Bob, the Invisible Dragon

by David J. Wighton

  "I still don't know why you're so happy about the diamonds. There's no real call for diamond rings any longer and I don't know anybody who would want to wear one of these on her finger."

  "They're not for jewelry, Dreamer," my mom said.

  "They're going to give the world cheap, abundant, renewable power." Mac explained.

  [Censor's Note: More vulgar words have been deleted.]

  "That's what we though too," Mac said.

  # # # # # # # #

  The men were pulling dishwashing duty while Mac, Melissa and my mom talked in the living room with Wiz and Dreamer about the practicalities of actually using their inventions for profit. The men were good at the scientific theory, but certain strategic considerations had to be addressed and these women were experts in strategic thinking.

  "Each of us is in charge of protecting a Wilizy invention," my mom started. "I'm in charge of hiding how we're producing the diamonds. Wizard, you have the reports from those geologists you hired to explore Alberta's old mines, right?"

  "Yeah. They found profitable mineral deposits still left in those mines. We might be able to make some money."

  "Everybody knows that you have been looking at those mines, right Wiz?"

  "Yeah. William said I should be open about it."

  "Good. Now you're going to find a huge supply of diamonds in some of those mines. You pick which ones. They can be found in the very deep mines; or, you can choose shallow mines and we'll claim that we drilled deeper. We're going to put a defensive electronic shell over the mines like what's over the home compound. No one will be able to sneak into the mine or even spy on what's happening from outside. All of our mines will be automated so that no workers will be needed. We'll run some fake cargo runs from the mines to the factories that will be using the diamonds but those factories will receive palletized shipments of diamonds directly from Haida Gwaii."

  "I'll pick the mines that are in narrow valleys, so the secrecy screen will be easier to install."

  "Good thinking."

  "You'll need to negotiate land ownership with Rick."

  "I'll make the mines part of the land that Rick has to give us as part of the sleeper penalty. That way, we'll have the full rights to anything that comes out of the mines. No revenue sharing with Alberta. Few labour costs. Virtually no costs of developing the diamonds. We supply the diamonds at a small cost to the factory that is going to make the power unit. When we sell those units outside of the province, there'll be a very high profit margin. The factory that manufactures these new power units will be a Wilizy factory, right?"

  "The factory has to be inside a Wilizy secure site and it has to be automated. But from our perspective, we don't care if it's on Alberta land or Wilizy land. My job is to make sure nobody ever discovers our real source of diamonds. Competitors will believe we're getting them from deep, deep mines. That should keep them distracted and very unproductively busy trying to copy us. Anything further about diamond mines that we need to talk about? Dreamer?"

  ...

  Mac took over. "Wiz and Dreamer, I'm protecting the secret of the environmental cleaning. I don't believe you're going to be impacted by this, but in case you hear any public suspicions in that direction, you should alert me right away. We face two dangers, and they're big ones. First, if countries find out that we're scrubbing the atmosphere, they may think that it's alright for them to start spewing pollution again. As far as we know, and the boys have looked around the world, countries are now staying with clean energy. The power units that we're going to manufacture and sell are clean and renewable, and we hope by encouraging countries to use Wilizy power units, they will keep on that path. That means that you have to be careful about the prices that you set so that they don't move to old, dirty technology because they can't afford our power units."

  "I'll probably set up a revenue sharing model like we've done with the medical inventions."

  "So you'll have to ensure there's enough profit to keep money flowing into Alberta, and enough profit to fund Wilizy projects. But not too much profit or some countries will go back to burning coal."

  "Got it."

  "The second danger is that world's politicians will find out what we're doing with the world's climate and will try to interfere. Then they'll all start arguing and nothing will be done. We can't let these buffoons ruin the Earth a second time."

  ...

  Melissa took her turn. "I'm in charge of protecting the secret of our new power unit. Once the world learns what we're doing, there's going to be enormous interest and that interest will inevitably move to attempts to copy us. They'll learn that we're using diamonds in the power units. But they won't be able to find or manufacture diamonds like ours. That means that they'll try to steal our power units so that they can duplicate the process. We have to be ready for that."

