"What do you mean my space operations permit has been revoked?"
"It means that you cannot go into space." Colonel Casey stated, already exasperated by the man before her. She'd never had to deal with him before, it was always someone else, however today it had fallen to her. All the stories were true. Langstrom Fischler was a rich idiot full of half-baked ideas.
"But what about my space station? I was going to have it manned by monkeys, you know, with logos on their heads."
Colonel Casey had to stop herself from putting her head in her hands. Unfortunately holocalls meant she had to be careful about what she did with her body. There had been multiple occasions where people had let their true feelings slip, sometimes unconsciously, via subtle actions. Though she believed Mr Fischler wouldn't notice such subtleties, it was best to be safe.
"I am informing you now, Mr Fischler, that any attempt to put a satellite for any description, and that includes a space station, into orbit will be stopped by the GDF."
"That's not fair! Other companies get to put things into space with no problems."
"Most companies don't have such a poor safety record."
"Why does everyone keep going on about safety? You are all like a broken record! Going round and round and getting nowhere. No wonder you're all falling behind me in advancements."
The urge to groan was building. Was there no way to get through to this man? There were so many other things she needed to deal with. Plastering a smile on her face, she put an end to the call.
"Mr Fischler, your permit has been revoked and there will be severe consequences if you ignore it, understand?"
"Yes, yes. Don't go into space. I got it. Now I gotta run, just got this fantastic new idea for a deep sea research facility."
The man blinked away and Casey slouched into her chair. She was already dreading what was going to become of this deep sea facility. Hopefully it would fail before it got anywhere near water, but she logged it. There was a team that monitored various threats, including the Hood, and it was about time Langstrom Fischler was added to their list.
Kannear listened to the mumblings of his boss, something about a deep sea research facility with a mermaid's tail, bright lights and large windows. He was nervous about what that meant for him, a new junior researcher. He wasn't fond of the sea and couldn't swim. When he'd joined Fischler Industries he'd been excited. So many companies had turned him down and weather research was just his sort of thing. Unfortunately he was now back on Earth, a week after they'd been rescued and he couldn't tell if Fischler had taken a liking to him or not. He'd never met his boss until that fateful flight, but the things he'd said on the balloon had unnerved him. His friends had told him the rumours about the conditions and ethics of the company, but Kannear had been desperate. He was getting close to the end of his savings and rent must be paid. He couldn't be fussy and the first two months hadn't been bad at all. His colleagues were great and they went for drinks after work frequently. At least he'll have a good story to tell tonight. They had warned him to expect the unexpected when it came to the big boss.
"Can't build a space station. Can't go into space. Who do they think they are? I'll show them. There must be a way around this. Hey you, you there?"
Fischler's finger was now pointing at him and Kannear gulped and raised his hands in surrender.
"Me, Sir?"
"Yes, you, urr, what's your name again?"
"Kannear."
"Yes, you, Kannear. Find a way around this permit thing. I want to go to space!"
"B-But what about the deep sea research centre?"
"Oh, yes, that. Well, I'll see what I can do about that later. First, you need to get me into space!"
"Yes, Sir."
Kannear backed away, heading to his desk. Sitting down, he took a deep breath. Mr Fischler was a strange man with a unique way of being. He was going to have to get used to that. Thankfully, he was just a researcher, so hopefully he would be safe from any more trouble. He did want to rise up the career ladder though and the best way to do that was to keep on Mr Fischler's good side, so he quickly logged on and started researching the space operations permit. He was in for a significant amount of reading if he wanted to find a way around this. If he could, maybe the deep sea research station will be shelved and he would be saved from his worst fears.