Chap. 191 Reorganizational chaos

Chap. 191 Re-organizational chaos


He had accompanied M’rvin, his Weyrleader, to Landing, with two goals in mind: to learn more about the smanda that he and G’alin had captured, and to check in with the library to see what new treasures had been printed. He also had several field notebooks to turn in, having painstakingly recopied them for archival. The messy ones stayed in his weyr.

Making his way to the library, he’d noticed an awful lot of activity among the buildings, especially considering it was relatively early in the day. What was going on? Then Jansen, the data tech, emerged from the library.

“Hello, K’ndar! Haven’t seen you for a while! I heard all about the smanda injuring your fire lizard,” Jansen said, “Is it okay now?”


K’ndar grinned. “I’ll let you be the judge!” he said, and, lengthening his arm, he chirped at Siskin, perched on his shoulder. The blue fire lizard sidled down the arm to his wrist. Once Siskin was settled, he said, “Siskin? Air show? Show off for Jansen?”

Siskin chittered and launched straight up, flying in a tight corkscrew. At the top of his climb, the fire lizard did a barrel roll. Then, flying as if he were flaming thread, he dived, skimming just above their heads. Jansen ducked, laughing.

Siskin landed on K’ndar’s shoulder. Jansen clapped in delight.

“Wonderful! How clever!” she cried, knowing most fire lizards were suckers for praise.


“Who’s a big bad dragon?” K’ndar said, in a gravelly voice. Siskin opened his wings and snaking his head back and forth, hissed like a steam kettle.

Me...I’m a big bad dragon, too Raventh chimed in.

Best of them all! You’ve made training him SO much easier.

“Oh, you’ve taught him tricks!” she said.

“Not as many as Francie’s, she’s trained hers to do shows, you know,” he said.

He listens to me. He loves you. He is a willing learner Raventh said.

Student K’ndar corrected, always seeking to widen Raventh's vocabulary.

Student

“I’ve heard a lot about Francie’s fire lizards. Funny, isn’t it, I see her frequently, she flies missions for us. Yet I’ve never seen her lizards do the tricks. I’ll have to get her to show them off someday,” Jansen said.


Siskin chirped.

“Oh, my, he’s heavily scarred, isn’t he?” Jansen said, sobering at the sight. Siskin’s hindquarters and legs were heavily crisscrossed with white threads.

“Yes, but he’s okay, now. Most of the injuries were on the meaty parts of his body. I’m afraid to think what would have happened if his wings had been snared. He was so patient with my care, the healer gave me a salve to rub into his skin. Brave little lad, he never struggled, didn't even cry when I'd rub it in, despite my knowing it hurt him. He’s all healed up, now. While he was healing, I took the opportunity to teach him some tricks. It helps so much that I have a dragon who can talk to him better than me,” he said.

He scritched the blue’s head.

“You go roost on Raventh now, Siskin, I’ll be inside for a while,” he said.

Siskin dropped his head for an instant, then chittered and took flight.

“I’d love to have one,” she said, watching the blue fly away, “but I know they require a lot of time and maintenance, and I just don’t have the time,” she said.

“I’m glad you realize that, some people get one and then end up regretting it because they DO take a lot of time. Just like dragons, and they bond for a lifetime, I think,” he said.

“Are you going inside? Because, I have to warn you, there’s been a lot of moving and re-arranging going on. This is the last day Library will be open for a while, they’re moving and all the books are boxed up,” she said.

“Moving? Moving where? Out of Landing??” he cried in dismay, “I wanted to turn in my field notebooks, and see if there’s anything new that’s been printed,” he said, disappointed.

“No, not out of Landing, just into a larger building. There’s no end of the buildings here, they’ve been excavating them and as one is opened up, they put people in them. Instead of scrubbing data, I’ve been scrubbing floors,” she said, ruefully. “But it’s been raining a lot, lately, so if I have to be inside, at least I’m off my butt for a while, even if I do have to scrub,” she said.

“What, why...” he said, confused.

“Things are all upside down right now. Landing is being re-organized. Some sections are being consolidated, some are being restructured, others are being disbanded. The goal is to get related branches of service or research all together in one building. So there’s a lot of moving of equipment, it’s been a big noisy mess for several weeks now,” she said.

“Hmmm. That’s unfortunate, because I wanted to talk to whomever took possession of the smanda G’alin and I brought in,” he said. “I want to find out why Landing is interested in them,” he said.

“Because I see most of the data they input, I’ve learned that the smanda is a very unusual beast. They have all sorts of features, if that’s the word, that might prove to be extremely useful. For instance, their saliva? It’s perfect for sealing things against water,” she said.

