Notes of explanation:
Hue - pronounced WAY
Hui - pronounced Hughy
Hua - pronounced Huwa
Dati - IndoDutch term for Papa
Baki - IndoDutch term for Brother
Onkla - IndoDutch term for Uncle
From Book 5
The teachers at the American School were sad to see Sammy and Corbin leave, they were genuinely liked by all their fellow students and the teachers enjoyed teaching any class they were in. They had graduated to the Junior Class with all A's on their report card. The principal wrote a letter for them to carry to their school in America when they returned, telling of their high grades and classroom performance. It was with heavy hearts that the boys packed their belongings, they had enjoyed their stay and the excitement of living in a "foreign" country. They loved the mountains of Dati Cho's boyhood and they vowed they would return someday.
Chapter 1 - AUSSIELAND, AGAIN
When they had finally all gotten back from San Francisco and Sammy and Corbin were settled in school as High School Juniors, they had time to review the upcoming power project at Alice Springs, Australia.
Bic and Phillip were on tap for that project, Bic was to be Project Chief Engineer and Phillip would serve as Project Chief Electrical Engineer. Concho and Thomas would be on call should any difficulties arise. Both Bic and Phillip had prior experience with hot gas energy systems and neither could foresee any problems they had never encountered before.
Hue had received the final approvals from the Red Center Power CO-OP for the project. It was approved at $230,000,000 USD, plus T&M. It would be a quick turn-around for many of their employees who had just returned from Chile, but nobody seemed to mind.
Chic Massengil, a newly hired General Foreman, would supervise the crews and Gordon Tellis, a University of Hawaii student in the Best Sons Intern Program, would spend his Intern Year on the job in Alice Springs.
The First Phase of the project would be to prove the hot gas supply, before actual construction could proceed. Paul Duncan would manage the drilling of the hot gas well and prove the supply before departing back to Hilo.
The day of departure arrived, Paul met them at Hilo Airport, and he was dropped off by his new girlfriend of the week just as The Best Sons party arrived.
Paul was getting a reputation of "Lovem 'n Leavem"
They had a direct flight to Sydney and, as usual, they nearly filled all the Business Class seating on the airplane.
The regular security staff was on duty and one officer asked Paul where that "little Aussie Boy" was.
Paul laughed, "That is Sammy Best and he isn't so little anymore, he is over six feet and wears a size 12 shoe! He is a Junior in Hilo High School and that is where he had better be, if he doesn't want trouble with his Daddy, Concho Best!"
Both men chuckled and the party was passed through security.
They took off on schedule and everyone settled down for the 14-hour flight. Bic and Phillip went over the equipment lists and included Gordon Tellis and Chic Massengil in their discussion. Gordon was a little nervous being included in a discussion with men whose names had been in newspaper headlines only a short time before.
Bic noticed Gordon's nervousness and traded seats with Chic so he could sit beside the younger man. He started talking to Gordon, "Gord, we all put on our pants just like you, one leg at a time. This is a new field and we are all learning. My cousin, Concho Best, probably knows more about Hot Gas/Steam Generation than anyone else, but, yea Gods, there are only three such installations in the entire world! True, 'Chito put in two of them, but we all were involved."
Gordon looked at Bic and asked, "Chito?"
Bic replied with a grin, "Yeah, it means Little Concho!"
Gordon's eyes bugged out, "You call that guy LITTLE?"
Bic laughed, "Yeah, when his son Sammy stands beside him! You will get to meet them both, they will be on-site to prove the well before we start construction. Sammy was originally from Australia, so he won't miss a chance to come with his Dati."
Gordon had to ask what a Dati was.
Gordon finally realized that these men were just ordinary folks and, if he applied himself, there was a good chance he could become one of them. He decided right then that he was going to be the most diligent Student Intern Mr. Bic Best had ever seen.
After a meal was served, the stewardess' turned down the lighting and everyone attempted to nap for the remainder of the flight.
When they arrived in Sydney and worked their way through Customs and Immigration, they were met by their contacts, Mr. Ben Thomas and Mr. Alex McLaughlin, who told them all they should just call him Mac.
They were hustled over to the non-commercial part of the airport and loaded onto several helicopters for the flight to Alice Springs.
Bic, Phillip and Paul had all been to Australia before, Paul was part of the management team to construct the system at Gawler and Bic and Phillip had come when Sammy was adopted by Concho.
Gordon and Chic spent their flight watching for 'roos.
