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Description
Chapter 2

5pm and Kelsa Decala gunned the gas of her new Chevy Camero and blasted up onto Skyway 104. Living on the very western edge of the Kane City metro area she had a thirty minute commute to work. At least at that time she was going against the traffic; most folks were heading out of the city and back home. Like most guards Kelsa worked a twelve hour shift with a pattern of four days on followed by three days off. One week in a month was night shift. She hated working nights; starting at 6pm and finishing at 6am. Shifting her considerable bulk in the driver’s seat the fattened up babe snacked on a Snickers bar and drank coffee. Her weight had climbed up to 260lbs and the former college jockette was on the upper weight limit of an ISS Guard. Kelsa loved the admiring looks her figure got from the guys but like all the big girls in uniform she struggled with the physical aspects of her job. She still went to the gym every other day and lifted weights but any cardio was a battle.

Not that Guard Kelsa Decala was a pushover. Most of her physical confrontations were up close and personal where her size worked for her. In the cases where a suspect ran she was armed with a plasma pistol and supported by the full strength of Kane City’s law enforcement. In Kane City nobody could escape the long arm of law enforcement. Or so Kelsa assumed.

The skyway was flowing at a steady pace and Kelsa settled into the drive. Finishing off her Snickers bar she turned on sports radio. Back in college she’d gotten through on a sports scholarship; softball one half of the year and powerball the other. After missing out on the pro leagues she’d used her college qualification to land her ISS Guard job. Three years later and she was still a patrol level Guard but the pay was good, she looked hot in her uniform and she loved the power of her position. Plus she occasionally got to kick butt. Being an ISS guard was way better than some office job or getting signed up to the army.

Sat on ninety miles per hour she listened to commentary on the previous nights MLFP powerball game, a win for the Kane City Cougars over the Issa Falls Pioneers, and kept snacking. Straight after missing the pro drafts Kelsa had avoided any sports on TV or radio but as the years passed the ex jockette was less sore and intently followed her favourite teams.

“Go Cougars!!!” she said to herself as the commentator read out the 42-8 box score.

Approaching Henderson the traffic began to build and slow. Cutting across three lanes of traffic Kelsa steered for the exit whilst reading a message from a guy she was on off dating that had just landed on the Camero’s comm system. Eventually she made it to the Unit 3442 headquarters, parked her muscle car and clocked on.

Two and a half hours later and the evening commute was over and the Interchange was quiet. The two giant office towers that housed and Janescu Syndicate had finished sprewing out their workers and only a final few stragglers made their way to the Interchange, Kelsa and her buddy Skyler wiggle waddled their way across the food court. Both guards loved the way other people cleared out of their way; the black ISS uniform acting like a hot knife through butter.

One of the perks of the job, Kelsa her learned, was that the fast food outlet owners were desperate to keep ISS sweet so always gave the guards free food. All she had to do was flash her pearly whites and they would give her whatever she wanted. With the food court closing at 9pm she wanted to get her final big feed of the day in before closing time.

Kelsa and Skyler stopped at the Mario’s Italian Feast, their bellies hovering slightly over the counter as they checked out the menu.

“I’ll have the meatball marinara meal” said Kelsa.

”Me too” added Skyler.

The guy behind the counter sprung into life; handing over two huge plates full of meatball marinara along with super sized soda’s and two thick slices of chocolate cheesecake. Taking their trays the two sat their fat buns down and began stuffing their faces. If they were smarter both would have noticed they were the only guards eating in the food court. Unusual with closing time just a few minutes away. But both were too focused on their food. Sub Executive Rakka Cepelak approached from behind.

“What are you two doing?”

“Hey you…” said Kelsa before noticing it was the unit commander. In unison she and Skyler gulped down their latest meatball and sprung to attention.

“I see you two couldn’t wait to stuff your fat bellies” said Cepelak.

