There was a knock at the door and Jackson looked up from the papers he was working on. Jackson sighed and tossed the paper onto the desktop. “Come in.”

The door swung quickly open and Tio came briskly into the room. Behind him were two red arm banded guards. As all three of them entered Jackson clearly felt the airs that they were putting on to appear tough. They had arrived at the compound early yesterday and they were making their presence known to the lower ranks, especially since the normal big shot lieutenants were not here now.

“Oh, now this is unexpected.” Jackson said raising an eyebrow. “What can I do for you, a newly promoted lieutenant?”

“Cut the crap.” Tio scoffed. “I have got quite the number of questions for you, and I want answers. No games or half-truths.”

Jackson stood up and straightened his suit. “Well, aren’t you all worked up. I am not sure why but calm down there is no need to act all tough. I’ll answer your questions. I am not like Xander or Martinez who like to play around.”

Tio didn’t like the posh, cool, and collected look Jackson always seemed to carry. Like he was better than everyone else around him. Though Tio didn’t have any grudge against him specifically, so Tio visibly relaxed somewhat and spoke calmer.

“There are some financial things I need to get straightened out. Particularly the meth factory workers and the serum production.” Tio then grabbed the seat in between them and plopped into it. “Then I need to ask about a particular rumor drifting about.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting. Let’s get to business then.” Jackson said with a nod.

Tio cleared his throat. “Why do we bother working with the Raiders and buy people to work in our meth factory? I understand that we need to buy people for the serum testing, but we could save a lot of money in the long run if we bought machines to process the meth instead. We could even increase the production by thirty percent by my calculations.”

“Ah, a very good question. I am glad someone around here was promoted with a brain rattling around inside their head.” Jackson answered giving a light grin.

Tio saw his expression and sneered. Though he said nothing in the end.

Jackson continued. “The reason is rather dumb to say the least. The triplets wanted to have some fun with those that were not skilled enough to work and too pretty to be lowly workers. Though I guess you already knew that from what had gone on at the mansion.”

Tio nodded. “Yah, some rather sick stuff happened in that place.”

“Indeed.” Jackson said. “Martinez agreed to let them do this, mainly because the triplets were an issue. They always wanted to be the top dog around here and Martinez used their request as a way to keep them distracted. The other reason was the Raiders were and still are a threat to us. However, if we remained customers of theirs and stayed out of their affairs, they wouldn’t attack our town.”

“I can understand that. But why are we still doing it? We could fend them off now that we have the numbers and resources.” Tio asked.

“I too asked Martinez that, but he claimed Xander, and Rodney were doing surveillance of the Skull who were also buying the people. They were hoping to find a way to infiltrate their ranks through this tactic.” Jackson said giving a shrug. “Now that they attacked the Skull, I am sure we can lessen the trade with the Raiders and buy those machines you want so badly.”

“Good, now we can just focus on the serum production.” Tio said giving a satisfied smile. “That stuff is going to be making us three times as much money than the meth ever could.”

“I hope so too, but things are not looking good on the outside.” Jackson replied pointing down at the paper on his desk. “This is a message from the media in Moab City. It states that any international trade and production of serum on the North American continent will now be limited to only the three largest producers of the product. All three countries managed to agree on one deal, even during the precipice of a war between them, and it’s not a good one for us.”

“You don’t mean the Astra Aeronautical Industry, Titanium Technology Corporation, and Silicon Valley AI Robotics Products are now going to be running a monopoly on serum trade?” Tio asked.

Jackson placed both hands on the desk and hung his head. “That is the case. We are going to be getting involved with some dangerous black-market dealings now that the major countries are monitoring serum trade. Corporations sure do know how to run things and get governments to bow down to them so easily.”

Tio slouched in his seat. “Damn, well then it might have been a problem shipping off all our goods to Moab City then. I had my guys send all the serum and rejects earlier today.”

“No, you probably made the right decision.” Jackson said looking back up. “The restrictions don’t take effect for another month. Our buyer in the Silver District will have to worry about what to do about it then. Until then we can figure out what to do next.”

“That’s good.” Tio murmured.

Jackson smiled. “See, now that wasn’t so hard. Asking me things is a breeze.”

Tio glanced crossly at Jackson. “I’m not finished yet. This rumor I heard, well, it is a bit of a touchy subject to talk about. One that might be the cause of a civil war in our gang.”

Jackson’s smile faded. “Tell me.”

Tio sat up in his seat and cleared his throat once more. “I heard that someone is going to try taking over the gang by beating Martinez. A woman by the name of Queen. Any idea what that is all about? I never heard of her before.”

