Waste Not, Want Not,Chapter VII

In the days that followed the people carried on their normal lives and ran they ranch as they would have when the old patron was alive. They tended their crops and raised the cattle and as days stretched into weeks and then months they began to feel as though the past was behind them and they could lead normal lives.
One day the flood of uncertainty returned in the person of Fito’s younger brother Pablo. Pablo had not lived at the ranch since his father died.
Pablo went to the ranch house and sent for Miguel, who was working as ranch foreman. Miguel told Pablo about the events leading up Fito’s death and about his disappearance. He did not mention El Indio.
Pablo had turned away from life on the ranch. He moved to Miami and loved the life of the city and the high life. He was blowing through his inheritance but was still well set up financially.
It was said he was a joto, that he slept with men and that he lived a life of drunken debauchery. True or not one thing was clear in his mind. He wanted nothing to do with the ranch or its operation. He wanted to return to his life of ease as soon as possible.
Pablo had the family attorney draw up a contract and made Miguel the official ranch foreman and then he left, saying he would be in touch.
Since that day life had passed here at the ranch with little change and no interference from the outside world. El Indio had come to live on the ranch and had built a small shack separate from the others and off in the trees. He served as curandero and advisor to the people in exchange for food, sewing and other small services. Mostly he kept to himself.
In the years since some people had left the ranch but most had stayed. Children were still born and raised here. Cattle were still raised and sold with some kept in the ranch herd for use by the people. Some of they young men worked on other ranches and

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some did work in town as carpenters, roofers, concrete workers or other trades. Everyday they would walk to the road and ride a bus sent for them by their employers. Some of the children attended school in town and they took the school bus.
“That is our story senor,” said Maria. “Why are you here asking these questions? Now I have a question for you. Do you work for Pablo?”
“No, I don’t work for Pablo,” said Paul. “I am the new owner of the ranch. Pablo apparently put the ranch up for mortage and defaulted. I purchased the note from the bank.”
“We are good workers here senor and we will serve you well, as we always have. You will be pleased with our labors.”
“I must be going now,” he said. “Thank you for your hospitality and for telling me your story. I will see you again and meet with the others soon. Good day.”
With that he left and took a drive around some of the rest of the place. He saw gardens, pastures, a small herd grazing, A large amount of land, perhaps most of it, had been left uncleared and in a natural state. In a brief period he saw deer and even a wild turkey, which were usually very shy creatures.
He spent most of the day looking around and as the sun was getting low in the sky he headed back to the ranch house for some supper. He wrestled with the problem of the people being here. He didn’t want to have people on the place, it would interfere with his plans. He wasn’t heartless, he didn’t want to cause trouble for these folks but they would have to go.
Back now in his kitchen he selected a TV dinner and popped it in the microwave. He needed to relax and he turned on the TV for the nightly news. Of course the big story was the decision just rendered by the Supreme Court in the case of Gore V. Bush. The court had found in favor of G.W. Bush and he would now become the next President.

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“His daddy put some of those clowns on the Court, they better vote the right way!” he thought.
There was much speculation about the makeup of the incoming administration and what sort of policies the new President would pursue. Paul was not speculating, he had a good idea what they would be like.
After supper Paul decided that he needed to get to work. Productivity was his answer to the blue funk he found himself in. He opened his safe and drew out an attaché case. Seated at his desk he opened it and drew out a thick dossier with the title “Waste Not, Want Not.”
Only a few, selected people in the D.O.D and a small list of Congressmen and Senators knew about this project. The President elect was not in on it, yet. “Should be no problem there,” thought Paul. Paul knew the President-elect would want to keep himself “out of the loop,” because he would want to honestly claim “plausible deniability” if the thing blew up and besides, he knew the President-elect wasn’t much of a hands on type of guy anyway, he was happy to delegate to others the nuts and bolts stuff.
He also knew the Vice-President elect, Dick Cheney, personally. He had known him as a Congressman, as Secretary of Defense for Bush I and, of course, as former president of Halliburton.
Paul was fully versed on the project, it was his baby! He had been on board from the start and had originated the idea. This document was the project summary and plan for implementation. He had had this copy placed here by Conrad who had done the overseeing for the renovation of the ranch house.
The first paragraph read:
“The following material contains full outlines and details of the project to be known as Waste Not, Want Not. This is a black program and all necessary measures will be taken to carryout the letter of the plan and all security measures will be in place to protect the secrecy of this plan and this document.
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This plan concerns the storage of fissionable materials, hot wastes and all other weapons grade nuclear materials. Provisions also include storing of warheads and other sensitive equipment and technology. These materials will need to be beyond the reach of United Nations, Allied or other foreign inspectors. This operation is outside of the government structure so is obviously extremely sensitive and must be kept under wraps well beyond established security practices.
Since this operation will likely be in direct violation of arms treaties and agreements currently in effect it should be self evident that the utmost secrecy and care be taken in all phases of the operation and all personnel will work on a “need to know” basis.”
He read on through the manuscript which covered details he was already well versed in. His role at this moment was simple. He was going to establish a presence here on this ranch but as low key as possible. He wanted to verify the geological report he had obtained and get a feel for the place. Paul’s past experience, in the military, intelligence operations and the oil patch would serve him in good stead for a project like this.