Chapter 32: Exchanging Ideas

Brad Lowenstein POV:

My two young assistants have done it again! They just can’t help themselves. Our ‘prisoners’ run into trouble and they go rushing in to save the day!

And Ibera is helping them at every turn.

At least this time, their help was to rescue innocent victims more than to bail the prisoners out of some self-inflicted screwup. Plus, they were able to help while staying here.

Am I being too picky? I DO have to admit that what Chen has just pulled off, with a lot of help from Monte and his friends, is pretty impressive. It’s hard for me to get very angry with Darren and JB when I’m getting a ringside seat for witnessing a criminal’s total transformation!

Or, at least that’s what it seems.

I’m glad that Monte ‘deferred’ all the decisions about the ‘Trial/Tribunal’ to Chen. Darren and JB are pretty sure once this ‘mission’ is over, Monte and his crew won’t be going there again. Their main reason for going in the first place was to get information about Bob, Mary and little CJ. We were all saddened to hear the Gromoriks they conferred with would be of no use in locating the ship they’re on.

Ibera said it IS good to know the ship in question ISN’T one the Gromorik ‘Command structure’ owned. If we can somehow find it, we know the Gromorik government won’t consider it an act of war if Ibera’s guys intercept it.

Now, I’ve gotta tell you about that trial!

Monte took the lead, at first, asking how the Gromoriks usually ran a Tribunal. The Supervisor, Braitak, told him they had an older Gromorik who was a judge and the defendants were allowed a ‘representative’, who knew the laws if they wanted one.

Chen grimaced, “You mean, like a lawyer?”

He had to explain the term, ‘lawyer’, but his initial interpretation was correct. Chen asked how the natives usually did it and was told the King or Lord usually acted as the Judge and ‘Representatives’ were not used.

Chen grinned, “Let’s use the native’s system, okay? Where I come from, most of our natives feel the only good lawyers are DEAD lawyers!”

That earned him a deep-throated chuckle, “I like the way you think, Wizard Chen! Personally, I agree with you. Very well, are you going to act as Judge?”

Monte chuckled, slapping him on the back, “Go for it! Something tells me you’re gonna need the practice!”

Chen grinned and became, ‘Chief Justice’ Chen! Little did the ‘defendants’ know that what happened next made all of us here roar in laughter.

Chen made the first native guard stand up and he asked, “State your name!”

“Um, er, they call me Hap?”

We saw Hap instantly fall under Chen’s mind control.

Chen continued, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the WHOLE truth so help you ... ME?”

The poor guy looked completely confused.

Monte added, chuckling, “You WILL tell us the truth, right!?”

His mouth fell open and he nodded, “Uh, yes ... I will ... So help me... Wizard Chen?”

“Okay Hap, who’s idea was it to sabotage the mine?” Chen asked, judiciously.

Hap looked confused, “What is sabotaged?”

Chen huffed, “WHO CAUSED THE MINE CAVE IN?”

“Um, well, Broo over there is the one who hit the support with the pick.”

Broo freaked out, yelling, “But, but, IT WAS HAP’S PLAN!”

Chen shot a stare at both of them, then said, sternly, “Tell us YOUR whole plan ... and don’t leave anything out! And you, Broo, shut the fuck up until it’s your turn!”

Chen was funny, finding himself on the opposite side of the law from where he usually operated, seeing one of the frustrations of the prosecutor! The thing is, having ‘been there-done that’, he knew exactly what his man was trying to do. His ‘courtroom decorum’ may be highly inappropriate, but, he DID get to the point.

The next thing we saw and heard was this guy, Hap, reciting the gang’s whole plan, just the way they carried it out. Including his reasons for everything. He needed a little prompting from Chen, but, by the end all of his accomplices were highly upset that their leader had spilled ALL of their ‘beans’!

I had to laugh, as I recalled the ‘video’ we showed the prisoners when they first got up to Iberas of their lawyer ratting them all out. Chen had used Lenny’s ‘MO’ damn near word for word!

And HE wasn’t even there at the time!

As the rest of the defendants got their turns, hoping to distance themselves from Hap and Broo, the second they fell under Chen’s ‘truth spell’, they sang like canaries.

The one person who was even more amazed than me, was Supervisor Braitak. When Chen finished with the last guard he looked at Chen, “How did you get them to DO that? With a Judge like you, there is no reason to have representatives!”

