Chapter 76

Monday began similar to a normal Sunday, but I wanted to have Miguel show me around the various fields today. I also wanted to visit with Mark to see how he was doing. Mark had begged off having supper with us as he felt there already were too many at the tables.

Miguel and I began the tour with the vegetable fields on the home island. There was a lot of pasture area with Angus beef stock grazing. Mixed in with the steers were a single bull and several cows. I was impressed that they were doing some husbandry there instead of buying calves all the time. I knew from past experience that it would require the resort to purchase beef off the commercial market because of the high volume needed. There were goats and sheep, but no hogs. Miguel said that he didn't like raising hogs, so they now bought what pork they wanted. He reminded me, "We are very wealthy now. We have money from our vegetables, money from our natural gas, money from the airport, and money from all the other things we do. I suppose we don't have to work, but that would be our downfall and our children wouldn't grow up to know how to take care of themselves. Everyone works on the three islands doing the farm work that brings money in as well as all the food we can eat."

As we went to the middle island by way of a long ford that had been built just under the surface to make it invisible to others, Miguel told me, "We still have to buy a lot of fruit, wheat and corn flour, and a lot of the spices we use. Mina loves to bake and she is constantly making cakes and cookies for the island kids. Mina is her happiest when you, Dewey, and Steve are here with your kids. She loves all your women and loves to pamper Betty and your condo girls. She does a good job spoiling the boat girls who married our island boys too. I'm lucky to have such a good woman."

I had to agree that Mina was special.

The quantity of beef grazing on the middle island was much greater than I would have thought. I was shown a large pole barn with beef penned in it. Miguel told me this was the beef that was being fattened up before being butchered. He told me the home island had a barn like this one too.

I could see perfectly manicured roads and paths everywhere I looked. Miguel said that landscaping the resort areas required a minimum of twenty-five men. He said that men from the mainland took care of the resort landscaping, but island men and women handled the entire area where the animals were.

We slowly rode through the golf courses to the small resort hotel on the middle island. This was a very fancy place with its own pool, bar, and restaurant, but it was primarily for those visitors who wanted to play golf. We didn't go on to the main resort island and went back to our home island instead. We were back just in time for lunch with all the island people.

This was Julie's favorite time as she could catch up with all the island gossip. There had been a dramatic change in the people's life since the resort was built and opened, but the people still kept their simple traditions and lifestyle. The women had a good time visiting with the island ladies, talking about kids, cooking, sewing, and everyday things. My women had the island women who had kids join them to go down to the crew hotel pool. That was met with a lot of excitement. Our kids were all swimmers, but some of the smaller island kids had not been taught yet and they now had their first opportunity to be taught by my experienced women.

Steve's Mickey and Giovanna came to sit at my table with me during lunch. Mickey said, "We don't know whether to be worried or happy by the way Sue Ellen and Stephano want to be with your kids all the time."

Giovanna said, "It's just like Gina's Giovanni and Sophia want to be with my two and all of Steve's. Your women say it's fine that they stay with your kids, but we're worried how you feel."

You have to smile at the two women because you knew they knew their little ones were growing and were finding friends and buddies among my kids. The mothers taught their two kids the same as they taught their own. Sue Ellen was a little on the small side, while Stephano was big like Brandy's son. Tiani's son was smaller but growing rapidly. The baby fat just melted away now that they were all running. The women would take turns reading the stories to the kids and just talking to them so they would increase their language skills.

It was quiet time when lunch was finished. Bonita and Lizzy showed up with their acoustic guitars and took the kids into the big lounge area. Maria came to tell me how Bonita and Lizzy played and sang with the kids every day. The two music girls would play and sing kids' songs and encourage the kids to sing with them. I could hear the kids as they tried to carry a tune.

