“First off, it is unusual to discuss compensations packages in a group,” A Benefactor said. “But this team is going to need to stick together. You have to be aware of our intentions, as well as the rewards we hand out.”
“The Airship that your team has chosen to call Mir Mriya Mir – the MMM – has been equipped and outfitted for a mix of research expeditions – and other side missions, should you choose to take them.
The key themes for work done for us are: Fact Finding and Data Collection. Many parties have pooled resources to fund this ship and its capabilities.
The subordinate themes of this ship include field testing for new technologies: cloaking technology, taser gel weapons, self driving artificial intelligence, remote control of aircraft, drone technologies.
Most of this is being monitored passively, so you don’t need to do anything apart from producing reports.
…
We originally intended the research ship to travel the globe, focusing on less developed countries or areas for which we lack data.
We do not require data from most European Union countries, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Israel. These are largely the developed countries of the world.
For reasons of safety, we will also require you to stay out of China. Chinese civilian airspace is extremely limited because so much is under control of the military. The collection of data over China is also highly sensitive and waiting for permission will take forever.
In most other countries, data collection is limited. There is a huge information gap in many countries about air pollution, aerosolized emissions, presence of microplastics, water quality, soil quality and so on. The ship is equipped to constantly take samples and analyze them. From time to time you have to land and forward these samples, while obtaining new sample containers from our logistics partners.”
…
Angel was first to ask questions. “What about the missions that were mentioned just now?”
“Yes. These are generally not compulsory. But our system will propose missions that you can choose to decline or accept. These usually require that you investigate something, rescue someone, etc.”
“What if the mission is beyond our capabilities?”
“Yes, I wouldn’t like to take on missions that are too dangerous for us,” Riley said.
“We have invested much in this airship and you. We will continue to invest much in you, by assigning Mentors to train and develop your potential. Rest assured that we will never try to assign you a mission beyond your capabilities.”
Another Benefactor intervened. “There are different ways to complete any mission. Make choices that are proportional to your current abilities.
If your next mission is to survey the layout of a penal colony, it will be easy to do so with your cloaked airship, its sensitive instruments, the hover platforms and the drones. If you choose to ram the front gate and attack the guards, it will probably be Mission Failure.”
…
Another Benefactor spoke up.
“You have freedom to a certain extent. Because right now too much is unknown. You can go anywhere you fancy.
We do have certain restrictions on you. The airship can travel at more than 100km per hour when moving at top speed, but since we want data points filled, you should travel much more slowly. 10km/h is a good cruising speed. And you must stop periodically to take samples, do readings and perform analysis.”
“How periodically?” Marilyn asked, since she was the one piloting the craft.
“It is hard to give you a fixed rule,” came the answer. “We would like information near major population centers, near major industrial areas, but also want data for the rural and unpopulated areas in between. In other words, just gather as many data points as possible.
We will discourage staying in any location for more than a few days, since our objective is to fill in as many data gaps as possible. Unless a mission has been proposed to you that requires you staying in the same spot, we forbid you staying for more than a week in any location.”
“Oho, sounds like the nomadic life all right,” Angel said. It was hard to tell from her tone whether she approved or disapproved.
A female Benefactor spoke up.
“We will be responsible for fuel reimbursements when it comes to ordinary work and travel. However we will not be responsible for fuel reimbursements if you choose to backtrack or visit places you have been to previously, unless these are necessary as part of a specific mission.”
“Aviation Fuel is not cheap, I understand,” Naz said. “No going back unless mission says it is necessary.”
“Visiting the same location in a different season is acceptable. In general we will accept a second visit to a previously visited locale to gather data when snow falls.”
“But if we ever visit tropical areas?” Angel asked.
“Your leader has said she doesn’t wish to,” the Benefactor replied. “She indicated a preference for staying within the borders of the former USSR for now.”
There was a slight stir as Stacy’s teammates snuck some glances at her. She hoped they didn’t disapprove too greatly, since a lot of people would have been happy to pop down south for holidays. Especially if they controlled a lovely airship.