Both Kelsa and Skyler felt their faces flush red but they said nothing. Experience at the bottom of the ISS hierarchy told them that the best strategy was to say nothing and never answer back. Both could have argued that although it was against regulations for a guard to eat in the food court it was also standard practice. But to make such an argument would have led to trouble.

“You know the regulations?”

“Yes Madam Sub Executive” said Kelsa and Skyler together.

Cepelak debated what to do. With her unit being watched by Lazzaro and higher authority at ISS she was making sure every regulation was followed. The food court was a minor thing but it was very visible. Guards Decala and Jackson were far from the first she’d pulled up on it that day.

“I expect all personnel in this unit to follow regulations. You eat in the guardroom.”

“Yes Madam Sub Executive”

“Then go.”

The two guards forgot about their half eaten plate and wiggle waddled as fast as they could away. There had been no mention of the infringement being on their record and neither wanted to stick around to tempt fate. Safely out of earshot Skyler said:

“What the fuck was Cepelak doing busting our asses over that?”

“I dunno. I was talkin’ to Shultsy and she told me Lazzaro did some inspection today. Maybe that’s it or whatever.”

“I guess. We’re gonna be hungry tonight.”

“Shit, yeah” sighed Kelsa with a hand on her belly.

“Should we go back and get our food?”

“No, I don’t wanna disciplinary.”

Reaching their checkpoint the two sat down in front of the monitors next to the other guards. From the pissed off expressions on their colleagues faces Kelsa and Skyler figured they were not the only ones to have their evening feed busted. On the night shift a whole squad of very big bellies would be rumbling.

Jaylen, meanwhile, continued to work on her plan. She’d received final instructions from her client. They were curious; she was to transfer the money in the various Janescu Syndicate accounts to billions of individual accounts across Corporate Worlds space. It would be impossible for Janescu to recover it but, interestingly, Jaylen’s client wouldn’t stand to benefit. As was normal the client was anonymous and communication was coded via a contact of Jaylen’s on a star system far away. Maybe the client was simply settling a personal grudge? Or more likely the client was a rival syndicate who wanted Janescu out of the way?

Regardless, the hired gun had accessed the system and simply needed to press the green button to begin the transfer. The complication was that she needed to be inside the Janescu towers to access their systems. She had worked her way into the building and was now working out how to escape. Her objective was to get out of the immediate area and then disappear into the Kane City metro area. That in turn had led her to the sprawling Interchange. Underneath the transport complex was a mass of power generator space that connected directly to the two office towers.

For that reason Jaylen was hidden deep in the heating system underneath the Interchange plotting the best way out. She had her surveillance equipment activated and had worked her way into the ISS system. Activating the worm she was listening to their comm channel; a quiet night shift and there was minimal chatter. The only event of note being clearing some homeless guy out of the road transport complex and delays on shuttle flights. More interesting was a private sub net channel the ISS guards used to talk off record.

“Oh my fucking God!” said one guard “the guy waiting for his shuttle on Bay 10 is sooooooooo hot!!!”

There was a pause. Jaylen smiled. Every guard who was in front of a monitor had just switched to the video feed from shuttle bay 10. A tall, dark handsome man in a suit was strolling toward his private shuttle.

“Smokin’!”

“Rich too!”

“I wanna be a trophy wife.”

“I wanna blow that guy!”

“Blow job city.”

“Yeah baby…”

Jaylen nodded. Listening to the guards on their private channel was completely different to the ultra cold, almost mechanical outward exterior. A group of dumb ex army and/ or sports girls the conversation was crude but sometimes funny. Settling into her cramped space between a heating generator and a giant fan Jaylen continued to watch the video feed and listen. Eventually the hot guy got onto his shuttle, the conversation moved to the previous day’s powerbowl game and then onto a topic that made Jaylen listen.

“Hey Sarge, what’s the deal with Cepelak busting our asses?”

“Some stuff with Lazzaro doing an inspection” said the shift commander, Sergeant Piranha Ragan.

