[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"No. Thirty percent of the assets are in the Forward Fund, with half their
income being returned in addition to current income."
"I know that."
  and the other half being invested in Forward Fund assets, which are
currently a mixture of first line Imperial Money Houses."
"That's not the best investment policy."
"If you have a better one, present it, and have the system put it forward for
the trustee to evaluate."
Lyr worried at her bottom lip with her teeth.
"Let's get back to the unanswered questions. Why the Special Operations Fund?
Why the
Forward Fund?"
The man in black's shoulders slumped, as though he were sighing, although no
sound was conveyed by the screen.
"The Special Operations Fund was set up by the founders to allow sufficient
funds for the trustee to carry out the aims of the foundation. If you will
reread the bylaws, those funds can be spent on anything which is legal under
the law, including, if necessary, the living expenses and transportation of
the trustee."
As he looked straight into the screen, Lyr shivered as she saw the hawk-yellow
of his eyes. She would know the man by them, should they ever meet when he was
not in privacy clothing, and she had to ask herself why he chose a disguise
that did not conceal his most prominent feature.
"The Forward Fund is set at thirty percent of assets for one simple reason.
That is the maximum allowed under current Imperial law. At some point in the
future it is anticipated that
file:///F|/rah/L.%20E.%20Modesitt/Modesitt,%20...r%20Hero%2002%20-%20The%20Sil
ent%20Warrior.txt (31 of 161) [5/22/03 12:17:18 AM]
file:///F|/rah/L.%20E.%20Modesitt/Modesitt,%20L%20E%20-%20Forever%20Hero%2002%
20-%20The%20Silent%20Warrior.txt large capital grants will be required. To
expend those funds requires a proposal by the trustee and the approval of the
administrator."
"Capital grants?" asked Lyr with the horror of the financial professional who
avoided use of capital whenever possible.
"The goals of the foundation are to pursue biological technology. What if
extensive laboratory or production capability could not be obtained without
actually building it?" He waved a cloaked arm. "Premature at the moment. Job
now is research. Later, the capabilities."
Lyr kept worrying her lower lip. The answers made sense. And she certainly
couldn't object to the trustee, anonymous as he might be, who was also her
Page 29
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
superior, having access to less than a third of the fund income when he
reported to her what was spent.
That left one unanswered question.
"What about the Reserve Fund? That's nearly twenty percent of the assets, and
I have no control there at all."
"Reserves may be converted by the trustee without your approval, but only for
the purchase or acquisition of buildings, facilities, permanent transportation
equipment, or property."
"Does that give me any control?"
"Only indirectly. The more the trustee spends, the less he has. The more he
spends, the more you control. Call it a balance of power."
"Sort of. But he could replace me at any time."
"He could. And the founders could replace him. Or the Empire. if he ever
should break
Imperial law."
Lyr stopped worrying her lower lip. She still didn't have the satisfaction she
wanted, but she had some answers, and some implications that were even more
far-reaching. The assets of the foundation were far greater, far greater, than
she had been led to believe when the unknown hawk-
eyed man had interviewed her and given her the job. And the emphasis on
long-range contingency planning for capital grants and expenditures indicated
a more action-oriented mentality behind the foundation than was usually the
case.
She looked at the screen. Was the man in black a founder? Or the trustee? Who
were they?
Imperial family? Court? Commercial? Or an Ethics Conscience Fund set up by a
manufacturing consortium?
"Any other questions?"
She realized she had said nothing, caught as she had been in her own thoughts.
"Uhhhh . . ." The nonsense syllable escaped her, and she clamped her lips
shut. What else could she ask?
"Nothing. Not yet."
"Check with you later."
The screen blanked, without even a good-bye.
Lyr frowned, almost biting her lower lip. Was she being co-opted? What was she
managing?
Or more precisely, for what end was she managing the foundation?
"You worry" she said, wanting to express her feelings aloud, "but you don't
have a thing to point to. Except that the people who set this up don't want to
be publicly identified. Have you been asked to do anything shady? Haven't they
been overly concerned about insuring that all the legal formalities are
complied with?"
file:///F|/rah/L.%20E.%20Modesitt/Modesitt,%20...r%20Hero%2002%20-%20The%20Sil
ent%20Warrior.txt (32 of 161) [5/22/03 12:17:18 AM]
file:///F|/rah/L.%20E.%20Modesitt/Modesitt,%20L%20E%20-%20Forever%20Hero%2002%
20-%20The%20Silent%20Warrior.txt
She looked at the blank screen, then at the blank walls. In the operating plan
for the year was an amount reserved for decorating the office, however she
wanted. An amount large enough to do it quite nicely, even extravagantly,
although she could certainly reduce that if she wanted.
Altering the plan was well within her discretion, but she suspected it had
been a polite way of letting her know that she was welcome to decorate as she
pleased.
"You already have more control over your job than many of your contemporaries
will have in their whole careers."
She stopped the monologue, ran her upper teeth side-to-side over her lower
lip.
She knew one other thing. Without a better reason, a great deal better reason,
Page 30
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
she wouldn't walk away from the money, the title, and the mystery. Not now,
maybe not ever.
But she worried at her lower lip as her hands dropped to the console keyboard
and the financial projections.
XIII
HIRO'S FEET WERE beginning to hurt. The new C.O. had insisted on walking
through every single hangar and viewing every single stasis dock. Every single
one, including some Urbek Hiro himself had never seen in his ten years at
Standora.
Hiro had tried to steer the senior commander around the Delta complex
entirely, which shouldn't have been all that difficult since the only ground
level entry was through the back of the last hangar in the flitter repair
section.
Senior Commander MacGregor Gerswin had just pointed to the portal and said,
"To Delta complex."
It had not been a question, and Captain Urbek Hiro had just nodded.
Unlike most new commandants, Commander Gerswin had either committed the entire
plan of the base to memory or was personally familiar with it. Neither
possibility appealed to Hiro.
Three steps behind the senior commander, the captain shook his head.
The senior commander frowned, and for the moment appeared nearly as old as a
senior commander should. His hand jabbed at the pile of assorted metal parts
in the corner of the dusty hangar.
"And that?"
"Sort of an unofficial spare parts inventory, Commander." Hiro repressed a
sigh. He had hoped the new chief would be as easygoing as the last. According
to the records, and to his HQ
sources, senior commander Gerswin had close to a century in Service, and was
the senior commander of the I.S.S. With that sort of record, Hiro had expected
a silver-haired, lightly wrinkled man ready to enjoy a graveyard tour.
Commander Gerswin looked more like a thirty-five-year-old, fast track deep
selectee, but one of the medical techs had informed Hiro, off the record as
usual, that the senior commander was indeed the senior commander.
"Captain Hiro. Correct me if I'm wrong, but some of these parts belong to Beta [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]