First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 by MICHAEL KOTCHER Page B
Authors: MICHAEL KOTCHER
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Kly turned it off. He couldn’t listen anymore. He’d barely lay back on the couch, trying to figure out what was going to be needed for damage control when his communicator buzzed. He picked it up, checking the incoming caller ID. Triarch Kozen’ck. Wonderful. He had to take this; the damned bug was head of the admin council and wasn’t someone he could just ignore.
He pressed the control to activate the channel. “Yes, Triarch.”
“A lot of embarrassment just came down from FP Inc, Mister Kly. And I have a good idea where it originated. I’ve already received fifteen calls from reporters about this. Now, why would the Kara suddenly get outfitted with new power systems only days before this attack? And I recognized one of the mercenaries that they brought back for trial. Glacis Ghovorak. I know that you’ve had dealings with him in the past. I also know that he’s very good about keeping his mouth shut and that doesn’t seem to have changed, despite the massive casualties his company has taken in this cluster-grope.” There was a pause. “You have nothing to say?”
“I find it highly insulting that you immediately accuse me, Triarch,” Kly said, stalling for time. What could he say? He had had dealings with Ghovorak in the past, but then so did his co-conspirator, Hyacinth Cresswell. He’d have to start working quickly to move himself out of the limelight here and maneuver her into it.
But the bug would not be deterred. “Don’t play games with me, Kly. I know you and Cresswell have been in closed door meetings together. I spoke with Chakrabarti just after he invested in FP. And he told me how upset the two of you were. And two months later, suddenly, this happens.” He hissed. “And you really think that I wouldn’t notice this amazing coincidence?”
Kly clenched his teeth. “Was I upset about those outsiders coming into our system? Yes. But I would not even consider a military option to-…”
“Spare me the lies,” Kozen’ck interrupted. “I will be looking into this. And I’ve already been speaking with members of the admin council. I will discover the truth of what happened out there. And the guilty parties will be brought out into the light.” He cut the connection, leaving Kly sitting on his couch, staring blankly.
There was one bright side to the whole experience, as Tamara discovered on a trip with the newly restored Cavalier to the orbital. People were showing a serious interest in joining FP. Hits on the recruitment website were up by almost 300%. Tamara rented out a conference room at the Union Hall on the orbital to meet with some of the applicants but it quickly became clear that she could not handle all of them. She started sending people from the corvette in shifts to start preliminary interviews, renting out five of the seven rooms and conducting interviews in two eight-hour shifts. This went on for more than a week and in that time almost five hundred applicants were pre-screened.
To assist with the vetting process, Vincent brought the Grania Estelle in from the Kutok mine and parked his ship ten kilometers from the station, allowing Stella to be in real-time communications with the people on the orbital. They were looking, as before, for trained workers, anyone with engineering background. Of course, there wasn’t much that could be found, the applicant pool hadn’t really changed. But this time, FP had facilities for training, both out on the Kutok mine, and now on the various ships they controlled. There was talk among Vincent, Tamara and Stella about setting up training facilities either here on the orbital or down on the planet, but it was decided to hold off on
He pressed the control to activate the channel. “Yes, Triarch.”
“A lot of embarrassment just came down from FP Inc, Mister Kly. And I have a good idea where it originated. I’ve already received fifteen calls from reporters about this. Now, why would the Kara suddenly get outfitted with new power systems only days before this attack? And I recognized one of the mercenaries that they brought back for trial. Glacis Ghovorak. I know that you’ve had dealings with him in the past. I also know that he’s very good about keeping his mouth shut and that doesn’t seem to have changed, despite the massive casualties his company has taken in this cluster-grope.” There was a pause. “You have nothing to say?”
“I find it highly insulting that you immediately accuse me, Triarch,” Kly said, stalling for time. What could he say? He had had dealings with Ghovorak in the past, but then so did his co-conspirator, Hyacinth Cresswell. He’d have to start working quickly to move himself out of the limelight here and maneuver her into it.
But the bug would not be deterred. “Don’t play games with me, Kly. I know you and Cresswell have been in closed door meetings together. I spoke with Chakrabarti just after he invested in FP. And he told me how upset the two of you were. And two months later, suddenly, this happens.” He hissed. “And you really think that I wouldn’t notice this amazing coincidence?”
Kly clenched his teeth. “Was I upset about those outsiders coming into our system? Yes. But I would not even consider a military option to-…”
“Spare me the lies,” Kozen’ck interrupted. “I will be looking into this. And I’ve already been speaking with members of the admin council. I will discover the truth of what happened out there. And the guilty parties will be brought out into the light.” He cut the connection, leaving Kly sitting on his couch, staring blankly.
There was one bright side to the whole experience, as Tamara discovered on a trip with the newly restored Cavalier to the orbital. People were showing a serious interest in joining FP. Hits on the recruitment website were up by almost 300%. Tamara rented out a conference room at the Union Hall on the orbital to meet with some of the applicants but it quickly became clear that she could not handle all of them. She started sending people from the corvette in shifts to start preliminary interviews, renting out five of the seven rooms and conducting interviews in two eight-hour shifts. This went on for more than a week and in that time almost five hundred applicants were pre-screened.
To assist with the vetting process, Vincent brought the Grania Estelle in from the Kutok mine and parked his ship ten kilometers from the station, allowing Stella to be in real-time communications with the people on the orbital. They were looking, as before, for trained workers, anyone with engineering background. Of course, there wasn’t much that could be found, the applicant pool hadn’t really changed. But this time, FP had facilities for training, both out on the Kutok mine, and now on the various ships they controlled. There was talk among Vincent, Tamara and Stella about setting up training facilities either here on the orbital or down on the planet, but it was decided to hold off on
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