"But, he doesn't have any authority, now," Gary said.
"Well . . . yes and no. He still has contacts in the government and the military. If he finds evidence of foreign espionage, it falls into the area of responsibility of the military."
"So we've been told," Eric Gruber added.
"What do you plan?" Nicki Jo asked.
"Zoche has been hired as janitorial staff for the admin building. We were thinking if you, Nicki Jo, left some altered documents covering the DDNP process—processes that don't work—out where he could find them, we could watch him steal them and pass them on to the courier. When Nasi tells us he's closed the other end, we pick up Zoche and his friends. Nasi believes they can be charged with treason if they are working for a foreign nation. They all claim to be USE citizens." Archie wasn't sure about the treason charges. As long as he had proof of theft, it would be enough to charge them. Then he, Gruber and the Watch, that is, would arrest them, and the prosecutors could take it from there.
"Can you do that, Nicki Jo?" Pat asked.
"Easily. We had a number of failures, some very spectacular, before we reached our final formula. Some go boom very easily."
"What about the other one, Mohr?" Gary asked. Mohr was trying to steal his drawings for the mechanized brass production and ammunition assembly system. Pat was very protective about those designs. He'd worked extremely hard to develop and test them. He didn't care to give all that work away without some profit.
"We believe he is working for some possible competitors in Magdeburg. If we can prove that, we can sue them and win."
Pat interrupted, "As long as I—we get paid for our work, Archie, I'm satisfied,"
Archie nodded and continued, "If our plan works with Zoche, we'll try something like it on Mohr, Gary."
XII
March, 1635
Suhl
"What!"
Gary Reardon was working for himself, today, at his Nut and Bolt works. He hadn't spent much time with his business for the last seven months. He had a good manager, but sometimes Gary had to be there. That good manager, his wife Gaylynn, was passing Gary's office and heard his outburst. She paused at his open door and gave him a look. Gary returned her look with a frown. Gaylynn returned the frown, held it, and then nodded to Gary and proceeded down the hallway. Gary understood that look—keep your voice down!
"They refuse to sell us any black powder, Gary, under the terms in our contracts," Pat Johnson reported, sitting in from of Gary's desk. He had just given Gary the news. Their black powder suppliers had reneged on their contract. "They refused to discuss any options or alternatives. They raised their prices by four hundred percent, and they won't deliver any more powder than one ton per week. We can take or leave it."
"How can they do that? They agreed last November they would be our supplier. Ten tons per week. We have a contract with each of them!" Gary stood up. He needed to pace; it was one of his stress relievers. Unfortunately, his office wasn't big enough to pace and what little free space it had was now occupied by Pat Johnson.
"I don't think they can make ten tons a week even if they combine all their output. They are small producers, and only make enough for local customers . . . until now. They didn't expand their mills—expanding would cost them money."
"But they'd make more, more than enough to pay back their investment in a short time," Gary countered. "We would even provide financing for their expansion if they needed it."
"They don't see it that way, and please sit down, you're putting a crick in my neck standing there," Pat said. "They think they're in a controlling position and claim they have preexisting commitments to other clients."
Gary sat, stared at Pat, looked away, and then hit his desk with his fist in frustration. It was one of his rare expressions of anger. He couldn't pace, he couldn't relieve his growing anger and frustration. The project was still behind. They'd gained a week, and now this—a new job and an expensive one. With no outlet for his anger, it seethed and continued to grow.
"Where's Nicki Jo?" Gary asked. There was a solution. It wasn't one he liked but he had a project manager coming free who could be used. "We've got another job for her."
"Out at the site, probably."
Gary expected that answer. If she weren't home in the house Marjorie had found for her, she'd be in her lab. "I need to think on this, would you go get her and bring her back here? Katy, too. We need to put our heads together on this."
With Pat gone, Gary stood up and left his office. He needed to pace. He had to moderate his temper. They thought they could act like robber barons. They were wrong. Oh, they'll pay, he promised himself.
