Jennie 2015
Note from Azzy: You guys, infecting me with the plot-bunnies. The following may contain mild spoilers.
It was cold, and God did she hate the cold. Seattle was not a warm place, nor was it dry. Two things Jennifer Stavros was intristically opposed to. She wrapped her stylish leather coat even tighter as she stepped out of her rented BMW and wrinkled her nose. The docks were smelling especially foul today. She opened an umbrella to ward off the mild rain. Podapolous was already there waiting with his own umbrella. His dour expression never changed, even when he was seemingly happy or excited. She idly wondered if that was the same expression his poor wife got when they were having sex. She banished that thought and greeted the man with a warm smile.
"Nicky, Darling." She extended a gloved hand, and he clasped it in a weak handshake.
"Ma'am." Was all he said. He turned and lead the way down the loading dock. Several large tankers were moored with cargo being loading onto them by cranes.
"How did the meeting go with the Westerfeilds go?" Jen said innocently.
Podapolous gave her an exasperated look. "You know very well how that went, Ma'am."
"I know." Jen said wickedly. "I just love having it repeated back to me. I did warn them about that particular purchase, the markets were slightly off, but why would they listen to little old me?"
"Shall we help them out, Ma'am?"
"After I've finished properly gloating." She paused in front of the large tanker currently moored, with Olympia written in large black letters on it's side. "In fact, maybe I should call an old school chum of mine. She would be more than happy to pull their asses out of the fire. For a price, of course." She turned her head slightly, as she always did when studying the probability lines. They sparkled red and white at the edges of her vision.
"That wouldn't be Miss Rasputin, would it Ma'am?"
Jen looked at Podapolous. That sounded like fear. "Yes, will that be a problem, Podapolous? By the way, have them carry at least 2,000 kilos less on this one."
"It's just, there are rumors about her Ma'am." He said while quickly making notations on his waterproof screen.
"What sort of rumors, Podapolous? You can add at least 10,000 kilos to that one." She pointed to the tanker's sister ship, the Primavera. "And have them go slightly northwest of it's original route. Say at least 20 knots."
"They say." He swallowed slightly. "They say that she once killed and ate a creative executive just to prove a point."
"Mmmm, that does sound like her, yes. Thirty knots, north by northwest, with the Amanda please."
"Will do then, ma'am." He keyed a few more notes.
The two continued up the dock until all of Jen's alterations were made. He walked her back to her car, and bowed slightly as he held her umbrella while she settled into the driver's seat. He gave her another slight bow and walked towards the office at the other end of the loading dock. Jen cranked up her car's heat and watched him walk away before pulling off her gloves. She rubbed a small nickel-shaped scar on her left wrist. Those things always ached when it was damp and cold.
She started her car and pulled into reverse. The company's next shipments went out of Mexico, and that wouldn't be for another two weeks. The monthly family meeting wasn't until the 17th, and her well-earned sabbatical continued into the spring. Enough time to grab a patch of beach and relax. Forge had already sent his next batch of numbers over. She could pick through them while she was tanning. This was a game the two of them often played. Her last section had contained the molecular structure for kyrptonite. She was eager to see what he had come up with in response.
