Chapter 25

"South America and Africa." I had studied a lot of travelogues and talked to people that had been there. Pretty soon I would have to do this for myself just to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.

"My gracious, you were travelling. How's your family?"

This hurt but I was prepared, "Kuenta got called away and took Ronnas and Andis with her. She had some family problems."

"That's too bad."

Mom didn't know that Jonna and Kuenta were mothers never mind that the girls were their daughters. This information would get her wondering what the women were like. She thought them as sisters instead, which in a way that is what they acted like. "So you still have little Caiti?"

"We sure do and she's not so little anymore. I'll put her on."

Caiti ran and got the phone and said, "Hi Grandma. I missed you."

I could read Caiti's mind a little and if I tried hard I could get the other side of the conversation but it wasn't needed.

In a few moments I heard, "I'll ask."

Caiti turned to me and said, "Grandma wants us to go over there now. She'll make us dinner. She promised spaghetti. Can we go, huh, can we?"

"Did you tell her we have your cousins?"

"Yes, I did, and she wants to meet them."

"Tell her we'll be there in an hour."

Caiti was dancing up and down and eagerly told her Grandma, "We can come. In an hour. He probably wants us to clean up but I already had a bath."

The gas had been turned off so the water would take a long time to heat up. I turned it on, then got some clean Earth clothes to wear. I had been wearing the clothing native to Bejek and I found it superior in most ways. Porta, Sonna, Matra and Camsa would go in good clothes from Shreff. I would put it off as their native dress from Romania where my other girls came from. We would be in trouble if we came across a Romanian, though, because we couldn't speak one word in that language.

We left the gold on the truck in the barn and under a tarp. We used the minivan for this trip. We were two seats shy but the younger ones crouched down. This was the first time in a long time that none of us were armed. I had the silver lightning bolt, but that was like using the howitzer. I had tried it once and put it away for later. I figured that Zeus must have had one of these. The girls had decorative swords with scabbards that could be for gifts. As a last resort, they would defend us.

The newcomers were amazed at everything and they had already been in the other trucks, including the pickup. This was different though. They looked out the widows at the lights and the vehicles flashing by as we went faster than they had ever gone before except by way of a portal.

When we pulled up to the house, Caiti was the first out. She ran across the grass to hug her Grandma and then her Grampie. I ushered everyone inside and said my own hellos to my parents. They were hugged by those they knew then by the four they didn't know.

I made the introductions and the four replied in as good an English as they could muster. Mom hugged and was hugged by all of them and she was pleasantly surprised by the way Camsa kissed her cheek the European way.

Mom said, "My, aren't you the smooth one. I know you're going to go far."

"Thank you — Mrs Driscott."

"You just call me Grandma like the rest, Sweetie. You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

"No, Grandma. I like it."

The food was ready and we sat down to eat. The newcomers had to be taught how to eat spaghetti and use our kind of tableware. They used chopsticks and a spoon just like the Orientals did.

Dad asked, "Where exactly did you go, or is that a topic we still can't ask?"

"I'd appreciate it if that topic was not mentioned."

"When you were growing up I figured you would make one helluva farmer, but it looks like you're closer to double 'O' seven. By the way, you had some people asking questions. They claimed to be old school friends and even showed me their yearbook. Since you told us nothing, I told them just as much."

Strangely, I was not that worried. Compared to people popping out of portals with sarin or magically armoured stigga, this was nothing. "Who did they say they were?"

Dad gave me the names and I said, "They might just be those people or those people could have been asked to find out about me."

Mom asked, "What is this all about?"

"It's business Mom, and it's all legal."

"That's good to hear. I didn't think you'd do anything wrong."

We finished our meal and ice-cream was brought out with some homemade pastries. Nobody said no to seconds or even thirds and Mom seemed happy about that.

Later, Dad pulled me aside and said, "Are you in trouble?"

"I have more responsibilities than you can imagine, Dad. Part of it is the monetary value of what I have and others want a portion of. I can't talk even here because I figure that there may be some bugs on the phone if not in the house now. There is an even better chance that my own home is bugged."

"Why?"

I whispered in Dad's ear, "I have a lot of gold."

