Branching out

[Azjah von Drachen Walde]

She sat in the gardens with a cup of hot tea and the paper laid before her. The photo on the front page held the image of 2 men she knew. One of them Cory Havoik. That alone drew her attention, but the second man, Geffen Siewelt caused her to set down the porcelain cup.

She'd over heard bits and pieces of his conversations, always in German. As though it was crucial that he not be overheard, his discussions were always hushed. What she had heard made her wary of Geffen, and last night he'd been in the Arena with a cigar and in a jovial mood.

Cory had been very defensive when she'd asked him about the project as well. Something did not feel right here.

[Cory]

"Today we can expect some relief from the heat with scattered showers in the afternoon. Until that point it's going to be hot, folks. A high of 93 degrees with the heat index threatening in the triple digits. . ."

Cory reached into the cab, turned the key and tucked it in the visor. He turned to his crew gathered around the coffee thermos. "'Notha hot one ya'll, make sure to drink plen'te'ah fluids." Soon joining them to fill his own styrofoam cup. Then came a call to his phone, the innovation of mobile celluar phones was still new to him and he paid it no mind until someone spoke up.

"You're um.. you're pants are ringin', Cor."

He stared in response until it rang again. "Wha'? Oh yah!" Grumbling as the guys got a snicker he fished out the phone and answered. It was Gene on the other end. "Expect some company to stop by at some point. Also, equipment is on it's way;left just now.Call me if you need anything." They ended the call and Cory tossed the phone onto the seat of the truck.

"Hurry up 'n wait. Don't get too cozy guys." it was their signal for another half hour to an hour 'til they could finally get started. Then he saw the 4-door sedan parked behind them. As the guys dispersed Geffen Siewelt approached.

Since his conversation with Azjah, cory has been pondering a few things about the man. "Deshalb sprechen Sie Deutsch? " Geffen regarded him carefully. "Ja. Will there be anymore surprises this morning, Mr. Havoick?"

"Hopefully not.Although I have some questions 'bout this alteration to the blueprint. Why now do we gotta sink the foundation down fifty feet?"

Geffen had been sweating bullets in those few seconds, relieved he cleared his throat. "Envision 2 will have a basement storage facility for documents, outdated patient files. Things of that nature. Why do you ask?

"An aquiantance 'o mine was throwing out two 'undred questions at me last night. Said ya were a dubious contact.. but then deep down undaneath all that intelligence, she's still a blonde." Cory said with confidence knowning she wasn't within earshot this time.

"Just be sure this is done properly."Geffen hastily handed over the sealed tube he'd been carrying then promptly returned to the back seat of the silver sedan which sped off the moment the door closed.

"Yeah yeah." Cory took the tube and sipped his coffee. "Not an ounce 'o humor."

[Azjah von Drachen Walde]

Things were simply not adding up. Geffen's sudden appearance in RhyDin, the scandal surrounding one of his associates in the founding fathers of MacPherson, the huge construction project allegedly for health care, it just didn't add up.

There is something else going on here, and before I headed to my own plant, I swung the Mc Laren past the current construction site.

Cory was there, it was going to be a hot day, the humidity was already over 80% making the early morning already uncomfortable.

I touched the keyless go and stepped out of the car. "Good morning Cory."

He spun around with complete surprise written on his face.

[Cory]

That voice caused Cory's muscles to freeze. A frantic pointing motion for the forklift driver to take direction from Andy standing near the other pallets of concrete mix. He released a slow sigh while dragging a hand down his face, stretching his features. Then slowly turned around.

"Good morning Azjah." Although within the past three hours he's had two unwanted visits. "Yanno, technically ya not supposed ta be here, right?"

She regarded him cooly and peered past him at the heavy machinery removing mounds of earth with each pass. "I was passing through the area and thought I'd stop by and say hello. My that certainly is a deep hole."

"Yeah, jus' a hole in the ground. 'N it's gonna gett deeper." He motioned her over to his pick-up and handed over a hard hat from the tool-box in the bed. "Ya need this."

He led her up to the edge and leaned over to inspect the progress. "We're takin' 'er down fifty feet. With all due respect I can't tell ya anymore than tha'. Ya jus' gonna have to find out when everyone else does."

". . .but doesn't fifty feet sound a bit excessive?" she interjected. This newest tidbit of information had only raised more doubt.

"I told ya once I'll tell ya 'gain. They give me the plans for wha' they wan' 'n I do it. 'sides, all they gonna use it for is storage. This concludes our tour 'o the hole ground. Hope we didn't ravage ya mind with the intense action." He instructed her away and followed back to her car.

