Sierra Vista

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1901. Jared "Dusty" Kelso, an aging cowboy was wandering the Sierra Nevada mountains on his mare when he came across a lake and the valley it was situated in. Such a beautiful vista of wild scenery that took his breath away. A thought occured to him and he rode down to the lake and made a sign that declared his squatting rights to the valley and headed to Sacramento to register the property in his name. After settling up accounts with the property office he headed back to the valley and began to measure out the lines for the town of Sierra Vista. Four days later, while building his cabin, a horseman came riding up to the unfinished cabin. "I take it, mister, that this is your property?". "Yes, it is. May I ask your name, please?". "I am Matthew Pitt". "Welcome to the new town of Sierra Vista, Mr. Pitt. Have we met, sir?". "I reckon we have, it was Deadwood, South Dakota back in 1879, right?". "Yes, you're right, Mr. Pitt". After reacquainting themselves and sharing a repast, the two got to talking about the future. Both were old timers with long memories of a shared heritage of the west in their blood. Jared declared that a bright future lay ahead for Sierra Vista. Matthew talked about his newborn son, George and the bright future that would be his.

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October 2006. A white haired man with opaline green eyes sat in his fishing boat, enjoying the Indian Summer day as he listened to all of nature's sounds. With the fishing pole snug in it's clamp he takes a glance at his manuscript thinking "Maybe I should work on it". On vacation and with a book signing coming up in several days in the Arizona town where he lives, Clive lays back in the boat. Half snoozing to the warmth of the sun on him, he is aroused by a buzzing noise and looks about dumbfounded until he looks up and spots a UFO hovering over Lake Vista.

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Later, in the cabin where he was staying, Clive Cussler was reminiscing about his youth. Recalling to mind that he had enjoyed listening to all the great radio shows including Jack Benny, Amos'n'Andy, the Dayton Duncan show and several others. His stomach started making noises that let him know it was lunchtime and he walked over to the pantry to fix himself something to eat. Clive settled on a Tuna Salad sandwich, potato chips and washed it down with some soda pop. Afterwards he walked out onto the porch with his manuscript and sat down to do some editing.

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Saturday, December 1, 2006. Back home in Scottsdale, Clive Cussler was sitting at a table in the Poisoned Pen bookstore signing his newest book, a man approximately in his early 40s follows a young woman in line and he mentions his name is Tony Salkind and hands a book into Clive's hand to be signed. Clive dutifully signs the book and smiles. Other people kept on coming, but for some reason Clive could not fathom, Mr. Salkind had stayed on his mind. Later, at home, Clive googles the name Salkind and several names pop up but not the one he is looking for. However, one name stuck out and he read about one Peter Salkind, a Geographical Information Systems analyst who had gone to the Colorado School of Mines. Soon, Clive had thought up a new adventure hero who would be based loosely on Peter Salkind.

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Sunday December 2, 2006. 4-42AM Clive awakens on his couch and then after a moment of clearing his mind recalls that he had typewritten over 200 pages of the new novel. Getting up off the couch and walking in the office, Clive pores over the manuscript and feels pleased. Just a title for the novel would be nice, Clive thought. Walking into the kitchen, he makes a pot of coffee and walks back into his office and types some more until the coffeemaker is done. He pours a cup and takes it into the office with him and sits down to type some more. He continues typing until he stops for a breather and looks at the clock. It's nearly nine o'clock and hunger pains beset his stomach. He makes a breakfast of pancakes and eats them. He goes back to his desk and types until ten thirty. Clive heads to his bedroom to nap until one o'clock when his son, Dirk is supposed to show up. Laying down on the bed, Clive falls into an easy and deep sleep and dreams about his youthful days playing, listening to the radio and lazy days.