The Hurricane that Burned Down Texas

By Gene Haynes
Author page

Contents
1) The story begins
2) The Solid Dollar
3) Property exchange
4) Eastern women
5) At the Box

6) Easy Mark
7) Gold
8) The risk
9) The lung
10) Hive mentality

11) Bobber's father
12) Kiochawi Raiders
13) The last raid
14) At the barn
15) The era of trust begins

16) Agreement to end war
17) Bankers fold up a plan
18) Fighters violate Oath
19) Solid Dollar takes over
20) Shooting Astrologer hats

21) Gold threatens revenge
22) Walk through the door
23) Credit-men
24) Bobber takes the Box
25) Gold Town

26) Going east coast
27) Oil, gas, nuclear power
28) Leatherleaf
29) Red Lake monster
30) Bobber finds family

31) Storm and fire
32) GE crystal
33) Plan to sell
34) Girlfriend Cheneen
35) After the hurricane

36) Search for survivors
37) Queen is announced
38) First reports
39) Gold Town booms
40) Gold Boss, Bank Boss, Gold Leaders

41) Trap is laid
42) Bobber discovers the Queen
43) Opportunity
44) Bobber meets Windrock
45) New Leaders emerge

46) RobbieB claims Cheneen
47) New Galveston/ the Big Thriller
48) Finish business
49) Fight in the street
50) Runaway Property Report

51) The Hall
52) Problem
53) Liam gets caught
54) Cheneen sees contract
55) Liam reclaims ownership

56) A-con chillers
57) MissTea and the Medical School
58) Monitors-mini
59) Windrock and Bobber
60) Liam makes the trade

61) Burned-out Texas
62) Explosive Leatherleaf
63) Survivors
64) Can't find 'em
65) Gold Leaders get tour

66) No more
67) The set-up
68) The play against Bobber
69) RobbieB arrives
70) Cheneen declares against family

71) Dispute goes to the Hall
72) The Decision
73) Second Hurricane
74) Bobber and Windrock together
75) Reety

76) The Red Brazos
77) The wonder of New Galveston
78) The Bank
79) Bobber meets the Queen
80) The King

1) The story begins
Contents Next chapter
10 AM and another scorching day in north central Texas.
The Red Cedars were dry and turning gray.

Liam arrived at the Trade Box with his 3 children, Older boy, Small boy, and their sister, young Property.
She was laughing at the grasshopper that escaped her reach.
Liam was an old Lithium fighter who got out before the wars ended.

Liam and his older son entered the Box and stood by the counter.
The two young ones waited outside.

Bobber greeted them with a smile, setting out glasses of fresh juice.
It was a nice change. The old owner treated people like a rasp.
Bobber took over 3 years earlier. He had good teeth, trimmed hair, wore clean clothes. Not overly sociable, but well liked.

More members of Liam’s clan were approaching from Red Lake 100 yards away.
They arrived in two boats from the other side.
The crossing was easy that day. Not much wind, it was kinda odd, barely half sail coming from the east.

LeoJ worked in the back room. Security monitors showed the view outside. He kept a wary eye on the new arrivals.
The Trade Box had no windows.

Several monitors hung outside to attract customers. More monitors hung inside. They were latest ones, the full monitors-worldwide.
There were two types of monitors-worldwide:
Trade monitors that scrolled through trade goods.
And free monitors that showed announcements and news from elsewhere.

The sun was starting to drive most people indoors or back to the fields to check irrigation lines.
A few people sat outside in chairs under the canvas watching the announcements.

Unlike most Trade Boxes, there was no glass barrier between customer and seller.
It was the new ‘open-way’ of business.

The Trade Box was made of thick wood walls, with reinforced mesh, covered by a screed of Indian-asphalt to keep out dust.
Inside were tall ceilings. Several light bulbs illuminated the space while the a-con chiller drafted cool air across the room. It felt good.
Concealed behind the raised wood counter was a metal plate to stop shells.
It was the last defense left over from original construction. Other protections were removed when Bobber took over.
Times were better, but the old ways still lurked close among men's intentions.

Behind Bobber was a rough-cut limestone wall. It was the last standing part from an old building around which the Trade Box was built. A low door opened into the back room where records and trade goods were stored.
LeoJ sat in the back each day. He handled transactions, ensuring that accounts were correctly registered on the trade disc.

People could make transactions on the trade monitor, or negotiate directly with Bobber.
All trades and records were now protected by the Solid Dollar.

Three years earlier, LeoJ was working in the back when local raiders crashed in and shot RJ and killed his nephew, Buroy.
Two days later, Bobber walked in and started running the box.
Didn’t cost him a thing. He just took over.

RJ stayed alive three days and wanted his son LittleJ to run things, but his son was fearful.
After that, if RJ’s son wanted the Trade Box, he would have to square with Bobber.
The goods were gone. So what's worth squaring up?
It was just an old Trade Box, not worth getting killed trying to collect from Bobber.
Most assumed Bobber came from raiding. It wasn't known, but his bold takeover meant it was probably true.
A lot of men came from raiding, and you didn't ask.

When the raiders struck the Trade Box, LeoJ ran out the secret back door and just missed getting killed. Of course the secret door wasn’t secret after that.
Bobber hid the door in a new location, and it was a local game trying to figure out where he put it.
Bobber lived in the room above the Trade Box. Two stairways led up to the second floor. One on the outside. And the other, a spiral stair from the back room where Bobber came and went without notice.

The raiders shot at LeoJ all the way down to Red Lake where he dove into the red-brown water and swam under the crossing boats. Lost one shoe. Somebody found it later and sold it back to him.

After Bobber took over, he let people know it was different.
It was the open-way.

A few days later, LeoJ came back around.
He walked in, Bobber nodded. LeoJ went back to work and that was it.
It didn't take long for them to become friends, both coming from different worlds but each wanting the same thing: prosperity and peace.

Together they changed things.
They took down the glass barriers, sold the glass, and covered the gun ports.

That just didn’t make sense with so much violence.
But Bobber knew that people didn’t like how RJ did business, running gold and making false claims.

The new open-way was different because it gave people a choice.
They could openly kill Bobber if they got off the shot.
Of course guns weren’t allowed inside the Box.
But the open-way was more.
It meant the owner was going to deal fair.

Then Bobber added full new monitors-worldwide from the Bank.
The new monitors-worldwide were bigger and faster than the old gold monitors that hung at the Box before.

Using the monitor-worldwide, people could see the goods and view records without breaking in.
For a small credit, people could use the trade monitor to contact family members they hadn’t seen for years. It was amazing.
Different from the trade monitor, the free monitors were a completely new idea. People loved watching the free announcements.
The old gold monitors showed nothing like that.

Bobber brought up the Solid Dollar.
That stood the people back.
They traded with gold all their lives, and then gold wasn’t accepted.

The Solid Dollar was about buying and selling on credit; different from gold where prices changed throughout the day.
The new Solid Dollar offered fair and stable pricing.
People wanted stability.
Bobber brought peace. People liked it, but they wondered how Bobber did that, figuring he had hidden value from raiding, and important people behind it.
People thought Bobber scored big as a raider, but nobody knew.
Rumors flew that Bobber was favored by the Bludworthies.
Nobody asked.

Sure, Bobber scored a small bit as a raider, and hid the value from his group.
But he was just another guy to the Bludworthies.
Truth was, Bobber showed up when the Box was open, and the Banks seized opportunity to stop violence in the area.

2) The Solid Dollar
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It's important to know the value and make the trade, but Bobber brought something more. He had charm and experience.
He was polite and didn't intrude people's lives, but he intended to keep peace, same as the Bank.
Things were changing. The Solid Dollar was in, Gold was out, and that's the way it was going to stay.

The Solid Dollar brought eastern respect, and fear of the new Bludworthy reprisal.
Not the old reprisals when killing was done falsely under guise of the Bludworthy name, but it was just locals finishing a score and calling it justice.

The new Bludworthies were now under strict control.
The Bankers pushed up controls after they ousted gold.
Believe it ... when the Bludworthies were sent out to collect, the men would arrive from all directions.
You knew for a fact. They were in town.
They told you who they were looking for.
And people were happy to see them. Yes sir, you can lodge for free. How about a bowl of soup? When are you leaving?
All very straightforward.
Few survived if the Bludworthies started hunting your family.
The new-improved reprisals were necessary to stop raiding and violence.
Most Bloodworthies were former raiders anyway, with opportunity to ply seasoned skills.

Bringing in the Solid Dollar meant the Bludworthy reprisal applied to all ownership in the Trade Box.
The Solid Dollar was not money ... it was a guarantee.
It guaranteed that trade would be fair. And each trade was backed by reprisal.
When the Big Banks backed Bobber with the Solid Dollar, then that was different.
Removing the glass and gun ports made sense.
People knew it … they had to come get it.

The Solid Dollar brought more.
People saw what Bobber did.
Families started moving into Red Lake, and the town got a name. Same name as the lake.

Red Lake had grown into a community with all manner of people’s wants and needs.
Mostly people wanted a family, and they needed peace. Things were better.
Properties began appearing as men brought their women and daughters into the community.
Properties felt safe to walk around during the day.
Unlike out in the countryside, where Properties were forbade from leaving boundaries for fear they would be stolen or held for payment.

Kidnappings of children and women declined with the face covering laws passed centuries before.
The starvations and terror times brought forth ownership of women after they became sole trade good for most families.
Property laws stabilized families, and after age 6, each girl covered her face and was considered a trade good. She was a Property owned by her family.

Modern times were less dangerous for women, but Property law was unchanged.
Properties were an important part of commerce, and Property trade depended on local morality that was enforced by the system of Rectors.
Rectors oversaw the behavior of women.
Red Lake was no exception. Women had to keep faces covered.
Trading Property could make families a fortune or cause misery if the girl was unchosen as breeding stock or bride.

3) Property exchange
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When families agreed to exchange for Property, then certain obligations had to be met by both sides.
If you went solo, then the agreement was between the two parties.
It cost nothing to go solo, but how could a poor person verify the claim?

Going solo was risky. It caused claims and cross claims and rumors that led to violence. Especially if the Property rejected her new family or rejected the mate.
False petitions were common and demands for reprisal were made to the highest bidder.
Wealthy families used threats of false claim to force advantage and gain power.

Solo exchange fell into disfavor after people discovered Bobber’s Trade Box could write and enforce Property contracts for a small fee.

Bobber and the Solid Dollar made things easy.
For a price, families could now exchange Properties knowing the agreement would be handled correctly.
Bobber and LeoJ wrote Property contracts that represented the new open-way of fair dealing, and the Trade Box became a major contract-writer for Property exchange in the area.

The contracts made it fashionable to include Property ‘returns.’
Returns of brides (and sometimes grooms) and returns of other female Properties had always been made, but family honor was at stake.
Adding return policies to the agreement made things right.
The contract made it difficult to falsely claim dirt against their name because the agreement openly showed on the monitor. For a small commission, anybody could look up the record, although not everybody could read or knew what it said.

All agreements for trade goods and Property were registered right there, and originals sent to the big Bank vaults in New Galveston.
The agreements were etched on metal discs that could withstand any counterfeit.
The disc was filled with one agreement, followed by another.

Trade registers and transactions and Property agreements were added in same order they arrived until the disk was full.
To counterfeit the disc meant whole accounts would have to be invented to fill the rest of the disk.

If someone chose to steal the disk, then there were duplicate disks stored at the Bank.
Each disc held a revolving code that changed frequently. If a stolen disk showed a different code from the bank disk, then the theft was revealed.

In any event, the purpose of altering an account would be to make false claim.
False claims led to continual violence among aggrieved parties.

The Solid Dollar changed that, because each contract sold under the Solid Dollar was guaranteed correct.
And each transaction carried the Bludworthy reprisal.
That was the guarantee.
That’s the open-way.

For a price, people could buy a record that showed birth and death, identification prints, purchases and deed-rights.
You could cut down a tree and have it on record.
Then family members could see the record from elsewhere by crediting a view on monitor-worldwide. Larger exchanges and agreements cost more.
Each exchange made Bobber a commission.

4) Eastern women
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LeoJ was at the Trade Box for a reason.
Protection. Reliability. Trust.
He was the eyes and ears watching the video monitors inside and out.
People passed information to him and he was well-connected in the community.
LeoJ made sure all transactions were put on information links and announcements to knowing parties who could bid on any good.

Cartage rail brought in purchased goods such as clothes, and took out local goods, such as fruit and cattle sold to buyers elsewhere.
Most everything moved downrail on electric cartage.
Electricity was almost free since the nuclear addition was installed nearby.
Lithium batteries were still costly, but electricity to charge the battery was cheap.

Cartage men moved original trade disks from the Box to Bank vaults.
Etching proof of each disk remained available at the Box for monitor viewing by anyone who paid the price.

Change always happens.
Monitors-worldwide were spreading the story.
Out east, women were rejecting Property law and refusing to cover faces. And refusing to marry as sold by their fathers and brothers.
Women claimed that face covering was protecting rich people from being identified, and that Property laws should not apply to ordinary women.
Monitor announcements carried video of women refusing to follow Property laws.

The stories were popular. At night, the chairs outside the Trade Box were filled with people clamoring to watch east coast women. It was outrageous. Some people shouted at the monitor. Others laughed.

Bobber sat up a juicer bar that served ice root, sojo, tea, and scotch-orange. The fruit juices were made locally. It was full food. Not cut through the sugar cane.
Men built a barbecue. The small community was quite enjoyable.

Bobber met Cheneen one evening at the nightly gathering. She came with her family. They locked eyes and never looked away.

Most retired early so they could work the irrigated fields before it got hot.
Cheneen and Bobber would slip away. She was six years younger and wilder than a porcupine grabbed by the tail … which was a position she and Bobber enjoyed heartily.
She was defiant of Property law but wore the face covering except when she and Bobber were alone. He loved her free spirit. Her womanly charms were turning him into an old man, working all day and then half the night. Her family was indulgent of their daughter.
Sweet 16 Cheneen.

It’s true that young people didn’t understand how important Property laws were for ending violence against women.
But the real concern was loss of benefit from Property exchange.
With so much commerce based on exchange of Properties, the east coast women were considered a threat to the entire system of trust.
Women were expected to do their part. People believed in Property laws. It is how things were done.

East coast women fought back.
They made an honest point.
Property law was intended to PROTECT women.
Except many families pushed Properties. They used Properties to coerce importance in a community by threatening a claim against any man who would wrong-step a woman.
So it was honest to say that Property laws were benefiting the rich person instead of protecting women.

Rejecting Property law was difficult to refute with the new open-way of honesty. Especially as violence toward women was declining.

Adding a level of confusion to the situation; wealthy men usually wore a mask in public to disguise their identity.
It was fashionable among rich folks to emblazon a genetic crest on the mask.

5) At the Box
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It was quiet the morning Liam and his family came to Red Lake.
The hum of the day wasn’t quite right.
High wispy clouds were flowing south, but only slight wind from the east. Not many birds despite fields offering plenty of water.
The town didn't pay notice, except boatmen who ran ferry across the lake. They were talking about it.

Bobber had seen Liam once before.
Liam was a hard, determined man but his weary life showed.
He fought in the last Arkansas Lithium War. Except he was called out for an injury.
Before he got back, the lithium fighting ended when gold was ousted.

Bobber hadn't seen the clan before.
Something was up.
Or maybe they were passing by for more important things elsewhere.

But no. These people came right to the Box.
Maybe they were planning a raid.
They didn’t stand like raiders. They were moving around. Not measuring the scene.
Sometimes raids started innocent.
Bobber’s eyes were open. He knew the tricks.

Older boy and Liam started leaning into the counter.
They expected to control the trade.
It told Bobber they had something of high value.

Small boy and young Property entered the Box and moved over next to the sojo machine.
.... Ah, sojo: People enjoyed the caffeined strawberry drink.
Young Property was maybe a year older than small boy.
The starvations and face-covering made it hard to tell.

The two young ones were standing close to each other.
Bobber saw something different.
Yes, Liam brought young Property and small boy inside for a reason.
Why bring them inside? The rest of the clan was outside.
Boxes were dangerous.

Liam’s clan was visible on the outside monitors, but the number was uncertain. They were off to the side, and coming about.
Bobber wasn’t going to stare at the monitor. He had to watch the people in front of him.
LeoJ would be watching from the back for sure.

Yes, it was best to play it whole wheat open, like the wind was blowing a chime.
So Bobber asked, how many boys you got?
Liam said 4 boys, meaning 4 brothers or cousins or male relatives.
Two boys were inside, so Bobber figured two more outside. And then Bobber added two more in case Liam was lying or didn't know.
Each question must have more than one purpose or it's not important.

Bobber wouldn't ask how many Properties.
That would be outrage.
Maybe it would be okay out east.
But Bobber wasn’t going to start acting east coast unless the deal was enhanced by some recount of Property connivance against a man.

Property laws became common practice maybe 200-300 years before.
Most felt it was reasonable thinking.

Property law said the first violence against women was a man looking at, speaking to, speaking about, or touching a woman.
If you do none of those things, then you cannot commit a crime against a woman.
Simple logic. If you don’t climb a tree, you can’t fall from a tree.

Serious trouble was available when a man thought he could talk about another man’s woman.
That’s the truth.

Property law said that you could not ask directly about women unless the owner or father of that Property brought it up first.
That made today’s situation even more curious.
If young Property was the offer of trade, they would act differently.

She was too young to offer for exchange, although Bobber knew families ready to trade for young brides.

Bobber figured four to six boys and two or three Properties outside.
Normally when a Property was offered for trade, the other Properties would be at her side.
Why were the other Properties outside?
Clearly Liam was not trading Properties today.

And the mother? Where’s the mother?
No. Bobber watched the way they moved.
People stand soft when their mother is alive.
These people were standing hard, and moved about too jerky.
Bobber figured the mother was gone.
The children must have seen her die because they got the soft look on their face, but the hard movement in their bodies.

Then Bobber saw it.
The two small ones were standing too close.
That was it.
The young ones had trade goods hidden on them. And it must be valuable by the way Liam was leaning into the counter.

6) Easy Mark
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Liam was cautious about revealing true purpose, and offered to trade a candy bar.
He wanted the full Easy Mark.
No way.
Bobber measured it.
At best, the bar could be divided 14 ways, and fetch 14 Marks.
Liam was asking 100 Marks for something valued at 14. It didn’t make sense.
Why so much?

20 Marks equal a Mark Twain and 5 Mark Twains equal the Easy Mark.
So 100 Marks equal the Easy Mark.
10 Easy Marks equal a Copper Coupon.
It used to be 50.
The Copper Coupon was a reward.
It wasn’t real copper. It was percentage off next purchase.
Each Box set their own percentage for the Copper Coupon, which caused competition and encouraged folks to trade larger amounts.

People wanted to hear the bell ring outside the Box when the copper coupon was delivered or exchanged.
Some Boxes rang the bell on each trade. But the clatter aggravated folks who had little to trade, so Bobber only rang for genuine coupon.

Before the Solid Dollar, each Mark was a weight of gold, payable on the spot.
The gold market fluctuated each hour. So the price of trade rose or fell continually.
Everybody tried to catch gold rising and then convince the seller that gold was falling.
When you cheated the price of gold, it was called running gold.
It was dirt.
It was a failed system.
RJ, the original Box owner, ran gold all day.
He cheated people, and they knew it.
It’s risky to live among the people you cheat.

The entire system of gold was dishonest.
Gold was cornered by the Hoarders.
They set the price based on how astrologers predicted future events.
Astrologers walked around in long robes and tall hats.
They looked at charts to help predict the next calamity.
Each time the astrologer told the rich Hoarder to watch out for a black cat, the guy stopped moving gold, and the price of gold went up, which made the Hoarder richer.
Of course the astrologer wanted to make the guy richer, so each day there was a new black cat predicting disaster.
It was foolish.
The lack of trust stopped trade.

7) Gold
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Despite the prosperity and peace brought forth by the Solid Dollar, Gold was still a contentious issue.
The Solid Dollar was a recent development. Many people lost wealth because of it.

Gold had been the way for hundreds of years.
The exact history was lost during the die-offs.

After the Fierce starvations and die off from the lung, people had more gold.
Fewer people in the population meant more gold for each family since dead relatives had gold.
Gold became cheap, as people sold gold to buy food and medicine.
There was no medicine to combat the lung, but folks bought any false promise to save loved ones.
The lung took everything. Including people’s gold.

Chaos reigned.

Finally the Hoarders established order.
After they controlled gold, they figured the best way to restore value was decrease the supply of gold.
Actually there was so much gold that it was worthless. But if only Hoarders had gold, then the price went up to whatever they demanded.

The Solid Dollar overturned the rule of gold.
After the Solid Dollar took over, the Banks refused to trade gold or store gold.
The Solid dollar connected the cost of goods to actual cost of production.
Instead of gold, people received credit or debit on their account.

Credits and debts were payable by force of the Bludworthy reprisal.
It was a convincing system for keeping up with your duties.

The end of gold helped stop violence and kidnapping because fewer people got paid with gold. You couldn't spend gold so people didn't carry gold, so running gold and killing the other guy for gold was disappearing.
The end of gold had another effect.
Since the Bank knew your location by the transaction record, then it was harder to make false claim.

The credit system became popular for another reason: because monitors-worldwide gave people free announcements, while trade monitors let people track long-lost relatives.
The old gold monitors didn't give people contact with each other. Hoarders didn't care about people.
The monitors-worldwide changed things. Imagine discovering lost relatives and friends. Imagine watching news and stories from elsewhere that weren't available before.

The record keeping system on the disc made Justice more honest. People realized how difficult it was to demand reprisal by bearing false witness.
If the credit record showed the claim false, then you got the Bludworthy reprisal.
A basket of lies is made wet by one drop of truth.

8) The risk
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Bobber was thinking, Liam’s got heat stroke, asking the full Easy Mark for a candy bar.
More cool drinks were served.

A candy bar is a nice ‘find’ or theft.
But it’s Tennessee chocolate. It’s not Brazile-chocolate from New Galveston.
The ants would eat Brazile because it was real food.
Only possums, raccoons and humans ate Tennessee, and there weren’t many possums and raccoons not already eaten themselves, so if the ants won’t eat it, then it’s not worth much. Which means it’s worth less.

Bobber was thinking clearly; the goods were hidden on small boy.
Folks might think value was hidden on an older boy.
Property laws made the oldest son more responsible.

Yes it fit, no need for more calculation.
Small boy concealed the real trade.
But what’s he got?

Bobber had to get Liam to start talking.
Liam said they ran into Ootistics near the creek a few days ago.

Humm, Ootistics? Not far away. Possibly coming this way.
No, that wasn’t it.
Why would Liam's clan arrive? They would be home protecting their land.

Maybe Liam caught a few, and was holding them for trade. But the clan would be holding them elsewhere.

No. Bobber’s mind clearly saw that small boy had trade goods hidden.
The clan must be there to protect the value, but the opposite might be true if locals saw the clan gathered without specific purpose.
Many people who lost gold would be ripe to stir up trouble. Bobber had to deal right to avoid difficulties.

Yes, Liam was boasting of fearlessness among Ootistics, and leaning aggressively into the counter because he was afraid someone would discover the hidden value.

People in town would soon figure it out too.
Bobber had to win Liam’s trust, before the risk set in.

9) The lung
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Just as people suspected, Bobber came from raiding.
Raiders were the worst, but sometimes there is no choice.

Starvations and hoarding ravaged whole populations. There was little opportunity except to strip savage against those who remained.

The lung took most of the population during the Fierce die offs.
When atmospheric carbon increased, it caused northern melts that released methane from the permafrost. And then the great tundra fires completely decimated the atmosphere.
History told of ice sheets, but no place was permanently frozen any more, yet winters seemed just as cold. Mountain ice was gone and summer rivers dried up.

Methane and carbon in the atmosphere brought new diseases.
The worst was the lung.
That’s the truth.
Hot summer temperatures caused people to breathe harder because oxygen molecules were farther apart.
But breathing harder lodged methane deep inside the lungs.
It was ripe fuel for mold, especially with the sugar diet.

Mold suddenly thrived in the moist, oxygen-depleted lung, and within days the person was dead.
You couldn’t doctor out.
They tried pesticides. They tried everything from carrots to weak root to tree bark. Mercury vapor seemed promisingly insane. Hanging upside down. Nothing helped.

One thing did work. People who had the KL-VS gene were either immune to the lung, or less likely to die.
KL-VS gene caused higher levels of klotho hormone. It somehow protected people against the lung.

People tried klotho hormone shots. Shots didn’t help.
People paid out gold on worthless treatments.
If you got the lung, and didn’t have KL-VS, then you were dead.

Curiously, the lung didn’t kill Ootistics. The reason was unclear. Some believed that Ootistics breathed differently and the lung settled in their blood where it affected speech and recognition. Genetic tests revealed nothing.

The lung was quick. Once you had the full case, it was two days maximum. Dry climates were better, except dust held its own torture for lungs.
Dust lung was a slower death. Few lived long past 40.

When populations declined, other things changed too.
Technology changed.
Not enough people to launch spacecraft, or teach what was known before.
People feared doctors and hospitals and medicine. That’s where you caught the lung.
Doctors stopped seeing patients to avoid the lung themselves.
Medical frauds impoverished people and stole their gold.
Cures for ordinary ailments were available on a spot basis only … just as likely to be counterfeit as real.

The great solar electric happened around the same time, and burned out digital chips, even affecting chips in storage.
Stories told how airplanes fell straight from the sky.

When jets stopped flying, the direct influx of carbon at the polar caps stopped, but it didn't matter.
What else was lost? Engineering. Machinery. Large ships. The records were lost.

The whole system faltered end to end because it was burdened by monolithic habits that could not be compensated.

Population decline caused the first Fierce starvation.
Food was another technology that depended on a long chain of human activity and machinery.
It took millions of people working together to feed the populations.
The world changed.
The atmosphere affected the ocean causing years-long nitzschia blooms that wiped out seafood across the Pacific. People simply starved.
That’s when the lithium wars and raiding started.

10) Hive mentality
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The starvations affected whole populations.
But the lung changed humans.

Some people got the lung and didn't die. Instead, it caused them to become incommunicable.
They were called Ootistics.
After the first Fierce die offs, many buildings were full of them.
Once the group was large enough, Ootistics morphed into something else.
Like locusts. Individual locust live in relative peace. But when numbers multiply, they change into aggressive hoards.

Large groups of Ootistics morphed into crawling human shapes, all changing direction at same time like a flock of black birds.

They began churning across the earth foraging every scrap and insect, same as other folks, but they were different. They came in swarms 50 or 100 yards wide, taking every shred of life and belonging that didn’t flee from their grasp. Yet, they didn't fight against each other, just constantly moving forward without looking back. It was radical change in human behavior.

Ordinary people had to guard fields against constant invasion by some Ootistic, raider, insect, thief, or animal.
Ootistics would tear apart a field worse than any hog. No fence could hold them out, and rarely did anyone have enough bullets. It was best to close the barn tight and stay indoors until they passed.
Ootistic groups were worse than raiders. At least raiders could speak and negotiate.