"Tha's ya's?" He quirked a brow and circled the vehicle. "Looks like the world's biggest door stop." He murmured to himself and collected the hard hat.

[Azjah von Drachen Walde]

I gave him a quick smile. "I'm not? There are no signs, and I am so interested in this project." He was clearly not happy to see me, but he was putting a good face on things.

He handed me a hard hat, which I settled onto my head. We walked closer to the foundation hole, and he told me it was getting deeper. 50 feet is rather excessive for a simple basement for documents and records retention, besides, most companies archive their documents offsite at specialty warehouses to maintain compliance with TS and ISO requirements. "Cory, that is more than a simple basement. Why are they extending it so deep?"

He then tried to hurry me back to my car, telling me they only pay him to follow the blue prints. "May I see the prints?" He gave me a dubious look. "Never mind, I'll meet with Geffen, or do you call him Herr Siewelt?"

He looked over the Mc Laren and called it a door stop, and I flashed him a grin as I handed him the hard hat back and slid behind the wheel, touching the keyless go button as the engine roared to life. "Don't knock it until you've tried it Cory. I'll see you."

It was time to make an appointment with Geffen. Definitely.

[Azjah von Drachen Walde]

I spent a good portion of the morning pondering what I had seen at the construction site. The foundation basement was being altered to go down 50 feet, ostensibly to house patient records and paperwork, but 50 feet would mean at least 3 sub basements, if not 4, and archival records are never kept onsite. That is a violation of the offsite storage requirements for TS and ISO. That underground storage was something else entirely.

Cory had done his best to shoo me away from the construction, but it was not fear for my safety that had him so uneasy. He wanted me out of there for more reasons than one. Question is, why.

That evening, at the Annex, Anne had offered herself to Cory for hire. I reminded Anne that she has a one year contract with Drachen Walde Industries. She looked at me, "that contract means nothing to me anymore Miss Danaan."

I understand what she's doing, but I am not going to let her get into deeper trouble. "Well, then we'll see you in further litigation Anne."

Corry looked over at me, "but, I do have pull wi' my boss."

Anne scoffed at that, saying it was the least of her problems, then turned to Cory, "Seriously though, look me up if you need supplies to be delivered. Tell your boss, but make sure you inform him that I am a criminal."

Cory regarded her a moment, "ya got the means to deliver a couple tons of concrete, or machinery?"

She told him she did.

"Havoick, make sure you tell Geffen he's going to be dragged into litigation as well if he does."

Cory spun around to face me, "This ain't about him. This has to do wit' Reynolds."

Perhaps directly it deals with Reynolds, but if one of Geffen's contractors hires Anne, it will be MacPherson that gets hauled into court.

Anne continued to seek employment through Cory, and in the morning, I will have a restraining order put on Anne and Reynolds with notice being sent to Geffen that in the event Anne Xile does any work for them, I will extend the suit to MacPhearson for knowingly hiring an ineligible employee who is already under another's contract.

A last resort will be to withdraw my bail on her, and have Annakey put her behind bars again, but I will only do that if she persists.

((Cross posted in Anne Xile ))

[Azjah von Drachen Walde]

Letter arrives addressed to Geffen Siewelt by private courier.


Herr Siewelt,

I request an appointment to discuss several issues surrounding the MacPherson projects. I am at your leisure, please advise time and location that fits into your schedule.

Regards,

Azjah Telyria Danaan
Marchioness von Triberg
Baroness von Drachen Walde

[Anjolie Quinn]

::It had been an exceptionally long couple of weeks in the life of Anjolie Quinn. After the whole reunion between Kallie and Cory it had become Quinn's top concern to make sure the child was able to keep that connection. Besides, Cory had been working so hard on this new construction project that it was getting hard to track him down. It was with this in mind that Anjolie took time out of her working today and fixed up a wonderful little treat to drive in to town. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not, but she felt the need to stop by. The truck rolled into a lot across the street and Anjolie pulled out the sack lunch and other such refreshments she'd prepared. She knew this place was far too dangerous to bring Kallie, so she'd allowed the little girl to write "Daddy" on the side of the brown bag and draw a picture that Anjolie assumed was a guy. Dusty blue jeans were swatted at momentarily to shake off the dirt from her own business dealings this morning. With a deep breath, she headed on over to the sight to try and flag down the beau she'd come to surprise and drop off what she hoped would make the business day go a little bit smoother.::

[Herr Siewelt]

Geffen entered the Arena Friday evening with every intention of quelling the flames ignited beneath Ms. Danaan and her constant annoyances. He paused at the landung to inspect his appearance then claimed a table for the night. Luckily Azjah was engaged in a duel with newly crowned Overlord, Greyson MacLeod at the time. This would give him the opportunity to run through the paces again to make sure his stories coincided.

