Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 17:23:21 -0800 (PST) From: Orrin Rush Subject: The Lifeguard Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go somewhere else. Copyright c 2001 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved. Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed electronically or in any other manner without the express, written consent of the author. This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not intended. They are all products of the author's imagination. -------------------------------------------------------------- THE LIFEGUARD Chapter 38 "And, I'm damned glad that you did," I told him. "I don't know whether you know it or not, but you're the embodiment of every gay man's fantasy, young or old. But, you're so much more than that, 'Pretty Boy'." "I'll take that as a compliment," he said, laughing. "I hope someday I can get rid of that 'Pretty Boy' image." "Why fight it? Relax and enjoy what you have. Oh yes, the package is awesome, but it's the contents that I love more." "You're embarassing me, you know." "No, I'm just telling you how I feel." "I think we're both getting better at that - expressing our feelings," he said. "Actually, I'm happy that you've had all of the experiences that you have. It makes me feel a lot more secure knowing that you've already checked out what's 'out there', and know what you want, and, fortunately for me, it appears to be me. If you hadn't, I'd always be wondering if YOU were wondering what you might be missing out on." "That works both ways," he said. "If you were fresh out of the closet, I'd wonder about you too, whether I'd have to be watching out for the competition all the time." "As you said, there IS no competition." - - - - - In the few months that we had been in operation, Lundborg Rush was doing amazingly well. Warren had jumped in and taken over. Every month new production records were set, and the sales effort he had initiated was really paying off. He wasn't selling price but Service and Security. Orders were delivered on time, quality control didn't let any defects get through and our customers were signing long-term contracts as fast as production slots could be guaranteed. Security was tight, none of the software was "leaking" out, largely due to Warren's policy of giving a copy to every employee who wanted one. According to Eric, Micron was ecstatic, telling him that turning over production to us was one of the smartest things they'd ever done. Seeing our Financial Statements brought a lot of smiles too since they owned a part of it. Jeff had arranged another get-together of Milton Plant Managers in Scottsdale which had been as successful as the first. Another was planned soon, then, during the summer, he planned to pull all 39 together to let the groups "cross pollinate", as he called it. - - - - - Annie came home all smiles and very relaxed. We tried our damnest to find out the cause of her new mood, but she wasn't talking. All she'd say, teasing us, was "Wait a couple of weeks." About all she'd say about her vacation was that she'd fallen in love with Sarah, and that she loved the Penthouse. No details on her activities whatever. I was curious, of course, but it really didn't matter. The fact that she was happy was enough. We'd just have to wait for the unveiling, or whatever that was in a few weeks. Although we all made frequent trips to the site to check out progress on the new office building, Tina insisted that we all go on a formal tour. The steel skeleton was getting fleshed out. The exterior looked just about complete. From a distance the coffered windows looked like rows of dots, but as you got closer, their size became apparent. In my opinion, it looked better in reality than in the drawings. The interior was a work in progress. Partitions were going up, and Tina led us to what would be my office. It looked larger than my office downtown and was actually a suite of several rooms including a bathroom and private dining room. In another section of the building was Eric's office, a duplicate of mine, but closer to the area where Lundborg Rush and the Development Company's offices would be located. Plants and the Company's art collection would decorate the wide corridors. When this was mentioned, Annie, with a twinkle in her eye, told us that we might be receiving some surprises from Sarah - if we invited her to the Dedication. That's something I'd forgotten about. We had to have some kind of Dedication ceremony so all the local politicos could strut their stuff. God, how I hate those things. According to Tina, we'd be ready to move in in about 60 days, so we'd better get started on it soon. - - - - - Eric and I were on the deck, finishing breakfast and getting started on the Sunday paper. We heard the phone ringing and assumed that somebody would answer it. Gabriella came out to announce that there was a "John Bussey" calling for either one of us. We both jumped up and ran into the den. Not having heard anything from John in quite a while, and for him to call on a Sunday had to mean something. We put him on speakerphone. "Good, caught you both," He said. "Found something you might be interested in." "What?" Eric asked, already excited. John started chuckling. "I'd rather show you than tell you," he said. "Can you get away for a day or two?" "When?" I asked. "How about tomorrow?" John asked. "If you can, come early, it's really gotten hot around here." "I'm pretty sure we can be there," I said. "Prescott?" "Yeah," John answered. "No bumpy rides, either, Dave. We'll meet you with the