by Bob Blanton
“You deserve it when I do,” Marc said.
“Probably. Anyway, I don’t feel isolated. I have Liz to talk to any time I want. Uncle Blake is always good for a laugh or some help if I need it. Kal and Liz work out with me all the time. I get to work on the most interesting projects in the world. The kidnapping was not cool, but you got me back, and I always knew you would. I have ADI to help me and to talk to. Her personality is growing, so that’s fun and interesting. What kid wouldn’t want to be me?”
“Sure, and what kids do you know?”
“I’ve never had that many friends,” Catie said. “We’ve only been there five weeks, so I haven’t had time to meet many anyway. When I go to the beach, I hang out with the kids there. This one guy has been teaching me to surf. So, I could have as many kids for friends as I want, I just haven’t met anyone that I want to have as a close friend. And I’ve been practicing what you told me about establishing a relationship with someone, so we will have something to build on later. The Finance Minister’s son and I are okay friends, he’s the one teaching me to surf.”
“I worry that you’re growing up too fast.”
“You know that Mommy says I was born a twenty-year-old.”
“Yeah, we’ve always talked about that. You’ve always been so smart, and you’ve been around so many of her colleagues and mine that you’ve always acted more like an adult than a kid,” Marc said. He sighed, then continued, “But you’re more important to me than any of this other stuff. So, if you’re not happy or you want something you’re not getting, you come and talk to me. Okay?”
“Deal.”
Chapter 8
Flying Lesson
“Are you ready for this?” Fred asked Catie as they headed to the G650.
“I was born ready,” Catie said.
Fred just laughed at her, “It’s going to be different than flying the simulator. Even with those three-D glasses, it’ll be different.”
“I know,” Catie said.
“Blake has bought a full-blown simulator,” Fred said. “He assumes that he’ll be able to modify it for the Lynxes.”
“We should, we’re using the same controls,” Catie said. “The rest is just software, and ADI is the best programmer in the world.”
“I’m sure,” Fred said. “Once the simulator is here, we’ll put you through more difficult scenarios.”
“Good morning, Captain, Hello, Catie,” Jennie greeted them as they climbed the ramp into the jet.
“Hi, Jennie, you’re coming up with us?”
“Somebody has to make your coffee,” Jennie said. “Besides, I understand we’ll be picking some people up from Auckland.”
“Oh,” Catie’s eyes shined. “I didn’t know we were going that far.”
“These jets are expensive to fly,” Fred said. “We don’t want to take this baby up without getting something else out of it besides flying time.”
“Who are we picking up?” Catie asked.
“Some construction workers Blake hired,” Fred explained. “Now go up, sit in the copilot’s chair, and handle the preflight. I’ll check with the crew chief.”
“We’re good to go,” Catie said when Fred made his way into the cockpit.
“Good, let me double-check your work,” Fred said. “I know you have probably done this a few dozen times on the simulator, but humor an old man.”
Catie frowned as Fred went through all the preflight checks, but didn’t say anything.
“I’ll let you handle the radio,” Fred said. “I’ll do the takeoffs and landings for now. Today, we just want you to get the feel of handling her.”
“Okay,” Catie said with disappointment.
“Get on the radio,” Fred chided, “I’m ready to fly.”
“Clearance, MacKenzie One to Auckland.”
“MacKenzie One cleared to Auckland airport, AZ423, depart runway one, squawk 0-2-3-3.”
“MacKenzie One cleared to Auckland airport, AZ423, depart runway one, squawk 0-2-3-3.” Catie echoed.
“Mackenzie One readback correct, Mackenzie One taxi into position one left.”
“Mackenzie One taxi into position one left.”
“Mackenzie One cleared for takeoff.”
“Mackenzie One, cleared for takeoff,” Catie responded.
“Let’s go,” Fred said as he pushed the throttle forward.
"Mackenzie One good afternoon, radar identified maintain seven thousand."
"Roger, maintain 7 thousand."
"Mackenzie One, after noise abatement turn heading 0-9-0."
"Right, heading 0-9-0 after noise, Mackenzie One."
"Mackenzie One climb to flight level 2-3-0."
"Climb to flight level 2-3-0, Mackenzie One."
“Wow, that’s a lot of talking just to take off,” Catie said.
“I guess it is, but you get used to it, and they don’t want you running into any other planes,” Fred explained. “You have to repeat everything, so they know you’ve heard them. Check and double-check, and you’ll be safe.”
"Mackenzie One contact Auckland Center on 1-2-7-0."
"Auckland Center on two-seven-zero Mackenzie One, good day."
“Auckland Center, Mackenzie One, climbing to 2-3-0.”
◆ ◆ ◆
"Mackenzie One identified, maintain 3-3-0."
"Thank you, Mackenzie One."
“Okay, are you ready to take the controls?”
“Sure,”
“Then take them,” Fred said.
“I have the controls.”
“You have the controls.”
“Now let’s fly some slaloms for a bit, that way, you can get a feel for her,” Fred said.
Catie immediately starting banking the G650 to the right. After a bit, she eased it back to the left, carefully keeping an eye on the heading and altitude.