Ootistics had no identifiable leader, other than ones up front. They acted together without fear. It was perfect strategy for survival and defense; hundreds of human minds working together. They were formidable challenge to anything opposing them. But for Ootistics, there was no other way to survive.

People called it the Hive Mentality.

Some argued that Ootistics were a natural evolution of humans. Except interbreeding was still possible.

It’s true that stressed populations breed sooner and with those they would not normally mate, thus forcing faster genetic change. However genetic tests showed no significant difference between Ootistics and regular people.

Genetics remained important scientific study after discovering KL-VS gene prevented the lung. Other genes were investigated. KL-VS1 and KL-VS2 variants were discovered.
Genetics became especially popular among rich folks, and among Property traders seeking a better value for prized breeding women.

The KL-VS2 gene had another profound effect. People with that gene not only resisted the lung, but retained extraordinary sensory abilities despite carbon and methane inhalation.
People carrying the double KL-VS2 gene began calling themselves Readers.

Readers were similar to Ootistics. Both exhibited the Hive Mentality.
Inside the Hive, they communicated by touching. If they gathered in groups and touched one another, then members would understand and work toward the same goal.

But Ootistics had a different Hive Mentality than Readers.

Readers with the KL-VS2 gene did not remain in large groups. They traveled around, and affected other people without being aware.

On the other hand, Ootistic groups had a single mentality that existed only within the group.
If an Ootistic was kidnapped, they would revert back to the person they were before. This was handy for raiders and slave traders who made a living selling Ootistics to the timber industry.

Ordinary folks were concerned what would happen if multiple groups of Ootistics worked together herding animals and humans into traps where other Ootistics waited in ambush. Nobody reported this. Ootistics didn’t eat people. They would stampede over the top of you, but the rumor caused widespread support of enslavement as a solution for Ootistics.

Captured Ootistics were usually sold to the timber industry for a reason. They were gifted woodworkers, like some kind of carpenter bee.
They built furniture. They were valuable for treating lumber with Indian-asphalt which was essential for cartage rail. But you dare not let them in the crops or they'd eat the whole thing.

Ootistics were accepting of new members.
Anyone could join. Stay away from the front. Get in behind and start mimicking the behavior.

In the past, people frequently joined Ootistics, except when they started getting sold as slaves. Regular people were caught up too. If they demanded a test to prove they were not Ootistic, it was useless. Unless you had gold to pay for the test, you were enslaved.

If you claimed not to be Ootistic, the selling price increased because the person could be sold into trades other than timber.
Many people were sold into slavery.
Hoarders didn’t see a problem since slaves created commerce for their interests.

Commercial profits usually depend on a level of coercion and deception.
Hoarders served this interest by passing rumor and fear, saying that Ootistics were dangerous and violent. Which was true when they resisted kidnappers, but otherwise they were peaceful among themselves.
In any case, for a variety of reasons, people were terrified of Ootistics. And the perception allowed slave traders and Hoarders to make money by kidnapping them.
That's how it was.

11) Bobber's father
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Record keepers guessed the changes started 300 years before Bobber was born.
He was 12 when he took up with the raiders. His mother died. He remembered that.

His father didn't come home one night.
Years later Bobber found his father back east with a new family.
His father claimed he was coming home from installing a nuclear addition when fellows started chasing him. He ran down into the woods and got lost.
Almost sounded real.
You had to stay alive. If those fellows didn’t catch him that day, they'd wait for him next time.

People got paid each day in gold. And you had to run a gauntlet coming home.
Co-workers robbed each other. Most carried a gun, but not everybody had a bullet.

Bobber’s father needed more elbow room, especially from the pack of needy mouths he bred, including Bobber.

After his father left, Bobber was on his own. There was a younger sister and brother that he loved dearly.

They were starving, but there was chance if they could join the raiders.
Bobber didn't know how it worked, but when he encountered the Kiochawi, they beat him nearly dead before deciding he was tough enough. They'd kill his younger brother if he tried, and Bobber had no position to push.
So Bobber left his sister and brother.
Later ... he cried wondering what happened to them.

Bobber thought he could provide for his brother and sister by joining, but it never happened.
Raiders moved constantly, and they wouldn't let you disappear.
The Kiochawi were a paranoid roving band of robbers and kidnappers and metal salvagers and glass stealers who cleansed the earth of value and gave nothing back but misery.
They would rob, and steal Ootistics and sell them off to highest bidder.
Raiders stole from each other. Winters were worse. They’d kill for your clothes.
Raiders slept with their shoes as pillows to stop others from stealing them.
Bobber was too smart to be a leader.

Different raiding groups raided each other, killing and kidnapping as a way of bravery and dog-gone.
It was tradition.
You are today.

12) Kiochawi Raiders
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The simple laser reactor was still manufactured after the die offs.
The Banks were building nuclear additions and pushing clean electricity into in every community.

The old gold monitors were unreliable. Most damaged from exposure to line interference because the electric generator was located too far away. Hoarders never saw advantage for improving the system. They had their wealth.

Over the years, the Banks had split away from Gold Hoarders. It was gradual. Each pursued similar but different goals.
The Bank saw opportunity using cartage rail and monitors-worldwide that was misjudged by Hoarders.
It was the Bank that developed new hardchipped circuitry that brought announcements to the people.

The new circuits needed clean electricity with a steady waveform.
When a nuclear addition was located nearby, the power ran clean without interference. Clean power meant monitor towers delivering reliable transmission, and cartage running fullball without motor overheating.

Clean electricity was key.

The Banks also discovered that a clean line could be used to track raiders.
The Bank was using Bludworthies to kill Raider Groups.
Prosperity and farming depended on peaceful trading, and the violence had to end.

Monitor towers were going up along power lines as quick as they could be built.
Raiders didn't strip the towers for scrap. Mostly they needed monitors for correspondence, same as anyone else, but the metal was worthless except for the purpose it served. They would have to sell their gain back to the Bank, and the Bank wasn't going to fool a raider.

Four and a half years with the Kiochawi turned Bobber's stomach.
Things were changing fast. Bobber saw it.
Reports of the lung seemed less.
There was more rain. People were farming and demanding that the Bank put an end to raiding.

Things were getting better for everyone, except raiders.

Bobber scored twice while raiding. Once when they attacked another camp he found a bracelet. Another time he found bright stones under a wheel.
He secretly hid the value from his group.
The bright stones became an important story later.

Other members of the Kiochawi would kill him for holding back.
The gain had to be shared. But that was gust. Leaders took it all. That's what leaders do.

Bobber was the trader for his raiding group.
He worked the monitor each night making deals for Ootistics, metal, or hostages … in exchange for food and other items.
The Kiochawi depended on Bobber's skill, except he had limited influence among the squabbling half-naked bunch of people living on the run each day.
Unknown to him, he held great influence. His word tipped decisions. Quietly promising grace and profit vs destruction and violence. Most admired him.

The Kiochawi needed electricity to connect the trade monitor. So at night they camped along an overhead power line, near a monitor tower.
Normally trades were made after dark because darkness meant greater safety from other raiders.

They had electric cookers. No fires, and no light bulbs; nothing to reveal location.
To get electricity, they drove several salt-coppers in the soil, connected a kunda line to the transformer, then threw the hook over the outermost hot wire on the power line above. The kunda line ran down to the transformer, converting high voltage into usable electricity.
If you didn’t throw the kunda just right, or it looped over two hot wires instead of one, you might get killed.
The spark and explosion would alert anyone in the area.
Hook throwers were highly prized as members and hostages.
The ones that survived became electric workers and monitor-worldwide installers after raiding ended.

Good traders like Bobber ranked higher than kunda throwers since traders made deals for food.

Over time, the best traders forced weak traders out.
This was disadvantage since good traders could find less dangerous work elsewhere.
Smart recruits were hard to find any more.
In the old days, raiders were skilled craftsmen and hunters. But new recruits were stupid, violent people.

Bobber knew most traders on the monitor. He recognized their style.
But that night, there was something different about the way trade was offered.
Too eager.
It was a trap.

The Kiochawi Leader quickly agreed to the trade before Bobber could warn against it.
Too late.
They were short of food. The leader was challenged for position by two brothers from a younger more violent faction. The leader had to provide or get killed, and his women and children sold off as stray Property.

Change was pushing the Kiochawi; younger more violent recruits, hunger, better opportunity elsewhere, separation from family.
Bludworthies were hunting raiders down and killing them.

The leader saw it too. He said, you stop talking about your jackslapper and pay attention to the monitor, maybe you’d catch a glimpse. But he missed the glimpse that night.

After the leader agreed to the trade, Bobber could no longer speak without making himself a target.

Bobber had a girlfriend ... a genuine Texas tough girl named Reety. She was short with straight black hair and would scrape against anyone. Bobber liked her strong character and quick smile.
She was pregnant.

Reety was sister to the two brothers challenging for leadership.
Most didn't want the brothers, but said nothing.
The brothers threatened to split the camp into open warfare. People would be killed … and survivors still without food. What are you going to do, let them eat Ryan’s arm?

Bobber didn’t have enough trade value to buy the girlfriend outright. The brothers controlled the decision, and she was still available to others. Bobber was added kin with no value. He hated the brothers.
They didn’t understand that Bobber’s word at the correct moment, would give them peaceful ascension to leadership.
But Bobber had no intention of counseling those causeywits.

Bobber loved the unborn baby. It was his hope, but the baby belonged to the brothers because of the weak parrot laws.
He wasn’t even sure the baby was his own. The communal nature of things at camp enjoyed open sharing of all things, including those lustful creatures that might otherwise harden a man.

There must be better choices of women but Bobber didn’t see it.
The most difficult thing to do sometimes is live true to your heart.
The bunch of them were crazy anyway.

13) The last raid
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That night the Kiochawi were staying along a string of fallen hard-brick houses, next to a dry creek.
Bobber wanted the night off, so he called guard duty.
The trade was set for the next day. He knew it was a trap, but couldn't tell Reety.
He walked across the creek in the dark.

A shutter came through the air; a noise or rattling, followed by a sweet smell that hurried passed. Bobber turned his head, straining to look west. Something was coming.

The Bank were tracking monitors using sound-pulse on the electric wires.
They knew raiders traded at night and secretly shut down all monitor traffic. Fake reels were run so monitors looked normal.
The remaining monitors were visible because the kunda line caused interference on the wire each time a transmission was sent.
Distance to the kunda was calculated.

The raiders were watching reruns on the monitor while the Bludworthies stalked closer. They missed the glimpse. It was always too late for someone.

In the middle of the night, Bobber did like his father. He walked away from all those needy mouths.
He started running, and then running faster like wild animals were behind him.
He couldn't stop. He kept thinking about his father.
Bobber knew the Kiochawi would kill him if they caught up.

That was it. His own people would kill him. That’s no way to live.
16 years old.

14) At the barn
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Just as morning turned flannel gray, the Bludworthies struck.
Every last one of those dirty unclothed raiders was wiped clean of their scale.
Trackers ran down the few who escaped. Each got the heel.
It was butchery.
The brothers showed absolute dog-gone, and fought to the end.
Two hostages, kidnapped from the Monk raiders, were freed and later hung in front of crowds. People were demanding an end to raiding.

Trackers took up Bobber’s scent. The revenge was coming fast.
They got him, and they beat him.
They didn’t kill him right away. He was a trader. He might be useful later.
They got over to a barn at nightfall and threw him inside next to a pole.

He was tied up like a potato, and beat like an egg.
Eyes swollen and maybe a rib broken, but he was alive.
Bobber knew not to whimper or call for water.
Why waste water? He figured they were saving him for something special.
Maybe they'd kill him for breakfast.

Exhaustion and fear raced through his mind.
He didn’t ask about his unborn baby. The Bludworthies bragged about their deed to his face. The baby and girlfriend were gone.
Bobber’s heart broke to pieces. The guilt was numbing, but he had to survive.

A gigantic man walked into the barn.
All talking stopped.
His frame was huge, with a big head and thick neck.
Another guy behind him.
Both wore masks showing importance.
The barn was lit.
The barn had lights, and the cows had a heated blanket for winter.
Things really were better ... except for raiders.

Bobber had seen the man before.
His videos were on the announcements.

Bobber asked him, tell me what the Solid Dollar is.
He didn’t recognize his own voice.
It sounded strong and calm like they were sitting at the Indianapolis Race House, with fine furniture and colored carpet from Canada.

This was the head of the Bludworthies. He was the new guy.
He was the revenge.
The Bankers brought him up to get rid of corruption, which only meant different guys were making a fresh run at the same.
Bobber couldn’t remember the man's name, but remembered him speaking about replacing gold with the new standard called the Solid Dollar.
Big Banks were behind it.
The whole east coast and important people all the way out to Kansas Wheat were talking about the scourge of gold.

The man was startled, but didn’t say anything.
A woman standing at the door heard Bobber’s question and entered the room.
Bobber nodded toward her.
She seemed so familiar.
Her family owned GE-Nuke out east. She traveled to Texas on the cartage rail from St Louis.
She was important and it showed. She asked Bobber his name.
He answered.
The people turned and left.

So that was it.
They were going to kill him in front of somebody important.
What an honor.
His mind went still. He thought of the woman’s beautiful face. But her face was covered … how could he see her face?
Her eyes spoke of a daring, powerful Reader; both absorbing and giving without word.

The man’s name popped into Bobber mind: Mellon. Carneghie Mellon.
Bobber smiled. Mellon. A head like a watermelon.
He was laughing to himself, but couldn't jolt away from what the woman told him. Bobber scoffed. She said nothing. Bobber tried to push her thoughts away, except they were compelling and true. His mind exploded with visions of mellow blue ribbons and bright yellow boats. He was standing at the edge of an ocean. The room filled with the same sweet scent that caused him to run the night before. He fell asleep.

The next day more men came into the barn. He knew two of them. Good men for killing.
They grabbed Bobber and stood him up, put a big knife to his neck, and then angrily cut off the bindings.
It was over. Mellon said turn him loose.
The men at the barn thought Mellon recognized Bobber. They didn't know it was the woman.
She told Mellon that people didn’t need to see another killing that day. And reminded Mellon that Bobber asked about the Solid Dollar.
She represented the Banks and wealth behind the Bludworthies and behind the Solid Dollar.
Mellon violated his own impulse for murder and let him live.

Bobber almost blacked out from being stood up, but he was going to stand like a man no matter what.
They pushed him out into the sunlight in front of hundreds of people.
The crowd was looking, but didn't move. Who dared question the Bludworthies?
Just barn flies, Bobber thought.
It was probably a bad moment to be unrepentant, but suddenly the people turned away.
The woman was walking in the background with a single attendant.

The crowd was silent.
She turned toward the rail cartage, and quickly stepped into the carriage that sat in front of flatbeds filled with Bludworthies.
The air was filled with joy. She won their grace without a word. People felt empowered. They talked about her wonderful manner and effect.

The crowd didn't know the woman was the eye and whisper behind everything.
This was the Queen.
Bobber walked away. He no longer had to run. Maybe his father felt the same way four and a half years earlier.

15) The era of trust begins
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Raiding was coming to an end. People were finally done with that chapter.
Starvations were ending. Cows in heated blankets were proof enough, I’d say.

Banks were providing electric hay balers on credit. More nuclear additions were installed. Cheap electric power, cartage rail, monitors-worldwide, trade opportunity and news of better times filled people with hope.

Bankers built electric rail cartage as fast as steel rail and asphalt timber could be delivered. For the first time in more than 200 years a new bridge spanned the Mississippi-Broad at St Louis.

Next two years Bobber saw announcements about the Solid Dollar.
Before that, everybody wanted gold.

But gold was worthless.
People knew it down deep.

Gold is a shiny metal mined for thousands of years and nobody ever threw it away.
When was the last time you threw away your gold? Or spent your gold?
No, you won’t spend gold hoping the price will go up, and when it goes up, you hold it tighter hoping it will go up again. Exactly like Hoarders.

Gold never oxidizes away like steel, and all those tons of gold taken out of the ground over thousands of years were still there, filling up giant vaults and causing wars and famine.

If all the gold was distributed into the people’s hands, and everybody was spending it, then the price of gold would fall.
A few wealthy families controlled the price of gold.
They were called Hoarders, because they owned the gold and kept vast amounts locked up to keep the price high. Which meant there was no money for trade as long as gold was in charge.

The only thing Hoarders did with gold was enslave others to their whim.
When Hoarders built rail, they used slave labor. And they only built rail to benefit their narrow interest and not for wider commerce and well-being.

Bobber saw that the Solid Dollar worked without gold.
The Solid Dollar was about market trust. That was key.

Maybe that’s why Bobber was freed.
He asked about the new era of trust.

16) Agreement to end war
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Modern life was all-electric.
Electric cartage, cookers, heaters, a-con chillers, fresh water distiller, monitors, lights, cow blankets.

People said cow blankets made milk sweeter.
One thing for sure. When the cow got cold in winter, it festered up quick.
Some people said it was the lung. Except it caused cow legs to swell.
Overnight cows would die if they got cold.
Even special breed stock couldn’t stop the die off.
But the heated blanket stopped it.

Cows needed blankets in winter. Just like people needed coats.
Men would wash the blankets and clean the cow.
Those cows were spoiled like a Thursday turkey.

At first, the blankets were plain brown to hide cows from raiders.
Then somebody started putting designs on the cow blankets.
Somebody else added spots and stripes.
That started the cow-blanket race, with each rancher trying to outdo the others.
Sometimes the whole herd would have black and white polka-dot blankets.
It made people laugh.

Then announcers on the monitor started making cow-jokes.
‘Honey, don’t wear the striped ones tonight.’
It was funny. People loved it.
It was pure violation to talk straight about Properties, so they made cow and bull jokes instead.

The announcers were also telling folks that future events hung in the balance between electricity and the battery.
It was serious, and people listened.
They used electricity and saw how the Bank was installing nuclear additions and monitors. They could buy modern conveniences like the a-con chiller, hot can shower, and watch free announcements.

On the other hand, batteries used lithium.
And Hoarders controlled the lithium and sponsored the Lithium Wars.
The war was quickly losing favor, as people began to see a better way offered by the Bank. People wanted an end the violence.

Originally, the Wars were about control of lithium at the hot springs.
Eventually the war disrupted mining, so they passed rules. You could no longer kill a miner, or attack the electric cartage, or burn a rail bridge.
The war was a game: Can’t kill a miner, or rob a cartage, but you have to kill the other fighter for their share of gold.

Hoarders kept the war going for no good reason other than brag and gamble.
They paid fighters in gold, and men and boys came from all over to play the game.
Wars and dancing were mostly for young folks dreaming big and thinking of riches. Except nothing of value was found. Just mud, hunger, and deprivation.

Hoarders couldn’t live in Arkansas. It wasn’t safe.
Farmers and families couldn't stay in Arkansas.
There was no food. You can’t grow food on rocky hills covered with scrub trees and brush with people shooting at you.

Arkansas was cheap battleground.
Fat money came from wagers and the remote landscape made good geography for prolonged fighting.

Lithium had been fighting for hundreds of years.
People were tired of hearing about the great ‘Lithium Oath.’
They were sickened by ‘war heroes’ bragging and causing trouble when they arrived home or traveled around.

But how can you stop a war when it is part of the people?
People needed gold, so they fought.

Hoarders controlled the lithium fighters, and it was assumed they were stronger than Bankers and Bludworthies.
Turned out that was incorrect.

Arkansas-living was for miners and fighters.
Rich people wanted to spend time in Indianapolis or Kansas City or Coneau. Or sport-up in Manitoba and visit Forest City.
Rich people knew each other.
Deals had to be made so power brokers could live harmoniously in the same fine areas.

Events forced change.
Ownership and control of steel became the central point of contention. And the big Banks owned the entire Alabama-steel works.
It took steel to build a fresh water distiller, a nuclear addition, and a rail line.
And none of those things needed a lithium battery.

Bankers were building cartage rail and monitor towers faster and cheaper than gold hoarders.
Bankers issued credit to workers, while hoarders used slaves.
Hoarders faced hard times buying steel because Alabama-steel didn’t use gold; they paid workers with credit. No need for gold.

Hoarders fell behind, and threatened to stop shipments of lithium unless they could buy more steel rail.

Bankers and Hoarders met to solve problems.

It was recognized that the war spread loss.
So Bankers convinced the Hoarders that stopping the Arkansas Lithium War would be like the knife and fork agreeing to eat the pig.

A deal was made: Hoarders were promised easy access to steel if they helped end the war.

Hoarders assumed that rail-building business would shift to them.
Behind the scenes they planned to dirt-deal the Bankers and re-enlist lithium fighters to enforce additional slave labor needed to build more rail.

Bankers, however, were holding bigger cards. They controlled announcements that broadcast over the monitors-worldwide. Hoarders missed the opportunity, and never developed a channel to communicate with people.

17) Bankers fold up a plan
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The big card table was laid out.
Banks vs Hoarders.
Solid Dollar vs gold.

Bankers were getting ready to push up the Solid Dollar.
… except Hoarders didn’t know the whole plan.
It was secret-dealing.
Top to bottom, the Bankers shaved the head.

Bankers needed to end fighting and raiding everywhere, not just Arkansas.
They needed a big example, and the Lithium War was perfect water.

So here’s the plan:
First they congratulated fighters for winning the war.

But that wouldn’t stop the fighting because those fellows were down to sacred Oath.
They were killing for the deep-help principle of the Lithium Oath.

The great Lithium War Oath was part of the culture.
Fighters bragged over the Oath. The father bragged, and then his son entered the war and the son bragged.
Each fighter took the Oath that they would honor their friend’s loss.

When their friend got killed, they had to shoot or kill the guys that shot their friend.

But the fighters were on contract.
One week they were hired by one guy and next week hired by another.

So every week, they were sitting next to the guy they were going to kill the week before.
The only loyalty was to whoever fed them.
Otherwise they had no food.

18) Fighters violate Oath
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Fighters were congratulated for winning the war.
Heirloom-quality medals were handed out.
More food was brought in.

It was glorious times. The men were surprised and happy.
Of course many were thinking the food would keep coming and they could take root right there, like the badger under the house.

Next step, the Bankers started charging gold for food.
Made sense. The war was over. So food is no longer free.
Okay, so now the fighters needed gold to pay for food.

Here’s the twist.
Bankers knew the fighters would keep fighting no matter where they went.
And fighters had the armament and war-making materials to keep fighting, but they were short on gold.

To get armament away from the fighters, the Bankers told the fighters they would get a chunk of gold for all the armament they turned in.
Now, this was where Hoarders were needed.
Hoarders would supply the gold to buy the armament, and in exchange, they received guaranteed shipments of Alabama-steel. Then the Hoarders could move their interests into rail-building.

Hoarders incorrectly assumed they would control the armament at the end of the transaction, planning to resell it to lithium fighters for the gold they just paid, overlooking the fact that Bankers supplied the executive structure and handled shipping arrangements.

Bankers suggested that Hoarders appear on announcements to brag about ending the war.
Hoarders agreed. They stood up on the announcements and laid out their plan to enslave more people for gold.
As a result, Hoarders were clearly identified by the public. And for the first time, the face of gold and misery was seen on the monitors.
It was raining when Bobber saw it.

Lithium fighters were willing to turn in armament and get a chunk of gold.
They were feeling good because they just got honors and food.
With all that gold, they could pay for food and have enough for shoes and a house.

Word went out over announcements.
Across the land, people heard that fighters won the war and were getting honors, and getting food and gold.

It was straight-up dealing. The gold was actually paid.
Right there.
You got to keep knives and a few guns. The necessities.
But all else was stripped out of the fighter’s hands.
Gold can intoxicate a snake, and better proof was laid bare that day.

The Banker’s plan was that the fighters would kill off a percentage of each other during and after receiving gold for armament.
This would naturally reduce the number of potential troublemakers.
That worked out, since each man got paid for the amount of armament that was turned in.
The fighters gladly continued killing one another to get each other's armament up to the deadline, and afterwards, they killed each other for the other man’s gold.

In any case, the main point was the Bankers got the armament, and the remaining fighters got the gold.

And then, the Bankers stopped selling food.
Only miners got food.

No food for fighters.

It all happened real quick. The screw was turned.
Get out.

Fighters no longer had enough armament to rob food stores, and electric cartage en route to their next opportunity.
So the badger had to move out from under the house, and go somewhere else.
Two months and the whole thing was finished. Hear the gong Thompson. It’s over.

On the exit, the fighters continued killing each other. And who better to kill for gold than your friend, the guy who trusted you.

Announcements pointed out that the men killed harder for gold than they killed for the Oath.
Forget friendship or Oath or honor or decency … they killed for gold.

That is exactly why gold had to end.
People kill for gold.

But more than that.
People started hearing about fighters killing their friend for gold.

Announcements proclaimed the story: The fighters violated the Lithium Oath.

The great Lithium Oath was discredited for the first time in hundreds of years.
The plan was excellent.

19) Solid Dollar takes over
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The fighters left Arkansas with the gold.
When they arrived back home or wherever they went, they discovered the Banks no longer accepted gold.
So imagine this situation: Here's a fighter, without much firepower, who violated Oath, killed his friends, and is standing in front of the bank, while holding a bunch of gold, in plain view of other folks. And the bank won’t protect him. What’s up Joe?
Tell me, which fighter is going to show off his medal and brag about the Oath now?

Just that quick, Gold was out and the Solid Dollar was in.

Announcements carried the story.
Hoarders were fooled into paying out gold to lose their armies, while exposing themselves to people over the announcements.
Fighters were tricked into giving up their arms, and into killing each other in violation of Oath.
And the Bank stole all the armament while giving fighters and Hoarders nothing but a kick in the ass.

It was a triple-play.

For many months leading up to that moment, announcements were talking about the Solid Dollar.
People were clamoring for the opportunity promised by the monitor-worldwide.
They wanted free announcements. They liked hearing jokes.
They wanted cartage rail that carried travelers to far away places.
The Solid Dollar made it possible. It let people trade on fair pricing. It let them buy on credit as needed.
The promise of better times overwhelmed the past.

People despised Hoarders, but Hoarders didn’t understand it.

It was perfect water.
Tricking the fearsome lithium fighters demonstrated the foolishness of gold, and it showed that gold caused violence.

With the sudden change on gold, you’d think lithium war would be chill lettuce.
But no. The triple play was front story everywhere.
It made people laugh at the heroes who had terrorized everybody.
It proved how smart the Solid Dollar was.

20) Shooting Astrologer hats
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Bankers were the toughest.
Hoarders were tricked into thinking the Solid Dollar was going to come slowly and that it would be unpopular with people.

The Solid Dollar raced to the front.
The era of Hoarders was over. Banks took over the lithium mines.

Announcements showed Hoarders getting arrested.
They hauled them out of hiding places, and videos saw the whole cracked scene.
They pulled one out from under his bed ... brought him outside in his underwear ... while his wife and sisters shrieked from a second-floor window without face covering.
It was a total head shave.

Videos followed into the gold vaults and showed mountains of gold hidden from eye.
Room after room filled with gold.
Ok, maybe the same room was shown over and over with different lights.
The beauty of a folded plan can never be underestimated.
But who cares? People don’t run after falling water.

