Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #153: Limey (4/16/01)
Birch hunches over the plans laid out in the lantern-lit cavern adjoining the major tunnel excavation.
Devore makes his way into tunnel. He has been down here often enough, there are union workers on the crews after all.
Birch has found, with the deep snowdrifts and flesh-freezing temperatures, that it made more sense to move the command center closer to the theatre of operations.
Birch has also found a subterranean, ice-sheathed cave to be easier to heat than a drafty log cabin.
Birch has spent most of his waking hours here since an industrial accident removed his top manager, Sayward, from her post and landed her in the infirmary.
Devore looks like a very large bear in his fur coat. The fact that he is a very large man makes the impression even more convincing. His expression is, as always, calm and gentle.
Birch moves the plan closer to the brightest area of lantern-light, as he traces the progress of the latest course of drilling and blasting.
Birch's finger twitches nervously; he has unfortunately had to leave his stash of quality tobacco behind. Even the miners were complaining about him smoking near the dynamite.
Birch holds the edge of the table as it rocks with the most recent blast.
Devore comes to the cavern that Marty Birch has converted into an office. He pushes aside the leather drape and walks right in, steadying himself as another blast shivers through the tunnel.
Birch frowns at the plans. Progress has been slowed because they have had a vein of very brittle and treacherous rock with numerous fault lines.
Birch glances up to see if this is the Construction Boss come to report on the latest blast.
Devore: Excuse me for barging in like this.
Devore: No door to knock on.
Birch stares at this mountainous expanse of fur.
Birch: Nice coat, Devore.
Birch: Shoot that bear yourself?
Devore chuckles.
Devore: Yes actually. Sayward was with me at the time.
Birch: Must have been last summer; the ones around here are getting too scrawny to make a suit for you.
Birch knows that most of the bears around are actually hibernating, but the excavations have rousted one or two.
Devore: A bit more recently. This one was terrorizing the outlying settlements.
Devore: It still smells a bit but it is warm.
Birch: Hmmm, better job of curing than my office door, here. That was made from good old-fashioned horse-hide.
Devore: May I sit? [points at a real chair]
Birch: Sure, make yourself at home.
Devore: Thank you.
Devore: Yes, well nothing has come easy since we started this project but setbacks are to be expected.
Birch gestures ruefully at his rough accommodations.
Birch: I can offer you a drink at least.
Devore: Now that is truly civilized of you.
Birch pulls out a pair of shot glasses and a whiskey bottle; he was persuaded to leave the tobacco behind, but some things are essential managerial trappings.
Birch fills the glass and hands it to Devore; he knows the union boss isn't actually on a shift right now.
Birch fills his own; good whisky is always a source of inspiration.
Devore takes the glass with a heartfelt, "Thank you."
Birch: Civilization is hard to preserve in this wilderness, but we do our best.
Birch holds his glass up in a toast.
Devore raises the glass to Birch.
Devore: Indeed.
Birch: To perseverance!
Devore: To perseverance!
Birch: Yes, there are set-backs. Poor Sayward.
Devore: I visited Sayward in the infirmary this morning. She is not a happy camper.
Birch: She is a vibrant, active woman. Being confined to bed is torture for her, I am sure.
Devore: Yes. The fact that she doesn't sleep much only makes it worse. I could always find her working any time of the day or night.
Birch dropped by the clinic himself during the first week to bring her some cookies and books to keep her amused during her convalescence.
Devore: Did you know she has taken up rug making to occupy herself? She has huge stacks of rags piled up by the bed.
Devore: The staff is not happy.
Birch: Yes, I thought of asking her to take on some of the accounting and report-writing while she was laid up, but it seemed a bit too soon.
Birch in truth knows that writing reports is not one of Sayward's favorite tasks -- especially not reports in Simelan.
Devore: Please do it. She keeps trying to get up and do something. Which brings me to the reason for my visit.
Birch: Ah....
Birch knows that Devore usually wants something when he just drops in like this.
Birch waits expectantly.
Devore: I've been getting complaints from some of the workers about an increase in their work load and odd scheduling.
Birch: We've hit a section with a lot of brittle and fractured rock.
Birch: It means we have to proceed with extreme caution and set smaller charges.
Birch: And that means more work to cover the same ground.
Devore: Yes. There also seems to be some miscommunication on the scheduling.
Birch: Miscommunication?
Devore: I understand that since Sayward has been down that two of her people have been handling the scheduling and they don't seem to be talking to each other.
Birch frowns.
Birch: What seems to be the problem?
Devore: Some people are being put on back to back shifts, while others aren't being scheduled regularly.
Devore: This of course effects their pay. While the overtime pay is very good I don't think you want to pay it on a regular basis.
Birch: Hmmm... I'll have to get them both in here then for coordination planning. I thought there was a master schedule.
Devore: From what I understand it exists mostly in Sayward's head.
Birch: We shouldn't be paying any unnecessary overtime; there are more than enough workers to cover shifts around the clock.
Devore: I agree.
Birch: Of course, we want some our best Gen professionals overseeing the Simes on the night shift.
Birch: But there's no excuse for double shifts during the day.
Devore nods.
Birch: Okay... so we need the crew bosses Tam and Redover here, and that Sime Duart, and you.
Birch: Figure at shift change tomorrow. We'll get it straightened out.
Devore: Yes.
Birch sighs. One more thankless administrative task required to achieve the grand master plan.
Birch: Anything else on your mind, Devore?
Birch rubs his neck where a splotch of limey water has seeped to drip on him from the ceiling.
Devore: We really should get Sayward in on this. Do you have any influence with the infirmary staff?
Birch frowns.
Birch: Well, I don't see how we could bring her out here in her condition.
Devore: Right. Maybe we could go to her.
Birch: And I don't want to take either crew boss away from the work for more than 15 minutes.
Devore: I see your point.
Birch checks his expensive bronze pocket-watch. There is not another blast planned for some time.
Birch: Maybe we should go visit that tough old mare in the hospital and pick her brain right now.
Devore: That would probably help with the frame work, certainly.
Birch: Lets get a move on, then.
Go on to Episode #154: They Turn on Their Masters
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