Paradise Burning (The Virtagwalla Series Book 2) (8 page)

              The Chairman of the Board stood up, having remained silent for the entire meeting. Putting his hands on the table, “Excuse me Madame Chairwoman, but I have to make a comment,” he swallowed, “Pending what is going on in the strategic planning committee, we could be facing some serious issues as a finance committee. Although Ms. Arnold is amazing when it comes to managing the finances of this company, the challenges of this economy are beyond her means of control. The cost of operating this business is skyrocketing, especially with the rising prices of electricity. The market for gold has fallen through the floor, and worst yet the local stresses on the corporation are all feeding a potentially nasty brew. We could be looking at the first quarter that VirtGold has not posted a profit in its existence. We could in fact even be seeing a loss. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am sadly not as optimistic as our gracious CFO. A 500 billion dollar write off is going to scare our investors and I can guarantee you that when it is announced publically, the price of this stock will plummet. The investors will fly attempting to sell while high,” he took another long pause. “The reason I am talking about the strategic planning committee is because they are voting on doing one of two things. First, the potentiality of offering more shares, or the second is approving the lay off of up to six thousand employees. Both of which are not the best plans, especially when we also have to announce a half trillion dollar reevaluation and subsequent write-off.”

              The room was completely silent. No one spoke for several moments, until Challet’s personal secretary, who walked in carrying a piece of paper, opened the door to the room. Thanking her she quickly scurried out of the room. He unfolded the piece of paper, read it, and then crumpled it. Sighing he announced, “They have approved the lay off option and tabled the vote for offering more shares.”

              Sensado and many of the other board members put their heads down on the table. All she could think was, ‘No, not VirtGold - one of the last sturdy stones in the foundation.’

14

Rain was pelting the windows of the Press Office, as Lis Mooring took the podium for the 7:30 pm briefing.

              “I realize I am beginning to sound like a broken record, however the President wanted me to announced that the Virtagwallan Gold Depository, which has too been hit by the recession, has announced it will be terminating six thousand positions by the end of the month.”

              “Lis, are there any discussions amongst the Cabinet or in Parliament about what to do with the citizens that have been laid off, whether from the MFS, UBB, many of the manufacturing jobs, or now, VirtGold?”

              “Claude, you know well since we have spoken about it on multiple occasions that the National Government already provides a twelve week unemployment insurance system for citizens that are unemployed. This requires each unemployed citizen to apply for a weekly stipend as they continue to look for work. As far as I know the President has not discussed any further assistance program with Minister Sensado, but I am sure those conversations will begin shortly.”

              “Is VirtGold going to be shutting down?”

              Lis rubbed her nose, “No, not at all. The company did announce these layoffs along with a significant write off, however the company has reassured the President and the Prime Minister that it will not be closing its doors, no.”

              “When are we going to be hearing some positive news about the economy?”

              “I assure you I will be the first one to tell you if I hear anything,” Lis chuckled, packing up her notebook, “Minister Sensado is planning on speaking to the Parliament this week. I encourage all of you to tune in, in order to get a better idea of where the broader picture is in terms of the Virtagwallan economy. That’s it!”

15

              Jacqueline Sensado returned to the Parliament as she promised. Zhang welcomed her back, and many of the ministers sat at attention, a bit of a step change from her previous visit. This time around, the parliament was not sealed. President Rove sat up in the viewing gallery, along with Ray and Kay Lyons. Many others filled the space around them, however none of the others spoke. Xavier had rejected his invitation to sit on the floor of Parliament like last time, for the far more distant seat up in the viewing gallery. Sensado, just as before, swung by his office and gave him a brief of all that was going to happen during her testimony. He was not pleased with what she had to share, but intrigued on how the Ministers, and eventually the public, would take the information.

              Taking a sip of her water and opening her folder she crossed her hands, having practiced her speech many times in the mirror in the days prior. In her finely appointed black pin striped pantsuit tailored specifically for her testimony she was ready to handle anything that came out of her presentation. Clearing her throat she began, “Good afternoon. Due to the girth of the information I am about to share with you I will forego the formal salutations and simply set in to what I have to say. Seeing as that is why I was asked to return to this reverent chamber in such a capacity as I find myself today,” she paused and scanned the faces of the audience. Most of which didn’t seem phased by her rudeness and abruptness.

              Tossing her hair, and then placing the fallen pieces behind her ear, she continued, “Just over two months ago you asked me to present to this body the current financial state of the nation of Virtagwalla. At that time I shared with you the dismal situation that we found ourselves in. With that being said, what I wouldn’t give to go back to that state as it is far better than todays. This past month has been the most devastating to our economy in our history. Let me first bring you up to speed, then I will outline for you the financial state of this government, and finally, as I did before give to you some more refined predictions and ask for your help on some issues.”

