Chapter 30 - Bringing Down the Hammer
Chapter Text
Hammerschmidt, former Sergeant of the Empire, came from a banking background. That is to say, he knew the lingo, understood the personalities, but lacked the resources to do anything about it. Their lands had been right in the middle of the invasion of the Republic and to say they had been ruined by the war was a gross understatement. Still he had survived pretty intact excepting a few interesting scars he could impress the frauleins with when he the opportunity to take off his shirt.
Today, however, he was on a different mission... treasure hunting. He was dressed in his best suit. Newish but not excessively so. Worn just enough that it appeared to be everyday clothing rather than something for special occasions. The perfect outfit for fitting in at a bank like a camouflaged predator. He had a disarming smile and was a favorite with tellers all over Berun and he was going to make good use of those contacts.
Women were relegated to the most menial positions at the bank (mostly due to seniority) but that didn't mean they lacked ability or wit. Not a thing was done by their male bosses that didn't also go under their eyes to be remembered when prompted by one Jonas Hammerschmidt!
"Ah, Yvette, you are as lovely as dawn on a spring day! Why must your radiance be obscured in these dusty and dim halls? Come have lunch with me and breathe the air of freedom."
"Jonas, you rogue, you only come when you need something." Despite her words, she was already reaching for her hat and coat. "Breecker's sound good?"
"For you, anything." Over lunch, he told her what Degurechaff was looking for (without mentioning the Colonel by name, naturally).
She sipped a nice Riesling (rare these days) and asked bluntly. "Why are you chasing after so much bad debt? And don't give me any nonsense, I can see through you like a stained-glass window... that's been broken by vandals."
"Truce, truce! I had enough of violence during the war! Instead of information, how about an offer? You help me out with this, and your name goes on a major win for your bank. Maybe a promotion as well?"
"You officially have my interest. But I also want SOME details."
"First, to preface things, what are the banks two biggest problems right now?"
"Lack of liquidity and bad debt," she answered immediately. "If they were any more illiquid, the air would solidify. And to say they are drowning in bad debt is at best a horrible understatement and probably closer to outright perjury."
"Well, I might be able to fix, to a certain degree, both of those problems."
She stared at him like he grew another head. "I'm sorry, I think I drank too much wine." She poured herself a new glass to emphasize the point. "I think I'd be less startled if you said you could walk on water. How? Moreover, why?"
"How is easy. Gold. Specifically gold owned by people who want to invest. Why is also easy. To make even more money."
"Details. Now."
He grinned amiably. "This is the part where we talk. If I'm talking, you are in."
"Nothing criminal, right? It wouldn't be like you but these are desperate times."
"Of course not."
She took a deep breath. It might mean her job, but her career wasn't going anywhere and if there were cuts, she'd be the first to go. "I'm in."
"We want those debts but at pfennigs on the mark. Anything foreclosed, anything owned by the bank and sitting idle, even any mortgages or loans about to go belly up. Let's be honest, no one is buying and whatever value they have is dropping daily. Oh they have value on the books but we all know what a solid audit would say about that."
"Gott in Himmel, Jonas, you say that so casually. The president has been keeping the auditors at bay only through his personal contacts and favors for months."
"Your job is to find what we need and find their absolute bottom line. I walk in there with a hard offer for the entire portfolio and the bank gets some needed hard currency. No one is taking marks these days but everyone wants gold."
"The write-offs would be staggering."
He shrugged. "That's a problem for tomorrow. For today, survival is still not certain. Don't worry, you get me knife and I'll do the twisting."
She grinned with a feral gleam that reminded Jonas of his time in the Rhine. "Give them an extra twist for me, okay?"
* * *
Jonas repeated this conversation with dozens of his friends in various banks. He was careful who he talked to, and chose them well. That being the case, he was well-prepared for the meetings to follow. All the bankers knew going into it was that he had money and was looking to spend it.
Banker Obermann had been tipped off to this opportunity by Yvette and, after suitable compensation and a written promise of a raise if it came to fruition, the meeting was scheduled. They kept the meeting intimate, just the two of them. Obermann because he didn't want anyone getting a cut of the action and Jonas because he didn't have anyone who could act as an assistant. Fortunately, his solo presence was viewed as confidence and not a lack of manpower.
"So, Herr Obermann, I have a number of properties and loans I want to purchase. I think you'll find that all are close to wasted paper at this point." He pushed his wishlist to the man, mixed in with some other items to not make it seem too obvious. Jonas was prepared to cut those other items out as a bargaining tactic.
The banker could hardly contain his excitement. This would write off a significant portion of the bank's bad debt. It would be ugly in the short term but better than a death by inches. "I think we can come to an agreement on these, Herr Hammerschmidt. Do you have a figure in mind?"
Jonas confidently tossed out a number. It was about half of what Yvette had said was his bottom line, not even including the red herring items on the list. "I think you'll find that figure most fair."
"My dear sir, that's barely better than theft! We want to write off some bad debt, true, but not give it away." He actually became angry that he wasting his time with this nonsense!
"Surely not. Didn't I make something clear... I'd be paying in gold and dollars from the Unified States."
"The entire amount? In gold and dollars?"
"Indeed. Immediately." He patted his briefcase which was full of gold bullion and high-denomination dollars.
Obermann swallowed heavily but tried not to show it. "That's still a unprecedented write-off. I'm not sure I could justify it to the board."
Jonas leaned forward. "May I be frank? That debt is nigh worthless now and it's getting worse. I could come back tomorrow but my offer will be lower then, not higher. So you know, I am visiting a good dozen other banks as well. My pockets are deep, but not infinitely so. When my budget is reached, the shopping spree ends."
"Who are you working for, I must know!"
"Tut-tut! Surely you don't believe I'd reveal that? So you have a decision to make... cut the wound and lose a hand, or bleed out for months until it diseases the rest of the body."