Chen chuckled, “Well, where I come from it would not have worked as well, because WE have a stupid rule that says a defendant can’t be forced to testify against himself. THAT rule will never be applied in my court!”

We all laughed at how Chen was thinking like a prosecutor and how he was going to make sure HE wouldn’t face all of the restraints our system of justice had.

If he were still thinking like a criminal, he’d never have said that!

He asked Braitak what penalty his judge would have applied.

Braitak told him that the five who confessed to having either been active participants, or, behind the plot to cause the cave-in, would have been executed using a stunner set on maximum. Basically disintegrating them.

The other six would have one of their hands cut off. That was both their and the native’s usual penalty for thievery.

Chen nodded, “I like that system. I plan on continuing to use it, at least the penalty for stealing. I doubt you’re going to leave me many of your stunners?”

Braitak grinned, his canines glistening, “No, I’m afraid not! You’ll have to use the native’s method of either stoning, stabbing with spears or hanging by the neck. I will execute these five if you’d like?”

We were stunned when Chen addressed all of the miners who were standing around, watching. “Do any of you object to the punishment I wish to enforce on your previous guards? Let me see a show of hands if you object.”

The miners all looked at each other and were pretty vocal, discussing their thoughts. After a couple minutes, though, not even one hand went up!

Chen then announced, “Very well, then, I just have one question, how many of you can identify, for certain, which of these stolen items are yours?”

A few hands went up and Chen had them come over and point out the items, stating how they were certain it was theirs. Most of the coins and very odd shaped pieces of ‘ore’, silver or gold, were identified and when Chen asked if anyone felt a claimed item was theirs, we were surprised that nobody’s hand went up. Either these natives were very honest, or just afraid of reprisals.

Chen then allowed those claiming items to take them.

Afterwards, he asked, “Now, with a show of hands, how many of you feel that some of these items MAY be yours, but can’t claim them with any certainty?”

Almost everybody’s hands went up.

Chen smiled, “Then, what I propose is that we lay out all of the rest of the stolen items and pass them out to each of you, fairly. Your honesty has made me proud of each of you. Are there any objections?”

As he looked around he saw all of them shaking their heads and then cheering. He had them all come forward, single-file, and all of Chen’s guys passed out the items as fairly as they could. It was curious that even after all of the items were distributed, most of the miners still stuck around.

Chen addressed them, “Is there something you all want to say?”

One stepped forward, “We would like to watch while you punish our tormentors! Would that be alright?”

Chen smiled, “Do you not trust us to follow through with the punishment?”

He shook his head, “No sir, Wizard Chen, we trust you. It’s just that ... these men have tortured us nearly every day. We would like to see them get what’s coming to them if we could?”

“I see your point!” Chen smirked, then looked at Braitak, “Execute the five would be killers, first, please?”

There was some gasping mixed with cheers as each of the five disappeared into a cloud of smoke, the only thing remaining being the shoes or sandals they were wearing. Braitak then set his stunner to the second lowest setting and removed each of the others right hands. The wounds were instantly cauterized and the screams and moaning was met with cheers and jeers from the crowd.

The six ‘amputees’ were then allowed to leave. The crowd parted and other than some verbal insults, they were allowed to leave without suffering further abuse.

Then, the next surprise happened.

Several of the miners, many of whom were among those rescued from the cave-in, gathered around Chen. This one Native American looking guy asked, “Wizard Chen, would it be possible for some of us to continue to live and work here at the mines?”

Chen’s eyebrows rose and he glanced at Braitak, “What are you planning to do with the mine, now that the workers have been freed?”

Braitak grinned, “Nothing. We’re just about to transport to a shuttle, then return to the Command Center. This mine belongs to YOU now, wizard Chen. Do whatever you wish with it, compliments of Supreme Commander Rufchaad!”

Chen’s face went through a whole range of emotions as he looked at the Native American, then back at Braitak, over and over. We could tell he was also talking telepathically to someone, or many someones. We couldn’t, however, tell who he was talking to.

That is one of the drawbacks of Spirit Walking and trying to listen in to someone’s telepathic communication with someone none of us were ‘connected’ to. JB could tell if Chen had been talking to Annie, but, not Jasmine or most of the guys.

