Date 07-02-2385
Tuesday morning we got a brand new slug replacement and he looked like a twelve year old. He was cherrypicked from a kitchen crew and was originally chosen to replace Sandoval at the guidance testing range.
Turns out he has a fear of heights. Setting up the test instrument required making manual adjustments off of platforms and lifts at great heights.
The next day he was sent to my office with a handwritten note that read: He's useless in my department. If you don't want him then maybe they'll take him at the mines. They could always use a small worker to set charges in the tighter spots. The slugs name is Tri Jon Choi. We decided to rename him Jitters. You'll find out why soon enough.
The note was signed by Slick.
It was starting to annoy me that Slick was starting to send all his problems to me lately. Today we were running through a simulation on a new program and I didn't have time for distractions.
"Jitters" was sitting down in the hall with a reader book. His leg was unconsciously bouncing slightly as he swiped through the pages at an incredibly fast rate as his eyes scanned each one from top to bottom methodically.
"You actually reading that ?" I asked.
His leg stopped moving the second his concentration was broken.
"Uh...Yes. I speed read through a book a day. It's good for the mind."
He looked out of place here among hardened criminals in a military research facility. I began to wonder if some Boy Scout troop was missing one of their own.
"How long have you been here on planet?"
"About a year now. I started in the kitchen as a cooks assistant but when they found out I had a degree and a guy from GRD had me reassigned to the testing crew."
"Slick?"
"Yes that was him."
"Well I'm your new boss. I'm Bridge Pease. You had a degree in what? Jitters."
"Aerospace Engineering. And Mr Pease please don't call me Jitters I didn't like that nickname. Just call me Tri."
"OK Tri and you can call me Bridge. Soo... Aerospace Engineering huh? That sounds interesting. But then ....... just what did an Aerospace Engineer do to end up here? Just what are you in for?"
"Uh...Do I have to say?"
"If you'll be working for me I want to know."
"Uh... I stole a fighter spacecraft- the Bushwacker 907."
"The secret one no one's supposed to know about? You're kidding! It's got to be the most heavily guarded next generation fighter on Earth."
"It was until I stole one and flew it to Mars. Turned out it was a sting and my buyers were undercover government agents, just pretending to be part of the Brotherhood. They arrested me on the spot once I landed."
"I'm impressed! I didn't know that could be done."
"Neither did they. They expected me to fail and arrest me on Earth but I was able to get it out of spaceport unharmed."
I looked him over. From the outside I could see how he could fit into any average high school class picture. It must be his babyface that threw everyone off.
"Well you don't strike me as an interplanetary Industrial spy."
"I'm not, I was just in it for the money. I was to get 500,000 credits upon delivery. But it was a set-up from the start."
" I don't recall reading about it in the news."
"I think they made sure it wasn't. Makes the military security look bad."
"I see. Well I'll give you a try. You'll have to follow me around in the day and we'll see how you fit in. And I'll train you in the theories I was taught. If it doesn't work I'm sending you to the mines. Got it?"
His eyes grew into large saucers. He'd heard how bad that could be. Lately the stats showed we were having a suicide about every week.
He nodded knowing I meant what I said.
The day started out like normal but at different times I could see that others were dismissive of him for obvious reasons. He did have a little spunk but the more he tried to speak up the general reaction was one of amusement. So after about 3 days of that I decided to try something different.
I called him into my office pulled the white hardhat off his head which everyone else wore and handed him a black hard hat, mirrored sunglasses, a radio and an aluminum clipboard with a fancy pen.
Puzzled he asked what he needed all that for.
"Just for show. A little basic psychology trick. Just try wearing it everywhere and scribble something down after looking at their work or listening to their conversation."
"It's all for show right?"
"It will work and you'll automatically get a little more respect. Oh and one more thing. Wear this."
I said handing him a name tag with his first name and the letters ATBP underneath."
"OK but what exactly is ATBP? "
"I made it up and it stands for Assistant to Bridge Pease. Just wear it and if anyone asks just say your not free to answer that yet."
He liked the idea and began to put it all on to see what how it looked. It made him look 10 years older. I had done this trick before but never amongst cons. With cons their reactions weren't always predictable but at this point Tri had nothing to lose. I crossed my fingers and tried to sound positive.
Over the next few days most people began giving him a little more room as he passed by and he began to garner more grudging respect from people just because of the look of authority. I had him make daily rounds through each section and told him not to make small talk until he started to look like he was part of middle management. I brought him along on my meetings to take notes and learn.
"And if there are any questions or complaints tell them to see me. Trust me they won't."
As lunch rolled around there were a group of workers sitting at a table killing time. Their conversation revolved around the changing tides of war we'd been hearing about. Giving concessions to the Brotherhood only seemed to emboldened them more. The words "new revolution" were whispered
There was talk about prisoners joining the Titan's branch of the Brotherhood Movement. Details were lacking but as lunch was coming to an end a sheet of paper was being passed around and the interested workers were putting in their email addresses. I decided to throw my name on the sheet out of curiosity.
The next day I received a confidential email inviting me to join in a meeting to be held in the old rocket booster testing facility building at 8:30 PM. Long after normal working hours.
I showed it to Tri as we walked our normal route through the building checking on the progress of two projects.
"This sounds intriguing boss. Mind if I come?"
"Tri I think you should avoid this one. We've built this reputation of you as the guy writing notes on a clipboard and they're having a secret meeting. Do you see how that looks?"
