Chapter 10

My ladies decided to let me sleep in. When the breakfast club arrived, they sent Phyllis upstairs to wake me up. Phyllis wanted to cuddle, but we didn’t have time.

As I headed for the bathroom to get cleaned up, I glanced out the window and discovered the weather had changed. We now had a heavy gray cloud cover and rain. I could see the tops of the trees across the field from the house bent over by the wind, and thought, it’s probably cold outside too. This is the type of weather I had hoped we would have for the entire meeting. I wondered what the delegates were doing this miserable Sunday morning.

Once I made it downstairs and got my first morning cup of coffee, I joined the men in the living room, while the women finished getting breakfast on the table.

Paul said, “Simon and I were talking last night about us all going on a group hike today. Unfortunately, Mother Nature is not cooperating.”

Simon asked, “Who is Mother Nature?”

Paul said, “Mother Nature is a euphemism we use to anthropomorphize our weather. Euphemism means using one term to represent something else. Anthropomorphize means we try to make nature seem like a real person.”

“Thank you, my translator is adding euphemism and anthropomorphize to our database for the English language.”

I said, “Simon, my wives and I were talking about businesses we would like to start once the alliance agreement is in place. A company to sell translators on Earth is one of the businesses we would like to create. Does the Empire have any restrictions that would prevent us from going into that business?”

“No. The only restrictions I am aware of that the Empire will insist on including in the agreement will be related to the sale of lethal weapons and technology that can be adapted to military purposes; specifically adaptations that could be used to commit violent acts against other military forces. Translators are a good example. Your military would find them very useful for communicating with the soldiers of other militaries, but the translator isn’t a weapon, so its sale on Earth would probably be permitted.”

“Okay. How would my wives and I go about contacting traders who will sell us the translators and the equipment necessary to program them?”

“Contacting the traders will be easy once the agreement is in place. All you will have to do is have us send a message to the Empire’s Trade Consortium to let them know what you want to buy. Your problem will be paying for the merchandise. Currently, you have no credit and Earth’s currency is not accepted in the Empire. Before the Empire’s traders will be willing to accept Earth currency, Earth will need to negotiate a currency exchange rate.

“Right now, your only hope is to barter a commodity that the traders can sell in the Empire at a profit. You will need someone from the Empire to advise you as to the value the Empire sets on the commodities you use in the barter and the value of the items you buy from the traders. Empire traders are honest in the sense that they fulfill their contracts, but they aren’t above taking advantage of the person with whom they are doing business. The people of Earth are ignorant of the value the Empire places on the commodities their traders buy and sell. Without an advisor, Earth traders will be taken advantage of until they learn the marketplace.”

I said, “I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, Simon, but I do understand. Earth has had traders who did the same thing to people who were ignorant of the true value of the trade goods in the barters they negotiated.

“How do we get an advisor to help us?”

“Jeb, you already have one of the best advisors you could get. Traders can’t outwit Zldats, so Mary can advise you. Of course, once the traders learn you are a Zldat’s bearer, they will be fair in all of the trades they enter into with you. No one wants to offend a member of the Zldat race; especially one related to the Supreme Zldat. Other Earth traders will not be as fortunate.”

“Yes, Mary can advise me, but I think a person familiar with trade would be good for us to have. That person can carry out the guidance Mary gives the four of us far better than we could.”

“Yes, that is a good point. I suggest you talk with Mary about the best way to proceed. She is in a far better position to recommend who you should use as an advisor than I am.”

“Thanks, Simon. Since hiking is out of the question this morning, do you have any plans for today?”

“When you joined us, we were talking about what to do today; since your Mother Nature ruined our idea of a group hike. Aaron and Mike also started a conversation about how the delegates would act in next week’s sessions and what plans we may have to make to keep them in a relatively decent mood.”

I asked, “Aaron, did you and Mike come to any conclusions?”