Announcers said there was so much gold that each person could have 5 weights.
Imagine that.
Gold was proven worthless.

One hundred people stood there and watched the monitor. Bobber was among them.
Somebody in the back called out, ‘Well, I’ll take my 5 weights now.’
People turned and looked.
A shiver went up Bobber’s back. Down deep uneasy.
He lost his father to gold.
You could feel anger from families savaged over gold. The man mumbled an apology.

Next thing you know, Bankers ran a double-play on astrologers.
Astrologers were hated as much as Hoarders. And they wore those tall hats and long robes.

Most people thought astrologers were responsible for every malady. Astrologers were constantly throwing the fear-scandal to keep gold prices high.

People started laughing when announcers asked why astrologers didn’t predict this malady.

To clear off the land for fresh foundation, the Bankers revealed that astrologers lied to Hoarders to run the price of gold.
Astrologers were given graceful exit as liars. Double play.

People started to laugh at the hats and robes.
It was funny watching clowns wear the hat backwards, and then make a tent out of the robe showing how to collect rain water.
Two announcers dressed as clowns shot a bunch of hats out of a gun, and people laughed so hard they fell off the chair.
Announcements showed it all.
Not a single person wore the robe and hat after that video.

Gold and astrologers and Hoarders were over.
Gold was a silly metal that tricked people, just like Bankers tricked the whole lot of them.

Banks no longer accepted gold.
Period. Can’t store gold here.

You can keep gold.
You can trade gold.
You can run gold.
But what are you going to do?
Are you going to hide it? Die for it? Pay the kidnappers with it?
And where you going to store gold if the Bank won’t store it for you?

Of course you wouldn't give away your gold, so what are you going to do?
Yep. Bury it underground until fear reign again.
More gold was buried back into the ground right then than had been mined out for a thousand years.

21) Gold threatens revenge
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When the Solid Dollar replaced gold, it became acceptable to trade on credit without direct exchange of gold.
The Easy Mark was no longer a value of gold, instead it was re-issued as credit that you owed or earned.
Generations of rich families lost fortunes overnight.

Especially hard hit was New Space City in south Texas.
Hoarders were building a space rocket to travel to the asteroid Eros which they estimated contained more gold than Earth.
The plan was to drop the heavy metal back into the atmosphere and hope it didn’t melt away during the fall.
People joked that astrologers should pick which people were going to be killed by falling gold. The joke was popular, since falling gold prices caused murders. It was a big chuckle.

And now the gold rocket was canceled.
Many gold families promised revenge.
Their time would come.

22) Walk through the door
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Liam was called injured and left the war before the banks made the triple play.
He was home, and wanted to go back and claim his medal and turn in arms for gold.
Friends told him it was a trap. Probably saved his life.

His only reward for all those years of fighting was a piece of copper in his leg.
Nothing serious. Made him worth a bit more money.

Liam was a fearsome fellow in younger years.
Locals heard him brag about the Oath and being a Lithium fighter.
Those guys would take a break and return home to nurse wounds and scare people, until they died or couldn't get sponsorship.

The triple-play stopped all that.
Yep. What man going to brag about being a fool?

Bankers stopped the war and heeled the raiders, but lucky ones like Bobber and Liam walked through the door.
That’s what they called it.
The door of trust. You walked through the door and gave up what came before.
Walk through the door and start over. Don’t ask about the past.
That’s the open-way.

Liam stayed home with his family.
They got to farming and collecting.

After his wife died, Liam and his children moved into an old prospector's claim.
The claim was four adobe rooms carved into a hillside, with a caved-in mine below.

After Bobber left raiding, he tried to find his family. He left when he was 12. He was 16 when he went back.
His brother and sister were gone.
There was no record on the monitor.

The tiny wood house and chicken coop where they lived was falling over.
Bobber searched two days, asking neighbors.
Most recognized him as a raider. It was dangerous, so he left.

Bobber quit looking because it hurt too much to walk in the past.

23) Credit-men
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Three years after the triple play ended the war for Liam, and six years after Bobber left raiding, both men were involved in contentious negotiation over a candy bar.
How hard can it be? Bobber measured it. It's worth 14 marks. That's the value.
Bobber was 22. Liam was slower, about 32.

The trade was sour.
Bobber knew Liam had something important to trade. But Liam wouldn’t show the hidden value.
Bobber wanted to act fact to preserve local peace.
Local peace was paramount for good trade. Bobber would lose esteem if he failed to hold the peace. The Banks might shut him out.

Trouble was always available.
People would soon figure out Liam’s clan was holding real value.

Small boy and his sister hadn’t moved.
Nor had Bobber taken his eye off them, trying to figure what trade value was hidden.

As long as Liam and older boy were touching the counter, a deal was possible.
Older boy could walk away, but if Liam backed off, the deal could be lost.
Bobber knew the risk but couldn’t say it outright, not yet.
If Bobber explained the danger, Liam might think Bobber was threatening.

Liam was getting hot.

Bobber figured Liam’s price for the unseen item was the Easy Mark … but Bobber couldn’t pay the Easy without seeing the item. That would be unbusinesslike.

Instead, Bobber offered credit for the candy bar. He would credit the full Easy Mark with 14 Marks down payment. Bobber would take the chocolate, and Liam would receive 86 Marks credit owed to the Bank.
It was a small amount.
But Liam didn’t want to credit-out the difference since he might fall short, and end up under bondage to pay the debt, or lose the adobe or some other value.

Bankers had developed a new plan for areas that exhibited peace.
They put indebted people into bondage instead of killing them.
Since Liam walked through the door, he was eligible for bondage instead of being killed over a mere debt.

The new bank rules were a relief.
People were uneasy about Bludworthies killing over money because it was the same as killing for gold.

When the wolves catch one of the cows, the other cows don’t run back to help. They know the wolves have to eat. And the wolves are going to eat a cow.
It’s deeply emotional to feel horror and relief at the same time, knowing that your friend got eaten but you’re safe for now.

No matter the reason, murder upsets people.

Bankers wisely started hauling people into bondage if the person was generally reputable and gave up war and raiding.
Debtors worked common labor or learned new trades until the debt was paid.

Banks were clever with the plan.
They knew bondage would offset the need for slaves. And of course, that would shift a useful workforce over to the Banks, and away from the slave trader. But also, a credit-man would learn new skills that would be valuable to each community.

Credit-men. That was the name given to debtors enlisted into the Bank workforce. You could become a credit-man, even if you had no debt. You just needed a record free of violence.

After that, Banks no longer offered credit for slave traders. Although Ootistic trade was still supported by public certainty that crops must be defended.
Few thought there was much choice about Ootistics, for the sake of humanity. And because they were highly talented in the timber industries.
Asphalted timber was critical for every railway and building, and Ootistics made it possible.

Otherwise, just like gold, the Bank refused slave deals.
This further outraged rich families that lost gold wealth, and then lost their slave trade.
Of course there were men willing to work for gold families in exchange for food. But the most talented people were now pointed toward larger enterprise.

Liam was too proud, and maybe too old to become a credit-man.
It made sense for him to refuse credit.

Credit-men got food and many stayed on as sharecroppers, or business associates after the debt was paid.
It was a good thing to earn credit for your family, but generally Banks preferred men move into new prosperity that was sweeping the land.

At least the records were honest.
People liked the era of trust. False claims were disappearing.

Anyway, what are you going to do?
You are slave to debt or slave to gold.
Either way ... you own nothing, or you own something that is worth nothing.

History is written on the scales of debt vs gold.
When gold is worse, then history stumbles down the road to credit-and-debt.
Every rock in the dirt has a story back to the beginning of time.

Ah.
Bobber figured it out.
The Easy Mark cannot be handed out unless the trade is full value, and Liam would not respect Bobber for being unbusinesslike. Yet Liam is pretending to bait Bobber into unbusinesslike transaction. The intent is to measure Bobber's trustworthiness. And pretending to be mad over a false trade is how Liam intends to find the truth.

When somebody got mad, the Box owner had to ‘hose the horse’ to cool them off. To exhibit charm in a tough situation. It was part of bargaining, and possible sign that Liam was close to decision.

24) Bobber takes the Box
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Liam came to Bobber for a reason.
It was generally thought that Bobber was top connected with Carneghie Mellon.
Even the men that cut Bobber loose at the barn thought Mellon recognized him. And then Bobber somehow got the Solid Dollar brought into the Trade Box real quick, with new monitors-worldwide.
The Trade Box was exceptional local story.

Being top connected is a two sided knife. People expect too much, but ordinary thieves stay away.

After getting cut loose from raiding, Bobber recovered the hidden value.
The bracelet was traded for food.
The bright stones were sewn into a new cowhide belt.

Next two years, Bobber worked the cow barns, and then started trading cows for ranchers.

Following year, the Solid Dollar came in.
The local Trade Box near Bobber’s work had Bank men installing new monitors-worldwide.

Bobber asked the men how much new monitors cost.
They cost nothing. Monitors were credited out.
All you needed was a Trade Box, and then the Bank would remove old gold monitors and install new monitors-worldwide. Simple as that.

Two days later RJ was shot in the violent raid at Red Lake Trade Box. Next day, Bobber traveled straight there and took over the Box.
He immediately credited out for new monitors-worldwide. That put him into the Bank links which forced the Solid Dollar.
That was it. Gold was no longer accepted at Red Lake.
Of course the Bank owned Bobber’s credit, same as they owned anybody else who must assume reasonable trade options.

As soon as monitors-worldwide were put in, Bobber was Bank-protected as long as local peace was not disrupted.
The Solid Dollar was central figure for peace.
If peace was not held locally, then the Trade Box could be removed and the owner thrown out. The result would be higher credit prices for the people.

Any area exhibiting violence had to pay more for trades… which ran hardship on violent people and encouraged peaceable offer.
The high cost of trade in violent areas caused a secondary market for gold as people saw opportunity to collect gold at bargain rates, anticipating the price of gold would go up again. People were free to trade in that manner. You were free to go solo. But more prosperous areas turned to the Solid Dollar.

If an area demonstrated peace for a length of time, then the Bank lowered rates, and trade was available at more advantage rate. Of course this meant that gold trade depended on a level of violence to avoid the lower priced Bank.
Sooner or later, Bludworthies would find such men and put swift end to the variance.

It was becoming scarce to find areas that relied exclusively on gold trade.

Overall, it was important for Bobber to maintain peace by making favorable trades that attracted peaceful people to live in Red Lake.
The Bank bet on Bobber. They set low credit rates for Red Lake. Bobber held the peace, but it took the whole community working together.

People knew they could lose the local Box, and lose credit value.
That’s why people started moving into Red Lake; they thought Bobber was top connected and he offered safer trade.

Bobber never corrected the misunderstanding about top connection, because it brought stability and peace, but it also opened the specter of false dealing.
Some things just get away from you. Like when he couldn’t warn the Kiochawi Leader that the trade was a trap. Bobber survived but the Kiochawi people died, including his unborn child. The loss haunted him.
Bobber understood that he had to make careful decisions.

The families that lost gold value were keen to find a flashpoint that would ignite war.
A top-connected guy like Bobber would be a likely target.
But a top-connected guy who was not really top-connected would be a gold mine with fever.

Bobber was cautious, shying away from intermingling himself with people, figuring they were eyeballing him for advantage.

If Liam left the Box without making the trade, and someone tried to coerce value, even if the violence occurred en route to another Trade Box, Bobber was responsible. The Banks would ask why Bobber was unable to make the proper trade?

If the Banks started questioning Bobber, local people would expect him to show his top connection. Except Bobber had no top connection.
This could be the flashpoint. The Banks would have to make a big example to correct the loss of esteem.

25) Gold Town
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West of Red Lake 1 mile was a small gathering of homes and a small trade box.
It was called Gold Town. At one time, there were more people living there than Red Lake.
The Solid Dollar dried it up.

The place still dealt gold.
Gold Leaders, who survived the purge on Hoarders, still maintained the old rail line arriving from the north that terminated at the loading platform in Gold Town. Rarely did cartage run on the Hoarder rail any more after Bobber brought in the Solid Dollar.

The Bank built a new rail line into Red Lake that traveled from east to west. The new rail also ran past Gold Town. So the Bank built a platform for Gold Town same as they built a platform at Red Lake.
As a result, little Gold Town, with just a few people had two rail platforms, one platform for the Bank rail and one for the gold rail, with probably more rail service per-person than anywhere else.

The men wandering in and out of Gold Town were mostly loners, hunters and prospectors and loose end sort of fellows; men running from one thing or another, with an occasional woman.
It was very quiet.

They kept a small fresh water distiller drawing water from Red Lake, and the Bank ran in a clean electric line after the local nuclear addition was installed.
A new monitor tower was built a few yards from the gold trade box.
The Bank didn’t charge Gold Town for electric.
They let folks know, as long there was no violence, the free electric was incentive to inform potential troublemakers not to settle there for long.

Bludworthies were ready to tear the place apart if any violation of Property or kidnapping occurred in the area.

Bank men even installed new monitors-worldwide at the gold trade box.
Gold men were insulted and wanted to break the new monitors … but all agreed they enjoyed watching free announcements.

It was standard practice that Gold Town dealt with gold, so people living there would sneak over to Red Lake Trade Box and make credit trades and buy information links to see where their families were.

Red Lake residents were uneasy about the rabble of men that moved in and out of Gold Town.
However, the population of stray men had gotten the word. And the worst of the lot was unsteady, not knowing when a Bludworthy might pop up with a ticket calling their name.

All over Texas and elsewhere there were small towns that dealt with gold. They were disappearing or changing into new ways.

Serious farmers and cattlemen shifted business to Red Lake because it offered wider trade options. Properties lived in Red Lake because it was safe.

Bobber had runners pass through Gold Town to bring news.
Any change at Gold Town would signal bigger problems.

26) Going East Coast
Contents previous next
Just as things were about to boil to a conclusion with Liam, the Trade Box door opened.
Two men and a new boy walked in. New boy was young, about same age as young Property.
The men paid credit to see an agreement on the monitor and LeoJ handled the transaction from the back.

The arrival of more people cooled Liam. Bobber measured the new arrivals, unsure if they were nosed to discover what Liam was trading. But it didn’t appear so by the way they conducted conversation.
Liam and older boy moved away from the counter and were talking in the corner. But they didn’t leave.

Young Property and small boy were still standing next to the sojo machine.
Bobber priced sojos cheap to attract folks.
You could have sojo with ice or have it chill-cooled inside the a-con blower.

Bobber was passing a few moments watching the three young ones.
He saw young Property and the new boy looking at each other.

Then, young Property uncovered her face.
Just like that. The girl’s face was open for all to see.

She uncovered her face .............

That dang little girl just went east coast.

She might as well shat on her family.

Liam started screaming red-faced. Older boy was shocked and running around squealing. New boy was wide-mouth smiling. You could see he liked her. Small boy laughing at his sister.

Bobber started yelling, sign ‘em up with a contract, pounding his hand on the counter.
People were running in circles and yelling, and men wide eyed with disbelief.
The whole Box was alive with commotion and yelling … the condition was going to the wire.

One of the older boys came running in from outside.
LeoJ bust out of the back room, ducked low with a gun.

And here was this little angel with a warm smile, going east coast with her face totally uncovered.
Who could imagine this would happen in the middle of serious negotiation.
But it did.

It changed everything.
Bobber howling, Liam yelling, the brothers running around, LeoJ staring …
And not one person in that room moved to stop the little girl from showing her affection toward new boy.

At that moment, until she covered her face again, it seemed perfectly normal as if the future was standing directly in front of them.

Her face was covered now.
Liam gestured his boy out, and things settled back right quick.
The 3 youngest ones were still giggling and then Liam and the other men started laughing, followed by Bobber and LeoJ. For five minutes the whole Box rocked with laughter like they were all family.
People everywhere wanted to share laughter about cow blankets, announcers making jokes, and the end of so many hardships.

27) Oil, Gas, Nuclear power
Contents previous next
Unknown to people in town, the lake just belched up another sludge of brown goo. Plumes of gas and oil would rise to the surface and evaporate off over a few days.
Red Lake was an old landfill.
It was mined real deep for metal scrap and plastic value, and then filled with water as the local aquifer rose.

Hydrocarbons vented up through the lake regularly. The lake smelled bad, and boatmen had to avoid the mess, but otherwise it wasn't a problem.

Fractured rock from old extraction techniques let gas escape across the region.
People thought the gas would be extracted and then the rock go dormant.
But that’s not how the earth works.
Oil and gas never stop rising from layers deep beneath the surface.
Barely a hundred years passed since they stopped breaking the rock, before locals finally ran out of good water.

When nuclear additions were installed, people began favoring electricity and stopped using hydrocarbon fuel.

GE-Nuke discovered crystals that could be spun in a magnetic field using lasers, and the simple technology generated huge amounts of electricity.

Crystals were made by super-heating carbon rings suspended in electromagnetic field, then bombarding the carbon with helium and argon lasers. The crystal formed while cooling gradually over many months.
Toward the end of the process, a shadow-mark was used to print identification code on each crystal.

Some crystals were clear, others were reddish, but the most prized were blue.
The GE-blues were larger, about 4” long and 1” across, and could generate more power.

Crystals had round points on each end that formed a near frictionless surface when fit into a pocket of steel with silicone lubricant.
Three lasers spun crystals at specific speeds. The light bounced off the crystal and into coils of nickel, causing a pulse of current on the coil. Three separate coils in the generator produced a smooth 3 phase curve of electric power. If lasers malfunction and rotation was slower, then electric output dropped. If lubricant dried out, the result was a damaged crystal that produced less power after function was restored.
The process was safe ... and simple ... it either worked or it didn't.

At some point after crystals were invented, the lung struck, and populations quickly dwindled.
As people gradually stopped burning hydrocarbons, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere dropped, but methane still affected people.

The remaining people turned to electricity since power lines were still up in many places, and men could see how it worked. Electricity could be done by local people where they lived.

It was simple to build nuclear additions and maintain electric transmission. Wire and purified glass insulators were not hard to make or install.
Two men planted asphalted poles in the ground and strung wire from pole to pole. That was it.
Transformer windings were easy: Wrap insulated wire around a metal core, and put two next to each other. More winds on one and fewer winds on the other caused voltage to change. Install both coils inside a can filled with oil to keep it cool, and it worked. Switchgear was made from various metals.

Most electric technology was saved.
People didn't steal transformers. They were cheaper to buy, and places that needed one had one.

Hydrocarbon fuels, like oil shale and gas, were complicated technology.
Hydrocarbons required discovery, extraction, long pipelines, coordinated pressures, with chemical refineries and massive numbers of people. Plus hydrocarbons required different refining for each type of hydrocarbon.
Oils were still available to lubricate process-bearings and transformer coolant. But widespread electricity easily survived the die-offs and starvations while hydrocarbons did not.

28) Leatherleaf
Contents previous next
Even with declining carbon in the atmosphere, it rained less, so fewer plants were alive to turn carbon into oxygen.
New plants succeed where old ones failed.
Most plants looked the same as before.
Trees were dwarfed, acorns smaller, and wood grain more twisted so it stored water with less energy cost to the plant.

Some plants grew larger.
Example was the Texas Leatherleaf.
Leatherleaf was no dampland texture fern, this was a new arrival.

Centuries before, somebody brought a bunch of plants from the African savanna. Those things survived drought and heat and carbon atmosphere. Nothing killed them.
Bugs wouldn't eat them. They just sat there and smelled bad. They even survived fire.

Original Leatherleaf was half size of a tomato plant. Once a year, in the fall, they had seed pods.
Experiments tried to make fuel from the seeds.
Seeds almost exploded if exposed to enough heat. Except the seeds were so small that it took more energy to get the seed to explode than the explosion produced.

Naturally the Leatherleaf experiment was abandoned and the plants turned loose to do as they please, such as migrate to Texas and evolve into a large bush.

Exactly how it happened was unknown.
But the entire mid-to-southern part of Texas, south of Red Lake down to the coastline, was covered with 8 foot high Leatherleaf that crowded over the dry soil with a living blanket of tough impenetrable scrub brush.

At least they were fireproof.
Except they weren’t.

29) Red Lake monster
Contents Previous Next
Oil and gas kept rising throughout Texas and there was no way to stop it.
The combustible fuels percolated up through cracks in the rock, old oil wells and water wells that weren’t filled with concrete.

Sometimes gas would fill up valley floors, and kill off plants and animals.
When it ignited, the hydrogen burned away with massive amounts of heat and energy. The byproduct of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, sulfur oxide, and acidic water ruined many fresh water wells over large areas.
The aquifers had risen in some places so that water could be pumped to the surface again, but frequently the tap water spewed bubbles of gas. Hydrocarbonated firewater.

Red Lake was more open to wind, and breezes quickly carried away the gas and petroleum vapor that belched up.
Vegetation and crops grew steady around Red Lake when it rained.

Red Lake lay north of the Leatherleaf about 25 miles and still had forests of cedar that grew 6’-12’ high. Some protected valleys had short oak, maple and sycamore wedged into the rocky soil.
During drought months, the vegetation turned brown until the rain returned. You never knew when it was going rain.

Of course the water in Red Lake was poison to drink because of the petroleum, but also from arsenic used to extract value from the old landfill.
The water was distilled with electric distillers. Which was good because it removed minerals so irrigated land remained more viable after evaporation.

You could swim in the lake to cool off.
There were no fish.
The lake was beautiful when it rained.
The surrounding hills turned green, and the lake turned red at sunset. Red Lake.

At night the sludge evaporated off and sometimes there were green and violet and orange colors like an electric show.
The nighttime lights were spectacular.

Occasionally the lake would hiss, and people called it Serpent Lake too.
The hissing made people nervous, and they would claim a monster rose out of the water. Maybe it was a gas plume.
Or beet beer and imagination.

People traveled long distance to see the lake. It was quite famous.
Tourists arrived more frequently after the Bank rail was installed. They were usually disappointed when they didn’t see a monster.
But how could a creature live in that water with no fish to eat?

It didn’t matter to people who lived there. Red Lake was a place to distill water that never ran dry.
With the nuclear addition nearby, enough water was distilled to carry crops and livestock year round.

30) Bobber finds family
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The previous year, a fellow showed up at the Trade Box.
He looked at Bobber, and said ‘you’re my uncle.’

Hold on a minute.
‘You’re my uncle' had two meanings.
Meaning 1: you were actually that person’s uncle.
Meaning 2: you ‘eat monkey.’

People said it to be funny or start a fight.
It was bold speaking to a stranger.

Monkeys of some breed flourished in the limestone hills of mid-Texas.
They could outwit a river bottom lion.
Worse than Ootistics some said.
The monkeys were running around in general nusiance, eating crops, breaking into homes, and stealing food stores.

They were equally hard to hunt.
Shooting monkeys was like drinking water from a straw hat. When you went down the hill after them, they climbed back around and disappeared.
A few years before, around the time raiding ended, the monkeys attacked and ate some guy.
So the clan went after the monkeys that ate their uncle.
Lots of people joined in. They got real serious.
They shot as many monkeys as they could.
At one point, a group of guys cooked up one of the monkeys to eat.
So they were eating the monkey.
Another guy walks by and says, oh, you’re eating my uncle.
He meant that the monkey ate somebody’s uncle, so now, they were eating that uncle themselves.
Story goes that one of the guys coughed up a bloody piece of meat through his nose, which puked the other men and nobody ate the monkey.

Naturally, word got around.

So after that, when you wanted dinner conversation with people you hadn’t seen for a while, especially your relatives, you say, ‘oh, you’re my uncle,’ just as they’re taking a bite of meat.
People thought it was hilarious.

But if you said it to a stranger it was an insult.

So here was a young fellow standing at the counter calling Bobber an uncle.
Bobber muttered for clarification, not wanting to wade into a fight.
The fellow says, no.
My friend is your brother JohnE.

My brother is alive???? Which brother? Bobber asked.

There was an older brother that left for the Lithium War and was killed.
His name was JohnE.
Bobber’s father’s name was Jonney. That’s why they named the first child JohnE.

The young fellow says, JohnE.
JohnE is alive?

Bobber’s heart was pounding. He had to catch his breath.
The young fellow said that JohnE deserted the war just before a blast killed his group. Blew the men to pieces.

The war bosses sent notice to Bobber’s father that JohnE was killed. No tags, no thanks, no body, just gone.
Bobber’s father held the notice for days. The loss was so strong that he couldn’t walk.
Short time later, his father disappeared.

JohnE escaped the war, but he violated Oath by deserting,
Deserters were killed, so he couldn’t go home to Texas.
JohnE had no idea he was considered dead, or he would have gone home.
Instead he traveled eastward to steel country and married into a clan of welders and fabricators who built electric cartage.
After two children, his Property rejected him and took a new man.
JohnE had no rights because he was weak parrot, so one night he snuck away with his baby boy and traveled back to Texas.

JohnE arrived in Texas with his boy two years after Bobber joined the raiders.
He found Bobber’s younger brother and sister in an empty house near the birthplace.
They were down to final chickens, but they were healthy.
Together they moved to South Texas to hide from reprisal since the eastern clan made claim for the stolen child.
Since they were hiding, Bobber could never find his family on the monitor.

Luckily, JohnE’s property contract was made solo.
With the new Solid Dollar, the Bludworthies were no longer honoring solo claims.
JohnE had gotten clear and started looking for Bobber and the missing father. But he avoided the monitor since the eastern clan could track him using paid transactions.

A great weight lifted off Bobber. He found his family.

Bobber was able to visit JohnE and his sister and brother a few weeks later.
They were children when they parted. Bobber didn’t recognize them immediately.
They had their own families and friends and treated him like a stranger.
It didn't matter, it was wonderful to have a family again.
Only afterward was Bobber reminded that he had feelings again. It felt calming and burdensome at once.

JohnE and the rest moved 20 miles south of Red Lake to a tiny dry farm community.
Bobber wanted them closer, but that was it.

That’s when Bobber began searching the monitor for his father.
Most people were on the monitor by then.
After JohnE was called dead, Bobber felt his father’s broken heart.

There was hope.
If his father knew JohnE was alive, maybe he would come home. They would be a family again.

Bobber found his father through an agreement.
His father held a contract family back east that showed 2 children; a boy and a girl.
He reached his father through the monitor saying that JohnE was alive.
They made plans to get together soon.
It was terrible when his father never came, but each knew the other was alive.
You can live old pain forever, or let yourself forgive and live in peace.

Bobber feared going east to see his father.
What if his father loved his new children and rejected Bobber again? That pain would be too great.
It was better to believe that his father still cared than to discover a different man who found happiness without his own.
A man shouldn’t think about those things, but inside was a boy who was deeply hurt.

31) Storm and fire
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LeoJ recovered from the laughing spell over the little girl’s uncovered face.
He returned to the back room and saw the warning: Strong storm coming.

A dry hurricane hit the coast day before.
Contact was lost with many areas, but people ignored reports since there was no rain except east of New Galveston.
People wanted rain.
It was dry season and hadn’t rained for 2 months.

