Chapter 9: The Discussion

JH was at home ruminating about his recent relationship with Andrea. They had been friends that occasionally shared a bed, but her current behavior told him she had developed deep feelings for him. He was surprised that he had feelings for her and that and he liked how it felt. She loved him or was starting to. He almost felt ecstatic about that but it certainly slammed right up against his long range plans.

How was he going to integrate his desire for her with his desire to move to the Dragon Planet permanently?

What had started out as a dangerous place where he had to struggle every day just to eat had become the place he loved in his heart it was where he wanted to live.

He liked it the way it was without machines, dirty air and only God knew what was in the water here now days. He had read somewhere that there were now 2100 different organisms and contaminants in the water today that the EPA was tracking.

He knew pollution just didn't make sense. Why was America so hell bent on ruining the world. He had been to Europe. Even as crowded, old, and backward seeming they were, they were much smarter about using resources. They stayed away from chemicals as much as possible where America seemed to embrace every chemical it could, no matter how dangerous it was.

He knew few people would like to live in such primitive surroundings as The Dragoon Planet not knowing where their next meal was coming from or if some great creature was going to have them for dinner. It worked for him it made him feel alive, more alive than at any other time in his past. He had come to embrace the conditions there.

Certainly Andrea wasn't interested in something like that there were no malls, no place to get your nails done, no place to buy Chicken Alfredo. Not much of a place for a woman it was somewhat dispiriting. He knew he wanted her and she probably would not want to change planets. How could he even tell her?

When he finally called George he was confused.

"Hello George this is JH got a few minutes to talk" I asked.

"I have been expecting your call Hal told me you were back. Can we meet down here? I think this is bigger than me and we need to bring some others into it. We can meet for lunch and discuss how to introduce the problem to some well chosen tribal members" he said.

"Yes, that would be good. Let me meet you where we met a few months back, then we can go to lunch" I asked, "is noon good for you?"

"That sounds good, see you at noon tomorrow then" he said.

"Great, see you then" I said.

Evidently he felt we needed to keep what we said over the phone a little on the vague side. I had thought that too. Living in these new post 9/11 times you had to be a little more circumspect on the phone and over the Internet. Who knows what key word could cause your whole conversation to be dumped to the FBI or something.

They were not breaking any laws, but he certainly did not want any official interest or supervision from big brother. It wouldn't be good for the planet. He had little trust in the altruism of his fellow man.

He had pulled into Yuma the next morning around 11:30. He hadn't wanted to be late so he gave himself more time on the road. It only took 2 1⁄2 hours to get there. His old car was in great shape and traffic had been light, he had averaged about 85 most of the way typical for western driving.

He filled his car at the 76 station and went inside to pay. He got a can of soda while he was there and took a quick pause for the cause. It was a long drive after all and his bladder was full.

When he came out he saw George next to his truck. He went over and they shook hands.

"Good to see you survived. Lets not talk here we need to go somewhere, if you follow me I know a greasy spoon with great food and low prices" he said.

"OK, I'm right behind you" I said.

We got in our vehicles and I followed him several miles through town. We pulled into a little place that was probably on the outskirts of the reservation. We found a table in the back and sat down to wait. We both asked for cokes and then studied the menu. We both I ordered a toasted ham and cheese with chips and George asked for a burger and fries.

"You will see why I come here when the food comes out. They fill you up here" George said.

"I am looking forward to it. Can we talk here?" I asked looking around me. "It's safe enough here. So what's been going on? Hal was mysterious about the whole thing" he said.

"That's good. I hadn't even told him to keep it that secret but we need to keep this whole thing very quiet" I said.

"What whole thing? I have no idea where you have been after you disappeared. I have some ideas, but nothing I would want to tell anyone" he chuckled.

I began to tell him my story. Ten minutes into it the food arrived and it was better than he said. His burger was huge. The bread on my sandwich was home made Texas toast with tons of butter on the outside. It was great. They were not skimpy with the ham or the cheese either. I continued to talk as we ate and reported my most of my misadventures.

"So what do you want from me?" George said.

"Well, I need to get back there, but I need to be outfitted better. I'm not really able to make tools and weapons. I am a bank guy, not a cowboy type. The women I saw were probably from your tribe I would think. Several men would be better for freeing them than one ill equipped banker" I said.

"When you got 'lost' in the cave I heard from one old timer that it was called three women cave because some women got lost in there several hundred years ago looking for mushrooms and they were never found. They must have had a few children with them. I bet the women were bred by those creatures with their children" he said.

"That could explain a lot. I am no geneticist, but my understanding is that probably can't continue forever. They must have horrific problems from the inbreeding" I said.

"Not sure about that, but we do have a problem if too much outside attention is brought to the cave. It could impact business and how we live at the reservation" he said.

So we spent the next hour mapping out how to present this to the tribal members. He had arranged for several men to meet us tonight at 5 pm.

I had presented many business ideas in the past successfully and felt that the fundamental ideas here were;

1. Let the Tribe maintain control over their lands and this gateway thing in particul

2. Save the Cocopah women from slavery

I was shocked at what transpired at the meeting. They granted the rightness of point number one easily.

Point 2 was not a given. Since I had not talked to the women because I don't speak their language I had assumed they were Cocopah. The five men there did not surrender to that inevitability.

There were other tribes that had been through here through the years. They conceded that the survivors were probably Cocopah, but could well be distant cousins more than directly related.