“Not really, Jeb. We were just getting started when you arrived. The big thing we identified is that this morning’s weather report is calling for rain for the next two weeks. We will all need some type of protection from the rain and wind when we have to stand in line to get food from the field kitchen. Our trips from the meeting tent to and from the bus drop off point and trips to the porta potties may also be a problem. That is about as far as we got in our talks.”

“You are right. We need to address that issue before the delegates get too upset with us. We and all of our people will have the same problem. Once breakfast is finished, I think we need to spend some time making plans. At a minimum, we can have our construction company put up some tents over the walkways with side panels to provide everyone some shelter when they are not in the meeting tent. We also need to check the meeting and media tents to ensure there are no leaks.

“Mike, what about the people who are on guard duty?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, Jeb. My people are accustomed to pulling guard duty in weather like this with nothing but a rain poncho. The Altairian armor they are using makes it even better for them since it has an electronic field that repels rain and the armor itself protects them from both the rain and wind. The armor’s thermal compensation system adjusts the internal temperature to protect them from the cold.

“Nick and I merged our food preparation people to create a consolidated field kitchen before The Seeker left Earth orbit. When you set up a field kitchen for the delegates, it didn’t make sense to us to have two field kitchens here at the farm, so we merged our field kitchen with the field kitchen for the delegates. My and Nick’s people have been using the consolidated field kitchen for our meals, so unless we are wearing armor, we will have the same problem as the delegates will have when we are in line to get our meals.”

Apparently, my plan to make things uncomfortable for the delegates was having a few unexpected negative consequences that needed to be corrected. I hadn’t considered the delegates having to stand out in the rain. I also wasn’t aware that Nick and Mike had merged their field kitchens with the delegates’ field kitchen and their people would also have to stand in the rain. The delegates had not liked the living conditions we provided for them, but they had reluctantly accepted living in a tent city and eating at army field kitchens on the base. However, having to stand in the rain here at the farm would result in them developing a bad attitude toward us, which would be counterproductive. Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with making them stand in the rain, and I would even stand in the rain with them to set an example.

Unfortunately, my getting wet also wouldn’t prevent the problem we would have if they developed bad feelings toward us. We needed a solution and we needed to implement it before the start of Monday’s session. At the time I came to that conclusion, Vert announced that breakfast was ready. I laughed out loud when she added, “Get it now or we will feed it to the hogs.”

Meals with the breakfast club were always served buffet style. We lined up behind the women, got our food, and took our plates to the table.

Simon said, “Ahh. Thank you, ladies, for another tasty meal. We appreciate your efforts.”

This was one of Simon’s usual variations of thanking the ladies for the efforts they made on our behalf. He, Paul, and I took turns in acknowledging their efforts, and this morning Simon had beat us to it. Lately, it had become a contest of who could fit their comment in first, but our comments were very sincere.

Once the initial rush to put something in our stomachs was over, I said, “Alicia, we need to create some type of rain protection where the wooden walkways are. Especially between the meeting tent, media tent, field kitchen, and porta potties. Having our people, the media, and the delegates stand in the rain to get food and to visit the facilities will be a problem. Something at the bus drop off and pick up point and between that point, the house, and the tents would be a good idea too.”

Alicia said, “We hadn’t thought of that. Can Johnson and Tailor Construction build something like that and how long will it take?”

I responded, “They can build something, but building a proper rain shield for the walkways would take too long. We need something quick and temporary for next week. The important thing is to get them started now. They can replace the temporary arrangements with something better before the next meeting. I’ll give Edgar Tailor a call after breakfast. Maybe he will have an idea for something quick that will suffice.”

I rushed through my meal, so I could call Edgar as soon as possible.

“Morning, Edgar, Jeb Connor here. I have a problem and I hope you can solve it for me quickly. I didn’t think of it but the delegates and media will have to go between the bus stop, their tents, porta potties, and the field kitchen. They will end up having to stand in the rain and that will be a problem.”