It was now time to go with Mark. He was in the habit of eating lunch on the porch with the island people, so it was easy to hook up with him. Mark took me for a ride to show me the expanded solar farm that housed a couple acres of panels that feed into a storage facility. Mark told me that we had made it to the time when all the power required for all three islands was being generated by solar energy. He said that he had to start the generators once a week just to make sure they would work if they had some prolonged storms. We toured the home island's coast line where he showed me how they have been working to make this island look as well kept as the other two. We went to an area that had some large metal buildings. I was shown two equipment sheds, with one housing the repair area. A nearby building was another barn used to fatten up beef stock.

We went to the operations building where Mark's workshop was. He showed me a couple of projects he was working on and planning to send them up to R&D for evaluation soon. Mark was always experimenting with windings for wind generators, attempting to make a higher output with a smaller footprint. He showed me his goal as he used a regular plain desk fan to blow the blades of a generator that wasn't much bigger than the sixteen inch desk fan. Mark said, "I know it's possible, but I just haven't been able to create the correct field for the power generation I want. A home could have about four of these and be way over what they need for their use. Add some solar panels and a home could have near unlimited power from Mother Nature. I just have to figure out a few more things and how to keep the cost down for average Americans, or anyone from any country actually.

Mark took me out to his cart again and said, "I want you to see where your workers are living. Some of them will never go back to the USA, while some are here only for a specific job. Let me show you."

We drove up a paved path and entered a large meadow. On one forested side were a couple of hundred duplexes and triplexes that blended into their surroundings. A baseball field, tennis courts that double for basketball, a marked off soccer field and a pool with a bath house were in the open area. I was stunned. Mark told me, "We might have nearly a thousand men down here at a time for construction, but a lot of them are transient. This replaced all the FEMA homes that now are housing some of Limon's poorest. There isn't actually much real poverty in Limon now, but your temporary housing is still being used. Your charitable foundation down here set up a trailer park where the people displaced by the Earthquake in '91 now have a home. These people were begging for the opportunity to earn enough for their basic necessities when you began putting people to work a few years ago. This area had never recovered. You gave these people hope, and they have flourished because of it. Your foundation has cleaned up almost all of the leftover damage from that earthquake, so your bucks have been a boon for these people."

We rode to the other end of the meadow and saw Mark's and Gene's homes. We went past the wind farm from there, and then back up the road to the house. Mark told me, "I think you've found the fountain of youth down here, Chuck. I'm beating up seventy-five, but feel like forty-five or fifty. I've been having checkups every six months and know I'm still in good health. My lovely wife and I are a couple of very happy people."

We went up to the house where I joined Steve, Dewey, Tom, and Wanda. We had a drink together while I was still marveling at all that Mark had showed me. Dewey asked, "Now that you've reconnected here, can we take a quick trip to the Riviera so you can do some damage? You've spent a fortune for here and all over the Earth doing good deeds since your last trip. You need to replenish your no-name money supply and I need to get to the bottom of this shortchanging that keeps happening over there."

Steve made the comment, "It's really strange that people making a few million a year would short co-owners just for greed. I think you need to look beneath what you see to find out why this has happened again."

From Dewey, "The owners who are being shortchanged want to know too. We think we should sell all our shares and forget the problems we've had there. I love the glitzy pleasures of the Riviera, but hate the hassles we've had there. They will offer us a deal to buy us out if we hurt them bad enough, thinking that we would share in their losses while getting out."

"Okay, Guys, I'm in. I'd like to take either Lisa, Mercy, or Missy with me. Sharon has to go, and if you want to see the Riviera, Tom, you should come with your ladies. Do you want to see the Riviera, Wanda?"

Wanda said, "I want to see the real Chuck Johnson in action while gambling. I've heard so many stories that I have to see how true some of it is."

"There it is. Depending on any others, we have a small plane load. I don't want to stay there long, only long enough to win enough that we get thrown out. The French are pretty testy about tourists not being treated right in the casinos, and the Spanish feel as if the gallows is too good for people who cheat tourists out of their money. Let's do this."

Steve and Dewey were working on how to get the group to the Riviera, when Steve came in and said, "Jimmy has your Ten in perfect condition and will fly it down. He's bringing Tiny and Ruth, along with Henry and Nancy, so the plane will be fairly full going to the Riviera."

