Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are
offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go
somewhere else.
Copyright c 2001 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved.
Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed
electronically or in any other manner without the express,
written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters
to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not
intended. They are all products of the author's imagination.
THE LIFEGUARD
Chapter 42
"My God!" Eric shouted. "We need to get you to a doctor!"
"Not tonight," Spence said. "I don't think anything's
broken, but I sure am sore. What I really need is some
sleep. Can I stay here?"
I gingerly put my arms around him, trying not to hurt him.
"Spence, you're always welcome here," I told him.
Together, Eric and I led him off to a guest bedroom. Eric
got his clothes out of his car for him, and we left him to
get some much needed rest. He'd driven nonstop for the last
24 hours.
"I've heard of things like this happening when a father finds
out his son's gay," I told Eric, "but never over money."
"Me too," he answered. "I'd hate to think about what would
have happened if his dad had found out about that too!"
"I'm sorry I put him through another interrogation. He didn't
deserve that."
"I had some doubts myself," he said. "It's hard to imagine
things like that really happening."
In the morning, we agreed that it'd be a good idea for Eric
to stay home and see that Spence got medical attention. He'd
left home in a rush and would probably need to buy a few
things, too.
"We just got home, too," Eric told me when I walked in that
evening. "We've been busy!"
"How's Spence?" I asked.
"Nothing serious," he said. "A couple of cracked ribs which
have been taped up, some pretty bad bruises, but no internal
injuries. The doctor took pictures of him and made out a
full medical report so he'll be prepared if his father tries
anything else."
"Good. Where is he?"
"Changing. He didn't bring many clothes, so we went shopping
too."
"Hi Spence. How're you feeling?" I asked when he wandered in.
"Much better. In a few days I'll be back to normal, or at
least as 'normal' as I'll ever be," he giggled.
He plopped in a chair across from us. "I really appreciate
what you're doing for me," he said. "I didn't have anyplace
else to go."
No response was necessary.
"I realize that I can't stay here forever, and I can't go
home, so it's time for me to get my shit together and make a
life for myself.
This was the first cuss word I'd ever heard from him. "Got
any plans?" I asked.
"I'm working on them," he said. "The first thing I need to
do, before my Dad does anything stupid, is to get an
attorney. I want the attorney to let Dad know that I'm OK,
but that all future communications with me will be through
him. I don't want Dad to know where I am, and I think that
if he has a way to contact me, he'll leave me alone.
"I need to think about school too. I'm determined to get at
least a Bachelor's degree, but there's no way I'm going back
up there to Albertson."
"Maybe I can help you out there," Eric said. "I graduated
last year myself, and I have a few contacts we could use."
"I'd appreciate that," Spence said. "Where'd you go?
"University of California," Eric said.
"If I could get in there, any one of them, it'd be a dream
come true. There's one other thing. Do you remember that I
mentioned an operating system, Eric?" Eric nodded. "I've
been thinking about it a lot. Micron's got the platform, and
it's compatible with existing systems, but it won't reach its
full potential unless it's running on an operating system
specifically designed for it.
"I'd like to spend some time on that now, not wait until I
graduate. I don't intend to even try to write a whole
system, just the foundation, the concept, then turn it over
to somebody like Micron to develop. Think they'd be
interested?"
"Are you kidding?" Eric asked. "They'd give you half the
company for that!"
"If I'm able to do it, and it works, I want you to make all
the arrangements for me, Eric. Might even cut you in."
"Whatever you want, Spence," Eric said, containing his
excitement well, I thought. "That's in the future, what we
need to do now is get you back in school, and get everything
else taken care of. That'll wait."
"One other thing," Spence said timidly, "do you mind if Jimmy
comes over tomorrow to keep me company? He's got the day
off."
Spence was all smiles when we got home from work. "Bet he
got laid today," Eric said to me, loud enough for him to hear.
"Not yet, but I'm working on it," he told us. "We're going
to wait until this soreness goes away. I want to be able to
enjoy it!"
"Got some news for you," Eric told him. "I called my old
dean at UC this morning. I took the liberty of telling him
all about you. He called me back this afternoon after
talking to the Chancellor, and it's a done deal. Any campus
you want."
Spence was wide eyed. "Just like that? I'm in?"
