Chapter 3

The lead flight attendant announced they were on final approach for New Pittsburgh. Looking up from his PC, David caught Marilyn's attention. Originally, David intended to spend the entire flight talking to Marilyn; trying to determine who she was and what she liked. Instead, Marilyn was quite insistent he read Ms Johnson's briefing. She asserted that although David would be her boss in four days, if he did not read the briefing, Ms Johnson would fire her. David had not met Ms Johnson yet but he was definitely sure, he did not like her management style.

The briefing paper proved to be even worse than he initially expected. It was written for someone who had no engineering experience. It also denigrated all the Martians working at the plant. If Ms Johnson's statements about Martians were true, the plant was lucky to produce any ammunition at all. The more he read of the report, the more David realized that he needed to mend a lot of fences starting Friday morning. Before David could do that he needed to talk to the Plant Manager, Thomas Nichols, in private. If Mr. Nichols was as bad as Ms Johnson, this was going to be a long assignment.

The shuttle stopped and David prepared to get up. Looking around he noticed no one else was standing up yet and wondered why. Turning to Marilyn he asked, "We have stopped right? Why is no one preparing to exit?"

Marilyn laughed and said, "Because we still need to clear the airlock into the pressurized portion of shuttle port."

This made David stop and think. He was not accustomed to living on a planet where the atmosphere could kill you in two different ways. If the lack of breathable oxygen did not kill you, the lower atmospheric pressure would. Although, the deserts south and west of Dallas could kill you, they did it with much more subtlety and a great deal slower. David decided to apply the lessons he learned from years of hiking those deserts to any contact with the Martian surface.

About ten minutes later, the lead flight attendant announced that the passengers could depart the shuttle, and thanked them for using WestHem Shuttles. What she did not say was that if you were going from Triad to New Pittsburgh there was no other choice. Grabbing his carry-on bag David followed Marilyn to the exit.

At the baggage claim area, a member of Alexander Industries' maintenance staff met David and Marilyn. Marilyn arranged this before departing for Triad. After David identified his luggage, he gave the claim tickets to Les, the maintenance worker. Marilyn then informed Les that he needed to deliver it to temporary apartment 10. David told Les to place the luggage in the bedroom.

David and Marilyn headed for the MarsTrans station at the shuttle port, for the trip to the plant. This involved two changes of trains before stopping at the Ammunition Plant station.

Exiting the train, Marilyn told David. "Tonight, board the train heading toward New Pittsburgh Main. Get off at the Renton station. Follow the signs to Renton Avenue. The building across from the exit is the Alexander Industries Building. The guard is expecting you and will show you to temporary apartment 10."

With that, Marilyn led David down the half-kilometer corridor to the plant. Looking at her watch Marilyn noticed that it was 4:30 pm. She would just manage to deliver her new boss to Ms Johnson's office before 5 o'clock. Maybe she would manage to keep her job long enough to find out exactly what kind of manager David would make. However, until Friday morning, if she displeased Ms Johnson there would be hell to pay. In fact, Marilyn could see Ms Johnson firing her just to prove she could.

Marilyn was surprised by David's walking pace as the walked toward the plant's main gate. Although his steps were not particularly long, David's pace was a ground-swallowing lope. The stride was the same sort she used with the New Pittsburg Trekkers.

The group was part of the WestHem Hiking Association. The WHA was an outgrowth of the old American Volkssport Association. The organization changed Volkssport to Hiking in 2027 after the start of WestHem, EastHem cold war. The WestHem government and the general public viewed anything with German words in its name with suspicion.

Approaching the guard at the plant's main gate David noticed that without thinking about it, he had fallen back into his old hiking walk. The pace burned up a lot of ground without tiring you out. On level ground, David averaged six kilometers per hour. Over rough terrain in the Chihuahua desert, he could average four kilometers an hour without stumbling. The key was making sure you knew where you were putting your feet before putting your weight on them.

Looking to his left, David noticed that Marilyn was still beside him and not even breathing heavily. Every time he thought Martians couldn't surprise him any more, they turned around and surprised him. Marilyn was the first woman he met that could keep up with his normal walking pace without any apparent effort.

When they arrived at the gate, the guard stopped both of them. The nametag on his shirt said Jared Burton. Marilyn pulled out her security badge. David presented his Alexander Industries employee ID while Marilyn explained that he was the new assistant plant manager. Hearing this Jared said to Marilyn, "You need to take him to the security office for a badge. It wouldn't look good if I busted the new assistant plant manager for violating the security rules."

"Jared, you need to put him on the guest list for tomorrow morning," said Marilyn. "This afternoon he is meeting with Ms Johnson."

"I'll do that. They stop making badges at 5 o'clock and it's twenty 'till. If Ms Johnson turns him loose before five try to have security make him a badge tonight." With that, the guard passed them though into the main entrance of the plant.

