Summoned Again?

I only watched the men work for ten minutes before I bid Nickolas a good day. I corralled Crystal and managed to get her into Vika's car. I had considered standing there to watch them count all of that gold and then decided it was better to get to the bank and have the money transferred into my personal account. Having a net gain of almost 5 billion dollars was going to make my account manager faint... until she found out what I was doing with my gold. She might have a heart attack instead.

I chuckled and Vika glanced at me, so I let her know what I was thinking. She laughed and told me that she had several visits by a government representative to ask why she was shipping all of the mine's current production out of the country.

“What did you say to him?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I told him I worked for a foreign company and that he needed to contact you, since you own the mine, the mineral rights, and even the expansion rights to wherever the diamond and gem veins led.” Vika said.

I chuckled again. “I bet he didn't like that.”

“Less and less during each visit.” Vika said with a grin. “Apparently, he and the previous owner had an... arrangement... and he was upset that he wasn't getting his cut of the bribes we paid to the government.”

I laughed. “He's probably why the mine was running at a deficit the first time.”

Vika nodded. “He and the previous owner were... what is the term? Grafting? Groofting?” She laughed. “Whatever it was, they were not properly recording the comings and goings of the mine's output and cost of operation and skimmed off whatever they wanted from both ends.”

“No wonder the loans against the place were so high and the interest rates to pay it back were ridiculous.” I said and shook my head. “If I didn't have to pay them off to operate the mine, I would have let both men take the fall and go to jail for fraud. How could they think that running the place into the ground was a good idea?”

“They are small men and severely short-sighted.” Vika said as she parked in front of the bank. “Even a moderately competent person could operate the place and break even.”

I turned in the seat and gave her Angel's professional smile. “You are very far beyond a moderately competent person.”

Vika saw my smile and blushed at my words. “I still can't date my boss.”

“Even though you want to.” I said and her blush deepened. “I know that having billions of dollars is just a bit hard for an ambitious woman to resist.”

“Even though I'm going to be a millionaire in less than seven months if you keep giving me raises and bonuses, you're right. The money you have access to is... is staggering.”

I reached over and pat her hand on the steering wheel. “I better not tell you that I'm going to the World Bank next.”

Vika's mouth dropped open and she stared at me with wide eyes.

“Yep, I shouldn't have told you.” I said with a laugh and stepped out of the car. I grabbed Crystal from the back, who looked very happy to be brought along, and I went inside the bank holding her hand. I walked over to the side where a woman sat at a desk. “Hi, I'm a bit early for my scheduled appointment.” I said and nodded at Crystal. “Is Amanda busy right now?”

The woman smiled and picked up her phone. “Hi, Amanda. I'm sorry to bother you. Your one o'clock appointment is here early and wonders if you're busy right now.”

“No!” I clearly heard over both the phone and with my ears as the sound carried from her office.

“I'll send him right in.” The woman said and looked like she was trying to stop herself from laughing. She hung up the phone and looked at me. “Please, go right in. She's in the corner office now.”

“Thank you.” I said and walked by her and over to the new office. I knocked and the door opened immediately.

“Mr. Smith... Damon.” Amanda said and waved me inside. “Is this the famous Crystal you keep mentioning?”

Crystal held a hand out for her to shake and Amanda laughed softly and shook it.

“It's very nice to meet you.” Amanda said and we sat down at her desk. “I assume you managed another gold for money exchange?”

“Yes, and I hope the bank has a nicer office than this for you to move into.” I joked and handed over the transfer paperwork.

“I just got approval for this office.” Amanda laughed softly again and started reading the documents. “I sincerely doubt that...” She stopped talking and took several ragged breaths. “This... I need to...” She started typing on her computer and kept referencing the paperwork. It took her nearly ten minutes to work it out, and then she sat back in her chair with a stunned look on her face.

“Did it go through?” I asked and she nodded. “What kind of bonuses are you going to get now?”

“They might just give me the bank.” Amanda said before she could stop herself, then she gasped and looked at me. “Ah! I mean... um... never mind.”

I chuckled. “I'm glad I could make you happy.” I said. “Can you put a billion into the slush fund for the corporation and mark it down as an investment?”

Amanda nodded and typed for about thirty seconds. “It's done.” She said and looked at me again. “I can't believe I just moved a billion dollars from one account into another like it was a normal transfer.”

That made me laugh. “I'll let you know when I have any other deposits to make.”

“There might be more?” Amanda asked, surprised.

“Nickolas is going to look for more backers that want gold and when he lets me know, I'll let you know.” I said and stood as I held a hand out to her. “Thank you for seeing me so quickly.”

Amanda stood and took my hand to shake it. “Thank you for choosing us for your banking needs.”

“My broker recommended you. Since he's a great businessman and can handle my... eccentricities, I knew you would be the best choice for handling all of this.”

Amanda smiled and let my hand go. “I look forward to hearing from you again soon.” She looked down at Crystal. “I hope you can come back, too.” She said and pointed to a candy dish on her desk. “Help yourself. They're soft and chewy and taste really good.”

