by Chris Hechtl
“It takes a bit of … I was going to say, a bit chutzpa to let go of your pride and ask for a handout. I'm not sure if that's true anymore though. There are those out there who just go around looking for a handout,” Nadine admitted.
“What a rather dark way of going through life, seeing it that way,” Moira murmured.
“You have to admit, the admiral has a great hook with the gifts,” Sebastian Whitman stated. “He's using the rule of reciprocation here. The sharing of resources makes others feel indebted to help the user in other ways. Giving something away for free in order to get something of more value is an old trick in marketing and politics,” the policy advisor quoted.
“Which people, especially cynical people, will see through,” Nadine pointed out, eying Geoffrey.
“That still won't stop them from asking anyway. They won't have a problem with their pride since they'll think and know it is a hook,” Geoffrey retorted.
“True. And we've got the hoarders and people who will do ill with the gifts they get or they'll use them for their own benefit and exclude their own population,” Sebastian stated.
“You just pointed out the hoarders,” Petina said.
“I know. Slightly different case I meant though. Hoarders will snap up the gifts and then save them for later or they'll sell them on the black market for insane prices,” he said.
“Back to your third point. But I get it,” Petina said. “I don't think we can do much to stop it. Complaining about it will point it out and possibly shame some, but it will generate ill feelings too.”
“Like cockroaches scurrying out of the spotlight,” Geoffrey murmured. All eyes turned to him. “Sorry,” he said.
“You always have a gift for phrases,” the secretary stated.
“So, what do we do, ma'am?”
“We get more gifts into the hands of the population and stop trusting local distributors,” Sebastian said before the secretary could say anything.
She turned to him in surprise. “You know, that's a good idea,” she said, marveling at him.
“Ah, shucks,” he replied.
“Thanks, I'll steal it,” Moira said. Sebastian snorted as she turned back to the staff. “What he said, plus a bit from you, Petina, about how we're trying to help as many people as we can,” she said. The press secretary nodded.
“I'll draft some responses and contingency responses for her,” Geoffrey stated.
“Good. Now, moving on,” Moira stated.
“Um, I know it's not on the agenda, ma'am, but has anyone brought up discussions with occupied planets?” Nadine asked.
The secretary blinked at her. She frowned thoughtfully. “You know, no … I don't think so.”
“Quite possibly because it's too dangerous and the enemy won't stand down,” Geoffrey said nastily. “So it'll be a waste of time,” he said.
“Since we're going to send the Marines in anyway, I agree,” Sebastian said, nodding to Geoffrey. “And giving them warning is asking for trouble. They could hold hostages or make threats and then carry them out which would devastate our public image since we'd be helpless to stop them,” he said, nodding to Petina.
The Neo grimaced and nodded in agreement.
“But, we can put it in our tool box,” Moira stated. “Part of my job is to talk people out of war. If we can succeed, buy time, or get information, that's fine. The longer we've got them talking, the less interested they are in killing people and the more inclined to think they'll get out of the crack they are in with their skin intact.”
“A point, ma'am. Unfortunately, we don't have any ties to justice, either local or federal,” Nadine warned. “Any offer of immunity wouldn't be usable. And once they realized it, it would undermine your credibility,” she warned.
Moira sighed. “There are no easy answers it seems. But, we can at least get them talking,” she said. “Find out who the players are, intelligence, that sort of thing,” she said.
Her chief of staff nodded. “Yes, ma’am, there is that,” she said.
“Okay, moving on,” Moira stated.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
Just after lunch Blake came into her office when she had a cancellation. She nodded to him. “Is this a good time to discuss some of the Tau mission you had questions about?” he asked, waving his tablet.
“Come in. Shut the door,” she ordered as he turned and did so. “I was going to write you an email while reading another brief. Sometimes I feel like my eyes are going to bleed or pop out,” Moira said as she indicated he should take a chair.
Once he was settled, he crossed his legs and set the tablet in front of him. “What is on your mind, Madam Secretary?” he asked politely, the picture of an attentive aide and subordinate.
Moira nodded mentally. Blake was good, damn good. She was glad he wasn't too ambitious and not a threat to her or her plans. “Well, how we structured the Tau mission. I thought I'd get more input on it before it launched. I'm seeing now that isn't going to be the case,” she said.
“You weren't in the department when it was formulated, ma'am. I do understand you were asked for input while en route here however,” he reminded her gently.
“Well, there is that,” Moira conceded.
“We can also send them updated mission orders as necessary, ma'am,” Blake said helpfully.
“And there is that too. Still …,” Moira grimaced.
She had signed off on having some State diplomats with the various expeditions going to the other sectors. State should be on point for first contact with the other colonies she knew. They should have been when the Federation had contacted Bek and Nuevo, but she understood that State was still getting its feet under it.
Even though she hadn't been in charge at the time, Admiral Irons had allowed her some input on what was going on in State while she'd been en route to Antigua. She hadn't known the parties involved in the Tau mission so she'd easily signed off on it. She'd thought she'd have time to revise it if necessary … right up until she found out that Mister Muggs was already en route to Pyrax to join the mission. It wasn't set in stone, but she couldn't send a replacement now if she wanted to. She pursed her lips sourly in exasperation.