"Just a few formalities. They faxed me an application which
you'll need to fill out, and you need to have your school in
Idaho fax them your transcript. They want a little money,
too, and, oh yes, the Chancellor wants to meet you -
Tomorrow."
Spence had a lot of questions. "What'd you tell them about
me?"
"That in a couple of years you'll be as famous as Bill
Gates. Don't worry, I asked them to keep it quiet."
"Will you go with me tomorrow?"
"Sure, I've never met the Chancellor myself. Be fun to
accompany a celebrity," he teased him. "Just don't forget
your checkbook."
"Will I have to live on campus?"
"No, they treat students like adults here."
Watching this young man over the last 48 hours had been like
watching several people in the same body. One minute he was
a forlorn child, the next a businesslike super-genius, and
the next, an excited teenager. He'd survive, maybe not
completely unspoiled, but he wouldn't let the celebrity that
was sure to come turn him into an asshole.
I was also pretty proud of MY man for seeing this, helping
him, and, yes, nurturing him.
I learned a lot more about Spence's depth that evening. Out
of nowhere, he announced that he was leaving the Church.
He explained. "A lot of their teachings are good, but to the
Mormons, just about the worst sin is to be homosexual. I
can't accept that. According to them, I'll burn in hell for
just thinking about it, much less doing anything about it.
That's WRONG!
"It also seems to me that they have a very limited
perspective. If it isn't a 'family' thing, they can't have
any fun, and God forbid that anyone strays.
"Because of my family, I'm an elder in the Church. If they
ever learn that I've left the Church, or worse, that I'm gay,
they'll come after me. Luckily, I'll be in a position to
defend myself."
"I don't understand," I commented.
"They'll do just about anything short of kidnapping me, try
to get me to go to Utah to get 'reprogrammed'."
"I've heard horror stories..." Eric said.
"I've heard them too, and I don't think they're just stories,
either."
"What're you guys talking about?" I wanted to know.
"It's forced aversion therapy," Spence explained. "They take
you someplace in Utah, tie you into a chair naked and attach
an electrode to your penis. Then they show you gay porn
videos and if you have any reaction, they shock you so
severely that it throws you into convulsions. This is
supposed to 'straighten you out'."
"That's outright torture!" I said.
"I don't know for sure that it actually happens," Spence said.
"Maybe they started the rumor to 'scare' us straight."
All Universities, public and private, dote on illustrious
alumni. UC is no exception. Eric had brought good publicity
to the school even while he was a student, and his subsequent
career hadn't hurt either. The idea of catching someone who
was about to set the world on fire wasn't a bad one either.
Of course, with fame and fortune, it was hoped that their
checkbooks would also be open whenever the University came
calling in the future.
According to Eric, they received the royal treatment. Spence
was awed, Eric was interested in results.
It was agreed that Spence wouldn't receive any preferential
treatment, and there wouldn't be any leaks about his
accomplishments until Micron announced them to the world.
Acceptance at any campus was guaranteed, and if Spence chose
any one other than the local one, the Chancellor would handle
it personally.
Spence wanted to switch majors, from Computer Science to
Business, so spent a little time with an advisor working out
a class schedule should he choose the local branch.
I wasn't the least bit surprised when Spence announced that
his preference was the local campus. They had a good
business school, and with all the Hi-tech in the area, I
assumed that their Computer Science curriculum was cutting
edge. Jimmy and Eric also lived here.
About the only thing remaining was housing, and I stayed out
of that one. Let Spence and Eric do the looking.
The New Hampshire incident hadn't been forgotten. Jack and
his team had been methodically weighing all of our options.
He was ready to move.
First, he had retained a Harvard Professor who specialized in
Constitutional law to represent us in court. The two of them
had worked together to prepare the suit and were now ready to
file it.
Professor Naimann rarely handled court cases, but Jack had
done a sales job on him, and he had agreed. Before they
filed, Jack wanted me to meet the Professor and go over the
details of what we were about to do.
When they came into my office, I was surprised. Dr. Naimann
didn't look like a professor at all. He appeared to be in
his late 30's, serious but with a twinkle in his eye that
showed he had a sense of humor. Eric, Annie and Tina of
course sat in. They were as involved in this as I was.