Jackson’s expression darkened further. “Care to tell me how you know this?”

“Sure, a red guard from the compound here told me when she was at the factory. She said you knew about this particular rumor and that I should speak to you about it.” Tio answered casually.

Jackson felt a bit tense. Everyone here at the compound knew who Queen was and that she made a challenging motion at Martinez after she beat the Triplets. However, he knew Tio wasn’t all that keen about what took place in the compound and that the guards at the compound and factory hadn’t yet done their monthly switch yet, so there was no way he could have heard the rumor from a normal source.

Jackson wetted his lips before speaking. “What did this guard look like?” He had a hunch, but he had to be sure.

“I didn’t get her name, but she was tall, like taller than Martinez. She was also very vocal to me about how the women were being treated in the meth factory. Which was odd, no one cared before.” Tio answered.

Jackson sighed heavily and sat down in his own chair. “That was Queen herself. She infiltrated your factory already.”

“What?” Tio said unsure what Jackson said.

“Queen was that woman you saw, and she is intending on fighting Martinez.” Jackson clarified. “She is too keen on finding things out about our gang. A person like that is dangerous to leave alone.”

“So, what should we do? I can go back and tighten security on factory. I can even do a sweep of the place to see if she is still there.” Tio said standing up.

Jackson waved a hand at him to calm down. “There is no need to do that. She probably already accomplished her goal, whatever that might have been. You see, she has also been making herself know to the rest of the gang, just as you have been doing today. There is a chance too that she could be a match for Martinez.”

Tio sat back down. “What do you mean?”

“I mean to say that she could become the new leader of the Mad Dogs.” Jackson answered giving a shrug.

Tio rubbed his chin in thought. “I don’t think she could pull it off. The rest of the lieutenants wouldn’t just let her lead them.”

“Perhaps not, or maybe she could get on their good side.” Jackson said picking his words carefully. “I wouldn’t put it past her that she’d come up with some way to convince the gang to join her.”

“You really think she’s that good?” Tio asked. “I know she had a strong personality about her when we talked but what could she offer the Mad Dogs that would tame them?”

“Opportunity.” Jackson answered and he saw the confused expression appear on Tio’s brow. “I had been keeping tabs on what the gang spends and buys on for longer than anyone else. I assumed we were making a lot of money from the factory, extorting the townspeople, and from the Match Fight betting, however, Queen found a way to make even more money than what we currently are. Also, she found we were wasting our options with this towns resources.”

Tio’s face lit up. “You mean like putting everyone here to work instead of just letting them roam around in the streets?”

Jackson looked at Tio questionably. “You were thinking the same thing as her? Care to explain your idea?”

Tio nodded. “Instead of just having a single small factory why not arrest everyone in town and have a bunch of factories. With that many people working we could possibly even put those big shot corporations out of the serum business.”

Jackson sighed. “Well, your idea was sort of close to hers. Though it’s too small.”

“To small?” Tio repeated.

“Yes, to small. Queen is thinking about getting multiple industries working in this town and producing more than just serum.” Jackson answered. “She seems to have this idea of building some kind of corporation herself and making more than we ever could guess.”

Tio’s eyes sparkled. “Hmm, more money than we could guess. I don’t want to hear any more about this. You are making it sound appealing enough to me that I might agree with her. But I am no traitor to Martinez and will stick with him.”

Jackson was interested to hear him say that. If he wasn’t the only lieutenant to side with Queen if she won, then her taking over the gang and avoiding a civil war was possible. He had to be sure though.

“What if Queen did beat Martinez?” Jackson asked carefully.

“I’m not sure. I would have to see what the others would do. If she can do what she says she can and make us a lot of money it could be worth it.” Tio answered. “Though seeing Martinez loosing to anyone right now seems impossible. She won’t win.”

“I see.” Jackson nodded. “Well, was that all you wanted to talk about?”

Tio stood up and turned to leave. “Yah, that was all. I am glad I got straight answers too. You are a lot less of a snob than I thought.”

Jackson put on a cross look. “Hey, watch yourself. I still out rank you.”

“Whatever.” Tio called from the hall as the door closed behind him.

Jackson got up immediately after the door to his office closed and hurried out into the side hallway. He went across the hall to another door and opening it found Jerry napping on a couch. He hurried over to the couch and shook Jerry awake.

“Get up!” Jackson shouted. “I got work for you.”

“Uh? What is it?” Jerry said sleepily.

Jackson waited for Jerry to stop rubbing his eyes and pay attention. “I want you to go down to the vaults and find the deed to the dam. Then I need you to take it to Queen at the dam. Say to her, ‘This is yours. Good luck.’”