****
"I know it's not in your contract, Nicki Jo," Gary said, "but we're in a bind. Can you do it?"
"Make a powder mill?" Nicki Jo responded, "Sure. It's just mechanics. Once you have the mill wheels set up, it's just a construction job. I hadn't planned on one so there's no place in the current plant design. We'll need an additional site, mill, and bunkers."
"Fortunately, we have workers available." Gary muttered. He had planned to turn some laborers loose now that the major construction phase was over. God, the cost! "Would you manage this—the design of the mill and oversee its construction?"
Nicki Jo didn't mind building the mill. It was just a simple construction job. It did affect her plans. She was about to wrap up her contract. The DDNP fabrication plant and the primer manufactory were done. All she had left was some final documentation and training reviews. She glanced at Katherine. Objections? she mentally asked. Nicki Jo knew that if Katherine had objections, she would not hesitate to speak. Apparently, she had none. "I'll do it, Gary. Shouldn't be a big deal, just supervision."
"Thank you, Nicki Jo. Would it be okay if I work with Katy on your contract change?"
"Go ahead. She's better than I on contracts."
Katherine and Nicki Jo left Gary's office to return to the Reservation. "You have a list of these people—the ones who are holding us up?" Gary asked Pat Johnson.
"Right here," Pat said, laying the list on Gary's desk.
"I wanted to keep Suhl, Incorporated, a friendly affair. We'd deal fairly with the people in Suhl, provide them new jobs, improve the economy and the overall prospects of the entire city. But there's always some sons-of-bitches who have to screw things up. Damn it!"
"Gary—"
"I'm gonna screw 'em, Pat. I'm going nail their asses to the wall. I'm going to find out who their suppliers are, where they get their saltpeter, their charcoal and sulphur and put those sources under an exclusive contract to us. We'll outproduce them and undersell them—even at a loss if necessary. No one stabs me in the back! And when they come to us begging for relief, we'll buy them out for pennies on the dollar."
"Gary, there's more."
"More?" Gary asked. His eyebrows leaping upward.
"I think Zoche bribed them."
The pressure to meet the October deadline was growing for everyone involved in the project. Pat knew that Gary was usually an even-tempered man. A type-A personality, certainly, and driven to meet his self-designated goals. Pat had known Gary all his life but he'd forgotten that Gary, when his anger was aroused, held a grudge.
"I think it's time for Andres Zoche to go away."
"Gary!"
"Oh, nothing physical . . ." But I can still imagine beating the shit out of him. ". . . just insure he's jailed and no longer a factor. Let's put Archie's plan in motion. I'm tired of Zoche's interference."
"What about Mohr?" Pat asked.
"He's working for some interests in Magdeburg. I'm not all that concerned about him. We'll keep him from finding any drawings of our tools and presses. Eventually, some will get out, but we'll have our head start and the people in Magdeburg will be playing catch-up.
XIII
April, 1635
Suhl
"Nicki Jo, a letter from Banfi Hunyades arrived today," Katherine announced as she walked into Nicki Jo's home office, a sma
ll room on the upper floor of the house rented for them by the consortium. Nicki Jo often did her writing, documentation, and process plans here, in the quiet of their home. Today, she was seated at her desk writing in her daily diary. The diary was a log of her activities for the day, the details of the issues and resolutions that she was documenting for her reports to the board.
"What does he want?" Nicki Jo replied looking up.
"I didn't read it. It's addressed to you." Katherine gave Nicki Jo the sealed letter and sat in the chair at the side of the desk.
"Katy. I've told you before. I have no secrets from you. I want you to read my mail."
"Only if I want, Nick, and I see no need. You'll tell me what I need to know." Katherine propped her elbow on the edge of the desk and rested her cheek in the palm of her hand. She'd wait while Nicki Jo read the letter. Then, she knew, Nicki Jo would tell her what was in it.