"A most unpleasant analogy."
"The war changed us all. So what's your answer? I have places to be and my schedule is quite tight."
The banker sighed and then squared his shoulders. "Deal." He stuck out his hand.
Now it was Hammerschmidt's turn to be surprised. He hadn't bothered to dicker at all! He was only lost for a second though and shook the proffered hand. After much signing of papers, the briefcase of money turned into a briefcase of mortgages, deeds and other paper. He blew Yvette a kiss on his way out (which she ignored) as left for his next stop. Three very dangerous members of the 203rd escorted him and guarded a stack of nearly identical briefcases as they chauffeured him to all the major banks of Berun.
In the end, he got almost everything he wanted, usually at prices that boggled the mind. He knew times were rough, but this level of capitulation was stunning. What was he missing?
* * *
The missing factor was the desperation of the Political Office and the current administration. The pressure they were putting on the banks to acquire hard currencies was enormous. There was talk of nationalizing all of them which, in layman's terms, was little more than a call for theft and looting of their assets. Besides, Hammerschmidt had told the exact truth: he was buying something that worthless to them in practical terms but only had significant value on paper. Not having a sucker to dump it on, the next best thing was to get some amount for them, even a token amount... as long as the token was made of gold.
Having managed to more than complete his mission, Jonas had an embarrassingly large quantity of gold left on hand. To his credit, he wasn't even slightly tempted to take it since he was both a good man and patriot. Unlike most, he intimately understood what Degurechaff was planning and wanted to be part of it, to revitalize the bloodied and bowed empire so that it could rise again.
The 'headquarters' of TvD was modest apartment near downtown Berun. He strongly suspected that it was the flat rented by the Degurechaff and Serebryakov, but he hadn't had the gauche or courage to ask. "Ah, Colonel, my mission is complete!"
Visha correctly mildly, "That's Frau von Degurechaff, if you must be formal. Military ranks are behind us now."
"Of course." The soldiers from the 203rd came in with many briefcases full of deeds and paperwork and somewhat fewer cases still filled with gold.
Tanya looked over them with a raised eyebrow. "Complete, but there's a lot of funds left. Was it successful?"
"Incredibly so, if I may be bold. They took my low offer without more than token protest and seemed relieved to do so. I ended up with much, much more than we had discussed."
She looked slightly shocked at the tally he presented her. "This much? I had several plans if we were running low on funds, but none to account for such a surplus! Take a quarter, no half of what's left and go bargain hunting. There is no need to rush; it's better if they get somewhat desperate."
"Bargains better than what we already have? I find that idea exciting and disturbing all at once."
"As well you should! What's sweet today is hiding the bitter pills of tomorrow. The best we can do is adjust the sail and try to ride out the storm." She rapped on the table to change the subject. "Enough of that, you have your next task, go have fun with it! This time, we really only want their true bottom line. Every day you have to go back, drop your offer by a percentage point or two and remind them about the difference in zero and not zero. Oh, and see if you can recruit some smart people who know how to handle finances. We'll need a lot of them soon." Four or five more like him should be enough to handle all our needs for next few years. What a great resource we found in him!
Hammerschmidt was smart, even when compared to his peers. His intelligence had gotten him through college until he joined the army and then helped him survive the Rhine front. Part of that was knowing what his superiors wanted with only a hint of a direction. She obviously has big plans in the financial world that go beyond these first steps. Let me pull in all my contacts and the ambitious ones at the banks. Fifty should be enough I think? "Yes, ma'am!"
After he left, Visha and she went through the huge stack of their new properties and sorted them. Shuttered businesses in one pile, upside-down mortgages or ones long past due in another, and so on. "Hmmm, what's this?" Tanya examined one more closely. "Oh, a bankrupt newspaper. Hmmmm, all the facilities are intact. This could be useful!" She put it aside for special handling later.
"We're going to run our own newspaper?"
"Publishing house, actually, but a newspaper first. The Commies are wrong about everything but they are skilled at some things. One is their use of propaganda. If you tell a big lie, often enough, and with enough passion, people will begin to believe it. Since they are masters of lies, they never realized that the same techniques work with the truth as well." She sighed. "People who believe in the rightness of truth and logic expect everyone else to see things equally dispassionately and they get surprised when the world is against them... even if they are 100% correct! What we can do is tell Big Truths in such a way that they have the same emotional impact as Big Lies. Don't mistake it! We were beaten by passion in the Great War, not tanks, not men, not mages, not tactics. Both theirs and ours, I'm ashamed to say. Fortunately, our politicos in Berun are terrible at propaganda so we just have to be slightly better than them."
"Shall we start soon, then?" Visha said after thinking for a second.
Tanya chuckled. "You are getting better by the day! Yes, of course. This foreclosure statement is just a month old so the facilities should be in fine shape when we print The Truth. In fact Die Wahrheit is a good name for it, so let's go with that. Find a couple of veterans that have worked in papers before either on the presses or as reporters. For the most part, I want to only use reliable freelancers and have minimal permanent staff. Oh, all permanent staff get a share of the profits but lower salaries. Make sure they know that."
Visha took notes as Tanya spoke. "We should do something different from the other papers. We'll need to get a lot of attention or it might fold again."
"Easily done. Keep your pen out!"
* * *
Gustav found his brother reading a newspaper with unusual care which was rather out of character for him as he was hardly a person who spent excessive amounts of time in study of any sort, much less current events. "Walter, what's so exciting there? You look like a man possessed."
"Eh? Oh, Gustav! It's White Silver's new newspaper, Die Wahrheit."
"White... you mean Colonel Degurechaff, the mage?"
"Yes, yes!"
"You still haven't answered my question. I can't recall the last time I saw you reading a newspaper."
"This one is a bit different. They have a prize every week, you see."
"Hrm. Tell me more."
