Chapter 4

CH-4.13  Monterey, First Shore Leave

Monterey, WK-5, Sunday, Airport, 0940

The seaplane touched down in the bay and taxied up a shore launching ramp to the terminal. They bought a snack and were walking towards the exit when Rico called out from behind, "Hey! wait up." "Sergei and Natasha are back at the office," said Lola, "We didn't want a welcoming crowd at a small airport." "Good idea," said Stakka, "We're happy to see you again." "How are the baby zingers?" asked Tengo. "Heh, they're growing like weeds," laughed Lola. "Is the link to Arkon One set up?" asked Dingo. "Yes," replied Rico, "And they've tested it twice."

Monterey, Sunday, SafeHouse, 1030

Natasha and Sergei greeted them on the porch, saying, "Come inside and warm up. We have hot chocolate and snacks."

As they were sitting around the table Rico explained, "We will send the message to Arkon One just after sundown, about 1900. So this afternoon if you guys could put together a written message, we'll have our reader convert it to text and sent. We can expect a reply just after, or tomorrow same time. We use the ionosphere reflection at sundown to send and receive with Arkon One."

Stakka looked around the table at his team, who all nodded affirmative and said, "Yeah, we can do that."

At 1600, their reader, who spoke clearly and distinctly, started reading into the speech to text app. "There are 1000 clones but only 10 who are curious about their origin. The earliest memory is an orphanage in Kazakhstan. They come in three basic heights: 1.4, 1.6, and 1.8 meters.

"They have proposed a smaller floating island named Arkon Delta as a genetic research station and medical tourist site. They could offer genetic tune-ups to boost strength, or boost reflexes, or something, and not be in competition with Arkon One. Their focus would be on younger people, say 20 years old or more, after they have quit growing.

"We have come up with two plans: Plan A is, we go back to Babylon dressed as tourists and make an appointment for a business proposal to Boss Chako, majority owner of Babylon, and have 10 clones be part of his down payment for a 16% interest In Arkon Delta. We form a holding company, Delta Ventures, to put together a Consortium loan to build Arkon Delta. 26% held by Arkon One, 25% held by Arkon Star, 16% by Babylon, 16% by Shangri-La, 17% by Beijing University. If Babylon declines to participate, Plan B is to find other parties interested, and smuggle the 10 clones out as tourists via chartered seaplane to Joy Luck 8.

"Thank you for the resupply of red and blue zingers. We will send you samples of Green Rockets which we would like you to develop seeds for.

"Sincerely, Stakka, Renka, Dingo and Tengo."

After proofreading the text they copied it to a thumb drive and went to the small room where the HF transceiver was located. Natasha copied the file and added some header text. She explained, "How this works is Arkon One sends us a little burst signal at 31 mhz every 15 minutes starting at 1900. After we hear a loud one twice, when the ionization is high, we hit send to transmit at 30 mhz and wait for them to send back an acknowledgement of receipt. Then they might send us an additional message of their own and wait for us to send acknowledge receipt." "What we're doing," said Sergei, "Is using the ionosphere to bounce a signal from here to the ionosphere and back down to Arkon One. There is usually a window of one or two hours immediately after sunset where this works well."

Ten minutes later they got the message acknowledged signal plus an incoming which read as follows, "Good work. Plan A and B sound okay. Looking forward to green rocket sample. Here is info our agent on Shangri-La picked up. Suggest you give to Boss Chako for free as goodwill token. Shangri-La is run by Yakuza and there is talk of a contract hit on Boss Chako and El Lobo in 3 months to take over Babylon and reduce competition. Best regards, Arkon One, over."

Natasha sent the message acknowledged signal and they all went out back for a barbecue.

After the main course Stakka asked Natasha, "Can we send a message to Joy Luck 8 tomorrow?" "No problem," she replied, "They're just leaving San Fran and coming this way." "Ask if they can send a small boat to a pier or sheltered cove at night," said Stakka, "And pick up this sample of Green Rocket and buccal clone swabs and deliver to Arkon One." "We have a pre-arranged cove just south of the peninsula," said Natasha.

"Rico, as part of Plan B," said Renka, "We will need 10 light blue cheap windbreaker style jackets and 10 light green for the Alpha and Beta Tour Companies. Is there a cheap tailor shop here that could deliver by Thursday night?" "There are two," said Rico, "So we will split the order. Who should we use as a model?" "If Natasha doesn't mind, she looks tall enough," said Renka. "I'm happy to help," said Natasha.

"Dingo and I have a business project we would like to discuss," said Tengo, "We got the idea when we bought the mint Green Rockets. The red Zingers and Rockets are 7.9 mm diameter by 85 mm long and 5 to a pack. We propose a brand called Red Dragon for Chinese markets, that are 6.5 mm diameter and 90 mm long packed seven to box, and sold for the same price retail. Besides two extra cigarettes they get a total of 10% more volume to smoke. Our filter inserts are only 10 mm long and the standard is 15 mm. Also we would use papers that are colored, like red for the Red Rockets and green for the Green Rockets. Rizla has been making rolling papers since 1660 and have a nice selection of colors. This could develop a source of income quickly before Arkon Delta is launched. Then we could transfer the process to Arkon Delta and grow the red, blue, and green cannabis on the AgroSembly module and process into cigarettes and packages down below." "Wow!" said Sergei, I like it." "I bet you've already checked used equipment in China," said Stakka, "And Vostok shipping charges." "Yes," said Dingo, "And delivered to Monterey, cost 750,000 creds. Our hazard pay won't be enough, so we need partners." Stakka and Renka whispered together, then Renka said, "We pledge 250,000 creds from our Arkon One hazard pay account." "We pledge 300,000 creds," said Natasha. " And we pledge 100,000 creds," said Rico. "Hot Damn!" said Dingo, "We're in business. I'll go into town tomorrow, register Dragon Products, and open a business account."

Monterey, Monday, SafeHouse

Rico and Lola go in to town early to order the tour jackets and also register their business and open an account at a local bank with International connections.

The rest of the team spent the morning trimming their grow, stirring up the soil, and adding a top-dressing of Rose food.

Then about one, Rico and Lola showed up with some takeout for lunch.

"Natasha, I was wondering," said Renka, "Does Joy Luck 8 ever pick up any large shipments of marijuana from Ukiah?" "Yes," she replied, "There are three Brokers that run a kind of co-op for the Growers. One handles the North Coast, one covers the interior, and the other covers with South Coast. They buy the plants from the Growers after they've hung upside down in a black plastic bag for 2 weeks in the sun as a curing process. They hire locals and migrants as needed to trim the leaves, collect the trichomes, and run the leaves through a shredder for blending with ribbon cut very mild tobacco. We as a company pick up 500 to 1500 kilos with every ship going by. The peak, of course, is in September through November, but there is always something due to indoor grows. The trichomes are processed into cannabutter and the stalks are run through a decorticator and processed into dry hemp fiber." "That's really good information," said Stakka, "Do they separate the plants into sativa and indica?" "Yes," she replied, "And some even have a recognized flavor brand like blueberry and peach." "Have you heard of one called mint?" asked Tengo. "There are small irregular bundles of mint," said Natasha, "Maybe only one or two growers for that strain." "We could order a few hundred kilos of mint," said Dingo, "To start our Green Dragons while Arkon One works on the genetics." "We could also lease a big empty field nearby," said Rico, "And contract with locals to grow mild golden leaf tobacco." "Always a good idea to have a secure local supply chain," said Lola.

After lunch Stakka said, "Let's discuss our preliminary plan for returning to Babylon." "I think you and Renka should go back on Friday," said Tengo, "And Dingo and I will return on Sunday. That way we will still appear as workers." "That's good," said Renka, "I believe they have facial recognition and we should change our appearance a little bit when we go back as tourists."

Monterey, Tuesday, SafeHouse

After breakfast Stakka said, "For Plan B we need 7 green baseball caps and 7 blue ones. Also we need 14 short sleeve baggy Hawaiian flowered shirts for tourists." "Sounds like we need to visit a Market Mall," said Renka, "Is there one in Monterey?" "Yes," said Lola, it's not far from here." "Do they have a Zinger shop?" asked Dingo. "Yeah, they do," said Rico, they're called Red Rockers and Blu Rockers. They're a little bit harsh but cheaper than Rockets."

At the Market Mall they got their caps and shirts and a collection of red and blue Rockers. For lunch they stopped at the food court for a nice selection of seafood.

Back at the safe house, Stakka said, "Here's the next part of Plan A. Renka and I will go back dressed as tourists Friday morning and check in to a cheap room. Then we will arrange a short business presentation for Boss Chako when he arrives Saturday." "You could wear western-style hats and Hollywood style sunglasses to conceal your faces a little bit," said Dingo. "Also you might try to enter with a mob of other tourist so you don't stand out," said Tengo.

"We don't expect an answer before Monday at the earliest," said Stakka, "He will want to consult with his staff and possibly El Lobo." "You might consider sending a little note to your boss saying you had a personal problem and would contact them Wednesday," said Natasha. "Since we expect to be followed after the presentation," said Renka, "We will act extra touristy." "Oh," said Stakka, "I just remembered, we have an appointment at 20 hundred with Karl and Robin at the Rusty Rooster. So Dingo and Tengo will have to attend and bring them up to date, and arrange to distribute the disguises to the other members." "How will we recognize them?" asked Dingo. "Even if they can tweak the facial genes," said Stakka, "There will be a family resemblance to Zak and Sophie."

Monterey, Wednesday, SafeHouse

"We need to develop our Plan B a little more," said Stakka, "If Boss Chako refuses the offer, or locks us up, Dingo and Tengo will have to get our friends off of Babylon and on to Joy Luck 8." "How how about we do this, "said Renka, "If we don't slide a note under your door before Monday night, start contacting our friends and passing out the tourist disguises." "So we pass out all the disguises Tuesday and that night contract a sea plane for all of us to leave Wednesday morning early," said Dingo. "Then we should arrange for Captain Kuznet to cruise slowly after he passes the Monterey Peninsula," said Tengo, "So we can catch him Wednesday." "I'll send him that message when we meet tonight and give him the green mint," said Sergei. "One other thing to consider," said Lola, "Is if you leave too early Wednesday morning you might be the only tourists wandering around. You might want to leave at 0830 instead of 0630. Maybe meet in a food court and have breakfast first."

Monterey, Thursday, SafeHouse

After lunch Rico and Lola went into town to see the tailors and pick up tour jackets.

Monterey, Friday, Airport, 0530

As Stakka and Renka headed for the gate to the Sea Plane, Rico wished them good luck and safe journey.

CH-4.14      Babylon, Joint Venture 

Babylon, WK-5, Friday, 0945

Debarking from the seaplane, Stakka and Renka crossed the Quay to the information kiosk by the entrance to Babylon. "Can you recommend an inexpensive hotel for a weeks stay?" asked Stakka. "The Three Palms has vacancies and a good reputation," said the agent, "But no dining room. Can I make reservations for you?" "Yes," said Renka, "For one week." "Very good," said the agent, "Here's an x on this ground floor map showing the check-in desk."

After a breakfast snack they headed for the Three Palms check-in desk. "We'd like to pay for our whole week now," said Stakka, "And can we get a receipt? We're on an expense account." "No problem," replied the clerk, "Here's your key card." "We represent Delta Ventures," said Renka, "And we'd like to make a 10-minute presentation to Boss Chako tomorrow. Can you help us with that?" "Certainly," replied the clerk, "I'll just connect you with his appointment secretary."

