Chapter 12

For the next hour, the three men wandered around the various buildings on the site, looking over the problems involved in the move and talking about how they could tackle them. Tom could hardly believe Jim when he suggested that the biggest hangar was movable in only six sections.

“Theoretically, the S64 or a Chinook can lift each of the walls or half of the roof as one piece,” Jim stated firmly. “You see, this hangar was an experimental design planned to be used by the US military, but it turned out to be too expensive when compared to a corrugated steel building. I’m not sure how they managed it, but the company that was using the S64 for logging got their hands on the prototype building, so when Serge bought the S64, they threw it in on the deal. Now it was designed to be portable, so it can also be dismantled into smaller sections and moved to almost any site anywhere in the world. The walls and roof panels are made in eight-foot-wide sections, held together by clips and either bolts or cables and turnbuckles, so you can break it down into a package of parts that can be put together in several configurations. Each section is built as a modular unit with a thin skin of aluminum over an insulating foam, so the building is extremely light, but very sturdy. The only problem with moving it by air would be caused by high winds, but in this area, we usually have a long period toward the end of May or early June when the winds are relatively calm. That period is also when we have the greatest amount of heavy lifting, but BC Hydro usually takes advantage of that period of calm weather as well, so using the S64 then might interfere with our lease to them.”

“Which gives us a very good reason to thoroughly check out that Chinook that Dunn-Redding has,” Tom noted. “It’s supposed to be a wreck, but I don’t know what’s actually wrong with it or how to repair it even if I did know what was broken, so that explains why I wanted you and Ron to come along with Dad and me.”

“Unfortunately, even if it is repairable, if it can’t be flown here, it may not be worth much to us, especially since we’re all going to be busy as beavers with this move,” Jim sighed heavily.

“Well, I’ll be honest, I’ve been considering a way to either postpone the move or else find some method of approaching the problem from a different angle,” Tom grinned. “That’s why I’m having Charlie look at all the legal implications for us. I want to be able to smack those Beagle brothers between the eyes with the facts of the situation.”

“That’s Beacon brothers,” Jim corrected him.

“Oh, sorry,” Tom laughed sharply. “I guess I was going back to my childhood and recalling a cartoon about some crazy characters who were always screwing up. I’m pretty sure they were called the Beagle brothers or Beagle boys, but these guys that we’ve run into are similar. They were always looking for another easy way to make a bundle and they were screwing up royally each and every time.”

“You think the Beacon brothers are screwing up?” Harry asked.

“Oh yeah, absolutely! I’m guessing that they want to chase us out by increasing our costs, then they’re probably thinking that they’ll be taking over a working airfield. Unfortunately for them, almost every building you have here is listed as a temporary structure, which means it’s portable and almost anything we can’t move will probably be classed as an improvement. The way that lease is written, most of the permanent improvements that you do leave behind can be billed against the owners of the property. In the long run, this airfield is going to end up costing them thousands of bucks, because they’re going to take possession of an empty airstrip with no support buildings, but with a mess of costly improvements that they’ll have to pay for. Not only that, but if they don’t give us a written warning in enough time, we can and will charge them for our moving costs. Charlie seems to think a lawsuit over that would be a snip.”

“Now I know you’ve been looking at the idea of moving everything by air, but I’m sure it’d be much cheaper to pack most of the smaller items into containers and use semitrailer trucks to haul them. What we could do is lease a bunch of containers and hire a few labourers, then load the containers from each of the individual buildings. Our people can do the selecting, sorting, and packing, but the labourers can do the grunt work - all the lifting and carrying. That way, we can pack everything and have it ready to move, but still have it handy to get at if it’s needed for a job. Luckily, all the buildings here are made of steel panels in one form or another, except for the big hangar, which you tell me will be just as easy to dismantle and move. So once a building is emptied, it can be prepped to be dismantled and moved, but we won’t actually need to shift any of the buildings until we’re nearing the final few weeks of the lease.

