Second Chances (107 page)

“I don't like having a snake in my midst,” Mitch growled. Janet glared at him. He gave her a cold look. “Fine. You want her; you deal with her. Keep her the fuck away from me then. And someone keep an
eye
on her. She's filled with hate, and I'm her target of choice. Revenge is a scary thought,” he said. Janet frowned and then slowly nodded.

Once everyone had arrived and had time to mingle for a few minutes Jean and Janet, called them to order to sit and eat. They had a moderately formal meal together in the great room, followed by ice cream and pie for desert and then a party to break the ice with the delegates and their families. Sandra smiled politely as she made the rounds in her new white dress. If not for her, Mitch would have blown the entire affair off since he had been in such a foul mood all day.

“Is there going to be singing and dancing?” Sandra asked wistfully.

“As long as they don't play anything fast...,” he shook his head. “I still shudder at what you did to me when Cassie played Next's ‘Too close,’” he said. She grinned evilly at him. He snorted. “Don't you dare you wench,” he mock growled. She pouted. “How about I play it later. Just for you and I?” she asked, leaning forward to give him a bit of a look down her dress. Her eyes twinkled as she caught him looking.

“You...are...oof. Don't do this to me. Please,” he said.

“You know I love it when you beg,” she said and grinned. Still, she relented when she noted Evan and the others coming over. “Oops, looks like it's not over yet. Time for round two,” she said softly. He turned and then felt himself harden as Evan smiled politely to him. His smile dropped when he noted the colonel and others moving in as well.

The colonel was dressed in a leather and cloth ensemble cut to resemble some sort of uniform. From the looks Gunny Usher and Chief Roberts were shooting his way, neither were happy or impressed by it. Mitch was fairly confident the dark leather wasn't U.S. standard issue, which reinforced his idea that the good colonel was setting himself up as a warlord.

His partner, Ciara, was dressed in a leather outfit as well, but a daring one. Somewhere between a dominatrix outfit and a conservative business skirt, he wasn't sure. He knew he wasn't that much of a judge of fashion. She did look good, her shapely legs and bosom certainly stood out in the crowd. She tended to brush either against people and then murmur a polite apology. Mitch realized she was flirting with people and wondered what her game was. Was she doing it to make the colonel jealous or to aid him? He wasn't sure.

“We need to sort this out now. It'll be a cloud over the entire proceedings if we let it be,” Evan said bluntly when Mitch remained quiet. Sandra looked at him and tightened the grip on his arm in a warning to behave.

Mitch snarled when Evan gently suggested that he turn the other cheek. “Do you have any idea how many millions of dollars, how much effort I went into helping people? All of you? I did it out of the goodness of my heart. To make sure humanity had a chance at survival. I didn't do it for thanks, I didn't do it for money, or power,” his eyes flicked to the colonel and then back. “I did it because it was the
right
thing to do. Because humanity's survival depended on giving everyone a fighting chance.”

“And now?” Evan asked.

“And I did the same thing when we got the report. Or I should say, my wife did.” He nodded to her. Sandra's eyes were troubled but she nodded. She had been very unhappy when they'd gotten the word that thirty-nine people had died in the Tropic Village, nearly half of them children. “She did what she could over the radio. You know that. I fueled and loaded the plane. Angie flew it down to Dunn, who
refused
to get it the rest of the way,” he said, looking over at the colonel. “So, she used her reserve to get it to them, and they tried to hijack her.”

“Oh my,” the tall and long faced Ingrid Gagoravich said. She turned to them with her husband Yuri. They were the leaders of the Russian village far to the northeast. “I hadn't heard any of that,” she said.

Slowly Sandra filled her in on the parasite and the events surrounding it. When she finished she looked at Mitch who nodded confirmation. “Right.”

“Indeed. All of that is true,” Evan said. The others turned to him as he confirmed it. “I monitored the situation over the radio. Unfortunately, Doctor Ventura and our pharmacy tech, Dajanah Zu, could offer little to help.”

