Chapter 13

F R E E  on  the  S E A

ARKON CH-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.

(expect posts Sat 8 am EST)

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