“Well, I could,” the woman said. “But my boss wouldn’t be able to pay the fines.”
A round of rueful chuckles went around the crowd.
Zoya looked to the other side of the herd and picked out a woman holding a video recorder above her head. “Yes? You? Are you getting my best side?”
She looked puzzled for a moment. “What’s your best side?”
Zoya flashed one of her high-wattage grins. “The outside, of course.” She got another laugh at that. “What’s your real question?”
“Are you aware of the allegations of worker abuse leveled against Usoko Mining?”
“Yes,” Zoya said. “Of course. I lived in Margary until I left to go to the academy. How could I not be aware?” She shrugged. “The question I need to have answered is ‘Can you show it to me?’” Several people started to speak but Zoya held up her hand. “Understand me. If you can bring me somebody who’s been abused, seriously legitimately abused—worked more than the legal limit of time on a rock, living in a barge in substandard conditions, not getting enough food, water, or rest? And the cause is something Usoko Mining or any of their personnel are forcing on that individual? If you can bring me somebody who’s being abused, or point me to a situation where you think people are being abused, I will take you with me when I look into it.” She looked over the crowd. “That goes for any one of you. Don’t give me any of this friend-of-a-friend-knows-a-guy-whose-sister’s-girlfriend bullshit. I’ve heard it since I was a kid. I heard it leveled at me, personally, when I commanded the Zvedza Moya. It was slander leveled against my family. I was used, personally, as the literal poster child for the way Usoko Mining was willing to abuse their workers because if they were willing to abuse me, what wouldn’t they stoop to?” Zoya took a deep breath and let that last statement float out over the crowd. Nobody said a word. Nobody sneezed. “I get it,” she said. “You need to sell newsies. The more sensational, the better. I get it. You’re just doing your jobs. News flash. So am I. My grandmother just died. Does anybody care about that? Is anybody going to ask how? Did she die strapped to her desk grinding away for the good of Usoko Mining?” Natalya stepped forward to press a hand onto Zoya’s shoulder. Zoya chuckled a little and sniffed. “Funny thing is? Yeah. In a way she did.” A rough rumble groaned through the crowd. “Not because she was strapped to her desk or being forced to do it for the company. She did it because she was the company. She reminded me recently that the workers built Usoko Mining. That Usoko Mining owes every single one of the employees that debt of support and respect in return. She worked alongside my grandfather every day for almost a century to make good on that promise. It’s why they gave me the opportunities to learn what every one of our employees does. It’s why they gave me the Zvezda Moya when I was twelve. So I would know what being Usoko Mining meant.”
Natalya heard a hoarse whisper somewhere off to the left. “What’s this zzvedy moda thing??
Zoya craned her head up. “Zvezda Moya.” She said it slowly and clearly. “It’s in your archives. Go back to about 2340.” She looked around for confirmation. A lot of heads nodded in response. “See?” She pointed around to the head nods. “Ask one of them. They can help you find it.”
“So what are your plans, Ms. Usoko?” asked one of the reporters lying on the deck with an arm thrust through the crowd.
“What are my plans?” Zoya repeated the question and took a deep breath. “First, I’m going to find my grandfather and we’re going back to Big Rock. I’m probably going to spend the evening grieving some more. At some point somebody will kick my butt and remind me it’s not what my grandmother would do. Tomorrow? I’ll take the helm of the family business and see if I’ve learned enough to keep it from crashing into a rock.”
Two heartbeats passed before they started shouting questions again.
Zoya held up her hands. “Peace, people. One more question and I’ve got a hot date with a home-cooked meal.” She looked to the right and picked a young-looking newsie, his hair mussed up and his face red, his eyes glancing everywhere but at her. “You,” she said.
He looked around to see who she’d been pointing to until his colleagues pushed him forward. He stared for a moment and then swallowed hard. He took a deep breath and pointed at Natalya. “Is she your girlfriend?”
The crowd roared and his face got even redder.
Zoya smiled and held up her hand, waiting for quiet, looking around to make sure she got it. “That might actually be the best question of the scrum,” she said. “As a matter of fact, no. I don’t have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend either for that matter.” The crowd starting murmuring. She looked up at them. “I’m not looking. I’m not available.” She grinned and turned back to the newsie. “Come here.” She beckoned him forward with her free hand until they stood almost toe to toe, with every other newsie in the pack pressing forward. “This woman saved my life. She’s also the owner of the newest freight company in the Western Annex.”
His eyes went wide and he looked back and forth between them. “She’s young.”
“She’s standing right here,” Natalya said, her voice a whisper.
Zoya slipped a card out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Give me a week. Then contact me.”
The crowd started muttering again. “What’s her name?”
Zoya nudged Natalya forward. “My name is Natalya Regyri. I am not her girlfriend.”
The crowd started shouting questions again but Natalya led Zoya through the crowd, mostly by strength of will but also some judiciously stiff fingers poked into soft midriffs. They trailed along behind for a few meters but gave up when it became clear they’d hear no more from either.
Zoya leaned her head over toward Natalya. “They’re going to go look you up now.”