“And when we came back to Dunn he refused to fuel the plane for her return trip home. So I had to send
another
plane to refuel her and get her home,” Mitch said. Evan nodded grimly. “So, some help,” he practically spat towards the colonel. Ciara looked a bit guilty as she looked away.

“Oh,” Ingrid said. She looked at her husband and then to the colonel. From his expression, Dunn didn't look at all happy.

“I'd be surprised if anyone else would lift a finger,” Chief Roberts said. He looked at the gunny who slowly shook his head. “I know we didn't. We had our reasons. One of them being if they couldn't trade fairly, screw em,” he said.

Gunny Usher nodded; his face set in stone. “We didn't want to be infected. I imagine it was the same for others,” he said, looking at Adam Sevant and the colonel. “So, it fell to Mitch again. And people are questioning his motives,” he said.

Mitch shrugged. “I'm starting to get used to it,” he said. The gunny shook his head. “Look folks, I don't mind giving people help up to a point. If any of you are honest, you'd say you'd have reservations. And every one of you would put your own family and community first.”

A few people nodded. Mitch looked around, noting the entire room was silent and that everyone had arrayed themselves around to hear. The Muslim delegate didn't look happy about the western women, but he was at least in the room.

“But I trade
honest
. When I make an agreement, I hold to my end, and sometimes I go out of my way to help give others a leg up. You all know Paul works for me. Last year no one paid for him to come to them to deliver goods. I know it's important to get the economy going. I'm in it for humanities survival. Some people have asked about that. My motives. It's as simple as that,” he said, shooting a look at Dunn.

“But you do have a lot more resources then some of us do,” Rabbi Weiss said.

Mitch spread his hands. “We were all warned we were coming here a year in advance. I busted my ass and my bank account to prep for that. Did you do the same?”

“Some of us,” John said. “Though I admit, I started late,” he said ruefully. “I know a few people in my town didn't believe the aliens, or they thought we'd end up in a welfare utopia,” John said looking around.

Colonel Dunn snorted. They looked at him. “I had the same problem in my town,” he admitted grudgingly.

Mitch nodded, surprised by the admission. “See? Yeah, I had deeper pockets. I grubstaked all this, and I paid people to find some of you and give you survival gear. And I'm being fair here. It's called doing the right thing,” he said, again directing the sentence straight at the colonel. “I'd like to hear how many others have gone out of the way to do the same or to play fair,” he said.

“More than fair,” John said with a nod. “I think we see your point.”

“Trust as you said has to be earned. It is hard to establish. Even harder to recover if one has been betrayed Mussad Harif Nadir rumbled. Yuri nodded. “We two have learned the benefit of honest trade and trust. We hope to extend that to the other communities,” the Muslim said.

“Here here,” Yuri said, with another nod.

“If the Tropics repay their debt...will you agree to let them in?”

“If I may ask, what was the debt?” Yuri asked. He looked at Mitch.

Mitch frowned and then shrugged. “I've entered deals to help Iron Village and Chief Robert's Mountain Village get onto their feet.” He nodded to each of the respective leaders. Both nodded back. “Both can vouch that I am fair.” He paused as the eyes turned to Mike and the chief. Both nodded. Then Mitch cleared his throat, regaining everyone's attention. “I gave them a simple bargain. In exchange for seeds, some tools, and all the data we had on how to grow the crops, along with the radio help of our local botanist and farmer, they would grow the crops. We even transported the seeds and gear to them,” he said, shooting Dunn and then the Tropical rep a look. “At our expense,” he said, tone cold.

He turned back to the Russian. “In exchange they were to provide us with the same number of seeds once the crop was harvested, plus 10 percent of their yield for the entire year. And we would go and pick it up, again at our expense,” he said.

“It is more than fair,” Mussad said. “You are going out of your way to establish good relations. I see that,” he said, bowing ever so slightly to Mitch. Mitch nodded back. “One would think it would be at a considerable loss to you,” he said.

