by Bob Blanton
“I’m happy to meet you,” Blake said. “Let us know when you want to move, and we’ll set it up for you.”
“We could pack and be ready tomorrow,” Jimmy said. “We don’t got nothin’, had to sell everything before the government would give us help.”
“Jimmy’s a good miner,” Lieutenant Norton said.
“We’d be pleased to have you,” Blake said as ADI flashed a green light on his HUD. She’d been doing background checks on everyone while the meeting was going on.
“Thanks, I’m going to go talk to my Suzie,” Jimmy said. “I’ll let you know.” Jimmy nodded to Lieutenant Norton.
“How many people are you taking?”
“We can take sixteen people on the plane we have now,” Blake said. “We’ll come back or arrange travel for anyone else. We think we need at least twenty miners.”
“What about their families?”
“We have lots of jobs, so bring whoever wants to come,” Blake said. “We don’t have any government assistance, but we can put anyone to work. We need people to work in manufacturing plants, stores, and our parks and gardens. We need airplane mechanics, construction workers, and probably jobs we don’t even know we need to fill yet.”
“What happens if you don’t know how to do those jobs?”
“We’ll train you,” Blake said. “We’ll find a job you can do while you learn or even on-the-job-training if you have some skills. We just need people who want to work.”
“Hell, we all want to work, we just need jobs!”
“Okay, you folks go home and think about it,” Bettie said. “Now clear out, I’ve got dinner to get ready.”
“Anybody who wants to go or needs more information, we’ll be here tomorrow morning at seven o’clock,” Lieutenant Norton called out. “Bettie will put out a buffet for breakfast, Commander Blake is buying.”
“How many do you think will come?” Blake asked.
“To the free breakfast, or to Delphi City?”
“Delphi City,” Blake said. “I’m thinking we’ll have a full house for breakfast.”
“I don’t think so; people here aren’t ones to take advantage. For Delphi, ten or so,” Lieutenant Norton said. “You’re right, it’s a big change to consider. Jimmy will come, probably his brother will too. Might get a cousin or two. You’ve got Herb wanting to win that bet, he’s actually a good miner too. And Wally was sounding like he wanted to come and get cured of cigarettes.”
“We’ll see in the morning.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Blake and Lieutenant Norton arrived at Bettie’s at a quarter to seven to get ready to greet everybody.
“Hello, boys, welcome back,” Bettie said as they entered. “Don’t mind these gentlemen, they always eat breakfast here. I won’t put them on your tab.”
“We’re interrupting their routine,” Blake said, “the least we can do is buy them breakfast.”
“That’s right neighborly of you,” one of the older guys said as he held up his cup requesting some more coffee.
Jimmy Gaines was there with his wife and three small children. They were eating a tiny breakfast.
“Hello, Jimmy,” Blake said. “Aren’t you guys hungrier than that?”
“We’re just fine. I don’t want to impose on you; we’ll be paying our own way,” Jimmy said.
“I can understand that,” Blake said, “but, you’re an employee of MacKenzie Discoveries now, and this is an official company function. So I can’t have you paying for breakfast, now can I? Besides, we need you sharp so you can tell us who we should hire.”
Jimmy’s wife elbowed him in the side. “Thank you, Commander, we appreciate the hospitality. This is my wife, Suzie.”
“Hello, Suzie, are you ready for a big adventure?”
“We sure are,” Suzie said. “We’re all packed and ready to go. How long is the flight? We’ve never been on an airplane before.”
“It will take us an hour to get to Toronto,” Blake said. “We’ll change planes there, so everyone will get a chance to relax and stretch their legs. Then we’ll get on the company plane and fly to Delphi City. That flight will take three hours.”
“Three hours! Is that all it takes to get all the way down to Australia?” Suzie asked.
“Yes, we have a very fast jet,” Blake said. “It’s the fastest commercial jet there is.”
“Land’s sake. This is going to be exciting,” Suzie said.
