They Said It Would Be Easy (April Book 7)

by Mackey Chandler

  "Did they get through the flu OK? They're not gene mod then? Jeff wondered.

  "They've never had LET. Both of them seem to be in pretty good health. My mom has tried to tell them that LET isn't rejuvenation. If you wait until you have severe health problems it won't reverse everything. They can certainly afford Life Extension Therapy. It's semi-legal in Australia but very much disapproved in their social set."

  "Yeah, have you seen that creepy couple who survived the flu in quarantine? Jeff asked."They both look middle aged again, but he especially looks wrecked. He walks with a cane and never fully filled out again. Dr. Lee said on Earth they'd probably have sued him for saving their lives, because it didn't turn out perfect for them."

  "My mom's parents stopped going out to things like concerts when the flu started up. They got their groceries delivered and pretty much holed up. They're smart enough to do that and things never got bad enough in Oz that they couldn't get package delivery. They were content to stay in and watch videos and enjoy the beach below their house. Little chance of meeting people down there I can tell you. Perhaps a rare neighbor sighting. But the neighbors aren't going to walk on the beach if they come down sick are they? So they avoided this flu. If it isn't safe to use the Tobiuo now I'll just forget the idea."

  "No, no...I'm pretty sure it'll still be safe when this one mission is over. I can take steps to be able to guard them even better in the future, should need arise," Jeff assured her.

  "Then why the worry, or need to guard them?" April wondered.

  "Li asked for it before he'd use the generator for such a long trip. They've never used it for days before. They might use it to get in and out of a port or when becalmed. They run it occasionally, enough to keep the accumulator charged to run the freezer. He wasn't explicit about why, but he felt changing his behavior might attract North American attention."

  "OK, I can see that. Somebody might wonder suddenly what they are up to," April agreed. "And close to their shores would worry them too."

  "The other problem is the USNA is trying to squeeze us out of the banking business."

  April considered that a moment, looking puzzled. "They want to stop trading with us?" she asked. "Last time I checked we make a lot of the stuff they can't. Things they need pretty badly. If we can't get paid the trade stops."

  "In your mind yes, the two are immediately connected. Because you're a reasonable person who looks at the bigger picture. But North America is like a mentally ill person with multiple personalities. One department may know they need things and try to make exceptions to the embargo, another department wants to punish us by cutting off banking ties and what it does to trade isn't their problem, if it makes them look good." Jeff said.

  "Until the banking regulator finds he has metastatic melanoma. When he needs the cancer drug only we make in zero G, then suddenly it's terribly personal," April said.

  "Yes, well, even there, the very well to do can fly to Europe or Asia and get treated," Jeff explained. "They don't have any shortage of people. Little people that is."

  "That's one seriously screwed up system," April said.

  "Well yeah, you're preaching to the choir here," Jeff reminded her.

  "How are they trying to cut us off?" April demanded.

  "They've informed The Private Bank of Home it will be removed from North American access if it continues to be a conduit for funds from the System Trade Bank. They'd probably like to cut him off too, but a lot of very wealthy Japanese access the Federal system through it. It would cause a stink."

  "So you can't have Irwin do North American transactions for you," April said. "That doesn't seem insurmountable. You still have the Russians don't you?"

  "Yes, they don't care if I'm wiring funds from heaven to hell. Which I am, sort of. The USNA is in another periodic phase where they don't want bad relations with Russia so that seems good for now. But getting transactions cleared to and from North America will require several steps. I need a relationship with several other banks. I don't have the negotiating skills and finesse to know how to approach them. You have to say things very delicately, one wrong word and asking for an automatic transfer account becomes nasty money laundering. I'm not a lifelong professional banker, a member of the club, and it shows. And I need it to operate automatically. It's lots of little transactions, not worth doing manually. I doubt I can set it up as an unknown, sending texts or calling. This is the delicate sort of thing where you need to meet face to face. They like to know who they are dealing with, and I'm not about to go down to Earth. Eddie's people could probably set it up, but I don't want to be associated with them."

