Chapter 72: Chapter 71: Crippling Debt

“My fellow councilors, Vesta is in grave danger.”

Ordinarily, those words might have made Alex perk up and pay attention but the fact of the matter was that they came from Belladonna, and as such, they were probably not worth much at all.

As Alex looked around the Council chambers, he saw he wasn’t alone in his response. Annette looked profoundly uninterested as Belladonna started to talk, and even Serrano looked half asleep.

And yet, what came out of Belladonna’s mouth next caused them all to react.

“Vesta is facing a debt crisis the likes of which we’ve never seen before,” continued Belladonna in her pose of faux piety. “To put it quite simply, we are out of money and nearly out of time.”

“How can that be?” asked Annette, jumping on the assertion. “The vault is still full of precious metals and the mines are still in operation. What debts are coming due right now?”

“While that might be the case with the vault, Annette, the loans for the construction of Biospheres Eight, Nine, and Ten are finally coming due,” replied Belladonna. “We’ve pushed them off for as long as we can, and we’ve even refinanced them but the loaning company from Alpha Prime is demanding that we settle payment within ninety days.”

“How much of it can we pay with our current reserves?” asked Cassara. “If we sold off all of our precious metals, how much would we net?”

“About fifteen percent of the total amount due,” replied Belladonna.

“Fifteen percent! That’s it?” asked an incredulous Annette.

“That’s what I said,” answered Belladonna coldly. “As you can see, quite the crisis in front of us.”

“Is there anything we can do to kick the can down the road until we have the necessary funds?” asked Alex. “We need the funds that those precious metals provide to run the colony. We can’t give all of it away just to satisfy a small portion of the outstanding debt.”

“I’ve already tried to do that but I’ve been rejected three times,” answered Belladonna. “The truth of the matter is that they should have been paid years ago. We started to kick the can when the bear attacks started and the loan company is beyond impatient with us. They won’t compromise any more.”

“What happens if we just let the loans go past due?” asked Serrano. “They’re on Alpha Prime, right? So we tell them to fuck off. We need that money more than they do.”

Belladonna gulped heavily. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, not with this company.”

“Why?” asked Alex. “Who is it?”

“The loaning company is Montserrat Intergalactic Loans,” muttered Belladonna quietly.

You could have heard a pin drop in that room. Alex now knew why they couldn’t push it off any longer. Montserrat was one of the most predatory loan companies there was, their reputation known on Earth. They even had an entire paramilitary wing that was used for anyone who decided not to pay up. Shortly before he left Earth, there was a story about a small colony in the Virginis System, some twenty-eight light-years away, that was completely destroyed by the paramilitaries for failure to pay up.

Needless to say, Vesta was between a rock and a hard place.

“So what do we do then?” asked Cassara finally. “Montserrat is not going to be satisfied with fifteen percent. Do we have anything left we can sell off to raise the funds needed?”

Belladonna shook her head. “I’ve gone through the current inventory and what we have left is essential. Even those things we could part with would only make up a small dent in what’s owed. But I have a solution. As of today, the mines aren’t operating a nightly shift. I suggest we change that. I propose a motion that we put the mines in twenty-four/seven operation. We can double their output that way.”

“Would that even be enough?” asked Annette. “To cover the rest of the eighty-five percent?”

“It would get us a whole lot closer,” replied Belladonna. “And frankly, it’s our only option.”

“I’m not opposed to an expansion of the mining operation but this would require an expansion in the VDF as well,” said Alex. “That’s a whole other shift we have to cover now. It would make more sense now than ever to have a permanent VDF posting at the mining biosphere too.”

Belladonna shook her head and stamped her feet at the same time. “No, no, no. Did you not just hear me, Councilor Hawthorne? There is no money to pay them!”

“But if we increase mining output, we might allocate some funds toward their protection—” started Annette before she was cut off by Belladonna.

“We need all the funds we can pull out of those mines, Annette. Honestly, do you people think before you talk?”
“You’re asking our miners to work harder while having less protection,” said Alex coolly. “Do you want more deaths on your hands?”

“No, I want Vesta to not go belly up!” hissed Belladonna. “We all must make sacrifices to make this happen!”

“Then I’ll sacrifice my salary for being on the Council and being in the VDF to save funding,” offered Alex. “Any little bit counts, right?”

“Great idea, Alex,” added Annette. “I’ll do the same.”

Alex watched Belladonna squirm at that idea. He made the offer knowing full well that she would never accept something like that.

“No one is talking about any of us giving up our salaries!” she yelled, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “We just need the mines to operate at their full capacity!”

“What about sensors then?” asked Alex. “If you won’t give me more personnel, then let me purchase more sensors from Vitale to line the rest of the approaches to the mines.”

“Absolutely not,” replied Belladonna. “Sensors cost money too, Councilor Hawthorne!”