They got right down to business. Suits against the County
would be filed in Superior Court in New Hampshire. The first,
for Actual damages would seek recovery of the fine we had
paid plus interest, claiming that the statute that required
the payment of fees and penalties was unconstitutional and
discriminatory.
Other suits would be filed for punitive and exemplary
damages, each in the amount of $5 billion dollars citing
interference with interstate trade and commerce and
violations of a whole list of Federal statutes. These would
be filed in Federal Court.
I knew that punitive damages were for the purpose of making
an "example" out of the county, but I had no idea what
exemplary damages were. I asked and Dr. Naimann explained.
"Exemplary damages are intended to make clear that the kind
of behavior engaged in is never again going to be
tolerated." He warmed to the subject. "What they did is
such an affront to the Constitution that the word needs to
get out that nobody, and I mean nobody, should ever attempt
such a travesty again."
The final suit that would be filed was in Annie's behalf. It
would claim detention without authority, and ask actual and
punitive damages of $250 million. Each.
"There are several things that you ought to know,"
Dr. Naimann told us. "We've researched this case very
thoroughly and have, we believe, a pretty much ironclad
case. If we win the first round, they'll no doubt appeal.
If we lose, we'll appeal, all the way to the Supreme Court,
if necessary.
"I believe in this case, and I'm willing to devote whatever
time is necessary to see it through to a favorable
conclusion. In any case, that's not going to happen in a
hurry. I would estimate that it'll take at least five years
before it's settled. And, even then, when you win, you
probably will only be able to collect a fraction of the
damages awarded."
"I'm only interested in getting back the money we paid," I
told him. "If Annie gets anything, that's fine too, but
anything beyond that will go to charity."
"I understand," Dr. Naimann said. "But this kind of crap
can't be allowed to go unpunished."
A few days later the suits were formally filed, and it became
a national media event again. We watched it unfold on the
evening news.
"The American business community let out a big sigh of relief
when West Coast businessmen Eric Lundborg and Dave Rush filed
suit in New Hampshire today over the incident we reported on
several months ago," the network anchorman intoned.
This was followed by clips of the Judge ranting in the
courtroom and Annie being dragged into the courthouse in
handcuffs.
The camera then shifted to the network's "Constitutional
Expert" who outlined the issues involved and why it was so
important that they be decided. He then commented on Dr.
Naimann, who he described as one of the few Constitutional
experts of that caliber to take on a court case. The amount
sought was not mentioned.
A court date hadn't been set yet. Dr. Naimann had warned
that we would be lucky if we only had to wait a few months.
Spence continued to stay with us while escrow closed on his
new condo. He was in "excited little kid" mode most of the
time, then got serious when realizing that he was moving into
his own home at the age of 19.
When Eric told me about all the security equipment Spence was
having installed, I guess I finally comprehended just how
scared he really was. Although unnoticeable to the casual
observer, the place was impregnable.
Jimmy and Spence were like newlyweds, shopping and shopping
for all the necessities for Spence's condo. The two of them
had gone off by themselves for a weekend, coming home with
permanent smiles on their faces. Spence's only comment had
been "Damn, he's big!"
I hadn't heard anything more about the "Operating System"
that Spence had mentioned earlier until he gave Eric a big
envelope one evening. It was filled with legal looking
documents which Eric read then handed to me. Everyone was
silent while I read it.
In essence it was an agreement granting Eric a 20% interest
in the Operating System should he ever develop it.
When I finished reading, Eric looked at me, then at Spence.
"Why?" he asked Spence.
"Because I trust you," Spence said. "I know you'll be there
for me, and, I also know that you'll get me the best deal."
His eyes were twinkling.
"But I've been working for Micron."
"Quit," he said. "I don't think they'll care as long as they
get the system."
"I've gotta think about this," Eric told him.
"Better think fast," Spence warned. "I've already started
and I'm making good progress. With a little luck, I'll have
something to show them by Christmas."
"Do you realize what this could mean?" Eric asked me later.
"Quite honestly, I haven't a clue," I told him. "Except for
the business part, I don't understand what you two are
talking about."
He explained the ramifications to me. Micron didn't have an
"Operating System" of their own, much less one that was
specifically designed for the revolutionary platform they
already had. It'd amount to a tremendous leap forward,
putting Micron in a premier position in the industry if they
had both.