  "He wouldn't ask," April said. "He has always refused to touch that side of the family. From what I've read you are never rid of the mob once you depend on them for something. If I may bring him up again...I'd suggest you ask Papa-san to create a pipeline for you. I saw how easily he extracted Gunny's money from North America. He called some associates and slick as could be he was handing Gunny an envelope in Tonga."

  "I'm not sure he wouldn't just be doing it with the Asian equivalent of the Mafia," Jeff worried. "It might not be any better than going to Eddie's family."

  "Oh no, much different," April explained. "With Eddie the most you'd get would be an introduction, and you'd have to deal with one of his 'uncles' yourself. If you do it through Papa-san you'll be walled off from direct involvement. He's not going to share his contacts with you. Spies do business differently than mobsters, even if their connections overlap. And in my opinion Papa-san would be a very thick wall."

  "Ah...I do appreciate your people skills. You don't think Papa-san will think less of me for needing the help?" Jeff still worried.

  "Not when it's an ego boost to him. How can he knock you for deciding he's the go-to guy to fix your problem? Even if he declines, you showed huge confidence in him."

  "OK, I'll do it," Jeff agreed. That took some of the weary look off Jeff's face.

  * * *

  "Why so glum Husband? I thought things were going very well for us," Huian said.

  "Ah, I can never hide my moods from you," Chen Lee said, with a sigh. "Indeed, as I was telling you yesterday things are going very well for us. Our security cooperative has a lot of work, and T has been generous sharing the profits from a number of his enterprises. I feel much more secure financially than when we arrived on Home. No, I feel sad because the gentleman we visited in Myanmar, Chan Aye, was taken by this horrible flu. He had a couple more names, but that was what he always invited foreigners to call him. I'd hoped to disperse some of our new funds to him, and when I called I was informed of his death. I counted him a friend too."

  "Oh...Did he have life extension to be particularly susceptible?" Huian asked.

  "No, he was deeply suspicious of the treatment. He'd asked before what the down side was, because he said there was always a down side. As it turned out he was right for many people. But, no," Chen said, "he just was one of the many older people that died from this flu, as flu has always killed some."

  "Did you still have funds on deposit with him? Is that a problem?" Huian asked.

  "No, given the uncertainty when we were fleeing I asked to withdraw all our funds. And it was quite accommodating of him to allow it on such short notice. But then I was quite frank with him about our situation. I was looking to deposit monies again. We have funds in both Home banks, and still have deposits in a few Earth institutions, but we saw the advantage of having assets dispersed when we had to leave abruptly."

  "They are not continuing the family business?" Huian asked, surprised.

  "Do not be offended Dear Wife, but they are a very traditional household. The man had no sons and he never trained a daughter to the business. They have his books, literal books as well as electronic records, he always said the memory of computers is too ephemeral. I'd joke with him that others found it entirely too hard to erase. I'll miss the back and forth with him," Chen said.

  "So, they are just going to pay the funds o
ut and shut down?" Huian asked. "I hate to see a business die almost as much as a person. Their means of living will vanish."

  "Chan Aye left them well provided for. His wives are of a similar age, and he was looking at retirement soon. His daughters will be provided for amply when they marry. I spoke briefly with his eldest wife and she was in no distress like they would be homeless or scrambling for a bowl of rice. A lot of their customers died in the epidemic too. Some of the accounts will never be demanded. She would have appointed another relative to handle dispersing funds, but the only uncle who was a traditional banker and takaful agent died too. She and her co-wives are managing their funds. They are mature women, experienced in life, they won't do anything stupid with his wealth."

  "Could you not ask them to take you funds and continue as before?" Huian asked.

  "I speak with you candidly, and ask your opinion. I value it highly. To do so is new for us, and it is even rarer in their culture. I'll be honest that I'd feel very uncomfortable to do business with them. It was awkward for just the short conversation we had, because I know women of their household do not normally interact with men who are not closely related. I don't doubt she wouldn't have spoken to a man of her own culture, who would disapprove. She dealt with me only because I am a foreigner."

