Link interrupted Chas while he was going over the repair list.
“Chas, there is a man named Richard Caldwell asking to speak with whoever controls the repair crews.”
“That would be me. What does he want?”
“Electricity.”
Chas laughed. “So does everybody else.”
“He owns a large property about twelve miles east of town. His local distribution line is intact. The Oracle believes service could be restored with approximately four hours of work.”
“Put him on the list.”
“He is already on it.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“He doesn’t like his position on the list.”
Chas looked up.
“What position?”
“Eighty-seven.”
“Then he’s eighty-seven.”
There was a short pause.
“He would like to offer you ten thousand dollars to reconsider.”
Chas stared at the screen.
“For what?”
“To move his property to the top of the list.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I am not.”
Chas shook his head.
“Tell Mr. Caldwell that ten thousand dollars doesn’t change his position on the list.”
“I already did.”
“And?”
“He has increased his offer to twenty-five thousand.”
Chas laughed.
“Tell him he’s still number eighty-seven.”
A few seconds passed.
“Done.”
“Good.”
Another pause.
“Chas?”
“What?”
“Mr. Caldwell would like to know what you do need.”
Chas stopped smiling.
Ten minutes later, Link spoke again.
“Caldwell has made another offer.”
Chas sighed. “How much this time?”
“No money.”
That got his attention.
“What is he offering?”
“He owns Caldwell Construction. He is offering one service truck, two portable welders, a diesel generator, and five hundred gallons of diesel fuel.”
Chas stopped what he was doing.
“He has all that?”
“Yes.”
“And he’ll give it to us?”
“In exchange for restoring power to his property today.”
Chas leaned back in his chair.
“Damn.”
The Oracle appeared on the screen.
THE EQUIPMENT WOULD BE USEFUL.
“I figured that.”
VERY USEFUL.
Chas frowned.
“How useful?”
THE GENERATOR ALONE COULD PROVIDE EMERGENCY POWER TO THE WATER PUMPING STATION AT CLAY SPRINGS.
Chas said nothing.
Link added, “The service truck contains tools and equipment our field teams currently lack.”
“So now he’s buying his way to the front of the line.”
“Yes.”
“And if I say yes, we can help other people because of what he gives us.”
“Yes.”
Chas looked at Caldwell’s name.
Number eighty-seven.
“How many people at Clay Springs?”
The Oracle answered.
THREE HUNDRED AND TWELVE.
Chas stared at the number.
Four hours of work for one rich man’s house.
In return, three hundred and twelve people could have reliable water.
“Damn him.”
Link paused.
“I believe that was his intention.”
Twenty minutes passed before Link spoke again.
“Caldwell has revised his offer.”
Chas rubbed his forehead.
“What now?”
“He has doubled the diesel fuel to one thousand gallons.”
Chas said nothing.
“He has also added a second service truck, a backhoe, four portable generators, and approximately two thousand feet of electrical cable.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes. His company warehouse contains electrical equipment.”
“What kind?”
“Breakers, disconnects, conduit, transformers, insulators, connectors, and several pallets of assorted hardware.”
Chas turned toward the Oracle screen.
“Can we use it?”
YES.
“How much of it?”
ESTIMATED USABLE INVENTORY: SEVENTY-THREE PERCENT.
“And what does that buy us?”
A map appeared.
Six locations turned green.
Chas stared at them.
“What are those?”
PROJECTS CURRENTLY DEFERRED DUE TO LACK OF EQUIPMENT OR FUEL.
“How many people?”
ESTIMATED DIRECT BENEFIT: 1,486.
Chas was silent.
Finally he said, “All because Caldwell wants his house hooked up?”
“His house, guesthouse, swimming pool, and workshop,” Link said.
“Of course he has a swimming pool.”
“He has also specified restoration of his air conditioning.”
Chas laughed despite himself.
“Anything else? Would he like us to clean the pool while we’re there?”
“I can ask.”
“Don’t.”
Another message arrived.
Link read it.
“He has one additional condition.”
“Here it comes.”
“He wants the work completed by sunset.”
Chas looked at the six green marks on the map.
“And if I refuse?”
“Caldwell says the offer expires at sunset.”
