Jubilee Society
Garden District, AFT
“I’m going to entertain your foolish remark because I choose to believe it was made out of ignorance rather than malice,” Lana sighed as she flashed a frigid smile at Clinton the other guests.
“You must have very bad eyesight indeed if you missed the large portrait of our black chancellor hanging above you in the customs line. But you might be forgiven your remark based on the decidedly monochrome crowd here,” Ms. Henderson said as she not-so-accidentally flicked ash onto Clinton’s shoes and suit jacket.
“My name is Lana Henderson, senior union representative of the Council of Socialist Mineworkers’ Unions (CoSoMU). I’m here to make sure that people like you remember in whose country and under what laws you are being invited to dig for buried treasure.”
A trio of racing green Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans flying the Syrene flag pulled up to the Jubilee Society and out stepped a lanky Afro-Syrener man flanked by a rainbow cast of beef-necked characters with earpieces and a diminutive aboriginal male aide.
“So nice of you to drop by, Mr. Chancellor,” exclaimed Oswald Hayes IV with a Cheshire cat grin. "I see that you understand that whats good for Anglo-Syrene/Auralia is good for the government.
The government is very impressed with your progressive hiring initiatives, Mr. Hayes, said Chancellor Sherrod Anderson with a matter-of-fact tone. However, our coalition partners have some concerns, as Im sure youre aware. Were putting the pressure on the APUTO state officials in Auramont to approve your mining permits, but the process would certainly go faster if you were to sponsor some programs for our aboriginal brethren up there.
We also need just enough effort on the environmental front to keep Green Environmental Secretary Laura McNamara from blowing a gasket. As for the white farmers, thats pretty much your problem, not ours. And, as you know, Im not going to be openly supporting any of this; I act merely as a servant of our labor interests
I view it as a basic cost of doing business, sir, mused Hayes. And Im glad that you understand what is good for Anglo-Syrene/Auralia is good for you… and your election war chest.
The chancellor was not impressed with Mr. Hayes lack of subtlety and gave him a sideways glance, even though he certainly wasnt going to refuse ASAs largesse.
Ladies and Gentleman, if I could have your attention, Hayes boomed with a jovial bellow. Im pleased to introduce our special guest, the Honorable Sherrod Anderson, Chancellor of the Syrene Federation. He has taken time out of his busy schedule to attend our small gathering this evening because he knows that enormity of this discovery and its wide-ranging implications for our great nation.
The Chancellor waved to the crowd and shot a disapproving glance at Hayes, who he had specifically told he didnt want to appear to be endorsing the project. Anderson and his crew then retreated to one of the tables in the far corner of the ballroom.
I wont dwell too long in the shadow of his glory, however, as the Honorable Chancellor has other business to attend to. Permit me instead to welcome and congratulate you on making it to the first stage of bidding on this eminent project, and allow me to clarify a few details. Allow me also to introduce my beautiful wife Dorothy and dear son Frederick, he defty said as he flipped to a slideshow projecting on the far wall of the banquet hall as his stern Aryan wife Dorothy and timid, slender son Freddie looked on at the bombastic, barrel-chested Hayes.
As you can see, our focus area is a small portion in central Uluvu Rivanjariya Municipality. Each of the teams will take charge of Camps Alpha through Echo for the duration of the probation period, during which time we will decide who shall be awarded the final contract.
You will all have access to the same pool of workers, graciously supplied by our partners at CoSoMU, who will be stationed with their families at the ASA-built Friendship Village base camp and will dispatch to the project sites in shifts. Im also proud to announce that, in concert with the government, we will provide job training and social services to aboriginal brethren in the area.
Within this context, you will each have the opportunity to distinguish yourselves by your unique extraction techniques and, err, competitive spirit, Hayes smirked. But, for now, please continue to enjoy the banquet as we prepare the convoy for Fort Prospect, the Rivanjariya Headwaters, and our shared fortune!
Grand Orient Hotel
Rilanon, Christie Island
I suppose Im doing as well as can be expected, ODay said with a bit of a laugh. Although, its nothing I havent seen out on the streets of Gemini at night. ODay reached into his pocket and hit a panic button his mobile to notify ASA security that something had gone wrong and that they should continue to track him in case of any unfortunate eventuality.
Rilanon City Detention Facility
Rilanon, Christie Island
Good afternoon, Mr. Bing, my name is Detective Inspector Martha Jones, announced the musclar Krio (mixed race) woman. I need to know more about the AFFAN militant with whom you spoke recently.
The Directorate of Federal Police Counter-Terrorism Division had dispached her from Ansley Park, AFT, to get to the bottom of this developing affair between Bings crowd and the Armed Freedom Front of the Aramasy Nation (AFFAN). AFFAN had been a thorn in the side of the DFP for months, although their activism up to now had simply consisted of nuisance tactics (e.g. stink bombs in the stock exchange) and no real armed resistance. But they needed to keep an eye on them since their manifesto suggestion some sort of criminal conspiracy.