chopper." "You know you're being a real asshole, John," Eric told him. "We'll both be suffering for the next 24 hours." "You'll understand when you get here," he laughed. "Well, what do you think?" Eric asked after all the details had been worked out with John. "They've found something, I know that, but WHAT is the big question." "No point in driving ourselves crazy trying to guess," he said, "we'll just have to wait." "We've got a few calls to make," I said, "and we'd better get our stuff together." "Since they're always gonna consider us a couple of 'city dudes', we might as well dress the part," he said. " Let's go to Banana Republic and load up." I called Jason to make arrangements for the plane. He suggested that we leave at 4:30 AM so we could arrive by six. Eric groaned when he heard this. "Might as well not even go to bed tonight," he grumbled. "Just think about tomorrow night," I told him. "Stars and..." "Oh yeah!" he answered with a gleam in his eye. Shopping was fun for a change. At Banana Republic, we got shorts and lightweight khaki shirts. I balked at hats. I hate 'em, particularly those pith helmet types. Another stop at the liquor store. We figured there might be a celebration, so we got a couple of cases of Jack Daniels. Another stop at the sporting goods store and we were done. Back home, we got organized and loaded all our gear in Eric's Jeep. I don't think either of us slept much, so when we pulled up to the hangar, we were still bleary eyed. "Got coffee and breakfast on board," Ron told us. There was a good sized chopper sitting on the apron, and John was waving his arms as we landed. We taxied over and started unloading our stuff. John's face was just about obscured by the huge grin he had on it. "Welcome back!" John beamed. "OK, give," Eric begged. "What'd you find?" "Keep it in your pants, sonny," he laughed. "You'll see soon enough." Our stuff got stowed in the chopper. Seeing the booze, John asked "What's that for?" "Thought there might be a celebration," I told him. "If not, just add it to your stash." Up and away we went. This sure beat the hell out of bouncing around in John's old Jeep. The terrain looked a lot different from the air than it had from ground level. Really rugged. We passed over "camp". I recognized it as being the same place because of the tiny bit of green, the only vegetation in the area. What had been a few tents before now looked like a tent city. We kept on going for several miles, then slowed, hovered, and settled down on a flat space near the edge of a cliff. As the blades slowed down, diesel generators could be heard, the sound coming from all directions. John got out first, and I saw him motioning to the crews on the drilling rigs. One by one, the generators were shut down, and the guys started walking over. There were still a couple generators running in the distance. "Hey, it's the Lovebirds!" one of the guys hollered out. We just smiled at him. We all walked over to a huge tarp lying on the ground, the crew forming a circle around it. "How many bodies you got under there?" smartass Eric asked. "Just a couple," John grinned. After everyone quieted down, John started speaking. "We found something we weren't really looking for," he started, then motioned to a couple of the guys. They pulled the top tarp back a little to reveal a line of plastic bags. "This is the first core we pulled up," John said, squatting down. "This is the top of the core, starting at 320 feet." We leaned down for a closer look. He moved down the line of bags. They all looked pretty much the same, brown rock fragments swimming in drilling sludge. At the third bag, he stopped. "This is where it starts to get interesting. See, this is quartz," he said, holding up the bag so we could see the whitish pink granules. He went on down the row, holding up each of the next four, saying "more quartz" with each one. When he got to the eighth bag, he held it out to us. Even though the particles were coated with sludge, they glinted and shined. "What is it?" Eric asked. "Gold," John said simply, and rolled the tarp back some more. "More quartz," he said as he held up the next two bags, then moved up to the top of the next row of bags. "This is the next core, starting at 330 feet," he explained. Three more bags were quartz, then he handed us the fourth. More glints that caught the sunlight. "Gold again," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, then stood up. "What does all this mean?" I asked, not sure of what I was seeing. "It looks like we may have found not one but two of the biggest veins ever found," he said. "One is at least four inches thick, and our best guess is that the other one is more than seven inches of damned near pure gold. "Actually, they're more like 'flows' than veins because they extend all over the place," he continued, waving his arm in a circle. "We're still drilling and haven't found the end of it yet." Some of the drilling rigs were a couple of hundred feet away, so this thing spread all over. "That's only part of it," he said, walking toward the edge of the cliff. In layman's terms, he explained how the edge of the cliff was a fault line, and the part where we were standing had been pushed up by seismic forces. When that had occurred, the raised part had been sheared off from the flatter area below, and the "vein" or whatever, continued down there. How far it went was being determined by the rigs already drilling below us. Dumb me. I still didn't grasp the significance. "What does all this mean?" I asked, showing my ignorance. "Well, to give you an idea," John explained