Crystal beamed a smile at her and dug her little hand into the dish and grabbed a handful, which turned out to be six wrapped candy. She quickly split them up and tucked them all over her person, in hidden pockets in her little dress, under the sash like things around her waist, and two went down her top.

Amanda had to bite her lip to stop her laugh. “Goodbye, Crystal.”

“BYE!” Crystal yelled and we left the office with Amanda's unrestrained laughter behind us.

Vika had waited patiently for us and I put Crystal in the back of the rental car and I climbed into the front. We drove away from there and went to the other bank that I wasn't sure I could talk to right away. I was sure that I needed to have the deposit in the federal reserve before they would agree to meet with me, considering what it was that I wanted to finance.

I hoped that having five billion in the bank, not counting the billion I just put into the slush fund, would be enough to confirm my intent and get my foot in the door. If it wasn't, I'd have to wait for a week before I could get the arrangements for the gold to be delivered properly and then would have to wait to get another appointment with the World Bank.

We parked and I asked Vika to come inside with us, because it concerned her as well. She looked surprised at that and followed us in, probably out of curiosity. I didn't lie, though. We approached the desk and I gave the man there my name and the time of my appointment.

He checked his records and saw that I did have an appointment for that afternoon. “You are very early for your appointment, Mr. Smith.” The man said with a perfect American accent.

“I know. Things kind of accelerated on me today and I had to rush a bit. I was hoping I could get squeezed in to see the representative, even if it's just an information session and we can't handle the details until this afternoon.”

The man gave me a skeptical look, looked at Vika with a softer expression, then he looked down at Crystal. He smiled at her and typed up a few things on his computer. It took him a couple of minutes before he nodded.

“Mr. Jackson can meet briefly in ten minutes, then he has another client ten minutes after that.”

“That's great. Thank you.” I said. “Is there a meeting room for us to go to or should we wait here?”

“Second floor, straight ahead down the hallway from the elevator, and third door on the right.” The man said. “He will be in to visit you there.”

I nodded and picked Crystal up, because it was going to be a long walk if the outside of the huge building was any indication. She hugged my neck and we went to the elevator and rode it up to the second floor, then we went down the long hallway and the doors were about thirty feet apart. We entered the third door and it was a cross between an office and a conference room, which was really weird for meeting a bank representative.

Of course, I had dropped Teddy into the room in the corner as we entered and when I put Crystal down, she let out a giggle and ran right over to him, then proceeded to drag him over to every window in the room to look out. She didn't say what she was looking for, though.

Vika didn't bat an eye at the eight foot tall teddy bear, probably attributing it to the bank being prepared. She sat down at the table next to the main office desk and I sat beside her, mainly because it was as good a place as any to sit, since I didn't know where I was supposed to sit in such a large space.

The door opened and a black man with a very short haircut came into the room. He wore a very expensive grey suit and had a gold watch on his wrist. He also had several file folders in his hands and he walked over to the office desk and sat down. He spread out the folders and then clasped his hands and rested them on the folders, as if he was waiting for something.

Vika and I exchanged looks when the man didn't say anything, so I figured I needed to speak.

“Are you waiting for someone else?” I asked him.

“Hm?” He looked at us. “Oh, I was waiting for the rest of your people. We can't conduct a proper meeting without everyone present.”

Vika and I exchanged surprised looks this time.

“Actually, it's just me.” I said. “I wanted the meeting.”

The black man looked slightly confused. “But... I was told that...” He opened one of the folders and read the top sheet. “Your corporation is depositing a large sum of gold into the federal reserve bank to be used as collateral.”

“A lot of it's personal, because I gained it before the corporation was established.” I said. “There's only about 375 tons from the corporation's assets so far and the other 1,350 tons are mine.”

The man looked shocked. “But... but...”

“You were expecting a whole entourage, weren't you?” I asked and the man nodded. “It's just me, so does that change your presentation?”

The man closed the folder and opened the next one. He read it over and took out a pen and started marking things and writing notes. He did this for several minutes and then smiled as he looked at me.

“It'll change the meeting itinerary significantly if we only have to deal with a single person and not an entire committee of board members.” He said. “I only have a few minutes left before my next appointment, so we have just enough time for you to tell me what your goal is with 170 billion dollars as collateral.”

“My first goal is to buy my associate's country.” I said and touched Vika's hand. She gasped and whipped her head around to stare at me.

The black man looked just as shocked as her. “You... want to buy... a country.”

“I assume it's possible, especially since I could probably afford to buy it with only part of my deposit.” I said. “I have no idea how to proceed past that, however. The logistics, the country's actual debt... which I assume you hold... or how I can put the country at my disposal when I pay it off and own all of the assets, the GDP (gross domestic production), and everything else.”

The man sat there and didn't look like he could speak.

Vika looked to be in a similar state, except that she recovered quicker. “Damon, you can't seriously think that you can buy an entire country.”

“Why not? It's not like I want to run the place. Everyone can keep their jobs, as long as they aren't corrupt or ripping the country off. They'll be fired and new people will be brought in to handle their jobs competently.”

