Without A Front: The Producer's Challenge by Fletcher DeLancey

Author:Fletcher DeLancey [DeLancey, Fletcher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ylva-Publishing
Published: 2015-10-21T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 42

Open door

Tal returned to the house after midmeal for a hastily arranged meeting with Tophalamon and Ponsard, her top economic advisors, and Miltorin, her communications advisor. For the rest of the afternoon they worked on a plan to deal with the expected fallout from the economist coalition’s report, and by the end Tal was satisfied that they had a firm grip on the situation. She just wished it didn’t involve quite so much of her time, but there was no way to avoid the public appearances. And tomorrow she had to go to Blacksun for the Council session, which was sure to be full of posturing. Some of the Councilors would seize on this publicity to further their own maneuverings for power within their regions and castes, and she wasn’t looking forward to an entire afternoon of useless bickering. In fact she wasn’t looking forward to leaving Hol-Opah at all, but the real world had intruded on her sanctuary.

After the meeting she recorded a message for the citizenry of Alsea, calmly countering the coalition’s forecasts, reiterating her implementation plan, and assuring her people that if she had any doubt as to the benefit of the matter printer technology, she would never use it. She also reminded them that she had pursued a carefully thought-out and timed implementation precisely to avoid such catastrophes as those predicted in the statement, and that the opinion of the coalition did not reflect the opinions of her top advisors. A reference to the qualifications of her advisors left the distinct impression that the coalition was comprised of those who hadn’t been good enough to be selected for the Lancer’s team—a tidy bit of phrasing for which she could thank Miltorin. The man was a master manipulator, and Tal had originally brought him on her team not because she wanted him working for her, but because she wanted to avoid having him work against her. It had been a wise choice.

Though she sat in the parlor for the recording, viewers would not see Salomen’s furniture in the background. To ensure the Opah family’s privacy and to imbue the message with the authority of her office, the vid would be reproduced to appear as if she were speaking from her office in the State House, with the Alsean flag and the Seal of the Lancer behind her. Technology had its benefits, she thought as the vid crew packed up and trooped out.

Then again, so did generations of tradition. She had come to love this house, with its well-rubbed furniture and lived-in appearance. Salomen’s home breathed history and life, and Tal could sense the energy its previous inhabitants had left behind.

She moved to the window and leaned against the sill, watching the nearby trees swaying in a gentle afternoon breeze. It was a beautiful day, and she would far rather have spent it in the fields than in a strategy meeting. On the other hand, if she had been in the fields she wouldn’t have had her revelation.

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