Sirius Zero: Building A Corporate Kingdom After Being Expelled
Chapter 27: Finding Uranium and political allies

Chapter 27: Finding Uranium and political allies

"I appreciate the assist, by why exactly are you mucking around down here Aaron?" asked Mario as he, Aaron and Harry walked through the dark tunnels of the lead mine in thick hazmat suits and carrying various survey equipment.

"You could call it owner’s prerogative, after all I do own the mine" replied Aaron.

"Yeah, well environmental surveys are actually quite boring." chuckled Mario as Harry carefully knocked on the tunnel walls with a hammer.

The hammer struck a wall with a hollow crack, and part of the wall collapsed, causing Harry to jump back in surprise.

"Whoa, what was that?" asked Mario, looking at the dust cloud that had formed.

"It looks like a well or something" replied Harry, cautiously shining his flashlight into the hole.

"A well? In a lead mine?" asked Mario, looking at the hole with curiosity.

"Well there is a lot of water in it, can see the ripples right there" replied Harry, pointing at the water.

Mario cautiously stepped closer to the hole and shone his flashlight upwards, revealing a concrete roof.

"Harry, can you get a sample of the water? I think this is a hydraulic fracking well." said Mario.

"A hydraulic fracking well? Those have been banned across the state. What’s one doing here?" asked Harry, as he carefully filled a small vial with water.

"Probably started back in the 70s as a response to the oil crises, and then abandoned when they didn’t hit petroleum, and the green factions took over" replied Mario, looking at the water.

"I’m picking up some strange readings on the Geiger counter" said Aaron, looking at the device in his hand.

"Strange? How strange?" asked Mario, looking at Aaron.

"Well, given the amount of lead in this mine, I would not expect to see any readings at all." replied Aaron.

"Alright, let’s find the source of the readings" said Mario, and the three of them began to walk deeper into the mine.

As they walked, the readings on the Geiger counter began to increase, and Aaron’s expression grew more serious.

"Looks like its coming from behind this wall." said Aaron, as they reached the dead end of the tunnel.

Harry carefully knocked a few rocks loose with his hammer. A faint glow began to appear, and the Geiger counter began to beep more rapidly.

"You’ve got to be kidding me!" said Mario, looking at the wall with disbelief.

"Is that Uranium?" asked Harry, looking at the glowing rocks.

"Yup. That’s Uranium alright." replied Mario, looking at the Geiger counter readings.

Aaron started to chuckle, and then he burst into a fit of manic laughter, causing Mario and Harry to look at him in concern.

"This is perfect! We now don’t even have to worry about securing a uranium fuel source for the reactor!" said Aaron, still laughing.

"I don’t know if you are lucky or crazy. To think that we would find a uranium vein in a lead mine!" said Mario, shaking his head.

"Mark this place on the map, and let’s get out of here. I’m going to have a chat with Andre to secure the mining rights" said Aaron, as he turned to leave.

"Wait, what about the water sample?" asked Harry, looking at the vial in his hand.

"Grab that too, we can check its heavy metal content and see if we can use it." replied Aaron, as he walked back towards the entrance of the mine.

----

Congressman Michael DuPont sat in his office, feeling much older than his 35 years.

He had had sold off a lot of his family’s holdings as part of a four square kilometer land parcel for a pittance of $4 million to some kid who probably just wanted a tax write off.

"Mr. DuPont, you have a visitor." said his secretary, interrupting his thoughts.

"Send them in." replied Michael wearily, looking up from his desk.

A tall teenage boy with sleek black hair, piercing blue eyes and dressed in a sleek black leather business suit walked into his office.

"Hello, Mr. DuPont. My name is Aaron Zakhrov. I’m the one who bought the land parcel with the lead mine on it." said the boy.

"U-um yes, unfortunately, you won’t be able to sell it back to the state. We’re fresh out of cash." replied Michael.

Aaron held out a folder to Michael. "This is the results of my team’s environmental survey, and I have a proposal that might interest you." he declared, as he sat down in the chair opposite Michael’s desk.

"Even if you’ve got the cash to pull this off, which I doubt you do. Do you have any idea about the kind of pushback you’ll get from this? This is Massachusetts, not North Korea!" growled Michael, after reading Aaron’s report and proposal.

"Handling the politics, optics and selling the proposal to that ignorant rabble you call your constituents is your job.

Building something that will generate profits for both of us, while developing and gentrifying the area is mine." came Aaron’s reply.

"Alright, let’s say I agree to this. What do you need from me? And what do I get from it?" asked Michael cautiously.

"I get the permits and rights from you, you get the industrial and economic benefits," replied Aaron, looking at Michael with a steely gaze.

"Alright, I will see what I can do. But you need to understand that this is going to be a long and difficult process," said Michael.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Are you scrupulous out of cowardice, idealism or ignorance Michael?

I can assure you that your political rivals and enemies don’t share those values, even if they parrot them to their advantage.

Or are you that squeamish about a few falsehoods to placate a populace that doesn’t know what’s good for them?" he asked icily.

"Now you listen here kid, I’m a Congressman, not some warlord dictator.

I have to answer to my constituents, the Feds, and my party bosses.

If your little project blows up, and they even have an inkling that I knew or had something to do with it.

It will be my ass in jail, or probably even the federal death penalty! This ain’t a game of Sim City or Civilization!" thundered Michael.

"I understand. But I am willing to do whatever it takes to make this project a reality, even if that means taking the entire fall myself.

If you don’t have the stomach for it, then I’ll find someone who does," said Aaron, his voice firm and resolute.

"Alright. But the less I know about your shenanigans, the better. And you can hold off on any campaign funding until after you pull off your little super-villain scheme.

I’ll get you your lead mining license for now, since it costs me nothing and costs you everything," growled Michael.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Michael," said Aaron, giving the older man a handshake.

Michael pulled up Sirius Software’s articles of incorporation once Aaron had left his office.

"I can’t believe the kid isn’t even old enough to vote!" he muttered to himself, as he began to draft Aaron’s mining permit.