The Krakow Klub (21 page)

“The little monster will know that I’ve been
here. He’ll certainly be aware that Miss Alpha has invaded his
pitiful little territory.”

Just then, Akiro trotted
in
with a jolly look on his little face. He hopped into
the bed and looked hesitantly at Mitch. She reached over and, with
one smooth motion, grabbed the bow in his topknot with her teeth
and pulled it loose. She then turned, ambled into the bar, and laid
the crumpled ribbon at Jim’s feet.

John, recognizing the bow, reached down,
picked it up, and put it in his shirt pocket.

John looked at Jim and smiled. “I think that
we’ve got a problem. Mitch is the ultimate diva. You’ve spoiled her
outrageously,
but that’s just fine.”

Julia just shook her head and rolled her
eyes.

“After I got back home, I missed Mitch and
decided that I needed a little companion of my own. Somehow, I had
grandiose visions of the two of them becoming inseparable friends.
The big
joke is on me. So far, she seems to
detest
him,
and he is certainly intimidated.
I, obviously, don’t know as much about doggie psychology as I
thought I did.”

Julia laughed and touched John on the wrist.
“It certainly hasn’t been love at first sight. Mitch is just
letting Akiro know that she’s the alpha dog and that she’ll be the
boss of all bosses. He obviously understands that and certainly
won’t question her authority. Just leave them alone and they’ll
work things out sooner or later.”

Mister T rose from the piano and announced
that he would serve lunch
soon
in the dining
room.

During the meal, Jim continued to be amazed
at the changes in his friend. Julia must be a saint to bring about
such a transformation. Jim smiled to himself and wistfully hoped
that someday he would find such happiness himself.

****

After the meal, John rose and invited Jim to
tour the property with him. They walked through the veranda doors
where a small vehicle awaited them.

“We’re going to use my newly created golf
cart for the first time. You’ll notice that it’s very similar to
the little transport craft that we used on Mylea. I had Maxxine
design and
build
it for me to use
around
the island. As you can see,
it
has
no wheels. I can hover or travel in any direction in
absolute silence. Right now, we’re limiting the altitude to a
hundred feet. That’s as much as I need for now.”

They took their seats and fastened their
safety belts. John explained that he had asked Maxxine to design
the bright red craft to look like something that
had
been built
on Earth. No
use
in stirring
up the curiosity of someone who might be visiting the island. The
lack of wheels might raise an eyebrow or two, so Maxxine wondered
“why
bother
,” but John was the boss.

Next, John had asked Maxxine to install a
simple control panel with an on/off toggle switch. She had been
highly insulted at the request for such
backward
technology since Mylean craft utilized
voice-activated commands.

After several heated arguments, she agreed to
create the primitive craft.
John instructed her to
install a joystick with a small trigger switch on the side.
The joystick
would control the direction, and
the trigger the speed, of the craft. The toggle switch simply would
be an off and on function. Maxxine was
incredulous
but followed orders.

John was delighted with the result. He could
move and hover like a bee in
flight,
but that
brought on a safety concern.

John realized that he could be thrown
from the craft if he made a sudden turn. As a safety measure, he
asked Maxxine to design a three-point seat belt system that would
protect him and a passenger from being unceremoniously ejected from
the craft.

The two got into the
craft,
and John showed Jim how to secure the seatbelt
harness.

“I’ll be the pilot for
now,
but I want you to try it out later. You’ll love it.
Since the joystick is between the seats, the craft can be piloted
easily from either side. I was a private pilot for several
years,
and I’ve never lost the love of soaring
above the ground.”

Jim replied, “I always wanted to learn to fly
and get a pilot’s license. But I never seemed to have the time and
money together at the same time.”

John responded, “I loved flying. A long time
ago, I bought an ancient little Cessna 140. I had a pilot
friend,
and he taught me the basics before I
had any formal flight training. I loved that little plane and every
minute that I spent flying her. I could tell you endless stories of
duct taping or wiring essential parts together along with several
exciting close calls where I thought I would surely meet my maker
at any second.

“For example, one day, the pilot’s side door
fell off just as I was revving the engine prior to taking off. That
broken hinge had finally worked its way up to the top of my to-do
list. I had to hop out and safety wire it back on right then and
there. Ah yes, those were great
days,
and I
miss them dearly. But, I’m also just glad to have survived them.
Eventually, I knew that it was time for us to part
company
—a
sad but inevitable day that I’ll
never forget.

“Fortunately, I now have this little jewel.
Flies much like an airplane but
it's
much
safer for me to operate.”

They hovered just above the
ground,
and John explained the workings of the craft.
Then, he moved the joy
stick backward,
and they
soared upward quite rapidly. They swooped and turned as John flew
them back and forth over the island. It was great fun for
Jim,
but he shut his eyes for a moment to say
a prayer of thanks that he wasn’t subject to motion sickness.

John stopped and hovered at about fifty feet.
“Over there, to your left, is the water purification system that I
just had installed. It’s Mylean in design and technology. As you
can see, it’s quite small and blends in remarkably well with the
landscape.

“I can process enough sea water to supply all
my
freshwater
needs quite easily. Even better,
the excess is
re-salinated
and then returned
to the ocean. The whole system is extremely efficient and costs
almost nothing to operate.”

Jim was obviously impressed. “Just think of
how much good you could do with that technology. Water is so scarce
in many parts of the world, and I can see this system being the
difference between life and death for thousands of people. With a
little training, they could learn how to irrigate and raise their
crops.”

