by Palladian
After some thought, Lex figured that the only items that would potentially impact Kurt would be the probationary period rules, the transfer clause, the on-call expectations, and the confidentiality stuff. She got together the information she knew and dialed Kurt’s cell phone.
After a few rings, she heard his voice. “Hello?”
“Hey, sweetie. How are you doing?”
“Lex! What’s up?”
“Do you have a couple of minutes? I wanted to talk about some things.”
“Sure. I’m just sitting at my desk eating pizza. Someone ordered for the office today, so I don’t have to go out for lunch. Fire away, just don’t mind the chewing in the background,” Kurt replied.
Lex laughed. “OK, you’ll only have to listen for a while, so eat away. I got the offer from the M Agency—”
“Hey, that’s great news,” Kurt interrupted, his voice suspiciously muffled. “So you’re going to take it, right?”
Lex now almost felt she could smell the pizza, and her stomach growled in response. “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Lex scolded playfully, “I don’t want you choking over the phone!” After a pause, she continued more seriously, “I don’t know if I’m going to take the job, though. There are a few things about it that I wanted to go over with you before I decide.”
“OK, shoot,” Kurt replied, the evidence of pizza talking gone.
“First, in order to get hired on permanently,” Lex began, “I need to go through a probationary period of six months. One of the things about that is that I'd need to live in their facilities that whole time, except for every other weekend. What that boils down to is that if I take the job, for the next twenty six weeks I’ll probably only be able to see you every other weekend, thirteen weekends out of that twenty six.”
Lex paused for a moment and then continued. “Since that's the most immediate thing that’ll impact the two of us, I wanted to mention it first. Please let me know what you think, because I want to be sure that you’re OK with the downsides of this job before I really consider it. If you’re not, I’ll just tell them no and keep looking for something else.”
“Don’t say that, sweetheart,” Kurt broke in. “I know you’ve been looking really hard for a good job, and it would be wrong for me to stand in your way. What’s six months when we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together? It’s not like we’re not going to be able to see each other at all, right?”
“That’s true,” Lex agreed, smiling.
“OK, what else?”
“Well, if I do get the job, there will probably be a lot of it that I can’t tell you about. They have a pretty strict confidentiality clause, so it would be like having some sort of top secret spy job or something. Does that bother you?”
She thought she heard him swallow before he answered. “Not really. I think people talk too much about their work in this town already. Not a big deal. I mean, I don’t mind talking about work things with you, but if you can’t discuss it, that’s fine too. Anything else?”
“A couple more things. There is a possibility that after three years with the team I could be asked to transfer. A number of people would need to agree, but if they do, they could transfer me against my will, I think. According to the summary in the paperwork, they could send me anywhere in the US.”
Kurt fell silent for a moment, then thought aloud, “Well, if they ask you to transfer and you don’t want to go, can you get out of your employment with them?”
“As long as we all agree it should be ended.”
“In that case, I wouldn’t worry about it. If anything goes too far wrong, you could just make a big enough stink that they’d agree to drop you. I could help you with that, of course,” Kurt said, a hint of laughter in his voice, “but that’s three years in the future, anyway. Lots of things could happen between now and then.”
“OK, OK,” Lex said, sighing slightly. Sometimes she felt he took things too lightly in life, but she guessed she could see why. Having his name and the weight of his family behind him had opened lots of doors in his life, and he hadn’t usually had to settle for any sort of situation he didn’t want to.
“The last thing I wanted to let you know about is the on-call expectations they have,” she continued. “Basically, from what I can tell at this point, I’d be on call pretty much 24-7. I don’t know how often I’d be called, but their expectation is that I’d be at their facilities and ready to go within an hour of getting a call, and that I’d always have to have a mobile device on me. I guess that’s not much of a problem where we’re living now, but I just wanted to let you know. It could end up being a hardship if I get called in all the time, or if we decide we want to move.”
She could hear Kurt laughing now. “I’ve heard of this before. This is a pretty standard thing for some law enforcement agencies to have in their contracts, that you can be on call all the time. In reality, what ends up happening is that you have a rotating schedule, or you only end up getting called in once in a blue moon. You remember my brother-in-law, Charlie? When he started out at the FBI…”
Lex spaced out a bit as Kurt went on with the story, which she was familiar with. She found herself wondering whether this situation would be similar, but worried that it might be a lot different. Lex felt puzzled but pleased at Kurt’s reaction in general. Maybe he just figures I’m determined to work and is happy I’ve found something that sounds promising. That’s probably it. She smiled to herself and tuned back in to his words.
“…hardly ended up getting called in at all. Once he’d been there several years, he wasn’t even on the on-call list anymore. So, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Is there anything else worrying you?”
