[[Posted 17-05-2008, 21:00:26]]
Elizabeth's office, Government House, Nha Tranh, Kowloon...
Demi-Precentor Kraig had been here before, a short tour as an Adept during Regent Condit's time. "You've changed the decor." he commented.
Elizabeth looked up. "OH.... shi-er, you're my Five o'clock?" she pushed a pile of papers over to the side of the desk, and stood up, "Sorry, I ah...get busy sometimes..." She was kind of half-stammering. It was, in a way, amusing.
"Efficient as the last administration, I see." he quipped wryly.
"I should hope not. I had to shoot the last guy that had this desk." She responded.
"I saw the vid." he nodded, "I take it running a world's a bit more complicated than you thought?"
She sighed, "Yes." her mouth set a grim line, "I've managed to put out most of the fires Condit's people started, but..." she shook her head, "It's created some other issues." she motioned, "Please, have a seat, I'll have, ah..." She checked a schedule, "...I'll have Anh fetch us some coffee."
The Comstar officer sat down in one of the chairs. "Coffee at seventeen hundered?" he asked, "Plan on working late?"
"Every day." she said, "Between the business, stumping for capital contracts, settling disputes, and overseeing policies, I generally find I'm working most of the time."
"Might delegate some of that." he pointed out. Liz nodded, "I do, otherwise I'd never get any sleep...which brings things around to why we're meeting." Anh was a younger lady, Kraig guessed her age around twenty. She carried a silvered tray with a fine-china pot and two cups.
"You broke out the good china?" he noted, making small talk and getting a feel for things.
"Um...not sure-It was here when I arrived, and since I won't live in a palace, here is where it stays." Liz told him, "I think it was Gerhardt's or Dad's."
He looked over his cup. "Twentieth Century, and from Taiwan-it's a true antique, Elizabeth, it belongs in a museum."
"I thought it was fake." she confessed, "Probably best that I made it public property, otherwise my clumsy ass might break one on a day I forgot my meds."
He grimaced as Anh poured the coffee. The smell filled the office, and he took a sip-it was damn good coffee. "Damn good, local?" he asked.
Liz nodded, "Farmed in Hue." she said, "actually, outside Hue...about fifty kilometers up." she was genuinely proud of that, he realized. "I don't know what they're roasting with, but it's brilliant, whatever it is."
"So...I take it that you understood my message-I want consistent comissary supplies, and we don't have time to walk around trying to make tiny deals like the previous garrison."
Liz nodded, "I know. You want to single-source it, and you want to get a lower price for bulk, but you don't want to sacrifice quality." her manner went from bumbling hostess to businesswoman without a seam.
"Exactly." Kraig said, "there's also the matter of training and practice areas."
Liz nodded, "I know. The compound's too close to town, and the ranchers aren't keen on having fifty-tonne death machines stomping around in their grazing. It so happens that I have a rather peculiar need myself-and it occurs to me that our problems mutually make for a solution."
"I'm not giving concessions on HPG rights or technologies." he told her.
She shook her head, "Not that-we can make what we need, and I wouldn't dream of trying to undercut your core business-I'm not some Feddie technoble looking for an edge or Leaguer who'll sleep with fanatics to get a leg up by stealing Comstar technologies...nope. not me." she said it with all seriousness, "I'm worried. Focht posted a division here, that means he expects heap-big-trouble here. It also means your men are probably going to be rotating out and back a lot. Kowloon's had division-sized forces here before... and when they go, it's usually ten to twenty years before the militia's worth a damn again."
He licked his lips, "Reasonable worries." he said.
"Good. Here's my problem, and maybe you'll see how it dovetails with your needs...We need to train the Militia we're building, develop a doctrine that doesn't centre on Mercenaries in Battlemechs, and design the force so that when, not if, whatever it is you're here doing is done with, we're not totally at the mercy of the next raider that shows up. YOU need training ranges to keep your men sharp, expendables like ammunition to feed their guns and missiles, and something to train against in the absence of either real enemies, or sophisticated simulators-simulators that probably did NOT get shipped here with you."
He cocked his head, "Let me get this straight, you want me to help you develop a Militia?" he asked.
Liz shrugged, "and buy food, and maybe houses for your dependents, automobiles, clothes when your men aren't on duty, ammo that doesn't have to be shipped from half-way across the sphere...yeah. Train with 'em, help oversee 'em, a little advice on doctrine and techniques for when you eventually have to leave." She folded her hands, "Kowloon is the world the Alliance forgot. Right now, Comstar has the biggest and best trained army on the planet, and when you finally do whatever it is you're here to do-or when you finally leave because whatever the threat was, it evaporated, we're still going to be here, and still going to be forgotten by the Alliance. I'd as soon not continue that pattern of neglect without something to protect my people." She sighed, "The predators aren't going to go away just because the protectors have."
"That's a pretty grim view." he said, and sipped his coffee, "Depressing, even."
Liz sighed and leaned back, "My people have learned from their history, Demi-Precentor, when the superpowers grow busy in their own affairs, little places with a tiny bit of prosperity become the chosen targets of the scum of the universe-and that scum never goes away, they only change symbols and how they word their Manifesto. Eventually Comstar will lose interest in us here, whether because the Clans are gone, or because they're a greater threat elsewhere-it's good for both of us if you help us prepare to defend ourselves, because in so doing, perhaps in the future, we can help to defend what YOU value."
"Perhaps... is that an apple" he asked.
"Fresh. Grown up north, we've got a few startup settlements on the north continent-they're still in the initial phase, but the fruit's in season." she said, "Help yourself."
He took the apple. "I want a discount, and guarantees, and some redress if a local merchie starts trying to take advantage of my men." he said.
Liz nodded, "Fair and Fair. Usually a guy who tries to skinflint a customer's also shorting on his taxes, cheating his neighbours, and generally being a prat."
"I want immunity. A Status-of-Forces agreement. My boys do something in town, WE handle the justice." He ticked off.
Liz again nodded, "I'll want some assurances that your people DO handle it, and not brush it under a convenient rug." she stated, "But I think I don't want the hassle of an international incident that can generate an interdiction, So as long as we get to present evidence and witnesses are interviewed in those cases, I can deal."
Kraig nodded, "that's the basis of a SOFA, Duchess." he said, "I'll also want a look at what you've got-if we're going to be helping your militia to train, it's best we know what kind of material they already have."
"Done." she nodded.
"Okay, then, let's work on the details..." Kraig said, relaxing...