Dad whispered back, "I won't ask where or how you got it, but people will kill for that."

"They'll do that for the metal and to stop me helping people."

"You take care of yourself and your family."

"I try Dad, I try very hard."

Old school friends showing up would never have bothered me before but I figured it was too odd to happen now. It may be a government agency of some country or somebody that wants to get in on the gold I seemed to have so much of. All of my family could read my mind and they became a little upset but understood this was small time.

Dad whispered, "I picked up more copper for you. I must have ten tonnes by now. The pile's huge."

"Thanks Dad. It comes in handy." Dad looked ready to ask about the copper again, but didn't. I never told him what it was for.

The younger members followed Caiti to the television as she searched out some DVDs. She actually watched a lot and so did the rest of the population of Shreff. It was a way to learn the English language and do it in an entertaining way. She was looking for new releases. She squealed when she found some and they all sat down to watch.

Lauren, Tiffany, Jonna, and Fislu sat at the table after loading the dishwasher. I said, "How are you feeling, Mom?" I took out the Heart of Opfu.

Mom looked at it and said, "Better than I should for my age." I reached over hand grasped her hand and she held mine. She was still healthy but I tweaked her a bit more. Her joint problems were all gone and she looked to be able to live to be an active woman when she reached a century and a half.

I said, "You aren't that old. Why do you say that?"

Mom blushed a bit and said, "I should feel older than I do."

"Some people have such a positive outlook that they are hard to even slow down."

Dad was next. He had stopped smoking long ago but I still checked for problems. I could find nothing wrong with him. "You look very healthy Dad."

"I feel that way."

I was going to say you will need all your strength with three grandchildren coming but that would bring too many questions now when there may be ears in the house. Explaining how fourteen-year-old Fislu and her twelve-year-old sister Selna were pregnant with my children may be difficult. My comments about pregnancies to Jonna did not explicitly exclude the girls and it was my fault. By Bejek terms they were old women now.

Mom and Dad were given some juffa garments. They were hand made and only coming into style in Shreff now. They both got robes while Mom got a chemise. Everything was handmade and perfect.

Dad's was black and he admired it for a long time until he said, "This is beautiful."

Lauren gave Mom the chemise and it was Dad who whistled. Mom turned red and put it away. She must figure that their child has to be protected from the thought that his parents had sex. Mom did put on her robe and could not stop caressing it. Mom gave a lot of superlatives then kissed all of us.

We went home near eleven. I was looking behind me for somebody following but they would probably have a beacon on the van if they were professional.

That night I checked out the gun cabinet and it was possible somebody had been in it. I had no illegal weapons here but that didn't stop me from getting my guns loaded and ready. Jonna used a bug detector and found three devices in the house. The van had two. If they had investigated the truck they would have found quite a prize.

I was at a loss to know how this happened when I had used the best security I could get. Those that did it had to be very professional.

I thought of going back through the portal and sleep in Bejek but it was still probably safer here on Earth. Sex that night was slow and loving. I had to hope there were no fibre optic cameras on us.

We had breakfast and acted like a normal family, or at least tried to. I checked the phone and saw I had a lot of messages but I didn't want to answer some of them from here. Others I could, and in fact should. I caught up on what was happening with my friends and I was invited to a few parties. Some I had already missed.

Lauren and I drove our vehicles to the store to get groceries and brought everybody. Camsa was using the small chain portal in the van so we could get our weapons at home if the need arose. I didn't know if it was the government or another form of crook that was after us.

At a clothing store I used a pay phone and made a call. There was some excited talk eventually when a pilot named Gus talked to me. "I found two places where your gauges started to go off."

"I'll pay you later when I pick up the locations. At the moment you called me because I was thinking of taking flight lessons."

"Why?"

"I was away for three months and somebody spent that time bugging my house."

"The police?"

"I don't think so. There's no reason. We're working on finding out who did this and why. I have legitimate transactions going on and a lot of people are interested in picking up a piece of the action. Somebody saying they are the police and showing you a badge does not make them the police."

"Ok, Mr Driscott. You wanted lessons. I told you what was involved and you'll get back to me later."

"Good, I'll find a way to get to you in a few days. You better not phone the house either."