The hurricane’s eye spun westward overnight, and the winds were coming in from the north as it approached Red Lake.

The copper coupon bell started ringing for some reason.
Other bells and noise started up.

Bobber immediately called out to bar the door closed.
Anything could be happening. Raiders, Ootistics, Bludworthies.
He saw the monitor. People outside were looking south toward the lake while others were looking north.
Nobody was running, so the place wasn’t amuck with meat cleaver lunatics. Which was good.

Then the ceiling lights burned brighter. The men looked up. A bulb that was previously off started to glow.
You could feel electricity in the air, which started a humming noise, and then a wheezy growl. Such a sound you never heard; like a bear and crocodile breathing in your ear.
Moments later there was a huge explosion.

People ran outside to see what happened.
The lake was on fire with flames surging skyward.

It was unbelievable. There was a huge fire on the lake and the heat was almost searing.

Suddenly a tidal wave of flaming water washed ashore.
Shocked people stood motionless watching a surge of burning water push balls of dirt and trade boats up the street.

Liam’s clan was knocked down by the concussion blast, but were up and seemed ok except holding their ears.
Flaming water ran up the arroyo behind the Trade Box.
The brush and grass caught fire and ignited pine needles which set fire to the trees.

People closer to the lake were yelling.
The retreating water pulled people into the lake.
Men were running to get ropes.
Boats were on fire in the street.
People swinging bedcovers and jackets and throwing dirt to put out fires. Fire was everywhere.

Just as suddenly, a hard gust of wind blew in from behind. The north wind arrived with a blast.
Clouds of dust faded the sun, and bullets of cold rain fell for one minute before the sun shone again before being obscured completely by the onrushing storm.
The sky was achurn with fast-moving clouds, followed by cigar clouds that started rolling past like fingers in your hair.

People were yelling again. The tidal wave was coming back.
Then a cheer went up as the people swept away moments before were heading back to shore. Survivors grabbed ropes as the new surge flooded in.
The second wave was smaller and not burning.
Bobber watched the slough of black water wash in with branches and a white shirt floated by.

The wind was blowing small people down.
At least the fires were not spreading.

So it seemed the situation would resolve quickly as soon as more rain fell.
But the clouds gave nothing.
Just a howling dry air that blew dust and sticks and burning embers into the lake.

The dry side of the hurricane had arrived. It was sucking down air from the north with no rain to fall.

A group standing nearby were screaming and pointing.
That’s when the people in town noticed the far shoreline was on fire.
Across the entire breadth of the lake, there was fire.
Flames were bouncing up hundreds of feet high, going over the hills. Pine trees exploded when the wind hit.
The wind ripped past like the devil coming out of your pocket. There was no stopping the fire that raced southward with the hurricane.

Liam’s family was yelling. Their voices barely heard over the wind.
Their homes and families were on the other side.
They had come across on the boats that were burning in the street.

Properties fell to their knees in the dirt and mud, clasping hands in front of mouths, then reaching out as if touching lost hearts on the other side.

Paralyzed people watched the land consumed with wind-driven fires that reached every hill as wide as you could see.
Bobber suddenly remembered his own family. They lived south just 20 miles. Same direction the fire was going.
His lifelong dream that his family would be whole again was slammed into a wall. He fell against the doorway, then slumped to one knee.

It was Liam who saved Bobber at that moment.
Stand up my friend. We are strong for the others. He helped Bobber up.
Yes Liam trusted Bobber.
Maybe it was Bobber who was most in doubt, and not Liam.
They shared a bond, both living through equal hardship.

Silently now, the whole town looked across the lake, with tears that swallowed everything that came before.
We will take it.
They busied themselves saving the boats, and covering windows.

When work was done, visitor and resident found new friends and sheltered together. Each planning later to travel across the lake, hoping for a miracle.
If only it would rain. But it never did.

After the hurricane died away hours later, the fire created its own windstorm, urged onward by a late summer jet stream that pushed into Texas the next day.

The fire raged across Texas for 36 hours before reaching the Gulf shoreline. Traveling 14 miles per hour, wiping out New Freeport, Space City and Cristi Point and everything between. Only those who could outrun the wind, or took to the sea, or took cartage going west or east escaped out of danger.
Anyone breathing ash and smoke soon developed lung problems, some to pass quickly while others dwindled in diminished capacity to the end.

What bad luck. Red Lake belching up explosive gas the very moment the charged atmosphere of a storm arrived with high winds. Maybe it was lightning. Or short circuit in one of the buildings. Maybe it was the glowing aura of static from the lake itself. Few cared for science after it wrecked the planet.

People remembered stories about the planet covered with chemical poison. How people were fed sugared chemicals and salt because there wasn't enough real food. How phenols and other chemicals killed people many times over, causing damage to human bodies and plants and animals and oceans.

Science was rejected, yet modern life depended on electricity invented by science. Something useful from the past always manages to creep into the future, perpetuating the cycle of mischief and wonder.

Liam's family crowded into the Box for shelter. Wind bounced broken limbs against the building, mocking their loss. Leo J passed out blankets to hang against the wall to stop dust from blowing through the cracks.

32) GE-Nuke crystal

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The rule was only LeoJ and Bobber were allowed in the back room.
The rest of the people were crowded in the front.
A few lights were dimly lit using the centrifuge generator, but otherwise it was dark and desperate.

Electricity was off. Bank links were down.
Monitors might be off for weeks and a missing disc would throw blame on Bobber. Banking interests would demand reprisal. No excuses.

Bobber saw the risk, but also saw a chance to close the deal.
He invited Liam to meet privately in the back room.

Bobber spoke plain and fast; saying he knew about the hidden value. He understood Liam’s expectation of receiving the Easy Mark, and about the risk for Liam’s clan.
Before Liam could answer, Bobber said that Liam could also buy a protection claim for his value instead of selling the value outright. The item would be stored at the Trade Box, fully protected by the Solid Dollar, with price to be negotiated later. This would protect the clan since they would leave holding papers so folks could see the value was no longer available for theft.
Except, as Bobber pointed out, the monitors could not communicate with the banks until electricity was restored. There would be no guarantee except Bobber’s word.
If something happened, then no proof would exist until bank links were working again.

Liam said they found a crystal.
Small boy was called in. He pulled the crystal from his pocket. They gave him drinks to carry back out front.

LeoJ looked at it carefully.
It’s a GE-Nuke.
Yes. A full Blue. The best. Very large.
Slightly more than 1 inch wide and 5 inches long with pointed ends that spun in the reactor. The number was etched. You couldn’t counterfeit the etching.

This was extraordinary.
There were pictures with registered identification on the monitor, but Bobber never heard about people having one in their pocket to carry around.

LeoJ added. It might be illegal. Or stolen.
Liam said, we found it. The rest of the clan doesn’t know. My children know the risk. They won’t talk.
Keep it that way Bobber said.

The three men were quiet.
Liam spoke first. He said they would accept the protection claim if Bobber could find a buyer.
Bobber said it was worth more than an Easy Mark.
Liam agreed.

Liam said he wanted to stay close and not leave the area until a buyer was found.
It will take time, Bobber said.

Clear thinking was needed.
They had to forget the fire and death raging across Texas.

LeoJ and Bobber looked at each other. It was dangerous to get folks excited about something as big as a GE-Nuke crystal.
They couldn’t credit it.
The only choice was protection claim.
They were vulnerable if Liam did them dirt.

Bobber calculated the protection claim was worth the risk. LeoJ agreed.
Protection claim meant Liam was free to reclaim the crystal any time.

The fire spared Red Lake.
Bobber anticipated many people would arrive to fix electric lines, and look for help and loved ones.

Ok Bobber laid out the plan; Liam could stay, but he would stay in view.
It would appear best if he and Liam worked together.
The clan would need to hunker down without word. And they couldn’t stay with Bobber. Wherever they stayed meant words that could doubt the deal.

Act fast or act slow? Bobber didn’t know.
It would be handy having a seasoned Lithium fighter around like Liam.
But if Liam got killed by old enemies, it would sully the Box.
Bobber had to roll the wheel. You can’t lead people with a spaghetti noodle.

Liam stopped talking. He didn’t want trouble. He preferred to remain unknown. But what choice was there?
Liam demanded that his older boy be included on the contract. Smart idea.

The deal was struck. Liam would cross the lake to check the disaster, and then return. He would quietly work for Bobber, but not carry arms. Instead he would negotiate the value of peace against losing the Trade Box.

Bobber had other worries.
The fire and his family. He had to know.

33) Plan to sell
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Who could buy and sell Nuke crystals?
A top connection was needed.
Liam sought trade with Bobber because he thought Bobber was top connected.

But top people traded face to face. If you could find them.

Bobber remembered the night he lay tied up in the barn with Mellon standing over him.
One of the men who cut Bobber loose next morning might be around.

Yes … what was the man’s name? The short, tough one with red hair. JoeR or JoeB. He might know where to find Mellon.
Except those men thought Bobber was already top-connected.
If Bobber asked about Mellon directly, it would cast him as a liar.

Bobber wasn’t going to disappoint.

What about the woman at the barn with the beautiful face? Bobber had no idea she was the Queen.
To Bobber, she was just another princess. Yet there was something compelling about her. The wind stopped howling in Bobber's ears for a moment as he pictured her in his mind.
Shake free fool.

Yes. It was okay to ask about the woman, feigning offer to sell fine jewelry, instead of asking about Mellon.
Bobber still had the bright stones he found during a raid.
You could inquire about important women by speaking indirectly, and offering to sell the bright stones to the woman might lead to Mellon.
It was a solid plan.

34) Girlfriend Cheneen
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Bobber's relationship with Cheneen fell apart the year before the hurricane. He was 21 she 16.

She was tall and willowy. Golden blond. Striking blue eyes. They were only together for a short while, and it seemed serious enough, Bobber wanting a family and all, but not so sure it was his time.
Cheneen's family was pressuring Bobber for contract, but the girl was modern.
She was quick to undress and was quite of wicked mind, with that sassy mouth and agile willingness to absorb all manner of provocation. Bobber loved her long inner thighs and firm grasp on the situation. Together they were all over the back room and up to the rafters.

Around her family however, he felt like a square ball bearing.
It was worrisome when they offered such a large contract, then backed down on the price.
Seemed they were measuring Bobber’s Trade Box as a family heirloom, with certain disposable ownership.
Oh sure, they were nice enough in a down home grab-ass way that Bobber got to wondering how many men were buried under the barn.

Bobber caught the glimpse one night at a family meal.
The girl strutted out dressed like a three-finger cheesecake.
She wore a transparent veil over her face. Her short skirt was made from thin white fabric that clung to her hips, with a whip-leather belt, and loose shirt that obviously displayed no undercovering.
Her uncles and another man were sitting there that night, including her uncle, Rector Carlon, one of the four 'keepers of morality' for the area.
None of them brought wives.

She acted like a 3-year old, hiking up her skirt to sit down, and then standing up to bend over deeply to pick up a dropped fork.
Massive heat was coming off that table, and it wasn’t just the mustard beans.

The whole gob of them staring at the surprise darling as she performed the need to stretch arms overhead. Leaning side to side so both breasts swayed against the shirt.
He figured she was pulling all the straws at that table. Including the father’s too.

Bobber sat there and watched the torrid lot of incestors slather their potatoes with butter.
She was so hot it would make you cry.
The mother pretended not to notice.
At least there was enough Texas Proper that nobody was stroking-the-genius through their pant leg.
Bobber thought this would look dandy on the announcements.

He was sitting with his back to the door. Clearly a bad practice, but other chairs were taken when he sat down.
Somebody was outside looking in.
It was dark. No sense turning around. If evil was about, the deed would be done by now.
It was angry with envy or jealousy. Bobber instinctively scootched his chair away from the girl.
The table saw it. The family knew there was no contract. The girl crushed the deal. It was about somebody else.
Cheneen let Bobber know the way young girls often handle such things.

Bobber left into darkness real quick. No sense stalling around and making the men wait.

He was angry, but had to make a choice. Take the back way home? Or slip the pathway and disappear?
The direct route would be greatest danger, but would reveal the truth.

Bobber walked straight to it. RobbieB came out from the side.
Hi Bobber.
Bobber replied, Hey, you’re Cheneen’s friend. Well I was just over there, and her father said he wasn’t going to sell the scrap copper. We sure needed the deal, but it fell through.

RobbieB was disarmed by Bobber’s relaxed candor. Ok he said. Ok.

That’s when Bobber saw the other two boys. So that was it.
RobbieB was Cheneen’s new straw and the guys were going to force it over Bobber.

Maybe the girl would have preferred a fight. Except Bobber knew what was happening before it happened.
No sense sharing with RobbieB that his new hen was an avid proponent of the open-way, and probably taking the Solid Dollar right then as they spoke.

There was a level of dirt put to the honor of Cheneen’s family.
In their minds, Bobber cheated them out of the Trade Box.
He wondered how he managed to walk into that situation so blind. But maybe it was coming anyway.

Afterward, he still saw Cheneen around town, usually with girlfriends, and sometimes with RobbieB.
He was a bullyway. You could see he enjoyed owning her. But there was a mismatchedness about them that made Bobber wary.

35) After the hurricane
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The worst of the hurricane passed. Bobber sunk back into the world.
He thought of Cheneen and about other people in town.

Runners brought word saying Red Lake was counted. Some were burned.
Bobber sent bandages and ointment.
He sent runners to check on Gold Town next door. They were unaffected.
A runner came for LeoJ saying his family was ok. He sent word saying he'd be home soon.

Bobber and Liam moved to the front room, shaking hands like old friends.
The crystal was secure in the back room and Liam had protection claim paper with proper signatures.

The wind howled for hours. It was afternoon when townspeople cracked open the door and came outside.
The sky was clearing but heavy wind still poured in from the north.

Clouds in the south glowed orange.
People looked toward the fire, gesturing and talking to friends they hoped survived.

Men were heading out to check on crops and friends.
Others readied the crossing boats for next morning.
It was dangerous to breathe too much dust. It was wiser to wait it out.

That night the people of Red Lake were alone and huddled together under a windy star-lit sky.

Next day, the water was still too rough.
Some feared the lake would explode again.

Drinking water was needed first.
Men found the fresh water distiller damaged but repairable. They used hand pumps, and took turns pulling duty. The hot day helped.

As soon as water was available, the hunting men set off to walk around the lake, a considerable feat following steep paths over mounds of old mine tailings covered by dense low brush. They knew the trails.
The electric cartage wasn’t running.
Other men set out to find fallen electric wires between Red Lake and the Nuclear Addition. Communication depended on electricity.

Good news came back. The Nuclear Addition was still on line and wires were only down in a few places. Power would be restored soon.
Maybe it wasn’t as bad as people feared.
But it was. Texas was burning down.

Still no word from down south.

The boatmen set out around the edge of the lake, promising to signal back from the other side.
Men lined up to go. Liam and several others were picked.
It would take days to float around the perimeter, even if they caught the sail.

Wait and see.

Travelers arrived in town, they told of fires and explosions elsewhere, not just Red Lake.

The fire started all across north Texas.
The jet stream pulled the hurricane toward a trough that caused higher clouds and lower pressure, just as the earth pushed up a wide band of hydrocarbons across the region.
The low pressure sucked plumes of explosive gas out of the ground and electricity must have sparked up against the charged storm clouds. Something happened.

More and more people began arriving, looking for help. Many were burned.
They came from the east and west, but none from the south.
People told stories having to leave the old and injured behind in dusty smoke to wither and die.
People accept hardships, but few can bear lives afterwards, except hoping the youngest never remember.
Electricity was restored. They made ice for the wounded.

Bank links were restored. People crowded around the outdoor monitors straining for news about the fire and loves ones.
For the first time, monitors-worldwide carried death rolls of people lost in the fire.
It was horrible and important to let families know what happened.

36) Search for survivors
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The Banks began assessing rail lines for damage.
The Bank rail coming from the east was open. The gold rail from the north was open.
The south rail to New Freeport was impassable after a few miles.
Spot repairs were being thrown up to get rail cartage down through Texas and find survivors.

Cartage men left water and food next to the rail to signal that people were looking for them.
Day and night, the electric whistle sounded on every rail.
If you can make it to the rail, we will get you out. That’s the best for now.

Texas didn’t have a lot of rail, and most those lines were destroyed by the fire.
Vast stretches of rail would have to be laid again.

The Bank began long-term plans to double rail Texas from east to west and south to north, but it would take time for men to work their way into the deepest part of burned out Texas.

People hoped their relatives survived by hiding in the root cellar. But root cellars were just a hole under the house that would never protect from fire.
If the root cellar burned, then food stores would be gone.
If the rail, mule and food were gone, and rivers dry, how would anyone escape hundreds of miles across Texas in the heat?

News arrived. Houston and New Galveston were spared, but west of Brazos and San Bernard and Colorado rivers was gone.

People at the Trade Box wouldn’t leave the monitor.

Bobber sent out free cold drinks. Indoor monitors were moved outside, and he closed the Box.
More monitors were ordered, along with mosquito repel. More people were arriving each day. He hoped the Bank sent supplies soon.

Families cooked stew pots. Food was running short so they administered sugar water that was beat out of the cane growing along edges of valley floors.
Men brought in logs so people could sit. They watched the monitors. It was quiet despite the agitation that sugar threw down on a person’s sanity and well being.

The first supply rail arrived. People heard it coming and rushed to the platform.
Two men got up on the platform.
A large bale, perched on the top of the car, was finally toppled off.
It was cut open. People watched intently.
The man held up the prize.
Toilet paper.
Genuine western 4-ply. Fold it over 4 times, and you got 4 plys.

Ration boxes, potatoes, mosquito nets, repel, canopies, lumber, nails were offloaded.
Two big fresh water distillers, steel pipe, hege-welders, a dredge screen, and a boat.
Bandages, blankets, bed rolls, bamboo mattress springs, skid rock hammocks, kid trinkets, hats, gloves, socks … but just two monitors. Bobber was puzzled. Why would the Bank send just two monitors with so many people arriving each day?

A new man presented himself on the platform.
He was the Bank Boss.
He was crazy as a scotch dog. He loudly entertained the crowd and people believed him.
He guaranteed the Bank would support Red Lake.

Our men are going to start here and work south to find your families.
We need water. Set up the distillers.
The crowd surged into action.

Then the cartage left.
The Bank Boss would be back.

Canopies were strung from tree to tree, sheltering people from the blazing sun.
Outdoor areas were carefully enclosed against swarming mosquitoes.

Bobber was giving away what he owned, and offering free communications.
Same as the Banks.
He cautioned against violence and re-selling at higher price.
Anything could set off demand for gold if the Banks failed to deliver.

A signal came from across the lake. It was a cruel joke to signal by fire.
The following night there were several fires visible on the other side for 15 minutes before the glow disappeared. It was uncertain what it meant. But at least they made it.

Maybe they were bringing back survivors.
Heat from the fire must have been immense. Surely some people jumped in the lake, except the lake was burning and the waves would drown them or set the boats on fire.
If there were survivors, why no signal before now?

A fray of hope will bleed the heart dry of any thought.
The community pulled together.

37) Queen is announced
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For the past year, stories on the announcements told about a Queen living in Forest City.

She was creating the New Kingdom and calling for representatives from each area.

Queen? What was that? A Kingdom run by a Queen?
It was new. Something to talk about.

Properties were excited beyond belief. They were making up stories how the Queen would transform the world into a romantic kingdom that would replace the daily drudgery of raising children and tolerating a dumb man.
Well, maybe they should have married a smart one instead?

The monitor started running Lady-shows. One show had a group of modern women discussing the end of boorish men. Offering ways to bring romance between men and women. Flowers, gentle discussion about her feelings.
What the world we need that for?
One man jumped up and changed the announcement. Women laughed. The man looked like a goat; why wasn’t he out working in the field? The women changed it back.

The Queen was scheduled to appear on the Monitor soon.
But then the fire.

Her appearance was postponed, and the Queen would travel to Texas instead.
Hope filled the air.
A wondrous being was coming to help.

Bobber was trying to sort out his own plan.
The Box was re-opened.
He was careful.

38) First reports
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Boats started arriving from across the lake. They brought a group of people who got lost on the wrong side.
The news was terrible.
Only two survivors. They were burned after getting dragged into the flaming water and hanging on to a broken boat.
The explosion happened close to shore. The heat was greater on that side of the lake. The wave of flaming water was larger.
Bodies were floating. There were quiet sobs. People took it. What choice was there?

Liam made it back. He was weaker.
Bobber helped prop him up.
Smoke from smoldering Cedar stumps made it too risky to travel south.
Any survivors would know to walk toward Red Lake, but there were no landmarks and the smoke would wither them fast.
Boatmen agreed to patrol the other side for survivors.

Monitors carried video showing the best seekers from New Galveston moving up the Brazos and San Bernard and Colorado rivers. It was slow without local food and clean water.

Word came from New Freeport on the coast: nothing left inland.
Many coastal people survived by taking to the sea.
Those with monitors-worldwide knew in advance the fire was coming, but it happened so fast. There was nowhere to run.

South Texas was covered with Leatherleaf. Each branch coated with thorns and strung together by vines covering the whole mass.
Only night-cats, hogs and tiny deer were able to navigate through the maze.
From this massive field of scrub, the men and women of Texas carved out small dry farm communities depending on rainfall to grow crops.
The Brazos and Colorado rivers were uncertain most years.

It was the carpet of Leatherleaf that burned Texas.
Leatherleaf was supposed to be unburnable. Something caused it to burn.

People were getting mad. Why didn’t more escape the fire?

Gold Hoarders were partly responsible.
There wasn't enough rail to pull people out.
Hoarders didn't see opportunity in Texas. Gold could never build enough rail to support the people.

Of course, even if there were rails, families would not leave homes and crops to flee from uncertain danger into certain ruin.

Most probably tried to shelter, hoping it would pass.
When the smoke arrived, it choked lungs already hollowed by years of methane and carbon.
Then a blizzard of sparks came, followed by tornadoes of fire.
The place was blown apart and then burned to the ground.

The dry season rivers were filled with ash, even alligators were dead. Electric power was out, the fresh-water distillers gone. Miles and miles to walk just to find nothing else.

People in Red Lake iron-willed themselves that it would take a long time to discover the fate of loved ones on the roll.

Whole populations of people from north, east and west began moving toward Red Lake.
Red Rake stood at the crossroads between the burned and unburned parts of Texas, with two rail lines that still worked.

But mostly, Red Lake had water. That’s why it was important.

39) Gold Town Booms
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Gold men started arriving in great numbers.
They gathered in sleepy little Gold Town a mile west of Red Lake.

The Big Gold Leaders wanted revenge over gold losses. They chose Red Lake as the weak point where they could rally position against the Bank.

Gold men brought slaves and boisterous bragging. Forget the Solid Dollar. They began distributing gold to all acceptors.
They spread brazen talk how they were going to take over and provide what was needed.
But they had no knowledge how to mount a rescue, or intent to do so.

It was a poor timing to hazard more confrontation over petty loses, when each man complaining was alive, while good people lay dead in the fire.

The gold rail from the north sprang back to life, with gold men pulling their own resources from holdings west and north that divergently crisscrossed expanding Bank interests.
They brought huge loads of timber for constructing more buildings.
Men were all over managing slaves into constructing houses for the gold men.
Gold men didn’t bring families and Properties so it was clear their intention was to start a fight.

People in Red Lake expected Bludworthies to show up in force.
But they didn’t come.
People noticed that gold men didn’t disrupt Bank cartage or shipments.
Obviously, the rule was: no violence, then you’re free to trade with gold.

No violence meant that credit rates held stable, and the Banks still provided free food and supplies to cover the disaster.
Bank cartage even delivered green potatoes, and two fresh water distillers and steel pipe to Gold Town. A Big John decayer was brought in for waste matter. No charge. Set it up and get it going so you have clean water and sanitary conditions.

The Gold Leaders sent in a boss.
The Gold Boss arrived to make sure the construction was done correctly.

40) Gold Boss, Bank Boss, Gold Leaders
Contents previous next
Now Red Lake and Gold Town both had a Boss.
The Bank Boss was busy managing the rescue effort, and the Gold Boss busy doing whatever the Big Gold Leaders wanted him to do.

The Bank played it smart.
The Bank Boss and Gold Boss met to work out a deal.

Gold men didn’t have enough electricity from the single electric line into Gold Town, so they threw kunda lines over wires running to Red Lake.
The Gold Boss agreed to drop the kunda lines, and in exchange, the Bank ran new electric wires straight from the nuclear addition.
Gold Town received free power, as long as no violence occurred. Free, no charge. Plenty of electricity.
Another nuclear addition was planned just to supply Gold Town with free electricity until Texas recovered.
Pleasant dealing.
It was confusing to people in Red Lake.

At the same time, the big gold interests from Space City were outraged.
Space City was located near the coast and was burned completely out. Gold interests were decimated by the end of gold and loss of the gold rocket to Eros, and now they lost Texas slaves and sugarcane and cotton.

The Big Gold Leaders arrived in Gold City from Kansas City. They wanted face-to-face dispute.
Gold Leaders were provoking their men into bolder action. The gold men themselves feared Bludworthy reprisal against families back home so they measured actions more carefully.

The Gold Boss followed orders from the Gold Leaders, and told the men to take over the monitor tower sitting in the middle of Gold Town. Gold Leaders began showing announcements of their own.

Agitation was rising in Red Lake that maybe the Banks didn’t care if gold returned.

People didn’t see progress. They heard the rail was being repaired to New Freeport, but they saw few men moving southward. The new distillers were built, and volunteers ready to help, but nothing was happening.
Anything was better than nothing.

Rumor spread that Bankers were weak from both the fire and gold disasters at same time.
With the gold menace next door, people in Red Lake feared Texas would fall into gold madness again.

The apparent success at intimidating the Bank emboldened more gold men to arrive in defiance of the Solid Dollar.
The great Gold Leader from Salt State arrived to cheers of gold men who were managing the architecture of asphalt screed buildings rising up under the power of enslaved people.
Montana Prince arrived with his sons. Big Buckle of the North sent representatives.
No Properties anywhere. Gold town was barren.

The cheers that greeted the Big Gold Leaders could be heard from Red Lake

That’s when the switch was turned.
Somehow Bank announcers started interrupting announcements coming from the pirated monitor.

The same announcers that shot clown hats out of the gun were spoofing Gold Town.
Falling down like drunkards, they babbled about Downtown Gold Town. Then cut a pair of pants and rolled up the legs so it could be worn as a shirt. It was hilarious.
They just did it twice. Monitors from east to west showed the video, as stories from Red Lake and New Galveston filled the airwaves with talk of disaster and gold drama.

The town of Red Lake realized the Bank was pushing the Hoarders again.

Truth was, gold men were as desperate as any man wanting to know about missing family. They watched monitors-worldwide hoping against hope.

Big Gold Leaders didn’t watch the death rolls, pretending to be busied with more important things.
That angered gold men. Even the most loyal saw the difference that credit offered.

41) Trap is laid
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The Banks had a plan. Gold men had to leave or start bringing Properties and families into the town they built.