It was dark by the time they landed in Alice Springs, so they told their hosts that they would meet with them first thing in the morning and, after a light supper, they all went to bed.
The next morning seemed to come very early, they had crossed so many time changes and the International Date Line, and their bodies were thoroughly confused.
After a gargantuan breakfast, they congregated in the lobby, waiting for Ben and Mac, who showed up in just a few minutes. They were driven out of town, through barren hills and sandy washes to an area covered by an ancient lava flow.
Their bore equipment had already been delivered; they were going to make the bore with their own, 'in-house' employees for the first time.
Mac had many years' of experience in the oil drilling industry and had run industrial construction crews in the building of oil refineries in Saudi Arabia. He looked over the bore equipment and asked several questions of Bic concerning the specialized bore bits and the modified drill shaft.
They had ten men who had prior bore experience in Nevada and he set them to form up a bore pad at the location indicated by the geologists. Before the day was out, the forms were in place and the bore spud set. Concrete would be delivered from Alice Springs the next morning.
Phillip set to work arranging for power lines to be run to the work site, so they could shut down the noisy Caterpillar Generator sets.
The next day, there was a convoy of cement trucks delivering concrete for the bore pad and for the machinery needed to operate the bore machinery. Paul had asked for "HiEarly" concrete, so that they could begin the bore as soon as possible.
He and Mac opened the Sea Crates and sorted out all the drilling machinery and tools. He was particularly interested in the specialized bore bits.
Paul had told him of the problems that had taken place on earlier bores, and how specialized bits had been developed.
The work crews began bolting the bore tower together and setting up the electric drive. Until local power could be run in, they would have to depend on the generator sets for all their electricity needs and endure their clattering racket.
A contractor delivered several modular buildings to serve as offices and they set those while they were waiting for the concrete to set up.
When they had done all they could for the day, they returned to town, where the Power CO-OP had delivered several Land Rovers and Ford trucks for their use.
They moved out of the hotel and set up housekeeping in three adjacent homes on the outskirts of Alice Springs. The homes were supplied with day workers to keep them clean and to cook for the men.
It was fortunate that they were also equipped with air conditioning as the summer dry season was upon them.
When the concrete had finally cured, they dropped the bit into the bore spud and started the bore. Paul had them draw the bit several times, so that he could examine the stone beneath the surface. He had the bit changed several times before he was satisfied and the bore began in earnest.
The top layers of stone were very hard and they had to fight for every foot of depth gained. They were very cognizant of radioactivity and Paul tested the rock chips every time the bit was withdrawn, the counter registered enough radioactivity that he advised the work crews to wear the lead aprons whenever they withdrew the bit.
They were two weeks into the bore when the power company finished running power lines out to the bore site and they could shut down the portable generators.
The bore was scheduled to extend to 15,000 meters and they projected it would take approximately three months to complete. It took them two weeks to force the bit down only 125 meters and they were consuming diamond-edged bits at an alarming rate.
Paul got on the telephone with the supplier in Germany and they promised to airship out a slightly different designed bit the next day.
The new bit was a considerable improvement and Paul ordered a complete set of the new design.
As they passed 500 meters, they encountered hot water, it came blasting up the shaft and spewed out the drains in the preventer collar. They stopped the bore for the day, hoping they would not have to case off the source of the water.
By the next morning, the water flow had slowed to a faint trickle, so they continued boring.
At 2,000 meters, the bit began bouncing on the rock beneath the surface, so Paul had the bore head withdrawn and a more severe bit placed on it. He also had the cyclic dampeners installed that Hue had developed in Hawaii.
The rock chips being withdrawn were testing highly radioactive and required special handling measures.
Bic and Phillip spent their time working with the local officials on the final version of the drawings for the generating station and transformer yard. They both flew to Japan to confer with Mitsubishi Industries and took a swing through Honolulu to meet with the designers at American Piping and Boiler.
When they returned, Paul had the bore down to 10,500 meters and the bit was eating through much softer rock, it came flowing out the collar vent like brown mud.
Hot gases had begun to vent from the collar and Paul had the temperature measured at 2700 degrees. It was encouraging; the plant could operate at that temperature, provided there was sufficient volume.
At 11,000 meters, the rock turned plastic and boring came to a halt. No matter which bore bit they used, they could not force any greater depth.
The bit manufacturer was sending out a technician to help them resolve the problem. He would not arrive for another week, so they shut down operations to wait for him.
Paul notified Hue in Hilo about the problem and he said he would send Concho to assist. Paul counted on his fingers, school was out in Hilo, so he was sure Sammy and Corbin would also be coming.
