//------------------------------// // The Secretary of Defense // Story: Lost // by Subject 19 //------------------------------// Razka woke up at about eight in the morning. He took a quick shower and put on some casual clothes, just jeans, and a white collared t shirt. The weekends were the only times when Razka wasn’t dressed in one of his custom made suits. He checked the guest room and was glad to see that Luna was still sleeping soundly on the bed. When Luna finally awoke, Chris already had breakfast ready for the both of them. He had prepared a simple meal consisting of scrambled eggs and hash browns. They ate in a comfortable silence and after that, Chris showed Luna the various technologies of his world, including his collection of cars in his garage. “Why do you have so many of these cars? Don’t you only need one to get around?” the princess asked, looking at all the various cars. “You could say I have a love for cars.” Before Chris could say anything else, his cell phone started ringing. Letting out an annoyed sigh, he answered it. “What is it?” “Nice to hear your voice too, Chris,” George Bradley said. “You’ve got five seconds to tell me what you want before I hang up.” “The Secretary of Defense has just arrived at the airport in Charleston. He called saying that he wanted to meet you at your house to discuss the Striker Project.” “Then tell him to fuck off, I’m not in the mood to have him tell me things I already know,” Razka snapped. “He’s on his way now, so you’re talking to him whether you like it or not.” “Why the fuck am I only being told about this just now?” “Because the secretary probably knew you’d try to blow him off if he told you earlier.” Razka hung up the phone and put his attention back on Luna. “Go to the guest room, and lock the door. Stay quiet and don’t come out until I tell you to,” he quickly ordered. “What, why?” she asked, clearly confused as to what was going on. “Someone’s coming and like I said before, no one can know you’re here. Now go.” Luna gave a quick nod and jogged up to the room Chris gave her last night. After ten minutes passed by Chris heard his doorbell ring. He went to the front door, and opened it. General Joseph Shepard, the Secretary of Defense, was standing outside. Joseph Shepard was in his late forties, had light brown hair and eyes, and was wearing his highly decorated uniform, showing off all the awards he had gotten during his service in the military. Razka’s face remained neutral as he let the general in, and led him into the dining room. The two men took a seat on opposite sides of each other before starting their conversation. “So, Mr. Razka, I suppose you know why I’m here,” Shepard began. “Unfortunately, I do,” Razka said in a cold tone. “Due to the incredible stupidity of my CFO, the Striker Project won’t be ready to go into mass production until we near the end of fourth quarter. “ “You promised me you’d have these weapons ready much sooner than that. DOD want’s results, not empty promises.” Razka frowned. “You will have your precious weapons soon enough. Building these weapons is a very delicate and dangerous task. After all, these aren’t your average guns.” “Our administration has paid a lot of money for your continued and exclusive business. What about the UATAV Project?” “The UATAV Project is still in its proof of concept stage. If you paid as much attention to CHECKMATE as you claim, you’d already know this,” the CEO retorted condescendingly. “Our efforts are currently focused on finishing the Striker Project.” “The Joint Chiefs and I want to see a prototype before the second quarter of next year. We want to see what our billion dollar contract bought us.” “And so you shall,” Razka said, nodding his head. “The Unmanned All Terrain Assault Vehicle has been producing promising results.” “That’s good to hear. The president himself will be seeing the weapons demonstration of the UATAV once it’s ready. We’re also going to be getting a bigger budget at the start of next year,” the general said. “If those weapons aren’t in production by that time, CHECKMATE won’t be seeing a single cent of that money.” “You have my word that those weapons will be ready by the end of the year and come that time, you’ll be seeing a new and improved CHECKMATE Arms. I do believe the time has come for a new fucking CFO.” “Good luck with that. Any ideas on who will be replacing Bradley?” “Marcus Stahl’s daughter, Janet. From what I’ve heard, she’s exactly what I need to replace that son of a bitch Bradley.” “You do realize that Janet Stahl is on her way to becoming the CEO of United Airlines. You