“In the meantime, we can prepare the new site down at Bear Creek by laying things out, then having footings and floors poured and prepared for the buildings. We’ll hire a construction company to do that part, though. While all this is going on, I imagine the Beagle boys will be keeping an eye on whatever is happening here. They’ll see that we’re preparing to move out, all the time salivating about the airfield that they seem to think they’ll be able to steal out from under us. I’m sure they won’t expect us to take almost every building on the site along with us, but after looking everything over, I think we can do it. When moving day comes, Charlie and I will walk into their office with a letter of intent, stating what we intend to do and giving them a legal reason for our actions. After Charlie and I have given the Beagle boys formal notice, a whole fleet of semitrailer trucks can begin shifting the containers while another crew of men starts dismantling every building on the site. I’ll even hire the crew to do the final tear down and rebuild at the other site so our people aren’t overworked by that crud. If necessary, we’ll hire more semis and extra flat beds for a few days, that way we can move all the buildings as quickly as possible, but at the same time, our people will be able to carry on working.”

“Cripes, that might work, but this is going to end up in court, sure as shooting!” Jim frowned.

“Wonderful, because if and when we get notification of their lawsuit, we’ll counter sue. That will be our signal to get Charlie to have a bailiff present them with a bill for all the improvements made over the last five years, and probably a second bill covering the costs of our move,” Tom was grinning by the time he finished speaking.

Harry grinned back and shook his head slowly. “Remind me never to piss you off, would you?”

“Hey, I had nothing to do with writing out that original lease agreement. All I’m doing is taking advantage of the legal loopholes that were written into that document five years ago,” Tom chortled. “The longer I’ve had to think about it, the more I’ve realized that Serge was a brilliant man and that lease was a perfect illustration of just how smart he was.”

They were talking about Serge and walking back toward the office building when they heard the Huey coming back, so they waited for Ron, Donna, and Jack to land. Then over lunch, Jim and Tom explained to the whole White Out crew what they had decided to do concerning the increase in lease costs - they were going to move. Then Tom explained how he thought it could be done. He noticed smiles and nods throughout the room, except from his father, who was frowning heavily. Tom knew his dad disagreed with something he’d said, but at least he didn’t break into the conversation. Still, Tom knew he and his dad would be having a discussion over the matter sometime in the near future, that was pretty well inevitable.

What did take Tom by surprise was the discussion which followed concerning the move. In the first place, Harry came up with the suggestion that he could ‘lease’ one of the two Otters and fly it back to Bear Creek that afternoon, so he might as well take a load with him. Angela jumped on that bandwagon, saying that since she was going to have to go to Bear Creek about their taxes later in the week, she might as well take another load when she flew down. Then one of the young men who worked part-time for White Out offered to help out by going along with either Harry or Angela, offering to stay in Bear Creek so Harry would have a labourer on site. He thought it was a perfect opportunity, since he’d gain a steady job over the winter and the business would have a willing worker who could do the heavy lifting at the Bear Creek end.

Jim leaned over toward Tom and spoke quietly, “Want to bet this bunch has every piece of usable equipment moved out of here and down to Bear Creek by the first week of June?”

Tom looked around at the discussions going on and grinned, “Nope, I won’t take that bet, but I don’t understand why they’re so eager.”

“That’s simple enough. You’ve impressed them from the day you jumped in and paid the fees on the transfer of stocks. They’re a smart bunch and they know this is a good idea in several ways. For instance, Angela and Franny are delighted to move away from here because this is a rough town. Franny is pregnant and Angela is jealous, so she might be planning to jump on that bandwagon, but neither of them wants to raise their kids here. They both know you and your friends have cleaned up Bear Creek and they want to enjoy the peace and quiet of a good community. When you went after Lister, you also scared most of the other crooks out of town. It didn’t hurt that the RCMP and the local police jumped on the bandwagon or that the local business community helped out where it could. Right now, Bear Creek is probably the safest town in the whole Cariboo, and a lot of people know who was responsible for picking up the broom and starting to sweep the town clean of crooks, druggies, and other hoods.”

