Bob, the Invisible Dragon

by David J. Wighton

  In his personal relationships, D-T was a bully carnivore, pure and simple. He didn't have the size and muscles for that role to be successful with men, or even with most women, so he'd seek the company of women who were drunks or besieged by other personal problems. So long as they were too scared to fight back when D-T slapped them around, D-T was happy. But since the number of mature women susceptible to D-T's charming way of showing his affection was somewhat small, D-T focused his search for romance on girls who were too young to detect his weasel-ality or to fight back when he simply decided to take what he wanted. I think my characterization of D-T as a weasel is accurate although grossly unfair to weasels.

  Double-Tom stared at his new punching bag after he shuffled into the cell and the guards removed his prison jewelry. His cellmate struggled to climb into the top bunk without using the little ladder that D-T happened to be blocking. He ignored Double-Tom's questions about why he was in prison.

  When it came time for supper, this prison required both inmates in a cell to stand at the door with their open hands pressed against the bars. Usually, they grabbed the bars and the guards didn't make a big deal of that. All the cell doors would be opened at the same time and then all the prisoners would move in an orderly fashion to the mess hall. Armed guards were patrolling the steel walkways high above them and these gave them excellent firing positions down into the halls and into the cells. They'd use rubber bullets to begin with. These were not supposed to be lethal, but in the wrong pair of hands, they could be. Sicamous prisoners behaved themselves in the hallways. The prison had other places where surveillance was not so tight. Work assignments, for example. Pasty white men were considered fair game when they were on their work assignments.

  As Double-Tom and the Japanese crime man stood at the cell door, the middle-aged pasty muttered something out of the corner of his mouth. He was using prison talk, which is a low whisper that was quiet enough that it would be audible only to another prisoner standing a few steps away. Walk into a prison and in five minutes, you'd know how to talk without moving your lips. Survival school at its best. "I know you're a stoolie," the new man said. "I won't be saying anything to you with that bug hidden in the vent."

  "No bug," Double-Tom muttered back.

  "Yes, bug," the man replied. "Standard practice when they catch one of us."

  "No bug," D-T insisted. "I'm not a stoolie. Ask around. I operate the gambling franchise in the prison."

  "Did they take you out of your cell about an hour before I arrived?"

  Double-Tom nodded.

  "That's when they put in the bug," the new guy said. "Whatever is said or done in this cell is going to be projected onto a big screen in the office of B.C.'s Attorney General one day later. They'll give up in a couple of weeks if you keep your mouth shut."

  Double-Tom nodded and thought about whether this would curtail his gambling operations or not. He knew it would curtail his new guy softening up hobby.

  "I'll take the bottom bunk tonight," the new guy said.

  "In your dreams."

  "Don't say I didn't warn you," the pasty white guy said.

  # # # # # # # #

  Wizard and Rick finalized North Korea's order for at least a decade of babies. The Koreans wanted them to be more hardy. Their people were dying off too quickly. "Lead poisoning," Rick explained to Wizard.

  "From their water?"

  "From their security force's guns."

  Wizard had locked up North Korea's entire production of titanium for that decade using Alberta as a front for the purchase. The North Koreans were even going to put more workers into their mines. Wizard knew that titanium from North Korean was not a long-term possibility, but he'd be ready with an alternate source when North Korea figured out what kind of babies they were receiving from Alberta.

  "Alberta's getting its share of proceeds from the new industry you're creating, right Wizard?"

  Wiz had not told Rick what he was planning to do with the titanium or where in Alberta it would be located. Secrecy was all part of doing business when you can't afford to have others hearing rumours of something this big. "You'll receive new jobs plus sales from outside Alberta," Wiz reassured. "Just like the cancer drugs. We'll be bringing in more titanium from other sources too, so we won't owe you as much gratitude as you were hoping for. Still, we'll reward Alberta well for its help in getting us this contract. We'll also give you any supply of titanium that you'll need for your medical industry at cost. I'm told it could take a decade for that need to develop. But once your researchers ask for it, you will have cheap access to a very rare substance."