  "We know some of the countries that will do that," Wiz said. "Can we refuse to sell to them?"

  "They'll find a way to buy from our friends who will make enormous profits reselling our power units. It won't work. The world has far too many crooked governments."

  "You believe that if they can't reinvent our technology, they'll steal some of our civilian products and re-design them for military use?"

  "Yeah, Dreamer. I can see that happening. Our power units will be used by numerous people and companies. We don't want to create a crime wave of power unit thefts the world over. Lots of innocent people could be hurt."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I'm trying to find a way to destroy the diamond if the power unit is opened illegally. I thought of installing a vial of acid that would be strong enough to melt the diamond. But there's no acid that can touch a diamond without a long exposure and under extreme conditions. So I'm at a dead end on how we can protect the secret."

  # # # # # # # #

  They kicked around some ideas, but diamonds are enormously tough. Not much can touch them. The boys were drifting into the living room when Dreamer remembered something.

  "I was about five years old and my dad, my non-dad actually, was sent to prison. My mom must have attended his trial because she came home very angry. She had found out that he had a history of stealing and her first thought was to check the diamond wedding ring that he had given her. It had never fit well, but she had stopped wearing it for other reasons. When she looked at it with a magnifying glass, she saw signs of a previous owner. I remember her cussing him out. When she wound down, she found a hammer, placed the ring on a rock by Dutch Lake, and shattered the diamond with one blow. I remember this clearly because after the hammer blow, she looked around, saw only me, and so she hiked up her dress and peed on what remained of the diamond. That's not something I'm ever likely to forget. I'm kind of proud of her for doing that, actually."

  My mom got up and hustled away.

  Mac said, "For future reference, you can't tell pee stories when a pregnant woman is in the room."

  "A hammer blow can shatter a diamond into pieces," my dad said.

  "I can design something," Mac said.

  "Like a pressurized baton that mom used when she was in the RCMP," Melissa said. "Push a button and bam."

  "There's room in the power chamber for it," Wolf said.

  "We have a winner," Melissa announced. "Thanks to Dreamer's mom, her hammer, and her pee."

  "Do you know if your mom used a ball-peen hammer, Dreamer?" William asked.

  Dreamer started to answer but she was drowned out by a chorus of groans.

  Back to the Table of Contents

  Chapter 18

  The rest of March was a busy one for all of the warriors producing diamonds out of thick air. Wiz and Dreamer selected two fake diamond mines and had them designated as Wilizy land. TG and William took a holiday away from their research and put up security screens over each mine, complete with a titanium cover, an emerald green logo, and an active laser port between the W-Z letters. Titanium supplies from North Korea were flowing into Alberta and Mathias was
in charge of picking up those shipments and delivering them to Zeballos prison for temporary storage. He was now acting full time as a Wilizy freight pilot since Lucas was working on a construction site in Calgary. Lucas' boss liked him because he had no fear whatsoever of working at great heights. Lucas had always had been that way, even without his sling.

  Wizard met with his Anchorage engineers who were chomping at the bit to put their designs to the test. He gave them the specs for the power unit they'd put into their creation. William had added another power generating mechanism to their original plans. William had thought about this wrinkle while he was trying to walk Izzy to sleep one morning. All of this new information would require some modifications to their initial design but major changes would not be needed. When Wizard told them that the infrastructure would not be in place for months, the engineers' good mood evaporated. That mood came back when he told them that they'd be working in Calgary from now on, and in a building that would allow them to create an actual working model of their creation. They became positively buoyant when he told them he wanted a working model in five different sizes. If buoyancy is a theme here, I can tell you that Wiz and Dreamer were flying high too because they were able to put the entire old Calgary airport land under Wilizy control. The penalty for the incursion of Zzyk's sleepers into B.C. had now been paid in full.

