EvanÆs sea of anger parted A ray of light pierced through the storm clouds overhead and loosed its light over his body Coughing out his long held breath Evan stammered So then
But I need time to prepare our counterstroke Senator HeathridgeÆs tone changed Half measures will be useless And I have to admit it was only after investigating the movements of some of my fellow Senators that I was able to spot the trap that he had laid and it is certainly was so seamlessly woven into our offensive against them that I almost missed it
After a pause the Senator continued What ultimately tipped me off was how silent my enemies had been over the past several weeks I thought I had finally built up some momentum but even then they had been too passive I am not so prideful to give my enemies any opening so I did so research
And when I examined the facts one definitive possibility remained they were simply biding their time Because when I scrutinized the schedules of some of the neutral Senators well there was one commonality they had all visited Erickson Steel within the last week
well didnÆt they need to Evan asked slowly easing away from his anger Out of habit he picked up a cigarette and lit it As long as he was quiet there shouldnÆt be any way for the Senator to find out After Erickson Steel pulled their branches Hell I would want to come in person to confirm that the business wasnÆt about to fail Especially for the Senators who probably rely on a lot of industries that use Erickson Steel
Exactly ThatÆs why we missed the insidious truth Senator HeathridgeÆs voice dropped to a whisper slithering out of the terminal We were so focused on the costs that Erickson Steel would incur we never considered the benefits of such a bold arrangement Such as providing a convenient excuse for many important political figures to meet clandestinely with the leader of Erickson Steel
As the Senator continued to speak that strange trace in his voice grew and grew I hadnÆt put much stock in the news that the Ghosthound had returned to the business but in light of this brilliant plan I have no choice but to admit that IÆm dancing with someone far superior to me The man is truly a kingmaker it is no fluke that Senator Firefly has risen so sharply to prominence And now that Randidly Ghosthound has had private meetings with the neutral faction I can begin to see the shape of his plan Erickson Steel is just a stepping stone for him A convenient front
Erickson Steel is not just Evan Crane grunted but by this point Senator Heathridge was on a roll It was like the other man was so wrapped up in his explanation that he didn’t even hear EvanÆs interruption And it sounded like Senator Heathridge was starting to breathe heavily
This was never about the company this was about so much more than that Three of the most innocuous Senators that came here to speak about the steel had one very specific thing in common they were the ringleaders of the Western Coalition
You likely have not have heard but big changes are coming through for the political sphere of Earth Although Donnyton has been quiet Zone SevenÆs push for the governments to come together and name a world capital is gaining more and more traction abroad Most of the Orders have been waiting for the Order Ducis to make a move but they are leaning strongly toward choosing a location and centralizing authority It would simplify their jobs immensely
And yet Evan murmured Oddly the emotion that he finally recognized in the SenatorÆs tone was worship What does this have to do with Erickson Steel
Come off it Crane Senator Heathridge scoffed It might be the current leader in metallurgy but how long will that last We have squeezed their ore supply down to a trickle Even if they had a secret recipe for another metal that could revolutionize the current standard how long will it take for our scientists to crack their formula We already realize that the metal is made by mixing the bones of monsters into the alloy The rest is inevitable
ItÆs the center of everything Erickson Steel We always said that My my plan Now Evan CraneÆs voice dropped to a whisper Surreptitiously he lit another the cigarette and pulled as hard as he could His hands were trembling
ThatÆs why it was such a genius move of Randidly Ghosthound to sacrifice it Senator Heathridge hissed It sparked so brilliantly our eyes were fixed upon it But this whole time he was playing us for fools By placing the company directly in our crosshairs heÆs been able to hide all of his true moves in Congress If I hadnÆt gone back through the travel schedules of the prominent members of Congress hehehe itÆs such a bold stroke
While Senator Heathridge seemed to be caught up in some emotion halfway between awe and envy Evan Crane struggled to control his much more violent emotions He knew Heathridge although he currently was caught up in some fixation the man was still incredibly intelligent He simply wasnÆt seeing that Randidly Ghosthound wasnÆt the problem It was Erickson Steel itself that provided such value
But Evan couldnÆt just say that outright and point out how strange it was Heathridge was too arrogant to admit he was wrong Instead it was better to try and lead Senator there with guided logic
Pushing the cigarette smoke out through his nose Evan asked Perhaps this is just a ploy but what does Erickson Steel resisting the police have to do with other Zones trying to make a world capital Randidly Ghosthound possibly meeting with these Senators what does it all mean Do we have any proof of this
The proof is in the pure genius Senator Heathridge breathed All the pieces weÆve already seen from Erickson Steel we just didnÆt understand the shape We thought they were solving a puzzle but they were building a palace Even I until I received a bit of intel from the West The new Zone contact has been established They are currently under the protection of the Western Coalition After making the hundred kilometer journey on foot without any difficulty in only two days A journey that had them coming up South past Lake Apollo
Evan blinked slowly That was the direction that the Ghosthound was last sighted heading
So let me put it plainly for you Senator Heathridge ground his teeth at such an intensity that Evan could hear it over the phone for several seconds Only then with his deep frustrations vented did he speak The Western Coalition has been trying to convince the Zone Transportation Board to expand its network in the West for months to fuel industrial growth in the region We the opposition have opposed such a measure to specifically isolate Erickson Steel in the Western Region
Suddenly out of nowhere Randidly Ghosthound appears and allegedly within a night produces an Engraving pattern for a train car that revolutionizes the energy consumption After that Erickson Steel provides the schematics to the ZTB for no charge and they are suddenly the best of friends Without missing a beat Erickson Steel makes no use of this newfound relationship capital Instead they make the inexplicable decision to close all of their branches
We thought they were on the run or planning some sort of move But what this really did was drag some Senators in crucial positions to the Erickson Steel Headquarters Where Randidly Ghosthound met them and explained his proposition If they helped him with his true goal he would provide them the push to expand the manatech rails in their territory After all Erickson Steel now had the ear of the ZTB And what better cherry to sweeten the dessert than telling about the newly connected Zone
Then Randidly Ghosthound headed South For all that he has been a mystery no one denies that he is definitely a very high Level He has more than enough strength to assist the expedition from the new Zone in making it through the badlands to arrive at Zone 1 Where they are conveniently found and protected by members of the Western Coalition Picked up as if they had known they were coming the entire time
Evan Crane licked his lips But there is one thing that I donÆt understand I I can see the moves I can even see sort of how Randidly would offer these things to all of these different entities But but what does he want And also why did he choose to antagonize the police As long as he stays in Zone 1 that will come back to bite him