  "Your other sources?"

  "Probably Australia and South Africa. They have very big quantities still in the ground. We're talking with them about very long-term contracts. They're desperate for exports. Negotiations take a long time when you have to communicate long distances. We'll probably need a couple of months to finalize."

  "That's a long way to ship titanium in quantity."

  "We're working on that. Australia says they need a computer technology man. Do you have one to spare? Perhaps in one of your cells? I could help sharpen Australia's interest."

  "I wouldn't mind moving him."

  "So how much would you'd save by not having to feed him and guard him?"

  "Are we negotiating now, Wizard?"

  "Just warming up, Rick."

  # # # # # # # #

  Dreamer and Wizard were in the main room of the community hall, sitting on a sofa, and studying the second bot in Dreamer's business management program. Their arms were touching, but that was it. Both were focusing heavily on the bot's content. This second course was harder. Dreamer was wearing a yellow, short-sleeved T-shirt and frayed jeans. Wizard also had a sleeveless shirt, but he wore a ratty old pair of sweatpants. Both had their bare feet up on a stool and their feet were touching. Mathias and Reese were on the community hall's floor by the kitchen playing figurine army wars; Winnie was in a big armchair next to the piano, its back facing Dreamer and Wiz. She too was studying a bot – the third in the business management program. Patella and Scapula were asleep on the floor by her chair.

  Wizard and Dreamer were now using the community hall for studying instead of Wizard's room where they had used to study. It was in that bedroom after Christmas when Dreamer had said, "We shouldn't study alone here any longer. People might think, you know..."

  Wizard was very aware of all the things that people might think. He was more aware of all the things that they weren't doing but could be doing. "But nothing's happening. We just study. We only hold hands. We're not even kissing."

  "Not yet," Dreamer had said.

  It took a few seconds for Dreamer's words to reach the part of the brain that alerted males to the likelihood of impending physical contact of a pleasant nature with the opposite gender. Then Wizard bundled up their study materials and walked briskly to the community hall with Dreamer trotting behind to catch up. From that point on, they studied in the open. The words not yet were still the status quo in the scene I'll describe for you now.

  Winnie was sitting with her back to Dreamer and Wizard's sofa for a reason. After Christmas, Dreamer had started a conversation with Winnie when they were changing for bed. "I know you're curious about Wizard and me and how he and I like each other," she began. "But I'd like for Wiz and me to have some privacy from now on. I'd prefer it if you stopped spying on us, visibly as well as invisibly. Could you do that?"

  Winnie looked at Dreamer and saw the serious look. "Yeah, sure. I didn't mean anything."

  "I know. You just want us to be happy together. But that can't happen if I'm wondering if you are peeking at us from an invisible sling."

  "Sorry."

  "S'alright. No more reading my mind, either. OK?"

  Winnie hadn't actually told Dreamer about that talent. But she hadn't been using it since she saw the horror in Dreamer's mind way back in September. "I haven't peeked into your mind for months and months. Nobody else's e
ither. Once I was able to stop myself from doing that, my headaches disappeared. William gave me a visor that I could try if they come back but I don't need it. Not right now anyway."

  "I'll tell you if there's anything that a sister should know. OK?"

  That was a week ago, and Winnie was following the agreement closely. Each night, she'd leave the community hall before Wiz and Dreamer packed up their study materials. She'd go straight to her bedroom, do a little artwork, and wait. But she wasn't waiting for Dreamer to arrive.

  Winnie was waiting for Patella and Scapula to arrive. What did you see in the compound, Patella? Winnie would ask. Patella thought about what she saw. Tonight she saw the same close embrace as she had seen before, but this time, she saw an actual kiss. Patella couldn't see where it had landed.

  What did you see in the compound, Scapula? Both wolves had been following Wiz and Dreamer from well back in the darkness as Winnie had instructed. Scapula had the better angle. Dreamer had kissed Wizard on the cheek.

