Chapter 9: Decisions, Decisions

Speaking of King Solomon, I was going to have to make another decision today: Julio, or Estaban/Steve. I think that I knew how I was going to split that baby.

Jorge met me at the office at the top of the mine, and we discussed my strategy for going forward. Then we called the two men into the office to tell them what I had decided.

“Gentlemen, please sit down.

“Getting straight to business, I think that I have made a decision that will benefit both of you, and will benefit The Trust as well. I ask you, though, to listen to me until I finish before you ask the questions that will inevitably arise.

“First, as far as the mine here goes, Julio, you are going to take over for Jorge. Jorge will continue to work with you through a transition period for the next month. That is so there will be plenty of time for you be sure that you understand all of the tasks that up until today, Jorge was involved with, but you weren’t.

I could see the joy in Julio’s face, and the disappointment in Steve’s. I hoped that wouldn’t last long.

“Now, Steve. I have another task for you, on the same level as Julio’s, but it comes from the fact that your English is basically flawless. Todo perfecto!

“Several years ago, before Uncle Jack died, we had prospected and put a claim on a site in Alaska. We have had a small operation going there since that time. We were running it mainly to have a presence of miners and security people on the claim to prevent others from trying to secretly mine at the site.

“I am going to want you, with your mother and sister, to move up to Alaska, and for you to expand the operation to its full potential. We will be capitalizing the mine to acquire the additional new equipment that is needed, and you will be responsible first for getting the equipment up to the claim, then setting it up and then managing the mine.

“I spoke to your mother at dinner, and I think that I would like to hire her as office support at the office in Juneau. I will have our worldwide administrative supervisor, a lovely woman, Mrs. Gray, come out and show her the ropes and make sure that she is up to speed before she is left on her own. Juneau, by the way, is on the coast, and is generally warmer than inland where the mine will be located. You will be able to fly back and forth between the mine and Juneau fairly easily, so you can see your mom on a frequent basis.

“I’m going to talk to you sister about going back to school in the States, and getting an MBA to compliment her Econ undergrad degree.

“So have I made you both happy?” I asked.

They were both absolutely delighted, each of them having a challenging job and a bright future with the company.

Lunch that day was an upbeat event. Afterwards, Jorge, Julio and Estaban went back to the office to begin organizing their respective next steps, and call their families to give them the news.

Just thinking about Rosa when I returned to Peru was making me stiff. But no rest for the wicked.

I had to fly to Chile to talk some serious lithium talk.

But first, I had to acquire my new assistant. She wasn’t aware that she was my new assistant, but I thought she might be amenable.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

“Aló?” came her voice.

“Hola, chica!”

There was an audible gasp at the other end of the phone.

“Is that you, Kevin?”

“Si. Is that you, Emilia?”

“Si. Who did you expect?”

“We just got the great news from Estaban. Thank you so much.”

“Emilia, do you have a passport?”

You know that finding intelligent, loyal, hard working people is one of the most difficult things for a business to do. And in Lima, Peru, I found a perfect bi-lingual, English/Spanish assistant to come with me to Chile to assist in my negotiation with the government officials Next stop, Santiago de Chile

Emilia’s excitement at new experiences was a real joy for me. And when we flew from Lima to Santiago in my private jet, it was another first for her, and she was just overflowing.

Alas, that had to end.

“Emilia, we have to talk,” I said, “and we have to talk now, before we arrive in Chile.

“We are trying to get a major concession for The Trust to mine lithium. But we are competing with most of the major mining companies to get what is a limited number of operations that Chile will allow.

“I am working on the assumption that in Chile, the government, the people we will be dealing with, will bug our hotel rooms and even when we are not in meetings, they will have us surveiled. So we will not talk about anything of substance until I tell you it is safe for us to do so.

“Another thing, and one of the reasons I reached out to you (yes, I know, beyond the fact that you are beautiful, ) is that your English is perfect, and with your light colored hair and skin tone, we will pass you off as a Norte Americano. While we will not deny your perfect Spanish, unless we are directly asked, we will not volunteer the information. So remember not to say anything in Spanish that would clue them in.”

I handed her a bluetooth earphone that appeared to be one just like a million others, along with a phone that was already mated to the ear piece.

“You know what this is, right? Only it is more.

“There will be times when their negotiating team will back off to discuss our proposals. If they believe that we can’t speak or understand Spanish, they will be more candid about their thoughts and opinions.

“There is a button on your phone,” I showed her the button, “that will turn the earpiece into a powerful listening device. That way, as their team is strategizing, you can be listening to what they say, and when we are alone, you can let me know what they’ve said. Okay?”

“Okay, Kevin,” she replied.

“Oh, and by the way, get used to calling me ‘Mr. Walker’. As a lover, you would call me Kevin; as my personal assistant, you wouldn’t be so casual. Got it?”