Chapter 13

The girls all welcomed me home. So much so, that I got a later than expected start the following day. Val drove me in my van down to Karl’s jewelry shop. I still didn’t have a valid license to drive myself, but now the girls, Nora and Mora didn’t have to drive me.

I knocked on his back door, and he let me in. “Sorry I’m late, but I got stuck in New York taking care of dad’s old business. I found something you’ll like, but first let’s take care of the orders.”

He showed me where he had the drawings for the diamonds that had been requested and located. I conjured, and forged, forming the diamonds per his specifications. It took about five minutes.

I sat down heavily on the chair in the kitchen, “Whew, that’s tough work,” I said.

He laughed at my usual joke, knowing it wasn’t hardly any work at all. He offered coffee, which I accepted. He set it down, and then sat across from me eager for news.

“So what did you find?” he asked.

I set the tiny pearl on the table, and he picked it up. “What is it?”

“It’s a power extender. I have a range that I’m effective at. This let’s me focus my power from anywhere, to wherever that little pearl is.”

“So what does that mean?”

“Good news and bad news, I’ll never be late on an order again. Also, I don’t have to come visit you once a week anymore. You can decide which is which.”

“So what do I do?”

“You swallow it. You’ll have to check your stool until you find it, then you clean it off and swallow it again. If you are sensitive to that, you can just swallow it on Wednesday mornings so I can work thru you on Wednesday nights. Just make sure you pass it thru a fine sieve, because this thing is tiny.”

I couldn’t hold back my smile and chuckles at the horrified look on his face, and when he figured out I was pulling his leg we both laughed louder. “I’ll put it in a necklace. In an emergency I can use it to heal, or to teleport you out of trouble. Do you have some Saint Christopher medal or some other thing that no one would notice laying around that I can put it in?”

“I’ve just the thing,” he said, and moved to his store front. He came back quickly with a small four leaf clover in silver.

I took it, and inserted the pearl, closing the silver back over. He put the necklace on. “If I have to teleport you, the necklace gets left behind. I can’t teleport it, and use it to teleport you at the same time. Additionally, if there is a problem, I won’t know without you sending me a message.” I waved my hand and Valkyrie appeared.

“This is Valkyrie. She’s the one who can get a message to me anywhere, anytime so she’s your contact for an emergency.”

“Nice to meet you Odin. This Valkyrie looks forward to working with Odin.”

He put out his hand, she shook it, then handed him her card. He put it in his pocket. “Eventually she will be able to monitor your store remotely for you. Until then, she’s the on call brotherhood security.”

“It is a pleasure.” he told her.

I waved, and she went back into storage. “So tell me about your retirement plans.”

He detailed all his plans, and decisions, and asked about getting new IDs. I had to explain I was still working on that. He understood. We shook hands, and he escorted me back out the door.

Val became my regular driver, driving me to the construction site where I reviewed the progress. The concrete was done, just the building needed to go up next. It would be fully delivered by the following Friday, so David and I could assemble it over that weekend.

I got to spend time with the girls who had finally, after much effort on my part, forgiven my experiment. The light shooting into the sky had made the news, the accompanying boom made people think a plane had crashed. Finally without more evidence, it had been written off as freak high altitude lightning.

One Monday afternoon, Val drove me to my warehouse, where I met Mr Po. He was delighted with the praise he was getting from his superiors. He did have a question for me, “Mr Barkley, we have noticed all the items have the same serial number, it does not affect performance, but it has been questioned, so I must kindly request an explanation.”

“Mr Po, it is very simple. When a particular serial number is flagged as defective, it is rejected by the manufacturing system. Should a part come thru, a second time, even if not defective but with that serial number, then the system rejects it.

“The companies making these parts are being hurt by the trade war. In addition to significant losses in sales, they are also having significant quality control issues. They are going to be able to apply for large forgivable government loans and other assistance, in addition to complaining how their business is being hurt.

“But most importantly they need their loyal customers cared for, and trying to legally buy as much product as they can, so they can point to the numbers and show how much they are being hurt. I hope in appreciation of the loyalty they are showing, you can continue to pressure them to sell you what you need,” I said with a wink.

His smile blossomed, as the pieces clicked together.

“After all, my business is procurement. I procure from those who wish to sell, and sell to those who wish to buy. I’m paid a nice cut as the middle man, for all my hard work,” I said with a somber smile, that he returned with a knowing nod. The laughter that came next, neither of us could hold back.

“The only problem it’s that this method affects the warranty, because it is recorded as being an item rejected as defective, then of course it was disposed of, not sold, and if it was not sold, how could there be a warranty claim?

“That’s where I have to put my name and reputation on the line, offering a guarantee if the product fails testing.”

“Your name and guarantee are becoming a highly trusted commodity in China, Mr Barkley.”

“Thank you Mr Po. When I finally get my own warehouse built, I’ll have staff to handle this, but until then, I’m happy to come care for this personally. When that day does come, we can leave this to our subordinates, and perhaps you can visit me personally.”

“I look forward to the day,” he said, handing me the release code for the 172 million in funds for this order.

With that done, I was off. So I went home, to the welcome of the girls who had decided it was never too early to practice getting pregnant.

Val took me back to the construction site on a cold Wednesday morning, where she pulled in front of the portable building that had been placed. We walked in, and locked the door behind us. I lifted a trap door, and floated down into the secret chamber. Val followed using the ladder.

My power closed the trap door, and I conjured the concrete back in place over the hole. The lights came on, and we stepped into the main chamber. We were going to run experiments, testing the defensive power of armor for the new Valkyrie suit.