Black Market Merchant

Chapter 109: Top Customer

Nathan felt embarrassed. Not only did he fail to carry the coffin as well as Lisa, but she was also the important person for discussing the future of this town and its people. Even he knew that as the Mayor and leader such activity was definitely not appropriate. As leader he should have restrained himself better.

Still, he couldn't help but look at this tall woman alongside him. She had an unnatural confidence about her as she walked. He couldn't tell if it was because of her physical strength or confidence in her position or yet even something that he had yet to learn about her. He could see her dull gray eyes were constantly surveying the area and it seemed to him that there was much more thought going on behind those strong eyes.

Suddenly, their eyes locked as she noticed him glancing at her. He quickly looked away, trying to brush it off casually. She didn't seem bothered and they continued on towards the back of the warehouse. Nathan avoided looking at her like that again. He didn't want to come off as creepy or anything like that.

Once they arrived at the council meeting table Mrs. Smithy turned to speak to Lisa. "Please, have a seat and get ready to speak with the rest of the Council. They should be arriving any second now. They already were aware that this meeting was going to happen."

"Thank you." Lisa replied. She turned to the closest chair at the tables end. Taking off her coffin, she set it down with a light thud and sat down next to it. Then she proceeded to unlock it with the key from around her neck.

Gillian pulled Nathan aside and spoke in a low voice. "I know that I was supposed to be judging her abilities, but that coffin, is it really that heavy?"

Nathan nodded. "Yes, it's got to be easily over 140 kilograms. My legs and back are starting to feel sore. I am probably getting out of shape or the lack of food is starting to show."

"Ah, don't feel bad." Gillian replied patting him on the back. "Lifting that much is a lot by normal standards. However, if she's walking around with that big thing like it's not even on her, than she has got to have some monstrous power."

The two glanced at Lisa, who was taking some papers out from the coffin. "Looking at her you wouldn't have guessed it." Gillian continued. "She looks like a normal woman to me. I figure out her skill sooner or later."

Just then Mr. Flanagan walked in and the two stopped whispering to greet him with a small wave. They then noiselessly pointed at Lisa indicating that she was the one.

"Well, you must be the one we were waiting for Miss Cunningham. I am Mr. Flanagan, Vice Mayor of the ERM. We are glad to have you here." Mr. Flanagan said turning to extend a hand towards Lisa.

Lisa put her papers down on the table and gave a polite smile. "Thank you for the opportunity. You can just call me Lisa, no need for the Miss though." She then firmly shook his hand.

"Very well, Lisa. Now excuse me while I take my seat." Mr. Flanagan said turning to go. He glanced at the other two men and motioned for them to follow.

Mrs. Smithy has already taken her seat as the three men took theirs near the head of the table. They leaned closer together as Mr. Flanagan spoke to the others. "Tell me what we know of her so far. Can she really be helpful to us?"

As Nathan and Gillian gave their accounts of Lisa, the rest of the Council members soon arrived. It wasn't more than half an hour before everyone assembled. Wayne was the last to arrive along with Mr. Zimmerman. Wayne was helping to carry several books for him.

"Well, I looks like we are all here and I am ready to start recording." Miss Heavens called out with pen in hand.

"Very well. Let's start this off by saying thank you to Mrs. Smithy for completing her mission and finding help." Nathan said standing at the head of the table to look at Mrs. Smith and then he started clapping. The rest of the room joined in. After a short moment he stopped and continued talking. "As you all know, we need help and materials to get our town and people back into a normal state. Mrs. Smithy gave her report yesterday on what is expected to happen in the near future. Miss Cunningham, a key factor to this issue, has agreed to help enlighten us on what else to expect and fill us in on questions we might have."

Lisa stood up at the other end of the table with a smile on her face and gave a slight wave. "Thank you for letting me come and I hope we can work well together in the future. I did happen to take the liberty of looking around at the town some before coming here. This area is indeed in need of help. Even the area controlled by the Mad Dogs gang is not anywhere near as bad as this. Though the situation is not irreparable. Together I am sure that thing will work out. As of right now, you are my top customer and will be getting my full business focus."

Several of the members nodded in agreement. Lisa felt relieved while thinking inwardly to herself, "This is a lot more pressure than giving a speech in class. However, my superior orders in the military were much scarier to face."

"Thank you. I am sure that thing will work out." Mr. Flanagan replied. "We do have several questions and things to discuss. I hope you can give us answers."

"Ask away." Lisa replied taking her seat once again.

Mr. Flanagan cleared his throat to start asking his questions, "You claimed to have control of the dam and are able to produce electricity. When will it be able to produce and provide enough electricity to re-power our towns buildings?"

