"Hank," Peter said, his voice a desperate croak. "You, more than anyone else in this room, know what Wallaby means to me." He drummed his chest with his palm. "You and I, Hank, we made Wallaby everything it is today. Didn't I agree with you a few years ago that we needed someone to run the company? And wasn't I supportive when we hired Matthew? We made a mistake is all, and no one gets it. But you do. I know you do."
Hank sat perfectly still, but Matthew could see that Peter's words were having an effect on him. And on some of the others. Sounds of sniffing and little coughs, throats clearing, filled the room.
Matthew's pulse quickened. Although everyone else in the room had voted in his favor, Hank could essentially persuade them all to compromise in Peter's favor, dissolving Matthew's ultimatum. If Hank did that, the plan would be off.
"Hank, you have to trust me on this one," Peter implored. "Matthew isn't right for Wallaby. If you let him have this, he'll turn Wallaby into a second-rate company. All I want is for us to be number one, Hank. It's all we've ever wanted, right?"
Matthew sweated to read Hank's expression. Had he been kidding himself into thinking he could lure Hank's loyalty away from Peter.
"Damn it, Hank, look at me. Don't you see what he really wants? He wants us, the renegades, to connect to IC-fucking-P's computers! If that's not selling out, man, what is?"
Matthew held his breath, for Peter's assessment was ultimately the motivation behind his entire secret plan. And if this revelation, however ridiculous it may have sounded, caused Hank to waver, to trust Peter's instincts, then Matthew had not a single grain of hope of ever succeeding with his monumental plan. He heard the sound of his own heartbeat squishing wildly in his ears.
Hank looked Peter in the eye, and slowly shook his head.
Peter grunted. It was a wrenching, painful sound.
"Hank, no. No, Hank. No." He spoke very slowly, pausing with every few words to catch his breath. "We did it before. And we can do it again." He planted his hands on Hank's shoulders and gave him the sort of shake one gives a drunkard. "We can run Wallaby. Until we find someone who can cut it. Hank."