Chas’s expression changed.
“Oracle, how many people did you say?”
1,486.
Chas stared at Caldwell’s name.
Number eighty-seven.
“Son of a bitch figured out how to bribe me.”
The Oracle answered.
YES.
Chas stared at the six green marks on the map.
“Oracle, if I refuse Caldwell’s offer, what happens?”
THE CURRENT REPAIR SCHEDULE CONTINUES.
“That isn’t what I asked.”
The screen remained unchanged.
Chas leaned forward.
“What happens to those six projects?”
FOUR WILL REMAIN DEFERRED DUE TO LACK OF EQUIPMENT.
“For how long?”
UNKNOWN.
“And the other two?”
ONE CAN BE COMPLETED IN APPROXIMATELY THREE WEEKS.
THE SECOND REQUIRES FUEL WE DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE.
Chas looked at the map.
“So if I refuse his offer, I’m protecting the integrity of the list.”
YES.
“And about fifteen hundred people wait for things we could give them.”
YES.
“Now tell me what happens if I accept.”
The display changed.
CALDWELL PROPERTY: FOUR HOURS.
CLAY SPRINGS WATER SYSTEM: OPERATIONAL WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.
THREE ADDITIONAL PROJECTS: WITHIN SEVENTY-TWO HOURS.
REMAINING PROJECTS: WITHIN EIGHT DAYS.
“People?”
ESTIMATED DIRECT BENEFIT: 1,486.
“And Caldwell?”
RECEIVES ELECTRICAL SERVICE TODAY.
Chas got up and walked across the room.
“So one rich bastard gets to jump eighty-six places because he owns things we need.”
YES.
“That’s wrong.”
The Oracle did not answer.
“Isn’t it?”
THAT IS NOT A MATHEMATICAL QUESTION.
Chas stopped.
“No. I suppose it isn’t.”
He returned to the screen.
“If we do this once, everyone with something we need is going to want the same deal.”
PROBABLE.
“And people without anything to trade?”
THEY WILL HAVE NOTHING WITH WHICH TO PURCHASE PRIORITY.
“That’s exactly the problem.”
YES.
Chas stared at the map.
“Then tell me something useful. Which choice helps the most people?”
ACCEPTING CALDWELL’S OFFER.
“By how much?”
The answer appeared immediately.
SUBSTANTIALLY.
Chas shook his head.
“You’re not helping.”
I AM PROVIDING THE INFORMATION YOU REQUESTED.
“No. You’re making me make the decision.”
YES.
“Why?”
A pause.
Then:
YOU ARE THE SHEPHERD.
Chas looked again at the six green marks.
“If I take the deal, Caldwell doesn’t pay me. He doesn’t pay the Hacienda. Everything he gives us goes directly into relief and repairs.”
YES.
“And his deal gets posted publicly. Every gallon of fuel. Every piece of equipment. What we received, what he received, and how many people benefited.”
YES.
“No secret deals.”
AGREED.
“And this does not mean somebody can hand us a case of whiskey and move up ten places.”
A pause.
CORRECT.
Chas smiled slightly.
“We need a rule.”
The Oracle waited.
Chas thought for a moment.
“Priority can only be exchanged for resources when the exchange produces a substantially greater public benefit than following the existing schedule.”
The Oracle responded.
DEFINE SUBSTANTIALLY.
Chas sighed.
“Of course you’d ask that.”
He looked at Caldwell’s property on the map, then at the six green locations around it.
“Work on it.”
I ALREADY AM.
Chas stared at the screen.
“You knew I was going to take the deal, didn’t you?”
YES.
“Why?”
The answer appeared.
BECAUSE 1,486 IS GREATER THAN FOUR.
Chas laughed.
“Send a crew to Caldwell’s.”
A final line appeared.
AND SEND TRUCKS TO HIS WAREHOUSE.
“We’re getting our stuff first?”
YES.
Chas nodded.
“Now you’re thinking like me.”
About the Creator
Mark Stigers
One year after my birth sputnik was launched, making me a space child. I did a hitch in the Navy as a electronics tech. I worked for Hughes Aircraft Company for quite a while. I currently live in the Saguaro forest in Tucson Arizona
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