“Apparently, I should have read his bio a bit more,” she said.
“I did look, ma'am. He's good. He was actually looking to take a deputy slot at one point. I think when the powers that be signed off on bringing you on board, he saw this as an out and pushed for it.”
“So you are saying it is a good thing? That his being gone means less competition here for me?” Moira asked, eying Blake.
“Something like that, ma'am.”
“You know I could just fire his ass if he pissed me off badly enough,” Moira reminded him.
“True. But if you do that with people who irritate you than you are going to have problems long term when word gets around. And it's a moot point anyway,” he pointed out.
“True,” she said. “What is his ETA again?”
Blake frowned. “He is in a convoy. They checked in when they got to Agnosta. They should be arriving with his family in week or so,” Blake said, checking his notes. “Yeah, a couple of days,” he said.
Moira nodded. “Okay.” She sat back and crossed her legs under the desk. She could always do something about the command structure in Tau later if necessary. Let him play point man.
“Boss, we need to work on the training of State personnel, especially diplomatic personnel. I understand this Mister Muggs took courses at the Antigua College, and he's been in politics, but …” he blew his cheeks out as he paused. “We need a standard set of training and a playbook for our people,” he finished.
Moira nodded. “Point. For the moment, go through what the college has to offer for classes and draw up a criterion we'll accept. That will give future applicants a road map,” she said. He nodded. “Then look into what we had in Bek. What I had in Bek I mean,” she said with a grimace. “Compare that with what we've got here and work on a wish list in parallel,
then combine them all.”
“In-between everything else I'm doing,” Blake said.
“Throw it at the staff for ideas. Sick it on a junior intern if you have to. We can always put it on a front burner later when we've got some quiet time,” she said.
“Something tells me we're not going to get that quiet time like you'd like, ma'am,” he said with a shake of his head. “Once the navy gets a handle on the war front, we'll be more or less settled here and expanding exponentially—with exponentially more problems. We're already discussing the Pi missions and I know you'd like to send teams into Sigma. Tau seems like the best place to form a stable sector government once the pirates are routed out or more or less reduced.”
“Tau … because …”
“The astrography, ma'am,” Blake said as he tapped at his tablet. He finished pulling up a map and then sent it to the main screen in her office. She looked up with him as he got up. He pointed a finger. “This is where we are,” he said, pointing to a section in the south of the spiral galaxy far from the center. “Rho is here.” Where he pointed, a star formed. “Pi is here, Tau here,” he said pointing to different areas.
“Pi is on a Perseus arm. It's connected to us, Sigma, and Omicron. At one time, it was also connected to Tau here,” he pointed to a couple stars. “But those were hyperbridges that crossed the void between the arms of the galaxy. Currently, we know all of the bridges were destroyed. We don't know if there is a long way across,” he said, indicating the two sectors.
“Tau we know is connected to us here in the south at Airea 3 and also leads into Upsilon here.”
“So, fewer roads in or out. And Upsilon is also up against the interdicted regions,” Moira said. “I remember this part of the briefing,” she said mildly.
“Sorry, just laying it out. My point is, Tau is spread out and thin by all accounts, but with only the two sectors known to connect to it, we can better secure it. The pirates won't be able to come in from Rho, so they'll be backed into Upsilon.”
“And we, meaning the navy,” Moira said with a nod, “can bottle them up there and then move in to take them out when they have the forces,” she said.
“Exactly. Once they secure Tau and the route to Epsilon we'll be able to firm up contacts with the planets in the sector. If we can get a minimum of half to agree to rejoin the Federation, then we can form a sector government there. We'll be one step closer to reforming the Federation.”
“With all those worlds to draw on for support with the war effort elsewhere,” Moira said with a nod. “And they'll be more or less secure from the pirates. Economic engines …,” she nodded some more. “Yes, okay, I see where this is going. Tau is difficult to contact however.”
“Which is why we're sending in Mister Muggs and an initial team. They'll have ansibles eventually,” Blake said. “The hardest sell is going to be the taxes once we get the pirates reduced. We won't need a large navy in the area so they'll see their money going elsewhere so they won't like it.”
“One thing at a time, Blake. First, we have to get in to the sector. But we can plan responses for that eventually on top of everything else we're handling,” Moira said with a grimace.
“Right,” Blake drawled.
“The good news is, they want us there. They sent a formal request with that ship, so we've got our foot in the door. And we know a little more.”
“Yes, ma’am. A little,” Blake said.
“Good. Pi will give us a little more practice closer to home. We can use that to refine our playbook and use the ansible to keep everyone on board with it. We'll be taking them on piecemeal?” she asked, changing the topic.
“And that is a problem, the navy will need to establish pickets in virtually every system. They might get away with nodule pickets and roving patrols, but initially they'll need pickets. The same for every sector including Tau initially. Once the pirates are no longer a threat they can work on reducing their forces. The problem is, the navy isn't willing to disperse their ships like that. And when they do and decide to reconsolidate them, it will be a political football.”
