THE BRIDGE TO CARACAS (Volume 1 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 3, (Volume One, The Bridge To Caracas)

The skies had cleared and the sun shone brightly when Mike reached the outskirts of Oakville. While his car raced eastward, his mind once again drifted back, this time to a conversation he'd had four months earlier.

After quitting his job on the fishing vessel, he had traveled directly to Vancouver. There, he visited Doug McAllister, an old friend of his father's and the general manager of Canam Petroleum Limited's Western Canadian marketing department. Canam was one of the largest oil companies in the world.

McAllister, balding and in his late forties, sat in the large, brown leather chair behind his desk and was dressed in a tailored blue suit. He exuded corporate perfection. "Have a seat and tell me about yourself," he'd said, pointing to the chairs on the opposite side of his desk. "Before you begin, I should tell you that I've been expecting you."

"How did you know I was coming?" Mike blurted.

"Your father wrote to me over three months ago. He said you might come to see me."

"Did he tell you why?"

McAllister nodded. "He said you had lost interest in pursuing a medical career. He also mentioned that you had decided to quit school, and to stay out until you knew what you wanted to do with the rest of your life."

Mike had nodded. "That's pretty much the whole story."

"I hope you'll eventually return to university. I think it's extremely important. Without a degree, your chances of significant advancement in any pursuit will be limited, at best."

"I probably will, but I still haven't decided what to study or where to study it. Dad told me you might be able to shed some light on that."

McAllister displayed a sympathetic grin. "I hear you. I had the same problem when I was your age. The choice must be yours, of course. You'll never be completely committed unless you make it yourself."

"Any suggestions?"

McAllister had given Mike an idea that would change his life. "Get an engineering degree." He steepled his fingers. "If you do, I can arrange for you to work in the most exciting and fascinating business in the world. I doubt you'll ever find a career more exciting than one in the oil business."

Mike was jolted from his musing by the loud horn blast of an eighteen-wheeler that had come up behind him.

Thirty minutes later, he arrived at his parents' home in Oakville. The door was opened by Mike's very surprised mother, who was a tall and attractive woman to whom age had done no harm. She stared at her son in disbelief, and then a happy grin appeared. "You should have told me you were coming home. I would have killed the fattest calf."

Mike stepped forward and hugged her. "It's good to see you again, Mom," he said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine and I missed you. Too much," Mike's mother replied. She snapped her head backward and stared at Mike's face. "You haven't shaved," she scolded.

Mike smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "I promise I will. As soon as I've had something to eat," he added.

"Well then you'd better come with me to the kitchen, young man," she ordered, grasping his hand. "I'm going to feed you and ask you a million questions."

She pulled ham, Swiss, and bread from the fridge and began to lay out two sandwiches while Mike scuffed his feet against the kitchen tile.

"Have you decided what you're going to do with the rest of your life?"

Mike nodded. "I'm going back to school in September...for chemical engineering."

"Why engineering?"