Paul loved Concho like a brother and was looking forward to his arrival, he even went with the helicopter into Sydney to pick them up. When Concho and the two boys came down the passenger ramp outside of Customs, Paul shook his head. As tall as Concho was, Sammy towered over him and Corbin was not far behind!
After he had hugged Concho, Paul looked Sammy and Corbin up and down then he turned to Concho and asked, "How do you afford to feed these two?"
Concho laughed and replied, "Wholesale!"
This was Sammy's first time returning to the land of his birth and he was anxious to show it off to Corbin. As he was excitedly telling Corbin about all there was to see, Paul thought to himself, "That boy is at least 6' 4" and he is still in high school. I could put BOTH my feet in one of his shoes!" Concho was no slouch, he stood at 6' and was broad-shouldered, but Sammy had him beat in both dimensions!
They transferred to the helicopter and began the bumpy ride back to Alice Springs. Sammy was pointing out things to Corbin and was rapidly sketching as they flew across the wild landscape.
When they arrived in Alice Springs, Bic pretended to pout, "All they have is giants to send us?"
Sammy hugged Bic and said, "Now, now, Onkla Bic, we LIKE midgets!"
Concho was having a hard time not laughing at the two and when Sammy picked up Bic and held him at eye level, he could not resist a giggle.
Phillip made sure he was not within arm's reach of Sammy!
After they got settled, Concho went with Bic and Paul out to the bore site to get a feel for the problems they were having. The technician from Germany was due in the next morning and, hopefully, among them all they could come up with a satisfactory resolution to the problem.
Paul showed Concho the rock the bore was bringing up, it looked like solidified mud. He took a hammer to it and it shattered into dust. Concho said, "I think that is the problem, the rock is shattering into dust and clogging the bore bit. Let's try a more aggressive bit and see what happens."
Paul had the machinery started up and they attached the most aggressive bit in their inventory to the drive head. They lowered the bit down the bore until it hit bottom and they then began rotation.
The bit dug in right away and started chewing its way downward. When they sent the bail down to retrieve the debris, it came up filled with rock powder and a few pieces of gravel. Concho said, "We shall see what the technician has to say, but I think the coarse bit is the answer to our problem."
The next day, the technician concurred with Concho's assessment of the problem and suggested they try a slightly different bit than the one Concho had fitted to the bore head.
That bit drove down even faster, so Paul ordered a supply of the new bits.
Concho was still on the bore site when a terrific roar was heard and the bit, drive head and flexible shaft came blowing out of the bore!
Concho dove under the hot gases pouring out of the spud and tripped the safety latch on the emergency valve, shutting off the flow of hot gases and rocky debris.
His face and arms were burned and he was covered in powdered mudstone. Several of the bore crew were also burned and required medical attention.
Paul insisted that Concho also go to be checked out.
When Conch protested, Paul replied, "Cho, I am NOT going to face Sammy and tell him that you were hurt and were not sent to see a doctor! That boy is bigger than me and I don't need any broken arms!"
Sammy was very upset when he saw his Dati covered in bandages and burn cream. He glowered at Paul, but didn't say anything until after he had gotten Concho to lie down and rest.
He then cornered Paul and demanded the full story of what had happened.
Sammy hovered over his beloved Dati for the next several days, until he was sure Concho was going to be alright.
A couple of days later, Paul told Concho that his son was downright scary!
When they examined the spud, they discovered a broken bolt in the blowback preventer; Paul had all the bolts replaced before they resumed drilling.
Concho took the boys sightseeing around Alice Springs and the dry riverbed where the famous walking boat races took place each year. They drove out as far as the US Navy Radio station was located before turning around to return.
As they crossed a dry wash, Sammy screamed, 'Stop the car, Dati, STOP!"
Chapter 2 - FOUND
As soon as the Land Rover had skidded to a stop, Sammy jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the bushes, Corbin hot on his heels. Concho followed them; he could hear voices in the bushes.
He found Sammy kneeling on the ground with Corbin beside him.
There was a small boy lying in the dirt, about the same skin color as Sammy. Sammy looked up at his Dati and said, "This boy is hurt, Dati, we must help him."
Tears were leaking from Sammy's eyes as he pleaded with Concho to help the child.
Concho was seeing the same boy, 10 years earlier, Sammy!
They picked up the child, who was clearly very frightened, and carried him back to the Land Rover. Concho wetted a handkerchief and wiped the dirt from the child's eyes and face; the boy cringed in fear and tried to pull back.
