Wilson's War: Tales From the Athena Lee Universe (11 page)

Athena paused, cocking her head to the left. "Sir, I think that you misunderstood me at some point. This project is mine. I am the one that is paying for this, not the Navy. I just want to help our people."

The man sneered at her. "Ms Lee books are very expensive. The sort of things that you are asking for may be beyond your little budget. Have you been doing some fund-raising? Ladies auxiliary maybe? Tell your boss to give me a call, OK little girl?"

I watched my friend take a huge breath and then let it out. She took the high road and did not confront the chauvinistic idiot. "Sir, if you have this attitude to women I will have to look elsewhere. Thank you for your time." She turned and left the office. I continued to watch the slimy looking manager.

He called his accounts manager into his office. "Lester, why didn't you tell me that the Navy contract I was looking forward too was some Chicky in the ladies auxiliary? We need real contracts not charity ones."

"Boss, what are taking a about? I saw Lieutenant Lee. Did she not explain what she was doing?"

"She said she was getting books and manuals for schools. I thought it was some kind of funds raising thing." The manager was pacing as he talked.

"Sir, she is paying for the whole thing out of HER pocket! She is Colonel Lee's daughter. Athena, the engineer? The woman who stopped that huge asteroid from destroying the planet."

The manager stopped walking about and froze. "Wait, a minute. That was a real contract? Enough books for a couple of schools and whatever? You idiot! Why the hell didn't you tell me who that was? I thought... Well, never mind what I thought. Call her back! We really need that contract!" He paused and glared at Lester. "While you are doing that, don't forget that I will be out of town this week. My wife and I are taking the family out to a resort on the Lost Peninsula. I will be out of contact all week. They don't have communication relay towers out there so it is very peaceful with no vid or calls. If you really need me call the ranger station and they can relay the message. But this place better be on fire or I will fire YOU if you disturb me! I have a couple of accounts set up, but it is all in the computer so just do what the programs tell you to do. I should be back next Monday. Get that Navy Contract!"

Interesting. I thought to myself. Very interesting. The manager is out of town, the instructions are in the computer. It's party time!

Slipping away from Athena is not a big deal. She is now really irritated at the whole publishing thing. Her father dropped a bomb on her earlier and she is really distracted. Her new orders have come through. The James Cook is going to Mars. The main reason is a possible alliance with the colony there. Dar has a mission to Mars as well. She is going to capture that crazy Russian that tried to destroy the planet. Alexander Lee also told Athena that there is a large part of her mother's family that she's never met living on Mars.

Why is it that these humans shut everything down at night? It make this so easy to do. Reprogramming the publishing house's computer system was child's play. I made a few changes to the schedule and added some manuscripts and advertising. Who knows, I might even make a few credits doing this! The fun will really start in the morning.

The automatic presses started right up in the morning. The production supervisor checked the computer system and saw that a print run had already been loaded in. He shrugged, it wasn't the first time that the folks upstairs needed something in a hurry. Across town the poster printing company received a rush order from the publishing house. The manager checked the proofs over carefully. Robots? Taking over the world? Cool. I bet my son would like one of these, he said to himself. Those publishers printed the best stuff. Soon flyers and posters could be found in coffee shops and at schools across the planet.

The printing machine was at full speed when Lester noticed the print order. He read it and paused. Wilson Theai? That name did not ring any bells with him. His manager had mentioned some contracts, but this did not look like anything we had published in years. Science fiction was not in our lineup of books. He had better call this in. As he dialed the numbers, he froze remembering the bosses tirade against calling him. Lester put the phone away. Maybe it is legit.

In the printing warehouse two books were in the process of being bound and packaged. Over 500,000 copies would be sent out across the planet. Most of the local bookstore employees just stared at the books as they opened them. Was this a joke? They had come from the publisher so someone must know what they are doing. Store windows went up and displays were set up.

Books began to sell. And sell. To many people, it was a parody and a good one at that. Within a few short days both books were at the top of the charts and a second printing was starting up. Lester could not believe it. His boss had a huge winner here. With this book they did not need the Navy contract!

The book publishing manager was on vacation. He and his family loved this resort. It was secluded and out of touch with the world. No phone calls or pesky authors to deal with at all. It was marvelous. The weather had turned a bit wet, and he needed something to pass the time. The concierge had many things maybe he has a book or two. In the small shop was a book display of the latest and greatest books on the planet. The manager scowled at his competitors books. Crap, crap, big-time crap. He spotted the display of bright red books. What are these?

In big bold letters were the words,
Get the new parody books by Wilson Theai!
These books have sold over half a million copies so far. Who is the mysterious author?

