The head came up with unexpected speed. King leaped back, startled. Saurian eyes regarded him coldly.
"What's with him?"
"Maybe he remembers you shooting him," Nancy suggested.
"Dinosaurs aren't that smart. That's why they're extinct."
"A common misapprehension," Nancy said. "Let me suggest you keep your distance."
"Doesn't matter. I don't need a pet. Not when this bag of meat is my ticket up the corporate ladder."
The ping of an arriving elevator floated across the wide, well-lit basement area.
King straightened his coat and said, "That's the big guys. Remember. Play it cool, and everything will work out for the best."
Nancy made her face placid as she watched the board of directors of the Burger Triumph Corporation cross the polished floor. There were six of them, all well fed and prosperous. And probably none of them so much as sniffed their own product, never mind ate it. They looked like stuffed-lobster types.
King made formal introductions. "Gentlemen, I don't believe you've met Miss Derringer. Better known as Nancy, the greatest dinosaur-minder in the world."
"It's Dr. Derringer," Nancy said, mustering her composure.
"She prefers to be called Nancy," King said.
Nancy bit her tongue and shook a half-dozen cool hands. A minute after she had repeated their names aloud to commit them to memory, she had forgotten them. They were that faceless.
And beside them, King was waving to the floating Apatosaur head, saying proudly, "Now meet the most colossal contribution to U.S. culture since the invention of onion rings. Heh heh."
His laugh was a solitary sound in the great basement.
The six members of the board leaned over the rail and stared at the unhuman face regarding them. One puffed on a cigar. The others wore no particular expression. They might have been looking at a stack of freeze-dried hamburger patties and not a living thing.
"What do you think?" King asked anxiously.
"Kind of ugly for a corporate symbol, King."
Skip King's face fell. He swallowed hard. "When I was a kid, there was a gas company that had one as its logo."
"I remember it," another board member said slowly.
King brightened. "See?"
"Didn't they go out of business?" asked another.
King's face fell some more. He was paling by degrees.
"The coloring says Halloween," a fourth board member murmured. "Not appropriate for a summer tour. "
"We can paint it to match the season," King said instantly.
"We will not!" Nancy flared.
"Nancy," King hissed. Clearing his throat, he said to no one in particular, "Anything the board wants, it gets. Heh heh."
"'That's it!" Nancy said, getting between them and the reptile. "I must object in the strongest terms to the whole concept of a tour. The animal hasn't been stabilized. We have no idea how-or even if-he will acclimate to captivity. And the strain of transport could be catastrophic."
King snorted. "Crap! We brought him from Africa to America. We proved it can be done. A tour is doable."
Nancy looked to the board members. They stared back with noncommittal expressions. They might have been thinking. A moment later, it was clear they had not been.
King said, "Miss Derringer has been under a lot of strain. You'll have to forgive her."
"Strain?"
"It's all covered in my report," King said.
"Report!" Nancy exploded.
"I stayed up all night writing it," King said defensively. "No grass grows under my feet."
"And butter doesn't exactly melt in your mouth, I see."
"We have read Mr. King's report," the man with the cigar said. "You have done an excellent job, Miss Derringer. Why don't you take a month off? With pay, of course."
"A month! And who will tend to the animal?"
"I have that covered," King said hastily.
"I refuse."
"I'll have her removed from the building," King offered.
Nancy blinked furiously. Her eyes went from King's eager-to-please expression to the six faces of the board of directors, whose own expressions were unreadable. When none of them objected to the suggestion, King motioned to a pair of Burger Berets stationed at the elevators.
"Escort Miss Derringer to the door," he said.
Nancy froze. Her fingers became fists. Then, all the tension drained out of her.
"I can walk out under my own power, thank you."
And she did. Flanked by two guards.
Echoing in her ears was Skip King's self-satisfied voice, saying, "I have the entire tour itinerary worked out, if you gentlemen care to see it . . . ."
Skip King waited until the two Burger Beret guards had returned. He had set up a pair of easels in front of the dinosaur terrarium.
"Why don't you two take twenty?" he said. "Out of the building."