Chapter 29

A food truck pulled up and people from the planes and hangar came out to put orders in. Meg pulled John aside and asked if he would like company for the trip back?

He looked at Meg and said, “I would really like that.”

“When you’re done unloading come over and get Karen. I’m going to take Amy with me on the Lear. I have a 7:00 meeting in Savannah so you can catch up with us later at the Hotel.”

She walked over to Karen and Amy and said to Karen, “Would you like to take a ride with John to Savannah and Amy would you like to go with me!” Both said yes. They grabbed some food and Meg asked the clerk if she could steal some food for the Lear.

She said, “Sure, I’ll have Diane or Alice send more to the Mobile Home Park.”

“Great,” said Meg. “I just need snacks, drinks, and some coffee.”

Meg asked Bill if she could borrow his car and he gave her the keys. She and the two girls got in and drove off. Meg went over to the shopping center by the airport and went into a dress store. She told the clerk to get them a completely new dress outfit, down to the shoes and she needed it quickly. Meg grabbed a bunch of stuff and put it on the counter. Another girl started to ring it up and while the girls finished trying on things the salesperson brought over what they got. When the girls were done Meg threw her card on the counter and a hundred-dollar bill. She said, “Great work guys, thank you,” and headed out the door with the packages.

Once they got in the car, Karen asked what just happened? “Amy is going to be my secretary and take notes, hand out the same papers you signed and when we get on the plane she needs to find out from Carlos how much material he is going to need from Goliath and then You, on the other hand, needed to look nice so when John takes you to dinner.” When they got back to the airport Meg gave Bill the keys and the girls loaded their clothes on the plane. Amy got some refreshments, and snacks and loaded the stuff putting it away as if she was the Host.

The people started to show up to go north. Meg didn’t know Juan was going. Amy and a Seal were loading luggage. She’d seen Ellen coming over to fly the plane with her. Meg hugged her as Amy was coming over. She introduced Amy to Ellen and said we have a small problem; we may not have enough seats.

Amy said, “I can sit in the jump seat.”

Ellen said, “Or in my lap!”

Meg looked at her and said, “I’m not sure Diane would like that. Yeah, not a good idea!”

They all laughed. “I’m going to do the checklist.” As they were talking the ERJ135 landed ad pulled up. Amy headed over to get their bags. Renee spotted Ellen and ran over and hugged her.

Tracy came over and said, “Bob’s sister and that group are going to work out just fine.”

Meg told Tracy she was headed to Savannah to meet with the CEO of Goliath and taking the people that are doing the oil rig with me! “Hopefully, they will do the piers also.”

“Linda called,” said Tracy, “and she said to tell you she got an 80-Suite and a 260-suite boat coming in for us. Also, housekeeping and the kitchen crews are staying with the boat.”

Meg said, “I’m going to keep Amy with me. and I think our boy John is Smitten on Karen. So, we will have her also and I’m taking her too. I’m going to try and be back here early tomorrow. How about we have a lunch in the hangar and bring the new people and all the Dept. heads and catch them up to date.”

Tracy said, “That sounds like a great idea. Linda said the 80-suite ship is in Costa Rica so it may be here tomorrow!

“You may have to find a place to dock it for now,” replied Meg.

One of the girls from Carrie’s group came over to Meg and Tracy and said, “I was told to talk to you. My name is Janet and I just got out of College.” Tracy asked what was your Major? “Business Management.”

“Okay, so why were you told to talk to us?”

“Before and while I was at school I worked for my Dad.”

“And,” said Tracy!

“He builds Shopping Centers!”

“Okay,” said Tracy, “2 things! First, Are you working for us now?” She replied Yes.

“Second, Have you hired him yet?”

“Not sure I asked first then will make the call.”

“Are you willing to work with him now?”

“Yes Ma’am!”

“Where is he now?”

“South Carolina.”

“Call him and ask him to meet us in Savannah tonight!” Meg said.

Tracy said, “Throw your stuff in the plane also tell him and your mom to bring a change of lite weight clothing with them for a few days.”

“Okay,” and she left.

Tracy said, “I like her, she’s fast on her feet like you.”

Meg said, “Me too.”

Anna and Kelly walked up and said hi! Meg told them to load up they were ready to leave. Once everyone was on board Ellen spooled up and taxied to the runway. As soon as they were in the air Fry moved up front and Meg moved to the back to talk to everyone. Meg went to Rita and Marcus and asked was the site okay?

Marcus said, “With the satellite photos and all the information the girls had for them this will be one of the easiest moves in a long time. We already called for the drilling rig to put the well in and cap it. As soon as that is done we can put the rig in place and connect it.”

“Great,” said Meg! “A small thing, can you put a dock in for a cruise liner? We need room to house people and we leased an 80-suite cruise liner to dock and use as a hotel.”

Rita asked, “When is it coming?”