Dewey said, "We'll fly into Nice, and do them and the Cannes resort the first night. We'll drive down to St. Tropez, but I don't think we're having trouble from that location. I'll find out. We'll go to Marseille from there, and then raid Montpellier third night. Chuck needs to make a big hit in Nice and Cannes. Marseille may be like St. Tropez, but I'll find out again. The Montpellier resort is another that was bringing in a ton of money and isn't any longer. I want to really hurt them. The management in Montpellier, Nice, and Cannes is the same group. I think a few owners are working with them to siphon profits off."

I told the group, "I'm sure none of us have tuxes, and the women will need gowns. Have any ideas?"

Julie had joined us and told me, "You know where to go. You and the guys take a helicopter into Limon and get tuxes. I'll take any of the women into Georgette for a gown. This sounds like fun. I'd like to go along for this one if there is enough room."

When I asked Lisa if she would go with me to the Riviera she became excited then said, "I just don't think I can comfortably sit in an aircraft for that long a flight. I know I'm being a stick in the mud, but it's your fault for making me have so many at once."

I counted noses and it was at fifteen and the Citation could hold twelve in the non-luxury configuration. That did it; I called Jimmy and told him to hold on before flying down. I called Wes. The man is always so upbeat. "Wes, I'm in Costa Rica and need to be in Nice, France. What do you think the real range of your aircraft is?"

Wes was quick with the answer, so you knew he had been researching this. He said, "I'm sure the aircraft can fly sixty-five hundred miles at sixty to seventy thousand feet with no headwind. Any headwind will shorten the range. The onboard computer will give you constant updates on fuel and travel range. That's linked with the GPS and will give constant information on arrival times as well."

"Could your new airplane use a test flight? Would it be legal and safe to send the plane down here, then on to France? It's just under six thousand miles; should we test it?"

"Damn, that is one tempting offer, Chuck. I know the aircraft is as perfect as anything around here, and I have every confidence in it, but you're right on the edge of possibly running out of fuel over the Med. You would easily make it if you could refuel in the Azores. The refueling stop wouldn't take an hour. I can legally test the aircraft at higher speeds overwater, but the sonic boom isn't welcome in Europe either. Most of the trip will be overwater, so you should really make some time."

"What about the interior, Wes? It was barely started when we flew it."

Wes boasted, "All done in a semi-luxury setting. Nice galley, good communications network, and all tested this afternoon. We had a two hour test flight that was perfect. I'll call the FAA to see if they want to ride along. They might since you're obviously going to the Riviera."

"I have to send your favorite pilots down with the plane. They are both experienced with supersonic aircraft. I want those two to take the aircraft on the longer flight. They have both been up with the test pilot and taken the aircraft supersonic."

"Not a problem, Wes. Those two are the best. When can you send your rocket to me?"

"It'll take me a couple of hours to go over the aircraft just to make sure everything is exact, and less than an hour to get it down there. Darn, I wish I could go on this one, but we have a bunch of stuff coming together all at once. I should be here."

"Okay, tell Jimmy that we're going to fly the CS&S PX-1, so he should keep the Citation on the ground or for a charter."

Wes told me that I needed more certification in order to have passengers. He told me we were probably six months to a year away from getting that from the FAA. He then chuckled and told me, "I'll contact the Costa Rican authorities and ask for provisional certification from them. You are too important for them to snub you and I'm sure they would do anything you wanted to keep you happy. I'll make sure they have documents for the pilots to display if they are asked. Let me get on that right now."

My stomach was doing flip flops as this was going to be a really unique experience. The aircraft would get a good test flight coming down here, so we'll know if all systems are go. We needed to use the Internet to alert Lajes Field in the Azores of our estimated fuel requirement and get an availability confirmation. I went to find Brandy's laptop. I had to beg to use it for few minutes when I found her with it. I was quickly able to get confirmation, so that part of the trip was set.

