Authors Notes: In response, this chapter will set up a few things for later on, and it will answer Alatoic01's question. As for Susan; Yes she is a line officer, but like the modern Military, Earthforce also believes in cross training. And they would probably send the best and brightest for the first class on the new technologies. Did you ever wonder why Susan went from being a new Lt to full commander in less than 11 years. Can anyone say 'fast track'.
Chapter 56
CEO's office Confed Corporation Headquarters: Luke was going over the reports from the various division heads, when he was informed that Director Mason was here to see him. "Send him in."
As soon as Anthony entered, Luke smiled at him, "Tony, how's Missy doing."
"Just fine sir, how's Terry?"
"Well she's finally past the morning sickness. I don't think I could take another day of that sound first thing in the morning."
Tony just nodded, "I know what you mean sir."
"Well Tony, I was just going over your report. It seems that division M is coming along nicely."
"Thank you sir. But I think it's time for my Division to get a slightly larger budget sir."
Luke just looked at him, "For what purpose?"
Anthony smiled a little, "Well sir, it was recently brought to my attention that no one outside of our corporation knows about division M sir."
"And your point Tony?"
"Sir, I'm sure you've seen the advertisements for the Psi-corps."
"Yes I have, it's a pity they don't tell the people everything."
Tony just nodded, "That's why I'm here sir. I want to have us make a series of commercials for Division M sir."
"Are you sure about this Tony?"
"Yes sir, I'm sure that if people knew that there was a choice, that a lot of them wouldn't go anywhere near Psi-corps. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of them even leave Psi-corps."
"But are you ready for the influx Tony?"
"Almost sir, but we need more people. And the only way we can get them is to advertise."
----
Luke sat back in his chair, and Tony couldn't tell from his expression what he was thinking. Then Luke started to smile, "I agree Tony, that's why I've had Leroy looking for office space for us on Proxima 3, Earth, Mars, and Beta Durani."
Tony just looked at him, "Excuse me?"
"I've also arranged to have fairly large expense accounts set up for those offices. Raw materials wasn't the only thing we found in the asteroid fields, we've found a few very substantial gem deposits, and also gold, silver and platinum. So finances shouldn't be a problem for now. So get a list of the staff you want in those offices, and we'll get the ball rolling."
"Yes sir, and the advertising?"
"As soon as our offices are set up, then we'll start the advertising."
Now Tony smiled, "Yes sir."
----
After Tony had left, his secretary informed him that he had a secure call from General Hague. Soon he was looking at the General, "Hello General, what can I do for you?"
"Admiral, I need to ask a favor of you."
"Of course General, what do you need?"
"You may not want to agree, after I tell you what the favor is."
"I doubt that General, but go ahead and ask."
"Well Admiral, this has something to do with Psi-corps."
The Admiral smiled, "Whatever it is General, count me in."
----
A month later, Masheeka Dawson was stepping off a transport from Beta Durani. She had the address and contact number in Geneva for their new offices, and even though she knew she was legally registered, she was a little worried about being back on earth. But she knew that Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Mason were counting on her. After everything that they had done for her and her family, she didn't want to let them down. Besides, now that she was back on Earth, she could look up a few old friends, both above and under ground. But that would have to wait for the weekend; she had her job to do this week first. Besides, her friends could help her with her other job.
----
Psi-Corps Geneva Headquarters, Security Director's Office: Alfred Bester sat in one of the chairs in the outer office. He had always been uncomfortable waiting like this, as these chairs were definitely not designed for comfort. The secretary was ignoring him, as she worked quietly at her desk.
She looked up at him, "He'll see you now." and she went back to whatever it was she was doing.
Alfred entered the office, and he saw the Director of Security sitting behind his desk. Once Alfred was in front of the desk, he stood at attention and waited for the old man to say something. Without looking up, the old man started, "Explain to me why the Corps office in Lisbon had to bail one of our security officers out of jail."
----
Alfred just looked straight ahead, "I'm sorry about that sir, I was just trying to do my duty."
"That's not what the police report states."
"I know that sir."
"Well, I'm waiting."
"Yes sir. I was in Lisbon, following a lead on a group of blips we were tracking sir."
"Uh huh."
"As I was passing this little open air cafe, I saw a woman who I knew was a blip. She was just sitting there in the open, acting as if she had no care in the world."
"Continue."
"I approached her and identified myself. Well sir, her response was not exactly one I expected."
"What happened?"
"Well sir, she told me to f--- off sir. Then she slowly began to gather her things to leave."
"Go on."
"I took a hold of her arm, and she proceeded to start screaming. Well sir, her screaming of course drew everyone's attention, including two local policewomen."
"And?"
----
"Well sir, I immediately identified myself to the officers and then the blip began screaming that I had accosted her."
"And their reactions?"
"The two policewomen asked the woman to calm down, and asked us both for our identicards. They read mine and handed it back, then they read hers and handed it back to her. They thanked her, and told her she was free to leave. Well sir, I was shocked by that, and told the officer that the woman had probably given her a fake identicard. Because the corps had the woman listed as an unregistered telepath."
"What did the officer say?"
"She said that the identicard was genuine, and that the woman was registered. I then proceeded to tell her that she wasn't registered. Then the officer told me that perhaps the corps should update their records more often. She then told me that according to her identicard, the woman was registered as an employee of division M of the Confederation Corporation. And that she shows on the EA registry as a licensed telepath, rating M-6."
"Then what happened?"