"So, if they print something inaccurate, you can get 100 marks... in coins!"
Gustav snorted. "Ridiculous! They would go out of business immediately if even a tiny thing slipped by!"
"Well, there are restrictions. The prize is only given out once per week and it has to be more than just a little typo or grammar error." He turned to the back of the paper and read the rules. "If they print a correction in time, that doesn't qualify, it has to be within the last two weeks and you have to use this form printed here and mail it in."
"That does sound interesting but what if..."
Walter stopped him. "I know what you are going to say. What if they don't give out the prize that often or don't admit they are wrong? That's where it gets interesting, the prize accumulates UNTIL it is paid out. So eventually there will be an error and BOOM, big money! You just have to be the first to find it."
"Haaaaaaa... fine, that does sound interesting. Mind if I give it a read?"
"Get your own, I'm using this one!"
Although featuring that gimmick, the paper focused on solid reporting sometimes mixed in with scandals of various public officials. It prominently announced each winner on the prize page along with an amusing selection of failed attempts. Also of note were the dramatic photos by aerial journalists that graced every edition. The entertainment value caused people to ignore the slightly higher price as they very carefully read every article.
Advertisers were a bit more wary, despite the rapidly increasing readership because one of the first winners pointed out the inaccuracies in an advertisement. That didn't stop most, however, from buying space as their products would get a halo of respectability. Everything in Die Wahrheit was literally The Truth in the eyes of many readers.
Which is exactly what Tanya wanted.
Chapter 31 - Land Ho!
Visha sat on her favorite chair, or rather she collapsed onto it. While her time in the trenches was no comparison, she found her days beginning to resemble them even if she wasn't being shelled by artillery. "Ah, just a few minutes and then there's that meeting with the new workers." Before she knew it, she was sound asleep.
Tanya floated in the room, because she forgotten her slippers, and saw her adjutant asleep, slumped in her chair. She frowned and then carefully placed a blanket on her before floating out again.
Due to being unconscious, Visha didn't witness the blistering diatribe the Devil of the Rhine laid on her workers. The essence was that everyone, at every level, needed to think for themselves and if they wanted to forgo higher thought processes, they were no better than cattle and needed to head to the slaughterhouse so they could feed people more productive then they are!
When the ex-Captain woke up, it was to the smell of dinner or, rather, she woke up because of the smell of dinner. "Mmmmm... that smells lovely. W-wait, what time is it?! Oh no!"
"Relax, Visha, everything's been handled. Come, let's eat!" The table had been set with some largish weisswursts, himmel und erde, apfelkraut and what looked like a light ale that Visha enjoyed. "I'm afraid I didn't cook, but I did pick it out."
As if in a dream, Visha sat down and loaded her plate with the Bavarian treats and sides. "I don't know what to say."
"No need. You've been working far too hard! You need to learn to delegate more and find some reliable subordinates. Hammerschmidt should be bringing us a few soon but I reminded everyone else that you aren't their personal oracle that can answer all their questions." She cut her sausage and enjoyed a bite that had cooled just enough to be enjoyable. Though her caloric output had dropped tremendously due to the lack of combat, her still-growing body demanded nearly the same amount as in the past.
"I know, I've been trying hard to..."
"That's the problem! We're not at war and there's nothing happening that we should sacrifice for. Not sleep, not health, nothing! Here's an order: find time to enjoy yourself! Go to nice restaurants, get a hobby, take a nap, pet a cat, whatever!"
"You don't do any of those things," she said primly while eating heartily. "Except for the restaurants."
"Ah, you got me. But to tell the truth, I'm doing what I enjoy. I like the intellectual challenge, making plans, seeing them through. You also don't see me falling asleep in the middle of the day, eh?"
Visha blushed and nodded.
"Now remember, you are my right hand, not some grunt! When they see, they should see your authority as well. It's almost time to incorporate and start handing out titles and formalizing everything but there's so many eggs in the air right now. Give it a week and we'll be ready eh, Ms. Vice President?"
Visha almost choked on a mouth of apfelkraut? "Cough-cough-cough! What?"
Tanya grinned, amused by the reaction. "Don't sell yourself short, Visha. I trust you more than anyone on the planet and you are good at what you do. Who else would I pick?" I guess that makes two planets if I was being precise. "Well, you accepting or what?"
"I don't know, i-it's so sudden. Shouldn't it be more formal, you know..." She was thinking of contracts and other legal matters.
Goodness, I didn't think she'd fight this much! Well, if I must... Tanya got on one knee, held her hand and said solemnly, "Viktoriya Ivanova Serebryakov, would you do me the honor of being my Vice President?"
Visha blushed in ways that she had never experienced before but her combat experience allowed her to recover quickly. "Well, I guess I could for awhile at least." She then broke down laughing!
Tanya took her seat (momentarily remembering that it wasn't long ago that she needed a boost to eat with others) and laughed as well. "Good! Now that that is settled, we are going on a short trip tomorrow. It shouldn't take more than three days."
"A trip? This is sudden."
"Yes, well, some things have to be done in person." She waived at the stacks of paper in their 'office'. "We are the proud owners of far too many mortgages about to default. Unlike those banks, I have no desire to lose money on worthless documents because they can't find a new idea with both hands." She nodded knowingly. "One great advantage of not having incorporated YET is that we can make all the decisions even if they would normally cause a board of directors to scream like banshees. Later on, we'll have to be more strict about things but right now things are freer."
"It's because they trust you." she said with conviction.
"Of course you're right. And working hard not to betray that trust is important. Just remember life is to live and not just surviving!" Hear that, Being X? Screw you! I'm going to live a great life and spite you!
They clinked glasses then, ale to water!
* * *
The town meeting was unusual in that it had been called by an outsider. The farmers were of hearty stock, used to labor and privation, but even they looked beaten down. Their eyes had the long stares that you saw in soldiers who had lost hope but were still breathing, just getting by from day to day even though the future was too bleak to fathom.