“Um, do we get to vote on locations?” Marilyn spoke up. “I quite fancy dipping my toes in a sea someday.”
“That will be up to your leader. Leader always decides where to take the ship.”
“I expressed a wish to travel over the former USSR because there are too many things we don’t know, too many hidden things, too many fact-finding missions that we should undertake,” Stacy said. “But if our stay on board the MMM grows long, I would definitely consider going further afield. It will depend on how long we stay together as a team.”
“I haven’t really traveled the country that I was born in,” Angel reflected. “There is so much I never got to know about the USSR before it came to an end. One sixth of the earth’s land surface and two hundred ethnic groups! I could probably spend two years traveling and still not get to see half of it.”
“Make it four years to travel the length and width; I’m also very curious,” Naz said. “But I will want to go home first.”
“You are the only one here who doesn’t run the risk of serious trouble in her home country,” one of Naz’s Benefactors said. “So you do have a choice. But once committed, you have to stay with your team for at least two years.”
Naz nodded. She had cossack ancestry, so this didn’t sound too alien to her. Some ancestor had once voluntarily left home, joined a host, campaigned in a distant land, and so on.
“I don’t like being cold,” Marilyn spoke up. Bubbly as she normally was, it was probably the first time she had been heard expressing negative sentiments.
A Benefactor cleared his throat and spoke in a gravelly voice. “If you are concerned about creature comforts, we can assure you that this ship will be nothing short of luxurious.”
“At least, in comparison with any research expedition,” another Benefactor rushed to say.
“You won’t get exhaust pumped onto your faces all day like in the Kharkovchanka,” one of Naz’s benefactors addressed her. But of course, Naz already knew, since she had spent some time on the airship already.
“You will be paid well, Maryam!” one of Marilyn’s Benefactors spoke up. “We’ve carefully gathered this team, and it is the ideal team. A two year commitment is a must at least!”
Stacy sensed that the Benefactors really wanted this team to stay together.
“I can’t go home anyway. But after a few years we really must visit some warm places,” Marilyn said.
“Easily done,” Stacy agreed. “I wanted us to be doing fact finding and truthful reporting in the former USSR because our work is needed here. But that really doesn’t exclude going further afield after our initial two year commitment.”
Riley
Riley spoke up. “I don’t like Russia, and I said as much to my Benefactors. But I’m also a young professional in search of a good job. And meaningful work – meaningful side missions where we do good things – will secure my loyalty, regardless of whether it is cold or warm.”
“You will not be disappointed, Rugile,” a Benefactor said. He had to be Riley’s, because everyone’s individual Benefactor called them by their personal names.
“You haven’t told us what the pay is.”
“Basic pay is thirty thousand US dollars a year.”
Marilyn and Naz gasped at the same time. In the first decade of the 21st century, this was a very high figure for ex-USSR countries. Insanely high for an Uzbek; extremely high for a Ukrainian or Georgian.
Angel was not so impressed since work on oil facilities was always expected to pay well, but nonetheless it was attractive to her also. It was way above the average Kazakh professional’s salary.
Stacy did not respond. A Moscow-based journalist or academic’s pay was only a fraction of this. But she did not live her life on salary alone. In any case she understood she couldn’t go back. The salary was just something extra.
“And?” Riley asked. By Lithuanian standards, this was already high pay for someone in her age group. But if you considered the risks and hazards, the pay wasn’t quite expedition-level, at least for the more difficult and dangerous expeditions. Riley was determined to work out other benefits and perks, if any.
“Basic pay is the salary that will be paid to your bank accounts,” a Benefactor stated. “And as said earlier, fuel costs will be covered for continuing coverage and data collection of new areas.
The ship has been supplied with enough victuals for a year, although the expiry date for many foods is much longer than that. We will fully resupply the ship again in two years’ time. So we expect you to pay for about half your own food over the course of two years.
Most expenses are claimable. Such as engine wear and tear, replacement of spare parts – and use of taser gel or firearm ammunition.