              Flipping the page, more for show than for actual necessity, “My fellow citizens of Virtagwalla we currently find ourselves deeply engrossed in what is shaping up to be the worst quarter, financially, this nation has ever seen. The percent of unemployed citizens has jumped from nearly nine percent three months ago, to a whopping 20% today,” she paused again, “It is this number that will further cripple this nation because of its impact on the Social Net.”

              “Let me share with you some more devastating information. Our Gross Domestic Product has fallen 35% from what it was last year at this time. Allow me to outline that for you in a way that may be easier to understand. The total value of everything we produce has fallen by 35%, or in one year we have lost nearly 35% of our national wealth. If unemployment didn’t make you flinch this probably should. To top it all off, tax revenue has fallen off the cliff. It is down nearly 80% from what it was a year ago.”

              The faces around the room showed absolute terror now. Many of the ministers who wore flat faces when Sensado began, sat back in their chairs with looks of anxiety and queasiness. Sensado reached for a few breaths before she continued. The tension of the room had escalated to levels never before felt by most members of the Parliament, and Rove was amazed by how the weight of the information shared by Sensado had even caused the journalists covering the finance minister’s report to put their pens down. Biting her lip, followed by another sip of water, she started again, slower this time, “Now that the truly devastating carnage has been drawn-out, let me share with you the information requested from me last time. Minister Princeton and, I believe, a couple others asked me about the other revenues of the National Government outside of tax revenues. I had some research done, and condensed into a couple handy pie charts and graphs for you all to digest. It seems that the annual budget, the process of drafting of which was discussed last time, is based off of a ratio where 90% of the budget is compensated for by tax revenues, and 10% is composed of all other revenues of the national government. Nearly all of that ten percent is in fact dividends that the National Government receives from its stake in the Virtagwallan Gold Depository Corporation and other government fees charged for some of our services,” again she paused this time pulling out a sheet of paper.

              “Last week was the quarterly meeting of VirtGold’s board of directors, and they shared with us that VirtGold will be posting its first ever loss. They are being forced to write down nearly 500 billion dollars in bad estimations in the untapped assets section of their balance sheet. In addition to that, their expenses exceeded their revenues this quarter meaning they will not be paying any dividends for the first time in history,” she took another sip of water, “For all of you who didn’t follow me, we will not be receiving any of that 10% that VirtGold usually tends to contribute towards the budget.

              “That, coupled with the fact that our revenues are down 80%, you can hopefully begin to see the dire picture we are finding ourselves in. Ladies and Gentlemen, if we do not do something, and something drastic right now, we will burn through all of our cash and default on our wholly owned corporation’s debt obligations within three months from yesterday. Let me explain to you where all of this money is going.”

              She stood up and screens dropped down from the ceiling of the massive chamber. Projectors roared to life, and the lights in the chamber dimmed, as she took out a laser pointer. Sensado got a glimpse of Zhang’s stern face, refusing to show any emotion as she began to dive in. Clearing her throat again she glanced at the charts that showed two graphs both with downward slopes, “Right now we are burning through approximately 5 billon dollars a day to pay for our robust Social Net, or publicly provided services.  This is outside of the 6 billion dollars we spend per day just to pay down the interest on our debt. This Social Net, though, for all of you who have already forgotten is the program that pays for all of our public schools - primary through the University levels, the health care available free of charge to every one, citizen or not, libraries, cellular phone and internet services, police departments, fire departments, postal systems, farming subsidies, unemployment insurance and compensation, public transportation subsidies, a robust retirement compensation system, and many other services, just to name a few. If we didn’t have to pay for anything else, we have enough cash on hand to sustain that system as it is right now for roughly fifteen months. However, we also have to pay for the costly interest on those silly loans and bonds that this government’s wholly owned corporations must pay on. Although no one thinks of the interest when they extend this money, someone has to pay it. And even as the government we don’t get out of paying it.”

              This was a rumbling in the crowd. She continued flatly, her tone not wavering from its monotonous flow, “Combined, the interest payments and the Social Net, we are paying nearly 11 billion dollars a day. And that is not it. Earmarked for projects, the National Guard, and many other things this government pays for we now push that number to nearly 22.8 billion dollars a day to keep this nation operating.  At 22.8 billion dollars a day we will bankrupt this nation in three months. Heaven forbid a disaster or something catastrophic happen that we would need to pay for it. The worst part of all of this is that we are still so desperately at the whim of other nations. The world, as a whole, seems to be hinting at the beginning stages of a recovery. But if something were to happen to one of the larger economies, we could be facing significant challenges.  Challenges that I seriously don’t know we would have the resources to adequately withstand.”