Renka booked a 15-minute slot at 1045 and they went up to their cabin.


Babylon, WK-5, Saturday, 1040

As they approached the receptionist desk she pointed to the door behind her and said, "Go ahead, he's expecting you."

They entered and Boss Chako, standing behind his desk said, "Please take a seat. I'm Chako." "I'm Stakka, and this is my partner Renka."

"Before we begin our presentation," said Stakka, "We have some personal private information for you. Is this conference room secure?" Chako pressed a button under his desk and there was a click as a red light came on over the door. "It is now," he said, "What do you have?" "We were informed by Arkon One two days ago," said Stakka, "That there is a contract on your life and El Lobo in the next 3 months. It was put out by the Yakuza who own Shangri-La." "I guess they're getting greedy again," said Chako, "They made an attempt 18 months ago and failed. That's when I put an agent in their workforce but have not heard from him recently. Thank you for your alert."

"You're welcome," said Renka, "Now for our presentation ... We represent Delta Ventures and are putting together a Consortium loan to build Arkon Delta, a small floating island, to be located halfway between Babylon and Arkon One. Their business plan will be medical tourism offering genetic enhancements, like tune-ups to boost strength, or boost reflexes, or cognitive skills, to young adults over 20 years old who have stopped growing. This will not be competing with Arkon One for geriatric enhancement.

"The shipyards that built Babylon continued building another Island on speculation. So far we are the only potential customer and they have offered a big discount, as the launch date is 5 months away. For the island and three AgroSembly modules they are asking 4 billion creds. At this time we are prepared to offer Babylon a 16% equity share. Arkon One has already taken a 26% share."

"We plan to offer Shangri-La a 16% share also," said Stakka, "Maybe this will stifle their greed for a few years, and having the same percentage should not cause envy." "We're booked at the Three Palms until this Friday," said Renka, "If you come to a decision before then." "Thank you for this opportunity," said Chako, "I'll discuss it with my associates and we will meet you here at 1700 on Monday." "Great," said Stakka, as they left, "See you on Monday."

Back in their Three Palms cabin Renka said, "This is going well and I sense Boss Chako will influence his associates to a positive outcome." "I agree," said Stakka, "Do you feel like this room is smaller than the one we had before?" "It is," said Renka, "And that gives me an idea. Let's make a little summary and stick it under Dingo and Tengo's door tonight. What we can do is put on our dress worker uniforms and just before midnight when there is a shift change, we go out and walk around in a circle and go past their door and then go for a midnight snack and come back here." "Amazing," said Stakka, "I like it. Were you a secret agent in a past life?" "Yes," she said, "And I was a Kundalini yoga instructor as well. Come closer and I'll show you."

Babylon, WK-6, Sunday, 1015

As they were walking around the C-deck balcony, the third one above the main deck and open in the middle with a good view above and below, Stakka said, "This reminds me of Stack City where I grew up outside Seattle. Kids at school used to call us stackers. That's where my nickname came from. They were remodeled shipping containers stacked 3 high and housing 10,000 almost homeless people."

As they walked around they noticed a pulsing red sign ahead in the distance. it was a little hole in the wall smoke shop so they went in and bought three 5-packs of Red Bangers.

Dingo and Tengo arrived 0945 for their second 4 week tour. They went to their cabin and read the optimistic note from Stakka and Renka.

At 1945 they headed out to Rusty Rooster with the tour jackets in a little flight bag, to meet with Karl and Robin.

Babylon, WK-6, Sunday, 2010

Inside the Rusty Rooster they headed for the back corner. As they got closer they saw two familiar faces which turned out to be Karl and Robin instead of Zak and Sophie. Taking a seat Dingo said, "I'm Dingo and this is my partner Tengo. You must be Karl and Robin, right?" "That's correct," said Karl, "How is the plan going?"

After the waiter took their drink order Dingo said, "Its going very well. In fact I have brought the tour guide jackets with us tonight. In the next 2 days you could pass them out to the other members. Then Tuesday night we'll meet here again for more details.

Babylon, WK-6, Monday, 1700

As the meeting got underway, Boss Chako made the introductions. "This is Stakka and Renka from Delta Ventures, on my left is El Lobo, my partner, and on my right is Django, my accountant. Renka, could you expand a little bit on your proposal?"

"Certainly," she replied, "We came up with this business idea while discussing genetic tweaking with some clones we met recently. They figured out they were clones because they have extra D-R / d4 allele repeats, causing more curiosity. Their intelligence is also quite a bit above normal. We are offering shares in this venture to the existing floating islands because they already understand the benefits of isolation allowing sharp focus on a business endeavor. A 16% equity share is 640 Mn creds. That could be payable over the next five months before launch, and we require 7 million of the price be 10 of your clones who are above-normal. They are only 1% of the total and will help us locate the lab where they were created; then we will make them an offer also. We do not object to Babylon owning clones, as they are taken care of better than corporate wage slaves were 50 years ago. What brought your clones to our attention was a snuff film on the internet from 5 years ago. There can be no more snuff films from Babylon."

"So you are secret agents as well as business agents," said El Lobo, smiling." "Not at all," said Stakka, "We just take our due diligence seriously."

"I was not aware of any snuff films from Babylon said Chako, frowning, "I will look into that." "It is possible they came from Shangri-La," said Renka, "They have a contingent of clones also. We came here first because it was closer."

"I think this would be a good investment said Chako, "What do you think Lobo?" "I'm in favor of it also," said Lobo, "Where do we sign?" "Here is a contract," said Stakka, "Your lawyers may want to review it first." "Of course," said Lobo, "We will meet here Wednesday at 1500 for the signing."

"Now that we are partners," said Stakka, "I wonder if you could satisfy my curiosity about the business considerations for using clones?"

"No problem," said Chako, "I'll let our accountant answer that."

"Say for clones," said Django, "15 to 55 is 40 years service, one million creds divided by 40 is 25,000 creds per year, a cheap salary. They have an excellent immune system and stay healthy and they don't overeat. They learn fast and the turnover is very low so we don't have to train new hires. As a product they are consistently good. Plus the company delivers to our doorstep.

"For off the street civilian hires, we have to maintain a recruiting organization and human resources and training. Then they will often leave after one to three years service. And they may be unknowing carriers of some serious disease or disruptive ideas.

"If we used slaves, which are available today for 5 to 20,000 creds, there are of course training cost, language and cultural obstacles and health maintenance cost and they often resent their condition. There are also travel costs and risks associated with going to a North African slave market. We would need overseers to maintain order and discipline. Plus I am not in favor of forcing someone to do something. It often results in sabotage."

"Thank you Django, that was very interesting," said Renka, "We'll see you Wednesday then."

Back in their cabin they put on their dress employee uniforms and prepared a note for Dingo and Tengo. It read as follows, "Everything going okay. Go ahead and pass out tour jackets before Wednesday night. We'll sign contract Wednesday 1500. Suggest we book seaplane to Monterey and leave Thursday morning 0730."

After they delivered the note and back in their cabin, Renka said, "We need to have some cover story for the crew on Joy Luck 8. Like 'These are refugees from a village in Canada destroyed by a resource War', or 'Refugees from the Chicago collapse'."

"That reminds me of another problem," said Stakka, "When we get on Joy Luck 8 we should try and contact Arkon One and see if they can make a secure area with 7 medium sized cabins and a conference room holding 15 to 20 people, maybe two cabins with a wall cut out. The trip may take 10 to 15 days so they might put something together. I wonder if we should consider light plastic surgery or theater makeup. The rain hoodies on the tour jackets will help conceal their face. When we see them all together we can decide if they look too much alike or just close relatives. We don't want people speculating about the existence of clones."

Babylon, WK-6, Tuesday, 2010

Dingo and Tango met Karl and Robin in the Rusty Rooster and gave them additional details for the exit plan. They would meet in the Rusty Rooster Thursday morning at 0600 for breakfast and proceed to seaplane at 0700.

Babylon, WK-6, Wednesday, 1500

"We have no changes to the contract," said Boss Chako, "So when we have all signed it my receptionist will witness and notarize it." After they had finished signing and notarizing, Chako asked, "What about progress reports?" "We'll fly out every three to five weeks,"  said Stakka, "We have business interests in Monterey also."

Babylon, WK-6, Thursday, 0730

Karl and Robin, dressed in their tour guide jackets, stood outside the Rusty Rooster at 0600 and directed their friends to a table in the back corner. The table was already set with egg sandwiches and coffee. By 0700 everyone had finished and they headed out to board their seaplane.

Stakka and Renka boarded last and they took off at 0730. As the Monterey Peninsula came into view about 0930, Stakka said to the pilot, "We have a little detour in mind. For an extra 1000 creds we'd like you to drop down to just above sealevel, make a right turn, and go at higher speed parallel to the coast, less than 20 km. We're looking to offload most of the passengers to a large Clipper cargo ship. Then you will go back to the original course at high speed and make the usual landing with Dingo and Tengo still aboard." "This is a welcome change from routine," said the pilot, "And I will enjoy the extra creds."

The Joy Luck 8 came into view at 0945 and they made a smooth landing just off the starboard bow. A large speed boat was quickly launched and came to pick them up. Dingo and Tengo said goodbye and wished them luck while giving them their tour jackets.

Joy Luck 8, WK-6, Thursday, 1015

Alexis met them at the forward loading bay, saying, "Its good to see you again. You remember Tanya?" "Yes, of course," said Renka, "These are our friends who recently lived in a small village in Canada. There was a resource conflict that drove them down to Monterey where we intervened to help them. This is Karl and his friend Robin, and over here is Zak and his friend Sophie. They are leaders of this group." "We are happy to meet you," said Tanya, "You will be safe with us." "Are there cabins separate from the crew?" asked Stakka, "We don't want to disturb them." "No problem," said Alexis, "Come I will show you." "Captain Kuznet will meet Stakka, Renka, and Karl and Robin after lunch for a debriefing," said Tanya.

Joy Luck 8, WK-6, Thursday, 1430

In the conference room Alexis said, "Karl, Robin, this is Captain Kuznet. Captain, you remember Stakka and Renka?" "Yes, of course," said the Captain, "Please be at ease, this will be informal. Stakka, could you summarize your adventures for me?"

"Sure thing, Captain," said Stakka, "But first an opinion from Alexis and Tanya. Do these villagers look like identical twins, or close relatives?" " I would say close relatives," said Tanya. "I agree fully," said Alexis. "Thank you," said Stakka, "Now for the summary."

"The first week on Babylon we and the other team both detected clones. The things that stood out were: 1) in the bar they were very calm and drank very slowly. The other thing we detected was: 2) there were micro hesitations when we questioned them about childhood or early youth. I would say someone who has not spent time in several different noisy bar situations might not detect a difference so quick.

"To confirm our suspicions we had another meeting with them, which was very surprising. Because no one had continued a conversation past 20 minutes in the bar for a whole year, they concluded that we had detected them because we were looking for them. So they confessed they were clones and asked for our help to make a safe place and conduct a business. And here we are.

"The meeting with Boss Chako and El Lobo to make a business presentation went very well. He appreciated the notice of an impending hit from Yakuza.

"To avoid speculation about clones while we're on Arkon One, we would like to contact them and see if they can make a secure area accessed by key cards with 7 medium sized cabins and a conference room holding 15 to 20 people, maybe two cabins with a wall cut out. Even though we look at them and think 'Must be close relatives', another person looking at a group of four or six very similar individuals might think 'Holy Cow! are these clones'?"