Everyone here was suffering from mounting bills, terrible loans, defaulted mortgages. Mostly on farms, but other businesses as well. So many had lost loved ones in the Great War as soldiers came back broken or hadn't come back at all. Even those that hadn't lost all hope were angry. Angry at the war, the banks, the Francois, or just the world!
They had heard that their loans and mortgages had been purchased but why were the people whose properties had already been foreclosed here? They talked amongst themselves but no one had an answer.
Finally, two women came into the room. Well, one woman and a teenager to be perfectly accurate. The older one was barely an adult herself and was amazingly attractive. Her brown hair, beautiful skin and large blue eyes would do credit to a model or an actress but she was dressed conservatively and carried a largish portfolio. Despite this every eye was drawn to her companion. The younger one looked to be around thirteen but carried an air of authority like a cloak blown a convenient breeze. She had even paler skin that the other one, gleaming blonde hair and ice-blue eyes that seemed to stare through everyone she looked at. Any thought about asking questions stopped the second they saw her and the room quieted immediately.
Given the first impression, they were shocked when she began to speak. Somehow her lone voice carried to the ends of the room as if she was sitting right next to each of them. It was warm and somewhat comforting and made them feel like holding a hot cup of soup from a friend on a cold night. "Thank you for coming here tonight. I'm Tanya von Degurechaff... you may have heard of me."
Heard of her! At least this close to the Rhine, she was more well-known than the chancellor and certainly more famous than even the old Emperor! Even when news was censored to meaninglessness, word-of-mouth spread and amplified her exploits.
"I know you've all been troubled recently, as have we all. The war, the aftermath... terrible things. I... my friends and I... want to help."
There was a silence and one old farmer, bolder than most from having seen so much over his life, asked, "What can you do? The bills mount because no one can afford what we grow. We can't pay our loans, so we'll lose everything. Some of us have already lost their farms, their stores, their homes. How can you help with that?" Near the end, there was steel in his voice, but it faded quickly as he sat down.
"Believe me, I understand. Visha here, formerly Captain Serebryakov, and I went through hail of sword and storms of bullet and somehow survived. But surely all of you can say the same thing! We are still here! We are still alive! And where there's life, there's hope!" Before anyone could ask anything else, she continued. "You want solid answers and not rhetoric, so let's move on to that."
Visha piled up a largish stack of legal documents. Those close enough could see there were mortgages and loan papers in the untidy pile.
"My comrades and I, almost entirely made up of veterans and current officers of the Empire have pooled our back pay and resources and bought out your loans."
"How does that help?!" A youngster, too young to have been drafted but now working an adult's work in place of a missing adult. "We still owe so much, just now to you and not to the banks!"
She smiled briefly. "You would be surprised how much that can make a difference." She tapped the papers with her cane and they suddenly caught on fire! Those closest back off in fear but soon they noticed that the flames were entirely contained and didn't extend beyond the table. Soon there was nothing left but ashes.
"I want you, all of you to have a fresh start. Let us make a new covenant for a new future! We'll make new loan documents BUT with crucial changes. Instead of possessing nothing, each of you will now own half of whatever the value of your land, your homes and your businesses. Even if they have already been foreclosed. There will be a five year moratorium on interest and any old capitalized interest is gone just like these old papers."
"H-how can you manage to do this? That must've taken a fortune! Surely you're not so wealthy."
She shook her head. "A colonel's pay is handsome, but not so much as that. We went to the banks and convinced them it was better to sell to us than not. That was it. Even the greediest banker would rather see some money than none."
"That still doesn't help with how we pay you when no one is buying." The speaker was a middle-aged woman, hard nosed and practical. She had widow's eyes but wasn't nearly as depressed as the rest.
"Good point! We are going to use an accounting trick. Instead of marks, all transactions will be in Kredits. If you grow potatoes, we'll take potatoes. If you grow wheat, we'll take wheat. This is a stopgap, naturally. Instead of gold or some metal, Kredits are back by the value of our half of your deeds and whatever stock you have given us. Surely, you've all seen what the government is doing to the money? At the very least we have land and, well, potatoes to back these Kredits. Trade them amongst yourselves just like marks but when you deal with other towns, we'll do the business and whatever is needed to sell in those markets."
It was a foreign concept to most of them but, even if they didn't understand it, they found her words oddly persuasive. The way her eyes glistened with the light of honest and belief won them over. The more experienced ones realized it was just a way of moving debt and ownership around. Moreover, what persuaded most of them was the fact that when they came in the building, they had nothing, and now they had a hope for the future.
The new 'loan officer' was an ex-soldier who was shy a leg and his other foot but was otherwise healthy. He patiently explained to all of them how to use Kredits in day-to-day life. Fortunately, farm country wasn't a hotbed of commerce and they had little need to purchase things every day.
The middle-aged woman took it all in and seemed satisfied with the explanation but she suddenly hugged Tanya tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Her voice ended in a whisper. "The war took my Anton, my sons too. And it was soon to take me. Thank you. Thank you."
"Y-y-you're welcome, Frau!"
The woman finally let her go, unshed tears in her eyes. "I heard that you sang for the Francois. M-maybe you could sing for us and our lost ones?"
Tanya looked at her sternly. "They are NOT lost. Their blood is soaked into every field of battle... they are the foundation of the Empire!" She gestured to the whole room. "As are you all!" She thought back through her repertoire and hit upon a song that fit. Thankfully Marlene Dietrich had sung it in half a dozen languages.
"Where have the flowers gone? Long time passing.
Where have the flowers gone? Long time ago..."
When she was finished, she was greeted by tears or smiles, and most often both.
