Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #55: Infestation (10/19/00)
Edka is supervising his crew as they carefully inspect and store their equipment after the day's blasting.
Edka has been more careful to ensure that all harnesses are under lock and key since Elte managed to get his hands on one and... but I digress.
Edka is also worried that more sabotage might be attempted, despite the gradual easing of the selyn shortage and subsequent new hires.
Mr. Birch strolls along the path towards the clifftop work site, puffing on his pipe with satisfaction.
Mr. Birch has buttoned up his new down jacket against the chill of early dusk, and the rich tobacco is very satisfying.
Sayward surveys the area with an eye to safety problems. The injuries have been constant but the severity has been decreasing steadily.
Sayward has been a lot happier now that things are getting back on track and since she got her new boots.
Edka notes the VIPs approaching, and takes the opportunity to straighten up and get the kinks out of his back.
Edka is not as young as most of his crew, a fact which tends to make itself known unpleasantly after a long session on the rocks.
Mr. Birch turns the corner towards the cliffside and feels the wind pierce right through the down layers. Winter comes early at this elevation and already the ground is covered with frost come morning.
Mr. Birch turns to Sayward.
Mr. Birch: How are the new hires working out?
Sayward is slightly distracted, she has been making plans while walking.
Sayward: Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.
Sayward: What did you ask me?
Mr. Birch watches with magisterial pride as the workers head for their homes... uh, well, huts or tents.
Edka wishes he was in his, as the wind picks up.
Mr. Birch: The new workers? Are they getting with the program?
Sayward mentally reassigns two work crews and puts together three more.
Sayward: Oh, yes. I've had very little trouble with them. I was pleasantly surprised.
Sayward: Can't say I like the new SWAT rep much though.
Sayward: But he seems to do his job.
Mr. Birch: Don't have to like him. So long as he keeps that bunch in line.
Mr. Birch: Good evening, Sergeant Edka!
Edka: Evening, Mr. Birch, Sayward.
Sayward: Sergeant.
Edka nods at the cliff.
Edka: Come to see what we've accomplished today?
Mr. Birch: That's right. We've got a lot of lost ground to make up.
Mr. Birch: How's it hanging? If you'll pardon the pun.
Edka: Well enough, considering we're still three men short.
Mr. Birch's expression darkens.
Mr. Birch: A tragedy.
Edka: Did they ever find the terrorist who cut that rope?
Mr. Birch gestures to Edka and Sayward.
Mr. Birch: This is confidential.
Sayward remembers some of the rumors that have been going around the site.
Edka nods, and draws closer so that his crew won't overhear.
Sayward listens intently.
Mr. Birch looks around but doesn't see any one in eavesdropping range.
Mr. Birch: The murderer was found. He's been dealt with.
Edka looks alert.
Edka: Dealt with? How? I've heard of no arrests.
Sayward thinks "dealt with" sounds rather ominous.
Mr. Birch: It was done quietly and unofficially, to avoid inflaming the workers and making tensions worse.
Edka is hoping for the best: something fatal, preferably.
Mr. Birch: This was a private individual, acting out a personal vendetta; it was not an act of political terrorism.
Edka: What did he have against Bill Wallin, Clansi Arns, and Jolly Farnam?
Sayward is aware that people can "disappear" on construction sites.
Edka hadn't thought that the three had enough time to offend anyone, even if they'd been so inclined.
Mr. Birch: I don't have many details; just that it was one person acting alone.
Mr. Birch: The in-Territory officials assure me that we don't have to fear further attacks now that this individual has been removed.
Mr. Birch: Well, except for the usual indignities.
Edka is understandably skeptical, but forbears from saying so.
Mr. Birch sees Edka's expression and nods.
Sayward: Well, that is one less safety hassle then.
Edka: I got a communication from Headquarters yesterday. They want to know how much longer my crew's services are required.
Edka: Now that the selyn shortage is easing, it seems.
Mr. Birch: You guys do great work. I'd like to keep you on the job 'til the weather shuts you down.
Mr. Birch: Sure the selyn shortage is easing, but we're still months behind schedule. And blasting is faster.
Edka frowns.
Edka: If we wait that long, we'll be trapped here all winter.
Sayward: We could certainly use your expertise in the tunnels.
Mr. Birch: That's for sure.
Edka shakes his head.
Mr. Birch: If we're lucky we might have another four weeks before we're snowed in.
Mr. Birch: You should have time to make an exit if you want to.
Sayward: How long do you think your team can continue then?
