by Joe Corso
Irwin broke the ice.
“What exactly do you want from me, Mr. Lee?”
“I’m in a position to make you a rich man, Mr. Irwin,” he responded without missing a beat. “How does one million dollars sound to you?”
Irwin’s eyes grew large as he tried to maintain his composure.
“Why would you want to make a complete stranger like me a rich man? But please continue. You have my attention, that’s for damn sure.”
“Am I correct to understand that you are the one who monitors the activities at the compound?” Lee asked.
“Yes. I’m not in charge of security, but I look for anything that might be a problem and if I see anything suspicious, I alert security.”
Mr. Lee looked at Sam Irwin, studying him. Lee’s silence was disturbing to Sam, making him nervous. Suddenly, Lee’s placid face contorted and his lips twisted into a grimace which was as close to a smile as he could manage. Shan appeared to have just made a decision.
“Mr. Irwin, what I am about to tell you must be held in the strictest of confidence. Do we understand each other?”
“Of course. Now, what is it that I have to do for a million dollars?”
“I am one of the men responsible for China’s safety. If a superpower, any superpower ever finds itself in a position of advantage over China, a position that could affect China, then I must know about it. Put simply, I look for secret weapons such as the latest stealth fighter planes or the newest in technological advances on the battlefield, anything out of the ordinary that China should know about. Should you find anything such as these, you will contact me and I will investigate. If the information proves to be beneficial to us, one million dollars will be wired to the bank of your choosing. China just wants to keep up with the rest of the world. Nothing more. It is all in the name of defense. It is an exchange of information. No one gets harmed. It simply alerts us as to what technology we will need in order to maintain a level playing field, as you Americans say. If you are interested and we agree to help one another, we shake like gentlemen.”
“All I have to do is to give you a heads up on anything out of the ordinary?” Irwin asked. “Come on. There has to be more. Why The Compound? Why not the Pentagon or the White house? There has to be more. I may not be the brightest bulb in the tree but I ain’t no dummy either. I didn’t ‘fall off the turnip truck’ – another one of our great American expressions.”
Shan Lee studied Irwin a moment longer then nodded. There was no surprise in the questions that Irwin asked. Why, he’d have been surprised if he hadn’t asked them and Lee was ready with his answer.
“Very astute, Mr. Irwin,” Lee replied, even though it really didn’t take a stroke of brilliance to figure that out, Lee thought. “Yes, there is something specific, something more. I have heard there is a man, a Mr. Lucky Campo, in your organization, that supposedly can travel in time. It is him that interests me. I would not give this a moment of my time if I had not heard his name mentioned by the Russian Premier himself. We have a thin dossier on him. I would like to add to it. Should you come across something concerning Mr. Campo, call me at the number on the card. Dial the extension listed and your call will be re-routed to my office in China. If what you discover piques my interest, I will wire you the million dollars as I promised. But . . . only if your information is solid.”
Chapter Three
Lucky needed the time that the drive to the Astoria safehouse would give him. He had a number of things to discuss with Mickey so he opted for the car instead of a time travel portal. Mickey drove as Lucky stared blankly for a while out of the window, taking no notice of the scenery passing by.
“Mickey, do you remember when we went on a job and we were in and out before anyone knew we were there? We were the best of the best for a while there, robbing jewels from the wealthiest of the wealthy, stashin’ a lot of dough and never hurting anyone. And it turns out that my ability to time travel is what made me a wealthy man.”
“What are you getting at Lucky?”
“Well, let me see if I can explain it this way. When I recovered from my head injury, I was held back by the constraints of it all. I could only use the portals that I stumbled upon to travel into the past and because of that, I was forced to travel to where that particular portal took me. Then, when I got to where it took me, I had to search for another portal that would take me home. It was frustrating not being able to go where I needed to because of my being restricted to where the portal took me. I was lucky to be able to capitalize on those portals that I discovered. Can you imagine Mickey? Me getting a severe head injury from someone trying to kill me is the very thing that provided me with this time travel ability, which in turn allowed me to discover those valuable swords and other items that we auctioned off in our present time and made me, well us, all wealthy? It was only after I mapped out the portals and learned exactly where they took me that I could then capitalize on my newfound ability.”
“Lucky, okay, you’re not traveling in portals right now, but you are traveling in circles. I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“Patience is a virtue, Mickey. Patience. I’m getting to it. Since I’m no longer held back by any physical or mental constraints, I can travel anywhere I want now, go anywhere I want. I can bypass every portal and create new ones that will take me to where I want to go.”
“Yes, I know. I was there, remember? I still don’t see what you’re getting at.”
“Okay, here’s what I intend to do. I’m gonna take advantage of my ability to create a portal whenever I want. I’m starting with you. I want you to get all the boys together for a meeting at the safehouse. Make it for next Monday. It’s all coming together, Mickey. I have some exciting plans for us, but I want to spend the rest of this week finalizing those plans. I’ll let you and the guys know what I have in mind at the meeting. That’s all I have to say for now.”
