Chapter 40

The next morning I woke up just as dawn was breaking, and slipped into the shower to pee and wash up real fast. Luna was making coffee when I got out, and after giving her a kiss I went to my rig. I disconnected the power and water, and after grabbing my travel mug went back.

By that time she had actually microwaved two Hot Pockets, so I filled my mug and talked as we ate. She asked about my space, and smiled when I said the manager already knew I would be gone up to two months, and the rent had been paid in advance.

“In fact, we have an agreement. She will not charge me the monthly charge on the electricity, and if she rents it for a few days to a week or so she will deduct half of that from my rent. Not that she gets many people who stay that short of a time, but there is always the chance.”

She said that was a pretty good deal for both of us, and shortly afterwards I was kissing her goodbye as I squeezed her ass, then headed to the truck. As it warmed up I took a final look around the rig, making sure that everything was disconnected and put away properly. Then after slowly pulling out so I would not hit the awning I was heading towards the freeway.

As it was a Monday, I was glad that Pete had suggested an alternate route to get home. He knew morning traffic would be bad, and suggested driving through the Antelope Valley instead of LA itself. And I smiled when I got on the freeway and saw he was right, as the traffic going into LA was slow and bumper to bumper, but it was at almost the speed limit going the other direction.

And the truck had no problem going up the hills even with the trailer. And I realized as I stopped in Las Vegas for fuel and an early lunch that I was traveling faster than I had expected. I had to keep it under 60 or the trailer would sway, but other than that I was making good time.

When I stopped for fuel in Utah, I called my mom and told her where I was. She was actually surprised I was making such good time, and that I would be there before it got dark. The sun was just setting when I pulled into the drive. I had just finished shutting off the engine when my dad opened the door. I hugged both of them and told them about the drive. And that I had expected to only make it to Salt Lake that day, but the bigger truck made pulling the rig no problem.

I opened the back, and the two of them went inside. I saw Grace running up the hill, and she also hugged me before we went in to join my parents. I could tell mom was in her “Accountant mode” as she examined it all over, and dad was checking it to see if it had any leaks. And they both said I had gotten a good deal, and the exchange would be fine if I liked their rig.

Grace held my hand all the way to the house, and sat next to me on the couch as mom went and got us drinks. And when she joined us, she said that the condition was just as I had promised. “In fact, with the improvements it is likely worth a bit more than the one we want to trade with you. So what are your plans now that you are here?”

I told them that I mostly just wanted to relax, as the last several months of taking a class load and a half as well as the stress about having almost been put on trial had taken a lot out of me. “Oh, and Pete said he knows a guy that can give me training for twin engine and Instrument Flight. So I’m gonna do that while I’m here also.”

Dad asked how I was going to pay for that, and I just smiled. “Actually, I have quite a bit saved. The housing allowance I’m pulling is more than my space rent is. I’ve been saving that, and this might be the best way to spend it. At that point I can fly for Pete, and in the long run make even more. There is not much need for a copilot on most of their flights, but being certified for twin engine will let me join Harve on longer flights.”

“Welp, that’s a good plan, George” my dad said. “When they have longer distance charters they normally call up one of their pool pilots. And only a couple of them have twin engine so I know Pete pays them a premium when they do it. You would likely charge them a lot less, if it fits in your schedule.”

About an hour later mom headed into the kitchen to start on dinner, and Grace headed on home. I took a few minutes moving everything into my bedroom, then pulled the rig back to the bottom of the hill where I parked it in the unused space next to Pete’s motorhome. I was surprised he still had it, and dad said it was not used much anymore.

“Pete or Mandy use it maybe two or three times a year. Normally if they have to travel somewhere for less than a week. I think the last time it was for that upgrade for Albertson’s corporate office in Boise. Pete took it there for about a week and a half and just stayed in that. If they are taking a family vacation they get one of the larger units, but for one or two of them it’s fine for a week or so.”

After dinner we sat and chatted, and I was a bit surprised when mom said the board had reinstated my voting rights. “George, you are now doing more than a full class load, so they are restored. We still need you to sign some papers affirming that, but that is just a technicality at this point.”