Sayward is feeling the bite in the wind more and more with each passing day.
Sayward has been hearing disturbing things from the locals about the earliness of the winters for the last four years.
Sayward wouldn't mind an early start to winter if it meant an early end, but from what information she has been able to gather the winters have been longer than usual.
Edka: The cliff work falls within our area of expertise; the tunnels don't.
Edka is willing to split hairs if it gets him away from this place before he gets snowed in for the winter.
Sayward: We are teaching Simes off the street to use explosives. I think your team might have a leg up on them.
Mr. Birch thinks it over.
Edka reflects that he'd rather split hairs than split the sort of firewood it'd take to keep his crew warm in the winter.
Mr. Birch: But then there are the political factors.
Edka is well aware that they are sending Simes into the tunnels to set off explosives without sufficient training: that's a large part of why he doesn't want to get near them.
Mr. Birch: Some of these Simes do have mining experience, and we want to scotch these accusations that we're funneling all the project funds over the lake.
Mr. Birch frowns.
Mr. Birch: But it does take longer.
Edka: You're much better off with your miners, than with a military explosives team like us.
Mr. Birch: Well, I'd like you guys to keep at it until the last possible moment.
Mr. Birch: I'll find a way to get you out, even if the weather catches us up.
Edka frowns, then nods grudgingly.
Sayward is unaware of why the Sergeant is reluctant to help with the tunnels. She is busy juggling the schedules in her mind playing "what if" scenarios and coming to the conclusion that it might not make any significant difference if the Sergeant's team stayed on or not.
Edka is under orders to offer all appropriate assistance, after all.
Mr. Birch: Dog sleds, maybe.
Mr. Birch beams at his own genius.
Mr. Birch of course has never ridden on a dog sled.
Edka: Will the Simes' union stand for that, now that they have the selyn to do it the way they wanted to, originally?
Edka: After all, if we weren't around, a lot more of them would have to be hired.
Sayward wonders where Marty plans to get the dogs or the dog sleds.
Mr. Birch: They won't like it, of course. But their lack of coordination is what put this project 5 months behind schedule. So they'll have to lump it.
Edka: Just so long as they don't take out their frustrations on us.
Mr. Birch reviews again in his head the elaborate explanations he will have to make to the New Washington politicians and corporate board members about the delays.
Mr. Birch: Now that we've got the selyn, we'll put them to work, and work them hard. They won't have time for frustrations.
Edka nods, somewhat ~~ dubiously ~~
Edka: I hope not.
Mr. Birch: And that new guy, Duart, seems to know how to crack the whip.
Sayward: Most of them are just like us trying to feed their kids. They aren't trouble makers at heart.
Mr. Birch in fact has a sudden mental image of Duart as a Pen Keeper and shudders just a little. He is glad he is a modern man.
Edka finds that less than reassuring, since desperate people tend to act not from the heart, but from the stomach. Or laterals, as the case may be.
Sayward thinks that the whip probably isn't the only thing Duart is willing to crack.
Mr. Birch: Oh, and Sergeant? There's another job I think you should be involved in.
Mr. Birch: Sayward, you too.
Sayward: Yes?
Sayward wonders what else she will have to add to her work load.
Mr. Birch: Controller Arat suggested some time back that once the selyn shortage had eased, we round up the unemployed Gen emigrants and get them home where they belong.
Edka: That sort of work is far beyond my orders.
Mr. Birch: I'd prefer not to have to call in the Border Patrol. Things are tense enough.
Edka looks at Mr. Birch firmly.
Mr. Birch: If you could get some extra troops assigned to your command for the next month and put them on it, that wouldn't upset the apple cart any worse than it is already.
Edka: Do you want us to spend the next few weeks blasting your cliff, or running around the woods playing cop? Because we can't do both.
Edka: Nor do I think it likely that I would be assigned a whole troop for the purpose--not when my three casualties haven't been replaced yet.
Mr. Birch: Well, you've already got those extra watches looking out for saboteurs.
Mr. Birch: This would be just an extension of that operation.
Sayward: The uniforms will certainly give the impression of the action being more official in nature than just my crew trying to do it alone.
Mr. Birch: And your casualties were specialists... but this job wouldn't require that level of staffing.
Sayward has flashbacks to tromping through the woods trying to get the Gens to donate.
Edka: With all due respect, Mr. Birch, putting a watch on our lines has already limited our ability to keep up with your schedule, even after Controller Arat reassigned some of his own bodyguards to help.