“Well, there are some other things I’ll need to review in more detail and think about, but that’s pretty much what I wanted to talk to you about since it would potentially impact the both of us.”
“Hmmm…secretive already, huh? Well, that’s OK. How much are they offering?” Kurt asked.
She told him, and he whooped. “Take the job, already! That’s some great money!”
“I know, I’m just worried because the pay is so high! I’m wondering what the catch is.”
“Probably some of the stuff you already told me: they want you to live onsite for six months, you’re supposed to be on call all the time—you know, the usual. At least they’re offering to compensate you decently for the inconvenience.”
Lex grinned at his enthusiasm. “I’m sure you’re right. Thanks for talking this through with me. I really appreciate it.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” said Kurt with a laugh. “Just let me know if there’s anything else you end up wanting to talk about. I think it’ll be a slow afternoon, so if you need to call later I should have some time to talk.”
“OK, sweetie, thanks a lot,” said Lex, smiling to herself. “I should probably let you go now so that I can make it through the rest of this crazy paperwork.”
“Just don’t forget to eat lunch. You get really cranky by the time I get home if you’ve forgotten to eat.”
“All right, all right!” said Lex, shaking her head. “I guess you really do know me well. Anyway, get back to work! I love you, Kurt.”
“Love you, sweet thing. I’ll see you tonight.”
And now, Lex thought as she hung up the phone and looked back to the stacks of paper on the coffee table, to figure out more about all the insane things I couldn’t tell you about…
Chapter 4: Decision
Lex wandered into the kitchen then to see what she could find for lunch. She spent a few minutes staring absently into the refrigerator, considering what Kurt had said, still surprised. For a while now, Kurt had been mentioning again and again his idea that she give up job hunting and become a “lady of leisure,” as he called it. She wondered about his change of mind, and then smiled as she thought of the few comments he’d made recently about trying to be supportive of what she wanted. Figuring that probably explained it, she went abo
ut making herself a sandwich and cutting up an apple.
She took her food back into the living room to plan her attack on the paperwork. She figured she’d focus on the Testing Informed Consent and Confidentiality sections, since she’d noted on her first pass that she needed to read both of those more closely. The Testing Informed Consent document seemed larger, so she thought she’d start with that one and then read the smaller Confidentiality section. After that, she’d read what she could of the other three sections, Lex decided.
Before she started, she looked at the clock. It was a little after half past noon, which gave her four and a half hours before Carl came back. Making a mental note of that, Lex planned to finish her reading sometime before the deadline, in order to give her time to think about what she’d read and figure out how to respond. She took a deep breath while looking at all of the stacks of papers and then grabbed the one for Testing Informed Consent.
Lex had sunk into her task hard, and when she finally pried her eyes from the pages, she realized she’d eaten her sandwich and about half of her apple. To give herself some mental distance, Lex wandered into the kitchen to refill her water glass and think a little. She’d finished the first half of the section, but the subject hadn’t gotten much clearer. It had stated that as part of their normal duties, members of the team would be asked to submit to physical examinations and take various medical tests.
Some of the tests they’d used as examples (since each team member would have a customized plan) had been non-invasive, like CAT scans or X-rays, but others had been more involved, like probes of different types and biopsies. This worried Lex since she didn’t generally like medical procedures, having a tendency to pass out when doctors took her blood or when she had to get a shot. The paperwork did recommend team members to take tests that examining doctors requested, but all members could opt out of anything they didn’t want to have done.
The part she’d started to read involved treatments and had begun by stating that sometimes the physicians would detect things in their tests for which they’d recommend treatments. As she came back into the living room, Lex sat down on the couch again and scanned ahead to see if she could find out response expectations. Finally, after a long list of potential treatments, she found that, as with the tests, team members could determine whether or not they wanted to follow any treatment regimen, although it was highly recommended to take the physicians’ advice. Nodding at the predictability of the language but still not sure about the intent of the section, Lex made some notes and moved along to read the Confidentiality section.
She shook her head when she’d finished, due to the repeated dire warnings about telling unauthorized secrets and threats of jailing and death. Fortunately, this document did give specific guidance about what constituted secrets, but she found it somewhat odd. Team members were forbidden to reveal details of any assignments the team went on, any special abilities of other teammates, any medical tests or treatments given, any specific resources or equipment the team possessed, any training regimens, or anything about the exact nature of the M Agency—neither who constituted it or what it did. It would be a shorter section if they talked about what we can say, Lex thought, frowning. The document also added that, if unsure about the guidelines, she could always ask the Confidentiality Officer questions, so Lex made a note to find out the identity of the officer.