"I do control the dam." Lisa replied. "I have already dismantled several generators already and compiled a list of items that I need to get the dams electricity production up to a satisfactory rate. All I need to do is speak with my contact, Frank Sellers, and order the parts. It's only a matter of a time until the project is done."

"How long until then?" Mr. Flanagan asked.

"I expect no less than a month for the parts and an additional week and a half to fix the generators." Lisa replied.

"Is there no way to speed up the process to get the parts sooner? I understand Mr. McMathers said that he would fund the project. Could he pay more to speed up Mr. Sellers delivery?" Mrs. Smithy asked.

"Perhaps." Lisa said with a shrug. "It should depend on how fast his ships are to make the delivery. I can ask him for a more detailed answer."

"That's understandable. Merchant barges are not exactly fast boats." Mr. Flanagan replied. "That brings us to another set of questions about Mr. McMathers, what exactly does he do? And how could he arrange a fight with this Crescent Moon of Moab? Can you beat him?"

"I can beat him." Lisa responded quickly. "I have never lost to anyone in an official match and plan on never losing. I am also willing to bet everything I have on the fight as well, if that is any consolation. As for McMathers, I don't know the specifics of what he does. Though I have my suspicions as to what it could be and likely it is not legal. If that's the case then Crescent Moons employer is also in the same line of work, I suspect."

"Could that be an issue? For you or us?" Mrs. Smithy asked.

"No. I don't think it will. It's possible that this might work in our favor in the long run, depending on how things go." Lisa answered.

"I hope so." Mr. Flanagan replied as he looked over a sheet of paper in front of him before asking his next question. "Back to the electricity. How are you going to supply us with it? The electrical power lines used to crossover along with the highway bridge to our south. However, the bridge is both partially destroyed, and the other side is controlled by the Skull gang."

"Well, originally I wanted to make a road from the dam directly to this part of town. However, the cliff is the only obstacle. If there was a way to build a way travel down it or make a path connecting the two than everything else will be easy. Additionally, it would reconnect the two sides of the town and make trading much easier. I dont recall seeing many farriers crossing over here."

"We could possibly use the Mover Mechs." Gillian spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "Since their batteries cannot be removed and with what power they do still have, they could make the trip around the cliff to get recharged at the dam."

"That's not a bad idea." Nathan replied and Mr. Flanagan also voiced his agreement.

Though Lisa had never seen a Mover Mech herself, if it was anything like the mechs and robot soldiers she had fought not long ago with her cyborg unit allies, then she could surely see how they would be helpful to solving this issue.

Lisa then answered, "I think that the dam would be capable of recharging them. It's definitely worth a shot."

"Good to hear." Gillian replied nodding.

"Excellent. Now a few more questions." Mr. Flanagan said continuing. "What exactly is your relationship with the Mad Dogs and these various Merchants?"

"The Merchants I only know through a strictly business aspect. I haven't formed any such a close relationship with them, but I do feel that they can be beneficial for the ERMs needs as well as my own." Lisa replied answering carefully. "As for the Mad Dogs, well, it's a bit tricky. I want to either take them over by taking out their leaders or winning them over through other means. For my plans beyond providing electricity, I need the manpower and they have a lot of it. This will be done with caution, of course. I will make sure that nothing I do with them will reflect badly on the ERM."

"Hmm, I hope not. Especially considering we are not in a good position right now." Mr. Flanagan said cautiously eyeing her. "So, are you a member of the Mad Dogs?"

"No, I am most certainly not." Lisa remarked.

"Then how do you plan on leading them if you are not one of them?" Mr. Flanagan asked.

"Simple. Everyone loves money and power. I will soon be able to show that I have it and can provide it for them. Besides, without any leaders around to lead them it will be easier for me to take over." Lisa explained. "I have already started preparing for the occasion and have a plan."

"If you say so." Mr. Flanagan replied sounding skeptical and he did nothing to hide the fact. "Well, before it gets any later let's discuss costs and timelines. It will be getting dark soon and we need to hurry."

"Alright then." Lisa replied. She then stood up and picked up the papers from in front of her. "I already had made some estimates of what things might cost and how long it might take to build everything. All that is except for the pathway to the dam. We can explore that later."

"Let's see it then." Mrs. Smithy said holding out her wrinkled hand.

Lisa walked around the table and handed it to her. Mr. Flanagan and Nathan also got up to inspect the paper. After several minutes of reading over the papers and a few words of discussion it seemed that a decision was made. The two men returned to their seats and Mrs. Smithy started to speak to everyone. "I think that this is a rather generous offer. We can definitely make this work out in time and with a few adjustments."

"Wonderful!" Lisa remarked. "I tried making it as fair as I could for both parties. I look forward to hearing your counter offers."