Hmmm nice gimmick, he picked up one of the books. Who publishes this trash? Inside cover the publisher's name was in bold letters Altadon Publishing. The Manager dropped the book in surprise. Who authorized this trash? He will have that person's head on a platter for this! Forgetting that this resort had no outside communication the publishing manager screamed for a phone. By the time he reached one, the second run had already been published and sent out.

Paying extra, the publisher left his family at the resort and caught the first shuttle home. Like a storm cloud he stormed into the offices and started yelling for Lester.

"Boss you're back early! How was your trip?"

"Who in the hell authorized this trash?" He held up the bestselling books.

"Uh, you did, sir. The contract has your signature on it."

"It's a forgery, a fake, somehow we've been hacked! Stop the presses! We don't publish crap like this!"

"Sir, that book has sold over a million copies! It's our number one best seller."

The manager calmed down. A million copies? If that contract was a forgery the publisher got to keep all that money. "We may just break even here. Where's that contract that I didn't sign?"

"Sir, our lawyers verified your signature on the document. I checked that when I saw the terms."

"What terms would those be?"

"All proceeds are to go toward the Rise of the Robots foundation. We checked, it's a real group. They fund AI research and computer development."

"We'll fight it in court! This cannot stand, we're being taken for a ride here!"

"Sir, did you read the dedication?"

"No, why?"

Lester handed him a copy.

In bold letters was a dedication address to him.

"To my old friend Marcus James, Never judge a book by its cover. Karma can be a bitch!"

Marcus slammed the two books on the table. Damn it to hell!

The book on the left was titled "The coming robot rebellion." The book on the right was, " The Computers guide to world domination."

Both were consider the number one and two business parody books of the year.

Wilson laughed all the way to the bank.

Time for plan B?

by T S Paul

This story takes place during Revolutionary. The story behind Minerva Lee's marriage to Cole Wittier is revealed. There are a few spoilers in this story.

Seeing the home of my 'big sister' Athena was all well and good, but now she is really upset with her whole family. Her ass-hat of a father tried to assert his will over her and made her cry. I would fix his wagon really good, except Athena forbid me from taking revenge on anyone in her direct family. It seems to me that the culprit here is the local government. All those years that we were off on our own, Athena had painted an idyllic picture of her home planet and its people. I need to investigate a bit more before I act. This could be my new project. I like fun projects.

This is why I hate making promises. Athena had to report her father to her commanders and the governor's office in an attempt to get a restraining order. I could have zapped him for free! She had thrown herself into the FLEA projects for the Navy. Those 'droids' she created are fun, the hydroponics not so much. Nothing bores me faster than watching grass grow. I could have a killer party with all the droids she been testing, but no. Another one of those promises. I really need to stop saying OK and agreeing to terms. Wait… terms…Aha! I have a victim for my newest adventure. The best part is I can help Athena and take a little revenge without breaking my promise to her.

Cole Whittier was a very busy man. As the financial aide to Governor Norton he was responsible for all of his accounting needs along with all of his off-the-books-projects. Cole had many secrets of his own. His personal plan, and that of his family's, was to use his position as a stepping stone within the secret organization that he belonged to. He was proud of his work for the Governor, but he was always looking for an angle. Use your contacts is what his father always told him. There is always an angle you can use. That was something of a family motto. Cole had gotten this position by manipulating one of his friends. Gaining access to real power was his goal. So far everything was going to plan; both his and the Cabal's. Those stupid farmers were way too easy to push around. He had not intended to get married, but it was an opportunity into the planet's high society. The only regret he had was that he should not have trusted his father and checked out the girl himself. The big-strapping-warrior-woman scared the crap out of him! At least she understood that the marriage was only political. The one and only time he tried to get frisky with her and claim his husband rights, she broke his arm and beat the crap out of him. He'd faked up a skiing accident to cover that one up. The bright red hand-print on the left side of his face would have been a dead giveaway. Without bandages to cover it up.

The Governor had a plan to open up more casinos on the planet and fleece the locals as much as he could get away with. The grand plan called for needing the planet, not the inhabitants. A reckoning was coming soon. All the pieces were almost in place. The sheer power of the people that he now had access to blew his mind. Even the Governor didn't know the whole plan. The biggest stumbling block right now was credits. To build the casinos they would need a boatload of credits. Fortunately they had a plan for that too. Every casino on the planet used computers to set the odds of the games they sponsored. House edge odds were in the 5% to 8% range planet wide. Using an official gaming commission program, the Governor would be able to change the house odds to 12% to 20% and skim the extra percentages. Current estimates were that the scheme would bring in about twenty billion credits monthly. That was about ten million that Cole himself could 'lose' in the paperwork. Stealing from the Cabal is never a good, idea but he was only stealing from Governor Norton. Sometimes his father has really good ideas.