patiently, "Each one of those three-quarter inch cores has about three hundred dollars worth of gold in them." I got the picture, finally. In my mind, I did some rapid calculating. That meant that there was more than $50,000 worth of gold in every square foot, and this thing covered acres for chrissakes! Eric had been calculating too, and we just stood there and stared at each other in shock. The rest of the guys standing around were watching us. As they watched it sink in, they started giggling, then laughing out loud. "Jesus H. Christ," Eric murmured, shaking his head. "Got some more good news," John announced. "From up here, it's about 280 feet to the bottom, so if we go in from down there, we only have to go down fifty or sixty feet to get to it. The rest that's under the flat down there, we're going to have to work for." We just stood there in awe of the whole situation. - - - - - After meeting the new guys and saying hello to the ones we'd met before, the chopper took us back to "camp". All the men seemed more excited about the find than we were. I guess it just hadn't sunk in yet. A lot had changed. In addition to a lot more tents, there was a greatly expanded cooking area manned by a cook, and the ring of seats around the campfire was a whole lot bigger. One tent, though, was off by itself, ours, I assumed. "We had a little celebration the night we pulled the first core. Tonight's the big one, though, " John said, taking the Jack Daniels over to the cooking area. We hauled our stuff to our tent and pulled the air mattress out onto the "patio". No need to be shy around this bunch. No doubt the new men had heard the whole story by now. John was waiting for us under the awning. He'd been right, it was HOT! It was a lot quieter since the work going on was so far away. Only a light hum could be heard. Except for the heat, it was almost pleasant. In his drawl, John told us the whole story of the discovery. Not being too optomistic about finding anything in that area, only one rig had been taken in. The first core had only gone down 300 feet, and had hit a lot of hard rock. The second, a hundred feet from the first had gone down further, and that's when they'd found the seam. Hoping that it wasn't just a "pocket", they'd drilled another hole ten feet away, and it too had shown similar results. At this point, John had been eager to determine the extent of the deposit so had moved the rest of the rigs to the area. So far, wherever they dug, they found the seam continuing. "It's gotta run out sometime, but we haven't found it yet," he said. After studying the formation, rigs had been moved to the area below the cliff, and the seam was continuing. All of the first cores had been maintained intact, none sent to the usual lab for analysis. Only two samples had been assayed, and those at a lab in Denver by way of John's brother who lived there. The results, as expected, were spectacular. "Why so secretive?" I asked him. "As soon as this find leaks out, we'll spend more time chasing off 'lookers' than we do working. Might as well keep it quiet as long as we can." "Isn't this pretty remote?" I asked. "Noplace is remote when it comes to gold," John answered seriously. Eric had been real quiet, but not missing a word. Now he jumped in. "I still can't comprehend what's going on," he said. "Now that we've found it, what do we do to get it out?" "This is one you should mine yourselves," John told him. "Until we go after the gold under the flat below the cliff, it's going to be a piece of cake. Move a little dirt and go straight in. Tunnel from there." "Sounds easy enough," Eric agreed. "Who's going to run it? Would you consider doing it?" "I'm a prospector, not a miner," he told Eric. "I appreciate the offer, but I'd prefer looking for more rather than settling down and runing something. I'd like to recommend somebody, though. "I've got an old friend in Phoenix who retired from Asarco a couple of years ago. For something like this, I'm pretty sure I could talk him into going back to work. He's got a degree from the Colorado School of Mines, and ran mining operations for Asarco for years. He's the best man I know of for this job." "You think he might take it for a few years?" Eric asked. "I'll give Loren a call," he volunteered. "If he's interested, we can go see him tomorrow on your way home." - - - - - In the late afternoon, the chopper warmed up and took off to ferry the men back to camp. At eight men per load, it took three trips. "We still start at first light," John explained. "With longer days, we get started earlier, and I don't want to get the reputation of a slave driver..." The evening bathing ritual began, then the men disappeared into their tents. An afternoon nap was a good guess. As the sun lowered and it cooled off a little, they reemerged. Many were wearing shorts instead of their usual Levis, their pale legs contrasting with their deeply tanned torsos. We weren't regarded as "outsiders" any more, getting kidded about dressing like "tourists". The Jack Daniels was brought out, cups were found and we sat in a big circle around the fire pit. John had a few words to say, then Eric and I each added a little. "Have you decided on a name?" somebody asked. "For what?" I asked. "The mine. Every mine has a name." "Didn't know that," I said. "The boys have come up with a name," John said. "Wait a minute." One of the original eight got up and disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back, he was carrying what looked like a piece of barn siding about six feet long. When he got to the circle, he held it