As if this wasn't enough excitement, Loren called to say that
they were about to reach the seam, and if we wanted to be
there for the unveiling, we'd better get our butts over there.
Annie and Tina wanted to know what they should wear. "It's
going to be hot, so I'd suggest shorts, but not too short
because there's a bunch of lonely men out there, and I don't
want a riot."
We also asked Bill to go along.
"Do you think there'll be another 'celebration'?" Eric asked
with a gleam in his eye. "We left our sleeping bags there
the last time we went over."
"Why don't you call John and ask?" I suggested.
"We'd better take a change of clothes, and a few other
things," Eric told me. "We're going to be gone overnight."
He was leering and grabbed his crotch for emphasis. "I'll
pick up a few cases of Jack Daniels for them, and a case of
Scotch for us."
It was early afternoon when the chopper landed on the flat
area below the cliff. A lot had changed. Heavy earthmoving
equipment was parked around, and there was a huge pile of
rock and dirt off to one side of the ramp.
The ramp itself was a lot longer than I expected, with a
gradual slope down to the face of the cliff. It looked like
a huge funnel, starting out at least two hundred feet wide,
and narrowing down to about twenty feet at the cliff.
The last 50 feet of the ramp nearest the cliff was "roofed"
with huge steel beams positioned side by side, spanning the
cut. I asked Loren about this, and he explained that it was
for protection from falling rock. When they started
blasting, the rock above might get dislodged and not only
would that be unsafe for the workers, but require constant
"digging out".
Hanging on the face of the cliff above the entrance was the
wooden "Lovebird Mine" sign.
We walked down the long, gradual ramp. At the end, the cliff
face had been exposed, showing the pinkish white quartz. At
about eye level, the band of gold was partially visible. A
few feet lower was the narrower band, also very obvious.
Both were exactly where we expected them to be.
"We got this far yesterday," Loren explained. "The charges
are set for the first blast, but we wanted to have you see
the face before we set them off. By the way, I've already
taken pictures. I'm going to keep two albums, one for you
and one for me."
We were all fascinated and had to touch and feel the rock and
the gold bands. It was there, for sure!
Loren took some more pictures of all of us in front of the
wall, then led us back up the ramp where we joined John and
all of his crew. Loren insisted that we move back further,
as far as we could but still be able to see the rock face at
the bottom of the ramp. When he was satisfied, and we could
all still see it, the "all clear" was sounded then he started
the countdown. "10, 9, 8..."
The blast wasn't as loud as I expected, but the shock wave
that followed made us all step back to regain our footing. A
few rocks started falling from above, small ones, then the
boulders started raining down on the steel beams. One, about
the size of a Volkswagen, hit and bounced, but remained on
the "roof".
The blast created a cloud of dust that came up and out of the
ramp. The falling rock caused a major cloud which took
several minutes to drift off.
Loren, camera in hand, insisted that he be the first to check
everything out before the rest of us walked back down. We
followed at a distance until he motioned us onward.
A roughly rectangular hole had been opened up, more than six
feet into the cliff. Pieces of quartz rubble had been blown
out of the hole. It seemed like every piece had gold on it
someplace. I picked up a small piece that was half quartz
and half gold. It wasn't much bigger than two fists, but
damn, that sucker was heavy!
The upper band of gold, now exposed, extended all the way
around the hole, glistening. We couldn't see the lower one
because of the rubble.
The whole group was babbling, flash cameras were snapping,
and there was definitely an air of excitement. Annie, Tina
and Bill had looks of total disbelief.
Eric was pensive. He took me by the arm and steered me up
the ramp. "I think it's finally hit me," he said. "It's
real!! I feel like jumping up and down and screaming and
yelling."
"Let it rip!"
"Maybe tonight. Here comes the mob. I'll try to control
myself."
"I won't," I said and grabbed him in a big hug.
Annie and Tina both had the same reaction. Shock. "This is
about the only way I can believe it's real," Tina said,
showing the "sample" she had in her hand. "I asked Mr.
Rattner if I could have it."
Annie had a sample too, quite a bit bigger.
Bill was dazed. "From now on, I'm going to believe you," he
said, "regardless of how unbelievable your stories are."