“I got my ass kicked outta the food court.”

“Yeah me too.”

“If Lazzaro’s watchin’ then Cepelak’s gonna watch us. Just stick to the rules girls” said Piranha.

“I lost like half my Mario’s meatballs…”

”Mario’s meatballs are to die for!”

“I can eat like four portions…”

“Mega Burger left the door open, loadsa left over burgers.”

“Awesome!”

“Almost too much to eat.”

“Aged hamburgers suck…”

The conversation moved the merits of the various food court franchises and how much each girl could eat. Judging by the size of the guards Jaylen had no doubt they could all stuff their faces. Her mind moved onto the Lazzaro question. Why would a senior ISS executive like Lazzaro be taking a particular interest in the unit responsible for Henderson? Sure the Janescu towers were big but in a metroplex of over ten million people it must be unusual for that kind of visit. Was it coincidence or was there some link to ISS tracking her activity? Jaylen reflected on that. She didn’t like coincidences but nothing about the guards chatter suggested that Lazzaro’s visit was anything more than a routine inspection followed by a clamp down of regulations.

“Never create a problem that doesn’t really exist” said Jaylen to herself.

On the top floor of the Tiberium Club in downtown Kane City a function populated only by the cities elite was in progress. The event was populated by only senior Corporate Worlds CEO’s and heads of major trading syndicates. Truly it was the cities power brokers meeting behind closed doors. Joshua Janescu, owner of the Janescu Syndicate, was on stage and was concluding his presentation. A vastly wealthy man he was beginning to flex his political muscle in Kane City politics. Rumour had it he was making a run for president of Kane Alpha.

“…in conclusion the Janescu Synidcate isn’t just about tiberium mining and profit. Although I would remind you that we are now the biggest mining syndicate on the planet Kane Alpha with a turnover close to a quarter of this planets GDP. Rather, I have a message of freedom and respect. This planet benefits economically from being part of the Corporate Worlds empire but in the name of safety and security we have become a police state…”

Stood at the back CEO Jaxon Kolani sipped a glass of champagne and smiled coldly. Next to him CEO Gwen Inoue, head of Corporate Worlds communications on Kane Alpha, whispered:

“It will become complicated if he says that kind of rubbish in front of the media.”

“We will arrest him and send him to a labour camp” said Jaxon.

“It would be more complicated. He’s too wealthy for that. It would be a delicate situation.”

“I can arrest anyone I want and sent them to whatever labour camp I want.”

Inoue flinched for a moment; Jaxon Kolani was a powerful CEO with a record of doing just what he said. But then she recovered herself rapidly. Inoue was a smart lady who had studied Kolani; if other CEO’s showed him fear he would eat them alive. Inoue had no desire to be eaten alive.

“With his wealth and connections it would be a delicate situation, from a communications perspective. It would require direct intervention from the Ruling Council on Prime.”

“The Ruling Council will not be interested in communications issues on this planet.”

“Eighty percent of our Tiberium exports go to Prime. The Ruling Council always prioritises Tiberium supply. I repeat, this could be a very delicate situation that will need handling.”

Jaxon turned to look at Inoue. She was a slightly built woman in her early forties. Unlike many of the women on Kane Alpha she had resisted the temptation to get fat and looked like she could run a marathon. She had bright intelligent eyes and unlike most had fought her argument with him. What’s more her argument had been correct.

“Your argument is correct based on one supposition.”

“His wealth?”

“Yes.”

Inoue reflected on that. She knew the ISS chief’s reputation; he would have a plan to deal with Janescu and his dangerous ideas about “freedom” and “police states”. She sipped her champagne and smiled coldly.

“We’d eat him alive.”

“I could arrest him for treason based on his comments.”

“What will you do? Should he lose his wealth.”

Jaxon downed the rest of his champagne and said:

“In such circumstances I think he could make a very effective president.”