Vika took a deep breath and let it out. “What of the military? How will you handle them when you buy out the civilian government?”

“They are supposed to serve the people, so if they know what's good for them, they'll listen and will benefit just as much, if not more than the normal citizens.” I said. “I've been planning this for a while. I've got tentative plans to handle the take over and...”

“A country is not a rival business.” The black man said.

I smiled. “Ah, but it is. It's damn near identical to a corporation with a very similar setup.”

“No, that... it's not...” The man's words trailed off.

“I think our time's up.” I said and stood. “I'll be back this afternoon for the real appointment.”

Crystal left Teddy by the window and ran over to me. I picked her up and stored the bear when no one was looking.

“Vika, let's go back to the airport to confirm the gold delivery and then grab something to eat. It's been a long day so far and it might get longer later.”

Vika didn't say anything as she stood and followed us out of the meeting room. She stayed quiet all the way back out to the car. She handed me the keys silently and went to the passenger side of the rental car. I chuckled and put Crystal in the back and drove us back to the airport. I checked the manifests and the other planes had made their deliveries to the hangar already.

I quickly counted the gold bars, the number of tons unloaded from the planes and the total in the hangar, and they matched. I was relieved, because I wasn't sure what I would do if any of them had been missing. I ushered everyone out of the hangar and had them lock everything up, because no one else needed to get inside. As I left the building, I stored the pallets of gold in a progressive line to the door.

When that last door shut and was secured, all of the gold that should have been inside, was now in my inventory. I had no worries that any would be stolen, like I had while it was arriving. That was the scary part of the deliveries like this. They could be intercepted or stolen at any point in the process, like the two trucks they tried to take from me earlier that day. I even stored the five containers of raw gems.

Vika, Crystal, and I left the airport and I drove again to take us to a nice restaurant that Stephanie and Bethany had enjoyed. We had a great meal, even though Vika was just as quiet as she had been since my revelation.

I texted Stephanie and Bethany and told them what I might need for the actual appointment in an hour and they promised to be there with the corporations projected income over the next year, along with the stock prices and the shares sold. Just like the resale value on the limited run pendants we had sold, the exponential growth of the stock price was getting ridiculous.

“You can't really buy my country, can you?” Vika asked as I drove us to the appointment.

“Not in the normal sense.” I said and she gave me a look. “I can pay off all the debt it has accumulated and then I can call in that debt, put the country into receivership or a state of bankruptcy. I'll own all the assets the country has when the World Bank bails it out, assuming it doesn't claim the country for itself.”

“It can do that?” Vika asked. “It's a country!”

“The World Bank has been buying and renting countries for decades. It's an asset. It also knows it's a money losing proposition to run a country on its own, so it's better to loan money to the governments of nations and let them pay interest on that loan for... well, ever. They can never pay back debts that large.”

“How... how large?” Vika asked.

“After a bit of digging by my great assistants, your country is up to almost a trillion and a half dollars of national debt.” I said and she caught her breath. “That's not including companies that have operating loans through the government to the World Bank.”

Vika let out a shuddering breath. “How did it get to that point?”

“Easily. The more money you owe, the more money they lend you.” I said and she looked at me with wide eyes. “As long as you keep making the payments on time, you have a great credit rating and can borrow more money against the principle loan... assuming the resulting payments are less than the gross domestic production of the entire country. They won't approve a loan if you can't make the basic payments.”

Vika seemed to sink into her seat and stared out the windshield.

“Hey, don't worry. It's not going to be bad.” I said and she didn't react. <Viktoria!> I exclaimed in Russian and she hopped up and looked at me with surprise on her face. “I'm going to do my best to make the standard of living there much higher than it already is.”

Vika shook her head. “You can't do anything about the unemployment rate or the amount of homeless people that...”

“I have access to businesses from all around the world, Vika. I have assets in eight countries, not counting the US until the mining rights are finally granted to my smelting manager.” I said. “When everyone sees what I'm going to do with that country, they will be begging to open up new businesses and factories.”

“Really?” Vika asked.

“I'll be subsidizing everything as well, so their costs will be reduced. Everyone in the country will be prosperous and will have the lives they can be proud to tell their children about.”

Vika was going to respond until I pulled into the parking lot of the World Bank. Stephanie and Bethany stepped out of the corporation car and came over to us. They both wore identical business suits and skirts, had their hair professionally done, and looked spectacular.

I stepped out of the rental and wasn't surprised when they both ignored me completely and went to the car.

“Hi, Crystal!” Stephanie and Bethany said at the same time and Stephanie opened the back door.

“Damon's told us so much about you.” Bethany said and unbuckled her. “You're even prettier than he said!”

Crystal giggled and stepped out of the car.

“I love your laugh.” Bethany said and bent down. “Can I have a hug?”

Crystal looked at me and I nodded. She gave Bethany a hug and Stephanie bent down to get one, too.

“Damon was right, you give the best hugs.” Stephanie said and Crystal blushed a little. “Come on, let's go buy your Uncle Damon a country.” She said and held a hand down for her to take.

“Kay.” Crystal said and accepted the hand while Bethany took her other hand.