"This is very interesting," said the Captain, "Thanks for the update. We'll send a message to Arkon One at sundown. My Navigator tells me the trip could take two weeks. That should be enough time to make the alterations. Also, Vostok Shipping Company would like to take a 16% equity stake in Delta Ventures."

Joy Luck 8, WK-8, Friday, 1515

After 14 days of smooth sailing, they spotted Arkon One on the horizon just after 1500. At 1700 they received a message from the Harbor Master on the Harbor Common hailing frequency, "We've cleared the protected anchorage between modules 3-4 so you have a private berth. Look for a flashing blue light on each side of the entrance." "Thanks for that," replied the XO from the bridge.

~    ~    ~  ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~    ~   ~    ~    ~  ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~
NB- expect posts 8 am EST, 1st & 15 th.

 X

Chapter 3

 CH-3.11     New Assignment

 Sunday,  2100,  Joy Luck 8

"Please help yourself to coffee from the sideboard and take a seat," said Captain Kuznet, "This will be informal."

"Last night I received a coded message from Captain Jenkins on the Arkon Star. He requested I contact you and bring you aboard for a confidential briefing on a potential world-changing problem. Beginning with the cult classic film Blade Runner in 1982, people have been fascinated by the idea of human clones. In this movie the Clones had a built-in lifespan of maybe 7 years. Following this film were others fantasizing about super soldiers and sex slaves and low-cost industrial workers. Dolly the Sheep was the first mammal cloned in 1996. Since then universities and private Labs have been working on human clones for spare parts, like in The Island, and other reasons. Pet clones were attempted starting in 1999 with the Missiplicity project, and the dog Snuppy was cloned in 2005. The ethical guidelines prevent them from allowing any cloned fetuses to live beyond two weeks.

Now about 8 weeks ago Commodore Kaiser was startled by an Arkon One film student's private message advising him he believed he had witnessed 3 snuff films of clones as part of his internet studies. He said except for hair color, they look exactly alike. An agent was sent to make inquiries in back- alley genetek shops in Tokyo and Shanghai. The agent reported that 5 years ago there were rumors of 15 year old male or female clones available from a lab hidden in the mountains of Kazakhstan. The price at that time was 1.5 million dollars. The lab techs only knew of pet clone Labs that were licensed; however, they believed it was possible that human clones were available.

"Looking at a map of Kazakhstan and trying to think like someone making illegal clones, the commodore staff suggested sending the agent to the two biggest cities on the Chinese Kazakhstan border. He visited several low life tourist bars and asked a few leading questions, but mostly just listened to the talk going on. In the second smaller City he did hear one drunk customer say he had sex at  brothels with twin sisters at opposite ends of the town. He asked them where they were from but they gave vague answers and didn't know each other even though they had identical birthmarks on their right butt. Expensive high-resolution custom satellite photos of surrounding mountains revealed nothing. However, it would be easy to smuggle the Clones into China and out via several exits.

The online brochures for the floating cities of Shangri-La and Babylon talk about custom exotic fantasy scenarios available to high rollers, better than Fantasy Island, and very private.

"So, your assignment would be to apply as staff workers at the Babylon recruitment office in Monterey Bay. You would be accompanied by two locals who are Street Savvy and have worked with us before. I briefed them earlier so you would not see each other in case you decline. Stakka could work as electrician, mechanic, or fast food cook. Renka could work as a small appliance repair tech, fast food cook, or laundry cleaning staff. You would get double your hazard pay and not have to do anything dangerous except look and listen, don't ask any questions that would get you in trouble. They have a rotation of 4 weeks on, one week off so in a period of three months you should have some information. Tomorrow starts their quarterly hiring cycle so we don't have much time. I'll leave you two alone for an hour so you can discuss it in private."

When they were alone Renka asked, "Do you have any Red Zinger?" "Yes," said Stakka, "Let's share one while we consider our options." "I think Nobi and Loki can take care of the weather watch station," said Renka, "With the help of Jake and Karen." "I think so too," agreed Stakka. "I've always had a big curiosity about Babylon," said Renka, "And this way we get paid to explore." "What's not to like?" said Stakka, "Lets refill our coffee, and see if the captain can help us restock our Zingers."

When Captain Kuznet returned, Stakka informed him, "We're ready to go, Sir." Captain Kuznet said, "Excellent, I will invite Dingo and Tengo to join us for the last part of the briefing so you can get acquainted." he buzzed the door open and two people entered. The taller one a male with long black hair streaked with gray said, "Hi, I'm Dingo and this is my partner Tengo." She had short red hair with a little bun in the back. "I'm Stakka, and this is my partner Renka. Nice to meet you."

"To continue our briefing," said the Captain, "We paid for a hack on high wealth individual emails in a secret database for the last 3 years with special keyword searches and came up with some additional information: 1) the Clones muscles are 15% stronger without being bulky or losing fine motor control. 2) the bones in the wrist, hand, and fingers are 20% stronger. 3) the other skeletal bones are 10% stronger. 4) their blood carries 5% more oxygen and clots much faster than normal. 5) their reflexes and thought processes are 10% faster. 6) they can have babies and interbreed with regular humans. 7) their aggression has been modified. They are not likely to attack but will defend themselves.

"In conclusion," said the Captain, "If they could program in wisdom, they would take over the world; as it is, they might anyway due to our lack of wisdom. This is not a conspiracy theory, it is just a logical extension of the evidence. They are a much bigger risk to humanity than Skynet or advanced AI, which were just Silicon Valley red herrings."

"So on the Babylon we're likely to just meet them as bodyguards or sex workers? " asked Dingo. "That's right," replied the Captain, "The other application we see is to replace an expensive robot performing a technical assembly task." "What if they ask for our help to escape," asked Renka, "Should we get involved?" "Stall at first," said the Captain, "Try to find out why and what they plan to do next. Explain that you have to check with your family at the next shore leave." "Now that their cloning process has been refined, with fewer rejects," said Stakka, "They could produce a superior Navy SEAL for less than $1,000,000; a SEAL cost the government about $700,000. There would probably be a market for those in every country. Like nuclear weapons, if you didn't have one and your neighbor did, watch out." "So, we're doing the basic research to make a Blade Runner," said Tengo.

"That's right," said the Captain. "Oh, and before I forget, here are two mechanical alarm clocks. Outside is an old beat-up van with a well-tuned motor and new tires for your ride to Monterey tonight. There are four comfortable reclining seats inside and the drivers will take you to a safe house on the outskirts of Monterey. In the morning they will take you to the recruiting station where you have an interview scheduled for 1000. Here are some letters of reference from your previous employers; however, do not volunteer them, wait until they ask; they may not. When your first shore leave comes up the van will pick you up at the pier and take you to the safe house for debriefing. Good Luck!" "Thank you Captain. One last thing," said Stakka, "Could you request that Arkon One send 6 cartons of Red Zinger and 4 cartons of Blu Zinger and 5 tubes each of the seeds to the safe house before our first shore leave? They make excellent ice breakers and we might use them for bribes, heh."

Outside they met their drivers Rico and Lola. Once on their way Rico said, "This ride takes 5 hours so you may want to recline and sleep."

Monterey,  0530,  Safe House

The potholes in the driveway to the safe house woke them up at 0530. Inside they had bacon egg sandwiches and coffee then set the alarm for zero nine hundred and went back to sleep.

When they woke Rico informed them they should leave their capes and handguns here. He then spread four different size metal link t-shirts on the couch. "Here's the latest in high-tech underwear, he said, "A chainmail t-shirt made out of titanium and guaranteed not to rip, wear, tear, unravel, or rust, heh." As they tried on their armor he put their guns and capes in a hidden safe. He said, "Lola and I will be living here and pick you up when you come back on your first leave." "We're ready for the interview," said Stakka, "Let's go"

Monterey,  1010,  Babylon Recruiting

"I see you've worked as an electrician," said the recruiter, reading his application, "Could you hold out your hands palm up please?" Stakka held out his hands and the recruiter passed his thumbs over both of them and said, "Very good, you have some callus pads." "Now please lift that 6 liter water bottle onto the table with your right hand. Very good, now lift it with your left hand and place it back on the floor. Very good, now raise both hands above your head and touch them together. Very good. Do you take any prescribed medications?" "No," replied Stakka. "The use of marijuana and alcohol is allowed," said the recruiter, "Provided it does not interfere with your work. Any other habit forming drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamines, will be cause for immediate dismissal." "I understand," said Stakka. "We work on 6 hour shifts," said the recruiter, "And you will start 0600 to 1200 Monday. As for personal defense weapons, you are allowed an 8 inch belt knife and 7 watt laser outside your work area. You will have a locker assigned for changing into your work uniform." "That works for me," said Stakka.

"Congratulations and welcome aboard," said the recruiter. "Take this receipt down the hall to the security office where they will issue a debit card for your wages, an electronic ID badge, a como pod that only works on Babylon, and a ticket for the ferry, which leaves Thursday morning. You will arrive early on Sunday morning and have Sunday for orientation, and start work Monday morning."

After he finished the security processing, Stakka went out to the van and waited for the others with Rico and Lola. Tengo came out 10 minutes later. She got hired as a fast-food cook. Five minutes later Renka came out. She got hired as a laundry Tech. 10 minutes later Dingo came out. He got hired as an appliance repair Tech.

They picked up some Chinese takeout food on their way back to the safe house for lunch.

During lunch Stakka asked, "Is there any way to get a message to Sergei?" "We have a shortwave transceiver but it's not secure," said Rico. "That's okay," said Stakka, "We just want to ask them to be here when we have our first shore leave. And if they have a secure link to Arkon One or Joy Luck 8, can they bring it to set up." "I'll give them a call after lunch said Rico. "Oh, just in case they have a plane, could you check the local airport around 1000 on our first day of leave? If we caught a plane at 0600 on Babylon we should be at the airport by 0900."

"I was thinking," said Renka, "With the backyard having a high fence, we could put up a small grow for Red Zinger and another one for Blu Zinger." "We'd be happy to take care of it," said Lola, "For some free smoke." "We could go into town tomorrow," said Dingo, "And pick up the supplies and have it running before we left for Babylon."

With all hands working together they had a ten bucket grow on the left and right side of the back yard, both enclosed in clear plastic. Keeping them separated a little bit should cut down on cross pollination.

Thursday morning they left early for the pier hoping to get a good seat on the ferry.

Sunday,  0530,  Babylon

As they debarked from the ferry they saw a line of young ladies on the Quay, in the same uniform, holding up signs with people's names on them. Halfway down they saw one with a 'Stakka and Renka' sign.

As they got closer, she stepped forward and extended her hand, saying "Hi, I'm Anna. I will be your guide for the next 5 days." Stakka shook her hand and said, "I'm Stakka and this is Renka. Lead on."

They followed her into a hallway and down two levels to the second deck. As they walked they noticed it was very quiet. This steel deck was covered with a thin layer of neoprene. Anna handed them each a triple folded thin plastic brochure saying, "This is a general map layout of Babylon. There are six sections almost identical for most passageways. We are headed towards City Center in module 3 right now. All sections have an emergency clinic near City Center. Modules 1, 3, and 5 are on the second deck, and modules 2, 4, and 6 are on the third deck. They came to a big wide opening on the left and right and Anna explained, "This is like a ring road that goes all the way around the city. We'll take this left around to module 5 where your cabin is." When they reached module 5 they turned right for 50 meters and went down a stair to the fourth deck. Here they turned left and went back a hundred meters to cabin 487. Anna open the door with a key which she gave to Stakka and a copy to Renka. She said, "These cabins are 3 by 3 meters and I will leave you here to relax and unpack for an hour, then I will be back to show you to your work location and a cafeteria."