“I am hoping you can get a couple of crews out here to build some type of temporary rain shield before tomorrow morning. I’ll have you replace it with something more permanent before the next meeting. I was thinking of canopy tents with side panels. Would that work?”

“I’ll do my best, Jeb. It would be possible to use canopy tents if the wind wasn’t so strong. The only thing that I think will work as a temporary structure is four by four posts with a two by four grid structure overhead to support sheets of OSB. The OSB will need to be treated with a roof coating to waterproof it. We can run tarps between the posts to block the wind-blown rain.

“I’ll contact my crew chiefs and have them call in their crews. It will take some time to get organized and get them and their equipment out to the farm. Just so you are aware, we may have to work through the night to complete it, and it will cost you an arm and a leg. Since it is Sunday, my people get double-time for the first eight hours and triple-time for anything over that.”

“I sort of figured it would be expensive, Edgar. Just get them out here and get started. If what you described will work, I will be happy with it. You can think more on what will work best, while you are on the way here. We can discuss the details when you get here. Bye.”

Edgar needed time to call his crews in and have them head to the farm with the equipment they would need to build the rain shields for the walkways; I estimated he would be here in a little over an hour.

He made it in fifty minutes. The first thing Edgar did was make a rough drawing of the layout of the paths and record the lengths of the wooden walkways; I helped him take the measurements. The wind was stronger and colder than I thought. Edgar and his people would deserve every penny we paid them for working in these conditions. We then went back to the house to dry off and get some hot coffee.

Over coffee, Edgar said, “The structure only has to last for a week, but portions of it should be reusable for the long-term rain shields. The posts, grid structure, and OSB should be reusable, so we will put that part together to last. I will install ten-foot four by fours at eight-foot intervals on each side of the walkways. We will then build the two by four structures on top of the posts that will support half-inch four by eight sheets of OSB. We will put a roof coating on the OSB, and we will put rolled roofing over that. Once that is done, we will secure canvas tarps to the support structure and the posts that are on the windward side of the walkways. The wind load on the tarps keep me from using plastic tarps, and I hope the canvas tarps will withstand strong gusting winds. If they tear, we may have to replace a couple of them.”

After consulting with my ladies, I said, “Do it. If any of the materials can be reused in a more permanent structure, don’t cut costs on those items. We will consider the other materials expendable.”

Edgar’s foreman interrupted us to get updated instructions, before having his crews begin the work. Edgar went over the drawing he made with the foreman so he could understand the work to be done. They then put a bill of material together. Once that was done, they excused themselves and went outside to get their people started. They could buy part of what they needed at a local Home Depot, I didn’t recall Home Depot carrying heavy-duty canvas tarps in the quantity we would need. I guess Edgar had arrangements with one of the local building supply stores to sell construction companies what they needed for emergencies on a Sunday.

Madge said, “It is cold and wet outside. We need to get all of the coffee urns in the meeting tent started, so we can provide hot coffee to the work crews. We also need to alert the field kitchen that they will have extra people for lunch and dinner.”

Phyllis said, “I agree, but it would be better to move the urns to the dining tent and serve coffee there. If the crews have to work all night, we should have hot coffee available throughout the night, and have the field kitchen provide an early morning breakfast around three or four o’clock tomorrow morning.”

I said, “I have always been an office worker with no real experience with having to work outside in wet, cold weather. It can’t be pleasant, so considering what Edgar’s people are doing for us, we should give them a bonus of ten or twenty percent of their wages for this effort. We can talk about the exact amount later and then let Edgar know so he can tell his people. Before we discuss the bonus, let’s get the coffee and food arrangements made. I agree with moving the coffee urns to the dining tent and I suspect we will have to man the coffee urns tonight. When we talk about a bonus, we can also make a plan for pulling shifts in the dining tent.”

Phyllis said, “I’ll let the breakfast club know we won’t be hosting meals until dinner on Monday.” We all nodded in agreement.