horizontal and flipped it over. Burned into the wood in big letters was "THE LOVEBIRD MINE". "We wanted to name it for you guys," he said. I felt my eyes getting misty and glanced over at Eric. He was having the same reaction. It was an amazing tribute to the two of us and the love that we had for each other. I didn't know what to say, but, thankfully, Eric did. "Thank you. All of you," he said, looking around at all the smiling faces. "We'll have a little trouble explaining it, but that's what it'll be." This got a hearty laugh. The sign was propped up so we could all see it, and we drank to the new name. "That board'll hang over the entrance when we actually start mining," the guy who brought out the sign explained. We drank and talked for a while, then John had another announcement. "The guys have something else for you." This time there was no wait. Another of the original crew pulled out what looked like a picture frame and brought it over to us. "We waited until we actually found something to give this to you," he said. It was a museum-type mounting of the tiny nugget that had been the first "color" they'd found. Below the nugget was an engraved placque stating simply "The Beginning". Below it was another brass placque with the names of the original eight and John. This time, I wasn't tongue-tied. "This will hang proudly in the lobby of our building," I said, "but only after we let the world know what you've found." It was dinnertime. There were now picnic tables so no more balancing of trays in our laps. Huge steaks were on the menu along with ice cream for dessert. Back sitting in a circle, Eric sitting on the ground between my knees, the conversation turned to what would happen next, along with speculation on how extensive the mine would turn out to be. "Only one thing," John said. "I ain't no tree-hugger, but I'd like to see you put it back the way it was when it's all mined out." "We agree with that," Eric said. "That's the way it should be, not just walk away and leave another scar on the landscape." We all talked some more until it became obvious that it was time to hit the sack. Eric got up and disappeared for a few minutes, coming back carrying a bag. Starting with the eight original guys, he started passing out little plastic boxes. The guys started laughing uproariously. "Wear 'em, goddamit," he said. "No more bitching about the noise." He was handing out earplugs. - - - - - Side by side, we looked up at the sky. The moon was full enough to cast shadows so our naked bodies were clearly outlined. "What a day," I murmured. "It's only just the beginning." "I know," I said grasping his hand. He leaned up to look into my face. "We're coming up on two years together," he said softly, "and it still feels like the beginning," then leaned over and kissed me before I could reply. A tender kiss grew into a passionate embrace, love, not lust hardened our dicks. His lips found their way to my throat, then down my chest and stomach. He stopped long enough to say "Just watch the stars" before taking me into his mouth. He took me in as far as he could comfortably go. No "special effects" just loving caresses as he moved up and down, the warmth of him flowing into me. The stars were in my eyes but the undescribable feelings of love were in my mind. No teasing or repeated cliff hangers, I just melted over the edge. A gentle liftoff, a long, joyful journey, then a smooth splashdown. I awoke to find him lying across my chest, holding me. I felt loved. When I could, I pretty much repeated the process on him, but taking him all the way down to the base on each stroke as I so loved to do. His moans as he climaxed were soft but definitely loud enough to be heard. I smiled, thinking about the twenty seven pairs of ears probably straining to listen. Nestled together, we got the giggles every time we heard a moan or grunt coming from the tent city. "I guess we set an example," I whispered. "Good one, too," he chuckled. - - - - - We got up as soon as we heard activity, joining the crew for breakfast. There were a lot of sly grins and a few winks that were all met with a smile from us. At the first sign of light, the chopper started the delivery process. After the third load, we climbed aboard and it took us out to the site again. This time, we landed on the flat below the cliff. From below, one could see where the cliff had sluffed off over time and there was a buildup of rock against the lower face. The cliff itself ran for at least a mile in either direction. John led Eric and me over to the base. "If I were doing it, I'd dig this rock away and dig a ramp down to the seam," he said. "I'm not an Engineer, though, and Loren may have other ideas." "Have you talked to him yet?" Eric asked. "We're going to meet him at his home in Phoenix this evening," he said. "By the way, I really appreciate that phone you sent me. Worked so well I went out and bought a couple more." I looked back from the base of the cliff. The drilling rigs were at least a thousand feet away. "Are you still finding the seam way out there?" I asked John. "They're a couple hundred feet out from the last holes. Just started them a day or so ago, so don't know yet." We walked over to the rigs. One had just passed 310 feet, and was hitting quartz, so there should be an answer in a few hours. The chopper flew us up to the top of the cliff. From the edge, I estimated that the rigs were about 700 feet back. Just for the hell of it, I paced it off. 240 steps, about 720 feet. The line of rigs stretched at least twice that far parallel to the cliff. I didn't even