Then there are bonuses for uncovering mysteries and solving problems. Rewards will vary. Sometimes an international organization offers the reward, so you will get pounds or USD or euros. Sometimes the reward is domestic, so you get local currency.”
“And the extra pay is for completing these missions?”
“Correct. If you want to stay safe and don’t take on a single extra mission, then all you do is data collection. Outside the chemical sampling which requires a chemical engineer, most is automated. Your airship only requires one mechanical engineer, one pilot and one electrical engineer to make sure everything works well.
The fact finding on ground will require the leadership of a professional fact finder for human-related matters. A police investigator, a private detective – or a journalist. These are the missions.”
“Then aren’t there mandatory missions?” Riley asked.
“Your leader decides whether to take on missions. She is a journalist after all. If you join her, you will share the rewards if any,” one Benefactor said.
“Sometimes there are no rewards. These will be missions you undertake because you wish to,” another Benefactor said.
Riley seemed to want to ask further about why she should undertake missions with no rewards, but she seemed to think better of it. There were always things that a good person should do just because it was the right thing to do. And the Benefactors clearly wanted the team to be good people.
Marilyn
Marilyn had been observing the proceedings with curiosity.
That the Benefactors were hiring them to take an airship places, maintain it, while collecting all kinds of data was acceptable. Meterological data, chemical samples, maybe take photos of the ground, mapping, all done from an airship that could hover or travel slowly. And of course, no doubt they were field testing a bunch of new technologies ranging from cloaking and new airships to drones and taser gel weaponry.
That a team needs a leader to coordinate and take responsibility, was fine too.
But there were still some mysteries.
It was very nice to talk about helping people self actualize and develop their potential fully. Another way of putting it would be to develop somebody to the highest level they could. Even though she didn’t play computer games, Marilyn knew this could be called levelling up to level 100 (or whatever was the highest level in that particular computer game.)
But why were the Benefactors so keen to do this? Most governments, social superiors, workplace supervisors and community elders didn’t really care about helping young people self-actualize. Why were these Benefactors investing money, time, manpower and energy on the ZIL team?
Marilyn looked down. She didn’t want anyone to see her questioning eyes. As someone from a repressive country, she knew better than to make her doubts too obvious.
Marilyn felt that there was one unspoken mission objective. Nobody had alluded to this, so it could just be entirely her own personal bias. But she wondered whether the Benefactors were really preparing this team for a future conflict.
The entire landscape of the ex-Soviet Union was full of local tyrants, dictators, criminal gangs and injustices in general. Worst were the criminal gangs and tyrants who took control of entire countries. At present the ZIL team was just a team of enthusiastic young entry-level employees. Considering their education and training, maybe level 20 now. But was it possible that some day they would attain level 100? Could they face down dictators at that point?
Angel
Angel also had her questions. Unlike Marilyn, Angel didn’t believe in holding back.
“One question,” Angel raised her hand. “You’ve mentioned needing a chemical engineer for doing certain work. Why a chemical engineer and not a chemist?”
There was a general stir among Angel’s teammates.
That’s right! Stacy thought in surprise and excitement. She felt happy that Angel was not one of those people who blindly and passively accept everything. She was also reminded of how much she didn’t know.
As a nerd with a voracious appetite for knowledge Stacy read everything, so she had very broad general knowledge. But she didn’t know technical stuff for chemistry or the engineering of petrochemical or gas facilities. She had only a vague idea of the differences between chemists and chemical engineers.
“You will be in an airship. The facilities on board will definitely not be sufficient to perform complex or thorough chemical analysis,” a Benefactor said. “There are thousands of chemical compounds and aerosols and microplastics and particulates that we want to test for in fully equipped labs. For the work that can be performed on board the airship, a chemical engineer has enough training. We don’t need a chemist.”
Another Benefactor spoke up.
“And unlike a chemist, a chemical engineer has training in industrial processes. This makes her useful for field missions.”
Riley pursed her lips and nodded. Now this was making sense. And more importantly – the Benefactors had just shown that they were expecting the ZIL team to take field missions after all.
