Milos Columbo[1], project director for the C & O Canal[2], shuffled his notes and stared at the cloaked man across from him as though he had developed a very large forehead zit. Unfortunately, he couldn't see the other's forehead, hidden as it was under the black cloak. "So, let us go over this 'deal' again. I give you a personal, special, lower-pay contract to work, and you will..."
"Get the workers to a higher rate of efficiency. I can energize your relatively lethargic workmen."
"How? Why for such low pay? This is chump change!"
"I am motivated only by God, Emperor, and Country. I feel that my unique talents are best suited to this purpose."
"What about the 'how'?"
"I can be rather...persuasive. Actually, I'd prefer not to reveal my methods; they are rather unique and futuristic. You, sir, are on the cutting edge of management...or will be when you employ me."
"How can I trust you, Mister..."
"Aetos. The truth of the matter is, you can't. Not for sure: of course, no one really can trust one another in some parts of the world these days. But for you, the potential gains outweigh the potential losses. All I could do badly is require you to replace a little machinery if, for example, I sabotaged to workers. However, if I 'encourage' your workmen, then you, personally, are going to go up very far in the ranks of the only real manufacturing and trade company in Hellas. Not to mention, the Byzantine high command will be ready to give you a pension."
"Hmmm. Well, Mr. Aetos, I don't see any holes. It looks fine to me. Here is your contract...sign here...and I can expect you at work..."
"Tomorrow morning, at the same time as everyone else. I appreciate your taking the time to allow me to negotiate this personally. I realize that you're quite a busy man with many responsibilities. I bid you good day, Mister Columbo."
"Good day to you, Mr. Aetos." The cloaked figure stood up to leave with the contract in his gloved hand, but paused and turned to Columbo.
"By the way, I should warn you: watch out for that man, Aris Kristatos. I believe he's not actually a patriot, but rather an Agent in the service of a foreign Power."
"What the devil do you mean? Kristatos is a man that I've known ever since the Resistance days. The Emperor himself gave him a medal."
"I wouldn't be so sure. Just look him over, check him out. He works in your company, it shouldn't be too hard. Have a nice day."
"Wait, how do you know this, Mister Ae..." With that cliched phrase, the other was gone, and a deeply troubled Columbo was left staring at notepapers, wondering about his friend Aris Kristatos. He knew not to trust some random worker with a bright idea, but that man had planted the seed of doubt in his mind. He resolved to check Kristatos' dealings over, just to put it out of his mind.
As he left the room, the Eagle stuffed the contract in a back pocket and smiled.
Old Stakhanov gets to be useful once again. Let's go visit the workers...and get that penguin spy out of the way. Shaking his head at how much Aris Kristatos reminded him of Luc Carrere, spiky pupils and over-mesmerization and all, the Eagle left the building and turned for the Canal. Time to get his "Greek worker" outfit on and give Aleksey Grigorievich Stakhanov a run for his money.
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The Eagle checked in at the guardhouse on the edge of the canal zone and grabbed a shovel. He had been working at this site for about five weeks, and the calluses weren't hurting anymore. His thin, typist's hands weren't made for such work.
According to any foreman on the site, Worker Aetos was the top excavator, clearing at least a ton of dirt per day. He had his own cart to haul the dirt elsewhere for other C & O projects. The enigmatic workman even had a minor cult of personality, after such a short time, too. "Aetosian Movement" workers were determined to finish their jobs as fast and as well as they could, not just for the higher pay such things would bring, but for the good of the nation. After all, hadn't the canal been started by the government before they'd handed it over to the company that was finally beginning to turn the Byzantine economy around? Hadn't the Emperor himself given a speech to the workers imploring them to work on this canal to revitalize the Hellenic economy?
The standard of living and the standings in the world of the Empire were at stake: what worker would shirk from his duty?
Aetos - the Eagle - and his followers were known for their strict observance of Orthodox customs, their fanatical devotion to the Emperor and his decisions (especially since the new porphyrogenitan son of the Emperor, John IX, had been born on the Seventh of January, which had the added bonus of solidifying his rule: his son had been Born into the Purple!), and their belief that if they could not be soldiers, fighting for the Emperor, then at least to apply themselves to their work with gusto and enthusiasm. Those two latter words would barely describe how they worked, though.
The Aetosian movement spread through the Empire: a fanatical burst of energy, work to make the
Basileus proud. Aetos himself, somewhat annoyed with having to spend more years working, justified it to himself like this: what were a dozen years or a few more to a man who had been working as a NESer for hundreds of years (under various aliases: Kounabi was one, the one he'd chosen to improve the Byzantine lower officers and enlisted men. He would have to write that down somewhere: Panta had acquitted himself well in "Purgatory"...)? As he worked, the Canal continued to take shape.
[1]What's he from?
[2]conehead, how about you tell ppl what that is?
