Part 1 - Pre 2/28, Chapter 3b
They walked in silence, Rhondi walking briskly, partially to ensure that she isn't three steps behind Tong literally as well as figuratively. Halfway there, she glanced over and sure enough, Tong had a slight smirk on his face. It was with great restraint that they managed to get to Haverhill's door without incident.
The secretary outside nodded at them to let them know they were expected and Tong gentleman-like opened the door for her to step through first. As she passed him, he whispered, "Just in case someone's in there with a gun, y'know." His grin at her glower just made her more angry.
She wasn't the only one scowling inside the door; greeting them with a deep scowl was Dirk Haverhill, who either saw this meeting as an intrusion, or he detested one or both of them. Tong closed the door behind him and took a seat beside Rhonda after she sat down across from Haverhill.
She waited for one or the other to start but the seconds dragged on with Haverhill's scowl getting deeper. Tong just looked her way, without glancing away. A few more seconds passed before Rhonda realized that Haverhill's gaze was on her as well. Fine! She decided to dispense with politeness. "Tong here wants to know why we need Khaladiff to lay low."
"Why didn't you tell him then?" Haverhill arched his eyebrow into almost right angles.
She glared at Haverhill, wishing her eyes were lasers that could bore holes into the space inside of those right angles masquerading as eyebrows. "Because, Haverhill Sir, you told me that this information is need-to-know only."
"Tong needs to know. So tell him."
"What do you mean he needs to know. The definition of need-to-know is if without this information, he cannot function in his job."
Haverhill leaned to one side to look past Rhonda at Tong, "Can you function in your job without this information?"
"No sir." was said stifling a snort.
"There ya go." Haverhill nodded at Rhonda.
She sputtered. "But Sir... Tong really has no need... I mean..." Rhonda was so pissed off she could spit right into Haverhill's eye. But again she restrained herself. This boys club that she looked in on, but could never enter, was both disgusting and immature to her; then why did she want in so badly?
"Thank you, Sir." went Tong's silky sleazy voice.
"You're welcome. Dismissed." Haverhill turned away from them and started typing into his digibrain.
Argh! There were definitely times when Rhonda just wanted to hurt these two. This whole meeting seemed almost an elaborate set-up just for an infantile little joke but that couldn't be the case, could it? Did Haverhill really want her to disclose their hidden agendas in the Central East region of the Pro-Am Zingball League?
Again, Tong held the door open for her to go through first. As she walked through, he whispered, "Any snipers?" Gods! What is it with these boys and their obsessions with military and weaponry?
They walked back to her office and fuming, she explained to Tong. "Elum's status in the Central East is that of a troublemaker because of how secularly he governs Elum and the Stinging Scorpions. Right now, the Central East is the biggest supplier of Zingball balls. The rubber, hoit, that gives the zingball its zing comes from a special tree that only grows in the Central East region and any attempts at replicating the rubber has only resulted in miserable failures."
"Haverhill has some interests in a zingball manufacturing consortium, which has been sent to scout out some land close to Ukikah. If confirmed that the soil is suitable for massive hoit rubber agriculture, then Haverhill needs to form some suitable trades that will guarantee the Raydars control of that land for the next twenty decades."
"The idea is to form a trade consolidation with Ohmir, Pajosit and Shalkirt - the three city-states that are most amenable to our forms of league rules. The rest need to be turned into some turmoil to remove them from the picture and here's where the Monoliths and its neighboring city-state Harkenal come in."
Rhonda hated disclosing such deals to Tong. She knew that he saw such transactions as merely tools to bring about his needed results - votes that ensured Braun at the ownership helm of the Raydars. Didn't he understand if that if she was able to finish the negotiations for such a deal, that it's the first of its kind to pit Khundinite against Khundinite?
With such a deal, she could ensure that the Raydars would get the best of the best hoit rubber there ever was. Plus, the right deal for imprinting a Raydars logo would probably net Haverhill a cool extra million credits a year. When Haverhill is making a lucrative secret deal, is when Haverhill is happiest, and when Haverhill is happiest is when the management of the Raydars runs the smoothest. And that is the ultimate goal of hers.
