Forty Eight

Kim stood up straight, returned his grin and extended her hand. “As one kid just out of school to another, will you shake on that?”

Suddenly Hopkins’ eyes widened. Almost under his breath he murmured, “Kimberly Kane...” Then, sounding excited, he added in his normal voice, “You just received your Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cal Tech, didn’t you?”

Then he laughed out loud. “Kim, this is really going to be funny. Are you aware of the fact that Cal Tech is selling your dissertation at a hundred bucks a copy? Because they are. No wonder the university-press people are falling all over themselves to get the book out on the streets. They’ll have the second printing going before the initial printing is even off the presses.”

Then with another laugh he added, “This is going to be fun. What’s next?”

“‘What’s next’ is I would like to get Chester Klem, the plant manager, and the vice president of manufacturing down here right away.”

Again Mark laughed. “Klem will be here in a few moment