Inactivity
08 Sep 2019Prochaska
At the end of May 3305 Roger contacted her to come to Bluford for an important meeting with Reedings. He didn't know the details, which worried them both, Reedings normally informed him, but what he had picked up were rumours that Zoe was no longer to be deployed on Bluford. On the flight to the meeting, Zoe's nerves were extremely tense, she was very afraid of the conversation. In her memory, she went over all the differences she had had with Reedings during the two years of her collaboration on Bluford.Zoe had a big problem with the fact that the OSA was only investigating. The eternal observation drove her mad. All executive duties were handed over to the FSS, in which Zoe had no confidence whatsoever. All organizations of the Federation were in her eyes at best incompetent, or thoroughly corrupt. Zoe preferred to become active herself.
It reminded her of the end of the Dex operation. When she had just uncovered the background, she was pulled off Cabana Hub. At the final briefing, Reedings presented the story as completed. Zoe had risen in horror and had accused Reedings of naivety. Zoe had argued that while the leading figure of the conspiracy had been eliminated, it was far from clear what corporations had been involved in the machinations in the background. After all, this was about research on an AI and unscrupulous experiments in the field of bioengineering and should by no means be underestimated.
Zoe had been sharply rebuked for her arbitrary initiative in the Weyn Dock story. There were long discussions after the operation. On the one hand, Zoe should have informed her department of her plan to leave beforehand. And, what weighed harder, she had flown illegal missions to win Executive Cotton's trust in Boulle Landing, including one in which she destroyed the defensive armament of a megaship travelling through Federation space. Zoe had got herself a bounty with this operation, and Reedings had been called in by the FSS to talk. The OSA was formally independent, but depended on good relations with the superpowers, and relations with the Federation government had been tense enough since Hudson was elected president. That was a point both Reedings and Montgomery had also agreed on in their criticism.
Finally, the big issue of inactivity against the Thargoids. Here, too, the OSA was of the opinion that the most important task of the organization in the conflict was to find out whether it was currently facing the Oresrians or Klaxians, and to what extent the conflict between the two groups was the reason for the reappearance of the Thargoids in the human-populated part of the Milky Way. It was also a protest against this decision that led Zoe to join the Distant Worlds 2 expedition. And of course, she hadn't obtained any permission from Reedings before, but had only informed her a few days before the departure.
Then there was the annoying subject with the encrypted Dataslate that had been given to her after her recruitment. She had not progressed with the decryption of the slate in all the time.
Arriving at Bluford, Reedings greeted Zoe briefly and formally. Then she said, "As you may have heard from Roger, you will soon leave our office. There have been new developments in the matter with Weyn Dock. 64 Arietis Jet General Solutions, as you may have already noticed, has lost control of Weyn Dock to another group, and investigations have shown that there was an investor who has been directing JGS's actions in the background. We couldn't determine who this investor was, but there are indications that he has ceased all activities in the Federation and has left for the Empire. You will therefore be transferred to Unit 52 at Shen Terminal in Guuguyni..." Reedings paused when she noticed Zoe’s astonishment. "I assumed that I would be rebuked because of all our differences in the past and that I would have to look for a new job," Zoe said. "The time with you hasn't always been easy, and I'm not unhappy to hand you over to the dandified imperial slave drivers. There's definitely no use for you in the military, as you don't have the required discipline and you can't follow any given orders. But recently I received a message from senior management that the OSA wanted to conduct further investigations into Weyn Dock, and since Unit 77 had done the initial work here, I was asked if I could spare staff for the investigation. I then thought about it some time, and I think that if there is someone who can do this work for me, you will be able to do it. Perhaps leave the empire intact." She then took a break, and went on, "You are not a soldier, but you know how to survive, and you are stubborn to self-abandonment. These are qualities that I value very much in you."
When Zoe took off from Bluford Orbital in the Icarus, she looked back at the station from the cockpit and thought for a moment. From the outside, people always described Zoe as exceptionally strong and self-sufficient, but inside her, there were hurricanes of self-doubt. It usually cost her a lot of energy to keep these disintegrating voices small inside. When she was successful, Zoe often felt like a cheater who didn't deserve the praise. That day, however, it was easy for her to forget her doubts. Reedings' criticism was understandable to Zoe, and she knew they would never become anything like friends, but the statements had been honest, and the praise completely unexpected. Zoe had already left many places and people behind, and mostly it had been a runaway. It wasn't this time; she didn't leave behind a shattered pile of broken debris. It was unusual to have a place to return to. There is no greater fortune than having people who make you feel understood. Then she activated the FSD and turned her attention back to the present.