Alicia and I were to support the meeting tomorrow, so we took the first two shifts in the dining tent and kept the hot coffee flowing. Considering the importance of not having the delegates stand out in the rain to the success of this meeting, we decided on a twenty percent bonus. The crew finished everything before the meeting started except for the rain shield out to the bus loading area and one for the area where people would wait for the buses.

Day 6:

Alicia and I were out of bed, cleaned up, and dressed by six in the morning. To simplify matters, we decided to eat breakfast at the field kitchen. Maybe they have creamed beef on toast on the menu this morning. Phyllis was in the dining tent finishing her breakfast when we arrived.

Alicia said, “Morning, Mom. From what we can see, Edgar’s people finished most of the work last night. When did they leave?”

“Around four this morning, Edgar told me that he didn’t want to start the rain shield to the bus stop area because he couldn’t finish it before the delegates started arriving, and he wanted to get his people and equipment out of here before they arrived. I agreed with him and told him we would contact him to schedule the remainder of what we discussed him doing.”

I said, “The earliest we could have them back to finish the work would be this evening. I can see how a sheltered area at the bus stop would be beneficial for just four days. Do we really need to build a rain shield for the walkway to the bus stop area?

Phyllis said, “I’m tired and need to get some sleep before I would trust my judgment on decisions like that. However, I think using umbrellas to go between the bus stop and the meeting and media tents would be more than adequate to protect people from the rain twice a day for four days.”

Alicia said, “I think you’re right, Mom. If we have Paul contact the base to ensure there are always one or two empty buses at the bus stop during the pickup period, people won’t have to stand in the rain waiting for a bus. It sounds to me like we can skip the remaining work. What do you think, Jeb?”

“I agree with you and Phyllis. Doing the extra work for just four days doesn’t seem necessary. If we do anything like that for the next meeting, I would build a shelter at the pickup point, and skip the rain shield, but I think we need to make that decision when Madge is with us and we all have clear minds.”

Phyllis stayed with us and talked while Alicia and I finished our breakfasts. I didn’t get my creamed beef on toast. It was only seven-thirty when we finished, so the three of us returned to the house. Phyllis went upstairs to get ready for bed. The first thing I did was call Edgar and leave a message on his cell phone, so he would know we wouldn’t have him complete the rest of the work. I told him to call this evening and we could talk about why and what we could do for the next meeting.

Alicia and I made sure we were ready for the meeting. All that really amounted to was ensuring I had the list of outstanding questions to present to Simon. It was Mark’s turn to answer questions, but Simon wanted to make a closing statement, so it made sense for him to answer the questions.

We still had time before we had to leave, so Alicia and I spent that time working on the tasks we each agreed to take on in yesterday’s discussion. One of the tasks I had agreed to do was to prepare an organizational chart for JAMP to include an estimate of the personnel needed to support the subsidiary companies we would create. We had decided to wait until we decided what lines of business we would get into before we determined the specifics of their reporting structure. For now, I added blocks for the divisions I knew we needed and additional blocks labeled ‘TBD’. Under the division blocks, I added blocks for subdivisions, and beneath those, I added blocks for the businesses.

I created the organizational chart for the business that I envisioned JAMP Enterprises becoming. The key thing was to indicate a power structure that minimized the number of people who reported to my ladies and me, and provided sufficient supervision of the companies we would start by hiring knowledgeable and experienced managers.

I was sitting looking at the organizational chart trying to calculate the number of people JAMP needed to hire to manage the companies. Alicia knocked on the door and opened it to let me know Paul and Simon were here. I put away what I had been working on, and joined them in the living room.

Paul said, “It’s good that you were able to finish the rain shields by this morning. Based on Phyllis’s message we ate breakfast at the field kitchen and we will be having lunch there also. We just wanted to let you know that if dinner here tonight is going to be a problem, we can eat at the field kitchen tonight also.”