Edka: And I'm not going to ask my boys to go down the cliff on equipment that's open to sabotage.
Mr. Birch: That threat's been taken care of.
Mr. Birch: And you can keep Arat's bodyguards till you leave. 1
Mr. Birch: I'll square that with him.
Mr. Birch: What about you, Sayward? You said you had some unofficial contacts among the tramps who could be helpful in this kind of situation.
Mr. Birch has sometimes found that ignoring objections makes them go away.
Sayward: Yes I do. But it is going to be a major effort to get them out before the snow flies.
Edka steps directly in front of Mr. Birch, where he can't be ignored.
Edka: Sir, with all respect, I will not order my men to round up your tramps.
Edka: We are here to provide explosives expertise only, and that is taking up all of our time.
Edka: If you no longer want us as demolition experts, our orders require us to leave immediately.
Mr. Birch inhales a large cloud of blue smoke to fortify himself to deal with this obstinate soldier who won't do what he's told.
Mr. Birch: They are not my tramps.
Sayward is honestly all for getting the extra Gens out before winter closes down on them. They will just barely have the buildings necessary to house the workers. The tramp population would die of exposure if they remain.
Edka concedes that with a gesture.
Mr. Birch: They are New Washington citizens who have crossed the border illegally with inter-territorial repercussions.
Sayward: Not to mention they will die up here in the winter.
Mr. Birch: And if you won't lend a helping hand, I will have to call in the Border Patrol to deal with it, and we'll risk more anti-Gen violence.
Edka: That is unfortunate--but that doesn't change my orders, or provide any more hours in a day.
Edka: We're already badly overextended--we can't take on another major responsibility, unless we stop blasting entirely.
Mr. Birch: Very well, soldier. The blasting's more important. Carry on.
Edka gives a short nod of acknowledgement, then turns back to his men.
Sayward shakes her head. What did she expect anyway?
Mr. Birch remembers very well why he chose to be an entrepreneur rather than join the military-state bureaucracy.
Edka has often had to tell a superior that his orders are unworkable, insanely dangerous, or both, during his long career.
Edka just wishes officers--and their civilian counterparts--had as much common sense as sergeants.
Mr. Birch doesn't understand how a man can be so brave in the face physical danger and such a coward before the true challenges of life.
Edka knows full well that his dozen and a half men couldn't make much of an impact on the illegal immigration problem, even if they went at it full time.
Mr. Birch: So Sayward, what was your idea?
Mr. Birch: I'd like to get this done as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Sayward: I will have to think on this one for a bit. But I know it has to get done. I will see who I can get to help.
Sayward adds another thing to her list to get done before the first snow. Maybe she can get some of Cris' friends to help as well.
Nick is walking through the camp, returning from scouting out the Narosian camp.
Nick is the de facto Tecton liaison to the outreach program, as Arat won't knowingly let Jeniard get within a half mile of Riyyh.
Mr. Birch strides beside Sayward, returning from the Demolitions site. It is now full dark and quite bitterly cold.
Nick is glad that Arat remains unaware that Riyyh has been borrowing Arat's shower, the only one with running hot water in the area.
Sayward is thinking furiously. How will she manage this round up?
Sayward hopes that maybe Nick may have some idea of who she can recruit for the job.
Mr. Birch catches sight of the Tecton Donor on the path ahead.
Nick spots Mr. Birch and Sayward, and decides to take care of a little matter that he's been thinking of for a while.
Mr. Birch: Sosu Nick! Good evening!
Nick: Mr. Birch, Sayward. How are you both on this chilly evening?
Sayward: Hello Nick!
Sayward: Cold and in need of help.
Mr. Birch: Thinking that we'd better learn to like the cold, because we're going to get lots more of it.
Nick: Help? With what?
Sayward: Extra Gens.
Nick looks momentarily confused.
Nick: You want more? There isn't housing for the ones who are already here.
Sayward remembers Cris correcting her when she used that phrase before.
Sayward: Sorry, language again. The Gens from out-T who are here without permission.
Mr. Birch: Sosu, some months back the Controller suggested that we evacuate unemployed border-crossers once the selyn shortage was over.
Mr. Birch: Has that time arrived, do you think?
Nick considers.
Nick: The situation has eased quite a bit, it's true. Although we're still finding a use for all the selyn produced locally.
Mr. Birch: Well, if we don't get them out soon, snows will block the roads.
Nick: Still, I can't imagine that you'll be able to keep the current pace, once really cold weather starts.
