Chapter 17: New Business
Frank left the dust settle before going to the main business section of the city. There he went in to talk to the land development people and when he said he wanted to buy property on the frontier they laughed at him. Sure they saw his interview...who hadn’t? But to want land you could never get to? That was just insane.
“Come on there’s got to be a way...” he mentioned as the man there told him nobody owned that land, ergo No Mans Land...and Frank saw a light at the end of the tunnel, so he pulled up a map and made a big circle around two of the lakes he had seen out there and he named them himself Lake Fish, and Lake Mirage, and he said he’d pay the fees to register his claim, and the man just shrugged saying he’d do the paperwork, but it looked like a waste of time and money to him.
But Frank owned two lakes and all the land between them that afternoon, of course they were 40 miles away but he just laughed about that. He also got hold of his contacts in the Food Devision and asked what live fish were worth and they laughed too, but not for long.
“ Many about this big...” Frank said holding out his hands as the man looked shocked.
“We raise a few hundred a year here but we harvest those when they weigh about 2 pounds.” The man said as Frank agreed, “ But something that big? We have never seen one that size since the city got started.” He declared as Frank just smiled wider still.
“How much would new fish be worth...make it worth my while and you’ll see fish bigger than you ever have before.” Frank hinted as the man had to turn his back and call his boss. Fish was a delicacy here, a rare and expensive thing, and they got 50 dollars a pound for it and many times you didn’t get a full pound either.
“My boss says we’ll set up a tank for these new fish, if you bring us enough to start raising them. We’ll pay you 100 dollars each until we see what the flesh tastes like and then we’ll decide what to do after that.” he added as Frank had to think about that for a minute.
“Tell your boss you don’t need to worry about raising them because I already am...” Frank added as the mans eyes popped. “Hundreds and hundreds and I’ll deliver for 100 dollars each.” he said as the man agreed and shook his hand and Frank said he’d call when he had some and the man gave him his private number...and Frank looked around for some barrels for free, and a medium sized 1 ton 4x4 he could get cheap.
Within a week Frank was bouncing along out through the countryside where he had bought the lakes. He had two men with him both armed and they didn’t look too happy being way out here either. But they were getting paid and as they came up a little valley in the distance was water, lots and lots of water. And Frank parked right along side the lake and he got out a rig he had invented just to try today. It was a thin rope tied to 20 feet of heavy clear line with hooks every 12 inches and he bought out two cans of corn and he added a few pieces to each hook and tied the rope to a bush right along the edge of the water.
He tossed it out and after few minutes it began to jerk and he pulled it in to see fish on it, but these were not the big things he had seen before, and he remembered they were at the lake south of here, but he decided it was still worth the effort. So he had a bucket filled half with water and he threw in everything big enough to eat, and the little ones went back into the lake. In an hour he had a bucketful, all over 10 inches long. He then kept going as as he got more attention the fish got bigger. Now he found he had several types of fish here some up to 16 inches long.And that was way bigger than the hatcheries back home raised and when he got the buckets full it was getting late in the evening and he snapped lids on the buckets and ran bouncing his way back to the city where he got stopped by the local Assault Team.
“What are you up to this time?” The Sargent asked as the team just laughed at Franks face.
“I own a couple lakes so I went fishing today.” he added as they looked like he was insane or something.
“There are fish out there?” One person asked as Frank laughed at them.
“There are fish anywhere there’s a lot of water, it seems.” he said and opened one bucket to show them the smaller fish he caught. “Anyone cook here?” he asked as one young man threw up his hand and the Sargent said he saved them from eating pre made junk for every meal, and Frank told him to ‘get a bowl’ and he ran inside. Fish were for the Elites of the city except for graduation or maybe a wedding... no normal people saw any... and Frank gave them one each, all the smaller ones he caught and in so doing made lifelong friends into even better friends, and got rid of the smaller fish that the Food Department didn’t need to see.
“Enjoy...” Frank said and went on into the city, and even the local Team got to see that good food isn’t always expensive, and they told others about what had happened and many were shocked that they got this gift, and when Frank got to the Food Processing plant the man looked surprised beyond belief, seeing fish from 12 to 18 inches long, in several types, and they weighted and counted every fish, and Frank made a few thousand that day, enough to pay for the truck he bought, and the Manger of the Food Department started telling people that he had a new source of fish, bigger and better than theirs, and more orders came in by the dozens and price was no object it seemed.