Gold or credit, no matter which you choose, your family needed modern conveniences like the a-con chiller, electric heater, electric cooker, electric power, and mosquito repel.
Banks didn’t take gold, they took credit. And Banks owned the sheet steel for making a-cons and heaters and cookers and distillers, they owned the businesses that made deeter-skeeter mosquito repel, and they owned the crystals that produced electric power.

Credit was going to win. Why not let gold men do the work setting it up, and let Gold Leaders supply the timber?

Red Lake was undergoing its own construction boom.
New credit men arrived to build buildings.

The Bank Boss had them build a Medical building located on same side of town as Gold City. All were welcome. Few trusted it would help.

Credit men built 10 times faster with half the men. They used compressed chisels to carve out root cellar and sewer line in a few hours, while gold men hammered against limestone with pick and explosives for a full day.

The credit men cycled in and out of town, each applying a different craft. They specialized at setting up partially fabricated buildings assembled elsewhere.
Many of the credit men were on bondage for unpaid debt, while others sent credit back to families. All were proud of new skills.

Within weeks, people in Red Lake were indoors under the a-con chiller. They had new cookers. Free rent until things recovered. You had to help out and keep things going.

The Bank Boss started picking men to head south on the New Freeport rail reconstruction.
Other men were sent east to start a new double rail down through central Texas.

Liam stayed in Red Lake with his children, but wandered around both towns. Unsure what he should do or when the crystal might be sold.
Bobber sadly saw Liam lose his way.

The Bank didn't deliver a-cons or heaters or cookers to Gold Town. Gold men were still sleeping outdoors at night to keep cool. And then the buildings were hot in the daytime. All that asphalted lumber absorbed a mighty lot of solar.
Some nights were chilly as the season began to turn toward fall. A good heater would be nice.

The Bankers had a trap.
Once the Big Gold Leaders arrived in Gold Town, they couldn’t leave.
They’d rabbled-up their men so much, their position was exposed.
They wanted immediate fighting, except the Bank wouldn’t fight. Still too hot to fight.

Gold Leaders couldn’t slip away now.
They just built a town for the Bank.
Imagine how it would look if old Gold Rocket and Salt Dome and Montana Prince made graceful exit as loser again??

The Bankers had all the rats in the same carton.
They planned a big example, and wanted to make sure the carton was brim full before inserting the cork.
Announcers started joking about the Montana Goof.

42) Bobber discovers the Queen
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Weeks turned into months.
Bobber added his own family to the roll.
If they were alive, they could see how to contact him.

A former Bludworthy appeared in town.
Bobber was looking for him.
Liam called him across the street. A runner brought the news.
Bobber dispatched invitation for him to talk.

When he arrived, he looked older.
Bobber asked about his family. They shared a discussion between trades at the counter.

His name was JoRR Beeler.
He brought a daughter with him to Red Lake.
She told him that she was a Reader and could Read the fire before it happened.
They escaped but lost their home.

JoRR hadn’t eaten all day. Dillard stew was brought out. Eat slow Bobber said. We have more.
LeoJ's wife made a wicked pot of dillard, cheddar and hot pepper stew .... strong enough to smoke a man's tongue ... and that's why you ate slow.

Bobber asked JoRR about the woman at the barn the day they cut him loose. Adding that he had trade value for an important woman, offering commission for information.
JoRR looked at him strange.
Had Bobber made a mistake by asking? No.

JoRR said that’s the Queen.
The Queen?
Yes.
How do you know?

Then the story started.
JoRR was one of four Bludworthies protecting the lady at the barn that day. They traveled back to Forest City with her.
When they arrived, he heard people calling her the Queen, but that was before the monitors talked about a Queen.
He never saw her without face covering, but she was supposedly a teenager that looked much older.
He was sworn never to say what he heard or saw.
But now he was old and wanted to tell what happened. Bobber figured he was about 38.

JoRR was relieved to tell the story.
It carried genuine truth.

The Queen was more powerful than people knew.
She was GE-Nuke, she was the Bank, and she owned the Bludworthies.
She caused the Solid Dollar to come forth.
But there was more. She also started the Line Readers when she was barely a child.
All Line Readers carried the KL-VS2 gene. More resistance to illness, more intelligence, less susceptible to carbon and methane. Exceptional people.

Bobber thought the lady was a Reader when he saw her in the barn.
Readers have always been around; people able to pull information out of your eyes.

Line Reading was about groups of Readers meeting together and touching each other.
The Hive Mentality was communicated by these groups.
Groups of Readers would move around each other in dance-like motions while reaching out and touching the other person’s hand.

JoRR described it and Bobber remembered seeing young people outside the Box doing the Line Reader dance several times, but he just thought it was loose squirrel.

JoRR said, the Line Readers in Forest City wore masks and robes and circled each other in opposite lines.
The lines went around the room. When groups were large, they formed several lines. The lines passed each other.
Each person touched hands while looking at the eyes of the person opposite them.
When there were multiple lines, the lines crossed each other and people all changed direction at same time so the pattern would change.
The larger the group, the better the communication.

He said, in a Line Read, you could speak to the person, or just speak in general, but it had to be in low harmonious tone to resonate with the group.
The rule was that you cleared your mind and didn’t focus on who was there, but instead Read information from their touch, word and eyes.

Since people wore masks and robes, you couldn't tell which person was the Queen, or just an ordinary person with something to say. It could be anybody.
JoRR said that masks and robes hung in the hall available when people arrived. Some people already wore a mask, but less important people picked out a mask and robe before entering.
Then they would go inside the room through a door, and join the people who were already moving in Line.
Rumor was that Forest City was entirely Line Readers, and that the Queen received all information in this manner, and dispensed information the same way.
It was the Hive Mentality.
Line Readers were the power behind the New Kingdom.

After a while, JoRR was assigned elsewhere, and no longer guarded the Queen.
He got homesick and returned to his family and daughter in Texas.

Bobber thought to himself, he should try the Line Reader. Maybe it would help sell the crystal.
Nothing to lose.
Bobber knew information could be gleaned from shaking a person’s hand.
General labor men had calluses over the entire surface. While a boatman, had calluses in specific places. A woman’s hand might have fragrance. A hard working person would have a warm hand, and a frail person might offer a cold hand.

Yes there was truth behind it.

Bobber offered JoRR payment for the information, but JoRR asked a favor instead.
He wanted to go to New Galveston when the Queen arrived but didn’t have Cartage passes for both his daughter and himself.
His daughter Windrock wanted to Line Read with the Queen.
Windrock had the gift. She saved their lives.
She was willing to share the Queen’s gift with Texas.

Bobber was stunned at the opportunity. The story was amazing. He paused a long time.

43) Opportunity
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JoRR asked another favor. Bobber would have to Read with the daughter to clear passageway to New Galveston.
Huh? Bobber was quizzed by the second favor. Clear passageway? Why not get on the cartage and change coaches until you were going the right direction?
Tipping his head to show uncertainty, Bobber nodded. He had to find out.

After thinking for a moment, Bobber added his own requirement.
He wanted to travel with JoRR and Windrock to New Galveston. It would be advantageous for business, and a chance to sell the crystal at best price. In exchange, Bobber would incur half of JoRR’s debt for cartage.
Agreement was reached. JoRR would return with his daughter.

Sale of the crystal could bring real advantage. But it was a bad time to leave the Trade Box.

Passage was going to be scarce.
Many people wanted to go to New Galveston to gain information about missing family and see the Queen.

Bobber pulled favors to gain sponsorship.
He needed local sponsors for two reasons: to reassure people about his plans, and pay for cartage. He gave away most his worth after the fire struck.
Bobber spread word that he would seek trade contacts for each person willing to sponsor his trip to New Galveston.
People knew Bobber was true to his word. But opinion passed that Bobber was necessary to keep peace, and someone else should go instead.

Things were undecided.
First Bobber had to meet with Windrock. And then learn about Line Reading.

44) Bobber meets Windrock
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Windrock showed up the next evening.
Trade was done for the day. Bobber invited her inside.
She was a beautiful girl about 18 years old.
Bobber saw her face. But her face was covered. Just like when he saw the Queen.
She had the gift. Bobber could feel it.

Windrock sat opposite Bobber and uncovered her face. He could see her eyes were different. Not vacant. Quiet. She seemed huge, yet physically smaller than him.

Her manner of speaking was plain. Her words carried command and certainly, without demand. It was calm and the air was cool.
Bobber asked about her mother, the same as he started each conversation with strangers. Asking about family was revealing. Windrock said, you already know.
Of course Bobber didn’t know, but he nodded. Whatever it took.

Windrock reached out and touched hands. They looked at one another.
Immediately Bobber saw the mother, and great peace surrounded him. She was alive but left for another man. Bobber blinked not wanting to know more.
Finish it he thought.
Windrock pushed against his hands and said RobbieB and Cheneen will take the Trade Box.
She said sponsors will be ready soon, and they will provide full passageway.

She said Bobber would to go to New Galveston, but her father JoRR would stay behind because he was weak.
Then Windrock said, the Queen sent you a gift, but it doesn’t belong to you. Did Bobber really hear that? Or was it in his mind? And then it happened again.
The Queen sent you a gift, but it doesn’t belong to you.
Bobbers mind backed away and he released hands. The GE-crystal. She knows?

It was finished. Windrock said she'd be back in a few days, and left.

Bobber felt terror.
Did Windrock discover the crystal?

Forget it all. The agreement was quilled. He would not travel to New Galveston.
The daughter was guessing…. It was just astrologers playing games. They pretended to see the future but knew nothing.
Ok, if RobbieB and Cheneen show up, then maybe Windrock has something

His temporary insanity vanished. Thoughts of Windrock made him smile.

45) New leaders emerge
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Unknown to Bobber, everything would be done at once.

A few days later, the Bank Boss moved to Red Lake permanently, and brought his family.
Red Lake sprang back to life.

Repair work on the rail to New Freeport was running day and night.
The rail line through Red Lake was busy carrying steel and asphalted timber heading south.

Even gold men abandoned Gold Town to help rebuild Texas.
Gold men needed work and adventure same as any man. The difference was clear: Gold Leaders wanted servants, and Banks wanted men to be great.

The dynamic changed for Bobber.
The Bank Boss in town meant Bobber was no longer central for peace.
He was free to travel to New Galveston.

At the same time, a new group of men were emerging as business Leaders in Red Lake.
The New Leaders wanted to forge their own relationship with the Bank, and cut out Bobber’s Trade Box.
They immediately saw opportunity if they could get Bobber to leave.

Bobber saw it too.
It was perfect water to protect himself, and offer something the New Leaders needed.

After taking the Trade Box, Bobber studied contracts written at Banks in New Galveston. He fashioned his own style to become a savvy contract writer.
He banked out of New Galveston because it offered the sharpest trade if you knew how to avoid the hang. If you got caught in the middle, it would cost more. Bobber didn't have much capital from tiny Red Lake, but he knew how to spot the trap doors.

Men were learning new trades.
It was no longer smart to agree to contracts written for other jobs. Each contract had to be specific.

Bobber’s constant work preserving peace let him understand that men didn’t like getting cheated by Hoarders, or the Bank, or by other men … and standing between honesty and cheating was a correctly worded contract.
Bobber knew how to do that.

He renewed the search for sponsorship.
His offer changed.

Bobber would help the New Leaders establish Bank contracts in New Galveston.

Out of respect, Bobber would step aside and not hold his position in Red Lake. And upon return, he would consider all offers without fault for their stance against-or-for his previous position in the community.

Bobber displayed wisdom toward the New Leaders. They agreed and sponsorship to New Galveston was secured.
This would soon take several twists because of Cheneen.

46) RobbieB claims Cheneen
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Bobber was dropped by Cheneen the year before the fire and RobbieB took over as main straw.
RobbieB was a planner and forceful on his wants.
He wanted Cheneen.

Six months after she took up with RobbieB, she sent word asking Bobber to meet at the stand of small Sycamores growing in a pocket valley about ¾ mile north of Red Lake.
LeoJ cautioned against it.
She was trouble.
Her family was pushing her to gain advantage.

Bobber was conflicted. He still loved her yes, but that was part of the reason.
He was angry but flattered that she still thought of him, glad she revealed the truth about herself and innately curious what she was doing. He had to go.
There was something compelling about Cheneen but he didn't trust her.
He told LeoJ, it's better to know than guess. She’s not claimed. They can't call dirt against a Property contract.

Bobber slipped out the secret back door before dawn. And traveled farther out so he could come in the back way.
Using every sense honed from raiding days, he moved cautiously to a cluster of cedars overlooking the Sycamores and waited two hours. The sun was coming strong. It was going to be screaming hot.

A man can see through dense brush using eyes, nose and ears, just like a coyote.
If the instinct tells you to run, just run and don’t wait to see why.
Using senses can be tricky: if senses are more strong than keen, especially your eyes, then others can see you before you see them. The trick is to empty the mind of who you are, grow small, and become the land. Watch what your eyes want to know and you can know things you can’t see.

He heard them before he saw them.
Girls were coming up the dry creekbed. One of them must have fallen and the others helped her up.
They were too noisy for any purpose.

She came with two other girls. Bobber was relieved. A girl standing alone would be a trap.

Bobber felt the land around him. A person following the girls would travel on the slope that lay below Bobber’s position.
The most likely spot for a person to sit was just above the Sycamores.
He felt the area with his mind and watched the girls react to their own senses to see if someone was there.

He felt RobbieB very strongly.
If he was there, the girls didn’t know.
If they sensed somebody, they would be glancing toward a certain spot.

Bobber waited. RobbieB would not come alone. He needed others to confirm his stature.
If more than one man was there, they would be no less clever than farm boys walking with big shoes.
RobbieB was big-armed and walked heavy. He was not a prowler. He would be locked inside at night because he couldn’t tell when somebody was behind him. And that’s why he needed others around him.
Bobber tried to guess who he might bring. Some of the boys about town were quite good trappers and hunters, but none of RobbieB’s friends. They were just pushers.

After a while the image of RobbieB faded. He wasn’t there.
Bobber crossed over and slowly came down the slope where somebody might be hiding.

He was close before the girls saw him.
His presence startled them, but his smile disarmed the group immediately.
He sat down on a rock ledge and laughed, what a beautiful day, implying of course that he was talking about the girls. The girls knew he was a charmer.

They wanted Cheneen to pick him. But it was not to be. Cheneen’s family controlled the contract, and Bobber was too busy for a girl with Cheneen’s disability.
Coming from incest, the world was hard-thrown backwards.

The other girls walked away so Cheneen and Bobber could talk.
He walked close but stopped short of touching.
She started to cry, wanting to draw his heart out from behind a man’s normal weakness.

What a girl.
Hey Cheneen, what is going on?

She said her family agreed Property contract with RobbieB.
Bobber said, well, he’s a strong man.

She looked down.
So that was it.
They couldn’t have children.
Her face told it.
RobbieB must be unable in some way, or Cheneen was infertile. Can’t imagine that girl being infertile, more likely RobbieB.

Bobber had to find a way to say what he knew without getting knee deep into personal lives.
He looked away, and felt the air around him.
The other girls knew. They weren’t far away. Their faces said the same thing.
They remained in sight and that revealed they were true friends.

Bobber asked, why would your family agree to contract if the two of you are not right for each other?
It was the most delicate way to talk about it without knowing too much.

She was unable to say.
Bobber was puzzled. Why wouldn’t Cheneen know?
Why would her family contract their daughter to a man who was unable to have children? Especially a family of incest where the prize is introducing young children to relationships above their ability to resist.

They were merciless with Cheneen. He hated her family and what they did to that special girl.
Snap out of it. He slapped himself in his mind.

Then it struck him like a bolt.
They were going to use Cheneen to bait him, and probably other men too.
Maybe he already swallowed the bait?

Hold on.
He could still back away quick.
But wait. The girls with Cheneen were clearly her friends.
They came so she could ask for help.
This was real.
Cheneen was trying to escape the family.
Bobber realized that she was telling all she knew.

Bobber asked, when is the contract going to happen?
Cheneen said, this week.

Are they going solo, or coming to the Box.
NOW this was the most telling question. Solo meant no Bludworthy reprisal, which meant Bobber would be exposed to continual side assault from her family.
On the other hand, Bank contract meant direct confrontational assault ... which would be easier to see coming, but would carry legal risk.
Either way, Bobber was in danger. Or he was about to change the world. Or both.

She said the Box.
So it would be a Bank contract.
Bobber said he would gladly write the contract.
She turned and looked at him. ‘Gladly write the contract?’

Bobber said, think about it Cheneen.
He turned his body directly toward her and looked her in the eyes.
She couldn't tell if Bobber refused to help, or offered to help in a way she didn’t understand.
One answer was true, and he wasn’t sure either.

They never touched. They never kissed. She left crying and her friends gathered her into their arms and turned away. Bobber stood his ground before moving carefully up another slope to return home after dark.
Nobody saw them together except her true friends who never told.

The following week Bobber wrote the Property contract for Cheneen and RobbieB.
Bobber was very good at contracts that protected his client. His client was Cheneen.
He used his standard Property contract, the same one he wrote for all her friends.

Cheneen’s family and RobbieB signed it. Cheneen was not permitted to see it.
LeoJ said, wait until they find out.
Bobber said, maybe.

Six months later a fire burned down Texas, and Windrock told Bobber that RobbieB and Cheneen would take the Box.
The stage was set.

47) New Galveston and the Big Thriller
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New Galveston was port deep and premier atop other ports for receiving foods like Chocolate and fish and tomatoes.
Boats were swarming the 40 miles out to Old Galveston where the wide reef of purple coral had grown over the crumble of sunken buildings.
The underwater plateau was prime oyster, redline, and crayboy harvest.

New rail lines were rolling into New Galveston as fast as they could be built.
Forget that Texas just burned out.
Fine rich people from the east and north arrived by the carriage-full to set claim on new goods.

Local Banks were building the great fresh water distiller, alongside a giant a-con chiller.
Daily reports followed progress.
Announcers called it the Big Thriller.
The Big Thriller meant plenty of ice, which meant fresh water stores, sea food and import cartage moving inland at great velocity.

New Galveston was pulsing like no other city ... every building almost alive with neon lights in every color and shape.
Music never stopped, and Mardi Gras ran a full month each year ... oh forget that ... it was going on every day ... all day ... and all night long.
Rail men, builders, tradesmen, traders, con men, asphalters, debtors, liberated Properties, gamblers and clowns all wanted a piece of New Galveston.

Sponsorship was made.
Bobber was going. Windrock would be at his side.
Within a month the Queen would be in New Galveston.
Much left to do.

48) Finish business
Contents previous next
Before anything could happen, Bobber had to clear off certain details.
He would leave the Trade Box to LeoJ until his return.
Monitor trade only. Nothing big. Just ordinary contracts.
Bobber said, no crystals. They both laughed.
Both understood that future business was uncertain.
Except they held obligations and discs.

A Box owner couldn't just walk away and leave discs on the counter.
The Bank Boss refused to meet.
There was no clear route.

Don’t worry, we have plenty of trade. It was true.
Bobber planned to be gone for one month.

LeoJ said he would true-drop the discs with the Bank Boss if things got impossible.
Bank Boss would have to accept a true-drop. That was a Bank rule.

Most of the trade goods were given away free after the fire. Everything else was on the monitor, so it was all clear.
Okay it was agreed.

Bobber would take the crystal with him.
Liam would be informed of the plan.

49) Fight in the street
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Windrock and other young people gathered each night to line dance.
That night it happened in front of the Box.

Bobber decided to join.
He jumped in and out of the hot can shower, threw on a pair of Levess Packrights with a clean white shirt. His shoes were trim and clean. Then stepped into the street, suddenly feeling embarrassingly old.
He was still fairly young at 23, but older than the dancers that night.

He was trapped by his own vanity.
Except the others didn’t see him that way.

Here was Bobber, an important man among them.
Unmarried.
Quite a lot of attention paid to him as Properties met his hand along the line.

The men and women were stirred into graceful movements of great intensity and feeling.
Bobber didn't notice anything unusual or different or strange happenings.

Until he realized gold men gathered nearby.
The big one shouted insults.
Gold men started pushing some of the young men.

Three of them separated Bobber from the others, knocking him down.
It was a bad way until RobbieB and two other boys joined in on Bobber’s side.
Things changed quick as more men came running in.

The two groups were jostling and challenging, with men stumbling then re-entering the fracas.
Bobber and RobbieB were arm to arm pushing against the gold men.
The fight rolled into the next street where both sides separated.
Each waiting to see what would happen next.
They dared not pull a weapon.

The girls gathered on the west side.
In revolt, they removed face coverings.
That's when the men started getting distracted.

Sweet Bessie Bou, sing that song !!
Here was a whole bunch of half naked girls standing there in front of them.
Of course, they weren’t really naked, only their faces were uncovered, but out in public in front of all those strange men from Gold Town, and their neighbors, those girls might as well pulled off their bare shirts.

Right then, a horse rodeo started coming into town, riding down the middle of the street.
What? A horse rodeo?
Yep.
Naturally, the big tough men, who moments before were gnashing teeth, backed away on same side of the street, opposite side of street from the girls. After all you wouldn’t want to get too close to a naked girl.

Their eyes were as big as moon saucers.
The men weren't much eager to look at the horses instead of looking at the naked girls, that weren’t really naked.
The girls seemed to enjoy it.

The lead horse paused, allowing the men to scramble to the correct side of the street.
And then the horse rodeo passed down the middle between the men and the women.

One of the horse boys yodeled out, Hey I like this place. Which just about started the fight again except the men were a tad more distracted by what was occurring over on the other side.

Bobber saw Cheneen.
She looked as beautiful as he remembered.
He was proud of her.
She was married now.
For some change in the way that man's spirit works, all the men standing there were proud of those women.

Bobber realized that RobbieB and Cheneen showed up.
Windrock was gone. She must have left.

50) Runaway Property Report
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Bobber walked home on high alert.
Maybe the gold men targeted him for the fight.
No previous rumor warned of such.

Upstairs and safe in the room above the Box, he went to sleep.

Footsteps were coming up the outside stair.
Bobber woke and jumped straight into his pants and grabbed the gun.
The gold men were back

Listen.
It was just one set of feet.
They were climbing the stairs strong and certain. And lightweight.
It had to be a woman.

Windrock was at the door.
Neither spoke.
She came in and took a shower in the hot can in plain view of Bobber.
Her naked body graced by what the dim light reflecting off the wood wall would reveal.

She walked over and lay down next to him on the brown-strap bed.

As he reached his arms around her she became someone else.
He looked again. It was somebody else, but it was Windrock.
Who are you?
She kissed him. It was so familiar. Someone he had known forever.
He felt the weight of another soul enter his mind. It was a woman standing by a long wooden table. She was reading names.
On the table was a scroll reaching back into history and beyond. The most recent names written in red as each appeared on the bottom. The scroll and the names came closer so he could read them, yet the names made no sense.

Windrock said, I am taking you to the Queen.

Bobber mumbled half asleep, okay tomorrow.
Inside, he was feebly trying to imagine what benefit the Queen might bring.

Open your mind, she is with you.

Okay.
The room filled with the same fragrance he smelled the night he lay tied up in the barn.
He fell asleep.

The most beautiful creature in the world lying next to him without a thread of covering and this fella falls asleep?
Windrock was gone when he woke.
It was already half into morning.

Clumping down the spiral steps into the back room, he greeted LeoJ who had been working several hours.
Never seen you start this late.
Heard you saw Cheneen last night.

That’s all done Bobber said. She’s long married now.

Humm. Heard footsteps leaving early.
Bobber mumbled, Aw, just a guest wanting a place to stay.

I’m checking the Runaway Property report right now, LeoJ said, pretending to look busy on the monitor.
How was the tussle? It’s all over town you were fighting in the street.
Fine example of peace-keeping.

Don’t worry, I wore my good shirt.
They both laughed.
Bobber escaped the conversation, unlocking the front door.
There was no such thing as a Runaway Property report.

Big smile across his face, Bobber was happier than he’d been in a long time.

51) The Hall
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The New Leaders in Red Lake were growing impatient that Bobber leave immediately for New Galveston.
They were sponsoring his trip, and expected exclusive representation.

Bobber told the men plain that he had business of his own in New Galveston, and that correct timing was needed.
The sponsors scoffed at his old fashioned loyalty and demanded to know who else he represented.

Bobber told them a satisfaction had to be met to Liam’s family, and to JoRR.
They are not important people. Let LeoJ handle it.
Bobber reminded them that his word must be true to all, or he was not worthy of their sponsorship.
Good point. They accepted Bobber could handle it.
Bobber wasn’t sure his choice was free. In any case, he avoided disclosing hindrances with the Queen, Windrock and Cheneen.

The evasion was purposeful.
He expected Cheneen's family to push Property on him. If that happened, Bobber would dispute the Property claim and the issue would go to The Hall. Speaking about it beforehand would throw balance against him.

The Hall was where disputes and other contracts were settled in front of the Bank Boss.

Before the Bank Boss moved to town, disputes were handled over the monitor at Bobber's Trade Box.
Now with more people in Red Lake, official business was conducted in front of the Bank Boss like a normal town.
They met at the Beet Bar since the building was large and had enough chairs.

There were two general rules for The Hall.
1) Only men gave testimony. Properties did not participate.
2) The Bank Boss was expected to balance his decision with local customs.

Bobber figured that Cheneen’s contract would change the rules.
If local men knew in advance that he was aiming to tip over Property law, they would probably join the New Leaders demanding he leave immediately for New Galveston.

52) Problem
Contents previous next
LeoJ came up front and said there’s a problem.
Bobber excused himself from the counter, and entered the back.
LeoJ’s voice was tight.
His face was white.
What happened?
The crystal shows on the monitor, LeoJ said.
What?
It’s a protection claim. The item shouldn't show.
Bobber had seen LeoJ make the entry.

Bobber checked. Yes the crystal was at the Box. Yes the Bank link showed the undeclared account under Liam’s name.
So far so good.
The undeclared account showed Liam owned an item of value, and could call for it after securing waiver and paying the commission.
That was correct.

But there it was. The GE-crystal was visible worldwide. The image was so clear, you could read the markings just as they appeared on the real crystal.
LeoJ said, we didn’t post that. It's not supposed to show what the claim protects.

Had Liam done them dirt somehow? Did someone alter the Bank disk?

Yes. The Bank disk was definitely different, because it showed the trace mark, but it showed the image they never posted.
LeoJ had entered the trace mark with the undeclared value because that was required. But there was no image.
But the image showed on the monitor. The Bank disc and the Box disc were different. LeoJ checked the revolving codes ... they were the same, so they were clear on that ... but how did this happen?

Somehow the Bank changed the record.
Bobber remembered JoRR telling him that the Queen was both GE-Nuke and the Bank.
Did the Queen do something to alter the record?
But why?
How was that possible?

This was disastrous.
The protection claim was useless with an image. Anybody could see the item and know who owns it. That person lost advantage of the protection claim. The agreement with Liam was violated.

If the Bludworthies arrived to sort out the issue, who would they represent?

