Galen then started sorting through a list of possible unit contracts.
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Gideon Fleisher
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved.
Book 2
LORD MASTER GOVERNOR GENERAL
The Jasmine Panzer Brigade: “When you care enough to send the very best…”
Chapter One
Command Sergeant Major Galen Raper, Commandant of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade, wore suede dress shoes, a light brown suit, and a silk tie over a plain white shirt as he sat on the couch outside the board room and thought about the events which had brought him to this place. The previous Brigade commander had actually been doing a very good job of taking the Brigade from being a mediocre collection of gunslingers and transforming it into a fairly respectable unit.
During the past five years, the program of in-house officer selection, training and commissioning was well on its way to replacing the Brigade’s self-absorbed socialite officers with real military professionals. That stage was set by recruiting academy graduates who would have to serve as enlisted personnel for an entire year before being considered for officer rank. Also the unit had made capital improvements in equipment as well as training, developing a high degree of combat skill amongst the soldiers of the Brigade. And the pay, the enlisted pay, was the same for everyone regardless of rank. The idea being, soldiers bearing less responsibility faced greater personal risk. Higher rank became primarily a matter of greater responsibility, not higher pay or privilege. This meant those soldiers better suited for leadership were leading, those better at fighting were doing most of the fighting, not the least bit concerned about having less rank; the pay was the same. Fair enough.
Then there came the breaking point for the Colonel. His reforms cost money, but the unit was not yet realizing greater revenue. That would only come after the unit’s reputation for battlefield excellence was realized. The unit was on its way to bankruptcy. At the very end, looking out for his own best interest, the Colonel accepted bribes from the enemy, Mosh invaders, who wanted to take the soldiers of the Brigade as slaves. But Galen got wind of the plot and relieved the Colonel of command. The officers of the Brigade, due to the nature of their commissions, had to buy back their contracts and resign en-masse. That left Galen as the commandant, taking command in the midst of a battle. And as luck would have it, the Brigade, although outnumbered more than ten to one, defeated the invading Mosh. Most likely the success was due to the fact the Mosh were expecting no resistance, because they had pre-arranged easy victory with the Colonel ahead of time. Regardless, that victory against an overwhelming force put a big gold star on the Brigade’s reputation.
Today Galen would face the Brigade’s board of directors. He checked his wrist chronometer and realized he had been kept waiting for nearly two hours. A junior executive, a slender woman in a dark blue business suit, opened the sturdy double doors of the board room and said, “The Board will see you now.”
Galen stood to his full two point one meter height and looked inside. The heavy wood table of the board room was flanked by four comfortable chairs down each side, an investor seated in each. A flimsy metal folding chair was empty, at the end nearest Galen. At the head of the table the chairman of the board sat in a taller chair, his palms down on the table, leaning forward, grimacing, his gaze fixed on Galen. His dark blue pinstripe suit, his heavy features in an aged face, the fake black hair, the white teeth. The upper canine teeth were a bit longer than they should have been.
Galen said, “I’ll be right back.” He executed an about face and strode away, turned a corner and checked his wrist chronometer. They liked making him wait, so he’d return the favor.
The junior executive caught up to him. Her straight platinum hair, cut Cleopatra style, contrasted sharply with her dark complexion, her black eyelashes and eyebrows, her coal-black eyes. “They are ready for you now. This is very unusual.”
“Really. And is that hair your idea?”
She raised her left hand and tugged at her hair for a moment, then looked back at Galen. “Please, just come back to the board room. Their time is valuable.”
“So is mine.” Galen’s wrist chronometer vibrated for a moment, then showed a text message from his agent, Mr. Burwell. Just get in there.
“Okay. Lead the way, neat hair lady.”
The junior executive gave a crooked, closed-mouth smile and turned and walked back to the board room. Galen followed five steps behind.
After Galen entered the board room, the junior executive closed the doors behind him and took a seat at a small school-type desk in the corner to the left, and turned her attention to the noteputer laying on it.
The chairman said, “Have a seat, relax.”
Galen picked up the folding chair and set it to the side, then took another step forward to lean against the table, palms down on its surface, and locked eyes with the chairman. “It this some kind of joke?”
“Considering the reason we called you here-”
Galen raised his hands, formed into claws, quivering at either side of his face. “Chairman, I asked for this meeting five weeks ago and you kept blowing me off.” He put his hands down. “But suddenly you found time for me, when I suspended the quarterly dividend; that got your attention.”
The chairman leaned back in his chair and smirked. “Your continued service as the commander of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade is tenuous at best.”
Galen stood up straight and placed his hands on his hips as he spoke. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear. My enlistment in the Brigade expires in less than two months. If you wish to retain my services as Commandant, there are a few things we need to work out.”
“Such as?”
“You strongly suggest I take the Haden contract, which is a pre-staged battle between evenly matched forces, fought primarily for the amusement of spectators. I want nothing to do with it.”
The chairman waved his left hand as though he were shooing away gnats. “That’s a serious charge, and very hard to prove. Besides, it pays very well.”
“But it’s true none the less. I take my killing very seriously; I do not fight for fun. And one more thing you need to know about me. I have more money than I will ever need.” Galen reflected on that statement and realized it was true. He used about a third of his savings to purchase the bar where his mother worked, then deeded it to her. And still he had enough to live what he considered a comfortable life, just from the interest on what remained of his savings. Saved during the past five years while in the employ of the Brigade.
The chairman was now standing. “Sergeant! Are you listening to me? I asked what contract you would prefer since you don’t want to take the Haden contract.”
“I’m a Command Sergeant Major,” corrected Galen. “I want the Fuente de la Juventud contract.”
A board member on the left snickered. Galen looked at him. Fat, old, scraggly grey eyebrows, a pencil-thin mustache and a severe overbite that suggested his chin may have been blown off by a laser bolt. Galen realized the man was born that way and almost felt sorry for him.
The board member spoke, “That’s with EugeneX Corporation. Better get paid up front.”
Galen cleared his throat. “It’s a one-year contract to set up a city’s defense infrastructure and establish and train a police and defense force for a new settlement, built from the ground up as settlers arrive. They want to establish new research facilities on Juventud.” Galen looked back at the chairman. “It pays just as much as Haden, and gives the Brigade a chance to train up new recruits, fill critical leadership slots and develop stronger bonds within the unit structure.”