“Beth.” Stephanie said and winked as they started to walk.

“One... two... three!” Bethany said and she and Stephanie swung Crystal up into the air like a trapeze artist.

“WHEEEEE!” Crystal yelled and laughed as she was swung back just as far and then landed softly on her feet between Bethany and Stephanie. “AGAIN!”

Both of them laughed and did the same swinging motion with their arms and Crystal had the best time.

We were told to go to a different room for the meeting and we went there, Crystal laughed and swung on the girls' arms the whole way, and we went into a much smaller meeting room.

The black man was there with a woman who was less than average looking. I wasn't sure if it was the permanent frown that looked etched onto her face, her large bushy eyebrows and badly cut hair, or her skinny limbs and plump face. She was not appealing in the least, which seemed like a huge departure from the normal to good looking people I was so used to seeing.

The woman seemed to know what I was thinking. “I might not look as sexy as your... ahem... assistants; but, I can assure you that my knowledge and expertise is far beyond that of anyone else here at the bank.”

Bethany opened her mouth to speak and I held my hand up to stop her.

“It's all right. She doesn't realize she made the same mistake as she's assuming I made with her.”

“Excuse me?” The woman said and her frown became more pronounced, which I didn't think was possible.

“You assumed because my assistants are beautiful that they aren't smart or capable.” I said and nodded to a slightly blushing Stephanie. She took out the folder that she and Bethany had prepared and slid it across the table.

“We've been working on that for two weeks, so the data is both recent and reliable. It's subject to change within the next month or so, because the other assets have only recently increased to full production.” Stephanie said. “The innovations the first mine have implemented are increasing yield and quality across the board.”

“They... aren't competing?” The woman asked, surprised.

“No, they share information.” Bethany said. “Although, some of the ideas work much better in higher concentrated mines, all of the mines have benefited from the altered procedures, even the gem mine.”

“On the production side after they are extracted from the mine.” Stephanie added. “Most of the ore digging techniques can't be applied to such delicate materials.”

The woman looked up at both of them, then she tried to smile. It stretched her frown out and made it look more like a grimace. “I guess we were both wrong in our assumptions.”

“No, just you.” I said and sat down. Crystal sat next to me, Stephanie and Bethany sat on either side of us, and Vika sat on the end beside Bethany.

The woman frowned again. “What? You just said...”

“I said you assumed I was judging your competence. I wasn't.” I clarified and she looked like she didn't believe me. “I was judging your appearance and how I'm not sexually attracted to you.”

The woman looked surprised and started to stand. “I'll have you know that...”

“Back down.” The black man said and caught her arm before she stood up fully. “You asked.”

The woman scowled and sat back down with a huff.

“Sir, that was not an appropriate thing to say.” The black man cautioned me.

I held in my sigh. “I don't judge people like that normally or even say things like that out loud.” I explained. “However, she knew I was thinking something and I wasn't going to lie about it.”

“I might not look good; but, that doesn't mean I can't... what's that saying? I could rock your world.”

That statement made me raise my eyebrows and Stephanie and Bethany had to cover their mouths to hide their laughs. They knew exactly what it took to 'rock my world' and they must have thought that this older woman couldn't do it... and might not survive the attempt.

I smiled and nodded. “Shall we get to business?”

“You really want to buy a country?” The woman asked. “I've never had that happen before.”

I chuckled. “Uh huh. I'll refrain from bringing up all the times countries changed hands in the history of the world and only concentrate on all of the 'new' countries that have been popping up.” I said and nodded to Bethany. She slid over a much thicker folder.

“That has all of the branching countries that have broken away from other countries and came under new ownership.” Bethany said. “If you look at the index....”

What followed was an hour of trying to convince the bank that what it had been doing on its own, namely financing the creation of new countries under new owners, could be applied to me as well. I just wanted to take over ownership of the country.

“The government would never go for that.” The woman said. “As soon as you mention buying the country when we make the offer, the president would publicly deny it and it'll never be approved by the officials.”

“What about buying their debt?” I asked and she shook her head.

“We can't sell something like that for pennies on the dollar. We've had too much invested into that country's infrastructure to not get more than that back.”

“Wait, I can buy a country's debt for pennies on the dollar?” I asked, surprised.

The black man took in a sharp breath and the woman cursed under her breath.

“I mean, I'm not into money lending or anything...” I started to say.

“Wait.” The woman looked at the projections for the mines. “Even if we did agree, what you have here isn't enough to cover the payments.”

“What? Why not?”

“You're a first time client.” The black man said. “When your deposit is registered with the federal reserve, that should give you enough clout to negotiate for...” He glanced at the woman.

“Three quarters of a trillion dollars, no more.” The woman said. “That's only half of the national debt and doesn't include the debt accrued by the companies getting loans through the government.”

Which was exactly what I had said to Vika.

“So, my potential deposit will only let me negotiate for about four and a half times it's value?”

“Yes, because your proven income can only handle the payments for the loan of that amount.” The black man said.

“What if I took that loan and then paid off that loan?” I asked and they gave me surprised looks.

