Heartlands Vault Aleph-60
West Undercrofts
Conference Room Ancestor 10
20th Evening Star 4E29

Present: Field-Marshall Ildric Ostarand (IGS advisor, Legion 92nd, praefect-colonel, retired), Hailethia Crane (Black Horse Courier correspondant), Legionaries Fendl Taurp and Horlen Veenthender, Esteemed Master Theyn-wa-Dhien (Cult of the Ancestor-Moth, invisible)

+++ Crane vetting process, 25th Crossing +++

+++ excerpt +++

O: Excuse the gloom.
C: S'okay. What do you need, Colonel?
O: Let's cut to the chase, Hailey.
C (sigh): I can't go in there again.
O: I need you to.
C: You need the Black Horse Courier to.
O: Well, yes, but specifically you. You've made the Crossing twice. I don't recognize this... (looks at notes)
C: Poiret Kwet. Former senior correspondent at Gwilym Sheet. He's good.
O: I don't care. I don't recognize the name, the readers won't recognize the name. At this juncture, the Survey thinks the public would be better served by a familiar face, as it were. It would be... comforting.
C: No, I get it. The EC can have the byline changed if it's a matter of appearance. It's not my problem.
O: The Blanket is everyone's problem.
C: So you keep saying.
O: I can promise you more safety this time.
C: That's a lie.
O: It's not. I've found a linguist of the dead. And secured EC approval for the addition of a Continuitor. Both of them natives to their expertise. No shortcuts.
C: First off, congratulations. I'm happy for you, Colonel, I really am. Those are extraordinary gets. Everyone knows about the project's funding cuts. Everyone knows the Emperor thinks--
O (interrupts): No one knows what Mede thinks and I hate guessing. (pause) I don't have to guess that you are popular with the public. Or that public interest helps the project stay afloat when the Empire is as weak as it is. It's not the equation I'd prefer, but it's turned into an institutional leverage I can use.
C (pause): Leverage. Funny you should say that.
O: Name it.
C: Get me an interview with Titus Mede and I'll go. No one knows what he thinks? Outside of you and half a handful of others, none of us really know who he is. That's another weakness the Empire can't afford right now with a new Dominion at the door.
O: You've got a deal.
C: Before we leave.
O (pause): Deal stands.

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