“One we'll get stuck handling. Okay, we'll need a playbook for those eventualities as well. I'll have a go at Admiral Irons. See if he can get his people to work on a minimum picket for star systems that are threatened or have just joined the Federation. Something that can take on a pirate and scare them off or kill them while reassuring the population. Without serving as a threat to them,” she said with a fresh grimace.
“Good luck with that, ma'am,” Blake said with an echo of her grimace.
“Yeah,” Moira drawled. “Just another day in the life of the State Department I suppose.” She shook her head. “Tell me again why I wanted this job?” she asked rhetorically. He just smiled at her.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
Fred Muggs looked around the small compartment, then to his wife, Phoebe. Phoebe was a bonobo; he was a full chimp. He still wasn't certain how it had worked out that way. He knew now that she'd set her sights on him in school, but he wasn't certain how far back. He appreciated that though; he loved her dearly.
“A couple more days,” he said again.
She looked up from the e-book she'd been reading on her tablet. “What was that, dear?” she asked.
“A couple more days and then we're out of here, at least until we start the journey proper,” he said.
“Tired of our second honeymoon already?” she teased.
He snorted. “This from the woman who's been reading tawdry romance novels for a good part of the trip?” he teased right back.
“Well, it is more fun than doing paperwork,” she growled at him, eyes flashing at the old dig.
“I'm doing paperwork because I need to be briefed on what we're going to be up against. I'm committing it to memory, not just my implants, but to my organic memory,” he replied.
“I know,” she said. Sometimes she resented his cybernetic implants. He didn't have the full military package, but he did have the basic government ones that allowed him to access some things like classified material she couldn't see. That had bothered her. She had tried to look over his shoulder when he'd been reading a document on his tablet, but his implants had recognized an unauthorized person and had blanked the screen.
“At least they didn't send us out on a liner as we'd thought,” she admitted. He quirked an eyebrow up at her. “Can you imagine getting used to that and then having to put up with this?” she asked, indicating the room as she bookmarked the page she was on for later reading.
“True,” he said looking around the compartment again. “I'm hoping that what we get for the long journey is better. But I'll settle for this if necessary,” he said.
“This?” she demanded, aghast.
“This. It could be worse,” he reminded her gently.
She grimaced and then nodded. He had done well to get them a cabin alone. Some of the cabins were four or six persons to a room.
“Can you imagine if we'd had a bigger family in this?” he asked, looking thoughtful as he scratched under his chin.
“Don't go there,” she growled.
“Seriously. I mean, I think we could fit one more here … it'd be tight … pig pile,” he teased as she set her tablet aside and rose off her side of the bed.
Phoebe's eyes glittered. “You know I'm a one-man woman,” she said in a dangerous tone.
“Possessive, I like it,” he teased, leering at her.
She shook her head in mock exasperation, looking away, eyes slightly downcast, but she liked the way her husband looked at her when he teased her like that.
“So what about you?” she asked, changing the subject. “Do you think you'll be elected sector governor in ten years or twenty?” she asked him, cocking her head as she went into the bathroom. She closed the door and did her business.
He frowned thoughtfully. She'd been hinting about that idea for a while. It was time to put her idea to rest he thought with a pang, even thought it might start another fight.
He waited until she was done and had come out though. “I very much doubt that will work, honey,” he said with a dismissive wave. “I'm pretty sure I'm out of the running before it even started.”
“Oh?” his wife asked, clearly disappointed with his reaction.
“I'm with State, honey,” he replied succulently. “We are the Federal government, not sector. Besides, do you think the people in the sector will be willing to elect a governor who is an outsider and not a native?” he asked.
She frowned and then nodded reluctantly as she bit her lip. Damn it, he had a point there she thought with a mental grimace. “Well, there is that,” she admitted, as close as she was willing to admit to conceding the point to him. “But if you are intimate in the negotiating process everywhere, then they'll know you better, right? You'll be on everyone's mind. Don't be too surprised if they want you to run,” she said hopefully.
He smiled at her. “And if I'm everywhere, how will I be with you and Ayumu?” Their teenage son had become sullen and withdrawn as he'd entered puberty. His mother had insisted Fred step in to spend some time with the boy and get him out of his funk. It had worked … right up until Fred had taken the posting to Tau. Now the kid was barely speaking to either parent. “I seem to recall someone complaining already that I'm spending far too much time in the office as it is,” he said as he leaned in and got a kiss from her smiling face.
“Touché,” she murmured as they broke the kiss. He could see she was still smiling.
“I don't even know how well this mission is going to play out. One day at a time I suppose,” he said with a shake of his head.
His wife nodded slowly. “But we can keep an eye on the big picture, right?” she asked.
“Just as long as you don't get your hopes up, dear,” he warned, shaking a finger at her. She grabbed it and pulled until he was off balance. Her smile turned a little mischievous until his free hand caught her side and dug in, tickling her. She tried to stifle the giggles but then guffawed, shrieking and batting at his back as he bent over and slung her up on his shoulder.