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Shifting Timetables
Unstable Ground
The building looked solid and strong. On paper and now in its emerging three dimensions. Winston marveled that no one in the firm seemed concerned about that experimental foundation. When he discreetly took his worries to Ms. Guilding, the second assistant to the second architect on the project, she was the Voice of Reason. A clarion call for confidence.
“It’s designed to move like that. In case of earthquake, you see?”
Winston could read between the words and pretended to be reassured. But again he had that awful nightmare. The building is finished and draws great acclaim. Big-name clients sign big-dollar leases. And deep in the silent ground, the foundation is actually two awkwardly spaced hen’s legs. To be fair to the hen, they’re damned big legs and seem sturdy enough to hold up a chicken. Even a very large chicken. But not a multimillion-dollar corporate headquarters. In the dream, Winston is alarmed by a distant rumble and even though he can’t see them, he knows. The legs are trembling.
The inquiry is in its third year but the media tired of it two years and eight months ago. Then two years and two months ago, media’s timetable got jiggered by some “new” revelations, something about sketchy accounting and offshore accounts. That died down, too.
