Thor left the next morning, with polite assurances that the house was his -- which made him suspect that it was. He went to Rudbek City, having reached a decision during a restless night. He wanted to sleep with a live ship around him. He wanted to be back in Pop's outfit; being a billionaire boss wasn't his style.
He had to do something first; dig out those papers that father and mother had signed, compare them with the ones prepared for him -- since father must have known what was needed -- sign them, so that Uncle Jack could get on with the work after he was gone. Grandfather was right about that; John Weemsby knew how to do the job and he didn't He should be grateful to Uncle Jack. He would thank him before he left. Then off Terra and out to where people talked his language!
He buzzed Uncle Jack's office as soon as he reached his own, was told that he was out of town. He decided that he could write a note and make it sound better -- oh yes! Must say good-by to Leda. So he buzzed the legal department and told him to dig his parents' authorizations out of the vault and send them to his office.
Instead of papers, Judge Bruder arrived. "Rudbek, what's this about your ordering certain papers from the vault?"
Thorby explained. "I want to see them."
"No one but officers of the company can order papers from the vault"
"What am I?"
"I'm afraid you are a young man with confused notions. In time, you will have authority. But at the moment you are a visitor, learning something about your parents' affairs."
Thorby swallowed it; it was true, no matter how it tasted. "I've been meaning to ask you about that. What's the progress in the court action to have my parents declared dead?"
"Are you trying to bury them?"
"Of course not. But it has to be done, or so Uncle Jack says. So where are we?"
Bruder sniffed. "Nowhere. Through your doing."
"What do you mean?"
"Young man, do you think that the officers of this company will initiate a process which would throw affairs of the firm into incredible confusion unless you take necessary steps to guard against it? Why, it may take years to settle the wills -- during which, business would come to a stop... simply because you neglected to sign a few simple instruments which I prepared weeks ago."
"You mean nothing will be done until I sign?"
"That is correct"
"I don't understand. Suppose I were dead -- or had never been born. Does business stop every time a Rudbek dies?"
"Mmm... well, no. A court authorizes matters to proceed. But you are here and we must take that into consideration. Now see here, I'm at the very end of my patience. You seem to think, simply because you've read a few balance sheets, that you understand business. You don't. For example your belief that you can order instruments turned over to you that were given to John Weemsby personally and are not even company property. If you were to attempt to take charge of the firm at this time -- if we proceeded with your notion to have your parents declared dead -- I can see that we would have all sorts of confusion while you were finding your balance. We can't afford it. The company can't afford it. Rudbek can't afford it. So I want those papers signed today and no more shilly-shallying. You understand?"
Thorby lowered his head. "I won't."
"What do you mean, 'You won't'?"
"I won't sign anything until I know what I'm doing. If I can't even see the papers my parents signed, then I certainly won't."
"We'll see about that!"
"I'm going to sit tight until I find out what's going on around here!"
Chapter 19
Thorby discovered that finding out was difficult. Things went on much as before but were not the same. He had vaguely suspected that the help he was being given in learning the business had sometimes been too much not well enough organized; he felt smothered in unrelated figures, verbose and obscure "summaries," "analyses" that did not analyze. But he had known so little that it took time to become even a suspicion.
The suspicion became certainty from the day he defied Judge Bruder. Dolores seemed eager as ever and people still hopped when he spoke but the lavish flow of information trickled toward a stop. He was stalled with convincing excuses but could never quite find out what he wanted to know. A "survey is being prepared" or the man who "has charge of that is out of the city" or "those are vault files and none of the delegated officers are in today." Neither Judge Bruder nor Uncle Jack was ever available and their assistants were politely unhelpful. Nor was he able to corner Uncle Jack at the estate. Leda told him that "Daddy often has to go away on trips."
Things began to be confused in his own office. Despite the library Dolores had set up she could not seem to find, or even recall, papers that he had marked for retention. Finally he lost his temper and bawled her out.
She took it quietly. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm trying very hard."
Thorby apologized. He knew a slow-down when he saw one; he had checked enough stevedores to know. But this poor creature could not help herself; he was lashing out at the wrong person. He added placatingly, "I really am sorry. Take the day off."
"Oh, I couldn't, sir."
"Who says so? Go home."
"I'd rather not, sir."
"Well... suit yourself. But go lie down in the ladies' lounge or something. That's an order. I'll see you tomorrow."
She looked worried and left. Thorby sat at his chaste, bare, unpowered executive desk and thought.
It was what he needed: to be left alone without a flood of facts and figures. He started digesting what he had soaked up. Presently he started listing the results.
Item: Judge Bruder and Uncle Jack had put him in Coventry for refusing to sign the proxies.
Item: He might be "Rudbek of Rudbek" -- but Uncle Jack would continue to run things until Thorby's parents were legally dead.
Item: Judge Bruder had told him bluntly that no steps would be taken about the above until he admitted his incompetence and signed proxies.
Item: He did not know what his parents had signed. He had tried to force a showdown -- and had failed.
Item: "Ownership" and "control" were very different. Uncle Jack controlled everything that Thorby owned; Uncle Jack owned merely a nominal one share to qualify him as acting chairman of the board. (Leda owned a chunk, as she was a Rudbek while Uncle Jack wasn't -- but Uncle Jack probably controlled her stock too; Leda paid no attention to business.)
Conclusions: --
What conclusions? Was Uncle Jack doing something crooked and didn't dare let him find out? Well, it didn't look like it. Uncle Jack had salary and bonuses so large that only a miser would want more money simply as money. His parents' accounts seemed in order -- they showed a huge balance; the megabuck Uncle Jack had handed him hardly made a dent. The only other withdrawals were for Grandfather and Grandmother Bradley, plus a few sums around the family or charge to the estates -- nothing important, another couple of megabucks.
Conclusion: Uncle Jack was boss, liked being boss, and meant to go on being boss if possible.
"Status"... Uncle Jack had high status and was fighting to keep it. Thorby felt that he understood him at last Uncle Jack put up with the overwork he complained about because he liked being boss -- just as captains and chief officers worked themselves silly, even though every member of a Free Trader family owned the same share. Uncle Jack was "chief officer" and didn't intend to surrender his supreme status to someone a third of his age who (let's face it!) wasn't competent for the work the status required.