Jordan's Dilemma
Copyright© 2022 by SW MO Hermit
Chapter 5
Jordan decided to call his meetings with all five directors a cabinet meeting. His first official cabinet meeting took place the day after Lewis & Clark returned from Earth. The two newest Directors were subdued, not cowed, in the presence of the other senior personnel. After everyone arrived, Jordan stood and said, “Let’s get started. First, I want to welcome Maryellen and Douglass, our two newest members.”
He spent a couple of minutes introducing everyone to Maryellen and Douglass before continuing the meeting. “Now, congratulations to Jeremiah and Karen on the success of their mission. Do either of you have thoughts about the mission not covered in your AAR?”
Karen looked around the table, pressed her lips together, and spoke. “We need a better way to identify and secure sponsors. When we arrived, we found that most of the potential targets weren’t sponsor-grade. I was under the impression that the AIs had information on everyone with a CAP card. We either didn’t check, or I was wrong. As stated in the AAR, we wasted a lot of time and increased the danger because of this.”
Louie replied, “You are not wrong, Karen. The problem occurred because we compiled the list here on Cay based on our colonists’ knowledge of those individuals. Elsie couldn’t access their cards until they reached Earthat, and your first few pickup attempts happened before anyone thought to check the records available at the time. You were focused on an individual rather than on CAP scores and specific capabilities. A lesson learned, now included in our formal plans, is to check CAP scores upon arrival for a targeted extraction by name. Perhaps, in the future, we should focus on positions or capabilities rather than a specific individual. The Office of Targeted Extractions mainly uses that method.”
“That makes sense. Thank you, Louie.”
The discussion about the voyage continued for a few more minutes before shifting to another topic. Jordan said, “It sounds like we’ve covered the extraction. Let’s move on. We have two more voyages to discuss, and then we’ll return to our daily routines. First, Finger is scheduled to return to Earth to pick up another load of sponsors. This will be a fairly typical pickup, targeting abilities and education rather than focusing specifically on individuals.”
Looking around the group, he continued, “Coordinate together and build a list of needed abilities and ensure it is transmitted to Finger before she departs.”
Both of the new Directors looked panicked when he said that, so Jordan said, “Don’t panic, you two. We know you won’t be up to speed yet, but we have already partially staffed your offices and have been feeding requests and other information to those people. Louie has the lists but no knowledge of ‘artsy’ things, Douglas, and may not have a complete understanding of personnel procedures, Karen. Your input will enhance the process.
“Now, for the next voyage of Lewis & Clark, I want to send you and your ship on a fact-finding and diplomatic mission, Karen. I want you to visit Wayward, Atlantisat, and Poseidon and pick their brains. Atlantisat is a research colony that has provided several beneficial adaptations to Confed technology. I would like to establish a close relationship with them, perhaps by forming a brain trust or exchange program.
Wayward and Harrad are involved in manufacturing and trading unique human-made artworks. Find out what their best sellers are, and for Harrad, see whether they will act as our agent or allow us to send a ship with theirs on their trading runs. They know a galactic location where different races meet, sort of a ‘shopping mall in space’, and I would like access to it. Louie says Wayward’s primary function is to provide products made by skilled artisans. The colony’s survival depends on artisans’ skills and the products of cottage industries. The financial maneuvering behind Wayward was meant to help the Darjee fund the war against the Swarm.”
The meeting adjourned shortly after Jordan’s final statement, and everyone headed back to their offices. When Douglass entered his office, he nearly collapsed into his chair and sat, gazing out over the courtyard without truly seeing the people walking below.
His worried concubines, who had gone to the office with him that morning, followed him into his private suite as he walked past them in a daze. Daphne, his lead concubine, asked, “Is there something wrong, Doug?”
“What? No, hell, I don’t even know where to begin. I’m a curator, for God’s sake, and the Governor expects me to run an artists’ colony. I don’t know...”
“Oh, is that all? How many times have we had this conversation, honey? You’ll figure it out. Sit down, girls,” she said. Once everyone was seated, she added, “Now, specifically, what did he want you to do?”
“Nothing and everything. He wants to establish an artists’ enclave here in the colony to create unique items to trade with other races for what we need. I need to find out what other races might want, organize production, and, well, everything.”
“Okay, you’ve got us. That’s a start. You have the small staff that was here when we arrived, and you’ve got Louie. Heck, you’re pretty much there already. All we need to do is find artists and figure out what sells. You were good at that when we ran your gallery. I’m surprised they didn’t want to open a gallery here. What’s going to happen to all the art and museum displays on Earth when the swarm arrives? I thought you might be involved in safeguarding precious human art and relics when they extracted you.”
Doug sat and stared at Daphne before he said, “Yeah, I remember the struggle when we opened.
Now you have me kicking myself and feeling overwhelmed. I never thought about the need for a museum to safeguard human art and technology. I need to talk to the Governor about that. Okay, Louie, do you have a list of the colonists’ jobs and hobbies?”
“I have a record of their previous occupation, and a non-inclusive list of hobbies. Would you like to see it?”
“Yes, please, and break it down by genre, then break each genre down by sponsor or concubine. If a person can work in multiple disciplines, so indicate.”
Within moments, Louie provided the requested lists. They included photographers, sculptors, painters, woodcarvers, stained-glass artists, ceramicists, sketch artists, needlepoint artists, and musicians, among others. They also included two blacksmiths and a half-dozen amateur carpenters who built small buildings for model railroaders and other hobbyists.
After reviewing the lists, Doug researched the sponsors, hoping to identify one to lead each specialty. He was pleased to find at least one non-critical sponsor for each and requested an appointment with Jordan to select a leader for each sub-department. He also wanted to discuss obtaining permission from their sponsors for their concubines to perform their art. The sub-department heads could be Concubines since this section would be the artisans producing their product. Each specialty would have a lead conk, analogous to a factory section’s lead man.
Doug’s meeting with Jordan went better than he’d expected. He was almost euphoric when he left and hadn’t calmed much by the time he entered his office on the floor below the Governor’s suite. Once again, his concubines followed him into his inner office and sat in their usual chairs. This time, Winifred (Winnie) asked the first question. “You’re as happy today as you were worried yesterday. What happened up there?”
The Governor agreed with nearly everything in our proposal. He had Louie send a memo to all the sponsors, whether they were artists themselves or had concubines who were artists, offering them a place in a new building he authorized for their art practices. The only exception was those in higher-priority roles in engineering and weapons development, and he offered to let them use the facilities during their off-hours. He also strongly recommended that sponsors allow their concubines to participate.
Doug quickly set up studios for those he now considered ‘his artists’. It soon became clear that the startup would be delayed because of a lack of materials. No one had thought to load the replicators with patterns for oil paints, canvases, brushes, pottery clay, and many other necessary items. This, in turn, delayed sending Elsie on her diplomatic trip, as she had to return to Earth to buy the supplies their artists needed. After purchasing the items, they scanned them into the replicator’s database and stored the originals. While in orbit, Karen took the opportunity to seek more sponsors. One she connected with was a friend from her seafaring days. He had been the captain of an Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser when they were seconded to the Coast Guard to interdict drug runners. She had been the Coast Guard liaison assigned to one of his missions, and they had built mutual respect.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.