* * *
Officially, Visha and Tanya no longer had combat grade orbs. In actuality, Tanya her assassin's toy and Visha had a carefully hidden orb captured from a mage from the Unified States that would never need it (or anything else) anymore. Naturally, they didn't do anything foolish like fight with them, but Visha recorded everything important and became a deft hand at using tiny amounts of space to record the images of papers so they could be called up without resorting to warehouses of bulky papers.
Most certainly, anytime Tanya sang, it was very carefully recorded.
For her part, Tanya rarely used her orb. Her ability to shape magic without the need for an intermediary device was growing daily. She still couldn't do the massive amount of destruction possible with a military orb but during peacetime, who would need to?
Still, it was a lengthy process to transfer orb images to paper for long-term preservation. Basically they had to be photographed and then printed in a variety of time-consuming steps. And there was an inevitable loss of fidelity. Die Wahrheit was known for its extensive use of aerial photography but it certainly slowed down the production of the newspaper.
Tanya was that the printers, asking about the delays while a sweat-faced worker tried to explain the process.
"So the orb image is photographed and THAT picture is transferred by heating this surface, right?"
"Ummm, basically. That's a simplification, of course."
"Let me ask you, if the orb image was 'hot' in the proper way, could it be applied directly to the printing surface over there?"
"I guess so?"
"Get all the reporters in here that are in the building. Let's give this a try!"
It took several minutes to explain what they needed. The reporter mages had underpowered orbs... good enough to lift and hover, and to capture images. She was asking them to do something a little tricky but not beyond what the devices could manage. Tanya was able to get a good enough heat gradient out of her orb images to affect the printing plate quickly. After an hour, only two of the reporters could do it reliably.
"Those of you who can't do it, don't worry, just keep doing your job as is. You two... the others will transfer their images to you, orb to orb so there'll be no image quality degradation. One of you stop by in mornings and the other in the afternoon to do that chore. I know this takes up time from your reporting, so you'll get a bonus as well for every image we use in the paper, so make them good, right?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Tanya looked over the results between her and the other two. Frankly, both of theirs were somewhat better than hers and she attributed that to their artisitic natures. "One day we'll have some technicians to make specialized orbs to simplify the process but this is a reasonable workaround. In fact, You men have good heads, if any ideas occur to you, send them my way. I don't have a monopoly on inspiration." She turned to Visha, "Pass that down to everyone, please. Good ideas, opportunities, interesting news, anything that might be important. Bonuses for anything we can use and promotions for anyone who seems sharp enough to handle more responsibility."
"Ma'am, is this another area we are skipping formalities?"
Tanya grinned widely, "What are those? We're the bosses, Visha! If they can perform, they are in. If they can't, they are out. That's the way it should be, right?"
* * *
A thin man with round shaded lenses watched a building from a rented apartment through a gap in the curtains. He made careful notes in a small journal in a shorthand impossible to decipher by anyone else. Each person, the time and other relevant details. On occasion, he would lift his glasses and examine something through a small telescope. Next to him was a long, oblong case, suitable for holding an instrument. It was currently closed and secured with brass latches.
He tapped his journal with a finger and then jotted down one more note. He pursed his lips and murmured. "Hmmm, tomorrow. Yes."
Chapter 32 - Crosshairs
Astrid purchased a variety of things that it was better not to travel with and worked in their rented flat. Meanwhile Nova was enjoying a bit of a shopping spree that her Francs afforded her as the exchange rates were ever in her favor here in Germania. Not that she spent ALL her time spending money. Of the two, she had the knack of ferreting out information from more corporeal sources while her partner was in contact with the ethereal.
Astrid looked up from the floor when Nova came in but went back to her work. She had moved all the furniture to the edges of the room and had rolled up the carpet. She was drawing runes on the wooden floor and had embedded pins into the wood... some iron, some gold and a large silver one. Her clothes were piled on a chair in the corner and her pale skin was marked with pigment here and there.
Nova waited until Astrid stood up and stretched the kinks out of her back. "Nice look. You keeping it for winter?"
"Amusing, Nova. No, I didn't want to paint on my clothes." She walked carefully out of her diagram and then wiped herself down. "So what have you found out?"
"Well... our target has been busy over the past few months."
"Oh?"
"Mmm-hmm. She's founded a charity for orphans, made a new kind of pen, supported veterans to get their back pay, created a newspaper, gave jobs to widows, opened a store to sell discount goods, helped a bunch of farmers keep their land, and, ahem, she invented Zarts."
"What, really?" She seemed more surprised about the last item than all the rest. "By the way..."
"Don't worry, I picked up a new stack while I was out."
Astrid shrugged into a white dress and looked at the very intricate diagram she had created. Even before activating it, she sensed there were powerful forces at play and she had the devil of a time getting the pins in the right places... they kept fighting against her, wanting to choose their own locations.
Nova brooded in thought, not usually a common habit of her. "Sis... are we doing the right thing? Our original contract was pretty clear, "Take out the Devil of the Rhine" and all that. But I'm looking at the girl after the war and things are getting a lot muddier."
The older sister sighed and suddenly wished she had some bad habit she could indulge in to relieve stress. Alas, she was unforunately free of such harmful comforts. "I wonder myself. My magic is fighting me ever since the last time. I've tried to cast her fortune again and I get nothing but contradictions... like she's more than one person. My best guess is that she is one of those rare people who can tip fates so she's standing at a crossroads."
"That's a problem. That's a big problem! This post-war Tanya is like a living saint! If we eliminate someone like that, the backlash..."
"I know!" She lowered her voice, "I know. So our contract specifies that we have to make the attempt but NOT the method, correct?"
"Naturally. We don't want them to get too fussy about details."
"So, if we gave information to one of the other assassins that are converging on Berun, that would qualify, right?"
"Yessssss... probably. But that still leaves us with the problem of the fates hitting us with a metaphysical stick afterwards."
Astrid smirked, "Not if we ALSO warn Degurechaff that they are coming and give her enough information that she has a fighting chance, right?"