Mickey proceeded to call the boys, one at a time, from the car. He asked them to be at the Astoria safehouse Monday, at eleven am, stating that Lucky had something important to discuss with them.
“Make sure you’re on time,” Mickey emphasized, “because if you’re late, Lucky says you’ll be excluded from the deal he’s proposing.”
Monday morning rolled around. Lucky welcomed the gang and called his meeting to order. The guys seemed quite eager to hear what he had to say.
“It’s great to see you guys again,” he began.
“I’m a lucky guy to have friends like you. We’ve been through a lot together, a lot of rough times and you've never let me down. Handled the suitcase nukes, Koros, handled everything I’ve ever asked you to and never once complained. Well, now I have some good news for a change, nothing quite so dangerous, but something life changing.”
The guys just sort of looked at each, nodded in approval and smiled a bit. Normally one of these meetings meant putting their lives on the line again for some sort of trouble that Lucky had gotten into. They didn’t mind it, as they were old school – the gang always sticks together, supports their own, has each others’ backs. And to be honest, Lucky was generous with his money, his many millions that he had made from selling relics and antiques from another era in time.
“Go on,” Nicky said.
“I have something I think you’re gonna like,” Lucky continued. “This injury of mine left me with a lot of unique abilities and I find that they just keep on evolving. They have ever since I tangled with Koros and was forced to learn how to create a portal to take me anywhere in time I wanted to go. You guys know that I’ve become fairly well off by traveling through old portals, and now with this new ability of mine, being able to go anywhere I want, I’m gonna make every one of you in this room mega wealthy.”
Murmurs and smiles filled the room. Lucky had everyone’s attention now. The men sat with baited breath awaiting his next words. No one spoke a word. Lucky paused for effect.
“Lucky, the suspense is killin’ us. Ya can’t just tell us that and stop
,” Nicky said.
Lucky smiled and took a seat on the edge of the sofa. He paused again.
“Well,” he finally continued, “I don’t know if this ability of mine is gonna last forever. It might stop at any time now so while I can still do it, might as well take advantage of it. I’m gonna form a corporation. We’ll all be equal partners. I’ll structure it where you guys’ll have equal shares, but no voting rights. Sorry, but I want to be the one to make the final decisions concerning the company.”
“Lucky, I still don’t get it. What does, or will, the company do?” Nicky asked.
“Time travel,” Lucky responded.
“Oh, like space travel, you mean?” Nicky asked.
“Hey Nick, that’s a pretty damn good idea,” Lucky shot back. “Just gave me something else to think about, except that might just increase the bounty on my head from other countries or maybe . . . hmm . . . might work the other way around too – protect me, actually, in its own weird way. You know that’s what Wayne Newton did when the mob was after him. He went public with it. Told the whole world that the mob was after him and they backed off – never laid a finger on him. They couldn’t – too risky. No, the company, well, me . . . I . . . I’m going back in time to the beginnings of Apple, IBM, and Microsoft. We’re gonna buy stock in those companies. I’ve instructed Morris our jeweler to collect all the diamonds he can get his hands on. We have to use diamonds because we can’t use dollars. We could use gold, but it’s cumbersome because of its weight, so we’ll use diamonds in lieu of cash. I’ll put up all the money so you won’t have to worry about anything except how you’re gonna spend your money. Why don’t you fill the guys in, Mickey?”
“Wow,” said Nicky, “we are all gonna be fuckin’ loaded, swimmin’ in money, fuckin’ takin’ baths in it, buyin’ women with it. Man, oh man, I never, ever thought that a call for a simple meeting could take such a turn. Man oh fuckin’ man. I cannot believe this.”
The other men just sat there almost in shock, realizing that their lives had just taken on a whole new turn. Lucky, as always and true to his name, was about to bring luck to them once again – this time in doses unimaginable, almost unfathomable.
Mickey stood, picked up a yellow pad and looked it over for a minute before speaking.
“Okay, first of all, let’s take a head count, because only the people in this room will share in this project. When I call your name say, ‘here’. I know it sounds like high school but we need to keep track and have it recorded for the minutes and all.”
“Nicky”
“Here”
“Dukie”
“Here”
“Sal”
“Here”
“Casey”
“Here”
“Bobby Boots”
“Here”
“Me”
“Lucky”
“Duce”
“Here”
“Here it is guys,” Mickey continued. “Here are our targets. These are the companies where we’re buying stock in. IBM started on June 16, 1911 as the Computer Tabulating Recording Company. Then, on February 14, 1924, it changed its name to International Business Machine company or as we know it, IBM. Second, Apple Computers. They started somewhere between April 1st and the 10th in 1976. Steve Jobs took the Apple name to overshadow Atari. ‘P’ comes before ‘T’ and it put them ahead of Atari in the phone books and stock markets. Another version by Steve Jobs’ uncles, and also legend has it, that he named his company Apple because of pleasant memories working summers in an apple orchard. I don’t buy it. The guy was a genius at marketing, a difficult guy – a bully – but a marketing genius. So anyway, our plans are to line up a stockbroker a few days before Apple’s initial IPO which was filed on December 12, 1980. Their stock opened at $22.00 and closed at $29.00. We intend to be there at the opening. Last, but not least, is Microsoft. Their IPO was on March 14, 1986. Stock opened at $21.00 a share. We’ll be there before the opening of their IPO, too.”