"Bugged too?"

"Sure is."

"I'm older than you and I never had this happening to me."

"I'm too young for this to happen to me."

Jake Headricks was next. I said, "Hi Jake. Got more than thirty seconds?"

There was a thoughtful pause as he heard the code phrase. "For you, Hugh, I will give you a minute but it may not all be needed."

"Is it good or medial?"

"Good enough for an excuse to get a free lunch."

"Same place, same time?"

"Ok with me."

"See ya then."

Three more lawyers were contacted but only one was able to answer. They got the cell phones at my request and I was the only one that called them or I was the only one that was supposed to know their number. I found out that I had another million in the kitty but numbers had to be substituted for codes. Using what the Church had would be a lot better but if the Church intercepted the calls then they would know everything. If the Church had dealings with Earth they could buy any help they wanted.

I went back to helping the family shop. The newest members could not get over their culture shock at the store. The girls and Camsa were dressed in Earth type finery and I saw that they had lost something in doing so. The clothing in Bejek was usually drab but could be flamboyant. Earth simply didn't compare to that.

With new clothes purchased, we went to the Goodwill and bought a lot more for those that didn't have much in Shreff. They usually walked around nude to seminude and it now was not because they were not paid enough. It was a cultural thing. The clothes we would bring might be termed glad rags. I had given Artlam some new clothing made on Earth. He had smiled and wore them once.

Groceries were next on the agenda and we stocked up. Anything not consumed would simply go with us when we returned.

I parted company after the groceries were loaded. There were people to meet.

I sat in a booth at our eatery and watched the door. Jake Headricks came in ten minutes later and hurried to our table.

"How are you doing, Hugh? You look fit and even tanned."

"I'm doing fine Jake. I've been working for a living."

"Well, I've been working too. There's a gold refinery for sale in the Dominican Republic. It makes its own coins. The country is a major exporter of gold. If you get this company and you'll have a known coin that can be passed around."

"How much do they want?"

"Ten million, American."

"Do you see any way we could pay in gold?"

"I looked into that and you would get 80% of the value of gold minus my percentage."

"That's half of a tonne."

"Do you have that much?"

"I have to have more if I want to coin the metal."

"You're right. It's hard to think in kilos never mind fractions of a tonne."

"Someone is interested in me. I deal with others besides you and somebody must have talked. My house, phone, and car are bugged."

"Anything I can do?"

"Nothing much except watch out more and buy a good bug detector and use it."

"I did when you suggested it. What about the refiner?"

"As much as you would like a vacation, you better have experts assess the business. Work through intermediaries. I can't own the business on paper and once the gold starts pouring out there will be a lot of people looking."

"I can do that, but it means more expense on your part."

"It always does."

"If you don't mind the question, how much gold do you think you will be processing?"

"Four or five hundred tonnes initially."

Jake sat back and thought of what I said. "That's a lot."

"At the larger figure, it is only 26 cubic metres and worth well over ten trillion."

"I think the entire reserves of the Dominican Republic are maybe that much."

"I guess the estimates will be shown to be wrong then. I want to make imitation Maple Leafs at 99.9999 so they aren't exactly copies. I want to make Krugerrand and other types of coins. That will get me through the first stages, then I can go with the coins from the Dominican Republic. When I have enough made, the refinery can be sold and the owner can disappear. Nobody is hurt and my imitation coins are worth just as much as the originals are."

"That may be illegal but you aren't cheating anybody. I'll start right away. Getting that much into the country may not be easy."

"I can do it with no problem."

He looked at me again and said, "I'll go by what you said. My actual costs should be in the neighbourhood of five kilos."

"I'll send it later."

"Purolator?"

"Why not?"

Jake smiled and said, "Usually, there are armoured trucks and lots of guards, but maybe anonymity is best until you get watched more. It has to stop when I get watched."

"I know. Can you handle another shipment?"

"How much?"

"How much can you dispose of?"

He wanted to know how much I had but said, "I can take — half a tonne."

"I can save myself some money if you can borrow a pickup truck."

"What!"

"I simply pass off half a tonne and you take it from there."

"My god, what am I going to do with it then?"

"The same as you did before."