“Yes,” he replied. “I’ve thought of
that,
but
I'm still
very
cautious
about
how much Mylean technology I
can make available to Earth
and the timing of that
availability
. A giant technological leap could be extremely
disruptive to the economy. Think of all the current technology that
would become instantly obsolete and worthless. Manufacturing plants
would
close,
and thousands of jobs would be
lost. Things need to evolve at their
natural
pace
or you tempt the economic gods’
wrath.

“For example, I’m just going to keep this
little craft as my secret for now. Our world just isn’t ready to
bear the shock of such advanced
technology,
and there certainly isn’t any current knowledge of the specific
physics involved.

“On Earth, we’re just beginning to realize
the enormous potential for
three-dimensional
printers. Mylea has an advanced version that Maxxine used to build
this little craft. Just think, no workers involved, no salaries to
pay, just the initial investment for the equipment and your raw
materials.

“I see my little ship as a happy creature
buzzing about without a care in the world. I’ve always tended to
personalize my vehicles and give them a
name,
so I call this one
La Cucaracha
. It’s Spanish for cockroach.
They’re nasty little
creatures,
and they run
around madly all over the place. It almost takes a thermonuclear
device to kill the little beasts. For some reason, the name just
struck a chord with my rather unusual sense of humor.

“But enough of that; there’s more. I’ve also
replaced the electrical generation system with one of Maxxine’s
creations. It’s down there on the right, and again, skillfully
designed to blend into the environment. My system could supply
electricity for a small city, so I’ll never utilize more than a
fraction of its capabilities. One day, I might light the golf
course so that I can play at
night,
but I’m in
no rush. After all, evenings are meant for other
entertainment.”

Jim was still amazed at the island and all of
the improvements that John had already completed. “I can’t begin to
imagine how much this must have cost you. How did you ever come up
with that kind of money?”

“Jim, you’re the only person who will ever
know how I got the money. Well, except for Julia, of course. It was
a rather clever slight-of-hand trick on my part and probably only
quasi-legal,
too.

“The answer is that I used my Mylean legacy.
I had Maxxine send a mining craft to a rather ore-rich giant
asteroid in far outer space. The gold ore was mined and brought
back to the space station for processing into bars that I could
sell.

“I then made arrangements to sell them to a
wealthy businessman in Hong Kong. Finally, I set up an account on
Grand Cayman where I transferred a large part of the money from
Hong Kong. From there, I bought the island and started making
improvements. Maxxine is capable of producing anything I
desire,
and my cost of production is
zero.”

He concluded, “It was all rather simple; just
another day in my boring
existence
.”

Jim nodded in appreciation, “Brilliant!
A secretive plan involving millions of dollars and a
great deal of subterfuge.
Sounds
to me
like a normal day in the life of a crooked politician. You would do
well in Washington, John.”

“Jim, the money is secondary to me. It’s nice
to be able to afford nice
things,
but nothing
can ever be as valuable as a close personal relationship. I have
you and Julia, and even Mister T, and that, dear friend, is what I
consider to be my real wealth.”

Jim knew what he
meant,
and his admiration and respect for his enigmatic friend had
increased enormously during this short little trip above the
island.

John went on, “I’ve spent my whole life
carefully preserving my precious anonymity. I could never have
close relationships since my life was totally controlled by outside
forces. Now that I can reveal my true identity, I have no desire to
do so. I am perfectly happy with the private world that I created
here. And, as you can probably guess, I’ve taken elaborate steps to
ensure that my island cannot and will not be accessed by anyone
without my express permission.”

John guided the craft deftly back over the
island,
and they flew
directly
over
the villa. Julia was sitting on the veranda and gave
them a cheerful wave. Just then, a large bird flew straight at
them,
and it seemed that it would crash into
them at any second, leaving the craft bedecked with the unfortunate
bird’s feathers and bloody remains. John was unfazed. At the last
second, the bird banked to the right and avoided the fatal
collision.

Jim had ducked
instinctively,
but John only laughed at the incident.
Then he pointed to the windscreen.

“I anticipated that I’d probably encounter
some very stupid, or very curious, birds from time to
time,
so I requested that Maxxine design something that
would protect me, and the birds as well. She came up with an
ingenious solution. There are sensors in the windscreen that will
detect an incoming bird or object. Kind of like how our military
can detect an incoming missile. When that happens, the screen
reacts instantly and moves to an angle that avoids the impact. The
bird would have just been pushed gently over our heads and lived to
see another day. That fellow was probably just curious about
something invading his territory. I can only imagine the wild tale
it will have to tell when it gets back to the nest.”

They rose to about one hundred feet in
altitude and looked down at the entire island.

“The original size of the island was only
twenty-six acres. A nice size, but not large enough for all my
needs. With Maxxine’s help, the size was increased by sixty
acres.”

Jim couldn’t restrain himself. “How could you
do such a thing? The authorities will go
nuts,
and you’ve probably already broken enough laws to land you in
prison for a very, very long time.”

“Not to worry, old chap. All the records
are in computers
these days, including those
of satellites orbiting Earth. Maxxine did a few little
manipulations to all records related to this island, historic and
current, so that the island appears to have always been the size
that it is now. I don’t foresee any problems, but if anyone should
get
nosy
, I’ll just refer the issue to
Maxxine.”

John guided the little craft to the edge of
the golf course and set it down gently. They got out and began to
stroll toward the beach.