When Blake turned around, he saw a line of people pulling suitcases coming into the restaurant. He started counting, with kids he was up to forty-five when everyone was finally inside.
“Is everyone with a suitcase planning on coming with us today?” Blake called out.
“If you’ll have us!”
“ADI, can we get another Lynx out here?” Blake asked.
“Yes, Cer Blake, I’m sending one now.”
“We’ll also need a pilot to fly the charter jet back here and pick these people up.”
“Arranged,” ADI said. “And I’ve also booked a pilot to return your Lynx for another load.”
“Thank you, ADI.”
“Okay, we’ll figure this out,” Blake shouted. “We can take sixteen people at a time. The first two loads will be this morning. It’ll be an extra two hours for the second load. After that, there’s another four-hour gap for the third load. If we need more, we can manage one every six hours.”
“How long is the flight?!”
“There are two flights, it’s one hour to Toronto, then it’s another three hours to Delphi City,” Blake called back. “We’re making arrangements for a lounge in Toronto. You’ll be able to wait there for the flight to Delphi City, or you can wait here, and only have a short layover in Toronto.”
“Quit worrying about the small stuff! We need to find out who’s going!”
“Why don’t you all settle in and have some breakfast,” Blake said. “We’ll call up people to interview them. Then we’ll make our decisions on who is a fit for our company and which flight they’ll be on.”
“Okay, Kirk and Jimmy, time to earn your money,” Blake said. He set up his interview table next to Jimmy’s family. “Who should we be taking?”
“Well, Paul Danvers is a good miner, and he’s single,” Jimmy said. “Then there’s Herb, he’s only got the wife and one kid. So you get two miners for four seats.”
ADI flashed green okays for the two families.
“Kirk?”
“I agree with Jimmy,” Lieutenant Norton said.
“So we have eight more seats to fill for the first flight,” Blake said.
“Do you want me to go bring them over?” Suzie asked. “JC can watch the two little ones.” She indicated the older child, a boy of about six.
“Why don’t you do that,” Blake said. He was a bit skeptical about a six-year-old keeping control of the other two, but Jimmy was right there, so he figured he could take the risk.
“Hanson is a real good miner,” Jimmy said. “He used to be the safety supervisor in the Dayton Mine. They just have the two kids.”
Blake got a green light from ADI on the other additions, so he gave Lieutenant Norton a nod on them.
“I don’t know what JoAnn is doing here,” Jimmy said. “She’s single and has never been in a mine.”
“Well, let’s ask her,” Blake said. He waited a few minutes while Lieutenant Norton and Suzie dealt with the first three selections. Then he had Suzie bring her over.
“Hello, JoAnn isn’t it?” Blake asked as the young woman came over and sat down.
“Yes, it is,” JoAnn replied.
“What are you looking for?” Blake asked.
“Well, I just want to get out of this here place,” she said. “I figure I can cook for these boys. I’m sure the people you have down there are fine cooks, but I bet they’ve never heard of grits.”
“Is that what you want to do, cook?” Blake asked.
“Well, I want to get out of here,” JoAnn said. “I can cook, I did rea
l good in school, but that was just high school. I don’t know what else I could do.”
“What do you do here?” Blake asked.
“I work check-out down at the market,” JoAnn said. “There aren’t many jobs, and that market is fixing to close any day.”
“Okay,” Blake said. “Sounds like we have grits covered for sure, and we’ll see if there’s something else you’d like to do once we get there.”
“Thank you kindly,” JoAnn said as she stood up and bobbed her head. Then she rushed over to Suzie and gave her a hug.
Two teenagers came up to Blake, looking very unsure of themselves. “Hi, I’m Devon, and this is my sister, Jaylee, the boy said. We’re hoping you’ve got room for us.”
“I’m not sure,” Blake said. “How old are you?”
“I’m sixteen,” Devon said. “Jaylee is fifteen.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Our Pa died last year. Our Ma’s on the Oxycontin, and she’s a right mess. We’re wanting to get away before she ruins our lives too. We’ll work real hard, doin’ whatever you tell us.” Jaylee nodded her head vigorously in agreement.