“I wonder what they’ll find,” Natalya said.
Chapter 69
Big Rock:
2369, May 18
Zoya called a meeting for the afternoon. She spent the morning going over the financials with Pietro so she had as good a grasp as she could in only a few stans. She sat at the head of the table in the chair her grandmother had used not so many months before. She rested her palms on its arms and took a deep breath as the last member of the board scurried in and took a seat.
“Thank you for coming,” she said. “There are a lot of changes we have to deal with. I’ve asked my grandfather to make one last report to us before he hands off the reins.”
Konstantin stepped up and smiled at Zoya. “Honestly, I never thought I’d see you in that chair. Ever.”
“I’m here now,” Zoya said. “Where are we?”
“The latest development project, Zvezda Moya, is now fully operational. Manchester’s sending an advance team out now to meet with the new director out there, Demetri Regyri.”
One of the men on the far side of the table perked up at the name. “Regyri? Is he any relation to the operations manager of the smelter?”
Zoya raised her hand before Konstantin could reply. “I’m really sorry, but I have no idea who you all are. If you could give me your name when you have a comment? That would help me get up to speed.”
The man gave her a half-hearted nod.
“His father, actually,” Konstantin said. “The coincidences abound on this project, probably because a lot of smart people had some of the same ideas we did. Demetri is an old hand in Toe-Hold space with a spotless—and widely known—reputation in the region.” Konstantin looked to Zoya. “Would you care to comment, Madam Chairman?”
“I met Demetri some time ago, before I knew he was Micah’s father. I visited his station which is only a short jump from our system. Yes, another coincidence.”
A dapper man with a small beard and a large frown leaned in and spoke. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. We don’t know this man.”
Zoya spoke before Konstantin could reply. “Other than you don’t know him, do you have any actual objection, Mr. Butler, is it?”
He raised his eyebrows. “He
’s an unknown. That’s my only point,” he said, retreating back into his chair.
“He’s only an unknown here in CPJCT controlled space,” Zoya said. “He’s only unknown to you. He’s immensely talented and carries a level of reputation in the Toe-Holds that nobody in this room could match.” She smiled and looked at Konstantin. “You were saying?”
“Thank you, Madam Chairman. The project is complete and producing product. I’ve sent some preliminary suggestions for Regyri to consider with an eye to stockpiling the materiel that Manchester will need to ramp up quickly. With our production capacity there, Manchester’s architects believe they can start producing ships in their new yard by 2375. With the savings in transfer fees by keeping their production in the Toe-Holds, they expect to see some substantial growth in Toe-Hold orders for shipping as the Toe-Holds grow.”
A woman halfway down on the right spoke up. “I’m Carleen Short. How do we know that this is going to pay off?” she asked. “This has been a seriously expensive expansion.”
Konstantin nodded. “True. Consider, however, that the Toe-Holds represent the only area in the Western Annex that offers an opportunity for expansion. We’ve grown as big as we can with the golden handcuffs on. If we don’t grow some new arms, we’re going to strangle and die.”
“So you say,” she said.
Zoya leaned forward. “If I may?”
Konstantin nodded.
“Two points. First. I’ve been living and working there since I graduated. Some of my jobs have been—what we might call—confidential. I’ve signed NDAs and can’t tell you where I worked or what I did. I’m not allowed to tell you what I observed. I can tell you that my experience working out there convinces me that what my grandfather has just told you is correct. I’m going to take that information to the bank. You will have to decide what you want to do with it.
“Second, even without Manchester’s yard going in there, I know of at least one major shipyard within Barbell jump range of our new facility. They’ll need all the common steel, copper, titanium, and aluminum Zvedza Moya can supply. They’re going to need a reliable supply or rare earths and rare earth alloys as well.”
Butler leaned forward again. “A Barbell can go a long way. How many jumps are we talking?”
“One,” Zoya said.
Konstantin shot her a glance and she gave him a small nod.
“I don’t understand why we’re discussing this in this meeting,” Zoya said. She looked at Butler. “You seem to have some issue, Mr. Butler. Could you share it here? Would you like to meet one on one?”
“You’ve not been here, but I’ve been vocal in the past about my objections to this expansion.”
“You’re right. I haven’t,” Zoya said, ignoring the dig. “Would you share those objections with me now?”
“It’s outside of CJPJT control. The Toe-Holds are a wilderness. Lawless. Investing there carries huge risks. We’ve already lost one whole station and all the people once. How many times do we need to do that?”
Zoya nodded. “You make two good points.”
A stir zipped around the table.
Zoya smiled. “But only two. The Toe-Holds are outside CPJCT jurisdiction and Usoko has lost a station and over two hundred employees to people who were willing to use a nuclear device to extort the stations out there.”
He sat forward, his face red and his words fighting to get out of his mouth all at the same time. “Then why in the name of nickel-iron asteroids are we continuing to expend resources where anybody with a nuke can blow them up?”