“It just left Costa Rica, so I would say late tomorrow,” Marcus replied.

Meg said, “Also there is a 260-suite liner to come but we don’t know when yet. We think when it comes we will move the small one out to the Island for the Seals.”

Rita said, “Meg you need to do something for the Sub.”

Meg asked them, “Are you on board to either work with us, or for us?” They replied Yes! Meg said, “Then handle what is needed. We are sure we can hire Sea Bee’s to do the work, but we don’t have the time for it. We are meeting with Goliath at 7:00 tonight and before we get there, I would like you to write down the materials we will need for the jobs. The tie-down cables we get are the same ones they have, but otherwise, they have some good products. Don’t be afraid to ask for a product they will have to make special, as we will be buying enough to make them.

We will be able to supply help to get the jobs done. But the 5 of us won’t be able to oversee this Operation. I have a set of plans I would like you to look at. See what you would need to attach the base to the ocean floor. It will be done in sections and welded together.”

Marcus took a quick look and said, “This is Brilliant, it will work. How are you planning to build this?”

“I was thinking I would build the sections on the land, then float them into place and sink them and weld it together.”

Rita said, “You were just thinking about this design?”

Meg said, “Yes!”

Fry said, “It is her design.”

“WOW,” they replied, “That’s Impressive!”

Meg walked over to Janet who was sitting in the back by herself. “Why are you here?”

“The lady that you were with earlier told me to grab my bags and get on the plane.”

Meg asked, “What was their reason?”

“I went back over to tell you my Dad and Mom were coming in tonight to Savannah to talk to you about building shopping centers as he had nothing booked at the moment.”

Meg said, “Well he does now. Janet I am going to give you a number for Beth. Call her on the plane’s phone and tell her we need rooms for the hotel and a conference room from 7:00 to 9:30 tonight. Get the address and give it to your dad. Then find me so I can call the people we have the meeting with later.”

She said, “I can do that.”

“Good! One more thing, you work for us not him!”

“Yes Ma’am!”

Meg looked at Fry and asked, “Who was flying the plane?”

He said, “Ellen and that new girl is her second you can’t let her land she is not certified for a Lear.”

“Okay, I’ll swap out with her before we land. After our meeting with Goliath, we will have another one with Janet’s dad. He builds shopping centers that will take a lot of pressure off of us.”

“We need to start to use locals,” said Fry.

Meg said, “I agree! I need to talk to Ron for a minute to keep them busy.”

Meg called Ron over and said, “We are going to need some small helicopters, can we take them from the boat supply? 2, 3, and 4-seat helicopters so we can move people around on the Islands. Now you are going to need help and you cannot have Fry.”

“Spoilsport!”

“I’m going to need you on the islands for the next couple of weeks. What’s going on with you and Vickie?”

“I don’t know, neither one of us has made time.”

“Okay, I was just wondering. We have a second meeting tonight with Janet’s dad. He builds strip centers.”

“Great,” said Ron, “that should help.”

“Before you leave are you going to move or make a boat manufacturing line on the Islands? If you are we will need to start building an office, a place to build them, and storage. We will also need a pier to unload supplies and piers to store finished products. On the Northeast side of the island is an area named Grenville. It is the second-largest area in Grenada. There is a 6200 ft runway opening onto the water and land is all over the place to buy! When we get back we will fly there, and you can look around. At that point, you can decide if you want to move or build another one but as you know the politics in the U.S. is getting worse. I’m sick of pussyfooting around.”

“I also need you and Fry to work on the Electric power for the 10-passenger plane. I’m thinking,” and she grabbed a pad and drew a different tail section for the plane. “Instead of a fin tail, an inverted “ U “shaped with a center brace to hold 2 large fans and at the bottom 3 small fans to power a small generator to power each fan separately. By changing the speed of the fans, they can be used as rudders. Think about how the mega trucks actually steer the trucks. The same basic principle, for the fans, put a few small fans behind the large fans to recharge the batteries and power the plane in flight. Toyota is working on solid-state batteries, we can remove the center fan and store the batteries and a parachute in the same place they were. With step-up transformers on each fan if one goes out the others can be wired for three to take over and supply power to all. The batteries will only be used for takeoff and after taking off all small fans will recharge the batteries. The plane could possibly fly forever!”

Ron said, “Great idea”.

Meg sat and relaxed as Ron went up front to be with Fry, Rita, and Marcus. Meg dozed off and napped for about an hour. When she woke up Fry said to Ron, “Old people need naps.”

Ron just shook his head and said, “You will never learn.” as Meg hit him in the chest.

“WOW,” said Rita, “remind me never get her mad at me!”

Ron said, “I doubt you will forget!”

Meg walked past them and went up front. As she got close she called out that she better not be on her lap and they both laughed. Amy said, “Ellen was showing her what all the switches and panels were used for. I flew a turboprop, but this is different.”