Valley Of Hope -- Chapter Nine

2008-7-26 03:31:00

Valley Of Hope

by Ted Dewey

Chapter Nine

Oran Thomas greeted Henry at the door with a friendly handshake. "Come on in, partner." He glanced at his watch. "You are right on time. That I like. How are you this morning?"

"Just fine." Henry stepped inside. "What is on the program for today?"

Thomas motioned to a chair. "Have a seat, and I will report."

Henry set down. "Anything new?"

Thomas sat down and pulled his chair over closer to Henry. "Not yet. But I think that before the day is over we will know just where we are going to build this project. I was on the telephone this morning talking to the head office. It sounded like our engineers had finally agreed to a location. Also, I reported our progress here. They were tickled pink when I told them we were about ready to go."

"Good. And, have they decided just where this place is going to be?"

Thomas shook his head. "Not exactly, and I don't want to make a guess. But I will say this much, it will be somewhere here in the west. Probably here in Arizona."

"I hope so. I love this part of our country."

"'Where ever it is will be a top secret. And for God's sake, don't mention any part of this to anyone. Understand?"

Henry nodded. "Mum, is the word!"

"Fine. I just don't want any misunderstanding between us."

"I won't say a word to anyone."

"Good. And now that you are one of us, I want you to know more about our company and what our intentions are."

"I am all ears."

"What we are trying to do, Henry, is to build a sanctuary -- a place that will survive an atomic war. We want a place where a few of us will not be blown off the face of the earth -- a place to preserve as much of the good things in life as possible - and, of course, it must be somewhere here in this country."

"And you think it could be here in Arizona?"

"I was told this morning that it would be in either, Arizona, Nevada, or Idaho. But personally, I think it will be here in this state. But regardless of what state, it must be in some remote area.

"Places like that here are mostly owned by the Indians," Henry remarked.

Thomas grinned. "Maybe we can make a deal with them." A dry chuckle emerged from his throat. "It wouldn't be the first time that the Indians have dealt with the white man!"

Henry nodded. "And a lot of them haven't forgotten!"

Both men were silent for a moment. It was Thomas who broke the silence. "Our company has a couple of very good men working on this part of our project. And we will be informed when they make the final decision."

"I will be ready."

"Then we will move in and really go to work. We will build a power plant that will supply all of the energy for this venture. Also, it will be a model for the future generations that survive.

There will be huge fallout shelters to build, and a housing project the likes of which you have never dreamed. There will also underground storage for enough food to last for twenty years.

There will be wells to drill, other buildings to build, a library big enough to store all our books of knowledge, and a million other things."

Thomas got to his feet and walked over to the open window. For a few moments he stood staring at the pine covered hill across the street.

"Sure is beautiful out there," he murmured, "but it won't be after the big one."

"You talk like you know it is coming. Now just what makes you so damn sure? Last night coming in to town, you said something about getting the answers from computers. You lost me there."

"Then I will try and explain. Computers work something like the human brain. You feed the facts into it, and it comes up with the answers. Unlike the human mind, it is not intimidated by wishful thinking. They cannot be bribed by money or sexual favors; and almost always, they come up with the correct answers."

"And they predict that we will have an atomic war?"

Thomas nodded. "The problems of today have all been fed into a number of our best machines, and all of the answers have come out the same. We have a ninety percent chance of having one within the next twenty years. I guess I told you that before."

"But suppose we don't? That then?"

"If we can get by twenty years without one, our chances get much better. By that time we should have that problem solved."

"I sure hope so. But I don't trust those computers. They have been known to make a lot of mistakes. I think they are just a gadgets to play with, and another way of getting money from the sucker."

Thomas grinned. "You are right about one thing. Some of the companies that make computers are also making millions. In fact, the president of one of the larger companies is a charter member of our company; one of the first to put up a million bucks. He is betting a million that his machine can and does predict the future."

Henry slowly shook his head. He could think of nothing to say. Thomas walked back to his chair and sat down. On the table beside him was a little black book. He picked it up, thumbed through the pages and came to a marker. Then he turned to Henry and said, "As I told you, I called New York this morning. After I had given my report, they came up with a bit of interesting news." A big smile came to his face. "Ten more people," he said, "have joined our organization. And ten million dollars more has been added to our bank account!"

"Holy cow!"

"And the waiting list is getting longer every day. Among the newcomers are several movie stars. Both men and women."

Henry frowned. "Boy, they must have some high powered salesmen promoting this thing."

Thomas shook his head. "You are wrong there, my friend. And there has been nothing on radio, television, or the newspapers about this venture, and there never will be if we can help it. Only a very select group will be let in; not just anyone that comes up with a million."

Thomas paused for a moment. There was the trace of a smile on his face. "I think," he said, "that the reason so many want in now is because when the membership reaches one hundred, no more will be allowed to join."

Henry's eyes were big and round. "Good Lord," he muttered. "That would be a hundred million dollars!"

"It's a lot of money, alright. Plenty to do the job." Thomas got to his: feet and some moved to Henry's chair.

"My friend," he said, "I guess that for the present, I am finished here. The company wants me to fly back to New York and finish my report. So if you will drive me out to the airport, I will be on my way."

Henry jumped to his feet. "Sure enough. I will do just that. But damn! I wasn't expecting you to leave so soon. What will I do while you are gone?"

"Just hold down the fort. I will be back in a few days. You don't have a telephone at your house, so you had better stay here.

I have paid a week's rent in advance and told the girl at the desk that you will be around.

You won't need to stay here all the time. Just check in once in awhile to see if there are any telephone messages."

"Okay, I will do that. But are you sure there isn't something that I can do?"

Thomas thought for a moment, then slowly nodded his head.

"Yes Henry, there is something. Get a pen and some paper and write an essay about your wind machines. I think it would be very interesting."

"I am not very good at writing, but I will do the best I can." Thomas handed him a white card. "If for any reason you need me, call this number. Now, shall we be on our way?"

The two men stepped out into the bright sunlight.

  

-- End Of Chapter Nine --