Wait ... maybe that’s why the Bank Boss refused to meet. Maybe it was Cheneen and RobbieB.
Wait, Windrock was here. She was upstairs. Did she find a way downstairs while Bobber was sleeping?

Bobber needed to wake up, this was serious breach.
He said, I’m never going dancing again.

Then LeoJ and Bobber both caught the glimpse ... and laughed at the same time.

There was no breach.
LeoJ correctly entered the number on the crystal.
The shadow mark was entered as required for any identifiable item so the exact item was known to both parties.
In the old days, if you wanted protection claim on a gold bar, men would stamp their number on the bar, and then the protection claim would register the number so there was no argument later.

If the object was recorded elsewhere, then accounts would merge on the Bank disc, and show as a series of transactions.
This let people track prior ownership and trade record for identifiable objects.

When the shadow mark showed up on the Bank monitor, somehow the number was traced to another account and both accounts merged, with the other account having a photograph of the crystal. Very rarely would another account have a photograph, and Bobber overlooked the possibility, but there was no choice … they had to enter the number by Bank rule.

Except the owner of the crystal was GE-Nuke.
The Bank disc showed the crystal clean without theft or loss, but something was wrong since ownership was never transferred.
It was still registered as new and unused in the St Louis plantworks.
So how did the crystal end up in Texas and arrive at the Trade Box?
Maybe the missing crystal was not reported missing yet.

Both men sat down.
We have to figure it out.

It’s not our problem, Bobber said.
It’s on Liam.
The disc showed the Trade Box entered the number correctly. The item was not reported stolen.
Bobber realized it was lucky he didn’t buy the crystal.

We have to play it like the chime. LeoJ agreed. They were clear.
It was muddy, but they were clear.

Bobber said we can’t tell Liam until we know more.

LeoJ suggested they hold him in the back room for two months.
They laughed again. Kidnap Liam? Hopefully there was a better idea.

They certainly couldn’t true-drop a protection claim with the Bank Boss … not if it’s stolen.

Bobber knew the wiles of rich folks.
If the monitor showed the crystal, they would know Liam held contract at Red Lake.
Somebody would take a run at Liam for sure. There was no escaping that.

Naturally the rich people would find Liam. They would send someone Liam knew, and then that friend would accidentally introduce Liam to someone, and then they would spend time together sharing stories.
Liam was all over Gold Town.

For real, the rich folks would want the crystal without trace, which meant Liam could disappear too.
Liam’s clan could make claims.
It would put suspicion on Bobber.

A lot was riding on the same donkey.
Liam was in danger.
Bobber was in danger.
Travel to New Galveston with the crystal was impossible.
Bobber would be wide open on the cartage.

53) Liam gets caught
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The solution to the crystal showed up.

Liam got word to Bobber that some of the old lithium fighters were gathering at Gold Town.
Why at Gold Town?
Why stay over there without the a-con?

Didn’t make sense.
Why would Liam need to report that?
He must be nervous.

Liam offered to join the fighters and pass information forward.
Nonsense. Bobber knew what was going on in Gold Town by listening to gossip.

That tipped the wheel.
Liam was caught and unaware.
Down to his bones, Bobber saw the crystal laying in the hands of the gold men.
He couldn’t stop it.
A cool wind touched his neck.

54) Cheneen sees the Contract
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A few days later, Cheneen showed up outside the Box.
She watched the monitor with another married girl from her side of the clan.

Bobber asked LeoJ to notify him whenever she came around. Both men understood.

When the last person left the Box, she came in and pretended to be busy straightening her long skirt.
Bobber saw the side of her tender face.
She looked like a great warrior who was beaten. She fought so hard.

Bobber said, Hi Cheneen, as if surprised to see her.
She wouldn’t look at him.

It’s okay, everything will work out.
No. She said.
It was a warning. She was intelligent.

Cheneen knew how to read.
When they were together, before she took up with RobbieB, she would read the contracts Bobber wrote.

She was so strong standing across the street the night the men were fighting and the girls removed their face covering. She was the leader. The other girls stood strong because of her. That was the real Cheneen.
She loved talking and visiting with friends. But she became such prime Property within that incestuous family, and her mother never protected her.

Her clan and RobbieB didn’t read the Property contract that Bobber wrote.
Bobber called it up on the monitor, and asked if she wanted to read it.

Cheneen started reading. It was awful.

Bobber said no, look at this part down here.
A few moments passed.
Cheneen alerted and looked hard at the monitor.

See what I mean? Bobber asked.
That’s impossible, she said.
Oh yes, it’s my standard contract. All your girlfriends have the same one. It’s my standard Property contract.

Cheneen looked at Bobber, and then looked back at the monitor, and then looked at Bobber again.

Bobber told her she had to let it play.
She couldn’t tell anybody yet.

Cheneen was shaking.
Thank you. She wanted to ask more.

Bobber said, remember, not a word to anybody, not even friends.
You have to be strong a while longer. Your family has to play against the contract.
Cheneen nodded.

Do you know when they are going to make a move?

Cheneen said they didn’t tell her anything, but they knew Bobber was leaving for New Galveston.

Cheneen said they were causing problems for a lot of people. Bobber nodded. He understood what that meant.

He told her it would be perfect water soon.
Cheneen looked down. The dread covered her face again.
Then she left.

LeoJ came up front. He said, that seemed to go well.
Were you listening?
It’s my job.

Bobber said her family is waiting for the trip to New Galveston because there won't be enough time to reclaim position.
We'll have to go to the edge and see who falls off first.

LeoJ said, I think people will have to stand with you.
Bobber was sad. His friend Cheneen had suffered so much torn heart.

55) Liam reclaims ownership
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Liam arrived at the Box next morning. He wandered in casually.
Except he rarely came around any more, so something was definitely up.
No sense drawing it out.
Bobber said, you can pick up the claim whenever you want.
Liam asked, how did you know?

Obviously Liam lost a step or two since they first met.
Liam was tired. Those old lithium fighters weren’t exactly social types, and Liam was stuck in town dragging around like an old dog. He needed to be out in the countryside with his family where a man could be free.
Bobber felt the same way since the place got overrun with humans.

Bobber said, we must protect you under the claim.
That’s our responsibility.
Bobber assumed the buyer was a gold man who wouldn’t know the system very well. Because the claim holder can do whatever they want.

Bobber explained it so Liam would understand the risk.

We do not want you walking out of the Box with the crystal.
Instead we want you to take a piece of paper to the buyer.
You take the claim transfer to the buyer, and they purchase the claim from you.

That way you pay no commission. The buyer pays the commission.
The new claim owner can send someone to pick up the claim themselves.

Liam caught the glimpse.
He stood upright.
Bobber saw the fighter come alive again. Welcome home Liam. The bell is working now.

You leave with the paper clearly visible, because you know they followed you over here.
Liam said, you think? They're my friends.
You mean the old lithium fighters who killed each other?
Somebody needs to ring the bell again.

Actually, there were a whole bunch of men following Liam. The gold men who were following Liam, and the Bank men were following the gold men who were following Liam. The Bank knew the whole deal, and was watching every angle including Bobber and LeoJ.

Bobber told Liam, on the way back to Gold Town, there will be men waiting for you along the road.
Your son and another boy must accompany you back. Do not go alone. Hold the paper visible with the Trade Box name showing.

Once they know you are selling a claim transfer, and not carrying the crystal, then you will be safe anywhere. As long as they don't shoot you for that hat.
Liam smiled about his old sawback hat. I’ve had it for ten years.
Yes, I’m going to New Galveston. I’ll send you a new one made from Gentina leather. With matching belt. Ok. They agreed.
Liam rested his weight against the counter. It was a relief to be on the right path.

Bobber wrote up the claim transfer and sent a runner to bring Liam’s boy and another boy.
The boys had been itching to see Gold Town up close, and today was their lucky day.

56) A-con chillers
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Red Lake was supplying ice and cold drinks to the poor fellows stuck over there in Gold Town

The Bank agreed to send a-con chillers to keep Gold Leaders in town a bit longer.
The Gold Boss held up confirmation paper and yelled the news to his men. The men cheered.

It was all showmanship. No paper was signed.
The chillers were definitely en route. The Bank knew they were going to get the buildings, and the buildings were worthless without a-con, so why not let gold men install the chillers?

Gold Town had two shipping platforms. One for each rail line.
The a-cons were scheduled to arrive at the Bank platform.

The gold rail had fallen short on delivering everything.
Not enough food, no ice, fewer and fewer loads of timber.
Fewer men arriving.
The new men arriving were secretly Bank men making sure the Big John waste decayer and other construction was worthy of Bank take-over.

Gold Rocket and Salt Dome and Montana Prince and the other leaders were exhausted.
They knew it was over.
They couldn’t run equal with the Bank.

The gold game was worthless because it couldn’t build, couldn’t deliver, couldn’t do anything useful for modern men and women.

The only thing left for Gold Leaders was to find a way to leave town.

They were planning a parting shot at the Banks by taking the GE-crystal.
They secretly planned to leave the morning after the a-con chillers arrived because the men would be distracted while installing equipment.
No worries, the Bank already had reserved seats for their departure.

They were going to drag those surly Gold Leaders through the heart of burned out Texas on newly repaired rails and let them feel the devastation that ordinary people suffered.

57) MissTea and the Medical school
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Bobber was out at the rail platform in the blazing sun waiting for a delivery.
The carriage pulled up and a woman stepped out.

Bobber said, hello.
She joyously replied, well hello there, how are you?

Quite a greeting, Bobber thought.

She asked, where is the medical building?
Bobber pointed, the shortest route, you duck under the branch on that tree to catch the path and walk up the hill.
You’re not going to walk there alone are you? Bobber asked.

The lady held her head high, and said why not?
Bobber understood right then. Nobody was going to mess with this lady.

The cartage men drug her bags out, as the lady walked away.
Hey, you forgot your bags.
She turned and said, well bring them along.
We don’t do that.

Bobber laughed, and said, well, today you do.
The men knew Bobber.
They stepped down and picked up the heavy bags.
What’s in here? One of the men leaned over to have a peek.
She snapped, don’t go snooping in there you peckerwood. The men giggled like their mom scolding them for grabbing a cookie before it cooled.

The Bank Boss came running up with a young girl at his side.
Hello MissTea, sorry I am late.

The cartage men said, MissTea? That’s your name?
Yes indeed she said. It’s printed right on the bags. The men were grinning.

So the whole bunch of them marched off to the medical building.
The cartage was left unattended on the rail.

Bobber led the way.
MissTea was followed by the Bank Boss who was followed by the girl who was followed by the two cartage men carrying bags.
When they passed along the edge of town, everybody within sight joined the procession.
Kids were jumping up and down yelling.

When they arrived. Bobber stepped aside and motioned for the crowd to be quiet.
Then MissTea walked proudly up to the Medical building and opened the door. Everybody cheered.

People thought Bobber caused the commotion.
If a good man is standing there and something good happens, then the story gets told saying he did it.

The Red Lake Medical School opened that day.

The girl was the first student of many to come.
The Bank Boss and Gold Boss started sending men over to the school so medical students had someone to practice on.
The men grumbled, but had a good time getting fussed over by MissTea and the students.
People loved MissTea. She was the best person in the world.

It was hoped that more survivors would arrive.

58) Monitors-mini
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When Bobber and the cartage men returned to the rail, they showed him something new.
Small monitors.
Small enough to hold.
The men said they were delivering samples to every town.
They’re called monitors-mini. People have them inside the home. The cartage men said Properties use them. Can you believe that? The Bank is letting Properties have accounts?

Lightning struck. Of course. That’s why the Bank was not sending more monitors-worldwide.
They're using monitors-mini for direct credit purchase without needing the Box.

Bobber scanned the future with one brush.
Put a monitor-mini in the hands of a woman, and you have more trade.
Trade was not just selling cows and peaches. It was about selling pots and pans too.
The Bank obviously pulled out the big calculator on this one.

The cartage men gave one to Bobber.

What an opportunity.
As soon as he got back to the Box, he ordered 1000 monitors-mini.

LeoJ said, you’re leaving for New Galveston.
Why did you order 1000 monitors?
We need them.
He showed LeoJ how it worked.
The mini was purchased directly on the mini screen. You entered your information, and the Bank put the amount in the debit column on your account. The Box received commission because they delivered the mini to the final purchaser.

Bobber started gesturing wildly like the Bank Boss did.

Now imagine this, he said.
A Property can enter her husband’s name since she does not have an account yet.
Then she can have the mini, and buy whatever she wants under her name ... and the credit is guaranteed by his account.
She can watch announcements and watch the lady shows and whatever she wants.

For the first time, women could have an account at the Bank using the monitor-mini ... and the credit would go to whoever owned her Property contract.

LeoJ was equally animated, waving his arms wildly like the Bank Boss.
WOW WEE. You are going to get us killed.
LeoJ and Bobber laughed so hard that people came into the Box to see what was going on.

LeoJ said, we are going to need more than a 1000.
That started them laughing again.

Then Bobber added.
Remember, you can write contracts anywhere.
LeoJ got it.
He wasn’t locked into the Trade Box anymore.
Using a monitor-mini, he could open his own contract office using his Bank credentials and experience.

Just remember to use our standard Property contract, Bobber said.
That doubled them over laughing again.

The man who just arrived at the counter didn’t get it.
Can I buy something here?

59) Windrock and Bobber
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Windrock spent nights at Bobber’s.
She would climb the stair after the coolness of evening set in.
He would open the door and greet her.
They talked about everything.

Bobber fell straight in love. He was prone to love all women. Not that he was a lover or pursuer of women, or that he denied that effort, but down deep he wanted the truest love.

Maybe Windrock was the woman in his dreams.
She seemed that way when things of the night were still and he held her close.
They loved with passion, but she never let him finish.

He would enjoy her all ways of his choice.
But near the end, she would say wait.

Wait??
No fireworks? A wanton mind-breaking lust without finish? Is this lady crazy?
Bobber’s mind was going out the window. Why the slows?

Windrock was steady, and each night Bobber would fall asleep in the wrap of love, with her warm breasts under his hand.

But it was not her love. It was the Queen’s love.
Windrock was sharing the Queen’s gift with Bobber until they could meet.

She kept telling Bobber the same thing.

All this Reader stuff was about to crack the old man. What are you talking about?
I’m here and you’re here … the Queen isn’t.
On that point they seemed to disagree.

He wanted her to stay with him all day and night, but she had work and left each morning to return at night.
And then they would talk about their hopes and plans.
Somehow Bobber could only see her as far as New Galveston, and then Windrock was not there.

Same thing each time he time he looked. She was no longer with him in New Galveston.
He asked why.

Each time she said the Queen.

If the crystal was no longer part of the reason for going to New Galveston, it made no sense.
Why would the Queen want to meet him? What were they going to talk about … the good ol' times when he laid beat up in the barn?

If the crystal was the Queen’s gift, then Bobber was in trouble, depending on interpretation of several variables.
He began thinking that women rendered him stupid.

60) Liam makes the trade
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Liam sold the claim transfer for the crystal.
The gold men embarrassed him. They paid gold.

He got cheated. All that time he spent dogging around town for nothing.
What choice was there? He had to get away.

As expected, a runner arrived from Gold Town with the claim transfer.

Bobber and LeoJ knew the real buyer would never show up.
A phony name was written on the bottom. Gold men didn’t want their name on a bank document fearing it was a trick. Of course it was a trick, but the trick was honesty. If the buyer put his real name on the transfer, there would be no problem.

The gold men paid a pretty good amount of gold to get the crystal, plus they chose to credit out the commission with a phony name, which was Bank violation.
Bobber knew his commission was lost before it happened. He didn’t want Liam tied onto the debt over a few Marks.

LeoJ entered the transfer into the transaction record.
Glad that’s done.

Minutes later.
Hey look at this.

The monitor showed the crystal stolen.
Whoever had the crystal now was in possession of a stolen item that must be returned.
They must return it.

Each transaction on the monitor showed the exact time the traction was made. The crystal was reported stolen shortly after the claim transfer was redeemed.
The loss was on the new owner.
It wasn't reported stolen prior to the claim transfer redemption, so all prior transactions were clear. The Box was clear, Liam was clear, but the new owner was not.

Then LeoJ shouted out.
The crystal is only worth 14 marks. The same amount they were going to pay Liam for the chocolate bar he found.

They’re for sale now.
You can buy a GE-Nuke crystal. New or used. Choice of colors. For 14 Marks.
14/1000 of a copper coupon, the crystals were almost free.
Electric transformer cost more than that.
Toilet paper 15 marks. Box of corn 50 marks.

Bobber and LeoJ caught the glimpse then.

There’s a raid coming on Gold Town.
We can’t tell anybody. I hope it doesn’t spill over here. Get the guns ready.

The rest of the day was quiet.
Nightfall seemed normal.

The Bank men followed the crystal directly to the Gold Leaders.
Secretly the bank shut off monitors going to Gold Town so they couldn't see the new entry showing a stolen crystal.

The Gold Leaders thought they had something big, but they swallowed the hook putting a phony name on the transaction.

61) Burned-out Texas
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Adventures were pushing into Texas.
Progress was slow.
Long distances. No fresh water. No landmarks. Risk of soot in the lungs. Dust. Flies. Smell. Fear.

Men moved upriver from the Gulf, following the Brazos, Colorado, and other outlet waterways.

Other men started repairing rail lines from north to south and east to west.

It was dumbfounding. Rails were twisted. Asphalted timber was torn out, scattered and nearly incinerated.

The fury of combustible Leatherleaf was unbelievable.
Leatherleaf wasn’t supposed to burn … but it was all gone.

There must have been mile-wide tornadoes of fire to tear apart rail bridges like that.
Giant timbers were broken off below the ground line.
The men could see it. The bridge didn’t burn and then fall over. It exploded into pieces.

Stone buildings were thrown apart with foundation wiped clean.

Entire swaths of land, where bushes and trees were torn out of the ground in a hail of splinters before they burned with immense heat.
The agony was twisted against every scab of ground.

Announcers had no words.
It was too vast, from bare horizon to bare horizon.

Only the men who saw it could try to grasp how people and animals faced their last stand before being consumed in certain death.
On the face of God they stood in awe, wishing the night would arrive soon to hide them from the awful sight.

62) Explosive Leatherleaf
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The leatherleaf plant thrived in the harsh environment of Texas after large trees withered away into grass plains. Then the grasses withered into flatbaked terra.

Finally a new plant took hold.
Wherever there was a dry crack in the soil, the Leatherleaf would grow.
The original plants from overseas were half the size of a tomato plant, but in Texas they grew about 8 feet tall, each branch covered with thorns, and usually wrapped by a thicket of vines.
Leatherleaf were basically useless for anything but making a roof. You could weave the wide arrow-head leaves into a thatch to ward off the sun and channel rainwater when it fell.
The seed pods were about a foot long and hung in clusters off the bottom of leaves.

Otherwise the wood was twist grain useless. You couldn’t use it to build furniture because it was difficult to shape, and it smelled. You couldn’t use it as firewood unless you had enough heat to start it burning.
It took a very hot fire to ignite Leatherleaf. You couldn’t just throw a piece on a regular fire and expect it to burn. Mostly it would just smolder and give off unpleasant odors.

Farmers and ranchers that carved their lives in small communities across central to south Texas preferred having Leatherleaf because it was immune to any fire they knew. It was a good neighbor because it didn’t rob the creeks of water.

Now, if you could get Leatherleaf to burn, it would suddenly spark into a huge surge of fire and heat and then die away. Especially the seeds.

People thought it was fun to ‘blow up a few leatherleaf’ by arcing high voltage across seed pods.
But generally most people agreed, Leatherleaf wouldn’t burn.

Transformer explosions, electric shorts and lightning strikes could ignite a few bushes, and they would burn with fury for a moment, and then die away because there was so much space between the fat leaves.
Leatherleaf was better than grassland.
If you lived on a grass plain and a fire started, it was hard to outrun the blaze. So Leatherleaf protected people with shade and shelter while protecting them from fire, and preserving their water, while holding the soil.

Somehow the fires in north Texas got a conflagration heading south across the Red Cedar trees that ignited other pockets of gas that were pulled from the earth by low pressure, and the combination of wind and events was enough to ignite the Leatherleaf into explosive tornadoes. And for some reason, the front was so broad that it burned down Texas.

Not one thing survived if the fire passed nearby. It was just too hot.

63) Survivors
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For six months, the hard men of rail had been pounding their way into Texas.
These were powerful men, with backs that matched the unyielding sun and weight of timber and steel.
They worked until noon when the heat drove them under the cartage for shade where they stayed until 6 pm before resuming work until midnight under the cartage lights.
Only the sturdiest men lasted the job.

The land was hilly and rough so every berm, bridge and culvert had to be custom laid with precision.
Careful calculations had to consider expansion and contraction of the crystal-carbon steel as massive hege-welders fused each section together.
The Bank was laying double rail across Texas so cartage could run both ways day and night. The two rails were pushing across the scorched earth, but the forward group advanced almost a mile ahead of the other rail.

Early in the morning, one of the forward men looked up and saw two brown spots in the distance.
They were accustomed to seeing a sea of charcoal lumps. But these were moving.
Hey what’s that? They weren’t deer but they were the same color as deer.

The other men looked. With the sun to their back, they could see two children.
Are those children?

The yell went out.
We found children.
They were deep in Texas and found nothing alive except a few sprigs of grass ... and now they found children.

Shouts flew down the rail.
Cartage men blared the horn.
At least 50 men dropped their tools and started running toward the children.

Rail workers a mile behind heard the horn.
They could see the commotion in the distance, but couldn’t see what was happening.

The Rail Boss said, run a cart down there and see what is going on.

Monitor tower men hadn’t finished setting up communication links so they didn’t have direct contact.
The horn kept blaring, so they knew something big was happening.
Guards were pulling out more guns. Spotters were checking all directions.

The lookout with binoculars said he saw the men run out in front of the cartage and disappear over a hill.
What the hell is going on up there?

Flashing light from the forward cartage signaled back: Found two children.

It was unbelievable. Now a hundred more men were ready to run a mile ahead to join the others.
They threw a cart on the second rail and nearly every man tried to get aboard but only ten men would fit. The cart raced down the rail, but another cart was coming back toward them.
They practically crashed head on.
What did you find?
We found two children.
The men changed carts ... as the forward men raced back to report what they found, and the other men resumed going forward.

Of course the children saw 50 screaming men running after them so they turned and ran back over the hill and hid in the tiny cave where they survived the fire.
They pulled the stone over the opening and waited in fear as the lumbering rail men yelled for them to stop hiding.

The canyon where the children hid was a maze of rock faces and small side canyons.
As the fire approached, their parents put them in the little cave where they stored canned food at the bottom of a rock wall behind the house.
The space was only large enough for the two children. The parents said they would be back and then covered the entrance with a perfectly formed stone that sealed them safely against the heat.
When the fire passed, the rumble almost pulled the stone out, making it too hot to touch.

At the same moment, the parents and community of people were huddled against the north wall of a narrow canyon, crouching low to avoid the smoke, and getting burned by falling embers. The tornado of fire sucked them out into the sky and scattered the charcoaled remains. They were dead instantly before leaving the ground.

When the 7 year old boy and his 5 year old sister pushed their way out the next day, the cluster of homes in the canyon was completely burned away, and the inhabitants gone.

The cave had a trickle of water that ran year round. Together the children opened jars of food while they waited for their parents to return. Each day the children looked for their parents.
At night they crawled back in the cave and pulled the stone over the hole to stay safe.

Six months and nobody came for them, until the rail men showed up.
They heard the sound of men pounding track and saw the white light of the hege-welders at night. But it was too far away.
Finally when they got closer, the children decided to walk to the rail. Almost two miles away. The little girl was afraid they would get lost and not be able to get home. Her brother told her to hold tight to him.

When the rail men started running after them, they ran as fast as possible back to the cave and were afraid to come out.
The children's footprints were all over in the dirt, but the men couldn't locate them. Their father taught them how to avoid being tracked. So the route to the cave had no tracks. The stone fit the hole so well it looked like another rock lying along the bottom of the canyon wall.

64) Can't find 'em
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The Rail Boss immediately dispatched a cart back to the nearest working monitor tower.
Word went out over the announcements.
They found two children, but they couldn’t find them.

Terrible stories of loss and devastation made people stop watching stories about the fire, but now they had amazing news.
Except after a week passed and still no sign of the children, people began angrily repeating the slogan: Found 'em, but can’t find 'em.
Made the hard-working rail men look like they were lost and chasing ghost peppers in the wilderness.

Banks responded firmly, reminding folks that rail men found many people. Anybody who made it to the rail was helped as if they were our own.
We will send Rescuers. We will find them and bring them home to you.

Rail men were pulled back, and the Bank brought in women.
They were told about the habits of Deep Texas folks who stayed hidden from the world to avoid disease and kidnappers.
These children were trained to avoid outsiders.

It was a new idea to bring women right to the end of the line.
Monitors carried live announcements.
One woman walked toward where they last saw the children. She carried a basket of fruit and a flute.
Early each morning for three days, she repeated the same thing: leaving the basket of fruit, then playing the flute for a half hour before returning to the rail.
The flute echoed off the canyon and was heard by the children.
Each time the fruit disappeared.
On the third day, the lady was playing the flute and a small boy surprised her. And then the little girl appeared.
For a long time the lady talked to the children and asked how they were.
They showed her the cave. The little girl climbed down in the cave and pointed, saying, this is where I sleep, and my brother sleeps there.

The lady asked if they wanted to come live with her. The little girl realized her parents were never coming home, but she didn’t want to leave. Some day they might come back and she wouldn’t be there, and then they would be mad that somebody took them.

The lady said okay. We will always know where you live right here. So we can come back. The little girl left an apple for her mother. Then they walked out of the canyon with the lady and over to the rail.
The Rescuers greeted them with care as they climbed aboard the cartage.

Announcements showed them approaching and climbing aboard.
Across the land, people watched the monitor.
The story was a capstone that finally told what happened in Texas. And showed no matter how different you appear, people protect their children first.

Bobber saw the story.
Many people were abandoned and left behind in the fire.
He thought how his father abandoned him, how he abandoned his brother and sister, abandoned Reety at the worst moment, and how Cheneen’s mother abandoned her.
Maybe the choices you make are not that easy.

He resolved himself that courage was more important than risk.

65) Gold Leaders get tour
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The day after the crystal left the Trade Box, a big meeting was called by the Gold Boss.
Gold men were expecting good news about the chillers.

The Gold Boss was actually the Bank’s eyes and ears in Gold Town. After a while, there were almost as many Bank spies as actual gold men. All of them working to keep the Big Gold Leaders in town until the cork was stuck in the right place.

The chillers were arriving by rail after dark because it was easier to offload heavy chillers when it wasn't so hot.
Men were going to work all night installing a-cons. No excuses.
They gathered electric tools and needed supplies.

Gold Leaders were told to expect their installation first. And they would be plenty cool by midnight.
The leaders were already packed and ready to disappear the following morning going north with the crystal. Some were saying they should leave now, don’t wait.
Except gold men started gathering outside where the Gold Leaders stayed.
They rallied the leaders to join them at the platform when the chillers arrived.