Back with the guys, I said, "We need to find Gene, or I can fly us into Limon. You can take the girls to Georgette's, Julie, and I'll take the guys to the men's store."

I used my cell to call Gene. He told me that both helicopters were ready to fly and to take one unless I didn't feel I should fly. I told Gene, "I just had a drink, so I shouldn't fly. Do you mind flying us? We have to get some special clothing for a trip to the Riviera."

I had second thoughts thinking of how many needed to go. "Forget it. There's about fifteen who have to go. We'll take one of the catamarans."

Gene laughed as he said, "You travel with so many all the time, it's impossible to stuff your group into a small commuter helicopter. Call me if something comes up."

It took me a few minutes to get hold of Miguel so he could round up a boat to take us to Limon, but he was able to get one of the fast catamarans for me. It was more difficult to get all the people needing to get formal wear together than it was to get the airplane and boat.

I told Steve the surprise I had for him on the way into Limon. "We're taking the new CS&S PX-1. The interior is done, tested, and cleared for continued experimental use. It's going to be on its way down here in a couple of hours. The plan is to refuel in the Azores, so the trip will take nearly six hours for the six thousand miles to Nice."

Steve said, "So you're saying we're going to average over a thousand miles an hour?"

"Something like that, Steve. It may take us more like seven hours, but that's pretty darn fast for that distance."

"Jesus, Chuck, that makes my stomach do flip flops."

Dewey had come up on us, and asked, "What gives your tummy the flutters?"

I smiled at our friend and told him, "Want to do close to Mach 2?"

Dewey's eyes narrowed as he asked, "And how would I do that?"

I smiled and said, "We are going to fly direct to Nice from here with a refueling stop in the Azores. You get a ride on the CS&S PX-1."

"PX-1, what the hell is that?" Dewey asked, with a questioning expression.

"That, my brother, is the "P"assenger "X"perimental aircraft I asked Wes and Sal to create. They've designed, planned, and built it in less than a year. This is a tested and approved aircraft that we are going to test the range capability. We'll be nearly at, or possibly above, Mach 2 for part of the trip. You'll be flying way up there at between fifty-five thousand and seventy thousand feet, sitting there sipping a beverage as if you were in one of your G5s loafing along at five hundred knots."

Dewey was startled and asked, "Is it safe? Will it hold together?"

"That's the excitement of it, Dewey. Instead of two days to get there or back, we'll make the trip in six to eight hours. We'll be in and out of those casinos packing a lot of bread before they know to call the airports to hold us for cheating the system. It's almost too bad I don't get to pilot this one. I will very soon though. I'm going to have Wes build me one for my own use."

Dewey looked at me funny, and said, "You'll have the cash to do it too. You're even talking like this is going to be a no-brainer for you. You are definitely dangerous."

I checked with Julie to make sure she had the debit card I had given her. I assured her she couldn't run out of money buying gowns, shoes, and bags for all the women. I know I still had at least two of the untouched ten mil cards and the one I had been working on for a while. I had given Mark a couple of them and had busted one to give each of the girls a million on a card. I think the only one who had spent a lot was Brandy because she bought an airplane. I know Nancy used some of hers to get her folks a better place to live. Maria had sent twenty thousand to her relatives to help them in the crazy economy. The girls had all been conservative and none had even reached fifty percent of the card's value yet. Money just wasn't important to them, since they've had babies and they were being cared for with plenty of food and housing. That made me feel good, but also made me think that I should do more for them.

The men's shop owner was having trouble conceiving all of us needing expensive tuxes. He said it wouldn't be a problem preparing them, but it was just so unusual to have men come in to buy new rather than renting. I advised the man that the tuxes would need to hold up through at least four nights, and he should provide shirts for each night, as well. I had him fit me with my shoulder rig on so that it would look natural and not bulging. Who knew what kind of shit could happen? I almost had to force him to take my card when it was time to pay, as he felt he still owed me for my part of freeing the community from the man who had taken the area over. That had been a major traumatic event.

