by Chris Hechtl
“Okay. We can prove that they were defective or missing and shouldn't have gotten passed through their own filters. For the defectives, they'll claim negligence. Most likely they did it to cut expenses thinking we wouldn't notice. They might have been overwhelmed by the order, I'm not sure. But the missing units proves malfeasance. I won't allow that.”
“Oh.”
“Which is why I'm grateful to you. I know what you do is a thankless job, but I'm thanking you anyway. Both of you.” Both men swelled with pride.
“What about the manufacturer? Will they be fined?” Dre asked.
Trace shook his head. He caught the admiral's look and then shrugged.
The admiral turned to Dre. “I doubt it this time. We'll write it off. They might try to put this crap through to us at a later date, but we've got the serial numbers. Most likely they'll dump it on the public at a discount and let them deal with the faulty equipment. I can imagine gripes about no one answering emails or call centers now,” the admiral said. “The more things change, the more some things stay the same,” he said, clearly exasperated.
He frowned for a long moment and then shrugged. “They'll want to improve if they want to keep the contract. Like I said, we can blacklist them, which will hurt them badly. And it's bad to be shown up by a competitor. Reputation is important. They are on probation though.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you. You don't think of it as a good assignment. I know it's tedious, but you saved not only money but a potential life—not to mention the Federation's reputation. Keep up the good work.”
Major Burrows nodded to the duo who were clearly gobsmacked to see the president. He surveyed their exit route and then murmured to the team covering it that they were on the move as they left.
The two IG inspectors smiled to each other, elated by the experience and the story they had to tell.
Admiral Irons smiled ever so slightly to the major. The major might see it as a needless waste of time or an unnecessary security risk, but he knew better. It would hit morale, and it would get people like them to realize he saw them and was a person too. Those two and others would work with renewed vigor on a tedious thankless job. They wouldn't just turn a blind eye to defects for a long time.
And that was one of the reasons he'd had to come in person. That and he wanted to see it for himself.
~~~^~~~
Moira Sema was surprised when Boss Tweed put a call in to her office. She got the heads-up; she had set that up with Nadine Neuwirth, her chief of staff, to alert her when someone of his level put in a personal call. Her staff immediately passed his ansible call to her. She fought not to scowl. She hated not knowing what the subject was about. She didn't like going in blind.
“Governor, an unexpected pleasure,” she said as his call came up in her office. “How are things on ET?”
“Good, good,” he said. His inflection was robotic, but she had seen a recording of the fat human. He had a metropolitan drawl that you could cut with a knife sometimes. She wished that the powers that be could find a way to free up more bandwidth for better conversations or at least program the avatars to have more than a robotic attitude. Being able to read someone's tone and body language was important from time to time. “Family is fine and all that. Can we cut to the chase? I know you're as busy as I am,” he said.
“This is your dime so fire away,” she said expansively to his image as she sat back. Nadine pulled up data on ET, but it wasn't helpful.
“I'm calling about the recent news. Just what are your people playing at?”
“News, Governor? You lost me. I'm afraid I need a little more information,” she replied politely.
“The inspection.”
“Inspection,” she echoed, brows knit in confusion. The simple statement was enough for her staff to do a quick search. A file came up in her HUD inbox. She clicked on it, and it opened up to show the news of a recent IG inspection gone bad. “I'm reading a file my staff just sent to me, Governor. An IG inspection? Is that what this is about?”
“Yes,” he said, clearly annoyed. “The most recent shipment from my planet is being sent back. What the devil is going on?”
She got to the bottom of the file and then pursed her lips. Apparently, Admiral Irons had taken a personal interest in the inspection. There was no way they'd sweep anything under the radar. That meant she had to play it straight. “I don't know how it got to your level since it is a contract between a civilian supplier and the government governor.”
“I was asked to look into the matter. I didn't like what I found.”
She did a quick political calculation. Most likely the contractor had sweetened some palms or had contributed to the good governor's campaign war chest. Powers Inc., she noted. Yeah, that made sense.
“To be honest, Governor, I don't like it either. But the case is cut and dried. The civilian contractor signed a contract. In the contract, it states the failure rate of the purchased components has to be less than 2 percent. According to the IG it was 14 percent. That is seven times the acceptable loss ratio. We're not even getting into the fraud part. I can't touch that part since it may become a criminal investigation.” Too late she realized the words she had stressed would come out as just a robotic voice without any emphasis.
There was a long pause. She cocked her head at the governor's image. “Governor? You still there?”
“I'm still here,” he said after a moment.
“That's a relief, I'd thought I'd lost you a moment there,” she stated, almost wishing he'd hung up on her. If he was smart, he'd keep this light and not incriminate himself. Did he even know all ansible conversations were recorded?
“My people assure me that they were most likely damaged in transit. I don't know about the missing units; they might have been stolen and sold on the black market. Once they leave the factory, the government is on the hook for them. I thought that part was understood.”
