Chapter 33

Chuck

I got up early in order to call Giovanni. Six our time was two in the afternoon his time, so I was determined to call him before it was late in the day for him. Mina wasn't in the kitchen yet, so I figured out how to grind the coffee beans in an electric grinder and made coffee in a small coffee maker. There was a larger one, but I figured someone who knew how to use it would be up and around soon.

While the coffee was brewing, I went out to the porch and used my speed dial to call. Giovanni answered on the first ring, "Yes?"

"Giovanni, this is Chuck, you asked for me to call. Yesterday became a little busy, so I didn't have time before it became too late to call you."

"Thank you for your consideration, Chuck. My men and I want to thank you for your assistance yesterday. After they delivered the men that were found, they went back to retrieve the boats and to dispose of the houseboat. I'm told that you and your female assistant were very efficient and professional in the manner in which you took care of a couple of problems. Again, thank you."

I told the man, "You asked, it was within my power to help."

Giovanni continued, "My men have scoured the island to make sure there are no more people there. They have also cleaned out the two structures that were on the island so that no trace of the former residents is there. However, they did discover some graves of probably the former island residents. Those graves have been exhumed and the remains disposed of at sea. No sense having that on your island to be discovered at a later date."

"Thank you, Giovanni; I appreciate your men's wise decision."

Giovanni's voice softened, "And I appreciate that you will allow my ah, ah, wife and me to visit you in the United States. We will try to come there next month. I look forwards to you advising me when you have returned to your country so I may have my men stay away from wherever you are. My men down where you are now are convinced you are not to be made angry. Your actions were quite impressive."

"My actions were as much for me as they were for you, Giovanni. I could not proceed with my plans if those other men still inhabited the island. I will look forward to your visiting as soon as you can."

Giovanni ended the call by saying, "I will talk to you soon."

Mina came from the kitchen with a mug of coffee. She was looking a little sheepish and wouldn't look at me. I reached up and lifted her chin to look at her eye to eye, "Thank you, Mina, you didn't have to get up early. We can give you the morning off to recover from the great party yesterday."

Mina blushed and said, "Please forgive us for being so, so, so, wild in front of you. All the people of the island enjoy a special bond that is let loose when we have a wedding party such as that. I am happy you are not angry. This is Monday and Miguel should be up and working, but he has a little headache this morning and will work later."

I asked, "How about you, Mina, do you have a headache too?"

"Oh no, Patrón, I do not drink much, only the champagne to toast the couple. I only enjoy the spirit of the special next day party. It is great enjoyment, but a little a, a, crazy."

When Julie arrived out on the porch, she hugged Mina and me before sitting down with a mug of coffee she had poured for herself. Julie commented to Mina, "You had a good time with the other island people yesterday. I was happy to see you enjoy yourself."

Mina blushed again, wished Julie a good morning and vanished into the kitchen.

Julie said, "My island people can get a little wild. They only do this for weddings and New Year's Eve. Their New Year's parties get a little out of hand. I'm surprised that there are never any hard feelings after their parties, but there have never seemed to be any. I think the only island residents who remained chaste were the over seventy group, and the newly married couple. That isn't always the case, as some of the newly married have just found out how much fun they can have and want to experiment with as many as they are able. I always hope no new life is conceived at these parties."

Mark and Carolyn showed up at about the same time Steve, Sue, Juanita, and Mercy came out. Mickey and Kathy brought mugs of coffee for everyone, so I knew Mina had made more in the large coffee maker. Mark asked, "So how about walking the big island this morning and taking a look at the landscape. I think I will have the men make a ford to get from this island to the middle island so we can begin using some of it for livestock and grain. We still have a lot of unused area on this island, but I would hate to cut any trees here as they add to the beauty of our home."

I asked Mark, "So when are you going to finish your house?"

Mark said, "As soon as we have the workers' duplexes built and they are moved in." Without waiting, Mark continued, "The architects and the men who are going to install our instrument landing system should be here this morning. Gene should be arriving with Sandy, the kids, and the others before ten. I'm sure they were ready to take off as soon as everyone showed up at the airpark."