Babylon,  0700,  Sunday

Anna came back an hour later and said, "Let's go to the cafeteria first, I'm starving." They headed back towards City Centre and went up one level. Very soon they heard the clank and clatter of cafeteria trays and the chatter of a large group.

With full trays they followed Anna to an empty table and sat down. "The prices are very reasonable," said Renka, "I expected they might be higher." "We do make a small profit to cover costs," said Anna, "But save money by having you carry your own empty trays back for cleaning." "So Anna, I am curious," said Stakka, "Where did you grow up? I can't place your accent." "I'm not surprised," said Anna, "I grew up in an orphanage in Kazakhstan but have traveled widely since then. You both sound like you grew up in Los Angeles." "You're right," said Renka, "Is it far from here to our workplace?" "Not at all," said Anna, "Let's take our trays to the return window and I'll show you."

Back in their cabin after work and lunch on Wednesday, Renka said, "I want to call Anna and ask her to come visit us this afternoon, and answer some questions." "Okay," said Stakka,"I have some also." So she called Anna who was available to visit at 1500.

When Anna arrived, Renka said, "Would you like some coffee or a Red Zinger to share?" Anna laughed and said, "Yes for both. How can I help you?" "Well," said Renka, "Two of my co-workers in the laundry room said I should keep an eye out for 'Borgs'. She said they might not be human. She said when she was chatting with them in a bar, after 20 minutes of talking she felt nervous and closed the conversation. They were usually sex workers or bodyguards and she said she never felt threatened or endangered,  just that they were 'different'." Anna laughed and said, "I've heard this story before. What is causing the problem is those two classes of workers have spent two months prior to being hired in a special training program. They use advanced neuro-linguistic carrot-and-stick training methods to unlearn bad habits and pick up good ones, and this is apparently a benign side effect." "Thanks for clearing that up," said Renka, "One more item. Can staff play the slot machines and blackjack tables?" "Yes, that's perfectly alright," said Anna, "Just remember to wear your dress uniforms when you're off work in public spaces." "Don't think I'm unhappy with my job," said Stakka, "But when it's time for a break, is there a faster option to get to shore?" "Yes," said Anna, "You can pay an extra hundred creds and take a small seaplane, which gets there in 3 hours."

That night after dinner Stakka and Renka went to a small bar far away from the Tourist venue, called Two-Toed-Turtle. It was crowded with staff in public uniforms so they spotted a table with a couple and asked if they could join them. After 20 minutes of conversation Stakka asked, "Would you guys like to share a Red Zinger?" "Yes," said Robin. "Me too," said Karl. After more conversation Robin said, "That was the best Zinger I've ever smoked, where did you get them?" "They are from special seeds a friend brought from Arkon One," said Renka, "I believe they are genetic hybrids. Plus, our climate in Monterey is very good for them also." Their new friends glanced at each other and Karl said, "It is amazing the improvements you can make with genetic tinkering." "You're right," said Stakka, "A guy I know in Monterey has a little Gibbon ape that has been gifted with speech. He is really funny sometimes." As their conversation slowed down Renka said, "We have an early start tomorrow, why don't we meet here again next Wednesday, the same time?" "That's a great idea," said Robin, "We'll see you then."

On the way back to their cabin Stakka took out his Commo pod and called Dingo. "Would you guys like to share a Zinger back in our cabin in 15 minutes?" "Sure," said Dingo, "See you there."

As they all went inside Renka said, "I'm heating water for coffee if anybody wants some, help yourself." She also turned up the volume on their random noise surf sound generator to cover conversation. "I think we hit paydirt," said Stakka, "At a small employee bar we met Robin and Karl, who may be the mysterious 'Borgs'." "Fantastic!" said Tengo, "What tipped you off?" "They had a micro hesitation when replying to a question about childhood or early youth," said Renka, "But they responded enthusiastically to a comment about genetic hybrid zingers. Which reminds me, where's our Zinger, Stakka?" "Here you go," said Stakka, "We are going to meet them again next Wednesday night. So that might be a plan for you guys on Thursday, is go to a small employee bar near your cabin and snoop around, see what you catch." "We realize this exceeds our mandate," said Renka, "But I believe the reward outweighs the risk." "I agree," said Tango, "What do you think Dingo?" "I'm ready," said Dingo, "Could you write down two or three questions we could try out on. them?" "No problem," said Stakka, "Just be sure and not steer the conversation too strongly. When they mention a keyword topic, you pop up with a childhood or youth question about that, allowing them to give an easy 'yes no' answer, or expand a little bit if they choose." "One more thing I noticed," said Renka, "They drink very slowly." "Oh, before you go out tomorrow night, take the question list and cut it into little tiny pieces and flush it." said Stakka, "We don't want any evidence that looks like this is a planned thing."

And with that warning, Dingo and Tengo returned to their cabin.

CH-3.12        Babylon, First Week

Babylon, WK-1, Wednesday, 2230

On the way back to their cabin Robin said, "Oh Karl, I'm so happy." "Me too," he replied, "It's been nearly a year with no contact."

Once back in the cabin Robin tuned in some music and turned it up a little bit loud to cover their conversation. Karl asked, "Do you think they suspect something?" "It doesn't really matter," said Robin, "They are the first ones who have stayed to continue a conversation. Of course we will have to be careful." "They seem more intelligent," said Karl, "And have more worldly experience." "It's been such a long time," said Robin, "Remind me again of our plan, heh."

"First, there are 10 of us on Babylon," he said, "Who figured out through reading in the library, curiosity, and old movies, that we were created by design and not natural born."

"Second," he continued, "We don't have a specific plan right now, other than to find out why we can't sustain a long conversation with normals, heh."

Continuing, he said, "I have no desire to rule the world, have zillions of creds, or have hundreds of sex partners. Mostly, I want to be free to travel and satisfy my curiosity, with you by my side."

Babylon, WK-1, Thursday, 2330

Karl and Robin were preparing for bed when Robin got an excited call from Sophie, who said, "We need to come over for a nightcap, is that okay?" "Sure," said Robin I'll put some hot water on for coffee."

Ten minutes later Zak knocked on the door and he and Sophie came in, visibly agitated. "Calm down," said Karl, "I'll put on some calming rythm from our little machine here." "We made contact with two recent arrivals from Monterey," said Sophie. Robin and Karl looked at each other, and Robin said, " So did we. Last night in a small employee bar." "That means some organization is aware of our existence," said Karl.

"We agreed to meet them again next Thursday night," said Zak. "And we agreed to meet our contacts next Wednesday night," said Karl. He then repeated the thoughts he and Robin had discussed last night.

"There are six others on the Babylon who are aware," said Karl, "So tomorrow Zak and I will inform them and ask them to think about building our own Island or other solution for a couple days, and this Sunday afternoon we will come by for their ideas." "Then we four will meet in a noisy crowded restaurant at 2000 and discuss a plan."

Babylon, WK-2, Sunday, 2030

After the waitress seated them in a corner booth at the Rusty Rooster, Zak said, "I was surprised they all considered a small floating island as a good solution. One even suggested we get El Lobo and Boss Chako, who own Babylon, to invest as a good business venture." "Would that really be a good idea?" asked Robin. "Well, we wouldn't have to sneak around and try to keep secrets," said Karl. "Lets share our secrets with the Monterey Mob this Wednesday and Thursday," said Sophie, "And have a meeting here on Friday night."

Babylon, WK-2, Wednesday, 2010

Stakka and Renka arrived a little early at the Two-Toed-Turtle and secured a quieter corner booth. Their drinks arrived just as Karl and Robin showed up. They ordered rum and coke, with a cherry on top. "We're celebrating being together one year," said Robin. "How romantic," said Renka, "We've been together nearly 11 years." "For us this is very unusual," said Robin, "We've never been together with anyone longer than 2 weeks in our whole lives." "And after studying old books and movies in the library we think we figured out why," said Karl, "We are not normal; we are different than you guys." "We would like you and your organization to help us confirm it," said Robin, "We think we're clones." "Since Robin and I met we've always felt comfortable and attracted to each other," said Karl, "But we can tell you feel a little bit uncomfortable around us." Stakka glanced at Renka and said, "Well, this is a surprise. I bet you're wondering how we detected you." "Yes," they answered in unison. "Every time we asked about your childhood or early youth, there was a micro hesitation before your reply," said Renka. "Plus, our organization told us to be looking for clones," said Stakka.

"I'm not sure how we can help you," said Stakka, "We could take samples of your fingernail clippings and hair clippings and a buccal swab back to Monterey when we go on shore leave and have the DNA analyzed." "Our organization was set up to do climate research and promote better crop yields," said Renka, "We took on the task of looking for illegal clones at the request of a sister organization. You have no blame in this and now you have a place in society and a job, which is more than many normals." "We are concerned that whoever created you may have some sneaky plan to take over the world with an army of super clone soldiers," said Stakka, "Or something else of an evil nature."

"This is what I told Robin last night said Karl, "I have no desire to rule the world, have zillions of creds, or have hundreds of sex partners. Mostly, I want to be free to travel and satisfy my curiosity, with you by my side." "Our friends Zak and Sophie, whom your friends met, talked over possibilities with us. One idea we came up with was to get investors to help build a smaller floating island, maybe Arkon Delta, halfway between Babylon and Arkon One." "My earliest memories," said Robin, "Are waking up in an orphanage dormitory with other girls my age and going to school in a small village in Kazakhstan. After one year of general education a recruiter supplied us with passports and escorted us by bus and plane to Babylon. We've been here 5 years now. I'm not sure how we could help you find who created us." "Another puzzle piece," said Karl, "Is in casual conversations with other clone workers we have not detected any curiosity or dissatisfaction with their status quo. There are only 10 of us out of 1,000 who sense we are different."

"When we leave here why don't you update your friends and we will update ours," said Stakka, "And let them have their meeting tomorrow night and discuss what businesses could be set up on Arkon Delta to make it a financial success." "Oh, and for your safety," said Renka, "Let us open the conversation with Boss Chako about a business opportunity after we come back from shore leave."

"That's a good plan," said Karl, "Then we can meet at 2000 Sunday night at the Rusty Rooster for dinner and discuss the next steps."

Back in their cabin Stakka said, "Turn on the hot pot and break out a Red Zinger." Renka took out her Como pod, called Tengo, and said, "Can you guys come over for a nightcap?, we have a surprise."

Ten minutes later Dingo was knocking on the door. Tengo started making their coffee and said, "Could you give me a toke of that Zinger?" "So," said Dingo, "What's the surprise?" "They guessed with our long conversation and yours, that they were found out," said Stakka, "And tonight they decided to share a lot of information with us."

After relating the details of their conversation, Renka said, "So go ahead and have your meeting tomorrow night and discuss what businesses could be set up on Arkon Delta to make it a financial success."

"This is getting interesting," said Dingo, "We'll give you a call tomorrow night after the meeting."

Babylon, WK-2, Thursday, 2020

The O!-zone bar was noisy and crowded but Dingo and Tengo found a booth near the back. They ordered drinks and waited for Zak and Sophie to show up.