She shook her head as Nadine brought the contract up in another window on her desk for her. A section was immediately highlighted, but she didn't need to see it. “No, sir. Final delivery is only accepted here in Antigua per the contract,” Moira said, reading a highlighted section of text verbatim. “You need to get your people to look into the contract. And obviously, someone has issues with their quality control.”
She could tell he was trying to browbeat her into submission. Well, it wasn't going to work. They were supplying crap. If they couldn't do the job, someone else would. She could think of several companies in Bek that would love the contract. The electronic contraption seemed easy to build too. Now that she knew what he was talking about she understood it more. She had been briefed on the admiral's program of handing out electronics to newly-encountered populations. It was a good marketing tool, and it helped the population update itself on their own time to the Federation's standards.
“I guess I am talking to the wrong people then. What is the point of having a state department if you aren't willing to do your job?”
“Excuse me? The shipment is keyed to my department actually,” she said. “They are to help people we encounter by showing them some of the fruits of joining the Federation. I'd say if your people do not want to get fined they need to step up their quality control. I may even have our people set up shop on your world or in orbit to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
“That is unnecessary.”
“I don't know. It would definitely save on shipping costs.”
“Look, the companies are just starting out here. It's all new; mistakes were made.”
She smiled. She could tell he didn't want any additional government intrusion in his private fiefdom. The corporations probably didn't want to see that either. They'd had a free ride up until now, when the IG office finally got their feet under them. Well, he shouldn't have bitched then. “I'm still getting up to speed on this. Funny, according to this, Powers Inc. was basing their contract on their proven reliability on providing equipment.
Something's off there.”
“I'll have them look into their quality control,” the governor said.
“Ah, good. I shouldn't get too involved, but just between you and me, they really need to get a handle on this soon. I haven't seen the full report but the summary stresses that many of the failures were in the manufacturing. Parts that weren't soldered or were defective. That isn't acceptable to the government. If they want government contracts, they need to do better.”
“I'm sure they are aware of that.”
“I should hope so. If they have a bad track record of failures or signs of corruption or other issues, they'll be blacklisted—they and all of their subcontractors. None of us want that. It would put a lot of your folks out of work.”
“I'll make them aware of it. This shouldn't happen again.”
“I agree, Governor. I'll have a chat with Senator Falconi about it soon no doubt,” she said with a mirthless smile.
“Good day to you, Miss Sema,” the governor said as his image winked out.
She shook her head. Obviously, someone somewhere had gotten cute cutting corners. They'd gotten their hand slapped and didn't like it. So, they'd gone to the governor to get him to get the government to back off.
Well, that wasn't going to happen. A part of their sales pitch was that their stuff was reliable. They had to get the job done.
But, she turned and rocked her chair. She knew that Powers Inc. wouldn't forget getting their hands slapped. And they might come down on her for being a hard-ass later in life if she went looking for corporate sponsors for any political campaigns she attempted to raise money for.
She rose as Sebastian knocked on her threshold. So be it, she thought. She could get plenty of support in Bek and elsewhere. From Powers' competitors for instance. “Yes?”
“We have some negotiation points in Pi to go over,” he said as he came into the room. “And you've got a meeting on the hill soon. You wanted to get together with me? Nadine had me wait outside …?”
He was clearly fishing she knew. She smiled. “Just a domestic issue. Hopefully, we've resolved it.” She indicated he should take a seat as she tucked her skirt in and resumed her own seat. “Now …”
~~~^~~~
Governor Tweed frowned as Mister Powers listened to his take on the conversation.
For Mister Powers, it was a recap of what he'd already known. The governor didn't know that his equipment was all provided by various contractors who had an interest in monitoring his day-to-day conversations. He'd gotten a copy of the script within minutes of the end of the ansible call with the secretary.
“She's a fireball,” he said in mild admiration. Mentally he put a note next to the image of her. He'd have to watch her and find a way to make his irritation known. Some diplomat!
“I know. I'm not happy about the threat of the inspections here,” the governor said.
“Well, we'll deal with it as it comes. Obviously, someone in the pipeline has been getting too cute. Well, we'll have to deal with it,” Mister Powers said, leaving the rest of the threat unsaid.
He couldn't help but be frustrated by the setback and threats. But outwardly he kept his serene expression. There was an old saying: never let them see you sweat.
“It could of course be sabotage, one of our competitors making us look bad,” he said mildly. “It is unfortunate that the federal government is in such a rush to judgment. Hopefully in time, cooler heads will prevail.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” the governor said as he poured himself a glass of bourbon. He paused with the glass decanter over a second glass, but the CEO waved a dismissive hand.
The governor capped the decanter as he set it down and then picked up his glass and resumed his seat.
While he did that, the CEO was considering the problem. They'd have to eat the costs of the return shipment, and he'd have to make some changes. Obviously, anyone involved in the scheme would have to go. They'd either have to be silenced or shifted about if they remained loyal. Hopefully, the government wouldn't take a hard look or do something like involve the FBI. He didn't need that sort of headache.
He was tempted to send those involved a permanent severance package through his implants, but he held off. Any sort of mysterious deaths would be like a flare to the authorities.