  "And yet the young woman who entertained me while you dealt with the banker had no trouble at all speaking with you after, when you asked her help to outfit me," Huian remembered.

  "Yes, that was Myat, he often bragged on her. But she is of the younger generation. She is more comfortable with outsiders, and I admit I'm more comfortable with her, knowing she thinks differently."

  "Would the sum you intended to entrust to him break us, Husband?"

  "Not at all, that was the intent, to disperse our holdings, so no one part would be a catastrophic loss. I'd intended to send the equivalent of two ounces of gold to his accounts at first. Either by electronic transfer or the physical metal transferred by courier as two Solar, if he wished.

  "Let me propose something, Husband. Allow me to call Myat. I thought very well of the young woman. Although she was not that young. Like you, I can talk to her easier than the older women I never met. I'd like to offer to put the funds on deposit with the family, since they still have funds, and are managing them. She can do the talking to the older women for us. I remember she said she was the daughter of his second wife. If they are brave enough to accept the challenge then surely there are many other new widows down there who have funds to safeguard. I wonder how many of them lack male relatives they wish to act for them now, and would be very comfortable dealing with another woman. The young daughters like Myat are of an age now to be useful. Surely they have the assets to continue Chan Aye's work if they chose to."

  Chen didn't reply for so long she thought he might not, or if he did he'd certainly decline.

  "The way we'll do this, is I'll start an account with the Private Bank in your name," Chen said. "That way you are approaching Myat to handle the funds for another woman. That is even easier for them to accept than you, merely acting as my agent. I'll do this periodically and you may invest the funds with them, or wherever else you think it wise.

  "As you get some experience, if you are comfortable with it, I may release some of the funds that are in Earth banks to you. You may want to confer with Tetsuo's wife, Lin, on occasion as I know he has directed her to manage a separate fund in just this manner.

  "I confess, the first time I knew of that arrangement, it made me uncomfortable, but given his success, in everything the man touches, how can I second guess him?" Chen asked.

  "Thank you for your confidence, and expanding it," Huian said.

  "There are things you need to know," Chen said. "You have to speak to them in the terms their traditions allow for financial services. You may think that it's a silly way to do the same thing as western banking and insurance accomplishes, but the distinctions are real and important to the way they think.

  "For example, they do not pay interest in the same direct manner a European or American bank would. Rather you are sharing limited profits in an enterprise, which can mean you may be called on to share in losses, if that's the way things go. Now, we are not believers, but I always made deposits with the understanding that we'd accept that risk the same as them. It's no different than other western investment vehicles that have no guarantee. But it has frequently been a source of conflict between Muslim bankers and western bank regulators, who insist on the deposits being completely insured. Now, anybody would know that is an illusion and a lie, because their insurance never has the funds to cover a total loss. But they demand that appearance for the public. Similarly, insurance in their system accomplishes the same thing, but they describe it differently as a form of shared risk. It matters when you speak with them, because they regard the way they accomplish that as moral, and the way westerners do so as a violation of their religious law."

  Huian nodded every once in awhile, and maintained eye contact. Once Chen got in full lecture mode like this he could go on hours. Sometimes she thought he'd have made a better college professor than a spy. He was however an engaging speaker. Not one of those fellows who droned on in a monotone. He was really getting enthused to his subject, and she really did need to know these things, which helped make them interesting.

  She might have to force him to stop for a meal in a couple hours, or he'd press on oblivious to the passage of time. But best not to stop him while he was expanding on what he'd granted. The more he built on the idea the less chance anything would undo it. Even though she was just itching to call Myat and get started. She suspected Myat would be forgiving of any gaps in her knowledge and gently correct any cultural gaffes she made. One tended to be patient and forgiving with a person when the money was flowing from them to you. Just like she was right now.