At that Jaxon turned on his heel and strode out of the room. Listening to Joshua Janescu talk about “freedom” was annoying and completely ignorant of human history. Freedom led to chaos which led to weakness. Jaxon couldn’t contemplate weakness. Out of the function room he put on his visor and logged into a secure channel. It updated him on his hired gun. She had accessed the Janescu Syndicate accounts and was planning her escape route. The noose was tightening around the Janescu Syndiate and Joshua Janescu was about to find out the dangers of weakness.

CEO Jaxon Kolani fully intended to eat him alive.

Guard Level 2 Kelsa Decala and Guard Level 1 Skyler Jackson, meanwhile, were eating aged Mega Burger’s. The owner of the Mega Burger franchise had learned to keep the doors to the kitchen open after closing and leave the uneaten burgers for the fattened up guards to eat on their night shift. It cost him nothing and it kept ISS sweet. The burgers were way past their prime but most of the stack was usually vacuumed up. After Sub Executive Cepelak’s clamp down of regulations the stack of burgers was disappearing particularly quickly that night.

“These burgers suck” said Kelsa as she took a bite.

“I don’t give a shit” said Skyler with her mouthful “I’m way too hungry.”

“U-huh”

The two girls gulped down their first and moved onto their second burger. Sure, they were cold and going stale but neither were gourmet eaters. Their bellies bulged out like small planet’s hanging over their utility belts. Half way through their second burgers another group of guards burst in and playfully but firmly pushed Kelsa and Skyler away from the stack. Before long ten beefed up guards were squeezed in the Mega Burger gulping down aged burgers. In a moment of inspiration Kelsa got the milkshake machine working and the porkers moved onto washing the burgers down with sweet vanilla milk shake.

Four more piled in and it was getting to be a squeeze. With the heavyweights in at 260lbs and the smallest rookie at 180lbs pushing and shoving began for access to the chow. A group of girls trained to enforce the law and the shoving was physical. It was only a matter of time before the 180lbs rookie stumbled, grabbed the door and slammed it shut. The doors locked.

”What the…”

At that moment the voice of Sergeant Piranha Ragan cut across the comm link.

“Where the hell is everyone?”

There was silence. Piranha shouted:

”Shults, Jackson, Duellos, Decala, Franklin, Yin, Peterson, Sorenson, Ranger, Patrick, Kila, Desjani, Dixon and Jordan get your fat asses out of Mega Burger and get to your posts….NOW!!!!!”

“Yes Sarge” said the fourteen guards squeezed into the Mega Burger.

“How’d we get out? It’s locked!”

“We could bash it!”

As one the guards slammed into the door. Titanium locked and sealed it didn’t budge. All fourteen considered what Seargeant Ragan would do to them if she found them locked in. If Sub Executive Cepelak found out she would fire them. Everyone shouted at once. Eventually Corporal Sorenson shouted the loudest.

“Shut the hell up and listen!!!”

There was silence.

”We’re gonna blast the door. Shults, Decala and Kila blast the fucking door.”

Kelsa stepped forward and pulled her plasma pistol from her holster and pointed it at the door. Beside her Shults and Kila did the same. There was a hushed silence. Fourteen brains squeezed into a room but not one smart enough to consider the consequences of firing plasma shots against a titanium door.

“Set plasma to maximum.”

“Done.”

“You girls ready?” said Sorenson.

“Yes.”

“Fire.”

Three plasma rays shot at the door. Two things happened. The door resisted and then blew open. Powerful resistance force from the titanium slammed back into the room and the guards shot backward as a single unit. The rookie crashed ass first into the burger racks followed moments later by two more porkers impacting into her. Skyler and four other guards blasted through the thin connecting wall into the Pizza King next door. Stunned Kelsa had impacted with the milk sake machine before Shults and Kila landed on top of her. Smoke and debris filled the room and fast food reigned down on the stunned guards.

“What the hell just happened?” screamed Piranha across the comm link.

Then the soda machine blew up.