And that field missions could take place in industrial facilities. Such as oil and gas extraction, plastics fabrication, paint making, food processing and so on.
…
Angel was talking with one of her Benefactors. Most of the information was going over Riley’s head, because she didn’t have much interest in chemistry.
“… we do want to study rainwater and precipation. There is growing concern that PFAS – polyfluoroalkyl substances, linked to cancer, are now found in rainwater everywhere…”
“… we have to study the presence of these chemicals throughout the atmosphere. So as the MMM travels over Northern Eurasia, it will take air and precipitation – snow and rainwater samples – constantly. The work of analysing these in the field will be left in your hands.
Thousands of PFAS exist, are released into the air, enter seawater and get aerosolized as sea spray.”
“These are called forever chemicals because they don’t break down, I recall?” Angel commented.
“Yes. And their presence in our atmosphere is a health hazard. But they’re like microplastics; there’s so many of them, so many different chemical compounds at work, and they’re so unavoidable everywhere in the environment. Studying these will be very hard. A small part of your work will be analysis in the field, but you can expect that the vast majority of your samples will require more complete lab facilities. So periodically you must submit the samples to various professional logistics companies who will forward the samples to the appropriate labs.”
“So I’m not quite a chemical engineer, but I’m a chemist? Or a chemistry research assistant?” Angel asked.
“Melek, you can call this an enhanced field research assistant. Entirely suitable for someone who was on her way to a master’s degree. It requires someone good enough to do work in the field without a professor’s direction.
During normal times, you are just monitoring and sampling and analyzing everywhere you go. But at times your knowledge and understanding of industrial processes and facilities will be important. There may also be missions involving food safety and chemical production. You will be critical, because your colleagues know nothing of these.”
“I understand,” Angel said.
Stacy
This was all coming together more coherently for Stacy now.
Russia and other ex-Soviet republics had a lot of serious problems. Pollution, hazardous work places, questionable standards in the production of industrial and chemical products, food safety issues and so on.
As a journalist with social sciences background, Stacy had the training to lead a general investigation. But she would always need support from people with more specialized knowledge.
An electrical engineer, a chemical engineer and a mechanical engineer. Excellent background training for many investigations. This team was not skilled or specialized enough to solve all mysteries on their own, but they were good enough for fieldwork. Data could always be collected and uploaded or sent out for the specialists in fully equipped labs to do whatever Stacy’s team couldn’t do.
And Marilyn’s biology education would also come in useful when handling biological samples, or dealing with issues like the effects of pollution on wildlife.
“This seems to be a great team,” Stacy thought to herself. “We can collect data, and we can also investigate mysteries and injustices. I must do my best and not disappoint anyone as the leader.’
Heating
No one else was saying anything. But suddenly Stacy remembered something. This was not trivial, especially for someone who expected her team to be operating in northern Eurasia.
“Beg pardon, but regarding fuel costs,” Stacy spoke up. “You’ve said you will cover all fuel costs that do not backtrack?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you cover heating?”
Angel gasped. This was a very important thing, and everyone had forgotten about it! Even Angel!
In many cases in the ex-USSR, heating would be covered by the government or an employer. That was quite common when the employer also supplied the housing. But this was an airship, so maybe things were different…
“Heating on board the MMM is done via heating oil; separate from the aviation fuel used to move the ship. We will cover three quarters of the cost.”
“You can also use solar energy since the ship is equipped with solar panels,” another Benefactor said. “But if you’re going to be cloaked, there will probably be no energy left for heating.”
Another Benefactor spoke up. “You have some discretion where to go, and how warm to make your work and living space. When to hide, and when to turn off the cloaking and save energy. So the final one quarter of costs will be borne by you.”
Stacy nodded. On a salary of $30K USD per year, five ZIL members earned $150k USD. And it was almost certainly going to be tax free, since there was no way they were going to make their presence known to the Citadel and risk getting killed. There was no rent and maintenance was covered along with half the food costs, so heating costs could be reasonably covered by income.
As for how much to heat the interior of the ship, the ZIL members could work out among themselves later.