Dominant Species Volume Two -- Edge Effects (Dominant Species Series) (16 page)

“I’m working blind,” she went on. “I’ve got no background, no
data, and no intelligence. I need those inventories. This is a very serious
situation.”

“I’m very sorry about this,” he said. “The inventories were
completed on time.”

That made no sense. Donna blinked. “Then where are they?” she
asked.

“They were lost. I’ve ordered new ones,” he threw up his hands and
looked completely frustrated all of a sudden. He pressed back in his chair and
shook his head, his mouth tight.

“Lost?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I’m afraid someone sabotaged the data. Possibly the work of a
disgruntled worker. Look, I’ve made a full report with Health and Safety, and
I’ve ordered new ones, as I said. I’m sorry about this. I’m correcting the
problem.”

“You are?”

“Yes. The Biologists are on their way as we speak. If I’m not
mistaken they should dock with the orbiter sometime tomorrow. I can check that
if you like. In any case, I need your indulgence here. You have helped me
out,” he said suddenly firm again.

His precise tone and confident manner had taken the wind out of
her sails. She didn’t like it, but he did make some sense. She wanted to
believe it. She wanted to be relieved that the inventories were being redone,
and she couldn’t help letting it show with a faint smile and a brightening
around the eyes. Smith saw it.

“You look relieved,” he almost laughed.

She smiled broadly.

“Well, I am frankly,” she said.

He leaned forward and interlocked his fingers. A tiny alarm went
off in her head.

“Donna, believe me, I know how important those surveys are. This
is a very hostile environment. We’ve known that since the planet was first
opened by Howard Verde. I’m not the kind of man to take unnecessary chances
with the lives of others or to take the chance of losing the license I hold. I
don’t like losing, and I’m sure you don’t, either. I can’t think of an easier,
more foolish way to lose a franchise than to screw up the safety of the
contractors. I personally believe that the laws regarding contractor safety
are the best on the books. I started out as a miner. My father was an off-world
contractor. Believe me, I know. They save lives. And I believe in safety.”

He might have gotten away with it if he had just shut up about it,
but he rambled on a little too long, and Donna’s shit detector went off with a
sharp little beeping sound. She knew where the conversation was going now. It
was all too clear. She took a deep breath.

“Well, we don’t have much to protect our interests anymore except
the safety laws. They’re just about the only thing we have,” she said firmly.

“I can remember what it was like to be in your shoes.”

 
“Can
you?”

“Yes.”

“We get screwed at every turn.”

“Sometimes it’s true.”

“No breaks. Hard work. Long hours. Little pay. We start work as
children and never stop until we die.”

Smith pursed his lips sympathetically.

He just won’t stop.

“We indentured contractors have to do what we can to survive,”
she said. “Most of us won’t make it to retirement. I’m sure you remember that
fact as well.”

Smith opened his mouth with a slight smack sound and postured to
rise up out of his chair—and to end the interview.

“So,” she continued. “I’m sure you’ll understand that I have to do
what I can to ensure the safety of my co-workers. That is my job, and I take
great pride in it.”

“As we all do.”

“I’m very sorry I have to do this.”

Smith turned to stone. “What do you mean?”

She turned every bit as hard as Smith. “Because the clinic has no
biological inventories to provide a cautionary framework for the safety of the
workers on Verde’s Revenge, I’m forced
to file a
stop order with Health and Safety, asking that all ground activity be suspended
until the survey is complete. I can do this under EHCS 2344, sub-paragraph 29a.
I don’t have a choice in the matter.”

There. She’d done what she had to
do. It was the only way a lying bastard like Smith could be forced to do the
right thing. He was a money pinching, corner-cutting scoff-law, she was sure of
it. Such men had put her in this spot to begin with. God, it felt good to say
what she had said.

“Well . . .” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said evenly.
“I’m sure you understand.”

“I see.”

“It’s the only way we can ensure
the lives of the contractors on the planet’s surface,” she added for emphasis.

“Of course.”

“It’s better for all concerned.
As you said, the laws ensuring contractor safety are the best on the books.”

Right up your ass,
she thought
.

“Well, you have the right, as the
representative of Health and Safety to close the project down—by law.”

“I wouldn’t put it like that, but
heaven forbid the survey determines that the planet contains even one Class A
biological hazard.”

“Yes,” he agreed solemnly.

“You and I would be responsible.”

“Of course.”

“And we don’t know that the
hazards don’t exist at this point,” she said as if paraphrasing the protocol
could drive the nails in further.

“Well, we’ll have to find out,”
he said with a scowl.

He walked around the desk and
leaned against it, arms crossed, the very picture of executive contemplation.
“You’re talking about a shutdown of at least one hundred and twenty days,” he
said. “That gets very expensive.”

Oh, I am so, so, sorry.