Description
Chapter 2

5pm and Kelsa Decala gunned the gas of her new Chevy Camero and blasted up onto Skyway 104. Living on the very western edge of the Kane City metro area she had a thirty minute commute to work. At least at that time she was going against the traffic; most folks were heading out of the city and back home. Like most guards Kelsa worked a twelve hour shift with a pattern of four days on followed by three days off. One week in a month was night shift. She hated working nights; starting at 6pm and finishing at 6am. Shifting her considerable bulk in the driver’s seat the fattened up babe snacked on a Snickers bar and drank coffee. Her weight had climbed up to 260lbs and the former college jockette was on the upper weight limit of an ISS Guard. Kelsa loved the admiring looks her figure got from the guys but like all the big girls in uniform she struggled with the physical aspects of her job. She still went to the gym every other day and lifted weights but any cardio was a battle.

Not that Guard Kelsa Decala was a pushover. Most of her physical confrontations were up close and personal where her size worked for her. In the cases where a suspect ran she was armed with a plasma pistol and supported by the full strength of Kane City’s law enforcement. In Kane City nobody could escape the long arm of law enforcement. Or so Kelsa assumed.

The skyway was flowing at a steady pace and Kelsa settled into the drive. Finishing off her Snickers bar she turned on sports radio. Back in college she’d gotten through on a sports scholarship; softball one half of the year and powerball the other. After missing out on the pro leagues she’d used her college qualification to land her ISS Guard job. Three years later and she was still a patrol level Guard but the pay was good, she looked hot in her uniform and she loved the power of her position. Plus she occasionally got to kick butt. Being an ISS guard was way better than some office job or getting signed up to the army.

Sat on ninety miles per hour she listened to commentary on the previous nights MLFP powerball game, a win for the Kane City Cougars over the Issa Falls Pioneers, and kept snacking. Straight after missing the pro drafts Kelsa had avoided any sports on TV or radio but as the years passed the ex jockette was less sore and intently followed her favourite teams.

“Go Cougars!!!” she said to herself as the commentator read out the 42-8 box score.

Approaching Henderson the traffic began to build and slow. Cutting across three lanes of traffic Kelsa steered for the exit whilst reading a message from a guy she was on off dating that had just landed on the Camero’s comm system. Eventually she made it to the Unit 3442 headquarters, parked her muscle car and clocked on.

Two and a half hours later and the evening commute was over and the Interchange was quiet. The two giant office towers that housed and Janescu Syndicate had finished sprewing out their workers and only a final few stragglers made their way to the Interchange, Kelsa and her buddy Skyler wiggle waddled their way across the food court. Both guards loved the way other people cleared out of their way; the black ISS uniform acting like a hot knife through butter.

One of the perks of the job, Kelsa her learned, was that the fast food outlet owners were desperate to keep ISS sweet so always gave the guards free food. All she had to do was flash her pearly whites and they would give her whatever she wanted. With the food court closing at 9pm she wanted to get her final big feed of the day in before closing time.

Kelsa and Skyler stopped at the Mario’s Italian Feast, their bellies hovering slightly over the counter as they checked out the menu.

“I’ll have the meatball marinara meal” said Kelsa.

”Me too” added Skyler.

The guy behind the counter sprung into life; handing over two huge plates full of meatball marinara along with super sized soda’s and two thick slices of chocolate cheesecake. Taking their trays the two sat their fat buns down and began stuffing their faces. If they were smarter both would have noticed they were the only guards eating in the food court. Unusual with closing time just a few minutes away. But both were too focused on their food. Sub Executive Rakka Cepelak approached from behind.

“What are you two doing?”

“Hey you…” said Kelsa before noticing it was the unit commander. In unison she and Skyler gulped down their latest meatball and sprung to attention.

“I see you two couldn’t wait to stuff your fat bellies” said Cepelak.

