ENFORCING CAPITALISM IN THE OUTER WORLDS

PART I

THE RULES

1 Never do your own dirty work

2 Cut costs and turn a profit for the company

3 Live by the company’s values

Hi, I’m Jeff Asbestos. Not so long ago I was like you: a plucky young go-getter, brimming with moxie, looking for the right corporate environment in which to make a difference. But I was adrift. That’s not a metaphor—many influential management texts endorse plain speaking, so it’s important you know I was literally adrift in an unpowered spaceship. For nearly 70 years I unconsciously orbited a planet far from Earth, one of thousands of hopeful workers seeking employment in Halcyon, a colony owned and operated by distinguished corporations.

The spaceship had broken down during the final leg of its journey, and recovery would have compromised the financial stability of the Halcyon Holdings Corporation Board. In truth I’m grateful for my time in stasis, because on the day I was finally unfrozen it left me with one certainty: Heroes make sacrifices to protect the bottom line.

I land on Terra-2 as a