“But you’d have to go to school,” Blake said.
“We were hoping you didn’t have any truancy laws down there,” Devon said. “If’n we have to, we’ll work nights. We just need to get away before the Oxy gets to us.”
“Cer Blake,” ADI said, “I would be happy to handle their education. They have a good background and do very well in school.”
“But you’re minors,” Blake said.
“The law says we’re old enough to travel on our own,” Devon said. “I checked.”
“He is correct,” ADI said.
“Jimmy, help me out here.”
“They’re good kids,” Jimmy said. “I’d take responsibility for them if you’ll give them a chance.”
“Okay,” Blake said. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“We won’t mister,” Jaylee said with her first words. She gave Blake a hug then hugged her brother.
Blake messaged Catie and Samantha, apprising them of the situation and asking for some help when they arrived. Catie texted back that she had it covered.
At the end of the morning, they had twenty-one miners and sixty-two people, quite a few of them were small children. They also had four people who had nothing to do with mining, but just wanted out of Pohawk. At noon they loaded up the first plane and told everyone it would be back at three o’clock to pick up the next load. The last load would get picked up at six o’clock. They would have a short layover in Toronto before heading on to Delphi City.
◆ ◆ ◆
Everyone was amazed at the luxury of the two aircraft, especially the Lynx. Blake was dreading what would be waiting for him when they got to Delphi City. He was hoping that getting the twenty-one miners would make up for the extra four people he was bringing.
When they landed at the city airport, it was eleven o’clock in the morning. The children had actually traveled well, so nobody was complaining about the lack of rest during the five hours of travel.
Catie met them and took charge as soon as the hatch opened. “I need JoAnn, Devon, and Jaylee,” Catie called out. “We’re putting you three to work right away. You’re going to coordinate everyone’s move. So here are you’re comm units. Put the glasses on, they will act like a display, and you can read your phone without having to look at it. You use your eyes to pick the menu item you want, look at it then blink. I want you to start out by reading the text that is displayed in the HUD, that’s what we call the display. Get on the cart, and we’ll take you to the condos we’ve assigned you.”
They all piled into the golf cart that Catie had waiting. There were four golf carts, each big enough for six people, sufficient to handle everyone and their luggage. Once they were in the cart, Natalia drove them to the condo. Catie watched as the three young people read the text; ADI was giving her a score on each one for how well the comms would do interpreting their voices. By the time they reached the condo, the score was up to eighty percent.
“Okay, we’re calling this Appalachia House,” Catie said as the cart slowed to a stop. “I’m going to assign you your condos, then you’ll need to assign everyone else their condos. The condos are two-bedroom units, so you’ll need to pair them up for the bigger families. Use three if they need more than four bedrooms. We’ll yank the kitchens out of the units you pair up and turn them into TV rooms. After you assign the condos, you’ll need to do a walkthrough with each family and identify anything that they need. The condos come with pots and pans, dishes and basic furniture. But, if they need a baby crib, extra towels, sheets, special food, or clothes, you’ll need to fill out the form on your comm and send it in. We can get most of it here within an hour, but some things may take longer. Make sure that they have whatever they need for safety, or call me.”
Catie led them up to the third floor, “I’ve assigned you guys the first three floors,” Catie said. “There are seven more floors, but we’ll let them fill over time. You’re young, so you get the third floor. You don’t need to fill the floors up, so leave room between families, so they don’t feel too crowded. Do you guys have that?”
All three of them gave Catie a stunned look. “We think so,” JoAnn said. “Will you help us do the first few families so we can make sure?”
“Not a problem,” Catie said. “JoAnn, here’s your condo, number three-twelve. Devon and Jaylee, you’re down the hall in three-eleven. When they bring your bags, tell them your address, and the guys will carry them up here for you. Your comms are the keys. The doors will automatically open for you and lock behind you.”
