ives_rancher (ives_rancher) wrote in bsg_avalon, @ 2010-11-11 15:30:00 |
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Current location: | Glenrock |
Entry tags: | collin ives |
Another Day, Another Cubit
WHO: Collin Ives
WHERE: Bee Lucky Mill, Glenrock, Aerilon
WHEN: Y02 04 12 - Morning local time.
Collin shut the door of his beat up crew-cab pickup truck, and then zipped up his brown work jacket. It was a crisp cool morning. He had parked near the loading dock of the Bee Lucky Hops Mill, another of his employer’s businesses.
The boss wanted to see him, about what he was not sure? The cattle round up was going smoothly to bring them down from the higher graze ranges before winter. Collin was a hard worker, and did not ask for much but a fair wage. The boss trusted him with more and more responsibilities this year. Hey, maybe he finally screwed up, and slept with the wrong woman or something, and he was going to be let go.
“Hello, Mr. Kimball is expecting me, I’m Collin Ives.” He told the office receptionist.
“He’s expecting you. Do you know where his back office is in the warehouse?”
“Yes, I do, ma’am”
“Then you know where to find him,” the young brunette said. It was something he admired about the people on this region, they were straightforward, at least the ones he usually encountered. He did not live in this town, but on the ranch at Ostia Springs a few miles down the highway.
About halfway through the warehouse, Mr. Kimball drove up in an electric cart. “Hey, Collin, how’re you do’in?” The burly man extended his hand out, and Collin shook it.
“I’m doing fine, sir.” He replied.
“That’s fraking fantastic. Have a seat and let’s go for a ride.” Once Collin sat down, Mr. Kimball turned the electric cart around and headed to the processing part of the Mill. They drove up to a large refrigerated room, the door opened automatically with the press of a remote button. The cart rolled inside, which made Collin wondered, when the door closed behind them. It was a usual place for a talk.
Mr. Kimball, turned to Collin with one hand on the steering wheel. “I want to show you something, I trust that you will keep a secret.”
“Absolutely.” Collin was not sure what to expect.
Mr. Kimball waved his hand to a CCTV camera, and a section of the back wall slid to the side. An armed guard stood inside the entrance of a long passage, and waved at Mr. Kimball. He waved back, and drove the cart down into the tunnel.
“I’ve got an operation that I don’t make public for obvious reasons,” Mr. Kimball said as they drove deeper into the finished tunnel that was wide enough for two electric carts or forklifts to drive side by side. “My Dad, bought this piece of property that extends back into the foothills after the war. It was an unfinished bunker complex that the military had no use for anymore. Dad was going to use it for cold storage or a mushroom farm.”
“It was attached to the mill?” Collin asked.
“Nope, we built the tunnel years ago, because we don’t like to advertise the existence of our private underground lair.” He laughed. They sped to the other end, which seem to take at least a few long minutes. At the end of the passageway they entered into a large room filled with pallets of wrapped bundles.
Mr. Kimball parked the cart next to some other carts, and got out. “I might make a lot of money in cattle and horses, but this is my money maker.” He walked to one of the pallets and laid a hand on it. “Nepenthe, when you want to chase your sorrows away without that nasty hangover the next morning. I send a shit load to Caprica.” He said with big grin. “I’ve got a new job for you, Collin.”
Collin rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Isn’t it illegal in eleven colonies?” Aquarion had no laws against narcotic use.
“Hey, not fault. I just supply a demand.”
“You got a point,” Collin nodded. It did not matter to him. He had tried it once, but it was too expensive to make it a habit. Drinking was cheaper, and he thought of the hangover as his penances.
“I’ve been watching you, and I’ve concluded you’re too smart to be a ranch-hand. So I had my guys do a little checking. Great Lords of Kobol, I fraking learn you’re an engineer.”
“Aeronautical.” Collin said. “Don’t know how I can help you?”
“Ah, it’s still engineering, and what I need is a crew leader with smarts. Military service and flight experience is a bonus.”
“You know I’m a felon?”
“Yeah, So? Do you think I give a frak? In your case, you had a misfortunate accident.” He started walking and Collin followed. “I believe in second chances. Hell, I believe in third and fourth chances, as long as I’m not being screwed.” He came to a hatch, and turned a wheel to open it.
“I want to show you my hydroponic operation where we grow the poppies,” He looked down the bunker’s corridor. “It’s huge. I think I could fit half of the people in town in here.” He motioned Collin forward, and while he held the hatch.
Collin kept silent, but he was already impressed.
“I know before joining my outfit that you’ve smuggled bull sperm from Tauron.” He paused. “You didn’t jack them off, did you?”
“Frak no, it was frozen tubes,” he shook his head. “I’m not proud, but I do have my limits, and jerking off a bull is one of them.” They both laughed. “For my effort, I got a slice of home-made cherry cake, and a few extra cubits in my pocket. Not so bad.” Collin smirked.
“Good, then you’re okay with a few bucket loads of cubits for a few hours of work.”
“I’m game and life is too short to give frak.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” said Mr. Kimball with a grin. “You are going to love it. I’ve got state of art equipment, and the best hydroponic growers in the colony working for me.”