Sayward: But we can't house all of the unemployed through the winter. Without proper housing they will die from the cold.
Mr. Birch: And food. We'll have a devil of a time getting enough food in here.
Nick nods. It hasn't been easy, even in the summer.
Nick: I'll talk to Arat, and see what he has to recommend.
Nick suspects that Arat will have obsessively thought out a detailed plan of action on the seven most likely possible courses of action.
Mr. Birch empties his pipe of ash by the side of the path.
Mr. Birch: In Gen Territory, we wouldn't permit this kind of situation to fester.
Nick looks interested.
Sayward: We were wondering if you might know of someone who could help us round them all up so that we can get them out before the snow.
Mr. Birch: People who don't know how to make themselves useful; we draft them and assign them to public works.
Mr. Birch: Can't have people starving to death in the streets.
Nick: You know, I actually don't know very much about how such problems are handled in Gen Territory.
Nick: Neither does Arat, I expect.
Mr. Birch thinks that those public works projects are not much more pleasant than prison chain gangs, which is why all these losers are running over the border.
Nick: I've been thinking for quite some time that it would be valuable for both of us to learn a little more about your Territory.
Nick: I don't suppose you could get your hands on some history books?
Mr. Birch: Certainly. As a matter of fact, I believe the Mayor of Salmonton has a very extensive classical library.
Mr. Birch reflects that the Mayor would do well to read some of those books instead of simply showing them off as antiques.
Nick: Really?
Nick: Do you think he could be persuaded to part with a few, on a temporary basis, of course?
Mr. Birch: I'll see if I can get you a few items on loan. Of course, our authors don't look on your culture too kindly. But I think you'll find it interesting.
Nick: That would be a great help. Thank you.
Mr. Birch is himself rather addicted to philosophizing about the currents of History and the present and future of Civilization.
Nick feels lighter of heart, as his plan to get Arat some light (?) reading, in a politically inoffensive fashion, begins to take shape.
Sayward: [an idea dawns slowly] What about your father's people?
Nick then turns to Sayward.
Nick: You'd have to ask my father about that, I'm afraid.
Mr. Birch of course intends to guide the future part personally.
Nick: I don't think his outreach group has yet decided how they can be of most assistance.
Nick: Fair warning: if they agree at all--well, my father's people tend to get a little carried away, when they commit to a project.
Sayward: That would be very helpful if they agree to it.
Sayward: Do I have to make an appointment or just walk in?
Nick: Oh, as long as my father is around, I'm sure he'd be happy to talk with you.
Nick can say that with assurance, as Riyyh is always glad to see everybody.
Sayward: Great! I think I will go by first thing in the morning.
Mr. Birch: Well, I promised Arat to help round up our wandering Gen sheep.
Mr. Birch: But I really am at a loss as to the best way to do it.
Nick: With the nights getting so much colder, surely at least some of them will leave voluntarily?
Mr. Birch: You would think so.
Sayward: They have gotten to like getting paid to sit around and make selyn.
Mr. Birch: Right. They get paid for just existing.
Nick shrugs.
Mr. Birch: We don't coddle slackers on our side of the river.
Nick: They could do that in any town with a Sime Center--and be much more comfortable, too.
Sayward: Some of them may become regulars at those Centers.
Mr. Birch: Well, if you want to encourage them to become in-Territory citizens, you're welcome to them. As long as we can move them out of this district.
Mr. Birch: Originally I planned to use our security forces, supplemented by military personnel if necessary.
Mr. Birch: But with all the tensions over the Demolitions crew, I don't know if that's the best approach.
Nick: Yes. Edka's group is still not really accepted among the Sime workers.
Mr. Birch: Well, they want to work. Don't blame them for that.
Mr. Birch: Hurts their pride to see their Simelan superiority left in the dust by Gen ingenuity.
Mr. Birch: Perfectly understandable.
Nick: I suppose so.
Sayward: Also while our border-crossers might be able to hide from Gens searching for them they can't hide from Simes.
Nick: Well, no. But it wouldn't do to have Simes forcibly removing them, either. Particularly with live news coverage.
Nick is pretty sure that Elte will be in the thick of the action, wherever it might be.
Sayward: There are Gens among them as well, aren't there? 2
Sayward was thinking of using the Simes as hunting dogs (pointers to be specific) and having the Gens do the persuading.
Sayward grimaces at just how awful the analogy is.
Nick: Well, yes. Although some of them are rather easily distracted.
