Chapter 25

I discovered an interesting fact. The United States Department of the Interior had a bunch of money they were giving away for 'urban renewal'. I had written the Chinese embassy. I sent them a thank you. I had said that I was seriously considering their kind offer, as was the mayor.

I had learned the mayor had been trying to point me in this direction the whole time. I had misunderstood what he was saying. Well, he should have been more 'up front' with what he wanted. I would have climbed onboard right away, had he been truthful. We repaired the rift between us with some very plain and blunt talking, and we moved on from there. It was he who told me about the Department of Interior.

I looked into it and discovered I stood a good chance of getting a grant from them, for the bridge that the town needed. All I needed to do, was to file with the Department. I would need to include who would benefit, and a few other items. As long as I was not the only person being served, we stood a good chance at getting a bridge. So, I let the wheels grind. Shortly thereafter, a guy showed up from the D.O.I. to look things over.

He went out to the site of the fallen bridge, and looked over the current way we had into and out of the town now. Then he looked at the town itself. The he talked to town's people, and checked out my factory. He then asked me how much I stood to lose if this bridge didn't go in, and why I had not built my factory elsewhere.

I explained that firstly, I wanted the peace and quiet I had found in this town. Secondly, I said that my research had revealed that being the major employer in a small town, would tend to supply me with loyal employees. I pointed out that I wanted to stay in business a long time. Loyal employees were a key towards that goal. Thusly I knew that I needed the town. I also said that I thought the town needed my factory, simply to survive. I concluded by telling him I viewed my relationship with the town, as a "win/win" situation.

After that, he left. He said that his office would be in touch.

While waiting for that decision we held off on issuing any publicity, ourselves.

The national and international press, however, were already onto this story. It was too profitable to them, for them to let go of it. The story 'took on a life of its own', as the saying goes. Other horror stories of misspent tax money, and 'things slipping through the cracks', were brought to light. Ours wasn't the only little corner of the USA to have problems.

Public officials were getting placed on the rack, almost everywhere. It nearly became a new 'national pass time'.

Needless to say, there were a lot of unhappy politicians whose favorite pork barrel projects were being outed, left and right. This is not to say that the funding had been stopped. Oh no, not at all! It was simply that now that the public knew about these 'pork' projects, the funding for them had to be more effectively hidden.

One of the things I had submitted to the Department of the Interior, had been the projected costs for the bridge. I received word very quickly indeed, that my petition had been approved. We now had more than enough money, even to fund bid number two.

When the town heard about this, they went wild! There was an impromptu party, as most of the town's people drove or walked to my factory. They set up folding "card" tables in the parking lot, and a sort of picnic happened. The total spontaneity shocked me. I had truly underestimated the regard the townspeople held for me.

I was stunned when I went out to see what the commotion was about. I mean, we had only heard about the DoI's good news a couple of hours earlier. Yet here was a goodly portion of the town, creating a party in celebration!

I... I... was cheered by the crowd when I came out. It was embarrassing, to say the least. No one had ever cheered for me before, not even during a high school sports event.

There were speeches given. People spoke of the history of the town. Everyone seemed pleased to have me in their town.

I mean, they seemed really pleased! Even over and above the money I was bringing in. I was a part of this town, now. I was accepted by all.

Actually, it felt incredibly good to be accepted.

With the bridge problem resolved, work permits were filed with the state. The state was notified of the type and load capacity of bridge that would be built, and everything associated with it. They sent their congratulations on acquiring the funding. In the same letter, they sent a list of safety requirements to make sure the bridge would meet specs. Typical.

The company building the bridge told us not to worry, they had been dealing with government bureaucrats for a number of years. We would have a strong, solid two-lane bridge... with a pedestrian walkway... quicker than we could believe.

They got started early the next week, as their equipment started arriving. They actually had to delay, and wait for the state to finish clearing away the old bridge. They offered to clear it for the state, at a spec cost, but the state said 'no'. They had a company that would do that (truthful read: 'Had been grossly overpaid to do that, and were supplying kickbacks').

In the meantime, I turned over all relevant contact material to the mayor and his office. I became the contact point for the bridge builders. Great thing, this 'delegation of authority', eh?

In order not to seem vindictive (and to get out of the public spotlight), the state came in quickly. They had the remainder of the old bridge down in an amazingly short period of time. Two weeks after we had notified the state of our willingness to construct the new bridge, they had removed the old one, totally.

In the meantime, waiting for the state had given our bridge builders time to start getting materials on site. They had a nice little stockpile of materials at the ready, for when they were cleared to start working. Everything had to be shipped in, of course, and that took time. But, with the stockpile of items at the ready, they would not fall far behind schedule, it seemed.

In the meantime, Talent Inc. was holding its meetings at a twice a month rate. The new Director was my Brenda, so we held meetings at my place. Tom transported everyone who was out of town or not close enough to drive.

'Handy person, is my half brother Tom, ' I thought with a wide grin.

Of all the things that had happened, the best was that the computer had identified another talent. He was a telepath. But, when we approached him, he was not receptive to us at all. A true telepath would have been a veritable boon to our group. But this guy was an embittered young man. It was because he could see the real thoughts behind the words, that he had trouble dealing with people.

It seemed he was not at all averse to invading the minds of those around him. He never had liked the nasty, mean spirited, and cruel thoughts behind some of the decisions that had affected his life, to date.

This had served to make him a bitter person. He had been smart enough not to let on about his Talent, but that also meant keeping quiet about knowing the real reasons behind the things that were decided about and for him.

He had made the mistake of telling his mother and father that he 'heard' voices 'speaking', when he was about twelve. This meant a trip to several doctors, particularly psychiatrists. They quickly put him on several different medications to help relieve his 'problem'.

The meds did work, to some extant... That is, he learned a valuable lesson from them.

His mental state was constantly being evaluated. Once he cleared his mind from the effects of the medications, he was able to listen to the minds of the 'doctors'. He would answer in such a way as to give the doctors satisfaction that they had found the correct treatment for his 'problem'.