Deception: The lesser part of Valour – The Interview
by Chief Executive Officer Johan Weiltzer & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el
Post Details
ON::
Amy Hendrix crossed her left boot over the right on her desk, relaxing with a hand-rolled cigarette. Not rolled by herself, naturally, but by the housekeeper who made a handsome sum rolling a set quota each day. She lit the end with a small plasma torch and took a long drag, enjoying the warmth billowing out of her lungs.
=^= "Miss Hendrix, your call from Chairman Weiltzer is coming through." =^=
Amy exhaled, crushing out her cigarette and waving the smoke out of the range of her commlink's visual sensors. She mashed the comm button, "Wait ten seconds and then put him through."
The delay was an old trick she learned from seven years running a regional galactic freight company. It not only gave her a chance to fully compose herself, but it gave the caller a sense of anticipation, trepidation, and often annoyance that Amy found easy to capitalize on.
The 2-meter-wide screen over her old-style brick fireplace winked on, displaying the Weiltzer Corps logo and then the visage of its owner and chairman.
"Mr. Weiltzer, it is excellent to finally speak to you in real-time." Amy's cold exterior betrayed nothing.
"Ms. Hendrix, it is excellent to speak to you face to face finally, even if it is only over a subspace commlink. Quite frankly, I and the rest of the Corporation have been impressed with your work, and while we do not encourage riding the fine line between obeying the law and breaking it, or the line between obeying regulations and breaking them, we feel that your work has been excellent and has helped the corporation a great deal. As a result of this combined with you making black and white lines gray has caused the Board of Directors and I to decide on two possible courses of action. You hereby have the choice to move to Weiltzer Corporation 9421st Fleet Headquarters on Deep Space Five as my Executive Officer with the rank of Lieutenant with the possibility of being promoted up the ranks quickly, or your other option is forced retirement with full benefits but no further pay, unlike voluntary retirement after 20 years wih us."
Amy coughed, fumes of smoke making a less graceful exit than she would have liked. Deep Space Five, she thought, that's where he's going. His precious transfer; his fresh start.
"Are you alright, Ms. Hendrix?"
She waved off Weiltzer's concern, clearing her throat. "Oh, excuse me. It's just not every day that a 24 year old woman gets offered early retirement." Amy drew in a deep breath, hoping the slight welling in her eyes would be attributed solely to her startled coughing fit. She tucked a strand of her hair back behind her left ear and smiled. That radiant smile that got her anything daddy could afford. That charming smile that made her homecoming queen at two schools she didn't technically attend.
"Mmmmmmm, oh Mr. Weiltzer, I'm afraid I have far too much kick left in these legs to let them rest now, despite your generous offer. I realize my methods have been slightly more--my dear, how would you say it?-- aggressive than your very prosperous firm is used to, but I have only acted in the best interests of Weilter Corps and my career." She leaned back, satisfied and yet having forgotten something. "...in that order."
"Ms. Hendrix, as you must surely know, Weiltzer Freight Corporation has a zero tolerance policy for court-martials. I and the Board of Directors have made exceptions for you three times. We are not doing it again. You just went through court-martial number four. Young lady, the honorable presiding Fleet Admiral in that court-martial reached his verdict, and left the option of determining a suitable punishment up to I and the Board of Directors to reach a unanimous decision on. We determined that this was the adequate course of action, and in all actuality, the original verdict between us was that it was either you report to Deep Space Five or you get discharged dishonorably from Weiltzer Corporation with no benefits of any kind. We only decided to offer early retirement hoping of course that you would decide to stay, however, we have decided that if you decide not to remain with us and report to Deep Space Five, that we will rescind the early retirement and instead go with the option of a dishonorable discharge. We have no intention of standing by and letting you out of the fleet, so, this request is absolutely not a request, but rather, an order directly from I and the Board of Directors. Failure to comply will not only get you discharged on dishonorable terms as well as a lawsuit over breach of your contract and a public announcement to all of the news media throughout all known space regarding your methods, as well as an anonymous tip to Federation authorities regarding your illegal and borderline illegal activities, not to mention charges of terrorism and permanent imprisonment for interrogation purposes in a dank, dark, prison run by the Federation Intelligence Service. Let's just say that I am very well connected and will not at all let you go without a major fight," said Weiltzer in a very quiet, dark, soft, and dangerous tone which was intended to warn Amy that she was walking on very thin and very dangerous ice.
Amy crushed out her cigarette, suddenly feeling less in control than her feminine wiles often led her to believe. "In that case, Chairman, I dare say you have found your Lieutenant." She smiled ravishingly, leaning toward the comm system's video transmitter. "But before you terminate our conversation, I do have a question... off the record, if you don't mind."
"Alright, I don't mind if you ask the question. Given that you are dropping one rank in accordance with the court-martial's decision, I have nothing to hide from you."