"The woman was trying to leave, and I tried to grab her arm. It was then that one of the officers grabbed my wrist, and I shook her off. Then they informed me that I was under arrest, for attempted assault, assaulting a peace officer, and resisting arrest. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground seeing stars, and both of them proceeded to put manacles on me."
"And the woman?"
"She left sir. I swear I heard her laughing as she left. I was taken to the local police station, and I was processed. Once that was done, I called the local corps office and they came and bailed me out of jail."
" I see, and when do you appear before the Magistrate?"
"Tomorrow morning sir, but our lawyers tell me that it shouldn't be a problem. But what about this Confederation Corporation."
"You don't need to worry about that, the senior leadership is going to handle it for now."
"Yes sir."
"We will have to proceed carefully here, these Confed people have a lot to offer the EA, so they are untouchable for now."
"Yes sir."
The old man looked at Alfred, "Go home and see your wife, try to relax before tomorrow. We wouldn't want you to appear frazzled before the Magistrate."
"Of course sir."
Alfred turned and left the office, he knew that the Director was right about Confed, and he also knew that perhaps he had done something to irk them a little.
----
The following morning, Alfred was back in Lisbon, and was brought before the local Magistrate. The corps lawyer explained that Mr. Bester was only doing his duty, in that he was trying to apprehend a known rogue telepath. The fact that the woman had somehow managed to get a falsified Identicard was something that Mr. Bester was not able to know. The Prosecutor objected, and he informed the Magistrate that the woman's Identicard was not a forgery, and that the woman was in court and could prove it. This got everyone's attention, and the Magistrate asked the Prosecutor to produce the woman.
The woman stood up, and looked at the Magistrate, "I'm right here sir."
The Magistrate had her escorted to the stand, and she was sworn in. The prosecutor looked at her, "Miss Dawson, is your Identicard in any way a forgery or has it been altered?"
"No sir, it was issued to me on Vega 3 sir."
"By whom?"
"By the Vegan government sir."
"I see, and Miss Dawson, are you a telepath?"
"Yes sir, I work for Confed Corporation, division M. I'm an M-6 rated telepath."
"Are you registered with the Earth Alliance?"
"Yes sir. All Division M telepaths are sir."
"Thank you Miss Dawson, no further questions."
----
The lawyer from the corps stood up and looked at her. "Miss Dawson, where were you born?"
"Here on Earth sir."
"And when was it discovered that you were a telepath?"
"Six years ago sir."
"And what did you do at that time?"
"I went underground sir."
"Why did you go underground?"
"Because I didn't wish to be anybody's puppet sir."
"And how long have you been with this Division M?"
"Seven months sir."
The lawyer turned to the Magistrate, "Your honor, I submit that this Division M is just a figment of Miss Dawson's imagination, and that the identicard that she has is fraudulent. Therefore she should be turned over to the Psi-corps immediately for proper training."
The prosecutor immediately objected. "Your honor, if it pleases the court. I have here the registry number and list of Divisions for the Confederation Corporation." and he pulled the information up on the wall monitor.
"As you can see your honor, Division M is clearly a real Division of the Corporation,"
The Magistrate nodded his head, "Objection sustained."
----
The corps lawyer was upset, but he recovered quickly. He looked at Miss Dawson again, "Miss Dawson, just what does Division M do for the Confederation Corporation?"
She smiled now, "Our division is the Mentalist division, and we serve in the same duties as someone from the Psi-corps commercial division. But our members are allowed to freelance if they wish to."
"And do your members carry any identifying symbols?"
"No sir, we are required to dress appropriately for work, but the only identification we are required to carry is our Identicards."
"I see, so anyone in this courtroom could be from Division M then, and no one would know it."
"Yes sir."
"I have no further questions your honor."
----
The prosecutor stood, "Redirect your honor?"
The Magistrate nodded. "Miss Dawson, just one question, why is it that you're not required to wear any identifying symbols?"
She smiled a little, "Because our boss doesn't believe that telepaths are second class citizens. He believes that they should be treated just like everyone else, and not be forced to wear some symbol to prove they are different. He says that being forced to wear any kind of symbol is like what the Nazi's of world war two did to the Jews."
"Thank you Miss Dawson."
----
The rest of the hearing went quickly, and the charges of assaulting a peace officer and resisting arrest were dismissed. But the Charge of attempted assault was kept, and Mr. Bester was ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 credits, and time served. The story was the lead story on all of the news networks for the next two days, along with information about the Confederation Corporation's division M. Over the next two weeks, the local offices were blitzed with over 4000 calls for information about division M. When the story was on the news, Anthony and Missy were sitting on their couch. As they watched the report, Anthony started to laugh to himself. Missy looked at him, "What's so funny?"
"The Admiral set this up, he asked me to ask the people in the division if any of them knew Bester, or more importantly if Bester knew them."
Missy just looked at Tony, "You're saying he set up Bester."
"Yeah he did."
Missy had a wicked smile on her face, "I can't think of anybody who deserves it more."
Tony hugged her and kissed her gently, "Neither can I."
The local offices of Confederation Corporation were not only swamped with calls for information, but there were also people showing up to get the information in person. One of them was a young man about 16 years old. The secretary asked him if he was a telepath, but he shook his head no.
"I want to get the information for my older brother's lawyer. He's in jail because he refused to join Psi-corps, or take sleepers."
She took his name and other information, and then gave him all of the information he had asked for. After he had left, she sent an encrypted report to a safe house in Paris, with the boys information. Masheeka looked at the report, it was the lead she had been waiting for.