Their little fish farm had always been working for them here. But doing the same fish every year and the orders being so huge they never had enough to run it properly. So over time their harvest got smaller and smaller, now down to maybe a hundred pounds or so a year. But add to that another hundred pounds or so and things start looking better, and new fish might be grown too and a few that were still alive got saved into a tank of their own just to see if it were possible or not.
Frank told everyone he knew that fish were coming, and he’d sell them at a good price. But no one believed him for now, and after a few days he came bounding back in with another load, and gave away a dozen or more of the little ones to friends and family, and they were thrilled,and he still had enough to make a profit from the trip and the Food Department loved this since it gave them twice the food to sell, and bigger profits all around.
And the next time someone on the Council complained about Frank for something, even before they got going good they got told to leave him alone, by both the Military Representative and the Food Department.
“He’s not hurting anyone and he belongs to us.” They got told, and Frank now had nearly half the Council on his side and people all over looked shocked to see it.
Chapter 18: Businessman of the Year...and his Enemies...in the News
Frank modified his ideas about fishing slowly, and his old truck now had a 500 gallon tank on the back and he had a long handled net for getting the fish out with.He made ten of the fishing rigs and baited and threw them in then various places then left for home. Every couple days he goes back out and never comes back without 30-50 pounds of fresh fish of many kinds. His income more than paid for everything he did, and the city started seeing fish on sale in stores that never had it before, because it was getting more available than in the past.
Of course his price got changed after the first load...for one thing they didn’t think he could do it... but now he proved them wrong so now he got paid by the pound, and even then he did pretty well for himself, and people all over the city saw that going out hunting and fishing wasn’t impossible after all, and stories about someone bringing in some big lizard and sharing with his whole family got told from time to time, and poor people put their wages into buying guns and bows and food became more available to some that hadn’t had much to look forward to before.
But the Council demanded they stay inside the walls, but then did nothing to help the poor, which was over half the city, so Frank himself got asked during an interview and he warned people that danger does exist out there, and you need help and be well armed before giving it a try, and his warning echoed through the community more than the Council, because he went out there himself, and he saw the real world.
So it wasn’t impossible for the Assault Teams to see a pair or maybe three men working together out there in the abandoned part of the city. They got a few animals too, and the Teams warned them when things were too dangerous for them. But when you’re hungry you do a lot of things you might not do otherwise, and soon Frank saw people waving to him as he ran in and out and he gave a few rides home on his way in.
And the Chairman was going rabid...not only was Frank not frightened by his near death experience...he opened a new business out there...and brought in food they hadn’t seen in many years. His own Food Department reps were thrilled to death over it, and when it got mentioned they stood behind him 100%, and the military rep said that with Frank building newer and better equipment then hunting and scouting even out to 50 miles was not impossible anymore.
“NO, no no!!” Demanded the Chairman, as everyone looked surprised that he jumped up screaming like this.” I refuse to allow anyone...ANYONE to go outside the city without written permission! Call that man and tell him, no more! And tell our teams that anyone seen outside the city will be shot on sight!” He screamed, and suddenly his hatred and loathing were seen by all, and after a second to compose themselves the Council mentioned that the Chairman needed a rest... a vacation... and the vote was unanimous, all against him, and he was led from the room by guards who apologized as they walked him to his car.
“I will not be treated like this! This is MY city and you will all pay!” He was still screaming, and the other Council members waited for him to be gone, then looked at each other seriously and asked when this all started, and only one person had the nerve to say that it seemed to be centered on Frank and his need to help people, and they looked sad that one man was trying to hold back their Future, and they voted him out during his absence and sent him the message by courier the next day.
They went on the news saying that the Chairman had a mental breakdown and went on and on,threatening to kill people right in front of the entire Council, and so they removed him for his own good, and hoped he did well in his retirement, and he was so angry seeing it after all his plans that he started making calls, and hiring people to remove THEM, and even now the Intelligence Devision saw it coming and warned people to get ready,and one by one assassins got caught or killed, and evidence got accumulated against the man that would be King.
In 6 months it all hit the fan. The Chairman was demanding that since he was on the Council longer than any of them his vote was worth more than all of theirs combined. And he demanded his seat back, or in the every least his son should have it to carry on the families job there. But once again even the judges in the city reminded him that it wasn’t a job that gets handed down, and he demanded they let the people vote to see...and he threw millions into a campaign to get it done... even before the Council and judges decided wither to do it or not.
In the end he lost anyways, and after wasting a good amount of his savings he wasn’t the great threat he used to be, and people that went outside the city walked and rode right by new signs saying they did so at their own risk, and things out there started getting more seen and coming and going became a normal part of their society again.
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