“I said only two. Your other points are complete bullshit.” Zoya frowned around the table. “The Toe-Holds are hardly a wasteland and they’re anything but lawless. The laws are not centrally controlled, true. If you don’t like the laws where you are, go someplace else. Or go find your own place and make your own laws. That’s very different from lawless. You know where the safest place for a person to live in the Western Annex is?”
He shook his head.
“It’s a Toe-Hold called Iron Mountain. You’re completely safe there as long as you follow their regulations. You don’t start fights. You don’t steal. You don’t spit on the deck. You don’t litter. That sounds lovely until you realize that the reason you’re completely safe there is that it’s where all the bandits and hijackers live. It’s where they have only one punishment. Break a rule, take a walk.”
“They kick you off the station? That’s it?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s it. They kick you off the station. Through the airlock. Without a ship or suit. They call it the Empress’s Freezer. Perfectly safe. Until you break one of their laws.”
“That’s insane!” The red flowed up the back of his neck.
“That’s the law. Before you start tossing out opinions that you can’t back up, Mr. Butler, I suggest you think a couple of times. CPJCT regulations won’t let me toss you out an airlock, but I’m pretty sure I can take you over to Margary and dump you on them.”
“You can’t do that,” he said.
“Why is there always somebody who says that?” Zoya said, rubbing a hand over her forehead.
“Because it’s true,” he spat.
Zoya pulled out her tablet and thumbed through it. “Company Handbook, Policy and Procedures, Advisory board membership. Any member of the advisory board may be asked to leave a board meeting at any time by any other member in the room at the time. The chair has the ultimate authority to toss any idiot any time she likes.”
“It doesn’t say that,” he said.
Zoya slid her tablet spinning down the table so it bumped into his water glass. “Are you sure, Mr. Butler? Did you ever actually read this document? How well did you really know my grandmother?”
He pulled the tablet over and read the screen. He flipped forward and back in the document a couple of times before looking at Konstantin, his eyes wide and his mouth catching rock dust.
“Vintage Madoka,” Konstantin said, smiling at Zoya. “You read it very well, by the way.”
“Thank you,” she said. She wiggled her fingers toward Butler. “If you’d give me my tablet back, we can continue.”
He pushed the tablet in her direction with a sour look on his face.
“As to the other point. Those people will not be using a nuke—or anything else—ever again.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself,” he said.
“I am. A large number of them are dead.”
The silence spread out across the room as her words sank in.
“Now perhaps we might continue?” She nodded to Konstantin.
“As I was saying, the Toe-Hold project has been completed. I’m looking for it to start generating revenue this quarter, although full production will take a few quarters to come up to speed.”
Zoya nodded. “Thanks.” She looked around the table. “Anybody have anything to add?”
The members looked around the table at each other, shaking their heads. Everybody but Kate Jonuska at the foot of the table. She looked at Zoya with a subdued grin on her lips.
Chapter 70
Big Rock:
2369, May 18
Natalya was sitting at the table in the family dining room with a fresh cup of coffee in front of her and a plate of cookies in the middle of the table when Zoya breezed in, Konstantin right behind her.
“You were a little hard on Butler,” he said.
“Probably,” Zoya said. She crossed to the counter and helped herself to a mug and poured some coffee. “I wanted to slap him down hard enough that it would prevent others from thinking that just because I’m young and inexperienced in the role they can steamroller me with stupid objections and phony arguments.”
Konstantin shrugged. “Well, you did that,” he said. “The larger question is whether or not you shut it down too hard and clamped off any valuable contributions.”
“You think I did?” Zoya asked.
He shook his head. “You grandmother let him get away with it. This is y
our board now.”
Zoya took a seat at the table and grabbed a cookie. “Why did she do that?”
Konstantin grinned. “That’s the right question.”
“What’s the answer?” Zoya asked.
“You tell me.”
“Why would she do that, Nats?”
“Do what?”
“Let some blowhard spout off in an advisory board meeting.”
Natalya took another cookie, noticing the plate was getting empty pretty fast. “Maybe so she could bleed off the opposition pressure?”
Konstantin lifted his mug so it rested in front of his lips, blocking the grin.
“If the opposition has a voice, even if it’s ignored, then there’s no impetus to take that opposition into the dark.” Natalya shrugged and took a bite of her cookie.
Zoya sighed. “You sure you don’t want to take over for me?”
Natalya chuckled. “I’ve got my own corporate troubles.”
“Already?” Konstantin asked. “Manchester giving you trouble?”
Natalya shook her head. “I haven’t gotten to them yet. I need to find an accountant and a lawyer.”
“That might be easier if you were on the orbital,” Konstantin said.
Natalya nodded. “Might be, but I’m also not sure the people I need are even in CPJCT space, let alone here in Margary.”
He blinked a couple of times. “Where would they be?”
“Given where I’m going to be operating, having somebody with direct and intimate knowledge of the interaction between Toe-Hold and High Line and the legal implications of that seems like a good idea. I bet Verkol Kondur has his own personal wolf pack of legal beagles.”
“Can you ask him?” Konstantin asked.
“Yeah. That’s the kind of thing I’d like to do in person,” Natalya said.
“We have a ship,” Zoya said.
“It needs a captain and engineer.”
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