“Your name is well known all over the Cariboo, even if your face isn’t,” Ron leaned in from the other side and grinned. “Honest folks want to meet you and think of you as a folk hero, while crooks and shysters hope you don’t come near them. I imagine if the Beacon brothers were to find out you’re involved in White Out, their tune might change concerning the lease, just because what they’ve done here is definitely a shyster move.”

“Then make sure no one mentions Tom to anyone outside of the company,” Jim chuckled. “I think moving to Bear Creek is going to be the best thing to happen to this company since Serge bought the S64. Which reminds me, the three of us have a trip to make today, don’t we?”

“Yeah, let’s talk to Dad about getting a move on,” Tom said quickly, glad to change the subject, because he didn’t feel he’d done anything heroic.

He looked around then and realized that his dad was nowhere to be seen, then saw him coming back into the room from the office.

“Tom, Angela and I have filed my flight plan and arranged for all of us to have rooms near the airport tonight, since I imagine your men will want to look over that old bird right away. I hope you don’t mind that I’m rushing things a little, but I just don’t trust the weather forecasts enough to fly at night, not at this time of the year.”

“That’s wonderful, Dad. Thanks,” Tom smiled and nodded as Jim, Ron and Travis got to their feet, grabbed overnight bags and joined them.

Moments later they were shifting the KingAir out of the hangar and climbing aboard. While Jack was doing his preflight and warming up the engines, each of the three pilots from White Out managed to look over the controls and comment enviously about the plane. All during that time though, Jack insisted that Tom sit in the right seat to familiarize himself with the preflight routine. Soon they were lifting off into the sunny winter sky. It wasn’t until they were at their full cruising altitude that Tom happened to notice that the sun was shining from behind them and glanced over at the settings on the autopilot.

“Dad, why the heck are we headed northeast? I thought we were flying to Calgary.”

“Not if you want to see that M234. I told you, we haven’t moved it since we bought it, so it’s still in the hangar at Fort St. John,” Jack answered with a frown. “Were you under the impression that it was in Calgary?”

“Yeah, I was and the idea of buying the dang thing, then having to move a dead chopper over the Rockies was part of the reason I was so disinterested,” Tom nodded. “Fort St. John might be even worse though. If it needs repairs, just shipping parts there would be a real bearcat, especially when you consider costs and delivery times.”

“So, take the S64 up there and haul the wreck to Bear Creek,” Ron said from behind Tom’s left shoulder. “Sorry to eavesdrop, but I was just coming up to ask if either of you would like a coffee?”

“No problem, Ron,” Jack smiled. “In fact, while you’re here, why don’t you take my seat and start giving my son lessons? Then eventually, he can get his pilot’s license.”

With that, he got up and moved past Ron without giving him a chance to refuse.

“That was bloody abrupt!” Ron mumbled as he slipped into the pilot’s seat. “I’m not really familiar with the controls on this plane.”

“Don’t worry about it, I know the controls quite well. Besides, it’s on autopilot right now,” Tom grinned and winked, then took out his wallet and handed Ron the small plasticized pilot’s license he carried. “I don’t have enough hours flying them to have a multi-engine rating, but I’ve flown a KingAir as backup before. Do me a favour though, don’t mention it to Dad for now. In fact, don’t mention it to anyone else right now. After what happened this morning at Bear Creek, he’d have fit if he found out that I already have my private pilot’s license.”

“I see,” Ron frowned and sighed softly. “You are one surprising guy, you know, but I can certainly understand what Serge saw in you. Ever since I’ve met you, we’ve had a series of pleasant surprises coming at us, and I’m starting to think of you as a business genius.”

“Oh, I’m no genius,” Tom laughed. “All I’m doing is trying to consolidate all my investments, and since I inherited most of those, what I’m really doing is making things simpler for myself. I don’t want to work at this business, so I’m setting it up to be easy for you folks to carry on and do your jobs. I’m just providing backup and firming up the infrastructure so your job will be easier to do and, hopefully, making it even more profitable.”

“Well, you astonished me this morning, coming to our rescue the way you did. Bear Creek is a far better location for us, and I like the landlord a lot better,” Ron grinned. “By the way, what’s going to happen to old Dave Farmington’s half-built Murphy Moose?”