Ten minutes later Sophie and Zak showed up and a waiter came for their order. "Here's some thoughts and observations I pulled together that may help your team," said Sophie. "When I'm on Goldfish Bowl duty, where we strut around in bikinis behind a glass partition, I have observed that we are mostly three basic heights: 1.4 meters, 1.6, and 1.8. I probably noticed this because I'm 1.8 and there aren't many other females this tall. Also, the 1.4 meter workers tend to keep to themselves. In talking with a few of them they seem to have been mentally arrested at a ten-year-old level as well as the physical shortness. Finally, I would say 10% are 1.4 meters, 85% are 1.6, and 5% are 1.8 meters." "I'm sure that will be helpful said Dingo, as he looked up from taking notes." "Here's a business idea I thought of," said Tengo, "Create chickens and other livestock that use chloroplast to convert sunlight to energy." "I have a plant idea," said Zak, "Make avocados and other high-protein plants that grow and mature faster and tolerate cold climate."

"We've heard Arkon One is focused on anti aging and health rejuvenation for older people," said Dingo, "We could offer genetic tune-ups to boost strength, or boost reflexes, or something, and not be in competition. Our focus would be on younger people, say 20 years old or more, after they have quit growing." "Good idea," said Sophie, "Like, Take control of your OCD and ADD: This gives you Divergent and Convergent thinking for maximum creativity." "Wow," said Tengo, "You should be in marketing or advertising." "Sign me up," said Zak. "How about enhanced vision for night work," said Dingo, "Or enhanced hearing or smell for hunting."

Babylon, WK-3, Sunday, 2015

In a corner booth at Rusty Rooster the Clones and Normies planned their next steps ...

"Robin, Sophie mentioned the 1.4 meter females seemed to stop maturing about age 10," said Renka, "Was that your impression also?" "Yes," replied Robin, "Why do you ask?" "Well, said Stakka, "We heard about a snuff film online three or four years ago with a short female redhead, and wondered if you recall one going missing at that time?" "Oh my god," exclaimed Robin, "One didn't show up for work about four years ago, and we were told a rogue wave swept her overboard. Her friends missed her terribly." "This is the sort of thing we'd like to stop," said Stakka.

"Please don't share this snuff information with the others," said Renka, "It would upset them unnecessarily and possibly call attention to us." "I understand," said Robin, "Just knowing someone may help us has them smiling more than usual." "I think an informal weekly meeting with the others will help them relax," said Stakka, "Maybe you and Karl and Zak could meet with a couple of the others each week and exchange information." "Everybody could keep thinking of business possibilities," said Renka, "It would keep them focused on something external and positive." "That's a good idea," said Karl, "I'll fix up a little schedule." "One thing I keep forgetting to ask," said Stakka, "Is how many normals are working in your trade groups?" "When I got here," said Karl, "The bodyguards had a high turn over but after 6 months they were all clones." "Sex workers are the same," said Robin, "After about one year there were only clones left and we have nowhere to go back to." "So that is another business reason for clones," said Stakka, "Let's meet again here next Sunday, if that's okay." "Good idea," said Robin, "We'll see you then. Bye."

When they got back in their cabin Renka said, "Let's call Tengo and Dingo and plan for the next two weeks." "That sounds good said Stakka, "I'll put on some water for coffee and find a Red Zinger."

Fifteen minutes later Dingo was knocking on their door. "Come on in," said Stakka, "We've got coffee and zinger for a planning meeting."

"Since we had good luck finding our clones so quick," said Stakka, "The next two weeks we'll have to spend role playing and not get caught." "That may be difficult," said Renka, "Now that we found the clones we'll be relaxed a little bit." "We can manage," said Tengo, "What did you find out from Karl and Robin?" "After hearing their update Dingo said, "That reminds me of what I read about slavery long ago in history." "It is," said Stakka, "Except for the snuff incident, these clones are being treated better." "But they have no legal rights," said Renka, "And we don't know about other venues where they've been sold." "How do we find the other venues?" asked Tengo. "And how do we find the manufacturing group?" asked Dingo. "And what about rights" said Stakka, "They are something that are controlled by the location you are in. For example, in Boss Chako's domain, his rights are the ones getting enforced. However, in El Lobo's domain, the rights maybe slightly different. Right here we have Babylon's rights. On Arkon One we have their rights; on Shanghai or some Continental Asian country we have their rights." "They may be broadly similar," said Tengo, "But the differences can be important to some groups." "So with no precedent for clones," said Renka, "Each domain may come up with a different policy." "As we see on the news, there are a number of places on the globe where Warlords are in charge and policies change suddenly," said Dingo, "Some allow slavery and some don't." "That will always be a problem," said Stakka, "But it highlights slavery is a modern problem, not just historical." "Actually indentured servitude between consenting adults has been legal since about 1850," said Renka, "Just think about corporate wage slaves, heh."

"It's getting late and we have lots to think about," said Tengo "We'll meet you here next week."

Babylon, WK-3, Wednesday, 2015

Stakka, Renka, Karl, and Robin meet at a corner booth in the Two-Toed-Turtle. "As part of our plan to keep free time from getting tense, we would like to have everyone walk around the low-cost tourist areas and observe how the tourist act," said Renka, "Do they walk hand-in-hand. Do they laugh and joke a lot. Do they stop and stare at objects." "This would be like studying tourists so we could act like one believably in a stage play," said Stakka, "And maybe even when we buy a ticket and get on a seaplane to Monterey, heh." "That sounds like a fun assignment," said Robin, "So for 2 hours on 3 different days, maybe in a different sector, everybody practice being a tourist." "Also, at least twice during the next two weeks, go by the sea plane incoming and exit terminal," said Renka, "And observe how they do things without being obvious or getting too close to the exit door, which could make the guard nervous and call attention. Look at what the tourist are carrying back home. Do they have a little suitcase or a backpack or what."

"Our Zinger supply is getting low," said Stakka, "Do you guys have a preferred ganja shop on Babylon?" "Yeah, we have two shops, replied Karl, "Ganja Goodies, which is mostly edibles, and Sativa Diva, which is mostly different brands of smokes. That's the one we go to." "Could we go by there after dinner?" asked Renka. "Sure," replied Robin, "It's on our way."

At the Sativa Diva Renka bought two packs of Red Rockets and one pack of Blu Rockets. "Come look," said Stakka, "Green Rockets. They are 50/50 Sativa- Indica with a nice mint flavor." "Go ahead and get six packs," said Renka, "We may not have another chance."

Babylon, WK-3, Thursday, 2015

Dingo, Tengo, Zak, and Sophie met again at the O!-zone. After ordering drinks Sophie said, "We are having a lot of fun playing tourist. Our biggest problem is walking a little bit slow and casual, not going in a hurry like to some specific place." "Something I never noticed before," said Zak, "Is there are a number of tour groups moving through Babylon. They are usually small, maybe 5 to 8 people plus one leader."

"The tour groups might be a good cover," said Tengo, "Did you notice anything else about them? Do they all have the same shirt color or a lightweight jacket with a logo on the back?" "Actually, we saw both kinds of group ID," said Sophie. "That's great," said Dingo, "We could have two small tour groups and charter a seaplane to Monterey sometime in the near future."

Babylon, WK-4, Sunday, 2015

In a corner booth at Rusty Rooster the Clones and Normies planned their next steps ...

"Next Sunday about 0600 we'll be boarding a seaplane for Monterey," said Stakka, "The tourist study groups are looking good, so if you want to slow them down or stop, it should be okay." "Okay," agreed Karl, "But they are having fun anyway, so we'll keep doing that once per week." "If something unusual comes up and we need to leave in a hurry, I have a plan," said Robin. "It's always good to plan ahead," said Renka, "What did you have in mind?" "First we get 5 blue tour group jackets and 5 green jackets made at a cheap tailor shop away from the tourist area," said Robin, "Then we book tickets or charter a seaplane to take us to Monterey." "That would work," said Stakka, "But don't even order the jackets until the emergency comes up so there's no warning." "Have you ever tried the Green Rockets?" asked Renka, "I brought one. There are 63 main terpenes and over 100 secondary ones. Depending on the ratios, they have different effects on the body. These Green ones seem to have a mild awakening alert effect but not too strong a buzz compared to the Reds." "Lets try it," said Karl. "I like it," said Robin, "It's very smooth."

"We shouldr be back a week from this Sunday," said Stakka, "Why don't we plan on having dinner here about 2000 that night?" "Okay," said Karl. "Have a good flight," said Robin.

Saturday midnight ended their first four week tour. Sunday 0615 they take an early seaplane flight to Monterey.

NB- Expect post 1st and 15th of month

 X

Chapter 2

 CH-2.07     Spot the Intruder

ARKON STAR launched just after sundown 27 January 2025. After a 2-week Shakedown Cruise it started southeast towards Arkon One at 5 kph. For evasive maneuvers they could exceed 50 kph for 45 minutes. As they got in range, Captain Jenkins of the Arkon Star sent a coded message to Arkon One, Commodor Kaiser, on Saturday. The plain text read as follows:

Greetings Commodor Kaiser. This next week we plan to test your radar and visual detection capabilities as well as our stealth features. Just before dawn we will cruise at 3 kph into visual range of your Crow's Nest which is 70 m above the sea, giving a horizon at 30 km. If one of them spots us do not react but let the fantail Lookouts have a shot at catching us since they are 40 meters above the sea, giving a horizon at 20 km. We will be on a zigzag course. If they do not spot us by sundown on the first day we will hold position and resume slowly zigzagging our approach the next day. Good Luck!

With a wave piercing bow design Arkon Star made little ripple as it cut the sea. Folds in the hull and carbon paint made the radar image almost zero. Waves painted on the hull made the optical image difficult to see also. The diesels were on very heavy duty vibration isolation mounts and the exhaust was cooled and dispersed through five different exhaust stacks topside.

              ...
                         ...

               Tuesday, 0900, Arkon One

"Bridge, Crows Nest. Have intermittant visual contact, unknown object, relative bearing 285 degrees, range 25 km just below horizon." " Bridge Aye. Continue scan 360. Will alert radar plot for confirmation." "Crow's Nest Aye Aye."

"Radar, Bridge. Do you have any Target at that location?" "Radar, negative. Sea clutter is heavier, but no target signal." "Bridge Aye."

                  ...
                               ...

           Tuesday, 1400, Arkon One

"Bridge, Fantail Lookout, module F. Have intermittant visual contact, unknown object, relative bearing 275 degrees, range 10 km, midway to horizon." " Bridge Aye. Continue scan 360. Will alert radar plot for confirmation." "Fantail Aye Aye."

                 ...
                               ...

By 1700 hrs a strange vessel was clearly visible as it turned south and approached its mooring slot in reverse. Captain Jenkins liked to be ready to leave suddenly when necessary.

        Tuesday, 1730, Arkon Star

As the stern winches eased them into the berthing slot and the fenders compressed slightly, Stakka called out, "Now anchored. Secure the stern winches." Renka, his partner on the sea detail, called out, "Deploy the Stern gangplank." She enjoyed the sea detail because it gave her first look at a new Port.

           Tuesday, 1800, Arkon Star

ATTENTION  ALL  HANDS - NOW  HEAR  THIS -  LIBERTY  CALL  20.00  HOURS -  CINDERELLA  LIBERTY,  BACK  ON  BOARD  BY  MIDNIGHT.

"Hey Renka how about Liberty tonight," said Stakka, "Some beer, pizza, and shopping sound good?" "Sounds great," said Renka, "Let me call Nobi and Loki."