Both Kelsa and Skyler felt their faces flush red but they said nothing. Experience at the bottom of the ISS hierarchy told them that the best strategy was to say nothing and never answer back. Both could have argued that although it was against regulations for a guard to eat in the food court it was also standard practice. But to make such an argument would have led to trouble.

“You know the regulations?”

“Yes Madam Sub Executive” said Kelsa and Skyler together.

Cepelak debated what to do. With her unit being watched by Lazzaro and higher authority at ISS she was making sure every regulation was followed. The food court was a minor thing but it was very visible. Guards Decala and Jackson were far from the first she’d pulled up on it that day.

“I expect all personnel in this unit to follow regulations. You eat in the guardroom.”

“Yes Madam Sub Executive”

“Then go.”

The two guards forgot about their half eaten plate and wiggle waddled as fast as they could away. There had been no mention of the infringement being on their record and neither wanted to stick around to tempt fate. Safely out of earshot Skyler said:

“What the fuck was Cepelak doing busting our asses over that?”

“I dunno. I was talkin’ to Shultsy and she told me Lazzaro did some inspection today. Maybe that’s it or whatever.”

“I guess. We’re gonna be hungry tonight.”

“Shit, yeah” sighed Kelsa with a hand on her belly.

“Should we go back and get our food?”

“No, I don’t wanna disciplinary.”

Reaching their checkpoint the two sat down in front of the monitors next to the other guards. From the pissed off expressions on their colleagues faces Kelsa and Skyler figured they were not the only ones to have their evening feed busted. On the night shift a whole squad of very big bellies would be rumbling.

Jaylen, meanwhile, continued to work on her plan. She’d received final instructions from her client. They were curious; she was to transfer the money in the various Janescu Syndicate accounts to billions of individual accounts across Corporate Worlds space. It would be impossible for Janescu to recover it but, interestingly, Jaylen’s client wouldn’t stand to benefit. As was normal the client was anonymous and communication was coded via a contact of Jaylen’s on a star system far away. Maybe the client was simply settling a personal grudge? Or more likely the client was a rival syndicate who wanted Janescu out of the way?

Regardless, the hired gun had accessed the system and simply needed to press the green button to begin the transfer. The complication was that she needed to be inside the Janescu towers to access their systems. She had worked her way into the building and was now working out how to escape. Her objective was to get out of the immediate area and then disappear into the Kane City metro area. That in turn had led her to the sprawling Interchange. Underneath the transport complex was a mass of power generator space that connected directly to the two office towers.

For that reason Jaylen was hidden deep in the heating system underneath the Interchange plotting the best way out. She had her surveillance equipment activated and had worked her way into the ISS system. Activating the worm she was listening to their comm channel; a quiet night shift and there was minimal chatter. The only event of note being clearing some homeless guy out of the road transport complex and delays on shuttle flights. More interesting was a private sub net channel the ISS guards used to talk off record.

“Oh my fucking God!” said one guard “the guy waiting for his shuttle on Bay 10 is sooooooooo hot!!!”

There was a pause. Jaylen smiled. Every guard who was in front of a monitor had just switched to the video feed from shuttle bay 10. A tall, dark handsome man in a suit was strolling toward his private shuttle.

“Smokin’!”

“Rich too!”

“I wanna be a trophy wife.”

“I wanna blow that guy!”

“Blow job city.”

“Yeah baby…”

Jaylen nodded. Listening to the guards on their private channel was completely different to the ultra cold, almost mechanical outward exterior. A group of dumb ex army and/ or sports girls the conversation was crude but sometimes funny. Settling into her cramped space between a heating generator and a giant fan Jaylen continued to watch the video feed and listen. Eventually the hot guy got onto his shuttle, the conversation moved to the previous day’s powerbowl game and then onto a topic that made Jaylen listen.

“Hey Sarge, what’s the deal with Cepelak busting our asses?”

“Some stuff with Lazzaro doing an inspection” said the shift commander, Sergeant Piranha Ragan.

