*click* A riffling of pages
Sam: Um. Liz, can one of your interns transcribe this please? Copies to us both, Terry and Ten Hagen.
Dutch: We've got forty-eight solid prospects. Is that enough?
Sam: Should fill out first shift, half of third, half of second. But that's assuming that all of these applicants will pass inspection, that none will change their minds, that Alan will persuade Spears that we can afford to staff fully. Avram's marked a couple of these fellows as iffy, in that he feels they're embroidering their histories. Ronnie is unsure about three who seem to be trying too hard to tell him what they think he wants to hear. Chichi has flatly stated that there are six she does not have time to educate, four of whom may not be educable at all. If they aren't willing to work with all their colleagues, they will be very unhappy with Scheduling's decisions. Scheduling will not cater to their prejudices. The six include all of the ones flagged by Avram and Ronnie.
Dutch: Not my job, I know, but if Chichi won't approve them, we shouldn't either.
Sam: Eric evidently has a use for them, well away from us. He sent them to Dorrie to apply for a group deal with Chilwell. He says it's an undemanding assignment for convalescents. They won't have to work with anyone but each other. For now, I'd say our actual number of possibilities is forty-two.
Dutch: If we keep recruiting as the more damaged patients are released, we'll slowly fill to near pre-war levels. But they will need time to recover, learn, become comfortable and settle in.
Sam: We have to remember that none of these will be immediately available for battlefield duty, unless like Jonas Burns they were in the earliest stages. Most will need rehabilitation. But when that's done, we're getting experienced battlefield Reapers, not graduates or new Juniors with up to three years of training yet to go.
Dutch: Had my eye on a fourth-year Junior, but he's already being courted by Maritime. You can smell the salt across the room. Oh, well. A Brummie told me he'd heard that the three-year requirement may be dropped to two and a half. Just a rumor.
Sam: Nothing official on that. Maybe it will be a Branch-by-Branch decision, depending on staffing levels, but it hasn't hit Bristol yet. They'd be one of the first. Most of our rejects will be directed to Bristol to shore up D'Acres' rebuilding of that Branch. Possibly the perfect destination for applicants with diversity problems. Bristol can't hire graduates yet. The stuffier applicants will be gradually introduced to a wider world as D'Acres begins choosing trainees from our remarkably diverse Academy. They'll adjust or move on.
Dutch: Comes of Britain being a trading and transport hub for the world's shipping. How are Roland and Fitz doing? I miss them sometimes.
Sam: They're doing fine. Enjoying themselves and improving the place no end. Now, we have forty-one good prospects. There are a few others debating whether London is a good choice – mostly folks who aren't sure about big city work, when the war is over. A few who were happy in their last Branches but aren't sure they'll be welcomed back. Thorns still carries a huge stigma in some of these places.
Dutch: We'll need to be careful… (pause) however are we going to protect them…
Sam: Explain.
Dutch: Alan's a target. He's resented in many Branches which did not welcome his innovations. There's a lot of jealousy of London's successes. There are many places where plush and cozy arrangements and positions got upended by his changes. And Eric is well-hated by any number of people who started fights that he won. We are used to defending against demons, and are cautious around Angels. But our own people? Not as much.
Sam: Ah.
Dutch: Now we are going to salt our Branch with strangers. Lots of them. English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish. Every flavor of European and Asian and African. All we ask is competence, diligence and the pretense of tolerance. Not trainees fresh from school, or transfers off a years-long waiting list, but unknown Seniors with their own long-established histories, customs and alliances. We could hire another Anders. We could take in someone who's been promised rewards for information. For plotting, for gathering a few conspirators to arrange Reaping accidents. Or bar fights which roll out into the street where scythes are legal. They might feint at the Operations chiefs while actually targeting Spears; they could do us a great deal of future damage by removing Knox.
Sam: Which is why the induction forms and procedures have been changed. Eric has his worries, though they are mostly focused on Alan. He has asked Dorrie to rewrite the contracts. She's adding some fine print. Basically, anyone applying must be interviewed by Avram. If they make him itch, we send them off. Then there will be background checks. And they will, if hired, be partnered with Londoners.
Dutch: Add a clause that allows us to question them in the presence of a Garrison Angel so they can't lie. Some of them will make stupid but harmless mistakes, we all do that. We want to detect the acts which were deliberately malicious. I know you've already got a 'fired without notice or references' clause.
Sam: Well, no. Just the 'out on your arse' bit. We shall give them references which explain in detail exactly why we sacked them. Eric says it's unfair to the next employer to cover up a known problem. Besides, many Branches won't care about the prejudices we don't tolerate. But just getting hired doesn't put them back on active duty, you know. They'll go through retraining and reconditioning. That will expose them to everybody on their shift. They'll have story times with Avram, weapons drill with everyone with a skill to teach and a tale to tell. We'll drag them to the Scythe and Skull. We will learn if they can manage their drinking, and find out what sort of jokes they think are funny, and which people they will avoid. We'll see what they make of gentle Reapers and warlike Admins who share office space in happy amity. Think of it as a month-long Gather.
Dutch: And we warn Security, and we watch. Remember, the Scythe and Skull tonight, no later than twenty-two hundred.
Sam: To meet Eric and his party for the Twa Corbies.
Dutch. Yes. He wants Alan there. That means a sizeable escort.
Sam: Bar fight expected?
Dutch: Not exactly. House rules forbid indoors aggression but the outside is street rules. It's an interesting setup, a neutral country in a way. Citizens of all realms are welcome so long as they behave themselves. Offers special services and amenities unavailable elsewhere. No, I know what you are thinking. It's not a brothel. Strictly a drinking establishment.
Sam: O joy. O rupture. Remind me why we are doing this.
Dutch: Because our presence was requested by a demon who can probably kill us both, if he can catch us outside. Because Spears demanded to know why the heck a satanic military leader wants a chat with us. Because Alan's curious about the sudden cessation of demonic predation. Because Avram's been chuckling for two days and won't tell anyone why. Because Eric said so, and it's safer to grump at me than at him. Sorry, Sam. Fergilept has news for us. If it was private he wouldn't have gone through Spears. Also, I think he needs to discharge the debt he owes us.
Sam: I hate you. Officially on the record, too, because this machine is still running—
*click*