“You’ve taken me by surprise. But
you’re right, of course. The inventories have to be done. When do you plan to
make your report?”

“As soon as I get back to the
clinic. I would expect the order to shut down to go into effect within the
week.”

“What can I do to help you?”

Donna’s hackles rose. He was
being
too
conciliatory.

“I take it you can house the
contractors here on the orbiter until the work is complete?”

“It’ll be crowded, but we can
manage it. I may ask that the next transport remained docked for the duration
that should give us some more room.”

“I’ll have to re-open the
infirmary, but that shouldn’t take too much effort,” she added.

Smith extended his hand. Donna
took it.

“You know, Donna, I could make it
worth your while to delay that request.”

“What do you mean?” she asked,
knowing the answer already.

“Take care of certain problems
you have, for instance. Certain money or contract issues that you find
objectionable, say.” Donna had never been offered a bribe before, and she suddenly
wondered why. She had been in the right positions her entire professional
life—positions that could have supported bribery as naturally as bacteria
supported infections. Yet, this was the first time. Was it her attitude? Was it
her professional demeanor or something deeper? Did she give off special vibrations
that originated from the honest, principled end of the moral spectrum?

The pieces began to fit. As the
General Contractor and holder of the Richthaus-Alvarez franchise for Project
Development, Ed Smith could specify contractors that met any set of pre-conditions
he wished. In this case, he’d ordered a Grade V Nurse/Administrator who was
already under extreme financial pressure to run the clinic. Smith wanted
people he could control associated with the project’s compliance issues.

He obviously hadn’t seen the
color of the light that radiated from her particular moral light source. He’d
gotten an Administrator in financial distress all right, but one with a set of
ethics he hadn’t counted on.

Big mistake.

“I have no problems I can’t
resolve quite comfortably in time,” she said coolly.

Smith finally saw the light and
scowled.

“I wish this meeting had taken
place under happier circumstances,” he said. “Would you stay for lunch? My
chef is very good.”

“I really have to get back. I
have patients waiting.”

“I understand.”

They stood there for an
uncomfortable beat.

“Well, this is a surprise,” he
said.

“I’m sorry. But it’s the right
thing to do.”

“Of course. It’s just that I
don’t like surprises.”

“James?” he said at the intercom.

“Sir?”

“Can you escort Donna back to the
shuttle, please.”

“Right away.”

Mr. Too-clean was there before
she could turn around, his pleasant face beaming.

He led her out of Smith’s office,
but Smith called him back inside, leaving her to bask in the insipid expression
on Afshin’s face.

“I hope your meeting went well,”
he said.

“Yes. Very well. Thank you,” she
smiled back. “And thank you for getting me the audience so quickly.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said
stiffly.

James reappeared looking even
more pleasant than he had earlier. He touched her arm gently and led her out.

It was the touch that did it. The
hair on her neck grew springs.

They walked through the orbiter
without speaking. James glanced over his shoulder a few times to make sure she
was keeping up, his pleasant expression holding onto his face like a mask. She
was relieved to get to the shuttle.

“Here we are,” he said and
stepped aside to let her enter.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said and
stepped on board behind her.

“Oh . . .” she said. “You’re
coming with us?”

“Yes. I have an errand for Mr.
Smith. No rest for the wicked.”

“Ah . . .”

She took her seat and strapped
herself in. When James sat down behind her silently, she had the impulse to
move to another seat. The close proximity made her skin crawl.

She replayed the entire
conversation she’d had with Smith. He was a louse. As she mulled it over, more
pieces began to drift into place; but no clear picture took form. Something was
wrong with the project. It was snake-bitten. Something was very, very out of
whack; that much she knew for sure. She contemplated breaking her contract and
going back home, perhaps mentioning the bribe to someone in Health under
separate cover or in her report itself. If she broke her contract, they’d put
her in jail. If she continued on with Smith at the helm, she might end up in
jail anyway.

There was a brief period of
weightlessness as the shuttle fell toward the planet. Donna’s purse drifted up
off the seat next to her only to be snagged by James and offered back to her.

“Oh, thanks,” she said.

“Is that real leather?” he asked.

“Yes. One of the few. A gift from
some years ago.”

“Very nice.”

“Thank you.”

The sudden pull of gravity as the
shuttle fell through the upper atmosphere caused a momentary blanch of nausea
as it always did. The exchange with Smith had been tense, and she was feeling a
delayed reaction to it. She felt herself gripping the arms of the seat so
tightly her knuckles were showing white.

Settle down!

She looked out the window and
watched as the little cut-out of the installation grew in size. Minutes later,
she could make out individual structures along the eastern edge. As they descended
even further, she tried to pick out the clinic, but wasn’t sure she could.

When she realized they had
overflown the installation she felt a wrenching in her guts that had nothing to
do with gravity.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

James looked out the window and
acted confused
—too
confused. She knew he was
screwing with her.