really think she’d leave that just because her dad was CHECKMATE’s original CFO?” “The difference is that she would make more money as my CFO than she ever would as the CEO of United,” Razka stated. “Besides, they’re still suffering from what that jackass Smisek did to the company. If Janet’s anything like her father, she’ll take my offer.” Shepard got up from his seat. “JCS sees the power in your company, Razka. You’re due in Washington in two weeks. You’d better have some good news for us by then.” With that, the secretary left without saying another word. When Razka heard the front door close and was confident Shepard was gone, he went upstairs to let Luna know it was safe to come out. “Who was that?” Luna asked. “That was General Joseph Shepard, the Secretary of Defense,” Chris answered. “He’s given my company a lot of money in contracts for all the weapons and vehicles we’re making. He’s been a strong supporter of our company up until a while ago. Our subpar performance has not gone unnoticed. If I can’t get my company back on track, we may lose our grasp as DOD’s near exclusive weapons supplier.” “What’s DOD?” Luna asked curiously. “Department of Defense. They are responsible for protecting the nation.” “This sounds like a big deal. Do you think it will come to losing your grasp?” “No. I just need to… convince the board of directors to do what I tell them, then everything will be where it should in my company.” Luna frowned slightly at his comment, not liking what the CEO was implying.“You don’t have a lot of friends, do you?” The accusation left Chris unfazed. “I don’t have the need or luxury of having friends.” “Then what’s the point of having all this wealth and success if you don’t have anyone to share it with?” The night princess challenged. “The point is obtaining the one thing that all men crave: power,” Razka retorted. “My company supplies the US with almost all of their weapons, aircraft, vehicles, and other war tech. I am one of the most powerful men in the world.” “I learned a long time ago the true power friendship has. When I see you, I see a bit of my former self as well. Alone, scared, and refusing to admit you need help when you need it most. But most of all, I see that lust for power.” “And just why the hell would I want to befriend you? Don’t forget that the only reason I’m helping you is out of whatever goodness is left in my heart. I’m not doing this to be your friend.” “I want to help you, Chris. But I can’t do that if you don’t let me.” Chris let out a heavy sigh of defeat. “You just aren’t going to fucking stop until I give in, are you?” Luna grinned. “Nope.” After dinner, Chris took Luna outside to enjoy the night sky. He came to the conclusion that fighting her would prove harder than just going along with her idea. Chris was glad he lived in a secluded enough area that the pony princess could go outside without worrying about anyone seeing her. They were in a field with a perfect view. Luna was laying on her stomach, while Chris stayed standing. “Do you believe there’s a life after this one?” Chris asked, never taking his eyes off the stars above. Luna was a bit caught off guard by the sudden question. “I’ve never really given it much thought, seeing as how I am immortal.” “I like to believe there is. That when we die it’s not just emptiness. The hope for something better after we die.” Chris let out a soft sigh. “So how old are you?” “I’m over 2,000 years old.” A faint smile formed on the human’s lips. “People here talk of how great it would be to live forever. They never realize that living forever means watching everyone around you get old and eventually die. We will all die one day. Why waste precious time trying to change it?” Most of her life, Luna had been told by so many ponies how lucky she was to be forever young. She always hated hearing it. “You’re one of the first people who hasn’t said my immortality is a good thing. You’re right too, being immortal is a very heavy burden. Having to come to terms with the fact that one day, you will watch your closest friends die.” "You said you see a bit of your former self in me. Care to elaborate on that?" "That's a conversation we may have later. I'd like to enjoy the night for now," Luna calmly replied. The two sat in silence, enjoying the peaceful night sky. It was the first time in a long time that Razka actually taken the time to stop and just enjoy the scenery. He had always admired the beauty and purity of nature. Very rarely did he find time to just relax nowadays. Tonight, Razka would let himself relax. Tomorrow, he’d deal with contacting Janet Stahl.