Loren joined us, all smiles. "Now we go to work," he said.
"What's next?" Eric asked.
"We start building fences, first, to keep the riff-raff out,"
he said.
"Who'll know about it?" I asked.
"Look around," he said. "There's more'n 50 people here.
Somebody's going to talk. Count on it."
"After that?" Eric asked.
"The power company will start stringing wire next week. By
the time they get here, we should be ready to plug in the
processing plant. After sneaking a peek yesterday, I gave
everybody the go-ahead. And, to answer your next question,
Eric, we should be pumping out concentrated ore in three
months.
"We won't even think about sinking any shafts and going after
that until we've got a good handle on the easy stuff."
John took over as tour guide, showing the five of us the
extent of the deposit that had been proven by core sampling
so far. We walked the perimeter at the lower, flat level,
then took a chopper ride to the top of the cliff where we did
the same thing. He explained how the deposit below the cliff
would follow the surface contour, gradually sloping downward.
Bill asked if anybody had calculated the surface area of the
proven deposit and figured out just how much gold was down
there.
"Loren and I worked on it," John admitted. "What we came up
with was so utterly fantastic that we tore it up and decided
to just wait and see what actually comes out. I'll go this
far," he said with a big smile, "what you'll pull out of here
will pay for the railroad you bought several times over."
"See!" I kidded Bill, "You've got good collateral."
"I don't understand," John commented.
"Metalco advanced Dave and Eric the money to buy the
Railroad," Bill explained. "It really doesn't matter because
Dave owns Metalco too. We're just keeping them separate."
They'd seen all they wanted to, and it was getting really
hot, so Tina, Annie and Bill hopped on the chopper to go back
to Prescott. The girls were still clutching the "samples"
they'd picked up.
Eric and I wandered back down the ramp. It was cooler, and I
wanted another look. No crowd, so we could take our time.
On closer inspection, there was a lot of quartz without any
gold attached. "I guess they'll put it all through the
crusher," I said to Eric, thinking out loud.
"It'd be too costly to separate," he answered. "It'd have to
be done by hand. It's going to make one hell of a pile of
tailings, though."
We both pocketed small pieces that were all gold as souvenirs.
Eric put his arm around my waist and held me to him. "Even
when I let my imagination run crazy, this is the last place I
ever expected to be," he chuckled. "It's still hard to
believe."
"I know exactly how you feel. It's nothing I ever dreamed of
either."
When we emerged, John cornered us. "How's the copper thing
going?" he asked.
"We pick up the Economic Analysis in Tulsa in a few days,"
Eric told him. "We'll be better prepared to deal with those
vultures after we get it."
"I learned something interesting the other day," John
continued. "One of my 'Field Geologists' used to work for
one of the outfits that does those things. He might be able
to help you understand it better, give you some background."
"We'll take any help we can get," I told him.
"I'll go get him. But don't go stealing my men!" he chuckled.
He came back with Hal whom we'd both met before. "Told Dave
and Eric that you have some experience with Economic Analyses
of Mines," he explained. "They're getting ready to do
something with that copper deposit down South, so thought
maybe you could give them a little help."
"Any way I can," Hal answered. "The whole process is nothing
more than building a big computer model, then plugging in the
numbers."
"Isn't there more to it than that?" I asked.
"Not really, once you have a good model set up, but the
results are only as good as the information you plug in.
Interpreting the results can be kind of tricky, and a tweak
here or there can make the report look any way you want it
to."
"How come you're here instead of still doing that?" I asked.
"The company I was working for was playing games, and I
didn't like it," Hal told us. "They were actually owned by a
big mining company, and they turned out two reports. The
owners who retained them got one report, and the mining
company got the accurate one. I call that fraud, and I won't
have any part of it."
"Have you ever built one of these models?" Eric asked.
"Hell, I built the one my old employer used, and I believe
they're still using it," he answered. "I still have a copy
of it somewhere."
"Would you consider going to work with us, Hal?" I asked,
then turned to John. "Sorry," I told him with a grin.
"We offer air conditioning," Eric added.
"For a while," Hal agreed, "if John'll let me. I still prefer
working outside."
"Come back anytime," John assured him. "There'll always be a
place for you on my crew."