“Auckland Center, Mackenzie One, requesting transition to 3-0-0.”
“Mackenzie One, cleared for ascent to 3-0-0.”
“Mackenzie One, cleared of ascent to 3-0-0.”
“Take her up,” Fred said.
Catie pulled the yoke back and adjusted the flaps. The nose of the G650 pitched up, and they started to climb. “Textbook,” Fred said.
The flight to Auckland lasted two-and-a-half hours. Catie was greatly relieved when they started to chat with the control tower again.
“I can see why you talk so much,” Catie said. “It’s so boring just flying.”
“You have to enjoy the scenery and the freedom,” Fred said.
“I’d rather be doing loops,” Catie said.
“So, would we all.”
"Auckland, Mackenzie One, flight level 3-0-0 with clearance to 3-3-0 our discretion, we are requesting runway thirty-two."
◆ ◆ ◆
"Cleared to land, Mackenzie One."
“Wow, that was cool,” Catie said after they landed.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Tomorrow we’ll take her up and just fly around the island. Once we’re out of the air control lanes, we can have some fun.”
“Oh, that sounds better,” Catie said.
"Mackenzie One, contact ground 1-2-1 decimal 9."
"Mackenzie One."
"Ground, Mackenzie One is with you for gate 1-8."
"Mackenzie One is cleared into gate 1-8."
"Mackenzie One."
Chapter 9
Board Meeting – Dec 3rd
“I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving break,” Marc said, “but back to work.”
“Scrooge,” Blake said.
“I try,” Marc said. “How’s the hunt for a house going?”
“I think we’ve found just the place,” Blake said. “Kal likes it from a security perspective, we just need to take Sam out there to give us a woman’s perspective.”
“Hey!” Liz said.
“I guess I meant an I refuse to camp, woman’s perspective,” Blake said. “You’re too easy to please.” Liz gave Blake a smile that might have meant she was okay w
ith his excuse or that she planned to get even. “Anyway, it’s a mansion that’s being rented online as a vacation rental. It’s close to the harbor and the Mea Huli, so we should like that. There are enough rooms upstairs for everyone if Catie and Liz are willing to bunk together. It has a study, a maid’s quarters and a bedroom downstairs. If we convert all three, then we’ll have plenty of office space. It also has a small cottage on the grounds for the security team. We could kick Kal out there or give up one of the offices if Liz and Catie want their own rooms, but they’ve been sharing the hotel room all this time.”
“I notice you didn’t suggest that Fred bunk with Kal or you,” Liz said. “You guys have been sharing a suite.”
“I’d make Kal go to the cottage first,” Blake said.
“I’d move to the cottage first,” Kal retorted.
“I’m okay bunking up, how about you, Catie?”
“Sure, Roomie,” Catie said. “You hardly snore at all.”
Liz threw a coaster at Catie, “I do not snore!”
“I said hardly at all,” Catie said.
“Back to the mansion,” Marc said loudly.
“We could use the dining room to hold board meetings if you’re okay with security,” Kal continued.
“We’ll see,” Marc said.
“I’m available after the meeting to go look,” Samantha said.
“Great,” Blake said. “Kal, do you want to take her?”
“Sure, I’ll take along a couple of my new guys and have them case the area some more. We’ll want to do some gardening too,” Kal said. “The owner seemed amenable to us spending the bucks to tame some of the jungle around the place.”
“Sam, how about our contract with the government?”
“I’ve got a big meeting with them on Wednesday. We’ll see how that goes. It looks promising.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” Marc said. “Kal, how about security?”
“Liz and I ran the five candidates I brought out through their paces. We decided to keep four of them,” Kal said.
“Why did the one wash out?”
“We got a bad vibe off him,” Kal said. “Although I’d be okay with him watching my back in the field, I wouldn’t want my friends hanging around with him when he’s off duty.” Liz nodded, seconding Kal’s assessment. Marc was happy to see that they were in agreement.
“Anything else?”
“Paintball arena is ready. I thought we’d go up against the new guys.”
“Have fun,” Marc said. “Liz, anything?”
“I really like Dr. Nikola,” Liz said. “Blake has everybody set up in that warehouse, and the scientists seem to like the arrangement. They have lunch or coffee brought in and hang out arguing about stuff while their experiments run. That plasma torch is something else. Those two physicists you have are just doing everything on the computer or the whiteboard. I don’t know when they’ll want any equipment.”
“Just be ready,” Marc said. “Now some new business. Dr. Metra says she can handle more patients. I think it’s time we started to offer the Alzheimer’s treatment to private patients.”
“Here, here!” Fred called out.
“How do you want to advertise?” Samantha asked.
“I’d like to start with discreet inquiries,” Marc said.
“What?” Samantha asked, wrinkling her nose.
“I’m assuming that word will start getting around from the families of the fifteen patients we’ve treated so far,” Marc said. “Catie’s great grandparents have gone home, people will notice that they’ve been doing better. Dr. Tuba has declined our offer of employment. He is planning to return to the University of Washington and start teaching again. I expect that we will start getting inquiries from others about the potential for treatment. Sam, I was hoping you might find a way to let some other people know about our treatment.”
