Damned!

Too Soon

Laura looked at the calendar on her office table. "Ainsley? What is the date today?" Laura turned to her assistant who sat at her computer desk. "Um, Thursday, October 15th. Is this a trick question?" implying sarcasm.

"Why do I see a timestamp approval for the excavators to be shipped tomorrow?"

"Um, I don't know, did they not inform you of an advanced timeline in the shipping?"

"Not in the least! Call our contractor right away. I will need to talk to them."

Laura fought to control her irritation. She immediately labeled Tannebaum's as reckless and had it in mind to berate them. However, upon placing the call, her anger shifted as it was explained to her that President Hoveting had given direct orders to move up the start date. They had assumed Laura had been informed and all that they could do was offer apologies on her behalf. She hung up the phone.

"Ainsley, clear my schedule for the rest of the day. If anyone asks, just say I have a geographic land survey meeting to attend with the Tannebaum contractor. The timeline being moved forward makes it imperative that we meet in person."

Laura watched as Ainsley started checking the phone logs with the calendar schedule. She hoped this would not give her aid too much trouble. There was more than one meeting scheduled for today. However, in light of the shortened time schedule, she needed to pass the information along to Ein as she was not sure how much the Gandan people had been informed. Like Father McNalster said, the sight of the excavators would almost certainly be met with Gandan resistance, which could reflect poorly with the capitol.

After making sure Ainsley was on track with the rescheduling, she gathered her suitcase and ran out of the building, deftly avoiding the protestors. Somehow, she managed to get to her red Mazda car in record time. Pulling out of the parking garage in record speed, she placed a call via Bluetooth radio.

"Ein, the equipment is being shipped tomorrow. There's nothing I can do to hold it back. When will the contractor report be coming out?"

Ein noted Thomas had been working with the contacts through the Village Voice news reporting service.

"I'll recommend that this comes out ASAP, actually sooner than that. We will push for today. In the meantime, I'm going back down to Medium Cruces to notify the Gandans. I will be on hand to deal with whatever Hoveting sends us. As much as I do not want a confrontation, surprises always indicate upheaval, and are the least welcome way to negotiate."