I asked, "So, do you want for us to wait for Gene and the architects?"

"That would probably be best. We can take the big open fishing boat as it will easily carry a dozen or so." Mark looked at Dewey, "Do you have any special architects that you use for your resorts?"

Dewey said, "The best are in Hawaii right now. We could import them, but they wouldn't want to be away from their families for the length of time it will take to build this."

I asked Steve, "What do you think, will Terrell be able to handle this or do we need to import a big contractor?"

Steve said, "When we get the plans near finalized, let's have him look at them to see what he thinks. There is no work at home, other than some road construction and the vet housing that you are doing, so I'm sure as many men as we need to bring down will want to come."

Mark said, "We can buy more FEMA trailers for the men and have them on both the new islands. We'll need to build something like a barracks and dining hall for the single guys, but this could be a real bonus for craftsmen. We should be able to hire some locals who will want to come out, some on a daily basis and others to stay with us until the buildings are complete."

I decided to give Dewey and Steve the good news. "I didn't tell you two, but I was able to purchase the islands for taxes. I'm afraid I'll be contributing to the construction costs almost from the first dollar."

Dewey looked at me, "No way, did you really buy them for taxes? Those two islands would have to bring a minimum of fifty mil plus at a fire sale, much more at market price."

I told him, "I was prepared to do just that, but the deal became screwed up and the local lawyer knew the law, and we were the first to make an offer before it came up for auction."

By seven thirty, everyone was eating on the porch with the kids ready to go exploring on the home island. Sue and Mercy delegated responsibility to Greg and Stevie to be in charge and to make sure the kids stayed together and to keep them safe. Sue said, "They will go with several of the island kids. They will have a great time looking through all of the forests and all along the shore. There are always treasures that wash up for kids to find. They know that they are to come back to the house if they hear the air horn."

Dewey, Mark, Steve, Miguel, and I went down to the utility dock, where Miguel brought the big thirty foot open fishing boat around to the aircraft dock. The rest of us took big passenger truck carts down to the hangars. We had just tied up the boat at the dock near the hangars when a jet passed over us and circled back around. Mark went up to hangar and called on the radio, "This is island one. Is that you, Gene?"

Back from the radio, "This is Citation 74, looks like the runway is done. Any soft spots I should look out for?"

"The runways are done and hard all the way. Bring it in, son – or Citation 74," Mark said and checked the anemometer and temperature reading. "Our winds are from the south at ten, surface is 80 degrees. Altimeter at three zero, zero seven. Come on down."

We watched as the sleek Citation X set down on the runway very close to the near marker. The aircraft came to a stop, turned, and taxied back up the runway toward the hangars. When the aircraft's engines shut down, the door swung open and a set of stairs came down. Three youngsters came running from the plane to run headlong into Mark and Carolyn. There was a lot of excited talking that didn't end even when Gene came up to Mark for his fatherly hug. Gene and Sandy gave Carolyn a hug, showing her she was now part of their family.

The contingent of other passengers disembarked and stood in the tropical sun, stretching, and smelling the fresh ocean breeze that seemed to never be much more than eighty to eighty-five degrees.

While Mark was occupied with family, Steve and I pulled the luggage from the aircraft. Gene must have been close to a full load, as there was a lot equipment and luggage that came off the aircraft. As we set the last of everything on the tarmac, Gene came over and told us, "Even full, that baby is fast. I felt like we were just shy of Mach one all the way down. I know it would have been another hundred sixty or so miles per hour, but we sure did some moving. Hope you don't mind me flying your pride and joy, but we've had several charters with it lately. At twenty-three hundred bucks an hour, I don't think you want to pass up too many charters. Sandy and I did fly dual though. I know you're rated for single pilot, but I'm not rated as single pilot on this or the Lear. I don't know what strings you pulled for that, but it must have been some big ones."

We had brought as many carts as we had people down to get everyone back up to the house. I wondered if the house had enough room for all of the extra people or would some of us need to stay on the boat. The folks from the Irish Bell had already moved back aboard their boat, so that freed some space.