"They're good to go," said Renka, "we'll meet on the Quarterdeck at 2030. Nobi was worried about the currency but I explained to her we use the same as Arkon One. Five creds equal one hour unskilled labor. "

As they headed toward City Center Loki said, "Wow, this is just like downtown." "Except it's quieter and no cars," said Stakka. "I see Tony's Pizza up  ahead on the right," said Renka, " Let's go, I'm starving." "There's a Smokie Dokie shop just on the left I want to visit first," said Nobi.

At the pot shop she bought a 5- pack of Red Zinger cigarettes that were 70% sativa and a handful of little seed packs, some were red, others blue, about 5 centimeters long and 6 mm diameter.

Entering Tony's Pizza, the hostess took them to a quiet booth in the back corner. After they ordered and while waiting for the beer, Nobi shared one of her Red Zingers to help relax for the evening. Each booth had a plexiglass canopy with a quiet exhaust for smokers benefit.

After finishing the pizza and ordering another round of craft beer, Stakka asked, "Has anybody heard the rumor that we're really going to be looking for  sunken treasure?" "Well, we do have a four-man deep sub capable of 6000 meter depth, and a high-resolution sonar," said Loki, "but I think we're actually going to do ocean, atmosphere, climate research." "That is not going to take up all of our time," said Nobi, "I think there is another mission that has not been declared." "I agree with Nobi," said Renka, "We have all these stealth features and that would make us ideal as a spy ship or pirate hunter- killer ship, or ... we might even be the pirate." "I think the spy ship concept works," said Stakka, "We're cruising up and down the west coast of North America and there is very little news coming out of America these days." "Yeah, ever since 2020, when their last humanitarian intervention in the Congo failed to bring democracy and Burger King to the people, they haven't been in the headlines or the 6 o'clock news," said Loki. "I heard the Russian cargo clipper ships have a little office in every major port city up and down the coast," said Renka, "but if they're spying they're not publishing anything.""I am sure it is a very expensive business," said Nobi, "and they're probably selling the information to other governments." "So how would we compete with them?," asked Loki, " They've been in the business a few years now." "Well," said Stakka, "we could offer some different information or perhaps some other feature."

As they cleared their tab to head back to the ship, Stakka asked Nobi, "Could you share one of your Red Zingers with me? Renka and I have some Kundalini Yoga to practice before sleeping, heh."

    Wednesday, 0900, Arkon Star

ATTENTION ALL  HANDS - NOW  HEAR  THIS-

  WE   WILL  BE  TAKING  ON  MORE  CREW  MEMBERS  FROM  ARKON  ONE AS  WELL  AS  ANOTHERHERD  OF  PIGS  AND  ANOTHER FLOCK  OF  CHICKENS -
SO  IF  YOU  SEE  SOMEONE  THAT  LOOKS  LOST,
SHOW  THEM  THE  WAY.

With the extra pigs and chickens Arkon Star would be self- sufficient in animal protein but would still have to make calls to port for fresh and dried vegetables. The cargo hatches were waterproof doors 4 by 10 m, just aft of midships and 2 meters above the water. The big gangplanks extended out hydraulically from Arkon One and had 2 meter high side walls to prevent things falling in the water.

     Wednesday, 1600, Arkon Star

ATTENTION  ALL  HANDS - NOW HEAR  THIS -  LIBERTY  CALL  17.00  HOURS -  CINDERELLA  LIBERTY,  BACK  ON  BOARD  BY  MIDNIGHT.

At 1830 Renka's como pod buzzed. It was Nobi, "Do you guys want to go for beer and pizza again tonight?" Stakka heard the exchange and said, "Yes, let's meet on the Quarterdeck at 1930."

As they were walking toward Tony's Pizza Renka said, "I want to pay a visit to Smokie Dokie first." At the pot shop she bought a 5- pack of Red Zinger cigarettes that were 70% sativa, a 5- pack of Blu Zinger cigarettes that were 60% indica, and a handful of little seed packs. Nobi also bought two 5- packs of Red Zingers.

Entering Tony's Pizza, the hostess took them to a quiet booth in the back corner. After they ordered and while waiting for the beer, Renka shared one of her Red Zingers, saying, "Last night while Nobi was checking out at Smokie Dokie I read a brochure on the little seed packs. They've been genetically engineered. The Red Zingers have 50% more THC, are 70% sativa strain, tasting and smelling like blueberries. The Blue Zingers also have 25% more THC and 50% more CBD and are 60% Indica strain tasting and smelling like vanilla. The little tubes have 10 seeds each and are back filled with nitrogen, so they will stay fresh and viable for at least a hundred years. These could be seeds for a start-up shore based business, hmmm." "The product from Arkon Star grow room is not bad," said Nobi, "but you have to process it by hand. Ready rolled is so nice."

After finishing the pizza and ordering another round of craft beer, Loki asked, "Has anybody seen our new livestock? We now have three different breeds of pigs and three different breeds of chicken. That should make them more resilient to any viruses we might come in contact with." "Arkon One also sent volunteers for each group to man them for three shifts this next year," said Renka. "They also sent extra staff with sniper and small arms skills," said Loki. "I think Captain Jenkins is holding out on us," said Stakka, "Mabe we are going to hunt pirates while we count clouds, heh." "I don't know about you guys, but Loki and I have some Kundalini Yoga to practice before sleeping, heh." "And tomorrow morning we get underway," said Renka.

      Thursday, 0900, Arkon Star

ATTENTION  ALL  HANDS - NOW  HEAR  THIS -

SET THE SEA AND ANCHOR DETAIL - CAST OFF ALL LINES AND PREPARE TO GET UNDERWAY.

Their plan was to cruise Northeast until they got to 170 degrees west then turn north and proceed until they hit sea ice. They would log that point and the density and then proceed further north until they got to 49 degrees north latitude and turn East heading towards Vancouver. In Vancouver they would rendezvous with Captain Kuznet of the Vladivostok Cargo Clipper named 'Joy- Luck 8'.

After cruising North 5 kph for 25 days they turned East and 16 days later were approaching Vancouver.

      Wednesday, 2100, Arkon Star

Two days after turning east, Captain Jenkins invited our usual suspects to his quarters for a private interview after dinner.

"It has come to my attention that you four are the only ones who suspect our mission might not be only about climate. You are correct. What I am about to tell you is top secret. If I hear any word of this among the crew you will be marooned on a desert island," said Captain Jenkins with a scowl.

"We understand and agree sir," they said in unison.

"Very good," said Captain Jenkins, "be at ease now, this will be informal. The four of you were chosen because you have some unique skills that will help you blend in to a low-tech Seaside community.

"You have all spent 1 year or more in the rougher parts of San Fran or LA- Dago. You all have better-than-average small arms skill and minimum passing skills at hand to hand combat. You have spent one or two summers working on a farm. You are all sociable and outgoing," Captain Jenkins enumerated.

"The mission I am going to describe, you will have 7 days to consider before your answer," said Captain Jenkins. "While you are on this mission you will receive 50% hazardous duty pay saved in a bank account in your name on Arkon One." "Your mission will take place in San Fran and you will be paid your regular salary in San Fran creds. That currency is good for 300 km around San Fran and the exchange rate is one to one for our cred. The city is run by a benevolent dictator, named Chako, who maintains Law & Order, such as it is, for a stable economy. He is 47 years old, has a large family, has no surviving enemies, is in good health, and expected to live at least 20 more years.

"First, you will set up a primitive weather forecasting station with hardware we provide. This will give cover and possibly a small income. Second, you will survey the small farmers in the Central Valley and see how sophisticated their crop growing skills are. Arkon One and the Russian cargo clipper business are interested in long-term availability of certain crops, such as soybeans, tobacco, sorghum, and one or two others," said Captain Jenkins. "For the last 2 years the Russians say the crops available at the San Fran Marketplace have been sporadic and highly variable in quality. The LA- Dago Market is the same story. That brings us to the third part of your mission," said Captain Jenkins. "Depending on what you find with the farmers, you will nudge one of them into setting up a primitive Co-op to help them improve yield and crop rotation policies among themselves. You could even guarantee they will make some minimum profit from the Russian buyers if they follow your crop rotation directions and products planted."

"This is a lot to take in all at once," said Captain Jenkins, "What I would like you to do is in the evening find a table on the fantail food court away from the others and have a beer and discuss this amongst yourselves. In three days I will invite you back about this same time for a question-and-answer session. You will not have to make a decision for another 7 days after that," he concluded.

Stakka stood up and said for all of them, "Thank you for this opportunity Captain Jenkins. See you in 3 days, Sir." They left and headed immediately for the fantail food court.

They took their craft beer and snacks to a table on the edge with no one close to them. Loki opened the discussion by saying, "Wow! this is really exciting. I think one of our questions should be, 'Can we run a small grow business on the side if it doesn't interfere with our regular mission?" "I would agree," said Renka, "What do the rest of you think?" "Yeah." "OK."

"Here's a question that may be a little tricky," said Nobi, "We will probably have to work with the Chaco organization as we get bigger setting up a co-op. Will this be okay?" "That's a good one," said Stakka.

"Here's another tricky one," said Stakka, "How close are we supposed to coordinate with the Russian Outpost?"

"How about this one," said Renka, "Can we get a monthly care package of hard to get things, like vitamins, antibiotics, genetically modified super soy seeds, mabe 9mm ammo?" "good one" "yeah"

After another hour of back and forth chat they didn't come up with any more questions. They unanimously chose Stakka to contact the captain and say they were ready tomorrow morning. He left a note under the captain's door.

      Thursday, 2100, Arkon Star

When they were all gathered in the captain's cabin he said, "Well that was quick." "We read a lot of spy novels in our misspent youth," said Nobi.

Stakka related their questions to Captain Jenkins, who addressed them one by one.

"There will be no problem running a small ganja grow. It might even give you a good introduction to the Chako organization.

"You will probably be contacted by some representative from Chako on the co-op project. He is going to want a cut of the action. If his representative says he wants 10%, make a counter offer of 7%, and try to settle on 8%. Do not try to get the best of him and haggle too long."

"As for coordinating with the Russians in their shipping office, there will be no problem sharing plans and ideas. Sergei and Natasha have been there three years and have good local contacts. They are only a few years older than you guys. The Russians want this project to succeed as much as we do. Everybody will benefit, even the landlubbers, heh."

"A monthly care package of vitamins and antibiotics and other hard to get items is a good idea. Just give a list to Natasha and she will have it sent by one of their cargo Clippers."

Stakka said, "There's no need to wait another 7 days captain; we're all good to go, Sir."

"Very well," said Captain Jenkins, "Here's what will happen: in the next two days you will receive a small backpack that looks scruffy on the outside but is very well made. Put a few personal items you would like to take with you and maybe a few undergarments; local clothes and jackets will be provided by the Russians. When we anchor in Vancouver, the first night we will send you guys in a row boat to the Vladivostok Cargo Clipper named 'Joy- Luck 8'. Captain Kuznet will introduce you to his team coordinating events with the shore station. They will provide you with street worn clothes and boots so you fit in from day one."

"Thank you for this opportunity Captain Jenkins," they said in unison. "Goodbye and good luck," he replied.

    Tuesday, 0900, Arkon Star

ATTENTION  ALL  HANDS -  NOW  HEAR  THIS -

SET THE SEA AND ANCHOR DETAIL -
APPROACHING VANCOUVER HARBOUR.

CH-2.08    Vostok Cargo Team

Stakka read the captain's note out loud to his three teammates gathered in his cabin after dinner. It said, "Meet me at the forward Smugglers hatch at 2030 hrs. tonight. Myself and the bosun's mate will escort you to Joy Luck 8."

