“The Washington Public Employees’ Retirement System, or WaPERS, is a defined benefit retirement system, as opposed to our current defined contribution system,” said Melissa Rosenblatt, the tall, thin head of human resources. “All employees currently receive an additional 15 percent of their pay in the form of an IRA. The proposal you will be voting on will change that to a two percent at age 60 benefit, with a 50 percent buy in.”

At that point Andrew Calderon, a student attending the local junior college, stopped paying attention. He had been working at the Washington Area Power Alliance, or WAPA, for three years, and had been to plenty of all-hands meetings. Usually Philip Wolcott, the general manager, would get up in front of everyone and blabber on about a half dozen things nobody cared about, like the latest output at the combustion turbine plant. Andrew and the other students would wait for the end of the meeting, then rush up to the front to have cake before the old women got there. They always had cake to celebrate the employee birthdays for that month.

Today, however, was different. None of the other students were at the meeting, and Andrew only showed up because he got out of school early. Instead of Wolcott, Melissa Rosenblatt was talking about some new retirement system, although Andrew wasn’t interested. He liked the extra 15 percent the company gave him. The money went into his E-Trade account, and it was great for trying out new stocks he heard about from his friends.

Andrew turned to his former supervisor, Howard Ashworth, and said, “What is all this about? Should I be paying attention?”

Howard was smart and social; furthermore, he was Andrew’s mentor. He taught Andrew everything from computer hardware to office politics. Howard glanced at him and replied, “Probably not. They tried this PERS thing a couple of years ago, before you got here, and it didn’t pass.”

“So why are they trying it again?”

Howard shrugged and turned his attention back to the meeting, as things were starting to heat up in the room. Tiffany Schindler was asking why they were still pursuing the idea of PERS. Andrew suddenly became interested again. Tiffany was the prettiest administrative assistant in the office.

“Oh, sit down Tiffany, and let Melissa explain it,” said Edna Pauley, perhaps the most feared woman in the building. Her foul breath and coffee-stained teeth complemented her overall greenish, witchlike appearance.

“You just want to get your double retirement Edna,” came Tiffany’s reply. Russell Colin leapt to his feet. Andrew’s eyes narrowed as he stared down Colin. He was Wolcott’s evil crony and had a long history with the students.

Colin was a large man with a weak heart. His last attack was bad, and Colin’s doctor told him to watch his diet. Andrew thought he was doing better now, only wolfing down medium pizzas for lunch, instead of his usual large combination with extra cheese.

“Everyone just relax for a second,” Colin said. “Melissa has some important things to discuss, and everyone has a right to hear them. You will have your chance to vote for WaPERS in a couple of weeks, but for now let’s just listen and hold our questions until the end.” Colin waited for Tiffany to sit down before doing so himself.

Andrew tapped Howard on the shoulder. “Double retirement?”

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