Page 36 - Demo

Natch!22with the broadest spectrum of options%u2026 at least in the beginning.Amity, make sure everyone gets copied on the photos they bringback. We all need to be on the same page here.%u201dBetty put down the page and turned to Nate, but he wasalready stuffing his papers into a folder. She thought aboutmaking some sort of speech, some acknowledgement of themoment, something to inspire, but all that came to mind was%u201cWe have two new interns starting today.%u201d Everyone looked fromJean to Gene. Jean wanted to shrink down into her seat. Genestraightened his blazer and puffed out his chest, trying to appearmore substantial. %u201cWe%u2019ll be sending them around to do interviewsto get to know you all and what you do. Amity will set up theschedule. Let her know if you%u2019d like them to meet with any ofyour department staff. When we start field inventories nextmonth, I%u2019ll want to place them each with a mentor.%u201d She looked atGene and Jean. %u201cThink about who you%u2019d like to shadow as you%u2019redoing the interviews.%u201d%u201cAre we done?%u201d Nate stood with his binder at his side. Bettytried to hide her annoyance. It was just like Nate to want to rushthrough the preliminaries. All he ever seemed to care about waspunctuality.%u201cWe%u2019ll meet back here, same time next week. After that we%u2019llhave to establish a regular team meeting time. Amity will float aschedule for everyone to review. Be sure to bring yourcalendars.%u201d Betty could hardly get the words out before folksbegan evacuating the premises. No one was happy (except Luckywho scarfed up the last of the muffins). The job was enormous.The timetable was too tight, and some would later sayunnecessarily compressed. And the Homp Stipulation (or HompDee Dump as it was called afterward) left a bitter taste. TheHomps had ravaged years and years of careful planning andcoordination. Worst of all they%u2019d released the carbon, upsettingthe whole system. %u201cThey released the Kraken!%u201d Gad had shouted