Chapter 149

Russell had the drone back on Wilgul property and was checking it for any damage that might have occurred during flight.

"Well the good news is that K2 is in great shape. As the drone builder and pilot, I call this a very successful mission." said Russell. "K2 did everything she was built to do and I found out I can do low hovering flight relatively safely too."

"Well, I didn't get any of the questions I had about the property answered, except that I know the roads won't need any work," said Kate.

"I'm happy to know that the water problems aren't only a result of nature, because that hopefully means they can be fixed," said Grace.

"Well I suspect the mining operation is probably fairly small, just because they are clearly trying to hide what they're doing. I'm guessing thats why they have all the security features, and won't let you view the property with a realtor anytime soon. If it was a large-scale operation, there would be a lot more traffic and people around. I reckon it's just a few people doing the blasting and mining themselves. It may even be the driver of the truck we saw. The environmental impact should be able to be mitigated over the next few months if we can get some rain. I'd need to look around the site more to give a more direct report on environmental impact though." said Regan.

"I see a crime that needs to stop and criminals who need to be found and brought to justice. This one is personal, he is hurting my family. I've called my boss and given him a rundown of the situation and told him we would be sending further information later tonight. That'll give you a chance to review the footage, Regan, and write up a report."

"I'll get the footage cut down to the relevant parts so the police force doesn't have to watch over three hours of drone footage. I'll cut it down to everything we have of the truck, and the mine entrance. Do you need anything else?" Russell asked.

"The timestamp and GPS coordinates would be good too. Thanks, Ironman," requested Dylan.

"So I have a question. There is an emergency Farmers Council meeting this evening, and Regan and I were planning on attending with Jaz. Tess, Jodi, and Stevie will all be there too. Do we tell the Farmers Council what we saw?" asked Grace.

"I think we should keep this in our circle of trust, just in the Drovers Empire," said Regan.

"I agree. We all trust Tess, Jodi and Stevie, so we should tell them now, but for all we know, it could be someone on the Farmers Council running this operation. I don't want to tip our hand and let them destroy the evidence and disappear," offered Dylan

"Okay, let's see if we can get everyone together before the meeting. Grace, I've got Tess and Jodi, do you want to call Stevie?' said Regan.

"Well, Hello you," Stevie said into the phone.

"Stevie? It's Grace."

"Oh. Hi."

"Try not to sound so disappointed to hear me next time, hey?" Grace teased.

"I'm sorry, I just thought you were someone else is all." confessed Stevie.

"Well judging by the flirty way you answered the phone, I'm guessing James? Didn't you check the caller ID?"

"Yeah. I didn't check the number of who was calling, I just answered. Anyway, what's going on, Grace?"

"We found out some information about the water situation and we want to get everyone together before the Farmers Council meeting. Can you be at Wilgul in an hour?'

"Yeah sure. I'll see you there."

"I'm going to give Ben a heads up that we are headed back and that everyone else is headed over. We told them to get romantic, we wouldn't want to surprise them now." Dylan said.

"Good on ya, neither side would want that surprise." Grace laughed and finished packing up all of Kelly's things"

"You were so fun to hang around with today! We rolled in the grass, and we made funny faces, and Mr. Monkey got very messy didn't he? Yes he did!" Regan held Kelly up over her head. "Did you have fun with your Aunties and your Uncle today?"

"I love you Auntie Regan!" Kelly giggled. "And Maui says 'You're Welcome!' I love him."

"And I love you Kelly!" Now let's get you into your car seat so you can go see your Mommy and Daddy."