And I surprised myself when this actually meant little and I just nodded. “OK, but I want Grace to by my proxy. Hold on, hear me out. Mom, for legal purposes it will once again be you as she’s not eighteen. But unless you are strongly against it, I would like you to vote as she says. Besides, from what I saw before I seriously doubt my shares would ever have an impact on decisions. But it will give her some more experience before she gets her shares, and give you all some input from us younger than you old farts.”

Thankfully they both laughed, and said they would do that. And after they went to bed, I pulled a beer out of the fridge and went outside. I went through the stile, then spent about twenty minutes walking around the pasture.

It was strange, how quiet it was outside. I could hear crickets and frogs, and the cattle occasionally chuffing in the darkness. And it was almost strange, as it had been ages since I had heard it so quiet outside. It seems back in LA there were always sirens in the distance. Or trucks, helicopters, or just the sound of traffic. One of the calves actually came up to me and butted my leg with its head. I just chuckled and pat it on the shoulders then shooed it away.

After all, I was a stranger as far as the cows were concerned and I didn’t want a possibly angry mother coming over to me in the darkness. They always tended to keep the more passive ones this close to the houses, but with an upset mamma cow you can never be too careful. I finished the beer and tossed the can in the trash when I headed in. And it took ages to fall asleep it was so quiet.

The next morning after a shower and breakfast, I sat and finished my coffee while talking with dad. He asked me my plans for the next year, and I said I was waiting to hear back from CSUN. I had resubmitted my application to their School of Law, and was still waiting on the response.

“I mean, technically I’m a returning student. And they are not supposed to consider applicants from the Community College any differently than they would from a Cal State school.”

“George, that’s both true, and not true. One thing you learn when working for the government as I have is that what they claim and what they do is often two very different things. I saw that in the military, where we are all supposed to be equal. But like a wise man once said, all animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.”

I raised my eyebrow at that, and he sipped his coffee and grinned. “What, you never read Orwell?” I admitted I had read 1984 in school, but that was the only one. “OK, look in the library, I have a copy in there of ‘Animal Farm’. In short, the animals at a farm take over and kicked out the humans that ran it. And very quickly, the pigs took over and began to run everything. They painted a series of rules on the side of the barn, one of them was ‘All animals are equal’. But the book was really an allegory to Communism under Stalin. The animals all thought they knew the rules, and the pigs were starting to do things just as the humans before them had done. They questioned the pigs about that, and one of the pigs told them to read the rules. And it then then read ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’.”

“But I thought under Communism, all who lived under it were equal and shared in the benefits.”

And it was hard to not get miffed when dad chuckled and shook his head. “George, you missed the Cold War. And the Soviet Union was gone by the time you could remember anything. But look around the world, where are many of the people the most oppressed? North Korea, China, Cuba, Venezuela, all of which claim to be ‘Communist’ and workers paradises. Which they enforce by brutal oppression and almost prison like conditions, where nobody is allowed to leave.”

“But they’re doing it wrong, nobody has ever done real Communism.”

And I was surprised when he smiled at me and nodded. “Indeed, nobody ever has. And nobody ever will, it’s a complete impossibility. You always have to have a leadership caste, and they will always be paid more and treated better because they are the leadership. But then, they want to remain in those positions, no matter how bad they might actually be. And they want their children to continue on, no matter how bad they might be. And because such a system has to be a paradise, they become brutal to those that live there who believe they are their equals and have a right to move up into leadership themselves. And a prison, because obviously nobody should ever want to leave such a paradise.”

He then ran down some of what had happened long ago in China, and I shook my head. “But dad, that was long before I was born. Before even Pete was born.”

“Yep, and it still goes on to this day. Ask Pete about Tiananmen Square, we both remember that. As does Dave and Jeff. They still oppress minority groups, as well as religious groups. That is why we refuse to do any business with them if we can avoid it. We are actually in talks with a company in South Korea right now, they have a new scanner technology we want to integrate into our newest series of printers.”

“But Pete hates dealing with other countries” I said, looking at him hard.

“Whatever gave you that idea? Oh, the ‘American Made’ is a real big deal with us, but that does not mean we do not work with other countries. They are actually in talks with that company for them to license Gem computers there.”

“Wait, they will be making Gem computers in Korea?”