“You would establish good credit with us, then lose your credit rating.” The woman said. “It's calculated by the amount you owe and your ability to pay it back.”

I thought about that. “If my reasoning is right, if I double my deposit after getting the first loan, I can renegotiate and get four and a half times the amount of having 350 billion in gold in the bank on top of the original loan.”

The man and the woman exchanged knowing looks and looked back at me. They both nodded slightly and that let me figure out how a country could increase its debt well past the point that it could ever pay it off and only maintain the minimum payments.

I looked at Stephanie and Bethany and they nodded. They knew I needed to build credit to do what I wanted to do and this was the very first step.

“Let's do it.” I said.

“We can't do anything until we confirm your deposit in the federal reserve.” The woman said.

“Can we get the paperwork done, at least? I want to bring you the proof, or you can get the proof on your own, and I want to sign off on it and get the money.”

“What are you going to do with 750 billion dollars?” The black man asked, genuinely curious.

“I'm going to buy off the government of that country and have them sign the country over to me.” I said and Vika gasped. “I'll assume the country's debt, make another deposit into the federal reserve, then get another loan to pay it all off.”

“That's brilliant!” Stephanie exclaimed and then covered her mouth with her hands. Bethany laughed.

“What will my credit rating with the bank be like then?” I asked.

The woman leaned close to the black man and they whispered back and forth for nearly two minutes. They nodded to each other and then looked back at me.

“Sir, I believe we have a deal.” The black man said with a big smile.

*

So, that's what happened. I was a citizen of that country, thanks to some money and passing the written test. I lobbied the government and paid them all off with millions of dollars each. They introduced a bill to sign over the country to me, with all ownership rights for everything, including the country's debt, and the bill passed the next day without a single 'nay' vote.

The people were in an uproar at the announcement the day after that when I was given the proper documents publicly and declared the official owner of the country. A lot of the government officials were 'retired' the same day to hide their previous crimes and to live on the hefty bribes they had been paid.

After a very short political campaign, a whole bunch of new members were voted into office by the people. It was kind of a new thing for the people, to have almost direct representation in the government, which was going to rule over them. The new people wanted quick and immediate change to some of the laws and by-laws, policies, and other things that the government had their hands in.

The debates were heated and in some cases violent... and then the bills were passed. The president's term ended that month and a new figure seemed to appear from nowhere. He swept up the new nominations, as if he had paid them all off, and easily got into office. He realized something was off when he was handed his official list of duties and it was very different from the last president.

His effort was all for naught, because his office no longer had any political power.

He was only a figurehead, because everything was run by my corporation. We had assumed control and fully taken over nearly all facets of the government. It had all been very subtle and no one noticed. Since nearly all utilities were owned by the government and not rival companies, they were now our assets and we could do with them what we pleased. So, we upgraded them.

A lot of people were upset for several weeks as this all played out, until they started seeing the slow changes taking place. The streets were cleaner and were being repaired or replaced. Derelict buildings were demolished and either rebuilt or became parks and recreation areas. Businesses and jobs seemed to appear overnight and everyone seemed to be working. They were also happy.

The infrastructure was being rebuilt from the inside out as well, so by the time people noticed the consistent and abundance of power, better sewer systems and cleaner water, better health care, and better teachers in the schools, they had already accepted the changes without realizing it. The complaints about them losing their identity to a foreign owner were completely forgotten.

Thanks to some underhanded arm twisting, a hefty bribe to the warden of the prison, and a promise to let Crystal visit her on her birthday, Diane signed the form to let me take Crystal out of the country. I took her, Nat, Sandy, Susan, Susan's parents, Stephanie, Bethany, and Kathy and her new husband to my country and we spent the Christmas holidays together. We all had a great time and even stopped over in Paris for a week, at Susan's insistence, before coming home.

*

It had taken me almost six months to get to this point and to complete this step of my revenge plan. I had my foot firmly wedged into the door of the World Bank, had an excellent credit rating with them and almost 3 trillion dollars of debt, and had access to both the federal reserve bank and their storage facilities because of all the gold I was producing and shipping to them.

What I was going to do next would show the government agencies that no one messes with my family.

“I can't believe we're actually doing this.” Nat said, her voice filled with excitement as we drove in the lead truck of the convoy towards Fort Knox.

“You said you wanted in on it.” I said with a smirk.

“Of course I did.” Nat said. “You're my best friend and they screwed you over. We have to get back at them!”

My smirk became a smile. “You do realize what's going to happen when the president and the government get the paperwork, don't you?”

“Oh, yeah.” Nat said and grinned at me. “I can't wait to see their faces!”

I laughed. “Only if the bank reps allow us to come along.”

“Damon, you're their favorite client.” Nat said. “You used each division they had in the World Bank to make your country one of the best places to live in the world.”

“Well...”

“Don't belittle what you've done over there.” Nat said. “Even I'm tempted to move there!”

“I think a lot of people will be, once we do this.”

“You'll have to change your building practices to only making high rise buildings.” Nat responded.

“Ha! I doubt that'll hold everyone.”

“It's working for Japan so far.” Nat laughed and I laughed, too.

