 |
 |
|
|
[ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] "Yes." Her voice was cold. She had been waiting to question him. "Questions?" "Who is empowered to draw on the Special Operations Account? For what? Then there's the Reserve Fund, and the way the system is set up I can only tell what goes into it, not what it's for, and the charter doesn't specifically mention it." He raised a cloaked arm and gloved hand. "Answers? Or do you want to resign?" "Resign? Who said anything about resigning? I'm administrator of the Foundation, and I don't know where more than thirty percent of the funds could go, or why." "Very well." "Very well, what?" Page 36 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "Let me explain. You are the administrator. You are not the trustee. The trustee is empowered to draw from the Special Operations Fund. Everything he draws will be reported, and the system will give you an itemization. That will allow you to comply with the Imperial record-keeping requirements." "I cannot draw on that fund?" "That is correct, not unless you have a special need and ask the trustee to transfer funds to your accounts. Remember, you alone control the disposition of seventy percent of the Foundation's income and more than half its assets." Lyr frowned. "Only half the assets? The trustee controls the other half?" "No. Thirty percent of the assets are in the Forward Fund, with half their income being returned in addition to current income." "I know that." ôùand the other half being invested in Forward Fund assets, which are currently a mixture of first line Imperial Money Houses." "That's not the best investment policy." "If you have a better one, present it, and have the system put it forward for the trustee to evaluate." Lyr worried at her bottom lip with her teeth. "Let's get back to the unanswered questions. Why the Special Operations Fund? Why the Forward Fund?" The man in black's shoulders slumped, as though he were sighing, although no sound was conveyed by the screen. "The Special Operations Fund was set up by the founders to allow sufficient funds for the trustee to carry out the aims of the foundation. If you will reread the bylaws, those funds can be spent on anything which is legal under the law, including, if necessary, the living expenses and transportation of the trustee." As he looked straight into the screen, Lyr shivered as she saw the hawk-yellow of his eyes. She would know the man by them, should they ever meet when he was not in privacy clothing, and she had to ask herself why he chose a disguise that did not conceal his most prominent feature. "The Forward Fund is set at thirty percent of assets for one simple reason. That is the maximum allowed under current Imperial law. At some point in the future it is anticipated that large capital grants will be required. To expend those funds requires a proposal by the trustee and the approval of the administrator." "Capital grants?" asked Lyr with the horror of the financial professional who avoided use of capital whenever possible. "The goals of the foundation are to pursue biological technology. What if extensive laboratory or production capability could not be obtained without actually building it?" He waved a cloaked arm. "Premature at the moment. Job now is research. Later, the capabilities." Page 37 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Lyr kept worrying her lower lip. The answers made sense. And she certainly couldn't object to the trustee, anonymous as he might be, who was also her superior, having access to less than a third of the fund income when he reported to her what was spent. That left one unanswered question. "What about the Reserve Fund? That's nearly twenty percent of the assets, and I have no control there at all." "Reserves may be converted by the trustee without your approval, but only for the purchase or acquisition of buildings, facilities, permanent transportation equipment, or property." "Does that give me any control?" "Only indirectly. The more the trustee spends, the less he has. The more he spends, the more you control. Call it a balance of power." "Sort of. But he could replace me at any time." "He could. And the founders could replace him. Or the Empire. if he ever should break Imperial law." Lyr stopped worrying her lower lip. She still didn't have the satisfaction she wanted, but she had some answers, and some implications that were even more far-reaching. The assets of the foundation were far greater, far greater, than she had been led to believe when the unknown hawk-eyed man had interviewed her and given her the job. And the emphasis on long-range contingency planning for capital grants and expenditures indicated a more action-oriented mentality behind the foundation than was usually the case. She looked at the screen. Was the man in black a founder? Or the trustee? Who were they? Imperial family? Court? Commercial? Or an Ethics Conscience Fund set up by a manufacturing consortium? "Any other questions?" She realized she had said nothing, caught as she had been in her own thoughts. "Uhhhh . . ." The nonsense syllable escaped her, and she clamped her lips shut. What else could she ask? "Nothing. Not yet." "Check with you later." The screen blanked, without even a good-bye. Lyr frowned, almost biting her lower lip. Was she being co-opted? What was she managing? Or more precisely, for what end was she managing the foundation? "You worry" she said, wanting to express her feelings aloud, "but you don't have a thing to point to. Except that the people who set this up don't want to be publicly identified. Have you been asked to do anything shady? Haven't they been overly concerned about insuring that all the legal formalities are complied with?" Page 38 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html She looked at the blank screen, then at the blank walls. In the operating plan for the year was an amount reserved for decorating the office, however she wanted. An amount large enough to do it quite nicely, even extravagantly, although she could certainly reduce that if she wanted. Altering the plan was well within her discretion, but she suspected it had been a polite way of letting her know that she was welcome to decorate as she pleased. "You already have more control over your job than many of your contemporaries will have in their whole careers." She stopped the monologue, ran her upper teeth side-to-side over her lower lip. She knew one other thing. Without a better reason, a great deal better [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |