Chapter 2

One of the biggest problems that a D-Hopper has when he opens a new planet is his competition. ’Link-Hoppers’ are one of the risks that successful, independent D-Hoppers have to deal with. They can follow you when you hop, and you won’t know they are following you until you get to where you are going. Then it’s too late to lose them.

When I became an independent D-Hopper, I made a series of rules for myself to prevent my competition from finding a planet that I was opening. These rules are standard policy for most D-Hoppers that go exploring.

The first rule is to always travel through Home Universe when going from the object planet, to another destination, or returning to the planet. With the number of D-Hoppers resident on the planets of Home Universe, I can easily lose myself in the crowd before hopping to my next destination.

The remaining rules are to approach Home Universe from different vectors, leave Home Universe on different vectors, and arrive at different planets within Home Universe. In other words, avoid creating departure and arrival patterns. By following these rules, any Link-Hopper that monitors me, will not be able to determine even the general direction in which my destination is located.

I also had several evasive diversions that I used during my early trips between Earth and the Multiverse. I created these diversions myself, and may need to use them in the future, so I will not describe them.

I was only on Earth for about a week when I made a very serious mistake. Slim offered me a can of soda pop. I swallowed one mouthful and promptly passed out. When I woke up, I was disoriented and Slim had me sip more of that drink and I passed out again. When I woke up again, Slim gave me water to drink. When my head cleared, I talked with Slim and realized that he had given me a drink that was very high in sugar, and that I was now a sugar addict.

One of the first things I learned about Earth’s people is, they are all full-blown sugar addicts. It took me over two months of trial and error to condition my body to tolerate sugar. I should mention that when I say sugar, I am referring to sucrose, which is the common form of sugar on Earth. The other forms of sugar do not bother the people of the Multiverse.

My brothers and sisters were serving their apprenticeship in a neighboring town under an uncle, so I didn’t get to see them that night. I spent the night with my parents and we talked late into the evening catching up on what we had been doing since my last visit.

I told my parents that I had located and was opening a new planet and it had several very valuable commodities. I let Mom know that I was carrying sugar to sell. I would have given my parents several pounds for their personal use, but uncut sugar is highly addictive in the Multiverse. While it’s not exceptionally dangerous, unless ingested, special handling is required until the sugar is properly diluted.

The next day I made an appointment to meet an independent trade agent. My parents had recommended that I use Carol Matts. She was a reasonably attractive woman in her early fifties.

I walked into her office and said, “Missus Matts, I am Doug Smith. My parents, Stan and Marsha Smith, recommended you to me. I am a D-Hopper and in need of an Independent Trade Agent.”

Author’s Note: Yes, I know Smith is not their name, but using my assumed name makes sense, since you can’t pronounce their real name or read Trade Speak.

“Oh, yes. Stan commed me yesterday to find out if I would be interested in a new client, and he told me a bit about you.”

“Yes, he mentioned that to me. Before we get into the specifics of what I have to trade, I would like to go over your fee structure.”

Carol handed me a printout that defined her services, and the fee for each service. After looking it over, I decided her fees were reasonable. She agreed to represent me, and we entered into a long-term confidentiality agreement.

“Now that the formalities are out of the way, Doug, what can I do for you today?”

“I am in the process of opening a new planet. Today I have eighty pounds of pure uncut sugar that I would like to sell. I would like to obtain a Letter of Introduction to a local sugar trader. I would also like to purchase some platinum, so I want a Letter of Introduction to a local metals trader, also.”

Author’s Note: In the Multiverse, a Letter of Introduction is a legal document, which states that the issuing agent is placing their customer in the hands of a specified trade agent. It also establishes a legal agreement between the two agents. If the specified agent accepts the Letter, they are agreeing to treat that customer in a fair and honest manner. The penalty for failing to fulfill the agreement can be as severe as a fine, plus banishment from the Trading Guild. All reputable trading agents in the Multiverse belong to the Trading Guild and the majority of the Multiverse’s trade goes through the hands of Guild members. Loss of Guild membership can financially destroy the trade agent and possibly his trade agency and the reputation of its other agents, as well!

“That’s no problem, Doug. You do realize that you can get better prices by hopping to Spice World and Metal World.”

“Yes, but I would prefer to not have to spend the additional time that that would require.”

Carol excused herself so she could prepare my Letters of Introduction. Before she started that, I also asked her if she could provide me with a list of readily available, inexpensive trade goods that could be easily carried in a backpack.

Author’s Note: At the university, we had been taught that we could get in trouble by making bulk sales of merchandise, if the sale destabilized the marketplace. The recommended procedure was to keep the amount of rare merchandise small until you could determine how much could be sold at one time without adversely affecting the market. The suggested amount to sell was no more than you could carry on your person.

After giving me two data chips containing the Letters I requested, we discussed the general types of merchandise I was willing to handle, and she cut a data chip that provided me with a listing of valuable merchandise, its grading criteria, and the average approved price quoted by the respective trade guilds during the past three months.

Author’s Note: In the Multiverse, each Trade Guild is responsible for one or more types of merchandise. The Trade Guild defines the grading criteria of the merchandise and sets the approved price for each grade. Trade Agents and their customers use the Guild’s approved prices as a guide when buying and selling merchandise.

Sugar is classified as a seasoning in the Multiverse, so Carol contacted a local Spice and Herb Guild agent. She described the merchandise I had for sale and indicated the quantity to the agent. They negotiated a price of 1.43 million for the sugar, assuming the weight was accurate and the sugar was 99.999% pure. She also arranged for her commission to be paid directly to her by the agent from my sale price. Carol set up an appointment for me for just before lunch. She contacted a local metals trade agent letting them know that I wanted to purchase about eighty pounds of platinum, and negotiated a price for me. We left the time of the appointment open, since I wasn’t certain when I would be able to meet with the agent.

When my business with her was complete, I gave Carol my financial data chip and we transferred her transaction fees to her financial data chip. Her commissions would be paid to her by the Trade Agents. Carol was quite willing to go the extra mile, as the Earth saying goes, to have me as a satisfied customer. Very large fortunes can be made by those who are involved in opening a new planet, and her future commissions on my trades could be sizable. As I departed Carol’s office, I let her know that if my business went smoothly I planned to use her for all of my future trading ventures.

Note: An Independent Trade Agent’s commission is the sum of the standard commission and a ‘bonus commission’. For the standard commission, the agent and customer agree upon a percentage of the actual sale or purchase price. They also agree on the percentage rate of the ‘bonus commission’. The bonus commission is only paid when selling, if the negotiated sale price is above the price recommended by the guild; or when buying, if the purchase price is less than that recommended by the guild.

I left Carol’s office and went directly to the sugar agent’s office. I had to wait for him to finish with another client, but once I was seated in his office, our business went smoothly and quickly. We took the sugar to his lab where it was weighed and tested for quality. Within an hour of my arrival, I was headed to my bank with a guaranteed funds data chip containing 1.2 million dollars. The quality was slightly lower than expected, but the weight was slightly higher than I estimated.

At my bank, I deposited all of the chip’s funds into my bank account, and obtained enough cash to pay for my day-to-day expenses for the next week. I stopped at the bank’s accounting department to let them know the financial details of the sugar sale and give them my copy of the sale’s paperwork.

I had been dealing with this bank for several years and had found that their accounting group saved me more money when it came time to pay my planetary taxes than a commercial tax accountant. At my request, the accounting department recommended an investment counselor and they made an appointment for me.

I had enough time for lunch before my appointment at the investment counselor’s office. I found a sandwich bar near the counselor’s office and ordered the daily special, which turned out to be a bowl of soup and a sandwich.

I arrived at the counselor’s office a little early and relaxed in his waiting room until he returned from his lunch. After completing a confidentiality agreement, I told the counselor that I was a D-Hopper, and we discussed the types of investments that I would be interested in making. I gave my financial data chip to him and we decided on how much money I should invest in each of the investments he recommended. We transferred the money I wanted to invest from my bank to his company’s bank.

Before leaving his office, I completed the paperwork necessary for appointing my parents to act as my agents. My parents and I anticipated that they would need to expend a significant amount of time tracking my investments, so I had made a financial arrangement with them for handling my investments.

My day had been a bit tiring, so I decided to defer purchasing the platinum until later. I decided to do a bit of personal shopping instead of going directly to my parent’s home. I had decided that the persona I wanted to project on Earth was one of wealth and power. Gold and diamonds are very plentiful and cheap in the Multiverse, but expensive on Earth, so I decided that I would buy myself several elaborate gold chains to wear around my neck and several diamond rings for my hands.

I wandered through the commercial district looking for a jewelry store that handled high quality costume jewelry. I finally found one that stocked mass produced jewelry. I located three heavy gold chains that complimented each other and almost exactly the type of ring that I wanted. I wasn’t very happy with the ring’s style, but I would become accustomed to it in time. The stone was a clear, flawless, rectangular, 12-carat diamond that gave off lots of sparkle. I liked it, and for mass produced jewelry, the workmanship was excellent. I was almost ready to leave when I saw a second ring that really grabbed my attention. It had a brilliant red, 3-carat, faceted rectangular stone, mounted in a platinum setting. On each side of the red stone was a similarly shaped and faceted clear bluish green stone of about 2-carats. The light scintillating off the three stones really grabbed your attention. My total cost for the five items was under a hundred dollars.

It was the busy time of the year for my parents, so we weren’t able to visit during the day. My parents had arranged with my uncle for my siblings to visit, so a couple of days later I had the chance to visit with them. I told them about some of my D-Hopping experiences and opening up a new world; and they were enthusiastic over their new professions. They told me a great deal about the different woods that they were buying and selling. I told them that I would bring them some sample chips of the common and exotic woods of Earth the next time I visited.

My week at home was over, so I let my parents know that I would stop in the next time I hopped into the neighborhood and we said our goodbyes. I had stored my costume jewelry in my backpack when I had returned home. I didn’t want to be seen in the Multiverse wearing cheap costume jewelry.

I was ready to return to Earth, so I went straight to the office of the metals trade agent. I caught him at a good time, so we were able to conclude my business, quickly. I left with eighty pounds of platinum in my backpack.

The next day, I said goodbye to my parents and returned to Earth.

After reaching Earth, I discussed selling the platinum with Slim. The amount that I had to sell surprised him, and it took him awhile to recover.

“Doug, me boy, you have a veritable fortune in that backpack of yours. We need to do two things. First of all, you need to open a bank account, and secondly you need to sell the platinum.

“To open a bank account requires an ID. If we try to get you ID through the normal channels, the government will get involved. For people like us, that would be a disaster. I know a man who can get you a driver’s license and a Social Security card. You will also want to sell off your bullion through several different dealers, in small amounts. They and banks are required to report large transactions to the government.”

“Thanks, Slim. I want you to have a share of my profits for helping me.”

Slim helped me sell a small amount of platinum, and I took the proceeds in cash. I used the cash to pay for the driver’s license and SSA card that Slim’s friend had gotten for me. From what I know now, I suspect Slim’s friend was a forger who made the license and card for me. With those documents, I went to a bank and opened a checking and savings account. Slim told me that we would go to several banks and open at least a checking and savings account at each bank.

“Slim, why do I need so many accounts?”

“Doug, you need to stay off of the government’s radar. They have many different ways of finding people like you and me. If they find you or get on your trail, they will be a major pain in the ass for you.

“Banks are required to report transactions of ten thousand dollars or more. If you keep each transaction to about eight or nine grand, they won’t have to file a mandatory report. We will need to devise a way to explain your income to your bullion buyers and the banks.”

Over the next ten days, Slim and I opened bank accounts at fifteen different banks.

We told the bullion buyers that we had located an old wooden sailing ship off the New Jersey shore, and when we explored it, we found a large amount of bullion. We informed them the ship was in deep water, so our dive time was limited, and we could only bring up a small amount of bullion every few days. We made sure that we let them know that we were trying to keep the government from learning about our discovery, because they might finagle some way to claim our find.

“Doug, I had some trouble with the government a while back with some of their financial laws. I’m not what you would call a very honest man. I can smell a crooked dealer a mile away, and the bullion dealers we are dealing with are crooks. However, they are our kind of crooks. They know there is something wrong with our story, so they are giving us less than full value for the bullion. But in exchange, they are not reporting us to the government.”

Selling eighty pounds of bullion in small amounts and depositing the proceeds is not as easy as it sounds. Slim and I were both selling the bullion. I gave him a cut of the profits, and deposited my checks in my different bank accounts. Slim advised me to use their automatic teller machines so my face wasn’t well known around the bank.

“Doug, I was thinking about things the other day. The banks are going to question you making so many large deposits over time. I believe you need a cover story to explain these deposits. I decided that you should create the persona of a bullion buyer who purchases bullion from private sellers.

“We will call your business Smith’s Bullion Buyers. Use your main account for most of the business deposits and withdrawals. Periodically go to the bank and withdraw a large amount of cash. Talk with the teller during the transaction, and let them know that your customers prefer to be paid in cash for the bullion they sell you, but don’t make them suspicious by being too obvious about it.

“We can use the cash for living expenses and you can give me my share in cash.”

I was able to sell the platinum for a net profit of one point seven million dollars. I would have to pay taxes here on Earth, but at least I would not be double taxed. In the Multiverse, you always pay taxes on the planet where you sell the merchandise.

Slim and I had been selling bullion for almost six months and I had completed twelve trading trips. Every time I sold bullion to a dealer, I got a bank check. I felt very uncomfortable with all that money on nothing more than a flimsy piece of paper. It could easily be lost, stolen, or destroyed. I prefer the security and simplicity of financial and guaranteed funds data chips.

Note: In the Multiverse, except for small cash purchases, financial data chips are used for all financial transactions, and there are three types of financial data chips.

A bank data chip, which is issued by a bank, is the most commonly used data chip. This type of data chip contains the owner’s banking information. It is used to transfer money between two bank accounts and identification of the individuals involved in a transaction is required.

A second type of financial data chip is the general funds data chip. This data chip is normally used like cash or a credit card for making purchases of merchandise. Funds are transferred between the two data chips, and identification of the individuals involved in the transaction is not required.

The guaranteed funds data chip is normally used for high value transactions. The funds can only be transferred between two guaranteed funds data chips and the identity of the buyer and seller must to be confirmed. It can also be used whenever the identity of the individuals involved in a transaction is required.

The user of the data chips is responsible for ensuring that there is an adequate balance in their bank account to complete transactions. They are also responsible for periodically visiting a branch office of their bank and ensuring their data chips are updated with the bank’s current financial data. The process used to update the data chip is not described here.

To make a transaction, the seller and buyer insert their data chips in the respective data chip reader ports, and enter the amount of the transaction using the keypad. The data reader checks that the buyer’s data chip has adequate funds for the transaction.

For a transaction between two general funds data chips, when the Transaction Approved light comes on, the buyer and seller press and hold their respective Transact buttons. The Transaction Complete light comes on to signify that the funds were transferred between the two data chips and the transaction is complete.

For a transaction between two bank data chips or between two guaranteed funds data chips, when the Transaction Approved light comes on, the individuals involved in the transaction ensure that their splinters are within range of the splinter readers, and then press and hold their respective Transact buttons. When the Transaction Complete light comes on, the transaction details and identity of the individuals involved in the transaction have been stored on both data chips. For a bank data chip, the funds are withdrawn from or deposited to the account balance stored on the data chip. For a guaranteed funds data chip, the funds are transferred between the data chips. When the transaction is complete, the data chips can be removed from the readers.

A splinter is an identification device that is embedded in a child’s body shortly after its birth. It contains the child’s Citizen Identification Number, their genetic data, and other pertinent information. When a splinter is within reading distance of a splinter reader, the person’s Citizen Identification Number can be read, and information can be written to the splinter.

I returned from my thirteenth trading trip and went to the hotel where Slim and I were staying. He wasn’t there and the hotel clerk told me he left several days ago. Slim told the clerk said that he had called his sister and she had an emergency. He had to go there to help her, and he said he would call me in a month. The hotel agreed to store my personal belongings until I returned.

I rented a room for a week and collected my stored belongings. I then began selling off the bullion. I made six more trading trips and disposed of the bullion from those trips. Slim had not called and it had been over four months since he left. I was worried and feared that something had happened to Slim. I kept hoping that I would hear from him, but I never did.

In retrospect, I think Slim believed that the government was close to learning of our bullion selling operation. I think he was afraid we were going to be caught, and he decided to leave while he still had a good chance of getting clear of the operation without having to answer any questions that the authorities might ask him. Slim had always been paranoid about the government and very superstitious; perhaps he feared the thirteenth trip would be bad luck.

I finally gave up hope of Slim returning and I decided to find a place where I might like to live when I retired on Earth. As a sugar addict, I had to remain close to my supply of sugar, but I didn’t care for the East Coast. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say, I didn’t like Boston. I decided that Southern California or Colorado might be more to my liking. Vora was mostly flat land and I thought something different might be nice. The mountains of Colorado appealed to me, so I decided a trip to Colorado would be appropriate. For the next few days, I spent most of my time in a library researching Colorado and its cities. I eventually settled on Denver. When I asked the best way to get there, the hotel clerk suggested that I fly. I thought it would be a novel way to travel, and decided to try it.

I decided to close all of my bank accounts, so I transferred all of my money into my main checking account. I withdrew a large amount of cash and accepted a cashier’s check for the remaining balance.

The following morning, I checked out of the hotel and caught a cab to the airport. The young lady selling me a ticket wanted to see my ID. I reached for my wallet, but it was not in my pocket where I carried it. Fortunately, the majority of my cash and the cashier’s check were in my bag. However, the young lady told me she could not sell me a ticket without ID, and I had no ID. She wouldn’t accept the name on the check as identification, although she was shocked by the amount of the check. Somehow, the Transportation Security Administration got involved.