Chapter 37: To Steal A Mountain

After the siesta Marta, the Chief, the Patron, Irene and my future wives met me in the briefing room to talk about my speeches. I had a slide show running, as people gathered I planned to have the pictures showing LA traffic, some ships including the battleship Iowa, the airport cargo terminal at a busy time, and Santa Monica pier. I had shots of the Howlers and the great cats from the Zoo and some large vistas from the Griffith Park. Surfing at the beach. There was even a X-rated picture of Do Wong in her outfit for the Blank, with me off to the side. (Mer and Pur noticed it but stayed still.) The concentrations of humanity and large outrageous constructs would hold the attention of the crowd as they gathered.

My grandfathers were impressed, they really had no idea of what LA was like.

The Chief wanted to hear what I was going to say when I addressed the people. The more critical population was the Tribe, so for some of this I spoke as if I was addressing the people on the mountain.

I was going to start with current events, starting with pictures from space of the Tribe, the Colony, some individual houses, then some similar shots of LA, the mansion, the Pablo and such. I explained how any child in the US with access to a computer could get such pictures. The Five had used an airplane, but that was because they were not as smart as a US child.

When my people arrived on these shores, land was held by possession. The Tribe held the land and kept it safe. The Colony did the same. But the Five reminded us, we were not in that world anymore. If the Five had come and the Patron fought them off, Peru would send a military forces, and those forces included people who did not see the difference between civilians and insurgents and criminal drug dealers who weren’t keeping up on their bribes. They may be lousy soldiers, but with enough of them, supported by aircraft and heavy weapons, it would not really matter to the innocents. My people.

“There was a time when one could stay hidden. That is not possible any longer.”

“So what are my people to do? Well, Marta saw me trained as a lawyer. It was a wise decision. You may know that in the US I go to work each day earning a living as a lawyer, a slimy LA corporate lawyer. America a complex society, and to live in a complex society with unreasonable people, as well as disagreements that are normal within any group of free individuals, we require laws. Some of those laws are ambiguous or in conflict so we also need courts, and the court decisions are, themselves, a type of law. We have created mountains of books to record these laws, and a special type of person, the lawyer, which all must turn to when we are confused about a law. It is a sad state. We hope the lawyer is knowledgeable and honest, but since no human is, that gets us to the ‘slimy LA’ part of my job. Funny thing is, one of our laws is that lawyers cannot be compelled to tell the truth; that makes it what we call ‘a great racket.’ Our firms clients pay us enough to be pretty open about it.”

“Someday, if we do not prepare, the state will take our mountain and give it to some corporation because we have not bribed the lawyers enough. It will happen. As I see it the only way we can secure the land for ourselves is the modern way. By that I mean to do what a lawyer does ... I will steal the land before somebody else does.”

That drew a great laugh from the Patron. He saw this problem coming decades ago but saw no way out of it except to build up his forces. He had a deed signed by the Philip II of Spain, but he was pretty sure that Peru and the UN might not look kindly on those document, especially when the questions were raised about what happened to the people who were here first. So he asked the question he had wrestled with for five decades. The question any normal person, a non-lawyer, would ask. How, if nobody owned the land, how one could steal it?

I had the answer, lawyers are not normal people so we can answer such questions. “Why, by filling out a legal paper properly and recording it. That is harder when somebody owns the land and has their lawyer shout ‘no’ while filling out more legal papers, but for this land we can get there quickly, without an official owner. This is, after all, what lawyers are really for. Well, that and paying the recording fees required.”

That handled part of the problem. Some of the groundwork was already being done in Lima. Next there was a thorny issue of who would live in the Tribe and the Colony versus who might live in America. First I sold the good stuff.

I started by going to the pictures of LA. After showing the Pablo, I showed a rendering of the 20-story apartment building I was planning next, I called in the “Escapade” for now. I planned 2 pools, a swimming pool and a diving well. I put up pictures of Cynthia and Kwool diving at the waterfall, twisting as they did so. “These were taken at the waterfall. Cynthia carries my child, she taught Kwool how to dive better, and Kwool taught her where to dive. Still, it is dangerous. These pools are very safe. For now, those cousins like Zar and Brisk who live with me stay at my house, which has an indoor pool.”

The sight of all that free, close, beautiful blue water had a powerful effect on the tribe members. Water at this altitude is rare and precious, it must all be carried to the home. I gave Mer a signal to ask, “Do the people living in these tall buildings have to go to the pools for their water? That looks like many stairs.”

I anticipated this, the next slide was a kitchen sink with running water. The Tribe would be amazed. Then I explained express elevators. “In LA, most people with stairs use them only for exercise. They actually wear devices that count their steps each day. They are a strange people.”

Next came pictures of my cars. I mentioned, “Nia is heavy with child, but Marta has seen that she knows how to drive. So Nia drives one of my cars to see her doctor every single week. The distance is about the same as the Colony from the Tribe. The drive takes her about 20 minutes because of traffic. 10 minutes at night or days with light traffic.”

I knew the tribe would ask if I was going to change the governance of the people. In the tribe there was a lot of interest, the greatest concern was that I was going to be a dictator like the Patron, stripping the Council of power and demanding that they all more to LA. Of course, that was not going to happen.

“On the mountain, we have lived for several times as long as the US has existed. Yet, by the time I was seven, I knew most of my tribes laws. In part, this is because my people’s laws are based on reason, and an understanding of what is good for the people. The basics of what was good then still apply today.

“There is some concern that as Chief I might, for instance, change the makeup or the power of the Council. But as I understand our laws, that is not one of the powers I would have as Chief. On the contrary, I feel the Council has done an exemplary job for the colony in many, many ways. Recent events have highlighted the failings of some individuals, but even here the majority of the Council responded for the good of the people once the facts were known. So you may be assured, the Council of elected women will remain with my blessing.

“Some have also expressed concern for the tribe’s location, that I might order the movement of the tribe to LA. But as I understand the law, my obligation is to use my powers to protect our home, where I formed so many memories. You may be assured, I will make it my duty to keep our home, the home of our departed ancestors, available to my people. This I have promised my grandfathers.

“However, while my children will visit the Tribal lands, I must also say that they will not live in those lands. My children will have the benefits of modern life. I cannot bring those benefits to the mountain so I cannot allow my children to make their home on the mountain. Instead, I will make it so members of the Tribe can have the benefits of modern life. Let me explain.