John left us to work out details. I wanted him to get
started as soon as possible, and, since he was single, he
could start right away. All he needed was to pick up his
belongings in Phoenix, then come to the Coast.
He'd be a welcome addition. Obviously he had scruples,
something we were learning wasn't common in the mining game.
Also very decorative. Annie'd approve. About 35, tall, with
rugged good looks. I was interested in his brains, however,
not the impressive package he displayed below his belt.
News traveled fast. In minutes, Loren came over. "Beat me
to him, I see," he commented. "I planned to make Hal an offer
myself. He's damned good. A lot more there than meets the
eye."
I wondered what he meant by that, but didn't ask.
The chopper got back from Prescott and began ferrying us to
"camp". Eric and I were on the first load along with John and
Loren and as many more as they could fit in. Camp was the
same, a couple more tents, but John explained that the
construction crew commuted, they weren't part of his group.
We put our gear away, noting that we didn't have to drag our
sleeping bag and the air mattress outside. That'd already
been done for us. We cleaned up in the stream just short of a
shower, then joined the crew. Since it hadn't been a
workday, they were full of energy. We broke out the Jack
Daniels, and offered Scotch to anyone who wanted it.
Instead of talking shop with Loren or John, we talked with
the crew. By now, we were one of them, they were relaxed
around us, and I certainly felt comfortable with them. The
educational level of these men was amazing. Almost all had
college degrees but loved working outside. They were rugged,
definitely not desk jockey types.
I got "vibes" from a few, but most I would have pegged as
straight. Their nighttime antics proved otherwise, but who
cared?
We drank and talked. There was an air of excitement, but
there also seemed to be relief. Their hard work had paid
off, the gold was where it was supposed to be, and their job
was done, at least as far as this deposit was concerned.
Dinner was the biggest rock lobster tails I've ever seen.
They were a foot long and had to weigh close to two pounds
apiece. Tin cups of butter went along with each one.
There weren't any speeches, just conversation. Hal got
razzed for taking a "sissy" job. His comeback was "Just
think of all those beautiful bodies on the beach to look at -
and take home." He didn't specify gender which made me smile.
We were congratulated on using the "Lovebird" name for the
whole mining company. There were a lot of laughs about how
we would explain it, but Eric put that to rest. "We don't
plan to explain anything. Let people think whatever they
want. We don't care."
Loren was the first to turn in. I had wondered how he'd fit
in. He clarified that in a hurry by turning to Eric. "Got
any more earplugs? I hear you boys get kind of noisy." Then
burst out laughing at the look on poor Eric's face.
The moon was just a tiny crescent. The stars made up for it,
shining so bright you could almost touch them. Lying side by
side, looking up, Eric murmured "I'm getting to love this
place. Let's build a house out here."
"We don't need one when there's that to look at," I said,
pointing upward. "A roof would ruin it."
We nestled together, touched, and kissed. How I loved this
big guy. About the time I was ready to make a serious move
on him, we heard a giggle from Tent City. We giggled too,
catching the mood. "I know what lobster does to you," I
whispered. "Tonight it's my party."
He was throbbing, dripping. I got the lube, turned, and
without touching him with my hand, started licking the head,
making slow circles around his corona collecting his
delicious precum. When he started groaning, I stopped and
lubed up my hands. "Just watch the stars," I whispered.
When we got on board the plane, the morning newspapers were
in the cabin. Neither of us looked at them until we were
airborne.
"Oh shit!" Eric roared. "Look at this."
There was a screaming headline on the front page. DAVE RUSH
STRIKES GOLD. Below the headline were pictures, obviously
taken the day before, of the mine entrance, the gold covered
rubble after the first blast, and a closeup of a huge chunk
of gold being held up by two men. The picture didn't show
their faces, just their hands and arms for perspective.
The article that followed started out "Local Industrialist
Dave Rush and his partner Eric Lundborg have found what may
be the largest gold deposit ever discovered." It went on
from there with a lot of details, then background information
on Eric and me.
"We've got a major leak," Eric growled.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later," I told him. "It'll
be forgotten by next week."
"I guess," he said. "At least there weren't any pictures of
us."
We went directly to the office. There were two things that I
wanted to do. First, I arranged for title to all the
equipment we'd bought for John Bussey to be transferred to
him. Next, I called Charles, not Charlie, not Chuck to my
office.