attempt to do the numbers in my head of what potentially lay below us. It was just too staggering. I talked with some of the drillers, learning a lot more about what was going on now that they were more at ease around me. I also learned that a lot of the crew were Graduate Geologists. This was surprising, but they told me that this kind of work was preferable to sitting around in an office, and that the pay was a lot better. They also had the highest respect for John. Eric was moving from rig to rig, laughing and joking with the crews and probably picking up more information than I was. I found a rock to perch on and watched. John and the chopper pilot were collecting core samples and hauling them back to the chopper. After a while, John wandered over and took a seat on another rock. "This'll be our last day here," he said. "No point in wasting any more time on this one." I nodded in agreement. "We've already proven that there's more than a commercial deposit here, so it's time to go look for something else." "Where are you going from here?" I asked. "We'll be splitting up again, four different sites about 20 miles in that direction," he said pointing. "Do you have all the core samples tested?" I asked. "No," he chuckled. "If we did, your lab bill would be bigger than mine. With as many Geologists as we've got, we go over them and set aside the obvious, shale, sandstone, and others that we know aren't mineral bearing. Only the 'possibles' go to the lab, but we keep them all for 'history' in the event the lab comes up with anything. We're going to need a warehouse pretty soon." "I was surprised to find out that so many of your men are Geologists," I told him. "We call them 'Field Geologists'. There aren't that many desk jobs in this field, and most of the younger guys would rather be out here even if it is hard work. Being part of a find like this one is an experience of a lifetime." "It's a real experience for us, too, even if we're only on the fringe," I told him. "You're a helluva lot more involved than any owners I've ever seen. You're not afraid to get out here and see what's going on. Any other owner who made a find like this would've flown out, taken a look, then gotten back to the air conditioning. "Are you aware that the exploration you're doing is probably the largest effort going on anyplace in the country?" he asked. "I didn't know that," I said. "Shows how much I know about the mining business." "Think we should be heading down below," he said. "They should be close by now." Before we left, I walked the line of drilling rigs and said goodby to all of the men. Down below, they were pulling the shaft up. The bottom section with the core was carefully set aside, the rod inserted and the core contents emptied, foot by foot. It was there. We could see the sparkles in the sunlight. "Maybe not as thick," John commented, "but, like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps on going." Back at camp we got our stuff together and gave each other a quick shower from the stream. As hot as it was, the cold water felt wonderful. I personally carried the framed nugget all the way back to Prescott. The trip to Phoenix was really short. We got a rental car and John drove. Loren Rattner looked awfully young to be retired. Tall, rangy, and not a gray hair, he greeted us warmly. His home office was book-lined and cool. Mrs. Rattner brought us iced tea. "Sounds like you fellows found something mighty interesting," he said. "Could be," always conservative John answered, then proceeded to give him a detailed description, ending with "You're the best man I know of to show Dave and Eric how to get it out." There was a minute's silence, then Eric asked "Do you think you might be interested?" "What would you want me to do?" Loren asked. "Either advise us on what to do, or run the whole thing for us, your choice," Eric said. "To be perfectly honest," he said, "this retirement business is a bunch of bullshit. I'm bored shitless and have been thinking about looking for something to do. Your timing couldn't have been better, as far as I'm concerned. I'd like to take a firsthand look, though, before I make a decision." "When would you be available to do that?" I asked. "I know you're anxious to get going," he said, "would tomorrow be soon enough?" "What time do you want us to pick you up?" Eric asked, smiling. "Let's leave early. It's a pretty good drive up there." "We're not driving," Eric said. "We have our plane here, and John can have his chopper pick us up in Prescott. We'll have you home by dinnertime." Loren was beaming. "You guys do things first-class. It might be fun working for you." "You'd work 'with' us, not 'for' us," I corrected him. "Even better," he said. - - - - - We decided to spend the night in Phoenix. I thought we owned a hotel there, and called Annie to find out which one. "You own hotels?" John asked. "Around a hundred and thirty of them at last count," I told him. The pilots would meet us at the hotel and bring our gear. "Any gay hangouts in this town?" Eric asked John. "I've hear there are a few," John answered, blushing bright red. "Don't know where, though. In this town I'm a happily married man." We all laughed at this. "We'll find 'em," Eric assured him. Ron and Jason were waiting for us, with all our stuff. John would pick Loren up in the morning and meet us at the airport. "A couple of Desert Rats in the Presidential Suite!" Jason commented in his normal sarcastic way. "Did you guys strike gold or something." "Yep, bigtime!" Eric shot back. "Yeah, right," Jason continued. "No, seriously," Eric