The meeting room on the construction site was a makeshift structure, hastily assembled from a few steel plates.
A simple, long folding table sat in the center, surrounded by seven chairs borrowed from various offices. The leather on some of the cushions was already worn through.
The seven mayors who held the fate of the industrial cities of Western and Central Pennsylvania in their hands were now squeezed into this cramped space.
Exquisite ceramic coffee cups sat before them, steam rising from the coffee within, but no one touched them.
All eyes were fixed on the projection screen at the front of the room.
Ethan stood beside the screen and pressed a button on the remote.
A digital map of Pennsylvania appeared before them.
It was an industrial map.
Red lines represented railways, blue lines represented waterways, and gray lines represented interstate highways.
