Most of them act true to type. Jarvis sits at the head of the table, making notes and conferring with Marlene. Mary and Lorraine, who are a code and test team, whisper and cast worried glances at Jarvis. They should be worried. They should have found this problem.
Troy has his chair tipped back, arms crossed, scowling. Amy fights to maintain a neutral expression. Her face shifts back and forth from glaring at Troy to covert glances at me. Erik paces. He has replaced his broken glasses, but the way he is twisting them, they may end up broken too. His hair stands on end, his face so suffused with color that I worry that he will have an apoplectic fit.
I raise my voice. “Guys, let’s get this circus moving.”
Erik’s chair creaks as he plops down. All eyes are staring at me on the screen. Big Brother personified.
“I know it’s only eleven a.m. there and you’re all thinking about lunch, but over here it’s five and I’d like to finish in the next hour. Jet lag.” I put cheese on a cracker, hold it up to the camera, smile, then pop it into my mouth.
“I know we’re all aware of the problems that have cropped up with the software update. Now is not the time to apportion blame. We need to come up with solutions. What’s the timeline you’d recommend, Jarvis?”
Jarvis stares at each team member. “You all know that we have glitches in the new upgrade that we are planning to roll out in two weeks. That roll out will have to be delayed.” He turns to Erik. “Clay is going to want an evaluation by our Thursday afternoon meeting. Do you think you can establish whether we can clean everything up or need to rewrite by tomorrow afternoon, Erik?”
The big Russian, who has been staring at the floor, raises his head. “Guess so.”
“You sound uncertain,” I say.
“Is already Tuesday afternoon. That allows twelve working hours for evaluation by tomorrow afternoon if I am to write a report for Thursday morning.”
Jarvis is tapping a pencil against his teeth. “That doesn’t mean having it cleaned up, just assessed.”
Erik snorts, but then nods in agreement. “I will make it work.”
“Everyone, be available in case Erik has questions while he does the evaluations.” Jarvis glares around the table. “If any of you have planned time off tomorrow or Thursday, cancel it. On Friday, we will meet again and let everyone know where we stand.” He raises his voice slightly. “At that point, you will all have a part to play, and we’ll make assignments. In the meantime, you are not to discuss anything outside the team. Even though you all have company NDAs, we have new ones for you to sign for this project. If we hear the slightest murmur outside this group, we will fire anyone involved. Got it?”
Troy’s chair clatters as the front legs hit the floor. Marlene passes around papers and pens.
“When you’re back to your desks, you will find interim assignments. For the time being, only Erik and I will have access to the upgrade. Any questions?”
Lorraine raises her hand. “Are you looking at incompetence or sabotage?”
“We haven’t made a determination. Once Erik has made his assessment, we may have a better idea of what happened.”
Silence blankets the room.
“If there are no more questions, hand over the NDAs, and we’ll all go back to work.” Jarvis catches Erik’s eye. “Please stay, Erik. Max and I want to run a few things past you.”
Team members jostle as they rush to escape the room. The door snicks closed. Erik runs a finger around his collar.