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“And they’ve been doing their job of protecting the area around the biosphere but we still have all that open ground along the road back to the city,” he fired back. “Anybody who makes that transit after dark is going to be a sitting duck for the bears. It’s now the most dangerous place for anyone to be.”

“Enough!” yelled Belladonna. “No more soldiers and especially no more sensors from Vitale! I’ve seen enough of the creations that come out of his dark laboratory and I don’t need to see any more! We need to extract everything we can from those mines without spending a penny more. Do I need to remind you, Councilor Hawthorne, that you are in charge of the VDF? It’s your job to protect the colony and if you can’t do that, then perhaps you should step aside instead of constantly asking for more money!”

“I can only protect what I can with our limited defenses,” replied Alex. “This idea of yours is going to get more people killed without the proper protection.”

“Your opinion has been noted,” replied a sarcastic Belladonna.

In other words, fuck off.

“Let’s put the motion to a vote,” said Belladonna finally, once she regained her composure. “Who is with me?”

“Before we vote, when do we get a new trading ship arriving at Vesta?” asked Serrano. “We can sell off our precious metals there and personally, I have a few things I’d like to buy. When is that happening?”

“One is on the way right now,” replied Cassara. “I just got the comm message that they will be here in about two weeks. So we should be able to start turning our gold into credits to pay back Montserrat.”

“Good,” replied Serrano a little too enthusiastically. Alex wondered at that point what he needed to purchase so badly.

“All approve the measure to start the nightly shift?” asked Belladonna. “Who approves?”

Not surprisingly, Cassara and Serrano raised their hands alongside their fearless leader. Both Annette and Alex refrained.

“I won’t vote for the shift without getting them protection to go with it,” said Alex. “My vote is a no.”

“I echo Alex’s sentiments,” added Annette. “My vote is no too.”

Belladonna smirked at them. “At least your votes aren’t needed. Thank god we live in a democracy where good always finds a way. The motion passes. Serrano, will you see to it that the nightly shift gets started? You’ll have whatever support you need to make it happen.”

Serrano grinned cruelly. “With pleasure.”

*****

Serrano acted swiftly to ensure the first night shift at the mines came into fruition the very next night. With that first shift came the responsibility of protecting them, and it forced an emergency meeting between Alex and Hans to figure out how the VDF was going to protect all those extra people.

Needless to say, it didn’t go so well.

“I just don’t see how we do it, sir,” said Hans, sitting back in his chair with nothing but sheer frustration on his face. “We only have five squads and to maintain this kind of deployment, we’d need seven just to make this work, and that’s with no room for replacements or rest.

“You’re thinking two squads up there during the day and two at night,” asked Alex. “While three would be left here in the city?”

Hans nodded. “At minimum, that’s what we would need. That’s not even thinking about a rotational schedule so that the same squads don’t get stuck permanently on the night shift. Plus, we don’t want to rotate a squad off night shift and immediately into a day shift without any rest. You’d be talking about two extra squads to make this work, and potentially even two more to set up a proper rotation.”

“That’s the problem though, Hans. We’re not getting any more men. So we need to make do with what we have. Belladonna nixed any plans for an expansion.”

Hans started cursing under his breath. “Stupid woman. I’d love to see her ass on guard detail up there. If that day ever came, we might just turn off the sensors to make sure the bears got her.”

Alex smiled. “That makes for a very nice visual image.”

Hans pursed his lips. “We can’t do two squads at night though, not with five in total. It would leave only one squad here to defend the city, and I think after that recent scare during the elections, leaving the city so undefended wouldn’t go over well with the public.”

“I agree with that so what do you think about this,” proposed Alex. “The new recruits have been acting as replacements when needed, mostly without being in a formal squad. What if we decrease the size of the five existing squads and make a sixth with the extra personnel? Then we can allocate two squads to each shift while maintaining two in the city?”

Hans winced. “That still takes away coverage from the city though. What if we only manned the outer watchtowers at the mining biosphere during the night? Then we can keep one extra squad in the city.”

Alex shook his head. “Not a fan of that. My experience has shown me that bears are just as apt to attack at night as they are in the day. I wouldn’t give them less coverage when visibility is already low at night.”

Hans started to rub his chin. “You’re right, I suppose. This still leaves us very thin. Almost too thin, especially if something happens. We wouldn’t have a reserve anymore.”

Alex nodded his head slowly. “It’s the best plan we have. I wish I could get those extra squads but Belladonna is determined to railroad me at every opportunity. My fear is that it’s going to take something big happening to change her outlook.”

“Yeah, lots of innocent people will have to die for no reason,” grumbled Hans. “That’s always the case with politicians. No offense, of course.”

Alex smirked. “None taken. Come on, let’s gather up the VDF. We might as well break the news to them now.”

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