  Winnie wasn't using an invisible sling and she certainly wasn't peeking, so how could Dreamer complain? But kisses on the cheek didn't count. A matchmaker's job isn't completed until there's a real kiss. Two nights later, Dreamer told her that she and Wizard had kissed but said nothing more. Winnie already knew and was celebrating quietly. She called off the wolves and never peeked again. At Wizard and Dreamer.

  # # # # # # # #

  Lucas was bored. He was aware that somebody was running an operation of some kind, but he didn't know what it was about. He wondered why he hadn't been included. Even Granny, who usually wasn't part of active operations, was involved. Lucas was crossing the compound after working out on the heavy duty sand bag when Granny had burst out of the community hall and had hobbled/ran to her house. "That's why she's so tall," he had heard her exclaim. "That changes the operation."

  Lucas' dad was spending increasing amounts of his time in Edmonton. He was now part of the government's main planning committee. This month, they were studying the justice system they'd set up in Alberta and Hank had some strong opinions about that. The government business was taking up so much of his time that he was winding up the Peddler Wagon business. It wouldn't be needed much longer anyway.

  Dreamer and Wizard were doing business somewhere – they were hardly ever in the compound during the day. Winnie and her wolves were in Clearwater. Mathias was there too – training pilots for the three new big helicopters that Wanda had purchased. Wizard was going to construct real buildings for the Wilizy Dye and Cloth businesses. Their stores were going to be huge, by Alberta's standards at least. They'd need plenty of wood and Wanda would be turning on all of her saw lines.

  Doc was still heavily involved in the WZBN but he was training Theo to take his place. Doc's hands were now so sore that he couldn't use his keyboard.

  Momaka was on a business trip somewhere, so her good meals were gone. Stu was away somewhere and so his good meals were gone too. Lucas' mom was on permanent kitchen duty and was looking at Lucas far too intently for him to be safe from permanent peeling duty. Lucas decided to hang out in Surrey. If his mom couldn't find him, she couldn't put a peeler into his hand.

  # # # # # # # #

  As soon as Granny understood why Dreamer was so tall, she messaged William that she needed his help. He introduced her to the complexities of time-travel and they made a few test runs. Then they TiTr'd back to the time when Wanda's daughter had disappeared. Will and Granny watched on July 26, 2075, as Double-Tom ambushed and killed Franny and her lover – a tall thin man from the Barriere tribe. Granny had realized that somebody like this had to exist for Dreamer to have the height and build that she did. They revisited that scene a second time so that William could record the ambush, the murders, and the burials although Granny didn't know how she'd ever be able to use the videos. Then they split up. William TiTr'd back to a point where he could learn the identity of Dreamer's biological dad. Granny went forward to the present to break the news to Wanda as gently as she could.

  How do you gently break news to a mother that her daughter had been murdered? You can't. Wanda wanted to fly invisibly into the Sicamous prison that instant and kill D-T. Granny told Wanda that not only would that reveal the Wilizy's secret weapon, but it would also mean that Wanda would go to prison. "Let me handle this, Wanda," she begged.

  Wanda steamed out of the kitchen, grabbed a shovel, and charged into the woods. Granny followed. Wanda was digging up a bottle of scotch from Double-Tom's secret stash when Granny took the bottle out of her hands and threw it against a tree. Wanda's tears had made her blind, but she still swung the shovel at Granny only to lose it in the process. Two big and strong women ended up fighting, falling down, getting up again, fighting and falling down in the slippery footing of the woods by D-T's stash. Well, Wanda fought; Granny held on. Eventually, Wanda ran out of anger and energy.

  "I'm the one who kills him, Granny. When it's over, I get to kill him."

  Granny agreed. "But first, you are going to formally accuse D-T of murdering your daughter and Dreamer's father. That's going to put immediate pressure on Double-Tom and Stu is ready to start the operation to break him out of the prison."

  Back to the Table of Contents

  Chapter 12

 

  On an evening near the end of January, Momaka, Dreamer and Wizard were gathered around a table in the community hall, five large burlap sacks on the floor beside them. One sack was open and a large bowl of its contents was on the table. The three of them were snacking. On peanuts. They were tossing the empty shells into another large bowl that was now half-full. Peanuts can be addictive.

