by Palladian
She knew where she was, having dreamed like this before, and she smiled as she turned to her right. “Uncle Joe,” she said with a smile, as if she hadn’t been sitting here with him the whole time.
The spare man beside her smiled gently in reply. Her uncle was a writer, an excellent one, and she had always admired him. She’d gone to visit him in Buffalo, NY, years ago, and they sat now as they had many times before in her dreams, watching the river and talking. He would sit there in his plain, durable clothes looking a lot like a farmer, gazing up at the trees, listening intently to what she said, and asking questions that made her think further. She loved these dreams more than any other she had.
Since she knew it was a dream, she explained to him what had gone on that day at the interview, leaving nothing out as she watched the water, throwing the occasional rough pebble into the river. He nodded, listening patiently and hearing out what she wanted to say.
When she finally finished, she looked at her uncle, trying to read his reaction. “So, what do you think?” she asked.
Her uncle laughed softly as he turned to look at her. “The question is, what do you think? How did you like this place? Do you think you could be happy doing that type of work? How about the people you’d be working with?”
He paused for a moment, looking at the trees overhead before continuing. “One of the things you may want to think about is the fact that when you start something new like this, it will change your life.”
She’d thrown a puzzled look his way at that, so he turned to look at her as he went on. “It doesn’t necessarily mean the changes will be huge, but they may be. You’ll gain new relationships and may even lose some old ones. The differences may be large or small, for the better or not, but our actions have repercussions way beyond what we can see.”
She sat quietly for a while, trying to soak in what he’d said and trying to ignore the little chill that slid down her spine. “I’m not sure I follow exactly,” she eventually replied. “It’s just a new job, isn’t it?”
Her uncle smiled at her again. “Is it?” he asked. After a pause, he added, “Try to give it as much thought as you can. Just because they’re in a hurry doesn’t mean you have to be.”
“What do you think I should tell them?” she asked, trying to cut to the point, feeling that her time with her uncle was growing short.
He looked her in the eye. “I can only tell you what I would say, from my perspective. That wouldn’t help you make your decision, since there are things you want that I probably don’t even know about.”
She tried to ask more, but her uncle’s voice trailed off then, mixing with the splashing rush of the river and the distant roar of the waterfall. The scene faded away into darkness, and she slept peacefully on.
Sometime later, Lex felt herself floating upwards through veils that were progressively lighter colored. Eventually her eyes fluttered open. As she looked at the clear morning light slanting through the mostly closed blinds, she sat up quickly and glanced at the clock. It read past nine o’clock, later than she'd wanted to wake up. She muffled a curse and jumped out of bed, missing the soft sheets and pillows even as she did.
Running to the intercom, Lex turned it up as high as it would go, so that if someone tried to ring in while she showered, she would hear it. As she quickly pulled her clothes off, Lex called the downstairs desk on the intercom to let them know about the courier and ask them to ring her back if one came.
She finished undressing as she rushed into the bathroom, throwing her clothes into the hamper and starting the shower. Lex frowned as she thought back to earlier that morning, however, remembering waking briefly as Kurt dressed to get ready for work, around seven thirty. She’d smiled sleepily at him and asked, “Why didn’t you wake me up? I could have made you some breakfast or something.”
Kurt had smiled back at her as he’d finished knotting his tie in the mirror. “I could tell you got to bed late, since you didn’t even move when I got up. I knew you had someone coming later to talk about the job you interviewed for yesterday, so I thought you needed your sleep.”
Lex’s smile had grown as she’d closed her eyes again. “Thanks, sweetie,” she’d replied. “Could you set the alarm for an hour from now? I’d like to be able to shower and dress early so that I’m ready in case anyone comes.”
“Sure thing, sweetheart. Just go back to sleep,” Kurt’s voice had floated down to her as she slipped back into dreams.
Maybe he just forgot, Lex thought, but she still felt her face set in an expression of suspicion as she washed up. She shook her head as she tried to let the questions go, closing her eyes as the warm spray hit the front of her body and deeply breathing in the faint scent of chlorine.
Finishing her shower in record time, Lex smiled as she realized she hadn’t heard the intercom, and hurried to her closet to find a suitable outfit. Since she wasn’t sure whether the courier would come or whether it would involve another interview if they did, Lex opted for a button-down oxford shirt in French blue and off-white dockers and anxiously threw it all on. After straightening herself out in the mirror, including her hair, she felt a little more relaxed and went to the kitchen to fix some breakfast.
When the intercom finally sounded, she jumped at the loud noise and then ran over to the speaker to turn it down. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she pushed the talk button.
“Ms. McKilliam?” the person from the front desk said, “Your courier is here.”
“Thank you. Please send them up.”
Lex re-folded the newspaper she'd been reading and took her tea out to the living room, opening the blinds to let in the bright blue day. She realized she still felt a little nervous, so Lex sat on the couch and concentrated on breathing deeply and slowly, holding her tea mug and letting the warmth seep into her cold hands, until she heard the knock on the door. Even then, Lex had to hold herself back from jumping at the sound.
