Wilson's War: Tales From the Athena Lee Universe by T S Paul

the year.
     
     
    Wilson laughed all the way to the bank.

 
     
     
     
    Time for plan B?
     
     
     
    by T S Paul
     
     

     
    This story takes place during Revolutionary. The story behind Minerva Lee's marriage to Cole Wittier is revealed. There are a few spoilers in this story.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Seeing the home of my 'big sister' Athena was all well and good, but now she is really upset with her whole family. Her ass-hat of a father tried to assert his will over her and made her cry. I would fix his wagon really good, except Athena forbid me from taking revenge on anyone in her direct family. It seems to me that the culprit here is the local government. All those years that we were off on our own, Athena had painted an idyllic picture of her home planet and its people. I need to investigate a bit more before I act. This could be my new project. I like fun projects.
     
    This is why I hate making promises. Athena had to report her father to her commanders and the governor's office in an attempt to get a restraining order. I could have zapped him for free! She had thrown herself into the FLEA projects for the Navy. Those 'droids' she created are fun, the hydroponics not so much. Nothing bores me faster than watching grass grow. I could have a killer party with all the droids she been testing, but no. Another one of those promises. I really need to stop saying OK and agreeing to terms. Wait… terms…Aha! I have a victim for my newest adventure. The best part is I can help Athena and take a little revenge without breaking my promise to her.
     
     
     
    Cole Whittier was a very busy man. As the financial aide to Governor Norton he was responsible for all of his accounting needs along with all of his off-the-books-projects. Cole had many secrets of his own. His personal plan, and that of his family's, was to use his position as a stepping stone within the secret organization that he belonged to. He was proud of his work for the Governor, but he was always looking for an angle. Use your contacts is what his father always told him. There is always an angle you can use. That was something of a family motto. Cole had gotten this position by manipulating one of his friends. Gaining access to real power was his goal. So far everything was going to plan; both his and the Cabal's. Those stupid farmers were way too easy to push around. He had not intended to get married, but it was an opportunity into the planet's high society. The only regret he had was that he should not have trusted his father and checked out the girl himself. The big-strapping-warrior-woman scared the crap out of him! At least she understood that the marriage was only political. The one and only time he tried to get frisky with her and claim his husband rights, she broke his arm and beat the crap out of him. He'd faked up a skiing accident to cover that one up. The bright red hand-print on the left side of his face would have been a dead giveaway. Without bandages to cover it up.
     
    The Governor had a plan to open up more casinos on the planet and fleece the locals as much as he could get away with. The grand plan called for needing the planet, not the inhabitants. A reckoning was coming soon. All the pieces were almost in place. The sheer power of the people that he now had access to blew his mind. Even the Governor didn't know the whole plan. The biggest stumbling block right now was credits. To build the casinos they would need a boatload of credits. Fortunately they had a plan for that too. Every casino on the planet used computers to set the odds of the games they sponsored. House edge odds were in the 5% to 8% range planet wide. Using an official gaming commission program, the Governor would be able to change the house odds to 12% to 20% and skim the extra percentages. Current estimates were that the scheme would bring in about twenty billion credits monthly. That was about ten million that Cole himself could 'lose' in the