“That’s what my Weyrleader said,” K’ndar said. “You said ‘they’ like there’s more than one? Was there more than one in the, um, pod? Nest? That we brought in?”

“Yes, there’s more. Science sent G’alin and a team back to Far Nowhere. They brought back, oh, a dozen smandas. I don’t know what else they’ve done, I’m sure Raylen can fill you in. Come on, I was just heading to work after my breakfast, and I’ll show you to his division’s new building. I’m sure he’ll be happy to fill you in. He’s been promoted, by the way! He deserved it, too. He’s Head of Science Division, now,” she said.

“Is that a big step up? And what is a ‘division’?”

She nodded as they entered Landing’s main building. Despite having been there several times before, K’ndar was still amazed at the automatic doors, ones that opened with just a wave of one’s hand.

“It is a big step up, in responsibility, at least. Divisions are like wings, in the same manner as dragon riders wings, they have wingleaders, aye? I’m sure that, as Lytol is Council Leader Emeritus as well as a dragonrider, the divisions are exact replicas of wings. So Raylen is now a Wingleader,” she said.

“That’s great!” he said, genuinely happy for Raylen. Jansen waved at the man behind the reception counter. “Hi, this is K’ndar, he’s with me,” she said, as she snagged a Visitor ID badge from a basket on the counter.

“I know him, Miss Jansen, I’ve seen him before. Welcome back, K’ndar,” the man said.

“Thank you, sir, it’s nice to be back,” K’ndar said. He felt embarrassed that he had no idea of the man’s name, nor did he remember ever seeing him.

Jansen handed the lanyarded badge to him. “Hang this around your neck, it will open most doors for you,” she said.

“”Most?”” he repeated.

“Yes, which can be tricky, it’s easy to get lost in this maze,” she said.

“I can see that! How did you ever find your way around?”

“Oh, I got lost, more times than I like to admit, at first. It’s no better now, as EVERYBODY is moving around at the same time. Sometimes there’s piles of books and computers in a hallway while one team moves out, and the new team is waiting to move in. It’s all hands on deck, Management wants everything settled by the end of the month, so we’re busting our behinds.”

“Why are they rearranging?”

“Long story...when Aivas began introducing new concepts, new lines of research and development, new things and especially computers, people had to find a place to work. No one had ever made a detailed inventory of what was here, because fighting Thread was of utmost importance...then, of course, Aivas's arranging for the engines dropped on the Red Star...so things were allowed to just BE, you know, there were things that needed all our attention, and at the time, where you worked wasn’t a high priority. People would just find a spot in a building that had power restored, set up their equipment and start working. Some were in a building all by themselves on the edge of the compound, others would squeeze into whatever spot they could find in Landing Main. It was as if one’s home kitchen had been set up next to the harness maker’s shop next to the hay barn.”

He could see people moving all over, some with loaded carts.

“Management is determined to finally put the whole of Landing into logical order. They’ve created this huge map that is constantly being updated as offices report their status in moving. It’s a mammoth task. Everyone has to stop what they’re doing unless it’s vitally important and try to get it done. It’s probably why your Weyrleader is here, Management wanted representatives from every Weyr, Hall and Craft to gain their perspective. They’ve spent the last few weeks just trying to add up who does what where and why. Then they had to discuss if that venue is necessary, and to top it all off, they’re inventorying equipment. I wonder if we’re going to finish in time!

Adding to the chaos is that some folks resist moving their operations to some other building, or worse, being...um, disbanded. Some people have been in the same spot for years. The ones being disbanded are howling, too, despite Management’s promise that a new job will be found for them.”

“Disbanded? Meaning what?” K’ndar asked.

“Nice way of saying, no more need for that line of work. For instance, we don’t really need Threadfall forecasts now. Research on it will be curtailed, but not stopped. Believe it or not, Landing’s got a whole cache of thread spores, stored in vacuum to keep them dormant.”

“By the egg, WHY?” K’ndar shuddered, “That stuff is dangerous.”

“Someday, we might need to do more research on it. It will never be the threat it once was. I think the philosophy is taken from an old Terran saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” she said. “But there’s no need to predict its fall anymore. When it fell, the people who did that work were vitally necessary. But now? Now they’re out of a job. And out of sorts about it, to boot! They’ve had a nice long holiday, and only now has Management realized that they really aren’t necessary anymore," she said.

“No doubt! What do they do with the folks who are ‘disbanded’?”

“Oh, they’re given the opportunity to cross train into a new job,” she said.