She opened the door to see shoulders and had to look up to spot a thin face with dark eyes, lots of dark wavy hair, and what looked like a chauffeur’s cap on the man’s head. She felt a bit surprised at that, never having seen such a thing in real life, but she realized as she drew back from the door that the outfit he wore looked every bit like a chauffeur’s uniform, something she’d previously only seen in films.
“Hi,” Lex finally managed, “come in, please.”
The man walked through the door, ducking slightly. He wasn’t quite that tall, but with the addition of the hat it might have been necessary. He had a large envelope in his hands, and he followed Lex down the entrance hall.
When they got to the living room, Lex turned around to face him. “I’m not exactly sure how this is supposed to work,” she said uncertainly. “Will you be staying long enough for some tea?”
He smiled then, but it came and went so quickly that Lex felt unsure it had ever actually existed. “No, Ms. McKilliam, but we can sit for a few minutes while I go over some things with you.”
Lex sat on the couch, while the man chose a chair not far away. “Please, call me Lex,” she said. “What’s your name?”
Again, his disappearing smile shone out and vanished. “Carl Palmer. Nice to meet you.” After a pause, he dropped the large envelope on the coffee table in front of Lex. “First things first. You’ve received an offer from the M Agency for a spot on their team. In front of you is a set of all the paperwork you’ll need to read and sign before starting your new position.”
Lex took up the envelope, folded the lip back, and felt her jaw drop as she saw a sheaf of papers inside that measured about an inch thick. She stared back at Carl with dismay in her eyes as she let her thumb fan through the stack. He remained stoic despite her gaze and continued on.
“There are a good number of papers there, so we don’t expect you to have them all reviewed by the end of the day. Get through what you can, and you can finish the rest off tomorrow if you decide to accept. The most important thing is that I’ll be back here today at
five for your response. If you decide not to join, please fill out the first set of papers in the stack, which constitute a confidentiality agreement, and give that back to me along with all of the rest of the documents.”
He caught her eye then and gave her a hard look. “Make sure all of the papers are there whether or not you decide to join the team. Each one will be accounted for, and if any are missing, that would not be good.”
Carl continued after a pause, his eyes moving to the side slightly, as if he didn’t quite want to look at Lex. “In order to make your decision, please at least read the summaries. We’ve organized the contract into sections and at the front of each one there are a few summary pages that highlight the agreements or rules detailed within the section. That should give you enough information to decide what you want to do.”
Looking at Lex again, Carl asked, “Do you have any questions?”
“Not at the moment,” Lex responded, “but what if I have some when I’m going through the paperwork?”
“You can mark them and ask about them tomorrow, if you like. No one will be available to answer you today, so you’ll just have to factor any questions you have into your decision.”
“Is it possible to get these reviewed by a lawyer?” Lex asked curiously.
Carl looked at her through slightly narrowed eyes and then sighed. “We don’t recommend it.” He took a piece of paper out of his inner jacket pocket, unfolded it, and handed it to her. “Here’s our list of lawyers who are approved to review this documentation, since it’s highly confidential. Unfortunately, most of them aren’t going to be able to turn this around for you today.”
Lex pretended to look at the paper, but she already knew that she wasn’t going to consult any of them anyway, since she didn’t have the money and she’d rather take her chances reviewing the contract on her own than to ask Kurt or his family for a favor. After all, she told herself, I’m not sure I’m taking the job at this point. But she couldn’t stop herself from biting her lip nervously.
“All right, thanks. So,” said Lex, looking at her cell phone, “it’s about quarter after ten now, which doesn’t give me all that much time to get through these. I guess I’ll see you back here at five.”
Carl again smiled one of those almost nonexistent smiles. “See you then, Lex.”
After walking Carl to the door, Lex cleaned off the coffee table, took out the contents of the envelope, and spread all of the piles of paper on it. She briefly read the headers for each stack: Pay and Benefits, Responsibilities, Rules of the Team, Testing Informed Consent, and Confidentiality Agreement. She put the smaller confidentiality agreement that had been on the top of the stack back into the envelope.
Since it looked like a lot to tackle, and due to the fact that her last cup was now cold, Lex took a break to brew herself another cup of tea. While she did she stared out the window, watching people strolling on the sidewalks and driving in the streets below, and wondered what things she’d find in the contract of a group that threatened to kill you for talking about them. Once done with the tea, she gave a final look outside before going back into the living room. She examined the stacks on the table suspiciously but sighed and settled herself onto the couch to begin reading.
Might as well begin with the good news, Lex thought, reaching for the Pay and Benefits section first. She almost dropped her tea on herself when she read the pay amount, however, a figure somewhere between two or three times the highest salary she’d ever earned.
Immediately on high alert, she stared at the Responsibilities section but decided she should finish the summary she’d started with first. Lex did grab a pad of paper from her nearby computer desk, however, and began a list of questions that started with “Salary—why so high?” at the top. As she continued with the Pay and Benefits section, she found to her surprise that all medical expenses were covered without deductible, whether something happened on the job or off. Benefits included a pension plan that looked generous, and usage of the non-restricted team facilities detailed in the Rules of the Team section.