We came to a stop at the front gate and after a lengthy check of the paperwork and looking in the back to see the gold there, we were allowed in. The rest of the convoy came in behind us and we arrayed ourselves at the proper loading bay that we were directed to.

All of the trucks were loaded with gold, only most of them weren't full to capacity. They just looked like they were. They only really had a dozen pallets of actual gold and the rest were optical illusions using mirrors and refracted light. It was quite an ingenious magic trick and I had tried it on a large scale... and it worked perfectly. I could make a large warehouse look like it was filled with pallets of gold, with the judicious placement of mirrors and lighting, and a few token pallets for realism when looked at up close.

That's what we intended to do to Fort Knox. Nat and I had already done it to the other two storage facilities and the federal reserve bank, cleaning it out completely of any gold owned by the US. I didn't even consider doing it to any of the other countries and their gold reserves, because my revenge was only going to be on the US government for what they allowed to be perpetrated on me and kept trying to persuade me to cooperate.

The loading bay opened up and Nat and I stepped out of the vehicle. We had been there several times before, so we knew exactly the procedures they used and implemented for safety and for security. We were checked for weapons by the guards at the door and went inside.

“Ah, Mr. Smith and Miss Sampson.” A man said as we entered the loading area's office. “It's nice to see you again.”

“We've got another huge load for you to take.” Nat said with big grin.

“You're as bad as my drinking buddies!” The man said and laughed. “Have you got the inventory list?”

I handed it over and he checked it.

“Very nice. It's already logged. Give me a few minutes.”

“There's no rush. We expect to be here for a while.” I said and sat down.

The man smiled and got to work as the first truck began to be unloaded. He was done several minutes later and then put the list onto a clipboard and went out to the drop off area and randomly checked the pallets. He would grab a random bar and check the list for the serial number and nodded as he marked it, then marked off the pallet and waved to another forklift that would take it into the facility to my designated area.

The man looked out at all of the trucks waiting and he laughed. “You bastard! I'm going to be doing this for hours!”

“It's a good thing you love your job.” I joked and he laughed.

“Go and admire how much you have here already.” He said as the next pallet was dropped for him to check. “I know how much you both get a kick out of seeing it all in one place.”

“Knowing that I own it all is the kicker.” I said and put an arm over Nat's shoulders. “Come on, short and sexy. Let's go look at our stockpile of glittering madness.”

Nat laughed and I led her away from the loading area. A guard patrolled every few minutes while the facility was open to visitors and we greeted the ones we met on the way to our section. A few of the men we knew by name, because we tried to always come here at the same time and with the same schedule. Consistency was the key and appearing to be completely normal let us fit right in.

We reached our area and it was a sight to see. Pallets upon pallets, stacked ten high and fifty across and would be fifty out towards the center of the building with this latest load, filled a large portion of the area. Like the man at the dock said, it was amazing to see it all together like this.

“What's the total going to be with this latest load?” Nat asked.

“If my math is right and we fill it out to here.” I pointed to the floor in front of us. “I'll have 2.5 trillion dollars here.”

“Oh, my god.” Nat said with side eyes. “With what you have at the other two sites and ten percent of the total at the federal reserve bank for easy tracking...”

“...it's close to 4 trillion.” I said.

“With the compound interest from the bank, is that going to be enough?” Nat asked.

“After I fold it over into another loan agreement, it's going to just barely be enough.” I said.

Nat turned and looked at me. “You're worried they are going to seize it, aren't you?”

I nodded. “Isn't it a good thing that I've planned for that eventuality?”

Nat smirked. “We can get to work in about three minutes. The guard just took the corner.”

I smirked back. “I didn't know you were such a bad girl and liked cutting things that close.”

“You haven't seen the biker chick outfit that Sandy bought me.” Nat said, smugly. “It's cut off jeans shorts that don't cover my ass, a spiked strapless bra, and a leather jacket with the sleeves removed.”

“Fingerless gloves?” I asked, almost in a whisper.

“Calf high leather boots with three inch spiked heels, too.” Nat whispered back.

I shook slightly and had to close my eyes. “Good god, she must ravage you when you wear it.”

“Damn right she does.” Nat said and turned to look at me. “Damon, look at me.”

I opened my eyes and we locked gazes.

“I can't believe you're still turned on so easily by me.” Nat smiled. “Is there something wrong with you?”

“Yes, I've got the libido of a fucking dragon, as you very well know.” I chuckled. “If I didn't love you so goddamn much, I could ignore the fact that you'd hate me for the rest of your life, just so I could take you right here on our piles and piles of gold.”

Nat snorted a laugh and smacked my shoulder with the back of her hand. “Great! Now I've got that disgusting image in my head! Thanks a lot!”

“Suffer, mortal!” I said, repeating what she said when she showed me her wonderful body in a green micro-bikini.

Nat laughed, getting the joke immediately, then the guard disappeared. “Let's go.”

“Yes, ma'am.” I said and followed her to where we needed to go.

