Chapter 39 - Taking some Control (2)

27 December, City K Military Base

Matthew briefly paused letting General Man take in what he had just said about the potential penetration of the Special Forces on base by the terrorists, before continuing. "To deal with that, part of my plan is a reorganisation of the whole special forces group to prevent ongoing issues. The Joint Chiefs' have agreed to me request for three Majors I trust with my life to be reassigned here over the next couple of months. They are all getting promotions, but like mine they will be kept secret until we get to the bottom of the issues. They will be key for the reorganisation."

"I know, I was part of the teleconference discussions on the 24th that made the decision to change your deployment to here. I am assuming you have been to see your brother?"

"Absolutely, he looks as bad as I have seen him with his cancer battle. I suspect that it he sees twelve months out we will have had more time that we should expect with him. But apparently his oncologist believes he has a fifty-fifty change of surviving it, and I suspect he will as he has a reason to fight."

"I remember his first cancer battle, when it became public. No one expected him to recover from that, yet he did. Be positive." After a brief pause, "What do you mean he has a reason to fight?"

"He got engaged on Christmas Day to Chester Yao."

"I always suspected those two were close. Chester never really loved his ex-wife but always seemed pushed into it by his family. But I guess you want that kept quite due to the fact that the law allows their relationship provided it is not too public." Matthew was nodding his head at this.

General Man paused, then continued "I forgot to tell you the head of the military and the minister have approved your ability to become a director of JT International. They recognise that the last thing the country needs if anything happens to your brother is there not to be a succession plan. Being on the board, helps that occur, and can excuse us releasing you from your commitment if necessary."

Matthew did not want to have that discussion. He was angry when he first heard about it and knew that Phillip had spoken to President Dong about this. He understood Phillip's motives though as he wanted to ensure that there was some continuity for the company if he got too ill.

Matthew turned to the more pressing issue "Edward, just letting you know the current plan regarding decision making staffing. Between you, Colonel Yu and myself we can be contacted to make final decisions, but I believe assigning groups of three majors in shifts to make decisions and run them by any of us is the best way to go."

"The preference would be for them to contact myself for final approval of decisions over and above what they can make, but I cannot be on call 24 hours a day, I need to settle into my accommodation here on base and open up my home in town. That will take time."

"I will guarantee tomorrow, and on the weekend that I will be on base between 2pm and 6pm. I would suggest for you we guarantee you are available between 10am and 2pm, and if acceptable for Colonel Yu between 6am and 10am. Outside that they have to telephone us to confirm decisions above their paygrade after they have reached a majority decision."

"As you are in hospital for a fortnight and Colonel Yu has already indicated she will, other than the time she is on base or travelling between her home and here, she will be at home, I am the only one that will have to inform staff of my whereabouts. Trying to have one of us on duty all the time, is just impossible. In some respect this will challenge the majors to see who is worthy of promotion in the next wave of promotions."

"Sounds reasonable." Responded General Man "Now you better get going before anyone finds it to suspicious that you are spending too much time here."

With that Matthew stood up, opened the Door and saluted as he left, making sure he turned off the jammer in his pocket. As he walked back to his office, he knew how bad the situation was and he would be recommending a change with respect to assignments and leave to ensure the base was not without colonels on duty.