Nova blinked. "Will that really work?"
"It's not perfect but we don't have a lot of useful tools right now."
Nova looked at the diagrams on the floor and then at her notes on Degurechaff and said softly, "Let's hedge it on her side, okay?"
* * *
Tanya looked over the rooms she shared with Visha. Nearly every surface was covered with paperwork. Personal items were squeezed into their two small bedrooms and the were given over to business matters. Everything was organized precisely but that only highlighted how FULL the rooms had gotten.
They had talked about moving for months but there was always something more to do and the transition would inevitably push back something on their schedules. As she worked on the latest reports, going through them with the speed that only a modern paper-pusher could ever achieve, she heard a knock on the door. She didn't get up and let Visha answer it, assuming it was an unscheduled visitor. During business hours, she had trained all her workers to just knock once and enter.
After a few minutes of too-low-to-hear conversation, Tanya began to wonder what was taking so long. Just then Visha returned with a bemused look on her face. "That was our landlady, Frau Linden..."
"We have to move, don't we?"
"As she put it, 'as soon as humanly possible'."
Tanya sighed. "I can't blame her, honestly. We are quiet enough but the amount of foot and vehicular traffic must have been troublesome." She clapped her hands together suddenly. "Okay! Close down everything on Friday. Get everyone to help move this paperwork CAREFULLY. You'll be in charge of packing, I'll handle unpacking. We'll move our offices into the small warehouse near the capital building. Full pay for everyone and let's have a true company meeting. Those that can't make it, we'll send memoes. I want food and drink for lunch and dinner. The way the company is growing, this may be the last time we can have everyone under one roof. Let's enjoy it!"
* * *
The November winds were dry and still had the tiniest traces of fall even as they promised a bitter winter. As she stepped out of the car, Tanya pulled up the collar of her coat and surreptitiously ran a heat spell from her cane orb. It wasn't a patch on Norden but she was long out of practice sleeping in trenches or in snow-covered lands.
The warehouse, which also functioned as one of the discount stores (officially called Schnäppchenmarkt but colloquially known as Tanya Markt). Though smallish for a warehouse, it had ample room in a second and third story and there was a parking area behind the building that they owned. It was currently tightly packed with army surplus trucks and transports plus a good selection of motorcycles. One more bus was just squeezing in and bevy of Zart factory workers dressed in their good clothes were disembarking. They spotted Tanya and Visha and started whispering amongst themselves, unsure of what to do.
Tanya smiled and waved. "Don't stand out here... it's too cold! Go inside, go inside and get something warm to drink!" I can't have my precious human resources freezing out here. And this way they'll know that I recognize their worth. "I'll meet everyone later, I still have to organize my office." She made her way upstairs and let the rest mingle for a bit.
The Zart workers were the ones that had come from farthest away so they were the last to arrive. Though the transports were efficient enough, they weren't heated and were by no means overly comfortable! They bustled in and were greeted by tables of drinks and light snacks. Up front were carafes of hot tea and coffee, accompanied by mulled cider. While they warmed up, they chatted with each other.... mostly about their employer. "What a lovely person! I honestly had no idea she would be so young. I mean there were so many stories."
Another woman laughed. "Me too! I rather imagined someone much taller and more muscular than me somehow. Except with... you know." She gestured toward her chest.
The laughter of those who overheard her drown out the rest of the conversations!
After they had warmed up and shed their outer coats, they went to the main part of the warehouse. Well-made kerosene heaters had been brought in to keep the room comfortable and there were plenty of chairs so no one was forced to stand if they didn't wish to. It was an interesting assortment of people though the vast majority were ex-military or female factory workers. By chance, the gender ratio was about even so it quickly came to feel more like a mixer than a business meeting.
Thirty minutes later, Tanya and Visha came out of the office. Visha was carrying a rather daunting stack of certificates while Tanya was spared the burden because she had a cane in one hand and very large bottle under her other arm. "Hello everyone! Thank you for coming today... I know the trip was rather long and chilly for you and I hope you don't mind a bit of chilled champagne to celebrate today." She walked up the steps to a low platform and put the bottle on the table with an audible thud! "They call this a Balthazar of champagne. Honestly I had no idea they even came in these sizes before we went looking." She had actually lucked into the purchase because the company that had ordered it had gone under very suddenly. Tanya snapped up the bottle at a discount and made a note to buy the other company later.
"Before we open that, let's get past the boring business part of this get together. I'll keep it brief! But please ask any questions you might have." She shrugged off her coat to reveal her outfit. It was a quite unconventional but not completely unfamiliar. Her slacks had a narrow cuff, wider at the hips, with a narrow waist. This combined with a long-sleeved banded-collar blouse with more room around the chest than men's clothing without being overly tight.
She made no mention of her clothing and got straight to business. "All of you have been working for us without formalities and I want to say we very much appreciate it. TvD will doing MANY things going forward and the only constant will be change." Tanya briefly wondered if she was the first person to say that trite phrase in this world. "But I want to let you to know our core philosophy: people will be rewarded for their level of work. In fact, the goal is to have every worker be a partial owner so that you know when we do well, you are personally doing well." She went on to briefly describe the concept of 'stock options' and how the longer they work, the more shares they would own. There! They will work hard for a long time and not insist on getting raises all the time. That should provide plenty of motivation without me having to spend any out of pocket right now.
What Tanya failed to realize was that 'lifetime employment' with minimal chances for advancement was the norm in the world she now lived in. To the people in the room, it looked like she trying to come up with a justification to give them more than they had earned yet because she wanted them to have a secure future.
"Okay, now for some unpleasant news but I'll keep it short. I'm sure you have all noticed how inflation has caused prices to spike recently. This will not get better anytime in the near future. That's why internally, the company will only use Kredits for all transactions. The vast benefit is that kredits are as close to immune to inflation as possible since it's based on actual assets. Another benefit is that it's entirely non taxable. Externally, of course, we have to take marks and buy things with marks but we're keeping that to a minimum."