Concho held him tight and rocked him gently, "Do not fear us, we will help you."
The child sobbed, "They throwed me away, told me I was not their son anymore"
Concho asked him, "Son, have you a name?"
The boy replied, "Yes sir, I am called Joseph."
They took the injured child into town and stopped at the dispensary to have him checked out by the doctor. While the nurse was cleaning Joseph up, the doctor told them that this sort of this was very common and was a big problem.
"Most likely, the boy's parents would never be found and worse, once they are rejected by their parents, the tribe will not take them in." said the doctor.
He continued, "They find many dead children out in the bush."
Concho made an immediate decision, "Well, this boy is NOT going to be found dead, who do I need to see to make him my son?"
The doctor looked at Sammy standing beside Concho and remarked, "Well, you are not new to this. Let me call the Magistrate's Court and get them rolling on this problem."
That night, Concho sent a telegram back to his Onkla Hue, "RETURN IS DELAYED, WORKING ON NEW SON"
A return telegram came the next morning, "AM SENDING THOMAS, GOOD LUCK."
Concho was relieved that his Love and Partner was on his way and that Onkla Hue was not upset.
Constable Billy Jameson came over to the house to meet Concho and interview Joseph, making sure he truly was an abandoned child. He told Concho the same thing the doctor had told him, that the child's parents would never be found and that the tribe would not accept him.
Concho was getting more angry by the minute, he finally said, "ENOUGH, the boy's name shall be Joseph Concho Best, now, make it happen!"
Sammy stood up and towered over the Constable, "I am Samuel Concho Best, Joseph's BROTHER!"
The Constable quickly closed his notebook and returned to speak with the Magistrate, he wasn't about to tangle with these huge Americans, even if one of them did look like an Aborigine.
When the Constable told the Magistrate about his encounter, the Magistrate laughed, "That man, Mr. Best, is the one who put that slaver over on the south coast in prison for life and I'll bet that young man is Samuel Best, the boy he saved."
He continued, "You watch, the whole Best Tribe will be here shortly!"
Two days later, Thomas Two Trees showed up and joined Concho in caring for the boy. Joseph healed rapidly and his gaunt, starved look filled out, both physically and emotionally. He told them he was 4 years old and they found out he had never worn shoes and had only the clothes they found him in.
While Concho was out at the work site, conquering the rock wars, Thomas, Sammy and Corbin cared for Joseph and when he was sufficiently healed, they took him to the local Myerson's Mercantile Store and outfitted him in everything a little boy needed.
Sammy bought him a little red toy car that Joseph would play with by the hour, laying on the floor and making car noises as he pushed the car around.
Magistrate Mark Raymond hurried the case of adoption for Joseph through the system and The Red Center Power CO-OP sent their solicitor (lawyer) to aid the process. In 10 days, the case was on the docket for the next day, the Magistrate was amazed at the number of visitors there were in his courtroom and when he checked the register, he found the majority of them carried the surname of Best!
The Power Company Solicitor stood to address the Court, "Your Honor, I propose we dispense with the preliminaries of this case, we all acknowledge that the boy, Joseph, has been abandoned and that the local tribe will not accept him in their midst. Mr. Concho Best pleads to be allowed to accept the boy as his own son, raise him, nurture him and care for him into adulthood. He will take him to America with him and raise him as he has done his other son and join him to a family that is well known throughout the Pacific Basin."
The Magistrate thought for a moment and then asked Mr. Samuel Concho Best to come speak with him in his office.
When they came back out, both were smiling. Sammy would never speak of what he and the Magistrate spoke about, but the Magistrate ordered that Joseph was to be the lawful son of Mr. Concho Daniel Best.
The little boy was screaming his delight and had a death grip around Concho's neck as they walked out of the courtroom.
The next day, Concho started the process to obtain a passport for his new son. It would take several weeks, so Concho settled down and assisted wherever he could on the bore.
They finally drove the bore to the planned depth and withdrew the bit and bore head from the hole. After closing the shut-off valve and the safety stop, they fitted an 8" nozzle to the top of the spud and began to take flow and temperature measurements. They were surprised at the volume of hot gas passing through the nozzle and the temperature rose to 5,200 degrees at full flow.
Concho and Bic sat down and did the calculations together; they felt there was sufficient energy there to support a 500-megawatt power system.
The officials of the CO-OP were astounded, as they had only planned on a 250-megawatt system.