Fortunately the bay was calm tonight and they had no trouble navigating the 500 meters to the Joy Luck 8. In silhouette from the pier lights it was awesome, nearly 400 meters long and 30 meters high, it was a 4 masted steel hull clipper ship from the past. When they were 50 meters away, they stopped and Captain Jenkins took a small flashlight and made 3 one second bursts 3 seconds apart. A darker spot appeared on the hull and two single flashes were returned. They approached and climbed up a short rope ladder to the interior and turned to wave goodbye to Captain Jenkins who said, "Good luck!"

When the hatch was closed a dim red light came on and a voice from the darkness said, "My name is Alexis. Welcome aboard. This is my assistant Tanya. We will show you to your quarters and the toilet facilities. When reveille sounds at 0600 in the morning, we will show you to the mess deck and after that we will have an orientation with Captain Kuznet."

"Thank you for the introduction," said Stakka, "My name is Stakka and this is my friend Renka. And over here we have Loki and Nobi. Lead on to the bunks and we will follow."

       Wednesday, 0600, Joy-Luck-8

ATTENTION  ALL HANDS -  NOW  HEAR  THIS -  0600 HOURS -  REVEILLE,   REVEILLE -   ALL  HANDS LAY   BELOW   TO   THE.  MESS   DECK FOR   BREAKFAST

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door to their four bunk cabin. Alexis said, "It was dark last night and I'm here to show you again to the toilets." Stakka open the door and said, "Thanks, okay team, grab your toothbrushes and let's go."

When they returned Tanya was waiting for them. She said, "Okay, if you're hungry follow me and I'll show you to the mess deck and the procedure for getting food. It is very similar to a cafeteria."

After breakfast Tanya said, "I will show you to the captain's secure conference room and we will begin our brief orientation." As they entered the room Alexis said, "There is coffee on the Side Bar and if you wish to smoke, sit in the back under the exhaust canopy. The captain will be here in 20 minutes."

"This is cool," said Loki, "Does anybody have a Red Zinger to share?" "I got one," said Renka, "We can have one Toke each with our coffee and save the rest for lunch." Tanya and Alexis each pulled out a little wooden pipe and said, "Do you mind if we join you?" Alexis pulled a little pinch of cannabis tobacco blend from a pouch and stuffed it in his pipe. He passed the pouch to Tanya who fixed her pipe. "Is this okay on your ship?," asked Stakka, "It seems more disciplined than our ship." "The captain does not mind, if we are not doing critical or dangerous work and do not relax to excess," said Tanya.

ATTENTION  ALL HANDS -  NOW  HEAR  THIS -  0800 HOURS -  MUSTER ON STATION AND CONTINUE SHIPS WORK - STEVEDORE WORK CREW MUSTER ON THE FORWARD LOADING HATCH

It was shortly after this that Captain Kuznet entered the room and said, "Good morning team, welcome aboard." They all swiftly stood up and replied, "Good morning captain." He said, "At ease. This will be an informal meeting."

"We are happy to have you join us in this operation. Captain Jenkins speaks highly of you. The first part of the orientation I will just ramble on a bit and then you may ask some questions."

"The main problem we are working on is the global food supply: it is becoming more erratic and unreliable. Whether this is due specifically to the cooling trend we have experienced since 2008, which has gotten much colder since 2021, or soil depletion, salinization or lack of farmers with good agricultural skills, or some other cause, we have to address the issue. We have been running the shipping office in San Fran for two and a half years now. In the early days we would send a two-person team to the interior of Central Valley to discover some reasons for the poor quality product coming to Market. After the first two teams failed to return, we stopped. Then we sent in a trusted local team and they came back with the farmers excuses. The excuses didn't match what little we know from textbook agricultural knowledge so we're assuming the farmers are not well educated in their field of business. They are simply trying to stay alive any way they can. Our local team also said there are gangs in the Central Valley that prey on foreigners from east or west that fall into their traps. So this is what happened to our first two teams.

"Generally what we have been doing is picking up frozen and dried vegetable and animal products from San Fran and taking them to the next port where they may or may not sell. Usually goods that don't sell on the American coast will sell on the West Pac Asian coast. There we pick up low-cost electrical and mechanical products for sale in America. Things that can easily be repaired locally. In itself this is not a high profit business, but it does provide a convenient cover for research into the interior status of North America."

"Thank you for that background Captain Kuznet," said Stakka, "I think our mandate from Captain Jenkins covers most of your issues. I will just outline it briefly."

"We will set up a small weather forecasting station that will provide cover for some other activities. After the weather forecasting is operational we will start a small local ganja grow. This will give us the opportunity to get acquainted with the Boss Chako organization. We will survey the small farmers in the Central Valley 150 km north and south from Sacto and see how sophisticated their crop growing skills are. We plan for a co-op office a hundred kilometers north of Sacto and another one 100 kilometers south for easy access by farmers all over the valley."

"Depending on what we find with the farmers, we will nudge one of them into setting up a primitive Co-op to help them improve yield and crop rotation policies among themselves. We might even guarantee they will make some minimum profit from the Russian buyers if they follow the Co-Op crop rotation directions and products planted. We will try to source genetically modified super soy seeds and other safe GMO's."

"We will probably be contacted by some representative from Boss Chako on the co-op project. He is going to want a cut of the action, and we are prepared for this."

"As for coordinating with your shipping office in San Fran, there will be no problem sharing plans and ideas. We will be glad for Sergei and Natasha's advice and experience."

"That does cover everything," said Captain Kuznet. I will leave you with Tanya and Alexis who will show you how to prepare for passing as longtime locals on the San Fran streets."

On the way back to their cabin Alexis stoped at some lockers and picked up two duffle bags. Inside their cabin with the door closed he opened the bags and a terrible smell filled the room. Tanya turned on the exhaust vents with a laugh saying, "This is how Street people smell in San Fran. They are no longer homeless because of all the empty buildings but now they are waterless. Water is very expensive and mostly used for drinking and not bathing." "Even office people seldom take a full shower," said Alexis, "They usually just use a washcloth and soap when they need to. Instead of expensive deodorant they use a swab of alcohol to kill germs and reduce body odor."

Tanya produced 8 shirts from one of the duffle bags, saying, "These should do for several weeks. They have been washed and the patches are fresh. We got them at the weekend Market where we do most of our shopping." Alexis pulled out 4 pairs of heavy-duty looking Levi's. He explained, "The bottom cuffs had a light spray of dog piss which will  fade in coming weeks. People seldom wash their Levi's so they're always a little stiff and these have special Kevlar fibers embedded to provide some protection from projectiles and dull knives. Here are the matching jackets with Kevlar and no smell."

"Next on the menu," said Tanya, "are pre- scuffed used boots. And for dessert we have these hooded full length rain and wind proof capes, with a very light whiff of dog along the bottom. They have special lightweight insulation that is better than normal, and only come in shades of black. The little tears and patches on the outside are fake. Everybody wears these to and from work or whenever they're outside because the weather is usually cool, cold, damp, or raining and windy."

"You might try on your shirts and boots for lunch, but save the pants for tonight," said Alexis, "After lunch we will meet back here and go over some maps and office details."

At lunch break Renka asked Tanya, "Why did you say the Kevlar will protect from a dull knife?" "Well, most street muggers count on waving their knife around to scare people," said Tanya, "And they seldom prepare by sharpening them. If one should use a prehistoric skinning knife with obsidian chips you're out of luck. They would cut all the way through to the bone."

After lunch, back in the cabin, Alexis produced a map that showed San Fran, the bay, the bridges, and Richmond and Oakland across the bay. "This is where our office is, just behind the San Fran piers, he pointed out, and we will go there after dinner tonight when it's dark. We will spend the night there and in the morning Jake, your office manager, will take you across the bridge to the weather station office, here, close to the i80 expressway. We set up the weather station office several weeks ago and it has been opened daily by Jake, who lives closeby, and will be your office manager. There have also been 4 friends of his coming and going in their capes every two or three days, waiting for you to show up and take their place. So anyone observing will not notice a big change in what's going on on that street."

"We we appreciate all your effort," said Stakka, "But isn't this just a little over the top?" "Not really," said Tanya, "pattern changes in activity on the street call attention and inquiries which we don't want. Curiosity put us at the top of the food chain a million years ago and it is still active." "We even have you a room each on either side of the office manager in his apartment complex, where his friends live." "It is a little above basic requirements but the office will reimburse you for the rent," said Alexis.

"Not to change the subject," said Loki, "but do we have time for a quick toke before dinner?" Renka laughed and said, "There's enough Red Zinger left for us and Alexis and Tanya if they would like." "Alexis smiled at Tanya and she said, "Yes, we like very much."

ATTENTION  ALL HANDS -  NOW  HEAR  THIS -  0500 HOURS -  ALL HANDS STOP SHIPS WORK AND LAY BELOW TO THE MESS DECK FOR DINNER

After dinner they changed into their new- old Levi's and checked the room for anything forgotten. They then followed Tanya and Alexis on to the pier with the outgoing stream of ship's personnel going on Liberty.

The Vostok Cargo freight office was located two streets away from the waterfront piers where the ships came in to load and unload cargo. As they approached, they saw a lit sign saying Vostok Cargo, open. Alexis approached the door and pushed the button. There was a click from the magnetic latch being released and they went inside.

A short skinny guy with black hair in a ponytail and a big smile greeted them, "Hi, my name is Jake. I'm your new office manager in Richmond, and this is Sergei and Natasha who manage the office here." "Happy to meet you," said Stakka, "I am Stakka and this is my friend Renka, and over here is Loki and Nobi."

Sergei said, "Let's turn the light out in the front office and go back to the conference room in the rear." "You will notice all the offices have little red LED Night Lights," said Natasha, "and here's the toilet on the right. The conference room is just ahead on the left, with a fresh pot of coffee."

As they seated themselves around the table with their coffee Loki asked Sergei, "Do you know what goes really good with a fresh cup of coffee?" "No, what," said Sergei. "One of these little Blu Zingers," said Loki, pulling out his packet. Everybody laughed at this and Renka explained, "These are genetically improved and have a higher CBD than usual so they will be good for relaxing and early sleeping." "The Red Zingers we had before dinner were really something special," said Tanya. "We have a small number of these seeds to start a little ganja grow after the Weather Watch office gets up and running," said Nobi.

As the conversation slowed down Renka said, "We'd like to share some seeds with you guys so you remember us." She gave little red and blue tubes to Tanya and Alexis, also Natasha and Sergei, and a couple to Jake as well. The meeting broke up and they went to separate little offices to sleep.

Arkon   CH-2.09       SanFran Weather Watch

Thursday, 0800, SanFran Vostok Office

The sound of doors opening and closing woke everyone to the smell of fresh coffee. They gathered in the conference room and were enjoying the coffee when a staff member brought in a tray of scrambled egg bacon sandwiches on toast.

"Here is our plan for this morning," said Natasha, "We will pass out weapons after breakfast, then two by two we will leave five minutes apart and walk a few blocks to one of the pickup points for a rent-a-van ride over the bridge and get out close to the weather watch office on the other side."

"Here are your 9 mm compact pistols and shoulder holsters," said Sergei. "And here are your 8-inch boot knives with clip on scabbard and 10 in belt knives with belt scabbard," said Natasha, "Please do not leave these stuck in a body somewhere; they are very expensive Hand Forged Dragonslayer Steel and harder than a samurai sword. So they will cut through Kevlar. They will hold an edge for a very long time. We got them from the University Metallurgy lab."

