73 Salt and Gold (1/2)
”I got a cube practically in my backyard,” Jeffrey said, pulling out a chair and seating himself. ”Maybe twenty paces from the back fence. It spooked me something proper. Like I told you, Jim - Jim Haley, that's the deputy - came over New Year's Day, and we had a little celebration. Matter of fact, we celebrated pretty fierce. Jim had to stay the night. So when that cube appeared I woke him up and we went to examine it together. He knew as much as I did right from the start.”
”So you made sure to get the law on your side.”
”Right. Once we understood what this whole thing was about, we went to talk to Brian - that's the sheriff, Brian Madison. And he in turn went to talk to the mayor. Then the mayor assembled the whole town and we voted to keep everything from the cube, and set up a colony in the New World.”
”The whole town? You're kidding!”
”Easy. Our total population is like a hundred and fifty people. Used to be in the thousands, a long time ago. There isn't a year when someone doesn't move to greener pastures, so to speak. So we got the mayor and the sheriff onside, and they're the local authorities, so everything's nice and legal.”
”It's not nice and legal if you're already running a colony,” said Amanda.
”Yeah, well it made sense to set something up quickly because of the money situation. You know, this new currency thing. It was obvious we'd better get ourselves some precious metals. So the mayor authorized Brian and Jim and myself to scout out the area in the New World.”
”I see. Any luck?”
Jeffrey grinned from ear to ear.
”We found a nice gold seam almost right away,” he said. ”And when we went looking for that stone they call tiger rock - you know, to build platforms and send stuff back here - we found more gold. And silver, and copper, and iron, and manganese, and about half a dozen other metals.”
”But no tiger rock?”
”On the contrary. It took a while, but right now we're sending thirty to forty kilos of ore a day. We've already registered the town mint, and set up a smelter. It became operational yesterday. We already got gold and silver worth at least a couple of thousand of the new dollars. We're still working on the dies, but March first, right after midnight, we start making money. We calculate we can easily hit a thousand coins a day. Most in smaller denominations, but we'll be making at least five hundred bucks a day, no problem. The whole town's on the act.”
Jeffrey paused and looked at both Amanda and Sharon in turn, examining their faces for the effect of his words. What he saw evidently pleased him, because he got up and got out the brandy, and put it on the table along with three shot glasses.
”So you see,” he said, pouring, ”We have a bright future here. We got no food problems. We got our own electricity, from wind turbines and panels. It's enough to keep the town running. We got a stream of gold and silver coming in from the New World. Sure, it would be nice to set up a trade route. We'd be happy to give you some of that gold and silver in exchange for this wonderful salt of yours. But giving up our independence for coast access? I don't know. We got almost everything we need right here, and I'm not sure we're interested in colonizing islands in the Pacific.”
”You can try and shut out the rest of the world, sure,” Amanda said. ”But you know something: sooner or later, the world is going to come knocking on your door.”
”What's that supposed to mean?”
”You know very well what it means. You won't be able to survive in your little bubble. It's going to get pricked, and it will burst. All the more so because you're sitting on all this gold.”
”I don't like the sound of that,” Jeffrey said slowly. ”It sounds like you're trying to threaten me.”
”It's the facts that are threatening you, not me. I'm actually offering you a way out of danger.”
”Yeah. Join the glorious Amazon empire so you don't get rubbed out? By the aforementioned Amazon empire? You know, you got a bit of mouth on you, Amanda. I guess it comes natural, you being a rock star and all. And you're used to other people doing what you say, right? But we got a whole new ballgame here. Old rules don't apply. So take it easy, or you might just inspire us to organize a visit to your new colony. And it won't be a friendly visit.”
Amanda gave Jeffrey an amused smile, and finished eating her breakfast. The silence in the kitchen became very heavy by the time she wiped her mouth and turned to Jeffrey and said:
”You're not getting something. Maybe it's my fault, I didn't make it clear. We've got several million people worldwide, over ten thousand in the Seattle area alone, waiting to become colonists after March the first. And you've got a hundred and fifty, counting infants and the old and infirm. Can you do the math?”
Jeffrey was silent for a while. Then he said:
”You know, I really got to get the sheriff and the mayor in on that. I'll go and bring them over now, if you don't mind.”
”Can't you call them? You've got a stationary phone.”
”No, I'm due at Brian's house in about half an hour anyway. I'll just go over and tell him what's up and then probably we'll go and see Luke - the mayor. Likely he'll want to come with us. So why don't you girls rest up a little while I do all that. I reckon it'll take a couple of hours. Okay?”
”Sure,” Amanda said. She reached and picked up the glass of brandy Jeffrey had poured, and held it up and said:
”Cheers.”
”Cheers.”
”Cheers,” Sharon said belatedly, sounding as if she were announcing a death.