For each of Unilever's Greek columns it had four, for each of Unilever's statues of the Olympian gods, it had a dozen. Where Unilever had used granite, BOSS had built in marble. If I'd seen this first I'd have held out for five thousand a week. Bonny squeezed his arm. I think I've been done in more ways than one. They climbed the steps to the main entrance, while the statues of the gods frowned down at them from the pediment, and went in through the revolving glass doors. The floor of the entrance lobby was in a chessboard pattern of black and white marble. The roof was vaulted and gilded, with panels in the rococo style depicting either the Last judgement or the Ten Commandments. It wasn't easy to tell which, but there was a great deal of action in progress between the nymphs and cherubs and seraphim.
Bless us, Father, for we have sinned. Bonny rolled her eyes at the ceiling cheerfully.
Yes, but wasn't it fun! Daniel murmured.
The senior public relations officer was waiting for them at the reception counter. He wore a dark three-piece suit and projected the BOSS image of the young executive. Hello, I'm Pickering, he greeted them. You must be Doctor Armstrong and Miss Mahon. He took Bonny's hand and eyed her quickly from the top of her flaming coiffure to her cowboy boots, clearly torn between disapproval of her denims and beaded leather waistcoat and hearty approval of her bosom. I'm supposed to set up a Ubomo briefing for you. Fine. Let's get on with it then.
Daniel managed to divert his attention from Bonny's cleavage, and Pickering led them up the sweeping opera house staircase, giving them his tourist-guide patter as they went.
He pointed out the mirrored panels. French, of course, from Versailles after the Revolution. And those two are Gainsboroughs; the tapestry is Aubusson; that's a Constable. . . They left behind them the splendours of the public rooms and plunged into labyrinthine corridors in the upper rear of the building, passing scores of tiny offices divided by prefabricated partitions in which the BOSS battalions laboured under the humming air-conditioning units. Very few people raised their heads as the three of them passed. Cattle. Bonny nudged Daniel. How can they stand life in this abattoir of the spirit?'
Eventually Pickering ushered them into a conference room.
Clearly it was the venue of the lower and middle-ranking executives.
The floors were covered with industrial stud-rubber tiles and the partition walls displayed charts of the company's administrative Organization and departmental structures. The furniture was laminate and chrome, with plastic upholstery.
Daniel smiled as he imagined how this room would probably contrast with the magnificence of the main boardroom that must be situated somewhere in the front of the building, close to Tug Harrison's personal office.
There were four men waiting for them, clustered around the table of snacks and refreshments in the corner. Pickering introduced them.
This is George Anderson, one of our senior geologists; he is in charge of the Ubomo mineral developments. This is his assistant Jeff Aitkens.
And this is Sidney Green who coordinates the timber and fishing concessions in Ubomo, and this is Neville Lawrence from our legal section. He will also be able to answer any questions you may have on the financial projections.
Now, may I offer you a sherry? Bonny Mahon's presence did more than the cheap sherry to relax the atmosphere.
Pickering allowed them ten minutes, then he shepherded them to their plastic-covered chairs at the imitation- walnutveneered conference table.
Well, now. I'm not going to stand too much on ceremony here. This is enfamille. My instructions are that this is to be a totally frank and open briefing. You must feel free, Doctor Armstrong, to ask whatever questions occur to you, and we will try our best to answer them. First of all just let me say how delighted and excited we are that BOSS is to be associated with this enormous project to uplift the Ubomo economy and to develop the rich natural resources of that beautiful little country for the good of all its citizens. He allowed himself a sanctimonious smirk and then adopted a more businesslike tone. BOSS's concessions fall into four categories. Firstly, there are the mining and mineral deposits. Secondly, the timber and agricultural developments. Thirdly, the fishing and aquaculture projects, and lastly, the hotel, casino and tourist industry. We hope that the development of all these resources will eventually lead to Ubomo becoming one of the most prosperous little countries on the African continent. Before I ask our experts to discuss the economic potential of Ubomo in detail, I'm going to give you some background figures and facts. Let's put the map of Ubomo up on the screen.
Pickering turned to the console of the audio-visual equipment and adjusted the overhead lighting. All right. Here we go. The map of Ubomo appeared on the screen on the end wall. The People's Democratic Republic of Ubomo, he intoned, is situated between Lakes Albert and Edward on the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley in eastern central Africa. It is-bounded on the west by Zaire, the former Belgian Congo, and on the east by Uganda . . . Pickering pointed out the boundaries and the main features. The capital, Kabati, lies on the lakeshore below the foothills of the Ruwenzori range or, as they are more romantically known, the Mountains of the Moon. The first European explorer to chronicle the existence of these mountains was Captain John Hanning Speke who travelled in this area in 1862. Pickering changed the display on the screen. The total population of Ubomo is estimated at four million, although there has never been a census. You can see the breakdown into tribes.
The largest tribe is the Ubali. However, the new President Taffari and most of his military council are Hita. In all a total of eleven tribal groups are represented in Ubomo, the smallest of which is the Bambuti, commonly known as the pygmies.
About twenty-five thousand of these diminutive people live in the northern equatorial rain forests of the country. This is where BOSS's major mineral concessions are situated.
Pickering was good at his job. He had assembled his information carefully and presented it in a lively and interesting fashion.
However, there was very little he had to tell them that Daniel did not already know.
Bonny asked a few questions and Pickering addressed his replies to her bosom. Daniel found that Pickering's inability to take his eyes off those protuberances was beginning to irritate him. Daniel had conceived a proprietary interest of his own in this area.
After Pickering, the other company experts rose in succession to elaborate on BOSS's plans. Sidney Green showed them architect's impressions of the resorts and casinos that they would build upon the lakeshore. We anticipate the main tourist trade would come from southern Europe, particularly Italy and France. Flying time from Rome under eight hours. We are looking at an eventual half-million visitors a year. Apart from tourism we are planning a major aquaculture industry. . . He went on to explain how the Lake waters would be pumped into shallow dams in which freshwater shrimp and other exotic aquatic life would be cultured. We are aiming for an eventual annual harvest of a million tons of dried protein from aquaculture, together with another million tons of dried and frozen fish from the lakes themselves.
