Chapter 6 "The Nine"

The purchase of $100 million in gold bouillon happens every day in this world. As a commodity, people trade it back and forth without ever seeing or touching it. But this day, 10,000 pounds of gold was delivered to a small farm in upstate New York.

Martin helped Ito arrange for the armored cars and security. Ito was reluctant to accept assistance at first. Apparently, even Martin wasn't to be trused with the origin of the process.

The Brinks driver entered Martin's office and closed the door. "Everything went smoothly, Mr. Dial. The place is very remote and Ito met us with tractor and a haywagon. Damndest thing I ever saw."

"Did Ito accept our offer?" Martin asked.

"No. He said security was covered. Not that there seemed to be another soul for miles, mind you. Then the son of a bitch just fired up his tractor and drove away like he was hauling pig manure. Took him four trips."

"What is the place like?"

"Used to be a dairy from I could see. There was a complex of metal buildings on the next hill: huge smokestack, silos, but not a cow in sight."

"I'd like you stay on call for a few days. If this doesn't work out, we'll need to pick up the gold."

"No worries, Mr. Dial. One thing though. I don't know quite how to say this."

"What's up?"

"Well, I told you how there were no animals there, right? But the really strange thing was the corn. I mean, it's November and barely above freezing. I swear to god the cornfields there were green as July and nine feet tall."