Nicki Jo sighed. With the letter in hand, she broke the wax seal, opened the letter, and read it through while Katherine waited. When she finished, she handed it to Katherine. "I think you need to go back to Essen for a while. I don't know if what we're doing here has gotten out, but this may be something we can leverage."
Katherine read the letter and looked up, "Nitrocellulose?"
"Yes, the stuff for smokeless gunpowder."
"But—"
"I know. I've said it's too dangerous but I've been rethinking that."
"Picric acid and DDNP are dangerous, too," Katherine mentioned.
"Yes. Some differences but not all that much." Nicki Jo drummed her fingers on her desk and looked out the side window. She could see Suhl's rooftops and, in the distance, the ridge that blocked her view of the Reservation. The view from the window had become a welcome sight. She could just see the top of the tower next to the Rathaus.
"You know where this leads," she said, continuing to look out the window. After a few moments, she turned from the window and said to Katherine, "If we do this, we'll need to tell the others. They'll be interested, too."
Katherine read the letter again, "There's no mention of confidentiality."
"Oversight? Deliberate?" Nicki Jo asked. "What do you think?"
"Don't know, Nick."
Nicki Jo looked out the window again. She tapped her teeth with the pencil, a habit she'd had since grade school. She looked at Katherine. There could only be one course of action. "That's why you need to go and talk with Banfi. We need to know what constraints, if any, are in this contract, the clients, the project scope . . . any conflicts of interest?"
Katherine looked down at the letter and for a moment, contemplated what she should do. Nicki Jo was right. Someone had to go back to Essen. That meant . . . "Oh, Nick . . . I don't want to go. I like it here. We've made new friends here."
"I can't go, Katy, not now. There's still the mill to build."
The two women looked at one another. They'd not been apart more than a few days for nearly two years. Katherine had fears that Nicki Jo would get depressed again if she weren't here to help her. She knew Nicki Jo's weaknesses—Nicki Jo didn't do well being alone. Katherine didn't know the term bipolar cycle, but if she had, she would have recognized its effects on Nicki Jo. The method Nicki Jo used to keep that cycle at bay was work. She could immerse herself in work and ignore the outside factors that could trigger a cycle. On the other hand, Nicki Jo hadn't been depressed since they arrived in Suhl late last September. That change was welcome. But, could Nicki Jo continue to fight her recurring depression without her?
"I know what you're thinking, Katy. Marjorie's here . . . so are Gaylynn, Greta, and Ursula. I'm not alone."
Katherine sighed. She knew when her objections had been reviewed and rejected. Truth be known, she wasn't as concerned as she had been in Essen. "Very well."
"I'll come, too, as soon as the powder mill is finished," Nicki Jo said.
"But that's . . ."
"Yes, a couple of months."
Katherine's eyes were moist. "Very well, I'll leave on the next coach north."
"And take those mercenaries with you," Nicki Jo added. The squad of mounted mercenaries had liked living in Suhl. They were well-paid, well-fed, and no one was shooting at them. It was time they earned their keep once again.
May, 1635
The Reservation
"Any word from Nasi?" Nicki Jo asked Archie as she entered his office in the courthouse and sat down. She was getting anxious. The trap had been set in motion a week ago. She and Archie had watched Zoche find the doctored file in her office in the admin building. Her office there actually held nothing more than correspondence with suppliers. That information wasn't critical. All her most important documentation was kept in her safe in her house in Suhl, watched by a trusted guard, a Mounted Constabulary trooper on medical leave for an ulcer.
Nicki Jo puttered around in her office waiting for Zoche to come and clean it. She and Georg Rohn would discuss the DDNP process when Zoche walked in. She would put the folder in one of her file cabinets and be called away before she locked the cabinet. That would give Zoche the opportunity to steal the altered formula.
Zoche arrived. Nicki Jo gave him a nod in acknowledgement and continued her conversation. "Do you need this anymore, Georg?" she asked, taking the folder from Georg's hands.