At the main entrance, David noticed a sign that read "Employee Entrance", with arrows pointing in both directions. Below that were two signs. One sign read, "Receiving" with an arrow pointing to the left. The other read, "Administration" with an arrow pointing to the right. David knew immediately that these were signs directing people to the elevators taking employees into the subterranean passages under the plant and the large receiving area door on the outer weak wall. A door in the outer blast wall would compromise the integrity of the wall. Instead, everyone descended one level to enter the plant through the underground passages.

David and Marilyn turned right, heading toward the outside elevators. Just to the left of the elevator was a flight of stairs. When possible, he intended to make use of the stairs to stay in shape. Marilyn pushed the call button and the door opened almost immediately. Entering the elevator, she pushed LL for Lower Level.

Within seconds, the doors on the other end of the elevator opened giving them access to the tunnel system. There were signs on the wall facing them as they exited the elevator. These signs pointed to various destinations within the plant. These included Administration, Receiving, Shipping, the QC Lab, the R&D Lab, and manufacturing Bays A through F. Less than four meters away was a bank of elevators marked "Administration." They rode one of these elevators to the administration bay.

Leaving the elevator and turning right, David and Marilyn started walking toward the assistant plant manager's office. On David's right, he noticed the blast wall painted with beige fire retardant paint. On his left were the offices of the personnel department employees. Straight ahead should be the plant manager's office with the assistant manager's office next to it. The third office on the outer wall would be the general operations manager's. The layout of the administration bay was almost identical to the layout at the Red River plant.

All bays at the plant were the same size: 200 meters by 415 meters. This meant that just walking to your office kept you in shape. The plant manager's office was almost 400 meters from the elevator. Reaching the plant manager's office, they made a hard left, turning into the hallway known as "manager's row." The next door on the right opened into the assistant plant manager's suite. The suite consisted of a secretary's office, a conference room, and the assistant plant manager's office.

Entering the secretary's office Marilyn turned to her temporary replacement and said. "Please, let Ms Johnson know that I am back with Mr. Reed."

The temporary secretary replied. "The guard at the gate called when Mr. Reed arrived. Ms Johnson said for me to send him right in to her office."

Marilyn asked the temporary secretary, "Does Ms Johnson need me anymore today?"

The temporary secretary contacted Ms Johnson on her PC. Looking up she said. "She said she would not need you until tomorrow."

With a mental sigh of relief, Marilyn turned to David and smiled. "I will see you in the morning." Turning, she left the office.

David walked through the door to Ms Johnson's office. He was curious to meet this woman who seemed to inspire such fear and loathing in her employees. Entering the office, he saw a brown haired fortyish woman with a neutral expression on her face sitting behind the desk. Crossing the room to her desk, David extended his hand. "Hello, I am David Reed and I assume you are Ms Johnson."

Pointing to a chair she replied, "Nice to meet you. Sit over there."

Without even pausing to see if he sat down, she continued. "I have scheduled a meeting at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, to introduce you to the Plant Manager, Mr. Nichols. I presume you read the briefing paper that Marilyn delivered to you. She did remember to give it to you didn't she?"

"Yes she gave it to me. I read it on the shuttle from Triad to New Pittsburg."

"Good, I was afraid she would forget. Wait until you work here a few months. It's amazing how incompetent some of these greenies can be. Marilyn has been my secretary for five years. I only got her properly trained during the last year."

David looked at her wondering if she was talking about the same person who accompanied him from Triad. Out loud he said, "What time do you want to meet with me tomorrow prior to our meeting with Mr. Nichols?"

"If we meet at 7:30 I will have time to fill you in on some information I did not put in my written briefing. After we meet with Mr. Nichols, I will take you to security for your access badge. Unless you have any questions, I will see you in the morning."

"No I cannot think of anything at this time. I will see you in the morning." With that, David turned and left the assistant plant manager's office as quickly as possible. On his way out he checked his PC to make sure he had Marilyn Kinney's PC address. Fortunately, it was still in his PC. He filed it in his address book for future use.

Leaving the plant, David double-checked that he was on the visitor's list for the next morning. He also asked Jared Burton what time the company cafeteria started serving breakfast. Jared informed him that the cafeteria started serving at 7:00 am, although the food was not very good. David headed for the MarsTrans station and his temporary apartment.

At 5:00 am Tuesday morning, David's alarm went off. He debated whether to hit snooze for ten minutes or get out of bed now. Thinking about the thirty-five minute ride to the plant, he decided to crawl out of bed now instead of hitting snooze. The temporary apartment was stocked with the minimum supplies needed for a short stay. This included soap, towels, and coffee.

After he had looked at the coffee supply the night before, David called the night security guard. He asked the guard about the locations of stores close to the building and their hours. There was one grocery store in the building just for the people in the temporary apartments. Because, most of the people in the temporary apartments worked all day the store was open until 9:00 pm.