"Do we need permits for the pistol," asked Nobi. "No, Boss Chako believes everyone should be armed because it cuts down on crime," said Sergei, "You can even buy a handmade single shot pistol for a few creds. So you assume at least 75% of the population has some kind of weapon hidden on them."

"If you know someone who can grow the seeds we gave you, tell them they are special genetic hybrids," said Renka, They should take care to avoid cross-pollination."

Just after 0900, Stakka's team, paired with the locals, filtered out two by two. By 0930 they had assembled on the North Bridge Street curb where there were three old vans parked waiting. The first one had six passengers and was waiting for 10 before it left. Sergei negotiated with the second van driver to go early if he bought 10 tickets. The driver agreed and they piled in and left.

While crossing the bridge Natasha instructed the driver take us all the way to the 3rd overpass please. She explained to the rest of them that the first overpass was a 3-cred ticket, the 2nd overpass a 4-cred ticket, the third overpass a 5-cred ticket. Under each overpass was a collection of hire vans and motorcycle taxis that you could engage to take you to different parts of Richmond or Oakland.

When they got out under the 3rd overpass they zigzagged a few streets North to the one where the weather watch office was. Once inside they met Jake's partner Karen. She said, "I have some lunch snacks in the conference room in back and some hot tea to warm you up."

After lunch their escort went back to the van pickup point and returned to the San Fran Vostok Cargo Office.

Jake was explaining the office layout saying, "Karen and I will man the front office, Stakka and Renka will take this office on the right, and Loki and Nobi will have the office just across the hall. The next room down is bigger and empty right now and is where we will put the weather watch equipment. It was delivered late yesterday and is in the room across the hall. In the back, of course, we have the large conference room with the emergency exit and a stair to the roof. We have made arrangements with the landlord to use the roof above the 5th floor for mounting any equipment we need plus we have room for some garden and enclosed grow space."

Stakka said,"Why don't Loki and Nobi inventory the equipment, and Renka and I will bring a folding table from the conference room to the equipment room."

A couple hours later Jay came in and said, "It's getting dark outside early, why don't we close up and head for the apartment."

They went out and down the street one block before making a left for a block and then a right at the next intersection. Along the way they saw a couple of push carts serving barbecued bushmeat and a couple of Walking Vendors with trays, cigarettes for sale one by one and little bottles of clean water, doobies, fruit, and jerky strips. The streets were relatively clean compared to San Fran, which were a little trashy in places.

"That's our apartment up ahead," said Jake, "It's called The Oasis." "The first floor is a collection of individual businesses, and the residences are on the 2nd through the 5th floor. The 6th floor is sealed off as a buffer from the 7th through the 10th floors which are open to homeless squatters. The inside stairs go only to the 5th floor while the outside stairs only go to the 7th through 10th floors. So there is some security there. The mini mall on the first floor is mostly recycled goods like clothes, tools, cell phones, and valuable junk. There are three or four shops with fresh bagels, barbecue, and fresh daily sandwiches."

Once inside Jake's room, 207, Karen said, "Leave your capes on the hooks by the door here and Jake will make some coffee while I check to see if your rooms are ready." The rooms were laid out like a large all-in-one efficiency apartment. In the back was a kitchen counter, a small table with 4 chairs, and a small bathroom. The front area was a fold-up bed, a sofa, and a coffee table.

As Jake made the coffee he explained, "We have low pressure running water and 220 volt 50 cycle current. Both are metered in the hallway. Occasionally they will both go out for a half a day while some repair gets made. So we have a two and a half gallon plastic container of clean water for emergency." Jake put the water on to boil in a little electric hot pot and showed them the cups and instant coffee, cream, and sugar so they could fix it how they like. He made a cup for himself and one for Karen.

They had only taken a few sips when Karen showed up and said, "Your rooms are ready. I told our friends yesterday to clean them up by lunch today and they've done a good job. So Stakka and Renka get 205 and Loki and nobe get 209." "Hey, that calls for a celebration," said Loki, "Who wants to share a Blu Zinger?" They all laughed and said, "Do it."

Jake showed them to their rooms to put their gear away and said, "At 8 we'll take you downstairs for a light dinner in our favorite soup and sandwich shop."

After they ordered their vegetable pork soup and curry chicken sandwiches with lettuce and tomato, Stakka asked, "Do you hear any news from Chicago?" "Not for six or seven years said Jake. We used to get a train once a week, then once a month, then once a quarter, and then nothing." "Three years ago a team went on a little powered hand cart," said Karen, "And reported back that all the little villages and towns along the way, and even Chicago, seemed deserted. Then two years ago a little convoy of 3 small carts went to conduct Salvage, but only one came back a month later, and said they had been ambushed by a large band of armed robbers in the desert."

"The food is quite delicious," said Nobi, how do they get it so fresh?" "The pork and chicken products come from Farmer Brown's Building, about 3 km away, sometimes called Downtown Brown," said Jake, "The 6th floor is the isolation from the paying residents, then the 7th floor is for chilling and butchering hogs and chickens, and the methane digester to convert scraps and shit into gas for a small generator. The 8th floor is slaughtering and Tanning. The 9th and 10th and 11th floors are for fattening up the Hogs. The 12th floor is the sow's for breeding piglets. The thirteenth and Fourteenth and Fifteenth floors are for growing the chickens to fryer size. The 16th floor and 17th is for the layer hens, the 18th floor is for breeding and raising the chicks. There's another Downtown Brown about 15 kilometers away. What happens is they collect all the food scraps in a 7 km radius and use that to feed their stock."  Karen added, "The lettuce and tomato come from rooftop gardens and some hydroponic operations."

A little after 0930 Stakka's team thanked them for the food and they all went up to their rooms.


CH-2.10 Setting Up Weather Watch


Friday, 0600, Oasis Apts, Richmond

When the alarm went off, Stakka woke with a start. The tension from the goal of getting some place had worn off and they all slept deeply. He had to sit up and stretch to turn it off. It was a noisy mechanical Beast. He looked back at Renka who had one eye open and said, "Come on lazy bones, breakfast awaits."

They all met at The Breakfast Club in the mini mall and had bacon egg sandwiches and coffee. "Most businesses operate Monday through Saturday noon," said Karen, "And we do the same even though we don't interact with the public." "Saturday after lunch we'll take you to our favorite weekend market," said Jake, "It's set up in a huge parking lot with an abandoned Mall having spaces for rent."

By 0700 they had finished and started out to the office. Once outside they fasten their cloaks against the chill of the light fog and started walking. Loki asked, "Do the pushcart vendors have a guild to assign street corners to each one for their location?" "I think it must be part of Boss Chaco's plan," said Karen, "I heard there is a Zone Manager for each area that has 10,000 residents. They pay a small fee and get assigned a corner. The roving tray sales people pay a smaller fee and have to stay on a certain street they're assigned."

When they got to the office Nobi said, "It's a little bit warmer outside." Karen said, "We usually lite a couple of candles in the front and 4 in the conference room in back for about 30 minutes to take the chill off." While Jake lit the front office candles Karen said, "Let's go to the conference room and get some coffee started."

After coffee Stakka said, "Why don't you ladies set up the control monitor room and Loki and I will move the heavy hardware up to the roof." "Okay, let's do it," they agreed.

By noon they had finished moving components to the roof and Karen had set up a light lunch in the conference room. "We should finish assembling the weather radar this afternoon," said Stakka, "Then tomorrow morning we'll run power and control cables." "The wooden posts and clear plastic sheeting are for the Grow rooms," said Loki, "When you ladies are done down here, you could start assembling one on the roof." "That sounds like fun," said Renka. "Were the five gallon buckets full of super soil?" asked Nobi. "Yes," said Karen, "That is one of the by-products from Downtown Browns meat operation."

By 6 they had finished up the roof work and Renka asked, "Can we borrow two candles from the office for our room?" "Sure," said Karen, "We can get more at the market tomorrow." "Also, is there a VCD shop on the way home?" asked Nobi, "I want to get some movies." "Ummm, I remember one a half block off our route," said Jake, "We can check it out."

They got back to The Oasis at 7 and agreed to meet for dinner at 8 at The Bongo BBQ.

Later, as they finished up their rib plates, Loki said "Why don't we go to the coffee shop for dessert and a Red Zinger?"

After coffee and a shared toke, Renka said, "I'm feeling really sleepy and it's only 11. Do we meet at The Breakfast Club in the morning?" "yeah, sounds good," said Jake, "Good night all."

Saterday, 0630, The Breakfast Club

They all met at The Breakfast Club in the mini mall and had bacon egg sandwiches and coffee. By 0730 they were at the office stringing cable.

By noon they had finished control and power cables to the roof and Karen had set up a light lunch in the conference room. "We finished the other grow room," said Nobi, "Do you think we need some LED grow lights?" "Yeah, that's a good idea," said Loki, "The sun here is not always strong. We can fix a little bang- bang controller to turn on when the sun is not strong." As they were eating Jake explained the weekend Market was only a few blocks away and they would carry empty backpacks for any items they bought to carry back.

"It looks like everybody is going the same way," said Loki. "Yes," said Karen, "The Saturday market is very popular. Some people come from Sacto Friday night and sleep in a tent. It runs through Sunday afternoon and some people make enough to live on for a whole month."

When they entered the fenced-off area they were given a map showing approximate location of different categories of merchandise. Hand tools over here, farm implement over here, power tools over there, food court in the middle, electronic goods on the outside edge, Etc. "Let's go get some candles," said Nobi, "I want to warm our room in the morning." That was close to the enclosed Mall entrance so after they stocked up they went inside. "Oh look," said Loki, "This guy is selling doobies. How much for a 5 pack of Red Dragon doobies?" "10 creds," he replied. "I'll have two," said Loki. "I'll take a 5 pack of Blue Dragons," said Nobi." Stakka and Renka also restocked.

As they walked around they were surprised to see an abandoned Barber Shop turned into a weekend Dental Clinic. Very good recycling of reclining chairs. Back in one corner a large restaurant had been turned into a dimly-lit Bar & Disco. A few doors down were some slot machines and roulette tables in a converted dress shop. Renka said, "I smell delicious espresso aroma." "I see a sign just ahead," said Stakka, "Let's go in and have a cup."

The little shop had eight tables and served small pastries. They sat in the back and shared a Red Dragon. "Do they sell 9mm ammo here?" asked Renka. "They do," said Jake, "And it is reliable. 15 hollow point reloads cost 20 creds and 15 Factory ball ammo cost 40 creds." "After we get some ammo can we go by the shirt shop?" asked Nobi. "We sure can," said Karen, "I'm in the market for some new threads also"

At the shirt shop the guys bought two striped shirts of different colors and the ladies bought some solid colors with patches only on the back. As they were checking out Loki said, "I'm hungry for some Bongo Dongo; anybody else ready to eat?" "I am starving," said Renka, "Shopping makes me hungry also."

When they had cleaned their rib plates Loki suggested coffee and a toke before turning in.

After coffee and a shared toke, Nobi said, "I'm feeling really relaxed and ready for some Kundalini Yoga." "How late does The Breakfast Club serve in the morning?" asked Renka. "Until 1100," said Jake, "Want to meet at 1000 for brunch?" "Yeah, sounds good," said Stakka, "Good night all."

Sunday, 1015, The Breakfast Club

At brunch the next morning Jake informed them, "We had a message come in on our crypto phone this morning. Sergei said I should escort Stakka and Renka to the Vostok shipping office at 1830. From there he and Natasha will take you back to meet Captain Kuznet at 2100 on the Joy Luck 8."

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