“Huh. I bet there’s some resistance to that!”
“Oh, you have no idea! Once things got started at re-organizing, the engineers and maintenance folks, started getting a lot of pushback from the folks who had to move, we called them homesteaders or cotholders. Not all of them, mind you, but some folks, flat out refused to move. Oh, the moaning and whining to Management! They’d line up outside the entrance to Managements reception area, just waiting to give anyone a piece of their mind. They’d even gripe to me as I was walking past them. As if I have any power?” She snorted. Taking his arm, she said, “Come on, I’ve nattered long enough. Follow me.”

He was glad she knew where she was going. He’d been in Landing’s Main Reception building several times, but it was virtually empty now, and they were exiting through another door. They made their way past several buildings until he was completely lost.

“I’m pretty sure Science is in that one,” she said.

“Pretty sure? You’re not sure sure?” he said, nervously.

I know where you are. Siskin will find you and lead you to me if you need help Raventh said.

K’ndar laughed and felt better.

“I’m sure, K’ndar, don’t worry. We’re still in Landing,” she laughed.

“Well, Raventh just told me he’d send in a Siskin search party if I need it,” he said.

“Okay, Science is the next building over,” she said.

“I hope they’re going to put signs up? Can I just draw a rune on the side of the building?”

Jansen giggled. "That’s not a bad idea! I’ll pass that on!”

“What..so, what will be in the building where I got the badge?” K’ndar said.

“That will still stay as Reception for all visitors. Each division will have a representative there to further direct the visitors and guests,” she said.

“Like you?” he asked, hopefully.

“No, I won’t be working in there because I’m mid-level now, but there’s a girl who will be from my division who will help with the average citizen who comes in with data. The man at the front desk, he and others will be there to direct people who come to Landing. Oh, and it will be mainly for Council meetings with people from the Holds, Halls and Weyrs. It’s big enough to handle a lot of folks.

Each division will be in their own building, with related lines of research all together. Don’t worry, K’ndar, we’re planning of having kids wearing brassards who will take you where you want to go. The kids, K’ndar, they figure the buildings out like that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “It’s a game to them, and it gives them a sense of purpose,” she said.

“I’ll keep an eye out for one, then, I don’t want to keep you tied up all day with me,” he said.

“Not to worry, I’ll drop you at Science, as I bet my boots Raylen’s there rather than in his main office. He might be Division head now, but he’s still a scientist and prefers being where it’s being done. When you’re ready to leave, just have him contact me, I’ll come and get you. Unless, of course, you want to wander through Landing for a lifetime,” she said, smirking.
“I’d rather not, but if I can find the dining hall and the Library, I’ll survive,” he said.

They entered the Science building. Here there was a reception desk, but it was unmanned.

He followed her through a maze of smaller offices, the doors whisking open before them and shutting with a woosh after they’d passed through. He laughed.

She turned, with a question mark on her face.

“I could play with the doors all day,” he explained, and she laughed, too.

“They are fun, aren’t they? We have to chase the kids off all the time, they’d be here opening and closing them forever if we didn’t,” she said.

“Do you, um..like being ‘reorganized”?”

“It’s okay, I guess. I have a lot more room in which to work, now, and putting Data all under one roof, with just one person to answer to, makes sense and the flow much smoother. And I don’t have Miklos nearby,” she shuddered at the idea of the reclusive DNA specialist. “He was, um, pretty rank and totally uncommunicative. Not that I wanted to chat with him! But I won’t be in the same building as Raylen, now. I’ll miss Raylen, that’s for certain,” she said.

“I’ll have to congratulate Raylen, then. Did this promotion put him higher than Shawn?”

Jansen stopped and looked at him with an odd expression, then smirked.

“Shawn. Hmmm. Shawn. Acquisition is now in its own building. So I won’t have to put up with High and Mighty Shawn anymore. Honestly, Miklos, for all his smelly faults, was far easier to work around. Shawn, though?” she said, pulling on his arm to bring his ear closer to her, said in a conspiratorial whisper, “Shawn’s been...well, let’s just say he’s being closely watched, now. He’s good at Acquisition, you know, but, too good.

Rumor has it that some of his acquisitions are missing, as is all of the supporting documentation. Shawn blames ‘sloppy intake’...always blaming someone else, and now, he blames the reorganization, but things don’t get lost THAT easily. Nor does he know that the moment something is entered into the database, it's sent to several offices, not just mine.  So I know that an item was turned in, but I don't know where it is.

The new policy is, whenever something is brought in, whether it’s useful or an artifact or just something a farmer turned up while plowing, whatever, it’s immediately cataloged and given a specific number generated by the database. Three people sign off on each item, rather than just the person at the front desk in Landing Main.