One woman, a foreman in her factory, raised her hand. "Isn't that, ummm, less than legal? Ma'am?"
"Good question! The answer is absolutely no. It's really just a glorified bartering system which we are keeping track of. When people buy from us with actual currency, we'll pay tax but not otherwise. So, for now and a long while, we will be rich in possessions but not so much in cash. Now, if you insist on taking some or all of your salaries in marks, that's fine and that let's us dump that paper even quicker. But I don't recommend it."
"To put it bluntly, to an outsider it looks like you are working for room and board and not much else. I'm hoping to have at least a weekly Kredit to gold to mark ratio posted for everyone soon. If you need to buy something we don't stock, you can ask our vendors to see if they can work out a supply or you can just exchange for marks as necessary. Again, I recommend carrying as few marks as possible."
One of the newspapermen piped in. "Is it really that bad?"
"Here's a good analogy: Imagine every paper mark as being on fire. That's how fast they are losing their value."
The man smirked. "So hold them too long and you'll get burned?"
Tanya was startled for a split second and then laughed! "Exactly so! I, myself, only keep enough paper marks on hand to buy a meal or get coffee."
She cleared her throat. "Okay, enough of the depressing stuff. The Empire has weathered worse but there's nothing to be done about that. We'll keep our people as safe as possible, eh? Visha, the agreements, please?"
Visha efficiently handed out the certificates. "So if you want to participate in the company and not just be employee, you can sign these. I know, a tiny fraction of a percent of the company's assets doesn't sound like a lot but we have a LOT of assets and they are growing every day. The current value of one-thousandth of one percent before inflation is, oh, hmmm... how much was it?"
Visha looked at her notes and called out an improbably high figure.
"Ah, that's right. Remember as an owner when your stock vests, it might be worth many times than that. Frankly, it depends on all of our hard work together. At any rate, read those over and decide whether you want to be involved. Next, let's go to our department heads. Zarts?"
An older woman named Helga with a no-nonsense look about her stood up. "Production is going very well. We can't keep up with demand and most of our product is being exported right now to the Republic and the Commonwealth. Your doctor is exploring opening up farther countries in Europa and the Unified States but likely we would need factories closer to the customers."
"Good! Keep hiring people as fast as you can as we find suitable properties to build new factories. And remember the hiring rule: only women in production and management. Men are acceptable for any other job. People who actually use Zarts should be the ones that will have the best ideas, right?"
Her comment was met with nervous, but genuine, laughter. One of the line workers raised her hand. "My mother taught me to carefully wrap dried flower petals in mine so they would smell nicer."
"Helga make sure she gets a bonus for that idea! Put some people in charge about finding ways to improve them like that. Try flowers, perfumes, baking soda and talc or whatever else you can try to see if there's an easy way to make things more pleasant for all of us. Examine the possibility of both a high end and a common market. I want every rich woman to consider our products essential to their lives! That money will help everyone else in the long run since they will be paying for our research costs."
"Okay, finance next."
Hammerschmidt said, "I gathered some smart people that understand what we're trying to do. Some want to work directly for you now while others are willing to bide their time as they help me hunt for bargains. I'd say 90 plus percent wanted to buy shares immediately once they realized how large our portfolio had gotten."
She saw that he had half a dozen smart-looking people with him, five women and a man. "So these are direct hires, then. How many others are waiting?"
"I've gotten commitments from most of them... around 65? No less than 50 if we had to move quickly."
W-w-what? Sixty five?! We only need five! I have to keep them busy... She didn't let her consternation show. "Good job. Remember the value to the corporation is based on results. Pay, at first, will ONLY be kredits and options. But make sure they know that every kredit is basically an access to our assets. If they pile up enough and want some land we aren't using or other material goods in stock, that's what they are there for. Your people should be smart enough to make money like that and if they aren't, they shouldn't be working for us."
"Yes ma'am!" I see it now! Our financial information network will let us know everything that's happening before everyone else. We can leverage that into guiding our investments and bargain hunting. And there's no paper or money trail of any sort. This is brilliant! He looked at Tanya with fresh surprise and admiration!
"Do you need any more gold for leverage?"
"No ma'am, we've been hitting only best bargains and have even managed some like-for-like trades if someone wanted a property we had in our portfolio."
"Good, good. Bartering is the way to go if at all possible." She glanced at the head of the Tanya Markts. "The same goes for our stores, actually. If anyone has something better than marks to trade, you have the authority to do it. Try to avoid perishables, of course, unless you intend to sell them the same day." She frowned and sighed. "Don't take a loss but... try your best. People will be pawning their family heirlooms soon. Anything made of gold and silver is worth it. It's almost a certainty that the government will ban the private ownership of gold any day now and will demand that citizens turn it in in exchange for marks. Keep your ears out and be ready to move all our reserves over the border to the Republic before that happens."
Ah, help people keep their valuables from being taken for a pittance and then get the metal out of the country so that it can't be taken from us! Help them and help us at the same time. How far ahead is she looking? The head of the Markts made a careful note and reminded himself to explain things to the others when he had a moment.
"Okay, for the newspaper... anything new to report?"
"Well, that IS our job, ha ha ha! But seriously, the image transfer process is going swimmingly. Actually, we wanted to show you the results." He produced a piece of paper and the picture on it was stunning. It depicted a scene from the park in the finest detail and resolution. Tanya and Visha looked it over with interest.
Visha's eyes opened wider. "That's remarkable! It looks so real!"
"We can only get this level of quality when not using newsprint, but even our paper pictures are miles ahead of our competitors."
"Go with this for the paper and expand our printshop to take orders for these photo-quality prints." Tanya began to think of how modern prints were created. "See if one of the mages can find a way to separate the color components of the images so we can print with colored inks."