Curious, she turned to Rules of the Team next. It started with a lot of general information on working together as a team and team exercises, but eventually got into a description of the team resources, including the building where she’d be staying (which seemed to be called “headquarters” in the document), and Lex’s jaw had dropped by the time she got to the end of the summary list of perks and resources available. Her interest sharpened as she read about the probationary period that would be expected, however. For the first six months, she’d be required to live at headquarters, other than a weekend out every two weeks.
Lex stopped reading there and looked out the window again, but realized that all she could see from the couch was a corner of the office building across the street and a slice of sky. She didn’t think Kurt would like the idea of her being gone for so long, and she shook her head a moment later to free her lip when she realized she’d nervously bitten it again. Sighing, Lex looked back down at the document, figuring she should read the rest of the summaries before calling Kurt to talk, because there might be other unpleasant surprises. Taking a deep, calming breath brought along with it the faint scents of tea and coffee from the nearby kitchen and the will to forge on.
Continuing, she read that after the probationary period, it was still highly recommended that all team members live at headquarters due to response time limits. She shrugged, since it wasn’t required, but noted it anyway. The only other item of real interest to Lex she found as she neared the end of the summary. In a section titled Reassessment/Transfer, Lex learned that both the team sponsor and each individual member would be allowed to reassess their relationship at each year anniversary after the individual had joined the team. If either side wanted a change, both parties would have to agree on it, whether leaving or transferring, but a stalemate could be put to a team vote to break it. For a transfer, however, the individual had to be with the team at least three years before one could be requested, but at that point the transfer could be to a team located anywhere in the United States.
The description of On-Call Responsibilities first caught her interest in the Responsibilities section. Basically, it stated that she needed to be on call at all times for team emergencies, which were supposedly defined with examples in the detailed document. She did note that she’d be issued a mobile device that she was expected to have on her at all times, rather than using her own cell phone.
The next section, Responsibilities to be Determined, went into the fact that her team responsibilities would be defined over her probationary period, based on her skills and abilities and on the needs of the team. What she’d eventually be held responsible for would be agreed upon by her, the team sponsor, and the rest of the team. She liked that the document stated that her normal duties, including training, wouldn’t exceed a regular forty-hour, five-day work week, but she felt nervous about the idea of stepping into something where she’d have no idea what she would be held responsible for until six months out.
Moving into the General Responsibilities section, Lex read that all team members would be held responsible for training and emergency deployment. Training routines would be created for all members, designed to improve their current skills and build new ones. When no emergencies or other duties took priority, team members would be expected to adhere to their particular training schedule. The exact amount of time expected to be spent training would be balanced with whatever other responsibilities each team member had. The Emergency Deployment section described what would need to be done to gather the team to send them out to assist with an emergency. All team members needed to be able to be uniformed, at headquarters, and ready to deploy within an hour of the initial call. For details, Lex noted they referenced the On-Call Responsibilities section of the contract.
After reading through the Testing Informed Consent summary, a document much shorter than many of the others, Lex felt she knew less about what it contained than when she start
ed. It seemed to be a very generally worded version of some of the informed consent documents she’d seen while working for the National Institutes of Health, documents given to people interested in participating in drug or treatment trials so that they could see what they were getting into and decide whether or not they wanted to get involved. This section of the document seemed to refer to certain unnamed medical tests and procedures that might be requested of team members and what their rights were in taking or not taking them. An initial paragraph highly recommended that team members agree to take tests or treatments requested by team doctors. The paragraph also noted that the team might be working closely with a number of researchers, and that it was also highly recommended that team members work cooperatively with them. Lex made a note about that section, marking it as one she needed to read in great detail later.
The Confidentiality Agreement summary seemed to be a more severe version of the one she had signed the day she interviewed, including the wording that the government or the agency could jail or kill her for revealing confidential information. She was not allowed to talk about her job with the press under any circumstances, and she was to limit what she said to any curious individuals using the guidelines in the detailed section.
After finishing all of the summaries, Lex stretched widely on the couch and looked at the list of comments, questions, and issues she’d documented so far. Well, she thought, at least some of the mystery about why the salary’s so high has been answered. Everything that she’d read in the contract so far had made her worry more about what she might be getting into, but she really wondered if at least some of what they wanted to hold her to was even legal. Shaking her head, she looked at the clock and realized it was nearing noon. This is going to take a lot longer than I thought, she realized, looking at the stacks of papers with a sigh.
Then, thinking about the time again, she smiled. Kurt’s lunch break started at noon, so she could call him to talk over the few things that she wanted to ask him about. If he really has a problem with any of the conditions, Lex thought, I can cut my considerations short here and just tell the M Agency no. The thought of not having to read the rest of the paperwork made her smile again, so she began mentally going through what she would need to cover with him.