  "I don't think I've ever eaten a raw peanut before," Wizard said.

  "We never had peanuts or peanut butter in Clearwater," Dreamer added.

  "They're very rare in many places in the west," Momaka explained. "You had peanut butter here in the compound only because of Hank's contacts with the military. Peanuts are very nutritious and the military go to great lengths to bring some supplies in. Even in Surrey, it's hard to find a jar of peanut butter. Peanuts in a shell, forget it."

  "Where did these come from?"

  "These sacks are from an Ontario farm. I have an overnight express package arriving from a farm in the southern United States tomorrow. There are a number of peanut varieties. How well each variety grows depends on soil conditions and weather conditions. Generally peanuts do well with lots of sunshine. They don't like too much water."

  "Alberta weather," Wizard said. He knew why Momaka had brought them the peanuts. She was proposing a possible agricultural industry. "Growing season?"

  "Plant the peanuts in May, skin and all. We could probably plant them in April because our soil is getting very warm by then. They'll be ready for harvest in four months."

  "Ease of harvesting?" Dreamer asked while trying to copy Wizard's technique of eating them: Toss a peanut into your mouth one at a time without missing or choking.

  "William could probably invent a machine. In the U.S., they use hand labour. That makes for extremely hard conditions for the pickers. In Ontario, they don't have easy access to pickers and have been trying some machines, but without success. Plus their soil is too heavy. The owner told me that he might give up on the idea. That would give us a monopoly in Canada as well as down the west coast of the U.S."

  "You just put them in the soil and walk away?"

  "Not quite. They reproduce on their own, so you don't need bees or birds to pollinate. You have to ensure there's enough space around each plant so that the plant can send off runners that burrow into the soil. Weeds around the plant are bad. So is hard clay because it stops the runners from getting into the ground. Then, let the hot sun do its job."

  "How many peanuts from each plant?" Wizard – wanting to do the math.

  "Thirty to fifty."

  "Number of plants possible in a square kilometer?"

  "Perhaps 10,000."

  "That's 400,000 peanuts in one square ki
lometer." Dreamer with the total.

  "Holy moly!" said Wizard.

  "We have sun year around," Momaka said. "We might be able to get two crops."

  "Holy double moly" exclaimed Dreamer.

  # # # # # # # #

  Lucas had found flying around Surrey boring. But he didn't want to go home and peel potatoes. He didn't have enough chocolate bars left to sell them and he didn't know anybody in Surrey. He saw a group of young people standing in a circle at the edge of a field near a big building. He cruised low enough to read the name on the very old building. Fleetwood Park Secondary School. He cruised over that first group of what must be students. All were sucking on what Lucas knew were electronic cigarettes. There were other students on the fields as well. Most were gathered into small groups. Some were throwing a ball around, or kicking one. He liked the looks of the group that was clumped together away from everyone else. They were all girls. They had boobs that he could see from a distance.

  Lucas landed in some dense woods next to the school grounds, climbed over a scraggly fence made of logs, and ambled up to the girls. "Hey," he said. "Whas'up?"

  # # # # # # # #

  "What's the risk?" Wizard asked Momaka.

  "Sensitivity to frost."

  "No problem for us."

  "The peanuts mature at different rates. Not every peanut from a plant will be ripe when it's harvested."

  "Call it 300,000 peanuts per square kilometer," Dreamer said. "That's still very, very good."

  "After harvesting, peanuts need to cure in a warm place for about four weeks."

  "Alberta has plenty of warm places," Wizard observed.

  "Moldy nuts are bad news. The fungus can be toxic."

  "William might be able to create a mold sensor that would allow us to exclude them after picking." Again from Wizard.

  "It still sounds like an industry with low labour costs to me," Dreamer said. "Peanuts would be easier to grow and harvest than what Alberta farmers are planting now and finding difficult to sell. There's been a low demand for wheat for a long time."

  "Want to hear something really good about peanuts?" Momaka teased.