The publisher caught on immediately. "I see. Different ink colors on separate plates and then combined on the paper."
"It's just a thought but if you can make it work, it could be valuable. Don't go overboard if it's too hard."
"Will do."
She turned to a cheerful man in a wheelchair. "How are the farms doing?"
"Good, good! People are glad to have a market for their goods, even if they are being paid in kredits rather than marks. Most of the produce is going to the Schnäppchenmarkts and we bring back needed supplies on the return leg." He brushed his somewhat tangled hair out of his eyes. "Frankly, I didn't think it would be this smooth. People got used to using kredits much faster than I thought they would although there has been a call to print some for general convenience."
"We'll have to skip that for now. Founding a new physical currency might get regulators poking around our business and we don't want that." She pondered briefly. "If they want to use something just among themselves, take some 1 pfennig coins and do something to mark them as kredit substitutes. Make sure you deduct those kredits from their account and inform them, they should only be traded to other people with kredit accounts."
"So if someone comes around trying to buy with 'kredits' that they don't know..."
"Just have them directed to you and can find out where they got them."
"Yes ma'am!" He gave a jaunty salute.
Tanya turned to the next person. "Ah, Sergeant Lange, how goes the pen business?"
"Quite well, Colonel. With the production lines working well, but my machinists and electricians are looking for the next project."
Crud, I've forgotten these creative types always need something new to keep them occupied. Let's stall for a bit. "Certainly. First
though, how's the feedback on the high end pens?"
"Oh, quite good. In fact, one lawyer said it was the best thing since the invention of the wheel."
"Best thing since... okay, here's some ideas to keep your men busy. But keep in mind if they have their own idea for an invention, it's not a bad idea to let them try it out to see if it goes anywhere. There's a world of uninvented things, yes? Okay, first is a machine to slice bread neatly. I suggest have a row of knives hooked up to an oscillating engine. Along with that a toaster that toasts on both sides and automatically ejects the bread when it's done. Putting white paint in small bottles with an applicator brush that screws on the lid top for getting rid of typos. A better entrenching tool, one that folds for easy storage." She rattled off a dozen things that hadn't been created yet but were quite possible with the current technology. Tanya even drew rough sketches when just her suggestions weren't good enough to convey the idea fully.
Lange jotted down all the suggestions, not willing to miss even one. One common element in all of them is that they seemed to be things that his men could create with just a bit of trial and error and yet no one had attempted to make them before. Since they were getting a share of the profits, it was like giving them money. "I'll see to it, Colonel!"
Ah, that was useful after all. Given enough hints, those fellows will reproduce every convenience I was accustomed to in Japan. Speaking of which, now that the war is over, maybe we can look into getting some condiments and ingredients from there? Perhaps this body prefers western food but once in awhile, I do crave a nice tonkatsu with the proper sauce.
She looked around, "Is that everyone? Good, then! Please, everyone enjoy yourselves! If you have any questions or ideas or just want to chat, we have all the time between luncheon and dinner for that." The plan was to transport everyone back home after dinner but she wanted them to have a relaxing (if short) paid vacation until then.
The meeting turned into a casual party with plenty of food catered in. The massive bottle of champagne was opened with much hoopla and enjoyed by all (other than Tanya, of course).
Gladieau ambled over, with a pleased look on his face and a sandwich in hand. He had arrived late due to necessary work but quickly found his way to the buffet. "Quite the nice get together you organized here. Much better than the stuffy meetings I've been in. Oh, my report, yes, of course. We've gotten phonograph record pressers under contract in most countries now and they are already producing albums. They remit us our royalties quarterly so no money yet, but I expect soon."
"Foreign currencies only, right?"
"Yes, yes as instructed."
"Good. Convert everything to gold reserves as you can and ship it to the Waldstätte Confederacy. How about the ballpoint business and Zarts?"
"A little later but we expect to see results from the factories next year. You'll need to find good managers in each of those countries, I think."
She waved him off. "Talk to Hammerschmidt. See if anyone has a yen to travel and speaks the language. If they can find someone trustworthy locally, that's good too. Better to have someone honest than having the best business acumen. We can hire experts, but we need to count on the managers. Honestly, Gladieau, the less I have to do there, the better. Treat any new inventions or ventures the same."
"I understand Mlle Degurechaff. I may take one of those trips myself to inspect. My Anglish is quite good!" He spoke a few garbled phrases that set Tanya's teeth on edge.
She responded in fluent, though accented, Anglish. "Stop, stop! The only one you would convince that was correct are dogs and the deaf!"
Her grasp of the language shocked several people but not those who knew her well. The fact that she liked to create songs in Anglish was well-known to some and Visha was used to her reading Albish newspapers whenever she could.
"Ah, perhaps I should practice some more, yes?"
"That would be for the best," she responded dryly. She looked a the time. "Pardon, I have to step out right now. Please don't mind me."
Gladieau looked puzzled before Visha filled him in. "Ah, she likes to step out for breaks during long meetings. I think it mostly to get away from smoky rooms but it's a bit of a habit now."
Tanya shrugged into her coat and stepped outside into the crowded parking lot. She felt the cold more keenly than she did when she was a man in Japan and mentally apologized to the women she thought were just weak at that time. The nearly full moon cast sharp shadows everywhere. She tapped a motorcycle with her cane, wondering if they could institute a courier service with them. "What am I thinking, mages could do it so much better! I'll need to get the laws changed for messengers and emergency uses. Mage ambulances?"
Just then there was a muffled CRACK! She fell to the ground, and a wide splatter of red splashed on the side of the bus behind her. She lay on her back with a small red hole in her forehead and stared lifelessly at the uncaring sky. A widening pool of blood formed around her head, staining the gold of her hair a bright, bright crimson as dogs responded to unexpected noise.