On a hunch, Concho called back to Hilo and spoke with Hue, advising him that they were considering a 500 MW system. Hue and Ian pulled out the master drawings and did some scurrying around to update the project, he started leaning heavily on their other Engineering Intern, Carl Davis, and they produced a new bid quotation of $370,000,000 for the completed project. If it was accepted, it would be the largest project ever attempted by Best Sons, or even their predecessor company.
Almost without hesitation, the signed documents were telefaxed back approved. Bic was ready to turn the enlarged project over to Concho, but Concho was not having any of it, "As soon as Joey's passport arrives, we are outta here. This is your baby, Bic, you run with it!"
Gordon Tellis was taking all this in, he was convinced that he would do absolutely ANYTHING to work for these people.
Chapter 3 - UPGRADE
Hue hired two new draftsmen and put them with Carl to update the drawings and specifications. He contacted their two major suppliers, Mitsubishi and American Piping and Boiler of the changes to get them started on new quotations. He flew out to Osaka to speak directly with the Mitsubishi engineers about the new system and stopped in Honolulu on his return to work with the engineers at American Piping and Boiler.
Both suppliers turned out new drawings and equipment lists in less than a week and they were within the limits set by the contract, so Hue signed off on them and issued manufacturing orders to both companies.
Concho worked with Bic and Phillip to redo the site prep orders and upgrade piping and electrical systems. Phillip went over to the CO-OP's engineering office to advise them of the increased plant output so that they could enlarge the tower wiring and distribution breakers.
When he left their office, they were already planning on extending transmission lines to surrounding communities that were not yet served by the CO-OP.
Joey's new passport finally arrived, the little boy did not truly understand its meaning, only that he was going to 'Merica with his two Datis and his Batis on a giant airplane.
As their departure day grew closer, Joey packed and unpacked his new suitcases a dozen times.
He clung to his Bati, Sammy, and followed his other Bati, Corbin, wherever they went.
Poor Corbin took to hiding in the toilet just to have a little peace for a few moments, Joey wanted to know all about 'Merica.
The little boy was so earnest, they couldn't hide from him for long; they both loved that little boy as much as their Datis did.
Finally, the day arrived and they all packed in the Land Rover to be taken to the helicopter pad for the transport to Sydney. When they boarded the "whirliebird", he asked, "We go to 'Merica in THIS?"
They told him that they were going to Sydney to get on an even bigger airplane.
Joey watched the ground pass beneath them as they flew to Sydney, as they crossed the big city his eyes grew as big as saucers. He sat down in his seat and looked scared, Sammy picked him up and held him, "Bati, it's OK, I am right here for you, nothing AND nobody is going to hurt you ever again, I promise!"
Joey was OK through the airport and out to the departure lounge, but when he spotted a huge, shiny machine headed in his direction, he ran to Sammy and put his head under his Bati's arm, shaking like a leaf. Sammy tried to tell Joey that the big shiny machine was an airplane that would take them to America. The little boy shook his head and said, "NOOOOOOO, it is too big!"
Sammy had to carry Joey as they boarded the airplane; he was too frightened to walk.
Sammy put Joey next to the window and closed the shutter. He sat beside the frightened little boy and Corbin sat just across the aisle. Sammy could reach across the aisle and hold Corbin's hand. Concho and Thomas sat directly behind them and were doing the same thing.
Joey refused to open his eyes as they took off, but the stewardess was wise in the ways of little boys and she brought Joey a box of animal cookies and all thoughts of fear were chased away by food in hand.
The droning of the airplane put Joey to sleep and Sammy and Corbin as well.
They woke briefly for a light meal and promptly went back to sleep, not waking until the plane began its descent into Hilo. When they debarked the airplane and headed through Customs and Immigration, they were met by the results of Bic's telephone call, a tall older man picked up Joey and said, "Joey, I am your Grandpapa, I am so glad you are here."
Hue and Ian were there as were Singh 'Tal and Jason. Paul's Mother was there and introduced herself to Joey as Auntie Duncan. Hue walked up to Joey and said, "Joey, I am your Onkla Hue and this is Onkla Ian, I'll bet you are hungry?"
Joey shook his head in a yes, so Hue took them all to the closest hamburger shop for a meal of "little boy food".
Joey was so tired, he didn't make it awake to get to Concho's house; he was fast asleep on his big Bati's lap.
TBC
This story will continue, the new power plant in Alice Springs will go "online" and Best Sons Engineering will continue to prosper. Little Joey will become an important part of the Family.