“I got my ass kicked outta the food court.”

“Yeah me too.”

“If Lazzaro’s watchin’ then Cepelak’s gonna watch us. Just stick to the rules girls” said Piranha.

“I lost like half my Mario’s meatballs…”

”Mario’s meatballs are to die for!”

“I can eat like four portions…”

“Mega Burger left the door open, loadsa left over burgers.”

“Awesome!”

“Almost too much to eat.”

“Aged hamburgers suck…”

The conversation moved the merits of the various food court franchises and how much each girl could eat. Judging by the size of the guards Jaylen had no doubt they could all stuff their faces. Her mind moved onto the Lazzaro question. Why would a senior ISS executive like Lazzaro be taking a particular interest in the unit responsible for Henderson? Sure the Janescu towers were big but in a metroplex of over ten million people it must be unusual for that kind of visit. Was it coincidence or was there some link to ISS tracking her activity? Jaylen reflected on that. She didn’t like coincidences but nothing about the guards chatter suggested that Lazzaro’s visit was anything more than a routine inspection followed by a clamp down of regulations.

“Never create a problem that doesn’t really exist” said Jaylen to herself.

On the top floor of the Tiberium Club in downtown Kane City a function populated only by the cities elite was in progress. The event was populated by only senior Corporate Worlds CEO’s and heads of major trading syndicates. Truly it was the cities power brokers meeting behind closed doors. Joshua Janescu, owner of the Janescu Syndicate, was on stage and was concluding his presentation. A vastly wealthy man he was beginning to flex his political muscle in Kane City politics. Rumour had it he was making a run for president of Kane Alpha.

“…in conclusion the Janescu Synidcate isn’t just about tiberium mining and profit. Although I would remind you that we are now the biggest mining syndicate on the planet Kane Alpha with a turnover close to a quarter of this planets GDP. Rather, I have a message of freedom and respect. This planet benefits economically from being part of the Corporate Worlds empire but in the name of safety and security we have become a police state…”

Stood at the back CEO Jaxon Kolani sipped a glass of champagne and smiled coldly. Next to him CEO Gwen Inoue, head of Corporate Worlds communications on Kane Alpha, whispered:

“It will become complicated if he says that kind of rubbish in front of the media.”

“We will arrest him and send him to a labour camp” said Jaxon.

“It would be more complicated. He’s too wealthy for that. It would be a delicate situation.”

“I can arrest anyone I want and sent them to whatever labour camp I want.”

Inoue flinched for a moment; Jaxon Kolani was a powerful CEO with a record of doing just what he said. But then she recovered herself rapidly. Inoue was a smart lady who had studied Kolani; if other CEO’s showed him fear he would eat them alive. Inoue had no desire to be eaten alive.

“With his wealth and connections it would be a delicate situation, from a communications perspective. It would require direct intervention from the Ruling Council on Prime.”

“The Ruling Council will not be interested in communications issues on this planet.”

“Eighty percent of our Tiberium exports go to Prime. The Ruling Council always prioritises Tiberium supply. I repeat, this could be a very delicate situation that will need handling.”

Jaxon turned to look at Inoue. She was a slightly built woman in her early forties. Unlike many of the women on Kane Alpha she had resisted the temptation to get fat and looked like she could run a marathon. She had bright intelligent eyes and unlike most had fought her argument with him. What’s more her argument had been correct.

“Your argument is correct based on one supposition.”

“His wealth?”

“Yes.”

Inoue reflected on that. She knew the ISS chief’s reputation; he would have a plan to deal with Janescu and his dangerous ideas about “freedom” and “police states”. She sipped her champagne and smiled coldly.

“We’d eat him alive.”

“I could arrest him for treason based on his comments.”

“What will you do? Should he lose his wealth.”

Jaxon downed the rest of his champagne and said:

“In such circumstances I think he could make a very effective president.”

