Bought Enough Time?

“What did they say, Josef?” Larbonne asked when Ranell returned to GML headquarters.

Leaning forward with one elbow on the table, Ranell reached up and ran his fingers through his tangled gray locks. “It’s not good, Dominique.”

Larbonne looked hurt. “Josef, you said you wanted us to buy you some time. We’ve done that for you.”

In his heart, Ranell knew his friend was right. He’d watched his team fight against impossible odds to keep the company from going under. But for how long? Instead of offering a word of appreciation, Ranell growled disdainfully, “We didn’t buy enough time for all the employees we had to lay off.”

A spark of resentment flashed in Larbonne’s eyes. “Qui, we laid off many people. But not all of them, Josef, you know that! Almost two-thirds of our employees remain with us.”

“Actually, I have to back Dominique up on this one,” Anderson’s sudden shift of support surprised everyone in the room. “I’ll give credit where it’s due. With the retrofit of just three airships, at least we’re not hemorrhaging cash anymore.”

Larbonne tilted his head and nodded, obviously grateful for the rare vote of confidence.

Seemingly unable to be content with a compliment delivered, Anderson followed up with more bad news. “Here’s the real problem, as I see it.”

Ranell felt his shoulders slump. What is it now?

“If they renew the contracts within the next six months, we should be fine.” Anderson made some keystrokes and pulled up a display with converging red and green lines. “See this chart? If it takes longer than that, we’ll never make it.”