Mark went into the hangar and came out riding a tow motor. He hooked the Citation up and backed it into the hangar on one side to leave plenty of room for the other three aircraft to get out. Mark pushed the button to close the big door and told everyone, "We'll come back down and go over the aircraft and refuel it later. Come on, let's go up to the house and have some coffee or iced tea." Our trip to inspect the big island was getting pushed back again as we all went back up to the house.

Out on the porch, Sue saw the new kids, so she went outside and blew the air horn so the other kids could include the three new ones in their search for treasure. Before Sue could even turn around, a pack of kids broke out of the trees, running for the porch. All of them, out of breath, asked, "What do you need, Mom?"

All of the kids knew each other and were soon headed back to the woods. Sandy looked at Sue questioningly, who said, "Greg and Stevie have been in charge and now Mark, your oldest, can help. They should be safe out here."

Sandy said, "That is amazing, all those kids enjoying themselves running around an island like this. This is better than some farms. I'm sure some of the local kids have chores to do and their folks are letting them mingle. There must be almost thirty of them now."

I couldn't help but think that in a couple of more years there will be another batch of kids running around on the island. I want that, and hope the friendly five want something like that too.

Mark got his maps out and began explaining what he had surveyed to the landing system people. He gave them the prints and told them the equipment that had been shipped was in the second hangar. They would be supplied with a dozen men to help with the necessary clearing, concrete work, and heavy lifting. He advised them that the island had all of the heavy equipment necessary to do the planned work. He added, "We have some trunk feeders from down there already buried up to here so that we can have dual control over the runway lights and landing system when an aircraft is coming in and can't access the runway activation controls. Everything else is pretty standard. We built an excellent runway that should be able to handle just about any size aircraft. All we need now is a proper radar and instrument landing system."

Mark turned to the architects and said, "We will go to both islands over the next couple of days so you can have an idea of what I think will work. What we want is a first class resort, or rather resorts, that will rival anything south of Key West. Chuck is looking forward to employing around five hundred people and that will pump some great money into the local economy. Your job is to provide the plans for the outdoor activities such as multiple golf courses, a riding stable, swimming facilities, both pool and beach, and great dining at all of the resorts. The two islands will be joined so customers on one island can explore the other. We will want to provide space for additional livestock grazing and for garden areas to provide a continuous stock of fresh vegetables. This map has the topography on it as reported to the Limon courthouse about fifteen years ago. The geological formations have changed a little as the earth pushes upward a little, and that is giving the islands more surface. We will contract a pro golfer to help design the course. It's always neat to say you have Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, or someone like that, design your course for you."

Finally, Mark told the geologist, "We need more water and I want to investigate what you think might be possible from a deep aquifer. At the same time, we will need more natural gas for use on both islands. Let's find out if we have enough to sell some. I've ordered the parts to convert all of our carts to natural gas so we will make better use of our resources."

I looked at Mark, "Wow, you've put a lot of effort into this, Mark, a lot of thought and effort. It was my lucky day to ask you to come down."

Steve said, "If he was not having so much fun, I wouldn't let him stay, but now both he and Carolyn have just about made a new home here."

Mark turned to Steve, Dewey, and me; "Okay, let's go walk the big island. We'll walk for about two hours, come back for lunch, and go back for anything we might have missed. The architects and geologist will want to go with us, so let's ride down to the aircraft dock and go out to the island."

Like a magnet, we found the small dock where the other boats had been docked yesterday. Mark made the observation that it looked like a lot of people had recently visited the island. I offered, "You know what it probably was, when some people heard the islands were going to be offered up for taxes, several potential buyers probably came out to look them over."

I think everyone bought it except Steve, who looked at me a little crooked, probably thinking of what he thought were gunshots the day before.

While we walked the island, the pontoon plane flew over, wagging its wings. I could see what looked like the three boat girls with their faces pressed to the glass. Mark asked, "How do you like that engine, powerful and very quiet? We did some extensive testing on it back in Tampa with that size and a smaller version that's in my LSA, and it will now have some everyday use. This will be a great test."