At that Jaxon turned on his heel and strode out of the room. Listening to Joshua Janescu talk about “freedom” was annoying and completely ignorant of human history. Freedom led to chaos which led to weakness. Jaxon couldn’t contemplate weakness. Out of the function room he put on his visor and logged into a secure channel. It updated him on his hired gun. She had accessed the Janescu Syndicate accounts and was planning her escape route. The noose was tightening around the Janescu Syndiate and Joshua Janescu was about to find out the dangers of weakness.

CEO Jaxon Kolani fully intended to eat him alive.

Guard Level 2 Kelsa Decala and Guard Level 1 Skyler Jackson, meanwhile, were eating aged Mega Burger’s. The owner of the Mega Burger franchise had learned to keep the doors to the kitchen open after closing and leave the uneaten burgers for the fattened up guards to eat on their night shift. It cost him nothing and it kept ISS sweet. The burgers were way past their prime but most of the stack was usually vacuumed up. After Sub Executive Cepelak’s clamp down of regulations the stack of burgers was disappearing particularly quickly that night.

“These burgers suck” said Kelsa as she took a bite.

“I don’t give a shit” said Skyler with her mouthful “I’m way too hungry.”

“U-huh”

The two girls gulped down their first and moved onto their second burger. Sure, they were cold and going stale but neither were gourmet eaters. Their bellies bulged out like small planet’s hanging over their utility belts. Half way through their second burgers another group of guards burst in and playfully but firmly pushed Kelsa and Skyler away from the stack. Before long ten beefed up guards were squeezed in the Mega Burger gulping down aged burgers. In a moment of inspiration Kelsa got the milkshake machine working and the porkers moved onto washing the burgers down with sweet vanilla milk shake.

Four more piled in and it was getting to be a squeeze. With the heavyweights in at 260lbs and the smallest rookie at 180lbs pushing and shoving began for access to the chow. A group of girls trained to enforce the law and the shoving was physical. It was only a matter of time before the 180lbs rookie stumbled, grabbed the door and slammed it shut. The doors locked.

”What the…”

At that moment the voice of Sergeant Piranha Ragan cut across the comm link.

“Where the hell is everyone?”

There was silence. Piranha shouted:

”Shults, Jackson, Duellos, Decala, Franklin, Yin, Peterson, Sorenson, Ranger, Patrick, Kila, Desjani, Dixon and Jordan get your fat asses out of Mega Burger and get to your posts….NOW!!!!!”

“Yes Sarge” said the fourteen guards squeezed into the Mega Burger.

“How’d we get out? It’s locked!”

“We could bash it!”

As one the guards slammed into the door. Titanium locked and sealed it didn’t budge. All fourteen considered what Seargeant Ragan would do to them if she found them locked in. If Sub Executive Cepelak found out she would fire them. Everyone shouted at once. Eventually Corporal Sorenson shouted the loudest.

“Shut the hell up and listen!!!”

There was silence.

”We’re gonna blast the door. Shults, Decala and Kila blast the fucking door.”

Kelsa stepped forward and pulled her plasma pistol from her holster and pointed it at the door. Beside her Shults and Kila did the same. There was a hushed silence. Fourteen brains squeezed into a room but not one smart enough to consider the consequences of firing plasma shots against a titanium door.

“Set plasma to maximum.”

“Done.”

“You girls ready?” said Sorenson.

“Yes.”

“Fire.”

Three plasma rays shot at the door. Two things happened. The door resisted and then blew open. Powerful resistance force from the titanium slammed back into the room and the guards shot backward as a single unit. The rookie crashed ass first into the burger racks followed moments later by two more porkers impacting into her. Skyler and four other guards blasted through the thin connecting wall into the Pizza King next door. Stunned Kelsa had impacted with the milk sake machine before Shults and Kila landed on top of her. Smoke and debris filled the room and fast food reigned down on the stunned guards.

“What the hell just happened?” screamed Piranha across the comm link.

Then the soda machine blew up.