After quickly raiding the kitchen for a couple of cookies, Lex took up the Rules of the Team section, checking the table of contents against her concerns from the list. She read first about the probation period, but the only new information she found stated the time she could leave and when she was expected back on weekends off, and she found herself sighing as the brief informational paragraphs ended. The only other thing she found interesting in this section stated that, as part of their probation, new team members would be assessed in a number of ways, and that if a new member was determined to be lacking during the first six months, they could be let go at any time. She raised an eyebrow, finding it highly interesting that it didn’t seem to be described anywhere what “lacking” might be. Lex also found it fascinating that the “lacking” language was used again in the section that talked about reassessment, again without further definition.
The Transfer section explained that there were branches like the M Agency around the country, with locations listed in the document. It stated that after the member’s third year with the team and every third year after that, a member could potentially ask or be asked to transfer to one of the other agencies. Lex shook her head, knowing she wasn’t going to want to transfer even if asked, so she made a note to talk about that problem later.
She looked at the clock and decided to put the rest of the Rules of the Team section aside to read later and moved onto the Responsibilities section. Lex immediately began searching for more information about the on-call rules (including the hour-arrival rule) and how her actual responsibilities would be determined over the first six months.
She found the on-call information first. Along with stating that she’d be expected to be on call all the time, the document gave examples of things she could potentially be asked to help with—natural disaster assistance (helping people after floods, tornados, or earthquakes), law enforcement backup (controlling riots or capturing criminals that the police couldn’t handle), national security enforcement (capturing those who posed a threat to national security and whom the FBI or CIA couldn’t catch), and the rather general statement of “potentially other things as required.” Statistics in the document showed about how often the team had been mobilized over the past few years, which didn’t amount to more than five or ten times a year. Of course, the section mentioned that past call volumes could only be used as potential examples of what to expect. The document additionally stated that the hour rule had been instituted to let the team know the appropriate parameters for arriving for an emergency call and that occasional exceptions could be negotiated. The hour rule wasn’t delved into in much more detail, but it didn’t sound like the world would end if someone arrived a little late, which made Lex feel more comfortable.
Lex also felt better after reading the actual on-call statistics, though she was a little intimidated by some of the example situations. She found herself wondering what role she could play in assisting with things like that, but her nervousness soon turned to excitement as she thought about being able to help people in a real way, to stand up for others in a way she never thought she could before.
After a while, Lex shook her head sharply to break out of her daydreams and continued reading. She found the pages dealing with determining responsibilities near the end of the document. The section stated that, since all of the new team members’ skills and talents aren't known when they join, a variety of methods would be used to determine as many as possible. Once identified, they could be matched with team needs and training plans devised to enhance them, if necessary. The paragraphs that followed described in detail how new team members would be interviewed, tested, and paired with other members for mentoring, and how it would be determined how best new people could exercise their skills and talents to benefit the team. Lex found herself very interested their approach, because it sounded as if they tried to consider a large number of skills the people on the team might have and find ways for them to employ the things that interested them most. Unfortunately, the general description still didn’t give Lex a real idea of what she might be expected to do if she told them yes. She sighed with annoyance as she made a few more notes.
Checking the clock, Lex decided she’d better move on and reached for the Pay and Benefits section, telling herself that she’d scan through it for items of interest and then start her consideration in earnest. After a whirlwind review, Lex checked the clock again to find that she had somewhat less than an hour to decide on her answer. She remained satisfied with the current section, but had found one odd item. Though medical care was a life-long benefit for team members (present or former), to receive medi
cal care, they would be required to report to the nearest agency for any treatment. The course of care would be determined by the medical personnel there. Lex sighed again, thinking that maybe it was supposed to be something like the VA hospital system, but it just seemed strange to her. She noted it down with the rest of her questions and looked at what she had left. She’d crossed some things out as initial questions were answered, and had added some notes to other items:
- Probationary period—must live at HQ for six months; every other weekend will be allowed out of HQ; inconvenient, but doable.
- Reassessment—could be dumped after a year (or a few years since relationship can be reassessed yearly) if team and sponsors agree; inconvenient, but acceptable; ask—can’t quit unless the team and/or sponsor agree?
- What will I be assessed in during the probationary period? How might I be “lacking” (there and during reassessment)?
- Transfer—after three years, they could request a transfer for me to anywhere in the US, if team and sponsors agree (even if I don’t want to do this—does this happen often?)
- Expected to be on call all the time and constantly carry a mobile device and need to be able to deploy within an hour of being called; inconvenient, but doable, ask—are there penalties?
- Actual responsibilities to be determined over the course of the first six months—I don’t have a good sense about what might be expected of me; would this potentially include anything I can’t or won’t do?
- Testing Informed Consent—How is this used in practice? Do the physicians recommend treatments often? Verify that we can refuse any tests or treatments recommended.