Thanks to Nat's remembered expertise with using illusions, the large mirrors I had stored were quickly put into place in the right spots and we set up the illusion to show that all of the gold was still there. Even the multiple cameras couldn't tell the difference, which was saying something. Nat and I had planned it down to the smallest detail to ensure that it wouldn't be discovered.

I stored the gold that was covered by the illusions we had set up and we cleaned the place out. It was the heist of the century... no, of all time... and no one would ever know. That is, unless they tried to move the pallets around for some reason.

Nat and I laughed as we went back to the loading bay and saw the second truck was unloaded. I went to each of the other trucks and stored the illusion setups and put more of my actual gold into it to finish the loads.

“Hey, were going to go and grab something to eat.” I said to the loading bay worker. “Do you want us to bring back something?”

The man nodded and told us what to get. We left and had a great meal while we laughed our asses off at the absurdity of what we had done. We went back and gave the man the food he had ordered, plus a dessert he hadn't expected, and we waited as another guy came over to keep working.

When everything was unloaded, randomly checked, and brought to the right spot, Nat and I rode the forklift to the spot and stared at it once more. We had to take several pictures this time and Teddy made sneaky appearances, then we were driven back out to the loading bay.

“We'll see you next time.” I said and we waved to the man before we left.

*

The president sat in his very comfortable chair in his work office. It wasn't the oval office like a lot of people thought. Some meetings were held there, when things were going to be informal, because that was what some people expected when meeting the President of the United States. On normal days, he was in a regular office and had paperwork to do.

On this particular day, his highly paid secretary came into his normal office with a frantic look on her face. He let out a sigh, because he knew that only something going wrong would put that look on her face.

“Go ahead and tell me.”

“Sir, you... you need to come... to the oval office.” She said, her voice a bit shaky.

“Did someone leave something there again?” He asked. He remembered finally being informed about an incident in the oval office with a deceased secret service agent's identification and a ransom note. That had been months ago and nothing else had come of it except several odd reports of misplaced cars and missing firearms. At least, as far as he knew.

In fact, even the investigation into what was going on with the odd gold of his pendant had been stalled for some reason. He didn't really know why metal having a different radiological signature was such a big deal. If it wasn't from Earth, then it had to be from an asteroid or meteorite that crashed to Earth. If they could somehow trace it from its point of impact and back into space, perhaps they could find the source and maybe bring new life into space exploration.

Interest had been waning in going back out there and anything he could find to convince the public to be excited about space again, he was willing to explore it.

“Y-yes.” The secretary said. “Please hurry.”

The president sighed again and stood, then followed his secretary through the White House's administrative section and into the tourist part of the building. They arrived at the oval office and it was swarming with secret service agents.

“Step aside for the POTUS, please.” The secretary said and they cleared a walkway for them. When they stepped inside, the president was surprised by what awaited him.

“What the hell is all of this?” The president asked and waved at all of the artwork and statues scattered all over the office.

“It's the stolen...” One of the men started to say and his partner smacked his arm. “...the missing items from the Smithsonian Museum of Art.”

“Didn't someone tell me that they suspected a particular person?” The president asked and turned to look for that person.

The Secret Service director stepped out of the crowd. “It was me, sir.”

“Did you have him arrested?” The president asked.

“There's no proof he actually took the items, sir.”

“I'd say this is proof.” The president said and indicated the artwork.

“Sir, he wasn't here.” The Secret Service director said. “I've checked the footage. All of this stuff just appeared last night during the shift change for the guards outside.”

“What? No one noticed any of this being unloaded and brought in?”

“It was dark in here and...”

“You better not tell me that there's no night vision cameras in this office.” The president said, a bit sternly.

The man closed his mouth and the president sighed.

“All right. I want that guy picked up and questioned.” The president said. “All of the stuff going on around him is just a bit suspicious, isn't it?” He looked around and saw a lot of reluctant faces. “What is it?”

“Sir, we... shouldn't go near him.” One of the agents said. “There have been incidents...”

The president shook his head. “I don't care what excuses you give. I want that man brought in and questioned.”

“About what?” A man's voice asked and everyone turned around to look at the small anti-room that led out into the hallway. Four people stood there and were not bothered by all of the pairs of eyes scrutinizing them.

“Oh, shit.” One of the agents whispered, except it was easily heard in the silence.

“It's none of your concern.” The president's secretary said to the very handsome man and then she recognized the black man standing beside him. “Excuse me, sir. I didn't realize it was time for your appointment.”

“That's quite all right.” The black man from the World Bank said. “It seems you're all quite busy.”

“Yes, some fool took a bunch of artwork from the museum and dropped it all in here.” The president's secretary said. “We were just about to send someone to arrest him.”

The handsome man smiled. “I sincerely doubt there's any proof whatsoever that he was involved, considering you didn't come after him for it before now.”

“If you have it all back, what's the point of arresting him for a prank?” The short pretty woman asked.

“A hundred million dollar prank?” The secretary asked with a shake of her head. “He's a nuisance and needs to be dealt with appropriately.”

A lot of the agents groaned at her wording.

The handsome man chuckled. “I think you might have something else that's a little more important to deal with right now.” He pat the black man on the back. “Please, do the honors.”