There was one luxury David always allowed himself, good coffee. In the grocery store, he found all the usual Agricorp and Interplanetary Food midlevel coffee brands. He also found some Guatemalan Antigua coffee, Hawaiian Kona, and Jamaican Blue Mountain. David purchased 500 grams of the pre-ground Jamaican Blue Mountain and a box of unbleached hemp paper filters.

The price was about one and a half times the amount he paid in Texarkana. David was definitely glad he was shipping 10 kilograms of each of those three varieties plus 10 kilograms of four other varieties of coffee. These were all in a box marked for shipment directly to his office at the plant. With luck, the box should arrive by Wednesday at the latest. With proper refrigeration, the coffee should last for twelve months. After that, he would need to find a less expensive source of good coffee while still maintaining a standard he kept very high.

Before brushing his teeth or showering, David started a small pot of the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. By the time he finished dressing, the coffee was ready. David poured himself a cup and drank it black. It was smooth but authoritative. Blue Mountain coffee whispers coffee without being overpowering or bitter. The best word to describe it is mellow. David could not think of a better way to start his day.

By 6:15, David was at the MarsTrans station next to the Alexander Industries Building carrying his travel mug with the last of the coffee. Forty minutes later, he stepped off the train at the Ammunition Plant station. Five minutes after the cafeteria opened, David was standing in front of the menu screen ordering breakfast. He ordered scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice, and another cup of coffee.

After one bite, David knew that one of his first jobs, as assistant plant manager would be to discuss the food with the cafeteria manager. Unfortunately, he was not contacting anyone until Ms Johnson was home packing so it would have to wait a couple more days. If he could arrange it, she would take the entire day off Thursday to pack. After yesterday, he felt the less time with her the better. Also, he did not want anyone linking him with her if possible. There was no need to overcome any more negative associations than absolutely necessary.

At precisely 7:30, David walked into the assistant plant manager's office. Marilyn walked in just ahead of him and sat down at the secretary's desk. Seeing David walk in, she immediately called Ms Johnson to announce him. Ms Johnson responded. "Well it's about time. Another thirty seconds and he would be late."

Overhearing this David said just after Ms Johnson ended the call, "And good morning to you too."

Ms Johnson spent the next twenty-five minutes making Mr. Nichols sound like one of the Lords of Creation. Some how David doubted Mr. Nichols knew he had all the power that Ms Johnson implied he had. Ten minutes before their meeting, Ms Johnson insisted they leave for the meeting. This seemed unnecessary to David, as it was less than thirty meters from Ms Johnson's desk to Mr. Nichols' inner office door.

They arrived eight minutes early for their meeting. Mr. Nichols' secretary, Sa'meca White, showed them into Mr. Nichols' office as soon as they arrived. From David's research, he knew Thomas Nichols was 58 years old, 178 centimeters tall, and his personnel file said he weighed 82 kilograms. Looking at him David suspected that 85 to 87 kilograms was closer to the truth. It looked like during the two years since his last company physical Mr. Nichols had eaten too much and was not exercising properly.

Mr. Nichols was coming around his desk as David and Ms Johnson entered the office. Immediately, Mr. Nichols extended his hand saying, "Good morning David, nice to meet you."

David smiled, extended his hand saying, "It's nice to meet you Mr. Nichols."

"David, when it's just us managers let's keep it David, Jacquelyn, and Tom."

"Ok Tom, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am looking forward to working with you."

"Good, good. Sit down David, Sit down Jacquelyn. First, Jacquelyn, tell me your plans for David's orientation."

For the next thirty minutes, they discussed what David would need to know and whom he needed to meet before Jacquelyn departed for Earth. At David's insistence, Tom gave Jacquelyn all day Thursday off to supervise the packers. Also, Tom decided that starting after lunch on Wednesday, Jacquelyn should have time to pack the items in her office. During this time, David would be working with Rufus Farley, the General Operations Manager. The thought of getting rid of Ms Johnson after only a day and a half made David feel better already.

One thing David did notice was that although Tom had spent 10 years on Mars, he constantly referred to the locals as greenies. This included Rufus Farley who started out working as a shop foreman with an engineering degree over twenty years ago. Nine years ago, the previous plant manager promoted him to his current position.

David did suppress a wince when he heard Tom say, "Rufus is actually pretty smart for a greenie." Based on that one statement, David realized that the odds of a greenie being promoted to assistant plant manager were about the same as snow in the Amazon rain forest. David felt a chill run down his back as he realized he was thinking of Martians as greenies again. It reminded him of the mind games he sometimes played to convince everyone he was only attracted to women. The feeling of self-loathing those games engendered in him started to return. This was not good.

With a slight headache, a sure sign of emotional trouble coming, he asked Tom where the restroom was. Two minutes later, walking into the restroom, David looked at himself in the mirror. At least none of what he was feeling was showing. If there was one thing he feared, it was showing strong emotions. That way lay exposure, termination, and a life of abject poverty.