  * * *

  April made a simple breakfast, pancakes and scrambled eggs from powder, and more coffee since Jeff convinced her more was in the pipeline. She had no desire to go out this morning. Jeff finally looked less haggard than when he'd showed up. She made extra pancakes knowing Gunny would probably smell the food soon and come stumbling out. Assuming he was in his room. April didn't have a counter on the door or track his comings and goings. There were nights he didn't come home. There were entire days again he didn't come home when his guys had a security job, now that his hand was out of the hard shell.

  She still had a four hundred milliliter can of peaches and put them out with the pancakes. Jeff was still a guest even if he was like family, closer in some ways. Fruit that wasn't freeze-dried was a real treat, and she didn't expect to see any heavy stuff like that until after the bean coffee started flowing again. Likely closer to a year than six months.

  "I ordered a few camera drones," April remembered to tell Jeff. "Lindsey had one in the cafeteria, using it to take pix to work from for her drawings."

  "In public cubic?" Jeff asked surprised. "I wouldn't want to be responsible if I messed up and ran it into someone. Seems like a real hazard and liability."

  "I'd agree, but it doesn't have any external propellers or wings at all. It is a ball with ducts and very, very quiet. I thought we might learn something for your own designs."

  "Sounds expensive then," Jeff decided. "You can get reimbursed," he offered.

  "They're cheap. They're being sold as toys. Kids can run them you wouldn't dare trust with a real drone. I imagine this drone might knock over some knick-knacks and break them, but you could run one into somebody's nose full blast and not hurt him. The whole thing can't weigh much over a hundred grams, and the shell is so thin it's very flexible."

  "Wow, I haven't heard of those. I'd bet anything they had to make compromises to mass produce them. If we spend a little more they will probably be quieter and stay up longer," Jeff predicted.

  "What are you smiling at?" April demanded when he suddenly grinned.

  "I was remembering visiting my relatives quit a long time ago. They had c
ats, and the kids were endlessly entertained by watching them chase the dot from a laser pointer. I was just thinking the cats would either be terrified of such a drone, or eager to do battle and drag it down. It would be interesting to see which. Being all enclosed like that it couldn't accidentally do them any harm."

  "I was hoping you might learn enough from it we could revive trying to make a guard bot. The one we did try to cobble up sounded like a cheap hairdryer. And not just for me," April made clear. "I think there is a good market for them and some money to be made if they are practical."

  "Yes, but not for an Earth market," Jeff said quickly. "There would just be too much proprietary tech in them. But I can see Gunny and his buddies doing security work with one hovering over each shoulder. It would be very intimidating."

  "Yeah," April agreed, picturing it. "But you don't want them too quiet. If you designate a target for them in your spex you want them to maybe rise toward the overhead and give out an ominous low frequency rumble as a warning."

  "The option to have them do that," Jeff corrected. "Sometimes people don't deserve a warning and you want to take them out silently, with extreme prejudice, as they say."

  April was nodding, getting into it. "So, lasers or projectile weapons?"

  "How about one of those Air Tasers, like Jon carries?" Jeff suggested.

  "Oh, I like that. You have all the bases covered with one of those."

  Chapter 5

  Jeff pled business to attend to and rushed off after breakfast, although he lingered to give her a hug and a quick kiss. He thanked her for her help, which meant a great deal. Jeff still intimidated April for sheer intelligence, but even so, he didn't understand a lot of social nuances and had finally come to realized it was a personal weakness. It was remarkable that Jeff's father was the same socially, and yet married Dr. Nam-Kah, who was much younger than him, smart, and an absolutely smashing beauty.

  April finished the coffee, took another quick shower, and headed to the tailor shop to meet Lindsey. If she was going to be measured and close to Lindsey and Cindy she wanted to be squeaky clean. She put on an all black outfit so she could wear the cape she'd shown Lindsey before. Cindy hadn't seen it and she hoped it would amuse her.