told him. "No way!" "Knock it off, guys," I said laughing, "Yes, Jason, we did strike gold, and in a big way, too. Now get your ass out of your uniform and go get us a bottle of Scotch. We're going to celebrate again tonight." A warm shower felt really good. Eric, in a playful mood joined me. We lathered then rinsed, a lot of tickling going on in the process. He wouldn't leave me alone until I was fully hard, then dropped to his knees and sucked me in. "Yech," he spat "You're too soapy, rinse off some more, it tastes terrible." I was obedient, then enjoyed one of the fastest, most enthusiastic blow jobs in history. Jason was there with a bottle and ice. Smartass, he'd called room service. "We want to hear all about this gold mine of yours," Jason said. "This is the first we've heard about it." "We only found out about it yesterday," I told him. Eric filled them in on the whole story, from my "quiet" trips to Phoenix through our watching them pull up cores with gold in them earlier that day, even giving full details on the "stick pussy" incident. "So they all swing both ways?" Jason asked. "That's the impression we got," Eric told him. "I can see the Headlines now 'QUEER PROSPECTORS FUCK EACH OTHER TO DEATH IN ARIZONA DESERT'. Wow, can you imagine 30 horny miners stuck out in the boondocks together!" "Calm down, babe," Ron said, patting his knee. "This is fascinating, any chance we could go see the mine with you tomorrow?" "There's really not much to see," I told him. "Did you bring shorts? It's hotter'n hell out there." "Hell yes," he laughed. "After following you guys around, we come prepared. Everything from snow gear to bikinis." "We'll only be there a few hours," I told them. "You're welcome to come along." Eric and I discussed who we should tell about this discovery, settling on just three - Annie, Tina and Bill, and invited them for dinner at home the following evening. None of them had a clue what we were up to. Jason had a Gay Guide, so after dinner the four of us checked out a few bars. We found a nice piano bar, then a Country Western where Eric and Jason would have danced all night if we'd have let them. 4:30 came early enough as it was. Before dressing, Ron made sure with us that it was OK to wear shorts in the cockpit, offering to change once we got to Prescott. He's such a stickler for decorum on the plane, but elsewhere is just as irreverant as Jason. Of course it was OK. No traffic that early so we made it to the airport early. Good thing, John and Loren were early too. Loren was surprised. "I expected a little one-engine prop plane," he said, "not a private jet!" "We have two of 'em," I told him, "and we're getting a third in a couple of months." Loren and Eric got into conversation, and John, sitting nearer to me leaned over and quietly asked "Find any of 'those' places last night?" "Oh yeah," I told him. "Eric and Jason would still be dancing if we didn't have to get up so early." "Who's Jason?" "One of our pilots?" "They're....?" I nodded. "You really shook me yesterday when you asked about bars," he said. "I just couldn't imagine you guys looking around for 'strange' stuff." I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, John," I told him. "We don't play around AT ALL, but sometimes it's fun to be around our 'own kind'." "That makes me feel a lot better! You two are so obviously in love that I couldn't believe my ears yesterday, but I got the whole thing wrong. Sorry." "It's a shame that so many people think that just because we're gay, we'll jump anybody's bones. That just isn't the case in reality," I told him. "By the way, if it's OK with you, our pilots would like to go with us today. They won't get in the way," I promised. "No problem at all," he said. "I kind of figured that you'd want to show Loren around, then we can talk to him after he's seen everything." "That'll work," John said. We landed in Prescott, and pulled up to the waiting chopper. The plane was locked up and the chopper took off as soon as we were all strapped in. Neither Ron nor Jason ever asked any questions. I figured that they'd like a little background information on what they were going to see, so explained that this land was owned by the Railroad, and we were doing some exploration work to find out if there was anything of value in 'them thar hills', and as a result had found the gold deposit. I also mentioned that this "find" wouldn't be made public for a while. They understood what that meant. We set down on top of the cliff. John and Loren headed for the core samples that were still on the big tarp, Eric and I led Ron and Jason over to one of the drilling rigs. Eric introduced them to the drillers. He had a knack with names, hearing them once then never forgetting them, knowing every driller by name. We explained what was going on and what they'd found. They asked a lot of questions, and surprisingly, we had most of the answers. One of the rigs had just pulled a core from the 330 foot level. We watched as they pushed the core out, and heard the "Aha!" when the seam of gold showed up where it was supposed to. Ron and Jason were fascinated, carefully examining the baggie with all the glittery stuff in it. John was waving at us so we went back to the chopper. It took us to the flat below. John and Loren went in their own direction. Eric explained about the seismic slip, and how the seam continued down there, but was 300 feet below the surface. The four of us found soft rocks to sit on and waited while Loren and John looked everything over. "I've seen everything I need to, for now," Loren said when they