"No, Nicki Jo. I've noted the last change on the process. It's all up-to-date now, and you can store it all in the archives down in the strong room." Georg Rohn had practiced his part in the scene they were playing for Zoche. He was careful not to look at Zoche, to ignore him. Nicki Jo took the folder with its red stripe across the cover and walked over to the filing cabinet. Standing next to the cabinet was a long iron bar. When the bar slid through the metal handles of the cabinet, it could be locked with an up-time pad lock. She opened a drawer, thumbed through some folders, and slid the striped folder in place just as Pat Johnson walked into her office.
"Nicki Jo . . . Georg, you, too, would you join me in my office? I want you to review my idea to speed up the primer assembly line. I'm concerned about the pressure being applied to the compound. I don't want any self-detonations."
Nicki Jo slid the drawer shut. "Sure, Pat." She and Georg followed Pat out, leaving the cabinet unlocked as planned. Archie Mitchell had watched through a pinhole from the next office. Zoche opened the cabinet, removed the red-striped folder and one other. He switched the contents and put the red-striped folder back. The other folder, now containing the altered DDNP process, he hid inside his shirt and walked out.
That had been a week ago. When Zoche returned to his room in Suhl, he sealed the folder inside a weatherproof pouch and delivered it to a private courier. Two of Gruber's troopers followed the courier to Erfurt where the surveillance was handed over to Francisco Nasi's operatives.
"Nothing yet, Nicki Jo. It's not dark yet, so I doubt anything will come in on the radio net until then. Why don't you go home? I'll let you know as soon as I do—after I have Gruber and the watch arrest Zoche.
Nicki Jo didn't want to go home. Her cook and maid were waiting for her, but they weren't Katherine, and she greatly missed Katherine. She still needed six more weeks to finish the powder mills on the Reservation. Once that was done, she could go to Katherine. She managed to wait another half an hour before she decided she couldn't waste any more of Archie's time. She stood to take her leave when a messenger from the radio station arrived.
The messenger handed the paper to Archie who quickly read it. "Tell Captain Gruber that I said it's time," he instructed the messenger, who left the office to find the Mounted Constabulary captain.
"Nasi got them," Archie told Nicki Jo. "They were Saxons. Nasi decided to let the package go on. He thought they'd blow their lab up at least once before they got wise that your formula won't work."
Nicki Jo sat back down and sighed. "I'm so relieved. I've been worrying about this for months."
"Well, you can quit now. We'll grab Zoche and his friends and lock them up. I expect the people in Magdeburg will
want to talk to them."
"What about the other one, Mohr?"
"That turns out to be some domestic espionage. He is working for a group in Magdeburg. Nasi has identified them all. We'll sue them and recoup more from them than if they had just licensed our process from us. We all will win from this."
"Except for the Saxons."
"And the people in Magdeburg."
XIV
July, 1635
Suhl
Nicki Jo pointed to her bags, designating which ones the porter was to load on the coach and which ones she would keep inside with her. A number of people had gathered to say goodbye. Marjorie, Gaylynn, Ursula, and Greta lined up to give her departure hugs. Pat, Gary, and Archie had all hoped she would stay, but she had fulfilled the terms of her contract and had done so months earlier than planned. Nicki Jo was a whirlwind when motivated. More so, when her primary source of motivation was in Essen. Nicki Jo had resolved most of her personal issues. Perhaps the new surroundings and new people had been more therapeutic than everyone thought. Whatever the reason, Nicki Jo had returned to her "pre-explosion" self, and any thoughts of self-punishment had vanished. Permanently, everyone hoped.
Katherine had resolved the contract issue in Essen but the political situation along the Rhine had deteriorated. Colette Modi was offering a deal. Essen Chemical would accept a contract with Suhl, Incorporated, to operate the Suhl chemical plant. She would also move parts of Essen Chemical to Suhl, away from the armies marching near Essen. That move would safeguard her company and expand Collette's operations in the SoTF. No one knew where that would go. Behind all the military maneuverings, Suhl County was seen as a peaceful island in a world of turmoil.
Grantville Gazette, Volume 73 Page 10