The clothing wouldn't be available until tomorrow early afternoon, so we would be leaving a day later than planned. Dewey told everyone, "We could have been fitted and had tuxes altered within hours on the Riviera, but this is better that we come to town with our own formal wear. This will not alert anyone of our existence until we're cleaning them out."

I knew there was no way to clean out a safe with many billions in it. The wealth of the casinos on the Riviera is an unknown, but everyone knew how many heirs to wealth left it there. What we could do is to push someone into wanting to cover up taking money from co-owners. This would prompt an offer instead of a French national or European Union audit which would probably send them to jail.

The PX-1 arrived and surprised me by now being painted, but wasn't full of cartoons. It was painted similar to a USAF aircraft instead, but had the 'CS&S PX-1' markings with 'Experimental' underneath. Everyone looked through the aircraft, marveling at how simplistic the cockpit was considering that this was a supersonic aircraft. Gene was salivating over the plane, and almost committed to fly with us instead of his usual duties of helicopter ferry duty and teaching. Mark was amused by Gene's enthusiasm, but remembered his desire to fly faster aircraft when he was younger.

We used the helicopter to pick up all the clothes from the two stores. The purchases for all of us included good dress shoes, as well as stockings for the ladies and dress socks for the men. I had a good tux at home that I had worn on the Riviera before. It's too bad we weren't closer to the Warehouse in order to have saved hundreds on formal wear. Even so, our Costa Rican tailor had brought the whole ensemble in at less than 60% of usual Stateside prices.

Our local Costa Rican government man called me and asked if he could come up to the house. I told the man, "You never have to ask to come to the house. You are like family and live on the island so come up any time." He said he had some documents for me and I needed to sign something for him.

Our customs man had the documents from the Costa Rican Ministry of Avaiation. They authorized full use of our PX-1 for passengers up to fifty at this time. I had to sign the authorization form that had been used as an application. It's too bad the USA didn't have a more expedient way to certify aircraft.

The extra time gave me a chance to play some good music with Lisa, Lizzy, Bonita, and several of the kids. Most of what we did was pure blues jam. We had a lot of fun until Lizzy presented some music she wanted to experiment with. This girl surprised the heck out of me with some really off the wall jazz. It took us over fifteen minutes to get our heads into her music, but it was fun after that. We all enjoyed the intricacies of the music Lizzy wrote. We needed a sax and a standup bass, but we felt and heard the music. Lizzy told me, "I've been playing all your jazz pieces, and this one just came to me. Thank you for not making fun of it."

"I would never make fun of what you wrote, Liz. Music is within us, and some of us can express it by writing and playing it. Hearing what you wrote gives me good chills that make me want to work with you to bring out all that talent that you've been hiding."

The happy Elizabeth gave me a hug and kiss while pressing her near Sue-sized fun balloons into my chest. I can just imagine how Steve reacted to those party balloons when those two first got together. The good news was Liz's determination to do exactly as I had asked both girls. No fooling around or even any sex talk until they were eighteen.

The group going to the Riviera left the island at five in the morning. There was eight hours difference between the island and Nice so we were taking off at one in the afternoon in Nice. It would take every bit of six to seven hours to get there, so we would arrive around eight or nine in Nice that night. We wanted to stay on schedule and figured we could dress and be in the casino by ten or eleven, which is still early for casino people. All the people on board would have to try and sleep most of the way.

Once we were airborne on the way to sixty thousand feet, Dewey told me, "This is important, Chuck. The other partners and I need for these people to make us an offer. I don't want to go through the governments doing an audit because these people could be as ruthless as those we ran into before. I want to hurt them enough that they want to get us out of the partnership. You should end up with at least twice what you brought home before if you do it right. Every one of us will be playing with you, so we'll win too."

Sharon wanted to talk to me while we were edging Mach 2. She asked, "Is it going to be legal for me to carry when we're there? Can you find that out for me?"

