Kettlewell had been almost pathetic in his interest in helping Lester out. Lester got the impression that he'd been sitting around his apartment, moping, ever since Eva had taken the kids and gone. As Lester unspooled the story for him -- Suzanne wouldn't tell him how she'd found this out, and he knew better than to ask -- Kettlewell grew more and more excited. By the time Lester was through, he was practically slobbering into the phone. "Oh, oh, oh, this is going to be a *fun* phoner," he said. "You'll do it, then? Even after everything?" "Does Perry know you've called me?" Lester swallowed. "No," he said. "I don't talk to Perry much these days." Kettlewell sighed. "What the hell am I going to do with you two?" "I'm sorry," Lester said. "Don't be sorry. Be happy. Someone should be happy around here." # Herve Guignol chaired the executive committee. Sammy had known him for years. They'd come east together from San Jose, where Guignol had run the entertainment side of eBay. They'd been recruited by Disney Parks at the same time, during the hostile takeover and breakup, and they'd had their share of nights out, golf games, and stupid movies together. But when Guignol was wearing his chairman's hat, it was like he was a different person. The boardroom was filled with huge, ergonomic chairs, the center of the table lined with bottles of imported water and trays of fanciful canapes in the shapes of Disney characters. Sammy sat to Guignol's left and Hackelberg sat to his right. Guignol brought the meeting to order and the rest of the committee stopped chatting and checking email and looked expectant. At the touch of a button, the door swung shut with an authoritative clunk and shutters slid down over the window. "Welcome, and thank you for attending on such short notice. You know Augustus Hackelberg; he has something to present to you." Hackelberg climbed to his feet and looked out at them. He didn't look good. "An issue has arisen --" Sammy loved the third person passive voice that dominated corporate meetings. Like the issue had arisen all on its own, spontaneously. "A decision that was taken has come back to bite us." He explained about the DiaBs and the code, laying it out more or less as it happened, though of course he downplayed his involvement in advising Sammy to go ahead and ship. The committee asked a few intense questions, none directed at Sammy, who kept quiet, though he instinctively wanted to defend his record. They took a break after an hour, and Sammy found himself in a corner with Guignol. "What do you think?" Sammy asked him. Guignol grimaced. "I think we're pretty screwed. Someone is going to have to take a fall for this, you know. It's going to cost us a fortune."