The People's Commissar Mendel had his hands shoved deep into his worn overcoat, glaring balefully at the poor receptionist that was occupying the seat that Alicia, the head of Recruitment Administration would normally occupy.
"I didn't ask you if you had a bloody cat," he snarled around his cigarette. "What is this, open day at the bloody antiques road show? Where the bloody hell is my bloody chief assistant, and why isn't she sitting in that bloody seat instead of your dumpy looking backside that looks like it is frantically begging you to lay off the last doughnut of a bloody box of two dozen?"
He ran a hand down his face as she began to cry.
"Get out!" he commented, picking up a handful of pens and hurling them at her, "get out before I have the damn forklift come in here and haul your sorry carcass outta here!"
He watched her run, clutching her purse, tears streaming down her face.
"Ruddy useless," he murmured rolling his eyes as he went behind the reception desk, slamming the coffee maker up onto the table, and wrestling with the stubborn leaver. After a few seconds he pulled his gun and clamly shot the coffee maker, turning about as Alicia walked through the doors.
"About bloody time too!" he snarled, "and where were you?"
Alicia surveyed her boss with a light, self-satisfied smile and didn't answer him as she scooped up the phone and ordered maintenance to deliver yet another coffee maker to the recruitment offices.
"Your on the right today," she said motioning to the office with the rotating glass panels to the Trotsky's CIC. "We've got a new Commissar coming in to handle the overflow..."
"Great, some namby pamby wet nurse to coddle the masses," Mendel snarled as he stubbed out his cigarette into the ruins of the old coffee maker. "Tell him he's late, shoot him in the foot if he offers an excuse, and for god sakes send the damn 'open for business' transmitter going..."
Alicia nodded, "Already done sir. It's transmitting, telling people to come directly and Rendevous with us in the Alberta System..."
"Alberta," Mendel rolled his eyes. "Of all the end of nowhere, rotten fisted, pug ugly systems on the map... fine, get it over and done with. The first one to apply doesn't get shot..."