In the meantime he ordered a brandy and enjoyed the spectacle. It wasn't long before he'd caught the eye of Anne Xille. Public recognition was something the middle aged business man would have to get used to with MacPherson's new image. Anne greeted him with a wave, but said nothing.

"Have we met?" His head canted ever-so-slightly to one side.

She shook her head. "No, I met your employee Cory Havoick. Recognized you from a picture in the paper is all."

Geffen set his brandy aside for it to warm to room temperature, gray eyes returning to the woman. "I see. Is there something in particular I can assist you with?"

Again she denied and Geffen resumed watching Azjah and Greyson. Smiling inwardly as he caught the final thrust from the Scot to secure his comeback victory. He couldn't help but take pleasure in her inability to garner that final point for herself."I suppose that's why he's the Overlord, no?"

Her ice blue gaze saught him out swiftly. "He's a fine duelist. Will you have time for me Herr Siewelt? "

Geffen gave an idle pat of the leather bound expandable folder he'd brought with him. "You're the reason I'm here. Shall I join you, or would you like to step into my office?" Indicating the table he's seated at.

She chuckled and responded. "I'll come to you, but I need to speak with Kaja a quick moment." He nodded and took a testing sip of the brandy. "When you're ready."

His gaze never left Azjah, he could've stared a hole straight through the woman as she conversed with Kaja. At the mention of his name Geffen stood and awaited Azjah's arrival. "It is very kind of you to take time out to meet with me Herr Siewelt." her hand offered in the traditional greeting, but he opted not to offer hiw own in turn. Instead, motioning her to a seat.

"I'm terribly sorry for the run-around you'e been given these past weeks. With this new expansion we've all had our cards full." He struggled to keep his smile as she ordered a drink and immediately set to work. "I'm certain you've been very busy. You have an extremely aggressive contstruction project. Did I hear correctly you have 6 towers planned?"

Geffen smirked over the rim of his snifter. "Eight total. Yes, the article was slightly confusing." He seemed to get a certain pleasure from correcting others' mistakes.

"And all eight will follow a similar design? We have used a very good certification body for our TS and VDA, would you care to have the contact name for the auditors?" she offered polietly but Geffen graciously declined. "They have a similar make-up, but each building will have it's own unique feature." He tried not to appear as though he was drinking heavily from the snifter with another sip.

"You do realize that the basements of your buildings is not a certification accepted method of archiving?" ,and here it came, he paniced to fine a means to stall. "Once you taste blood you are relentless, Frau Danaan."

"I sense in you a savvy business person. It would not do to be less than equally ernest in my business endeavors." That smile she wore made his stomach wrench. He wanted to slice it from her face and seal it away with the body of "Senior". He tried to steer the conversation elswhere, on to ground where he had control.

"Then I'm sure your next question is what's really being built at site 2?" He nudged the expandable folder closer to her and leaned back in his chair.

"In actuallity, I had planned on asking about all of the locations Herr Siewelt. With the shall we say, mis-adventures of the founder, there is a lot of shadowed activity." Sight of the folder perked her interest and she rumaged through it as she listened.

"That's a completely separate matter. You'll need to speak with the local authorities for thier files on the investigation."

"That is not what I meant, and we both realize that. Why are you so willing to lay your cards on the table Herr Siewelt? Your contractor has been most closed." She began flipping through pointless papers unti she came along a blueprint. It showed Envision II would be the proposed site of an infectious disease quarantine as well as reasearch labs on the lowest leve.

"So you're going to be open and public instead?
" He eyes sweeping over the documents.

"We've been given the chance of a clean slate with this. Why not make the best of it?" Again Azjah's only relply was that sickening smile and he sucked down the last of his brandy. She wasn't finished yet, but at least this was he had survived her questions. "With the open policy, why all the secrecy and your switch to German?"

A simple explination was all he needed, and is what he offered, "Josephs' grandson has insisted upon it for sensitive discussions."

"The other thing I had hoped to speak with you about is Ms. Xile. She is not available for hire. Please make certain Reynolds and your other contractors understand that. Ms. Xile approached Mr. Havoick seeking employement. He did not seem to take me seriously when I warned him, and I advised him that I would make certain you were aware that were she hired by any of your contractors, I would take action. I'd like to keep both of us on the right side of a binding contract." Her tone took a dire seriousness and Geffen calmed her concern by rejecting the thought.

Before their night was through Geffen insisted upon a harmless duel. A fight he simply could not allow her to win. With die-hard determination he emerged victorious and strangely vindicated. He retreated to the exit and slinked into the back seat of the dark sedan which sped off into the city lights.