And then there was Braun.
The secretary outside nodded at them to let them know they were expected and Tong gentleman-like opened the door for her to step through first. As she passed him, he whispered, "Just in case someone's in there with a gun, y'know." His grin at her glower just made her more angry.
She wasn't the only one scowling inside the door; greeting them with a deep scowl was Dirk Haverhill, who either saw this meeting as an intrusion, or he detested one or both of them. Tong closed the door behind him and took a seat beside Rhonda after she sat down across from Haverhill.
She waited for one or the other to start but the seconds dragged on with Haverhill's scowl getting deeper. Tong just looked her way, without glancing away. A few more seconds passed before Rhonda realized that Haverhill's gaze was on her as well. Fine! She decided to dispense with politeness. "Tong here wants to know why we need Khaladiff to lay low."
"Why didn't you tell him then?" Haverhill arched his eyebrow into almost right angles.
She glared at Haverhill, wishing her eyes were lasers that could bore holes into the space inside of those right angles masquerading as eyebrows. "Because, Haverhill Sir, you told me that this information is need-to-know only."
"Tong needs to know. So tell him."
"What do you mean he needs to know. The definition of need-to-know is if without this information, he cannot function in his job."
Haverhill leaned to one side to look past Rhonda at Tong, "Can you function in your job without this information?"
"No sir." was said stifling a snort.
"There ya go." Haverhill nodded at Rhonda.
She sputtered. "But Sir... Tong really has no need... I mean..." Rhonda was so pissed off she could spit right into Haverhill's eye. But again she restrained herself. This boys club that she looked in on, but could never enter, was both disgusting and immature to her; then why did she want in so badly?
"Thank you, Sir." went Tong's silky sleazy voice.
"You're welcome. Dismissed." Haverhill turned away from them and started typing into his digibrain.
Argh! There were definitely times when Rhonda just wanted to hurt these two. This whole meeting seemed almost an elaborate set-up just for an infantile little joke but that couldn't be the case, could it? Did Haverhill really want her to disclose their hidden agendas in the Central East region of the Pro-Am Zingball League?
Again, Tong held the door open for her to go through first. As she walked through, he whispered, "Any snipers?" Gods! What is it with these boys and their obsessions with military and weaponry?
They walked back to her office and fuming, she explained to Tong. "Elum's status in the Central East is that of a troublemaker because of how secularly he governs Elum and the Stinging Scorpions. Right now, the Central East is the biggest supplier of Zingball balls. The rubber, hoit, that gives the zingball its zing comes from a special tree that only grows in the Central East region and any attempts at replicating the rubber has only resulted in miserable failures."
"Haverhill has some interests in a zingball manufacturing consortium, which has been sent to scout out some land close to Ukikah. If confirmed that the soil is suitable for massive hoit rubber agriculture, then Haverhill needs to form some suitable trades that will guarantee the Raydars control of that land for the next twenty decades."
"The idea is to form a trade consolidation with Ohmir, Pajosit and Shalkirt - the three city-states that are most amenable to our forms of league rules. The rest need to be turned into some turmoil to remove them from the picture and here's where the Monoliths and its neighboring city-state Harkenal come in."
Rhonda hated disclosing such deals to Tong. She knew that he saw such transactions as merely tools to bring about his needed results - votes that ensured Braun at the ownership helm of the Raydars. Didn't he understand if that if she was able to finish the negotiations for such a deal, that it's the first of its kind to pit Khundinite against Khundinite?
With such a deal, she could ensure that the Raydars would get the best of the best hoit rubber there ever was. Plus, the right deal for imprinting a Raydars logo would probably net Haverhill a cool extra million credits a year. When Haverhill is making a lucrative secret deal, is when Haverhill is happiest, and when Haverhill is happiest is when the management of the Raydars runs the smoothest. And that is the ultimate goal of hers.
And then there was Braun.
posted by resigned idealist at 11:15 AM
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