Then Amy decided to let it fly. "If I'm such a pain in the ass for you and the Board, why have you kept me around for so long?"
"I'm afraid, Ms. Hendrix, that that information is something that only the Board and I know, and in fact, I'm not even sure if we ourselves know, but if I ever do figure it out, I'll make sure that aside from myself, you are the first person to know," said Weiltzer calmly with a huge grin on his face as he reached out and hit the button to terminate the commlink hoping to leave Amy just as puzzled as before.
Amy watched Weiltzer's face wink out, replaced on the comm screen by the company logo. She leaned back in her chair, pondering this turn of events. It's exactly how I planned, she thought. Every piece is falling into place so perfectly. The old man gets to believe he's punishing me, that sense of control men love so much. Meanwhile, I'm going to be at DS5 at about the same time as HIM. The one who got away.
She touched the link to her secretary's station. "Marsha, call my apartment and have Linn pack my bags."
=^=Which bags, Ms. Hendrix? Summer or winter wear?"
Amy shook her head, feeling silly about the futility of such a gesture on an audio link. "All of them, Marsha, I'll be leaving for DS5 within the week. Write yourself a nice letter of recommendation. I'll see to your severance package before I ship out. Order the nearest yacht company to prepare my travel arrangements."
=^=Right away, Ms. Hendrix=^=
Amy lit another cigarette, propping her feet back up on her black obsidian desk. She briefly pondered if she could/should take it with her, then dismissed it in favor of more pressing queries. He's not going to be happy to see me at first. But by the time I'm done with DS5, I'll be running the biggest shipping company on either side of the Neutral Zone, and that boy is going to fall in love with me again. And this time it's for keeps.
OFF: We certainly hope that this helps start Ms. Hendrix as posting. And since Ms. Hendrix is an Protected NPC played by the person who plays Opaka Jo'el, I included Opaka Jo'el due to an apparent glitch in SMS that doesn't allow me to select an NPC as a co-author on a Joint Post. Don't know if it can be done, but would recommend that a change be made to allow specific e-mail addresses to be added under NPCs so that those which are Protected NPCs can be placed as authors.
by Chief Executive Officer Johan Weiltzer & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el
Post Details
| Title | The Interview | |
| Mission | Deception: The lesser part of Valour | |
| Author(s) | Chief Executive Officer Johan Weiltzer & Lieutenant JG Opaka Jo'el | |
| Posted | Mon Dec 15, 2008 @ 4:54am | |
| Location | Hendrix Co. HQ, Cestus III & Weiltzer Corporation Administrative Offices, DS5 | |
| Timeline | 0900-0945 SD3 | |
| Tag | Johan Weiltzer & Amy Hendrix |
Amy Hendrix crossed her left boot over the right on her desk, relaxing with a hand-rolled cigarette. Not rolled by herself, naturally, but by the housekeeper who made a handsome sum rolling a set quota each day. She lit the end with a small plasma torch and took a long drag, enjoying the warmth billowing out of her lungs.
=^= "Miss Hendrix, your call from Chairman Weiltzer is coming through." =^=
Amy exhaled, crushing out her cigarette and waving the smoke out of the range of her commlink's visual sensors. She mashed the comm button, "Wait ten seconds and then put him through."
The delay was an old trick she learned from seven years running a regional galactic freight company. It not only gave her a chance to fully compose herself, but it gave the caller a sense of anticipation, trepidation, and often annoyance that Amy found easy to capitalize on.
The 2-meter-wide screen over her old-style brick fireplace winked on, displaying the Weiltzer Corps logo and then the visage of its owner and chairman.
"Mr. Weiltzer, it is excellent to finally speak to you in real-time." Amy's cold exterior betrayed nothing.
"Ms. Hendrix, it is excellent to speak to you face to face finally, even if it is only over a subspace commlink. Quite frankly, I and the rest of the Corporation have been impressed with your work, and while we do not encourage riding the fine line between obeying the law and breaking it, or the line between obeying regulations and breaking them, we feel that your work has been excellent and has helped the corporation a great deal. As a result of this combined with you making black and white lines gray has caused the Board of Directors and I to decide on two possible courses of action. You hereby have the choice to move to Weiltzer Corporation 9421st Fleet Headquarters on Deep Space Five as my Executive Officer with the rank of Lieutenant with the possibility of being promoted up the ranks quickly, or your other option is forced retirement with full benefits but no further pay, unlike voluntary retirement after 20 years wih us."
Amy coughed, fumes of smoke making a less graceful exit than she would have liked. Deep Space Five, she thought, that's where he's going. His precious transfer; his fresh start.
"Are you alright, Ms. Hendrix?"