The Gold Boss agreed, and told the Gold Leaders they should join their men at the platform. It will show the Bank we are strong.
Don’t worry. There’s so many of us, we will be safe, he guaranteed.

The scene was manipulated by the Bank to get the Leaders over to the Bank rail where they could be taken away in front of their men.

It worked perfectly. A sudden change happened at the platform.
The Bank spies drew their guns, and the gold men were outgunned.

At the same moment, Bludworthies sprung from every crack pointing down at the Gold Leaders.
The Leaders were walked up the platform and filed into a carriage where they sat fully lit in front of their men.
All the rats in one carton, and one of them had the stolen crystal in his pocket. How bout dancing now haw boy?

Gold Rocket and Salt Dome and Montana Prince and the other leaders, along with their sons and other functionaries were taken on a horrendous tour, traveling south toward the Texas coast on newly repaired rails.
No glass in the windows, just an open car with hard seats.
No change of clothes, no shower, no spare rations of green potato, sitting in a hot rail car, cold at night, and the smell of loss and burn and flies and dust pouring through every window.

The longest ten days of their lives before being set afoot at New Freeport among the mobs and boats filled with people looking for lost loves ones, and scrambling for new chances.

The Leaders begged to be taken back onto the rail car that disappeared north carrying those who could afford credit passageway out.
Sorry we don’t take gold.

Yelling back, one of the Bank men said, get a job building the new distiller, pointing eastward where a big boat was offloading metal sheet.

66) No more
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It was over.
Announcements carried the video showing Gold Leaders disappearing on the south rail.
Good riddance.
Nothing more was said about them. People were too busy.

Following day, The Bank Boss and Gold Boss merged both towns into one.
It was Red Lake.
No more Gold Town. Just the story remained.

Slavery was banned.

A lot of men already left.
Most Bank spies were leaving for home or work elsewhere.
Nearly every building had new a-con.

The gold trade box was closed.

Slaves and Gold Men and whoever else were free to do whatever they wanted. Many joined the armies of credit men pushing into Texas to build new rail and communities across the land.
Bankers tracked down each man who contributed effort building Gold Town and let them know they had a credit balance available at the Bank.
The men learned good trades working Gold Town. The Gold Boss made sure things were done right. The Bank had no interest in shoddy work.

The small scramble of gold men who remained in town lived two nights under the cool air instead of laying on the hard ground.
And then the Gold Boss started coming around with contracts.
Do you want to keep that chiller?
Then sign here.
No the Bank doesn’t accept gold.
Well, the Bank can accept ownership of the building until the debt is paid?
Or we can remove the chiller.
Or you can go home to the Property.

No, I think I’ll keep the chiller.

New homesteaders moved into the buildings. Properties starting arriving.

Liam’s crystal was installed in the new nuclear addition. The big GE-Blue fired up a huge amount of electricity.

A bank man followed out to Liam’s adobe and found him making repairs. He was shown a proper credit balance for the work he did keeping peace in Red Lake during the crisis.
Plus one copper coupon for returning a stolen crystal.
That particular credit appeared on a contract for protection redemption written at Red Lake Trade Box.

67) The set-up
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Bobber put out word that he was leaving for New Galveston by week's end.
The New Leaders threw a farewell party. They were happy to push him out the door.
Bobber felt like wet socks attending the party because he had no intention of leaving as announced.

Dirt dealing the New Leaders was not pleasant ... but there was unfinished business: Cheneen just turned 19.

Bobber wanted to draw her family into dispute over the Property contract.
Logic said they would wait until last moment so it would be easy to extort the Trade Box.

A few weeks earlier, Cheneen warned Bobber that her family was causing problems for people.
They were running Property to gain advantage over men.
The dirt of it was they would send Cheneen to seduce men and then RobbieB would discover the violation and threaten a claim against her Property contract.

It was legal.
Men knew better than to private another man’s Property.

Men would pay up and keep quiet.
Had somebody disputed the claim, then the Property contract would be reviewed at the Hall in front of local men, including the Rectors and the Bank Boss. The accused man would face bondage and financial ruin.

Cheneen's family and RobbieB benefited from the arrangement and were gaining power over many people.
The activity was kept flat, but folks in town knew it was happening, especially Cheneen's girlfriends.

Cheneen faced such confliction that it was difficult to know whether this was right or wrong.
She had been taught since childhood that women served a particular role in the family. It was her duty to provide wealth and benefit and comfort for men.
But a very deep part of her knew this was not what she wanted.
She told Bobber once that she wanted a true family and would never do horrid things to her children. He remembered her saying that before he understood the truth of her family.

Bobber knew that Cheneen only revealed one side of her personality to him.
He knew there was another side of her that enjoyed having power over men.

Bobber had to weigh the chance of success in disputing Cheneen's contract.
Cheneen might display a different personality and betray him.

The single thing that tipped his decision was the loyalty her girlfriends showed toward her.
The women in town seemed to like Cheneen, despite knowing her family pushed contract at willing men, perhaps their own husbands.
Many of the young girls had children and stable families yet looked up to Cheneen as a leader.
Bobber didn't know the dynamic, but he could see this was probably the real Cheneen ... a leader, and person others cared about.

He rarely spoke about Cheneen with Windrock.
They talked about everything in the world but with Cheneen there was an understanding.
Windrock knew Bobber had to make his own decision, but she stood hard as blown ice that he needed to finish the work.

Bobber figured the worst result, they would haul him away to bondage. And at best, he could escape to New Galveston and never show up again.
It was bittersweet departure, but somehow he didn't see himself returning to Red Lake. The realization freed him from the loss of his family. Maybe that's why he wanted to leave.

Bobber didn't tell LeoJ the exact plan.
LeoJ was clear. Red Lake needed him ... no reason to muddy the path.

68) The play against Bobber
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That night Bobber heard Windrock coming up the stair.
He opened the door.
It was Cheneen.
She brushed past him and came inside.

Bobber wasn't sure this was as welcome as he thought.

He saw the girl that was helping her family run Property.
This was not the girl he knew. He was in the presence of a cold being.
He didn't know if RobbieB and the boys would break through the door immediately, wait a few hours, or wait until morning.

Bobber must've been staring too long because Cheneen's shrug told him that's the way it is.
The gesture calmed immediate fears, but his nerves were shook.
He felt no compassion for the person in front of him.

The angle was thrown.
This girl was capable of anything.
She had been used.

She was hard as any girl he'd met during raiding days.

That's when he glimpsed himself as a raider.
Bobber did viscous things.
He was capable of all those evil wicked things that weighed on him and made him sick.

Now he saw Cheneen the same as him.

The difference was Bobber was allowed to walk through the door.
Cheneen was asking for the same chance as every man who was allowed to forget the past and began anew.

They stood several feet apart.
Bobber saw how the game was played.
She was trained to walk in and let the man approach.
That would be clear violation of Property law.
It was clever.
Raiders forced women to do the same thing to trap and kidnap other men.
Running Property was equal dirt as raiding.

Bobber spoke first.
Softly he asked if she wanted to dispute the Property contract.
She nodded.

Remember you go to the Hall and sit in front of the men.
The Rectors will be there. Your uncle Rector Carlon will speak for you.
You know what that means.
You can't speak.
Leave now and none of this will happen.

She shook her head.
Okay, we'll do it.

You know they will let me speak, but I can't say much or the men will turn against me.

Bobber was worried. Rector Carlon, that dirty incestuous uncle, was excellent speaker and his word carried influence among the other three Rectors: Lee, Smeethe, and Thoms.
Bobber knew the marbles each one pithed about. None were assumed an ally.
The Rectors ruled local morality and controlled opinion of Property law. The Bank Boss was required to give them considerable weight ... especially since Bobber's Property contract had never been reviewed before.
The whole blame could fall on Bobber.

Bobber was half-hoping she would walk out and catch the morning rail going east, but she had nowhere to go.
Her friends were in Red Lake.

Of course Bobber couldn't leave.
He started a fight by writing Property contracts that reversed Property rights back to the woman if her family defamed her, or failed to respect her honor.
It was expected that a Property would be returned to her family.
Bobber wrote the return policy to include emancipation of the Property from her family, plus payment from her family, in event of defamation.
The contract meant freedom from abuse. Except it was revolutionary and untried.

Windrock knew what Bobber was doing, but where was she now?
She must know Cheneen was with him, otherwise she would be there.
He felt alone and abandoned like when his father left.

Cheneen felt the same abandonment, but neither could say.
Both were too nervous to talk or sleep.

Bobber dared not approach.
Cheneen sat down in a cane chair.
He moved over to the kitchen table, re-reading the Property contract using a monitor mini.

Normally Cheneen would've been talkative, but not tonight.
Everything in her future was ashes without this thing.
Her nerves were so shattered that she looked composed.

Bobber spoke softly again and told her to get some fruit juice from the wall chiller so she would be strong tomorrow.
She lay on the floor, using her shoes as a pillow and got some rest. It was same as raider girls, using shoes as a pillow.

Bobber turned the lights dim and put his head on the table and dozed a few minutes now and then.

He doubted his ability.
Windrock told him that RobbieB and Cheneen would take the Box.
Windrock was the Reader. She was supposed to see what would happen before it happened.
If Windrock was correct then Bobber was going to lose the dispute in front of the Bank Boss at the Hall.
He felt betrayed.
It was hard to find the purpose that propelled his life to this point.

Maybe pushing him in a corner so he was alone was part of the plan that Cheneen's family had for taking the Trade Box.
Except, why wait for the last minute, unless the intent was parallel with the New Leaders to have him leave and never come back?

That's when he understood they would not put him in bondage but instead wanted him gone from the area permanently.
It made sense. The New Leaders were double dealing to ensure he would not return because they didn’t want fair contracts, they wanted wealth and power. And who knows where the Bank Boss stood on all of this.
Ah hell, sometimes the night just gets too filled with worries.

69) RobbieB arrives
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Next morning, the air was filled with shouting outside.
It was RobbieB and three of his boys.
He was shouting to attract attention. He needed people watching so he could prove a Property violation. It was only way he could make a claim big enough to take the Trade Box.
Of course he expected Cheneen to walk out in plain view of others, claiming that Bobber fooled her.
The implausibility wouldn't matter with known interpretation of Property law. It was violation pure and simple.

Bobber woke and jumped full alert.
Cheneen was already at the door.

She was unbelievably tall. Ready for a fight.
There was something fearsome about this lioness that he really liked.
Yes, it might work.

Bobber motioned for her to wait.
Wait for him to come up.
Otherwise, people will only remember seeing you.

He wanted to stall Cheneen and make RobbieB come to the top of the stairs.
The trick was that Bobber needed big theater too, and the more people looking at RobbieB, the better ... since few people liked him.

Bobber told Cheneen, when he comes up, let me answer the door.
I want them to see me instead of you.

I will not let him inside.
When I move outside, you walk out.
He must start down the stairs ahead of you. Don't go in front of him.
Half way down, you refuse to go farther.
Do not leave with him.
Absolutely you will not go with him.

And look, don't push him down the stairs or anything ... you don't have my gun do you?
She smiled and said no.
She started to nerve, but her jaw locked. She said, I'm not going with him. Ok I understand.

This is your stage. It is time to declare freedom from your family.
Do it half way down so everybody can hear. Be the person they love. Forget the family.

Secretly, the outside staircase was fitted with several trip levers where a person could be toppled off balance at different heights.
The controls for the stair were inside the Trade Box, and so was LeoJ that morning. He was watching the scene from his monitor. It was going to be amusing.

70) Cheneen declares against family
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Events happened somewhat as planned.
Cheneen stopped half way down and begin speaking. That's when Windrock and several women showed up.
Timing was perfect. It was full stage.

RobbieB got to the bottom before noticing his Property was disobedient.
He turned and began shouting.
His boys moved closer, expecting to force the issue, unaware of the women who just arrived.

That dang old Rector Smeeth's wife was there. She was his third wife.
She carried influence in the community in addition to handling her husband's business, and who knows what wickin that old buzzard had been up to. His biggest accomplishment to date was outliving two previous wives and surviving a bout of the lung.

Inside the Box, LeoJ was viewing the monitor and putting it on disc for public record.
RobbieB's words were indicting, particularly with his boys approaching Cheneen.
How could this situation be unplanned between a man and his Property if his boys were coercing a Property violation? Wouldn't a regular man stand there and be shocked?

RobbieB started running back up, intending to pull Cheneen off the stair. And by Property law, he was right for doing that.

Just as he hit the fifth step, it tipped to the side and he fell on his face, gashing his chin.
It was hilarious the way his legs flailed up as he bounced one direction and then sprawled through the rail.
Bobber barely noticed. He was mesmerized by Cheneen's ability to speak.
By that time, more ladies were gathering in a storm. They enjoyed watching RobbieB take a flip.
His boys skunked off. RobbieB was left behind.
The girls laughed and shouted at him, with blood soaking down his shirt.
Rector Smeeth’s wife let out a string of cuss and then told Cheneen to come down, saying that she could stay with her.
The women pushed him out of the way and helped her down with arms outstretched.
There was some kind of thing going on that Bobber didn't expect, but he knew Windrock was behind it. Yes. Windrock was there when he needed her.
Fears from the night before washed away.

RobbieB made his way over to the Medical building where MissTea sewed him up with coarse thread after telling him they ran out of pain numbing ingredient. The students knew what happened.
News travelled faster than a bird. People were running in from the fields and talking about the big fight.
Bobber was in another fight? RobbieB got bloodied? Wow, that's great. And then the monitor kept showing RobbieB falling down with the women yelling and laughing.
They cracked it apart.

Cheneen's family was embarrassed that their deeds were no longer flat, but the threat was dealt.
It was correct to call Bobber in violation.
Obviously he overstepped his ability to keep peace or represent the honor of Property law.
They knew the Rectors would side with them. They knew most men could be influence by charm or threat.
They were important people, and had strong numbers.

They filed a claim demanding the Trade Box as retribution, expecting Bobber to cede ownership since he was scheduled to leave next day.
Instead Bobber filed a dispute against the claim.

Announcements carried the story. A spark was lit across the land because of east coast rebellion against Property law and the specter of the New Kingdom led by a Queen.
Plus, crazy as it sounded, it happened in the same small Texas town where Gold Leaders were just taken for ride down the rails a few days before ... and now a new scandal over Property. What was happening in Texas?
People were riveted by the story and watched the disc showing RobbieB falling down and the women helping a young girl off the stairs.

The schooled and educated read and re-read Bobber's Property contract.
There were no clowns on the announcements this time.
Opinions ran hot, and the Bank Boss was under pressure to find resolution.

The Bank Boss was brought in for reconstruction after the fire. He had no experience with deep issues involving Bank contracts and Properties ... in fact nobody was prepared, except Bobber ... Property contracts were supposed to be simple ownership issues and not disputes over emancipating Properties from respectable families ... particularly in Texas where Properties were Properties, and you didn't climb other people's fences.

However there was a more pressing issue at stake.
The Hall was scheduled to host the National Roller Derby tournament starting in four days, and the Bank Boss had guests arriving.
Red Lake was already buzzing with announcers for the National Derby. And now they had additional drama.
There was no way to downplay the seriousness of this problem.

The Bank sent notice that the matter would be heard immediately. That was advantage for Bobber.

71) Dispute goes to the Hall
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The next day it started.
The Hall was opened and local men filed in.
Announcers were not allowed. No women.
Uncle Rector Carlon showed up looking phony as a heelmark. Announcers talked him up. He was uncomfortable.
The other three Rectors arrived together and walked in solemnly.
RobbieB showed up with a big wad of stitches across his chin. Seems MissTea butchered him nicely.

The New Leaders arrived separately, and came as individual men with no words. Over the past weeks, Bobber illustrated to each man that fresh business opportunity was available if women were allowed to buy goods on credit. Each listened intently. The idea paralleled with Bobber's trip because they would gain access to warehousing and distribution coming out of New Galveston. But the Property dispute was a huge disappointment. Why would Bobber involve himself in this mess? If he lost, which was almost certain, it would reflect on their esteem and ruin many good people.

Bobber was standing outside with Windrock.
He was lost in a sea of eyeballs, all looking to see who this man was, some glaring with hate and others with pity. Windrock was his steady.
She gave him a friendship ring. She said, it's made of gold. They laughed. Wear it on your right hand for luck.
The ring was way too big and it fell loose constantly, but he was going to do what she said ... she was the Reader.

Cheneen was already inside, shielded from publicity. It was not about her. It was about Bobber. But she had to be present.
The Bank Boss calmed jittery nerves and confirmed the proceeding would not be shown on announcements, and men were free to bare evidence without prejudice. He told them that women could not speak.
Rector Carlon would lay out the family's complaint on Cheneen's behalf.
The Rector hadn't bothered to read the Property contract, feeling it was less important than Property law. And he was probably right if majority of the men agreed.
The Bank Boss would make final determination so the Bank contract was going to be considered. Rector Carlon left himself a bit short on that point.

The Hall was a large round dome-shaped building with a high arched ceiling made of wood paneling.
It was built for cattle auctions and recently became a beet bar when the stock trade moved out to the new rail.
The men entered the front door and took seats along the edges of the room about 4 chairs deep.
The center of the room was open. Like a big clock face.
The entrance was at 12 o'clock.
There was one table at 11 o'clock for the three Rectors, and another table at 1 o'clock for Rector Carlon and Cheneen
The Bank Boss was at a table at 6 o'clock facing the Rector's tables.
Bobber sat at another table at 9 o'clock. The three Rectors were on his left, the Bank Boss to his right and sitting nearly across from him were Rector Carlon and Cheneen.
She would not return his glance.

He was dealing with the aftermath of raiding. But Cheneen was still trapped, she hadn't left anything behind.
Most men came ready to strangle Bobber and throw the girl back into whoredom just to resume sensible lives.
Except Cheneen had been humiliated and defiant for so long that it showed. The men looked at her and saw the same thing. It was not pitiful or shame. It was indictment of everything happening. She wasn't allowed to speak, but her strong presence carried the room.
At that moment, Bobber felt incredible anger. It must have been apparent, but he kept still.
Survival dictates a man grow quiet when the wind is blowing against him.

72) The decision
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Rector Carlon began citing the evidence against Bobber.
His voice was eloquent and forceful.
The other three Rectors were looking at Bobber.
He knew the direction of their eyes would tell him when to speak.

Yes, Bobber openly talked to women. He was continually violating Property law.
Rector Carlon rambled on for a hour, each comment more inspiring than the last. The men felt the presence of glory.
At the correct moment, Bobber asked Rector Carlon why men spoke openly to MissTea at the medical building? They spoke to her on the street complaining of ailments and cures.

The room paused. The three Rectors turned away from Bobber and looked at Rector Carlon.
Carlon was caught off balance. He recovered by offering another interpretation, a bit less convincing than the last, but it was enough.

On it went. Rector Carlon calling forward the dream using fine oratory, followed by a short question from Bobber.
Each time, the three Rectors looked back at Rector Carlon. And each time, Rector Carlon had to come up with another explanation.
Bobber asked, why didn’t the family read the contract?
Later he asked, would not a reasonable man expect Property to be protected from harm using a contract?

Bobber’s questions kept throwing the coin. It was maddening. The Bank Boss wanted quick resolution but had no choice except keep it going because Bobber’s questions were so pointed.
Finally the Bank Boss called it over for the day.

That night, Rector Carlon began to doubt himself. He was certainly right about Property law, but feared Bobber’s next question. He was too exhausted to find another escape.

The men went home. Bobber was winning them away.
They heard what he said. His voice was not a man cornered by misdeed, but a man determined to make things true that were true.
They looked forward to hearing what he might say next.

Rector Smeeth was deeply conflicted. Cheneen was living at his home. He saw the fine example she set at the Hall. He saw the admiration his wife felt for her.
Rector Smeeth was lifelong friends with Rector Carlon, but it was difficult to reconcile running Property as legitimate part of Property law. To convince him, he needed Bobber to say the right thing, unknown what that might be.

Rector Lee was also uncertain and wanted to hear more.

Rector Thoms was disappointed with Rector Carlon's performance, but already decided Bobber was guilty. Thoms survived gold losses and was bent over with grief that the world changed without asking him. Bobber was obviously the cause of his pain.

Windrock knew what happened. If Bobber survived the first day, then it went well.
She and Bobber embraced. Both felt uncomfortable staying in the room above the Box. So it was true. Bobber lost the Box to RobbieB and Cheneen, just as Windrock predicted.

The next day started early
Rector Carlon decided to come out aggressively.
He demanded to know what Cheneen was doing in his room all night.

Well naturally he had to use Cheneen's name in front of the men. It was violation of Property law for him to say her name ... but it was also a violation of Cheenen's Property contract by questioning her reputation in front of others not in her family.
Rector Smeeth noticed this and began looking at Rector Carlon instead of Bobber.
Rector Lee saw Smeeth looking at Carlon, and begin to question it himself.

Bobber noticed the Rectors change direction. The moment was getting near. He had to be careful and not speak too soon.

Bobber answered Carlon's question saying, that women trusted him to protect their interest.
Bobber avoided Cheneen's name or any reference to her honor.
His words caused great interest among the men. Maybe Bobber was representing the woman better than her family.

Rector Carlon pushed on. His agitation showing.
Three hours of Bobbers snippets were shredding Property law.
My god. The Bank Boss was ready to throw up. His guests were arriving soon and they had to get the Hall ready for the derby.
At this point, all he needed was a signal from the men to rule in Bobber's favor.

Rector Carlon clamored out demanding to know if Bobber had been with Cheneen. This was the second time he used her name.
Bobber thought for a moment. He wanted to ask that dirty uncle of hers, have you ever been with women from your own family?
But he didn't
Instead Bobber asked Carlon, why have you used the woman's name in front of these men? By your own word, that's a violation of Property law.

Rector Carlon shot back that he wanted the truth.
That question brought forth anger Bobber never displayed before.
He slammed his hand down on the table.

In one gesture, the hell was sucked out of the room.
Windrock's friendship ring given to Bobber the day before lay unnoticed in the middle of the floor.
The gold token kept slipping from his finger.
Just as he swung his hand downward the ring turned off the end of his finger getting caught between the table and the finger where the force was exactly right to fling it across the room where it struck Rector Carlon square in the left eye before rolling to the center of the room.

Bobber stood and said six words that became famous overnight.
LET HER WALK THROUGH THE DOOR.

That was it.
Rector Smeeth stood up.
Rector Lee stood up.
The men in the room began to stand.
The New Leaders saw the mood and quickly stood.
Rector Carlon fell back in his chair with both hands covering one eye.

Suddenly the ceiling gave way and a pair of legs hung down.
The Bank Boss stood up and yelled, get that man out of there.
Somehow an announcer crawled up between the walls and drilled a hole, practically suffocating himself before the ceiling gave out. The entire morning at the Hall was running live over the monitors.
People across the land were watching. They heard Bobber's words.

The Bank Boss was elated. He started waving his arms and yelling; the contract is valid and the family owes credit to the emancipated Property. It's over.
Not a minute too soon because the roller derby men were coming in the back door.
The cartage whistle sounded. The roller derby contestants and spectators arrived. The town would soon be swarming with more people.
The men had to get busy.

73) Second hurricane
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Cheneen walked out of the Hall shielded by ladies protecting her from announcers. She was proud and tired. It was a wonderful moment of victory.
She told the women that Bobber added the same emancipation to all his Property contracts.
What?
He did what?
Yes. He added emancipation to all the contracts.
Women were coming from all directions, each passing word to the next arrival.
And then it snapped.

Oh wow. You think there was a hurricane that burned down Texas before?
Well it just started again.

Mad crazy, those women stormed en mass toward the Trade Box to read their contract. Even the ones who didn't have a Bank contract.
More women joined in.
There was a wall of angry women 50 yards wide coming down the street raising a cloud of dust.
An old man, drunk on beet beer, sitting at the Box said, well here come the Ootistics.
It was true. Those women looked like Ootistics: they were going to run over anybody. There was no particular leader except the ones out front. You could only join if you got in from the back. For sure, you wouldn't want a bunch of them in the crops or they'd tear it apart. And probably any of them removed from the group would revert back to who they were before.

LeoJ saw them coming.
He opened the door and had boys bring out 1000 monitors mini so the women could establish Bank credit.
The next hours were an absolute zoo of screaming women and celebrating.

The town couldn't have been more excited with women going crazy buying stuff on their husband's credit, along with beet beer, roller derby and trainloads of spectators. Announcers recorded it all.

News of the hurricane spread across the land. Properties demanded emancipation. There was no stopping the change.
Bobber’s words and Property contract became the new standard.
He didn't see Cheneen. She walked through the door and forgot all that came before.

That night, as workers were setting up for the roller derby, a boy found a gold ring on the floor and showed it to his mom.
His mom pointed to a young credit man standing across the street and said, give it to him.
Two days later the credit man was introduced to an important woman in town who just freed herself from a prior husband and inherited substantial credit from her family in a contract dispute.
He gave her the ring. They had three children, and that lioness protected them and loved them away from all harm.

74) Bobber and Windrock together
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Bobber and Windrock were invited to spend the evening at one of the New Leader's homes.
Each of the New Leaders was there to confirm Bobber's plans.
They were astounded by his accomplishment, and the way he did it. With such simplicity, or at least it seemed that way. He was definitely the man they wanted to do business with.
The wives, daughters, and other Properties could hardly wait to meet this famous man who was coming to their home. Although they knew him around town, he was reserved and never seemed important before.
Bobber was embarrassed.

That night it rained. It was beautiful.
People moved out to the porches as the rain poured steady for six hours. A lifetime and they never saw rain like that.
What an amazing day.

Windrock's father, JoRR worked irrigation for one of the New Leaders. He was there to say goodbye to his daughter.
They might never see each other again. Families were used to it, but it was hard. She gave him a monitor mini so they could talk.

LeoJ and his wife and family were there.
Transaction was made to transfer the Box to LeoJ. Both knew the world was changing.

A group of people ran over from other buildings, and brought barbecue and turkey legs.
They had something good to eat and listened to the rain.

A toast was made to Bobber.
He returned likewise wishes that everybody's roof hold out for the night. People laughed.

It got late and nobody wanted to break the spell, so they slept wherever they could find a notch to lay down.
They used shoes for pillows and Windrock and Bobber held each other all night.

Next day was wonderful. The trees and bushes and bugs looked happy. It rained. It was cool. There were actually puddles of water. Kids were jumping around getting muddy. It was great fun.
Many people came to see Bobber and Windrock off.
They closed the Medical School. MissTea came up and said, you rascal, and hugged him. The medical students were there.
The New Leaders and other families were there. The Bank Boss sent a representative.
Rector Smeeth and his wife came.

Bobber glanced around for Cheneen. She wasn't there. It wouldn’t be right. She was free.
That's when he knew a part of himself loved her.
Windrock touched his arm and said, she wanted to be here.
Maybe it was true. He had to leave it behind. Just another door to walk through.

Two Bludworthies came up and asked, are you Bobber? You're supposed to ride Front Coach.
Front Coach? People were impressed. Wow FRONT COACH plus Bludworthy escort?
Only important people rode up front.
Their passage didn't afford that.
Those who remembered just assumed Bobber was top-connected. The old lie was still following him around. It was a mystery.