“Of course, Damon.” The black man smiled and stepped forward to pass the secretary a file folder. “It is with great pleasure that I inform you the national debt for the United States has been paid in full.”

“WHAAAAAAAT?!?” The secretary and the president said as one.

“HA HA! It was worth it to come here today!” Nat said and laughed at their shocked faces.

“Yes, it was a harrowing fiscal journey thus far, wasn't it? With some mistakes and a few overdrafts, also with some leniency on our part, it only caused your credit rating to be reduced slightly.” The short and hard looking woman said. “Even I was surprised when this insensitive idiot came with us with this proposal.”

“HIM!” Most of the agents exclaimed at the same time. The Secret Service director on the other hand slapped a hand over his face and groaned.

“Yes, he said he wanted to pay this country back for the exemplary way in which he, his friends, and his family have been treated by you. When he showed us the original contracts he had with having to do everything he could to help the country, I overlooked his penchant to be harsh and accepted the deal.”

“I said I was sorry.” Damon said. “It's not my fault you won't accept going out to dinner as an apology.”

“You're just trying to worm your way into my panties.” The hard looking woman said to everyone's surprise. “Can't you get it through your thick skull? I'm not putting out, no matter how much you try to charm me.”

Nat laughed and put her arm over the woman's shoulders. “You tell him, Margaret!”

“You have to keep saying no, too?” Margaret asked.

“He absolutely loves my cute little ass and can't stop staring at it!” Nat said and laughed again, which made Margaret try to smile. It still came out as a grimace, however. Her permanent frown was just too strong to be overtaken with happiness.

“For god's sake, don't encourage her.” Damon said with a sigh.

The president, the secretary, the Secret Service director, and all of the agents there just stared at the very odd interactions going on right in front of them.

“I believe that's all for our business today.” The black man said and shook the secretary's hand. “I've sent copies to the relevant agencies, congress, and the senate. I sincerely hope that you'll look to us again for your financial needs.”

“Wh-what? What did you say?” The president's secretary asked.

“Your debt has been cleared with the World Bank and your account has zero balance.” The black man said. “You'll have to come up with some collateral before you can apply again for another loan.”

The president's face drained of color. “You can't be serious.”

“I know it's quite rare for someone to pay off their national debt, so this is an unprecedented event.” The hard looking woman said.

“It's going to be a huge news story!” Nat exclaimed. “I can't wait for the whole world to know!”

The president's secretary reached a hand out, then stopped. “But... the country's credit rating... it was...”

“I believe without any debt, it's the same as having no credit.” Damon said with a smile. “At least, that's how it was explained to me.”

The secretary's face looked very sad.

“Good luck balancing the budget.” Damon said and put a hand on the black man's shoulder. “Mr. Fox, care to join me for supper? Margaret apparently isn't susceptible to my charm.”

The black man gave him an odd look. “You're definitely not getting into my underwear, either.”

Complete silence fell on the room and then Nat burst out laughing at Damon's surprised face.

“Oh! OH! That's hilarious! Ha haha HA HA!” Nat hugged herself and held her sides. “Oh, my god! I think... I think I just peed a little! Ha ha!”

Margaret laughed and shook her head, then helped a still hysterical Nat waddle out of the room to look for the closest bathroom.

Damon sighed and waved Mr. Fox forward, then they left the room as well.

“What's this?” One of the agents asked as they noticed a folded note at the president's feet. He picked it up and read it, then handed it wordlessly to his boss. The Secret Service director read the note and groaned again.

“What is it?” The president's secretary asked.

“You don't want to know.” The man said and tried to crush it.

“STOP!” The secretary said and held a hand out for it. The man handed it over without another word.

“Oh, god.” She said and swayed slightly. She was guided to a chair and sat down.

“What does it say?” The agent that helped her asked.

“The gold reserves were seized to pay on the national debt.”

“WHAAAAATT?!?” The president yelled, then he needed to sit down. “But... there wasn't enough...”

“We're cleared out.” The secretary said, her voice full of defeat. “I don't know how they did it, though.”

“I'll make some calls and see if any of this is true.” The Secret Service director said and took out his cell phone, then talked in hushed whispers.

“I'll draft an executive order to reclaim all the gold that's in the country.” The president said and remembered some of the details of what had transpired. “I'll be including coins and jewellery, too.”

“Sir, you can't do that.” The secretary said. “It violates...”

“This is a national emergency! I'll declare it on a live broadcast in the morning.” The president said, his confidence returning. “We will need to... borrow... all of the other gold that's stored in the federal reserve bank as well.”

“No, you... goddammit.” The Secret Service director said into the phone, then he sighed. “Yes, I'll pass it along.”

“What now?” The president asked.

“Your plan to recover gold from the reserve is... not viable.” The Secret Service director said as he hung up the cell phone.

“What do you mean?”

“All other clients have withdrawn their deposits.” The Secret Service director said. “Apparently, word of us not having a credit rating is already spreading around and it made them lose confidence in our ability to keep their gold safe.”

The president said his very first curse word when he heard that. “Well, fuck.”

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