She waved off Weiltzer's concern, clearing her throat. "Oh, excuse me. It's just not every day that a 24 year old woman gets offered early retirement." Amy drew in a deep breath, hoping the slight welling in her eyes would be attributed solely to her startled coughing fit. She tucked a strand of her hair back behind her left ear and smiled. That radiant smile that got her anything daddy could afford. That charming smile that made her homecoming queen at two schools she didn't technically attend.
"Mmmmmmm, oh Mr. Weiltzer, I'm afraid I have far too much kick left in these legs to let them rest now, despite your generous offer. I realize my methods have been slightly more--my dear, how would you say it?-- aggressive than your very prosperous firm is used to, but I have only acted in the best interests of Weilter Corps and my career." She leaned back, satisfied and yet having forgotten something. "...in that order."
"Ms. Hendrix, as you must surely know, Weiltzer Freight Corporation has a zero tolerance policy for court-martials. I and the Board of Directors have made exceptions for you three times. We are not doing it again. You just went through court-martial number four. Young lady, the honorable presiding Fleet Admiral in that court-martial reached his verdict, and left the option of determining a suitable punishment up to I and the Board of Directors to reach a unanimous decision on. We determined that this was the adequate course of action, and in all actuality, the original verdict between us was that it was either you report to Deep Space Five or you get discharged dishonorably from Weiltzer Corporation with no benefits of any kind. We only decided to offer early retirement hoping of course that you would decide to stay, however, we have decided that if you decide not to remain with us and report to Deep Space Five, that we will rescind the early retirement and instead go with the option of a dishonorable discharge. We have no intention of standing by and letting you out of the fleet, so, this request is absolutely not a request, but rather, an order directly from I and the Board of Directors. Failure to comply will not only get you discharged on dishonorable terms as well as a lawsuit over breach of your contract and a public announcement to all of the news media throughout all known space regarding your methods, as well as an anonymous tip to Federation authorities regarding your illegal and borderline illegal activities, not to mention charges of terrorism and permanent imprisonment for interrogation purposes in a dank, dark, prison run by the Federation Intelligence Service. Let's just say that I am very well connected and will not at all let you go without a major fight," said Weiltzer in a very quiet, dark, soft, and dangerous tone which was intended to warn Amy that she was walking on very thin and very dangerous ice.
Amy crushed out her cigarette, suddenly feeling less in control than her feminine wiles often led her to believe. "In that case, Chairman, I dare say you have found your Lieutenant." She smiled ravishingly, leaning toward the comm system's video transmitter. "But before you terminate our conversation, I do have a question... off the record, if you don't mind."
"Alright, I don't mind if you ask the question. Given that you are dropping one rank in accordance with the court-martial's decision, I have nothing to hide from you."
Then Amy decided to let it fly. "If I'm such a pain in the ass for you and the Board, why have you kept me around for so long?"
"I'm afraid, Ms. Hendrix, that that information is something that only the Board and I know, and in fact, I'm not even sure if we ourselves know, but if I ever do figure it out, I'll make sure that aside from myself, you are the first person to know," said Weiltzer calmly with a huge grin on his face as he reached out and hit the button to terminate the commlink hoping to leave Amy just as puzzled as before.
Amy watched Weiltzer's face wink out, replaced on the comm screen by the company logo. She leaned back in her chair, pondering this turn of events. It's exactly how I planned, she thought. Every piece is falling into place so perfectly. The old man gets to believe he's punishing me, that sense of control men love so much. Meanwhile, I'm going to be at DS5 at about the same time as HIM. The one who got away.
She touched the link to her secretary's station. "Marsha, call my apartment and have Linn pack my bags."
=^=Which bags, Ms. Hendrix? Summer or winter wear?"
Amy shook her head, feeling silly about the futility of such a gesture on an audio link. "All of them, Marsha, I'll be leaving for DS5 within the week. Write yourself a nice letter of recommendation. I'll see to your severance package before I ship out. Order the nearest yacht company to prepare my travel arrangements."
=^=Right away, Ms. Hendrix=^=
Amy lit another cigarette, propping her feet back up on her black obsidian desk. She briefly pondered if she could/should take it with her, then dismissed it in favor of more pressing queries. He's not going to be happy to see me at first. But by the time I'm done with DS5, I'll be running the biggest shipping company on either side of the Neutral Zone, and that boy is going to fall in love with me again. And this time it's for keeps.
OFF: We certainly hope that this helps start Ms. Hendrix as posting. And since Ms. Hendrix is an Protected NPC played by the person who plays Opaka Jo'el, I included Opaka Jo'el due to an apparent glitch in SMS that doesn't allow me to select an NPC as a co-author on a Joint Post. Don't know if it can be done, but would recommend that a change be made to allow specific e-mail addresses to be added under NPCs so that those which are Protected NPCs can be placed as authors.