Mitch cocked his head. “It was a risk, and yes a loss. But I was serious when I said I was looking to get the economy up. By doing the trade, they would have crops and products to export in time and with careful management. We would then trade with them for goods they wanted. In the long term, it would be a win-win in my book.”

“You had no way of knowing if they would give you the 10 percent,” Helen said, eying Mitch.

Mitch nodded. “Again, trust. I would have found out eventually. In a way it was a test.”

“One they failed. And now they are blacklisted. Everyone knows their crime and no one is willing to do business with them. Not even the colonel,” Gunny Usher said looking at Colonel Dunn.

“They pay up front or they get nothing,” Ciara said. The colonel turned a glare on her. She shrugged it off.

“While they are being blacklisted, others are reaping the benefits of trade with the rest of the community. Shunning, but without the verbal shaming and cold shoulder,” Evan said. He shook his head. “It's brutal in a way. They are being left further and further behind, just like the Caribbean islands had been on Earth.”

“If we agree to repay the debt, will you allow us to stay? And provide additional medical assistance?” the Jamaican woman asked. “We still have a few who have been infected. Doctor Pierre has treated them, but the parasite keeps coming back.”

Mitch felt and heard Janet and Sandra inhale sharply. Sandra's arm tightened on his bicep like a vice. “Okay. We will need a third party arbitrator to make certain everything is fair,” he said. She nodded. “Medical advice is always free,” he said, looking to his wife. She nodded.

“If you still need help, I will contact Doctor Pierre and work with him,” Sandra said softly.

“Don't expect any other form of trade or any sort of trust anytime soon though,” Mitch growled. The Jamaican woman stiffened and then slowly nodded.

“I am glad that is settled,” Ingrid said, smiling. “So, are we going to sing and dance?” She asked, giving Yuri a maliciously mischievous look. The Russian groaned theatrically. He wasn't the only male in the room to do so. That earned a shared chuckle.

------*------

Evan had brought with him a lovely young woman named Leanne as his date. The brunette had been a singer songwriter on Earth. She planned to become something of their world's first famous singer but couldn't go on tour. She hit Mitch up right away to see if he'd finance it. He put her off. She pouted a bit but kept a professional face up to perform after dinner and Mitch's confrontation. Her songs were met with polite applause that made her preen a bit. She and the band then turned to dancing songs.

------*------

The next morning after a late breakfast Mitch welcomed them as host, then shocked everyone by reminding them of his list requirement. A few people shuffled about, a couple joked that they had thought he'd been joking. “And, since I was accused of hogging the spotlight last year, I'll turn it over to each of you in turn so everyone can get their say and work through their list points. Starting with the good colonel,” he said, turning to Colonel Dunn with a nod as he sat.

Dunn was caught off guard by the shift in the spotlight. He fumbled, but then did his best to recover. He mentally seethed about being put in the spotlight and how it had abruptly screwed up his plans. He stood, and cleared his throat. “Well, this is unexpected,” he said. John smiled slightly. The smile didn't reach his eyes.

“I had a few thoughts, but like some of you I left them in my quarters. I wasn't sure what the agenda was since no one put forward an outline. So, off the top of my head, the biggest issue in my opinion we have is trade and travel.” He frowned. “I do know my community wants to expand on what we can export and look into trade agreements with everyone here,” he said. A few people nodded politely.

“I think we need to discuss trade. Mister Chambers pointed out his people are doing the bulk of it, and we need to change that,” he shot a look at Mitch. “Until I have my notes though, I'll defer back to Mister Chambers and address them at a later time,” he said sitting down.

“I'll go next,” Evan said, tentatively standing. He looked at Mitch who nodded to go ahead.

A lot of stuff skipped in the initial meeting from the prior year was brought up by Evan. Mitch wasn't sure if the engineering professor was being malicious towards him or the good colonel. That brought up questions from Yuri, Mussad and others who hadn't been in attendance. It also sparked debate when the mention of territory was brought up. They had to bring those who hadn't been to that meeting up to speed on what had transpired, then deal with the griping over their missing out. They spent the rest of the morning going over the map Mitch put up on the big screen.