“I can,” Samantha said. “What would we be charging for the treatment?”
“Five hundred thousand dollars,” Marc said.
“Are you insane?” Samantha gasped.
“It costs over fifty thousand dollars a year to care for someone with Alzheimer’s, more for the clientele we’re talking about,” Marc said. “Over a trillion dollars a year is spent treating Alzheimer’s patients worldwide. To be able to save all that expense, plus get a loved one back has to be worth a lot. We can’t handle that many cases right now, we might as well demand as much money as we can.”
“You’re cutthroat,” Samantha said. “I can’t believe you.” She slumped back in her seat and crossed her arms.
“Sam, we need more money. We’re only going to be able to help maybe twenty-five patients a month. I’d be happy to do it for free, but then we’d be inundated with people. How would we decide? Plus, the publicity it would generate would be problematic. If we focus on wealthy and powerful people, there wouldn’t be an issue about publicity, in fact, it’s likely that nobody knows they have Alzheimer’s. If any of you hears of a case we should take for free, we will. But until we’re in a place where we can offer it more widely, I think this is the best path.”
Marc looked around the table for support. Only Samantha was furious, but nobody else seemed interested in jumping in to defend his position.
“How long before we can offer it to more people?” Catie asked, throwing her father a bone.
“Six months to a year,” Marc said. “We have to be more secure when we do. We have to develop a process for managing it at remote locations if we want to handle more than twenty-five a month. We can’t make everybody come to the Cook Islands. There is some very proprietary technology associated with the treatment that we cannot afford to get out.”
“But you could handle a lot more than twenty-five patients a month,” Catie said.
“When we get the clinic built on Delphi City, we will be able to handle more, but even then, it will only be about two hundred a month.”
“But you could make some of them for regular people,” Catie said.
“I’d be happy to,” Marc said. “Why don’t you and Sam work out how to handle those kinds of inquiries and referrals. We’ll set aside fifty percent for those cases.”
“Okay,” Catie said. Samantha relaxed a bit and quit glaring at Marc. Marc decided to wait a few days before asking her about handling the paying cases again.
“Fred, how is the training program for the new Lynxes coming along? And, any luck finding a couple of pilots?”
“We have a flight simulator for the G650 on order. Catie assures me that it can be modified to allow us to train the pilots for the Lynx. I’ve got a few feelers out to some guys who look promising. I should hear back soon.”
“Okay,” Marc said. “Let’s go home.”
◆ ◆ ◆
That afternoon, Samantha grudgingly approved the house. It was a beautiful place, but the appliances and fixtures were dated, and probably had not been the best when they were installed. The next day they moved in. Everyone immediately started calling it the compound. Kal had the jungle trimmed back and a fence installed to help keep out unwanted visitors. There were always at least two of his security detail wandering around outside. They never came into the house, but their presence was still felt.
After the first night, everyone agreed it was better than the hotel, even after they had to eat Blake’s cooking for breakfast.
Chapter 10
Treaty update
“Samantha, are you busy?” Marc asked as he poked his head into the lawyer’s office.
“I’m always busy,” Samantha replied. “I assume you’re looking for an update?”
“I am.”
“Come in and sit down.”
“Where’s your assistant?”
“This is Saturday,” Samantha said. “I assume she’s at home or at the beach.”
Marc looked a bit startled as he did a quick check in his head. “I guess I lost track of time.”
“It happens.” Samantha gave Marc an enigmatic smile. “So
, what do you want to know?”
Marc rolled his eyes at her. “Like there would be anything else on my mind.”
“You might want to take me to dinner.”
“Am I forgiven?”
“Mostly,” Sam said. “Dinner would help with that too.”
“I’m up for that,” Marc said with a nod. “I will take you to dinner, even if you don’t have good news.”
“Great, you should call for reservations now. Someplace extra special since I have good news.”
Marc laughed and used his HUD to ask ADI to make reservations at Antipodes. “Antipodes, okay with you?”
“I hear it’s excellent,” Samantha said. “By the way, what does Antipodes mean?”
“It’s a word for Australia and New Zealand,” Marc said. “Means the exact opposite side of the earth from where you are.”
“Interesting. Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way . . .”
“And you’ve got yourself a dinner invitation.”
“Yes, that too. I’ve gotten the government to agree to the main terms you’ve asked for in the contract. They’ve accepted the fifty-million-per-year lease rate. And they have agreed to our paying it out over the fifty-year term of the lease, as long as you purchase bonds to guarantee the payment. It will cost you one-billion to buy the bonds. Then you will be required to make another billion in investments within the first ten years, a minimum of one hundred million in the first year.
“It also requires you to establish a medical clinic focused on treating and developing treatments for chronic, genetic, and debilitative diseases where any Cook Islander will be treated for free. We’re still working on the tax rate, but they seem flexible. I’ve structured it like a treaty, as you asked. That was easier than expected; I guess they feel more comfortable with the language. One unexpected thing is that you’ll be appointed mayor of Manuae.”
“What!”
“Well, there has to be some government structure, police force, etc. Since everyone on the island will be working for you, it simplifies things if you’re the mayor. Of course, you’re only going to be paid one New Zealand dollar per year.”