“So, what are you going to do? Sue them?”
“No,” the CEO said instantly. “That would bring it public and would endanger our reputation. They would also have to follow through with their threat of blacklisting us. The government contracts are lucrative, too big to pass up and getting bigger and better every day. No, we'll eat it.”
“Ah. Well, that sucks.”
“Yes, yes, it does. I considered diverting the shipment to Antigua or somewhere along the ride home. I could probably sell it off at a mark off. Not enough to cover the losses, but enough to pad them a little. But, alas, I don't know the players, and I can't control the market. Nor can I guarantee a fair price.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Most likely I'll have the shipment brought back and hand checked by my own people. Anything unsalvageable, we'll recycle. Anything we can salvage, we'll sell here I suppose.”
“Ah.”
That reminded the CEO that he needed to look into the broader market, including the black market and the guilds. He made a note in his implants as he wrapped up the meeting and shook hands with the governor. “This is just another day. We'll get through it and a new one will dawn bright with promises of opportunities yet to come. You'll see,” he said as a parting shot as he left the office.
Chapter 26
Horath
The cabinet meeting was going rather well as each department head took a turn. Theo was grateful that they had gotten through the war department relatively unscathed. But then it was someone else's turn.
Ilosovic Stayne, Duke of Horus, the Chief Magistrate of Purity and Enlightenment, rose and made his proposal known. He wanted to move forward with the next phase of the Ethnic and Eugenics program outlined by the emperor. “We are poised on the brink of greatness. In taking back our heritage,” he said, adjusting his snow-white gloves before he bowed to the emperor.
If he expected an applause, he didn't get one. The emperor's eyes narrowed. It was no secret that he was behind the Ministry and its efforts to cleanse the Empire of aliens and Neos. “Comments?” the minister invited.
Malwin saw the trap, but he plunged in anyway. “If I am reading this program directive right, you want to sterilize the bloodlines with chimera genes. Also any genetic impurities, any handicapped personnel …,” he felt like gagging. “Anyone with cosmetic genetic changes as well.”
“Indeed. We will reverse how man foolishly allowed the traitors to diversify and pollute the gene pool,” Duke Stayne replied mildly.
“You want to kill them,” Malwin stated.
“Eventually. It is a part of the plan but not a part of the first phase. We will work with Imperial Intelligence,” the snow-white minister bowed slightly to Countess Newberry. “To identify those in need of our attention. We will then examine them, sterilize those who meet the criteria, and mark them for eventual termination. They will of course lose security clearances and be relocated so they will not be a threat.”
“You understand we have dozens in the military, thousands who have genes they have no control over. Their ears are pointed. Their eyes are red instead of blue or brown. You are talking about punishing them and their families for something they have no control over.”
“They are inferior through, yes, no fault of their own; their ancestors made them that way. We are just correcting the gene pool and removing them from it.”
“And taking away loyal officers and enlisted we need! Spirits of Space man, some of them are flag officers! Or the spouses of the same!”
“Then we'll start there.”
“Why? They've proven their loyalty over and over again! They have served faithfully and fully!”
“Wh
o cares if their eyes are red or blue or yellow?! What matters is they are willing to serve! We are in need of their training! They have entrusted their loyalty into us. They have honorably served. We can't just throw that away!”
Theo winced internally, but he kept his gaze staring straight ahead when Malwin looked to him for support. He could hear the passion in the other man's voice, and he agreed. But Malwin was putting his own neck on the line. He had no intention of putting his head on the chopping block. The emperor was already looking for a change in leadership over the debacle of the Federation front. He didn't need this to be the final straw.
“Who cares? I care!” the emperor thundered, rising to his feet in a fit of rage. Malwin turned to him. “They are polluted! They should not exist! If you can't stomach the hard choices, then you don't belong in that uniform or in this chamber!”
“Imperial Intelligence will provide what resources we have in reserve to help. But only when we have them free to do so,” Countess Newberry interjected in the icy stare down between Malwin and the emperor. “Unfortunately, we are pretty saturated with the war on. And I understand that if we follow through with this I'll lose two of my best analysts to this program,” she said. “And I have no replacements,” she said, turning to the minister and then to the emperor.
“I'm certain we can pace ourselves with implementation of the phase given that there is a war on,” the minister stated. He hadn't expected the countess to come out against him.
“I'm not for it either,” a surprising voice said surprising everyone. All eyes turned to Doctor Mengla, the minister of biosciences. The duke turned to her in shock. “First, as Admiral Cartwright stated, it would impose grievous losses on our personnel when we can least afford it. Second, it would impact every family to some degree, tearing many apart. Some of our people are enhanced with genetic changes.”
“So?”
“So, we need those enhancements. The water dwellers for instance. They are a necessary evil. We may not like it, but we have to use them. If we eliminate them, we are throwing away an asset we spent a lot of credits and lives to get. That is foolish,” the woman said then realized she was undercutting the emperor. “I mean no disrespect,” she said hastily to him.
