Page 17 of Subchief Flander

“Nothing, just too much paperwork.”

“You'll be happy if you get promoted and get a secretary.”

“If I do.” Flander observed.

At that point, no one else had much to say because they were worried about getting their meal eaten. They were working hard and didn't have much time left after supper. Not that there was much entertainment available to spend time on. Most, if not all, of them, would go to their room and either watch whatever shows they had available on their computers or sit and drink to relax. At that point, they would go to bed and catch whatever sleep they could to prepare for the next day.

Today, they would head to the planet again. Hel wondered if they would have enough refugees to make it worthwhile and which facility they would visit. There were many of them, but this should be one that held worthwhile plans and items thatcould apply to war or security. Those were the items that were a priority because of the agreement with the emperor. Hel would do anything she could to help her sister keep that agreement and try to keep that emperor in line. She knew it would be hard for her sister to make this work. She thought her sister had given him enough items and plans to cover her side of the deal. He was a greedy douche bag who could never have enough to keep him satisfied.

As far as she could tell, no one liked him. He kept people in line through fear and greed. No one wanted to lose their position working for him because they paid well. Those who didn't work for him didn't want to lose their lives. Hel disliked him intensely as others did, but it didn't make any difference since she knew that. If he didn't die a natural death, eventually, it would be up to Ranni to take them out, and that's what the emperor was afraid of. That's why his heir was covering the most dangerous part of the empire instead of being protected. His forces were inadequate, making his people overworked. That was why they worked every day, but at least they got overtime.

That emperor said that money wasn't the problem. The problem was finding people willing to work in that area because it was dangerous. To the average person, that might make sense, but Hel knew that warriors were willing to come over and work that weren't allowed to come. Those who worked here got hazard pay, and many warriors wanted to make that extra money to get a home for their families. Hel had been around enough warriors; even some had tried to get on this ship but were denied. It was an open secret that the emperor wanted Ranni dead.

Breakfast was crazy today, and she wasn't sure why. Everyone was loud and rambunctious, but she accepted her table, where the squad was their usual self. She exchanged looks with her squad. They didn't seem to know the deal either.

"What's going on?" Tanen, the quiet one, asked.

“We’re getting a weekend off as a reward for our work. We’ll get paid and shipped home for four days. How cool is that?” The warrior asked.

It wasn't cool that they would be even more shorthanded now. Hel was sure there wouldn't be any extra sent to cover all the time that everyone would have off. Sure, they deserve some time off after working such long hours and not having time off, but extras should have been sent in to cover them. The fact that none of them would only put the others at higher risk. Hel hoped they would devise a way to cover the shortages. They had been trying to use some of the refugees to cover nonessential positions that didn't require the use of a weapon. That had helped, but now they would have more shortages.

“Sounds like more problems," Timson observed.

“Yeah, guys don't see that because they're so happy to have a visit home. Because of that, some of us will go home in a pine box.” Ronner offered.

“You're getting very human. We don't use pine boxes anymore; even humans don't," Timson said.

“It's just a saying, and to me, it's good. Not like all of you don't know what it means," Ronner admitted.

Chapter 6

Working Short

He'd seen something like this coming and had been working to prevent it. Flander had contacted everyone with the influence he knew, but they were all too scared. Cowards! None of them should be in a position of leadership, and yet they all were. Now, they were stuck with the results, and many warriors might die—all because of their worthless emperor. That cause would be taken up someday, but not now.

Hel's idea to fill nonessential positions with refugees had helped until this four-day leave program was canceled. Flander wondered if using some of them in essential positions was worth the risk. The problem was that sometimes, someone seemed trustworthy and let you down. How could you know? Trust could be full of pitfalls. This was one they might have to attempt because they were ridiculously shorthanded. Flander knew that any losses would be blamed on Ranni and used to discredit him. That was unacceptable. This was just one reason he hated politics.

The emperor was playing from a strong position. He was in control of just about everything and using it to return his eldest son. While it was true that he was doing other things to other people, he could multitask. Kasey and Hel would know which people were more trustworthy than others since they knew some of these people and had known them for years when they were younger. They needed some way to sort out the most likely safe and those that weren't safe.

After all the work he'd done trying to find someone that would help with the situation, he ended up being late for breakfast. Maybe late was an exaggeration because he got therein time to finish eating about the time that Hel had. Today, they would be going to the planet, and there was never a way to tell how that would work out. They all headed to the ship because they had been taking that every time in case they got large numbers of refugees. That was unlikely since none of the places they were going were in highly populated areas. The ship had its own pilot, and he was the one who would fly them down and out. That might be better because somebody was staying with the ship and ensuring it wasn't attacked.

The pilot could also have the engine running and be ready for a hot takeoff in case there was a large group of people, and some of them were hostile. They were headed toward the planet, another remote location, so the possibility of a large group of people was remote. When they landed, it was in a small cluster of what looked like houses. The one they headed toward was small and looked almost like a child's playhouse. Hel managed to get into it quickly, and they headed in. Inside, it still looked like a child's playhouse with slides and seesaws,

“What was this intended to be?” Flander asked.

“This was the child's play area because most people had children and brought them to work with them. The work areas are upstairs and downstairs. Everyone loved working in the building. When there was peace, it would become a workplace again.

“I don't see any signs of disrepair. It's holding up well.”

“It's built out of a special product that should last longer than any of us live," Hel admitted.

He could see that the company had been very family oriented. That made it easier for the employees and inspired loyalty that other companies did not have. Flander had heard that they had paid well and had a generous employee packagethat gave leave, medical and life insurance, and other things. They could do so because their products were high-tech and top-notch. Unfortunately, that was what had brought the Grabbers to the planet. Things might have turned out differently if they had robots and some of the other protective items. It made him wonder if the company got back on its feet, would they put out more items that would protect the planet? He felt Kasey would want to, but he wasn't sure if she had complete control of the company.

Just because they were making protective equipment made him feel like whoever was in charge would want those kinds of items. A few squads of robots might have made enough difference to discourage the grabbers because they did not like losses. A ship or two would have turned the battle in the planet's favor. Especially if they were outfitted with some of the weapons they had planned. Ironically, the things they attacked the planet for were unavailable to them. The lockdowns would cost them a great deal of artillery. They would also have had to destroy the buildings and what was in them.

It made Flander wonder why they had not tried to get the information about entering the buildings out of the father. Maybe that was a sign that he had died, so they could not get anything out of him. Kasey had admitted that their mother did not work with them and didn't have the code to enter any buildings. That explained why they didn't get anything out of her. She didn't know. This did make him wonder where she had worked and if she had any research in her lab that they would want.

Everything in this facility had been packed up, and he had no idea what they had retrieved. It was flashed up to the ship without an issue since it wasn't below ground. That had been almost too easy, and now they headed back out. The robot wentfirst, and then Android followed them. A few people gathered, and they took them with them. Their ship dropped them all off on the second planet at the base. It was easy to settle these people since there was such a small group.

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