I'm going to need some cash," I told him. "I want 2,400
crisp new $100 bills. Can you do that?"
"That many will take me a couple of days," unperturbable
Charles answered. "Which account should I use?"
"It's coming out of Lovebird Mining, but I don't know if they
even have an account yet. If they don't, use my personal
one. We'll work it out later."
As usual, my refusal to go through "regular channels" would
cause our Accounting Department to yank out hair in handfuls.
We had all been pretty busy, and hadn't had an opportunity to
let Annie and Tina in on what was happening with the copper
deposits. They were, after all, partners, and should be
included.
I called the group together. I told Eric why I'd called the
meeting, and he agreed that we'd have to make more of an
effort to see that the girls were fully informed. Neither
one of us even knew if they knew the copper deposits existed.
Eric brought them up to date, from meeting the Copper Barons
in Dallas to our hiring of Hal to help us. "We don't ever
want you to feel left out on any of this," Eric told them.
Tina spoke first. "Don't worry about it. I think I can
speak for both of us on this. We've all got so much going on
that Annie and I don't have time to get into all the
details. Sure, we'd like to know when something big happens,
but you two are having fun with this. Carry on!"
"Has this Hal guy got any management potential?" Annie
asked. "You're going to need somebody to run Lovebird."
"I don't know," I admitted. "He's a geologist, and impresses
me as being a sharp man. That's all I know. By the way,
he'll be a welcome addition to the 'scenery' around here."
"I'll find an office for him across the street," Annie
grinned. "All the engineers that Dean's hiring are such a
bunch of geeks."
"I think we've got a secretary around someplace who's
handling the mining stuff," she added. "I don't know who or
where. Dad, maybe you should make some kind of announcement
so everybody at Metalco and Hydra will know the score."
"Good idea," I said. "Things are getting a bit complicated
these days."
"We're in the process of setting up an Accounting Department
for Hydra," Tina reported, "we're sharing Metalco's
mainframe, and we can include Lovebird."
"What about the Railroad?" I asked.
"They're self-contained," Annie reported. "We're treating
them like an autonomous subsidiary."
Eric and I made a quick trip to Tulsa to pick up the Economic
Analysis and have it explained to us. After hearing Hal's
story, I was suspicious at best.
They handed us each a half-inch thick bound report, then
proceeded to explain everything in excruciating detail.
First was startup cost, the cost of removing and disposing of
an average of 100 feet of overburden - the useless material
covering the ore itself, then the extraction process
and transportation of the ore to a smelter.
Then the cost of building the smelter, and operating costs
when it was running. On and on they pelted us with
information that I don't think either one of us was able to
fully grasp.
Eventually they reached the bottom line. Their conclusion
was that after 15 years of working both deposits, and after
deducting all costs, the entire project would yield a pretax
net profit of $178 million.
Their recommendation was to sell, if we could find a buyer.
I didn't believe a word of it.
Eric didn't either. "That's peanuts, for chrissakes!" he
said as we were flying home. "We've heard 'billions' thrown
around, and they come up with that pitiful amount. I smell a
rat."
"Me too," I agreed. "I think we're being set up. Let's keep
this to ourselves and turn Hal loose, see what he comes up
with using the same information, then compare."
"Good idea," he said. "I trust Hal, but I think we should
run a very thorough background check on him."
"I hate having to be so distrustful," I commented, "but it
looks like it 'comes with the territory' in the mining game."
Hal showed up ready and rarin' to go. When wearing something
besides jeans and a t-shirt, he was a spectacular looking
man. He knew how to dress to show off his assets without
being vulgar, and he had a lot going for him. About six
four, brown hair and big brown eyes, and a very well muscled
body. His rugged features made him look like he'd stepped
out of a cigarette ad.
He went to Human Resources to take care of all the paperwork,
then Eric and I took him out to lunch.
He gave us a full rundown on his background - from college
onward. He'd worked in a variety of jobs in various
positions, and had been with John for just over three years.
In fact, he admitted sheepishly, he was John's highest paid
"Field Geologist" because he could do just about anything
that needed to be done.
"I know you majored in Geology, but did you take any business
courses?" I asked him.
"Four years of accounting and every other mining-related
business course they offered," Hal answered.