walked up. He turned and stared at the base of the cliff for a few minutes. "I've made a decision, too. The wife's going to kill me, but I'd like to be in this with you all the way." Eric and I rose to shake his hand. John stood there beaming. "Do you want to talk here, or go back to Prescott and find a cool place?" Loren asked. "Let's go," Eric piped up. We piled on the chopper again. "Why do you use Prescott?" Loren asked. "There are several towns a lot closer." "It's the closest one with a runway that'll handle our plane," Ron explained. In Prescott, John offered to return to the hills so Loren could talk with us, but I insisted he stay. He was very much a part of this whole thing, and the last thing I wanted was for him to feel left out. We took one of the town's few taxis to what the driver swore was the best restaurant around. Ron and Jason said they had work to do, politely bowing out. After ordering, Loren got right to the point. "In my opinion, John has made one of the major finds of the century. Of course, that remains to be seen, but I'm extremely optomistic. "Now, I have a couple of questions before we go any further. Do you have the money to develop the mine, and how in hell did you manage to get hold of that land, and just exactly who am I dealing with?" John was chuckling, and Eric responded. "First, you're dealing with a family company owned by Dave, his two daughters and me. Second, we got the land through our recent purchase of the Railroad for roughly $4 billion dollars, cash, and that should answer the first part of your question," he said with a grin. "I didn't know. I've never heard of you guys before," Loren said. "That's intentional," I said. "We keep a low profile. If you want personal or bank references, we'll be happy to provide them." "If John thinks you're OK, that's good enough for me. Now that that's settled, let's talk about what we're going to have to do. John's idea of digging a ramp down to the seam is about the best. To get to the rest, we'll have to sink shafts, which will be expensive, but well worthwhile if we prove that the other is as rich as we believe it to be. "Before we can move in heavy equipment, we'll have to have an Environmental Impact Report prepared and approved by the proper authorities. The fact that you're willing to return the site to it's original state will mitigate damages to the landscape. By the way, I commend you on that. "Since there is very little rainfall in that area, the danger of pollution is minimal and shouldn't be a problem. "That takes care of the Officials, and, depending on how fast we get the EIR, should get rubber-stamp approval." "What kind of timeframe?" I asked while he was getting his breath. "Sixty to ninety days with a little luck." "Then, what do you propose?" I asked. "Dig down to the quartz strata, prove that the gold is there. After that, we start doing some mining. We blast our way in, and start taking ore out. The formation above the quartz is stable, so we won't have to do a lot of shoring. "OK. Now we have ore. What do we do with it?" He paused to take a drink of water then continued. "If the cores are giving us a true picture, it's going to be enormously high-grade, but even high-grade costs a lot of money to transport. "I'd suggest that the primary processing be done on-site, set up on the flat below the cliff and concentrate it down to around 80% metal, then take it somewhere else for refining. At that level, it would probably even be economical to chopper it out. "All of the machinery for primary processing is electric, so we'd have to bring that in. That's going to take time and money too, but I don't think we should start that until it's proven. It's a helluva lot cheaper to string a power line than it is to build roads." "When do we start?" Eric asked. "Hold your water there, young feller," Loren told him with a grin. "That gold isn't going anywhere, and, if my guess is right, it's going to take at least 20 years of mining to get it all." Our lunch was served, so we talked and ate, Loren throwing out more and more suggestions on how it should be done. "If you want to do it right, I think you're looking at about $20 million to get started," Loren said. "It'll take about a half million to get the report and the ramp dug. By then we'll know whether to go ahead with everything else." "And you'd be interested in running it for us?" I asked. "I think it's time to talk about money," he answered. "Here's where I leave," John said. "I'll grab a taxi back to the airport." Eric and I got up to shake hands and thank him for everything. We agreed to remain in close touch. He gave Loren his mobile phone number and warned him not to "gouge" us. "I think I can do a good job for you," Loren started, "and I really want this job because I think you've got one of the most exciting projects that I've ever seen." He threw out a salary figure which was a lot lower than I expected. We made a deal on the spot. "I hear you named it the "Lovebird" Mine," he said. "We didn't, John's crew did," Eric said. "I'm not even going to ask for an explanation. No doubt I'll hear, sooner or later." Loren's first job would be to arrange for the EIR to be prepared. After that, he would prepare a detailed report on the steps he planned to take toward making the mine a reality, along with cost estimates. "Remember one thing," he told us, "the minute the EIR is filed, what we're doing will become public knowledge. There'll have to be hearings, but since nobody else owns land close, they'll be for the record only. Chances are that nobody'll notice, but there's