[Dragaera] An alternative solution to the Mellar problem

[Jon%20Lincicum]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jay Smith" <goannaman at gmail.com> 
Cc: "Dragaera Mailing List" <dragaera at dragaera.info> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 1:48:07 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific 
Subject: Re: [Dragaera] An alternative solution to the Mellar problem 

On 3/2/10, Eugene Zaretskiy <eugene.zar at gmail.com> wrote: 
>> 
>> On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Jay Smith <goannaman at gmail.com> wrote: 
>> > Granted they would want Mellar dead, but I don't understand the urgency, 
>> > given the scope of operations. 
>> 
>> Again, I don't recall the book too well, but I would think that for 
>> every day in which Mellar roams free, the Jhereg fear that his crime 
>> will become known... 
> 
> 
>The reason they were worried about people finding out, was the shortage of 
>money limiting normal activity. 
> 
>My position that eight million is pocket change to the council removes that 
>fact. The only people knowing about the theft would be the council, Mellar, 
>and Vlad, and consequently whoever Vlad told. 
> 
>If that is the case, how does word get out? Mellar says something? His 
>word against the council's, and he will soon be a dead man. 
> 
>On review, it is a stupid argument. Even if eight million was a poorly 
>chosen figure, I seem to recall that the premise is that was the entirety of 
>the council's operating funds. Oh well. 

This also ignores the fact that, while the money being missing is an important clue to Mellar's treachery, it is by no means the *only* clue. 

First off, there's Mellar's absence. He was a high-ranking Council Member. Suddenly he's nowhere to be seen, and the other council members don't want to talk about him anymore. Why not? 

Next, it's logical to assume that the other council members would want to take charge of Mellar's territories immediately. How do they explain this change to his subordinates? And how transparent must these lies be without being able to account for Mellar's whereabouts and status? If you try to mask the fact that Mellar isn't still a big boss by not telling anyone, doesn't this leave the door open for Mellar to cause further damage internally to the organization as a whole? 

Covering up the lack of operating funds would certainly help mask the problem for a few extra days, but it would by no means remove the urgency of the situation from the Council's point of view. 

Majikjon