  Dreamer's chocolate plans had to be put on hold while she worked on the more important diamond-based project. However the news on the peanut front was positive. Momaka was confident that her hybrid would work in Alberta weather and she was busy hand-producing a full set of seeds that could be sown in Coronation. Peanuts from that area would soon serve as seed peanuts for the entire industry. As to where the peanuts would be grown, Wizard had shared the benefits of a peanut-based agricultural zone with Rick who loved the idea. The actual negotiations had not started, but it was highly likely that they'd agree on some sort of sharing arrangement. It was Alberta land that would be used and Alberta farmers who would be growing the peanuts. The Wilizy's contributions were limited to the seeds that Alberta farmers would use to start their first crop. Wizard had no qualms about taking only small profits from this industry. But he was also talking with Saskatchewan officials about a peanut growing zone of their own. Jock had provided the introductions and was now acting as an official Wilizy representative in discussions about land use and what the Wilizy wanted in exchange for their technology.

  Dreamer and Wizard's relationship was back to normal, and if truth be told, was steaming steadily forward. Emphasis on the word steaming. Dreamer was still anxious about Double-Tom escaping from Stu's protective custody, but she was fully immersed now in exciting projects and she was energized again.

  # # # # # # # #

  Speaking of Double-Tom, he had returned from an interview with his lawyer and was sharing his thoughts about his lawyer's recommendations with Mr. Stu. Such conversations at the front of their two cells were now becoming more frequent. A sign, if you like, that D-T was beginning to trust Mr. Stu and rely on him more.

  D-T was expressing some unhappiness with the progress of his case and the performance of his legal representative. "He wants me to plead guilty to manslaughter. Wolf-jerk says that's the best that I can ever get. He ignores me when I say that I'm completely innocent."

  "Imagine that. Does he realize that he's in over his depth?"

  "He knew that already. Now he's scared, and I think it's because of who the prosecutor is. His eyes became all big when he told me. He said the name in a whisper, actually."

  "Who's the prosecutor?"

  "Somebody named Doc."

  # # # # # # # #

  "You should seriously consider pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter." This was now the second time that Mr. Stu had given Double-Tom that advice.

  "But I'm innocent. I have witnesses that can place me in Surrey."

  "Your witnesses are ex-cons as well as your friends. You were imprisoned together. Besides, nobody believes you're innocent. I certainly don't."

  "This justice system sucks. Why are you recommending that I should cave and take twenty years?"

  "Let me tell you about Doc. When he was young, a criminal had his true love killed. Doc waited and waited because this murderer was untouchable. Doc went into hiding when the murderer came after him. Doc survived numerous attempts on his life. He hid and bided his time. After thirty years of biding and hiding, Doc found a way. That murderer is now dead. It took him months to die, each day in pain. I'm told that Doc smiles a lot these days."

  D-T had nothing to say.

  "The man's a legend. He has never lost a single court case in his entire life. He's retired now, but I hear he's still sharp. I'm surprised he's taking this case. I can't imagine why he would do that."

  "Why do they call him Doc?"

  "He was a real doctor at some point. But the Doc nickname spread throughout the justice system because he attends cases where a death sentence is likely. If the judge announces a guilty verdict, Doc examines the man to ensure he's healthy enough to be executed. He doesn't want him dying too soon. Cold, cold man. I've actually seen him in action. Fortunately, I was in the trial in another capacity and didn't have to argue law against him."

  D-T sat down on his bunk. "What's he look like?"

  "I can't hear you when you're behind the bookshelf, D-T. Wonky ear. Loud fan." Mr. Stu still had his big bookshelf in D-T's cell. That meant that D-T was crammed into a half-cell with no room to stand other than at the front.

  Double-Tom came back to the front of the cell. "What's he look like?"

  "Aboriginal. Tall. Black bushy eyebrows. Shock of white hair. Bigger and stronger than you. Fit. Probably an athlete in his day. I've heard that if somebody stepped in his way when he was hiking, Doc would hip check him into the bushes. He won't be stopped if he wants something."

  "Could you take him?"

  "Depends."

  "On what?"