Mickey nodded to Lucky who stood and took over.
“These are the companies we’re gonna buy a lot of stock in. I’m gonna buy us one hundred million dollars in stock, so we’re gonna need an awful lot of diamonds. Now you might ask: ‘Why is he doing this? He doesn’t need the money. He’s one of the richest men in the world. Why then?’ Well . . . I’ll tell you why. I used my ability to travel through portals to make a ton of money. I had to work through not being able to control where and when we traveled. Mickey and I traveled to Rhyolite, Nevada to buy all the gold we could. This is something I would never do now. With the information available to me on computers, I can go wherever I want and take advantage of what I know is going to happen. Up ‘til now, I couldn’t pick the time or place where I wanted to travel. Now that I’ve, well, my abilities, have evolved to where I can create a portal on the fly that will take me anywhere I want, why not take advantage of it especially since I can never be sure it will last? Look, we grew up on the streets together and there isn’t a man in this room that doesn’t have a rap sheet. Most of us are what I call ‘soft thieves’ with the exception of Nicky who I’ll say is a hard thief.”
Nicky smiled knowing what he said was true.
“And remember fellas, when we make our first billion dollars, I’m taking my one hundred million advance back.”
Mickey chuckled. “This is like picking cherries,” he said. “We’ll all get rich without doing what we normally do. Sooner or later, we would have ended up behind bars, anyway. This is the more honest approach. How can anybody prosecute us? Hell, they’ll wonder how we got so smart, but so what?”
Lucky agreed.
“It’s always been the game to me,” Lucky said. “This is the same as breaking into a joint, only now we’ll be breaking into the stock market . . . without them ever knowing what’s happening. And . . . it’s legal. We don’t have to steal anymore. I became wealthy by bringing stuff back from the past and sellin’ it because that was all I could do within the narrow parameters of my abilities, but I know one thing and that’s this – I don’t know if my ability will last forever or if it will disappear tomorrow, but as long as I have it, I’m gonna take advantage of it.”
The room was abuzz.
“This is unbelievable!”
“Thank God we have Lucky as a friend.”
“Yeah, who would ever guessed that our ole childhood buddy that we roamed the streets with would one day make us rich?!”
“Okay, let’s settle down a little bit,” Lucky said, trying to regain control of the meeting.
“Our first stop is 1980. Apple’s initial IPO was filed on December 12, 1980. Their stock opened at $22.00 and closed at $29.00. Today it’s a hundred sixty-seven dollars a share. In 1992, it split three to one. There have been 5% stock dividends almost every year and splits up the ying yang. I intend to buy us forty thousand shares before the split. Those shares should grow to about two hundred thousand with the splits and dividends and we should be billionaires by the time we get back. Now who wants to tag along?”
Chapter Four
12th Century England
“Are you certain, dear sister?”
“Who can be certain about things like this? But my woman’s intuition tells me it is so. My body tells me I am with child.”
“We must not tell father about your condition. He may want the wizard to purge the child from your body. Maybe we should summon the wizard. He would know what to do.”
“No. The time is not proper. Let us summon him when child is born. Father must not know of this. May I ask the favor of residing with you, dear sister?”
“Of course you may. King Robert loves you. He would never turn you from us. You have our welcome for as long as your needs require. Let us concentrate on bringing forth a beautiful baby. Ah, such joy. I am going to be a titled relative. I am an aunt to be.”
Queen Alexandra, wife of King Robert, was excited for her sister. She was staring out the large window in her room, pondering the though
ts of the palace filled with the gurgling and joy of an infant. Princess Krystina, seated comfortably in a cushioned chair in front of the large fireplace, watched her sister as she gazed and talked. The Queen turned to her.
“Sister, we shall go to King Robert and request an escort to St. Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire. There, we shall visit the Constable of Wallingford Castle. You know Richard of Wallingford – renowned mathematician, horologist and astrologer. We shall request of him the baby’s chart of the stars. We must know this child’s destiny. Come, let us walk to the King now.”
Arm in arm, the sisters proceeded down the hallway to the grand entrance of the Great Room. There, surrounded by his ministers, King Robert busied himself with the business of his kingdom. His face brightened when he noticed his Queen and her sister sitting by the wall waiting for his attention. He loved his Queen. He finished answering a question from one minister and turned to face another petitioner.
“We shall conclude,” he said to his advisors. “Tomorrow is a new day. Until then . . .”
King Robert motioned for the ladies to approach the throne.
“Now, what is so dire that it can’t wait till the business of the crown is finished?” He
smiled. He knew that the Queen rarely interrupted his meetings.
“Well, King Robert,” the Queen responded, “it seems that our palace will have another guest soon.”
“Do tell, Queen Alexandra,” the King replied.