“Why? Is there a problem?” Ceballo asked, his smile growing wider. Ranger Brock saw that smile and disliked the man immediately. He could almost picture it on Ceballo’s face as he plunged a knife into some animal’s belly, or even deep into the back of one of his co-workers. The smile was menacing, maybe a bit evil, and it was a perfect match for the dark glint in the man’s eyes. He was sure that this guy, this Tyler Allen Ceballo, was the type who would do just about anything to ensure he always came out on top.

“You’re in the wrong place,” Ranger Brock said.

Ceballo shook his head, and his smile lingered. “I don’t think so…At least not according to the survey.”

Ranger Brock could feel the hairs bristle on the back of his neck. “We just finished the survey. There’s no way the chief forester has made a decision on any of the logging rights yet.”

Ceballo shrugged. “When you get this deep into the forest, all the trees begin to look the same. That’s why we’ve got our own people looking at the survey. You know, to help the chief forester come to the right decision.”

Ranger Brock didn’t like the sound of that at all. Obviously they were going to try and influence the chief forester and persuade him to allow Conservco to harvest the forests just north of Redstone. These were all old growth forests that had stood for hundreds of years. And while there were plenty of harvestable forests farther north of the town, they’d set up their camp here, because there was already a road in place that led to the site. If they began a couple of miles north on the other side of the river where logging operations had been discussed for the past twenty years, the company would have to build a new road to get there, or use helicopters to take the trees off the side of the mountain. Either way would dramatically increase the cost of each log, so there was a lot to be gained by staking an early claim to the land and the road that led to it.

Ranger Brock stepped forward. “You’ve got no right to this forest. Seems to me you’re just making some kind of land grab.”

Again the man smiled and shook his head, causing the ranger to like him even less. “I’m just following orders,” he said. “But I suspect what you’re saying might be true of the lawyers employed by my company. I believe there were an even dozen of them at last count, all working very hard with the chief forester’s office to make sure everything’s in order. In the meantime, we’ll be providing additional information on things like fish habitats, soil, water…as well as the great economic benefits harvesting here will bring to the people of Redstone.”