“Uh-huh, but only assembling them for their own domestic market and sales in that region. They will do the work to localize them for Korea, Japan, and other Pacific Rim nations. However, the major components will come from here. The motherboards, the cases, and some other parts will still be American made, they will add in peripherals and assemble them locally. And as Pete refuses to have them not have Gem in the name, that’s the biggest hurdle at the moment. Your mom actually came up with our latest compromise proposal. It will be Gem, but in Korean.”

“OK, I can see that. That’s kinda smart, actually. Kinda like when Chevy was selling import cars under a new name.”

“Yep, that was ‘Geo’. And it was not a bad idea, they were selling a lot of rebadged foreign cars then, but under their own name. The Suzuki Swift became the Chevy Sprint, then the Geo Metro. The Toyota Corolla became the Chevy Nova, then the Geo Prizm. The Suzuki Sidekick became the Chevy Tracker, then the Geo Tracker. But this would be the reverse of that, none of the Korean made computers are to be sold in the US. But they will all be assembled in Korea, with Gem parts and us overseeing design and quality control.”

I refilled our cups, and said that made sense. “And that is part of this scanner deal?”

“Yep. They are kinda the same, do not want others using their technology. So this is a compromise between the two. For the printers, they will send us the mechanics, we will make the shells and they will be Gem computer printers. But also a badge to indicate we are using their mechanics. They get a license to make our computers, we get a license to make their printers. And neither will sell directly in the region of the other except for specific uses. Say an American movie company wants an office there, they can buy Gem from us. Or a Korean TV studio here wants the Korean computers, they can buy them from Korea for the same reason. And that is mostly due to language and software. They will have an OS, software, and keyboard specific to Korea. But neither will market in the other country, other than for specific reasons like that.”

“OK, I think I get it. So if say the Korean office of NBC wants a computer, they could buy one of ours because they will be operating in English and not Korean.”

“Yep, pretty much. I think the deal will eventually go through, but in some ways they are just like your brother. Very proud of their nation, and wanting to see it rise in the industry.”

“That’s nationalism” I said, giving him a hard look.

“Yep, what’s wrong with that? Oh, I do see how that can be a bad thing. ‘My nation is better than all others, so they must bow down before me and do whatever I tell them to do’. Yes, Germany was like that in the World War, as was Italy. And Russia is showing some signs of that now. But there is nothing wrong with being proud of your nation, and wanting it to be on top. Just do not step all over others to get there.”

“But we have been doing that since the US was founded! Look at what happened in Iraq!” I had to pause a moment and lower my voice. “We destroyed their country, then rebuilt it into what we wanted it to be. Taking over their oil industry and everything else we wanted.”

Dad however just grinned at me. “George, did we? Go look it up, do you know who has most of the oil contracts from Iraq? I can tell you right now, it’s not the US. It’s actually Russia and France. They bought them all up when it was still under UN control, and still hold them today. Sorry son, but you need to grow up a bit and see the world for what it really is. I know many scream we went to war for oil, but that is just propaganda. In reality, the US got almost no oil from Iraq.”

“But what about Halibruton?” I said with a bit of a sneer.

“What about them? They are not an oil company. You know that, right? They are primarily a construction company. Now they do a lot of work in the oil industry, mostly making pipelines and refineries. But they themselves do not own any oil anywhere in the world. Hell, another of the top companies in that industry is Morrison-Kundsen out of Boise. They built most of the dams here in the region, a power plant in Wyoming, and pipelines and refineries from Alaska to Saudi Arabia. Hell, at one time they even made train locomotives but they got out of that a while back. But they are still mostly a construction company. Ask Pete, they have even flown some of their people to Colorado a while back.”

He took a drink of coffee and continued. “And apparently they have some kind of oil shale project they had been working on out there for decades, and a couple of times a year they would hire Pete’s airline to fly some of their people to and from there and Boise. Pete likes those jobs, because now they normally charter the DC-3 for it and send about two dozen people at a time. And Pete is perfectly positioned to take those jobs because of the size of his planes. It is a bit smaller than those by Bombardier that other charter companies use, but his are outfitted a lot better. In fact, they are starting to shop around for a second one, or something similar.”