always a chance that it'll become a big story." "Just let us know so we can be prepared," I asked. We took Loren back to Phoenix, then started home. Eric snuggled up to me. "I don't think anybody in the whole business world moves as fast as we do," he said. "It's barely been 48 hours since we learned we even had a mine, and we're just about ready to start digging." "Not quite," I chuckled. "Things are happening, though. We're going to have a lot of fun explaining the name they gave it." "I love it," he giggled. "It's true, you know. We ARE lovebirds, and I hope we stay that way forever." "It really meant a lot to me. Probably the first time anyone outside our close friends recognized what we have together. I got all choked up when they told us." - - - - - "Where the hell have you guys been?" Annie greeted us with a big smile. "We'll tell you when Bill and Tina get here," I told her. When we emerged from showering they were all waiting. "I couldn't wait for seven o'clock," Bill said. "I know you guys are up to something." "Tell us," Tina begged. "Don't make us wait any longer." "Get a drink, and get comfortable," I suggested. "This is a long story." While everybody got settled, I closed the double doors to the den. "This must be serious," Bill commented. "In the beginning..." I started, winking at Eric. "Oh come on, Dad," Annie groaned. I was in a playful mood, and they were anxious. "Annie, do you remember when we were looking into the Railroad's land holdings?" "Yes." "Do you remember that we found a lot of land scattered all over the Southwest?" "Vaguely, yes," she answered. "I don't think any of the rest of you know about it. I mentioned it to Eric, and he wasn't terribly enthusiastic, so I said to myself 'to hell with all of you, I'll do it myself'." I paused to take a couple of sips from my drink. "Unbeknownst to any of you, I made a few trips." "When was this?" Bill asked. "While we were trying to buy the Railroad," I said, "quite a while before we actually got it. I made a copy of your parcel list, Annie, and took it to a Geologist. "He and his crew went to work on it. None of you may know this, but the U.S. Geological Survey has made an inventory of the resources of the entire country. Maps of the Railroad's property were overlaid over USGS maps to get an idea if any of it might have any mineral value. "They concentrated on the State of Arizona. The first thing I learned was that one of the pieces of land contained a major deposit of copper that several big mining companies were salivating over. That one is pretty common knowledge. "During the time we were bidding against Edgar, he evidently told one of his partners about it, and they rushed to Arizona to have it evaluated. The Geologist and I got pretty nervous over this, thinking that they'd realize the real value there and push the bidding for the Railroad out of sight, but instead, they lost interest, thankfully." I stopped for a few more sips. "Come on, Dad, pleeeeease..." Tina begged. I winked at Eric and continued. "About the time that we got control of the Railroad, I told Eric what I'd been doing. He's been in on it ever since. We found out that there were a lot of 'Probable' sites on the land that we now controlled, and started digging around. That's where Eric and I went the last time we disappeared. We were camping out in the Arizona desert. "At that point, we controlled a majority of the stock in the Railroad, but we weren't 'in control', so what we were doing, if you want to split hairs, was trespassing on the Railroad's land. If Edgar had caught us, there could have been a helluva stink, but we were lucky." "Oh come on, get to the point!" Annie said, exasperated. I nodded to Eric to go from there. "Well," he said, "we got a call Sunday that they'd found something, not exactly what they were looking for." "What ARE you looking for?" Tina asked. "Copper, zinc, molybdenum, lead, something like that," he answered. "Then what did you find?" Bill asked. "Gold." "Nuggets? What?" Annie asked. "Oh, a couple of nuggests. We've got the little one over there," he said pointing at the frame which was turned toward the wall. "The other one was too big to bring home." "How big is it?" Bill asked. "Oh, about seven inches thick, and it covers about forty acres," he said dryly. "You're kidding, of course?" Bill said. "Nope, and there's another teenie weenie one that's only four inches thick right above it, about the same size." Annie and Tina were looking at each other. I could tell the look. They were wondering if we'd gone off the deep end. Bill asked the question for all three of them. "Are you guys on LSD or something like that?" I started laughing and Eric got a fit of giggles. That really didn't help our credibility at all. They just stared at us like one does at unruly children. We laughed harder at the expressions on their faces. Eric continued laughing, and I tried to get under control. "Seriously," I said, "we did find gold." "But surely not in the quantity that Eric told us," Bill said. "Maybe more," I told him, dead serious now. "We haven't determined the full extent of the seam yet. As one of the Geologists said, 'Like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps on going'." "Unbelievable," Bill said shaking his head. "Leave it to you guys." - - - - - To be continued. AUTHOR'S NOTE: I appreciate hearing your comments on the story, my writing, and anything you would like to offer - good or not so good. Send me a message at orrinrush@yahoo.com and also let me know if you would like to be included on my "alert" mailing list for new postings.