  "On whether I was given an opening to attack his case. Discovering that his witness lied would do it. A witness who was incapacitated in some fashion would be useful. I could make do with a murder that was committed in the middle of the night when vision was bad. Lots of defensive arguments might be possible."

  D-T said nothing.

  "I've heard something from a friend who is in a position to know," Mr. Stu confided.

  "You have a friend in here who gives you inside information?"

  Stu spread his arms and indicated the cell he was living in. "Of course I have a friend here."

  "Yeah. I forgot. You live in luxury. I live in a closet."

  "Doc was here in the prison. Getting information on you. Looking at your file."

  "Is that legal?"

  "Of course it is. However it wouldn't be legal if he discovered something bad about you and didn't share it with your wolf-man."

  "Is he likely to find out anything bad?"

  "I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Your lawyer should be filing orders requiring him to release every bit of information he has on you. Paper files. Electronic files. Records of conversation. All of this has to be turned over to your lawyer or the case against you could be thrown out of court."

  "I'll ask him if he's filed for that. Did you find out anything else from your source?"

  "Somebody has been spreading pictures of you from Barriere to Clearwater. Your face is plastered on the front of posters asking – Did you see this man on July 26, 2075 near the North Thompson River? Somebody hired people to go door-to-door with the posters."

  "What happened on July 26, 2075?"

  "Your wife disappeared that day."

  "Oh yeah. I was in Surrey."

  # # # # # # # #

  "There's a chance that you could get lucky," Mr. Stu was trying to give his moping cellblock buddy some hope.

  "How so?"

  "If Doc is nosing around the prison, there's a chance that he might take a chance and question you."

  "How's that lucky for me?" />
  "There are rules that everybody knows. And there are very obscure rules that very few people know. I have an idea that might work."

  Mr. Stu went to one of his bookshelves – in this case, the bookshelf was in D-T's cell, but Mr. Stu had access to those books from his own cell. He pulled out six large volumes after carefully studying the letters on the spines. Mr. Stu handed them to D-T, took six other books from the shelves on the other side of his cell, and put them on his table. "You should scan through those books looking for two cases. The case names in the books are printed in bold letters on each page so they'll be easier to find. I'll do the same with these books."

  "What names am I looking for?"

  "First case is Yolanda versus Yolanda. Second case is B.C. versus Lucas, Theo, Mathias and Reese."

  "What are the cases about?"

  "It won't matter if we can't find the references. If we find them, and if Doc doesn't know about these cases, you could be walking out of here a free murderer."

  D-T took the books to his bunk and went to work immediately. Mr. Stu opened all six of his books and scattered them on his table. Then he pulled a hidden recipe book out from underneath his mattress, made himself comfortable on his bed, and began to read. From time to time, he made notes. If he had to, he could honestly tell D-T that he was conducting criminal research. The recipe book was titled Chocolate desserts that should be illegal they're so good.

  # # # # # # # #

  "Found them," Mr. Stu announced several hours later at the front of his cell. His hair was unkempt and he looked tired.

  "Good, because I didn't find anything. Are these going to work?"

  "Definitely. But you have to hope that Doc comes into the prison and tries to question you. If so, you want that to happen. Don't try and hide if you see him. Stay in the open. Let him come to you. Let him ask you any question he wants. Pretend to have a sore throat that stops you from answering. Be sure the other prisoners in the area see you. Remember who was there."

  "How is that going to help me?"

  "A prosecuting attorney can't question the accused without the attorney for the defense being present. Every lawyer knows that. Some prosecutors try to avoid the rule by accidentally bumping into the accused in a public space and asking questions anyways. In the case of Yolanda versus Yolanda, two women in a family were fighting for the right to use the same first name. Both wanted the name and didn't want the other to have it. The lawyer for one Yolanda asked the other a simple question when her defense lawyer wasn't present: Why do you want the name so badly? The judge heard about the question and threw the case out. Both had to use the name. She wouldn't let them appeal or anything. I believe one of the women actually left the country she was so upset."