Catie walked the three of them through the process on their own condos, then she stayed with them when they did the Gaines family. “You’ve got it, call if you need help. Our assistant, ADI, will be available until you’re finished, just say ‘ADI’ and your comm will connect her. Then just ask her whatever you need. If she can’t help you, she’ll contact me.”
“Thanks,” JoAnn said. “We won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t,” Catie said. “Also, everyone needs to go to the clinic tomorrow for a physical. Schedule their appointments during the walkthrough. I’ll text the Gaines family and give them their appointment now,” Catie added as she and Natalia got on their golf cart and drove it back to the airport.
“I thought they were going to explode,” Natalia said. “You barely gave them time to think.”
“Get them busy before they figure out how scared they are,” Catie said. “That’s what Kal taught me. Besides, those three really need to feel useful, and ADI says they’re smart.”
“Well, they definitely don’t have time to think about being scared.” Natalia laughed as she thought about the three young kids trying to keep up with the litany of tasks that Catie had been throwing at them. “You are going to keep an eye on them, aren’t you?”
“Sure, I’ll check in on them, and ADI is going to monitor them closely,” Catie said. “They’ll do fine.”
“We’ll see,” Natalia said.
“Hi, Uncle Blake,” Catie said as they arrived back at the airport. “We’re dropping off the cart then heading to the office. What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go take a nap, then I’ll be in later,” Blake said. “I was supposed to be fishing today.”
“Yeah, I heard,” Catie said. “Fred went with one of the other pilots. He says you have to pay for the gas on the next trip.”
“He did, did he?” Blake said. “Well, we’ll see.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Good day, Mrs. Mueller,” Dr. Metra greeted her patient. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel fine,” Mrs. Mueller replied.
“I see you have diabetes,” Dr. Metra said. “We can take care of that; we’ve just developed a treatment that cures it.”
“They told me that, but I didn’t believe them,” Mrs. Mueller said. “But I would love to be able to eat
whatever I want.”
“I’m sure the diet is problematic,” Dr. Metra said. “Are you happy with your weight?”
“Do you mean, do I like being fat?” Mrs. Mueller asked. “I guess I’d rather weigh less, but I’ve always been fat.”
“I see,” Dr. Metra said. “I suspect that you’re always hungry and always tired.”
“That about covers it,” Mrs. Mueller said.
“Okay, we can fix that,” Dr. Metra said. “Would you like that?”
“I’m willing to give it a try,” Mrs. Mueller said.
“Okay, I’ll give you the first treatment now,” Dr. Metra said. “You’ll need to stay here for an hour to get the second half. Then we need you to come back in one week.”
“Okay, what else is wrong with me?”
“Not much, we’ll take care of a few minor issues, your arthritis for one,” Dr. Metra said. “One last thing, you’re only forty-five. Are you still having menstrual cycles?”’
“Yes, I still get visited by the curse every month,” Mrs. Mueller said.
“We can eliminate those if you want,” Dr. Metra said.
“What does that mean?”
“We’ll give you a shot that will place a small stent on your ovaries,” Dr. Metra explained. “It will regulate your hormones and eliminate the menstrual cycles.”
“You can do that?”
“Only if you want us to. It will also prevent you from getting pregnant.”
“I’ve had my four kids,” Mrs. Mueller said. “I’m ready to be done with that. Give me the shot.”
Chapter 7
Board Meeting – Sept 16th
“This meeting is called to order,” Marc said as he sat down at the head of the table. “Admiral, any news on your front?”
“My contacts say that the US is pressuring New Zealand to get the Cook Islands to seize MacKenzie Discoveries based on eminent domain. You have considered that, haven’t you?” the admiral asked.
“Yes, I’ve been having nightmares about it,” Marc said.
“What’s eminent domain?” Catie asked.
“It’s when the government decides that it would be in the best interest of the country if they just took what you own,” Blake said. “They’ll give you some money for it, but never what it’s really worth.”