Finally, Chen looked at the Indian-looking guy and said, “Running Bear, what do you know about running a mining operation? I don’t know squat, but, since I guess I own this mine now, I do need to find someone to run it for me. Would you really want to stay here and do that?”

Running Bear smiled, “I have been here nearly two Sun cycles. I have made many friends and some of them do really know how to make this mine turn us all a nice profit. Our previous leaders only wanted two things, crystals ... T-crystals and D-crystals. They were totally unaware of the value of all of the other things we had to remove from these mines and much of it is piled up, just waiting for us to sell! My friend, Mortimer’s father, is a blacksmith and he says the iron-ore rocks we have are nearly as valuable as the gold and silver! And we have eight huge piles of it! Then, we have Stef, who’s managed to sneak out and sell some of our gold and silver for us. Luckily, our guards never caught him and we stashed all the gold coins where our guards never found them while we were working. What I’m telling you is, I have the resources to run this mine.”

Chen asked, “What are you going to need my help with? I also have a friend who is interested in some of that smelly yellow stuff and the iron-ore. If I let you run it, would you consider a 20-80 split fair compensation?”

Running Bear’s face fell, “I was hoping for maybe a 50-50 split? I’d like to pay the guys who work the mines and I’ll need to hire support staff, like cooks, and, we’re going to need some supplies.”

Chen chuckled, “I’d be glad to take 50% if you insist, but, I just want to help in matters like advice and helping with your books. That’s why I only asked for 20%. Do you really think I deserve 50%?”

Running Bear was open-mouthed, “Whaa, wha, you want to give us 80% of the mine profits!? Are you SURE?”

Chen nodded, still grinning, “Yes! I’m glad to hear some of your plan and I know you’re going to have expenses. I do want to help with administrative matters, like making sure you make good deals and don’t get swindled. I have people who, while not running mines, have run huge businesses and really know how they work. Would you want my help with that?”

“Yes! My friends and I don’t have much experience in things like that. I’m not even sure what some of that means!? I just can’t believe you only want 20% of the profits?”

Chen grinned, “I only want 20% of this mine! I plan on acquiring a couple more and I’m going to want you to run them, too!?”

We all thought Running Bear was going to vapor-lock. He looked totally gobsmacked as he looked around at all of his friends, who also showed excited disbelief in what they just heard.

Running Bear caught his breath, then asked, “Are you serious? How will I be able to do that? The next closest mine is more than 300 mimasters (Kilometers) away from here? That’s a 10 cycle walk! And, I don’t even know where the next closest mine is!?”

Chen smiled and patted Running Bear’s shoulder, “I will help with that! I can move you and some of your friends there just like we got you out of that mine.” He said, pointing at the mine that collapsed. “I just wanted you to know that’s what I want to do. Would you be interested in that? With my help, of course.”

“Heck yes! I wasn’t thinking about that. How soon are we talking about doing that?”

Chen chuckled, “Not right away, unless things go really well. I just wanted to see how much you were in on my plan. Do you think I’m being too eager?”

Running Bear chuckled, “Maybe, but, just looking at my friends, I can assure you we are ALL in on your plan. We just need to get busy and figure out who will be doing what here and who can be supervisors and who all want to stay and work with us. I’m pretty sure we’ll have many volunteers, knowing they will eventually get paid very well for their efforts.”

“So, it looks like we’re all going into the mining business!” Chen happily huffed, “I have some things I need to do for the next couple days, so, I’ll leave you and your ‘crew’ to figure things out here. If you need me, all you have to do is call out to me in the ‘old silent way’ you talked to Annie when you were trapped in the mine. My friends and I ALL talk that way too, and maybe, when I return, I can help some of your friends talk that way also?”

“You can DO that, Wizard Chen?”

Chen was really grinning now, “Oh yes! And even more, once we become closer friends ... or partners?”

After explaining a few things, Chen stuck out his hand and they all shook on it.

Chen watched as Running Bear and his friends departed back into the compound with many, if not most of the former prisoners following.

Chen then addressed Braitak, “Does owning this mine mean I also own all the rest?”

Braitak laughed, “That is up to the Supreme Commander to say. Right now, the other mines have simply been abandoned, with no owner being stated. This planet is still so backward, it’s most likely the nearest King or Lord will claim them as being part of their ‘domain’. You may encounter that with King Flombay, here. The next closest mine, the Midlander Mine, is in King Blohurd’s Empire, so, you’ll have to deal with him. The Midlander Mine is more than twice the size of this one and the minerals the natives were taking seemed more numerous.”