Maybe this guy had real potential, I thought to myself. I'd
wait to say anything until his background check came back.
I was quite sure he considered this a temporary assignment
and that he'd return to the field as soon as he completed the
Analysis. Maybe we'd have bigger plans for him.
We discussed the project. He'd brought John's survey with
him, so he'd have the same data to work with as we'd given
the consultants in Tulsa. It was his suggestion not to look
at their report until he'd completed his.
"I've got something to say to you guys, and I'm not trying to
butter you up," he said. "I really admire the way you two
don't make any secret about being 'together'."
"We're 'together' in every sense of the word," Eric told him.
"It's pretty obvious. I've never seen two people who looked
at each other the way you do. They got the name right when
they named the mine for you."
"I hope we didn't embarrass anybody by being so open out at
camp," I said.
"No, on the contrary," he said. "You set an example that
most of us had never seen. Most of us considered what WE
were doing to just be a form of release. After seeing you
guys, there was a lot of thinking going on. 'Was that all it
really was?' or was there more involved than we'd admit?
"I sure did a lot of thinking," he admitted. "I finally
admitted to myself that I really prefer men, even though I've
been fighting it all my life, so, you're looking at a fresh
out-of-the-closet gay guy."
"Congratulations!" Eric said with a big smile. "How does it
feel?"
"Like a huge burden's been lifted," he sighed. "I'm still
getting comfortable, and realize that'll take some time, but
I'm finally heading in the direction I really want to go, and
I have you guys to thank for it."
"We're just 'us', whatever that happens to be," I told him.
"It makes me feel kind of good to know that we've set an
example," Eric told me. "I'm not very fond of the idea of
becoming a role model, though."
"Face it, kiddo," I told him. "You've been a role model for
the past two years, that I know of. All your Lifeguard
buddies are going to school, and several of them have gotten
themselves married off, just like you did! Jim Wilson's
pissing and moaning about all the guys that are leaving him,
and it's all your fault," I laughed.
"I got lucky, real lucky," he said, snuggling up to me.
"Have you ever given any thought to really getting married?
Us, I mean."
"What would that prove?" I asked. "It wouldn't be legal
anyway, and I don't need a ceremony to prove that I'm totally
committed to you. How do you feel about it?"
"I'd like one," he said, almost in a whisper.
"A commitment ceremony?" I asked.
He nodded. "You and I know we're committed to each other,
but I'd like the whole world to know how much I love you."
I chuckled. "I'm sure we wouldn't have any trouble getting
press coverage!"
"Not that," he laughed. "Just in the presence of the people
who are important to us."
I hugged him to me. "If that's what you want, we'll do it."
We sat silently for several minutes, each lost in thought.
"I love you," I whispered.
"It's not that I'm insecure or anything like that," he said.
"Nothing'll really change, I know, but a public expression of
how we feel about each other would make me feel complete."
"Do you want to exchange rings?" I asked.
"Yes. I know you won't wear yours, but I'll wear mine
proudly."
"I might surprise you," I told him.
"Our rings should be made with gold from the Lovebird Mine,
too," he said.
"You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"
"I've been thinking a lot about it lately," he admitted.
"It's symbolic more than anything else, but for me it'll
formalize the wonderful thing we've got going between us.
Make it permanent."
"Do you ever doubt my commitment to you?" I had to ask.
"Never!" he said vehemently. "That's not the point."
I understood. "When do you want to do this?" I asked.
"The building dedication is coming up in a few weeks. All
our friends from around the country will be here. How about
doing it then?"
"You really have given this a lot of thought."
"Let's have it out on the 'back forty' in those beautiful
gardens, at sunset," he suggested.
"That'd really be romantic."
"That's what this is all about," he said, then added with a
twinkle in his eye. "I've been saving that spot for this.
That's why I haven't dragged you out there and raped you
before now!"
I'd walk through hot coals for this man that I loved so
much. Even though I considered this superfluous, it was
nothing. It obviously meant a lot to him, and probably would
to me too, once I thought about it, so I readily agreed.
We started planning. Who, when, the where was already
settled. Eric wanted to make all the arrangements, which I
eagerly agreed to. The only thing that bothered me was what
I'd say at the ceremony.
To be continued.
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