“A few hours.”
Noah called. “Captain, they’re setting up poker tables in Dockside.”
“Cool.”
Then Tess came running up. “They’re playing with my birds.”
“So charge them.” Garrett was glad for the bustle, scary as it was to have people wandering around outside his command. He turned on the PA system and said, “Everyone, relax.”
Later, he saw two of the prostitutes drinking with the tourists. All these visitors were making him uptight. Things came to a head at noon, in the makeshift bar and casino Dockside had become. He was sipping soda and trying to be a good host while keeping an eye on the place. A cheer went up from a wooden craps table, making him smile even though a drunk was nearly leaning on him.
“You gotta take me diving, man. I’ve gone waterskiing with my buddies, and we were fine. Can’t be any harder to swim with an air tank.”
“Sorry, no. And you’re leaving soon. Come back another day.”
The guy leaned close enough to put beer breath in Garrett’s face. Garrett wondered if he’d ever done that to someone himself. “Truth is, I don’t wanna leave. Don’t wanna face the old lady again, y’know?”
Garrett sighed. “We have rooms for rent, and you can buy a ride back.”
“No, no, I mean I wanna work here.”
“We use farmhands to tend the plants and fish.” Garrett added, “You wouldn’t like it.”
“I’m an engineer, like you! I can do the techna — the stuff that needs doing.”
Garrett stepped away, saying, “We’re not hiring engineers right now. But it’s been nice having you here.”
“Hey, man, I’ve got a right to work!”
Garrett looked down at the blitzed engineer.
The man said, “I got a right to live where I want, and make a living livin’ there. So you’ve got to hire me. When can I start?”
Gibberish. Garrett smiled down at him and walked away.
It was quiet when that bunch left. Garrett watched Pilgrim women talk with the hookers, not quite arguing, then retired to his office to get some work done.
A Cuban official called. “Hello, Captain Fox. Glad to see that your experimental free trade zone is prospering.” He introduced himself as Domingo, Director of Social Welfare.
“Thanks.” Garrett watched the black man on the screen and silently asked Tess and Zephyr to get background info. “I was half-expecting the police.”
“Perhaps you still should. A number of your actions could be construed as illegal.”
“I’m going to have to refer you to my partner Martin Gil for legal matters.”
The official smiled. “There’s no need for formality. For now we’re interested in developing a good relationship. We even have some workers for you.”
Warily Garrett said, “Yes?”
“Cuba has housing and employment issues. Most American visitors are less enterprising than you. They build mansions on the island and drive land values through the roof, instead of adding land to our territory. You’ve made creative use of that license we granted. So, we can both benefit by our giving you a few dozen of our citizens.”
“As what? With what training and resources?”
“Any job will do. We value Castor as a source of jobs, a business that can be a good corporate citizen.”
Garrett was liking this less and less. “We need time and money to expand. If you’d like to invest, maybe we can arrange something, but I can’t hire new crew right this minute.”
“We can make an investment, but while we wait for the equipment you need, we’ll have your station provide a place for them to stay.”
Guardedly, Garrett quoted the hotel rate. Meanwhile, info on Domingo came up. He’d made a name for himself by calling for massive taxation of the island’s banks and insurance firms, angling for higher office for himself.
The official said, “We’ll pay a stipend until they can start working. Then we’ll expect housing, health care and so on. Standard employment terms.”
“We’re not a standard employer. We can’t afford your terms. But once we have the money for equipment, we’ll be happy to interview anyone you recommend.”
Domingo looked at him like a teacher with an unruly pupil. “I’m not sure you understand the situation, Captain. We’re handing this venture gently by nudging you in the direction of appropriate behavior. It would be helpful if you’d play along, so that other, more forceful voices can’t overrule me.”
“Ah,” said Garrett, getting the drift. “You’re the ‘good cop’. Look, we can’t live up to your standards of employment, but we’re not bad guys. We’ll provide honest, low-end work for your citizens to the extent that we’ve got a big enough farm and enough housing to make it profitable to hire them.”
“Profit isn’t the issue here. We need you to start being responsible.”
“Responsible for who?”
Domingo looked bewildered. “For everyone, of course.”
Soon he visited Cuba again, getting funny looks. Garrett felt like an alien, with people whispering as he made his way to Eaton’s favorite bar.
Eaton had let his hair grow and had a ridiculous Jimmy Buffett shirt, but still made every movement with discipline. “I’m surprised you came,” said Eaton.
Garrett took a seat at the corner table with him, enjoying the December breeze — finally cool but still humid. “As far as I can tell, there’s been no legal action in Cuba. Yet.”
“So why send yourself instead of an underling for — why are you here, anyway?”
“For advice.” Garrett told Eaton about the talk with the government official. “How do I placate people without being totally obedient?”
Eaton laughed. “Diplomacy isn’t my strong suit. I’m just an old ex-Marine.”
“I thought war was ‘politics by other means’.”
“Actually, what Clausewitz said was more like, ‘politics and other means’. Conflict is a smooth gradation from social snubs, to lawsuits, to arming a nation’s enemies, to open fighting. There’s only been one time that we’ve used the ultimate sanction of strategic nukes.”
“Never say ‘ultimate’ to an engineer,” said Garrett. “We’ll prove you wrong.”
“That’s why you have the attention of two world governments.” Eaton laughed. “God, I’ve been away too long. I’m equating this flyspeck island with the States!”
Garrett was missing home too, but he needed to focus. “Speaking of America, what’s the status of your biotech project?”
Eaton drank. “Physically ready to deploy. The paperwork keeps getting ‘lost’, though. I’m hoping that the people involved will have the balls to go, at a moment when they can claim they thought everything was in order. Expect the research team to arrive without warning, if at all.”
Garrett was getting sick of the machinations that seemed to surround Castor. “How much bureaucracy did you have to put up with in the Marine Corps?”
Eaton shrugged. “It’s a big government organization. Sometimes you get chickenshit officers more interested in their own power than in doing their job, same as anywhere, but you find ways to get things done. You learn to act on your own initiative. The people you’re having trouble with aren’t evil, generally speaking.”
“What should I be doing, then? I’ve got a barely-profitable main business of farming and tourism, I’ve opened the door to druggies and the like, and I’ve apparently turned both Cuba and America against me.”