Simona, with her holopad in hand, was standing off to the side by the vid crew. She saw Lem and quickly hurried over. "Now before you go nuclear, hear me out."
"Why is this woman and her cameras in my warehouse?" He maneuvered past Simona. "Hey, you with the cameras, I didn't say you could film in here. Shut that off!"
The cameramen startled, swiveling toward him, blinding him with their lights.
Unna, the reporter, smiled and kept her cool. "Mr. Jukes, just the man we want to talk to."
Lem shielded the light from his eyes. "Unna, tell your boys here to kill the cameras."
"We're here on invitation from Juke Limited, Mr. Jukes."
"Kill the cameras or I will smash them into tiny pieces."
Unna's smile disappeared. She turned to the cameramen and dragged a finger across her throat. The cameramen killed the lights and switched off the cameras.
Lem held out his hand. "Now give me the data cards."
The cameramen hesitated.
Simona said, "Can I talk to you in private, Lem?"
A crowd had gathered.
"Give me the data cards, or I will hit you with a lawsuit so hard your head will spin."
The cameramen looked to Unna, who nodded. They removed the data cards from their cameras and handed them over. Lem dropped them into his pocket and turned around. "Simona, let's chat."
*
They didn't go to his office. Lem worried he might end up shouting so loudly, they would hear him in the warehouse. So they crossed to the far side of the facility to a big utility room where all the HVAC equipment was housed.
"What a lovely meeting place," said Simona.
He folded his arms. "I'm waiting."
She dropped her shoulders and exhaled. "This was PR's idea. A bit of history could be in the making here. They wanted to capture it."
"And do what with it?
She tossed a hand up. "Whatever they do with this kind of thing. Press releases, corporate training vids, company documentary. We have vaults of footage like this, Lem. We do this for every major project we undertake. This is standard practice."
"We're not doing this to promote ourselves, Simona. This is not some product we're offering in a catalog. This is about stopping human suffering. If we turn on the cameras, we look like insincere opportunists."
"I said as much to PR. I told them you wouldn't like it. They told me to come anyway."
"I want them out."
"Fine."
"Fine?"
Simona shrugged. "I'm not going to argue with you. I agree with you."
"That's a first."
"Wonders never cease."
There was something different about her, Lem realized. "You cut your hair," he said. "It used to be much longer."