Alicia said, “We talked with Phyllis over breakfast this morning. She and Madge are planning on fixing dinner for all of us, so it won’t be a problem. She said she was a little upset that we wouldn’t be able to get Jeb to barbeque steaks tonight.”

It was time for us to leave for the meeting tent. I said, “We need to leave soon. We can continue talking in the dining tent at lunchtime.”

Alicia and I locked up the house and grabbed our umbrellas before leaving the house. The rain wasn’t that heavy, but it was windy, so we made it to the meeting tent without getting too wet.

Alicia and I were at our tables ready to start, Dani was ready to take notes, and Kiara was available for anything we needed her to do. When it was time, I moved to the podium and turned on the microphone.

I said, “Good morning, everyone. As I said Friday afternoon, we still have seven unanswered questions. Once they have been answered we will start our lunch break. After lunch, we will start the polling portion of the meeting that I previously described.

Turning to Simon, I said, “Colonel Tanat, the podium is yours.”

I reached my table by the time Simon finished adjusting and turning on the microphone.

Simon said, “May I have the first question, Mister Facilitator.”

I read the question to Simon. We continued the process of me presenting the questions and him answering them until he finished answering the last question. When he finished his last answer, he immediately began his closing remarks. He had told me he would only need one or two minutes, so I moved toward the podium when I thought he was almost finished.

When Simon was done and saw I was waiting, he said, “Thank you, Mister Facilitator. The podium is yours.”

I stepped forward, adjusted the microphone, and said, “We finished a little quicker than I anticipated, so let’s break for lunch now and be back here ready to start the next portion of the meeting at one o’clock.”

Alicia and I talked with Dani and Kiara about what they would be doing during the afternoon.

Dani said, “Initially, I will be transcribing the notes I took this morning. Then I will start the process of finalizing the consolidated list of questions, print a final copy of the list, and deliver the master copy of the list to the printer.”

Kiara said, “I will be recording the polling responses and taking notes of any discussion that may result.”

I said, “Sounds good to me. Let’s go to lunch.”

The line into the field kitchen extended back into the meeting tent. This was normal for those of us who didn’t rush to get to the field kitchen first. We waited at the end of the line in the meeting tent until we reached the meeting tent’s doorway. When I looked out at the rain shields, the temperature was in the low fifties, and I saw we were having a steady, light rain. The tops of the trees were bent over slightly, so we were having about five to ten mile-an-hour winds. I was glad we had some protection from the rain and wind. By tonight, the temperature may drop low enough to turn the rain into snow.

Phyllis and Madge were most likely still sleeping, so we found a place to sit in the dining tent. Our plan was to eat and avoid conversation with the delegates, but that was not to be. We had no sooner sat down than Amira Blaustein and Kamryn Banu were standing beside our table.

In her Australian accent, Amira said, “Jeb, we wish to thank you for the protective covers over the walkways that you arranged for us. That was very considerate of you and your wives.”

Kamryn said, “I am one of the delegates from Bhutan, Mister Facilitator, and I live in Kurmaed Province. In Kurmaed, the weather is hot and humid in the summer, and mild in the winter. If I had to stand out there in the rain and freezing wind, I would have become very sick in only a day or so. You have my thanks for installing the protective covers, and any assistance you may need of me is yours for the asking.”

I said, “Alicia and I appreciate your remarks. We have been very busy over the past week and didn’t check the weather predictions, or we would have built the protective covers earlier. We have been calling them rain shields, but protective covers is also a good name for them.”

Alicia said, “It came as a shock to all of us Facilitators when we woke up to rain and cold wind. Our contractor had to work until four this morning to build the protective covers. Jeb and I took the first two shifts last night keeping the construction crew supplied with hot coffee. Our two fellow Facilitators took the last two shifts of the night doing the same thing. The staff of our field kitchen was up early and served the crews a hot breakfast at four this morning. It was a very long, busy day and night.”