Somehow Chen produced a map from his pocket and opened it up. “Can you show me where these mines are located?”

Braitak’s eyes widened, “WHERE did you get that?”

Chen grinned, “I’d rather not say, just that, she’s QUITE an incredible lady!”

Braitak immediately looked over at the ten-foot tall Maggie, causing Chen to chuckle, “No, not her! The lady I refer to is FAR more incredible than our Maggie. No offense, Mags?”

Maggie giggled and reached down, tapping Chen on the cheek, “None taken, my little Chenster!”

That thoroughly bamboozled Braitak who chuckled and pointed out five places on the map that Chen circled with a grease pencil.

Braitak looked the pencil over closely, “Need I ask where THAT came from?”

“Same lady, just curious, but, what do your people write with?”

Braitak grinned, “I haven’t written anything by hand in tens of Sun Cycles! We use electronic tablets that transfer spoken word to text. I DO have to say, your device WAS efficient for your purpose. Is your technology not advanced to our level yet?”

We watched Chen, who suddenly thought very hard, before replying, “We DO use voice recorders, but, we just prefer to use written communications so we can later prove who said what, and when.”

Then Chen looked at his watch and wrote down the date. Braitak stared at his watch, then gasped, “You have small timepieces that are calibrated to THIS planet’s time!? We do not even have that! We have a program in our computers, but, your device is most interesting. I must assume your planet’s technology IS also very advanced!”

We laughed when Chen looked up to the sky and winked at us, “Yes! Our technology is indeed VERY advanced, although, these were a gift from the lady who gave me this map and pencil.”

Braitak nodded, “I see! Now, I should be going. Just one last thing. You are most likely going to do whatever you wish after we leave, but, I need to warn you.

“In about 20 more cycles, the Triloks are going to be coming around, doing their checks. IF ... they find you are advancing the native’s technological abilities, beyond what they could do by themselves, they WILL possibly try and kill you! I have often wondered why we put up with them, since our weapons are far superior to theirs, but, we simply did not want to start a war. I can tell you, the Triloks don’t have as many ships as we do. We’ve tracked the one that comes here every two moon cycles and it makes a few stops at other planets, some as far as 50,000 light years from here. We have never seen another in this area of the galaxy. That leads me to believe if something WERE to happen to it, it could be a very long time before another might get here to investigate what happened.” He grinned at Chen conspiratorially, “I’m just saying.”

Chen’s eyebrows rose and he grinned back, “Thanks for the tip, my friend! We shall proceed cautiously. No sense in ‘poking the bear’ unnecessarily. Oh, you DO know what a bear is, correct?”

Braitak laughed, “Yes! I must say, you have a most interesting way to use words. Your meanings are clear, yet funny!”

We watched as a transport circle appeared and all of the Gromoriks entered it and left.

Then, Chen told his guys, “We have a meeting either tonight or tomorrow with that Tumrik guy. We should all go home ASAP.”

Annie asked, “Shouldn’t we port back to George to make sure Mookie’s family gets released and maybe help him give them a lift home, first?”

It looked like they were talking to George and JB grinned, “Annie was just told by George that everything was good and all of the natives were now outside waiting for Chen’s return.”

We watched as everyone disappeared and we followed Chen and Annie as they helped George teleport all of the natives back home.

Blaine Murdock POV:

Whilst Chen and his ‘Mod Squad’, for lack of a better word, were off doing battle with the Gromoriks, I got busy working on all my gadgets and things I had to do here. I was very glad that Monte’s friend, Bruce, stayed behind. His knowledge of how that refining still works has been invaluable to me. Steve and Wayne are a lot of help, but not so much with anything technological. Mario, the oldest of the three brothers, is very mechanically inclined and is rapidly becoming my right hand man. He also seems to be able to explain to his younger siblings what needs to be done.

Chen has been keeping us posted as to what was going on, on the mainland. And, with Monte’s help, has been doing some amazing things. I still can’t believe just how easily he was able to convince that Supreme Commander dude, Rufchaad, that he and all his cohorts needed to leave the planet immediately. Then, he called me all in a panic about whether or not I knew anything about mining?