Forty Nine

At that point, Mark Hopkins spoke before Brad had a chance to. “Jack...” he grinned and interjected, “Since I’m no longer on the payroll, I guess I can call you Jack...” Then he continued, “Miss Kane most assuredly has a pretty face, although to be honest, she’s just plain outrageously beautiful. But she’s something else.”

Turning to Klem he said, “Chester, I really think you should address Miss Kane by her more appropriate title. She’s Dr. Kane. More specifically, Dr. Kimberly Ann Kane, BE, ME, Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. Her dissertation is now being published and is scheduled for use in graduate courses in machine-tool design and engineering at both Cal Tech and MIT, although I’m certain it will be used wherever such courses might be offered.

“You see, gentlemen, Dr. Kane is considered the world’s foremost authority in the field. And a new line of machine tools solely designed by her is sweeping the entire industry. Single-handedly, she has virtually obsoleted every machine to