              She paused, clicked a button on her desk, and the lights came back up and the screens disappeared into the ceiling. Still standing she put her hands on her desk, “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Parliament of Virtagwalla we have some very serious decisions to be making. We must make drastic cuts to our Social Net, National Guard, and other places in order to ensure the sustainability of this government and nation. If we default on our debt obligations, we could be looking at a catastrophic consequence we as a nation will never recover from, and an assuredly of never becoming a part of the United States,” taking yet another sip of water, she paused for a second. Rove was beginning to think all her water drinking was being used as a tool to allow some of her more bold statements to sink in. Sensado continued, “With all that being said, like before there is one bright spot economically speaking. Farming in Villaggio seems to be the only productive sector of our economy right now, harvesting the largest crop it has seen in history. And that’s about it,” Stopping and looking up, “I come to you asking you to take action. We are on a massive vessel with a gouge in its side, taking on water. You must ask yourselves now, in this time of absolute crisis, will you be known as the parliament that got its feet wet, helped to scoop the waters out and fix the damage plaguing this nation, or the parliament that ate cake and watched as its glory sunk below the waves. I pray to God it is the first one, and I pray for God’s help if it is the second. Thank you for your time.”

              The Ministers bombarded Sensado with questions even more violently than following her first testimony. Rove looked at Ray whose face showed panic. He leaned to Rove, “How has it gotten this bad? I feel like we should be doing some!”

              Rove leaned over, “Hampton, there is very little we can do. It is in their hands now.”

              Ray sat up his face getting even paler. Rove nodded his head as it all began to fall into place for Hampton Ray. ‘This nation is plummeting, and we can’t stop it,’ Ray thought as he held his face in his hands. After zapping from Sensado every last thought she had on the situation she packed up her materials and found her seat amongst the other Ministers of the Cabinet. Prime Minister Zhang stood and called for the Parliament to enter into a Sealed Session. Those who were not members of the Parliament shuffled out of the Grand Hall.

              “ I bet this is going to be a long sealed Parliament,” Ray muttered. No more than ten minutes later the doors of Parliament were unsealed, and the Guardsmen began ushering people back into the chamber.

              Looking shocked at each other, Rove stroked his chin, “Wow that was a lot faster than I thought it was going to be.”

              They returned to the observation terrace, to hear the Parliament’s decision on how to act in the wake of Sensado’s warnings.

              Prime Minister Artimus Zhang stood slowly from his chair, and asked, “Do I see a motion on the floor?”

              A tall lanky man with a nicely trimmed beard stood from one of the chairs on Rove’s left. Zhang pointed to him, “Minister Forsyth, please present your motion to the floor.”

              Forsyth unfolded a piece of paper and began reading in his aged, stern voice, “Whereas, the nation of Virtagwalla has entered into a time of significant financial challenges, and whereas many extreme measures have to be taken we make the following recommendations to be executed within 48 hours of the approval of this bill: first, we move to eliminate all farming subsidies to any citizen of Virtagwalla that currently receives them; second, we move to cut all subsidies to the Metropolitan Foundation Service; third, we move to raise the age of retirement from 62 to 68, excluding all citizens that already receive such compensation; finally, we move to approve $10 billion in new bonds to be bought and held under the auspice of the Virtagwallan Asset Relief Program Corporation to be used if and when necessary. Therefore, with these four recommendations I officially submit this bill to the floor for immediate unanimous approval.”

              Zhang nodded his head, “So moved. I entertain that we move to vote on this issue,” some random minister seconded his motion, and Zhang clapped his hands. “Since it has been seconded we will move to vote. All of those in favor of this measure being passed please raise you right hand now,” Rove watched as every Minister’s right hand rose into the air, except Sensado and handful of other Cabinet Ministers.

              Rove’s heart fell to the floor, as Ray leaned over, whispering into his ear, “What the hell is going on? None of this is what she asked for! None of this will even help.”

              Prime Minster Zhang then pounded the gavel, “This measure passes by unanimous approval of this body,” pausing for a moment, “Thank you Minister Sensado, and we look forward to hearing how these measures will hopefully help our financial situation.”

              Sensado stood up awestruck, took off her colorful gown, and slipped out of the chamber without a word. Chasing after her, Ray tried to stop her. Rove stood up in the observation deck, but when Zhang looked at him he knew the battle was over. Pounding the gavel again Zhang ratchet forward with the session.

              Returning to his office, Rove found Ray comforting a furious Sensado. Rove asked Kay to hold all of his calls, and cancel all of his appointments for the afternoon. Handing her a cup of hot chocolate and one of those famous chocolate doughnuts, she looked over as Rove as he sat down.

              “I can understand why you are so frustrated,” Rove began.

              Sensado took a sip of her drink and looked in the direction of the setting sun. Closing her eyes she turned to him, “Do you understand what just happened today? They made a few cosmetic changes to retirement that will yield no benefits for probably multiple decades. Then they cut off completely the agency designed to keep this city afloat. What is going on? There was no discussion of any sort during the Sealed Session! Forscyth came up vocalized his plan, and the ministers all nodded their heads. Like chickens bobbing back and forth! I can’t help but feel as if this is all a big joke, and I am the only one not in on it.”