We covered all of the open areas of the island and headed back to the boat to go back to the main island for lunch. When I looked into the galvanized structure that appeared to be a big machine shed, it looked perfectly empty but was a little too clean for being empty for a long time. Everyone was excited about our plans and the geologist wanted to get some deep core samples started. He was having an intense private conversation with Mark, when I was waved over. Mark pointed at me and said, "Tell this guy, who's the one who is footing the bill."

The geologist said, "I'm positive we will access good water in the deep aquifer in this area. What I'm excited about is the possibility of us finding more than natural gas. The topography is perfect for oil. I think if we were to drill in the deep sea trenches around the south end of the big island, we stand a hell of chance of finding oil. If you wanted, we can drill from land at an angle to reach those areas I'm curious about. It would be a lot cheaper than leasing a platform. You can do the preliminary drilling instead of letting a big company in on the find. What do you think, want to drill for oil?"

I looked up at the guy, "First, let's get the water and gas harnessed, then drill for oil. If you can do all three at once, do it, but we might be limited on facilities for your crews. Mark, how soon can you have about a hundred of those FEMA trailers down here?"

Mark thought for a moment and said, "The barge will hold ten at a time and it takes about four days to get them here or eight to nine days a round trip. I can make better time if I lease some extra barges and tugs, you decide."

I asked the geologist, "How soon can you have your equipment over here to begin looking for water?"

He said, "We haven't tried for deep water on your home island yet and we should probably do that first. When we have the deep water well in place, we can dismantle the drilling equipment and move it to either the small island or the big island next. I asked, "I thought you said we could drill for water, gas, and oil simultaneously?"

With a little frustration in his voice, the man said, "I did, but that is going to be very expensive. Multiple drilling rigs are going to be very expensive to transport and will require a lot of men. It's really your choice. At the same time we're drilling on this island, I can lease some more equipment and operators to begin drilling the slant well for the oil. With two more rigs, we should be able to have most everything in place within say four to six months. If we do find oil, a lot of your plans might be changed."

I looked at the guy who apparently had not been listening, "What do you think I wanted a hundred more FEMA trailers for?"

I told Mark, "You had an idea for sewage disposal, do you have any drawings or engineering plans yet? I think we need to get some engineers down here to work with you on your idea and try it out on our home island. We can work our way through the other two islands as we build on them."

"Good idea, Boss, I'll show you what information I have gathered so far when we get back to the house. I think you'll like it."

I told both Mark and the geologist, "I like to make things happen and not just plan on it to be done. That guy over there, Steve Sharp, is the same way if not more so. If he gets excited over this project, he's going to be standing over everyone's shoulder. So let's make this happen."

While we ate lunch, Mark showed me some drawings of what he thought would work for sewage disposal. The plant would use gas to boil the liquids down, and make the solids into a powder to use as fertilizer. Mark said he had checked with the University of Florida to find out if this was a safe disposal method. They said this was already being done on a small test area, and has been successful. He also said that if we handled the expenses and gave a little donation, the University of Florida could use our island as a test area supplying all of the engineering, construction, and site supervision for us.

Mark said, "Because the process will be sealed, we should be able to keep any odor down. Because we have what may be an unlimited amount of natural gas, we will use the grey water from the distilling process for irrigation and cook the solids to a powder. There are multiple air scrubbers in the plant and there is some maintenance associated with it, but it should work great."

I told Mark to pick an area that will not be built on in the future, that is away from housing on this island, and build our first plant. "Let's see if this works and whether the smell is acceptable. You'll probably have to have some big tanks to store the distilled grey water and a pretty good sized pumping station to get the water to the fields. It sounds like it will work."

Mark sat back; satisfied he was going to be able to make another environmentally safe project work on his new home island. Mark looked up at me and asked, "What do you think about some solar collectors? We could ring the sewage conversion plant with a big solar farm and perhaps give ourselves some additional power. If we do this right, we may never need any diesel for power again, and we will be cutting down on the demand we're putting on the turbines. We should probably refit our generators with engines capable of burning natural gas since we have plenty of that. I think we can be good for almost any weather condition that way. We'll need more turbines for the other two islands, and I think we can do it aesthetically if we put them near the garden and livestock areas."

I just said, "Plan it and do it."

Steve