I used the communications center and contacted the State Department. I explained the situation and gave them Sharon's Deputy Marshal status. They told me someone would meet us upon arrival and give Sharon documents that would allow her to carry in both France and Spain. She would be issued a special Attaché credential that would take care of our stay. Sharon sat back with a grin on her face when I told her how she would be treated. She told me, "I'm a big shot like you now. Just how much pull do you have with all the various agencies?"

We were a little ahead of schedule and landed in the Azores forty minutes early. They were quick at refueling us while we checked the aircraft over. We picked up more time on the way to Nice because we didn't go subsonic over northwestern Africa. We arrived in Nice, France, at seven forty-five local time. A State Department official met us and gave us both new documentation. You could see Sharon strutting around showing her credentials to everyone.

The casinos opened at seven, but the fun usually began at nine or later. We had a leisurely supper before cleaning up and dressing in our fancy clothing. When we walked into the casino we wanted to bust, all of us except Steve and Dewey went in together. Dewey didn't want to be associated with us while he was watching us win big bucks.

I did my usual by playing some blackjack. Tom and Zena played with me, but didn't follow the rules so were losing consistently. I told Tom, "Hold onto your chips so that you don't blow them. You need to study this game a little and learn when to play and when not to."

I won about a thousand there and moved to the craps tables. The first table sent chills up and down my spine, so we moved to another. It was friendly, so I told Tom, "Play with me unless I tell you to hold out. There are sometimes opposing feelings about a crap table."

We played and won for about a half hour. I had hot flashes when it was Zena's turn to roll. I laid stacks of chips all over the table and was rewarded with bigger stacks. Tom was following my lead and was winning as well. Henry and Tiny were having a blast betting with us, and weren't able to contain their excitement.

I told everyone, "It's probably time to see if we can win at roulette. Let's go see."

We went to the low minimum tables after trading in about two hundred thousand in regular chips for roulette chips. I went to three that felt bad first, but landed at a table with a mature looking croupier who was smiling and having fun. We watched a couple of rolls and the house did a well on both. I lay some chips down on red, with some of our folks following me and we won. We did this five straight times and I then nodded to Tiny to only play the color while I played the number. Mercy was next to me and said, "You should be good if you play seventeen."

I put a stack of chips on red seventeen, and was promptly paid thirty-five to one. Mercy bumped me, telling me that this was too easy. Missy came to my other side and hugged my other arm. She told me, "Wait for this one. Something feels funny. It should be black thirty, but something's wrong."

Sure enough the ball landed in black thirty, but mysteriously moved to red 29. We watched again, but I put a single chip on black fifteen and the ball went into that slot and didn't leave. I played a hundred thousand on what I felt should be red twenty-two but I called the croupier to me just as he spun the ball for the roll. He was looking back and forth to me, the wheel, and my bet, and didn't want to come to me, but I insisted. The ball settled in red twenty-two while I asked him some mundane question. The payout was very nice. Dewey and Henry were high-fiving each other.

A floor monitor came to me and asked if I might want to make some wagers in the pit. The pit was a minimum twenty-five thousand bet with no limit, as usual. I went to the pit with Missy, Mercy, and Sharon. It looked like I was some insignificant playboy, with more money than brains, showing off to some women I had gathered.

We played some blackjack at first to get a feel for the area. There were two craps tables that were busy, but it didn't seem to have many chips changing hands. It was a little strange. I won at blackjack, but not significantly. I was consistently winning at the craps tables, but not the way I should have been. I told everyone that this wasn't my lucky table and left.

We watched at the roulette games and I didn't feel good about any of them. I didn't think we would have a chance to win. I played the minimum bet on a color and won. I did this a couple of times and won one and lost the other. I was trying to figure out how they were controlling the game, when Missy knocked some chips on the floor. She went to her knees to recover the chips and was under the table to view a spin. When Missy stood up she said, "I'm going to have Dewey call the other partners and the authorities. The guy has some kind of knee device that he moves after the ball is in place. It makes the ball jump."