Lenny stares at Wesley for a bit, then Lenny says, "I have been carrying you and Linda for some time now. You two do no work and I have had to redirect some of Jim's work and credit it to you or Linda."
Wesley grins, "Jim is under contract for, what, four more years? He does enough work to support what Linda and I don't do. What's the problem?"
Lenny lectures, "Actually, Jim is not under contract. The bastard refused to sign the contract and I had to have his signature forged. That matter is about to come up in court. If it comes up in court, I lose my job and I probably go to prison."
Wesley grins, "That sounds bad. I presume that you have a solution."
Lenny lectures, "You and Linda have been turning in false time sheets. That's fraud on the United States government. The amount of money involved is such that you and Linda could wind up serving one to five years in a federal penitentiary. Do you and, for that matter, Linda know what you will look like after one to five years in a federal penitentiary?"
Wesley shudders, "Worse than death. One to five years of high carb food, in a federal penitentiary will leave me, or Linda, for that matter, a fat bag of flab with all the glamour gone."
Lenny nods yes. "One to five years in a federal penitentiary will leave you the punk of some really hard core criminal. Linda will find the same kind of thing in one to five years in a woman's federal penitentiary. Do you see the situation?"
Wesley shudders, "Very clearly. I presume that you have a plan."
Lenny nods yes. "One to five years in a federal penitentiary for you and Linda probably also means one to five years in a federal penitentiary for me. I don't plan to spend one to five years in a federal penitentiary. I do have a plan that will keep all of us out of a federal penitentiary. However, you and Linda will need to do exactly as you are told, with no clever deviations from plan. Do you see the situation?"
Wesley nods yes, "I see very clearly. Exactly what is your plan?"
Lenny sneers, "There is a remote communication site, way out in the boondocks. I have had Jim working on a minor upgrade to the communication software. You and Linda are going to take Jim out the remote site and abandon him, without water. He will try to walk back in. but he will not make it. When Jim dies, the trouble dies with him."
Wesley thinks for a moment, "Jim will not go, without water."
Lenny laughs, "You and Jim and Linda will each have a canteen, just a normal base canteen, not a deep desert canteen. It's just going to be a quick auto trip to the remote site and then back. Two hours at the outside. Water will not be a problem."
Wesley thinks for a moment, "Jim will have a canteen."
Lenny laughs, "Yes, Jim will have a canteen, an empty canteen, after you pour his canteen on the ground."
Wesley asks, "There is no other way?"
Lenny sneers, "The other way us one to five years in a federal penitentiary."
Wesley muses, "I gonna have to talk with Linda."
Lenny sneers, "No, I will talk with Linda."
Wesley asks, "Exactly what is to happen?"
Lenny lectures, "You will take my personal car, not a vehicle checked out of the motor pool. Thus, no record. My car is an electric, so no sound to draw attention. When you get to the site, you plug in this burned out comm link, while Linda holds Jim at gun point. You take the good comm link and smash it. You then pour Jim's water out and leave him at the remote site. He can't use the comm gear to call for help, it won't work with a burned out comm link. You drive out on R6 and then loop around and come back on R10, supposedly having checked out the inoperative comm site, along...