Before the things were just set aside where there was room for them and until Shawn had “time to examine them and categorize them”, she said, making quote marks with her fingers.
“Now there’s a secured building dedicated solely to artifacts and acquisitions, and most folks aren’t allowed in. Even me, I can’t get in there, but I don’t need to, I have access to the data they log in. I shouldn’t gossip, but it’s been suspected for a long time that Shawn, um, ‘redistributes’ acquisitions, and right now, they could be just about anywhere in Landing. THAT is being rectified with this reorganization. Although I'm betting some things will never be found," she said.

“Check his weyr,” K’ndar said immediately.

“Already done that, nothing out of the ordinary in his quarters. But...things just don’t go between without help,” she said. “Stuff just doesn't melt away into thin air. Someone has to make it disappear.

"Hmmph. I have a good idea where," he said.

"Yeah, me too. He was called in front of Council a few weeks ago, just him and the staff, so he could explain the shortfalls in acquisitions. When he came out he looked as if, he’d been, to quote my grandfather, “shot at and missed, shit at and hit.”

K'ndar snickered at that. “I’d have given a lot to see that,” he said.

“Oh, it gets better,” she said. “He’s on unofficial probation for the moment, they’re trying to determine if his position should be disbanded. He’s no longer allowed to handle anything brought in without a witness, so he’s actually been civil for a while. Very proper, all policy and protocol, you know? But, being Shawn, I don’t expect that to last long, he’ll figure out a way,” she said. “I can let you know more, later, because here we are,” she said.

They stopped in front of a large building. Someone had scribbled “Science Division” on a slate by the main doors.

“Oh, before I let you go, remember I said that some people resisted being moved or disbanded?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Well, it’s sort of funny. One man in my division, I don’t know him very well because he wasn’t in my building. He was pissed when he learned his position was being disbanded. He’d not really provided any work of any value in years. He argued with management, and flat out refused to take a new position or cross train. He insisted he be kept on at the same level if not promoted, no way was he going to let them just make his position disappear.

Management said they’d look at the issue one more time, but K’ndar, I know it was a done deal. The man arrowed his own foot by refusing their offer of a new job. That and his attitude, he was sneering at them, mocking their efforts to re organize. They were just trying to ease him out gently. I mean, what can they do? If everyone who wanted to live at Landing without a reason for being there, we’d be up to our necks with people. Landing’s not a Hold or Craft or even a Hall...it’s all of those and none.

I think it was just after that meeting with the man that Management had a crisis pop up. Someone had invaded their computers with a datalink! He did all sorts of mischief,” she said.

“Let me guess, Shawn?”

“Oh, nice guess but you give him too much credit. He’s not that clever,” she said, “No, it was, well, kind of funny. The man who didn’t want to give up his cozy position? It was his 10 year old kid. He used one of Library’s datalinks to tap into Management’s organizational planning database.
Oh, that kid was BUSY. He completely changed the re-organization chart. He re-arranged work schedules, changed building designations for entire divisions, disbanded the school teachers, changed the menus at the dining halls to have bubbly pies for every meal. And he deleted every Management position save for ONE, the head of Management, and who did he put in that position? Dear old Dad!"

K'ndar roared. "Not to difficult to track down the invader, I bet!"

Jansen laughed. "Like tracking a muddy dog across a clean floor. Even so, at first, it was a mess. For one entire day, we had a stand down to see what the shaff had happened,” she said.
"Once Management traced who had done it, the man was called in and told that his services were no longer required and he had a week to move out of his quarters and go elsewhere. I was told the shouting could be heard all over Landing, and the man’s argument was that HE wasn’t to blame, it was his KID’S fault. It made for some interesting reading, for sure!” she said.

“So, the man, did he leave?”

“Oh, yes. It was just two weeks ago. Packed up his family and took a ship to Northern, where was originally from, but cussed everyone out on the way. He got even, though. Once he'd vacated his quarters, the headwoman found that they'd trashed it. What a pigsty! Being that he was in my division, we were responsible for his quarters. It’s taken me and two others a whole week to get it even semi-habitable. There was no need for that! That’s where I’ve been working all this week, cleaning up. Good riddance, I say..he didn’t need to destroy the quarters.

But K’ndar, the funny thing is, I was responsible for curating Management’s report on the whole situation. It said, that, in essence, the kid was an organizational genius, he’d done a better job of re-organizing than they had, so from that moment on, they adopted the kid's organizational plan instead of their original one. AND ended the report with a footnote, “Let’s keep track of the boy, when he’s of age, HIRE him.”