Sayward: Easily distracted?
Nick: Yes. And, well, forcefulness isn't something Narosians are very good at.
Sayward: Oh, I see.
Sayward: Well I think I can get them moving with some of my people. I just have to find them all.
Nick: Well, you might be able to get some assistance with that.
Sayward: I hope so.
Mr. Birch: Those union people were helpful rounding up people to donate.
Sayward is not happy about having to rejuggle the schedules yet again.
Sayward: Yes but this is a bit different. There has since been some bad blood between the union folk and the border-crossers.
Mr. Birch: True enough. Still, if we can't use the army, maybe we can hire a few security types on temporary assignment.
Mr. Birch: That might smooth a few feathers.
Sayward: It might indeed.
Nick: It wouldn't hurt to have a few extra security people around, anyway. Particularly as conditions get worse with the onset of winter.
Sayward: Are you thinking of pilfered supplies?
Mr. Birch thinks that people trying to avoid the poor house might be motivated by the threat of being dragged away by Sime muscle.
Nick: And worse.
Nick: It's easier to steal from the person in the next tent, than from a guarded warehouse, after all.
Mr. Birch nods.
Mr. Birch: Probably money well spent.
Sayward: Yes.
Nick: There should have been a police force here from the beginning.
Mr. Birch: Who could have expected such a pilgrimage to this wilderness!
Mr. Birch: I figured I could police my own staff okay.
Mr. Birch: The paycheck keeps 'em in line.
Nick thinks the obvious answer, "anyone who could read the unemployment statistics should have expected the pilgrimage", is also the least diplomatic answer.
Nick: Of course, that only works for the ones who have a paycheck that you can threaten to take away.
Mr. Birch: Exactly. That's been the dilemma all along.
Mr. Birch: And you're right, it will get worse as winter closes in.
Sayward smiles. The vast majority of her paycheck is going to support the family farm.
Mr. Birch: Food and shelter and fuel will become very precious.
Mr. Birch: And we can't afford freeloaders and thieves.
Sayward: And we will have a riot on our hands as people get to the point of desperation.
Mr. Birch: We won't let it to that point.
Nick: I hope not. I was in Capitol last summer, when the riots destroyed quite a bit of the city..
Nick: I've no wish to repeat the experience.
Sayward: I read about that. I had no idea you were there.
Sayward has no desire to find out what it is like first hand.
Mr. Birch: A mob's an ugly sight.
Mr. Birch: And probably worse to zlin, if I understand anything about that.
Nick decides not to describe his other experience with a riot situation, in Vortez Lake.
Nick: Very much so.
Mr. Birch: So, we've got to stay alert. Squash the unrest before it can take root.
Mr. Birch: It's likely to be a ticklish business.
Nick: Yes.
Sayward: I am beginning to see that, yes.
Mr. Birch: Your Controller Arat--
Mr. Birch: A Farris is supposed to be able to zlin an intention before it comes a thought, so I'm told.
Nick shakes his head.
Nick: A riot situation happens so quickly, often only seconds.
Nick: By the time it can be zlinned, it's too late.
Nick: Simes can zlin the sort of anger that can become a riot, though--or might not, as the case might be.
Nick: Unfortunately, that means that riot-moods tend to spread rapidly among groups of Simes.
Mr. Birch: Which makes the danger even greater. So, you see it's important we all keep each other informed.
Mr. Birch means that he would like any special intelligence that can be gathered by incomprehensible Sime senses.
Nick: Arat will do what he can to warn you when dangerous moods occur, but there's little chance he could stop a riot from breaking out.
Sayward stamps her feet to try and warm up a bit. The temperature is dropping fast and the wind is picking up.
Sayward: Gentlemen, as much as I enjoy your company, it is getting colder and later. Marty, if you need me you know where to find me.
Sayward: Goodnight Marty, goodnight Nick.
Nick: Good night, Sayward.
Mr. Birch admits his hands are getting numb.
Mr. Birch: Good evening, all. You'll be hearing from me, Sosu Nick.
Nick waves, and heads for Arat's office and a warming cup of tea.
Mr. Birch eagerly heads in the direction of his own quarters, where a good stiff drink awaits him.
Notes:
1) Sgt. Edka's people were actually loaned the use of ordinary Tecton security personnel, not Arat's bodyguards. This distinction may have been lost on Mr. Birch and company. [return]
2) Gens among them = among the Narosians. [return]
Go on to Episode #56: Winter is Always Early
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