The procession of people walked to the front and waved goodbyes.
JoRR waved to his daughter. His eyes were red. Bobber held her hand. You'll see him again soon.

The cartage passed out of Red Lake rolling east on smooth new rails.
Bobber and Windrock sat down in cushioned seats. They had their own sleeping room.
Bobber set out his bag, realizing that he owned nothing. Four shoes, one plate fork and spoon, two pants, two shirts, four socks and some soap. A couple mementos from friends. A monitor mini.
Windrock carried less. They both realized how unprepared they were. They didn't even have a map. It felt free. They were together and four eyes and two heads were better than two eyes and one head.

They brought four days of food, enough to stretch to New Galveston ... after that they were open.
Bobber knew a couple Bankers, but they hadn't met before.
New Galveston was going to be quick or down.

The rail line ran north of the fire and stopped at each town along the route. Bobber didn’t get to see the damage that his family suffered.
But he saw people busy and happy. It wasn’t just Red Lake. It was every town.

The food car brought out trays of fresh fruit and battered chicken twists and euro bread with raisins.
They were Front Coach so one meal a day was free.
It was so much food. And free. They saved some for later.
People in the back coaches got much less and had to pay.

It poured down rain again that night while the cartage waited for dawn.
It rained all night. The steady drumming of drips through the window put them to sleep.
Windrock lay in Bobber's arms, happy to be together. It was going to be hard to leave him in New Galveston but so much needed to be done in her life.

75) Reety
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Next morning, the rain caused delays loading goods and clearing the platform.
Bobber and Windrock split breakfast, saving a half-meal for later. The food car served waffles and butter with Noreast sweet syrup.
The shoe man took Bobber's shoes and cleaned them spotless, adding a new half sole.
It was a long way from the chicken coop where he was born 23 years earlier. The pain of his family haunted him.
He wanted to leave those feelings in Red Lake, but it didn't happen.

He got up and walked through the food car and back to the other carriages.
People were sitting and standing, and others trying to sleep on the hard seats. Each car had one bathroom, and the place smelled of sweat and discomfort.
It would be impossible to sleep. And the trip to New Galveston was going to take four days, and maybe longer with rain delay. Front Coach was lucky.

There was a boy about seven years standing on one of the seats.
Bobber saw him. The boy pointed and said I know you.
Oh geese, a smart child. He must have been watching the Property dispute.

Bobber smiled and tried to get past, but a giant man was blocking the aisle. He must have been six foot tall and had to duck each doorway. His head practically scraped the ceiling.
Wait, Bobber knew this man. He was a Bludworthy when Bobber was raiding. He was at the barn bragging about killing raiders.
Well, best to tiptoe around that guy. No sense stirring up recognition so far in the past.
The man reached over and picked up the boy. The boy was still looking at Bobber.

Bobber worked around the pair and continued down the aisle.
There was a woman coming toward him.
Her black hair caught his eye.
It was Reety.
His raider girlfriend Reety. She survived?
She passed without saying anything.
He glanced back and saw her join the Bludworthy and seven year old boy.

Bobber almost choked.
Reety was pregnant seven years ago. That boy might be his.
His face flushed and legs felt heavy.
He had to sit down, but now he was facing Reety who was looking straight at him.
At least the Bludworthy didn’t notice.
Maybe she didn’t recognize him.

Bobber was overcome with feelings and had to find Windrock. She would know what to do.
Slowly he worked his way back to the food car and had to sit and rest again.
There was a sharp pain in his chest.

Bobber had been stabbed in the heart nine years earlier, when he was 14.
He got hit short on a wing by another group during a surprise attack.
He fell immediately, and they left him shallow next to an old bridge column.
Reety risked her life, and found him after looking all night. Then took care of him while he lay barely alive for a week.
Bobber repaid her at 16 by running away before the Bludworthies attacked. He felt worthless leaving her behind.
But now Reety was alive.

The pain began to subside. Bobber pressed his fingers over the center of his rib cage. His strength returned.
The food man dropped off a cold drink. Bobber ran it across his face. Whew.

Reety followed him into the car. And sat down. Hi Bobber.
Hi Reety.
I can't believe it's you.
You look the same. It’s good to see you.
They told me you were dead.
She laughed. They told me you were dead too.
Bobber answered, no, they turned me loose. Is that your husband?
She said yes. He saved me that day. We were trapped, and my brothers agreed to give up if they didn't kill me and the baby.
Who would've guessed that backs to the wall, Reety would be foremost on their minds? But I guess you negotiate last moments with whatever you have.
The Bludworthies refused, but then Goff agreed. When I came out he picked me up. We looked at each other. It was horrible but we felt something. My brothers didn't come out. They kept fighting but died anyway.
She said, Goff loves the boy.
Bobber saw it. He had no want on any moment to cause her problems.

Bobber asked the food man to bring Reety a drink.
She said, I saw you on the announcements. You are important now.
He dismissed her words. Admitting that he owned nothing.
Huh, she said. You’re Front Coach?

Windrock came in and sat next to Bobber.
Goff came in with his son and they sat down too. He didn’t recognize Bobber. It wasn’t important.

The cartage started rolling forward.
The food man brought tiny macaroni shells with redstripe cheese.
The five of them passed an hour talking.
Bobber wanted to know all the stories they had to share about the boy. Oh they couldn’t stop talking about their jewel of a son. He was the smartest and funniest boy. He was good, and minded his family and knew how to read. He loved his pappy and they did everything together. They built a house and walked to school.
The story made Bobber smile.
He couldn't match a father like that. Didn’t matter if the boy was his or not, he knew the boy was loved and that was enough.

Conversation drew to a close. Reety and Goff and son got off at the next stop and left the table.
He told Windrock about Reety. His eyes shined with happiness. It made her smile.

All those years he felt guilty leaving Reety behind. He was no better than his father. But Reety survived.
If Bobber warned her, Reety would have been with him instead of her brothers. She might have chosen to fight, and never met Goff or been spared.
Running away somehow saved them both.
That respite let him drift into happy memories about his own family. Maybe he did all he could.

76) The Red Brazos
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The route was double railed except at the Brazos River bridge where both rails came together and crossed on one track.
The east-bound cartage stopped to let west-bound cartage pass first.
The river was flooded wide with whirlpools of red water and mud heading south.
Bobber, Windrock, and most passengers left the cartage to stand along the river and watch.
A big snake curled past in the current, unable to escape his fate.

A group of Ootistics suddenly crawled up over the hill.
People began to scream and run back to the cars.
Others were cut off, caught between Ootistics and steep river bank.
They froze in place, children crying.
Bobber calculated chance of sliding down the river bank without falling in the water. It was too risky.
He and Windrock started edging toward the bridge, hoping to flee over the rails.
Ootistics were all around them. They moved so fast.

Two Ootistics stood up and entered the rail car. The others gathered as if saying goodbye.
They stayed for a minute then crawled away.

What's going on here?

People broke into a run to get back inside the cartage.
The cartage men calmed the hysteria, and said, that location was a regular stop where they picked up and dropped off asphalt workers.
In the past, it was done on log routes. They forgot to tell passengers the rail started including Ootistics.

Things quieted but people kept staring at the asphalt men who joined them. The asphalt men were equally nervous until a little girl gave them a tiny white flower she picked from the field.
The cartage passed over the Brazos, switching direction at the next town and began rolling southeast toward the Great Rails that ran from the Canadas through Missouri and into New Galveston.

Windrock wanted to talk to the asphalt workers. She asked if the cartage men would bring them to the food car.
They definitely smelled like asphalt. Their hands and forearms were bent and thick, but they walked nimble as dancers. She shared some of the saved macaroni with them.
Yes, they were Ootistics. But they weren't disabled. It's just how they lived. It's where they came from.
She kept reaching over, touching their hands. They responded each time.
Bobber was sitting with her, and saw it. She was learning about Ootistics by reading them, and sharing herself.

The evening was over too quick. They were laying together and he asked what she had seen.
She said they told her that in their world, the word Ootistic meant 'people of peace.' They preferred to communicate by feelings and touching, but some of them could speak languages. Some members lived in both worlds.
Windrock said it was her purpose to be there and that's all she knew for sure.
Oh, and they got free passage because they work for the rail. Both laughed at that.
Bobber now understood why he wouldn't see her after New Galveston. Windrock's path was different than his.

77) Wonder of New Galveston
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The Great Rail into New Galveston was eight cartages wide. Four going each direction.
They were running fastball downhill to the bay.
More cartages were flying alongside and others were passing on their way going north.

It was nighttime. Bobber and Windrock were pressed against the window watching the city lights grow brighter ... then an instant later, rounding the final curve that tipped them slightly to the side ... they were there ... clipping past the buildings that were blazing in a sea of colored neon light.

The cartage finally halted inside a wide terminal with high ceilings.
Fans and lights and people. Activity ran day and night in New Galveston. Nothing stopped moving.
Bobber and Windrock stepped out and got swept away by the storm of people and material moving across the platform.
I guess we go this way, Bobber said.
Let's find a place to stay.
Windrock said they could go to the Balward Hotel. It’s supposed to be nice.
There was floor cartage going to each hotel.
They stepped aboard and took a free ride through downtown.

The city of sounds and lights raised a din to the senses.
Properties had no face covering. There were strange clothes. Tall hats and colored hair were popular.
Thousands of lights glittered down every street as far as you could see.
Music came from all sides.
Bobber was nervous. Windrock was giggling.

There was a large round building with columns and arches, at least 150 feet tall, and it sunk in the mud and was tipped to one side.
Bobber said, look at that, it's falling over.
People were looking at it, so it probably happened that night.
Windrock said it’s supposed to be like that. It’s a replica of a building long ago.
He said, no, look it's falling over. Who would build that?
No it's not, she said.
He said wait until people in Red Lake hear about that.
They already know.
Who knows?
Everybody knows.
Well how come I don't know?
Because you're too serious and nobody talks to you.
What do you mean?
They started laughing. A crooked building, and everybody knows about it. What are the odds?

The floor cartage stopped in front of the hotel.
She said, maybe we can get a low room. They were cheapest by the night. No food service.
He trusted her.
When she registered, the man looked up at Bobber.
Yes. There is a room for you at the Rail Mark.
What do you mean?
The man pointed and said, floor cartage leaves from the side door.

Another cartage trip put them at the Rail Mark.
Windrock whispered, this looks expensive. Yes it did.
People were dressed nice.
Bobber felt out of place wearing travel clothes.

They walked across the granite floor.

When old salvage homes were demolished, tons of granite were pulled out along with metal, plastic and wood.
The stone was used for butcher tables until they discovered it caused disease because the stone matrix couldn't be cleaned after it was scarred by the knife.
When nuclear additions were added, craftsmen re-discovered granite and started cutting and sanding the face, and fused it with crystal resin, so it could be used as flooring.
The finest artisans laid stone into mosaics that showed different scenes, like walking over an ocean, or high above a river.
The stone was cut so thin that lights would flow across under the surface, keeping time with music.

They walked around a large fountain with strange plants hanging from the ceiling.
It was 200 feet just to get to the register.
The man smiled. Yes, they told us you were here.
Bobber and Windrock looked at each other.

They were taken up to a room.
The man opened the doors and carried in the bags.
It was Front Coach all the way.
Both stared in amazement. Sheets. The bed had sheets
There was a hot bath, dressing room, closets, chairs and fine furnishings.
Windrock whispered, what did you do? Bobber shook his head. Then she laughed.

The laundry man came, then the food cart, and another man asking if they were okay, opening the drapes so they could see the city below.
It was spectacular.

Bobber said, let's get some rest. We have work tomorrow.
She looked at him. See, that's why nobody talks to you.
Alright ... let's go see the city.

She grabbed his hand and they took off up the street visiting night clubs. Listened to the music. Went into the dance club.
Windrock joined the line dance and disappeared. Important people had masks and robes. Bobber wondered if the Queen was there.
The last time he danced, it caused a fight and problems with the crystal, so he thought it best not to try again.
He watched the dancers for a while and then wandered into the next room where silver, yellow and purple lights swirled around the walls.
Naked girls were serving drinks. Actual naked girls. Completely bare. Swinging free.

The month with Windrock made it hard, so he sat down before anyone noticed the tent.

Announcers on the large wall monitor were talking about the Moment of Flowers.
They said Texas was covered with 50 million acres of wildflowers, caused by the rains. Video from a moving cartage showed the land covered with color. Flowers bloomed from Houston to Cristi Point, and then north to the edge of the fire line.
Bees and butterflies and hummingbirds swarmed in masses.
The flowers halted rail workers from laying track. They were humbled again by nature.

The wall monitor said the Queen had chosen the Moment of Flowers to speak on the announcements in two days.
Bobber didn’t know which attraction to watch first. The video of wildflowers and butterflies, or the naked ladies walking around. Not that one was more interesting than the other exciting.

A slender dark-haired lady brought a bowl-sized glass filled with pink liquid and bubbles.
It’s called the Istanbul Flower, she said, reaching out touching his hair.
Wild flowers and the Istanbul Flowers and this lady sweet-stepping with the night. He was in love again.

Windrock found him. The drink was half gone and Bobber looked dazed. He wasn't a drinker and didn't know why he drank it.
She leaned against him. Her body was warm from dancing. He reached over and ran his hand up her back side, stopping at each curve.
She looked down and saw the situation, and said, said we better go. So they walked out single file with Bobber behind her, pointing the way.

When they got back, the hotel had cream-whirlcake waiting in the room. They showered together kissing, then slowly ate cake off each other's body. That night he made her wait before reaching her moment. But like usual, she refused to let him finish.
Just as night waned into sleep, Bobber asked, what's going on?
She said I'm leaving tomorrow. Don't be sad.
It was another door to walk through. He loved his Windrock. He didn't want it to end.

Next morning, she was gone before breakfast.
The muffins and hot scrambled eggs didn't taste the same.
He had to get to the Bank.
On his way, he stopped and credited a leather hat and belt for his friend Liam. And added a few things for other people. The transaction included shipping to Red Lake.

78) The Bank
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Bobber had a plan that he wanted to sell to the Bank.
His agreement with LeoJ was key.

Instead of letting the Bank negotiate contracts for New Leaders in Red Lake, it would be better if local men, such as LeoJ, wrote the contract.
It was better because local contract-writers knew specifics of trade in their community. For example peach harvest was different than cutting wheat.

Bobber’s plan offered a variety of options to the standard Bank contract.
Local contracts would give people influence over circumstances, and reduce bitterness against the Bank from losses over gold, slave, fire, and changes in Property law.
Bobber hoped his perspective would be valuable.

Now, this plan was dirt dealing the New Leaders a bit.
They anticipated making their own contracts, and Bobber promised the opportunity.
Except Bobber knew the Bank was far more clever than those men. They would flounder under complicated Bank rules and eventually grow angry.

A professional man like LeoJ knew the trap doors same as Bobber.
Ultimately, the Bank, New Leaders, and local contract-writers would benefit. And Bobber would receive a commission for each contract.
In that sense, Bobber and LeoJ were still working together.

In the five days since Bobber left, LeoJ was explaining the plan to the New Leaders in Red Lake.
There was too much going on with the Property dispute that Bobber couldn’t explain it before leaving.
LeoJ agreed. They were his customers now. He had a nice way with people, and showed each man why this was better.

If there were objections, Bobber would know before talking to the Bank.

The lady at the Bank told Bobber to wait in a room.
There were rows of tables and booths.
The place looked like the eat barn he saw day before, where people ordered heaps of cobbler and beans.
The room was low and gray with bare walls and plain floor. Each seat filled with people working on monitor minis.

Two hours passed. Seemed like the others were going through the door, but not him. Doubts crept. He had to make a deal soon. Maybe a different Bank.

Finally, two people came from a side door and took Bobber down a series of long, narrow hallways with bundles of wire passing overhead into the maze of humming machines that lined each side.

At the end of a wide room was a tall crow of a man bent over a table looking through rolls of blue paper.
He greeted Bobber and said, my brother told me stories about you.
This was Carneghie Mellon’s brother, LaBert.
He was dressed in black. His hair was black. His shirt was black. His pants were black.

His eyes pierced glint blue, and Bobber stepped into a whirling mind of machinery, as if ideas flew out of that man’s head without effort.
Each time his eyes touched Bobber, more things would emanate the room with rapid progression through numbers and feelings. This was the most human and powerful man he ever met.

LaBert said, let me show you.
There were rows of trays containing different colored dirt covered by glass hoods.
We are engineering the ground so farmers can adapt soil to their seeds. The land must match the seed, not the other way around.
We are going to grow bananas and yellow corn again.

LaBert explained that many foods went extinct when the soil was farmed out.
It was the need for consolidated farming and international exchange that exposed crops to unreasonable infestation.
Afterwards, there was no choice except create seed that could grow in the soil ... which only worked when fertilizer and bug extinguish were applied.
This delayed, but could not stop the demise.

When bacteria evolved around weaken crops, the food supply disappeared because there was no variation of seed.

He said, we have changed that. We are enriching soil by studying how volcanic ash evolves into dirt, and how humus turns into clay.
We are using genetics to alter soil instead of altering the seed. Local crops are growing again.
We no longer honor ownership claim of invention, including seeds. Each man must make a contribution, and his contribution will be foundation for other contributions. That’s why GE-Nuke crystals are for sale.

LaBert and Bobber paced into another room containing a strange machine made of shaped metal and bronzo-aluminum glass.
Bobber had seen the glass before. It was made by hammering gold-aluminum alloy so thin that it became transparent. But the machine was new. At least twenty men were working on it.
It made a whirring sound. Three long blades sticking out the top were rotating horizontally and 3 smaller ones in back rotated vertically.
A bell sounded and the men stepped away. The machine lifted itself off the ground. It was suspended in the air, and then came back down.

LaBert said, we are going to fly again.
He showed him rows of miniature nuclear additions made to power these machines. The spinning crystals were inside a clear shell the size of sport ball. You could see the light bouncing into coils of wire that generated electricity.

Let's talk about why you’re here.
Before they took three steps, LaBert changed direction and walked toward another table covered with blue papers. His mind distracted by every movement and thing around him.
There was a well-groomed, official-looking man standing at the table.
LaBert said, this is Winston. Tell him what you want and I’ll listen.

Bobber laid out the plan, showing Winston detailed notes he had on the monitor mini.
LaBert lurched forward and shuffled wildly through blue papers. Then stopped, and stood straight.
Bobber resumed talking. Then it happened again. And LaBert turned around and looked at the ceiling, stretching his hands upwards while echoing a wailful moan that sounded like a lost coyote.

Winston said, he’s listening. He has schizophrenia.

LaBert rambled out several long sentences. He said, yes I am sick.
I cannot rest the great shamble of my mind and more each day it is unreliable to my will, worrying that it is not real and I am consumed with fear.
Spewing bare coherence: My boat will never rest these tears that I have too lost my family within this fire, and hope that it is yourself who will write new history telling our story.

Then it was over. LaBert looked at Winston and asked, what’s the commission?
Bobber thought it was more strangeness, but Winston looked at the monitor, and repeated Bobber’s percentage for each trade.
LaBert nodded.
It was done.
Winston transferred Bobber’s notes to the Bank’s first team.
It happened so fast, Bobber was uncertain, but he knew to let it run.

Let’s go talk.
LaBert led the way erratically to another table.
We need to write history so the past will not tempt itself to be the future.
You know it. Look at your proposal. The Bank cannot operate as a mechanism and caretaker. We have no space to store discs. We cannot enforce every contract. It’s too big now. It needs to be shifted to the people, and they need a story about their lives.

LaBert sat down and Bobber cautiously chose a chair, not too close or too far.
He said, look Bobber you are the man of our history.
You brought peace to a region. People came to Red Lake after the fire because you built a community. You saved thousands of lives. They trusted you and that’s why the Medical School started there. The Gold Leaders were beaten because you held the peace. Your spoken word freed women and changed the course of history. Your Property contract paved the way for the monitor mini. And now, your plan to localize contracts, and remove blame from the Bank will change us forever.
You have done these things, because none of it happened without you.

The whirring sound of the machine in the background and the uncertainty of this man’s condition clouded what Bobber should choose next. It was unknown what he could do to help this man.
Bobber could see what LaBert offered. There was opportunity laying before him and it would take time to figure the correct path.
LaBert could see Bobber was thinking, and said we will meet again in a few days.

Bobber agreed, but said nothing more. After all, the mercantile brain understands that less-is-better. Once the trade commission is agreed, shut up, and get out of there before the customer changes their mind.

Bobber left.

LaBert resumed working on his infinite world of invention, absolutely certain, and relieved, that Bobber’s plan was the true direction.
Actually Bobber didn’t create the idea. Months before, he read a request contract written by a Box owner that was asking the same conversion to local contracts. Many men were thinking the same way. The New Leaders in Red Lake wanted local contracts. Truth was, Bobber just happened to meet with LaBert on that day.

As soon as Bobber got outside, he contacted LeoJ on the monitor-mini.
LeoJ's message back was excited.
You did it Bobber.
The Bank sent confirmation.
They're sending a man to regionalize credentials so all contracts in the area will go through us. The percentage is smaller but we'll make up on volume.

Bobber started laughing. He could see LeoJ yelling and waving his arms around like the Bank Boss. It was good news.
He felt dizzy, and sat down at an open table in front of the Bank.
Wow, things happened fast in New Galveston.

The table man brought a strawberry whiz with cream and ice. There were at least 50 tables sitting on the plaza overlooking the ocean, and each had a red and white umbrella that shaded from the afternoon sun. There was a breeze. The water was filled with sail boats going all directions.

A girl at the other table walked over and sat down. Her face was not covered. She was strong and tall, about 20 years old.
Hi Bobber. She must have seen him on the announcements.
Hello.
The table man brought a strawberry whiz for her.

79) Bobber meets the Queen
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The new girl he just met was so compelling. They sat and talked for hours.
Her obvious beauty faded before his eyes. He saw deep within her heart.

It was getting dark and table men were setting up a dance floor.
The umbrellas softly lit up, casting colors over the tables.
The place was getting noisy as people started crowding into the night scene.

She said I’m staying at the Rich Mark and saw you there. Let’s walk back and get something to eat.
Bobber was in the mood for a calm night. He was a country boy, used to stars and crickets, and didn’t understand the shuffle of New Galveston.

They were so natural together walking. Bobber felt like he’d known this girl forever.
Under the blinking neon light of a giant red crab hanging on the side of a building, he stopped and said I love you. She said, I love you too.
They kissed for a moment ... then both reached out and took each other’s hand, swinging back and forth laughing and skipping and hugging like silly romance. It was beautiful.
He found his heart. And she felt the same.

They were walking up the hotel steps before he finally asked her name, and she replied, Erika-Kari.
She said, it’s an old name. People call me Kari.
Bobber’s mother had an old name, Seltom, and she felt timeless to the ages same as Keri.
Kari leaned against him, and he put his arm around her. The pain disappeared.

They sat at a table. The food man brought fajitas in a steaming metal plate of onions, green pepper and slices of beef and tomatoes, wrapped in warm tortillas. She moved her chair next to him so they could touch.

They walked to his room, both certain of their fate that night.
He loved this woman with his deepest soul.
He knew better than anyone how she felt. They had been together forever. She belonged to him.
Their kiss flew into passion.
He pounced like a red tiger stalking the night.
She was equal in passion, easily forming him as she needed until the light filled their union.

They laid together, arms tangled into each other. He was weak and exhausted ... finally.
A few minutes passed and she said, look Bobber, things are different than you imagine.
He was crushed.
He wanted anything to reverse what he just heard.
Instead he touched her face.
It was all he could do. He didn't know this girl.

She said her mother was killed by raiders and they stole her grandmother's jeweled case.
Bobber remembered the bright stones sewn into his belt.
Maybe he had a gift to ease her loss. His own guilt over raiding made wanting to end the memory important.

He sat up on the edge of the bed, took out a razor cleff, and carefully cut a couple threads on the side of the belt.
One at a time the stones appeared.
She picked up the emerald green. And said, these are my grandmother’s stones.
She sat up and pulled a sheet around her shoulders, looking at each stone.

How do you know? The coincidence would be too improbable.

She said, they were special stones. Each one had a mark.
As a child, she played with her grandmother’s case, running her hands over the surface to feel the past.
She saw inside each stone and remembered how they looked.

Bobber was uncertain. But it made her happy.
She gathered the stones, and held them close to her heart, and then put them in a clasp.

Kissing him again, she said, let’s go dancing.
Oh no. Not again. Bobber pushed his belt back through the pant loops, and was drug out into the night with his new mate pulling on his hand.

Line dancing was in his future. He was forced to participate.
She wore face covering and suddenly looked much older. Her eyes became powerful, then she disappeared into the room.
Bobber did his best, trying to clear his mind, wondering if Windrock was there.
The next person that touched him said, she wanted to be here ... same thing Windrock said when they departed Red Lake and Cheneen didn’t show up.
Ok, maybe it was true.

Several hours of frivolity ended with Keri meeting his arms and spinning around.
Enough excitement.
He said, let’s go home.
She loved the sound of that. She was his home.

80) The King
Contents previous
You can only curse God so long that your path was this.

When he awoke, his love was gone.
He got dressed, remembering that he stepped in the mud the night before.
Yeah …. he was just another guy with a muddy shoe.

He walked down the stairs, turned the corner, stepping outside into the hot day.
Now what? His life was back to empty.

He walked toward the ocean and saw yellow racing boats gathering for the contest between New Galveston and Freeport. Blue flags were atop rows of aluminum poles. It was bright and clean.
A set of stairs led down to a terrace of stone. He walked out to the edge. Oddly nobody else was there, just tables and chairs and umbrellas.
He turned and saw Keri silhouetted in the sun.
She had blue ribbons in her hair that blew in the wind. She wore a white dress.
She had gotten up early to speak on the announcements during the Moment of Flowers and didn't want to wake him. She told the people that the word Ootistic meant People of Peace, and that the new era of peace was the same as prosperity.

This was the Queen, but Bobber didn’t know.
She was standing there among the mellow blue ribbons and bright yellow boats that he saw in a vision seven years before when he laid tied up in a barn.

She waved and smiled, and started walking toward him.
He stepped toward her. His legs felt heavy. Reaching for a chair, he stumbled.
His heart quit beating and Bobber died.
The Queen ran screaming and held his head in her arms.
All her life wanting this man to find her and now he was gone.
No amount of prayer would return him to her love.

As Bobber’s soul departed this tiny spinning mud and nickel ball suspended somewhere in God’s universe, behind him was conceived a King who was born nine months later.
The Queen, Erika-Keri, half-sister to Carneghie and LaBert Mellon, nurtured her son Larltz and told him stories about his father.
Fifteen years later Great King Larltz took the throne of the New Kingdom.

Red Lake had a parade each year.
Grassland and forest followed the rains into Texas.

A man of vague description like Bobber can become anything history writes.
True or not, history said the King's father was the legendary man known as the Hurricane that Burned Down Texas.

The end.
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